CHAPTER VI.
IT IS OUR OPENING DAY.
And now the day had arrived on which the firm was to try the resultof their efforts. It is believed that the 15th of May in that yearwill not easily be forgotten in the neighbourhood of BishopsgateStreet. It was on this day that the experiment of the men in armourwas first tried, and the four cavaliers, all mounted and polished asbright as brass, were stationed in the front of the house by nineo'clock. There they remained till the doors and shop windows wereopened, which ceremony actually took place at twelve. It had beenstated to the town on the preceding day by a man dressed as Fame,with a long horn, who had been driven about in a gilt car, that thiswould be done at ten. But peeping through the iron shutters at thathour, the gentlemen of the firm saw that the crowd was as yet by nomeans great. So a huge poster was put up outside each window:--
POSTPONED TILL ELEVEN. IMMENSE PRESSURE OF GOODS IN THE BACK PREMISES.
At eleven this was done again; but at twelve the house was reallyopened. At that time the car with Fame and the long horn wasstationed in front of the men in armour, and there really was aconsiderable concourse of people.
"This won't do, Mr. Brown," a policeman had said. "The people arehalf across the street."
"Success! success!" shouted Mr. Robinson, from the first landing onthe stairs. He was busy correcting the proofs of their second set ofnotices to the public.
"Shall we open, George?" whispered Mr. Brown, who was ratherflurried.
"Yes; you may as well begin," said he. "It must be done sooner orlater." And then he retired quietly to his work. He had allowedhimself to be elated for one moment at the interference of thepolice, but after that he remained above, absorbed in his work; or ifnot so absorbed, disdaining to mix with the crowd below. For there,in the centre of the shop, leaning on the arm of Mr. William Brisket,stood Maryanne Brown.
As regards grouping, there was certainly some propriety in thearrangements made for receiving the public. When the iron shutterswere wound up, the young men of the establishment stood in a rowbehind one of the counters, and the young women behind the other.They were very nicely got up for the occasion. The girls were alldecorated with magenta-coloured ribbons, and the young men withmagenta neckties. Mr. Jones had been very anxious to charge themfor these articles in their wages, but Mr. Brown's good feeling hadprevented this. "No, Jones, no; the master always finds the livery."There had been something in the words, master and livery, whichhad tickled the ears of his son-in-law, and so the matter had beenallowed to pass by.
In the centre of the shop stood Mr. Brown, very nicely dressed ina new suit of black. That bald head of his, and the way he hadof rubbing his hands together, were not ill-calculated to createrespect. But on such occasions it was always necessary to induce himto hold his tongue. Mr. Brown never spoke effectively unless he hadbeen first moved almost to tears. It was now his special businessto smile, and he did smile. On his right hand stood his partnerand son-in-law Jones, mounted quite irrespectively of expense. Hiswaistcoat and cravat may be said to have been gorgeous, and from hissilky locks there came distilled a mixed odour of musk and patchouli.About his neck also the colours of the house were displayed, and inhis hand he waved a magenta handkerchief. His wife was leaning on hisarm, and on such an occasion as this even Robinson had consented toher presence. She was dressed from head to foot in magenta. She worea magenta bonnet, and magenta stockings, and it was said of her thatshe was very careful to allow the latter article to be seen. Theonly beauty of which Sarah Jane could boast, rested in her feet andankles.
But on the other side of Mr. Brown stood a pair, for whose presencethere George Robinson had not expressed his approbation, and as toone of whom it may be said that better taste would have been shown onall sides had he not thus intruded himself. Mr. Brisket had none ofthe rights of proprietorship in that house, nor would it be possiblethat he should have as long as the name of the firm contained withinitself that of Mr. Robinson. Had Brown, Jones, and Brisket agreedto open shop together, it would have been well for Brisket to standthere with that magenta shawl round his neck, and waving that magentatowel in his hand. But as it was, what business had he there?
"What business has he there? Ah, tell me that; what business has hethere?" said Robinson to himself, as he sat moodily in the small backroom upstairs. "Ah, tell me that, what business has he here? Didnot the old man promise that she should be mine? Is it for him thatI have done all; for him that I have collected the eager crowd ofpurchasers that throng the hall of commerce below, which my taste hasdecorated? Or for her--? Have I done this for her,--the false one?But what recks it? She shall live to know that had she been constantto me she might have sat--almost upon a throne!" And then he rushedagain to his work, and with eager pen struck off those well-knownlines about the house which some short time after ravished the earsof the metropolis.
In a following chapter of these memoirs it will be necessary togo back for a while to the domestic life of some of the personsconcerned, and the fact of Mr. Brisket's presence at the opening ofthe house will then be explained. In the meantime the gentle readeris entreated to take it for granted that Mr. William Brisket wasactually there, standing on the left hand of Mr. Brown, waving highabove his head a huge magenta cotton handkerchief, and that on hisother arm was hanging Maryanne Brown, leaning quite as closely uponhim as her sister did upon the support which was her own. For onemoment George Robinson allowed himself to look down upon the scene,and he plainly saw that clutch of the hand upon the sleeve. "Big ashe is," said Robinson to himself, "pistols would make us equal. Butthe huge ox has no sense of chivalry."
It was unfortunate for the future intrinsic comfort of the firm thatthat member of it who was certainly not the least enterprising shouldhave found himself unable to join in the ceremony of opening thehouse; but, nevertheless, it must be admitted that that ceremony wasimposing. Maryanne Brown was looking her best, and dressed as she wasin the correctest taste of the day, wearing of course the colours ofthe house, it was not unnatural that all eyes should be turned onher. "What a big man that Robinson is!" some one in the crowd washeard to observe. Yes; that huge lump of human clay that calleditself William Brisket, the butcher of Aldersgate Street, wasactually taken on that occasion for the soul, and life, and salt ofan advertising house. Of Mr. William Brisket, it may here be said,that he had no other idea of trade than that of selling at so muchper pound the beef which he had slaughtered with his own hands.
But that ceremony was imposing. "Ladies and gentlemen," said thosefive there assembled--speaking as it were with one voice,--"we bidyou welcome to Magenta House. Nine times nine is eighty-one. Neverforget that." Robinson had planned the words, but he was not there toassist at their utterance! "Ladies and gentlemen, again we bid youwelcome to Magenta House." And then they retired backwards down theshop, allowing the crowd to press forward, and all packed themselvesfor awhile into Mr. Brown's little room at the back.
"It was smart," said Mr. Brisket.
"And went off uncommon well," said Jones, shaking the scent from hishead. "All the better, too, because that chap wasn't here."
"He's a clever fellow," said Brisket.
"And you shouldn't speak against him behind his back, Jones. Who didit all? And who couldn't have done it if he hadn't been here?" Whenthese words were afterwards told to George Robinson, he forgave Mr.Brown a great deal.
The architect, acting under the direction of Mr. Robinson, hadcontrived to arch the roof, supporting it on five semicircular irongirders, which were left there visible to the eye, and which were ofcourse painted magenta. On the foremost of these was displayed thename of the firm,--Brown, Jones, and Robinson. On the second, thename of the house,--Magenta House. On the third the number,--Ninetimes nine is eighty one. On the fourth, an edict of tradeagainst which retail houses in the haberdashery line should neversin,--"Terms: Ready cash." And on the last, the special principle ofour trade,--"Five-and-a-half per cent. profit." The back of the shopwas closed in with magenta curtains, t
hrough which the bald head ofMr. Brown would not unfrequently be seen to emerge; and on each sideof the curtains there stood a tall mirror, reaching up to the veryceiling. Upon the whole, the thing certainly was well done.
"But the contractor,"--the man who did the work was called thecontractor,--"the contractor says that he will want the rest of hismoney in two months," said Mr. Brown, whining.
"He would not have wanted any for the next twelve months," answeredRobinson, "if you had not insisted on paying him those few hundreds."
"You can find fault with the bill, you know," said Jones, "and delayit almost any time by threatening him with a lawyer."
"And then he will put a distress on us," said Mr. Brown.
"And after that will be very happy to take our bill at six months,"answered Robinson. And so that matter was ended for the time.
Those men in armour stood there the whole of that day, and Famein his gilded car used his trumpet up and down Bishopsgate Streetwith such effect, that the people living on each side of the streetbecame very sick of him. Fame himself was well acted,--at 16_s._the day,--and when the triumphal car remained still, stood balancedon one leg, with the other stretched out behind, in a manner thatriveted attention. But no doubt his horn was badly chosen. Mr.Robinson insisted on a long single-tubed instrument, saying that itwas classical; but a cornet a piston would have given more pleasure.
A good deal of money was taken on that day; but certainly not so muchas had been anticipated. Very many articles were asked for, lookedat, and then not purchased. But this, though it occasioned grief toMr. Brown, was really not of much moment. That the thing should betalked of,--if possible mentioned in the newspapers--was the objectof the firm.
"I would give my bond for 2,000_l._," said Robinson, "to get a leaderin the Jupiter."
The first article demanded over the counter was a real African monkeymuff, very superior, with long fine hair.
"The ships which are bringing them have not yet arrived from thecoast," answered Jones, who luckily stepped up at the moment. "Theyare expected in the docks to-morrow."