'Why (asked Mr. Harlowe) was it said to his other inquiring friend, that
we were married; and that by his niece's woman, who ought to know? who
could give convincing reasons, no doubt'--
Here again she wept; took a turn across the room; then returned--Read on,
says she--
Will you, my dearest life, read it yourself?
I will take the letter with me, by-and-by--I cannot see to read it just
now, wiping her eyes--read on--let me hear it all--that I may know your
sentiments upon this letter, as well as give my own.
'The Captain then told uncle John the reasons that induced me to give out
that we were married; and the conditions on which my beloved was brought
to countenance it; which had kept us at the most punctilious distance.
'But still Mr. Harlowe objected my character. And went away
dissatisfied. And the Captain was also so much concerned, that he cared
not to write what the result of his first conference was.
'But in the next, which was held on receipt of the draughts, at the
Captain's house, (as the former was, for the greater secrecy,) when the
old gentleman had read them, and had the Captain's opinion, he was much
better pleased. And yet he declared, that it would not be easy to
persuade any other person of his family to believe so favourably of the
matter, as he was now willing to believe, were they to know that we had
lived so long together unmarried.
'And then the Captain says, his dear friend made a proposal:--It was
this--That we should marry out of hand, but as privately as possible, as
indeed he found we intended, (for he could have no objection to the
draughts)--but yet, he expected to have present one trusty friend of his
own, for his better satisfaction'--
Here I stopt, with a design to be angry--but she desiring me to read on,
I obeyed.
'--But that it should pass to every one living, except to that trusty
person, to himself, and to the Captain, that we were married from the
time that we had lived together in one house; and that this time should
be made to agree with that of Mr. Hickman's application to him from Miss
Howe.'
This, my dearest life, said I, is a very considerate proposal. We have
nothing to do but to caution the people below properly on this head. I
did not think your uncle Harlowe capable of hitting upon such a charming
expedient as this. But you see how much his heart is in the
reconciliation.
This was the return I met with--You have always, as a mark of your
politeness, let me know how meanly you think of every one in my family.
Yet thou wilt think, Belford, that I could forgive her for the reproach.
'The Captain does not know, says he, how this proposal will be relished
by us. But for his part, he thinks it an expedient that will obviate
many difficulties, and may possibly put an end to Mr. James Harlowe's
further designs: and on this account he has, by the uncle's advice,
already declared to two several persons, by whose means it may come to
that young gentleman's, that he [Captain Tomlinson] has very great reason
to believe that we were married soon after Mr. Hickman's application was
rejected.
'And this, Mr. Lovelace, (says the Captain,) will enable you to pay a
compliment to the family, that will not be unsuitable to the generosity
of some of the declarations you were pleased to make to the lady before
me, (and which Mr. John Harlowe may make some advantage of in favour of a
reconciliation,) in that you were entitled to make the demand.' An
excellent contriver, surely, she must think this worthy Mr. Tomlinson to
be!
But the Captain adds, 'that if either the lady or I disapprove of his
report of our marriage, he will retract it. Nevertheless, he must tell
me, that Mr. John Harlowe is very much set upon this way of proceeding;
as the only one, in his opinion, capable of being improved into a general
reconciliation. But if we do acquiesce in it, he beseeches my fair-one
not to suspend my day, that he may be authorized in what he says, as to
the truth of the main fact. [How conscientious this good man!] Nor must
it be expected, he says, that her uncle will take one step towards the
wished-for reconciliation, till the solemnity is actually over.'
He adds, 'that he shall be very soon in town on other affairs; and then
proposes to attend us, and give us a more particular account of all that
has passed, or shall further pass, between Mr. Harlowe and him.'
Well, my dearest life, what say you to your uncle's expedient? Shall I
write to the Captain, and acquaint him, that we have no objection to it?
She was silent for a few minutes. At last, with a sigh, See, Mr.
Lovelace, said she, what you have brought me to, by treading after you in
such crooked paths!--See what disgrace I have incurred!--Indeed you have
not acted like a wise man.
My beloved creature, do you not remember, how earnestly I besought the
honour of your hand before we came to town?--Had I been then favoured--
Well, well, Sir; there has been much amiss somewhere; that's all I will
say at present. And since what's past cannot be recalled, my uncle must
be obeyed, I think.
Charmingly dutiful!--I had nothing then to do, that I might not be
behind-hand with the worthy Captain and her uncle, but to press for the
day. This I fervently did. But (as I might have expected) she repeated
her former answer; to wit, That when the settlements were completed; when
the license was actually obtained; it would be time enough to name the
day: and, O Mr. Lovelace, said she, turning from me with a grace
inimitably tender, her handkerchief at her eyes, what a happiness, if my
dear uncle could be prevailed upon to be personally a father, on this
occasion, to the poor fatherless girl!
What's the matter with me!--Whence this dew-drop!--A tear!--As I hope to
be saved, it is a tear, Jack!--Very ready methinks!--Only on
reciting!--But her lovely image was before me, in the very attitude she
spoke the words--and indeed at the time she spoke them, these lines of
Shakespeare came into my head:
Thy heart is big. Get thee apart and weep!
Passion, I see, is catching:--For my eye,
Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine,
Begin to water--
I withdrew, and wrote to the Captain to the following effect--'I desired
that he would be so good as to acquaint his dear friend that we entirely
acquiesced with what he had proposed; and had already properly cautioned
the gentlewomen of the house, and their servants, as well as our own: and
to tell him, That if he would in person give me the blessing of his dear
niece's hand, it would crown the wishes of both. In this case, I
consented, that his own day, as I presumed it would be a short one,
should be ours: that by this means the secret would be with fewer
persons: that I myself, as well as he, thought the ceremony could not be
too privately performed; and this not only for the sake of the wise end
he had proposed to answer by it, but because I would not have Lord M.
think himself slighted; since that nobleman, as I had told him [the
Captain] had once intended to be our nuptial-father; and actually made
the offer; but that we had declined to accept of it, and that for no
other reason than to avoid a public wedding; which his beloved niece
would not come into, while she was in disgrace with her friends. But
that if he chose not to do us this honour, I wished that Captain
Tomlinson might be the trusty person whom he would have be present on the
happy occasion.'
I showed this letter to my fair-one. She was not displeased with it.
So, Jack, we cannot now move too fast, as to settlements and license: the
day is her uncle's day, or Captain Tomlinson's, perhaps, as shall best
suit the occasion. Miss Howe's smuggling scheme is now surely provided
against in all events.
But I will not by anticipation make thee a judge of all the benefits that
may flow from this my elaborate contrivance. Why will these girls put me
upon my master-strokes?
And now for a little mine which I am getting ready to spring. The first
that I have sprung, and at the rate I go on (now a resolution, and now a
remorse) perhaps the last that I shall attempt to spring.
A little mine, I call it. But it may be attended with great effects. I
shall not, however, absolutely depend upon the success of it, having much
more effectual ones in reserve. And yet great engines are often moved by
small springs. A little spark falling by accident into a powder-magazine,
hath done more execution in a siege, than an hundred cannon.
Come the worst, the hymeneal torch, and a white sheet, must be my amende
honorable, as the French have it.