by Daniel Defoe
she coloured, trembled, changed, and atlast grew pale, and was indeed near fainting, when she hastily rung alittle bell for her maid, who coming in immediately, she beckoned toher--for speak she could not--to fill her a glass of wine; but she hadno breath to take it in, and was almost choked with that which she tookin her mouth. I saw she was ill, and assisted her what I could, and withspirits and things to smell to just kept her from fainting, when shebeckoned to her maid to withdraw, and immediately burst out in crying,and that relieved her. When she recovered herself a little she flew tome, and throwing her arms about my neck, "Oh!" says she, "thou hastalmost killed me;" and there she hung, laying her head in my neck forhalf a quarter of an hour, not able to speak, but sobbing like a childthat had been whipped.
I was very sorry that I did not stop a little in the middle of mydiscourse and make her drink a glass of wine before it had put herspirits into such a violent motion; but it was too late, and it was tento one odds but that it had killed her.
But she came to herself at last, and began to say some very good thingsin return for my kindness. I would not let her go on, but told her I hadmore to say to her still than all this, but that I would let it alonetill another time. My meaning was about the box of plate, good part ofwhich I gave her, and some I gave to Amy; for I had so much plate, andsome so large, that I thought if I let my husband see it he might be aptto wonder what occasion I could ever have for so much, and for plate ofsuch a kind too; as particularly a great cistern for bottles, which costa hundred and twenty pounds, and some large candlesticks too big for anyordinary use. These I caused Amy to sell; in short, Amy sold above threehundred pounds' worth of plate; what I gave the Quaker was worth abovesixty pounds, and I gave Amy above thirty pounds' worth, and yet I had agreat deal left for my husband.
Nor did our kindness to the Quaker end with the forty pounds a year, forwe were always, while we stayed with her, which was above ten months,giving her one good thing or another; and, in a word, instead of lodgingwith her, she boarded with us, for I kept the house, and she and allher family ate and drank with us, and yet we paid her the rent of thehouse too; in short, I remembered my widowhood, and I made this widow'sheart glad many a day the more upon that account.
And now my spouse and I began to think of going over to Holland, where Ihad proposed to him to live, and in order to settle all thepreliminaries of our future manner of living, I began to draw in myeffects, so as to have them all at command upon whatever occasion wethought fit; after which, one morning I called my spouse up to me: "Harkye, sir," said I to him, "I have two very weighty questions to ask ofyou. I don't know what answer you will give to the first, but I doubtyou will be able to give but a sorry answer to the other, and yet, Iassure you, it is of the last importance to yourself, and towards thefuture part of your life, wherever it is to be."
He did not seem to be much alarmed, because he could see I was speakingin a kind of merry way. "Let's hear your questions, my dear," says he,"and I'll give the best answer I can to them." "Why, first," says I:
"I. You have married a wife here, made her a lady, and put her inexpectation of being something else still when she comes abroad. Prayhave you examined whether you are able to supply all her extravagantdemands when she comes abroad, and maintain an expensive Englishwoman inall her pride and vanity? In short, have you inquired whether you areable to keep her?
"II. You have married a wife here, and given her a great many finethings, and you maintain her like a princess, and sometimes call her so.Pray what portion have you had with her? what fortune has she been toyou? and where does her estate lie, that you keep her so fine? I amafraid that you keep her in a figure a great deal above her estate, atleast above all that you have seen of it yet. Are you sure you han't gota bite, and that you have not made a beggar a lady?"
"Well," says he, "have you any more questions to ask? Let's have themall together; perhaps they may be all answered in a few words, as wellas these two." "No," says I, "these are the two grand questions--atleast for the present." "Why, then," says he, "I'll answer you in a fewwords; that I am fully master of my own circumstances, and, withoutfarther inquiry, can let my wife you speak of know, that as I have madeher a lady I can maintain her as a lady, wherever she goes with me; andthis whether I have one pistole of her portion, or whether she has anyportion or no; and as I have not inquired whether she has any portion ornot, so she shall not have the less respect showed her from me, or beobliged to live meaner, or be anyways straitened on that account; on thecontrary, if she goes abroad to live with me in my own country, I willmake her more than a lady, and support the expense of it too, withoutmeddling with anything she has; and this, I suppose," says he, "containsan answer to both your questions together."
He spoke this with a great deal more earnestness in his countenance thanI had when I proposed my questions, and said a great many kind thingsupon it, as the consequence of former discourses, so that I was obligedto be in earnest too. "My dear," says I, "I was but in jest in myquestions; but they were proposed to introduce what I am going to say toyou in earnest; namely, that if I am to go abroad, 'tis time I shouldlet you know how things stand, and what I have to bring you with yourwife; how it is to be disposed and secured, and the like; and thereforecome," says I, "sit down, and let me show you your bargain here; I hopeyou will find that you have not got a wife without a fortune."
He told me then, that since he found I was in earnest, he desired that Iwould adjourn it till to-morrow, and then we would do as the poor peopledo after they marry, feel in their pockets, and see how much money theycan bring together in the world. "Well," says I, "with all my heart;"and so we ended our talk for that time.
As this was in the morning, my spouse went out after dinner to hisgoldsmith's, as he said, and about three hours after returns with aporter and two large boxes with him; and his servant brought anotherbox, which I observed was almost as heavy as the two that the porterbrought, and made the poor fellow sweat heartily; he dismissed theporter, and in a little while after went out again with his man, andreturning at night, brought another porter with more boxes and bundles,and all was carried up, and put into a chamber, next to our bedchamber;and in the morning he called for a pretty large round table, and beganto unpack.
When the boxes were opened, I found they were chiefly full of books, andpapers, and parchments, I mean books of accounts, and writings, and suchthings as were in themselves of no moment to me, because I understoodthem not; but I perceived he took them all out, and spread them abouthim upon the table and chairs, and began to be very busy with them; so Iwithdrew and left him; and he was indeed so busy among them, that henever missed me till I had been gone a good while; but when he had gonethrough all his papers, and come to open a little box, he called for meagain. "Now," says he, and called me his countess, "I am ready to answeryour first question; if you will sit down till I have opened this box,we will see how it stands."
So we opened the box; there was in it indeed what I did not expect, forI thought he had sunk his estate rather than raised it; but he producedme in goldsmiths' bills, and stock in the English East India Company,about sixteen thousand pounds sterling; then he gave into my hands nineassignments upon the Bank of Lyons in France, and two upon the rents ofthe town-house in Paris, amounting in the whole to 5800 crowns perannum, or annual rent, as it is called there; and lastly, the sum of30,000 rixdollars in the Bank of Amsterdam; besides some jewels and goldin the box to the value of about L1500 or L1600, among which was a verygood necklace of pearl of about L200 value; and that he pulled out andtied about my neck, telling me that should not be reckoned into theaccount.
I was equally pleased and surprised, and it was with an inexpressiblejoy that I saw him so rich.
"You might well tell me," said I, "that you were able to make mecountess, and maintain me as such." In short, he was immensely rich; forbesides all this, he showed me, which was the reason of his being sobusy among the books, I say, he showed me several adventures he hadabroad in the business of his merchandise; as
particularly an eighthshare in an East India ship then abroad; an account-courant with amerchant at Cadiz in Spain; about L3000 lent upon bottomry, upon shipsgone to the Indies; and a large cargo of goods in a merchant's hands,for sale at Lisbon in Portugal; so that in his books there was aboutL12,000 more; all which put together, made about L27,000 sterling, andL1320 a year.
I stood amazed at this account, as well I might, and said nothing to himfor a good while, and the rather because I saw him still busy lookingover his books. After a while, as I was going to express my wonder,"Hold, my dear," says he, "this is not all neither;" then he pulled meout some old seals, and small parchment rolls, which I did notunderstand; but he told me