CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
OUR HERO DEPARTS FROM VIENNA, AND QUITS THE DOMAIN OF VENUS FOR THE ROUGHFIELD OF MARS.
Luckily for our adventurer, before she adhered to this determination, theyoung Count de Melvil was summoned to Presburg by his father, who desiredto see him, before he should take the field, in consequence of a rupturebetween the Emperor and the French King; and Fathom of course quittedVienna, in order to attend his patron, after he and Renaldo had residedtwo whole years in that capital, where the former had made himselfperfect in all the polite exercises, become master of the French tongue,and learned to speak the Italian with great facility; over and abovethose other accomplishments in which we have represented him as aninimitable original.
As for the young Count, his exteriors were so much improved by thecompany to which he had access, since his departure from his father'shouse, that his parents were equally surprised and overjoyed at thealteration. All that awkwardness and rusticity, which hung upon hisdeportment, was, like the rough coat of a diamond, polished away; theconnexion and disposition of his limbs seemed to have been adjusted anew;his carriage was become easy, his air perfectly genteel, and hisconversation gay and unrestrained. The merit of this reformation was ina great measure ascribed to the care and example of Mr. Fathom, who wasreceived by the old Count and his lady with marks of singular friendshipand esteem; nor was he overlooked by Mademoiselle, who still remained ina state of celibacy, and seemed to have resigned all hope of altering hercondition; she expressed uncommon satisfaction at the return of her oldfavourite, and readmitted him into the same degree of familiarity withwhich he had been honoured before his departure.
The joy of Teresa was so excessive at his arrival, that she could scarcesuppress her raptures, so as to conceal them from the notice of thefamily; and our hero, upon this occasion, performed the part of anexquisite actor, in dissembling those transports which his bosom neverknew. So well had this pupil retained the lessons of her instructor,that, in the midst of those fraudulent appropriations, which she stillcontinued to make, she had found means to support her interest andcharacter with Mademoiselle, and even to acquire such influence in thefamily, that no other servant, male or female, could pretend to liveunder the same roof, without paying incessant homage to this artfulwaiting-woman, and yielding the most abject submission to her will.
The young gentlemen having tarried at Presburg about six weeks, duringwhich a small field equipage was prepared for Renaldo, they repaired tothe camp at Heilbron, under the auspices of Count Melvil, in whoseregiment they carried arms as volunteers, with a view to merit promotionin the service by their own personal behaviour. Our adventurer wouldhave willingly dispensed with this occasion of signalising himself, histalents being much better adapted to another sphere of life;nevertheless, he affected uncommon alacrity at the prospect of gatheringlaurels in the field, and subscribed to his fortune with a good grace;foreseeing, that even in a campaign, a man of his art and ingenuity mightfind means to consult his corporal safety, without any danger to hisreputation. Accordingly, before he had lived full three weeks in camp,the damp situation, and sudden change in his way of life, had such aviolent effect upon his constitution, that he was deprived of the use ofall his limbs, and mourned, without ceasing, his hard fate, by which hefound himself precluded from all opportunity of exerting his diligence,courage, and activity, in the character of a soldier, to which he nowaspired.
Renaldo, who was actually enamoured of a martial life, and missed nooccasion of distinguishing himself, consoled his companion with greatcordiality, encouraged him with the hope of seeing his constitutionfamiliarised to the inconveniences of a camp, and accommodated him witheverything which he thought would alleviate the pain of his body, as wellas the anxiety of his mind. The old Count, who sincerely sympathisedwith his affliction, would have persuaded him to retire into quarters,where he could be carefully nursed, and provided with everythingnecessary to a person in his condition; but such was his desire of glory,that he resisted his patron's importunities with great constancy, till atlength, seeing the old gentleman obstinately determined to consult hishealth by removing him from the field, he gradually suffered himself torecover the use of his hands, made shift to sit up in his bed, and amusehimself with cards or backgammon, and, notwithstanding the feeblecondition of his legs, ventured to ride out on horseback to visit thelines, though the Count and his son would never yield to hissolicitations so far, as to let him accompany Renaldo in those excursionsand reconnoitring parties, by which a volunteer inures himself to toiland peril, and acquires that knowledge in the operations of war, whichqualifies him for a command in the service.
Notwithstanding this exemption from all duty, our adventurer managedmatters so as to pass for a youth of infinite mettle, and even renderedhis backwardness and timidity subservient to the support of thatcharacter, by expressing an impatience of lying inactive, and a desire ofsignalising his prowess, which even the disabled condition of his bodycould scarce restrain. He must be a man of very weak nerves andexcessive irresolution, who can live in the midst of actual service,without imbibing some portion of military fortitude: danger becomeshabitual, and loses a great part of its terror; and as fear is oftencaught by contagion, so is courage communicated among the individuals ofan army. The hope of fame, desire of honours and preferment, envy,emulation, and the dread of disgrace, are motives which co-operate insuppressing that aversion to death or mutilation, which nature hathimplanted in the human mind; and therefore it is not to be wondered at,if Fathom, who was naturally chicken-hearted, gained some advantages overhis disposition before the end of the campaign, which happened to beneither perilous nor severe.
During the winter, while both armies remained in quarters, our adventurerattended his patron to Presburg, and, before the troops were in motion,Renaldo obtained a commission, in consequence of which he went intogarrison at Philipsburg, whither he was followed by our hero, while theold Count's duty called him to the field in a different place. Ferdinandfor some time had no reason to be dissatisfied with this disposition, bywhich he was at once delivered from the fatigues of a campaign, and theinspection of a severe censor, in the person of Count Melvil; and hissatisfaction was still increased by an accidental meeting with theTyrolese who had been his confederate at Vienna, and now chanced to servein garrison on the same footing with himself. These two knights-errantrenewed their former correspondence, and, as all soldiers are addicted togaming, levied contributions upon all those officers who had money tolose, and temerity to play.
However, they had not long pursued this branch of traffic, when theirsuccess was interrupted by a very serious occurrence, that for thepresent entirely detached the gentlemen in the garrison from suchamusements. The French troops invested Fort Kehl, situated on the Rhine,opposite to Strasburg; and the Imperialists, dreading that the next stormwould fall upon Philipsburg, employed themselves with great diligence toput that important fortress in a proper posture of defence. If thesuspension of play was displeasing to our hero, the expectation of beingbesieged was by no means more agreeable. He knew the excellence of theFrench engineers, the power of their artillery, and the perseverance oftheir general. He felt, by anticipation, the toils of hard duty upon theworks, the horrors of night-alarms, cannonading, bombardment, sallies,and mines blown up; and deliberated with himself whether or not he shouldprivately withdraw, and take refuge among the besiegers; but, when hereflected that such a step, besides the infamy that must attend it, wouldbe like that of running upon Scylla, seeking to avoid Charybdis, as hewould be exposed to more danger and inconvenience in the trenches than hecould possibly undergo in the town, and after all run the risk of beingtaken and treated as a deserter; upon these considerations he resolved tosubmit himself to his destiny, and endeavoured to mitigate the rigour ofhis fate by those arts he had formerly practised with success. Heaccordingly found means to enjoy a very bad state of health during thewhole siege, which lasted about six weeks after the trenches were opened;and then the garris
on marched out by capitulation, with all the honoursof war.