CHARLES DICKENS DOMBEY AND SON CHAPTER I Dombey and ...

'Here, in this room. Once.'
'What kind of man?'
'Not young. "Grey-headed," as he said, "and fast growing greyer." But
generous, and frank, and good, I am sure.'
'And only seen once, Harriet?'
'In this room only once,' said his sister, with the slightest and most
transient glow upon her cheek; 'but when here, he entreated me to suffer him
to see me once a week as he passed by, in token of our being well, and
continuing to need nothing at his hands. For I told him, when he proffered
us any service he could render--which was the object of his visit--that we
needed nothing.'
'And once a week'
'Once every week since then, and always on the same day, and at the same
hour, he has gone past; always on foot; always going in the same
direction--towards London; and never pausing longer than to bow to me, and
wave his hand cheerfully, as a kind guardian might. He made that promise
when he proposed these curious interviews, and has kept it so faithfully and
pleasantly, that if I ever felt any trifling uneasiness about them in the
beginning (which I don't think I did, John; his manner was so plain and
true) it very soon vanished, and left me quite glad when the day was coming.
Last Monday--the first since this terrible event--he did not go by; and I
have wondered whether his absence can have been in any way connected with
what has happened.'
'How?' inquired her brother.
'I don't know how. I have only speculated on the coincidence; I have not
tried to account for it. I feel sure he will return. When he does, dear
John, let me tell him that I have at last spoken to you, and let me bring