#dickensian
You can find Spitalfields in the eighteenth century corner of London. (george_in_london IG)
Homeless (1890) by Thomas Benjamin Kennington (English, 1856-1916). Bendigo Art Gallery.
Arthur feels sick as he stares at his father’s bold- if somewhat shaky- handwriting and wonders if he might get away with pretending that the letter ordering him back to Satis House for an interview had never arrived. He thinks- he fears- that he knows what his father has to say to him and none of it is good. In the worst case, by the time the interview is concluded Mr. Havisham will have declared that he is not Arthur’s father, not anymore; that Amelia is not his sister and was always better than him anyhow, being the child of a gentlewoman and moreover, not-
In the best case, Arthur will have successfully managed to lie to a man that he has never managed, and mostly never wanted, to successfully lie to before. The thought twists his stomach, makes him feel sicker than ever. He does not want to go home. He willgo, because he must, because a summons from one’s father cannot be ignored. Particularly not when one’s father is dying. And Arthur knows that he will regret it if he does not go- if only, he thinks with a wry quirk of his lips, because his non attendance might give his father a reason to cut Arthur out of his will that he would be willing to talk about in public as opposed to something that might mean-
