Left alone with Sir George, Mr. Ripple took advantage of the opportunity to explain to his old friend certain events on which the latter had long brooded in vain.
Chapter the Thirty-fifth
THE CUTTING OF A DIAMOND
“AND what is your life, William?" asked Sir George Repington, leaning back in his chair and removing his wig.
"My life, George," replied Mr. Ripple, "is a gem carved by a cunning workman to stamp any material sufficiently plastick to record an impression. My life, George, is a conductor of musick. Of itself it produces no sweet sounds, but evokes a fair harmony from many and diverse instruments."
"You had ambitions once."
"I have gratified the most of them."
"Yet your life has not been active."
"No?"
"As for example mine has been."
"I do not know, George, that my contemplative existence has produced less than your phrenzied encounters with mathematical alliances and numerical intrigues. The manipulation of human beings is quite as active. We have neither of us done a vast deal."