Equal to that a Lover feels in Absence; ’tis a kind of Hell,
an earnest of those Pains, we are told, shall be the Portion
of the Damn’d----Ten whole Nights, and Days, according to the
vulgar Reckoning, but in mine, as many Ages, have roll’d their
tedious Hours away since last I saw you, in all which time, my
Eyes have never known one Moments cessation from my Tears, nor
my sad Heart from Anguish; restless I wander thro’ this hated
House---Kiss the clos’d Wicket---stop, and look at every Place
which I remember your dear steps have blest, then, with wild
Ravings, think of past Joys, and curse my present Woes---yet
you perhaps are Calm, no sympathizing Pang invades your Soul,
and tells you what mine suffers, else, you wou’d, you must have
found some Means to ease your self and me--’tis true, I bid you
not attempt it--but Oh! If you had lov’d like me, you cou’d not
have obey’d----Desire has no regard to Prudence, it despises
Danger, and over-looks even Impossibilities---but whither am I
going?---I say, I know not what---Oh, mark not what Distraction
utters! Shun these detested Walls!---’tis Reason now commands!
fly from this House, where injur’d Love’s enslav’d, and Death
and Treachery reign---I charge thee come not near, nor prove
thy Faith so hazardous a way---forgive the little Fears, which
ever dwell with Love---I know thou art all sincerity!---all
God-like Truth, and can’st not change---yet, if thou
shouldst,---tormenting Thought!----Why then, there’s not a
Heaven-abandon’d Wretch, so lost---so Curst as I---What shall
I do to shake off Apprehension? in spite of all thy Vows---thy
ardent Vows, when I but think of any Maid, by Love, and fond
Belief undone, a deadly cold runs thro’ my Veins, congeals
my Blood, and chills my very Soul!---Gazing on the Moon last
Night, her Lustre brought fresh to my Memory those transporting
Moments, when by that Light I saw you first a Lover, and, I
think Inspired me, who am not usually fond of Versifying, to
make her this Complaint._
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The Unfortunate CAMILLA’s Complaint to the _Moon_, for the
Absence of her Dear HENRICUS FRANKVILLE.
_Mild Queen of Shades! Thou sweetly shining Light!_
_Once, more than Phœbus, welcome to my Sight:_
_’Twas by thy Beams I first HENRICUS saw_
_Adorn’d with softness, and disarm’d of awe!_
_Never did’st thou appear more fair! more bright!_
_Than on that Dear, that Cause-remembred Night!_
_When the dull Tyes of Friendship he disclaim’d,_
_And to Inspire a tend’rer Passion aim’d:_
_Alas! he cou’d not long, in vain, implore_
_For that, which tho’ unknown, was his before;_
_Nor had I Art the Secret to Disguise,_
_My Soul spoke all her Meaning thro’ my Eyes,_
_And every Glance bright’ned with glad Surprize!_
_Lost to all Thought, but His Transporting Charms,_
_I sunk, unguarded! Melting in his Arms!_
_Blest at that lavish rate, my State, that Hour_
_I’d not have Chang’d for all in fortune’s Pow’r,_
_Nay, had descending Angel’s from on High_
_Spread their bright Wings to waft me to the Sky,_
_Thus clasp’d! Cœlestial Charms had fail’d to move_
_And Heav’n been slighted, for HENRICUS Love._
_How did I then thy happy Influence Bless?_
_How watch each joyful Night, thy Lights encrease?_
_But Oh! How alter’d since---Despairing now,_
_I View thy Lustre with contracted Brow:_
_Pensive, and sullen from the Rays wou’d hide,_
_And scarce the glimmering Star’s my Griefs abide,_
_In Death-like darkness wou’d my Fate deplore,_
_And wish Thee to go down, to Rise no more!_
_Pity the Extravagance of a Passion which only Charms
like thine cou’d Create, nor too severely chide this soft
Impertinence, which I cou’d not refrain sending you, when I
can neither see you, nor hear from you: to write, gives some
little respite to my Pains, because I am sure of being in your
Thoughts, while you are Reading my Letters. The Tender Hearted
VIOLETTA, preferring the Tyes of Friendship to those of Duty,
gives me this happy opportunity, but my Ill-fortune deprives me
too of her, she goes to Morrow to her Fathers VILLA, and Heaven
knows when I shall find means to send to you again._
_Farewel, Thou Loveliest, Dearest, and Divine Charmer---Think
of me with a Concern full of Tenderness, but that is not
enough; and you must pardon me, when I confess, that I cannot
forbear wishing you might feel some of those Pains, impatient
longing brings.---All others be far away, as far, as Joy is,
when you are Absent from_
Your Unfortunate
Camilla.
P.S. _Since I writ this, a Fancy came into my Head, that if
you cou’d find a Friend Trusty enough to confide in, and one
unknown to our Family, he might gain admittance to me in
CITTOLINI’s Name, as sent by him, while he is at the VILLA. I
flatter my self you will take as much pleasure in endeavouring
to let me hear from you, as I do in the hope of it. Once more
ADIEU._
Your Lordship may judge, by what I have told you of the Sincerity of my
Passion, how glad I should have been to have comply’d with her Request,
but it was utterly impossible to find any body fit for such a Business: I
pass’d three or four Days more, in Disquietudes too great to be exprest;
I saunter’d up and down the Street where she liv’d, in hopes to see her
at some of the Windows, but Fortune never was so favourable to me, thus I
spent my Days, and left the sight of those dear Walls at Nights, but in
obedience to the Charge she had given me of preserving my Life.
Thus, my Lord, has the business of my Love engrossed my Hours, ever
since your Lordships arrival, and tho’ I heard that you were here, and
extreamly wish’d to kiss your Hands, yet I cou’d never get one Moment
compos’d enough to wait on you in, ’till what my Desires cou’d not do,
the rashness of my Indignation effected: Last Night, being at my Bankers
where all my Bills and Letters are directed, I found this, from Monsieur
_Sanseverin_, the Rage which the Contents of it put me in, kept me from
remembring that Circumspection, which _Camilla_ had enjoyn’d, and I
thought of nothing but revenging the injury I imagin’d you had done me:
As I was coming Home, I was attack’d as you saw, when you so generously
preserv’d me, the just Indignation I conceiv’d at this base procedure of
_Cittolini_’s transported me so far, as to make me forget what I owed
to my Deliverer, to run in pursuit of those who assaulted me, but soon
lost sight of them, and returning, as Gratitude and Honour call’d me,
to seek, and thank you for your timely Assistance, I found a Throng of
People about the Body of the Villain I had killed, some of them were
for Examining me, but finding no Wounds about me, nor any marks of the
Engagement I had been in, I was left at my Liberty.
Thus, my Lord, have I given you, in as brief a manner as the Changes
of my Fortune wou’d permit, the Account of my present melancholly
Circumstances, in which, if you find many things blameable, you must
acknowledge there are more which require Compassion.
I see no Reason, answer’d the Count, either for the one or the other,
you have done nothing but what any Man who is a Lover, wou’d gladly have
it in his Power to do, and as for your Condition, it certainly is more
to be envy’d than pity’d: The Lady loves, is Constant, and doubtless
will some way or other, find means for her Escape,----Impossible! Cry’d
_Frankville_, interrupting him, she is too strictly watch’d to suffer
such a Hope. If you will prepare a Letter, resum’d _D’elmont_, my self
will undertake to be the Bearer of it; I am entirely a Stranger to the
People you have been speaking of, or if I should chance to be known
to them, cannot be suspected to come from you, since our Intimacy, so
lately born, cannot yet be talk’d of, to the prejudice of our Design; and
how do you know, continu’d he smiling, but, if I have the good Fortune
to be introduc’d to this Lady, that I shall not be able to assist her
Invention to form some Scheme, for both your future Happiness. This offer
was too agreeable to be refus’d, _Frankville_ accepted it with all the
Demonstrations of Gratitude and Joy imaginable, and setting himself down
to the _Count_’s Scrutore, was not long Writing the following _Billet_
which he gave him to read before he seal’d it.
To the most Lovely and Adorable CAMILLA.
“If to consume with inward Burnings, to have no Breath but
Sighs, to wish for Death, or Madness to relieve me from the
racks of Thought, be Misery consummate, such is mine! And yet
my too unjust CAMILLA thinks I feel no Pain, and chides my cold
Tranquility; cou’d I be so, I were indeed a Wretch deserving
of my nate, but far unworthy of your Pity or Regard. No, no,
thou Loveliest, Softest, most angelic Creature, that Heaven, in
lavish Bounty, ever sent to charm the adoring World; he that
cou’d know one Moments stupid Calm in such an _Absence_, ought
never to be blest with those unbounded Joys thy _Presence_
brings: What wou’d I not give, what wou’d I not hazard but
once more to behold thee, to gaze upon thy Eyes, those Suns
of kindling Transports! to touch thy enlivening Hand! to feed
upon the ravishing sweetness of thy Lips! Oh the Imagination’s
Extacy! Life were too poor to set on such a Cast, and you
shou’d long e’re this, have prov’d the little Value I have
for it, in competition with my Love if your Commands had not
restrain’d me. _Cittolini_’s Malice, however, had last Night
been gratify’d, if the Noble Count _D’elmont_ had not been
inspir’d for my Preservation, it is to him I am indebted, not
only for my Life, but a much greater Favour, that of conveying
to you the Assurance, how much my Life, my Soul, and all the
Faculties of it are eternally Yours. Thank him, my _Camilla_,
for your _Frankville_, for Words like thine are only fit to
Praise, as it deserves, such an exalted Generosity; ’tis with
an infinite deal of Satisfaction I reflect how much thy Charms
will justify my Conduct when he sees thee, all that excess of
Passion, which my fond Soul’s too full of to conceal, that
height of Adoration, which offer’d to any other Woman wou’d be
Sacriledge, the wonders of thy Beauty and thy Wit, claim as
their due, and prove _Camilla_, like _Heaven_, can never be too
much Reverenc’d! Be too much Lov’d!----But, Oh! How poor is
Language to express what ’tis I think, thus Raptur’d with thy
Idea, thou best, thou Brightest----thou most Perfect----thou
something more than Excellence it self--thou far surpassing all
that Words can speak, or Heart, unknowing thee, conceive: yet
I cou’d dwell for ever on the Theme, and swell whole Volumes
with enervate, tho’ well-meaning Praises, if my Impatience, to
have what I have already writ, be with you, did not prevent my
saying any more than, that but in you I live, nor cou’d support
this Death-like absence, but for some little intervals of Hope,
which sometimes flatter me, that Fortune will grow weary of
persecuting me, and one Day re-unite my Body to my Soul and
make both inseparably Yours,
_Frankville_.”
These new made Friends having a fellow-feeling of each others Sufferings,
as proceeding from one Source, pass’d the time in little else but amorous
Discourses, till it was a proper Hour for the Count to perform his
Promise, and taking a full Direction from _Frankville_ how to find the
House, he left him at his Lodgings to wait his return from _Ciamara_’s,
forming, all the way he went, a thousand Projects to communicate to
_Camilla_ for her Escape, he was still extreamly uneasy in his Mind
concerning _Melliora_, and long’d to be in _Paris_ to know the Truth of
that Affair, but thought he cou’d not in Honour leave her Brother in
this Embarrassment, and resolv’d to make use of all his Wit and Address
to perswade _Camilla_ to hazard every thing for Love, and was not a
little pleas’d with the Imagination, that he should lay so considerable
an obligation on _Melliora_, as this Service to her Brother wou’d be.
Full of these Reflections he found himself in the _Portico_ of that
magnificent House he was to enter, and seeing a Crowd of Servants about
the Door, desir’d to be brought to the presence of _Donna Camilla
Fialaso_, one of them, immediately conducted him into a stately Room, and
leaving him there, told him, the Lady shou’d be made acquainted with his
Request; presently after came in a Woman, who, tho’ very Young, seem’d to
be in the nature of a _Duenna_, the _Count_ stood with his Back toward
her as she enter’d, but hearing somebody behind him, and turning hastily
about, he observ’d she startled at sight of him, and appear’d so confus’d
that he knew not what to make of her Behaviour, and when he ask’d if he
might speak with _Camilla_, and said he had a Message to deliver from
_Cittolini_, she made no other Answer than several times, with an amaz’d
Accent, Ecchoing the names of _Camilla_ and _Cittolini_, as if not able
to comprehend his Meaning; he was oblig’d to repeat his Words over and
over before she cou’d recollect herself enough to tell him, that she
wou’d let him know her Lady’s pleasure instantly. She left him in a good
deal of Consternation, at the Surprize he perceiv’d the Sight of him had
put her into, he form’d a thousand uncertain Guesses what the occasion
shou’d be, but the Mistery was too deep for all his Penetration to
fathom, and he waited with abundance of Impatience for her return, or the
appearance of her Lady, either, of which, he hop’d, might give a Solution
to this seeming Riddle.
He attended a considerable time, and was beginning to grow excessive
uneasy, at this Delay, when a magnificent _Anti-porta_ being drawn up,
he saw thro’ a Glass Door, which open’d into a Gallery, the _Duenna_
approaching: She had now entirely compos’d her Countenance, and with an
obliging Smile told him, she wou’d conduct him to her Lady. She led him
thro’ several Rooms, all richly furnish’d and adorn’d, but far inferior
to the last he came into, and in which he was again left alone, after
being assur’d that he should not long be so.
_Count D’elmont_ cou’d not forbear giving Truce to his more serious
Reflections, to admire the Beauties of the Place he was in; where e’er
he turn’d his Eyes, he saw nothing but was splendidly Luxurious, and all
the Ornaments contriv’d in such a manner, as might fitly be a Pattern,
to Paint the Palace of the Queen of Love by: The Ceiling was vastly
high and beautify’d with most curious Paintings, the Walls were cover’d
with Tapestry, in which, most artificially were woven, in various
colour’d Silk, intermix’d with Gold and Silver, a great number of Amorous
Stories; in one Place he beheld a Naked _Venus_ sporting with _Adonis_,
in another, the Love transform’d _Jupiter_, just resuming his Shape, and
rushing to the Arms of _Leda_; there, the seeming Chast _Diana_ Embracing
her entranc’d _Endimion_; here, the God of soft Desires himself, wounded
with an Arrow of his own, and snatching Kisses from the no less enamour’d
_Psiche_: betwixt every one of these Pieces hung a large Looking-Glass,
which reach’d to the top of the Room, and out of each sprung several
crystal Branches, containing great Wax-Tapers, so that the number of
Lights vy’d with the Sun, and made another, and more glorious Day, than
that which lately was withdrawn. At the upper End of this magnificent
Chamber, there was a Canopy of Crimson Velvet, richly emboss’d, and
trim’d with Silver, the Corners of which were supported by two golden
_Cupids_, with stretch’d out Wings, as if prepar’d to fly; two of their
Hands grasp’d the extremity of the _Valen_, and the other, those nearest
to each other, joyn’d to hold a wreath of Flowers, over a Couch, which
stood under the Canopy. But tho’ the Count was very much taken at first
with what he saw, yet he was too sincere a Lover to be long delighted
with any thing in the absence of his Mistress: How Heavenly (said he to
himself Sighing) wou’d be this Place, if I expected _Melliora_ here! But
Oh! how preferable were a Cottage blest with her, to all this Pomp and
Grandeur with any other; this Consideration threw him into a deep Musing,
which made him forget either where he was, or the Business which brought
him there, till rous’d from it by the dazling Owner of this sumptuous
Apartment. Nothing could be more glorious than her Appearance; she was
by Nature, a Woman of a most excellent Shape, to which, her desire of
Pleasing, had made her add all the aids of Art; she was drest in a Gold
and Silver stuff Petticoat, and a Wastcoat of plain blew Sattin, set
round the Neck and Sleeves, and down the Seams with Diamonds, and fastned
on the Breast, with Jewels of a prodigeous largeness and lustre; a Girdle
of the same encompass’d her Waste; her Hair, of which she had great
quantity, was black as Jet, and with a studied Negligence, fell part of
it on her Neck in careless Ringlets, and the other was turn’d up, and
fasten’d here and there with Bodkins, which had pendant Diamonds hanging
to ’em, and as she mov’d, glittered with a quivering Blaze, like Stars
darting their fires from out a sable Sky; she had a Vail on, but so thin,
that it did not, in the least, obscure the shine of her Garments, or her
Jewels, only she had contriv’d to double that part of it which hung over
her Face, in so many folds, that it serv’d to conceal her as well as a
_Vizard_ Mask.
The Count made no doubt but this was the Lady for whom he waited, and
throwing off that melancholly Air he had been in, assum’d one, all gay
and easy, and bowing low, as he advanc’d to meet her; Madam, said he,
if you are that incomparable _Camilla_, whose Goodness nothing but her
Beauty can equalize, you will forgive the intrusion of a Stranger, who
confesses himself no other way worthy of the Honour of your Conversation,
but by his Desires to serve him who is much more so: A Friend of
_Cittolini_’s, answer’d she, can never want admittance here, and if you
had no other Plea, the Name you come in, is a sufficient Warrant for your
kind Reception: I hope, resum’d he in a low Voice, and looking round
to see if there were no Attendants in hearing, I bring a Better, from
_Frankville_, Madam, the adoring _Frankville_, I have these Credentials
to Justify my Visit; in speaking this, he deliver’d the Letter to her,
which she retiring a few Paces from him to read, gave him an opportunity
of admiring the Majesty of her Walk, and the agreeable loftiness of her
Mein, much more than he had time to do before.
She dwelt not long on the Contents of the Letter, but throwing it
carelesly down on a Table which stood near her, turn’d to the Count, and
with an Accent which express’d not much Satisfaction; and was it to you,
my Lord! said she, that Monsieur _Frankville_ ow’d his Preservation? I
was so happy, reply’d he, to have some little hand in it, but since I
have known how dear he is to you, think my self doubly blest by Fortune
for the means of acting any thing conducive to your Peace: If you imagine
that this is so, resum’d she hastily, you are extreamly mistaken, as you
will always be, when you believe, where Count _D’elmont_ appears, any
other Man seems worthy the regard of a discerning Woman; but, continu’d
she, perceiving he look’d surpriz’d, to spare your suspence, and my self
the trouble of repeating what you know already, behold who she is, you
have been talking to, and tell me now, if _Frankville_ has any Interest
in a Heart to which this Face belongs? With these Words she threw off
her Vail, and instead of lessening his Amazement, very much encreas’d
it, in discovering the Features of the Lady, with whom he had discoursed
the Night before in the Garden, He knew not what to think, or how to
reconcile to Reason, that _Camilla_, who so lately lov’d, and had granted
the highest Favours to _Frankville_, shou’d on a sudden be willing,
uncourted, to bestow them on another, nor cou’d he comprehend how the
same Person shou’d at once live in two several Places, for he conceiv’d
the House he was in, was far distant from the Garden which he had been in
the Night before.