The Duke took, however, possession of his apartments, and suddenly a dreadful noise arose in the yard. Our two servants had been watering their horses, while the Duke's people had quartered theirs in our liable, which appeared to them to be more commodious, and better than the rest. Our trusty esquires were astonished. To find, on their return, the receptacle of their beasts occupied by new inhabitants; and having not the least inclination to be dislodged, Antonio dismounted silently, with all possible Spanish grandezza, led the intruders into the yard, and put his horses in possession of their former station, in presence of all the servants, who were struck with astonishment on seeing the beasts of an English Peer treated thus disrespectfully, and dislodged by two miserable hacks, as they were pleased to call them.
Their indignation soon broke out into dreadful curses, and they asked Alfonso, with kindling rage, how be dared to remove move the horses of an English Lord. A loud laugh was the only answer my servant returned. He locked the liable, and having put the key coolly into his pocket, -was going to step into the house. The Duke's servants seeing themselves treated with so much disrespect grew furious; and the contest soon became so clamorous and warm, that the Peer, hearing the voices of his people, opened the window of his bed-chamber, and desired to know the cause of their quarrel. Being informed of Alfonso's temerity, he ordered him, in a domineering accent, to deliver up the key, and to put his horses into another liable. The servants exulted already at their supposed victory; but Alfonso pleaded, with the greatest civility, his prior claims to the liable, and declared that he rather would lose his life than give up the key. The Peer being highly exasperated at his obstinacy, ordered his servants to take it from him by force; and his people having only waited for the signal of attack, fell furiously upon poor Alfonso. The honest fellow being assailed by seven strong and lusty men, saw no other expedient of saving the key, than to throw it into an open window, which went into the kitchen where the landlady was busily occupied with the Count's rice cream.
She had been amused already for some time by the scene which was acting under her window, and secretly applauded Alfonso's spirited conduct. He possessed, like my friend S******i, a secret charm to ingratiate himself with all the landladies we met with on our journey; and our hostess no sooner saw him fling the key into the kitchen, than she took it for a signal to come to his assistance, and instantly armed herself with her largest skimmer to terminate the contest. She was firmly resolved to hit a sound blow at the lusty fellow who had seized her dear Alfonso by the collar, when the landlord appeared oil the field of battle, carrying the bottle with the costly wine, which he had got at last, after numberless fruitless inquiries, triumphantly under his arm. He was instantly informed of the cause of the contest in a most clamorous manner, and hastened with his yoke-mate to poor Alfonso's relief.
The Duke's servants being more desirous to get the key into their possession than to vent their vengeance against my man, had already unhanded him, when they came up with them, without having done him any other harm than beating a hole into his head as large as a shilling. It may easily be conceived what a terrible clamour our landlady raised when she beheld the broken head of her favourite. "Good god! what will the dear gentlemen say on their return!" she exclaimed ever and anon. "Holy Peter! how they will be enraged!" Mean time, one of the Duke's servants attempted to get into the house to, fetch the key, which she no sooner perceived, than she hit him such a dreadful blow with her culinary weapon in the face, that the poor fellow staggered back with a roaring yell.
The Duke now ordered his people to desist from all further contention -, for although he was an Englishman, yet he did not possess a large share of that undaunted courage for which his countrymen are renowned; and having learnt, by the exclamation of the landlady, that Alfonso had a master, which till then had not come into his Lordship's mind, he thought it prudent to proceed with less violence. The hostess did, however, no sooner espy him at the window, than she let loose the reins of her tongue, thinking him to be the chief cause of that incident. She read such a lecture to the Englishman on the impudence of his people, as he probably never had heard before. Her husband too, who was not in the habit of agreeing with his loving spouse, was of the same opinion with her, declaring that the stable could be parted with for no price.
The Duke thinking the honour of his nation was at stake, looked upon this Philippic as a challenge to throw some guineas out of the window: however, that indelicate expedient only served to exasperate the host more violently; yet he contented himself with kicking them indignantly aside, and proceeded to the Duke's apartment, to remonstrate with him on his conduct. The latter was, by our host's obstinacy, inflamed with such an eagerness of getting possession of the liable, that he offered a considerable fum of money; and at last threatened to quit the house immediately. But neither the one nor the other made the least impression upon the headstrong landlord; and the Peer was, at length, obliged to drop the contest, because he knew that he could not get post-horses before the next day, and apprehended that he should find no accommodation in another inn.
The host was just going to quit the apartment, when the Duke received the bottle he carried under his arm. He inquired after the name of the wine, and it happened unfortunately to be his Lordship's favourite liquor. He began, therefore, to make new offers; but the host was equally inexorable: nay, he was even so malicious as to extoll the deliciousness of the wine to the skies; adding, that he had found it extremely difficult to get a. bottle of it, and that he would take no price for it. The Duke inquiring after the reason of such strange behaviour, the host, who was impatient to display his attachment to the Count, enumerated our merits in a most hyperbolical manner, and laid a particular stress on the description he was pleased to give of our noble spirit and bravery. "These two gentlemen do, indeed, travel in a simple and unexpensive manner," he concluded: "however, I will be hanged if they are not two foreign princes who travel incognito." These words had the desired effect on the Duke: he now began seriously to think that his heat had missed him to commit a very foolish action, and asked the landlord, with visible perplexity, how he thought Alfonso could be indemnified bed. The landlord shook his head, declaring, that he was afraid it could not be done by money; and an attempt which the Duke made to that purpose confirmed his supposition. We returned from our excursion in the moment the landlord had finished his parley. The Duke was at the window, and seemed to be astonished at the majestic appearance of the Count, whose uncommonly beautiful horse was prancing in the yard. The noble animal was of a high mettle, and gave his rider an opportunity of displaying his skill in horsemanship. Meanwhile the landlady came running out of the house to seize the reins of the horse, thinking the Count was in danger; and Alfonso, whose head was bound up, was close at her heels. We dismounted; and seeing a number of strange servants in the house, could partly guess at the affair.
Having patiently listened to the minute account of our kind landlady, we found that it was of a complexion which made it necessary we should wait upon his Lordship immediately. He received us with an incredible perplexity, which he drove to conceal as much as possible. My address was very short; and, without mentioning our names, or inquiring for his, I asked him what sort of satisfaction he meant to give to my servant for the ill treatment of which be had been the principal cause? He started some difficulties; but at length grew more.reasonable, begging my pardon; and we parted with mutual civility. We frequently met with similar instances; for the vanity of men is greater than their desire for gain. We had entirely diverted ourselves of our rank and dignity; and without abandoning only for a moment, that elegance of deportment which always distinguishes a man of noble birth and a good education, flattered the passions and prejudices of every one. Little friends ought not to be slighted, as well as petty enemies; and we frequently received the greatest: services from people of whom we had not expected the smallest kindness. The innkeepers and their people rivalled every where to treat us as well as possible: the less we requ
ired, and the more satisfied we seemed to be with what they could give us, the more did they exert themselves to render us every kind of service, and to anticipate our wishes the consequence of which was, that we never had any reason to complain of the influence and the imposition of the landlords; and we were convinced, by repeated experience, that travellers generally have to accuse no person but themselves if they are not well treated by the innkeepers.. One evening we had already left Chartres far behind us, and approached a village, whose solitary, but romantic, situation promised us, if not a convenient, at least an agreeable, accommodation for the night. We had made it a rule to decline as much as possible from the high road, bending our course generally towards a village on the top of a rising eminence, or secluded from the rest of the world in a deep valley. There nature was purer, happiness more artless; the inhabitants were handsomer and more cordial; and the reception was kinder than in the neighbourhood of more cultivated manners.
And why did we travel? Was a static speculation, or the examination of the different degrees of morality, or of churches and steeples, or of bridges and edifices; were the fine arts, or any thing of that kind, the objects of our peregrination? Certainly not. If one is desirous to travel for that purpose, one must not flop long at Paris, where speculation finds such an ample scope, and where the finest products of art, and the objects of the most luxuriant physical and moral refinement are so numerous, that a residence of a twelvemonth at that gay capital blunts the senses and the mind almost entirely; takes away every relish for such objects, at least for a considerable time; and excites an irresistible desire to fly from that fatiguing bustle, and to rest the weary mind, and the satiated senses, on the bosom of pure and artless nature. This was our aim, and constituted, our sole pleasure.
The hamlet, which now hailed our eyes, seemed to consist only of a few houses; and reclined so artfully against the steep declivity of a rock, that it was almost perpendicularly suspended over a precipice. The eminence terminated, on both sides, in a plain, which was covered with a number of a fertile hillocks, and exhibited a variegated mixture of garden ground, meadows, and wood. Art seemed to have joined with nature to mix the colours in the most pleasing manner.
The sensations of the traveller chiefly depend upon trifles. Nothing, therefore, produces a more picturesque effect than the rising smoke of a solitary chimney concealed between a cluster of trees. Hunger, fatigue, and curiosity, lead us to form an idea conformable to the disposition of our imagination, or to the wants of the moment of the scene which is before us: we anticipate the enjoyment of every thing we expect to find, mould the faces into the form in which we wish to meet them, and reduce the circumstances to the shape that would be the most convenient to us. Nothing is truer than that not the enjoyment makes u& happy, but its approach
CHAPTER VII
It was Sunday when we arrived at the hamlet. All the inhabitants were assembled beneath a large walnut tree, and their joy was rather clamorous. One must have seen French peasants, to form an adequate idea of the scene which presented itself to our eyes. The oppressed and the poor generally abandon themselves to excesses whenever they can catch a moment of liberty, tranquillity, and superfluity; and the human heart, which much sooner is urged from one extreme to the other than cooled to moderation, destroys, without hesitation, a part of future pleasure, while it abandons itself to the rapid torrent of present gratification.
The young people danced, and the girls were adorned with autumnal flowers. Some branches composed charming huts, where we received refreshments spread on benches. Their whole orchestra consisted of a single fiddle, a tambourine, a fife, and a clarinet: however, the female dancers moved with so much agility and natural grace, that the eyes were indemnified for what the ears missed. We passed the dancers in a hard trot, being impatient to arrive at the inn which was on the other side of the hamlet. The curiosity of seeing us ride by, put a momentary stop to the the dance and the music, which began again as soon as we were past, with the same unconstraint as if no observers were near. Our dress was soon changed: the Count put on a slight white night-gown: I followed his example; and thus accoutred, we went in our slippers to the dancing place, attended by our landlady, who gazed with visible delight at my friend's elegant form and graceful carriage. I also could not help making the same remarks I read on her countenance. He had the appearance of a king in disguise. His soft blue eye glittered with that tranquil majesty, which peacefully raised itself above the pressure of sorrows; his looks spoke the sweet language of general benevolence; and his colour, which commonly was rather pale, had been animated, by exercise and good humour, with a rosy hue, which was charmingly set off by the disorder of his brown hair. The noble grace of his gait, and of his whole carriage, easily could tempt one to believe that was an inhabitant of Heaven's realms, who had left his celestial abode to bless the mortal race.
When we approached the dancing place, we observed some motions among the merry company. They seemed to consult how we should be received: however, we joined them with as much ease as if we had lived many years amongst them; saluted every one, and shook hands with those who were most contiguous to us. The little confusion our arrival had caused was thereby instantly dispelled; and when we told them that we wished to take a cordial share in their joy, they raised a loud shout of satisfaction. We were led to the best seat: the oldest of the happy circle offered us wine, figs, almonds, and grapes; and the music and dancing began anew.
Having refreshed ourselves sufficiently, we did not hesitate to mix with the dancers. The Count chose a partner; and I also had no difficulty to find one for my self. The vanity which our charmers felt at that preferment, soon raised them above the reserve which is natural to the female sex; and the blushing, innocent damsels joined their hands cheerfully with ours. The Count's partner was a tall, jolly brunette; and I was coupled to a little, languishing girl. The former was by far too fiery for the character of her partner, and the latter too gentle for me; yet the beauty of their form, the simple, animated and well conducted dance, which unfolded their charms in the most advantageous manner, soon made us forget the reciprocal contrast of our dispositions.
Annette, the partner of my friend, had the finest shape I ever beheld; a small, pale face, full and rosy lips, and a round voluptuous chin. Her black eyes spoke, or, at least, would not speak, much that evening; for I remarked afterwards that they could be pretty eloquent. She sported with the innocent caresses of the poor Count, who seemed to be enchanted with her, though he was not wont to brook female severity. He was probably so pliant at first merely for the sake of amusement, but at last his sentiments took a more serious turn.
Lucy, my fair partner, was Annette's younger sister, and quite the reverse of her; a little, languishing, puny being, of uncommonly fine limbs, and a most pliant make. Her soft eye, overshaded with long, brown eye-lashes, seemed, indeed, not to be an entire stranger to roguish coquetry; yet it displayed more modest goodness than wantonness. It burned with a wish, with a secret desire, for a certain something, which she, perhaps, had no clear notion of, or at least, seemed never to have found as yet. Her bosom spoke the same language, as well as the blushes of her dimpled cheeks, when I pressed her little charming hand. Her feelings certainly were strong, and she only was at a loss how to express them. She had too little energy of body and of mind, and for that reason, seemed not to be susceptible of a higher culture, as she indeed was sensible of the impression of the present moment, but did not retain it long.
We spent the evening in congenial, artless pleasure, frequently changed our partners, according to the established custom, but always returned to those our good fortune had bestowed upon us at first. The Count's charming impartiality forsook him at once, and I did not hesitate to imitate his example, impelled, as it were, by an unaccountable secret enchantment. If one has, or only imagines to have, received some pleasing sensual gratification, the first impression, the first taste, always predominates strongly among those that succeed it. There were at lea
st twenty lovely figures among these little sweet country girls, that were prettier and more charming than our partners; however, we were almost entirely insensible to their beauty. The secret impulse that urged us to return to our charmers, cannot be called love, it rather was a strange sort of nameless desire. The shape and the manners of the lovers inspired the rest with a jealousy which rather seemed to be owing to offended vanity than to a particular inclination towards us. The general good understanding was soon interrupted; the favoured fair ones indulged themselves with several little liberties; the rest did not care to disguise their indignation; and, besides, we were not the sole lovers of our partners. It was owing merely to the supposed superiority of our rank, which was confirmed by the noble carriage of the Count, that this general disatisfaction did not break out: however the silence which began to prevail around us rapidly increased every moment; the general inebriation of pleasure gradually vanished as one little troop separated itself by degrees from the rest; and those who were inspired with similar sentiments, retired at some distance in small groups, taking no farther share in our diversion.
The Complete Northanger Horrid Novel Collection (9 Books of Gothic Romance and Horror) Page 144
