as destined to be his bride. A
golden-hearted old dust contractor, who hides a will that will give
him all that erratic father's property, and disinherit the man
aforesaid, and who, to crown his virtues, pretends to be a miser in
order to teach the young woman, also aforesaid, how bad it is to be
mercenary, and to induce her to marry the unrecognized and seemingly
penniless son; their marriage accordingly, with ultimate result that
the bridegroom turns out to be no poor clerk, but the original heir,
who, of course, is not dead, and is the inheritor of thousands;
subsidiary groups of characters, of course, one which I think rather
uninteresting, of some brand-new people called the Veneerings and
their acquaintances, for they have no friends; and some fine sketches
of the river-side population; striking and amusing characters
too--Silas Wegg, the scoundrelly vendor of songs, who ferrets among
the dust for wills in order to confound the good dustman, his
benefactor; and the little deformed dolls' dressmaker, with her sot of
a father; and Betty Higden, the sturdy old woman who has determined
neither in life nor death to suffer the pollution of the workhouse;
such, with more added, are the ingredients of the story.

One episode, however, deserves longer comment. It is briefly this:
Eugene Wrayburn is a young barrister of good family and education, and
of excellent abilities and address, all gifts that he has turned to no
creditable purpose whatever. He falls in with a girl, Lizzie Hexham,
of more than humble rank, but of great beauty and good character. She
interests him, and in mere wanton carelessness, for he certainly has
no idea of offering marriage, he gains her affection, neither meaning,
in any definite way, to do anything good nor anything bad with it.
There is another man who loves Lizzie, a schoolmaster, who, in his
dull, plodding way, has made the best of his intellect, and risen in
life. He naturally, and we may say properly, for no good can come of
them, resents Wrayburn's attentions, as does the girl's brother.
Wrayburn uses the superior advantages of his position to insult them
in the most offensive and brutal manner, and to torture the
schoolmaster, just as he has used those advantages to win the girl's
heart. Whereupon, after being goaded to heart's desire for a
considerable time, the schoolmaster as nearly as possible beats out
Wrayburn's life, and commits suicide. Wrayburn is rescued by Lizzie as
he lies