And now as one in a dream, Barnabas is aware that they are threading streets, broad streets and narrow, and all alive with great wagons and country wains; on they go, past gloomy taverns, past churches whose gilded weather-cocks glitter in the early sunbeams, past crooked side-streets and dark alley-ways, and so, swinging suddenly to the right, have pulled up at last in the yard of the "George."
It is a great inn with two galleries one above another and many windows, and here, despite the early hour, a motley crowd is gathered. Forthwith Barnabas climbs down, and edging his way through the throng, presently finds Peterby at his elbow.
"Breakfast, sir?"
"Bed, Peterby."
"Very good--this way, sir."
Thereafter, though he scarcely knows how, he finds himself following a trim-footed damsel, who, having shown him up a winding stair, worn by the tread of countless travellers, brings him to a smallish, dullish chamber, opening upon the lower gallery. Hereupon Barnabas bids her "good night," but, blinking in the sunlight, gravely changes it to "good morning." The trim-footed maid smiles, curtsies, and vanishes, closing the door behind her.
Now upon the wall of the chamber, facing the bed, hangs the picture of a gentleman in a military habit with an uncomfortably high stock. He is an eagle-nosed gentleman with black whiskers, and a pair of remarkably round wide-awake eyes, which stare at Barnabas as much as to say--
"And who the devil are you, sir?"
Below him his name and titles are set forth fully and with many flourishes, thus--
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL THE RIGHT HONORABLE THE EARL OF POMFROY, K.G., K.T.S., etc., etc., etc.
So remarkably wide-awake is he, indeed, that it seems to drowsy Barnabas as if these round eyes wait to catch him unawares and follow him pertinaciously about the smallish, dullish chamber. Nevertheless Barnabas yawns, and proceeds to undress, which done, remembering he is in London, he takes purse and valuables and very carefully sets them under his pillow, places Mr. Chichester's pistol on the small table conveniently near, and gets into bed.
Yet now, sleepy though he is, he must needs turn to take another look at the Honorable the Earl of Pomfroy, wonders idly what the three "etc.'s" may mean, admires the glossy curl of his whiskers, counts the medals and orders on his bulging breast, glances last of all at his eyes, and immediately becomes aware that they are curiously like those of the "White Lion" at Tenterden, in that they are plying him with questions.
"Tall or short? dark or fair? Will she kiss you--next time, sir? Will she even be glad to see you again, you presumptuous young dog--will she--will she, confound you?"
"Ah!" sighed Barnabas. "Next time--I wonder!"
So saying, he sighed again, once, twice, and with the third fell fast asleep, and dreamed that a certain White Lion, clad in a Lieutenant-General's uniform, and with a pair of handsome black whiskers, stood balancing himself upon a single claw on the rail of the bed.
CHAPTER XXVI
CONCERNING THE DUTIES OF A VALET--AND A MAN
"And now, Peterby," said Barnabas, pushing his chair from the breakfast table, "the first thing I shall require is--a tailor."
"Very true, sir."
"These clothes were good enough for the country, Peterby, but--"
"Exactly, sir!" answered Peterby, bowing.
"Hum!" said Barnabas, with a quick glance. "Though mark you," he continued argumentatively,--"they might be worse, Peterby; the fit is good, and the cloth is excellent. Yes, they might be a great deal worse."
"It is--possible, sir," answered Peterby, with another bow. Hereupon, having glanced at his solemn face, Barnabas rose, and surveyed himself, as well as he might, in the tarnished mirror on the wall.
"Are they so bad as all that?" he inquired.
Peterby's mouth relaxed, and a twinkle dawned in his eye.
"As garments they are--serviceable, sir," said he, gravely, "but as clothes they--don't exist."
"Why then," said Barnabas, "the sooner we get some that do,--the better. Do you know of a good tailor?"
"I know them all, sir."
"Who is the best--the most expensive?"
"Stultz, sir, in Clifford Street; but I shouldn't advise you to have him."
"And why not?"
"Because he _is_ a tailor."
"Oh?" said Barnabas.
"I mean that the clothes he makes are all stamped with his individuality, as it were,--their very excellence damns them. They are the clothes of a tailor instead of being simply a gentleman's garments."
"Hum!" said Barnabas, beginning to frown at this, "it would seem that dress can be a very profound subject, Peterby."
"Sir," answered Peterby, shaking his head, "it is a life study, and, so far as I know, there are only two people in the world who understand it aright; Beau Brummell was one, and, because he was the Beau, had London and the World of Fashion at his feet."
"And who was the other?"
Peterby took himself by the chin, and, though his mouth was solemn, the twinkle was back in his eye as he glanced at Barnabas.
"The other, sir," he answered, "was one who, until yesterday, was reduced to the necessity of living upon poached rabbits."
Here Barnabas stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling.
"I remember you told me you were the best valet in the world," said he.
"It is my earnest desire to prove it, sir."
"And yet," said Barnabas, with his gaze still turned ceiling-wards, "I would have you--even more than this, Peterby."
"More, sir?"
"I would have you, sometimes, forget that you are only 'the best valet in the world,' and remember that you are--a man: one in whom I can confide; one who has lived in this great world, and felt, and suffered, and who can therefore advise me; one I may trust to in an emergency; for London is a very big place, they tell me, and my friends are few--or none--and--do you understand me, Peterby?"
"Sir," said Peterby in an altered tone, "I think I do."
"Then--sit down, John, and let us talk."
With a murmur of thanks Peterby drew up a chair and sat watching Barnabas with his shrewd eyes.
"You will remember," began Barnabas, staring up at the ceiling again, "that when I engaged you I told you that I intended to--hum! to--cut a figure in the fashionable world?"
"Yes, sir; and I told you that,--after what happened in a certain wood,--it was practically impossible."
"You mean because I thrashed a scoundrel?"
"I mean because you knocked down a friend of the Prince Regent."
"And