by T. Smollett
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
HE IS EXPOSED TO A MOST PERILOUS INCIDENT IN THE COURSE OF HIS INTRIGUEWITH THE DAUGHTER.
He was rejoiced to find her so easily satisfied in such a momentousconcern, for the principal aim of the intrigue was to make her necessaryto his interested views, and even, if possible, an associate in thefraudulent plans he had projected upon her father; consequently heconsidered this relaxation in her virtue as an happy omen of his futuresuccess. All the obstacles to their mutual enjoyment being thus removed,our adventurer was by his mistress indulged with an assignation in herown chamber, which, though contiguous to that of her stepmother, wasprovided with a door that opened into a common staircase, to which he hadaccess at all hours of the night.
He did not neglect the rendezvous, but, presenting himself at theappointed time, which was midnight, made the signal they had agreed upon,and was immediately admitted by Wilhelmina, who waited for hire with alover's impatience. Fathom was not deficient in those expressions ofrapture that are current on those occasions; but, on the contrary, becameso loud in the transports of self-congratulation, that his voice reachedthe ears of the vigilant stepmother, who wakening the jeweller from hisfirst nap, gave him to understand that some person was certainly in closeconversation with his daughter; and exhorted him to rise forthwith, andvindicate the honour of his family.
The German, who was naturally of a phlegmatic habit, and never went tobed without a full dose of the creature, which added to hisconstitutional drowsiness, gave no ear to his wife's intimation, untilshe had repeated it thrice, and used other means to rouse him from thearms of slumber. Meanwhile Fathom and his inamorata overheard herinformation, and our hero would have made his retreat immediately,through the port by which he entered, had not his intention beenoverruled by the remonstrances of the young lady, who observed that thedoor was already fast bolted, and could not possibly be opened withoutcreating a noise that would confirm the suspicion of her parents; andthat over and above this objection he would, in sallying from that door,run the risk of being met by her father, who in all probability wouldpresent himself before it, in order to hinder our hero's escape. Shetherefore conveyed him softly into her closet, where she assured him hemight remain with great tranquillity, in full confidence that she wouldtake such measures as would effectually screen him from detection.
He was fain to depend upon her assurance, and accordingly ensconcedhimself behind her dressing-table; but he could not help sweating withapprehension, and praying fervently to God for his deliverance, when heheard the jeweller thundering at the door, and calling to his daughterfor admittance. Wilhelmina, who was already undressed, and had purposelyextinguished the light, pretended to be suddenly waked from her sleep,and starting up, exclaimed in a tone of surprise and affright, "Jesu,Maria! what is the matter?"--"Hussy!" replied the German in a terribleaccent, "open the door this instant; there is a man in your bedchamber,and, by the lightning and thunder! I will wash away the stain he has castupon my honour with the schellum's heart's-blood."
Not at all intimidated by this boisterous threat, she admitted himwithout hesitation, and, with a shrillness of voice peculiar to herself,began to hold forth upon her own innocence and his unjust suspicion,mingling in her harangue sundry oblique hints against her mother-in-law,importing, that some people were so viciously inclined by their ownnatures, that she did not wonder at their doubting the virtue of otherpeople; but that these people despised the insinuations of such people,who ought to be more circumspect in their own conduct, lest theythemselves should suffer reprisals from those people whom they had somaliciously slandered.
Having uttered these flowers of rhetoric, which were calculated for thehearing of her step-dame, who stood with a light at her husband's back,the young lady assumed an ironical air, and admonished her father tosearch every corner of her apartment. She even affected to assist hisinquiry; with her own hands pulled out a parcel of small drawers, inwhich her trinkets were contained; desired him to look into herneedlecase and thimble, and, seeing his examination fruitless, earnestlyintreated him to rummage her closet also, saying, with a sneer, that, inall probability, the dishonourer would be found in that lurking-place.The manner in which she pretended to ridicule his apprehensions made animpression upon the jeweller, who was very well disposed to retreat intohis own nest, when his wife, with a certain slyness in her countenance,besought him to comply with his daughter's request, and look into thatsame closet, by which means Wilhelmina's virtue would obtain a completetriumph.
Our adventurer, who overheard the conversation, was immediately seizedwith a palsy of fear. He trembled at every joint, the sweat trickleddown his forehead, his teeth began to chatter, his hair to stand on end;and he, in his heart, bitterly cursed the daughter's petulance, themother's malice, together with his own precipitation, by which he wasinvolved in an adventure so pregnant with danger and disgrace. Indeed,the reader may easily conceive his disorder, when he heard the keyturning in the lock, and the German swearing that he would make him foodfor the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air.
Fathom had come unprepared with weapons of defence, was naturally aneconomist of his person, and saw himself on the brink of forfeiting notonly the promised harvest of his double intrigue, but also the reputationof a man of honour, upon which all his future hopes depended. His agonywas therefore unspeakable, when the door flew open; and it was not tillafter a considerable pause of recollection, that he perceived the candleextinguished by the motion of the air produced from the German's suddenirruption. This accident, which disconcerted him so much as to put afull stop to his charge, was very favourable to our hero, who, summoningall his presence of mind, crept up into the chimney, while the jewellerstood at the door, waiting for his wife's return with another light; sothat, when the closet was examined, there was nothing found to justifythe report which the stepmother had made; and the father, after havingmade a slight apology to Wilhelmina for his intrusion, retired with hisyoke-fellow into their own chamber.
The young lady, who little thought that her papa would have taken her ather word, was overwhelmed with confusion and dismay, when she saw himenter the closet; and, had her lover been discovered, would, in allprobability, have been the loudest in his reproach, and, perhaps, haveaccused him of an intention to rob the house; but she was altogetherastonished when she found he had made shift to elude the inquiry of herparents, because she could not conceive the possibility of his escapingby the window, which was in the third storey, at a prodigious distancefrom the ground; and how he should conceal himself in the apartment, wasa mystery which she could by no means unfold. Before her father andmother retired, she lighted her lamp, on pretence of being afraid to bein the dark, after the perturbation of spirits she had undergone; and herroom was no sooner evacuated of such troublesome visitants, than shesecured the doors, and went in quest of her lover.
Accordingly, every corner of the closet underwent a new search, and shecalled upon his name with a soft voice, which she thought no other personwould overhear. But Ferdinand did not think proper to gratify herimpatience, because he could not judge of the predicament in which hestood by the evidence of all his senses, and would not relinquish hispost, until he should be better certified that the coast was clear.Meanwhile, his Dulcinea, having performed her inquiry to no purpose,imagined there was something preternatural in the circumstance of hisvanishing so unaccountably, and began to cross herself with greatdevotion. She returned to her chamber, fixed the lamp in the fireplace,and, throwing herself upon the bed, gave way to the suggestions of hersuperstition, which were reinforced by the silence that prevailed, andthe gloomy glimmering of the light. She reflected upon the trespass shehad already committed in her heart, and, in the conjectures of her fear,believed that her lover was no other than the devil himself, who hadassumed the appearance of Fathom, in order to tempt and seduce hervirtue.
While her imagination teemed with those horrible ideas, our adventurer,concluding, from the general stillness, that t
he jeweller and his wifewere at last happily asleep, ventured to come forth from hishiding-place, and stood before his mistress all begrimed with soot.Wilhelmina, lifting up her eyes, and seeing this sable apparition, whichshe mistook for Satan in propria persona, instantly screamed, and beganto repeat her pater-noster with an audible voice. Upon which Ferdinand,foreseeing that her parents would be again alarmed, would not stay toundeceive her and explain himself, but, unlocking the door with greatexpedition, ran downstairs, and luckily accomplished his escape. Thiswas undoubtedly the wisest measure he could have taken; for he had notperformed one half of his descent toward the street, when the German wasat his daughter's bedside, demanding to know the cause of herexclamation. She then gave him an account of what she had seen, with allthe exaggerations of her own fancy, and, after having weighed thecircumstances of her story, he interpreted the apparition into a thief,who had found means to open the door that communicated with the stair;but, having been scared by Wilhelmina's shriek, had been obliged toretreat before he could execute his purpose.
Our hero's spirits were so wofully disturbed by this adventure, that, fora whole week, he felt no inclination to visit his inamorata, and was notwithout apprehension that the affair had terminated in an explanationvery little to his advantage. He was, however, delivered from thisdisagreeable suspense, by an accidental meeting with the jewellerhimself, who kindly chid him for his long absence, and entertained him inthe street with an account of the alarm which his family had sustained,by a thief who broke into Wilhelmina's apartment. Glad to find hisapprehension mistaken, he renewed his correspondence with the family,and, in a little time, found reason to console himself for the jeopardyand panic he had undergone.