THE ARDENT LOVER
Between ten and eleven of the clock next morning, Molly's suitor--I
cannot call him her lover--arrived at the house. At that hour most of
the ladies are at morning prayers, and the gentlemen are either at the
tavern taking their morning whet, or at the coffee house in
conversation, or engaged in some of the sports to which most of them
are so much addicted. Lord Fylingdale, although the streets at such an
hour are mostly deserted, had to cross the market-place on his way to
the captain's house, in Hogman's Lane, and was, therefore, carried in
a chair with the curtains drawn, so as to avoid recognition.
He was received by Captain Crowle in the parlour. For the occasion the
old man had put on his Sunday suit, with white silk stockings; and he
wore his sword, to which, as the former commander of a ship, he was
entitled.
"I am come, captain, to receive in person your answer to the message
conveyed to you yesterday by my ambassador. I hope that the message
was delivered faithfully, and with due respect."
"I believe, my lord, with both."
"I assure you, Captain Crowle, that the respect I have conceived for
your character and loyalty is more than I can express in words. That
you have inspired, in the mind of your ward, similar virtues I do not
doubt, and this confidence, believe me, has much to do with the offer
of my hand to that young lady."
"Your lordship does me the greatest honour. My answer is that I accept
in Molly's name, and joyfully."
"I am delighted. This should be," he added, coldly, "the happiest day
of my life."
"When we spread the news abroad, everybody in Lynn will feel that the
greatest honour has been done to the town as well as to this house."
"Sir, you overrate my position. Still ... however, we must keep the
matter secret for a day or two yet. I engage you, captain, to profound
secrecy."
"As long as you please, my lord. The sooner I may speak of it the
better I shall like it, for I am bursting with joy and satisfaction."
"Patience, captain, for a day or two."
The captain became serious, even melancholy. "You will take her away,
I suppose."
"I fear I must. A married man generally takes away his wife, does he
not?"
"You will take her to your country house, and to London. Well, I am
old--I am seventy-five already. I cannot expect ever to see her again.
Her mother, however, is not so old by thirty years. Perhaps your
lordship will at some time or other--we would not remind you of your
lady's humble folk--allow her if she is within an easy journey to come
here to see her mother."
"Surely--surely, captain. Could I be so hard-hearted as to refuse? Her
mother certainly--or yourself. But not her old friends. Not the
friends of her childhood such as that young sailor man--nor the girls
of the place."
"I care not for them, so that I may comfort her poor mother with that
promise. As for myself, who am I that I should intrude upon her? Let
me die happy in the knowledge that she is happy."
"She shall be as happy as the day is long, captain."
"I doubt it not. As for Jack Pentecrosse, an old playfellow, he is
like me. He loves her as if she was his sister, but he desires nothing
but the knowledge of the girl's happiness."
"I accept your assurance, captain, that he will not endeavour to seek
her or to visit her."
"He will not. My lord," the captain became very serious, "I can
promise you a well-conditioned, virtuous, modest, obedient, and
dutiful wife. She will ask for nothing but a continuance of your
lordship's affection and consideration, in return for which she will
be your willing servant as well as your wife."
"Again, captain, I doubt it not. Else I should not be here."
"And when the day comes--when you pass the word, my lord--the bells
shall ring and the music shall play and all the town shall make
holiday, and we will have such a feast and merrymaking that all the
country round shall ring with it. Lord, I am so happy!"
"But, captain, I have not yet received the consent of the lady."
"Be assured that you will have it. But the girl is shy and hesitates,
being, to say the truth, dazzled by the rank to which she is to be
raised. A young maid's modesty will perhaps hinder such freedom of
speech as you would naturally desire."
"I hope, sir, that I am able to appreciate and value the virtue of
modesty. All I ask of the young lady is her consent."
"Of that you may be assured beforehand."
"Then, captain, as this is an occasion of some awkwardness and one
which it is well to get through as quickly as possible----" Did one
ever hear of such a lover? "Well, to get through as quickly as
possible," his first interview with his mistress. "You will perhaps
bring Miss Molly to me or take me to her."
Molly, meanwhile, was in her bedroom, in a strange agitation, her
colour coming and going; now pale, now blushing; for the first time in
her life, trembling and inclined to swoon. Even for a girl who loves a
man it is an event of the greatest importance, and one never to be
forgotten, when she consents to make him happy. But when she is in
grievous doubt, torn by the consciousness that she does not love the
man; that she is afraid of him; that she does not desire the change of
rank which he offers; and that she would far rather remain among her
own people. In such a case, I say, her trouble is great indeed.
However, to do honour to the occasion, she, like the captain, had
assumed her Sunday attire. Her frock, to be sure, was not so fine as
that in which she graced the assembly, but it was passable. To my mind
she looked more beautiful than in that splendid dress.
At her guardian's summons, she slowly descended the stairs. The
kitchen door was open; she looked in as she passed. Her mother,
instead of being busy over her housewifery was sitting in her chair,
her hands clasped, her eyes closed, her lips moving. She was praying
for her daughter. Molly stepped in and kissed her. "Mother," she said,
"pray that it may turn out well. I must accept him. Yet I doubt. Oh,
pray for me!"
"Because," her mother murmured in reply, "the captain cannot help, and
Jack cannot help; and there is none other that helpeth us but only
Thou, O God!"
Then Molly turned the handle of the parlour door and entered.
"Miss Molly!" her gallant lover, splendid with his star and his fine
clothes, took her hand, bowed low, and kissed her fingers.
"You would speak with me, my lord."
"Yesterday I sent a message to your guardian. I told him by my
messenger that I was entirely overcome by the beauty and the charms
and the virtues of his fair ward. And I offered, unworthy as I am, my
hand and all that goes with it--my rank, and title, my possessions and
myself."
"The captain told me of the message."
"I have to-day received an answer from him. But although he is your
guardian I would not presume to consider that answer as final. I must
have your answer as well."
"My lord, I am but a humble and a homely person."
"Nay, but lovely as Venus herself."
"I know now, since all the company have come to Lynn, how homely and
humble I am in the eyes of gentlefolk."
"You will no longer be either homely or humble--when you are a
countess."
"I fear that your friends among the great will make your lordship
ashamed of your choice."
"My friends know me better than to suppose that I can be ashamed by
their opinion. But, indeed, they have only to see you for that opinion
to be changed. Once seen by the world and all will envy and
congratulate the happy possessor of so much beauty."
"Then, are you satisfied that you are truly in love with me?"
"Satisfied?" He took her hand again and kissed it. "How shall I
satisfy you on this point? By what assurance? By what lover's vows?"
She glanced upwards, having spoken so far with hanging head. Her eyes
met his. Alas! they were cold and hard. There was no softening
influence of love visible in those eyes; only resolution and purpose.
His eyes were as cold as his forehead and as hard as his lips. Poor
Molly! Poor countess!
"Is it not, my lord," she asked, "a mere passing fancy? You will be
tired of me in a month; you will regret that you did not choose rather
among the fine ladies who speak your language and follow your
manners."
"Molly, I am a man who does not encourage idle fancies and passing
loves. You will find no change in me. As I am now so I shall be
always."
She shivered. The prospect made her feel cold.
"Then, my lord," she said, "I have nothing more to say. I shall not do
justice to your rank, nor shall I bring to your house the dignity
which you deserve. Such as I am, take me, if you will, or let me go,
if you will."
"Can you doubt, Molly? I will take you." He hesitated; he took her
hand again; he stooped and kissed her forehead. There was no passion
in his kiss; no tenderness in his touch; no emotion in his voice. Such
as he was then such he would always be. And though the door was
closed, Molly seemed to hear again the voice of her mother murmuring
"but only Thou, O God!"
Her lover drew the captain's armchair and placed it at the open window
which looked out into the garden, then filled with flowers, fragrant
and beautiful, and melodious with the humming of many bees.
"Sit down, Molly, and let us talk."
He did not sit down. He stood before her; he walked about the room; he
played with the gold tassels of his sword.
"Molly, since we are to be married, we must be married at once."
"I am your lordship's servant."
"As soon as possible. Are you ready?"
"Ready? I suppose I could be ready in a month or six weeks."
"Why, what is there to do?"
"I have to get things--dresses, house linen, all kinds of things."
"My dear, you are not going to marry a cit. Everything that you want
you can buy. There are plenty of shops. You want nothing but what you
have--your wardrobe, your fine things, and your common things, and
your jewels. You must not forget your jewels."
"I thought that brides were always provided with things for the house.
But if your lordship has already the linen and the napery----"
"Good Lord! How should I know what I have? The thing is that you will
need nothing."
"Where will you take me?"
"I think, first of all, to my house in Gloucestershire. It is not
fully furnished; the late possessor, my cousin, whom I succeeded, was,
unfortunately, a gambler. He had to cut down his woods and to sell
them; he even had to sell his furniture and pictures. But I can soon
put the house in order fit for your reception." It was he himself, and
not his predecessor, who had sold these things. "If it is not so fine,
at first, as you would wish, we can soon make it worthy of you."
I have often wondered what he intended to do with his bride if things
had gone differently. I am now certain that he intended to take her to
this great country house, which, as I have understood, stands in a
secluded part of the country, with no near neighbours and no town
within reach; and that he intended to leave her there, while he
himself went up to London to resume the old gaming and raking, which
he desired so much, although they had been his ruin. Fate, however,
prevented this design.
"If you desire my happiness, my lord----"
"What else is there in the whole world that I should desire?"
"You will take me to that country place and live there. I fear the
world of fashion and I have no wish to live in London. I have learned
from the Lady Anastasia how the great ladies pass their time."
"Everything shall be as you wish, Molly. Everything, believe me."
He then, by way of illustrating this assurance, proposed a thing which
he himself wished.
"We must be married immediately, Molly, because I am called away, by
affairs of importance, to Gloucestershire. I ought to leave this place
not later than Saturday." The day was Thursday.
"Saturday? We must be married on Saturday?"
"Sooner than Saturday. To-morrow. That will give us time enough to
make what little preparations may be necessary."
"To-morrow? But we cannot be married so soon."
"Everything is prepared. I have the license. We can be married
to-morrow."
"Oh!" It was all she could say.
"There is another thing. Your guardian would like to make a public
ceremony of the wedding; he would hang the town with flags, and ring
the bells, and summon the band of the marrowbones and cleavers, while
all the world looked on."
"Yes. He is so proud of the marriage that he would like to celebrate
it."
"And you, Molly?"
"I should like to be married with no one to look on, and no one to
know anything about it until it was over."
"Why--there, Molly--there, we are agreed. I was in great fear that you
would not think with me. My dear, if there is one thing which I abhor,
it is the public ceremony and the private feasting and merriment with
which a wedding is accompanied. We do not want the town to be all
agog; we do not want to set all tongues wagging; nor do we want to be
a show with a grand triumphal march and a feast to last three days
afterwards."
"Can we be private, then?"
"Certainly. I can arrange everything. Now, Molly, my plan is this. We
will be married privately in St. Nicholas Church at six in the
morning, before the company are out of their beds. No one will see us;
after the marriage you will come back here; I will return with you,
and we will then inform the captain and your mother of the joyful
news. Believe me, when they come to think it over, they will rejoice
to be spared the trouble and the preparation for a wedding feast."
"But I cannot deceive the captain."
"There is no deception. He has agreed to the match. He knows that you
have agreed. There is one consideration, Molly, which makes a private
marriage necessary. I could not consent to a public wedding or to a
wedding feast, because my rank forbids. It would be impossible for me
to invite any person of my own position to such a feast, and it would
be impossible for me to sit down with those persons--worthy, no doubt,
and honest--whom the captain would certainly wish to invite."
This was certainly reasonable, and certainly true. Rank must be
respected, and a noble earl cannot sit down to feast with merchants,
skippers, mates, parsons and the like.
"Then it shall be as your lordship pleases."
"Be at the church at six," he said. "I will provide everything and see
that everything is ready for you. Do not be recognised as you pass
along the street. You can wear a domino with the pink silk cloak which
you wore the other night at the assembly. Then I shall recognise you.
No one else, Molly, need be considered. Are you sure that you
understand?"
"Yes," she sighed. "I understand."
"Then, Molly," he bowed low, and, without offering to kiss her, this
wonderful lover left his mistress and was carried home in his chair.