David Copperfield

Chapter 59
Chapter 24 First Trial of the Loose Life (1)
It is a very pleasant thing to live alone in a high castle, shutting the outer door, entering like Robinson Crusoe, and removing the ladder.It is also a good thing to take the room key with you to play in the city.I can invite anyone to my house, and I can guarantee that if I feel no inconvenience, no one else will.When I rang for Mrs. Crupp to come up—to her pleasure, though—she came running up from under the ground, panting.All of this is very enjoyable to me, but also, I must say, very boring.

Mornings, especially sunny ones, are wonderful.Life seems beautiful and free during the day, and even more so under the sun; but when the sun goes down, it seems to sink too.I don't know why; there are seldom happy moments by candlelight.At that time, I longed for someone to talk to, and I missed Agnes.When the person who puts a smile on my face and speaks from my heart is not around, I feel a blank space.Mrs. Crupp seemed too far away from me.I miss the tenant who died of tobacco and alcohol, and I wish he lived and his death didn't bother me.

I lived there for only two days and two nights, but it seemed to me that a year had passed, but I hadn't matured, and I was still troubled by my youth as usual.

The absence of Steerforth made me wonder whether he was ill; so I left Doctors' College for Highgate early on the third morning.Mrs Steerforth was delighted to see me.She said her son had gone with an Oxford classmate to visit another who lived near St Alban's, but she expected to be back tomorrow.I adore him so much that I feel envious of his Oxford friends.

Because she insisted on keeping me for dinner, I obeyed.I don't think we talked about anything but Steerforth.I told her that Steerforth was very popular and everybody in Yarmouth liked him.Miss Dartle was full of hints and questions, full of interest in our life there, she asked the question "Really, exactly?" It came out of his mouth.She looked exactly as she did when I first met her.But the company of two women was so exhilarating, so freeing, that I felt I liked her a little.There were several times when I got home that night and I couldn't help but think what a fun companion she was.

In the morning, when I was eating my rolls and drinking my coffee--by the way, Mrs. Crupp used so much coffee, and it was so weak--I was delighted by the presence of Steerforth. .

"My dear Steerforth," I cried, "I thought I should never see you again!"

"As soon as I got home," he said, "I was dragged away. Ah, Daisy, what a rare old bachelor you are!"

I proudly let him visit my house, even the pantry room, and he appreciated it very much. "I say, boy," he added, "unless you let me go, I really think this is my hotel in town."

I was so pleased with what he said, that I said that if he was going to wait for the day when I would let him go, he couldn't wait.

"But you must have some breakfast," I said, touching the bell. "Mrs. Crupp can make some more coffee, and I'll bake some bacon myself in the Dutch oven here."

"No, no!" said Steerforth, "don't ring the bell! I can't! I'm going to have breakfast with the two fellows who live at the Baysider Inn in Coffin Gardens."

"Then you come back for dinner?" I said.

"No, honestly, I don't like it any more. But I've got to be with those two guys. We're leaving early tomorrow morning."

"Well, take them here for supper," I said, "do you think they'll come?"

"Oh, of course they will," said Steerforth, "but we'll give you trouble. You'd better eat somewhere with us."

I will not obey anyway, because I think I should throw a little party, and there will never be a better chance.After his compliments I was more proud of my abode, and anxious to make the best of it.I therefore compelled him to promise on behalf of his two friends that we should dine at six o'clock.

After Steerforth left, I rang the bell for Mrs. Crupp, and told her of my audacity.Mrs. Crupp said, the first point, obviously she can't be asked to serve, but she can have a young man who specializes in odd jobs to do the job, five shillings, free money, I said yes; second point , she said, of course she couldn't be in two places by herself (which I thought was reasonable), and with a "little girl" she could light a candle and wash dishes in the pantry non-stop.I asked her pay, and she said eighteenpence would make me neither rich nor poor.I don't think so, so it's settled.

The lack of foresight of the blacksmith who had built Mrs. Crupp's kitchen stove was evident, for that stove was incapable of doing anything but chops and mashed potatoes.As for the fish-pan, Mrs. Crupp said, well, I'll see better than that if I go and see the place.Should I watch it? Even if I did, I wouldn't draw any conclusions, so I declined and said, "No more fish." But Mrs. Crupp said, don't say that, since it's on the market, why not use it What? So it's settled.Then Mrs. Crupp said her proposal was: a pair of hot roast chickens—at the grocery store; a dish of beef and greens—at the grocery store; — at the grocery store; a fruit pie, a side of aspic (if I like) — at the grocery store.That way, Mrs. Crupp said, she could concentrate on making the potatoes, and getting the cheese and celery ready as she wished.

I did as she suggested and went to the grocery store to order the food myself.Then, walking along the Strand, I saw in the window of a ham and beef shop a mottled hard thing, like marble, labeled "Pace Turtle," and I went in and bought a chunk.I was sure at the time that such a large piece would feed fifteen people.It took some trouble to get Mrs. Crupp to agree to warm it up; it shrank so badly when cooked that, as Steerforth said, it was "just enough" for four people.

After all these were prepared, I bought some fruit at the Coffin Garden Market, and ordered too many things from the nearby liquor store.When I came home in the afternoon, I was taken aback by the number of bottles of wine lined up in squares on the pantry floor (although Mrs. Crupp was disturbed by two short bottles).

Two friends of Steerforth, one named Greene, the other named Macan.They were lively and funny, Greene was older than Steerforth, and Macan was young, not more than twenty, as far as I could tell.I found that Makan always refers to himself as "a person" in the infinitive form, and rarely or never uses the singular No. 20 pronoun.

"One does well here alone, Mr. Copperfield," said Markan, referring to himself.

"It's an okay place," I said, "and the rooms are spacious."

"I just hope you two have all right appetites?" said Steerforth.

"Actually," said Macan, "London seems to strengthen one's appetite. One is hungry all day long, one eats forever."

At first I felt a little coy, as I felt too young to be host, so I forced Steerforth to take the first place at dinner, and I sat opposite him.Everything went well; we drank to our heart's content; and he was so clever to make everything perfect that there was no stagnation in the feast.But at dinner, I was not as good at serving as I hoped. I sat facing the door, and I often saw the young man on duty coming out of the room from time to time, and immediately saw his shadow reflected on the wall, with a smile on his mouth. Bottle, I'm so upset.The "little girl" also disturbed me: it was not so much that she did not do her duty as that she broke the saucer.Because of her inquisitive nature, she could not stay in the pantry as ordered, but she kept peeking at us from inside, and at the same time she was afraid that we would see her, so several times she stepped on the plates that she had carefully laid out on the board. , causing a lot of damage.

But these were small disappointments, and it was easy to forget when the table-cloth was removed and the fruit set, and at that stage of the party, after finding the young man on the errand unable to speak, I sent him to Mrs. Crupp, Send that "little girl" to the basement again, and we'll have fun.

(End of this chapter)