"I should like to see
them, if you will let me have the key."
"Master's out, sir. You can't see the shops till Monday."
"Dear me, that's unfortunate, I'm afraid I can't wait till Monday. Didn't
Mr. Danby leave any instructions, in case anybody should inquire?"
"Yes, sir--as I've told you. He said anybody who called about 'em must
come again on Monday."
"Oh, very well, then; I suppose I must try. One of the shops is in High
Street, isn't it?"
"No, sir; they're all in the new part--Granville Road."
"Ah, I'm afraid that will scarcely do. But I'll see. Good-day."
Martin Hewitt walked away a couple of streets' lengths before he inquired
the way to Granville Road. When at last he found that thoroughfare, in a
new and muddy suburb, crowded with brick-heaps and half-finished streets,
he took a slow walk along its entire length. It was a melancholy example
of baffled enterprise. A row of a dozen or more shops had been built
before any population had arrived to demand goods. Would-be tradesmen had
taken many of these shops, and failure and disappointment stared from the
windows.
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