The Notorious Impostor (1692); Diego Redivivus (1692)Settle, Elkanah
General
The Notorious Impostor (1692); Diego Redivivus (1692)
Settle, Elkanah
Morrell, William, -1692 -- Fiction
his Health; all this while the young Damsel, who, tho not call'd to the
Will-making, knew all the Contents of it, and finding from all hands,
the great uprightness and devotion of her humble Servant, could not
fancy that so much Religion and Piety could be an Impostor, and
therefore she doubted not in the least, but the Estate in _Norfolk_ was
unquestionable; and tho indeed her Prudence would still incline her to
a full inquiry and satisfactory account, yet 'tis now too late, her
cooling Admirer talks of speeding to _London_; and tho he professes he
will leave his heart behind with her, She is afraid that new Faces and
better Fortunes will soon shake her hold there, and therefore taking
her Pillow upon the business, she resolves not to slip so favourable an
opportunity, but to lay hold of the forelock, and take a good offer
whilst she may have it: For with all her natural Pride, she considers
her self but the Lees of a Tap; and 'tis not every Rich Gudgeon will
bite at a Bait so blown, and so stale.
Her departing Lover still pressing for his Journey, the good-natur'd
Girl watches the next amorous sally of her Gallant, and takes him at
his word, and without asking advice, thinks her own wit sufficient, and
in two days time enters into _for better, for worse_. The Town-Bells
soon rung All Joy; and the best Hogshead in Daddy's Cellar run
_Claret_. His Honourable Guest and Son-in-Law was the little Idol of
all the Virgins of the Town, and the envied preferment of sweet Mrs.
_Betty_ had fill'd all Tongues; and scarce a Prayer offered up for a
Husband, but Mrs. _Betty_'s felicity was made the Pattern of their
Devotion.
But now, as the Devil would have it, our dignified Bride is for having
her Dear Spouse, by all means, doing her and her Father the honour of
staying out the whole Bathe Season (now coming on) amongst 'em, and
nothing can divert her from that resolution. This is a very unwelcome
proposal; for the multitude of Faces from all quarters of the Kingdom,
may not only be very dangerous to his circumstances, but likewise his
_Norfolk_ Abilities, long before that time, may be examin'd too
narrowly; and therefore not being able to make any harsh refusal of his
fair Brides request, lest it should look like design, and to marry a
young Girl, and be ashamed of her parentage, would appear so unkind,
that he has no Artifice to wean her from _Bathe_, and drill her out of
Town, but by pretending a small relapse of his Indisposition, which he
acted so well, that he denied himself the very pleasures of Love, and
fell off even from Family-Duties. This Curtain-failure began to
moderate her passion for staying at _Bathe_, for her tame Bedfellow
still preaching up the virtues of his own Native _Norfolk_ Air, his
poor defeated Bride could not but have a womanly longing for so
necessary a Restorative, and thereupon for so important a Medicine to
her feeble Yokemate, she consented to go along with him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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