Debt, Imprisonment for -- Fiction; London (England) -- History -- 18th century -- Fiction
The agitation of spirits into which I was thrown by this interview with
the Doctor, blinded me for the moment to the fact that Harry Temple,
of whose pretensions I thought I had disposed, was still an angry and
rejected suitor. Indeed, for a few days he had ceased to persecute me.
But to-night he manifested a jealousy which was inexcusable, after all
I had said to him. No one, as I had gone so far as almost to explain
to him, had a better right to give me his hand for the evening than
my lord; yet this young man, as jealous as the blacksmith god whom he
personated, must needs cross our steps at every turn, throwing angry
glances both upon me and my partner. He danced with no one; he threw
away his hammer, left off limping, consorted with none of the gay
company, but nursed his wrath in silence.
Now the last dance of the evening, which took place at two o'clock in
the morning, was to be one in which all the ladies threw their fans
upon the table, and the gentlemen danced each with her whose fan he
picked from the pile. My lord whispered to me that I was first to
let him see my fan, whereupon, when the fans lay upon the table, he
deliberately chose my own and brought it to me.
I took off my domino, which was now useless, because all the company
knew the disguise. Everybody laughed, and we took our places to lead
off the country-dance.
It was three o'clock when we finished dancing and prepared to go home.
Harry Temple here came up to me and asked if he might have the honour
of escorting me to my lodgings. I answered that I had already promised
that favour to Lord Chudleigh.
"Every dance, the whole evening: the supper, the promenade: all given
to this happy gentleman! Surely, Kitty, the Queen of the Wells might
dispense her favours more generously."
"The Queen," said Lord Chudleigh, "is the fountain of honour. We have
only to accept and be grateful."
I laughed and bade Harry good-night, and offered him my hand, which he
refused sullenly; and murmuring something about pride and old friends,
turned aside and let us go.
Everybody, it seems, noticed the black looks of Harry Temple all the
evening, and expected, though in my happiness I thought not of such a
thing, that high words would pass between this sulky young gentleman
and his favoured rival, to whom he was so rude and unmannerly. Now,
by the laws of the Wells, as laid down strictly in the rules of the
great Mr. Nash for Tunbridge Wells and Bath, and adopted at all
watering-places, the gentlemen wore no swords on the Parade and in the
card-rooms; yet it was impossible to prevent altogether the quarrels of
hot-blooded men, and the green grass of the Downs had been stained with
the blood of more than one poor fellow, run through as the consequence
of a foolish brawl. When will men cease to fight duels, and seek to
kill each other for a trifling disagreement, or a quarrel?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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