The hoarse High Street became musical with the cry, in various
silvery voices, 'Good-bye, Rosebud darling!' and the effigy of Mr.
Sapsea's father over the opposite doorway seemed to say to mankind:
'Gentlemen, favour me with your attention to this charming little
last lot left behind, and bid with a spirit worthy of the
occasion!' Then the staid street, so unwontedly sparkling,
youthful, and fresh for a few rippling moments, ran dry, and
Cloisterham was itself again.
If Rosebud in her bower now waited Edwin Drood's coming with an
uneasy heart, Edwin for his part was uneasy too. With far less
force of purpose in his composition than the childish beauty,
crowned by acclamation fairy queen of Miss Twinkleton's
establishment, he had a conscience, and Mr. Grewgious had pricked
it. That gentleman's steady convictions of what was right and what
was wrong in such a case as his, were neither to be frowned aside
nor laughed aside. They would not be moved. But for the dinner in
Staple Inn, and but for the ring he carried in the breast pocket of
his coat, he would have drifted into their wedding-day without
another pause for real thought, loosely trusting that all would go
well, left alone. But that serious putting him on his truth to the
living and the dead had brought him to a check. He must either
give the ring to Rosa, or he must take it back. Once put into this
narrowed way of action, it was curious that he began to consider
Rosa's claims upon him more unselfishly than he had ever considered
them before, and began to be less sure of himself than he had ever
been in all his easy-going days.
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