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diff --git a/8434.txt b/8434.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3abb454 --- /dev/null +++ b/8434.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7414 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ladies, by E. Barrington + +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 Ladies + A Shining Constellation of Wit and Beauty + +Author: E. Barrington + +Posting Date: March 28, 2014 [EBook #8434] +Release Date: July, 2005 +First Posted: July 10, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LADIES *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: _Elizabeth Duchess of Hamilton and Argyle nee +Gunning_] + +"The Ladies" + +A Shining Constellation of Wit and Beauty + +by + +E. Barrington + +Illustrated with Portraits + + + +Preface + + + +The aim of these stories is not historical exactitude nor unbending +accuracy in dates or juxtaposition. They are rather an attempt to +re-create the personalities of a succession of charming women, ranging +from Elizabeth Pepys, wife of the Diarist, to Fanny Burney and her +experiences at the Court of Queen Charlotte. As I have imagined them, so I +have set them forth, and if what is written can at all revive their +perished grace and the unfading delight of days that now belong to the +ages, and to men no more, I shall not have failed. Much is imagination, +more is truth, but which is which I scarcely can tell myself. I have +wished to set them in other circumstances than those we know. + +What would Elizabeth Pepys have felt if she had read the secrets of the +Diary? If Stella and Vanessa had met--Ah, that is a tenderness and terror +almost beyond all thinking! How would my Lady Mary's smarting pride have +blistered herself and others if the Fleet marriage of her eccentric +son--whose wife she never saw--had actually come between the wind and her +nobility? Was there no finer, more ethereal touch in Elizabeth Gunning's +stolen marriage with her Duke than is recorded in Horace Walpole's +malicious gossip? Could such beauty have been utterly sordid? What were +the fears and hopes of the lovely Maria Walpole as, after long concealment +of her marriage, she trembled on the steps of a throne? How did those +about her judge of Fanny Burney in the Digby affair? Did she wholly +conceal her heart? From her Diary we know what she wished to feel--very +certainly not entirely what she felt. + +Perhaps of all these women we know best that Elizabeth who never +lived--Elizabeth Bennet. She is the most real because her inner being is +laid open to us by her great creator. I have not dared to touch her save +as a shadow picture in the background of the quiet English country-life +which now is gone for ever. But her fragrance--stimulating rather than +sweet, like lavender and rosemary--could not be forgotten in any picture +of the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries and among the women +whom all the world remembers. They, one and all, can only move in +dreamland now. Their lives are but stories in a printed book, and a +heroine of Jane Austen's is as real as Stella or the fair Walpole. So I +apologise for nothing. I have dreamed. I may hope that others will dream +with me. + +E. BARRINGTON + + + + +Table of Contents + + + +I. The Diurnal of Mrs Elizabeth Pepys + _Had she Read her Husband's Diary_ + +II. The Mystery of Stella + _Why might not she and Vanessa have met?_ + +III. My Lady Mary + _To Dispel the Mystery of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's quitting +England in 1739_ + +IV. The Golden Vanity + _A Story of the First Irish Beauties--the Gunnings_ + +V. The Walpole Beauty + _A Tale in Letters about Maria Walpole, Countess of Waldegrave, +Duchess of Gloucester, Niece of Horace Walpole_ + +VI. A Blue Stocking at Court + _Why Fanny Burney, Madame D'Arblay, retired from Court in 1791_ + +VII. The Darcys of Rosing + _A Reintroduction to some of the characters of Miss Austen's +Novels_ + + + + +Illustrations + + + +Elizabeth Cunning +Portrait by Catherine Reed + +Mrs Pepys as St. Katharine +Portrait by Hayts + +Esther Johnson, "Stella" +Portrait by Kneller + +Hester Vanhomrigh, "Vanessa" + +Lady Mary Wortley Montagu +Portrait by Kneller + +Maria Gunning +Portrait by Cotes + +Maria Walpole and Her Daughter, Elizabeth Laura +Portrait by Reynolds + +Fanny Burney, Madame D'Arblay +After Portrait by E. F. Burney + + + + +Elizabeth Pepys +1640-1669 + + + +"So home to dinner with my wife, very pleasant and pleased with one +another's company, and in our general enjoyment one of another, better we +think than most other couples do." + +Elizabeth St. Michel, daughter of a French Huguenot, was fifteen when +Pepys married her. She was only twenty-nine when she died. Pepys himself +at their marriage was twenty-two. It is the skirmishing of young folk that +he describes when he reports such animated scenes as the occasion when his +wife threatened him with the red-hot tongs. They had their brisk +encounters and their affectionate interludes as well, when "very merry we +were with our pasty, well-baked, and a good dish of roasted chickens; +pease, lobsters, strawberries." + +In odd moments, Pepys applied himself to his wife's education. Dismissing +her dancing-master by reason of jealousy, he began instead a course in +Arithmetic. He himself taught her Addition, Subtraction, and the +Multiplication Tables; but, says he, "I purpose not to trouble her yet +with Division, but to begin with the Globes to her now." + +At her early death he mourned sincerely, and erected a memorial +celebrating the accomplished charms of Elizabeth, his wife,-- + + "Forma, Artibus, Linguis Cultissima." + +[Illustration: Mrs Pepys as St. Katharine] + + + +I + +The Diurnal of Mrs. Elizabeth Pepys + + +2d _May_.--Sam'l now in great honour at the Navy Office, whereat my +heart do rejoice, and the less for the havings, which do daily increase, +than that I would willingly see him worshipfully received, the which +indeede his hard work do plentifully deserve, he sparing himselfe in +nothing for the advancing of his busyness. + +And I do reason with myselfe that though he have faults many and great +(which God knowes is true) yet he do come up in the world and our gettings +are very good and do daily increase. How they go I know not, for that +little and grudging is spent on my clothes, and though Sam'l goes very +noble still it is not possible but much is saved, though he do lament +himself in very high wordes of our spendthrift way of life and small +saving. + +But of this more anon. + +Up and dressed a pease pudding with boyled rabbets and bacon to dinner for +want of a cook-mayde, Sarah leaving us at dawn, and he loving it mightily. +The which he should not have this day but that I have a month's mind to a +slashte wastcote which hitherto he hath soured upon. This done, a brave +dish of cream in the which he takes great delight; and so seeing him in +Tune I to lament the ill wear of my velvet wastcote as desiring a Better, +whereon he soured. We jangling mightily on this I did object his new +Jackanapes coat with silver buttons, but to no purpose. He reading in the +Passionate Pillgrim which he do of all things love. But angry to prayers +and to Bed. + +But it is observable that this day I discover Sam'l in the keeping of a +Journal and very secret in this, and come at it I will, he being much +abroad on his occasions the while I sit at home. + +3d.--This day awakes Sam'l in a musty humour as much over-served with meat +and Drink, and in great discontent calling me, do bid me rise and fetch +his Pills that olde Mother Wigsworth did give him at Brampton. I merry and +named him the Passionate Pillgrim from his love to these, whereupon he +flings the Pills in my face and all scattered, Deb grudging to gather them +it being Lord's Day. So I to churche, leaving him singing and playing +"Beauty, Retire" to his Viall, a song not worthy to be sung on a holy Day +however he do conceit his skill therein. His brown beauty Mrs Lethulier in +the pew against us and I do perceive her turn her Eye to see if Sam'l do +come after. She very brave in hanging sleeves, yet an ill-lookt jade if +one do but consider, but with the seeking Eye that men look to, and Sam'l +in especial. Fried Loyne of mutton to dinner, and Sam'l his head akeing I +did sit beside him discoursing of the new hangings for the small closet, +wherein great pleasure for it will be most neat and fine. And great +content have we in such discourse and in our house and the good we are +come to. + +4th.--This day do Sam'l speak handsomely enough of his humour yesterday, +charging it upon the Rabbets, and so I left it. And strange it is how when +he do so repent my heart do take part with him though I would better +renounce him awhile to learn him manners. So he to the Exchange and buys +me a piece of Paragon to a pettycote, and though it be not what I would +have of my own choosing yet I do receive it with many goode words as +hoping all will yet be as I desire. So to sup on a good dish of beef _a +la mode_, and he well content, it appearing he have this day bestowed +upon himself at the Exchange a good Theorbo, four Bookes, and a payre of +Globes, talking very high how these be for my instruction rather than his +own liking. The which I receive smyling, but do think--Lord! what fools +men be that will have a woman so lightly deceived, fine wordes buttering +no parsnips. Sure they be but Children when all said and done, and their +Innocency in this a pleasant thing to see. + +Comes Mr Collins with his new Wife, a pretty well-shaped Woman with black +hayre and Eyes, and she, much cried up for her skill on the Theorbo, do +after play a Lesson upon it, but very ill, and pretty to see Sam'l that +was hoping great things (loving musique) in pain and grief to hear her +mean false playing and yet making fine wordes of it to please her, and +they gone, do call her slut and baggage and I know not what all. So to +prayers and bed. + +5th.--Sam'l this day reading over his vows not to drink strong waters or +wines nor yet go to the play for two weekes. But I do ask myself (though +not Sam'l) whether these vows be convenient. For I do surely think he do +it only because it is the greater pleasure to drink and see the play, it +being thus forbid. And in Saml' it is to be noted and methinks in other +Men also that they do suck more pleasure from a thing forbidden and hard +to come at than from the same thing when comely and convenient to be done +in the sight of all. This day, he being with his Lordship, I to gain a +sight of his Journal, he carelessly leaving it about, but took nothing by +my pains, it being writ in secret writing, which do plainly show it to be +what he would be shamed if known. Whereas mine owne is voide of all +offence, and I do lay it under the smocks in the great armoire only +because it is not seemly that Sam'l should know my thoughts, I having to +deal with him as best I may. + +_Mem_. To ask of Mrs Jemimah Crosby if her father, being a scrivener, +knoweth and can instruct in secret writings. + +Sam'l home late this day, and the supper, a calve's head, very good, with +a noble Barell of oysters, he bringing with him Mr S. Lucy, and so supt +very merry, and after in the garden, Sam'l to play on his flageolette, it +being full moon. So to bed, omitting prayers. A pleasant day and content +together. + +6th.--This day, seeing Mrs Jemimah Crosby, I to ask her earnestly if her +father the scrivener do teach the secret writing, and she replying that so +it was, I after the mayde's cleaning the house, do forth and to his +lodging behind Paternoster Row, he being a worthy olde Gentleman with a +long white bearde, very reverend. I enjoining him to be secret, which he +the more willingly promised that I have obliged him and Mrs Jem with +codiniac and quince marmalett of my own making, do tell him how my father +(which is unknown to him) have documents and papers which he would +willingly decipher but for his bad Eyes. Wherein God forgive me, for his +eyes are the best Part of him. Olde Mr Crosby thereon urgent that my +father entrust him with the worke, but I sticking at the expense, no more +said. So I to show him a line of Dots and hooks which I did copy from +Sam'l his Journal, and he reading it with ease, what should it prove to be +but this:-- + + "Took occasion to fall out with my wife very highly about her ribbands + being ill matcht and of two colours, and to very high words, so that + I did call her Beaste." + +So finding all as I thought and it being very needful that I should know +Sam'l his thoughts (and indeed he is very simple to write them unless he +think he have a fool to his wife) I do covenant with the olde Gentleman +for Lessons which are dear enough, but to be paid from the housekeeping, +and indeed the better that Sam'l should live plaine awhile in +consideration of his ailing. So home in good time, and do find Sam'l and +our she-cousin Scott very merry with capping of Epitaphs and sayings, +wherein I also delighte. A very merry witty woman and harmlesse. Suppt on +a Westfalia Ham and so with prayers content to bed. + +7th.--This day Sam'l returning from the Office takes me to a fine +collacion at Hamling's house, wherein the fine silver set forth upon the +table do give us great pleasure, but I a little shamed because the ladies +so brave, Mrs Hamling very Rich in an embroidered suit, and Mrs Pegg Penn +in flowered sattin, which God knows she do not become, and heads set out +with the new French frizzle. I very plain in my olde black silk new-laced +all over with black silk gimp, Sam'l declaring I am very pretty in this, +but I trust him not herein, he willing to save his Purse. One passage of +Sam'l kissing the little black beauty, Mrs Deakin, that he do call his +Morena, displeased me, she being known for a frolicsome jade. He later +singing, "Gaze not on Swans," and "Goe and be Hanged--that's Good-bye," +all did applaud, and great mirth. It was observable that Captain Wade, +kissing me on parting, did a little detain my Hand, and for this Sam'l did +so betwit and becall me, returning in the Coach, that I pretended sleep, +which did put him in a great discontent and so angry and without Prayers +to bed. Yet sure this shows his good liking to me, and I think his heart +sound, though he do Friske as I would he did not. + +8th.--This day hear that my Lady Sandwich is Delivered of a young Lady and +all well. Sam'l thinking (on some jest of my Lord's) to stand Godfather +and give the name--though how to call the Babe for him I see not--do at +once provide silver Spoons and a Porringer. Which, seeing he is not yet +bidden, doth I confesse, appear exceeding foolish and like a man that hath +more silly pride than sense, the rather that I lack a French mantle that +he hath promist but not performed. But I say nothing, according to the +olde wise saw of Goody Gorum,-- + + Nothing say, + But take your way. + +He this day in his new Cote of the fashion and half cloth stockings going +to give my Lord joy, do indeed seem very brave and noble, and hath a neat +legg, and it pleases me to see him go as he should, for he is a personable +man when well set out. And if he did but consider how it is to his honour +that his Wife should go as fine as he I could the more rejoice therein, +but it is not so, and great dishonour it is to him to consider how this +quarter he hath spent fifty pounds on his clothes and but twelve on me, a +thing not fit to be said of him. But I wait my time. + +10th.--This day Sam'l refuses me the French mantle as beyond his Purse, +but offers a payre of gloves--I refusing this. Slipt out for Lesson, olde +Mr Crosby being a worthy and patient teacher, but it is a science very +hard to be come at, and I weary enough in the learning of it, though +indeed it be so needful. Still, some progress, and he saying merrily I +would be at some mischief in this, with love Letters or such Toys, do make +me to blush, so as I never did but when Sam'l was courting me. Yet no +guilty deed, but what is very fitting for a woman. Was instant with the +olde Gentleman that he should speake of my Lessons to none, the more so (I +did say) that my father would not have these papers known to any, great +matters hanging on it. Which indeed is true though not as he takes it. + +So I home and with Sam'l to the Play, where my Lady Castlemaine, which +indeed is a great Beauty, nor can I deny it, but sure it is not hard to be +a beauty in Clothes and jewels that do dazzle the Eyes of all that Gaze +upon her. But, Lord! to see how bold and unmannerly in staring upon +strangers and the men on the stage, and in fine do not please me with her +Freedoms. This Sam'l disputing very hotly after we had supt upon a Jowl of +Salmon, I to speake my mind, asking if he would have his Wife casting +oranges to the actors and blowing Kisses all about the house, and he not +knowing what to answer, I do say, "Then prayse it not in others, for, if +you will have me a bold Slut, no doubt but I will do my endeavours to +please you," and so whiskte off, he sitting astonied. And strange how men +will like in otheres what in their own Wives they love not but fear. + +14th.--This day I by my Lady's desire to see the young Lady which is a +fine Babe and like to do well. But no word of Sam'l to stand Godfather, +and Sir J. Minnes and Lrd Brouncker spoke of, which is no more than I +thought, but will make Sam'l madd with his spoones. But no loss herein if +it do make him more biddable in women's matters. Her La'ship observing +that my Lutestring suit is well worn and do me no credit, I did adventure +to beseech her that she would break a word with Sam'l on his next waiting +upon her that he would give me a Gown of Moyre which is now all the +fashion, and this, with many good words she promist very lovingly, +desiring that I would come in a weeks time to learn how she hath sped. So +I home in good Tune as knowing he oweth his duty to my Lord and Lady and +will be said by her. In comes fayre Mrs Margaret Wight to sup on a dish of +Eggs and butter of Sparagus that Sam'l hath ate with my Lord Carlingford +and do highly commend. And indeed it is rare meat. After, we dancing and +very merry with Mrs Margaret, and she gone, I take occasion to tell Sam'l +of the Godfathers like to stand for the young Lady. Whereat he in a great +Tosse, but I willing to smoothe all betwixt him and my Lady do tell him +the honourable words she have spoke of him to myself and others, the more +especially of his Velvet suit with scarlet ribands. The which pleasing +him, we fall to discourse of what to do with the Spoons and Porringer, +resolving the spoons do go to Betty Michell where certayne it is I do +stand Godmother, and the Porringer to Mrs Lane, whose name I know not but +will come at shortly, and he do cry her up for a sober and God-fearing +woman. So pleasantly to bed and good frends. + +16th.--This day comes my new cook-Mayd, Jane Gentleman, and heaven send +she prove worthy of her name, for I am drove almost madd with mayds that +are not mayds but Sluts and know not diligence nor cleanliness, to their +own undoing and mine. And strange it is to consider how in the olden days +before my mother and Grandmother (who suffered great horroures from the +like) the mayds were a peaceable and diligent folk, going about their +busyness to the great content of all housewives. But now it is not so. And +it is only two days sennight that I coming suddenly in did find Sarah +with my new silk Hood upon her Frowsy head and Will discoursing with her +and thrumming upon Sam'l his viallin. Whereat I did catch her a sound +souse of the Ear, but she never a whit the better of it and answering me +so sawcily that we parted on it, Sam'l upholding me in this, though it be +hard enough to fill her place the wench being a good Cooke-mayde, though +sluttish. + +20th.--Sam'l to visit my Lady, who receives him with great content and +satisfaction, though she railed bitterly at my Lord that is so taken up +with his pleasures and amusements that he goeth not to Court as he should, +and she fears will be passed over and forgot for others that keep more +stir. Requiring Sam'l that he would deal plainly with my Lord on this, +making known to him that his Reputacion do hereby decay. But this methinks +is a difficult matter, and I do counsel Sam'l that he put not his finger +between the Bark and the Tree, lest it come by a shrewd squeeze, but let +rather my Lady deal with her Lord as a Wife should do. But he would not +harken, whereby I foresee trouble. + +He then, pulling out of his pocket a little Packett, do say pleasantly, +"What, my Deare, shall you and I never go a-fairing again? What think you +I have here? And how many Kisses will you bid me for a sight?" + +Much merriment and pleasure from this, he holding it high, and I leaping +for it like a Dogg. At the last he opens it, and lo a fine Lace of the new +fashion for my bosom, and I do well perceive that my Lady hath been at +him, and am well content I did break the matter to her, though an honest +gown had been more to my Purpose. Yet well begun is half done. Though but +half, as Sam'l shall find. + +Our she-cousin Scott did visit me this day with sore complaints of her +husband's humours and constant drizzling, which is more than a woman can +or ought to bear. Therefore I should remember that with Sam'l it is not +so, but a spurt or flame of anger when he will be very high with me, yet +quickly snuft out and friends again. And generally, it is noticeable, with +some little gift for peacemaking, so that I have more than once of set +purpose Baited him to this end. Yet not often. Considering therefore the +husbands I do know, I think Sam'l no worse a bargain than any and better +than some, but shall be better assured in this when I shall come at his +Journal. My seventh lesson today in the secret writing, and progress made, +but it do make my head ake extremely and were it not needful would not +continue on therein. + +Comes this day my old Mayd Gosnell that Sam'l and I do call our Marmotte, +she telling me that Jane my mayde is naught and she hath herself seen her +abroade in light company. Yet cooking as she cooks Sam'l sticks on this +and bids me wink my eyes and observe nothing, and such like are men! + +21st.--This day Sam'l his feast for the recovery of his ailment which he +do always solemnly keep with great store of meat and Drink and company. +And this is a great day with him and a troublous one with me, and to the +Mayds also such as would madd a Saint. Yet all said and done a noble +Dinner, enough and to spare, being a dish of Marrowbones, a legg of +Mutton, a loin of Veal, a dish of fowl, being three Pullets and 24 Larks +all in a great dish, a Tart, a neat's tongue, a dish of anchovies, a dish +of Prawns and cheese. His company seven men (Captain Fenner and both Sir +Williams among them) and seven women and all reasonable merry. But I +beseeching Sam'l privately to eat and Drink sparingly for the pain in his +Toe, he do so becall me that it was ten to an Ace that I did hurle the +Spit and the birds withal into the fire. Yet knowing he would pay dear +next day, I said the less and so continued on, bidding him take his own +way and pay for his liking. But indeed great company and the Dinner well +cooked and served and they did drink my health on it. Also the house very +handsome with Plate displayed and fires where the Company did sit. And the +greatness of living we are come to did make Mrs Pierce's Mouth to water +though she in her flowered Lutestring and liking well of it. So she green +and yellow with spite as I did well perceive. Great Musique after, with +"Great, good and just," and Sam'l at the top of his Tune, and so to cards +and wine. Weary to bed, Sam'l starting up in the night with Nightmare not +knowing what he did, and did so shreeke and cry that the Mayds in affright +did run in, and the Watchmen passing called to know was any poor Soul +murthered within. But this no more than my Expectation, and so quietly to +sleep. + +22d.--This day a noble gift of Plate being two Candelsticks and a dish +from Capt Salmon, he looking for favour from Sam'l concerning the +Henrietta shippe that he would have on next going to Sea. Which do plainly +prove to what honour and advancement we are come to be so courted, and do +gladde his heart and mine. Sat long discoursing of this, and, turning the +case, what should fall out but a ring set with an Orient perle for me, +which as not expecting I received with great good will. Sam'l to the +office and I to my lesson wherein very diligent and commended of olde Mr +Crosby, and indeed I am come already to the reading of many wordes, yet +not glibbly. So home, but Sam'l coming home and I combing his hayre he did +say, "Who do I meet this day in Broade Street but olde Crosby, Mrs Jem's +father, that I did think long dead and buried, not having seen him this +year and more, and so to talk with him." + +And, Lord! to see how I did redden, my heart so beating in my bosom as I +could have thought it would choak me, and do even sweat in the writing of +it. For sure it might well be the olde Gentleman would think Sam'l did +know all my father's business and speak thereon. But I could not speak and +my hand shaked so in the Combing that I did drop the comb. And he +continuing, "So I asked him how he did and he answered, 'Bravely'; and +more I would have said for it is a worthy man, but little Mrs Deakin +passing, that I do call my Morena, I would not be seen talking to one so +scurvily clad, and so incontinently left him standing and hasted away." + +So it passed, nor did I ask him if he hasted after his Morena, for heaven +be thankt that she did pass by, though I thought not to live to say it. +But I will take order with olde Mr Crosby, for olde men be tattlers more +than any woman or is convenient. And so a great escape. + +So Sam'l carries me to the Paynter where he sits for his face and very +like it is, yet do not please, he thinking it do make his Eyes too small +and ill-favoured, but I not so, and Lord! to see him sit Smirking upon Mr +Savile since Mrs Knipp hath commended his Smyle! But Mr Savile the Paynter +seeing me did speak in very handsome language, telling Sam'l he hath a +Beauty to his wife worthy that her picture should be with the Court +Ladies' pictures, and much more fine things, harping on the same string, +whereto Sam'l made answer that he would consider of it. But to see the +Vanity of men, when all the world knows that the sight of a pretty Woman's +face is worth all the men that ever were or will be! So I sat devising how +to set myself off if this should be, and did like well of my Cardinal +sattin suit with a chapeau de poil tied beneath my chin. Or it may be, +perles in my hayre, and to borrow my Lady's if so she will. Fritters for +supper, the best I ever did eat, Sam'l confirming me in this, and he +discoursing very high of the corruption of the times, and no regard to +clean living in court or city, and glad I am that thus he thinks, and do +hope he acts answerably, as he should. + +27th.--This day, by long promise, Sam'l do carry me to White Hall to see +the Queen in her presence Chamber playing at Cards with her ladies, and +the people looking and crowding upon them. He commending Mrs Stewart +for a great Beauty and so indeede she is, and one I do not weary in +looking on, and do far outshine my Lady Castlemaine as I well perceive His +Maj'tie do also thinke. Her Maj'tie appearing very comely in a Gown of +silver lace, but Lord! how no one takes heed of her when my Lady +Castlemaine is by, which is a great dishonour to a sweete Lady in her owne +Court, and I am much mistook if Her Maj'tie be not the best Lady of them +all, and that not saying much! But strange to see how beauty sways all and +how Sam'l do uphold my Lady Castlemaine in all things. + +Captain Holmes accosted us and very fine in his gold laced suit, and it is +noticeable that Sam'l troubled in mind because he well knows that Captain +H---- hath called me for a Toast and the greatest Beauty in Town. And this +Sam'l likes well of for his own Pride, yet not for me to know. So saying +we must return in Haste, he would bid adieu to the Captain, but he +followed and escorted me very gallant to the Coche, hat under his arm, and +so kissed my hand at parting not once but twice. Now I know well to make +Captain Holmes or any other Captain keepe his Distance, but Sam'l, +thinking all one as himself, in a sadd musty humour, and yet would not +come forth with what ailed him. So I do Debate with myself if it be not +well he should see that Men of court and Fashion do judge me worth a +thought. And I think it be, and so I do learn my Part. + +In comes Mrs. Knipp to play and sing. Very witty and pleasant doubtlesse, +and they very merry. I with Jane, contriving my olde pettycote with a +broade blacke lace at the foot to hide the wear. But indeede I begin to be +full of thoughts considering if I do well in going to Brampton, when Sam'l +alone in Towne do friske and please himself as he will, Jane confirming me +in this. He home with Knipp, returning in a great Tosse because I did not +bid her to sup with us, and do pull his supper all about the floor, a good +hasht hen as ever a man did eat, when he should the rather soberly thank +heaven for meat and appettite. But sorry later, there being nought else +but sops and wine. And so, good friends and to bed, the Storms coming and +going, but I think he do love me at heart, and indeede I do love him well. + +28th.--Lord's Day. To church at St. Olave's where a poor dull sermon from +a bawling Scotman, and Sam'l to sleep, a thing unseemly in the Church, but +I awake and did fix in my mind the pattern of my Lady Batten's Hood, the +which I would not ask of her for that we do of late a little make +ourselves strange to her and her family, but the less matter because I now +have it in my Eye. Mrs Lethulier masqued, which methought a strange thing +to be seen at Worshipp, though the great Ladies do now carry their masques +to the Play that none may see them Blush, or rather, as Sam'l do say, that +none may see they cannot blush if they would. And indeed all the Men do +now complain that the Beauties hide their faces. + +_Mem_. To Buy a masque in Paternoster Row when I do go to Mr Crosby. +This night to bed in the little green chamber--the Chymney swepers in our +own. + +1st _June_.--To my Lady this day and do give her my thankfull +gratitude for that she hath spoke with Sam'l concerning my poore clothes, +telling her of the Lace he did give, she pishing and pshawing it for a +meane gift, remembering the money that do pass through his hands whereof +my Lord hath informed her. Comes Sam'l later to carry me home, and my Lady +speaking with him of my Lady Jem's marriage with young Mr Carteret do say +he is so abasht and so little coming forward with his courtship that it do +much discomfort poor Lady Jem as not knowing what he would be at. So my +Lady beseecht Sam'l that he would instruct him how to court a lady, he +otherwise doing very well, and a worthy Gentleman, and one my Lady Jem +could like of if not so shamefaced. Sam'l simpring upon this, as who +should say, "None better," do make us merry, seeing him already conning +over what manner of Speeches and approaches will grace the Gentleman, but +I do know him well able in such matters. And indeed in all. + +2d _July_.--Lesson, and do now begin well to read. Bought masque of +the Toy woman, in the Row, she saying, "Lord! is this the fayre Mrs Pepys, +wife to Mr Sam'l Pepys, that is known for a great man to be? Sure Madam +was well pleased with the French mantle that he did buy for her a sennight +come Saturday?" + +So seeing she was a little ugly talking woman, I did sound her on this, +for it vexed me cruelly since he hath sent it to another. And for all, I +do and will believe it is but sporting and jesting, which if I did not, +God help us all! So sadly and soberly home, but yet said nothing. Pray God +all be well. + +24th _July_.--For many days have I not writ, for at the last I did +come to read what I would, and though not all, for some is in Greeke or I +know not what, yet what I did read hath broke my heart. His Mrs Lane that +he did prayse for a God-fearing woman, his Deb--but what do I say?--sure +he hath not a heart but a stone. So I telling him certayne things of my +knowledge (and yet not how I did know them), he in great fear and terrour +and as I thought unlike a man of Courage. Which did shame me for him that +I could scarce bring myself to look in his face and see him thus, +remembering his high carriage that I did use to see in him. And times +there were when I would the rather he did Brazen it out, it seeming so +poor a thing to see him so low, and times again when in Madness I would +have taken a knife to him, but he did pull it away with weeping Teares and +promise of amendment. But how to trust him or any I cannot tell. And I +have bid Will Hewer (Sam'l humbly agreeing thereto) that he continue with +his master and oversee him in all his walks abroad, doing me to wit where +he goeth. Yet, how to trust Will--for sure all men are alike and will give +the other countenance in Deceit. So what way to surety, for if a man +regard not his wife where shall she look for good? And truly I do believe +that in such Trafficking men do chip and whittle away their heart till +none be left and they cannot love if they would, and no anchorage in so +rotten a Holding ground. And thus have I learned that a woman may be young +and yet aweary of her life, which I did not think to be true. + +Sometimes I would I had not read, and again I would know more and run the +knife yet deeper in my heart, and in that curst book never will I read +again, and even in the writing of this well do I know I cannot forbear to +read, and so Teares my drink and all my content gone. But let me remember +there was here and there a word where he hath writ tenderly of his poor +Wife, and when I did see him weep my heart did pity him. But what hope or +help, for a Jar mended may hold water, but yet the Cracks remain, and the +worth gone for ever and a Day. + +Well, God mend all, and yet I think He cannot. But in this Booke of mine +will I never write more, for the mirth and the little Frets that I did +think so great alike do pierce my heart to read. So farewell, my Booke, +that was a good friend in sunshine but an ill friend in storm, for I am +done with thee and with many things more this day. + +And so to the work that must be done and the day that must be lived though +Brows ake and heart break. + +(_Elizabeth Pepys died at the age of twenty-nine_.) + + + + +Esther Johnson +"Stella" +1681-1728 + + + +Jonathan Swift's cousin and biographer sums up his views of the mystery of +Stella in definite fashion: "For that she was married to Dr Swift about +the year 1716, I am thoroughly persuaded, although it is certain they +continued to live in separate Houses in the same manner they had usually +done before." Other contemporaries of Swift are equally persuaded that no +marriage took place at all. Under the circumstances, it is no great marvel +if, as one gossip suggests, "her spirits might have become dejected, by +her frequent revolving in her mind the Odness of her Situation." + +When Esther Johnson's mother was companion to Lady Giffard, sister of Sir +William Temple, the "Platonick" friendship between the young girl and +Temple's secretary began. There are reports of Stella's charm, not only in +the Journal, but in a general tradition that she was "surrounded by every +Grace and blessed with every Virtue that could allure the Affections and +captivate the Soul of the most stubborn Philosopher." Says John +Hawkesworth: "There was a natural musick in her Voice, and a pleasing +complacency in her aspect when she spoke. As to her wit, it was confessed +by all her acquaintance and particularly by the Dean, that she never +failed to say the best thing that was said whenever she was in company." + +She died at forty-seven, and was buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral, where +Swift, seventeen years later, by his own instructions, was buried at her +side. + +[Illustration: Esther Johnson--"Stella"] + + + +II + +The Mystery of Stella + + +_This paper have I wrote for certain grave considerations which make me +suppose it well it were one day placed in the hands of the Dean. 'Tis, +however, possible I may destroy it, but this time shall determine ere my +death. Writ an: 1727 by me_, ESTHER JOHNSON. + +When the Dean paid his last visit to London, an: 1726, he writ thus in a +letter directed to Mrs Dingley, but for her and me:-- + +"Farewell, my dearest lives and delights I love you better than ever, as +hope saved, and ever will. I can count on nothing but MD's love and +kindness, and so, farewell, dearest MD. PRESTO." + +So he signs himself, and so it seems the old screen will still be kept up +and the letters to me wrote to her also, and in the child's talk that +pleaseth him, lest any in the world suspect the famous divine hath a man's +heart. But hath he? This I have not known, nor shall. Let me tell my own +heart yet again how deep my debt to him, remembering the sickly child of +Moor Park, to whom he brought not alone learning but companionship, and +all the joy known to her childhood. For it pleased Dr Swift, then a young +man, to condescend to a child's humours, to solace her solitary hours, +forsook as she was of her mother's company, and not alone to teach her to +write, but all store of knowledge. And Dr Swift hath since been pleased to +acknowledge that, having instilled in this poor child the principles of +honour and virtue, she hath not swerved from them in any passage of her +life. + +Yet have I not? Again I question my heart. 'T is the most I can hope that +the woman hath repaid the child's debt. On this I will be judged. + +A keen remembrance begins not much before the age of eight, nor can I +recall a time when I did not love him. My mother's time was took up in +making her court to my Lady Giffard, sister to our benefactor, Sir William +Temple; and Rebecca Dingley's (a kinswoman of the Temples) in making her +court to all; and the child Esther might run as she pleased, chid only +when she was remembered. + +And this young man took pity on her. I remember very well Dr Swift's face +in youth. 'Twas extraordinary handsome and commanding, the eyes blue and +piercing, the features strong, and a something that very early +distinguisht him from others, so that great persons coming of errands to +Sir William Temple were not seldom drawn into intercourse with his +secretary. + +Mr Swift was not then so prudent as he became later. What need with a +child? He permitted his fancy to range in all he said; and seated by the +lake at Moor Park, with this child at his knee looking up into his face, +he would discourse of things in heaven and earth, forgetting his hearer. +For he who could charm all charmed himself no less, and often hath said to +me laughing:-- + +"There's no company so good as Jonathan Swift's--and he himself would +choose it before all others!" + +Of this I am not certain, for the Dean hath been and is very partial to +the company of the great and famous of either sex. + +'Twas thus, sitting by the lake and gazing down the great perspective cut +in the trees, he saw the peasants going homeward up the hill, no greater +than ants, and looking into my eyes (from which and my name he called me +Star, and later, Stella), he said:-- + +"What say you, Mrs Star, if these folk were really no bigger than now they +seem? What if this country were peopled by a race of little creeping +Hop-o'-my-Thumbs?" + +"O rare, rare!" I cried, and clapt my hands. "Tell me the history of them, +Mr Swift, and their little homely ways and houses like bees' cells for +size." + +And as I looked up and the words came from him, truly all was visible +before me. 'Tis a gift Mr Swift hath had from the beginning, that men +should see what he would. And women,--O Father Almighty,--women! + +So that was the beginning of Gulliver his travels, that being told for a +child's pleasure hath since become a world's wonder. It had not then the +meanings he gave it later, nor were there any Yahoos. + +If I ask myself when this harmless love did change to a woman's, I cannot +tell, because with my growth it grew. But the first pain it brought (and +sure pain is love's shadow) was an: 1697, when I was sixteen years of age. +For I sat by the housekeeper's window, and Sir William and Mr Swift were +pacing the path, their voices coming and going. Mr Swift was now dressed +as the young Levite he sometimes called himself since he returned from +Ireland a clergyman; and he walked with his eyes fixed moodily on the +ground, listening to Sir William. + +"Why, as to that, Jonathan," said he familiarly, "I ever thought it +behoves a parson to marry when he hath got preferment. There is room for +Mrs Parson's help with the women and children of the parish and 't is meet +she should set an example with her neat parsonage, and be a notable woman +with her possets and cordials for the sick. Now what like is this pretty +Varina that Dr Holmes hath brought news of from Belfast?" + +"Miss Waring," says Mr Swift, very grave, "is a commendable young lady, +but I design not for marriage as yet, Sir, nor for a long time to come." + +They past out of hearing and, returning, I heard but the last part of Sir +William's words:-- + +"'T is a cruel thing for a man to raise hopes he means not to be +answerable for, and I am told the young lady grows very melancholy upon +it. True it is, a man must sow his wild oats even though he honour his +cloth; but 't is not well to sow them in a harmless girl's acre, Jonathan. +Sow them by the wayside, and then they come not up to her confusion and +your own." + +"A sound precept, Sir; but better still to sow none. This shall be my +care. As to the connection you speak of, 't is long broke off, and was at +all times impossible, the lady having no portion, and myself--as you +know!" + +His brow was like a thunder-cloud ere it bursts; but, looking up, he +catcht sight of me, and continued with no pause:-- + +"As for that matter of the publishers, Sir--they have writ to say that +they wait your commands anent the Letters of Phalaris. Asking your pardon, +time goes, and we should be speaking of this and not of child's toys." + +I knew by the black blink of his eyes that I had heard what he would not; +and as they turned, my heart beat so that I laid my hand on it, as if that +poor fence might hide its throbbing. And for the first time in my life I +knew I had in this world an enemy, and that was this Varina; and from that +hour mine eyes waited on him. + +More often mine eyes than my company, for, especially since this +conversation with Sir William, Mr Swift was now grown very cautious. In +public he addressed me as "Mrs Johnson," or, when Sir William rallied him, +as "Mrs Esther," affecting an awful distance, which was not in his heart, +for therein was still the tenderness for his child and pupil, as he had +used to call me. And he was good enough to signify to Mrs Dingley, who +carried it to me, that he found me grown to his liking; "beautiful, +graceful, and agreeable," says he, and condescended to praise even my +black hair and pale face, after which I would not have exchanged it +against the golden hair of Helen. But still held aloof except when I was +in company with others. And I took note that, of all the ladies that came +and went at Moor Park, there was not one but hung upon his talk, and held +up her head when he came near, spreading out all her graces. Mr Swift had +always that power with our sex and, if he used it, 't is but what all men +do. Providence made us fair game, to our undoing and theirs. 'T is not all +men who have this gift, and never have I seen one who, having it, spared +to use it, whether from liking or policy. + +Yet he used it strangely. I remember, when the fair Lady Mary Fane came to +Moor Park,--a widowed beauty and toast,--the look of scorn she cast from +her fine eyes on the young secretary. + +"I marvel, Sir William," says she, "that you will have your servant ever +at your elbow, so that a body hath never a word with you alone. I would +not presume to censure, but certainly my father's chaplain does not so +intrude himself into company; and 'tis difficult for persons of quality to +speak their mind in such underbred society." + +"Why, your Ladyship," says he, laughing, "be gracious to my young Levite. +He is not of the common sort of creeping parson, but I dare venture will +yet be heard of. Simple as your Ladyship thinks him, he is at home in all +company, be it great or little; and I had not known him three year when I +sent him to London on a secret errand--and I was not mistook." + +"Such persons," says the lady, very haughty, "are paid to exert themselves +in our service. We may expect no less." + +So it passed; but a busybody carried this, with other tattle, to Mr Swift, +who questioned me also. I looked to see him mighty angry; and first his +brows frowned, and then he laughed, as if a thought pleased him. + +"Said she so, the painted jade! What, Madam Stella, shall not a stinking +pride be taught its place by the Church? I'll give the hussy her lesson." + +That very day, my Lady Mary sitting to embroidery on the great terrace in +the shade, and I holding her threads, she threw Mr Swift a word as he +past, to ask the name of the nymph that was turned to a bush to escape the +pursuit of Apollo; for that was the subject of her needle. + +"Daphne, Madam," says he. "Have I your permission to look upon your work? +Oh, fie!--this bush--'t is a rosebush, and Daphne became a laurel. Sure, a +lady with your Ladyship's reputation for wit will not be in error." + +She stopped with the needle in her hand and lookt at him angrily. + +"Sir, if you know better than Mrs Weyland who drew my pattern, instruct +me. I am not too proud to learn from my--betters." + +She made the word an insult, and went on:-- + +"Have I done amiss to give Apollo wings to his feet?" + +"Why, indeed, Madam,'tis Mercury carries the wings. In another lady's +presence I had said 'tis Cupid, but from some ladies love cannot fly." + +So it began. In a moment more she had bid him be seated, and tell her +stories that a lady might paint with her needle. And presently her hands +dropt in her lap, and her eyes fixed on his face, and 't was not long ere +I was dismist. + +That evening he came into Dingley's room, where I sat with her to repair +the household linen, and rattled on, full of wit and good humour; and when +Dingley went out to fetch a cordial for him, he says:-- + +"Well, Mistress Stella, did we give the lying slut her lesson today--did +we? Sure,'twas a pure bite!" + +And says I:-- + +"I have seldom heard your Reverence more entertaining." + +And he, laughing hugely:-- + +"A cat may be choked with cream as well as fishbones, Mrs Stella. Keep +your pretty little eyes open, child, and thou shalt see." + +In a week she was his humble servant. 'T is scarce credible, but I saw her +once lay her hand, sparkling with jewels, upon his, and he shake it off as +if 't were dirt. I saw the water brim her eyes as she lookt at him and he +laught and turned away. Indeed, her Ladyship had her lesson ere she left +Moor Park, and I knew not then enough to pity her. Pity--'t is a flower +that grows in the furrows of a heart ploughed over by sorrow, and my day +was not yet come. He laught with me over the disconsolate beauty, when she +importuned him to be her son's tutor, and he replied he had far other +views. + +Yet for all his caution we met sometimes, when I be gathering flowers and +lavender, or fruit for Mrs Groson the cook. And I knew he loved to talk +with me. He loves it still. Many was the jest we had--jests with their +root in childhood and folly to all but him and me. + +So came the day that changed all. + +'Twas a fair sunset, with one star shining, and I stood in the copse far +from the house, to hear the nightingale; and, though I thought of him, did +not see that he leaned against the King's Beech, until he stirred and made +my heart to flutter. + +"I watch your namesake, Stella," says he, "and wonder if in that sweet +star are plots and envyings--a Marlborough intriguing against his King, a +Burnet plotting for an archbishopric, an ugly Dutch monsterkin on the +throne--and a naughty rogue called Stella, that hath forgot her old tutor +and loves him no more. Yet if that love should miscarry, I know not--" + +"If it miscarry," says I, trembling, "there will be many to succeed it. +But I think, Mr Swift, it cannot." + +"Many?" he answered, and up went his brows. "Such as my Lady Mary and +such-like? But that is no love, Stellakin. 'T is only thy innocence could +mistake it. The true name is none so pretty, and not for thy lips. Get +thee to a nunnery, child--the world is not for such as thee." + +So I faltered out: "What is love?" + +"A thing that hath no existence between man and woman in this world, so +mixed is it with lust and hatred and jealousy. True, there is love, but it +is not that one. 'T is the loves filial and paternal, and friendship, +better than all the loves the rhymesters hang with their namby-pamby. The +love between the sexes--'t is a game wherein the weaker loses, and +then--_voe victis!_ Hast forgot thy Latin, child?" + +And then I broke out into a great sobbing, as if my bursting heart would +break; for, I know not why, but this cut me like a knife. And he took my +hand with anxious kindness to soothe me; and at the bird's rustle in the +tree, dropt it and stood apart. He lived in the eye of the world even in +such affections as he owned. But I sobbed on. + +"Pray, pray, don't sob, Stella," he says. "This is mighty, mighty ill and +like a child. Dry those pretty eyes,--prettier, gadso! than any Lady +Mary's of them all!--and tell me wherein I have offended 'T was not +willingly." + +So, drowned in tears, I lookt up, and having lookt, turned away weeping, +and could say no more. For what skill had I to argufy with a man of such +infinite parts? And yet well I knew that in this matter of love I was the +wiser, though but a simpleton. But he caught my hands. + +"Have I hurt thee, Stella? I were a devil if I did. What ails my girl at +love? What is it to thee? Keep away from that raging fire. Souse it with +every stream of reason and honour. Heap the ice of the Pole on it, for it +is not only hell itself but feeds the flame of hell eternal." + +He so wrung my hand that it pained; and I saw his face work like a man +most desperately sick and ill. It dried the tears in my eyes, and I stood +trembling and staring upon him, and the twilight was sweet about us with a +smell of grass and growing things and flowers; a night for lovers--and I +most miserable. + +"I doubt--" he began and stopt; and then, with a cry that choked in his +throat, he put his arms about me and I laid my head on his breast. + +Should I blame myself for that half-hour? Should I blame my Dear, the +Desire of mine eyes? 'T was but a step to take across the line that parts +innocence from--No, no, never will I say guilt! 'T was not guilt, if all +the tongues of men and angels should so preach. 'T is in the later denial +of love that guilt lay hid. But these things I did not then know, and I +thought in my simplicity the world changed and the foolish girl become a +woman and beloved, and our lives together in a fair prospect before us. + +And suddenly--"Go--go!" he cried, rejecting me and thrusting me from him. +"Go, and never again let me see your face. I sicken--I sicken at what is +done. No--no! Speak not, utter not, lest I strike you and myself dead. +Leave me, for God's pity's sake! Go!" + +So did the Angel with the flaming sword drive our first parents out of +Paradise. I drew apart shuddering, and he cried after me in a loud +whisper:-- + +"Let none see your face. Go in by the covered door, and so to your room, +and plead headache if Dingley see you. Go." + +I left him in the dark. I drew my palatine about my face and none saw; and +so to my room, and outed the light, and sat by the window till the dawn +came. + +Now, if I am condemned herein, I take the blame, but cannot change my +thought. What woman in giving all met ever so sorry a return--and why? I +broke my brain with thinking, and at that time found no answer. Later, I +knew. But to escape the hue and cry of question, I washed the tears from +my eyes in the morning, and so to the housekeeper's room. And he was +there, reading in a great book, and my heart leapt like the last leap of a +hare with the dogs on it. + +"Why, Stellakin--saucy-nose!" says he, laughing, but his face was pale. He +could cheat with his words, but I saw his face bleacht like a linen clout +behind his laugh, and I swear at that time he loved me, though he loved +advancement better. "You are bright and early, young woman! Are you for +the garden, to get you a stomach for breakfast? Well, so-so! and pray for +poor Presto as you go; for in honour and conscience, his Ppt is the child +of his heart." + +How could I endure this? I closed the door, and left him laughing with +white lips. + +So went the day, and now I saw his drift. He would hold the little +language of childhood for a shield betwixt us. I should be nothing more +for ever than Ppt,--poor pretty thing,--Stellakin, the pretty rogue. He +would not fail in this, but only in all my hopes. He would give me all but +that I longed for. He would glut me with sugar-comfits but never a taste +of the living bread. + +And next day a new thing. Dingley and I sitting together, he came upon us, +and in all he said included ker. She was his second MD. He was her poor +Presto, also. I saw his will and knew he built a fence about himself. + +Sometimes I thought I had but a mean spirit so to live, and thought to ask +his meaning; but dared not, for he struck an awe into my very soul. So +gradually the days covered that sunset, and't was impossible I should +speak; and life went by, and still I studied with him, but Dingley always +present. + +Hath he a heart? I know not. That sunset was a grave between us; and had +the corpse risen and stared him in the face, I think he had run mad. In my +solitary hours, I would imagine I spoke. Sometimes I would kneel before +him entreating, and he would raise me up, as a certain king did another +Esther. Sometimes he would fall at my knees, and I would bow my head upon +him, weeping for joy. + +But yet always I knew that, if we glanced near that secret, he would rise +and stare upon me with a ghastly face, and I would see him no more. Yet at +that time he loved me. To himself he will not lie in reading this. + +'Twas in 1699 Sir William Temple died, and the household at Moor Park was +broke up. Mr Swift took the kindest part in my settlement and the laying +out of my little fortune. "And be easy about money, you nauti-nauti, dear +girls," says he to old Dingley and me; "for what is mine is yours; and +were it my blood, 't is all one." + +And so laid his plans that we should come to Ireland, where he had +preferment at Laracor near Dublin, and the prebend of Dunlavin in St. +Patrick's Cathedral. And, God forgive me, I asked myself if the thought to +keep me under his guidance mingled not itself with all his kindness. + +So I, being twenty years old, and Dingley a kind bustling woman, we went; +and Ireland was a kindly home, for 't was near him, and I might see him. +Not as I would--oh, never that! but as a friend, provided 't was with +caution. For as he now mounted in the Church, and his ambition +strengthened on him (and sure Wolsey himself did not more suffer from that +failing of noble minds), caution grew to be his main thought; for he said +the adventure of our coming looked so like a frolic that censure might +hold as if there were a secret history in such a removal; but this would +soon blow over by circumspect conduct, and this too was used to put a +distance between us. But 't was the condition of our intercourse, and thus +I accepted it. For aught I could discern, all else was clean forgot, and +we lodged near him and met as friends--no more. + +Nor could I think otherwise when Mr Tisdall, his friend, made suit to me. +I was cold,--what else,--for I thought myself a wife, if a forsaken one, +and Mr Tisdall imagined that Dr Swift opposed his suit, objecting that his +means did not come up to the expectation he formed for me, who was, he +said, in a manner, his ward. + +Poor Mr Tisdall writ in haste on this, and brought me Dr Swift's reply +(who had not broke the matter to me) and thus it ran:-- + +My conjecture is that you think I obstruct your inclinations to please my +own. In answer to all which I will, upon my conscience and honour, tell +you the naked truth, [The naked truth! O God, if it were told!] If my +fortunes and humour served me to think of that state, I should certainly +make your choice, because I never saw that person whose conversation I +entirely valued but hers. This was the utmost I ever gave way to. [But +once--but once!] And this regard of mine never once entered my head as an +impediment to you, since it is held so necessary and convenient a thing +for ladies to marry, and that time takes off the lustre of virgins in all +other eyes but mine. + +This Mr Tisdall offered on his knees, declaring it must remove my last +objections, since the worthy friend of my childhood supported his suit. I +received it sedately, and dismist him with the compunction so worthy a +gentleman merited. Was this letter honest to his friend? I say not. + +Henceforth he disliked Mr Tisdall. Could I impute this to jealousy? Why +not? A man will be jealous if his dog but lick the hand of another; and, +though he reserve himself perfect freedom, no man must so much as sigh for +the woman he hath once honoured with his regard. Truly there is a +something Oriental in the passions of men; and if a woman break through +this, 'tis at her peril. + +So stood matters when the Doctor went to London, an: 1710, on his errand +of obtaining the First Fruits for the Irish Church from the Crown--and he +chosen all others to this, for his commanding talent and presence, though +then but forty-two years of age, and many dignitaries older, yet not +wiser. It created much envy. + +I missed him, and yet took a sad ease in his going. 'Twas the easier to +talk with Dingley, to play at ombre with the Dean and Mrs Walls; for when +he was in presence, my heart waited upon his speech, and he wounded with +many a word and look he thought not on. And he writ often in the form of a +Journal to Dingley and me, saying:-- + +"I will write something every day to MD, and when it is full, will send +it; and that will be pretty, and I will always be in conversation with MD, +and MD with Presto." + +'T was near a year since his going when Mrs Coleburn came to Dublin, full +of London talk, and her friendship with the great Dr Swift, the hope of +the Tories. Indeed, it made her a great woman with the clergy in Dublin, +that she knew so much of his sayings and doings, and in what high company +he was got, and the clutter he made in London. Much was true, as I knew +under his own hand. Much was idle twattle and the giddiness of a woman +that will be talking. Now, one day, she visited me, dressed out in the +last London mode, and talked as I knotted, and presently says she:-- + +"And, Mrs Johnson, what will be said, the Doctor being made a Bishop as he +now looks for, if he bring home a fine young bride from London? Sure he +lives at Mrs Vanhomrigh's, so often is he there; and Hessy is as pretty a +girl as eye can see, in her young twenties and a bit of a fortune to boot. +I have ever said the Doctor was not on the market for nothing. He is not +the man for a portionless beauty. Hath he wrote of this? for all the +tongues are wagging, and the lady in such a blaze with the tender passion +that she can't by any means smother it." + +"Doctor Swift hath often writ of Mrs Vanhomrigh and her hospitalities," +says I, smiling. "Also of the charming Miss V. Her name is no stranger +here." + +So I baffled the woman, and could see her petty malice dumbed. I held the +smile on my face like a mask. + +"Well, 'tis a charming creature, and the Doctor commends her wit in all +quarters; and 't is certain lie should be a judge, for he tutors her in +Latin. There's many a man would gladly tutor the seductive Miss Hessy." + +When she took leave, I writ to the kind Patty Holt in London. When her +reply returned, 't was but to confirm Mrs Coleburn. Then I turned over all +his letters--yet did not need--for mention of this woman, and found but +three, though of the mother and her house he writ in almost every letter, +but making somewhat too light of it. 'Twas a raging pain that he should be +her tutor--I had thought that was mine only and not to recur--a memory +stored where neither rust nor moth might touch it. Well--what could I but +hate the girl? And to hate is a bitter thing: it saps the life and breaks +the strength, and so no escape night or day. I must then fancy his letters +cooling, and later says Dingley unprompted:-- + +"The Doctor is took up with his fine friends and his business. La!--for +sure he writes not as he did, but is plaguey busy. Two simple women can't +expect so much of his time that duchesses go begging for." + +He stayed long away, and Patty Holt writ often, discreet and willing to +serve me; and one day comes a packet from her, and when I cut the seals, +out falls a letter--his. I read it first. + +Miss Hessy, I am so weary of this place ['t was Windsor] that I am +resolved to leave it in two days. I will come as early on Monday as I can +find opportunity, and will take a little Grub Street lodgings pretty near +where I did before, and will dine with you three times a week and tell you +a thousand secrets, provided you will have no quarrels with me. I long to +drink a dish of coffee in the sluttery, and hear you dun me for secrets, +and "Drink your coffee--why don't you drink your coffee?" + +So he writ, and more--much more could I read unsaid. For him, this was +much--I knew it. Then, another letter--a woman's hand. + +It is inexpressible the concern I am in ever since I heard from Mrs Lewis +that your head is so much out of order. Who is your physician? Satisfy me +so much as to tell me what medicines you have took and do take. O what +would I give to know how you do this instant. My fortune is too hard. Your +absence was enough without this cruel addition. I have done all that was +possible to hinder myself from writing for fear of breaking my promise; +but it is all in vain; for had I vowed neither to touch pen, ink, or +paper, I certainly should have had some other invention, and I am +impatient to the last degree to hear how you are. I hope I shall soon have +you here. + +The two were wrapt in a sheet from Patty who had writ thereon:--"Dropt by +the Doctor when in a giddy attack, visiting me." + +I think she was shamed. So was not I. As well ask the hound if he is +shamed when tracking the deer. Had it been to save my life, instead of +lose it, I had less eagerly read. 'T was clear they understood one +another. With me, in his caution, Dingley must be joined when he writ. +With her, not so. Her happiness was a knife turned in a bleeding wound. + +So I writ him, in a letter of many matters, somewhat scornfully of the +family as marvelling a little that he whom all solicited could be +satisfied with such inconsiderable people. In time he replied thus:-- + +Sir A. Fountaine and I dined by invitation with Mrs V. You say they are of +no consequence--why, they keep as good female company as I do male. I see +all the drabs of quality at this end of the town with them. I saw two Lady +Bettys there this afternoon. Rare walking in the Park now. Why don't you +walk in the Green of St. Stephen's? What beasts the Irish women are, never +to walk. Men hide not matters so well as women. They say too much or not +enough. + +Much later he writ: "I found Mrs V. all in combustion with her landlord. +Her eldest daughter is of age, and going to Ireland to look after her +fortune and get it in her own hands." + +So I was to think it concerned them not to be apart. Immediately I set my +wits to discover where was her estate, and 't was not long ere I knew 't +was Marlay Abbey, near Celbridge; but the lady would reside in Dublin +while making her dispositions, being Mrs Emerson's guest, and was like to +be at a rout at her house. 'Twas long since I attended a rout, but I +intrigued to be bidden as courtiers intrigue for an inch of blue ribbon; +and in such a fever and anguish as I think I had died of it if not +successful. + +So, when the day was come, I went with Mrs Stoyte; and the first person I +saw was a young lady on the stair-head as we went up, and Mrs Emerson +presenting her to many. A fine young London madam, who curtseyed to me, +taking no more heed than of any other. + +Shall I admit her beauty? I did not think her charming, despite fine +sparkling eyes and a luxuriance of brown hair. Her lips were full and her +chin round, but she looked full her age, and between the brows was a line +that I would call the Doctor's sign-manual. I have it myself--I have seen +it in others--'t is the claw-foot of care, care never-ending and cruel +unrest, and hope that sickens the spirit and fades the bloom; and in her, +though but just of age, the first bloom was gone that is like morning dew +in a young girl's eyes. He loves to tyrannise over women and show his +familiarity by a certain brutality of address, and the line comes not +slowly. + +I caught sight of her person with mine in a long glass--she in her +sea-green sacque flowered with pink, and myself in gray,--"an angel's face +a little cracked,"--that was the best he could say for Stella! She gave +not a thought to the faded Dublin lady that would have given all but her +eternal hope to read in that girl's soul. Oh, the mask of the human face +behind which none may look! + +[Illustration: Hester Vanhomrigh--Vanessa] + +So she went, and after a year he returned, now Dean of St. Patrick. He was +kind, but 't was a kindness that stood apart and viewed itself carefully, +lest it diminish my due. 'Twas easy seen he was engaged in thought. +Well--shall a woman expect more from a man in the world's eye? Let her be +humbly grateful for the crumbs he lets fall. + +Also for the crumbs from her rival's table; for Miss Hessy following, and +now an orphan, was established soon after at Marlay; and whether I would +or not, I knew when the Dean's rides took him that way, my Mrs Prue being +courted by his man Samuel, and all he did trickling through that channel. +'T was at this time also that copies were handed about of his poem, +"Cadenus and Vanessa," and 't was the very top of talk and admiration. +Many might guess who was the lady, and the Dean was mighty angry, and said +'twas but a jest, and no friend to him who took it otherwise. + +He asked me with a feigned carelessness if I had read it; and I replying +carelessly that I thought it extreme fine and could wish he would write +oftener in that vein, he smiled and looked pleased, and so it passed. But +again and yet again I conned the lines:-- + + 'T is to the world a secret yet + Whether the nymph, to please her swain, + Talks in a high romantic strain, + Or whether he at last descends + To act with less seraphic ends. + Or, to compound the business, whether + They temper love and books together, + Must never to mankind be told, + Nor shall the conscious Muse unfold. + +I knew the meaning of that passage where others guesst. I read it by the +light of a sunset many years gone, and lived in hell. + +'T was when Mr Dean was next in London, came a letter to me + +Madam, I have great and urgent reason to wish the honour of meeting you +and a half hour's conversation. Any place you may condescend to appoint +will be perfectly agreeable and the favour prized by + +Your obedient humble servant, + +ESTHER VANHOMRIGH + +(who would not ask it unless it concerned Mrs Johnson as nearly as +herself). + +I broke my brains thinking, should I or should I not? Nor can I now +unravel all the motives at work. But in two days' time I writ:-- + +Madam, I have a difficulty to come at the reason for your request, but am +compelled by courtesy to appoint three o' the clock at the rooms of Mrs +Dew, my old servant, at Kidder Street, No. 12. Your obt humble servant, + +ESTHER JOHNSON. + +Strange our names should be alike! + +She was the first at the meeting. I ensured this, delaying my chair at the +corner of Kidder Street till I saw her enter. + +The room was small and poorly decent, and her hoop and mine filled it. She +curtseyed low, as did I, and though she aimed at composure, I could see +her lips work. The line between her brows was eight years deeper, her face +pale, the bloom faded, and her mouth droopt. Had she been any other, I had +pitied her. His friendship is fatal to my sex, though I have wore it like +an honour. For me, I was composed. It's not for nothing I have spent my +life in that school--she was a newer pupil. + +Being seated, I asked her to favour me with her commands, and she came +straight at the business with a kind of directness pitiable enough. + +"Madam, all the world talks of the goodness of Mrs Johnson. I am not long +a resident of these parts, but am no stranger to your merits. 'Tis my +confidence in them causes this explanation. May I ask pardon for plain +speaking?" + +"Madam, if the subject is one I can admit of, speech cannot be too plain." + +"So I have been told. Accept me therefore as a plain-dealer, Madam, and +have the goodness to read what I cannot speak. But first,"--she put her +hand to her throat as if she might swoon, and so closing her eyes for a +moment, opened them clearly on me,--"Madam, between a certain gentleman +and myself have been love-passages tending, as I believed--hoped--to +marriage. A passion that, with due regard to honour, hath been the ruler +of my life hath brought me to Celbridge, as I did think for the happiness +of both. Being arrived, I have the happiness to see this gentleman often, +and he hath had the goodness to say that no person hath ever been so +loved, honoured, esteemed, ADORED by him as your humble servant. Yet I am +told that a former attachment doth so constrain his honour that little can +be hoped."--(Her voice broke.) "Madam, will you read this paper, and say +Yes or No?" + +I opened it, and thus read:---; + +Madam, of your angelic goodness be pleased to answer, are you indeed the +wife of one I name not? If it be true, I will utterly withdraw my +intrusive presence. In pity, answer me. + +It seemed many minutes I sat with this in my hand, and she dropt on her +knee at my feet, looking up in agony. Time passed and I heard my voice as +if it were another's, and strange to me. + +"Madam, am I expected to disclose my secrets to one of whom I know not if +she tells truth? What are you to the Dean, and what proof do you give of +what you are, that I should answer?" + +She said very low:-- + +"I had not thought of that. But 'tis very true. And, trembling and looking +fearfully about her, she put her hand inside the whalebone of her bodice +and drew out letters. + +"I thought not these would be seen by any, but buried with me when I die; +but't is impossible you should know me for honest, and because honour +speaks in your face--read these." + +I took them, trembling inwardly. She, poor wretch, was newer to her trade, +and was like to faint. I knew the writing. + +I will see you tomorrow, if possible. You know it is not above five days +since I saw you, and that I would ten times more, if it were at all +convenient.--Cad bids me tell you that, if you complain of difficult +writing, he will give you enough to complain of. + +"Cad"? Then I remembered--"Cadenus and Vanessa." So--_she_ might +call him by a little familiar name, but I, never. I stopt there. + +"Madam, have you thus writ to him?" + +"Always of late, Madam. With a dash before it, as here you will see the +cause." + +She pushed a letter into my hand, eager, as I thought, to convince not +only me but herself of his regard. And thus it read:-- + +I wish your letters were as difficult (cautious) as mine, for then they +would be of no consequence if dropped by careless messengers. A stroke +thus--signifies all that may be said to Cad at beginning or conclusion. + +"So," says I, "a stroke means endearments. Otherwise 't is difficult to +conclude these sentimental letters." + +"Madam," she broke out, "it means more than tongue can tell. And since you +still doubt, have the condescension to read this letter of my own which he +returned to me in rebuke. 'Twill show you our terms." + +--Cad, you are good beyond expression. I thought that last letter I writ +was obscure and restrained enough. I took pains to write it after your +manner. I am sorry my jealousy should hinder you from writing more love +letters. Pray tell me, did you not wish to come where that road to the +left would have led you? I am now as happy as I can be without seeing--Cad. +I beg you will continue happiness to your own Heskinage. + +I read, and was silent--reading this letter by the light of a dead sunset. +I never dared so write. There was that between them that he had never +shared with me, and yet all his old caution, as with me. I thought not, +however, so much of his feelings as of hers, for I think his care for +women is but skin-deep at-best. He was ever willing to take the tribute of +their hearts--nay, of their lives; but should they incommode him, or +trespass across the line he hath marked--this careless liking is changed +to hatred, and he will avenge himself brutally on the weak creatures that +love him. + +Who should know this but I--I who have lived beside him and retained his +friendship only because I have in all things submitted to his will--silent +to death? Had I anything to lose to this unfortunate woman? No, I had lost +all many a long year ago. She still had hopes; I, none. Why torture a +wretch so miserable? + +She kneeled before me, pale as a corpse. 'Twas the strangest meeting. I +could scarce hear her voice. + +"Madam," says she, "I have put my life in your hand; for if Mr Dean knew +that I had come here--that I had dared--O Madam, he can be cruel to +women!" + +I strove to collect my thoughts; then heard my own voice as a stranger's:-- + +"Madam, to your question, the answer is No. There is no marriage between +Mr Dean and me. I have no claim on him that obstructs your own." + +She looked up like one in a stupor of amazement--so dazed and white that I +repeated my words. Then, suddenly, she gathered herself into composure +like my own, but her poor lips trembled. I saw in her my girlhood long +dead. + +"If I say I thank you, Madam, with all my heart and soul for thus opening +your mind to a most miserable woman, I say little. What is left of my life +shall be a study to deserve your compassion. What would you have me do?" + +I replied: "I think you will not fail in what honour and conscience +dictate. 'Tis not for me to say. 'Tis between you and Mr Dean. And now, +Madam, will you give me leave to withdraw, for this hath been a painful +meeting for us both." + +"Not before I bless you with all my broken heart," she cried, and took my +hand. "For I will now tell you that, for all these letters, I know he +loves not me, nor any. I may please him better than another in moments, +but there's no security. He hath a contempt for women that scorches, and +to hurt them--but 'tis not this I would say. I feared to find an exulting +rival when I came to you, Madam, and instead I find an angel of +compassion. Sure I read it in your eyes. In this life we shall meet no +more; but in my prayers you will be present, and I beseech you, as the +last favour, to give me an interest in yours, that I may know myself not +utterly forsook. My one sister is not long dead--I am utterly alone in the +world." + +She could not continue, but kissed my hand, and her tears fell on it. I +told her that this meeting should remain secret, but she needed not +assurance. We embraced, and so, curtseying, separated, she departing +first. A good woman, if I have known one. 'Tis of good women men make +their victims. The ill women cannot and do not suffer; they but repay our +score. When I reached home I found her paper still in my hand. + +I must now be brief. Mr Dean returned, and all was as before; but I +wearied yet more of the child's play and prattle he still continued for my +amusement. He was much engaged with writing. I thought him ill at ease. + +I was seated by the window on a day he will recall, when he entered pale +and furious. + +"What hath gone amiss?" I cried, starting up. + +"This," says he, in a voice I scarce knew, so awful was it; and laid +before me the poor Vanessa's paper that I believed I had destroyed weeks +agone. O, what had I done? 'Twas another paper I had burned, and this had +lain in my pocket. 'Twas most certainly Mrs Prue--But what matter? He had +what for her sake and mine I had died to hide. + +"Hath that vixen dared to come anigh you?" he cried. "Hath she ventured to +disquiet my friends, the wanton jade, the scheming--" and so on, pouring +horrid words upon her that chilled my blood. 'T was terrible in him, that +he could so swiftly change to these furies with one he had favoured, and +to a rage frightful to see. + +I tried to moderate him, to speak for her; but nothing availed. Finally I +rose to withdraw, for he would hear nothing. + +"But I'll break her spirit," he said, with clenched hands. "I'll ride to +Celbridge and face her with her crime--" + +I held him back. "For God's sake, no. Have patience. She hath done no +harm, and no eye but mine saw the paper. I pitied her--we parted friends." + +"Then you saw her? She came?" + +But I can write no more. He tore his coat from me, and so down the stair +like a madman; and I heard his horse clatter down the street, while I +prayed for a soul in agony, and that she might not think I betrayed her. + +Hours went by. He returned, still riding furiously, and told me how he had +dashed the paper on the table before her, and how she had sunk down +speechless when he so spoke as satisfied even his vengeance. And so +continued:-- + +"But I am resolved. Such sluts, such tongue-snakes shall not cross my +path. You have been obedient, Stella, through good and ill report, and +merit reward. I will speak with the Bishop of Clogher and he shall marry +us forthwith, though privately. And we will live apart, for I cannot bend +my will and habits to live with any woman; but Stella shall know she is my +wife, and the knowledge pierce that ----'s heart." + +So, at last, the words I had once died to hear came and found me cold. +Indeed, I despised them, though still I honour my friend. I mused, while +he leaned against the window, breathing heavily and waiting my reply. + +"It comes too late," I said. "There was a time when it had been welcome, +but not now. Also, my sympathies are engaged in a quarter where I think a +little mercy had become you. With your permission, Mr Dean, this is a +subject that shall detain us no more." + +I pickt up my knotting as Dingley entered. He stared upon me and went out, +nor was it ever again mentioned. + +After, she writ me a word: "Madam and my friend, I know 'twas not your +doing. That needs no words. I am very ill, and were it possible we should +meet, 'twould be my solace, but 'tis impossible. May the happiness the +good should enjoy attend you, as do my prayers. Your grateful humble +servant, E.V." + +I answered thus: "Madam and my friend, God be with you in life and death. +The question you put to me I shall for ever answer as then. Comfort +yourself, for sure there is a world that sets this right, else were we of +all men most miserable." + +She was dead in three weeks, of a broken heart, For me, my own hour draws +on. I have writ this paper, yet think to destroy it, and know not what is +best. No happiness lies before him in old age, for 'tis a plant he pulled +up by the roots for himself and others--alas! how many. Should I then +cause him to suffer more? He hath had the mercy of my silence for a +lifetime. 'Tis not so hard to be silent in the grave. + +(_Stella died in the year 1727. The letters in this story to or from +Dean Swift are authentic._) + + + + +Lady Mary Wortley Montagu +1689-1762 + + + +"I thank God witches are out of fashion," observes Lady Mary, in a letter +to her daughter, when spicy gossip about her doings abroad had been +circulated in London, "or I should expect to have it deponed, by several +credible witnesses, that I had been seen flying through the air on a +broomstick." + +Conspicuous always, she was nominated a "toast" in the Kit-Kat Club when +she was eight, occupied herself with Latin at ten, was married when she +was twenty-three, began her campaign for smallpox inoculation when she was +twenty-nine, held salons in London, Constantinople, Brescia, Rome, and +Venice, and died when she was seventy-three, bequeathing a fortune and +twenty large manuscript volumes of prose and verse to her daughter, one +guinea to her son, and two volumes of correspondence to a gentleman in +Holland, with the request that the letters be published at once. + +"Her family," writes Horace Walpole, "are in terror lest they should be, +and have tried to get them. Though I do not doubt but they are an olio of +lies and scandal, I should like to see them. She had parts, and had seen +much." + +Admirers and foes alike will be pleased to note that Edward Wortley +Montagu, in the days of courtship, used to direct his love letters to her, +simply,-- + + _The Lady Mary Pierrpont + With Care and Speed._ + +[Illustration: Lady Mary Wotley Montague] + + + +III + +My Lady Mary + + +[_Letters from my Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, celebrated for her Beauty +and Talents no less than for the introduction of the Practice of +Inoculation for the Smallpox into England, to her Friend the Lady D----n +in Paris. These Letters will dispel the Mystery to the Publick of the Lady +M.W.M.'s quitting England in the year 1739._] + +_Writ in the year 1737, Their Majesties George II & Queen Caroline +reigning._ + +I resume my pen, my dear Madam, to acquaint you with the news of the day, +though 'tis what you scarce deserve from your silence, unless indeed a +letter have miscarried, and 'twill not surprise me if my last hath not +come to your hands, which if so, is provoking, it being writ in my best +manner. I willingly would hear from you, was it but to say you still +exist, for I begin to find myself in the mind of the worshipper of +Minerva, who, receiving no answer to prayers and vows, discharged a +pitcher of foul water in her Goddess-ship's face, declaring he would not +longer be at the trouble to address a lady who would not be at the trouble +to listen, and she might go to the devil for him. 'Tis not however quite +come to this with me, so I continue. + +The world riots on at its common pace, and is now come to the pass that +vice is scarce worth the pain of concealing. Yet when it becomes the +general rule, sure there is nothing so stale! Its facility damns it, and +it then must simulate some of the airs of virtue to be alluring. Indeed, I +conclude it not wholly imaginary that, if it was made easier to be +virtuous than vicious, the whole moral balance of the universe would shift +and our present monarch and Madame Walmoden be the saints of a new +calendar. 'Tis here we need the clergy, and, for the life of me, I see not +how else. They lend a _haut gout_ to vice by condemning it; and if +they should disappear, vice must cease to interest and go with them. I +gave this for my opinion to the Queen and Lady Sundon, when they were fond +to discuss metaphysics, adding that the Seven Deadly Sins required the +flames of the infernal regions for their heating and the Ten Commandments +for their encouragement if they could be hoped to flourish in the future +as at present--and they had the condescension to agree. + +All this being so, it will give you neither surprise nor concern to hear +my Lord H----d hath run off with his ward, Miss Nanny Graves, leaving his +lady with four children. We shall have them back in a few months with +reputations so little worse crackt than those of the decentest among us as +will not be worth the trouble of censuring, and give neither themselves +nor others the smallest uneasiness. + +His Majesty is happy at present in the loss of "that old deaf woman," as +he lately called my Lady Suffolk, who was once his greatest blessing. +There is much I could tell you, but think best not to commit to paper, +save that I hear from my Lord Hervey (who is as much as ever in the +Queen's confidence) of the farewell of Lady Suffolk to Her Majesty. She +lamented to the Queen that she no longer met with the same attention from +His Majesty. "I told her," said the Queen, "that she and I were no longer +of an age to think of these sort of things in such a romantic way, and as +wishing not to encourage it, bade her take a week to consider of the +business and give me her word to read no romances meanwhile, and I was +sure she would think better of her present concern." + +She cares little who rules the King, so she and Sir Robert Walpole rule +the kingdom; and indeed does both with the skill of a juggler tossing +balls at Bartholomew Fair. Suffice it to say that she is as complaisant as +ever, and treats the favourites, be they who they will, with a +condescending and smiling geniality that enables her to give many an +unexpected stab--the dagger hid in flowers. 'Tis thus, in my opinion, +every sensible woman in the like case should carry herself. 'Tis not tears +and agonies that move that sex, but good humour and composure, and thus +are they left to their follies while common sense pursues its own objects. +Yet, will a future age credit (what my Lord Hervey tells me) that our +sovereign Lord, wishing to meet the daughter of the French Regent,--a +Princess whose reputation is known to all the world,--writ thus to his +Queen, "C'est un plaisir que je suis sur, ma chere Caroline, vous serez +bien aise de me procurer, quand je vous dis combien je le souhaite"? + +Never was woman mistress of so much tact, nor with more need of it. He +struts like a little despot while the beggars sing in the street:-- + + You may strut, dapper George, but 't will all be in vain, + We know 't is Queen Caroline, not you, that reign. + +He thinks her his slave, and all his sultanas tremble at her nod! Lord, +what a world do we live in! I wonder in how many private homes 'tis the +same. + +She is, indeed, an extraordinary woman; and for my part, despising men and +women alike for their motives, I could at this instant form a ministry of +women, with the Queen at their head, no more silly and impudent than they +who now suppose themselves to guide the fortunes of the country. If the +Gods have any relish of humour,--and 'tis to be thought they have, else +had they not created such a miserable little crawling species,--they must +often be witty at our expense. _Quelle vie!_ + +I comprehend her well. When I give my friendship and confidence and meet +with a scurvy return, 'tis not anger nor aversion it produces in me, but a +complete indifference. Was I to hear tomorrow that Mr Wortley had a train +of charmers as long as Captain Macheath's in the "Beggars' Opera," 'twould +not inflict a pang, so long as he kept within the bounds of prudence and +family decency; and indeed, 'tis as my poor sister Gower said to me more +than once: "'Tis you, sister, for a merciless good sense that makes you +accommodate yourself without complaint to what had drove another woman +distracted." We not married two years before I had to complain of his +indifference and negligence (though no worse), and writ him plainly to +that effect, concluding in the words that, as this was my first complaint, +so it should be my last. I kept my word, and he his course, and we now +correspond with good temper on family interests, and no more. + +But since I have spoke of the "Beggars' Opera," know that I have myself +become possessed of a Polly lovelier than any Lavinia Fenton that ever +played the part. 'Tis a romance--heaven send it go no further! Here is the +first chapter. + +Being some weeks since at Twicknam, I did not see company awhile, owing to +my cousin's death; for though, as I writ at the time of my father's, I +don't know why filial piety should exceed fatherly fondness, and still +less cousinly, still there is a decency to be exprest in black bombazine +and retirement. Besides, a thousand nothings kept me engaged. I passed a +part of the time writing satires upon the little crooked viper of +Twicknam, Pope--that may appear one day with a decoration from my Lord +Hervey's pen; for Pope's last lampoon on me is a disgrace to any nature +above that of a baboon. So all was pastoral and tranquil. + +But, as the Fates would have it, walking one day by the river and (I +suppose) pulling off my glove, I lost the diamond ring that was my +mother's,--the plainest thing and such as may be found anywhere,--a ring +about the finger, of small brilliant sparks. 'Twas not the value, which is +nothing, but I returned home in a scold with my woman Pratt, that was +walking behind me and thinking of nothing but her face, which some +commending have turned her head or she must have seen it fall. She is a +fool, even for her nauseous class. Seeing nothing better to be done, I +caused notices to be writ and stuck about the village that a Lady of +Quality having dropt her ring etc., would give a reward. And having wrote +of my loss to Mr Wortley, my son, and a few friends, fixed my mind with my +usual good sense that I would see it no more. + +For upwards of a week nothing took place. I was seated in the garden with +my tent-stitch, when out comes Pratt to say a young woman requested an +audience of me. I was vexed to be disturbed, having on my mind a letter +that morning received to say that young rake, my son, was run off from +Hinchinbrook and none knew where--but you are no stranger to his +behaviour. I therefore sent word by Pratt that I could not see her, well +knowing she would add any force to the information that my words lackt. +But I was vexed to the blood by my young rogue, knowing not where to find +him, and suspecting sonic low haunt in the Fleet. + +To my astonishment returns Pratt presently, flouncing and bridling, and +with her a young woman--Heavens! No, but one of the nymphs of the Thames, +or rather, for they are somewhat oozy hereabouts, a dryad of the Richmond +woods, indeed as beautiful a person as ever I saw in my life. There is not +one of our reigning girls to be compared with her for a moment and even my +Lord Hervey's Molly Lepel would vanish beside her, nor could Paris have +any doubt where to bestow the apple. I am an amateur of beauty and can't +forget your Ladyship's praise of my commendation of the fair Fatima, +saying you never before knew one fine woman do such justice to another. So +here I repeat myself. + +This fair creature was drest in a plain suit of minunet that had seen +better days, and a straw hat tied with ribbons over a cap of thread lace. +But her eyes! large, black, and languishing, they would have recalled to +me those verses addrest to the daughter of Sultan Achmet,-- + + Your eyes are black and lovely, + But wild and disdainful as those of a stag, + +but for the fall of lashes that hid their soft fire; her hair raven-black, +a bloom I never saw equalled in this country, and her lips a veritable +scarlet and shaped for every sweetness. + +Thinks I--'t is well the Duke of Wharton and his club for gallantry can't +see this paragon, else--but I leave the rest to your discretion, for your +Ladyship knows "Sophia" as I call him, as well as I. However, the +agreeablest girl in the world came forward and dropt a curtsey, with her +eyes on the ground, and offered my ring, excusing herself on the scruple +that she must needs give it into my own hand--and all this in a voice like +music. + +I leave you to guess if I was pleased, for the ring was on my mother's +hand when she died, and 'twas so prettily tendered, too. + +"Well, child, I thank you for your pains," says I "and will, of course, be +answerable for the reward, but give me leave to add that, if I can serve +you in any other manner, 'tis not my custom to leave service forgot; if I +am not mistook, your mind is not as free from care as a well-wisher could +like to see it." + +Indeed, there was an air of melancholy about her which moved me +prodigiously, and seeing Pratt flouncing and bustling in such a manner as +denoted her curiosity and jealousy, I dismist her to the house. She can't +endure a face that eclipses her own curds-and-whey skin, and lookt upon my +little thread-satin beauty with a true court malice. I was, however, +really desirous myself to know what had brought so much beauty to +misfortune. + +"Madam," says she, "my story is so common that it needs not detain your +ear. My father was a rich Turkey merchant, and I wanted for nothing that +money could buy. But he was bit by some scheme for making more, three +years since; a scheme he compared--alas, too late!--to the South Sea +Bubble itself. And in this he lost all, and I had the pious duty to +support him by my needleworks. However, he sunk under his miseries into a +melancholy that deprived him of life two years since. I nursed him to his +last sigh and then, desiring to lead a life of virtue, I entered the +family of Mrs Lamb, the Levant merchant's lady and a cousin of my father, +to care her children. She carried them down here for an airing, and +walking with the little misses yesterday, I found this ring and have the +happiness to restore it." + +She spoke with a propriety I can't describe, and curtseyed to retire. +Indeed, my dear Lady D----n, you had yourself been seduced into the step I +next took, though how far 'twas prudent, I leave you to judge, allowing +the uneasiness beauty causes, go where it will. + +"Child," says I, "I thank you, and as for the reward--" + +She stopt me with a simplicity and integrity that could not but confirm my +first opinion. + +"'Tis not possible, Madam, I should accept it for an act of honesty common +to all decent persons. Refuse me not that privilege, and permit me to +retire, with thanks to your Ladyship for so encouraging a reception." + +Again she curtseyed, but I detained her. 'Twas truly a pleasure to see so +charming a creature. + +"Child, if not possible I should serve you in one way, it may in another. +If the question be not disagreeable, are you happily placed with this city +lady?" + +Her fine eyes moistened. + +"No, Madam. Not but what Madam means well, but she possesses not an easy +humour, and Miss Nanny, Susan, Betty, and the rest are hard to be +controlled. I receive but my clothes and food and 'tis very true--" + +She stopt what she would have said, with all the easiness of a girl of +quality, but a modesty they have exchanged for the paint-pot and whitewash +in which they now blaze out. What she did not say left much to be guessed. +'T is certainly these rich city folk for an illiberality of mind and petty +spitefullness that inflicts countless stings on their dependants. 'Twas a +weakness, I own, but it then came into my mind on a high point of +generosity (with which I am sometimes took like a colic) to do what I +could for the poor creature. 'Twas to be seen she was educated, and she +presently confirmed my belief that she could read, write, and cast +accompts to perfection, and was skilled in needleworks and household +management. Her expectations of payment did not run high, and 'tis but +reasonable I should consider of this. So was I tempted into what you may +censure as an indiscretion, and said I was in need of one to overlook my +family of servants, and be about myself and my girl, who hath picked up +some little grossnesses from Pratt that I like not. Not that I would +dismiss Pratt, but put this one somewhat above her as her training +deserves. 'Twas charity and carefulness combined. + +Sure never was gratitude more lively exprest than when she fell on her +knee and kist my hand, protesting and vowing her life should be the +monument to my goodness. And indeed, think what you will, Madam, 'tis a +girl more suited to the company of persons of quality than to city dames +that drive behind a pair of Suffolk Dumplings with coachman to match, +their own hair and portliness dressed out in the last mode but three. For +this girl fashion mattered not. I dare to swear the more she put off, the +fairer she mist appear, even as our general mother Eve gained no lustre +from her fig leaves nor furs. + +'Twas not till the matter was settled and she retired, that my good sense +asserted itself, and thus it said:-- + +"Come, Madam, what do you know of this nymph that you should be in such +haste to make yourself her guardian? Did you ever know gratitude, or even +decency, in return for a favour? And here have you took a girl into your +family that will certainly draw every rake within thirty miles to hunt +down the prey?"--"No matter," says my conscience (did you credit its +existence, my dear Lady D----n? for so did not I), "if you take not pity +on the wench, she will in three years' time be chargeable to the parish, +with a brat in either hand, cast off for a newer face." 'Tis the way of +the men, and those that trust them embark their little capital into worse +than the South Sea Bubble. I resolved to keep her very secluded and say +nothing of my Polly Peachum (whose name, by the way, is Anne Wentworth) +outside the house, but indeed might as well endeavour to stifle a +promising scandal as such beauty! However, she arrived a week later with +her meagre outfit. 'Twas an odd whim, I own. + +Don't I see you now, saying as you read, "Well do I know the sequel. Mr +Wortley comes up from Hinchinbrook and loses the acorn he is pleased to +call his heart to Mrs Anne." You are much mistook, Madam, and was it to be +she, I had as soon that as another, for I might thus acquire the merit +with my husband which the Queen gains with hers by choosing his +inamoratas. It fell out far otherwise to your expectations; and, but for +Pratt's gruntings and grumblings about cuckoos picked up in the street, +which Mrs Anne bore with smiling patience, I had vaunted every day my good +fortune in lighting on such beauty and merit. + +My first alarm took place when Molly Skerret comes down one day and sees +her engaged over the lace ruffles of my _negligee_. Says she:-- + +"Are you mad, Lady Mary, that you will needs have a beauty about you like +yonder? All the men will be running after her. She is a close resemblance +to Sally Salisbury, that hath been the rage--she that some time back +stabbed young Finch and fled to France." + +I set it down to spite, for dear Molly is no beauty herself. But the very +next day my troubles begun, for the viper of Twicknam, happening to spy +her in the garden in attendance on my girl, went home swelling with poison +and writ the following, which was handed about all over the place and in +the town. + + Narcissa widely from the world retired + So soon's sne saw her slighted charms expired. + But since she still must hope another spring, + (As snakes collect their poison ere they sting,) + She chose a lovely nymph to keep her sweet, + And, willing to be cheated as to cheat, + When in her glass the glowing charmer shone, + She fondly dreamed the image was her own. + +This made a great talk, which was against my wish to keep the girl +retired. But you will credit, my dear Lady D., that the malice of this +little crooked monster, who should from affinity be conversant with the +habits of snakes, would not set me against the poor innocent wench that +caused it, and I contented myself with the caution to her that she should +keep in the garden and speak with no men but what I judged proper. I fear +none the less that there may be a difficulty in keeping her, impossible to +be overcome, but will tell you further in replying to your obliging favour +just received. + +Before concluding this epistle, which indeed is more truly to be called a +novel, I would have you know that Lady Polden was inoculated, together +with all her family, for the smallpox two months since, excepting only +Miss Jenny, that none could persuade from fear of the lancet. All +recovered after a day or two's disagreeables, but poor Miss Jenny catching +the distemper, supposedly at a masquerade, fell a victim at the age of +eighteen, and was buried a week last Monday in all the forms. 'Tis certain +there are those would sooner die with the approval of the doctors than +live to dance on their graves without it. + +My daughter presents her duty to you. I have designs myself to cross to +France ere long, but will not be particular as to plans until I am more +resolved. + +I am affectionately yours. + + * * * * * + +_(Two months later)_ + +My Dear Madam,-- + +I know not whether I do well or ill in acquainting you with a matter so +delicate, as there is none other but my Lord Hervey to whom I dare confide +it, and 'tis but to you and to him I would be obliged for assistance. But +friendship, if an illusion, is the last left me, and I won't dismiss it +until I am compelled. 'Tis certainly absurd that one human being should +depend upon any other for anything, for alone we are born and die, and it +may be thought the Great Author of our being intended us to walk the way +alone that conducts from the one to the other, else had he made our minds +more accessible. For my part, if truth be a merit, I can say I never had +an affection, but what I regretted it sooner or later, or made a +confidence, but what I wished it recalled. Excepting in one case, which I +leave to your discernment. And such is my vexation at this minute that, +was I to be born in another incarnation as Pythagoras pretends, I would be +a foundling, indebted to none who could exact repayment of the gift of +life forced upon an unwilling victim to please the humour of others. + +If I write a little bitter I know your kind cpncern will excuse me in view +of what I relate. I am extreme annoyed and fluttered, yet would not be a +vain lamenter neither. Life is still endurable when met with an easy +common sense, and this I call to my aid on this occasion. + +I had a mind to return to London about a month since, when word came that +my young rake of a son would come hither for a few days, with his friend +Carew. I knew not the young man, but remember his father in the Thoresby +days, and the old man now being dead, the youth is well to pass in the +world in a small way and hath inherited the old Devon grange. + +However, I took this as a sign of grace in my prodigal, and desired Anne +to see the rooms prepared and that she should not attend me with my +tent-stitch after dinner, as wishing to keep flint and steel apart, which +your Ladyship will admit was a prudence to be desired. And so went down to +receive the young men. + +You are not now to learn that Edward, with all his follies, hath a very +pleasant humour when he chooses, and a tongue not unworthy of his family; +and young Carew being very conversable and well-featured and full of odd +stories of the authorities at Oxford and the liberties they allow +themselves under the mask of gravity, the evening past extreme agreeably, +and it was late when I left them to their bottle. + +Pratt and Anne Wentworth attended me to bed, and I desired the last to put +my pearl necklace into my dressing-box with the dressing-plate, with which +she complied in her obliging manner and took the key as customary. This +done, I dismist them and writ a few lines to my Lord Hervey, and so to +sleep. + +The next day we past on the river in a water party and sillabubs at +Richmond and what not; and evening come I asked for my necklace and--Lord +bless me!--'twas not to be found. Anne, pale as her smock, was looking in +all corners,--and Pratt, also, but with purst lips as who should say, +"Your Ladyship now sees what copies of whimsies and foundlings,"--till I +was vexed to the blood with them both, and knew not what to say next; the +more so, since I had seen Mrs Anne gathering flowers for the bowpots after +sunrise, and young Carew staring after her like a zany. I don't doubt but +what there had been a thousand sweet nothings before I opened my window. +The house was hunted in vain, and all the comfort Edward could give me was +the assurance of his father's anger at my folly in taking a stranger into +the house; which is most abominably true, Mr Wortley loving to find fault +and invent it where not found. + +By this time Pratt was weeping like a crocodile, and the Bow Street +runners sent for to come and take particulars lest the pearls be sold in +Drury Lane. Indeed, my dear Madam, I could not close an eye for vexation, +and to complete it could not but remark that young Carew kept casting +sheep's eyes at Mrs Anne that looked as lovely as a weeping angel, could +such be supposed. How different are tears in one woman and another! Pratt, +her nose inflamed, her eyes scarce visible in swelled lids, might have +been exposed to the Duke of Wharton and his "Schemers" without an ounce of +virtue lost on either side; whereas Anne, with the liquid pearls hung on +her lashes as if to replace the lost ones, was a dish for the Gods. 'Tis +no manner of use to scold the Fates for what they give or withhold; but I +swear 'tis easy known they are women, such favourites do they make without +reason. + +We returned to London without loss of time, and the young men remained on +in my family for awhile--a course I took because the investigators are +such filthy drunken beasts as I would not bring myself to endure their +presence, and thought it more fitting that Edward should direct them. +'Twas more than a week ere they returned, with the news that pearls +answerable to the description were sold at a receiving "ken" about Drury +Lane. My blessed offspring, who (by the way) is grown extreme handsome, +endeavoured to learn more certainly, but was told with surprising +impudence that they were likely out of the kingdom by this time. The +wretch that kept the place was took in custody and closely questioned; but +naught could be got from him but that a young madam whom he supposed a +nymph of Drury Lane had sold it, saying she had it from her young cully of +a lover, and she would not have the sale known for worlds, but had +occasion for the money. Asked to describe her, he said so many were his +dealings as he took no particular heed beyond that she was handsome, and a +way with her, says he, that would whistle a bird off a bough. + +God forgive me--'twas not wonderful I looked at Mrs Anne, and the thought +came in my mind how little I knew but her own story, and my own folly that +took up with a stranger on what I might call a mere spasm of liking. She +saw it, for she hath a gift of reading faces, and says she:-- + +"Your Ladyship, I am sensible that suspicion is like to rest on me, for +Mrs Pratt is some time in your family and I but new come. This is a +hanging matter, Madam, and I beseech you have so much pity for a poor girl +as permit me a few days more before I am handed over to these cruel men. +'Tis the bare truth that, so far from stealing, I would give my life to +repay the debt I owe your goodness. And sure I that restored a jewel +unasked am scarce to be now held guilty. Have pity upon your poor girl, +Madam! and delay but till Mrs Lamb and her family return from the Wells to +speak for me." + +'Twas so well exprest and carried so much truth that, though I called +myself a thousand weak fools, I could not refuse her, and so set a week +and lamented my own weakness in regard of beauty, that might be a man for +the sensibility I have for it but that I detect their little cunning +tricks. I know not how I am so oddly made up, unless it be the merciless +good sense of which my poor sister Gower complained; but I am no more like +to believe a woman ill-behaved because she is handsome (as women do), than +to think her innocent (as a man would do) for the same excellent reason. + +Some more days past, and I had other cause to regret my course; for +passing a door ajar, I looked through the crack, hearing voices, and found +Mrs Pratt conversing very much at her ease with my prodigal--a thing +which, though well enough in Congreve's comedies, is what I will not have +in my family. I am so ill-bred as to be quite insensible to the romantic +nights that are now the vogue and, walking into the room, spoke my mind, +desiring Mrs Pratt to be so good as pack her boxes and depart within the +hour, which was accordingly done, I having her boxes looked through ere +she went, so much assurance awaking my suspicion that perhaps she could +tell more of the pearls than anyone, if so disposed. However, nothing +found, and so off she went in a sulky silence, my son and heir talking +very high and railing upon me for injustice. He took himself off next +morning with young Carew (who however behaved very genteelly throughout), +saying as he flung away, that God only knew but they might next be +suspected, and they had better depart while their characters were safe. +You know the silly cant he is apt to talk as well as any. + +I was fluttered and wearied when they departed, and had, what is rare with +me, a touch of the vapours; but there was Anne, hearing me come up, and +did all to support me that a feeling heart and good sense could dictate. +Will your Ladyship credit me when I tell you the poor girl had had good +reason all along to suspect Mrs Pratt might have a hand in the thievery, +but would not speak as knowing nothing for certain, and sparing to trouble +me with the understanding she surprised between Pratt and my young +gentleman. Her good sense and heart were a cordial, and I drew a little +consolation in considering that I would now retain her about my person and +enjoy a little peace in a worthy attendant. For, though I have known no +instances of honour and integrity but among those of high birth, still +there are exceptions, no doubt, to be found to any rule. So resolving, I +sat down to write to my rake that I had sufficient reason to think his +Dulcinea might know more of the pearls, and to request he would oblige me +by using his best endeavours to trace them. + +What a bubble is hope! Two days later comes a letter from young Carew, +expressing himself with decency and respect, to tell me that with my +permission he had made up his mind to marry Mrs Anne Wentworth, who was +not unwilling to hear his suit, since he knew not where else he could find +so much beauty coupled with good sense and modesty. He doubted not but I +would approve his resolution. + +'Twas somewhat of a blow. I had come to like the girl about me as a lap +dog or any other little fondling. Her every look was a caress, and her +voice as soft as violets. Also she hath mended my girl's manners of a +hundred little indelicacies gathered from Pratt's pertness. I had +willingly kept her, but 'twas not to be. What! shall a young beauty refuse +a comfortable home and other matrimonial delights for a lonely woman! Not +she! + +I gave them what, by courtesy, may be called my blessing, and my suit of +blue lutestring to Mrs Bride, and she threw herself at my feet, and I +actually came near shedding a tear to see her overflowing gratitude. 'Twas +worthy such a set of verses as Pope writ when the rural lovers were killed +in each other's arms by a stroke of lightning. + +No doubt Carew is a fool--yet I think a wise one. She will play him no +tricks and stratagems, and will be a fair Lady Bountiful in his moated +grange, and will care her children and the poor, and con possets and +caudles with the parson's wife--Pshaw! what sickly stuff do I write that +should know better. 'Tis liker she will play him false in a year, with +some booby squire that rides to hounds and swaggers in with his boots a +mass of mud to drink himself silly after a dinner of roast pig. And for +me, I have replaced her next day with a Mrs Susan--the Duchess of +Montagu's late woman, that hath all the pertnesses and the tricks of her +trade. + +Well--'tis the way of the world. Set not your heart on anything. A hard +heart that values nothing is the only wear, and 'tis evident Scripture so +enjoins it. My glass tells me I am still a personable woman, and 'tis open +to me to find amusement in making a lover--and myself--happy if so I +choose--and if 'twere not so dull a pastime. And there is crimp and +quadrille for the asking, and the new game that is just come up. + +Horace Walpole is crossing the Channel and will give this to your +Ladyship's hand. And the favour I would have of you (in all secrecy) is +this--that you would cause enquiry to be made with caution at Breguet's in +the Rue des Moineaux, whether he hath had lately any sale of pearls from +England. 'Twas a thing spoke of as not impossible, that they should find +their way there, for I hear from H. W. and others that the man is a +well-practised receiver of such goods from England. But with caution, I +entreat, and with no mention to H. W., for I begin to have an anxiety that +I have not as yet mentioned to any. + +Pray be so good as send your reply by special hand. I await it uneasily. +It may be that I have the spleen, but though I have done with +knight-errantry for distrest beauty, I wonder sometimes whether my little +Anne Carew have not a happier fate than any woman of fashion. 'Tis but a +modest grange in Devon; but those two simple souls will taste of happiness +there and in each other, and the world will not trouble them. The seasons +will come and go, and when they lie in the churchyard 'twill not be with +tons of marble and scutcheons of lies above 'em, but with nature's +covering of snow in winter and leaves and flowers in summer. They'll sleep +the sweeter. I would willingly have her with me still. Present my +compliments to our Embassador. I may yet have to ask his good offices, but +am still in hopes to avoid this. + +Your Ladyship's most affectionate, as ever. + + * * * * * + +_(A month later)_ + +My Dear Madam,-- + +Herewith the end of the romance I have inflicted on your obliging +attention, and I am now to tell you your comments were fully justified and +I have writ myself down an ass and invoked as fine a lampoon as Pope could +write in gall and vinegar. "Sappho" will be as nothing to it, and indeed +that I, that know the world or should know it, should behave so like a +country bumpkin new come to town is gall and wormwood to myself. I cannot +hide from a friend what all the world will soon ridicule, and had sooner +you heard it from me than another. Was you to reproach my folly as I +deserve, you will write volumes and I promise to read with seasonable +humility. Sure I must be falling into premature dotage. + +I was at Twicknam again, somewhat ailing with My common swelled face, when +I was told Mr Carew would see me. I refused, but he would take no denial +and indeed forced his way in--so pale that I could expect nothing but the +worst news of my son and implored him to speak. 'Twas some time and took a +dram to restore him before he could answer, what with his haste and +fluttered spirits. But when he did--'twas to tell me Madam had flown the +day they married. The ceremony was scarce over and they returned to the +house, when, making some excuse, she slipt from the room. He waited as +long as a bridegroom's patience would hold out and followed her; but found +she was nowhere to be seen. Your kindness, Madam, will conceive the horror +with which he searched everywhere, but could get no news. The least he +could suppose was that she was murdered for the diamond ring he gave her +on the occasion. + +At the last he had recourse to the law, and what a discovery was there. +Who think you was my paragon--the compendium in little of all the female +virtues? Why, Sally Salisbury's niece! and the equal of Sally herself for +worthless good looks and behaviour. She is not yet well known to the town +or I could not have been so took in. But you will recall that Molly +Skerret observed the likeness to that drab Sally on seeing her. Good +Heaven, that I had heeded, and not harboured the slut! + +Yet there is worse to follow, and I know not how to tell such folly, but +must do so. She is the wife of my son, whom indeed I knew capable of any +wickedness short of robbing his mother. He picked the hussy up in the +Fleet and wed her, and then, being in debt, the thought struck the +promising pair that my jewels might meet their needs. He took advantage of +the loss of my ring to have it copied, and the rest followed easy with a +fool like me. + +"But I beseech you, Madam," says poor Carew, shaking in every limb, "that +you would have the goodness to review your jewels, since the only way I +can reason upon her continuing with you and pretending to accept my +addresses was to take time while Mrs Pratt was under suspicion to make off +with more and keep you easy about them. The pretended love-affair with Mrs +Pratt was plainly to be a false scent." + +I sent for my cases, and find my chain of diamonds, my gold etui set with +diamonds, my Turkish clasp with emeralds, and other things disappeared +with my Venus. I enclose the list and description, for I learn Miss Sally +Salisbury is now in Paris, and it is probable that her niece and nephew +(my son) have joined her or committed the jewels to her good offices. I am +ashamed to give your Ladyship such trouble about this trifle, yet beg your +obliging enquiries in the Rue des Moineaux or where else your Lord may +suggest. But by all means keep it from Horace Walpole. I want not his +bitter tongue to lick my sores. 'Tis of course certain we cannot use the +law, considering who is involved--a point Madam no doubt laid her account +with when she carried through the plot. + +Lord, when I think of my sentiment wasted on the arrant hussy! My green +churchyards and Lady Bountifuls and all the praise of simplicity and +parade of folly that took me because of a pretty face and arts from the +gutter. Well, 'tis the miserable truth that this young fool (who sure must +get it from his mother) did wed this slut at the Fleet two years since, +and hath damned himself for life. He is now as weary of her as is to be +expected, and besought me to deliver him from the consequence of his +folly. Beside that fact the affair of the diamonds seems shrunk, for +nothing can be done, nor does he deserve it. He whines like a whipt dog in +his letters. + +I would my father had lived to see the soundness of Mr Wortley's +reasoning, when he refused to entail his estates upon a future child of +whose vices and disposition he could know nothing. 'Twould certainly be +the young gentleman's utter ruin had he money to handle in reversion. I +will not trouble you with the number of falsehoods he has stuft into his +letters. + +I have trained myself to fortitude, and go about with as many knives stuck +in my heart as our Lady of the Seven Dolours that I saw in Vienna, but +make much less display of them. The best news I could have at this moment +would be the young villain's death, for the misery he will yet bring upon +himself and others is too certain. For Madam, she will doubtless be heard +of yet in a manner that the decency of my sex obliges me to soften. I +doubt they will both end on the gallows, though indeed her face will +probably save her that or any penalty. + +Well, I have done with such fragments of a heart as I had, and wish it may +never trouble me more. I am sick of the cant of sentiment and duties and +suchlike, which is the mask men use to cover what will not bear +considering. Let me write of it no more. The open wickedness of the world +we live in is preferable to hypocrisy and cringing. I will rather laugh +with others than be a laughing-stock. I sicken at this complication of +folly and falsity. I go to the Bath shortly, and look for change and +pleasure there, though Mr Wortley speaks of passing through on his way to +Bristol, I know not for what. Lord Hervey is resolved to come there, +though I fear it will not please his lady, who seems resolved to keep so +general a blessing to herself, which is more than she or any can hope. She +takes it, however, with easy good sense, and wisely, for there's nothing +on earth, I protest, worth a tear. + +The rage for cards runs higher than ever, and let me conclude my romance +and this long paper with a pretty parable of them that is making the round +of the town. Will your Ladyship guess the author? 'T is called "The +Goddesses of Chance." + +"There was long since in the Moon four Goddesses. One was the Queen of +Riches, the second the Queen of Love, the third the Queen of Power, and of +the fourth you'll hear anon. 'Tis to be supposed the fourth received the +most homage; for a thing known loses its value, as when a man despises his +own wife and thinks Lord M.'s a descended Venus, when, was the case +reversed, his own would be his object. + +"On a certain day these ladies, being, after all, women, disputed between +themselves on a point of precedence. + +"Says the Goddess of Riches, jingling her diamonds:-- + +"'I come first with all. I am worshipt in every polite country, and even +the blacks fight over the shells that are their coinage. I give not only +gold but all it can buy, inclusive of such bagatelles as love and honour, +and all the other little nothings men cry up when they have a mind to be +droll. I need give no examples though I might cite the late marriage of my +Lady M. E. at the age of fifteen to a wealthy lord of seventy-five that +shall be nameless. Undoubtedly I am Queen of all.' + +"'Not by any means,' says the Goddess of Hearts, adjusting her crown with +a simper. ''Tis I am supreme. 'Tis known a young rake will sell his last +estate to win a smile from Miss Sally Salisbury and other worthy ladies. +And hath not the Countess of H----t lately run off with her footman? I +lead statesmen and kings by the nose. Many such moral examples could I +give if needful.' + +"The Goddess of Power, brandishing her club with a brawny arm, then +replied:-- + +"'I beg your Ladyships would cease twattling when 'tis in my power with a +crack of my club to silence you all. I leave you to judge whether anything +in life is so powerful as what can end it. What's love when a crack on the +sconce can kill it, or riches when a blow can turn it over to the +grimacing heir-at-law? No, no, ladies. Strength comes first, and this +was seen when the Strong Man was at Bartholomew Fair and half the beauties +ran after him and poured their gold in a perfect Pactolus at his feet. +Show your good sense, therefore, by a discreet silence.' + +"But still they disputed, and at last the fourth said:-- + +"'Sisters, let us descend to earth, that we may settle the question which +I see not how else to conclude.' + +"'But how shall we go?' says the three at once. + +"'We will go as the Queens of Chance, and men may sport with us, play with +us, revile us, men and women alike. And they shall sell us their honour, +love, and whatever else they have marketable, and on the day of Judgment +we four will see whose bag is fullest of their commodities. 'Tis the only +way to settle the dispute. And in the end all shall come to me.' + +"And the three said: 'And who are you, Madam?' + +"And says she: 'With my black spade I dig the earth where all shall lie. +'Tis I will be the Black Hag of the Pack, and you shall strip them and I +will dig their graves. Be it known to you that I am Destiny herself.' + +"So they came to earth, and are the Queens of Diamonds, Hearts, and Clubs. +But if the Queen of Spades be in your hand, say the gambler's prayer +backward, for she is the chance you can't reckon in the game, or in life +or death." + +I think it neatly turned, whoever did it, and I declare this little +writing hath so affrighted the fine ladies, that Mrs Murray swooned away +at the Duchess of Manchester's, finding the Queen of Spades in her hand at +commerce, and was forced to be revived with strong waters. His Grace of +Wharton, known to you and me as "Sophia," hath given up cards altogether, +though whether it be the parable, I know not. And the viper of Twicknam is +so jealous that he did not himself write this piece, that he spews his +venom in all directions, in hope some will settle on the author. His +pleasure to scourge alike the follies and virtues of mankind is, for aught +I know, the liveliest this world affords. The follies are, at least, +inexhaustible, and none need be at a loss for amusement that can taste +them, whether in themselves or others. + +The Queen, who I can't undertake to commiserate for bad health, so hard a +life as she leads, hath had the unspeakable blessing to see her lord +return from Hanover, after a storm which induced his faithful subjects to +believe they had lost him. Will your Ladyship credit that the wits affixed +a paper to the walls of St. James's Palace with, writ on it, this +following:-- + +"Lost or strayed out of this house, a man who has left a wife and six +children on the parish. Whoever will give tidings of him to the +churchwardens of St. James's Palace, so as he may be got again, shall +receive four shillings and sixpence reward.--N.B. This reward will not be +increased, nobody judging him to be worth a crown." + +Impudence indeed! But I hear from Lord Hervey that she is counselled by +Sir Robert Walpole to invite Madame Walmoden hither from Hanover, to amuse +his leisure. 'Tis done as you might throw a bone to a dog, while Her +Majesty and the Walpole pursue the business of governing. I have no sort +of liking for either, but own, had that woman been a man, she had been a +great one, so entirely does she subdue her heart and all the femininities +in her to what her reason demands. When she dies, and it can't be long +first, from what I hear, the fool she leaves will drift like a stick in a +stream. + +Well, I sicken of England and of the town and the wits and all else. My +mind is made up to quit this country ere long, and seek peace abroad, +where I found it when I was younger than I am now. Folly! I tell myself +so, and yet I will do it, when one or two businesses I must attend on are +finished. 'Tis not that I am a lamenter over that I have told you. I care +not what happens to my prodigal, and had sooner be out of hearing of his +doings. When a cup is broke, throw it from you and think of it no more. +But whether 'tis the spleen or the vapours, I have a mind to cross the +water and seek a new earth, if not a new heaven. Here I am in neither, but +in purgatory. Quelle vie!--'Tis what I say daily. + +Adieu, my dearest Madam--may it not be long before we meet. + +Inviolably yours, + +M. W. M. + +_(The son of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was the misery of her life, and +it is the historic truth that he made much such a marriage as I have +described. It is said he turned Mohammedan after the death of his parents. +A portrait of him in a most aggressive turban is in existence. The reason +for Lady Mary's leaving England in 1739, and returning only to die in +1762, has never been known.)_ + + + + +Maria Gunning +_Countess of Coventry_ +1733-1760 + +Elizabeth Gunning +_Duchess of Hamilton and of Argyll_ +1734-1790 + + + +"'Tis a warm day," remarks George Selwyn in a letter to Lord Carlisle, +"and someone proposes a stroll to Betty's front shop; suddenly the cry is +raised, 'The Gunnings are coming,' and we all tumble out to gaze and to +criticize." + +The two lovely sisters from Roscommon in Ireland, introduced by their +beauty, were the sensation of fashionable England in 1751. Maria, a year +the elder, was the more dashing and at first the more conspicuous of the +two. She became Countess of Coventry, and died at twenty-seven. Elizabeth +married the Duke of Hamilton, after his death, refused the Duke of +Bridgewater, but later married the Duke of Argyll. Four of her children +were Dukes, two of Hamilton and two of Argyll. + +So much Irish luck and beauty kept the Gunnings constantly in the centre +of court affairs. A poem celebrating their conquests was entitled, "The +Grand Contest between the Fair Hibernians and the English Toasts." + +The Queen of the Bluestockings said of them, when she saw them together, +"Indeed very handsome; nonpareille, for the sisters are just alike take +them together, and there is nothing like them." + +[Illustration: Maria Gunning.] + + + +IV + +The Golden Vanity + +A Story of the First Irish Beauties +The Gunnings + + +It was the year of grace 1750, and old Mother Corrigan sat outside her +door in Slattern Alley, smoking her short black pipe with a relish; and't +was a good day with her, for she had told his fortune that morning for +Squire Tyrconnel, on his way to fight a duel in the Phcenix Park with +Lawyer Daly; and when it was finished, says she to him:-- + +"Let you count the buttons on his body-coat, your Honour, and fix the +third from the top in your eye. And when you stand up to him, say a prayer +and pink him with your swordeen in that very spot, and the Lord grant him +a bed in heaven, the old villain, for he'll never be asking one on earth +again." + +And as she said, so it was, and old Daly turned up his toes and never +spoke more, when the Squire got him in the third button. And an hour +after, Squire Tyrconnel sent his purse with five golden guineas in it, and +a pound of the best rappee to be found in the Four Courts, and all for +Mother Corrigan, and she was a proud woman that day. Her house was stuffed +as full of money as an egg of meat; but no one would think it to look at +her; for she had it all hid away like an old fairy, so that no one would +give a thought to it. + +She was sitting at her door at the top of Slattern Alley where it turns +into Britain Street, and she in the best of good tempers, when a lady came +by with two young daughters beside her--a tall woman, with a fine +blossoming colour in her face and an air like a peacock spreading his tail +and her eyes as clear as spring water. It would be hard to see a finer +woman of her age in a day's walk, and all the gentlemen going to and from +the Castle must turn to have another look at the three of them. Her dress +might be handsome at first sight; but, closer, you could see she had it +held up with pins and stitches, and a bit of good lace fell over it to +hide the wear in the front. Also, she drew her feet under her hoop, that +they might not be noticed, though they were as small as a young child's. +And so she minced along with steps like mice, for fear of showing the +burst in her shoe. + +But for all that she held up her head like the deer in the Lord +Lieutenant's park, and her pride was enough for a queen, and too much for +a poor lady walking the Dublin streets and holding her skirt up out of the +mud. + +But it was the two she had with her that any lady might be proud of. There +were never two such out of heaven; and sure it may be believed, for the +world has said it often enough since that day, and will say it to the end +of time. For the elder was a sweet rogue, with hair like red gold clean +out of the fire, and eyes like a blue June morning, and cheeks like May +flowers that a rose has kissed, and lips that better than a rose would +kneel to kiss one day; and her smile lit up the street, and she tripped +along as light as a spring breeze. + +But the younger--sure the Lord was well pleased the day he made her face, +for't was perfection's self, Her hair was a dark brown veined with gold, +and her eyes like purple violets with the rain on them; and when she +closed her long lashes 'twas like a cloud over the stars; and her mouth, +and the soft smile, and the dimple that dipped when she laughed--a man +would stand all day to watch her and not think long. 'Tis a strange thing +that one girl will be like that, all beauty and shining sweetness, and +another, perhaps as good,--for better she could not be in her heart,--will +be a poor sorrowful little victim that a cat would not look at in the +dark! + +And old Mother Corrigan saw them coming, and she took her pipe out from +between her teeth, and says she:-- + +"Halt here, my ladies, the three of you, and hear the fortune that's +waiting you--the way you'll be ready when it comes." + +"Fortune!" says the lady, stopping, a girl in each hand; "'Tis the black +fortune and the sad fortune that befell me since the day the gold ring was +on my finger. And I don't want to hear any more, so I don't; for if I had +more to bear than I have this minute I wouldn't face the morn's morrow." + +But Mother Corrigan rose up as nimbly as a woman to a dance, and she +looked the lady in the eyes as if she was as tall as herself, and, "Come +in," says she, "for though 'tis a poor place, the beauty of the three of +you will light it like candles, and 'tis here your luck begins." + +So they went in, and the lady said she had not so much as a silver bit to +cross her hand with, and indeed would have pulled her daughters back; but +the old woman would not have it. + +"Leave it so," says Mother Corrigan, "what matters an empty hand today +when you'll fill the two hands of me with gold when the luck comes that's +coming? Give me your word, my lady, and I'll take it for as good as five +guineas." + +So she gave her word to fill Mother Corrigan's hand with golden guineas; +and the two young girls were standing by, their cheeks like burning roses +for fear and hope, as the old witch caught the lady's hand, and gabbled +something that was not a prayer, and the words came from her like a person +talking in their sleep. + +"High blood and poverty. Sure, your father had a crown on his head and no +gold to gild it with." + +But the lady pulled her hand away angrily. + +"Then you know who I am. What's the good of play-acting? I guessed this +would be the way of it!" + +"I don't know and I don't care," says the old woman with a grin. "I'm +telling you what I see, and till this minute I never laid eye on you or +yours. Don't you be speaking again, for there's no sense in that; but +harken!" + +So she told her her father was poor and proud, an Irish lord with a castle +in a bog and an old coach with the cloth hanging off it in flitters and +the plough-horses to draw it; and that he never gave her a penny since +she married, for he had it not to give. And she told her her husband was +no better, but running after the cards and dice all day, so that all the +world cried folly on her for taking up with him. + +"But no matter!" says Mother Corrigan, "for you did a good deed for +yourself that day you stood up with him in the church." + +"A good deed!" says the lady, very angry. "Don't you be a foolish old +woman, and you so near your end. For I got nothing out of it but care and +crying and pinching poverty and five children that I don't know how to put +the bread in their mouths; and this minute I'm as lonesome as a widow, for +my husband is off and away in the country, and here am I in Dublin; and if +I know how to get bit or sup for them it's as much as I do know." + +But the old woman shook her head till her teeth rattled. + +"Let you be easy and take what's coming. I see you sitting in a king's +house, and the walls all gilded gold, and the carpets like moss that your +foot would sink into, and riches and grandeur, and everyone bowing down to +the mother of the beauties." + +"Well, if the half of it's true," says the lady, "the first news should +come to me is that I'm a widow; for 'tis impossible it should happen as +you say with a husband that hasn't one penny-piece to rattle on a +tombstone." + +"You'll not be a widow for many a day, and 'tis your husband's name brings +the luck." + +"You don't know what his name is. You couldn't If you'll tell me his name, +I'll engage to believe any mortal thing you tell me." + +So the three looked at the old woman; but she took another look at the +hand as she might be reading a book, and:-- + +"Good-day to you, Mrs Gunning, and good-day to his Lordship's +daughter,--my Lord Mayo,--and good-day to the mother of the two beauties +that'll sweep the world." + +And she clucked and chuckled to herself, highly diverted with their +astonishment. How did she know it? What that old woman did not know would +make but a short story. 'T was said she had informants over the whole +countryside, like a Minister of the Crown. + +They stared, for they were new come to Dublin, running from their debts in +Roscommon and taking the chance to pick up husbands in the city, and there +was not one there who knew them. + +So she took the youngest girl's hand in hers and says she:-- + +"You'll marry the highest man, bar one or two, in England. And you'll not +be content with that; for when you bury him, you'll marry the highest man +in Scotland; and if I sat here till tomorrow, I couldn't tell you the half +of the riches and glory that's waiting for you. You'll have to crawl +through the black mud to get the first; but after that 'tis a clear +course, and the mud won't stick to a duchess's gown, young Miss Elizabeth +Gunning!" + +A duchess! Elizabeth's eyes were like winter stars, they so sparkled--they +would put out the light of diamonds. She held herself like a young poplar +and says she:-- + +"And if you're right, old woman, or anything like it, I'll come and see +you when I get promotion, and my Lord Duke shall fill your pockets with +gold." + +But Mother Corrigan grinned like a dog. + +"I haven't a pocket, my Lady's Honour. My hand's good enough; but I'll not +be here when you come riding back to poor old Dublin in yer coach and +six--and now for the fairy of the world!"--And she took the hand of the +eldest, who was shaking like a leaf and expecting to hear of a prince and +his blue ribbon at the least, and her eyes fixed on the old witch like two +blue lakes with the stars dipping in them. + +But she shook her head. + +"A great man, but not so big a man as your sister's." (The girl looked +jealous daggers at Elizabeth.) "A fine man, and the gold lace on him, and +velvet and silk stockings, and gold buckles shining in the shoes of him, +and a big house to live in, and fine clothes for your back, and--" + +She stopped dead, like a horse pulled up on his haunches; but the young +Maria twitched her by the raggedy sleeve. + +"Go on. What is it? I want to hear." + +"Don't ask me, and you so beautiful!" + +"I do ask, and I'll have it out of you. I suppose you mean I'll get old +and ugly like yourself." + +"You'll never be old and ugly. Them that remembers you will remember the +loveliest thing God ever made when he took clay in his two hands." + +"I don't know what she means," says Maria fretfully. "But sure some women +are handsome till they die. Tell us when will the luck come, and how?" + +"With the Golden Vanity and a woman with a man's name. And now leave me, +my three queens, and I'll have a drop to warm me old bones and a whiff of +the pipe to put the life in me. But don't forget the old woman when the +great lords is kneeling before you and pouring the diamonds out of baskets +before ye--and send the golden guineas, and--" + +So she went on mumbling and muttering, and that was the first and last +time the old hag told a fortune for love and not for money. She had not +long to tell any, for she died next May, and not a soul to cry for her. + + * * * * * + +They stepped out into the sunshine, their heads high, and scarce a word to +say to each other; for all three were thinking of the promises as light +and glittering as soap bubbles. And Maria would not spare a word to +Elizabeth, for not a woman but must walk after the heels of a duchess, and +she was all for leading. + +"The Golden Vanity!" says Elizabeth. "Mama, what should that be? When I'm +a duchess--" + +"I don't know, and most likely 'tis not worth knowing." Mrs. Gunning was +angry. Her fine brows were drawn together. "Leave talking of duchesses, +you silly fools, and go get the herrings for tea. I have left the +children too long as it is." + +So she marched down Britain Street like a queen, for all her burst +shoe,--a shabby street it was for such ladies,--and the two walked off +to Fishmonger's Alley, and not a head but turned to look at them. + +"Faith, they're goddesses and no mistake!" says gay Mr Councillor Egan, on +the way from the Law Courts, with his mulberry face and his mulberry +velvet coat. 'Twas to Lawyer Curran he said it, and in a small city like +Dublin the name held, and the two were called the Goddesses from that +time. + +Old Corrigan's words gave them courage for a while; but what can hold up +against a diet of herrings day in and day out? And that was all the poor +lady could give her family. What was she to do? Mr Gunning had took +himself off to Castle Coote, his beggarly place in the country, where he +could dice and drink in peace with the neighboring squireens, and live off +claret and the skinny fowls that pecked about the avenue; and she had the +weight of the children on her spare shoulders. + +'Twas about this time that young Harry Lepel, the first man they met, in a +way of speaking, fell in love with Elizabeth, the younger. The way it +happened was this. She was walking down Mount Street with Maria, and she +let fall her purse, and nothing in it but a pocket-piece to save her +gentility. Harry was strolling off to my Lord Cappoquin's, from mounting +guard at the Castle (for at that time his Lordship lived in Merrion +Square); and indeed Mr Lepel was as fine a figure of a young man as a girl +could wish to see, in his regimentals all laced with gold and his handsome +head above them--a brown man with dark eyes. And seeing a young madam drop +her purse, he stooped for it and, coming up behind them, saluted very +stiff and offered it, and the two turned and looked him in the face. + +'Tis certain a man might come up a thousand times behind a woman's back +and not be startled as Harry Lepel was when he saw them; for there never +was, nor will be, two such sisters. 'Twas like a battery suddenly +unmasked; and what chance had the poor devil that was marching up to it +like an innocent? The only thing he could do was to surrender at +discretion--but to which lady? That was the trouble. Elizabeth Gunning +settled it for him. + +"I thank you, Sir," says she, with a smile that had ruined St. Anthony, +for she was one that smiled with her eyes as well as her mouth--a golden +sunshine that the heart opened to naturally. + +He was stuttering and stammering. "Madam, I thank you for the happiness of +touching anything your hand hath blessed." + +'Twas sudden, I allow; but then, so too was her beauty. At all events, he +dared no more, not having the courage, though all the will, to linger, and +was turning off when a queer thing happened. But 'twas to be. + +A drunken poltroon of a bargeman was coming up from Liffey-side, lurching +and yawing like a Dutch hooker in a gale; and seeing them in a little +bunch on the cobblestones, he took an anger at them in his wooden head, +and, whether purposely or not I know not, but he elbowed up against Miss +Maria and drove her into the dirty kennel; and she gave a faint scream, +for her shoes were destroyed with the mud, and it was the only pair she +had to her name. So what does Mr Lepel do but let drive straight from the +shoulder at the offender, and in a minute the shoes and the lady were out +of the kennel and the bargeman lying there as snug as snug, and the oaths +he let out of him blackening the air like a flight of crows. So Mr Lepel, +smiling with set lips like a picture, says to the girls:-- + +"Ladies, permit me to escort you to your home. 'Tis much to be regretted +the streets are not safe for beauty unattended, though to be sure I have +the happiness to profit by the circumstance. I trust it hath been no shock +to your sensibility?" + +And, indeed, tears had gathered in Elizabeth's eyes; but Maria was +laughing like a Hebe, and looking up in his face--the blue-eyed lovely +rogue! + +"We thank you, Sir. 'Tis what our own brother had done had he been more +than five. But while he is in the nursery, we must be obliged to kind +strangers for protection." + +"Madam, I would not willingly remain a stranger," says Mr Harry, very +eager, and touching his cocked hat. "Permit me to present myself for want +of a better introducer. My name is Harry Lepel." + +"I thank you, Sir. 'Twill be remembered with gratitude. May we now bid you +farewell?" + +Miss Maria sank down, in a curtsey so well devised that it showed the +littlest foot in the world, save only Elizabeth's. A fortunate bootmaker +later was to make five guineas an afternoon by showing their shoes at a +penny a head to the mob that gathered to stare at them; but that time was +not yet come. Mr Lepel spoke earnestly:-- + +"Madam, you can't suppose--'tis not possible I can permit you to return +alone after such an adventure. The sun sinks and the streets are mighty +ill lit. If my company is disagreeable, I can walk ten paces behind; but +otherwise--" + +Here Elizabeth interposed, with a fine colour in her cheek:-- + +"The company of our protector can't be disagreeable--'tis a favour. But, +Sir, I will be frank with you: we are in Dublin _incognita_; our +lodging is not equal to our pretensions to birth; and in short--" + +She hesitated, with her eyes dropped and the lashes like night upon her +cheek. The crimson bow of her upper lip trembled--a seductive picture of +troubled beauty. Anyhow it did Mr Harry's business for him. He could no +more have tore himself away at that moment than he could have embraced the +barge-man swearing blue murder at his feet. + +"Madam, these are misfortunes that may happen to the greatest, and 'tis +easy seen that in your case breeding and birth combine with--beauty. Is it +indiscreet to ask the name of the ladies I have the honour to address?" + +"'Tis very indiscreet," says Miss Maria, with one of her bright +side-glances; "but yet--should we withhold it, sister?" + +"Surely not from so kind a friend." Elizabeth spoke eagerly. "Our name, +Sir, is Gunning, and we are granddaughters to the late Viscount Mayo and +nieces to his present Lordship. And when I add that our parents have +fallen into poverty, you will comprehend--" + +Her voice paused on a silver note, which had the beginning of a sob; and +when Elizabeth saddened, the world must sadden with her, so lovely were +her long eyes and the drooping head. Pity poor Mr Harry! Talk of Scylla +and Charybdis--he stood between the Sirens, and could he have halved his +heart (and many men have that power), one half had gone to either charmer. + +"Madam," says he tenderly, "I feel for your sorrows more than I can +express. Might I but have the happiness to be presented to your mama; for +'tis the most prodigious circumstance--I am the son of Sir Francis Lepel +of Tarrington in Yorkshire, and I have heard him speak of my Lord Mayo +many a time. His Lordship stood second to my grandfather in his famous +duel with Lord Ayrshire thirty year since. My name will not be unknown. +Permit me--" + +And again he saluted, very gallant, and the three proceeded down the +street, the girls on thorns for thinking of the dingy rooms, and their +mother down-at-heel, and the everlasting herrings sizzling on the grate, +and Lucy and Kitty screaming for their supper. 'Twas thinking thus that +Maria touched Elizabeth's arm, as much as to say: "Shall we let him go?" +For indeed these girls had a perfect language of signs between them, +elaborated in the shifts and devices of their life; and Miss Maria, at +least, was an accomplished little schemer. But Elizabeth responded not to +the pinch. + +"Why, Sir," says she sweetly, "the name is indeed familiar. Sitting on his +Lordship's knee, often have I heard him discourse of Sir Francis. You are +no stranger. Yet truth is best. We are poor, Mr Lepel. My sister and I are +debarred from all the pleasures of our rank, and our only concern is how +to lighten our mama's burden if we could. 'Tis this makes us hesitate, for +we can't offer you the hospitality we would." + +"Name it not, Madam, I entreat," says Mr Harry, trying to look into those +too seductive eyes. "God forbid I should add to your anxieties. But had I +the happiness to know your mama, whose beauty half Ireland knows by +repute, sure I might be permitted to open the way to some pleasures. There +is, for instance, a Birthnight ball to be celebrated at the Castle--" + +"Sir, you are all goodness, but gentlemen understand little of the +difficulties of poor young ladies of quality. How should they? We have no +dresses fit for the eyes of his Excellency. Even shoes--" + +She permitted a foot to appear beneath the edge of her petticoat and +ambushed it again. But it had done its work. + +"You tear my heart, Madam. But since that little marvel of a foot recalls +Cinderella's, permit me to say that a fairy godmother smoothed the way for +that young lady to a certain ball, and there she met the prince whose +throne she afterwards shared." + +"There are no fairies in Dublin, Sir." Her voice was like flowing honey, +while the little foot so commended was bestowing a sharp kick upon the +fair Maria, and thus it said:-- + +"Run ahead. Turn the corner and run like a lamp-lighter, and let mama know +what is toward. Hide the herrings. Bundle the children to bed. Fling +mama's Irish lace over her head. I can hold him fifteen minutes. Speed!" + +'Tis much to be said in one kick, and it takes a woman to say and a woman +to hear; but Miss Maria was a woman, though but eighteen. She smiled like +Truth's self. + +"Sister, if 'tis not disagreeable to you to spare me, I have the message +to leave at Mrs Flaherty's, and will go forward and meet with you at our +door. Excuse me, Mr Lepel. My sister is a slow walker and I a swift. I +knew not 'twas so late." + +Off went Miss Maria. Turning the corner, she picked up her petticoats and +legged it along like a hare at dawn. + +It may be thought that the acquaintance ripened in those fifteen minutes, +which doubled into thirty. Elizabeth's step was slower, her voice more +musical, even as a nightingale sings her sweetest to the moon. The shade +of my Lord Mayo might hover about them to safeguard propriety, but Mr +Harry drew as near as the rampart of the lady's hoop would permit, bending +his head to catch her murmurs, and his nostrils inhaling the faint perfume +of silken hair rolled back from the whitest brow in the world. They made a +pair that many would have remarked, but for the ill-lit streets. + +Maria awaited them at the shabby door in Britain Street. + +"I would not go in, sister, lest mama should scold me for leaving you; and +indeed I am but just arrived," says she demurely. And since she had not +entered, 'twas singular how neat was the appearance of that dingy room; +for 'twas dingy, do what you would. + +The fire burned brightly, and if there was a delicate odour of herrings +and onions, 'twas the worst could be said, for none were to be seen. +Indeed, a rich perfume fought with it, as if a hasty hand had dashed the +odours of Araby here and there to discourage the herrings. A large velvet +cloak, the worse for wear, disguised the rents of the sofa, whereon sat +Mrs Gunning, majestic in another of faded purple satin, beneath which her +dress remained conjectural. A noble square of Limerick point was flung +over her head and hung veil-like by each ear; and, indeed, with the little +cherub Lucy at her feet, she might have sat for an aging Madonna. + +Kitty was bundled off to the camp-bed in the back room; and sure the +picture was homelike, if you studied the handsome lady rather than the +ragged chairs. 'Twas the best they could do, poor souls, in fifteen +minutes, and wonderful in the time. 'Tis women for quick thinking and +quick acting where men are concerned; and, indeed, the look of +astonishment Mrs Gunning gave as the three entered was inimitable, though +already she had every particular set down in her mind. She swept the +stateliest curtsey, and cast a rebuking maternal eye on her daughters, ere +she addressed Mr Lepel. + +But, when explanations were made, how did her brow clear and a +fair-weather smile efface the frost! She welcomed him with cordial +kindness, with such reminiscences of his family as warmed his heart; and +though no hospitality was offered save one,--a bottle of generous claret +in a silver cup enriched with the Mayo arms,--'twas given with such +good-will, and served by so lovely a cup-bearer, the fair Maria, that +the man does not breathe but must feel it worthy of the three ladies who +tendered it. He toasted them one and all in turn, and if his bow to +Elizabeth was a little lower, that circumstance did not displease Mrs +Gunning. + +"I leave you to judge, Mr Lepel," says she, "what it costs a mother to see +her dear ones exiled from all the little gay scenes where it would become +them to appear. But what can I do? My father's grandchildren, Mr Gunning's +daughters, can't appear except with propriety; and why should I hesitate +to tell so kind a friend that 'tis beyond my power?" + +'Twas discussed between them all for an hour as to the Birthnight ball; +but Mrs Gunning was resolute, nor could Mr Harry dare to make the offers +that trembled on his lips. He could have groaned aloud to think on the +sums he wasted nightly on gaming--one half of which would have adorned +these beauties and set them free to flutter their wings in the sunshine of +fashion. Later Maria, half-smiling, half-sad, told how they were promised +luck by the old witch of Dublin, though she gave not all the particulars. +She built not on it, she declared, nor yet did Elizabeth; and she, a soft +sigh parting her lips, confirmed her sister: "the more so," says she, +"that none of us can imagine what is the Golden Vanity. Is there such a +ship, to be the ship of our fortunes? 'Tis that it sounds most like." + +He shook his head. Mrs Gunning softly remonstrated:-- + +"My dears, be not giddy, nor let your heads run on such follies. There is +no such name and no such thing and 'tis impossible--" + +More she would have said, but a man came crying somewhat down the street, +and beside him went another with a flambeau, that he might read a paper in +his hand, and what the man cried was this:-- + +"Let the fashion of Dublin, both ladies and gentlemen, take notice that +there comes presently to the theatre in Aungier Street the dramatic +company which Mr Sheridan presents to his patrons in a new and luscious +play, by name--" + +But here was the speaker's voice drowned by a wagon passing on the +cobblestones. + +"What is it?" cries Mrs Gunning, running to the window; for indeed she +loved the play as well as did her girls. And, as if the question had +reached him, the man turned towards her and bellowed like the bull of +Bashan: "The Golden Vanity!" + +The little company within stared transfixed upon one another. + + * * * * * + +For the next fortnight did the three live in a kind of rapture; and 't is +not to be wondered at, the name coming so pat on the prophecy. And sure, +Mr Lepel was no less moved; for he took a deeper than brotherly interest +in all that touched them, his heart being caught that day in Dublin +streets; and if he then thought Elizabeth a beauty, it took not a week to +rank her an angel. Before the week was out, he laid his heart and the +reversion of the baronetcy at her foot, not regarding the worn little shoe +that cased it. For, indeed, the sisters wore the same size, and Elizabeth +being the better mistress of her wardrobe, 'tis to be feared she sought +often for her own, to find them gadding abroad on Miss Maria's feet and +herself left to luck. 'Twas mortifying, and her heavenly blush was as much +owing to this circumstance as to the gentleman's ardour. + +However, taken by Mr Harry's fine person and clothes (and which was the +most potent is not known), she accepted the heart, and he set about to +inform his father of his good fortune, for mother he had none. 'Twas with +inward quakings, for beauty, were it Helen's own, is but a blunted arrow +against a seasoned heart of seventy: and Sir Francis Lepel had reached +that discreet age. 'T was vain to tell him of celestial eyes and roseate +bloom. God help us! 'tis little he cared for the like. The baronetcy was +poor and Mr Harry expensive, and what Sir Francis looked to was a fat +balance at Child's the banker's. Was the lady a fortune? And when Mr +Harry, trembling, avowed that a single doit could not be hoped in that +quarter, the old gentleman, his temper as well as his foot highly inflamed +with gout, swore to disinherit him if the matter went further. + +Poor Harry was in a sad quandary. He slept and ate ill, and 'twas +provoking that Elizabeth bloomed like a rose and troubled not her fair +head about Sir Francis. Her mind seemed possessed with but the one +thought--to attend the Birthnight ball and, like the planet Venus, shine +in her rightful heaven. And indeed Mr Harry could not fancy her heart so +deeply engaged as he might wish; for he could scarce get a word in while +the two peered into the mercers' shops, gloating on satin and muslin. Mrs +Gunning, as improvident, was almost drawn in by them, when word came of a +card debt that their papa owed to Sir Horatius Blake, and the unfortunate +lady received not even the pittance that provided herrings for six hungry +mouths; so that they were like to come down to dry bread, which event +fairly ended all talk of the ball. + +'Tis not to be supposed that Mr Harry did not offer to set all the +mantua-makers in Dublin to work, though in his heart he knew his own +credit did not stand immaculate. He stormed up and down the room, +protesting, vowing, exclaiming; but Mrs Gunning would have none of it. +Says she:-- + +"I do all justice to your kind heart, Mr. Lepel, but 'tis not, because we +are unfortunate, that we have no pride, and 'tis impossible Miss Gunning +should accept garments from the gentleman she honours with her hand." + +And Elizabeth, lovelier than ever in grief, confirmed her mother, Maria +stamping her foot like an angry goddess. 'Twill be admitted 'twas a hard +case. And since misfortunes don't come alone, arrived a furious letter +from Sir Francis, demanding instantly to see Mr. Harry, and acquainting +him that his appointment in the Guards was cancelled, and he must join his +new regiment in London at a day's notice. Sir Francis had good interest +with the lady whose interest with His Majesty was unquestioned, and 'tis +to be thought this event did not come by chance. + +Oh, then were wailings and passionate embraces on the part of Mr. Lepel, +Miss Elizabeth receiving them with wondering eyes. "For London, is not so +far but we shall meet again, Harry," says she, with her angelical smile. + +He had preferred tears, no doubt; but a man must take what comes his way, +and be thankful. He, who had never before been guilty of the like, now +composed a set of verses of atrocious demerit. Indeed, the first two lines +will suffice:-- + + If from my Chloe's snowy breast I part, + Grant me to know I bear with me her tears. + +"'Tis very pretty!" says Chloe. "O Harry, I would you did not love me so! +A girl's affections are cool and temperate, I think--at least 'tis so with +me. Forget me a little,--though not too much child,--and be happy." + +It might have been her mother who spoke. 'Tis certain no person ever had +the appearance of sweet simplicity more than Elizabeth Gunning; but +whether 'twas wholly devoid of art--Ah, well, shall we dissect the rose? +Best to enjoy and ask no questions. + +The day of parting he came to Britain Street, and solemnly renewed his +vows in the presence of Mrs Gunning and Maria. + +"And, O my Elizabeth," cries he, "pledge me once more that hand which is +all my joy. Swear that neither raging seas" ('twas a day calm as milk and +the Irish sea like a mirror) "nor the brutish tyranny of man shall divide +us, and that our constant hearts shall never change!" + +Miss Elizabeth raises heavenly eyes, a glittering moisture enhancing their +brilliance. + +"Have I not pledged my word, Harry; and if you believe not that, what will +serve? Sure 'tis you that rove and will see fairer faces" (frantic +protestations from Mr Lepel) "yet I don't doubt _you_. Farewell, dear +Harry, and remember us when you are in the glitter of London." + +She covered her face with a handkerchief, and he took the last embrace, +kissed Mrs Gunning's hand and Maria's, and hurried madly from the room. +Elizabeth unveiled her face and folded the handkerchief for future use. + +"He's gone," says poor Mrs Gunning, seeking her own; "and if I know where +tomorrow's dinner is to come from, for you all, I'm--a Dutchman!" + +They mingled their tears, and Elizabeth's were real enough now. 'Tis +possible, could the matter be sifted, that many more tears have been shed +for absent dinners than absent lovers; and certainly, though beauty may +survive without the last, it cannot without the first. There was so much +of gloomy and terrible in their mama's aspect, that Maria wept also; and +Kitty and Lucy, with the little John, who had all been secreted in the +bedroom during the adieux, dashed in screaming at the tops of their +voices, as if the heavens were falling; and so sat the poor unfortunate +family drowned in tears. 'Twas not balls they thought of then, nor +departing lovers, but simply bread and herrings. + +A lady came down the street, picking her way through the garbage that +adorned it. Her dress was hooped in the mode, and of a showy brocade, with +much tinsel interwoven and very glittering, so that the ragged children in +the gutter stood, finger in mouth, to see. She had a muslin cross-over +upon an expansive bosom, and 'twas finely laced with Mechlin, not too +clean, and set off with a black velvet ribbon about the throat, graced +with a clasp of paste. A large tilted hat tied beneath her chin shaded an +arch and sparkling pair of eyes, which, though not in their first youth, +lighted up a face with striking features an air of easy good-humour. If +her critics had accused this lady of being somewhat too goodhumored with +the other sex, why 'twas perhaps natural to her circumstances and needs no +further excuse. Her worst detractors never denied her a good heart, and an +ear open to the lament of misery. In her hand she carried a cane of fine +ebony, and altogether appeared a radiant vision of a fine woman in the +purlieus of Britain Street. She paused and looked about her, bewildered. + +"I declare I know not where I am got to!" says she, half aloud. "And these +barbarians--'tis hard to be understood or to understand their gibberish. +If now--" + +And even as the words left her lips, arose a piercing wail from across the +street, in which three lusty young throats united--Lucy, Kitty, and John, +each outscreaming the other. + +"Crimini!" says Madam, "what's this? Is Herod abroad in Dublin?" The +screams redoubled. She added: "'Tis almost to be wished he was!" And stood +half-laughing, half-unwilling to pass on. + +"I will!" says she; and more doubtfully, "I won't! 'Tis not my business. +Sure I have enough stage tears and sobs to make me distrust all I hear." + +She turned resolutely away, and halted again. + +"Poor lady! 'Tis a lady soothing them, and weeping herself. I will! She +can but bid me exit." + +And so marched to the open door, and into the narrow passage, and rapped +smartly with her cane on the door of the parlour, bringing all her natural +assurance to bear. + +Dead silence. The screams halted, as if a tap was turned off: whoever was +inside was all ears. She rapped again. And now a scuffling; and Maria +opened the door, and six pairs of astonished eyes gloated on the stranger. +And no less did hers on the party within; for there sat Mrs Gunning, +beautiful and maternal, with the little John's curly pate on her bosom; +Elizabeth, lovely as the day, leaning on one shoulder of her mother; Kitty +and Lucy, golden-curled cherubs, clinging to her gown; and Maria, like a +sorrowful wood-nymph, holding the door. Sure, never was such a family, and +these children seemed made of some more exquisite clay than ordinary. + +"Lord, am I got into heaven, for I see the angels about me!" says Madam, +advancing with a reverence lower than the paltry room demanded. "Forgive +an intruder, Madam, and confer a benefit. For being newly come to Dublin, +I've lost my way returning from Smock Alley, and while I called up courage +to enter and ask it from any other than these savages, I heard a cry that +hastened my steps. Be pleased to pardon me, and say if I can be of service +to yourself and your sweet family; for 'tis the plain truth--I'm dazzled +as I stand, by the beauty of your olive branches." + +'Tis not possible to mistake the voice of sympathy, and Mrs Gunning rising +from her chair, curtseyed in her turn, and begged the visitor to be +seated. "Lord, Madam," says she, "you catch us very unfit for company; but +so kind a heart needs no excuse, and I will be candid with you. We are of +birth and breeding like yourself." ('Twas a skilful compliment and the +lady simpered.) "And therefore, as a gentlewoman of quality, you shall +understand my grief when I present myself as my Lord Viscount Mayo's +daughter, and add that I have not the wherewithal to clothe or feed these +innocents! You are yourself too young to be a mother, Madam" (again the +lady simpered), "yet will comprehend a mother's anguish. I am Mrs. Gunning +of Castle Coote, and such is my condition!" + +She wept again. The lady applied a laced kerchief to either eye. A +touching scene. + +"Madam, a heart of marble must feel for you, and mine is not marble--far +from it. But sure such beauty must open all doors. Marriage--" She broke +off. "Alas, Madam, in these days of money-grubbing avarice, what is +beauty? My second"--she indicated Elizabeth--"is cruelly rejected by the +father of a gentleman of birth not near so high as our own, because she +has no estates pinned to her petticoat." "Monster!" cries the lady with +spirit. + +Mrs Gunning proceeded:-- + +"And, O, Madam, were you in want, as a lady of quality sometimes is, of a +young lady to write letters, to keep accounts, and all those little useful +arts such as mending lace and the like, I can truly say that in my +Elizabeth you would find solid worth. She is graver than my Maria. + +"Sure we cannot have had the happiness to meet you for nothing. 'Twas +ordained you should walk in upon us. Permit me to ask the name of our +benefactress." The lady hummed and hawed a little; but not being easily +daunted, she tossed up her head bravely enough ere she replied:-- + +"Gemini, Madam! We can't all be ladies of quality; and if we could, I see +not who could provide the wants and amusements of the fashionable. To be +plain with you, I am an actress--and--" + +"An actress!" screams Maria, all rapture. "Sister, do you hear? Was it not +this very day I said, would I could go on the stage like the famous Mrs +Woffington, and other beauties such as this lady. And then should I be +happy and pour all the gold I made into my mama's lap." + +The lady shook her head, a little melancholy. + +"Gold? Not much of that on the stage, young miss. 'Tis found there--true; +but--but--indirectly. However, this concerns you not. Madam, I am in no +need of such an attendant as you describe, having my dresser and--" + +"I might have guessed it! When did luck ever come our way? Farewell, +Madam. Return to your own happiness and abandon us to our misery." + +Heart-rending! The lady drew nearer. + +"Gemini, Madam! You misjudge me. A woman can but offer what's in her +power. A good word from me to our manager, Mr Sheridan, and with such +faces I doubt not small parts can be found for your daughters in one of +the plays to be produced here, even now rehearse it, and the parts of +Susan and Careless go begging, for the girls that took them are called +away by their mama's illness. But dare I mention such a proposal?" + +"Madam, you are all goodness and beauty!" cries Elizabeth. And Maria fell +on her knees like one distraught and kissed the pretty hand in its black +mitten. 'Twas known to them that Mr Sheridan's company was from London and +would return there; and indeed this came like a sunburst through the +cloud, for 'twas food, clothes, admiration, money, hope--and many other +charming things that set them dreaming on worlds to conquer. + +They swept their mama away on the wave of their delight; and indeed that +poor lady was always prone to take gilding for gold so long as it +glittered sufficiently. + +"And what, Madam, is this play in which Susan and Peggy appear?" + +"Child, 'tis 'The Golden Vanity'--a play of a poor girl that weds a rich +lord and--" + +Heavens and earth! She could not continue, for how describe the joy and +wonder of the family! Reserve fled away. Prudence borrowed the wings of +Hope, and dressed her face with rainbows. Crowding around the stranger, +they entreated her name, that it might grace their prayers; and she, +radiant with the sunshine she dispensed, calls out:-- + +"Why, girls, sure you have heard it. 'Tis I am the leading lady in all Mr +Sheridan produces at present. I am George Anne Bellamy." + +"George!" screams Mrs G. "'A woman with a man's name,' said old Mother +Corrigan. Girls, your luck's come!" And with that falls into strong +hysterics and frights them all to death. + +But joy is a strong cordial, and 'twas not long ere she sat up, panting +and dishevelled, with George Anne's hand in hers, telling her the story of +Mother Corrigan. 'Tis to be supposed Mrs G. had heard that Mrs Bellamy's +heart was not marble in any sense; but what was the lady to do? For my +Lord Mayo spent his rents five years ahead, and though his good nature +would give the coat off his back, that would neither clothe nor feed her +family; while, as for Mr Gunning, that gentleman regarded his wife and +children no more than the cuckoo that leaves her offspring to chance. + +Mrs Bellamy was all ears. 'Twas prodigious, 'twas vastly astonishing, she +vowed. Maria was sent out with half a guinea, and they had a comfortable +dish of tea, with currant bread and what not; and she told them tales of +the stage and the fine matches made by Mrs This and Signorina That, +displaying little of its threadbare and much of its tinsel; and by the +time the candles were lit, they were all sworn friends. They parted with +embraces; for Mrs G. was as easy as George Anne, and the girls must needs +follow the example set. + +She had her way with Mr Sheridan, who knew 'twas as much as his play was +worth to offend Mrs Bellamy; and she returned next day to announce her +success, triumphing and rattling on like a girl herself, so pleased was +she with their pleasure. All was joy and gladness, and she named the hour +of the first rehearsal and their introduction to Mr Sheridan, who knew as +well as another how pretty faces fill the playhouse; and was proceeding, +when Maria, turning archly upon her, says:-- + +"Look you here, dearest Mrs Bellamy! Think what it will cost us to refuse +this." And so holds up a splendid card, thick as boards and embellished +with a gilt edge and the Royal Arms and the Irish Harp, and Heaven knows +what braveries, inviting the Honourable Mrs Gunning, Miss Gunning, and +Miss Elizabeth Gunning to the Birthnight ball at the Castle, on the part +of his Excellency, the Earl of Harrington. Diamonds were never so bright +as the eyes that sparkled above it; for the charming new prospect of the +Stage had quite effaced the ball, and poor Mr Harry's trouble in securing +the invitation was like to go for nothing. + +"I care nothing now for it!" cries Maria, and Elizabeth echoed her; while +George Anne looked thoughtfully at the Lion and Unicorn guarding a +Paradise she could not hope to enter. Maria made to tear the card across; +but Mrs Bellamy caught it from her hand and did not smile. + +"Children," says she at last, "you know not what you talk of. I would have +a word alone with your mama. Take the little ones in your hand, and go out +a while in the sunshine." She thrust some cream-cakes upon them, and they +did so, looking doubtfully at her cloudy eyes; and when the door shut, she +turned to Mrs Gunning. + +"Madam, you know well't is my wish to serve you and yours. But seeing this +invitation, there's thoughts comes into my head that I must needs speak +out. This" (she flicked the card) "is the life for the Miss Gunnings, and +not the stage. 'T would scarce become me to tell a lady like yourself what +must be faced there, but--but--'t is much! Ask Peg Woffington--ask Kitty +Clive--ask George Anne Bellamy!" She hung her head. + +There was silence. Mrs G. stared at her, all aghast. + +"Why, yesterday, all your talk was of pleasure and success. Sure, dear Mrs +Bellamy, 't was not like your kindness to draw on the poor things till +they can think of naught else, and now so far otherwise." + +"Why, Madam, I thought there was no other way; and if so, needs must. But +seeing this, my mind misgives me and I falter. I'm a plain-dealer, Madam, +with all my faults, and 't is easy to be seen your daughters are a world's +wonder. I never saw the like, and that being so, 't is certain the dangers +are tenfold for them. They'll see the glories and grandeurs, sure enough, +but not through a wedding ring." + +"If you mean, Madam, that my daughters--" Mrs Gunning flamed out, furious; +but George Anne was not to be turned from her purpose. She raised her hand +in a fine stage attitude. + +"Madam, I wish vastly to serve you. Hear my proposal. Accept this +invitation." + +"Impossible. We have no dresses, no shoes, no equipage, and no means to +get them. 'T is absurd!" + +"'Tis not absurd. Hear me. In the theatre properties is a fine dress for +Lady Modish and two more for Peggy and Susan Careless. Not perhaps what +such ladies might expect, but passable. And--I know men. There's not a man +will look at their gowns for looking at their faces, though the suits are +well enough when all's said. I vow, Madam, you have so long lived beside +the two that you forget what beauties they are. I wager my next benefit to +a China orange that you'll have no more care once they are seen, but all +the women mad with jealousy and the men with love. Indeed, your young +madams are what one reads of in romances, but don't see. Give them this +chance, and if it fails, I'm good for my offer; but I'm much mistook if +you hold me to it. Gemini, Madam; use your wits! Would you have them what +I won't name, when they may be what your old witch foretold?" + +She smiled her charming smile, and pressed Mrs G.'s hand. The lady +pondered. 'Twas disagreeable to owe such a thing to a mere actress, and +one, too, whose reputation was a trifle flyblown. The stage she might have +swallowed--being the lady's province and she a queen on the boards. But an +entry to the world where she and her daughters had a birthright--Fie! +'twas a very different pair of shoes. But George Anne had that in her eye +that would be obeyed; and seeing it, Mrs G. dropped her high tone and +returned the pressure with an air of sensibility. + +"'Twas said by old Corrigan that 'twas you to bring us luck, dearest +Madam, and 'tis certain you are prudence itself. Sure a mother can risk +nothing for her darlings. If you will ensure us the dresses, I accept; +and, indeed, my Lord Harrington's father was a friend of my own revered +father in happier days. 'T is possible--" + +"'T is certain," cries George Anne gaily. "Not a word will I drop to Mr +Sheridan, who is a perfect Israelite where theatre matters are in hand. +Count on me." + +She was gone ere the girls returned, and 'tis needless to tell their +wonder. They preferred the stage, yet condescended to say they would +favour the ball, since Mrs Bellamy counselled it. "But, never, never will +it turn my heart from the charming footlights!" says Maria. "What say you, +sister?" + +"I know not. My taste is quieter than yours. I will tell you my mind the +day after the ball. Poor Harry--'tis he has given us this." + +She would say no more, but sat thoughtful. + +'Twas the evening of the Birthnight ball when George Anne arrived, in a +hackney coach, attended by her dresser, and scarce visible for mantua +boxes. The three children were put away--their usual fate--in the beds +within, and though not able to sleep for excitement, were mute as mice, +lest they be punished by the closing of the door upon the ravishing +glimpses they had of the parlour. + +'Tis not for a mere scribbler to intrude upon the chaste mysteries of the +toilet. Suffice it therefore to say that, when all was completed, George +Anne and Mrs. March the dresser stood back, breathless, to contemplate the +work of their hands. + +Mrs. Gunning, her fine brown hair piled on her head into an edifice +twisted with gauze and feathers that granted her five inches more of +height, looked a Roman empress--her fine bust displayed to advantage and +sustaining a necklace of stage emeralds set in pinchbeck, which could not +be told from the veritable jewels, so closely were they copied for George +Anne from her Grace the Duchess of Bridgewater's. Her hoop was very wide, +and over it a green satin brocade flowered with gold, wherein George Anne +had played Lady Modish but twenty times, and so rich that 'twould serve +her great-granddaughter. 'Twas ruffled at neck and elbow with Mechlin, and +the girls gazed in awe at their splendid mama. 'Twas a changed woman. She +expanded, she glided, she moved, as a swan floating through her native +element differs from the same lurching along the bank. + +But Elizabeth--O beautiful! Sure 'twas joy to see her! Her hair, agleam +with gold, was rolled back and carried in massive braids that crowned and +bound her head in the Grecian taste, confined by a bandeau of pearls that +crossed her brow. Her Grecian robe (indeed the fair Miss Lebeau had played +Calista in it) was a white satin with a fall of lace, and round her +slender throat a chain of seed pearl. Mrs Bellamy knew her business. 'Twas +simple, but simplicity becomes a goddess, and frills and flounces can but +distract the eye from loveliness that seems native to heaven. Her mother +surveyed her in a kind of amaze and then turned to Maria. + +'Twas peculiar to these two fair sisters that they adorned each other and +each appeared more beautiful when both were in company. Indeed't was said +later that this contributed much to their triumphs. Maria now appeared in +a fine India muslin embroidered in gold wheat-ears--a robe which't is to +be feared Mr Sidney of the East India Company, the rich nabob of +Jubblepore, had laid at the feet of George Anne in pursuance of a suit not +wholly disdained. No matter! On Maria it shone like the raiment of the +youngest of the angels, draping yet expressing her fair limbs with a +seductive reserve that was art embellishing nature. She had a row of seed +pearl like her sister, and one rose of faintest pink nestled in her virgin +bosom. Her hair of burning gold was dressed in curls _a la mouton_, +as Mrs March expressed it, and a string of pearls wove through the rich +tresses. + +But 'tis useless to describe beauty. As well dry a rose in a book and look +for bloom and dew. It depends on bright eye and smiling lip and wordless +sweetness and the fall of exquisite lashes and the tone of music and--and +this poor scribbler lays down his pen and attempts no more to paint where +the great artists later owned themselves vanquished. + +"And all is prepared," cries George Anne, exulting. "For my mother's job +coach is at hand to take my three beauties; and distress not yourself, my +dearest Madam, for I engage to remain with your little family will return +in the coach when it deposits you here. And now, children, peep and +whisper no longer, but come see your lovely mama and sisters before they +go to conquer the world." + +'Twas the kindest heart! She clapped her hands, and in rushed the three +children like Bedlam let loose, careering round and about the three, +shouting, laughing, and begging to be took also. Raisins and oranges from +George Anne's reticule alone restored them to their beds in peace. + +"'The Golden Vanity' has sent forth two incomparable beauties," says she +at the door as they stepped into the coach. "May it bring them the luck of +its heroine and more." + + * * * * * + +St. Patrick's Hall was all of a blaze with wax candles and flambeaux, and +shining mirrors set in with gilt Cupids, and twinkling of fairy lights in +the great glass lustres and their glittering chains of drops and pendants. +Garlands of green, with roses interspersed, were in swags and loops about +the splendid walls, where hung the pictures of bygone viceroys in ribbon +and star, in frames to match the mirrors that multiplied the scene a +hundredfold. + +And, more than all, the handsomest women in Ireland were decked out in +silks and satins and all the family jewels, and they sparkling like the +lustres above their heads. And all the gentlemen in uniforms and silk +stockings showing off their fine calves, and they strutting with their +swords and squiring the ladies and bowing. And above it all the Throne, +with the velvet canopy and the Royal Arms, and my Lord Harrington, his +Excellency, sitting like a picture of himself, with his stars and orders +and his coat of sky-blue velvet laced and embroidered with gold; and as +each pretty lady came up to him and swept her curtsey he lifted her by the +hand and kissed her cheek; for the Viceroy has that privilege, and many a +man envied him a few of the kisses, if they did not envy them all. + +And now at the great doors appeared three ladies, quietly, like persons +used to assemblies, though to be honest their knees were trembling under +them and their little hearts quaking. So they were passed on from one +golden image to another, until they arrived before his Excellency, the +company politely making way, and a whisper that rose to a buzz running +with them. "Lord! who are they?"--"Who can they be?"--"Look at the +girls!"--"Exquisite!"--"Beautiful!"--"For my part I see nothing in them. +Vilely dressed. Very far from modish."--"Too tall."--"Too short"--in fact, +every expression of approval and disfavour. But every lady stood on the +tips of her satin shoes to see, and every gentleman took the fullest +advantage of his height; and had poor Harry been there, he had died of +jealousy. Alas! even his fond letters were not in Elizabeth's gentle +bosom, but tossed forgot on the bed in Britain Street, with George Anne +casting the eye of sensibility on them. + +And now the officer who performed the introduction took Mrs Gunning's +gloved hand, very stately, and led her before the Throne. + +"The Honourable Mrs. Gunning, your Excellency." + +Down she flowed in a magnificent curtsey, her hands supporting her brocade +on either side, her head bent majestic--Beauty adoring Power. Suddenly my +Lord steps nimbly forward on the dais. + +"What?" he cries. "Do my eyes deceive me? Impossible! But sure I have the +happiness to see the daughter of my old friend, and I am honoured beyond +expression to welcome her beneath my roof. Where have you been retired? +And what are these two lovely nymphs? Your daughters? No, sure it can't be +and you all youth and beauty yourself. Present them." + +And while mama blushed and bridled, the magic words were spoke, and the +two dropped the gentlest curtseys, and rising, received a salute more than +usual warm from his Excellency on either fair blushing cheek. 'Twas +observed he lingered an instant on Maria's. Viceroys, too, are human. + +'Twas an instantaneous conquest--how could it be otherwise? A moment later +they were the centre of a competing crowd of gentlemen, and glances of +coldness and aversion raining on them from ladies only a little less fair +and now deserted. That his Excellency was the first victim, none could +doubt, for when he was not in company with the beauties, he was +discoursing of them to others. True it is that he conducted the Dowager +Rathconnel to the supper-table, but equally true that he left the lady +seated before such dainties as ensure an old age of gout, disengaging +himself with a nimble wit that should have appeased her, and sought out +the mother of the Graces, devoting himself to memories of old times with a +gusto, while Maria and Elizabeth danced and smiled on their adorers, +blooming and beautiful. + +"My dear Madam," says his Lordship, "how is it possible that you have +lived so retired for fifteen years? 'T was not justice to your +admirers--of whom I was ever one. How came it about?" + +"Why, your Excellency," says the lady very serious, "'twas not with my +good-will. You know well that my late father's good heart was his chief +possession; and my husband--alas!" + +Sure a pause and downcast eyes are more expressive than any words. His +Excellency shook his majestic peruke, and echoed the lady. + +"Alas! Cards, horses, the bottle--how many a wife and mother hath had +cause to curse that fatal trinity! And 'tis even so, Madam?" + +She applied George Anne's laced handkerchief to her eye, then smiled +faintly and seeing opportunity, seized it. + +"I would not cloud this festive scene, your Excellency, yet why should I +reserve from a tried friend that I and my poor daughters--" + +"Yes, yes!" cries his Lordship, very impatient. + +"--Are here this night in borrowed dress," continues Mrs G. solemnly, "and +are indebted even for the shoes upon their feet to the kindness of an +actress, Mrs Bellamy." + +"Good Ged!" says Lord Harrington, genuinely shocked, and the more so that +he had himself known Mrs. Bellamy some years since. "Sure it can't be! I +won't believe it. Indeed, we must discourse further of this. Come hither!" + +Profoundly interested, he led her to a withdrawing-room and there they +fell into so deep discussion that never had he been such a negligent host. +And when Mrs. Gunning left the withdrawing-room, it was with an imperial +head held high, and a flush in her cheek which became her so well that the +most prying female eye would not give her a day over thirty. + +His Excellency led out Maria to a minuet. Twice he took Elizabeth down the +country dances. The generous wines had warmed his heart, the glow of +beauty kindled it to flame, and it was plain to be seen that his eyes were +only for the fair Gunnings. The world followed his example,--when does it +otherwise?--and a petal from Maria's rose, a look from the violet +dark-lashed eyes of Elizabeth, were the prizes of the night. + +A party of noblemen escorted them to the doors on leaving, and 'twas with +the utmost difficulty Mrs. Gunning persuaded them it was unnecessary to +ride in cavalcade about the coach to Britain Street. When the ladies were +gone, they returned to the Banqueting Hall to toast "The Irish Beauties," +and break their glasses in their honour until the floor was strewn with +broken crystal, and the celebrants were most of them borne speechless to +their beds. Indeed, a challenge passed between my Lords Cappoquin and Tuam +upon a dispute as to which lady was the greater Venus. + +Never was such a triumph! And Mrs Gunning, falling into George Anne's arms +in Britain Street, declared with tears of joy:-- + +"You were right, entirely right, my dearest Madam. I am promised a +handsome pension on the Irish Establishment, and his Excellency counsels +me to transport my girls to London, where, he considers, they may pretend +to the highest matches, and promises introductions worthy of them. And, O +Madam, playing at faro in the cardroom, I won a milleleva--no less!-- +Fifty guineas!--Lord! was ever anyone so happy!" + +Tears of sensibility stood in George Anne's eyes. She was one who shared +to the full the griefs or triumphs of her friends. She wrung Mrs G.'s hand +and embraced the fair conquerors, scorning to mention the rent in Maria's +muslin gown, and the stain of wine on Elizabeth's satin. It was a generous +heart, and had earned more gratitude than she afterwards received from +two, at least, of the ladies. + +'Twas amazing to Mrs Gunning and Maria now that ever they had contemplated +the stage--so very far below their pretensions; and it took but a week to +open the former lady's eyes to the little cracks in George Anne's +reputation. She saw plainly that such a friendship could be no aid to +their soaring aspirations; and indeed her ambition had now spread its +wings to some purpose. The Earl of Harrington having advanced the first +installment of her pension, she immediately moved their lodging to the +genteeler Mount Street, and Britain Street was forgot, along with George +Anne. Sure a mother must be prudent! Elizabeth only forsook not her +friend, going to wait upon her and carrying with her many of the posies +left in daily homage to her sister and herself. She had little in her +power, for money was still none too plenty; but kindness and gratitude +smell sweeter even than roses, and these she carried in handfuls straight +from a grateful heart to George Anne. + +It smoothed not her own path in Mount Street, for Mrs Gunning's pride grew +with what fed it, and though admiration was plenty, offers were few. It +might be that the enmity of the Dublin ladies stood in their way, for +certain it is that Mrs G. was never a favourite. Where she judged well to +flatter, she flattered too openly; where she disliked and saw no gain, she +insulted; and many gentlemen would have retired from her acquaintance, but +for Maria's frolicsome gaiety and the sweetness of Elizabeth. It gained +ground about the city that there was much scheming in Mount Street with a +view to rich husbands, and it smirched the girls as well as their mama, +and put thorns in their way. It made the men bolder than they should be, +and the women cold. + +Maria was the hardier and took it as a necessity of their situation; but +the milder Elizabeth wept often on George Anne's kind bosom over the +insults (as she took it) which Mrs Gunning received with rapture, as +hopeful signs of love. And, whatever the actress's own case might be, 'tis +certain she showed more delicacy in dealing with the girl than did her +lady mother. + +Nor had she much comfort from Mr Harry's letters. His father remained +adamant; and though he writ, 'twas more carelessly, and a rumour reached +Dublin that coupled his name with the great fortune Miss Hooker, and was +generally took for truth. Mrs Gunning greeted it with pleasure, regarding +Mr Harry as a gone-by and much below her hopes; but though Elizabeth's +heart was not wounded, her pride was pierced to the quick. It seemed that +all the world conspired to humiliate her, and she asked herself what was +the use of beauty, if it meant this and no more. She sighed and left his +last letter unanswered. + +Miss Maria too had her troubles. My Lord Errington pursued her with +ardour, and his handsome rakish face and gallant impudence drew the pretty +moth towards the heat and flame of a dangerous candle. Folly, no more, but +his lady took her vengeance in scandals that spread about the town, and a +duel was fought that did Maria no good and kept off worthier pretenders to +her hand; and indeed it was not a day too soon when the family packed up +their belongings and changed the air to London. The girls outshone all +others--true! but 'twas thought more in beauty than discretion, for +Elizabeth must needs sink with her family. The world draws not nice +distinctions. + +But to say they were courted in London is to say little. They broke +triumphant upon the town, supported by letters from his Excellency, and +the town received them with frenzy, as it might the great Italian singer +or the new lions at the Tower, or what not. Amongst the greatest, the Duke +of Hamilton put himself at their disposal, urged thereto by a particular +letter from my Lord Harrington and his own love of beauty. He dangled +about them daily, and it must be owned that from the first moment of +meeting Mrs Gunning fixed the eye of cupidity on his Grace. For of all the +matches of the Kingdom James Hamilton was the greatest available. Duke of +Brandon in England, of Chatelherault in France, of Hamilton in Scotland, +of vast possessions, of suitable age and gallant presence, a princess need +not have disdained his hand. A great prince, indeed, and knowing it +possibly too well,'t was he to dazzle a girl's eye and carry her heart by +storm! For hearts--it was never supposed his Grace possessed one; at +least, he wore it not on his sleeve, but was ever cold and haughty, though +it was well known he liked a pretty woman as well as any--short of the +wedding ring. He hung about the new beauties as a gentleman will, until +wagers began to be laid at White's as to which had caught his favour, and +where would fall the handkerchief of the Grand Bashaw. + +Meanwhile, his attentions made them more than ever the mode, and the town +gallants swarmed about them like bees, at the Assemblies where they +figured, attended by my Lord Duke in ribbon and star. As the days went by, +however, the anxious mother observed that his preference was for +Elizabeth, and that he had no thought to interfere with my Lord Coventry, +who could not keep his eyes off Maria, though he committed himself no +further than the Duke. Indeed, stories were now freely circulated +concerning Britain Street and the poverty and shifts of the family, and +wagers were laid that neither the one nobleman nor the other looked for +more than a few months' amusement with the two loveliest girls in England. +Mrs. Gunning was openly called the Adventuress, and it was a favourite +sport with some ladies to imitate her Irish accent and carnying ways with +those she would please; and doubtless Maria angled a little too openly for +her lord. They were, in short, easy game for the mockers, and Elizabeth +shrunk daily more into the shade. It appeared as if it would be the Dublin +story over again. + +Mr. Harry came at once to their lodging on his return from Yorkshire, and +to be sure, had not a word to say of Miss Hooker. He would have saluted +Elizabeth, but she drew back with a curtsey, her manner sweet and cold as +an autumn dawn with a touch of winter in the air. He found her changed, +and no wonder, and said as much with some anger. + +"It should not surprise you, Harry," says she serenely. "I am now +eighteen, and have seen the world, as you have also. Our betrothal was a +child's game. I like you too well to be your ruin. Marry Miss Hooker, of +whom I hear. 'Tis your best way, and obedience to parents a plain duty." + +"You were not so wise in Dublin," replies Mr. Lepel, casting a jealous eye +on the fair monitress. If her looks had changed it was to a more radiant +sweetness, and there was that in the way her long silken lashes lay on her +fair cheek that dwarfed Miss Hooker's fortune. He had better have kept his +distance from the siren, he thought with bitterness. But sure a little +pleasant dallying could hurt neither Miss Hooker nor his father--a summer +pastime and no more; and if the tales flying about town were but the half +of them true, he might hope for this, especially with the past pleading +for him in Elizabeth's tender heart. Sure there was a softening in her +glance. He pushed his chair somewhat nearer and took her hand. She +withdrew it, and removed her seat farther away. + +"Is my Elizabeth angry with her Harry," cries he with a fine dramatic air. +"Does she forget those happy days when we were all to one another? What is +Miss Hooker or Miss Any-person to come between us? What--" + +"Your future wife, as I understand," says Elizabeth, perfectly calm. "No, +Mr Lepel--I know the world now, better than I could wish" (she sighed), +"and I desire not your attentions. I--" + +But Mr Lepel broke in, pale and furious. + +"And is it thus you speak, you heartless jade? Clothes, jewels, balls, +'tis these you value. Is there a woman alive that will not sell her soul +for the like? O God, why are fair faces made to madden us? Now I have seen +you once more, how can I return to that flat-faced--" + +She rose, with a wave of her hand that dismissed him; but he ranted on in +a towering passion of wrath and grief. It had all burst up anew in his +heart, in and for a moment. He believed himself hardly used indeed. + +"Could I bury my father and inherit his land, you would not use me thus. +It is all a cursed thirst for gold, and you are for sale like an Eastern +slave. Who is the highest bidder? But I know well. What am I to compare +with--" + +"His Grace the Duke of Hamilton!" announces Mrs Abigail, very demure in +her pinners at the door; and in walks his Grace, magnificent in manners +and dress, and Mr Lepel's fury stopped on a breath, though he could not +regain countenance as readily as Elizabeth. She rose to meet the +visitor--a rose in June; and he might take the blush of anger which was +due to Mr Lepel for a welcome to himself. + +What could Mr Harry do but draw back, stammering and looking foolish under +the cold glance Duke Hamilton bestowed on him. Prudence counselled, +"Withdraw. What do you here?" Angry Love retorted, "Here I stay. What! +Shall I leave the field to a rival?" And so, flung himself in a chair +glaring defiance, Elizabeth palpitating between the two. 'Twas not +surprising that she drew nearer to the Duke, as if for protection; that +there was an imploring softness in her face as she looked up to him; that +she saw him greater, handsomer, stronger than ever, beside this idle and +futile young man who had reviled her. The carelessness of his glance at Mr +Lepel seemed to fling his pretensions in the mud--his haughty coolness to +degrade the young man; and to such thoughts women are responsive. If her +heart was touched before, the dart went deeper now She held her head +higher, deerlike, and wasted no words on the unwelcome guest. + +The two gentlemen, seeing neither could outstay the other, departed +presently together, Mr Lepel saying with assumed lightness as he bowed, +hat in hand, at the door: "We had not the pleasure to see Madame la mere, +your Grace, and no doubt but she is slipped away on some hunting errand. I +wonder what new fox is broke cover. Half the world bets on my Lord +Coventry still!" + +The Duke returned not his salute, and Lepel could not tell whether or no +his arrow had gone home through the armour of chilly pride and silence. He +himself strode angry and ashamed down the street. + +That same evening a Council of Three was held in the lodging, Mrs. Gunning +with her mask of smiles laid by, Maria fretful, Elizabeth grave and +retired in her own thoughts. The ladies had but the one bedroom, with a +little closet for the youngest adjoining. + +"Girls," says Mrs Gunning, "'Tis time I spoke plain. This six weeks in +town hath reduced my purse till I am frighted to look in it; and what have +we to show? Young women with not half your looks are married and settled +since we came hither. We have had a vast deal of froth and flutter, but +nothing solid. Were it possible to live on sweetmeats and dress in posies, +we have a fine prospect, but not else. I see nought before us but Britain +Street--or worse.", Maria shrugged her white shoulders. + +"What more can we do, mama? Sir James Ramsden has offered marriage, and +Captain Golightly; and Mr. Lennox has asked Elizabeth, and Mr. Lepel--" +"What signifies all that?" cries Mrs. Gunning. "Don't let them slip. +They'll serve for the future perhaps, if all fails. Elizabeth, I command +you on your duty that you please Mr. Lepel, though not more than +sufficient to content him. If we can't better him--But, Maria, what said +my Lord Coventry to you at Lady Lowther's ball? I saw him very earnest." + +"Nothing that mightn't be in the news-prints, mama. His breed of black +shorthorns filled his thought and tongue. I protest I loathed the man's +folly. 'Tis an insipid creature when all's said." + +"No man with a coronet is insipid. He is grave and reserved, and I would +he had been Elizabeth's admirer rather than yours, for they could have sat +silent in a corner together. But what of the Duke, child? My hopes are +sadly sunk." + +Elizabeth flamed in a blush, less beautiful than painful. A sore heart was +behind it. She replied not. Mrs. Gunning frowned. + +"Well, girls, you're easy enough, but so am not I. Now therefore listen +while I speak my mind." + +'Tis needless to be particular in recording the lady's speech, which was +much to the point in dealing with their needs and stratagems. She spoke +for many minutes and at the end tears of shame and anger were in Maria's +lovely eyes. If Elizabeth wept,'twas behind a sheltering hand. + +"What signifies grumbling?" finishes Mrs Gunning. "'Tis as plain as the +nose on your face. Elizabeth's is the best chance, and if she makes her +match my Lord Coventry will kiss your slipper, Maria. The Duchess's sister +can marry where she will." + +'Twas vain to interrupt. Mrs Gunning sailed on, maternal, imperative, and +took no heed. It would be impertinence to intrude on the talk that +followed, and the plan laid for the entrapping of his Grace, of whom it +may be said that he could protect himself against even the assaults of +beauty better than Mrs Gunning supposed. But Elizabeth, borne down by two +to her one, fought a losing game. + +"I hate the man," she cried with spirit, and knew 'twas false as she said +it. "I'd sooner sweep a crossing--" + +Mrs Gunning smiled contemptuous. + +"Not you! You came pretty near it in Britain Street, and 'tis known how +you relished it. Beggars, my dear, can't be choosers. The Duchess of +Hamilton may have as much delicacy as she pleases. Miss Elizabeth Gunning +can't afford it. There's no more to be said." + +Yet Elizabeth said it furiously, and in vain. + +A subdued light of wax candles--the most flattering light in the +world--made the parlour enchantment when his Grace sauntered in one +evening, later. Posies were in the bowpots, and a delicate scent of +violets in the air. On a table by the window lay a magnificent +chicken-skin fan sent by my Lord Coventry for Maria's birthday: it was +covered with rosy figures of Cupids swinging garlands in blue air, the +mother-of-pearl sticks latticed with gold. It lay beside a lace +handkerchief, as if a fair hand had flung it careless down. A decanter +of purple Burgundy, with two glasses, was hard by, and a small painting +of the lovely sisters from the hand of Neroni, who had asked the favour +to depict them as wood-nymphs. They advanced, smiling and bearing a +garland between them down a forest glade, while two Cupids concealed +behind a tree aimed a dart at each fair breast. + +The Duke contemplated this work of art, smiling at his own thoughts, and +not pleasantly. Presently the door opened and Mrs Gunning and Maria +entered, in hats and capes, followed by Elizabeth, dead pale and in a +_negligee_ with blue ribbons, her hair falling in long tresses to the +knee, confined only with a fillet of ribbon. She looked not even her +eighteen years in this dress, and had a most touching beauty. His Grace +kissed Mrs Gunning's hand, yet with the half-contemptuous air of the great +man. Some might resent such a kiss as an insult, but the lady's armour was +defensive as well as offensive. Says she, curtseying:-- + +"I beg a thousand pardons, your Grace, but we are disturbed with an +unexpected call. 'Tis what we never imagined, but can't refuse. Good Mrs +Acton, a friend of our Dublin days, is took ill and hath sent for us to +Harbour Street. She is unattended in London; I know your Grace's +sensibility will excuse us." + +"Why, Madam, friendship is so rare a virtue that 'tis worth proclaiming at +the Exchange. I will give myself the pleasure to wait on you another +evening." + +His hat was beneath his arm; he picked up his clouded cane. + +"I thank your Grace." Mrs Gunning's voice was stately. It changed as she +turned to Elizabeth. "And now, my flower, my dove, repose yourself on the +couch, and Mrs Abigail will bring you the lavender drops, and let me find +my treasure well and smiling on my return." + +"What? Does not Miss Elizabeth accompany her mama?" The tone was alert. + +"By no means, your Grace. She has ailed all day with her head, and is not +fit for a sick chamber. Farewell, child. I wait your Grace." + +He took Mrs Gunning's hand to conduct her to the coach; 'twas as pretty a +comedy as ever George Anne Bellamy played. He laughed inwardly leading her +to the door, and on the stairs discoursed charmingly on the last +masquerade at Vauxhall. Without the hall door he paused. + +"Is Miss Elizabeth Gunning too ailing, Madam, to receive a friend for a +few moments? Permit me to assist you." + +And before the lady could reply, he bundled the two into the coach, and +was halfway up the steps ere Mrs Gunning could cry: "I know not, your +Grace. A moment perhaps--" + +He bowed from the door. + +"Be easy, Madam. I will myself administer the lavender drops if needful." + +It was impossible for the Duke to hasten himself, for this he had never +done within the memory of man; but 'twas scarce a minute since he had left +the room when he reentered, half fearing to find his pretty bird flown. +Not so, however. She leaned against the shutter, her eyes fixed on the +evening sky. It seemed she had forgot his Grace, for her expression was +sorrowful and quiet, unlike the female trifling he expected, and he heard +a faint sigh. She turned, startled. + +"Forgive me, my Lord Duke. I think I can't stay. My head--" + +She would have glided to the door. 'Twas provocative, however meant, and +he put himself in her way. She tried the other side of the table. He +blocked that also, and was before her again. Finally she ceased the +attempt and stood with eyes cast down. + +"Child, don't hasten. Give me a few minutes. I see you alone for the first +time and never so lovely as now. Is it your long hair, or what is it? Sure +the angels have locks like this." + +He lifted a heavy tress as if marvelling. She snatched it from him like an +aggrieved queen; then, seeming to recollect herself, stood silent again. +'Twas but a schoolgirl, with trembling lips and veiling hair. He took her +hand like a man accustomed to be obeyed, as indeed he was. + +"Child, your mama hath left you in my care, and you can't desire I should +relinquish the pleasure. Such an opportunity no gentleman could resist. Be +seated, Madam, and let us discourse." + +'Twas all on one side, for she had not opened her lips. But she obeyed +him, and sat in the chair he handed her to, as passive as a marble lady. +He seemed at a loss to continue, and stood looking at her where she +drooped, then took a chair beside her. + +"You are pleased to be less cordial than I have known you, Madam. Is it +whim or anger? I like a woman's pretty coquetries as well as any man, but +this silence--" + +It still continued. She was snow and marble. Not a word. Only the dark +lashes like fans on her cheek. Not a gleam rewarded him. + +"A sullen beauty!" says his Grace languidly, "but yet a beauty beyond all +others. So here we sit!" He drew out his jewelled timepiece. + +"I give you a minute, Madam--nay, two. And if by then you have not spoke, +I will try if the warmth of a kiss on those sweet lips won't thaw the ice. +I swear it!" + +He laid the sparkling toy at her elbow on the table, and stared in her +face. 'T is certain his Grace had dined. He was not wont to treat any +woman thus unless where it was asked for. A minute went by--the tick was +audible, but she moved not. And now a slow hot tear scorched its way down +her cheek. If this followed mama's instruction, it bettered it. The tune +was scarce out when he springs up and cries with triumph:-- + +"I was not mistook. Your silence asks a kiss, child, and James Hamilton +was never the man to refuse a woman's challenge. Give me your lips, and +more." + +His swashbuckling Border ancestors were stirring in his veins, and for a +moment his face coarsened and his eyes were gross. He caught her by the +two arms and bent his mouth upon hers. + +In a flash the fair statue was living and dangerous. He was a strong man, +she a wisp of a girl; but she flung him off and stood glaring at him. + +"How dare you?" she panted, and could no more. The eyes were unveiled at +last and rained fire on him. Never had any person seen her look thus; she +faced him gallantly. He applauded as if it had been the Woffington or any +other fair game. + +"'Tis prettily done--but I see your drift, Madam. If a young lady is left +by her friends and her own desire to sit alone with one of the best-known +men in town, she takes the consequences. Yet I would not have missed +Lucretia--she lacked only the dagger in her hand. But the comedy may end. +Give me your lips, child, and coquet no more." + +"Sir--if you are a gentleman--" + +"Madam, I am a lover." + +"Oh,'tis too much--too much!" she cries. "I have undertook what was beyond +me, and I can't--I can't carry it through. I would if I could--I cannot!" + +The strange words, the despair in her face was no stage-play. The Duke +knew sincerity when it cried aloud. Still grasping her hands, he stood at +arm's length, staring in her face. + +"You cannot, Madam? What mean you? Are you in earnest?" + +Not withdrawing her hands, fast held and quivering, she kept silence. He +could feel the pulses flutter in her wrists, and the fumes of wine cleared +slowly out of his brain and carried the brutality with them. + +"Have the condescension to explain yourself. You are safe in my company +now. Possibly I was mistook, but I supposed you not unwilling for our +tete-a-tete. Accept my apologies if this is not the case. I thrust no +attentions on women who dislike them." + +"Sir, I will explain, and go, and never see your face again. I die of +shame." + +He could still feel the pitiful flutter in her wrists. He relaxed his grip +and handed her to her chair,--a gentleman again,--James, Duke of Hamilton +and Brandon. "I see myself gravely in error, Madam. I await your words." + +She would not sit, nor he. They stood apart now, and he could scarce hear +the silver tremble of her voice. + +"Sir, we are poor. You know this. And last night my mother did ask me +whether I supposed your Grace had any feeling for me beyond careless +goodwill. I knew not. What could I say? And she then revealed to me--oh, +how reveal it now!--that our little means is all but spent, and that gone, +we must retire into poverty and misery again. Also that there are debts, +and prison for debtors. Also that any match for my sister is impossible to +hope for--No--how can I tell it! And she did say that if we could +hope--could but know that--" + +Her voice died on her lips. She hung her head in agony. He took her up. + +"The task is too hard for you. Let me continue. Your mama said that, if +she and your sister withdrew and left you with me, if you put forth your +charms (and God knows there were never such!), 'twas possible you might +set the sweetest trap for the rich man, and with his aid clamber out of +the mud and sit secure beside him. Confirm me if I don't err. Confess!" + +"I confess." The words scarce broke the silence. + +"And love was not in the bargain," the cruel voice persisted. "Mama did +not enquire whether James Hamilton was distasteful to you or the reverse. +He was a moneybag--no man. Confess again." + +"I confess. Sir, we have used you very ill. I ask your pardon. I was a +fair mark for insult." Her head dropped lower. She could not otherwise +hide her face, but shame overflowed it in waves of crimson. + +"To be frank, Madam, I have never found your mother congenial company. +'Twas not for her I sought this house. Tell me, was this her plot only? +Was it acceptable to you?" + +"At least, I followed it. She is my mother. I am one flesh and blood with +her. If she is a plotter, so too am I. I bid your Grace farewell, and pray +for so much pity as that you will never come this way again, nor see me, +lest I die at your feet." + +"Madam, do I owe you no apology?" + +"I think none, your Grace. You acted as the woman you took me for might, I +suppose, expect. Let me go." + +A singular thing happened here. The Duke, the haughtiest and coldest of +men, bent his knee and carried her hand to his lips. So on Birthnights he +kissed the late Queen's hand, she standing before the Throne. Then stood +very grave. "Madam, I entreat your pardon. I have shown you a side of a +man's character very unfitting for your eyes and you but the child you +are. Forgive me, and ere we part for ever, answer me one question, in +token of your pardon. Had I been but James Hamilton, the lowest of my +clan--could you have honoured me with any regard?" + +She stammered, trembling before this melancholy gentleness. + +"I know not." + +He persisted, gentle but firm: + +"We have perhaps something to pardon each other. I ask again--would this +have been possible?" + +Constrained, she sought for breath. Because a cold handsome face softens, +because distrust is melted, shall a woman let her heart fly like a bird to +a man's bosom? + +"Sir, you ask more than I can answer." + +Still the eyes insisted, and now the strong hand held hers. + +"Sir--I think--I believe--it had not been impossible." + +"What--not James Hamilton--no more?--with a shieling on the moors, and the +heather-cock for food, and a Hamilton plaid to wrap his heart's darling, +and a fire of peats to sit by, and this hand empty but for love and his +claymore?--Would the beauty of the world have come to his breast?" + +His voice was a strong music--a river in spate. His eyes caught hers and +held them. + +"'Tis not impossible. But oh, how should I prove it--prove it? There's not +a word I say but rings false now. Leave me--leave me. I have said too +much." + +"You can't prove it? But you can, and if you prove it, I will distrust +God's mercy before I will distrust my girl. All you have told me was known +to me--known to all the town. It rings through the streets that the fair +Gunnings and their mother are schemers; that they love none and seek only +the best price for their charms. Marry me now, this hour, Elizabeth, and +face the world that will call you plotter and adventuress. For they will +so! There's no club in town but will ring with the story of how the beauty +was cunningly left to a half-drunk man's advances. That's how Horry +Walpole and all the old women of both sexes will have it! All this will be +known through your mother's folly and your Abigail's chatter, and they +will tell how you trapped me, how I would have escaped and could not for +the snares about my feet. Marry me and face this, if you will, and I will +believe you love me, for you will stand a disgraced woman for all time. +Marry me not, and I will make your way easy with gold, and your mother +shall tell her own tale, and not a smirch on your name and fear not but +another rich man will give you all I could, and not a spot on it. Choose +now once and for all. I have seen and I know how my coronet will sting you +with shame--with shame set in it." + +He did not embrace her. 'Twas the strangest wooing. The clock pointed to +eleven. The house was dead silent. Her eyes widened with pain and fear. +She looked piteously at him. + +"They will say you caught me drunk, whom you could not catch sober. They +will say you forced the marriage, lest I escape. There is nothing they +will not say but the truth--that my sweetheart is the sweetest, the +purest, the proudest woman alive. Your delicacy will be trod in the mud, +Madam. Will you take your man at that? Will you crawl through the dirt to +his heart?" + +His fire kindled hers. Her eyes glittered. + +"And if they believed me worthless--that is not what I ask. What would +your Grace think?" + +He smiled with peculiar sweetness. + +"Child, you know. Look at me." + +And still she trembled. + +"Beloved, adored!" he cried. "Think you I knew not 'twas death to you to +tell the truth? Shall a man find a pearl in the dirt and not set it over +his heart. I have loved you since first I saw your fair face, and now I +honour you. Come to me and bless me; and when these fools cackle and +gibber, I shall know how to protect my wife." + +His arms went round her. + +"I will do it," she said. + +The minutes passed in an exquisite joy, plucked out of shame like a rose +from a torrent. He left her and went to the door, and leaning over the +balustrade, called down the stair:-- + +"Armitage!" + +A young man, handsomely dressed and something of a fop after his +valet-fashion, sprang up the stair--his Grace's gentleman. His master, +very tranquil and haughty, was by the door--the fair Miss Gunning erect in +her chair. + +"Armitage, proceed at once to my house, and acquaint my chaplain, Mr +MacDonald, that this lady and I are to be married immediately. Desire him +to come hither with all that is necessary, and lose not a moment." + +And seeing Armitage hesitate like a man wonderstruck, the Duke stamped his +foot and set him flying down the way he came, calling after him:-- + +"Desire Mrs Abigail to come up this moment." + +They heard the door shut violently, and Mrs Abigail came up, very demure +and curtseying to the ground. + +"Be seated, good woman. Your lady will excuse you. We wait the Reverend Mr +MacDonald, with ring and licence, and you and Armitage shall serve for +witnesses to the marriage. Now I think of it, call also the woman of the +house." + +He carried it masterfully, and Elizabeth, no more than any other woman, +could be insensible to that charming tyranny. He stood behind her chair +while the woman called for Mrs Mann--who came, mortally afraid of her +company. + +"Shall Mrs Abigail braid my hair?--it tumbles all about me," says +Elizabeth, questioning her master timidly. + +"'Tis so great a beauty I will not have it hid," he cries, standing behind +her chair where the long locks lay on the ground. + +Silence again, and the time passing. + +At last, a sound as if Armitage propelled somewhat before him up the +stair, and into the room walks his Grace's gentleman, and before him a +stout personage in bands and cassock, so breathless from haste as to be +incapable of any speech. + +"Hath he the licence?" + +"He hath, your Grace, but he declares that the occasion being so great, +and the incumbent of Mayfair Chapel, Dr Keith, being at home and the +chapel open, for the greater solemnity 'twere well to have the marriage +solemnised there. 'Tis but ten minutes, and I have brought the chariot, if +it please your Grace." + +And now, puffing sore, the clergyman put in his plea,--not for delay, the +Duke's face forbade that,--but that all be done with ceremony. + +"If a word more be said, I send for the Archbishop!" swears his Grace, +flushed and handsome. "My chariot's at the door. Bundle in all who can. +Madam, allow me." + +He drew the bride's hand to his, and preceded them down the stair, holding +it high as in a minuet. The women followed without a word. Elizabeth went +in a dream, half-enchantment, half-nightmare. + +The chapel was dark and musty--no time to light the lamps; but Mr +Armitage, the facile, the adroit, a perfect Mercury and old in experience, +called in four linkmen waiting by their ladies' empty chairs in the street +outside. + +These grimy fellows stood upon the altar steps, two at a side, lighting +the book the parson opened, his voice resounding through the silent place +with startling loudness. Behind the bridal pair huddled the women. + +"Dearly Beloved, we are met together--" and so to the close. But his voice +was muffled beside the clear ring of James Hamilton's. His "I will" fell +like a sword on the air. He was never a man to show his heart but to the +one in whose hand it lay, and his tone disdained all but the woman who +stood by him. He put his signet ring on her finger, and they turned from +the altar man and wife. + +"Give each of these men five guineas, and bid them light her Grace to her +chariot, Armitage. Take you the women back to Mrs Gunning's lodging, where +we follow. I thank you, Mr Keith, for the best service any man ever did +me. It shall not go unrewarded." + +He handed her into the chariot with the utmost ceremony; and when the door +was closed, flung himself on his knees before her, clasping her waist. + +"My dear--my girl, how shall I thank you? Think you I don't know what it +hath cost you--and the proof you have given me that your heart is mine. +My wife--my sweetheart!" + +'Twas half after twelve when Mrs Gunning returned with Maria, being a +prudent woman, and resolved that, if the criminal did not hang himself, it +should not be for want of rope. + +"The chariot's at the door and the light still in the parlour!" she +whispered; "sure, he can't be there still? Heaven send he be not drunk and +asleep. 'Twas mere folly to leave the wine!" + +Not a sound. They approached as it were on tiptoe up the stair, and softly +opened the door. + +My Lord Duke, attended by Armitage, stood before them, splendid in his +dark red velvet laced with silver, the blue ribbon crossing his breast. He +held Elizabeth by the hand, she pale as ashes but perfectly composed. + +Mrs Gunning gave a fine dramatic start, Maria advancing behind her, +devoured with curiosity. + +"What--what can this mean? Little did I expect to find your Grace here at +this hour. Elizabeth, I fear you have been vastly imprudent. Your good +name--" She might have said more but the Duke came forward, very +magnificent. + +"Madam, permit me to introduce a _stranger_," says he, with emphasis +on the word, "Her Grace the Duchess of Hamilton." + +"Lord! Then 'tis to be!" cries Mrs Gunning, all radiant, and mistaking his +meaning. "O my sweet child, my Elizabeth--how have you took me by +surprise! When shall it be, your Grace?" + +"Madam, it is done. Miss Gunning became my bride in the Mayfair +Chapel--was it twenty minutes since, Armitage?" + +"Fifteen, your Grace." + +"'Twas all in order--a clergyman?--'twas legal?" pants Mrs Gunning, her +hand to her heart. + +"Assuage your maternal fears, Madam." His lip was disdainful--he set her a +world away. "All was as you could have wished. Permit the Duchess and +myself to wish you farewell and good night--or rather good morning." + +He led Elizabeth to the door, which Armitage held open. It closed behind +them, and their steps were heard descending. The Duchess had not said a +word. + +There was silence until the chariot had rumbled away, when Mrs Gunning +found her voice. + +"I did not credit her with such skill. She hath played her cards well +indeed. I would give the world to know what passed." + +"That we shall never know," says Maria. "He's not the man to tell his +secrets, nor she neither. Sure, they're a pair." + +"Well, Heaven send you show the like skill with my Lord Coventry. You +can't do better. Lord, how my heart beats for joy!" + +"I shall not need, Madam," says Miss Maria coolly. "She has ensured my +match with her own. The Duchess of Hamilton's sister won't go begging for +a husband. 'Tis now but to choose my wedding silk. Come, let us to bed. +These late hours hurt my bloom. Let us however drink a toast in this wine +to old Mother Corrigan and the Golden Vanity. 'Tis the least we can do. +Blow out the candles." + +(_Elizabeth, later Duchess of Argyll, bore her honours with dignity and +became a very great lady. Maria, Countess of Coventry, died aged +twenty-seven, not untouched by scandal, and a victim to her own frivolity. +Mrs Gunning received a valuable appointment as Housekeeper at one of the +royal palaces. "The Luck of the Gunnings" became a proverb._ + +_It has been disputed which of the two famous actresses, Peg Woffington or +George Anne Bellamy had the honour of setting the beauties forth in life. +Mrs. Bellamy's claim has the better evidence, especially in view of the +Countess of Coventry's distinguished impertinence to her a few years +later._) + + + + +Maria Walpole +_Countess of Waldegrave +Duchess of Gloucester_ +17(?)-1807 + + + +Horace Walpole was convinced that even the Gunnings envied the beauty of +Maria Walpole, his niece. "Yesterday," he writes, "t'other famous Gunning +dined there. She has made a friendship with my charming niece, to disguise +her jealousy." To the surprise of all London, Maria, daughter of Sir +Edward Walpole and Maria Clements, married the Earl of Waldegrave, "for +character and credit the first match in England." At her husband's death, +she refused the Duke of Portland, but secretly married the Duke of +Gloucester, brother to the King. Her admirers point out the romance of her +fortunes--how she was daughter of a milliner, granddaughter of a great +Prime Minister, widow of an Earl, wife of a Duke, sister-in-law to the +King, mother of the three ladies Waldegrave, and, in her second marriage, +mother of Prince William and the Princess Sophia. + +Sir Joshua Reynolds made seven portraits of the lovely "Walpole Beauty." +Years afterward, when he was at work on his famous painting of her three +daughters, Walpole begged him to pose them "as the three Graces, adorning +a bust of the Duchess as the Magna Mater." "But," adds the veteran of +Strawberry Hill, with what resignation he can muster, "my ideas were not +adopted." + +[Illustration: Maria Walpole, Countess of Waldegrave and her daughter +Elizabeth Laura afterwards Countess of Waldegrave.] + + + +V + +The Walpole Beauty + + +[_From a packet of letters, written in the middle of the eighteenth +century by Lady Fanny Armine to her cousin, Lady Desmond, in Ireland, I +have strung together one of the strangest of true stories--the history of +Maria Walpole, niece of the famous Horace Walpole and illegitimate +daughter of his brother, Sir Edward Walpole. The letters are a potpourri +of town and family gossip, and in gathering the references to Maria +Walpole into coherence, I am compelled to omit much that is characteristic +and interesting._] + +_May, 1754._ + +Why, Kitty, my dear, what signifies your reproaches? I wish I may never be +more guilty than I am this day. I laid out a part of your money in a +made-up mantua and a petticoat of Rat de St. Maur, and for the hat,'twas +the exact copy of the lovely Gunning's--Maria Coventry. And though I won't +flatter you, child, by saying your bloom equals hers (for I can't tell +what hers may be under the white lead she lays on so thick), yet I will +say that your Irish eyes may ambuscade to the full as well beneath it, +though they won't shoot an earl flying, like hers, because you have +captured your baronet already! + +But 'tis news you would have--news, says you, of all the gay doings of the +town. + +And how is her Gunning Grace of Hamilton, you ask, and do the folk still +climb on chairs at Court to stare at her? Vastly in beauty, child. She was +in a suit of fine blue satin at the last Birthnight, sprigged all over +with white, and the petticoat robings broidered in the manner of a +trimming wove in the satin. A hoop of the richest damask, trimmed with +gold and silver. These cost fourteen guineas a hoop, my dear. Who shall +say the ladies of the present age don't understand refinements? Her Grace +had diamonds plastered on wherever they would stick, and all the people of +quality run mad to have a stare at so much beauty, set off with as much +glare as Vauxhall on a fete night, and she as demure as a cat after +chickens. + +But 'tis always the way with these sudden-come-ups, they never have the +easy carriage that comes from breeding, and 'tis too much to expect she +should be a topping courtier. + +You must know Horry Walpole was there, in gray and silver brocade, as fine +and finical a gentleman as ever, and most genteelly lean; and says I to +him:-- + +"What think you, Mr Walpole, of our two coquet Irish beauties? Do they put +out all the fire of our English charmers?" + +So he drew himself up and took a pinch of rappee (can't you see him, +Kitty, my girl?), and says he:-- + +"Madam, to a lady that is herself all beauty and need envy none, I may say +we have a beauty to be produced shortly to the town that will flutter all +the world, excepting only the lady I have the honour to address." + +And, Lord! the bow he made me, with his hat to his heart! + +"La, man," says I, "who is she? But sure I know. 'T is the Duchess of +Queensberry reduced a good half in size and with a new complexion." + +But Horry shook his ambrosial curls. + +"No, Madam, 'pon honour! A little girl with the vivacity of sixteen and +brown eyes, brown hair--in fact, a brown beauty." + +And then it flashed on me and I says:-- + +"Good God!--Maria! But sure she can't be presented. 'Tis impossible!" And +could have bit my silly tongue out when't was said. + +He shrugged his shoulders like a Frenchman,--'tis the last grace he picked +up in Paris,--and turned from me to the new lady errant, Miss Chester, who +models herself on the famous Miss Chudleigh. + +But nothing could equal the horrid indecency of Miss Chudleigh's habit at +the Ranelagh Masquerade some five years back, when Mrs Montagu, observing +her, said: "Here is Iphigenia for the sacrifice, but so naked the high +priest may inspect the entrails of the victim without more ado." And says +Horry: "Surely, 'tis Andromeda she means herself, and not Iphigenia!" I +thought we should have died laughing. The Maids of Honour were then so +offended not one of 'em would speak to her. They are not such prudes +today, and Miss Chester has as much countenance as she looks for. Alas, it +takes a wise woman, if not a good one, to know just where certainty should +stop and imagination take its place! + +But, Kitty child, who do you guess is the new beauty? I give you one, I +give you two, I give you three! And if 'twas three hundred, you'd be never +the wiser. Why, Maria Walpole, you little blockhead! Maria, the daughter +of Sir Edward Walpole, Horry's brother. What think you of that? But Sir +Edward never was married, says you. True for you, Kitty, but don't you +know the story? No, to be sure. There's no scandal in Ireland, for St. +Patrick banished it along with the snakes and their poison, because the +island that has so many misfortunes would have died of another. + +Well, take your sampler like a good little girl and hearken to the history +of the lovely Maria that's to blow out the Gunning candles. Let me present +to your la'ship Sir Edward Walpole, brother to the Baron of Strawberry +Hill. A flourish and a sliding bow, and you know one another! Sir Edward, +who resembles not Horry in his love for the twittle-twattle of the town, +is a passable performer on the bass viol, and a hermit--the Hermit of Pall +Mall. But the rules of that Hermitage are not too severe, child. 'Tis +known there were relaxations. And notably one. + +The Hermit some years since was lodged in Pall Mall; and in the lower +floors was lodged a dealer in clothes, with prentices to fetch and carry. + +Lord! says Kitty, what's this to the purpose? Attend, Madam. The curtain +rises! + +'Tis an old story: the virtuous prentice--and the unvirtuous. There was +one of them--Dorothy Clement, a rustic beauty, straw hat tied under the +roguish chin, little tucked-up gown of flowered stuff, handkerchief +crossed over the bosom, ruffled elbows. 'Tis so pretty a dress, that I +protest I marvel women of quality don't use it! However, this demure +damsel looked up at Sir Edward under the hat, and he peeped under the +brim, and when he left the house and returned to his own, what should +happen but the trembling beauty runs to him, one fine day, for protection, +swearing her family and master have all cast her off because 'twas noted +the gentleman had an eye for a charming face. + +Well, child, 'tis known hermits do not marry. 'Tis too much to ask of +their Holinesses. But he set a chair at the foot of his table for the +damsel, and bid her share his pulse and crusts; and so 'twas done, and +whether in town or country, the Hermitess kept him company till she died. +Sure the Walpoles are not too fastidious in their women, excepting only +Horry of Strawberry Hill, who has all the finicals of the others rolled up +in his lean body. + +Well, Kitty, there were four children: a boy,--nothing to the +purpose,--and Laura, Maria, and Charlotte. And the poor lasses, not having +a rag of legitimacy to cover 'em, must needs fall back on good behaviour +and good looks. I saw Laura, a pretty girl, in the garden at Englefield +some years since, when I was airing in Lady Pomfret's coach; and as we +looked, the little hoyden Maria comes running up in muslin and blue +ribbons, all health and youth and blooming cheeks and brown curls and +eyes--a perfect Hebe. And 'tis she--the milliner's brat--that's to borrow +the Car of Love and set the world afire. But she can't be presented, +Kitty; for our high and mighty Royals frown on vice, and not a single +creature with the bar sinister can creep into Court, however many may +creep out. And that's that! + +And now I end with compliments and curtseys to your la'ship, and the glad +tidings that one of the virgin choir of Twickenham, those Muses to which +Mr Horace Walpole is Apollo, has writ an Ode so full of purling streams +and warbling birds, that Apollo says he will provide a sidesaddle for +Pegasus, and no male shall ever bestride him again. + +_September, 1758._ + +O la, la, la! Was you ever at the Bath, child? Here am I just returned, +where was great company, and all the wits and belles, and Miss Biddy +Green, the great city fortune, run off with Harry Howe, and her father +flourishing his gouty stick in the Pump Room and swearing a wicked +aristocracy should have none of his honest guineas. But he'll soften when +he sees her presented at Court, with feathers stuck in her poll and all +the city dames green with spite. 'Tis the way of the world. + +But to business. The town is talking with hundred-woman noise on the +marriage that Laura,--by courtesy called Walpole,--the Hermit's eldest +daughter, makes tomorrow. 'Twill astound you, Lady Desmond your Honour, as +much as it did your humble servant. For Miss Laura honours the Church, no +less, with her illegitimate hand, and no less a dignitary than a Canon of +Windsor! Is not this to be a receiver of stolen goods? Does not his +Reverence compound a felony in taking such a bride? What say you? 'Tis +Canon Keppel, brother to Lord Albemarle; and mark you, Kitty--the +Honourable Mrs Keppel has the right to be presented where Miss Laura might +knock at the door in vain! We come up in the world, child; but the +Walpoles had always that secret. + +'Twill set the other charming daughters dreaming of bride-cake. All the +world talks of Maria, a shining beauty indeed. Horry Walpole is enchanted +at Miss Laura's match--sure, an illegitimate Walpole, if niece to the +Baron of Strawberry, is worth a dozen of your Cavendishes and Somersets! I +laughed like a rogue in my sleeve when says Horry to me at my drum:-- + +"Colonel Yorke is to be married to one or both of the Miss Crasteyns, +great city fortunes--nieces to the rich grocer. They have two hundred and +sixty thousand pounds apiece. Nothing comes amiss to the digestion of that +family--a marchioness or a grocer." + +Says I, flirting my fan:-- + +"'Tis gross feeding, sure, Mr Walpole. Now, had it been a royal +illegitimate." + +He looked daggers, and took a pinch of snuff with an air. Never was a man +with more family pride, though he affects to scorn it. + +What think you of this latest news of Lady Coventry? The people are not +yet weary of gazing upon the Gunnings, and stared somewhat upon her last +Sunday was se'night in the Park. Would you believe it, Kitty, that she +complained to the King, and His Majesty, not to be outdone in wisdom, +offers a guard for her ladyship's beauty. On this she ventures into the +Park, and, pretending fright, desires the assistance of the officer, who +orders twelve sergeants to march abreast before her and a sergeant and +twelve men behind her; and in this pomp did the silly little fool walk all +the evening, with more mob about her than ever, her blockhead husband on +one side and my Lord Pembroke on the other! I'm sure I can't tell you +anything to better this, so good night, dear cousin, with all affectionate +esteem. + +_April_, 1769. + +Great news, your la'ship. I am but just returned from a royal progress to +visit the Baron of Strawberry Hill. Strawberry was in prodigious +beauty--spring flowers, cascades, grottoes, all displayed to advantage in +a sunshine that equalled June. The company, her Gunning Grace of Hamilton, +the Duchess of Richmond, Lady Aylesbury, and your humble servant. + +Says Mr Horace, leaning on his amber-top cane and surveying us, as the +three sat in the shell on the terrace and I stood by:-- + +"Strawberry Hill is grown a perfect Paphos. 'Tis the land of beauties, and +if Paris himself stood where I do, he could never adjudge the golden +apple." + +He writ the same to George Montagu after, who showed the letter about +town:-- + +"There never was so pretty a sight as to see the three sitting. A thousand +years hence, when I begin to grow old, if that can ever be, I shall talk +of that event and tell the young people how much handsomer the women of my +time were than they are now." + +There's a compliment like a fresh-plucked rose from the Lord of +Strawberry. It reads pretty, don't it, child? Horry was in vast wit--'twas +like the Northern Lights hurtling about us--made us blink! The Duchess of +Richmond pretending she could not recall her marriage-day, says Horry:-- + +"Record it thus, Madam. This day thousand years I was married!" + +'Twas not till a week later I discovered this to be a bon mot of Madame de +Sevigne. His jewels are polished very fine, but 'tis not always in the +Strawberry mine they are dug. But to our news--What will your Honour pay +me for a penn'orth? + +Tis of our beauty, Maria--ahem!--Walpole. The pretty angler has caught her +fish--a big fish, a gold fish, even a golden-hearted fish, for't is Lord +Waldegrave! A belted earl, a Knight of the Garter, no less, for the pretty +milliner's daughter. You don't believe it, Kitty? Yet you must, for't is +true, and sure. If beauty can shed a lustre over puddled blood, she has +it. Lord Villiers, chief of the macaronis, said, yesterday was a week:-- + +"Of all the beauties Miss Walpole reigns supreme--if one could forget the +little accident of birth! Her face, bloom, eyes, teeth, hair, and person +are all perfection's self, and Nature broke the mould when she made this +paragon, for I know none like her." + +'Tis true, but 'tis so awkward with these folk that can't be presented nor +can't meet this one nor that. Still, I have had her much to my routs and +drums, where 'tis such an olla podrida that it matters not who comes. But +Lady Waldegrave may go where she will; and certainly the bridegroom has +nothing to object on the score of birth, for he comes from James the +Second by the left hand, and for aught I know a left-hand milliner is as +good these Republican days. Anyhow, 'tis so, and Horry, who would have all +think him above such thoughts, is most demurely conceited that a +Walpole--ahem!--should grace the British peerage. Remains now only +Charlotte, and I dare swear she will carry her charms to no worse market +than Maria, though not so great a Venus. + +I went yesterday evening to the Bluestocking Circle at Mrs Montagu's fine +house in Hill Street. I am not become learned, Kitty, but 'twas to hear +the lionesses roar, and because I knew the Lord of Strawberry would be +there and was wishful to hear his exultations. Lord preserve us, child, +what a frightening place! We were ushered into the Chinese Room, lined +with painted Pekin paper, and noble Chinese vases, and there were all the +lions, male and female, in a circle--the Circle of the Universe. All the +great ladies of the Bluestocking Court were there: the vastly learned Mrs +Carter, Mrs Delany over from Ireland, the Swan of Lichfield Miss Anna +Seward, Mrs Chapone, and other lionesses and _cubesses_. My dear, +they sat in a half-moon, and behind them another half-moon of grave +ecclesiastics and savants, and Horry at the head of them, in brown and +gold brocade. 'Twas not sprightly, Kitty. 'Tis true these women are good +and learned, and some of them well enough in looks; but 'tis so +pretentious, so serious,--I lack a word!--so censorious of all that does +not pull a long face, that, when Mrs Montagu rose to meet us with the +shade of Shakespeare in attendance (for no lower footman would serve so +majestic a lady), I had a desire to seize her two hands and gallop round +the room with her, that I could scarce restrain. But sure she and the +company had died of it! + +I expected great information from such an assemblage, but 'twas but a +snip-snap of talk--remarks passed from one to another, but served as it +were on massy plate--long words, and too many of 'em. Dull, my dear, dull! +And so 'twill always be when people aim to be clever. They do these things +better in France, where they have no fear of laughter and the women +sparkle without a visible machinery. 'Twas all standing on the mind's +tip-toe here. And when the refreshments were served I made for Horry-- + + On silver vases loaded rise + The biscuits' ample sacrifice, + And incense pure of fragrant tea. + +But Bluestockingism is nourished on tea as wit on wine. "So, Mr Walpole," +says I, "what is this news I hear of Miss Maria? My felicitations to the +bridegroom on the possession of so many charms." + +And Horry with his bow:-- + +"I thank your ladyship's partiality and good heart. For character and +credit, Lord Waldegrave is the first match in England, and for beauty, +Maria--excepting only the lady I address. The family is well pleased, +though 'tis no more than her deserts, and 'twas to be expected my father's +grandchild would ally herself with credit." + +'Tis when Horry Walpole gives himself these demure airs that I am tempted +to be wicked, Kitty. For what signifies talking? The girl is a beauty, but +Nancy Parsons and Kitty Fisher are beauties, too, and if the court and +peerage are opened to women of no birth, why what's left for women of +quality? 'Tis certain the next generation of the peerage bids fair to be +extreme ill-born, and the result may be surprising. But I held my tongue, +for I have a kindness for Horry and his niece, though I laugh at 'em. + +I thought Mr Walpole looked ill, and doubted whether I might hope to see +him at my Tuesday rout. Says he:-- + +"'Tis the gout, Madam, that ungallant disorder, and had I a mind to brag, +I could boast of a little rheumatism too; but I scorn to set value on such +trifles, and since your ladyship does me the honour to bespeak my company, +I will come if 'twere in my coffin and pain. May I hope your ladyship will +favour us at Maria's nuptials? Sure the Graces were ever attended by Venus +on occasions of ceremony." + +He would have said more, but the Queen of the Blues swam up, protesting +and vowing she had never seen such a goddess as Miss Maria Walpole; that +were she to marry the Emperor of the world, 'twould be vastly below the +merit of such glowing charms. And so forth. + +'Tis a lady that paints all her roses red and plasters her lilies white, +and whether 'tis malice, I can't tell, but believe 'tis possible to blast +by praise as well as censure, by setting the good sense of one half the +world and the envy of the other against the victim. So she shrugged and +simpered and worked every muscle of her face, in hopes to be bid to the +wedding; but Mr. Walpole only bowed very grave and precise, and turned +away, and I with him. And no more circles for me, my dear; and here I +conclude, and my next shall be the epithalamium. + +_18th May_, 1759. + +Kitty, child, when you was married, did you look about you from under your +hat?--did you take a sly peep at the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, and +wonder which was the bridegroom? I did, but I'll never tell which he +proved to be! Well, Maria was married two days since, and Horry Walpole +favoured me today with a glimpse of the letter he writ to his friend +Montagu on the occasion. 'Twas very obliging; but you know all he writes +is writ with one eye on the paper and one on posterity, so 'tis no wonder +if he squints a little by times. However, here's to our letter. + +"The original day was not once put off--lawyers and milliners all +canonically ready. They were married in Pall Mall just before dinner, and +we all dined there, and the Earl and the new Countess got into their +post-chaise at eight and went to Navestock alone. On Sunday she is to be +presented and to make my Lady Coventry distracted. Maria was in a white +and silver night gown, with a hat very much pulled over her face. What one +could see of it was handsomer than ever. A cold maiden blush gave her the +sweetest delicacy in the world." + +So far our doting uncle, Kitty; but 'tis indeed a fair creature. I saw the +long soft brown eyes lifted once and flash such a look at the bridegroom--I +dare to swear Lord Waldegrave wished away then the twenty years between +them. Poor Lady Coventry, indeed! Her race is run, her thread is spun, her +goose is cooked, and any other trope you please; for what signifies all +the white lead at the 'pothecary's compared to the warm brown of Maria's +complexion and her long eyelashes! + +Lady Elizabeth Keppel had a gown worthy of the Roman Empress she looks, +with that beak nose and nutcracker chin. 'Twas a black velvet petticoat, +embroidered in chenille, the pattern a great gold wicker basket filled to +spilling over with ramping flowers that climbed and grew all about her +person. A design for a banqueting hall rather than a woman; or indeed a +committee of Bluestockings might have wore it to advantage. She had +winkers of lace to her head, and her hoop covered so many acres that one +could but approach at an awful distance and confidences were impossible--a +sure reason why the modish ladies will soon drop the hoop. + +I saluted the bride after the ceremony and says I:-- + +"Maria, my love, I attend your presentation on Sunday, and I bring my +smelling-bottle for Lady Coventry. 'Tis already said her guards will now +be transferred to your ladyship, together with a detachment from each ship +of the Fleet, to secure so much beauty." + +She has the sweetest little dimple in either cheek, and twenty Cupids hide +under her lashes. + +"I have no wish, Madam, to dethrone my Lady Coventry, if even 'twere +possible," says she. "That lady has occupied the throne so long, that 'tis +hers by right, and the English people never weary of an old favourite." + +'Twas two-edged, Kitty, as you see, and I will report it to the other +lovely Maria, and 'twill be pretty to see the rapiers flash between the +two. 'Tis not only the men carry dress swords, child. But I thought Miss +Maria a downy nestling, with never a thought of repartee, till now. 'Tis +born in us, child. It begins with our first word and is our last earthly +sigh. + +_May_, 1759. + +Well, was you at the presentation, Lady Desmond, for I did not see your +la'ship. + +Says you: "How was that possible with the Irish Sea between us? So out +with the news!" + +The company was numerous and magnificent, and Horry Walpole in his wedding +garment of a white brocade with purple and green flowers. 'Twas a trifle +juvenile for his looks, but I blame him not; for my Lady Townshend would +choose for him, though he protested that, however young he might be in +spirits, his bloom was a little past. I could see he was quaking for his +nuptialities--lest Maria should not be in full beauty. + +T'other Maria,--Coventry,--in golden flowers on a silver ground, looked +like the Queen of Sheba; and were not our Monarch anything but a Solomon, +I would not say but--A full stop to all naughtiness! But I must tell you +her last _faux pas_, for you know, child, she's as stupid as she's +pretty. She told the King lately that she was surfeited with sights. There +was but one left she could long to see. What, think you, it was?--why, a +coronation! + +The old man took it with good humour; but Queen Bess had made a divorce +between her lovely head and shoulders for less. + +Well, into the midst of this prodigious assemblage, with Uncle Horry +quaking inwardly and making as though Walpole nieces were presented every +day, comes the fair Waldegrave, gliding like a swan, perfectly easy and +genteel, in a silver gauze with knots of silver ribbon and diamonds not so +bright as her eyes. I dare swear not a man there but envied my Lord +Waldegrave, and many might envy the beauty her husband--a good plain man, +grave and handsome. But the bride! She swam up to His Majesty, like Venus +floating on clouds, and her curtsey and hand-kissing perfect. Who shall +talk of blood in future, when a milliner's daughter can thus distinguish +herself in the finest company in Europe? 'Tis true 'tis mixed with the +Walpole vintage; but when all's said and done, who were the Walpoles? If +you get behind the coarse, drinking Squire Western of a father, you +stumble up against Lord Mayors and what not! So 'tis a world's wonder, and +there I leave it. + +As for Maria Coventry--do but figure her! I saw her pale under her rouge +when the bride entered, and her eyes shot sparks of fire, like an angry +goddess. Could they have destroyed, we had seen her rival a heap of ashes +like the princess of the Arabian Nights. I tendered her my +smelling-bottle, but she dashed it from her, and then, smiling in the +prettiest manner in the world, says to my Lord Hardwicke:-- + +"'Tis said women are jealous of each other's good looks, my Lord, but 'tis +not so with me. I am vastly pleased with my Lady Waldegrave's appearance. +'Tis far beyond what was to be expected of her parentage. She looks vastly +agreeable, and I hope she will favour me with her company." + +'Twas cleverer than I supposed her, and sure enough she did nothing but +court the bride, and now the two beauties go about to the sights and routs +together and are the top figures in town, and all the world feasts its +eyes upon two such works of nature--and Art it must be added, so far as +Maria Coventry is concerned; she is two inches deep in white lead, and the +doctors have warned her 'twill be the death of her. Kitty, I found my +first gray hair yesterday. 'Tis my swan song. I am done with the beaux and +the toasts and the fripperies. When I spoke to Harry Conway at the Court, +his eyes were so fixed on Lady Waldegrave that he heard me not till I had +spoke three times. Get thee to a nunnery, Fanny! I shall now insensibly +drop into a spectatress. What care I! To ninety-nine women life ends with +their looks, but I will be the hundredth, and laugh till I die! + +Why, Kitty, your appetite for news grows by what it feeds on. Sure you are +the horseleech's true daughter, crying, "Give, give!" You say I told you +not of Charlotte Walpole's marriage. Sure, I did. Maria married her sister +well--to young Lord Huntingtower, my Lord Dysart's son. 'Tis a girl of +good sense. She loved him not, nor yet pretended to, but says she to +Maria:-- + +"If I was nineteen, I would not marry him. I would refuse point-blank. But +I am two-and-twenty, and though 'tis true some people say I am handsome, +'tis not all who think so. I believe the truth is, I am like to be large +and heavy and go off soon. 'Tis dangerous to refuse so good a match. +Therefore tell him, sister, I accept." + +And 'twas done. I had this from Maria herself, who took it for an instance +of commendable good sense; but I know not--somehow I would have a girl +less of a Jew with her charms. Anyhow, stout or no, she will be my Lady +Countess Dysart when his father dies; and now sure, there are no more +worlds left for the Walpole girls to conquer. Their doting Uncle Horry +could never predict such success. The eldest girl's husband is now Bishop +of Exeter. + +Poor Maria Coventry is dead--the most lovely woman in England, setting +aside only t' other Maria. 'Twas from usage of white lead, Kitty, and tell +that to all the little fools you know! It devoured her skin, and she grew +so hideous, that at the last she would not permit the doctors to see her +ruined face, but would put out her hand between the curtains to have her +pulse took. She was but twenty-seven years of age. + +There was not a woman in the Three Kingdoms but envied the Gunnings, and +was 't not yourself told me, "the Luck of the Gunnings" was become a +proverb in Ireland, and the highest wish for a girl? What will the +sermonizers say now? That 'tis best to be homely and live to eighty? I +know not; but 'tis as well the choice is not given, for I believe there is +not ten women living but would choose as did Maria Coventry. Her beauty +was her god, and if she sacrificed herself on the altar, 'tis but what the +gods look for. + +Sure, I am Death's herald, for I must tell you my Lord Waldegrave is dead +of the smallpox, and the beauty a widow after but four years' marriage. I +saw her but yesterday, full of sensibility and lovely as Sigismonda in +Hogarth's picture. She had her young daughter, Lady Elizabeth, in her lap, +the curly head against her bosom, the chubby cheek resting on a little +hand against the mother's breast. Sure never was anything so moving as the +two--exact to the picture Mr Reynolds painted. + +She has a great tenderness for his memory, and well she may, when the +position he raised her to is considered. 'T is like a discrowned queen, +for her jointure is small, and she is now no more consequence to his +party, so his death has struck away her worldly glory at a blow. Indeed, I +pitied her, and wiped away her floods of tears with tenderness that was +unaffected. But for such a young woman, I won't believe the scene is +closed. What--are there no marquises, no dukes, for such perfection? + +But 't is brutal to talk so when she is crying her fine eyes out. I wipe +my naughty pen and bid you adieu. + +_Two days later._ + +I attended Mrs Minerva Montagu's reception, and there encountered the +Great Cham of Literature, Dr Johnson, rolling into the saloon like +Behemoth. Lady Waldegrave's bereavement was spoke of and says he:-- + +"I know not, Madam, why these afflictions should startle us. Such beauty +invokes ill fortune, lest a human being suppose herself superior to the +dictates of Providence." + +"Certainly she is the first woman in England for beauty," says I, very +nettled; "but 't is to be thought she had chose a little less beauty and +rather more good fortune, had she been consulted. 'T is hard she should be +punished for what she could not help!" + +"Let her solace herself with her needleworks, Madam. A man cannot hem a +pocket handkerchief and so he runs mad. To be occupied on small occasions +is one of the great felicities of the female train and makes bereavement +more bearable." + +'T is a bear roaring his ignorance of the world, my dear. But he has a +kind of horse sense (if the female train would but let him be) that makes +him endurable and even palatable at times. + +Mrs. Montagu informed us 't is rumoured that my Lady Mary Wortley Montagu +(who you know is her cousin's cousin) thinks to return to England after +being absent half a lifetime. I have a prodigious curiosity to see such a +rarity. As for her beauty, that must be vanished, but her biting wit may +outlive it, and Heaven send her here safe, I pray, to give a lash to the +follies of more than one I could name, had I the malice. Were she to write +a book of her life, 't would be the best reading in the world, could one +wash their eyes and mind after reading it. + +1764. + +Kitty, my dear, have you forgot that, when my Lord Waldegrave died, I +writ, "Are there no dukes to pursue the lovely widow?" Give honour to the +prophet! She refused the Duke of Portland, that all the fair were hunting +with stratagems worthy of the Mohawks. She refused this, that, and t' +other. And the town said: "Pray who is the milliner's daughter, to turn up +her nose at the first matches in England? Has she designs on the King of +Prussia,--for our own young monarch is wed to his Charlotte,--or is it +the Sultan, or His Holiness the Pope that will content her ladyship?" + +No answer. But, Kitty, 't is me to smell a rat at a considerable distance, +and I kept my nostrils open! Our handsome young King has a handsome young +brother,--His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester,--and this gentleman +has cast the sheep's eye, the eye of passion, upon our lovely widow! What +think you of this? That it cannot be? Then what of the King Cophetua and +other historic examples? I would have you know that in the tender passion +there's nothing that cannot be. It laughs at obstacles and rides +triumphant on the crest of the impossible. I knew it long since, but 't is +over the town like wildfire now. + +Meeting my Lady Sarah Bunbury yesterday, says she:-- + +"Lady Fanny, sure you know the Duke of Gloucester is desperately in love +with my Lady Waldegrave. Now don't mask your little cunning face with +ignorance, but tell me what's known. What have you heard from Horry +Walpole?" + +"Nothing, your la'ship," says I, very demure. + +"Well," says she, "'t is reported the King has forbid him to speak to his +fair widow, and she is gone out of town. He has given her two pearl +bracelets worth five hundred pound. That's not for nothing surely. But for +what?" + +"Indeed, 't is an ambiguous gift, Madam," says I, whimsically; "and may +mean much or little. Give me leave to ask whether 't is Pursuit or +Attainment as your la'ship reads it?" + +But she tossed her head, the little gossip, and off she went. + +I can tell you thus much, Kitty: the Walpoles are main frightened. It may +be a cast-back to the principles of the milliner mother. And there was +never the difference between her and Sir Edward Walpole that there is +between Maria and a Prince of the Blood. Her birth is impossible. My Lady +Mary Coke asking me if the mother were not a washerwoman, says I, "I +really cannot determine the lady's profession." + +Poor Lady Mary is run clean mad with jealousy and spite, for 't is not so +long since she believed herself on the way to be a Royal Duchess, +imagining the late Duke of York to be her lover--a gentleman so +passionately in love with himself as to leave no room for another. She +wore her blacks when he died, like a widow. But, spitfire as Lady Mary is, +'t is too true Maria is playing with fire, and there should be nothing +between him and her mother's daughter. She is indeed more indiscreet than +becomes her. His chaise is eternally at her door; and, as my Lady Mary +says, she is lucky that anyone else countenances her at all. If they do, +'t is as much from curiosity as any nobler emotion. Indeed, I fear her +reputation's cracked past repair. Meeting Horry Walpole last night at the +French Embassador's, he was plagued with staring crowds, and he made off +after braving it a while. I hear the King is highly offended and the Queen +yet more. She has a great notion of birth; and though poor, the +Mecklenburg family has as good quarterings as any Royals in Europe. For my +part, Kitty, I know not. Yet, if we seek for pedigree in horse and dog, 't +is to be supposed worth something in Adam's breed also. And this +ill-behaviour in Maria confirms me. + +Yet I have visited the fair sinner, for I love her well. She can't help +neither her birth nor her beauty, but sure her kind heart is all her own. +She wept and would reveal nothing, but asked me to be so much her friend +as to think the best of her. 'T is pity her tears were wasted on a mere +woman. The drops beaded on her lashes like rain on a rose. Well, God mend +all! say I. Sure none of us have a clear conscience and if anyone was to +come up behind us and whisper, "I know when, how, and who!" 't is certain +there are few women but would die of terror. Yet I did not think Maria a +rake--though a Prince's. + +'T is pity Lady Mary, the Great Wortley Montagu, is dead, that would have +relished all this talk to the full. Can I forget when I visited her two +years since just before she died--her vivacity and the tales she told of +the junketings of Queen Anne's Court and George the First's! Gracious +powers, Kitty, to think of our grandmothers' conduct and our own +excellence in comparison! I have not heard a scandal since, but I have +vied it with theirs and found it a mere caprice. 'T was almost affrighting +to see that old lady, propped up in her chair, and croaking out tales of +the grandparents of every person known to me, not forgetting my own, and +laughing with a horrid glee and a fire in her ancient eye, till I expected +to see her fly off like a witch on a broomstick. Sure, thinks I, no +respectable young woman will be seen conversing with her grandmother after +this! Mrs Montagu carried me to see her, and I could scarce thank her for +it. Lord help us! does the world grow better or worse? I must take Mr +Walpole's opinion. + +1772. + +Kitty, Kitty, 't is all come out! But I may say the town knew it after the +masquerade in Soho, when His Royal Highness appeared as Edward the Fourth +and Maria as Elizabeth Woodville, the pretty widow he made his Queen. +You'll allow 't was a delicate way to let the cat out of the bag. It could +not longer be kept within it, for the lady's sake and more. For there's to +be a little new claimant one day to the Crown, if all the elder stem +should fail. + +They were married, Kitty, in _1766!_ Sure never was an amazing secret +better kept! And I will say she hath borne much for the Prince's sake, and +with good sense--let my Lady Mary Coke and all the Furies say what they +will. But think of it--think of it! for indeed 't is scarce credible. +Here's Maria No-name--the milliner's base-born daughter--to be Her Royal +Highness the Duchess of Gloucester, Princess of Great Britain! Was ever +human fate so surprising? 'Twas a secret even from her father and uncle, +by the Duke's command; but she has now writ her father so pretty a letter +that 'tis the town's talk, Horry Walpole having shewed it about. But +Horry--have you forgot his pride, hid always under a nonchalance as if't +was nothing? I was at Gloucester House, where she received _en +princesse_, two nights ago; and to see Horry kiss her hand and hear him +address her with, "Madam, your Royal Highness," at every word--sure no wit +of Congreve's could ever equal the comedy! But if looks were all, she +should be Queen of England--a shining beauty indeed! She wore a robe in +the French taste, of gold tissue, her hair lightly powdered, with a +bandeau of diamonds and the Duke's miniature in diamonds on her breast. +He, looking very ill at ease, as I must own, stood beside her. + +The King and our little Mecklenburger Queen are distracted; the royal ire +withers all before it; but it can't be undone, though they will pass a +Marriage Act to make such escapades impossible in the future. + +But the Walpole triumph! 'Tis now proved in the face of all the world that +a Walpole illegitimate is better than a German Royalty; for he might have +married where he would. No doubt but Horry Walpole always thought so, yet +'tis not always we see our family pride so bolstered. + +Meagre as a skeleton, he looked the genteelest phantom you can conceive, +in puce velvet and steel embroideries. For my part, I am well content, and +wish Her Royal Highness joy without grimace. 'Tis true I laugh at Horry +Walpole, for in this town we laugh at everything, from the Almighty to +Kitty Fisher; but I have a kindness for him and for Maria, and had sooner +they triumphed than another. 'Tis not so with the town. O Kitty, the +jealousy and malice! 'Twould take fifty letters to tell you the talk, from +the Court down. + +Well, Her Royal Highness gave me her hand to kiss, very gracious. She will +not let her dignity draggle in the mud, like others I could name. But +whether she would have been more easy with Portland or another, I will not +determine. The Fates alone know, and sure they can't be women, they keep +their secrets so well! + + + + +Fanny Bueney +Madame D'Arblay +1752-1840 + + + +"Send me a minute Journal of everything," begs Mr. Crisp, "and never mind +their being trifles--trifles well-dressed are excellent food, and your +cookery is with me of established reputation." + +Fanny Burney's letters, full of "trifles well-dressed" are as delightful +as the novels, "Evelina," "Cecilia," and "Camilla," that made her famous. +The skill of her writing and the charm of her character, "half-and-half +sense and modesty," won her the friendship of Burke, Sheridan, Walpole, +Warren Hastings, Hannah More, the Queen, and Dr. Johnson. + +"She is a real wonder," said Johnson to Mrs. Thrale. + +When Queen Charlotte made her second-keeper of the robes, her +novel-reading friends protested that she had been "royally gagged and +promoted to fold muslins." After four years of it, she returned to her +home, her writing, and her marriage with General d'Arblay. With the +proceeds of her most profitable novel, she built Camilla Cottage, where, +with her good Alexandre and her gay little son, she could live and write, +"Pleasure is seated in London, joy, mirth, society; but happiness, oh, it +has taken its seat, its root, at West Humble!" She lived to be +eighty-eight. + +Yet the world still thinks of her on those youthful visits at Mrs. +Thrale's in Streatham, when, if she seemed about to take her leave, Dr. +Johnson would exclaim, "Don't you go, little Burney, don't you go!" + +[Illustration: Fanny Burney, Madame D'Arblay] + + + +VI + +A Bluestocking at Court + + +[_The following is endorsed: "Miss P.'s Narrative of the causes leading +to the celebrated Miss Burney's retirement from Court in the year +1791."_]@@The intention of this narrative of Miss Burney's later +residence at the Court of Their Majesties King George the Third and Queen +Charlotte is simple. I am informed that reports spread among her friends +have given birth to the notion that she was harshly treated, her genius +slighted, and herself subjected to an odious tyranny from Mrs +Schwellenberg, the Keeper of the Robes, and that she fled from the scene +of such cruelties as the only means of preserving her health and life. As +an eyewitness, I may be permitted to set forth another view which, though +uncoloured by the rosy or lurid hues of the genius of the author of +"Evelina," may be received as a plain account of what took place, +especially with regard to the Honourable Colonel Digby and the causes of +the lady's quitting the circle of the attendants on Royalty. These humble +notes will not appear to the world until all concerned are reposing in the +dust of the tomb. + +I had the distinction to be early made privy to Miss Burney's intention to +resign her appointment; but this less from any wish of her own, than as I +concluded from my own observation. She did not suspect this, nor that the +Queen's ready penetration had prepared her also for the coming resignation +before it was respectfully laid at her feet. Indeed, much of what follows +she was a total stranger to, and might have found it difficult to credit +had it been known to her. + +It was the custom that, while Her Majesty's head was powdering and her +powdering-gown had been placed upon the Royal person, she should be left +_sola_ with her _friseur_, when she usually read the newspapers. +On a certain day, however, she despatched Miss Burney for me, adding that +she need not return; and when I arrived, addressed me as follows--the +man not comprehending what was said:-- + +"There is a little matter which I have wished to open with you. I have +some reason to believe Miss Burney's spirits a little sunk. Do you, Miss +P., remark any failure in this respect?" + +Her Majesty, all sweetness and benignity, fixed her eyes on me as well as +the operation she was undergoing would permit (the man casting clouds of +powder about her), and awaited my reply. Much embarrassed, for it is the +first rule of courts to make no comment on the affairs of others to the +ear of Royalty, I stammered a few words, to the effect that I thought Miss +Burney imagined her health a little declined, but could offer no opinion +of my own. + +"She is a lady," continued the Queen, "no longer in her first youth, who +has been accustomed to much adulation in her own circle, and may miss that +incense." + +I murmured that it might be supposed the dignity of a life in the Royal +service--but was gently interrupted:-- + +"No. We have neither the time nor the inclination to make the Court a +Bluestocking circle, and Miss Burney may prefer such surroundings. But, +why I address you, my good Miss P., is to enquire whether Miss Burney has +made any observation, of course not confidential, which would lead you to +suppose her unsettled in her intentions?" + +I believed that I realised Her Majesty's views. She would probably prefer +that the severance should come from herself and not from the lower +quarter. Alas, how little did I do justice to the benevolence of her +character! I hurriedly replied that I knew nothing of Miss B.'s mind +further than all the world might know, and within myself earnestly wished +Her Majesty might turn the subject of her remarks. She, however, thought +proper to continue with a mingled dignity and sweetness which +distinguishes all she utters. + +"All this is spoke in a confidence which must not be broke. But if there +were any little agitation of the affections which--" + +Here the Royal speaker was herself interrupted by a cloud of powder which +the unconscious _friseur_ flung over the edifice then erecting. It +gave me a moment for hasty reflection. Impossible!--who could suppose that +Her Majesty, in whose presence every look was restrained, every word +calculated, could have remarked the preference by which I had long known +Miss Burney distinguished Colonel Digby? He, in the first anguish of +bereavement of a lovely and beloved partner, did undoubtedly seek Miss +Burney's sympathy. So much was visible to all. There was even a certain +luxury of grief,--a heightening of the loss,--which gave his very handsome +and attractive person an interest few could resist. Many indeed might have +been ready for the tender office of consolatrix, but it was Miss Burney +who was specially chosen, and the conviction formed in my own mind that +the sympathy she so feelingly tendered was not untinged by a rosy flush of +expectation. The caution incident to life at Court hindered my breathing +so delicate a suspicion to any, and that Her Majesty's calm but piercing +eye should have discerned any preference did indeed animate my soul with +astonishment. + +"Ma'am, your Majesty's observation so far exceeds my own poor powers," +said I fluttering, "that, while it is impossible for me to deny, it is +equally impossible for me to confirm it. Miss Burney's superior talents, +her reserve, constitute a barrier which--" + +"I know--I knew," interrupted the Queen, "that I could not expect any +confirmation from you. You are discretion itself. I am surrounded by +discretion. We will not now pursue the subject further. Will you oblige +me, my good Miss P., by preparing the pocket-case which I give Lady +Harcourt today." + +The hint was an order. I respectfully retired at once, leaving Her Majesty +almost concealed in the cloud of powder which was casting about her +headdress. + +Any little unusual occurrence at Court causes comment, and I was obliged +to meet the questioning gaze of the ladies in attendance with composure. I +mentioned that Her Majesty had given me directions about Lady Harcourt's +pocket-case, and said no more. Miss Burney followed me to the room where +it was laid out in readiness for wrapping--a trifle of extreme elegance, +pink satin spangled with silver and fitted with all the little furniture +of gold scissors, bodkins, thimble, and so forth, which the venerated +friend might accept as a compliment both royal and affectionate. Miss +Burney admired it with me. + +"It resembles that formerly given to sweet Mrs Delany," said she. "Dear +excellence--sweet heavenly angel departed to her kindred sphere! What +wonder that Their Majesties' discernment should single her out for the +veneration due to age and piety so unaffected. She is gone, but how will +this gift presented to the equally worthy Lady Harcourt bring the tear to +her eye and the almost pang of gratitude to her bosom!" + +I made an appropriate reply, but reflected. These gushes of feeling on the +part of Miss Burney sometimes appeared to me a little overwrought and +designed to conceal a sharpness of wit and observation which she feared to +exercise in courtly circles. In this resolve she was doubtless discreet, +but it gave her conversation a turn of unreality which impressed as might +the use of some perfume of Araby to conceal a less romantic odour. It +affected my own candour disagreeably. Possibly the praise received by the +author of "Evelina" might cause her to abandon the common modes of +conversation and talk literary, if I may so express it; but it was, to my +knowledge, a great disappointment to the Queen, who loved good talk and in +her position could expect but little of it. She had formed great hopes of +the wit and originality of Miss Burney, and was always met only by a +sentimental silence, coupled with an affected modesty which promised +nothing fresh. Her reading-aloud was also not of a high order, and her +slender knowledge of books, apart from her own, astonished the hopeful +Queen, who had looked forward to much pleasing entertainment in her +company. + +There were also other difficulties. Miss Burney's extreme sensitiveness to +her own dignity operated as a hindrance to herself as well as her friends. +Never can I forget her expression on hearing that a bell was to be the +means of her summons to attend her Royal Mistress. She was ever ready to +anticipate a slight; and that I may not be supposed malicious in this +statement, I will cite what was said by her old friend, the brilliant Mrs +Thrale-Piozzi on this circumstance:-- + +"I live with her in a degree of pain which precludes friendship--dare not +ask her to buy me a ribbon--dare not desire her to touch the bell, lest +she should think herself slighted." + +It can readily be imagined that slights would in such a case be imagined +where none were intended. + +It was a habit Miss Burney encouraged in herself to use the longest words +to express the simplest opinions. Colonel Manners, who laughed at all +and everyone, declared she had made the illustrious Dr Johnson her model, +and would slyly note down some of her most flowing periods to deliver +them, enhanced by humour, when she had left the room. I mean only to imply +that she chose the _corporeal_ style of the famous Doctor without +acquiring the zest and gusto of that great man. + +But this is to digress. + +"The equerries will attend us at tea today, Miss P.," she observed. +"Colonel Manners and Colonel Digby will be present and Mr de la +Giffardiere. Colonel Digby's spirits depend much upon female support and +sustentation. He loves to contemplate the melancholy aspects in a way +which cannot but be harmful to a character so feeling." + +I replied collectedly:-- + +"Colonel Digby owes much to Miss Burney for all the consolations of +literature and religion so charitably offered. But indeed who would not +sympathise with his bereavement of a partner so lovely that, should he +ever think of replacing her, beauty of the first order must be his +object." + +This was perhaps a little pointed, but I could never agree in Dr Johnson's +estimate of her as "Pretty Burney," and she was not reckoned a pretty +woman by others. She had not the graces of height nor elegance in +movement, and might in complexion be called a brown woman. The eyes, while +expressive, were decidedly green. If I add that she slightly stooped, +though by no means sufficiently to be a deformity, and that her features +were, on the whole pleasing, I have been honest in my description. + +While we were speaking, the Princess Royal entered, fresh and bright as +the day, to inspect the case and add to it her own little tribute, a posy +of beautiful satin flowers made by her own fair hands. This she attached +to the case. + +"I really think it very pretty," she said, adding in the most winning +manner, "I hope Miss Burney and Miss P. approve it. Princess Elizabeth's +gift is a fairing from Cheltenham--a most elegant little box, containing a +bottle of rose perfume which came to mama from India, in the great box +from the Bengal Nabob." + +This would add interest to the gift, these bottles consisting of a minute +tube of the precious oil of roses, enclosed, as it were, in a thick tube +of embossed glass, ornamented with gold and sealed. Each of the lovely +Princesses now brought her gift, and each spoke with us with the most +conciliatory softness. Princess Elizabeth said laughing:-- + +"How go the equerries' teas, Miss Burney? Do they still insist on their +right to wait on you, even when Mrs Schwellenberg is present?" + +Miss Burney curtseyed, a little out of countenance. I put in my word:-- + +"Why, Ma'am, they are very constant. We have much entertainment from +Colonel Manners and Mr de la Giffardiere--especially the latter." + +"I can believe that," said she, laughing again. "His spirits grow more +boisterous daily. Mama says an hour of his company is like a walk in a +high wind. But you know how we all value and respect him. What a contrast +to poor Colonel Digby!" + +"I imagine, Ma'am, that Colonel Digby too is recovering his spirits a +little under our united kind treatment. He was even observed in a +melancholy smile yesterday," said I. + +Her Royal Highness smiled with a soft meaning kindness on Miss Burney, +whose eyes were fixed on the floor. This convinced me, if I had needed +conviction, that the Queen intended the allusion she had made to Colonel +Digby, and there had been a something in her tone, indescribable but +audible, which indicated disapproval. I considered myself that the man had +quite as much encouragement as he needed if his intentions were serious. I +could not make him out. There were times when I saw a growing interest in +Miss Burney, and he indeed haunted her parlour; yet was I assured that in +London he was assiduous in waiting on Miss Gunning--a young lady with +every advantage of fortune, beauty, and connection. I own the thought +sometimes occurred to me that he might be that most despicable of +characters--a male flirt. I had thoughts sometimes also of a word of +warning to Miss Burney, but was restrained by fear of her displeasure. + +Two days later Colonel Manners and Colonel Digby waited on us to tea, Mr +de la Giffardiere following. Colonel Digby wore his Vice-Chamberlain's +uniform, being to wait on the Queen, and a very handsome sight he made, +adding all the advantages of birth and breeding to extreme good looks. +Miss Burney, with a pleasure she could not conceal, found the conversation +turn to "Evelina," Colonel Manners praised it in his gay light-hearted +way, and declared its special glory in his eyes to be the character of +Captain Mirvan. He asserted it was that which gave rise to the suspicion +that the author was a man, since a lady could scarcely be supposed capable +of drawing a portrait of such vulgarity in such bold strokes. I now saw +Miss Burney wavering whether to receive this as compliment or insult, when +immediately Colonel Manners, whom no awe can check, broke out into +Dibdin's song, applying it, as it were, to Captain Mirvan:-- + + I've a spanking wife at Portsmouth Gates, + A pigmy at Goree. + An orange-tawny up the Straits, + A black at St. Lucie. + Thus whatsomedever course I bend + I lead a jovial life-- + +Miss Burney rose indignantly, and the more so as Mr de la Giffardiere, who +could never resist the absurd, was applauding vehemently, and even Colonel +Digby smiling. She cast one awful glance upon the offender, and was +quitting the room, when Colonel Digby threw himself in front of the door. + +"Miss Burney shall not deprive us of the happiness of her company without +a word of entreaty," said he, fixing his eyes upon hers, "My friend +Manners would be the first to deplore having offended the delicacy of any +lady, and especially that lady whose genius created Captain Mirvan. But +Miss Burney will condescend upon forgiveness when she hears he has been +sharing His Majesty's barley water after a day's hunting. It always goes +to his head with most boisterous results." + +It was drolly said, indeed, though with his usual languor, and no other +intervention would have stopped the exit. She graciously consented to +return to her seat, and Colonel Manners immediately and absurdly fell on +his knees before her, offering to kiss her shoe like the Pope's, if she +would but pardon him. + +"Alas, I was compelled to drink the barley water, Ma'am. I think it right +to be civil to the King, though Heaven knows a violent drink like that is +not what one should prefer after a hard day's hunting. I had chose +something milder, had it been in my power." + +She smiled faintly, and Colonel Digby, visibly to please her, uttered a +very handsome praise of "Cecilia," specially dwelling on the chapter of +the Opera Rehearsal. Her eyes followed his every movement. I perceived but +too well the growing interest, and pitied the poor lady were her feelings +to be deeply engaged; for I believed he turned his melancholy to as good +account with others as with herself. I could not but note how his visits +to her were made at times when he could almost count upon finding her +alone. If his intentions were serious, all was well. Otherwise I could not +approve it. + +"Miss Burney is so evidently the Muse of Comedy," cried Mr de la +Giffardiere, "that I wonder you, Manners, and you, Digby, do not fear her +ironic pen. What if she record this scene in the third volume, for which +all the world attends! There are only two persons who will emerge with +grace--Miss P. and myself. We tread on awful ground with a lady so +gifted." + +Mrs. Schwellenberg now made her appearance, and the talk changed, with +Colonel Manners gravely enquiring after the health of her pet frogs, and +the gentlemen shortly after left, a circumstance not very pleasing to her. + +"What for they always--what you call--run away when I come?" she cried. "I +like it not. Or if he stay,--that Colonel Manner,--he sleep! Sleeps he +with you, Miss Burney? He sleep always with me. It is not to bear!" + +We could not forbear laughing, and it was goodhumouredly taken. + +The cloud of fearful blackness which was to overshadow the nation soon +broke upon us in His Majesty's illness. I had for some time suspicion that +all was not well. It was his habit to talk with most condescending +frankness to all whom he trusted, and I, as an old servant, had the +happiness to be thus honoured. It could, therefore, be no secret to me +that his mind was often agitated in the highest degree about public +matters, and to my thinking had never recovered its tone since the +disasters with regard to his American colonies. His outward fortitude was +astonishing at the time of the rebellion; but it preyed inwardly and +undoubtedly was the first and most galling link in the chain of misfortune +which surrounded him from private and public sources. I have been told on +high authority that the falling of the largest diamond from the Crown on +the Coronation Day was a prognostic which His Majesty supposed awfully +fulfilled when those rebellious colonies broke away from his sceptre. + +It is not in my power, as it would not be my duty, to give an account of +circumstances which involved the whole nation in mourning when it beheld +the reason of its Monarch eclipsed. Be mine rather the female task to +describe how it affected the celebrated lady who is the subject of these +notes. + +All then was confusion, and the habits of the Royal family so intermitted, +whether at Windsor or Kew, that those attached to the household came and +went as they pleased, although the strictest inquisition followed all that +was allowed to pass outside the walls, lest reports adverse to His +Majesty's health should reach the party of the Princes, his sons, who +caught eagerly at any facts they might distort in a way to gain the +Regency for the dissolute Prince of Wales, and cast the Queen completely +into his power. It so happened that one day I was seated to my knotting +behind the Japan screen in the parlour apportioned by the Prince to Her +Majesty at Kew. My knotting had fallen on my knee as I gazed pensively at +the prospect of oaks and beeches in all their verdure, when I heard +voices, and Her Majesty and the Princess Royal entered, talking earnestly +as if continuing a conversation. + +"Mama, I do indeed think the news is true, and if so you will desire that +we should soon give Colonel Digby joy. It is not absolutely certain--" + +Here I stepped forth from behind the screen, curtseying deeply. The notion +in my mind was that Colonel D. had announced his coming engagement with +Miss Burney. He had visited her sedulously during the King's illness, and, +I might add, somewhat in defiance of Her Majesty's hints to that lady, and +had brought his little son more than once to visit her--a step which could +not but appear very particular. + +The Queen saw me advance with her usual gracious composure, and the +Princess greeted me charmingly. She wore a morning _negligee_ +embroidered all over with roses, and looked what she was--the Rose of +England. + +"You have appeared at an opportune moment, Miss P.," said Her Majesty. +"The matter in hand is one where I rely on your discretion. Princess +Royal, inform Miss P. of what you have heard." + +She took her seat, and the sweet Princess, standing behind her mother's +chair, related to me with her own artless candour that she had heard, from +a source which she did not give, though unimpeachable, that an engagement +subsisted or shortly might subsist between Colonel Digby and Miss Gunning, +and she thought--she feared-- + +Here she hesitated in the most pleasing manner. I now fully understood, +but it became me to remain silent and hear the Queen's pleasure. My +beloved Queen spoke presently and even--marvellous to relate--with a touch +of the gentle archness which so adorned her before His Majesty's +all-overshadowing malady. Her fortitude was astonishing. + +"My good Miss P., you have heard the Princess Royal, and I am full sure +the announcement you expected was of a kind far nearer home. Am I wrong?" + +I hurriedly said I had indeed expected and hoped--Her Majesty would +pardon my confusion. I scarce knew what I was saying, for it rushed on my +mind that, if this were true, the effect on Miss Burney's health and +spirits might be serious--his attentions having been so public. + +"I have noticed and heard how frequent Colonel Digby's visits to her have +been," continued Her Majesty; "and if this has reached me, it is certain +that others must have felt his attentions to be particular. I cannot +acquit him." + +"Nor I, Ma'am," I cried eagerly, and interrupted myself in such a breach +of etiquette. She proceeded composedly:-- + +"I believe Colonel Digby is frequently with Miss Burney. You have the same +impression, Princess Royal?" + +The fair Princess softly murmured that she had. I could not but suspect +Mrs Schwellenberg the informant, nor yet blame her. All must depend upon +the colouring given. + +"Colonel Digby's confidential favour with us all disappoints me the more +in the course he has taken," continued the Queen. "There has been a touch +of something insincere. And I have heard also that the poor Schwellenberg +is left entirely to herself while these visits take place. I thought this +hard and so dropped a hint to Miss Burney, which I failed not to see was +resented. Have you, my good Miss P., observed anything of this?" + +Catching the encouraging eye of the Princess, I ventured to say I was not +wholly a stranger to the fact that Mrs Schwellenberg felt herself somewhat +dropped out in these visits, so agreeable to the gentleman. Miss Burney I +alluded not to. + +"Another hint I offered," proceeded the Queen, "when my hair was dressing +one night, and I was informed the Schwellenberg was very unwell and needed +company, but found Miss Burney was engaged as usual with Colonel Digby. I +asked Miss Burney, without leading up to the subject, whether he had been +here. She coloured very high and admitted it and, on further questioning, +displayed a knowledge of all his movements which I own surprised me, +especially on her complaining of the want of variety here--a fact that +made any visitor welcome, as she told me." + +"Can it be possible, Ma'am," I cried, "that at this time of universal +sorrow, Miss Burney should so far forget the cruel facts as to reproach--" + +I was softly interrupted in my turn. + +"I am far from blaming Miss Burney," said the amiable Queen. "It has been +a time of gloom for all. I am only considering, from these circumstances +and others I could name, how sharp and severe may be her disappointment +when she hears the news which has reached the Princess Royal." + +Such goodness did, I confess, moisten my eyes, for had I been the +commentator, I might have been tempted to say that any little coquetries +were misplaced at a time of national grief, and especially so in Miss +Burney, whose extreme sensibility, somewhat paraded in words, was in its +highest flight as regarded the King's health. Only that morning she had +cried out:-- + +"What must be the guilt of that implacable country which, in breaking away +from his mild majestic sway, sowed the seeds of the malady which reduced +the best of kings and men to a condition where this fell disease could +prey upon his overcharged heart and brain! Surely the blessing which +disowns its present cannot attend its future!" + +But this is a digression. + +"What we are to consider, Miss P.," said the benignant Queen, "is how best +to hint this news to Miss Burney so that her mind may be gradually +accustomed. It is to be remembered that, in her confined home circle, she +can have met but few so distinguished and eligible as Colonel Digby. I am +perhaps not wholly free of blame from having introduced her to so new a +sphere. I never contemplated that she would so soon liberate herself from +the control of the Schwellenberg." + +Gracious Powers! I, who had once accidentally heard Miss Burney term Mrs +S. "Cerbera," could have told Her Majesty that Miss Burney was the last +person in the world to permit Mrs S., or any other person in the world, to +control her, as might appear by her rejoinders to Her Majesty herself. + +"If," said the Princess, interposing with a gentle civility, "such a hint +could be dropped to Miss Burney, it might spare her much pain. She is so +gifted--so high-strung--" + +"We leave it to your good heart," said the Queen. "We wish all that is +good to Miss Burney. You will see I cannot commit it to the Schwellenberg. +These literary ladies have high flights, I believe, and are a more fragile +porcelain than ordinary folks. Do your best, my good Miss P., and I shall +be well satisfied." + +The Princess sweetly requested permission to retire with me and we were +about to withdraw, when the Duchess of Ancaster entered, and the Queen +informed her of Colonel Digby's supposed engagement. The Duchess laughed +with all her own humour. + +"What, Ma'am? Miss Gunning? No, surely Miss Burney! I am Miss Burney's +advocate as regards her just rights and claims. Miss Gunning is but an +interloper. + +"I will wager that Miss Burney at last secures Colonel Digby, whatever his +struggles. He is but a bird hovering a few inches above the charming +serpent's jaws, which are open to receive him. I know not how our sex has +ever acquired the reputation of flight, for it has ever appeared to me +that apparent flight was but a feint to encourage pursuit not otherwise +forthcoming. Believe me, Ma'am, that your Majesty will yet see Colonel +Digby overtaken and captured by the united arts of 'Evelina' and +'Cecilia.'" + +"Come, Duchess," said Her Majesty, with the little arch smile she +sometimes wears; "you would not have us believe the Duke made a very +desperate race of it, would you?" + +"Indeed, Ma'am, I did my part as well as others," the kind Duchess said, +laughing, "and but for my efforts, who knows what indiscretion he might +have committed? Do but consider the late marriages made by noble lords who +shall be nameless! Miss Burney probably is Colonel Digby's destined +saviour, or so believes herself." + +So the lively lady rattled on, until I withdrew, following the Princess. + +"Pray do your best, Miss P.," she whispered softly at the door. "I feel +for poor Miss Burney--I do indeed. Colonel Digby has been so particular in +his attentions. And her health is never strong." + +She sighed as she glided off to join the Princess Elizabeth for their +sketching-lesson. Sure never was such a bouquet of beauty and warm hearts +as these Royal sisters! I know not which I can distinguish more than +another, though perhaps the Princess Royal is my pattern for all that is +excellent and sweet. + +I took my doubting way to Miss Burney's parlour. She was writing, as was +her wont. If it were not another novel, it must have been a daily mass of +information to her friends. In all she did seemed a little mystery that +promoted not the unreserve so essential to friendship. Perhaps it might be +a part of the profession of a writer of fiction; but it made itself felt. + +She looked up smilingly. + +"Pray take a seat, Miss P. I hope your gratifying entry is with good news +of that precious health on which Britain hangs. I hear this black cloud +begins to turn its silver edges." + +I agreed, and she then spoke of cheerful details she had had from Lady +Charlotte Finch. It appeared that there were now much longer intervals of +rational quiet. He had alluded to public matters with a piety and reason +the most exalted, which moved all who heard almost to tears. Oh, that +those rebellious subjects beyond the ocean could have heard their Monarch! +Yet why should this be my aspiration when there were rebels, and _filial +ones_, close at hand, to rejoice in his misfortune! + +I was about to reply when the door opened without knocking, and Colonel +Digby glided in, with the words:-- + +"How does Miss Burney? May a friend, a friend of the faithfulest, enter to +make his enquiries?" + +He did not perceive me behind the opened door. Miss Burney blushed +visibly, and instantly seeing me, he bowed with his own finished +good-breeding and no sign of discomposure. I sat, as it were on thorns, +until, Mr Smelt entering later, the talk became general and I retreated, +more and more confused at the part expected of me, especially as Colonel +Digby's manner appeared as softly ingratiating as ever. I felt I should +be compelled to sink the truth a while longer and could only hope the +Princess Royal misinformed. + +The coolness between Miss Burney and Mrs Schwellenberg about this time +began to be much warmed by many little kindnesses on the part of the +latter as she observed Miss Burney's somewhat careworn brow. It has since +been confided to me that the account given of her by Miss Burney to her +friends was one of uncontrolled malignity; but though my testimony is +humble, it is sincere, and I can describe Mrs Schwellenberg, apart from +her acknowledged devotion to her Royal Mistress, as possessing a much more +kindly heart than Miss Burney would consent to allow her. Her imperfect +knowledge of English often did her an injustice and made it easy to be +witty at her expense. While she thought she saw Miss Burney inflated with +the pride of a caressed and flattered author, and rebelling at the +necessary restrictions of court life, she certainly was watchful and +sometimes disapproving; but in the time of trouble she opened out into an +attention which Miss Burney's candour should have gratefully owned. + +Time went on. Our beloved King recovered the use of his invaluable senses, +thus escaping the snares set for him and the Queen by enemies the most +difficult to subdue. This enabled us to return in triumph to Windsor--in +triumph, do I say? No, but ecstasy--a kind of rapture which pervaded the +whole nation, excepting the party of the Opposition. The inhabitants of +every place we passed flooded out to greet their King. The people, stirred +as by an earthquake, broke upon him in a wave of loyalty; and we, who +almost adored him for his private benignity and public virtues, seemed +swept away in the torrent. As for the Queen, what joy sat upon her sweet +but wearied countenance, as she turned her eyes, swimming in tears, upon +him who was the centre of all rejoicing! + +I never came so near loving Miss Burney as when one day, in walking with +Her Majesty's little dogs, Badine and Phillis, in the Park, she broke out +into feelings warmly expressed of her sense of what the Queen's conduct +had been during the scenes of agony we had witnessed. For once she forgot +herself nobly, and I shall never forget her countenance as she paused and +said:-- + +"Indeed, Miss P., when I consider Her Majesty's complicated +suffering,--increased as it was to misery by attacks from quarters whence +only love and duty might have been expected, harassed by politics and +cabals, torn by national and foreign dissension, herself deprived of all +protection, and yet protecting with almost masculine fortitude a beloved +husband and King,--I say with all my heart that to have attained such +heights of courage, resignation, and ability, is much, much more than to +be Queen of England, or possessed of the most shining genius the world +has known. I bow the knee in spirit as in body before a Mistress so truly +Royal." + +The generous fire in her voice was quenched by the tears in her eyes. I +grasped her hand, but could not reply. Here was indeed the cry of +sincerity. We walked pensively for some time in the shrubberies, and ended +our airing on the great terrace. + +How exquisitely pastoral, yet soul-stirring, is the view from that +majestic height! The towers of Windsor Castle behind us breathing of the +historic past; the Thames unrolling its silver windings below; the +meadows; the roofs of Eton College lifting through the veil of +foliage--can aught on earth surpass it? A distant sound of cheering from +the Eton playing-fields reached us, to announce that some young votary of +athletic games had reached his goal. Over all floated the sunshine. Why +seek foreign shores for recreation which these sylvan bowers, so richly +charged with memories of departed greatness, afford to all? + +A quick step on the gravel roused me from these thoughts and, turning, I +saw Colonel Digby proceeding quickly to the Queen's Lodge. To my +astonishment he only bowed hurriedly and went on his way without a word. +Miss Burney looked the amazement she naturally felt; and it flashed across +my mind that here might be the long-sought opportunity. I seized it with a +beating heart. + +"We have seen but little of Colonel Digby since the King's recovery," said +I. + +"Oh," she replied nervously, "you know the King's attachment to him, and +also the Queen's; they impose on him many important errands to London. We +cannot expect--I should be the last--" + +She paused. + +"He has many friends in London," I ventured. + +"Certainly. A disposition so generous, affectionate, and kind must be +entitled to all the blessings of friendship." + +"And even warmer sentiments--" I hesitated. + +She turned her face from me, but I could see the perturbation. I would not +for the world that she should misconceive me then. Though feeling to the +full the difficulty of my position, I tried to turn it lightly. + +"There is one fair lady in London who is said to have a warmer interest in +His Majesty's recovery, since it enables Colonel Digby to be more constant +in his attendance." + +There was a moment's silence. + +"You allude to Miss Gunning," she replied coldly. "On the few occasions I +have seen her I have thought her so cool in her likings and sentiments, so +self-sufficient, that I could not think her attractive to a nature so +warm as Colonel Digby's. Nor do I think her mental attainments such as to +render a real friendship possible between them." + +"It is difficult," I breathed, "to name the qualities which attract the +other sex. But I have heard certain rumours to the effect that Colonel +Digby finds Miss Gunning attractive." + +She flashed her eyes on me with a kind of indignant scorn, as if +suspecting some meaner motive in what I said, and coolly consulted her +watch. + +"I too have heard those rumours and their denial. We must return, though I +am loath to quit this enchanting scene. Shall I leave you, or shall we +return together?" + +We walked in silence, I feeling I had miserably failed in my commission, +and she discoursing of the national fetes in prospect, in a way which +bespoke her hurry of spirits. + +A few days later, Colonel Gwynn came into waiting, and told us Colonel +Digby was taken ill in London and could not hope to resume his duties for +some time. I saw the concern on Miss Burney's face. We all shared it in a +measure but, alas, her pallor showed but too well how deep the shaft had +pierced. + +I was present that evening when she was in attendance on the Queen. Her +Majesty, rousing herself from thought, said somewhat abruptly:-- + +"I am much displeased with Colonel Digby" (instancing her reasons and +adding): "He will not come here. He has set his mind against coming. For +some reason he cannot bear it. He has been in London in perfect health, +and I have it on good authority that he desired it might not be told +here." + +I dared scarcely glance at Miss Burney. She was perfectly white and stood +with her eyes fixed on the ground. The Queen, seeing she had alarmed us, +glided with her benignant grace into another subject. I, who knew her +mind, could perceive what was intended; but to Miss Burney it must have +been a thunderbolt. + +Next morning the Princess Royal, coming to my room, lovely in her flowered +sacque, and without her hoop, her curls twisted with rose-hued ribbons, +seemed to cast a radiance before her. She paused at the door, and said +condescendingly: "May I come in?" + +I hastened to set her a chair, and after a little indifferent discourse +she said with a touch of melancholy:-- + +"I think Miss Burney has not been fairly treated. It is the Queen's +opinion that Colonel Digby's conscience prevents his coming hither. We are +to offer our formal congratulations to him and Miss Gunning at the +Drawing-Room. I own I shall present mine with very little heart. Do you +not think, Miss P., that the poor lady should be told the truth? It might +come as a shock, but would be best from a friend like yourself. If all +else failed, I would gladly do it. But indeed, I dare not." + +I implored Her Royal Highness not to put herself out. I would be the +messenger. + +"That Miss Burney should have been given any pain under our roof, and by +one connected with our service, is very painful to mama, who fully values +Miss Burney's gifts of the mind," added the beloved Princess. "If it is to +be done, however, there is no time like the present, for the news is now +very generally known." + +She left me, and with a trembling step I rose to seek Miss Burney's room. +She was seated by the window, a large black hat with ostrich plumes +shading her face, and a muslin handkerchief folded across the bosom. I had +never seen her look so becoming. She was then thirty-seven or-eight years +of age, as I have since learned (for that was then a carefully guarded +secret), but did not look near so much; and her expression, intensely +absorbed, had the pensive sweetness of a day in autumn ere the golden leaf +yet flutters to its fall. + +"Miss Burney," I said timidly, "I believe I intrude, but may I ask you to +favour me with the copy of verses you made for Her Majesty on 'The Great +Coat.'" + +This was graciously granted, and a seat offered. A light conversation +ensued, and at last, summoning my resolution, I said:-- + +"We are soon to congratulate an old friend on his approaching nuptials. +Colonel Digby--" + +She turned angrily, but restrained herself with a distressing effort. I +continued: "I hear his engagement with Miss Gunning is confirmed." + +"I too have heard it," she said haughtily; "I am therefore no stranger to +your news." + +She half rose, and taking the hint I hurried away, confident that she +believed me not at all. I met the Princess Royal with Princess Augusta on +my way, and they stopped me eagerly. + +"Did you succeed, Miss P.?" asked each fair sister, with such sympathising +faces as made me love them the better, if that were possible. The elder +Princess shook her head sadly. + +"Poor, poor lady! I fear he is a very heartless man. I cannot easily +forgive this treatment of one we esteem." + +She linked her arm in her sister's, and the two hurried away to attend the +Queen, who was to consider their Drawing-Room robes just then inspecting. + +Willingly would I have softened the blow, but fall at length it must! +After the Drawing-Room, it became known to Miss Burney that Miss Gunning +had attended and had been given joy by all the Princesses. The Princess +Royal herself breathed this, with a voice like a dove and her eyes +considerately averted, adding:-- + +"Miss Gunning was most elegant in a dress of purple gauze and silver; but +I cannot think her beautiful, though some find her manners pleasing. +Colonel Digby was not present." + +There was a pause and then Miss Burney, deplorably pale, replied:-- + +"I had already heard this, Ma'am. I believe she is thought handsome. The +Drawing-Room must have been particularly elegant from the rejoicing crowds +who would wish to pay their duty." + +No more was said on the subject. Later, she complained of headache to me, +and I, breathing it into the sympathising ear of Her Royal Highness, Miss +Burney was recommended, nay, commanded to return to her room, and the +truly amiable Queen dispensed with her attendance. + +The marriage took place in due course, and in a private house, a +circumstance which met with Her Majesty's warm disapproval, as considering +that a contract so solemn needs all the blessing and ratification imposed +at such tunes by the church's ordinance. + +During all this tune, Colonel Digby did not appear at Court, though +whether by his own choice or the kind concern of Her Majesty, I cannot +tell. Miss Burney visibly drooped--I could see suffering written on her +face, and it awoke a sympathy which I dared not offer. The Queen's +consideration for her increased, and the lovely Princesses avoided with +true delicacy every subject which could recall the image of the past, +making what soft amends lay in their power. + +Yet but a very short while after, will it be believed that Colonel Digby +sent his bride to call upon Miss Burney, having himself resumed attendance +upon the Court immediately after his marriage! I sincerely felt for Miss +Burney when a bustle was heard and before us there appeared the bride, +glowing in health and happiness, and dressed in the last perfection of the +milliner's art. Triumph, visible and exultant, sat on her brow; and as she +took her place on the sofa by Miss Burney, who looked wan and aged beside +so much splendour, I felt it would have declared a better heart had she +deferred her visit. Miss Burney, with an effort of courage, parried all +the speeches which could hardly fail to have the appearance of thrusts, +and undertook to deliver the bride's duty to the Queen with a calmness +which did her honour. + +I have more than once in my life seen reason to congratulate myself on +passing through life untroubled by the attentions of that sex which, while +the blessing, is also the curse of our own, and felt this with peculiar +energy during that scene, when I saw one so justly celebrated, triumphed +over almost publicly by a young lady whose face was her chief +recommendation. + +I concluded that we should soon now lose Miss Burney and could not harshly +censure (though disapproving) the course she took in attributing her +waning health to the tyranny of Mrs Schwellenberg and even to the +hardships of her attendance on the Queen. Nevertheless, Her Majesty more +than once favoured me with the remark:-- + +"Large allowance must be made for Miss Burney. I foresee she will before +long wish to be among the healing influences of her own home circle; and +as I would not for the world dismiss her, all must be done on the foot she +herself chooses, and with reluctance on my part. I know her good sense +will dictate a commendable course." + +Of this I was by no means certain, but could, of course, make no +rejoinder; and Her Majesty's face, beneath her becoming fly-cap, beamed +with a true benevolence as she pronounced these words. I have certain +knowledge that she favoured Mrs Schwellenberg also with this injunction, +and that she also exerted herself to show many little pleasing attentions +on our return to Windsor. It was that day Miss Burney came in, with an +animation to which she had long been a stranger, to say she had met Mr +Boswell--friend and survivor of the Great Lexicographer--near St. +George's Chapel, on his way to view the alterations, and he had arrested +her steps. + +"It was like a breath of fresh air in a shut room!" she cried; "and indeed +almost too much for my weak health. 'O Ma'am,' he said with energy, 'when +do you return to us? You must resign--you must indeed. It won't do, +Ma'am. We can put up with it no longer!' I laughed and stared, but he +continued: 'We shall address Dr Burney in a body. It was so resolved at +the Club last week--Charles Fox in the chair. I need your aid in my book +on the Great Man, soon to appear. You are to lighten the picture. In my +hands he is grave Sam, great Sam, learned Sam. With your aid we will deck +him with all the graces. He shall be gay Sam, agreeable Sam, and, to that +end, I claim all the little pleasing billets he has written to your fair +self.' So he rattled on, and I could with difficulty extricate myself. +But, O Miss P., though your goodness will not repeat the scene, it was +such a view of home and its surroundings as may greet the returning sailor +when his country rises on his view." + +I sympathised and venturesomely said:-- + +"I would not presume to counsel, Miss Burney, but if you so crave for your +family and friends, were it not well to seek their healing company? None +can doubt that your health suffers under the restraints of court life, and +Miss Burney's is a health valuable to the world at large." + +I ever found that a little well-turned compliment softened her sense of +injury. She smiled gratefully upon me and was silent; then softly pressed +my hand. + +I related this little scene to the tender-hearted Princess Royal who took +the pains to make an opportunity with Miss Burney, when we were in +attendance for that walk on the Windsor Terrace which so often presented +the Royal Family to the view of a delighted people. The procession was not +yet formed, Their Majesties not having appeared. She detached herself from +her group of sweet sisters, holding the little darling Princess Amelia by +the hand, and said:-- + +"Are you fit for the walk, Miss Burney? You appear tired and unwell. +Permit me to make your excuses to the Queen." + +She paused, and Miss Burney warmly thanked her and said tremblingly that +she believed she could support herself through the walk. + +"But why?" exclaimed Her Royal Highness. "Indeed, we are not such tyrants, +and allow me to say, my dear Miss Burney, that if you should feel--should +think you need a long rest--_a releasing_ rest, there need be no +hesitation in mentioning it to the Queen." + +She repeated this with emphasis and glided away. I saw Miss Burney's eyes +moisten as she turned and retreated. + +Events now succeeded each other slowly but surely. The Queen had with +reluctance accepted her resignation, the successor had been found, and the +time drew near for departure when, most unexpectedly, my whole view was +changed with regard to Miss Burney's feelings. + +We were walking in the Park on a fine sunny day, having chosen the Long +Walk which leads to the eminence and its noble prospect of the Castle, +though scarcely with hope of reaching it so slow were our footsteps. I had +led the talk to her writings and she gave me some interesting particulars +of the praise "Evelina" had received from such judges as Mrs Delany and +the Duchess of Portland, who agreed in thinking it a book likely to do +more good than any other ever published, from its high principles wrapped +in a glitter of entertainment. This was a subject on which she never +wearied, and I was pressing for its continuance, when we beheld a lady +approaching, leaning on a gentleman's arm--a handsome woman in a rich +pelerine and jewellery--and with a start my companion caught my arm, +crying softly: "Mrs Thrale--Mrs Piozzi. Good heavens! For years we have +not met. Oh, could we escape." + +I was no stranger to the fact that they had been the closest friends and +that Mrs Thrale's most injudicious marriage with a Roman Catholic and a +foreigner had ruptured the friendship on Miss Burney's very proper +objection to such an alliance. It is known how society, how even the +papers, rung with the scandal of a lady of birth and fortune thus +forgetting what was due to herself and others. And a fresh blaze had +lately been kindled by the publication of Dr Johnson's Letters and many +anecdotes relative to the life at L>treatham, all of which Miss Burney +had entirely disapproved. I could not sympathise with Mrs +Thrale-Piozzi--impossible that any right-minded person should, but I +own to the deepest curiosity to see her, and above all to witness her +meeting with this discarded friend, having understood from my own +friends that feeling run very high between them. Consequently I did +not hurry my steps. + +"For Heaven's sake, hasten!" cried Miss Burney. "'T is Mr Piozzi himself. +Was ever anything so mortifying!" + +Unfortunately Mrs Piozzi heard these words and recognised the speaker. + +"Mortify not yourself, Miss Burney, I entreat. Mr Piozzi is obliged to +hasten into Windsor to bespeak apartments at the White Hart. Delay not, +Piozzi. I will follow. Do I see my Burney in good health?" + +I was never so affrighted in my life. The lady, though short, had such an +air of resolution and her eyes shot such lively sparks of anger hid under +a show of good humour that I looked to see Miss Burney sink at my feet. +She also was in a horrid fright if panting breath and fading cheeks may be +trusted. I would now have fled but she detained me by the hand and +presented me to a sweeping curtsey from Mrs Piozzi. Doubtless she thought +my presence would confine the meeting to the forms of politeness. + +Accustomed to courts, I could not consider the lady high-bred, but her +energy and intelligence were overpowering. + +"I have not seen you since my return, dear Burney," says she, "but am glad +of this favourable opportunity to ask if what I have been told is +true--that Baretti was inspired and abetted in his attack on my marriage by +friends I could the least suspect. Pray emulate my candour. An open enemy +is preferable to a stabbing friend." + +"Surely, Madam, before a third person--" began Miss Burney, but was +interrupted:-- + +"I have learnt to know a witness is very valuable on occasion. All I +require is a plain 'Yes' or 'No.'" + +"Then 'No'--a thousand times 'No,'" cried Miss Burney with immense spirit. +"I know nothing of Baretti--would know nothing--a violent unprincipled +man, that frightened myself. That I disapproved your marriage is known--" + +"And on what impertinent grounds!" Mrs Piozzi was now trembling with +rage--and as pale as Miss Burney. "Let me tell you, Madam, that a +gentleman of good birth is not to be despised, and his means of L1200 +per annum, though not splendour in comparison with my own revenue, set +him above all mercenary imputation!" + +'T was with the greatest effort my companion now clung to her cautious +decorum, for she was palpitating violently as she held to my arm. + +"Madam, money was not in question. A woman who will marry a foreigner and +a Roman Catholic, in both respects her country's foe, must expect--" + +I looked for an explosion but, as happens when women quarrel, Mrs Piozzi's +humour took the most unexpected turn. She laughed:-- + +"Ah, Fanny, Fanny, that was the world's voice. Time was you loved me +kindly; but the world you always did and will love reverentially. +Well--continue!--'t is worth it. The world has its prizes to give and I +have none now. I did not even provide a husband for my friend, and your +Royals have not been more successful--I know not why. The day may come +when you yourself may fall back on a foreigner and Roman Catholic, and, +if so, may he be as good as mine and may you live as happy with him!" + +She curtseyed and made to move on. I thought of this later when Miss +Burney married M. D'Arblay, a Frenchman and Roman Catholic. I wondered +then if she recalled this scene and her own strictures. She bridled with +dignity. + +"I can scarce imagine Dr Burney's daughter doing the like, Madam. My +tastes are all English. But is it well to prolong this talk? Our ways of +life are now so different--" + +"Truly all is changed--and you with it. But I was ever a prophet, Fanny, +and I venture to tell you that you have so overloaded your heart and your +wits with caution and fear of the world's opinion that when you take pen +in hand once more you 'll find it clogged and heavy. 'T will move on +stilts instead of the light heels that danced 'Evelina,' and the +ungrateful world will say, 'There goes a woman that if she had shut her +eyes on forms and opened them on nature had been the glory of her age.' +You are too fearful of the world, Fanny. I flew in its face and found its +bark worse than its bite, and that if you kicked it, it crawled to kiss +your feet. And so now good-bye." + +They both curtseyed angrily, and Mrs Piozzi proceeded quickly down the +drive, then suddenly turned and ran back, both hands outstretched:-- + +"Fanny, Fanny, I can't--" she panted. "It all so rose on me with the sight +of you. My master at the table, and Johnson in his chair booming out his +wisdoms, and Burke, and poor Goldie--Oh, the poor dead days--the sad dead +days--and you a part of them all; and could I say a word to wound you, no +matter what you did to me! You that were a part of it all--I felt as if I +would kill it outright if I left you in anger. Can one kill ghosts?--they +are but ghosts, and yet--Oh, Fanny!" + +She held out her shaking hands. I knew this shockingly disordered Miss +Burney's notions of propriety and that a lady out of favour with the great +world should be seen by me thus familiar with her, and she at Court. She +barely touched the hand. + +"It was to the memory of those days your friends looked to keep you in a +becoming path," said she. "Indeed I share your affection for them, but to +remember them thus--" + +"Do you so?" says the other a little wildly, and drawing back to dash the +tears from her eyes. "Then remember them your way and I 'll remember them +mine, and so our paths go east and west: (then turning to me,) I'm sure I +ask your pardon, Ma'am, for what must appear so declamatory and +high-flown. We Welsh folk, like all the other poor Celts, are allowed +romantic flights sometimes to make sport for the sober English. Farewell, +Miss Burney. My! best compliments and respects attend your father." + +She ran off again very quick and tripping. We stood looking after her till +Miss Burney spoke:-- + +"The tenderness I had and have for her is not to be expressed nor compared +save with the love of David for Jonathan. How have I been wounded! +Yourself, my dear Miss P., is a witness to her ungoverned passions. Your +delicacy will not prefer to entail the misery of explanation on me." + +I hurriedly disclaimed any wish to pursue the subject, and she was silent +as if revolving the scene. But why should I now hesitate to own that +though all the propriety of speech and silence had been on Miss Burney's +side, my own sympathies were engaged with the poor lady. I thought a heart +that less weighed opinion must have melted at her appeal to fond memories, +gushing warm from a sensibility that she could not control. Since that +interview, when I have heard Mrs. Piozzi censured I could comprehend the +high romantic notion with which she had entered on her marriage, and the +more so, since I had been credibly informed that Mr Piozzi was in all +respects admirable could he but have had the blessing to be born an +Englishman and Protestant. + +"Dear Miss P., I trust to you to keep this painful meeting a secret," said +my companion. "I know your serious and respectable character too well to +doubt you will draw the veil over the wild ungoverned temper of one once +so honoured." + +I promised and reserved my thoughts and we turned back to the Castle. But +the events of this astonishing walk were not yet at an end. We were +nearing the gates of the gardens, when we saw Colonel and Mrs Digby +beneath the trees on the further side. They were not conversing and the +whole width of the path was between them. It gave rightly or wrongly an +air of dissatisfaction, of weariness in each other's company, that struck +me as instantly as it did my companion, though of course it could be no +surprise to see them where all the Household took their airings when they +would. She drew me sharply behind a tree. + +"Miss P.," she said in breathless agitation, "it is not the least of my +sufferings here that I know it is supposed they are caused by this +marriage. I beg you would not deny it (for I would have spoken)--it is +too palpable that this is believed. Yet you are wrong--completely wrong. +Those who have ceased to give us pleasure very soon lose the power to give +us pain; and I view his marriage with an indifference that wishes him +neither well nor ill. My heart was never engaged. I will not deny that he +risked it and all my peace with it, but he succeeded not. I do not form +one wish to be in her place whom we have just seen. They will have what +happiness they deserve and, if I am not mistaken, I think it will be +little indeed." + +She turned and gazed after them with an expression of bitterness the most +concentrated. Never again did I doubt that it was not wounded love but +wounded pride which was driving her from Court into the retirement of her +home. Let others more capable than myself judge which is the severer pang! +She had never regarded him further than as he had flattered her vanity as +woman and genius, and a burning resentment at the public slight was all +that needed commiseration. + +She added composedly:-- + +"Your kindness deserved this explanation and will accept it. There is no +man on earth so indifferent to me as Colonel Digby, and later events will +prove to you that I speak the truth." + +I said I could but rejoice to hear it, and we returned from these +agitations to her room. + +All this confirmed the opinion I held that she was naturally a person of +agreeable disposition but spoiled by her literary success. I never doubted +that her acceptance of Court office was with a view to a brilliant +establishment such as she had given her own "Evelina." She was as much her +own heroine and hoped for as romantic advancement, very sensibly +preferring a social triumph, could it be secured, to a mere literary one, +which she always took a little doubtfully as somewhat that might be +disparaged. Disappointed, and openly disappointed, in this hope by the +heartless behaviour of Colonel Digby, she felt retreat to be inevitable +and also the only hope for a future settlement. Yet had she been wiser to +remain! I have ever been convinced that her taste for the pen was gone by +and that only the narrowness of her means drove her to it again. At Court +she would have been valuable from a natural caution which received a fresh +lesson in this foiled love-affair. When I add that Mrs Schwellenberg +offered her the reversion of her own place when ill health should cause +her retirement and that I know this would have been confirmed, it will be +seen what she most imprudently sacrificed to sentiment. + +It will be objected that marriage was her object. If so, there were +opportunities at Court she could not have elsewhere, and among the grave +clergy who attended, a suitable settlement might have been found. Miss +Burney, as the lady of a Bishop, dispensing a serious hospitality and +amending his Charges to his clergy, would have been in her right place. I +am told that her later manner of writing was far more suited to +Episcopality than to fiction, and can answer that when reading her +"Memoirs" of her father I was unable to trace the sense through the +verbiage, which appears to confirm this view. But it was not to be, though +I believe from the eagerness with which she ever visited the Royals and +took every opportunity to keep her name in sight, that she regretted her +folly and would have repaired it. But how was it possible for Their +Majesties to assist a needy Frenchman and Roman Catholic? + +In her final parting with her Mistress she received much kind notice, +including permission to retain half her emolument as a pension--and this +after but five years' service! + +The sweet Princesses successively pressed her hand at the parting scene +and she quitted the room with her handkerchief at her eyes and a profound +final curtsey. The Princess Royal whispered aside to me:-- + +"Poor soul, she might have made others happier but for the cruel wound her +heart has received. I cannot--cannot forgive Colonel Digby!" + +The gay and pretty Princess Elizabeth, much livelier in disposition, +leaned on her sister's shoulder, whispering also:-- + +"I think, sister, that Miss Burney will not always be inconsolable, for at +the trial of Mr Warren Hastings the Duchess of Ancaster observed that Mr +Wyndham was very particular in his attentions to Miss Burney and that she +did by no means _froisser_ them. And have you not thought that she +will certainly meet him much oftener in town than here?" + +I could but smile at the young discerner whose thoughts agreed so fully +with my own. For some time after she would ask me merrily what news of Mr +Wyndham, and I certainly expected it. However that was not to be, and my +expectations were verified next year by Miss Burney's marriage--a truly +amazing one--even to M. D'Arblay, a refugee Frenchman and Roman Catholic! + +Would that I could have heard Mrs Thrale-Piozzi's views on this +circumstance! + +Here I end. I design these notes as a strong corrective of what might +place the Queen and others of less moment in an unamiable light. Let it be +remembered that Miss Burney was the spoiled child of genius, who would +still be first and who throbbingly aspired to a social eminence denied +her. She received all attentions from the Royal Family as her due, and +knew not how to draw the distinction between what was due to her own merit +and what was given by these personages as due to their _own_ high +standard of courtesy and compassion. This is a distinction seldom drawn by +those unused to high circles and a mere literary society cannot teach it. + +I have often desired that I could have had the honour to be admitted to +Her Majesty's private thoughts on Miss Burney, and should not be wholly +surprised if they favoured my own. + +No doubt allowance may be made for the vagaries of genius, but none the +less do I rejoice that this, my first meeting with uncommon talent, was +also the last. It is entirely out of place in courts, and certainly a +happy mediocrity is the soil in which flourish the domestic virtues. + +Though I defend not Colonel Digby it is possible he showed his judgment if +not his delicacy in his retreat, it being very difficult for him or any +man to preserve in Miss Burney's company that sense of superiority which +is so essential to matrimonial peace. There was that in her eye which, if +suddenly surprised, indicated satire; there was that in her demeanour +which hinted depths which might or might not be soothing. To be candid, +what we do not understand is feared rather than loved. And it is to the +author of "Evelina" I owe this conviction. + +Peace be with her manes when what I have so doubtfully written shall be +read! + + + + +Elizabeth Bennet +Mrs. Darcy + + +"I must confess," observed Jane Austen, when Elizabeth Bennet, who had +been created in 1796, was at last introduced to the world of readers in +1812, "I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever +appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not +like _her_ at least, I do not know." + +Miss Austen had the whimsical habit of diverting herself, when visiting +portrait galleries, by looking for faces that resembled those of her +heroines. She was continually on the watch for Elizabeth, but never came +upon her. She found Mrs. Bingley, "in a white gown with green ornaments," +but not Mrs. Darcy herself. "I daresay Mrs. D. will be in yellow." + +The exhibition in Spring Gardens promised well, but no Elizabeth appeared. +"We have been both to the exhibition and to Sir Joshua Reynolds's, and I +am disappointed, for there was nothing like Mrs. D. at either. I can only +imagine that Mr. D. prizes any picture of her too much to like it should +be exposed to the public eye. I can imagine he would have that sort of +feeling--that mixture of love, pride, and delicacy." + +We could wish that Miss Austen had found the portrait; but since she never +did, there is none of Mrs. Darcy in this book. + + + +VII + +The Darcys of Rosings + + +[_A reintroduction to some of the characters of Miss Austen's +novels_.] + +_Whitethorn Manor_, HUNSDON, KENT. + +4th _May_, 1814. + +You will be interested to learn, my dear Sophia, that we are arrived at +our new home a se'nnight since, having posted from London with every +comfort. Already I feel sure we shall not regret fixing here. Now that the +Admiral has retired from the naval service, a rural retreat was his +object, and we had a strong recommendation to Hunsdon from Mrs Colonel +Brandon, the Marianne Dashwood of your early days and mine. She spoke of +the little domain named as above, and investigation soon convinced my dear +Admiral that this was what he had hoped to secure. My approbation followed +as a matter of course, and I hope an early visit will convince me of +Sophia's. If a fair dawn promises a cloudless day, we may look forward +with the highest degree of confidence permissible in human affairs. + +The journey from London to the village of Hunsdon is agreeable, and +through an affluence of English scenery which must surely compare +favourably with any in the world: swelling hills embowered in green; +placid rivers enlivened by a delightful concert of feathered songsters; +villages clustered about the churchyards, where sleep their rude +forefathers; though it were to be desired that a judicious restoration +could obliterate the savage Norman and Gothic architecture too often found +in the churches, and that they could be restored in harmony with the more +elegant taste of the present day. I could never agree with Mr Walpole's +love of the Gothic! Still, I am not to deny that the perspective is +sometimes pleasing, and the intention of a ruder age merits respect. + +The Admiral, who is not an amateur of scenery, slumbered most of the way. +We alighted from the post-chaise at Sundale for a night's rest, and +ordered a light repast, with tea for me, and that heady ale which I could +wish my Admiral would renounce, both on account of his increasing weight +and his tendency to inflammatory gout. But you are not now to learn that +it is vain to remonstrate with gentlemen where the pleasures of the table +are concerned. Our rooms being unprepared, we sat downstairs, though the +inn was full in anticipation of some horse races tomorrow, and some of the +gentlemen decidedly in liquor. My attention was early engaged by a lady of +prettyish appearance at a table near by, whose bonnet and spencer bespoke +a florid taste hardly in keeping with her uncurled ringlets and--dare I +add it--unwashed hands. She was accompanied by a good-looking man in +regimentals, of handsome but, as I thought, somewhat dissolute presence +(so different from the solid worth of my Admiral!), who was evidently an +officer from Chatham, not far distant. I judged them to be husband and +wife from their pawning inattention to each other's remarks. Finally, the +gentleman, rousing himself, said in a low clear tone:-- + +"It signifies not, Mrs Wickham, what your opinion may be, for the thing +must be done. Money we must have, and your sister's influence with Mr +Darcy is our only prospect of relief. Your father will do no more. Mr +Darcy's prejudice against me is fixed, and therefore your journey to +Hunsdon, now they are staying at Rosings, will be necessary. Argue no +more. My mind is made up." + +She pouted angrily. + +"I am quite as sensible as you are, Wickham, of our need of money; but you +know how I hate travelling alone, with all the men ogling me and the +servants looking for vails that I have it not to give. Come with me, and +all will be well." Her tone was cajoling. + +"Oblige me with the letter you received from Mrs Darcy a week since," was +his only reply. + +She pulled out a dog's-eared letter from her reticule, and he read aloud:-- + +"'I regret, my dear Lydia, to be obliged to speak plainly and say that the +less Mr Darcy meets Mr Wickham the more likely is his benevolence to +continue.' Now, Mrs Wickham, in view of that statement, where is the sense +in urging me to accompany you to Rosings?" + +He threw it back to her, and leaned in his chair, staring at his boots +with a very discontented expression. I am no eavesdropper, Sophia, but the +Admiral was still engaged with his plate, and I could not withdraw; and +though I looked pointedly at the lady, she took no notice. + +"It would show more consideration for me, Wickham, if you was to come. You +know how poor my nerves are, and the flutterations I suffer from at the +thought of seeing Darcy. Such a stiff, starched man--I don't know how +Elizabeth endures him. And the last time I stayed at Pemberley, the airs +of her maid sunk my spirits altogether. I have not a gown equal to her +black silk. The miseries our marriage has brought upon me--Good God! what +a fool I was!" + +"It was certainly not forced upon _you_, Madam, whatever it might be +on me." + +"A pleasant allusion, I must say," said Mrs Wickham, tossing her ringlets; +then, beginning to giggle: "But you was always a quiz, Wickham, and don't +mean the half you say. You know how I hate travelling alone, whereas you +and me could pick up some friends on the way, and have a hand at cards. +Don't drink no more now. You will want your head clear for the races. Did +you ever see such a scare as that bonnet yonder?" + +There wag no mistaking who she meant, my dear Sophia; and though it is +true I had on my beaver bonnet and blue veil, a little disordered by the +wind, still there was no excuse for her unladylike freedom. I felt my +complexion heighten indignantly. Mr Wickham took no notice. + +"I wish to heaven," he said gloomily, "that I could perform if it were the +most trifling service to Darcy, to lessen this load of obligation. There +are times--" But his lady was giggling, and waving her hand to a lady at +some distance, and, rising, he strode away. + +But what was I to think? For I had been informed by Marianne Brandon that +Mr and Mrs Darcy are the chief residents at Hunsdon, where he inherited +the noble estate of Rosings from his aunt, the Lady Catherine de Bourgh, +whose daughter and heiress died. Mrs Darcy was formerly a Miss Elizabeth +Bennet, and this sister, Mrs Wickham, had been of by no means +irreproachable conduct. And this was she! Such impropriety of demeanour! +Such a vulgar insipidity! If Mrs Darcy in any way resembled her, I feared +our hope of pleasant society was destined to disappointment. Such +connections! + +I broke the matter with my dear Sir Charles; but he pooh-poohed my +anxieties in his sailorly fashion, saying:-- + +"There's many a bad egg from a good nest, my Lady, and Mrs Darcy may be a +valuable woman, for all her sister looks such a slut. And I would have you +by no means be cackling about this meeting all over the neighbourhood." + +Cackling! But you, my dear Sophia, know the energy with which the Admiral +expresses himself. It was his mode of recommending discretion. + +Next morning we started, and saw them no more; but I understood from the +remark of one waiter to another that Mr Wickham was a well-known figure in +the betting ring, and the races would engage their stay. + +As our chaise and four rolled into Hunsdon, my spirits were elevated by +the beauty of the prospect, where a flourishing peasantry dwells in +prosperity under the protection of the worthy Darcy. The cottages, with +their rose-decked gardens and beehives, the rich pastures, with grazing +cattle and dotted with sheep, all expressed the idea of pastoral plenty; +and the handsome carriages and curricles passing gave us a high opinion of +the consequence of the neighbourhood. I roused the Admiral to partake my +pleasure, as we passed a beautiful little church with a handsome portico +in the Italian taste. We next drove by the Parsonage, standing in a green +lane and faced by the park palings of Rosings; and as we passed I observed +a sensible-looking lady at the window, whom I judged to be Mrs Collins. +The Rector, a tall heavy-featured man, tying up his carnations, hastened +at once to the gate, and by low bows, repeated until we were out of sight, +gave us our first welcome to Hunsdon. I would have prevailed on the +Admiral to stop in response to so much civility; but he refused, and +putting his head out of the window, desired John to drive on. I could only +hope Mr Collins did not hear him. + +How shall I describe, my dear Sophia, the gratification with which I +beheld our new home! It is a long, low, white house, covered with roses +and clematis, with pleasant windows opening to smooth green lawns, and an +air of purity and order within which is peculiar to English homes. Having +travelled to Boulogne, I may be allowed to be a judge. The rows of +curtseying servants, headed by good Mrs Williams, the housekeeper, and +the Admiral's faithful butler, Sampson, gave us a rude but honest welcome, +and were ordered a couple of bottles of port to drink our healths. + +Next day Mr and Mrs Collins waited upon us. She strikes me as a woman of +judgment, much inclined to reserve, and with a demure and settled manner; +but this, in her position, may be very necessary. The Rector--what shall I +say? This was his greeting:-- + +"It is with profound pleasure I have the honour to welcome Sir Charles +Sefton and your Ladyship to your magnificent abode in our humble village +of Hunsdon. We are indeed honoured by the choice of newcomers so +distinguished, to whom the highest circles of London or the amenities of +the world are alike open. But the refined and elegant society of this +neighbourhood will be found worthy of even such a mark of approbation. Mrs +Collins shares my sense of the distinction thus conferred upon us, and I +speak for her as well as myself." + +She looked somewhat uncomfortable at this exuberance, accompanied with a +formal bow for every comma, but is probably used to it, for she quietly +made me a sensible little speech of welcome, to which I responded in kind. + +"I thank you, Sir," replied my Admiral bluntly; "and you will find us +regular attendants at Divine Service, where we hope to benefit by your +discourses, which I hope excel in quality rather than quantity. Ha, ha!" + +"My discourses, Sir Charles, never exceed half an hour, that being the +length preferred by the Right Honorable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who +presented me to this parish; and though she is now elevated to a sphere +higher even than that which she adorned on earth, I still observe her +wishes, and the rather that I have not had any intimation to the contrary +from Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, her nephew, or his amiable lady, to whom I have +the honour to be related." + +"Indeed?" I said; "I was not aware. Do Mr and Mrs Darcy always reside +here?" + +"They divide the year between Rosings and Pemberley in Derbyshire, your +Ladyship. But their daughters, the Misses Darcy, prefer Rosings, so they +are oftener here. And I am frequently in the habit of saying to Mrs Darcy +that when these fair flowers are transplanted to Pemberley, the gardens of +Rosings droop and wither. Elegant females are very susceptible to these +little attentions, as you are aware, and I never hesitate to offer them." + +"Flummery and females!" interjected the Admiral. "I hope, Sir, it is not +your intention to spoil my Lady Sefton's digestion with this sort of +whipped cream!" + +Mr Collins bowed and sidled, and Mrs C. observed:-- + +"The Misses Darcy are two extremely handsome young women--sixteen and +fifteen respectively. Miss Darcy is most prepossessing. I feel sure your +Ladyship will agree with me." + +"Don't omit the Admiral, Mrs Collins!" said Sir Charles. "I like a pretty +face as well as anyone, as you may judge by my Lady." + +The dear man! He expresses himself with bluntness occasionally, but the +heart is gold! + +"Are you as good a judge of pigs as of ladies, Mr Collins?" he added; "for +if so, pray accompany me on my first visit to my pigsties, and we will +leave the ladies to their gossip." + +Mr Collins went, with a rueful glance at his boots, but bowing and smiling +all the way. I learnt much of the neighbourhood from Mrs Collins, but with +the warm colouring she judged amiable. I must except, however, the poor of +the parish. There she spoke, with a censure no doubt deserved, of +thriftlessness and ingratitude. These indeed are tokens of a spirit of +discontent which we cannot view with composure, especially in the light of +late events in the unhappy country of France--the prey of impiety and +revolution. + +The visit was, on the whole, pleasant, though Mr Collins's courtesy is +overstrained, and the Admiral, throwing himself into his chair when they +departed, made use of language which, however suitable for gentlemen, the +female pen declines to record, adding:-- + +"When Mr Collins's foot slipped, and he fell prone in the muck, he got up +and apologised until I fairly ran for it." + +Next day Mr and Mrs Darcy waited upon us, having thoughtfully sent a +mounted messenger to enquire if we felt equal to receiving company after +our journey. On our agreeing, they presented themselves in the most +unostentatious way, having walked through their park and down the lane, +though the weather was showery. All forebodings were instantly banished. + +Mr Darcy is a tall well-formed man, in early middle life, distinguished in +bearing and manners, a little haughty, but not more so than is becoming in +his position. Mrs Darcy, some years younger, is veritably charming. You +know, my dear Sophia, that I am not rash and do not use such words +unguardedly. She smiled, disclosing beautiful teeth, and, as I observed, +has the peculiar grace of one whose eyes smile in harmony with her lips. +Nothing could be more obliging than her manners, and I could scarce think +it possible that the tawdry, noisy Mrs Wickham could be her sister. Her +eyes are dark and animated, with long eyelashes which soften their +somewhat alarming brilliance. She is extremely conversible. + +"I am glad you were pleased with the village, Lady Sefton. What did you +think of the church? The old one was a venerable structure, dating from +the Plantagenet kings, and I personally should have preferred that; but +Sir Lewis de Bourgh, who had made the grand tour with Mr Horace Walpole +and other notable amateurs, had acquired a passion for Italy, and when +restoring the church, Italianised it. Had he also presented us with +Naples, where the original stands, the gift would have been complete; but +to my mind it stands as ill in little Hunsdon as would the dress of an +Italian Signora on good Mrs Collins." + +She smiled so archly that I laughed, and the Admiral joined in. + +"Quite right, my dear Madam," he exclaimed. "There can be no greater folly +than sticking the buildings of one country in the surroundings of another. +What the English builders built is good enough for English men and women, +and more suitable than any Greek and Roman temples and such idle gazebos. +They will be having Divine Worship in a Belvedere next!" + +I blushed for my dear Admiral's taste, but was unable to check his loud +voice. Mrs Darcy applauded with her gloved hands, and sparkling eyes. + +"I make a point of applauding any judgment which agrees with my own," she +said playfully; "and I congratulate you, my dear Sir, on an excellent +taste, and vigour in expressing it. I foresee we shall be always +applauding one another. Am I not fortunate in our new neighbours, my dear +Darcy?" + +He agreed, with the utmost kindliness and a graceful touch of formality, +and requested permission to examine the exquisite set of ivory chessmen +presented to the Admiral at Bombay. They are a superb work of art, all the +pieces being mounted on elephants, camels, and horses, elegantly carved. +Having bestowed his meed of admiration, he added:-- + +"Since you are acquainted with India, Sir Charles, it will give me the +utmost pleasure if you and her Ladyship will do me the honour to inspect +those which Mr Lorenzo Darcy, my uncle, brought from that wonderful +country. The Ivory Shrine is considered a masterpiece, and some have +recommended that it should be in some public collection. But family +associations--" + +"Public collections!" interrupted the Admiral (I could wish, Sophia, that +the dear man would not interrupt when persons of consideration are +speaking). "They are an encroachment by the lower orders, on all accounts +to be resisted. What? Are private treasures to be exhibited to their +pawings and ignorance? No, Mr Darcy! Preserve the Ivory Shrine as an +heirloom, and let those who would engage the votes of the vulgar be--" + +I will not record the end of the sentence. Mrs Darcy apologised for her +daughters not waiting upon me by mentioning that they had a prior +engagement with Mrs Collins, relative to a treat for the village school in +honour of Mr Darcy's natal day. + +"I bespeak your kindness for them, my dear Madam," she was pleased to say. +"My elder, Charlotte, has a strong taste for sketching and music, in both +of which I am aware you excel. Rumour, as you see, has preceded you with +her trumpet! Caroline is more studious. We hope, when your son is here on +leave, that many little pleasure parties and balls may be made up. My +young people and all those of the neighbourhood are excessively fond of +dancing." + +I protested this was a taste my Henry shared, and was very sensible of her +attention. Indeed, Sophia, I trust you will not set me down as a Mrs +Busybody (a character I detest) if I say that certain possibilities +flashed across my mind at the moment. No young man can be more attractive +nor stronger in moral principle than Henry, and if these young women--But +I need say no more! Miss Darcy is so great an heiress as to be an object +to many. + +"You have met Mr Collins as well as his wife, I conclude?" she added +smiling. + +"We have had that distinction!" I said, and could not forbear smiling +also. + +"A worthy man! But there are peculiarities of manner. His discourses are +always adapted to the occasion, and his allusions--He will, no doubt, +tomorrow refer to your arrival in his sermon." + +"My dear Mrs Darcy," said I, much alarmed, "have you any real reason to +suppose this? I have never been the object of public comment. And the +Admiral! I trust you are mistaken." + +"I may be," she replied archly; "but can only say that the Sunday after we +settled at Rosings, Mr Collins preached from the text, 'Who is this that +cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah,' and made it very clear +that Mr Darcy was that individual." + +I could only gaze at her in dismay, but was obliged to check my impulse of +consulting the Admiral, lest he should take some compromising step as +regards Mr Collins, who might be entirely innocent of such an intention. + +When our visitors rose to take leave, and Sir Charles and I attended them +to the gate, I felt a friendship was commenced which might have the +happiest results for both families. At the gate we were joined by the +young ladies, who had walked up the lane from the Parsonage, and the +introductions were made. They curtseyed with the prettiest air of good +breeding. Charlotte, the elder, is a glowing brunette. Her purity of +expression and correct features positively charmed me. The younger, not so +unusual in beauty, is still extremely attractive, and has her mother's +penetrating and sparkling eyes. + +The next day brought us a visit from my old friend, Marianne Brandon, who +settled here with her Colonel Brandon after Delaford was sold to Mr Edward +Ferrars on his second marriage. Her chief inducement at Delaford being +thus removed by the death of her sister, Mrs Edward Ferrars, they decided +to fix nearer London. + +I need not describe to you, who know her, the warmth of her greeting. Her +feelings are always strong and strongly expressed. + +"It adds delight to delight itself," she cried, embracing me, "that you +should be settled here, my dear Anne. What happy days are in store for us! +With our pencils we will seek the beech woods of White-thorn, and +transcribe the various moods of nature." + +"Beechmast," said the Admiral, "is one of the most fattening things I know +for swine, and if you will not object to their presence, Mrs Brandon, I +doubt not they will allow of yours. What say you, Colonel Brandon?" + +Their old friendship makes this permissible, however unromantic, and he +has always rallied her thus. She continued with ardour:-- + +"I look forward to the most delightful _al fresco_ meals in the green +shades. We will make up little parties to recline on the moss--" + +"In that case, my dear, I fear I must ask you to leave me out!" said dear +Colonel Brandon, smiling mischievously. "You forget my rheumatism and +flannel waistcoats!" + +She bit her lip. It is a point on which she is sensitive, for she would +not have him thought much older than she, though there is twenty years' +disparity. + +"Let us leave them to their own dullness, my dear Marianne, and tell me +all your news," said I. + +She drew her chair to mine and talked with all her old animation. Pity +they have no children! Her excellent qualities and his deserve repetition. +One of her items, I own, surprised me. They are expecting a visit in +August from--whom do you think? You cannot guess, nor could I. Young +Willoughby, now twenty-one years old, son of her ancient flame, John +Willoughby! She speaks of him now without any consciousness, and there is +evidently no painful feeling. Spending his wife's large fortune, Mr +Willoughby, senior, on her death accepted an appointment at Calcutta, +where he has since resided. This is his only son, landed in England after +the Cape voyage, and he has written them with a very proper letter of +introduction, begging that the young man may present himself and +bespeaking the patronage and civility for him of Colonel and Mrs Brandon. +Her kindly heart gives her a peculiar pleasure in this opportunity, for +you will remember Mr Willoughby, senior, made explanations which removed +much of the seeming heartlessness of his treatment of her. I might be +mistaken in supposing that Colonel Brandon was less eager for the visit; +but such was my impression. He is not impulsive as she. Their visit was in +all respects a delightful one. + +We attended Divine Service next day, and naturally there was a little +curiosity, especially among the white-headed village children, as we +approached our pew, a handsome enclosure with armchairs, which I feared +but too truly would soon invite Sir Charles to the arms of Morpheus. I +think, Sophia, it were to be desired that there should be a certain rigour +in the design of church furniture. I myself sometimes--but today my +senses were on the alert, especially when Mr Collins ascended the pulpit, +and pompously announced his text: "A mighty man of valour." + +The beginning was harmless, and my thoughts became a little indistinct, +when suddenly I was aware that the allusion was to the Admiral, and to his +services in our actions with the French. Special allusion was made to his +victory in the Arrogant off Ushant! I sat in such apprehension as cannot +be expressed in words. You are as well aware as I that the modesty of a +hero will admit of no encomiums, and the prayer formed itself on my lips +(I hope without impiety) that his sleep might continue, as I could not be +answerable for the consequences. I sat on tenterhooks, and meanwhile the +Admiral slumbered placidly, his gentle snores punctuating Mr Collins's +discourse, his mouth open, nor dared I push him with my foot as is my +custom. Fortunate indeed was I that the height of the pew prevented my +catching Mrs Darcy's eye. I cannot but think all this was in deplorable +taste. What think you? As we left the sacred building, the Admiral said:-- + +"An excellent discourse! I know not when I have heard a better. Pointed +and instructive. I shall offer a word of commendation to his Reverence." + +I could but look at him with an imploring eye as Mr Collins bowed. + +"I am happy, Sir Charles," he rejoined, after the encomium, "to have met +with your approbation. Ensamples of heroism may surely as justly be drawn +from modern instances as from Alexander and Caesar, and I am not now to be +informed that such ensamples are of more interest to the infant mind when +the illustrious model is seated among them in all the majesty of success +and honour." + +The Admiral stared, but Mrs Darcy, joining us, staved off the disclosure. + +"I told you so!" she whispered in my ear, her eyes dancing with humour. + +I pressed her hand for silence and it blew over, the Admiral later +demanding jealously: "What was it all about, my Lady?" when I replied with +a show of countenance: "A droll allusion of Mrs Darcy's, my dear." So it +ended. + +So also must this letter, my dear Sophia; but I do not apologise for its +length, knowing your interest in all that touches us. Your truly aff'e +sister, + +ANNE SEFTON. + +4th _September_, 1814. + +I resume my pen, my dear Sophia, to narrate the most extraordinary series +of incidents which can have ever taken place in such surroundings. You may +have seen some reports in the public journals, but cannot have heard the +details. Let me strive to impart my news in as collected a manner as they +merit. + +I should premise that my Henry arrived on his leave, and the very day +after received cordial invitations from Mr and Mrs Darcy to wait on them +and join in all the parties of pleasure consequent on young Willoughby's +arrival. A number of friendly gatherings took place, and Captains Gilbert +and Ord from the Chatham garrison were visitors at Rosings. Still, I +ventured to hope that though thus besieged, the lovely Charlotte did +sometimes cast an eye on Henry, though Willoughby was ever at her side. An +invitation to inspect the Indian rarities followed later, and we drove in +my pony carriage to Rosings, and were received with all Mrs Darcy's +obligingness. She was attended by her two daughters, and I observed +Charlotte's complexion heighten in the most interesting manner as Henry +made his compliments, though young Willoughby was by her side, and very +much at his ease. The young man is extremely handsome--very +brown-complexioned and with piercing eyes, of a good height and person. +His manners I thought a little disposed to be familiar; but from the +beginning of the acquaintance, I had set this down to the account of an +Indian life and its freedoms. He remained fixed to Miss Darcy's chair, a +manoeuvre I could not see with comfort. Elegant refreshments--cold meat, +fruit, etc.--were immediately served, the Collinses being present and the +Brandons arriving later. + +When all had been refreshed, Mr. Darcy led the way to the library, and the +curiosities were produced. The Admiral was in his element, and young +Willoughby was called on for explanations which he gave well enough. At +last the famous Ivory Shrine was removed from its glass case, and set upon +a round table where all could view it. + +I must now be particular in my description. It was a cabinet of the +richest ivory, carved with images of idols whose histories I know not. + +"The thinking mind," said Mr Collins, "must lament to see such skill +lavished on such a worthless subject, were it not the happy destiny of +this cabinet to become an appanage of the great. In the magnificent +mansions of our nobles (titled and untitled) such objects afford the +instructive contrast of an inferior civilisation with all that is +Christian and elegant." + +Mr. Darcy slightly bowed. He then threw open the doors of the cabinet, +disclosing a surprising object indeed--a seated figure of clumsy +proportions with the head of an elephant, supposed by these poor heathen +to be a god, of whom the name escapes me. This also was ivory, with a +necklace and girdle of small jewels inset. Mr Darcy applied to young +Willoughby, by his side, for information of the attributes of this strange +being, which he gave with an elegance as much out of the common as his +figure, Mr Darcy following with the story of its acquisition by his uncle, +Mr Lorenzo Darcy. We all drew near to examine the carvings, the +hideousness of the image precluding admiration; and Mrs Brandon was +gratified, as she told me, to find her _protege_ distinguish himself +by his address. + +"We find his company very agreeable," she said aside, to me and Mrs Darcy. +"He is a young man of parts, and his travels have made him very +conversible. Our servants find his Indian attendant, Tippoo, an endless +source of surprise. He cannot speak a word of English, and to see him roll +his black eyes and gesticulate causes laughter which penetrates even to +our end of the house." + +Mrs Darcy enquired if he were a troublesome inmate on account of caste +prejudices; but Marianne assured her that such was not the case. He was +perfectly obliging. + +Still, Sophia, I felt one should be on one's guard where foreigners are +concerned. A young man, though of English parentage, brought up in India +and surrounded by wily Orientals, can scarcely be expected to have the +solid principles of an English training. I am told that attendance on +Divine Service is sadly lax among our wealthy nabobs; that it is even a +practice to give entertainments on the Sabbath, when other than sacred +music is performed. What must be the result on the young mind? + +The afternoon ended, as I feared, in Mr Darcy giving Willoughby an +invitation to spend a week at Rosings, that he might assist him to +classify his Indian collection, a proposal to which the young man +instantly agreed. That I thought it imprudent, I must not deny, unless +indeed there were a settled intention as regards Miss Darcy, since it +would throw them so much together, and already they were more easy than my +judgment could approve. I observed Henry's spirits, like my own, a little +sunk at such a distinction, though to him also the manners of both Miss +Darcy's parents were conciliatory in the extreme. Both have a generosity +of disposition which will suspect no evil. Yet, Sophia, we hear on the +highest authority that the wisdom of the serpent is equally desirable with +that of the dove. + +Willoughby now became a guest at Rosings, and the parties of pleasure were +fewer, the young officers from Chatham having left. The week passed, and +the invitation was extended by a few days, the lists of Indian rarities +still being unfinished. + +I was seated in the late afternoon at my embroidery frame, when Mrs +Collins was ushered in, so pale, so trembling and overcome, that I cried +without any ceremony, "Good God! what is it?" and fell back in terror. She +sunk into a chair and endeavoured to collect her spirits, the Admiral +hurrying in from the lawn. At length she spoke, but with difficulty. + +"Miss Darcy is fled with Willoughby!" and could utter no more. + +The Admiral hastily fetched a glass of Constantia, and on partaking, she +resumed with more composure. O Sophia, how express our feelings! + +It now appeared that, when Willoughby was summoned to a cold collation, +prepared in view of an afternoon excursion, he could nowhere be found. +Tippoo was called, that he might seek his master, but to the consternation +of all, his scanty possessions were removed and the room entirely empty; +and the servants, hastening to his master's chamber, found a dressing-case +known to stand on his table disappeared. + +Theft was the first suspicion, and Willoughby's presence doubly desirable. +Again they sought, and in vain. Miss Caroline was seated with her mother, +and hearing all this, she rose with a countenance pale as ashes and +trembling in every limb, and cried:-- + +"O Mama, where is Charlotte? I saw her last after breakfast in the +shrubbery with Willoughby. The lake--O God, can it be possible!" + +These fears at once communicated themselves to her parents and, hastily +summoning help, Mr Darcy ran to the lake. The boat was loose and floating +on the water, with an oar beside it, and a coat of Willoughby's on the +bank; instantly the worst was feared and Tippoo forgotten. The +lodge-keeper and his men were summoned with drags, poor Mrs Darcy on the +bank wringing her hands in speechless affliction. + +"Thus," pursued Mrs Collins, "were two valuable hours lost in dragging the +lake, and more might have been the case, owing to the success of this vile +scheming, but that the gamekeeper--Ward, you know, Ma'am--came running up +in hot haste. One of his underlings had seen, hours before, a post-chaise +standing in the road before the north gate, as if awaiting a party, but +took no particular notice at the time. Returning later to the east gate, +he observed the same post-chaise dashing along at full speed, and will be +positive he saw Miss Darcy's face at the window and Willoughby with her. +Such was the speed, that he could say no more than that the driver was a +dark handsome young man in a triple cape. Thinking it was merely one of +the parties of pleasure which had been so common, he loitered along, +resumed his work, and only by a chance mentioned it to the gamekeeper, who +with more presence of mind ran at once to his master. + +"O my dear Lady Sefton," continued Mrs Collins, "What a scene of horror +was here! An elopement! And with a man virtually unknown, and of whose +parent Marianne Dashwood's experience was dreadful! Pursuit was +immediately ordered, and Mr Darcy mounted his horse, though none can be +sure what way they will have taken at the crossroads. Who--who could have +supposed this of a young lady so virtuously brought up as Miss Darcy?" + +"A sly little jade!" said the Admiral; and actually smiled! Such are even +the best of men! + +Scarcely able to articulate for horror, I was able to say:-- + +"True, dear Ma'am. Yet must we not own there was imprudence in permitting +a young girl of Miss Darcy's beauty and expectations to be so unguardedly +in the company of Willoughby? Forcibly indeed has that thought struck me +more than once. Poor unfortunate parents! Let us hasten to condole with +them." + +Mrs Collins was too overcome to attend us, and the Admiral giving me his +arm, we set off through the Park, he speaking his mind with the bluffness +of a sailor on Miss Darcy's behaviour. Well did she know, he said, that +her parents would never consent to a match so far below her pretensions, +and therefore--But I dare not emulate his frankness. + +We found Mrs Darcy pale but composed, a mounted messenger having returned +from Mr Darcy with the news that he had heard of a post-chaise going at +full galloping speed on the road to Merton, and was following it up. He +begged Mrs Darcy to sustain her spirits, and call on the Admiral for aid +if occasion should arise in his absence. + +O Sophia, how describe the looks of fear and horror which surrounded us on +all sides in that hitherto so happy household! Caroline fainted in her +mother's arms and was instantly conveyed to her room, where we attended +her until consciousness was restored and misery with it. The Admiral +employed himself in the library, in questioning the men and women, with a +view to discover some more certain clew to pursuit, or possibly some +accomplice, his experience as president of courts-martial standing him in +such good stead that he terrified them all, and I feel certain, had any +been a party to the flight, it must have been known. So valuable is manly +presence of mind in such emergencies! Nothing, however, transpired. + +Time advanced, and Mrs Darcy requested we would remain. The shades of +night darkened, and still no news. It was impossible not to admire Mrs +Darcy's fortitude, for indeed this must have forcibly recalled the time +when her sister Mrs Wickham (as I have learnt from Marianne Dashwood) made +the fatal elopement with Wickham which has secured her a lifetime of +wretched poverty and uneasiness. I readily understood her deplorable +appearance at the Sundale inn on hearing her story. Fatal indeed, Sophia, +are the steps of female error, and how impossible to be retrieved! + +We are not to judge Providence, yet it certainly appears that masculine +imprudences are viewed more leniently from on high. Rectitude, no doubt, +is demanded from all; but it must be owned the consequences are less +severe when a man forsakes the narrow path of virtue. As the Admiral +frequently observes--woman is the weaker vessel and therefore much more is +rightly expected from her, and the punishment justly more severe, as we +observe in the case of Eve and other examples for our learning. This, +however, is a bewildering subject, and more suited to my dear Admiral's +understanding, so I pursue it no further. + +We were all unable to eat, and were sitting listless in the parlour as +midnight approached, when my ear caught the gallop of a horse. "Mr Darcy!" +I cried, starting to my feet and trembling with agitation. + +Mrs Darcy, exercising an almost superhuman composure, sat rigidly in her +chair. The door was flung open and in rushed _Mr Wickham_--disordered +with speed and riding, but recognisable to me as the handsome, +dissipated-looking man we had seen at the inn at Sundale. He seized Mrs +Darcy's almost lifeless hand and cried: "Courage, Ma'am! She is safe. She +is with Mrs Wickham at Sundale, and the miscreant fled." + +How is it possible, Sophia, that I should describe the scene that ensued? + +Hearing the commotion, Caroline tottered downstairs and swooned again at +our feet, yet was scarcely heeded--all crowding round Wickham, who +obligingly soothed our anxiety. + +"When," he said, "the officers of our regiment returned to Chatham from +the enjoyment of Mr Darcy's hospitality, the incidents of their stay were +naturally broached, and Willoughby spoken of. Nothing, however, transpired +until Colonel Vaughan returned from leave, when the subject happened to +come up again. 'But, good God, who is this?' cried Colonel Vaughan. 'Young +Willoughby died eight months ago at Calcutta, and was an only child. My +own brother attended his obsequies. Who can this person be?' All was +astonishment. His brother, Mr James Vaughan, was hastily summoned from his +residence in the Dockyard, and fully confirmed this, he having lately +returned from India. He looked very gravely upon the matter, and mentioned +that Mr Willoughby, senior, had formed years ago an illicit connection +with a Portuguese female, of which there were two sons of most +disreputable character. I waited not to hear more, but called for my +horse, and in regimentals, as you see me, rode at full speed for Sundale, +where Mrs Wickham was awaiting me for the Sundale Steeplechase, that being +the nearest way here." + +Mrs Darcy pressed his hand, but was still unable to speak. He proceeded:-- + +"It was now almost dusk and she pressed a little necessary refreshment on +me in the inn parlour. I was swallowing it hastily, when a post-chaise +drew up at the door and a man alighted, supporting in his arms an almost +senseless female, a large veil concealing her bonnet and face. He called +for a private room and refreshment in a haughty impatient tone, and was +turning to the stair with his burden, when, struggling from his arms, she +tottered toward Mrs. Wickham exclaiming, 'O Aunt Lydia, save me--save me!' +and dropped at her feet." + +A sob broke from Mrs Darcy's pale lips, but still she spoke not. + +"Mrs Wickham removed her veil, and there was Miss Darcy, in a truly +pitiable condition. The baffled villain, little thinking how he had run +into a trap of his own making, stood one second a mask of terror. I made +for him instantly, sword in hand, but he ran with the speed of lightning +through the ostler's yard and was lost in the beech woods behind. I gave +directions for search to be made and returned to the ladies." + +Mrs Darcy lifted his hand in both hers and pressed it to her lips. "The +hand that saved my Charlotte!" was all she could murmur; and indeed we +were all in tears of thankfulness and joy. Mr Wickham's own manly tones +trembled as he resumed:-- + +"Between the agitations that ensued, the dear girl told us how he had +forced her into the post-chaise and driven off at full speed, determined +so to compromise her that a marriage would be insisted on, or even +besought by her parents. He had sent a decoy chaise on the Merton road, +and driven furiously to Sundale, counting on the coast being clear. I +waited not, however, to hear more, but left her in Mrs Wickham's arms, and +rode on hither." + +"Brother, you are weary--famished!" cried Mrs Darcy, ever considerate. +"Are we to have no thought for you, who have had so much for us? I knew--I +knew my Charlotte could not so fearfully be lost to all sense of +propriety, and knowing this, can now recover. Oh, could my Darcy but know +his girl is safe!" + +O Sophia, what a scene was here--all pressing refreshments on our +deliverer--all joyful excitement. The only element lacking, dear Mr +Darcy's presence! And two hours later,--for none could go to rest,--that +also was supplied; for finding his pursuit of the Merton chaise mistaken, +he returned home, drooping and almost despairing, in the faint hope of +tidings. + +Words sink beneath the effort to describe his manly gratitude to Wickham, +and the relief of hearing he had not been deceived in his belief in Miss +Darcy's principles. Never have I seen his majesty of demeanour so +softened. He also addressed Mr Wickham as "Brother," and the latter was +profoundly touched. If I mistake not, this will be an epoch in his career +and that of his unhappy wife. Mr Darcy's is a spirit that will never leave +an obligation unacknowledged. They rode together next day to escort Mrs +Wickham and the interesting victim to Rosings--Miss Darcy in a pitiable +condition, but yet fully sensible of her safety. + +"On such occasions," observed Mr Collins to the Admiral, "it cannot be +denied that a special Providence appears to attend the great. Had Miss +Darcy been a humbler female, had she not been possessed of relatives +willing and able to defend her, what might not have been dreaded! This +leads us to devout admiration of the discriminating bounties of heaven, so +well bestowed where most needed and deserved. For what, Sir Charles, is +the downfall of a female of low birth, however worthy, compared with that +of a young lady who has adorned elevated circles and is the cynosure of +all eyes and hearts!" + +The dear Admiral owned to me later that this exordium so bewildered him +that he knew not "at which end to take hold of it," to use his own +expression. I feel the difficulty myself. + +The public prints will have informed my Sophia that the miscreant escaped, +and that it is now known the pair were brothers, a dark stain for the +complexion having converted the younger into the attendant, for the visit +to Hunsdon. Reassuming his own appearance, he acted as the driver and was +of course wholly in his brother's interest in securing a wealthy prize in +Miss Darcy. What machinations, and what a deliverance! + +Mrs Darcy, who is all candour, said later to me that she had suspected the +beginning of an attachment in my Henry's mind, and that, if it were so-- +Here she hesitated in the most interesting manner. + +I took her hand in mine. "Hesitate not to open the subject, my dear +Ma'am," said I, "for I can confirm your view. Henry is deeply, deeply +interested in your sweet girl--poor lovely innocent! And if there is any +hope--" + +It was my turn to hesitate. She resumed more calmly:-- + +"Then, if it be so, Lady Sefton, I may speak plainly. Candour is a +necessity of Mr Darcy's character and mine. I cannot deny that Charlotte's +imagination was touched, however slightly, by Willoughby's romantic tales +and appearance. Young minds are susceptible--" + +Indeed, Sophia, there was a false glitter about him which I, for one, +instantly distrusted; but the inexperience of the young will ever be a +danger. I said as much and she continued:-- + +"Calm recollection and these frightful events have, however, wrought a +complete cure and a revulsion of feeling which has turned her mind to Mr +Sefton's worth with full appreciation. If later--_much_ later--he +should make an application, I believe he might hope for a success which I +venture not to promise. Her parents are also to blame for incaution. But +the future may yet be all brightness." + +As for Henry, his affection is unaltered, and perhaps deepened, by these +occurrences. And it has impressed me, Sophia, that possibly Mr and Mrs +Darcy might have had more exalted aspirations for their lovely heiress +than a mere baronet's son had not this shade fallen on her opening flower. +I think it is the Swan of Avon who observes that there is a soul of +goodness in things evil, and so it may have proved in this instance. + +As to Marianne Brandon, the whole affair has cost her a severe illness, in +which she incessantly deplored her own impulsive nature, though all did +their utmost to mitigate the blow. "Shall I never acquire the calm +judgment and sober reason which alone can preserve from such errors?" was +her cry. "Surely I, who have so much reason to distrust the name of +Willoughby, should have hesitated to introduce one of that fatal race to +the notice of friends." + +I fear she will never forgive herself; but it may prove a warning to a +being whose only fault is incaution, and a too warm belief in human +nature. The Colonel is, and will be, her unfailing support. + +Although nothing definite has yet been said, the Admiral is now inspecting +Hoddesden House, with a view to our young couple's occupation, and I hope +ere long to send you the joyful news of the addition of a daughter to my +comforts. + +I should not conclude without dwelling on the danger of insufficient +introductions; and something might also be said of the impiety of +admitting false gods to adorn a Christian library, even as objects of art. +But my Sophia is well able to draw her own conclusions and her +affectionate sister will now, with all good wishes and endearing thoughts, +conclude. + +ANNE SEFTON. + +Postscriptum.--Mr and Mrs Wickham are now visiting at Rosings. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ladies, by E. 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