The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders
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very great fortune, and that it lay in theBank of England.
'And now, dear sir,' said I, turning myself to my new spouse again, 'beso just to me as to tell me who has abused both you and me so much asto make you believe I was a fortune, and prompt you to court me to thismarriage?' He could not speak a word, but pointed to her; and, aftersome more pause, flew out in the most furious passion that ever I saw aman in my life, cursing her, and calling her all the whores and hardnames he could think of; and that she had ruined him, declaring thatshe had told him I had #15,000, and that she was to have #500 of himfor procuring this match for him. He then added, directing his speechto me, that she was none of his sister, but had been his whore for twoyears before, that she had had #100 of him in part of this bargain, andthat he was utterly undone if things were as I said; and in his ravinghe swore he would let her heart's blood out immediately, whichfrightened her and me too. She cried, said she had been told so in thehouse where I lodged. But this aggravated him more than before, thatshe should put so far upon him, and run things such a length upon noother authority than a hearsay; and then, turning to me again, saidvery honestly, he was afraid we were both undone. 'For, to be plain,my dear, I have no estate,' says he; 'what little I had, this devil hasmade me run out in waiting on you and putting me into this equipage.'She took the opportunity of his being earnest in talking with me, andgot out of the room, and I never saw her more.
I was confounded now as much as he, and knew not what to say. Ithought many ways that I had the worst of it, but his saying he wasundone, and that he had no estate neither, put me into a meredistraction. 'Why,' says I to him, 'this has been a hellish juggle,for we are married here upon the foot of a double fraud; you are undoneby the disappointment, it seems; and if I had had a fortune I had beencheated too, for you say you have nothing.'
'You would indeed have been cheated, my dear,' says he, 'but you wouldnot have been undone, for #15,000 would have maintained us both veryhandsomely in this country; and I assure you,' added he, 'I hadresolved to have dedicated every groat of it to you; I would not havewronged you of a shilling, and the rest I would have made up in myaffection to you, and tenderness of you, as long as I lived.'
This was very honest indeed, and I really believe he spoke as heintended, and that he was a man that was as well qualified to make mehappy, as to his temper and behaviour, as any man ever was; but hishaving no estate, and being run into debt on this ridiculous account inthe country, made all the prospect dismal and dreadful, and I knew notwhat to say, or what to think of myself.
I told him it was very unhappy that so much love, and so much goodnature as I discovered in him, should be thus precipitated into misery;that I saw nothing before us but ruin; for as to me, it was myunhappiness that what little I had was not able to relieve us week, andwith that I pulled out a bank bill of #20 and eleven guineas, which Itold him I had saved out of my little income, and that by the accountthat creature had given me of the way of living in that country, Iexpected it would maintain me three or four years; that if it was takenfrom me, I was left destitute, and he knew what the condition of awoman among strangers must be, if she had no money in her pocket;however, I told him, if he would take it, there it was.
He told me with a great concern, and I thought I saw tears stand in hiseyes, that he would not touch it; that he abhorred the thoughts ofstripping me and make me miserable; that, on the contrary, he had fiftyguineas left, which was all he had in the world, and he pulled it outand threw it down on the table, bidding me take it, though he were tostarve for want of it.
I returned, with the same concern for him, that I could not bear tohear him talk so; that, on the contrary, if he could propose anyprobable method of living, I would do anything that became me on mypart, and that I would live as close and as narrow as he could desire.
He begged of me to talk no more at that rate, for it would make himdistracted; he said he was bred a gentleman, though he was reduced to alow fortune, and that there was but one way left which he could thinkof, and that would not do, unless I could answer him one question,which, however, he said he would not press me to. I told him I wouldanswer it honestly; whether it would be to his satisfaction or not,that I could not tell.
'Why, then, my dear, tell me plainly,' says he, 'will the little youhave keep us together in any figure, or in any station or place, orwill it not?'
It was my happiness hitherto that I had not discovered myself or mycircumstances at all--no, not so much as my name; and seeing these wasnothing to be expected from him, however good-humoured and howeverhonest he seemed to be, but to live on what I knew would soon bewasted, I resolved to conceal everything but the bank bill and theeleven guineas which I had owned; and I would have been very glad tohave lost that and have been set down where he took me up. I hadindeed another bank bill about me of #30, which was the whole of what Ibrought with me, as well to subsist on in the country, as not knowingwhat might offer; because this creature, the go-between that had thusbetrayed us both, had made me believe strange things of my marrying tomy advantage in the country, and I was not willing to be without money,whatever might happen. This bill I concealed, and that made me thefreer of the rest, in consideration of his circumstances, for I reallypitied him heartily.
But to return to his question, I told him I never willingly deceivedhim, and I never would. I was very sorry to tell him that the little Ihad would not subsist us; that it was not sufficient to subsist mealone in the south country, and that this was the reason that made meput myself into the hands of that woman who called him brother, shehaving assured me that I might board very handsomely at a town calledManchester, where I had not yet been, for about #6 a year; and my wholeincome not being about #15 a year, I thought I might live easy upon it,and wait for better things.
He shook his head and remained silent, and a very melancholy evening wehad; however, we supped together, and lay together that night, and whenwe had almost supped he looked a little better and more cheerful, andcalled for a bottle of wine. 'Come, my dear,' says he, 'though thecase is bad, it is to no purpose to be dejected. Come, be as easy asyou can; I will endeavour to find out some way or other to live; if youcan but subsist yourself, that is better than nothing. I must try theworld again; a man ought to think like a man; to be discouraged is toyield to the misfortune.' With this he filled a glass and drank to me,holding my hand and pressing it hard in his hand all the while the winewent down, and protesting afterwards his main concern was for me.
It was really a true, gallant spirit he was of, and it was the moregrievous to me. 'Tis something of relief even to be undone by a man ofhonour, rather than by a scoundrel; but here the greatestdisappointment was on his side, for he had really spent a great deal ofmoney, deluded by this madam the procuress; and it was very remarkableon what poor terms he proceeded. First the baseness of the creatureherself is to be observed, who, for the getting #100 herself, could becontent to let him spend three or four more, though perhaps it was allhe had in the world, and more than all; when she had not the leastground, more than a little tea-table chat, to say that I had anyestate, or was a fortune, or the like. It is true the design ofdeluding a woman of fortune, if I had been so, was base enough; theputting the face of great things upon poor circumstances was a fraud,and bad enough; but the case a little differed too, and that in hisfavour, for he was not a rake that made a trade to delude women, and,as some have done, get six or seven fortunes after one another, andthen rifle and run away from them; but he was really a gentleman,unfortunate and low, but had lived well; and though, if I had had afortune, I should have been enraged at the slut for betraying me, yetreally for the man, a fortune would not have been ill bestowed on him,for he was a lovely person indeed, of generous principles, good sense,and of abundance of good-humour.
We had a great deal of close conversation that night, for we neither ofus slept much; he was as penitent for having put all those cheats uponme as if it had been felony, and that he was going to execution; heoffered me again ever
y shilling of the money he had about him, and saidhe would go into the army and seek the world for more.
I asked him why he would be so unkind to carry me into Ireland, when Imight suppose he could not have subsisted me there. He took me in hisarms. 'My dear,' said he, 'depend upon it, I never designed to go toIreland at all, much less to have carried you thither, but came hitherto be out of the observation of the people, who had heard what Ipretended to, and withal, that nobody might ask me for money before Iwas furnished to supply them.'
'But where, then,' said I, 'were we to have gone next?'
'Why, my dear,' said he, 'I'll confess the whole scheme to you as I hadlaid it; I purposed here to ask you something about your estate, as yousee I did, and when you, as I expected you would, had entered into someaccount with me of the