“Oh, my Lord, I have no words to express my gratitude!”
“Very well, sir, it shall be assumed to have been expressed. The salary is one thousand a year. The duties are almost nominal.”
“I was going to ask, my Lord, whether my education and habits are such as would enable me to discharge these duties?”
“I respect your conscientious scruple, sir. It is creditable and commendable. Your mind may, however, be at ease. Your immediate predecessor passed the last thirteen years at Tours, in France, and there was never a complaint of official irregularity till, three years ago, when he came over to afford his substitute a brief leave of absence, he forgot to sign his name to certain documents,—a mistake the less pardonable that his signature formed his whole and sole official drudgery.”
It was on Sewell's lips to say, “that if he had not signed his name a little too frequently in life, his difficulties would not have been such as they now were.”
“I am afraid I did not catch what you said, sir,” said the Judge.
“I did not speak, my Lord,” replied he, bowing.
“You will see, therefore, sir, that the details of your official life need not deter you, although I have little doubt the Ministerial press will comment sharply upon your absence, if you give them the opportunity, and will reflect severely upon your unfitness, if they can detect a flaw in you. Is there anything, therefore, in your former life to which these writers can refer—I will not say disparagingly—but unpleasantly?”
“I am not aware, my Lord, of anything.”
“Of course, sir, I could not mean what might impugn your honor or affect your fame. I spoke simply of what soldiers are, perhaps, more exposed to than civilians,—the lighter scandals of society. You apprehend me?”