# Mr. Bideawhile — The Way We Live Now character guide

> Mr. Bideawhile in The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Bideawhile, old Bideawhile, Slow and Bideawhile

**First appearance:** 0001-ii-the-carbury-family

## Snapshot

A cautious, respectable lawyer of the firm of Slow and Bideawhile, who finds himself demanding eighty thousand pounds from a man who offers bills instead.

## Who they are

Bideawhile acts for the Longestaffes in the sale of Pickering Park, and his dealings with Melmotte expose the gap between old-fashioned commercial honour and the new finance's casual insolence. When Melmotte proposes to pay for a great estate with bills at three and six months, Bideawhile is nearly beside himself, convinced that he and his client have been robbed. His dismay is the sound of the respectable City discovering what it has let into its drawing-room.

## In the story

### [Mr. Squercum Is Employed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_way_we_live_now_se/chapters/lviii-mr-squercum-is-employed)

Family lawyer for the Longestaffes; his office is the source of the disputed letter and is opposed to Squercum's methods.

### [Marie's Fortune](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_way_we_live_now_se/chapters/lxxiii-marie-s-fortune)

Demands payment for the Pickering estate, rejects Melmotte's offer of bills, and grows suspicious of the forged letter.

### [In Bruton Street](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_way_we_live_now_se/chapters/lxxv-in-bruton-street)

The family lawyer who carefully examines the lock and mediates the negotiation between Melmotte and the Longestaffes.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_way_we_live_now_se/characters/mr_bideawhile
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_way_we_live_now_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_way_we_live_now_se/characters