by T. Smollett
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
AN UNEXPECTED RENCONTRE, AND A HAPPY REVOLUTION IN THE AFFAIRS OF OURADVENTURER.
As she did not lodge within the precincts of this garrison, she was oneday, after tea, conducted to the gate by the captain and the Count, andjust as they approached the turnkey's lodge, our hero's eyes were struckwith the apparition of his old companion Renaldo, son of his benefactorand patron, the Count de Melvil. What were the emotions of his soul,when he saw that young gentleman enter the prison, and advance towardshim, after having spoke to the jailor! He never doubted that, beinginformed of his confinement, he was come to upbraid him with his villanyand ingratitude, and he in vain endeavoured to recollect himself fromthat terror and guilty confusion which his appearance had inspired; whenthe stranger, lifting up his eyes, started back with signs of extremeamazement, and, after a considerable pause, exclaimed, "Heaven and earth!Sure my eyes do not deceive me! is not your name Fathom? It is, it mustbe my old friend and companion, the loss of whom I have so longregretted!" With these words he ran towards our adventurer, and, whilehe clasped him in his arms with all the eagerness of affection, protestedthat this was one of the happiest days he had ever seen.
Ferdinand, who, from this salutation, concluded himself still inpossession of Renaldo's good opinion, was not deficient in expressions oftenderness and joy; he returned his embraces with equal ardour, the tearstrickled down his cheeks, and that perturbation which proceeded fromconscious perfidy and fear, was mistaken by the unsuspecting Hungarianfor the sheer effects of love, gratitude, and surprise. These firsttransports having subsided, they adjourned to the lodgings of Fathom, whosoon recollected his spirits and invention so well as to amuse the otherwith a feigned tale of his having been taken by the French, sent prisonerinto Champagne, from whence he had written many letters to Count Melviland his son, of whom he could hear no tidings; of his having contractedan intimacy with a young nobleman of France, who died in the flower ofhis age, after having, in token of his friendship, bequeathed to him aconsiderable legacy; by this he had been enabled to visit the land of hisforefathers in the character of a gentleman, which he had supported withsome figure, until he was betrayed into a misfortune that exhausted hisfunds, and drove him to the spot where he was now found. And he solemnlydeclared, that, far from forgetting the obligation he owed to CountMelvil, or renouncing the friendship of Renaldo, he had actually resolvedto set out for Germany on his return to the house of his patron in thebeginning of the week posterior to that in which he had been arrested.
Young Melvil, whose own heart had never known the instigations of fraud,implicitly believed the story and protestations of Fathom; and though hewould not justify that part of his conduct by which the term of his goodfortune was abridged, he could not help excusing an indiscretion intowhich he had been hurried by the precipitancy of youth, and theallurements of an artful woman. Nay, with the utmost warmth offriendship, he undertook to wait upon Trapwell, and endeavour to softenhim into some reasonable terms of composition.
Fathom seemed to be quite overwhelmed with a deep sense of all thisgoodness, and affected the most eager impatience to know the particularsof Renaldo's fate, since their unhappy separation, more especially hiserrand to this uncomfortable place, which he should henceforth revere asthe providential scene of their reunion. Nor did he forget to inquire,in the most affectionate and dutiful manner, about the situation of hisnoble parents and amiable sister.
At mention of these names, Renaldo, fetching a deep sigh, "Alas! myfriend," said he, "the Count is no more; and, what aggravates myaffliction for the loss of such a father, it was my misfortune to beunder his displeasure at the time of his death. Had I been present onthat melancholy occasion, so well I knew his generosity and paternaltenderness, that, sure I am, he would in his last moments have forgivenan only son, whose life had been a continual effort to render himselfworthy of such a parent, and whose crime was no other than an honourablepassion for the most meritorious of her sex. But I was removed at afatal distance from him, and doubtless my conduct must have beeninvidiously misrepresented. Be that as it will, my mother has againgiven her hand in wedlock to Count Trebasi; by whom I have themortification to be informed that I am totally excluded from my father'ssuccession; and I learn from other quarters, that my sister isbarbarously treated by this inhuman father-in-law. Grant, Heaven, I maysoon have an opportunity of expostulating with the tyrant upon thatsubject."
So saying, his cheeks glowed, and his eyes lightened with resentment.Then he thus proceeded: "My coming hither to-day was with a view to visita poor female relation, from whom I yesterday received a letter,describing her most deplorable situation, and soliciting my assistance;but the turnkey affirms that there is no such person in the jail, and Iwas on my way to consult the keeper, when I was agreeably surprised withthe sight of my dear Fathom."
Our adventurer having wiped from his eyes the tears which were producedby the news of his worthy patron's death, desired to know the name ofthat afflicted prisoner, in whose behalf he interested himself so much,and Renaldo produced the letter, subscribed, "Your unfortunate cousin,Helen Melvil." This pretended relation, after having explained thedegree of consanguinity which she and the Count stood in to each other,and occasionally mentioned some anecdotes of the family in Scotland, gavehim to understand that she had married a merchant of London, who, byrepeated losses in trade, had been reduced to indigence, and afterwardsconfined to prison, where he then lay a breathless corpse, having lefther in the utmost extremity of wretchedness and want, with two youngchildren in the smallpox, and an incurable cancer in one of her ownbreasts. Indeed, the picture she drew was so moving, and her expressionsso sensibly pathetic, that no person, whose heart was not altogethercallous, could peruse it without emotion. Renaldo had sent two guineasby the messenger, whom she had represented as a trusty servant, whosefidelity had been proof against all the distress of her mistress; and hewas now arrived in order to reinforce his bounty.
Fathom, in the consciousness of his own practices, immediatelycomprehended the scheme of this letter, and confidently assured him thatno such person resided in the prison or in any other place. And when hisfriend applied for information to the keeper, these assurances wereconfirmed; and that stern janitor told him he had been imposed upon by astale trick, which was often practised upon strangers by a set ofsharpers, who make it their business to pick up hints of intelligencerelating to private families, upon which they build such superstructuresof fraud and imposition.
However piqued the young Hungarian might be to find himself duped in thismanner, he rejoiced at the occasion which had thrown Fathom in his way;and, after having made him a tender of his purse, took his leave, onpurpose to wait upon Trapwell, who was not quite so untractable as anenraged cuckold commonly is; for, by this time, he had accomplished thebest part of his aim, which was to be divorced from his wife, and wasfully convinced that the defendant was no more than a needy adventurer,who, in all probability, would be released by an act of parliament forthe benefit of insolvent debtors; in which case, he, the plaintiff, wouldreap no solid advantage from his imprisonment.
He, therefore, listened to the remonstrances of the mediator, and, aftermuch canvassing, agreed to discharge the defendant, in consideration oftwo hundred pounds, which were immediately paid by Count Melvil, who, bythis deduction, was reduced to somewhat less than thirty.
Nevertheless, he cheerfully beggared himself in behalf of his friend, forwhose release he forthwith obtained an order; and, next day, ouradventurer, having bid a formal adieu to his fellows in distress, and, inparticular, to his majesty, for whose restoration his prayers werepreferred, he quitted the jail, and accompanied his deliverer, with allthe outward marks of unutterable gratitude and esteem.
Surely, if his heart had been made of penetrable stuff, it would havebeen touched by the circumstances of this redemption; but had not hissoul been invincible to all such attacks, these memoirs would possiblynever have seen the light.
When the
y arrived at Renaldo's lodgings, that young gentleman honouredhim with other proofs of confidence and friendship, by giving him acircumstantial detail of all the adventures in which he had been engagedafter Fathom's desertion from the imperial camp. He told him, that,immediately after the war was finished, his father had pressed him to avery advantageous match, with which he would have complied, though hisheart was not at all concerned, had not he been inflamed with the desireof seeing the world before he could take any step towards a settlementfor life. That he had signified his sentiments on this head to theCount, who opposed them with unusual obstinacy, as productive of a delaywhich might be fatal to his proposal; for which reason he had retiredincognito from his family, and travelled through sundry states andcountries, in a disguise by which he eluded the inquiries of his parents.
That, in the course of these peregrinations, he was captivated by theirresistible charms of a young lady, on whose heart he had the goodfortune to make a tender impression. That their mutual love hadsubjected both to many dangers and difficulties, during which theysuffered a cruel separation; after the torments of which, he had happilyfound her in England, where she now lived entirely cut off from hernative country and connexions, and destitute of every other resource buthis honour, love, and protection. And, finally, that he was determinedto combat his own desires, how violent soever they might be, until heshould have made some suitable provision for the consequences of astricter union with the mistress of his soul, that he might not, by aprecipitate marriage, ruin the person whom he adored.
This end he proposed to attain, by an application to the court of Vienna,which he did not doubt would have some regard to his own service, andthat of his father; and thither he resolved to repair, with the firstopportunity, now that he had found a friend with whom he could intrustthe inestimable jewel of his heart.
He likewise gave our hero to understand, that he had been eight months inEngland, during which he had lived in a frugal manner, that he might notunnecessarily exhaust the money he had been able to raise upon his owncredit; that, hitherto, he had been obliged to defer his departure forGermany on account of his attendance upon the mother of his mistress, whowas lately dead of sorrow and chagrin; and that, since he resided inLondon, he had often heard of the celebrated Count Fathom, though henever imagined that his friend Ferdinand could be distinguished by thatappellation.