He had scarcely paced his apartment for ten minutes, endeavouring to
arrange his ideas on the course which he was to pursue on quitting
Alsatia, when he was interrupted by the Sovereign of the quarter, the
great Duke Hildebrod himself, before whose approach the bolts and
chains of the miser's dwelling fell, or withdrew, as of their own
accord; and both the folding leaves of the door were opened, that he
might roll himself into the house like a huge butt of liquor, a vessel
to which he bore a considerable outward resemblance, both in size,
shape, complexion, and contents."
"Good-morrow to your lordship," said the greasy puncheon, cocking his
single eye, and rolling it upon Nigel with a singular expression of
familiar impudence; whilst his grim bull-dog, which was close at his
heels, made a kind of gurgling in his throat, as if saluting, in
similar fashion, a starved cat, the only living thing in Trapbois'
house which we have not yet enumerated, and which had flown up to the
top of the tester, where she stood clutching and grinning at the
mastiff, whose greeting she accepted with as much good-will as Nigel
bestowed on that of the dog's master.
"Peace, Belzie!--D--n thee, peace!" said Duke Hildebrod. "Beasts and
fools will be meddling, my lord."
"I thought, sir," answered Nigel, with as much haughtiness as was
consistent with the cool distance which he desired to preserve, "I
thought I had told you, my name at present was Nigel Grahame.
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