Didactic fiction; Domestic fiction; England -- Fiction; Married women -- Fiction
Here the two ladies compared notes; and it appeared that his lordship’s
behaviour at the oratorio had been alike to both; that he had made use
of the very same words, the very same actions to Amelia, which he had
practised over before on poor unfortunate Mrs. Bennet. It may, perhaps,
be thought strange that neither of them could afterwards recollect him;
but so it was. And, indeed, if we consider the force of disguise,
the very short time that either of them was with him at this first
interview, and the very little curiosity that must have been supposed in
the minds of the ladies, together with the amusement in which they were
then engaged, all wonder will, I apprehend, cease. Amelia, however, now
declared she remembered his voice and features perfectly well, and was
thoroughly satisfied he was the same person. She then accounted for his
not having visited in the afternoon, according to his promise, from her
declared resolutions to Mrs. Ellison not to see him. She now burst forth
into some very satirical invectives against that lady, and declared she
had the art, as well as the wickedness, of the devil himself.
Many congratulations now past from Mrs. Bennet to Amelia, which were
returned with the most hearty acknowledgments from that lady. But,
instead of filling our paper with these, we shall pursue Mrs. Bennet’s
story, which she resumed as we shall find in the next chapter.
Chapter viii.
_Further continuation._
“No sooner,” said Mrs. Bennet, continuing her story, “was my lord
departed, than Mrs. Ellison came to me. She behaved in such a manner,
when she became acquainted with what had past, that, though I was at
first satisfied of her guilt, she began to stagger my opinion, and at
length prevailed upon me entirely to acquit her. She raved like a mad
woman against my lord, swore he should not stay a moment in her house,
and that she would never speak to him more. In short, had she been the
most innocent woman in the world, she could not have spoke nor acted any
otherwise, nor could she have vented more wrath and indignation against
the betrayer.
“That part of her denunciation of vengeance which concerned my lord’s
leaving the house she vowed should be executed immediately; but then,
seeming to recollect herself, she said, ‘Consider, my dear child, it
is for your sake alone I speak; will not such a proceeding give some
suspicion to your husband?’ I answered, that I valued not that; that I
was resolved to inform my husband of all the moment I saw him; with many
expressions of detestation of myself and an indifference for life and
for everything else.
“Mrs. Ellison, however, found means to soothe me, and to satisfy me
with my own innocence, a point in which, I believe, we are all easily
convinced. In short, I was persuaded to acquit both myself and her, to
lay the whole guilt upon my lord, and to resolve to conceal it from my
husband.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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