>>3798385also this very cute scene of the skinny smol sickly twink De Quincey riding on the roof of a mail coach after he leaves London to reach person who could help him regain control of his father's estate
>I annoyed my fellow-passenger on the roof by occasionally falling against him when the coach gave a lurch to his side: and indeed, if the road had been less smooth and level than it is, I should have fallen off from weakness. Of this annoyance he complained heavily .. if I had parted with him at that moment I should have thought of him .. as a surly and almost brutal fellow. However, I was conscious that I had given him some cause for complaint, and therefore I apologized to him, and assured him I would do what I could to avoid falling asleep for the future; and at the same time, in as few words as possible, I explained to him that I was ill and in a weak state from long suffering, and that I could not afford at that time to take an inside place. This man’s manner changed, upon hearing this explanation, in an instant; and when I next woke for a minute from the noise and lights of Hounslow (for in spite of my wishes and efforts I had fallen asleep again within two minutes from the time I had spoken to him) I found that he had put his arm round me to protect me from falling off, and for the rest of my journey he behaved to me with the gentleness of a woman, so that at length I almost lay in his armsIf I wasn't completely artistically and creatively stunted I'd be right on that shit.
