Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
At length to shame be brought;
And happy shall all those be call’d,
That my deliv’rance wrought.
X.
Yea, blessed shall the man be call’d
That shames thee of thy evil,
And saves me from thy vile attempts,
And thee, too, from the d—l.
I fancy this blessed man, said my master smiling, was, at that time,
hoped to be you, Mr. Williams, if the truth was known. Sir, said he,
whoever it was intended for then, it can be nobody but your good self
now.
I could hardly hold up my head for the praises the kind ladies were
pleased to heap upon me. I am sure, by this, they are very partial in
my favour; all because my master is so good to me, and loves to hear me
praised; for I see no such excellence in these lines, as they would
make me believe, besides what is borrowed from the Psalmist.
We all, as before, and the cook-maid too, attended the prayers of the
church in the afternoon; and my dear father concluded with the
following stanzas of the cxlvth psalm; suitably magnifying the holy
name of God for all mercies; but did not observe, altogether, the
method in which they stand; which was the less necessary, he thought,
as he gave out the lines.
The Lord is just in all his ways:
His works are holy all:
And he is near all those that do
In truth upon him call.
He the desires of all them
That fear him, will fulfil;
And he will hear them when they cry,
And save them all he will.
The eyes of all do wait on thee;
Thou dost them all relieve:
And thou to each sufficient food,
In season due, dost give.
Thou openest thy plenteous hand,
And bounteously dost fill
All things whatever, that do live,
With gifts of thy good will.
My thankful mouth shall gladly speak
The praises of the Lord:
All flesh, to praise his holy name,
For ever shall accord.
We walked in the garden till tea was ready; and as he went by the
back-door, my master said to me, Of all the flowers in the garden, the
sun-flower is the fairest!—O, sir, said I, let that be now forgot! Mr.
Williams heard him say so, and seemed a little out of countenance:
Whereupon my master said, I mean not to make you serious, Mr. Williams;
but we see how strangely things are brought about. I see other scenes
hereabouts, that, in my Pamela’s dangers, give me more cause of
concern, than any thing you ever did should give you. Sir, said he, you
are very generous.
My master and Mr. Williams afterwards walked together for a quarter of
an hour; and talked about general things, and some scholastic subjects;
and joined us, very well pleased with one another’s conversation.
Lady Jones said, putting herself on one side of me, as my master was on
the other, But pray, sir, when is the happy time to be? We want it
over, that we may have you with us as long afterwards as you can. Said
my master, I would have it to-morrow, or next day at farthest, if
Pamela will: for I have sent for a license, and the messenger will be
here to-night, or early in the morning, I hope. But, added he, pray,
Pamela, do not take beyond Thursday. She was pleased to say, Sure it
will not be delayed by you, madam, more than needs!—Well, said he, now
you are on my side, I will leave you with her to settle it: and, I
hope, she will not let little bashful niceties be important with her;
and so he joined the two misses.
Lady Jones told me, I was to blame, she would take upon her to say, if
I delayed it a moment; because she understood Lady Davers was very
uneasy at the prospect, that it would be so; and if any thing should
happen, it would be a sad thing!—Madam, said I, when he was pleased to
mention it to me first, he said it should be in fourteen days; and
afterwards, asked me if I would have it in the first or the second
seven? I answered—for how could I do otherwise?—In the second. He
desired it might not be the last day of the second seven. Now, madam,
said I, as he was then pleased to speak his mind, no doubt, I would
not, for any thing, seem too forward.
Well, but, said she, as he now urges you in so genteel and gentlemanly
a manner for a shorter day, I think, if I was in your place, I would
agree to it. She saw me hesitate and blush, and said, Well, you know
best; but I say only what I would do. I said, I would consider of it;
and if I saw he was very earnest, to be sure I should think I ought to
oblige him.
Misses Darnford were begging to be at the wedding, and to have a ball:
and they said, Pray, Mrs. Andrews, second our requests, and we shall be
greatly obliged to you. Indeed, ladies, said I, I cannot promise that,
if I might.—Why so? said they.—Because, answered I—I know not what! But
I think one may, with pleasure, celebrate an anniversary of one’s
nuptials; but the day itself—Indeed, ladies, I think it is too solemn a
business, for the parties of our sex to be very gay upon: it is a quite
serious and awful affair: and I am sure, in your own cases, you would
be of my mind. Why, then, said Miss Darnford, the more need one has to
be as light-hearted and merry as one can.
I told you, said my master, what sort of an answer you’d have from
Pamela. The younger miss said, She never heard of such grave folks in
her life, on such an occasion: Why, sir, said she, I hope you’ll sing
psalms all day, and miss will fast and pray! Such sackcloth and ashes
doings, for a wedding, did I never hear of!—She spoke a little
spitefully, I thought; and I returned no answer. I shall have enough to
do, I reckon, in a while, if I am to answer every one that will envy
me!
We went in to tea; and all that the ladies could prevail upon my master
for, was a dancing match before he left this county: But Miss Darnford
said, It should then be at their house; for, truly, if she might not be
at the wedding, she would be affronted, and come no more hither, till
we had been there.
When they were gone, my master would have had my father stay till the
affair was over; but he begged he might set out as soon as it was light
in the morning; for, he said, my mother would be doubly uneasy at his
stay; and he burned with impatience to let her know all the happy
things that had befallen her daughter. When my master found him so
desirous to go, he called Mr. Thomas, and ordered him to get a
particular bay horse ready betimes in the morning, for my father, and a
portmanteau, to put his things in; and to attend him a day’s journey:
And if, said he, Mr. Andrews chooses it, see him safe to his own home:
And, added he, since that horse will serve you, Mr. Andrews, to ride
backwards and forwards, to see us, when we go into Bedfordshire, I make
you a present of it, with the accoutrements. And, seeing my father
going to speak, he added, I won’t be said nay. O how good was this!
He also said a great many kind things at supper-time, and gave him all
the papers he had of mine; but desired, when he and my mother had read
them, that he would return them to him again. And then he said, So
affectionate a father and daughter may, perhaps, be glad to be alone
together; therefore remember me to your good wife, and tell her, it
will not be long, I hope, before I see you together; on a visit to your
daughter, at my other house: and so I wish you good night, and a good
journey, if you go before I see you. And then he shook hands, and left
my dear father almost unable to speak, through the sense of his favours
and goodness.
You may believe, my dear mother, how loath I was to part with my good
father; and he was also unwilling to part with me; but he was so
impatient to see you, and tell you the blessed tidings, with which his
heart overflowed, that I could hardly wish to detain him.
Mrs. Jewkes brought two bottles of cherry-brandy, and two of
cinnamon-water, and some cake; and they were put up in the portmanteau,
with my father’s newly presented clothes; for he said, He would not,
for any thing, be seen in them in his neighbourhood, till I was
actually known, by every body, to be married; nor would he lay out any
part of the twenty guineas till then neither, for fear of reflections;
and then he would consult me as to what he would buy. Well, said I, as
you please, my dear father; and I hope now we shall often have the
pleasure of hearing from one another, without needing any art or
contrivances.
He said, He would go to bed betimes, that he might be up as soon as it
was light; and so he took leave of me, and said, He would not love me,
if I got up in the morning to see him go; which would but make us both
loath to part, and grieve us both all day.
Mr. Thomas brought him a pair of boots, and told him, He would call him
up at peep of day, and put up every thing over night; and so I received
his blessing, and his prayers, and his kind promises of procuring the
same from you, my dear mother; and went up to my closet with a heavy
heart, and yet a half-pleased one, if I may so say; for that, as he
must go, he was going to the best of wives, and with the best of
tidings. But I begged he would not work so hard as he had done; for I
was sure my master would not have given him twenty guineas for clothes,
if he had not designed to do something else for him; and that he should
be the less concerned at receiving benefits, from my good master,
because he, who had so many persons to employ in his large possessions,
could make him serviceable, to a degree equivalent, without hurting any
body else.
He promised me fair; and, pray, dear mother, see he performs. I hope my
master will not see this: for I will not send it you, at present, till
I can send you the best of news; and the rather, as my dear father can
supply the greatest part of what I have written, since the papers he
carries you, by his own observation. So good night, my dear mother: And
God send my father a safe journey, and a happy meeting to you both!
Monday.
Mr. Colbrand being returned, my master came up to me to my closet, and
brought me the license. O how my heart fluttered at the sight of it!
Now, Pamela, said he, tell me, if you can oblige me with the day. Your
word is all that’s wanting. I made bold to kiss his dear hand; and,
though unable to look up, said—I know not what to say, sir, to all your
goodness: I would not, for any consideration, that you should believe
me capable of receiving negligently an honour, that all the duty of a
long life, were it to be lent me, will not be sufficient to enable me
to be grateful for. I ought to resign myself, in every thing I may or
can, implicitly to your will. But—But what? said he, with a kind
impatience.—Why, sir, said I, when from last Thursday you mentioned
four days, I had reason to think that term your choice; and my heart is
so wholly yours, that I am afraid of nothing, but that I may be
forwarder than you wish. Impossible, my dear creature! said he, and
folded me in his arms: Impossible! If this be all, it shall be set
about this moment, and this happy day shall make you mine!—I’ll send
away instantly, said the dear gentleman; and was going.
I said, No, pray, sir, pray, sir, hear me!—Indeed it cannot be
to-day!—Cannot! said he.—No, indeed, sir! said I—And was ready to sink
to see his generous impatience. Why flattered you then my fond heart,
replied he, with the hope that it might?—Sir, said I, I will tell you
what I had thought, if you’ll vouchsafe me your attention. Do then,
said he.
I have, sir, proceeded I, a great desire, that, whenever the day is, it
may be on a Thursday: On a Thursday my dear father and mother were
married; and, though poor, they are a very happy pair.—On a Thursday
your poor Pamela was born. On a Thursday my dear good lady took me from