My Favorite Dickens Characters: A Bicentennial List
16: Inspector Bucket, Bleak House
The trooper flushes angrily and hesitates a moment, but holds out his two hands, clasped together, and says, “There! Put them on!”
Mr. Bucket adjusts them in a moment. “How do you find them? Are they comfortable? If not, say so, for I wish to make things as pleasant as is consistent with my duty, and I’ve got another pair in my pocket.” This remark he offers like a most respectable tradesman anxious to execute an order neatly and to the perfect satisfaction of his customer. “They’ll do as they are? Very well! Now, you see, George”—he takes a cloak from a corner and begins adjusting it about the trooper’s neck—“I was mindful of your feelings when I come out, and brought this on purpose. There! Who’s the wiser?”
