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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/37440-8.txt b/37440-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c9d3e7b --- /dev/null +++ b/37440-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6442 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wanderer (Volume 4 of 5), by Fanny Burney + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Wanderer (Volume 4 of 5) + or, Female Difficulties + +Author: Fanny Burney + +Release Date: September 15, 2011 [EBook #37440] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WANDERER (VOLUME 4 OF 5) *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + +VOLUME IV + + + + +CHAPTER LX + + +Juliet was precipitately followed by Lord Melbury. + +'It is not, then,' he cried, 'your intention to return to Mrs Ireton?' + +'No, my lord, never!' + +She had but just uttered these words, when, immediately facing her, she +beheld Mrs Howel. + +A spectre could not have made her start more affrighted, could not have +appeared to her more horrible. And Lord Melbury, who earnestly, at the +same moment, had pronounced, 'Tell me whither, then,--' stopping +abruptly, looked confounded. + +'May I ask your lordship to take me to Lady Aurora?' Mrs Howel coldly +demanded. + +'Aurora?--Yes;--she is there, Ma'am;--still in the gallery.' + +Mrs Howel presented him her hand, palpably to force him with her; and +stalked past Juliet, without any other demonstration of perceiving her +than what was unavoidably manifested by an heightened air of haughty +disdain. + +Lord Melbury, distressed, would still have hung back; but Mrs Howel, +taking his arm, proceeded, as if without observing his repugnance. + +Juliet, in trembling dismay, glided on till she entered a vacant +apartment, of which the door was open. To avoid intrusion, she was +shutting herself in; but, upon some one's applying, nearly the next +minute, for admittance, the fear of new misconstruction forced her to +open the door. What, then, was her shock at again viewing Mrs Howel! She +started back involuntarily, and her countenance depicted undisguised +horrour. + +With a brow of almost petrifying severity, sternly fixing her eyes upon +Juliet, Mrs Howel, for a dreadful moment, seemed internally suspended, +not between hardness and mercy, but between accusation and punishment. +At length, in a tone, from the deep sounds of which Juliet shrunk, but +had no means to retire, she slowly pronounced, while her head rose more +loftily at every word, 'You abscond from Mrs Ireton, though she would +permit you to remain with her? 'Tis to Lord Melbury that you reveal your +purpose; and the inexperienced youth whom you would seduce, is the only +person that can fail to discover your ultimate design, in taking the +moment of meeting with him, for quitting the honourable protection which +snatches you from want, if not from disgrace: at the same time that it +offers security to a noble family, justly alarmed for the morals, if not +for the honour of its youthful and credulous chief.' + +The terror which, in shaking the nerves, seemed to have clouded even the +faculties of Juliet, now suddenly subsided, superseded by yet more +potent sensations of quick resentment. 'Hold, Madam!' she cried: 'I may +bear with cruelty and injustice, for I am helpless! but not with insult, +for I am innocent!' + +Mrs Howel, surprised, paused an instant; but then harshly went on, 'This +cant, young woman, can only delude those who are ignorant of the world. +Whatever you may chuse to utter to me of that sort will be perfectly +null. What I have to say is simple; what you have to offer must, of +course, be complicate. But I have no time to throw away upon rants and +rodomontades, and I have no patience to waste upon impostors. Hear me +then without reply.' + +'Not to reply, Madam, will cost me little,' indignantly cried Juliet: +'but to hear you,--pardon me, Madam,--force only can exact from me so +dreadful a compliance.' + +She looked round, but not having courage to open a further door, nor +power to pass by Mrs Howel, walked to a window. + +Not heeding her resistance, and disdaining her emotion, Mrs Howel +continued: 'My Lord Melbury is not, it is true, like his sister, under +my immediate care; but he is here only to join her ladyship, whom my +Lord Denmeath has entrusted to my protection. And, therefore, though he +is as noble in mind as in rank, since he is still, in years, but a boy, +I must, in honour, consider myself to be equally responsible to my Lord +Denmeath for the brother as for the sister. This being the case, I must +not leave him to the machinations of an adventurer. In two words, +therefore,--Declare yourself for what you are; or return with Mrs Ireton +to Brighthelmstone, and remain under her roof, since she deigns to +permit it, till I have restored my young friends, safe and uninjured, to +their uncle. Otherwise--' + +Juliet, casting up her eyes, as if calling upon heaven for patience, +would have opened the window, to seek refuge in the air from sounds of +which the shock was insupportable: but Mrs Howel, offended into yet +deeper wrath, advanced with a mien of such rigid austerity, that she +lost her purpose in her consternation, and listened irresistibly to what +follows: 'Otherwise,--mark me, young woman! the still unexplained +mystery with which you have made your way into the kingdom, will +authorise an application which you will vainly try to elude, and with +which you will not dare to prevaricate. You will take your choice, and, +in five minutes, you will be summoned to make it known.' + +With this menace she left the room. + +In an agony of terrour, that again absorbed even resentment, Juliet +remained motionless, confounded, and incapable of deliberation, till the +groom of Mrs Ireton came to inform her that his lady was ready to set +out. + +Juliet, scarcely herself knowing her own intentions, precipitately +ejaculated, 'The crisis is arrived!--I must cast myself upon Lady +Aurora!' + +The servant said he did not understand her. + +'Tell Lady Aurora--;' she cried, 'or Lord Melbury,--no, Lady Aurora,--' +she stopt, fearfully balancing upon which to fix. + +The groom asked what he was to say. + +'You will say,--I must beg you to say,--' cried Juliet, endeavouring to +recollect herself, 'that I desire,--that I wish,--that I take the +liberty to request that Lady Aurora will have the goodness to honour +me,--that I shall be eternally obliged if her ladyship will honour me +with a few moment's conversation!' + +The groom went; and almost the next instant, she heard the fleet step of +Lady Aurora approaching, and her soft voice, with unusual emphasis, +pronounce, 'Pardon me, dear Madam, but I could not refuse her for a +thousand worlds!' + +'She ought not to refuse her, Mrs Howel!' added, with fervency, the +voice of Lord Melbury; 'in humanity, in justice, in decency, Aurora +ought not to refuse her! Whatever may be your fears of objections to an +intimacy, there can be none to common civility; for though we know not +what Miss Ellis has been, we see what she now is;--a pattern of +elegance, sweetness, and delicacy.' + +'A moment, my lord!--one moment, Lady Aurora!' answered Mrs Howel; 'we +may be overheard here;--honour me with a moment's attention in another +room.' She seemed drawing them away, and not a word more reached Juliet. + +A dreadful ten minutes preceded any farther information: a quick step, +then, followed by a tap at the door, re-awakened at once terrour and +hope. She awaited, motionless, its opening, but then saw neither the +object she desired, nor that which she dreaded; neither Lady Aurora nor +Mrs Howel, but Lord Melbury. + +Affrighted by the threatened vengeance of Mrs Howel, but irresistibly +charmed by his generous defence, and trusting esteem, Juliet looked so +disturbed, yet through her disturbance so gratified, that Lord Melbury, +evidently much agitated himself, approached her with a vivacity of +pleasure that he did not seek to repress, and could not have disguised. + +'Miss Ellis will, I am sure, forgive my intrusion,' he cried, 'when I +tell her that it is made in the name of my sister. Aurora is grieved +past all expression not to wait upon you herself; but Mrs Howel is in +such haste to depart, from her fear of travelling after sun-set, that it +is not possible to detain her. Poor Aurora sends you a thousand +apologies, and entreats you not to think ill of her for appearing thus +unfeeling--' + +'Think ill of Lady Aurora?' interrupted Juliet, 'I think her an +angel!--' + +'She is very near it, indeed!' cried Lord Melbury, ardently; 'as near +it, I own, as I wish her; for I don't see, without wings, and flying to +heaven, how she can well be nearer! However, since you are so kind, so +liberal, as to do her that justice, would it be possible that you could +communicate, through me, what you had the goodness to intend saying to +her? She is quite broken-hearted at going away with an appearance of +such unkindness. Can you give her this consolation?' + +'Oh, my lord!' answered Juliet, with an energy that shewed off all +guard, 'if I might hope for Lady Aurora's support--for your lordship's +protection,--with what transport would my o'er-burthened heart,--'Seized +with sudden dread of Mrs Howel, she stopt abruptly, and fearfully looked +around. + +Enchanted by a prospect of some communication, Lord Melbury warmly +exclaimed, 'Miss Ellis, I swear to you, by all that I hold most sacred, +that if you will do me so great an honour as to trust me to be the +bearer of your confidence to my sister, no creature upon earth, besides, +shall ever, without your permission, hear what you may unfold! and it +shall be my whole study to merit your good opinion, and to shew you my +respect.' + +'O my lord! O Lord Melbury,' cried Juliet, 'what hopes, what sweet +balsamic hopes you pour into my wounded bosom! after sufferings by which +I have been nearly,--nay, through which I have even wished myself +demolished!--' + +Lord Melbury, inexpressibly touched, eagerly, yet tenderly, answered, +'Name, name what there is I can be so happy as to do! Your wishes shall +be my entire direction. And if I can offer you any services, I shall +console Aurora, and, permit me to say, myself, still more than you.' + +'I will venture, then, my lord,--I must venture!--to lay open my +perilous situation!--And yet I may put your feelings,--alas!--to a test, +alas, my lord!--that not all your virtues, nor even your compassion may +withstand!' + +Trembling almost as violently as she trembled herself, from impatience, +from curiosity, from charmed interest, and indescribable wonder, Lord +Melbury bent forward, so irresistibly and so palpably to take her +hand, that Juliet, alarmed, drew back; and, calling forth the +self-command of which her sorrows, her terrours, and her hopes had +conjointly bereft her, 'If I have been guilty,' she cried, 'of any +indiscretion, my lord, in this hasty, almost involuntary disposition to +confidence,--excuse,--and do not punish an errour that has its source +only in a--perhaps--too high wrought esteem!--' + +Starting with a look nearly of horrour, 'You kill me,' he cried, 'Miss +Ellis, if you suspect me to be capable, a second time, of dishonouring +the purest of sisters by forgetting the respect due to her friend!--' + +'No, my lord, no!' warmly interrupted Juliet; 'whatever you think +dishonourable I am persuaded your lordship would find impracticable: but +the stake is so great,--the risk so tremendous,--and failure would be so +fatal!--' + +Her preturbation now became nearly overpowering; and, not with standing +she was prepared, and resolved, to disclose herself, her ability seemed +unequal to her will, and her breast heaved with sighs so oppressive, +that though she frequently began with--'I will now,--I must now,--' she +strove vainly to finish her sentence. + +After anxiously and with astonishment waiting some minutes, 'Why does +Miss Ellis thus hesitate?' cried Lord Melbury. 'What can I say or do to +remove her scruples?' + +'I have none, my lord, none! but I have so solemnly been bound to +silence! and ...' + +'Oh, but you are bound, now, to speech!' cried he, with spirit; 'and, to +lessen your inquietude, and satisfy your delicacy, I will shew you the +way to openness and confidence, by making a disclosure first. Will you, +then, have more reliance upon my discretion?' + +'You are too,--too good, my lord!' cried Juliet, again brightening up; +'but I dream not of such indulgence: 'tis to your benevolence only I +apply.' + +'Oh, but I have a fancy to trust you! Aurora will be delighted +that I should have found such a confidant. Yet I have nothing +positive,--nothing fixed,--to say, it is but an idea,--a thought,--a +kind of distant perspective ...' + +He coloured, and looked embarrassed, yet evidently with feelings of +pleasure. + +A radiant smile now illumined the face of Juliet, 'Ah! my lord,' she +cried, 'if I might utter a conjecture,--I had almost said a wish--.' + +'Why not? cried he, laughing.' + +'Your lordship permits me?--Well, then, let me name--Lady Barbara +Frankland?--' + +'Is it possible?' cried he, while the blood mantled in his cheeks, and +pleasure sparkled in his eyes; 'what can have led you to such a thought? +How can you possibly have suspected ... She is still so nearly a +child....' + +'It is true, my lord, but, also, how amiable a child! how richly endowed +with similar qualities to those which, at this instant, engage my +gratitude!--' + +He bowed, with smiling delight. 'I will not deny,' he cried, 'that you +have penetrated into my secret; though as yet, in fact, it is hardly +even a secret; for we have not,--hitherto,--you will easily believe, +conversed together upon the subject! Nor shall we say a word about it, +together, till I have made the tour. But I will frankly own, that we +have been brought up from our very cradles, with this notion, mutually. +It was the wish of my father even in our infancy.--' + +'Hold it then sacred!' cried Juliet, with strong emotion. 'Happy, thrice +happy, in such a wish for your guide!' + +She burst into tears. + +'How your sorrows,' said he, tenderly, 'affect me! and how they interest +me more deeply every moment! Tell me, then, sweet Miss Ellis!--amiable +friend of my sister!--tell me why you are thus afflicted? and how, and +in what manner, there is the least possibility that I may offer you my +services, or procure you any consolation?' + +The door here was abruptly opened by Mrs Howel. + +Red with constrained rage, yet assuming a courteous demeanour, 'Your +lordship will pardon,' she cried, 'my intrusion;' but Lady Aurora is so +delicate, that I am always uneasy at keeping her ladyship out late.' + +Highly provoked, yet deeply confused, Lord Melbury stammered that he was +extremely sorry to have detained them, and begged that they would set +out; promising to follow immediately. + +Civilly smiling, though fixing her eyes upon his face in a manner that +doubled his embarrassment, she entreated him to use his own influence +with Lady Aurora, to prevail upon her ladyship to proceed. + +Too much perturbed to resist, he ran out of the room; casting a glance +at Juliet, as he passed, expressive of his chagrin at this interruption, +and full of sensibility and respect. + +Juliet dreadfully affrighted, and utterly confounded, had hid her +streaming eyes, and conscious blushes, with her handkerchief, upon the +entrance of Mrs Howel; but, when left alone with that tremendous lady, +mingled terrour and indignation would have urged immediate flight, had +she not been apprehensive of seeming to follow, and clandestinely, Lord +Melbury. + +Benign had been as yet the countenance, and melody itself the voice of +Mrs Howel, compared with the expression of the one, or the sound of the +other, while she now pronounced the following words: 'The terms, young +woman, that I would keep with a person of name and character; the honour +and delicacy due to myself in any intercourse with such a one, I set +wholly aside in treating with an adventurer. I know all that has passed! +I have heard every syllable! Convinced, therefore, of your deep laid +scheme, to captivate to his disgrace a youth of an illustrious house, by +revealing to him a pretended tale, which you craftily refuse to trust to +all who may better judge, or try, its truth; I shall take, without +delay, such measures as it behoves should be taken, by a friend of his +family, and of himself, to effectually open his eyes to your arts, and +to his own danger. In one word, therefore, Will you, and this instant, +return to Brighthelmstone under the superintendence of Mrs Ireton?' + +'No, Madam!' Juliet, without hesitation, replied. + +'Enough! I shall myself take in charge, then, that you do not quit the +castle, till the arrival of a peace-officer; who may conduct you where +you may make your confession with rather more propriety than to a young +nobleman!' + +Neither native courage, nor resentment of hard usage, could support +Juliet against a menace such as this. She changed colour, and sunk, +terrified, upon a chair. + +Mrs Howel, after a moment's pause, magisterially moved to the door; +whence she took the key, which was within side, and was leaving the +room; but Juliet, struck with horrour at such a preparation for +confinement, started up, exclaiming, 'If you reduce me, Madam, to cry +for help, I must cast myself at once upon the protection of Lord +Melbury;--and then assure yourself,--be very sure! he will not suffer +this outrage!' + +'This affrontery exceeds all credibility! Assure yourself, however, +young woman, and be very sure, in return! that I shall not be +intimidated by an imposter, from detecting imposition; nor from +consigning it to infamy!' + +With a scoffing smile of power, she then left the room, locking the door +without. + +Consternation alone had prevented Juliet from rushing past her, and +forcing a passage; though such violence was as opposite to her nature, +as to propriety, and to the habits of her sex. + +Alone, and a prisoner, the first reflexion that found way through her +disturbance, served less to diminish her terrour than to awaken new +alarm. It represented to her all the blighting horrours of calumny, in +being known to place her confidence in Lord Melbury, while forced to +exact that he himself should guard her secret. She felt as if cast upon +a precipice, from which, though a kind hand might save, the least +imprudence might precipitate her downfall. She struggled for fortitude, +she prayed for patience. What, indeed, she cried, are any sufferings +that Mrs Ireton can inflict, compared with those I am flying? If I must +submit to transient tyranny, or hazard incurring misery as durable as my +existence,--can I hesitate to which I shall yield? + +Hastily, now, she looked for the bell, and rang it repeatedly, till some +one through the door demanded her orders. + +'Acquaint Mrs Ireton,' she answered, 'that I am ready to attend her to +Brighthelmstone.' + +The door was almost instantly unlocked, and Mrs Howel again appeared. 'I +deign not, young woman,' she sternly said, 'to enquire into the reasons, +the arts, or the apprehensions that may have induced your repentance: I +am aware that whatever you would tell me is precisely what I ought not +to believe. I come merely to give you notice that, if you venture to +attempt keeping up any sort of correspondence with Lady Aurora +Granville, or with Lord Melbury, nothing can save you from detection and +punishment. Mark me well! You will be properly watched.' + +She then retired, shutting, but no longer locking the door. + +All of philosophy, of judgment, or of forbearance that the indignant +Juliet possessed, was nearly insufficient to keep her firm to her +concession upon an harangue thus insulting. Necessity, however, +inculcated prudence. I will await, she cried, better days! I will learn +my ultimate doom ere I seek any mitigation to my passing sorrows. If all +end well,--this will be as nothing!--forgive and forgotten at once! If +ill,--in so overwhelming a weight of woe, 'twill be still less +material! + + + + +CHAPTER LXI + + +Juliet was aroused from this species of patient despondency by the groom +of Mrs Ireton, who broke in upon her with orders to enquire, whether it +were her intention to detain his lady at the castle all night? adding, +that all the rest of the party had been gone some time. + +Juliet followed him to the hall, where she was greeted, as usual, with +sharp reproaches, conveyed through ironical compliments. + +Upon reaching the portico, she perceived, hastily returned, and +dismounting his horse, Lord Melbury. + +He held back, with an air of irresolution, till Mrs Ireton, to whom he +distantly bowed, was seated; and then, suddenly springing forward, +offered his hand to her depressed and neglected dependent. + +Blushingly, yet gratefully she accepted his assistance; and having +placed her in the coach, and made a slight compliment to Mrs Ireton, the +carriage drove off; and, the final amazement over, the envenomed taunts +of that lady were indulged in a full scope of unrestrained malignity +during the whole little journey. + +Juliet scarcely heard them; new perplexity, though mingled with hope and +pleasure, affected and occupied her. Lord Melbury, in aiding her into +the carriage, had said, 'I am afraid you will lose your shawl;' and, +snatching at it, as if to present its falling, he enveloped a small +packet in the folds which he put into her hands, of which, in her first +confusion, she was scarcely conscious; though she felt it the instant +that he disappeared. + +Was it money? Nothing, in her helpless state, could be more welcome; yet +to what construction, even from himself, might not its acceptance be +liable? Nevertheless, with so suspicious and illjudging a witness by her +side, to call him back, might seem accusing him of intentions of which +she sincerely believed him guiltless. + +The moment that she could disengage herself from her troublesome +charges, she stole to her chamber, where she read the following words, +written with a pencil upon the cover of a letter. + + 'How shall I ever endure myself again, should Miss Ellis withdraw + her kind promise of communication, in resentment of an acquiescence + in quitting her, for which already I begin almost to disdain + myself? Yet my consent was granted to two of the purest of her + admirers and well wishers. I could not have been biassed an instant + by those who know not how to appreciate her. Hold, therefore, + amiable Miss Ellis, your condescending promise sacred, though I + make a momentary cession of my claim upon it, to the pleadings of + those who are every way better entitled to judge than I am, of what + will best demonstrate the high and true respect felt for Miss + Ellis, by + + 'Her most obedient, + 'humble servant, + 'MELBURY. + + 'P.S. Aurora had no time to entreat for your permission to lodge + the enclosed trifle in your hands. She is ashamed of its + insignificance; but she has a plan, which I shall unfold when I + have next the honour of seeing you, to solicit, as a mark of your + confidence, becoming, through me, your banker till your affairs are + arranged. + + 'Pardon this paper. I write on horseback, to catch you flying.' + +Soft were the tears of Juliet, and radiant the eyes whence they flowed, +as she perused these words. Nor could she hesitate in accepting the +offering, though the little gold-purse, which contained it, was marked +with the cypher of Lord Melbury. It was presented in the name of his +sister; a sister whom he revered as truly as he loved; such a name, +therefore, sanctioned both the loan and the kindness. And the +intimation, given by the young peer himself, of the equal influence over +his mind possessed by Lady Barbara Frankland, proclaimed and proved the +purity of his regard, and the innocence of his intentions. + +An idea now struck her, that bounded to her heart with rapture. Might +not the sum of which she permitted herself to take the disposal, prove +the means of re-union with Gabriella? A very small part of it would +suffice for the journey; and the rest might enable them, when once +together, to make some arrangement for being parted no more. + +A plan so soothing could not, even for a moment, present itself to her +imagination, unaccompanied by some effort to put it into execution, and +she instantly wrote a few lines to her beloved friend; stating the +present possibility of their junction, and demanding her opinion, her +consent, and her directions, for the immediate accomplishment of so +delicious a scheme. + +Cheered by a hope so dear to her wishes, so promising to her happiness, +Juliet, now, was perfectly contented to continue at Brighthelmstone, +till she should receive an answer to her proposal. + +But, before its arrival was yet possible, she was called to a messenger, +who would deliver his commission only to herself. + +She descended, not without perturbation, into the hall; where a +countryman told her, that he had been ordered to beg that she would go, +at the usual time, the next morning, to the usual place, to meet her old +friend. + +He was then walking off; but Juliet stopt him, to demand whence he came, +and who sent him. + +A lady, he answered, who spoke broken English, and who had named five of +the clock in the morning. + +'Oh yes! Oh yes!' cried Juliet: 'I will not fail!' whilst a soft murmur +finished with 'Tis herself!--'tis my Gabriella! + +What brought her back to Brighthelmstone, now occupied all the thoughts +of her friend. Was it a design to fix her abode where her maternal +enthusiasm might daily be cherished by visiting the grave of her child? +Or, was it for the single indulgence of bathing that melancholy spot +once more with her tears? + +It was already night, or Juliet would have sought to anticipate the +meeting, by some enquiry at their former lodgings: the morning, however, +soon arrived, and, nearly with its dawn, she arose, and, by a previous +arrangement made with the gardener, quitted the house, to hasten to the +church-yard upon the hill. + +In her way thither, she was seized, from time to time, with something +like an apprehension that she was pursued; for, though no one came in +sight, the stillness of the early morning enabled her to hear, +distinctly, a footstep that now seemed to follow her own, now to stop +till she had proceeded some yards. + +It might merely be some workman;--yet would not a workman overtake her, +and pass on? It was more probably some traveller. Nevertheless, she +would not ascend the hill without making some examination; and, casting +a hasty glance behind her, she perceived a tall man, muffled up, whose +air denoted him to be a gentleman; but who instantly hung back. + +A thousand anxious doubts were now awakened. Was it possible that she +had been summoned upon any false pretence? Gabriella had not written; +and though that omission had, at first, appeared the natural result of +haste upon her arrival; joined to the difficulty of immediately +procuring writing implements, it left an opening to uncertainty upon +reflection, by no means satisfactory. That she should not personally +have presented herself at the house of Mrs Ireton, could excite no +surprize, for she well knew that Juliet had neither time nor a room at +her own command; and to re-visit the grave of her child had always been +the purpose of Gabriella. + +With a slackened and irresolute step, she now went on, till, wistfully +looking towards the church-yard, she descried a female, with arms +uplifted, that seemed inviting her approach. Relieved and delighted, she +then quickened her pace; though, as she advanced, the form retreated, +till, gradually, it was wholly out of sight. + +This affected and saddened her. The little grave was on the other side +of the church. It is there, then, only, she cried, there, where our +melancholy meeting took place, that my ever wretched Gabriella will +suffer me to rejoin her! + +With an aching heart she proceeded, though no Gabriella came forward to +give her welcome; but when, upon crossing over to the other side of the +church, in full sight of the little grave, no Gabriella was there; and +not a human being was visible, she felt again impressed with a fear of +imposition, and was turning back to hurry home; when she observed, just +mounting the hill, the person by whose pursuit she had already been +startled. + +Terrour now began to take possession of her mind. She had surely been +deluded, and she was evidently followed. She had neither time nor +composure for divining why; but she was instantly certain that she could +be no object for premeditated robbery; and the unprincipled Sir Lyell +Sycamore alone occurred to her, as capable of so cruel a stratagem to +enveigle her to a lonely spot. The height of the man was similar: his +face was carefully concealed; but, transient as had been her glance, it +was obvious to her that he was no labourer, nor countryman. + +To descend the hill, would be to meet him: to go on yet further, when +not a cottage, perhaps, might be open, would almost seem to expect being +overtaken: yet to remain and await him, was out of all question. She +saw, therefore, no hope of security, but by endeavouring to regain the +street, through a circuitous path, by sudden rapidity of flight. + +But, upon gliding, with this design, to the other side of the church, +she was struck with amazement to see that the church-door was ajar; and +to perceive, at the same instant, a passing shadow, reflected through a +window, of some one within the building. + +Was this accident? or had it any connection with the tall unknown who +followed her? + +Filled with wonder and alarm, though a stranger to every species of +superstition, her feet staggered, and her presence of mind threatened to +play her false; when again a fleeting shadow, of she knew not whom nor +what, gleamed athwart a monument. + +Summoning now her utmost force, though shaking with nameless +apprehensions, she crossed, with celerity, a gravestone, to gain what +appeared to be the quickest route for descending; when the sound of a +hasty step, immediately behind her, gave her the fearful intelligence +that escape was impossible. + +Nevertheless, though nearly overcome with dread, she was pressing on; +but some one, rushing abruptly past her, and turning short round, stopt +her passage. + +Horrour thrilled through her every vein, in the persuasion that she was +the destined victim of deliberate delusion, when the words, 'It is, +indeed, then, you!' uttered in an accent of astonishment, yet with +softness, made her hastily raise her eyes,--and raise them upon +Harleigh. + +Bereft of prudence, in the suddenness of her joy; forgetting +self-command, and casting off all guard, all reserve, she rapturously +held out to him her willing hands, exclaiming, 'Oh, Mr Harleigh!--are +you, then, my destined protector?--my guardian angel?' + +Speechless from transported surprize, Harleigh pressed to his lips and +to his heart each unresisting hand; while Juliet, whose eyes beamed +lustrous with buoyant felicity, was unconscious of the happiness that +she bestowed, from the absorption of the delight that she experienced. + +'Precious, for ever precious moment!' cried Harleigh, when the power of +utterance returned; 'Here, on this spot, where first the tortures of the +most deadly suspense give way to the most exquisite hopes,--' + +The countenance of Juliet now again underwent a change the most sudden; +its brilliancy was overclouded; its smiles vanished; its joy died away; +not, indeed, to return to its look of horrour and affright, but to +convey an expression of the deepest shame and regret; and, with cheeks +tingling with burning blushes, she strove to regain her hands; to +recover her composure; and to account to him, by relating what had been +her dread, and her mistake, for her flattering reception. + +But she strove in vain: her efforts to disengage herself had no more +that frozen severity which Harleigh had not dared resist; and though her +earnestness and distress shewed their sincerity, her varying blushes, +her inability to find words, and her uncontroulable emotion, +demonstrated, to his quick perception, that to govern her own +conflicting feelings, at this critical moment, was as difficult as to +resume over his accustomed dominion. + +'Here on this spot,' he continued, 'this blessed, sacred, hallowed spot! +clear, and eternally dismiss, every torturing doubt by which I have so +long been martyrized! Here let all baneful mystery, all heart-wounding +distrust, be for ever exiled; and here--' + +A faint, but earnest, 'Oh no! no! no!' now quivered from the lips of +Juliet; but Harleigh would not be silenced. + +'And here, where you have condescended to call me your protector,--your +destined protector!--a title which gives me claims that never while I +live shall be relinquished!--claims which not even yourself, now, can +have power to recall--' + +'Hear me! hear me!--' interrupted, but vainly, the pleading Juliet; +Harleigh, uncontrouled, went on. + +'Initiate me, without delay, in the duties of my office. Against whom, +and against what may I be your protector? You have called me, too, your +guardian-angel; Oh suffer me to call you mine! Consent to that sweet +reciprocation, which blends felicity with every care of life! which +animates our virtues by our happiness! which secures the performance of +every duty, by making every duty an enjoyment!' + +A frequent 'Alas! alas!' was all that Juliet could gain time to utter, +from the rapid energy with which Harleigh overpowered all attempt at +remonstrance. + +'Why, why,' he then cried, with redoubled vivacity; 'Why not exile now, +and repudiate for ever, that terrible rigour of reserve that has so long +been at war with your humanity?--Listen to your softer self! It will +plead, it will surely plead for gentler measures!' + +'Oh no, no, no!' reiterated the agitated Juliet, with a vehemence that +would have startled, if not discouraged him, had not another incautious +'Alas! alas!' stole its way into the midst of her tremulous negatives; +and revealed that her heart, her wishes, her feelings, bore no part in +the refusals which her tongue pronounced. + +This was not a circumstance to escape Harleigh, who, indescribably +touched, fervently exclaimed, 'And what, now, shall sunder us? Pardon my +presumption if I say us! What is the power,--the earthly power,--while +yet I live, and breathe, and feel, that can now compel me to give up the +rights with which, from this decisive moment, I hold myself invested? +No! our destinies are indissolubly united!--All procrastination,--all +concealment must be over! They would now be literally distracting. Why, +then, that start?--Why that look?--Can you regret having shewn a little +feeling?--a trait of sensibility?--O put a period to this unequalled, +unexampled mystery! I am yours! faithfully, honourably yours! Yours to +the end of my mortal existence; yours, by my most sacred hopes, far, far +longer!--You weep?--not from grief, I trust,--I hope,--not from grief +flow those touching tears? Open to me your situation,--your heart! Here, +on this sacred, and henceforth happiest spot, where first you have +accorded me a ray of hope, let our mutual vows be plighted to all +eternity!' + +Juliet, whose whole soul seemed dissolved in poignant yet tender +distress, cast up to heaven, as if imploring for aid, her irresistibly +streaming eyes; when, caught by some shadowy motion to turn them towards +the church, she fancied that she beheld again the female, whose +appearance and vanishing had been forgotten from the excess of her own +emotions. + +Startled, she looked more earnestly, and then clearly perceived, though +half hidden behind a monument, a form in white; whose dress appeared to +be made in the shape, and of the materials, used for our mortal +covering, a shroud. A veil of the same stuff fell over the face of the +figure, of which the hands hung down strait at each lank side. + +Struck with awe and consternation, Juliet involuntarily ceased her +struggles for freedom; and Harleigh, who saw her strangely moved, +pursuing the direction of her eyes, discerned the object by which they +had been caught; who now, slowly raising her right hand, waved to them +to follow; while, with her left, she pointed to the church, and, +uttering a wild shriek, flitted out of sight. + +Could it be Elinor? Each felt at the same instant the same terrible +apprehension. Harleigh sprang after her; Juliet, almost petrified with +affright, was immovable. + +The fugitive entered the church, and darted towards the altar; where she +threw her left hand over a tablet of white stone, cut in the shape of a +coffin, with the action of embracing it; yet in a position to leave +evident the following inscription: + + 'This Stone + Is destined by herself to be the last kind covering + of all that remains of + ELINOR JODDREL: + Who, sick of Life, of Love, and of Despair, + Dies to moulder, and be forgotten.' + +Casting off her veil when she perceived Harleigh, 'Here! Harleigh, +here!' she cried, in a tone authoritative, though tremulous, ''tis here +you must reciprocate your vows! Here is the spot! Here stands the altar +for the happy;--here, the tomb for the hopeless!' + +Suspicious of some sinister purpose, Harleigh was at her side with the +swiftness of lightening; but not till her fingers were upon the trigger +of a pistol, which she had pointed to her temple; though in time, by +attaining her arm, and forcibly giving it a new direction, to make her +fire the deadly weapon in the air. + +Her own design, nevertheless, seconded by the loud din of a pistol, so +close to her ear, and let off by her own hand, operated upon her +deranged imagination with a belief that her purpose was fulfilled; and +she sunk upon the ground, uttering, with a deep groan, 'Oh Harleigh! +bless the dying Elinor,--and be happy!--' + +Harleigh, terrified and shocked, though thankfully perceiving her +mistake, dropped down at her side, and supported her head; while +congratulating eyes stole a glance at Juliet; who, at the sound of the +pistol, had hastened, aghast, to the spot; but who now, dreading to be +seen, retreated. + +'Oh Elinor!' he then cried, 'what direful infatuation of wrong is +this!--What have you done with your nobler, better self?--How have you +thus warped your reason and your religion alike, to an equal and +terrible defiance of here and hereafter?' + +Recovering, at these interrogatories, to conscious failure, and +conscious existence, she hastily arose, indignantly spurned at the +tablet, looked around for Juliet with every mark of irritation, and, +casting a glance of suffering, yet investigating shame at Harleigh, +''Tis again, then,' she cried, 'abortive!--and, a third time, I am food, +for fools,--when I meant to be food only for worms!' + +She then peremptorily demanded Juliet; who, affrighted, was absconding, +till shrieks rather than calls forced her forward. + +With an exaltation so violent that it seemed incipient frenzy, Elinor +hailed her. 'Approach, Ellis, approach!' she cried. 'Oh chosen of the +chosen! Oh born to shew, and prove the perfectibility of earthly +happiness, and the falsehood and sophistry of the ignorance and +superstition that deny it! Approach! and let me sanction your nuptial +contract! I here solemnly give you back your promise. I renounce all tie +over your actions, your engagements, your choice. Approach, then, that I +may join your hands, while I quaff my last draught of tender poison from +the grateful eyes of Harleigh, whose happiness,--my own donation!--will +cast a glory upon my exit!' + +Juliet stood motionless, pale, almost livid, and appearing nearly as +unable to think as to speak. But the feelings of Harleigh were as much +too actively alive, as hers seemed morbid. Agitation beat in every +pulse, flowed in every vein, throbbed even visibly in his heart, which +bounded with tumultuous triumph, that Juliet, now, was liberated from +all adverse engagements: and though he sought, and meant, to turn his +eyes, with tender pity, upon Elinor, they stole involuntarily, +impulsively, glances of exstatic felicity at the mute and appalled +Juliet. + +The watchful Elinor discerned the distraction, which he imagined to be +as impenetrable as it was irresistible. Shame, mingled with despondence, +superseded her exaltation; and disdainfully, and even wrathfully, she +disengaged herself from his hold; but, suspicious of some new violence, +he hovered over her with extended arms; and presently caught a glimpse +of a second pistol, placed behind the tablet, and, as nearly as +possible, out of sight. Her intention could not be doubted; but, +forcibly anticipating her movement, he seized the destined instrument of +death, and, flying to the porch, fired it also into the air. + +Elinor now was confounded; she reddened with confusion, trembled with +ire, and seemed nearly fainting with excess of emotion; but, after +holding her hands a minute or two crossed over her face, she forced a +smile, and said, 'Harleigh, our tragi-comedy has a long last act! But +you can never, now, believe me dead, till you see me buried. That, next, +must follow!' And abruptly she was rushing out of the church, when she +was encountered, in the porch, by her foreign servant, accompanied by +the whole house of Mrs Maple. + +Juliet, satisified that this victim to her own passions and delusions, +would now fall into proper hands, eagerly glided past them all; and, +finding the streets no longer empty, fled back to the mansion of Mrs +Ireton. + + + + +CHAPTER LXII + + +Juliet re-entered her chamber without having been missed, but in a +perturbation of mind indescribable; affrighted, confused, overpowered +with various and varying sensations; wretched for Elinor; dissatisfied +with herself; and yet more at war with what seemed to be her destiny; +ejaculating, from time to time, Oh Gabriella! receive, console, +strengthen, and direct your terrified,--bewildered friend!-- + +Unusual sounds from the hall soon announced some disturbance; but, +wholly without courage to go forth upon any enquiry, she remained, in +trembling ignorance of what was passing; till she was relieved by a +visit from Selina, which gave her the extreme satisfaction of hearing +that Elinor was actually in the house. + +Grief, however, though unmixt with surprize, followed the information, +when she heard, also, that Elinor was in so disordered a state, that she +had been forced from the church only by the interference of Mr Naird; +for whom Mr Harleigh had sent; and who had positively told her, that, if +she would not submit to be conveyed to some house, and try to repose, he +should hold it his duty to send for proper persons to controul and take +care of her, as one unfit to be trusted to herself. + +Even then, though evidently startled, she would not consent to go back +to Lewes, which she had quitted, she loudly declared, for ever: but, +after wildly enquiring for Ellis, and being assured that she was +returned to Mrs Ireton's, she was, at length, wrought upon to accept an +invitation, which, through measures that were taken by the active +Harleigh, Mrs Ireton had been prevailed with to send to her; and which +included her sister and Mrs Maple. + +What else of the history of this transaction was known to Selina, was +speedily revealed. + +The whole house of Mrs Maple had been awakened at day-light, by the +foreign servant of Elinor; who came to bid Tomlinson call up Mrs Maple, +and acquaint her, that he believed that her niece was determined to make +away with herself. She had found means, he said, over night, to induce +the clerk of the church at Brighthelmstone to let her have the key of +the church, to begin a drawing, of one of the monuments, at sun-rise, +when no idle loungers would interrupt her: and the clerk, knowing her +for a lady of property and fashion, in the neighbourhood, had not had +the thought to refuse her. She had made him, the lackey, come for her at +Mrs Maple's, with a post chaise, and wait near the house at three +o'clock in the morning: she and Mrs Golding then got into it, while he +attended, as usual, on horseback. They stopt at a place, by the way, to +receive a heap of things, that he did not take much notice of, as it was +not well light; and then they all gallopped to Brighthelmstone. He +thought no harm, all the time, as his lady so often went about oddly, +nobody knowing why. She made the chaise stop at the church-yard, and +told him, and Golding, to help up with all the things, into the church. +She then said she was going to begin her drawing; and bid the postilion +wait at some inn, till she went for him. But she told the lackey to stay +in the church-yard. She and Golding were then shut up together a quarter +of an hour; when Golding came out, crying. Her lady, she said, had put a +white trimmed stuff dress over her cloaths, that made her look as if she +were buried alive, and just the same as a ghost; and she was afraid all +was not right; for she had made her help to place what she had called a +pallet, for her drawing, upon the altar-table, and it looked just like a +coffin; only it was covered over with paper. She had ordered that they +should both go to an inn, and return for her, with the chaise, at eight +o'clock. Neither of them knew what to make of all this; but so many out +of the way things had passed, and nothing had come of them, that, still, +they should have done only as they were bid, but that the lackey +recollected two loaded pistols, which his lady had made him charge, upon +the route, to frighten away robbers, by firing one of them off, she +said, if they saw any suspicious persons dodging them: and these, which +had been put carefully into the chaise, Golding had seen, in the hand of +her mistress, in the church. This gave him such a panic, that he thought +it safest to ride back to Madame Maple's, and tell the whole at once. +All the family, upon this alarming news, set out for Brighthelmstone, +the moment that the horses could be got ready: and, just as they arrived +at the church, Elinor herself, had appeared, bursting from it into the +porch. + +Her indignation at thus being followed and detected, had been terrible: +Who, she asked, had any right to controul her? But that was nothing to +her disturbance, when she found that Ellis had vanished. She grew so +agitated, that it was frightful, Selina continued, to see her; and +looked franticly about her, as if for means to destroy herself: and +nothing could urge her to quit the church, or church-yard, whence she +eagerly tried to command away all others; till Mr Harleigh had recourse +to Mr Naird, who had alarmed her into submission. They had then brought +her in a chaise, between Mrs Maple and the surgeon, to Mrs Ireton's; +where, to hide herself, she said, from light and life, she had gloomily +consented to go to bed; but she raved, sighed, groaned, started, and was +in a state of shame and despair, the most deplorable. + +Juliet heard this narration with equal pity and terrour; but no sooner +understood that Mrs Maple had entreated Mr Harleigh to remain at +Brighthelmstone, for a day or two, than she determined to quit the place +herself, persuaded that these bloody enterprizes were always reserved +for their joint presence. + +The nearly exhausted Elinor passed the rest of the day without effort, +without speech, and almost without sign of life. But, early on the +following morning, Juliet received from her a hasty summons. + +Juliet essayed, by every means that she could devise, to avoid obeying +it; but every effort of resistance was ineffectual. By compulsion, +therefore, and slowly, she mounted the stairs, secretly determining +that, should Harleigh also be called upon, she would seize the first +instant in which she could elude observation, to escape, not alone from +the room, nor from the house, but from Brighthelmstone; whence she would +set off, by the quickest conveyance that she could find, for London and +Gabriella. Elinor, muffled up, and looking pale, haggard, and altered, +was reclining upon a sofa; not in compliance with the request of her +friends, but from an indispensable necessity of repose, after the +violent exertions which had recently shaken her already weakened frame. +At the entrance of Juliet she lifted up her head, with an air of eager +satisfaction, and exclaimed, 'You are really, then, here? And you come, +at length, to my call? Harleigh is less courteous! Triumphant Harleigh! +he leaves me, he says, to take some rest:--rest?--' + +She paused, and her under lip shewed her contempt of the idea; and +presently, with a sarcastic smile, she added, 'Yes, yes, I shall +certainly take rest! I mean no less. He, too, will take some rest! +There, at least, ultimately, our destinies will approximate. And you, +even you, victorious Ellis! will sink to vapid rest, like those who have +never known happiness!' + +With a laugh, then, but expressive of scorn, not gaiety, she exclaimed, +'And I, too, preaching? Can we never be tired, and good for nothing, but +we must take to moralizing? Summon him, however, Ellis, yourself. Tell +him to come without delay. I am sick;--and he is sick; and you are +sick;--we are all round sick of this loathsome procrastination.' + +Alert to seize any pretence to be gone, Juliet was already at the door; +when Elinor, suddenly seeming to penetrate into her intentions, called +her back; and demanded a solemn promise that she would not fail to +return with Harleigh. + +To the quick perceptions of Elinor, hesitation was alarm; she no sooner, +therefore, observed it, than she peremptorily ordered Selina and Mrs +Golding out of the room, and then, yet more positively, commanded Juliet +to approach the sofa. + +'I see,' she cried, 'your collusion! You imagine, by coming to me +alternately, that you shall keep me in order? You conclude that I only +present myself a bowl and a dagger, like a Tragedy Queen, to have them +dashed from my hands, that I may be ready for a similar exhibition +another day?--And can Harleigh, the noble Harleigh! judge me thus +pitifully? No! no! Full of great and expansive ideas himself, he can +better comprehend the exaltation of which a high, uncurbed, independent +spirit is capable. But little minds deem all that is not common, all +that has not been practised from father to son, and from generation to +generation, to be trick, or to be impossible. You, Ellis, and such as +you, who act always by rule, who never utter a word of which you have +not weighed the consequence; never indulge a wish of which you have not +canvassed the effects: who listen to no generous feeling; who shrink +from every liberal impulse; who know nothing of nature, and care for +nothing but opinion:--you, and such as you, tame animals of custom, +wearied and wearying plodders on beaten tracks, may conclude me a mere +vapouring impostor, and believe it as safe to brave as to despise me! +You, Ellis--But no!--' + +She stopt, and her look and manner suddenly lost their fierceness, as +she added: 'Oh no!--You! You are not of that cast! Harleigh can only +admire what alone is admirable. He would soon see through littleness or +hypocrisy; you must be good and great at once--eminently good, +unaffectedly great!--or how could Harleigh, the punctilious, +discriminating Harleigh, adore you? Oh! I have known, and secretly +appreciated you long; though I have been too little myself to +acknowledge it! I have not been calm enough--perhaps not blind enough +for justice! for if I saw your beauty less clearly--O happy Ellis! how +do I admire, envy, revere,--and hate you!' + +Shocked, yet filled with pity, Juliet would have sought to deprecate her +enmity, and soften her feelings; but her fiery eye shewed that any +attempt at offering her consolation would be regarded as insult. 'I +disdain,' she cried, 'all expedient, all pretence. However the abortion +of my purpose may have made me appear a mere female mountebank, I have +meant all that I have seemed to mean: though, by waiting for the moment +of most _eclat_, opportunity has been past by, and action has been +frustrated. But I can die only once. That over,--all is ended. 'Tis +therefore I have studied how to finish my career with most effect. Let +Harleigh, however, beware how he doubt my sincerity! doubt from him +would drive me mad indeed! To the torpid formalities of every-day +customs; the drowsy thoughts of every-day thinkers; he may believe me +insensible, and I shall thank him; but, indifferent to my own principles +of honour!--lost to my own definitions of pride, of shame, of +heroism!--Oh! if he touch me there!--if he can judge of me so +degradingly ... my senses will still go before my life!' + +She held her forehead, with a look of fearful pain; but, soon +recovering, laughed, and said, 'There are fools, I know, in the world, +who suppose me mad already! only because I go my own way; while they, +poor cowards, yoked one to another, always follow the path of their +forefathers; without even venturing to mend the road, however it may +have been broken up by time, accident or mischief. I have full as much +contempt of their imbecility, as they can have of my insanity. But hear +me, Ellis! approach and mark me. I must have a conference with Harleigh. +You must be present. A last conference! Whatever be its event, I have +bound myself to Elinor Joddrel never to demand another! But do not +therefore imagine my life or death to be in your power. No! My +resolution is taken. Take yours. Let the interview which I demand pass +quietly in this room; or be responsible for the consequences of the +public desperation to which I may be urged!' + +Gloomily, she then added, 'Harleigh has refused to come; I will send him +word that you are here; will he still refuse?' + +Juliet blushed; but could not answer. Elinor paused a moment, and then +said, 'If he knows that he can see you elsewhere, he will be firm; if +not ... he will return with my messenger! By that I can judge the +present state of your connexion.' + +She rang the bell, and told Mrs Golding to go instantly to Mr Harleigh, +and acquaint him that Elinor Joddrel and Miss Ellis desired to speak +with him immediately. + +Vainly Juliet remonstrated against the strange appearance of such a +message, not only to himself, but to the family and the world: +'Appearance?' she cried; 'after what I have done, what I have +dared,--have I any terms to keep with the world? with appearances? +Miserable, contemptible, servile appearances, to which sense, happiness, +and feeling are for ever to be sacrificed! And what will the world do in +return? How recompense the victims to its arbitrary prejudices? By +letting them quickly sink into nothing; by suffering them to die with as +little notice and distinction as they have lived; and with as little +choice.' + +Mrs Golding returned, bringing the respects of Mr Harleigh, but saying +that he was forced, by an indispensable engagement, to refuse himself +the honour of waiting upon Miss Joddrel. + +'Run to him again!--' cried Elinor, with vehemence; 'run, or he will be +gone! Make him enter the first empty room, and tell him 'tis Miss Ellis +alone who desires to speak with him. Fly!' + +Yet more earnestly, now, Juliet would have interfered; but the +peremptory Elinor insisted upon immediate obedience. 'If still,' she +cried 'he come not ... I shall conclude you to be already married!' + +She laughed, yet wore a face of horrour at this idea; and spoke no more +till Mrs Golding returned, with intelligence that Mr Harleigh was +waiting in the parlour. + +The bosom of Juliet now swelled and heaved high, with tumultuous +distress and alarm, and her cheeks were dyed with the crimson tint of +conscious shame; while Elinor, turning pale, dropt her head upon the +pillow of the sofa, and sighed deeply for a moment in silence. +Recovering then, 'This, at least,' she said, 'is explicit; let it be +final! Your influence is not disguised; use it, Ellis, to snatch me from +the deplorable buffoonery of running about the world--not like death +after the lady, but the lady after death! Assure yourselves that you +will never devise any stratagem that will turn me from my purpose; +though you may render ridiculous in its execution, what in its +conception was sublime. Happiness such as yours, Ellis, ought to be +above all narrow malignity. You ought to be proud, Ellis, voluntarily to +serve her whom involuntarily you have ruined!' + +Juliet was beginning some protestations of kindness; but Elinor, +interrupting her, said, 'I can give credit only to action. I must have a +conference; but it is not to talk of myself;--nor of you; nor even of +Harleigh. No! the soft moment of indulgence to my feelings is at an end! +When I allowed my heart that delicious expansion; when I abandoned it to +nature, and permitted it those open effusions of tenderness, I thought +my dissolution at hand, and meant but to snatch a few last precious +minutes of extacy from everlasting annihilation! but these endless +delays, these eternal procrastinations, make me appear so unmeaning an +idiot, even to myself, that, for the remnant of my doleful ditty, I must +resist every natural wish; and plod on, till I plod off, with the stiff +and stupid decorum of a starched old maid of half a century. Procure me, +however, this definitive conference. It is upon no point of the old +story, I promise you. You cannot be more tired of that than I am +ashamed. 'Tis simply an earnest curiosity to know the pure, unadulterate +thoughts of Harleigh upon death and immortality. I have applied to him, +fruitlessly, myself; he inexorably refers me to some old canonicals; +without considering that it is vain to ask for guides to shew us a road, +before we are convinced, or at least persuaded, that it will lead us to +some given spot. Let him but make clear, that 'tis his own opinion that +death does not sink us to nothing; let him but satisfy me, that he does +not turn me over to others, only because he thinks as I think himself, +and has not the courage to avow it;--and then, in return, I may suffer +him to send to me some one of his black robed tribe, to harangue me +about here and hereafter.' + +All contestation on the part of Juliet, was but irritating; she was +forced upon her commission, and compelled solemnly to promise, that she +would return with Harleigh, and be present at the conference. + + + + +CHAPTER LXIII + + +With unsteady footsteps, and covered with blushes, Juliet repaired to +the parlour, where Harleigh, with delighted, yet trembling impatience, +was awaiting her arrival. + +The door was half open, and he had placed himself at a distant window, +to force her entire entrance into the room, before she could see him, or +speak; but, that point gained, he hastened to shut it, exclaiming, 'How +happy for me is this incident, whatever may have been its origin! Let me +instantly avail myself of it, to entreat--' + +'Give me leave,' interrupted Juliet, looking every way to avoid his +eyes; 'to deliver my message. Miss Joddrel--' + +'When we begin,' cried Harleigh, eagerly, 'upon the unhappy Elinor, she +must absorb us; let me, then, first--' + +'I must be heard, Sir,' said Juliet, with more firmness, 'or I must be +gone!--' + +'You must be heard, then, undoubtedly!' he cried, with a smile, and +offering her a chair, 'for you must not be gone!' + +Juliet declined being seated, but delivered, nearly in the words that +she had received it, her message. + +Harleigh looked pained and distressed, yet impatient, as he listened. +'How,' he cried, 'can I argue with her? The false exaltation of her +ideas, the effervescence of her restless imagination, place her above, +or below, whatever argument, or reason can offer to her consideration. +Her own creed is settled--not by investigation into its merits, not by +reflection upon its justice, but by an impulsive preference, in the +persuasion that such a creed leaves her mistress of her destiny.' + +'Ah, do not resist her!' cried Juliet. 'If there is any good to be +done--do it! and without delay!' + +'It is not you I can resist!' he tenderly answered, 'if deliberately it +is your opinion I should comply. But her peculiar character, her +extraordinary principles, and the strange situation into which she has +cast herself, give her, for the moment, advantages difficult, nay +dangerous to combat. Unawed by religion, of which she is ignorant; +unmoved by appearances, to which she is indifferent; she utters all that +occurs to an imagination inflamed by passion, disordered by +disappointment, and fearless because hopeless, with a courage from which +she has banished every species of restraint: and with a spirit of +ridicule, that so largely pervades her whole character, as to burst +forth through all her sufferings, to mix derision with all her sorrows, +and to preponderate even over her passions! Reason and argument appear +to her but as marks for dashing eloquence or sportive mockery. +Nevertheless, if, by striking at every thing, daringly, impetuously, +unthinkingly, she start some sudden doubt; demand some impossible +explanation; or ask some humanly unanswerable question; she will +conclude herself victorious; and be more lost than ever to all that is +right, from added false confidence in all that is wrong.' + +'If so, the conference were, indeed, better avoided,' said Juliet with +sadness; 'yet--as it is not the sacred truth of revealed religion that +she means to canvass; as it is merely the previous question, of the +possibility, or impossibility, according to her notions, of a future +state for mankind, which she desires to discuss; I do not quite see the +danger of answering the doubts, or refuting the assertions, that may +lead her afterwards, to an investigation so important to her future +welfare. If she would consult with a clergyman, it were certainly +preferable; but that will be a point no longer difficult to gain, when +once you have convinced her, upon her own terms of controversy, that you +yourself have a firm belief in immortality.' + +'The attempt shall surely be made,' said Harleigh, 'if you think such a +result, as casting her into more reverend hands, may ensue. If I have +fled all controversy with her, from the time that she has publicly +proclaimed her religious infidelity, it has by no means been from +disgust; an unbeliever is simply an object of pity; for who is so +deplorably without resource in sickness or calamity?--those two common +occupiers of half our existence! No; if I have fled all voluntary +intercourse with her, it has only been that her total contempt of the +world, has forced me to take upon myself the charge of public opinion +for us both. While I considered her as the future wife of my brother, I +frankly contested whatever I thought wrong in her notions. The wildness +of her character, the eccentricity of her ideas, and the violence of +all her feelings; with her extraordinary understanding--parts, I ought +to say; for understanding implies rather what is solid than +brilliant;--joined to the goodness of her heart, and the generosity, +frankness, and openness of her nature, excited at once an anxiety for my +brother, and an interest for herself, that gave occasion to the most +affectionate animadversion on my part, and produced alternate defence or +concession on hers. But her disdain of flattery, or even of civil +acquiescence, made my freedom, opposed to the courteous complaisance +which my brother deemed due to his situation of her humble servant, +strike her in a point of view ... that has been unhappy for us all +three! Yet this was a circumstance which I had never suspected,--for, +where no wish is met, remark often sleeps;--and I had been wholly +unobservant, till you--' + +Called from the deep interest with which she had involuntarily listened +to the relation of his connection with Elinor, by this sudden transition +to herself, Juliet started; but he went on. + +'Till you were an inmate of the same house! till I saw her strange +consternation, when she found me conversing with you; her rising +injustice when, with the respect and admiration which you inspired, I +mentioned you; her restless vigilance to interrupt whatever +communication I attempted to have with you; her sudden fits of profound +yet watchful taciturnity, when I saw you in her presence;--' + +'I may tell her,' interrupted Juliet, disturbed, 'that you will wait +upon her according to her request?' + +'When you,' cried he, smiling, 'are her messenger, she must not expect +quite so quick, quite so categorical an answer! I must first--' + +'On the contrary, her impatience will be insupportable if I do not +relieve it immediately.' + +She would have opened the door, but, preventing her, 'Can you indeed +believe,' he cried, with vivacity; 'is it possible you can believe, +that, having once caught a ray of light, to illumine and cheer the dread +and nearly impervious darkness, that so long and so blackly overclouded +all my prospects, I can consent, can endure to be cast again into +desolate obscurity?' + +Juliet, blushing, and conscious of his allusion to her reception of him +in the church yard, for which, without naming Sir Lyell Sycamore, she +knew not how to account, again protested that she must not be detained. + +Still, however, half reproachfully, half laughingly, stopping her, 'And +is it thus,' he cried, 'that you summon me to Brighthelmstone,--only to +mock my obedience, and disdain to hear me?' + +'I, Sir?--I, summon you?' + +'Nay, see my credentials!' + +He presented to her the following note, written in an evidently feigned +hand: + + 'If Mr Harleigh will take a ramble to the church-yard upon the + Hill, at Brighthelmstone, next Thursday morning, at five o'clock, + he will there meet a female fellow-traveller, now in the greatest + distress, who solicits his advice and assistance, to extricate her + from her present intolerable abode.' + +Deeply colouring, 'And could Mr Harleigh,' she cried, 'even for a moment +believe,--suppose,--' + +He interrupted her, with an air of tender respect. 'No; I did not, +indeed, dare believe, dare suppose that an honour, a trust such as might +be implied by an appeal like this, came from you! Yet for you I was sure +it was meant to pass; and to discover by whom it was devised, and for +what purpose, irresistibly drew me hither, though with full conviction +of imposition. I came, however, pre-determined to watch around your +dwelling, at the appointed hour, ere I repaired to the bidden place. But +what was my agitation when I thought I saw you! I doubted my senses. I +retreated; I hung back; your face was shaded by your head-dress;--yet +your air,--your walk,--was it possible I could be deceived? +Nevertheless, I resolved not to speak, nor to approach you, till I saw +whether you proceeded to the church-yard. I was by no means free from +suspicion of some new stratagem of Elinor; for, fatigued with +concealment, I was then publicly at my house upon Bagshot Heath, where +the note had reached me. Yet her distance from Brighthelmstone for so +early an hour, joined to intelligence which I had received some time +ago,--for you will not imagine that the period which I spend without +seeing, I spend also without hearing of you?--that you had been +observed,--and more than once,--at that early hour, in the +church-yard--' + +'True!' cried Juliet, eagerly, 'at that hour I have frequently met, or +accompanied, a friend, a beloved friend! thither; and, in her name, I +had even then, when I saw you, been deluded: not for a walk; a ramble; +not upon any party of pleasure; but to visit a little tomb, which holds +the regretted remains of the darling and only child of that dear, +unhappy friend!' + +She wept. Harleigh, extremely touched, said, 'You have, then, a friend +here?--Is it,--may I ask?--is it the person you so earnestly sought upon +your arrival?--Is your anxiety relieved?--your embarrassment?--your +suspence?--your cruel distress?--Will you not give me, at length, some +little satisfaction? Can you wonder that my forbearance is worn +out?--Can my impatience offend you?--If I press to know your situation, +it is but with the desire to partake it!--If I solicit to hear your +name--it is but with the hope ... that you will suffer me to change it!' + +He would have taken her hand, but, drawing back, and wiping her eyes, +though irresistibly touched, 'Offend?' she repeated; 'Oh far,--far!... +but why will you recur to a subject that ought so long since to have +been exploded?--while another,--an essential one, calls for all my +attention?--The last packet which you left with me, you must suffer me +instantly to return; the first,--the first--' She stammered, coloured, +and then added, 'The first,--I am shocked to own,--I must defer +returning yet a little longer!' + +'Defer?' ardently repeated Harleigh. 'Ah! why not condescend to think, +at least, another language, if not to speak it? Why not anticipate, in +kind idea, at least, the happy period,--for me! when I may be permitted +to consider as included, and mutual in our destinies, whatever +hitherto--' + +'Oh hold!--Oh Mr Harleigh!' interrupted Juliet, in a voice of anguish. +'Let no errour, no misconstruction, of this terrible sort,--no +inference, no expectation, thus wide from all possible reality, add to +my various misfortunes the misery of remorse!' + +'Remorse?--Gracious powers! What can you mean?' + +'That I have committed the most dreadful of mistakes,--a mistake that I +ought never to forgive myself, if, in the relief from immediate +perplexity, which I ventured to owe to a momentary, and, I own, an +intentionally unacknowledged, usage of some of the notes which you +forced into my possession, I have given rise to a belief,--to an +idea,--to--' + +She hesitated, and blushed so violently, that she could not finish her +phrase; but Harleigh appeared thunderstruck, and was wholly silent. She +looked down, abashed, and added, 'The instant, by any possible +means,--by work, by toil, by labour,--nothing will be too severe,--all +will be light and easy,--that can rectify,--that--' + +She could not proceed; and Harleigh, somewhat recovered by the view of +her confusion, gently, though reproachfully, said, 'All, then, will be +preferable to the slightest, smallest trust in me?--And is this from +abhorrence?--or do you deem me so ungenerous as to believe that I should +take unworthy advantage of being permitted to offer you even the most +trivial service?' + +'No, no, oh, no!' with quickness cried Juliet; 'but the more generous +you may be, the more readily you may imagine--' + +She stopt, at a loss how to finish. + +'That you would be generous, too?' cried Harleigh, revived and smiling. + +She could not refrain from a smile herself, but hastily added, 'My +conduct must be liable to no inference of any sort. Adieu, Sir. I will +deliver you the packet in Miss Joddrel's room.' + +Her hand was upon the lock, but his foot, fixed firmly against the door, +impeded its being opened, while he exclaimed, 'I cannot part with you +thus! You must clear this terrific obscurity, that threatens to involve +me, once more, in the horrours of excruciating suspense!--Why that cruel +expression of displeasure? Can you think that the moment of +hope,--however brief, however unintentional, however accidental,--can +ever be obliterated from my thoughts? that my existence, to whatever +term it may be lengthened, will ever out-live the precious remembrance +that you have called me your destined protector?--your guardian angel?' + +He could add no more; a mortal paleness overspread the face of Juliet, +who, letting go the lock of the door, sunk upon a chair, faintly +ejaculating, 'Was I not yet sufficiently miserable?' + +Penetrated with sorrow, and struck with alarm, Harleigh looked at her in +silence; but when again he sought to take her hand, shrinking from his +touch, though regarding him with an expression that supplicated rather +than commanded forbearance; 'If you would not kill me, Mr Harleigh,' she +cried, 'you will relinquish this terrible perseverance!' + +'Relinquish?' he repeated, 'What now? Now, that all delicacy for this +wild, eccentric, though so generous Elinor is at an end? that she has, +herself, annulled your engagement? Relinquish, now, the hopes so long +pursued,--so difficultly caught? No, I swear to you--' + +Juliet arose. 'Oh hold, Mr Harleigh!' she cried; 'recollect yourself a +moment! I lament if I have, involuntarily, caused you any transient +mistake; yet, do me the justice to reflect, that I have never cast my +destiny upon that of Miss Joddrel. No decision, therefore, of hers can +make any change in mine.' + +She again put her hand upon the lock of the door. + +Harleigh fixt upon her his eyes, which spoke the severest disturbance, +while, in tremulous accents, he uttered, 'And can you leave me thus, to +wasting despondence?--and with this cold, chilling, blighting +composure?--Is it from pitiless apathy, which incapacitates for judging +of torments which it does not experience?--O no! Those eyes that so +often glisten with the most touching sensibility,--those cheeks that so +beautifully mantle with the varying dies of quick transition of +sentiment,--that mouth, which so expressively plays in harmony with +every word,--nay, every thought,--all, all announce a heart where every +virtue is seconded and softened by every feeling!--a mind alive to the +quickest sensations, yet invigorated with the ablest understanding! a +soul of angelic purity!--' + +Some sound from the passage made him suddenly stop, and remove his foot; +while the hand of Juliet dropt from the lock. They were both silent, and +both, affrighted, stood suspended; till Juliet, shocked at the +impropriety of such a situation, forced herself to open the door,--at +the other side of which, looking more dead than alive, stood Elinor, +leaning upon her sister. + +'I began to think,' she cried, in a hollow tone, 'that you were +eloped!--and determining to trust to no messenger, I came myself.' She +then endeavoured to call forth a smile; but it visited so unwillingly +features nearly distorted by internal agony, that it gave a cast almost +ghastly to her countenance. + +'Why, Harleigh,' she cried, 'should you thus shun me? Have I not given +back her plighted faith to Ellis? Yet I am not ignorant how tired you +must be of those old thread-bare topics, bowls, daggers, poignards, and +bodkins: but they have had their reign, and are now dethroned. What +remains is plain, common, stupid rationality. I wish to converse with +you, Albert, only as a casuist; and upon a point of conscience which you +alone can settle. For this world, and for all that belongs to it, all, +with me, is utterly over! I have neither care nor interest left in it; +and I have no belief that there is any other. I am very composedly +ready, therefore, to take my last nap. I merely wish to learn, before I +return to my torpid ignorance, whether it can be a fact, that you, +Harleigh, you! believe in a future state for mortal man? And I engage +you by your friendship,--which I still prize above all things! and by +your honour, which you, I know, prize in the same manner, to answer me +this question, instantly and categorically.' + +'Most faithfully, then, Elinor, yes! All the happiness of my present +life is founded upon my belief of a life to come!' + +Elinor held up her hands. 'Astonishing!' she cried. 'Can judgment and +credulity, wisdom and superstition, thus jumble themselves together! And +in a head so clear, so even oracular! Give me, at least, your reasons; +and see that they are your own!' + +Harleigh looked disturbed, but made not any answer. + +The wan face of Elinor was now lighted up with hues of scarlet. 'I +feel,' she cried, 'the impropriety of this intrusion;--for who, if not +I,--since we all prize most what we know least,--should respect +happiness? When you have finished, however, your present conference, +honour me, both of you, if you please,--that the period so employed may +be less wearisome to either,--with a final one up stairs. Harleigh! A +final one!' + +Harleigh was still silent. + +A yet deeper red now dyed the whole complexion of Elinor, and she added, +'If, to-day, you are too much engaged,--to-morrow will suffice. To-day, +indeed, your solemn protestations of belief, upon a subject which to me, +is a chaos,--dark,--impervious, impenetrable! has given ample employment +to my ideas.' + +Repulsing, then, his silently offered arm, she returned, with Selina, to +the chamber consigned to her by Mrs Ireton. + + + + +CHAPTER LXIV + + +Harleigh, confused, disconcerted, remained motionless; but when the +conscious Juliet would have glided silently past him, he entreated for a +moment's audience. + +'Oh no, Mr Harleigh, no!' she cried: 'these are scenes and alarms, that +must be risked no more!--' + +She was hurrying away; but, upon his saying, 'Hear me, at least, for +Elinor!' she turned back. + +His eye, now reproached even her compliance; but he rapidly communicated +his opinion, that the conference demanded by Elinor ought, in prudence, +for the present, to be avoided; since, while she had still some +favourite object in view, life, would, unconsciously, be still +supported. Time, thus, might insensibly be gained, not only for eluding +her fatal project, but happily, perhaps, for taming the dauntless +wildness that made her, now, seem to stand scoffingly at bay, between +life and death. + +Juliet saw nothing to oppose to this statement, and thanking him that, +at least, it liberated her, was again hastening away. + +'Hold, hold!' cried he, stopping her: 'it is not from me that it must +liberate you! Elinor has ratified the restoration of your word--' + +'Oh, were that all!--' she cried, hastily; but, stopping short, deeply +blushing, 'Mr Harleigh,' she added, 'compel me not to repeat +declarations that cannot vary!--Aid me rather, generously,--kindly, +shall I say?--aid me,--to fly, to avoid you,--lest you become +yourself ...' her voice faltered as she pronounced, 'the most fatal of +my enemies!' + +The penetrated Harleigh, charmed, though tortured, saw her eyes +glittering with tears; but she forced her way past him, and took refuge +in her chamber. + +There, in deep anguish, she was sinking upon a chair, when she received +the gentle balm of a letter from Gabriella, written with exstatic joy at +the prospect of their re-union. + +This decided her plan of immediate escape to London, under a full +conviction that Harleigh, to obviate any calumnious surmizes from her +disappearance, would studiously shew himself in the world; however +cautiously he might avoid any interview with Elinor. + +The shock of Juliet, at this unfortunate intrusion, somewhat abated, +when she reflected that confirmed hopelessness might, perchance, lead +Elinor to acquiescence in disappointment; for hopelessness, equally with +resignation,--though not so respectably,--terminates all struggles +against misfortune. + +She now, therefore, seized an opportunity, when she knew Mrs Ireton to +be engaged with Mrs Maple, for going forth to secure a place in some +machine, for a journey to London on the following morning. + +This office performed, she thought, while returning home, that she +perceived, though at a considerable distance, Harleigh. + +In the dread of some new conflict, she was planning to seek another way +back, when recollecting that she had his bank-notes in her work-bag, she +judged that she might more promptly return them at this accidental +meeting, than in the house of Mrs Ireton. + +She slackened, therefore, her pace, and, taking out her ever ready +packet, turned round, as the footstep approached, gravely and calmly to +deliver it; when, to her utter surprize, she faced Lord Melbury. + +Pleasure emitted its brightest hues in the tints of her cheeks, at sight +of the marked respect that chastened the visible delight with which she +was looked at and accosted by the young peer. 'How fortunate,' he cried, +'am I to meet with you thus directly! This moment only I dismount from +my horse. I have a million of things to say to you from Aurora, if you +will have the goodness to hear them; and I have more at heart still my +own claim upon your patience. When may I see you for a little +conversation?' + +The pleasure of Juliet was now severely checked by perplexity, how +either to fulfil or to break her engagement. Observing the change in her +countenance, and her hesitation and difficulty to answer, Lord Melbury, +whose look and air changed also, said, in a tone of concern, 'Miss Ellis +has not forgotten her kind promise?' + +'Your lordship is extremely good, to remember either that or me; yet I +hope--' + +'What does Miss Ellis hope? I would not counteract her hopes for the +world; but surely she cannot be so cruel as to disappoint mine? to make +me fear that she has changed her opinion? to withdraw her amiable +trust?' + +'No, my lord, no! not a moment could I hesitate were trust alone in +question! but the hurry of this instant,--the impossibility of detailing +so briefly, and by an imperfect account--' + +'And why an imperfect account? Why, dear Miss Ellis, since you have the +kindness to believe I may be trusted, not confide to me the whole +truth?' + +'Alas, my lord! how?--where?' + +'In some parlour,--in the garden,--any where.--' + +'Ah, my lord, what I have to say must be uninterrupted; unheard but by +yourself; and--I can command neither a place nor a moment free from +intrusion!'-- + +'Sweet Miss Ellis!--sweet injured Miss Ellis! I know, I have witnessed +the unworthiness of your treatment. Even Aurora, with all her +gentleness, has been as indignant at it, nearly, as myself. All our +wonder is how you bear it!--We burn, we expire to learn what can urge so +undue a subjection. But I have not obtruded myself upon you only for +myself; I have galloped hither to prepare you,--and to entreat you not +to be uneasy,--and to save you from any surprize, by acquainting you +that my uncle Denmeath--' + +He stopt short, as if thunderstruck. Juliet, alarmed, looked at him, and +saw that, in bending over her, to name, in a lower voice, his uncle, his +eyes had caught the direction of her packet, "For Albert Harleigh, Esq." + +Shocked at the evidently unpleasant effect which this sight produced, +and covered with blushes at the suspicions to which it might give rise, +Juliet hastily exclaimed, 'Oh my lord! I must no longer defer my +explanation! any, every risk will be preferable to the loss of your +esteem!' + +Delight, enchantment again were depicted on the countenance, as they +seized the faculties of the young peer; and, involuntarily, his eager +hands were stretching forwards to seize hers, when he perceived, just +approached to them, pale, agitated, and with the look of some one taken +suddenly ill, Harleigh. + +The colour of Juliet now rose and died away alternately, from varying +sensations of shame and apprehension; to which the deepest confusion +soon succeeded, as she discerned the contrast of the cheeks, whitened by +pale jealousy, of Harleigh; with those of Lord Melbury, which were +crimsoned with the reddest hues of sudden suspicion, and painful +mistrust. + +Harleigh, with a faint and forced smile, bowed, but stood aloof: Lord +Melbury seemed to have not alone his sentiments, but his faculties held +in suspension. + +Juliet, with cruel consciousness, perceived that each surmized something +clandestine of the other; and the immense importance which she annexed +to their joint good opinion; and the imminent danger which she saw of +the double forfeiture, soon re-invigorated her powers, and, addressing +herself with dignity, though in a tone of softness, to Lord Melbury, 'If +you judge me, my lord, from partial circumstances,' she cried, 'I have +every thing to apprehend for what I value more than words can express, +your lordship's approbation of the favour with which I am honoured by +Lady Aurora Granville; but let me rather hope,--suffer me, my lord, to +hope, that by the opinion I have formed of the honour of your own +character, you will judge,--though at present in the dark,--of the +integrity of mine!' + +Turning then from him, as, touched, electrified, he was beginning, 'I +have always judged you to be an angel!'--she would have presented her +packet to Harleigh; though without raising her eyes, saying, 'Mr +Harleigh has so long;--and upon so many occasions, honoured me with +marks of his esteem,--and benevolence,--that I flatter myself,--I +think,--I trust--' + +She stammered, confused; and Harleigh, who, from the moment that Lady +Aurora had been mentioned, had recovered his complexion, his +respiration, and his strength; recovered, also, his hopes and his +energy, at sight of the embarrassment of Juliet. Not doubting, however, +what were the contents of the packet, he held back from receiving it; +though with a smile that conveyed the most lively expression of grateful +delight, at her palpable anxiety to preserve his esteem. + +'Nay, you must take your property!' she resumed, with attempted +cheerfulness; yet blushing more deeply every moment, at thus betraying +to Lord Melbury that she had any property of Mr Harleigh's to return. + +'I will take your commands in every shape in which they can be framed,' +cried Harleigh, gaily; 'but you must not refuse to grant me, at the same +time, directions for their execution.' + +The interest with which Lord Melbury listened to what passed, was now +mingled with undisguised impatience: but Juliet could not endure to +satisfy him; could not support letting him know, that she retained +money of Harleigh's in her hands; nor yet bear to suffer Harleigh, now +the address had been seen, to leave it still in her possession: +hesitating, abashed, she turned from one to the other, with looks at +Lord Melbury that seemed appealing for forbearance; and to Harleigh with +down-cast eyes, that had not force to encounter his, but that were +expressive of distress, timidity, and fear of misconstruction. + +This pause, while it astonished and perplexed Lord Melbury, gave rise, +in Harleigh, to the most flattering emotions. Her disturbance was, +indeed, visible, and cruelly painful to him; but, since their meeting in +the church-yard, the severity of her reserve had seemed shaken, beyond +her power, evident as were her struggles, to call back its original +firmness. The more exquisitely he felt himself bewitched by this +observation, the more fondly he desired to spare her delicacy, by +concealing, though not repressing his hopes; but his eyes, less under +his controul than his words, air, or address, spoke a language not to be +doubted of tenderness, and sparkled with lustrous happiness, Juliet felt +their beams too powerfully to mistake, or even to sustain them. Her head +dropt, her eye-lids nearly closed; blushing shame tingled in her cheeks, +and apprehension and perturbation trembled in every limb. + +Perceiving, and adoring, her inability to find utterance, Harleigh, with +subdued rapture, yet in a tone that spoke of his feelings to be, at +length, in harmony with all his wishes, was gently beginning an entreaty +that she would adjourn this little dispute to another day, when the +words, 'Well! if here i'n't the very person we were talking off!' +striking his ears, he looked round, and saw Miss Bydel, accompanied by +Mr Giles Arbe; whose approach had been unheeded by them all, from the +deep interest which had concentrated their attention to themselves. + +'Why, Mrs Ellis,' she continued, 'why what are you doing here? I should +like to know that. I've just had a smart battle about you with my good +friend, Mr Giles. He will needs have it, that you paid all your debts +from a hoard that you had by you, of your own; though I have told him I +dare say an hundred times, at the least, I must needs be a better judge, +having been paid myself, for my own share, by that cross-grained +Baronet, who's been such a good friend to you.' + +The sensations of Juliet underwent now another change, though shame was +still predominant; her fears of exciting the expectations she sought to +annul in Harleigh, were superseded by a terrour yet more momentous, of +giving ground for suspicion, not alone to himself, but to Lord Melbury, +that, while fashioning a thousand difficulties, to accepting the +assistance that was generously and delicately offered by themselves, she +had suffered a third person, that person, also, a gentleman, to supply +her pecuniary necessities. She breathed hard, and looked disordered, but +could suggest nothing to say; while Harleigh and Lord Melbury stood as +if transfixed by disturbed astonishment. + +'Well! I protest,' resumed Miss Bydel, 'if here i'n't another of the +people that we were talking of, Mr Giles! for I declare it's Mr +Harleigh, that I was telling you, you know, my good friend, was the +person that made poor Miss Joddrel make away with her herself, because +of his skimper-scampering after Mrs Ellis, when she had that swoon! +which, to be sure, had but an out of the way look; for the music would +have taken care of her. Don't you think so yourself, my dear?' + +The most painful confusion again took possession of Juliet; who would +silently have walked away, had not Miss Bydel caught hold of her arm, +saying, 'Don't be in a hurry, my dear, for you shan't be chid; for I'll +speak for you myself to Mrs Ireton.' + +'I am mighty glad to hear that Sir Jaspar is your friend, my pretty +lady,' said the smiling Mr Giles; 'and I am mighty glad, too, that you +have persuaded him to help to pay your debts. He's a very good sort of +man, where he takes; and very witty and clever. Though he is crabbed, +too; rather crabbed and waspish, when he i'n't pleased. He always scolds +all the men: and, indeed, the maids, too, when they a'n't pretty, poor +things! And they can't help that: else, I dare say, they would. Yet, I +am afraid, I don't like them quite so well myself, neither, in my heart, +when they are ugly; which is but hard upon them; so I always do them +double the good, to punish myself. But I'm prodigiously sorry you should +have taken to that turn of running in debt, my dear, for it's the only +thing I know to your disadvantage; for which reason I have never named +it to a single soul; only it just dropt out, before I was aware, to Miss +Bydel; which I am sorry enough for; for I am afraid it will be but hard +to her, poor lady, to keep it to herself.' + +'What do you mean by that Mr Giles?' cried Miss Bydel, angrily. 'Do you +want to insinuate that I don't know how to keep a secret? I should be +glad to know what right you have to fleer at a person about that, when +you blab out every thing in such a manner yourself! and before these two +gentlemen, too; who don't lose a word of what passes, I can tell you!' + +'True! Good! You are right there, Mrs Bydel! I did not think of that, I +protest. However, these two gentlemen have too much kindness about them, +to repeat a thing that may hurt a young person just coming, as one may +say, into the world, for she is but a chicken; and my lord, here, who +looks younger still, is scarcely more than an egg. So you may be sure he +has no guile in him, for he seems almost as innocent as herself. +However, my pretty lady, if you have still any more debts, new or old, +only tell me who you owe them to, and I'll run and fetch all the people +here; and we'll join together to discharge them at once; for Mr Harleigh +is always at home when he is doing good; and this young nobleman can't +begin too soon to learn what he is rich for: so you can never be in +better hands for taking up a little money. When we settled the last +batch, you had no debt left but to Mrs Bydel; and, as the Baronet has +paid her, she's off our hands. So tell me whether there is any new one +that you have been running up since?' + +Wounded, and nearly indignant at this demand, 'None!' Juliet +spontaneously answered; when catching a glance at Lord Melbury, who +involuntarily looked down, his purse and the fifteen guineas of Lady +Aurora, rushed upon her memory, and filled her again with visible +embarrassment. + +'Good! good!' cried the pleased Mr Giles: 'you could not tell me better +news. But are there any poor souls, then, that you forgot to mention in +our last reckoning? Are there any old debts that you did not count?' + +Inexpressibly hurt at a supposition so offensive to her sense of +probity, Juliet hastily repeated, 'No, Sir, there are none!' but, in +raising her head, and encountering the penetrating eyes of Harleigh, the +terrible recollection of the capital into which she had broken, and of +the large sum so long his due, struck cold to her heart; though it burnt +her cheeks with a dye of crimson. + +Yet were these sensations nearly nugatory, compared with those which she +suffered the next instant, when Miss Bydel, suddenly perceiving the +direction upon the packet, read aloud 'For Albert Harleigh, Esq.' + +Her exclamations, her blunt, unqualified interrogatories, and the +wonder, and simple ejaculations of Mr Giles Arbe, filled Juliet with a +confusion so intolerable, that she forced her arm from Miss Bydel, with +intention to insist upon publicly restoring the packet to Harleigh; but +Harleigh, confounded himself, had advanced towards the house, which, +frequently as they had stopt, they now insensibly reached; but from +which he would most willingly have retrograded, upon seeing Ireton +issue, laughing, into the portico. + +The laugh of Ireton, whose gaiety was always derision, and whose +derision was always scandal, though it was innocently echoed by the +unsuspicious Mr Giles, was as alarming to the two gentlemen and to +Juliet, as it was offensive to Miss Bydel; who pettishly demanded, 'Pray +what are you laughing at, Mr Ireton? I should like to know that. If it +is at me, you may as well tell me at once, for I shall be sure to find +it out; because I always make a point of doing that.' + +Ireton, seizing upon Harleigh, exclaimed 'What, Monsieur le Moniteur! +still hankering after our mysterious fair one?' when, perceiving the +wishes of Juliet, to pass on, he wantonly filled up the door-way. + +Harleigh, who, also, could not but guess them, though he dared not look +at her, hoped, by delaying her entrance, to catch a moment's discourse: +but the youthful Lord Melbury, deeming all caution to be degrading, that +interfered with protection to a lovely female, openly desired that +Ireton would stand aside, and let the ladies enter the house. + +'Most undoubtedly, my lord!' answered Ireton, making way, with an air of +significant acquiescence. + +Miss Bydel, with a warm address of thanks to his lordship, whose +interference she received as a personal civility, said, 'This is like a +gentleman, indeed, my lord, and quite fit for a lord to do, to take the +part of us poor weak women, against people that keep one standing out in +the street, because they think of nothing but joking;' and then, telling +Juliet to follow her, 'I can do no less,' she added, as she entered the +hall, 'than be as good as my word to this poor young music-maker, to +save her a chiding, poor creature, for staying, dawdling, out so long; +when ten to one but poor Mrs Ireton has wanted her a hundred times, for +one odd thing or another. But I shall take all the fault upon myself for +the last part of the job, because I can't deny but I held her a minute +or two by the arm. But what she was gossipping about before we came up +to her, my good friend Mr Giles and I, is what I don't pretend to say; +though I should like to know very well; for it had but an odd +appearance, I must own; both your gentlemen having been talked of so +much, in the town, about this young person.' + +The most pointed darts of wit, and even the poisoned shafts of malice, +are less disconcerting to delicacy, than the unqualified bluntness of +the curious under-bred; for that which cannot be imputed to a spirit of +sarcasm, or a desire of shining, passes, to the bye-standers, for +unvarnished truth. As such, the intimation of Miss Bydel was palpably +received by Ireton, and by Mr Giles; though with malevolent wilfulness +by the one, and, by the other, with the simplest credulity; while Lord +Melbury, Harleigh and Juliet, were too much ashamed to look up, and too +much confounded to attempt parrying so gross an attack. + +Yet both Lord Melbury and Harleigh, urged invincibly by a desire of +knowing in what manner Juliet was to be patronized by her loquacious +mediatrix, and how they might themselves fare in the account, +irresistibly entered the mansion; though marvelling, each, at the +curiosity, and blaming the indiscretion of the other. + +To avoid the aspersion of making a clandestine retreat, Juliet had +decided, however painful to her might be such an exertion, openly to +relinquish her situation with Mrs Ireton; but she by no means felt equal +to risking the irascibility of that lady before so many witnesses. +Nevertheless, when she would have glided from the party, Miss Bydel, +again seizing her arm, called out, 'Come, don't be afraid, Mrs Ellis: +I've promised to take your part, and I am always as good as my word;' +and then dragged, rather than drew her into the drawing-room; closely +attended by Lord Melbury, Harleigh, Mr Giles Arbe, and Ireton. + + + + +CHAPTER LXV + + +Unweariedly concerting means of detection relative to the stranger, +which no failure of success could discourage, Mrs Ireton and Mrs Maple +sate whispering upon the same sofa in the drawing-room; while Selina and +Miss Arramede were tittering at a window. + +'How do you do, ladies?' cried Miss Bydel. 'In close chat, I see. +However, I don't want to know what it's about. I'm only come to speak a +word about this poor thing here, for fear you should think she has been +all this time gossipping about her own affairs; which, I assure you, Mrs +Ireton, I can bear witness for her i'n't the case.' + +The supercilious silence of Mrs Ireton to this address, would have +authorised the immediate retreat of Juliet, but that Ireton maliciously +placed himself against the door, and impeded its being opened; while +Lord Melbury and Harleigh were obliged to approach the sofa, to pay +their compliments to the lady of the mansion; who, giving them her whole +attention, left Miss Bydel to finish her harangue to Mrs Maple. + +'Right! True!' cried Mr Giles, eager to abet what he thought the good +nature of Miss Bydel. 'What you say is just and fair, Mrs Bydel; for +this pretty young lady here wanted to go from these two gentlemen the +minute we came up to her; only Mrs Bydel's arm being rather, I conceive, +heavy, she could not so soon break away. But I did not catch one of her +pretty dimples all the time. So pray, Mrs Ireton, don't be angry with +her; and the less because she's so sweet tempered, that, if you are, she +won't complain; for she never did of Mrs Maple.' + +'I hope this is curious enough!' cried Mrs Maple. 'A body to come and +live upon me, for months together, upon charity, and then not to +complain of me! I think if this is not enough to cure people of charity, +I wonder what is! For my part, I am heartily sick of it, for the rest of +my life.' + +Juliet having again, but vainly, tried to pass by Ireton, retired to an +unoccupied window. Harleigh, though engaged in discourse with Mrs +Ireton, reddened indignantly; and Lord Melbury nearly mashed the nails +of his fingers between his teeth; while Mr Giles, staring, demanded, +'Why what can there be, Ma'am, in charity, to turn you so sick? A poor +helpless young creature, like that, can't make you her toad-eater.' + +Alarmed at an address which she looked upon as a prognostic to an +exhortation, of which she dreaded, from experience, the plainness and +severity, Mrs Maple hastily changed her place: while Mrs Ireton, +startled, also, by the word toad-eater, unremittingly continued speaking +to the two gentlemen; whose attention, nevertheless, she could not for a +moment engage, though their looks and persons were her prisoners. + +'I don't know why you ladies who are so rich and gay,' continued Mr +Giles, composedly, and, to the great annoyance of Mrs Ireton, taking +possession of the seat which Mrs Maple had abdicated; 'should not try to +make yourselves pleasant to those who are poor and sad. You, that have +got every thing you can wish for, should take as much pains not to be +distasteful, as a poor young thing like that, who has got nothing but +what she works for, should take pains not to be starved.' + +Mrs Ireton, extremely incensed, though affecting to be unconcerned, +haughtily summoned Ellis. + +Ellis, forced to obey, went to the back of the sofa, to avoid standing +by the side of the two gentlemen; and determined to make use of this +opportunity for announcing her project of retreat. + +'Pray, Ma'am,' Mrs Ireton cried, 'permit me to enquire--' her eye +angrily, yet cautiously, glancing at Mr Giles, 'to what extraordinary +circumstance I am indebted, for having the honour of receiving your +visitors? Not that I am insensible to such a distinction; you won't +imagine me such an Hottentot, I hope, as to be insensible to so +honourable a distinction! Nevertheless, you'll pardon me, I trust, if I +take the liberty to intimate, that, for the future, when any of your +friends are to be indulged in waiting upon you, you will have the +goodness to receive them in your own apartments. You'll excuse the hint, +I flatter myself!' + +'I shall intrude no apologies upon your time, Madam,' said Ellis, +calmly, 'for relinquishing a situation in which I have acquitted myself +so little to your satisfaction: to-morrow, therefore--' + +Anticipating, and eager to convert a resignation which she regarded as a +disgrace, into a dismission which she considered as a triumph, Mrs +Ireton impatiently interrupted her, crying, 'To-morrow? And why are we +to wait for to-morrow? What has to-day done? Permit me to ask that. And +pray don't take it ill. Pray don't let me offend you: only--what has +poor to-day done, that to-morrow must have such a preference?' + +Juliet, frightened at the idea of being reduced to pass a night alone at +an inn, now hesitated; and Mrs Ireton, smiling complacently around her, +went on. + +'Suffer me, I beg, to speak a little word for poor, neglected to-day! +Have we not long enough been slaves to to-morrow? Let the pleasures of +dear expectation be superseded, this once, for those of actual +enjoyment. Not but 'twill be very severe upon me to lose you. I don't +dissemble that. So gay a companion! I shall certainly expire an +hypochondriac upon first missing your amusing sallies. I can never +survive such a deprivation. No! It's all over with me! You pity me, I am +sure, my good friends?' + +She now looked around, with an expression of ineffable satisfaction at +her own wit: but it met no applause, save in the ever ready giggles of +Selina, and the broad admiration of the round-eyed Miss Bydel. + +Juliet silently courtsied, with a gravity that implied a leave-taking, +and, approaching the door, desired that Ireton would let her pass. + +Ireton, laughing, declared that he should not suffer her to decamp, till +she gave him a direction where he could find her the next day. + +Offended, she returned again to her window. + +'O, now, pray, Mrs Ireton,' cried Miss Bydel, 'don't turn her away, poor +thing! don't turn her away, Ma'am, for such a mere little fault. I dare +say she'll do her best to please you, if you'll only try her again. +Besides, if she's turned off in this manner, just as young Lord Melbury +is here, he may try to make her his kept mistress again. At least +naughty people will say so.' + +'Who will say so, Ma'am?' cried Lord Melbury, starting up, in a rage to +which he was happy to find so laudable a vent: 'Who will dare say so? +Name me a single human being!' + +'Lord, my lord,' answered Miss Bydel, a little frightened; 'nobody, very +likely! only it's best to be upon one's guard against evil speakers; for +young lords at your time of life, a'n't apt to be quite so good as they +are when they are more stricken in years. That's all I mean, my lord; +for I don't mean to affront your lordship, I'm sure.' + +Mrs Ireton, again beckoning to Ellis, said, 'Pray, Mrs Thing-a-mi, have +you done me so much honour as to make out your bill?' And, +ostentatiously, she produced her purse. 'What is the amount, Ma'am, of +my debt?' + +Juliet paused a moment, and then answered, ''Tis an amount, Madam, much +too difficult and complicate for me, just now, to calculate!' + +Mr Giles, alertly rising, cried, 'Let me help you, then, my pretty lady, +to cast it up. What have you given her upon account, Mrs Ireton?' + +'I am not her book-keeper, Sir!' returned Mrs Ireton, extremely nettled. +'I don't pretend to the honour of acting as her steward! But I trust she +will be good enough to take what is her due. 'Tis very much beneath her, +I own; extremely beneath her, I confess; yet I hope, this once, she will +let herself down so far.' And, ten guineas, which she had held in her +hand, were augmented to twenty, which she paradingly flung upon the +table. + +Mrs Maple and Miss Bydel poured forth the warmest exclamations of +admiration at this magnificence; but Juliet, quietly saying, 'Let me +hope, Madam, that my successor may merit your generosity,' again +courtsied, and was going: when Mr Giles, eagerly picking up the money, +and following her with it, spread upon his open hand, said, 'What do you +go without your cash for, my pretty lady? Why don't you take your +guineas?' + +'Excuse, excuse me, Sir!' cried Juliet, hastily, and trying to be gone. + +'And why?' cried he, a little angrily. 'Are they not your own? What have +you been singing for, and playing, and reading, and walking? and +humouring the little naughty boy? and coddling the cross little dog? +Take your guineas, I say. Would you be so proud as to leave the +obligation all on the side of Mrs Ireton?' + +A smile at this statement, in defiance of her distress, irresistibly +stole its way upon the features of Juliet; while Mrs Ireton, stung to +the quick, though forcing a contemptuous laugh, exclaimed, 'This is +really the height of the marvellous! It transcends all my poor ideas! I +own that! I can't deny that! However, I must drop my acquaintance +entirely with Miss Arbe, if it is to subject me to intrusions of every +sort, on pretence of visiting that Miss what's her name! I have had +quite enough of all this! I really desire no more.' + +Harleigh, to hide his acute interest in the situation of Juliet, +pretended to be examining a portrait that was hung over the +chimney-piece; but Lord Melbury, less capable of self-restraint, +applaudingly seized the hand of Mr Giles, and grasping it warmly, +cried, 'Where may I have the pleasure of waiting upon you, Sir? I desire +infinitely to cultivate your acquaintance.' + +'And I shall like it too, my good young nobleman,' said Mr Giles, with a +look of great satisfaction; and was beginning, at very full length, to +give his direction, when Selina called out from the window, as a +carriage drove up to the door, 'Mrs Ireton, it's Lord Denmeath's +livery.' + +Lord Melbury, abruptly breaking from Mr Giles, hurried out of the room; +which alone prevented the same action from Juliet, whose face suddenly +exhibited horrour rather than affright. But she felt that to fly the +uncle, at a moment when she might seem to pursue the nephew, might be +big with suspicious mischief; and, though shaking with terrour, she +placed herself as if she were examining a small landscape, behind an +immense screen, which in summer, as well as in winter, nearly surrounded +the sofa of Mrs Ireton. And hence she hoped, when his lordship should be +entered, to steal unnoticed from the room. + +'This is a stroke that surpasses all the rest!' faintly cried Mrs +Ireton; 'that Lord Denmeath, whom I have not seen these seven ages, +should renew his acquaintence at an epoch of such strange disorder in my +house! He will never believe this apartment to be mine! it will not be +possible for him to believe it. He'll conclude me in some lodging. He'll +imagine me the victim of some dreadful reverse of fortune. He is so +little accustomed to see me in any motley group! He can so little figure +me to himself as a person in a general herd!' + +'Well, I, for one, am here by mere accident, to be sure,' said Miss +Bydel; 'but, however, I did not come in from mere curiosity, I assure +you, Mrs Ireton; for I knew nothing of Lord Denmeath's being to come. +However, as I happen to be here, I sha'n't be sorry to see his lordship, +if I sha'n't be in anybody's way, for I never happened to be where he +was before. Only I can't think what Lord Melbury went off so quick for; +unless it was to shew his uncle the way up stairs. And if it was for +that, it was pretty enough of him.' + +'No, no, you'll be in nobody's way, Mrs Bydel,' said Mr Giles; 'don't be +afraid of that. Here's abundance of room for us all. The apartment's a +very good apartment for that.' + +Mrs Ireton now, impatiently ringing the bell, demanded, of a servant, +what he had done with Lord Denmeath; adding, 'I should be glad, Sir, to +be informed! very glad, I must confess; for, perhaps, as you have been +so good as to shew a visitor of one of my people into the drawing-room, +you may have thought proper to usher a visitor of mine into the +kitchen?' + +His lordship, the servant answered, had been met by Lord Melbury, upon +alighting from the coach, and had stept with him into the +dining-parlour. + +Mrs Maple exulted that she could now, at last, have an opportunity to +clear herself of his lordship, about the many odd appearances which had +so long stood against her: while Ireton, who had espied the effort of +Juliet to escape notice, called out, 'I don't know where the devil I +have put my hat;' and suddenly pushing towards her, with a blustrous +appearance of search, gave her a mischievous nod, as she started back +from his bold approach, and encircled her completely within the broad +leaves of the screen. + +She suffered this malicious sport in preference to attempting any +resistance; though vexed at the noise which she must now unavoidably +make in removing. + +She was scarcely thus enclosed, when Lord Denmeath was announced. + +Her heart now beat so violently with terrour, that her shaking hand +could scarcely grasp a leaf of the screen, as she tried to make an +opening for letting herself out, while his lordship was returning a +reception of fawning courtesy, by some embarrassed and ambiguous +apologies, relative to the motives of his visit. And when, at length, +she succeeded, she was deterred from endeavouring to abscond, by seeing +Harleigh, with his hand upon the door, making his bow. + +Mrs Maple, interfering, would not permit him to depart; clamorously +declaring, that he was the properest person to give an account to his +lordship of this adventurer, as he must best know why he had forced them +to take such a body into their boat. + +With deep agitation, and blushing anxiety, Juliet now unavoidably heard +Harleigh answer, 'I can but repeat to his lordship what I have a +thousand times assured these ladies, that I have not the smallest +knowledge whence this young lady comes, nor whom she may be. I can only, +therefore, reply to these enquiries from my mental perceptions. These +convince me, through progressive observations, that she is a person of +honour, well educated, accustomed to good society, highly principled, +and noble minded. You smile, my lord! But those only who judge without +conversing with her, or converse without drawing forth her sentiments, +can annex any disparaging doubt to the mystery of her situation. Her +conduct has rather been exemplary than irreproachable from the moment +that she has been cast upon our knowledge; though she has suffered, +during that short interval, distress of almost every description. Her +language is always that of polished life; her manners, even when her +occupations are nearly servile, are invariably of distinguished +elegance; yet, with all their softness, all their gentleness, she has a +courage that, upon the most trying occasions, is superiour to +difficulty; and a soul that, even in the midst of injury and misfortune, +depends upon itself, and is above complaint. Such, my lord, I think her! +not, indeed, from any certain documents; but from a self-conviction, +founded, I repeat, upon progressive observations; which have the weight +with me, now, of mathematical demonstration.' + +Tears resistless, yet benign, flowed down the cheeks of Juliet in +listening to this defence; and, while she endeavoured to disperse them, +before she ventured from her retreat, Lord Denmeath began an enquiry, +whether this young person had regularly refused to say who she was; or +whether she had occasionally made any partial communication; or given +any hints relative to her family or connexions. + +Juliet was now in an agony of mind indescribable. She had hoped to glide +away with the general party unobserved; but Harleigh had kept constantly +at the door till he made his exit; which, now, was so crowdingly +followed by that of every one, except Mrs Ireton and his lordship, that +the delay ended in making her, individually, more conspicuous. Yet, to +overhear, unsuspectedly, a conversation believed to be private, even +though she knew herself to be its subject, was dishonour: hastily, +therefore, though shaking in every limb, she forced herself from without +the screen. + +Mrs Ireton shrieked and sunk back upon the sofa, crying out, 'Oh, my +lord, she's here!--Concealed to listen to us!--What a shock!--I shall +feel it these three years!' + +Juliet fleetly crossed the drawing-room, without daring to raise her +head; but Lord Denmeath, passing quickly before her, as if intending to +open the door, held the handle of the lock, while, steadily examining +her as he spoke, he said, 'Will you give me leave, Ma'am, to see you for +a few minutes to-morrow?' + +Juliet made not, nor even attempted to make any answer: terrour was +painted in every line of her face, and she trembled so violently, that +she was forced to catch by the back of a chair, to save herself from +falling. + +'I hope, Ma'am,' said Lord Denmeath, 'you are not ill?' and, +approaching her with a look of compassion, added, in a whisper, 'I know +you!--but be not frightened. I will not hurt you. I will speak to you +to-morrow alone, and arrange something to your advantage.' + +Juliet seemed utterly overcome, and remained motionless. + +'Compose yourself,' continued Lord Denmeath, speaking louder, and +turning towards the wondering Mrs Ireton; 'I will see you when and where +you please to-morrow.' + +Mrs Ireton, whose own curiosity knew not how to brook any delay, now +recovered sufficient strength to rise; and, begging that his lordship +would not postpone his business, she passed into her boudoir; the door +of which, however, Lord Denmeath failed not to remark, was shut without +much vigour. + +Lowering, therefore, his tone till, even to Juliet, it was scarcely +audible, 'We cannot,' he said, 'converse here with any openness; but, if +you are not your own enemy, you may make me your friend; though I cannot +but take ill your coming over against my advice and injunctions, and +thus insidiously introducing yourself to my nephew and niece.' + +Juliet here looked up, with an air of self-vindication; but Lord +Denmeath steadily went on. + +'I have for some time suspected who you were, though but vaguely; yet, +attributing your voyage to the officious counsel of the Bishop, I +contented myself, for the moment, with putting a stop to your +intercourse with my credulous young relations. But other information has +reached me; and reached me at the very moment when Mrs Howel,--when, +indeed, my nephew and niece themselves had acquainted me with the +meeting at Arundel Castle. I will talk upon all these matters in detail +to-morrow morning. I have only to demand, in the interval, that you will +neither speak nor write to Lord Melbury. I have already obtained his +promise to be quiet till our conference is over. But I know that there +are ways and means to induce a young man to forget his engagements. I +hope you will try none such. Where can we have our conversation?' + +'No where, my lord!' to the utter astonishment of Lord Denmeath, and +even to her own, Juliet now, with sudden spirit, answered: but the +courage which had been subdued by apprehension, was revived, during the +preceding harangue, by strong glowing indignation. + +'What is it,' when amazement would give him leave to speak, 'what is +it,' Lord Denmeath said, 'that you mean?' + +'That I will not trouble your lordship to offer me directions that I +may not be at liberty to follow. I have already, my lord, a guide; and +one to whose judgment I shall submit implicitly. That Bishop, whom your +lordship is pleased to call officious, is my first, best, and nearly +only friend; and if ever again I should be so blest as to meet with him, +his opinion shall be my law,--as his benediction will be my happiness!' + +In great emotion, yet with unappalled dignity, she was departing; but +Lord Denmeath, with an air of surprize, stopping her, said, 'You are +then a Papist?' + +'No, my lord, I am firmly a Protestant! But, as such, I am a Christian; +so, and most piously, yet not illiberally, is the Bishop.' + +'What is it,--tell me, if you please, that this Bishop purposes? To +renew those old claims so long ago vainly canvassed? Can he imagine he +will now have more influence than when possessed of his episcopal rank +and fortune? Set him right in that point. You will do him a friendly +turn. And permit me to do a similar one by yourself. I know the whole of +your situation!' + +Juliet started. + +'I have just had information which I meant to communicate to you, +accompanied with offers of mediation and assistance; but you are +sufficient to yourself! or your champion, the Bishop, makes all other +aid superfluous! Suffer me, nevertheless, to intimate to you, that you +will do well to return, quietly and expeditiously, to the spot whence +you came. You may else make the voyage less pleasantly!' + +The colour which resentment and exertion had just raised in the cheeks +of Juliet, now faded away, and left them nearly as white as snow. Lord +Denmeath, softening his voice and manner, and changing the haughty air +of his countenance into something that approached to kindness, went on +more gently. + +'I did not mean to alarm, but to befriend you. I allow not only for your +youth and inexperience, but for the false ideas with which you have been +brought up. If it had not pleased the Bishop to interfere, all would +have been amicably arranged from the first. Take, however, a little time +for reflection. Think upon the enormous risk which you run!--a fine +young woman, like you,--and you are, indeed, a very fine young woman; +flying from her house and home--' + +Juliet, shaking, shuddering, hid her face, and burst into tears. + +'I see that it is not impossible to work upon you,' he continued; 'I +will beg Mrs Ireton, therefore, to let us converse to-morrow where we +may canvass the matter at leisure. The road is still open for you to +affluence and credit. It will make me very happy to be your conductor. +You will find I am authorized so to be. Make yourself, therefore, as +easy as you can, and depend upon my best offices. We will certainly meet +to-morrow morning.' + +He then bowed to her, and moved towards the boudoir; which Mrs Ireton, +appearing accidentally to open the door that had never been shut, +quitted, to receive him; while Juliet, in speechless disorder, retired. + + + + +CHAPTER LXVI + + +Upon quitting the drawing-room, to mount to her chamber, Juliet caught a +glance of Ireton, ascending the staircase to the second story. + +Apprehensive that he was watching for an opportunity to again torment +her, she turned into a small apartment called the Print Closet, of which +the door was open; purposing there to wait till he should have passed +on. + +There, however, she had no sooner entered, than, examining the beautiful +engravings of Sir Robert Strange, she perceived Harleigh. + +Eagerly and with delight he advanced, and sought, once more, to take her +hand. A look of solemnity repressed him; but 'twas a solemnity mixt with +sorrow, not anger. + +'Generous Mr Harleigh!' she faintly articulated, while endeavouring to +disperse the tears that again strove to find their way down her cheeks; +'can you then, thus unabatedly preserve your good opinion of an unknown +Wanderer, ... who seems the sport of insult and misfortune?' + +Almost dissolved with tender feelings at this question, Harleigh, gently +overpowering her opposition, irresistibly seized her hand, repeating, +'My good opinion? my reverence, rather!--my veneration is yours!--and a +confidence in your worth that has no limits!' + +Ashamed of the situation into which a sudden impulse of gratitude had +involuntarily betrayed her, the varying hues of her now white, now +crimson cheeks manifested alternate distress and confusion; while she +struggled incessantly to disengage her hand; but the happy heart of +Harleigh felt so delightedly its possession, that she struggled in vain. + +'Yet, let not that confidence,' he continued, 'be always the offspring +of fascination! Give it, at length, some other food than conjecture! +not to remove doubts; I have none! but to solve difficulties that rob me +of rest.--' + +'I am sorry, Sir, very sorry, if I cause you any uneasiness,' said +Juliet, resuming her usual calmness of manner; yet with bent down eyes, +that neither ventured to meet his, nor to cast a glance at the hand +which she still fruitlessly strove to withdraw; 'but indeed you must not +detain me;--no, not a minute!' + +Enchanted by the mildness of this remonstrance, little as its injunction +met his wishes; 'Half a minute, then!' he gaily replied, 'accord me only +half a minute, and I will try to be contented. Suffer me but to ask,--' + +'No, Sir, you must ask me nothing! There is no question whatever I can +answer!--' + +'I will not make one, then! I will only offer an observation. There is a +something--I know not what; nor can I divine; but something there is +strange, singular,--very unusual, and very striking, between you and +Lord Melbury! Pardon, pardon my abruptness! You allow me no time to be +scrupulous. You promise him your confidence,--that confidence so long, +so fervently solicited by another!--so inexorably withheld!--' + +'I earnestly desire,' cried Juliet, recovering her look of openness, and +raising her eyes; 'the sanction of Lord Melbury to the countenance and +kindness of Lady Aurora.' + +'Thanks! thanks!' cried Harleigh; who in this short, but expressive +explanation, flattered himself that some concern was included for his +peace; ''Tis to that, then, that cause,--a cause the most lovely,--he +owes this envied pre-eminence?--And yet,--pardon me!--while apparently +only a mediator--may not such a charge,--such an intercourse,--so +intimate and so interesting a commission,--may it not,--nay, must it not +inevitably make him from an agent become a principal?--Will not his +heart pay the tribute--' + +'Heaven forbid!' interrupting him, cried Juliet. + +'Thanks! thanks, again! You do not, then, wish it? You are generous, +noble enough not to wish it? And frank, sweet, ingenuous enough to +acknowledge that you do not wish it? Ah! tell me but--' + +'Mr Harleigh,' again interrupting him, cried Juliet, 'I know not what +you are saying!--I fear I have been misunderstood.--You must let me be +gone!'-- + +'No!' answered he, passionately; 'I can live no longer, breathe +no longer, in this merciless solicitude of uncertainty and obscurity! +You must give me some glimmering of light, some opening to +comprehension,--or content yourself to be my captive!--' + +'You terrify me, Mr Harleigh! Let me go!--instantly! instantly!--Would +you make me hate--' She had begun with a precipitance nearly vehement; +but stopt abruptly. + +'Hate me?' cried Harleigh, with a look appalled: 'Good Heaven!' + +'Hate you?--No,--not you!... I did not say you!--' + +'Who, then? who then, should I make you hate?--Lord Melbury?--' + +'O no, never!--'tis impossible!--Let me be gone!--let me be gone!--' + +'Not till you tell me whom I should make you hate! I cannot part with +you in this new ignorance! Clear, at least, this one little point Whom +should I make hate you?--' + +'Myself, Sir, myself!' cried she, trembling and struggling. 'If you +persist in thus punishing my not having fled from you, at once, as I +would have fled from an enemy!' + +He immediately let go her hand; but, finding that, though her look was +instantly appeased, nay grateful, she was hastily retreating, he glided +between her and the door, crying, 'Where,--at least deign to tell +me!--Where may I see,--may I speak to you again?' + +'Any where, any where!'--replied she, with quickness; but presently, +with a sudden check of vivacity, added, 'No where, I mean!--no where, +Sir, no where!'-- + +'Is this possible!' exclaimed he. 'Can you,--even in your wishes,--can +you be so hard of heart?'-- + +'It is you,' said she reproachfully, 'who are hard of heart, to detain +me thus!--Think but where I am!--where you are!--This house--Miss +Joddrel--What may not be the consequence?--Is it Mr Harleigh who would +deliver me over to calumny?' + +Harleigh now held open the door for her himself, without venturing to +reply, as he heard footsteps upon the stairs; but he permitted his lips +to touch her arm, for he could not again seize her hand, as she passed +him, eagerly, and with her face averted. She fled on to the stairs, and +rapidly ascended them. Harleigh durst now follow; but he pursued her +with his eyes. He could not, however, catch a glance, could not even +view her profile, so sedulously her head was turned another way. +Disappointment and mortification were again seizing him; till he +considered, that that countenance thus hidden, had she been wholly +unfearful of shewing some little emotion, had probably, nay, even +purposely, been displayed. + +Fleetly gaining her room, and dropping upon a chair, 'I must fly!--I +must fly!' she exclaimed. 'Danger, here, attacks me in every +quarter,--assails me in every shape! I must fly!--I must fly!' + +This project, which had its origin in her terrour of Elinor, was now +confirmed by the most profound, however troubled meditation. To +difficulties of discussion which she deemed insurmountable with +Harleigh; to claims of a confidence which she now considered to be +deeply dangerous with Lord Melbury; and to indignities daily, nay, +hourly, more insufferable from Mrs Ireton, were joined, at this moment, +the horrour of another interview with Lord Denmeath, still more +repugnant to her thoughts, and formidable to her fears. + +She refused to descend to the evening-summons of Mrs Ireton; determining +to avoid all further offences from that lady, to whom she had already +announced her intended departure; yet she sighed, she even wept at +quitting with the same unexplained abruptness Lord Melbury and Harleigh; +and the cruel disappointment, mingled with strange surmizes, of the +ingenuous Lord Melbury; the nameless consternation, blended with +resentful suspence, of the impassioned Harleigh; presented scenes of +distress and confusion to her imagination, that occupied her thoughts +the whole night, with varying schemes and incessant regret. + +When the glimmering of light shewed her that she must soon be gone, she +mounted to a garret, which she knew to be inhabited by a young +house-maid, whom she called up; and prevailed upon to go forth, and seek +a boy who would carry a parcel to a distant part of the town. + +Having thus gotten the street-door open, she guided the boy herself to +the inn; where she arrived in time to save her place; and whence she set +off for London. + + + + +CHAPTER LXVII + + +Escape and immediate safety thus secured, her tender friendship for +Gabriella superseding all fear, and leaving behind all solicitude, made +Juliet nearly pronounce aloud, what internally she repeated without +intermission, 'I come to you, then, at last, my beloved Gabriella!' +Cheerful, therefore, was her heart, in defiance of her various +distresses: she was quitting Mrs Ireton, to join Gabriella!--What could +be the circumstances that could make such a change severe to Juliet? +Juliet, who felt ill treatment more terribly than misfortune; and to +whom kindness was more essential than prosperity? + +Her journey was free from accident, and void of event. Absorbed in her +own ruminations, she listened not to what was said, and scarcely saw by +whom she was surrounded; though her fellow-travellers surveyed her with +curiosity, and, from time to time, assailed her with questions. + +Arrived at London, she put herself into a hackney-coach; and, almost +before her fluttered spirits suffered her to perceive that she had left +the inn-yard, she found herself in a haberdasher's shop, in Frith +Street, Soho; and in the arms of her Gabriella. + +It was long ere either of them could speak; their swelling hearts denied +all verbal utterance to their big emotions; though tears of poignant +grief at the numerous woes by which they had been separated, were +mingled with feelings of the softest felicity at their re-union. + +Yet vaguely only Juliet gave the history of her recent difficulties; the +history which had preceded them, and upon which hung the mystery of her +situation, still remained unrevealed. + +Gabriella forbore any investigation, but her look shewed disappointment. +Juliet perceived it, and changed colour. Tears gushed into her eyes, +and her head dropt upon the neck of her friend. 'Oh my Gabriella!' she +cried, 'if my silence wounds, or offends you,--it is at an end!' + +Gabriella, instantly repressing every symptom of impatience, warmly +protested that she would await, without a murmur, the moment of +communication; well satisfied that it could be withheld from motives +only that would render its anticipation dangerous, if not censurable. + +With grateful tears, and tenderest embraces, Juliet expressed her thanks +for this acquiescence. + +Of Gabriella, the history was brief and gloomy. She had entered into +business with as little comprehension of its attributes, as taste for +its pursuit; her mind, therefore, bore no part in its details, though +she sacrificed to them the whole of her time. Of her son alone she could +speak or think. From her husband she reaped little consolation. Married +before the Revolution, from a convent, and while yet a child; according +to the general custom of her country, which rarely permits any choice +even to the man; and to the female allows not even a negative; chance +had not, as sometimes is kindly the case, played the part of election, +in assorting the new married couple. Gabriella was generous, noble, and +dignified: exalted in her opinions, and full of sensibility: Mr ---- was +many years older than herself, haughty and austere, though brave and +honourable; but so cold in his nature, that he was neither struck with +her virtues nor her graces, save in considering them as appendages to +their mutual rank; nor much moved even by the death of his little son, +but from repining that he had lost the heir to his illustrious name. He +was now set off, _incognito_, to an appointed meeting with a part of his +family, upon the continent. + +Again a new scene of life opened to Juliet. The petty frauds, the +over-reaching tricks, the plausible address, of the craft shop-keeper in +retail, she had already witnessed: but the difficulties of honest trade +she had neither seen nor imagined. The utter inexperience of Gabriella, +joined to the delicacy of her probity, made her not more frequently the +dupe of the artifices of those with whom she had to deal, than the +victim of her own scruples. New to the mighty difference between buying +and selling; to the necessity of having at hand more stores than may +probably be wanted, for avoiding the risk of losing customers from +having fewer; and to the usage of rating at an imaginary value whatever +is in vogue, in order to repair the losses incurred from the failure of +obtaining the intrinsic worth of what is old-fashioned or faulty;--new +to all this, the wary shop-keeper's code, she was perpetually mistaken, +or duped, through ignorance of ignorance, which leads to hazards, +unsuspected to be hazards. + +Repairs for the little shop were continually wanted, yet always +unforeseen; taxes were claimed when she was least prepared to discharge +them; and stores of merchandize accidentally injured, were obliged to be +sold under prime cost, if not to be utterly thrown away. + +Unpractised in every species of business, she had no criterion whence to +calculate its chances, or be aware of its changes, either from varying +seasons or varying modes; and to all her other intricacies, there was +added a perpetual horrour of bankruptcy, from the difficulty of +accelerating payment for what she sold, or of procrastinating it for +what she bought. + +Every embarrassment, however, at this period, was accommodated by +Juliet; who had the exquisite satisfaction not only to bring to her +beloved friend personal consolation, but solid and effectual comfort. +The purse of Lord Melbury, which Juliet would only consider as the loan +of Lady Aurora, was but little lightened by the small expences of the +short journey from Brighthelmstone; and all that remained of its +contents were instantly assigned to relieving the most painful of the +distresses of Gabriella, those in which others were involved through her +means. + +Gabriella, with a grace familiar, if not peculiar, to her nation, of +sharing, without the confusion of false pride, the offerings of tender +friendship, or generous sympathy, accepted with noble frankness the +assistance thus proposed; though Juliet again was obliged to hide her +face from the enquiring eye, that seemed strangely to wonder whence this +resource arose, and why its spring was concealed. + +Juliet now became a partner in all the occupations and cares of her +friend: together they prepared the shop for their customers every +morning, and decked it out to attract passers bye; together they +examined and re-arranged their goods every night; cast up their +accounts, deposited sums for their creditors, and entered claims into +their books for their debtors: together they sat in the shop, where one +served and waited upon customers, and the other aided the household +economy by the industry of her needle. Yet, laborious as might seem this +existence to those who had known 'other times,' Juliet, by the side of +Gabriella, thought every employment delightful; Gabriella, in the +society of Juliet, felt every exertion lightened, and every sorrow +softened. + + + + +CHAPTER LXVIII + + +Thus, in manual toil, yet mental comfort, had passed a week, when one +morning, while the usual commissioner for carrying about goods happened +to be out of the way, a lady from Soho Square sent, in great haste, an +order for some ribbons. Juliet, to save a customer to her friend, +proposed supplying the commissioner's place; and set forth for that +purpose, with a little band-box in her hands, and a large black bonnet +drawn over her eyes. But before she reached the square, she overtook two +men who were loitering on, as leisurely as she was tripping diligently, +and the words, 'You'll never know her again, I promise you; she's turned +out quite a beauty!' struck her ears, from a voice which she recollected +to be that of Mr Riley. + +Anxious to avoid being recognized by him, she crossed to the other side +of the street, with a precipitance that caused the cover of her +band-box, which she had neglected to fasten, to slip aside, and most of +her stores to roll in the dust. + +While, with great dismay, she sought to recover them, a feeble, but +eager voice, from a carriage, which suddenly stopt, ordered a footman to +descend and assist the young lady. + +Not without confusion, Juliet perceived to whom she owed so uncommon a +civility; it was to her old friend and admirer Sir Jaspar Herrington. +She collected her merchandize, courtsied her thanks, but looked another +way, and hurried back to her new home. + +She related her adventure to Gabriella, with whom she bemoaned the +mischief that had befallen the ribbons; and who now determined to spare +her friend any further hazard of unwelcome encounters, by carrying +herself what yet remained unsoiled of the pieces, to Soho Square. + +Juliet had barely time to install herself as mistress of the small +warehouse, when she saw, through the window, the carriage of Sir Jaspar; +at the same time, that a young woman opened the shop-door, and demanded +a drachm of black sewing silk, and a yard of tape. + +While Juliet with difficulty found, and with embarrassment prepared to +weigh the first, and to measure the second, the Baronet, with a curious, +but respectful air, entering, and hobbling towards the counter, desired +to look at some ribbons. + +Juliet, however vexed, could not refrain from smiling; but, through +confusion, joined to the novelty of her office, she doubled the weight +of her silk, and the measure of her tape, yet forgot to ask to be paid +for either; and her customer, whether from similar forgetfulness, or +from reluctance to mark the new shop-keeper's ignorance of business, +walked off without seeming to notice this inattention. + +Sir Jaspar, then, gravely repeated his request to be shewn some ribbons. + +Juliet began now to hope that she had not been recollected by the +Baronet. Shading her face, therefore, still lower with her large bonnet, +she produced a drawer of black ribbons; concluding that what he required +must be for his queue, or for his shoe-strings. + +No, he said, black would not do: the colour that he wanted was brown. + +In a low voice that strove to disguise itself, she answered that she had +no other colour at home. + +He would stay till some other were returned, then, he said; and, +composedly seating himself, and taking out his snuff-box, he added, that +he did not want plain brown ribbons, but ribbons speckled, spotted, or +splashed with brown. + +Juliet who could now no longer doubt being known to him, made no reply; +though again, irresistibly, she smiled. + +To the Baronet her smile was always enchantment; setting aside, +therefore, any further pretence to strangeness, he leant his hands upon +the counter, and peering archly under her bonnet, said, ''Tis you, +indeed, then, sweet sorceress? And what sylph is it,--or what +imp?--dulcet, or malignant!--that has drawn me again into the witchery +of your charms?' + +He then poured forth countless enquiries into her situation, her +projects, and her sentiments; but, all proving fruitless, he +pathetically lamented the luckless meeting; and frankly owned, that he +had brought himself to a resolution of seeing her no more. 'The rude +assault,' said he, 'made upon my feelings by those mundane harpies at +Arundelcastle, removed a bandage from "my mind's eye" that had veiled +me to myself, and shewed me that I was an old fool caught in the +delusions of love and beauty! I could parry no raillery, I could brave +no suspicion, I could retort no sneer! Panic-struck and disordered, I +stole away, like a gentle Philander of Arcadia, my head drooping upon my +left shoulder, my eyes cast down upon the ground, with every love-born +symptom,--except youth, which alone offers their apology! I spent the +rest of the day in character with this opening; mute with my servants; +loquacious in soliloquy; quarrelling with my books; and neglecting my +dinner! Sleepless and sighing, I repaired to my solitary couch; lost to +every idea of existence, but what pointed out to me how, when, and where +I might again behold my lovely enchantress. Shall I tell you how it was +I recovered, at last, my senses?' + +'If you think the lesson may be useful to me, Sir Jaspar!--' + +'Ah, cruel! "He jests at scars who never felt a wound". Mark, however, +the visions by which I have been tutored. The servants gone, the lights +removed, and the world's bustle superseded by stillness, darkness, and +solitude,--then, when my fancy meant to revel in smiles, dimples, sweet +looks, and recreative wiles, then,--what a transformation from hope and +enjoyment, to shame and derision! I no sooner closed my poor eyes, than +an hundred little imps of darkness scrambled up my pillow. How was I +tweaked, jirked, and jolted! Mumbled, jumbled, and pinched! Some of them +encircled my eye-balls, holding mirrours in each hand. They spoke not; +the mirrours were all eloquent! You think, they expressed, of a young +girl? Behold here what a young girl must think of you! Others jammed my +lean, lank arms into a machine of whale-bone, to strength and invigorate +them for offering support, in cases of difficulty or danger, to my fair +one: others fastened elastic strings to my withered neck and shoulders, +to enable me, by little pulleys, to raise my head, after every +obsequious reverence to my goddess. Crowds of the nimblest footed dived +their little forked fingers into my heart, plucking up by the root sober +contentment and propriety; and pummelling into their places +restlessness, jealousy, and suspicion: mocking me when they had done, by +peeping into my ears, and squeaking out, with merry tittering, See! see! +see! what sickly rubbish the old dotard has got in his crazy noddle!' + +Juliet again smiled, but so faintly, from uncertainty to what this +fantastic gallantry might tend, that Sir Jaspar, looking at her with +concern, said, + +'How's this, my dainty Ariel? Why so serious a brow? Have some of my +nocturnal visitants whisked themselves through the key-hole of your +chamber-door, also? And have they tormented your fancy with waking +visions of fearful omens? Spurn them all! sweet syren! What can the +tricks and malice of hobgoblins, or even the freaks and vagaries of +fortune itself, enact against youth, beauty, and health such as yours? +Give me but such arms, and I will brave the wayward sisters themselves.' + +More seriously, then, 'Alas!' he cried, 'what is it, thus mystic, yet +thus attractive, that allures me whether I will or not into your +chains?--Could I but tell who, or what you are,--besides being an +angel,--it is possible there might occur some idea,--some--some little +notion of means to exorcise the wicked familiars that severally annoy +us. Tell me but under what semblance the pigmy enemies invade you? +Whether, as usual, with the darts of Master Cupid, shot, furiously, into +your snowy bosom, or--' + +'No, no, no!' + +'Or whether by the bags of Plutus, emptied, furtively, from your strong +box? In the first case,--little as my bosom is snowy!--I should but too +well know how to pity; in the second, I should be proud and honoured to +serve you. Tell me, then, who you are, resistless paragon! and you shall +wander no more in the nameless state, an exquisite, but nearly visionary +being! Tell me but who you are, and I will protect you, myself, with my +life and fortune!' + +Alarmed by this warmth, and doubtful whether it demanded gratitude or +resentment, Juliet was silent. + +'If you will not reveal to me your history,' he resumed, 'you will, at +least, not refuse to let me divine it? I am a famous star-gazer; and, if +once I can discover your ruling planet, I shall prognosticate your +destiny in a second. Let me, then, read the lines of your face. Nay! you +must not hide it! You must give me fair play. Or, shall I examine the +palm of your hand?' + +Juliet laughed, but drew on her gloves. + +'O you little Tyrant! I must only, then, catch, as I can, a glimpse of +your countenance; A nauseous task, enough, to dwell on any thing so +ugly! All I can make out from it, just now, is the figure of a coronet.' + +'A coronet?' + +'Yes; under which I perceive the cypher D. Do you know any thing of any +nobleman whose name begins with a D? I cannot decipher the rest of the +letters, except that the last is--I think, an h.' + +Juliet started. + +'My art, I must, however, own, is at a stand, to discover whether this +nobleman may be a lover or a kinsman. To discern that, the general lines +of the face are inadequate. I must investigate the eyes.' + +Juliet pertinaciously looked down. + +'How now, my dainty, Ariel? Will you give me no answer? neither verbal +nor visual? Will you not even tell me whether I must try to make the old +peer my advocate, or whether I must run him through the body? Surely you +won't let me court him as of kin if he be a rival? nor pink him as a +rival if he be of kin? + +'He is neither, I can assure you, Sir: he is nothing to me whatsoever.' + +'You know, at least, then, it seems, whom I mean?' + +'Sir?' + +'My tiny elves have not here deluded me? I am always afraid lest those +merry little wags should be playing me some prank. But it is you who are +the wicked Will o' the Wisp, that lures all others, yet never can be +lured yourself! Lord Denmeath has really, then, and in sober truth, the +happiness of some way belonging to you?' + +'No, Sir;--you mistake me;--I never--' She left her phrase unfinished. + +'Shall I relate what the prattling tell-tales have blabbed to me +further? They pretend that Lord Denmeath ought himself to be your +protector; but that he is so void of taste, so empty of sentiment, that +he seeks to disguise, if not disown, an affinity that, with more liberal +ideas, he would exult in as an honour.' + +'Who talked of affinity, Sir?' cried Juliet, with quickness +irrepressible.-- + +'Was it Lord Denmeath?--Did he name me to you?' + +'Name you? Has any one named you? Indefinable, unconquerable, +unfathomable Incognita! Has any one presumed to give you a human +genealogy? Are you not straight descended from the clouds? without even +taking the time to change yourself first into a mortal? Explain, +expound, unravel to me, in soft pity--' + +Juliet solemnly entreated him to forbear any further interrogatory, +assuring him that all enquiry gave her pain. + +'Then shall "the stars,"' cried he, '"fade away, the sun grow dim, and +nature,"--like my poor old carcass!--"sink in years," ere one grain more +of the favourite attribute of our general mother shall be sown in my +discourse! But you, in all things marvellous! You! have you really, and +_bona fide_, so little in your composition of our naughty mamma, as not +even to desire to know in what shape appeared to me the tattling little +elf, that talked to me of Lord Denmeath?' + +'You have not then, Sir, seen him?' + +'Or if I had?--twenty interviews would not have initiated me into his +affairs with so much promptitude, as twenty minutes sufficed for doing +with my elfin fay.' + +'I conjecture, then, Sir, your informant: Miss Selina Joddrel?' + +'Even so. Upon determining to quit Brighthelmstone, three or four days +ago, I drove over to Lewes, to offer what apologies I could suggest to +Mrs Maple, for the vagaries of my hopeful nephew and heir,--who is +suddenly set out for Constantinople in search, as he writes me word, of +a fair Circassian! The last of my designs, in so delicate a case, you +will easily believe, was to embarrass the injured and deserted fair one +by my sight. But she had a fortitude far above my precautions. She flew +to me herself; and her own plaintive tale had no sooner been bemoaned, +than she hastened to favour me with the history of the whole house. I +then learnt your sudden disappearance; and heard, with extreme +satisfaction, from the indignation I had felt in seeing your ill +treatment, that my meek sister-in-law had fallen into fits, from the +first shock of finding that you were no longer under her dominion. My +Lord Denmeath, who had already gone through the ceremonial of demanding +Mrs Maple's permission to obtain a private audience with you, seemed +thunderstruck at the news, that the bird he so much wished to sing to +him was flown. The whole house was in disorder; running, enquiring, +asserting, denying;--the wild Elinor alone was tame and tranquil,--for +Mr Harleigh has kept constantly in sight.' + +Delicate, and ever feeling Harleigh! thought Juliet; Her life, and My +reputation, hang suspended upon the same guardian care! + +'That eccentric and most original personage,' continued Sir Jaspar, 'has +now wholly made over her mind to the study of controversial theology. +Every chair is covered with polemical tracts, to prove one side of an +argument, that every table is covered to disprove on the other. If she +settle her opinion one way, she will probably become the foundress of +some new-fangled monastery; if on the other, she will be discovered, +some star-light night, seeking truth at the bottom of a well.' + +Juliet then anxiously enquired into the state of her health. + +'She seems to me,' answered the Baronet, 'quite as well as it is +possible for a person to be, who is afflicted with the restless malady +of struggling for occasion to exhibit character; instead of leaving its +display to the jumble of nature and of accident. But these new systemers +do not break out of bounds more wildly from whim, than they afterwards +seek retreat within them, tamely, from experience. The little Selina, on +the contrary, who has escaped the trouble of supporting a character, by +not having an idea that could form one, had the kindness to make me the +most liberal communication of every thing that she has either seen or +heard, since she has been skipping about in this nether world; and, in +her scampers from room to room, and from person to person, she had +gathered sundry interesting particulars of a certain fair unknown.--' + +He paused; looked anxious, and then went on. + +'I would not be officious,--impertinent, nor importunate,--yet, could I +but ascertain some points.--If, however, you will not unfold to me your +history, will you, at least,--syren of syrens!--to develop why I demand +it, hear me divulge my own?' + +Juliet, surprised and amused, gratefully assented. + +'Know, then, my fair torment! it pleased my wise progenitors to entail +my estate upon my next of kin, in case I should have no lineal heir. +Brought up with the knowledge of this restriction to the fantasies of my +future will, I conceived an early suspicion that my younger brother +built sundry vain-glorious castles upon my celibacy; and I determined +not to reach my twentieth year before I put an end to his presumption. +The first idea, therefore, that fastened upon my mind was that of +marriage. But as I entertained a general belief, that I should every +where be accepted from mercenary motives, I viewed all females with the +scrutiny of a bargain-maker. Thankless for any mark of partiality, +difficult even to absurdity, I sought new faces with restless +impatience; modestly persuaded that I ought to find a companion without +a blot! yet, whatever was my success, regularly making off from every +fair charmer, after the second interview, through the fear of being +taken in.' + +'And were none of your little sylphs, Sir, at hand, to point out to you +some one who was disinterested in her nature, however inferiour in her +fortune?' + +'No! alas! no; my sylphs all reserved themselves for my meeting with +you! The wicked little imps who then guided and goaded me, incited me to +suspect and to watch every thing that seemed lovely or amiable; and the +pranks that they played me were endless. They urged me to pursue the +glowing Beauty, whose vivid cheeks, crimsoned by the dance, had warmed +all my senses at a ball, to her alighting from her carriage, at her +return home, with the livid line of fatigue and moonlight! They +instigated me to surprize, when ill-dressed, negligent, and spiritless, +the charming face and form that, skilfully adorned, had appeared to me +Venus attired by the Graces. They twitched me on to dart upon another, +whose bloom had seemed the opening of the rose-bud, just as an untoward +accident had rubbed off, from one cheek, the sweet pink which remained +undiminished upon the other! And when, tired of the deceptions of +beauty, I would only follow merit, the wanton little sprites suggested +detections still more mischievous. They led me to overhear the softest +of maidens insult a poor dependent; they shewed me a pattern of +discretion, secretly involved in debt; and the frankest of human lasses, +engaged in a clandestine affair! They whisked me, in short, into every +crevice of female subtlety. They exhibited all as a drama, and gave me a +peep behind the curtain to see the gayest damsel the sulkiest; the most +pleasing one, the most spiteful; the delicate one, obstreperous; the +bashful one, bold; the generous one, niggardly; and the humble one, a +tyrant!' + +'Oh wicked imps, indeed, Sir Jaspar! What a view of poor human nature +have they deformed for you! And how have you preserved such a stock of +philanthropy, while instigated by so much malignity?' + +'Alas, my fair love, my history is but that of half the old bachelors +existing! We pay, by our aged facility and good humour, for our youthful +severity and impertinence! and, after having wasted our early life in +conceiving that no one is good enough for us, we consume our latter days +in envy of every married man! Now--all too late! I never see a lovely +young creature, but my heart calls out what a delicious wife she would +make me! were I younger, without reflection, without enquiry, were I +younger, I would marry her! THEN--when such precipitation might have +been pardonable, some difficulty instantly followed the sight of +whatever was attractive: one had not fortune enough for my expectations; +another, had beauty to make me eternally jealous; another, though +charming, was too old to be formed to my taste; another, though lovelier +still, was too young to be judged. One was too wise, and might hold me +cheap; another was too simple, and might expose me to seeing her held +cheap herself. THEN--I was so plaguely nice! Now, alas! I am so cursedly +easy!' + +'Your sylphs, elves, and imps, Sir, or, in other words, your humour and +imagination, must seek some counterpoise, and not always, you see, be +trusted uncontrouled.' + +'You are right, my wise charmer! but we never arrive at judgment, the +only counterpoise to our fancies, till we cease to want it! When we are +young, in the midst of the world, and in pursuit of beauty, riches, +honours, power, fame or knowledge, then, when judgment would either +guide us to success, or demolish our senseless expectations, it keeps +aloof from us like a stern stranger: and will only hail us as an +intimate, when we have no longer any occasion for its services! Of what +value is judgment to a goaty old codger, who sits just as snugly over +his fire-side, whether his opinions are erroneous or oracular? who wraps +himself just as warmly in flannel, whether the world go ill or go well? +and who, if, by ignorance or mismanagement, he be cheated, loses +only what he cannot enjoy! I first became aware of my folly, by the +folly of my nephew. When he was sent forth into the world, my +decided--alas!--heir, I told him my case; and urged him to a rational +but quick choice, to obviate a similar punishment to fantastical +difficulties. He listened, according to the usage of youth, to half what +I said; and, adopting only my mistrust, was inattentive to its result; +and thus so caricatured my researches, suspicious, and irresolutions, +that he has rendered them and myself, even in my own eyes, completely +ridiculous. 'Tis a most piteous circumstance that a man can be young +only once in his life! Could I but, with my present experience, lop off +thirty or forty years of my age,--ah! fair seducer!--how would the +desire of giving you pleasure, the fear of causing you pain, the wish to +see your face always beaming with smiles--' + +Juliet arose to interrupt him; but whither could she go? She again sat +down. + +The Baronet also arose; and stood for some minutes, covering his eyes +with one hand, in deep rumination. Re-seating himself, then, with an air +of the most lively satisfaction, 'I have told you,' he cried, 'now, my +history. You see in me a whimsical, but contrite old bachelor; whose +entailed estate has lost to him his youth, by ungenerous mistrust: but +who would gladly devote the large possessions which have fallen to him +collaterally, to making the rest of his existence companionable. Shrink +not, sweet flower! I mean nothing that can offend you. Tell me but who +you are, and, be you whom you may, if you will accept an old protector; +if you will deign to become his friend; to give him your conversation, +your society, your lovely presence; he will despise the mocking +world--and decorate himself for your bridegroom, by a marriage +settlement of the whole of his unintailed estate.' + +Astonished, and uncertain whether he were serious, Juliet was beginning +a playful attack upon his fairy elves; but, stopping her with perturbed +earnestness, 'Will you,' he cried, 'accept me? Your beauty, your +difficulties, your distresses; your exquisite looks, and witching +manners; with my solitude, my repugnance to mercenary watchers, my deep +regrets, and my desire of domestic commerce; unite to devote me to you +for ever; provided, only I can catch a grain, a single grain, of gentle +good will! Give me, then, but this one satisfaction--I ask no more! tell +me but whence it comes that, thus formed, thus accomplished, thus wise, +thus lovely,--you are helpless, dependent, indigent, and a Wanderer?' + +Juliet, though no longer able to doubt his meaning, and though not +disposed to suspect his sincerity, felt nevertheless, shocked by such an +investigation; though grateful, and even touched by his singular and +romantic proposal. Delicacy, however, which keeps back acknowledged +belief in unrequited partiality, as scrupulously as it is withheld by +timid consciousness, where the partiality is returned; make her again +have recourse to his visionary friends, in order to parry a serious +reply; but, too much in earnest to submit to any delay, the Baronet, +ejaculating, 'Paragon of the world!' was bending over the counter, in an +attempt to take her hand; when the sudden opening of the shop-door, +which he had himself carefully closed, previous to his declaration, made +him draw back, in the utmost confusion; to recover his seat and his +crutches, and again demand to look at some ribbons. + + + + +CHAPTER LXIX + + +Gabriella, who had thus long been detained from her business, because +the lady, whose orders she had obeyed, had either forgotten that those +orders had been issued, or deemed that to wait in an anti-room was the +natural fate of an haberdasher; now, entering the shop, saw, with no +little surprize, Juliet in close conference with an old bean, who was +evidently disconcerted, and embarrassed by the interruption. Remitting, +however, all enquiry, and gracefully declining a chair, which was +respectfully offered to her by Sir Jaspar, who imagined her to be some +customer; she silently employed herself in examining and arranging her +unpinned, unrolled, and tumbled ribbons. + +The surprize of the Baronet, now, became greater than her own. No +plainness of attire could hide, from his scrutinizing eye, a certain +native taste with which her habiliments, however simple, were put on; +nor could even the band-box which she held in her hand, and which he had +supposed to be there from some accident, disguise the elegance of her +motions, or conceal her lofty mien. When, therefore, he discovered that +she was at home, and that she was an haberdasher, he looked from one +lovely companion to the other, with reverential wonder, and uplifted +hands. Long profoundly impressed by the beauty of Juliet, by her merit, +her youth, her modest yet dignified demeanour, in the midst of all the +difficulties of distressed poverty; he was now as powerfully affected by +the appearance of Gabriella; whose noble, yet never haughty manners, +joined to a tragic expression of constant woe in her countenance, +rendered her if not as attractive, at least as interesting as her +friend. + +A general pause ensued, till Gabriella, fearing that she was obtrusive, +retired to the inner room. + +Sir Jaspar, wide opening his eyes, and again leaning forward, to hear +more distinctly, exclaimed, 'Who is that fine creature? What a majestic +port! Yet how sweet a look! She awes while she invites! Who is she?' + +Juliet felt enchanted; she even felt exalted by a testimony so impartial +and so honourable, to the merit of her friend, and she eagerly answered, +'Your admiration, Sir, does honour to your discernment. Her +excellencies, her high qualities, and spotless conduct, might make the +proudest Englishman exult to own her for his country-woman; though the +lowest Frenchman would dispute, even at the risk of his life, the honour +of her birth. Sprung from one of the first houses of Europe, a house not +more ancient in its origin, than renowned for its virtues; allies to a +family the most illustrious, whose military glory has raised it to the +highest ranks in the state; herself an ornament to that birth, an honour +to that alliance; she sustains a reverse of fortune, which reduces her +from every indulgence to every privation, with a calm courage that keeps +her always mistress of herself, and enables her to combat evil by +labour, misery by industry! And which never has failed her, but in a +personal, bosom affliction, that would equally have shaken her +fortitude, in the brightest splendour of prosperity!--' + +'Hold! hold, you little torment!' interrupted Sir Jaspar. 'You don't +consider what an artillery my wanton sprites are bringing upon me! My +poor gouty fingers are so mumbled and pinched, and tweaked, to hurry me +to get at my purse, that I cannot catch hold of it for very tremour!--' + +'Oh no, Sir Jaspar, no! What she earns, however hardly and however +humbly, she thankfully reaps; but she could only submit to accept alms, +if bowed down by age, by malady, or by incapacity for work. Yet this +spirit is not pride; 'tis but a strong and refined sense of propriety; +since from a friend, in the tender persuasion, that participation of +fortune ought to be leagued with participation of sentiment, she would +candidly receive whatever would not injure that friend to bestow.' + +'Divinest of little mortals!' cried Sir Jaspar. 'What whimsey is it, +what astonishing whimsey of "the sisters three", that can have nailed to +a counter two such delectable beings, to weigh pins and needles, and +measure tapes and bobbins? And how,--beautiful witch! with charms, +graces, accomplishments, talents such as yours, how is it you submit to +such base drudgery in "durance vile," without even making a wry face? +without a scowl upon your eye-brow, or a grumble from your throat?' + +'Can you look, Sir, at her whom you call my partner, and think of me? +She has lost her country; she wastes in exile; she sinks in obscurity; +she has no communication with her friends; she knows not even whether +they yet breathe the vital air!--nevertheless she works, she sustains +herself by her industry and ingenuity; and repines only that she has not +still another, has not her loved and lovely infant to sustain also!--and +I, shall I complain?--Offspring of a race the most dignified, she toils +manually, not to degrade it mentally;--and I, shall I blush to owe my +subsistence to my exertions?' + +Tears now flowed fast down her cheeks, while the crutches dropt from the +feeble hands of the penetrated Baronet, whose eyes, dimmed by +compassion, were fastened upon the face of the lovely mourner, when +Gabriella re-appeared. + +In deep amazement and concern, she hesitated whether she should come +forward, to offer comfort; or whether, as she now concluded the old +gentleman to be some intimate friend, she ought not again to retire; but +Juliet entreated her to return to her place. She resumed, therefore, her +business of restoring her ribbons to order; dejectedly announcing, that +nothing had been bought; though every thing had been examined, deranged, +and tossed about. + +Sir Jaspar now, courteously waving his hand, smilingly addressed himself +to Gabriella, saying, ''Tis my good Genius, Ma'am, make no doubt of it, +that has run away with the feeling of those people you mention! For my +good Genius, I must beg you to observe, has frequently taken lessons of +the god Mercury, and is nearly as adroit in petty larceny as his godship +himself. I should not, therefore, wonder, if, in his eagerness to serve +me, he had pilfered from those poor souls, who have used you so ill, +every grain he could pick up of decency! For, knowing that ribbons are a +commodity of which I want a prodigious stock, he would not suffer your +assortment to be diminished, till I had had the pleasure of making my +bargains.' + +He then selected the piece of ribbon which seemed the most considerable, +and desired to have it measured. + +Gabriella obeyed, not more amazed than Juliet felt amused. + +But, when a similar order was given, for ascertaining the quantity of a +second piece, and then a third; Juliet, though delighted at the pleased +looks of Gabriella, and charmed with the generosity of the Baronet, +began to apprehend, that she might herself be supposed to incur some +debt of gratitude for this liberality. She retreated, therefore, with +her needle-work, to the adjoining little room. + +In a few minutes, she was followed by Gabriella; who, uneasily, asked +what she must do with this magnificent old beau, who still while she +measured one piece of ribbon, employed himself in selecting another; and +who, though so gallant that he never spoke without a compliment, was so +respectful, that it was not possible to check him by any serious +reproof. + +Juliet disclaimed taking any share in his present munificence; yet owned +that she had an ancient obligation to him that she was unable, at this +moment, to repay; and which, from the delicacy with which it had been +conferred, and the seasonable relief which it had procured her, would +merit her lasting gratitude. He was brother-in-law, she added, to the +lady with whom she had lately resided; and he was as rich as he was +benevolent. + +Her scruples, then, Gabriella said, were at an end. Juliet, therefore, +begged that she would endeavour to enter into conversation with him +concerning Brighthelmstone; and try to obtain some particulars relative +to the party at Mrs Ireton's. + +'I began to fear you had flown away, Ma'am,' said Sir Jaspar, upon +Gabriella's re-entrance into the shop; 'and I was much less surprised +than concerned; for I had already surmized that you were an angel; +though I had failed to remark your wings.' + +He then put into her hand three more pieces of ribbon, which he had +chosen during her absence. + +Gabriella, who understood English well, though she spoke it imperfectly, +made her answers in French. + +Having now given her ample employment, he sat down to examine, or, +rather, to admire at his ease, the lightness and grace with which she +executed her office; saying, 'You are not, perhaps, aware, Madam, that +there are certain little beings, nameless and invisible, yet active and +penetrating, perpetually hovering around us, who have let me a little +into your history; and have taken upon them to assure me that you were +not precisely brought up to be a shop-keeper? How, then, is it that you +have jumbled thus together such heterogeneous materials of existence? +leaguing high birth with low life? superiour rank with vulgar +employment; and grace, taste, and politeness with common drudgery? How, +in short, born and bred to be dangled after by your vassals, and to +lollop, the live-long-day, upon sofas and arm-chairs, have you acquired +the necessary ingredients for being metamorphosed into a tidy little +haberdasher?' + +Gabriella, concluding that her situation had been made known to him by +Juliet, answered, in a melancholy tone, + +'Is this a period, Sir, to consider punctilio? Alas! whence I come, all +that are greatest, most ancient, and most noble,[1] have learnt, that +self-exertion can alone mark nobility of soul; and that self-dependence +only can sustain honour in adversity. Alas, whence I come, the first +youth is initiated in the view, if not in the endurance of misfortune! +There can be no understanding, or there must be early reflection; there +can be no heart, or there must be commiserating sympathy!' + +[Footnote 1: The period is the reign of Robespierre.] + +'I protest, Ma'am,' cried Sir Jaspar, looking at her with astonishment, +'I begin to suspect that I came into the world only this morning! Where +I may have been rambling, all these years, in the persuasion I was in it +already, I have by no means any clear notion! But to see two such +instances of wisdom and resignation, united with youth and beauty, makes +me believe myself in some new region, never yet visited by vice or +folly.' + +'Ah, Sir, the French Revolution has opened our eyes to a species of +equality more rational, because more feasible, than that of lands or of +rank; an equality not alone of mental sufferings, but of manual +exertions. No state of life, however low, or however hard, has been left +untried, either by the highest, or by the most delicate, in the various +dispersions and desolation of the ancient French nobility. And to +see,--as I, alas! have seen,--the willing efforts, the even glad toil, +of the remnants of the first families of Europe, to procure,--not +luxuries, not elegancies, not even comforts,--but maintenance! mean, +laborious maintenance!--to preserve,--not state, not fortune, not +rank,--but life itself! but simple existence!'-- + +'Very wonderful personage!' cried Sir Jaspar, his air mingling reverence +with amazement; 'and what,--unfold to me, I beg, what is the necromancy +through which you support, under such toils, your intellectual dignity? +and strangle, in its birth, every struggle of false shame?' + +'Alas, Sir, I have seen guilt!--Since then, I have thought that shame +belonged to nothing else!' + +The eyes of Sir Jaspar were now suffused with tender admiration. 'Fair +deity of the counter!' he cried, 'you are sublime! And she, too,--your +witching little handmaid; by what kind, dulcet chance,--new in the +annals of misfortune,--have two such wonders met?--' + +'Ah, rather, Sir,--since you couple us so kindly,--rather ask by what +adverse chance we have so long been separated?' + +'You have known her, then, some time?' + +'We were brought up together!--the same convent, the same governess, the +same instructors, were common to both till my marriage. And now, +again,--as before that period,--I have not the most distant idea of any +possible happiness, that is not annexed to her presence.' + +Touched to hear the word happiness once again, even though with such +sadness, pronounced by Gabriella; yet alarmed at a discourse that might +lead, inadvertently, to some secret history, Juliet was returning, to +stop any further detail; when, upon Sir Jaspar's answering, 'Sweet +couple! Lord Denmeath, who ought at least, if I understand right,--to +take care of one of you will surely make it his business that you should +coo together in the same cage?'--she again retreated, anxious to learn +what this meant, and hoping that he would become more explicit. + +'Lord Denmeath?' repeated Gabriella, 'If you know Lord Denmeath you may +be better informed upon this subject than I am myself. Was it at +Brighthelmstone that you met with his lordship?' + +'It was at Brighthelmstone that I heard of him; and heard that, though +wary of speech, he has been incautious in manner, and left little doubt +upon the minds of his observers, that this fair flower springs from the +same stock as some part of his own family; though she may be one of +those sweet, but hapless buds, whose innocence pays for the guilt of its +planter.--' + +'No, Sir, no!' Gabriella precipitately interrupted him; 'the birth of my +friend is unstained, though unequal; the marriage of her parents was +legal, though secret. Her mother came not, indeed, from an ancient race; +but she was a pattern of virtue, as well as a model of beauty. Could it, +indeed, be believed, that a young nobleman of such expectations, in +every way, as those of the Earl of Melbury's only son, Lord Granville, +would have given his hand to the orphan and destitute daughter of an +insolvent man of business, had she not possessed every advantage, nay, +every perfection to which human nature can rise?' + +Affrighted by this so open relation, drawn forth involuntarily from the +nobly ingenuous Gabriella, in the persuasion that Sir Jaspar was already +a confidential, and might become a useful friend; Juliet, in the first +moment, was advancing to stop it; but her heart, yet more than her ear, +was so fascinated by the generous eulogy of her virtuous, though lowly +mother, from the offspring of a house whose height, and natal +prejudices, might have palliated, upon this subject, the language even +of disdain; that she could not prevail with herself to break into what +she considered as sacred praise. + +''Tis even so, then!' cried Sir Jaspar, with smiling delight; 'this +forlorn, but most beautiful Wanderer,--this so long concealed, and +mysterious, but most lovely _incognita_, is the daughter of the late +Lord Granville, and the grand-daughter of the late Earl of Melbury!' + +Utterly confounded, to hear the secret history of her birth and family +thus casually, yet irretrievably discovered, Juliet, trembling, again +shrunk back; yet would not, now, and unavailingly, check the ardent zeal +of her high-minded friend, since without any added danger, it might +procure some useful intelligence. + +The willing Baronet, whose sole desire was to keep up the conversation, +wanted no urging to relate all that he had gathered from the loquacious +Selina. Lord Denmeath, upon the sudden disappearance of Miss Ellis, had +been surprised into confessing, that he had a faint notion that he knew +something of that young person; that there had been, once, an odd +story,--a report--that a young woman was existing in France, who was +some way belonging to the late Lord Granville, his sister's husband; +though without ever having been acknowledged by the family. He let fall, +also, sundry obscure hints of information, of the most serious import, +which he had recently received, relating to this young woman; but which +he would not divulge, till he had investigated; as he began to surmise, +that it had been conveyed to him for some fraudulent and mercenary +purpose. Mrs Ireton, to all this, had answered, that she had suspected, +from the beginning, that the creature was an adventurer; and that she +was now fully convinced that they had been played upon by a +supposititious person. Lord Denmeath, though he forbore confirming this +assertion, listened to it with a smile of concurrence. + +Juliet here felt shocked and confounded; but Gabriella, animated by +generous resentment, warmly repeated her asseverations, of the validity +of the marriage of Lord Granville with Miss Powel, her friend's mother; +though an excess of fear of the inflexible character of the old Earl +Melbury had prevented its early avowal; and the death of the concealed +wife, while Juliet was yet in arms, had afterwards decided the young +widower to guard the secret, till his child should be grown up; or till +he should become his own master. + +'But where, during this interval,' said Sir Jaspar, 'where,--and what +was the hiding-place of that seraphic offspring?' + +Till her seventh year, Gabriella answered, she had been consigned to the +care of Mrs Powel, her maternal grandmother; who, satisfied of the +legality, had herself aided the secresy of the marriage. They had dwelt, +during that period, in the same picturesque, but no longer loved +retreat, upon the banks of the Tyne, in which Lady Granville, under a +feigned name, had been concealed, for the short space of time between +her marriage and her death. + +Juliet, whose intention had been to gather, not to bestow intelligence, +now came forward, and made signs to Gabriella to drop the subject. But +this was no longer practicable. Urged by the idea of doing honour to her +friend, and incited by adroit interrogatories, or piquant observations, +from Sir Jaspar, Gabriella, having insensibly begun the tale, felt +irresistibly impelled to make clear the birth and family of Juliet, +beyond all doubt or cavil. She continued, therefore, the narration; and +Juliet, much agitated, retreated wholly to the inner room. + +Under pretence of change of air for his health, Lord Granville, to hide +his grief from his father and friends, spent the first year of his +widowhood at Montpellier; then the residence of the Bishop of ----, the +maternal uncle of Gabriella; with whom he formed a friendship that +neither time nor absence, not even death itself, had had power to +dissolve; and to whom he confided the history and punishment of his +clandestine juvenile engagement. Called home, the following year, by the +Earl, his father, he had been prevailed upon to marry a lady of quality +and large fortune. But, previous to these new nuptials, to secure +justice to his eldest born, though he had not the courage to own her; as +well as to tranquillize Mrs Powel; he deposited in the hands of that +worthy old lady, the certificate of his first marriage; to which he +added a deed, that he called the codicil to whatever will he might have +made, or might hereafter make; and in which he declared Juliet +Granville, born near ----, in Yorkshire, to be his lawful daughter, by +his first marriage, with Juliet Powel, in Flanders; and, as such, he +bequeathed to her the same portion, at his death, that should be settled +upon any other daughter, or daughters, that he might have, hereafter, by +any subsequent marriage. + +The impossibility of obtaining, in the Yorkshire retirement, such means +of improvement, as were suitable to the future expectations and lot in +life of his little girl, determined Lord Granville to have her conveyed +to France for her education. Mrs Powel, who had no other remaining tie +upon earth, but a son who was settled in the East Indies, preferred +accompanying her little darling to a separation; the fear of which, with +the possession of the marriage certificate, and the codicil to the will, +had always counteracted her impatience for the discovery ultimately +promised. The uncle of Gabriella, the Bishop, consented to take the +child under his immediate care; and to place her in the convent in which +his sister, the Marchioness of ----, had placed his niece. And here the +children had been brought up together, with the same opportunities of +improvement; except that the little Juliet had the advantage of speaking +English with her grandmother; who knew no other language; and who +entered the convent as a pensioner. By this means, and by books, Juliet +had perfectly retained her native tongue, though she had acquired +something of a foreign accent. She was known only as a young English +lady of fortune, for whom no expence was to be spared; and the +remittances for her board and education were constant, and even +splendid. She had been called simply by the name of Mademoiselle +Juliette, which had generally been supposed to be the name of her +family. Here, from the facility with which she caught instruction, and +the ability with which she appropriated its result, she became the most +accomplished pupil of the convent and was not more generally, from her +appearance, called _la belle_, than from her acquirements and conduct +_la sage petite Anglaise_. And here, still more united by the same +sentiments than by the same studies, Gabriella had formed with her the +tender, confiding and unalterable friendship, that had bound them to +each other with an even sisterly love. + +The Bishop frequently pressed the young lord to avow the birth of +Juliet, and to legitimate her claims upon his family: but he always +answered, that since she, whose reputation, happiness, and spirits might +have paid the avowal, was gone, he could not support the fruitless pain +of offending his sickly, but imperious father, by such a discovery, till +the necessity of receiving his daughter should make it indispensable. + +Previous to this period, Gabriella was taken from the convent, to +prepare for her marriage with the Comte de ----; and Juliet, who had then +lost her tender grandmother, was invited to the wedding-ceremony, and to +remain with her friend till she should be called to her own country. +Lord Granville, with that spirit of procrastination which always grows +with indulgence, joyfully acceded to this invitation; and remitted to +the ensuing summer the public acknowledgment of his daughter. But, ere +the ensuing summer arrived, all these projects were rendered abortive! +The Bishop, through a news-paper, received the fatal intelligence, that +Lord Granville had been killed by a fall from his horse. + +While the deeply disappointed and afflicted Juliet was the prey of heavy +grief at this event, the Bishop, to whom the grandmother, in dying, had +consigned the marriage-certificate, the codicil, and every letter or +paper that authenticated the legitimacy of her grandchild, constituted +himself guardian and protector of the young orphan. + +Convinced that no time should be lost in making known her rights, yet +unwilling to risk shocking the old peer by an abrupt address, he stated +the affair to Lord Denmeath, brother to Lord Granville's second lady, +and guardian of two children by the second marriage. To this +communication he received no answer. But, upon writing again, with more +energy, and hinting at sending over an agent, Lord Denmeath thought +proper to reply. His style was extremely cold. His brother-in-law, he +said, had expired, after his fall, without uttering a word. Having, +therefore, no knowledge of any secret business, he begged to be excused +from entering into a discussion of the obscure affair to which the +Bishop seemed to allude. + +The Bishop grew but warmer in the interests of his Ward, from the +difficulty of serving her. He sent over, to Lord Denmeath, copies of the +codicil, of the certificate, and of every letter upon the subject, that +had been written to the grandmother, or to himself, by the late lord. + +The answer now was more civil, but evidently embarrassed, though +professing much respect for the motives which guided the charitable +Bishop; and a willingness to enter into some compromise for the young +person in question; provided she could be settled abroad, that so +strange a tale might not disturb his sister; nor involve his nephew and +niece, by coming before the public. + +All compromise was declined by the Bishop, who now made known the whole +history to the old peer. + +The answer, nevertheless, was again from Lord Denmeath, though written +by the desire, and in the name of the Earl; briefly saying, Let the +young woman marry and settle in France; and, upon the delivery of the +original documents relative to her birth, she shall be portioned; but +she shall never be received nor owned in England; the Earl being +determined not to countenance such a disgrace to his family, and to the +memory of his son, as the acknowledgment of so unsuitable a marriage. + +The Bishop held his honour engaged to his departed friend, to sustain +the birth-right of the innocent orphan; he menaced, therefore, +accompanying her over to England himself, and putting all the documents, +with the direction of the affair, into the hands of some celebrated +lawyer. + +Alarmed at this intimation, milder letters passed: but the result of all +that the Bishop could obtain, was a promissory-note of six thousand +pounds sterling, for the portion of a young person brought up at the +convent of ----, and known by the name of Mademoiselle Juliette; to be +paid by Messieurs ----, bankers, on the day of her marriage with a +native of France, resident in that country. + +The conditions annexed to the payment were then detailed, of delivering +to the bankers the originals of all the MSS of which copies had been +sent over; with an acquittal, signed by the new married couple, and by +the Bishop, to all future right or claim upon the Melbury family. The +whole to be properly witnessed, &c. This promissory-note had the joint +seal and signature of the old Earl and of Lord Denmeath. + +But the Bishop inflexibly insisted, that his ward should be recognized +as the Honourable Miss Granville; and share an equal portion with her +half-sister, Aurora; for whom, upon the premature death of Lord +Granville, the old peer had solicited and obtained the title and honours +of an earl's daughter. + +All representation proving fruitless, the Bishop was preparing to attend +Miss Granville to England, when the French Revolution broke out. The +general confusion first stopt his voyage, and next destroyed even the +materials of his agency. The family chateau was burnt by the populace; +and all the papers of Juliet, which had been carefully hoarded up with +the records of the house, were consumed! The promissory-note alone, and +accidentally, had been saved; the Bishop chancing to have it in his +pocket-book, for the purpose of consulting upon it with some lawyer. + +With the nobleness of unsuspicious integrity, the Bishop wrote an +account of this disaster to Lord Denmeath; whose answer contained +tidings of the death of the old Earl, and reclaimed the promissory-note +for revisal. But the Bishop, who possessed no other proof or document of +the identity of Juliet, would by no means part with a paper that became +of the utmost importance. + +Juliet, pitied and sustained, loved and esteemed by all, had been +prevailed upon to continue with her cherished and cherishing friends, +till some political calm should enable the Bishop to conduct her to +England, and there to struggle for her rights. At the opening, however, +of the dreadful reign of Robespierre, sudden and immediate danger had +compelled Gabriella, with her husband and her child, to emigrate: but +Juliet, hopeless of making herself acknowledged by her family without +the support of the Bishop, had preferred, till she could obtain the +sanction of his presence, to remain with the Marchioness. + +'And what,' Sir Jaspar cried, 'what is become of this Bishop? this man +of peace, this worthiest wight that breathes the vital air?' + +Gabriella herself knew not; nor what change of plan had induced her +friend to venture over alone: she knew only that what was counselled by +the Bishop must be wise; that what was executed by Juliet must be right. + +Juliet, who had heard this recital with melting tenderness, was now with +difficulty restrained, even by the presence of Sir Jaspar, from casting +herself rather at the feet than into the arms, of her generous, noble, +and confiding, though untrusted friend. + + + + +CHAPTER LXX + + +Various customers, though for small purchases, had, from time to time, +interrupted, but not broken this narration. The Baronet respectfully +made way for whoever came, but resumed his place the instant that it was +vacated; spending the interval in selecting new pieces of ribbon; till, +ere the history was finished, not a remnant of that article remained +unsold. It was his purpose, he gallantly said, to present a top-knot, +for a twelve-month to come, to every fair syren who, either by face, +voice, shape, feature, complexion, size, air, or manner, should afford +him so much pleasure as to remind him, however transiently, of the +adorable haberdasher, whose taper fingers had put it into his +possession. + +Gabriella interrupted these compliments, to observe, with some anxiety, +two strange men, who were sauntering up and down the street, and who, +from time to time, peeped in at the window. + +'And how can they do any better?' said the Baronet; 'unless you invite +them into your apartments? 'Tis precisely what I shall enact myself, if +you turn me out of doors! Do you fancy you are to dart yourselves, you +and your mischievous partner, into as many hearts as you can find +spectators, and then bid your poor wounded gazers go lie down and bleed, +in the kennel, like so many puppies; without allowing them even a +lamenting yell, or friendly barking, to call themselves into notice +before they give up the ghost? I pity the poor caitiffs with all my +heart. + + 'A fellow-feeling makes one wond'rous kind!'[2] + +[Footnote 2: Garrick.] + +'Let me, however, hope, that the seductive tale which I have been +quaffing, has not intoxicated all my senses only to my own destruction! +that my poor nerves have not been pierced and pinched; that my feelings +have not been twitched and tweaked, and my senses scared and confounded, +only to drag my own crazy folly into fuller view!' + +He paused a few minutes, during which Gabriella began making out the +account of her ribbons; and then, with a mild voice, but an arch brow, +'Hear me,' he resumed, 'my dulcet frog! for such, you know, is your +destined classification in this country; hear, and under your auspices +let me proceed. If this fair marvellous Wanderer,--in her birth no +longer an Incognita, yet an Incognita still in her history; will venture +to put herself under my protection,--honourably I mean; so don't frown! +for nothing so spoils the forehead! Besides, who can look at you, and +not mean honourably? With all your sweetness, there is a fire in your +eye, that, if I harboured a naughty idea, only for a moment, would, I +see plainly, consume me. Let us, however, talk the matter over with +becoming seriousness. It may, perchance, be less difficult than you may +imagine, to establish your fair journeywoman's rights.' + +'O make the attempt, then,' cried Gabriella; 'exert yourself in so noble +a trial!' + +'A little activity,' he continued, 'and a great deal of menacing, +adroitly put in play, will now and then do wonders. A little money, too, +dexterously handled, rarely does much harm. When Lord Denmeath sees all +these at work, take my word for it, he will think twice, before he will +let them operate upon the public. We like mighty well to reap the fruits +of our address in the world; but we have a sagacious tendency to keeping +our ways and means to ourselves. Lord Denmeath, after all, as a worldly +man, does but his office, in putting to sleep his conscience for the +better keeping awake his interest. This is simply in the ordinary course +of things: but, when the blood that is youthful is not generous; when +life is begun with the crafty hardness that years, experience, and +disappointment have given to those who are ending it; when we see even +striplings, who ought to be made up of wild romance, and credulous +enthusiasm, meanly, basely, heartlessly, for a few pitiful thousands, +suffer an orphan to be cheated, despoiled of her rank in life, and made +an alien to her country, as well as to her family;--then it is, that I +curse Vanity as an imp of darkness, and Pride as a demon of hell! When a +boy like Lord Melbury, a young girl such as Lady Aurora--' + +'They are innocent, Sir Jaspar! they are noble! they are faultless!' +called out Juliet, eagerly returning to the shop; 'they dream not of my +claims; they have not the most distant idea that I have the honour to +belong to their house. Innocent? they are meritorious! Conceiving me +simply a helpless, unpatronized, and indigent Wanderer, they have +treated me with a kindness, a consideration, an heavenly benevolence, +that, towards a stranger so forlorn, could have been dictated only by +the most angelic of natures!' + +'Astonishing! incredible!' exclaimed Sir Jaspar. 'What! do they not know +your story? Have you made no appeal to their justice, their affections?' + +'You will cease, Sir, to wonder, and cease also, I hope, to question me, +when I tell you that here, even here, I have not made my situation +known! here, even here,--to the friend of my heart, the confidant of my +life, the loved and honoured descendant of the house by which I have +been preserved, and from which alone I hope for protection! Judge then, +how powerful must be my motives for secresy! And she,--she submits to my +silence! Too high-minded for distrust, too nobly mistress of herself for +impatience; and conscious that even a wish, expressed, would to me have +the force of a command, she waits my time! She knows the most dire and +barbarous obstacles could alone lead me to reserve and concealment, +where my softest consolation would be openness and sympathy!' + +Gabriella could offer no answer but by wide extended arms, with which +Juliet, gushing into tears, was fondly encircled; while the Baronet, +touched, amazed, and enchanted, repeatedly wiped his eyes; when +Gabriella, observing, again, at the window, one of the men of whom she +had spoken, whispered Juliet to compose herself, or to retire. + +There was not time: Riley, who had seen her, bounced into the shop. + +'Ah, ha, I have caught you at last, have I, Demoiselle?' he cried, +rubbing his hands with joy. 'I could not devise where the deuce you had +hidden yourself. I only knew you were in some shabby little bit of a +shop in this street. And who do you think is my author for this +intelligence?--Won't you guess?--Why Surly! your old friend, Surly!' + +Apprehensive of some attack similar to that which she had endured at +Brighthelmstone, Juliet ventured not to speak, though she felt too +anxious to withdraw: while Sir Jaspar, extremely curious, repeated, 'Old +Surly?' in a tone that invited explanation. + +'The same, faith! He's come over o' purpose to hunt you out, +Demoiselle.' + +'Me?' cried Juliet, changing colour; 'and why?--And who is he?' + +'Who is he? Well! that's droll, faith! Why you have not forgotten your +old crony, the pilot?' + +Juliet looked down, to conceal the alarm with which she was seized. + +'Why, I'll tell you how it all happened,' continued Riley, mounting upon +the counter, as he might have mounted upon his horse; 'I'll tell you how +it all happened. About a month ago, in one of my rambles, I met Master +Surly; and, for old acquaintance sake, I was prodigiously glad to see +him: for I like, as a curiosity, to shew John Bull a Mounseer that i'n't +a milk-sop. So we talked over our voyage; but when I told him that I had +met with the Demoiselle at Brighthelmstone; and that she had cast off +her slough, and was grown a beauty; he asked me a hundred questions, and +said that, most likely, she was a person of whom he was in search; and +after whom there had been a great hue and cry.' + +Juliet now opened various small drawers, shutting them almost at the +same moment; but always with her face turned from Riley. + +'Well, we parted, and I saw no more of him, and thought no more of him +neither, faith! till this very morning, when I popt upon him, all at +once, in Piccadilly. And then, he told me that he was just come from +Brighthelmstone, where he had been looking for you.' + +Juliet though in a tremour that shook her whole frame, faintly said, +'And why?' + +'Because, by my account of you, he was satisfied you must be the very +person that he was commissioned to find.' + +Juliet now seemed scarcely able to sustain herself. Gabriella and Sir +Jaspar saw, with deep concern, her emotion; but Riley, unobservant, went +on. + +'At Brighton, he had discovered that you had journied up to town, in the +stage. And he came up after you, in the very same carriage, only +yesterday. And, by means of a boy at the inn, who had called your +hackney-coach, he had just found out coachy; who informed him, that he +had set down a pretty young damsel, that had arrived from Brighton about +a week ago, at a small shop in Frith-street, Soho. Upon that, I offered +to help him in his search; and we jogged on to these quarters together: +for I always liked you, Demoiselle, and always had a prodigious mind to +know who you were. But the deuce a bit would you ever tell me. So we +have been sauntering and maundering up and down the street, one on one +side, and t'other on t'other, in search of you; peeping and peering into +every shop, and lounging and squinting at every window. We have had the +devil of a job of it to find you, Demoiselle; we have, faith!--But my +best sport will be to make Monsieur Surly look you full in the face, as +I did myself, without knowing you! though he pretends that that's all +one. The French always say that to every thing that they don't like; +_c'est egal!_ cries Monsieur, whenever he's put out of his way. However, +old Surly stands to it, that he shall discover you in a twinkling; for +he's got your description.' + +'My description?' Juliet repeated; in a tone of terrour. + +'Ay; and there he is, faith! on t'other side the way! An old owl!' cried +Riley; striding to the door, and calling aloud, 'Surly! old Surly! Come +over, Mounseer Surly!' + +Juliet was now precipitately gliding into the little room; but Sir +Jaspar, intercepting her flight, warmly entreated, whatever might be her +fears or her difficulties, to be accepted as her protector: and, while +she was struggling, with speechless impatience, to pass him, the pilot, +pulled into the shop by Riley, stood full before her; stared hardily in +her face; looked at a paper which he held in his hand, and, grinning +horribly a scoffing smile, walked away, without speaking. + +Juliet, who seemed nearly fainting, was drawn tenderly into the +adjoining room by Gabriella; who was herself in almost equal +consternation. + +'A pretty feat you have performed here, Sir! An admirable exploit!' said +Sir Jaspar, angrily, to Riley; who, laughing heartily at the savage +satisfaction of the pilot, had re-mounted the counter. 'And what sort of +man must you be to find it so dulcet and recreative, to give chace to a +timid, defenceless lamb?' + +'What sort of man?' returned Riley; 'faith, I don't know! I don't, +faith! But who does? If you can tell me the man who knows himself, +you'll do more than has been done yet since the days of old Adam. I +never trouble myself with vain researches, and combinations, and +developments, and metaphysical analysings. What do they do for us, +beside cracking our skulls? They only leave us where they found us; +forced to eat and drink, and sleep and wake, and live and die, just the +same, since all the discoveries of Newton, as we did before we knew a +square from an angle.' + +'O ho, you are a philosopher, Sir, then, are you?' said Sir Jaspar; 'a +Cynic? guided by contempt of mankind?' + +'Not a whit! I only follow my humour. If that happens to please my +friends, so much the better; if not, I am but little "of the melting +mood;" I go on all the same. I never stop to weigh opinion in the scale +of my proceedings.' + +'And do you never weigh humanity, neither, Sir? the feelings of others? +the good or ill of society?' + +'No! I never think of all that. I let the world take its own course, as +I take mine. I have long had a craving desire to know who this girl is; +and she would never tell me. Her obstinacy doubles my curiosity; and +when my curiosity gets at the helm, it does just what it will with me. +It does, faith!' + +Gabriella, now returning, demanded of Riley what business detained him +in the shop, with an air of dignity that surprised him into making +something like an apology; to which he added, that he only stayed to +have a little further parley with the demoiselle. + +That young lady was indisposed, and could be spoken to no more. + +'Indisposed?' he repeated; 'I am sorry for that! I am, faith! Poor +demoiselle! she has been liberal enough of diversion to me, one way or +another. However, I shall soon discover who she is; for I know where to +catch Master Surly; and he says he is promised a thumping reward, if he +finds that she is the right person. He is but an agent, poor Surly: but +he expects his principal, with the cash, over every hour; if he i'n't +landed already.' + +Gabriella, who had returned to the little parlour, perceived, now, that +the face of Juliet looked convulsed with horrour. She procured her a +glass of hartshorn and water; and entreated the Baronet, who seemed +transfixed with concern, to force Riley away; and to be gone, also, +himself. + +Sir Jaspar could not refuse compliance; but neither could he deny +himself advancing, for an instant, to say, in a low voice, to Juliet, +'Bow not down your lovely head, sweet lilly! I have friends who will +find means to succour and protect you, be who will your assaulter!' + +Offering Riley, then, a place in his chariot, and dropping, as he +passed, his purse into the till-box, he drove off, with his new +acquaintance. + +For some minutes, excess of terrour robbed Juliet of speech, and of all +power of exertion; but when, by the cares and soothings of Gabriella, +she was, in some degree, restored, 'Oh my beloved friend!' she cried, +'we must part again,--immediately part!' + +A tear stole down the cheek of Gabriella as she heard this +annunciation; but she offered no remonstrance; she permitted herself no +enquiry; her eye alone said, 'Why, why this!' + +Juliet saw, but shrunk from this mute eloquence, hastily arranging +herself for going out; making up a packet of linen to carry in her hand, +and hanging a loaded work-bag upon her arm. + +Casting herself, then, into the arms of her friend, 'Oh my Gabriella,' +she cried, 'I must fly,--instantly fly!--or entail a misery upon the +rest of my existence too horrible for description! Whither,--which way +to go, I know not,--but I must be hidden from all mankind!--To-morrow I +will write to you;--constantly I will write to you,--dear, generous, +noblest of friends, farewell, farewell!' + +They embraced, mingled their tears, embraced again, and separated. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXI + + +Her head bowed low; her bonnet drawn over her eyes; ignorant what course +she took, and earnest only to discover any inlet into the country by +which she might immediately quit the town; Juliet, with hurried +footsteps, and trembling apprehensions, became again a Wanderer. + +She passed through various streets, but, unacquainted with London, read, +without any aid to her purpose, their names, till, printed in large +characters, her eyes were struck with the word Piccadilly; and, +presently, she was accosted by an ordinary man, who had a long whip in +his hand, and who, holding open the door of a carriage, asked whether +she would have a cast; saying that he was ready to set off immediately. + +Finding that the vehicle was a stage-coach, she eagerly accepted the +proposal, and seated herself next to an elderly woman. + +The man demanded whether she meant to go all the way. + +She answered in the affirmative; and, to her inexpressible satisfaction, +was driven out of London. + +Not to risk discovering to her fellow-travellers so extraordinary a +circumstance, as that of beginning an excursion in utter ignorance where +it might end, she forbore asking any questions; and left to the time of +her alighting at the spot to which the stage was destined, her own +acquaintance with her local situation. + +It was not, therefore, till she descended from the coach, that she found +that she had taken the road to Bagshot. + +The immediate plan which, in her way, she had formed, was to enter the +first shop that she saw open; thence to write to Gabriella; and then to +stroll on to the nearest village, and lodge herself in the first clean +cottage which could afford her a room. + +The sight, however, of the Salisbury stage, gave her a desire to travel +instantly further from London; and she asked whether there were a vacant +place. She was immediately accommodated; and her journey thither, though +long, and passed in dreadful apprehension, was without accident or +event. + +Arrived at Salisbury, she quitted the machine, and her fellow +travellers, with whom she had scarcely exchanged a word; and, hoping +that she was now out of the way of pursuit, she put her plan into +execution, by writing a tranquillizing line to Gabriella, from a +stationer's shop; and then, set forth in search of a dwelling. + +This was by no means easy to find. A solitary stranger, bearing her own +small baggage, after travelling all night, was not very likely to be +seen but with eyes of scrutiny and suspicion. Yet her air, her manner, +and her language made her application always best received by the upper +class of trades-people, who were most able to discern, that such +belonged not to any vulgar or ordinary person: but, when they found that +she enquired for a lodging, without giving any name, or any reference, +they held back, alike, from granting her admission, or forwarding her +wish by any recommendation. + +The evident caution with which she hid as much as possible of her face, +made the beauty of what was still necessarily visible, create as much +ill opinion as admiration; though the perfect modesty of her deportment +rescued her from receiving any offence. + +In the smaller shops, and by the meaner and poorer sort of people, her +carrying her parcel herself, levelled her, instantly, to their own rank; +while her demand of assistance, her loneliness and even her loveliness, +sunk her far beneath it, in their opinion; and, almost with one accord, +they bluntly told her that she might find a lodging at an inn. + +Helpless, distressed, she wandered some time in this fruitless research; +too much self-occupied to remark the buildings, the neatness, the +antiquities, or the singularities of the city which she was patrolling; +till her eyes were caught by the little rivulets which, in most of the +streets, separate the foot-path from the high-road, by perceiving two +ruddy-cheeked, smiling little cherubs, attempting to paddle over one of +them, and playing so incautiously, that they seemed every moment in +danger of falling into the water. + +She hastened towards them, to point out a bridge, somewhat higher up, by +which they might more safely pass; but the elder child, a rosy boy, +careless and sportive, heeded her not; till, finding the stream deeper +than he expected, his little feet slipt, and he would inevitably have +been under water, had not Juliet, with dextrous speed, caught him by the +coat. + +She aided him to scramble out, though with much difficulty, for he was +wet through, and covered with mud. Frightened out of his little senses, +he set up an unappeaseable cry; in which the other child, a pretty +little girl, impelled by babyish though unconscious sympathy, joined, +with all the vociferation which her feeble lungs were capable of +emitting. + +Juliet, with that kindness which childish helplessness ought always to +inspire, soothed them with gentle words, and persuaded the boy to hasten +to his home, that he might take off his wet cloaths before he caught +cold. But they both sat down to cry at their leisure; though rather as +if they did not understand, than as if they resisted her counsel. + +Pitying their simple sufferings, she offered the boy a penny, to buy a +gingerbread cake, if he would rise. + +Quick, or rather immediate, now, was the transition from despondence to +transport. The boy not merely wiped his eyes, and ceased his sobs, but, +all smiles and delight, began a rapid prattling of where he should buy, +and of what sort should be, his cake; while every word, rapturously, +though indistinctly, was echoed by the little girl, not less slack in +reviving. + +The elasticity, however, of their little persons, kept not entirely pace +with that of their spirits. The wet attire of the boy, which his seat on +the dust had rendered as heavy as it was uncomfortable, nearly disabled +him from rising; and his little sister, who had lost one of her shoes in +the rivulet, had run a thorn into her foot, and could not stand without +crying. + +The children were not able to give any account of who they were that was +intelligible; nor of whence they came, save that it was from a great, +great way off. Unwilling to leave them in so pitiable a plight, Juliet, +observing that the street, which led out of the town, was empty, looked +for a clean spot, and, bending upon one knee, had just drawn out the +splinter from the foot of the little girl, when the sound of the voice +of a female, who was approaching, calling out, 'Here I be, my loveys! +here comes mammy!' so miraculously electrified the little creatures, +that, forgetting all impediment to motion, they bounded up, delighted; +the boy no longer sensible to the weight of his wet garments, nor the +girl to the tenderness of her hurt foot: and both capered to embrace the +knees of their mammy; whose eyes alone could return their caresses; her +hands being engaged in holding a heavy basket upon her head. + +But when she perceived their condition, she anxiously demanded what had +happened. + +They both again began grievously to cry, while the boy related that he +had been drowned, but that the _dood ady_ (good lady) had come and saved +his life: and the little girl, interrupting him every moment, kept +presenting her foot, in telling a similar story of the kindness of the +_dood ady_. + +To Juliet scarcely a word of their narrations was intelligible; but, to +the ears of their mother, accustomed to their dialect, their lisping and +their imperfect speech, these prattling details were as potent in +eloquence, as the most polished orations of Cicero or Demosthenes, are +to those of the classical scholar. + +The gratitude of the good woman for the services rendered to her little +ones, was so warm and cordial, that she cried for joy, in pouring forth +blessings upon the head of Juliet, for having lent so friendly a hand, +she said, to her poor boy; and having done what she called so +neighbourly a kindness by her dear little girl. + +She had directed her children, she said, to go straight to Dame Goss's, +beyond the turnpike; having had business to transact at a house which +they could not enter; but the little dearys were not yet come to their +memory; and, but for so good a friend, the poor loveys might have lain +in the wet and the mud, till they had been half choaked. + +Seeing the children thus safely restored to their best friend, Juliet +meant to continue her solitary search; but the good woman, judging from +her kind offices, that there was nothing to fear from her disdain; and +concluding from her parcel, that there was nothing to respect in her +rank, frankly demanded her assistance, for helping on the children as +far as to the turnpike; simply adding, that she would do as good a turn +for her, in requital, another time; but that her basket was heavily +laden, and the poor little things, one without its shoe, and the other +in wet cloaths, would be but troublesome, in such a broiling sun, to +pull all the way by her petticoat. + +Cruelly experiencing want of succour herself, Juliet, always open to +charity, was now more than usually ready to serve or oblige. With the +utmost alacrity, therefore, complying with the request, she deposited +her packet in the poor woman's basket; bound her pocket-handkerchief +round the foot and ancle of the little girl; and then, taking a hand of +each of the children, and gently alluring them on, by lively and playful +talk, she conducted them to the turnpike; without any other difficulty +than some fatigue to herself; which was amply compensated by the +pleasure of helping the little innocents, and their affectionate mother; +joined to the relief to her own feelings, afforded by a social exercise, +that drew her, for a while, from her fearful reflections. + +The woman, charmed by such kindness, begged to have the direction of +Juliet, that she might call to thank her, when next she came to +Salisbury; whither some business commonly brought her every four or five +months. + +Juliet was obliged to confess herself a mere passenger; but asked, in +return, the name and address of her new acquaintance. + +Margery Fairfield, she answered, was her name, and she lived a far off +in the New Forest. She was going, in a friend's cart, to Romsey, and +there her husband would meet her, and carry her little girl. She could +never come out without her children, if she were ever so heavily laden, +for her husband was at work all day, and there was nobody to take care +of them in her absence. + +A ray of pleasure now broke through the gloomy forebodings of Juliet; +there seemed to her an opening to an asylum, during the period of her +concealment, fortunate beyond her hopes; to lodge with a rustic family +of this simple description, in so retired and remote a spot, promising +all the security and privacy that she required, with fine air, pleasant +country, and worthy hosts. + +A very few enquiries sufficed to satisfy her, that she might find a +small room, in which she could sleep; and a little further discourse +procured her all the details necessary for learning the route to the +dame's cottage. She forbore, nevertheless, hinting at her design, that +neither trouble, expence, nor preparation might precede her arrival. + +She regretted her inability to accompany these new friends, at once, to +their home; but her letter to Gabriella had desired that the answer +might be directed to be left at the post office at Salisbury, till +called for; and she was too uncertain what her position might be in the +New Forest, to hazard any change of address. She was deeply anxious to +hear from Gabriella; and to learn whether she had herself been sought +since her flight. + +When they reached the small, mean house of Dame Goss, beyond the +turnpike, the expected cart was not yet arrived; and Juliet, being +kindly invited to take a little rest, ventured to solicit, from her new +friend, a recommendation to a cheap lodging, with some honest hostess. + +Enchanted to be able to serve her, the poor woman immediately said, that +she could no where be better than in that very house: and when its +mistress made various objections; first, that she had not a room +unoccupied; next, that she had no spare bed; and then, that her husband +would be angry; the zealous Dame Fairfield obviated them all. The room, +she said, with a significant nod, where they kept their boxes, would be +never the worse for being slept in a few nights, now all the boxes were +empty; and the bed she had had for herself the last winter, could be +easily carried up stairs, for she would stop to carry it with her own +hands: and as to Master Goss, he was so fond of her little dearys, that +he could not have so bad a heart as to be off doing a service to a +gentlewoman who had been so kind to them. + +This eloquence was all-sufficient; the real obstacle, that of aiding an +unknown traveller, occuring neither to the advocate nor to the opponent. +Free from the niceties of custom in higher life, and unembarrassed by +the perplexities of discriminating scruples, the good women, often +lonely travellers themselves, saw nothing in such a situation to excite +distrust; and regarded it therefore simply as a claim upon hospitality. +To have manifested good nature, was sufficient to procure credit for +good character; and to have done kind offices, was to secure their +return. + +Dame Fairfield busily set about putting into order a little apartment, +that was encumbered with trunks and boxes, which she piled one upon +another, to make a place for a small bed. She would suffer no one to +give her any help; sweeping, dusting, rubbing, and arranging all the +lumber herself; with an alacrity of pleasure, a gaiety of good will, +that charmed away, for a while, the misery of Juliet, by the consoling +picture thus presented to her view, of untaught benevolence and +generosity: a picture which must always be pleasing to the friend of +human nature, however less exalting, than when those qualities, as the +cultured fruits of religion and of principle, are purified into virtues. + +In this mean little lodging, to avoid being seen or heard of, Juliet +passed three days, self-inclosed; with no employment but that of writing +long letters to Gabriella, which, eventually, were to be sent by the +post, or delivered by herself. This, however, not filling up her time, +the wish of obliging, joined to a constant desire of acquiring, in every +situation, the art of being useful,--that art which, more than wealth, +or state, or power, preserves its cultivator from wearying either +himself or those around him;--led her to bestow the rest of the day in +aiding the woman of the house, in sundry occupations. + +To have seen and examined the famous cathedral; to have found out the +walks; to have informed herself of the manufactures; and to have visited +the antiquities and curiosities of this celebrated city, and its +neighbourhood, might have solaced the anxiety of this moment; but +discretion baffled curiosity, and fear took place of all desire of +amusement. She could only regale her confinement by the hope of soon +obtaining her freedom in an innocent and beautiful retreat; and +remained, therefore, perfectly stationary, till she conceived that an +answer might be returned from Gabriella. + +On the evening of that day, she prevailed upon Dame Goss, whose mornings +were all engaged, but whose good will she had now completely secured, to +be her messenger to the post-office. + +Without any letter, however, the messenger returned, though with an +acknowledgement that one was arrived; but that it could only be +delivered to Miss Ellis herself; or to a written order with a receipt. + +Juliet was immediately preparing to write one, when Dame Goss said, +'They do tell me that you be a person advertised in the London +news-papers? It ben't true; be it?' + +'Good Heaven, no!' Juliet ejaculated. + +'Pray, be you the person called, "Commonly known by the name of Miss +Ellis?"' + +Juliet, changing colour, asked why she made that enquiry. + +The woman, instead of answering, looked earnestly in her face, with an +air of stedfast examination. + +In the greatest dismay, Juliet turned from her, without hazarding +another question, and was going up stairs; but Dame Goss begged that she +would just stop a bit, because two persons were a coming, that she had +promised should have a peep at her. + +Shocked and terrified, Juliet would still have passed on; but an instant +sufficed to tell her, that, in such an emergency, not to make some +immediate attempt to escape, was to be lost. + +Turning, therefore, back, 'Dame Goss,' she cried, slipping a crown-piece +into her hands, with an apology for giving her so much trouble, 'hasten +again to the post-office, and say that I shall come for my letter +myself.' + +The woman, without question or demur, received the money and set off. +And she was no sooner out of sight, than Juliet, taking her own small +packet, unnoticed by Master Goss, who was at work in his little garden, +went forth by the opposite way; turning, as quickly as possible, from +the high road, where she might most naturally be pursued; and, for all +else, committing her footsteps to chance and to hope,--those last, and +not seldom, best friends of distress and difficulty. + +Wandering on, by paths unknown to herself, with feet not more swift than +trembling; fearing she was followed, yet not daring, by a glance around, +to ascertain either danger or safety, she overtook a young village-girl, +who was hoydening with a smart footman; but who caught her attention, by +representing to him, that, if he detained her any longer, she should +miss the return-chaise, and not know how to get back to Romsey; for her +mother would be too angry to wait for her even a moment. + +The sound of Romsey revived the spirits of Juliet. If she could join +this young person, she might find a conveyance, equally unsuspected and +expeditious, to within a mile or two of the very spot where she hoped +for concealment. She loitered, therefore, in sight, till the footman +retreated, and then, following the girl, though with affright, by +returning to the town, she soon found herself in the church-yard of the +cathedral; where the damsel encountered her waiting mother, with whom, +boldly defying her wrath, she began, sturdily, to wrangle. + +Juliet stood aloof, during the altercation, still hoping to accompany +them in their route. The beautiful Gothic structure before her, the +latest and finest remains of ancient elegance, lightness, and taste, was +nearly lost to her sight, from the misery and pre-occupation of her +mind; though appearing now with peculiar effect, from the shadows cast +upon it by the rising moon. Yet soon, in defiance of all absorption, the +magnetic affinity, in a mind natively pious, of religious solemnity with +sorrow, made the antique grace of this wonderful edifice, catch, even in +this instant of terrour and agitation, the admiring eye of Juliet; whose +mind was always open to excellence, even when most incapable of +receiving any species of pleasure. + +She leaned, for a moment's repose, in a recess of the building, which +the shade rendered dark, nearly sinking under the horrour of pursuit, +and the shame of eluding it. To find herself advertised in a +news-paper!--the blood mounted indignantly into her cheeks.--Perhaps to +be described!--perhaps, named! and with a reward for her +discovery!--cold from them, at this surmise, the blood again descended +to her heart: yet every feeling was transient, that led not to +immediate escape; every reflection was momentary, that turned, not to +personal safety. + +The dispute between the mother and daughter was interrupted,--not +finished,--by the re-appearance of the footman, who told them that the +position was just going off. + +They scampered instantly to an inn, from the gateway of which a +post-chaise was issuing. + +Juliet, who had pursued, now joined them, and proposed making one in +their party. + +The women neither refused nor consented; they renewed their contention, +and heard only one another: but the postilion, to whom Juliet held out +half-a-crown, gave her a place with readiness,--and she was driven to +Romsey. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXII + + +The affrighted Juliet, every instant in expectation of being stopt, was +silent the whole way; but the loquacity of her companions, to whom the +journey was an uninterrupted opportunity for wrangling, secured her from +any remark; and they arrived, and were separating, at Romsey, nearly +without having taken notice that they had ever been together, when +Juliet, having descended from the chaise, turned fearfully round, to +examine whether she were pursued. + +She saw no one; and blest Heaven. + +Nevertheless, it was night; she was alone, in the suburbs of a strange +town; and wholly ignorant of the way to the New Forest. It was too late +to go on without a guide; yet, to demand one, or to order a chaise, at +such an hour, would be risking to leave documents behind her, that might +facilitate her being discovered. She addressed herself, therefore, to +her fellow-travellers, and besought them to afford, or to procure her, a +safe lodging for the night. + +The mother, coarsely, demanded immediate payment; which being accorded, +she said that she had some spare bedding, which could be put upon the +floor, in the sleeping-room of Debby. + +Juliet, accompanied them to their homely habitation, at the further +extremity of a narrow lane, in the busy and prosperous town of Romsey; +and though nothing could be more ordinary than the dwelling, or the +accommodations which she there found, neither splendour, nor wealth, nor +luxury, nor pleasure, could have devised for her, at that moment, a +sojourn more acceptable; since, to all but safety, distress and affright +made her insensible. + +But, this first moment of solid satisfaction passed, her whole mind +became absorbed in fearful ruminations upon the various risks that she +was running, and in gloomy apprehensions of what might be their result. + +Her taciturnity and dejection were as little imitated as they were +little happy: her companion, almost equally self-occupied, though by no +means equally incommoded by foresight, or burthened with discretion, +broke forth immediately into the history of her own affairs and +situation; bitterly inveighing against the ill nature of her mother, +which was always thwarting every thing that was agreeable; and boldly +declaring her fixed determination to go to the fair with Mr Thomas. + +The humanity of Juliet here conquered her silence; but her +representations, whether of danger or of duty, were scouted with rude +merriment; and she found again as wilful a victim to pleasure as Flora +Pierson; though without the simplicity, the good humour, or the beauty +of that credulous maiden. + +Nearly with the light, Juliet arose, resolved, with whatever fatigue, to +travel on foot, that she might not hazard being recognized, through the +advertisement, by any coachman or postilion; and, to be less liable to +detection from passing observers, she changed, over night, her bonnet, +which was of white chip, for one the most coarse and ordinary of straw, +with her young hostess; of whom, also, she bought a blue striped apron. + +Shocking to all her feelings was this attempt to disguise, so imitative +of guilt, so full of semblance to conscious imposture. But there are +sometimes circumstances, great and critical, that call for all the +energy of our courage, and demand all the resources of our faculties, +for warding off impending and substantial evil, at whatever risk of +transitory misconstruction. + +Her account being already settled, she wished to depart unobserved, that +she might less easily be traced. Her young hostess, sleeping late and +tired, slept soundly, and was not disturbed by her rising, dressing, or +opening the room-door; and she glided down stairs without being missed, +or noticed. The door of the house was fastened only by a bolt, and she +gained the street without noise or interruption. + +Here all yet was still as night; the houses were shut up, and nothing +was in view, nor in hearing, but a solitary cart, driven by a young +carter, who amused his toil by the alternate pleasure of smacking his +horse, and whistling to the winds. + +This vehicle, which was probably travelling to the high road, she +determined to follow. + +The general stillness made the slightest motion heard, and the carter, +though at a considerable distance, turned round, and called out, 'Why +you be up betimes, my lovey! come and Ize give you a cast.' + +Startled, she looked down, crossing the way, and appearing not to +suppose herself to be the person thus addressed: but the carter, +standing still, repeated his invitation; assuring her that he had plenty +of room. + +Uncertain how to act, she stopt. + +Terms of coarse endearment, then, accompanied a more pressing desire +that she would advance. + +Frightened, she drew back; but the carter, throwing his whip upon his +carriage, vowed that she should be caught, and ran after her, shouting +aloud, till she regained the house. He then scoffingly exclaimed, 'Why a +be plaguy shy o'the sudden, Mistress Debby!' and, composedly turning +upon his heel, began again to smack his horse, and whistle to the winds. + +Juliet, who in finding herself taken for her young hostess, found, also, +how light a character that young hostess bore, was struck to see danger +thus every way surrounding her; and alarmed at the risk, to which +impatience had blinded her, of travelling, at so early an hour, alone. +Alas! she cried, is it only under the domestic roof,--that roof to me +denied!--that woman can know safety, respect, and honour? + +She now strolled to the vicinity of a capital mansion, at the door of +which, if again put in fear, she could knock and make herself heard. + +But the higgler went on; and another cart soon appeared, in which she +had the pleasure to see a woman, driven by a boy. Unannoyed, then, she +walked by its side till she came to the long middle street; when she +found that, from solitude, at least, she had nothing more to apprehend. +Carts, waggons, and diligences, were wheeling through the town; +market-women were arriving with butter, eggs, and poultry; workmen and +manufacturers were trudging to their daily occupations; all was alive +and in motion; and commerce, with its hundred hands, was every where +opening and spreading its sources of wealth, through its active sisters, +ingenuity and industry. + +No difficulty now remained for finding the route; travellers of every +kind led the way. Her coarse bonnet, and blue apron saved her from +peculiar remark; and her appearance of decency, with the deep care in +her countenance, which, to the common observer, seemed but an air of +business, kept aloof all intrusive impertinence. + +Thus, for the first early hours of the morning, she journeyed on, nearly +unnoticed, and wholly unmolested. Every one, like herself, alert to +proceed, and impressed with the value of time, because using it to +advantage, pursued his own purpose, without leisure or thought to +trouble himself with that of his neighbour. + +Five times she had already counted the friendly mile-stone, since she +had quitted Romsey: one mile only remained to be trodden, ere she +reached the New Forest; but that mile was replete with obstacles, to +which its five sisters had been strangers. + +It was now noon; and a gentle breeze, which hitherto had fanned her +passage, and wafted to her refreshment, suddenly ceased its playful +benignity; chaced to a distance by the burning rays of a vertical sun, +just bursting forth with meridianal fire and splendour; and dispersing +the flying clouds which, in obstructing its refulgence, had softened its +intenseness. + +This quick change of temperature, operating, materially, like an +effective change of climate, annihilated, for the moment, all the +strength of Juliet; who, as yet, from the freshness of the morning air, +the vivacity of mental courage, had been a stranger of fatigue. + +Upon looking around, to seek a spot where she might obtain a few +instants' rest, and some passing succour; she observed that the road, +but just before so busily peopled, appeared to be abruptly forsaken. The +labourers were no longer working at the high ways, or at the hedges; the +harvest-men were vanished; the market-women were gone; the road retained +merely here and there an idle straggler; and the fields exhibited only a +solitary boy, left to frighten away the birds. + +A sensation nearly of famine with which next, from long fasting, joined +to vigourous exercise in the open air, she felt assailed, soon pointed +out to her that the cause of this general desertion was the rural hour +of repast. + +Initiated, now, by her own exertions, in the necessity both of support, +and of rest, she, too, felt that this was the hour of nature for +recruit. But where stop? and how procure sustenance with safety and +prudence? + +She looked about for some cottage, and was not long ere she found one; +but, upon begging for a glass of water from a husbandman, who was +standing upon the threshold, he answered that she should have it, if she +would pay him with a kiss. + +She walked on to another; but some men were smoaking at the door, and +she had not courage to make her demand. + +At a third, she was disconcerted, by a familiar invitation to partake of +a cup of cyder. + +She now resolved to make no further application but to females; since +countrymen, even those who are freest from any evil designs, are almost +all either gross or facetious. + +Women, however, at this hour, were not easily met with; they were +within, preparing their meals, or cleaning their platters, and feeding +their poultry, rabbits, or pigs. + +She now dropped, scarcely able to breathe from the oppression of the +heat; or to sustain herself from the enfeebling effects of emptiness, +joined to overpowering fatigue. With pain and difficulty she dragged on +her wearied limbs; while a furious thirst parched her mouth, and seemed +consuming her inside. + +Now, too, her distress received the tormenting augmentation of intrusive +interruption; for, in losing the elasticity of her motions, she lost, to +the vulgar observer, her appearance of innocence. Her eye, eagerly cast +around in search of an asylum, appeared to be courting attention; her +languor seemed but loitering; and her slow unequal pace, wore the air of +inviting a companion. + +Nor was the character of chaste diligence, and vivacious business, any +longer predominant in those whom she now casually encountered. The +noon-tide heat, in impairing their bodily strength, caused a mental +lassitude, that made them ready for any dissipation that might divert +their weariness; and Juliet, young, rosy, and alone, seemed exactly +fashioned for awakening their drowsy faculties. No one, therefore, +passed, without remarking her; and scarcely any one without making her +some address. The inconsistency of her attire, which her slackened pace +allowed time for developing, gave rise to much comment, and some +mockery. Her ordinary bonnet and blue apron, ill accorded with the other +part of her dress; and she was now assailed with coarse compliments upon +her pretty face; now by jocose propositions to join company; and now by +free solicitations for a salute. + +Painfully she forced herself on, till, at length, she discerned an +ancient dame, in a field by the side of the road, who sat spinning at +the door of a cottage. + +She crossed a style, and, presenting herself to the old woman, craved a +draught of water, and permission to take a little rest. + +The good old dame, who was surrounded by little boys and girls, to whom +she was singing the antique ballad of the children of the wood, in a +tone so dolorous, and with such heavy sighs, that the elder of her +hearers, who were five and six years old, were dissolved in tears; while +the younger ones clung to her knees, pale and scared, finished her +stanza, before she would answer, or look at the supplicant stranger. She +then raised her eyes, with evident vexation at the interruption; but, +when she perceived the weak state, and listened to the faint accents of +her petitioner, the expression of her countenance became all +benevolence; and, good humouredly nodding her head, she disengaged +herself from the children, arose, fetched a horn of water, added to it a +cup of milk, and then, presenting to the weary traveller her own chair, +which was large and low, she got a smaller, and less commodious one, +from the kitchen for herself. + +The nearly exhausted Juliet gratefully accepted this hospitality; and, +in quaffing her milk and water, believed herself initiated in the +knowledge of the flavour, and of all the occult qualities, of Nectar. + +It is thus, then, she thought, that the poor and laborious, also, learn, +even from their toils and sufferings, what is luxury and enjoyment! for +where is the regale, and what is the libation, which the most sumptuous +table of refined elegance can offer, that can be more exquisite to the +taste, than this simple beverage of milk and water, received thus at the +moment of parching thirst, and deadly fatigue? + +Meanwhile, the little ones, impatient at the interruption of a tale +which engaged all their tenderest feelings; and of which no repetition +could diminish the interest; looked with clouded brows, and unchecked +ill humour, upon the intruder; and, while the elder ones vented their +chagrin by crying, some of the younger ones, yet more completely in the +rough hands of untutored nature, rushed forward to beat the cause of +their vexation; while others, indignantly, struggled to pull her out of +the chair of their grandame. + +Juliet, whom their fat little hands could not hurt, and who approved +their fondness both for their grandmother and for the ballad, forgave +their petulance in favour of its motive: but the grandame, putting aside +her spinning wheel, called them all around her, and calmly enquired what +was the matter? + +They vociferously answered that they wanted to push away the naughty +person who was come to take granny's chair. + +And what, she asked, would they do themselves, should they be obliged to +walk a great way off, till they were tired to death, and as dry as dust, +if nobody would give them a little drink, nor a seat to sit down? + +But they would never walk a great way off, they answered; never as long +as they lived! They would always stay at home with dad and mam and +grandam. + +But dad and mam, she resumed, were often obliged to walk a great way off +themselves; and if nobody would let them have a seat, not any thing to +drink, what would become of them? whereas, if they should hap to light +on this young gentlewoman in any trouble, she would remember what had +been done for herself, and get them fresh water, and sweet milk, and the +easiest chair she could find: and would not they be glad of such good +luck to dad and mam? Besides that, by doing good, they would be loved by +all good boys and girls; and even by God himself, who was the Father of +them all. + +This was speaking at once to their sensations and their understandings; +dad and mam in distress and relieved seemed present to their view; and +they all flew to do something for their guest, as if their gratitude +were already indebted. One brought her half an apple, another, a quarter +of a pear; one, a bunch of red currants, another, of white; the youngest +of the little girls presented her with an old broken rattle; and the +smallest of the little boys, waddled to her with a hoop. + +Amused by this infantine scene of filial piety, and revived by rest and +refreshment, Juliet soon recompensed their endearing innocence, by +dancing the smaller ones in her arms, and prattling playfully with those +who were less babyish. + +Then, putting a shilling into one of their hands, she requested to have +a couple of eggs and a crust of bread. + +The eggs were immediately baked in the cinders; the crust was cut from a +loaf of sweet and fresh brown bread. And if her drink had seemed nectar, +what was more substantial appeared to her to be ambrosia! and her little +waiters became Hebes and Ganymedes. + +Refreshment thus salubrious, rest thus restorative, and security thus +serene, after fatigue, fasting and alarm, made her deem this one of the +most felicitous moments of her life. Her sole immediate desire was to +lengthen it, and to spend, in this tranquil retreat, a part, at least, +of the period destined to concealment and obscurity. She had not +forgotten her first little _protegés_, nor lost her wish to join them +and their worthy mother; but she had severely experienced how little +fitted to the female character, to female safety, and female propriety, +was this hazardous plan of lonely wandering. She begged, therefore, +permission, as a weary traveller, to pass the night in the cottage. + +The good dame readily consented; saying, that she could not offer very +handsome bedding; but that it should be clean and wholesome, for it had +belonged to her youngest daughter, who was just gone out to service. + +This arranged, the ballad was again begun, so exquisitely to the delight +of the young audience, that though, at the stanza + + Their little lips with blackberries + Were all besmear'd and dyed; + And when they saw the darksome night + They sat them down and cried, + +they all sobbed aloud; they were yet so grieved when it was over, that +they clung around their grandame, saying, with one voice, 'Aden, granny, +aden!' + +Granny, however, was too much tired to comply, and the repetition was +deferred to another day. + +In the evening, the mother of the children came home, and heard what had +been settled with her new and unknown guest, without objection or +interference. The father appeared soon after, and was equally passive. +The grandame was mistress of the cottage, and in her own room, which was +that, also, of the elder children, Juliet was lodged. The younger +branches of the family slept, with their father and mother, in the +kitchen; which, like the apartment of the cobler, served them equally +for parlour and hall. + +Juliet found the man and his wife perfectly good sort of people, simply, +but usefully employed in earning their living; while their aged mother +took charge of their dwelling, their nourishment, and their children. + +Thus safely and tranquilly situated, Juliet, without meeting any +difficulty, proposed to sojourn with them for some days. She gave, also, +a commission, to the younger mistress of the house, to purchase her some +ready-made linen at Romsey; and she was soon more consistently equipped, +in new, but homely apparel. + +This interval was most seasonably passed, in recruiting her strength, +and calming her spirits. She took pleasant walks, accompanied by the +tallest boy and girl; she worked for the grandmother; taught a part of +the catechism to some of the children; played with them all, and made +herself at once so useful and so agreeable in the rustic dwelling, that +she won the heart and good will of all its inhabitants. + +Yet, three times only the sun had set thus serenely, when her host, +returning half an hour later in the evening than usual, appeared so +altered and ill humoured, that Juliet thought it advisable to leave him +with his family; but the slightness of the small building made as +inevitable as it was alarming, her learning that she was herself the +subject of his discontent. + +He told his mother that she must be more cautious how she harboured +travellers, or she might come to trouble; for there was a young +female-swindler, in or about Salisbury, who was advertised in the +news-papers; and who, upon being found out in her tricks, had made off +with Dame Goss's, without so much as paying for her lodging. She had +been traced as far as Romsey, by means of a postilion; but there, too, +she had left her lodgings by stealth, in the very middle of the night. +All the coachmen and postilions and innkeepers were looking out for her; +a handsome reward being offered, for sending tidings where she might be +met with, to an attorney in London. 'And now, mother,' he continued, +'suppose, by hap, this young gentlewoman be she? why you'll be fit to +hong yourself, mother! for as to her being so koind to the children, +that be no sign; for the bad ones be oftentimes the koindest.' + +He then enquired whether she had arrived in a white muslin gown, and a +white chip-hat. + +Her gown might be white muslin, the mother answered, for aught she could +say to the contrary, for it was covered almost all round by a blue +striped apron; but as to her hat, it was nothing but a straw-bonnet as +coarse and ordinary as he might wish to set eyes on. + +O then, he said, it was clear it could not be she, she was not a person +to wear a blue apron; she had been seen, the very night she made off, +dressed quite genteel. + +What now was the consternation of Juliet, to find herself thus pursued +as a run-away, and stigmatized as a swindler and an imposter! +Astonishing destiny! she cried; for what am I reserved? O when may I +cast off this veil of humiliating concealment? when meet unappalled the +fair eye of open day? when appear,--when alas!--even know what I am! + +This, however, was not the end: it soon seemed scarcely the beginning of +new distress, so far more deeply terrible to her with the intelligence +by which it was followed. When the women demanded where he had heard +this news, he answered, at the public-house; where he was told that all +Salisbury was in an uproar; a rich outlandish Mounseer, in a +post-chaise, having just come to the great inn, with the advertisement +in his hand, pointing to the reward, and promising, in pretty good +English, to double it, if the person should be found. + +Not another word could Juliet hear; not an instant, not a thought could +she bestow to learn further what was past, or even to gather what was +passing; the future, the dread of what was to come, took sole possession +of her feelings and her faculties, and again to fly, more rapidly, more +eagerly, more affrighted than ever, to fly, was her immediate act, +rather than resolution. + +She accoutred herself, therefore, in all that was most homely to her new +apparel; made a packet of what remained of her genuine attire; left +half-a-guinea open upon a little table, to avoid again the accusation of +being a swindler; and then, descending the ladder, and contriving to +hide her bundle with her blue apron, as she passed, said that she was +going to walk in the neighbouring fields, but that it was too late to +take out the children; and, giving to each of them a penny, to buy +cakes, she quitted the cottage. + +Without an instant, without even any powers for reflection, she darted +across the fields, gained the road, and, within twenty minutes, arrived +at an entrance into the New Forest; to which she had already learnt the +way in her rambles with the children. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIII + + +The terrified eagerness with which Juliet sought personal security, made +her enter the New Forest as unmoved by its beauties, as unobservant of +its prospects, as the 'Dull Incurious[3],' who pursue their course but +to gain the place of their destination; unheeding all they meet on their +way, deaf to the songsters of the wood, and blind to the pictures of +'God's Gallery[4],' the country. + +[Footnote 3: Thomson.] + +[Footnote 4: Twining.] + +Her steps had no guide but fear, which winged their flight; she sought +no route but that which seemed most private. She flew past, across, away +from the high road, without daring to raise her eyes, lest her sight +should be blasted by the view of her dreaded pursuer. + +But speed which surpasses strength must necessarily be transitory. Her +feet soon failed; she panted for breath, and was compelled to stop. +Fearfully, then, she glanced her eyes around. Nothing met them but trees +and verdure. Again she blessed Heaven, and ventured to seat herself upon +the 'wild fantastic roots' of an aged beech-tree. + +Here, far removed from the 'busy hum of man,' from all public roads; not +even a beaten path within view, not a sheep-walk, nor a hamlet, nor a +cottage to be discerned; nor a single domestic animal to announce the +vicinity of mortal habitation; here, she began to hope that she had +parried danger, escaped detection, and reached a spot so secluded, that +all probability of pursuit was at an end. + +With this flattering idea the freedom of her respiration returned: they +will go on, she thought, from stage to stage, from mile-stone to +mile-stone; they will never imagine I should dare thus to turn aside +from the public way; or, should any unfortunate circumstance lead them +to such a surmise, how many chances, how many thousand chances are in my +favour, that they may not fix upon exactly the same direction, as that +to which accident, alone, has been my guide into the mazes of this +intricate forest! + +This belief sufficed to attract back to her willing welcome, that +invincible foe to helpless despondency, Hope; whose magic elasticity +waits not for reason, consults not with probability; weighs not +contending arguments for settling its expectations, or regulating its +desires; but, airy, blyth, and bright, bounds over every obstacle that +it cannot conquer. + +To find some humble dwelling, by travelling on still further from the +towns in which she had been seen, was her immediate project; but +prudence forbade her seeking the asylum with Dame Fairfield which she +had pleased herself with thinking secured, lest her arrival should be +preceded by an accusing, or followed by a dangerous report from her +hostess of Salisbury. She determined, therefore, to hide herself under +some obscure roof, where she might be utterly unknown; and there to +abide, till the fury of the storm by which she feared to be overtaken, +should be passed. + +No sooner were her spirits, in some degree, calmed, than, with the happy +promptitude of youth to set aside evil, all personal fatigue was +insensibly forgotten; her eyes began to recover their functions; and the +moment that she cast them around with abated anxiety, she was so +irresistibly struck with the prospect, and invigorated by the purity of +the ambient air, which exhaled odoriferous salubrity, that, rising fresh +as from the balmy restoration of undisturbed repose, she mounted a +hillock to take a general survey of the spot, and thought all paradise +was opened to her view. + +The evening was still but little advanced; the atmosphere was as +serenely clear, as the beauties which met her sight were sublimely +picturesque; and the gay luxuriance of the scenery, though chastened by +loneliness and silence, invited smiling admiration. Chiefly she was +struck with the noble aspect of the richly variegated woods, whose aged +oaks appeared to be spreading their venerable branches to offer shelter +from the storms of life, as well as of the elements, charming her +imagination by their lofty grandeur; while the zephyrs, which agitated +their verdant foliage, seemed but their animation. Soon, however, all +observation was seized and absorbed by the benignant west, where the +sun, with glory indescribable and ever new, appeared to be concentrating +its refulgence, to irradiate the world with its parting blessing: while +the extatic wild notes, and warbling, intuitive harmony of the feathered +race, struck her ear as sounds celestial, issuing from the abode of +angels; or to that abode chanting invitation. + +Here, for the first time, she ceased to sigh for social intercourse; she +had no void, no want; her mind was sufficient to itself; Nature, +Reflection, and Heaven seemed her own! Oh Gracious Providence! she +cried, supreme in goodness as in power! What lesson can all the +eloquence of rhetoric, science, erudition, or philosophy produce, to +restore tranquillity to the troubled, to preserve it in the wise, to +make it cheerful to the innocent,--like the simple view of beautiful +nature? so divine in its harmony, in its variety so exquisite! Oh great +Creator! beneficent! omnipotent! thy works and religion are one! +Religion! source and parent of resignation! under thy influence how +supportable is every earthly calamity! how supportable, because how +transitory becomes all human woe, where heaven and eternity seem full in +view! + +Thus, in soul-expanding contemplation, Juliet composed her spirits and +recruited her strength, while she awaited the dusky hue of twilight to +discover some retreat; and not without reluctance she then quitted the +delicious spot, where her weary mind and body had been alike refreshed +with repose and consolation. + +Though too much occupied by the certain and cruel danger from which she +was running, to bestow much attention upon the uncertain, yet immediate +and local risks to which she might be liable, she was not, now, sorry to +regain a beaten track, of which the rugged ruts shewed the recent +passage of a rural vehicle. + +In a few minutes, she descried a small cart, directed by a man on foot, +who was jovially talking with some companion. + +While seeking to discover whether their appearance were such as might +encourage her to ask their assistance upon her way, she was startled +with a cry of 'Why if there ben't Deb. Dyson! O the jeade! if I ben't +venged of un! a would no' know me this very blessed morning!' + +'Deb. Dyson?' answered the other: 'no, a be too slim for Debby. Debby'd +outweigh the double o' un.' + +'O, belike I do no' know Deb. Dyson?' cried the carter. 'Why I zee her, +at five of the clock, at her own door, in that seame bonnet. And I do +know her bonnet of old, for t' be none so new; for I was by when Johnny +Ascot gin it her, at our fair, two years agone. I know un well enough, I +va'nt me! A can make herself fat or lean as a wull, can Debby. A be a +funny wench, be Debby. But a shall peay me for this trick, I van't me, a +jeade!' + +Juliet, in the utmost alarm to find herself thus recognised by the +carter, though still supposed to be another, hastily glided back to the +wood; cruelly vexed that the very disguise which had hitherto saved her +from personal discovery, exposed her but additionally to another species +of peril. She might easily, indeed, by speaking, or by suffering herself +to be looked at, shew the carter his mistake in conceiving her to be of +his acquaintance; but there would still remain a dangerous appearance of +intimacy with a young woman who was evidently held in light estimation. +She quickened, therefore, her pace, and determined to relinquish her +suspicious bonnet by the first opportunity. + +In a short time the cackling of fowls, and other sounds of rural +animation, announced the vicinity of some inhabited spot. She pursued +this unerring direction, and soon saw, and entered, a small hut; in +which, though the whole dimensions might have stood in a corner of any +large hall, without being in the way, she found a father, mother, and +seven young children at supper. + +Their looks, upon her entrance, were by no means auspicious; the woman +scowled at her with an eye of ill will; the man harshly asked what she +wanted; the children, who seemed ravenous, squalled and squabbled for +food; and a fierce dog, quitting a half-gnawn bone, to bark +vociferously, seemed panting for a sign to leap at and bite her; as a +species of order to which he was accustomed upon the intrusion of a +stranger. + +Juliet told them that she was going to a neighbouring village; but that +she had missed her road, and, as it was growing dark, had stopt to beg a +night's lodging. + +They answered morosely that they had neither bed nor room for +travellers. + +Was there any house in the neighbourhood where she could be +accommodated? + +Aye, there was one, they answered, not afar off, where an old man and +his wife had a spare bed, belonging to their son: but the direction +which they gave was so intricate that, in the fear of losing her way, or +again encountering the carter, she entreated permission to sit up in the +kitchen. + +They went on with their supper, now helping, and now scolding their +children, and one another, without taking any notice of this request. + +To quicken their attention she put half-a-crown upon the table. + +The man and woman both rose, bowing and courtsying, and each offering +her their place, and their repast; saying it should go hard but they +would find something upon which she might take a little rest. + +She felt mortified that so mercenary a spirit could have found entrance +in a sport which seemed fitted to the virtuous innocence of our yet +untainted first parents; or to the guileless hospitality of the poet's +golden age. She was thankful, however, for their consent, and partook of +their fare; which she found, with great surprize, required not either +air or exercise to give it zest: it consisted of scraps of pheasant and +partridge, which the children called _chicky biddy_; and slices of such +fine-grained mutton, that she could with difficulty persuade herself +that she was not eating venison. + +All else that belonged to this rustic regale gave a surprize of an +entirely different nature; the nourishment was not more strikingly +above, than the discourse and general commerce of her new hosts were +below her expectations. They were rough to their children, and gross to +each other; the woman looked all care and ill humour; the man, all +moroseness and brutality. + +Safety, at this moment, was the only search of Juliet; yet, little as +she was difficult with respect to the manner of procuring it, she did +not feel quite at ease, when she observed that the man and his wife +spoke to each other frequently apart, in significant whispers, which +evidently, by their looks, had reference to their guest. + +Nevertheless, this created but a vague uneasiness, till the children +were put to bed; when the man and woman, having given Juliet some +clothing, and an old rug for a mattrass, demanded whether she were a +sound sleeper. + +She answered in the affirmative. + +They then mounted, by a staircase ladder to their chamber; but, while +they were shutting a trap-door, which separated the attic-story from the +kitchen, Juliet caught the words, 'You've only to turn the darkside of +your lanthorn, as you pass, mon, and what can a zee then?' + +She was now in a consternation of a sort yet new to her. What was there +to be seen?--What ought to be hidden?--Where, she cried, have I cast +myself! Have I fallen into a den of thieves? + +Her first impulse was to escape; and the moment that all was still over +her head, she stept softly to the door, guided by the light of the moon, +which gleamed through sundry apertures of an old board, that was placed +against the casement as a shutter: but the door was locked, and no key +was hung up; nor was any where in sight. + +This extraordinary caution in cottagers augmented her alarm. She had, +however, no resource but to await the dark lanthorn with steadiness, and +to collect all her courage for what might ensue. + +She sat upright and watchful, till, by the calculations of probability, +she conceived it to be about three o'clock in the morning. Lulled, then, +by a hope that her fears were groundless, she was falling insensibly +into a gentle slumber; when she was aroused by a step without, followed +by three taps against the window, and a voice that uttered, in low +accents, 'Make heaste, or 'twull be light o'er we be back.' + +The upper casement was then opened, and the host, in a gruff whisper, +answered, 'Be still a moment, will ye? There be one in the kitchen.' + +Great as was now the affright of Juliet, she had the presence of mind to +consider, that, whatever was the motive of this nocturnal rendezvous, it +was undoubtedly designed to be secret; and that her own safety might +hang upon her apparent ignorance of what might be going forward. + +To obviate, therefore, more effectually any surmize of her alarm, she +dropt softly upon the rug, and covered herself with the clothing +provided by her hostess. + +She had barely time for this operation before the trap-door was +uplifted, and gently, and without shoes, the man descended. He crossed +the room cautiously, unbolted and unlocked the door, and shut himself +out. Immediately afterwards, the woman, with no other drapery than that +in which she had slept, quickly, though with soft steps, came to the +side of the rug, and bent over it for about a minute; she then rebolted +and locked the door, returned up the ladder, and closed the +trap-opening. + +Juliet, though dismayed as much as astonished, forbore to rise, from +ignorance, even could she effect her escape, by what course to avoid +encountering the persons whom she meant to fly, in a manner still more +dangerous than that of awaiting their return to their own abode; whence +she hoped she might proceed quietly on her way the next morning, as an +object not worth detention or examination; her homely attire and +laborious manner of travelling alike announcing profitless poverty. + +Her doubts of the nature of what she had to apprehend, were as full of +perplexity as of inquietude. Would robbers thus eagerly have caught at +half-a-crown? Would they be residents in a fixed abode, with a family of +children? Surely not. Yet the whispers, the cautions, the examination +whether she slept, evinced clearly something clandestine; and their +looks and appearance were so darkly in their disfavour, that, +ultimately, she could only judge, that, if they were not actual robbers, +they were the occasional harbourers, and miserable accomplices of those +who, to similar want of principle, joined the necessary hardiness for +following that brief mode of obtaining a livelihood; brief not alone in +its success, but in its retribution! + +In a state of disturbance so singular, there was not much danger that +she should find herself surprised by + + 'Kind nature's soft restorer, balmy sleep.'[5] + +[Footnote 5: Young.] + +In less than an hour, three taps again struck her ear, though not upon +her own casement; taps so gentle, that had she been less watchful, they +would not have been heard. + +The woman instantly descended the ladder, and approached the bedding; +over which she leant as before; and, as before, concluded stillness to +be sleep. Cautiously, then, she unbolted and unlocked the door; when, +low as were the whispers that ensued, Juliet distinguished three +different tones of voice, though she caught not a word that was uttered. + +The woman next, gliding across the room, opened a low door, which Juliet +had not remarked. The man followed slowly, and as if heavily loaded; the +woman shut him out by this private door, and returned to fasten that of +public entrance; whispering 'Good bye!' to some one who seemed to be +departing. Juliet, at the same time, heard something fall, or thrown +down, from within, weighty, and bearing a lumpish sound that made her +start with horrour. + +This involuntary and irresistible movement was immediately perceived by +the hostess, who was re-crossing the room, but who, then, precipitately +advanced to the bedding, and roughly demanded whether she slept? + +Juliet struggled vainly to resume her serene appearance of repose; the +shock of her nerves had mounted to her features; she felt her lips +quiver, and her bosom heave, but she had still sufficient presence of +mind to conceal her face by rubbing her eyes, while she asked whether it +were time to breakfast? + +Satisfied by this enquiry, the woman answered No; and that she had only +gotten up to let in her husband, who had been abroad upon a little job, +for which he had not found leisure in the day: she recommended to her, +therefore, to lie still, and fall asleep. + +Still, she remained; but sleep was as far from her eyes, as, in such a +situation, from her wishes. She sought, however, again to wear its +semblance, while the woman followed her husband through the small door, +and shut herself, also, out. + +They continued together about half an hour, when, re-entering, they both +re-mounted the ladder; without further examination whether or not they +were observed. + +What might this imply? Was it simply that, concluding her to be awake, +they deemed caution to be unavailing? or, that their secret business +being finished, caution was no longer necessary? + +Strange, also, it appeared to her, their rustic life and residence +considered, that they should take such a season for rest, when she saw +the vivid rays of the early sun piercing, through various crevices, into +the apartment. + +Raising her head, next, to view the door, which, the preceding night, +had escaped her notice, she espied, close to its edge, a large clot of +blood. + +Struck with terrour, she started up; and then perceived that the passage +from door to door was traced with bloody spots. + +She remained for some minutes immovable, incapable either to think of +her danger, or to form any plan for her preservation; and wholly +absorbed by the image which this sight presented to her fears, of some +victim to murderous rapacity. + +Soon, however, rousing to a sense of her own situation, she determined +upon making a new attempt to escape. She listened beneath the trap-door, +to ascertain that all was quiet, and received the most unequivocal +assurances, that fatigue and watchfulness had ended in sound sleep. +Still, however, she could find no key; but, while fearfully examining +every corner, she remarked that the low door was merely latched. + +Should she here seek some out-let? She recoiled from the sight of the +blood; yet it was a sight that redoubled her earnestness to fly. +Whatever had been deposited would certainly be concealed: she resolved, +therefore, to make the experiment, though her hand shook so violently, +that, more than once, it dropt from the latch ere she could open the +door. + +Tremblingly she then crossed the threshold, and found herself in a +miserable outer-building, without casements, and encumbered with old +utensils and lumber. She observed a large cupboard which was locked, but +of which, from the darkness of the place, she could take no survey. To +the outward door there was no lock, but it was doubly bolted. She opened +it, though not without difficulty, and saw that it led to a small +disorderly garden, which was hedged round, half planted with potatoes, +and half wasted with rubbish. She examined whether there were any +opening by which she might enter the Forest; and discerned a small gate, +over which, though it was covered with briars, she believed that she +could scramble. + +Nevertheless, she hesitated; she might be heard, or presently missed and +pursued; and the vengeance incurred by such a detection of her +suspicions and ill opinion, might provoke her immediate destruction. It +might be better, therefore, to return; to rise only when called; to pay +them another half-crown; and then publicly depart. + +Accidentally, while thus deliberating, she touched the handle of a large +wicker-basket, and found that it was wet: she held out her hand to the +light, and saw that it was besmeared with blood. + +She turned sick; she nearly fainted; she shrunk from her hand with +horrour; yet strove to recover her courage, by ejaculating a fervent +prayer. + +To re-enter the house voluntarily, was now impossible; she shuddered at +the idea of again encountering her dreaded hosts, and resolved upon a +flight, at all risks, from so fearful a dwelling. + +She made her way through the enclosure; crossed the briery gate, and, +rushing past whatever had the appearance of already trodden ground, +dived into a wood; where, trampling down thorns, brambles, and nettles, +now braving, now unconscious of their stings, she continued her rapid +course, till she came within view of a small cottage. There she stopt; +not for repose; her troubled mind kept her body still insensible to +weariness; but to ponder upon her dreadful suspicions. + +Not a moment was requisite to satisfy her upright reason, that to +discover what she had seen, and what she surmised, was an immediate duty +to the community, if, by such a discovery, the community might be +served; however repugnant the measure might be to female delicacy; +however cruel to the pleadings of compassion for the children of the +house; and however adverse to her feelings, to denounce what she could +not have detected, but from seeking, and finding, a personal asylum in +distress. + +Yet who was she who must give such information? Anonymous accusation +might be neglected as calumnious; yet how name herself as belonging to +the noble family from which she sprung, but by which she was +unacknowledged? How, too, at a moment when concealment appeared to her +to be existence, come forward, a volunteer to public notice? Small as +ought to be the weight given to a consideration merely selfish, if +opposing the rights of general security; neither law, she thought, nor +equity, demanded the sacrifice of private and bosom feelings, for an +evil already irremediable, where, while the denunciation would be +unavailing, the denunciator must be undone. + +Appeased thus for the moment, though not satisfied in her scruples, she +walked on towards the dwelling; but, seeing that it was still shut up, +she seated herself upon the stump of a large tree, where deaf, from +mental occupation, to the wild melody of innumerable surrounding singing +birds, she shudderingly, and without intermission, bathed her bloody +hand in the dew. + +Rest, however, to her person, served but to quicken the energy of her +faculties; and the less her fears, the more her judgment prevailed. Her +reasoning, upon examination, she found to be plausible but fallacious. +The evil already committed, it was, indeed, too late to obviate; but if +the wretched hut, from which she had just escaped, were the receptacle +of nocturnal culprits, or of their victims, there might not be a moment +to lose to prevent some new and horrible catastrophe. + +In a dilemma thus severe, between the terrour of exposing herself to the +personal discovery which she was flying to avoid, or the horrour of +omitting the performance of a public duty; she had fixed upon no +positive measure, decided upon nothing that was satisfactory, before the +casements of the cottage were opened. + +Not to lose, then, another moment in unprofitable deliberation, she +resolved to communicate to the inhabitants her suspicions, and to urge +their being made known to the nearest Justice of the Peace. She might +then, with less scruple, continue her flight; and hereafter, if, +unhappily, there should be no other alternative, give her assistance in +following up the investigation. + +She tapped at the cottage-door, and demanded admittance and rest, as a +weary traveller. + +She was let in, without difficulty, by an old woman, who was +breakfasting with an old man, upon a rasher of bacon. + +It now, with much alarm, occurred to her, that this might be the house +to which she had been directed from the terrible hut. She fearfully +enquired whether they had a spare bed? and, upon receiving an answer in +the affirmative, with the history of their son's absence, not a doubt +remained that she had sought refuge with the friends, perhaps the +accomplices, of the very persons from whom she was escaping; and who, +should they, through vengeful apprehension, pursue her, would probably +begin their search at this spot. + +Affrighted at the idea, yet not daring abruptly to abscond, she forced +herself to sit still while they breakfasted; though unable to converse, +and turning with disgust from the sight of food. + +The old man and woman, meanwhile, intent solely upon their meal, which, +now too hot for their mouths, now too cold for their taste, now too hard +for their teeth, occupied all their discourse; heeded not her +uneasiness, and, when she arose and took leave, saw her departure with +as little remark as they had seen her entrance. + +With a complication of fears she now went forth again; to seek,--not an +asylum in the Forest, the beautiful Forest!--but the road by which she +might quit it with the greatest expedition. Where, now, was the +enchantment of its prospects? Where, the witchery of its scenery? All +was lost to her for pleasure, all was thrown away upon her as enjoyment; +she saw nothing but her danger, she could make no observation but how to +escape what it menaced. + +She flew, therefore, from the vicinity of the hut, though with a +celerity better adapted to her wishes than to her powers; for, in less +than half an hour, she was compelled, from utterly exhausted strength, +to seat herself upon the turf. + +Not yet was she risen, and scarcely was she rested, when she was +startled by a whistling in the wood, which was presently followed by the +sound of two youthful male voices, in merry converse. + +To escape notice, she, at first, thought it safest to sit still; but the +nearer and nearer approach of feet, made her reflect, that to be +surprised, in so unfrequented a spot, at so early an hour in the +morning, might be yet more unfavourable to opinion, than being discerned +to pace her lonely way, with the quick steps of busy haste or timid +caution. She moved, therefore, on; carefully taking a contrary direction +to that whence the voices issued. + +She soon found herself bewildered in a thicket, where she could trace +no path, and whence she could see no opening. She was felicitating +herself, however, that she had out-run the sounds by which she had been +affrighted; when she first heard, and next perceived, an immense dog, +who, after beating about the bushes at some distance, suddenly made a +point at her, and sprang forward. + +Terrour, which puts us into any state but that which is natural, +bestows, occasionally, what, in common, it robs us of, presence of mind. +Juliet knew that flight, to the intelligent, though dumb friend of man, +was well seen to be cowardice, and instinctively judged to be guilt. +Aware, therefore, that if she could not appease his fury, it were vain +to attempt escaping it, she compelled herself to turn round and face +him; holding out her hand in a caressing attitude, that seemed inviting +his approach; though with difficulty sustaining herself upon her feet, +from a dread of being torn to pieces. + +The rage, unprovoked, but not inexorable, of the animal, withstood not +this manifestation of kindness: from a pace so rapid, that it seemed +menacing to level her with the earth by a single bound, he abruptly +stopt, to look at and consider his imagined enemy; and from a barking, +of which the stormy loudness resounded through the forest, his tone +changed to a low though surly growl, in which he seemed to be debating +with himself, whether to attack a foe, or accept a friend. + +The hesitation sufficed to ensure to Juliet the victory. Encouraged by a +view of success, her address supplanted her timidity, and, bending +forwards, she called to him with endearing expressions. The dog, caught +by her confidence, made a grumbling but short resistance; and, having +first fiercely, and next attentively, surveyed her, wagged his tail in +sign of accommodation, and, gently advancing, stretched himself at her +feet. + +Juliet repaid his trust with the most playful caresses. Good and +excellent animal, she cried, what a lesson of mild philanthropy do you +offer to your masters! The kindness of an instant gains you to a +stranger, though no unkindness, nor even the hardest usage, can alienate +you from an old friend! + +She now flattered herself that, by following as he led, she might have a +guide, as well as a protector, to the habitation to which he belonged. +She sate by his side, determined to wait his movements, and to pursue +his course. Perfectly contented himself, he basked in the sun-beams that +broke through the thicket, and was evidently soothed, nay, charmed, by +the fond accents with which she solicited his friendship. + +This nearly silent, but expressive intercourse, was soon interrupted by +a vociferous Haloo! from a distant part of the wood. + +Up started the new companion of Juliet, who arose, also, to accompany, +or, at least, to trace his steps. Neither were possible. He darted from +her with the same rapidity, though wide from the same ferocity, as that +with which he had at first approached her: vain was every soft appeal, +lost was every gentle blandishment; in an instant he was out of sight, +out of hearing,--she scarcely saw him go ere he was gone. Faithful +creature! she cried, 'tis surely his master who calls! A new tie may +excite his benevolence; none can shake his fidelity, nor slacken his +services. + +Alone and unaided, she had now to pierce a passage through the thicket, +uncertain whither it might lead, and filled with apprehensions. + +But, in a few minutes, greatly to her satisfaction, her new friend +re-appeared; wagging his tail, rubbing himself against her gown, and +meeting and returning her caresses. + +Her project of obtaining a conductor was now recurring, when again an +Haloo! followed by the whistling of two voices, called off her hope; and +shewed her that her intended protector belonged to the young men whom +she had been endeavouring to avoid. + +She knew not whether it were better, under the auspices of her new ally, +to risk begging a direction from these youths, to some house or village; +or still to seek her desolate way alone. + +She had time only to start, not to solve this doubt; the dog, again +returning, as if unwilling to relinquish his new alliance, began to +excite the curiosity of his masters; who, following, exclaimed, 'Dash a +vound zomething, zure!' and presently, through the trees, she descried +two wood-cutters. + +She was seen, also, by them; they scrambled faster on; and one of them +said, + +'Why t'be a girl!' + +'Be it?' answered the other; 'why then I'll have a kiss.' + +'Not a fore me, mon!' cried his companion, 'vor I did zee her virzt!' + +'Belike you did,' the other replied; 'but I zpoke virzt; zo you mun come +after!' + +Juliet now saw herself in a danger more dreadful than any to which +either misfortune or accident had hitherto exposed her,--the danger of +personal and brutal insult. She looked around vainly for succour or +redress; the woods and the heavens were alone within view or within +hearing. + +The first terrible moment of this alarm was an agony of affright, that +made her believe herself a devoted victim to outrage: but the moment +after, observing that the young men were beginning to combat for +precedence, a sudden hope of escape revived her courage, and gave wings +to her feet; and, defying every obstacle, she pushed on a passage, +through the intricate thicket, almost with the swiftness that she might +have crossed the smoothest plain, till she arrived at an open spot of +ground. + +The fear of losing her now ended, though without deciding, the dispute; +and the youths ran on together, mutually and loudly shouting familiar +appeals, after the fugitive, upon their rights, with entreaties that she +would stop. + +Juliet again felt her strength expiring; but where courage is the result +of understanding, if its operation is less immediate than that which +springs from physical bravery, it is not less certain. The despair, +therefore, of saving herself by bodily exertion, presently gave rise to +a mental effort, which instigated her to turn round upon her +persecutors, and await and face them; with the same assumed firmness, +though not with the offered caresses, with which she had just +encountered her four-footed pursuer. + +Their surprize at this unexpected action put an end to their dissention; +and, each believing her to be alike at the service of either, or of +both, they laughed coarsely, and came on, arm in arm, and leisurely, +together. + +Juliet, calling to her assistance her utmost presence of mind, and +dignity of manner, stept forward to meet them; and, with an air that +disguised her apprehensions, said, 'Gentlemen, I have business of great +importance with the farmer who lives near this place; but I do not know +the shortest way to his farm. If you will be so obliging as to shew it +to me, you may depend upon his handsomely rewarding any trouble that you +may take.' + +Their astonishment, now, was encreased; but although, at the word +business, they leered at one another with an air of mockery, her air and +mien, with her grave civility and apparent trust, caused, involuntarily, +a suspension of their facetious design; and they enquired the name of +the farmer, whom she was seeking. + +She could not immediately, she said, recollect it; but he lived at the +nearest farm. + +'Why 't-ben't Master Zimmers?' They cried. + +'The very same!' + +'What, that do live yinder, across the copse?' + +'Without any doubt' + +They now ogled one another, with a consciousness that persuaded Juliet +that this Simmers was their own master; or, perhaps, their father; and +she repeated her request, with reiterated assurances, that a +considerable recompence would be bestowed upon her conductor. + +They looked irresolute, and extremely foolish; Dash, however, was firmly +her friend, and, while they were whispering and hesitating, jumped and +capered from his masters to his new associate, from his new associate to +his masters, with an intelligent delight, that seemed manifesting his +enjoyment of a junction which he had himself brought about. + +Juliet shewed so much pleasure in his kindness, that the young men, +proud of their dog, and glad, in their embarrassment, to be occupied +rather than to reply, fondled him, in their rough manner, themselves; +making him fetch, carry, stand on his hinder legs, leap over their hats, +caper, bark, point, and display his various accomplishments. + +Juliet encouraged this diversion, by patting the dog, applauding his +teachers, and stimulating a repetition of every feat; till the youths, +charmed by her good fellowship, were insensibly turned aside from their +evil intentions; and soon, and in perfect harmony, they all arrived at a +considerable farm, upon the borders of the New Forest. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIV + + +Juliet, thus escaped from the eminent and terrific dangers to which she +had been exposed, entered the farm-house with a glowing delight diffused +over her countenance, that instinctively communicated a participating +pleasure to the people of the farm; and caused her to be received with +an hospitality that might have contented the expectations of an old +friend. + +Nothing so unfailingly ensures, or rather creates a welcome, as +cheerfulness; cheerfulness! so beautifully, by Addison, called an Hymn +to the Divinity! Whether it be, that the view of sprightliness seems the +fore-runner of pleasure to ourselves; or whether we judge all within to +be innocent, where all without is serene; various, according to +sentiment, or circumstance, as may be the motive, the result is nearly +universal; that those who approach us with cheerfulness, are sure to be +met with kindness. Cheerfulness is as distinct from insipid placidity as +from buoyant spirits; it seems to indicate a disposition of thankful +enjoyment for all that can be attained of good, blended with resignation +upon principle to all that must be endured of evil. + +Her first care was to satisfy her two still wondering conductors, who +proved to be sons to the master of the farm, by giving to each +half-a-crown; that they might not lose their time, she told them, by +waiting till she had settled her business with their father: and, after +doubling her caresses to her protector, Dash, she sent them back to +their work; manifestly glad that they had not affronted a young woman, +who knew how to behave herself, they said, so handsomely. + +She now begged an audience of the farmer, to whom she resolved to +communicate her alarming adventure at the hut. + +The farmer, who was surrounded by his family and his labourers, to whom +he was issuing orders, desired her to speak out at once. + +Juliet could by no means consent to publish so dark and uncertain a +history to so many hearers; she again, therefore, entreated to address +him in private. + +He had come home, he answered, only to take a mug of beer; for the +plough was in the field: however, she might call again, if she would, at +dinner-time; but he had no time to give to talk in a morning. + +And forth he went, whistling, and hallooing after his labourers, as he +jogged his way. + +She then applied to his bustling, sturdy wife; but with no better +success; who was to feed the poultry? who was to give the wash to the +pigs? who was to churn the butter? if she threw away her time by +gossipping in the morning? + +The rest of the family consisted of three grown up daughters, and four +or five children. The daughters, though more civil, because less +voluntarily busy, and, as yet, less interested than their parents, were +too inexperienced to give any assistance, or form any judgment upon such +an affair; Juliet, therefore, who was sinking with fatigue and +emptiness, and who desired nothing so much as to remain for some time +under any safe roof, begged, of the young women, a bason of bread and +milk for her breakfast; and permission to stay at the farm till the hour +of dinner. + +These requests were granted without the smallest demur, even before she +produced her purse; which they viewed with no small surprize, saying +that they hoped they were not so near, as to take money for a little +bread and milk of a traveller; but that, if she must needs do it, she +might give a small matter to the children. + +Recollecting, now, her rustic and ordinary garb, and fearing to awaken +suspicion, or curiosity, she put a penny a-piece into the hands of two +little boys and a girl. + +It was then that she saw how far she was removed from the capital; in +the precincts of which the poor and the labourer are almost constantly +rapacious, or necessitous. The high price to be obtained, there, for +whatever is marketable, makes generosity demand too great a sacrifice, +save from the exalted few; who, still in all places, and in all classes, +are, by the candid observer, occasionally, to be found. But in this +obscure hamlet, where plenty was not bribed away to sale, this little +donation was received with as much amazement as joy; and the children +scampered to the dairy, and to the plough-field, to shew it first to +mammy, and then to dad. + +Juliet, having taken her simple repast, strolled into a small meadow, +just without the farm-yard; where she seated herself upon a style, to +enjoy, at once, the fragrant air, and personal repose. + +The prospect here, though less sublime in itself, and less exalting in +the ideas which it inspired, than that of the lonely and majestic +beauty, which had so powerfully charmed her, visually and +intellectually, in the midst of the New Forest; was yet gay, varied, +verdant and lovely. On the opposite side of a winding and picturesque +road, by which the greater part of the hedge around the meadow was +skirted, was situated a small Gothic church; of which the steeple was +nearly over-run with ivy, and the porch, half sunk into the ground, from +the ravages of time and of neglect; wearing, all together, the air of a +venerable ruin. Further on, and built upon a gentle acclivity, stood a +clean white cottage, evidently appropriated to the instruction of youth, +or rather childhood; to which sundry little boys and girls, each with a +book, or with needle-work, in his hand, were trudging with anxious +speed. Juliet spoke to each of them as they passed; pleased with their +innocent prattle, and gathering alternately, from their native +intelligence, or gaping stupidity, food to amuse her mind, with +predictions of their future characters. Sheep were browsing upon a +distant heath; cows were watering in a neighbouring stream; and two +beautiful colts were prancing and skipping, with all the bounding vigour +of untamed liberty, in the meadow. Geese, turkies, cocks and hens, ducks +and pigs, peopled the farm-yard; keeping up an almost constant chorus of +rural noises; which, at first, stunned her ears, but which, afterwards, +entertained her fancy, by drawing her observation to their various +habits and ways. The children came, jumping, to play around her; and her +friend Dash, discovering her retreat, frequently left the wood-cutters +to bound forwards, and court her caresses. + +The young women of the house, to divert their several labours of +weeding, churning, or washing, occasionally, also, joined her, for the +pleasure of a little chat; which they by no means, like their father or +mother, held in contempt. Juliet received them with an urbanity that +gave such a zest to their little visits, that it served to quicken their +work, that they might quicken their return; and, with the eldest, she +changed the bonnet of Debby Dyson, for one that was plainer, and yet +more coarse. + +There was nothing in these young persons of sufficient 'mark or +likelihood' to make them attractive to Juliet; but she was glad to earn +their good will; and not sorry to learn what were their occupations; +conscious that a dearth of useful resources, was a principal cause, in +adversity, of FEMALE DIFFICULTIES. + +Here, then, Juliet formed a project to rest, till her own should be +removed; or, at least, till she could obtain some intelligence, that +might guide her uncertain steps: this seemed the spot upon which she +might find repose; this seemed the juncture for enjoying quiet and +tranquility in the country life; to which she desired to devote the +residue of the time that might still be destined to suspense.--Here, +retirement would be soothing, and even seclusion supportable, from the +charm of the scenery, the beauty of the walks, the guileless characters, +and vivifying activity of the inhabitants of the farm-house; and the +fragrant serenity of all around. Here, peace and plenty were the result +of industry; and primitive, though not polite hospitality, was the +offspring of natural trust. If there was no cultivation, there was no +art; if there was no refinement, there were integrity and good will. + +She applied, therefore, to her new young acquaintances, to promote her +plan with their parents. They lost not a moment in making the +arrangement; and Juliet was immediately installed in a small chamber, +upon the attic-story. She settled that she should eat from their table, +but alone; for she dreaded remark or discovery. No terms were fixed; a +little matter, they said, would suffice; and Juliet saw that she had +nothing to fear from imposition; every face in the family bearing the +mark, or the promise, of steady honesty. + +Nor, indeed, could any price be exorbitant to Juliet, that could procure +some relief to her fears, and some respite from her toils. Her first +care was to obtain, through her new friends, implements for writing; and +then to transmit, in detail, assurances of her present safety, and even +comfort, to Gabriella; from whom she entreated intelligence, whether +pursuit and enquiry were still active. + +As fearful, now, of the name of Ellis, as, heretofore, she had been of +that of Granville, she desired that the answer might be directed, under +cover to 'Master Simmers, Farmer, at ----, near the New Forest;' and that +the enclosed letter might have no other address than, 'For the young +Woman who lodges at the Farm.' + +Again, then, she returned to the meadow, which, now her mind was more at +ease, seemed adorned with added verdure, freshness, and beauty. Here, +pensive, yet not without consolation, she past the day. + +The next, she rambled a few paces further, and found out a cottage, in a +situation of the most romantic loveliness, in which two labourers, and +their wives, resided with their mother; a cheerful, pleasing old woman, +with whom Juliet was immediately in amity. + +She visited, also, the school; made acquaintance with its mistress, who +appeared to be a sensible and worthy woman; and captivated the easy +hearts of the little scholars, by the playful manner in which she +noticed their occupations, encouraged their diligence, and assisted them +to learn their lessons. + +She aided, also, the young women of the farm, in various of the lighter +domestic offices that fell to their share; and amused, at once, and +instructed her own mind, by opening a new road for admiration of the +wondrous works of the Great Creator, in observing and studying the +various animals abounding in and about the farm. The remark and +attention of a few days, sufficed to shew her, not only as much +difference in the interiour nature of the four-footed and of the +plumaged race, as there is in their hides or their feathers; but nearly, +or, perhaps, quite as much diversity, in their dispositions, as in those +of their haughty human masters; though the means of manifestation bore +no comparison. In fixing her attention upon them, in following their +motions, and considering their actions; she found that though the same +happy instinct guided them all alike to self-preservation, the degrees +of skill with which they discovered the shortest and best method for +attaining what they coveted, were infinite; yet not more striking than +the variety of their humours; kind, complying, generous; or fierce, +selfish, and gloomy, in their intercourse with one another. _Le droit du +plus fort_, (the right of strength,) though the most ordinary, was by no +means the only, or the universal basis of animal legislation. Dexterity +and sagacity find ascendance wherever there is animation: and +propensities benign and social, or malignant and savage, as palpably +distinguish beast from beast, and bird from bird, as man from his +fellow. + +What an inexhaustible source was here, to a thinking being, both for +information and entertainment! Oh Providence Divine! she cried, how +minute is the perfection, yet how grand the harmony of thy works! + +Still, however, she sought vainly to obtain the requested conference. +The farmer, whose thoughts were absorbed exclusively in the interests of +his farm, was always too busy to afford her any time, and too +indifferent to give her any attention. As she lodged in the house, he +could hear her, he said, when he should be more at leisure; and all her +eloquence was ineffectual, either to awaken his curiosity, or to excite +his benevolence, by intimations of the importance, or of the haste, of +the business which she wished to communicate. 'Ay, girl, ay,' he would +reply; 'by and by will do just as well.' + +But by and by came not! When she endeavoured to catch a moment, at the +hour of breakfast, the whole day, he would cry, was as good as thrown +away, if a man lost a moment of his morning: yet if she solicited his +hearing in the evening, he would cordially offer her some bread and +cheese, and beer; but rise from them himself, heavy and sleepy, to go to +bed; saying, 'Hark y', my girl; when you've worked as hard as a farmer, +you'll be as glad of your night's rest.' + +If she sought him in the middle of the day, he was always surrounded by +his family, and by labourers, from whom he would never step apart; +telling her to speak out what she had to say, and to fear nothing and +nobody. + +Farming, she soon found, he regarded as the only art of life worth +cultivation, or even worth attention; every other seemed to him +superfluous or silly. A woman, therefore, as she could neither plough +the field, nor mow the corn, he considered as every way an inferiour +being: and, like the savages of uncivilised nature, he would scarcely +have allowed a female a place at his board, but for the mitigation given +to his contempt, from regarding her as the mother of man. + +The sex, therefore, of Juliet, was here wholly against her; and youth +and beauty, those powerful combatants of misanthropy! were necessarily +without influence, where they were never looked at: Could they ripen his +corn? or make his hay? No; What then, was their value? + +Nevertheless, he treated neither his wife nor his daughters ill; he only +considered them as his servants: and when they were diligent and useful, +he praised them and gave them presents; and, when their work was done, +suffered them to seek what diversion they pleased, without interference +or controul. The females were indifferent, and therefore contented; +though neither confidential nor affectionate. + +The sons, on the contrary, were open, boisterous, and daring; +domineering over their sisters, and mocking their mother; while they +nearly shared, with their partial father, both his authority and his +profits. + +In a family such as this, Juliet had no chance of softening the languor +of her suspense by society; and books, its best substitute, had never +found their way into the farm-house; save an odd volume or two of +trials, sundry tracts upon farriery, and various dismal old ballads. + +The first charm of this rural residence, consisting in its views and +its walks, soon lost something of its animation to Juliet, through the +restriction of fear, which impeded her from roving beyond the +neighbourhood of the farm. And though the beautiful prospect from the +meadow, and the air and exercise of mounting to the school, might +permanently have afforded her delight, if shared with some loved friend, +or enjoyed with some good author; she became, in a short time, through +the total deprivation of either, nearly as languid from monotony +without, as she was wearied by ungenial intercourse within. + +On Sunday, after they had all been to church, the young women proposed +to accompany her in a stroll; and the hope of a romantic ramble without +danger, induced her acceptance of the invitation. This, however, was an +essay which she did not feel tempted to repeat. She found that their +only idea of taking a stroll, was to get away from home; and their only +object of pursuit, was to encounter their several sweethearts. They +walked not for exercise; they had more than enough in their daily +occupations. They walked not for air; they rarely spent an hour of the +day under shelter. They walked still less in search of rural views, or +picturesque beauties; they saw them not; or, rather, they saw them too +constantly to heed them. Their chosen scene was the high road; along +which they leisurely, but merrily sauntered, to enjoy,--not the verdure +of the adjacent fields, or wood; not the freshness of the salubrious +breeze; not the charm, here and there occasionally bursting upon the +sight, of sloping hills, or flowery dales; but to watch for every +distant cloud of rising dust, that announced, or that promised the +approach of a horse, cart, or waggon. + +What, to these, was the pleasure of situation? Juliet saw, with concern, +that all which, to herself, would have solaced a similar way of life, to +them was null. Accustomed from their infancy to beautiful scenery, they +looked at it as a thing of course, without pleasure or admiration; +because without that which fixes all worldly acceptation of +happiness,--comparison. + +The mother, whose existence, from the fear and from the commands of her +husband, was laborious; and, from her own love of saving, penurious; had +scarcely even any idea of pleasure, beyond what accrued from feeding her +rabbits, fattening her hogs, and carrying her eggs and poultry to a good +market. + +The farmer, whose will had no controul, either from himself or his +family; and who indulged his own humours in the same proportion that he +kept theirs in awe, had yet a master; and a master more despotic and +ungovernable than himself,--the Weather! to whose power, however, he by +no means submitted tamely. The whole house rang with the violence of his +rage, if the rain fell while his hay were cutting or stacking; and he +could scarcely swallow his dinner for chagrin, if it failed to fall when +his peas wanted filling: his imprecations were those of a man provoked +by the grossest personal injury, if a sharp wind came not at his +bidding, when he perceived insects crawling upon the leaves of his +fruit-trees in the orchard; and his whole family trembled, as if +immediate ruin, or an earthquake were impending, when he claimed, and +claimed in vain, the sun to ripen his corn. + +Juliet now found, that a farmer is sensible to no happiness, that a gust +of wind, a shower of rain, or the beams of the sun; as they meet, or +oppose, his wishes; does not confirm, or may not destroy. + +The storms, nevertheless, raised by this man of the elements, were from +causes too obvious to create surprize; and they were known to be too +harmless in their operations, to occasion any other movement in his +household, than that of a general struggle which should first get out of +his way till they were blown over: but, to a stranger, to Juliet, they +were more tremendous, because as foreign to the habits of her life, as +they were ungenial to her nature. To change therefore, a scene so +continually overcast, she took leave of the family, thankfully repaying +the services which she had received; and left the farm, to lodge herself +with the pleasing old woman, who had won her favour, in the beautifully +picturesque cottage in the neighbourhood. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXV + + +In this cottage, Juliet, again, witnessed another scene of life; and one +which, serene and soothing, appeared, upon its opening, to exclude all +evil. + +The dwelling of the shepherd, or husbandman, had already in its favour +the imagery of poesy, and the ardent predilection of juvenile ideas; +and, with the vivacity of a heart always open to hope, Juliet hailed in +it, at once, tranquillity and contentment. + +Paid for his work by the day, the labourer had no anxiety for the +morrow; the ground he was to plough, or till, or sow, was not his own; +the goodness, badness, and variations of the weather touched not his +property, nor endangered his subsistence. Be the seasons, therefore, +what they might, he was not to be pitied. + +Yet though his sound repose, the fruit of his toil, was undisturbed by +elemental strife, he waked not to active hope; he looked not forward to +sanguine expectation: the changes which could do him no mischief, could +not bring him any advantage. No view of amelioration to his destiny +enlivened his prospect; no opening to better days spurred his industry; +and, as all action is debased, or exalted, by its motive; and all +labour, by its object; those who struggle but to eat and sleep, may be +saved from solicitude, but cannot be elevated to prosperity. He could +not, therefore, be envied. + +Two of the young men were married, and their wives, strong and healthy +like themselves, worked almost as laboriously. Juliet found them as +worthy as they were industrious; and hoped, by exciting their kindness, +to add the interest of gentle amity to peace and rural enjoyment. But, +though pleased and satisfied with their characters, and honouring their +active and useful lives, she sought vainly to content herself with their +uncultured society; and soon saw, with regret, how much the charm, +though not the worth, of innocence depends upon manners; of goodness, +upon refinement; and of honesty upon elevation. There was much to merit +her approbation; but not a point to engage her sympathy; and, where the +dominion of the character falls chiefly upon the heart, life, without +sympathy, is a blank. The unsatisfied soul sighs for communion; its +affections demand an expansion, its ideas, a developement, that, +instinctively, call for interchange; and point out, that solitude, +sought only by misery, remorse, or misanthropy, is as ungenial to our +natural feelings, as retirement is salubrious. + +She had here time and opportunity to see the fallacy, alike in authors +and in the world, of judging solely by theory. Those who are born and +bred in a capital; who first revel in its dissipations and vanities, +next, sicken of its tumults and disappointments, write or exclaim for +ever, how happy is the country peasant's lot! They reflect not that, to +make it such, the peasant must be so much more philosophic than the rest +of mankind, as to see and feel only his advantages, while he is blind +and insensible to his hardships. Then, indeed, the lot of the peasant +might merit envy! + +But who is it that gives it celebrity? Is it himself? Does he write of +his own joys? Does he boast of his own contentment? Does he praise his +own lot? No! 'tis the writer, who has never tried it, and the man of the +world who, however murmuring at his own, would not change with it, that +give it celebrity. + +Though natively endowed with that first, perhaps of worldly blessings, +high animal spirits, Juliet, from an early experience of the +vicissitudes of fortune, was become meditative. She looked with an +intelligent desire of information, upon every new scene of life, that +was presented to her view; and every class of society, that came within +her knowledge: she now, therefore, with equal clearness and concern, saw +how false an idea is conceived, at a distance, not only of the +shepherd's paradise, but of the general happiness of the country +life;--save to those who enjoy it with a large family to bring up; or +with means not alone competent to necessity, but to benevolence; which +not alone give leisure for the indulgence of contemplation, and the +cultivation of rural taste, of literature, and of the fine arts; but +which supply means for lightening the labours, and softening the +hardships of the surrounding poor and needy. Then, indeed, the country +life is the nearest upon earth, to what we may conceive of joys +celestial! + +The verdure of the flower-motleyed meadow; the variegated foliage of +the wood; the fragrance and purity of the air, and the wide spreading +beauties of the landscape, charm not the labourer. They charm only the +enlightened rambler, or affluent possessor. Those who toil, heed them +not. Their eyes are upon their plough; their attention is fixed upon the +harvest; their sight follows the pruning hook. If the vivid field +catches their view, it is but to present to them the image of the +scythe, with which their labour must mow it; if they look at the shady +tree, it is only with the foresight of the ax, with which their strength +must fell it; and, while the body pants but for rest, which of the +senses can surrounding scenery, ambient perfumes, or vocal warblers, +enchant or enliven? + +Juliet now, herself an inhabitant of the cottage, which, hitherto, she +had only beheld in perspective, smiled, yet sighed at her mistake, in +having considered shepherds and peasants as objects of envy. O ye, she +cried, who view them through your imaginations! were ye to toil with +them but one week! to rise as they rise, feed as they feed, and work as +they work! like mine, then, your eyes would open; you would no longer +judge of their pleasures and luxuries, by those of which they are the +instruments for yourselves! you would feel and remark, that yours are +all prepared for you; and that they, the preparers, are sufferers, not +partakers! You would see then, as I see now, that the most delightful +view which the horizon can bound, affords not to the poor labourer the +joy that is excited by the view of the twilight through which it is +excluded; but which sends him home to the mat of straw, that rests, for +the night, his spent and weary limbs. + +Then, as she looked around, from the summit of the hill upon which stood +the small seminary for children, which she frequently visited, Oh that +Elinor, she cried, escaping from the pressure of her passions, would +expand her feelings by contemplating the works of God! Oh Father of +All!--Who can reflect, yet doubt, that Man, placed at the head of these +stupenduous operations, lord of the earthly sphere, can fail to be +destined for Immortality? Yet more, who can examine and meditate upon +the uncertain existence of thy creatures,--see failure without fault; +success without virtue; sickness without relief; oppression in the very +face of liberty; labour without sustenance; and suffering without +crime;--and not see, and not feel that all call aloud for resurrection +and retribution! that annihilation and unjustice would be one! and that +Man, from the very nature of his precarious earthly being, must +necessarily be destined, by the All Wise, and All Just, for regions +that we see not; for purposes that we know not;--for Immortality! + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVI + + +Thus, in beautiful scenery, and meditative resignation, with outward +quiet, though by no means with internal tranquillity, Juliet had passed +about a week, when the wife of the farmer broke rudely into the cottage; +bearing in her hand the bonnet of Debby Dyson, which she flung +scornfully upon a table. + +Angrily, then, reproaching Juliet that she had caused Bet to be taken +for that bold hussy, by the higler, she demanded back the exchanged +bonnet; declaring, that the girl should never wear one again, to the +longest day that she had to live, rather than dress herself up in any +thing of Debby Dyson's. + +Turning next to the old cottager, she added, that a good mother would do +well not to keep a person used to such light company under her roof; +unless she had a mind to bring her daughters-in-law to ruin. + +Then, snatching up her girl's bonnet, she bustled away to look after her +evening's milking; roughly refusing to hearken to any sort of +explanation from Juliet, and saying that she never knew any good come of +listening to talking; which was no better than idling away time. + +Juliet remained confounded; while the tender old cottager shed tears, +saying that she had never before had so pretty a companion in her life. +But Juliet would not tempt the good woman to defy the persons upon whom +her children chiefly depended; and, once more, therefore, she was +reduced to make up her little packet. + +She entreated of the cottager that, if a letter came for her to the +farm, it might be kept till she sent her direction; then doubled the pay +of all that she owed for board and lodging; and, kindly taking leave of +the old dame, who wept bitterly at the parting; quitted the cottage; and +again, in search of a new asylum, became a Wanderer. + +Which way to turn, she made no enquiry, wholly ignorant what choice +might bring security. + +It was the end of August, and still not more than six o'clock in the +afternoon. She avoided the high road, in the fear of some unfortunate +encounter, and went down a pleasant looking lane; purposing to proceed +as far, and as fast, as she could go, while it was yet light; and then +to enter some new humble dwelling. + +The evening was serene and warm, and occasional openings, through the +hedges on either side, presented views so picturesque, that, had her +mind been more at ease, they would have rendered her walk delightful. + +She crossed various corn-fields, and beautiful meadows; but met with no +cottage from which some lounging labourer did not frighten her; till, at +length, overtaken by the dusk of the evening, she was fain to turn back, +and seek, with whatever apprehension, some lodging, for the night, upon +the public road. + +But to do this was no longer easy. She mistook what she thought was her +direction, and, instead of arriving at the road, found herself upon a +broad, open, dreary heath. + +She endeavoured to discover the track of some carriage, and succeeded; +and followed the mark, till she thought that she perceived a cottage. + +She hastened towards it, with all the speed that her wearied limbs would +permit; but the expected habitation proved merely a group of Pollards. + +She would then have recovered the wheel-track; but the moon became +suddenly clouded, a general darkness overspread the face of the country +around, and she could discover no kind of path. + +She now grew apprehensive that she should pass the night in the open +air; with not a human being within hearing, nor any house, nor any +succour within reach. What she might have to dread she knew not; but, in +a situation so wildly solitary, the very ignorance of what there might +be to fear, was intimidating, nay, awful. + +The darkness encreased; cautiously and slowly she went on; starting at +every breeze, and in continual terrour of meeting some unknown mischief. + +She wandered thus for some hours, now sinking into marshy ground, now +wounded by rude stones, now upon a soft, smooth plain, and now stung or +torn by bushes, nettles, and briars; till she concluded it to be about +midnight. A light wind then arose, the clouds were dispersed; and the +moon, which, though upon the wane, afforded a gentle, melancholy light, +shewed her that she was once again in the midst of the New Forest. + +Few sights could have been less welcome; what already she had suffered, +and, far more, what she had apprehended, filled her with terrour; and +her imagination was fearfully at work, now to bring her to the hut which +she had so suspiciously fled; now to the encounter of disorderly young +assailants, with no Dash for her protection; now to the attack of +lurking thieves, and strolling vagabonds; and now to the danger of being +bewildered and lost in the mazes of the Forest. + +The last of these evils soon ceased to be a mere phantasm of fear; the +wind no sooner was calmed than the moon again was obscured, and all +around her was darker, and therefore more tremendous than ever. + +She continued to move on, though without knowing whether she were +advancing or retrograding. But, ere long, her walk became embarrassed +and difficult; her progress was every way obstructed; and her retreat at +the same time impeded; and she found herself in a thick wood, of which +the deep hanging boughs continually annoyed her face and her limbs; +while the unscythed grass, the growth of ages, entangled her feet, and +made every step a labour. + +Wearied and dejected, she leaned against a tree, and determined to make +no further attempt to proceed, till some gleam of dawn should direct her +way. + +She had not remained long in this position of despondence, ere she +discerned, through the trees, at a considerable distance, a dim light. + +She concluded that this must proceed from some dwelling; and, feeling +instantly revived, re-commenced her journey: yet, presently, she stopt +and hesitated,--it might emit from the hut! In the dead of the night +there was little probability that any common cottagers would require a +light. + +Discomfited, discouraged, she again leaned against a tree. + +Yet some one might be ill; and the chamber of sickness and danger could +no more, in the cottage, than in the palace, be consigned to darkness. +She determined, therefore, to approach the spot, and, at break of day, +to examine the premises; certain she could not ever mistake, or ever +forget, the situation of the hut. + +She went forward. + +The light, in a few moments, disappeared; but she was not, therefore, +led to consider it as a Will with the Wisp, to beguile her to some +illusion; for, ere it vanished, it displayed, in passing sideways, a +view of a cottage double or treble the length of the dreaded hut. + +This was a sight truly consoling; yet, though it happily removed the +most terrible of her fears, it awakened new perplexity. The light had +been evidently without doors: the suggestion, therefore, of a sick +chamber proved unfounded. Yet what, in the middle of the night, could +replace it, that was natural, and free from suspicion of evil? + +Nevertheless, she moved on; seeking to guide herself by the recollection +of the spot which she had transiently seen; till she was startled by a +murmuring of human voices. + +But for the alarm left upon her mind, by the adventure of the hut, and +the pursuit of the wood-cutters, this would have been a sound in which +her ears would have rejoiced, as the fore-runner of succour and of +safety; for, till then, she had always connected the idea of rusticity +with innocence, and of rural life with felicity. But now, she had +fatally learnt, that no class, and no station, appropriatively merit +trust; and that the poor, like the rich, the humble, like the proud, can +only by principle be worthy of confidence: whether that principle be the +happy inherent growth of favouring Providence; or the fruit of religion, +and cultivated virtue. + +But fear and incertitude, though they slackened, did not long stop her +progress: the terrour of her lonely situation pointed out to her, +indeed, the danger of falling into evil hands; yet peremptorily, at the +same time, urged her to seek almost any protection, that might rescue +her from the vague horrours of this dark and tremendous solitude. It +was, at least, possible that these might be the voices of some +unfortunate travellers, belated, or lost, like herself, in the Forest. +On, therefore, she glided, till she distinguished three different tones, +all of which were male, but none of which sounded either youthful or +gay. They spoke so low, that not a word reached her ears; nor could she +have caught even a sound, but for the total stillness of the air. That +they spoke in whispers, therefore, was certain: Was it from fear? Was it +from guilt? + +The doubt sufficed to check all project of addressing them; but, as she +meant to retreat, she trod upon a broken bough of a tree, which made a +crackling noise under her feet, that, she had reason to believe, was +heard by the interlocutors, as it was followed by profound silence. + +She was now forced to remain immovable; for she felt herself entangled +in some of the branches of the bough, and feared that any attempt to +dissembarrass herself might cause a new commotion, and point out her +position. + +She soon became but too certain that she had been heard; for the light +re-appeared, and she was sufficiently near to observe, that it had been +produced by a dark lanthorn, which she now saw turned round, by a man +who was evidently seeking to discover whence the noise made by the bough +had issued: she saw, also, that he had two companions; but what was her +shock when, presently, in one of them, she perceived the master of the +hut! + +She now gave herself up as lost! Lost alike from his fear of detection, +and his vengeance for her escape. To run away was impossible; she could +find no path; she could not even venture to stir a step, lest she should +betray her concealment. + +They searched, for some time, in different directions; two of them then +approached so nearly to the spot upon which she was standing, saying, to +each other, that they were sure the sound came from that quarter, that +she almost fainted with excess of terrour. But they soon turned off +another way; one of them averring that the noise was only from some +windfall; and the hut-man replying, in a coarse bass voice, that, if any +body were watching, 'twas well they had come no sooner; for he'd defy +the sharpest eye living to give a guess, now, at what they had been +about. + +In this terrible interval, the door of the habitation, of which she had +already had a glimpse, was opened by a female; who, depositing a candle +upon the threshold, ran up to one of the men, with whom she conversed +for a few minutes; after which, saying 'Good night!' she re-entered the +house; while the men, all three repeating 'Good night!' trudged away, +and were soon out of hearing. + +Juliet now conceived a hope, that a female, left, probably, alone, +might, either through kindness or through interest, be made a friend. +She disengaged herself, therefore, from her impediments, and gently +tapped at the door. + +It was immediately opened by the woman, who said, 'Why now, dear me, +what have a forgot?' but who no sooner saw a stranger, than she screamed +aloud, 'La be good unto me! what been ye come for here, at such an +untoward time o'night as this be?' while some children who were in bed, +and suddenly awakened, jumping upon the ground, clang round their +mother, and began crying piteously. + +Juliet, more affrighted than themselves, uttered the softest petition, +for a few hours' refuge from the dreariness of travelling by night. The +woman, then, casting up her hands in wonder, exclaimed, 'Good la! be you +only no other but the good gentlewoman that was so koind to my little +dearies?' + +The children, recollecting her at the same moment, loosened their mother +to throw their little arms around their guest; skipping and rejoicing, +and crying, 'O dood ady! dood ady! it's dood ady!' + +This, indeed, was a moment of joy to Juliet, such as life, even at its +best periods, can but rarely afford. From fears the most horrible of +unknown dangers; and from fatigue nearly insupportable, she found +herself suddenly welcomed by trusting kindness. All her dread and +scruples, with respect to the Salisbury turnpike hostess, or to any +previous reports, were, she now saw, groundless; and she delightedly +felt herself in the bosom of security, while encircled in the arms of +affectionate and unsuspicious innocence. + +The good woman uncovered her hot embers, and put on some fresh wood, to +restore the weary traveller from the chill of the night: and brought out +of her cupboard a slice of bacon, and the end of a brown loaf of bread: +not mingling, with the warmth of her genuine hospitality, one +mistrustful enquiry into the reason of her guest's late wandering, or +the cause of her lonely difficulties. + +The children with, instinctively, the same sensations, ran about, nearly +naked, in search of their homely play-things; persuaded that the 'dood +ady' would be as pleased as they were themselves, by the sight of the +several pieces of broken platter, which they called their tea-things; +and a small truss of straw, rolled round with rags, which they +denominated their doll. Nor would they return to rest, till Juliet sat +down by their side, to tell them some simple stories, of other good boys +and girls; while their mother prepared, for the 'dood ady,' a bed above +stairs. + +The thankful happiness of Juliet, at a deliverance so unexpected, so +sweet, so soothing, induced her cordially to partake of a repast of +which she stood greatly in need; but, before she could mount to the +offered chamber, officious doubts and apprehensions broke into the +fulness of her contentment, with enquiries: Who might be the men whom +she had seen hovering about the house? What might be their business +without doors during the dead of the night? What had the man of the hut +to do away from his dwelling at such an hour? And why, and for whom, was +the good dame herself up so late, without giving any reason for what +must necessarily appear so extraordinary? + +Bewildered in her ideas, uncertain in her judgment, and fearful how to +act, she could not resolve to inhabit a lonely chamber up stairs, at the +risk of some fatal surprize, or new danger. She complained of cold, and +entreated for leave to sit over the embers; while she begged them, +without heeding her, to take their usual repose. + +The good woman started not the smallest difficulty; and, placing herself +by the side of the children, in less than three minutes, was visited, +like themselves, with the soundest sleep. + +This woman, thought Juliet, must be as guileless as she is benevolent, +unaccountable as are all the circumstances that hang about her; could +she, else, with trust thus facile, taste rest thus undisturbed, in +presence of a wandering stranger, known to her only by a small and +accidental kindness shewn to her children? + +Quieted by this example, Juliet herself, leaning her head against the +wall, partook of that common, but ever wonderful oblivion, by which life +is recruited, sorrow supported, and care assuaged. + +With the first sun-beam they all awoke, and Juliet besought her hostess +to accompany her to the nearest town. The good woman cheerfully complied +with this request, making no other condition than that of demanding the +time to dress and breakfast her bantlings, as she never went any where +without them. + +Juliet then officiated as nurse to the children: and here, again, the +wish of obliging, with the talent of being serviceable, so endeared her +to the little ones, and made her so agreeable to their parent, that she +was earnestly solicited to remain with them a little longer. + +'But, your husband?' Juliet then ventured to ask; 'may I not be in his +way?' + +'O no,' the woman answered; 'a be gone his rounds; and 't be odds but +they do take un, God willing, a week.' + +This was sufficient encouragement for the harassed Juliet joyfully to +accept the invitation for remaining with them a few days. She deposited, +therefore, her baggage in the no longer rejected up stairs chamber; and, +after a few hours of quiet repose, took the entire charge of the +children for the rest of the day; not merely to play with and amuse +them, but to work for them. And her industry and adroitness soon put +their whole little wardrobe in order; and she fashioned their clothing +to their little shapes, in a manner so neat and commodious, that all +that they possessed appeared to them to be new. + +The day following, with the same happy skill, she dedicated her time to +the service of the mother; whose entreaties grew more and more urgent, +that she would prolong her stay at the cottage. + +Far was she from desirous to quit it. With repose so much required, she +here found comfort, peace, and affection,--three principal ingredients +in the composition of happiness! which her mind, in her uncertainty of +the fate awaiting her, was delighted to seize, and eager to requite. + +For whomsoever, therefore, and at whatsoever she worked, she sung simple +songs, or told simple stories, with invariable good humour and +pleasantry, to her little friends, who clung to her with passionate +fondness; while their enchanted mother thought that some angel was +descended amongst them, in guise of a traveller, to charm and to serve +them at once. + +To the unhackneyed observation of this good woman, the change of attire +in Juliet, since their meeting at Salisbury, offered no sort of food to +conjecture; she concluded that to walk about that fine city, had well +deserved the best clothes; and that the worst had naturally been put on, +afterwards, for economy, upon the road. Juliet found her wholly ignorant +of the Salisbury adventure; and filled with innocent gratitude, in +concluding that she had been benighted in the Forest, while seeking to +find the little dearys whom she had thought so pretty upon the high +road. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Wanderer (Volume 4 of 5), by Fanny Burney + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WANDERER (VOLUME 4 OF 5) *** + +***** This file should be named 37440-8.txt or 37440-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/4/4/37440/ + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Wanderer (Volume 4 of 5) + or, Female Difficulties + +Author: Fanny Burney + +Release Date: September 15, 2011 [EBook #37440] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WANDERER (VOLUME 4 OF 5) *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h2>VOLUME IV</h2> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_537" id="Page_537">[Pg 536-7]</a></span></p> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p class="center"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LX">CHAPTER LX</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXI">CHAPTER LXI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXII">CHAPTER LXII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXIII">CHAPTER LXIII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXIV">CHAPTER LXIV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXV">CHAPTER LXV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXVI">CHAPTER LXVI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXVII">CHAPTER LXVII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXVIII">CHAPTER LXVIII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXIX">CHAPTER LXIX</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXX">CHAPTER LXX</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXI">CHAPTER LXXI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXII">CHAPTER LXXII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXIII">CHAPTER LXXIII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXIV">CHAPTER LXXIV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXV">CHAPTER LXXV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LXXVI">CHAPTER LXXVI</a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_538" id="Page_538">[Pg 538]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_539" id="Page_539">[Pg 539]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LX" id="CHAPTER_LX"></a>CHAPTER LX</h2> + + +<p>Juliet was precipitately followed by Lord Melbury.</p> + +<p>'It is not, then,' he cried, 'your intention to return to Mrs Ireton?'</p> + +<p>'No, my lord, never!'</p> + +<p>She had but just uttered these words, when, immediately facing her, she +beheld Mrs Howel.</p> + +<p>A spectre could not have made her start more affrighted, could not have +appeared to her more horrible. And Lord Melbury, who earnestly, at the +same moment, had pronounced, 'Tell me whither, then,—' stopping +abruptly, looked confounded.</p> + +<p>'May I ask your lordship to take me to Lady Aurora?' Mrs Howel coldly +demanded.</p> + +<p>'Aurora?—Yes;—she is there, Ma'am;—still in the gallery.'</p> + +<p>Mrs Howel presented him her hand, palpably to force him with her; and +stalked past Juliet, without any other demonstration of perceiving her +than what was unavoidably manifested by an heightened air of haughty +disdain.</p> + +<p>Lord Melbury, distressed, would still have hung back; but Mrs Howel, +taking his arm, proceeded, as if without observing his repugnance.</p> + +<p>Juliet, in trembling dismay, glided on till she entered a vacant +apartment, of which the door was open. To avoid intrusion, she was +shutting herself in; but, upon some one's applying, nearly the next +minute, for admittance, the fear of new misconstruction forced her to +open the door. What, then, was her shock at again viewing Mrs Howel! She +started back involuntarily, and her countenance depicted undisguised +horrour.</p> + +<p>With a brow of almost petrifying severity, sternly fixing her eyes upon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_540" id="Page_540">[Pg 540]</a></span>Juliet, Mrs Howel, for a dreadful moment, seemed internally suspended, +not between hardness and mercy, but between accusation and punishment. +At length, in a tone, from the deep sounds of which Juliet shrunk, but +had no means to retire, she slowly pronounced, while her head rose more +loftily at every word, 'You abscond from Mrs Ireton, though she would +permit you to remain with her? 'Tis to Lord Melbury that you reveal your +purpose; and the inexperienced youth whom you would seduce, is the only +person that can fail to discover your ultimate design, in taking the +moment of meeting with him, for quitting the honourable protection which +snatches you from want, if not from disgrace: at the same time that it +offers security to a noble family, justly alarmed for the morals, if not +for the honour of its youthful and credulous chief.'</p> + +<p>The terror which, in shaking the nerves, seemed to have clouded even the +faculties of Juliet, now suddenly subsided, superseded by yet more +potent sensations of quick resentment. 'Hold, Madam!' she cried: 'I may +bear with cruelty and injustice, for I am helpless! but not with insult, +for I am innocent!'</p> + +<p>Mrs Howel, surprised, paused an instant; but then harshly went on, 'This +cant, young woman, can only delude those who are ignorant of the world. +Whatever you may chuse to utter to me of that sort will be perfectly +null. What I have to say is simple; what you have to offer must, of +course, be complicate. But I have no time to throw away upon rants and +rodomontades, and I have no patience to waste upon impostors. Hear me +then without reply.'</p> + +<p>'Not to reply, Madam, will cost me little,' indignantly cried Juliet: +'but to hear you,—pardon me, Madam,—force only can exact from me so +dreadful a compliance.'</p> + +<p>She looked round, but not having courage to open a further door, nor +power to pass by Mrs Howel, walked to a window.</p> + +<p>Not heeding her resistance, and disdaining her emotion, Mrs Howel +continued: 'My Lord Melbury is not, it is true, like his sister, under +my immediate care; but he is here only to join her ladyship, whom my +Lord Denmeath has entrusted to my protection. And, therefore, though he +is as noble in mind as in rank, since he is still, in years, but a boy, +I must, in honour, consider myself to be equally responsible to my Lord +Denmeath for the brother as for the sister. This being the case, I must +not leave him to the machinations of an adventurer. In two words, +therefore,—Declare yourself for what you are; or return with Mrs Ireton +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_541" id="Page_541">[Pg 541]</a></span>to Brighthelmstone, and remain under her roof, since she deigns to +permit it, till I have restored my young friends, safe and uninjured, to +their uncle. Otherwise—'</p> + +<p>Juliet, casting up her eyes, as if calling upon heaven for patience, +would have opened the window, to seek refuge in the air from sounds of +which the shock was insupportable: but Mrs Howel, offended into yet +deeper wrath, advanced with a mien of such rigid austerity, that she +lost her purpose in her consternation, and listened irresistibly to what +follows: 'Otherwise,—mark me, young woman! the still unexplained +mystery with which you have made your way into the kingdom, will +authorise an application which you will vainly try to elude, and with +which you will not dare to prevaricate. You will take your choice, and, +in five minutes, you will be summoned to make it known.'</p> + +<p>With this menace she left the room.</p> + +<p>In an agony of terrour, that again absorbed even resentment, Juliet +remained motionless, confounded, and incapable of deliberation, till the +groom of Mrs Ireton came to inform her that his lady was ready to set +out.</p> + +<p>Juliet, scarcely herself knowing her own intentions, precipitately +ejaculated, 'The crisis is arrived!—I must cast myself upon Lady +Aurora!'</p> + +<p>The servant said he did not understand her.</p> + +<p>'Tell Lady Aurora—;' she cried, 'or Lord Melbury,—no, Lady Aurora,—' +she stopt, fearfully balancing upon which to fix.</p> + +<p>The groom asked what he was to say.</p> + +<p>'You will say,—I must beg you to say,—' cried Juliet, endeavouring to +recollect herself, 'that I desire,—that I wish,—that I take the +liberty to request that Lady Aurora will have the goodness to honour +me,—that I shall be eternally obliged if her ladyship will honour me +with a few moment's conversation!'</p> + +<p>The groom went; and almost the next instant, she heard the fleet step of +Lady Aurora approaching, and her soft voice, with unusual emphasis, +pronounce, 'Pardon me, dear Madam, but I could not refuse her for a +thousand worlds!'</p> + +<p>'She ought not to refuse her, Mrs Howel!' added, with fervency, the +voice of Lord Melbury; 'in humanity, in justice, in decency, Aurora +ought not to refuse her! Whatever may be your fears of objections to an +intimacy, there can be none to common civility; for though we know not +what Miss Ellis has been, we see what she now is;—a pattern of +elegance, sweetness, and delicacy.'</p> + +<p>'A moment, my lord!—one moment, Lady Aurora!' answered Mrs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_542" id="Page_542">[Pg 542]</a></span> Howel; 'we +may be overheard here;—honour me with a moment's attention in another +room.' She seemed drawing them away, and not a word more reached Juliet.</p> + +<p>A dreadful ten minutes preceded any farther information: a quick step, +then, followed by a tap at the door, re-awakened at once terrour and +hope. She awaited, motionless, its opening, but then saw neither the +object she desired, nor that which she dreaded; neither Lady Aurora nor +Mrs Howel, but Lord Melbury.</p> + +<p>Affrighted by the threatened vengeance of Mrs Howel, but irresistibly +charmed by his generous defence, and trusting esteem, Juliet looked so +disturbed, yet through her disturbance so gratified, that Lord Melbury, +evidently much agitated himself, approached her with a vivacity of +pleasure that he did not seek to repress, and could not have disguised.</p> + +<p>'Miss Ellis will, I am sure, forgive my intrusion,' he cried, 'when I +tell her that it is made in the name of my sister. Aurora is grieved +past all expression not to wait upon you herself; but Mrs Howel is in +such haste to depart, from her fear of travelling after sun-set, that it +is not possible to detain her. Poor Aurora sends you a thousand +apologies, and entreats you not to think ill of her for appearing thus +unfeeling—'</p> + +<p>'Think ill of Lady Aurora?' interrupted Juliet, 'I think her an +angel!—'</p> + +<p>'She is very near it, indeed!' cried Lord Melbury, ardently; 'as near +it, I own, as I wish her; for I don't see, without wings, and flying to +heaven, how she can well be nearer! However, since you are so kind, so +liberal, as to do her that justice, would it be possible that you could +communicate, through me, what you had the goodness to intend saying to +her? She is quite broken-hearted at going away with an appearance of +such unkindness. Can you give her this consolation?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, my lord!' answered Juliet, with an energy that shewed off all +guard, 'if I might hope for Lady Aurora's support—for your lordship's +protection,—with what transport would my o'er-burthened heart,—'Seized +with sudden dread of Mrs Howel, she stopt abruptly, and fearfully looked +around.</p> + +<p>Enchanted by a prospect of some communication, Lord Melbury warmly +exclaimed, 'Miss Ellis, I swear to you, by all that I hold most sacred, +that if you will do me so great an honour as to trust me to be the +bearer of your confidence to my sister, no creature upon earth, besides, +shall ever, without your permission, hear what you may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_543" id="Page_543">[Pg 543]</a></span> unfold! and it +shall be my whole study to merit your good opinion, and to shew you my +respect.'</p> + +<p>'O my lord! O Lord Melbury,' cried Juliet, 'what hopes, what sweet +balsamic hopes you pour into my wounded bosom! after sufferings by which +I have been nearly,—nay, through which I have even wished myself +demolished!—'</p> + +<p>Lord Melbury, inexpressibly touched, eagerly, yet tenderly, answered, +'Name, name what there is I can be so happy as to do! Your wishes shall +be my entire direction. And if I can offer you any services, I shall +console Aurora, and, permit me to say, myself, still more than you.'</p> + +<p>'I will venture, then, my lord,—I must venture!—to lay open my +perilous situation!—And yet I may put your feelings,—alas!—to a test, +alas, my lord!—that not all your virtues, nor even your compassion may +withstand!'</p> + +<p>Trembling almost as violently as she trembled herself, from impatience, +from curiosity, from charmed interest, and indescribable wonder, Lord +Melbury bent forward, so irresistibly and so palpably to take her +hand, that Juliet, alarmed, drew back; and, calling forth the +self-command of which her sorrows, her terrours, and her hopes had +conjointly bereft her, 'If I have been guilty,' she cried, 'of any +indiscretion, my lord, in this hasty, almost involuntary disposition to +confidence,—excuse,—and do not punish an errour that has its source +only in a—perhaps—too high wrought esteem!—'</p> + +<p>Starting with a look nearly of horrour, 'You kill me,' he cried, 'Miss +Ellis, if you suspect me to be capable, a second time, of dishonouring +the purest of sisters by forgetting the respect due to her friend!—'</p> + +<p>'No, my lord, no!' warmly interrupted Juliet; 'whatever you think +dishonourable I am persuaded your lordship would find impracticable: but +the stake is so great,—the risk so tremendous,—and failure would be so +fatal!—'</p> + +<p>Her preturbation now became nearly overpowering; and, not with standing +she was prepared, and resolved, to disclose herself, her ability seemed +unequal to her will, and her breast heaved with sighs so oppressive, +that though she frequently began with—'I will now,—I must now,—' she +strove vainly to finish her sentence.</p> + +<p>After anxiously and with astonishment waiting some minutes, 'Why does +Miss Ellis thus hesitate?' cried Lord Melbury. 'What can I say or do to +remove her scruples?'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_544" id="Page_544">[Pg 544]</a></span></p> + +<p>'I have none, my lord, none! but I have so solemnly been bound to +silence! and ...'</p> + +<p>'Oh, but you are bound, now, to speech!' cried he, with spirit; 'and, to +lessen your inquietude, and satisfy your delicacy, I will shew you the +way to openness and confidence, by making a disclosure first. Will you, +then, have more reliance upon my discretion?'</p> + +<p>'You are too,—too good, my lord!' cried Juliet, again brightening up; +'but I dream not of such indulgence: 'tis to your benevolence only I +apply.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, but I have a fancy to trust you! Aurora will be delighted +that I should have found such a confidant. Yet I have nothing +positive,—nothing fixed,—to say, it is but an idea,—a thought,—a +kind of distant perspective ...'</p> + +<p>He coloured, and looked embarrassed, yet evidently with feelings of +pleasure.</p> + +<p>A radiant smile now illumined the face of Juliet, 'Ah! my lord,' she +cried, 'if I might utter a conjecture,—I had almost said a wish—.'</p> + +<p>'Why not? cried he, laughing.'</p> + +<p>'Your lordship permits me?—Well, then, let me name—Lady Barbara +Frankland?—'</p> + +<p>'Is it possible?' cried he, while the blood mantled in his cheeks, and +pleasure sparkled in his eyes; 'what can have led you to such a thought? +How can you possibly have suspected ... She is still so nearly a +child....'</p> + +<p>'It is true, my lord, but, also, how amiable a child! how richly endowed +with similar qualities to those which, at this instant, engage my +gratitude!—'</p> + +<p>He bowed, with smiling delight. 'I will not deny,' he cried, 'that you +have penetrated into my secret; though as yet, in fact, it is hardly +even a secret; for we have not,—hitherto,—you will easily believe, +conversed together upon the subject! Nor shall we say a word about it, +together, till I have made the tour. But I will frankly own, that we +have been brought up from our very cradles, with this notion, mutually. +It was the wish of my father even in our infancy.—'</p> + +<p>'Hold it then sacred!' cried Juliet, with strong emotion. 'Happy, thrice +happy, in such a wish for your guide!'</p> + +<p>She burst into tears.</p> + +<p>'How your sorrows,' said he, tenderly, 'affect me! and how they interest +me more deeply every moment! Tell me, then, sweet Miss Ellis!—amiable +friend of my sister!—tell me why you are thus afflicted?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_545" id="Page_545">[Pg 545]</a></span> and how, and +in what manner, there is the least possibility that I may offer you my +services, or procure you any consolation?'</p> + +<p>The door here was abruptly opened by Mrs Howel.</p> + +<p>Red with constrained rage, yet assuming a courteous demeanour, 'Your +lordship will pardon,' she cried, 'my intrusion;' but Lady Aurora is so +delicate, that I am always uneasy at keeping her ladyship out late.'</p> + +<p>Highly provoked, yet deeply confused, Lord Melbury stammered that he was +extremely sorry to have detained them, and begged that they would set +out; promising to follow immediately.</p> + +<p>Civilly smiling, though fixing her eyes upon his face in a manner that +doubled his embarrassment, she entreated him to use his own influence +with Lady Aurora, to prevail upon her ladyship to proceed.</p> + +<p>Too much perturbed to resist, he ran out of the room; casting a glance +at Juliet, as he passed, expressive of his chagrin at this interruption, +and full of sensibility and respect.</p> + +<p>Juliet dreadfully affrighted, and utterly confounded, had hid her +streaming eyes, and conscious blushes, with her handkerchief, upon the +entrance of Mrs Howel; but, when left alone with that tremendous lady, +mingled terrour and indignation would have urged immediate flight, had +she not been apprehensive of seeming to follow, and clandestinely, Lord +Melbury.</p> + +<p>Benign had been as yet the countenance, and melody itself the voice of +Mrs Howel, compared with the expression of the one, or the sound of the +other, while she now pronounced the following words: 'The terms, young +woman, that I would keep with a person of name and character; the honour +and delicacy due to myself in any intercourse with such a one, I set +wholly aside in treating with an adventurer. I know all that has passed! +I have heard every syllable! Convinced, therefore, of your deep laid +scheme, to captivate to his disgrace a youth of an illustrious house, by +revealing to him a pretended tale, which you craftily refuse to trust to +all who may better judge, or try, its truth; I shall take, without +delay, such measures as it behoves should be taken, by a friend of his +family, and of himself, to effectually open his eyes to your arts, and +to his own danger. In one word, therefore, Will you, and this instant, +return to Brighthelmstone under the superintendence of Mrs Ireton?'</p> + +<p>'No, Madam!' Juliet, without hesitation, replied.</p> + +<p>'Enough! I shall myself take in charge, then, that you do not quit the +castle, till the arrival of a peace-officer; who may conduct you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_546" id="Page_546">[Pg 546]</a></span> where +you may make your confession with rather more propriety than to a young +nobleman!'</p> + +<p>Neither native courage, nor resentment of hard usage, could support +Juliet against a menace such as this. She changed colour, and sunk, +terrified, upon a chair.</p> + +<p>Mrs Howel, after a moment's pause, magisterially moved to the door; +whence she took the key, which was within side, and was leaving the +room; but Juliet, struck with horrour at such a preparation for +confinement, started up, exclaiming, 'If you reduce me, Madam, to cry +for help, I must cast myself at once upon the protection of Lord +Melbury;—and then assure yourself,—be very sure! he will not suffer +this outrage!'</p> + +<p>'This affrontery exceeds all credibility! Assure yourself, however, +young woman, and be very sure, in return! that I shall not be +intimidated by an imposter, from detecting imposition; nor from +consigning it to infamy!'</p> + +<p>With a scoffing smile of power, she then left the room, locking the door +without.</p> + +<p>Consternation alone had prevented Juliet from rushing past her, and +forcing a passage; though such violence was as opposite to her nature, +as to propriety, and to the habits of her sex.</p> + +<p>Alone, and a prisoner, the first reflexion that found way through her +disturbance, served less to diminish her terrour than to awaken new +alarm. It represented to her all the blighting horrours of calumny, in +being known to place her confidence in Lord Melbury, while forced to +exact that he himself should guard her secret. She felt as if cast upon +a precipice, from which, though a kind hand might save, the least +imprudence might precipitate her downfall. She struggled for fortitude, +she prayed for patience. What, indeed, she cried, are any sufferings +that Mrs Ireton can inflict, compared with those I am flying? If I must +submit to transient tyranny, or hazard incurring misery as durable as my +existence,—can I hesitate to which I shall yield?</p> + +<p>Hastily, now, she looked for the bell, and rang it repeatedly, till some +one through the door demanded her orders.</p> + +<p>'Acquaint Mrs Ireton,' she answered, 'that I am ready to attend her to +Brighthelmstone.'</p> + +<p>The door was almost instantly unlocked, and Mrs Howel again appeared. 'I +deign not, young woman,' she sternly said, 'to enquire into the reasons, +the arts, or the apprehensions that may have induced your repentance: I +am aware that whatever you would tell me is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_547" id="Page_547">[Pg 547]</a></span> precisely what I ought not +to believe. I come merely to give you notice that, if you venture to +attempt keeping up any sort of correspondence with Lady Aurora +Granville, or with Lord Melbury, nothing can save you from detection and +punishment. Mark me well! You will be properly watched.'</p> + +<p>She then retired, shutting, but no longer locking the door.</p> + +<p>All of philosophy, of judgment, or of forbearance that the indignant +Juliet possessed, was nearly insufficient to keep her firm to her +concession upon an harangue thus insulting. Necessity, however, +inculcated prudence. I will await, she cried, better days! I will learn +my ultimate doom ere I seek any mitigation to my passing sorrows. If all +end well,—this will be as nothing!—forgive and forgotten at once! If +ill,—in so overwhelming a weight of woe, 'twill be still less +material!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_548" id="Page_548">[Pg 548]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXI" id="CHAPTER_LXI"></a>CHAPTER LXI</h2> + + +<p>Juliet was aroused from this species of patient despondency by the groom +of Mrs Ireton, who broke in upon her with orders to enquire, whether it +were her intention to detain his lady at the castle all night? adding, +that all the rest of the party had been gone some time.</p> + +<p>Juliet followed him to the hall, where she was greeted, as usual, with +sharp reproaches, conveyed through ironical compliments.</p> + +<p>Upon reaching the portico, she perceived, hastily returned, and +dismounting his horse, Lord Melbury.</p> + +<p>He held back, with an air of irresolution, till Mrs Ireton, to whom he +distantly bowed, was seated; and then, suddenly springing forward, +offered his hand to her depressed and neglected dependent.</p> + +<p>Blushingly, yet gratefully she accepted his assistance; and having +placed her in the coach, and made a slight compliment to Mrs Ireton, the +carriage drove off; and, the final amazement over, the envenomed taunts +of that lady were indulged in a full scope of unrestrained malignity +during the whole little journey.</p> + +<p>Juliet scarcely heard them; new perplexity, though mingled with hope and +pleasure, affected and occupied her. Lord Melbury, in aiding her into +the carriage, had said, 'I am afraid you will lose your shawl;' and, +snatching at it, as if to present its falling, he enveloped a small +packet in the folds which he put into her hands, of which, in her first +confusion, she was scarcely conscious; though she felt it the instant +that he disappeared.</p> + +<p>Was it money? Nothing, in her helpless state, could be more welcome; yet +to what construction, even from himself, might not its acceptance be +liable? Nevertheless, with so suspicious and illjudging a witness by her +side, to call him back, might seem accusing him of intentions of which +she sincerely believed him guiltless.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_549" id="Page_549">[Pg 549]</a></span></p> + +<p>The moment that she could disengage herself from her troublesome +charges, she stole to her chamber, where she read the following words, +written with a pencil upon the cover of a letter.</p> + +<blockquote><p>'How shall I ever endure myself again, should Miss Ellis withdraw +her kind promise of communication, in resentment of an acquiescence +in quitting her, for which already I begin almost to disdain +myself? Yet my consent was granted to two of the purest of her +admirers and well wishers. I could not have been biassed an instant +by those who know not how to appreciate her. Hold, therefore, +amiable Miss Ellis, your condescending promise sacred, though I +make a momentary cession of my claim upon it, to the pleadings of +those who are every way better entitled to judge than I am, of what +will best demonstrate the high and true respect felt for Miss +Ellis, by</p> + +<p class="right">'Her most obedient,<br /> +'humble servant,<br /> +'MELBURY.</p> + +<p>'P.S. Aurora had no time to entreat for your permission to lodge +the enclosed trifle in your hands. She is ashamed of its +insignificance; but she has a plan, which I shall unfold when I +have next the honour of seeing you, to solicit, as a mark of your +confidence, becoming, through me, your banker till your affairs are +arranged.</p> + +<p>'Pardon this paper. I write on horseback, to catch you flying.'</p></blockquote> + +<p>Soft were the tears of Juliet, and radiant the eyes whence they flowed, +as she perused these words. Nor could she hesitate in accepting the +offering, though the little gold-purse, which contained it, was marked +with the cypher of Lord Melbury. It was presented in the name of his +sister; a sister whom he revered as truly as he loved; such a name, +therefore, sanctioned both the loan and the kindness. And the +intimation, given by the young peer himself, of the equal influence over +his mind possessed by Lady Barbara Frankland, proclaimed and proved the +purity of his regard, and the innocence of his intentions.</p> + +<p>An idea now struck her, that bounded to her heart with rapture. Might +not the sum of which she permitted herself to take the disposal, prove +the means of re-union with Gabriella? A very small part of it would +suffice for the journey; and the rest might enable them, when once +together, to make some arrangement for being parted no more.</p> + +<p>A plan so soothing could not, even for a moment, present itself to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_550" id="Page_550">[Pg 550]</a></span> her +imagination, unaccompanied by some effort to put it into execution, and +she instantly wrote a few lines to her beloved friend; stating the +present possibility of their junction, and demanding her opinion, her +consent, and her directions, for the immediate accomplishment of so +delicious a scheme.</p> + +<p>Cheered by a hope so dear to her wishes, so promising to her happiness, +Juliet, now, was perfectly contented to continue at Brighthelmstone, +till she should receive an answer to her proposal.</p> + +<p>But, before its arrival was yet possible, she was called to a messenger, +who would deliver his commission only to herself.</p> + +<p>She descended, not without perturbation, into the hall; where a +countryman told her, that he had been ordered to beg that she would go, +at the usual time, the next morning, to the usual place, to meet her old +friend.</p> + +<p>He was then walking off; but Juliet stopt him, to demand whence he came, +and who sent him.</p> + +<p>A lady, he answered, who spoke broken English, and who had named five of +the clock in the morning.</p> + +<p>'Oh yes! Oh yes!' cried Juliet: 'I will not fail!' whilst a soft murmur +finished with 'Tis herself!—'tis my Gabriella!</p> + +<p>What brought her back to Brighthelmstone, now occupied all the thoughts +of her friend. Was it a design to fix her abode where her maternal +enthusiasm might daily be cherished by visiting the grave of her child? +Or, was it for the single indulgence of bathing that melancholy spot +once more with her tears?</p> + +<p>It was already night, or Juliet would have sought to anticipate the +meeting, by some enquiry at their former lodgings: the morning, however, +soon arrived, and, nearly with its dawn, she arose, and, by a previous +arrangement made with the gardener, quitted the house, to hasten to the +church-yard upon the hill.</p> + +<p>In her way thither, she was seized, from time to time, with something +like an apprehension that she was pursued; for, though no one came in +sight, the stillness of the early morning enabled her to hear, +distinctly, a footstep that now seemed to follow her own, now to stop +till she had proceeded some yards.</p> + +<p>It might merely be some workman;—yet would not a workman overtake her, +and pass on? It was more probably some traveller. Nevertheless, she +would not ascend the hill without making some examination; and, casting +a hasty glance behind her, she perceived a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_551" id="Page_551">[Pg 551]</a></span> tall man, muffled up, whose +air denoted him to be a gentleman; but who instantly hung back.</p> + +<p>A thousand anxious doubts were now awakened. Was it possible that she +had been summoned upon any false pretence? Gabriella had not written; +and though that omission had, at first, appeared the natural result of +haste upon her arrival; joined to the difficulty of immediately +procuring writing implements, it left an opening to uncertainty upon +reflection, by no means satisfactory. That she should not personally +have presented herself at the house of Mrs Ireton, could excite no +surprize, for she well knew that Juliet had neither time nor a room at +her own command; and to re-visit the grave of her child had always been +the purpose of Gabriella.</p> + +<p>With a slackened and irresolute step, she now went on, till, wistfully +looking towards the church-yard, she descried a female, with arms +uplifted, that seemed inviting her approach. Relieved and delighted, she +then quickened her pace; though, as she advanced, the form retreated, +till, gradually, it was wholly out of sight.</p> + +<p>This affected and saddened her. The little grave was on the other side +of the church. It is there, then, only, she cried, there, where our +melancholy meeting took place, that my ever wretched Gabriella will +suffer me to rejoin her!</p> + +<p>With an aching heart she proceeded, though no Gabriella came forward to +give her welcome; but when, upon crossing over to the other side of the +church, in full sight of the little grave, no Gabriella was there; and +not a human being was visible, she felt again impressed with a fear of +imposition, and was turning back to hurry home; when she observed, just +mounting the hill, the person by whose pursuit she had already been +startled.</p> + +<p>Terrour now began to take possession of her mind. She had surely been +deluded, and she was evidently followed. She had neither time nor +composure for divining why; but she was instantly certain that she could +be no object for premeditated robbery; and the unprincipled Sir Lyell +Sycamore alone occurred to her, as capable of so cruel a stratagem to +enveigle her to a lonely spot. The height of the man was similar: his +face was carefully concealed; but, transient as had been her glance, it +was obvious to her that he was no labourer, nor countryman.</p> + +<p>To descend the hill, would be to meet him: to go on yet further, when +not a cottage, perhaps, might be open, would almost seem to expect being +overtaken: yet to remain and await him, was out of all question. She +saw, therefore, no hope of security, but by endeavouring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_552" id="Page_552">[Pg 552]</a></span> to regain the +street, through a circuitous path, by sudden rapidity of flight.</p> + +<p>But, upon gliding, with this design, to the other side of the church, +she was struck with amazement to see that the church-door was ajar; and +to perceive, at the same instant, a passing shadow, reflected through a +window, of some one within the building.</p> + +<p>Was this accident? or had it any connection with the tall unknown who +followed her?</p> + +<p>Filled with wonder and alarm, though a stranger to every species of +superstition, her feet staggered, and her presence of mind threatened to +play her false; when again a fleeting shadow, of she knew not whom nor +what, gleamed athwart a monument.</p> + +<p>Summoning now her utmost force, though shaking with nameless +apprehensions, she crossed, with celerity, a gravestone, to gain what +appeared to be the quickest route for descending; when the sound of a +hasty step, immediately behind her, gave her the fearful intelligence +that escape was impossible.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, though nearly overcome with dread, she was pressing on; +but some one, rushing abruptly past her, and turning short round, stopt +her passage.</p> + +<p>Horrour thrilled through her every vein, in the persuasion that she was +the destined victim of deliberate delusion, when the words, 'It is, +indeed, then, you!' uttered in an accent of astonishment, yet with +softness, made her hastily raise her eyes,—and raise them upon +Harleigh.</p> + +<p>Bereft of prudence, in the suddenness of her joy; forgetting +self-command, and casting off all guard, all reserve, she rapturously +held out to him her willing hands, exclaiming, 'Oh, Mr Harleigh!—are +you, then, my destined protector?—my guardian angel?'</p> + +<p>Speechless from transported surprize, Harleigh pressed to his lips and +to his heart each unresisting hand; while Juliet, whose eyes beamed +lustrous with buoyant felicity, was unconscious of the happiness that +she bestowed, from the absorption of the delight that she experienced.</p> + +<p>'Precious, for ever precious moment!' cried Harleigh, when the power of +utterance returned; 'Here, on this spot, where first the tortures of the +most deadly suspense give way to the most exquisite hopes,—'</p> + +<p>The countenance of Juliet now again underwent a change the most sudden; +its brilliancy was overclouded; its smiles vanished; its joy died<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_553" id="Page_553">[Pg 553]</a></span> away; +not, indeed, to return to its look of horrour and affright, but to +convey an expression of the deepest shame and regret; and, with cheeks +tingling with burning blushes, she strove to regain her hands; to +recover her composure; and to account to him, by relating what had been +her dread, and her mistake, for her flattering reception.</p> + +<p>But she strove in vain: her efforts to disengage herself had no more +that frozen severity which Harleigh had not dared resist; and though her +earnestness and distress shewed their sincerity, her varying blushes, +her inability to find words, and her uncontroulable emotion, +demonstrated, to his quick perception, that to govern her own +conflicting feelings, at this critical moment, was as difficult as to +resume over his accustomed dominion.</p> + +<p>'Here on this spot,' he continued, 'this blessed, sacred, hallowed spot! +clear, and eternally dismiss, every torturing doubt by which I have so +long been martyrized! Here let all baneful mystery, all heart-wounding +distrust, be for ever exiled; and here—'</p> + +<p>A faint, but earnest, 'Oh no! no! no!' now quivered from the lips of +Juliet; but Harleigh would not be silenced.</p> + +<p>'And here, where you have condescended to call me your protector,—your +destined protector!—a title which gives me claims that never while I +live shall be relinquished!—claims which not even yourself, now, can +have power to recall—'</p> + +<p>'Hear me! hear me!—' interrupted, but vainly, the pleading Juliet; +Harleigh, uncontrouled, went on.</p> + +<p>'Initiate me, without delay, in the duties of my office. Against whom, +and against what may I be your protector? You have called me, too, your +guardian-angel; Oh suffer me to call you mine! Consent to that sweet +reciprocation, which blends felicity with every care of life! which +animates our virtues by our happiness! which secures the performance of +every duty, by making every duty an enjoyment!'</p> + +<p>A frequent 'Alas! alas!' was all that Juliet could gain time to utter, +from the rapid energy with which Harleigh overpowered all attempt at +remonstrance.</p> + +<p>'Why, why,' he then cried, with redoubled vivacity; 'Why not exile now, +and repudiate for ever, that terrible rigour of reserve that has so long +been at war with your humanity?—Listen to your softer self! It will +plead, it will surely plead for gentler measures!'</p> + +<p>'Oh no, no, no!' reiterated the agitated Juliet, with a vehemence that +would have startled, if not discouraged him, had not another incautious +'Alas! alas!' stole its way into the midst of her tremulous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_554" id="Page_554">[Pg 554]</a></span> negatives; +and revealed that her heart, her wishes, her feelings, bore no part in +the refusals which her tongue pronounced.</p> + +<p>This was not a circumstance to escape Harleigh, who, indescribably +touched, fervently exclaimed, 'And what, now, shall sunder us? Pardon my +presumption if I say us! What is the power,—the earthly power,—while +yet I live, and breathe, and feel, that can now compel me to give up the +rights with which, from this decisive moment, I hold myself invested? +No! our destinies are indissolubly united!—All procrastination,—all +concealment must be over! They would now be literally distracting. Why, +then, that start?—Why that look?—Can you regret having shewn a little +feeling?—a trait of sensibility?—O put a period to this unequalled, +unexampled mystery! I am yours! faithfully, honourably yours! Yours to +the end of my mortal existence; yours, by my most sacred hopes, far, far +longer!—You weep?—not from grief, I trust,—I hope,—not from grief +flow those touching tears? Open to me your situation,—your heart! Here, +on this sacred, and henceforth happiest spot, where first you have +accorded me a ray of hope, let our mutual vows be plighted to all +eternity!'</p> + +<p>Juliet, whose whole soul seemed dissolved in poignant yet tender +distress, cast up to heaven, as if imploring for aid, her irresistibly +streaming eyes; when, caught by some shadowy motion to turn them towards +the church, she fancied that she beheld again the female, whose +appearance and vanishing had been forgotten from the excess of her own +emotions.</p> + +<p>Startled, she looked more earnestly, and then clearly perceived, though +half hidden behind a monument, a form in white; whose dress appeared to +be made in the shape, and of the materials, used for our mortal +covering, a shroud. A veil of the same stuff fell over the face of the +figure, of which the hands hung down strait at each lank side.</p> + +<p>Struck with awe and consternation, Juliet involuntarily ceased her +struggles for freedom; and Harleigh, who saw her strangely moved, +pursuing the direction of her eyes, discerned the object by which they +had been caught; who now, slowly raising her right hand, waved to them +to follow; while, with her left, she pointed to the church, and, +uttering a wild shriek, flitted out of sight.</p> + +<p>Could it be Elinor? Each felt at the same instant the same terrible +apprehension. Harleigh sprang after her; Juliet, almost petrified with +affright, was immovable.</p> + +<p>The fugitive entered the church, and darted towards the altar; where she +threw her left hand over a tablet of white stone, cut in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_555" id="Page_555">[Pg 555]</a></span> shape of a +coffin, with the action of embracing it; yet in a position to leave +evident the following inscription:</p> + + +<p class="center">'This Stone<br /> +Is destined by herself to be the last kind covering<br /> +of all that remains of<br /> +ELINOR JODDREL:<br /> +Who, sick of Life, of Love, and of Despair,<br /> +Dies to moulder, and be forgotten.'</p> + +<p>Casting off her veil when she perceived Harleigh, 'Here! Harleigh, +here!' she cried, in a tone authoritative, though tremulous, ''tis here +you must reciprocate your vows! Here is the spot! Here stands the altar +for the happy;—here, the tomb for the hopeless!'</p> + +<p>Suspicious of some sinister purpose, Harleigh was at her side with the +swiftness of lightening; but not till her fingers were upon the trigger +of a pistol, which she had pointed to her temple; though in time, by +attaining her arm, and forcibly giving it a new direction, to make her +fire the deadly weapon in the air.</p> + +<p>Her own design, nevertheless, seconded by the loud din of a pistol, so +close to her ear, and let off by her own hand, operated upon her +deranged imagination with a belief that her purpose was fulfilled; and +she sunk upon the ground, uttering, with a deep groan, 'Oh Harleigh! +bless the dying Elinor,—and be happy!—'</p> + +<p>Harleigh, terrified and shocked, though thankfully perceiving her +mistake, dropped down at her side, and supported her head; while +congratulating eyes stole a glance at Juliet; who, at the sound of the +pistol, had hastened, aghast, to the spot; but who now, dreading to be +seen, retreated.</p> + +<p>'Oh Elinor!' he then cried, 'what direful infatuation of wrong is +this!—What have you done with your nobler, better self?—How have you +thus warped your reason and your religion alike, to an equal and +terrible defiance of here and hereafter?'</p> + +<p>Recovering, at these interrogatories, to conscious failure, and +conscious existence, she hastily arose, indignantly spurned at the +tablet, looked around for Juliet with every mark of irritation, and, +casting a glance of suffering, yet investigating shame at Harleigh, +''Tis again, then,' she cried, 'abortive!—and, a third time, I am food, +for fools,—when I meant to be food only for worms!'</p> + +<p>She then peremptorily demanded Juliet; who, affrighted, was absconding, +till shrieks rather than calls forced her forward.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_556" id="Page_556">[Pg 556]</a></span></p> + +<p>With an exaltation so violent that it seemed incipient frenzy, Elinor +hailed her. 'Approach, Ellis, approach!' she cried. 'Oh chosen of the +chosen! Oh born to shew, and prove the perfectibility of earthly +happiness, and the falsehood and sophistry of the ignorance and +superstition that deny it! Approach! and let me sanction your nuptial +contract! I here solemnly give you back your promise. I renounce all tie +over your actions, your engagements, your choice. Approach, then, that I +may join your hands, while I quaff my last draught of tender poison from +the grateful eyes of Harleigh, whose happiness,—my own donation!—will +cast a glory upon my exit!'</p> + +<p>Juliet stood motionless, pale, almost livid, and appearing nearly as +unable to think as to speak. But the feelings of Harleigh were as much +too actively alive, as hers seemed morbid. Agitation beat in every +pulse, flowed in every vein, throbbed even visibly in his heart, which +bounded with tumultuous triumph, that Juliet, now, was liberated from +all adverse engagements: and though he sought, and meant, to turn his +eyes, with tender pity, upon Elinor, they stole involuntarily, +impulsively, glances of exstatic felicity at the mute and appalled +Juliet.</p> + +<p>The watchful Elinor discerned the distraction, which he imagined to be +as impenetrable as it was irresistible. Shame, mingled with despondence, +superseded her exaltation; and disdainfully, and even wrathfully, she +disengaged herself from his hold; but, suspicious of some new violence, +he hovered over her with extended arms; and presently caught a glimpse +of a second pistol, placed behind the tablet, and, as nearly as +possible, out of sight. Her intention could not be doubted; but, +forcibly anticipating her movement, he seized the destined instrument of +death, and, flying to the porch, fired it also into the air.</p> + +<p>Elinor now was confounded; she reddened with confusion, trembled with +ire, and seemed nearly fainting with excess of emotion; but, after +holding her hands a minute or two crossed over her face, she forced a +smile, and said, 'Harleigh, our tragi-comedy has a long last act! But +you can never, now, believe me dead, till you see me buried. That, next, +must follow!' And abruptly she was rushing out of the church, when she +was encountered, in the porch, by her foreign servant, accompanied by +the whole house of Mrs Maple.</p> + +<p>Juliet, satisified that this victim to her own passions and delusions, +would now fall into proper hands, eagerly glided past them all; and, +finding the streets no longer empty, fled back to the mansion of Mrs +Ireton.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_557" id="Page_557">[Pg 557]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXII" id="CHAPTER_LXII"></a>CHAPTER LXII</h2> + + +<p>Juliet re-entered her chamber without having been missed, but in a +perturbation of mind indescribable; affrighted, confused, overpowered +with various and varying sensations; wretched for Elinor; dissatisfied +with herself; and yet more at war with what seemed to be her destiny; +ejaculating, from time to time, Oh Gabriella! receive, console, +strengthen, and direct your terrified,—bewildered friend!—</p> + +<p>Unusual sounds from the hall soon announced some disturbance; but, +wholly without courage to go forth upon any enquiry, she remained, in +trembling ignorance of what was passing; till she was relieved by a +visit from Selina, which gave her the extreme satisfaction of hearing +that Elinor was actually in the house.</p> + +<p>Grief, however, though unmixt with surprize, followed the information, +when she heard, also, that Elinor was in so disordered a state, that she +had been forced from the church only by the interference of Mr Naird; +for whom Mr Harleigh had sent; and who had positively told her, that, if +she would not submit to be conveyed to some house, and try to repose, he +should hold it his duty to send for proper persons to controul and take +care of her, as one unfit to be trusted to herself.</p> + +<p>Even then, though evidently startled, she would not consent to go back +to Lewes, which she had quitted, she loudly declared, for ever: but, +after wildly enquiring for Ellis, and being assured that she was +returned to Mrs Ireton's, she was, at length, wrought upon to accept an +invitation, which, through measures that were taken by the active +Harleigh, Mrs Ireton had been prevailed with to send to her; and which +included her sister and Mrs Maple.</p> + +<p>What else of the history of this transaction was known to Selina, was +speedily revealed.</p> + +<p>The whole house of Mrs Maple had been awakened at day-light, b<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_558" id="Page_558">[Pg 558]</a></span>y the +foreign servant of Elinor; who came to bid Tomlinson call up Mrs Maple, +and acquaint her, that he believed that her niece was determined to make +away with herself. She had found means, he said, over night, to induce +the clerk of the church at Brighthelmstone to let her have the key of +the church, to begin a drawing, of one of the monuments, at sun-rise, +when no idle loungers would interrupt her: and the clerk, knowing her +for a lady of property and fashion, in the neighbourhood, had not had +the thought to refuse her. She had made him, the lackey, come for her at +Mrs Maple's, with a post chaise, and wait near the house at three +o'clock in the morning: she and Mrs Golding then got into it, while he +attended, as usual, on horseback. They stopt at a place, by the way, to +receive a heap of things, that he did not take much notice of, as it was +not well light; and then they all gallopped to Brighthelmstone. He +thought no harm, all the time, as his lady so often went about oddly, +nobody knowing why. She made the chaise stop at the church-yard, and +told him, and Golding, to help up with all the things, into the church. +She then said she was going to begin her drawing; and bid the postilion +wait at some inn, till she went for him. But she told the lackey to stay +in the church-yard. She and Golding were then shut up together a quarter +of an hour; when Golding came out, crying. Her lady, she said, had put a +white trimmed stuff dress over her cloaths, that made her look as if she +were buried alive, and just the same as a ghost; and she was afraid all +was not right; for she had made her help to place what she had called a +pallet, for her drawing, upon the altar-table, and it looked just like a +coffin; only it was covered over with paper. She had ordered that they +should both go to an inn, and return for her, with the chaise, at eight +o'clock. Neither of them knew what to make of all this; but so many out +of the way things had passed, and nothing had come of them, that, still, +they should have done only as they were bid, but that the lackey +recollected two loaded pistols, which his lady had made him charge, upon +the route, to frighten away robbers, by firing one of them off, she +said, if they saw any suspicious persons dodging them: and these, which +had been put carefully into the chaise, Golding had seen, in the hand of +her mistress, in the church. This gave him such a panic, that he thought +it safest to ride back to Madame Maple's, and tell the whole at once. +All the family, upon this alarming news, set out for Brighthelmstone, +the moment that the horses could be got ready: and, just as they arrived +at the church, Elinor herself, had appeared, bursting from it into the +porch.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_559" id="Page_559">[Pg 559]</a></span></p> + +<p>Her indignation at thus being followed and detected, had been terrible: +Who, she asked, had any right to controul her? But that was nothing to +her disturbance, when she found that Ellis had vanished. She grew so +agitated, that it was frightful, Selina continued, to see her; and +looked franticly about her, as if for means to destroy herself: and +nothing could urge her to quit the church, or church-yard, whence she +eagerly tried to command away all others; till Mr Harleigh had recourse +to Mr Naird, who had alarmed her into submission. They had then brought +her in a chaise, between Mrs Maple and the surgeon, to Mrs Ireton's; +where, to hide herself, she said, from light and life, she had gloomily +consented to go to bed; but she raved, sighed, groaned, started, and was +in a state of shame and despair, the most deplorable.</p> + +<p>Juliet heard this narration with equal pity and terrour; but no sooner +understood that Mrs Maple had entreated Mr Harleigh to remain at +Brighthelmstone, for a day or two, than she determined to quit the place +herself, persuaded that these bloody enterprizes were always reserved +for their joint presence.</p> + +<p>The nearly exhausted Elinor passed the rest of the day without effort, +without speech, and almost without sign of life. But, early on the +following morning, Juliet received from her a hasty summons.</p> + +<p>Juliet essayed, by every means that she could devise, to avoid obeying +it; but every effort of resistance was ineffectual. By compulsion, +therefore, and slowly, she mounted the stairs, secretly determining +that, should Harleigh also be called upon, she would seize the first +instant in which she could elude observation, to escape, not alone from +the room, nor from the house, but from Brighthelmstone; whence she would +set off, by the quickest conveyance that she could find, for London and +Gabriella. Elinor, muffled up, and looking pale, haggard, and altered, +was reclining upon a sofa; not in compliance with the request of her +friends, but from an indispensable necessity of repose, after the +violent exertions which had recently shaken her already weakened frame. +At the entrance of Juliet she lifted up her head, with an air of eager +satisfaction, and exclaimed, 'You are really, then, here? And you come, +at length, to my call? Harleigh is less courteous! Triumphant Harleigh! +he leaves me, he says, to take some rest:—rest?—'</p> + +<p>She paused, and her under lip shewed her contempt of the idea; and +presently, with a sarcastic smile, she added, 'Yes, yes, I shall +certainly take rest! I mean no less. He, too, will take some rest! +There,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_560" id="Page_560">[Pg 560]</a></span> at least, ultimately, our destinies will approximate. And you, +even you, victorious Ellis! will sink to vapid rest, like those who have +never known happiness!'</p> + +<p>With a laugh, then, but expressive of scorn, not gaiety, she exclaimed, +'And I, too, preaching? Can we never be tired, and good for nothing, but +we must take to moralizing? Summon him, however, Ellis, yourself. Tell +him to come without delay. I am sick;—and he is sick; and you are +sick;—we are all round sick of this loathsome procrastination.'</p> + +<p>Alert to seize any pretence to be gone, Juliet was already at the door; +when Elinor, suddenly seeming to penetrate into her intentions, called +her back; and demanded a solemn promise that she would not fail to +return with Harleigh.</p> + +<p>To the quick perceptions of Elinor, hesitation was alarm; she no sooner, +therefore, observed it, than she peremptorily ordered Selina and Mrs +Golding out of the room, and then, yet more positively, commanded Juliet +to approach the sofa.</p> + +<p>'I see,' she cried, 'your collusion! You imagine, by coming to me +alternately, that you shall keep me in order? You conclude that I only +present myself a bowl and a dagger, like a Tragedy Queen, to have them +dashed from my hands, that I may be ready for a similar exhibition +another day?—And can Harleigh, the noble Harleigh! judge me thus +pitifully? No! no! Full of great and expansive ideas himself, he can +better comprehend the exaltation of which a high, uncurbed, independent +spirit is capable. But little minds deem all that is not common, all +that has not been practised from father to son, and from generation to +generation, to be trick, or to be impossible. You, Ellis, and such as +you, who act always by rule, who never utter a word of which you have +not weighed the consequence; never indulge a wish of which you have not +canvassed the effects: who listen to no generous feeling; who shrink +from every liberal impulse; who know nothing of nature, and care for +nothing but opinion:—you, and such as you, tame animals of custom, +wearied and wearying plodders on beaten tracks, may conclude me a mere +vapouring impostor, and believe it as safe to brave as to despise me! +You, Ellis—But no!—'</p> + +<p>She stopt, and her look and manner suddenly lost their fierceness, as +she added: 'Oh no!—You! You are not of that cast! Harleigh can only +admire what alone is admirable. He would soon see through littleness or +hypocrisy; you must be good and great at once—eminently good, +unaffectedly great!—or how could Harleigh, the punctilious,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_561" id="Page_561">[Pg 561]</a></span> +discriminating Harleigh, adore you? Oh! I have known, and secretly +appreciated you long; though I have been too little myself to +acknowledge it! I have not been calm enough—perhaps not blind enough +for justice! for if I saw your beauty less clearly—O happy Ellis! how +do I admire, envy, revere,—and hate you!'</p> + +<p>Shocked, yet filled with pity, Juliet would have sought to deprecate her +enmity, and soften her feelings; but her fiery eye shewed that any +attempt at offering her consolation would be regarded as insult. 'I +disdain,' she cried, 'all expedient, all pretence. However the abortion +of my purpose may have made me appear a mere female mountebank, I have +meant all that I have seemed to mean: though, by waiting for the moment +of most <i>eclat</i>, opportunity has been past by, and action has been +frustrated. But I can die only once. That over,—all is ended. 'Tis +therefore I have studied how to finish my career with most effect. Let +Harleigh, however, beware how he doubt my sincerity! doubt from him +would drive me mad indeed! To the torpid formalities of every-day +customs; the drowsy thoughts of every-day thinkers; he may believe me +insensible, and I shall thank him; but, indifferent to my own principles +of honour!—lost to my own definitions of pride, of shame, of +heroism!—Oh! if he touch me there!—if he can judge of me so +degradingly ... my senses will still go before my life!'</p> + +<p>She held her forehead, with a look of fearful pain; but, soon +recovering, laughed, and said, 'There are fools, I know, in the world, +who suppose me mad already! only because I go my own way; while they, +poor cowards, yoked one to another, always follow the path of their +forefathers; without even venturing to mend the road, however it may +have been broken up by time, accident or mischief. I have full as much +contempt of their imbecility, as they can have of my insanity. But hear +me, Ellis! approach and mark me. I must have a conference with Harleigh. +You must be present. A last conference! Whatever be its event, I have +bound myself to Elinor Joddrel never to demand another! But do not +therefore imagine my life or death to be in your power. No! My +resolution is taken. Take yours. Let the interview which I demand pass +quietly in this room; or be responsible for the consequences of the +public desperation to which I may be urged!'</p> + +<p>Gloomily, she then added, 'Harleigh has refused to come; I will send him +word that you are here; will he still refuse?'</p> + +<p>Juliet blushed; but could not answer. Elinor paused a moment, and then +said, 'If he knows that he can see you elsewhere, he will be firm;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_562" id="Page_562">[Pg 562]</a></span> if +not ... he will return with my messenger! By that I can judge the +present state of your connexion.'</p> + +<p>She rang the bell, and told Mrs Golding to go instantly to Mr Harleigh, +and acquaint him that Elinor Joddrel and Miss Ellis desired to speak +with him immediately.</p> + +<p>Vainly Juliet remonstrated against the strange appearance of such a +message, not only to himself, but to the family and the world: +'Appearance?' she cried; 'after what I have done, what I have +dared,—have I any terms to keep with the world? with appearances? +Miserable, contemptible, servile appearances, to which sense, happiness, +and feeling are for ever to be sacrificed! And what will the world do in +return? How recompense the victims to its arbitrary prejudices? By +letting them quickly sink into nothing; by suffering them to die with as +little notice and distinction as they have lived; and with as little +choice.'</p> + +<p>Mrs Golding returned, bringing the respects of Mr Harleigh, but saying +that he was forced, by an indispensable engagement, to refuse himself +the honour of waiting upon Miss Joddrel.</p> + +<p>'Run to him again!—' cried Elinor, with vehemence; 'run, or he will be +gone! Make him enter the first empty room, and tell him 'tis Miss Ellis +alone who desires to speak with him. Fly!'</p> + +<p>Yet more earnestly, now, Juliet would have interfered; but the +peremptory Elinor insisted upon immediate obedience. 'If still,' she +cried 'he come not ... I shall conclude you to be already married!'</p> + +<p>She laughed, yet wore a face of horrour at this idea; and spoke no more +till Mrs Golding returned, with intelligence that Mr Harleigh was +waiting in the parlour.</p> + +<p>The bosom of Juliet now swelled and heaved high, with tumultuous +distress and alarm, and her cheeks were dyed with the crimson tint of +conscious shame; while Elinor, turning pale, dropt her head upon the +pillow of the sofa, and sighed deeply for a moment in silence. +Recovering then, 'This, at least,' she said, 'is explicit; let it be +final! Your influence is not disguised; use it, Ellis, to snatch me from +the deplorable buffoonery of running about the world—not like death +after the lady, but the lady after death! Assure yourselves that you +will never devise any stratagem that will turn me from my purpose; +though you may render ridiculous in its execution, what in its +conception was sublime. Happiness such as yours, Ellis, ought to be +above all narrow malignity. You ought to be proud, Ellis, voluntarily to +serve her whom involuntarily you have ruined!'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_563" id="Page_563">[Pg 563]</a></span></p> + +<p>Juliet was beginning some protestations of kindness; but Elinor, +interrupting her, said, 'I can give credit only to action. I must have a +conference; but it is not to talk of myself;—nor of you; nor even of +Harleigh. No! the soft moment of indulgence to my feelings is at an end! +When I allowed my heart that delicious expansion; when I abandoned it to +nature, and permitted it those open effusions of tenderness, I thought +my dissolution at hand, and meant but to snatch a few last precious +minutes of extacy from everlasting annihilation! but these endless +delays, these eternal procrastinations, make me appear so unmeaning an +idiot, even to myself, that, for the remnant of my doleful ditty, I must +resist every natural wish; and plod on, till I plod off, with the stiff +and stupid decorum of a starched old maid of half a century. Procure me, +however, this definitive conference. It is upon no point of the old +story, I promise you. You cannot be more tired of that than I am +ashamed. 'Tis simply an earnest curiosity to know the pure, unadulterate +thoughts of Harleigh upon death and immortality. I have applied to him, +fruitlessly, myself; he inexorably refers me to some old canonicals; +without considering that it is vain to ask for guides to shew us a road, +before we are convinced, or at least persuaded, that it will lead us to +some given spot. Let him but make clear, that 'tis his own opinion that +death does not sink us to nothing; let him but satisfy me, that he does +not turn me over to others, only because he thinks as I think himself, +and has not the courage to avow it;—and then, in return, I may suffer +him to send to me some one of his black robed tribe, to harangue me +about here and hereafter.'</p> + +<p>All contestation on the part of Juliet, was but irritating; she was +forced upon her commission, and compelled solemnly to promise, that she +would return with Harleigh, and be present at the conference.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_564" id="Page_564">[Pg 564]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXIII" id="CHAPTER_LXIII"></a>CHAPTER LXIII</h2> + + +<p>With unsteady footsteps, and covered with blushes, Juliet repaired to +the parlour, where Harleigh, with delighted, yet trembling impatience, +was awaiting her arrival.</p> + +<p>The door was half open, and he had placed himself at a distant window, +to force her entire entrance into the room, before she could see him, or +speak; but, that point gained, he hastened to shut it, exclaiming, 'How +happy for me is this incident, whatever may have been its origin! Let me +instantly avail myself of it, to entreat—'</p> + +<p>'Give me leave,' interrupted Juliet, looking every way to avoid his +eyes; 'to deliver my message. Miss Joddrel—'</p> + +<p>'When we begin,' cried Harleigh, eagerly, 'upon the unhappy Elinor, she +must absorb us; let me, then, first—'</p> + +<p>'I must be heard, Sir,' said Juliet, with more firmness, 'or I must be +gone!—'</p> + +<p>'You must be heard, then, undoubtedly!' he cried, with a smile, and +offering her a chair, 'for you must not be gone!'</p> + +<p>Juliet declined being seated, but delivered, nearly in the words that +she had received it, her message.</p> + +<p>Harleigh looked pained and distressed, yet impatient, as he listened. +'How,' he cried, 'can I argue with her? The false exaltation of her +ideas, the effervescence of her restless imagination, place her above, +or below, whatever argument, or reason can offer to her consideration. +Her own creed is settled—not by investigation into its merits, not by +reflection upon its justice, but by an impulsive preference, in the +persuasion that such a creed leaves her mistress of her destiny.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, do not resist her!' cried Juliet. 'If there is any good to be +done—do it! and without delay!'</p> + +<p>'It is not you I can resist!' he tenderly answered, 'if deliberately it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_565" id="Page_565">[Pg 565]</a></span> +is your opinion I should comply. But her peculiar character, her +extraordinary principles, and the strange situation into which she has +cast herself, give her, for the moment, advantages difficult, nay +dangerous to combat. Unawed by religion, of which she is ignorant; +unmoved by appearances, to which she is indifferent; she utters all that +occurs to an imagination inflamed by passion, disordered by +disappointment, and fearless because hopeless, with a courage from which +she has banished every species of restraint: and with a spirit of +ridicule, that so largely pervades her whole character, as to burst +forth through all her sufferings, to mix derision with all her sorrows, +and to preponderate even over her passions! Reason and argument appear +to her but as marks for dashing eloquence or sportive mockery. +Nevertheless, if, by striking at every thing, daringly, impetuously, +unthinkingly, she start some sudden doubt; demand some impossible +explanation; or ask some humanly unanswerable question; she will +conclude herself victorious; and be more lost than ever to all that is +right, from added false confidence in all that is wrong.'</p> + +<p>'If so, the conference were, indeed, better avoided,' said Juliet with +sadness; 'yet—as it is not the sacred truth of revealed religion that +she means to canvass; as it is merely the previous question, of the +possibility, or impossibility, according to her notions, of a future +state for mankind, which she desires to discuss; I do not quite see the +danger of answering the doubts, or refuting the assertions, that may +lead her afterwards, to an investigation so important to her future +welfare. If she would consult with a clergyman, it were certainly +preferable; but that will be a point no longer difficult to gain, when +once you have convinced her, upon her own terms of controversy, that you +yourself have a firm belief in immortality.'</p> + +<p>'The attempt shall surely be made,' said Harleigh, 'if you think such a +result, as casting her into more reverend hands, may ensue. If I have +fled all controversy with her, from the time that she has publicly +proclaimed her religious infidelity, it has by no means been from +disgust; an unbeliever is simply an object of pity; for who is so +deplorably without resource in sickness or calamity?—those two common +occupiers of half our existence! No; if I have fled all voluntary +intercourse with her, it has only been that her total contempt of the +world, has forced me to take upon myself the charge of public opinion +for us both. While I considered her as the future wife of my brother, I +frankly contested whatever I thought wrong in her notions. The wildness +of her character, the eccentricity of her ideas, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_566" id="Page_566">[Pg 566]</a></span> violence of +all her feelings; with her extraordinary understanding—parts, I ought +to say; for understanding implies rather what is solid than +brilliant;—joined to the goodness of her heart, and the generosity, +frankness, and openness of her nature, excited at once an anxiety for my +brother, and an interest for herself, that gave occasion to the most +affectionate animadversion on my part, and produced alternate defence or +concession on hers. But her disdain of flattery, or even of civil +acquiescence, made my freedom, opposed to the courteous complaisance +which my brother deemed due to his situation of her humble servant, +strike her in a point of view ... that has been unhappy for us all +three! Yet this was a circumstance which I had never suspected,—for, +where no wish is met, remark often sleeps;—and I had been wholly +unobservant, till you—'</p> + +<p>Called from the deep interest with which she had involuntarily listened +to the relation of his connection with Elinor, by this sudden transition +to herself, Juliet started; but he went on.</p> + +<p>'Till you were an inmate of the same house! till I saw her strange +consternation, when she found me conversing with you; her rising +injustice when, with the respect and admiration which you inspired, I +mentioned you; her restless vigilance to interrupt whatever +communication I attempted to have with you; her sudden fits of profound +yet watchful taciturnity, when I saw you in her presence;—'</p> + +<p>'I may tell her,' interrupted Juliet, disturbed, 'that you will wait +upon her according to her request?'</p> + +<p>'When you,' cried he, smiling, 'are her messenger, she must not expect +quite so quick, quite so categorical an answer! I must first—'</p> + +<p>'On the contrary, her impatience will be insupportable if I do not +relieve it immediately.'</p> + +<p>She would have opened the door, but, preventing her, 'Can you indeed +believe,' he cried, with vivacity; 'is it possible you can believe, +that, having once caught a ray of light, to illumine and cheer the dread +and nearly impervious darkness, that so long and so blackly overclouded +all my prospects, I can consent, can endure to be cast again into +desolate obscurity?'</p> + +<p>Juliet, blushing, and conscious of his allusion to her reception of him +in the church yard, for which, without naming Sir Lyell Sycamore, she +knew not how to account, again protested that she must not be detained.</p> + +<p>Still, however, half reproachfully, half laughingly, stopping her,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_567" id="Page_567">[Pg 567]</a></span> 'And +is it thus,' he cried, 'that you summon me to Brighthelmstone,—only to +mock my obedience, and disdain to hear me?'</p> + +<p>'I, Sir?—I, summon you?'</p> + +<p>'Nay, see my credentials!'</p> + +<p>He presented to her the following note, written in an evidently feigned +hand:</p> + +<blockquote><p>'If Mr Harleigh will take a ramble to the church-yard upon the +Hill, at Brighthelmstone, next Thursday morning, at five o'clock, +he will there meet a female fellow-traveller, now in the greatest +distress, who solicits his advice and assistance, to extricate her +from her present intolerable abode.'</p></blockquote> + +<p>Deeply colouring, 'And could Mr Harleigh,' she cried, 'even for a moment +believe,—suppose,—'</p> + +<p>He interrupted her, with an air of tender respect. 'No; I did not, +indeed, dare believe, dare suppose that an honour, a trust such as might +be implied by an appeal like this, came from you! Yet for you I was sure +it was meant to pass; and to discover by whom it was devised, and for +what purpose, irresistibly drew me hither, though with full conviction +of imposition. I came, however, pre-determined to watch around your +dwelling, at the appointed hour, ere I repaired to the bidden place. But +what was my agitation when I thought I saw you! I doubted my senses. I +retreated; I hung back; your face was shaded by your head-dress;—yet +your air,—your walk,—was it possible I could be deceived? +Nevertheless, I resolved not to speak, nor to approach you, till I saw +whether you proceeded to the church-yard. I was by no means free from +suspicion of some new stratagem of Elinor; for, fatigued with +concealment, I was then publicly at my house upon Bagshot Heath, where +the note had reached me. Yet her distance from Brighthelmstone for so +early an hour, joined to intelligence which I had received some time +ago,—for you will not imagine that the period which I spend without +seeing, I spend also without hearing of you?—that you had been +observed,—and more than once,—at that early hour, in the +church-yard—'</p> + +<p>'True!' cried Juliet, eagerly, 'at that hour I have frequently met, or +accompanied, a friend, a beloved friend! thither; and, in her name, I +had even then, when I saw you, been deluded: not for a walk; a ramble; +not upon any party of pleasure; but to visit a little tomb, which holds +the regretted remains of the darling and only child of that dear, +unhappy friend!'</p> + +<p>She wept. Harleigh, extremely touched, said, 'You have, then, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_568" id="Page_568">[Pg 568]</a></span> friend +here?—Is it,—may I ask?—is it the person you so earnestly sought upon +your arrival?—Is your anxiety relieved?—your embarrassment?—your +suspence?—your cruel distress?—Will you not give me, at length, some +little satisfaction? Can you wonder that my forbearance is worn +out?—Can my impatience offend you?—If I press to know your situation, +it is but with the desire to partake it!—If I solicit to hear your +name—it is but with the hope ... that you will suffer me to change it!'</p> + +<p>He would have taken her hand, but, drawing back, and wiping her eyes, +though irresistibly touched, 'Offend?' she repeated; 'Oh far,—far!... +but why will you recur to a subject that ought so long since to have +been exploded?—while another,—an essential one, calls for all my +attention?—The last packet which you left with me, you must suffer me +instantly to return; the first,—the first—' She stammered, coloured, +and then added, 'The first,—I am shocked to own,—I must defer +returning yet a little longer!'</p> + +<p>'Defer?' ardently repeated Harleigh. 'Ah! why not condescend to think, +at least, another language, if not to speak it? Why not anticipate, in +kind idea, at least, the happy period,—for me! when I may be permitted +to consider as included, and mutual in our destinies, whatever +hitherto—'</p> + +<p>'Oh hold!—Oh Mr Harleigh!' interrupted Juliet, in a voice of anguish. +'Let no errour, no misconstruction, of this terrible sort,—no +inference, no expectation, thus wide from all possible reality, add to +my various misfortunes the misery of remorse!'</p> + +<p>'Remorse?—Gracious powers! What can you mean?'</p> + +<p>'That I have committed the most dreadful of mistakes,—a mistake that I +ought never to forgive myself, if, in the relief from immediate +perplexity, which I ventured to owe to a momentary, and, I own, an +intentionally unacknowledged, usage of some of the notes which you +forced into my possession, I have given rise to a belief,—to an +idea,—to—'</p> + +<p>She hesitated, and blushed so violently, that she could not finish her +phrase; but Harleigh appeared thunderstruck, and was wholly silent. She +looked down, abashed, and added, 'The instant, by any possible +means,—by work, by toil, by labour,—nothing will be too severe,—all +will be light and easy,—that can rectify,—that—'</p> + +<p>She could not proceed; and Harleigh, somewhat recovered by the view of +her confusion, gently, though reproachfully, said, 'All, then, will be +preferable to the slightest, smallest trust in me?—And is this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_569" id="Page_569">[Pg 569]</a></span> from +abhorrence?—or do you deem me so ungenerous as to believe that I should +take unworthy advantage of being permitted to offer you even the most +trivial service?'</p> + +<p>'No, no, oh, no!' with quickness cried Juliet; 'but the more generous +you may be, the more readily you may imagine—'</p> + +<p>She stopt, at a loss how to finish.</p> + +<p>'That you would be generous, too?' cried Harleigh, revived and smiling.</p> + +<p>She could not refrain from a smile herself, but hastily added, 'My +conduct must be liable to no inference of any sort. Adieu, Sir. I will +deliver you the packet in Miss Joddrel's room.'</p> + +<p>Her hand was upon the lock, but his foot, fixed firmly against the door, +impeded its being opened, while he exclaimed, 'I cannot part with you +thus! You must clear this terrific obscurity, that threatens to involve +me, once more, in the horrours of excruciating suspense!—Why that cruel +expression of displeasure? Can you think that the moment of +hope,—however brief, however unintentional, however accidental,—can +ever be obliterated from my thoughts? that my existence, to whatever +term it may be lengthened, will ever out-live the precious remembrance +that you have called me your destined protector?—your guardian angel?'</p> + +<p>He could add no more; a mortal paleness overspread the face of Juliet, +who, letting go the lock of the door, sunk upon a chair, faintly +ejaculating, 'Was I not yet sufficiently miserable?'</p> + +<p>Penetrated with sorrow, and struck with alarm, Harleigh looked at her in +silence; but when again he sought to take her hand, shrinking from his +touch, though regarding him with an expression that supplicated rather +than commanded forbearance; 'If you would not kill me, Mr Harleigh,' she +cried, 'you will relinquish this terrible perseverance!'</p> + +<p>'Relinquish?' he repeated, 'What now? Now, that all delicacy for this +wild, eccentric, though so generous Elinor is at an end? that she has, +herself, annulled your engagement? Relinquish, now, the hopes so long +pursued,—so difficultly caught? No, I swear to you—'</p> + +<p>Juliet arose. 'Oh hold, Mr Harleigh!' she cried; 'recollect yourself a +moment! I lament if I have, involuntarily, caused you any transient +mistake; yet, do me the justice to reflect, that I have never cast my +destiny upon that of Miss Joddrel. No decision, therefore, of hers can +make any change in mine.'</p> + +<p>She again put her hand upon the lock of the door.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_570" id="Page_570">[Pg 570]</a></span></p> + +<p>Harleigh fixt upon her his eyes, which spoke the severest disturbance, +while, in tremulous accents, he uttered, 'And can you leave me thus, to +wasting despondence?—and with this cold, chilling, blighting +composure?—Is it from pitiless apathy, which incapacitates for judging +of torments which it does not experience?—O no! Those eyes that so +often glisten with the most touching sensibility,—those cheeks that so +beautifully mantle with the varying dies of quick transition of +sentiment,—that mouth, which so expressively plays in harmony with +every word,—nay, every thought,—all, all announce a heart where every +virtue is seconded and softened by every feeling!—a mind alive to the +quickest sensations, yet invigorated with the ablest understanding! a +soul of angelic purity!—'</p> + +<p>Some sound from the passage made him suddenly stop, and remove his foot; +while the hand of Juliet dropt from the lock. They were both silent, and +both, affrighted, stood suspended; till Juliet, shocked at the +impropriety of such a situation, forced herself to open the door,—at +the other side of which, looking more dead than alive, stood Elinor, +leaning upon her sister.</p> + +<p>'I began to think,' she cried, in a hollow tone, 'that you were +eloped!—and determining to trust to no messenger, I came myself.' She +then endeavoured to call forth a smile; but it visited so unwillingly +features nearly distorted by internal agony, that it gave a cast almost +ghastly to her countenance.</p> + +<p>'Why, Harleigh,' she cried, 'should you thus shun me? Have I not given +back her plighted faith to Ellis? Yet I am not ignorant how tired you +must be of those old thread-bare topics, bowls, daggers, poignards, and +bodkins: but they have had their reign, and are now dethroned. What +remains is plain, common, stupid rationality. I wish to converse with +you, Albert, only as a casuist; and upon a point of conscience which you +alone can settle. For this world, and for all that belongs to it, all, +with me, is utterly over! I have neither care nor interest left in it; +and I have no belief that there is any other. I am very composedly +ready, therefore, to take my last nap. I merely wish to learn, before I +return to my torpid ignorance, whether it can be a fact, that you, +Harleigh, you! believe in a future state for mortal man? And I engage +you by your friendship,—which I still prize above all things! and by +your honour, which you, I know, prize in the same manner, to answer me +this question, instantly and categorically.'</p> + +<p>'Most faithfully, then, Elinor, yes! All the happiness of my present +life is founded upon my belief of a life to come!'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_571" id="Page_571">[Pg 571]</a></span></p> + +<p>Elinor held up her hands. 'Astonishing!' she cried. 'Can judgment and +credulity, wisdom and superstition, thus jumble themselves together! And +in a head so clear, so even oracular! Give me, at least, your reasons; +and see that they are your own!'</p> + +<p>Harleigh looked disturbed, but made not any answer.</p> + +<p>The wan face of Elinor was now lighted up with hues of scarlet. 'I +feel,' she cried, 'the impropriety of this intrusion;—for who, if not +I,—since we all prize most what we know least,—should respect +happiness? When you have finished, however, your present conference, +honour me, both of you, if you please,—that the period so employed may +be less wearisome to either,—with a final one up stairs. Harleigh! A +final one!'</p> + +<p>Harleigh was still silent.</p> + +<p>A yet deeper red now dyed the whole complexion of Elinor, and she added, +'If, to-day, you are too much engaged,—to-morrow will suffice. To-day, +indeed, your solemn protestations of belief, upon a subject which to me, +is a chaos,—dark,—impervious, impenetrable! has given ample employment +to my ideas.'</p> + +<p>Repulsing, then, his silently offered arm, she returned, with Selina, to +the chamber consigned to her by Mrs Ireton.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_572" id="Page_572">[Pg 572]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXIV" id="CHAPTER_LXIV"></a>CHAPTER LXIV</h2> + + +<p>Harleigh, confused, disconcerted, remained motionless; but when the +conscious Juliet would have glided silently past him, he entreated for a +moment's audience.</p> + +<p>'Oh no, Mr Harleigh, no!' she cried: 'these are scenes and alarms, that +must be risked no more!—'</p> + +<p>She was hurrying away; but, upon his saying, 'Hear me, at least, for +Elinor!' she turned back.</p> + +<p>His eye, now reproached even her compliance; but he rapidly communicated +his opinion, that the conference demanded by Elinor ought, in prudence, +for the present, to be avoided; since, while she had still some +favourite object in view, life, would, unconsciously, be still +supported. Time, thus, might insensibly be gained, not only for eluding +her fatal project, but happily, perhaps, for taming the dauntless +wildness that made her, now, seem to stand scoffingly at bay, between +life and death.</p> + +<p>Juliet saw nothing to oppose to this statement, and thanking him that, +at least, it liberated her, was again hastening away.</p> + +<p>'Hold, hold!' cried he, stopping her: 'it is not from me that it must +liberate you! Elinor has ratified the restoration of your word—'</p> + +<p>'Oh, were that all!—' she cried, hastily; but, stopping short, deeply +blushing, 'Mr Harleigh,' she added, 'compel me not to repeat +declarations that cannot vary!—Aid me rather, generously,—kindly, +shall I say?—aid me,—to fly, to avoid you,—lest you become +yourself ...' her voice faltered as she pronounced, 'the most fatal of +my enemies!'</p> + +<p>The penetrated Harleigh, charmed, though tortured, saw her eyes +glittering with tears; but she forced her way past him, and took refuge +in her chamber.</p> + +<p>There, in deep anguish, she was sinking upon a chair, when she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_573" id="Page_573">[Pg 573]</a></span> received +the gentle balm of a letter from Gabriella, written with exstatic joy at +the prospect of their re-union.</p> + +<p>This decided her plan of immediate escape to London, under a full +conviction that Harleigh, to obviate any calumnious surmizes from her +disappearance, would studiously shew himself in the world; however +cautiously he might avoid any interview with Elinor.</p> + +<p>The shock of Juliet, at this unfortunate intrusion, somewhat abated, +when she reflected that confirmed hopelessness might, perchance, lead +Elinor to acquiescence in disappointment; for hopelessness, equally with +resignation,—though not so respectably,—terminates all struggles +against misfortune.</p> + +<p>She now, therefore, seized an opportunity, when she knew Mrs Ireton to +be engaged with Mrs Maple, for going forth to secure a place in some +machine, for a journey to London on the following morning.</p> + +<p>This office performed, she thought, while returning home, that she +perceived, though at a considerable distance, Harleigh.</p> + +<p>In the dread of some new conflict, she was planning to seek another way +back, when recollecting that she had his bank-notes in her work-bag, she +judged that she might more promptly return them at this accidental +meeting, than in the house of Mrs Ireton.</p> + +<p>She slackened, therefore, her pace, and, taking out her ever ready +packet, turned round, as the footstep approached, gravely and calmly to +deliver it; when, to her utter surprize, she faced Lord Melbury.</p> + +<p>Pleasure emitted its brightest hues in the tints of her cheeks, at sight +of the marked respect that chastened the visible delight with which she +was looked at and accosted by the young peer. 'How fortunate,' he cried, +'am I to meet with you thus directly! This moment only I dismount from +my horse. I have a million of things to say to you from Aurora, if you +will have the goodness to hear them; and I have more at heart still my +own claim upon your patience. When may I see you for a little +conversation?'</p> + +<p>The pleasure of Juliet was now severely checked by perplexity, how +either to fulfil or to break her engagement. Observing the change in her +countenance, and her hesitation and difficulty to answer, Lord Melbury, +whose look and air changed also, said, in a tone of concern, 'Miss Ellis +has not forgotten her kind promise?'</p> + +<p>'Your lordship is extremely good, to remember either that or me; yet I +hope—'</p> + +<p>'What does Miss Ellis hope? I would not counteract her hopes for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_574" id="Page_574">[Pg 574]</a></span> the +world; but surely she cannot be so cruel as to disappoint mine? to make +me fear that she has changed her opinion? to withdraw her amiable +trust?'</p> + +<p>'No, my lord, no! not a moment could I hesitate were trust alone in +question! but the hurry of this instant,—the impossibility of detailing +so briefly, and by an imperfect account—'</p> + +<p>'And why an imperfect account? Why, dear Miss Ellis, since you have the +kindness to believe I may be trusted, not confide to me the whole +truth?'</p> + +<p>'Alas, my lord! how?—where?'</p> + +<p>'In some parlour,—in the garden,—any where.—'</p> + +<p>'Ah, my lord, what I have to say must be uninterrupted; unheard but by +yourself; and—I can command neither a place nor a moment free from +intrusion!'—</p> + +<p>'Sweet Miss Ellis!—sweet injured Miss Ellis! I know, I have witnessed +the unworthiness of your treatment. Even Aurora, with all her +gentleness, has been as indignant at it, nearly, as myself. All our +wonder is how you bear it!—We burn, we expire to learn what can urge so +undue a subjection. But I have not obtruded myself upon you only for +myself; I have galloped hither to prepare you,—and to entreat you not +to be uneasy,—and to save you from any surprize, by acquainting you +that my uncle Denmeath—'</p> + +<p>He stopt short, as if thunderstruck. Juliet, alarmed, looked at him, and +saw that, in bending over her, to name, in a lower voice, his uncle, his +eyes had caught the direction of her packet, "For Albert Harleigh, Esq."</p> + +<p>Shocked at the evidently unpleasant effect which this sight produced, +and covered with blushes at the suspicions to which it might give rise, +Juliet hastily exclaimed, 'Oh my lord! I must no longer defer my +explanation! any, every risk will be preferable to the loss of your +esteem!'</p> + +<p>Delight, enchantment again were depicted on the countenance, as they +seized the faculties of the young peer; and, involuntarily, his eager +hands were stretching forwards to seize hers, when he perceived, just +approached to them, pale, agitated, and with the look of some one taken +suddenly ill, Harleigh.</p> + +<p>The colour of Juliet now rose and died away alternately, from varying +sensations of shame and apprehension; to which the deepest confusion +soon succeeded, as she discerned the contrast of the cheeks, whitened by +pale jealousy, of Harleigh; with those of Lord Melbury,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_575" id="Page_575">[Pg 575]</a></span> which were +crimsoned with the reddest hues of sudden suspicion, and painful +mistrust.</p> + +<p>Harleigh, with a faint and forced smile, bowed, but stood aloof: Lord +Melbury seemed to have not alone his sentiments, but his faculties held +in suspension.</p> + +<p>Juliet, with cruel consciousness, perceived that each surmized something +clandestine of the other; and the immense importance which she annexed +to their joint good opinion; and the imminent danger which she saw of +the double forfeiture, soon re-invigorated her powers, and, addressing +herself with dignity, though in a tone of softness, to Lord Melbury, 'If +you judge me, my lord, from partial circumstances,' she cried, 'I have +every thing to apprehend for what I value more than words can express, +your lordship's approbation of the favour with which I am honoured by +Lady Aurora Granville; but let me rather hope,—suffer me, my lord, to +hope, that by the opinion I have formed of the honour of your own +character, you will judge,—though at present in the dark,—of the +integrity of mine!'</p> + +<p>Turning then from him, as, touched, electrified, he was beginning, 'I +have always judged you to be an angel!'—she would have presented her +packet to Harleigh; though without raising her eyes, saying, 'Mr +Harleigh has so long;—and upon so many occasions, honoured me with +marks of his esteem,—and benevolence,—that I flatter myself,—I +think,—I trust—'</p> + +<p>She stammered, confused; and Harleigh, who, from the moment that Lady +Aurora had been mentioned, had recovered his complexion, his +respiration, and his strength; recovered, also, his hopes and his +energy, at sight of the embarrassment of Juliet. Not doubting, however, +what were the contents of the packet, he held back from receiving it; +though with a smile that conveyed the most lively expression of grateful +delight, at her palpable anxiety to preserve his esteem.</p> + +<p>'Nay, you must take your property!' she resumed, with attempted +cheerfulness; yet blushing more deeply every moment, at thus betraying +to Lord Melbury that she had any property of Mr Harleigh's to return.</p> + +<p>'I will take your commands in every shape in which they can be framed,' +cried Harleigh, gaily; 'but you must not refuse to grant me, at the same +time, directions for their execution.'</p> + +<p>The interest with which Lord Melbury listened to what passed, was now +mingled with undisguised impatience: but Juliet could not endure to +satisfy him; could not support letting him know, that she retained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_576" id="Page_576">[Pg 576]</a></span> +money of Harleigh's in her hands; nor yet bear to suffer Harleigh, now +the address had been seen, to leave it still in her possession: +hesitating, abashed, she turned from one to the other, with looks at +Lord Melbury that seemed appealing for forbearance; and to Harleigh with +down-cast eyes, that had not force to encounter his, but that were +expressive of distress, timidity, and fear of misconstruction.</p> + +<p>This pause, while it astonished and perplexed Lord Melbury, gave rise, +in Harleigh, to the most flattering emotions. Her disturbance was, +indeed, visible, and cruelly painful to him; but, since their meeting in +the church-yard, the severity of her reserve had seemed shaken, beyond +her power, evident as were her struggles, to call back its original +firmness. The more exquisitely he felt himself bewitched by this +observation, the more fondly he desired to spare her delicacy, by +concealing, though not repressing his hopes; but his eyes, less under +his controul than his words, air, or address, spoke a language not to be +doubted of tenderness, and sparkled with lustrous happiness, Juliet felt +their beams too powerfully to mistake, or even to sustain them. Her head +dropt, her eye-lids nearly closed; blushing shame tingled in her cheeks, +and apprehension and perturbation trembled in every limb.</p> + +<p>Perceiving, and adoring, her inability to find utterance, Harleigh, with +subdued rapture, yet in a tone that spoke of his feelings to be, at +length, in harmony with all his wishes, was gently beginning an entreaty +that she would adjourn this little dispute to another day, when the +words, 'Well! if here i'n't the very person we were talking off!' +striking his ears, he looked round, and saw Miss Bydel, accompanied by +Mr Giles Arbe; whose approach had been unheeded by them all, from the +deep interest which had concentrated their attention to themselves.</p> + +<p>'Why, Mrs Ellis,' she continued, 'why what are you doing here? I should +like to know that. I've just had a smart battle about you with my good +friend, Mr Giles. He will needs have it, that you paid all your debts +from a hoard that you had by you, of your own; though I have told him I +dare say an hundred times, at the least, I must needs be a better judge, +having been paid myself, for my own share, by that cross-grained +Baronet, who's been such a good friend to you.'</p> + +<p>The sensations of Juliet underwent now another change, though shame was +still predominant; her fears of exciting the expectations she sought to +annul in Harleigh, were superseded by a terrour yet more momentous, of +giving ground for suspicion, not alone to himself,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_577" id="Page_577">[Pg 577]</a></span> but to Lord Melbury, +that, while fashioning a thousand difficulties, to accepting the +assistance that was generously and delicately offered by themselves, she +had suffered a third person, that person, also, a gentleman, to supply +her pecuniary necessities. She breathed hard, and looked disordered, but +could suggest nothing to say; while Harleigh and Lord Melbury stood as +if transfixed by disturbed astonishment.</p> + +<p>'Well! I protest,' resumed Miss Bydel, 'if here i'n't another of the +people that we were talking of, Mr Giles! for I declare it's Mr +Harleigh, that I was telling you, you know, my good friend, was the +person that made poor Miss Joddrel make away with her herself, because +of his skimper-scampering after Mrs Ellis, when she had that swoon! +which, to be sure, had but an out of the way look; for the music would +have taken care of her. Don't you think so yourself, my dear?'</p> + +<p>The most painful confusion again took possession of Juliet; who would +silently have walked away, had not Miss Bydel caught hold of her arm, +saying, 'Don't be in a hurry, my dear, for you shan't be chid; for I'll +speak for you myself to Mrs Ireton.'</p> + +<p>'I am mighty glad to hear that Sir Jaspar is your friend, my pretty +lady,' said the smiling Mr Giles; 'and I am mighty glad, too, that you +have persuaded him to help to pay your debts. He's a very good sort of +man, where he takes; and very witty and clever. Though he is crabbed, +too; rather crabbed and waspish, when he i'n't pleased. He always scolds +all the men: and, indeed, the maids, too, when they a'n't pretty, poor +things! And they can't help that: else, I dare say, they would. Yet, I +am afraid, I don't like them quite so well myself, neither, in my heart, +when they are ugly; which is but hard upon them; so I always do them +double the good, to punish myself. But I'm prodigiously sorry you should +have taken to that turn of running in debt, my dear, for it's the only +thing I know to your disadvantage; for which reason I have never named +it to a single soul; only it just dropt out, before I was aware, to Miss +Bydel; which I am sorry enough for; for I am afraid it will be but hard +to her, poor lady, to keep it to herself.'</p> + +<p>'What do you mean by that Mr Giles?' cried Miss Bydel, angrily. 'Do you +want to insinuate that I don't know how to keep a secret? I should be +glad to know what right you have to fleer at a person about that, when +you blab out every thing in such a manner yourself! and before these two +gentlemen, too; who don't lose a word of what passes, I can tell you!'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_578" id="Page_578">[Pg 578]</a></span></p> + +<p>'True! Good! You are right there, Mrs Bydel! I did not think of that, I +protest. However, these two gentlemen have too much kindness about them, +to repeat a thing that may hurt a young person just coming, as one may +say, into the world, for she is but a chicken; and my lord, here, who +looks younger still, is scarcely more than an egg. So you may be sure he +has no guile in him, for he seems almost as innocent as herself. +However, my pretty lady, if you have still any more debts, new or old, +only tell me who you owe them to, and I'll run and fetch all the people +here; and we'll join together to discharge them at once; for Mr Harleigh +is always at home when he is doing good; and this young nobleman can't +begin too soon to learn what he is rich for: so you can never be in +better hands for taking up a little money. When we settled the last +batch, you had no debt left but to Mrs Bydel; and, as the Baronet has +paid her, she's off our hands. So tell me whether there is any new one +that you have been running up since?'</p> + +<p>Wounded, and nearly indignant at this demand, 'None!' Juliet +spontaneously answered; when catching a glance at Lord Melbury, who +involuntarily looked down, his purse and the fifteen guineas of Lady +Aurora, rushed upon her memory, and filled her again with visible +embarrassment.</p> + +<p>'Good! good!' cried the pleased Mr Giles: 'you could not tell me better +news. But are there any poor souls, then, that you forgot to mention in +our last reckoning? Are there any old debts that you did not count?'</p> + +<p>Inexpressibly hurt at a supposition so offensive to her sense of +probity, Juliet hastily repeated, 'No, Sir, there are none!' but, in +raising her head, and encountering the penetrating eyes of Harleigh, the +terrible recollection of the capital into which she had broken, and of +the large sum so long his due, struck cold to her heart; though it burnt +her cheeks with a dye of crimson.</p> + +<p>Yet were these sensations nearly nugatory, compared with those which she +suffered the next instant, when Miss Bydel, suddenly perceiving the +direction upon the packet, read aloud 'For Albert Harleigh, Esq.'</p> + +<p>Her exclamations, her blunt, unqualified interrogatories, and the +wonder, and simple ejaculations of Mr Giles Arbe, filled Juliet with a +confusion so intolerable, that she forced her arm from Miss Bydel, with +intention to insist upon publicly restoring the packet to Harleigh; but +Harleigh, confounded himself, had advanced towards the house,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_579" id="Page_579">[Pg 579]</a></span> which, +frequently as they had stopt, they now insensibly reached; but from +which he would most willingly have retrograded, upon seeing Ireton +issue, laughing, into the portico.</p> + +<p>The laugh of Ireton, whose gaiety was always derision, and whose +derision was always scandal, though it was innocently echoed by the +unsuspicious Mr Giles, was as alarming to the two gentlemen and to +Juliet, as it was offensive to Miss Bydel; who pettishly demanded, 'Pray +what are you laughing at, Mr Ireton? I should like to know that. If it +is at me, you may as well tell me at once, for I shall be sure to find +it out; because I always make a point of doing that.'</p> + +<p>Ireton, seizing upon Harleigh, exclaimed 'What, Monsieur le Moniteur! +still hankering after our mysterious fair one?' when, perceiving the +wishes of Juliet, to pass on, he wantonly filled up the door-way.</p> + +<p>Harleigh, who, also, could not but guess them, though he dared not look +at her, hoped, by delaying her entrance, to catch a moment's discourse: +but the youthful Lord Melbury, deeming all caution to be degrading, that +interfered with protection to a lovely female, openly desired that +Ireton would stand aside, and let the ladies enter the house.</p> + +<p>'Most undoubtedly, my lord!' answered Ireton, making way, with an air of +significant acquiescence.</p> + +<p>Miss Bydel, with a warm address of thanks to his lordship, whose +interference she received as a personal civility, said, 'This is like a +gentleman, indeed, my lord, and quite fit for a lord to do, to take the +part of us poor weak women, against people that keep one standing out in +the street, because they think of nothing but joking;' and then, telling +Juliet to follow her, 'I can do no less,' she added, as she entered the +hall, 'than be as good as my word to this poor young music-maker, to +save her a chiding, poor creature, for staying, dawdling, out so long; +when ten to one but poor Mrs Ireton has wanted her a hundred times, for +one odd thing or another. But I shall take all the fault upon myself for +the last part of the job, because I can't deny but I held her a minute +or two by the arm. But what she was gossipping about before we came up +to her, my good friend Mr Giles and I, is what I don't pretend to say; +though I should like to know very well; for it had but an odd +appearance, I must own; both your gentlemen having been talked of so +much, in the town, about this young person.'</p> + +<p>The most pointed darts of wit, and even the poisoned shafts of malice, +are less disconcerting to delicacy, than the unqualified bluntness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_580" id="Page_580">[Pg 580]</a></span> of +the curious under-bred; for that which cannot be imputed to a spirit of +sarcasm, or a desire of shining, passes, to the bye-standers, for +unvarnished truth. As such, the intimation of Miss Bydel was palpably +received by Ireton, and by Mr Giles; though with malevolent wilfulness +by the one, and, by the other, with the simplest credulity; while Lord +Melbury, Harleigh and Juliet, were too much ashamed to look up, and too +much confounded to attempt parrying so gross an attack.</p> + +<p>Yet both Lord Melbury and Harleigh, urged invincibly by a desire of +knowing in what manner Juliet was to be patronized by her loquacious +mediatrix, and how they might themselves fare in the account, +irresistibly entered the mansion; though marvelling, each, at the +curiosity, and blaming the indiscretion of the other.</p> + +<p>To avoid the aspersion of making a clandestine retreat, Juliet had +decided, however painful to her might be such an exertion, openly to +relinquish her situation with Mrs Ireton; but she by no means felt equal +to risking the irascibility of that lady before so many witnesses. +Nevertheless, when she would have glided from the party, Miss Bydel, +again seizing her arm, called out, 'Come, don't be afraid, Mrs Ellis: +I've promised to take your part, and I am always as good as my word;' +and then dragged, rather than drew her into the drawing-room; closely +attended by Lord Melbury, Harleigh, Mr Giles Arbe, and Ireton.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_581" id="Page_581">[Pg 581]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXV" id="CHAPTER_LXV"></a>CHAPTER LXV</h2> + + +<p>Unweariedly concerting means of detection relative to the stranger, +which no failure of success could discourage, Mrs Ireton and Mrs Maple +sate whispering upon the same sofa in the drawing-room; while Selina and +Miss Arramede were tittering at a window.</p> + +<p>'How do you do, ladies?' cried Miss Bydel. 'In close chat, I see. +However, I don't want to know what it's about. I'm only come to speak a +word about this poor thing here, for fear you should think she has been +all this time gossipping about her own affairs; which, I assure you, Mrs +Ireton, I can bear witness for her i'n't the case.'</p> + +<p>The supercilious silence of Mrs Ireton to this address, would have +authorised the immediate retreat of Juliet, but that Ireton maliciously +placed himself against the door, and impeded its being opened; while +Lord Melbury and Harleigh were obliged to approach the sofa, to pay +their compliments to the lady of the mansion; who, giving them her whole +attention, left Miss Bydel to finish her harangue to Mrs Maple.</p> + +<p>'Right! True!' cried Mr Giles, eager to abet what he thought the good +nature of Miss Bydel. 'What you say is just and fair, Mrs Bydel; for +this pretty young lady here wanted to go from these two gentlemen the +minute we came up to her; only Mrs Bydel's arm being rather, I conceive, +heavy, she could not so soon break away. But I did not catch one of her +pretty dimples all the time. So pray, Mrs Ireton, don't be angry with +her; and the less because she's so sweet tempered, that, if you are, she +won't complain; for she never did of Mrs Maple.'</p> + +<p>'I hope this is curious enough!' cried Mrs Maple. 'A body to come and +live upon me, for months together, upon charity, and then not to +complain of me! I think if this is not enough to cure people of charity, +I wonder what is! For my part, I am heartily sick of it, for the rest of +my life.'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_582" id="Page_582">[Pg 582]</a></span></p> + +<p>Juliet having again, but vainly, tried to pass by Ireton, retired to an +unoccupied window. Harleigh, though engaged in discourse with Mrs +Ireton, reddened indignantly; and Lord Melbury nearly mashed the nails +of his fingers between his teeth; while Mr Giles, staring, demanded, +'Why what can there be, Ma'am, in charity, to turn you so sick? A poor +helpless young creature, like that, can't make you her toad-eater.'</p> + +<p>Alarmed at an address which she looked upon as a prognostic to an +exhortation, of which she dreaded, from experience, the plainness and +severity, Mrs Maple hastily changed her place: while Mrs Ireton, +startled, also, by the word toad-eater, unremittingly continued speaking +to the two gentlemen; whose attention, nevertheless, she could not for a +moment engage, though their looks and persons were her prisoners.</p> + +<p>'I don't know why you ladies who are so rich and gay,' continued Mr +Giles, composedly, and, to the great annoyance of Mrs Ireton, taking +possession of the seat which Mrs Maple had abdicated; 'should not try to +make yourselves pleasant to those who are poor and sad. You, that have +got every thing you can wish for, should take as much pains not to be +distasteful, as a poor young thing like that, who has got nothing but +what she works for, should take pains not to be starved.'</p> + +<p>Mrs Ireton, extremely incensed, though affecting to be unconcerned, +haughtily summoned Ellis.</p> + +<p>Ellis, forced to obey, went to the back of the sofa, to avoid standing +by the side of the two gentlemen; and determined to make use of this +opportunity for announcing her project of retreat.</p> + +<p>'Pray, Ma'am,' Mrs Ireton cried, 'permit me to enquire—' her eye +angrily, yet cautiously, glancing at Mr Giles, 'to what extraordinary +circumstance I am indebted, for having the honour of receiving your +visitors? Not that I am insensible to such a distinction; you won't +imagine me such an Hottentot, I hope, as to be insensible to so +honourable a distinction! Nevertheless, you'll pardon me, I trust, if I +take the liberty to intimate, that, for the future, when any of your +friends are to be indulged in waiting upon you, you will have the +goodness to receive them in your own apartments. You'll excuse the hint, +I flatter myself!'</p> + +<p>'I shall intrude no apologies upon your time, Madam,' said Ellis, +calmly, 'for relinquishing a situation in which I have acquitted myself +so little to your satisfaction: to-morrow, therefore—'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_583" id="Page_583">[Pg 583]</a></span></p> + +<p>Anticipating, and eager to convert a resignation which she regarded as a +disgrace, into a dismission which she considered as a triumph, Mrs +Ireton impatiently interrupted her, crying, 'To-morrow? And why are we +to wait for to-morrow? What has to-day done? Permit me to ask that. And +pray don't take it ill. Pray don't let me offend you: only—what has +poor to-day done, that to-morrow must have such a preference?'</p> + +<p>Juliet, frightened at the idea of being reduced to pass a night alone at +an inn, now hesitated; and Mrs Ireton, smiling complacently around her, +went on.</p> + +<p>'Suffer me, I beg, to speak a little word for poor, neglected to-day! +Have we not long enough been slaves to to-morrow? Let the pleasures of +dear expectation be superseded, this once, for those of actual +enjoyment. Not but 'twill be very severe upon me to lose you. I don't +dissemble that. So gay a companion! I shall certainly expire an +hypochondriac upon first missing your amusing sallies. I can never +survive such a deprivation. No! It's all over with me! You pity me, I am +sure, my good friends?'</p> + +<p>She now looked around, with an expression of ineffable satisfaction at +her own wit: but it met no applause, save in the ever ready giggles of +Selina, and the broad admiration of the round-eyed Miss Bydel.</p> + +<p>Juliet silently courtsied, with a gravity that implied a leave-taking, +and, approaching the door, desired that Ireton would let her pass.</p> + +<p>Ireton, laughing, declared that he should not suffer her to decamp, till +she gave him a direction where he could find her the next day.</p> + +<p>Offended, she returned again to her window.</p> + +<p>'O, now, pray, Mrs Ireton,' cried Miss Bydel, 'don't turn her away, poor +thing! don't turn her away, Ma'am, for such a mere little fault. I dare +say she'll do her best to please you, if you'll only try her again. +Besides, if she's turned off in this manner, just as young Lord Melbury +is here, he may try to make her his kept mistress again. At least +naughty people will say so.'</p> + +<p>'Who will say so, Ma'am?' cried Lord Melbury, starting up, in a rage to +which he was happy to find so laudable a vent: 'Who will dare say so? +Name me a single human being!'</p> + +<p>'Lord, my lord,' answered Miss Bydel, a little frightened; 'nobody, very +likely! only it's best to be upon one's guard against evil speakers; for +young lords at your time of life, a'n't apt to be quite so good as they +are when they are more stricken in years. That's all I mean, my lord; +for I don't mean to affront your lordship, I'm sure.'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_584" id="Page_584">[Pg 584]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mrs Ireton, again beckoning to Ellis, said, 'Pray, Mrs Thing-a-mi, have +you done me so much honour as to make out your bill?' And, +ostentatiously, she produced her purse. 'What is the amount, Ma'am, of +my debt?'</p> + +<p>Juliet paused a moment, and then answered, ''Tis an amount, Madam, much +too difficult and complicate for me, just now, to calculate!'</p> + +<p>Mr Giles, alertly rising, cried, 'Let me help you, then, my pretty lady, +to cast it up. What have you given her upon account, Mrs Ireton?'</p> + +<p>'I am not her book-keeper, Sir!' returned Mrs Ireton, extremely nettled. +'I don't pretend to the honour of acting as her steward! But I trust she +will be good enough to take what is her due. 'Tis very much beneath her, +I own; extremely beneath her, I confess; yet I hope, this once, she will +let herself down so far.' And, ten guineas, which she had held in her +hand, were augmented to twenty, which she paradingly flung upon the +table.</p> + +<p>Mrs Maple and Miss Bydel poured forth the warmest exclamations of +admiration at this magnificence; but Juliet, quietly saying, 'Let me +hope, Madam, that my successor may merit your generosity,' again +courtsied, and was going: when Mr Giles, eagerly picking up the money, +and following her with it, spread upon his open hand, said, 'What do you +go without your cash for, my pretty lady? Why don't you take your +guineas?'</p> + +<p>'Excuse, excuse me, Sir!' cried Juliet, hastily, and trying to be gone.</p> + +<p>'And why?' cried he, a little angrily. 'Are they not your own? What have +you been singing for, and playing, and reading, and walking? and +humouring the little naughty boy? and coddling the cross little dog? +Take your guineas, I say. Would you be so proud as to leave the +obligation all on the side of Mrs Ireton?'</p> + +<p>A smile at this statement, in defiance of her distress, irresistibly +stole its way upon the features of Juliet; while Mrs Ireton, stung to +the quick, though forcing a contemptuous laugh, exclaimed, 'This is +really the height of the marvellous! It transcends all my poor ideas! I +own that! I can't deny that! However, I must drop my acquaintance +entirely with Miss Arbe, if it is to subject me to intrusions of every +sort, on pretence of visiting that Miss what's her name! I have had +quite enough of all this! I really desire no more.'</p> + +<p>Harleigh, to hide his acute interest in the situation of Juliet, +pretended to be examining a portrait that was hung over the +chimney-piece; but Lord Melbury, less capable of self-restraint, +applaudingly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_585" id="Page_585">[Pg 585]</a></span> seized the hand of Mr Giles, and grasping it warmly, +cried, 'Where may I have the pleasure of waiting upon you, Sir? I desire +infinitely to cultivate your acquaintance.'</p> + +<p>'And I shall like it too, my good young nobleman,' said Mr Giles, with a +look of great satisfaction; and was beginning, at very full length, to +give his direction, when Selina called out from the window, as a +carriage drove up to the door, 'Mrs Ireton, it's Lord Denmeath's +livery.'</p> + +<p>Lord Melbury, abruptly breaking from Mr Giles, hurried out of the room; +which alone prevented the same action from Juliet, whose face suddenly +exhibited horrour rather than affright. But she felt that to fly the +uncle, at a moment when she might seem to pursue the nephew, might be +big with suspicious mischief; and, though shaking with terrour, she +placed herself as if she were examining a small landscape, behind an +immense screen, which in summer, as well as in winter, nearly surrounded +the sofa of Mrs Ireton. And hence she hoped, when his lordship should be +entered, to steal unnoticed from the room.</p> + +<p>'This is a stroke that surpasses all the rest!' faintly cried Mrs +Ireton; 'that Lord Denmeath, whom I have not seen these seven ages, +should renew his acquaintence at an epoch of such strange disorder in my +house! He will never believe this apartment to be mine! it will not be +possible for him to believe it. He'll conclude me in some lodging. He'll +imagine me the victim of some dreadful reverse of fortune. He is so +little accustomed to see me in any motley group! He can so little figure +me to himself as a person in a general herd!'</p> + +<p>'Well, I, for one, am here by mere accident, to be sure,' said Miss +Bydel; 'but, however, I did not come in from mere curiosity, I assure +you, Mrs Ireton; for I knew nothing of Lord Denmeath's being to come. +However, as I happen to be here, I sha'n't be sorry to see his lordship, +if I sha'n't be in anybody's way, for I never happened to be where he +was before. Only I can't think what Lord Melbury went off so quick for; +unless it was to shew his uncle the way up stairs. And if it was for +that, it was pretty enough of him.'</p> + +<p>'No, no, you'll be in nobody's way, Mrs Bydel,' said Mr Giles; 'don't be +afraid of that. Here's abundance of room for us all. The apartment's a +very good apartment for that.'</p> + +<p>Mrs Ireton now, impatiently ringing the bell, demanded, of a servant, +what he had done with Lord Denmeath; adding, 'I should be glad, Sir, to +be informed! very glad, I must confess; for, perhaps, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_586" id="Page_586">[Pg 586]</a></span> you have been +so good as to shew a visitor of one of my people into the drawing-room, +you may have thought proper to usher a visitor of mine into the +kitchen?'</p> + +<p>His lordship, the servant answered, had been met by Lord Melbury, upon +alighting from the coach, and had stept with him into the +dining-parlour.</p> + +<p>Mrs Maple exulted that she could now, at last, have an opportunity to +clear herself of his lordship, about the many odd appearances which had +so long stood against her: while Ireton, who had espied the effort of +Juliet to escape notice, called out, 'I don't know where the devil I +have put my hat;' and suddenly pushing towards her, with a blustrous +appearance of search, gave her a mischievous nod, as she started back +from his bold approach, and encircled her completely within the broad +leaves of the screen.</p> + +<p>She suffered this malicious sport in preference to attempting any +resistance; though vexed at the noise which she must now unavoidably +make in removing.</p> + +<p>She was scarcely thus enclosed, when Lord Denmeath was announced.</p> + +<p>Her heart now beat so violently with terrour, that her shaking hand +could scarcely grasp a leaf of the screen, as she tried to make an +opening for letting herself out, while his lordship was returning a +reception of fawning courtesy, by some embarrassed and ambiguous +apologies, relative to the motives of his visit. And when, at length, +she succeeded, she was deterred from endeavouring to abscond, by seeing +Harleigh, with his hand upon the door, making his bow.</p> + +<p>Mrs Maple, interfering, would not permit him to depart; clamorously +declaring, that he was the properest person to give an account to his +lordship of this adventurer, as he must best know why he had forced them +to take such a body into their boat.</p> + +<p>With deep agitation, and blushing anxiety, Juliet now unavoidably heard +Harleigh answer, 'I can but repeat to his lordship what I have a +thousand times assured these ladies, that I have not the smallest +knowledge whence this young lady comes, nor whom she may be. I can only, +therefore, reply to these enquiries from my mental perceptions. These +convince me, through progressive observations, that she is a person of +honour, well educated, accustomed to good society, highly principled, +and noble minded. You smile, my lord! But those only who judge without +conversing with her, or converse without drawing forth her sentiments, +can annex any disparaging doubt to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_587" id="Page_587">[Pg 587]</a></span> mystery of her situation. Her +conduct has rather been exemplary than irreproachable from the moment +that she has been cast upon our knowledge; though she has suffered, +during that short interval, distress of almost every description. Her +language is always that of polished life; her manners, even when her +occupations are nearly servile, are invariably of distinguished +elegance; yet, with all their softness, all their gentleness, she has a +courage that, upon the most trying occasions, is superiour to +difficulty; and a soul that, even in the midst of injury and misfortune, +depends upon itself, and is above complaint. Such, my lord, I think her! +not, indeed, from any certain documents; but from a self-conviction, +founded, I repeat, upon progressive observations; which have the weight +with me, now, of mathematical demonstration.'</p> + +<p>Tears resistless, yet benign, flowed down the cheeks of Juliet in +listening to this defence; and, while she endeavoured to disperse them, +before she ventured from her retreat, Lord Denmeath began an enquiry, +whether this young person had regularly refused to say who she was; or +whether she had occasionally made any partial communication; or given +any hints relative to her family or connexions.</p> + +<p>Juliet was now in an agony of mind indescribable. She had hoped to glide +away with the general party unobserved; but Harleigh had kept constantly +at the door till he made his exit; which, now, was so crowdingly +followed by that of every one, except Mrs Ireton and his lordship, that +the delay ended in making her, individually, more conspicuous. Yet, to +overhear, unsuspectedly, a conversation believed to be private, even +though she knew herself to be its subject, was dishonour: hastily, +therefore, though shaking in every limb, she forced herself from without +the screen.</p> + +<p>Mrs Ireton shrieked and sunk back upon the sofa, crying out, 'Oh, my +lord, she's here!—Concealed to listen to us!—What a shock!—I shall +feel it these three years!'</p> + +<p>Juliet fleetly crossed the drawing-room, without daring to raise her +head; but Lord Denmeath, passing quickly before her, as if intending to +open the door, held the handle of the lock, while, steadily examining +her as he spoke, he said, 'Will you give me leave, Ma'am, to see you for +a few minutes to-morrow?'</p> + +<p>Juliet made not, nor even attempted to make any answer: terrour was +painted in every line of her face, and she trembled so violently, that +she was forced to catch by the back of a chair, to save herself from +falling.</p> + +<p>'I hope, Ma'am,' said Lord Denmeath, 'you are not ill?' and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_588" id="Page_588">[Pg 588]</a></span> +approaching her with a look of compassion, added, in a whisper, 'I know +you!—but be not frightened. I will not hurt you. I will speak to you +to-morrow alone, and arrange something to your advantage.'</p> + +<p>Juliet seemed utterly overcome, and remained motionless.</p> + +<p>'Compose yourself,' continued Lord Denmeath, speaking louder, and +turning towards the wondering Mrs Ireton; 'I will see you when and where +you please to-morrow.'</p> + +<p>Mrs Ireton, whose own curiosity knew not how to brook any delay, now +recovered sufficient strength to rise; and, begging that his lordship +would not postpone his business, she passed into her boudoir; the door +of which, however, Lord Denmeath failed not to remark, was shut without +much vigour.</p> + +<p>Lowering, therefore, his tone till, even to Juliet, it was scarcely +audible, 'We cannot,' he said, 'converse here with any openness; but, if +you are not your own enemy, you may make me your friend; though I cannot +but take ill your coming over against my advice and injunctions, and +thus insidiously introducing yourself to my nephew and niece.'</p> + +<p>Juliet here looked up, with an air of self-vindication; but Lord +Denmeath steadily went on.</p> + +<p>'I have for some time suspected who you were, though but vaguely; yet, +attributing your voyage to the officious counsel of the Bishop, I +contented myself, for the moment, with putting a stop to your +intercourse with my credulous young relations. But other information has +reached me; and reached me at the very moment when Mrs Howel,—when, +indeed, my nephew and niece themselves had acquainted me with the +meeting at Arundel Castle. I will talk upon all these matters in detail +to-morrow morning. I have only to demand, in the interval, that you will +neither speak nor write to Lord Melbury. I have already obtained his +promise to be quiet till our conference is over. But I know that there +are ways and means to induce a young man to forget his engagements. I +hope you will try none such. Where can we have our conversation?'</p> + +<p>'No where, my lord!' to the utter astonishment of Lord Denmeath, and +even to her own, Juliet now, with sudden spirit, answered: but the +courage which had been subdued by apprehension, was revived, during the +preceding harangue, by strong glowing indignation.</p> + +<p>'What is it,' when amazement would give him leave to speak, 'what is +it,' Lord Denmeath said, 'that you mean?'</p> + +<p>'That I will not trouble your lordship to offer me directions that I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_589" id="Page_589">[Pg 589]</a></span> +may not be at liberty to follow. I have already, my lord, a guide; and +one to whose judgment I shall submit implicitly. That Bishop, whom your +lordship is pleased to call officious, is my first, best, and nearly +only friend; and if ever again I should be so blest as to meet with him, +his opinion shall be my law,—as his benediction will be my happiness!'</p> + +<p>In great emotion, yet with unappalled dignity, she was departing; but +Lord Denmeath, with an air of surprize, stopping her, said, 'You are +then a Papist?'</p> + +<p>'No, my lord, I am firmly a Protestant! But, as such, I am a Christian; +so, and most piously, yet not illiberally, is the Bishop.'</p> + +<p>'What is it,—tell me, if you please, that this Bishop purposes? To +renew those old claims so long ago vainly canvassed? Can he imagine he +will now have more influence than when possessed of his episcopal rank +and fortune? Set him right in that point. You will do him a friendly +turn. And permit me to do a similar one by yourself. I know the whole of +your situation!'</p> + +<p>Juliet started.</p> + +<p>'I have just had information which I meant to communicate to you, +accompanied with offers of mediation and assistance; but you are +sufficient to yourself! or your champion, the Bishop, makes all other +aid superfluous! Suffer me, nevertheless, to intimate to you, that you +will do well to return, quietly and expeditiously, to the spot whence +you came. You may else make the voyage less pleasantly!'</p> + +<p>The colour which resentment and exertion had just raised in the cheeks +of Juliet, now faded away, and left them nearly as white as snow. Lord +Denmeath, softening his voice and manner, and changing the haughty air +of his countenance into something that approached to kindness, went on +more gently.</p> + +<p>'I did not mean to alarm, but to befriend you. I allow not only for your +youth and inexperience, but for the false ideas with which you have been +brought up. If it had not pleased the Bishop to interfere, all would +have been amicably arranged from the first. Take, however, a little time +for reflection. Think upon the enormous risk which you run!—a fine +young woman, like you,—and you are, indeed, a very fine young woman; +flying from her house and home—'</p> + +<p>Juliet, shaking, shuddering, hid her face, and burst into tears.</p> + +<p>'I see that it is not impossible to work upon you,' he continued; 'I +will beg Mrs Ireton, therefore, to let us converse to-morrow where we +may canvass the matter at leisure. The road is still open for you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_590" id="Page_590">[Pg 590]</a></span> to +affluence and credit. It will make me very happy to be your conductor. +You will find I am authorized so to be. Make yourself, therefore, as +easy as you can, and depend upon my best offices. We will certainly meet +to-morrow morning.'</p> + +<p>He then bowed to her, and moved towards the boudoir; which Mrs Ireton, +appearing accidentally to open the door that had never been shut, +quitted, to receive him; while Juliet, in speechless disorder, retired.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_591" id="Page_591">[Pg 591]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXVI" id="CHAPTER_LXVI"></a>CHAPTER LXVI</h2> + + +<p>Upon quitting the drawing-room, to mount to her chamber, Juliet caught a +glance of Ireton, ascending the staircase to the second story.</p> + +<p>Apprehensive that he was watching for an opportunity to again torment +her, she turned into a small apartment called the Print Closet, of which +the door was open; purposing there to wait till he should have passed +on.</p> + +<p>There, however, she had no sooner entered, than, examining the beautiful +engravings of Sir Robert Strange, she perceived Harleigh.</p> + +<p>Eagerly and with delight he advanced, and sought, once more, to take her +hand. A look of solemnity repressed him; but 'twas a solemnity mixt with +sorrow, not anger.</p> + +<p>'Generous Mr Harleigh!' she faintly articulated, while endeavouring to +disperse the tears that again strove to find their way down her cheeks; +'can you then, thus unabatedly preserve your good opinion of an unknown +Wanderer, ... who seems the sport of insult and misfortune?'</p> + +<p>Almost dissolved with tender feelings at this question, Harleigh, gently +overpowering her opposition, irresistibly seized her hand, repeating, +'My good opinion? my reverence, rather!—my veneration is yours!—and a +confidence in your worth that has no limits!'</p> + +<p>Ashamed of the situation into which a sudden impulse of gratitude had +involuntarily betrayed her, the varying hues of her now white, now +crimson cheeks manifested alternate distress and confusion; while she +struggled incessantly to disengage her hand; but the happy heart of +Harleigh felt so delightedly its possession, that she struggled in vain.</p> + +<p>'Yet, let not that confidence,' he continued, 'be always the offspring +of fascination! Give it, at length, some other food than conjecture!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_592" id="Page_592">[Pg 592]</a></span> +not to remove doubts; I have none! but to solve difficulties that rob me +of rest.—'</p> + +<p>'I am sorry, Sir, very sorry, if I cause you any uneasiness,' said +Juliet, resuming her usual calmness of manner; yet with bent down eyes, +that neither ventured to meet his, nor to cast a glance at the hand +which she still fruitlessly strove to withdraw; 'but indeed you must not +detain me;—no, not a minute!'</p> + +<p>Enchanted by the mildness of this remonstrance, little as its injunction +met his wishes; 'Half a minute, then!' he gaily replied, 'accord me only +half a minute, and I will try to be contented. Suffer me but to ask,—'</p> + +<p>'No, Sir, you must ask me nothing! There is no question whatever I can +answer!—'</p> + +<p>'I will not make one, then! I will only offer an observation. There is a +something—I know not what; nor can I divine; but something there is +strange, singular,—very unusual, and very striking, between you and +Lord Melbury! Pardon, pardon my abruptness! You allow me no time to be +scrupulous. You promise him your confidence,—that confidence so long, +so fervently solicited by another!—so inexorably withheld!—'</p> + +<p>'I earnestly desire,' cried Juliet, recovering her look of openness, and +raising her eyes; 'the sanction of Lord Melbury to the countenance and +kindness of Lady Aurora.'</p> + +<p>'Thanks! thanks!' cried Harleigh; who in this short, but expressive +explanation, flattered himself that some concern was included for his +peace; ''Tis to that, then, that cause,—a cause the most lovely,—he +owes this envied pre-eminence?—And yet,—pardon me!—while apparently +only a mediator—may not such a charge,—such an intercourse,—so +intimate and so interesting a commission,—may it not,—nay, must it not +inevitably make him from an agent become a principal?—Will not his +heart pay the tribute—'</p> + +<p>'Heaven forbid!' interrupting him, cried Juliet.</p> + +<p>'Thanks! thanks, again! You do not, then, wish it? You are generous, +noble enough not to wish it? And frank, sweet, ingenuous enough to +acknowledge that you do not wish it? Ah! tell me but—'</p> + +<p>'Mr Harleigh,' again interrupting him, cried Juliet, 'I know not what +you are saying!—I fear I have been misunderstood.—You must let me be +gone!'—</p> + +<p>'No!' answered he, passionately; 'I can live no longer, breathe +no longer, in this merciless solicitude of uncertainty and obscurity! +You<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_593" id="Page_593">[Pg 593]</a></span> must give me some glimmering of light, some opening to +comprehension,—or content yourself to be my captive!—'</p> + +<p>'You terrify me, Mr Harleigh! Let me go!—instantly! instantly!—Would +you make me hate—' She had begun with a precipitance nearly vehement; +but stopt abruptly.</p> + +<p>'Hate me?' cried Harleigh, with a look appalled: 'Good Heaven!'</p> + +<p>'Hate you?—No,—not you!... I did not say you!—'</p> + +<p>'Who, then? who then, should I make you hate?—Lord Melbury?—'</p> + +<p>'O no, never!—'tis impossible!—Let me be gone!—let me be gone!—'</p> + +<p>'Not till you tell me whom I should make you hate! I cannot part with +you in this new ignorance! Clear, at least, this one little point Whom +should I make hate you?—'</p> + +<p>'Myself, Sir, myself!' cried she, trembling and struggling. 'If you +persist in thus punishing my not having fled from you, at once, as I +would have fled from an enemy!'</p> + +<p>He immediately let go her hand; but, finding that, though her look was +instantly appeased, nay grateful, she was hastily retreating, he glided +between her and the door, crying, 'Where,—at least deign to tell +me!—Where may I see,—may I speak to you again?'</p> + +<p>'Any where, any where!'—replied she, with quickness; but presently, +with a sudden check of vivacity, added, 'No where, I mean!—no where, +Sir, no where!'—</p> + +<p>'Is this possible!' exclaimed he. 'Can you,—even in your wishes,—can +you be so hard of heart?'—</p> + +<p>'It is you,' said she reproachfully, 'who are hard of heart, to detain +me thus!—Think but where I am!—where you are!—This house—Miss +Joddrel—What may not be the consequence?—Is it Mr Harleigh who would +deliver me over to calumny?'</p> + +<p>Harleigh now held open the door for her himself, without venturing to +reply, as he heard footsteps upon the stairs; but he permitted his lips +to touch her arm, for he could not again seize her hand, as she passed +him, eagerly, and with her face averted. She fled on to the stairs, and +rapidly ascended them. Harleigh durst now follow; but he pursued her +with his eyes. He could not, however, catch a glance, could not even +view her profile, so sedulously her head was turned another way. +Disappointment and mortification were again seizing him; till he +considered, that that countenance thus hidden, had she been wholly +unfearful of shewing some little emotion, had probably, nay, even +purposely, been displayed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_594" id="Page_594">[Pg 594]</a></span></p> + +<p>Fleetly gaining her room, and dropping upon a chair, 'I must fly!—I +must fly!' she exclaimed. 'Danger, here, attacks me in every +quarter,—assails me in every shape! I must fly!—I must fly!'</p> + +<p>This project, which had its origin in her terrour of Elinor, was now +confirmed by the most profound, however troubled meditation. To +difficulties of discussion which she deemed insurmountable with +Harleigh; to claims of a confidence which she now considered to be +deeply dangerous with Lord Melbury; and to indignities daily, nay, +hourly, more insufferable from Mrs Ireton, were joined, at this moment, +the horrour of another interview with Lord Denmeath, still more +repugnant to her thoughts, and formidable to her fears.</p> + +<p>She refused to descend to the evening-summons of Mrs Ireton; determining +to avoid all further offences from that lady, to whom she had already +announced her intended departure; yet she sighed, she even wept at +quitting with the same unexplained abruptness Lord Melbury and Harleigh; +and the cruel disappointment, mingled with strange surmizes, of the +ingenuous Lord Melbury; the nameless consternation, blended with +resentful suspence, of the impassioned Harleigh; presented scenes of +distress and confusion to her imagination, that occupied her thoughts +the whole night, with varying schemes and incessant regret.</p> + +<p>When the glimmering of light shewed her that she must soon be gone, she +mounted to a garret, which she knew to be inhabited by a young +house-maid, whom she called up; and prevailed upon to go forth, and seek +a boy who would carry a parcel to a distant part of the town.</p> + +<p>Having thus gotten the street-door open, she guided the boy herself to +the inn; where she arrived in time to save her place; and whence she set +off for London.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_595" id="Page_595">[Pg 595]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXVII" id="CHAPTER_LXVII"></a>CHAPTER LXVII</h2> + + +<p>Escape and immediate safety thus secured, her tender friendship for +Gabriella superseding all fear, and leaving behind all solicitude, made +Juliet nearly pronounce aloud, what internally she repeated without +intermission, 'I come to you, then, at last, my beloved Gabriella!' +Cheerful, therefore, was her heart, in defiance of her various +distresses: she was quitting Mrs Ireton, to join Gabriella!—What could +be the circumstances that could make such a change severe to Juliet? +Juliet, who felt ill treatment more terribly than misfortune; and to +whom kindness was more essential than prosperity?</p> + +<p>Her journey was free from accident, and void of event. Absorbed in her +own ruminations, she listened not to what was said, and scarcely saw by +whom she was surrounded; though her fellow-travellers surveyed her with +curiosity, and, from time to time, assailed her with questions.</p> + +<p>Arrived at London, she put herself into a hackney-coach; and, almost +before her fluttered spirits suffered her to perceive that she had left +the inn-yard, she found herself in a haberdasher's shop, in Frith +Street, Soho; and in the arms of her Gabriella.</p> + +<p>It was long ere either of them could speak; their swelling hearts denied +all verbal utterance to their big emotions; though tears of poignant +grief at the numerous woes by which they had been separated, were +mingled with feelings of the softest felicity at their re-union.</p> + +<p>Yet vaguely only Juliet gave the history of her recent difficulties; the +history which had preceded them, and upon which hung the mystery of her +situation, still remained unrevealed.</p> + +<p>Gabriella forbore any investigation, but her look shewed disappointment. +Juliet perceived it, and changed colour. Tears gushed into her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_596" id="Page_596">[Pg 596]</a></span> eyes, +and her head dropt upon the neck of her friend. 'Oh my Gabriella!' she +cried, 'if my silence wounds, or offends you,—it is at an end!'</p> + +<p>Gabriella, instantly repressing every symptom of impatience, warmly +protested that she would await, without a murmur, the moment of +communication; well satisfied that it could be withheld from motives +only that would render its anticipation dangerous, if not censurable.</p> + +<p>With grateful tears, and tenderest embraces, Juliet expressed her thanks +for this acquiescence.</p> + +<p>Of Gabriella, the history was brief and gloomy. She had entered into +business with as little comprehension of its attributes, as taste for +its pursuit; her mind, therefore, bore no part in its details, though +she sacrificed to them the whole of her time. Of her son alone she could +speak or think. From her husband she reaped little consolation. Married +before the Revolution, from a convent, and while yet a child; according +to the general custom of her country, which rarely permits any choice +even to the man; and to the female allows not even a negative; chance +had not, as sometimes is kindly the case, played the part of election, +in assorting the new married couple. Gabriella was generous, noble, and +dignified: exalted in her opinions, and full of sensibility: Mr —— was +many years older than herself, haughty and austere, though brave and +honourable; but so cold in his nature, that he was neither struck with +her virtues nor her graces, save in considering them as appendages to +their mutual rank; nor much moved even by the death of his little son, +but from repining that he had lost the heir to his illustrious name. He +was now set off, <i>incognito</i>, to an appointed meeting with a part of his +family, upon the continent.</p> + +<p>Again a new scene of life opened to Juliet. The petty frauds, the +over-reaching tricks, the plausible address, of the craft shop-keeper in +retail, she had already witnessed: but the difficulties of honest trade +she had neither seen nor imagined. The utter inexperience of Gabriella, +joined to the delicacy of her probity, made her not more frequently the +dupe of the artifices of those with whom she had to deal, than the +victim of her own scruples. New to the mighty difference between buying +and selling; to the necessity of having at hand more stores than may +probably be wanted, for avoiding the risk of losing customers from +having fewer; and to the usage of rating at an imaginary value whatever +is in vogue, in order to repair the losses incurred from the failure of +obtaining the intrinsic worth of what is old-fashioned or faulty;—new +to all this, the wary shop-keeper's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_597" id="Page_597">[Pg 597]</a></span> code, she was perpetually mistaken, +or duped, through ignorance of ignorance, which leads to hazards, +unsuspected to be hazards.</p> + +<p>Repairs for the little shop were continually wanted, yet always +unforeseen; taxes were claimed when she was least prepared to discharge +them; and stores of merchandize accidentally injured, were obliged to be +sold under prime cost, if not to be utterly thrown away.</p> + +<p>Unpractised in every species of business, she had no criterion whence to +calculate its chances, or be aware of its changes, either from varying +seasons or varying modes; and to all her other intricacies, there was +added a perpetual horrour of bankruptcy, from the difficulty of +accelerating payment for what she sold, or of procrastinating it for +what she bought.</p> + +<p>Every embarrassment, however, at this period, was accommodated by +Juliet; who had the exquisite satisfaction not only to bring to her +beloved friend personal consolation, but solid and effectual comfort. +The purse of Lord Melbury, which Juliet would only consider as the loan +of Lady Aurora, was but little lightened by the small expences of the +short journey from Brighthelmstone; and all that remained of its +contents were instantly assigned to relieving the most painful of the +distresses of Gabriella, those in which others were involved through her +means.</p> + +<p>Gabriella, with a grace familiar, if not peculiar, to her nation, of +sharing, without the confusion of false pride, the offerings of tender +friendship, or generous sympathy, accepted with noble frankness the +assistance thus proposed; though Juliet again was obliged to hide her +face from the enquiring eye, that seemed strangely to wonder whence this +resource arose, and why its spring was concealed.</p> + +<p>Juliet now became a partner in all the occupations and cares of her +friend: together they prepared the shop for their customers every +morning, and decked it out to attract passers bye; together they +examined and re-arranged their goods every night; cast up their +accounts, deposited sums for their creditors, and entered claims into +their books for their debtors: together they sat in the shop, where one +served and waited upon customers, and the other aided the household +economy by the industry of her needle. Yet, laborious as might seem this +existence to those who had known 'other times,' Juliet, by the side of +Gabriella, thought every employment delightful; Gabriella, in the +society of Juliet, felt every exertion lightened, and every sorrow +softened.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_598" id="Page_598">[Pg 598]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXVIII" id="CHAPTER_LXVIII"></a>CHAPTER LXVIII</h2> + + +<p>Thus, in manual toil, yet mental comfort, had passed a week, when one +morning, while the usual commissioner for carrying about goods happened +to be out of the way, a lady from Soho Square sent, in great haste, an +order for some ribbons. Juliet, to save a customer to her friend, +proposed supplying the commissioner's place; and set forth for that +purpose, with a little band-box in her hands, and a large black bonnet +drawn over her eyes. But before she reached the square, she overtook two +men who were loitering on, as leisurely as she was tripping diligently, +and the words, 'You'll never know her again, I promise you; she's turned +out quite a beauty!' struck her ears, from a voice which she recollected +to be that of Mr Riley.</p> + +<p>Anxious to avoid being recognized by him, she crossed to the other side +of the street, with a precipitance that caused the cover of her +band-box, which she had neglected to fasten, to slip aside, and most of +her stores to roll in the dust.</p> + +<p>While, with great dismay, she sought to recover them, a feeble, but +eager voice, from a carriage, which suddenly stopt, ordered a footman to +descend and assist the young lady.</p> + +<p>Not without confusion, Juliet perceived to whom she owed so uncommon a +civility; it was to her old friend and admirer Sir Jaspar Herrington. +She collected her merchandize, courtsied her thanks, but looked another +way, and hurried back to her new home.</p> + +<p>She related her adventure to Gabriella, with whom she bemoaned the +mischief that had befallen the ribbons; and who now determined to spare +her friend any further hazard of unwelcome encounters, by carrying +herself what yet remained unsoiled of the pieces, to Soho Square.</p> + +<p>Juliet had barely time to install herself as mistress of the small<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_599" id="Page_599">[Pg 599]</a></span> +warehouse, when she saw, through the window, the carriage of Sir Jaspar; +at the same time, that a young woman opened the shop-door, and demanded +a drachm of black sewing silk, and a yard of tape.</p> + +<p>While Juliet with difficulty found, and with embarrassment prepared to +weigh the first, and to measure the second, the Baronet, with a curious, +but respectful air, entering, and hobbling towards the counter, desired +to look at some ribbons.</p> + +<p>Juliet, however vexed, could not refrain from smiling; but, through +confusion, joined to the novelty of her office, she doubled the weight +of her silk, and the measure of her tape, yet forgot to ask to be paid +for either; and her customer, whether from similar forgetfulness, or +from reluctance to mark the new shop-keeper's ignorance of business, +walked off without seeming to notice this inattention.</p> + +<p>Sir Jaspar, then, gravely repeated his request to be shewn some ribbons.</p> + +<p>Juliet began now to hope that she had not been recollected by the +Baronet. Shading her face, therefore, still lower with her large bonnet, +she produced a drawer of black ribbons; concluding that what he required +must be for his queue, or for his shoe-strings.</p> + +<p>No, he said, black would not do: the colour that he wanted was brown.</p> + +<p>In a low voice that strove to disguise itself, she answered that she had +no other colour at home.</p> + +<p>He would stay till some other were returned, then, he said; and, +composedly seating himself, and taking out his snuff-box, he added, that +he did not want plain brown ribbons, but ribbons speckled, spotted, or +splashed with brown.</p> + +<p>Juliet who could now no longer doubt being known to him, made no reply; +though again, irresistibly, she smiled.</p> + +<p>To the Baronet her smile was always enchantment; setting aside, +therefore, any further pretence to strangeness, he leant his hands upon +the counter, and peering archly under her bonnet, said, ''Tis you, +indeed, then, sweet sorceress? And what sylph is it,—or what +imp?—dulcet, or malignant!—that has drawn me again into the witchery +of your charms?'</p> + +<p>He then poured forth countless enquiries into her situation, her +projects, and her sentiments; but, all proving fruitless, he +pathetically lamented the luckless meeting; and frankly owned, that he +had brought himself to a resolution of seeing her no more. 'The rude +assault,' said he, 'made upon my feelings by those mundane harpies at +Arundelcastle,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_600" id="Page_600">[Pg 600]</a></span> removed a bandage from "my mind's eye" that had veiled +me to myself, and shewed me that I was an old fool caught in the +delusions of love and beauty! I could parry no raillery, I could brave +no suspicion, I could retort no sneer! Panic-struck and disordered, I +stole away, like a gentle Philander of Arcadia, my head drooping upon my +left shoulder, my eyes cast down upon the ground, with every love-born +symptom,—except youth, which alone offers their apology! I spent the +rest of the day in character with this opening; mute with my servants; +loquacious in soliloquy; quarrelling with my books; and neglecting my +dinner! Sleepless and sighing, I repaired to my solitary couch; lost to +every idea of existence, but what pointed out to me how, when, and where +I might again behold my lovely enchantress. Shall I tell you how it was +I recovered, at last, my senses?'</p> + +<p>'If you think the lesson may be useful to me, Sir Jaspar!—'</p> + +<p>'Ah, cruel! "He jests at scars who never felt a wound". Mark, however, +the visions by which I have been tutored. The servants gone, the lights +removed, and the world's bustle superseded by stillness, darkness, and +solitude,—then, when my fancy meant to revel in smiles, dimples, sweet +looks, and recreative wiles, then,—what a transformation from hope and +enjoyment, to shame and derision! I no sooner closed my poor eyes, than +an hundred little imps of darkness scrambled up my pillow. How was I +tweaked, jirked, and jolted! Mumbled, jumbled, and pinched! Some of them +encircled my eye-balls, holding mirrours in each hand. They spoke not; +the mirrours were all eloquent! You think, they expressed, of a young +girl? Behold here what a young girl must think of you! Others jammed my +lean, lank arms into a machine of whale-bone, to strength and invigorate +them for offering support, in cases of difficulty or danger, to my fair +one: others fastened elastic strings to my withered neck and shoulders, +to enable me, by little pulleys, to raise my head, after every +obsequious reverence to my goddess. Crowds of the nimblest footed dived +their little forked fingers into my heart, plucking up by the root sober +contentment and propriety; and pummelling into their places +restlessness, jealousy, and suspicion: mocking me when they had done, by +peeping into my ears, and squeaking out, with merry tittering, See! see! +see! what sickly rubbish the old dotard has got in his crazy noddle!'</p> + +<p>Juliet again smiled, but so faintly, from uncertainty to what this +fantastic gallantry might tend, that Sir Jaspar, looking at her with +concern, said,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_601" id="Page_601">[Pg 601]</a></span></p> + +<p>'How's this, my dainty Ariel? Why so serious a brow? Have some of my +nocturnal visitants whisked themselves through the key-hole of your +chamber-door, also? And have they tormented your fancy with waking +visions of fearful omens? Spurn them all! sweet syren! What can the +tricks and malice of hobgoblins, or even the freaks and vagaries of +fortune itself, enact against youth, beauty, and health such as yours? +Give me but such arms, and I will brave the wayward sisters themselves.'</p> + +<p>More seriously, then, 'Alas!' he cried, 'what is it, thus mystic, yet +thus attractive, that allures me whether I will or not into your +chains?—Could I but tell who, or what you are,—besides being an +angel,—it is possible there might occur some idea,—some—some little +notion of means to exorcise the wicked familiars that severally annoy +us. Tell me but under what semblance the pigmy enemies invade you? +Whether, as usual, with the darts of Master Cupid, shot, furiously, into +your snowy bosom, or—'</p> + +<p>'No, no, no!'</p> + +<p>'Or whether by the bags of Plutus, emptied, furtively, from your strong +box? In the first case,—little as my bosom is snowy!—I should but too +well know how to pity; in the second, I should be proud and honoured to +serve you. Tell me, then, who you are, resistless paragon! and you shall +wander no more in the nameless state, an exquisite, but nearly visionary +being! Tell me but who you are, and I will protect you, myself, with my +life and fortune!'</p> + +<p>Alarmed by this warmth, and doubtful whether it demanded gratitude or +resentment, Juliet was silent.</p> + +<p>'If you will not reveal to me your history,' he resumed, 'you will, at +least, not refuse to let me divine it? I am a famous star-gazer; and, if +once I can discover your ruling planet, I shall prognosticate your +destiny in a second. Let me, then, read the lines of your face. Nay! you +must not hide it! You must give me fair play. Or, shall I examine the +palm of your hand?'</p> + +<p>Juliet laughed, but drew on her gloves.</p> + +<p>'O you little Tyrant! I must only, then, catch, as I can, a glimpse of +your countenance; A nauseous task, enough, to dwell on any thing so +ugly! All I can make out from it, just now, is the figure of a coronet.'</p> + +<p>'A coronet?'</p> + +<p>'Yes; under which I perceive the cypher D. Do you know any thing of any +nobleman whose name begins with a D? I cannot decipher the rest of the +letters, except that the last is—I think, an h.'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_602" id="Page_602">[Pg 602]</a></span></p> + +<p>Juliet started.</p> + +<p>'My art, I must, however, own, is at a stand, to discover whether this +nobleman may be a lover or a kinsman. To discern that, the general lines +of the face are inadequate. I must investigate the eyes.'</p> + +<p>Juliet pertinaciously looked down.</p> + +<p>'How now, my dainty, Ariel? Will you give me no answer? neither verbal +nor visual? Will you not even tell me whether I must try to make the old +peer my advocate, or whether I must run him through the body? Surely you +won't let me court him as of kin if he be a rival? nor pink him as a +rival if he be of kin?</p> + +<p>'He is neither, I can assure you, Sir: he is nothing to me whatsoever.'</p> + +<p>'You know, at least, then, it seems, whom I mean?'</p> + +<p>'Sir?'</p> + +<p>'My tiny elves have not here deluded me? I am always afraid lest those +merry little wags should be playing me some prank. But it is you who are +the wicked Will o' the Wisp, that lures all others, yet never can be +lured yourself! Lord Denmeath has really, then, and in sober truth, the +happiness of some way belonging to you?'</p> + +<p>'No, Sir;—you mistake me;—I never—' She left her phrase unfinished.</p> + +<p>'Shall I relate what the prattling tell-tales have blabbed to me +further? They pretend that Lord Denmeath ought himself to be your +protector; but that he is so void of taste, so empty of sentiment, that +he seeks to disguise, if not disown, an affinity that, with more liberal +ideas, he would exult in as an honour.'</p> + +<p>'Who talked of affinity, Sir?' cried Juliet, with quickness +irrepressible.—</p> + +<p>'Was it Lord Denmeath?—Did he name me to you?'</p> + +<p>'Name you? Has any one named you? Indefinable, unconquerable, +unfathomable Incognita! Has any one presumed to give you a human +genealogy? Are you not straight descended from the clouds? without even +taking the time to change yourself first into a mortal? Explain, +expound, unravel to me, in soft pity—'</p> + +<p>Juliet solemnly entreated him to forbear any further interrogatory, +assuring him that all enquiry gave her pain.</p> + +<p>'Then shall "the stars,"' cried he, '"fade away, the sun grow dim, and +nature,"—like my poor old carcass!—"sink in years," ere one grain more +of the favourite attribute of our general mother shall be sown in my +discourse! But you, in all things marvellous! You! have you really, and +<i>bona fide</i>, so little in your composition of our naughty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_603" id="Page_603">[Pg 603]</a></span> mamma, as not +even to desire to know in what shape appeared to me the tattling little +elf, that talked to me of Lord Denmeath?'</p> + +<p>'You have not then, Sir, seen him?'</p> + +<p>'Or if I had?—twenty interviews would not have initiated me into his +affairs with so much promptitude, as twenty minutes sufficed for doing +with my elfin fay.'</p> + +<p>'I conjecture, then, Sir, your informant: Miss Selina Joddrel?'</p> + +<p>'Even so. Upon determining to quit Brighthelmstone, three or four days +ago, I drove over to Lewes, to offer what apologies I could suggest to +Mrs Maple, for the vagaries of my hopeful nephew and heir,—who is +suddenly set out for Constantinople in search, as he writes me word, of +a fair Circassian! The last of my designs, in so delicate a case, you +will easily believe, was to embarrass the injured and deserted fair one +by my sight. But she had a fortitude far above my precautions. She flew +to me herself; and her own plaintive tale had no sooner been bemoaned, +than she hastened to favour me with the history of the whole house. I +then learnt your sudden disappearance; and heard, with extreme +satisfaction, from the indignation I had felt in seeing your ill +treatment, that my meek sister-in-law had fallen into fits, from the +first shock of finding that you were no longer under her dominion. My +Lord Denmeath, who had already gone through the ceremonial of demanding +Mrs Maple's permission to obtain a private audience with you, seemed +thunderstruck at the news, that the bird he so much wished to sing to +him was flown. The whole house was in disorder; running, enquiring, +asserting, denying;—the wild Elinor alone was tame and tranquil,—for +Mr Harleigh has kept constantly in sight.'</p> + +<p>Delicate, and ever feeling Harleigh! thought Juliet; Her life, and My +reputation, hang suspended upon the same guardian care!</p> + +<p>'That eccentric and most original personage,' continued Sir Jaspar, 'has +now wholly made over her mind to the study of controversial theology. +Every chair is covered with polemical tracts, to prove one side of an +argument, that every table is covered to disprove on the other. If she +settle her opinion one way, she will probably become the foundress of +some new-fangled monastery; if on the other, she will be discovered, +some star-light night, seeking truth at the bottom of a well.'</p> + +<p>Juliet then anxiously enquired into the state of her health.</p> + +<p>'She seems to me,' answered the Baronet, 'quite as well as it is +possible for a person to be, who is afflicted with the restless malady<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_604" id="Page_604">[Pg 604]</a></span> +of struggling for occasion to exhibit character; instead of leaving its +display to the jumble of nature and of accident. But these new systemers +do not break out of bounds more wildly from whim, than they afterwards +seek retreat within them, tamely, from experience. The little Selina, on +the contrary, who has escaped the trouble of supporting a character, by +not having an idea that could form one, had the kindness to make me the +most liberal communication of every thing that she has either seen or +heard, since she has been skipping about in this nether world; and, in +her scampers from room to room, and from person to person, she had +gathered sundry interesting particulars of a certain fair unknown.—'</p> + +<p>He paused; looked anxious, and then went on.</p> + +<p>'I would not be officious,—impertinent, nor importunate,—yet, could I +but ascertain some points.—If, however, you will not unfold to me your +history, will you, at least,—syren of syrens!—to develop why I demand +it, hear me divulge my own?'</p> + +<p>Juliet, surprised and amused, gratefully assented.</p> + +<p>'Know, then, my fair torment! it pleased my wise progenitors to entail +my estate upon my next of kin, in case I should have no lineal heir. +Brought up with the knowledge of this restriction to the fantasies of my +future will, I conceived an early suspicion that my younger brother +built sundry vain-glorious castles upon my celibacy; and I determined +not to reach my twentieth year before I put an end to his presumption. +The first idea, therefore, that fastened upon my mind was that of +marriage. But as I entertained a general belief, that I should every +where be accepted from mercenary motives, I viewed all females with the +scrutiny of a bargain-maker. Thankless for any mark of partiality, +difficult even to absurdity, I sought new faces with restless +impatience; modestly persuaded that I ought to find a companion without +a blot! yet, whatever was my success, regularly making off from every +fair charmer, after the second interview, through the fear of being +taken in.'</p> + +<p>'And were none of your little sylphs, Sir, at hand, to point out to you +some one who was disinterested in her nature, however inferiour in her +fortune?'</p> + +<p>'No! alas! no; my sylphs all reserved themselves for my meeting with +you! The wicked little imps who then guided and goaded me, incited me to +suspect and to watch every thing that seemed lovely or amiable; and the +pranks that they played me were endless. They urged me to pursue the +glowing Beauty, whose vivid cheeks, crimsoned by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_605" id="Page_605">[Pg 605]</a></span> the dance, had warmed +all my senses at a ball, to her alighting from her carriage, at her +return home, with the livid line of fatigue and moonlight! They +instigated me to surprize, when ill-dressed, negligent, and spiritless, +the charming face and form that, skilfully adorned, had appeared to me +Venus attired by the Graces. They twitched me on to dart upon another, +whose bloom had seemed the opening of the rose-bud, just as an untoward +accident had rubbed off, from one cheek, the sweet pink which remained +undiminished upon the other! And when, tired of the deceptions of +beauty, I would only follow merit, the wanton little sprites suggested +detections still more mischievous. They led me to overhear the softest +of maidens insult a poor dependent; they shewed me a pattern of +discretion, secretly involved in debt; and the frankest of human lasses, +engaged in a clandestine affair! They whisked me, in short, into every +crevice of female subtlety. They exhibited all as a drama, and gave me a +peep behind the curtain to see the gayest damsel the sulkiest; the most +pleasing one, the most spiteful; the delicate one, obstreperous; the +bashful one, bold; the generous one, niggardly; and the humble one, a +tyrant!'</p> + +<p>'Oh wicked imps, indeed, Sir Jaspar! What a view of poor human nature +have they deformed for you! And how have you preserved such a stock of +philanthropy, while instigated by so much malignity?'</p> + +<p>'Alas, my fair love, my history is but that of half the old bachelors +existing! We pay, by our aged facility and good humour, for our youthful +severity and impertinence! and, after having wasted our early life in +conceiving that no one is good enough for us, we consume our latter days +in envy of every married man! Now—all too late! I never see a lovely +young creature, but my heart calls out what a delicious wife she would +make me! were I younger, without reflection, without enquiry, were I +younger, I would marry her! <span class="smcap">Then</span>—when such precipitation might have +been pardonable, some difficulty instantly followed the sight of +whatever was attractive: one had not fortune enough for my expectations; +another, had beauty to make me eternally jealous; another, though +charming, was too old to be formed to my taste; another, though lovelier +still, was too young to be judged. One was too wise, and might hold me +cheap; another was too simple, and might expose me to seeing her held +cheap herself. <span class="smcap">Then</span>—I was so plaguely nice! Now, alas! I am so cursedly +easy!'</p> + +<p>'Your sylphs, elves, and imps, Sir, or, in other words, your humour<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_606" id="Page_606">[Pg 606]</a></span> and +imagination, must seek some counterpoise, and not always, you see, be +trusted uncontrouled.'</p> + +<p>'You are right, my wise charmer! but we never arrive at judgment, the +only counterpoise to our fancies, till we cease to want it! When we are +young, in the midst of the world, and in pursuit of beauty, riches, +honours, power, fame or knowledge, then, when judgment would either +guide us to success, or demolish our senseless expectations, it keeps +aloof from us like a stern stranger: and will only hail us as an +intimate, when we have no longer any occasion for its services! Of what +value is judgment to a goaty old codger, who sits just as snugly over +his fire-side, whether his opinions are erroneous or oracular? who wraps +himself just as warmly in flannel, whether the world go ill or go well? +and who, if, by ignorance or mismanagement, he be cheated, loses +only what he cannot enjoy! I first became aware of my folly, by the +folly of my nephew. When he was sent forth into the world, my +decided—alas!—heir, I told him my case; and urged him to a rational +but quick choice, to obviate a similar punishment to fantastical +difficulties. He listened, according to the usage of youth, to half what +I said; and, adopting only my mistrust, was inattentive to its result; +and thus so caricatured my researches, suspicious, and irresolutions, +that he has rendered them and myself, even in my own eyes, completely +ridiculous. 'Tis a most piteous circumstance that a man can be young +only once in his life! Could I but, with my present experience, lop off +thirty or forty years of my age,—ah! fair seducer!—how would the +desire of giving you pleasure, the fear of causing you pain, the wish to +see your face always beaming with smiles—'</p> + +<p>Juliet arose to interrupt him; but whither could she go? She again sat +down.</p> + +<p>The Baronet also arose; and stood for some minutes, covering his eyes +with one hand, in deep rumination. Re-seating himself, then, with an air +of the most lively satisfaction, 'I have told you,' he cried, 'now, my +history. You see in me a whimsical, but contrite old bachelor; whose +entailed estate has lost to him his youth, by ungenerous mistrust: but +who would gladly devote the large possessions which have fallen to him +collaterally, to making the rest of his existence companionable. Shrink +not, sweet flower! I mean nothing that can offend you. Tell me but who +you are, and, be you whom you may, if you will accept an old protector; +if you will deign to become his friend; to give him your conversation, +your society, your lovely presence; he will despise the mocking +world—and decorate himself for your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_607" id="Page_607">[Pg 607]</a></span> bridegroom, by a marriage +settlement of the whole of his unintailed estate.'</p> + +<p>Astonished, and uncertain whether he were serious, Juliet was beginning +a playful attack upon his fairy elves; but, stopping her with perturbed +earnestness, 'Will you,' he cried, 'accept me? Your beauty, your +difficulties, your distresses; your exquisite looks, and witching +manners; with my solitude, my repugnance to mercenary watchers, my deep +regrets, and my desire of domestic commerce; unite to devote me to you +for ever; provided, only I can catch a grain, a single grain, of gentle +good will! Give me, then, but this one satisfaction—I ask no more! tell +me but whence it comes that, thus formed, thus accomplished, thus wise, +thus lovely,—you are helpless, dependent, indigent, and a Wanderer?'</p> + +<p>Juliet, though no longer able to doubt his meaning, and though not +disposed to suspect his sincerity, felt nevertheless, shocked by such an +investigation; though grateful, and even touched by his singular and +romantic proposal. Delicacy, however, which keeps back acknowledged +belief in unrequited partiality, as scrupulously as it is withheld by +timid consciousness, where the partiality is returned; make her again +have recourse to his visionary friends, in order to parry a serious +reply; but, too much in earnest to submit to any delay, the Baronet, +ejaculating, 'Paragon of the world!' was bending over the counter, in an +attempt to take her hand; when the sudden opening of the shop-door, +which he had himself carefully closed, previous to his declaration, made +him draw back, in the utmost confusion; to recover his seat and his +crutches, and again demand to look at some ribbons.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_608" id="Page_608">[Pg 608]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXIX" id="CHAPTER_LXIX"></a>CHAPTER LXIX</h2> + + +<p>Gabriella, who had thus long been detained from her business, because +the lady, whose orders she had obeyed, had either forgotten that those +orders had been issued, or deemed that to wait in an anti-room was the +natural fate of an haberdasher; now, entering the shop, saw, with no +little surprize, Juliet in close conference with an old bean, who was +evidently disconcerted, and embarrassed by the interruption. Remitting, +however, all enquiry, and gracefully declining a chair, which was +respectfully offered to her by Sir Jaspar, who imagined her to be some +customer; she silently employed herself in examining and arranging her +unpinned, unrolled, and tumbled ribbons.</p> + +<p>The surprize of the Baronet, now, became greater than her own. No +plainness of attire could hide, from his scrutinizing eye, a certain +native taste with which her habiliments, however simple, were put on; +nor could even the band-box which she held in her hand, and which he had +supposed to be there from some accident, disguise the elegance of her +motions, or conceal her lofty mien. When, therefore, he discovered that +she was at home, and that she was an haberdasher, he looked from one +lovely companion to the other, with reverential wonder, and uplifted +hands. Long profoundly impressed by the beauty of Juliet, by her merit, +her youth, her modest yet dignified demeanour, in the midst of all the +difficulties of distressed poverty; he was now as powerfully affected by +the appearance of Gabriella; whose noble, yet never haughty manners, +joined to a tragic expression of constant woe in her countenance, +rendered her if not as attractive, at least as interesting as her +friend.</p> + +<p>A general pause ensued, till Gabriella, fearing that she was obtrusive, +retired to the inner room.</p> + +<p>Sir Jaspar, wide opening his eyes, and again leaning forward, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_609" id="Page_609">[Pg 609]</a></span> hear +more distinctly, exclaimed, 'Who is that fine creature? What a majestic +port! Yet how sweet a look! She awes while she invites! Who is she?'</p> + +<p>Juliet felt enchanted; she even felt exalted by a testimony so impartial +and so honourable, to the merit of her friend, and she eagerly answered, +'Your admiration, Sir, does honour to your discernment. Her +excellencies, her high qualities, and spotless conduct, might make the +proudest Englishman exult to own her for his country-woman; though the +lowest Frenchman would dispute, even at the risk of his life, the honour +of her birth. Sprung from one of the first houses of Europe, a house not +more ancient in its origin, than renowned for its virtues; allies to a +family the most illustrious, whose military glory has raised it to the +highest ranks in the state; herself an ornament to that birth, an honour +to that alliance; she sustains a reverse of fortune, which reduces her +from every indulgence to every privation, with a calm courage that keeps +her always mistress of herself, and enables her to combat evil by +labour, misery by industry! And which never has failed her, but in a +personal, bosom affliction, that would equally have shaken her +fortitude, in the brightest splendour of prosperity!—'</p> + +<p>'Hold! hold, you little torment!' interrupted Sir Jaspar. 'You don't +consider what an artillery my wanton sprites are bringing upon me! My +poor gouty fingers are so mumbled and pinched, and tweaked, to hurry me +to get at my purse, that I cannot catch hold of it for very tremour!—'</p> + +<p>'Oh no, Sir Jaspar, no! What she earns, however hardly and however +humbly, she thankfully reaps; but she could only submit to accept alms, +if bowed down by age, by malady, or by incapacity for work. Yet this +spirit is not pride; 'tis but a strong and refined sense of propriety; +since from a friend, in the tender persuasion, that participation of +fortune ought to be leagued with participation of sentiment, she would +candidly receive whatever would not injure that friend to bestow.'</p> + +<p>'Divinest of little mortals!' cried Sir Jaspar. 'What whimsey is it, +what astonishing whimsey of "the sisters three", that can have nailed to +a counter two such delectable beings, to weigh pins and needles, and +measure tapes and bobbins? And how,—beautiful witch! with charms, +graces, accomplishments, talents such as yours, how is it you submit to +such base drudgery in "durance vile," without even making a wry face? +without a scowl upon your eye-brow, or a grumble from your throat?'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_610" id="Page_610">[Pg 610]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Can you look, Sir, at her whom you call my partner, and think of me? +She has lost her country; she wastes in exile; she sinks in obscurity; +she has no communication with her friends; she knows not even whether +they yet breathe the vital air!—nevertheless she works, she sustains +herself by her industry and ingenuity; and repines only that she has not +still another, has not her loved and lovely infant to sustain also!—and +I, shall I complain?—Offspring of a race the most dignified, she toils +manually, not to degrade it mentally;—and I, shall I blush to owe my +subsistence to my exertions?'</p> + +<p>Tears now flowed fast down her cheeks, while the crutches dropt from the +feeble hands of the penetrated Baronet, whose eyes, dimmed by +compassion, were fastened upon the face of the lovely mourner, when +Gabriella re-appeared.</p> + +<p>In deep amazement and concern, she hesitated whether she should come +forward, to offer comfort; or whether, as she now concluded the old +gentleman to be some intimate friend, she ought not again to retire; but +Juliet entreated her to return to her place. She resumed, therefore, her +business of restoring her ribbons to order; dejectedly announcing, that +nothing had been bought; though every thing had been examined, deranged, +and tossed about.</p> + +<p>Sir Jaspar now, courteously waving his hand, smilingly addressed himself +to Gabriella, saying, ''Tis my good Genius, Ma'am, make no doubt of it, +that has run away with the feeling of those people you mention! For my +good Genius, I must beg you to observe, has frequently taken lessons of +the god Mercury, and is nearly as adroit in petty larceny as his godship +himself. I should not, therefore, wonder, if, in his eagerness to serve +me, he had pilfered from those poor souls, who have used you so ill, +every grain he could pick up of decency! For, knowing that ribbons are a +commodity of which I want a prodigious stock, he would not suffer your +assortment to be diminished, till I had had the pleasure of making my +bargains.'</p> + +<p>He then selected the piece of ribbon which seemed the most considerable, +and desired to have it measured.</p> + +<p>Gabriella obeyed, not more amazed than Juliet felt amused.</p> + +<p>But, when a similar order was given, for ascertaining the quantity of a +second piece, and then a third; Juliet, though delighted at the pleased +looks of Gabriella, and charmed with the generosity of the Baronet, +began to apprehend, that she might herself be supposed to incur some +debt of gratitude for this liberality. She retreated, therefore, with +her needle-work, to the adjoining little room.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_611" id="Page_611">[Pg 611]</a></span></p> + +<p>In a few minutes, she was followed by Gabriella; who, uneasily, asked +what she must do with this magnificent old beau, who still while she +measured one piece of ribbon, employed himself in selecting another; and +who, though so gallant that he never spoke without a compliment, was so +respectful, that it was not possible to check him by any serious +reproof.</p> + +<p>Juliet disclaimed taking any share in his present munificence; yet owned +that she had an ancient obligation to him that she was unable, at this +moment, to repay; and which, from the delicacy with which it had been +conferred, and the seasonable relief which it had procured her, would +merit her lasting gratitude. He was brother-in-law, she added, to the +lady with whom she had lately resided; and he was as rich as he was +benevolent.</p> + +<p>Her scruples, then, Gabriella said, were at an end. Juliet, therefore, +begged that she would endeavour to enter into conversation with him +concerning Brighthelmstone; and try to obtain some particulars relative +to the party at Mrs Ireton's.</p> + +<p>'I began to fear you had flown away, Ma'am,' said Sir Jaspar, upon +Gabriella's re-entrance into the shop; 'and I was much less surprised +than concerned; for I had already surmized that you were an angel; +though I had failed to remark your wings.'</p> + +<p>He then put into her hand three more pieces of ribbon, which he had +chosen during her absence.</p> + +<p>Gabriella, who understood English well, though she spoke it imperfectly, +made her answers in French.</p> + +<p>Having now given her ample employment, he sat down to examine, or, +rather, to admire at his ease, the lightness and grace with which she +executed her office; saying, 'You are not, perhaps, aware, Madam, that +there are certain little beings, nameless and invisible, yet active and +penetrating, perpetually hovering around us, who have let me a little +into your history; and have taken upon them to assure me that you were +not precisely brought up to be a shop-keeper? How, then, is it that you +have jumbled thus together such heterogeneous materials of existence? +leaguing high birth with low life? superiour rank with vulgar +employment; and grace, taste, and politeness with common drudgery? How, +in short, born and bred to be dangled after by your vassals, and to +lollop, the live-long-day, upon sofas and arm-chairs, have you acquired +the necessary ingredients for being metamorphosed into a tidy little +haberdasher?'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_612" id="Page_612">[Pg 612]</a></span></p> + +<p>Gabriella, concluding that her situation had been made known to him by +Juliet, answered, in a melancholy tone,</p> + +<p>'Is this a period, Sir, to consider punctilio? Alas! whence I come, all +that are greatest, most ancient, and most noble,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> have learnt, that +self-exertion can alone mark nobility of soul; and that self-dependence +only can sustain honour in adversity. Alas, whence I come, the first +youth is initiated in the view, if not in the endurance of misfortune! +There can be no understanding, or there must be early reflection; there +can be no heart, or there must be commiserating sympathy!'</p> + +<p>'I protest, Ma'am,' cried Sir Jaspar, looking at her with astonishment, +'I begin to suspect that I came into the world only this morning! Where +I may have been rambling, all these years, in the persuasion I was in it +already, I have by no means any clear notion! But to see two such +instances of wisdom and resignation, united with youth and beauty, makes +me believe myself in some new region, never yet visited by vice or +folly.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, Sir, the French Revolution has opened our eyes to a species of +equality more rational, because more feasible, than that of lands or of +rank; an equality not alone of mental sufferings, but of manual +exertions. No state of life, however low, or however hard, has been left +untried, either by the highest, or by the most delicate, in the various +dispersions and desolation of the ancient French nobility. And to +see,—as I, alas! have seen,—the willing efforts, the even glad toil, +of the remnants of the first families of Europe, to procure,—not +luxuries, not elegancies, not even comforts,—but maintenance! mean, +laborious maintenance!—to preserve,—not state, not fortune, not +rank,—but life itself! but simple existence!'—</p> + +<p>'Very wonderful personage!' cried Sir Jaspar, his air mingling reverence +with amazement; 'and what,—unfold to me, I beg, what is the necromancy +through which you support, under such toils, your intellectual dignity? +and strangle, in its birth, every struggle of false shame?'</p> + +<p>'Alas, Sir, I have seen guilt!—Since then, I have thought that shame +belonged to nothing else!'</p> + +<p>The eyes of Sir Jaspar were now suffused with tender admiration. 'Fair +deity of the counter!' he cried, 'you are sublime! And she, too,—your +witching little handmaid; by what kind, dulcet chance,—new in the +annals of misfortune,—have two such wonders met?—'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_613" id="Page_613">[Pg 613]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Ah, rather, Sir,—since you couple us so kindly,—rather ask by what +adverse chance we have so long been separated?'</p> + +<p>'You have known her, then, some time?'</p> + +<p>'We were brought up together!—the same convent, the same governess, the +same instructors, were common to both till my marriage. And now, +again,—as before that period,—I have not the most distant idea of any +possible happiness, that is not annexed to her presence.'</p> + +<p>Touched to hear the word happiness once again, even though with such +sadness, pronounced by Gabriella; yet alarmed at a discourse that might +lead, inadvertently, to some secret history, Juliet was returning, to +stop any further detail; when, upon Sir Jaspar's answering, 'Sweet +couple! Lord Denmeath, who ought at least, if I understand right,—to +take care of one of you will surely make it his business that you should +coo together in the same cage?'—she again retreated, anxious to learn +what this meant, and hoping that he would become more explicit.</p> + +<p>'Lord Denmeath?' repeated Gabriella, 'If you know Lord Denmeath you may +be better informed upon this subject than I am myself. Was it at +Brighthelmstone that you met with his lordship?'</p> + +<p>'It was at Brighthelmstone that I heard of him; and heard that, though +wary of speech, he has been incautious in manner, and left little doubt +upon the minds of his observers, that this fair flower springs from the +same stock as some part of his own family; though she may be one of +those sweet, but hapless buds, whose innocence pays for the guilt of its +planter.—'</p> + +<p>'No, Sir, no!' Gabriella precipitately interrupted him; 'the birth of my +friend is unstained, though unequal; the marriage of her parents was +legal, though secret. Her mother came not, indeed, from an ancient race; +but she was a pattern of virtue, as well as a model of beauty. Could it, +indeed, be believed, that a young nobleman of such expectations, in +every way, as those of the Earl of Melbury's only son, Lord Granville, +would have given his hand to the orphan and destitute daughter of an +insolvent man of business, had she not possessed every advantage, nay, +every perfection to which human nature can rise?'</p> + +<p>Affrighted by this so open relation, drawn forth involuntarily from the +nobly ingenuous Gabriella, in the persuasion that Sir Jaspar was already +a confidential, and might become a useful friend; Juliet, in the first +moment, was advancing to stop it; but her heart, yet more than her ear, +was so fascinated by the generous eulogy of her virtuous,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_614" id="Page_614">[Pg 614]</a></span> though lowly +mother, from the offspring of a house whose height, and natal +prejudices, might have palliated, upon this subject, the language even +of disdain; that she could not prevail with herself to break into what +she considered as sacred praise.</p> + +<p>''Tis even so, then!' cried Sir Jaspar, with smiling delight; 'this +forlorn, but most beautiful Wanderer,—this so long concealed, and +mysterious, but most lovely <i>incognita</i>, is the daughter of the late +Lord Granville, and the grand-daughter of the late Earl of Melbury!'</p> + +<p>Utterly confounded, to hear the secret history of her birth and family +thus casually, yet irretrievably discovered, Juliet, trembling, again +shrunk back; yet would not, now, and unavailingly, check the ardent zeal +of her high-minded friend, since without any added danger, it might +procure some useful intelligence.</p> + +<p>The willing Baronet, whose sole desire was to keep up the conversation, +wanted no urging to relate all that he had gathered from the loquacious +Selina. Lord Denmeath, upon the sudden disappearance of Miss Ellis, had +been surprised into confessing, that he had a faint notion that he knew +something of that young person; that there had been, once, an odd +story,—a report—that a young woman was existing in France, who was +some way belonging to the late Lord Granville, his sister's husband; +though without ever having been acknowledged by the family. He let fall, +also, sundry obscure hints of information, of the most serious import, +which he had recently received, relating to this young woman; but which +he would not divulge, till he had investigated; as he began to surmise, +that it had been conveyed to him for some fraudulent and mercenary +purpose. Mrs Ireton, to all this, had answered, that she had suspected, +from the beginning, that the creature was an adventurer; and that she +was now fully convinced that they had been played upon by a +supposititious person. Lord Denmeath, though he forbore confirming this +assertion, listened to it with a smile of concurrence.</p> + +<p>Juliet here felt shocked and confounded; but Gabriella, animated by +generous resentment, warmly repeated her asseverations, of the validity +of the marriage of Lord Granville with Miss Powel, her friend's mother; +though an excess of fear of the inflexible character of the old Earl +Melbury had prevented its early avowal; and the death of the concealed +wife, while Juliet was yet in arms, had afterwards decided the young +widower to guard the secret, till his child should be grown up; or till +he should become his own master.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_615" id="Page_615">[Pg 615]</a></span></p> + +<p>'But where, during this interval,' said Sir Jaspar, 'where,—and what +was the hiding-place of that seraphic offspring?'</p> + +<p>Till her seventh year, Gabriella answered, she had been consigned to the +care of Mrs Powel, her maternal grandmother; who, satisfied of the +legality, had herself aided the secresy of the marriage. They had dwelt, +during that period, in the same picturesque, but no longer loved +retreat, upon the banks of the Tyne, in which Lady Granville, under a +feigned name, had been concealed, for the short space of time between +her marriage and her death.</p> + +<p>Juliet, whose intention had been to gather, not to bestow intelligence, +now came forward, and made signs to Gabriella to drop the subject. But +this was no longer practicable. Urged by the idea of doing honour to her +friend, and incited by adroit interrogatories, or piquant observations, +from Sir Jaspar, Gabriella, having insensibly begun the tale, felt +irresistibly impelled to make clear the birth and family of Juliet, +beyond all doubt or cavil. She continued, therefore, the narration; and +Juliet, much agitated, retreated wholly to the inner room.</p> + +<p>Under pretence of change of air for his health, Lord Granville, to hide +his grief from his father and friends, spent the first year of his +widowhood at Montpellier; then the residence of the Bishop of ——, the +maternal uncle of Gabriella; with whom he formed a friendship that +neither time nor absence, not even death itself, had had power to +dissolve; and to whom he confided the history and punishment of his +clandestine juvenile engagement. Called home, the following year, by the +Earl, his father, he had been prevailed upon to marry a lady of quality +and large fortune. But, previous to these new nuptials, to secure +justice to his eldest born, though he had not the courage to own her; as +well as to tranquillize Mrs Powel; he deposited in the hands of that +worthy old lady, the certificate of his first marriage; to which he +added a deed, that he called the codicil to whatever will he might have +made, or might hereafter make; and in which he declared Juliet +Granville, born near ——, in Yorkshire, to be his lawful daughter, by +his first marriage, with Juliet Powel, in Flanders; and, as such, he +bequeathed to her the same portion, at his death, that should be settled +upon any other daughter, or daughters, that he might have, hereafter, by +any subsequent marriage.</p> + +<p>The impossibility of obtaining, in the Yorkshire retirement, such means +of improvement, as were suitable to the future expectations and lot in +life of his little girl, determined Lord Granville to have her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_616" id="Page_616">[Pg 616]</a></span> conveyed +to France for her education. Mrs Powel, who had no other remaining tie +upon earth, but a son who was settled in the East Indies, preferred +accompanying her little darling to a separation; the fear of which, with +the possession of the marriage certificate, and the codicil to the will, +had always counteracted her impatience for the discovery ultimately +promised. The uncle of Gabriella, the Bishop, consented to take the +child under his immediate care; and to place her in the convent in which +his sister, the Marchioness of ——, had placed his niece. And here the +children had been brought up together, with the same opportunities of +improvement; except that the little Juliet had the advantage of speaking +English with her grandmother; who knew no other language; and who +entered the convent as a pensioner. By this means, and by books, Juliet +had perfectly retained her native tongue, though she had acquired +something of a foreign accent. She was known only as a young English +lady of fortune, for whom no expence was to be spared; and the +remittances for her board and education were constant, and even +splendid. She had been called simply by the name of Mademoiselle +Juliette, which had generally been supposed to be the name of her +family. Here, from the facility with which she caught instruction, and +the ability with which she appropriated its result, she became the most +accomplished pupil of the convent and was not more generally, from her +appearance, called <i>la belle</i>, than from her acquirements and conduct +<i>la sage petite Anglaise</i>. And here, still more united by the same +sentiments than by the same studies, Gabriella had formed with her the +tender, confiding and unalterable friendship, that had bound them to +each other with an even sisterly love.</p> + +<p>The Bishop frequently pressed the young lord to avow the birth of +Juliet, and to legitimate her claims upon his family: but he always +answered, that since she, whose reputation, happiness, and spirits might +have paid the avowal, was gone, he could not support the fruitless pain +of offending his sickly, but imperious father, by such a discovery, till +the necessity of receiving his daughter should make it indispensable.</p> + +<p>Previous to this period, Gabriella was taken from the convent, to +prepare for her marriage with the Comte de ——; and Juliet, who had then +lost her tender grandmother, was invited to the wedding-ceremony, and to +remain with her friend till she should be called to her own country. +Lord Granville, with that spirit of procrastination which always grows +with indulgence, joyfully acceded to this invitation;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_617" id="Page_617">[Pg 617]</a></span> and remitted to +the ensuing summer the public acknowledgment of his daughter. But, ere +the ensuing summer arrived, all these projects were rendered abortive! +The Bishop, through a news-paper, received the fatal intelligence, that +Lord Granville had been killed by a fall from his horse.</p> + +<p>While the deeply disappointed and afflicted Juliet was the prey of heavy +grief at this event, the Bishop, to whom the grandmother, in dying, had +consigned the marriage-certificate, the codicil, and every letter or +paper that authenticated the legitimacy of her grandchild, constituted +himself guardian and protector of the young orphan.</p> + +<p>Convinced that no time should be lost in making known her rights, yet +unwilling to risk shocking the old peer by an abrupt address, he stated +the affair to Lord Denmeath, brother to Lord Granville's second lady, +and guardian of two children by the second marriage. To this +communication he received no answer. But, upon writing again, with more +energy, and hinting at sending over an agent, Lord Denmeath thought +proper to reply. His style was extremely cold. His brother-in-law, he +said, had expired, after his fall, without uttering a word. Having, +therefore, no knowledge of any secret business, he begged to be excused +from entering into a discussion of the obscure affair to which the +Bishop seemed to allude.</p> + +<p>The Bishop grew but warmer in the interests of his Ward, from the +difficulty of serving her. He sent over, to Lord Denmeath, copies of the +codicil, of the certificate, and of every letter upon the subject, that +had been written to the grandmother, or to himself, by the late lord.</p> + +<p>The answer now was more civil, but evidently embarrassed, though +professing much respect for the motives which guided the charitable +Bishop; and a willingness to enter into some compromise for the young +person in question; provided she could be settled abroad, that so +strange a tale might not disturb his sister; nor involve his nephew and +niece, by coming before the public.</p> + +<p>All compromise was declined by the Bishop, who now made known the whole +history to the old peer.</p> + +<p>The answer, nevertheless, was again from Lord Denmeath, though written +by the desire, and in the name of the Earl; briefly saying, Let the +young woman marry and settle in France; and, upon the delivery of the +original documents relative to her birth, she shall be portioned; but +she shall never be received nor owned in England; the Earl being +determined not to countenance such a disgrace to his family, and to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_618" id="Page_618">[Pg 618]</a></span> the +memory of his son, as the acknowledgment of so unsuitable a marriage.</p> + +<p>The Bishop held his honour engaged to his departed friend, to sustain +the birth-right of the innocent orphan; he menaced, therefore, +accompanying her over to England himself, and putting all the documents, +with the direction of the affair, into the hands of some celebrated +lawyer.</p> + +<p>Alarmed at this intimation, milder letters passed: but the result of all +that the Bishop could obtain, was a promissory-note of six thousand +pounds sterling, for the portion of a young person brought up at the +convent of ——, and known by the name of Mademoiselle Juliette; to be +paid by Messieurs ——, bankers, on the day of her marriage with a +native of France, resident in that country.</p> + +<p>The conditions annexed to the payment were then detailed, of delivering +to the bankers the originals of all the MSS of which copies had been +sent over; with an acquittal, signed by the new married couple, and by +the Bishop, to all future right or claim upon the Melbury family. The +whole to be properly witnessed, &c. This promissory-note had the joint +seal and signature of the old Earl and of Lord Denmeath.</p> + +<p>But the Bishop inflexibly insisted, that his ward should be recognized +as the Honourable Miss Granville; and share an equal portion with her +half-sister, Aurora; for whom, upon the premature death of Lord +Granville, the old peer had solicited and obtained the title and honours +of an earl's daughter.</p> + +<p>All representation proving fruitless, the Bishop was preparing to attend +Miss Granville to England, when the French Revolution broke out. The +general confusion first stopt his voyage, and next destroyed even the +materials of his agency. The family chateau was burnt by the populace; +and all the papers of Juliet, which had been carefully hoarded up with +the records of the house, were consumed! The promissory-note alone, and +accidentally, had been saved; the Bishop chancing to have it in his +pocket-book, for the purpose of consulting upon it with some lawyer.</p> + +<p>With the nobleness of unsuspicious integrity, the Bishop wrote an +account of this disaster to Lord Denmeath; whose answer contained +tidings of the death of the old Earl, and reclaimed the promissory-note +for revisal. But the Bishop, who possessed no other proof or document of +the identity of Juliet, would by no means part with a paper that became +of the utmost importance.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_619" id="Page_619">[Pg 619]</a></span></p> + +<p>Juliet, pitied and sustained, loved and esteemed by all, had been +prevailed upon to continue with her cherished and cherishing friends, +till some political calm should enable the Bishop to conduct her to +England, and there to struggle for her rights. At the opening, however, +of the dreadful reign of Robespierre, sudden and immediate danger had +compelled Gabriella, with her husband and her child, to emigrate: but +Juliet, hopeless of making herself acknowledged by her family without +the support of the Bishop, had preferred, till she could obtain the +sanction of his presence, to remain with the Marchioness.</p> + +<p>'And what,' Sir Jaspar cried, 'what is become of this Bishop? this man +of peace, this worthiest wight that breathes the vital air?'</p> + +<p>Gabriella herself knew not; nor what change of plan had induced her +friend to venture over alone: she knew only that what was counselled by +the Bishop must be wise; that what was executed by Juliet must be right.</p> + +<p>Juliet, who had heard this recital with melting tenderness, was now with +difficulty restrained, even by the presence of Sir Jaspar, from casting +herself rather at the feet than into the arms, of her generous, noble, +and confiding, though untrusted friend.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_620" id="Page_620">[Pg 620]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXX" id="CHAPTER_LXX"></a>CHAPTER LXX</h2> + + +<p>Various customers, though for small purchases, had, from time to time, +interrupted, but not broken this narration. The Baronet respectfully +made way for whoever came, but resumed his place the instant that it was +vacated; spending the interval in selecting new pieces of ribbon; till, +ere the history was finished, not a remnant of that article remained +unsold. It was his purpose, he gallantly said, to present a top-knot, +for a twelve-month to come, to every fair syren who, either by face, +voice, shape, feature, complexion, size, air, or manner, should afford +him so much pleasure as to remind him, however transiently, of the +adorable haberdasher, whose taper fingers had put it into his +possession.</p> + +<p>Gabriella interrupted these compliments, to observe, with some anxiety, +two strange men, who were sauntering up and down the street, and who, +from time to time, peeped in at the window.</p> + +<p>'And how can they do any better?' said the Baronet; 'unless you invite +them into your apartments? 'Tis precisely what I shall enact myself, if +you turn me out of doors! Do you fancy you are to dart yourselves, you +and your mischievous partner, into as many hearts as you can find +spectators, and then bid your poor wounded gazers go lie down and bleed, +in the kennel, like so many puppies; without allowing them even a +lamenting yell, or friendly barking, to call themselves into notice +before they give up the ghost? I pity the poor caitiffs with all my +heart.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'A fellow-feeling makes one wond'rous kind!'<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>'Let me, however, hope, that the seductive tale which I have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_621" id="Page_621">[Pg 621]</a></span> +quaffing, has not intoxicated all my senses only to my own destruction! +that my poor nerves have not been pierced and pinched; that my feelings +have not been twitched and tweaked, and my senses scared and confounded, +only to drag my own crazy folly into fuller view!'</p> + +<p>He paused a few minutes, during which Gabriella began making out the +account of her ribbons; and then, with a mild voice, but an arch brow, +'Hear me,' he resumed, 'my dulcet frog! for such, you know, is your +destined classification in this country; hear, and under your auspices +let me proceed. If this fair marvellous Wanderer,—in her birth no +longer an Incognita, yet an Incognita still in her history; will venture +to put herself under my protection,—honourably I mean; so don't frown! +for nothing so spoils the forehead! Besides, who can look at you, and +not mean honourably? With all your sweetness, there is a fire in your +eye, that, if I harboured a naughty idea, only for a moment, would, I +see plainly, consume me. Let us, however, talk the matter over with +becoming seriousness. It may, perchance, be less difficult than you may +imagine, to establish your fair journeywoman's rights.'</p> + +<p>'O make the attempt, then,' cried Gabriella; 'exert yourself in so noble +a trial!'</p> + +<p>'A little activity,' he continued, 'and a great deal of menacing, +adroitly put in play, will now and then do wonders. A little money, too, +dexterously handled, rarely does much harm. When Lord Denmeath sees all +these at work, take my word for it, he will think twice, before he will +let them operate upon the public. We like mighty well to reap the fruits +of our address in the world; but we have a sagacious tendency to keeping +our ways and means to ourselves. Lord Denmeath, after all, as a worldly +man, does but his office, in putting to sleep his conscience for the +better keeping awake his interest. This is simply in the ordinary course +of things: but, when the blood that is youthful is not generous; when +life is begun with the crafty hardness that years, experience, and +disappointment have given to those who are ending it; when we see even +striplings, who ought to be made up of wild romance, and credulous +enthusiasm, meanly, basely, heartlessly, for a few pitiful thousands, +suffer an orphan to be cheated, despoiled of her rank in life, and made +an alien to her country, as well as to her family;—then it is, that I +curse Vanity as an imp of darkness, and Pride as a demon of hell! When a +boy like Lord Melbury, a young girl such as Lady Aurora—'</p> + +<p>'They are innocent, Sir Jaspar! they are noble! they are faultless!'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_622" id="Page_622">[Pg 622]</a></span> +called out Juliet, eagerly returning to the shop; 'they dream not of my +claims; they have not the most distant idea that I have the honour to +belong to their house. Innocent? they are meritorious! Conceiving me +simply a helpless, unpatronized, and indigent Wanderer, they have +treated me with a kindness, a consideration, an heavenly benevolence, +that, towards a stranger so forlorn, could have been dictated only by +the most angelic of natures!'</p> + +<p>'Astonishing! incredible!' exclaimed Sir Jaspar. 'What! do they not know +your story? Have you made no appeal to their justice, their affections?'</p> + +<p>'You will cease, Sir, to wonder, and cease also, I hope, to question me, +when I tell you that here, even here, I have not made my situation +known! here, even here,—to the friend of my heart, the confidant of my +life, the loved and honoured descendant of the house by which I have +been preserved, and from which alone I hope for protection! Judge then, +how powerful must be my motives for secresy! And she,—she submits to my +silence! Too high-minded for distrust, too nobly mistress of herself for +impatience; and conscious that even a wish, expressed, would to me have +the force of a command, she waits my time! She knows the most dire and +barbarous obstacles could alone lead me to reserve and concealment, +where my softest consolation would be openness and sympathy!'</p> + +<p>Gabriella could offer no answer but by wide extended arms, with which +Juliet, gushing into tears, was fondly encircled; while the Baronet, +touched, amazed, and enchanted, repeatedly wiped his eyes; when +Gabriella, observing, again, at the window, one of the men of whom she +had spoken, whispered Juliet to compose herself, or to retire.</p> + +<p>There was not time: Riley, who had seen her, bounced into the shop.</p> + +<p>'Ah, ha, I have caught you at last, have I, Demoiselle?' he cried, +rubbing his hands with joy. 'I could not devise where the deuce you had +hidden yourself. I only knew you were in some shabby little bit of a +shop in this street. And who do you think is my author for this +intelligence?—Won't you guess?—Why Surly! your old friend, Surly!'</p> + +<p>Apprehensive of some attack similar to that which she had endured at +Brighthelmstone, Juliet ventured not to speak, though she felt too +anxious to withdraw: while Sir Jaspar, extremely curious, repeated, 'Old +Surly?' in a tone that invited explanation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_623" id="Page_623">[Pg 623]</a></span></p> + +<p>'The same, faith! He's come over o' purpose to hunt you out, +Demoiselle.'</p> + +<p>'Me?' cried Juliet, changing colour; 'and why?—And who is he?'</p> + +<p>'Who is he? Well! that's droll, faith! Why you have not forgotten your +old crony, the pilot?'</p> + +<p>Juliet looked down, to conceal the alarm with which she was seized.</p> + +<p>'Why, I'll tell you how it all happened,' continued Riley, mounting upon +the counter, as he might have mounted upon his horse; 'I'll tell you how +it all happened. About a month ago, in one of my rambles, I met Master +Surly; and, for old acquaintance sake, I was prodigiously glad to see +him: for I like, as a curiosity, to shew John Bull a Mounseer that i'n't +a milk-sop. So we talked over our voyage; but when I told him that I had +met with the Demoiselle at Brighthelmstone; and that she had cast off +her slough, and was grown a beauty; he asked me a hundred questions, and +said that, most likely, she was a person of whom he was in search; and +after whom there had been a great hue and cry.'</p> + +<p>Juliet now opened various small drawers, shutting them almost at the +same moment; but always with her face turned from Riley.</p> + +<p>'Well, we parted, and I saw no more of him, and thought no more of him +neither, faith! till this very morning, when I popt upon him, all at +once, in Piccadilly. And then, he told me that he was just come from +Brighthelmstone, where he had been looking for you.'</p> + +<p>Juliet though in a tremour that shook her whole frame, faintly said, +'And why?'</p> + +<p>'Because, by my account of you, he was satisfied you must be the very +person that he was commissioned to find.'</p> + +<p>Juliet now seemed scarcely able to sustain herself. Gabriella and Sir +Jaspar saw, with deep concern, her emotion; but Riley, unobservant, went +on.</p> + +<p>'At Brighton, he had discovered that you had journied up to town, in the +stage. And he came up after you, in the very same carriage, only +yesterday. And, by means of a boy at the inn, who had called your +hackney-coach, he had just found out coachy; who informed him, that he +had set down a pretty young damsel, that had arrived from Brighton about +a week ago, at a small shop in Frith-street, Soho. Upon that, I offered +to help him in his search; and we jogged on to these quarters together: +for I always liked you, Demoiselle, and always had a prodigious mind to +know who you were. But the deuce a bit would you ever tell me. So we +have been sauntering and maundering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_624" id="Page_624">[Pg 624]</a></span> up and down the street, one on one +side, and t'other on t'other, in search of you; peeping and peering into +every shop, and lounging and squinting at every window. We have had the +devil of a job of it to find you, Demoiselle; we have, faith!—But my +best sport will be to make Monsieur Surly look you full in the face, as +I did myself, without knowing you! though he pretends that that's all +one. The French always say that to every thing that they don't like; +<i>c'est egal!</i> cries Monsieur, whenever he's put out of his way. However, +old Surly stands to it, that he shall discover you in a twinkling; for +he's got your description.'</p> + +<p>'My description?' Juliet repeated; in a tone of terrour.</p> + +<p>'Ay; and there he is, faith! on t'other side the way! An old owl!' cried +Riley; striding to the door, and calling aloud, 'Surly! old Surly! Come +over, Mounseer Surly!'</p> + +<p>Juliet was now precipitately gliding into the little room; but Sir +Jaspar, intercepting her flight, warmly entreated, whatever might be her +fears or her difficulties, to be accepted as her protector: and, while +she was struggling, with speechless impatience, to pass him, the pilot, +pulled into the shop by Riley, stood full before her; stared hardily in +her face; looked at a paper which he held in his hand, and, grinning +horribly a scoffing smile, walked away, without speaking.</p> + +<p>Juliet, who seemed nearly fainting, was drawn tenderly into the +adjoining room by Gabriella; who was herself in almost equal +consternation.</p> + +<p>'A pretty feat you have performed here, Sir! An admirable exploit!' said +Sir Jaspar, angrily, to Riley; who, laughing heartily at the savage +satisfaction of the pilot, had re-mounted the counter. 'And what sort of +man must you be to find it so dulcet and recreative, to give chace to a +timid, defenceless lamb?'</p> + +<p>'What sort of man?' returned Riley; 'faith, I don't know! I don't, +faith! But who does? If you can tell me the man who knows himself, +you'll do more than has been done yet since the days of old Adam. I +never trouble myself with vain researches, and combinations, and +developments, and metaphysical analysings. What do they do for us, +beside cracking our skulls? They only leave us where they found us; +forced to eat and drink, and sleep and wake, and live and die, just the +same, since all the discoveries of Newton, as we did before we knew a +square from an angle.'</p> + +<p>'O ho, you are a philosopher, Sir, then, are you?' said Sir Jaspar; 'a +Cynic? guided by contempt of mankind?'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_625" id="Page_625">[Pg 625]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Not a whit! I only follow my humour. If that happens to please my +friends, so much the better; if not, I am but little "of the melting +mood;" I go on all the same. I never stop to weigh opinion in the scale +of my proceedings.'</p> + +<p>'And do you never weigh humanity, neither, Sir? the feelings of others? +the good or ill of society?'</p> + +<p>'No! I never think of all that. I let the world take its own course, as +I take mine. I have long had a craving desire to know who this girl is; +and she would never tell me. Her obstinacy doubles my curiosity; and +when my curiosity gets at the helm, it does just what it will with me. +It does, faith!'</p> + +<p>Gabriella, now returning, demanded of Riley what business detained him +in the shop, with an air of dignity that surprised him into making +something like an apology; to which he added, that he only stayed to +have a little further parley with the demoiselle.</p> + +<p>That young lady was indisposed, and could be spoken to no more.</p> + +<p>'Indisposed?' he repeated; 'I am sorry for that! I am, faith! Poor +demoiselle! she has been liberal enough of diversion to me, one way or +another. However, I shall soon discover who she is; for I know where to +catch Master Surly; and he says he is promised a thumping reward, if he +finds that she is the right person. He is but an agent, poor Surly: but +he expects his principal, with the cash, over every hour; if he i'n't +landed already.'</p> + +<p>Gabriella, who had returned to the little parlour, perceived, now, that +the face of Juliet looked convulsed with horrour. She procured her a +glass of hartshorn and water; and entreated the Baronet, who seemed +transfixed with concern, to force Riley away; and to be gone, also, +himself.</p> + +<p>Sir Jaspar could not refuse compliance; but neither could he deny +himself advancing, for an instant, to say, in a low voice, to Juliet, +'Bow not down your lovely head, sweet lilly! I have friends who will +find means to succour and protect you, be who will your assaulter!'</p> + +<p>Offering Riley, then, a place in his chariot, and dropping, as he +passed, his purse into the till-box, he drove off, with his new +acquaintance.</p> + +<p>For some minutes, excess of terrour robbed Juliet of speech, and of all +power of exertion; but when, by the cares and soothings of Gabriella, +she was, in some degree, restored, 'Oh my beloved friend!' she cried, +'we must part again,—immediately part!'</p> + +<p>A tear stole down the cheek of Gabriella as she heard this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_626" id="Page_626">[Pg 626]</a></span> +annunciation; but she offered no remonstrance; she permitted herself no +enquiry; her eye alone said, 'Why, why this!'</p> + +<p>Juliet saw, but shrunk from this mute eloquence, hastily arranging +herself for going out; making up a packet of linen to carry in her hand, +and hanging a loaded work-bag upon her arm.</p> + +<p>Casting herself, then, into the arms of her friend, 'Oh my Gabriella,' +she cried, 'I must fly,—instantly fly!—or entail a misery upon the +rest of my existence too horrible for description! Whither,—which way +to go, I know not,—but I must be hidden from all mankind!—To-morrow I +will write to you;—constantly I will write to you,—dear, generous, +noblest of friends, farewell, farewell!'</p> + +<p>They embraced, mingled their tears, embraced again, and separated.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_627" id="Page_627">[Pg 627]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXI" id="CHAPTER_LXXI"></a>CHAPTER LXXI</h2> + + +<p>Her head bowed low; her bonnet drawn over her eyes; ignorant what course +she took, and earnest only to discover any inlet into the country by +which she might immediately quit the town; Juliet, with hurried +footsteps, and trembling apprehensions, became again a Wanderer.</p> + +<p>She passed through various streets, but, unacquainted with London, read, +without any aid to her purpose, their names, till, printed in large +characters, her eyes were struck with the word Piccadilly; and, +presently, she was accosted by an ordinary man, who had a long whip in +his hand, and who, holding open the door of a carriage, asked whether +she would have a cast; saying that he was ready to set off immediately.</p> + +<p>Finding that the vehicle was a stage-coach, she eagerly accepted the +proposal, and seated herself next to an elderly woman.</p> + +<p>The man demanded whether she meant to go all the way.</p> + +<p>She answered in the affirmative; and, to her inexpressible satisfaction, +was driven out of London.</p> + +<p>Not to risk discovering to her fellow-travellers so extraordinary a +circumstance, as that of beginning an excursion in utter ignorance where +it might end, she forbore asking any questions; and left to the time of +her alighting at the spot to which the stage was destined, her own +acquaintance with her local situation.</p> + +<p>It was not, therefore, till she descended from the coach, that she found +that she had taken the road to Bagshot.</p> + +<p>The immediate plan which, in her way, she had formed, was to enter the +first shop that she saw open; thence to write to Gabriella; and then to +stroll on to the nearest village, and lodge herself in the first clean +cottage which could afford her a room.</p> + +<p>The sight, however, of the Salisbury stage, gave her a desire to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_628" id="Page_628">[Pg 628]</a></span> travel +instantly further from London; and she asked whether there were a vacant +place. She was immediately accommodated; and her journey thither, though +long, and passed in dreadful apprehension, was without accident or +event.</p> + +<p>Arrived at Salisbury, she quitted the machine, and her fellow +travellers, with whom she had scarcely exchanged a word; and, hoping +that she was now out of the way of pursuit, she put her plan into +execution, by writing a tranquillizing line to Gabriella, from a +stationer's shop; and then, set forth in search of a dwelling.</p> + +<p>This was by no means easy to find. A solitary stranger, bearing her own +small baggage, after travelling all night, was not very likely to be +seen but with eyes of scrutiny and suspicion. Yet her air, her manner, +and her language made her application always best received by the upper +class of trades-people, who were most able to discern, that such +belonged not to any vulgar or ordinary person: but, when they found that +she enquired for a lodging, without giving any name, or any reference, +they held back, alike, from granting her admission, or forwarding her +wish by any recommendation.</p> + +<p>The evident caution with which she hid as much as possible of her face, +made the beauty of what was still necessarily visible, create as much +ill opinion as admiration; though the perfect modesty of her deportment +rescued her from receiving any offence.</p> + +<p>In the smaller shops, and by the meaner and poorer sort of people, her +carrying her parcel herself, levelled her, instantly, to their own rank; +while her demand of assistance, her loneliness and even her loveliness, +sunk her far beneath it, in their opinion; and, almost with one accord, +they bluntly told her that she might find a lodging at an inn.</p> + +<p>Helpless, distressed, she wandered some time in this fruitless research; +too much self-occupied to remark the buildings, the neatness, the +antiquities, or the singularities of the city which she was patrolling; +till her eyes were caught by the little rivulets which, in most of the +streets, separate the foot-path from the high-road, by perceiving two +ruddy-cheeked, smiling little cherubs, attempting to paddle over one of +them, and playing so incautiously, that they seemed every moment in +danger of falling into the water.</p> + +<p>She hastened towards them, to point out a bridge, somewhat higher up, by +which they might more safely pass; but the elder child, a rosy boy, +careless and sportive, heeded her not; till, finding the stream deeper +than he expected, his little feet slipt, and he would inevitably<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_629" id="Page_629">[Pg 629]</a></span> have +been under water, had not Juliet, with dextrous speed, caught him by the +coat.</p> + +<p>She aided him to scramble out, though with much difficulty, for he was +wet through, and covered with mud. Frightened out of his little senses, +he set up an unappeaseable cry; in which the other child, a pretty +little girl, impelled by babyish though unconscious sympathy, joined, +with all the vociferation which her feeble lungs were capable of +emitting.</p> + +<p>Juliet, with that kindness which childish helplessness ought always to +inspire, soothed them with gentle words, and persuaded the boy to hasten +to his home, that he might take off his wet cloaths before he caught +cold. But they both sat down to cry at their leisure; though rather as +if they did not understand, than as if they resisted her counsel.</p> + +<p>Pitying their simple sufferings, she offered the boy a penny, to buy a +gingerbread cake, if he would rise.</p> + +<p>Quick, or rather immediate, now, was the transition from despondence to +transport. The boy not merely wiped his eyes, and ceased his sobs, but, +all smiles and delight, began a rapid prattling of where he should buy, +and of what sort should be, his cake; while every word, rapturously, +though indistinctly, was echoed by the little girl, not less slack in +reviving.</p> + +<p>The elasticity, however, of their little persons, kept not entirely pace +with that of their spirits. The wet attire of the boy, which his seat on +the dust had rendered as heavy as it was uncomfortable, nearly disabled +him from rising; and his little sister, who had lost one of her shoes in +the rivulet, had run a thorn into her foot, and could not stand without +crying.</p> + +<p>The children were not able to give any account of who they were that was +intelligible; nor of whence they came, save that it was from a great, +great way off. Unwilling to leave them in so pitiable a plight, Juliet, +observing that the street, which led out of the town, was empty, looked +for a clean spot, and, bending upon one knee, had just drawn out the +splinter from the foot of the little girl, when the sound of the voice +of a female, who was approaching, calling out, 'Here I be, my loveys! +here comes mammy!' so miraculously electrified the little creatures, +that, forgetting all impediment to motion, they bounded up, delighted; +the boy no longer sensible to the weight of his wet garments, nor the +girl to the tenderness of her hurt foot: and both capered to embrace the +knees of their mammy; whose eyes alone could return<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_630" id="Page_630">[Pg 630]</a></span> their caresses; her +hands being engaged in holding a heavy basket upon her head.</p> + +<p>But when she perceived their condition, she anxiously demanded what had +happened.</p> + +<p>They both again began grievously to cry, while the boy related that he +had been drowned, but that the <i>dood ady</i> (good lady) had come and saved +his life: and the little girl, interrupting him every moment, kept +presenting her foot, in telling a similar story of the kindness of the +<i>dood ady</i>.</p> + +<p>To Juliet scarcely a word of their narrations was intelligible; but, to +the ears of their mother, accustomed to their dialect, their lisping and +their imperfect speech, these prattling details were as potent in +eloquence, as the most polished orations of Cicero or Demosthenes, are +to those of the classical scholar.</p> + +<p>The gratitude of the good woman for the services rendered to her little +ones, was so warm and cordial, that she cried for joy, in pouring forth +blessings upon the head of Juliet, for having lent so friendly a hand, +she said, to her poor boy; and having done what she called so +neighbourly a kindness by her dear little girl.</p> + +<p>She had directed her children, she said, to go straight to Dame Goss's, +beyond the turnpike; having had business to transact at a house which +they could not enter; but the little dearys were not yet come to their +memory; and, but for so good a friend, the poor loveys might have lain +in the wet and the mud, till they had been half choaked.</p> + +<p>Seeing the children thus safely restored to their best friend, Juliet +meant to continue her solitary search; but the good woman, judging from +her kind offices, that there was nothing to fear from her disdain; and +concluding from her parcel, that there was nothing to respect in her +rank, frankly demanded her assistance, for helping on the children as +far as to the turnpike; simply adding, that she would do as good a turn +for her, in requital, another time; but that her basket was heavily +laden, and the poor little things, one without its shoe, and the other +in wet cloaths, would be but troublesome, in such a broiling sun, to +pull all the way by her petticoat.</p> + +<p>Cruelly experiencing want of succour herself, Juliet, always open to +charity, was now more than usually ready to serve or oblige. With the +utmost alacrity, therefore, complying with the request, she deposited +her packet in the poor woman's basket; bound her pocket-handkerchief +round the foot and ancle of the little girl; and then, taking a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_631" id="Page_631">[Pg 631]</a></span> hand of +each of the children, and gently alluring them on, by lively and playful +talk, she conducted them to the turnpike; without any other difficulty +than some fatigue to herself; which was amply compensated by the +pleasure of helping the little innocents, and their affectionate mother; +joined to the relief to her own feelings, afforded by a social exercise, +that drew her, for a while, from her fearful reflections.</p> + +<p>The woman, charmed by such kindness, begged to have the direction of +Juliet, that she might call to thank her, when next she came to +Salisbury; whither some business commonly brought her every four or five +months.</p> + +<p>Juliet was obliged to confess herself a mere passenger; but asked, in +return, the name and address of her new acquaintance.</p> + +<p>Margery Fairfield, she answered, was her name, and she lived a far off +in the New Forest. She was going, in a friend's cart, to Romsey, and +there her husband would meet her, and carry her little girl. She could +never come out without her children, if she were ever so heavily laden, +for her husband was at work all day, and there was nobody to take care +of them in her absence.</p> + +<p>A ray of pleasure now broke through the gloomy forebodings of Juliet; +there seemed to her an opening to an asylum, during the period of her +concealment, fortunate beyond her hopes; to lodge with a rustic family +of this simple description, in so retired and remote a spot, promising +all the security and privacy that she required, with fine air, pleasant +country, and worthy hosts.</p> + +<p>A very few enquiries sufficed to satisfy her, that she might find a +small room, in which she could sleep; and a little further discourse +procured her all the details necessary for learning the route to the +dame's cottage. She forbore, nevertheless, hinting at her design, that +neither trouble, expence, nor preparation might precede her arrival.</p> + +<p>She regretted her inability to accompany these new friends, at once, to +their home; but her letter to Gabriella had desired that the answer +might be directed to be left at the post office at Salisbury, till +called for; and she was too uncertain what her position might be in the +New Forest, to hazard any change of address. She was deeply anxious to +hear from Gabriella; and to learn whether she had herself been sought +since her flight.</p> + +<p>When they reached the small, mean house of Dame Goss, beyond the +turnpike, the expected cart was not yet arrived; and Juliet, being +kindly invited to take a little rest, ventured to solicit, from her new<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_632" id="Page_632">[Pg 632]</a></span> +friend, a recommendation to a cheap lodging, with some honest hostess.</p> + +<p>Enchanted to be able to serve her, the poor woman immediately said, that +she could no where be better than in that very house: and when its +mistress made various objections; first, that she had not a room +unoccupied; next, that she had no spare bed; and then, that her husband +would be angry; the zealous Dame Fairfield obviated them all. The room, +she said, with a significant nod, where they kept their boxes, would be +never the worse for being slept in a few nights, now all the boxes were +empty; and the bed she had had for herself the last winter, could be +easily carried up stairs, for she would stop to carry it with her own +hands: and as to Master Goss, he was so fond of her little dearys, that +he could not have so bad a heart as to be off doing a service to a +gentlewoman who had been so kind to them.</p> + +<p>This eloquence was all-sufficient; the real obstacle, that of aiding an +unknown traveller, occuring neither to the advocate nor to the opponent. +Free from the niceties of custom in higher life, and unembarrassed by +the perplexities of discriminating scruples, the good women, often +lonely travellers themselves, saw nothing in such a situation to excite +distrust; and regarded it therefore simply as a claim upon hospitality. +To have manifested good nature, was sufficient to procure credit for +good character; and to have done kind offices, was to secure their +return.</p> + +<p>Dame Fairfield busily set about putting into order a little apartment, +that was encumbered with trunks and boxes, which she piled one upon +another, to make a place for a small bed. She would suffer no one to +give her any help; sweeping, dusting, rubbing, and arranging all the +lumber herself; with an alacrity of pleasure, a gaiety of good will, +that charmed away, for a while, the misery of Juliet, by the consoling +picture thus presented to her view, of untaught benevolence and +generosity: a picture which must always be pleasing to the friend of +human nature, however less exalting, than when those qualities, as the +cultured fruits of religion and of principle, are purified into virtues.</p> + +<p>In this mean little lodging, to avoid being seen or heard of, Juliet +passed three days, self-inclosed; with no employment but that of writing +long letters to Gabriella, which, eventually, were to be sent by the +post, or delivered by herself. This, however, not filling up her time, +the wish of obliging, joined to a constant desire of acquiring, in every +situation, the art of being useful,—that art which, more than wealth, +or state, or power, preserves its cultivator from wearying either<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_633" id="Page_633">[Pg 633]</a></span> +himself or those around him;—led her to bestow the rest of the day in +aiding the woman of the house, in sundry occupations.</p> + +<p>To have seen and examined the famous cathedral; to have found out the +walks; to have informed herself of the manufactures; and to have visited +the antiquities and curiosities of this celebrated city, and its +neighbourhood, might have solaced the anxiety of this moment; but +discretion baffled curiosity, and fear took place of all desire of +amusement. She could only regale her confinement by the hope of soon +obtaining her freedom in an innocent and beautiful retreat; and +remained, therefore, perfectly stationary, till she conceived that an +answer might be returned from Gabriella.</p> + +<p>On the evening of that day, she prevailed upon Dame Goss, whose mornings +were all engaged, but whose good will she had now completely secured, to +be her messenger to the post-office.</p> + +<p>Without any letter, however, the messenger returned, though with an +acknowledgement that one was arrived; but that it could only be +delivered to Miss Ellis herself; or to a written order with a receipt.</p> + +<p>Juliet was immediately preparing to write one, when Dame Goss said, +'They do tell me that you be a person advertised in the London +news-papers? It ben't true; be it?'</p> + +<p>'Good Heaven, no!' Juliet ejaculated.</p> + +<p>'Pray, be you the person called, "Commonly known by the name of Miss +Ellis?"'</p> + +<p>Juliet, changing colour, asked why she made that enquiry.</p> + +<p>The woman, instead of answering, looked earnestly in her face, with an +air of stedfast examination.</p> + +<p>In the greatest dismay, Juliet turned from her, without hazarding +another question, and was going up stairs; but Dame Goss begged that she +would just stop a bit, because two persons were a coming, that she had +promised should have a peep at her.</p> + +<p>Shocked and terrified, Juliet would still have passed on; but an instant +sufficed to tell her, that, in such an emergency, not to make some +immediate attempt to escape, was to be lost.</p> + +<p>Turning, therefore, back, 'Dame Goss,' she cried, slipping a crown-piece +into her hands, with an apology for giving her so much trouble, 'hasten +again to the post-office, and say that I shall come for my letter +myself.'</p> + +<p>The woman, without question or demur, received the money and set off. +And she was no sooner out of sight, than Juliet, taking her own small +packet, unnoticed by Master Goss, who was at work in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_634" id="Page_634">[Pg 634]</a></span> little garden, +went forth by the opposite way; turning, as quickly as possible, from +the high road, where she might most naturally be pursued; and, for all +else, committing her footsteps to chance and to hope,—those last, and +not seldom, best friends of distress and difficulty.</p> + +<p>Wandering on, by paths unknown to herself, with feet not more swift than +trembling; fearing she was followed, yet not daring, by a glance around, +to ascertain either danger or safety, she overtook a young village-girl, +who was hoydening with a smart footman; but who caught her attention, by +representing to him, that, if he detained her any longer, she should +miss the return-chaise, and not know how to get back to Romsey; for her +mother would be too angry to wait for her even a moment.</p> + +<p>The sound of Romsey revived the spirits of Juliet. If she could join +this young person, she might find a conveyance, equally unsuspected and +expeditious, to within a mile or two of the very spot where she hoped +for concealment. She loitered, therefore, in sight, till the footman +retreated, and then, following the girl, though with affright, by +returning to the town, she soon found herself in the church-yard of the +cathedral; where the damsel encountered her waiting mother, with whom, +boldly defying her wrath, she began, sturdily, to wrangle.</p> + +<p>Juliet stood aloof, during the altercation, still hoping to accompany +them in their route. The beautiful Gothic structure before her, the +latest and finest remains of ancient elegance, lightness, and taste, was +nearly lost to her sight, from the misery and pre-occupation of her +mind; though appearing now with peculiar effect, from the shadows cast +upon it by the rising moon. Yet soon, in defiance of all absorption, the +magnetic affinity, in a mind natively pious, of religious solemnity with +sorrow, made the antique grace of this wonderful edifice, catch, even in +this instant of terrour and agitation, the admiring eye of Juliet; whose +mind was always open to excellence, even when most incapable of +receiving any species of pleasure.</p> + +<p>She leaned, for a moment's repose, in a recess of the building, which +the shade rendered dark, nearly sinking under the horrour of pursuit, +and the shame of eluding it. To find herself advertised in a +news-paper!—the blood mounted indignantly into her cheeks.—Perhaps to +be described!—perhaps, named! and with a reward for her +discovery!—cold from them, at this surmise, the blood again descended +to her heart: yet every feeling was transient, that led not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_635" id="Page_635">[Pg 635]</a></span> to +immediate escape; every reflection was momentary, that turned, not to +personal safety.</p> + +<p>The dispute between the mother and daughter was interrupted,—not +finished,—by the re-appearance of the footman, who told them that the +position was just going off.</p> + +<p>They scampered instantly to an inn, from the gateway of which a +post-chaise was issuing.</p> + +<p>Juliet, who had pursued, now joined them, and proposed making one in +their party.</p> + +<p>The women neither refused nor consented; they renewed their contention, +and heard only one another: but the postilion, to whom Juliet held out +half-a-crown, gave her a place with readiness,—and she was driven to +Romsey.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_636" id="Page_636">[Pg 636]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXII" id="CHAPTER_LXXII"></a>CHAPTER LXXII</h2> + + +<p>The affrighted Juliet, every instant in expectation of being stopt, was +silent the whole way; but the loquacity of her companions, to whom the +journey was an uninterrupted opportunity for wrangling, secured her from +any remark; and they arrived, and were separating, at Romsey, nearly +without having taken notice that they had ever been together, when +Juliet, having descended from the chaise, turned fearfully round, to +examine whether she were pursued.</p> + +<p>She saw no one; and blest Heaven.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, it was night; she was alone, in the suburbs of a strange +town; and wholly ignorant of the way to the New Forest. It was too late +to go on without a guide; yet, to demand one, or to order a chaise, at +such an hour, would be risking to leave documents behind her, that might +facilitate her being discovered. She addressed herself, therefore, to +her fellow-travellers, and besought them to afford, or to procure her, a +safe lodging for the night.</p> + +<p>The mother, coarsely, demanded immediate payment; which being accorded, +she said that she had some spare bedding, which could be put upon the +floor, in the sleeping-room of Debby.</p> + +<p>Juliet, accompanied them to their homely habitation, at the further +extremity of a narrow lane, in the busy and prosperous town of Romsey; +and though nothing could be more ordinary than the dwelling, or the +accommodations which she there found, neither splendour, nor wealth, nor +luxury, nor pleasure, could have devised for her, at that moment, a +sojourn more acceptable; since, to all but safety, distress and affright +made her insensible.</p> + +<p>But, this first moment of solid satisfaction passed, her whole mind +became absorbed in fearful ruminations upon the various risks that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_637" id="Page_637">[Pg 637]</a></span> she +was running, and in gloomy apprehensions of what might be their result.</p> + +<p>Her taciturnity and dejection were as little imitated as they were +little happy: her companion, almost equally self-occupied, though by no +means equally incommoded by foresight, or burthened with discretion, +broke forth immediately into the history of her own affairs and +situation; bitterly inveighing against the ill nature of her mother, +which was always thwarting every thing that was agreeable; and boldly +declaring her fixed determination to go to the fair with Mr Thomas.</p> + +<p>The humanity of Juliet here conquered her silence; but her +representations, whether of danger or of duty, were scouted with rude +merriment; and she found again as wilful a victim to pleasure as Flora +Pierson; though without the simplicity, the good humour, or the beauty +of that credulous maiden.</p> + +<p>Nearly with the light, Juliet arose, resolved, with whatever fatigue, to +travel on foot, that she might not hazard being recognized, through the +advertisement, by any coachman or postilion; and, to be less liable to +detection from passing observers, she changed, over night, her bonnet, +which was of white chip, for one the most coarse and ordinary of straw, +with her young hostess; of whom, also, she bought a blue striped apron.</p> + +<p>Shocking to all her feelings was this attempt to disguise, so imitative +of guilt, so full of semblance to conscious imposture. But there are +sometimes circumstances, great and critical, that call for all the +energy of our courage, and demand all the resources of our faculties, +for warding off impending and substantial evil, at whatever risk of +transitory misconstruction.</p> + +<p>Her account being already settled, she wished to depart unobserved, that +she might less easily be traced. Her young hostess, sleeping late and +tired, slept soundly, and was not disturbed by her rising, dressing, or +opening the room-door; and she glided down stairs without being missed, +or noticed. The door of the house was fastened only by a bolt, and she +gained the street without noise or interruption.</p> + +<p>Here all yet was still as night; the houses were shut up, and nothing +was in view, nor in hearing, but a solitary cart, driven by a young +carter, who amused his toil by the alternate pleasure of smacking his +horse, and whistling to the winds.</p> + +<p>This vehicle, which was probably travelling to the high road, she +determined to follow.</p> + +<p>The general stillness made the slightest motion heard, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_638" id="Page_638">[Pg 638]</a></span> carter, +though at a considerable distance, turned round, and called out, 'Why +you be up betimes, my lovey! come and Ize give you a cast.'</p> + +<p>Startled, she looked down, crossing the way, and appearing not to +suppose herself to be the person thus addressed: but the carter, +standing still, repeated his invitation; assuring her that he had plenty +of room.</p> + +<p>Uncertain how to act, she stopt.</p> + +<p>Terms of coarse endearment, then, accompanied a more pressing desire +that she would advance.</p> + +<p>Frightened, she drew back; but the carter, throwing his whip upon his +carriage, vowed that she should be caught, and ran after her, shouting +aloud, till she regained the house. He then scoffingly exclaimed, 'Why a +be plaguy shy o'the sudden, Mistress Debby!' and, composedly turning +upon his heel, began again to smack his horse, and whistle to the winds.</p> + +<p>Juliet, who in finding herself taken for her young hostess, found, also, +how light a character that young hostess bore, was struck to see danger +thus every way surrounding her; and alarmed at the risk, to which +impatience had blinded her, of travelling, at so early an hour, alone. +Alas! she cried, is it only under the domestic roof,—that roof to me +denied!—that woman can know safety, respect, and honour?</p> + +<p>She now strolled to the vicinity of a capital mansion, at the door of +which, if again put in fear, she could knock and make herself heard.</p> + +<p>But the higgler went on; and another cart soon appeared, in which she +had the pleasure to see a woman, driven by a boy. Unannoyed, then, she +walked by its side till she came to the long middle street; when she +found that, from solitude, at least, she had nothing more to apprehend. +Carts, waggons, and diligences, were wheeling through the town; +market-women were arriving with butter, eggs, and poultry; workmen and +manufacturers were trudging to their daily occupations; all was alive +and in motion; and commerce, with its hundred hands, was every where +opening and spreading its sources of wealth, through its active sisters, +ingenuity and industry.</p> + +<p>No difficulty now remained for finding the route; travellers of every +kind led the way. Her coarse bonnet, and blue apron saved her from +peculiar remark; and her appearance of decency, with the deep care in +her countenance, which, to the common observer, seemed but an air of +business, kept aloof all intrusive impertinence.</p> + +<p>Thus, for the first early hours of the morning, she journeyed on, nearly +unnoticed, and wholly unmolested. Every one, like herself, alert<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_639" id="Page_639">[Pg 639]</a></span> to +proceed, and impressed with the value of time, because using it to +advantage, pursued his own purpose, without leisure or thought to +trouble himself with that of his neighbour.</p> + +<p>Five times she had already counted the friendly mile-stone, since she +had quitted Romsey: one mile only remained to be trodden, ere she +reached the New Forest; but that mile was replete with obstacles, to +which its five sisters had been strangers.</p> + +<p>It was now noon; and a gentle breeze, which hitherto had fanned her +passage, and wafted to her refreshment, suddenly ceased its playful +benignity; chaced to a distance by the burning rays of a vertical sun, +just bursting forth with meridianal fire and splendour; and dispersing +the flying clouds which, in obstructing its refulgence, had softened its +intenseness.</p> + +<p>This quick change of temperature, operating, materially, like an +effective change of climate, annihilated, for the moment, all the +strength of Juliet; who, as yet, from the freshness of the morning air, +the vivacity of mental courage, had been a stranger of fatigue.</p> + +<p>Upon looking around, to seek a spot where she might obtain a few +instants' rest, and some passing succour; she observed that the road, +but just before so busily peopled, appeared to be abruptly forsaken. The +labourers were no longer working at the high ways, or at the hedges; the +harvest-men were vanished; the market-women were gone; the road retained +merely here and there an idle straggler; and the fields exhibited only a +solitary boy, left to frighten away the birds.</p> + +<p>A sensation nearly of famine with which next, from long fasting, joined +to vigourous exercise in the open air, she felt assailed, soon pointed +out to her that the cause of this general desertion was the rural hour +of repast.</p> + +<p>Initiated, now, by her own exertions, in the necessity both of support, +and of rest, she, too, felt that this was the hour of nature for +recruit. But where stop? and how procure sustenance with safety and +prudence?</p> + +<p>She looked about for some cottage, and was not long ere she found one; +but, upon begging for a glass of water from a husbandman, who was +standing upon the threshold, he answered that she should have it, if she +would pay him with a kiss.</p> + +<p>She walked on to another; but some men were smoaking at the door, and +she had not courage to make her demand.</p> + +<p>At a third, she was disconcerted, by a familiar invitation to partake of +a cup of cyder.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_640" id="Page_640">[Pg 640]</a></span></p> + +<p>She now resolved to make no further application but to females; since +countrymen, even those who are freest from any evil designs, are almost +all either gross or facetious.</p> + +<p>Women, however, at this hour, were not easily met with; they were +within, preparing their meals, or cleaning their platters, and feeding +their poultry, rabbits, or pigs.</p> + +<p>She now dropped, scarcely able to breathe from the oppression of the +heat; or to sustain herself from the enfeebling effects of emptiness, +joined to overpowering fatigue. With pain and difficulty she dragged on +her wearied limbs; while a furious thirst parched her mouth, and seemed +consuming her inside.</p> + +<p>Now, too, her distress received the tormenting augmentation of intrusive +interruption; for, in losing the elasticity of her motions, she lost, to +the vulgar observer, her appearance of innocence. Her eye, eagerly cast +around in search of an asylum, appeared to be courting attention; her +languor seemed but loitering; and her slow unequal pace, wore the air of +inviting a companion.</p> + +<p>Nor was the character of chaste diligence, and vivacious business, any +longer predominant in those whom she now casually encountered. The +noon-tide heat, in impairing their bodily strength, caused a mental +lassitude, that made them ready for any dissipation that might divert +their weariness; and Juliet, young, rosy, and alone, seemed exactly +fashioned for awakening their drowsy faculties. No one, therefore, +passed, without remarking her; and scarcely any one without making her +some address. The inconsistency of her attire, which her slackened pace +allowed time for developing, gave rise to much comment, and some +mockery. Her ordinary bonnet and blue apron, ill accorded with the other +part of her dress; and she was now assailed with coarse compliments upon +her pretty face; now by jocose propositions to join company; and now by +free solicitations for a salute.</p> + +<p>Painfully she forced herself on, till, at length, she discerned an +ancient dame, in a field by the side of the road, who sat spinning at +the door of a cottage.</p> + +<p>She crossed a style, and, presenting herself to the old woman, craved a +draught of water, and permission to take a little rest.</p> + +<p>The good old dame, who was surrounded by little boys and girls, to whom +she was singing the antique ballad of the children of the wood, in a +tone so dolorous, and with such heavy sighs, that the elder of her +hearers, who were five and six years old, were dissolved in tears; while +the younger ones clung to her knees, pale and scared,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_641" id="Page_641">[Pg 641]</a></span> finished her +stanza, before she would answer, or look at the supplicant stranger. She +then raised her eyes, with evident vexation at the interruption; but, +when she perceived the weak state, and listened to the faint accents of +her petitioner, the expression of her countenance became all +benevolence; and, good humouredly nodding her head, she disengaged +herself from the children, arose, fetched a horn of water, added to it a +cup of milk, and then, presenting to the weary traveller her own chair, +which was large and low, she got a smaller, and less commodious one, +from the kitchen for herself.</p> + +<p>The nearly exhausted Juliet gratefully accepted this hospitality; and, +in quaffing her milk and water, believed herself initiated in the +knowledge of the flavour, and of all the occult qualities, of Nectar.</p> + +<p>It is thus, then, she thought, that the poor and laborious, also, learn, +even from their toils and sufferings, what is luxury and enjoyment! for +where is the regale, and what is the libation, which the most sumptuous +table of refined elegance can offer, that can be more exquisite to the +taste, than this simple beverage of milk and water, received thus at the +moment of parching thirst, and deadly fatigue?</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the little ones, impatient at the interruption of a tale +which engaged all their tenderest feelings; and of which no repetition +could diminish the interest; looked with clouded brows, and unchecked +ill humour, upon the intruder; and, while the elder ones vented their +chagrin by crying, some of the younger ones, yet more completely in the +rough hands of untutored nature, rushed forward to beat the cause of +their vexation; while others, indignantly, struggled to pull her out of +the chair of their grandame.</p> + +<p>Juliet, whom their fat little hands could not hurt, and who approved +their fondness both for their grandmother and for the ballad, forgave +their petulance in favour of its motive: but the grandame, putting aside +her spinning wheel, called them all around her, and calmly enquired what +was the matter?</p> + +<p>They vociferously answered that they wanted to push away the naughty +person who was come to take granny's chair.</p> + +<p>And what, she asked, would they do themselves, should they be obliged to +walk a great way off, till they were tired to death, and as dry as dust, +if nobody would give them a little drink, nor a seat to sit down?</p> + +<p>But they would never walk a great way off, they answered; never as long +as they lived! They would always stay at home with dad and mam and +grandam.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_642" id="Page_642">[Pg 642]</a></span></p> + +<p>But dad and mam, she resumed, were often obliged to walk a great way off +themselves; and if nobody would let them have a seat, not any thing to +drink, what would become of them? whereas, if they should hap to light +on this young gentlewoman in any trouble, she would remember what had +been done for herself, and get them fresh water, and sweet milk, and the +easiest chair she could find: and would not they be glad of such good +luck to dad and mam? Besides that, by doing good, they would be loved by +all good boys and girls; and even by God himself, who was the Father of +them all.</p> + +<p>This was speaking at once to their sensations and their understandings; +dad and mam in distress and relieved seemed present to their view; and +they all flew to do something for their guest, as if their gratitude +were already indebted. One brought her half an apple, another, a quarter +of a pear; one, a bunch of red currants, another, of white; the youngest +of the little girls presented her with an old broken rattle; and the +smallest of the little boys, waddled to her with a hoop.</p> + +<p>Amused by this infantine scene of filial piety, and revived by rest and +refreshment, Juliet soon recompensed their endearing innocence, by +dancing the smaller ones in her arms, and prattling playfully with those +who were less babyish.</p> + +<p>Then, putting a shilling into one of their hands, she requested to have +a couple of eggs and a crust of bread.</p> + +<p>The eggs were immediately baked in the cinders; the crust was cut from a +loaf of sweet and fresh brown bread. And if her drink had seemed nectar, +what was more substantial appeared to her to be ambrosia! and her little +waiters became Hebes and Ganymedes.</p> + +<p>Refreshment thus salubrious, rest thus restorative, and security thus +serene, after fatigue, fasting and alarm, made her deem this one of the +most felicitous moments of her life. Her sole immediate desire was to +lengthen it, and to spend, in this tranquil retreat, a part, at least, +of the period destined to concealment and obscurity. She had not +forgotten her first little <i>protegés</i>, nor lost her wish to join them +and their worthy mother; but she had severely experienced how little +fitted to the female character, to female safety, and female propriety, +was this hazardous plan of lonely wandering. She begged, therefore, +permission, as a weary traveller, to pass the night in the cottage.</p> + +<p>The good dame readily consented; saying, that she could not offer very +handsome bedding; but that it should be clean and wholesome,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_643" id="Page_643">[Pg 643]</a></span> for it had +belonged to her youngest daughter, who was just gone out to service.</p> + +<p>This arranged, the ballad was again begun, so exquisitely to the delight +of the young audience, that though, at the stanza</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Their little lips with blackberries<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Were all besmear'd and dyed;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And when they saw the darksome night<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They sat them down and cried,<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>they all sobbed aloud; they were yet so grieved when it was over, that +they clung around their grandame, saying, with one voice, 'Aden, granny, +aden!'</p> + +<p>Granny, however, was too much tired to comply, and the repetition was +deferred to another day.</p> + +<p>In the evening, the mother of the children came home, and heard what had +been settled with her new and unknown guest, without objection or +interference. The father appeared soon after, and was equally passive. +The grandame was mistress of the cottage, and in her own room, which was +that, also, of the elder children, Juliet was lodged. The younger +branches of the family slept, with their father and mother, in the +kitchen; which, like the apartment of the cobler, served them equally +for parlour and hall.</p> + +<p>Juliet found the man and his wife perfectly good sort of people, simply, +but usefully employed in earning their living; while their aged mother +took charge of their dwelling, their nourishment, and their children.</p> + +<p>Thus safely and tranquilly situated, Juliet, without meeting any +difficulty, proposed to sojourn with them for some days. She gave, also, +a commission, to the younger mistress of the house, to purchase her some +ready-made linen at Romsey; and she was soon more consistently equipped, +in new, but homely apparel.</p> + +<p>This interval was most seasonably passed, in recruiting her strength, +and calming her spirits. She took pleasant walks, accompanied by the +tallest boy and girl; she worked for the grandmother; taught a part of +the catechism to some of the children; played with them all, and made +herself at once so useful and so agreeable in the rustic dwelling, that +she won the heart and good will of all its inhabitants.</p> + +<p>Yet, three times only the sun had set thus serenely, when her host, +returning half an hour later in the evening than usual, appeared so +altered and ill humoured, that Juliet thought it advisable to leave him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_644" id="Page_644">[Pg 644]</a></span> +with his family; but the slightness of the small building made as +inevitable as it was alarming, her learning that she was herself the +subject of his discontent.</p> + +<p>He told his mother that she must be more cautious how she harboured +travellers, or she might come to trouble; for there was a young +female-swindler, in or about Salisbury, who was advertised in the +news-papers; and who, upon being found out in her tricks, had made off +with Dame Goss's, without so much as paying for her lodging. She had +been traced as far as Romsey, by means of a postilion; but there, too, +she had left her lodgings by stealth, in the very middle of the night. +All the coachmen and postilions and innkeepers were looking out for her; +a handsome reward being offered, for sending tidings where she might be +met with, to an attorney in London. 'And now, mother,' he continued, +'suppose, by hap, this young gentlewoman be she? why you'll be fit to +hong yourself, mother! for as to her being so koind to the children, +that be no sign; for the bad ones be oftentimes the koindest.'</p> + +<p>He then enquired whether she had arrived in a white muslin gown, and a +white chip-hat.</p> + +<p>Her gown might be white muslin, the mother answered, for aught she could +say to the contrary, for it was covered almost all round by a blue +striped apron; but as to her hat, it was nothing but a straw-bonnet as +coarse and ordinary as he might wish to set eyes on.</p> + +<p>O then, he said, it was clear it could not be she, she was not a person +to wear a blue apron; she had been seen, the very night she made off, +dressed quite genteel.</p> + +<p>What now was the consternation of Juliet, to find herself thus pursued +as a run-away, and stigmatized as a swindler and an imposter! +Astonishing destiny! she cried; for what am I reserved? O when may I +cast off this veil of humiliating concealment? when meet unappalled the +fair eye of open day? when appear,—when alas!—even know what I am!</p> + +<p>This, however, was not the end: it soon seemed scarcely the beginning of +new distress, so far more deeply terrible to her with the intelligence +by which it was followed. When the women demanded where he had heard +this news, he answered, at the public-house; where he was told that all +Salisbury was in an uproar; a rich outlandish Mounseer, in a +post-chaise, having just come to the great inn, with the advertisement +in his hand, pointing to the reward, and promising, in pretty good +English, to double it, if the person should be found.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_645" id="Page_645">[Pg 645]</a></span></p> + +<p>Not another word could Juliet hear; not an instant, not a thought could +she bestow to learn further what was past, or even to gather what was +passing; the future, the dread of what was to come, took sole possession +of her feelings and her faculties, and again to fly, more rapidly, more +eagerly, more affrighted than ever, to fly, was her immediate act, +rather than resolution.</p> + +<p>She accoutred herself, therefore, in all that was most homely to her new +apparel; made a packet of what remained of her genuine attire; left +half-a-guinea open upon a little table, to avoid again the accusation of +being a swindler; and then, descending the ladder, and contriving to +hide her bundle with her blue apron, as she passed, said that she was +going to walk in the neighbouring fields, but that it was too late to +take out the children; and, giving to each of them a penny, to buy +cakes, she quitted the cottage.</p> + +<p>Without an instant, without even any powers for reflection, she darted +across the fields, gained the road, and, within twenty minutes, arrived +at an entrance into the New Forest; to which she had already learnt the +way in her rambles with the children.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_646" id="Page_646">[Pg 646]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXIII" id="CHAPTER_LXXIII"></a>CHAPTER LXXIII</h2> + + +<p>The terrified eagerness with which Juliet sought personal security, made +her enter the New Forest as unmoved by its beauties, as unobservant of +its prospects, as the 'Dull Incurious<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>,' who pursue their course but +to gain the place of their destination; unheeding all they meet on their +way, deaf to the songsters of the wood, and blind to the pictures of +'God's Gallery<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>,' the country.</p> + +<p>Her steps had no guide but fear, which winged their flight; she sought +no route but that which seemed most private. She flew past, across, away +from the high road, without daring to raise her eyes, lest her sight +should be blasted by the view of her dreaded pursuer.</p> + +<p>But speed which surpasses strength must necessarily be transitory. Her +feet soon failed; she panted for breath, and was compelled to stop. +Fearfully, then, she glanced her eyes around. Nothing met them but trees +and verdure. Again she blessed Heaven, and ventured to seat herself upon +the 'wild fantastic roots' of an aged beech-tree.</p> + +<p>Here, far removed from the 'busy hum of man,' from all public roads; not +even a beaten path within view, not a sheep-walk, nor a hamlet, nor a +cottage to be discerned; nor a single domestic animal to announce the +vicinity of mortal habitation; here, she began to hope that she had +parried danger, escaped detection, and reached a spot so secluded, that +all probability of pursuit was at an end.</p> + +<p>With this flattering idea the freedom of her respiration returned: they +will go on, she thought, from stage to stage, from mile-stone to +mile-stone; they will never imagine I should dare thus to turn aside +from the public way; or, should any unfortunate circumstance lead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_647" id="Page_647">[Pg 647]</a></span> them +to such a surmise, how many chances, how many thousand chances are in my +favour, that they may not fix upon exactly the same direction, as that +to which accident, alone, has been my guide into the mazes of this +intricate forest!</p> + +<p>This belief sufficed to attract back to her willing welcome, that +invincible foe to helpless despondency, Hope; whose magic elasticity +waits not for reason, consults not with probability; weighs not +contending arguments for settling its expectations, or regulating its +desires; but, airy, blyth, and bright, bounds over every obstacle that +it cannot conquer.</p> + +<p>To find some humble dwelling, by travelling on still further from the +towns in which she had been seen, was her immediate project; but +prudence forbade her seeking the asylum with Dame Fairfield which she +had pleased herself with thinking secured, lest her arrival should be +preceded by an accusing, or followed by a dangerous report from her +hostess of Salisbury. She determined, therefore, to hide herself under +some obscure roof, where she might be utterly unknown; and there to +abide, till the fury of the storm by which she feared to be overtaken, +should be passed.</p> + +<p>No sooner were her spirits, in some degree, calmed, than, with the happy +promptitude of youth to set aside evil, all personal fatigue was +insensibly forgotten; her eyes began to recover their functions; and the +moment that she cast them around with abated anxiety, she was so +irresistibly struck with the prospect, and invigorated by the purity of +the ambient air, which exhaled odoriferous salubrity, that, rising fresh +as from the balmy restoration of undisturbed repose, she mounted a +hillock to take a general survey of the spot, and thought all paradise +was opened to her view.</p> + +<p>The evening was still but little advanced; the atmosphere was as +serenely clear, as the beauties which met her sight were sublimely +picturesque; and the gay luxuriance of the scenery, though chastened by +loneliness and silence, invited smiling admiration. Chiefly she was +struck with the noble aspect of the richly variegated woods, whose aged +oaks appeared to be spreading their venerable branches to offer shelter +from the storms of life, as well as of the elements, charming her +imagination by their lofty grandeur; while the zephyrs, which agitated +their verdant foliage, seemed but their animation. Soon, however, all +observation was seized and absorbed by the benignant west, where the +sun, with glory indescribable and ever new, appeared to be concentrating +its refulgence, to irradiate the world with its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_648" id="Page_648">[Pg 648]</a></span> parting blessing: while +the extatic wild notes, and warbling, intuitive harmony of the feathered +race, struck her ear as sounds celestial, issuing from the abode of +angels; or to that abode chanting invitation.</p> + +<p>Here, for the first time, she ceased to sigh for social intercourse; she +had no void, no want; her mind was sufficient to itself; Nature, +Reflection, and Heaven seemed her own! Oh Gracious Providence! she +cried, supreme in goodness as in power! What lesson can all the +eloquence of rhetoric, science, erudition, or philosophy produce, to +restore tranquillity to the troubled, to preserve it in the wise, to +make it cheerful to the innocent,—like the simple view of beautiful +nature? so divine in its harmony, in its variety so exquisite! Oh great +Creator! beneficent! omnipotent! thy works and religion are one! +Religion! source and parent of resignation! under thy influence how +supportable is every earthly calamity! how supportable, because how +transitory becomes all human woe, where heaven and eternity seem full in +view!</p> + +<p>Thus, in soul-expanding contemplation, Juliet composed her spirits and +recruited her strength, while she awaited the dusky hue of twilight to +discover some retreat; and not without reluctance she then quitted the +delicious spot, where her weary mind and body had been alike refreshed +with repose and consolation.</p> + +<p>Though too much occupied by the certain and cruel danger from which she +was running, to bestow much attention upon the uncertain, yet immediate +and local risks to which she might be liable, she was not, now, sorry to +regain a beaten track, of which the rugged ruts shewed the recent +passage of a rural vehicle.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes, she descried a small cart, directed by a man on foot, +who was jovially talking with some companion.</p> + +<p>While seeking to discover whether their appearance were such as might +encourage her to ask their assistance upon her way, she was startled +with a cry of 'Why if there ben't Deb. Dyson! O the jeade! if I ben't +venged of un! a would no' know me this very blessed morning!'</p> + +<p>'Deb. Dyson?' answered the other: 'no, a be too slim for Debby. Debby'd +outweigh the double o' un.'</p> + +<p>'O, belike I do no' know Deb. Dyson?' cried the carter. 'Why I zee her, +at five of the clock, at her own door, in that seame bonnet. And I do +know her bonnet of old, for t' be none so new; for I was by when Johnny +Ascot gin it her, at our fair, two years agone. I know un well enough, I +va'nt me! A can make herself fat or lean as a wull, can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_649" id="Page_649">[Pg 649]</a></span> Debby. A be a +funny wench, be Debby. But a shall peay me for this trick, I van't me, a +jeade!'</p> + +<p>Juliet, in the utmost alarm to find herself thus recognised by the +carter, though still supposed to be another, hastily glided back to the +wood; cruelly vexed that the very disguise which had hitherto saved her +from personal discovery, exposed her but additionally to another species +of peril. She might easily, indeed, by speaking, or by suffering herself +to be looked at, shew the carter his mistake in conceiving her to be of +his acquaintance; but there would still remain a dangerous appearance of +intimacy with a young woman who was evidently held in light estimation. +She quickened, therefore, her pace, and determined to relinquish her +suspicious bonnet by the first opportunity.</p> + +<p>In a short time the cackling of fowls, and other sounds of rural +animation, announced the vicinity of some inhabited spot. She pursued +this unerring direction, and soon saw, and entered, a small hut; in +which, though the whole dimensions might have stood in a corner of any +large hall, without being in the way, she found a father, mother, and +seven young children at supper.</p> + +<p>Their looks, upon her entrance, were by no means auspicious; the woman +scowled at her with an eye of ill will; the man harshly asked what she +wanted; the children, who seemed ravenous, squalled and squabbled for +food; and a fierce dog, quitting a half-gnawn bone, to bark +vociferously, seemed panting for a sign to leap at and bite her; as a +species of order to which he was accustomed upon the intrusion of a +stranger.</p> + +<p>Juliet told them that she was going to a neighbouring village; but that +she had missed her road, and, as it was growing dark, had stopt to beg a +night's lodging.</p> + +<p>They answered morosely that they had neither bed nor room for +travellers.</p> + +<p>Was there any house in the neighbourhood where she could be +accommodated?</p> + +<p>Aye, there was one, they answered, not afar off, where an old man and +his wife had a spare bed, belonging to their son: but the direction +which they gave was so intricate that, in the fear of losing her way, or +again encountering the carter, she entreated permission to sit up in the +kitchen.</p> + +<p>They went on with their supper, now helping, and now scolding their +children, and one another, without taking any notice of this request.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_650" id="Page_650">[Pg 650]</a></span></p> + +<p>To quicken their attention she put half-a-crown upon the table.</p> + +<p>The man and woman both rose, bowing and courtsying, and each offering +her their place, and their repast; saying it should go hard but they +would find something upon which she might take a little rest.</p> + +<p>She felt mortified that so mercenary a spirit could have found entrance +in a sport which seemed fitted to the virtuous innocence of our yet +untainted first parents; or to the guileless hospitality of the poet's +golden age. She was thankful, however, for their consent, and partook of +their fare; which she found, with great surprize, required not either +air or exercise to give it zest: it consisted of scraps of pheasant and +partridge, which the children called <i>chicky biddy</i>; and slices of such +fine-grained mutton, that she could with difficulty persuade herself +that she was not eating venison.</p> + +<p>All else that belonged to this rustic regale gave a surprize of an +entirely different nature; the nourishment was not more strikingly +above, than the discourse and general commerce of her new hosts were +below her expectations. They were rough to their children, and gross to +each other; the woman looked all care and ill humour; the man, all +moroseness and brutality.</p> + +<p>Safety, at this moment, was the only search of Juliet; yet, little as +she was difficult with respect to the manner of procuring it, she did +not feel quite at ease, when she observed that the man and his wife +spoke to each other frequently apart, in significant whispers, which +evidently, by their looks, had reference to their guest.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, this created but a vague uneasiness, till the children +were put to bed; when the man and woman, having given Juliet some +clothing, and an old rug for a mattrass, demanded whether she were a +sound sleeper.</p> + +<p>She answered in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>They then mounted, by a staircase ladder to their chamber; but, while +they were shutting a trap-door, which separated the attic-story from the +kitchen, Juliet caught the words, 'You've only to turn the darkside of +your lanthorn, as you pass, mon, and what can a zee then?'</p> + +<p>She was now in a consternation of a sort yet new to her. What was there +to be seen?—What ought to be hidden?—Where, she cried, have I cast +myself! Have I fallen into a den of thieves?</p> + +<p>Her first impulse was to escape; and the moment that all was still over +her head, she stept softly to the door, guided by the light of the moon, +which gleamed through sundry apertures of an old board, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_651" id="Page_651">[Pg 651]</a></span> was placed +against the casement as a shutter: but the door was locked, and no key +was hung up; nor was any where in sight.</p> + +<p>This extraordinary caution in cottagers augmented her alarm. She had, +however, no resource but to await the dark lanthorn with steadiness, and +to collect all her courage for what might ensue.</p> + +<p>She sat upright and watchful, till, by the calculations of probability, +she conceived it to be about three o'clock in the morning. Lulled, then, +by a hope that her fears were groundless, she was falling insensibly +into a gentle slumber; when she was aroused by a step without, followed +by three taps against the window, and a voice that uttered, in low +accents, 'Make heaste, or 'twull be light o'er we be back.'</p> + +<p>The upper casement was then opened, and the host, in a gruff whisper, +answered, 'Be still a moment, will ye? There be one in the kitchen.'</p> + +<p>Great as was now the affright of Juliet, she had the presence of mind to +consider, that, whatever was the motive of this nocturnal rendezvous, it +was undoubtedly designed to be secret; and that her own safety might +hang upon her apparent ignorance of what might be going forward.</p> + +<p>To obviate, therefore, more effectually any surmize of her alarm, she +dropt softly upon the rug, and covered herself with the clothing +provided by her hostess.</p> + +<p>She had barely time for this operation before the trap-door was +uplifted, and gently, and without shoes, the man descended. He crossed +the room cautiously, unbolted and unlocked the door, and shut himself +out. Immediately afterwards, the woman, with no other drapery than that +in which she had slept, quickly, though with soft steps, came to the +side of the rug, and bent over it for about a minute; she then rebolted +and locked the door, returned up the ladder, and closed the +trap-opening.</p> + +<p>Juliet, though dismayed as much as astonished, forbore to rise, from +ignorance, even could she effect her escape, by what course to avoid +encountering the persons whom she meant to fly, in a manner still more +dangerous than that of awaiting their return to their own abode; whence +she hoped she might proceed quietly on her way the next morning, as an +object not worth detention or examination; her homely attire and +laborious manner of travelling alike announcing profitless poverty.</p> + +<p>Her doubts of the nature of what she had to apprehend, were as full of +perplexity as of inquietude. Would robbers thus eagerly have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_652" id="Page_652">[Pg 652]</a></span> caught at +half-a-crown? Would they be residents in a fixed abode, with a family of +children? Surely not. Yet the whispers, the cautions, the examination +whether she slept, evinced clearly something clandestine; and their +looks and appearance were so darkly in their disfavour, that, +ultimately, she could only judge, that, if they were not actual robbers, +they were the occasional harbourers, and miserable accomplices of those +who, to similar want of principle, joined the necessary hardiness for +following that brief mode of obtaining a livelihood; brief not alone in +its success, but in its retribution!</p> + +<p>In a state of disturbance so singular, there was not much danger that +she should find herself surprised by</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Kind nature's soft restorer, balmy sleep.'<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In less than an hour, three taps again struck her ear, though not upon +her own casement; taps so gentle, that had she been less watchful, they +would not have been heard.</p> + +<p>The woman instantly descended the ladder, and approached the bedding; +over which she leant as before; and, as before, concluded stillness to +be sleep. Cautiously, then, she unbolted and unlocked the door; when, +low as were the whispers that ensued, Juliet distinguished three +different tones of voice, though she caught not a word that was uttered.</p> + +<p>The woman next, gliding across the room, opened a low door, which Juliet +had not remarked. The man followed slowly, and as if heavily loaded; the +woman shut him out by this private door, and returned to fasten that of +public entrance; whispering 'Good bye!' to some one who seemed to be +departing. Juliet, at the same time, heard something fall, or thrown +down, from within, weighty, and bearing a lumpish sound that made her +start with horrour.</p> + +<p>This involuntary and irresistible movement was immediately perceived by +the hostess, who was re-crossing the room, but who, then, precipitately +advanced to the bedding, and roughly demanded whether she slept?</p> + +<p>Juliet struggled vainly to resume her serene appearance of repose; the +shock of her nerves had mounted to her features; she felt her lips +quiver, and her bosom heave, but she had still sufficient presence of +mind to conceal her face by rubbing her eyes, while she asked whether it +were time to breakfast?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_653" id="Page_653">[Pg 653]</a></span></p> + +<p>Satisfied by this enquiry, the woman answered No; and that she had only +gotten up to let in her husband, who had been abroad upon a little job, +for which he had not found leisure in the day: she recommended to her, +therefore, to lie still, and fall asleep.</p> + +<p>Still, she remained; but sleep was as far from her eyes, as, in such a +situation, from her wishes. She sought, however, again to wear its +semblance, while the woman followed her husband through the small door, +and shut herself, also, out.</p> + +<p>They continued together about half an hour, when, re-entering, they both +re-mounted the ladder; without further examination whether or not they +were observed.</p> + +<p>What might this imply? Was it simply that, concluding her to be awake, +they deemed caution to be unavailing? or, that their secret business +being finished, caution was no longer necessary?</p> + +<p>Strange, also, it appeared to her, their rustic life and residence +considered, that they should take such a season for rest, when she saw +the vivid rays of the early sun piercing, through various crevices, into +the apartment.</p> + +<p>Raising her head, next, to view the door, which, the preceding night, +had escaped her notice, she espied, close to its edge, a large clot of +blood.</p> + +<p>Struck with terrour, she started up; and then perceived that the passage +from door to door was traced with bloody spots.</p> + +<p>She remained for some minutes immovable, incapable either to think of +her danger, or to form any plan for her preservation; and wholly +absorbed by the image which this sight presented to her fears, of some +victim to murderous rapacity.</p> + +<p>Soon, however, rousing to a sense of her own situation, she determined +upon making a new attempt to escape. She listened beneath the trap-door, +to ascertain that all was quiet, and received the most unequivocal +assurances, that fatigue and watchfulness had ended in sound sleep. +Still, however, she could find no key; but, while fearfully examining +every corner, she remarked that the low door was merely latched.</p> + +<p>Should she here seek some out-let? She recoiled from the sight of the +blood; yet it was a sight that redoubled her earnestness to fly. +Whatever had been deposited would certainly be concealed: she resolved, +therefore, to make the experiment, though her hand shook so violently, +that, more than once, it dropt from the latch ere she could open the +door.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_654" id="Page_654">[Pg 654]</a></span></p> + +<p>Tremblingly she then crossed the threshold, and found herself in a +miserable outer-building, without casements, and encumbered with old +utensils and lumber. She observed a large cupboard which was locked, but +of which, from the darkness of the place, she could take no survey. To +the outward door there was no lock, but it was doubly bolted. She opened +it, though not without difficulty, and saw that it led to a small +disorderly garden, which was hedged round, half planted with potatoes, +and half wasted with rubbish. She examined whether there were any +opening by which she might enter the Forest; and discerned a small gate, +over which, though it was covered with briars, she believed that she +could scramble.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, she hesitated; she might be heard, or presently missed and +pursued; and the vengeance incurred by such a detection of her +suspicions and ill opinion, might provoke her immediate destruction. It +might be better, therefore, to return; to rise only when called; to pay +them another half-crown; and then publicly depart.</p> + +<p>Accidentally, while thus deliberating, she touched the handle of a large +wicker-basket, and found that it was wet: she held out her hand to the +light, and saw that it was besmeared with blood.</p> + +<p>She turned sick; she nearly fainted; she shrunk from her hand with +horrour; yet strove to recover her courage, by ejaculating a fervent +prayer.</p> + +<p>To re-enter the house voluntarily, was now impossible; she shuddered at +the idea of again encountering her dreaded hosts, and resolved upon a +flight, at all risks, from so fearful a dwelling.</p> + +<p>She made her way through the enclosure; crossed the briery gate, and, +rushing past whatever had the appearance of already trodden ground, +dived into a wood; where, trampling down thorns, brambles, and nettles, +now braving, now unconscious of their stings, she continued her rapid +course, till she came within view of a small cottage. There she stopt; +not for repose; her troubled mind kept her body still insensible to +weariness; but to ponder upon her dreadful suspicions.</p> + +<p>Not a moment was requisite to satisfy her upright reason, that to +discover what she had seen, and what she surmised, was an immediate duty +to the community, if, by such a discovery, the community might be +served; however repugnant the measure might be to female delicacy; +however cruel to the pleadings of compassion for the children of the +house; and however adverse to her feelings, to denounce what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_655" id="Page_655">[Pg 655]</a></span> she could +not have detected, but from seeking, and finding, a personal asylum in +distress.</p> + +<p>Yet who was she who must give such information? Anonymous accusation +might be neglected as calumnious; yet how name herself as belonging to +the noble family from which she sprung, but by which she was +unacknowledged? How, too, at a moment when concealment appeared to her +to be existence, come forward, a volunteer to public notice? Small as +ought to be the weight given to a consideration merely selfish, if +opposing the rights of general security; neither law, she thought, nor +equity, demanded the sacrifice of private and bosom feelings, for an +evil already irremediable, where, while the denunciation would be +unavailing, the denunciator must be undone.</p> + +<p>Appeased thus for the moment, though not satisfied in her scruples, she +walked on towards the dwelling; but, seeing that it was still shut up, +she seated herself upon the stump of a large tree, where deaf, from +mental occupation, to the wild melody of innumerable surrounding singing +birds, she shudderingly, and without intermission, bathed her bloody +hand in the dew.</p> + +<p>Rest, however, to her person, served but to quicken the energy of her +faculties; and the less her fears, the more her judgment prevailed. Her +reasoning, upon examination, she found to be plausible but fallacious. +The evil already committed, it was, indeed, too late to obviate; but if +the wretched hut, from which she had just escaped, were the receptacle +of nocturnal culprits, or of their victims, there might not be a moment +to lose to prevent some new and horrible catastrophe.</p> + +<p>In a dilemma thus severe, between the terrour of exposing herself to the +personal discovery which she was flying to avoid, or the horrour of +omitting the performance of a public duty; she had fixed upon no +positive measure, decided upon nothing that was satisfactory, before the +casements of the cottage were opened.</p> + +<p>Not to lose, then, another moment in unprofitable deliberation, she +resolved to communicate to the inhabitants her suspicions, and to urge +their being made known to the nearest Justice of the Peace. She might +then, with less scruple, continue her flight; and hereafter, if, +unhappily, there should be no other alternative, give her assistance in +following up the investigation.</p> + +<p>She tapped at the cottage-door, and demanded admittance and rest, as a +weary traveller.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_656" id="Page_656">[Pg 656]</a></span></p> + +<p>She was let in, without difficulty, by an old woman, who was +breakfasting with an old man, upon a rasher of bacon.</p> + +<p>It now, with much alarm, occurred to her, that this might be the house +to which she had been directed from the terrible hut. She fearfully +enquired whether they had a spare bed? and, upon receiving an answer in +the affirmative, with the history of their son's absence, not a doubt +remained that she had sought refuge with the friends, perhaps the +accomplices, of the very persons from whom she was escaping; and who, +should they, through vengeful apprehension, pursue her, would probably +begin their search at this spot.</p> + +<p>Affrighted at the idea, yet not daring abruptly to abscond, she forced +herself to sit still while they breakfasted; though unable to converse, +and turning with disgust from the sight of food.</p> + +<p>The old man and woman, meanwhile, intent solely upon their meal, which, +now too hot for their mouths, now too cold for their taste, now too hard +for their teeth, occupied all their discourse; heeded not her +uneasiness, and, when she arose and took leave, saw her departure with +as little remark as they had seen her entrance.</p> + +<p>With a complication of fears she now went forth again; to seek,—not an +asylum in the Forest, the beautiful Forest!—but the road by which she +might quit it with the greatest expedition. Where, now, was the +enchantment of its prospects? Where, the witchery of its scenery? All +was lost to her for pleasure, all was thrown away upon her as enjoyment; +she saw nothing but her danger, she could make no observation but how to +escape what it menaced.</p> + +<p>She flew, therefore, from the vicinity of the hut, though with a +celerity better adapted to her wishes than to her powers; for, in less +than half an hour, she was compelled, from utterly exhausted strength, +to seat herself upon the turf.</p> + +<p>Not yet was she risen, and scarcely was she rested, when she was +startled by a whistling in the wood, which was presently followed by the +sound of two youthful male voices, in merry converse.</p> + +<p>To escape notice, she, at first, thought it safest to sit still; but the +nearer and nearer approach of feet, made her reflect, that to be +surprised, in so unfrequented a spot, at so early an hour in the +morning, might be yet more unfavourable to opinion, than being discerned +to pace her lonely way, with the quick steps of busy haste or timid +caution. She moved, therefore, on; carefully taking a contrary direction +to that whence the voices issued.</p> + +<p>She soon found herself bewildered in a thicket, where she could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_657" id="Page_657">[Pg 657]</a></span> trace +no path, and whence she could see no opening. She was felicitating +herself, however, that she had out-run the sounds by which she had been +affrighted; when she first heard, and next perceived, an immense dog, +who, after beating about the bushes at some distance, suddenly made a +point at her, and sprang forward.</p> + +<p>Terrour, which puts us into any state but that which is natural, +bestows, occasionally, what, in common, it robs us of, presence of mind. +Juliet knew that flight, to the intelligent, though dumb friend of man, +was well seen to be cowardice, and instinctively judged to be guilt. +Aware, therefore, that if she could not appease his fury, it were vain +to attempt escaping it, she compelled herself to turn round and face +him; holding out her hand in a caressing attitude, that seemed inviting +his approach; though with difficulty sustaining herself upon her feet, +from a dread of being torn to pieces.</p> + +<p>The rage, unprovoked, but not inexorable, of the animal, withstood not +this manifestation of kindness: from a pace so rapid, that it seemed +menacing to level her with the earth by a single bound, he abruptly +stopt, to look at and consider his imagined enemy; and from a barking, +of which the stormy loudness resounded through the forest, his tone +changed to a low though surly growl, in which he seemed to be debating +with himself, whether to attack a foe, or accept a friend.</p> + +<p>The hesitation sufficed to ensure to Juliet the victory. Encouraged by a +view of success, her address supplanted her timidity, and, bending +forwards, she called to him with endearing expressions. The dog, caught +by her confidence, made a grumbling but short resistance; and, having +first fiercely, and next attentively, surveyed her, wagged his tail in +sign of accommodation, and, gently advancing, stretched himself at her +feet.</p> + +<p>Juliet repaid his trust with the most playful caresses. Good and +excellent animal, she cried, what a lesson of mild philanthropy do you +offer to your masters! The kindness of an instant gains you to a +stranger, though no unkindness, nor even the hardest usage, can alienate +you from an old friend!</p> + +<p>She now flattered herself that, by following as he led, she might have a +guide, as well as a protector, to the habitation to which he belonged. +She sate by his side, determined to wait his movements, and to pursue +his course. Perfectly contented himself, he basked in the sun-beams that +broke through the thicket, and was evidently soothed, nay, charmed, by +the fond accents with which she solicited his friendship.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_658" id="Page_658">[Pg 658]</a></span></p> + +<p>This nearly silent, but expressive intercourse, was soon interrupted by +a vociferous Haloo! from a distant part of the wood.</p> + +<p>Up started the new companion of Juliet, who arose, also, to accompany, +or, at least, to trace his steps. Neither were possible. He darted from +her with the same rapidity, though wide from the same ferocity, as that +with which he had at first approached her: vain was every soft appeal, +lost was every gentle blandishment; in an instant he was out of sight, +out of hearing,—she scarcely saw him go ere he was gone. Faithful +creature! she cried, 'tis surely his master who calls! A new tie may +excite his benevolence; none can shake his fidelity, nor slacken his +services.</p> + +<p>Alone and unaided, she had now to pierce a passage through the thicket, +uncertain whither it might lead, and filled with apprehensions.</p> + +<p>But, in a few minutes, greatly to her satisfaction, her new friend +re-appeared; wagging his tail, rubbing himself against her gown, and +meeting and returning her caresses.</p> + +<p>Her project of obtaining a conductor was now recurring, when again an +Haloo! followed by the whistling of two voices, called off her hope; and +shewed her that her intended protector belonged to the young men whom +she had been endeavouring to avoid.</p> + +<p>She knew not whether it were better, under the auspices of her new ally, +to risk begging a direction from these youths, to some house or village; +or still to seek her desolate way alone.</p> + +<p>She had time only to start, not to solve this doubt; the dog, again +returning, as if unwilling to relinquish his new alliance, began to +excite the curiosity of his masters; who, following, exclaimed, 'Dash a +vound zomething, zure!' and presently, through the trees, she descried +two wood-cutters.</p> + +<p>She was seen, also, by them; they scrambled faster on; and one of them +said,</p> + +<p>'Why t'be a girl!'</p> + +<p>'Be it?' answered the other; 'why then I'll have a kiss.'</p> + +<p>'Not a fore me, mon!' cried his companion, 'vor I did zee her virzt!'</p> + +<p>'Belike you did,' the other replied; 'but I zpoke virzt; zo you mun come +after!'</p> + +<p>Juliet now saw herself in a danger more dreadful than any to which +either misfortune or accident had hitherto exposed her,—the danger of +personal and brutal insult. She looked around vainly for succour or +redress; the woods and the heavens were alone within view or within +hearing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_659" id="Page_659">[Pg 659]</a></span></p> + +<p>The first terrible moment of this alarm was an agony of affright, that +made her believe herself a devoted victim to outrage: but the moment +after, observing that the young men were beginning to combat for +precedence, a sudden hope of escape revived her courage, and gave wings +to her feet; and, defying every obstacle, she pushed on a passage, +through the intricate thicket, almost with the swiftness that she might +have crossed the smoothest plain, till she arrived at an open spot of +ground.</p> + +<p>The fear of losing her now ended, though without deciding, the dispute; +and the youths ran on together, mutually and loudly shouting familiar +appeals, after the fugitive, upon their rights, with entreaties that she +would stop.</p> + +<p>Juliet again felt her strength expiring; but where courage is the result +of understanding, if its operation is less immediate than that which +springs from physical bravery, it is not less certain. The despair, +therefore, of saving herself by bodily exertion, presently gave rise to +a mental effort, which instigated her to turn round upon her +persecutors, and await and face them; with the same assumed firmness, +though not with the offered caresses, with which she had just +encountered her four-footed pursuer.</p> + +<p>Their surprize at this unexpected action put an end to their dissention; +and, each believing her to be alike at the service of either, or of +both, they laughed coarsely, and came on, arm in arm, and leisurely, +together.</p> + +<p>Juliet, calling to her assistance her utmost presence of mind, and +dignity of manner, stept forward to meet them; and, with an air that +disguised her apprehensions, said, 'Gentlemen, I have business of great +importance with the farmer who lives near this place; but I do not know +the shortest way to his farm. If you will be so obliging as to shew it +to me, you may depend upon his handsomely rewarding any trouble that you +may take.'</p> + +<p>Their astonishment, now, was encreased; but although, at the word +business, they leered at one another with an air of mockery, her air and +mien, with her grave civility and apparent trust, caused, involuntarily, +a suspension of their facetious design; and they enquired the name of +the farmer, whom she was seeking.</p> + +<p>She could not immediately, she said, recollect it; but he lived at the +nearest farm.</p> + +<p>'Why 't-ben't Master Zimmers?' They cried.</p> + +<p>'The very same!'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_660" id="Page_660">[Pg 660]</a></span></p> + +<p>'What, that do live yinder, across the copse?'</p> + +<p>'Without any doubt'</p> + +<p>They now ogled one another, with a consciousness that persuaded Juliet +that this Simmers was their own master; or, perhaps, their father; and +she repeated her request, with reiterated assurances, that a +considerable recompence would be bestowed upon her conductor.</p> + +<p>They looked irresolute, and extremely foolish; Dash, however, was firmly +her friend, and, while they were whispering and hesitating, jumped and +capered from his masters to his new associate, from his new associate to +his masters, with an intelligent delight, that seemed manifesting his +enjoyment of a junction which he had himself brought about.</p> + +<p>Juliet shewed so much pleasure in his kindness, that the young men, +proud of their dog, and glad, in their embarrassment, to be occupied +rather than to reply, fondled him, in their rough manner, themselves; +making him fetch, carry, stand on his hinder legs, leap over their hats, +caper, bark, point, and display his various accomplishments.</p> + +<p>Juliet encouraged this diversion, by patting the dog, applauding his +teachers, and stimulating a repetition of every feat; till the youths, +charmed by her good fellowship, were insensibly turned aside from their +evil intentions; and soon, and in perfect harmony, they all arrived at a +considerable farm, upon the borders of the New Forest.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_661" id="Page_661">[Pg 661]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXIV" id="CHAPTER_LXXIV"></a>CHAPTER LXXIV</h2> + + +<p>Juliet, thus escaped from the eminent and terrific dangers to which she +had been exposed, entered the farm-house with a glowing delight diffused +over her countenance, that instinctively communicated a participating +pleasure to the people of the farm; and caused her to be received with +an hospitality that might have contented the expectations of an old +friend.</p> + +<p>Nothing so unfailingly ensures, or rather creates a welcome, as +cheerfulness; cheerfulness! so beautifully, by Addison, called an Hymn +to the Divinity! Whether it be, that the view of sprightliness seems the +fore-runner of pleasure to ourselves; or whether we judge all within to +be innocent, where all without is serene; various, according to +sentiment, or circumstance, as may be the motive, the result is nearly +universal; that those who approach us with cheerfulness, are sure to be +met with kindness. Cheerfulness is as distinct from insipid placidity as +from buoyant spirits; it seems to indicate a disposition of thankful +enjoyment for all that can be attained of good, blended with resignation +upon principle to all that must be endured of evil.</p> + +<p>Her first care was to satisfy her two still wondering conductors, who +proved to be sons to the master of the farm, by giving to each +half-a-crown; that they might not lose their time, she told them, by +waiting till she had settled her business with their father: and, after +doubling her caresses to her protector, Dash, she sent them back to +their work; manifestly glad that they had not affronted a young woman, +who knew how to behave herself, they said, so handsomely.</p> + +<p>She now begged an audience of the farmer, to whom she resolved to +communicate her alarming adventure at the hut.</p> + +<p>The farmer, who was surrounded by his family and his labourers, to whom +he was issuing orders, desired her to speak out at once.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_662" id="Page_662">[Pg 662]</a></span></p> + +<p>Juliet could by no means consent to publish so dark and uncertain a +history to so many hearers; she again, therefore, entreated to address +him in private.</p> + +<p>He had come home, he answered, only to take a mug of beer; for the +plough was in the field: however, she might call again, if she would, at +dinner-time; but he had no time to give to talk in a morning.</p> + +<p>And forth he went, whistling, and hallooing after his labourers, as he +jogged his way.</p> + +<p>She then applied to his bustling, sturdy wife; but with no better +success; who was to feed the poultry? who was to give the wash to the +pigs? who was to churn the butter? if she threw away her time by +gossipping in the morning?</p> + +<p>The rest of the family consisted of three grown up daughters, and four +or five children. The daughters, though more civil, because less +voluntarily busy, and, as yet, less interested than their parents, were +too inexperienced to give any assistance, or form any judgment upon such +an affair; Juliet, therefore, who was sinking with fatigue and +emptiness, and who desired nothing so much as to remain for some time +under any safe roof, begged, of the young women, a bason of bread and +milk for her breakfast; and permission to stay at the farm till the hour +of dinner.</p> + +<p>These requests were granted without the smallest demur, even before she +produced her purse; which they viewed with no small surprize, saying +that they hoped they were not so near, as to take money for a little +bread and milk of a traveller; but that, if she must needs do it, she +might give a small matter to the children.</p> + +<p>Recollecting, now, her rustic and ordinary garb, and fearing to awaken +suspicion, or curiosity, she put a penny a-piece into the hands of two +little boys and a girl.</p> + +<p>It was then that she saw how far she was removed from the capital; in +the precincts of which the poor and the labourer are almost constantly +rapacious, or necessitous. The high price to be obtained, there, for +whatever is marketable, makes generosity demand too great a sacrifice, +save from the exalted few; who, still in all places, and in all classes, +are, by the candid observer, occasionally, to be found. But in this +obscure hamlet, where plenty was not bribed away to sale, this little +donation was received with as much amazement as joy; and the children +scampered to the dairy, and to the plough-field, to shew it first to +mammy, and then to dad.</p> + +<p>Juliet, having taken her simple repast, strolled into a small meadow,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_663" id="Page_663">[Pg 663]</a></span> +just without the farm-yard; where she seated herself upon a style, to +enjoy, at once, the fragrant air, and personal repose.</p> + +<p>The prospect here, though less sublime in itself, and less exalting in +the ideas which it inspired, than that of the lonely and majestic +beauty, which had so powerfully charmed her, visually and +intellectually, in the midst of the New Forest; was yet gay, varied, +verdant and lovely. On the opposite side of a winding and picturesque +road, by which the greater part of the hedge around the meadow was +skirted, was situated a small Gothic church; of which the steeple was +nearly over-run with ivy, and the porch, half sunk into the ground, from +the ravages of time and of neglect; wearing, all together, the air of a +venerable ruin. Further on, and built upon a gentle acclivity, stood a +clean white cottage, evidently appropriated to the instruction of youth, +or rather childhood; to which sundry little boys and girls, each with a +book, or with needle-work, in his hand, were trudging with anxious +speed. Juliet spoke to each of them as they passed; pleased with their +innocent prattle, and gathering alternately, from their native +intelligence, or gaping stupidity, food to amuse her mind, with +predictions of their future characters. Sheep were browsing upon a +distant heath; cows were watering in a neighbouring stream; and two +beautiful colts were prancing and skipping, with all the bounding vigour +of untamed liberty, in the meadow. Geese, turkies, cocks and hens, ducks +and pigs, peopled the farm-yard; keeping up an almost constant chorus of +rural noises; which, at first, stunned her ears, but which, afterwards, +entertained her fancy, by drawing her observation to their various +habits and ways. The children came, jumping, to play around her; and her +friend Dash, discovering her retreat, frequently left the wood-cutters +to bound forwards, and court her caresses.</p> + +<p>The young women of the house, to divert their several labours of +weeding, churning, or washing, occasionally, also, joined her, for the +pleasure of a little chat; which they by no means, like their father or +mother, held in contempt. Juliet received them with an urbanity that +gave such a zest to their little visits, that it served to quicken their +work, that they might quicken their return; and, with the eldest, she +changed the bonnet of Debby Dyson, for one that was plainer, and yet +more coarse.</p> + +<p>There was nothing in these young persons of sufficient 'mark or +likelihood' to make them attractive to Juliet; but she was glad to earn +their good will; and not sorry to learn what were their occupations;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_664" id="Page_664">[Pg 664]</a></span> +conscious that a dearth of useful resources, was a principal cause, in +adversity, of <span class="smcap">FEMALE DIFFICULTIES</span>.</p> + +<p>Here, then, Juliet formed a project to rest, till her own should be +removed; or, at least, till she could obtain some intelligence, that +might guide her uncertain steps: this seemed the spot upon which she +might find repose; this seemed the juncture for enjoying quiet and +tranquility in the country life; to which she desired to devote the +residue of the time that might still be destined to suspense.—Here, +retirement would be soothing, and even seclusion supportable, from the +charm of the scenery, the beauty of the walks, the guileless characters, +and vivifying activity of the inhabitants of the farm-house; and the +fragrant serenity of all around. Here, peace and plenty were the result +of industry; and primitive, though not polite hospitality, was the +offspring of natural trust. If there was no cultivation, there was no +art; if there was no refinement, there were integrity and good will.</p> + +<p>She applied, therefore, to her new young acquaintances, to promote her +plan with their parents. They lost not a moment in making the +arrangement; and Juliet was immediately installed in a small chamber, +upon the attic-story. She settled that she should eat from their table, +but alone; for she dreaded remark or discovery. No terms were fixed; a +little matter, they said, would suffice; and Juliet saw that she had +nothing to fear from imposition; every face in the family bearing the +mark, or the promise, of steady honesty.</p> + +<p>Nor, indeed, could any price be exorbitant to Juliet, that could procure +some relief to her fears, and some respite from her toils. Her first +care was to obtain, through her new friends, implements for writing; and +then to transmit, in detail, assurances of her present safety, and even +comfort, to Gabriella; from whom she entreated intelligence, whether +pursuit and enquiry were still active.</p> + +<p>As fearful, now, of the name of Ellis, as, heretofore, she had been of +that of Granville, she desired that the answer might be directed, under +cover to 'Master Simmers, Farmer, at ——, near the New Forest;' and that +the enclosed letter might have no other address than, 'For the young +Woman who lodges at the Farm.'</p> + +<p>Again, then, she returned to the meadow, which, now her mind was more at +ease, seemed adorned with added verdure, freshness, and beauty. Here, +pensive, yet not without consolation, she past the day.</p> + +<p>The next, she rambled a few paces further, and found out a cottage, in a +situation of the most romantic loveliness, in which two labourers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_665" id="Page_665">[Pg 665]</a></span> and +their wives, resided with their mother; a cheerful, pleasing old woman, +with whom Juliet was immediately in amity.</p> + +<p>She visited, also, the school; made acquaintance with its mistress, who +appeared to be a sensible and worthy woman; and captivated the easy +hearts of the little scholars, by the playful manner in which she +noticed their occupations, encouraged their diligence, and assisted them +to learn their lessons.</p> + +<p>She aided, also, the young women of the farm, in various of the lighter +domestic offices that fell to their share; and amused, at once, and +instructed her own mind, by opening a new road for admiration of the +wondrous works of the Great Creator, in observing and studying the +various animals abounding in and about the farm. The remark and +attention of a few days, sufficed to shew her, not only as much +difference in the interiour nature of the four-footed and of the +plumaged race, as there is in their hides or their feathers; but nearly, +or, perhaps, quite as much diversity, in their dispositions, as in those +of their haughty human masters; though the means of manifestation bore +no comparison. In fixing her attention upon them, in following their +motions, and considering their actions; she found that though the same +happy instinct guided them all alike to self-preservation, the degrees +of skill with which they discovered the shortest and best method for +attaining what they coveted, were infinite; yet not more striking than +the variety of their humours; kind, complying, generous; or fierce, +selfish, and gloomy, in their intercourse with one another. <i>Le droit du +plus fort</i>, (the right of strength,) though the most ordinary, was by no +means the only, or the universal basis of animal legislation. Dexterity +and sagacity find ascendance wherever there is animation: and +propensities benign and social, or malignant and savage, as palpably +distinguish beast from beast, and bird from bird, as man from his +fellow.</p> + +<p>What an inexhaustible source was here, to a thinking being, both for +information and entertainment! Oh Providence Divine! she cried, how +minute is the perfection, yet how grand the harmony of thy works!</p> + +<p>Still, however, she sought vainly to obtain the requested conference. +The farmer, whose thoughts were absorbed exclusively in the interests of +his farm, was always too busy to afford her any time, and too +indifferent to give her any attention. As she lodged in the house, he +could hear her, he said, when he should be more at leisure; and all her +eloquence was ineffectual, either to awaken his curiosity, or to excite +his benevolence, by intimations of the importance, or of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_666" id="Page_666">[Pg 666]</a></span> haste, of +the business which she wished to communicate. 'Ay, girl, ay,' he would +reply; 'by and by will do just as well.'</p> + +<p>But by and by came not! When she endeavoured to catch a moment, at the +hour of breakfast, the whole day, he would cry, was as good as thrown +away, if a man lost a moment of his morning: yet if she solicited his +hearing in the evening, he would cordially offer her some bread and +cheese, and beer; but rise from them himself, heavy and sleepy, to go to +bed; saying, 'Hark y', my girl; when you've worked as hard as a farmer, +you'll be as glad of your night's rest.'</p> + +<p>If she sought him in the middle of the day, he was always surrounded by +his family, and by labourers, from whom he would never step apart; +telling her to speak out what she had to say, and to fear nothing and +nobody.</p> + +<p>Farming, she soon found, he regarded as the only art of life worth +cultivation, or even worth attention; every other seemed to him +superfluous or silly. A woman, therefore, as she could neither plough +the field, nor mow the corn, he considered as every way an inferiour +being: and, like the savages of uncivilised nature, he would scarcely +have allowed a female a place at his board, but for the mitigation given +to his contempt, from regarding her as the mother of man.</p> + +<p>The sex, therefore, of Juliet, was here wholly against her; and youth +and beauty, those powerful combatants of misanthropy! were necessarily +without influence, where they were never looked at: Could they ripen his +corn? or make his hay? No; What then, was their value?</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, he treated neither his wife nor his daughters ill; he only +considered them as his servants: and when they were diligent and useful, +he praised them and gave them presents; and, when their work was done, +suffered them to seek what diversion they pleased, without interference +or controul. The females were indifferent, and therefore contented; +though neither confidential nor affectionate.</p> + +<p>The sons, on the contrary, were open, boisterous, and daring; +domineering over their sisters, and mocking their mother; while they +nearly shared, with their partial father, both his authority and his +profits.</p> + +<p>In a family such as this, Juliet had no chance of softening the languor +of her suspense by society; and books, its best substitute, had never +found their way into the farm-house; save an odd volume or two of +trials, sundry tracts upon farriery, and various dismal old ballads.</p> + +<p>The first charm of this rural residence, consisting in its views and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_667" id="Page_667">[Pg 667]</a></span> +its walks, soon lost something of its animation to Juliet, through the +restriction of fear, which impeded her from roving beyond the +neighbourhood of the farm. And though the beautiful prospect from the +meadow, and the air and exercise of mounting to the school, might +permanently have afforded her delight, if shared with some loved friend, +or enjoyed with some good author; she became, in a short time, through +the total deprivation of either, nearly as languid from monotony +without, as she was wearied by ungenial intercourse within.</p> + +<p>On Sunday, after they had all been to church, the young women proposed +to accompany her in a stroll; and the hope of a romantic ramble without +danger, induced her acceptance of the invitation. This, however, was an +essay which she did not feel tempted to repeat. She found that their +only idea of taking a stroll, was to get away from home; and their only +object of pursuit, was to encounter their several sweethearts. They +walked not for exercise; they had more than enough in their daily +occupations. They walked not for air; they rarely spent an hour of the +day under shelter. They walked still less in search of rural views, or +picturesque beauties; they saw them not; or, rather, they saw them too +constantly to heed them. Their chosen scene was the high road; along +which they leisurely, but merrily sauntered, to enjoy,—not the verdure +of the adjacent fields, or wood; not the freshness of the salubrious +breeze; not the charm, here and there occasionally bursting upon the +sight, of sloping hills, or flowery dales; but to watch for every +distant cloud of rising dust, that announced, or that promised the +approach of a horse, cart, or waggon.</p> + +<p>What, to these, was the pleasure of situation? Juliet saw, with concern, +that all which, to herself, would have solaced a similar way of life, to +them was null. Accustomed from their infancy to beautiful scenery, they +looked at it as a thing of course, without pleasure or admiration; +because without that which fixes all worldly acceptation of +happiness,—comparison.</p> + +<p>The mother, whose existence, from the fear and from the commands of her +husband, was laborious; and, from her own love of saving, penurious; had +scarcely even any idea of pleasure, beyond what accrued from feeding her +rabbits, fattening her hogs, and carrying her eggs and poultry to a good +market.</p> + +<p>The farmer, whose will had no controul, either from himself or his +family; and who indulged his own humours in the same proportion that he +kept theirs in awe, had yet a master; and a master more despotic and +ungovernable than himself,—the Weather! to whose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_668" id="Page_668">[Pg 668]</a></span> power, however, he by +no means submitted tamely. The whole house rang with the violence of his +rage, if the rain fell while his hay were cutting or stacking; and he +could scarcely swallow his dinner for chagrin, if it failed to fall when +his peas wanted filling: his imprecations were those of a man provoked +by the grossest personal injury, if a sharp wind came not at his +bidding, when he perceived insects crawling upon the leaves of his +fruit-trees in the orchard; and his whole family trembled, as if +immediate ruin, or an earthquake were impending, when he claimed, and +claimed in vain, the sun to ripen his corn.</p> + +<p>Juliet now found, that a farmer is sensible to no happiness, that a gust +of wind, a shower of rain, or the beams of the sun; as they meet, or +oppose, his wishes; does not confirm, or may not destroy.</p> + +<p>The storms, nevertheless, raised by this man of the elements, were from +causes too obvious to create surprize; and they were known to be too +harmless in their operations, to occasion any other movement in his +household, than that of a general struggle which should first get out of +his way till they were blown over: but, to a stranger, to Juliet, they +were more tremendous, because as foreign to the habits of her life, as +they were ungenial to her nature. To change therefore, a scene so +continually overcast, she took leave of the family, thankfully repaying +the services which she had received; and left the farm, to lodge herself +with the pleasing old woman, who had won her favour, in the beautifully +picturesque cottage in the neighbourhood.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_669" id="Page_669">[Pg 669]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXV" id="CHAPTER_LXXV"></a>CHAPTER LXXV</h2> + + +<p>In this cottage, Juliet, again, witnessed another scene of life; and one +which, serene and soothing, appeared, upon its opening, to exclude all +evil.</p> + +<p>The dwelling of the shepherd, or husbandman, had already in its favour +the imagery of poesy, and the ardent predilection of juvenile ideas; +and, with the vivacity of a heart always open to hope, Juliet hailed in +it, at once, tranquillity and contentment.</p> + +<p>Paid for his work by the day, the labourer had no anxiety for the +morrow; the ground he was to plough, or till, or sow, was not his own; +the goodness, badness, and variations of the weather touched not his +property, nor endangered his subsistence. Be the seasons, therefore, +what they might, he was not to be pitied.</p> + +<p>Yet though his sound repose, the fruit of his toil, was undisturbed by +elemental strife, he waked not to active hope; he looked not forward to +sanguine expectation: the changes which could do him no mischief, could +not bring him any advantage. No view of amelioration to his destiny +enlivened his prospect; no opening to better days spurred his industry; +and, as all action is debased, or exalted, by its motive; and all +labour, by its object; those who struggle but to eat and sleep, may be +saved from solicitude, but cannot be elevated to prosperity. He could +not, therefore, be envied.</p> + +<p>Two of the young men were married, and their wives, strong and healthy +like themselves, worked almost as laboriously. Juliet found them as +worthy as they were industrious; and hoped, by exciting their kindness, +to add the interest of gentle amity to peace and rural enjoyment. But, +though pleased and satisfied with their characters, and honouring their +active and useful lives, she sought vainly to content herself with their +uncultured society; and soon saw, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_670" id="Page_670">[Pg 670]</a></span> regret, how much the charm, +though not the worth, of innocence depends upon manners; of goodness, +upon refinement; and of honesty upon elevation. There was much to merit +her approbation; but not a point to engage her sympathy; and, where the +dominion of the character falls chiefly upon the heart, life, without +sympathy, is a blank. The unsatisfied soul sighs for communion; its +affections demand an expansion, its ideas, a developement, that, +instinctively, call for interchange; and point out, that solitude, +sought only by misery, remorse, or misanthropy, is as ungenial to our +natural feelings, as retirement is salubrious.</p> + +<p>She had here time and opportunity to see the fallacy, alike in authors +and in the world, of judging solely by theory. Those who are born and +bred in a capital; who first revel in its dissipations and vanities, +next, sicken of its tumults and disappointments, write or exclaim for +ever, how happy is the country peasant's lot! They reflect not that, to +make it such, the peasant must be so much more philosophic than the rest +of mankind, as to see and feel only his advantages, while he is blind +and insensible to his hardships. Then, indeed, the lot of the peasant +might merit envy!</p> + +<p>But who is it that gives it celebrity? Is it himself? Does he write of +his own joys? Does he boast of his own contentment? Does he praise his +own lot? No! 'tis the writer, who has never tried it, and the man of the +world who, however murmuring at his own, would not change with it, that +give it celebrity.</p> + +<p>Though natively endowed with that first, perhaps of worldly blessings, +high animal spirits, Juliet, from an early experience of the +vicissitudes of fortune, was become meditative. She looked with an +intelligent desire of information, upon every new scene of life, that +was presented to her view; and every class of society, that came within +her knowledge: she now, therefore, with equal clearness and concern, saw +how false an idea is conceived, at a distance, not only of the +shepherd's paradise, but of the general happiness of the country +life;—save to those who enjoy it with a large family to bring up; or +with means not alone competent to necessity, but to benevolence; which +not alone give leisure for the indulgence of contemplation, and the +cultivation of rural taste, of literature, and of the fine arts; but +which supply means for lightening the labours, and softening the +hardships of the surrounding poor and needy. Then, indeed, the country +life is the nearest upon earth, to what we may conceive of joys +celestial!</p> + +<p>The verdure of the flower-motleyed meadow; the variegated foliage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_671" id="Page_671">[Pg 671]</a></span> of +the wood; the fragrance and purity of the air, and the wide spreading +beauties of the landscape, charm not the labourer. They charm only the +enlightened rambler, or affluent possessor. Those who toil, heed them +not. Their eyes are upon their plough; their attention is fixed upon the +harvest; their sight follows the pruning hook. If the vivid field +catches their view, it is but to present to them the image of the +scythe, with which their labour must mow it; if they look at the shady +tree, it is only with the foresight of the ax, with which their strength +must fell it; and, while the body pants but for rest, which of the +senses can surrounding scenery, ambient perfumes, or vocal warblers, +enchant or enliven?</p> + +<p>Juliet now, herself an inhabitant of the cottage, which, hitherto, she +had only beheld in perspective, smiled, yet sighed at her mistake, in +having considered shepherds and peasants as objects of envy. O ye, she +cried, who view them through your imaginations! were ye to toil with +them but one week! to rise as they rise, feed as they feed, and work as +they work! like mine, then, your eyes would open; you would no longer +judge of their pleasures and luxuries, by those of which they are the +instruments for yourselves! you would feel and remark, that yours are +all prepared for you; and that they, the preparers, are sufferers, not +partakers! You would see then, as I see now, that the most delightful +view which the horizon can bound, affords not to the poor labourer the +joy that is excited by the view of the twilight through which it is +excluded; but which sends him home to the mat of straw, that rests, for +the night, his spent and weary limbs.</p> + +<p>Then, as she looked around, from the summit of the hill upon which stood +the small seminary for children, which she frequently visited, Oh that +Elinor, she cried, escaping from the pressure of her passions, would +expand her feelings by contemplating the works of God! Oh Father of +All!—Who can reflect, yet doubt, that Man, placed at the head of these +stupenduous operations, lord of the earthly sphere, can fail to be +destined for Immortality? Yet more, who can examine and meditate upon +the uncertain existence of thy creatures,—see failure without fault; +success without virtue; sickness without relief; oppression in the very +face of liberty; labour without sustenance; and suffering without +crime;—and not see, and not feel that all call aloud for resurrection +and retribution! that annihilation and unjustice would be one! and that +Man, from the very nature of his precarious earthly being, must +necessarily be destined, by the All Wise, and All<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_672" id="Page_672">[Pg 672]</a></span> Just, for regions +that we see not; for purposes that we know not;—for Immortality!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_673" id="Page_673">[Pg 673]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_LXXVI" id="CHAPTER_LXXVI"></a>CHAPTER LXXVI</h2> + + +<p>Thus, in beautiful scenery, and meditative resignation, with outward +quiet, though by no means with internal tranquillity, Juliet had passed +about a week, when the wife of the farmer broke rudely into the cottage; +bearing in her hand the bonnet of Debby Dyson, which she flung +scornfully upon a table.</p> + +<p>Angrily, then, reproaching Juliet that she had caused Bet to be taken +for that bold hussy, by the higler, she demanded back the exchanged +bonnet; declaring, that the girl should never wear one again, to the +longest day that she had to live, rather than dress herself up in any +thing of Debby Dyson's.</p> + +<p>Turning next to the old cottager, she added, that a good mother would do +well not to keep a person used to such light company under her roof; +unless she had a mind to bring her daughters-in-law to ruin.</p> + +<p>Then, snatching up her girl's bonnet, she bustled away to look after her +evening's milking; roughly refusing to hearken to any sort of +explanation from Juliet, and saying that she never knew any good come of +listening to talking; which was no better than idling away time.</p> + +<p>Juliet remained confounded; while the tender old cottager shed tears, +saying that she had never before had so pretty a companion in her life. +But Juliet would not tempt the good woman to defy the persons upon whom +her children chiefly depended; and, once more, therefore, she was +reduced to make up her little packet.</p> + +<p>She entreated of the cottager that, if a letter came for her to the +farm, it might be kept till she sent her direction; then doubled the pay +of all that she owed for board and lodging; and, kindly taking leave of +the old dame, who wept bitterly at the parting; quitted the cottage; and +again, in search of a new asylum, became a Wanderer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_674" id="Page_674">[Pg 674]</a></span></p> + +<p>Which way to turn, she made no enquiry, wholly ignorant what choice +might bring security.</p> + +<p>It was the end of August, and still not more than six o'clock in the +afternoon. She avoided the high road, in the fear of some unfortunate +encounter, and went down a pleasant looking lane; purposing to proceed +as far, and as fast, as she could go, while it was yet light; and then +to enter some new humble dwelling.</p> + +<p>The evening was serene and warm, and occasional openings, through the +hedges on either side, presented views so picturesque, that, had her +mind been more at ease, they would have rendered her walk delightful.</p> + +<p>She crossed various corn-fields, and beautiful meadows; but met with no +cottage from which some lounging labourer did not frighten her; till, at +length, overtaken by the dusk of the evening, she was fain to turn back, +and seek, with whatever apprehension, some lodging, for the night, upon +the public road.</p> + +<p>But to do this was no longer easy. She mistook what she thought was her +direction, and, instead of arriving at the road, found herself upon a +broad, open, dreary heath.</p> + +<p>She endeavoured to discover the track of some carriage, and succeeded; +and followed the mark, till she thought that she perceived a cottage.</p> + +<p>She hastened towards it, with all the speed that her wearied limbs would +permit; but the expected habitation proved merely a group of Pollards.</p> + +<p>She would then have recovered the wheel-track; but the moon became +suddenly clouded, a general darkness overspread the face of the country +around, and she could discover no kind of path.</p> + +<p>She now grew apprehensive that she should pass the night in the open +air; with not a human being within hearing, nor any house, nor any +succour within reach. What she might have to dread she knew not; but, in +a situation so wildly solitary, the very ignorance of what there might +be to fear, was intimidating, nay, awful.</p> + +<p>The darkness encreased; cautiously and slowly she went on; starting at +every breeze, and in continual terrour of meeting some unknown mischief.</p> + +<p>She wandered thus for some hours, now sinking into marshy ground, now +wounded by rude stones, now upon a soft, smooth plain, and now stung or +torn by bushes, nettles, and briars; till she concluded it to be about +midnight. A light wind then arose, the clouds were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_675" id="Page_675">[Pg 675]</a></span> dispersed; and the +moon, which, though upon the wane, afforded a gentle, melancholy light, +shewed her that she was once again in the midst of the New Forest.</p> + +<p>Few sights could have been less welcome; what already she had suffered, +and, far more, what she had apprehended, filled her with terrour; and +her imagination was fearfully at work, now to bring her to the hut which +she had so suspiciously fled; now to the encounter of disorderly young +assailants, with no Dash for her protection; now to the attack of +lurking thieves, and strolling vagabonds; and now to the danger of being +bewildered and lost in the mazes of the Forest.</p> + +<p>The last of these evils soon ceased to be a mere phantasm of fear; the +wind no sooner was calmed than the moon again was obscured, and all +around her was darker, and therefore more tremendous than ever.</p> + +<p>She continued to move on, though without knowing whether she were +advancing or retrograding. But, ere long, her walk became embarrassed +and difficult; her progress was every way obstructed; and her retreat at +the same time impeded; and she found herself in a thick wood, of which +the deep hanging boughs continually annoyed her face and her limbs; +while the unscythed grass, the growth of ages, entangled her feet, and +made every step a labour.</p> + +<p>Wearied and dejected, she leaned against a tree, and determined to make +no further attempt to proceed, till some gleam of dawn should direct her +way.</p> + +<p>She had not remained long in this position of despondence, ere she +discerned, through the trees, at a considerable distance, a dim light.</p> + +<p>She concluded that this must proceed from some dwelling; and, feeling +instantly revived, re-commenced her journey: yet, presently, she stopt +and hesitated,—it might emit from the hut! In the dead of the night +there was little probability that any common cottagers would require a +light.</p> + +<p>Discomfited, discouraged, she again leaned against a tree.</p> + +<p>Yet some one might be ill; and the chamber of sickness and danger could +no more, in the cottage, than in the palace, be consigned to darkness. +She determined, therefore, to approach the spot, and, at break of day, +to examine the premises; certain she could not ever mistake, or ever +forget, the situation of the hut.</p> + +<p>She went forward.</p> + +<p>The light, in a few moments, disappeared; but she was not,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_676" id="Page_676">[Pg 676]</a></span> therefore, +led to consider it as a Will with the Wisp, to beguile her to some +illusion; for, ere it vanished, it displayed, in passing sideways, a +view of a cottage double or treble the length of the dreaded hut.</p> + +<p>This was a sight truly consoling; yet, though it happily removed the +most terrible of her fears, it awakened new perplexity. The light had +been evidently without doors: the suggestion, therefore, of a sick +chamber proved unfounded. Yet what, in the middle of the night, could +replace it, that was natural, and free from suspicion of evil?</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, she moved on; seeking to guide herself by the recollection +of the spot which she had transiently seen; till she was startled by a +murmuring of human voices.</p> + +<p>But for the alarm left upon her mind, by the adventure of the hut, and +the pursuit of the wood-cutters, this would have been a sound in which +her ears would have rejoiced, as the fore-runner of succour and of +safety; for, till then, she had always connected the idea of rusticity +with innocence, and of rural life with felicity. But now, she had +fatally learnt, that no class, and no station, appropriatively merit +trust; and that the poor, like the rich, the humble, like the proud, can +only by principle be worthy of confidence: whether that principle be the +happy inherent growth of favouring Providence; or the fruit of religion, +and cultivated virtue.</p> + +<p>But fear and incertitude, though they slackened, did not long stop her +progress: the terrour of her lonely situation pointed out to her, +indeed, the danger of falling into evil hands; yet peremptorily, at the +same time, urged her to seek almost any protection, that might rescue +her from the vague horrours of this dark and tremendous solitude. It +was, at least, possible that these might be the voices of some +unfortunate travellers, belated, or lost, like herself, in the Forest. +On, therefore, she glided, till she distinguished three different tones, +all of which were male, but none of which sounded either youthful or +gay. They spoke so low, that not a word reached her ears; nor could she +have caught even a sound, but for the total stillness of the air. That +they spoke in whispers, therefore, was certain: Was it from fear? Was it +from guilt?</p> + +<p>The doubt sufficed to check all project of addressing them; but, as she +meant to retreat, she trod upon a broken bough of a tree, which made a +crackling noise under her feet, that, she had reason to believe, was +heard by the interlocutors, as it was followed by profound silence.</p> + +<p>She was now forced to remain immovable; for she felt herself entangled +in some of the branches of the bough, and feared that any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_677" id="Page_677">[Pg 677]</a></span> attempt to +dissembarrass herself might cause a new commotion, and point out her +position.</p> + +<p>She soon became but too certain that she had been heard; for the light +re-appeared, and she was sufficiently near to observe, that it had been +produced by a dark lanthorn, which she now saw turned round, by a man +who was evidently seeking to discover whence the noise made by the bough +had issued: she saw, also, that he had two companions; but what was her +shock when, presently, in one of them, she perceived the master of the +hut!</p> + +<p>She now gave herself up as lost! Lost alike from his fear of detection, +and his vengeance for her escape. To run away was impossible; she could +find no path; she could not even venture to stir a step, lest she should +betray her concealment.</p> + +<p>They searched, for some time, in different directions; two of them then +approached so nearly to the spot upon which she was standing, saying, to +each other, that they were sure the sound came from that quarter, that +she almost fainted with excess of terrour. But they soon turned off +another way; one of them averring that the noise was only from some +windfall; and the hut-man replying, in a coarse bass voice, that, if any +body were watching, 'twas well they had come no sooner; for he'd defy +the sharpest eye living to give a guess, now, at what they had been +about.</p> + +<p>In this terrible interval, the door of the habitation, of which she had +already had a glimpse, was opened by a female; who, depositing a candle +upon the threshold, ran up to one of the men, with whom she conversed +for a few minutes; after which, saying 'Good night!' she re-entered the +house; while the men, all three repeating 'Good night!' trudged away, +and were soon out of hearing.</p> + +<p>Juliet now conceived a hope, that a female, left, probably, alone, +might, either through kindness or through interest, be made a friend. +She disengaged herself, therefore, from her impediments, and gently +tapped at the door.</p> + +<p>It was immediately opened by the woman, who said, 'Why now, dear me, +what have a forgot?' but who no sooner saw a stranger, than she screamed +aloud, 'La be good unto me! what been ye come for here, at such an +untoward time o'night as this be?' while some children who were in bed, +and suddenly awakened, jumping upon the ground, clang round their +mother, and began crying piteously.</p> + +<p>Juliet, more affrighted than themselves, uttered the softest petition, +for a few hours' refuge from the dreariness of travelling by night. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_678" id="Page_678">[Pg 678]</a></span> +woman, then, casting up her hands in wonder, exclaimed, 'Good la! be you +only no other but the good gentlewoman that was so koind to my little +dearies?'</p> + +<p>The children, recollecting her at the same moment, loosened their mother +to throw their little arms around their guest; skipping and rejoicing, +and crying, 'O dood ady! dood ady! it's dood ady!'</p> + +<p>This, indeed, was a moment of joy to Juliet, such as life, even at its +best periods, can but rarely afford. From fears the most horrible of +unknown dangers; and from fatigue nearly insupportable, she found +herself suddenly welcomed by trusting kindness. All her dread and +scruples, with respect to the Salisbury turnpike hostess, or to any +previous reports, were, she now saw, groundless; and she delightedly +felt herself in the bosom of security, while encircled in the arms of +affectionate and unsuspicious innocence.</p> + +<p>The good woman uncovered her hot embers, and put on some fresh wood, to +restore the weary traveller from the chill of the night: and brought out +of her cupboard a slice of bacon, and the end of a brown loaf of bread: +not mingling, with the warmth of her genuine hospitality, one +mistrustful enquiry into the reason of her guest's late wandering, or +the cause of her lonely difficulties.</p> + +<p>The children with, instinctively, the same sensations, ran about, nearly +naked, in search of their homely play-things; persuaded that the 'dood +ady' would be as pleased as they were themselves, by the sight of the +several pieces of broken platter, which they called their tea-things; +and a small truss of straw, rolled round with rags, which they +denominated their doll. Nor would they return to rest, till Juliet sat +down by their side, to tell them some simple stories, of other good boys +and girls; while their mother prepared, for the 'dood ady,' a bed above +stairs.</p> + +<p>The thankful happiness of Juliet, at a deliverance so unexpected, so +sweet, so soothing, induced her cordially to partake of a repast of +which she stood greatly in need; but, before she could mount to the +offered chamber, officious doubts and apprehensions broke into the +fulness of her contentment, with enquiries: Who might be the men whom +she had seen hovering about the house? What might be their business +without doors during the dead of the night? What had the man of the hut +to do away from his dwelling at such an hour? And why, and for whom, was +the good dame herself up so late, without giving any reason for what +must necessarily appear so extraordinary?</p> + +<p>Bewildered in her ideas, uncertain in her judgment, and fearful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_679" id="Page_679">[Pg 679]</a></span> how to +act, she could not resolve to inhabit a lonely chamber up stairs, at the +risk of some fatal surprize, or new danger. She complained of cold, and +entreated for leave to sit over the embers; while she begged them, +without heeding her, to take their usual repose.</p> + +<p>The good woman started not the smallest difficulty; and, placing herself +by the side of the children, in less than three minutes, was visited, +like themselves, with the soundest sleep.</p> + +<p>This woman, thought Juliet, must be as guileless as she is benevolent, +unaccountable as are all the circumstances that hang about her; could +she, else, with trust thus facile, taste rest thus undisturbed, in +presence of a wandering stranger, known to her only by a small and +accidental kindness shewn to her children?</p> + +<p>Quieted by this example, Juliet herself, leaning her head against the +wall, partook of that common, but ever wonderful oblivion, by which life +is recruited, sorrow supported, and care assuaged.</p> + +<p>With the first sun-beam they all awoke, and Juliet besought her hostess +to accompany her to the nearest town. The good woman cheerfully complied +with this request, making no other condition than that of demanding the +time to dress and breakfast her bantlings, as she never went any where +without them.</p> + +<p>Juliet then officiated as nurse to the children: and here, again, the +wish of obliging, with the talent of being serviceable, so endeared her +to the little ones, and made her so agreeable to their parent, that she +was earnestly solicited to remain with them a little longer.</p> + +<p>'But, your husband?' Juliet then ventured to ask; 'may I not be in his +way?'</p> + +<p>'O no,' the woman answered; 'a be gone his rounds; and 't be odds but +they do take un, God willing, a week.'</p> + +<p>This was sufficient encouragement for the harassed Juliet joyfully to +accept the invitation for remaining with them a few days. She deposited, +therefore, her baggage in the no longer rejected up stairs chamber; and, +after a few hours of quiet repose, took the entire charge of the +children for the rest of the day; not merely to play with and amuse +them, but to work for them. And her industry and adroitness soon put +their whole little wardrobe in order; and she fashioned their clothing +to their little shapes, in a manner so neat and commodious, that all +that they possessed appeared to them to be new.</p> + +<p>The day following, with the same happy skill, she dedicated her time to +the service of the mother; whose entreaties grew more and more urgent, +that she would prolong her stay at the cottage.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_680" id="Page_680">[Pg 680]</a></span></p> + +<p>Far was she from desirous to quit it. With repose so much required, she +here found comfort, peace, and affection,—three principal ingredients +in the composition of happiness! which her mind, in her uncertainty of +the fate awaiting her, was delighted to seize, and eager to requite.</p> + +<p>For whomsoever, therefore, and at whatsoever she worked, she sung simple +songs, or told simple stories, with invariable good humour and +pleasantry, to her little friends, who clung to her with passionate +fondness; while their enchanted mother thought that some angel was +descended amongst them, in guise of a traveller, to charm and to serve +them at once.</p> + +<p>To the unhackneyed observation of this good woman, the change of attire +in Juliet, since their meeting at Salisbury, offered no sort of food to +conjecture; she concluded that to walk about that fine city, had well +deserved the best clothes; and that the worst had naturally been put on, +afterwards, for economy, upon the road. Juliet found her wholly ignorant +of the Salisbury adventure; and filled with innocent gratitude, in +concluding that she had been benighted in the Forest, while seeking to +find the little dearys whom she had thought so pretty upon the high +road.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The period is the reign of Robespierre.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Garrick.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Thomson.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Twining.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Young.</p></div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Wanderer (Volume 4 of 5), by Fanny Burney + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WANDERER (VOLUME 4 OF 5) *** + +***** This file should be named 37440-h.htm or 37440-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/4/4/37440/ + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Wanderer (Volume 4 of 5) + or, Female Difficulties + +Author: Fanny Burney + +Release Date: September 15, 2011 [EBook #37440] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WANDERER (VOLUME 4 OF 5) *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + +VOLUME IV + + + + +CHAPTER LX + + +Juliet was precipitately followed by Lord Melbury. + +'It is not, then,' he cried, 'your intention to return to Mrs Ireton?' + +'No, my lord, never!' + +She had but just uttered these words, when, immediately facing her, she +beheld Mrs Howel. + +A spectre could not have made her start more affrighted, could not have +appeared to her more horrible. And Lord Melbury, who earnestly, at the +same moment, had pronounced, 'Tell me whither, then,--' stopping +abruptly, looked confounded. + +'May I ask your lordship to take me to Lady Aurora?' Mrs Howel coldly +demanded. + +'Aurora?--Yes;--she is there, Ma'am;--still in the gallery.' + +Mrs Howel presented him her hand, palpably to force him with her; and +stalked past Juliet, without any other demonstration of perceiving her +than what was unavoidably manifested by an heightened air of haughty +disdain. + +Lord Melbury, distressed, would still have hung back; but Mrs Howel, +taking his arm, proceeded, as if without observing his repugnance. + +Juliet, in trembling dismay, glided on till she entered a vacant +apartment, of which the door was open. To avoid intrusion, she was +shutting herself in; but, upon some one's applying, nearly the next +minute, for admittance, the fear of new misconstruction forced her to +open the door. What, then, was her shock at again viewing Mrs Howel! She +started back involuntarily, and her countenance depicted undisguised +horrour. + +With a brow of almost petrifying severity, sternly fixing her eyes upon +Juliet, Mrs Howel, for a dreadful moment, seemed internally suspended, +not between hardness and mercy, but between accusation and punishment. +At length, in a tone, from the deep sounds of which Juliet shrunk, but +had no means to retire, she slowly pronounced, while her head rose more +loftily at every word, 'You abscond from Mrs Ireton, though she would +permit you to remain with her? 'Tis to Lord Melbury that you reveal your +purpose; and the inexperienced youth whom you would seduce, is the only +person that can fail to discover your ultimate design, in taking the +moment of meeting with him, for quitting the honourable protection which +snatches you from want, if not from disgrace: at the same time that it +offers security to a noble family, justly alarmed for the morals, if not +for the honour of its youthful and credulous chief.' + +The terror which, in shaking the nerves, seemed to have clouded even the +faculties of Juliet, now suddenly subsided, superseded by yet more +potent sensations of quick resentment. 'Hold, Madam!' she cried: 'I may +bear with cruelty and injustice, for I am helpless! but not with insult, +for I am innocent!' + +Mrs Howel, surprised, paused an instant; but then harshly went on, 'This +cant, young woman, can only delude those who are ignorant of the world. +Whatever you may chuse to utter to me of that sort will be perfectly +null. What I have to say is simple; what you have to offer must, of +course, be complicate. But I have no time to throw away upon rants and +rodomontades, and I have no patience to waste upon impostors. Hear me +then without reply.' + +'Not to reply, Madam, will cost me little,' indignantly cried Juliet: +'but to hear you,--pardon me, Madam,--force only can exact from me so +dreadful a compliance.' + +She looked round, but not having courage to open a further door, nor +power to pass by Mrs Howel, walked to a window. + +Not heeding her resistance, and disdaining her emotion, Mrs Howel +continued: 'My Lord Melbury is not, it is true, like his sister, under +my immediate care; but he is here only to join her ladyship, whom my +Lord Denmeath has entrusted to my protection. And, therefore, though he +is as noble in mind as in rank, since he is still, in years, but a boy, +I must, in honour, consider myself to be equally responsible to my Lord +Denmeath for the brother as for the sister. This being the case, I must +not leave him to the machinations of an adventurer. In two words, +therefore,--Declare yourself for what you are; or return with Mrs Ireton +to Brighthelmstone, and remain under her roof, since she deigns to +permit it, till I have restored my young friends, safe and uninjured, to +their uncle. Otherwise--' + +Juliet, casting up her eyes, as if calling upon heaven for patience, +would have opened the window, to seek refuge in the air from sounds of +which the shock was insupportable: but Mrs Howel, offended into yet +deeper wrath, advanced with a mien of such rigid austerity, that she +lost her purpose in her consternation, and listened irresistibly to what +follows: 'Otherwise,--mark me, young woman! the still unexplained +mystery with which you have made your way into the kingdom, will +authorise an application which you will vainly try to elude, and with +which you will not dare to prevaricate. You will take your choice, and, +in five minutes, you will be summoned to make it known.' + +With this menace she left the room. + +In an agony of terrour, that again absorbed even resentment, Juliet +remained motionless, confounded, and incapable of deliberation, till the +groom of Mrs Ireton came to inform her that his lady was ready to set +out. + +Juliet, scarcely herself knowing her own intentions, precipitately +ejaculated, 'The crisis is arrived!--I must cast myself upon Lady +Aurora!' + +The servant said he did not understand her. + +'Tell Lady Aurora--;' she cried, 'or Lord Melbury,--no, Lady Aurora,--' +she stopt, fearfully balancing upon which to fix. + +The groom asked what he was to say. + +'You will say,--I must beg you to say,--' cried Juliet, endeavouring to +recollect herself, 'that I desire,--that I wish,--that I take the +liberty to request that Lady Aurora will have the goodness to honour +me,--that I shall be eternally obliged if her ladyship will honour me +with a few moment's conversation!' + +The groom went; and almost the next instant, she heard the fleet step of +Lady Aurora approaching, and her soft voice, with unusual emphasis, +pronounce, 'Pardon me, dear Madam, but I could not refuse her for a +thousand worlds!' + +'She ought not to refuse her, Mrs Howel!' added, with fervency, the +voice of Lord Melbury; 'in humanity, in justice, in decency, Aurora +ought not to refuse her! Whatever may be your fears of objections to an +intimacy, there can be none to common civility; for though we know not +what Miss Ellis has been, we see what she now is;--a pattern of +elegance, sweetness, and delicacy.' + +'A moment, my lord!--one moment, Lady Aurora!' answered Mrs Howel; 'we +may be overheard here;--honour me with a moment's attention in another +room.' She seemed drawing them away, and not a word more reached Juliet. + +A dreadful ten minutes preceded any farther information: a quick step, +then, followed by a tap at the door, re-awakened at once terrour and +hope. She awaited, motionless, its opening, but then saw neither the +object she desired, nor that which she dreaded; neither Lady Aurora nor +Mrs Howel, but Lord Melbury. + +Affrighted by the threatened vengeance of Mrs Howel, but irresistibly +charmed by his generous defence, and trusting esteem, Juliet looked so +disturbed, yet through her disturbance so gratified, that Lord Melbury, +evidently much agitated himself, approached her with a vivacity of +pleasure that he did not seek to repress, and could not have disguised. + +'Miss Ellis will, I am sure, forgive my intrusion,' he cried, 'when I +tell her that it is made in the name of my sister. Aurora is grieved +past all expression not to wait upon you herself; but Mrs Howel is in +such haste to depart, from her fear of travelling after sun-set, that it +is not possible to detain her. Poor Aurora sends you a thousand +apologies, and entreats you not to think ill of her for appearing thus +unfeeling--' + +'Think ill of Lady Aurora?' interrupted Juliet, 'I think her an +angel!--' + +'She is very near it, indeed!' cried Lord Melbury, ardently; 'as near +it, I own, as I wish her; for I don't see, without wings, and flying to +heaven, how she can well be nearer! However, since you are so kind, so +liberal, as to do her that justice, would it be possible that you could +communicate, through me, what you had the goodness to intend saying to +her? She is quite broken-hearted at going away with an appearance of +such unkindness. Can you give her this consolation?' + +'Oh, my lord!' answered Juliet, with an energy that shewed off all +guard, 'if I might hope for Lady Aurora's support--for your lordship's +protection,--with what transport would my o'er-burthened heart,--'Seized +with sudden dread of Mrs Howel, she stopt abruptly, and fearfully looked +around. + +Enchanted by a prospect of some communication, Lord Melbury warmly +exclaimed, 'Miss Ellis, I swear to you, by all that I hold most sacred, +that if you will do me so great an honour as to trust me to be the +bearer of your confidence to my sister, no creature upon earth, besides, +shall ever, without your permission, hear what you may unfold! and it +shall be my whole study to merit your good opinion, and to shew you my +respect.' + +'O my lord! O Lord Melbury,' cried Juliet, 'what hopes, what sweet +balsamic hopes you pour into my wounded bosom! after sufferings by which +I have been nearly,--nay, through which I have even wished myself +demolished!--' + +Lord Melbury, inexpressibly touched, eagerly, yet tenderly, answered, +'Name, name what there is I can be so happy as to do! Your wishes shall +be my entire direction. And if I can offer you any services, I shall +console Aurora, and, permit me to say, myself, still more than you.' + +'I will venture, then, my lord,--I must venture!--to lay open my +perilous situation!--And yet I may put your feelings,--alas!--to a test, +alas, my lord!--that not all your virtues, nor even your compassion may +withstand!' + +Trembling almost as violently as she trembled herself, from impatience, +from curiosity, from charmed interest, and indescribable wonder, Lord +Melbury bent forward, so irresistibly and so palpably to take her +hand, that Juliet, alarmed, drew back; and, calling forth the +self-command of which her sorrows, her terrours, and her hopes had +conjointly bereft her, 'If I have been guilty,' she cried, 'of any +indiscretion, my lord, in this hasty, almost involuntary disposition to +confidence,--excuse,--and do not punish an errour that has its source +only in a--perhaps--too high wrought esteem!--' + +Starting with a look nearly of horrour, 'You kill me,' he cried, 'Miss +Ellis, if you suspect me to be capable, a second time, of dishonouring +the purest of sisters by forgetting the respect due to her friend!--' + +'No, my lord, no!' warmly interrupted Juliet; 'whatever you think +dishonourable I am persuaded your lordship would find impracticable: but +the stake is so great,--the risk so tremendous,--and failure would be so +fatal!--' + +Her preturbation now became nearly overpowering; and, not with standing +she was prepared, and resolved, to disclose herself, her ability seemed +unequal to her will, and her breast heaved with sighs so oppressive, +that though she frequently began with--'I will now,--I must now,--' she +strove vainly to finish her sentence. + +After anxiously and with astonishment waiting some minutes, 'Why does +Miss Ellis thus hesitate?' cried Lord Melbury. 'What can I say or do to +remove her scruples?' + +'I have none, my lord, none! but I have so solemnly been bound to +silence! and ...' + +'Oh, but you are bound, now, to speech!' cried he, with spirit; 'and, to +lessen your inquietude, and satisfy your delicacy, I will shew you the +way to openness and confidence, by making a disclosure first. Will you, +then, have more reliance upon my discretion?' + +'You are too,--too good, my lord!' cried Juliet, again brightening up; +'but I dream not of such indulgence: 'tis to your benevolence only I +apply.' + +'Oh, but I have a fancy to trust you! Aurora will be delighted +that I should have found such a confidant. Yet I have nothing +positive,--nothing fixed,--to say, it is but an idea,--a thought,--a +kind of distant perspective ...' + +He coloured, and looked embarrassed, yet evidently with feelings of +pleasure. + +A radiant smile now illumined the face of Juliet, 'Ah! my lord,' she +cried, 'if I might utter a conjecture,--I had almost said a wish--.' + +'Why not? cried he, laughing.' + +'Your lordship permits me?--Well, then, let me name--Lady Barbara +Frankland?--' + +'Is it possible?' cried he, while the blood mantled in his cheeks, and +pleasure sparkled in his eyes; 'what can have led you to such a thought? +How can you possibly have suspected ... She is still so nearly a +child....' + +'It is true, my lord, but, also, how amiable a child! how richly endowed +with similar qualities to those which, at this instant, engage my +gratitude!--' + +He bowed, with smiling delight. 'I will not deny,' he cried, 'that you +have penetrated into my secret; though as yet, in fact, it is hardly +even a secret; for we have not,--hitherto,--you will easily believe, +conversed together upon the subject! Nor shall we say a word about it, +together, till I have made the tour. But I will frankly own, that we +have been brought up from our very cradles, with this notion, mutually. +It was the wish of my father even in our infancy.--' + +'Hold it then sacred!' cried Juliet, with strong emotion. 'Happy, thrice +happy, in such a wish for your guide!' + +She burst into tears. + +'How your sorrows,' said he, tenderly, 'affect me! and how they interest +me more deeply every moment! Tell me, then, sweet Miss Ellis!--amiable +friend of my sister!--tell me why you are thus afflicted? and how, and +in what manner, there is the least possibility that I may offer you my +services, or procure you any consolation?' + +The door here was abruptly opened by Mrs Howel. + +Red with constrained rage, yet assuming a courteous demeanour, 'Your +lordship will pardon,' she cried, 'my intrusion;' but Lady Aurora is so +delicate, that I am always uneasy at keeping her ladyship out late.' + +Highly provoked, yet deeply confused, Lord Melbury stammered that he was +extremely sorry to have detained them, and begged that they would set +out; promising to follow immediately. + +Civilly smiling, though fixing her eyes upon his face in a manner that +doubled his embarrassment, she entreated him to use his own influence +with Lady Aurora, to prevail upon her ladyship to proceed. + +Too much perturbed to resist, he ran out of the room; casting a glance +at Juliet, as he passed, expressive of his chagrin at this interruption, +and full of sensibility and respect. + +Juliet dreadfully affrighted, and utterly confounded, had hid her +streaming eyes, and conscious blushes, with her handkerchief, upon the +entrance of Mrs Howel; but, when left alone with that tremendous lady, +mingled terrour and indignation would have urged immediate flight, had +she not been apprehensive of seeming to follow, and clandestinely, Lord +Melbury. + +Benign had been as yet the countenance, and melody itself the voice of +Mrs Howel, compared with the expression of the one, or the sound of the +other, while she now pronounced the following words: 'The terms, young +woman, that I would keep with a person of name and character; the honour +and delicacy due to myself in any intercourse with such a one, I set +wholly aside in treating with an adventurer. I know all that has passed! +I have heard every syllable! Convinced, therefore, of your deep laid +scheme, to captivate to his disgrace a youth of an illustrious house, by +revealing to him a pretended tale, which you craftily refuse to trust to +all who may better judge, or try, its truth; I shall take, without +delay, such measures as it behoves should be taken, by a friend of his +family, and of himself, to effectually open his eyes to your arts, and +to his own danger. In one word, therefore, Will you, and this instant, +return to Brighthelmstone under the superintendence of Mrs Ireton?' + +'No, Madam!' Juliet, without hesitation, replied. + +'Enough! I shall myself take in charge, then, that you do not quit the +castle, till the arrival of a peace-officer; who may conduct you where +you may make your confession with rather more propriety than to a young +nobleman!' + +Neither native courage, nor resentment of hard usage, could support +Juliet against a menace such as this. She changed colour, and sunk, +terrified, upon a chair. + +Mrs Howel, after a moment's pause, magisterially moved to the door; +whence she took the key, which was within side, and was leaving the +room; but Juliet, struck with horrour at such a preparation for +confinement, started up, exclaiming, 'If you reduce me, Madam, to cry +for help, I must cast myself at once upon the protection of Lord +Melbury;--and then assure yourself,--be very sure! he will not suffer +this outrage!' + +'This affrontery exceeds all credibility! Assure yourself, however, +young woman, and be very sure, in return! that I shall not be +intimidated by an imposter, from detecting imposition; nor from +consigning it to infamy!' + +With a scoffing smile of power, she then left the room, locking the door +without. + +Consternation alone had prevented Juliet from rushing past her, and +forcing a passage; though such violence was as opposite to her nature, +as to propriety, and to the habits of her sex. + +Alone, and a prisoner, the first reflexion that found way through her +disturbance, served less to diminish her terrour than to awaken new +alarm. It represented to her all the blighting horrours of calumny, in +being known to place her confidence in Lord Melbury, while forced to +exact that he himself should guard her secret. She felt as if cast upon +a precipice, from which, though a kind hand might save, the least +imprudence might precipitate her downfall. She struggled for fortitude, +she prayed for patience. What, indeed, she cried, are any sufferings +that Mrs Ireton can inflict, compared with those I am flying? If I must +submit to transient tyranny, or hazard incurring misery as durable as my +existence,--can I hesitate to which I shall yield? + +Hastily, now, she looked for the bell, and rang it repeatedly, till some +one through the door demanded her orders. + +'Acquaint Mrs Ireton,' she answered, 'that I am ready to attend her to +Brighthelmstone.' + +The door was almost instantly unlocked, and Mrs Howel again appeared. 'I +deign not, young woman,' she sternly said, 'to enquire into the reasons, +the arts, or the apprehensions that may have induced your repentance: I +am aware that whatever you would tell me is precisely what I ought not +to believe. I come merely to give you notice that, if you venture to +attempt keeping up any sort of correspondence with Lady Aurora +Granville, or with Lord Melbury, nothing can save you from detection and +punishment. Mark me well! You will be properly watched.' + +She then retired, shutting, but no longer locking the door. + +All of philosophy, of judgment, or of forbearance that the indignant +Juliet possessed, was nearly insufficient to keep her firm to her +concession upon an harangue thus insulting. Necessity, however, +inculcated prudence. I will await, she cried, better days! I will learn +my ultimate doom ere I seek any mitigation to my passing sorrows. If all +end well,--this will be as nothing!--forgive and forgotten at once! If +ill,--in so overwhelming a weight of woe, 'twill be still less +material! + + + + +CHAPTER LXI + + +Juliet was aroused from this species of patient despondency by the groom +of Mrs Ireton, who broke in upon her with orders to enquire, whether it +were her intention to detain his lady at the castle all night? adding, +that all the rest of the party had been gone some time. + +Juliet followed him to the hall, where she was greeted, as usual, with +sharp reproaches, conveyed through ironical compliments. + +Upon reaching the portico, she perceived, hastily returned, and +dismounting his horse, Lord Melbury. + +He held back, with an air of irresolution, till Mrs Ireton, to whom he +distantly bowed, was seated; and then, suddenly springing forward, +offered his hand to her depressed and neglected dependent. + +Blushingly, yet gratefully she accepted his assistance; and having +placed her in the coach, and made a slight compliment to Mrs Ireton, the +carriage drove off; and, the final amazement over, the envenomed taunts +of that lady were indulged in a full scope of unrestrained malignity +during the whole little journey. + +Juliet scarcely heard them; new perplexity, though mingled with hope and +pleasure, affected and occupied her. Lord Melbury, in aiding her into +the carriage, had said, 'I am afraid you will lose your shawl;' and, +snatching at it, as if to present its falling, he enveloped a small +packet in the folds which he put into her hands, of which, in her first +confusion, she was scarcely conscious; though she felt it the instant +that he disappeared. + +Was it money? Nothing, in her helpless state, could be more welcome; yet +to what construction, even from himself, might not its acceptance be +liable? Nevertheless, with so suspicious and illjudging a witness by her +side, to call him back, might seem accusing him of intentions of which +she sincerely believed him guiltless. + +The moment that she could disengage herself from her troublesome +charges, she stole to her chamber, where she read the following words, +written with a pencil upon the cover of a letter. + + 'How shall I ever endure myself again, should Miss Ellis withdraw + her kind promise of communication, in resentment of an acquiescence + in quitting her, for which already I begin almost to disdain + myself? Yet my consent was granted to two of the purest of her + admirers and well wishers. I could not have been biassed an instant + by those who know not how to appreciate her. Hold, therefore, + amiable Miss Ellis, your condescending promise sacred, though I + make a momentary cession of my claim upon it, to the pleadings of + those who are every way better entitled to judge than I am, of what + will best demonstrate the high and true respect felt for Miss + Ellis, by + + 'Her most obedient, + 'humble servant, + 'MELBURY. + + 'P.S. Aurora had no time to entreat for your permission to lodge + the enclosed trifle in your hands. She is ashamed of its + insignificance; but she has a plan, which I shall unfold when I + have next the honour of seeing you, to solicit, as a mark of your + confidence, becoming, through me, your banker till your affairs are + arranged. + + 'Pardon this paper. I write on horseback, to catch you flying.' + +Soft were the tears of Juliet, and radiant the eyes whence they flowed, +as she perused these words. Nor could she hesitate in accepting the +offering, though the little gold-purse, which contained it, was marked +with the cypher of Lord Melbury. It was presented in the name of his +sister; a sister whom he revered as truly as he loved; such a name, +therefore, sanctioned both the loan and the kindness. And the +intimation, given by the young peer himself, of the equal influence over +his mind possessed by Lady Barbara Frankland, proclaimed and proved the +purity of his regard, and the innocence of his intentions. + +An idea now struck her, that bounded to her heart with rapture. Might +not the sum of which she permitted herself to take the disposal, prove +the means of re-union with Gabriella? A very small part of it would +suffice for the journey; and the rest might enable them, when once +together, to make some arrangement for being parted no more. + +A plan so soothing could not, even for a moment, present itself to her +imagination, unaccompanied by some effort to put it into execution, and +she instantly wrote a few lines to her beloved friend; stating the +present possibility of their junction, and demanding her opinion, her +consent, and her directions, for the immediate accomplishment of so +delicious a scheme. + +Cheered by a hope so dear to her wishes, so promising to her happiness, +Juliet, now, was perfectly contented to continue at Brighthelmstone, +till she should receive an answer to her proposal. + +But, before its arrival was yet possible, she was called to a messenger, +who would deliver his commission only to herself. + +She descended, not without perturbation, into the hall; where a +countryman told her, that he had been ordered to beg that she would go, +at the usual time, the next morning, to the usual place, to meet her old +friend. + +He was then walking off; but Juliet stopt him, to demand whence he came, +and who sent him. + +A lady, he answered, who spoke broken English, and who had named five of +the clock in the morning. + +'Oh yes! Oh yes!' cried Juliet: 'I will not fail!' whilst a soft murmur +finished with 'Tis herself!--'tis my Gabriella! + +What brought her back to Brighthelmstone, now occupied all the thoughts +of her friend. Was it a design to fix her abode where her maternal +enthusiasm might daily be cherished by visiting the grave of her child? +Or, was it for the single indulgence of bathing that melancholy spot +once more with her tears? + +It was already night, or Juliet would have sought to anticipate the +meeting, by some enquiry at their former lodgings: the morning, however, +soon arrived, and, nearly with its dawn, she arose, and, by a previous +arrangement made with the gardener, quitted the house, to hasten to the +church-yard upon the hill. + +In her way thither, she was seized, from time to time, with something +like an apprehension that she was pursued; for, though no one came in +sight, the stillness of the early morning enabled her to hear, +distinctly, a footstep that now seemed to follow her own, now to stop +till she had proceeded some yards. + +It might merely be some workman;--yet would not a workman overtake her, +and pass on? It was more probably some traveller. Nevertheless, she +would not ascend the hill without making some examination; and, casting +a hasty glance behind her, she perceived a tall man, muffled up, whose +air denoted him to be a gentleman; but who instantly hung back. + +A thousand anxious doubts were now awakened. Was it possible that she +had been summoned upon any false pretence? Gabriella had not written; +and though that omission had, at first, appeared the natural result of +haste upon her arrival; joined to the difficulty of immediately +procuring writing implements, it left an opening to uncertainty upon +reflection, by no means satisfactory. That she should not personally +have presented herself at the house of Mrs Ireton, could excite no +surprize, for she well knew that Juliet had neither time nor a room at +her own command; and to re-visit the grave of her child had always been +the purpose of Gabriella. + +With a slackened and irresolute step, she now went on, till, wistfully +looking towards the church-yard, she descried a female, with arms +uplifted, that seemed inviting her approach. Relieved and delighted, she +then quickened her pace; though, as she advanced, the form retreated, +till, gradually, it was wholly out of sight. + +This affected and saddened her. The little grave was on the other side +of the church. It is there, then, only, she cried, there, where our +melancholy meeting took place, that my ever wretched Gabriella will +suffer me to rejoin her! + +With an aching heart she proceeded, though no Gabriella came forward to +give her welcome; but when, upon crossing over to the other side of the +church, in full sight of the little grave, no Gabriella was there; and +not a human being was visible, she felt again impressed with a fear of +imposition, and was turning back to hurry home; when she observed, just +mounting the hill, the person by whose pursuit she had already been +startled. + +Terrour now began to take possession of her mind. She had surely been +deluded, and she was evidently followed. She had neither time nor +composure for divining why; but she was instantly certain that she could +be no object for premeditated robbery; and the unprincipled Sir Lyell +Sycamore alone occurred to her, as capable of so cruel a stratagem to +enveigle her to a lonely spot. The height of the man was similar: his +face was carefully concealed; but, transient as had been her glance, it +was obvious to her that he was no labourer, nor countryman. + +To descend the hill, would be to meet him: to go on yet further, when +not a cottage, perhaps, might be open, would almost seem to expect being +overtaken: yet to remain and await him, was out of all question. She +saw, therefore, no hope of security, but by endeavouring to regain the +street, through a circuitous path, by sudden rapidity of flight. + +But, upon gliding, with this design, to the other side of the church, +she was struck with amazement to see that the church-door was ajar; and +to perceive, at the same instant, a passing shadow, reflected through a +window, of some one within the building. + +Was this accident? or had it any connection with the tall unknown who +followed her? + +Filled with wonder and alarm, though a stranger to every species of +superstition, her feet staggered, and her presence of mind threatened to +play her false; when again a fleeting shadow, of she knew not whom nor +what, gleamed athwart a monument. + +Summoning now her utmost force, though shaking with nameless +apprehensions, she crossed, with celerity, a gravestone, to gain what +appeared to be the quickest route for descending; when the sound of a +hasty step, immediately behind her, gave her the fearful intelligence +that escape was impossible. + +Nevertheless, though nearly overcome with dread, she was pressing on; +but some one, rushing abruptly past her, and turning short round, stopt +her passage. + +Horrour thrilled through her every vein, in the persuasion that she was +the destined victim of deliberate delusion, when the words, 'It is, +indeed, then, you!' uttered in an accent of astonishment, yet with +softness, made her hastily raise her eyes,--and raise them upon +Harleigh. + +Bereft of prudence, in the suddenness of her joy; forgetting +self-command, and casting off all guard, all reserve, she rapturously +held out to him her willing hands, exclaiming, 'Oh, Mr Harleigh!--are +you, then, my destined protector?--my guardian angel?' + +Speechless from transported surprize, Harleigh pressed to his lips and +to his heart each unresisting hand; while Juliet, whose eyes beamed +lustrous with buoyant felicity, was unconscious of the happiness that +she bestowed, from the absorption of the delight that she experienced. + +'Precious, for ever precious moment!' cried Harleigh, when the power of +utterance returned; 'Here, on this spot, where first the tortures of the +most deadly suspense give way to the most exquisite hopes,--' + +The countenance of Juliet now again underwent a change the most sudden; +its brilliancy was overclouded; its smiles vanished; its joy died away; +not, indeed, to return to its look of horrour and affright, but to +convey an expression of the deepest shame and regret; and, with cheeks +tingling with burning blushes, she strove to regain her hands; to +recover her composure; and to account to him, by relating what had been +her dread, and her mistake, for her flattering reception. + +But she strove in vain: her efforts to disengage herself had no more +that frozen severity which Harleigh had not dared resist; and though her +earnestness and distress shewed their sincerity, her varying blushes, +her inability to find words, and her uncontroulable emotion, +demonstrated, to his quick perception, that to govern her own +conflicting feelings, at this critical moment, was as difficult as to +resume over his accustomed dominion. + +'Here on this spot,' he continued, 'this blessed, sacred, hallowed spot! +clear, and eternally dismiss, every torturing doubt by which I have so +long been martyrized! Here let all baneful mystery, all heart-wounding +distrust, be for ever exiled; and here--' + +A faint, but earnest, 'Oh no! no! no!' now quivered from the lips of +Juliet; but Harleigh would not be silenced. + +'And here, where you have condescended to call me your protector,--your +destined protector!--a title which gives me claims that never while I +live shall be relinquished!--claims which not even yourself, now, can +have power to recall--' + +'Hear me! hear me!--' interrupted, but vainly, the pleading Juliet; +Harleigh, uncontrouled, went on. + +'Initiate me, without delay, in the duties of my office. Against whom, +and against what may I be your protector? You have called me, too, your +guardian-angel; Oh suffer me to call you mine! Consent to that sweet +reciprocation, which blends felicity with every care of life! which +animates our virtues by our happiness! which secures the performance of +every duty, by making every duty an enjoyment!' + +A frequent 'Alas! alas!' was all that Juliet could gain time to utter, +from the rapid energy with which Harleigh overpowered all attempt at +remonstrance. + +'Why, why,' he then cried, with redoubled vivacity; 'Why not exile now, +and repudiate for ever, that terrible rigour of reserve that has so long +been at war with your humanity?--Listen to your softer self! It will +plead, it will surely plead for gentler measures!' + +'Oh no, no, no!' reiterated the agitated Juliet, with a vehemence that +would have startled, if not discouraged him, had not another incautious +'Alas! alas!' stole its way into the midst of her tremulous negatives; +and revealed that her heart, her wishes, her feelings, bore no part in +the refusals which her tongue pronounced. + +This was not a circumstance to escape Harleigh, who, indescribably +touched, fervently exclaimed, 'And what, now, shall sunder us? Pardon my +presumption if I say us! What is the power,--the earthly power,--while +yet I live, and breathe, and feel, that can now compel me to give up the +rights with which, from this decisive moment, I hold myself invested? +No! our destinies are indissolubly united!--All procrastination,--all +concealment must be over! They would now be literally distracting. Why, +then, that start?--Why that look?--Can you regret having shewn a little +feeling?--a trait of sensibility?--O put a period to this unequalled, +unexampled mystery! I am yours! faithfully, honourably yours! Yours to +the end of my mortal existence; yours, by my most sacred hopes, far, far +longer!--You weep?--not from grief, I trust,--I hope,--not from grief +flow those touching tears? Open to me your situation,--your heart! Here, +on this sacred, and henceforth happiest spot, where first you have +accorded me a ray of hope, let our mutual vows be plighted to all +eternity!' + +Juliet, whose whole soul seemed dissolved in poignant yet tender +distress, cast up to heaven, as if imploring for aid, her irresistibly +streaming eyes; when, caught by some shadowy motion to turn them towards +the church, she fancied that she beheld again the female, whose +appearance and vanishing had been forgotten from the excess of her own +emotions. + +Startled, she looked more earnestly, and then clearly perceived, though +half hidden behind a monument, a form in white; whose dress appeared to +be made in the shape, and of the materials, used for our mortal +covering, a shroud. A veil of the same stuff fell over the face of the +figure, of which the hands hung down strait at each lank side. + +Struck with awe and consternation, Juliet involuntarily ceased her +struggles for freedom; and Harleigh, who saw her strangely moved, +pursuing the direction of her eyes, discerned the object by which they +had been caught; who now, slowly raising her right hand, waved to them +to follow; while, with her left, she pointed to the church, and, +uttering a wild shriek, flitted out of sight. + +Could it be Elinor? Each felt at the same instant the same terrible +apprehension. Harleigh sprang after her; Juliet, almost petrified with +affright, was immovable. + +The fugitive entered the church, and darted towards the altar; where she +threw her left hand over a tablet of white stone, cut in the shape of a +coffin, with the action of embracing it; yet in a position to leave +evident the following inscription: + + 'This Stone + Is destined by herself to be the last kind covering + of all that remains of + ELINOR JODDREL: + Who, sick of Life, of Love, and of Despair, + Dies to moulder, and be forgotten.' + +Casting off her veil when she perceived Harleigh, 'Here! Harleigh, +here!' she cried, in a tone authoritative, though tremulous, ''tis here +you must reciprocate your vows! Here is the spot! Here stands the altar +for the happy;--here, the tomb for the hopeless!' + +Suspicious of some sinister purpose, Harleigh was at her side with the +swiftness of lightening; but not till her fingers were upon the trigger +of a pistol, which she had pointed to her temple; though in time, by +attaining her arm, and forcibly giving it a new direction, to make her +fire the deadly weapon in the air. + +Her own design, nevertheless, seconded by the loud din of a pistol, so +close to her ear, and let off by her own hand, operated upon her +deranged imagination with a belief that her purpose was fulfilled; and +she sunk upon the ground, uttering, with a deep groan, 'Oh Harleigh! +bless the dying Elinor,--and be happy!--' + +Harleigh, terrified and shocked, though thankfully perceiving her +mistake, dropped down at her side, and supported her head; while +congratulating eyes stole a glance at Juliet; who, at the sound of the +pistol, had hastened, aghast, to the spot; but who now, dreading to be +seen, retreated. + +'Oh Elinor!' he then cried, 'what direful infatuation of wrong is +this!--What have you done with your nobler, better self?--How have you +thus warped your reason and your religion alike, to an equal and +terrible defiance of here and hereafter?' + +Recovering, at these interrogatories, to conscious failure, and +conscious existence, she hastily arose, indignantly spurned at the +tablet, looked around for Juliet with every mark of irritation, and, +casting a glance of suffering, yet investigating shame at Harleigh, +''Tis again, then,' she cried, 'abortive!--and, a third time, I am food, +for fools,--when I meant to be food only for worms!' + +She then peremptorily demanded Juliet; who, affrighted, was absconding, +till shrieks rather than calls forced her forward. + +With an exaltation so violent that it seemed incipient frenzy, Elinor +hailed her. 'Approach, Ellis, approach!' she cried. 'Oh chosen of the +chosen! Oh born to shew, and prove the perfectibility of earthly +happiness, and the falsehood and sophistry of the ignorance and +superstition that deny it! Approach! and let me sanction your nuptial +contract! I here solemnly give you back your promise. I renounce all tie +over your actions, your engagements, your choice. Approach, then, that I +may join your hands, while I quaff my last draught of tender poison from +the grateful eyes of Harleigh, whose happiness,--my own donation!--will +cast a glory upon my exit!' + +Juliet stood motionless, pale, almost livid, and appearing nearly as +unable to think as to speak. But the feelings of Harleigh were as much +too actively alive, as hers seemed morbid. Agitation beat in every +pulse, flowed in every vein, throbbed even visibly in his heart, which +bounded with tumultuous triumph, that Juliet, now, was liberated from +all adverse engagements: and though he sought, and meant, to turn his +eyes, with tender pity, upon Elinor, they stole involuntarily, +impulsively, glances of exstatic felicity at the mute and appalled +Juliet. + +The watchful Elinor discerned the distraction, which he imagined to be +as impenetrable as it was irresistible. Shame, mingled with despondence, +superseded her exaltation; and disdainfully, and even wrathfully, she +disengaged herself from his hold; but, suspicious of some new violence, +he hovered over her with extended arms; and presently caught a glimpse +of a second pistol, placed behind the tablet, and, as nearly as +possible, out of sight. Her intention could not be doubted; but, +forcibly anticipating her movement, he seized the destined instrument of +death, and, flying to the porch, fired it also into the air. + +Elinor now was confounded; she reddened with confusion, trembled with +ire, and seemed nearly fainting with excess of emotion; but, after +holding her hands a minute or two crossed over her face, she forced a +smile, and said, 'Harleigh, our tragi-comedy has a long last act! But +you can never, now, believe me dead, till you see me buried. That, next, +must follow!' And abruptly she was rushing out of the church, when she +was encountered, in the porch, by her foreign servant, accompanied by +the whole house of Mrs Maple. + +Juliet, satisified that this victim to her own passions and delusions, +would now fall into proper hands, eagerly glided past them all; and, +finding the streets no longer empty, fled back to the mansion of Mrs +Ireton. + + + + +CHAPTER LXII + + +Juliet re-entered her chamber without having been missed, but in a +perturbation of mind indescribable; affrighted, confused, overpowered +with various and varying sensations; wretched for Elinor; dissatisfied +with herself; and yet more at war with what seemed to be her destiny; +ejaculating, from time to time, Oh Gabriella! receive, console, +strengthen, and direct your terrified,--bewildered friend!-- + +Unusual sounds from the hall soon announced some disturbance; but, +wholly without courage to go forth upon any enquiry, she remained, in +trembling ignorance of what was passing; till she was relieved by a +visit from Selina, which gave her the extreme satisfaction of hearing +that Elinor was actually in the house. + +Grief, however, though unmixt with surprize, followed the information, +when she heard, also, that Elinor was in so disordered a state, that she +had been forced from the church only by the interference of Mr Naird; +for whom Mr Harleigh had sent; and who had positively told her, that, if +she would not submit to be conveyed to some house, and try to repose, he +should hold it his duty to send for proper persons to controul and take +care of her, as one unfit to be trusted to herself. + +Even then, though evidently startled, she would not consent to go back +to Lewes, which she had quitted, she loudly declared, for ever: but, +after wildly enquiring for Ellis, and being assured that she was +returned to Mrs Ireton's, she was, at length, wrought upon to accept an +invitation, which, through measures that were taken by the active +Harleigh, Mrs Ireton had been prevailed with to send to her; and which +included her sister and Mrs Maple. + +What else of the history of this transaction was known to Selina, was +speedily revealed. + +The whole house of Mrs Maple had been awakened at day-light, by the +foreign servant of Elinor; who came to bid Tomlinson call up Mrs Maple, +and acquaint her, that he believed that her niece was determined to make +away with herself. She had found means, he said, over night, to induce +the clerk of the church at Brighthelmstone to let her have the key of +the church, to begin a drawing, of one of the monuments, at sun-rise, +when no idle loungers would interrupt her: and the clerk, knowing her +for a lady of property and fashion, in the neighbourhood, had not had +the thought to refuse her. She had made him, the lackey, come for her at +Mrs Maple's, with a post chaise, and wait near the house at three +o'clock in the morning: she and Mrs Golding then got into it, while he +attended, as usual, on horseback. They stopt at a place, by the way, to +receive a heap of things, that he did not take much notice of, as it was +not well light; and then they all gallopped to Brighthelmstone. He +thought no harm, all the time, as his lady so often went about oddly, +nobody knowing why. She made the chaise stop at the church-yard, and +told him, and Golding, to help up with all the things, into the church. +She then said she was going to begin her drawing; and bid the postilion +wait at some inn, till she went for him. But she told the lackey to stay +in the church-yard. She and Golding were then shut up together a quarter +of an hour; when Golding came out, crying. Her lady, she said, had put a +white trimmed stuff dress over her cloaths, that made her look as if she +were buried alive, and just the same as a ghost; and she was afraid all +was not right; for she had made her help to place what she had called a +pallet, for her drawing, upon the altar-table, and it looked just like a +coffin; only it was covered over with paper. She had ordered that they +should both go to an inn, and return for her, with the chaise, at eight +o'clock. Neither of them knew what to make of all this; but so many out +of the way things had passed, and nothing had come of them, that, still, +they should have done only as they were bid, but that the lackey +recollected two loaded pistols, which his lady had made him charge, upon +the route, to frighten away robbers, by firing one of them off, she +said, if they saw any suspicious persons dodging them: and these, which +had been put carefully into the chaise, Golding had seen, in the hand of +her mistress, in the church. This gave him such a panic, that he thought +it safest to ride back to Madame Maple's, and tell the whole at once. +All the family, upon this alarming news, set out for Brighthelmstone, +the moment that the horses could be got ready: and, just as they arrived +at the church, Elinor herself, had appeared, bursting from it into the +porch. + +Her indignation at thus being followed and detected, had been terrible: +Who, she asked, had any right to controul her? But that was nothing to +her disturbance, when she found that Ellis had vanished. She grew so +agitated, that it was frightful, Selina continued, to see her; and +looked franticly about her, as if for means to destroy herself: and +nothing could urge her to quit the church, or church-yard, whence she +eagerly tried to command away all others; till Mr Harleigh had recourse +to Mr Naird, who had alarmed her into submission. They had then brought +her in a chaise, between Mrs Maple and the surgeon, to Mrs Ireton's; +where, to hide herself, she said, from light and life, she had gloomily +consented to go to bed; but she raved, sighed, groaned, started, and was +in a state of shame and despair, the most deplorable. + +Juliet heard this narration with equal pity and terrour; but no sooner +understood that Mrs Maple had entreated Mr Harleigh to remain at +Brighthelmstone, for a day or two, than she determined to quit the place +herself, persuaded that these bloody enterprizes were always reserved +for their joint presence. + +The nearly exhausted Elinor passed the rest of the day without effort, +without speech, and almost without sign of life. But, early on the +following morning, Juliet received from her a hasty summons. + +Juliet essayed, by every means that she could devise, to avoid obeying +it; but every effort of resistance was ineffectual. By compulsion, +therefore, and slowly, she mounted the stairs, secretly determining +that, should Harleigh also be called upon, she would seize the first +instant in which she could elude observation, to escape, not alone from +the room, nor from the house, but from Brighthelmstone; whence she would +set off, by the quickest conveyance that she could find, for London and +Gabriella. Elinor, muffled up, and looking pale, haggard, and altered, +was reclining upon a sofa; not in compliance with the request of her +friends, but from an indispensable necessity of repose, after the +violent exertions which had recently shaken her already weakened frame. +At the entrance of Juliet she lifted up her head, with an air of eager +satisfaction, and exclaimed, 'You are really, then, here? And you come, +at length, to my call? Harleigh is less courteous! Triumphant Harleigh! +he leaves me, he says, to take some rest:--rest?--' + +She paused, and her under lip shewed her contempt of the idea; and +presently, with a sarcastic smile, she added, 'Yes, yes, I shall +certainly take rest! I mean no less. He, too, will take some rest! +There, at least, ultimately, our destinies will approximate. And you, +even you, victorious Ellis! will sink to vapid rest, like those who have +never known happiness!' + +With a laugh, then, but expressive of scorn, not gaiety, she exclaimed, +'And I, too, preaching? Can we never be tired, and good for nothing, but +we must take to moralizing? Summon him, however, Ellis, yourself. Tell +him to come without delay. I am sick;--and he is sick; and you are +sick;--we are all round sick of this loathsome procrastination.' + +Alert to seize any pretence to be gone, Juliet was already at the door; +when Elinor, suddenly seeming to penetrate into her intentions, called +her back; and demanded a solemn promise that she would not fail to +return with Harleigh. + +To the quick perceptions of Elinor, hesitation was alarm; she no sooner, +therefore, observed it, than she peremptorily ordered Selina and Mrs +Golding out of the room, and then, yet more positively, commanded Juliet +to approach the sofa. + +'I see,' she cried, 'your collusion! You imagine, by coming to me +alternately, that you shall keep me in order? You conclude that I only +present myself a bowl and a dagger, like a Tragedy Queen, to have them +dashed from my hands, that I may be ready for a similar exhibition +another day?--And can Harleigh, the noble Harleigh! judge me thus +pitifully? No! no! Full of great and expansive ideas himself, he can +better comprehend the exaltation of which a high, uncurbed, independent +spirit is capable. But little minds deem all that is not common, all +that has not been practised from father to son, and from generation to +generation, to be trick, or to be impossible. You, Ellis, and such as +you, who act always by rule, who never utter a word of which you have +not weighed the consequence; never indulge a wish of which you have not +canvassed the effects: who listen to no generous feeling; who shrink +from every liberal impulse; who know nothing of nature, and care for +nothing but opinion:--you, and such as you, tame animals of custom, +wearied and wearying plodders on beaten tracks, may conclude me a mere +vapouring impostor, and believe it as safe to brave as to despise me! +You, Ellis--But no!--' + +She stopt, and her look and manner suddenly lost their fierceness, as +she added: 'Oh no!--You! You are not of that cast! Harleigh can only +admire what alone is admirable. He would soon see through littleness or +hypocrisy; you must be good and great at once--eminently good, +unaffectedly great!--or how could Harleigh, the punctilious, +discriminating Harleigh, adore you? Oh! I have known, and secretly +appreciated you long; though I have been too little myself to +acknowledge it! I have not been calm enough--perhaps not blind enough +for justice! for if I saw your beauty less clearly--O happy Ellis! how +do I admire, envy, revere,--and hate you!' + +Shocked, yet filled with pity, Juliet would have sought to deprecate her +enmity, and soften her feelings; but her fiery eye shewed that any +attempt at offering her consolation would be regarded as insult. 'I +disdain,' she cried, 'all expedient, all pretence. However the abortion +of my purpose may have made me appear a mere female mountebank, I have +meant all that I have seemed to mean: though, by waiting for the moment +of most _eclat_, opportunity has been past by, and action has been +frustrated. But I can die only once. That over,--all is ended. 'Tis +therefore I have studied how to finish my career with most effect. Let +Harleigh, however, beware how he doubt my sincerity! doubt from him +would drive me mad indeed! To the torpid formalities of every-day +customs; the drowsy thoughts of every-day thinkers; he may believe me +insensible, and I shall thank him; but, indifferent to my own principles +of honour!--lost to my own definitions of pride, of shame, of +heroism!--Oh! if he touch me there!--if he can judge of me so +degradingly ... my senses will still go before my life!' + +She held her forehead, with a look of fearful pain; but, soon +recovering, laughed, and said, 'There are fools, I know, in the world, +who suppose me mad already! only because I go my own way; while they, +poor cowards, yoked one to another, always follow the path of their +forefathers; without even venturing to mend the road, however it may +have been broken up by time, accident or mischief. I have full as much +contempt of their imbecility, as they can have of my insanity. But hear +me, Ellis! approach and mark me. I must have a conference with Harleigh. +You must be present. A last conference! Whatever be its event, I have +bound myself to Elinor Joddrel never to demand another! But do not +therefore imagine my life or death to be in your power. No! My +resolution is taken. Take yours. Let the interview which I demand pass +quietly in this room; or be responsible for the consequences of the +public desperation to which I may be urged!' + +Gloomily, she then added, 'Harleigh has refused to come; I will send him +word that you are here; will he still refuse?' + +Juliet blushed; but could not answer. Elinor paused a moment, and then +said, 'If he knows that he can see you elsewhere, he will be firm; if +not ... he will return with my messenger! By that I can judge the +present state of your connexion.' + +She rang the bell, and told Mrs Golding to go instantly to Mr Harleigh, +and acquaint him that Elinor Joddrel and Miss Ellis desired to speak +with him immediately. + +Vainly Juliet remonstrated against the strange appearance of such a +message, not only to himself, but to the family and the world: +'Appearance?' she cried; 'after what I have done, what I have +dared,--have I any terms to keep with the world? with appearances? +Miserable, contemptible, servile appearances, to which sense, happiness, +and feeling are for ever to be sacrificed! And what will the world do in +return? How recompense the victims to its arbitrary prejudices? By +letting them quickly sink into nothing; by suffering them to die with as +little notice and distinction as they have lived; and with as little +choice.' + +Mrs Golding returned, bringing the respects of Mr Harleigh, but saying +that he was forced, by an indispensable engagement, to refuse himself +the honour of waiting upon Miss Joddrel. + +'Run to him again!--' cried Elinor, with vehemence; 'run, or he will be +gone! Make him enter the first empty room, and tell him 'tis Miss Ellis +alone who desires to speak with him. Fly!' + +Yet more earnestly, now, Juliet would have interfered; but the +peremptory Elinor insisted upon immediate obedience. 'If still,' she +cried 'he come not ... I shall conclude you to be already married!' + +She laughed, yet wore a face of horrour at this idea; and spoke no more +till Mrs Golding returned, with intelligence that Mr Harleigh was +waiting in the parlour. + +The bosom of Juliet now swelled and heaved high, with tumultuous +distress and alarm, and her cheeks were dyed with the crimson tint of +conscious shame; while Elinor, turning pale, dropt her head upon the +pillow of the sofa, and sighed deeply for a moment in silence. +Recovering then, 'This, at least,' she said, 'is explicit; let it be +final! Your influence is not disguised; use it, Ellis, to snatch me from +the deplorable buffoonery of running about the world--not like death +after the lady, but the lady after death! Assure yourselves that you +will never devise any stratagem that will turn me from my purpose; +though you may render ridiculous in its execution, what in its +conception was sublime. Happiness such as yours, Ellis, ought to be +above all narrow malignity. You ought to be proud, Ellis, voluntarily to +serve her whom involuntarily you have ruined!' + +Juliet was beginning some protestations of kindness; but Elinor, +interrupting her, said, 'I can give credit only to action. I must have a +conference; but it is not to talk of myself;--nor of you; nor even of +Harleigh. No! the soft moment of indulgence to my feelings is at an end! +When I allowed my heart that delicious expansion; when I abandoned it to +nature, and permitted it those open effusions of tenderness, I thought +my dissolution at hand, and meant but to snatch a few last precious +minutes of extacy from everlasting annihilation! but these endless +delays, these eternal procrastinations, make me appear so unmeaning an +idiot, even to myself, that, for the remnant of my doleful ditty, I must +resist every natural wish; and plod on, till I plod off, with the stiff +and stupid decorum of a starched old maid of half a century. Procure me, +however, this definitive conference. It is upon no point of the old +story, I promise you. You cannot be more tired of that than I am +ashamed. 'Tis simply an earnest curiosity to know the pure, unadulterate +thoughts of Harleigh upon death and immortality. I have applied to him, +fruitlessly, myself; he inexorably refers me to some old canonicals; +without considering that it is vain to ask for guides to shew us a road, +before we are convinced, or at least persuaded, that it will lead us to +some given spot. Let him but make clear, that 'tis his own opinion that +death does not sink us to nothing; let him but satisfy me, that he does +not turn me over to others, only because he thinks as I think himself, +and has not the courage to avow it;--and then, in return, I may suffer +him to send to me some one of his black robed tribe, to harangue me +about here and hereafter.' + +All contestation on the part of Juliet, was but irritating; she was +forced upon her commission, and compelled solemnly to promise, that she +would return with Harleigh, and be present at the conference. + + + + +CHAPTER LXIII + + +With unsteady footsteps, and covered with blushes, Juliet repaired to +the parlour, where Harleigh, with delighted, yet trembling impatience, +was awaiting her arrival. + +The door was half open, and he had placed himself at a distant window, +to force her entire entrance into the room, before she could see him, or +speak; but, that point gained, he hastened to shut it, exclaiming, 'How +happy for me is this incident, whatever may have been its origin! Let me +instantly avail myself of it, to entreat--' + +'Give me leave,' interrupted Juliet, looking every way to avoid his +eyes; 'to deliver my message. Miss Joddrel--' + +'When we begin,' cried Harleigh, eagerly, 'upon the unhappy Elinor, she +must absorb us; let me, then, first--' + +'I must be heard, Sir,' said Juliet, with more firmness, 'or I must be +gone!--' + +'You must be heard, then, undoubtedly!' he cried, with a smile, and +offering her a chair, 'for you must not be gone!' + +Juliet declined being seated, but delivered, nearly in the words that +she had received it, her message. + +Harleigh looked pained and distressed, yet impatient, as he listened. +'How,' he cried, 'can I argue with her? The false exaltation of her +ideas, the effervescence of her restless imagination, place her above, +or below, whatever argument, or reason can offer to her consideration. +Her own creed is settled--not by investigation into its merits, not by +reflection upon its justice, but by an impulsive preference, in the +persuasion that such a creed leaves her mistress of her destiny.' + +'Ah, do not resist her!' cried Juliet. 'If there is any good to be +done--do it! and without delay!' + +'It is not you I can resist!' he tenderly answered, 'if deliberately it +is your opinion I should comply. But her peculiar character, her +extraordinary principles, and the strange situation into which she has +cast herself, give her, for the moment, advantages difficult, nay +dangerous to combat. Unawed by religion, of which she is ignorant; +unmoved by appearances, to which she is indifferent; she utters all that +occurs to an imagination inflamed by passion, disordered by +disappointment, and fearless because hopeless, with a courage from which +she has banished every species of restraint: and with a spirit of +ridicule, that so largely pervades her whole character, as to burst +forth through all her sufferings, to mix derision with all her sorrows, +and to preponderate even over her passions! Reason and argument appear +to her but as marks for dashing eloquence or sportive mockery. +Nevertheless, if, by striking at every thing, daringly, impetuously, +unthinkingly, she start some sudden doubt; demand some impossible +explanation; or ask some humanly unanswerable question; she will +conclude herself victorious; and be more lost than ever to all that is +right, from added false confidence in all that is wrong.' + +'If so, the conference were, indeed, better avoided,' said Juliet with +sadness; 'yet--as it is not the sacred truth of revealed religion that +she means to canvass; as it is merely the previous question, of the +possibility, or impossibility, according to her notions, of a future +state for mankind, which she desires to discuss; I do not quite see the +danger of answering the doubts, or refuting the assertions, that may +lead her afterwards, to an investigation so important to her future +welfare. If she would consult with a clergyman, it were certainly +preferable; but that will be a point no longer difficult to gain, when +once you have convinced her, upon her own terms of controversy, that you +yourself have a firm belief in immortality.' + +'The attempt shall surely be made,' said Harleigh, 'if you think such a +result, as casting her into more reverend hands, may ensue. If I have +fled all controversy with her, from the time that she has publicly +proclaimed her religious infidelity, it has by no means been from +disgust; an unbeliever is simply an object of pity; for who is so +deplorably without resource in sickness or calamity?--those two common +occupiers of half our existence! No; if I have fled all voluntary +intercourse with her, it has only been that her total contempt of the +world, has forced me to take upon myself the charge of public opinion +for us both. While I considered her as the future wife of my brother, I +frankly contested whatever I thought wrong in her notions. The wildness +of her character, the eccentricity of her ideas, and the violence of +all her feelings; with her extraordinary understanding--parts, I ought +to say; for understanding implies rather what is solid than +brilliant;--joined to the goodness of her heart, and the generosity, +frankness, and openness of her nature, excited at once an anxiety for my +brother, and an interest for herself, that gave occasion to the most +affectionate animadversion on my part, and produced alternate defence or +concession on hers. But her disdain of flattery, or even of civil +acquiescence, made my freedom, opposed to the courteous complaisance +which my brother deemed due to his situation of her humble servant, +strike her in a point of view ... that has been unhappy for us all +three! Yet this was a circumstance which I had never suspected,--for, +where no wish is met, remark often sleeps;--and I had been wholly +unobservant, till you--' + +Called from the deep interest with which she had involuntarily listened +to the relation of his connection with Elinor, by this sudden transition +to herself, Juliet started; but he went on. + +'Till you were an inmate of the same house! till I saw her strange +consternation, when she found me conversing with you; her rising +injustice when, with the respect and admiration which you inspired, I +mentioned you; her restless vigilance to interrupt whatever +communication I attempted to have with you; her sudden fits of profound +yet watchful taciturnity, when I saw you in her presence;--' + +'I may tell her,' interrupted Juliet, disturbed, 'that you will wait +upon her according to her request?' + +'When you,' cried he, smiling, 'are her messenger, she must not expect +quite so quick, quite so categorical an answer! I must first--' + +'On the contrary, her impatience will be insupportable if I do not +relieve it immediately.' + +She would have opened the door, but, preventing her, 'Can you indeed +believe,' he cried, with vivacity; 'is it possible you can believe, +that, having once caught a ray of light, to illumine and cheer the dread +and nearly impervious darkness, that so long and so blackly overclouded +all my prospects, I can consent, can endure to be cast again into +desolate obscurity?' + +Juliet, blushing, and conscious of his allusion to her reception of him +in the church yard, for which, without naming Sir Lyell Sycamore, she +knew not how to account, again protested that she must not be detained. + +Still, however, half reproachfully, half laughingly, stopping her, 'And +is it thus,' he cried, 'that you summon me to Brighthelmstone,--only to +mock my obedience, and disdain to hear me?' + +'I, Sir?--I, summon you?' + +'Nay, see my credentials!' + +He presented to her the following note, written in an evidently feigned +hand: + + 'If Mr Harleigh will take a ramble to the church-yard upon the + Hill, at Brighthelmstone, next Thursday morning, at five o'clock, + he will there meet a female fellow-traveller, now in the greatest + distress, who solicits his advice and assistance, to extricate her + from her present intolerable abode.' + +Deeply colouring, 'And could Mr Harleigh,' she cried, 'even for a moment +believe,--suppose,--' + +He interrupted her, with an air of tender respect. 'No; I did not, +indeed, dare believe, dare suppose that an honour, a trust such as might +be implied by an appeal like this, came from you! Yet for you I was sure +it was meant to pass; and to discover by whom it was devised, and for +what purpose, irresistibly drew me hither, though with full conviction +of imposition. I came, however, pre-determined to watch around your +dwelling, at the appointed hour, ere I repaired to the bidden place. But +what was my agitation when I thought I saw you! I doubted my senses. I +retreated; I hung back; your face was shaded by your head-dress;--yet +your air,--your walk,--was it possible I could be deceived? +Nevertheless, I resolved not to speak, nor to approach you, till I saw +whether you proceeded to the church-yard. I was by no means free from +suspicion of some new stratagem of Elinor; for, fatigued with +concealment, I was then publicly at my house upon Bagshot Heath, where +the note had reached me. Yet her distance from Brighthelmstone for so +early an hour, joined to intelligence which I had received some time +ago,--for you will not imagine that the period which I spend without +seeing, I spend also without hearing of you?--that you had been +observed,--and more than once,--at that early hour, in the +church-yard--' + +'True!' cried Juliet, eagerly, 'at that hour I have frequently met, or +accompanied, a friend, a beloved friend! thither; and, in her name, I +had even then, when I saw you, been deluded: not for a walk; a ramble; +not upon any party of pleasure; but to visit a little tomb, which holds +the regretted remains of the darling and only child of that dear, +unhappy friend!' + +She wept. Harleigh, extremely touched, said, 'You have, then, a friend +here?--Is it,--may I ask?--is it the person you so earnestly sought upon +your arrival?--Is your anxiety relieved?--your embarrassment?--your +suspence?--your cruel distress?--Will you not give me, at length, some +little satisfaction? Can you wonder that my forbearance is worn +out?--Can my impatience offend you?--If I press to know your situation, +it is but with the desire to partake it!--If I solicit to hear your +name--it is but with the hope ... that you will suffer me to change it!' + +He would have taken her hand, but, drawing back, and wiping her eyes, +though irresistibly touched, 'Offend?' she repeated; 'Oh far,--far!... +but why will you recur to a subject that ought so long since to have +been exploded?--while another,--an essential one, calls for all my +attention?--The last packet which you left with me, you must suffer me +instantly to return; the first,--the first--' She stammered, coloured, +and then added, 'The first,--I am shocked to own,--I must defer +returning yet a little longer!' + +'Defer?' ardently repeated Harleigh. 'Ah! why not condescend to think, +at least, another language, if not to speak it? Why not anticipate, in +kind idea, at least, the happy period,--for me! when I may be permitted +to consider as included, and mutual in our destinies, whatever +hitherto--' + +'Oh hold!--Oh Mr Harleigh!' interrupted Juliet, in a voice of anguish. +'Let no errour, no misconstruction, of this terrible sort,--no +inference, no expectation, thus wide from all possible reality, add to +my various misfortunes the misery of remorse!' + +'Remorse?--Gracious powers! What can you mean?' + +'That I have committed the most dreadful of mistakes,--a mistake that I +ought never to forgive myself, if, in the relief from immediate +perplexity, which I ventured to owe to a momentary, and, I own, an +intentionally unacknowledged, usage of some of the notes which you +forced into my possession, I have given rise to a belief,--to an +idea,--to--' + +She hesitated, and blushed so violently, that she could not finish her +phrase; but Harleigh appeared thunderstruck, and was wholly silent. She +looked down, abashed, and added, 'The instant, by any possible +means,--by work, by toil, by labour,--nothing will be too severe,--all +will be light and easy,--that can rectify,--that--' + +She could not proceed; and Harleigh, somewhat recovered by the view of +her confusion, gently, though reproachfully, said, 'All, then, will be +preferable to the slightest, smallest trust in me?--And is this from +abhorrence?--or do you deem me so ungenerous as to believe that I should +take unworthy advantage of being permitted to offer you even the most +trivial service?' + +'No, no, oh, no!' with quickness cried Juliet; 'but the more generous +you may be, the more readily you may imagine--' + +She stopt, at a loss how to finish. + +'That you would be generous, too?' cried Harleigh, revived and smiling. + +She could not refrain from a smile herself, but hastily added, 'My +conduct must be liable to no inference of any sort. Adieu, Sir. I will +deliver you the packet in Miss Joddrel's room.' + +Her hand was upon the lock, but his foot, fixed firmly against the door, +impeded its being opened, while he exclaimed, 'I cannot part with you +thus! You must clear this terrific obscurity, that threatens to involve +me, once more, in the horrours of excruciating suspense!--Why that cruel +expression of displeasure? Can you think that the moment of +hope,--however brief, however unintentional, however accidental,--can +ever be obliterated from my thoughts? that my existence, to whatever +term it may be lengthened, will ever out-live the precious remembrance +that you have called me your destined protector?--your guardian angel?' + +He could add no more; a mortal paleness overspread the face of Juliet, +who, letting go the lock of the door, sunk upon a chair, faintly +ejaculating, 'Was I not yet sufficiently miserable?' + +Penetrated with sorrow, and struck with alarm, Harleigh looked at her in +silence; but when again he sought to take her hand, shrinking from his +touch, though regarding him with an expression that supplicated rather +than commanded forbearance; 'If you would not kill me, Mr Harleigh,' she +cried, 'you will relinquish this terrible perseverance!' + +'Relinquish?' he repeated, 'What now? Now, that all delicacy for this +wild, eccentric, though so generous Elinor is at an end? that she has, +herself, annulled your engagement? Relinquish, now, the hopes so long +pursued,--so difficultly caught? No, I swear to you--' + +Juliet arose. 'Oh hold, Mr Harleigh!' she cried; 'recollect yourself a +moment! I lament if I have, involuntarily, caused you any transient +mistake; yet, do me the justice to reflect, that I have never cast my +destiny upon that of Miss Joddrel. No decision, therefore, of hers can +make any change in mine.' + +She again put her hand upon the lock of the door. + +Harleigh fixt upon her his eyes, which spoke the severest disturbance, +while, in tremulous accents, he uttered, 'And can you leave me thus, to +wasting despondence?--and with this cold, chilling, blighting +composure?--Is it from pitiless apathy, which incapacitates for judging +of torments which it does not experience?--O no! Those eyes that so +often glisten with the most touching sensibility,--those cheeks that so +beautifully mantle with the varying dies of quick transition of +sentiment,--that mouth, which so expressively plays in harmony with +every word,--nay, every thought,--all, all announce a heart where every +virtue is seconded and softened by every feeling!--a mind alive to the +quickest sensations, yet invigorated with the ablest understanding! a +soul of angelic purity!--' + +Some sound from the passage made him suddenly stop, and remove his foot; +while the hand of Juliet dropt from the lock. They were both silent, and +both, affrighted, stood suspended; till Juliet, shocked at the +impropriety of such a situation, forced herself to open the door,--at +the other side of which, looking more dead than alive, stood Elinor, +leaning upon her sister. + +'I began to think,' she cried, in a hollow tone, 'that you were +eloped!--and determining to trust to no messenger, I came myself.' She +then endeavoured to call forth a smile; but it visited so unwillingly +features nearly distorted by internal agony, that it gave a cast almost +ghastly to her countenance. + +'Why, Harleigh,' she cried, 'should you thus shun me? Have I not given +back her plighted faith to Ellis? Yet I am not ignorant how tired you +must be of those old thread-bare topics, bowls, daggers, poignards, and +bodkins: but they have had their reign, and are now dethroned. What +remains is plain, common, stupid rationality. I wish to converse with +you, Albert, only as a casuist; and upon a point of conscience which you +alone can settle. For this world, and for all that belongs to it, all, +with me, is utterly over! I have neither care nor interest left in it; +and I have no belief that there is any other. I am very composedly +ready, therefore, to take my last nap. I merely wish to learn, before I +return to my torpid ignorance, whether it can be a fact, that you, +Harleigh, you! believe in a future state for mortal man? And I engage +you by your friendship,--which I still prize above all things! and by +your honour, which you, I know, prize in the same manner, to answer me +this question, instantly and categorically.' + +'Most faithfully, then, Elinor, yes! All the happiness of my present +life is founded upon my belief of a life to come!' + +Elinor held up her hands. 'Astonishing!' she cried. 'Can judgment and +credulity, wisdom and superstition, thus jumble themselves together! And +in a head so clear, so even oracular! Give me, at least, your reasons; +and see that they are your own!' + +Harleigh looked disturbed, but made not any answer. + +The wan face of Elinor was now lighted up with hues of scarlet. 'I +feel,' she cried, 'the impropriety of this intrusion;--for who, if not +I,--since we all prize most what we know least,--should respect +happiness? When you have finished, however, your present conference, +honour me, both of you, if you please,--that the period so employed may +be less wearisome to either,--with a final one up stairs. Harleigh! A +final one!' + +Harleigh was still silent. + +A yet deeper red now dyed the whole complexion of Elinor, and she added, +'If, to-day, you are too much engaged,--to-morrow will suffice. To-day, +indeed, your solemn protestations of belief, upon a subject which to me, +is a chaos,--dark,--impervious, impenetrable! has given ample employment +to my ideas.' + +Repulsing, then, his silently offered arm, she returned, with Selina, to +the chamber consigned to her by Mrs Ireton. + + + + +CHAPTER LXIV + + +Harleigh, confused, disconcerted, remained motionless; but when the +conscious Juliet would have glided silently past him, he entreated for a +moment's audience. + +'Oh no, Mr Harleigh, no!' she cried: 'these are scenes and alarms, that +must be risked no more!--' + +She was hurrying away; but, upon his saying, 'Hear me, at least, for +Elinor!' she turned back. + +His eye, now reproached even her compliance; but he rapidly communicated +his opinion, that the conference demanded by Elinor ought, in prudence, +for the present, to be avoided; since, while she had still some +favourite object in view, life, would, unconsciously, be still +supported. Time, thus, might insensibly be gained, not only for eluding +her fatal project, but happily, perhaps, for taming the dauntless +wildness that made her, now, seem to stand scoffingly at bay, between +life and death. + +Juliet saw nothing to oppose to this statement, and thanking him that, +at least, it liberated her, was again hastening away. + +'Hold, hold!' cried he, stopping her: 'it is not from me that it must +liberate you! Elinor has ratified the restoration of your word--' + +'Oh, were that all!--' she cried, hastily; but, stopping short, deeply +blushing, 'Mr Harleigh,' she added, 'compel me not to repeat +declarations that cannot vary!--Aid me rather, generously,--kindly, +shall I say?--aid me,--to fly, to avoid you,--lest you become +yourself ...' her voice faltered as she pronounced, 'the most fatal of +my enemies!' + +The penetrated Harleigh, charmed, though tortured, saw her eyes +glittering with tears; but she forced her way past him, and took refuge +in her chamber. + +There, in deep anguish, she was sinking upon a chair, when she received +the gentle balm of a letter from Gabriella, written with exstatic joy at +the prospect of their re-union. + +This decided her plan of immediate escape to London, under a full +conviction that Harleigh, to obviate any calumnious surmizes from her +disappearance, would studiously shew himself in the world; however +cautiously he might avoid any interview with Elinor. + +The shock of Juliet, at this unfortunate intrusion, somewhat abated, +when she reflected that confirmed hopelessness might, perchance, lead +Elinor to acquiescence in disappointment; for hopelessness, equally with +resignation,--though not so respectably,--terminates all struggles +against misfortune. + +She now, therefore, seized an opportunity, when she knew Mrs Ireton to +be engaged with Mrs Maple, for going forth to secure a place in some +machine, for a journey to London on the following morning. + +This office performed, she thought, while returning home, that she +perceived, though at a considerable distance, Harleigh. + +In the dread of some new conflict, she was planning to seek another way +back, when recollecting that she had his bank-notes in her work-bag, she +judged that she might more promptly return them at this accidental +meeting, than in the house of Mrs Ireton. + +She slackened, therefore, her pace, and, taking out her ever ready +packet, turned round, as the footstep approached, gravely and calmly to +deliver it; when, to her utter surprize, she faced Lord Melbury. + +Pleasure emitted its brightest hues in the tints of her cheeks, at sight +of the marked respect that chastened the visible delight with which she +was looked at and accosted by the young peer. 'How fortunate,' he cried, +'am I to meet with you thus directly! This moment only I dismount from +my horse. I have a million of things to say to you from Aurora, if you +will have the goodness to hear them; and I have more at heart still my +own claim upon your patience. When may I see you for a little +conversation?' + +The pleasure of Juliet was now severely checked by perplexity, how +either to fulfil or to break her engagement. Observing the change in her +countenance, and her hesitation and difficulty to answer, Lord Melbury, +whose look and air changed also, said, in a tone of concern, 'Miss Ellis +has not forgotten her kind promise?' + +'Your lordship is extremely good, to remember either that or me; yet I +hope--' + +'What does Miss Ellis hope? I would not counteract her hopes for the +world; but surely she cannot be so cruel as to disappoint mine? to make +me fear that she has changed her opinion? to withdraw her amiable +trust?' + +'No, my lord, no! not a moment could I hesitate were trust alone in +question! but the hurry of this instant,--the impossibility of detailing +so briefly, and by an imperfect account--' + +'And why an imperfect account? Why, dear Miss Ellis, since you have the +kindness to believe I may be trusted, not confide to me the whole +truth?' + +'Alas, my lord! how?--where?' + +'In some parlour,--in the garden,--any where.--' + +'Ah, my lord, what I have to say must be uninterrupted; unheard but by +yourself; and--I can command neither a place nor a moment free from +intrusion!'-- + +'Sweet Miss Ellis!--sweet injured Miss Ellis! I know, I have witnessed +the unworthiness of your treatment. Even Aurora, with all her +gentleness, has been as indignant at it, nearly, as myself. All our +wonder is how you bear it!--We burn, we expire to learn what can urge so +undue a subjection. But I have not obtruded myself upon you only for +myself; I have galloped hither to prepare you,--and to entreat you not +to be uneasy,--and to save you from any surprize, by acquainting you +that my uncle Denmeath--' + +He stopt short, as if thunderstruck. Juliet, alarmed, looked at him, and +saw that, in bending over her, to name, in a lower voice, his uncle, his +eyes had caught the direction of her packet, "For Albert Harleigh, Esq." + +Shocked at the evidently unpleasant effect which this sight produced, +and covered with blushes at the suspicions to which it might give rise, +Juliet hastily exclaimed, 'Oh my lord! I must no longer defer my +explanation! any, every risk will be preferable to the loss of your +esteem!' + +Delight, enchantment again were depicted on the countenance, as they +seized the faculties of the young peer; and, involuntarily, his eager +hands were stretching forwards to seize hers, when he perceived, just +approached to them, pale, agitated, and with the look of some one taken +suddenly ill, Harleigh. + +The colour of Juliet now rose and died away alternately, from varying +sensations of shame and apprehension; to which the deepest confusion +soon succeeded, as she discerned the contrast of the cheeks, whitened by +pale jealousy, of Harleigh; with those of Lord Melbury, which were +crimsoned with the reddest hues of sudden suspicion, and painful +mistrust. + +Harleigh, with a faint and forced smile, bowed, but stood aloof: Lord +Melbury seemed to have not alone his sentiments, but his faculties held +in suspension. + +Juliet, with cruel consciousness, perceived that each surmized something +clandestine of the other; and the immense importance which she annexed +to their joint good opinion; and the imminent danger which she saw of +the double forfeiture, soon re-invigorated her powers, and, addressing +herself with dignity, though in a tone of softness, to Lord Melbury, 'If +you judge me, my lord, from partial circumstances,' she cried, 'I have +every thing to apprehend for what I value more than words can express, +your lordship's approbation of the favour with which I am honoured by +Lady Aurora Granville; but let me rather hope,--suffer me, my lord, to +hope, that by the opinion I have formed of the honour of your own +character, you will judge,--though at present in the dark,--of the +integrity of mine!' + +Turning then from him, as, touched, electrified, he was beginning, 'I +have always judged you to be an angel!'--she would have presented her +packet to Harleigh; though without raising her eyes, saying, 'Mr +Harleigh has so long;--and upon so many occasions, honoured me with +marks of his esteem,--and benevolence,--that I flatter myself,--I +think,--I trust--' + +She stammered, confused; and Harleigh, who, from the moment that Lady +Aurora had been mentioned, had recovered his complexion, his +respiration, and his strength; recovered, also, his hopes and his +energy, at sight of the embarrassment of Juliet. Not doubting, however, +what were the contents of the packet, he held back from receiving it; +though with a smile that conveyed the most lively expression of grateful +delight, at her palpable anxiety to preserve his esteem. + +'Nay, you must take your property!' she resumed, with attempted +cheerfulness; yet blushing more deeply every moment, at thus betraying +to Lord Melbury that she had any property of Mr Harleigh's to return. + +'I will take your commands in every shape in which they can be framed,' +cried Harleigh, gaily; 'but you must not refuse to grant me, at the same +time, directions for their execution.' + +The interest with which Lord Melbury listened to what passed, was now +mingled with undisguised impatience: but Juliet could not endure to +satisfy him; could not support letting him know, that she retained +money of Harleigh's in her hands; nor yet bear to suffer Harleigh, now +the address had been seen, to leave it still in her possession: +hesitating, abashed, she turned from one to the other, with looks at +Lord Melbury that seemed appealing for forbearance; and to Harleigh with +down-cast eyes, that had not force to encounter his, but that were +expressive of distress, timidity, and fear of misconstruction. + +This pause, while it astonished and perplexed Lord Melbury, gave rise, +in Harleigh, to the most flattering emotions. Her disturbance was, +indeed, visible, and cruelly painful to him; but, since their meeting in +the church-yard, the severity of her reserve had seemed shaken, beyond +her power, evident as were her struggles, to call back its original +firmness. The more exquisitely he felt himself bewitched by this +observation, the more fondly he desired to spare her delicacy, by +concealing, though not repressing his hopes; but his eyes, less under +his controul than his words, air, or address, spoke a language not to be +doubted of tenderness, and sparkled with lustrous happiness, Juliet felt +their beams too powerfully to mistake, or even to sustain them. Her head +dropt, her eye-lids nearly closed; blushing shame tingled in her cheeks, +and apprehension and perturbation trembled in every limb. + +Perceiving, and adoring, her inability to find utterance, Harleigh, with +subdued rapture, yet in a tone that spoke of his feelings to be, at +length, in harmony with all his wishes, was gently beginning an entreaty +that she would adjourn this little dispute to another day, when the +words, 'Well! if here i'n't the very person we were talking off!' +striking his ears, he looked round, and saw Miss Bydel, accompanied by +Mr Giles Arbe; whose approach had been unheeded by them all, from the +deep interest which had concentrated their attention to themselves. + +'Why, Mrs Ellis,' she continued, 'why what are you doing here? I should +like to know that. I've just had a smart battle about you with my good +friend, Mr Giles. He will needs have it, that you paid all your debts +from a hoard that you had by you, of your own; though I have told him I +dare say an hundred times, at the least, I must needs be a better judge, +having been paid myself, for my own share, by that cross-grained +Baronet, who's been such a good friend to you.' + +The sensations of Juliet underwent now another change, though shame was +still predominant; her fears of exciting the expectations she sought to +annul in Harleigh, were superseded by a terrour yet more momentous, of +giving ground for suspicion, not alone to himself, but to Lord Melbury, +that, while fashioning a thousand difficulties, to accepting the +assistance that was generously and delicately offered by themselves, she +had suffered a third person, that person, also, a gentleman, to supply +her pecuniary necessities. She breathed hard, and looked disordered, but +could suggest nothing to say; while Harleigh and Lord Melbury stood as +if transfixed by disturbed astonishment. + +'Well! I protest,' resumed Miss Bydel, 'if here i'n't another of the +people that we were talking of, Mr Giles! for I declare it's Mr +Harleigh, that I was telling you, you know, my good friend, was the +person that made poor Miss Joddrel make away with her herself, because +of his skimper-scampering after Mrs Ellis, when she had that swoon! +which, to be sure, had but an out of the way look; for the music would +have taken care of her. Don't you think so yourself, my dear?' + +The most painful confusion again took possession of Juliet; who would +silently have walked away, had not Miss Bydel caught hold of her arm, +saying, 'Don't be in a hurry, my dear, for you shan't be chid; for I'll +speak for you myself to Mrs Ireton.' + +'I am mighty glad to hear that Sir Jaspar is your friend, my pretty +lady,' said the smiling Mr Giles; 'and I am mighty glad, too, that you +have persuaded him to help to pay your debts. He's a very good sort of +man, where he takes; and very witty and clever. Though he is crabbed, +too; rather crabbed and waspish, when he i'n't pleased. He always scolds +all the men: and, indeed, the maids, too, when they a'n't pretty, poor +things! And they can't help that: else, I dare say, they would. Yet, I +am afraid, I don't like them quite so well myself, neither, in my heart, +when they are ugly; which is but hard upon them; so I always do them +double the good, to punish myself. But I'm prodigiously sorry you should +have taken to that turn of running in debt, my dear, for it's the only +thing I know to your disadvantage; for which reason I have never named +it to a single soul; only it just dropt out, before I was aware, to Miss +Bydel; which I am sorry enough for; for I am afraid it will be but hard +to her, poor lady, to keep it to herself.' + +'What do you mean by that Mr Giles?' cried Miss Bydel, angrily. 'Do you +want to insinuate that I don't know how to keep a secret? I should be +glad to know what right you have to fleer at a person about that, when +you blab out every thing in such a manner yourself! and before these two +gentlemen, too; who don't lose a word of what passes, I can tell you!' + +'True! Good! You are right there, Mrs Bydel! I did not think of that, I +protest. However, these two gentlemen have too much kindness about them, +to repeat a thing that may hurt a young person just coming, as one may +say, into the world, for she is but a chicken; and my lord, here, who +looks younger still, is scarcely more than an egg. So you may be sure he +has no guile in him, for he seems almost as innocent as herself. +However, my pretty lady, if you have still any more debts, new or old, +only tell me who you owe them to, and I'll run and fetch all the people +here; and we'll join together to discharge them at once; for Mr Harleigh +is always at home when he is doing good; and this young nobleman can't +begin too soon to learn what he is rich for: so you can never be in +better hands for taking up a little money. When we settled the last +batch, you had no debt left but to Mrs Bydel; and, as the Baronet has +paid her, she's off our hands. So tell me whether there is any new one +that you have been running up since?' + +Wounded, and nearly indignant at this demand, 'None!' Juliet +spontaneously answered; when catching a glance at Lord Melbury, who +involuntarily looked down, his purse and the fifteen guineas of Lady +Aurora, rushed upon her memory, and filled her again with visible +embarrassment. + +'Good! good!' cried the pleased Mr Giles: 'you could not tell me better +news. But are there any poor souls, then, that you forgot to mention in +our last reckoning? Are there any old debts that you did not count?' + +Inexpressibly hurt at a supposition so offensive to her sense of +probity, Juliet hastily repeated, 'No, Sir, there are none!' but, in +raising her head, and encountering the penetrating eyes of Harleigh, the +terrible recollection of the capital into which she had broken, and of +the large sum so long his due, struck cold to her heart; though it burnt +her cheeks with a dye of crimson. + +Yet were these sensations nearly nugatory, compared with those which she +suffered the next instant, when Miss Bydel, suddenly perceiving the +direction upon the packet, read aloud 'For Albert Harleigh, Esq.' + +Her exclamations, her blunt, unqualified interrogatories, and the +wonder, and simple ejaculations of Mr Giles Arbe, filled Juliet with a +confusion so intolerable, that she forced her arm from Miss Bydel, with +intention to insist upon publicly restoring the packet to Harleigh; but +Harleigh, confounded himself, had advanced towards the house, which, +frequently as they had stopt, they now insensibly reached; but from +which he would most willingly have retrograded, upon seeing Ireton +issue, laughing, into the portico. + +The laugh of Ireton, whose gaiety was always derision, and whose +derision was always scandal, though it was innocently echoed by the +unsuspicious Mr Giles, was as alarming to the two gentlemen and to +Juliet, as it was offensive to Miss Bydel; who pettishly demanded, 'Pray +what are you laughing at, Mr Ireton? I should like to know that. If it +is at me, you may as well tell me at once, for I shall be sure to find +it out; because I always make a point of doing that.' + +Ireton, seizing upon Harleigh, exclaimed 'What, Monsieur le Moniteur! +still hankering after our mysterious fair one?' when, perceiving the +wishes of Juliet, to pass on, he wantonly filled up the door-way. + +Harleigh, who, also, could not but guess them, though he dared not look +at her, hoped, by delaying her entrance, to catch a moment's discourse: +but the youthful Lord Melbury, deeming all caution to be degrading, that +interfered with protection to a lovely female, openly desired that +Ireton would stand aside, and let the ladies enter the house. + +'Most undoubtedly, my lord!' answered Ireton, making way, with an air of +significant acquiescence. + +Miss Bydel, with a warm address of thanks to his lordship, whose +interference she received as a personal civility, said, 'This is like a +gentleman, indeed, my lord, and quite fit for a lord to do, to take the +part of us poor weak women, against people that keep one standing out in +the street, because they think of nothing but joking;' and then, telling +Juliet to follow her, 'I can do no less,' she added, as she entered the +hall, 'than be as good as my word to this poor young music-maker, to +save her a chiding, poor creature, for staying, dawdling, out so long; +when ten to one but poor Mrs Ireton has wanted her a hundred times, for +one odd thing or another. But I shall take all the fault upon myself for +the last part of the job, because I can't deny but I held her a minute +or two by the arm. But what she was gossipping about before we came up +to her, my good friend Mr Giles and I, is what I don't pretend to say; +though I should like to know very well; for it had but an odd +appearance, I must own; both your gentlemen having been talked of so +much, in the town, about this young person.' + +The most pointed darts of wit, and even the poisoned shafts of malice, +are less disconcerting to delicacy, than the unqualified bluntness of +the curious under-bred; for that which cannot be imputed to a spirit of +sarcasm, or a desire of shining, passes, to the bye-standers, for +unvarnished truth. As such, the intimation of Miss Bydel was palpably +received by Ireton, and by Mr Giles; though with malevolent wilfulness +by the one, and, by the other, with the simplest credulity; while Lord +Melbury, Harleigh and Juliet, were too much ashamed to look up, and too +much confounded to attempt parrying so gross an attack. + +Yet both Lord Melbury and Harleigh, urged invincibly by a desire of +knowing in what manner Juliet was to be patronized by her loquacious +mediatrix, and how they might themselves fare in the account, +irresistibly entered the mansion; though marvelling, each, at the +curiosity, and blaming the indiscretion of the other. + +To avoid the aspersion of making a clandestine retreat, Juliet had +decided, however painful to her might be such an exertion, openly to +relinquish her situation with Mrs Ireton; but she by no means felt equal +to risking the irascibility of that lady before so many witnesses. +Nevertheless, when she would have glided from the party, Miss Bydel, +again seizing her arm, called out, 'Come, don't be afraid, Mrs Ellis: +I've promised to take your part, and I am always as good as my word;' +and then dragged, rather than drew her into the drawing-room; closely +attended by Lord Melbury, Harleigh, Mr Giles Arbe, and Ireton. + + + + +CHAPTER LXV + + +Unweariedly concerting means of detection relative to the stranger, +which no failure of success could discourage, Mrs Ireton and Mrs Maple +sate whispering upon the same sofa in the drawing-room; while Selina and +Miss Arramede were tittering at a window. + +'How do you do, ladies?' cried Miss Bydel. 'In close chat, I see. +However, I don't want to know what it's about. I'm only come to speak a +word about this poor thing here, for fear you should think she has been +all this time gossipping about her own affairs; which, I assure you, Mrs +Ireton, I can bear witness for her i'n't the case.' + +The supercilious silence of Mrs Ireton to this address, would have +authorised the immediate retreat of Juliet, but that Ireton maliciously +placed himself against the door, and impeded its being opened; while +Lord Melbury and Harleigh were obliged to approach the sofa, to pay +their compliments to the lady of the mansion; who, giving them her whole +attention, left Miss Bydel to finish her harangue to Mrs Maple. + +'Right! True!' cried Mr Giles, eager to abet what he thought the good +nature of Miss Bydel. 'What you say is just and fair, Mrs Bydel; for +this pretty young lady here wanted to go from these two gentlemen the +minute we came up to her; only Mrs Bydel's arm being rather, I conceive, +heavy, she could not so soon break away. But I did not catch one of her +pretty dimples all the time. So pray, Mrs Ireton, don't be angry with +her; and the less because she's so sweet tempered, that, if you are, she +won't complain; for she never did of Mrs Maple.' + +'I hope this is curious enough!' cried Mrs Maple. 'A body to come and +live upon me, for months together, upon charity, and then not to +complain of me! I think if this is not enough to cure people of charity, +I wonder what is! For my part, I am heartily sick of it, for the rest of +my life.' + +Juliet having again, but vainly, tried to pass by Ireton, retired to an +unoccupied window. Harleigh, though engaged in discourse with Mrs +Ireton, reddened indignantly; and Lord Melbury nearly mashed the nails +of his fingers between his teeth; while Mr Giles, staring, demanded, +'Why what can there be, Ma'am, in charity, to turn you so sick? A poor +helpless young creature, like that, can't make you her toad-eater.' + +Alarmed at an address which she looked upon as a prognostic to an +exhortation, of which she dreaded, from experience, the plainness and +severity, Mrs Maple hastily changed her place: while Mrs Ireton, +startled, also, by the word toad-eater, unremittingly continued speaking +to the two gentlemen; whose attention, nevertheless, she could not for a +moment engage, though their looks and persons were her prisoners. + +'I don't know why you ladies who are so rich and gay,' continued Mr +Giles, composedly, and, to the great annoyance of Mrs Ireton, taking +possession of the seat which Mrs Maple had abdicated; 'should not try to +make yourselves pleasant to those who are poor and sad. You, that have +got every thing you can wish for, should take as much pains not to be +distasteful, as a poor young thing like that, who has got nothing but +what she works for, should take pains not to be starved.' + +Mrs Ireton, extremely incensed, though affecting to be unconcerned, +haughtily summoned Ellis. + +Ellis, forced to obey, went to the back of the sofa, to avoid standing +by the side of the two gentlemen; and determined to make use of this +opportunity for announcing her project of retreat. + +'Pray, Ma'am,' Mrs Ireton cried, 'permit me to enquire--' her eye +angrily, yet cautiously, glancing at Mr Giles, 'to what extraordinary +circumstance I am indebted, for having the honour of receiving your +visitors? Not that I am insensible to such a distinction; you won't +imagine me such an Hottentot, I hope, as to be insensible to so +honourable a distinction! Nevertheless, you'll pardon me, I trust, if I +take the liberty to intimate, that, for the future, when any of your +friends are to be indulged in waiting upon you, you will have the +goodness to receive them in your own apartments. You'll excuse the hint, +I flatter myself!' + +'I shall intrude no apologies upon your time, Madam,' said Ellis, +calmly, 'for relinquishing a situation in which I have acquitted myself +so little to your satisfaction: to-morrow, therefore--' + +Anticipating, and eager to convert a resignation which she regarded as a +disgrace, into a dismission which she considered as a triumph, Mrs +Ireton impatiently interrupted her, crying, 'To-morrow? And why are we +to wait for to-morrow? What has to-day done? Permit me to ask that. And +pray don't take it ill. Pray don't let me offend you: only--what has +poor to-day done, that to-morrow must have such a preference?' + +Juliet, frightened at the idea of being reduced to pass a night alone at +an inn, now hesitated; and Mrs Ireton, smiling complacently around her, +went on. + +'Suffer me, I beg, to speak a little word for poor, neglected to-day! +Have we not long enough been slaves to to-morrow? Let the pleasures of +dear expectation be superseded, this once, for those of actual +enjoyment. Not but 'twill be very severe upon me to lose you. I don't +dissemble that. So gay a companion! I shall certainly expire an +hypochondriac upon first missing your amusing sallies. I can never +survive such a deprivation. No! It's all over with me! You pity me, I am +sure, my good friends?' + +She now looked around, with an expression of ineffable satisfaction at +her own wit: but it met no applause, save in the ever ready giggles of +Selina, and the broad admiration of the round-eyed Miss Bydel. + +Juliet silently courtsied, with a gravity that implied a leave-taking, +and, approaching the door, desired that Ireton would let her pass. + +Ireton, laughing, declared that he should not suffer her to decamp, till +she gave him a direction where he could find her the next day. + +Offended, she returned again to her window. + +'O, now, pray, Mrs Ireton,' cried Miss Bydel, 'don't turn her away, poor +thing! don't turn her away, Ma'am, for such a mere little fault. I dare +say she'll do her best to please you, if you'll only try her again. +Besides, if she's turned off in this manner, just as young Lord Melbury +is here, he may try to make her his kept mistress again. At least +naughty people will say so.' + +'Who will say so, Ma'am?' cried Lord Melbury, starting up, in a rage to +which he was happy to find so laudable a vent: 'Who will dare say so? +Name me a single human being!' + +'Lord, my lord,' answered Miss Bydel, a little frightened; 'nobody, very +likely! only it's best to be upon one's guard against evil speakers; for +young lords at your time of life, a'n't apt to be quite so good as they +are when they are more stricken in years. That's all I mean, my lord; +for I don't mean to affront your lordship, I'm sure.' + +Mrs Ireton, again beckoning to Ellis, said, 'Pray, Mrs Thing-a-mi, have +you done me so much honour as to make out your bill?' And, +ostentatiously, she produced her purse. 'What is the amount, Ma'am, of +my debt?' + +Juliet paused a moment, and then answered, ''Tis an amount, Madam, much +too difficult and complicate for me, just now, to calculate!' + +Mr Giles, alertly rising, cried, 'Let me help you, then, my pretty lady, +to cast it up. What have you given her upon account, Mrs Ireton?' + +'I am not her book-keeper, Sir!' returned Mrs Ireton, extremely nettled. +'I don't pretend to the honour of acting as her steward! But I trust she +will be good enough to take what is her due. 'Tis very much beneath her, +I own; extremely beneath her, I confess; yet I hope, this once, she will +let herself down so far.' And, ten guineas, which she had held in her +hand, were augmented to twenty, which she paradingly flung upon the +table. + +Mrs Maple and Miss Bydel poured forth the warmest exclamations of +admiration at this magnificence; but Juliet, quietly saying, 'Let me +hope, Madam, that my successor may merit your generosity,' again +courtsied, and was going: when Mr Giles, eagerly picking up the money, +and following her with it, spread upon his open hand, said, 'What do you +go without your cash for, my pretty lady? Why don't you take your +guineas?' + +'Excuse, excuse me, Sir!' cried Juliet, hastily, and trying to be gone. + +'And why?' cried he, a little angrily. 'Are they not your own? What have +you been singing for, and playing, and reading, and walking? and +humouring the little naughty boy? and coddling the cross little dog? +Take your guineas, I say. Would you be so proud as to leave the +obligation all on the side of Mrs Ireton?' + +A smile at this statement, in defiance of her distress, irresistibly +stole its way upon the features of Juliet; while Mrs Ireton, stung to +the quick, though forcing a contemptuous laugh, exclaimed, 'This is +really the height of the marvellous! It transcends all my poor ideas! I +own that! I can't deny that! However, I must drop my acquaintance +entirely with Miss Arbe, if it is to subject me to intrusions of every +sort, on pretence of visiting that Miss what's her name! I have had +quite enough of all this! I really desire no more.' + +Harleigh, to hide his acute interest in the situation of Juliet, +pretended to be examining a portrait that was hung over the +chimney-piece; but Lord Melbury, less capable of self-restraint, +applaudingly seized the hand of Mr Giles, and grasping it warmly, +cried, 'Where may I have the pleasure of waiting upon you, Sir? I desire +infinitely to cultivate your acquaintance.' + +'And I shall like it too, my good young nobleman,' said Mr Giles, with a +look of great satisfaction; and was beginning, at very full length, to +give his direction, when Selina called out from the window, as a +carriage drove up to the door, 'Mrs Ireton, it's Lord Denmeath's +livery.' + +Lord Melbury, abruptly breaking from Mr Giles, hurried out of the room; +which alone prevented the same action from Juliet, whose face suddenly +exhibited horrour rather than affright. But she felt that to fly the +uncle, at a moment when she might seem to pursue the nephew, might be +big with suspicious mischief; and, though shaking with terrour, she +placed herself as if she were examining a small landscape, behind an +immense screen, which in summer, as well as in winter, nearly surrounded +the sofa of Mrs Ireton. And hence she hoped, when his lordship should be +entered, to steal unnoticed from the room. + +'This is a stroke that surpasses all the rest!' faintly cried Mrs +Ireton; 'that Lord Denmeath, whom I have not seen these seven ages, +should renew his acquaintence at an epoch of such strange disorder in my +house! He will never believe this apartment to be mine! it will not be +possible for him to believe it. He'll conclude me in some lodging. He'll +imagine me the victim of some dreadful reverse of fortune. He is so +little accustomed to see me in any motley group! He can so little figure +me to himself as a person in a general herd!' + +'Well, I, for one, am here by mere accident, to be sure,' said Miss +Bydel; 'but, however, I did not come in from mere curiosity, I assure +you, Mrs Ireton; for I knew nothing of Lord Denmeath's being to come. +However, as I happen to be here, I sha'n't be sorry to see his lordship, +if I sha'n't be in anybody's way, for I never happened to be where he +was before. Only I can't think what Lord Melbury went off so quick for; +unless it was to shew his uncle the way up stairs. And if it was for +that, it was pretty enough of him.' + +'No, no, you'll be in nobody's way, Mrs Bydel,' said Mr Giles; 'don't be +afraid of that. Here's abundance of room for us all. The apartment's a +very good apartment for that.' + +Mrs Ireton now, impatiently ringing the bell, demanded, of a servant, +what he had done with Lord Denmeath; adding, 'I should be glad, Sir, to +be informed! very glad, I must confess; for, perhaps, as you have been +so good as to shew a visitor of one of my people into the drawing-room, +you may have thought proper to usher a visitor of mine into the +kitchen?' + +His lordship, the servant answered, had been met by Lord Melbury, upon +alighting from the coach, and had stept with him into the +dining-parlour. + +Mrs Maple exulted that she could now, at last, have an opportunity to +clear herself of his lordship, about the many odd appearances which had +so long stood against her: while Ireton, who had espied the effort of +Juliet to escape notice, called out, 'I don't know where the devil I +have put my hat;' and suddenly pushing towards her, with a blustrous +appearance of search, gave her a mischievous nod, as she started back +from his bold approach, and encircled her completely within the broad +leaves of the screen. + +She suffered this malicious sport in preference to attempting any +resistance; though vexed at the noise which she must now unavoidably +make in removing. + +She was scarcely thus enclosed, when Lord Denmeath was announced. + +Her heart now beat so violently with terrour, that her shaking hand +could scarcely grasp a leaf of the screen, as she tried to make an +opening for letting herself out, while his lordship was returning a +reception of fawning courtesy, by some embarrassed and ambiguous +apologies, relative to the motives of his visit. And when, at length, +she succeeded, she was deterred from endeavouring to abscond, by seeing +Harleigh, with his hand upon the door, making his bow. + +Mrs Maple, interfering, would not permit him to depart; clamorously +declaring, that he was the properest person to give an account to his +lordship of this adventurer, as he must best know why he had forced them +to take such a body into their boat. + +With deep agitation, and blushing anxiety, Juliet now unavoidably heard +Harleigh answer, 'I can but repeat to his lordship what I have a +thousand times assured these ladies, that I have not the smallest +knowledge whence this young lady comes, nor whom she may be. I can only, +therefore, reply to these enquiries from my mental perceptions. These +convince me, through progressive observations, that she is a person of +honour, well educated, accustomed to good society, highly principled, +and noble minded. You smile, my lord! But those only who judge without +conversing with her, or converse without drawing forth her sentiments, +can annex any disparaging doubt to the mystery of her situation. Her +conduct has rather been exemplary than irreproachable from the moment +that she has been cast upon our knowledge; though she has suffered, +during that short interval, distress of almost every description. Her +language is always that of polished life; her manners, even when her +occupations are nearly servile, are invariably of distinguished +elegance; yet, with all their softness, all their gentleness, she has a +courage that, upon the most trying occasions, is superiour to +difficulty; and a soul that, even in the midst of injury and misfortune, +depends upon itself, and is above complaint. Such, my lord, I think her! +not, indeed, from any certain documents; but from a self-conviction, +founded, I repeat, upon progressive observations; which have the weight +with me, now, of mathematical demonstration.' + +Tears resistless, yet benign, flowed down the cheeks of Juliet in +listening to this defence; and, while she endeavoured to disperse them, +before she ventured from her retreat, Lord Denmeath began an enquiry, +whether this young person had regularly refused to say who she was; or +whether she had occasionally made any partial communication; or given +any hints relative to her family or connexions. + +Juliet was now in an agony of mind indescribable. She had hoped to glide +away with the general party unobserved; but Harleigh had kept constantly +at the door till he made his exit; which, now, was so crowdingly +followed by that of every one, except Mrs Ireton and his lordship, that +the delay ended in making her, individually, more conspicuous. Yet, to +overhear, unsuspectedly, a conversation believed to be private, even +though she knew herself to be its subject, was dishonour: hastily, +therefore, though shaking in every limb, she forced herself from without +the screen. + +Mrs Ireton shrieked and sunk back upon the sofa, crying out, 'Oh, my +lord, she's here!--Concealed to listen to us!--What a shock!--I shall +feel it these three years!' + +Juliet fleetly crossed the drawing-room, without daring to raise her +head; but Lord Denmeath, passing quickly before her, as if intending to +open the door, held the handle of the lock, while, steadily examining +her as he spoke, he said, 'Will you give me leave, Ma'am, to see you for +a few minutes to-morrow?' + +Juliet made not, nor even attempted to make any answer: terrour was +painted in every line of her face, and she trembled so violently, that +she was forced to catch by the back of a chair, to save herself from +falling. + +'I hope, Ma'am,' said Lord Denmeath, 'you are not ill?' and, +approaching her with a look of compassion, added, in a whisper, 'I know +you!--but be not frightened. I will not hurt you. I will speak to you +to-morrow alone, and arrange something to your advantage.' + +Juliet seemed utterly overcome, and remained motionless. + +'Compose yourself,' continued Lord Denmeath, speaking louder, and +turning towards the wondering Mrs Ireton; 'I will see you when and where +you please to-morrow.' + +Mrs Ireton, whose own curiosity knew not how to brook any delay, now +recovered sufficient strength to rise; and, begging that his lordship +would not postpone his business, she passed into her boudoir; the door +of which, however, Lord Denmeath failed not to remark, was shut without +much vigour. + +Lowering, therefore, his tone till, even to Juliet, it was scarcely +audible, 'We cannot,' he said, 'converse here with any openness; but, if +you are not your own enemy, you may make me your friend; though I cannot +but take ill your coming over against my advice and injunctions, and +thus insidiously introducing yourself to my nephew and niece.' + +Juliet here looked up, with an air of self-vindication; but Lord +Denmeath steadily went on. + +'I have for some time suspected who you were, though but vaguely; yet, +attributing your voyage to the officious counsel of the Bishop, I +contented myself, for the moment, with putting a stop to your +intercourse with my credulous young relations. But other information has +reached me; and reached me at the very moment when Mrs Howel,--when, +indeed, my nephew and niece themselves had acquainted me with the +meeting at Arundel Castle. I will talk upon all these matters in detail +to-morrow morning. I have only to demand, in the interval, that you will +neither speak nor write to Lord Melbury. I have already obtained his +promise to be quiet till our conference is over. But I know that there +are ways and means to induce a young man to forget his engagements. I +hope you will try none such. Where can we have our conversation?' + +'No where, my lord!' to the utter astonishment of Lord Denmeath, and +even to her own, Juliet now, with sudden spirit, answered: but the +courage which had been subdued by apprehension, was revived, during the +preceding harangue, by strong glowing indignation. + +'What is it,' when amazement would give him leave to speak, 'what is +it,' Lord Denmeath said, 'that you mean?' + +'That I will not trouble your lordship to offer me directions that I +may not be at liberty to follow. I have already, my lord, a guide; and +one to whose judgment I shall submit implicitly. That Bishop, whom your +lordship is pleased to call officious, is my first, best, and nearly +only friend; and if ever again I should be so blest as to meet with him, +his opinion shall be my law,--as his benediction will be my happiness!' + +In great emotion, yet with unappalled dignity, she was departing; but +Lord Denmeath, with an air of surprize, stopping her, said, 'You are +then a Papist?' + +'No, my lord, I am firmly a Protestant! But, as such, I am a Christian; +so, and most piously, yet not illiberally, is the Bishop.' + +'What is it,--tell me, if you please, that this Bishop purposes? To +renew those old claims so long ago vainly canvassed? Can he imagine he +will now have more influence than when possessed of his episcopal rank +and fortune? Set him right in that point. You will do him a friendly +turn. And permit me to do a similar one by yourself. I know the whole of +your situation!' + +Juliet started. + +'I have just had information which I meant to communicate to you, +accompanied with offers of mediation and assistance; but you are +sufficient to yourself! or your champion, the Bishop, makes all other +aid superfluous! Suffer me, nevertheless, to intimate to you, that you +will do well to return, quietly and expeditiously, to the spot whence +you came. You may else make the voyage less pleasantly!' + +The colour which resentment and exertion had just raised in the cheeks +of Juliet, now faded away, and left them nearly as white as snow. Lord +Denmeath, softening his voice and manner, and changing the haughty air +of his countenance into something that approached to kindness, went on +more gently. + +'I did not mean to alarm, but to befriend you. I allow not only for your +youth and inexperience, but for the false ideas with which you have been +brought up. If it had not pleased the Bishop to interfere, all would +have been amicably arranged from the first. Take, however, a little time +for reflection. Think upon the enormous risk which you run!--a fine +young woman, like you,--and you are, indeed, a very fine young woman; +flying from her house and home--' + +Juliet, shaking, shuddering, hid her face, and burst into tears. + +'I see that it is not impossible to work upon you,' he continued; 'I +will beg Mrs Ireton, therefore, to let us converse to-morrow where we +may canvass the matter at leisure. The road is still open for you to +affluence and credit. It will make me very happy to be your conductor. +You will find I am authorized so to be. Make yourself, therefore, as +easy as you can, and depend upon my best offices. We will certainly meet +to-morrow morning.' + +He then bowed to her, and moved towards the boudoir; which Mrs Ireton, +appearing accidentally to open the door that had never been shut, +quitted, to receive him; while Juliet, in speechless disorder, retired. + + + + +CHAPTER LXVI + + +Upon quitting the drawing-room, to mount to her chamber, Juliet caught a +glance of Ireton, ascending the staircase to the second story. + +Apprehensive that he was watching for an opportunity to again torment +her, she turned into a small apartment called the Print Closet, of which +the door was open; purposing there to wait till he should have passed +on. + +There, however, she had no sooner entered, than, examining the beautiful +engravings of Sir Robert Strange, she perceived Harleigh. + +Eagerly and with delight he advanced, and sought, once more, to take her +hand. A look of solemnity repressed him; but 'twas a solemnity mixt with +sorrow, not anger. + +'Generous Mr Harleigh!' she faintly articulated, while endeavouring to +disperse the tears that again strove to find their way down her cheeks; +'can you then, thus unabatedly preserve your good opinion of an unknown +Wanderer, ... who seems the sport of insult and misfortune?' + +Almost dissolved with tender feelings at this question, Harleigh, gently +overpowering her opposition, irresistibly seized her hand, repeating, +'My good opinion? my reverence, rather!--my veneration is yours!--and a +confidence in your worth that has no limits!' + +Ashamed of the situation into which a sudden impulse of gratitude had +involuntarily betrayed her, the varying hues of her now white, now +crimson cheeks manifested alternate distress and confusion; while she +struggled incessantly to disengage her hand; but the happy heart of +Harleigh felt so delightedly its possession, that she struggled in vain. + +'Yet, let not that confidence,' he continued, 'be always the offspring +of fascination! Give it, at length, some other food than conjecture! +not to remove doubts; I have none! but to solve difficulties that rob me +of rest.--' + +'I am sorry, Sir, very sorry, if I cause you any uneasiness,' said +Juliet, resuming her usual calmness of manner; yet with bent down eyes, +that neither ventured to meet his, nor to cast a glance at the hand +which she still fruitlessly strove to withdraw; 'but indeed you must not +detain me;--no, not a minute!' + +Enchanted by the mildness of this remonstrance, little as its injunction +met his wishes; 'Half a minute, then!' he gaily replied, 'accord me only +half a minute, and I will try to be contented. Suffer me but to ask,--' + +'No, Sir, you must ask me nothing! There is no question whatever I can +answer!--' + +'I will not make one, then! I will only offer an observation. There is a +something--I know not what; nor can I divine; but something there is +strange, singular,--very unusual, and very striking, between you and +Lord Melbury! Pardon, pardon my abruptness! You allow me no time to be +scrupulous. You promise him your confidence,--that confidence so long, +so fervently solicited by another!--so inexorably withheld!--' + +'I earnestly desire,' cried Juliet, recovering her look of openness, and +raising her eyes; 'the sanction of Lord Melbury to the countenance and +kindness of Lady Aurora.' + +'Thanks! thanks!' cried Harleigh; who in this short, but expressive +explanation, flattered himself that some concern was included for his +peace; ''Tis to that, then, that cause,--a cause the most lovely,--he +owes this envied pre-eminence?--And yet,--pardon me!--while apparently +only a mediator--may not such a charge,--such an intercourse,--so +intimate and so interesting a commission,--may it not,--nay, must it not +inevitably make him from an agent become a principal?--Will not his +heart pay the tribute--' + +'Heaven forbid!' interrupting him, cried Juliet. + +'Thanks! thanks, again! You do not, then, wish it? You are generous, +noble enough not to wish it? And frank, sweet, ingenuous enough to +acknowledge that you do not wish it? Ah! tell me but--' + +'Mr Harleigh,' again interrupting him, cried Juliet, 'I know not what +you are saying!--I fear I have been misunderstood.--You must let me be +gone!'-- + +'No!' answered he, passionately; 'I can live no longer, breathe +no longer, in this merciless solicitude of uncertainty and obscurity! +You must give me some glimmering of light, some opening to +comprehension,--or content yourself to be my captive!--' + +'You terrify me, Mr Harleigh! Let me go!--instantly! instantly!--Would +you make me hate--' She had begun with a precipitance nearly vehement; +but stopt abruptly. + +'Hate me?' cried Harleigh, with a look appalled: 'Good Heaven!' + +'Hate you?--No,--not you!... I did not say you!--' + +'Who, then? who then, should I make you hate?--Lord Melbury?--' + +'O no, never!--'tis impossible!--Let me be gone!--let me be gone!--' + +'Not till you tell me whom I should make you hate! I cannot part with +you in this new ignorance! Clear, at least, this one little point Whom +should I make hate you?--' + +'Myself, Sir, myself!' cried she, trembling and struggling. 'If you +persist in thus punishing my not having fled from you, at once, as I +would have fled from an enemy!' + +He immediately let go her hand; but, finding that, though her look was +instantly appeased, nay grateful, she was hastily retreating, he glided +between her and the door, crying, 'Where,--at least deign to tell +me!--Where may I see,--may I speak to you again?' + +'Any where, any where!'--replied she, with quickness; but presently, +with a sudden check of vivacity, added, 'No where, I mean!--no where, +Sir, no where!'-- + +'Is this possible!' exclaimed he. 'Can you,--even in your wishes,--can +you be so hard of heart?'-- + +'It is you,' said she reproachfully, 'who are hard of heart, to detain +me thus!--Think but where I am!--where you are!--This house--Miss +Joddrel--What may not be the consequence?--Is it Mr Harleigh who would +deliver me over to calumny?' + +Harleigh now held open the door for her himself, without venturing to +reply, as he heard footsteps upon the stairs; but he permitted his lips +to touch her arm, for he could not again seize her hand, as she passed +him, eagerly, and with her face averted. She fled on to the stairs, and +rapidly ascended them. Harleigh durst now follow; but he pursued her +with his eyes. He could not, however, catch a glance, could not even +view her profile, so sedulously her head was turned another way. +Disappointment and mortification were again seizing him; till he +considered, that that countenance thus hidden, had she been wholly +unfearful of shewing some little emotion, had probably, nay, even +purposely, been displayed. + +Fleetly gaining her room, and dropping upon a chair, 'I must fly!--I +must fly!' she exclaimed. 'Danger, here, attacks me in every +quarter,--assails me in every shape! I must fly!--I must fly!' + +This project, which had its origin in her terrour of Elinor, was now +confirmed by the most profound, however troubled meditation. To +difficulties of discussion which she deemed insurmountable with +Harleigh; to claims of a confidence which she now considered to be +deeply dangerous with Lord Melbury; and to indignities daily, nay, +hourly, more insufferable from Mrs Ireton, were joined, at this moment, +the horrour of another interview with Lord Denmeath, still more +repugnant to her thoughts, and formidable to her fears. + +She refused to descend to the evening-summons of Mrs Ireton; determining +to avoid all further offences from that lady, to whom she had already +announced her intended departure; yet she sighed, she even wept at +quitting with the same unexplained abruptness Lord Melbury and Harleigh; +and the cruel disappointment, mingled with strange surmizes, of the +ingenuous Lord Melbury; the nameless consternation, blended with +resentful suspence, of the impassioned Harleigh; presented scenes of +distress and confusion to her imagination, that occupied her thoughts +the whole night, with varying schemes and incessant regret. + +When the glimmering of light shewed her that she must soon be gone, she +mounted to a garret, which she knew to be inhabited by a young +house-maid, whom she called up; and prevailed upon to go forth, and seek +a boy who would carry a parcel to a distant part of the town. + +Having thus gotten the street-door open, she guided the boy herself to +the inn; where she arrived in time to save her place; and whence she set +off for London. + + + + +CHAPTER LXVII + + +Escape and immediate safety thus secured, her tender friendship for +Gabriella superseding all fear, and leaving behind all solicitude, made +Juliet nearly pronounce aloud, what internally she repeated without +intermission, 'I come to you, then, at last, my beloved Gabriella!' +Cheerful, therefore, was her heart, in defiance of her various +distresses: she was quitting Mrs Ireton, to join Gabriella!--What could +be the circumstances that could make such a change severe to Juliet? +Juliet, who felt ill treatment more terribly than misfortune; and to +whom kindness was more essential than prosperity? + +Her journey was free from accident, and void of event. Absorbed in her +own ruminations, she listened not to what was said, and scarcely saw by +whom she was surrounded; though her fellow-travellers surveyed her with +curiosity, and, from time to time, assailed her with questions. + +Arrived at London, she put herself into a hackney-coach; and, almost +before her fluttered spirits suffered her to perceive that she had left +the inn-yard, she found herself in a haberdasher's shop, in Frith +Street, Soho; and in the arms of her Gabriella. + +It was long ere either of them could speak; their swelling hearts denied +all verbal utterance to their big emotions; though tears of poignant +grief at the numerous woes by which they had been separated, were +mingled with feelings of the softest felicity at their re-union. + +Yet vaguely only Juliet gave the history of her recent difficulties; the +history which had preceded them, and upon which hung the mystery of her +situation, still remained unrevealed. + +Gabriella forbore any investigation, but her look shewed disappointment. +Juliet perceived it, and changed colour. Tears gushed into her eyes, +and her head dropt upon the neck of her friend. 'Oh my Gabriella!' she +cried, 'if my silence wounds, or offends you,--it is at an end!' + +Gabriella, instantly repressing every symptom of impatience, warmly +protested that she would await, without a murmur, the moment of +communication; well satisfied that it could be withheld from motives +only that would render its anticipation dangerous, if not censurable. + +With grateful tears, and tenderest embraces, Juliet expressed her thanks +for this acquiescence. + +Of Gabriella, the history was brief and gloomy. She had entered into +business with as little comprehension of its attributes, as taste for +its pursuit; her mind, therefore, bore no part in its details, though +she sacrificed to them the whole of her time. Of her son alone she could +speak or think. From her husband she reaped little consolation. Married +before the Revolution, from a convent, and while yet a child; according +to the general custom of her country, which rarely permits any choice +even to the man; and to the female allows not even a negative; chance +had not, as sometimes is kindly the case, played the part of election, +in assorting the new married couple. Gabriella was generous, noble, and +dignified: exalted in her opinions, and full of sensibility: Mr ---- was +many years older than herself, haughty and austere, though brave and +honourable; but so cold in his nature, that he was neither struck with +her virtues nor her graces, save in considering them as appendages to +their mutual rank; nor much moved even by the death of his little son, +but from repining that he had lost the heir to his illustrious name. He +was now set off, _incognito_, to an appointed meeting with a part of his +family, upon the continent. + +Again a new scene of life opened to Juliet. The petty frauds, the +over-reaching tricks, the plausible address, of the craft shop-keeper in +retail, she had already witnessed: but the difficulties of honest trade +she had neither seen nor imagined. The utter inexperience of Gabriella, +joined to the delicacy of her probity, made her not more frequently the +dupe of the artifices of those with whom she had to deal, than the +victim of her own scruples. New to the mighty difference between buying +and selling; to the necessity of having at hand more stores than may +probably be wanted, for avoiding the risk of losing customers from +having fewer; and to the usage of rating at an imaginary value whatever +is in vogue, in order to repair the losses incurred from the failure of +obtaining the intrinsic worth of what is old-fashioned or faulty;--new +to all this, the wary shop-keeper's code, she was perpetually mistaken, +or duped, through ignorance of ignorance, which leads to hazards, +unsuspected to be hazards. + +Repairs for the little shop were continually wanted, yet always +unforeseen; taxes were claimed when she was least prepared to discharge +them; and stores of merchandize accidentally injured, were obliged to be +sold under prime cost, if not to be utterly thrown away. + +Unpractised in every species of business, she had no criterion whence to +calculate its chances, or be aware of its changes, either from varying +seasons or varying modes; and to all her other intricacies, there was +added a perpetual horrour of bankruptcy, from the difficulty of +accelerating payment for what she sold, or of procrastinating it for +what she bought. + +Every embarrassment, however, at this period, was accommodated by +Juliet; who had the exquisite satisfaction not only to bring to her +beloved friend personal consolation, but solid and effectual comfort. +The purse of Lord Melbury, which Juliet would only consider as the loan +of Lady Aurora, was but little lightened by the small expences of the +short journey from Brighthelmstone; and all that remained of its +contents were instantly assigned to relieving the most painful of the +distresses of Gabriella, those in which others were involved through her +means. + +Gabriella, with a grace familiar, if not peculiar, to her nation, of +sharing, without the confusion of false pride, the offerings of tender +friendship, or generous sympathy, accepted with noble frankness the +assistance thus proposed; though Juliet again was obliged to hide her +face from the enquiring eye, that seemed strangely to wonder whence this +resource arose, and why its spring was concealed. + +Juliet now became a partner in all the occupations and cares of her +friend: together they prepared the shop for their customers every +morning, and decked it out to attract passers bye; together they +examined and re-arranged their goods every night; cast up their +accounts, deposited sums for their creditors, and entered claims into +their books for their debtors: together they sat in the shop, where one +served and waited upon customers, and the other aided the household +economy by the industry of her needle. Yet, laborious as might seem this +existence to those who had known 'other times,' Juliet, by the side of +Gabriella, thought every employment delightful; Gabriella, in the +society of Juliet, felt every exertion lightened, and every sorrow +softened. + + + + +CHAPTER LXVIII + + +Thus, in manual toil, yet mental comfort, had passed a week, when one +morning, while the usual commissioner for carrying about goods happened +to be out of the way, a lady from Soho Square sent, in great haste, an +order for some ribbons. Juliet, to save a customer to her friend, +proposed supplying the commissioner's place; and set forth for that +purpose, with a little band-box in her hands, and a large black bonnet +drawn over her eyes. But before she reached the square, she overtook two +men who were loitering on, as leisurely as she was tripping diligently, +and the words, 'You'll never know her again, I promise you; she's turned +out quite a beauty!' struck her ears, from a voice which she recollected +to be that of Mr Riley. + +Anxious to avoid being recognized by him, she crossed to the other side +of the street, with a precipitance that caused the cover of her +band-box, which she had neglected to fasten, to slip aside, and most of +her stores to roll in the dust. + +While, with great dismay, she sought to recover them, a feeble, but +eager voice, from a carriage, which suddenly stopt, ordered a footman to +descend and assist the young lady. + +Not without confusion, Juliet perceived to whom she owed so uncommon a +civility; it was to her old friend and admirer Sir Jaspar Herrington. +She collected her merchandize, courtsied her thanks, but looked another +way, and hurried back to her new home. + +She related her adventure to Gabriella, with whom she bemoaned the +mischief that had befallen the ribbons; and who now determined to spare +her friend any further hazard of unwelcome encounters, by carrying +herself what yet remained unsoiled of the pieces, to Soho Square. + +Juliet had barely time to install herself as mistress of the small +warehouse, when she saw, through the window, the carriage of Sir Jaspar; +at the same time, that a young woman opened the shop-door, and demanded +a drachm of black sewing silk, and a yard of tape. + +While Juliet with difficulty found, and with embarrassment prepared to +weigh the first, and to measure the second, the Baronet, with a curious, +but respectful air, entering, and hobbling towards the counter, desired +to look at some ribbons. + +Juliet, however vexed, could not refrain from smiling; but, through +confusion, joined to the novelty of her office, she doubled the weight +of her silk, and the measure of her tape, yet forgot to ask to be paid +for either; and her customer, whether from similar forgetfulness, or +from reluctance to mark the new shop-keeper's ignorance of business, +walked off without seeming to notice this inattention. + +Sir Jaspar, then, gravely repeated his request to be shewn some ribbons. + +Juliet began now to hope that she had not been recollected by the +Baronet. Shading her face, therefore, still lower with her large bonnet, +she produced a drawer of black ribbons; concluding that what he required +must be for his queue, or for his shoe-strings. + +No, he said, black would not do: the colour that he wanted was brown. + +In a low voice that strove to disguise itself, she answered that she had +no other colour at home. + +He would stay till some other were returned, then, he said; and, +composedly seating himself, and taking out his snuff-box, he added, that +he did not want plain brown ribbons, but ribbons speckled, spotted, or +splashed with brown. + +Juliet who could now no longer doubt being known to him, made no reply; +though again, irresistibly, she smiled. + +To the Baronet her smile was always enchantment; setting aside, +therefore, any further pretence to strangeness, he leant his hands upon +the counter, and peering archly under her bonnet, said, ''Tis you, +indeed, then, sweet sorceress? And what sylph is it,--or what +imp?--dulcet, or malignant!--that has drawn me again into the witchery +of your charms?' + +He then poured forth countless enquiries into her situation, her +projects, and her sentiments; but, all proving fruitless, he +pathetically lamented the luckless meeting; and frankly owned, that he +had brought himself to a resolution of seeing her no more. 'The rude +assault,' said he, 'made upon my feelings by those mundane harpies at +Arundelcastle, removed a bandage from "my mind's eye" that had veiled +me to myself, and shewed me that I was an old fool caught in the +delusions of love and beauty! I could parry no raillery, I could brave +no suspicion, I could retort no sneer! Panic-struck and disordered, I +stole away, like a gentle Philander of Arcadia, my head drooping upon my +left shoulder, my eyes cast down upon the ground, with every love-born +symptom,--except youth, which alone offers their apology! I spent the +rest of the day in character with this opening; mute with my servants; +loquacious in soliloquy; quarrelling with my books; and neglecting my +dinner! Sleepless and sighing, I repaired to my solitary couch; lost to +every idea of existence, but what pointed out to me how, when, and where +I might again behold my lovely enchantress. Shall I tell you how it was +I recovered, at last, my senses?' + +'If you think the lesson may be useful to me, Sir Jaspar!--' + +'Ah, cruel! "He jests at scars who never felt a wound". Mark, however, +the visions by which I have been tutored. The servants gone, the lights +removed, and the world's bustle superseded by stillness, darkness, and +solitude,--then, when my fancy meant to revel in smiles, dimples, sweet +looks, and recreative wiles, then,--what a transformation from hope and +enjoyment, to shame and derision! I no sooner closed my poor eyes, than +an hundred little imps of darkness scrambled up my pillow. How was I +tweaked, jirked, and jolted! Mumbled, jumbled, and pinched! Some of them +encircled my eye-balls, holding mirrours in each hand. They spoke not; +the mirrours were all eloquent! You think, they expressed, of a young +girl? Behold here what a young girl must think of you! Others jammed my +lean, lank arms into a machine of whale-bone, to strength and invigorate +them for offering support, in cases of difficulty or danger, to my fair +one: others fastened elastic strings to my withered neck and shoulders, +to enable me, by little pulleys, to raise my head, after every +obsequious reverence to my goddess. Crowds of the nimblest footed dived +their little forked fingers into my heart, plucking up by the root sober +contentment and propriety; and pummelling into their places +restlessness, jealousy, and suspicion: mocking me when they had done, by +peeping into my ears, and squeaking out, with merry tittering, See! see! +see! what sickly rubbish the old dotard has got in his crazy noddle!' + +Juliet again smiled, but so faintly, from uncertainty to what this +fantastic gallantry might tend, that Sir Jaspar, looking at her with +concern, said, + +'How's this, my dainty Ariel? Why so serious a brow? Have some of my +nocturnal visitants whisked themselves through the key-hole of your +chamber-door, also? And have they tormented your fancy with waking +visions of fearful omens? Spurn them all! sweet syren! What can the +tricks and malice of hobgoblins, or even the freaks and vagaries of +fortune itself, enact against youth, beauty, and health such as yours? +Give me but such arms, and I will brave the wayward sisters themselves.' + +More seriously, then, 'Alas!' he cried, 'what is it, thus mystic, yet +thus attractive, that allures me whether I will or not into your +chains?--Could I but tell who, or what you are,--besides being an +angel,--it is possible there might occur some idea,--some--some little +notion of means to exorcise the wicked familiars that severally annoy +us. Tell me but under what semblance the pigmy enemies invade you? +Whether, as usual, with the darts of Master Cupid, shot, furiously, into +your snowy bosom, or--' + +'No, no, no!' + +'Or whether by the bags of Plutus, emptied, furtively, from your strong +box? In the first case,--little as my bosom is snowy!--I should but too +well know how to pity; in the second, I should be proud and honoured to +serve you. Tell me, then, who you are, resistless paragon! and you shall +wander no more in the nameless state, an exquisite, but nearly visionary +being! Tell me but who you are, and I will protect you, myself, with my +life and fortune!' + +Alarmed by this warmth, and doubtful whether it demanded gratitude or +resentment, Juliet was silent. + +'If you will not reveal to me your history,' he resumed, 'you will, at +least, not refuse to let me divine it? I am a famous star-gazer; and, if +once I can discover your ruling planet, I shall prognosticate your +destiny in a second. Let me, then, read the lines of your face. Nay! you +must not hide it! You must give me fair play. Or, shall I examine the +palm of your hand?' + +Juliet laughed, but drew on her gloves. + +'O you little Tyrant! I must only, then, catch, as I can, a glimpse of +your countenance; A nauseous task, enough, to dwell on any thing so +ugly! All I can make out from it, just now, is the figure of a coronet.' + +'A coronet?' + +'Yes; under which I perceive the cypher D. Do you know any thing of any +nobleman whose name begins with a D? I cannot decipher the rest of the +letters, except that the last is--I think, an h.' + +Juliet started. + +'My art, I must, however, own, is at a stand, to discover whether this +nobleman may be a lover or a kinsman. To discern that, the general lines +of the face are inadequate. I must investigate the eyes.' + +Juliet pertinaciously looked down. + +'How now, my dainty, Ariel? Will you give me no answer? neither verbal +nor visual? Will you not even tell me whether I must try to make the old +peer my advocate, or whether I must run him through the body? Surely you +won't let me court him as of kin if he be a rival? nor pink him as a +rival if he be of kin? + +'He is neither, I can assure you, Sir: he is nothing to me whatsoever.' + +'You know, at least, then, it seems, whom I mean?' + +'Sir?' + +'My tiny elves have not here deluded me? I am always afraid lest those +merry little wags should be playing me some prank. But it is you who are +the wicked Will o' the Wisp, that lures all others, yet never can be +lured yourself! Lord Denmeath has really, then, and in sober truth, the +happiness of some way belonging to you?' + +'No, Sir;--you mistake me;--I never--' She left her phrase unfinished. + +'Shall I relate what the prattling tell-tales have blabbed to me +further? They pretend that Lord Denmeath ought himself to be your +protector; but that he is so void of taste, so empty of sentiment, that +he seeks to disguise, if not disown, an affinity that, with more liberal +ideas, he would exult in as an honour.' + +'Who talked of affinity, Sir?' cried Juliet, with quickness +irrepressible.-- + +'Was it Lord Denmeath?--Did he name me to you?' + +'Name you? Has any one named you? Indefinable, unconquerable, +unfathomable Incognita! Has any one presumed to give you a human +genealogy? Are you not straight descended from the clouds? without even +taking the time to change yourself first into a mortal? Explain, +expound, unravel to me, in soft pity--' + +Juliet solemnly entreated him to forbear any further interrogatory, +assuring him that all enquiry gave her pain. + +'Then shall "the stars,"' cried he, '"fade away, the sun grow dim, and +nature,"--like my poor old carcass!--"sink in years," ere one grain more +of the favourite attribute of our general mother shall be sown in my +discourse! But you, in all things marvellous! You! have you really, and +_bona fide_, so little in your composition of our naughty mamma, as not +even to desire to know in what shape appeared to me the tattling little +elf, that talked to me of Lord Denmeath?' + +'You have not then, Sir, seen him?' + +'Or if I had?--twenty interviews would not have initiated me into his +affairs with so much promptitude, as twenty minutes sufficed for doing +with my elfin fay.' + +'I conjecture, then, Sir, your informant: Miss Selina Joddrel?' + +'Even so. Upon determining to quit Brighthelmstone, three or four days +ago, I drove over to Lewes, to offer what apologies I could suggest to +Mrs Maple, for the vagaries of my hopeful nephew and heir,--who is +suddenly set out for Constantinople in search, as he writes me word, of +a fair Circassian! The last of my designs, in so delicate a case, you +will easily believe, was to embarrass the injured and deserted fair one +by my sight. But she had a fortitude far above my precautions. She flew +to me herself; and her own plaintive tale had no sooner been bemoaned, +than she hastened to favour me with the history of the whole house. I +then learnt your sudden disappearance; and heard, with extreme +satisfaction, from the indignation I had felt in seeing your ill +treatment, that my meek sister-in-law had fallen into fits, from the +first shock of finding that you were no longer under her dominion. My +Lord Denmeath, who had already gone through the ceremonial of demanding +Mrs Maple's permission to obtain a private audience with you, seemed +thunderstruck at the news, that the bird he so much wished to sing to +him was flown. The whole house was in disorder; running, enquiring, +asserting, denying;--the wild Elinor alone was tame and tranquil,--for +Mr Harleigh has kept constantly in sight.' + +Delicate, and ever feeling Harleigh! thought Juliet; Her life, and My +reputation, hang suspended upon the same guardian care! + +'That eccentric and most original personage,' continued Sir Jaspar, 'has +now wholly made over her mind to the study of controversial theology. +Every chair is covered with polemical tracts, to prove one side of an +argument, that every table is covered to disprove on the other. If she +settle her opinion one way, she will probably become the foundress of +some new-fangled monastery; if on the other, she will be discovered, +some star-light night, seeking truth at the bottom of a well.' + +Juliet then anxiously enquired into the state of her health. + +'She seems to me,' answered the Baronet, 'quite as well as it is +possible for a person to be, who is afflicted with the restless malady +of struggling for occasion to exhibit character; instead of leaving its +display to the jumble of nature and of accident. But these new systemers +do not break out of bounds more wildly from whim, than they afterwards +seek retreat within them, tamely, from experience. The little Selina, on +the contrary, who has escaped the trouble of supporting a character, by +not having an idea that could form one, had the kindness to make me the +most liberal communication of every thing that she has either seen or +heard, since she has been skipping about in this nether world; and, in +her scampers from room to room, and from person to person, she had +gathered sundry interesting particulars of a certain fair unknown.--' + +He paused; looked anxious, and then went on. + +'I would not be officious,--impertinent, nor importunate,--yet, could I +but ascertain some points.--If, however, you will not unfold to me your +history, will you, at least,--syren of syrens!--to develop why I demand +it, hear me divulge my own?' + +Juliet, surprised and amused, gratefully assented. + +'Know, then, my fair torment! it pleased my wise progenitors to entail +my estate upon my next of kin, in case I should have no lineal heir. +Brought up with the knowledge of this restriction to the fantasies of my +future will, I conceived an early suspicion that my younger brother +built sundry vain-glorious castles upon my celibacy; and I determined +not to reach my twentieth year before I put an end to his presumption. +The first idea, therefore, that fastened upon my mind was that of +marriage. But as I entertained a general belief, that I should every +where be accepted from mercenary motives, I viewed all females with the +scrutiny of a bargain-maker. Thankless for any mark of partiality, +difficult even to absurdity, I sought new faces with restless +impatience; modestly persuaded that I ought to find a companion without +a blot! yet, whatever was my success, regularly making off from every +fair charmer, after the second interview, through the fear of being +taken in.' + +'And were none of your little sylphs, Sir, at hand, to point out to you +some one who was disinterested in her nature, however inferiour in her +fortune?' + +'No! alas! no; my sylphs all reserved themselves for my meeting with +you! The wicked little imps who then guided and goaded me, incited me to +suspect and to watch every thing that seemed lovely or amiable; and the +pranks that they played me were endless. They urged me to pursue the +glowing Beauty, whose vivid cheeks, crimsoned by the dance, had warmed +all my senses at a ball, to her alighting from her carriage, at her +return home, with the livid line of fatigue and moonlight! They +instigated me to surprize, when ill-dressed, negligent, and spiritless, +the charming face and form that, skilfully adorned, had appeared to me +Venus attired by the Graces. They twitched me on to dart upon another, +whose bloom had seemed the opening of the rose-bud, just as an untoward +accident had rubbed off, from one cheek, the sweet pink which remained +undiminished upon the other! And when, tired of the deceptions of +beauty, I would only follow merit, the wanton little sprites suggested +detections still more mischievous. They led me to overhear the softest +of maidens insult a poor dependent; they shewed me a pattern of +discretion, secretly involved in debt; and the frankest of human lasses, +engaged in a clandestine affair! They whisked me, in short, into every +crevice of female subtlety. They exhibited all as a drama, and gave me a +peep behind the curtain to see the gayest damsel the sulkiest; the most +pleasing one, the most spiteful; the delicate one, obstreperous; the +bashful one, bold; the generous one, niggardly; and the humble one, a +tyrant!' + +'Oh wicked imps, indeed, Sir Jaspar! What a view of poor human nature +have they deformed for you! And how have you preserved such a stock of +philanthropy, while instigated by so much malignity?' + +'Alas, my fair love, my history is but that of half the old bachelors +existing! We pay, by our aged facility and good humour, for our youthful +severity and impertinence! and, after having wasted our early life in +conceiving that no one is good enough for us, we consume our latter days +in envy of every married man! Now--all too late! I never see a lovely +young creature, but my heart calls out what a delicious wife she would +make me! were I younger, without reflection, without enquiry, were I +younger, I would marry her! THEN--when such precipitation might have +been pardonable, some difficulty instantly followed the sight of +whatever was attractive: one had not fortune enough for my expectations; +another, had beauty to make me eternally jealous; another, though +charming, was too old to be formed to my taste; another, though lovelier +still, was too young to be judged. One was too wise, and might hold me +cheap; another was too simple, and might expose me to seeing her held +cheap herself. THEN--I was so plaguely nice! Now, alas! I am so cursedly +easy!' + +'Your sylphs, elves, and imps, Sir, or, in other words, your humour and +imagination, must seek some counterpoise, and not always, you see, be +trusted uncontrouled.' + +'You are right, my wise charmer! but we never arrive at judgment, the +only counterpoise to our fancies, till we cease to want it! When we are +young, in the midst of the world, and in pursuit of beauty, riches, +honours, power, fame or knowledge, then, when judgment would either +guide us to success, or demolish our senseless expectations, it keeps +aloof from us like a stern stranger: and will only hail us as an +intimate, when we have no longer any occasion for its services! Of what +value is judgment to a goaty old codger, who sits just as snugly over +his fire-side, whether his opinions are erroneous or oracular? who wraps +himself just as warmly in flannel, whether the world go ill or go well? +and who, if, by ignorance or mismanagement, he be cheated, loses +only what he cannot enjoy! I first became aware of my folly, by the +folly of my nephew. When he was sent forth into the world, my +decided--alas!--heir, I told him my case; and urged him to a rational +but quick choice, to obviate a similar punishment to fantastical +difficulties. He listened, according to the usage of youth, to half what +I said; and, adopting only my mistrust, was inattentive to its result; +and thus so caricatured my researches, suspicious, and irresolutions, +that he has rendered them and myself, even in my own eyes, completely +ridiculous. 'Tis a most piteous circumstance that a man can be young +only once in his life! Could I but, with my present experience, lop off +thirty or forty years of my age,--ah! fair seducer!--how would the +desire of giving you pleasure, the fear of causing you pain, the wish to +see your face always beaming with smiles--' + +Juliet arose to interrupt him; but whither could she go? She again sat +down. + +The Baronet also arose; and stood for some minutes, covering his eyes +with one hand, in deep rumination. Re-seating himself, then, with an air +of the most lively satisfaction, 'I have told you,' he cried, 'now, my +history. You see in me a whimsical, but contrite old bachelor; whose +entailed estate has lost to him his youth, by ungenerous mistrust: but +who would gladly devote the large possessions which have fallen to him +collaterally, to making the rest of his existence companionable. Shrink +not, sweet flower! I mean nothing that can offend you. Tell me but who +you are, and, be you whom you may, if you will accept an old protector; +if you will deign to become his friend; to give him your conversation, +your society, your lovely presence; he will despise the mocking +world--and decorate himself for your bridegroom, by a marriage +settlement of the whole of his unintailed estate.' + +Astonished, and uncertain whether he were serious, Juliet was beginning +a playful attack upon his fairy elves; but, stopping her with perturbed +earnestness, 'Will you,' he cried, 'accept me? Your beauty, your +difficulties, your distresses; your exquisite looks, and witching +manners; with my solitude, my repugnance to mercenary watchers, my deep +regrets, and my desire of domestic commerce; unite to devote me to you +for ever; provided, only I can catch a grain, a single grain, of gentle +good will! Give me, then, but this one satisfaction--I ask no more! tell +me but whence it comes that, thus formed, thus accomplished, thus wise, +thus lovely,--you are helpless, dependent, indigent, and a Wanderer?' + +Juliet, though no longer able to doubt his meaning, and though not +disposed to suspect his sincerity, felt nevertheless, shocked by such an +investigation; though grateful, and even touched by his singular and +romantic proposal. Delicacy, however, which keeps back acknowledged +belief in unrequited partiality, as scrupulously as it is withheld by +timid consciousness, where the partiality is returned; make her again +have recourse to his visionary friends, in order to parry a serious +reply; but, too much in earnest to submit to any delay, the Baronet, +ejaculating, 'Paragon of the world!' was bending over the counter, in an +attempt to take her hand; when the sudden opening of the shop-door, +which he had himself carefully closed, previous to his declaration, made +him draw back, in the utmost confusion; to recover his seat and his +crutches, and again demand to look at some ribbons. + + + + +CHAPTER LXIX + + +Gabriella, who had thus long been detained from her business, because +the lady, whose orders she had obeyed, had either forgotten that those +orders had been issued, or deemed that to wait in an anti-room was the +natural fate of an haberdasher; now, entering the shop, saw, with no +little surprize, Juliet in close conference with an old bean, who was +evidently disconcerted, and embarrassed by the interruption. Remitting, +however, all enquiry, and gracefully declining a chair, which was +respectfully offered to her by Sir Jaspar, who imagined her to be some +customer; she silently employed herself in examining and arranging her +unpinned, unrolled, and tumbled ribbons. + +The surprize of the Baronet, now, became greater than her own. No +plainness of attire could hide, from his scrutinizing eye, a certain +native taste with which her habiliments, however simple, were put on; +nor could even the band-box which she held in her hand, and which he had +supposed to be there from some accident, disguise the elegance of her +motions, or conceal her lofty mien. When, therefore, he discovered that +she was at home, and that she was an haberdasher, he looked from one +lovely companion to the other, with reverential wonder, and uplifted +hands. Long profoundly impressed by the beauty of Juliet, by her merit, +her youth, her modest yet dignified demeanour, in the midst of all the +difficulties of distressed poverty; he was now as powerfully affected by +the appearance of Gabriella; whose noble, yet never haughty manners, +joined to a tragic expression of constant woe in her countenance, +rendered her if not as attractive, at least as interesting as her +friend. + +A general pause ensued, till Gabriella, fearing that she was obtrusive, +retired to the inner room. + +Sir Jaspar, wide opening his eyes, and again leaning forward, to hear +more distinctly, exclaimed, 'Who is that fine creature? What a majestic +port! Yet how sweet a look! She awes while she invites! Who is she?' + +Juliet felt enchanted; she even felt exalted by a testimony so impartial +and so honourable, to the merit of her friend, and she eagerly answered, +'Your admiration, Sir, does honour to your discernment. Her +excellencies, her high qualities, and spotless conduct, might make the +proudest Englishman exult to own her for his country-woman; though the +lowest Frenchman would dispute, even at the risk of his life, the honour +of her birth. Sprung from one of the first houses of Europe, a house not +more ancient in its origin, than renowned for its virtues; allies to a +family the most illustrious, whose military glory has raised it to the +highest ranks in the state; herself an ornament to that birth, an honour +to that alliance; she sustains a reverse of fortune, which reduces her +from every indulgence to every privation, with a calm courage that keeps +her always mistress of herself, and enables her to combat evil by +labour, misery by industry! And which never has failed her, but in a +personal, bosom affliction, that would equally have shaken her +fortitude, in the brightest splendour of prosperity!--' + +'Hold! hold, you little torment!' interrupted Sir Jaspar. 'You don't +consider what an artillery my wanton sprites are bringing upon me! My +poor gouty fingers are so mumbled and pinched, and tweaked, to hurry me +to get at my purse, that I cannot catch hold of it for very tremour!--' + +'Oh no, Sir Jaspar, no! What she earns, however hardly and however +humbly, she thankfully reaps; but she could only submit to accept alms, +if bowed down by age, by malady, or by incapacity for work. Yet this +spirit is not pride; 'tis but a strong and refined sense of propriety; +since from a friend, in the tender persuasion, that participation of +fortune ought to be leagued with participation of sentiment, she would +candidly receive whatever would not injure that friend to bestow.' + +'Divinest of little mortals!' cried Sir Jaspar. 'What whimsey is it, +what astonishing whimsey of "the sisters three", that can have nailed to +a counter two such delectable beings, to weigh pins and needles, and +measure tapes and bobbins? And how,--beautiful witch! with charms, +graces, accomplishments, talents such as yours, how is it you submit to +such base drudgery in "durance vile," without even making a wry face? +without a scowl upon your eye-brow, or a grumble from your throat?' + +'Can you look, Sir, at her whom you call my partner, and think of me? +She has lost her country; she wastes in exile; she sinks in obscurity; +she has no communication with her friends; she knows not even whether +they yet breathe the vital air!--nevertheless she works, she sustains +herself by her industry and ingenuity; and repines only that she has not +still another, has not her loved and lovely infant to sustain also!--and +I, shall I complain?--Offspring of a race the most dignified, she toils +manually, not to degrade it mentally;--and I, shall I blush to owe my +subsistence to my exertions?' + +Tears now flowed fast down her cheeks, while the crutches dropt from the +feeble hands of the penetrated Baronet, whose eyes, dimmed by +compassion, were fastened upon the face of the lovely mourner, when +Gabriella re-appeared. + +In deep amazement and concern, she hesitated whether she should come +forward, to offer comfort; or whether, as she now concluded the old +gentleman to be some intimate friend, she ought not again to retire; but +Juliet entreated her to return to her place. She resumed, therefore, her +business of restoring her ribbons to order; dejectedly announcing, that +nothing had been bought; though every thing had been examined, deranged, +and tossed about. + +Sir Jaspar now, courteously waving his hand, smilingly addressed himself +to Gabriella, saying, ''Tis my good Genius, Ma'am, make no doubt of it, +that has run away with the feeling of those people you mention! For my +good Genius, I must beg you to observe, has frequently taken lessons of +the god Mercury, and is nearly as adroit in petty larceny as his godship +himself. I should not, therefore, wonder, if, in his eagerness to serve +me, he had pilfered from those poor souls, who have used you so ill, +every grain he could pick up of decency! For, knowing that ribbons are a +commodity of which I want a prodigious stock, he would not suffer your +assortment to be diminished, till I had had the pleasure of making my +bargains.' + +He then selected the piece of ribbon which seemed the most considerable, +and desired to have it measured. + +Gabriella obeyed, not more amazed than Juliet felt amused. + +But, when a similar order was given, for ascertaining the quantity of a +second piece, and then a third; Juliet, though delighted at the pleased +looks of Gabriella, and charmed with the generosity of the Baronet, +began to apprehend, that she might herself be supposed to incur some +debt of gratitude for this liberality. She retreated, therefore, with +her needle-work, to the adjoining little room. + +In a few minutes, she was followed by Gabriella; who, uneasily, asked +what she must do with this magnificent old beau, who still while she +measured one piece of ribbon, employed himself in selecting another; and +who, though so gallant that he never spoke without a compliment, was so +respectful, that it was not possible to check him by any serious +reproof. + +Juliet disclaimed taking any share in his present munificence; yet owned +that she had an ancient obligation to him that she was unable, at this +moment, to repay; and which, from the delicacy with which it had been +conferred, and the seasonable relief which it had procured her, would +merit her lasting gratitude. He was brother-in-law, she added, to the +lady with whom she had lately resided; and he was as rich as he was +benevolent. + +Her scruples, then, Gabriella said, were at an end. Juliet, therefore, +begged that she would endeavour to enter into conversation with him +concerning Brighthelmstone; and try to obtain some particulars relative +to the party at Mrs Ireton's. + +'I began to fear you had flown away, Ma'am,' said Sir Jaspar, upon +Gabriella's re-entrance into the shop; 'and I was much less surprised +than concerned; for I had already surmized that you were an angel; +though I had failed to remark your wings.' + +He then put into her hand three more pieces of ribbon, which he had +chosen during her absence. + +Gabriella, who understood English well, though she spoke it imperfectly, +made her answers in French. + +Having now given her ample employment, he sat down to examine, or, +rather, to admire at his ease, the lightness and grace with which she +executed her office; saying, 'You are not, perhaps, aware, Madam, that +there are certain little beings, nameless and invisible, yet active and +penetrating, perpetually hovering around us, who have let me a little +into your history; and have taken upon them to assure me that you were +not precisely brought up to be a shop-keeper? How, then, is it that you +have jumbled thus together such heterogeneous materials of existence? +leaguing high birth with low life? superiour rank with vulgar +employment; and grace, taste, and politeness with common drudgery? How, +in short, born and bred to be dangled after by your vassals, and to +lollop, the live-long-day, upon sofas and arm-chairs, have you acquired +the necessary ingredients for being metamorphosed into a tidy little +haberdasher?' + +Gabriella, concluding that her situation had been made known to him by +Juliet, answered, in a melancholy tone, + +'Is this a period, Sir, to consider punctilio? Alas! whence I come, all +that are greatest, most ancient, and most noble,[1] have learnt, that +self-exertion can alone mark nobility of soul; and that self-dependence +only can sustain honour in adversity. Alas, whence I come, the first +youth is initiated in the view, if not in the endurance of misfortune! +There can be no understanding, or there must be early reflection; there +can be no heart, or there must be commiserating sympathy!' + +[Footnote 1: The period is the reign of Robespierre.] + +'I protest, Ma'am,' cried Sir Jaspar, looking at her with astonishment, +'I begin to suspect that I came into the world only this morning! Where +I may have been rambling, all these years, in the persuasion I was in it +already, I have by no means any clear notion! But to see two such +instances of wisdom and resignation, united with youth and beauty, makes +me believe myself in some new region, never yet visited by vice or +folly.' + +'Ah, Sir, the French Revolution has opened our eyes to a species of +equality more rational, because more feasible, than that of lands or of +rank; an equality not alone of mental sufferings, but of manual +exertions. No state of life, however low, or however hard, has been left +untried, either by the highest, or by the most delicate, in the various +dispersions and desolation of the ancient French nobility. And to +see,--as I, alas! have seen,--the willing efforts, the even glad toil, +of the remnants of the first families of Europe, to procure,--not +luxuries, not elegancies, not even comforts,--but maintenance! mean, +laborious maintenance!--to preserve,--not state, not fortune, not +rank,--but life itself! but simple existence!'-- + +'Very wonderful personage!' cried Sir Jaspar, his air mingling reverence +with amazement; 'and what,--unfold to me, I beg, what is the necromancy +through which you support, under such toils, your intellectual dignity? +and strangle, in its birth, every struggle of false shame?' + +'Alas, Sir, I have seen guilt!--Since then, I have thought that shame +belonged to nothing else!' + +The eyes of Sir Jaspar were now suffused with tender admiration. 'Fair +deity of the counter!' he cried, 'you are sublime! And she, too,--your +witching little handmaid; by what kind, dulcet chance,--new in the +annals of misfortune,--have two such wonders met?--' + +'Ah, rather, Sir,--since you couple us so kindly,--rather ask by what +adverse chance we have so long been separated?' + +'You have known her, then, some time?' + +'We were brought up together!--the same convent, the same governess, the +same instructors, were common to both till my marriage. And now, +again,--as before that period,--I have not the most distant idea of any +possible happiness, that is not annexed to her presence.' + +Touched to hear the word happiness once again, even though with such +sadness, pronounced by Gabriella; yet alarmed at a discourse that might +lead, inadvertently, to some secret history, Juliet was returning, to +stop any further detail; when, upon Sir Jaspar's answering, 'Sweet +couple! Lord Denmeath, who ought at least, if I understand right,--to +take care of one of you will surely make it his business that you should +coo together in the same cage?'--she again retreated, anxious to learn +what this meant, and hoping that he would become more explicit. + +'Lord Denmeath?' repeated Gabriella, 'If you know Lord Denmeath you may +be better informed upon this subject than I am myself. Was it at +Brighthelmstone that you met with his lordship?' + +'It was at Brighthelmstone that I heard of him; and heard that, though +wary of speech, he has been incautious in manner, and left little doubt +upon the minds of his observers, that this fair flower springs from the +same stock as some part of his own family; though she may be one of +those sweet, but hapless buds, whose innocence pays for the guilt of its +planter.--' + +'No, Sir, no!' Gabriella precipitately interrupted him; 'the birth of my +friend is unstained, though unequal; the marriage of her parents was +legal, though secret. Her mother came not, indeed, from an ancient race; +but she was a pattern of virtue, as well as a model of beauty. Could it, +indeed, be believed, that a young nobleman of such expectations, in +every way, as those of the Earl of Melbury's only son, Lord Granville, +would have given his hand to the orphan and destitute daughter of an +insolvent man of business, had she not possessed every advantage, nay, +every perfection to which human nature can rise?' + +Affrighted by this so open relation, drawn forth involuntarily from the +nobly ingenuous Gabriella, in the persuasion that Sir Jaspar was already +a confidential, and might become a useful friend; Juliet, in the first +moment, was advancing to stop it; but her heart, yet more than her ear, +was so fascinated by the generous eulogy of her virtuous, though lowly +mother, from the offspring of a house whose height, and natal +prejudices, might have palliated, upon this subject, the language even +of disdain; that she could not prevail with herself to break into what +she considered as sacred praise. + +''Tis even so, then!' cried Sir Jaspar, with smiling delight; 'this +forlorn, but most beautiful Wanderer,--this so long concealed, and +mysterious, but most lovely _incognita_, is the daughter of the late +Lord Granville, and the grand-daughter of the late Earl of Melbury!' + +Utterly confounded, to hear the secret history of her birth and family +thus casually, yet irretrievably discovered, Juliet, trembling, again +shrunk back; yet would not, now, and unavailingly, check the ardent zeal +of her high-minded friend, since without any added danger, it might +procure some useful intelligence. + +The willing Baronet, whose sole desire was to keep up the conversation, +wanted no urging to relate all that he had gathered from the loquacious +Selina. Lord Denmeath, upon the sudden disappearance of Miss Ellis, had +been surprised into confessing, that he had a faint notion that he knew +something of that young person; that there had been, once, an odd +story,--a report--that a young woman was existing in France, who was +some way belonging to the late Lord Granville, his sister's husband; +though without ever having been acknowledged by the family. He let fall, +also, sundry obscure hints of information, of the most serious import, +which he had recently received, relating to this young woman; but which +he would not divulge, till he had investigated; as he began to surmise, +that it had been conveyed to him for some fraudulent and mercenary +purpose. Mrs Ireton, to all this, had answered, that she had suspected, +from the beginning, that the creature was an adventurer; and that she +was now fully convinced that they had been played upon by a +supposititious person. Lord Denmeath, though he forbore confirming this +assertion, listened to it with a smile of concurrence. + +Juliet here felt shocked and confounded; but Gabriella, animated by +generous resentment, warmly repeated her asseverations, of the validity +of the marriage of Lord Granville with Miss Powel, her friend's mother; +though an excess of fear of the inflexible character of the old Earl +Melbury had prevented its early avowal; and the death of the concealed +wife, while Juliet was yet in arms, had afterwards decided the young +widower to guard the secret, till his child should be grown up; or till +he should become his own master. + +'But where, during this interval,' said Sir Jaspar, 'where,--and what +was the hiding-place of that seraphic offspring?' + +Till her seventh year, Gabriella answered, she had been consigned to the +care of Mrs Powel, her maternal grandmother; who, satisfied of the +legality, had herself aided the secresy of the marriage. They had dwelt, +during that period, in the same picturesque, but no longer loved +retreat, upon the banks of the Tyne, in which Lady Granville, under a +feigned name, had been concealed, for the short space of time between +her marriage and her death. + +Juliet, whose intention had been to gather, not to bestow intelligence, +now came forward, and made signs to Gabriella to drop the subject. But +this was no longer practicable. Urged by the idea of doing honour to her +friend, and incited by adroit interrogatories, or piquant observations, +from Sir Jaspar, Gabriella, having insensibly begun the tale, felt +irresistibly impelled to make clear the birth and family of Juliet, +beyond all doubt or cavil. She continued, therefore, the narration; and +Juliet, much agitated, retreated wholly to the inner room. + +Under pretence of change of air for his health, Lord Granville, to hide +his grief from his father and friends, spent the first year of his +widowhood at Montpellier; then the residence of the Bishop of ----, the +maternal uncle of Gabriella; with whom he formed a friendship that +neither time nor absence, not even death itself, had had power to +dissolve; and to whom he confided the history and punishment of his +clandestine juvenile engagement. Called home, the following year, by the +Earl, his father, he had been prevailed upon to marry a lady of quality +and large fortune. But, previous to these new nuptials, to secure +justice to his eldest born, though he had not the courage to own her; as +well as to tranquillize Mrs Powel; he deposited in the hands of that +worthy old lady, the certificate of his first marriage; to which he +added a deed, that he called the codicil to whatever will he might have +made, or might hereafter make; and in which he declared Juliet +Granville, born near ----, in Yorkshire, to be his lawful daughter, by +his first marriage, with Juliet Powel, in Flanders; and, as such, he +bequeathed to her the same portion, at his death, that should be settled +upon any other daughter, or daughters, that he might have, hereafter, by +any subsequent marriage. + +The impossibility of obtaining, in the Yorkshire retirement, such means +of improvement, as were suitable to the future expectations and lot in +life of his little girl, determined Lord Granville to have her conveyed +to France for her education. Mrs Powel, who had no other remaining tie +upon earth, but a son who was settled in the East Indies, preferred +accompanying her little darling to a separation; the fear of which, with +the possession of the marriage certificate, and the codicil to the will, +had always counteracted her impatience for the discovery ultimately +promised. The uncle of Gabriella, the Bishop, consented to take the +child under his immediate care; and to place her in the convent in which +his sister, the Marchioness of ----, had placed his niece. And here the +children had been brought up together, with the same opportunities of +improvement; except that the little Juliet had the advantage of speaking +English with her grandmother; who knew no other language; and who +entered the convent as a pensioner. By this means, and by books, Juliet +had perfectly retained her native tongue, though she had acquired +something of a foreign accent. She was known only as a young English +lady of fortune, for whom no expence was to be spared; and the +remittances for her board and education were constant, and even +splendid. She had been called simply by the name of Mademoiselle +Juliette, which had generally been supposed to be the name of her +family. Here, from the facility with which she caught instruction, and +the ability with which she appropriated its result, she became the most +accomplished pupil of the convent and was not more generally, from her +appearance, called _la belle_, than from her acquirements and conduct +_la sage petite Anglaise_. And here, still more united by the same +sentiments than by the same studies, Gabriella had formed with her the +tender, confiding and unalterable friendship, that had bound them to +each other with an even sisterly love. + +The Bishop frequently pressed the young lord to avow the birth of +Juliet, and to legitimate her claims upon his family: but he always +answered, that since she, whose reputation, happiness, and spirits might +have paid the avowal, was gone, he could not support the fruitless pain +of offending his sickly, but imperious father, by such a discovery, till +the necessity of receiving his daughter should make it indispensable. + +Previous to this period, Gabriella was taken from the convent, to +prepare for her marriage with the Comte de ----; and Juliet, who had then +lost her tender grandmother, was invited to the wedding-ceremony, and to +remain with her friend till she should be called to her own country. +Lord Granville, with that spirit of procrastination which always grows +with indulgence, joyfully acceded to this invitation; and remitted to +the ensuing summer the public acknowledgment of his daughter. But, ere +the ensuing summer arrived, all these projects were rendered abortive! +The Bishop, through a news-paper, received the fatal intelligence, that +Lord Granville had been killed by a fall from his horse. + +While the deeply disappointed and afflicted Juliet was the prey of heavy +grief at this event, the Bishop, to whom the grandmother, in dying, had +consigned the marriage-certificate, the codicil, and every letter or +paper that authenticated the legitimacy of her grandchild, constituted +himself guardian and protector of the young orphan. + +Convinced that no time should be lost in making known her rights, yet +unwilling to risk shocking the old peer by an abrupt address, he stated +the affair to Lord Denmeath, brother to Lord Granville's second lady, +and guardian of two children by the second marriage. To this +communication he received no answer. But, upon writing again, with more +energy, and hinting at sending over an agent, Lord Denmeath thought +proper to reply. His style was extremely cold. His brother-in-law, he +said, had expired, after his fall, without uttering a word. Having, +therefore, no knowledge of any secret business, he begged to be excused +from entering into a discussion of the obscure affair to which the +Bishop seemed to allude. + +The Bishop grew but warmer in the interests of his Ward, from the +difficulty of serving her. He sent over, to Lord Denmeath, copies of the +codicil, of the certificate, and of every letter upon the subject, that +had been written to the grandmother, or to himself, by the late lord. + +The answer now was more civil, but evidently embarrassed, though +professing much respect for the motives which guided the charitable +Bishop; and a willingness to enter into some compromise for the young +person in question; provided she could be settled abroad, that so +strange a tale might not disturb his sister; nor involve his nephew and +niece, by coming before the public. + +All compromise was declined by the Bishop, who now made known the whole +history to the old peer. + +The answer, nevertheless, was again from Lord Denmeath, though written +by the desire, and in the name of the Earl; briefly saying, Let the +young woman marry and settle in France; and, upon the delivery of the +original documents relative to her birth, she shall be portioned; but +she shall never be received nor owned in England; the Earl being +determined not to countenance such a disgrace to his family, and to the +memory of his son, as the acknowledgment of so unsuitable a marriage. + +The Bishop held his honour engaged to his departed friend, to sustain +the birth-right of the innocent orphan; he menaced, therefore, +accompanying her over to England himself, and putting all the documents, +with the direction of the affair, into the hands of some celebrated +lawyer. + +Alarmed at this intimation, milder letters passed: but the result of all +that the Bishop could obtain, was a promissory-note of six thousand +pounds sterling, for the portion of a young person brought up at the +convent of ----, and known by the name of Mademoiselle Juliette; to be +paid by Messieurs ----, bankers, on the day of her marriage with a +native of France, resident in that country. + +The conditions annexed to the payment were then detailed, of delivering +to the bankers the originals of all the MSS of which copies had been +sent over; with an acquittal, signed by the new married couple, and by +the Bishop, to all future right or claim upon the Melbury family. The +whole to be properly witnessed, &c. This promissory-note had the joint +seal and signature of the old Earl and of Lord Denmeath. + +But the Bishop inflexibly insisted, that his ward should be recognized +as the Honourable Miss Granville; and share an equal portion with her +half-sister, Aurora; for whom, upon the premature death of Lord +Granville, the old peer had solicited and obtained the title and honours +of an earl's daughter. + +All representation proving fruitless, the Bishop was preparing to attend +Miss Granville to England, when the French Revolution broke out. The +general confusion first stopt his voyage, and next destroyed even the +materials of his agency. The family chateau was burnt by the populace; +and all the papers of Juliet, which had been carefully hoarded up with +the records of the house, were consumed! The promissory-note alone, and +accidentally, had been saved; the Bishop chancing to have it in his +pocket-book, for the purpose of consulting upon it with some lawyer. + +With the nobleness of unsuspicious integrity, the Bishop wrote an +account of this disaster to Lord Denmeath; whose answer contained +tidings of the death of the old Earl, and reclaimed the promissory-note +for revisal. But the Bishop, who possessed no other proof or document of +the identity of Juliet, would by no means part with a paper that became +of the utmost importance. + +Juliet, pitied and sustained, loved and esteemed by all, had been +prevailed upon to continue with her cherished and cherishing friends, +till some political calm should enable the Bishop to conduct her to +England, and there to struggle for her rights. At the opening, however, +of the dreadful reign of Robespierre, sudden and immediate danger had +compelled Gabriella, with her husband and her child, to emigrate: but +Juliet, hopeless of making herself acknowledged by her family without +the support of the Bishop, had preferred, till she could obtain the +sanction of his presence, to remain with the Marchioness. + +'And what,' Sir Jaspar cried, 'what is become of this Bishop? this man +of peace, this worthiest wight that breathes the vital air?' + +Gabriella herself knew not; nor what change of plan had induced her +friend to venture over alone: she knew only that what was counselled by +the Bishop must be wise; that what was executed by Juliet must be right. + +Juliet, who had heard this recital with melting tenderness, was now with +difficulty restrained, even by the presence of Sir Jaspar, from casting +herself rather at the feet than into the arms, of her generous, noble, +and confiding, though untrusted friend. + + + + +CHAPTER LXX + + +Various customers, though for small purchases, had, from time to time, +interrupted, but not broken this narration. The Baronet respectfully +made way for whoever came, but resumed his place the instant that it was +vacated; spending the interval in selecting new pieces of ribbon; till, +ere the history was finished, not a remnant of that article remained +unsold. It was his purpose, he gallantly said, to present a top-knot, +for a twelve-month to come, to every fair syren who, either by face, +voice, shape, feature, complexion, size, air, or manner, should afford +him so much pleasure as to remind him, however transiently, of the +adorable haberdasher, whose taper fingers had put it into his +possession. + +Gabriella interrupted these compliments, to observe, with some anxiety, +two strange men, who were sauntering up and down the street, and who, +from time to time, peeped in at the window. + +'And how can they do any better?' said the Baronet; 'unless you invite +them into your apartments? 'Tis precisely what I shall enact myself, if +you turn me out of doors! Do you fancy you are to dart yourselves, you +and your mischievous partner, into as many hearts as you can find +spectators, and then bid your poor wounded gazers go lie down and bleed, +in the kennel, like so many puppies; without allowing them even a +lamenting yell, or friendly barking, to call themselves into notice +before they give up the ghost? I pity the poor caitiffs with all my +heart. + + 'A fellow-feeling makes one wond'rous kind!'[2] + +[Footnote 2: Garrick.] + +'Let me, however, hope, that the seductive tale which I have been +quaffing, has not intoxicated all my senses only to my own destruction! +that my poor nerves have not been pierced and pinched; that my feelings +have not been twitched and tweaked, and my senses scared and confounded, +only to drag my own crazy folly into fuller view!' + +He paused a few minutes, during which Gabriella began making out the +account of her ribbons; and then, with a mild voice, but an arch brow, +'Hear me,' he resumed, 'my dulcet frog! for such, you know, is your +destined classification in this country; hear, and under your auspices +let me proceed. If this fair marvellous Wanderer,--in her birth no +longer an Incognita, yet an Incognita still in her history; will venture +to put herself under my protection,--honourably I mean; so don't frown! +for nothing so spoils the forehead! Besides, who can look at you, and +not mean honourably? With all your sweetness, there is a fire in your +eye, that, if I harboured a naughty idea, only for a moment, would, I +see plainly, consume me. Let us, however, talk the matter over with +becoming seriousness. It may, perchance, be less difficult than you may +imagine, to establish your fair journeywoman's rights.' + +'O make the attempt, then,' cried Gabriella; 'exert yourself in so noble +a trial!' + +'A little activity,' he continued, 'and a great deal of menacing, +adroitly put in play, will now and then do wonders. A little money, too, +dexterously handled, rarely does much harm. When Lord Denmeath sees all +these at work, take my word for it, he will think twice, before he will +let them operate upon the public. We like mighty well to reap the fruits +of our address in the world; but we have a sagacious tendency to keeping +our ways and means to ourselves. Lord Denmeath, after all, as a worldly +man, does but his office, in putting to sleep his conscience for the +better keeping awake his interest. This is simply in the ordinary course +of things: but, when the blood that is youthful is not generous; when +life is begun with the crafty hardness that years, experience, and +disappointment have given to those who are ending it; when we see even +striplings, who ought to be made up of wild romance, and credulous +enthusiasm, meanly, basely, heartlessly, for a few pitiful thousands, +suffer an orphan to be cheated, despoiled of her rank in life, and made +an alien to her country, as well as to her family;--then it is, that I +curse Vanity as an imp of darkness, and Pride as a demon of hell! When a +boy like Lord Melbury, a young girl such as Lady Aurora--' + +'They are innocent, Sir Jaspar! they are noble! they are faultless!' +called out Juliet, eagerly returning to the shop; 'they dream not of my +claims; they have not the most distant idea that I have the honour to +belong to their house. Innocent? they are meritorious! Conceiving me +simply a helpless, unpatronized, and indigent Wanderer, they have +treated me with a kindness, a consideration, an heavenly benevolence, +that, towards a stranger so forlorn, could have been dictated only by +the most angelic of natures!' + +'Astonishing! incredible!' exclaimed Sir Jaspar. 'What! do they not know +your story? Have you made no appeal to their justice, their affections?' + +'You will cease, Sir, to wonder, and cease also, I hope, to question me, +when I tell you that here, even here, I have not made my situation +known! here, even here,--to the friend of my heart, the confidant of my +life, the loved and honoured descendant of the house by which I have +been preserved, and from which alone I hope for protection! Judge then, +how powerful must be my motives for secresy! And she,--she submits to my +silence! Too high-minded for distrust, too nobly mistress of herself for +impatience; and conscious that even a wish, expressed, would to me have +the force of a command, she waits my time! She knows the most dire and +barbarous obstacles could alone lead me to reserve and concealment, +where my softest consolation would be openness and sympathy!' + +Gabriella could offer no answer but by wide extended arms, with which +Juliet, gushing into tears, was fondly encircled; while the Baronet, +touched, amazed, and enchanted, repeatedly wiped his eyes; when +Gabriella, observing, again, at the window, one of the men of whom she +had spoken, whispered Juliet to compose herself, or to retire. + +There was not time: Riley, who had seen her, bounced into the shop. + +'Ah, ha, I have caught you at last, have I, Demoiselle?' he cried, +rubbing his hands with joy. 'I could not devise where the deuce you had +hidden yourself. I only knew you were in some shabby little bit of a +shop in this street. And who do you think is my author for this +intelligence?--Won't you guess?--Why Surly! your old friend, Surly!' + +Apprehensive of some attack similar to that which she had endured at +Brighthelmstone, Juliet ventured not to speak, though she felt too +anxious to withdraw: while Sir Jaspar, extremely curious, repeated, 'Old +Surly?' in a tone that invited explanation. + +'The same, faith! He's come over o' purpose to hunt you out, +Demoiselle.' + +'Me?' cried Juliet, changing colour; 'and why?--And who is he?' + +'Who is he? Well! that's droll, faith! Why you have not forgotten your +old crony, the pilot?' + +Juliet looked down, to conceal the alarm with which she was seized. + +'Why, I'll tell you how it all happened,' continued Riley, mounting upon +the counter, as he might have mounted upon his horse; 'I'll tell you how +it all happened. About a month ago, in one of my rambles, I met Master +Surly; and, for old acquaintance sake, I was prodigiously glad to see +him: for I like, as a curiosity, to shew John Bull a Mounseer that i'n't +a milk-sop. So we talked over our voyage; but when I told him that I had +met with the Demoiselle at Brighthelmstone; and that she had cast off +her slough, and was grown a beauty; he asked me a hundred questions, and +said that, most likely, she was a person of whom he was in search; and +after whom there had been a great hue and cry.' + +Juliet now opened various small drawers, shutting them almost at the +same moment; but always with her face turned from Riley. + +'Well, we parted, and I saw no more of him, and thought no more of him +neither, faith! till this very morning, when I popt upon him, all at +once, in Piccadilly. And then, he told me that he was just come from +Brighthelmstone, where he had been looking for you.' + +Juliet though in a tremour that shook her whole frame, faintly said, +'And why?' + +'Because, by my account of you, he was satisfied you must be the very +person that he was commissioned to find.' + +Juliet now seemed scarcely able to sustain herself. Gabriella and Sir +Jaspar saw, with deep concern, her emotion; but Riley, unobservant, went +on. + +'At Brighton, he had discovered that you had journied up to town, in the +stage. And he came up after you, in the very same carriage, only +yesterday. And, by means of a boy at the inn, who had called your +hackney-coach, he had just found out coachy; who informed him, that he +had set down a pretty young damsel, that had arrived from Brighton about +a week ago, at a small shop in Frith-street, Soho. Upon that, I offered +to help him in his search; and we jogged on to these quarters together: +for I always liked you, Demoiselle, and always had a prodigious mind to +know who you were. But the deuce a bit would you ever tell me. So we +have been sauntering and maundering up and down the street, one on one +side, and t'other on t'other, in search of you; peeping and peering into +every shop, and lounging and squinting at every window. We have had the +devil of a job of it to find you, Demoiselle; we have, faith!--But my +best sport will be to make Monsieur Surly look you full in the face, as +I did myself, without knowing you! though he pretends that that's all +one. The French always say that to every thing that they don't like; +_c'est egal!_ cries Monsieur, whenever he's put out of his way. However, +old Surly stands to it, that he shall discover you in a twinkling; for +he's got your description.' + +'My description?' Juliet repeated; in a tone of terrour. + +'Ay; and there he is, faith! on t'other side the way! An old owl!' cried +Riley; striding to the door, and calling aloud, 'Surly! old Surly! Come +over, Mounseer Surly!' + +Juliet was now precipitately gliding into the little room; but Sir +Jaspar, intercepting her flight, warmly entreated, whatever might be her +fears or her difficulties, to be accepted as her protector: and, while +she was struggling, with speechless impatience, to pass him, the pilot, +pulled into the shop by Riley, stood full before her; stared hardily in +her face; looked at a paper which he held in his hand, and, grinning +horribly a scoffing smile, walked away, without speaking. + +Juliet, who seemed nearly fainting, was drawn tenderly into the +adjoining room by Gabriella; who was herself in almost equal +consternation. + +'A pretty feat you have performed here, Sir! An admirable exploit!' said +Sir Jaspar, angrily, to Riley; who, laughing heartily at the savage +satisfaction of the pilot, had re-mounted the counter. 'And what sort of +man must you be to find it so dulcet and recreative, to give chace to a +timid, defenceless lamb?' + +'What sort of man?' returned Riley; 'faith, I don't know! I don't, +faith! But who does? If you can tell me the man who knows himself, +you'll do more than has been done yet since the days of old Adam. I +never trouble myself with vain researches, and combinations, and +developments, and metaphysical analysings. What do they do for us, +beside cracking our skulls? They only leave us where they found us; +forced to eat and drink, and sleep and wake, and live and die, just the +same, since all the discoveries of Newton, as we did before we knew a +square from an angle.' + +'O ho, you are a philosopher, Sir, then, are you?' said Sir Jaspar; 'a +Cynic? guided by contempt of mankind?' + +'Not a whit! I only follow my humour. If that happens to please my +friends, so much the better; if not, I am but little "of the melting +mood;" I go on all the same. I never stop to weigh opinion in the scale +of my proceedings.' + +'And do you never weigh humanity, neither, Sir? the feelings of others? +the good or ill of society?' + +'No! I never think of all that. I let the world take its own course, as +I take mine. I have long had a craving desire to know who this girl is; +and she would never tell me. Her obstinacy doubles my curiosity; and +when my curiosity gets at the helm, it does just what it will with me. +It does, faith!' + +Gabriella, now returning, demanded of Riley what business detained him +in the shop, with an air of dignity that surprised him into making +something like an apology; to which he added, that he only stayed to +have a little further parley with the demoiselle. + +That young lady was indisposed, and could be spoken to no more. + +'Indisposed?' he repeated; 'I am sorry for that! I am, faith! Poor +demoiselle! she has been liberal enough of diversion to me, one way or +another. However, I shall soon discover who she is; for I know where to +catch Master Surly; and he says he is promised a thumping reward, if he +finds that she is the right person. He is but an agent, poor Surly: but +he expects his principal, with the cash, over every hour; if he i'n't +landed already.' + +Gabriella, who had returned to the little parlour, perceived, now, that +the face of Juliet looked convulsed with horrour. She procured her a +glass of hartshorn and water; and entreated the Baronet, who seemed +transfixed with concern, to force Riley away; and to be gone, also, +himself. + +Sir Jaspar could not refuse compliance; but neither could he deny +himself advancing, for an instant, to say, in a low voice, to Juliet, +'Bow not down your lovely head, sweet lilly! I have friends who will +find means to succour and protect you, be who will your assaulter!' + +Offering Riley, then, a place in his chariot, and dropping, as he +passed, his purse into the till-box, he drove off, with his new +acquaintance. + +For some minutes, excess of terrour robbed Juliet of speech, and of all +power of exertion; but when, by the cares and soothings of Gabriella, +she was, in some degree, restored, 'Oh my beloved friend!' she cried, +'we must part again,--immediately part!' + +A tear stole down the cheek of Gabriella as she heard this +annunciation; but she offered no remonstrance; she permitted herself no +enquiry; her eye alone said, 'Why, why this!' + +Juliet saw, but shrunk from this mute eloquence, hastily arranging +herself for going out; making up a packet of linen to carry in her hand, +and hanging a loaded work-bag upon her arm. + +Casting herself, then, into the arms of her friend, 'Oh my Gabriella,' +she cried, 'I must fly,--instantly fly!--or entail a misery upon the +rest of my existence too horrible for description! Whither,--which way +to go, I know not,--but I must be hidden from all mankind!--To-morrow I +will write to you;--constantly I will write to you,--dear, generous, +noblest of friends, farewell, farewell!' + +They embraced, mingled their tears, embraced again, and separated. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXI + + +Her head bowed low; her bonnet drawn over her eyes; ignorant what course +she took, and earnest only to discover any inlet into the country by +which she might immediately quit the town; Juliet, with hurried +footsteps, and trembling apprehensions, became again a Wanderer. + +She passed through various streets, but, unacquainted with London, read, +without any aid to her purpose, their names, till, printed in large +characters, her eyes were struck with the word Piccadilly; and, +presently, she was accosted by an ordinary man, who had a long whip in +his hand, and who, holding open the door of a carriage, asked whether +she would have a cast; saying that he was ready to set off immediately. + +Finding that the vehicle was a stage-coach, she eagerly accepted the +proposal, and seated herself next to an elderly woman. + +The man demanded whether she meant to go all the way. + +She answered in the affirmative; and, to her inexpressible satisfaction, +was driven out of London. + +Not to risk discovering to her fellow-travellers so extraordinary a +circumstance, as that of beginning an excursion in utter ignorance where +it might end, she forbore asking any questions; and left to the time of +her alighting at the spot to which the stage was destined, her own +acquaintance with her local situation. + +It was not, therefore, till she descended from the coach, that she found +that she had taken the road to Bagshot. + +The immediate plan which, in her way, she had formed, was to enter the +first shop that she saw open; thence to write to Gabriella; and then to +stroll on to the nearest village, and lodge herself in the first clean +cottage which could afford her a room. + +The sight, however, of the Salisbury stage, gave her a desire to travel +instantly further from London; and she asked whether there were a vacant +place. She was immediately accommodated; and her journey thither, though +long, and passed in dreadful apprehension, was without accident or +event. + +Arrived at Salisbury, she quitted the machine, and her fellow +travellers, with whom she had scarcely exchanged a word; and, hoping +that she was now out of the way of pursuit, she put her plan into +execution, by writing a tranquillizing line to Gabriella, from a +stationer's shop; and then, set forth in search of a dwelling. + +This was by no means easy to find. A solitary stranger, bearing her own +small baggage, after travelling all night, was not very likely to be +seen but with eyes of scrutiny and suspicion. Yet her air, her manner, +and her language made her application always best received by the upper +class of trades-people, who were most able to discern, that such +belonged not to any vulgar or ordinary person: but, when they found that +she enquired for a lodging, without giving any name, or any reference, +they held back, alike, from granting her admission, or forwarding her +wish by any recommendation. + +The evident caution with which she hid as much as possible of her face, +made the beauty of what was still necessarily visible, create as much +ill opinion as admiration; though the perfect modesty of her deportment +rescued her from receiving any offence. + +In the smaller shops, and by the meaner and poorer sort of people, her +carrying her parcel herself, levelled her, instantly, to their own rank; +while her demand of assistance, her loneliness and even her loveliness, +sunk her far beneath it, in their opinion; and, almost with one accord, +they bluntly told her that she might find a lodging at an inn. + +Helpless, distressed, she wandered some time in this fruitless research; +too much self-occupied to remark the buildings, the neatness, the +antiquities, or the singularities of the city which she was patrolling; +till her eyes were caught by the little rivulets which, in most of the +streets, separate the foot-path from the high-road, by perceiving two +ruddy-cheeked, smiling little cherubs, attempting to paddle over one of +them, and playing so incautiously, that they seemed every moment in +danger of falling into the water. + +She hastened towards them, to point out a bridge, somewhat higher up, by +which they might more safely pass; but the elder child, a rosy boy, +careless and sportive, heeded her not; till, finding the stream deeper +than he expected, his little feet slipt, and he would inevitably have +been under water, had not Juliet, with dextrous speed, caught him by the +coat. + +She aided him to scramble out, though with much difficulty, for he was +wet through, and covered with mud. Frightened out of his little senses, +he set up an unappeaseable cry; in which the other child, a pretty +little girl, impelled by babyish though unconscious sympathy, joined, +with all the vociferation which her feeble lungs were capable of +emitting. + +Juliet, with that kindness which childish helplessness ought always to +inspire, soothed them with gentle words, and persuaded the boy to hasten +to his home, that he might take off his wet cloaths before he caught +cold. But they both sat down to cry at their leisure; though rather as +if they did not understand, than as if they resisted her counsel. + +Pitying their simple sufferings, she offered the boy a penny, to buy a +gingerbread cake, if he would rise. + +Quick, or rather immediate, now, was the transition from despondence to +transport. The boy not merely wiped his eyes, and ceased his sobs, but, +all smiles and delight, began a rapid prattling of where he should buy, +and of what sort should be, his cake; while every word, rapturously, +though indistinctly, was echoed by the little girl, not less slack in +reviving. + +The elasticity, however, of their little persons, kept not entirely pace +with that of their spirits. The wet attire of the boy, which his seat on +the dust had rendered as heavy as it was uncomfortable, nearly disabled +him from rising; and his little sister, who had lost one of her shoes in +the rivulet, had run a thorn into her foot, and could not stand without +crying. + +The children were not able to give any account of who they were that was +intelligible; nor of whence they came, save that it was from a great, +great way off. Unwilling to leave them in so pitiable a plight, Juliet, +observing that the street, which led out of the town, was empty, looked +for a clean spot, and, bending upon one knee, had just drawn out the +splinter from the foot of the little girl, when the sound of the voice +of a female, who was approaching, calling out, 'Here I be, my loveys! +here comes mammy!' so miraculously electrified the little creatures, +that, forgetting all impediment to motion, they bounded up, delighted; +the boy no longer sensible to the weight of his wet garments, nor the +girl to the tenderness of her hurt foot: and both capered to embrace the +knees of their mammy; whose eyes alone could return their caresses; her +hands being engaged in holding a heavy basket upon her head. + +But when she perceived their condition, she anxiously demanded what had +happened. + +They both again began grievously to cry, while the boy related that he +had been drowned, but that the _dood ady_ (good lady) had come and saved +his life: and the little girl, interrupting him every moment, kept +presenting her foot, in telling a similar story of the kindness of the +_dood ady_. + +To Juliet scarcely a word of their narrations was intelligible; but, to +the ears of their mother, accustomed to their dialect, their lisping and +their imperfect speech, these prattling details were as potent in +eloquence, as the most polished orations of Cicero or Demosthenes, are +to those of the classical scholar. + +The gratitude of the good woman for the services rendered to her little +ones, was so warm and cordial, that she cried for joy, in pouring forth +blessings upon the head of Juliet, for having lent so friendly a hand, +she said, to her poor boy; and having done what she called so +neighbourly a kindness by her dear little girl. + +She had directed her children, she said, to go straight to Dame Goss's, +beyond the turnpike; having had business to transact at a house which +they could not enter; but the little dearys were not yet come to their +memory; and, but for so good a friend, the poor loveys might have lain +in the wet and the mud, till they had been half choaked. + +Seeing the children thus safely restored to their best friend, Juliet +meant to continue her solitary search; but the good woman, judging from +her kind offices, that there was nothing to fear from her disdain; and +concluding from her parcel, that there was nothing to respect in her +rank, frankly demanded her assistance, for helping on the children as +far as to the turnpike; simply adding, that she would do as good a turn +for her, in requital, another time; but that her basket was heavily +laden, and the poor little things, one without its shoe, and the other +in wet cloaths, would be but troublesome, in such a broiling sun, to +pull all the way by her petticoat. + +Cruelly experiencing want of succour herself, Juliet, always open to +charity, was now more than usually ready to serve or oblige. With the +utmost alacrity, therefore, complying with the request, she deposited +her packet in the poor woman's basket; bound her pocket-handkerchief +round the foot and ancle of the little girl; and then, taking a hand of +each of the children, and gently alluring them on, by lively and playful +talk, she conducted them to the turnpike; without any other difficulty +than some fatigue to herself; which was amply compensated by the +pleasure of helping the little innocents, and their affectionate mother; +joined to the relief to her own feelings, afforded by a social exercise, +that drew her, for a while, from her fearful reflections. + +The woman, charmed by such kindness, begged to have the direction of +Juliet, that she might call to thank her, when next she came to +Salisbury; whither some business commonly brought her every four or five +months. + +Juliet was obliged to confess herself a mere passenger; but asked, in +return, the name and address of her new acquaintance. + +Margery Fairfield, she answered, was her name, and she lived a far off +in the New Forest. She was going, in a friend's cart, to Romsey, and +there her husband would meet her, and carry her little girl. She could +never come out without her children, if she were ever so heavily laden, +for her husband was at work all day, and there was nobody to take care +of them in her absence. + +A ray of pleasure now broke through the gloomy forebodings of Juliet; +there seemed to her an opening to an asylum, during the period of her +concealment, fortunate beyond her hopes; to lodge with a rustic family +of this simple description, in so retired and remote a spot, promising +all the security and privacy that she required, with fine air, pleasant +country, and worthy hosts. + +A very few enquiries sufficed to satisfy her, that she might find a +small room, in which she could sleep; and a little further discourse +procured her all the details necessary for learning the route to the +dame's cottage. She forbore, nevertheless, hinting at her design, that +neither trouble, expence, nor preparation might precede her arrival. + +She regretted her inability to accompany these new friends, at once, to +their home; but her letter to Gabriella had desired that the answer +might be directed to be left at the post office at Salisbury, till +called for; and she was too uncertain what her position might be in the +New Forest, to hazard any change of address. She was deeply anxious to +hear from Gabriella; and to learn whether she had herself been sought +since her flight. + +When they reached the small, mean house of Dame Goss, beyond the +turnpike, the expected cart was not yet arrived; and Juliet, being +kindly invited to take a little rest, ventured to solicit, from her new +friend, a recommendation to a cheap lodging, with some honest hostess. + +Enchanted to be able to serve her, the poor woman immediately said, that +she could no where be better than in that very house: and when its +mistress made various objections; first, that she had not a room +unoccupied; next, that she had no spare bed; and then, that her husband +would be angry; the zealous Dame Fairfield obviated them all. The room, +she said, with a significant nod, where they kept their boxes, would be +never the worse for being slept in a few nights, now all the boxes were +empty; and the bed she had had for herself the last winter, could be +easily carried up stairs, for she would stop to carry it with her own +hands: and as to Master Goss, he was so fond of her little dearys, that +he could not have so bad a heart as to be off doing a service to a +gentlewoman who had been so kind to them. + +This eloquence was all-sufficient; the real obstacle, that of aiding an +unknown traveller, occuring neither to the advocate nor to the opponent. +Free from the niceties of custom in higher life, and unembarrassed by +the perplexities of discriminating scruples, the good women, often +lonely travellers themselves, saw nothing in such a situation to excite +distrust; and regarded it therefore simply as a claim upon hospitality. +To have manifested good nature, was sufficient to procure credit for +good character; and to have done kind offices, was to secure their +return. + +Dame Fairfield busily set about putting into order a little apartment, +that was encumbered with trunks and boxes, which she piled one upon +another, to make a place for a small bed. She would suffer no one to +give her any help; sweeping, dusting, rubbing, and arranging all the +lumber herself; with an alacrity of pleasure, a gaiety of good will, +that charmed away, for a while, the misery of Juliet, by the consoling +picture thus presented to her view, of untaught benevolence and +generosity: a picture which must always be pleasing to the friend of +human nature, however less exalting, than when those qualities, as the +cultured fruits of religion and of principle, are purified into virtues. + +In this mean little lodging, to avoid being seen or heard of, Juliet +passed three days, self-inclosed; with no employment but that of writing +long letters to Gabriella, which, eventually, were to be sent by the +post, or delivered by herself. This, however, not filling up her time, +the wish of obliging, joined to a constant desire of acquiring, in every +situation, the art of being useful,--that art which, more than wealth, +or state, or power, preserves its cultivator from wearying either +himself or those around him;--led her to bestow the rest of the day in +aiding the woman of the house, in sundry occupations. + +To have seen and examined the famous cathedral; to have found out the +walks; to have informed herself of the manufactures; and to have visited +the antiquities and curiosities of this celebrated city, and its +neighbourhood, might have solaced the anxiety of this moment; but +discretion baffled curiosity, and fear took place of all desire of +amusement. She could only regale her confinement by the hope of soon +obtaining her freedom in an innocent and beautiful retreat; and +remained, therefore, perfectly stationary, till she conceived that an +answer might be returned from Gabriella. + +On the evening of that day, she prevailed upon Dame Goss, whose mornings +were all engaged, but whose good will she had now completely secured, to +be her messenger to the post-office. + +Without any letter, however, the messenger returned, though with an +acknowledgement that one was arrived; but that it could only be +delivered to Miss Ellis herself; or to a written order with a receipt. + +Juliet was immediately preparing to write one, when Dame Goss said, +'They do tell me that you be a person advertised in the London +news-papers? It ben't true; be it?' + +'Good Heaven, no!' Juliet ejaculated. + +'Pray, be you the person called, "Commonly known by the name of Miss +Ellis?"' + +Juliet, changing colour, asked why she made that enquiry. + +The woman, instead of answering, looked earnestly in her face, with an +air of stedfast examination. + +In the greatest dismay, Juliet turned from her, without hazarding +another question, and was going up stairs; but Dame Goss begged that she +would just stop a bit, because two persons were a coming, that she had +promised should have a peep at her. + +Shocked and terrified, Juliet would still have passed on; but an instant +sufficed to tell her, that, in such an emergency, not to make some +immediate attempt to escape, was to be lost. + +Turning, therefore, back, 'Dame Goss,' she cried, slipping a crown-piece +into her hands, with an apology for giving her so much trouble, 'hasten +again to the post-office, and say that I shall come for my letter +myself.' + +The woman, without question or demur, received the money and set off. +And she was no sooner out of sight, than Juliet, taking her own small +packet, unnoticed by Master Goss, who was at work in his little garden, +went forth by the opposite way; turning, as quickly as possible, from +the high road, where she might most naturally be pursued; and, for all +else, committing her footsteps to chance and to hope,--those last, and +not seldom, best friends of distress and difficulty. + +Wandering on, by paths unknown to herself, with feet not more swift than +trembling; fearing she was followed, yet not daring, by a glance around, +to ascertain either danger or safety, she overtook a young village-girl, +who was hoydening with a smart footman; but who caught her attention, by +representing to him, that, if he detained her any longer, she should +miss the return-chaise, and not know how to get back to Romsey; for her +mother would be too angry to wait for her even a moment. + +The sound of Romsey revived the spirits of Juliet. If she could join +this young person, she might find a conveyance, equally unsuspected and +expeditious, to within a mile or two of the very spot where she hoped +for concealment. She loitered, therefore, in sight, till the footman +retreated, and then, following the girl, though with affright, by +returning to the town, she soon found herself in the church-yard of the +cathedral; where the damsel encountered her waiting mother, with whom, +boldly defying her wrath, she began, sturdily, to wrangle. + +Juliet stood aloof, during the altercation, still hoping to accompany +them in their route. The beautiful Gothic structure before her, the +latest and finest remains of ancient elegance, lightness, and taste, was +nearly lost to her sight, from the misery and pre-occupation of her +mind; though appearing now with peculiar effect, from the shadows cast +upon it by the rising moon. Yet soon, in defiance of all absorption, the +magnetic affinity, in a mind natively pious, of religious solemnity with +sorrow, made the antique grace of this wonderful edifice, catch, even in +this instant of terrour and agitation, the admiring eye of Juliet; whose +mind was always open to excellence, even when most incapable of +receiving any species of pleasure. + +She leaned, for a moment's repose, in a recess of the building, which +the shade rendered dark, nearly sinking under the horrour of pursuit, +and the shame of eluding it. To find herself advertised in a +news-paper!--the blood mounted indignantly into her cheeks.--Perhaps to +be described!--perhaps, named! and with a reward for her +discovery!--cold from them, at this surmise, the blood again descended +to her heart: yet every feeling was transient, that led not to +immediate escape; every reflection was momentary, that turned, not to +personal safety. + +The dispute between the mother and daughter was interrupted,--not +finished,--by the re-appearance of the footman, who told them that the +position was just going off. + +They scampered instantly to an inn, from the gateway of which a +post-chaise was issuing. + +Juliet, who had pursued, now joined them, and proposed making one in +their party. + +The women neither refused nor consented; they renewed their contention, +and heard only one another: but the postilion, to whom Juliet held out +half-a-crown, gave her a place with readiness,--and she was driven to +Romsey. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXII + + +The affrighted Juliet, every instant in expectation of being stopt, was +silent the whole way; but the loquacity of her companions, to whom the +journey was an uninterrupted opportunity for wrangling, secured her from +any remark; and they arrived, and were separating, at Romsey, nearly +without having taken notice that they had ever been together, when +Juliet, having descended from the chaise, turned fearfully round, to +examine whether she were pursued. + +She saw no one; and blest Heaven. + +Nevertheless, it was night; she was alone, in the suburbs of a strange +town; and wholly ignorant of the way to the New Forest. It was too late +to go on without a guide; yet, to demand one, or to order a chaise, at +such an hour, would be risking to leave documents behind her, that might +facilitate her being discovered. She addressed herself, therefore, to +her fellow-travellers, and besought them to afford, or to procure her, a +safe lodging for the night. + +The mother, coarsely, demanded immediate payment; which being accorded, +she said that she had some spare bedding, which could be put upon the +floor, in the sleeping-room of Debby. + +Juliet, accompanied them to their homely habitation, at the further +extremity of a narrow lane, in the busy and prosperous town of Romsey; +and though nothing could be more ordinary than the dwelling, or the +accommodations which she there found, neither splendour, nor wealth, nor +luxury, nor pleasure, could have devised for her, at that moment, a +sojourn more acceptable; since, to all but safety, distress and affright +made her insensible. + +But, this first moment of solid satisfaction passed, her whole mind +became absorbed in fearful ruminations upon the various risks that she +was running, and in gloomy apprehensions of what might be their result. + +Her taciturnity and dejection were as little imitated as they were +little happy: her companion, almost equally self-occupied, though by no +means equally incommoded by foresight, or burthened with discretion, +broke forth immediately into the history of her own affairs and +situation; bitterly inveighing against the ill nature of her mother, +which was always thwarting every thing that was agreeable; and boldly +declaring her fixed determination to go to the fair with Mr Thomas. + +The humanity of Juliet here conquered her silence; but her +representations, whether of danger or of duty, were scouted with rude +merriment; and she found again as wilful a victim to pleasure as Flora +Pierson; though without the simplicity, the good humour, or the beauty +of that credulous maiden. + +Nearly with the light, Juliet arose, resolved, with whatever fatigue, to +travel on foot, that she might not hazard being recognized, through the +advertisement, by any coachman or postilion; and, to be less liable to +detection from passing observers, she changed, over night, her bonnet, +which was of white chip, for one the most coarse and ordinary of straw, +with her young hostess; of whom, also, she bought a blue striped apron. + +Shocking to all her feelings was this attempt to disguise, so imitative +of guilt, so full of semblance to conscious imposture. But there are +sometimes circumstances, great and critical, that call for all the +energy of our courage, and demand all the resources of our faculties, +for warding off impending and substantial evil, at whatever risk of +transitory misconstruction. + +Her account being already settled, she wished to depart unobserved, that +she might less easily be traced. Her young hostess, sleeping late and +tired, slept soundly, and was not disturbed by her rising, dressing, or +opening the room-door; and she glided down stairs without being missed, +or noticed. The door of the house was fastened only by a bolt, and she +gained the street without noise or interruption. + +Here all yet was still as night; the houses were shut up, and nothing +was in view, nor in hearing, but a solitary cart, driven by a young +carter, who amused his toil by the alternate pleasure of smacking his +horse, and whistling to the winds. + +This vehicle, which was probably travelling to the high road, she +determined to follow. + +The general stillness made the slightest motion heard, and the carter, +though at a considerable distance, turned round, and called out, 'Why +you be up betimes, my lovey! come and Ize give you a cast.' + +Startled, she looked down, crossing the way, and appearing not to +suppose herself to be the person thus addressed: but the carter, +standing still, repeated his invitation; assuring her that he had plenty +of room. + +Uncertain how to act, she stopt. + +Terms of coarse endearment, then, accompanied a more pressing desire +that she would advance. + +Frightened, she drew back; but the carter, throwing his whip upon his +carriage, vowed that she should be caught, and ran after her, shouting +aloud, till she regained the house. He then scoffingly exclaimed, 'Why a +be plaguy shy o'the sudden, Mistress Debby!' and, composedly turning +upon his heel, began again to smack his horse, and whistle to the winds. + +Juliet, who in finding herself taken for her young hostess, found, also, +how light a character that young hostess bore, was struck to see danger +thus every way surrounding her; and alarmed at the risk, to which +impatience had blinded her, of travelling, at so early an hour, alone. +Alas! she cried, is it only under the domestic roof,--that roof to me +denied!--that woman can know safety, respect, and honour? + +She now strolled to the vicinity of a capital mansion, at the door of +which, if again put in fear, she could knock and make herself heard. + +But the higgler went on; and another cart soon appeared, in which she +had the pleasure to see a woman, driven by a boy. Unannoyed, then, she +walked by its side till she came to the long middle street; when she +found that, from solitude, at least, she had nothing more to apprehend. +Carts, waggons, and diligences, were wheeling through the town; +market-women were arriving with butter, eggs, and poultry; workmen and +manufacturers were trudging to their daily occupations; all was alive +and in motion; and commerce, with its hundred hands, was every where +opening and spreading its sources of wealth, through its active sisters, +ingenuity and industry. + +No difficulty now remained for finding the route; travellers of every +kind led the way. Her coarse bonnet, and blue apron saved her from +peculiar remark; and her appearance of decency, with the deep care in +her countenance, which, to the common observer, seemed but an air of +business, kept aloof all intrusive impertinence. + +Thus, for the first early hours of the morning, she journeyed on, nearly +unnoticed, and wholly unmolested. Every one, like herself, alert to +proceed, and impressed with the value of time, because using it to +advantage, pursued his own purpose, without leisure or thought to +trouble himself with that of his neighbour. + +Five times she had already counted the friendly mile-stone, since she +had quitted Romsey: one mile only remained to be trodden, ere she +reached the New Forest; but that mile was replete with obstacles, to +which its five sisters had been strangers. + +It was now noon; and a gentle breeze, which hitherto had fanned her +passage, and wafted to her refreshment, suddenly ceased its playful +benignity; chaced to a distance by the burning rays of a vertical sun, +just bursting forth with meridianal fire and splendour; and dispersing +the flying clouds which, in obstructing its refulgence, had softened its +intenseness. + +This quick change of temperature, operating, materially, like an +effective change of climate, annihilated, for the moment, all the +strength of Juliet; who, as yet, from the freshness of the morning air, +the vivacity of mental courage, had been a stranger of fatigue. + +Upon looking around, to seek a spot where she might obtain a few +instants' rest, and some passing succour; she observed that the road, +but just before so busily peopled, appeared to be abruptly forsaken. The +labourers were no longer working at the high ways, or at the hedges; the +harvest-men were vanished; the market-women were gone; the road retained +merely here and there an idle straggler; and the fields exhibited only a +solitary boy, left to frighten away the birds. + +A sensation nearly of famine with which next, from long fasting, joined +to vigourous exercise in the open air, she felt assailed, soon pointed +out to her that the cause of this general desertion was the rural hour +of repast. + +Initiated, now, by her own exertions, in the necessity both of support, +and of rest, she, too, felt that this was the hour of nature for +recruit. But where stop? and how procure sustenance with safety and +prudence? + +She looked about for some cottage, and was not long ere she found one; +but, upon begging for a glass of water from a husbandman, who was +standing upon the threshold, he answered that she should have it, if she +would pay him with a kiss. + +She walked on to another; but some men were smoaking at the door, and +she had not courage to make her demand. + +At a third, she was disconcerted, by a familiar invitation to partake of +a cup of cyder. + +She now resolved to make no further application but to females; since +countrymen, even those who are freest from any evil designs, are almost +all either gross or facetious. + +Women, however, at this hour, were not easily met with; they were +within, preparing their meals, or cleaning their platters, and feeding +their poultry, rabbits, or pigs. + +She now dropped, scarcely able to breathe from the oppression of the +heat; or to sustain herself from the enfeebling effects of emptiness, +joined to overpowering fatigue. With pain and difficulty she dragged on +her wearied limbs; while a furious thirst parched her mouth, and seemed +consuming her inside. + +Now, too, her distress received the tormenting augmentation of intrusive +interruption; for, in losing the elasticity of her motions, she lost, to +the vulgar observer, her appearance of innocence. Her eye, eagerly cast +around in search of an asylum, appeared to be courting attention; her +languor seemed but loitering; and her slow unequal pace, wore the air of +inviting a companion. + +Nor was the character of chaste diligence, and vivacious business, any +longer predominant in those whom she now casually encountered. The +noon-tide heat, in impairing their bodily strength, caused a mental +lassitude, that made them ready for any dissipation that might divert +their weariness; and Juliet, young, rosy, and alone, seemed exactly +fashioned for awakening their drowsy faculties. No one, therefore, +passed, without remarking her; and scarcely any one without making her +some address. The inconsistency of her attire, which her slackened pace +allowed time for developing, gave rise to much comment, and some +mockery. Her ordinary bonnet and blue apron, ill accorded with the other +part of her dress; and she was now assailed with coarse compliments upon +her pretty face; now by jocose propositions to join company; and now by +free solicitations for a salute. + +Painfully she forced herself on, till, at length, she discerned an +ancient dame, in a field by the side of the road, who sat spinning at +the door of a cottage. + +She crossed a style, and, presenting herself to the old woman, craved a +draught of water, and permission to take a little rest. + +The good old dame, who was surrounded by little boys and girls, to whom +she was singing the antique ballad of the children of the wood, in a +tone so dolorous, and with such heavy sighs, that the elder of her +hearers, who were five and six years old, were dissolved in tears; while +the younger ones clung to her knees, pale and scared, finished her +stanza, before she would answer, or look at the supplicant stranger. She +then raised her eyes, with evident vexation at the interruption; but, +when she perceived the weak state, and listened to the faint accents of +her petitioner, the expression of her countenance became all +benevolence; and, good humouredly nodding her head, she disengaged +herself from the children, arose, fetched a horn of water, added to it a +cup of milk, and then, presenting to the weary traveller her own chair, +which was large and low, she got a smaller, and less commodious one, +from the kitchen for herself. + +The nearly exhausted Juliet gratefully accepted this hospitality; and, +in quaffing her milk and water, believed herself initiated in the +knowledge of the flavour, and of all the occult qualities, of Nectar. + +It is thus, then, she thought, that the poor and laborious, also, learn, +even from their toils and sufferings, what is luxury and enjoyment! for +where is the regale, and what is the libation, which the most sumptuous +table of refined elegance can offer, that can be more exquisite to the +taste, than this simple beverage of milk and water, received thus at the +moment of parching thirst, and deadly fatigue? + +Meanwhile, the little ones, impatient at the interruption of a tale +which engaged all their tenderest feelings; and of which no repetition +could diminish the interest; looked with clouded brows, and unchecked +ill humour, upon the intruder; and, while the elder ones vented their +chagrin by crying, some of the younger ones, yet more completely in the +rough hands of untutored nature, rushed forward to beat the cause of +their vexation; while others, indignantly, struggled to pull her out of +the chair of their grandame. + +Juliet, whom their fat little hands could not hurt, and who approved +their fondness both for their grandmother and for the ballad, forgave +their petulance in favour of its motive: but the grandame, putting aside +her spinning wheel, called them all around her, and calmly enquired what +was the matter? + +They vociferously answered that they wanted to push away the naughty +person who was come to take granny's chair. + +And what, she asked, would they do themselves, should they be obliged to +walk a great way off, till they were tired to death, and as dry as dust, +if nobody would give them a little drink, nor a seat to sit down? + +But they would never walk a great way off, they answered; never as long +as they lived! They would always stay at home with dad and mam and +grandam. + +But dad and mam, she resumed, were often obliged to walk a great way off +themselves; and if nobody would let them have a seat, not any thing to +drink, what would become of them? whereas, if they should hap to light +on this young gentlewoman in any trouble, she would remember what had +been done for herself, and get them fresh water, and sweet milk, and the +easiest chair she could find: and would not they be glad of such good +luck to dad and mam? Besides that, by doing good, they would be loved by +all good boys and girls; and even by God himself, who was the Father of +them all. + +This was speaking at once to their sensations and their understandings; +dad and mam in distress and relieved seemed present to their view; and +they all flew to do something for their guest, as if their gratitude +were already indebted. One brought her half an apple, another, a quarter +of a pear; one, a bunch of red currants, another, of white; the youngest +of the little girls presented her with an old broken rattle; and the +smallest of the little boys, waddled to her with a hoop. + +Amused by this infantine scene of filial piety, and revived by rest and +refreshment, Juliet soon recompensed their endearing innocence, by +dancing the smaller ones in her arms, and prattling playfully with those +who were less babyish. + +Then, putting a shilling into one of their hands, she requested to have +a couple of eggs and a crust of bread. + +The eggs were immediately baked in the cinders; the crust was cut from a +loaf of sweet and fresh brown bread. And if her drink had seemed nectar, +what was more substantial appeared to her to be ambrosia! and her little +waiters became Hebes and Ganymedes. + +Refreshment thus salubrious, rest thus restorative, and security thus +serene, after fatigue, fasting and alarm, made her deem this one of the +most felicitous moments of her life. Her sole immediate desire was to +lengthen it, and to spend, in this tranquil retreat, a part, at least, +of the period destined to concealment and obscurity. She had not +forgotten her first little _proteges_, nor lost her wish to join them +and their worthy mother; but she had severely experienced how little +fitted to the female character, to female safety, and female propriety, +was this hazardous plan of lonely wandering. She begged, therefore, +permission, as a weary traveller, to pass the night in the cottage. + +The good dame readily consented; saying, that she could not offer very +handsome bedding; but that it should be clean and wholesome, for it had +belonged to her youngest daughter, who was just gone out to service. + +This arranged, the ballad was again begun, so exquisitely to the delight +of the young audience, that though, at the stanza + + Their little lips with blackberries + Were all besmear'd and dyed; + And when they saw the darksome night + They sat them down and cried, + +they all sobbed aloud; they were yet so grieved when it was over, that +they clung around their grandame, saying, with one voice, 'Aden, granny, +aden!' + +Granny, however, was too much tired to comply, and the repetition was +deferred to another day. + +In the evening, the mother of the children came home, and heard what had +been settled with her new and unknown guest, without objection or +interference. The father appeared soon after, and was equally passive. +The grandame was mistress of the cottage, and in her own room, which was +that, also, of the elder children, Juliet was lodged. The younger +branches of the family slept, with their father and mother, in the +kitchen; which, like the apartment of the cobler, served them equally +for parlour and hall. + +Juliet found the man and his wife perfectly good sort of people, simply, +but usefully employed in earning their living; while their aged mother +took charge of their dwelling, their nourishment, and their children. + +Thus safely and tranquilly situated, Juliet, without meeting any +difficulty, proposed to sojourn with them for some days. She gave, also, +a commission, to the younger mistress of the house, to purchase her some +ready-made linen at Romsey; and she was soon more consistently equipped, +in new, but homely apparel. + +This interval was most seasonably passed, in recruiting her strength, +and calming her spirits. She took pleasant walks, accompanied by the +tallest boy and girl; she worked for the grandmother; taught a part of +the catechism to some of the children; played with them all, and made +herself at once so useful and so agreeable in the rustic dwelling, that +she won the heart and good will of all its inhabitants. + +Yet, three times only the sun had set thus serenely, when her host, +returning half an hour later in the evening than usual, appeared so +altered and ill humoured, that Juliet thought it advisable to leave him +with his family; but the slightness of the small building made as +inevitable as it was alarming, her learning that she was herself the +subject of his discontent. + +He told his mother that she must be more cautious how she harboured +travellers, or she might come to trouble; for there was a young +female-swindler, in or about Salisbury, who was advertised in the +news-papers; and who, upon being found out in her tricks, had made off +with Dame Goss's, without so much as paying for her lodging. She had +been traced as far as Romsey, by means of a postilion; but there, too, +she had left her lodgings by stealth, in the very middle of the night. +All the coachmen and postilions and innkeepers were looking out for her; +a handsome reward being offered, for sending tidings where she might be +met with, to an attorney in London. 'And now, mother,' he continued, +'suppose, by hap, this young gentlewoman be she? why you'll be fit to +hong yourself, mother! for as to her being so koind to the children, +that be no sign; for the bad ones be oftentimes the koindest.' + +He then enquired whether she had arrived in a white muslin gown, and a +white chip-hat. + +Her gown might be white muslin, the mother answered, for aught she could +say to the contrary, for it was covered almost all round by a blue +striped apron; but as to her hat, it was nothing but a straw-bonnet as +coarse and ordinary as he might wish to set eyes on. + +O then, he said, it was clear it could not be she, she was not a person +to wear a blue apron; she had been seen, the very night she made off, +dressed quite genteel. + +What now was the consternation of Juliet, to find herself thus pursued +as a run-away, and stigmatized as a swindler and an imposter! +Astonishing destiny! she cried; for what am I reserved? O when may I +cast off this veil of humiliating concealment? when meet unappalled the +fair eye of open day? when appear,--when alas!--even know what I am! + +This, however, was not the end: it soon seemed scarcely the beginning of +new distress, so far more deeply terrible to her with the intelligence +by which it was followed. When the women demanded where he had heard +this news, he answered, at the public-house; where he was told that all +Salisbury was in an uproar; a rich outlandish Mounseer, in a +post-chaise, having just come to the great inn, with the advertisement +in his hand, pointing to the reward, and promising, in pretty good +English, to double it, if the person should be found. + +Not another word could Juliet hear; not an instant, not a thought could +she bestow to learn further what was past, or even to gather what was +passing; the future, the dread of what was to come, took sole possession +of her feelings and her faculties, and again to fly, more rapidly, more +eagerly, more affrighted than ever, to fly, was her immediate act, +rather than resolution. + +She accoutred herself, therefore, in all that was most homely to her new +apparel; made a packet of what remained of her genuine attire; left +half-a-guinea open upon a little table, to avoid again the accusation of +being a swindler; and then, descending the ladder, and contriving to +hide her bundle with her blue apron, as she passed, said that she was +going to walk in the neighbouring fields, but that it was too late to +take out the children; and, giving to each of them a penny, to buy +cakes, she quitted the cottage. + +Without an instant, without even any powers for reflection, she darted +across the fields, gained the road, and, within twenty minutes, arrived +at an entrance into the New Forest; to which she had already learnt the +way in her rambles with the children. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIII + + +The terrified eagerness with which Juliet sought personal security, made +her enter the New Forest as unmoved by its beauties, as unobservant of +its prospects, as the 'Dull Incurious[3],' who pursue their course but +to gain the place of their destination; unheeding all they meet on their +way, deaf to the songsters of the wood, and blind to the pictures of +'God's Gallery[4],' the country. + +[Footnote 3: Thomson.] + +[Footnote 4: Twining.] + +Her steps had no guide but fear, which winged their flight; she sought +no route but that which seemed most private. She flew past, across, away +from the high road, without daring to raise her eyes, lest her sight +should be blasted by the view of her dreaded pursuer. + +But speed which surpasses strength must necessarily be transitory. Her +feet soon failed; she panted for breath, and was compelled to stop. +Fearfully, then, she glanced her eyes around. Nothing met them but trees +and verdure. Again she blessed Heaven, and ventured to seat herself upon +the 'wild fantastic roots' of an aged beech-tree. + +Here, far removed from the 'busy hum of man,' from all public roads; not +even a beaten path within view, not a sheep-walk, nor a hamlet, nor a +cottage to be discerned; nor a single domestic animal to announce the +vicinity of mortal habitation; here, she began to hope that she had +parried danger, escaped detection, and reached a spot so secluded, that +all probability of pursuit was at an end. + +With this flattering idea the freedom of her respiration returned: they +will go on, she thought, from stage to stage, from mile-stone to +mile-stone; they will never imagine I should dare thus to turn aside +from the public way; or, should any unfortunate circumstance lead them +to such a surmise, how many chances, how many thousand chances are in my +favour, that they may not fix upon exactly the same direction, as that +to which accident, alone, has been my guide into the mazes of this +intricate forest! + +This belief sufficed to attract back to her willing welcome, that +invincible foe to helpless despondency, Hope; whose magic elasticity +waits not for reason, consults not with probability; weighs not +contending arguments for settling its expectations, or regulating its +desires; but, airy, blyth, and bright, bounds over every obstacle that +it cannot conquer. + +To find some humble dwelling, by travelling on still further from the +towns in which she had been seen, was her immediate project; but +prudence forbade her seeking the asylum with Dame Fairfield which she +had pleased herself with thinking secured, lest her arrival should be +preceded by an accusing, or followed by a dangerous report from her +hostess of Salisbury. She determined, therefore, to hide herself under +some obscure roof, where she might be utterly unknown; and there to +abide, till the fury of the storm by which she feared to be overtaken, +should be passed. + +No sooner were her spirits, in some degree, calmed, than, with the happy +promptitude of youth to set aside evil, all personal fatigue was +insensibly forgotten; her eyes began to recover their functions; and the +moment that she cast them around with abated anxiety, she was so +irresistibly struck with the prospect, and invigorated by the purity of +the ambient air, which exhaled odoriferous salubrity, that, rising fresh +as from the balmy restoration of undisturbed repose, she mounted a +hillock to take a general survey of the spot, and thought all paradise +was opened to her view. + +The evening was still but little advanced; the atmosphere was as +serenely clear, as the beauties which met her sight were sublimely +picturesque; and the gay luxuriance of the scenery, though chastened by +loneliness and silence, invited smiling admiration. Chiefly she was +struck with the noble aspect of the richly variegated woods, whose aged +oaks appeared to be spreading their venerable branches to offer shelter +from the storms of life, as well as of the elements, charming her +imagination by their lofty grandeur; while the zephyrs, which agitated +their verdant foliage, seemed but their animation. Soon, however, all +observation was seized and absorbed by the benignant west, where the +sun, with glory indescribable and ever new, appeared to be concentrating +its refulgence, to irradiate the world with its parting blessing: while +the extatic wild notes, and warbling, intuitive harmony of the feathered +race, struck her ear as sounds celestial, issuing from the abode of +angels; or to that abode chanting invitation. + +Here, for the first time, she ceased to sigh for social intercourse; she +had no void, no want; her mind was sufficient to itself; Nature, +Reflection, and Heaven seemed her own! Oh Gracious Providence! she +cried, supreme in goodness as in power! What lesson can all the +eloquence of rhetoric, science, erudition, or philosophy produce, to +restore tranquillity to the troubled, to preserve it in the wise, to +make it cheerful to the innocent,--like the simple view of beautiful +nature? so divine in its harmony, in its variety so exquisite! Oh great +Creator! beneficent! omnipotent! thy works and religion are one! +Religion! source and parent of resignation! under thy influence how +supportable is every earthly calamity! how supportable, because how +transitory becomes all human woe, where heaven and eternity seem full in +view! + +Thus, in soul-expanding contemplation, Juliet composed her spirits and +recruited her strength, while she awaited the dusky hue of twilight to +discover some retreat; and not without reluctance she then quitted the +delicious spot, where her weary mind and body had been alike refreshed +with repose and consolation. + +Though too much occupied by the certain and cruel danger from which she +was running, to bestow much attention upon the uncertain, yet immediate +and local risks to which she might be liable, she was not, now, sorry to +regain a beaten track, of which the rugged ruts shewed the recent +passage of a rural vehicle. + +In a few minutes, she descried a small cart, directed by a man on foot, +who was jovially talking with some companion. + +While seeking to discover whether their appearance were such as might +encourage her to ask their assistance upon her way, she was startled +with a cry of 'Why if there ben't Deb. Dyson! O the jeade! if I ben't +venged of un! a would no' know me this very blessed morning!' + +'Deb. Dyson?' answered the other: 'no, a be too slim for Debby. Debby'd +outweigh the double o' un.' + +'O, belike I do no' know Deb. Dyson?' cried the carter. 'Why I zee her, +at five of the clock, at her own door, in that seame bonnet. And I do +know her bonnet of old, for t' be none so new; for I was by when Johnny +Ascot gin it her, at our fair, two years agone. I know un well enough, I +va'nt me! A can make herself fat or lean as a wull, can Debby. A be a +funny wench, be Debby. But a shall peay me for this trick, I van't me, a +jeade!' + +Juliet, in the utmost alarm to find herself thus recognised by the +carter, though still supposed to be another, hastily glided back to the +wood; cruelly vexed that the very disguise which had hitherto saved her +from personal discovery, exposed her but additionally to another species +of peril. She might easily, indeed, by speaking, or by suffering herself +to be looked at, shew the carter his mistake in conceiving her to be of +his acquaintance; but there would still remain a dangerous appearance of +intimacy with a young woman who was evidently held in light estimation. +She quickened, therefore, her pace, and determined to relinquish her +suspicious bonnet by the first opportunity. + +In a short time the cackling of fowls, and other sounds of rural +animation, announced the vicinity of some inhabited spot. She pursued +this unerring direction, and soon saw, and entered, a small hut; in +which, though the whole dimensions might have stood in a corner of any +large hall, without being in the way, she found a father, mother, and +seven young children at supper. + +Their looks, upon her entrance, were by no means auspicious; the woman +scowled at her with an eye of ill will; the man harshly asked what she +wanted; the children, who seemed ravenous, squalled and squabbled for +food; and a fierce dog, quitting a half-gnawn bone, to bark +vociferously, seemed panting for a sign to leap at and bite her; as a +species of order to which he was accustomed upon the intrusion of a +stranger. + +Juliet told them that she was going to a neighbouring village; but that +she had missed her road, and, as it was growing dark, had stopt to beg a +night's lodging. + +They answered morosely that they had neither bed nor room for +travellers. + +Was there any house in the neighbourhood where she could be +accommodated? + +Aye, there was one, they answered, not afar off, where an old man and +his wife had a spare bed, belonging to their son: but the direction +which they gave was so intricate that, in the fear of losing her way, or +again encountering the carter, she entreated permission to sit up in the +kitchen. + +They went on with their supper, now helping, and now scolding their +children, and one another, without taking any notice of this request. + +To quicken their attention she put half-a-crown upon the table. + +The man and woman both rose, bowing and courtsying, and each offering +her their place, and their repast; saying it should go hard but they +would find something upon which she might take a little rest. + +She felt mortified that so mercenary a spirit could have found entrance +in a sport which seemed fitted to the virtuous innocence of our yet +untainted first parents; or to the guileless hospitality of the poet's +golden age. She was thankful, however, for their consent, and partook of +their fare; which she found, with great surprize, required not either +air or exercise to give it zest: it consisted of scraps of pheasant and +partridge, which the children called _chicky biddy_; and slices of such +fine-grained mutton, that she could with difficulty persuade herself +that she was not eating venison. + +All else that belonged to this rustic regale gave a surprize of an +entirely different nature; the nourishment was not more strikingly +above, than the discourse and general commerce of her new hosts were +below her expectations. They were rough to their children, and gross to +each other; the woman looked all care and ill humour; the man, all +moroseness and brutality. + +Safety, at this moment, was the only search of Juliet; yet, little as +she was difficult with respect to the manner of procuring it, she did +not feel quite at ease, when she observed that the man and his wife +spoke to each other frequently apart, in significant whispers, which +evidently, by their looks, had reference to their guest. + +Nevertheless, this created but a vague uneasiness, till the children +were put to bed; when the man and woman, having given Juliet some +clothing, and an old rug for a mattrass, demanded whether she were a +sound sleeper. + +She answered in the affirmative. + +They then mounted, by a staircase ladder to their chamber; but, while +they were shutting a trap-door, which separated the attic-story from the +kitchen, Juliet caught the words, 'You've only to turn the darkside of +your lanthorn, as you pass, mon, and what can a zee then?' + +She was now in a consternation of a sort yet new to her. What was there +to be seen?--What ought to be hidden?--Where, she cried, have I cast +myself! Have I fallen into a den of thieves? + +Her first impulse was to escape; and the moment that all was still over +her head, she stept softly to the door, guided by the light of the moon, +which gleamed through sundry apertures of an old board, that was placed +against the casement as a shutter: but the door was locked, and no key +was hung up; nor was any where in sight. + +This extraordinary caution in cottagers augmented her alarm. She had, +however, no resource but to await the dark lanthorn with steadiness, and +to collect all her courage for what might ensue. + +She sat upright and watchful, till, by the calculations of probability, +she conceived it to be about three o'clock in the morning. Lulled, then, +by a hope that her fears were groundless, she was falling insensibly +into a gentle slumber; when she was aroused by a step without, followed +by three taps against the window, and a voice that uttered, in low +accents, 'Make heaste, or 'twull be light o'er we be back.' + +The upper casement was then opened, and the host, in a gruff whisper, +answered, 'Be still a moment, will ye? There be one in the kitchen.' + +Great as was now the affright of Juliet, she had the presence of mind to +consider, that, whatever was the motive of this nocturnal rendezvous, it +was undoubtedly designed to be secret; and that her own safety might +hang upon her apparent ignorance of what might be going forward. + +To obviate, therefore, more effectually any surmize of her alarm, she +dropt softly upon the rug, and covered herself with the clothing +provided by her hostess. + +She had barely time for this operation before the trap-door was +uplifted, and gently, and without shoes, the man descended. He crossed +the room cautiously, unbolted and unlocked the door, and shut himself +out. Immediately afterwards, the woman, with no other drapery than that +in which she had slept, quickly, though with soft steps, came to the +side of the rug, and bent over it for about a minute; she then rebolted +and locked the door, returned up the ladder, and closed the +trap-opening. + +Juliet, though dismayed as much as astonished, forbore to rise, from +ignorance, even could she effect her escape, by what course to avoid +encountering the persons whom she meant to fly, in a manner still more +dangerous than that of awaiting their return to their own abode; whence +she hoped she might proceed quietly on her way the next morning, as an +object not worth detention or examination; her homely attire and +laborious manner of travelling alike announcing profitless poverty. + +Her doubts of the nature of what she had to apprehend, were as full of +perplexity as of inquietude. Would robbers thus eagerly have caught at +half-a-crown? Would they be residents in a fixed abode, with a family of +children? Surely not. Yet the whispers, the cautions, the examination +whether she slept, evinced clearly something clandestine; and their +looks and appearance were so darkly in their disfavour, that, +ultimately, she could only judge, that, if they were not actual robbers, +they were the occasional harbourers, and miserable accomplices of those +who, to similar want of principle, joined the necessary hardiness for +following that brief mode of obtaining a livelihood; brief not alone in +its success, but in its retribution! + +In a state of disturbance so singular, there was not much danger that +she should find herself surprised by + + 'Kind nature's soft restorer, balmy sleep.'[5] + +[Footnote 5: Young.] + +In less than an hour, three taps again struck her ear, though not upon +her own casement; taps so gentle, that had she been less watchful, they +would not have been heard. + +The woman instantly descended the ladder, and approached the bedding; +over which she leant as before; and, as before, concluded stillness to +be sleep. Cautiously, then, she unbolted and unlocked the door; when, +low as were the whispers that ensued, Juliet distinguished three +different tones of voice, though she caught not a word that was uttered. + +The woman next, gliding across the room, opened a low door, which Juliet +had not remarked. The man followed slowly, and as if heavily loaded; the +woman shut him out by this private door, and returned to fasten that of +public entrance; whispering 'Good bye!' to some one who seemed to be +departing. Juliet, at the same time, heard something fall, or thrown +down, from within, weighty, and bearing a lumpish sound that made her +start with horrour. + +This involuntary and irresistible movement was immediately perceived by +the hostess, who was re-crossing the room, but who, then, precipitately +advanced to the bedding, and roughly demanded whether she slept? + +Juliet struggled vainly to resume her serene appearance of repose; the +shock of her nerves had mounted to her features; she felt her lips +quiver, and her bosom heave, but she had still sufficient presence of +mind to conceal her face by rubbing her eyes, while she asked whether it +were time to breakfast? + +Satisfied by this enquiry, the woman answered No; and that she had only +gotten up to let in her husband, who had been abroad upon a little job, +for which he had not found leisure in the day: she recommended to her, +therefore, to lie still, and fall asleep. + +Still, she remained; but sleep was as far from her eyes, as, in such a +situation, from her wishes. She sought, however, again to wear its +semblance, while the woman followed her husband through the small door, +and shut herself, also, out. + +They continued together about half an hour, when, re-entering, they both +re-mounted the ladder; without further examination whether or not they +were observed. + +What might this imply? Was it simply that, concluding her to be awake, +they deemed caution to be unavailing? or, that their secret business +being finished, caution was no longer necessary? + +Strange, also, it appeared to her, their rustic life and residence +considered, that they should take such a season for rest, when she saw +the vivid rays of the early sun piercing, through various crevices, into +the apartment. + +Raising her head, next, to view the door, which, the preceding night, +had escaped her notice, she espied, close to its edge, a large clot of +blood. + +Struck with terrour, she started up; and then perceived that the passage +from door to door was traced with bloody spots. + +She remained for some minutes immovable, incapable either to think of +her danger, or to form any plan for her preservation; and wholly +absorbed by the image which this sight presented to her fears, of some +victim to murderous rapacity. + +Soon, however, rousing to a sense of her own situation, she determined +upon making a new attempt to escape. She listened beneath the trap-door, +to ascertain that all was quiet, and received the most unequivocal +assurances, that fatigue and watchfulness had ended in sound sleep. +Still, however, she could find no key; but, while fearfully examining +every corner, she remarked that the low door was merely latched. + +Should she here seek some out-let? She recoiled from the sight of the +blood; yet it was a sight that redoubled her earnestness to fly. +Whatever had been deposited would certainly be concealed: she resolved, +therefore, to make the experiment, though her hand shook so violently, +that, more than once, it dropt from the latch ere she could open the +door. + +Tremblingly she then crossed the threshold, and found herself in a +miserable outer-building, without casements, and encumbered with old +utensils and lumber. She observed a large cupboard which was locked, but +of which, from the darkness of the place, she could take no survey. To +the outward door there was no lock, but it was doubly bolted. She opened +it, though not without difficulty, and saw that it led to a small +disorderly garden, which was hedged round, half planted with potatoes, +and half wasted with rubbish. She examined whether there were any +opening by which she might enter the Forest; and discerned a small gate, +over which, though it was covered with briars, she believed that she +could scramble. + +Nevertheless, she hesitated; she might be heard, or presently missed and +pursued; and the vengeance incurred by such a detection of her +suspicions and ill opinion, might provoke her immediate destruction. It +might be better, therefore, to return; to rise only when called; to pay +them another half-crown; and then publicly depart. + +Accidentally, while thus deliberating, she touched the handle of a large +wicker-basket, and found that it was wet: she held out her hand to the +light, and saw that it was besmeared with blood. + +She turned sick; she nearly fainted; she shrunk from her hand with +horrour; yet strove to recover her courage, by ejaculating a fervent +prayer. + +To re-enter the house voluntarily, was now impossible; she shuddered at +the idea of again encountering her dreaded hosts, and resolved upon a +flight, at all risks, from so fearful a dwelling. + +She made her way through the enclosure; crossed the briery gate, and, +rushing past whatever had the appearance of already trodden ground, +dived into a wood; where, trampling down thorns, brambles, and nettles, +now braving, now unconscious of their stings, she continued her rapid +course, till she came within view of a small cottage. There she stopt; +not for repose; her troubled mind kept her body still insensible to +weariness; but to ponder upon her dreadful suspicions. + +Not a moment was requisite to satisfy her upright reason, that to +discover what she had seen, and what she surmised, was an immediate duty +to the community, if, by such a discovery, the community might be +served; however repugnant the measure might be to female delicacy; +however cruel to the pleadings of compassion for the children of the +house; and however adverse to her feelings, to denounce what she could +not have detected, but from seeking, and finding, a personal asylum in +distress. + +Yet who was she who must give such information? Anonymous accusation +might be neglected as calumnious; yet how name herself as belonging to +the noble family from which she sprung, but by which she was +unacknowledged? How, too, at a moment when concealment appeared to her +to be existence, come forward, a volunteer to public notice? Small as +ought to be the weight given to a consideration merely selfish, if +opposing the rights of general security; neither law, she thought, nor +equity, demanded the sacrifice of private and bosom feelings, for an +evil already irremediable, where, while the denunciation would be +unavailing, the denunciator must be undone. + +Appeased thus for the moment, though not satisfied in her scruples, she +walked on towards the dwelling; but, seeing that it was still shut up, +she seated herself upon the stump of a large tree, where deaf, from +mental occupation, to the wild melody of innumerable surrounding singing +birds, she shudderingly, and without intermission, bathed her bloody +hand in the dew. + +Rest, however, to her person, served but to quicken the energy of her +faculties; and the less her fears, the more her judgment prevailed. Her +reasoning, upon examination, she found to be plausible but fallacious. +The evil already committed, it was, indeed, too late to obviate; but if +the wretched hut, from which she had just escaped, were the receptacle +of nocturnal culprits, or of their victims, there might not be a moment +to lose to prevent some new and horrible catastrophe. + +In a dilemma thus severe, between the terrour of exposing herself to the +personal discovery which she was flying to avoid, or the horrour of +omitting the performance of a public duty; she had fixed upon no +positive measure, decided upon nothing that was satisfactory, before the +casements of the cottage were opened. + +Not to lose, then, another moment in unprofitable deliberation, she +resolved to communicate to the inhabitants her suspicions, and to urge +their being made known to the nearest Justice of the Peace. She might +then, with less scruple, continue her flight; and hereafter, if, +unhappily, there should be no other alternative, give her assistance in +following up the investigation. + +She tapped at the cottage-door, and demanded admittance and rest, as a +weary traveller. + +She was let in, without difficulty, by an old woman, who was +breakfasting with an old man, upon a rasher of bacon. + +It now, with much alarm, occurred to her, that this might be the house +to which she had been directed from the terrible hut. She fearfully +enquired whether they had a spare bed? and, upon receiving an answer in +the affirmative, with the history of their son's absence, not a doubt +remained that she had sought refuge with the friends, perhaps the +accomplices, of the very persons from whom she was escaping; and who, +should they, through vengeful apprehension, pursue her, would probably +begin their search at this spot. + +Affrighted at the idea, yet not daring abruptly to abscond, she forced +herself to sit still while they breakfasted; though unable to converse, +and turning with disgust from the sight of food. + +The old man and woman, meanwhile, intent solely upon their meal, which, +now too hot for their mouths, now too cold for their taste, now too hard +for their teeth, occupied all their discourse; heeded not her +uneasiness, and, when she arose and took leave, saw her departure with +as little remark as they had seen her entrance. + +With a complication of fears she now went forth again; to seek,--not an +asylum in the Forest, the beautiful Forest!--but the road by which she +might quit it with the greatest expedition. Where, now, was the +enchantment of its prospects? Where, the witchery of its scenery? All +was lost to her for pleasure, all was thrown away upon her as enjoyment; +she saw nothing but her danger, she could make no observation but how to +escape what it menaced. + +She flew, therefore, from the vicinity of the hut, though with a +celerity better adapted to her wishes than to her powers; for, in less +than half an hour, she was compelled, from utterly exhausted strength, +to seat herself upon the turf. + +Not yet was she risen, and scarcely was she rested, when she was +startled by a whistling in the wood, which was presently followed by the +sound of two youthful male voices, in merry converse. + +To escape notice, she, at first, thought it safest to sit still; but the +nearer and nearer approach of feet, made her reflect, that to be +surprised, in so unfrequented a spot, at so early an hour in the +morning, might be yet more unfavourable to opinion, than being discerned +to pace her lonely way, with the quick steps of busy haste or timid +caution. She moved, therefore, on; carefully taking a contrary direction +to that whence the voices issued. + +She soon found herself bewildered in a thicket, where she could trace +no path, and whence she could see no opening. She was felicitating +herself, however, that she had out-run the sounds by which she had been +affrighted; when she first heard, and next perceived, an immense dog, +who, after beating about the bushes at some distance, suddenly made a +point at her, and sprang forward. + +Terrour, which puts us into any state but that which is natural, +bestows, occasionally, what, in common, it robs us of, presence of mind. +Juliet knew that flight, to the intelligent, though dumb friend of man, +was well seen to be cowardice, and instinctively judged to be guilt. +Aware, therefore, that if she could not appease his fury, it were vain +to attempt escaping it, she compelled herself to turn round and face +him; holding out her hand in a caressing attitude, that seemed inviting +his approach; though with difficulty sustaining herself upon her feet, +from a dread of being torn to pieces. + +The rage, unprovoked, but not inexorable, of the animal, withstood not +this manifestation of kindness: from a pace so rapid, that it seemed +menacing to level her with the earth by a single bound, he abruptly +stopt, to look at and consider his imagined enemy; and from a barking, +of which the stormy loudness resounded through the forest, his tone +changed to a low though surly growl, in which he seemed to be debating +with himself, whether to attack a foe, or accept a friend. + +The hesitation sufficed to ensure to Juliet the victory. Encouraged by a +view of success, her address supplanted her timidity, and, bending +forwards, she called to him with endearing expressions. The dog, caught +by her confidence, made a grumbling but short resistance; and, having +first fiercely, and next attentively, surveyed her, wagged his tail in +sign of accommodation, and, gently advancing, stretched himself at her +feet. + +Juliet repaid his trust with the most playful caresses. Good and +excellent animal, she cried, what a lesson of mild philanthropy do you +offer to your masters! The kindness of an instant gains you to a +stranger, though no unkindness, nor even the hardest usage, can alienate +you from an old friend! + +She now flattered herself that, by following as he led, she might have a +guide, as well as a protector, to the habitation to which he belonged. +She sate by his side, determined to wait his movements, and to pursue +his course. Perfectly contented himself, he basked in the sun-beams that +broke through the thicket, and was evidently soothed, nay, charmed, by +the fond accents with which she solicited his friendship. + +This nearly silent, but expressive intercourse, was soon interrupted by +a vociferous Haloo! from a distant part of the wood. + +Up started the new companion of Juliet, who arose, also, to accompany, +or, at least, to trace his steps. Neither were possible. He darted from +her with the same rapidity, though wide from the same ferocity, as that +with which he had at first approached her: vain was every soft appeal, +lost was every gentle blandishment; in an instant he was out of sight, +out of hearing,--she scarcely saw him go ere he was gone. Faithful +creature! she cried, 'tis surely his master who calls! A new tie may +excite his benevolence; none can shake his fidelity, nor slacken his +services. + +Alone and unaided, she had now to pierce a passage through the thicket, +uncertain whither it might lead, and filled with apprehensions. + +But, in a few minutes, greatly to her satisfaction, her new friend +re-appeared; wagging his tail, rubbing himself against her gown, and +meeting and returning her caresses. + +Her project of obtaining a conductor was now recurring, when again an +Haloo! followed by the whistling of two voices, called off her hope; and +shewed her that her intended protector belonged to the young men whom +she had been endeavouring to avoid. + +She knew not whether it were better, under the auspices of her new ally, +to risk begging a direction from these youths, to some house or village; +or still to seek her desolate way alone. + +She had time only to start, not to solve this doubt; the dog, again +returning, as if unwilling to relinquish his new alliance, began to +excite the curiosity of his masters; who, following, exclaimed, 'Dash a +vound zomething, zure!' and presently, through the trees, she descried +two wood-cutters. + +She was seen, also, by them; they scrambled faster on; and one of them +said, + +'Why t'be a girl!' + +'Be it?' answered the other; 'why then I'll have a kiss.' + +'Not a fore me, mon!' cried his companion, 'vor I did zee her virzt!' + +'Belike you did,' the other replied; 'but I zpoke virzt; zo you mun come +after!' + +Juliet now saw herself in a danger more dreadful than any to which +either misfortune or accident had hitherto exposed her,--the danger of +personal and brutal insult. She looked around vainly for succour or +redress; the woods and the heavens were alone within view or within +hearing. + +The first terrible moment of this alarm was an agony of affright, that +made her believe herself a devoted victim to outrage: but the moment +after, observing that the young men were beginning to combat for +precedence, a sudden hope of escape revived her courage, and gave wings +to her feet; and, defying every obstacle, she pushed on a passage, +through the intricate thicket, almost with the swiftness that she might +have crossed the smoothest plain, till she arrived at an open spot of +ground. + +The fear of losing her now ended, though without deciding, the dispute; +and the youths ran on together, mutually and loudly shouting familiar +appeals, after the fugitive, upon their rights, with entreaties that she +would stop. + +Juliet again felt her strength expiring; but where courage is the result +of understanding, if its operation is less immediate than that which +springs from physical bravery, it is not less certain. The despair, +therefore, of saving herself by bodily exertion, presently gave rise to +a mental effort, which instigated her to turn round upon her +persecutors, and await and face them; with the same assumed firmness, +though not with the offered caresses, with which she had just +encountered her four-footed pursuer. + +Their surprize at this unexpected action put an end to their dissention; +and, each believing her to be alike at the service of either, or of +both, they laughed coarsely, and came on, arm in arm, and leisurely, +together. + +Juliet, calling to her assistance her utmost presence of mind, and +dignity of manner, stept forward to meet them; and, with an air that +disguised her apprehensions, said, 'Gentlemen, I have business of great +importance with the farmer who lives near this place; but I do not know +the shortest way to his farm. If you will be so obliging as to shew it +to me, you may depend upon his handsomely rewarding any trouble that you +may take.' + +Their astonishment, now, was encreased; but although, at the word +business, they leered at one another with an air of mockery, her air and +mien, with her grave civility and apparent trust, caused, involuntarily, +a suspension of their facetious design; and they enquired the name of +the farmer, whom she was seeking. + +She could not immediately, she said, recollect it; but he lived at the +nearest farm. + +'Why 't-ben't Master Zimmers?' They cried. + +'The very same!' + +'What, that do live yinder, across the copse?' + +'Without any doubt' + +They now ogled one another, with a consciousness that persuaded Juliet +that this Simmers was their own master; or, perhaps, their father; and +she repeated her request, with reiterated assurances, that a +considerable recompence would be bestowed upon her conductor. + +They looked irresolute, and extremely foolish; Dash, however, was firmly +her friend, and, while they were whispering and hesitating, jumped and +capered from his masters to his new associate, from his new associate to +his masters, with an intelligent delight, that seemed manifesting his +enjoyment of a junction which he had himself brought about. + +Juliet shewed so much pleasure in his kindness, that the young men, +proud of their dog, and glad, in their embarrassment, to be occupied +rather than to reply, fondled him, in their rough manner, themselves; +making him fetch, carry, stand on his hinder legs, leap over their hats, +caper, bark, point, and display his various accomplishments. + +Juliet encouraged this diversion, by patting the dog, applauding his +teachers, and stimulating a repetition of every feat; till the youths, +charmed by her good fellowship, were insensibly turned aside from their +evil intentions; and soon, and in perfect harmony, they all arrived at a +considerable farm, upon the borders of the New Forest. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIV + + +Juliet, thus escaped from the eminent and terrific dangers to which she +had been exposed, entered the farm-house with a glowing delight diffused +over her countenance, that instinctively communicated a participating +pleasure to the people of the farm; and caused her to be received with +an hospitality that might have contented the expectations of an old +friend. + +Nothing so unfailingly ensures, or rather creates a welcome, as +cheerfulness; cheerfulness! so beautifully, by Addison, called an Hymn +to the Divinity! Whether it be, that the view of sprightliness seems the +fore-runner of pleasure to ourselves; or whether we judge all within to +be innocent, where all without is serene; various, according to +sentiment, or circumstance, as may be the motive, the result is nearly +universal; that those who approach us with cheerfulness, are sure to be +met with kindness. Cheerfulness is as distinct from insipid placidity as +from buoyant spirits; it seems to indicate a disposition of thankful +enjoyment for all that can be attained of good, blended with resignation +upon principle to all that must be endured of evil. + +Her first care was to satisfy her two still wondering conductors, who +proved to be sons to the master of the farm, by giving to each +half-a-crown; that they might not lose their time, she told them, by +waiting till she had settled her business with their father: and, after +doubling her caresses to her protector, Dash, she sent them back to +their work; manifestly glad that they had not affronted a young woman, +who knew how to behave herself, they said, so handsomely. + +She now begged an audience of the farmer, to whom she resolved to +communicate her alarming adventure at the hut. + +The farmer, who was surrounded by his family and his labourers, to whom +he was issuing orders, desired her to speak out at once. + +Juliet could by no means consent to publish so dark and uncertain a +history to so many hearers; she again, therefore, entreated to address +him in private. + +He had come home, he answered, only to take a mug of beer; for the +plough was in the field: however, she might call again, if she would, at +dinner-time; but he had no time to give to talk in a morning. + +And forth he went, whistling, and hallooing after his labourers, as he +jogged his way. + +She then applied to his bustling, sturdy wife; but with no better +success; who was to feed the poultry? who was to give the wash to the +pigs? who was to churn the butter? if she threw away her time by +gossipping in the morning? + +The rest of the family consisted of three grown up daughters, and four +or five children. The daughters, though more civil, because less +voluntarily busy, and, as yet, less interested than their parents, were +too inexperienced to give any assistance, or form any judgment upon such +an affair; Juliet, therefore, who was sinking with fatigue and +emptiness, and who desired nothing so much as to remain for some time +under any safe roof, begged, of the young women, a bason of bread and +milk for her breakfast; and permission to stay at the farm till the hour +of dinner. + +These requests were granted without the smallest demur, even before she +produced her purse; which they viewed with no small surprize, saying +that they hoped they were not so near, as to take money for a little +bread and milk of a traveller; but that, if she must needs do it, she +might give a small matter to the children. + +Recollecting, now, her rustic and ordinary garb, and fearing to awaken +suspicion, or curiosity, she put a penny a-piece into the hands of two +little boys and a girl. + +It was then that she saw how far she was removed from the capital; in +the precincts of which the poor and the labourer are almost constantly +rapacious, or necessitous. The high price to be obtained, there, for +whatever is marketable, makes generosity demand too great a sacrifice, +save from the exalted few; who, still in all places, and in all classes, +are, by the candid observer, occasionally, to be found. But in this +obscure hamlet, where plenty was not bribed away to sale, this little +donation was received with as much amazement as joy; and the children +scampered to the dairy, and to the plough-field, to shew it first to +mammy, and then to dad. + +Juliet, having taken her simple repast, strolled into a small meadow, +just without the farm-yard; where she seated herself upon a style, to +enjoy, at once, the fragrant air, and personal repose. + +The prospect here, though less sublime in itself, and less exalting in +the ideas which it inspired, than that of the lonely and majestic +beauty, which had so powerfully charmed her, visually and +intellectually, in the midst of the New Forest; was yet gay, varied, +verdant and lovely. On the opposite side of a winding and picturesque +road, by which the greater part of the hedge around the meadow was +skirted, was situated a small Gothic church; of which the steeple was +nearly over-run with ivy, and the porch, half sunk into the ground, from +the ravages of time and of neglect; wearing, all together, the air of a +venerable ruin. Further on, and built upon a gentle acclivity, stood a +clean white cottage, evidently appropriated to the instruction of youth, +or rather childhood; to which sundry little boys and girls, each with a +book, or with needle-work, in his hand, were trudging with anxious +speed. Juliet spoke to each of them as they passed; pleased with their +innocent prattle, and gathering alternately, from their native +intelligence, or gaping stupidity, food to amuse her mind, with +predictions of their future characters. Sheep were browsing upon a +distant heath; cows were watering in a neighbouring stream; and two +beautiful colts were prancing and skipping, with all the bounding vigour +of untamed liberty, in the meadow. Geese, turkies, cocks and hens, ducks +and pigs, peopled the farm-yard; keeping up an almost constant chorus of +rural noises; which, at first, stunned her ears, but which, afterwards, +entertained her fancy, by drawing her observation to their various +habits and ways. The children came, jumping, to play around her; and her +friend Dash, discovering her retreat, frequently left the wood-cutters +to bound forwards, and court her caresses. + +The young women of the house, to divert their several labours of +weeding, churning, or washing, occasionally, also, joined her, for the +pleasure of a little chat; which they by no means, like their father or +mother, held in contempt. Juliet received them with an urbanity that +gave such a zest to their little visits, that it served to quicken their +work, that they might quicken their return; and, with the eldest, she +changed the bonnet of Debby Dyson, for one that was plainer, and yet +more coarse. + +There was nothing in these young persons of sufficient 'mark or +likelihood' to make them attractive to Juliet; but she was glad to earn +their good will; and not sorry to learn what were their occupations; +conscious that a dearth of useful resources, was a principal cause, in +adversity, of FEMALE DIFFICULTIES. + +Here, then, Juliet formed a project to rest, till her own should be +removed; or, at least, till she could obtain some intelligence, that +might guide her uncertain steps: this seemed the spot upon which she +might find repose; this seemed the juncture for enjoying quiet and +tranquility in the country life; to which she desired to devote the +residue of the time that might still be destined to suspense.--Here, +retirement would be soothing, and even seclusion supportable, from the +charm of the scenery, the beauty of the walks, the guileless characters, +and vivifying activity of the inhabitants of the farm-house; and the +fragrant serenity of all around. Here, peace and plenty were the result +of industry; and primitive, though not polite hospitality, was the +offspring of natural trust. If there was no cultivation, there was no +art; if there was no refinement, there were integrity and good will. + +She applied, therefore, to her new young acquaintances, to promote her +plan with their parents. They lost not a moment in making the +arrangement; and Juliet was immediately installed in a small chamber, +upon the attic-story. She settled that she should eat from their table, +but alone; for she dreaded remark or discovery. No terms were fixed; a +little matter, they said, would suffice; and Juliet saw that she had +nothing to fear from imposition; every face in the family bearing the +mark, or the promise, of steady honesty. + +Nor, indeed, could any price be exorbitant to Juliet, that could procure +some relief to her fears, and some respite from her toils. Her first +care was to obtain, through her new friends, implements for writing; and +then to transmit, in detail, assurances of her present safety, and even +comfort, to Gabriella; from whom she entreated intelligence, whether +pursuit and enquiry were still active. + +As fearful, now, of the name of Ellis, as, heretofore, she had been of +that of Granville, she desired that the answer might be directed, under +cover to 'Master Simmers, Farmer, at ----, near the New Forest;' and that +the enclosed letter might have no other address than, 'For the young +Woman who lodges at the Farm.' + +Again, then, she returned to the meadow, which, now her mind was more at +ease, seemed adorned with added verdure, freshness, and beauty. Here, +pensive, yet not without consolation, she past the day. + +The next, she rambled a few paces further, and found out a cottage, in a +situation of the most romantic loveliness, in which two labourers, and +their wives, resided with their mother; a cheerful, pleasing old woman, +with whom Juliet was immediately in amity. + +She visited, also, the school; made acquaintance with its mistress, who +appeared to be a sensible and worthy woman; and captivated the easy +hearts of the little scholars, by the playful manner in which she +noticed their occupations, encouraged their diligence, and assisted them +to learn their lessons. + +She aided, also, the young women of the farm, in various of the lighter +domestic offices that fell to their share; and amused, at once, and +instructed her own mind, by opening a new road for admiration of the +wondrous works of the Great Creator, in observing and studying the +various animals abounding in and about the farm. The remark and +attention of a few days, sufficed to shew her, not only as much +difference in the interiour nature of the four-footed and of the +plumaged race, as there is in their hides or their feathers; but nearly, +or, perhaps, quite as much diversity, in their dispositions, as in those +of their haughty human masters; though the means of manifestation bore +no comparison. In fixing her attention upon them, in following their +motions, and considering their actions; she found that though the same +happy instinct guided them all alike to self-preservation, the degrees +of skill with which they discovered the shortest and best method for +attaining what they coveted, were infinite; yet not more striking than +the variety of their humours; kind, complying, generous; or fierce, +selfish, and gloomy, in their intercourse with one another. _Le droit du +plus fort_, (the right of strength,) though the most ordinary, was by no +means the only, or the universal basis of animal legislation. Dexterity +and sagacity find ascendance wherever there is animation: and +propensities benign and social, or malignant and savage, as palpably +distinguish beast from beast, and bird from bird, as man from his +fellow. + +What an inexhaustible source was here, to a thinking being, both for +information and entertainment! Oh Providence Divine! she cried, how +minute is the perfection, yet how grand the harmony of thy works! + +Still, however, she sought vainly to obtain the requested conference. +The farmer, whose thoughts were absorbed exclusively in the interests of +his farm, was always too busy to afford her any time, and too +indifferent to give her any attention. As she lodged in the house, he +could hear her, he said, when he should be more at leisure; and all her +eloquence was ineffectual, either to awaken his curiosity, or to excite +his benevolence, by intimations of the importance, or of the haste, of +the business which she wished to communicate. 'Ay, girl, ay,' he would +reply; 'by and by will do just as well.' + +But by and by came not! When she endeavoured to catch a moment, at the +hour of breakfast, the whole day, he would cry, was as good as thrown +away, if a man lost a moment of his morning: yet if she solicited his +hearing in the evening, he would cordially offer her some bread and +cheese, and beer; but rise from them himself, heavy and sleepy, to go to +bed; saying, 'Hark y', my girl; when you've worked as hard as a farmer, +you'll be as glad of your night's rest.' + +If she sought him in the middle of the day, he was always surrounded by +his family, and by labourers, from whom he would never step apart; +telling her to speak out what she had to say, and to fear nothing and +nobody. + +Farming, she soon found, he regarded as the only art of life worth +cultivation, or even worth attention; every other seemed to him +superfluous or silly. A woman, therefore, as she could neither plough +the field, nor mow the corn, he considered as every way an inferiour +being: and, like the savages of uncivilised nature, he would scarcely +have allowed a female a place at his board, but for the mitigation given +to his contempt, from regarding her as the mother of man. + +The sex, therefore, of Juliet, was here wholly against her; and youth +and beauty, those powerful combatants of misanthropy! were necessarily +without influence, where they were never looked at: Could they ripen his +corn? or make his hay? No; What then, was their value? + +Nevertheless, he treated neither his wife nor his daughters ill; he only +considered them as his servants: and when they were diligent and useful, +he praised them and gave them presents; and, when their work was done, +suffered them to seek what diversion they pleased, without interference +or controul. The females were indifferent, and therefore contented; +though neither confidential nor affectionate. + +The sons, on the contrary, were open, boisterous, and daring; +domineering over their sisters, and mocking their mother; while they +nearly shared, with their partial father, both his authority and his +profits. + +In a family such as this, Juliet had no chance of softening the languor +of her suspense by society; and books, its best substitute, had never +found their way into the farm-house; save an odd volume or two of +trials, sundry tracts upon farriery, and various dismal old ballads. + +The first charm of this rural residence, consisting in its views and +its walks, soon lost something of its animation to Juliet, through the +restriction of fear, which impeded her from roving beyond the +neighbourhood of the farm. And though the beautiful prospect from the +meadow, and the air and exercise of mounting to the school, might +permanently have afforded her delight, if shared with some loved friend, +or enjoyed with some good author; she became, in a short time, through +the total deprivation of either, nearly as languid from monotony +without, as she was wearied by ungenial intercourse within. + +On Sunday, after they had all been to church, the young women proposed +to accompany her in a stroll; and the hope of a romantic ramble without +danger, induced her acceptance of the invitation. This, however, was an +essay which she did not feel tempted to repeat. She found that their +only idea of taking a stroll, was to get away from home; and their only +object of pursuit, was to encounter their several sweethearts. They +walked not for exercise; they had more than enough in their daily +occupations. They walked not for air; they rarely spent an hour of the +day under shelter. They walked still less in search of rural views, or +picturesque beauties; they saw them not; or, rather, they saw them too +constantly to heed them. Their chosen scene was the high road; along +which they leisurely, but merrily sauntered, to enjoy,--not the verdure +of the adjacent fields, or wood; not the freshness of the salubrious +breeze; not the charm, here and there occasionally bursting upon the +sight, of sloping hills, or flowery dales; but to watch for every +distant cloud of rising dust, that announced, or that promised the +approach of a horse, cart, or waggon. + +What, to these, was the pleasure of situation? Juliet saw, with concern, +that all which, to herself, would have solaced a similar way of life, to +them was null. Accustomed from their infancy to beautiful scenery, they +looked at it as a thing of course, without pleasure or admiration; +because without that which fixes all worldly acceptation of +happiness,--comparison. + +The mother, whose existence, from the fear and from the commands of her +husband, was laborious; and, from her own love of saving, penurious; had +scarcely even any idea of pleasure, beyond what accrued from feeding her +rabbits, fattening her hogs, and carrying her eggs and poultry to a good +market. + +The farmer, whose will had no controul, either from himself or his +family; and who indulged his own humours in the same proportion that he +kept theirs in awe, had yet a master; and a master more despotic and +ungovernable than himself,--the Weather! to whose power, however, he by +no means submitted tamely. The whole house rang with the violence of his +rage, if the rain fell while his hay were cutting or stacking; and he +could scarcely swallow his dinner for chagrin, if it failed to fall when +his peas wanted filling: his imprecations were those of a man provoked +by the grossest personal injury, if a sharp wind came not at his +bidding, when he perceived insects crawling upon the leaves of his +fruit-trees in the orchard; and his whole family trembled, as if +immediate ruin, or an earthquake were impending, when he claimed, and +claimed in vain, the sun to ripen his corn. + +Juliet now found, that a farmer is sensible to no happiness, that a gust +of wind, a shower of rain, or the beams of the sun; as they meet, or +oppose, his wishes; does not confirm, or may not destroy. + +The storms, nevertheless, raised by this man of the elements, were from +causes too obvious to create surprize; and they were known to be too +harmless in their operations, to occasion any other movement in his +household, than that of a general struggle which should first get out of +his way till they were blown over: but, to a stranger, to Juliet, they +were more tremendous, because as foreign to the habits of her life, as +they were ungenial to her nature. To change therefore, a scene so +continually overcast, she took leave of the family, thankfully repaying +the services which she had received; and left the farm, to lodge herself +with the pleasing old woman, who had won her favour, in the beautifully +picturesque cottage in the neighbourhood. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXV + + +In this cottage, Juliet, again, witnessed another scene of life; and one +which, serene and soothing, appeared, upon its opening, to exclude all +evil. + +The dwelling of the shepherd, or husbandman, had already in its favour +the imagery of poesy, and the ardent predilection of juvenile ideas; +and, with the vivacity of a heart always open to hope, Juliet hailed in +it, at once, tranquillity and contentment. + +Paid for his work by the day, the labourer had no anxiety for the +morrow; the ground he was to plough, or till, or sow, was not his own; +the goodness, badness, and variations of the weather touched not his +property, nor endangered his subsistence. Be the seasons, therefore, +what they might, he was not to be pitied. + +Yet though his sound repose, the fruit of his toil, was undisturbed by +elemental strife, he waked not to active hope; he looked not forward to +sanguine expectation: the changes which could do him no mischief, could +not bring him any advantage. No view of amelioration to his destiny +enlivened his prospect; no opening to better days spurred his industry; +and, as all action is debased, or exalted, by its motive; and all +labour, by its object; those who struggle but to eat and sleep, may be +saved from solicitude, but cannot be elevated to prosperity. He could +not, therefore, be envied. + +Two of the young men were married, and their wives, strong and healthy +like themselves, worked almost as laboriously. Juliet found them as +worthy as they were industrious; and hoped, by exciting their kindness, +to add the interest of gentle amity to peace and rural enjoyment. But, +though pleased and satisfied with their characters, and honouring their +active and useful lives, she sought vainly to content herself with their +uncultured society; and soon saw, with regret, how much the charm, +though not the worth, of innocence depends upon manners; of goodness, +upon refinement; and of honesty upon elevation. There was much to merit +her approbation; but not a point to engage her sympathy; and, where the +dominion of the character falls chiefly upon the heart, life, without +sympathy, is a blank. The unsatisfied soul sighs for communion; its +affections demand an expansion, its ideas, a developement, that, +instinctively, call for interchange; and point out, that solitude, +sought only by misery, remorse, or misanthropy, is as ungenial to our +natural feelings, as retirement is salubrious. + +She had here time and opportunity to see the fallacy, alike in authors +and in the world, of judging solely by theory. Those who are born and +bred in a capital; who first revel in its dissipations and vanities, +next, sicken of its tumults and disappointments, write or exclaim for +ever, how happy is the country peasant's lot! They reflect not that, to +make it such, the peasant must be so much more philosophic than the rest +of mankind, as to see and feel only his advantages, while he is blind +and insensible to his hardships. Then, indeed, the lot of the peasant +might merit envy! + +But who is it that gives it celebrity? Is it himself? Does he write of +his own joys? Does he boast of his own contentment? Does he praise his +own lot? No! 'tis the writer, who has never tried it, and the man of the +world who, however murmuring at his own, would not change with it, that +give it celebrity. + +Though natively endowed with that first, perhaps of worldly blessings, +high animal spirits, Juliet, from an early experience of the +vicissitudes of fortune, was become meditative. She looked with an +intelligent desire of information, upon every new scene of life, that +was presented to her view; and every class of society, that came within +her knowledge: she now, therefore, with equal clearness and concern, saw +how false an idea is conceived, at a distance, not only of the +shepherd's paradise, but of the general happiness of the country +life;--save to those who enjoy it with a large family to bring up; or +with means not alone competent to necessity, but to benevolence; which +not alone give leisure for the indulgence of contemplation, and the +cultivation of rural taste, of literature, and of the fine arts; but +which supply means for lightening the labours, and softening the +hardships of the surrounding poor and needy. Then, indeed, the country +life is the nearest upon earth, to what we may conceive of joys +celestial! + +The verdure of the flower-motleyed meadow; the variegated foliage of +the wood; the fragrance and purity of the air, and the wide spreading +beauties of the landscape, charm not the labourer. They charm only the +enlightened rambler, or affluent possessor. Those who toil, heed them +not. Their eyes are upon their plough; their attention is fixed upon the +harvest; their sight follows the pruning hook. If the vivid field +catches their view, it is but to present to them the image of the +scythe, with which their labour must mow it; if they look at the shady +tree, it is only with the foresight of the ax, with which their strength +must fell it; and, while the body pants but for rest, which of the +senses can surrounding scenery, ambient perfumes, or vocal warblers, +enchant or enliven? + +Juliet now, herself an inhabitant of the cottage, which, hitherto, she +had only beheld in perspective, smiled, yet sighed at her mistake, in +having considered shepherds and peasants as objects of envy. O ye, she +cried, who view them through your imaginations! were ye to toil with +them but one week! to rise as they rise, feed as they feed, and work as +they work! like mine, then, your eyes would open; you would no longer +judge of their pleasures and luxuries, by those of which they are the +instruments for yourselves! you would feel and remark, that yours are +all prepared for you; and that they, the preparers, are sufferers, not +partakers! You would see then, as I see now, that the most delightful +view which the horizon can bound, affords not to the poor labourer the +joy that is excited by the view of the twilight through which it is +excluded; but which sends him home to the mat of straw, that rests, for +the night, his spent and weary limbs. + +Then, as she looked around, from the summit of the hill upon which stood +the small seminary for children, which she frequently visited, Oh that +Elinor, she cried, escaping from the pressure of her passions, would +expand her feelings by contemplating the works of God! Oh Father of +All!--Who can reflect, yet doubt, that Man, placed at the head of these +stupenduous operations, lord of the earthly sphere, can fail to be +destined for Immortality? Yet more, who can examine and meditate upon +the uncertain existence of thy creatures,--see failure without fault; +success without virtue; sickness without relief; oppression in the very +face of liberty; labour without sustenance; and suffering without +crime;--and not see, and not feel that all call aloud for resurrection +and retribution! that annihilation and unjustice would be one! and that +Man, from the very nature of his precarious earthly being, must +necessarily be destined, by the All Wise, and All Just, for regions +that we see not; for purposes that we know not;--for Immortality! + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVI + + +Thus, in beautiful scenery, and meditative resignation, with outward +quiet, though by no means with internal tranquillity, Juliet had passed +about a week, when the wife of the farmer broke rudely into the cottage; +bearing in her hand the bonnet of Debby Dyson, which she flung +scornfully upon a table. + +Angrily, then, reproaching Juliet that she had caused Bet to be taken +for that bold hussy, by the higler, she demanded back the exchanged +bonnet; declaring, that the girl should never wear one again, to the +longest day that she had to live, rather than dress herself up in any +thing of Debby Dyson's. + +Turning next to the old cottager, she added, that a good mother would do +well not to keep a person used to such light company under her roof; +unless she had a mind to bring her daughters-in-law to ruin. + +Then, snatching up her girl's bonnet, she bustled away to look after her +evening's milking; roughly refusing to hearken to any sort of +explanation from Juliet, and saying that she never knew any good come of +listening to talking; which was no better than idling away time. + +Juliet remained confounded; while the tender old cottager shed tears, +saying that she had never before had so pretty a companion in her life. +But Juliet would not tempt the good woman to defy the persons upon whom +her children chiefly depended; and, once more, therefore, she was +reduced to make up her little packet. + +She entreated of the cottager that, if a letter came for her to the +farm, it might be kept till she sent her direction; then doubled the pay +of all that she owed for board and lodging; and, kindly taking leave of +the old dame, who wept bitterly at the parting; quitted the cottage; and +again, in search of a new asylum, became a Wanderer. + +Which way to turn, she made no enquiry, wholly ignorant what choice +might bring security. + +It was the end of August, and still not more than six o'clock in the +afternoon. She avoided the high road, in the fear of some unfortunate +encounter, and went down a pleasant looking lane; purposing to proceed +as far, and as fast, as she could go, while it was yet light; and then +to enter some new humble dwelling. + +The evening was serene and warm, and occasional openings, through the +hedges on either side, presented views so picturesque, that, had her +mind been more at ease, they would have rendered her walk delightful. + +She crossed various corn-fields, and beautiful meadows; but met with no +cottage from which some lounging labourer did not frighten her; till, at +length, overtaken by the dusk of the evening, she was fain to turn back, +and seek, with whatever apprehension, some lodging, for the night, upon +the public road. + +But to do this was no longer easy. She mistook what she thought was her +direction, and, instead of arriving at the road, found herself upon a +broad, open, dreary heath. + +She endeavoured to discover the track of some carriage, and succeeded; +and followed the mark, till she thought that she perceived a cottage. + +She hastened towards it, with all the speed that her wearied limbs would +permit; but the expected habitation proved merely a group of Pollards. + +She would then have recovered the wheel-track; but the moon became +suddenly clouded, a general darkness overspread the face of the country +around, and she could discover no kind of path. + +She now grew apprehensive that she should pass the night in the open +air; with not a human being within hearing, nor any house, nor any +succour within reach. What she might have to dread she knew not; but, in +a situation so wildly solitary, the very ignorance of what there might +be to fear, was intimidating, nay, awful. + +The darkness encreased; cautiously and slowly she went on; starting at +every breeze, and in continual terrour of meeting some unknown mischief. + +She wandered thus for some hours, now sinking into marshy ground, now +wounded by rude stones, now upon a soft, smooth plain, and now stung or +torn by bushes, nettles, and briars; till she concluded it to be about +midnight. A light wind then arose, the clouds were dispersed; and the +moon, which, though upon the wane, afforded a gentle, melancholy light, +shewed her that she was once again in the midst of the New Forest. + +Few sights could have been less welcome; what already she had suffered, +and, far more, what she had apprehended, filled her with terrour; and +her imagination was fearfully at work, now to bring her to the hut which +she had so suspiciously fled; now to the encounter of disorderly young +assailants, with no Dash for her protection; now to the attack of +lurking thieves, and strolling vagabonds; and now to the danger of being +bewildered and lost in the mazes of the Forest. + +The last of these evils soon ceased to be a mere phantasm of fear; the +wind no sooner was calmed than the moon again was obscured, and all +around her was darker, and therefore more tremendous than ever. + +She continued to move on, though without knowing whether she were +advancing or retrograding. But, ere long, her walk became embarrassed +and difficult; her progress was every way obstructed; and her retreat at +the same time impeded; and she found herself in a thick wood, of which +the deep hanging boughs continually annoyed her face and her limbs; +while the unscythed grass, the growth of ages, entangled her feet, and +made every step a labour. + +Wearied and dejected, she leaned against a tree, and determined to make +no further attempt to proceed, till some gleam of dawn should direct her +way. + +She had not remained long in this position of despondence, ere she +discerned, through the trees, at a considerable distance, a dim light. + +She concluded that this must proceed from some dwelling; and, feeling +instantly revived, re-commenced her journey: yet, presently, she stopt +and hesitated,--it might emit from the hut! In the dead of the night +there was little probability that any common cottagers would require a +light. + +Discomfited, discouraged, she again leaned against a tree. + +Yet some one might be ill; and the chamber of sickness and danger could +no more, in the cottage, than in the palace, be consigned to darkness. +She determined, therefore, to approach the spot, and, at break of day, +to examine the premises; certain she could not ever mistake, or ever +forget, the situation of the hut. + +She went forward. + +The light, in a few moments, disappeared; but she was not, therefore, +led to consider it as a Will with the Wisp, to beguile her to some +illusion; for, ere it vanished, it displayed, in passing sideways, a +view of a cottage double or treble the length of the dreaded hut. + +This was a sight truly consoling; yet, though it happily removed the +most terrible of her fears, it awakened new perplexity. The light had +been evidently without doors: the suggestion, therefore, of a sick +chamber proved unfounded. Yet what, in the middle of the night, could +replace it, that was natural, and free from suspicion of evil? + +Nevertheless, she moved on; seeking to guide herself by the recollection +of the spot which she had transiently seen; till she was startled by a +murmuring of human voices. + +But for the alarm left upon her mind, by the adventure of the hut, and +the pursuit of the wood-cutters, this would have been a sound in which +her ears would have rejoiced, as the fore-runner of succour and of +safety; for, till then, she had always connected the idea of rusticity +with innocence, and of rural life with felicity. But now, she had +fatally learnt, that no class, and no station, appropriatively merit +trust; and that the poor, like the rich, the humble, like the proud, can +only by principle be worthy of confidence: whether that principle be the +happy inherent growth of favouring Providence; or the fruit of religion, +and cultivated virtue. + +But fear and incertitude, though they slackened, did not long stop her +progress: the terrour of her lonely situation pointed out to her, +indeed, the danger of falling into evil hands; yet peremptorily, at the +same time, urged her to seek almost any protection, that might rescue +her from the vague horrours of this dark and tremendous solitude. It +was, at least, possible that these might be the voices of some +unfortunate travellers, belated, or lost, like herself, in the Forest. +On, therefore, she glided, till she distinguished three different tones, +all of which were male, but none of which sounded either youthful or +gay. They spoke so low, that not a word reached her ears; nor could she +have caught even a sound, but for the total stillness of the air. That +they spoke in whispers, therefore, was certain: Was it from fear? Was it +from guilt? + +The doubt sufficed to check all project of addressing them; but, as she +meant to retreat, she trod upon a broken bough of a tree, which made a +crackling noise under her feet, that, she had reason to believe, was +heard by the interlocutors, as it was followed by profound silence. + +She was now forced to remain immovable; for she felt herself entangled +in some of the branches of the bough, and feared that any attempt to +dissembarrass herself might cause a new commotion, and point out her +position. + +She soon became but too certain that she had been heard; for the light +re-appeared, and she was sufficiently near to observe, that it had been +produced by a dark lanthorn, which she now saw turned round, by a man +who was evidently seeking to discover whence the noise made by the bough +had issued: she saw, also, that he had two companions; but what was her +shock when, presently, in one of them, she perceived the master of the +hut! + +She now gave herself up as lost! Lost alike from his fear of detection, +and his vengeance for her escape. To run away was impossible; she could +find no path; she could not even venture to stir a step, lest she should +betray her concealment. + +They searched, for some time, in different directions; two of them then +approached so nearly to the spot upon which she was standing, saying, to +each other, that they were sure the sound came from that quarter, that +she almost fainted with excess of terrour. But they soon turned off +another way; one of them averring that the noise was only from some +windfall; and the hut-man replying, in a coarse bass voice, that, if any +body were watching, 'twas well they had come no sooner; for he'd defy +the sharpest eye living to give a guess, now, at what they had been +about. + +In this terrible interval, the door of the habitation, of which she had +already had a glimpse, was opened by a female; who, depositing a candle +upon the threshold, ran up to one of the men, with whom she conversed +for a few minutes; after which, saying 'Good night!' she re-entered the +house; while the men, all three repeating 'Good night!' trudged away, +and were soon out of hearing. + +Juliet now conceived a hope, that a female, left, probably, alone, +might, either through kindness or through interest, be made a friend. +She disengaged herself, therefore, from her impediments, and gently +tapped at the door. + +It was immediately opened by the woman, who said, 'Why now, dear me, +what have a forgot?' but who no sooner saw a stranger, than she screamed +aloud, 'La be good unto me! what been ye come for here, at such an +untoward time o'night as this be?' while some children who were in bed, +and suddenly awakened, jumping upon the ground, clang round their +mother, and began crying piteously. + +Juliet, more affrighted than themselves, uttered the softest petition, +for a few hours' refuge from the dreariness of travelling by night. The +woman, then, casting up her hands in wonder, exclaimed, 'Good la! be you +only no other but the good gentlewoman that was so koind to my little +dearies?' + +The children, recollecting her at the same moment, loosened their mother +to throw their little arms around their guest; skipping and rejoicing, +and crying, 'O dood ady! dood ady! it's dood ady!' + +This, indeed, was a moment of joy to Juliet, such as life, even at its +best periods, can but rarely afford. From fears the most horrible of +unknown dangers; and from fatigue nearly insupportable, she found +herself suddenly welcomed by trusting kindness. All her dread and +scruples, with respect to the Salisbury turnpike hostess, or to any +previous reports, were, she now saw, groundless; and she delightedly +felt herself in the bosom of security, while encircled in the arms of +affectionate and unsuspicious innocence. + +The good woman uncovered her hot embers, and put on some fresh wood, to +restore the weary traveller from the chill of the night: and brought out +of her cupboard a slice of bacon, and the end of a brown loaf of bread: +not mingling, with the warmth of her genuine hospitality, one +mistrustful enquiry into the reason of her guest's late wandering, or +the cause of her lonely difficulties. + +The children with, instinctively, the same sensations, ran about, nearly +naked, in search of their homely play-things; persuaded that the 'dood +ady' would be as pleased as they were themselves, by the sight of the +several pieces of broken platter, which they called their tea-things; +and a small truss of straw, rolled round with rags, which they +denominated their doll. Nor would they return to rest, till Juliet sat +down by their side, to tell them some simple stories, of other good boys +and girls; while their mother prepared, for the 'dood ady,' a bed above +stairs. + +The thankful happiness of Juliet, at a deliverance so unexpected, so +sweet, so soothing, induced her cordially to partake of a repast of +which she stood greatly in need; but, before she could mount to the +offered chamber, officious doubts and apprehensions broke into the +fulness of her contentment, with enquiries: Who might be the men whom +she had seen hovering about the house? What might be their business +without doors during the dead of the night? What had the man of the hut +to do away from his dwelling at such an hour? And why, and for whom, was +the good dame herself up so late, without giving any reason for what +must necessarily appear so extraordinary? + +Bewildered in her ideas, uncertain in her judgment, and fearful how to +act, she could not resolve to inhabit a lonely chamber up stairs, at the +risk of some fatal surprize, or new danger. She complained of cold, and +entreated for leave to sit over the embers; while she begged them, +without heeding her, to take their usual repose. + +The good woman started not the smallest difficulty; and, placing herself +by the side of the children, in less than three minutes, was visited, +like themselves, with the soundest sleep. + +This woman, thought Juliet, must be as guileless as she is benevolent, +unaccountable as are all the circumstances that hang about her; could +she, else, with trust thus facile, taste rest thus undisturbed, in +presence of a wandering stranger, known to her only by a small and +accidental kindness shewn to her children? + +Quieted by this example, Juliet herself, leaning her head against the +wall, partook of that common, but ever wonderful oblivion, by which life +is recruited, sorrow supported, and care assuaged. + +With the first sun-beam they all awoke, and Juliet besought her hostess +to accompany her to the nearest town. The good woman cheerfully complied +with this request, making no other condition than that of demanding the +time to dress and breakfast her bantlings, as she never went any where +without them. + +Juliet then officiated as nurse to the children: and here, again, the +wish of obliging, with the talent of being serviceable, so endeared her +to the little ones, and made her so agreeable to their parent, that she +was earnestly solicited to remain with them a little longer. + +'But, your husband?' Juliet then ventured to ask; 'may I not be in his +way?' + +'O no,' the woman answered; 'a be gone his rounds; and 't be odds but +they do take un, God willing, a week.' + +This was sufficient encouragement for the harassed Juliet joyfully to +accept the invitation for remaining with them a few days. She deposited, +therefore, her baggage in the no longer rejected up stairs chamber; and, +after a few hours of quiet repose, took the entire charge of the +children for the rest of the day; not merely to play with and amuse +them, but to work for them. And her industry and adroitness soon put +their whole little wardrobe in order; and she fashioned their clothing +to their little shapes, in a manner so neat and commodious, that all +that they possessed appeared to them to be new. + +The day following, with the same happy skill, she dedicated her time to +the service of the mother; whose entreaties grew more and more urgent, +that she would prolong her stay at the cottage. + +Far was she from desirous to quit it. With repose so much required, she +here found comfort, peace, and affection,--three principal ingredients +in the composition of happiness! which her mind, in her uncertainty of +the fate awaiting her, was delighted to seize, and eager to requite. + +For whomsoever, therefore, and at whatsoever she worked, she sung simple +songs, or told simple stories, with invariable good humour and +pleasantry, to her little friends, who clung to her with passionate +fondness; while their enchanted mother thought that some angel was +descended amongst them, in guise of a traveller, to charm and to serve +them at once. + +To the unhackneyed observation of this good woman, the change of attire +in Juliet, since their meeting at Salisbury, offered no sort of food to +conjecture; she concluded that to walk about that fine city, had well +deserved the best clothes; and that the worst had naturally been put on, +afterwards, for economy, upon the road. Juliet found her wholly ignorant +of the Salisbury adventure; and filled with innocent gratitude, in +concluding that she had been benighted in the Forest, while seeking to +find the little dearys whom she had thought so pretty upon the high +road. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Wanderer (Volume 4 of 5), by Fanny Burney + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WANDERER (VOLUME 4 OF 5) *** + +***** This file should be named 37440.txt or 37440.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/4/4/37440/ + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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