by T. Smollett
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
HIS SUCCESS BEGETS A BLIND SECURITY, BY WHICH HE IS ONCE AGAIN WELL-NIGHENTRAPPED IN HIS DULCINEA'S APARTMENT.
In this manner did the crafty Fathom turn to account those ingratiatingqualifications he inherited from nature, and maintain, with incredibleassiduity and circumspection, an amorous correspondence with two domesticrivals, who watched the conduct of each other with the most indefatigablevirulence of envious suspicion, until an accident happened, which hadwell-nigh overturned the bark of his policy, and induced him to alter thecourse, that he might not be shipwrecked on the rocks that began tomultiply in the prosecution of his present voyage.
The jeweller, who, as a German, wanted neither pride nor ostentation,never failed to celebrate the anniversary of his birth by an annual feastgranted to his neighbours and friends; and on these occasions wasaccustomed to wear that chain which, though bequeathed to his daughter,he considered as an ornament appertaining to the family, whereof hehimself was head. Accordingly, when the time of this festival revolved,he, as usual, ordered Wilhelmina to surrender it for the day. Thisinjunction, the reader will perceive, our young lady was in no conditionto obey; she had, however, foreseen the demand, and contrived a scheme ofbehaviour for the occasion, which she forthwith put in execution.
With an air of uncommon cheerfulness, purposely assumed, she retired toher closet, on pretence of complying with his desire, and, havingemployed a few minutes in rummaging her drawers and disordering hermoveables, uttered a loud shriek, that brought her father instantly intothe apartment, where he found his daughter tossing about her clothes andtrinkets with violent demonstrations of disorder and affright, and heardher, in a lamentable strain, declare that she was robbed of her chain,and for ever undone. This was so far from being an agreeable intimationto the jeweller, that he was struck dumb with astonishment and vexation,and it was not till after a long pause that he pronounced the wordSacrament! with an emphasis denoting the most mortifying surprise.
Soon as that exclamation escaped from his lips, he flew to the escritoireas if instinctively, and, joining Wilhelmina in her occupation, tumbledits whole contents upon the floor in a trice.
While he was thus employed, in the most expressive silence, the wife ofhis bosom chanced to pass that way, and seeing them both occupied withsuch violence and trepidation, believed at first that they were certainlyactuated by the spirit of frenzy; but, when she interposed, by asking,with great earnestness, the cause of such transports and distractedbehaviour, and heard her husband reply, with an accent of despair, "Thechain! the chain of my forefathers is no more!" she immediately justifiedhis emotion, by undergoing the same alarm, and, without furtherhesitation, engaged herself in the search, beginning with a song, whichmight be compared to the hymn of battle among the Greeks, or rather moreaptly to that which the Spartan females sung round the altar of Diana,surnamed Orthian; for it was attended with strange gesticulations, and,in the course of utterance, became so loud and shrill, that the guests,who were by this time partly assembled, being confounded at the clamour,rushed towards the place from whence it seemed to proceed, and foundtheir landlord, with his wife and daughter, in the attitudes ofdistraction and despair.
When they understood the nature of the case, they condoled the family ontheir misfortune, and would have retired, on the supposition that itwould defeat the mirthful intent of their meeting; but the jeweller,mustering up his whole temper and hospitality, entreated them to excusehis disorder, and favour him with their company, which, he observed, wasnow more than ever wanted, to dispel the melancholy ideas inspired by hisloss. Notwithstanding this apology, and the efforts he made in thesequel to entertain his friends with jollity and good-humour, his heartwas so linked to the chain, that he could not detach himself from thethoughts of it, which invaded him at short intervals in such qualms aseffectually spoiled his appetite, and hindered his digestion.
He revolved within himself the circumstances of his disaster, and, incanvassing all the probable means by which the chain would be stolen,concluded that the deed must have been done by some person in the family,who, in consequence of having access to his daughter's chamber, hadeither found the drawer left open by her carelessness and neglect, orfound means to obtain a false key, by some waxen impression; for thelocks of the escritoire were safe and uninjured. His suspicion beingthus confined within his own house, sometimes pitched upon his workmen,and sometimes upon his wife, who, he thought, was the more likely topractise such finesse, as she considered Wilhelmina in the light of adaughter-in-law, whose interest interfered with her own, and who hadoften harangued to him in private on the folly of leaving this very chainin the young lady's possession.
The more he considered this subject, he thought he saw the more reason toattribute the damage he had sustained to the machinations of his spouse,who, he did not doubt, was disposed to feather her own nest, at theexpense of him and his heirs, and who, with the same honest intention,had already secreted, for her private use, those inconsiderable jewelswhich of late had at different times been missing. Aroused by thesesentiments, he resolved to retaliate her own schemes, by contriving meansto visit her cabinet in secret, and, if possible, to rob the robber ofthe spoils she had gathered to his prejudice, without coming to anyexplanation, which might end in domestic turmoils and eternal disquiet.
While the husband exercised his reflection in this manner, his innocentmate did not allow the powers of her imagination to rest in idleness andsloth. Her observations touching the loss of the chain were such as asuspicious woman, biassed by hatred and envy, would naturally make. Toher it seemed highly improbable, that a thing of such value, so carefullydeposited, should vanish without the connivance of its keeper, andwithout much expense of conjecture, divined the true manner in which itwas conveyed. The sole difficulty that occurred in the researches of hersagacity, was to know the gallant who had been favoured with such apledge of Wilhelmina's affection; for, as the reader will easily imagine,she never dreamed of viewing Ferdinand in that odious perspective. Inorder to satisfy her curiosity, discover this happy favourite, and berevenged on her petulant rival, she prevailed upon the jeweller to employa scout, who should watch all night upon the stair, without the knowledgeof any other person in the family, alleging, that in all likelihood, thehousemaid gave private admittance to some lover who was the author of allthe losses they had lately suffered, and that they might possibly detecthim in his nocturnal adventures; and observing that it would be imprudentto intimate their design to Wilhelmina, lest, through the heedlessnessand indiscretion of youth, she might chance to divulge the secret, so asto frustrate their aim.
A Swiss, in whose honesty the German could confide, being hired for thispurpose, was posted in a dark corner of the staircase, within a few pacesof the door, which he was directed to watch, and actually stood sentinelthree nights, without perceiving the least object of suspicion; but, onthe fourth, the evil stars of our adventurer conducted him to the spot,on his voyage to the apartment of his Dulcinea, with whom he hadpreconcerted the assignation. Having made the signal, which consisted oftwo gentle taps on her door, he was immediately admitted; and the Swissno sooner saw him fairly housed, than he crept softly to the other door,that was left open for the purpose, and gave immediate intimation of whathe had perceived. This intelligence, however, he could not convey sosecretly, but the lovers, who were always vigilant upon these occasions,overheard a sort of commotion in the jeweller's chamber, the cause ofwhich their apprehension was ingenious enough to comprehend.
We have formerly observed that our adventurer could not make his retreatby the door, without running a very great risk of being detected, and theexpedient of the chimney he had no inclination to repeat; so that hefound himself in a very uncomfortable dilemma, and was utterly abandonedby all his invention and address, when his mistress, in a whisper,desired him to begin a dialogue, aloud, in an apology, importing, that hehad mistaken the door, and that his intention was to visit her father,touching a ring belonging to th
e young Count Melvil, which she knewFathom had put into his hands, in order to be altered.
Ferdinand, seizing the hint, availed himself of it without delay, and,unbolting the door, pronounced in an audible voice, "Upon my honour,Mademoiselle, you wrong my intention, if you imagine I came hither withany disrespectful or dishonourable motive. I have business with yourfather, which cannot be delayed till to-morrow, without manifestprejudice to my friend and myself; therefore I took the liberty ofvisiting him at these untimely hours, and it has been my misfortune tomistake the door in the dark. I beg pardon for my involuntary intrusion,and again assure you, that nothing was farther from my thoughts than anydesign to violate that respect which I have always entertained for youand your father's family."
To this remonstrance, which was distinctly heard by the German and hiswife, who by this time stood listening at the door, the young ladyreplied, in a shrill accent of displeasure, "Sir, I am bound to believethat all your actions are conducted by honour; but you must give me leaveto tell you, that your mistake is a little extraordinary, and your visit,even to my father, at this time of the night, altogether unseasonable, ifnot mysterious. As for the interruption I have suffered in my repose, Iimpute it to my own forgetfulness, in leaving my door unlocked, and blamemyself so severely for the omission, that I shall, to-morrow, put it outof my own power to be guilty of the like for the future, by ordering thepassage to be nailed up; meanwhile, if you would persuade me of yourwell-meaning, you will instantly withdraw, lest my reputation shouldsuffer by your continuance in my apartment."
"Madam," answered our hero, "I will not give you an opportunity to repeatthe command, which I shall forthwith obey, after having entreated youonce more to forgive the disturbance I have given." So saying, he gentlyopened the door, and, at sight of the German and his wife, who, he wellknew, waited for his exit, started back, and gave tokens of confusion,which was partly real and partly affected. The jeweller, fully satisfiedwith Fathom's declaration to his daughter, received him with acomplaisant look, and, in order to alleviate his concern, gave him tounderstand, that he already knew the reason of his being in thatapartment, and desired to be informed of what had procured him the honourto see him at such a juncture.
"My dear friend," said our adventurer, pretending to recollect himselfwith difficulty, "I am utterly ashamed and confounded to be discovered inthis situation; but, as you have overheard what passed betweenMademoiselle and me, I know you will do justice to my intention, andforgive my mistake. After begging pardon for having intruded upon yourfamily at these hours, I must now tell you that my cousin, Count Melvil,was some time ago so much misrepresented to his mother by certainmalicious informers, who delight in sowing discord in private families,that she actually believed her son an extravagant spendthrift, who hadnot only consumed his remittances in the most riotous scenes of disorder,but also indulged a pernicious appetite for gaming, to such a degree,that he had lost all his clothes and jewels at play. In consequence ofsuch false information, she expostulated with him in a severe letter, anddesired he would transmit to her that ring which is in your custody, itbeing a family stone, for which she expressed an inestimable value. Theyoung gentleman, in his answer to her reproof, endeavoured to vindicatehimself from the aspersions which had been cast upon his character, and,with regard to the ring, told her it was at present in the hands of ajeweller, in order to be new set according to her own directions, andthat, whenever it should be altered, he would send it home to her by somesafe conveyance. This account the good lady took for an evasion, andupon that supposition has again written to him, in such a provokingstyle, that, although the letter arrived but half an hour ago, he isdetermined to despatch a courier before morning with the mischievousring, for which, in compliance with the impetuosity of his temper, I havetaken the freedom to disturb you at this unseasonable hour."
The German paid implicit faith to every circumstance of his story, whichindeed could not well be supposed to be invented extempore; the ring wasimmediately restored, and our adventurer took his leave, congratulatinghimself upon his signal deliverance from the snare in which he hadfallen.