Chapter XVI. NECESSARY DIGRESSION.
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On board of the &longs;hip in which Charlotte and
Mademoi&longs;elle were embarked, was an officer
of large unincumbered fortune and elevated rank,
and whom I &longs;hall call Crayton.
He was one of tho&longs;e men, who having travelled
in their youth, pretend to have contracted a
peculiar fondne&longs;s for every thing foreign, and to
hold in contempt the productions of their own
country; and this affected partiality extended even
to the women.
With him therefore the blu&longs;hing, mode&longs;ty and unaffected
&longs;implicity of Charlotte pa&longs;&longs;ed unnoticed; but
the forward pertne&longs;s of La Rue, the freedom of her
conver&longs;ation, the elegance of her per&longs;on, mixed
with a certain engaging je ne &longs;ais quoi, perfectly enchanted
him.
The reader no doubt has already developed the
character of La Rue; de&longs;igning, artful, and &longs;el&longs;i&longs;h,
&longs;he had accepted the devoirs of Belcour becau&longs;e
&longs;he was heartily weary of the retired life &longs;he led
at the &longs;chool, wi&longs;hed to be relea&longs;ed from what &longs;he
deemed a &longs;lavery, and to return to that vortex of
folly and di&longs;&longs;ipation which had once plunged her
into the deepe&longs;t mi&longs;ery; but her plan &longs;he flattered
her&longs;elf was now better formed: &longs;he re&longs;olved to
put her&longs;elf under the protection of no man till &longs;he
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had fir&longs;t &longs;ecured a &longs;ettlement; but the clande&longs;tine
manner in which &longs;he left Madame Du Pont's
prevented her putting this plan in execution,
though Belcour &longs;olemnly prote&longs;ted he would make
her a hand&longs;ome &longs;ettlement the moment they arrived
at Port&longs;mouth. This he afterwards contrived
to evade by a pretended hurry of bu&longs;ine&longs;s; La
Rue readily conceiving he never meant to fulfil
his promi&longs;e, determined to change her battery, and
attack the heart of Colonel Crayton, She &longs;oon discovered
the partiality he entertained for her nation;
and having impo&longs;ed on him a feigned tale of
di&longs;tre&longs;s, repre&longs;enting Belcour as a villain who had
&longs;educed her from her friends under promi&longs;e of marriage,
and afterwards betrayed her, pretending
great remor&longs;e for the errors &longs;he had committed,
and declaring whatever her affection for Belcour
might have been, it was now entirely extingui&longs;hed,
and &longs;he wi&longs;hed for nothing more than an opportunity
to leave a cour&longs;e of life which her &longs;oul abhorred;
but &longs;he had no friends to apply to, they had
all renounced her, and guilt and mi&longs;ery would undoubtedly
be her future portion through life.
Crayton was po&longs;&longs;e&longs;&longs;ed of many amiable qualities,
though the peculiar trait in his character, which
we have already mentioned, in a great mea&longs;ure
threw a &longs;hade over them. He was beloved for his
humanity and benevolence by all who knew him,
but he was ea&longs;y and un&longs;u&longs;picious him&longs;elf, and became
a dupe to the artifice of others.
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He was, when very young, united to an amiable
Pari&longs;ian lady, and perhaps it was his affection
for her that laid the foundation for the partiality he
ever retained for the whole nation. He had by her
one daughter, who entered into the world but a few
hours before her mother left it. This lady was universally
beloved and admired, being endowed with
all the virtues of her mother, without the weakne&longs;s
of the father: &longs;he was married to Major Beauchamp,
and was at this time in the &longs;ame fleet with her father,
attending her hu&longs;band to New-York.
Crayton was melted by the affected contrition
and di&longs;tre&longs;s of La Rue: he would conver&longs;e with her
for hours, read to her, play cards with her, li&longs;ten
to all her complaints, and promi&longs;e to protect her
to the utmo&longs;t of his power. La Rue ea&longs;ily &longs;aw his
character; her &longs;ole aim was to awaken a pa&longs;&longs;ion in
his bo&longs;om that might turn out to her advantage, and
in this aim &longs;he was but too &longs;ucce&longs;sful, for before the
voyage was fini&longs;hed the infatuated Colonel gave her
from under his hand a promi&longs;e of marriage on their
arrival at New-York, under forfeiture of five thousand
pounds.
And how did our poor Charlotte pa&longs;s her time
during a tedious and tempe&longs;tuous pa&longs;&longs;age? naturally
delicate, the fatigue and &longs;ickne&longs;s which &longs;he endured
rendered her &longs;o weak as to be almo&longs;t entirely
confined to her bed: yet the kindne&longs;s and attention
of Montraville in &longs;ome mea&longs;ure contributed
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to alleviate her &longs;ufferings, and the hope of hearing
from her friends &longs;oon after her arrival,
kept up her &longs;pirits, and cheered many a gloomy hour.
But during the voyage a great revolution took
place not only in the fortune of La Rue but in
the bo&longs;om of Belcour: whil&longs;t in pur&longs;uit of his
amour with Mademoi&longs;elle, he had attended little
to the intere&longs;ting, inobtru&longs;ive charms of Charlotte,
but when, cloyed by po&longs;&longs;e&longs;&longs;ion, and di&longs;gu&longs;ted with the
art and di&longs;&longs;imulation of one, he beheld the simplicity
and gentlene&longs;s of the other, the contra&longs;t
became too &longs;triking not to fill him at once with
&longs;urpri&longs;e and admiration. He frequently conver&longs;ed
with Charlotte; he found her &longs;en&longs;ible, well informed,
but diffident and una&longs;&longs;uming. The languor
which the fatigue of her body and perturbation of
her mind &longs;pread over her delicate features, &longs;erved
only in his opinion to render her more lovely:
he knew that Montraville did not de&longs;ign to marry
her, and he formed a re&longs;olution to endeavour to
gain her him&longs;elf whenever Montraville &longs;hould leave
her.
Let not the reader imagine Belcour's de&longs;igns
were honourable. Alas! when once a woman has
forgot the re&longs;pect due to her&longs;elf, by yielding to the
&longs;olicitations of illieit love, they lo&longs;e all their consequence,
even in the eyes of the man who&longs;e art has betrayed
them, and for who&longs;e &longs;ake they have &longs;acrificed
every valuable con&longs;ideration.
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The heedle&longs;s Fair, who &longs;toops to guilty joys,
A man may pity—but he mu&longs;t de&longs;pi&longs;e.
Nay, ever libertine will think he has a right to in&longs;ult
her with his licentious pa&longs;&longs;ion; and &longs;hould the unhappy
creature &longs;hrink from the in&longs;olent overture, he
will &longs;neeringly taunt her with pretence of mode&longs;ty.
Rowson, Mrs., 1762-1824 [1794], Charlotte: a tale of truth, volume 1 (D. Humphreys, for M. Carey, Philadelphia) [word count] [eaf325v1].
