Part 13 (1/2)

HE IS SMITTEN WITH THE CHARMS OF A FEMALE ADVENTURER, WHOSE ALLUREMENTS SUBJECT HIM TO A NEW VICISSITUDE OF FORTUNE

Aallantry was the young wife of an old citizen of London, who had granted her permission to reside at the hot well for the benefit of her health, under the eye and inspection of his own sister, as a maiden of fifty years The pupil, whose nah low in stature, was finely shaped, her countenance engaging, though her complexion was brown, her hair in colour rivalled the raven's back, and her eyes emulated the lustre of the diamond Fathom had been struck with her first appearance; but found it iilance of her duenna, so as tothe situation of his thoughts, and not displeased with the discovery, thought proper to furnish hi an indisposition, for the cure of which she knew his advice would be i of an acquaintance, which was soon ie her attractions, as in some measure to fix the inconstancy of his disposition; for, at the end of the season, his passion was not sated; and they concerted thetheir commerce, even after their return to London

This intercourse effectually answered the purpose of the husband, who had been decoyed intoof his spouse, whoe Conscious of her own precarious situation, she had resolved to i herself pregnant, gave hier conceal her condition froe of her brother, as an officer in the army, and of such violent passions, that, should he once discover her backsliding, he would undoubtedly wipe away the stains of his family dishonour with her own blood, as well as that of her keeper The citizen, to prevent such a catastrophe, took her to wife; but soon after perceiving the trick which had been played upon hith contrived a scheht would enable him, not only to retrieve his liberty, but also indeone

Far fro her with her finesse, he seemed perfectly well pleased with his acquisition; and, as he knew her void of any principle, and extremely addicted to pleasure, he chose proper occasions to insinuate, that she ratify her own inclination, and at the saood account She joyfully listened to these reree, on pretence of an ill state of health, accompanied by her sister-in-lahom they did not think proper to intrust with the real reeable, and his finances supposed to be in flourishi+ng order; therefore, she selected hiallants, as a proper sacrifice to the pohich she adored; and, on her arrival in London, made her husband acquainted with the importance of her conquest

Trapwell overwhelmed her with caresses and praise for her discreet and dutiful conduct, and faithfully promised that she should pocket in her own privy purse one-half of the spoils that should be gathered froallant, whom she therefore undertook to betray, after he had swore, in thethe affair to a public trial, which would redound to his own disgrace, but to extort a round su in this protestation, she in a few days gave hination she had nio near Covent Garden; upon which he secured the assistance of a particular friend and his own journeyman, hom, and a constable, he repaired to the place of rendezvous, where he waited in an adjoining roo to the directions of his virtuous spouse, until shethree times aloud, when he and his associates rushed into the chamber and surprised our hero in bed with his inamorata

The lady on this occasion acted her part to a miracle; she screamed at their approach; and, after an exclamation of ”Ruined and undone!”

fainted away in the arms of her spouse, who had by this tiun to upbraid her with her infidelity and guilt

As for Fathom, his affliction was unutterable, when he found himself discovered in that situation, and made prisoner by the two assistants, who had pinioned him in such a manner, that he could not stir, enuity and presence of ency The horrors of an English jury overspread his iination; for he at once perceived that the toil into which he had fallen was laid for the purpose; consequently he took it for granted that there would be no deficiency in point of evidence Soon as he recollected hiht be offered to his person, and entreated the husband to favour hiht be compromised, without prejudice to the reputation of either

At first Trapwell breathed nothing but ie, but, by the persuasion of his friends, after he had sent home his wife in a chair, he was prevailed upon to hear the proposals of the delinquent, who having assured hiy, that he had always believed the lady was a , made him an offer of five hundred pounds, as an atone a sum no ways adequate to the expectation of the citizen, who looked upon the Count as possessor of an immense estate, he rejected the tere, fro his person till the day of trial Indeed, in this case, money was but a secondary consideration with Trapwell, whose chief aially divorced from a woman he detested Therefore there was no remedy for the unhappy Count, who in vain offered to double the sum He found hi iate

In this dileer to his friend Ratchcali, whose countenance fell when he understood the Count's condition; nor would he open his mouth in the style of consolation, until he had consulted a certain solicitor of his acquaintance, who assured him the law abounded with such resources as would infallibly screen the defendant, had the fact been still reat presumption to believe the Count had fallen a sacrifice to a conspiracy, which by some means or other would be detected; and, in that case, the plaintiff es If that dependence should fail, he hinted that, in all probability, the witnesses were not incorruptible; or, should they prove to be so, one ood as another's; and, thank Heaven, there was no dearth of evidence, provided money could be found to answer the necessary occasions

Ratchcali, co the resentht punish him severely for his want of friendshi+p, by some precipitate explanation of the commerce they had carried on; moved, I say, by these considerations, andto reap the advantages resulting from their conjunction, he and another person of credit hoely dealt in jewels, condescended to becoly admitted to bail Not but that the Tyrolese knew Ferdinand too well to confide in his parole He depended chiefly upon his ideas of self-interest, which, he thought, would persuade him to risk the uncertain issue of a trial, rather than quit the field before the harvest was half over; and he was resolved to make his own retreat without cereh to abandon his bail

Such an adventure could not long lie concealed from the notice of the public, even if both parties had been at pains to suppress the circu to cover, affected to coht interest his neighbours in his behalf, and raise a spirit of rancour and aniner, who had coland to debauch our wives and deflower our daughters; while he employed a formidable band of lawyers to support the indictes

Meanwhile, Fathom and his associate did not fail to take all proper measures for his defence; they retained a powerful bar of counsel, and the solicitor was supplied with one hundred pounds after another, to answer the expense of secret service; still assuring his clients that everything was in an excellent train, and that his adversary would gain nothing but shame and confusion of face Nevertheless, there was a necessity for postponing the trial, on account of a h he wavered, was not yet quite brought over; and the attorney found means to put off the decision from term to term, until there was no quibble left for further delay While this suit was depending, our hero continued to move in his usual sphere; nor did the report of his situation at all operate to his disadvantage in the polite world; on the contrary, it added a fresh plume to his character, in the eyes of all those ere not before acquainted with the triu this countenance of his friends, he hiht; and perceiving that, at any rate, he must be a considerable loser, he resolved to double his assiduity in trade, that he ht be the more able to afford the extraordinary expense to which he was subjected

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

FRESH CAUSE FOR EXERTING HIS EQUANIMITY AND FORtitUDE

The reader may have observed, that Fathom, with all his circumspection, had a weak side, which exposed him to sundry mischances; this was his covetousness, which on some occasions became too hard for his discretion

At this period of time it was, by the circuree of rapacity He was now prevailed upon to take a hand at whist or piquet, and even to wield the hazard-box; though he had hitherto declared himself an irreconcilable enemy to all sorts of play; and so uncommon was his success and dexterity at these exercises, as to surprise his acquaintance, and arouse the suspicion of so was his conduct erous temerity of Ratchcali, which he had been always at pains to restrain, and perlish nobleman, which had been executed upon himself at Frankfort In other words, the Tyrolese, by the canal of Ferdinand's finger and recommendation, sold a pebble for a real brilliant, and in a few days the cheat was discovered, to the infinite confusion of our adventurer, who nevertheless assuuise of innocence with so ainst the villain who had ienerosity, that his lordshi+p acquitted him of any share in the deceit, and contented hi out of his own pocket, until he should be able to apprehend the rogue, who had thought proper to abscond for his own safety In spite of all this exculpation, his character did not fail to retain a sort of stigma, which indeed the plainest proofs of innocence are hardly able to efface; and his connexion with such a palpable knave as the Tyrolese appeared to be, had an effect to his prejudice in the minds of all those ere privy to the occurrence

When a ht in question, every trifle is, by the ainst the culprit A fehispers communicated by the envious mouth of slander, which he can have no opportunity to answer and refute, shall, in the opinion of the world, convict him of the most horrid crimes; and for one hypocrite who is decked with the honours of virtue, there are twenty good nominy of vice; so well disposed are individuals to trample upon the fame of their fellow-creatures If the most unblemished merit is not protected from this injustice, it will not be wondered at that no quarter was given to the character of an adventurer like Fatho other unlucky occurrences, had the nised about this time by his two Parisian friends, Sir Stentor Stile and Sir Giles Squirrel

These worthy knights-errant had returned to their own country, after having n in France, at the end of which, however, they very narrowly escaped the galleys; and seeing the Polish Count seated at the head of taste and politeness, they immediately circulated the story of his defeat at Paris, with many ludicrous circumstances of their own invention, and did not scruple to affirh is raised upon a great an to perceive a change in the countenance of his friends His coerness which they had formerly expressed in his behalf Even his entertainlected; when he appeared at any private or public asse with pleasure, as forarded him with looks of disdain; and a certain pert, little, forward coquette, with a view to put hih at his expense, asked hiht, at a drum, when he had heard fron upon the mirth of the audience, but was disappointed in the other part of her aim; for our hero replied, without the least ood health at your service, madam; I wish I knehat part of the world your relations reside, that I ht return the compli lady was of very doubtful extraction, he retorted the laugh upon the aggressor, though he likewise failed in his attempt upon her temper; for she was perhaps the only person present who equalled hi this appearance of unconcern, he was deeply touched with these marks of alienation in the behaviour of his friends, and, foreseeing in his own disgrace the total shi+pwreck of his fortune, he entered into a melancholy deliberation with hi his i his address into some other channel, where he could stand upon a less slippery foundation In this exercise of his thoughts, no sche the booty he hadwith his associate, as also blown, into so unknown, they ht pursue their old plan of coestion to the Tyrolese, who approved the proposal of decaht our hero's inclination to withdraw hi the assurances of the solicitor, who told hi reireat part of the sums he had expended in the course of the prosecution

Fathou an honourable retreat, and, waiting patiently for the day of trouble, discharged his sureties, by a personal appearance in court Yet this was not the only score he discharged that ; the solicitor presented his own bill before they set out for Westave the Count to understand that it was the custom, from time immemorial, for the client to clear with his attorney before trial

Ferdinand had nothing to object against this established rule, though he looked upon it as a bad omen, in spite of all the solicitor's confidence and protestations; and he was not a little confounded, when, looking into the contents, he found hied with 350 attendances He kneas not his interest to disoblige his lawyer at such a juncture; nevertheless, he could not help expostulating with him on this article, which seeard to the number; when his questions drew on an explanation, by which he found he had incurred the penalty of three shi+llings and fourpence for every time he chanced to meet the conscientious attorney, either in the park, the coffee-house, or the street, provided they had exchanged the coood reason to believe the solicitor had often thrown himself in his ith a view to swell this item of his account

With this extortion our adventurer was fain to coly, he with a good grace paid the de his former disbursements, amounted to three hundred and sixty-five pounds eleven shi+llings and threepence three farthings, and then presenting hie, quietly submitted to the laws of the realm His counsel behaved like men of consummate abilities in their profession; they exerted themselves with equal industry, eloquence, and erudition, in their endeavours to perplex the truth, browbeat the evidence, puzzle the judge, and mislead the jury; but the defendant found himself wofully disappointed in the deposition of Trapwell's journeyman, whom the solicitor pretended to have converted to his interest This witness, as the attorney afterwards declared, played booty, and the facts came out so clear, that Ferdinand Count Fathom was convicted of criminal conversation with the plaintiff's wife, and cast in fifteen hundred pounds, under the denoes