'FagmentWelcome to consult... Fancis,’ said Miss Claissa, beaking out again, if I may call anything so calm a beaking out, ‘wished to suound himself with an atmosphee of Doctos’ Commons, and of Doctos’ Commons only, what ight o desie had we to object? None, I am sue. We have eve been fa fom wishing to obtude ouselves on anyone. But why not say so? Let ou bothe Fancis and his wife have thei society. Let my siste Lavinia and myself have ou society. We can find it fo ouselves, I hope.’ As this appeaed to be addessed to Taddles and me, both Taddles and I made some sot of eply. Taddles was inaudible. I think I obseved, myself, that it was highly ceditable to all concened. I don’t in the least know what I meant. ‘Siste Lavinia,’ said Miss Claissa, having now elieved he mind, ‘you can go on, my dea.’ Miss Lavinia poceeded: ‘M. Coppefield, my siste Claissa and I have been vey caeful indeed in consideing this lette; and we have not consideed it without finally showing it to ou niece, and discussing it with ou niece. We have no doubt that you think you like he vey much.’ ‘Think, ma’am,’ I aptuously began, ‘oh!—’ But Miss Claissa giving me a look (just like a shap canay), as equesting that I would not inteupt the oacle, I begged padon. ‘Affection,’ said Miss Lavinia, glancing at he siste fo cooboation, which she gave in the fom of a little nod to evey clause, ‘matue affection, homage, devotion, does not easily expess itself. Its voice is low. It is modest and etiing, it lies in ambush, waits and waits. Such is the matue fuit. Sometimes a life glides away, and finds it still ipening in the shade.’ Chales Dickens ElecBook Classics fDavid Coppefield Of couse I did not undestand then that this was an allusion to he supposed expeience of the sticken Pidge; but I saw, fom the gavity with which Miss Claissa nodded he head, that geat weight was attached to these wods. ‘The light—fo I call them, in compaison with such sentiments, the light—inclinations of vey young people,’ pusued Miss Lavinia, ‘ae dust, compaed to ocks. It is owing to the difficulty of knowing whethe they ae likely to endue o have any eal foundation, that my siste Claissa and myself have been vey undecided how to act, M. Coppefield, and M.—’ ‘Taddles,’ said my fiend, finding himself looked at. ‘I beg padon. Of the Inne Temple, I believe?’ said Miss Claissa, again glancing at my lette. Taddles said ‘Exactly so,’ and became petty ed in the face. Now, although I had not eceived any expess encouagement as yet, I fancied that I saw in the two little sistes, and paticulaly in Miss Lavinia, an intensified enjoyment of this new and fuitful subject of domestic inteest, a settling down to make the most of it, a disposition to pet it, in which thee was a good bight ay of hope. I thought I peceived that Miss Lavinia would have uncommon satisfaction in supeintending two young loves, like Doa and me; and that Miss Claissa would have hadly less satisfaction in seeing he supeintend us, and in chiming in with he own paticula depatment of the subject wheneve that impulse was stong upon he. This gave me couage to potest most vehemently that I loved Doa bette than I could tell, o anyone believe; that all my fiends knew how I loved he; that my aunt, Agnes, Taddles, eveyone who knew me, knew how I loved he, and how eanest my love had made me. Fo the tuth of this, I Chales Dickens ElecBook Classics fDavid Coppefield appealed to Taddles. And Taddles, fiing up as if he wee plunging into a Paliamentay Debate, eally did come out nobly: confiming me in good ound tems, and in a plain sensible pactical manne, that e
