I shall go to Wiscassett on Monday; expect to hear from me after I
return to Bath; while there I shall have no time. I expect to have
important communications to forward—a certain pair of sparkling eyes,
which are far more eloquent than her tongue! Now I have half a mind to
be affronted. I know at this time, as soon as you have read this you are
tumbling it into your pocket as waste paper to ponder on the brilliancy
of said eyes. Is it true? Well, I shall see them soon and shall be
tempted to ask some atonement for the damages I may suffer. Write me
often while I am here, it is your _duty_.
Mr. Moses Porter, Biddeford.
By Mrs. King.
To Mr. Moses Porter at Biddeford.
I want to write, yet I don’t want to write to you, my _ceremonious_
Cousin, but at this time I can think of nobody else and am _compelled_
to address you. My last was dated from Bath, so is this; since then I
have made a visit to Wiscassett. Oh I believe—yes I did write a few
lines from there by Uncle Thatcher—I had forgotten that I wrote any more
than the letter I finished before I left Bath. I wish I could give you
an account of my spending my fortnight at Wiscasset, which would amuse
you as much as the reality did me, but that is impossible. I have seen
so many new faces—(I was going to say new characters, but they were
generally such as we see every day), so many handsome ladies, so many
fine men, indeed I have seen a little of everything. Mr. Wild and Mr.
Davis (of Portland) kept at Mrs. Lee’s. Mr. Wild is a most charming man,
and sensible and genteel, apparently has one of the mildest and most
amiable dispositions in the world. Mr. Davis you know. There was a Miss
P—— spent 2 or 3 days at Mrs. Lee’s. She was—was—I can’t tell you what;
you may have heard of her, celebrated for her wit, lost a lover by
exercising it rather too severely; poor soul! it was a sad affair; she
has at length become sensible of the impropriety of her conduct, and now
hopes to atone for it by flattering every gentleman she sees—time will
show whether this plan will succeed. She talks incessantly, laughs
always at what she says herself. At table, when the judges, lawyers, and
a dozen gentlemen and ladies were seated, Miss P—— engrossed all the
conversation. I defy any person to be in the room with her and not be
compelled to converse with her, not by the irresistible force of her
charms, they are rather in the wane. If you look at her she asks what
you were going to say—“I know you were going to speak by your looks.” Of
course my gentleman walks up, how can he help it? In this manner she
draws a whole swarm around her; the poor souls rattle out their
outrageous compliments, trembling with fear, for the moment their ardor
to please appears to abate, she rouses them to a sense of their duty by
a lash of her tongue.
Sunday.—Now I can’t bear to be hurried, and I must submit to be or not
send this by Mamma King. Last night when I began this, I felt quite
disposed to throw away an hour (for my letters to you are thrown away as
you won’t take the trouble to answer them) without consulting anything
but my feelings. I began, and soon found, to my mortification, that I
ought to have consulted my candle, for as if piqued at my neglect, it
took French leave to doze. I broke off my description of Miss P—— in the
most _striking_ part. I do not resume the subject, ’twould be a
profanation of this day to scandalize a frail sister; my mind is full of
charity and Christian love. I hope I shall not stumble against some
unlucky thought that may derange its present peaceful state. Now,
Cousin, don’t you think it unpardonable, don’t you think it a violation
of all the laws of politeness, that you should neglect writing me merely
because I owed a letter? I should not be surprised if you counted the
words in yours and my letters and settled the account by some rule in
Arithmetic. But let me entreat you not to estimate mine by the _weight_,
but the _number_; in that case I am equal to anybody; but if, unhappily
for me, you should weigh them with critical exactness, ’twill take many
of them to repay you for one of yours. I feel assured you must have
adopted this method, and sincerely ask your pardon for doubting a moment
that this was the true cause. What prevented your coming to Wiscassett?
I tho’t you had determined upon it. Rebecca and I used to expect you
every day; believe me I was asked a dozen times if you were not
absolutely engaged to Miss Rice. How such things will get about. I told
every body that asked me that I was your confidant, of course must keep
your attachment a secret, for which I am prepared to receive your
thanks.
Mr. Kinsman has been down to Wiscassett. He attended the courts, as he
says, to acquire a better knowledge of the law; but I should imagine he
mistook the _ladies_ for the _law_, as he makes them his constant study.
But I leave so dangerous a subject, lest my feelings should deprive me
of the power to finish this sheet. I shall probably return home the
beginning of next month. If I have a letter due from you, according to
your new arrangement, I beg you to forward it as soon as possible;
however, I have not the vanity to suppose there is more than a dozen
lines as yet; perhaps when I have written half a dozen more letters I
may be _richly_ rewarded with _one_ from you. Where is Maria? How does
she do? Rebecca wrote her while I was in Wiscassett, and told her
undoubtedly she is expected to spend the winter there. I must finish:
Uncle calls.