Narrative and Miscellaneous PapersDe Quincey, Thomas
General
Narrative and Miscellaneous Papers
De Quincey, Thomas
English essays; English fiction
The first thing, in such a case of distress, which a young lady does,
even if she happens to be a young gentleman, is to beautify her dress.
Kate always attended to _that_, as we know, having overlooked her in the
chestnut wood. The man she sent for was not properly a tailor, but one
who employed tailors, he himself furnishing the materials. His name was
Urquiza, a fact of very little importance to us in 1847, if it had stood
only at the head and foot of Kate's little account. But unhappily for
Kate's _début_ on this vast American stage, the case was otherwise. Mr.
Urquiza had the misfortune (equally common in the old world and the
new) of being a knave; and also a showy specious knave. Kate, who
had prospered under sea allowances of biscuit and hardship, was now
expanding in proportions. With very little vanity or consciousness on
that head, she now displayed a really fine person; and, when drest
anew in the way that became a young officer in the Spanish service, she
looked [Footnote: _'She looked,' etc_. If ever the reader should visit
Aix-la-Chapelle, he will probably feel interest enough in the poor, wild
impassioned girl, to look out for a picture of her in that city, and the
only one known _certainly_ to be authentic. It is in the collection of
Mr. Sempeller. For some time it was supposed that the best (if not the
only) portrait of her lurked somewhere in Italy. Since the discovery
of the picture at Aix-la-Chapelle, that notion has been abandoned. But
there is great reason to believe that, both in Madrid and Rome, many
portraits of her must have been painted to meet the intense interest
which arose in her history subsequently amongst all the men of rank,
military or ecclesiastical, whether in Italy or Spain. The date of these
would range between sixteen and twenty-two years from, the period which
we have now reached (1608.)] the representative picture of a Spanish
_caballador_. It is strange that such an appearance, and such a rank,
should have suggested to Urquiza the presumptuous idea of wishing that
Kate might become his clerk. He _did_, however wish it; for Kate wrote
a beautiful hand; and a stranger thing is, that Kate accepted his
proposal. This might arise from the difficulty of moving in those days
to any distance in Peru. The ship had been merely bringing stores to
the station of Paita; and no corps of the royal armies was readily to be
reached, whilst something must be done at once for a livelihood. Urquiza
had two mercantile establishments, one at Trujillo, to which he repaired
in person, on Kate's agreeing to undertake the management of the other
in Paita. Like the sensible girl, that we have always found her, she
demanded specific instructions for her guidance in duties so new.
Certainly she was in a fair way for seeing life. Telling her beads at
St. Sebastian's, manoeuvreing irregular verbs at Vittoria, acting as
gentleman-usher at Valladolid, serving his Spanish Majesty round Cape
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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