Such doubts were very transient. Dear old Griff was too delightful,
too bright and too brave, too ardent and too affectionate, not to
dispel all clouds by the sunshine he carried about with him. If
rest and reliance came with Clarence, zest and animation came with
Griffith. He managed to take the initiative by declining to remain
any longer with the Robsons, saying they had been spoilt by such a
model lodger as Clarence, who would let Gooch feed him on bread and
milk and boiled mutton, and put on his clean pinafore if she chose
to insist; whereas her indignation, when Griff found fault with the
folding of his white ties, amounted to 'Et tu Brute,' and he really
feared she would have had a fit when he ordered devilled kidneys for
breakfast. He was sure her determination to tuck him up every night
and put out his candle was shortening her life; and he had made
arrangements to share the chambers of a friend who had gone through
school and college with him. There was no objection to the friend,
who had stayed at Chantry House and was an agreeable, lively, young
man, well reported of, satisfactorily connected, fairly industrious,
and in good society, so that Griff was likely to be much less
exposed to temptation of the lower kinds than when left to his own
devices, or only with Clarence, who had neither time nor disposition
to share his amusements.
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