After sundry unsuccessful Efforts, he finds means to come to an
Explanation with his Mistress; and a Reconciliation ensues.
Peregrine, disconcerted at their sudden disappearance, stood for some
minutes gaping in the street, before he could get the better of his
surprise; and then deliberated with himself whether he should demand
immediate admittance to his mistress, or choose some other method of
application. Piqued at her abrupt behaviour, though pleased with her
spirit, he set his invention to work, in order to contrive some means
of seeing her: and in a fit of musing arrived at the inn, where he found
his companions, whom he had left at the castle-gate. They had already
made inquiry about the ladies; in consequence of which he learnt that
Miss Sophy was daughter of a gentleman in town to which his mistress
was related; that an intimate friendship subsisted between the two
young ladies; that Emilia had lived almost a month with her cousin, and
appeared at the last assembly, where she was universally admired: and
that several young gentlemen of fortune had since that time teased her
with addresses.
Our hero's ambition was flattered, and his passion inflamed with this
intelligence; and he swore within himself that he would not quit the
spot until he should have obtained an undisputed victory over all his
rivals.
That same evening he composed a most eloquent epistle, in which he
earnestly entreated that she would favour him with an opportunity of
vindicating his conduct: but she would neither receive his billet, nor
see his messenger. Balked in this effort, he inclosed it in a new cover
directed by another hand, and ordered Pipes to ride next morning to
London, on purpose to deliver it at the post-office; that coming by such
conveyance she might have no suspicion of the author, and open it before
she should be aware of the deceit.
Three days he waited patiently for the effect of this stratagem, and,
in the afternoon of the fourth, ventured to hazard a formal visit, in
quality of an old acquaintance. But here too he failed in his attempt:
she was indisposed, and could not see company. These obstacles
served only to increase his eagerness: he still adhered to his former
resolution; and his companions, understanding his determination, left
him next day to his own inventions. Thus relinquished to his own ideas,
he doubled his assiduity, and practised every method his imagination
could suggest, in order to promote his plan.
Pipes was stationed all day long within sight of her door, that he might
be able to give his master an account of her motions; but she never
went abroad except to visit in the neighbourhood, and was always housed
before Peregrine could be apprised of her appearance. He went to church
with a view of attracting her notice, and humbled his deportment before
her; but she was so mischievously devout as to look at nothing but
her book, so that he was not favoured with one glance of regard. He
frequented the coffee-house, and attempted to contract an acquaintance
with Miss Sophy's father, who, he hoped, would invite him to his house:
but this expectation was also defeated. That prudent gentleman looked
upon him as one of those forward fortune-hunters who go about the
country seeking whom they may devour, and warily discouraged all his
advances. Chagrined by so many unsuccessful endeavours, he began to
despair of accomplishing his aim; and, as the last suggestion of his
art, paid off his lodging, took horse at noon, and departed, in all
appearance, for the place from whence he had come. He rode, but a few
miles, and in the dusk of the evening returned unseen, alighted at
another inn, ordered Pipes to stay within doors, and keeping himself
incognito, employed another person as a sentinel upon Emilia.
It was not long before he reaped the fruits of his ingenuity. Next day
in the afternoon he was informed by his spy that the two young ladies
were gone to walk in the park, whither he followed them on the instant,
fully determined to come to an explanation with his mistress, even in
presence of her friend, who might possibly be prevailed upon to interest
herself in his behalf.
When he saw them at such a distance that they could not return to
town before he should have an opportunity of putting his resolution in
practice, he mended his pace, and found means to appear before them
so suddenly, that Emilia could not help expressing her surprise in a
scream. Our lover, putting on a mien of humility and mortification,
begged to know if her resentment was implacable; and asked why she had
so cruelly refused to grant him the common privilege that every
criminal enjoyed. “Dear Miss Sophy,” said he, addressing himself to her
companion, “give me leave to implore your intercession with your cousin.
I am sure you have humanity enough to espouse my cause, did you but know
the justice of it; and I flatter myself that by your kind interposition
I may be able to rectify that fatal misunderstanding which hath made
me wretched.”--“Sir,” said Sophy, “you appear like a gentleman, and
I doubt not but your behaviour has been always suitable to your
appearance; but you must excuse me from undertaking any such office
in behalf of a person whom I have not the honour to know.”--“Madam,”
answered Peregrine, “I hope Miss Emy will justify my pretensions to that
character, notwithstanding the mystery of her displeasure, which, upon
my honour, I cannot for my soul explain.”--“Lord! Mr. Pickle,” said
Emilia, who had by this time recollected herself, “I never questioned
your gallantry and taste; but I am resolved that you shall never have
cause to exercise your talents at my expense; so that you tease yourself
and me to no purpose. Come, Sophy, let us walk home again.”--“Good God!
madam,” cried the lover, with great emotion, “why will you distract me
with such barbarous indifference? Stay, dear Emilia!--I conjure you on
my knees to stay and hear me. By all that is sacred, I was not to blame.
You must have been imposed upon by some villain who envied my good
fortune, and took some treacherous method to ruin my love.”
Miss Sophy, who possessed a large stock of good nature, and to whom
her cousin had communicated the cause of her reserve, seeing the young
gentleman so much affected with that disdain which she knew to be
feigned, laid hold on Emilia's sleeve, saying, with a smile, “Not quite
so fast, Emily. I begin to perceive that this is a love-quarrel, and
therefore there may be hopes of a reconciliation; for I suppose both
parties are open to conviction.”--“For my own part,” cried Peregrine,
with great eagerness, “I appeal to Miss Sophy's decision. But why do I
say appeal? Though I am conscious of having committed no offence, I am
ready to submit to any penance, let it be never so rigorous, that my
fair enslaver herself shall impose, provided it will entitle me to
her favour and forgiveness at last.” Emily, well nigh overcome by this
declaration, told him, that as she taxed him with no guilt, she expected
no atonement, and pressed her companion to return to town. But Sophy,
who was too indulgent to her friend's real inclination to comply with
her request, observed that the gentleman seemed so reasonable in his
concessions, that she began to think her cousin was in the wrong, and
felt herself disposed to act as umpire in the dispute.
Overjoyed at this condescension, Mr. Pickle thanked her in the most
rapturous terms, and, in the transport of his expectation, kissed the
hand of his kind mediatrix--a circumstance which had a remarkable effect
on the countenance of Emilia, who did not seem to relish the warmth of
his acknowledgment.
After many supplications on one hand, and pressing remonstrances on the
other, she yielded at length, and, turning to her lover while her face
was overspread with blushes,--“Well, sir,” said she, “supposing I were
to put the difference on that issue, how could you excuse the ridiculous
letter which you sent to me from Winchester?” This expostulation
introduced a discussion of the whole affair, in which all the
circumstances were canvassed; and Emilia still affirmed, with great
heat, that the letter must have been calculated to affront her; for she
could not suppose the author was so weak as to design it for any other
purpose.
Peregrine, who still retained in his memory the substance of this
unlucky epistle, as well as the verses which were inclosed, could
recollect no particular expression which could have justly given the
least umbrage; and therefore, in the agonies of perplexity, begged
that the whole might be submitted to the judgment of Miss Sophy, and
faithfully promised to stand to her award. In short, this proposal was,
with seeming reluctance, embraced by Emilia, and an appointment made to
meet next day in the place, whither both parties were desired to come
provided with their credentials, according to which definitive sentence
would be pronounced.
Our lover, having succeeded thus far, overwhelmed Sophy with
acknowledgments on account of her generous mediation; and in the course
of their walk, which Emilia was now in no hurry to conclude, whispered
a great many tender protestations in the ear of his mistress, who
nevertheless continued to act upon the reserve, until her doubts should
be more fully resolved.
Mr. Pickle, having found means to amuse them in the fields till the
twilight, was obliged to wish them good even, after having obtained a
solemn repetition of their promise to meet him at the appointed time
and place, and then retreated to his apartment, where he spent the whole
night in various conjectures on the subject of the letter, the Gordian
knot of which he could by no means untie. One while he imagined that
some wag had played a trick on his messenger, in consequence of
which Emilia had received a supposititious letter; but, upon farther
reflection, he could not conceive the practicability of any such deceit.
Then he began to doubt the sincerity of his mistress, who perhaps had
only made that a handle for discarding him, at the request of some
favoured rival; but his own integrity forbade him to harbour this mean
suspicion; and therefore he was again involved in the labyrinth of
perplexity. Next day he waited on the rack of impatience for the hour of
five in the afternoon, which no sooner struck than he ordered Pipes
to attend him, in case there should be occasion for his evidence, and
repaired to the place of rendezvous, where he had not tarried five
minutes before the ladies appeared. Mutual compliments being passed, and
the attendant stationed at a convenient distance, Peregrine persuaded
them to sit down upon the grass, under the shade of a spreading oak,
that they might be more at their ease; while he stretched himself at
their feet, and desired that the paper on which his doom depended might
be examined. It was accordingly put into the hand of his fair arbitress,
who read it immediately with an audible voice. The first two words of
it were no sooner pronounced, than he started, with great emotion, and
raised himself upon his hand and knee, in which posture he listened
to the rest of the sentence; then sprang upon his feet in the utmost
astonishment, and, glowing with resentment at the same time, exclaimed,
“Hell and the devil! what's all that? Sure you make a jest of me,
madam!”--“Pray, sir,” said Sophy, “give me the hearing for a few
moments, and then urge what you shall think proper in your own defence.”
Having thus cautioned him, she proceeded; but before she had finished
one-half of the performance, her gravity forsook her, and she was seized
with a violent fit of laughter, in which neither of the lovers could
help joining, notwithstanding the resentment which at that instant
prevailed in the breasts of both. The judge, however, in a little
time, resumed her solemnity, and having read the remaining part of this
curious epistle, all three continued staring at each other alternately
for the space of half a minute, and then broke forth at the same instant
in another paroxysm of mirth. From this unanimous convulsion, one would
have thought that both parties were extremely well pleased with a joke,
yet this was by no means the case.
Emilia imagined that, notwithstanding his affected surprise, her lover,
in spite of himself, had received the laugh at her expense, and in so
doing applauded his own unmannerly ridicule. This supposition could not
fail of raising and reviving her indignation, while Peregrine highly
resented the indignity, with which he supposed himself treated, in their
attempting to make him the dupe of such a gross and ludicrous artifice.
This being the situation of their thoughts, their mirth was succeeded by
a mutual gloominess of aspect; and the judge, addressing herself to Mr.
Pickle, asked if he had anything to offer why sentence should not be
pronounced? “Madam,” answered the culprit, “I am sorry to find myself
so low in the opinion of your cousin as to be thought capable of being
deceived by such shallow contrivance.”--“Nay, sir,” said Emilia, “the
contrivance is your own; and I cannot help admiring your confidence in
imputing it to me.”--“Upon my honour, Miss Emily, resumed our hero, “you
wrong my understanding, as well as my love, in accusing me of having
written such a silly, impertinent performance. The very appearance and
address of it is so unlike the letter which I did myself the honour
to write, that I dare say my man, even at this distance of time, will
remember the difference.”
So saying, he extended his voice, and beckoned to Pipes, who immediately
drew near. His mistress seemed to object to the evidence, by observing
that to be sure Mr. Pipes had his cue; when Peregrine, begging she would
spare him the mortification of considering him in such a dishonourable
light, desired his valet to examine the outside of the letter, and
recollect if it was the same which he had delivered to Miss Gauntlet
about two years ago. Pipes, having taken a superficial view of it,
pulled up his breeches, saying, “Mayhap it is, but we have made so many
trips, and been in so many creeks and corners since that time, that I
can't pretend to be certain; for I neither keep journal nor log-book of
our proceedings.” Emilia commended him for his candour, at the same
time darting a sarcastic look at his master, as if she thought he had
tampered with his servant's integrity in vain; and Peregrine began to
live and curse his fate for having subjected him to such mean suspicion,
attesting heaven and earth in the most earnest manner, that far from
having composed and conveyed that stupid production, he had never seen
it before, nor been privy to the least circumstance of the plan.
Pipes, now, for the first time, perceived the mischief which he had
occasioned; and, moved with the transports of his master, for whom he
had a most inviolable attachment, frankly declared he was ready to make
oath that Mr. Pickle had no hand in the letter which he delivered. All
three were amazed at this confession, the meaning of which they could
not comprehend. Peregrine, after some pause, leaped upon Pipes, and
seizing him by the throat, exclaimed, in an ecstasy of rage. “Rascal!
tell me this instant what became of the letter I entrusted to your
care.” The patient valet, half-strangled as he was, squirted a
collection of tobacco-juice out of one corner of his mouth, and with
great deliberation replied, “Why, burnt it, you wouldn't have me to give
the young woman a thing that shook all in the wind in tatters, would
you?” The ladies interposed in behalf of the distressed squire, from
whom, by dint of questions which he had neither art nor inclination to
evade, they extorted an explanation of the whole affair.
Such ridiculous simplicity and innocence of intention appeared in the
composition of his expedient, that even the remembrance of all the
chagrin which it had produced, could not rouse their indignation, or
enable the to resist a third eruption of laughter which they forthwith
underwent. Pipes was dismissed, with many menacing injunctions to beware
of such conduct for the future; Emilia stood with a confusion of joy and
tenderness in her countenance; Peregrine's eyes kindled into rapture,
and, when Miss Sophy pronounced the sentence of reconciliation, advanced
to his mistress, saying, “Truth is mighty, and will prevail;” then
clapping her in his arms, very impudently ravished a kiss, which she had
not power to refuse. Nay, such was the impulse of his joy, that he took
the same freedom with the lips of Sophy, calling her his kind mediatrix
and guardian angel; and behaved with such extravagance of transport, as
plainly evinced the fervour and sincerity of his love.
I shall not pretend to repeat the tender protestations that were uttered
on one side, or describe the bewitching glances of approbation with
which they were received on the other, suffice it to say that the
endearing intimacy of their former connection was instantly renewed, and
Sophy, who congratulated them on the happy termination of their quarrel,
favoured with their mutual confidence. In consequence of this happy
pacification, they deliberated upon the means of seeing each other
often; and as he could not, without some previous introduction, visit
her openly at the house of her relation, they agreed to meet every
afternoon in the park till the next assembly, at which he would solicit
her as a partner, and she be unengaged, in expectation of his request.
By this connection he would be entitled to visit her next day, and
thus an avowed correspondence would of course commence. This plan was
actually put in execution, and attended with a circumstance which had
well-nigh produced some mischievous consequence, had not Peregrine's
good fortune been superior to his discretion.