the France-Italian pattern. Yet Chaffey's remained English,
flagrantly English, in its viands and its waiters. The new
proprietor aimed at combining foreign glitter with the prices and
the entertainment acceptable to a public of small means. Moreover,
he prospered. The doors were now open from nine o'clock in the
morning to twelve at night. There was a bar for the supply of
alcoholic drinks--the traditional porter had always been fetched
from a neighbouring house--and frivolities such as tea and coffee
were in constant demand.

This change told grievously upon Mr. Sparkes. At the first mention
of it he determined to resign but the weakness in his character
shrank from such a decided step, and he allowed himself to be drawn
into a painfully false position. The proprietor did not wish to lose
him. Mr. Sparkes was a slim, upright, grave-featured man, whose
deportment had its market value; his side-whiskers and shaven lip
gave him a decidedly clerical aspect, which, together with long
experience and a certain austerity of command, well fitted him for
superintending the younger waiters. His salary was increased, his
"tips" represented a much larger income than heretofore. At the old
Chaffey's every diner gave him a penny, whilst at the new he often
received twopence, and customers were much more numerous. But every
copper he pouched cost Mr. Sparkes a pang of humiliation; his "Thank
you, sir," had the urbanity which had become mechanical, but more
often than not he sneered inwardly, despising himself and those upon
whom he waited.

To one person alone did he exhibit all the bitterness of his
feelings, and that was Mrs. Clover, the sister of his deceased wife.
With her he occasionally spent a Sunday evening in the parlour