第17章

Onemorninghepullsoffhisdiamondring，andwritesupon

theglassofthesashinmychamberthisline——

’YouIlove，andyoualone。’

Ireadit，andaskedhimtolendmehisring，withwhichIwrote

underit，thus——

’Andsoinlovesayseveryone。’

Hetakeshisringagain，andwritesanotherlinethus——

’Virtuealoneisanestate。’

Iborroweditagain，andIwroteunderit——

’Butmoney’svirtue，goldisfate。’

Hecolouredasredasfiretoseemeturnsoquickuponhim，

andinakindofaragetoldmehewouldconquerme，and

writesagainthus——

’Iscornyourgold，andyetIlove。’

Iventuredalluponthelastcastofpoetry，asyou’llsee，forI

wroteboldlyunderhislast——

’I’mpoor:

let’sseehowkindyou’llprove。’

Thiswasasadtruthtome；whetherhebelievedmeorno，I

couldnottell；Isupposedthenthathedidnot。

However，he

flewtome，tookmeinhisarms，and，kissingmeveryeagerly，

andwiththegreatestpassionimaginable，heheldmefasttill

hecalledforapenandink，andthentoldmehecouldnotwait

thetediouswritingontheglass，but，pullingoutapieceof

paper，hebeganandwroteagain——

’Bemine，withallyourpoverty。’

Itookhispen，andfollowedhimimmediately，thus——

’YetsecretlyyouhopeIlie。’

Hetoldmethatwasunkind，becauseitwasnotjust，andthat

Iputhimuponcontradictingme，whichdidnotconsistwith

goodmanners，anymorethanwithhisaffection；andtherefore，

sinceIhadinsensiblydrawnhimintothispoeticalscribble，he

beggedIwouldnotobligehimtobreakitoff；sohewrites

again——

’Letlovealonebeourdebate。’

Iwroteagain——

’Shelovesenoughthatdoesnothate。’

Thishetookforafavour，andsolaiddownthecudgels，that

istosay，thepen；Isay，hetookifforafavour，andamighty

oneitwas，ifhehadknownall。

However，hetookitasImeant

it，thatis，tolethimthinkIwasinclinedtogoonwithhim，as

indeedIhadallthereasonintheworldtodo，forhewasthe

best-humoured，merrysortofafellowthatIevermetwith，

andIoftenreflectedonmyselfhowdoublycriminalitwasto

deceivesuchaman；butthatnecessity，whichpressedmeto

asettlementsuitabletomycondition，wasmyauthorityforit；

andcertainlyhisaffectiontome，andthegoodnessofhistemper，

howevertheymightargueagainstusinghimill，yettheystrongly

arguedtomethathewouldbettertakethedisappointment

thansomefiery-temperedwretch，whomighthavenothingto

recommendhimbutthosepassionswhichwouldserveonlyto

makeawomanmiserableallherdays。

Besides，thoughIjestedwithhim(ashesupposedit)so

oftenaboutmypoverty，yet，whenhefoundittobetrue，he

hadforeclosedallmannerofobjection，seeing，whetherhe

wasinjestorinearnest，hehaddeclaredhetookmewithout

anyregardtomyportion，and，whetherIwasinjestorin

earnest，Ihaddeclaredmyselftobeverypoor；sothat，ina

word，Ihadhimfastbothways；andthoughhemightsay

afterwardshewascheated，yethecouldneversaythatIhad

cheatedhim。

Hepursuedmecloseafterthis，andasIsawtherewasnoneed

tofearlosinghim，Iplayedtheindifferentpartwithhimlonger

thanprudencemightotherwisehavedictatedtome。

ButI

consideredhowmuchthiscautionandindifferencewouldgive

metheadvantageoverhim，whenIshouldcometobeunder

thenecessityofowningmyowncircumstancestohim；andI

manageditthemorewarily，becauseIfoundheinferredfrom

thence，asindeedheoughttodo，thatIeitherhadthemore

moneyorthemorejudgment，andwouldnotventureatall。

Itookthefreedomoneday，afterwehadtalkedprettyclose

tothesubject，totellhimthatitwastrueIhadreceivedthe

complimentofaloverfromhim，namely，thathewouldtake

mewithoutinquiringintomyfortune，andIwouldmakehim

asuitablereturninthis，viz。thatIwouldmakeaslittleinquiry

intohisasconsistedwithreason，butIhopedhewouldallow

metoaskafewquestions，whichhewouldanswerornotas

hethoughtfit；andthatIwouldnotbeoffendedifhedidnot

answermeatall；oneofthesequestionsrelatedtoourmanner

ofliving，andtheplacewhere，becauseIhadheardhehada

greatplantationinVirginia，andthathehadtalkedofgoing

tolivethere，andItoldhimIdidnotcaretobetransported。

Hebeganfromthisdiscoursetoletmevoluntarilyintoall

hisaffairs，andtotellmeinafrank，openwayallhis

circumstances，bywhichIfoundhewasverywelltopassin

theworld；butthatgreatpartofhisestateconsistedofthree

plantations，whichhehadinVirginia，whichbroughthimina

verygoodincome，generallyspeaking，tothetuneof#300，a

year，butthatifhewastoliveuponthem，wouldbringhimin

fourtimesasmuch。

’Verywell，’thoughtI；’youshallcarry

methitherassoonasyouplease，thoughIwon’ttellyouso

beforehand。’

Ijestedwithhimextremelyaboutthefigurehewouldmake

inVirginia；butIfoundhewoulddoanythingIdesired，though

hedidnotseemgladtohavemeundervaluehisplantations，

soIturnedmytale。

ItoldhimIhadgoodreasonnottogo

theretolive，becauseifhisplantationswereworthsomuch

there，Ihadnotafortunesuitabletoagentlemanof#1200a

year，ashesaidhisestatewouldbe。

Herepliedgenerously，hedidnotaskwhatmyfortunewas；

hehadtoldmefromthebeginninghewouldnot，andhewould

beasgoodashisword；butwhateveritwas，heassuredmehe

wouldneverdesiremetogotoVirginiawithhim，orgothither

himselfwithoutme，unlessIwasperfectlywilling，andmade

itmychoice。

Allthis，youmaybesure，wasasIwished，andindeednothing

couldhavehappenedmoreperfectlyagreeable。

Icarriediton

asfarasthiswithasortofindifferencythatheoftenwondered

at，morethanatfirst，butwhichwastheonlysupportofhis

courtship；andImentionittherathertointimateagaintothe

ladiesthatnothingbutwantofcourageforsuchanindifferency

makesoursexsocheap，andpreparesthemtobeill-usedas

theyare；wouldtheyventurethelossofapretendingfopnow

andthen，whocarriesithighuponthepointofhisownmerit，

theywouldcertainlybelessslighted，andcourtedmore。

Had

Idiscoveredreallyandtrulywhatmygreatfortunewas，and

thatinallIhadnotfull#500whenheexpected#1500，yetI

hadhookedhimsofast，andplayedhimsolong，thatIwas

satisfiedhewouldhavehadmeinmyworstcircumstances；

andindeeditwaslessasurprisetohimwhenhelearnedthe

truththanitwouldhavebeen，becausehavingnottheleast

blametolayonme，whohadcarrieditwithanairofindifference

tothelast，hewouldnotsayoneword，exceptthatindeedhe

thoughtithadbeenmore，butthatifithadbeenlesshedid

notrepenthisbargain；onlythatheshouldnotbeableto

maintainmesowellasheintended。

Inshort，weweremarried，andveryhappilymarriedonmy

side，Iassureyou，astotheman；forhewasthebest-humoured

manthateverywomanhad，buthiscircumstanceswerenotso

goodasIimagined，as，ontheotherhand，hehadnotbettered

himselfbymarryingsomuchasheexpected。

Whenweweremarried，Iwasshrewdlyputtoittobringhim

thatlittlestockIhad，andtolethimseeitwasnomore；but

therewasanecessityforit，soItookmyopportunityoneday

whenwewerealone，toenterintoashortdialoguewithhim

aboutit。

’Mydear，’saidI，’wehavebeenmarriedafortnight；

isitnottimetoletyouknowwhetheryouhavegotawife

withsomethingorwithnothing？’

’Yourowntimeforthat，

mydear，’sayshe；’IamsatisfiedthatIhavegotthewifeI

love；Ihavenottroubledyoumuch，’sayshe，’withmyinquiry

afterit。’

’That’strue，’saysI，’butIhaveagreatdifficultyuponme

aboutit，whichIscarceknowhowtomanage。’

’What’sthat，mdear？’sayshe。

’Why，’saysI，’’tisalittleharduponme，and’tisharderupon

you。

IamtoldthatCaptain——’(meaningmyfriend’shusband)

’hastoldyouIhadagreatdealmoremoneythanIever

pretendedtohave，andIamsureIneveremployedhimtodoso。’

’Well，’sayshe，’Captain——mayhavetoldmeso，butwhat

then？

Ifyouhavenotsomuch，thatmaylieathisdoor，but

younevertoldmewhatyouhad，soIhavenoreasontoblame

youifyouhavenothingatall。’

’That’sissojust，’saidI，’andsogenerous，thatitmakesmy

havingbutalittleadoubleafflictiontome。’

’Thelessyouhave，mydear，’sayshe，’theworseforusboth；

butIhopeyourafflictionyouspeakofisnotcausedforfear

Ishouldbeunkindtoyou，forwantofaportion。

No，no，if

youhavenothing，tellmeplainly，andatonce；Imayperhaps

tellthecaptainhehascheatedme，butIcanneversayyou

havecheatedme，fordidyounotgiveitunderyourhandthat

youwerepoor？

andsoIoughttoexpectyoutobe。’

’Well，’saidI，’mydear，IamgladIhavenotbeenconcerned

indeceivingyoubeforemarriage。

IfIdeceiveyousince，’tis

ne’ertheworse；thatIampooristootrue，butnotsopooras

tohavenothingneither’；soIpulledoutsomebankbills，and

gavehimabout#160。

’There’ssomething，mydear，’saidI，

’andnotquiteallneither。’

Ihadbroughthimsoneartoexpectingnothing，bywhatIhad

saidbefore，thatthemoney，thoughthesumwassmallinitself，

wasdoublywelcometohim；heowneditwasmorethanhe

lookedfor，andthathedidnotquestionbymydiscourseto

him，butthatmyfineclothes，goldwatch，andadiamondring

ortwo，hadbeenallmyfortune。

Ilethimpleasehimselfwiththat#160twoorthreedays，and

then，havingbeenabroadthatday，andasifIhad

beentofetch