Part 4 (2/2)
Our adventurer, who overheard the conversation, was immediately seized with a palsy of fear He trembled at every joint, the sweat trickled down his forehead, his teeth began to chatter, his hair to stand on end; and he, in his heart, bitterly cursed the daughter's petulance, the ether with his own precipitation, by which he was involved in an adventure so pregnant with danger and disgrace Indeed, the reader may easily conceive his disorder, when he heard the key turning in the lock, and the Ger that he would make him food for the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air
Fathom had come unprepared eapons of defence, was naturally an econo not only the proue, but also the reputation of a man of honour, upon which all his future hopes depended His agony was therefore unspeakable, when the door flew open; and it was not till after a considerable pause of recollection, that he perceived the candle extinguished by the motion of the air produced from the German's sudden irruption This accident, which disconcerted hie, was very favourable to our hero, who, su all his presence of mind, crept up into the chi for his wife's return with another light; so that, when the closet was exa found to justify the report which the stepht apology to Wilhelmina for his intrusion, retired with his yoke-fellow into their own chaht that her papa would have taken her at her word, was overwhelmed with confusion and dismay, when she saw him enter the closet; and, had her lover been discovered, would, in all probability, have been the loudest in his reproach, and, perhaps, have accused hiether astonished when she found he had made shi+ft to elude the inquiry of her parents, because she could not conceive the possibility of his escaping by the hich was in the third storey, at a prodigious distance froround; and how he should conceal himself in the apartment, was a mystery which she could by no hted her la afraid to be in the dark, after the perturbation of spirits she had undergone; and her room was no sooner evacuated of such troublesome visitants, than she secured the doors, and went in quest of her lover
Accordingly, every corner of the closet underwent a new search, and she called upon his naht no other person would overhear But Ferdinand did not think proper to gratify her ie of the predicament in which he stood by the evidence of all his senses, and would not relinquish his post, until he should be better certified that the coast was clear
Meanwhile, his Dulcinea, having perfor preternatural in the circuan to cross herself with great devotion She returned to her cha herself upon the bed, gave way to the suggestions of her superstition, which were reinforced by the silence that prevailed, and the glooht She reflected upon the trespass she had already committed in her heart, and, in the conjectures of her fear, believed that her lover was no other than the devil himself, who had assumed the appearance of Fathom, in order to teination tee, froeneral stillness, that the jeweller and his ere at last happily asleep, ventured to co-place, and stood before hisup her eyes, and seeing this sable apparition, which she mistook for Satan in propria persona, instantly screaan to repeat her pater-noster with an audible voice Upon which Ferdinand, foreseeing that her parents would be again alarmed, would not stay to undeceive her and explain hireat expedition, ran downstairs, and luckily accomplished his escape This was undoubtedly the wisest measure he could have taken; for he had not performed one half of his descent toward the street, when the Ger to know the cause of her exclaave hierations of her own fancy, and, after having weighed the circumstances of her story, he interpreted the apparition into a thief, who had found means to open the door that co been scared by Wilheled to retreat before he could execute his purpose
Our hero's spirits were so wofully disturbed by this adventure, that, for a whole week, he felt no inclination to visit his inamorata, and was not without apprehension that the affair had tere He was, however, delivered fro with the jeweller hi absence, and entertained him in the street with an account of the alarm which his family had sustained, by a thief who broke into Wilhelmina's apartment Glad to find his apprehension mistaken, he renewed his correspondence with the family, and, in a little time, found reason to console hione
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
HE IS REDUCED TO A DREADFUL DILEMMA, IN CONSEQUENCE OF AN assIGNATION WITH THE WIFE
Nor was his whole care and attention engrossed by the execution of this scheed his concerns in that quarter with incredible ardour and application, he was not the less indefatigable in the prosecution of his design upon thethose opportunities he enjoyed in the absence of Wilhelmina, as frequently called away by the domestic duties of the house The passions of the jeweller's ere in such a state of exaltation, as exe siege
We have already observed how cunningly he catered for the gratification of her ruling appetite, and have exhibited pregnant proofs of his ability in gaining upon the human heart; the reader will not therefore be surprised at the rapidity of his conquest over the affections of a lady whose complexion was perfectly amorous, and whose vanity laid her open to all the atteht to such a , while they aive him the rendezvous next day at the house of any third person of her own sex, in whose discretion she could confide; and, after a few affected scruples on her side, which he well kne to surmount, she complied with his request, and the circuly After this treaty, their satisfaction rose to such a war, that our gallant expressed his i for the accoer transport, begged she would, if possible, curtail the terht not suffer by his standing so e of rapture
The dame, as naturally compassionate, sympathised with his condition, and, unable to resist his pathetic supplications, gave hiranted, without subjecting them both to some hazard, but that she was disposed to run any risk in behalf of his happiness and peace After this affectionate preaed in a quarterlyof the jewellers, from whence he never failed to return quite overwhelm of his own constitution; so that he would fall fast asleep as soon as his head should touch the pillow, and she be at liberty to entertain the lover without interruption, provided he could find ilance of Wilhelmina, and conceal himself in some corner of the house, unsuspected and unperceived
Our lover, rely dispensed with this expedient, and began to repent of the eagerness hich he had preferred his solicitation; but, seeing there was now no opportunity of retracting with honour, he affected to enter heartily into the conversation, and, after , it was determined, that, while Wilhelmina was employed in the kitchen, the mother should conduct our adventurer to the outer door, where he should pay the co lady; but, in the lide softly into the jeweller's bedchained least liable to the effects of a daughter's prying disposition, and conceal hie press or wardrobe, that stood in one corner of the apartreat success, and our hero cooped up in his cage, where he waited so long, that his desires began to subside, and his ier of his situation
”Suppose,” said he to hi stupefied ine, should come home inflamed with brandy, to the use of which he is so any inclination to sleep, he will labour under the ; every irascible particle in his disposition will be exasperated; he will be offended with every object that redient of jealousy in his tee What if his frenzy should proallants? this would certainly be the first place to which he would direct his inquiry; or, granting this supposition chimerical, I h, before he is oppressed with sleep; hemyself from this embarrassed situation; and, finally, I may find it i else shall have succeeded to estions did not at all contribute to the quiet of our adventurer, who, having waited three whole hours in the ht into the roonosticated He had, it seems, quarrelled over his cups with another tradesman, and received a salutation on the forehead with a candlestick, which not only left an ignominious and painful mark upon his countenance, but even disordered his brain to a very dangerous degree of deliriu himself quietly to be undressed and put to bed by his wife, he answered all her gentle admonitions and caresses with the most opprobrious invectives and obstreperous behaviour; and, though he did not tax her with infidelity to his bed, he virulently accused her of extravagance and want of econo hi the atte by G--'s mother that he would forthwith arm himself with a brace of pistols, and search every apartreat vociferation, ”ht I know, be the receptacle of so, he approached the ark in which Fatho, ”Come forth, Satan,” applied his foot to the door of it, with such violence as threw hi on his back This address made such an ih obeyed the summons, and burst from his concealnised by the intoxicated German; and indeed, had the application been repeated, he in all likelihood would have tried the experi to be er suppressed From this hazardous enterprise he was, however, exempted by a lucky accident that happened to his disturber, whose head chancing to pitch upon the corner of a chair in his fall, he was i which the considerate lady, guessing the disorder of her gallant, and dreading further interruption, very prudently released hiht, and in the dark conveyed him to the door, where he was comforted with the promise that she would punctually remember the rendezvous of next day
She then invoked the assistance of the servants, who, being waked for the purpose, lifted up their master, and tumbled him into bed, while Ferdinand hied hi himself from any future achievement of that sort in a house where he had been twice in such ier of life and reputation Nevertheless, he did not fail to honour the assignation, and avail himself of the disposition his mistress manifested to make him all the recorin which he had undergone
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
BUT AT LENGTH SUCCEEDS IN HIS ATTEMPT UPON BOTH
Having thus gained a coan to convert his good fortune to the purposes of that principle, from which his vieas never, no, not for a moment, detached
In other words, he used them as ministers and purveyors to his avarice and fraud As for the mother-in-law, she was of herself so liberal as to anticipate the wishes of any moderate adventurer, and presented him with sundry valuable jewels, as hter backward in such expressions of regard; she already considered his interest as her own, and took frequent opportunities of secreting for his benefit certain stray trinkets that she happened to pick up in her excursions within doors