The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves

by T. Smollett

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  WHICH SHOWS THAT A MAN CANNOT ALWAYS SIP, WHEN THE CUP IS AT HIS LIP.

  Those who have felt the doubts, the jealousies, the resentments, thehumiliations, the hopes, the despair, the impatience, and, in a word, theinfinite disquiets of love, will be able to conceive the sea of agitationon which our adventurer was tossed all night long, without repose orintermission. Sometimes he resolved to employ all his industry andaddress in discovering the place in which Aurelia was sequestered, thathe might rescue her from the supposed restraint to which she had beensubjected. But when his heart beat high with the anticipation of thisexploit, he was suddenly invaded, and all his ardour checked, by theremembrance of that fatal letter, written and signed by her own hand,which had divorced him from all hope, and first unsettled hisunderstanding. The emotions waked by this remembrance were so strong,that he leaped from the bed, and the fire being still burning in thechimney, lighted a candle, that he might once more banquet his spleen byreading the original billet, which, together with the ring he hadreceived from Miss Darnel's mother, he kept in a small box, carefullydeposited within his portmanteau. This being instantly unlocked, heunfolded the paper, and recited the contents in these words:--

  "SIR,--Obliged as I am by the passion you profess, and the eagerness withwhich you endeavour to give me the most convincing proof of your regard,I feel some reluctance in making you acquainted with a circumstance,which, in all probability, you will not learn without some disquiet. Butthe affair is become so interesting, I am compelled to tell you, thathowever agreeable your proposals may have been to those whom I thought itmy duty to please by every reasonable concession, and howsoever you mayhave been flattered by the seeming complacency with which I have heardyour addresses, I now find it absolutely necessary to speak in a decisivestrain, to assure you, that, without sacrificing my own peace, I cannotadmit a continuation of your correspondence; and that your regard for mewill be best shown by your desisting from a pursuit which is altogetherinconsistent with the happiness of AURELIA DARNEL."

  Having pronounced aloud the words that composed this dismission, hehastily replaced the cruel scroll, and being too well acquainted with thehand to harbour the least doubt of its being genuine, threw himself intohis bed in a transport of despair, mingled with resentment, during thepredominancy of which he determined to proceed in the career ofadventure, and endeavour to forget the unkindness of his mistress amidstthe avocations of knight-errantry.

  Such was the resolution that governed his thoughts, when he rose in themorning, ordered Crabshaw to saddle Bronzomarte, and demanded a bill ofhis expense. Before these orders could be executed, the good woman ofthe house entering his apartment, told him, with marks of concern, thatthe poor young lady, Miss Meadows, had dropped her pocket-book in thenext chamber, where it was found by the hostess, who now presented itunopened.

  Our knight having called in Mrs. Oakley and her son as witnesses,unfolded the book without reading one syllable of the contents, and foundin it five banknotes, amounting to two hundred and thirty pounds.Perceiving at once the loss of this treasure might be attended with themost embarrassing consequences to the owner, and reflecting that this wasa case which demanded the immediate interposition and assistance ofchivalry, he declared that he himself would convey it safely into thehands of Miss Meadows; and desired to know the road she had pursued, thathe might set out in quest of her without a moment's delay. It was notwithout some difficulty that this information was obtained from thepostboy, who had been enjoined to secrecy by the lady, and even gratifiedwith a handsome reward for his promised discretion. The same method wasused to make him disgorge his trust; he undertook to conduct SirLauncelot, who hired a post-chaise for despatch, and immediatelydeparted, after having directed his squire to follow his track with thehorses.

  Yet, whatever haste he made, it is absolutely necessary, for the reader'ssatisfaction, that we should outstrip the chaise, and visit the ladiesbefore his arrival. We shall therefore, without circumlocution, premise,that Miss Meadows was no other than that paragon of beauty and goodness,the all-accomplished Miss Aurelia Darnel. She had, with that meekness ofresignation peculiar to herself, for some years, submitted to everyspecies of oppression which her uncle's tyranny of disposition couldplan, and his unlimited power of guardianship execute, till at length itrose to such a pitch of despotism as she could not endure. He hadprojected a match between his niece and one Philip Sycamore, Esq., ayoung man who possessed a pretty considerable estate in the northcountry; who liked Aurelia's person, but was enamoured of her fortune,and had offered to purchase Anthony's interest and alliance with certainconcessions, which could not but be agreeable to a man of looseprinciples, who would have found it a difficult task to settle theaccounts of his wardship.

  According to the present estimate of matrimonial felicity, Sycamore mighthave found admittance as a future son-in-law to any private family ofthe kingdom. He was by birth a gentleman, tall, straight, and muscular,with a fair, sleek, unmeaning face, that promised more simplicity thanill-nature. His education had not been neglected, and he inherited anestate of five thousand a year. Miss Darnel, however, had penetrationenough to discover and despise him, as a strange composition of rapacityand profusion, absurdity and good sense, bashfulness and impudence,self-conceit and diffidence, awkwardness and ostentation, insolence andgood-nature, rashness and timidity. He was continually surrounded andpreyed upon by certain vermin called Led Captains and Buffoons, whoshowed him in leading-strings like a sucking giant, rifled his pocketswithout ceremony, ridiculed him to his face, traduced his character, andexposed him in a thousand ludicrous attitudes for the diversion of thepublic; while at the same time he knew their knavery, saw their drift,detested their morals, and despised their understanding. He was soinfatuated by indolence of thought, and communication with folly, that hewould have rather suffered himself to be led into a ditch with company,than be at the pains of going over a bridge alone; and involved himselfin a thousand difficulties, the natural consequences of an error in thefirst concoction, which, though he plainly saw it, he had not resolutionenough to avoid.

  Such was the character of Squire Sycamore, who professed himself therival of Sir Launcelot Greaves in the good graces of Miss Aurelia Darnel.He had in this pursuit persevered with more constancy and fortitude thanhe ever exerted in any other instance. Being generally needy fromextravagance, he was stimulated by his wants, and animated by his vanity,which was artfully instigated by his followers, who hoped to share thespoils of his success. These motives were reinforced by the incessantand eager exhortations of Anthony Darnel, who seeing his ward in the lastyear of her minority, thought there was no time to be lost in securinghis own indemnification, and snatching his niece for ever from the hopesof Sir Launcelot, whom he now hated with redoubled animosity. FindingAurelia deaf to all his remonstrances, proof against ill usage, andresolutely averse to the proposed union with Sycamore, he endeavoured todetach her thoughts from Sir Launcelot, by forging tales to the prejudiceof his constancy and moral character; and, finally, by recapitulating theproofs and instances of his distraction, which he particularised with themost malicious exaggerations.

  In spite of all his arts, he found it impracticable to surmount herobjections to the proposed alliance, and therefore changed his battery.Instead of transferring her to the arms of his friend, he resolved todetain her in his own power by a legal claim, which would invest him withthe uncontrolled management of her affairs. This was a charge of lunacy,in consequence of which he hoped to obtain a commission, to secure a juryto his wish, and be appointed sole committee of her person, as well assteward on her estate, of which he would then be heir-apparent.

  As the first steps towards the execution of this honest scheme, he hadsubjected Aurelia to the superintendency and direction of an old duenna,who had been formerly the procuress of his pleasures; and hired a new setof servants, who were given to understand, at their first admission, thatthe young lady was disordere
d in her brain.

  An impression of this nature is easily preserved among servants, when themaster of the family thinks his interest is concerned in supporting theimposture. The melancholy produced from her confinement, and thevivacity of her resentment under ill usage, were, by the address ofAnthony, and the prepossession of his domestics, perverted into theeffects of insanity; and the same interpretation was strained upon hermost indifferent words and actions.

  The tidings of Miss Darnel's disorder was carefully circulated inwhispers, and soon reached the ears of Mr. Sycamore, who was not at allpleased with the information. From his knowledge of Anthony'sdisposition, he suspected the truth of the report; and, unwilling to seesuch a prize ravished as it were from his grasp, he, with the advice andassistance of his myrmidons, resolved to set the captive at liberty, infull hope of turning the adventure to his own advantage; for he argued inthis manner:--"If she is in fact compos mentis, her gratitude willoperate in my behalf, and even prudence will advise her to embrace theproffered asylum from the villany of her uncle. If she is reallydisordered, it will be no great difficulty to deceive her into marriage,and then I become her trustee of course."

  The plan was well conceived, but Sycamore had not discretion enough tokeep his own counsel. From weakness and vanity, he blabbed the design,which in a little time was communicated to Anthony Darnel, and he tookhis precautions accordingly. Being infirm in his own person, andconsequently unfit for opposing the violence of some desperadoes, whom heknew to be the satellites of Sycamore, he prepared a private retreat forhis ward at the house of an old gentleman, the companion of his youth,whom he had imposed upon with the fiction of her being disordered in herunderstanding, and amused with a story of a dangerous design upon herperson. Thus cautioned and instructed, the gentleman had gone with hisown coach and servants to receive Aurelia and her governante at a thirdhouse, to which she had been privately removed from her uncle'shabitation; and in this journey it was that she had been so accidentallyprotected from the violence of the robbers by the interposition andprowess of our adventurer.

  As he did not wear his helmet in that exploit, she recognised hisfeatures as he passed the coach, and, struck with the apparition,shrieked aloud. She had been assured by her guardian that his design wasto convey her to her own house; but perceiving in the sequel that thecarriage struck off upon a different road, and finding herself in thehands of strangers, she began to dread a much more disagreeable fate, andconceived doubts and ideas that filled her tender heart with horror andaffliction. When she expostulated with the duenna, she was treated likea changeling, admonished to be quiet, and reminded that she was under thedirection of those who would manage her with a tender regard to her ownwelfare, and the honour of her family. When she addressed herself to theold gentleman, who was not much subject to the emotions of humanity, andbesides firmly persuaded that she was deprived of her reason, he made noanswer, but laid his finger on his mouth by way of enjoining silence.

  This mysterious behaviour aggravated the fears of the poor hapless younglady; and her terrors waxed so strong, that when she saw Tom Clarke,whose face she knew, she called aloud for assistance, and even pronouncedthe name of his patron Sir Launcelot Greaves, which she imagined mightstimulate him the more to attempt something for her deliverance.

  The reader has already been informed in what manner the endeavours of Tomand his uncle miscarried. Miss Darnel's new keeper having in the courseof his journey halted for refreshment at the Black Lion, of which beinglandlord, he believed the good woman and her family were entirely devotedto his will and pleasure, Aurelia found an opportunity of speaking inprivate to Dolly, who had a very prepossessing appearance. She conveyeda purse of money into the hands of this young woman, telling her, whilethe tears trickled down her cheeks, that she was a young lady of fortune,in danger, as she apprehended, of assassination. This hint, which shecommunicated in a whisper while the governante stood at the other end ofthe room, was sufficient to interest the compassionate Dolly in herbehalf. As soon as the coach departed, she made her mother acquaintedwith the transaction; and as they naturally concluded that the young ladyexpected their assistance, they resolved to approve themselves worthy ofher confidence.

  Dolly having enlisted in their design a trusty countryman, one of her ownprofessed admirers, they set out together for the house of the gentlemanin which the fair prisoner was confined, and waited for her in secret atthe end of a pleasant park, in which they naturally concluded she mightbe indulged with the privilege of taking the air. The event justifiedtheir conception; on the very first day of their watch they saw herapproach, accompanied by her duenna. Dolly and her attendant immediatelytied their horses to a stake, and retired into a thicket, which Aureliadid not fail to enter. Dolly forthwith appeared, and, taking her by thehand, led her to the horses, one of which she mounted in the utmost hurryand trepidation, while the countryman bound the duenna with a cordprepared for the purpose, gagged her mouth, and tied her to a tree,where he left her to her own meditations. Then he mounted before Dolly,and through unfrequented paths conducted his charge to an inn on thepost-road, where a chaise was ready for their reception.

  As he refused to proceed farther, lest his absence from his own homeshould create suspicion, Aurelia rewarded him liberally, but would notpart with her faithful Dolly, who indeed had no inclination to bedischarged; such an affection and attachment had she already acquired forthe amiable fugitive, though she knew neither her story nor her truename. Aurelia thought proper to conceal both, and assumed the fictitiousappellation of Meadows, until she should be better acquainted with thedisposition and discretion of her new attendant.

  The first resolution she could take, in the present flutter of herspirits, was to make the best of her way to London, where she thought shemight find an asylum in the house of a female relation, married to aneminent physician, known by the name of Kawdle. In the execution of thishasty resolve, she travelled at a violent rate, from stage to stage, in acarriage drawn by four horses, without halting for necessary refreshmentor repose, until she judged herself out of danger of being overtaken. Asshe appeared overwhelmed with grief and consternation, the good-naturedDolly endeavoured to alleviate her distress with diverting discourse,and, among other less interesting stories, entertained her with theadventures of Sir Launcelot and Captain Crowe, which she had seen andheard recited while they remained at the Black Lion; nor did she fail tointroduce Mr. Thomas Clarke in her narrative, with such a favourablerepresentation of his person and character, as plainly discovered thather own heart had received a rude shock from the irresistible force ofhis qualifications.

  The history of Sir Launcelot Greaves was a theme which effectually fixedthe attention of Aurelia, distracted as her ideas must have been by thecircumstances of her present situation. The particulars of his conductsince the correspondence between him and her had ceased, she heard withequal concern and astonishment; for, how far soever she deemed herselfdetached from all possibility of future connexion with that younggentleman, she was not made of such indifferent stuff as to learn withoutemotion the calamitous disorder of an accomplished youth, whoseextraordinary virtues she could not but revere.

  As they had deviated from the post-road, taken precautions to concealtheir route, and made such progress, that they were now within one day'sjourney of London, the careful and affectionate Dolly, seeing her dearlady quite exhausted with fatigue, used all her natural rhetoric, whichwas very powerful, mingled with tears that flowed from the heart, inpersuading Aurelia to enjoy some repose; and so far she succeeded in theattempt, that for one night the toil of travelling was intermitted. Thisrecess from incredible fatigue was a pause that afforded our adventurertime to overtake them before they reached the metropolis, that vastlabyrinth, in which Aurelia might have been for ever lost to his inquiry.

  It was in the afternoon of the day which succeeded his departure from theWhite Hart, that Sir Launcelot arrived at the inn, where Miss AureliaDarnel had bespoke a dish of tea, and a post-
chaise for the next stage.He had by inquiry traced her a considerable way, without ever dreamingwho the person really was whom he thus pursued, and now he desired tospeak with her attendant. Dolly was not a little surprised to see SirLauncelot Greaves, of whose character she had conceived a very sublimeidea from the narrative of Mr. Thomas Clarke; but she was still moresurprised when he gave her to understand that he had charged himself witha pocket-book, containing the bank-notes which Miss Meadows had droppedin the house where they had been threatened with insult. Miss Darnel hadnot yet discovered her disaster, when her attendant, running into theapartment, presented the prize which she had received from ouradventurer, with his compliments to Miss Meadows, implying a request tobe admitted into her presence, that he might make a personal tender ofhis best services.

  It is not to be supposed that the amiable Aurelia heard unmoved such amessage from a person, whom her maid discovered to be the identical SirLauncelot Greaves, whose story she had so lately related; but as theensuing scene requires fresh attention in the reader, we shall defer ittill another opportunity, when his spirits shall be recruited from thefatigue of this chapter.