_Mount Ephraim_
This expected guest arrived early. Camilla received her with the only
sensation of pleasure she had experienced at Tunbridge. Yet what she
excited seemed still stronger: the fair stranger besought her friendship
as a solace to her existence, and hung upon her as upon a treasure long
lost, and dearly recovered. Camilla soon caught the infection of her
softness, and felt a similar desire to cultivate her regard. She found
her beauty attractive, her voice melodious, and her manners bewitchingly
caressing.
Fearing, nevertheless, while yet in ignorance of her connexions, to
provoke further ridicule from Mrs. Arlbery by going abroad with her, she
proposed deferring to return her visit till another day: the lady
consented, and they spent together two hours, which each thought had
been but two minutes, when Mrs. Arlbery summoned Camilla to a walk.
The fair unknown then took leave, saying her servant was in waiting; and
Camilla and Mrs. Arlbery went to the bookseller's.
Here, that lady was soon joined by Lord O'Lerney and General Kinsale,
who were warm admirers of her vivacity and observations. Mr. Dennel took
up the Daily Advertiser; his daughter stationed herself at the door to
see the walkers upon the Pantiles; Sir Theophilus Jarard, under colour
of looking at a popular pamphlet, was indulging in a nap in a corner;
Lord Newford, noticing nothing, except his own figure as he past a
mirrour, was shuffling loud about the floor, which was not much
embellished by the scraping of his boots; and Sir Sedley Clarendel,
lounging upon a chair in the middle of the shop, sat eating _bon bons_.
Mrs. Arlbery, for some time, confined her talents to general remarks:
but finding these failed to move a muscle in the face of Sir Sedley, at
whom they were directed, she suddenly exclaimed: 'Pray, my Lord
O'Lerney, do you know any thing of Sir Sedley Clarendel?'
'Not so much,' answered his Lordship, 'as I could wish; but I hope to
improve my acquaintance with him.'
'Why then, my lord, I am much afraid you will conclude, when you see him
in one of those reveries, from the total vacancy of his air, that he is
thinking of nothing. But pray permit me to take his part. Those apparent
cogitations, to which he is so much addicted, are moments only of
pretended torpor, but of real torment, devoted, not as they appear, to
supine insipidity, but to painful secret labour how next he may call
himself into notice. Nevertheless, my lord, don't let what I have said
hurt him in your opinion; he is quaint, to be sure, but there's no harm
in him. He lives in my neighbourhood; and, I assure your lordship, he
is, upon the whole, what may be called a very good sort of man.'
Here she yawned violently; and Sir Sedley, unable to maintain his
position, twice crossed his legs, and then arose and took up a book:
while Lord Newford burst into so loud a laugh, that he awakened Sir
Theophilus Jarard, by echoing, 'A good sort of man! O poor Clary!... O
hang it!... O curse it!... poor Clary!'
'What's the matter with Clary?' cried Sir Theophilus, rubbing his eyes;
'I have been boring myself with this pamphlet, till I hardly know
whether I am awake or asleep.'
'Why, he's a good sort of man!' replied Lord Newford.
Sir Sedley, though he expected, and even hoped for some pointed
strictures, and could have defied even abuse, could not stand this
mortifying praise; and, asking for the subscription books, which,
already, he had twice examined, said: 'Is there any body here one
knows?'
'O, ay, have you any names?' cried Lord Newford, seizing them first; and
with some right, as they were the only books in the shop he ever read.
'Come, I'll be generous,' said Mrs. Arlbery, 'and add another signature
against your lordship's next lecture.'
She then wrote her name, and threw down half-a-guinea. Camilla, to whom
the book was next presented, concluded this the established custom, and,
from mere timidity, did the same; though somewhat disturbed to leave
herself no more gold than she gave. Miss Dennel followed; but her
father, who said he did not come to Tunbridge to read, which he could do
at home, positively refused to subscribe.
Sir Theophilus now, turning, or rather, tossing over the leaves, cried:
'I see no name here one knows any thing of, but Lady Alithea Selmore.'
'Why, there's nobody else here,' said Lord Newford, 'not a soul!'
Almost every body present bowed; but wholly indifferent to reproof, he
again whistled, again streamed up and down the room, and again took a
bold and full survey of himself in the looking-glass.
'On the contrary,' cried Sir Sedley, 'I hear there is a most
extraordinary fine creature lately arrived, who is invincible to a
degree.'
'O that's Mrs. Berlinton;' said Sir Theophilus; 'yes, she's a pretty
little thing.'
'She's very beautiful indeed,' said Lord O'Lerney.
'Where can one see her?' cried Mrs. Arlbery.
'If she is not at the Rooms to-night,' said Sir Sedley, 'I shall be
stupified to petrifaction. They tell me she is a marvel of the first
water; turning all heads by her beauty, winning all hearts by her
sweetness, fascinating all attention by her talents, and setting all
fashions by her elegance.'
'This paragon,' cried Mrs. Arlbery, to Camilla, 'can be no other than
your mysterious fair. The description just suits your own.'
'But my fair mysterious,' said Camilla, 'is of a disposition the most
retired, and seems so young, I don't at all think her married.'
'This divinity,' said Sir Sedley, 'for the blessing of everyone, yet
Lord of Himself, uncumber'd by a Wife[1],
[Footnote 1: Dryden]
is safely noosed; and amongst her attributes are two others cruel to
desperation; she excited every hope by a sposo properly detestable--yet
gives birth to despair, by a coldness the most shivering.'
'And what,' said Mrs. Arlbery, 'is this Lady Alithea Selmore?'
'Lady Alithea Selmore,' drily, but with a smile, answered General
Kinsale.
'Nay, nay, that's not to be mentioned irreverently,' returned Mrs.
Arlbery; 'a title goes for a vast deal, where there is nothing else;
and, where there is something, doubles its value.
Mr. Dennel, saying he found, by the newspaper, a house was to be sold
upon Mount Ephraim, which promised to be a pretty good bargain, proposed
walking thither, to examine what sort of condition it was in.
Lord O'Lerney inquired if Camilla had yet seen Mount Ephraim. No, she
answered; and a general party was made for an airing. Sir Sedley ordered
his phaeton; Mrs. Arlbery drove Camilla in her's; Miss Dennel walked
with her father; and the rest of the gentlemen went on horseback.
* * * * *
Arrived at Mount Ephraim, they all agreed to alight, and enjoy the view
and pure air of the hill, while Mr. Dennel visited the house. But, just
as Mrs. Arlbery had descended from the phaeton, her horses, taking
fright at some object that suddenly struck them, reared up, in a manner
alarming to the spectators, and still more terrific to Camilla, in whose
hands Mrs. Arlbery had left the reins: and the servant, who stood at the
horses' heads, received a kick that laid him flat on the ground.
'O, jump out! jump out!' cried Miss Dennel, 'or else you'll be
murdered!'
'No! no! keep your seat, and hold the reins!' cried Mrs. Arlbery: 'For
heaven's sake, don't jump out!'
Camilla, mentally giddy, but personally courageous, was sufficiently
mistress of herself to obey the last injunction, though with infinite
labour, difficulty, and terror, the horses plunging and flouncing
incessantly.
'Don't you think she'll be killed?' cried Lord Newford, dismounting,
lest his own horse should also take fright. 'Do you think one could
help her?' said Sir Theophilus Jarard, steadily holding the bridle of
his mare from the same apprehension.
Lord O'Lerney was already on foot to afford her assistance, when the
horses, suddenly turning round, gave to the beholders the dreadful
menace of going down the steep declivity of Mount Ephraim full gallop.
Camilla now, appalled, had no longer power to hold the reins; she let
them go, with an idea of flinging herself out of the carriage, when Sir
Sedley, who had darted like lightning from his phaeton, presented
himself at the horses' heads, on the moment of their turning, and, at
the visible and imminent hazard of his life, happily stopt them while
she jumped to the ground. They then, with a fury that presently dashed
the phaeton to pieces, plunged down the hill.
The fright of Camilla had not robbed her of her senses, and the exertion
and humanity of Sir Sedley seemed to restore to him the full possession
of his own: yet one of his knees was so much hurt, that he sunk upon the
grass.
Penetrated with surprise, as well as gratitude, Camilla, notwithstanding
her own tremor, was the first to make the most anxious inquiries:
secretly, however, sighing to herself: Ah! had Edgar thus rescued me!
yet struck equally with a sense of obligation and of danger, from the
horrible, if not fatal mischief she had escaped, and from the
extraordinary hazard and kindness by which she had been saved, she
expressed her concern and acknowledgments with a softness, that even Sir
Sedley himself could not listen to unmoved.
He received, indeed, from this adventure, almost every species of
pleasure of which his mind was capable. His natural courage, which he
had nearly annihilated, as well as forgotten, by the effeminate part he
was systematically playing, seemed to rejoice in being again exercised;
his good nature was delighted by the essential service he had performed;
his vanity was gratified by the publicity of the praise it brought
forth; and his heart itself experienced something like an original
feeling, unspoilt by the apathy of satiety, from the sensibility he had
awakened in the young and lovely Camilla.
The party immediately flocked around him, and he was conveyed to a house
belonging to Lord O'Lerney, who resided upon Mount Ephraim, and his
lordship's carriage was ordered to take him to his apartment at the
hotel.
Mrs. Arlbery, whose high spirits were totally subdued by the terror with
which she had been seized at the danger of Camilla, was so delighted by
her rescue, and the courage with which it was effected, that all her
spleen against Sir Sedley was changed into the warmest approbation. When
he was put into the coach, she insisted upon seeing him safe to the
hotel; Camilla, with her usual inartificial quickness, seconding the
motion, and Lord O'Lerney, a nobleman far more distinguished by
benevolence and urbanity than by his rank, taking the fourth place
himself. The servant, who was considerably hurt, he desired might remain
at his house.
In descending Mount Ephraim, Camilla turned giddy with the view of what
she had escaped, and cast her eyes with doubled thankfulness upon Sir
Sedley as her preserver. Fragments of the phaeton were strewed upon the
road; one of the horses [lay] dead at the bottom of the hill; and the
other was so much injured as to be totally disabled for future service.
When they came to the hotel, they all alighted with the young baronet,
Camilla with as little thought, as Mrs. Arlbery with little care for
doing any thing that was unusual. They waited in an adjoining apartment
till they were assured nothing of any consequence was the matter, and
Lord O'Lerney then carried them to their new lodging upon Mount
Pleasant.
Mrs. Arlbery bore her own share in this accident with perfect
good-humour, saying it would do her infinite good, by making her a rigid
oeconomist; for she could neither live without a phaeton, nor yet
build one, and buy ponies, but by parsimonious savings from all other
expenses.
* * * * *
At night they went again to the Rooms. But Mrs. Arlbery found in them as
little amusement as Camilla. Sir Sedley was not there, either to attack
or to flatter; the celebrated Mrs. Berlinton still appeared not to
undergo a scrutiny; and Lady Alithea Selmore sat at the upper end of the
apartment, attended by all the beaux, except the General, now at
Tunbridge.
This was not to be supported. She arose, and declaring she would take
her tea with the invalid, bid the General escort her to his room.
In their way out, she perceived the assembly books. Recollecting she had
not subscribed, she entered her name, but protested she could afford but
half-a-guinea, upon her present new and avaricious plan.
Camilla, with much secret consternation, concluded it impossible to give
less; and a few shillings were now all that remained in her purse. Her
uneasiness, however, presently passed away, upon recollecting she should
want no more money, as she was now free of the rooms, and of the
library, and equipped in attire for the whole time she should stay.
Miss Dennel put down a guinea; but her father, telling her half-a-crown
would have done, said, for that reason, he should himself pay nothing.
Sir Sedley received them with the most unaffected pleasure: forced upon
solitude, and by no means free from pain, he had found no resource but
in reading, which of late had been his least occupation, except the mere
politics of the day. Even reflection had discovered its way to him,
though a long banished guest, which had quitted her post, to make room
for affectation, vanity, and every species of frivolity. Reduced,
however, to be reasonable, even by this short confinement, he now felt
the obligation of their charitable visit, and set his foppery and
conceit apart, from a desire to entertain them. Camilla had not
conceived he had the power of being so pleasantly natural; and the
strong feeling of gratitude in her ever warm heart made her contribute
what she was able to the cheerfulness of the evening.
Some time after, General Kinsale was called out, and presently returned
with Major Cerwood, just arrived from the regiment; who, with some
apology to Sir Sedley, hoped he might be pardoned for the liberty he
took, upon hearing who was at the hotel, of preferring such society to
the Rooms.
As the Major had nothing in him either brilliant or offensive, his
sight, after the first salutations, was almost all of which the company
was sensible.
Camilla, his sole object, he could not approach; she sat between the
baronet and Mrs. Arlbery; and all her looks and all her attention were
divided between them.
Mrs. Arlbery, emerging from the mortifications of neglect, which she had
experienced, almost for the first time in her life, at the Rooms, was
unusually alive and entertaining; Sir Sedley kept pace with her, and
the discourse was so whimsical, that Camilla, amused, and willing to
encourage a sensation so natural to her, after a sadness till now, for
so long a time unremitting, once more heard and welcomed the sound of
her own laughter.
It was instantly, however, and strangely checked; a sigh, so deep that
it might rather be called a groan, made its way through the wainscot of
the next apartment.
Much raillery followed the sight of her changed countenance; the hotel
was pronounced to be haunted, and by a ghost reduced to that plight from
her cruelty. But the good-humour and gaiety of the conversation soon
brought her again to its tone; and time passed with general hilarity,
till they observed that Miss Dennel, who, having no young female to talk
with of her own views and affairs, was thoroughly tired, had fallen fast
asleep upon her chair.
Her father was already gone home to a hot supper, which he had ordered
in his own room, and meant to eat before their return; Mrs. Arlbery, to
his great discomfort, allowing nothing to appear at night but fruit or
oysters.
They now took leave, Mrs. Arlbery conducted by the General, and Camilla,
by the Major; while Miss Dennel, unassisted and half asleep, stumbled,
screamed, and fell, just before she reached the staircase.
The General was first to aid her; the Major, not choosing to quit
Camilla; who, looking round at a light which came from the room whence
the sigh they had heard had issued, perceived, as it glared in her eyes,
it was held by Edgar.
Astonishment, pleasure, hope, and shame, took alternate rapid possession
of her mind; but the last sensation was the first that visibly operated,
and she snatched her hand involuntarily from the Major.
Mrs. Arlbery exclaimed, 'Bless me, Mr. Mandlebert! are you the ghost we
heard sighing in that room yonder?'
Mandlebert attempted to make some slight answer; but his voice refused
all sound.
She went on, then, to the carriage of Mr. Dennel, followed by her young
ladies, and drove off for Mount Pleasant.