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T H E A UT H O RE S S .
A T A L E.
THE AUTHOR OF RACH EL.
So Fancy weavesHer flimsy web,wh ile sober Reason sits,
An d smiling wonders at the puny work,
A net for her.
” H u nm s.
LONDON
P RINTED FOR TAYLOR AND H E S S E Y,
F LEET STR E ET .
1 8 19. we,603
a w n ba —
j
PRE FACE .
IT is the design of the follow ing pages
to poin t out som e of the many_
absurdities,
which abound in the literature of a circu
lating library .
I can scarcely be supposed so devoid
of understanding as to rail at all works
bearing the nam e of Novels. It were,
indeed, to he w ished that a m ore ho
nourable appellation cou ld be found for
v i P RE FA CE .
the works of those great Gen iuses,whose
talen ts have been employed for the amuse
m ent of mankin d ; or that a different term
were applied to those to which m y cen
sure alludes. But as I am persuaded that
no one can possibly con found the two
classes, i t would be equally useless and
im pertin en t in m e to attempt to fix the
line of demarcation
There doubtless exist m any abuses of
comm on sense m ore flagran t than those
I have selected ; but to point out all hadbeen an endless undertaking : and besides, I d id not intend m y work to beof too sombre a cast . My highest
amb i tion w ill be gratified, should my
P RE FA CE . vh
readers be inclined to say of my old
gen tleman,(as Hardcastle does of Tony
Lumpkin,) There ’s m orality, however,
in h is reply .
TH E AU TH ORE S S .
CHAPTER I .
S o,my young friend, I hear you have
turn ed au thoress,”said Mr . Newman .
“ It is too true,”
replied the young
lady,m ournfully .
Too ,true ! why, how is that ? you
were not comp elled to becom e a wielder
of the plum e .”
It is,notwithstan ding,the m ost ,un
fortunate thing I ever did in my life .
”
How so ? , bow so ?” demanded the
old gentlem an,,with som e im patience .
,My first work,”
replied she, went
off very well . This flattered my van i ty,and I wrote my second in high spiri ts ;but, and a deep blush here overspread
B
2 TH E Au r non nss
her face,“ but my unfortunate second
m et not with the sam e fate ; itwas refused,rejected . This, though it m ortified mypride, did not subdue my inclination for
writing ; bu t my ideas no longer flowed
in an easy and natural m ann er. I wrote
and blotted,began and n ever fin ished,till now my desk is filled w ith uncon
nected scrawls,which I am unwilling to
destroy,but which I foresee will n ever
be completed .
”
It is a m oum ful case,certainly,”said
the old gen tleman ‘drily, that your
brains should go wool-gathering to so
little purpose ; but suffer m e to overlook
this desk,and perhaps I m ay be able to
disentangle som e of these confused ideas.
”
To this pr0po‘
sal the au thoress made no
objection,stip ulat ing on ly,that sheshould
be allowed a few days“
to arrange,in som e
d egree, the various papers she intended
.to subm it to h is inspection .
.‘Ou the; day appointed the old gentlea
T H E AUTH O R E S S . 3:
m an m ade his appearance,and professing
great eagerness to begin his exam ination,she showed him in to her study, placed
two chairs and a table near the fire,and
drawing forth her keys,she un locked the
sacred repository of her cogitations,and
presen ted him w ith the following tale
Before I begin, said Mr . Newm an,
rubbing his spectacles w ith his handker
chief,and fitting them ,with great solem
n ity,on his n ose before I begin,I wish
you to understand,that I consider myself
at liberty to m ake any observation that
m ay appear to m e su itable to the occa:sion .
”
The authoress bowed her head in token
of acqu iescence,and the old gentlemanbegan thus z r
4 TH E AUTHO RE S S .
THE OLD SOLDIER.
H A D I been on a j ourney of life and
death,I m ust have made a pause ; as I
travelled for pleasure, I m ade a
'
dead
stand . It was the m ost in teresting scene
I had ever beheld . It was a calm sum
m er’s evening, and the m ellow tin ts of
approaching tw ilight . . gave a threefold
interest to every obj ect . I cannot here,like som e authors,who delight in giving
scope to the imaginationsof their readers,by draw ing the ou tline of som e catas
trophe, leave you to suppose any other
than the real state of the case . Alas ! I
know not what offence I m ay be giving .
S om e am ong you m ay im agine I beheld
active preparations for ap ugilistic m atch ;others m ay an ticipate the ground m arked
out for a foot-race,or a duel ; others may
look forward to a cricket match or,(if I
r u n AUTHORE S S . 5
chanced to be by the water-side,) an im i
tation of a naval engagem en t — l ’twas'
non e of these . S om e fair'
lady m ay sup
pose I saw som e favourite lap-dog being
extricated from a slough ; or som e fond
lovers,who were using m ore haste than
sense or discretion in posting to Gretna
Green,overtaken on this hapless spot by
an austere father, or vindictive brother,who m ight be exerting his au thority in
severing hearts,which Caprice and Folly
had boun d in their strongest chains. But’twas none of these
Pray,my dear, said the old gentle
man,raising his eyes, hav e you written
particularly and expressly for the descend
ants of JobS ir l” u ttered the authoress.
I say,m y dear, you have stretched
this part of your story considerably too
much ; bu t few I should imagin e wou ld
have patience to peruse such an enum era
tion of events,‘m erely to be told at the
c onclusion — T was none of these .”
6 TH E A u r n on n sm
I ' perceive, sir, replied the younglady, that you kn ow nothing of one of
the principal beau ties'
of this style of
writing . To wind up the im agination to
the utm ost height, before you‘
develope
the real fact, causes the reader to enj oy
all the delight of a strong con trast .”
'
As soon m ight you persuade m e,
return ed Mr . Newm an, that after travel
ling up a steep hill,in hopes of con tem
plating the scen ery below,I should enj oy
the con trast of being suddenly and vio
lently pushed to the bottom . But to
proceed
You have entirely destroyed my
climax, by this abrupt interruption : I
beg you will take up the story at, Alas !
I kn ow not what .’
The old gen tleman,who was by som e
of his friends reckoned a little facetious,felt vastly inclin ed to u tter the j oke to
which the con clusion of the young lady’s
speech had given rise in his m ind : bu tremarking the air of im portance w ith
8 TH E A ur noanss.
“ In short, I give you a specim en of
another of the m iseries incident to an
author.
”
Notwithstanding your sarcasm, mydear sir, there are many things of m ore
m om en t, less trying to the temper of an
author, than hearing his works m angled
by another . But do you not perceive this
narrative is written in the abrupt style
the'
sen tences are disj oin ed, though not
unconnected . It is a difficu lt style to
read with propriety, because the reader
should so m odulate his voice,as'
to allow
his t hearers tim e to fill up,in their own
m inds,-what the author has om itted to
express.
”
Then.
we will call it the incomprehen
sible style,”said .Mr . Newm an one in
which the m ean ing of the work depends
on ~ the ‘ in‘
tellect of the reader ; and this
is I suppose,‘
of your own invention
Did you never hear of S terne? ” asked
the authoress, in a tone in which was
TH E AUTHO RE S S .
blended contem pt for his ign orance,and
m ortification at his not having made the
d iscovery without her assistance .
So ho ! it is an im itation of S tern e !
Nay, then, now we shall do very well .Aye,aye, there are a plentiful number of
dashes. I crave your pardon for not hav
ing perceived the resemblance before ;but, now I am let in to the secret, you
n eed not fear another stoppage for som e
tim e .”
It was not my in ten tion,sir,that the
resemblance shou ld have remained a se
cret,”
said the young lady,resum ing her
seat . Mr. Newm an m ade a wry face at
hisblunder,and taking up the m anuscript,began again
Ben eath a large tree,which screened
the village inn from the storm s of w in ter
and the dust of summ er,the little group
were assembled — They appeared to myview — but the pen cil of Hogarth wouldhave described them infin itely better ; and
B 5
10 TH E A u r n oaass.
so let it pass unm ention ed . On a seat on
one side sat an old wom an kn itting ;she was blind — but the eyes,which hadceased to behold her fellow-creatures,had
not ceased to shed the sym pathetic tear
for their sorrows.— A youn g child stood
by her side, playing w ith a kitten ; — a
burn ing tear fell on its little hand ; — the
child dropped the string which held his
play-fellow ;— the kitten took the oppor
tun ity to escape ;— the child turn ed to
wards its aged paren t — he took the
corner of his p in-afore — looked at it
’twas very dirty ; — he hesitated— another
drop fell— consideration was at an end .
Don ’t cry,granny,”said the child,an d
w iped her cheek with the very corn er he had
before deem ed unworthy of the office ;he had no better,and the part was neces
sary to be perform ed .
’
I suppose she wanted a pocket hand
kerchi ef, said Mr. Newman The au
thoress frowned, even though a tear of
r n n aur nonnss. 1 1
ecstacy swam in her own eye . The
affection of the ch ild,”
said she, sug
gested the necessity of offering som e
mark of attention at that m om en t .”
I stand corrected,”rej oinedMr. New
man . But are the feelings of children
generally so very acute ?”
“ Indeed I can ’t tell ; I have never
been in the habit of studying the dispositions of children very closely, It , is
enough for my purpose that those of this
were so.
”
Say rather that you have made them
so, said1
Mr . Newm an .
Well,well,’tis of little consequence .
If there be no greater error in my work
than a few transgressions of
shall depend on the dulness of my readers
not to fin d them out .”
If the du lness of your readers should
throw so conven ien t a blind over the deffeets of your tale,what is to fill up the
gaps which you have left for the exercise
12 TH E Aur n onass.
of their imaginations ?” asked her friend .
The au thoress was puzzled . We
scribes,”said she, are not in the habit
of attending to such ~ininutiae. No work
is,or can be expected to be,fau ltless,and
a comprom ise may'
readily be made : if
they are blind to the beau ties, they are
also insensible to the defects and if they
have pen etration en ough to discover-the
fau lts,they will likew ise be aware ‘
of the
perfections. Pray have the goodness to
proceed .
”
Mr. Newman obeyed Had I everbefore thism om en t doubtedman
’
s superiority
oy er all' other an im als,this one inciden t
had‘
m ade‘ m e a proselyte .'— The kitten,unconscious’ of ‘ the woes of an other,and
alive on ly to its own gratifications, had
fled the scen e of sorrow the mom en t ' its
little owner dropt the string -the child,though equally undonscmus of the cause
of 1i
bis’ paren t’s grief, had yet seen her
tears,and endeavoured to console her.
TH E AUTH O RE S S . 13
And so much for this,thought I ; I wou ld
not have m issed this sight for butwho shall set a price on nature ? Her
scen es are too’ comm on to be valued,and
too in im itable to be exchanged for any
.thing . Rail on,ye proud ones,sighed I,rail as ye w ill against Pity,it is still an
am iable quality .
Opposite the old wom an sat a weather
beaten sold ier— his dress bespoke extrem e
poverty, and the furrows in his cheek
plainly showed that you th no longer as
sisted him to bear up against its griping
hand — And were I Comm ander in Chief,thought I— bu t what m atters it — I shall
find som e other way,said I softly,as a
glance at my own hom ely . habilim ents
brought to my recollection who I really
was.-At the feet of the old soldier,and
lying on the ground,I beheld the obj ectof,m ine . host’s ha
’
rangue : he was a tall
thin youth ; and if ever Grief had set her
stamp ou‘
any human countenance,it was
14 T H E Au r n onass.
on his — Many of the neighbouring ‘
cot
tagers had assembled round to hear their
story— and a doleful one it was.- In the
m iddle of the group stood m ine host ; he
held an empty tankard in his .hand,which,by way of garn ish to his discourse, he
frequ en tly flourished in the air — he had
n early com pleted his narrative when I
arrived .
And not one of them,I fear, con ti
nued he, w ill stand up for this ‘ poor
lad : and it goes to my heart to think
that while one of the true fam ily is alive,the Hall should go to any body else .
But have I no friend left? are all,all
dead ?” demanded the lad .
All repeated m ine host ; all are
gone, said he, as he poured the last
drain ings of the emptied tankard on the
ground .
All are not gon e exclaim ed the old
soldier,starting from his seat : his fa,
ther,in the field of battle,left him to my
16 TH E AUT'
H ORE S S .
my workswere complete . But m ay I ask
your op i n lon of this specim en ? ”
I suppose you w ish m e to advise you
to fin ish it ; and so I wou ld,if I thought
you at all likely to succeed ; but,indeed,my dear, I think you have don e well in
giving up the attempt . Independen t of
(you m ust allow m e to say,) the absurdity
of supposing any m an senseless en ough
to offer to risk all his property in the m an
n er you have described, there are manyobjections to be m ade . It is a d ifficu lt
and a dangerous thing to affect the style
of any au thor,particu larly one so pecu liar
as that of S tern e . I have ‘
seen . other
attem pts lately,bu t they all fail -and so,
w ith your leave,we will proceed to the
next .
The authoress took the m anuscript in
silence : like the cripple who j okes at his
own deform ity, she could decry the m e
rits of her own perform ances ; but would
TH E AUTH OR E S S . 17
have been as well pleased to hear them
praised by another . Mr. Newman, dis
regarding her silence,took up the scroll
which lay n earest to him, and began to
read, The Mem oirs of Martha.
1 8 TH E AUTH O RE S S .
CHAPTER II .
MEMOIRS OF MARTH A .
MARTHA HE RN S HAW had,at the tim e
this history comm ences,sarcely attain ed
her thirteen th year ; yet, though young,her judgm en t was m ature,and her under
standing far above her years. Her edu
cation had fitted her for the highest
station ; whilst the retirem en t in which
she had been brought up had preserved
her inn ocent,and ignoran t of the dissipa
tion and luxury attendan t on the great .
H er grandm other,who had reared her
from her earliest recollection, had ever
preserved the m ost inflexible silen ce re
specting her paren ts ; and though Martha
had often en treated her grandm other to
rem ove the veil, the ven erable old lady
checked all inquiry by inform ing her that'
circumstances then existed which ren
TH E AUTHORE S S . 19
dered her incapable of com plying with
her request . Martha thought it strange ;bu t the care of her flowers or her fowls
served to banish curiosity ; and tim e im per
ceptibly stole on till she had completed her
thirteen th year. It was a custom with
Mrs. Hernshaw,on'
each return of Mar
the’s birthday, to m ake a little festival
for the young people of the village ; and,as usual,preparations were made to cele
brate the even t .
It had been for som e tim e the declared
in tention of Mrs. Hernshaw to unfold to
her grand-daughter, on this day, the
secret of her birth ; but, as all m atters
of great im portance,whether their subj ect
be painful or otherwise, equally engross
the m ind, and render the atten tion to
triflin g occurrences disgusting, she had
resolved to postpon e the conference till
after the departure of her young friends.
The in tention of her grandm other was,
however,en tirely frustrated by the anxiety
20 T H E A UTHORE S S .
which Martha naturally experienced ou'
this occasion .
The little lawn,on the appoin ted day,was overspread w ith m erry groups for as
the season '
was the m iddle of Jun e,they
preferred dancing out of doors. Martha
alone was sad— Martha, who had ever
before shon e the qu een of the sports,was
on this n ight absen t, spiritless, and Ian
gu id . The thoughts of the approaching
commun ication pressed .heavy on her
heart : she dreaded to learn that her birth
would raise her above .the reach of her
beloved Edmund .
’
What !” exclaim ed Mr. Newman,in love at thirteen ?”
And why not, sir ?” demanded the
young lady .
Nay,if you w ill show cause relay, i t
w ill be useless for m e to show cause wirynot, and I think, as authoress, you are
bound to speak first .”
“ Then, sir,”
said Miss S tanley, for
TH E A UTH ORE S S . 21
such was the lady ’s nam e, I can show a
m ost unanswerable reason .
“ I am prodigiously glad to hear it,said Mr . Newman .
It is this,”replied she as my he
roin e is com pelled,for the, in terest of mytale,to go through numberless adven tures,it is absolutely n ecessary to fix the com
mencem en t of them at an early period,otherwise she
‘
m ust inevitably be old and
ugly before they could com e to a happy
term ination ; which I hope you perceive
wou ld destroy all curiosity,for who would
care abou t readin g the hair-breadth’
scapes ’
of an ugly old wom an,or desire,in the least, to know whether she got
through them .or not ; besides that,she
could not,’
in the course of nature,possibly
expect m ore than a year or two in which.to enj oy the fru i ts of her labours.
”
Truly, my young friend,”
replied
Mr. Newman, you are,indeed,provided
.w ith a very philosophical reason . The
22 T H E AUTH O RE S S .
life of m an, as has been ably dem on
strated by m any, is exceedingly short ;an d if it be so indispensably n ecessary
for one person to experien ce m ore vicis
situdes than is gen erally supposed pos
sible,you have don e w ell to m ake your
heroin e capable of enduring them at a
m u ch earlier period than is usual to hu
m an nature ; for I recollect that you
have prov ided for all obj ections that
m ight be raised on accoun t of ign orance
and inexperience, by telling us at the
setting out, that her judgm en t was m a
ture, and her understanding above her
years : ’ and so let us'
go on .
Every one n oticed the effect,though
n on e could surm ise the cause : in vain
did Martha endeavour to shake off the
un easiness that Oppressed her : in vain
did Edm und,by the m ost winn ing atten
tions, strive to discover her grief,or to
divert her n otice to other obj ects. The
company of her young friends wearied2
24 TH E AUTH ORE S S .
con tained nothing to excite her apprehen
sion, the possibility of its giving rise to
som e obstacle to her un ion with him who
had so long constituted all her felicity,appeared to her so overwhelm ing an evil,that sinking on her kn ees, she im plored
of her heaven ly Father, protection from
the m isfortun e which . m ight awai t her,and fortitude to support it wi th resi gna
tion to his w ill . She rose composed
and comforted,and retired to rest . ’
1 You are to understand, Miss S tan
ley,”said Mr. Newman,with som e seve
rity, that this is one of the greatest
obj ections that can be raised against
works of this kind . Nay,I am justified
in saying,it is the very greatest that can
possibly be made .
”
S ir !”said the young lady .
I say,my dear,”he resum ed, I hope
you have comm itted this error through
ignoran ce,as . I should be sorry to sup
pose you would call 'for the assistance of
TH E AUTH ORE S S . 25‘
a surgeon,if the skin of your finger threat
en ed the approach of a whitlow .
”
S ir ?”repeated Miss S tan ley .
Might it not be supposed,” con tinued
he, that you would see as m uch reason
in this proceeding as in that of which you
have m ade Martha guilty ? for, indeed,her’s borders on a crim e . I see you are
surprised,but su ch is the s fact ; for reli
gion, though affording a sure help and
refuge in real affliction,is not to be called
upon lightly on every trifling voccurrence.
Do not suppose that I am intending.
to
imply that . prayer is not n ecessary to be
used on all em ergencies I only obj ect
to the subj ect being in troduced under anycircum stan ces in w orks of the im agi ne.
tion,and m ost particularly on such absurd
occasions : for I think if the appeal were
to be m ade to persons of any understand
ing,all would agree that one m ore highly
ridiculous cou ld not,well be im agined,
than the rupture of a love affair between
C
26 TH E AUTH ORE S S .
a boy and girl of thirteen, even allowing
that such a thing ever really existed . Many
of our .modern novelists suppose (as
I presum e), that they stifle all objectionsto their performance,by occasionally
calling in som e such circumstan ce as that
we have just read : they think to qualify
their works for the taste of the m ost rigid,by quotin g the S criptures,withou t cere
m ony,on every Opportun ity that occurs ;and imagin e they are conveying religious
and m oral instruction by so doing . But
they hurt the cause they pretend to
espouse ; and would theybut reflect,theymust see the folly of such a supposition .
How can any believe that the least good
effect can follow the violation of a com
man dm en t ; for is i t not calling on the
Lord’s nam e in vain, to m ake any being
they may be describing, im plore (let the
mode of expression be ever so well chosen)His protection every tim e they have the
vapours; and how often is the occasion
TH E AUTHO RE S S . 27
no better ! Religion,my young friend,requ ires a composed temper of m ind, to
be con tem plated 'with advan tage . It isnot in scen es descriptive of tum ultu ous
and worldly passions, that the' doctrine
which teaches m eekness and resignation
can with propri ety be introduced : and
thrust in,as i t is too often,in this mann er,i t is far m ore likely to be received with
con tem pt,than with the reveren ce which
is its due It is a rem edy for all the real
ev ils of life ; but is of too sacred a nature
to be used m erely as affording a con trast
of character,a variety of expression,‘
or a
m eans of rounding a period .
-I have wandered far from the trifling
inciden t in your m anuscript,though from
it I have been led to express my Opin ion
so fully of these things in gen eral . -To
return toMartha. She appears to have had
no reasonable cause for despondency :
she kn ew her grandm other’ s station in
life to be respectable her incom e was not
c 2
28 TH E AUTH ORE S S .
insufficient for her wants : she had in
form ed her the commun ication'
was not
to’
be dreaded : so if you have m ade’
her
low spirited only to introduce her prayers,'it would have been far better let alon e ;or if it be to show she had a just pre
sentim en t of what was going to befalher, i t is a creed I am not m uch giv ento
i
adm ire ; . and so, with your leave, I
w ill endeavour to find if there was any
other reason .
”
The authoress said n othing,though in
wardly vexed,that the very sen ten ce she
expected to be praised,as contain ing a
good hint to young p eop le, should have
provoked so severe an an imadversion .
Mr. Newm an proceeded :
Martha slept in an apartm en t adj oin
ing her grandm other ; and towards m or n
ing she was m uch alarmed by groans,proceeding from Mrs. Hernshaw’
s cham
ber. Hastily throwi ng on her dressing
gown,she hurried to her room ; she found
TH E AU TH O RE S S . 29
hergrandm other insensible;and apparently
in much pain : w ith great promptitude she
summ on ed the servant, and" having . de
spatched her for m edical assistance, she
rendered all m her own power to her suf
fering paren t . Itwas not till towards theeven ing of the following day that
'Mrs.
Hern shaw became sen sible Zof the obj ects
around her. H er return ing reason was
hailed by her . grand-daughter with'
trari
sport : but the 'Doctor rem inded her. how
bften in sim ilar cases the return of sense
had preceded dissolution .
Marthawas overwhelm ed with afli ic
tion at this in formation,and rem ained lost
in grief ; till her gran dm other,at the‘
tim e
I have before m en tioned,called herto the
bedside, and taking her hand, thus ad
dressed her It .was myinten tion,my‘dear 'child, to have in form ed you of the
history of your birth,even had my.health
been spared me ; and now the commun i
c ation is m ore iinperatively n ecessary,as
30 TH E AUTH ORE S S .
I may not long remain here to impart the
interesting tale .” Martha,dreading her
grandm other would injure herself by too
much speaking,besought her to postpone
the recital till som e other period .
That period will n ev er arri ve, mylove,when I shall be better enabled to
perform this n ecessary du ty,”replied Mrs.
Hernshaw ; therefore listen atten tively
to what I am about to say.-Your great
grandfather But as I think I can
express the accoun t m ore circum stanti
ally,I shall relate in the third person the
narrative ofMrs. Hernshaw .
’
This,”
said Mr. Newm an, is one
of the things I am m ost particu larlyprovoked with . Scar cely any thing can
be conceived m ore uninteresting than the
long genealogi cal accoun ts,one of whi ch
I perc eive you are going to pour down
upon us. If it be necessary to trace the
ancestry of a person from any antedilu
vian date,why not do it at first ? why,
32 TH E AUTH ORE S S .
But if it be unavoidable ?” said Miss
S tanley
Such a case is not possible ; an au
thor has the choice of arranging his m ate
rials as he pleases : and as we proceed,I
much question whether we shall find any
sufficien t reason for keeping the old lady
long enough in the last agoni es to relate
the history of her an cestors.
”
“S ince you are so little disposed to
adm ire the in troduction,”
said the au
thoress, I will not trespass so m uch on
your patience as to allow you to proceed ;but recomm end this to your perusal .” As
shespoke,she drew the Mem oirs of Mar
tha from his han d, and presen ted him
with The Persecuted Lovers, or“
the
History of Lionel and Leonora.
”
T H E AuTH ORE ss. 33
CHAPTER III.
THE PEESECUTED LOVERS .
LION EL and LE O N ORA were the off
spring Of paren ts whose virtu es would have
shed a lustre-
ou the highest station . The
friendship which had for a great length Of
tim e connected these am iable fam ilieswas,in their earliest childhood,perceived to be
reciprocal in their children ; nor had m any
years elapsed before the attachm en t he
cam e m ore tender. Lion el pleaded'
his
passion with all the fervou r of youth and
the gen tle Leonorabliish'
ed consen t . The
delighted paren ts j oyfully accorded their
sanction to the union,only requ iring that
as they were both so young,Li onel should
m ake the tour of Europe,so necessarytothe com pletion of the education Of a gen
tiem an,before it took place . The partingwrung the hearts of the young people
0 5
34 TH E AUTH O RE S S .
with love’s m ost exquisi te torm ents ; butthe tim e was now n early expired ; and at
the comm encem en t of this history they
were looking forward with transport to
the m om ent which was to restore them to
each other,and heap on them the highest
happiness they were capable of conceiv
ing . But,before we proceed,i t may not
be amiss to give a description of their
persons. The figure of Lionel F itz osbertwas form ed in the fin est m ould of m anly
beauty .
’
“ You’ll excuse m e, my dear,but Icannot read the praises of a man with
much patience,”saidMr . Newman,break
mg off abruptly ; so I shall pass over
this long account of raven locks,aquiline
nose, arched brows, fire-eliciting eyes,noble soul,feeling heart,Ste. Sam . and just
take a peep at the lady .
”
Leonora Mandeville was one of those
beings whem ‘f youthful poets fancy when
they love .” The Medi cean grace of-her
TH E AUTHO RE S S . 35
m ovements accorded well with the syl
phid . fragili ty of her form . Of her countenance it would be vain to attempt a
description ; she m ight justly be consi
d ered as Nature ’s m asterpiece,so edm irably was the roseate hue interm ingled
with . the alabaster fairn ess of her skin,an im ated wi th the un ited expression of
c onscious di gnity and fem in in e softness.”Are there any m ore descriptions ?”
asked Mr . Newm an .
No,sir,”was the reply .
You rej oice m e exceedingly,”
said
the old gen tleman, as possibly I maynowbe enabled to proceed .
”
And why should the descriptions
d isable you?” asked Miss S tanley .
Merely because having taken up the
manuscript with the idea of being able to
recogn ise som e of the persons as resem
blin g those.I have knovm in real life,
on finding myself transported to such
asuper-excellent set of people,I feel rather
36 TH E AUTH ORE S S .
c onfused, and altogether u nable to de
cide w hether I should not have found
myself m ore at ease,if you had prem ised
that such people live only in fairy tales.
S ince,however, you‘ have secured m e
from the introduction of any m ore, I w ill
just ask,if i t is not‘
a little extraordinarythat every heroin e Of a novel should hap
pen to be Nature’
s m asterpiece ? (for all
I have ever heard of are described as peer
less,) and proceed .
”
Lionel was already on his return hom e,when a fatal fever broke out in the n eigh
bourhood,and carried Off, am ong m any
others,the parents of Lio'
nel and Leonora.
The aflli ction of the young and bean
tiful Leon ora may,by -hearts susceptible
as her own'
,be im agined ; but wordsmustfall far short of conveying any ad equate
idea : she walked from one cold corpse to
another,~ beatin g her breast,orending her
luxuriant locks w ith frantic violence,and
calling'
onDeath to release her from a life
TH E AUTH O RE S S . 37
which had now becom e a burthen too in
tolerable -to be borne . In this state she
rem ained m any days,refusing all consola
tion, till the rem embrance of Lionel re
called her to herself ; and for hi s sake she
endeavoured to compose her disordered
The m ournful task of commun icating
this in telligence she'
resolved to postpone
till his arrival ; for I can m ix consola
tion with my in formation when he is pre
sent,” thought she, and wipe away the
tearsmy tale will cause to flow .
” Besides,the exqui site delicacy Of Leonora’s m ind
was such, that she wou ld not writetoinform him of the death Ofhis paren ts,lest
by : announ cing to him her unprotected
state,she m ight appear desirous of hast
ening his retum .
’
u Delicacy with a witness !” exclaim ed
Mr. Newm an ; but it is .all false . What,in the-nam e of modesty,
‘
prudence,a nd
c ommon : decency,wouldzhavebeen the
38 TH E A U TH OE E ss.
breach,if she had even requested him to
use his u tm ost exertion to reach her ?
Misfortune abolishes all form s Of cere
m ony ; and if she had no other friend to
console and direct her at such a tim e,a
very m oderate degree of reason would
have poin ted out the propri ety,if not the
necessity,of sending for the only one she
possessed, even if their love had been
san ction ed only by an usual length of
intim acy,and he had not had a personal
interest in the calam ity . Yes, it is cer
tainly a false sentim en t .”
One even ing as Leonora sat in silent
contem plation, picturing to herself the
m elancholy delight she should experien ce
on beholding herbeloved Lionel,the seri
vant announced a strang er,who followed
her into the room . The gen tleman was
muffled in a large riding coat,and the
idea of Lionel being ever upperm ost in
the m ind of Leonora,she doubted not but
shebeheld him,and sprung towards the
40 TH E AUTHORE S S .
intrude on those sorrows?” asked Leonora.
Call'
it the effervescen ce of my solici
t ude, the result of my undim in ished
adoration ; call it any thing but pre
sum ption . Oh, Miss Mandeville,couldyou form,but for a m om en t, the least
idea of what I have endured sin ce ban ished your presen ce, you w ould surely
condescen d to listen to m e. Let m e
implore you,” he con tinued, sinking on
his kn ees, while the tears chased each
other down his m anly coun tenan ce ; let
m e en treat .you to listen . to a wretch,whose life depends upon your sm ile,whose future felicity or m isery must be
determ in ed by your lips.
”
Leon ora was soften ed by witnessing
his sufferings, and she again asked,bu twi th m ore kindness, the occasion of his
p resent appearan ce .
’
And doh you suppose, my dear,
asked Mr. Newm an, that any man can
so entirely lose sight of~all self-respect; as
THE AUTHORE S S . 41
to debase himself in this manner ? If such
is your Opin ion, our sex are very much
obliged to you for imagin in g us such
fools.
”
Indeed, S ll‘
, replied Miss S tanley,I cann ot say that any .one ever said as
much to m e,but I have not accustom ed
myself to con sider that as a proof t hat
such things are not said to any one else
particularly as there are somany instan ces
extan t sim ilar to the one I have related .
”
It m ay be that I was n ever of the
love-m aking sort,”returnedMr . Newman ;
‘f for certain ly I never was guilty of such
an absurdity . What m akes me rather
m ore particu larly inclin ed to doubt the
reality of such things is, that these de
scriptions, (as far as m y reading enables
m e to judge) are m ost comm only found
in the works of female writers, as if it
were soothing to their van ity to imagine
arbitrary power over the happiness of
man,which he is not altogether so willingto allow .
”
42 TH E AUTH ORE S S .
The m otive ofmy presen t visit,Miss
Mandeville,”
replied Mortim er, is to
renew those Offers I som e tim e ago so
unsuccessfully made . Your presen t nu
protected state pierces m e to the heart ;allow m e to convey you to where every
thing that affluen ce can comm and shall be
yours. Oh ! suffer m e to bid the sun of
prosperity dissipate the storm s of ad
versity,and the gentle balm of affection
heal the w ounds inflicted by the rude
hand of affliction .
”
Leonora heard him in silence,and then
said, Give m e leave to say,Mr. Mor
tim er, that, situated as I am, you m ight
have shown your friendship in a far m ore
acceptable m ann er, by remaining per
fectly inactive in my con cerns. What
must be your Opin ion of m e, if you can
suppose m e so capable of change,as in
the short space Of three years to have
altered my sentim ents respecting you ?
SO far from considering m yself under anyobligation,I feel you have offered me a
TH E A u'rn oness. 43
m ost unpardonable insult ; and the only
way in which you can m ake m e the least
reparation, is by instan tly leaving my
presence,n ever m ore to return .
I hope he did not go,”
said Mr.
Newm an .
Hope he did not go, sir ! why so ?”
asked the authoress.
More m oderation,my dear, replied
he, had been m ore consisten t wi th the
delicacy you have laid so m uch stress
upon . The least one can do,is to d ecline
an offered favour w ith civility ; and it is to
be presum ed that 'Mort im er was unac
quainted with her engagem en t to Lion el,or he would hardly have ren ewed his own
addresses. Indeed,I think her behaviour
verybad .
”
But recollect,my dear sir, that her
defen celess situation called for the great
est circum spection,”
said Miss S tanley .
It is to be hoped,”rej oined the old
gentleman, t hat passion and injustice
44 T H E AUTH ORE S S .
will n ever be gen erally m istaken for cir
cum spection ; or, farewell to all concord
and un ity. Mortim er’s offer appears_ . to
m e a very disin terested one ; and she
could not properly hav e don e less than
have return ed him her thanks, and ex
plain ed to him her situation w ith Lion el .”
What, sir !” exclaim ed the youn g
lady, would you advise a fem ale to tear
open the secret recesses of her heart,and
m ake a gen tlem an her confidan t ? ”
A lady’s heart -m u st be m ade of v ery
flim sy materials indeed, if it could not
close and be as soun d as ever,after such
an explanation . I think no woman of
deli cacy could unn ecessarily boast of an
attachm en t,however . worthy the obj ect ;but no wom an of justice (which is a m uch
m ore n oble prin ciple,) would withhold
the comm uni cation,if necessity called for
it. But I am in haste to see if he staid .
”
f Mortim er bowed low . I am incalcu
lably unfortunate,”
said he, to have
TH E AUTH OR E S S . 45
raised angerwhere Lhad hoped to . excite
pity ; and wi thou t u ttering an other
word he rushed from the apartm en t .
S everal days nowIpassed,’
duringwhibhtim e Leonora received a letter from Lionel,inform ing her that he shou ld
'
be w ith
her e arly in the ensuing week .
‘ Leon ora
w ished, yet dreaded to see him ; her
heart beat high when she thought of the
rapture she should experience on again
beholding him,but died within'
her,. as
\she rem embered the m elan choly intelli
gence that awaited him . On the ev en ing
preceding the day Lion el . had m ention ed
as that of his in tended arrival, Leon ora
was startled, and som ewhat a larm ed,by _a loud rin ging at : the gate, and
in trembling agitation she awaited the
explanation '
of this unexpected disturb
ance ; . but not long was . she kept in
suspense, a m an pale and breathless
rushed into her presence,.and throw ing
off his hat,she recogn ized Mortim er.
46 TH E A ur n onnss.
Wretch she exclaim ed,overcome
with surprise and terror, what do you
here ?”
I com e, replied he, to render you
an important service . S om e m iles from
hence,I chanced to overtake a gen tleman
who had fallen from his horse : be ap
peered in great pain : I assisted him to
the n earest inn,when, the doctor giving
him to understand he was in dan
ger, he besought m e to fly to you, and
entreat you to hasten to receive hi s last
sigh .
”
Leonora heard no m ore,but sunk backin a swoon . Wh en she recovered she
found her servant and Mr. Mortim er
standing by her : the sight of Mortim er
recalled his errand to her m in d, and
starting from her seat,she cried, Let us
go directly . Wretches why do you not
instan tly prepare for my departure? Oh
Lionel,Lionel,is i t thuswe are to m eet ?”
The servant in silence obeyed her2
48 TH E A UTHO RE S S .
Though I ackn ow ledge the-force of
your reason, yet it m akes the case still
worse ; for if he kn ew n othing abou t the
m atter, how could he inven t or foresee
the success of his schem e 7”
You m ust put up w ith this, and a
thousand other little inaccuracies,or you
will n ev er do for a novel-reader, my dear
I do indeed begin to perceive by
how d'
elicate a fibre the inciden ts of a
novel hang together,”
rej oined Mr.
Newman .
It is now n ecessary to m ake the
reader acquain ted w ith the real character
of Mortim er . He was artful, selfish,and
designing, and would st00p, wi thout
hesitation,to the m ean est act, to gratify
his m ost vicious inclination . Devoid of
generosity, courage, or hum anity,he was
equally in capable of perform in g a good
action, or defend ing a base one -whilst,unrestrained by any m otive, m oral or
0.
TH E A uTHoR E ss . 49
divine, his cruelty enabled‘
him to per
form any deed, howev er atrocious, of
which his subtlety ensured the success.
’
For sham e ! for sham e ! ” cried Mr.
Newm an, this exceeds all possibility'
there n ever was such a m an in the
world“ Indeed Mr. Newm an, said the
authoress, we shall n ever com e -to an
I”
end, if you w ill make these con tinual
in terruption s.
”
You will recollect it was a stipu lated
article, at the comm en cem en t of our un
dertaking, that I should be allowed ' this
liberty ; and I cannot avoid availing
myself of it when I see you“ dissem i
nating such false views of mankind .
Thanks to ourbeneficent Creator ! we are
non e of us form ed of su ch vile m aterials;though m any of us have m ore evil pas~
sions than we can-and the best
are often severely proved in‘ keeping
them in subjection ; but who could With1)
50 TH E AUTH ORE S S .
stand such a host ? I wi ll not say thereis any thing crim inal in fancying such a
character,but certain ly it is a being of
human inv enti on . It is an extrem e as
unnatural as that in which I expect you
are going to pain t your hero : the one
raises a m an to a height infin itely above
hum an nature,the other sinks him equally
below . I cannot conclude w ithou t en
forcing my argum en t with the authorityof the Spectator,who says, There is no
person .so vicious,who has not som e good
in him nor any so virtuous,who has not
in him som e evil .’
To return to Leonora.
”She suffered
herself to be born e along many m iles,Withou t m aking any inqu iries ’
as to herdestination,so en tirely was she absorbed
in m ournful reflec tions on the past,~ and
an ticipat ions of the future . At length
they_
.stopped at the gate of an old
fashioned mansion, where Mortim er de
sired her to alight . Leonora, roused to a.
T H E AUTH ORE S S . 5 1
sense of the objects aroun d her,gazed at
the house w ith astonishm en t . This
said she .
It is any thing you shall please to
call it,”
replied Mortim er, w ith a sar
castic'
sm ile : be it an inn, and I the
landlord of my. lovely guest .”
The kn owledge of her situation now
darted like a flash of lightn ing on the
m in d of Leonora ; she turn ed sick asd eath ;but hastily recoverin g her com posure,sheexclaim ed w ith dign ity, To what end,0thou villain,hast thou broughtm e here
Mr; Newm an laughed outright. I
fan cy her dign ity will mot be of much
avail in this case,”
said he ; and she
m ight,I should have imagin ed,have fixed
upon som e m ore m ollifying term. I
kn ow not how i t is,but heroines appear
house is no inn
to m e to have a language pecul iar to
them selves,at least they m ake no scruple
of using epithets,which in the m ou thsi
of
m o'
re comm on fem ales would be thought
D 2
52 TH E A UTH O RE S S .
rather incom patible w ith propriety . But
I am interrupting the lady in the m iddle
of her speech .
”
Instantly order your horses to return,for be assured I shall not alight . n
As you please,m adam,”replied the
abandon ed m an ;“bu t if you will not
alight willing ly,you m ust not com plain if
I use a little com pu lsion . My horses are
m uch too fatigued to obey your orders.
”
So saying, he advan ced towards the
chaise,and,in spite of her resistan ce,boreLeonora to the house . She shri eked
aloud ; but,alas ! there was no one to heed
her cries ; the postillion grinned,.and the
old wom an who had Open ed the door had
disappeared .
It w ill not be n ecessary to relate all the
entreaties,prom ises, and m enaces,which
this vile m an used to prevail on Leon ora
to becom e his wife . Tru e to her beloved
Lion el,she treated all his proposals with
disdain, and spen t her ,tim e in , endea
TH E'AU TH ORE S S .
’ 53‘
vourin'
g'to plan her
'
escape,but in vain
Eleven m on ths passed in this m ann er ;and despairing . of accomplishing her
purpose,she resign ed hers'elf t'
o'
ai hOpe
less m elancholy ; while the t hought .
‘
of.
what Lionel would suffer on her account
con tributed not a lit tle to her grief. One
even ing . about this tim e,when the fine
n ess of the weather had in som e'
degree
soothed her lacerated m ind, she left her'
cham ber w ith the in ten tion of requ esting'
perm ission to walk in the grounds,when'
how great was her joy and surprise to
fin d the —door which led to the garden
open . She rushed throu gh it the
grounds on one s ide w erebounded by anarrow stream .
— She fled towards it,and =
withou t the hesitation‘
of a mom ent,plunged in . Fear lent her strength,and
'
she gain ed the oppositebank in'
safety .
Withou t consideringawhich road m ight
lead to the last town she had passed
through on t he day in which she was)
54 TH E AUTH O RE S S .
trepanned from her hom e, she ran downthe one that first presen ted itself, nor
stopped till the detested house had long
been hidden from her sight . She then
sat down to rest herself,her wet clothes
hung heavily upon her,and she trembled
equally w ith cold and affright ;but awareshe m ust u se som e exertion to reach an
abode for the n ight, or pass it under a
hedge, she arose and pursued her way.
For som e tim e she con tinu ed her walk
without interruption, lost in j oy at her
escape, though unknow ing whither she
was going, or by what m eans she should
reach hom e .
’
She was in a j oyful plight to be
sure,. said Mr. Newman .~
At length she heard a horsem anbehind her : fearful of pursu it, she waited
not to east a look behind, but fled with
the u tm ost expediti on her exhausted
strength could use. The horsem an evi
dently gain ed ground upon her ; and
‘ 56 TH E A UTHORE S S .
the'heart of her beloved Lionel dissipated. all rem embrance of her form er sorrows.
“Lionel,on the other hand,was so enrap
tured at recovering his heart’s treasure,that for som e tim e he appeared un con
scious of his existen ce ; bu t his servant
com ing up at this m om en t,he so far re
collected him self as to be enabled to de
spatch him to the n earest town for a
chaise, and then seating Leonora on the
bank, he besought her to inform him of
the cause of her;
strange disappearance .
She related it all from the tim e of their
paren ts’ death;
to the presen t m eeting ;and then,in her turn, requested to know
what had befallen him during their sepa
ration . Bu t as thisnarrative will be given
m ore at large hereafter, it is only neces
sary to state here that he had passed the
tim e ever sin ce his return in endeavouring
to trace her retreat ; and that he was ac
cidentally travelling this road in-
the prose
cution ofh i s search when he overtook her .
’
TH E AUTH ORE S S . 57
Oh,m ost lucky chan ce exclaim ed
Mr ; Newm an ; how often does it happen
in works Of this k ind,that the happiness
or misery?of a person ’s life
'
depends upon
an acciden t as trifling as this ! Had'
not
Lionel set ou t on‘
his r ide,by chance,"at
the precise m om én t‘
he did an d had not
Leonora found the garden door Openbychance, and by chan ce taken‘ the '
same
road, they'
m ust in evi tably have m issed,and been , véry unhappy for the rest Of
theirjlife.
”
I am delighted,Mr. Newm an, said
the young lady,~ f‘ that f l can 'brin ‘
g some
authority again st you,you are‘
so'
severe
upon me.
" What say -you‘ to ~
.Pope ’s
m axim All chance, direction‘which
thOu icanst nOt see.
’
r 2
it may be l a ti‘tie
v in : compositions .of the
fancy,fwhere'
,as; I have £1108 :befOre'
said ;an author may; arrange his m aterials as
he pleases i t,ismore satisfactory. to . have
D 5
58 TH E AUTH ORE S S .
it shown that certain causes tended to
produce the effects described, than to
have it in on e’s power to worry our ima
gination with the torm en ting but if cir
cum stances had not so happily coincided
I wonder what would have happen ed .
As Lionel con cluded his accoun t the
chaise arrived,and during their ride it was
determin ed,that Leonora should be placed
in som e respectable fam ily till such tim e
as they should be un i ted . Lion el pleaded
for an early day but Leonora wou ld not
hear of shorten ing the tim e of her m ourn
ing . It is but one m on th,myLionel,”
said she, and‘
shall we not pay our
dear paren ts this last tribute of our affec
tion
In vain did Lionel urge the probabilityof her being exposed ti) the fresh m achi
nations Of Mortim er ; in vain did he de
scribe the agony he should endure if
again she was lost to him ; in vain did he
remind xher that he was her only friend,
TH E AUTH O RE S S . 59
and that the sooner she gave him a title
to protect her,the sooner would she put
an end to their m utual anxiety : she was
inflexible— nay m ore,her delicacy m ade
her shrink from the idea of receivin g the
frequen t visits of any man unsan ctioned
by the presence Of a father,or a brother ;and she therefore d em ande d,that after she
sh ould -be com fortably settled he should
absen t him self from her,andbe con ten tedwith correspondin g w ith .her i till . the
month shouldbe expired. Lion el,thengh
grieved at her resolution, could not but
admire the refined and elevated '
mind
which thus resolu tely persisted in the dis
charge ef a f an cied duty, regardless ‘0f
personal danger and inconven ience.
’
1 can ’t read another lin e upon my
honour,”
said Mr. Newm an,kthrowin g
down the m anuscript. “ It is Often Oh
jected to’
Novels in gen eral,that the act ionsOf the characters introduced arewithoutsufficien t motives,and that principles are
60. TH E AUTHO RE S S :
not attended to . But such are innocent,in com parison w ith the class to
'
which this:
belongs: Here but ;
the m ost false that can be imagined ;where Virtue and Decorum are
?strain ed
till they becom e Folly and Indiscretion,if nothing worse
”
; and where the m ost'
absurd con clusion s are'
d rawn ; which; if
the au thor really m ean his m axims tobeattended .to, cannot fail of impartin g a
wrong bias to thesm ind of the you thful
reader ;'
and which,’
were he to apply
them -in real life,‘
m ight tend greatly to
his 'injury,before experien ce had t aught
him the fallacy Of such'
rules. DO not
suppose I am recommending a younggirl to leap into the arm s o fh er lover,or
of him who pretends to be such,for every
trifling occurrence‘
that may happen' to
’
chafe her tem per: It is,perhaps,a hazard
ous resource at all tim es ; but man i s the
c reature ! of circumstances,and,'
as such,must yield to their,
influence : in the
TH E AuTH O RE ss . 61
case you have drawn,n othing but a perversion Of in tellect could have induced a
young unprotected fem ale to act in so
singular a mann er ; un less, indeed, one
m ay suppose the lady was fond Of being
smuggled, and so, volun tarily exposed
herself to all the evils inciden t to hersi
tuation . If you would not w ish to incur
the high-
reproach of m isleading youngm inds,who are not able to discrim inate
for them selves,be cau tiou s to distinguish
every thing by its proper nam e ; you m ust
not,for the indulgence of your own fancy,dign ify absolute folly by the
.
nam e of de
licacy, nor term the too great indulgen ce
Of an overstrained sensibili ty the refi ne
m en ts of an elevated m ind . But .what is
the n ext production you wish‘
me to
read ?”
M iss S tanley,withou t speaking,offered
him Valen tina ; or, the Spirit Of the
Vault .
62 TH E AUTH O RE S S .
CHAPTER IV
VALENTINA .
s as =x= :x: a: it
H ow is this 7” asked Mr. Newman :
this,unlike any Of the others,has no
beginning .
”
This is a romance, replied Miss
S tan ley ; and the m ore it is wrapped in
Obscurity the better. I have always ad
m ired the comm encem en t of the Old
English Baron,’which the editor, pro
fessing to have found it in som e strange
place, has described as being so much
mu tilated by the dam p as to have renderedthe first part un intelli gible ; and has,
therefore, begun with a lin e or two Of
asterisks. I have said I adm ire it,whichwill account for my having adopted the
plan .
”
64 TH E AUTH ORE S S . ’
Happy stream l” sighed Valentina,as she
‘
seated’
herself at the window to
listen for the expected signal thou art
not,like m e,condemned to linger here
At last the shrill whistle and appoin ted
words summ on ed her . she rose,and de
scending to the court, found a m an c iri
arm our awaiting her arrival ; febe s tarted;but prepared to follow her guide,who ledthe . way. towards the vault. The wind
whistled bleakly as they descended I
shall n ever have courage to proceed,whispered the trembling Valen tina 1
Fea'
r
'
nothing, repliedherconductor ;the blast,though an unpleasan t one,is
no terrible Oppon en t .”
The castle clOck at this m om en t struck
one : Valentina shuddered ; I daré ‘
not,
indeed I dare nOt she "
And hasJove no greater power over.
thy heart ?” demanded her. guide . 1 How
much stronger is the love of him,whointhe . cOld dungeon Ihas so long awaited
our coming !”
TH E AUTHORE S S . 65
S timulated to fresh exertion by thism ention Of the situation Of her lover,Va
lentina drew her cloak round her and
advan ced a few steps ; bu t in so doing,recollected the danger of trusting herselfat this lon e hour in so rem ote a place w ith
,two m en, one of whom she had seen buttwice since the tou rnam en t, and of the
other she was probably totally ignoran t .’
A v ery good thought,though recol
lected alm ost too late,”
said the Old gen
tleman . But as I have remarked that
the ladies,'
in these tales,are m iraculously
protected, though they may comm en ce
Open warfare against comm on sense by
comm ittin g the m ost flagran t absurdities,I hope,for the sake Of the story,you have
suffered her to proceed .
For the sake Of the story I have not
suffered her to proceed,”
replied the
Authoress.
I am afraid,then,she will have 'some
trouble toi
get away ; for I presum e they
66 TH E AUTHORE S S .
were alone, and at such a tim e of night
she m ight shou t for a long while w ithout
making any one hear.
”
And to render her situation still m ore
perilous, said the Authoress,with a look
of importance, I have m ade her a resi
dent in a castle possessing no inhabitan ts
but herself and a deaf Old wom an .
”
Delightful ! delightful exclaim ed
the Old gen tleman but,” he added in a
tone of disappointment, I suppose you
have had recourse to the interposition Of
fairies.
”
Proceed,”said the young lady, and
you will find that it is all brought about
in a very reasonable and natural man
ner.
”
Exqu isite beyond comparison, re
j oined he ; if you are not crowned
Q ueen of S cribes for this,I will say thereis neither sense nor sen tim ent am ong the
whole band Of cri tics.
”
This reflection caused her to make an
TH E A uTH OE E ss. 67
involun tary stand, and she eagerly.
cast
her eyes along the dark passage to asoer
tain if there was any possibili ty of escape ;but,alas ! she perceived not the slightest
chance Of even a temporary concealm en t .
Her com pan ion watched her qu ick and
searching glance ; and, as if suspecting
her inten tion,Offered her his arm to assist
her progress. Conscious that if her de
sire had really been to proceed,su ch an
assistance wou ld have been m ost wel-i
com e,Valen tina forced herself to place
her arm within his,and giving up all idea
Of escape,she stepped on over the m oul
dering ston es. The footing was very in
secure . Tim e had en tirely decayed som e
Of the ston es ; and others were so m uch
loosened that they rocked beneath their
weight . In this m ann er they proceeded
for som e tim e,when Valen tina’
s attention
was roused by a half-suppressed start of
her compan ion : she raised her eyes,supposing it to have been occasioned by the
68 TH E AUTHO RE S S .
stones’
slipping'
from his foot,but howgreat was her surprise and terror onbeholding ‘
a ,tall m aj estic figure approaching
them ! Itsi
height appeared m ore . than
human,and its white garm en ts fell in long
and graceful folds to its feet . It advan ced
w ith one . hand on itsbreast, the otherraised in the .air. Its steps were .slow,m easured, an d noiseless ; and as it drew
n earer i t uttered,in a hollow voice,‘f Be
ware ! beware ! beware '” and continuing
its m arch,before Valen tina cou ld recover
from her aston ishm ent it had disappeared
am ong the ruins
All this is the climax of rationality.
to be sure,”
said Mr. Newman .
1 I am sorry it does not m eet -with
your approbation,”
said the m ortified
Au thoress ;bu t you w ill please to Observethat this apparition is not m ean t as the
m eans of her escape,but m erely to confirm her desire Of returning : and that
such'
a confirmation was necessary,you
TH E A UTH ORE S S .
‘
69
will allow,to inspire heri
with courage to
act in the m anner you w ill find she.
did
What ! did she knock the man in
armour down ?” asked Mr. Newman .
Have the goodness to proceed,”was
the dign ified rejoinder .
H er resolution strengthened by the
warning voice of the apparition,Valentina
determ in ed to proceed no further ; butperceiving no chan ce of eluding the vigi
lance ‘
of her compan ion, she resolved to
extingu ish the light he carried,and trust
to"her own knowledge of the castle for
regain ing her apartm en t. For this pur
pose she took two or three unsteady steps,and design edly m issing her footing,. shé
fell in such a mann er as to dash the lampto the ground .
‘
The light was instan tly
extinguished ; .but her conductor,. 1in
suspicious of her d esign,assisted her torise befoie he attempted . to restore . 1 t
and having'
seated her on the ground,he
70 TH E AUTH O RE S S .
proceeded to draw from his pocket a
bottle of phosphorus. Valen tina, in the
m eanwhile, cautiously rem oved from her
seat,and having stationed herself behind
a large colum n, which had in ancien t
tim es supported an imm ense arch, she
awaited with anxiety an d trembling sus
pense the discovery of her absence .
In a few mom en ts the unsteady light
of the lam p again flashed on the crumbling
walls,showing the m any coloured damps
which stain ed this on ce gorgeous resi
dence . The man in arm our looked round
with astonishm ent on perceiving the
absence of his com pan ion Does she
think to escape m e now ?” he exclaim ed
in a voice so dem on iac, that,whilst it
pierced the throbbin g heart Of the terri
fied Valentina,‘
caused her secretly to t e
j oice at having left him . Fearing herwhite drapery m ight attract his atten tion,she drew her robe close round her .fragile
figure ; and though convinced she could
72 TH E AUTH ORE S S .
I do not perceive she 'had any just
reason for thinking so,” Observed Mr :
Newm an : theman happen ing to be tall,and the place happening to be Old,affords
non e in my Opin ion ; and as for arm our,I suppose that was not altogether nu
comm on in those days.
”
It was not till the last streak of light
had van ished from her sight, and the
sound Of the last footstep had died upon
her ear,that Valentina felt a superstitious
dread stealing over her. To be alone at
such an hour,and in such a place,struck
terror to her heart ; while the rem em
brance Of the supernatural figure she had
so lately seen, increased that terror so
much,that she almost expected to see it
again issue '
from the circumambient
gloom . A cold chill overspread her limbs,and,
'
unable to support herself, she sunk
senseless 011 the ground .
’
I may H OW ’
stop,withou t danger‘
of
interrupting Valentina, to make a few
TH E AUTH O RE S S . 73
observations”or rather to poin t out a few
inconsisten cies Ih ave remarked . In the
first place,my dear,you tell us these folks
w ere proceeding .along a, dark passage,in which the young lady,previous to the
ghost’s exhortation,could see no place'of
concealmen t ; but the words which served
to confirm her resolution,appear also to
have built a column to enable her to put
that resolution in execution .
I declare that never struckm e before,said Miss S tan ley .
“S econdly,
” proceeded Mr . Newman,
you say she had the address to gain
this ambush while her conductor was
striking. a light : ’twasbu t a short tim e,but we ,
will pass over that ; it was .p os
sible,and that in roman ces is a rare m erit
but,if she concealed herself so effectually
from h iss ight, it wasl not,,spossible thatshe could have, c omm anded so entire
a v iew -Of his actions; } inasmuch as no ;
person can see ~ through a stone column;
74 TH E AUTHORE SS .
n ei ther was it possible,that when his back
was turn ed towards her,she could behold
the expression of his eyes.
”
But I have not said his back was
towards her,”said Miss S tanley.
True ; but I presume you do not
m ean to imply that the m an in arm our
walked backwards : and! if he did not,
you must be sensible that '
two; or at m ost
three steps, would have prevented her
from any longerbeholding 'his face .”
Really I think you are too hard upon
m e,Mr . Newman : I am sure I. haveseen
much great er absurdities in many ro
mances.
”
“'I believe you,bew use I have seen
many greater myself ;but this qu ick percaption of the faults‘of Omers throws no
veil over your own.
”
On recovering her recollection; Valen
tina made an efibrt to:
return ! to: has
chamber ; put how. green was her horror:
when shefound herself fbrciblytdet eiamed e!
TH E A u'rnonsss. 75
A strong grasp held her cloak. Unable toturn through extrem e alarm,she uttered
a piercing scream : the dark and silent
passages reverberated only with her cry,but it seem ed to her borroriz ed imag ination the m ingled tones of many voices
With an alm ost supernatural strength she
slipped her cloak from her shoulders,and
w inged by the excessive impulse of un
adulterated terror, she fled towards her
apartm ent,which having at length gained,she sunk, deprived of sense, upon the
couch,and remain ed lost to all sense of te
membrance till the old woman summ oned
her the next m orning to breakfast ; when,on open ing her eyes, she perceived the
sun shin ing with uncommon splendour,and
the various songsters,Who found habita
tions in the neighbouring groves,hymn
ing their early‘
matins to theGod of day.
’
The long and the short of thismatter
then,”
said Mn N’
ewman, is, that she
had had the night-mare .”
E 2
TH E AUTH ORE S S .
Very far from it,as you will perceive,when you proceed,
”said the young lady .
Pardon m e,my dear,”replied he, if
I beg to st0p here . This tal e,like most
others of its kind, is conducive to no one
goodend . The principal recomm endation,of works of the im aginati on,is when the
sen tim en ts and inciden ts,related in them,convey som e u seful and m oral instruction
to the reader : in this shape they are not
only sources of am usem en t,but vehiclesof improvem en t ; but, devoid of this
qualification,they becom e vain,frivolous,and worthless. Reason is at all tim es to
be preferred to fan cy,as being the safestand surest guide of the m ind ; for,though
the lat ter m ay som etim es be called in as
an agreeable and en tertaining com pan ion,she will n ever prove
‘
a steady and trust
worthy leader . Is it not then an unneces
sary expenditure of tim e an d trouble,both
on t he part of the au thor andi
the reader,to compile or peruse a thing, which,
TH E Abr n onnss . 77
when it is com pleted, they are com
pelled to own is inconsistent with nature ;and
‘
which, so far from enlarging their
views of mankind, may raise in weakm inds a distaste for the comm on occurrenees of life, and perhaps unfit themfor the perform an ce of the duties incident
to that station in which it has pleased their
Creator to place them .
”
Do you then consider rom ances as
actually criminal ? ”
In some hands they are harm less ; assom e may despise, and others m ay be
insensible of their poison : but as they
cannot in any hands be productive of
advan tage,they m ay, in my Opinion, be
pron ounced unworthy perusal, as being
the m eans of corrupting the m inds of
som e,and misspending the talent’of all.”
78 TH E AUTH ORE SS .
CHAPTER V .
THE TRIAL or FRIENDSRIP .
I H AVE here, said Miss S tanley,another sort of composition,which it is
possible may please you better .
”
Mr. Newman took the manuscript,and
read as follows
ToMiss S EYM O U R .
Rosebud Cottage .
M Y DEAR JEM IM A l
CAN you believe i t possible
that your gay,volatile,unthinking Lou isa,is absalutely domesticated in a cottage ?
Yet such is the fact ; and you may credit
m e,my dear girl,when I assure you,that
now I have in som e m easure tranquil
liz ed the excess of feeling called forthbymy separation from you,I am more truly
80 T H E A ur n onnss.
Learn,like us,in shades to dwel l,.Far fromenvy,strife,and noise ;
Bid the busy town farewel l,Come and prove the Christian ’
sjoys.
H ere he marks.
the rolling yearC lothe, the mountain,tree,and sod ;
Here he learns to live,and fearThe wonder-working hand Of God .
And this is a specim en of a young
lady’s poetry ! ” said Mr. Newman .
Withou t making any comm en t on the
language, which is as comm on-place as
I ever remember to have seen, I shall
only say that it contains a sen tim en t as
false as your account of Mr. Mortim er,your
Pardon m e,my dear sir,if I beg you
to reserve your comm en ts till you have
com pleted the perusa .
” Mr . Newm an
wen t on
I m ake rio apology, my dear, for
troubling you w ith my poetical effusions,convinced you will value them for my
TH E AUTHORE S S2 8 1'
sake ; and indeed I am so n early at a lossfor
'
m aterials to fill my paper, that they
com e apropos enough to save you from
an empty sheet : I m ust, however, tell
you how I spend my time — As it is
early spring, I have som e cade lam bs,which I visit every-d ay ; I then proc eedto the aviary and feedmy little pensionersthere ; then I return to the house,practisemy favourite lessons a
'
few hours,(for as
I hOpe to return to fair Augusta’s loftytowers next win ter,I am unwilling to lose
any ofmy attractions,)or add a fewtouchesto the likeness I am taking ‘
of our cat,
or som ething of that kind ; then dress
for dirm er ; after which I sometim es walk
out w ith the squire ’s son,(a m ost'
elegan t
young man,just com e down,as refreshing
to my Optics as a stream in a desert) or
play at whist with his papa, -a duran ce
v ile to which I am compelled to submit,anorder to secure the conquest of the son,
whohas some odd notions that way.
E 5
82 TH E n ur no nnss .
And so having given you this insight
into our mode of life,I will take this op
portunity of giving you thea ccount you
so Often requested while we were togeth er,of my papa,mamma,un cles,and aun ts,as far back as my sieve-like brains will
enable me to recollect .’
Whic h ditty 1 shall take the liberty
of passing over in silen ce,”
said the Old
gen tleman ; for I see it fills twelve pages
of foolscap ; and proceed to the end .
But why should you refuse it a hear
ing? ” asked Mi ss S tanley .
Because I am no Cambrian ; 1 never
took the slightest pleasure in trac ing myown genealogy,much less that of other
people .
”
Somuch for your request ; and I have
now only to assure you of the unalterable
affection of your truly sincere, and ever
affecti onate fri end,LOU I S A DELA U N EY .
’
P . S . My mamma’s health,which you
ra n sum onnss. 83
know was the cause of our coming here,is,Ibelieve,som ewhat m ended .
’
To‘
Mz’
ss D ELAUNEY .
Portman Square.
YOUR long,affecti onate,and truly wel
com e letter,my best Louisa,arrived at a
tim e when‘
I was devoured with the spleen,to cheer m e with its sweet and honeyed
sentences.
”
You must know that I have commanded
that deceitful m onster Beauclerc n ever to
en ter my presence again . But you shall
have particulars. Every thing was,asyou
know,settled between us,and in a few days
I was to have taken him for better or
worse : bu t a blessed escape I have had,asyou shall hear . The other evening I wen t
to a masked balle t Lady P— ’
s,attended
by S ir Charles F your quondam lover,
(who,by the bye,has becom e very parti
Culat in hisatten tions in a certain quarter).
84 T H E AU'rn on Ess.
Well, I went as Venus, he as Adonis,
(could any thing have: been m ore appro
priate? ) at whi ch Beauclerc chose to take
offence ; but I dare say nothin gwould have
com e of it,had I not unluckily m issed the
rest of our party,by which acciden t I was
forced to spend two hours in searchm gthe room s for them . What was ‘
to be
don e ? I could not walk hom e,you kn ow :
to be sure old Lady BabFlowers offeredto set m e down,but S ir Charles. told me
she had qu ite a coachful of her .own fa
m ily ; so I agreed to use his,‘and at last I
got hom e j ust after all our folks w ere
gone to bed .
Would you believe it ? my gentleman
cam e the next day,gave him self as many
airs as m ight have served a husband . of the
last cen tury ; and when we should hav e
parted I am quite at a loss to imagine,had
I not ordered him to leave m e,whi ch he
d id . I threW ‘
myselfback in an engaging
at titude, considering whether -I should
TH E AUTHO R'E S S . 85
abate aught of my severity at our next
m eeting,when the door Opened . I ex
pected,Of course,‘he had return ed to ask
my highn ess’
spardon ; but no,itwas yourletter : and I have just heard the an imalhas van ished in to the country .
’
Poor lady ! how I pity her disap
pointm en t 9’
said Mr. Newman .
To you,my'beloved Lou isa,to
'
Whom‘
I comm un icate every thought, in the
pleasin g confidence ‘
Of your sym pathy and
affection ; to you,if I felt any thing butpleasure at what has Occurred,I should
without hesitation declare it ; but you know
the heart of your Jem im a,and will readily
believe that I rejoice at having slipped
the yoke from my neck .
’
From the very circumstan ce of her
using somuch protestation,I shou ld sus
peot her'
sincerity. But we n eed go no
further ; I see clearly that this is oneOf the
sentim en tal class, to which,as I hate'
all
things ridiculous,'I bear am ortalan tipathy .
86 r u e aur uonnss.
I must, however,offer a few Observations
on what I have read . It is,I believe,a
custom wi th all people pretending to sen
timent, to decry towns as the seat of all
vice,and eulogize villages as the abode of
all virtu e . It is a position so very absurd,that I should say n othing on the subj ect,did I not wish to prevent you (from falling
into the same error again . You m ay be
assured, my dear young friend, that in
every station we have ample room for the
discharge Of our duty ; and because the
taste of som e individuals may lead them
to prefer the quiet of a country life,they
have no reason to imagine that others have
not equal room for rational happin ess in
the bustle of a town, or that the choice
of such a life argues any perversion of
principle Hard would itbe indeed,if,inconformity with your young lady’s poetry,the Christian ’
s j oys were to be confined
to the low roofed cottages and ham lets
small .’ With respec t to the young ladies
88 r u n AUTH ORE S S .
contained any fam ily secrets, which of
course it did, or where was the u tility
of telling it ? This is a very frequent
oversight in those au thors who choose
to make their heroines write letters.
“'
I will trespass on your patience no
longer than to add a rem ark or two of
m ore authority than any of my own . The
first'
is from an author whose name I amunacquain ted w ith ; the other you w ill
recogn ise to be Dr. Johnson ’
s.
”
Without friendship and warm affec
tiOn towards connexions,it is‘
impossibleto be either individually happy,or to
make other people so. Engag ing,however,as the kindness Of real fri end
ship ever is, the afi‘
ectatien Of it is
equally disagreeable ; and it is a fault
beldnging to every station,and alm ost
to every age.
But the tender friendships of young
ladies from fifteen to twenty are what’
I m ost'
wish‘
ann ihilat ed ; the j oy of
TH E AUTHORE S S . 89
receiving and wri ting letters,which at'
first is a novelty,gives rise‘
to the folly
of m ultiplied c orrespondence, which,though not
TO waft a sigh from Indus to the Pole,’
yet wafts loads of n onsense,and of fa
m ily tales, which m ight as well not be
told at all,and tend most sadly to feed
the vanity of each separate writer ;'
who,
thinking that she writes wi th m ore taste
than her beloved friend,wastes‘
adouble
portion '
Of her tim e in reading novels,in imitating the rom antic fan cies she
adm ires, and in which she endeavours
to clothe the sentimen tswhich she com
m un icates to the absent partner of her
heart . These affected friendships are
seldom Of long duration ; and I have
known them succeed one another witha
rapidi ty,which one would suppose must
have struck the friends themselves as a
ridicu le on friendship .
”
90 r u n s ur noan ss.
It has been so long said, says Dr.
Johnson, as to be comm only believed,that the true charac ters of m en may be
found in their letters,and that he who
wri tes to his friend lays his heart Open
before him . But the truth is,that such
were the simrile fri endships of the
golden age,and are now the friendships
only of children . Very few can boast
of hearts which they dare lay Open to
th emselves,and of which,by whatever
accident exposed, they do not shun a
distin ct and con tinued view ; and,cer
tainly,what we hide from ourselves we
do not show to our fri ends.”
If these thingsbe true,how much credit is due to the unsuspecting confidence,unreserved fii endship, unalterable affec
tion, and all the other epithets which
compose a young lady’s vocabulary ?”
92 TH E AUTH ORE SS .
For ah ! no weal thy Lord was he,Nor was with honour blestA heart sincere,and warm,and free,Was all that he possessed .
But though his state was poor and mean,
His sires’had notbeen so
For in their festive courts was seen
The pomp of court ly show .
Amidst the train that daily bowed,A haughty knight was seen,A kn ight implacab le and proud,Of high and lofty m ien .
Oft he had fac’
d his country’
s foes,
And oft his blood had shedBut he from mean estate arose,
A peasant he was bred .
For what reason this poor man was
to be condemned for ‘being a brave and
rich peasant, or the other esteem ed for
being a pennyless noble, I own I am at
a loss to discover, said Mr. Newman .
If your patience does not tire before
you come to the end, you will be no
TH E AUTH O RE S S . 93
longer at a loss for the reason, replied
the Authoress.
You w ill observe, returned the old
g entleman, that it is, in my Opin ion,a
m ost illiberal prejudice, which supposes
a m ean spirit inseparable from a mean
descent .” But let us' go on
But fame now on hissteps awaits,With honour was he crowned,
And pride and plen ty crowd his gates,And
.
vassals fawn around .
Long had he sought the m aiden’
s hand,
Bu t she his love abhorr’d,Nor could his riches or his landMake interest for their Lord .
A t length he saw .with rage and prideHis ev
’ry wish was vain,
Sooner thanbe Ordonio’s brideShe
’d join the vestal train .
Then dire revenge for slighted loveInspired his daily thought ;Unb lest with fair E lvira’
s hand,
He deem’
d his riches nought .
94 TH E A‘
u'rnon izss.
Heyday !” exclaim ed Mr. Newman,
how com es this change in the m etre ? ”
I said the yotmg lady,with a
slight blush, that the continuation of
the alternate rhym e would, in so long a
work, fetter my genius so much, that I
dropt it for the sake‘ of allowing myself
greater variety of expression .
”
Mr.Newman looked at herfor amom ent,and the Authoress thought he seem ed to
believe that inability had, in . reality,been
the cause of the alteration she had
ascribed to convenience. But before she
could say any thing to refute this opin ion,
‘he went on :
Deep sheltered in a lonely dellA ruined castle stood,Whose lofty turrets)met the
‘
eye
Above the neighbouring wood .
This castleby the village roundWas view’d in solemmdread }
He there resolved,despite her hate,The lovelymaid towed.
96 TH E AUTHORE S S .
And is it thou at length the maidIndignantly exc laims,Who durst to force m e to this place,Where nough tbut ruin reignsA las,my love 1
”Ordonio cried,
My late rash act forgive,Without E lvira’s bloom ing charms,
Ordonio cannot l ive .
”
Forgive thee,tyrant ! n ever,no,”
Return’d theweeping fair,
Un less you instantly restore
Me to my father’s care
Thou shalt return,if thou’lt consent,
The haughty.
kn ight replied ;That very hour thou shalt returnThat thoubecom ’
st my bride.
"
Then here for ever w ill I mourn,A prey to.
hopeless griefFor rather than w ed thee,proud knight,Stern .death,sh.
all bringSince it is so,f
’
the Chief exclaims,Thou here alone must bide,
Til l sol itude and scan ty fare
Subdue thy useless pride.
”
TH E‘
AU TH on E ssZ
They parted thus; Ordonio leftThe hapless maid tomourn,
Of father,fortune,fri ends bereft,From ev
’
ry blessing torn .
Meanwhile her strange mysteriousWas noised the country rou nd
H er aged father rends'
his hair,
And noughtbut tears abound .
Great twasthe price,large the reward,
He offered to that K nightWho should make known to him the placeWhere she had ta
’
en herflight .Sebastian,though with grief distraet,iWhen
'
first thenews‘
he heard,Then hastened
'
to'
her father’
s court,And thus his suit prefe
'
rr’
d
Nor power; nor'
riches do I seek,A nob ler prize I c laim ;
Long have I loved E lvira’s charms,Long has she known my
'
flam e.
T hen swear,myLord,by ev’ry tie,
Most sacred and divine,'
Th e day I bring E lvira hdmeShall make her whol ly mine.
97
98 TH E A UTHO RE S S .’
I swear, cried hersire,By ev
’
ry tie divine,
The day thou bring’
st E lvira homeShal l make her whol ly thine.
”
Enough,my Lord,” Sebastian said,
For ever wil l I roam,Un til I find my long-lost love,And bring her safely home.
He spoke,and springing on his steed,Ful l quickly disappears,
And carries with him,as he rides,
A father’shopes and fears.
For many days and darksome nightsH e roam
’d o’er hill and dale,When first bright Phoebus gilt the EastUntil.his last beams fail’d .
Yet still nor clue. rioi trace he found
That m ight direct his way .
To wherethe fair E lvira mourn’d,
To hopeless grief a prey.
One even ing,_when the lengthening shadesStretch
’d on the 'plains around,Sebastian onward urg
’d his'
way,
100 TH E AU'mi on Ess:
Thou ’l t find no entrance here; SiriK night ; r
Onward thou sti ll m ust ride
The vil lage is not far away,A nd there thou
’lt safely bide .
”
A t this Sebastian ’s choler grewNow,w retch ! prepare to d ie,
For m uch unfit is he to l iveWho succour can deny.
”
This said,he raised his manly arm ;And fell’d h im to the ground ;
The purple stream in torrents.flowed,”
And stain’d the place .around .
I must con fess, said Mr. Newman,
that the'
m an ly arm of Ordon io appears
to m e to have been m ore laudably em
ployed again st his coun try’s foes, than
that of S ebastian,"
who I should imagin e
could n ot 'have believed ' that he s hould
gain m uch honour by thus‘
m'
eanly m ur
dering a'
defen celessm an. Besides,‘
I can
not help rej oicing that I do not live in an
age nor a nation,where every hot-headed
TH E An'rn onnss. lOl
boy that knocks at my: gate considers
him self a j udge of myfi tness to live.
”
I am aware,”
said'
Miss Stanley,that this m ust to every one appear a
rash,and perhaps a Cru el action ; but as
there was no other m eans by which S ebas
tian cou ld gain admi ttance to the castle,
you perceive it was n ecessary to rem ove
this man .
”
It would in real life be deem ed buta slight reason
'
for the forfeit of a man’
s
existence ; but it is adm issible,perhaps,for a lady and a poet .”
H e pass’d the gates,the bridge was down,
Enter’
d the spacious court ;A solem n sti l lness fill’d the placeOnce fam ’
d for festive sport .
Awhile he paus’d,and look
’
d around,
No sound broke'
on his ear,
Save .the loud shrieking of the owl,Which made the place more drear
102 TH E AUTHORE S S .
Ah,me l” he c ried, in this abodeNow fal l ing to decay,
Perchance som e haughty Lord has reign’d
With proud tyrannic sway
But,ah,this ruin’d pile can tell
_That neither pride,nor power,
Nor fame,
i
nor wealth,can e’
er avert
Th’inevitable hour.
’
A'
s thus he m us’d,heonward passed
To court sleep’8 balmy aid ,
But sleep'heban ish'd fromhis eyesBy thinking of the m aid . .
I dont at all feel surprised he couldnot sleep when he had a newly comm itted
m urder on his m ind.
”
Long had he paced the marble floor,H is thoughtsall rest denied ;
When,10 ! the glimmeringof a torchA t distance he descried .
A stonishm'
eh t pervade'
s h is sob],For in the distan t shade
H e sees a beauteous female form,In purest whitearrayed.
TH E AUTH O RE S S .
tempt and disgust. Indeed,my dear, I
wish I could comm end .you ; bu t, alas '
I am “compelled . to say . that -your tim e'
m ight havebeen better employed . It is
not every one,who has had the advantage
of atwriting-m aster, that is capable of
writing a novel . While t hemworks of
D'Arblay,West, and Edgeworth,. are in
circulation,. a . female author . should be
careful what she wri tes. Who that has
access
'
to the f
grain w ill turn to the chaff?
Not persons of in tellect,'
certain ly and of
what esteem is the praise'
of fools.
However,” con tinued the old gen tle
man,remarking the .disappointed coun te
nance of the au th'oress, publish these
fragm en ts in the order’
in which .we have
read them '
,and com fort yourself with t he-assuran ce that they. will sell at least-for waste
‘paper.
TH E AU TH ORE S S :
PART THE SECOND.
108 m s a ur noaass.
Indeed,”
said Miss'
S tanley, it is
widely differen t from those you form erly
read . Pray sufi‘
er m e to show you that I
have profited by your remarks.
”Thus
urged, the old gentleman shrugged his
shoulders and consented . Again, then,he was seated in his form er place ; again
the desk was un locked ; and again he
essayed his critical powers ou Fanny ;or,The Dupe of False Principles.
TH E . A nTu on nss. 109
FANNY ; on,THE DUPE or FALSE
PRINCIPLES}
FAN N Y, Fanny !”
said her father,those books w ill be your
Fanny rose from her seat,and,with
out speaking, placed the book she'
was
readin g on a table on the opposi te side of
the room . But it was not from a sense
of,du ty and subm issi on to her father’s
judgm en t that Fanny evin ced such ready
obedience ; but because her studies (if
such they m ight be called)had taught her
that it was consisten t with the character
of a heroine to com ply with every m an
date of an unreasonable parent . ~
You are a good girl,Fanny, said
Mr . Anderson, pleased w ith her‘
imm e
diate compliance : Ihardlywished youto break off so very abruptly, though I
1 10 T 11 13 AUTHORE S S .
could w ish,my love, to see your taste
otherw ise directed . You have so long
indulged.
in the perusal of works of this
kind,that I grieve to observe n on e other
have now the power of affording you
am usemen t. Nor is this their Worst
efi'
ect : your love of th em in creases-so
rapidly'
, that your usual'
oc cupations ‘
are
neglected : Fanny he m ore
gravely, this am oun ts'
to a crim e . No
earthly: pursult shou ld en gross the atten
tion, to the exclusion of the rest of our
d uties ; how then can you suffer this so
far to m islead you 7”
Indeed,papa, replied Fanny,“you
consider this m atter too seri ously . Your
situatip n in life precludes the n ecessity of
my taking an active part in y our house
.hold ; and surely it can sign ify little'
Whether I darn i m y own stockings
“
, or suffer
my servan t to“
m end them .
”
f‘. To me,Fanny, it sign ifies nothing ;
1 12 Tn n t au r u on n sst
reflection darted through her m ind,"
she
rése wi th a
'
sensation of offended - pride,and
'
taking the n ovel from the table; was
soon again lost in the delusion from which
the en tran ce of her father had roused her .
But Fanny had yet to learn that a de
scription of real life,though cloaked in its
coarsest dress, cannot m islead,though it
m ay offend,a delicate m ind ; while fiction
is still unnatural,however fascinating its
appearan ce m ay be .
It'
had un fortunately happen ed for
Miss-
Anderson that her m other expired
soon after herbirth . The num erous avocations of her rem ain ing parent prevented
his superin tending‘
her‘
education him self,and the task had consequen tly dev’olved
to a maternal relative,who, pitying'the
motherless state of her little charge; had
indulged her e very w ish, in the idea; of
compensating .the loss she had sustained,as far as her power enabled her. Fanny’s
TH E A ur n onnss. 1 13
disposition was good, and‘
she f therefore
escaped m any evils which excessive indul-s
gen ce engenders. Her abilities were -not
contem ptible,and her early inclination forreading had been gratified by the perusalof all the novels,which the library of thelittle market-town n ear which she resided
could boast. Miss Anderson was in her
own idea a perfect heroin e,and only
wan ted opportun ity to exhibit heraccom
plishm en ts,when her father recalled her
from the country . H er . highest desire
-was now fii lfilled z s he was goin g to Lon
.don ; adventures would . doubt1ess crowdupon her on her arrival,though the care
of herf ather-had preven ted any occurring
on .the road,.by sending a trusty servan t
to accompany her to the m etropolis'. The
old lady,who was sin cerely attached to
her,and who looked forward to the many
hours which in Fanny’s absence she must
pass alon e,wept bitterly at, parting with
1 14 .THE. ADTH ORE S S .
her : and Fanny, ‘whose . heart'
Was the
abode.of m uchaffection,wou ld have shedtears of.sincere regret,had,,they not been
converted’ into‘
tears (if sen tim ent,by re
collecting; that, it was h ighly. proper to
weep w ithout moderation, and even to
fain t, if possible, at all su ch partings as
this between herself and her aged friend .
It was not till som e tim e after he'r arrival
in London,that her father perceived her
excessive love of n ovel-reading : but re
garding it in the light of harmlessa muse
m en t,. he thought ~nbt ‘
of resuzain irrg . her
inclination ; and it was. not -till he. was
c onvin ced",bybeholdin g zit absorb all her
atten tion,that he discovered amusem en t
ghtadegenerate in to fault It was then
he endeavoured to eradicate the ev il buti t was
'
too deep ly rooted to be m oved at
will : i t requ ired ’much'
time and Expe
rience to break a spell,that ‘for so m any
years had been daily gaining strength . 1
1 16 .T H E . A U TH ORE S S .
son would induce her to adm it as a loiwer,and Elean or doubted not,w ith a little m a
nagem ent, as a husband, any one-who
cam e with z the delightful accom pan iments
of secrecy,’
stolen interv iews,and all the
high sounding sen ten ces which ,could be
cram m ed in to a love letter . That Mon
tagu e was not a m an likely to reflect too
much credit on his species,his ready ao
qu iescence in this’
plan w ill attest . -To
prove the practicability of their schem e,.Miss Mon tagu e c on trived, to in troduceher brother at a rom an tic jun cture,
‘and
notw ithou t effect . The instructed brother
played his part to adm iration, and by
dint of vows ,of eternal constancy, unal
terable affection,8m . 8m . on his side,and
tears,prayers for the sake of her unhappybrother’s peace of m ind,and the delivery
of certain long epistles' on thatjof his
sister, Fanny was drawn on to grant in
terview after in terview, till the deluded
gid was,'or imagined herself,as deeply in
TH E Aur n onnss. 1 17
love as any of the many heroines whosecase she believed her own to resemble ;
With what success Miss Montagueand herbrother m ight have been crown ed,cannot rightly be pronounced,as it was in
this stage of the adventure t hat‘a know
ledge of it reached the ears of Mr. Anderson . Provoked at the subtlety. of her.
advisers,and hurt at the duplicity of his
child,his first step was to order hernev er
to see them more ; and his next,’
towrite to
his -sister,Iwho lived at a considerable
distance,’
to'
entreat her to .receiv e Fanny;for -a tim e,
’
as a part'
of her fami ly . The
request .was‘
readily'
gran ted, and at 1 the
tim e ourfstory comm ences, the following
day was the3one on which :Fann'
y (in a
mann er self-exiled) .was again to leaveher
paren tal roof“ In vain had shewept, in
vain implored'a m itigation of her senten ce
Mr? Anderson ’
s knowledgeof her Opin ions
m adeJ himdr'
ead ‘ to‘ trust her where she
wou ld be exposed to the m achinations‘
of
1 18 TH E A u r n oanss.
the Montagues‘
; and having no female in
his family qualified to superin tend her
conduct,he comm itted her the m ore wil
lingly to the care of his sister,possessing
equal,confiden ce in her affection for his
daughter,and in the efficacy of change of
scene to, dissolve the power of her present
attachm ent .’
We left Fanny lost in the perusal of
one of her favourite tales. The story was
her own ; alm ost she could have believed
it the work of inspiration . An unfeeling,an uriteasbnable, an implacable parent,calléus toall interest in the real welfare of
his child,had compelled her to resign a
bra'
ve,, noble, am iable, and all-aecom
plished love‘
r ; and,to consum e her youth inan .old fam ily mansion,wi th n o other com‘
panions than prudish !aunts and crosscousins : while .she
‘
,gentlef and beautifu l
prototype of all that the'eye or heart of
man looks for in woman, though out to
the soul,and sinking beneath her load of
120. T H E n ur n oni
nss.
’
ginary heroine because she had exhausted
all .her wom an’s weapons withou t ' effect;and ba’d ‘
n o choice left ;'
and‘by ‘Fanny
Anderson, because her hopes whispered
that a sim ilar com pliance m ight m eet with :
what she would have called the reward “
of
filialevirtue and obed ience .
These reflection s enabled Fanny' to
m eet her father the : n ext m orning with
placid and alm ost cheerful looks. Mr}
Anderson,pleased with what he im agined
to be her wish to oblige him,as he‘
placed'
her in the coach which was to convey her .
from him, dropt a tear of satisfaction on '
her‘
cheek,’
and added to h is parting'bles
sing a p rom ise’
of aspeedy return .
Thesemarks of affection,which might
on "som e hearts'
have m ade a‘
softer 1m
pression,(and would have don e on'
Fanny’
s
had she been . differen tly educated); were,"
by Miss Anderson,considered as circum
stances m erely inciden tal to her situation
thé'
tear which had wetted her cheek ‘she
TH E A u r n onnss . 121
beheld as an involun tary,mark'
of com
punction, and the'
unasked prom ise of
return, as wrung from relenting severityby an impulse of natural affection .
The close of the day,
found Fanny
seated in the large wainscoted p arlour at
Exton Park and,but for one circum
stance,shem ight have fancied her waking
dream s’
realiz ed . During her j ourney,she
had pictured to herself the gloomy avenue,the , drearyh ouse,the staid mistress,and
her coun tryfied daughter ; judge,then,ofhef transport,on en tering an avenue even
m ore gloomy than she had imagin ed,and,on alighting at a house,whose appearan ce
m ight have bespoken it an abbey. But
if these things excited j oy which I
able to describe,how far.
short shall I fall
ofexpressing that which filled her bosom,when her aun t hastened to m eet her,in a
cap‘
cleargstarched after the fashion of her
youth,her hair drawn over,
a roller,and
an apron worked at‘
the corners, These
G
b
122 TH E
pleasurable sensations were,‘ however,a
little dan’
rped'by
‘
the circum stance "
to
which‘
d havebefore a lluded and t h is
was no -0ther than 'th'
e affectionate wel
come . she received from the person
she ‘
had designed to con sider as her
jailer ;‘
and the sisterly embrace from her,
whose'
youth was't0fhave a
’
dded envy to
the malignity -of hermother. To Fanny ’s
astonishment, not‘ the '
slightest .rancour
was visible on eith er'
side : they'
affecte'
d
not“
t‘
o’know th e reason
”
of her and
consequ en tly not the m ost distant allusi on
was m ade to her imprudence,her unduti
fiflzne’
s’
s,or her unmai‘
denlike forwardfiess ;on
’
which subjects,she'
had supposed her
aunt woiild have exhausted her stock Iof
eloquence,and so had prepared herself to
retire tobetcomfo'i'tlesscha’
mber,fatigued
With her “
journ ey, and h‘ari'assed -in'
hbrmafiaby the persecutions‘
of those,‘ whose
seas affinity should have induced thenr
tdl shlhcebherm tvouhded heart ." But 'the'
124 T H E AUTHORE S S :
gaimbar. heart; and had, therefore,. used
these m eans to efface from ~ her m ind . the
remembrance of Mon tague . If a proof
was wan ting,what'
couldbe a m ore satisfactory one, than , their having ,
avoided
m entioning his nam e throughou t the even
m g . But, no,”she cried,.
w ith all the
emphasis . due on the occasion, n ever
shall , they succeed .
” With this m ost
wise ' and . worthy resolution ~ she sought
her pillow.
’
I do not yet qui te com prehend your
design,”said Mr. Newman,as he corn
p leted the chapter.
I ,scarce1y know, replied the au
thoress, whether I have been able ' to
accomplish it. But I have thought ,a
good dealcon the remarks ;you m ade on
t he form er contents of my desk ; ,and ,was
w illing to . set , before such persons as
might h onour me with a perusal, the
evils,which .may result from false,p,
rin
ciples.
”
~ TH E AUTH O RE S S . :125
But hitherto, rej oined t he old gen
-t1eman, the‘
instances you have shownof Fanny’s conduct,are such as from m ost'persons (not having,as wehave,the privi
lege of tracing her m otives,) would have
procu red for her the title of an obedien t
-child .
”
Very true ; and it is this false virtue I
would w ish to expose .”
But are there no s0phists,M iss S tan
le'
y,who would tell you that the welfare of
the world wou ld be equally well prom oted,i f every
'
one should perform his duty,let
h is secret inducem en t be what it m ay ?
If such there be,”
said the young
lady, I shall be proud to prove the ab‘
surdity of such an opin ion ; though cer
tainly,at first sight, the proposition does
not seem very unreasonable . But it is
not to you,Mr. Newman,that I need eu-deavour to dem onstrate the impossibility
of a long contin uance of rectitude,where
good principles do not exist . The ex
128 'rn n Aur non sss.
CHAPTER II .
TH E m ovem en tsof the fam ily at Exton
Park were as regular as those of the old
clock,that had told the departure oftim e
totheir ancestors for m any generations.
A style of life, so opposite to that to
which she had been lately accustom ed,‘
had at first the effect of depressin g the
spirits of Fanny so m uch,that many con
sultations were heldbetween Mrs. Exton
and her daughter,for the purpose of dis
covering som e m ean s of en tertain ing their
guest ; Mrs. Exton rightly judging that
the liberty shehad of indulging thoughts
of the past,was the last wayl
in the world
to effect that alteration in her sen timen ts,which they desired to see accom plished .
These consu ltations had produced nothing
but increased perplexi ty ; for the habits of
life,which custom had endeared to the
.TH E AUTHO RE S S . 5129
own ers'
Of Exton Park,afforded them no
Opportun ities of judging which was them ost probable way of diverting the atten
tion Of their young relative . Fanny had
been,however,but little m ore than a fortn ight under her aun t’s protection,whenan apparen t alteration took place in herm anners ; shewas cheerfu l,an im ated,andso differen t from the pensive, spiri tless
being,she had before seem ed, that the
aston ishm en t Of Mrs. Exton could on ly
be equalled by her fear that Fanny had
found m eans Of eluding her vigilanc e,and
had seen,or at least heard from Mon tague .
To ascertain the truth Of her surm ise,she
took the earliest Opportun ity'
Of summ on
ing Fanny to her dressing-room,and thus
spoke to her You must be convinced,my dear child, that I am not ignorant Of
your father’s m otives for placing you with
Now,thought Fan'
ny,my persecu
tion is about to comm ence ; but she only
bent her head,an d her aun t continued
G 5
1 30 .TH E au r n on nss .
ff I’
m not, therefore, surprised on dis
pleased to perceive your dejection ef
sp ir its on your first arrival ; and too sin
cerely should I have rej oiced at behold
ing their am endm ent, to be thus the
first to check them,had not their sudden
restorati on excited an alarm whi ch,I trust,i t’ is in your power to rem ove .
'
I am too
Old,Fanny,to be very much deceived .ih
these matters. The balm afforded by time
is n ecessarily slow, though certain in its
Operation . I have experienced sorrow
myself,and know that a ,wounded heart
does not suddenly recover its wonted
seren ity .
Fanny listen ed in ~silen t trepidation
but her aun t,who had paused in expectat ion Of som e answer,finding she .was not
likely to gain onewithou t a di rect inquiry,
proceeded again You force m e,
~Fanny,tospeak m plainer term s— have
you within these last few days seen Mon
tague?”
132 TH E A ur n onnss.
cheek, and calling her a good girl, left
theroom .
3"It remains now for us to account for
the change in Fanny’ s conduct . Withoutemploym ent of a nature to interest her,Without a prospect of beholding Mon tagu e,and withou t a w ish that his rem embrance
should lose any of its influen ce i n her
bosom.
the first fortn ight of her residence
at the Park passed heavily enough . It is
true she j oin ed in the family devotions
night and m orn ing, not from a desire to
be enabled to perform her duty by yielding
up her wishesto those of her father,butbecause all young ladies in
.
her, situation
have thought it expedient to do so. It is
also true that she m ade patchwork for her
aun t,and walked or rode with her cousin,bu t it was all without m otive ; no prin
ciple of’
ssen se or duty actuated her 1 11 any
one instance of her conduct : all that she
sought or aspired to attain to,was to act
as a'Izero
'
iive would have acted ; and the
”TH E AUTHORES S . 3133
consequence ‘
was, she becam e listless,spiritless, an
'
d unhappy . , It was about
this tim e that she recollected,that although
her father had comm anded her to see
n either Mon tagu e nor his sister again,yet there were duties of friendship as well
as of obedience tobefulfilled . Alas !”
she exclaim ed, Eleanor is my only
friend ! She will speak com fort to mydepressed and care-worn heart z . she will
send m e' som e tidings of h im I am no
m ore to see.
” Having shed the right
quantity of tears,she set about writing to
this'
only friend ; and, after m any contri
van ces, succeeded in conveying a letter
to her. Elean or,once m ade acquainted
with the place of her retreat,lost no tim e
in writing to inform her beloved Fanny of
the distress,the unspeakable angu ish,she
had endured on her accoun t . Of her
distracted brother i t would, she said,he
to Speak it was m ore thanp robablethat his life would have fallen a sacrifice
134 TH E A U'rnoaess.
to his feelings; had not her thrice wel
com e letter allayed in som e trifl ing degreethe intense agony of his m ind .
It would be difficult in this place to
decide if Fanny had the m ost trouble in
resolving whether to rej oice or m ourn .
It was but natural to grieve for those
miseries which,though she possessed the
power, she was not allowed to alleviate ;but it was still m ore natural that she
sh ould rej oice to fin d she was not for
gotten by Mon tagu e ; that Eleanor had
forgiven her apparen t breach of fri end
ship : and so, rej oice she did ; which
conduct had the sin gular u tility of exciting
the suspicion of her aunt,and wringing
from herself a prom ise,which increasedher sorrows and embarrassm ents. The
day that Mrs . Exton held this conference
w ith her n iece,was also marked by the
return of her son,who had for som e tim e
been absent on a visit. His appearance
raised the spiri ts of his m other and sister
‘136 TH E Aur non nss.
qu'
iet routine of dom estic enj oym en ts forsom e weeks during which tim e Fanny in
‘
sensibly becam e interested in the scen e
around her. The retirem ent which at first
w as irksom e,custom rendered endurable
and the restoration ofmany little habits,“which had enliven ed the seclusion in which‘her infan cy had been passed,tended very
considerably to m ake it agreeable .
More than once we have intim ated that
Fanny’s natural disposition was m ild and
affectionate : her mann ers,when uninflu
enced by the ridicu lous n otions which
had tinctured her m ind so deeply,w ere
gen tle and u naffected . At the Park there
was nothing to call forth affectati on or
disgu ise,while the constant kindness and
attention she experienced from every
individual; warm ed a heart not insensible
to affectionate indulgence,and Fannybydegrees becam e sincerely attached ' to the
relatives whom she had m et wi th such dif
ferent sensations. Had it so happened,or
TH E AUTH ORE S S . 137
been so ordered (whi ch you will),that thisintimacy had been form ed previous to that
with the Mon tagu es, it is possible that
Fanny m ight in tim e have becom e an al
tered character. But this is m ere specu~
lation what is, appears ; what m ighthave been,is doubtful and certain i t is,that an unforeseen occurrence destroyed
at a blow all the advan tages which Fanny
in appearance was gain ing .
The real cause of her visit to Exton
Park had been con cealed from the know
ledge of her cousin Charles : his m other,though wearing a starched cap and lawn
apron,possessed delicacy en ough to feel
for the uneasy sensations Fanny would
endure,’
if she had any reason to sup
pose h im acquain ted with it . Ignoran t
of these circum stances, and becom ingevery day m ore attached to their visitor,i t had som etim es occurred to young
Exton that the loss of her society wou ld
be very sensibly felt,before he came to
138 ,TH E AU TH ORES S .
the resolution of endeavouring to -make
her a constan t resident in the fam ily .
But, from considerin g it to be desirable,he believed it to be practicable,and ao;
cordingly m ade kn own h is inten tion to
his m other ; not because he could not
form a decided 0p 1n 1on w ithou t the aid of
hers,but because the h abit of consultingand unfolding every Wish to each other,had rendered the concealmen t of any plan
unthought of,if not disagreeable .
Mrs. Exton heard her son in silence,and paused som e tim e after he had con
cluded,before she spoke . To suffer him
to address a wom an whose affectionswere
engaged,start led her at first as an impos
sibility ; but when she considered that it
was both the wish of her father,and the
interest of Fanny,to break off her present
engagem en t,(if, indeed, it deserved such
a nam e), when she recollected,too,the
change that had apparently taken place
in her sentim ents,she began to think it
‘
TH E AUTHO RES S .
’
I am not possessed of the property the
world imagin es. Many unexpected and
heavy losses have recen tly befallen'
m e,
an d Fanny Anderson is portion less.
To this information Exton simply said,'that the failure was to him of no couse
quence,otherwise than as it preven ted his
m aking a m ore liberal provision for Fanny
in case of his death . The property my‘father bequeathed m e, said he, and‘which accumu lated during a lon g m ino
rity,is sufficien t for all our wan ts, and I‘hope our w ishes. If Fanny canbe ‘
satis'
fied w ith such arrangements as i t m ay be
in my power to make,I have nothingleftto des1re .
”
The consequence of this statem en twas: the cordial con currence of Mr. Anderson ;to which he added a letter to his daughter,inform ing her of h is consen t to the prosposals of her cousin, and of his wish to! seei t confirm ed by her own .
The n ight was far advanced when
TH E A ur non nss. 14 1
Charles reached the Park . He found hism other and sister waiting his arrival but
Fanny,who had that night a m om en tousaffair . to transact,had long since retired .
The in telligence he brought, so far as it
concerned him self, gave them pleasure,for they saw his happiness would be
affected by the term ination of the affair ;and they doubted not,from what they had
observed of Fanny’s character, that with
so gen tle a subj ect as herself,her .father’
s
wishes could not fail of abolishing the
rem ain ing influen ce , of Mon tague,which
they believed to be greatly hon the
'
wane,
it not totally destroyed .
Fanny,as we before said,had this n ight
a m om entous affair to transact,which was
no other t han to determ ine whether she
should yield to the temptation ofopening
a letter she had thateven ing received from
Mon tague,enclosed in one from his sister.
As this matter required much deliberation,and
,much ‘ consultation between the for;
142 T1 1 13: h ur n o’
n s ss.
and againsts, Fanny had retired early to
settlethe point. When the locked door,the letter placed on the table, and the
alm ost irresistible pleadings of the sister
to read it,conned over two or three tim es
(which were undoubtedly the f ors, inas
m uch as they comprised tim e,place,and
inclination),“
had had their claim heard ;the againsts asserted thei r right. Did
ever young lady,at the first solicitation},consen t to read a letter from aban ishedlover ? Certainly not. D id ever younglady break her prom ise of not hearingfrom -h im,the fi rst tim e she was asked ?
Certainly not . Consequen tly,ought she,a
‘
young lady,a heroin e,whose lover wasban ished,who had prom ised never to hold
correspondence with him again ought
she to seiz e‘
the first opportun ity cast in her
way to forfeit all0theseclaim s to heroin e
i‘sm ? Certainly not. The againsts pre
mailed ; Fanny pushed the ‘letter from her,resolved not to read it,and burst intotears.
144 TH E AUTH OR E S S .
It is too soon to hazard an opinion,replied the old gen tlem an but as Ibelieve your inten tion is good,I hope you
will not very greatly fail . Of one thing,however,I tru st you have taken care : as
I presum e Fanny is to be led from une
impruden ce to an other,we shall not, I
hbpe, be shocked by any unn atural ca
tastrophe,or improbable adven tures.
”
i
“ I have van ity enough to believe,replied Miss S tanley, that som e portion
of instruction is m ingled w ith the inci
dents of my tale ; and it has, therefore,been my endeavour to avoid any actual
impossibility for I have sufficien t glim
m erings 0’ comm on sense ’ to perceive
that it would be fru itless to extol or decry
a lin e of conduct'
in situations m whichnobody has been,or ever can be placed .
Let us proceed then,”said Mr. New
man,as he tum ed'
the leaf.
TH E AUTH O RE S S .
CHAPTER III.
WH EN Fanny rose the n ext m orning,she en closed Montague’s letter in a blank
cover,and cam e down stairs w ith the in
tention of sending itw ithou t the knowledge
of any one ; but'
as she crossed the hall
she encoun tered her aun t.
Good m orn ing,my love, said“
she .
To whom,” glancing her eyes towards
the letter, have you been writin g so,
early?”
Fanny hesitated a m om en t : to utter a
falsehood was too unheroinelike to be
thought of and to acknowledge she had
kept her prom ise of not hearing from her
lover, would seem like boasting . H er
aun t fearing from her silence that her
corresponden t was Mon tague,said,with
som e severity, I'
insist on seeing the
1 1
146 T H E A u r n oanss.
direction . Fanny put the letter into herhands.
D isingenuous girl !” exclaim ed Mrs.
Exton hav e you then so little regardfor the prom ise you pledged your father,and repeated to m e
Never,perhaps,in her life had Fanny
rej oiced so much in having acted w ith
propriety ; an d the heroine, for a tim e,“
was laid aside, as w ith a coun tenance
glowing with a consciousness of being
unjustly suspected, she said, Open it,m adam : Ibeg,I insist that you Open it .”Mrs. Exton com plied, and Mon tagu e ’s
letter unopen ed, unanswered, met her
eyes. Forgive me,my dear Fanny,”
said she, taking her hand ; I ought to
have known you better than to have
suspected you for a m om en t ;'but it is
my anxiety for you that so read ily awakes
my . fears. S eal up the letter again,Fanny ; or stay,w ill it not be better for
m e to direct it ? Montague will then see
148 r n n Aur n onnss.
portun ity of conversing with his cousinwithout restraint . With the sam e open
sinceri ty he repeated to her the prOpOsals
he had m ade her father. Fanny heard
him alm ostw i th horror . The disinterested
friendship, the delicate atten tions, the
warm affection that had been shown her
by all the inhabitan ts of Exton Park,ap
peared to her disordered imagination'
the
effects of a deeply laid collusion : butthinking it pruden t to conceal her appre
hensions, she said, You are not, sir,I
imagine,1grioran t of my situation,nor can
you wonder that underexisting circum
stances ‘ your offers excite my surprise,my
”— detei
station she would have added ;bu t Exton,who supposed the circum
stances to which she alluded,m ust be the
recen t change that had taken place in her
father’s affairs,interrupted her.
Trifles of this kind,dearest Fanny,Weigh nothing in the scale of affection .
I sincerely grieve for the loss you have
'rn a AUTHO RE S S . 149
Sustained ; but,believe me,it w ill ever be
the object of my m ost constan t care and
atten tion to efface from your m ind‘
every
unpleasan t recollection .
”
Trifles !” repeated Fanny, when he
ceased speaking . Losses to be effaced
from my m ind by your atten tion ! Is it
possible ? Do I hear right ? Have I then
lost all that was m ost prized, m ost
loved 7”
The astonishm en t of Exton was ex
trem e at these apostrophes, as he had
n ever suspected the love of m oney to be
so deeply~
rooted in the breast of any
youn g person, particularly in that of
Fanny Anderson : but he strove'
to calm
her agitation by saying, It is possible
your father’s i nformation may not‘be
correct .”
And is it possible, exclaim ed she,
that while a doubt remains, you can
im agine I can listen to you w ith patien ce ?
Have I no honour, no sense of j ustice,
150 T H E A u r n on sss.
think you,Mr. Exton, that I could bear
to un i te my fate with your’
s,while only a
possibility existed that the informationwas not true ? ”
Indeed, Fanny,you carry your no
tions of hon ou r to an extrem e . I have
property en ough ‘to support you in therank of life to which you have hitherto
been accustom ed,and
Say no m ore on the subj ect, intera
rupted Fanny,waving her hand . Po
verty were preferable,with unblem ished
in tegrity .
”
This, then, is m y only -hope, said
Exton, presen ting her father’s letter.
Consider i t well : if th is should fail to in
fluenes you in my favour,Fanny,I will
trouble you no. m ore .
” He left the momas he pronounced these words,and Fanny
hastened to her chamber.
Alas !” she exclaimed,throwing her
self into a chair,and coverin g her face
with her handkerchi ef, did I not from
152 TH E Aur n on sss.
sider what course it wou ld be the best to
pursue . Opposition w ill som etim es ren
der that precious,whose value was pre
v iously doubtful . If Fanny had before
entertain ed any suspicion of the reali ty Of
her attachm en t to Mon tague, she was
now convin ced that she loved him better
than life ; that life m ust cease'
ere she
could be insensible to him,Ste. 8Lc . &c . :
and her resolution was accordingly taken,that _nothing should induce her to give
Independen t of Montague,what could
equal the interest of her situation ? Was
she to m arry,when her father was, per
haps, abou t to becom e the inm ate of a
prison ? When every one would fly him
as a pestilence,was she to join the train
of fai thless fri ends,and leave him com fort
less ? Was it not her place to attend,to
soothe,. to cheer him ; to work day and
n ight to procure him som e better fare than
the prison allowed ; in short, ought she
'rn r; A u r n onsss. 153
not to becom e his servan t,his slave,‘his
horse,h is ox,hisass,his goods,h is house
hold stuff,as well as his child ? Yes : and
she would fly to him, and prove at once
her devotion to her father,and her fidelity
to Mon tague — Let us not set down aught
in m alice . Fanny did not positiv ely rej oice
that her father was likely to have to eu
dure the hardships inciden t to so great a
change 1 11 his fortune ; bu t it is certainthat the prospect of her . own in teresting
c ondition greatly assisted to assuage her
These ideas took su ch en tire possession
of her m ind,that she was anxi ous to put
them in imm ediate execu tion ; and her
desire of return ing hom e met no opposi
tion ; as . Exton Park could not now be
considered an agreeable or an eligible
abode for her. On her arri val in London,however, she found her power of cheer
ing the gloom of a'
prison was little likely
to be called in to action,asher father was
11 5
1 54 TH E AUTHORE S S .
still able to reside in the sam e house ; and
though som e of the dom estics had been
dism issed, enough remain ed to prevent
the n ecessity of her taking their place .
The rej ection of Charles was also likely
to prove the last of her adven tures ; for in
spite of her having taken the trouble to
inform Eleanor of her having done so,
Mon tague seem ed in no haste to profit by
the tacit en couragem en t it held out to
him ; no letter arrived,either from himself
or his sister. . How was she to accoun t
for i t ? Fanny’ s hear t began to sicken
with ~ disappoin tmen t. Mon tague had
always represented him self to be a m an
of large and independent property,and it-was
‘therefore ' impossible to account for
h is neglect'by suppesing her loss of for
tun e tobe the cause . But it m ight be he
had not heard of their m isfortunes ; even'to f herself Fanny was obliged to con fess
thislwas m ost unlikely ; , for when did afaithful and devoted lover ever lose sight
156 TH E AUTH O RE S S .
m isfortune,fnot her fault ; for while her
m ind was unbiassed,and capable Of -re
ceiving proper im pression s,they had n ever
been instilled . Right pri nciples would
have,taught her that,when on ce m arri ed,
she had nothing to do ~with ascertain ing
the reality of the attac hm en t Mon tague
had,professed for her ;
‘
they would have
taught her that it was her in terest, and
above all her duty to crush all remains of
tendern ess in her own bosom but Fannywas the Dupe of False Principles.
’
I hope you have not brought her to
a very tragical end,”said Mr . Newman,
pausing to take breath .
I -shall not an ticipate my own ca
tastrophe, replied Miss S tanley . But
whence com es i t you are not so liberal of
your remarks on this tale,as on those you
form erly read ?”
Do you expect, my youn g fri end,asked -the old gen tleman, that by way
'rn r; s u r n onsss. 157
of comprom ise for the dissatisfaction I
then expressed,I am going to say this is
perfect ? I cannot forswear myself,even
to please a lady ; such is not the case ; but
as you have an ticipated m ost of the t e
marks I should hav e m ade, I am not
disposed to interrupt the story, for the
sake of arranging a period,or transposing
an adverb .
”
158 TH E -A u r n ons ss.
CHAPTER IV .
IT is needless to trace the progress of
even ts from this period till that of Fan ny’s
m arriage,on which occasion so much real
satisfaction appeared in the coun tenan ces
of all around her, that Fanny,kn owing
herself to be the rul ing cause.of it,could
only wonder how she had refrain ed from
contribu ting to it before . And now it
would appear that the au thor has n othing
m ore to do than to m ake his bow,and exit :
but patience, gen tle reader,m arriage is
not always the si gnal for the departure of
sorrow . Nearly a year and a half passed
in perfect tranqu illity at the Park . Peace
appeared to have taken up her abode w ith
them ; and Happin ess,who like a fai thful
handmaid always attends her steps, had
arrayed her in her m ost enchan ting garb .
’
160 TH E A u r n on nss.
such a proceeding ; and shehad tried toban ish him from her m ind,m ore from a sense
of m ortified vanity,than from principle
One even ing abou t this tim e she was
summ oned to a rustic, who stated that
a sick person,who had fallen ill at his
house, w ished to see her. There was
nothing extraordinary in the business,as
su ch appeals to their ben evolence were
often m ade by the neighbouring poor'
in
cases of em ergency, and Fanny accord
ingly accompanied the m an to his cottage .
On .entering . the sick chamber, as she
supposed it to have been,Fanny beheld
a man closely m uffled in a long dressing
gown, sitting by the fire The cottager
placed a seat,and retired : the stranger
did not offer to break silen ce ; and Fanny,at length finding her situation som ewhat
unpleasan t, inqu ired if it was in her
power to relieve him . The stranger shook
his head in silence .
For what purpose, then, did you
send for me'
l” : asked Fanny .
rm : AUTH ORES S . 161
To curse you before I die exclaim !
ed the stranger, thr owing off the gown,and discovering to the terror-struck
Fanny the features of Montagu e .
She sunk back in her chair scarcely
able to breathe . To curse m e,Mon ta
gue !”she fain tly articulated ; to curse
Fanny Anderson
No,”replied he, but Fanny Exton
I would curse . Tell m e,” he added, tell
m e instan tly,am I to bless or curse you?”
Oh ! not to curse me, surely not
curse m e I”
said Fanny.
Mon tagu e knew precisely the character
he had to work upon : You say true,”
said he, sighing deeply ; I cann ot
choosebut bless you still . But you shall
hear my wrongs. Oh Fanny ! how cruelly
have you deceived me !”
Poor Fanny sat the image of death,while
,Mon tague related a long fabrica
tion of his endeavours to see her duringher residence at the Park, in which , he
162 TH E AUTH O RE S S .
was circumven ted by the m achinations of
Exton ; of his letters having been intera
cepted by the sam e m eans ; and finally,of a long and dangerous illn ess in to which
the news of her m arriage had thrownhim : he concluded by sayin g, that as
soon as his health perm i tted, he had set
out for the n eighbourhood of Exton Park,to take his last farewell,and die .
All this was so exactly according with
the m ost choic e love tales, that Fanny
believed every syllable, an d thought her
own rashn ess had alon e dashed away a
cup of the purest bliss that had ever been
offered to m ortal lips.
There was no prin ciple in Fanny’s
bosom that rem inded her of the impro
priety of listening to such tales of a m an,
who, if they were true, was still her
husband ; non e,that represen ted the at
tention she paid them as inconsistent
w ith the duty and honour she had vowed
to render him,inasmuch as it was under-r
164 TH E AUTHORES S .
lieved he was going to propose that they
should poison them selves death will
be welcom e to m e now .
”
This desperate declaration encouraged
Mon tague to lay aside the reserve he had
till now preserved, and he in formed'
her
that i t was not his in ten tion to die,butelope with her . Thi s was an awfu l hour
m Fanny’s.
life,and one that she after
wards looked back upon with terror.
Fancied injuries had roused her indigna
tion ; Montagu e’
s affected m isery had
awakened all the tenderness which had
nearly expired ; hOpe of fu ture happiness
strengthen ed her resolu tions ; and Fanny
consen ted to sacrifice hon our,reputation,and peace of m ind, to rend asunder all
the ties im posed by conjugal, m aternal,and filial duty, and elope with Mon tague
the following even ing .
’
It is over-drawn,upon my honour it
is over-drawn,”said Mr. Newm an .
“. I cannot think so indeed,
”return ed
TH E A UTHO RE S S . 165
the Authoress. Rem ember the cha
racter I have described ; and consider too
that she was not as dispassionate as we
are,who are reading her adventures.
”
Ten o ’clock,the following night,was
the hour appoin ted for Fanny to leave
the Park . It was the hour when the
fam ily. assembled in the supper-room ;
and she com plain ed of indisposition, to
excuse herself from j oin ing them . Hav ing
tied up the few things she intended taking
w ith her, she stole softly to the nursery,to take her last leave of her
’
sleeping
in fan t She drew the curtains of his
little bed— he was in a profound sleep .
This,”said she, is worst of all. Why
d id I com e ? ”'
She stooped and pressed
her lips to his cheek ; the action startled'
the little sleeper ; he woke and u ttered
a peevish cry, but seeing his m other in
theact of tu rn ing fromhim,he stretchedhisarm s towards her. It turned the
2
166 TH E AUTHORE S S .
scale in a m om en t. The voice of nature
routed all her en em ies from the bosom
of Fan ny, and saved her from irremedi
able destru ction .
I am glad she has got safe off at
last, said the old gentleman, as he laid
down the manuscript ;but you surely do
not mean to break off here .
It is one of my endless tales, replied
the Authoress ; and I think, on that
accoun t, it m ay be allowed to go with
the rest .
Oh ! add it by all m eans, return ed
Mr. Newman :“ it will act the part of a
long m oral,to a set of short fables. But
I should hav e been better pleased to have
heard of a reformation in‘ Fanny
’s prin
ciples, or rather the importation of a
fresh stock ; for, as the matter now
stands,we do not feel at all convinced
that she will not do the like again .
”
It was my intention,”
said Miss
168 TH E Aur n onnss.
I am glad that I have m ade so fair a
p roselyte, said Mr. Newm an . You
w ill then agree w ith m e in saying, that
novels in gen eral, when considered in
any other light than that of amusem ent,may, in the hands of the unskilful, prove
not only dangerous,bu t fatal .
T H E E N D .
J . MOYES,GREVI LLE STREET,I ONDON .
l U R
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TAYLOR AND HESSEY,93, ru n STREET ;
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