by Fanny Burney
CHAPTER LXXVI
Thus, in beautiful scenery, and meditative resignation, with outwardquiet, though by no means with internal tranquillity, Juliet had passedabout a week, when the wife of the farmer broke rudely into the cottage;bearing in her hand the bonnet of Debby Dyson, which she flungscornfully upon a table.
Angrily, then, reproaching Juliet that she had caused Bet to be takenfor that bold hussy, by the higler, she demanded back the exchangedbonnet; declaring, that the girl should never wear one again, to thelongest day that she had to live, rather than dress herself up in anything of Debby Dyson's.
Turning next to the old cottager, she added, that a good mother would dowell not to keep a person used to such light company under her roof;unless she had a mind to bring her daughters-in-law to ruin.
Then, snatching up her girl's bonnet, she bustled away to look after herevening's milking; roughly refusing to hearken to any sort ofexplanation from Juliet, and saying that she never knew any good come oflistening to talking; which was no better than idling away time.
Juliet remained confounded; while the tender old cottager shed tears,saying that she had never before had so pretty a companion in her life.But Juliet would not tempt the good woman to defy the persons upon whomher children chiefly depended; and, once more, therefore, she wasreduced to make up her little packet.
She entreated of the cottager that, if a letter came for her to thefarm, it might be kept till she sent her direction; then doubled the payof all that she owed for board and lodging; and, kindly taking leave ofthe old dame, who wept bitterly at the parting; quitted the cottage; andagain, in search of a new asylum, became a Wanderer.
Which way to turn, she made no enquiry, wholly ignorant what choicemight bring security.
It was the end of August, and still not more than six o'clock in theafternoon. She avoided the high road, in the fear of some unfortunateencounter, and went down a pleasant looking lane; purposing to proceedas far, and as fast, as she could go, while it was yet light; and thento enter some new humble dwelling.
The evening was serene and warm, and occasional openings, through thehedges on either side, presented views so picturesque, that, had hermind been more at ease, they would have rendered her walk delightful.
She crossed various corn-fields, and beautiful meadows; but met with nocottage from which some lounging labourer did not frighten her; till, atlength, overtaken by the dusk of the evening, she was fain to turn back,and seek, with whatever apprehension, some lodging, for the night, uponthe public road.
But to do this was no longer easy. She mistook what she thought was herdirection, and, instead of arriving at the road, found herself upon abroad, open, dreary heath.
She endeavoured to discover the track of some carriage, and succeeded;and followed the mark, till she thought that she perceived a cottage.
She hastened towards it, with all the speed that her wearied limbs wouldpermit; but the expected habitation proved merely a group of Pollards.
She would then have recovered the wheel-track; but the moon becamesuddenly clouded, a general darkness overspread the face of the countryaround, and she could discover no kind of path.
She now grew apprehensive that she should pass the night in the openair; with not a human being within hearing, nor any house, nor anysuccour within reach. What she might have to dread she knew not; but, ina situation so wildly solitary, the very ignorance of what there mightbe to fear, was intimidating, nay, awful.
The darkness encreased; cautiously and slowly she went on; starting atevery breeze, and in continual terrour of meeting some unknown mischief.
She wandered thus for some hours, now sinking into marshy ground, nowwounded by rude stones, now upon a soft, smooth plain, and now stung ortorn by bushes, nettles, and briars; till she concluded it to be aboutmidnight. A light wind then arose, the clouds were dispersed; and themoon, which, though upon the wane, afforded a gentle, melancholy light,shewed her that she was once again in the midst of the New Forest.
Few sights could have been less welcome; what already she had suffered,and, far more, what she had apprehended, filled her with terrour; andher imagination was fearfully at work, now to bring her to the hut whichshe had so suspiciously fled; now to the encounter of disorderly youngassailants, with no Dash for her protection; now to the attack oflurking thieves, and strolling vagabonds; and now to the danger of beingbewildered and lost in the mazes of the Forest.
The last of these evils soon ceased to be a mere phantasm of fear; thewind no sooner was calmed than the moon again was obscured, and allaround her was darker, and therefore more tremendous than ever.
She continued to move on, though without knowing whether she wereadvancing or retrograding. But, ere long, her walk became embarrassedand difficult; her progress was every way obstructed; and her retreat atthe same time impeded; and she found herself in a thick wood, of whichthe deep hanging boughs continually annoyed her face and her limbs;while the unscythed grass, the growth of ages, entangled her feet, andmade every step a labour.
Wearied and dejected, she leaned against a tree, and determined to makeno further attempt to proceed, till some gleam of dawn should direct herway.
She had not remained long in this position of despondence, ere shediscerned, through the trees, at a considerable distance, a dim light.
She concluded that this must proceed from some dwelling; and, feelinginstantly revived, re-commenced her journey: yet, presently, she stoptand hesitated,--it might emit from the hut! In the dead of the nightthere was little probability that any common cottagers would require alight.
Discomfited, discouraged, she again leaned against a tree.
Yet some one might be ill; and the chamber of sickness and danger couldno more, in the cottage, than in the palace, be consigned to darkness.She determined, therefore, to approach the spot, and, at break of day,to examine the premises; certain she could not ever mistake, or everforget, the situation of the hut.
She went forward.
The light, in a few moments, disappeared; but she was not, therefore,led to consider it as a Will with the Wisp, to beguile her to someillusion; for, ere it vanished, it displayed, in passing sideways, aview of a cottage double or treble the length of the dreaded hut.
This was a sight truly consoling; yet, though it happily removed themost terrible of her fears, it awakened new perplexity. The light hadbeen evidently without doors: the suggestion, therefore, of a sickchamber proved unfounded. Yet what, in the middle of the night, couldreplace it, that was natural, and free from suspicion of evil?
Nevertheless, she moved on; seeking to guide herself by the recollectionof the spot which she had transiently seen; till she was startled by amurmuring of human voices.
But for the alarm left upon her mind, by the adventure of the hut, andthe pursuit of the wood-cutters, this would have been a sound in whichher ears would have rejoiced, as the fore-runner of succour and ofsafety; for, till then, she had always connected the idea of rusticitywith innocence, and of rural life with felicity. But now, she hadfatally learnt, that no class, and no station, appropriatively merittrust; and that the poor, like the rich, the humble, like the proud, canonly by principle be worthy of confidence: whether that principle be thehappy inherent growth of favouring Providence; or the fruit of religion,and cultivated virtue.
But fear and incertitude, though they slackened, did not long stop herprogress: the terrour of her lonely situation pointed out to her,indeed, the danger of falling into evil hands; yet peremptorily, at thesame time, urged her to seek almost any protection, that might rescueher from the vague horrours of this dark and tremendous solitude. Itwas, at least, possible that these might be the voices of someunfortunate travellers, belated, or lost, like herself, in the Forest.On, therefore, she glided, till she distinguished three different tones,all of which were male, but none of which sounded either youthful orgay. They spoke so low, that not a word reached her ears; nor could shehave caught even a sound, but for the total stillness of the air.
Thatthey spoke in whispers, therefore, was certain: Was it from fear? Was itfrom guilt?
The doubt sufficed to check all project of addressing them; but, as shemeant to retreat, she trod upon a broken bough of a tree, which made acrackling noise under her feet, that, she had reason to believe, washeard by the interlocutors, as it was followed by profound silence.
She was now forced to remain immovable; for she felt herself entangledin some of the branches of the bough, and feared that any attempt todissembarrass herself might cause a new commotion, and point out herposition.
She soon became but too certain that she had been heard; for the lightre-appeared, and she was sufficiently near to observe, that it had beenproduced by a dark lanthorn, which she now saw turned round, by a manwho was evidently seeking to discover whence the noise made by the boughhad issued: she saw, also, that he had two companions; but what was hershock when, presently, in one of them, she perceived the master of thehut!
She now gave herself up as lost! Lost alike from his fear of detection,and his vengeance for her escape. To run away was impossible; she couldfind no path; she could not even venture to stir a step, lest she shouldbetray her concealment.
They searched, for some time, in different directions; two of them thenapproached so nearly to the spot upon which she was standing, saying, toeach other, that they were sure the sound came from that quarter, thatshe almost fainted with excess of terrour. But they soon turned offanother way; one of them averring that the noise was only from somewindfall; and the hut-man replying, in a coarse bass voice, that, if anybody were watching, 'twas well they had come no sooner; for he'd defythe sharpest eye living to give a guess, now, at what they had beenabout.
In this terrible interval, the door of the habitation, of which she hadalready had a glimpse, was opened by a female; who, depositing a candleupon the threshold, ran up to one of the men, with whom she conversedfor a few minutes; after which, saying 'Good night!' she re-entered thehouse; while the men, all three repeating 'Good night!' trudged away,and were soon out of hearing.
Juliet now conceived a hope, that a female, left, probably, alone,might, either through kindness or through interest, be made a friend.She disengaged herself, therefore, from her impediments, and gentlytapped at the door.
It was immediately opened by the woman, who said, 'Why now, dear me,what have a forgot?' but who no sooner saw a stranger, than she screamedaloud, 'La be good unto me! what been ye come for here, at such anuntoward time o'night as this be?' while some children who were in bed,and suddenly awakened, jumping upon the ground, clang round theirmother, and began crying piteously.
Juliet, more affrighted than themselves, uttered the softest petition,for a few hours' refuge from the dreariness of travelling by night. Thewoman, then, casting up her hands in wonder, exclaimed, 'Good la! be youonly no other but the good gentlewoman that was so koind to my littledearies?'
The children, recollecting her at the same moment, loosened their motherto throw their little arms around their guest; skipping and rejoicing,and crying, 'O dood ady! dood ady! it's dood ady!'
This, indeed, was a moment of joy to Juliet, such as life, even at itsbest periods, can but rarely afford. From fears the most horrible ofunknown dangers; and from fatigue nearly insupportable, she foundherself suddenly welcomed by trusting kindness. All her dread andscruples, with respect to the Salisbury turnpike hostess, or to anyprevious reports, were, she now saw, groundless; and she delightedlyfelt herself in the bosom of security, while encircled in the arms ofaffectionate and unsuspicious innocence.
The good woman uncovered her hot embers, and put on some fresh wood, torestore the weary traveller from the chill of the night: and brought outof her cupboard a slice of bacon, and the end of a brown loaf of bread:not mingling, with the warmth of her genuine hospitality, onemistrustful enquiry into the reason of her guest's late wandering, orthe cause of her lonely difficulties.
The children with, instinctively, the same sensations, ran about, nearlynaked, in search of their homely play-things; persuaded that the 'doodady' would be as pleased as they were themselves, by the sight of theseveral pieces of broken platter, which they called their tea-things;and a small truss of straw, rolled round with rags, which theydenominated their doll. Nor would they return to rest, till Juliet satdown by their side, to tell them some simple stories, of other good boysand girls; while their mother prepared, for the 'dood ady,' a bed abovestairs.
The thankful happiness of Juliet, at a deliverance so unexpected, sosweet, so soothing, induced her cordially to partake of a repast ofwhich she stood greatly in need; but, before she could mount to theoffered chamber, officious doubts and apprehensions broke into thefulness of her contentment, with enquiries: Who might be the men whomshe had seen hovering about the house? What might be their businesswithout doors during the dead of the night? What had the man of the hutto do away from his dwelling at such an hour? And why, and for whom, wasthe good dame herself up so late, without giving any reason for whatmust necessarily appear so extraordinary?
Bewildered in her ideas, uncertain in her judgment, and fearful how toact, she could not resolve to inhabit a lonely chamber up stairs, at therisk of some fatal surprize, or new danger. She complained of cold, andentreated for leave to sit over the embers; while she begged them,without heeding her, to take their usual repose.
The good woman started not the smallest difficulty; and, placing herselfby the side of the children, in less than three minutes, was visited,like themselves, with the soundest sleep.
This woman, thought Juliet, must be as guileless as she is benevolent,unaccountable as are all the circumstances that hang about her; couldshe, else, with trust thus facile, taste rest thus undisturbed, inpresence of a wandering stranger, known to her only by a small andaccidental kindness shewn to her children?
Quieted by this example, Juliet herself, leaning her head against thewall, partook of that common, but ever wonderful oblivion, by which lifeis recruited, sorrow supported, and care assuaged.
With the first sun-beam they all awoke, and Juliet besought her hostessto accompany her to the nearest town. The good woman cheerfully compliedwith this request, making no other condition than that of demanding thetime to dress and breakfast her bantlings, as she never went any wherewithout them.
Juliet then officiated as nurse to the children: and here, again, thewish of obliging, with the talent of being serviceable, so endeared herto the little ones, and made her so agreeable to their parent, that shewas earnestly solicited to remain with them a little longer.
'But, your husband?' Juliet then ventured to ask; 'may I not be in hisway?'
'O no,' the woman answered; 'a be gone his rounds; and 't be odds butthey do take un, God willing, a week.'
This was sufficient encouragement for the harassed Juliet joyfully toaccept the invitation for remaining with them a few days. She deposited,therefore, her baggage in the no longer rejected up stairs chamber; and,after a few hours of quiet repose, took the entire charge of thechildren for the rest of the day; not merely to play with and amusethem, but to work for them. And her industry and adroitness soon puttheir whole little wardrobe in order; and she fashioned their clothingto their little shapes, in a manner so neat and commodious, that allthat they possessed appeared to them to be new.
The day following, with the same happy skill, she dedicated her time tothe service of the mother; whose entreaties grew more and more urgent,that she would prolong her stay at the cottage.
Far was she from desirous to quit it. With repose so much required, shehere found comfort, peace, and affection,--three principal ingredientsin the composition of happiness! which her mind, in her uncertainty ofthe fate awaiting her, was delighted to seize, and eager to requite.
For whomsoever, therefore, and at whatsoever she worked, she sung simplesongs, or told simple stories, with invariable good humour andpleasantry, to her little friends, who clung to her with passionatefondness; while their enchanted mother thought that some angel wasdescended
amongst them, in guise of a traveller, to charm and to servethem at once.
To the unhackneyed observation of this good woman, the change of attirein Juliet, since their meeting at Salisbury, offered no sort of food toconjecture; she concluded that to walk about that fine city, had welldeserved the best clothes; and that the worst had naturally been put on,afterwards, for economy, upon the road. Juliet found her wholly ignorantof the Salisbury adventure; and filled with innocent gratitude, inconcluding that she had been benighted in the Forest, while seeking tofind the little dearys whom she had thought so pretty upon the highroad.