Page 106 - bleak-house

ment to everything we heard, were our first impressions of
Bleak House.
‘I am glad you like it,’ said Mr. Jarndyce when he had
brought us round again to Ada’s sitting-room. ‘It makes no
pretensions, but it is a comfortable little place, I hope, and
will be more so with such bright young looks in it. You have
barely half an hour before dinner. There’s no one here but
the finest creature upon earth—a child.’
‘More children, Esther!’ said Ada.
‘I don’t mean literally a child,’ pursued Mr. Jarndyce; ‘not
a child in years. He is grown up—he is at least as old as I
am—but in simplicity, and freshness, and enthusiasm, and
a fine guileless inaptitude for all worldly affairs, he is a per-
fect child.’
We felt that he must be very interesting.
‘He knows Mrs. Jellyby,’ said Mr. Jarndyce. ‘He is a mu-
sical man, an amateur, but might have been a professional.
He is an artist too, an amateur, but might have been a pro-
fessional. He is a man of attainments and of captivating
manners. He has been unfortunate in his affairs, and un-
fortunate in his pursuits, and unfortunate in his family; but
he don’t care—he’s a child!’
‘Did you imply that he has children of his own, sir?’ in-
quired Richard.
‘Yes, Rick! Half-a-dozen. More! Nearer a dozen, I should
think. But he has never looked after them. How could he?
He wanted somebody to look after HIM. He is a child, you
know!’ said Mr. Jarndyce.
‘And have the children looked after themselves at all,

106 Bleak House