The two young Gentlemen display their talents for Gallantry, in the
course of which they are involved in a ludicrous circumstance of
Distress, and afterwards take Vengeance on the Author of their Mishap.
Meanwhile our hero and his new friend, together with honest Jack
Hatchway, made daily excursions into the country, visited the gentlemen
in the neighbourhood, and frequently accompanied them to the chase;
all three being exceedingly caressed on account of their talents, which
could accommodate themselves with great facility to the tempers and
turns of their entertainers. The lieutenant was a droll in his way,
Peregrine possessed a great fund of sprightliness and good-humour, and
Godfrey, among his other qualifications already recited, sang a most
excellent song; so that the company of this triumvirate was courted
in all parties, whether male or female: and if the hearts of our
young gentlemen had not been pre-engaged, they would have met with
opportunities in abundance of displaying their address in the art of
love: not but that they gave loose to their gallantry without much
interesting their affections, and amused themselves with little
intrigues, which, in the opinion of a man of pleasure, do not affect his
fidelity to the acknowledged sovereign of his soul.
In the midst of these amusements, our hero received an intimation from
his sister, that she should be overjoyed to meet him next day, at five
o'clock in the afternoon, at the house of her nurse, who lived in a
cottage hard by her father's habitation, she being debarred from all
opportunity of seeing him in any other place by the severity of her
mother, who suspected her inclination. He accordingly obeyed the
summons, and went at the time appointed to the place of rendezvous,
where he met this affectionate young lady, who when he entered the room,
ran towards him with all the eagerness of transport, flung her arms
about his neck, and shed a flood of tears in his bosom before she
could utter one word, except a repetition of My dear, dear brother! He
embraced her with all the piety of fraternal tenderness, wept over her
in his turn, assured her that this was one of the happiest moments of
his life, and kindly thanked her for having resisted the example, and
disobeyed the injunctions, of his mother's unnatural aversion.
He was ravished to find, by her conversation, that she possessed a
great share of sensibility and prudent reflection; for she lamented the
infatuation of her parents with the most filial regret, and expressed
such abhorrence and concern at the villainous disposition of her younger
brother as a humane sister may be supposed to have entertained. He made
her acquainted with all the circumstances of his own fortune; and, as he
supposed she spent her time very disagreeably at home, among characters
which must be shockingly interesting, professed a desire of removing her
into some other sphere, where she could live with more tranquility and
satisfaction.
She objected to this proposal as an expedient that would infallibly
subject her to the implacable resentment of her mother, whose favour and
affection she at present enjoyed but in a very inconsiderable degree;
and they had canvassed divers schemes of corresponding for the future,
when the voice of Mrs. Pickle was heard at the door. Miss Julia (that
was the young lady's name), finding herself betrayed, was seized with
a violent agitation of fear; and Peregrine scarce had time to encourage
her with a promise of protection, before the door of the apartment being
flung open, this irreconcilable parent rushed in, and, with a furious
aspect, flew directly at her trembling daughter, when, the son
interposing, received the first discharge of her fury.
Her eyes gleamed with all the rage of indignation, which choked up her
utterance, and seemed to convulse her whole frame: she twisted her left
hand in his hair, and with the other buffeted him about the face till
the blood gushed from his nostrils and mouth; while he defended his
sister from the cruelty of Gam, who assaulted her from another quarter,
seeing his brother engaged. This attack lasted several minutes with
great violence, till at length Peregrine, finding himself in danger of
being overpowered if he should remain any longer on the defensive, laid
his brother on his back; then he disentangled his mother's hand from his
own hair, and, having pushed her gently out of the room, bolted the door
on the inside; finally, turning to Gam, he threw him out at the window,
among a parcel of hogs that fed under it. By this time Julia was almost
quite distracted with terror: she knew she had offended beyond all hope
of forgiveness, and from that moment considered herself as an exile from
her father's house: in vain did her brother strive to console her
with fresh protestations of love and protection; she counted herself
extremely miserable in being obliged to endure the eternal resentment
of a parent with whom she had hitherto lived; and dreaded the censure of
the world, which, from her mother's misrepresentation, she was sensible
would condemn her unheard. That she might not, however, neglect any
means in her power of averting this storm, she resolved to appease, if
possible, her mother's wrath with humiliation, and even appeal to the
influence of her father, weak as it was, before she would despair
of being forgiven. But the good lady spared her this unnecessary
application, by telling her, through the keyhole, that she must never
expect to come within her father's door again; for, from that hour, she
renounced her as unworthy of her affection and regard. Julia, weeping
bitterly, endeavoured to soften the rigour of this sentence by the most
submissive and reasonable remonstrances; but as, in her vindication, she
of necessity espoused her elder brother's cause, her endeavours, instead
of soothing, served only to exasperate her mother to a higher pitch of
indignation, which discharged itself in invectives against Peregrine,
whom she reviled with the epithets of a worthless, abandoned reprobate.
The youth, hearing these unjust aspersions, trembled with resentment
through every limb, assuring the upbraider that he considered her as an
object of compassion; “for without all doubt,” said he, “your diabolical
rancour must be severely punished by the thorns of your own conscience,
which this very instant taxes you with the malice and falsehood of your
reproaches. As for my sister, I bless God that you have not been able
to infect her with your unnatural prejudice, which, because she is too
just, too virtuous, too humane to imbibe, you reject her as an alien to
your blood, and turn her out unprovided into a barbarous world. But even
there your vicious purpose shall be defeated: that same Providence, that
screened me from the cruelty of your hate, shall extend its protection
to her, until I shall find it convenient to assert by law that right of
maintenance which Nature, it seems, hath bestowed upon us in vain. In
the mean time, you will enjoy the satisfaction of paying an undivided
attention to that darling son, whose amiable qualities have so long
engaged and engrossed your love and esteem.”
This freedom of expostulation exalted his mother's ire to mere frenzy:
she cursed him with the bitterest imprecations, and raved like a
bedlamite at the door, which she attempted to burst open. Her efforts
were seconded by her favourite son, who denounced vengeance against
Peregrine, and made furious assaults against the lock, which resisted
all their applications, until our hero espying his friends Gauntlet and
Pipes stepping over a stile that stood about a furlong from the window,
called them to his assistance: giving them to understand how he was
besieged, he desired they would keep off his mother, that he might the
more easily secure his sister Julia's retreat. The young soldier entered
accordingly, and, posting, himself between Mrs. Pickle and the door,
gave the signal to his friend, who, lifting up his sister in his arms,
carried her safe without the clutches of this she-dragon, while Pipes,
with his cudgel, kept young master at bay.
The mother, being thus deprived of her prey, sprang upon Gauntlet like
a lioness robbed of her whelps; and he must have suffered sorely in the
flesh, had he not prevented her mischievous intent by seizing both her
wrists, and so keeping her at due distance. In attempting to disengage
herself from his grasp, she struggled with such exertion, and suffered
such agony of passion at the same time, that she actually fell into
a severe fit, during which she was put to bed, and the confederates
retired without further molestation.
In the mean time, Peregrine was not a little perplexed about the
disposal of his sister, whom he had rescued. He could not endure the
thoughts of saddling the commodore with a new expense; and he was afraid
of undertaking the charge of Julia, without his benefactor's advice and
direction: for the present, however, he carried her to the house of a
gentleman in the neighbourhood, whose lady was her godmother, where she
was received with great tenderness and condolence; and he purposed to
inquire for some creditable house, where she might be genteelly boarded
in his absence; resolving to maintain her from the savings of his own
allowance, which he thought might very well bear such reduction. But
this intention was frustrated by the publication of the whole affair,
which was divulged next day, and soon reached the ears of Trunnion,
who chid his godson for having concealed the adventure; and, with the
approbation of his wife, ordered him to bring Julia forthwith to the
garrison. The young gentleman, with tears of gratitude in his eyes,
explained his design of maintaining her at his own expense, and
earnestly begged that he might not be deprived of that satisfaction. But
his uncle was deaf to all his entreaties, and insisted upon her living
in the garrison, though for no other reason than that of being company
to her aunt, who, he observed, was lost for want of conversation.
Julia was accordingly brought home, and settled under the tuition of
Mrs. Trunnion, who, whatever face she might put on the matter, could
have dispensed with the society of her niece, though she was not without
hope of gratifying her pique to Mrs. Pickle, by the intelligence she
would receive from the daughter of that lady's economy and domestic
behaviour. The mother herself seemed conscious of this advantage which
her sister-in-law had now gained over her, being as much chagrined at
the news of Julia's reception in the garrison, as if she had heard of
her own husband's death. She even tortured her invention to propagate
calumnies against the reputation of her own daughter, whom she slandered
in all companies; she exclaimed against the commodore as an old
ruffian, who spirited up rebellion among her children, and imputed the
hospitality of his wife, in countenancing them, to nothing else but her
inveterate enmity to their mother, whom they had disobliged. She now
insisted, in the most peremptory terms, upon her husband's renouncing
all commerce with the old lad of the castle and his adherents; and Mr.
Gamaliel, having by this time contracted other friendships, readily
submitted to her will; nay, even refused to communicate with the
commodore one night, when they happened to meet by accident at the
public-house.