IN WHICH THE SINE QUA NON OF ALL NOVELS IS, FOR THE FIRST TIME,
INTRODUCED.
In the last chapter I have said in few words that Bessy Goodwin had been
sent to school, and had since returned home. She had been home nearly a
year before the period to which I brought up my history, but now she no
longer was employed in any menial service, the girl who had been hired
during her absence being still retained. Bessy now superintended the
household, but did nothing more; and there was a greater degree of
comfort and expenditure than had formerly been the case. Whether this
was on Bessy's account, or from Bessy's imbibed ideas, I cannot pretend
to say; but certainly there was a great change in our style of living,
which Bramble appeared to sanction. Mrs Maddox remained as a mere
pensioner, sitting by the fire, and perhaps finishing a pair of
stockings about every five or six weeks, talking as usual at and to
everybody and with everything. In another point, also, there was a
change in Bramble's house: it was much oftener filled with company; this
was, I presume, to be ascribed to Bessy's personal charms, which
certainly were very great. She was of a peculiar and much admired style
of beauty, a description which strikes some people at first sight, and
not others--those not perceiving it at first eventually admiring it even
more than the others. She was taller than the middle height, her person
finely developed, yet not so much so as to take away from its grace: her
complexion was pale and clear, her eyes and hair very dark; there was a
coldness about her beauty when in repose, like statuary marble; but if
the least excited or animated, the colour would mantle in her cheek; her
eyes would beam, till they appeared as if, like bright planets, they
could almost cast a shadow; and dimples, before concealed, would show
themselves when indulged in her silvery laugh. Although her form was
commanding, still she was very feminine: there was great attraction in
her face, even when in repose--she was cold, but not chilling.
I had seen little of her for three years, during which she had sprung up
to womanhood, for she was now seventeen, and appeared to be at least
eighteen years old before. Before, when we were living together, we
kissed as brother and sister: since we had again become inmates of the
same house, we had been friends, but nothing more. Bessy certainly
showed as great a preference to me as our relative situations would
admit; but still it appeared as if the extreme intimacy of childhood had
been broken off, and that it was necessary that a renewed intimacy under
another aspect should take place, to restore us to our former relations.
Here it was for me to make the first overtures; not for her, as
maidenly reserve would not permit it. Bramble seemed to be most anxious
that such should be the case--indeed, considered it as a matter of
course: perhaps Bessy thought so too in her own bosom; and the continual
raillery of Bramble did more harm than good, as it appeared to warrant
her thinking that it ought to be so. Why it was not I will now explain
to the reader.
I have already made mention of Mr Wilson, the lawyer, whose
acquaintance we procured through Sir Hercules and his lady. This
intimacy had very much increased; and a Miss Janet Wilson had come home
from a finishing seminary near town. Between this young lady and my
sister Virginia a certain degree of intimacy had been formed, and of
course I had seen a great deal of her at the times when I was at
Greenwich. She was a very pretty and very diminutive girl, but
beautifully proportioned, although so very small; indeed, she was
considered quite a model in figure, at least my mother used to say so,
and I never heard any one disagree with her. Janet had, moreover, large
eyes, pencilled eyebrows, and a dimpled chin. Now, as Bessy was away at
the time when I first made her acquaintance, if all these perfections
were not enough for me to fall in love with, I must have been difficult
to please at the age of eighteen, when one is not so very difficult; and
the consequence was, I was her most devoted slave. Mr Wilson laughed
at us, and seemed either to think that it would end in nothing, or that
if it did end in something he had no objection. Thus was I fixed; and
with Virginia for a confidante, what was to prevent the course of true
love running smooth? Janet received all my sighs, all my protestations,
all my oaths, and all my presents--and many were the latter, although
perhaps not equal to the former three. It was, therefore, not
surprising that Bessy, who had been out of the way, had been forestalled
by this diamond edition of Nature's handiwork. Such was the state of my
heart at the commencement of the year 1805.
I have mentioned that my mother had taken a house in the principal
street; but I must now add that in the year 1804 she found it necessary
to remove into one much larger, and had therefore shifted more to the
upper part of the town. Instead of being in a row, this house was
detached, with a small garden in front and a good piece of ground at the
back, which looked down towards the river. The situation not being so
central did no harm to my mother, as she was so well known; on the
contrary, it made her even more fashionable. She now kept no shop, but
a show-room; and had not only accommodation for more workpeople, but
very handsome apartments to let. In another point it was advantageous,
which was on account of my father. At the end of the garden there was
an octangular summer-house, looking upon the river: it was a good-sized
room, boarded floor, and moreover, it had a fireplace in it, and when
shut up was very warm and comfortable. My mother made this house over
to my father as his own, to smoke and drink beer in; and my father
preferred a place in which he could sit alone with his friends, to a
public house, especially as the garden had a gate at the end of it by
which he could admit himself whenever he pleased. Here my father, Ben
the Whaler, Anderson, and others would sit, having a commanding view of
the Thames and the vessels passing and repassing--in the summer-time,
with all the windows open, and enjoying the fresh air and the fresh
smoke from their pipes--in winter-time surrounding the fire and telling
their yarns. It was an admirable arrangement, and Virginia and I always
knew where to find him.
I have said but little of my sister Virginia. I may be considered
partial to her--perhaps I was; but to me she was, if not the handsomest,
certainly one of the most captivating persons I ever saw: to prove that
I thought so, I can only say that, deeply as I was smitten with Miss
Janet Wilson, I often thought that I wished she was a facsimile of my
sister. Virginia was now seventeen years old, slender and very
graceful: she reminded me more of an antelope in her figure than
anything I can compare her to; her head was so beautifully placed on her
shoulders, that it was the first thing which attracted your notice when
you saw her. Her eyes were of a deep hazel, fringed by long black
eyelashes, and her arching and delicate eyebrows nearly met; her nose
was perfectly straight, but rather small; and her face ended in a sharp
oval, which added to the brilliancy and animation of her countenance;
her mouth was small and beautifully formed, and her little teeth like
seed pearl. Every one declared that she was the handsomest creature
that ever they had seen; and what every one says must be true. She was
so; but she was not always lively--she was only so at times: she
appeared to be of a serious, reflective turn of mind, and she read a
great deal; but at times she was mirth personified. To my mother she
was always dutiful and attentive, and was very useful to her.
I could not at first imagine what made my mother so anxious to have
lodgers in the house, as they must have proved a great nuisance to her,
and her circumstances were above such an infliction. I was not long
before I discovered the cause of this: it was no other but to make up
some good match for my sister, whose beauty she considered would effect
her purpose. Many were the applications for her lodgings, made by
highly respectable gentlemen; but when she discovered, either that they
were married, or that in other points they did not suit, she invariably
refused, and for months her apartments continued vacant; but if anybody
at all aristocratical, who was single, wished to inspect them, my mother
was all smiles and eagerness. It may be supposed that she was not
likely to meet with such people as she solicited at such a town as
Greenwich, but such was not the case: before steamboats made Greenwich
so come-at-able there were many families of distinction who resided
there and in its environs--especially in the autumn of the year, when
the river offered much amusement. It was just at that period that the
whitebait parties became so much in vogue, and Greenwich was considered
a pleasant retreat for a few months by many of the fashionable world.
Although Virginia never mentioned her surmises directly, I perceived, by
her occasional remarks, that she had latterly become aware of what were
my mother's views; indeed, how could she do otherwise, when my mother
would refuse her lodgings one day to a gentleman because he was married,
and let them the next time merely because he was a single man? And that
she was disgusted with my mother's conduct I was convinced; at the same
time, she certainly kept her thoughts to herself, merely telling me how
very uncomfortable it was to have lodgers, and to be obliged to go into
their rooms with messages from my mother. There was an Honourable Mr
---, I really forget his name--indeed, I should not have mentioned him,
except that he was the introduction of another personage--who was
several months in my mother's house, a harmless old bachelor. How old
he was I cannot say, as he wore a very youthful wig and also false
whiskers, but I should think about sixty. He was a great admirer of the
fine arts, and a still greater admirer of his own performances in
painting. He took lessons twice a day from two different masters, who
came from London, and he was at it from morning to night. He came down
to Greenwich, as he said, to study _tints_, and get up his colouring. I
cannot say I thought his performances very good, but perhaps I was not a
judge. My mother, who would, I believe, have sacrificed my sister to an
ourang outang, provided he was an Honourable, took every opportunity of
sending Virginia in to him, that he might study the delicate tints on
her cheeks; but it would not do, even if Virginia had been a party to
it. He looked at his palette instead of her pretty mouth, and his
camel-hair pencils attracted his attention more than her pencilled
eyebrows. He was wrapt up in his art, and overlooked the prettiest
piece of nature in the world; and Virginia, seeing this to be the case,
had no longer any objection to go into his room. But this gentleman had
a nephew, a very different sort of a personage, a young heir to a
marquisate, who used to pay attention to his bachelor uncle by paying
him visits, at first because he was ordered so to do, and after once or
twice because he had seen Virginia, and was struck with her appearance.
He was a good-looking young man, about nineteen? but not very bright--
indeed, I ought to say very silly, although at the same time not at all
bashful. He made an acquaintance with my mother, who was delighted with
his condescension, and declared that he was one of the most pleasant
young men she had ever met with; and he would have been very intimate
with Virginia had she not repulsed him. As soon as the leaves dropped
off the trees the old bachelor declared that there were no more tints
worth remaining for, and he took his departure. About a month
afterwards his nephew came down, accompanied by a young man who was his
tutor, and hired the apartments, much to the joy of my mother, who now
had hopes, and much to the annoyance of my sister, who had fears of
being persecuted.
And now, having in this chapter brought up my history to the
commencement of the year 1805, I shall again enter into a more detailed
narrative.