This
small and dark apartment was the only portion of the house to which, since
one firmly repelled invasion, Mrs. Melmoth's omnipotence did not extend.
Here (to reverse the words of Queen Elizabeth) there was "but one master
and no mistress"; and that man has little right to complain who possesses
so much as one corner in the world where he may be happy or miserable, as
best suits him. In his study, then, the doctor was accustomed to spend
most of the hours that were unoccupied by the duties of his station. The
flight of time was here as swift as the wind, and noiseless as the snow-
flake; and it was a sure proof of real happiness that night often came
upon the student before he knew it was midday.
Dr. Melmoth was wearing towards age (having lived nearly sixty years),
when he was called upon to assume a character to which he had as yet been
a stranger. He had possessed in his youth a very dear friend, with whom
his education had associated him, and who in his early manhood had been
his chief intimate. Circumstances, however, had separated them for nearly
thirty years, half of which had been spent by his friend, who was engaged
in mercantile pursuits, in a foreign country. The doctor had,
nevertheless, retained a warm interest in the welfare of his old
associate, though the different nature of their thoughts and occupations
had prevented them from corresponding.
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