"At any rate, Cyril," he said, "your time here has not been wasted,
and your mother's gift has been turned to as much advantage as even
she can have hoped that it would be. Should your father's hopes be
again disappointed, and fresh delays arise, you may, with the
practice you have had, be able to earn your living in London. There
must be there, as in France, many persons in trade who have had but
little education, and you may be able to obtain employment in keeping
the books of such people, who are, I believe, more common in England
than here. Here are the sixteen louis that still remain; put them
aside, Cyril, and use them only for urgent necessity."
Cyril, on arriving in London, was heartily welcomed by his father,
who had, for the moment, high hopes of recovering his estates. These,
however, soon faded, and although Sir Aubrey would not allow it, even
to himself, no chance remained of those Royalists, who had, like him,
parted with their estates for trifling sums, to be spent in the
King's service, ever regaining possession of them.
It was not long before Cyril perceived that unless he himself
obtained work of some sort they would soon be face to face with
actual starvation. He said nothing to his father, but started out one
morning on a round of visits among the smaller class of shopkeepers,
offering to make up their books and write out their bills and
accounts for a small remuneration. As he had a frank and pleasant
face, and his foreign bringing up had given him an ease and
politeness of manner rare among English lads of the day, it was not
long before he obtained several clients.
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