He is engaged in a very extraordinary Correspondence, which is
interrupted by a very unexpected Event.
While this affair was in agitation, the captain told him in the course
of conversation, that Emilia was arrived in town, and had inquired about
Mr. Pickle with such an eagerness of concern, as seemed to proclaim that
she was in some measure informed of his misfortune: he therefore
desired to know if he might be allowed to make her acquainted with
his situation, provided he should be again importuned by her on that
subject, which he had at first industriously waived. This proof, or
rather presumption, of her sympathizing regard, did not fail to operate
powerfully upon the bosom of Peregrine, which was immediately filled
with those tumults which love, ill-stifled, frequently excites. He
observed, that his disgrace was such as could not be effectually
concealed; therefore he saw no reason for depriving himself of Emilia's
compassion, since he was for ever excluded from her affection; and
desired Godfrey to present to his sister the lowly respects of a
despairing lover.
But, notwithstanding his declaration of despondence on this head, his
imagination involuntarily teemed with more agreeable ideas. The proposal
of Crabtree had taken root in his reflection, and he could not help
forming plans of pastoral felicity in the arms of the lovely Emilia,
remote from those pompous scenes which he now detested and despised.
He amused his fancy with the prospect of being able to support her in a
state of independency, by means of the slender annuity which it was
in his power to purchase, together with the fruits of those endeavours
which would profitably employ his vacant hours; and foresaw provision
for his growing family in the friendship of the lieutenant, who had
already constituted him his heir. He even parcelled out his hours among
the necessary cares of the world, the pleasures of domestic bliss, and
the enjoyments of a country life; and spent the night in ideal parties
with his charming bride, sometimes walking by the sedgy bank of some
transparent stream, sometimes pruning the luxuriant vine, and sometimes
sitting in social converse with her in a shady grove of his own
planting.
These, however, were no more than the shadowy phantoms of imagination,
which, he well knew, would never be realized: not that he believed such
happiness unattainable by a person in his circumstances, but because he
would not stoop to propose a scheme which might, in any shape, seem to
interfere with the interest of Emilia, or subject himself to a repulse
from that young lady, who had rejected his addresses in the zenith of
his fortune.
While he diverted himself with these agreeable reveries, an unexpected
event intervened, in which she and her brother were deeply interested.
The uncle was tapped for the dropsy, and died in a few days after the
operation, having bequeathed, in his will, five thousand pounds to his
nephew, and twice that sum to his niece, who had always enjoyed the
greatest share of his favour.
If our adventurer, before this occurrence, looked upon his love for
Emilia as a passion which it was necessary, at any rate, to conquer or
suppress, he now considered her accession of fortune as a circumstance
which confirmed that necessity, and resolved to discourage every thought
on that subject which should tend to the propagation of hope. One day,
in the midst of a conversation calculated for the purpose, Godfrey put
into his hand a letter directed to Mr. Pickle, in the handwriting of
Emilia, which the youth no sooner recognized, than his cheeks were
covered with a crimson dye, and he began to tremble with violent
agitation; for he at once guessed the import of the billet, which he
kissed with great reverence and devotion, and was not at all surprised
when he read the following words:--
Sir,--I have performed a sufficient sacrifice to my
reputation, in retaining hitherto the appearance of that
resentment which I had long ago dismissed; and as the
late favourable change in my situation empowers me to
avow my genuine sentiments, without fear of censure, or
suspicion of mercenary design, I take this opportunity
to assure you, that, if I still maintain that place in
your heart which I was vain enough to think I once
possessed, I am willing to make the first advances to an
accommodation, and have actually furnished my brother
with full powers to conclude it in the name of your
appeased
“Emilia.”
Pickle, having kissed the subscription with great ardour, fell upon his
knees, and lifting up his eyes, “Thank Heaven!” cried he, with an air
of transport, “I have not been mistaken in my opinion of that generous
maid. I believed her inspired with the most dignified and heroic
sentiments, and now she gives me a convincing proof of her magnanimity.
It is now my business to approve myself worthy of her regard. May Heaven
inflict upon me the keenest arrows of its vengeance, if I do not, at
this instant, contemplate the character of Emilia with the most perfect
love and adoration; yet, amiable and enchanting as she is, I am, more
than ever, determined to sacrifice the interest of my passion to my
glory, though my life should fail in the contest; and even to refuse
an offer, which, otherwise, the whole universe should not bribe me to
forego.”
This declaration was not so unexpected as unwelcome to his friend
Gauntlet, who represented that his glory was not at all interested in
the affair; because he had already vindicated his generosity in
repeated proffers to lay his whole fortune at Emilia's feet, when it
was impossible that anything selfish could enter into the proposal;
but that, in rejecting her present purpose, he would give the world
an opportunity to say, that his pride was capricious, his obstinacy
invincible; and his sister would have undeniable reason to believe,
that either his passion for her was dissembled, or the ardour of it
considerably abated.
In answer to these remonstrances, Pickle observed, that he had long
set the world at defiance; and, as to the opinion of Emilia, he did not
doubt that she would applaud in her heart the resolution he had taken,
and do justice to the purity of his intention. It was not an easy task
to divert our hero from his designs at any time of life; but, since his
confinement, his inflexibility was become almost insurmountable. The
captain, therefore, after having discharged his conscience, in assuring
him that his sister's happiness was at stake, that his mother had
approved of the step she had taken, and that he himself should be
extremely mortified at his refusal, forbore to press him with further
argument, which served only to rivet him the more strongly in his own
opinion, and undertook to deliver this answer to Emilia's letter:--
Madam,--That I revere the dignity of your virtue with the
utmost veneration, and love you infinitely more than life,
I am at all times ready to demonstrate; but the sacrifice
to honour it is now my turn to pay; and such is the rigour
of my destiny, that, in order to justify your generosity,
I must refuse to profit by your condescension. Madam, I am
doomed to be for ever wretched; and to sigh without ceasing
for the possession of that jewel, which, though now in my
offer, I dare not enjoy. I shall not pretend to express the
anguish that tears my heart, whilst I communicate this fatal
renunciation, but appeal to the delicacy of your own
sentiments, which can judge of my sufferings, and will,
doubtless, do justice to the self-denial of your forlorn
“P. Pickle.”
Emilia, who knew the nicety of our hero's pride, had foreseen the
purport of this epistle before it came to her hands; she did not,
therefore, despair of success, nor desist from the prosecution of her
plan, which was no other than that of securing her own happiness, in
espousing the man upon whom she had fixed her unalterable affection.
Confident of his honour, and fully satisfied of the mutual passion with
which they were inspired, she gradually decoyed him into a literary
correspondence, wherein she attempted to refute the arguments on which
he grounded his refusal; and, without doubt, the young gentleman was not
a little pleased with the enjoyment of such delightful commerce, in the
course of which he had, more than ever, an opportunity of admiring the
poignancy of her wit, and the elegance of her understanding.
The contemplation of such excellency, while it strengthened the chains
with which she held him enslaved, added emulation to the other motives
that induced him to maintain the dispute; and much subtlety of reasoning
was expended upon both sides of this very particular question, without
any prospect of conviction on either part, till, at last, she began to
despair of making him a proselyte to her opinion by dint of argument;
and resolved for the future to apply herself chiefly to the irresistible
prepossessions of his love, which were not at all diminished or impaired
by the essays of her pen. With this view she proposed a conference,
pretending that it was impossible to convey all her reflections upon
this subject in a series of short letters; and Godfrey undertook to bail
him for the day. But, conscious of her power, he would not trust himself
in her presence, though his heart throbbed with all the eagerness of
desire to see her fair eyes disrobed of that resentment which they
had worn so long, and to enjoy the ravishing sweets of a fond
reconciliation.
Nature could not have held out against such powerful attacks, had not
the pride and caprice of his disposition been gratified to the full in
the triumph of his resistance; he looked upon the contest as altogether
original, and persevered with obstinacy, because he thought himself
sure of favourable terms, whenever he should be disposed to
capitulate. Perhaps he might have overshot himself in the course of his
perseverance. A young lady of Emilia's fortune and attractions could
not fail to find herself surrounded by temptations, which few women can
resist. She might have misinterpreted the meaning of some paragraph or
taken umbrage at an unguarded expression in one of Peregrine's letters.
She might have been tired out by his obstinate peculiarity, or, at the
long run, construed it into madness, slight, or indifference; or, rather
than waste her prime in fruitless endeavours to subdue the pride of
a headstrong humourist, she might have listened to the voice of some
admirer, fraught with qualifications sufficient to engage her esteem and
affection. But all these possibilities were providentially prevented by
an accident attended with more important consequences than any we have
hitherto recounted.
Early one morning Pipes was disturbed by the arrival of a messenger, who
had been sent express from the country by Mr. Clover, with a packet for
the lieutenant, and arrived in town overnight; but as he was obliged to
have recourse to the information of Jack's correspondent in the city,
touching the place of his abode, before he demanded entrance at the
Fleet the gate was shut; nor would the turnkeys admit him, although he
told them that he was charged with a message of the utmost consequence;
so that he was fain to tarry till daybreak, when he, at his earnest
solicitation, was allowed to enter.
Hatchway, opening the packet, found a letter enclosed for Peregrine,
with an earnest request that he should forward it to the hands of that
young gentleman with all possible despatch. Jack, who could not dive
into the meaning of this extraordinary injunction, began to imagine
that Mrs. Clover lay at the point of death, and wanted to take a last
farewell of her brother; and this conceit worked so strongly upon his
imagination, that, while he huddled on his clothes, and made the best of
his way to the apartment of our hero, he could not help cursing, within
himself, the folly of the husband in sending such disagreeable messages
to a man of Peregrine's impatient temper, already soured by his own
uneasy situation. This reflection would have induced him to suppress the
letter, had not he been afraid to tamper with the ticklish disposition
of his friend, to whom, while he delivered it, “As for my own part,”
said he, “mayhap I may have as much natural affection as another, but
when my spouse parted, I bore my misfortune like a British man, and a
Christian. For why? He's no better than a fresh-water sailor, who knows
not how to stem the current of mischance.”
Pickle being waked from a pleasant dream, in which the fair Emilia was
principally concerned, and hearing this strange preamble, sat up in his
bed, and unsealed the letter, in a state of mortification and disgust.
But what were the emotions of his soul, when he read the following
intimation:--
Dear Brother,--It hath pleased God to take your father
suddenly off by a fit of apoplexy; and as he has died
intestate, I give you this notice, that you may, with all
speed, come down and take possession of your right, in
despite of Master Gam and his mother, who, you may be sure,
do not sit easy under this unexpected dispensation of
Providence. I have, by virtue of being a justice of the
peace, taken such precautions as I thought necessary for
your advantage; and the funeral shall be deferred until
your pleasure be known. Your sister, though sincerely
afflicted by her father's fate, submits to the will of
Heaven with laudable resignation, and begs you will set
out for this place without delay; in which request she is
joined by, sir, your affectionate brother, and humble
servant, “Charles Clover.”
Peregrine at first looked upon this epistle as a mere illusion of the
brain, and a continuation of the reverie in which he had been engaged.
He read it ten times over, without being persuaded that he was actually
awake. He rubbed his eyes, and shook his head, in order to shake off
the drowsy vapours that surrounded him. He hemmed thrice with great
vociferation, snapped his fingers, tweaked his nose, started up from his
bed, and, opening the casement, took a survey of the well-known
objects that appeared on each side of his habitation. Everything seemed
congruous and connected, and he said within himself, “Sure this is the
most distinct dream that ever sleep produced.” Then he had recourse
again to the paper, which he carefully perused, without finding any
variation from his first notion of the contents.
Hatchway, seeing all his extravagances of action, accompanied with a
wild stare of distraction, began to believe that his head was at length
fairly turned, and was really meditating means for securing his person,
when Pickle, in a tone of surprise, exclaimed, “Good God! am I or am I
not awake?”--“Why look ye, cousin Pickle,” replied the lieutenant, “that
is a question which the deep sea-line of my understanding is not long
enough to sound; but howsomever, thof I can't trust to the observation
I have taken, it shall go hard but I will fall upon a way to guess
whereabouts we are.” So saying, he lifted up a pitcher full of cold
water, that stood behind the outward door, and discharged it in the face
of Peregrine without ceremony or hesitation. This remedy produced the
desired effect. Unpalatable as it was, the young gentleman no sooner
recovered his breath, which was endangered by such a sudden application,
than he thanked his friend Jack for the seasonable operation he had
performed. Having no longer any just reason to doubt the reality of
what appeared so convincingly to his senses, he shifted himself on the
instant, not without hurry and trepidation; and, putting on his morning
dress, sallied forth to the Bare, in order to deliberate with himself on
the important intelligence he had received.
Hatchway, not yet fully convinced of his sanity, and curious to know the
purport of the letter, which had affected him in such an extraordinary
manner, carefully attended his footsteps in this excursion, in hope
of being favoured with his confidence, in the course of their
perambulation. Our hero no sooner appeared at the street door, than he
was saluted by the messenger, who having posted himself in the way for
that purpose, “God bless your noble honour, Squire Pickle,” cried he,
“and give you joy of succeeding to your father's estate.” These words
had scarce proceeded from his mouth, when the lieutenant, hopping
eagerly towards the countryman, squeezed his hand with great affection,
and asked if the old gentleman had actually taken his departure. “Ay,
Master Hatchway,” replied the other, “in such a woundy haste, that he
forgot to make a will.”--“Body of me!” exclaimed the seaman; “these are
the best tidings I have ever heard since I first went to sea. Here, my
lad, take my purse, and stow thyself chuck full of the best liquor
in the land.” So saying, he tipped the peasant with ten pieces, and
immediately the whole place echoed the sound of Tom's instrument.
Peregrine, repairing to the walk, communicated the billet to his honest
friend, who at his desire went forthwith to the lodgings of Captain
Gauntlet, and returned in less than an hour with that gentleman, who, I
need not say, was heartily rejoiced at the occasion.