The Fortunate Mistress (Parts 1 and 2)

by Daniel Defoe

had now spoken with so greatan emphasis, to be my settled resolution, and the fault should not lieon his side if it miscarried being put in practice.

  The next morning he went out to see some merchants, who had receivedadvice of the arrival of some shipping which had been in great danger atsea, and whose insurance had run very high; and it was this intervalthat gave me an opportunity of my coming to a final resolution. I nowtold the Quaker, as she was sitting at work in her parlour, that weshould very speedily leave her, and although she daily expected it, yetshe was really sorry to hear that we had come to a full determination;she said abundance of fine things to me on the happiness of the life Idid then, and was going to live; believing, I suppose, that a countesscould not have a foul conscience; but at that very instant, I wouldhave, had it been in my power, resigned husband, estate, title, and allthe blessings she fancied I had in the world, only for her real virtue,and the sweet peace of mind, joined to a loving company of children,which she really possessed.

  When my husband returned, he asked me at dinner if I persevered in myresolution of leaving England; to which I answered in the affirmative."Well," says he, "as all my affairs will not take up a week's time tosettle, I will be ready to go from London with you in ten days' time."We fixed upon no particular place or abode, but in general concluded togo to Dover, cross the Channel to Calais, and proceed from thence byeasy journeys to Paris, where after staying about a week, we intended togo through part of France, the Austrian Netherlands, and so on toAmsterdam, Rotterdam, or the Hague, as we were to settle before we wentfrom Paris. As my husband did not care to venture all our fortune in onebottom, so our goods, money, and plate were consigned to severalmerchants, who had been his intimates many years, and he took notes of aprodigious value in his pocket, besides what he gave me to take care ofduring our journey. The last thing to be considered was, how we shouldgo ourselves, and what equipage we should take with us; my thoughts werewholly taken up about it some time; I knew I was going to be a countess,and did not care to appear anything mean before I came to that honour;but, on the other hand, if I left London in any public way, I mightpossibly hear of inquiries after me in the road, that I had beenacquainted with before. At last I said we would discharge all ourservants, except two footmen, who should travel with us to Dover, andone maid to wait on me, that had lived with me only since the retreat ofAmy, and she was to go through, if she was willing; and as to thecarriage of us, a coach should be hired for my husband, myself, andmaid, and two horses were to be hired for the footmen, who were toreturn with them to London.

  When the Quaker had heard when and how we intended to go, she begged, asthere would be a spare seat in the coach, to accompany us as far asDover, which we both readily consented to; no woman could be a bettercompanion, neither was there any acquaintance that we loved better, orcould show more respect to us.

  The morning before we set out, my husband sent for a master coachman toknow the price of a handsome coach, with six able horses, to go toDover. He inquired how many days we intended to be on the journey? Myhusband said he would go but very easy, and chose to be three days onthe road; that they should stay there two days, and be three morereturning to London, with a gentlewoman (meaning the Quaker) in it. Thecoachman said it would be an eight days' journey, and he would have tenguineas for it. My husband consented to pay him his demand, and hereceived orders to be ready at the door by seven of the clock the nextmorning: I was quite prepared to go, having no person to take leave ofbut the Quaker, and she had desired to see us take the packet-boat atDover, before we parted with her; and the last night of my stay inLondon was spent very agreeably with the Quaker and her family. Myhusband, who stayed out later than usual, in taking his farewell ofseveral merchants of his acquaintance, came home about eleven o'clock,and drank a glass or two of wine with us before we went to bed.

  The next morning, the whole family got up about five o'clock, and I,with my husband's consent, made each of the Quaker's daughters a presentof a diamond ring, valued at L20, and a guinea apiece to all theservants, without exception. We all breakfasted together, and at thehour appointed, the coach and attendants came to the door; this drewseveral people about it, who were all very inquisitive to know who wasgoing into the country, and what is never forgot on such occasions, allthe beggars in the neighbourhood were prepared to give us theirbenedictions in hopes of an alms. When the coachmen had packed up whatboxes were designed for our use, we, namely, my husband, the Quaker,myself, and the waiting-maid, all got into the coach, the footmen weremounted on horses behind, and in this manner the coach, after I hadgiven a guinea to one of the Quaker's daughters equally to divide amongthe beggars at the door, drove away from the house, and I took leave ofmy lodging in the Minories, as well as of London.

  At St. George's Church, Southwark, we were met by three gentlemen onhorseback, who were merchants of my husband's acquaintance, and had comeout on purpose, to go half a day's journey with us; and as they kepttalking to us at the coach side, we went a good pace, and were verymerry together; we stopped at the best house of entertainment onShooter's Hill.

  Here we stopped for about an hour, and drank some wine, and my husband,whose chief study was how to please and divert me, caused me to alightout of the coach; which the gentlemen who accompanied us observing,alighted also. The waiter showed us upstairs into a large room, whosewindow opened to our view a fine prospect of the river Thames, whichhere, they say, forms one of the most beautiful meanders. It was withinan hour of high water, and such a number of ships coming in under sailquite astonished as well as delighted me, insomuch that I could not helpbreaking out into such-like expressions, "My dear, what a fine sightthis is; I never saw the like before! Pray will they get to London thistide?" At which the good-natured gentleman smiled, and said, "Yes, mydear; why, there is London, and as the wind is quite fair for them, someof them will come to an anchor in about half-an-hour, and all within anhour."

  I was so taken up with looking down the river that, till my husbandspoke, I had not once looked up the river; but when I did, and sawLondon, the Monument, the cathedral church of St. Paul, and the steeplesbelonging to the several parish churches, I was transported into anecstasy, and could not refrain from saying, "Sure that cannot be theplace we are now just come from, it must be further off, for that looksto be scarce three miles off, and we have been three hours, by my watch,coming from our lodgings in the Minories! No, no, it is not London, itis some other place!"

  Upon which one of the gentlemen present offered to convince me that theplace I saw was London if I would go up to the top of the house, andview it from the turret. I accepted the offer, and I, my husband, andthe three gentlemen were conducted by the master of the house upstairsinto the turret. If I was delighted before with my prospect, I was nowravished, for I was elevated above the room I was in before upwards ofthirty feet. I seemed a little dizzy, for the turret being a lantern,and giving light all ways, for some time I thought myself suspended inthe air; but sitting down, and having eat a mouthful of biscuit anddrank a glass of sack, I soon recovered, and then the gentleman who hadundertaken to convince me that the place I was shown was really London,thus began, after having drawn aside one of the windows.

  "You see, my lady," says the gentleman, "the greatest, the finest, therichest, and the most populous city in the world, at least in Europe, asI can assure your ladyship, upon my own knowledge, it deserves thecharacter I have given it." "But this, sir, will never convince me thatthe place you now show me is London, though I have before heard thatLondon deserves the character you have with so much cordiality bestowedupon it. And this I can testify, that London, in every particular youhave mentioned, greatly surpasses Paris, which is allowed by allhistorians and travellers to be the second city in Europe."

  Here the gentleman, pulling out his pocket-glass, desired me to lookthrough it, which I did; and then he directed me to look full at St.Paul's, and to make that the centre of my future observation, andthereupon he promised me conviction.

  Whilst I took
my observation, I sat in a high chair, made for thatpurpose, with a convenience before you to hold the glass. I soon foundthe cathedral, and then I could not help saying I have been severaltimes up to the stone gallery, but not quite so often up to the irongallery. Then I brought my eye to the Monument, and was obliged toconfess I knew it to be such. The gentleman then moved the glass anddesired me to look, which doing, I said, "I think I see Whitehall andSt. James's Park, and I see also two great buildings like barns, but Ido not know what they are." "Oh," says the gentleman, "they are theParliament House and Westminster Abbey." "They may be so," said I; andcontinuing looking, I perceived the very house at Kensington which I hadlived in some time; but of that I took no notice, yet I found my colourcome, to think what a life of gaiety and wickedness I had lived.