"A Cerberus?" said he, peering out at the edge of the blind. "I' faith, I do perceive something that suggests one of the great hounds which I saw at the Hospice of St. Bernard--an enormous mass of vigilance, not over-steady on his legs."
"A three-decker sort of man, rolling at anchor?" suggested Polly, the pert one.
"I will not hear a word said against Dr. Johnson," cried Betsy. "He has kept his promise. When I told him that you were coming home to-day, he said: 'Madam, though your occupation as a singer entitles every jackanapes to see you for half a crown, still, in order to inculcate upon you the charm of a life of domesticity, I shall prevent your being pestered with busybodies for one night. I shall take care that no eye save that of Heaven sees you kiss your brother on his return.'"
"Dr. Johnson is not without a certain sense of what is delicate, though he may be in one's company a long time before one becomes aware of it," said Mr. Linley.
"Betsy did not tell you what he said when she thanked him," cried Polly. "But he rolled himself to one side, and pursed out his lips in a dreadful way. 'Tell the truth, Miss Linnet,' said he at last. 'Tell the truth: do you indeed welcome my offer, or do you not rather regret that the young rascals--ay, and the old rascals too--will be deprived of the opportunity of having their envy aroused by observing the favours you bestow on the cold lips of a brother?' Those were his very words."
"And his very manner, I vow," laughed her father; and indeed Miss Polly had given a very pretty imitation of the Johnsonian manner.
"Never mind," said Betsy. "If he only succeeds in keeping away Mrs. Thrale, he deserves all our gratitude."
And it was actually Mrs. Thrale whom Dr. Johnson was trying to convince that she had no right to enter the Linleys' house at that moment.
Hearing that Tom Linley was to return after an absence of four years in Italy, and knowing the spirit of impudent curiosity that pervaded the crowds of idlers in Bath, Dr. Johnson had posted himself at the door of 5, Pierrepont Street, when he learned that Tom had reached the house, and he had prevented even those persons who had legitimate business with Mr. Linley from intruding upon the family party.