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STORY OF THE DOOR Mr . Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile ; cold , scanty and embarrassed in discourse ; backward in sentiment ; lean , long , dusty , dreary and yet somehow lovable . At friendly meetings , and when the wine was to his taste , something eminently human beaconed from his eye ; something indeed which never found its way into his talk , but which spoke not only in these silent symbols of the after - dinner face , but more often and loudly in the acts of his life . He was austere with himself ; drank gin when he was alone , to mortify a taste for vintages ; and though he enjoyed the theatre , had not crossed the doors of one for twenty years . But he had an approved tolerance for others ; sometimes wondering , almost with envy , at the high pressure of spirits involved in their misdeeds ; and in any extremity inclined to help rather than to reprove . “ I incline to Cain’s heresy , ” he used to say quaintly : “ I let my brother go to the devil in his own way . ” In this character , it was frequently his fortune to be the last reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of downgoing men . And to such as these , so long as they came about his chambers , he never marked a shade of change in his demeanour . No doubt the feat was easy to Mr . Utterson ; for he was undemonstrative at the best , and even his friendship seemed to be founded in a similar catholicity of good - nature . It is the mark of a modest man to accept his friendly circle ready - made from the hands of opportunity ; and that was the lawyer’s way . His friends were those of his own blood or those whom he had known the longest ; his affections , like ivy , were the growth of time , they implied no aptness in the object . Hence , no doubt the bond that united him to Mr . Richard Enfield , his distant kinsman , the well - known man about town . It was a nut to crack for many , what these two could see in each other , or what subject they could find in common . It was reported by those who encountered them in their Sunday walks , that they said nothing , looked singularly dull and would hail with obvious relief the appearance of a friend . For all that , the two men put the greatest store by these excursions , counted them the chief jewel of each week , and not only set aside occasions of pleasure , but even resisted the calls of business , that they might enjoy them uninterrupted .
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