With affection beaming in one eye, and calculation shining out of the other.

The line sketches a character whose outward warmth is inseparable from self-interest: one eye “beams” with affection while the other “shines” with calculation. Dickens often uses such physiognomic detail to expose moral doubleness—people who can perform kindness, charm, or intimacy while simultaneously appraising advantage. The juxtaposition suggests that sentiment and strategy coexist, not sequentially but at the same instant, implying a habitual, almost instinctive opportunism. As a miniature portrait, it captures a social world where relationships can be transactional and where apparent benevolence may mask manipulation.