But a few years afterwards David—ætat. 17—becomes a better match for his opponent; and we read in the same chapter how—after his youthful disappointment in re “the eldest Miss Larkins”—having received new provocation from the butcher, he goes out to battle a second time, and gloriously defeats him.
Turning again on the right into the main central thoroughfare, we may find, on the south side, the Fleur de Lys Hotel—34 High Street. A well-appointed and respectable establishment, at which, in the time of Copperfield’s school-days, Mr. Dick was in the habit of stopping every alternate Wednesday, arriving from Dover by the stage-coach on his special fortnightly visits to David. We read that
“These Wednesdays were the happiest days of Mr. Dick’s life; they were far from being the least happy of mine. He soon became known to every boy in the school, and though he never took an active part in any game but kite-flying, was as deeply interested in all our sports as any one among us.”
On the opposite (north) side of the road stands the old-fashioned George and Dragon Inn—No. 18 High Street. In the days of Copperfield, the London and Dover Coach, passing en route through Canterbury, stopped here for change of horses. At this inn, therefore, was the “Coach Office,” referred to in chapter 17 as being the place of arrival and departure of Mr. Dick, as aforesaid. This London Coach is also mentioned in the closing paragraph of the same chapter, David being on his way to offer Micawber a soothing word of comfort in reply to a dismal letter just received from that “Beggared Outcast”—
“Halfway there, I met the London coach with Mr. and Mrs. Micawber up behind; Mr. Micawber, the very picture of tranquil enjoyment, smiling at Mrs. Micawber’s conversation, eating walnuts out of a paper bag, with a bottle sticking out of his breast pocket. As they did not see me, I thought it best, all things considered, not to see them. So, with a great weight taken off my mind, I turned into a by-street that was the nearest way to school, and felt, upon the whole, relieved that they were gone, though I still liked them very much, nevertheless.”
Turning on the right (northward) from High Street, by a short intermediate road, the Rambler approaches Palace Street, on the east side of which, near the western end of the Cathedral, stands the Church of St. Alphege. This edifice was casually referred to by the “Old Soldier,” Mrs. Markleham, as the church where the marriage of her daughter Annie with the worthy Dr. Strong was solemnised. The reference occurs, by way of interruption on the part of Mrs. M., during a very touching conference between the doctor and his wife, as related in “Copperfield,” chapter 45—“Mr. Dick fulfils my aunt’s predictions.”
Passing onwards through St. Peter’s Street to Westgate Street, crossing the western branch of the river, we come by a turning on the right to North Lane, in which is situated the former Residence of Uriah Heep. It is a small two-storeyed house with plastered front, on the right side, near the entrance of the lane—No. 65; the “’umble dwelling” to which David was introduced as described in chapter 17 of his history—
“We entered a low, old-fashioned room, walked straight into from the street, and found there Mrs. Heep, who was the dead image of Uriah, only short. . . . It was a perfectly decent room, half parlour and half kitchen, but not at all a snug room. The tea things were set upon the table, and the kettle was boiling on the hob. There was a chest of drawers with an escritoire top, for Uriah to read or write at of an evening; there was Uriah’s blue bag lying down and vomiting papers; there was a company of Uriah’s books commanded by Mr. Tidd; there was a corner cupboard, and there were the usual articles of furniture. I don’t remember that any individual object had a bare, pinched, spare look, but I do remember that the whole place had.”
Returning to the main street, we pass the ancient West Gate—a fine specimen of medieval architecture, built between two massive round towers, with battlements and portcullis—and continue westward by St. Dunstan Street. At a short distance onwards, on the south side of the thoroughfare, nearly facing the approach to the South-Eastern Railway Station, there may be observed—No. 71—an old picturesque timbered house, with three projecting gables and antiquated windows. This was the Residence of Mr. Wickfield, as described by David, in chapter 15, when he was first taken to Canterbury by Miss Betsy Trotwood—
“At length we stopped before a very old house, bulging out over the road; a house with long low lattice windows bulging out still farther, and beams with carved heads on the ends, bulging out too, so that I fancied the whole house was leaning forward, trying to see who was passing on the narrow pavement below. It was quite spotless in its cleanliness. The old-fashioned brass knocker on the low arched door, ornamented with carved garlands of fruit and flowers, twinkled like a star; the two stone steps descending to the door were as white as if they had been covered with fair linen; and all the angles and corners and carvings and mouldings, and quaint little panes of glass, and quainter little windows, though as old as the hills, were as pure as any snow that ever fell upon the hills.”