Every now and then he started some new doctrine in culinary matters, which Mrs.Dods deemed a heresy; and then the very house rang with their disputes.

Again, his bed must necessarily be made at a certain angle from the pillow to the footposts; and the slightest deviation from this disturbed, he said, his nocturnal rest, and did certainly ruffle his temper.

He was equally whimsical about the brushing of his clothes, the arrangement of the furniture in his apartment, and a thousand minutiae, which, in conversation, he seemed totally to contemn.
It may seem singular, but such is the inconsistency of human nature, that a guest of this fanciful and capricious disposition gave much more satisfaction to Mrs.Dods, than her quiet and indifferent friend, Mr.
Tyrrel.

If her present lodger could blame, he could also applaud; and no artist, conscious of such skill as Mrs.Dods possessed, is indifferent to the praises of such a connoisseur as Mr.Touchwood.The pride of art comforted her for the additional labour; nor was it a matter unworthy of this most honest publican's consideration, that the guests who give most trouble, are usually those who incur the largest bills, and pay them with the best grace.

On this point Touchwood was a jewel of a customer.