Part 16 (2/2)
Having made this successful conveyance, he shi+fted his eyes alternately froentle which he in silence reproached the last for introducing such a beggarly varlet to his acquaintance; then taking the pipe fro himself to the Count, ”if I had all the inclination in the world to comply with your proposal, it is really not in my power
My correspondents abroad have re cash hath been exhausted in supporting their credit Mr Ferret, sure I anorant of my situation; and I'entleman to me on business of this kind; but, as the wise man observes, Bray a fool in a , with athe bell, and called for the reckoning; when, finding that he was to be the guest of Renaldo, he thanked hiood cheer, and in an abrupt h baffled in this quarter, the young gentleman would not despair; but forthwith employed Mr Ferret in an application to another of the society; who, after having heard the terms of his commission, desired hi without the concurrence of his partner, who happened to be at that ti solicited, excused himself on account of an oath which he had lately taken on the back of a considerable loss A fourth being tried, made answer, that it was not in his way And a fifth candidly owned, that he never lent money without proper security
Thus the forlorn Renaldo tried every experiuished Well-nigh destitute of present support, and encoed to keep within doors, and seek so mistress, and his faithful friend; yet, even there, he experienced the extreour of adverse fate Every rap at the door alar pay, some unlucky feature of the occasional portrait recalled the ie of an obdurate creditor, and made him tremble at the work of his own hands When he fled for shelter to the flattering creation of fancy, soay vision, and dissolved the pleasing enchanter power to co she warbled, every tune she played, recalled to his remembrance some scene of love and happiness elapsed; and overwhelmed his soul with the woful comparison of past and present fate
He saw all that was amiable and perfect in woman, all that he heldon the brink of er of her situation, and found himself unable to prevent her fall, or even to forewarn her of the peril; for as we have already observed, his soul could not brook the thought of cos of distress to the tender-hearted Monimia
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
RENALDO'S DISTRESS DEEPENS, AND FATHOM'S PLOT THICKENS
Such aggravated misfortune could not fail to affect his temper and deportment The continual efforts he made to conceal his vexation produced a an to be seized with horror at the sight of poor Monimia, whom he therefore shunned as much as the circumstances of their correspondence would allow; and every evening he went forth alone to soive a loose to the transports of his sorrow, and in silence hten the burden of his woe His heart was soed with despair, which represented hts of denouncing war against the whole co his oants with the spoils he should win At other ti an end to his ether Yet these were but the transitory suggestions of temporary madness, that soon yielded to the dictates of reason From the execution of the first he was restrained by his own notions of honour andthe other expedient, he was deterred by his love for Moniion
While in this rief that preyed upon his vitals, the alteration in his countenance and conduct did not escape the eyes of that discerning young lady She was alare, yet afraid to inquire into the source of it; for, being ignorant of his distress, she could impute it to no cause in which her happiness was not deeply interested She had observed his strained complaisance and extraordinary emotion She had detected him in repeated atteular excursions in the dark These were alar symptoms to a lover of her delicacy and pride
She strove in vain to put the most favourable construction on what she saw; and, finally, imputed the effects of his despondence to the alienation of his heart Made miserable beyond expression by these suspicions, she imparted them to Fathom, who, by this time, was in full possession of her confidence and estee her conduct in such a nice conjuncture
This artful politician, who rejoiced at the effect of her penetration, no sooner heard hiave tokens of surprise and confusion, signifying his concern to find she had discovered what, for the honour of his friend, he wished had never coht
His behaviour on this occasion confirmed her fatal conjecture; and she conjured hiht Renaldo's heart had contracted any new engageitation, and stifling an artificial sigh, ”Sure, madam,” said he, ”you cannot doubt the Count's constancy--I am confident--he is certainly--I protest, madam, I am so shocked”
Here he rity and his friendshi+p would not allow him to proceed, and summoned the moisture into either eye--”Then are my doubts removed,” cried the afflicted Monimia; ”I see your candour in the er torations and vain coushed fro eyes, and she instantly withdrew into her own apartrief unanimated with resentment She was by birth, nature, and education inspired with that dignity of pride which ennobles the human heart; and this, by the circumstance of her present dependence, was rendered extremely jealous and susceptible; insomuch that she could not brook the least shadow of indifference, much less an injury of such a nature, from the man whom she had honoured with her affections, and for whoed and deserted her fah her love was so unalterably fixed on this unhappy youth, that, without the continuation of reciprocal regard, her life would have become an unsupportable burden, even ah she foresaw, that, when his protection should cease, she n land, exposed to all the miseries of want; yet, such was the loftiness of her displeasure, that she disdained to complain, or even des
While she continued undeter on this sea of torture, Fatho upon her passions, while they were all in commotion, became, if possible, more assiduous than ever about the fair mourner, modelled his features into a melancholy cast, pretended to share her distress with the most elowing by cunning insinuations, which, though apparently designed to apologise for his friend, served only to aggravate the guilt of his perfidy and dishonour This pretext of friendly concern is the most effectual vehicle for the conveyance of malice and slander; and a man's reputation is never so ins with the preamble of, ”For reater regard for hiuish and concern that I see hile his character, and the good-natured hearers, concluding he is even blacker than he is represented, on the supposition that the most atrocious circumstances are softened or suppressed by the tenderness or friendshi+p of the accuser, exclaim, ”Good lack! what a wretch he er attempt to defend him!” Nay, sometimes these ishers undertake his defence, and treacherously betray the cause they have espoused, by oed in his vindication
Both theseto the predonation prevailed, he expatiated upon his love and sincere regard for Renaldo, which, he said, had grown up froree of fervour, that he would willingly part with life for his advantage He shed tears for his apostasy; but every drop made an indelible stain upon his character; and, in the bitterness of his grief, swore, notwithstanding his fondness for Renaldo, which had becoarian deserved theinjured such perfection At other times, when he found her melted into silent sorrow, he affected to excuse the conduct of his friend He inforentleman's temper had been uneven froht in time be reclaiht have probably ascribed to inconstancy, as really the effect of sorin which he industriously concealed from his participation But, when he found her disposed to listen to this last suggestion, he destroyed the force of it, by recollecting the circumstances of his nocturnal rambles, which, he owned, would admit of no favourable construction
By these means he blew the coals of her jealousy, and enhanced the value of his own character at the same tirity, and the ed oe, naturally seeks some confidant, upon whose syreat aim was to ossiping correspondence, in the familiarity of which he hoped his purpose would certainly be answered
Yet the exertion of these talents was not limited to her alone While he laid these trains for the hapless young lady, he was preparing snares of another kind for her unsuspecting lover, who, for the coan to perceive marks of disquiet and displeasure in the countenance and deport lady, in the in, and over her vexation affected to throw a veil of tranquillity, which served only to give an air of disgust to her internal disturbance
Renaldo, whose patience and philosophy were barely sufficient to bear the load of his other evils, would have been quite overwhelmed with the additional burden of Monimia's woe, if it had not assumed this appearance of disesteeht his resentment to his assistance Yet this was but a wretched cordial to support hiainst the baleful reflections that assaulted him from every quarter; it operated like those desperate remedies, which, while they stimulate exhausted nature, help to destroy the very fundamentals of the constitution He reviewed his own conduct with the utmost severity, and could not recollect one circumstance which could justly offend the idol of his soul The more blameless he appeared to himself in this examination, the less excusable did her behaviour appear He tasked his penetration to discover the cause of this alteration; he burned with impatience to know it; his discernh he knew not why, to dehts were so circumstanced, that he durst not even unbosoh his own virtue and friendshi+p resisted those sentiestions to the prejudice of our adventurer's fidelity
Nevertheless, unable to endure the torth made an effort to expostulate with the fair orphan; and in an abrupt address, the effect of his fear and confusion, begged to know if he had inadvertently done anything to incur her displeasure Moni herself bluntly accosted in this unusual strain, after repeated instances of his reserve and supposed inconstancy, considered the question as a fresh insult, and, su her whole pride to her assistance, replied, with affected tranquillity, or rather with an air of scorn, that she had no title to judge, neither did she pretend to condemn his conduct This answer, so wide of that tenderness and concern which had hitherto manifested itself in the disposition of his amiable mistress, deprived him of all power to carry on the conversation, and he retired with a lo, fully convinced of his having irretrievably lost the place he had possessed in her affection; for, to his iination, warped and blinded by his ht, not with a transient gleaer, which a respectful lover would soon have appeased, but with that contempt and indifference which denote a total absence of affection and esteem She, on the other hand, misconstrued his sudden retreat; and now they beheld the actions of each other through the false medius the peace and happiness of whole families often fall a sacrifice
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
OUR ADVENTURER BECOMES ABSOLUTE IN HIS POWER OVER THE PassIONS OF HIS FRIEND, AND EFFECTS ONE HALF OF HIS AIM