CHAPTER V.
HOW KITTY WORE HER CROWN.
Thus happily began our stay at Epsom Wells.
After our morning walk we returned home, being both fatigued with theexcitement and late hours, and one, at least, desirous to sit alone andthink about the strange and perilous adventure of the evening. Strange,indeed; since when before did a man dance with his own wife and notrecognise her? Perilous, truly, for should that man go away and giveno more heed to his wife, then would poor Kitty be lost for ever. Foralready was her heart engaged in this adventure, and, like a gambler,she had staked her whole upon a single chance. Fortunately for her, thestake was consecrated with tears of repentance, bitterness of shame,and prayers for forgiveness.
Mrs. Esther gently dozed away the morning over "Pamela." I was occupiedwith needlework. Cicely ran in and out of the room, looking as if shelonged to speak, but dared not for fear of waking madam.
After a while she beckoned me to the door, and whispered me thatoutside was a higgler with ducklings and cherries, should we please tochoose them for our dinner. I followed her, and after a bargain, inwhich the Surrey maiden showed herself as good as if she had been bredin Fleet Market (though without the dreadful language), she began uponthe business which she was burning to tell me.
"Sure, Miss Kitty," she said, "all the world is talking this morningabout the beautiful Miss Pleydell. The book-shop is full of nothingelse, the gentlemen in the coffee-house can talk of nothing but ofMiss Pleydell, and up and down the Terrace it is nothing but, 'Oh,madam, did you see the dancing of Miss Pleydell last night?' 'Dearmadam, did you remark the dress of Miss Pleydell?' And 'Can you tellme whence she comes, this beautiful Miss Pleydell?' And the men areall sighing as if their hearts would burst, poor fellows! And theysay that Lord Chudleigh gave a supper after the ball to the gentlemenof his acquaintance, when he toasted the beautiful Miss Pleydell. Ohthe happiness! He is a young nobleman with a great estate, and saidto be of a most virtuous and religious disposition. The gentlemen aremounting ribbons in honour of the peerless Kitty, so I hear--and youwill not be offended at their venturing so to take your name--and, witha little encouragement, they will all be fighting for a smile from thefair Kitty."
"Silly girl, to repeat such stories!"
"Nay," she replied, "it is all truth, every word. They say that neversince the Wells began has there been such a beauty. The oldest dipper,old Mrs. Humphreys, who is past eighty, declares that Miss Pleydellis the loveliest lady that ever came to Epsom. When you go out thisafternoon you will be finely beset."
And so on, all the morning, as her occasion brought her into the room,whisking about, duster in hand, and always clatter, clatter, like themill-wheel. After dinner we received a visit from no other than LordChudleigh himself.
He offered a thousand apologies for presenting himself without askingpermission, kindly adding, that however he might find Miss Kitty,whether dressed or in dishabille, she could not be otherwise thancharming. I know one person who thought Kitty in her morning frock,muslin pinner, and brown hair (which was covered with little curls),looped up loosely, or allowed to flow freely to her waist, prettierthan Kitty dressed up in hoop, and patches, and powder. It was themirror which told that person so, and she never dared to tell it to anyother.
He had ventured, he said, still speaking to Mrs. Esther, to present anoffering of flowers and fruit sent to him that morning from his countryhouse in Kent; and then Cicely brought upstairs the most beautifulbasket ever seen, filled with the finest flowers, peaches, plums,apricots, and cherries. I had seen none such since I said farewell tothe old Vicarage garden, where all those things grew better, I believe,than anywhere else in England.
"My lord," said my aunt, quite confused at such a gift, suchcondescension! "What can we say but that we accept the present mostgratefully."
"Indeed, madam," he replied, "there is nothing to say. I am trulypleased that my poor house is able to provide a little pleasure to twoladies. It is the first time, I assure you, that I have experienced thejoy of possessing my garden."
Then he went on to congratulate Mrs. Esther on my appearance at theball.
"I hear," he said, "that on the Terrace and in the coffee-house onehears nothing but the praises of the fair Miss Pleydell."
I blushed, not so much at hearing my name thus mentioned, because I wasalready (in a single day--fie, Kitty!) accustomed and, so to speak,hardened, but because he smiled as he spoke. My lord's smile was notlike some men's, bestowed upon every trifle; but, like his speech,considered. I fear, indeed, that even then, so early in the day, myheart was already thoroughly possessed of his image.
"The child," said Mrs. Esther, "must not have her head turned byflattery. Yet, I own, she looked and moved like one of the threeGraces. Yet we who love her must not spoil her. It was her first ball,and she did her best, poor child, to acquit herself with credit."
"Credit," said my lord kindly, "is a poor, cold word to use for such agrace."
"We thank your lordship." Mrs. Esther bowed with dignity. This,surely, was a return to the Pimpernel Manner. "We have been livingin seclusion, for reasons which need not be related, for some time.Therefore, Kitty has never been before to any public assembly. To besure, I do not approve of bringing forward young girls too early;although, for my own part, I had already at her age been present atseveral entertainments of the most sumptuous and splendid character,not only at Bagnigge Wells and Cupid's Garden, but also at many greatcity feasts and banquets for the reception of illustrious personages,particularly in the year of grace, 1718, when my lamented father wasLord Mayor of London."
The dear lady could never avoid introducing the fact that she was thushonourably connected.
Lord Chudleigh, however, seemed interested. I learned, later, thatsome had been putting about, among other idle rumours, that I was thedaughter of a tattered country curate.
"Indeed," he said, "I knew not that the late Mr. Pleydell had been theLord Mayor. It is a most distinguished position."
"Not Mr. Pleydell, my lord. Sir Samuel Pimpernel, Knight, my father,was the Lord Mayor in question. His father was Lord Mayor before him.Kitty Pleydell is not my blood relation, but my niece and ward byadoption. Her father was a most distinguished Cambridge scholar anddivine."
"There are Pleydells," said Lord Chudleigh, "in Warwickshire.Perhaps----"
"My father," I said, "was rector of a country parish in Kent, whereSir Robert Levett hath a large estate. He was the younger son of theWarwickshire family of that name, and died in the spring of last year.My relations of that county I have never met. Now, my lord, you have mygenealogy complete."
"It is an important thing to know," he said, laughing; "in a placelike Epsom, where scandal is the staple of talk, as many freedomsare taken with a lady's family as with her reputation. I am gladto be provided with an answer to those who would enact the part oftown-crier or backbiter, a character here greatly aspired to. No doubtthe agreeable ladies whose tongues in the next world will surely beconverted into two-edged swords, have already furnished Miss Kitty withhighwaymen, tallow-chandlers, or attorneys for ancestors, and Wapping,Houndsditch, or the Rules of the Fleet"--it was lucky that Mrs. Estherhad a fan--"for their place of residence. In the same way, they havemost undoubtedly proved to each other that she has not a feature worthlooking at, that her eyes squint--pray pardon me, Miss Kitty--her hairis red, her figure they would have the audacity to call crooked, andher voice they would maliciously say was cracked. It is the joy ofthese people to detract from merit. You can afford to be charitable,Miss Kitty. The enumeration of impossible disgraces and the distortionof the rarest charms afford these ladies some consolation for theirenvy and disappointment."
"I hope, my lord," I said, "that it will not afford me a consolationor happiness to believe that my sex is so mean and envious thus totreat a harmless stranger."
He laughed.
"When Miss Kitty grows older," he said to Mrs Esther, "she will learnto place less confidence in her fellows."
; "Age," said Mrs. Esther sadly, "brings the knowledge of evil. Let noneof us wish to grow older. Not that your lordship hath yet gained theright to boast this knowledge."
Then my lord proceeded to inform us that he purposed presenting someof the ladies of the Wells with an entertainment, such as it seems isexpected from gentlemen of his rank.
"But I would not," he said, "invite the rest of the company before Ihad made sure that the Queen of the Wells would honour me with herpresence. I have engaged the music, and if the weather holds fine wewill repair to Durdans Park, where we shall find dancing on the grass,with lamps in the trees, supper, and such amusements as ladies love andwe can provide."
This was indeed a delightful prospect; we accepted with great joy, andso, with protestations of service, his lordship departed.
"There is," said Mrs. Esther, "about the manners of the great acharming freedom. Good breeding is to manners what Christianity isto religion. It is, if one may reverently say so, a law of perfectliberty. My dear, I think that we are singularly fortunate in havingat the Wells so admirable a young nobleman, as well as our friends(also well-bred gentlefolks) Sir Robert and Lady Levett. I hear thatthe young Lord Eardesley is also at the Wells, and was at last night'sassembly; and no doubt there are other members of the aristocracy bywhom we shall be shortly known. You observed, Kitty, the interest shownby his lordship, when I delicately alluded to the rank and exaltedstation of my late father. It is well for people to know, wherever weare, and especially when we are in the society of nobility, that weare not common folk. What ancestors did his lordship say that envioustongues would give us--tallow-chandlers? attorneys? A lying andcensorious place, indeed!"
Later on, we put on our best and sallied forth, dressed for the eveningin our hoops, patches and powder, but not so fine as for Monday'sball. The Terrace and New Parade were crowded with people, and verysoon we were surrounded by gentlemen anxious to establish a reputationfor wit or position by exchanging a few words with the Reigning Beautyof the season--none other, if you please, than Kitty Pleydell.
But to think in how short a time--only a few hours, a singlenight--that girl was so changed that she accepted, almost withoutwondering, all the incense of flattery that was offered up to her! Yetshe knew, being a girl of some sense, that it was unreal, and couldnot mean anything; else a woman so bepraised and flattered would loseher head. The very extravagance of gallantry preserves the sex fromthat calamity. A woman must be a fool indeed who can really believethat her person is that of a Grace, her smile the smile of Venus, herbeauty surpassing that of Helen, and her wit and her understanding thatof Sappho. She knows better: she knows that her wit is small and pettybeside the wit of a man: her wisdom nothing but to learn a little ofwhat men have said: her very beauty, of which so much is said, but aflower of a few years, whereas the beauty of manhood lasts all a life.Therefore, when all is said and done, the incense burned, the mockprayers said, the hymn of flattery sung, and the Idol bedecked withflowers and gems, she loves to step down from the altar, slip away fromthe worshippers, and run to a place in the meadows, where waits a swainwho will say: "Sweet girl, I love thee--with all thy faults!"
On this day, therefore, began my brief reign as Queen of the Wells. Mr.Walsingham was one of the first to salute me. With courtly grace hebowed low, saying--
"We greet our Queen, and trust her Majesty is in health and spirits."
Then all the gentlemen round formed a lane, down which we walked, myold courtier marching backwards.
The scene, Mrs. Esther said afterwards, reminded her of a certain daylong ago, when they crowned a Queen of Beauty at Bagnigge Wells, in thepresence of the Lord Mayor, her father.
To be sure, it was a very pretty sight to watch all these gallantsmaking legs and handling their canes with such grace as each couldcommand, some of them having studied in those noble schools of manners,the _salons_ of Paris or the reception-rooms of great ladies in London.Yet it was certain to me that not one of them could compare with mylord--my own lord, I mean.
Presently we came upon Lady Levett and her party, when, after a fewwords of kind greeting from her ladyship, and an admonition not tobelieve more of what I was told than I knew to be true, we divided,Nancy coming with me and Mrs. Esther remaining with Lady Levett. Themusic was playing and the sun shining, but a fine air blew from theDowns, and we were beneath the shade of the trees. We sat upon one ofthe benches, and the gentlemen gathered round us.
"Gentlemen," said Nancy, "I am the Queen's maid of honour. You mayall of you do your best to amuse her Majesty--and me. We give youpermission to exhaust yourselves in making the court happy."
What were they to do? What had they to offer? There was a bull-baitingin the market at which my maid of honour cried fie! There was a matchwith quarterstaves on the Downs for the afternoon, but that met withlittle favour.
"We need not leave home," said Nancy, "to see two stout fellows bangeach other about the head with sticks. That amusement may be witnessedany summer evening, with grinning through a horse-collar and fightingwith gloves on the village green at home. Pray go on to the nextamusement on the list. The cock-pit you can leave out."
One young gentleman proposed that we might play with pantines, aridiculous fashion of paper doll then in vogue as a toy for ladieswith nothing to do: another that we should go hear the ingenious Mr.King lecture on Astronomy: another that we should raffle for chocolatecreams: another that we should do nothing at all, "for," said he, "whydo we come to the Wells but for rest and quiet? and if Miss Pleydelland her maid of honour do but grant us the privilege of beholding theircharms, what need we of anything but rest?
"'To walk and dine, and walk and sup, To fill the leisure moments up, Idly enough but to the few Who've really nothing else to do. Yet here the sports exulting reign, And laughing loves, a num'rous train; Here Beauty holds her splendid court, And flatt'ring pleasures here resort.'"
I, for one, should have enjoyed the witnessing of a little sport betterthan the homage of lovers.
"Here is Miss Peggy Baker," cried Nancy, jumping up. "Oh! I _must_speak to my dear friend Miss Peggy."
Miss Baker was walking slowly down the Terrace, accompanied by herlittle troop of admirers. At sight of us her face clouded for a moment,but she quickly recovered and smiled a languid greeting.
"Dear Miss Peggy," cried Nancy--I knew she was going to say somethingmischievous--"you come in the nick of time."
"Pray command me," she replied graciously.
"It is a simple question"--Miss Baker looked suspicious. "Oh! a meretrifle"--Miss Baker looked uneasy. "It is only--pray, gentlemen, wereany of you in the book-shop this morning?"
All protested that they were not--a denial which confirmed my opinionthat impertinence was coming.
"Nay," said Nancy, "we all know the truthfulness of gallants, which isas notorious as their constancy. Had you been there you would not havepaid Miss Pleydell those pretty compliments which are as well deservedas they are sincere. But, Miss Peggy, a scandalous report hath gotabroad. They say that you said, this morning, at the book-shop, thatKitty Pleydell's eyes squinted."
"Oh! oh!" cried Mr. Walsingham, holding up his hands, and all the restcried "Oh! oh!" and held up theirs.
"I vow and protest," cried Peggy Baker, blushing very much. "I vow andprotest----"
"I said," interrupted Nancy, "that it was the cruellest slander. Youare all good-nature. Stand up, Kitty dear. Now tell us, Miss Peggy,before all these gentlemen, do those eyes squint?"
"Certainly not," said poor Peggy, in great confusion.
"Look at them well," continued Nancy. "Brown eyes, full and clear--eyeslike an antelope. Saw any one eyes more straight!"
"Never," said Peggy, fanning herself violently.
"Or more beautiful eyes?"
"Never," replied Miss Peggy.
"There," said Nancy, "I knew it. I said that from the lips of MissPeggy Baker nothing but kind words can fall. You hear, gentlemen; womenare sometimes found who can say
good things of each other: and if wefind the malicious person who dared report that Miss Peggy Baker saidsuch a thing, I hope you will duck her in the horse-pond."
Miss Peggy bowed to us with her most languishing air, and passed on.Nancy held up her hands, while the gentlemen looked at one another andlaughed.
"Oh, calumny!" she cried. "To say that Kitty's eyes were askew!"
For there had been a discussion at the book-shop that morning, inwhich the name of Miss Pleydell was frequently mentioned; and herperson, bearing, and face were all particularly dwelt upon. MissBaker, as usual in their parliaments, spoke oftenest, and with themost animation. She possessed, on such occasions, an insight into thedefects of women that was truly remarkable, and a power of representingthem to others which, while it was eloquent and persuasive, perhapserred on the side of exaggeration. She summed up what she had to say inthese kind words--
"After all, one could forgive fine clothes worn as if the girl hadnever had a dress on fit to be seen before, and manners like a hoydentrying to seem a nun, and the way of dancing taught to the cits who goto Sadler's Wells, and a sunburnt complexion, and hands as big as myfan--all these things are rustic, and might be cured--or endured. But Icannot forgive her squint!"
And now she had to recant publicly, and confess that there was nosquint at all.
This audacious trick of Nancy's was, you may be sure, immediatelyspread abroad, so that for that day at least the unfortunate creaturefound the people looking after and laughing wherever she went.Naturally, she hated me, who really had done her no harm at all, moreand more.
The gentlemen, or one among them, I knew not who, offered this eveninga general tea-drinking with the music. It was served under the treesupon the open walk, and was very gay and merry. After the tea, when theday began to decline, we went to the rooms where, though there was nodancing, there was talking and laughing, in one room, and in the othergames of cards of every kind--cribbage, whist, quadrille, hazard, andlansquenet. We wandered round the tables, watching the players intentupon the chances of the cards. I thought of poor Sir Miles Lackington,who might, had it not been for his love of gaming, have been now, as hebegan, a country gentleman with a fine estate. In this room we foundLord Chudleigh. He was not playing, but was looking on at a table wheresat a young gentleman and an officer in the army. He did not see us,and, under pretence of watching the play of a party of four ladiesplaying quadrille, one of whom was Lady Levett, I sat down to watchhim. Was he a gambler?
I presently discovered that he was not looking at the game, but theplayers. Presently he laid his hand upon the shoulder of the youngerman, and said, in a quiet voice--
"Now, Eardesley, you have had enough. This gentleman knows the gamebetter than you."
"I hope, my lord," cried the other player, springing to his feet, "thatyour lordship doth not insinuate----"
"I speak what I mean, sir. Lord Eardesley will, if he takes my advice,play no more with you."
"Your lordship," cried the gentleman in scarlet, "will perhaps rememberthat you are speaking to a gentleman----"
"Who left Bath, a fortnight ago, under such circumstances as makesit the more necessary for me to warn my friend. No, sir,"--his eyegrew hard, and his face stern. "No, sir. Do not bluster or threaten.I will neither play with you, nor suffer my friends to play with you;nor, sir, will I fight with you, unless you happen to attack me uponthe road. And, sir, if I see you here to-morrow, the master of theceremonies will put you to the door by means of his lackeys. Come,Eardesley."
The gamester, thus roundly accused, began to bluster. His honour was atstake; he had been grossly insulted; he would have the satisfaction ofa gentleman; he would let his lordship know that his rank should notprotect him. With these noble sentiments, he left the room, and theWells saw him no more.
Then, seeing me alone, for I had escaped from my court, being weary ofcompliments and speeches, he came to my chair.
"I saw you, my lord," I said, "rescue that young gentleman from the manwho, I suppose, would have won his money. Is it prudent to engage insuch quarrels?"
"The young gentleman," he replied, "is, in a sense, my ward. The man isa notorious sharper, who hath been lately expelled from Bath, and willnow, I think, find it prudent to leave the Wells. I hope, Miss Kitty,that you do not like gaming?"
"Indeed, my lord, I do not know if I should like what I have nevertried. 'Tis the first time I have seen card-playing."
"Then you must have been brought up in a nunnery."
"Not quite that, but in a village, where, as I have already told you,my father was vicar. I do not know any games of cards."
"How did you amuse yourself in your village?"
"I read, made puddings, worked samplers, cut out and sewed my dresses,and learned lessons with Nancy Levett."
"The pretty little girl who is always laughing? She should alwaysremain young--never grow old and grave. What else did you do?"
"We had a choir for the Sunday psalms--many people came every Sundayto hear us sing. That was another occupation. Then I used to ridewith the boys, or sometimes we would go fishing, or nutting, orblack-berrying--oh! there was plenty to do, and the days were never toolong."
"A better education than most ladies can show," he replied, with hisquiet air of authority.
"And you, my lord. Do you never play cards?"
"No," he replied. "Pray do not question me further on my favouritevices, Miss Kitty. I would not confess all my sins even to so charmingand so kind a confessor as yourself."
"I forgive you, my lord," I said, "beforehand. Especially if youpromise to abandon them all."
"There are sins," he said slowly, "which sometimes leave behind themconsequences which can never be forgotten or undone."
Alas! I knew what he meant. His sin had left him burdened with awife--a creature who had been so wicked as to take advantage of hiswickedness; a woman whom he feared to hear of and already loathed. Poorwife! poor sinner! poor Kitty!
The Chaplain of the Fleet Page 21
