'Tis pleasing to be schooled in a strange tongue
By female lips and eyes; that is, I mean
When both the teacher and the taught are young,
As was the case, at least, where I had been.
They smile so when one's right, and when one's wrong
They smile still more.
BYRON.
Monsieur de Fontanges, aware of the impetuosity and caprice of his wife
(at the same time that he acknowledged her many redeeming good
qualities), did not further attempt to thwart her inclinations. His
great objection to her plan was, the impropriety of retaining a
prisoner, whom he was bound to give up to the proper authorities. He
made a virtue of necessity, and having acquainted Newton with the wish
of Madame de Fontanges, requested his parole of honour that he would not
attempt to escape, if he was not delivered up to the authorities, and
remain some time at Lieu Desire. Newton, who had no wish to be
acquainted with a French _cachot_, sooner than it was absolutely
necessary, gave the promise required by Monsieur de Fontanges, assuring
him that ingratitude was not a part of his character. Monsieur de
Fontanges then requested that Newton would accept of a portion of his
wardrobe, which he would direct to be sent to the room that would be
prepared for him. This affair being arranged, Newton made his bow to
the lady, and in company with Monsieur de Fontanges, retired from the
boudoir.
It may be suspected by the reader, that Madame de Fontanges was one of
those ladies who cared a great deal about having their own way, and very
little for her husband. As to the first part of the accusation, I can
only observe, that I never yet had the fortune to fall in with any lady
who did not try all she could to have her own way, nor do I conceive it
to be a crime. As to the second, if the reader has formed that
supposition, he is much mistaken. Madame de Fontanges was very much
attached to her husband, and the attachment as well as the confidence
was reciprocal.
It was not therefore from any feeling of jealousy that Monsieur de
Fontanges had combated her resolution; but, as we have before observed,
from a conviction that he was wanting in his duty, when he did not
report the arrival of Newton at the plantation. The wish of Madame de
Fontanges to detain Newton was, as she declared, a caprice on her part,
which had entered her head, to amuse herself by teaching him French. It
is true that had not Newton been remarkably prepossessing in his
appearance, the idea would in all probability have never been conceived;
but, observing that he was much above the common class, and wishing to
relieve the general monotony of her life by any thing which would create
amusement, she had formed the idea, which, when combated by her husband,
was immediately strengthened to a resolution.
Of this Newton received the benefit. An excellent dinner or rather
supper with Monsieur de Fontanges, a comfortable bed in a room supplied
with all that convenience or luxury could demand, enabled him to pass a
very different night from those which we have latterly described.
About twelve o'clock the ensuing day, Newton was summoned by one of the
slave girls to the boudoir of Madame de Fontanges. He found her on the
ottoman, as before. Newton, who had been operated upon by a black
barber, and was dressed in the habiliments of Monsieur de Fontanges,
made a much more respectable appearance than upon his former
introduction.
"Bon jour, Monsieur," said the lady.
Newton bowed respectfully.
"Comment vous appelez-vous?"
Newton, not understanding, answered with another bow.
"Le jeun homme n'entends pas madame," observed Mimi.
"Que c'est ennuyant, monsieur," said Madame Fontanges, pointing to
herself; "Moi--Madame de Fontanges--vous,"--pointing to him.
"Newton Forster."
"Nu--tong Fasta--ah, c'est bon, cela commence," said the lady. "Allons,
mes enfans repetez lui tous vous noms."
"Moi--Mimi," said the girl bearing that name, going up to Newton, and
pointing to herself.
"Mimi," repeated Newton, with a smile and nod of his head.
"Moi--Charlotte."
"Moi--Louise."
"Moi--Celeste."
"Moi--Nina."
"Moi--Caroline."
"Moi--Manchette."
"Et moi--Cupidon," finished the little black boy, running up, and then
retreating as fast back into his corner.
Newton repeated all the names, as the individuals respectively
introduced themselves to him. Then there was a pause, during which, at
the desire of Monsieur de Fontanges, Newton was offered a chair, and sat
down.
"Allons--dites lui les noms de toute la garniture," said Madame de
Fontanges to her attendants.
"Oui, madame," said Mimi, going up to Newton, and pointing to the fan in
her hand,--"eventail."
"Eventail," repeated Newton, who began to be amused, and who now
repeated every French word after them.
"Flacon," said Charlotte, showing him the eau de Cologne bottle.
"Chaise," cried Louise, holding up a chair.
"Livre," said Nina, pointing to a book.
"Mouchoir," said Caroline, holding up an embroidered handkerchief.
"Montre" followed up Manchette, pointing to her mistress's watch.
"Canape," cried Celeste, pointing to the ottoman.
"Joli garcon," bawled out Cupidon, coming up to Newton, and pointing to
himself.
This created a laugh, and then the lesson was continued. Every article
in the room was successively pointed out to Newton, and he was obliged
to repeat the name; and afterwards the articles of their dress were
resorted to, much to his amusement. Then there was a dead stand:--the
fact is, that there is no talking with noun substantives only.
"Ah! mon Dieu! il faut envoyer pour Monsieur de Fontanges," cried the
lady; "va le chercher, Louise."
Monsieur de Fontanges soon made his appearance, when the lady explained
to him their dilemma, and requested his assistance. Monsieur de
Fontanges laughed, and explained to Newton, and then, by means of his
interpretation, connected sentences were made, according to the fancy of
the lady, some of which were the cause of great merriment. After an
hour, the gentlemen made their bows.
"I think," observed Monsieur de Fontanges, as they walked away, "that if
you really are as anxious to learn our language as madame is to teach
you, you had better come to me every morning for an hour. I shall have
great pleasure in giving you any assistance in my power, and I trust
that in a very short time that, with a little study of the grammar and
dictionary, you will be able to hold a conversation with Madame de
Fontanges, or even with her dark-complexioned page."
Newton expressed his acknowledgments, and the next day he received his
first lesson; after which he was summoned to support the theory by
practice in the boudoir of Madame de Fontanges. It is hardly necessary
to observe that each day increased the facility of communication.
For three months Newton was domiciled with Monsieur and Madame
Fontanges, both of whom had gradually formed such an attachment to him,
that the idea of parting never entered their head. He was now a very
tolerable French scholar, and his narratives and adventures were to his
benefactors a source of amusement, which amply repaid them for the
trouble and kindness which they had shown to him. Newton was, in fact,
a general favourite with every one on the plantation, from the highest
to the lowest; and his presence received the same smile of welcome at
the cottage of the slave, as at the boudoir of Madame de Fontanges.
Whatever may have been the result of Newton's observations relative to
slavery in the English colonies, his feelings of dislike insensibly wore
away during his residence at Lieu Desiree; there he was at least
convinced that a slave might be perfectly happy. It must be
acknowledged that the French have invariably proved the kindest and most
considerate of masters, and the state of bondage is much mitigated in
the islands which appertain to that nation. The reason is obvious: in
France, there is a _bonhommie_, a degree of equality established between
the different grades of society by universal politeness. A French
servant is familiar with his master at the same time that he is
respectful: and the master, in return, condescends to his inferior
without forgetting their relative positions. This runs through society
in general, and as no one can well be polite without some good-nature
(for politeness, frivolous as it may appear, is a strong check upon
those feelings of selfishness, too apt to be indulged in), it leads to a
general feeling of good will towards others. This has naturally been
practised by Frenchmen wherever they may be; and the consequence is,
that the slaves are treated with more consideration, and, in return,
have warmer feelings of attachment towards their owners than are to be
found in colonies belonging to other nations. Newton perceived and
acknowledged this, and, comparing the condition of the people at Lieu
Desiree with that of most of the peasantry of Europe, was unwillingly
obliged to confess that the former were in every respect the more
fortunate and the more happy of the two.
One morning, soon after Newton had breakfasted with Monsieur de
Fontanges, and had been summoned to the boudoir, a letter was brought
in. It was from the governor to Monsieur de Fontanges, stating that he
had heard with great surprise that Monsieur de Fontanges concealed an
English prisoner in his house, and desiring that he might be immediately
sent up to head-quarters. That there might be no delay or refusal, a
corporal, accompanied by two file of men, brought down the intimation to
the plantation.
Newton was in the very middle of a long story, Madame de Fontanges on
the ottoman, and her attendants collected round her, seated on the
floor--even Cupidon had advanced from his corner to within half
distance, his mouth and eyes wide open, when Monsieur de Fontanges
entered the boudoir, with anxiety and chagrin expressed in his
countenance.
"Qu'est ce qu'il y a, mon ami?" said Madame de Fontanges, rising hastily
and running up to her husband.
Monsieur de Fontanges answered by putting the governor's letter into his
wife's hands.
"Ah! les barbares!" cried Madame de Fontanges, "est il possible? Pauvre
Monsieur Nutong! on l'amene au cachot."
"Au cachot!" cried all the coloured girls at a breath, and bursting into
tears--"oh ciel!"
Monsieur de Fontanges then explained to Newton the order which he had
received. Newton replied that he had had no right to expect otherwise
on his first landing on the island; that he had incurred a heavy debt of
gratitude to them for having preserved him so long from a prison; and
that the remembrance of their kindness would tend to beguile the tedious
hours of captivity (from which it may appear that Newton, in point of
expressing himself, was half a Frenchman already). He then kissed the
hand of Madame de Fontanges, tried to console the little slave girls,
who were all _au desespoir_, patted Cupidon on the head, by way of
farewell, and quitted the boudoir, in which he had passed so many happy
hours. When he was outside, he again expressed his obligations to
Monsieur de Fontanges, who then stated his determination to call upon
his brother, the governor, and try to alleviate the hardships of his lot
as much as was possible. In less than an hour Newton, in company with
his host, was on the road to Basse Terre, leaving the corporal and his
two file of men to walk back as fast as they could; the corporal having
sufficient _savoir vivre_ not to refuse the pledge of the governor's
brother for the safe delivery of the prisoner.
It was not until late in the evening that they arrived at Basse Terre,
when they immediately proceeded to the house of the governor, and were
admitted to his presence.
The governor, who had been much displeased at the circumstance of Newton
having remained so long on the island, was more pacified when Monsieur
de Fontanges explained to him the way in which he had been made
prisoner, and the hardships which he had previously endured. Monsieur
de Fontanges accounted for his long detention at Lieu Desiree by stating
the real fact, _viz_, the pertinacity of Madame de Fontanges; which,
although it might have been considered a very poor argument in England,
had its due weight in a French colony.
The governor entered into conversation with Newton, who detailed to him
the horrors of the shipwreck which he had undergone. The narrative
appeared to affect him much. He told Newton that under such
circumstances he could hardly consider him as a prisoner, and would take
the first opportunity of releasing him, and would accept his parole for
not quitting the island. Newton returned his thanks for so much
courtesy, and withdrew in company with Monsieur de Fontanges.
"Monsieur le Marquis has much sympathy for those who have been
shipwrecked," observed Monsieur de Fontanges, after they had quitted the
room. "Poor man! he lost his wife, a beautiful young woman, and his
only child, a little girl, about seven years back, when they were
proceeding home in a vessel bound to Havre. The vessel has never been
heard of since, and he has never recovered the loss."
"In what year was it?" inquired Newton.
"In the autumn of the year ---."
"There were many vessels wrecked on our coast during that dreadful
winter," replied Newton: "I myself, when in a coaster, picked up several
articles belonging to a French vessel. I have them in my possession
now;--they are of some value."
"What did they consist of?" inquired Monsieur de Fontanges.
"A large trunk, containing the wearing apparel of a female and a child:
there were also several orders of knighthood, and some jewels; but I
hardly know what they were, as it is some time since I have looked at
them."
"How strange that you could find no clue to discover the names of the
parties!"
"There were French letters," replied Newton, "which I could not read;
they were only signed by initials, which did not correspond with the
marks on the linen belonging to the lady, although the surname might
have been the same as that of the child."
"Do you recollect the initials?"
"Perfectly well: the marks on the lady's apparel were LC, that on the
linen of the infant JF."
"Mon Dieu! mon Dieu!" cried Monsieur de Fontanges; "then it may indeed
have been the apparel of the Marquise de Fontanges. The linen must have
been some marked with her maiden name, which was Louise de Colmar. The
child was christened Julie de Fontanges, after her grandmother. My poor
brother had intended to take his passage home in the same vessel, his
successor being hourly expected; but the frigate in which the new
governor had embarked was taken by an English squadron, and my brother
was forced to remain here."
"Then the property must undoubtedly belong to the marquis," replied
Newton: "I only wish I could have been able to assure him that his wife
and child were equally safe; but that I am afraid is impossible, as
there can be no doubt but that they were all lost. Do you mean to
communicate what I have told you to the marquis?"
"By no means; it will only tear open a wound which has but partially
healed. If you will send me all the particulars when you return I shall
feel much obliged, not that the effects are of any consequence. The
marquise and her child are undoubtedly lost, and it could be no
consolation to my brother to ascertain that a trunk of their effects had
been saved."
Here the conversation dropped, and was never again renewed.
Newton was heartily welcomed again at Lieu Desiree, where he remained
three weeks, when a note from the governor informed him that a cartel
was about to sail.
It was with mutual pain that Newton and his kind friends took their
farewell of each other. In this instance Monsieur de Fontanges did not
accompany him to Basse Terre; but bade him adieu at his own door.
Newton, soon after he was on the road, perceived that Monsieur de
Fontanges had acted from a motive of delicacy, that he might not receive
the thanks of Newton for two valises, well furnished, which overtook
Newton about a quarter of a mile from the plantation, slung on each side
of a horse, under the guidance of a little negro, perched on the middle.
Newton made his acknowledgments to the governor for his kind
consideration, then embarked on board of the Marie Therese schooner, and
in three days he once more found himself on shore in an English colony;
with which piece of information I conclude this chapter.