CHAPTER LXXII
The affrighted Juliet, every instant in expectation of being stopt, wassilent the whole way; but the loquacity of her companions, to whom thejourney was an uninterrupted opportunity for wrangling, secured her fromany remark; and they arrived, and were separating, at Romsey, nearlywithout having taken notice that they had ever been together, whenJuliet, having descended from the chaise, turned fearfully round, toexamine whether she were pursued.
She saw no one; and blest Heaven.
Nevertheless, it was night; she was alone, in the suburbs of a strangetown; and wholly ignorant of the way to the New Forest. It was too lateto go on without a guide; yet, to demand one, or to order a chaise, atsuch an hour, would be risking to leave documents behind her, that mightfacilitate her being discovered. She addressed herself, therefore, toher fellow-travellers, and besought them to afford, or to procure her, asafe lodging for the night.
The mother, coarsely, demanded immediate payment; which being accorded,she said that she had some spare bedding, which could be put upon thefloor, in the sleeping-room of Debby.
Juliet, accompanied them to their homely habitation, at the furtherextremity of a narrow lane, in the busy and prosperous town of Romsey;and though nothing could be more ordinary than the dwelling, or theaccommodations which she there found, neither splendour, nor wealth, norluxury, nor pleasure, could have devised for her, at that moment, asojourn more acceptable; since, to all but safety, distress and affrightmade her insensible.
But, this first moment of solid satisfaction passed, her whole mindbecame absorbed in fearful ruminations upon the various risks that shewas running, and in gloomy apprehensions of what might be their result.
Her taciturnity and dejection were as little imitated as they werelittle happy: her companion, almost equally self-occupied, though by nomeans equally incommoded by foresight, or burthened with discretion,broke forth immediately into the history of her own affairs andsituation; bitterly inveighing against the ill nature of her mother,which was always thwarting every thing that was agreeable; and boldlydeclaring her fixed determination to go to the fair with Mr Thomas.
The humanity of Juliet here conquered her silence; but herrepresentations, whether of danger or of duty, were scouted with rudemerriment; and she found again as wilful a victim to pleasure as FloraPierson; though without the simplicity, the good humour, or the beautyof that credulous maiden.
Nearly with the light, Juliet arose, resolved, with whatever fatigue, totravel on foot, that she might not hazard being recognized, through theadvertisement, by any coachman or postilion; and, to be less liable todetection from passing observers, she changed, over night, her bonnet,which was of white chip, for one the most coarse and ordinary of straw,with her young hostess; of whom, also, she bought a blue striped apron.
Shocking to all her feelings was this attempt to disguise, so imitativeof guilt, so full of semblance to conscious imposture. But there aresometimes circumstances, great and critical, that call for all theenergy of our courage, and demand all the resources of our faculties,for warding off impending and substantial evil, at whatever risk oftransitory misconstruction.
Her account being already settled, she wished to depart unobserved, thatshe might less easily be traced. Her young hostess, sleeping late andtired, slept soundly, and was not disturbed by her rising, dressing, oropening the room-door; and she glided down stairs without being missed,or noticed. The door of the house was fastened only by a bolt, and shegained the street without noise or interruption.
Here all yet was still as night; the houses were shut up, and nothingwas in view, nor in hearing, but a solitary cart, driven by a youngcarter, who amused his toil by the alternate pleasure of smacking hishorse, and whistling to the winds.
This vehicle, which was probably travelling to the high road, shedetermined to follow.
The general stillness made the slightest motion heard, and the carter,though at a considerable distance, turned round, and called out, 'Whyyou be up betimes, my lovey! come and Ize give you a cast.'
Startled, she looked down, crossing the way, and appearing not tosuppose herself to be the person thus addressed: but the carter,standing still, repeated his invitation; assuring her that he had plentyof room.
Uncertain how to act, she stopt.
Terms of coarse endearment, then, accompanied a more pressing desirethat she would advance.
Frightened, she drew back; but the carter, throwing his whip upon hiscarriage, vowed that she should be caught, and ran after her, shoutingaloud, till she regained the house. He then scoffingly exclaimed, 'Why abe plaguy shy o'the sudden, Mistress Debby!' and, composedly turningupon his heel, began again to smack his horse, and whistle to the winds.
Juliet, who in finding herself taken for her young hostess, found, also,how light a character that young hostess bore, was struck to see dangerthus every way surrounding her; and alarmed at the risk, to whichimpatience had blinded her, of travelling, at so early an hour, alone.Alas! she cried, is it only under the domestic roof,--that roof to medenied!--that woman can know safety, respect, and honour?
She now strolled to the vicinity of a capital mansion, at the door ofwhich, if again put in fear, she could knock and make herself heard.
But the higgler went on; and another cart soon appeared, in which shehad the pleasure to see a woman, driven by a boy. Unannoyed, then, shewalked by its side till she came to the long middle street; when shefound that, from solitude, at least, she had nothing more to apprehend.Carts, waggons, and diligences, were wheeling through the town;market-women were arriving with butter, eggs, and poultry; workmen andmanufacturers were trudging to their daily occupations; all was aliveand in motion; and commerce, with its hundred hands, was every whereopening and spreading its sources of wealth, through its active sisters,ingenuity and industry.
No difficulty now remained for finding the route; travellers of everykind led the way. Her coarse bonnet, and blue apron saved her frompeculiar remark; and her appearance of decency, with the deep care inher countenance, which, to the common observer, seemed but an air ofbusiness, kept aloof all intrusive impertinence.
Thus, for the first early hours of the morning, she journeyed on, nearlyunnoticed, and wholly unmolested. Every one, like herself, alert toproceed, and impressed with the value of time, because using it toadvantage, pursued his own purpose, without leisure or thought totrouble himself with that of his neighbour.
Five times she had already counted the friendly mile-stone, since shehad quitted Romsey: one mile only remained to be trodden, ere shereached the New Forest; but that mile was replete with obstacles, towhich its five sisters had been strangers.
It was now noon; and a gentle breeze, which hitherto had fanned herpassage, and wafted to her refreshment, suddenly ceased its playfulbenignity; chaced to a distance by the burning rays of a vertical sun,just bursting forth with meridianal fire and splendour; and dispersingthe flying clouds which, in obstructing its refulgence, had softened itsintenseness.
This quick change of temperature, operating, materially, like aneffective change of climate, annihilated, for the moment, all thestrength of Juliet; who, as yet, from the freshness of the morning air,the vivacity of mental courage, had been a stranger of fatigue.
Upon looking around, to seek a spot where she might obtain a fewinstants' rest, and some passing succour; she observed that the road,but just before so busily peopled, appeared to be abruptly forsaken. Thelabourers were no longer working at the high ways, or at the hedges; theharvest-men were vanished; the market-women were gone; the road retainedmerely here and there an idle straggler; and the fields exhibited only asolitary boy, left to frighten away the birds.
A sensation nearly of famine with which next, from long fasting, joinedto vigourous exercise in the open air, she felt assailed, soon pointedout to her that the cause of this general desertion was the rural hourof repast.
Initiated, now, by her own exertions, in the necessity both of support,and of rest, she, too, felt th
at this was the hour of nature forrecruit. But where stop? and how procure sustenance with safety andprudence?
She looked about for some cottage, and was not long ere she found one;but, upon begging for a glass of water from a husbandman, who wasstanding upon the threshold, he answered that she should have it, if shewould pay him with a kiss.
She walked on to another; but some men were smoaking at the door, andshe had not courage to make her demand.
At a third, she was disconcerted, by a familiar invitation to partake ofa cup of cyder.
She now resolved to make no further application but to females; sincecountrymen, even those who are freest from any evil designs, are almostall either gross or facetious.
Women, however, at this hour, were not easily met with; they werewithin, preparing their meals, or cleaning their platters, and feedingtheir poultry, rabbits, or pigs.
She now dropped, scarcely able to breathe from the oppression of theheat; or to sustain herself from the enfeebling effects of emptiness,joined to overpowering fatigue. With pain and difficulty she dragged onher wearied limbs; while a furious thirst parched her mouth, and seemedconsuming her inside.
Now, too, her distress received the tormenting augmentation of intrusiveinterruption; for, in losing the elasticity of her motions, she lost, tothe vulgar observer, her appearance of innocence. Her eye, eagerly castaround in search of an asylum, appeared to be courting attention; herlanguor seemed but loitering; and her slow unequal pace, wore the air ofinviting a companion.
Nor was the character of chaste diligence, and vivacious business, anylonger predominant in those whom she now casually encountered. Thenoon-tide heat, in impairing their bodily strength, caused a mentallassitude, that made them ready for any dissipation that might diverttheir weariness; and Juliet, young, rosy, and alone, seemed exactlyfashioned for awakening their drowsy faculties. No one, therefore,passed, without remarking her; and scarcely any one without making hersome address. The inconsistency of her attire, which her slackened paceallowed time for developing, gave rise to much comment, and somemockery. Her ordinary bonnet and blue apron, ill accorded with the otherpart of her dress; and she was now assailed with coarse compliments uponher pretty face; now by jocose propositions to join company; and now byfree solicitations for a salute.
Painfully she forced herself on, till, at length, she discerned anancient dame, in a field by the side of the road, who sat spinning atthe door of a cottage.
She crossed a style, and, presenting herself to the old woman, craved adraught of water, and permission to take a little rest.
The good old dame, who was surrounded by little boys and girls, to whomshe was singing the antique ballad of the children of the wood, in atone so dolorous, and with such heavy sighs, that the elder of herhearers, who were five and six years old, were dissolved in tears; whilethe younger ones clung to her knees, pale and scared, finished herstanza, before she would answer, or look at the supplicant stranger. Shethen raised her eyes, with evident vexation at the interruption; but,when she perceived the weak state, and listened to the faint accents ofher petitioner, the expression of her countenance became allbenevolence; and, good humouredly nodding her head, she disengagedherself from the children, arose, fetched a horn of water, added to it acup of milk, and then, presenting to the weary traveller her own chair,which was large and low, she got a smaller, and less commodious one,from the kitchen for herself.
The nearly exhausted Juliet gratefully accepted this hospitality; and,in quaffing her milk and water, believed herself initiated in theknowledge of the flavour, and of all the occult qualities, of Nectar.
It is thus, then, she thought, that the poor and laborious, also, learn,even from their toils and sufferings, what is luxury and enjoyment! forwhere is the regale, and what is the libation, which the most sumptuoustable of refined elegance can offer, that can be more exquisite to thetaste, than this simple beverage of milk and water, received thus at themoment of parching thirst, and deadly fatigue?
Meanwhile, the little ones, impatient at the interruption of a talewhich engaged all their tenderest feelings; and of which no repetitioncould diminish the interest; looked with clouded brows, and uncheckedill humour, upon the intruder; and, while the elder ones vented theirchagrin by crying, some of the younger ones, yet more completely in therough hands of untutored nature, rushed forward to beat the cause oftheir vexation; while others, indignantly, struggled to pull her out ofthe chair of their grandame.
Juliet, whom their fat little hands could not hurt, and who approvedtheir fondness both for their grandmother and for the ballad, forgavetheir petulance in favour of its motive: but the grandame, putting asideher spinning wheel, called them all around her, and calmly enquired whatwas the matter?
They vociferously answered that they wanted to push away the naughtyperson who was come to take granny's chair.
And what, she asked, would they do themselves, should they be obliged towalk a great way off, till they were tired to death, and as dry as dust,if nobody would give them a little drink, nor a seat to sit down?
But they would never walk a great way off, they answered; never as longas they lived! They would always stay at home with dad and mam andgrandam.
But dad and mam, she resumed, were often obliged to walk a great way offthemselves; and if nobody would let them have a seat, not any thing todrink, what would become of them? whereas, if they should hap to lighton this young gentlewoman in any trouble, she would remember what hadbeen done for herself, and get them fresh water, and sweet milk, and theeasiest chair she could find: and would not they be glad of such goodluck to dad and mam? Besides that, by doing good, they would be loved byall good boys and girls; and even by God himself, who was the Father ofthem all.
This was speaking at once to their sensations and their understandings;dad and mam in distress and relieved seemed present to their view; andthey all flew to do something for their guest, as if their gratitudewere already indebted. One brought her half an apple, another, a quarterof a pear; one, a bunch of red currants, another, of white; the youngestof the little girls presented her with an old broken rattle; and thesmallest of the little boys, waddled to her with a hoop.
Amused by this infantine scene of filial piety, and revived by rest andrefreshment, Juliet soon recompensed their endearing innocence, bydancing the smaller ones in her arms, and prattling playfully with thosewho were less babyish.
Then, putting a shilling into one of their hands, she requested to havea couple of eggs and a crust of bread.
The eggs were immediately baked in the cinders; the crust was cut from aloaf of sweet and fresh brown bread. And if her drink had seemed nectar,what was more substantial appeared to her to be ambrosia! and her littlewaiters became Hebes and Ganymedes.
Refreshment thus salubrious, rest thus restorative, and security thusserene, after fatigue, fasting and alarm, made her deem this one of themost felicitous moments of her life. Her sole immediate desire was tolengthen it, and to spend, in this tranquil retreat, a part, at least,of the period destined to concealment and obscurity. She had notforgotten her first little _proteges_, nor lost her wish to join themand their worthy mother; but she had severely experienced how littlefitted to the female character, to female safety, and female propriety,was this hazardous plan of lonely wandering. She begged, therefore,permission, as a weary traveller, to pass the night in the cottage.
The good dame readily consented; saying, that she could not offer veryhandsome bedding; but that it should be clean and wholesome, for it hadbelonged to her youngest daughter, who was just gone out to service.
This arranged, the ballad was again begun, so exquisitely to the delightof the young audience, that though, at the stanza
Their little lips with blackberries Were all besmear'd and dyed; And when they saw the darksome night They sat them down and cried,
they all sobbed aloud; they were yet so grieved when it was over, thatthey clung around their grandame, saying, with one voice, 'Aden, granny,aden
!'
Granny, however, was too much tired to comply, and the repetition wasdeferred to another day.
In the evening, the mother of the children came home, and heard what hadbeen settled with her new and unknown guest, without objection orinterference. The father appeared soon after, and was equally passive.The grandame was mistress of the cottage, and in her own room, which wasthat, also, of the elder children, Juliet was lodged. The youngerbranches of the family slept, with their father and mother, in thekitchen; which, like the apartment of the cobler, served them equallyfor parlour and hall.
Juliet found the man and his wife perfectly good sort of people, simply,but usefully employed in earning their living; while their aged mothertook charge of their dwelling, their nourishment, and their children.
Thus safely and tranquilly situated, Juliet, without meeting anydifficulty, proposed to sojourn with them for some days. She gave, also,a commission, to the younger mistress of the house, to purchase her someready-made linen at Romsey; and she was soon more consistently equipped,in new, but homely apparel.
This interval was most seasonably passed, in recruiting her strength,and calming her spirits. She took pleasant walks, accompanied by thetallest boy and girl; she worked for the grandmother; taught a part ofthe catechism to some of the children; played with them all, and madeherself at once so useful and so agreeable in the rustic dwelling, thatshe won the heart and good will of all its inhabitants.
Yet, three times only the sun had set thus serenely, when her host,returning half an hour later in the evening than usual, appeared soaltered and ill humoured, that Juliet thought it advisable to leave himwith his family; but the slightness of the small building made asinevitable as it was alarming, her learning that she was herself thesubject of his discontent.
He told his mother that she must be more cautious how she harbouredtravellers, or she might come to trouble; for there was a youngfemale-swindler, in or about Salisbury, who was advertised in thenews-papers; and who, upon being found out in her tricks, had made offwith Dame Goss's, without so much as paying for her lodging. She hadbeen traced as far as Romsey, by means of a postilion; but there, too,she had left her lodgings by stealth, in the very middle of the night.All the coachmen and postilions and innkeepers were looking out for her;a handsome reward being offered, for sending tidings where she might bemet with, to an attorney in London. 'And now, mother,' he continued,'suppose, by hap, this young gentlewoman be she? why you'll be fit tohong yourself, mother! for as to her being so koind to the children,that be no sign; for the bad ones be oftentimes the koindest.'
He then enquired whether she had arrived in a white muslin gown, and awhite chip-hat.
Her gown might be white muslin, the mother answered, for aught she couldsay to the contrary, for it was covered almost all round by a bluestriped apron; but as to her hat, it was nothing but a straw-bonnet ascoarse and ordinary as he might wish to set eyes on.
O then, he said, it was clear it could not be she, she was not a personto wear a blue apron; she had been seen, the very night she made off,dressed quite genteel.
What now was the consternation of Juliet, to find herself thus pursuedas a run-away, and stigmatized as a swindler and an imposter!Astonishing destiny! she cried; for what am I reserved? O when may Icast off this veil of humiliating concealment? when meet unappalled thefair eye of open day? when appear,--when alas!--even know what I am!
This, however, was not the end: it soon seemed scarcely the beginning ofnew distress, so far more deeply terrible to her with the intelligenceby which it was followed. When the women demanded where he had heardthis news, he answered, at the public-house; where he was told that allSalisbury was in an uproar; a rich outlandish Mounseer, in apost-chaise, having just come to the great inn, with the advertisementin his hand, pointing to the reward, and promising, in pretty goodEnglish, to double it, if the person should be found.
Not another word could Juliet hear; not an instant, not a thought couldshe bestow to learn further what was past, or even to gather what waspassing; the future, the dread of what was to come, took sole possessionof her feelings and her faculties, and again to fly, more rapidly, moreeagerly, more affrighted than ever, to fly, was her immediate act,rather than resolution.
She accoutred herself, therefore, in all that was most homely to her newapparel; made a packet of what remained of her genuine attire; lefthalf-a-guinea open upon a little table, to avoid again the accusation ofbeing a swindler; and then, descending the ladder, and contriving tohide her bundle with her blue apron, as she passed, said that she wasgoing to walk in the neighbouring fields, but that it was too late totake out the children; and, giving to each of them a penny, to buycakes, she quitted the cottage.
Without an instant, without even any powers for reflection, she dartedacross the fields, gained the road, and, within twenty minutes, arrivedat an entrance into the New Forest; to which she had already learnt theway in her rambles with the children.