_The Rooms_
The evening, as usual, was destined to the Rooms. The first object
Camilla perceived upon her entrance was Edgar, and the smile with which
she met his eye brought him instantly to her side. That smile was not
less radiant for his nearer approach; nor was his pleasure in it less
animated for observing that Major Cerwood was not of her party, nor as
yet in the room. The opportunity seemed inviting to engage her himself;
to suggest and to find it irresistible was the same thing, and he
inquired if her whole evening were arranged, or she would go down two
dances with an old friend.
The softness of her assent was even exquisite delight to him; and, as
they all walked up and down the apartment, though he addressed her but
little, and though she spoke but in answer, every word he uttered she
received as couching some gentle meaning, and every syllable she
replied, he thought conveyed something of flattering interest: and
although all was upon open and unavoidable subjects, he had no eyes but
for her, she had no attention but for him.
This quiet, yet heart-felt intercourse, was soon a little interrupted by
the appearance of a large and striking party, led on by Lady Alithea
Selmore; for which every body made way, to which every body turned, and
which, passing by all the company without seeming conscious there was
any to pass, formed a mass at the upper end of the room, with an air and
manner of such exclusive attention to their chief, or to one another,
that common observation would have concluded some film before their eyes
obstructed their discerning that they were not the sole engrossers of
the apartment.
But such was not the judgment formed of them by Mrs. Arlbery, who,
forced by the stream to give them passage, paid herself for the
condescension by a commentary upon the passengers. 'Those good people,'
said she, 'strive to make us believe we are nothing to them. They strive
even to believe it themselves. But this is the mere semblance worn by
pride and affectation, to veil internal fatigue. They come hither to
recruit their exhausted powers, not, indeed, by joining in our society,
but by a view of new objects for their senses, and the flattering idea,
for their minds, of the envy or admiration they excite. They are all
people of some consequence, and many of them are people of title: but
these are far the most supportable of the group; their privileged
superiority over the rest is so marked and indisputable, that they are
saved the trouble either of claiming or ascertaining it: but those who
approach their rank without reaching it, live in a constant struggle to
make known their importance. Indeed, I have often seen that people of
title are less gratified with the sound of their own honours, than
people of no title in pronouncing them.'
Sir Sedley Clarendel was of this set. Like the rest he passed Mrs.
Arlbery without seeming to notice her, and was passing Camilla in the
same manner; but not aware this was only to be fine, like the party to
which he belonged, she very innocently spoke to him herself, to hope he
got safe to his lodgings, without feeling any further ill effect from
his accident.
Sir Sedley, though internally much gratified by this interest in his
safety, which in Camilla was the result of having herself endangered it,
looked as if he scarce recollected her, and making hastily a kind of
half bow, walked on with his company.
Camilla, who had no view, nor one serious thought concerning him, was
rather amused than displeased by his caprices; and was preparing to
relate the history of his lameness to Edgar, who seemed surprised and
even hurt by her addressing him, and by his so slightly passing her,
when the entrance of another splendid party interrupted all discourse.
And here, to her utter amaze, she beheld, as chief of the group, her
romantic new friend; not leading, indeed, like Lady Alithea Selmore, a
train, but surrounded by admirers, who, seeking no eye but hers, seemed
dim and humble planets, moving round a radiant sun.
Camilla now, forgetting Sir Sedley, would have taken this moment to
narrate her adventure with Mrs. Berlinton, had not her design been
defeated by the approach of the Major. He belonged to this last group,
but was the only one that separated from it. He spoke to Camilla with
his usual air of devotion, told her he had dined with Mrs. Berlinton, to
whose husband, whom he had taken for her grandfather, he had been just
introduced; and begged to know of Mrs. Arlbery if he might have the
pleasure of bringing them all acquainted; an offer which Camilla,
unauthorised by Mrs. Berlinton, had not ventured to make. Mrs. Arlbery
declined the proposal; not anxious to mix where she had small chance of
presiding.
The party, after traversing the room, took full and exclusive possession
of a considerable spot just below that occupied by Lady Alithea.
These two companies completely engrossed all attention, amply supplying
the rest of the assembly with topics for discourse. The set with Lady
Alithea Selmore was, in general, haughty, supercilious, and taciturn;
looking around with eyes determined to see neither any person nor any
thing before them, and rarely speaking, except to applaud what fell from
her ladyship; who far less proud, because a lover of popularity, deigned
herself, from time to time, a slight glance at the company, to see if
she was observed, and to enjoy its reverence.
The party to which Mrs. Berlinton was the loadstone, was far more
attractive to the disciples of nature, though less sedulously sought by
those whom the manners and maxims of the common world had sophisticated.
They were gay, elegant, desirous to please, because pleased themselves;
and though some of them harboured designs deeper and more dangerous than
any formed by the votaries of rank, they appeared to have nothing more
in view than to decorate with flowers the present moment. The magnetic
influence of beauty was, however, more powerful than that of the _ton_;
for though Mrs. Berlinton, from time to time, allured a beau from Lady
Alithea Selmore, her ladyship, during the whole season, had not one
retaliation to boast. But, on the other hand, the females, in general,
strove to cluster about Lady Alithea; Mrs. Berlinton leaving them no
greater chance of rival-ship in conversation than in charms.
Edgar had made way upon the approach of the Major, who wore an air of
superior claim extremely unpleasant to him; but, since already engaged
to Camilla, he meant to return to her when the dancing began.
She concluded he left her but to speak to some acquaintance, and was,
herself, amply occupied in observing her new friend. The light in which
she now beheld her, admired, pursued, and adulated, elegantly adorned in
her person, and evidently with but one rival for fame and fashion in
Tunbridge, filled her with astonishment. Nothing could less assort with
her passion for solitude, her fondness for literary and sentimental
discussions, and her enthusiasm in friendship. But her surprise was
mixed with praise and admiration, when she reflected upon the soft
humility, and caressing sweetness of her manners, yet found her, by
general consent, holding this elevated rank in society.
The Major earnestly pressed to conduct Camilla to this coterie, assuring
her Mrs. Berlinton would not have passed, had she seen her, for, during
dinner, and at coffee, she had talked of nobody else. Camilla heard this
with pleasure, but shrunk from all advances, and strove rather to hide
than shew herself, that Mrs. Berlinton might have full liberty either to
seek or avoid her. She wished to consult Edgar upon this acquaintance;
though the present splendour of her appearance, and the number of her
followers, made her fear she could never induce him to do justice to the
sweetness and endearment of her social powers.
When the Major found he pleaded in vain, he said he would at least let
Mrs. Berlinton know where to look for her; and went himself to that
lady.
Edgar, who had felt sensibly mortified to observe, when he retreated,
that the eyes and attention of Camilla had been wholly bestowed upon
what he considered merely as a new scene, was now coming forward; when
he saw Mrs. Berlinton hastily rise, suddenly break from all her
adulators, and, with quick steps and animated gestures, traverse the
apartment, to address Camilla, whom, taking by both her hands, which she
pressed to her heart, she conjured, in the most flattering terms, to
accompany her back.
Camilla was much gratified; yet, from delicacy to Mrs. Arlbery,
stimulated by the fear of missing her expected partner in the country
dances, declined the invitation: Mrs. Berlinton looked disappointed; but
said she would not be importunate, and returned alone.
Camilla, a little disturbed, besought the Major to follow, with an
offer of spending with her, if she pleased, the whole of the ensuing
day.
'Charming!' cried the Major, 'for I am engaged to her myself already.'
To Camilla this hearing was distressing; to Edgar it was scarcely
endurable. But she could not retract, and Edgar was stopt in the
inquiries he meant to make concerning this striking new acquaintance, by
an abrupt declaration from Mrs. Arlbery, that the Rooms were
insufferable, and she would immediately go home. She then gave her hand
to the General, and Miss Dennel took the arm of Camilla, murmuring, that
she would never leave the Rooms at such an early hour again, when once
she was married.
To quit Edgar thus, at the very moment of renewed intercourse and amity,
seemed too cruel; and Camilla, though with blushes, and stammering,
whispered Mrs. Arlbery, 'What can I do, ma'am? most unfortunately I have
engaged myself to dance?'
'With whom?'
'With--Mr.--Mandlebert.'
'O, vastly well! Stay, then by all means: but, as he has not engaged me
too, allow me, I beseech you, to escape. Mrs. Berlinton will, I am sure,
be happy to take care of you.'
This scheme was, to Camilla, the most pleasant that could be proposed;
and, at the same instant, the Major returned to her, with these words
written with a pencil upon the back of a letter.
'To-morrow, and next day, and next day, come to me, my lovely friend;
every thing, and every body fatigues me but yourself.'
Camilla, obliged again to have recourse to the Major, wrote, upon the
same paper, 'Can you have the goodness to convey me to Mount Pleasant
to-night, if I stay?' and begged him to bring her an answer. She
entreated, also, Mrs. Arlbery to stop till it arrived, which was almost
in the same minute; for the eye of Mrs. Berlinton had but glanced upon
the words, ere her soft and lovely form was again with their fair
writer, with whom, smiling and delighted, she walked back, arm in arm,
to her place.
Mrs. Arlbery and the General, and Mr. and Miss Dennel, now left the
room.
Edgar viewed all this with amazement. He found that the young lady she
joined was sister-in-law to a peer, and as fashionable as she was
beautiful; but could not fathom how so great an intimacy had so suddenly
been formed.
Camilla, thus distinguished, became now herself an object of peculiar
notice; her own personal claim to particular attention, her dejection
had forfeited, for it had robbed her eyes of their animation, and her
countenance of its play; but no contagion spreads with greater certainty
nor greater speed than that of fashion; slander itself is not more sure
of promulgation. She was now looked at by all present as if seen for the
first time; every one discovered in her some charm, some grace, some
excellence; those who, the minute before, had passed her with perfect
indifference, said it was impossible to see and not be struck with her;
and all agreed she could appear upon no spot under the sun, and not
instinctively be singled out, as formed to shine in the highest sphere.
But he by whom this transaction was observed with most pleasure, was Sir
Sedley Clarendel. The extraordinary service he had performed for
Camilla, and the grateful interest she had shewn him in return, had led
him to consider her with an attention so favourable, that, without half
her merit, or half her beauty, she could not have failed rising in his
estimation, and exciting his regard: and she had now a superior charm
that distanced every other; she had been asked to dance, yet refused it,
by a man of celebrity in the _ton_; and she was publicly sought and
caressed by the only rival at Tunbridge, in that species of renown, to
Lady Alithea Selmore.
He felt an increased desire to be presented to Mrs. Berlinton himself;
and, gliding from his own circle as quietly as he could contrive, not to
offend Lady Alithea, who, though she laughed at _the little Welsh
rustic_, was watchful of her votaries, and jealous of her rising power,
came gently behind Lord O'Lerney and whispered his request.
He was received by the young beauty with that grace, and that sweetness
which rendered her so generally bewitching, yet with an air that proved
her already accustomed to admiration, and untouched by its intoxicating
qualities. All that was voluntary of her attention was bestowed
exclusively upon Camilla, though, when addressed and called upon by
others, she answered without impatience, and looked without displeasure.
This conduct, at the same time that it shewed her in a point of view the
most amiable, raised Camilla higher and higher in the eyes of the
by-standers: and, in a few minutes more, the general cry throughout the
assembly was, to inquire who was the young lady thus brought forward by
Mrs. Berlinton.
Edgar heard this with increased anxiety. Has she discretion, has she
fortitude, thought he, to withstand public distinction? Will it not
spoil her for private life; estrange her from family concerns? render
tasteless and insipid the conjugal and maternal characters, meant by
Nature to form not only the most sacred of duties, but the most
delicious of enjoyments?
Very soon after, this anxiety was tinctured with a feeling more severe;
he saw her spoken to negligently by Sir Sedley; he required, after what
he had already himself deemed impertinence from the Baronet, that she
should have assumed to him a distant dignity; but he perceived, on the
contrary, that she answered him with pleasant alacrity, and, when not
engaged by Mrs. Berlinton, attended to him, even with distinction.
Alas! thought he, the degradation from the true female character is
already begun! already the lure of fashion draws her from what she owes
to delicacy and propriety, to give a willing reception to insolence and
foppery!
Camilla, meanwhile, unsuspicious of his remarks, and persuaded every
civility in her power was due to Sir Sedley, was gay, pleased, and
pleasing; happy to consider herself under the guidance, and restored to
the amity of Edgar, and determined to acquaint him with all her affairs,
and consult him upon all her proceedings.
The dancing, for which mutually they languished, as the mutual means of
reunion, seemed not to be the humour of the evening, and those who were
ready for it, were not of sufficient consequence to bring it forward.
But when Mrs. Berlinton mentioned, that she had been taking some lessons
in a cotillon, a universal cry was raised by all her party, to try one
immediately. She pleaded in vain her inexperience in such dances; they
insisted there was nobody present that could criticise, that her form
alone would compensate for every mistake of rule, and that the best
lesson was easy practice.
She was soon gained, for she was not addicted to denials; but the
application which ensued to Camilla was acceded to less promptly. As
there were but two other ladies in the circle of Mrs. Berlinton, her
assistance was declared to be indispensable. She pleaded inability of
every sort, though to dance without Edgar was her only real objection;
for she had no false shame in being ignorant of what she never had
learnt. But Mrs. Berlinton protested she would not rise if she were the
only novice to be exhibited; and the Major then prepared to prostrate
himself at the feet of Camilla; who, hastily, and ashamed, stood up, to
prevent an action that Edgar might misinterpret.
Hoping, however, now, to at least draw him into their set, she ventured
to acknowledge to Mrs. Berlinton, that she was already engaged, in case
she danced.
The Major, who heard her, and who knew it was not to himself,
strenuously declared this could only be for country dances, and
therefore would not interfere with a cotillon.
'Will country dances, then,' said she, blushing, 'follow?'
'Certainly, if any one has spirit to begin them.'
The cotillon was now played, and the preceding bow from the opposite
Major forced her courtsie in return.
The little skill in this dance of one of the performers, and the total
want of it in another, made it a mere pleasantry to all, though the
youth and beauty of the two who did the worst, rendered them objects of
admiration, that left nearly unnoticed those who did best.
To Camilla what belonged to pleasantry in this business was of short
duration. When the cotillon was over, she saw nothing of Edgar. She
looked around, mortified, disappointed. No one called for a country
dance; and the few who had wished for it, concluding all chance over
when a cotillon was begun, had now retired, or given it up.
What was this disappointment, compared with the sufferings of Edgar?
Something of a contest, and of entreaties, had reached his ears, while
he had hovered near the party, or strolled up and down the room. He had
gathered the subject was dancing, and he saw the Major most earnest with
Camilla. He was sure it was for her hand, and concluded it was for a
country dance; but could she forfeit her engagement? were matters so far
advanced, as to make her so openly shew him all prevailing, all
powerful, not only over all rivals, but, according to the world's
established customs upon these occasions, over all decorum?
Presently, he saw the Major half kneel; he saw her rise to prevent the
prostration; and he heard the dance called.
He could bear no more; pain intolerable seized, distracted him, and he
abruptly quitted the ballroom, lest the Major should approach him with
some happy apology, which he was unfitted to receive.
He could only settle his ideas by supposing she really loved Major
Cerwood, and had suffered her character to be infected by the indelicacy
that made a part of his own. Yet why had she so striven to deny all
regard, all connection? what an unaccountable want of frankness! what a
miserable dereliction of truth!
His first impulse was to set off instantly from Tunbridge; but his
second thoughts represented the confession this would make. He was too
proud to leave the Major, whom he despised, such a triumph, and too much
hurt to permit Camilla herself to know him so poignantly wounded. She
could not, indeed, but be struck by his retreat; he resolved, however,
to try to meet with her the next day, and to speak to her with the amity
they had so lately arranged, yet in a way that should manifest him
wholly free from all other interest or view.