CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
RENALDO'S DISTRESS DEEPENS, AND FATHOM'S PLOT THICKENS.
Such aggravated misfortune could not fail to affect his temper anddeportment. The continual efforts he made to conceal his vexationproduced a manifest distraction in his behaviour and discourse. He beganto be seized with horror at the sight of poor Monimia, whom he thereforeshunned as much as the circumstances of their correspondence would allow;and every evening he went forth alone to some solitary place, where hecould, unperceived, give a loose to the transports of his sorrow, and insilence meditate some means to lighten the burden of his woe. His heartwas sometimes so savaged with despair, which represented mankind as hisinveterate enemies, that he entertained thoughts of denouncing waragainst the whole community, and supplying his own wants with the spoilshe should win. At other times he was tempted with the desire of puttingan end to his miseries and life together. Yet these were but thetransitory suggestions of temporary madness, that soon yielded to thedictates of reason. From the execution of the first he was restrained byhis own notions of honour and morality; and, from using the otherexpedient, he was deterred by his love for Monimia, together with themotives of philosophy and religion.
While in this manner he secretly nursed the worm of grief that preyedupon his vitals, the alteration in his countenance and conduct did notescape the eyes of that discerning young lady. She was alarmed at thechange, yet afraid to inquire into the source of it; for, being ignorantof his distress, she could impute it to no cause in which her happinesswas not deeply interested. She had observed his strained complaisanceand extraordinary emotion. She had detected him in repeated attempts toavoid her company, and taken notice of his regular excursions in thedark. These were alarming symptoms to a lover of her delicacy and pride.She strove in vain to put the most favourable construction on what shesaw; and, finally, imputed the effects of his despondence to thealienation of his heart. Made miserable beyond expression by thesesuspicions, she imparted them to Fathom, who, by this time, was in fullpossession of her confidence and esteem, and implored his advice touchingher conduct in such a nice conjuncture.
This artful politician, who rejoiced at the effect of her penetration, nosooner heard himself questioned on the subject, than he gave tokens ofsurprise and confusion, signifying his concern to find she had discoveredwhat, for the honour of his friend, he wished had never come to light.His behaviour on this occasion confirmed her fatal conjecture; and sheconjured him, in the most pathetic manner, to tell her if he thoughtRenaldo's heart had contracted any new engagement. At this question, hestarted with signs of extreme agitation, and stifling an artificial sigh,"Sure, madam," said he, "you cannot doubt the Count's constancy--I amconfident--he is certainly--I protest, madam, I am so shocked."
Here he made a full pause, as if the conflict between his integrity andhis friendship would not allow him to proceed, and summoned the moistureinto either eye--"Then are my doubts removed," cried the afflictedMonimia; "I see your candour in the midst of your attachment to Renaldo;and will no longer torment you with impertinent interrogations and vaincomplaints." With these words, a flood of tears gushed from herenchanting eyes, and she instantly withdrew into her own apartment, whereshe indulged her sorrow to excess. Nor was her grief unanimated withresentment. She was by birth, nature, and education inspired with thatdignity of pride which ennobles the human heart; and this, by thecircumstance of her present dependence, was rendered extremely jealousand susceptible; insomuch that she could not brook the least shadow ofindifference, much less an injury of such a nature, from the man whom shehad honoured with her affections, and for whom she had disobliged anddeserted her family and friends.
Though her love was so unalterably fixed on this unhappy youth, that,without the continuation of reciprocal regard, her life would have becomean unsupportable burden, even amidst all the splendour of affluence andpomp; and although she foresaw, that, when his protection should cease,she must be left a wretched orphan in a foreign land, exposed to all themiseries of want; yet, such was the loftiness of her displeasure, thatshe disdained to complain, or even demand an explanation from thesupposed author of her wrongs.
While she continued undetermined in her purpose, and fluctuating on thissea of torture, Fathom, believing that now was the season for workingupon her passions, while they were all in commotion, became, if possible,more assiduous than ever about the fair mourner, modelled his featuresinto a melancholy cast, pretended to share her distress with the mostemphatic sympathy, and endeavoured to keep her resentment glowing bycunning insinuations, which, though apparently designed to apologise forhis friend, served only to aggravate the guilt of his perfidy anddishonour. This pretext of friendly concern is the most effectualvehicle for the conveyance of malice and slander; and a man's reputationis never so mortally stabbed, as when the assassin begins with thepreamble of, "For my own part, I can safely say that no man upon earthhas a greater regard for him than I have; and it is with the utmostanguish and concern that I see him misbehave in such a manner." Then heproceeds to mangle his character, and the good-natured hearers,concluding he is even blacker than he is represented, on the suppositionthat the most atrocious circumstances are softened or suppressed by thetenderness or friendship of the accuser, exclaim, "Good lack! what awretch he must be, when his best friends will no longer attempt to defendhim!" Nay, sometimes these well-wishers undertake his defence, andtreacherously betray the cause they have espoused, by omitting thereasons that may be urged in his vindication.
Both these methods were practised by the wily Ferdinand, according to thepredominant passion of Monimia. When her indignation prevailed, heexpatiated upon his love and sincere regard for Renaldo, which, he said,had grown up from the cradle, to such a degree of fervour, that he wouldwillingly part with life for his advantage. He shed tears for hisapostasy; but every drop made an indelible stain upon his character; and,in the bitterness of his grief, swore, notwithstanding his fondness forRenaldo, which had become a part of his constitution, that the youngHungarian deserved the most infamous destiny for having injured suchperfection. At other times, when he found her melted into silent sorrow,he affected to excuse the conduct of his friend. He informed her, thatthe young gentleman's temper had been uneven from his infancy; thatfrailty was natural to man; that he might in time be reclaimed byself-conviction; he even hinted, that she might have probably ascribedto inconstancy, what was really the effect of some chagrin which heindustriously concealed from his participation. But, when he found herdisposed to listen to this last suggestion, he destroyed the force of it,by recollecting the circumstances of his nocturnal rambles, which, heowned, would admit of no favourable construction.
By these means he blew the coals of her jealousy, and enhanced the valueof his own character at the same time; for she looked upon him as amirror of faith and integrity, and the mind being overcharged with woe,naturally seeks some confidant, upon whose sympathy it can repose itself.Indeed, his great aim was to make himself necessary to her affliction,and settle a gossiping correspondence, in the familiarity of which hehoped his purpose would certainly be answered.
Yet the exertion of these talents was not limited to her alone. While helaid these trains for the hapless young lady, he was preparing snares ofanother kind for her unsuspecting lover, who, for the completion of hismisery, about this time began to perceive marks of disquiet anddispleasure in the countenance and deportment of his adored Monimia. Forthat young lady, in the midst of her grief, remembered her origin, andover her vexation affected to throw a veil of tranquillity, which servedonly to give an air of disgust to her internal disturbance.
Renaldo, whose patience and philosophy were barely sufficient to bear theload of his other evils, would have been quite overwhelmed with theadditional burden of Monimia's woe, if it had not assumed this appearanceof disesteem, which, as he knew he had not deserved it, brought hisresentment to his assistance. Yet this was but a wretched cordial tosupport him against the baleful reflections th
at assaulted him from everyquarter; it operated like those desperate remedies, which, while theystimulate exhausted nature, help to destroy the very fundamentals of theconstitution. He reviewed his own conduct with the utmost severity, andcould not recollect one circumstance which could justly offend the idolof his soul. The more blameless he appeared to himself in thisexamination, the less excusable did her behaviour appear. He tasked hispenetration to discover the cause of this alteration; he burned withimpatience to know it; his discernment failed him, and he was afraid,though he knew not why, to demand an explanation. His thoughts were socircumstanced, that he durst not even unbosom himself to Fathom, thoughhis own virtue and friendship resisted those sentiments that began tointrude upon his mind, with suggestions to the prejudice of ouradventurer's fidelity.
Nevertheless, unable to endure the torments of such interesting suspense,he at length made an effort to expostulate with the fair orphan; and inan abrupt address, the effect of his fear and confusion, begged to knowif he had inadvertently done anything to incur her displeasure. Monimia,hearing herself bluntly accosted in this unusual strain, after repeatedinstances of his reserve and supposed inconstancy, considered thequestion as a fresh insult, and, summoning her whole pride to herassistance, replied, with affected tranquillity, or rather with an air ofscorn, that she had no title to judge, neither did she pretend to condemnhis conduct. This answer, so wide of that tenderness and concern whichhad hitherto manifested itself in the disposition of his amiablemistress, deprived him of all power to carry on the conversation, and heretired with a low bow, fully convinced of his having irretrievably lostthe place he had possessed in her affection; for, to his imagination,warped and blinded by his misfortunes, her demeanour seemed fraught, notwith a transient gleam of anger, which a respectful lover would soon haveappeased, but with that contempt and indifference which denote a totalabsence of affection and esteem. She, on the other hand, misconstruedhis sudden retreat; and now they beheld the actions of each other throughthe false medium of prejudice and resentment. To such fatalmisunderstandings the peace and happiness of whole families often fall asacrifice.