has power, I know, and can defer the matter no doubt. As for me,
you know, I'VE nothing to do in the affair, and only act as a friend
between you and him. I give you my honour and soul, I do."

"I know you do, my dear sir." The last two speeches were lies. The
perfumer knew perfectly well that Mr. Walker would pocket the ten
pounds; but he was too easy to care for paying it, and too timid to
quarrel with such a powerful friend. And he had on three different
occasions already paid ten pounds' fine for the renewal of the bill
in question, all of which bonuses he knew went to his friend Mr.
Walker.

Here, too, the reader will perceive what was, in part, the meaning
of the word "Agency" on Mr. Walker's door. He was a go-between
between money-lenders and borrowers in this world, and certain small
sums always remained with him in the course of the transaction. He
was an agent for wine, too; an agent for places to be had through
the influence of great men; he was an agent for half-a-dozen
theatrical people, male and female, and had the interests of the
latter especially, it was said, at heart. Such were a few of the
means by which this worthy gentleman contrived to support himself,
and if, as he was fond of high living, gambling, and pleasures of
all kinds, his revenue was not large enough for his expenditure-
-why, he got into debt, and settled his bills that way. He was as
much at home in the Fleet as in Pall Mall, and quite as happy in the
one place as in the other. "That's the way I take things," would
this philosopher say. "If I've money, I spend; if I've credit, I
borrow; if I'm dunned, I whitewash; and so you can't beat me down."
Happy elasticity of temperament! I do believe that, in spite of his
misfortunes and precarious position, there was no man in England