The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete
interesting event, and the hour of appointment arrived, the bridegroom,
accompanied by his father-in-law, hastened to the place of rendezvous,
which was the vestry-room of the church we have already described;
where they were received by the good clergyman in his canonicals; and
here they had not waited many minutes, when they were joined by Madam
Clement and the amiable bride, escorted by the friendly physician, who
had all along borne such a share in their concerns. Serafina was
dressed in a sack of white satin, and the ornaments of her head were
adjusted in the Spanish fashion, which gave a peculiar air to her
appearance, and an additional spirit to those attractions which engaged
the heart of each beholder. There was nothing remarkable in the habit
of Renaldo, who had copied the plainness and elegance of his mistress;
but, when she entered the place, his features were animated with a
double proportion of vivacity, and their eyes meeting, seemed to kindle
a blaze which diffused warmth and joy through the countenances of all
present.
After a short pause, her father led her to the altar, and gave her away
to the transported Renaldo, before the priest who performed the
ceremony, and bestowed the nuptial benediction on this enraptured pair.
The sanction of the church being thus obtained, they withdrew into the
vestry, where Melvil sealed his title on her rosy lips, and presented
his wife to the company, who embraced her in their turns, with fervent
wishes for their mutual happiness.
Though the scene of this transaction was remote from any inhabited
neighbourhood, the church was surrounded by a crowd of people, who,
with uncommon demonstration of surprise and admiration, petitioned
Heaven to bless so fair a couple. Such indeed was their eagerness to
see them, that some lives were endangered by the pressure of the crowd,
which attended them with loud acclamations to the coach, after the
bridegroom had deposited in the hands of the minister one hundred
pounds for the benefit of the poor of that parish, and thrown several
handfuls of money among the multitude. Serafina re-embarked in Madam
Clement’s convenience, with that good lady and Don Diego, while
Renaldo, with the clergyman and doctor, followed in Joshua’s coach, to
a pleasant country-house upon the Thames, at a distance of a few miles
from London. This the Jew had borrowed from the owner for a few days,
and there they were received by that honest Hebrew, who had provided a
very elegant entertainment for the occasion. He had also bespoke a
small but excellent band of music, which regaled their ears while they
sat at dinner; and the afternoon being calm and serene, he prevailed on
them to take the air on the river, in a barge which he had prepared for
the purpose.
But, notwithstanding this diversity of amusement, Renaldo would have
found it the longest day he had ever passed, had not his imagination
been diverted by an incident which employed his attention during the
remaining part of the evening. They had drunk tea, and engaged in a
party at whist, when they were surprised with a noise of contention
from a public-house, that fronted the windows of the apartment in which
they sat. Alarmed at this uproar, they forsook their cards, and,
throwing up the casement, beheld a hearse surrounded by four men on
horseback, who had stopped the carriage, and violently pulled the
driver from his seat. This uncommon arrest had engaged the curiosity of
the publican’s family, who stood at the door to observe the
consequence, when all of a sudden appeared a person in canonicals, well
mounted, who, riding up to those who maltreated the driver, bestowed
upon one of them such a blow with the butt-end of his whip, as laid him
sprawling on the ground; and, springing from his saddle upon the box,
took the reins into his own hand, swearing with great vehemence, that
he would murder every man who should attempt to obstruct the hearse.
The good priest who had married Renaldo was not a little scandalised at
this ferocious behaviour in a clergyman, and could not help saying
aloud, he was a disgrace to the cloth when the horseman looking up to
the window, replied, “Sir, may I be d—n’d, if any man in England has a
greater respect for the cloth than I have; but at present I am quite
distracted.” So saying, he whipped up the horses, and had actually
disentangled the hearse from those who surrounded it, when he was
opposed by another troop, one of whom alighted with great expedition,
and cut the harness so as that he could not possibly proceed. Finding
himself thus driven to bay, he leaped upon the ground, and exercised
his weapon with such amazing strength and agility, that several of his
antagonists were left motionless on the field, before he was
overpowered and disarmed by dint of numbers, who assailed him on all
sides.
The mad parson being thus taken prisoner, an elderly person, of a very
prepossessing appearance, went up to the hearse, and, unbolting the
door, a young lady sprung out, and shrieking, ran directly to the
public-house, to the infinite astonishment and affright of the whole
family, who believed it was the spirit of the deceased person, whose
body lay in the carriage. Renaldo, who was with difficulty restrained
from interposing in behalf of the clergyman against such odds, no
sooner perceived this apparition, than, supposing her to be some
distressed damsel, his Quixotism awoke, he descended in an instant, and
rushed into the house, among those that pursued the fair phantom. Don
Diego and the physician took the same road, while the real clergyman
and Joshua tarried with the ladies, who were, by this time, very much
interested in the event.
Melvil found the young lady in the hands of the old gentleman, who had
released her from the hearse, and who now bitterly upbraided her for
her folly and disobedience; while she protested with great vivacity,
that whatever she might suffer from his severity, she would never
submit to the hateful match he had proposed, nor break the promise she
had already made to the gentleman who now attempted to rescue her from
the tyranny of a cruel father. This declaration was followed by a
plentiful shower of tears, which the father could not behold with
unmoistened eyes, although he reviled her with marks of uncommon
displeasure; and turning to the Count, “I appeal to you, sir,” said he,
“whether I have not reason to curse the undutiful obstinacy of that
pert baggage, and renounce her for ever as an alien to my blood. She
has, for some months, been solicited in marriage by an honest citizen,
a thirty thousand pound man; and instead of listening to such an
advantageous proposal, she hath bestowed her heart upon a young fellow
not worth a groat. Ah! you degenerate hussy, this comes of your plays
and romances. If thy mother were not a woman of an unexceptionable life
and conversation, I should verily believe thou art no child of mine.
Run away with a beggar! for shame!”
“I suppose,” replied Renaldo, “the person to whom your daughter’s
affection inclines, is that clergyman who exerted himself so manfully
at the door?” “Clergyman!” cried the other, “adad! he has more of the
devil than the church about him. A ruffian! he has, for aught I know,
murdered the worthy gentleman whom I intended for my son-in-law; and
the rogue, if I had not kept out of his way, would, I suppose, have
served me with the same sauce. Me! who have been his master for many
years, and had resolved to make a man of him. Sir, he was my own clerk,
and this is the return I have met with from the serpent which I
cherished in my bosom.”
Here he was interrupted by the arrival of the citizen for whom he had
expressed such concern; that gentleman had received a contusion upon
one eye, by which the sight was altogether obstructed, so that he
concluded he should never retrieve the use of that organ, and with
great clamour took all the spectators to witness the injury he had
sustained; he entered the room with manifest perturbation, demanded
satisfaction of the father, and peremptorily declared it should not be
a lost eye to him if there was law in England. This unseasonable
demand, and the boisterous manner in which it was made, did not at all
suit the present humour of the old gentleman, who told him peevishly he
owed him no eye, and bade him go and ask reparation of the person who
had done him wrong.
The young lady snatching this favourable occasion, earnestly entreated
Melvil and his company to intercede with her father in behalf of her
lover, who, she assured them, was a young gentleman of a good family,
and uncommon merit; and in compliance with her request they invited him
and his daughter to the house in which they lodged, where they would be
disencumbered of the crowd which this dispute had gathered together,
and more at leisure to consult about the measures necessary to be
taken. The old gentleman thanked them for their courtesy, which he did
not think proper to refuse, and while he led, or rather hauled
Mademoiselle over the way, under the auspices of the Castilian, Renaldo
set the lover at liberty, made him a tender of his good offices, and
advised him to wait at the public-house for an happy issue of their
negotiation.
The pseudo-parson was very much affected by this generous proffer, for
which he made suitable acknowledgments, and protested before God he
would die a thousand deaths rather than part with his dear Charlotte.
Her father no sooner entered the apartment, than he was known by Joshua
to be a considerable trader in the city of London, and the merchant was
glad to find himself among his acquaintance. He was so full of the
story which had brought him thither, that he had scarce sat down when
he began to complain of his hard fate, in having an only child who was
so mean, stubborn, and contumacious; and every sentence was concluded
with an apostrophe of reproaches to the delinquent.
The Jew having allowed him to ring out his alarm, condoled his
misfortune, and gravely counselled the young lady to wean her
affections from such an unworthy object, for he supposed her favourite
was a man of no principle, or liberal endowments, otherwise her father
would not exclaim so bitterly against her conduct. Charlotte, who
wanted neither beauty nor understanding, assured him that her lover’s
character was, in all respects, unblemished, for the truth of which
assertion she appealed to her papa, who owned, with reluctance, that
the young man was a gentleman by birth, that he had served him with
remarkable diligence and integrity, and that his accomplishments were
far superior to his station in life. “But then,” said he, “the fellow
has not a shilling of his own, and would you have me give away my
daughter to a beggar?”
“God forbid!” cried the Jew, “I always understood you possessed an
ample fortune, and am sorry to find it otherwise.” “Otherwise!” cried
the citizen, with some acrimony, “take care what you say, sir; a
merchant’s credit is not to be tampered with.” “I beg your pardon,”
answered the Hebrew, “I concluded that your circumstances were bad,
because you objected to the poverty of the young man after you had
owned he was possessed of every other qualification to make your
daughter happy; for it is not to be imagined that you would thwart her
inclinations, or seek to render an only child miserable on account of
an obstacle which you yourself could easily remove. Let us suppose you
can afford to give with your daughter ten thousand pounds, which would
enable this young man to live with credit and reputation, and engage
advantageously in trade, for which you say he is well qualified, the
alternative then will be, whether you would rather see her in the arms
of a deserving youth whom she loves, enjoying all the comforts of life