FROM MISS BEATRICE POLES TO MISS EMILY——
"These lines, my dear Emily, will, in all probability, never reach
you. It is even very likely that after I have written them I shall
destroy them. But I must talk to you; I cannot help myself. My heart
is overflowing, and I must turn the stream of its confidence towards
you. In whom can I confide, if not in you? Who amongst my travelling
companions deserves to be my confidant? MM. Périères, de Morin, and
Delange are out of the question. I have no right to inflict such
pain, so bitter an awakening on them, nor to deprive them in an
instant of their cherished illusions. I cannot say brusquely to them—
'I have made a mistake, gentlemen; I do not love you.'
"As for Madame de Guéran—you know very well, my dear Emily, that to
repose confidence in a rival may be dangerous.
"So, in my isolation, I turn to you, and begin. We are at this moment
in the country of the Monbuttoos, at the court of King Munza, a man
about thirty-five years of age, in the full bloom and vigour of
manhood. He is tall, his figure is good, and his splendid features
recall the fine old statues of the monarchs of ancient Ethiopia. He
is not a negro—do not labour under that delusion—he is a dusky white
man—a very handsome man, too, artistically dressed and with a
majestic mien. Moreover, he is a man of intelligence, and a very
powerful sovereign into the bargain.
"Nevertheless, Munza, who seems to think of nothing but our comfort,
and with whom we are on the best possible terms, absolutely refuses
to allow us to leave his dominions. What is his reason for that? you
will ask. A very simple one. The King, who, up to this time, has
never seen any women but his hideous Monbuttoo specimens, destitute
of grace and costume alike, no sooner set eyes on two white women,
young, agreeable, well made, and good looking, than he fell in love
with one of them. Although a savage, he has a heart which is quite as
warm as one born in Europe; nay, warmer, perhaps, on account of the
climate.
"But again, you will ask, which of the two white women is the chosen
one? To whom, to Madame de Guéran or to me, has this handsome Paris
awarded the apple? The question is a very natural one, and the answer
to it involves a point on which we here are very much divided.
"MM. Delange, de Morin, and Périères, who have been in love with me
for some time past, as you know, are naturally anxious that Munza
should not enter the lists against them. Consequently, they persist,
in all honesty, in treating me as out of the question altogether, and
maintaining that the eyes of the King turn towards the Baroness, that
all his sighs are for her.
"I know, my dear Emily, exactly what you are going to say—that,
though a mistake might be made about the object of a sigh, there can
be none about the direction of a look. And then you proceed to
enquire towards whom Munza's glances turn?
"Madame de Guéran, my dear friend. I cannot pretend that it is not
so, and I owe you the truth at all events. I owe it to myself as
well, for these lines will, in all probability, never reach you, but
are destined to comfort my own heart alone.
"But do you remember that charming comedy, _le Chandelier_, written
by a French author, Alfred de Musset? If you do, you will have
guessed the drift of what I have already written. The King, with his
remarkable shrewdness, and a delicacy very rare amongst the negroes,
is diverting all suspicion, and, in order not to compromise me,
allows it to be thought that he is in love with Madame de Guéran.
Nothing could be more natural.
"Such is the position of affairs—the most powerful King in all Africa
is in love with your dearest friend. It was bound to happen sooner or
later, and I was quite prepared for it. But I did not anticipate that
things would come to such a pitch that he wishes, not only to keep me
near him, but my companions also, as well as our escort and bearers.
"Now, have I any right to impede the progress of the caravan, to
postpone M. de Guéran's rescue, if he is a prisoner, or to leave any
longer in obscurity certain geographical points which our journey
towards the south will certainly clear up?
"I do not think so, and, seeing that I am now only annoying,
embarrassing, and compromising everybody, I ought to put myself on
one side altogether, and sacrifice myself for the public good. I will
seek out the King, and will say to him, 'Sire, you ought not to mix
my affairs up with those of my friends; if I have done wrong in
pleasing you, you should not hold others responsible for my fault. Do
not keep them any longer in your dominions; matters of importance
compel them to proceed southwards. But, since you do not wish to
separate yourself from me, let my destiny be accomplished! I will be
your prisoner, your slave, and one day I will be your wife, if some
Protestant minister, who may perchance be passing through this
country, will only bless our union.'
"Yes, my dear Emily, thus will I speak to him, and he cannot help
being touched by my words, or avoid setting my friends at liberty.
But I think I hear you exclaim, 'and you, my poor Beatrice, what will
become of you in the midst of the eighty legitimate wives of this
monarch, to say nothing of his three or four hundred less lawful
spouses?"
"On that head do not at all be uneasy. I will soon bring them to
reason, and, moreover, the King, since he has loved me, has banished
them from his presence, if, indeed, he has not taken leave of them
altogether. I shall soon reign with undisputed sway in Munza's heart.
I have a noble mission to fulfil by the side of this man, a savage
now, but in the future to be civilized by my love. He will blush for
his past life, and for the ignorance and sloth he has permitted
amongst his subjects. I trust that before another year has passed
away he will have earned the title of Munza the Beloved, the father
of his people, and that he will have founded in his kingdom many
useful institutions. Possibly I may even prevail upon him to renounce
his absolute power, and establish Constitutional Government and a
parliament!
"In all this I have said nothing about my own feelings, and you will
naturally be anxious to know if I, with my delicate and refined
tastes, can ever attach myself altogether to this being, exceptional
undoubtedly, but, nevertheless, uncultivated and with habits totally
opposed to my own?
"I quite recognize the justice of your anxiety, but I will allay it
by a word—I love him already!
"Yes, I have no hesitation in confessing it to myself—his appearance,
his position—why should I keep that in the background?—the respect
paid to him by all, the almost worship of which he is the object,
have all made a singular impression on me. Is our love ever entirely
free from vanity? Lastly, his great love moved me—how could it have
been otherwise?
"Do not be hard upon your friend, nor reproach her with inconstancy.
Spare me your reproaches, and do not ever mention the names of MM. de
Morin, Périères, and Delange. I really did imagine myself in love
with them one after the other, but, good heavens! what a mistake I
made! I never felt for them as I feel now! And how far, how very far,
are these more or less fair haired, blue-eyed, ordinary men, removed
from—my Munza!
"And, besides, there were three of them; I had only to choose—the
very reason, perhaps, why I did nothing of the kind. Yes, my thoughts
were always floating from one to the other; I was irresolute, going
first to this and then to that one, without coming to any decision.
If I could have said to myself—this is the one you love; he is
superior to both the others—the matter would have been at an end; I
should have been his for life, and should have passed Munza without
seeing him. But these gentlemen are too good, they are too much
alike, and their very perfections, which I have ever been ready to
acknowledge, throw me into a terrible state of embarrassment. To-day
I am at all events freed from that. And, yet, that is not quite true.
I have just written out on paper a short speech intended for Munza,
but how can I repeat by word of mouth what I have written for you? He
knows a few words of Arabic, which he once heard from Aboo-Sammit,
and, thanks to my prodigious facility for languages, I have picked up
the Monbuttoo dialect to a certain extent. But the nervous state I
shall be in when I am with him, and his agitation, will both combine
to prevent our expressing ourselves clearly. I am afraid I cannot
take an interpreter with me, for there are occasions in one's life
when an interpreter would be anything but an assistance.
"In the general interest, and for the sake of my own peace of mind, I
must speak to the King as soon as possible; but, alas! I do not know
even how to get to him. Courage! I will see him to-night. I must see
him to-night. As soon as everybody around me has retired to rest, I
will make my way towards the Palace, and, then—then I will trust to
fortune.
"I leave you, my dear Emily, for I must go and dress—not from any
feeling of vanity; Munza and I are far beyond that, but out of
deference to his Royal Majesty."