CHAPTER XII.
Approaching still nearer to the End.
Jones being now completely dressed, attended his Uncle to Mr. Western’s. He was indeed one of the finest Figures ever beheld, and his Person alone would have charmed the greater Part of Womankind; but we hope it hath already appeared in this History, that Nature, when she formed him, did not totally rely, as she sometimes doth, on this Merit only, to recommend her Work.
Sophia, who, angry as she was, was likewise set forth to the best Advantage, for which I leave my female Readers to account, appeared so extremely beautiful that even Allworthy, when he saw her, could not forbear whispering Western, that he believed she was the finest Creature in the World. To which Western answered, in a Whisper overheard by all present, ‘So much the better for Tom;—for d—n me if he shan’t ha the tousling her.’ Sophia was all over Scarlet at these Words, while Tom’s Countenance was altogether as pale, and he was almost ready to sink from his Chair.
The Tea-table was scarce removed, before Western lugged Allworthy out of the Room, telling him, He had Business of Consequence to impart, and must speak to him that Instant in private before he forgot it.
The Lovers were now alone, and it will, I question not, appear strange to many Readers, that those who had so much to say to one another, when Danger and Difficulty attended their Conversation; and who seemed so eager to rush into each others Arms, when so many Bars lay in their Way, now that with Safety they were at Liberty to say or do whatever they pleased, should both remain for some Time silent and motionless; insomuch that a Stranger of moderate Sagacity might have well concluded, they were mutually indifferent: But so it was, however strange it may seem; both sat with their Eyes cast downwards on the Ground, and for some Minutes continued in perfect Silence.
Mr. Jones, during this Interval, attempted once or twice to speak, but was absolutely incapable, muttering only, or rather sighing out, some broken Words; when Sophia at length, partly out of Pity to him, and partly to turn the Discourse from the Subject which she knew well enough he was endeavouring to open, said;—
‘Sure, Sir, you are the most fortunate Man in the World in this Discovery.’ ‘And can you really, Madam, think me so fortunate,’ said Jones, sighing, ‘while I have incurred your Displeasure?’— ‘Nay, Sir,’ says she, ‘as to that, you best know whether you have deserved it.’ ‘Indeed, Madam,’ answered he, ‘you yourself are as well apprized of all my Demerits. Mrs. Miller hath acquainted you with the whole Truth. O! my Sophia, am I never to hope for Forgiveness?’—‘I think, Mr. Jones,’ said she, ‘I may almost depend on your own Justice, and leave it to yourself to pass Sentence on your own Conduct.’——‘Alas! Madam,’ answered he, ‘it is Mercy, and not Justice, which I implore at your Hands. Justice I know must condemn me—Yet not for the Letter I sent to Lady Bellaston. Of that I most solemnly declare, you have had a true Account.’ He then insisted much on the Security given him by Nightingale, of a fair Pretence for breaking off, if, contrary to their Expectations, her Ladyship should have accepted his Offer; but confest, that he had been guilty of a great Indiscretion, to put such a Letter as that into her Power, ‘which,’ said he, ‘I have dearly paid for, in the Effect it has upon you.’ ‘I do not, I cannot,’ says she, ‘believe otherwise of that Letter than you would have me. My Conduct, I think, shews you clearly I do not believe there is much in that. And yet, Mr. Jones, have I not enough to resent? After what past at Upton, so soon to engage in a new Amour with another Woman, while I fancied, and you pretended, your Heart was bleeding for me!——Indeed you have acted strangely. Can I believe the Passion you have profest to me to be sincere? Or if I can, what Happiness can I assure myself of with a Man capable of so much Inconstancy?’ ‘O! my Sophia,’ cries he, ‘do not doubt the Sincerity of the purest Passion that ever inflamed a human Breast. Think, most adorable Creature, of my unhappy Situation, of my Despair.— Could I, my Sophia, have flattered myself with the most distant Hopes of being ever permitted to throw myself at your Feet, in the Manner I do now, it would not have been in the Power of any other Woman to have inspired a Thought which the severest Chastity could have condemned. Inconstancy to you! O Sophia! if you can have Goodness enough to pardon what is past, do not let any cruel future Apprehensions shut your Mercy against me.—No Repentance was ever more sincere. O! let it reconcile me to my Heaven in this dear Bosom.’ ‘Sincere Repentance, Mr. Jones,’ answered she, ‘will obtain the Pardon of a Sinner, but it is from one who is a perfect Judge of that Sincerity. A human Mind may be imposed on; nor is there any infallible Method to prevent it. You must expect however, that if I can be prevailed on by your Repentance to pardon you, I will at least insist on the strongest Proof of its Sincerity.’—‘O! name any Proof in my Power,’ answered Jones eagerly. ‘Time,’ replied she; ‘Time alone Mr. Jones, can convince me that you are a true Penitent, and have resolved to abandon these vicious Courses, which I should detest you for, if I imagined you capable of persevering in them.’ ‘Do not imagine it,’ cries Jones. ‘On my Knees I intreat, I implore your Confidence, a Confidence which it shall be the Business of my Life to deserve.’ ‘Let it then,’ said she, ‘be the Business of some Part of your Life to shew me you deserve it. I think I have been explicit enough in assuring you, that when I see you merit my Confidence, you will obtain it. After what is past, Sir, can you expect I should take you upon your Word?’
He replied, ‘Don’t believe me upon my Word; I have a better Security, a Pledge for my Constancy, which it is impossible to see and to doubt.’ ‘What is that?’ said Sophia, a little surprized. ‘I will show you, my charming Angel,’ cried Jones, seizing her Hand, and carrying her to the Glass. ‘There, behold it there in that lovely Figure, in that Face, that Shape, those Eyes, that Mind which shines through those Eyes: Can the Man who shall be in Possession of these be inconstant? Impossible! my Sophia: They would fix a Dorimant, a Lord Rochester.1 You could not doubt it, if you could see yourself with any Eyes but your own.’ Sophia blushed, and half smiled; but forcing again her Brow into a Frown, ‘If I am to judge,’ said she, ‘of the future by the past, my Image will no more remain in your Heart when I am out of your Sight, than it will in this Glass when I am out of the Room.’ ‘By Heaven, by all that is sacred,’ said Jones, ‘it never was out of my Heart. The Delicacy of your Sex cannot conceive the Grossness of ours, nor how little one Sort of Amour has to do with the Heart.’ ‘I will never marry a Man,’ replied Sophia, very gravely, ‘who shall not learn Refinement enough to be as incapable as I am myself of making such a Distinction.’ ‘I will learn it,’ said Jones. ‘I have learnt it already. The first Moment of Hope that my Sophia might be my Wife, taught it me at once; and all the rest of her Sex from that Moment became as little the Objects of Desire to my Sense, as of Passion to my Heart.’ ‘Well,’ said Sophia, ‘the Proof of this must be from Time. Your Situation, Mr. Jones, is now altered, and I assure you I have great Satisfaction in the Alteration. You will now want no Opportunity of being near me, and convincing me that your Mind is altered too.’ ‘O! my Angel,’ cries Jones, ‘how shall I thank thy Goodness? And are you so good to own, that you have a Satisfaction in my Prosperity?—Believe me, believe me, Madam, it is you alone have given a Relish to that Prosperity, since I owe to it the dear Hope— O! my Sophia, let it not be a distant one.—I will be all Obedience to your Commands. I will not dare to press any Thing further than you permit me. Yet let me intreat you to appoint a short Trial. O! tell me, when I may expect you will be convinced of what is most solemnly true.’ ‘When I have gone voluntarily thus far, Mr. Jones,’ said she, ‘I expect not to be pressed. Nay, I will not.’—‘O don’t look unkindly thus, my Sophia,’ cries he. ‘I do not, I dare not press you.—Yet permit me at least once more to beg you would fix the Period. O! consider the Impatience of Love.’—‘A Twelve-month, perhaps,’ said she.—‘O! my Sophia,’ cries he, ‘you have named an Eternity.’—‘Perhaps it may be something sooner,’ says she, ‘I will not be teazed. If your Passion for me be what
I would have it, I think you may now be easy.’—‘Easy, Sophia, call not such an exulting Happiness as mine by so cold a Name.—O! transporting Thought! am I not assured that the blessed Day will come, when I shall call you mine; when Fears shall be no more; when I shall have that dear, that vast, that exquisite, ecstatic Delight of making my Sophia happy?’—‘Indeed, Sir,’ said she, ‘that Day is in your own Power.’—‘O! my dear, my divine Angel,’ cried he, ‘these Words have made me mad with Joy.—But I must, I will thank those dear Lips which have so sweetly pronounced my Bliss.’ He then caught her in his Arms, and kissed her with an Ardour he had never ventured before.
At this Instant, Western, who had stood some Time listening, burst into the Room, and with his hunting Voice and Phrase, cried out, ‘To her Boy, to her, go to her.—That’s it, little Honeys, O that’s it. Well, what is it all over? Hath she appointed the Day, Boy? What shall it be To-morrow or next Day? It shan’t be put off a Minute longer than next Day I am resolved.’ ‘Let me beseech you, Sir,’ says Jones, ‘don’t let me be the Occasion’—‘Beseech mine A—,’ cries Western, ‘I thought thou had’st been a Lad of higher Mettle, than to give Way to a Parcel of Maidenish Tricks.— I tell thee ’tis all Flimflam. Zoodikers! she’d have the Wedding to Night with all her Heart. Would’st not Sophy? Come confess, and be an honest Girl for once. What, art dumb? Why dost not speak?’ ‘Why should I confess, Sir?’ says Sophia, ‘since it seems you are so well acquainted with my Thoughts.’—‘That’s a good Girl,’ cries he, ‘and dost consent then?’ ‘No indeed, Sir,’ says Sophia, ‘I have given no such Consent.’—‘And wunt nut ha un then To-morrow, nor next Day?’ says Western——‘Indeed, Sir,’ says she, ‘I have no such Intention.’ ‘But I can tell thee,’ replied he, ‘why hast nut, only because thou dost love to be disobedient, and to plague and vex thy Father.’—‘Pray, sir,’ said Jones interfering.—‘I tell thee thou at a Puppy,’ cries he. ‘When I forbid her, then it was all nothing but Sighing and Whining, and Languishing and Writing; now I am vor thee, she is against thee. All the Spirit of contrary, that’s all. She is above being guided and governed by her Father, that is the whole Truth on’t. It is only to disoblige and contradict me.’ ‘What would my Papa have me do?’ cries Sophia. ‘What would I ha thee do?’ says he, ‘why gi un thy Hand this Moment.’——‘Well, Sir,’ said Sophia, ‘I will obey you.—There is my Hand, Mr. Jones.’ ‘Well, and will you consent to ha un to-morrow Morning?’ says Western.——‘I will be obedient to you, Sir,’ cries she.—‘Why then to-morrow Morning be the Day,’ cries he.—‘Why then to-morrow Morning shall be the Day, Papa, since you will have it so,’ says Sophia. Jones then fell upon his Knees, and kissed her Hand in an Agony of Joy, while Western began to caper and dance about the Room, presently crying out, —‘Where the Devil is Allworthy? He is without now, a talking with that d—d Lawyer Dowling, when he should be minding other Matters.’ He then sallied out in Quest of him, and very opportunely left the Lovers to enjoy a few tender Minutes alone.
But he soon returned with Allworthy, saying, ‘If you won’t believe me, you may ask her yourself. Hast nut gin thy Consent, Sophy, to be married To-morrow?’ ‘Such are your Commands, Sir,’ cries Sophia, ‘and I dare not be guilty of Disobedience.’ ‘I hope Madam,’ cries Allworthy, ‘my Nephew will merit so much Goodness, and will be always as sensible as myself, of the great Honour you have done my Family. An Alliance with so charming and so excellent a young Lady would indeed be an Honour to the greatest in England.’ ‘Yes,’ cries Western, ‘but if I had suffered her to stand shill I shall I, dilly dally, you might not have had that Honour yet awhile; I was forced to use a little fatherly Authority to bring her to.’ ‘I hope not, Sir,’ cries Allworthy. ‘I hope there is not the least Constraint.’ ‘Why there,’ cries Western, ‘you may bid her unsay all again, if you will. Do’st repent heartily of thy Promise, do’st not, Sophy?’ ‘Indeed, Papa,’ cries she, ‘I do not repent, nor do I believe I ever shall, of any Promise in Favour of Mr. Jones.’ ‘Then, Nephew,’ cries Allworthy, ‘I felicitate you most heartily; for I think you are the happiest of Men. And, Madam, you will give me Leave to congratulate you on this joyful Occasion: Indeed I am convinced you have bestowed yourself on one who will be sensible of your great Merit, and who will at least use his best Endeavours to deserve it.’ ‘His best Endeavours!’ cries Western, ‘that he will I warrant un.—Harkee, Allworthy, I’ll bet thee five Pound to a Crown we have a Boy to-morrow nine Months: But prithee tell me what wut ha! Wut ha Burgundy, Champaigne, or what? for please Jupiter, we’ll make a Night on’t.’ ‘Indeed, Sir,’ said Allworthy, ‘you must excuse me; both my Nephew and I were engaged, before I suspected this near Approach of his Happiness.’—‘Engaged!’ quoth the Squire, ‘never tell me.—I won’t part with thee to Night upon any Occasion. Shalt sup here, please the Lord Harry.’2 ‘You must pardon me, my dear Neighbour,’ answered Allworthy; ‘I have given a solemn Promise, and that you know I never break.’ ‘Why, prithee, who art engaged to?’ cries the Squire.— Allworthy then informed him, as likewise of the Company.—‘Odzookers!’ answered the Squire, ‘I will go with thee, and so shall Sophy; for I won’t part with thee to Night; and it would be barbarous to part Tom and the Girl.’ This Offer was presently embraced by Allworthy; and Sophia consented, having first obtained a private Promise from her Father, that he would not mention a Syllable concerning her Marriage.
CHAPTER THE LAST.
In which the History is concluded.
Young Nightingale had been that Afternoon, by Appointment, to wait on his Father, who received him much more kindly than he expected. There likewise he met his Uncle, who was returned to Town in Quest of his new-married Daughter.
This Marriage was the luckiest Incident which could have happened to the young Gentleman; for these Brothers lived in a constant State of Contention about the Government of their Children, both heartily despising the Method which each other took. Each of them therefore now endeavoured as much as he could to palliate the Offence which his own Child had committed, and to aggravate the Match of the other. This Desire of triumphing over his Brother, added to the many Arguments which Allworthy had used, so strongly operated on the old Gentleman, that he met his Son with a smiling Countenance, and actually agreed to sup with him that Evening at Mrs. Miller’s.
As for the other, who really loved his Daughter with the most immoderate Affection, there was little Difficulty in inclining him to a Reconciliation. He was no sooner informed by his Nephew, where his Daughter and her Husband were, than he declared he would instantly go to her. And when he arrived there, he scarce suffered her to fall upon her Knees, before he took her up, and embraced her with a Tenderness which affected all who saw him; and in less than a Quarter of an Hour was as well reconciled to both her and her Husband, as if he had himself joined their Hands.
In this Situation were Affairs when Mr. Allworthy and his Company arrived to complete the Happiness of Mrs. Miller, who no sooner saw Sophia, than she guessed every Thing that had happened; and so great was her Friendship to Jones, that it added not a few Transports to those she felt on the Happiness of her own Daughter.
There have not, I believe, been many Instances of a Number of People met together, where every one was so perfectly happy, as in this Company. Amongst whom the Father of young Nightingale enjoyed the least perfect Content; for notwithstanding his Affection for his Son; notwithstanding the Authority and the Arguments of Allworthy, together with the other Motive mentioned before, he could not so entirely be satisfied with his Son’s Choice; and perhaps the Presence of Sophia herself tended a little to aggravate and heighten his Concern, as a Thought now and then suggested itself, that his Son might have had that Lady, or some such other. Not that any of the Charms which adorned either the Person or Mind of Sophia, created the Uneasiness: It was the Contents of her Father’s Coffers which set his Heart a longing. These were the Charms which he could not bear to think his Son had sacrificed to the Daughter of Mrs. Miller.
&nbs
p; The Brides were both very pretty Women; but so totally were they eclipsed by the Beauty of Sophia, that had they not been two of the best-tempered Girls in the World, it would have raised some Envy in their Breasts; for neither of their Husbands could long keep his Eyes from Sophia, who sat at the Table like a Queen receiving Homage, or rather like a superiour Being receiving Adoration from all around her. But it was an Adoration which they gave, not which she exacted: For she was as much distinguished by her Modesty and Affability, as by all her other Perfections.
The Evening was spent in much true Mirth. All were happy, but those the most, who had been most unhappy before. Their former Sufferings and Fears gave such a Relish to their Felicity, as even Love and Fortune in their fullest Flow could not have given without the Advantage of such a Comparison. Yet as great Joy, especially after a sudden Change and Revolution of Circumstances, is apt to be silent, and dwells rather in the Heart than on the Tongue, Jones and Sophia appeared the least merry of the whole Company. Which Western observed with great Impatience, often crying out to them, ‘Why do’st not talk, Boy! Why do’st look so grave! Hast lost thy Tongue, Girl! Drink another Glass of Wine, sha’t drink another Glass.’ And the more to enliven her, he would sometimes sing a merry Song, which bore some Relation to Matrimony, and the Loss of a Maidenhead. Nay, he would have proceeded so far on that Topic, as to have driven her out of the Room, if Mr. Allworthy had not checkt him sometimes by Looks, and once or twice by a Fie! Mr. Western. He began indeed once to debate the Matter, and assert his Right to talk to his own Daughter as he thought fit; but as no Body seconded him, he was soon reduced to Order.
The History of Tom Jones (Penguin Classics) Page 110