A FORTNIGHT later, by excellent good fortune, the doctor gave one\u00a0of his pleasant dinners to some five or six old cronies, all\u00a0intelligent, reputable men and all judges of good wine; and Mr.\u00a0Utterson so contrived that he remained behind after the others had\u00a0departed. This was no new arrangement, but a thing that had\u00a0befallen many scores of times. Where Utterson was liked, he was\u00a0liked well. Hosts loved to detain the dry lawyer, when the\u00a0light-hearted and the loose-tongued had already their foot on the\u00a0threshold; they liked to sit a while in his unobtrusive company,\u00a0practising for solitude, sobering their minds in the man's rich\u00a0silence after the expense and strain of gaiety. To this rule, Dr.\u00a0Jekyll was no exception; and as he now sat on the opposite side of\u00a0the fire\u2014a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with\u00a0something of a slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and\u00a0kindness\u2014you could see by his looks that he cherished for Mr.\u00a0Utterson a sincere and warm affection.<\/p>\r\n
\"I have been wanting to speak to you, Jekyll,\" began the latter.<\/p>\r\n\"You know that will of yours?\"\r\n
A close observer might have gathered that the topic was\u00a0distasteful; but the doctor carried it off gaily. \"My poor\u00a0Utterson,\" said he, \"you are unfortunate in such a client. I never\u00a0saw a man so distressed as you were by my will; unless it were that\u00a0hide-bound pedant, Lanyon, at what he called my scientific heresies.\u00a0Oh, I know he's a good fellow\u2014you needn't frown\u2014an excellent\u00a0fellow, and I always mean to see more of him; but a hide-bound\u00a0pedant for all that; an ignorant, blatant pedant. I was never more\u00a0disappointed in any man than Lanyon.\"<\/p>\r\n
\"You know I never approved of it,\" pursued Utterson, ruthlessly\u00a0disregarding the fresh topic.<\/p>\r\n
\"My will? Yes, certainly, I know that,\" said the doctor, a trifle\u00a0sharply. \"You have told me so.\"<\/p>\r\n
\"Well, I tell you so again,\" continued the lawyer. \"I have been\u00a0learning something of young Hyde.\"<\/p>\r\n
The large handsome face of Dr. Jekyll grew pale to the very lips,\u00a0and there came a blackness about his eyes. \"I do not care to hear\u00a0more,\" said he. \"This is a matter I thought we had agreed to drop.\"<\/p>\r\n
\"What I heard was abominable,\" said Utterson.<\/p>\r\n
\"It can make no change. You do not understand my position,\" returned the doctor, with a certain incoherency\u00a0of manner. \"I am painfully situated, Utterson; my position is a very\u00a0strange\u2014a very strange one. It is one of those affairs that\u00a0cannot be mended by talking.\"<\/p>\r\n
\"Jekyll,\" said Utterson, \"you know me: I am a man to be trusted.\u00a0Make a clean breast of this in confidence; and I make no doubt I\u00a0can get you out of it.\"<\/p>\r\n
\"My good Utterson,\" said the doctor, \"this is very good of you,\u00a0this is downright good of you, and I cannot find words to thank you\u00a0in. I believe you fully; I would trust you before any man alive, ay,\u00a0before myself, if I could make the choice; but indeed it isn't what\u00a0you fancy; it is not so bad as that; and just to put your good heart\u00a0at rest, I will tell you one thing: the moment I choose, I can be\u00a0rid of Mr. Hyde. I give you my hand upon that; and I thank you again\u00a0and again; and I will just add one little word, Utterson, that I'm\u00a0sure you'll take in good part: this is a private matter, and I beg\u00a0of you to let it sleep.\"<\/p>\r\nUtterson reflected a little, looking in the fire.\r\n
\"I have no doubt you are perfectly right,\" he said at last, getting\u00a0to his feet.<\/p>\r\n
\"Well, but since we have touched upon this business, and for the\u00a0last time I hope,\" continued the doctor, \"there is one point I\u00a0should like you to understand. I have really a very great interest\u00a0in poor Hyde. I know you have seen\u00a0him; he told me so; and I fear he was rude. But, I do sincerely\u00a0take a great, a very great interest in that young man; and if I am\u00a0taken away, Utterson, I wish you to promise me that you will bear\u00a0with him and get his rights for him. I think you would, if you knew\u00a0all; and it would be a weight off my mind if you would promise.\"<\/p>\r\n
\"I can't pretend that I shall ever like him,\" said the lawyer.<\/p>\r\n
\"I don't ask that,\" pleaded Jekyll, laying his hand upon the\u00a0other's arm; \"I only ask for justice; I only ask you to help him\u00a0for my sake, when I am no longer here.\"<\/p>\r\n
Utterson heaved an irrepressible sigh. \"Well,\" said he, \"I\u00a0promise.\"<\/p>","rendered":"
A FORTNIGHT later, by excellent good fortune, the doctor gave one\u00a0of his pleasant dinners to some five or six old cronies, all\u00a0intelligent, reputable men and all judges of good wine; and Mr.\u00a0Utterson so contrived that he remained behind after the others had\u00a0departed. This was no new arrangement, but a thing that had\u00a0befallen many scores of times. Where Utterson was liked, he was\u00a0liked well. Hosts loved to detain the dry lawyer, when the\u00a0light-hearted and the loose-tongued had already their foot on the\u00a0threshold; they liked to sit a while in his unobtrusive company,\u00a0practising for solitude, sobering their minds in the man’s rich\u00a0silence after the expense and strain of gaiety. To this rule, Dr.\u00a0Jekyll was no exception; and as he now sat on the opposite side of\u00a0the fire\u2014a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with\u00a0something of a slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and\u00a0kindness\u2014you could see by his looks that he cherished for Mr.\u00a0Utterson a sincere and warm affection.<\/p>\n
“I have been wanting to speak to you, Jekyll,” began the latter.<\/p>\n
“You know that will of yours?”<\/p>\n
A close observer might have gathered that the topic was\u00a0distasteful; but the doctor carried it off gaily. “My poor\u00a0Utterson,” said he, “you are unfortunate in such a client. I never\u00a0saw a man so distressed as you were by my will; unless it were that\u00a0hide-bound pedant, Lanyon, at what he called my scientific heresies.\u00a0Oh, I know he’s a good fellow\u2014you needn’t frown\u2014an excellent\u00a0fellow, and I always mean to see more of him; but a hide-bound\u00a0pedant for all that; an ignorant, blatant pedant. I was never more\u00a0disappointed in any man than Lanyon.”<\/p>\n
“You know I never approved of it,” pursued Utterson, ruthlessly\u00a0disregarding the fresh topic.<\/p>\n
“My will? Yes, certainly, I know that,” said the doctor, a trifle\u00a0sharply. “You have told me so.”<\/p>\n
“Well, I tell you so again,” continued the lawyer. “I have been\u00a0learning something of young Hyde.”<\/p>\n
The large handsome face of Dr. Jekyll grew pale to the very lips,\u00a0and there came a blackness about his eyes. “I do not care to hear\u00a0more,” said he. “This is a matter I thought we had agreed to drop.”<\/p>\n
“What I heard was abominable,” said Utterson.<\/p>\n
“It can make no change. You do not understand my position,” returned the doctor, with a certain incoherency\u00a0of manner. “I am painfully situated, Utterson; my position is a very\u00a0strange\u2014a very strange one. It is one of those affairs that\u00a0cannot be mended by talking.”<\/p>\n
“Jekyll,” said Utterson, “you know me: I am a man to be trusted.\u00a0Make a clean breast of this in confidence; and I make no doubt I\u00a0can get you out of it.”<\/p>\n
“My good Utterson,” said the doctor, “this is very good of you,\u00a0this is downright good of you, and I cannot find words to thank you\u00a0in. I believe you fully; I would trust you before any man alive, ay,\u00a0before myself, if I could make the choice; but indeed it isn’t what\u00a0you fancy; it is not so bad as that; and just to put your good heart\u00a0at rest, I will tell you one thing: the moment I choose, I can be\u00a0rid of Mr. Hyde. I give you my hand upon that; and I thank you again\u00a0and again; and I will just add one little word, Utterson, that I’m\u00a0sure you’ll take in good part: this is a private matter, and I beg\u00a0of you to let it sleep.”<\/p>\n
Utterson reflected a little, looking in the fire.<\/p>\n
“I have no doubt you are perfectly right,” he said at last, getting\u00a0to his feet.<\/p>\n
“Well, but since we have touched upon this business, and for the\u00a0last time I hope,” continued the doctor, “there is one point I\u00a0should like you to understand. I have really a very great interest\u00a0in poor Hyde. I know you have seen\u00a0him; he told me so; and I fear he was rude. But, I do sincerely\u00a0take a great, a very great interest in that young man; and if I am\u00a0taken away, Utterson, I wish you to promise me that you will bear\u00a0with him and get his rights for him. I think you would, if you knew\u00a0all; and it would be a weight off my mind if you would promise.”<\/p>\n
“I can’t pretend that I shall ever like him,” said the lawyer.<\/p>\n
“I don’t ask that,” pleaded Jekyll, laying his hand upon the\u00a0other’s arm; “I only ask for justice; I only ask you to help him\u00a0for my sake, when I am no longer here.”<\/p>\n
Utterson heaved an irrepressible sigh. “Well,” said he, “I\u00a0promise.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-78","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/jekyllandhyde\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/jekyllandhyde\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/jekyllandhyde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/jekyllandhyde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/jekyllandhyde\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/78\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/jekyllandhyde\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/78\/revisions\/79"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/jekyllandhyde\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/jekyllandhyde\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/78\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/jekyllandhyde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/jekyllandhyde\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=78"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/jekyllandhyde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=78"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/jekyllandhyde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}