The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete
liberty, but also indemnify himself for the mortification he had
undergone.
Far from creating any domestic disturbance, by upbraiding her with her
finesse, he seemed perfectly well pleased with his acquisition; and, as
he knew her void of any principle, and extremely addicted to pleasure,
he chose proper occasions to insinuate, that she might gratify her own
inclination, and at the same time turn her beauty to good account. She
joyfully listened to these remonstrances, and, in consequence of their
mutual agreement, she repaired to Bristol Spring, on pretence of an ill
state of health, accompanied by her sister-in-law, whom they did not
think proper to intrust with the real motive of her journey. Fathom’s
person was agreeable, and his finances supposed to be in flourishing
order; therefore, she selected him from the herd of gallants, as a
proper sacrifice to the powers which she adored; and, on her arrival in
London, made her husband acquainted with the importance of her
conquest.
Trapwell overwhelmed her with caresses and praise for her discreet and
dutiful conduct, and faithfully promised that she should pocket in her
own privy purse one-half of the spoils that should be gathered from her
gallant, whom she therefore undertook to betray, after he had swore, in
the most solemn manner, that his intention was not to bring the affair
to a public trial, which would redound to his own disgrace, but to
extort a round sum of money from the Count, by way of composition.
Confiding in this protestation, she in a few days gave him intelligence
of an assignation she had made with our adventurer, at a certain bagnio
near Covent Garden; upon which he secured the assistance of a
particular friend and his own journeyman, with whom, and a constable,
he repaired to the place of rendezvous, where he waited in an adjoining
room, according to the directions of his virtuous spouse, until she
made the preconcerted signal of hemming three times aloud, when he and
his associates rushed into the chamber and surprised our hero in bed
with his inamorata.
The lady on this occasion acted her part to a miracle; she screamed at
their approach; and, after an exclamation of “Ruined and undone!”
fainted away in the arms of her spouse, who had by this time seized her
by the shoulders, and begun to upbraid her with her infidelity and
guilt. As for Fathom, his affliction was unutterable, when he found
himself discovered in that situation, and made prisoner by the two
assistants, who had pinioned him in such a manner, that he could not
stir, much less accomplish an escape. All his ingenuity and presence of
mind seemed to forsake him in this emergency. The horrors of an English
jury overspread his imagination; for he at once perceived that the toil
into which he had fallen was laid for the purpose; consequently he took
it for granted that there would be no deficiency in point of evidence.
Soon as he recollected himself, he begged that no violence might be
offered to his person, and entreated the husband to favour him with a
conference, in which the affair might be compromised, without prejudice
to the reputation of either.
At first Trapwell breathed nothing but implacable revenge, but, by the
persuasion of his friends, after he had sent home his wife in a chair,
he was prevailed upon to hear the proposals of the delinquent, who
having assured him, by way of apology, that he had always believed the
lady was a widow, made him an offer of five hundred pounds, as an
atonement for the injury he had sustained. This being a sum no ways
adequate to the expectation of the citizen, who looked upon the Count
as possessor of an immense estate, he rejected the terms with disdain,
and made instant application to a judge, from whom he obtained a
warrant for securing his person till the day of trial. Indeed, in this
case, money was but a secondary consideration with Trapwell, whose
chief aim was to be legally divorced from a woman he detested.
Therefore there was no remedy for the unhappy Count, who in vain
offered to double the sum. He found himself reduced to the bitter
alternative of procuring immediate bail, or going directly to Newgate.
In this dilemma he sent a messenger to his friend Ratchcali, whose
countenance fell when he understood the Count’s condition; nor would he
open his mouth in the style of consolation, until he had consulted a
certain solicitor of his acquaintance, who assured him the law abounded
with such resources as would infallibly screen the defendant, had the
fact been still more palpable than it was. He said there was great
presumption to believe the Count had fallen a sacrifice to a
conspiracy, which by some means or other would be detected; and, in
that case, the plaintiff might obtain one shilling in lieu of damages.
If that dependence should fail, he hinted that, in all probability, the
witnesses were not incorruptible; or, should they prove to be so, one
man’s oath was as good as another’s; and, thank Heaven, there was no
dearth of evidence, provided money could be found to answer the
necessary occasions.
Ratchcali, comforted by these insinuations, and dreading the resentment
of our adventurer, who, in his despair, might punish him severely for
his want of friendship, by some precipitate explanation of the commerce
they had carried on; moved, I say, by these considerations, and
moreover tempted with the prospect of continuing to reap the advantages
resulting from their conjunction, he and another person of credit with
whom he largely dealt in jewels, condescended to become sureties for
the appearance of Fathom, who was accordingly admitted to bail. Not but
that the Tyrolese knew Ferdinand too well to confide in his parole. He
depended chiefly upon his ideas of self-interest, which, he thought,
would persuade him to risk the uncertain issue of a trial, rather than
quit the field before the harvest was half over; and he was resolved to
make his own retreat without ceremony, should our hero be unwise enough
to abandon his bail.
Such an adventure could not long lie concealed from the notice of the
public, even if both parties had been at pains to suppress the
circumstances. But the plaintiff, far from seeking to cover, affected
to complain loudly of his misfortune, that he might interest his
neighbours in his behalf, and raise a spirit of rancour and animosity,
to influence the jury against this insolent foreigner, who had come
over into England to debauch our wives and deflower our daughters;
while he employed a formidable band of lawyers to support the
indictment, which he laid at ten thousand pounds damages.
Meanwhile, Fathom and his associate did not fail to take all proper
measures for his defence; they retained a powerful bar of counsel, and
the solicitor was supplied with one hundred pounds after another, to
answer the expense of secret service; still assuring his clients that
everything was in an excellent train, and that his adversary would gain
nothing but shame and confusion of face. Nevertheless, there was a
necessity for postponing the trial, on account of a material evidence,
who, though he wavered, was not yet quite brought over; and the
attorney found means to put off the decision from term to term, until
there was no quibble left for further delay. While this suit was
depending, our hero continued to move in his usual sphere; nor did the
report of his situation at all operate to his disadvantage in the
polite world; on the contrary, it added a fresh plume to his character,
in the eyes of all those who were not before acquainted with the
triumphs of his gallantry. Notwithstanding this countenance of his
friends, he himself considered the affair in a very serious light; and
perceiving that, at any rate, he must be a considerable loser, he
resolved to double his assiduity in trade, that he might be the more
able to afford the extraordinary expense to which he was subjected.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
FRESH CAUSE FOR EXERTING HIS EQUANIMITY AND FORTITUDE.
The reader may have observed, that Fathom, with all his circumspection,
had a weak side, which exposed him to sundry mischances; this was his
covetousness, which on some occasions became too hard for his
discretion. At this period of time it was, by the circumstances of his
situation, inflamed to a degree of rapacity. He was now prevailed upon
to take a hand at whist or piquet, and even to wield the hazard-box;
though he had hitherto declared himself an irreconcilable enemy to all
sorts of play; and so uncommon was his success and dexterity at these
exercises, as to surprise his acquaintance, and arouse the suspicion of
some people, who repined at his prosperity.
But in nothing was his conduct more inexcusable than in giving way to
the dangerous temerity of Ratchcali, which he had been always at pains
to restrain, and permitting him to practise the same fraud upon an
English nobleman, which had been executed upon himself at Frankfort. In
other words, the Tyrolese, by the canal of Ferdinand’s finger and
recommendation, sold a pebble for a real brilliant, and in a few days
the cheat was discovered, to the infinite confusion of our adventurer,
who nevertheless assumed the guise of innocence with so much art, and
expressed such indignation against the villain who had imposed upon his
judgment and unsuspecting generosity, that his lordship acquitted him
of any share in the deceit, and contented himself with the restitution,
which he insisted upon making out of his own pocket, until he should be
able to apprehend the rogue, who had thought proper to abscond for his
own safety. In spite of all this exculpation, his character did not
fail to retain a sort of stigma, which indeed the plainest proofs of
innocence are hardly able to efface; and his connexion with such a
palpable knave as the Tyrolese appeared to be, had an effect to his
prejudice in the minds of all those who were privy to the occurrence.
When a man’s reputation is once brought in question, every trifle is,
by the malevolence of mankind, magnified into a strong presumption
against the culprit. A few whispers communicated by the envious mouth
of slander, which he can have no opportunity to answer and refute,
shall, in the opinion of the world, convict him of the most horrid
crimes; and for one hypocrite who is decked with the honours of virtue,
there are twenty good men who suffer the ignominy of vice; so well
disposed are individuals to trample upon the fame of their
fellow-creatures. If the most unblemished merit is not protected from
this injustice, it will not be wondered at that no quarter was given to
the character of an adventurer like Fathom, who, among other unlucky
occurrences, had the misfortune to be recognised about this time by his
two Parisian friends, Sir Stentor Stile and Sir Giles Squirrel.
These worthy knights-errant had returned to their own country, after
having made a very prosperous campaign in France, at the end of which,
however, they very narrowly escaped the galleys; and seeing the Polish
Count seated at the head of taste and politeness, they immediately
circulated the story of his defeat at Paris, with many ludicrous
circumstances of their own invention, and did not scruple to affirm
that he was a rank impostor. When the laugh is raised upon a great man,
he never fails to dwindle into contempt. Ferdinand began to perceive a
change in the countenance of his friends. His company was no longer
solicited with that eagerness which they had formerly expressed in his
behalf. Even his entertainments were neglected; when he appeared at any
private or public assembly, the ladies, instead of glowing with
pleasure, as formerly, now tittered or regarded him with looks of
disdain; and a certain pert, little, forward coquette, with a view to