VII + 

Mrs.┬аSparsit + 

Mr.┬аBounderby being a bachelor, an elderly lady presided over his establishment, in consideration of a certain annual stipend. Mrs.┬аSparsit was this ladyтАЩs name; and she was a prominent figure in attendance on Mr.┬аBounderbyтАЩs car, as it rolled along in triumph with the Bully of humility inside. + 

For, Mrs.┬аSparsit had not only seen different days, but was highly connected. She had a great aunt living in these very times called Lady Scadgers. Mr.┬аSparsit, deceased, of whom she was the relict, had been by the motherтАЩs side what Mrs.┬аSparsit still called тАЬa Powler.тАЭ Strangers of limited information and dull apprehension were sometimes observed not to know what a Powler was, and even to appear uncertain whether it might be a business, or a political party, or a profession of faith. The better class of minds, however, did not need to be informed that the Powlers were an ancient stock, who could trace themselves so exceedingly far back that it was not surprising if they sometimes lost themselvesтБатАФwhich they had rather frequently done, as respected horseflesh, blind-hookey, Hebrew monetary transactions, and the Insolvent DebtorsтАЩ Court. + 

The late Mr.┬аSparsit, being by the motherтАЩs side a Powler, married this lady, being by the fatherтАЩs side a Scadgers. Lady Scadgers (an immensely fat old woman, with an inordinate appetite for butcherтАЩs meat, and a mysterious leg which had now refused to get out of bed for fourteen years) contrived the marriage, at a period when Sparsit was just of age, and chiefly noticeable for a slender body, weakly supported on two long slim props, and surmounted by no head worth mentioning. He inherited a fair fortune from his uncle, but owed it all before he came into it, and spent it twice over immediately afterwards. Thus, when he died, at twenty-four (the scene of his decease, Calais, and the cause, brandy), he did not leave his widow, from whom he had been separated soon after the honeymoon, in affluent circumstances. That bereaved lady, fifteen years older than he, fell presently at deadly feud with her only relative, Lady Scadgers; and, partly to spite her ladyship, and partly to maintain herself, went out at a salary. And here she was now, in her elderly days, with the Coriolanian style of nose and the dense black eyebrows which had captivated Sparsit, making Mr.┬аBounderbyтАЩs tea as he took his breakfast. + 

If Bounderby had been a conqueror, and Mrs.┬аSparsit a captive Princess whom he took about as a feature in his state-processions, he could not have made a greater flourish with her than he habitually did. Just as it belonged to his boastfulness to depreciate his own extraction, so it belonged to it to exalt Mrs.┬аSparsitтАЩs. In the measure that he would not allow his own youth to have been attended by a single favourable circumstance, he brightened Mrs.┬аSparsitтАЩs juvenile career with every possible advantage, and showered wagon-loads of early roses all over that ladyтАЩs path. тАЬAnd yet, sir,тАЭ he would say, тАЬhow does it turn out after all? Why here she is at a hundred a year (I give her a hundred, which she is pleased to term handsome), keeping the house of Josiah Bounderby of Coketown!тАЭ + 

Nay, he made this foil of his so very widely known, that third parties took it up, and handled it on some occasions with considerable briskness. It was one of the most exasperating attributes of Bounderby, that he not only sang his own praises but stimulated other men to sing them. There was a moral infection of claptrap in him. Strangers, modest enough elsewhere, started up at dinners in Coketown, and boasted, in quite a rampant way, of Bounderby. They made him out to be the Royal arms, the Union-Jack, Magna Charta, John Bull, Habeas Corpus, the Bill of Rights, An EnglishmanтАЩs house is his castle, Church and State, and God save the Queen, all put together. And as often (and it was very often) as an orator of this kind brought into his perorationтБатАФ + 

тАЬPrinces and lords may flourish or may fade, + 

A breath can make them, as a breath has made,тАЭ + 

it was, for certain, more or less understood among the company that he had heard of Mrs.┬аSparsit. + 

тАЬMr.┬аBounderby,тАЭ said Mrs.┬аSparsit, тАЬyou are unusually slow, sir, with your breakfast this morning.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhy, maтАЩam,тАЭ he returned, тАЬI am thinking about Tom GradgrindтАЩs whim;тАЭ Tom Gradgrind, for a bluff independent manner of speakingтБатАФas if somebody were always endeavouring to bribe him with immense sums to say Thomas, and he wouldnтАЩt; тАЬTom GradgrindтАЩs whim, maтАЩam, of bringing up the tumbling-girl.тАЭ + 

тАЬThe girl is now waiting to know,тАЭ said Mrs.┬аSparsit, тАЬwhether she is to go straight to the school, or up to the Lodge.тАЭ + 

тАЬShe must wait, maтАЩam,тАЭ answered Bounderby, тАЬtill I know myself. We shall have Tom Gradgrind down here presently, I suppose. If he should wish her to remain here a day or two longer, of course she can, maтАЩam.тАЭ + 

тАЬOf course she can if you wish it, Mr.┬аBounderby.тАЭ + 

тАЬI told him I would give her a shakedown here, last night, in order that he might sleep on it before he decided to let her have any association with Louisa.тАЭ + 

тАЬIndeed, Mr.┬аBounderby? Very thoughtful of you!тАЭ Mrs.┬аSparsitтАЩs Coriolanian nose underwent a slight expansion of the nostrils, and her black eyebrows contracted as she took a sip of tea. + 

тАЬItтАЩs tolerably clear to me,тАЭ said Bounderby, тАЬthat the little puss can get small good out of such companionship.тАЭ + 

тАЬAre you speaking of young Miss Gradgrind, Mr.┬аBounderby?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes, maтАЩam, IтАЩm speaking of Louisa.тАЭ + 

тАЬYour observation being limited to тАШlittle puss,тАЩтАКтАЭ said Mrs.┬аSparsit, тАЬand there being two little girls in question, I did not know which might be indicated by that expression.тАЭ + 

тАЬLouisa,тАЭ repeated Mr.┬аBounderby. тАЬLouisa, Louisa.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou are quite another father to Louisa, sir.тАЭ Mrs.┬аSparsit took a little more tea; and, as she bent her again contracted eyebrows over her steaming cup, rather looked as if her classical countenance were invoking the infernal gods. + 

тАЬIf you had said I was another father to TomтБатАФyoung Tom, I mean, not my friend Tom GradgrindтБатАФyou might have been nearer the mark. I am going to take young Tom into my office. Going to have him under my wing, maтАЩam.тАЭ + 

тАЬIndeed? Rather young for that, is he not, sir?тАЭ Mrs.┬аSparsitтАЩs тАЬsir,тАЭ in addressing Mr.┬аBounderby, was a word of ceremony, rather exacting consideration for herself in the use, than honouring him. + 

тАЬIтАЩm not going to take him at once; he is to finish his educational cramming before then,тАЭ said Bounderby. тАЬBy the Lord Harry, heтАЩll have enough of it, first and last! HeтАЩd open his eyes, that boy would, if he knew how empty of learning my young maw was, at his time of life.тАЭ Which, by the by, he probably did know, for he had heard of it often enough. тАЬBut itтАЩs extraordinary the difficulty I have on scores of such subjects, in speaking to anyone on equal terms. Here, for example, I have been speaking to you this morning about tumblers. Why, what do you know about tumblers? At the time when, to have been a tumbler in the mud of the streets, would have been a godsend to me, a prize in the lottery to me, you were at the Italian Opera. You were coming out of the Italian Opera, maтАЩam, in white satin and jewels, a blaze of splendour, when I hadnтАЩt a penny to buy a link to light you.тАЭ + 

тАЬI certainly, sir,тАЭ returned Mrs.┬аSparsit, with a dignity serenely mournful, тАЬwas familiar with the Italian Opera at a very early age.тАЭ + 

тАЬEgad, maтАЩam, so was I,тАЭ said Bounderby, тАЬтБатАФwith the wrong side of it. A hard bed the pavement of its Arcade used to make, I assure you. People like you, maтАЩam, accustomed from infancy to lie on down feathers, have no idea how hard a paving-stone is, without trying it. No, no, itтАЩs of no use my talking to you about tumblers. I should speak of foreign dancers, and the West End of London, and Mayfair, and lords and ladies and honourables.тАЭ + 

тАЬI trust, sir,тАЭ rejoined Mrs.┬аSparsit, with decent resignation, тАЬit is not necessary that you should do anything of that kind. I hope I have learnt how to accommodate myself to the changes of life. If I have acquired an interest in hearing of your instructive experiences, and can scarcely hear enough of them, I claim no merit for that, since I believe it is a general sentiment.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, maтАЩam,тАЭ said her patron, тАЬperhaps some people may be pleased to say that they do like to hear, in his own unpolished way, what Josiah Bounderby, of Coketown, has gone through. But you must confess that you were born in the lap of luxury, yourself. Come, maтАЩam, you know you were born in the lap of luxury.тАЭ + 

тАЬI do not, sir,тАЭ returned Mrs.┬аSparsit with a shake of her head, тАЬdeny it.тАЭ + 

Mr.┬аBounderby was obliged to get up from table, and stand with his back to the fire, looking at her; she was such an enhancement of his position. + 

тАЬAnd you were in crack society. Devilish high society,тАЭ he said, warming his legs. + 

тАЬIt is true, sir,тАЭ returned Mrs.┬аSparsit, with an affectation of humility the very opposite of his, and therefore in no danger of jostling it. + 

тАЬYou were in the tiptop fashion, and all the rest of it,тАЭ said Mr.┬аBounderby. + 

тАЬYes, sir,тАЭ returned Mrs.┬аSparsit, with a kind of social widowhood upon her. тАЬIt is unquestionably true.тАЭ + 

Mr.┬аBounderby, bending himself at the knees, literally embraced his legs in his great satisfaction and laughed aloud. Mr.┬аand Miss Gradgrind being then announced, he received the former with a shake of the hand, and the latter with a kiss. + 

тАЬCan Jupe be sent here, Bounderby?тАЭ asked Mr.┬аGradgrind. + 

Certainly. So Jupe was sent there. On coming in, she curtseyed to Mr.┬аBounderby, and to his friend Tom Gradgrind, and also to Louisa; but in her confusion unluckily omitted Mrs.┬аSparsit. Observing this, the blustrous Bounderby had the following remarks to make: + 

тАЬNow, I tell you what, my girl. The name of that lady by the teapot, is Mrs.┬аSparsit. That lady acts as mistress of this house, and she is a highly connected lady. Consequently, if ever you come again into any room in this house, you will make a short stay in it if you donтАЩt behave towards that lady in your most respectful manner. Now, I donтАЩt care a button what you do to me, because I donтАЩt affect to be anybody. So far from having high connections I have no connections at all, and I come of the scum of the earth. But towards that lady, I do care what you do; and you shall do what is deferential and respectful, or you shall not come here.тАЭ + 

тАЬI hope, Bounderby,тАЭ said Mr.┬аGradgrind, in a conciliatory voice, тАЬthat this was merely an oversight.тАЭ + 

тАЬMy friend Tom Gradgrind suggests, Mrs.┬аSparsit,тАЭ said Bounderby, тАЬthat this was merely an oversight. Very likely. However, as you are aware, maтАЩam, I donтАЩt allow of even oversights towards you.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou are very good indeed, sir,тАЭ returned Mrs.┬аSparsit, shaking her head with her State humility. тАЬIt is not worth speaking of.тАЭ + 

Sissy, who all this time had been faintly excusing herself with tears in her eyes, was now waved over by the master of the house to Mr.┬аGradgrind. She stood looking intently at him, and Louisa stood coldly by, with her eyes upon the ground, while he proceeded thus: + 

тАЬJupe, I have made up my mind to take you into my house; and, when you are not in attendance at the school, to employ you about Mrs.┬аGradgrind, who is rather an invalid. I have explained to Miss LouisaтБатАФthis is Miss LouisaтБатАФthe miserable but natural end of your late career; and you are to expressly understand that the whole of that subject is past, and is not to be referred to any more. From this time you begin your history. You are, at present, ignorant, I know.тАЭ + 

тАЬYes, sir, very,тАЭ she answered, curtseying. + 

тАЬI shall have the satisfaction of causing you to be strictly educated; and you will be a living proof to all who come into communication with you, of the advantages of the training you will receive. You will be reclaimed and formed. You have been in the habit now of reading to your father, and those people I found you among, I dare say?тАЭ said Mr.┬аGradgrind, beckoning her nearer to him before he said so, and dropping his voice. + 

тАЬOnly to father and Merrylegs, sir. At least I mean to father, when Merrylegs was always there.тАЭ + 

тАЬNever mind Merrylegs, Jupe,тАЭ said Mr.┬аGradgrind, with a passing frown. тАЬI donтАЩt ask about him. I understand you to have been in the habit of reading to your father?тАЭ + 

тАЬO, yes, sir, thousands of times. They were the happiestтБатАФO, of all the happy times we had together, sir!тАЭ + 

It was only now when her sorrow broke out, that Louisa looked at her. + 

тАЬAnd what,тАЭ asked Mr.┬аGradgrind, in a still lower voice, тАЬdid you read to your father, Jupe?тАЭ + 

тАЬAbout the Fairies, sir, and the Dwarf, and the Hunchback, and the Genies,тАЭ she sobbed out; тАЬand aboutтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬHush!тАЭ said Mr.┬аGradgrind, тАЬthat is enough. Never breathe a word of such destructive nonsense any more. Bounderby, this is a case for rigid training, and I shall observe it with interest.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell,тАЭ returned Mr.┬аBounderby, тАЬI have given you my opinion already, and I shouldnтАЩt do as you do. But, very well, very well. Since you are bent upon it, very well!тАЭ + 

So, Mr.┬аGradgrind and his daughter took Cecilia Jupe off with them to Stone Lodge, and on the way Louisa never spoke one word, good or bad. And Mr.┬аBounderby went about his daily pursuits. And Mrs.┬аSparsit got behind her eyebrows and meditated in the gloom of that retreat, all the evening. + 