Chapter vi.
By comparing which with the former, the reader may possibly correctsome abuse which he hath formerly been guilty of in the application ofthe word love.
The infidelity of Molly, which Jones had now discovered, would,perhaps, have vindicated a much greater degree of resentment than heexpressed on the occasion; and if he had abandoned her directly fromthat moment, very few, I believe, would have blamed him.
Certain, however, it is, that he saw her in the light of compassion;and though his love to her was not of that kind which could give himany great uneasiness at her inconstancy, yet was he not a littleshocked on reflecting that he had himself originally corrupted herinnocence; for to this corruption he imputed all the vice into whichshe appeared now so likely to plunge herself.
This consideration gave him no little uneasiness, till Betty, theelder sister, was so kind, some time afterwards, entirely to cure himby a hint, that one Will Barnes, and not himself, had been the firstseducer of Molly; and that the little child, which he had hitherto socertainly concluded to be his own, might very probably have an equaltitle, at least, to claim Barnes for its father.
Jones eagerly pursued this scent when he had first received it; and ina very short time was sufficiently assured that the girl had told himtruth, not only by the confession of the fellow, but at last by thatof Molly herself.
This Will Barnes was a country gallant, and had acquired as manytrophies of this kind as any ensign or attorney's clerk in thekingdom. He had, indeed, reduced several women to a state of utterprofligacy, had broke the hearts of some, and had the honour ofoccasioning the violent death of one poor girl, who had either drownedherself, or, what was rather more probable, had been drowned by him.
Among other of his conquests, this fellow had triumphed over the heartof Betty Seagrim. He had made love to her long before Molly was grownto be a fit object of that pastime; but had afterwards deserted her,and applied to her sister, with whom he had almost immediate success.Now Will had, in reality, the sole possession of Molly's affection,while Jones and Square were almost equally sacrifices to her interestand to her pride.
Hence had grown that implacable hatred which we have before seenraging in the mind of Betty; though we did not think it necessary toassign this cause sooner, as envy itself alone was adequate to all theeffects we have mentioned.
Jones was become perfectly easy by possession of this secret withregard to Molly; but as to Sophia, he was far from being in a state oftranquillity; nay, indeed, he was under the most violent perturbation;his heart was now, if I may use the metaphor, entirely evacuated, andSophia took absolute possession of it. He loved her with an unboundedpassion, and plainly saw the tender sentiments she had for him; yetcould not this assurance lessen his despair of obtaining the consentof her father, nor the horrors which attended his pursuit of her byany base or treacherous method.
The injury which he must thus do to Mr Western, and the concern whichwould accrue to Mr Allworthy, were circumstances that tormented himall day, and haunted him on his pillow at night. His life was aconstant struggle between honour and inclination, which alternatelytriumphed over each other in his mind. He often resolved, in theabsence of Sophia, to leave her father's house, and to see her nomore; and as often, in her presence, forgot all those resolutions, anddetermined to pursue her at the hazard of his life, and at theforfeiture of what was much dearer to him.
This conflict began soon to produce very strong and visible effects:for he lost all his usual sprightliness and gaiety of temper, andbecame not only melancholy when alone, but dejected and absent incompany; nay, if ever he put on a forced mirth, to comply with MrWestern's humour, the constraint appeared so plain, that he seemed tohave been giving the strongest evidence of what he endeavoured toconceal by such ostentation.
It may, perhaps, be a question, whether the art which he used toconceal his passion, or the means which honest nature employed toreveal it, betrayed him most: for while art made him more than everreserved to Sophia, and forbad him to address any of his discourse toher, nay, to avoid meeting her eyes, with the utmost caution; naturewas no less busy in counterplotting him. Hence, at the approach of theyoung lady, he grew pale; and if this was sudden, started. If his eyesaccidentally met hers, the blood rushed into his cheeks, and hiscountenance became all over scarlet. If common civility ever obligedhim to speak to her, as to drink her health at table, his tongue wassure to falter. If he touched her, his hand, nay his whole frame,trembled. And if any discourse tended, however remotely, to raise theidea of love, an involuntary sigh seldom failed to steal from hisbosom. Most of which accidents nature was wonderfully industrious tothrow daily in his way.
All these symptoms escaped the notice of the squire: but not so ofSophia. She soon perceived these agitations of mind in Jones, and wasat no loss to discover the cause; for indeed she recognized it in herown breast. And this recognition is, I suppose, that sympathy whichhath been so often noted in lovers, and which will sufficientlyaccount for her being so much quicker-sighted than her father.
But, to say the truth, there is a more simple and plain method ofaccounting for that prodigious superiority of penetration which wemust observe in some men over the rest of the human species, and onewhich will serve not only in the case of lovers, but of all others.From whence is it that the knave is generally so quick-sighted tothose symptoms and operations of knavery, which often dupe an honestman of a much better understanding? There surely is no generalsympathy among knaves; nor have they, like freemasons, any common signof communication. In reality, it is only because they have the samething in their heads, and their thoughts are turned the same way.Thus, that Sophia saw, and that Western did not see, the plainsymptoms of love in Jones can be no wonder, when we consider that theidea of love never entered into the head of the father, whereas thedaughter, at present, thought of nothing else.
When Sophia was well satisfied of the violent passion which tormentedpoor Jones, and no less certain that she herself was its object, shehad not the least difficulty in discovering the true cause of hispresent behaviour. This highly endeared him to her, and raised in hermind two of the best affections which any lover can wish to raise in amistress--these were, esteem and pity--for sure the most outrageouslyrigid among her sex will excuse her pitying a man whom she sawmiserable on her own account; nor can they blame her for esteeming onewho visibly, from the most honourable motives, endeavoured to smothera flame in his own bosom, which, like the famous Spartan theft, waspreying upon and consuming his very vitals. Thus his backwardness, hisshunning her, his coldness, and his silence, were the forwardest, themost diligent, the warmest, and most eloquent advocates; and wroughtso violently on her sensible and tender heart, that she soon felt forhim all those gentle sensations which are consistent with a virtuousand elevated female mind. In short, all which esteem, gratitude, andpity, can inspire in such towards an agreeable man--indeed, all whichthe nicest delicacy can allow. In a word, she was in love with him todistraction.
One day this young couple accidentally met in the garden, at the endof the two walks which were both bounded by that canal in which Joneshad formerly risqued drowning to retrieve the little bird that Sophiahad there lost.
This place had been of late much frequented by Sophia. Here she usedto ruminate, with a mixture of pain and pleasure, on an incidentwhich, however trifling in itself, had possibly sown the first seedsof that affection which was now arrived to such maturity in her heart.
Here then this young couple met. They were almost close togetherbefore either of them knew anything of the other's approach. Abystander would have discovered sufficient marks of confusion in thecountenance of each; but they felt too much themselves to make anyobservation. As soon as Jones had a little recovered his firstsurprize, he accosted the young lady with some of the ordinary formsof salutation, which she in the same manner returned; and theirconversation began, as usual, on the delicious beauty of the morning.Hence they past to the beauty of the place, on which Jones launchedforth v
ery high encomiums. When they came to the tree whence he hadformerly tumbled into the canal, Sophia could not help reminding himof that accident, and said, "I fancy, Mr Jones, you have some littleshuddering when you see that water."--"I assure you, madam," answeredJones, "the concern you felt at the loss of your little bird willalways appear to me the highest circumstance in that adventure. Poorlittle Tommy! there is the branch he stood upon. How could the littlewretch have the folly to fly away from that state of happiness inwhich I had the honour to place him? His fate was a just punishmentfor his ingratitude."--"Upon my word, Mr Jones," said she, "yourgallantry very narrowly escaped as severe a fate. Sure the remembrancemust affect you."--"Indeed, madam," answered he, "if I have any reasonto reflect with sorrow on it, it is, perhaps, that the water had notbeen a little deeper, by which I might have escaped many bitterheart-aches that Fortune seems to have in store for me."--"Fie, MrJones!" replied Sophia; "I am sure you cannot be in earnest now. Thisaffected contempt of life is only an excess of your complacence to me.You would endeavour to lessen the obligation of having twice venturedit for my sake. Beware the third time." She spoke these last wordswith a smile, and a softness inexpressible. Jones answered with asigh, "He feared it was already too late for caution:" and thenlooking tenderly and stedfastly on her, he cried, "Oh, Miss Western!can you desire me to live? Can you wish me so ill?" Sophia, lookingdown on the ground, answered with some hesitation, "Indeed, Mr Jones,I do not wish you ill."--"Oh, I know too well that heavenly temper,"cries Jones, "that divine goodness, which is beyond every othercharm."--"Nay, now," answered she, "I understand you not. I can stayno longer."--"I--I would not be understood!" cries he; "nay, I can'tbe understood. I know not what I say. Meeting you here sounexpectedly, I have been unguarded: for Heaven's sake pardon me, if Ihave said anything to offend you. I did not mean it. Indeed, I wouldrather have died--nay, the very thought would kill me."--"You surprizeme," answered she. "How can you possibly think you have offendedme?"--"Fear, madam," says he, "easily runs into madness; and there isno degree of fear like that which I feel of offending you. How can Ispeak then? Nay, don't look angrily at me: one frown will destroy me.I mean nothing. Blame my eyes, or blame those beauties. What am Isaying? Pardon me if I have said too much. My heart overflowed. I havestruggled with my love to the utmost, and have endeavoured to conceala fever which preys on my vitals, and will, I hope, soon make itimpossible for me ever to offend you more."
Mr Jones now fell a trembling as if he had been shaken with the fit ofan ague. Sophia, who was in a situation not very different from his,answered in these words: "Mr Jones, I will not affect to misunderstandyou; indeed, I understand you too well; but, for Heaven's sake, if youhave any affection for me, let me make the best of my way into thehouse. I wish I may be able to support myself thither."
Jones, who was hardly able to support himself, offered her his arm,which she condescended to accept, but begged he would not mention aword more to her of this nature at present. He promised he would not;insisting only on her forgiveness of what love, without the leave ofhis will, had forced from him: this, she told him, he knew how toobtain by his future behaviour; and thus this young pair tottered andtrembled along, the lover not once daring to squeeze the hand of hismistress, though it was locked in his.
Sophia immediately retired to her chamber, where Mrs Honour and thehartshorn were summoned to her assistance. As to poor Jones, the onlyrelief to his distempered mind was an unwelcome piece of news, which,as it opens a scene of different nature from those in which the readerhath lately been conversant, will be communicated to him in the nextchapter.
History of Tom Jones, a Foundling Page 54