Shehesitatedandtouchedmyhandforaninstant。“It’ssilly。”
sheremarkedasshedidso。“Itmeansreallywe’re——“Shepaused。
“Yes？”saidI。
“Engaged。You’llhavetowaityears。Whatgoodcanitdoyou？”
“Notsomanyyears。”Ianswered。
Foramomentshebrooded。
Thensheglancedatmewithasmile，half-sweet，half-wistful，thathasstuckinmymemoryforever。
“Ilikeyou！”shesaid。“Ishallliketobeengagedtoyou。”
And，faintonthethresholdofhearing，Icaughtherventured“dear！”It’soddthatinwritingthisdownmymemorypassedoverallthatintervenedandIfeelitallagain，andonceagainI’mMarion’sboyishlovertakinggreatjoyinsuchrareandlittlethings。
AtlastIwenttotheaddressmyunclehadgivenmeinGowerStreet，andfoundmyauntSusanwaitingteaforhim。
DirectlyIcameintotheroomIappreciatedthechangeinoutlookthattheachievementofTono-BungayhadmadealmostasvividlyaswhenIsawmyuncle’snewhat。Thefurnitureoftheroomstruckuponmyeyeasalmoststately。Thechairsandsofawerecoveredwithchintzwhichgaveitadim，remoteflavourofBladesover；
themantel，thecornice，thegaspendantwerelargerandfinerthanthesortofthingIhadgrownaccustomedtoinLondon。AndIwasshowninbyarealhousemaidwithrealtailstohercap，andgreatquantitiesofreddishhair。Therewasmyaunttoolookingbrightandpretty，inablue-patternedtea-wrapwithbowsthatseemedtomethequintessenceoffashion。Shewassittinginachairbytheopenwindowwithquiteapileofyellow-labelledbooksontheoccasionaltablebesideher。Beforethelarge，paper-decoratedfireplacestoodathree-tieredcake-standdisplayingassortedcakes，andatraywithalltheteaequipageexcepttheteapot，wasonthelargecentre-table。
Thecarpetwasthick，andaspiceofadventurewasgivenitbyanumberofdyedsheep-skinmats。
“Hello！”saidmyauntasIappeared。“It’sGeorge！”
“ShallIservetheteanow，Mem？”saidtherealhousemaid，surveyingourgreetingcoldly。
“NottillMr。Ponderevocomes，Meggie。”saidmyaunt，andgrimacedwithextraordinaryswiftnessandvirulenceasthehousemaidturnedherback。
“Meggieshecallsherself。”saidmyauntasthedoorclosed，andleftmetoinferacertainwantofsympathy。
“You’relookingveryjolly，aunt。”saidI。
“WhatdoyouthinkofallthisoldBusinesshe’sgot？”askedmyaunt。
“Seemsapromisingthing。”Isaid。
“Isupposethereisabusinesssomewhere？”
“Haven’tyouseenit？”
“’FraidI’dsaysomethingATitGeorge，ifIdid。Sohewon’tletme。Itcameonquitesuddenly。Broodinghewasandwritinglettersandsizzlingsomethingawful——likeachestnutgoingtopop。ThenhecamehomeonedaysayingTono-BungaytillIthoughthewascleanoffhisonion，andsinging——whatwasit？”
“’I’mafloat，I’mafloat，’“Iguessed。
“Theverything。You’veheardhim。Andsayingourfortunesweremade。TookmeouttotheHo’burmRestaurant，George，——dinner，andwehadchampagne，stuffthatblowsupthebackofyournoseandmakesyougoSO，andhesaidatlasthe’dgotthingsworthyofme——andwemovedherenextday。It’saswellhouse，George。
Threepoundsaweekfortherooms。AndhesaystheBusiness’llstandit。”
Shelookedatmedoubtfully。
“Eitherdothatorsmash。”Isaidprofoundly。
Wediscussedthequestionforamomentmutelywithoureyes。MyauntslappedthepileofbooksfromMudie’s。
“I’vebeenhavingsuchaGoofreading，George。Youneverdid！”
“Whatdoyouthinkofthebusiness？”Iasked。
“Well，they’velethimhavemoney。”shesaid，andthoughtandraisedhereyebrows。
“It’sbeenatime。”shewenton。“Theflappingabout！Mesittingdoingnothingandhimonthegolikearocket。He’sdonewonders。Buthewantsyou，George——hewantsyou。Sometimeshe’sfullofhope——talksofwhenwe’regoingtohaveacarriageandbeinsociety——makesitseemsonaturalandtopsy-turvy，Ihardlyknowwhethermyoldheelsaren’tupherelisteningtohim，andmyoldheadonthefloor。Thenhegetsdepressed。Sayshewantsrestraint。Sayshecanmakeasplashbutcan’tkeepon。
Saysifyoudon’tcomeineverythingwillsmash——Butyouarecomingin？”
Shepausedandlookedatme。
“Well——“
“Youdon’tsayyouwon’tcomein！”
“Butlookhere，aunt。”Isaid，“doyouunderstandquite？。It’saquackmedicine。It’strash。”
“There’snolawagainstsellingquackmedicinethatIknowof。”
saidmyaunt。Shethoughtforaminuteandbecameunusuallygrave。“It’souronlychance，George。”shesaid。“Ifitdoesn’tgo。”
Therecametheslammingofadoor，andaloudbellowingfromthenextapartmentthroughthefoldingdoors。“Here-erSheeRulkliesPooTomBo——oling。”
“SillyoldConcertina！Harkathim，George！”Sheraisedhervoice。“Don’tsingthat，youoldWalrus，you！Sing’I’mafloat！’“
Oneleafofthefoldingdoorsopenedandmyuncleappeared。
“Hullo，George！Comealongatlast？Gossometea-cake，Susan？”
“ThoughtitoverGeorge？”hesaidabruptly。
“Yes。”saidI。
“Comingin？”
Ipausedforalastmomentandnoddedyes。
“Ah！”hecried。“Whycouldn’tyousaythataweekago？”
“I’vehadfalseideasabouttheworld。”Isaid。“Oh！theydon’tmatternow！Yes，I’llcome，I’lltakemychancewithyou，I
won’thesitateagain。”
AndIdidn’t。Istucktothatresolutionforsevenlongyears。
SoImademypeacewithmyuncle，andwesetoutuponthisbrightenterpriseofsellingslightlyinjuriousrubbishatone-and-three-halfpenceandtwo-and-nineabottle，includingtheGovernmentstamp。WemadeTono-Bungayhum！Itbroughtuswealth，influence，respect，theconfidenceofendlesspeople。
Allthatmyunclepromisedmeprovedtruthandunderstatement；
Tono-Bungaycarriedmetofreedomsandpowersthatnolifeofscientificresearch，nopassionateserviceofhumanitycouldeverhavegivenme。
Itwasmyuncle’sgeniusthatdidit。Nodoubtheneededme，——I
was，Iwilladmit，hisindispensablerighthand；buthiswasthebraintoconceive。Hewroteeveryadvertisement；someofthemevenhesketched。YoumustrememberthathiswerethedaysbeforetheTimetooktoenterpriseandthevociferoushawkingofthatantiquatedEncyclopedia。Thatalluring，button-holing，let-me-just-tell-you-quite-soberly-something-you-ought-to-knowstyleofnewspaperadvertisement，witheverynowandthenaconvulsivejumpofsomeattractivephraseintocapitals，wasthenalmostanovelty。“ManypeoplewhoareMODERATELYwellthinktheyareQUITEwell。”wasoneofhisearlyefforts。Thejerksincapitalswere，“DONOTNEEDDRUGSORMEDICINE。”and“SIMPLYAPROPER
REGIMENTOGETYOUINTONE。”Onewaswarnedagainstthechemistordruggistwhopushed“much-advertisednostrums“onone’sattention。Thattrashdidmoreharmthangood。Thethingneededwasregimen——andTono-Bungay！
Veryearly，too，wasthatbrightlittlequartercolumn，atleastitwasusuallyaquartercolumnintheeveningpapers：
“HILARITY——Tono-Bungay。LikeMountainAirintheVeins。”Thepenetratingtrioofquestions：“AreyouboredwithyourBusiness？
