CHAPTER VI
THE PROMISED VISIT--ROMAN FASHION--WIZARD AND WITCH--CATCHING ATWORDS--THE TWO FEMALES--DRESSING OF HAIR--THE NEW ROADS--BELLE'S ALTEREDAPPEARANCE--HERSELF AGAIN
About mid-day Mr. and Mrs. Petulengro came to the dingle to pay thepromised visit. Belle, at the time of their arrival, was in her tent,but I was at the fire-place, engaged in hammering part of the outer tire,or defence, which had come off from one of the wheels of my vehicle. Onperceiving them I forthwith went to receive them. Mr. Petulengro wasdressed in Roman {33} fashion, with a somewhat smartly-cut sporting-coat,the buttons of which were half-crowns--and a waistcoat, scarlet andblack, the buttons of which were spaded half-guineas: his breeches wereof a stuff half velveteen, half corduroy, the cords exceedingly broad.He had leggings of buff cloth, furred at the bottom; and upon his feetwere highlows. Under his left arm was a long, black whaleboneriding-whip, with a red lash, and an immense silver knob. Upon his headwas a hat with a high peak, somewhat of the kind which the Spaniards call_calane_, so much in favour with the bravos of Seville and Madrid. Now,when I have added that Mr. Petulengro had on a very fine white hollandshirt, I think I have described his array. Mrs. Petulengro--I beg pardonfor not having spoken of her first--was also arrayed very much in theRoman fashion. Her hair, which was exceedingly black and lustrous, fellin braids on either side of her head. In her ears were rings, with longdrops of gold. Round her neck was a string of what seemed very much likevery large pearls, somewhat tarnished, however, and apparently ofconsiderable antiquity. 'Here we are, brother,' said Mr.Petulengro--'here we are, come to see you--wizard and witch, witch andwizard:
'"There's a chovahanee, and a chovahano, The nav se len is Petulengro."' {34a}
'Hold your tongue, sir,' said Mrs. Petulengro; 'you make me ashamed ofyou with your vulgar ditties. We are come a visiting now, and everythinglow should be left behind.'
'True,' said Mr. Petulengro; 'why bring what's low to the dingle, whichis low enough already?'
'What, are you a catcher at words?' said I. 'I thought that catching atwords had been confined to the pot-house farmers and village wittybodies.'
'All fools,' said Mrs. Petulengro, 'catch at words, and very naturally,as by so doing they hope to prevent the possibility of rationalconversation. Catching at words confined to pot-house farmers andvillage witty bodies! No, nor to Jasper Petulengro. Listen for an houror two to the discourse of a set they call newspaper editors, and if youdon't go out and eat grass as a dog does when he is sick, I am no femalewoman. The young lord whose hand I refused when I took up with wiseJasper, once brought two of them to my mother's tan, {34b} when hankeringafter my company: they did nothing but carp at each other's words, and apretty hand they made of it. Ill-favoured dogs they were, and theirattempts at what they called wit almost as unfortunate as theircountenances.'
'Well,' said I, 'madam, we will drop all catchings and carpings for thepresent. Pray take your seat on this stool, whilst I go and announce toMiss Isopel Berners your arrival.'
Thereupon I went to Belle's habitation, and informed her that Mr. andMrs. Petulengro had paid us a visit of ceremony, and were awaiting her atthe fire-place. 'Pray go and tell them that I am busy,' said Belle, whowas engaged with her needle. 'I do not feel disposed to take part in anysuch nonsense.' 'I shall do no such thing,' said I, 'and I insist uponyour coming forthwith, and showing proper courtesy to your visitors. Ifyou do not their feelings will be hurt, and you are aware that I cannotbear that people's feelings should be outraged. Come this moment, or--''Or what?' said Belle, half smiling. 'I was about to say something inArmenian,' said I. 'Well,' said Belle, laying down her work, 'I willcome.' 'Stay,' said I, 'your hair is hanging about your ears, and yourdress is in disorder: you had better stay a minute or two to prepareyourself to appear before your visitors, who have come in their very bestattire.' 'No,' said Belle, 'I will make no alteration in my appearance;you told me to come this moment, and you shall be obeyed.'
So Belle and I advanced towards our guests. As we drew nigh Mr.Petulengro took off his hat, and made a profound obeisance to Belle,whilst Mrs. Petulengro rose from the stool, and made a profound curtsey.Belle, who had flung her hair back over her shoulders, returned theirsalutations by bending her head, and after slightly glancing at Mr.Petulengro, fixed her large blue eyes full upon his wife. Both thesefemales were very handsome--but how unlike! Belle fair, with blue eyesand flaxen hair, Mrs. Petulengro with olive complexion, eyes black, andhair dark--as dark could be. Belle, in demeanour calm and proud, thegypsy graceful, but full of movement and agitation. And then, howdifferent were those two in stature! The head of the Romany rawniescarcely ascended to the breast of Isopel Berners. I could see that Mrs.Petulengro gazed on Belle with unmixed admiration, so did her husband.'Well,' said the latter, 'one thing I will say, which is, that there isonly one on earth worthy to stand up in front of this she, and that isthe beauty of the world, as far as man flesh is concerned, Tawno Chikno;what a pity he did not come down!'
'Tawno Chikno,' {36a} said Mrs. Petulengro, flaring up; 'a pretty fellowhe to stand up in front of this gentlewoman, a pity he didn't come,quotha? not at all, the fellow is a sneak, afraid of his wife. He standup against this rawnie! {36b} why the look she has given me would knockthe fellow down.'
'It is easier to knock him down with a look than with a fist,' said Mr.Petulengro; 'that is, if the look comes from a woman, not that I amdisposed to doubt that this female gentlewoman is able to knock him downeither one way or the other. I have heard of her often enough, and haveseen her once or twice, though not so near as now. Well, ma'am, my wifeand I are come to pay our respects to you; we are both glad to find thatyou have left off keeping company with Flaming Bosville, {36c} and havetaken up with my pal; he is not very handsome, but a better--'
'I take up with your pal, {36d} as you call him; you had better mind whatyou say,' said Isopel Berners, 'I take up with nobody.'
'I merely mean taking up your quarters with him,' said Mr. Petulengro,'and I was only about to say a better fellow-lodger you cannot have, or amore instructive, especially if you have a desire to be inoculated withtongues, as he calls them. I wonder whether you and he have had anytongue-work already.'
'Have you and your wife anything particular to say, if you have nothingbut this kind of conversation I must leave you, as I am going to make ajourney this afternoon, and should be getting ready.'
'You must excuse my husband, madam,' said Mrs. Petulengro, 'he is notoverburdened with understanding, and has said but one word of sense sincehe has been here, which was that we came to pay our respects to you. Wehave dressed ourselves in our best Roman way, in order to do honour toyou; perhaps you do not like it, if so, I am sorry. I have no Frenchclothes, madam, if I had any, madam, I would have come in them in orderto do you more honour.'
'I like to see you much better as you are,' said Belle; 'people shouldkeep to their own fashions, and yours is very pretty.'
'I am glad you are pleased to think it so, madam, it has been admired inthe great city, it created what they call a sensation, and some of thegreat ladies--the court ladies, imitated it, else I should not appear init so often as I am accustomed, for I am not very fond of what is Roman,having an imagination that what is Roman is ungenteel; in fact, I onceheard the wife of a rich citizen say that gypsies were vulgar creatures.I should have taken her saying very much to heart, but for her improperpronunciation; she could not pronounce her words, madam, which wegypsies, as they call us, usually can, so I thought she was no very highpurchase. You are very beautiful, madam, though you are not dressed as Icould wish to see you, and your hair is hanging down in sad confusion;allow me to assist you in arranging your hair, madam; I will dress it foryou in our fashion; I would fain see how your hair would look in our poorgypsy fashion: pray allow me, madam?' and she took Belle by the hand.
'I really can do no such thing,' said Belle withdrawing her hand; 'Ithank you for coming to see me, but--'
'D
o allow me to officiate upon your hair, madam,' said Mrs. Petulengro,'I should esteem your allowing me a great mark of condescension. You arevery beautiful, madam, and I think you doubly so, because you are sofair; I have a great esteem for persons with fair complexions and hair; Ihave a less regard for people with dark hair and complexions, madam.'
'Then why did you turn off the lord, and take up with me?' said Mr.Petulengro; 'that same lord was fair enough all about him.'
'People do when they are young and silly what they sometimes repent ofwhen they are of riper years and understandings. I sometimes think thathad I not been something of a simpleton, I might at this time be a greatcourt lady. Now, madam,' said she, again taking Belle by the hand, 'dooblige me by allowing me to plait your hair a little?'
'I have really a good mind to be angry with you,' said Belle, giving Mrs.Petulengro a peculiar glance.
'Do allow her to arrange your hair,' said I, 'she means no harm, andwishes to do you honour; do oblige her and me too, for I should like tosee how your hair would look dressed in her fashion.'
'You hear what the young rye says?' said Mrs. Petulengro. 'I am sure youwill oblige the young rye, if not myself. Many people would be willingto oblige the young rye, if he would but ask them; but he is not in thehabit of asking favours. He has a nose of his own, which he keepstolerably exalted; he does not think small-beer of himself, madam; andall the time I have been with him, I never heard him ask a favour before;therefore, madam, I am sure you will oblige him. My sister Ursula wouldbe very willing to oblige him in many things, but he will not ask her foranything, except for such a favour as a word, which is a poor favourafter all. I don't mean for her word; perhaps he will some day ask youfor your word. If so--'
'Why here you are, after railing at me for catching at words, catching ata word yourself,' said Mr. Petulengro.
'Hold your tongue, sir,' said Mrs. Petulengro. 'Don't interrupt me in mydiscourse; if I caught at a word now, I am not in the habit of doing so.I am no conceited body; no newspaper Neddy; no pot-house witty person. Iwas about to say, madam, that if the young rye asks you at any time foryour word, you will do as you deem convenient; but I am sure you willoblige him by allowing me to braid your hair.'
'I shall not do it to oblige him,' said Belle; 'the young rye, as youcall him, is nothing to me.'
'Well, then, to oblige me,' said Mrs. Petulengro; 'do allow me to becomeyour poor tire-woman.'
'It is great nonsense,' said Belle, reddening; 'however, as you came tosee me, and ask the matter as a particular favour to yourself--'
'Thank you, madam,' said Mrs. Petulengro, leading Belle to the stool;'please to sit down here. Thank you; your hair is very beautiful,madam,' she continued, as she proceeded to braid Belle's hair; 'so isyour countenance. Should you ever go to the great city, among the grandfolks, you would make a sensation, madam. I have made one myself, who amdark; the chi she is kauley, {38} which last word signifies black, whichI am not, though rather dark. There's no colour like white, madam; it'sso lasting, so genteel. Gentility will carry the day, madam, even withthe young rye. He will ask words of the black lass, but beg the word ofthe fair.'
In the meantime Mr. Petulengro and myself entered into conversation.'Any news stirring, Mr. Petulengro?' said I. 'Have you heard anything ofthe great religious movements?'
'Plenty,' said Mr. Petulengro; 'all the religious people, more especiallythe Evangelicals--those that go about distributing tracts--are very angryabout the fight between Gentleman Cooper and White-headed Bob, {39a}which they say ought not to have been permitted to take place; and thenthey are trying all they can to prevent the fight between the lion andthe dogs, {39b} which they say is a disgrace to a Christian country.Now, I can't say that I have any quarrel with the religious party and theEvangelicals; they are always civil to me and mine, and frequently giveus tracts, as they call them, which neither I nor mine can read; but Icannot say that I approve of any movements, religious or not, which havein aim to put down all life and manly sport in this here country.'
'Anything else?' said I.
'People are becoming vastly sharp,' said Mr. Petulengro; 'and I am toldthat all the old-fashioned, good-tempered constables are going to be setaside, and a paid body of men to be established, who are not to permit atramper or vagabond on the roads of England;--and talking of roads, putsme in mind of a strange story I heard two nights ago, whilst drinkingsome beer at a public-house, in company with my cousin Sylvester. I hadasked Tawno to go, but his wife would not let him. Just opposite me,smoking their pipes, were a couple of men, something like engineers, andthey were talking of a wonderful invention which was to make a wonderfulalteration in England; inasmuch as it would set aside all the old roads,which in a little time would be ploughed up, and sowed with corn, andcause all England to be laid down with iron roads, on which people wouldgo thundering along in vehicles, pushed forward by fire and smoke. Now,brother, when I heard this, I did not feel very comfortable; for Ithought to myself, what a queer place such a road would be to pitch one'stent upon, and how impossible it would be for one's cattle to find a biteof grass upon it; and I thought likewise of the danger to which one'sfamily would be exposed of being run over and severely scorched by thesesame flying, fiery vehicles; so I made bold to say, that I hoped such aninvention would never be countenanced, because it was likely to do agreat deal of harm. Whereupon, one of the men, giving me a glance, said,without taking the pipe out of his mouth, that for his part, he sincerelyhoped that it would take effect; and if it did no other good thanstopping the rambles of gypsies, and other like scamps, it ought to beencouraged. Well, brother, feeling myself insulted, I put my hand intomy pocket, in order to pull out money, intending to challenge him tofight for a five-shilling stake, but merely found sixpence, having leftall my other money at the tent; which sixpence was just sufficient to payfor the beer which Sylvester and myself were drinking, of whom I couldn'thope to borrow anything--"poor as Sylvester" being a by-word amongst us.So, not being able to back myself, I held my peace, and let the Gorgio{40} have it all his own way, who, after turning up his nose at me, wenton discoursing about the said invention, saying what a fund of profit itwould be to those who knew how to make use of it, and should have thelaying down of the new roads, and the shoeing of England with iron. Andafter he had said this, and much more of the same kind, which I cannotremember, he and his companion got up and walked away; and presently Iand Sylvester got up and walked to our camp; and there I lay down in mytent by the side of my wife, where I had an ugly dream of having campedupon an iron road; my tent being overturned by a flying vehicle; mywife's leg injured; and all my affairs put into great confusion.'
'Now, madam,' said Mrs. Petulengro, 'I have braided your hair in ourfashion; you look very beautiful, madam; more beautiful, if possible,than before.' Belle now rose, and came forward with her tire-woman. Mr.Petulengro was loud in his applause, but I said nothing, for I did notthink Belle was improved in appearance by having submitted to theministry of Mrs. Petulengro's hand. Nature never intended Belle toappear as a gypsy; she had made her too proud and serious. A more properpart for her was that of a heroine, a queenly heroine--that of Theresa ofHungary, for example; or, better still, that of Brynhilda the Valkyrie,the beloved of Sigurd, the serpent-killer, who incurred the curse ofOdin, because, in the tumult of spears, she sided with the young king,and doomed the old warrior to die, to whom Odin had promised victory.
Belle looked at me for a moment in silence, then turning to Mrs.Petulengro, she said: 'You have had your will with me; are yousatisfied?' 'Quite so, madam,' said Mrs. Petulengro, 'and I hope youwill be so too, as soon as you have looked in the glass.' 'I have lookedin one already,' said Belle, 'and the glass does not flatter.' 'You meanthe face of the young rye,' said Mrs. Petulengro, 'never mind him, madam;the young rye, though he knows a thing or two, is not a university, nor aperson of universal wisdom. I assure you that you never looked so wellbefore, and I hope that, from this moment, you will wear your hair i
nthis way.' 'And who is to braid it in this way?' said Belle, smiling.'I, madam,' said Mrs. Petulengro, 'I will braid it for you every morning,if you will but be persuaded to join us. Do so, madam, and I think ifyou did, the young rye would do so too.' 'The young rye is nothing tome, nor I to him,' said Belle, 'we have stayed some time together, butour paths will soon be apart. Now farewell, for I am about to take ajourney.' 'And you will go out with your hair as I have braided it,'said Mrs. Petulengro, 'if you do everybody will be in love with you.''No,' said Belle, 'hitherto I have allowed you to do what you please, buthenceforth I shall have my own way. Come, come,' said she, observingthat the gypsy was about to speak, 'we have had enough of nonsense,whenever I leave this hollow it will be wearing my hair in my ownfashion.' 'Come, wife,' said Mr. Petulengro, 'we will no longer intrudeupon the rye and rawnie, there is such a thing as being troublesome.'Thereupon Mr. Petulengro and his wife took their leave, with manysalutations. 'Then you are going?' said I, when Belle and I were leftalone. 'Yes,' said Belle, 'I am going on a journey, my affairs compelme.' 'But you will return again?' said I. 'Yes,' said Belle, 'I shallreturn once more.' 'Once more,' said I, 'what do you mean by once more?The Petulengros {41} will soon be gone, and will you abandon me in thisplace?' 'You were alone here,' said Belle, 'before I came, and Isuppose, found it agreeable, or you would not have stayed in it.' 'Yes,'said I, 'that was before I knew you; but having lived with you here, Ishould be very loth to live here without you.' 'Indeed,' said Belle, 'Idid not know that I was of so much consequence to you. Well, the day iswearing away--I must go and harness Traveller to the cart.' 'I will dothat,' said I, 'or anything else you may wish me. Go and prepareyourself; I will see after Traveller and the cart.' Belle departed toher tent, and I set about performing the task I had undertaken. In abouthalf an hour Belle again made her appearance--she was dressed neatly andplainly. Her hair was no longer in the Roman fashion, in which Pakomovnahad plaited it, but was secured by a comb; she held a bonnet in her hand.'Is there anything else I can do for you?' I demanded. 'There are two orthree bundles by my tent which you can put into the cart,' said Belle. Iput the bundles into the cart, and then led Traveller and the cart up thewinding path to the mouth of the dingle, near which was Mr. Petulengro'sencampment. Belle followed. At the top, I delivered the reins into herhands; we looked at each other steadfastly for some time. Belle thendeparted, and I returned to the dingle, where, seating myself on mystone, I remained for upwards of an hour in thought.
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