_Is only the prelude to greater matters_
It might be justly reckoned a piece of impertinence to take up the
reader's time with a repetition of the bill of fare of the entertainment
made on the above occasion; it will be sufficient to say that every
thing was extremely elegant; that it was composed of the best chosen
dishes, which were all served up in the greatest order; and that there
was as great a variety of them as consisted with the table of a private
gentleman, without incurring the censure of profuseness.
Such as it was, however, the noble lord seemed highly delighted with it;
he praised every thing that came before him, almost to a degree of
flattery; and took all opportunities of being yet more lavish in his
encomiums on the beauty, wit, and elegance of the fair provider.
Mr. Munden was transported within himself at the satisfaction his patron
expressed; and his wife also felt a secret joy on hearing the fine
things said of her, which sparkled in her eyes, and gave an additional
lustre to all her charms.
This nobleman, though past what is called the prime of life, was far
from having arrived at those years which bring on decay; he was,
besides, of a sanguine, vigorous complexion--had a very graceful
person--a fine address--a great affluence of wit--and something so soft
and engaging in his manner of behaviour to the ladies, as rendered him
still a prodigious favourite with them.
He was too good a judge of what is amiable in womankind, not to discover
immediately the many perfections Mrs. Munden was mistress of: he felt
the whole force of her charms; and as he loved beauty more for his own
sake than for that of the possessor, and never liked without desiring to
enjoy, his eyes told her, at every glance, that he languished for an
opportunity of declaring in a different manner the sentiments he had for
her.
Mrs. Munden perfectly understood the language in which she found herself
addressed: but, had she been less learned in it, an explanation soon
presented itself.
Her husband, stepping to the head of the stair-case to give some orders
to a servant, the peer took hold of one of her hands, and kissing it
with the utmost raptures, 'Divine creature,' cried he, 'how unjust is
fortune! that a face and person so formed for universal admiration, is
not placed in a higher and more conspicuous sphere of life!'
She had not time to make any reply--Mr. Munden returned that moment--nor
had the noble lord the least opportunity, while he staid, of speaking
one word to her that was improper for a husband to be witness of.
He prolonged the time of his departure to a greater length than could
have been expected from a person whose high office in the state
permitted him much fewer hours of leisure than those in middling
stations of life are happy enough to enjoy: when he went away, he
assured both the husband and the wife that he quitted them with the
utmost reluctance, and that he had never passed a day more agreeably in
his whole life.
Mr. Munden was now in such high good-humour, that he no sooner found
himself alone with his fair wife, than he took her in his arms, and
kissed her very heartily--a favour not common with him since the first
week of their marriage. He told her, moreover, she had behaved like an
angel--that nothing could be more elegant than the dinner she had
prepared--and that he could not have expected such a variety of covers,
and so fine a dessert, for the money he gave her for that purpose.
'I think myself very happy,' answered she, 'that you approve so well of
my management: but I fancy,' continued she with a smile, 'you will have
some better opinion of my oeconomy when I tell you that it cost less
than you imagine.'
'Is it possible!' cried he, in a pleasing surprize: 'I rather thought
you had been kind enough to have added somewhat out of your own pocket,
to render the entertainment so perfectly compleat.'
'No, I assure you,' resumed she; 'there remains no less than these
three guineas of the sum you allowed me for this day's expence.' With
these words, she laid the pieces she had mentioned on the table, which
he was so ungenerous as to take immediately up and put it into his own
pocket.
'Nay, Mr. Munden,' said she, while he was putting up the money, 'this is
not dealing altogether so fairly by me as I have done by you: I expected
that the trouble I have been at, deserved, at least, to be rewarded with
what I have saved by my frugality.'
'Take care, my dear,' said he, laughing, 'how you lessen the merit of
what you have done; I am willing to take it as an obligation to me; and,
sure, you value an obligation to me at a much higher rate than three
pieces.'
Though all this passed on both sides in a jocose way, yet, as it served
to shew the niggardliness of Mr. Munden's temper, cannot be supposed to
have increased either the love or respect his wife had for him.
She made, however, no other answer to what he had last said, than to
tell him she found he was fashionable enough to suffer virtue to be it's
own reward; and then turned the conversation, and continued in the same
chearful humour as before any mention had been made of the three
guineas. Mr. Munden did not go abroad the whole evening: but whether he
chose to sup at home for the pleasure of enjoying his wife's company, or
for the sake of partaking of the remainder of those dainties which had
been so highly praised at dinner, is a point which, perhaps, might admit
of some dispute.
It is certain, indeed, the yet unsubdued vanity of this young lady made
her feel so much innate satisfaction in the admiration their noble
visitor had expressed of her person and accomplishments, as gave a
double sprightliness to her conversation that whole evening; and might,
perhaps, render her more than ordinarily lovely in the eyes of her
husband.
It is very far from being an improbability that some people may be apt
to imagine she built a little too much on the veracity of the praises
bestowed upon her by that nobleman: but those who think this way, will
be convinced of their error when they shall presently find how far her
conjectures were justified in this point.
She was sitting the next morning in a careless posture at one of the
windows that looked into the street, ruminating sometimes on one thing,
and sometimes on another, when she could not help observing a fellow on
the other side of the way, who kept walking backwards and forwards,
before the house, which, though he frequently passed thirty or forty
paces, yet he took care never to lose sight of.
This seemed a little odd to her, as she sat there a considerable time,
and the man still continued on his post: she doubted not but that he
wanted to speak with some one or other of her family, but had not the
least notion his business was with herself.
Being told breakfast waited for her, she went into her dressing-room,
where she usually took it, and thought no farther of the man till Mr.
Munden was dressed and gone out; but in less than a minute after he was
so, she received intelligence from her footman, that there was a person
had a letter for her, and said he would deliver it into no hands but her
own.
On this she ran immediately down stairs; and found, to her great
surprize, that he was no other than the fellow that she had seen
loitering so long about the house. 'I am ordered, Madam,' said he, 'to
give you this;' and at the same time presented her with a letter. 'From
whom does it come?' demanded she. 'I am ignorant,' answered he, 'both of
the person who sent it, and the business it contains: my orders were
only to deliver it into your own hands;' and with these words went away
with all the speed he could.
It must be confessed, a married woman ought not to have received a
letter brought her in this manner, and without knowing whence it came:
but curiosity prevailed above discretion; and she, hastily opening it,
found it contained these lines.
'To Mrs. Munden.
Loveliest of your sex,
As not to adore you would be the greatest proof of insensibility,
so not to wish, and even attempt every thing consistent with the
character of a man of honour, for the obtaining some reward for
that adoration, would be the most stupid piece of self-denial,
becoming only of a stoick, or one more dead to all the joys of
life. The force of your charms has made the conquest of a heart
which only waits a favourable opportunity of throwing itself at
your feet, not altogether without hope, in spite of the
circumstances you are in, of being, in some measure, acceptable to
you; at least it shall be so, if the most ardent and perfect
passion that ever was, joined with the power of rendering you all
manner of services, can give it merit in your eyes.
A very short time, I flatter myself, will explain to you what at
present may seem a mystery: benignant Love will furnish the most
faithful of his votaries with the means of declaring himself at
full; and the flame with which he is inspired, instruct him also to
give you such testimonies of his everlasting attachment, as the
good understanding you are mistress of you will not permit you to
reject; till when, I only beseech you to think, with some share of
tenderness, on your concealed adorer.'
Utterly impossible is it to describe the situation of Mrs. Munden's
mind, after having several times read over this epistle, and well
examined the purport of it: she doubted not, one moment, but that it was
dictated by the noble lord she had seen the day before, and whose
behaviour to her had, in some degree, corresponded with the sentiments
contained in it. If her vanity was delighted with the conquest she had
made, her pride was shocked at that assurance which the daring lover
seemed to flatter himself with of gaining her; and her virtue much more
alarmed at the attempts which his rank and fortune might embolden him to
make for that end.
At first she was resolved to shew the letter to her husband the moment
he came home, and acquaint him with her sentiments on the matter, that
he might take proper precautions to prevent her from being exposed to
any future attacks from this dangerous nobleman.
But, on more mature deliberation, her mind changed: Mr. Munden was, at
present, in tolerable good humour with her--she was willing, if
possible, to preserve it in him; and, as she could not but think an
information of this kind would give him a great deal of uneasiness, so
she had also reason to apprehend the effects of it might, in some
measure, innocent as she was, fall upon herself.
He had never yet discovered the least emotions of jealousy; and she knew
not what suspicions her having received such a letter from one person
might raise in him in relation to others. 'He may, possibly,' said she
to herself, 'look upon every man that visits me as an invader of his
right; and, consequently, I shall be debarred from all conversation with
the sex.
'Besides,' continued she, 'I am not certain that this letter was sent me
by the noble lord, or that he has in reality entertained any designs to
the prejudice of my virtue; there is, indeed, a strong probability of
it, even by his behaviour towards me yesterday: yet it may not be so;
appearances often deceive us; and I might take that for the effect of
love which proceeded only from complaisance; but, whatever his
intentions are, it would certainly be the extremest folly and madness in
me to inflame Mr. Munden against a person on whom his interest so much
depends.
'It is no matter, therefore,' went she still on, 'whether it be the
noble lord in question, or any other person who presumes to think so
meanly of me as to address me in this audacious manner; it is,
doubtless, in my power to keep out of the way of receiving any farther
insults from him; and I am sufficiently capable myself of being guardian
of my own honour, without disturbing a husband's peace about it.'
Thus ended the debate she had with herself on this occasion: she
committed her letter to the flames; and resolved, that if ever the
author was hardy enough to discover himself, to treat him with all the
contempt due to him from affronted virtue.