The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete
of intoxication, by which she had never before seen him possessed, she
endeavoured to dissuade Monimia from her purpose, by observing, that
her health would be prejudiced by the cold morning air; but finding her
determined, she insisted upon accompanying her to chapel, on pretence
of respect, though, in reality, with a view to prevent the escape of
her beauteous lodger. Thus attended, the hapless mourner entered the
place, and, according to the laudable hospitality of England, which is
the only country in Christendom where a stranger is not made welcome to
the house of God, this amiable creature, emaciated and enfeebled as she
was, must have stood in a common passage during the whole service, had
not she been perceived by a humane gentlewoman, who, struck with her
beauty and dignified air, and melted with sympathy at the ineffable
sorrow which was visible in her countenance, opened the pew in which
she sat, and accommodated Monimia and her attendant. If she was
captivated by her first appearance, she was not less affected by the
deportment of her fair guest, which was the pattern of genuine
devotion.
In a word, this good lady, who was a merchant’s widow in opulent
circumstances, was inflamed with a longing desire to know and befriend
the amiable stranger, who, after service, turning about to thank her
for her civility, Madam Clement, with that frankness which is the
result of true benevolence, told her, she was too much prepossessed in
her favour to let slip this opportunity of craving her acquaintance,
and of expressing her inclination to alleviate, if possible, that
affliction which was manifest in her looks.
Monimia, overwhelmed with gratitude and surprise at this unexpected
address, gazed upon the lady in silence, and when she repeated her
tenders of service, could make no other reply to her goodness, than by
bursting into a flood of tears. This was a species of eloquence which
did not pass unregarded by Madam Clement, who, while her own eyes were
bedewed with the drops of sympathy and compassion, took the lovely
orphan by the hand, and led her, without further ceremony, to her own
coach, that stood waiting at the door, whither they were followed by
Mrs. la Mer, who was so much confounded at the adventure, that she made
no objections to the proposal of the lady, who handed her lodger into
the carriage; but retired, with all possible despatch, to make Fathom
acquainted with this unforeseen event.
Meanwhile the agitation of Monimia, at this providential deliverance,
was such as had well-nigh destroyed her tender frame. The blood flushed
and forsook her cheeks by turns; she trembled from head to foot,
notwithstanding the consolatory assurances of Madam Clement, and,
without being able to utter one word, was conducted to the house of
that kind benefactress, where the violence of her transports
overpowered her constitution, and she sunk down upon a couch in a
swoon, from which she was not easily recovered. This affecting
circumstance augmented the pity, and interested the curiosity of Madam
Clement, who concluded there was something very extraordinary in the
case of the stranger, to produce these agonies; and grew impatient to
hear the particulars of her story.
Monimia no sooner retrieved the use of her faculties, than looking
around, and observing with what humane concern her new hostess was
employed in effecting her recovery, “Is this,” said she, “a flattering
illusion of the brain? or am I really under the protection of some
beneficent being, whom Heaven hath inspired with generosity to rescue
an hapless stranger from the most forlorn state of misery and woe?” Her
voice was at all times ravishingly sweet; and this exclamation was
pronounced with such pathetic fervour, that Madam Clement clasped her
in her arms, and kissing her with all the eagerness of maternal
affection, “Yes,” cried she, “fair creature, Heaven hath bestowed upon
me an heart to compassionate, and power, I hope, to lighten the burden
of your sorrows.”
She then prevailed upon her to take some nourishment, and afterwards to
recount the particulars of her fate; a task she performed with such
accuracy and candour, that Madam Clement, far from suspecting her
sincerity, saw truth and conviction in every circumstance of her tale;
and, having condoled her misfortunes, entreated her to forget them, or
at least look upon herself as one sheltered under the care and tuition
of a person whose study it would be to supply her want of natural
parents. This would have been an happy vicissitude of fortune, had it
not arrived too late; but such a sudden and unlooked-for transition not
only disordered the faculties of poor Monimia’s mind, but also
overpowered the organs of her body, already fatigued and enfeebled by
the distresses she had undergone; so that she was taken ill of a fever
that same night, and became delirious before morning, when a physician
was called to her assistance.
While this gentleman was in the house, Madam Clement was visited by
Fathom, who, after having complained, in the most insinuating manner
that she had encouraged his wife to abandon her duty, told her a
plausible story of his first acquaintance with Monimia, and his
marriage at the Fleet, which, he said, he was ready to prove by the
evidence of the clergyman who joined them, and that of Mrs. la Mer, who
was present at the ceremony. The good lady, although a little staggered
at the genteel appearance and engaging address of this stranger, could
not prevail upon herself to believe that she had been imposed upon by
her fair lodger, who by this time had given too convincing a proof of
her sincerity; nevertheless, in order to prevent any dispute that might
be prejudicial to the health or recovery of Monimia, she gave him to
understand, that she would not at present enter upon the merits of the
cause, but only assure him, that the young lady was actually bereft of
her senses, and in imminent danger of her life; for the truth of which
assertions she would appeal to his own observation, and the opinion of
the physician, who was then employed in writing a prescription for the
cure of her disease.
So saying, she conducted him into the chamber, where he beheld the
hapless virgin stretched upon a sick-bed, panting under the violence of
a distemper too mighty for her weakly frame, her hair dishevelled, and
discomposure in her looks; all the roses of her youth were faded, yet
all the graces of her beauty were not fled. She retained that sweetness
and symmetry, which death itself could not destroy; and though her
discourse was incoherent, her voice was still musical, resembling those
feathered songsters who warble their native wood-notes wild.
Fathom, as upon all other occasions, so on this, did behave like an
inimitable actor; he ran to the bedside, with all the trepidation of a
distracted lover; he fell upon his knees, and, while the tears rolled
down his cheeks, imprinted a thousand kisses on the soft hand of
Monimia, who regarding him with a lack-lustre and undistinguishing eye,
“Alas! Renaldo,” said she, “we were born to be unhappy.” “Would to
Heaven,” cried Ferdinand, in a transport of grief, “the wretch Renaldo
had never been born! that is the villain who seduced the affection of
this unfortunate woman. I admitted the traitor into my friendship and
confidence, relieved him in his necessities; and, like the ungrateful
viper, he hath stung the very bosom that cherished him in his
distress.” Then he proceeded to inform Madam Clement how he had
delivered that same Renaldo from prison, maintained him afterwards at a
great expense, and at length furnished him with a sum of money and
proper credentials to support his interest at the Court of Vienna.
Having finished this detail, he asked the physician’s sentiments of his
wife’s distemper, and being told that her life was in extreme jeopardy,
begged he would use his utmost endeavours in her behalf, and even made
him a tender of an extraordinary fee, which was refused. He also
thanked Madam Clement for her charity and benevolence towards a
stranger, and took his leave with many polite professions of gratitude
and esteem. He had no sooner quitted the house, than the physician, who
was a humane man, and a foreigner, began to caution the lady against
his insinuations, observing, that some circumstances of the story
concerning Renaldo were, to his particular knowledge, contrary to
truth; for that he himself had been applied to for letters of
recommendation in behalf of Count Melvil, by a Jew merchant of his
acquaintance, who had supplied the young gentleman with money
sufficient for his occasions, in consequence of a minute inquiry he had
made into the character of Renaldo, who was, by all reports, a youth of
strict honour and untainted morals.
Madam Clement, thus cautioned, entered into deliberation with her own
thoughts, and, comparing the particulars of this account with those of
Monimia’s own story, she concluded that Fathom was the very traitor he
himself had described; and that he had, by abusing the confidence of
both, effected a fatal breach between two innocent and deserving
lovers. She accordingly looked upon him with horror and detestation;
but nevertheless resolved to treat him with civility in the meantime,
that the poor young lady might not be disturbed in her last moments;
for she had now lost all hopes of her recovery. Yet the fever abated,
and in two days she retrieved the use of her reason; though the
distemper had affected her lungs, and she was in all appearance doomed
to linger a few weeks longer in a consumption.
Fathom was punctual in his visitation, though never admitted into her
presence after the delirium vanished; and he had the opportunity of
seeing her conveyed in a chariot to Kensington Gravel Pits, a place
which may be termed the last stage of many a mortal peregrination. He
now implicitly believed that death would in a few days baffle all his
designs upon the unfortunate Monimia; and foreseeing that, as he had
owned himself her husband, he might be obliged to defray the expenses
incurred by her sickness and burial, he very prudently intermitted in
his visits, and had recourse to the intelligence of his auxiliary.
As for Monimia, she approached the goal of life, not simply with
resignation, but with rapture. She enjoyed in tranquillity the
conversation of her kind benefactress, who never stirred from her
apartment; she was blessed with the spiritual consolation of a worthy
clergyman, who removed all her religious scruples; and she
congratulated herself on the near prospect of that land of peace where
sorrow is not known.
At length Mrs. la Mer gave notice to our adventurer of this amiable
young lady’s decease, and the time fixed for the interment. Upon which
these two virtuous associates took possession of a place from whence
they could, unperceived, behold the funeral. He must have a hard heart,
who, without an emotion of pity, can see the last offices performed to
a young creature cut off in the flower of youth and beauty, even though
he knows not her name, and is an utter stranger to her virtues. How
callous then must the soul of that wretch have been, who, without a
symptom of remorse or concern, saw the sable hearse adorned with white
plumes, as emblems of Monimia’s purity, pass before him, while her
incomparable merit stood full in his remembrance, and he knew himself
the wicked cause of her untimely fate!
Perfidious wretch! thy crimes turn out so atrocious, that I half repent
me of having undertaken to record thy memoirs; yet such monsters ought
to be exhibited to public view, that mankind may be upon their guard
against imposture; that the world may see how fraud is apt to overshoot
itself; and that, as virtue, though it may suffer for a while, will