Stevens, and a young great-nephew in
the office at Liverpool; and the consequence was the arrival of a
sour-looking, old widow sister, who came to take charge of the
convalescence, and, as the indignant Gooch overheard her say, 'to
prevent that young Winslow from getting round him.'
There were no signs of such a feat having been performed, when, the
panic being past, my father went up to London with Griffith, who was
to begin eating his terms at the Temple. He was to share Clarence's
lodgings, for the Robsons had plenty of room, and Gooch was
delighted to extend her cares to her special favourite, as she
already reigned over Clarence's wardrobe and table as entirely as in
nursery days; and, to my great exultation, my father said it would
be good for Griffith to be with his brother; and, moreover, we
should hear of the latter. Nothing could be a greater contrast than
his rare notifications or requests, scrawled on a single side of the
quarto sheet, with Clarence's regular weekly lines of clerkly
manuscript, telling all that could interest any of us, and covering
every available flap up to the blank circle left for the trim red
seal.
Promotion had come to Clarence in the natural course of seniority,
and a small sum, due to him on his coming of age, was invested in
the house of business, so that the two brothers could take between
them all the Robsons' available rooms.
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