The Wanderer; or, Female Difficulties (Volume 5 of 5)Burney, Fanny
History
The Wanderer; or, Female Difficulties (Volume 5 of 5)
Burney, Fanny
France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799 -- Refugees -- Fiction; Historical fiction; Refugees -- Fiction; War stories
When Sir Jaspar found it utterly impossible to prevail with his fair
companion still to bear that title, he expostulated against leaving her,
at least, in a public town; and she was not sorry to accept his offer of
conveying her to some neighbouring village.
It was still day-light, when they arrived within the picturesque view of
a villa, which Juliet, upon enquiry, heard was Milton-abbey. She soon
discovered, that the scheme of the Baronet, to lengthen their sojourn
with each other, was to carry her to see the house: but this she
absolutely refused; and her seriousness compelled him to drive to a
neighbouring cottage; where she had the good fortune to meet with a
clean elderly woman, who was able to accommodate her with a small
chamber.
Here, not without sincere concern, she saw the reluctance, even to
sadness, with which her old admirer felt himself forced to leave his too
lovely young friend: and what she owed to him was so important, so
momentous, that she parted from him, herself, with real regret, and with
expressions of the most lively esteem and regard.
CHAPTER LXXXIV
Restless, again, was the night of Juliet; bewildered with varying
visions of hope, of despair, of bliss, of horrour; now presenting a fair
prospect that opened sweetly to her best affections; now shewing every
blossom blighted, by a dark, overwhelming storm.
To engage the good will of her new hostess, she bestowed upon her nearly
every thing that she had worn upon entering the cottage. What she had
been seen and discovered in, could no longer serve any purpose of
concealment; and all disguise was disgusting to her, if not induced by
the most imperious necessity. She clothed herself, therefore, from the
fairy stores of her munificent old sylph; with whom her debts were so
multiplied and so considerable, that she meant, at all events, to call
upon her family for their disbursement.
The quietness of this residence, induced her to propose remaining here:
and her new hostess, who was one of the many who, where interest
preaches passiveness, make it a point not to be troublesome, consented,
without objection or enquiry.
Hence, again, she wrote to Gabriella, from whom she languished for
intelligence.
In this perfect retirement, she passed her time in deep rumination; her
thoughts for ever hovering around the Bishop, upon whose fate her own
invariably depended.
Her little apartment was close and hot; unshaded by blinds, unsheltered
by shutters; she went forth, therefore, early every morning, to enjoy
fresh air in the cool of a neighbouring wood, which, once having
entered, she knew not how to quit. Solitude there, had not the character
of seclusion; it bore not, as in her room, the air of banishment, if not
of imprisonment; and the beautiful prospects around her, though her
sole, were a never-failing source of recreation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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