Mr. Jasper

“ As Jasper's schoolmate, and your nephew, he shall be doubly welcome."
"You are very kind, Mr. Kent," said his wife, in a tone which might well be mistaken for that of grateful emotion. "It will, indeed, be a treat to my poor Nicholas to come here, even for a day."
"He must spend his next vacation here, eh, Jasper? It will be pleasant for you to have a boy of your own age here."
"Do as you like, father," said Jasper, who didn't care to say how distasteful the proposition was to him, or to explain the nature of the relations between Nicholas and himself. ”

“ Mr. Sapsea has improved the acquaintance of Mr. Jasper, since their first meeting to partake of port, epitaph, backgammon, beef, and salad. Mr. Sapsea has been received at the gatehouse with kindred hospitality; and on that occasion Mr. Jasper seated himself at the piano, and sang to him, tickling his ears—figuratively—long enough to present a considerable area for tickling. What Mr. Sapsea likes in that young man is, that he is always ready to profit by the wisdom of his elders, and that he is sound, sir, at the core. ”

“ There’s his own solitary shadow betwixt his two windows—the one looking this way, and the one looking down into the High Street—drawing his own curtains now.”
“Well, well,” says the Dean, with a sprightly air of breaking up the little conference, “I hope Mr. Jasper’s heart may not be too much set upon his nephew. Our affections, however laudable, in this transitory world, should never master us; we should guide them, guide them. I find I am not disagreeably reminded of my dinner, by hearing my dinner-bell. Perhaps, Mr. Crisparkle, you will, before going home, look in on Jasper?” ”

“ Miller, attributing Jasper's serious expression to his father's death.
"Yes, sir; I am only just beginning to understand how much."
"A father's place cannot be supplied."
"No, sir; but this is not the extent of my trouble."
"Can I do anything to help you?"
"Yes, sir. I am very much in need of advice."
"I shall be glad to give you the best I can, Jasper. I was your father's friend, and I shall be glad to be yours also."
"Thank you, sir. My troubles are connected with my step-mother, who treats me like an enemy."
"Can this be so?" asked Mr. Miller, in surprise. ”

“ Jasper (Old) , a ploughman at Glendearg Tower.—Sir W. Scott, The Monastery (time, Elizabeth) .
Jasper (Sir) , father of Charlotte. He wants her to marry a Mr. Dapper; but she loves Leander, and, to avoid a marriage she dislikes, pretends to be dumb. A mock doctor is called in who discovers the facts of the case, and employs Leander as his apothecary. Leander soon cures the lady with “pills matrimoniac.” In Molière’s Le Médecin Malgré Lui (from which this play is taken) Sir Jasper is called “Géronte” (2 syl.) .—H. Fielding, The Mock Doctor. ”

“ The evening was spent socially, little Harry, of course, being the central object of interest. The little fellow appeared to have taken a great fancy to Jasper, and was unwilling to have him go the next day. He was not reconciled till Jasper promised to come back.
CHAPTER XXIII.
WHERE JASPER FOUND DICK.
To find the address given by the kidnapper was not difficult. It was only necessary to look over a plan of the city, which Jasper did in Mr. Fitch's counting-room.
"Come back when your business is over," said the merchant.
"I will," said Jasper. ”

“ If she has been dealing in opium for ten years (the exact period is not stated) , she has been very disreputable for twenty-six years, that is ever since John Jasper’s birth. Mr. Cuming Walters suggests that she is the mother of John Jasper, and, therefore, maternal grandmother of Edwin Drood. She detests her client, Jasper, and plays the spy on his movements, for reasons unexplained.
Jasper is secretly in love with Rosa, the fiancée of his nephew, and his own pupil in the musical art. He makes her aware of his passion, silently, and she fears and detests him, but keeps these emotions private. ”

“ Jasper really did not care to hear about them.
"Yes! yes!" he exclaimed impatiently, for it seemed to him that old Mr. Crow never would stop talking about himself. "Now that we're having a good spell of weather you ought to begin to feel better. And what's the news, Mr. Crow? Have you heard of anything happening around here lately?"
The old gentleman shook his head.
"Things are quiet," he said.
"Nobody left Pleasant Valley recently?" Jasper inquired.
"Not that I've heard of," replied Mr. Crow.
p. 20
"No strangers come here to live?" Jasper asked him.
"No one at all!" said Mr. Crow. ”

“ I've got a few dollars laid by. If they'll do you any good you're welcome to take 'em. I shan't need 'em."
"Thank you, Tom," said Jasper, cordially grasping his toil-embrowned hand, "but I am well provided for. Mr. Miller, my father's friend, is mine, too. He has lent me some money, and will lend me more if I need it."
"I'm glad of that. You'll always find friends."
Half an hour later, as Jasper was going up the street, with his carpet-bag in one hand, he saw the open carriage approaching in which Mrs. Kent and Nicholas were seated. ”

“ For this reason he had already had his pay raised to fifteen dollars a week and was thoroughly trusted, even in matters of importance.
Of this he was about to receive an additional proof.
"Jasper," said Mr. Fitch one day, as our hero entered his counting-room, "how would you like a little journey?"
Jasper's eyes brightened.
"I would like nothing better," he answered, promptly.
"So I supposed. Young men of your age generally like to travel."
"To what place do you wish me to go, may I ask, sir?"
"To Kansas—a small town named Plattville." ”

“ These were all the antecedents known in Minor Canon Corner of the coming pupils.
“I am sure you will agree with me, Ma,” said Mr. Crisparkle, after thinking the matter over, “that the first thing to be done, is, to put these young people as much at their ease as possible. There is nothing disinterested in the notion, because we cannot be at our ease with them unless they are at their ease with us. Now, Jasper’s nephew is down here at present; and like takes to like, and youth takes to youth. He is a cordial young fellow, and we will have him to meet the brother and sister at dinner. ”

“ The figure of this young man was but imperfectly visible, as he stood behind the high-backed chair, on which the old man, whom from the similarity in their features, if not in their expression, Jasper took to be his father, was seated. But his face, his muscular neck, his well-developed chest and broad shoulders, displayed by a close-fitting jerkin of some dark stuff, were all in strong light; and as the features and expression of the countenance gave token of a powerful character and energetic will, so did the frame give promise of ability to carry out the workings of the mind. ”

“ Here the speaker, who was always ready with a generous appreciation of his own conceits, threw his head back and laughed consumedly, while Sir Jasper uttered some sounds between a growl and a groan.
The volatile second in waiting wiped his eyes.
"Go to, man," cried he, turning with sudden irascibility upon his friend, "for pity's sake take that lugubrious countenance of thine out of my sight. What the devil I ever saw in thee, Jasper, to make a friend of, passes my comprehension: for, of all things, I love a fellow with a spark of wit. ”

“ It won't buy me a dinner."
"I am sorry, but it is none of my business," said Jasper coolly. "You are old enough to attend to your own affairs."
"And I once thought you were my friend," murmured Philip bitterly.
"Yes, we were friends in a way."
"Now you are up and I am down-- Jasper, I want a dollar."
"I dare say you do. Plenty want that."
"I want it from you."
"I can't spare it."
"You can spare it better than you can spare your situation."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Jasper, growing nervous. ”

“ Jasper stands still, and looks on intently at the young fellow, divesting himself of his outward coat, hat, gloves, and so forth. Once for all, a look of intentness and intensity—a look of hungry, exacting, watchful, and yet devoted affection—is always, now and ever afterwards, on the Jasper face whenever the Jasper face is addressed in this direction. And whenever it is so addressed, it is never, on this occasion or on any other, dividedly addressed; it is always concentrated.
“Now I am right, and now I’ll take my corner, Jack. Any dinner, Jack?” ”

“ The flavor was agreeable, and the coolness of the draught was so delicious to the feverish palate and parched tongue of Jasper, that he drained it to the very bottom, and then, as if exhausted by the effort, relaxed his hold, and sunk back on his pillow in a state of conscious languor, exquisitely soft and entrancing.
More and more that voluptuous dream-like trance overcame him, and though his eyes were still open he saw not the things that were around him, but a multitude of radiant and lovely visions, which came and went, and returned again, in mystic evolutions. ”

“ Presumably the house had been deserted till Jasper’s entrance, but a prowler in the yard might have judged from this ever-burning light that some one was in residence. The bedroom was Spartan—an iron bed, one straight chair, a washstand, a heavy oak bureau. Jasper scrambled to unlock the lowest drawer of the bureau, yank it open, take out a wrinkled shiny suit of black, a pair of black shoes, a small black bow tie, a Gladstone collar, a white shirt with starched bosom, a speckly brown felt hat and a wig—an expensive and excellent wig with artfully unkempt hair of a faded brown. ”

“ The staircase groups, I can’t identify. The young men in both may be meant to represent Jasper. They are not in the least like that sombre personage, but just colourless young men. In the garden scene one cannot think that the kneeling figure pressing the girl’s fingers to his lips is meant for Jasper at all. It has a mop of fair hair and boasts a moustache, and in the scene in the garden of the Nuns’ House Rosa did not permit Jasper to approach her so nearly. ”

“ But before she got to the top of the staircase leading down to the basement, she almost ran across a small figure, whose face was hardly to be seen amid the pile of things he was carrying.
“I’ve been to get cloths and sponges to dry it all up, Mummy,” he said breathlessly, “and a pail to squeeze it into, and Harriet’s comin’,” and sure enough the housemaid’s head just then emerged at the top of the kitchen staircase.
“Master Jasper, Master Jasper,” she gasped, “you can’t carry all that;” and certainly he did look very comical, with his intensely grave face peeping out above his load. ”

“ From Phil, Forbes had heard something of the story of Jasper's conversion, and so he was glad of an excuse to go up and rejoice with him in his new-found happiness. But on reaching the shed, and gaining admittance only after repeated knockings, he was surprised to find Jasper sitting with his face buried in his hands, and the tears falling from his eyes.
"Why, Jasper, what's the meaning of this? I thought to find you brimful of joy. What ails you, man?" and the constable laid a kindly hand on the old man's shoulder, as he repeated his inquiry. ”

“ Yes, [134] you—or any other man. ‘Look out for a well-bred creature, pray,’ I would say, ‘and a healthy, that she be kind to our little Denis, and pick her sensible, for the Lord’s sake.’ Now, Sir Jasper, mark my words ... I give him a week to bellow, and, after that—observe me—he will be found at such common, low places as a cockfight, or a bruising match, with a kerchief high about his neck, and a hat down on his eyes. And he will, like as not, make expeditions to Bristol and Plymouth, where he is less known, and where a man may attend a bit of sport without his friends’ eyes upon him. ”

“ Jasper did let himself be persuaded to go away for at least a week-end. He would run up north, to Wakamin Lake, the coming Friday, he said; he would get some black-bass fishing, and be back on Monday or Tuesday. Before he went he would make up the pay rolls for the Saturday payments and turn them over to the other teller. The president thanked him for his faithfulness, and as was his not infrequent custom invited Jasper to his house for the evening of the next day—Thursday.
That Wednesday evening Jasper’s brother John appeared at the Soul Hope meeting in Rosebank. ”

“ The old woman sank upon the floor, and grovelled at his feet
"Oh, Sir Jasper," she moaned; "oh, Sir Jasper Frome, be merciful! Lord God! how may I tell it!"
Sir Jasper was trembling, and his eyes were wild. "Go on," he cried, "tell me all—everything!"
The old woman clung about his knees. "'Twas his doing—Sir Ralph's doing—I swear it! He told her you were dead, and she fell in a fit."
Sir Jasper clasped his hand tight upon his eyes. "The Lady Kate?" he asked.
"The Lady Kate; yes, yes," she answered feverishly. ”

“ Time passed, and he grew weary, even of the very excess of his happiness—even of the amiability, the sweetness, the ever-yielding gentleness of his Theresa. That she should so long have charmed one so rash and reckless was the real wonder, not that she should now have lost the power of charming him.
Nevertheless so it was; the mind of Jasper was not so constituted as to rest very long content with any thing, least of all with tranquillity⁠—
For quiet to hot bosoms is a hell! ”

“ Mr. Crow replied, "though I must say I wish it was somebody else. There's something about that Rabbit boy that I don't like. Maybe it's the way he wags his ears and wriggles his nose. And he's always jumping."
"He's a bright young fellow," said Jasper Jay.
Old Mr. Crow coughed.
"A little too bright, sometimes," he ventured. "But he'll have to be a good deal brighter to play any of his tricks on me."
"You think you're enough for him?" Jasper inquired.
"Think?" cried Mr. Crow. "I know I am. And though I hate to get any shoes in his shop, I'm afraid I shall have to just this once." ”