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CHAPTER VIII
Containing some unaccountable behaviour in Mrs. Ellison.
Mrs. Ellison made her entrance at the end of the preceding
discourse. At her fi rst appearance she put on an unusual degree of formality and reserve; but when Amelia had acquainted her that she designed to accept the favour intended her,
she soon began to alter the gravity of her muscles, and presently fell in with that ridicule which Booth thought proper to
throw on his yesterday’s behaviour.
The conversation now became very lively and pleasant, in
which Booth having mentioned the discourse that passed in
the last chapter, and having greatly complimented Mrs. Bennet’s speech on that occasion, Mrs. Ellison, who was as strenuous an advocate on the other side, began to rally that lady extremely, declaring it was a certain sign she intended to marry
again soon. “Married ladies,” cries she, “I believe, sometimes
think themselves in earnest in such declarations, though they
are oftener perhaps meant as compliments to their husbands;
but, when widows exclaim loudly against second marriages,
I would always lay a wager that the man, if not the weddingday, is absolutely fi xed on.”
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HENRY FIELDING
Mrs. Bennet made very little answer to this sarcasm. Indeed,
she had scarce opened her lips from the time of Mrs. Ellison’s
coming into the room, and had grown particularly grave at
the mention of the masquerade. Amelia imputed this to her
being left out of the party, a matter which is often no small
mortifi cation to human pride, and in a whisper asked Mrs. Ellison if she could not procure a third ticket, to which she received an absolute negative.
During the whole time of Mrs. Bennet’s stay, which was
above an hour afterwards, she remained perfectly silent, and
looked extremely melancholy. This made Amelia very uneasy,
as she concluded she had guessed the cause of her vexation.
In which opinion she was the more confi rmed from certain
looks of no very pleasant kind which Mrs. Bennet now and
then cast on Mrs. Ellison, and the more than ordinary concern that appeared in the former lady’s countenance whenever the masquerade was mentioned, and which; unfortunately,
was the principal topic of their discourse; for Mrs. Ellison gave
a very elaborate description of the extreme beauty of the place
and elegance of the diversion.
When Mrs. Bennet was departed, Amelia could not help
again soliciting Mrs. Ellison for another ticket, declaring she
was certain Mrs. Bennet had a great inclination to go with
them; but Mrs. Ellison again excused herself from asking it of
his lordship. “Besides, madam,” says she, “if I would go thither
with Mrs. Bennet, which, I own to you, I don’t chuse, as she is
a person whom nobody knows, I very much doubt whether she
herself would like it; for she is a woman of a very unaccount-
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AMELIA
able turn. All her delight lies in books; and as for public diversions, I have heard her often declare her abhorrence of them.”
“What then,” said Amelia, “could occasion all that gravity
from the moment the masquerade was mentioned?”
“As to that,” answered the other, “there is no guessing.
You have seen her altogether as grave before now. She hath
had these fi ts of gravity at times ever since the death of her
husband.”
“Poor creature!” cries Amelia; “I heartily pity her, for she
must certainly suffer a great deal on these occasions. I declare
I have taken a strange fancy to her.”
“Perhaps you would not like her so well if you knew her
thoroughly,” answered Mrs. Ellison. – “She is, upon the whole,
but of a whimsical temper; and, if you will take my opinion,
you should not cultivate too much intimacy with her. I know
you will never mention what I say; but she is like some pictures, which please best at a distance.”
Amelia did not seem to agree with these sentiments, and
she greatly importuned Mrs. Ellison to be more explicit, but to
no purpose; she continued to give only dark hints to Mrs. Bennet’s disadvantage; and, if ever she let drop something a little
too harsh, she failed not immediately to contradict herself by
throwing some gentle commendations into the other scale; so
that her conduct appeared utterly unaccountable to Amelia,
and, upon the whole, she knew not whether to conclude Mrs.
Ellison to be a friend or enemy to Mrs. Bennet.
During this latter conversation Booth was not in the room,
for he had been summoned down-stairs by the serjeant, who
came to him with news from Murphy, whom he had met that
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HENRY FIELDING
evening, and who assured the serjeant that, if he was desirous of recovering the debt which he had before pretended to
have on Booth, he might shortly have an opportunity, for that
there was to be a very strong petition to the board the next
time they sat. Murphy said further that he need not fear having his money, for that, to his certain knowledge, the captain
had several things of great value, and even his children had
gold watches.
This greatly alarmed Booth, and still more when the serjeant reported to him, from Murphy, that all these things had
been seen in his possession within a day last past. He now
plainly perceived, as he thought, that Murphy himself, or
one of his emissaries, had been the supposed madman; and he
now very well accounted to himself, in his own mind, for all
that had happened, conceiving that the design was to examine
into the state of his effects, and to try whether it was worth his
creditors’ while to plunder him by law.
At his return to his apartment he communicated what he
had heard to Amelia and Mrs. Ellison, not disguising his apprehensions of the enemy’s intentions; but Mrs. Ellison endeavoured to laugh him out of his fears, calling him faint-hearted,
and assuring him he might depend on her lawyer. “Till you
hear from him,” said she, “you may rest entirely contented: for,
take my word for it, no danger can happen to you of which
you will not be timely apprized by him. And as for the fellow
that had the impudence to come into your room, if he was
sent on such an errand as you mention, I heartily wish I had
been at home; I would have secured him safe with a constable,
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AMELIA
and have carried him directly before justice Thresher. I know
the justice is an enemy to bailiffs on his own account.”
This heartening speech a little roused the courage of Booth,
and somewhat comforted Amelia, though the spirits of both
had been too much hurried to suffer them either to give or
receive much entertainment that evening; which Mrs. Ellison
perceiving soon took her leave, and left this unhappy couple to
seek relief from sleep, that powerful friend to the distrest,
though, like other powerful friends, he is not always ready to
give his assistance to those who want it most.
CHAPTER IX
Containing a very strange incident.
When the husband and wife were alone they again talked
over the news which the serjeant had brought; on which occasion Amelia did all she could to conceal her own fears, and to
quiet those of her husband. At last she turned the conversation to another subject, and poor Mrs. Bennet was brought on
the carpet. “I should be sorry,” cries Amelia, “to fi nd I had conceived an affection for a bad woman; and yet I begin to fear
Mrs. Ellison knows something of her more than she cares to
discover; why else should she be unwilling to be seen with
her in public? Besides, I have observed that Mrs. Ellison hath
been always backward to introduce her to me, nor would ever
bring her to my apartment, though I have often desired her.
Nay, she hath given me frequent hints not to cultivate the acquaintance. What do you think, my dear? I should be very sorry to contract an intimacy with a wicked person.”
“Nay, my dear,” cries Booth. “I know no more of her, nor
indeed hardly so much as yourself. But this I think, that if
Mrs. Ellison knows any reason why she should not have introduced Mrs. Bennet into your company, she was very much in
the wrong in introducing her into it.”
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AMELIA
In discourses of this kind they past the remainder of
the evening. In the morning Booth rose early, and, going downstairs, received from little Betty a sealed note, which contained
the following words:
Beware, beware, beware;
For I apprehend a dreadful snare
Is laid for virtuous innocence,
Under a friend’s false pretence.
Booth immediately enquired of the girl who brought this
note? and was told it came by a chair-man, who, having delivered it, departed without saying a word.
He was extremely staggered at what he read, and presently
referred the advice to the same affair on which he had received
those hints from Atkinson the preceding evening; but when
he came to consider the words more maturely he could not
so well reconcile the two last lines of this poetical epistle, if
it may be so called, with any danger which the law gave him
reason to apprehend. Mr. Murphy and his gang could not well
be said to attack either his innocence or virtue; nor did they
attack him under any colour or pretence of friendship.
After much deliberation on this matter a very strange
suspicion came into his head; and this was, that he was betrayed by Mrs. Ellison. He had, for some time, conceived no
very high opinion of that good gentlewoman, and he now
began to suspect that she was bribed to betray him. By this
means he thought he could best account for the strange ap-
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HENRY FIELDING
pearance of the supposed madman. And when this conceit
once had birth in his mind, several circumstances nourished and improved it. Among these were her jocose behaviour and raillery on that occasion, and her attempt to
ridicule his fears from the message which the serjeant had
brought him.
This suspicion was indeed preposterous, and not at all warranted by, or even consistent with, the character and whole
behaviour of Mrs. Ellison, but it was the only one which at
that time suggested itself to his mind; and, however blameable it might be, it was certainly not unnatural in him to
entertain it; for so great a torment is anxiety to the human
mind, that we always endeavour to relieve ourselves from
it by guesses, however doubtful or uncertain; on all which
occasions, dislike and hatred are the surest guides to lead our
suspicion to its object.
When Amelia rose to breakfast, Booth produced the note
which he had received, saying, “My dear, you have so often
blamed me for keeping secrets from you, and I have so often,
indeed, endeavoured to conceal secrets of this kind from you
with such ill success, that I think I shall never more attempt
it.” Amelia read the letter hastily, and seemed not a little discomposed; then, turning to Booth with a very disconsolate
countenance, she said, “Sure fortune takes a delight in terrifying us! what can be the meaning of this?” Then, fi xing her
eyes attentively on the paper, she perused it for some time, till
Booth cried, “How is it possible, my Emily, you can read such
stuff patiently? the verses are certainly as bad as ever were
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AMELIA
written.” – “I was trying, my dear,” answered she, “to recollect
the hand; for I will take my oath I have seen it before, and that
very lately;” and suddenly she cried out, with great emotion,
“I remember it perfectly now; it is Mrs. Bennet’s hand. Mrs.
Ellison shewed me a letter from her but a day or two ago. It is
a very remarkable hand, and I am positive it is hers.”
“If it be hers,” cries Booth, “what can she possibly mean by
the latter part of her caution? sure Mrs. Ellison hath no intention to betray us.”
“I know not what she means,” answered Amelia, “but I am
resolved to know immediately, for I am certain of the hand. By
the greatest luck in the world, she told me yesterday where her
lodgings were, when she pressed me exceedingly to come and
see her. She lives but a very few doors from us, and I will go to
her this moment.”
Booth made not the least objection to his wife’s design.
His curiosity was, indeed, as great as hers, and so was his
impatience to satisfy it, though he mentioned not this his
impatience to Amelia; and perhaps it had been well for him
if he had.
Amelia, therefore, presently equipped herself in her walking dress, and, leaving her children to the care of her husband,
made all possible haste to Mrs. Bennet’s lodgings.
Amelia waited near fi ve minutes at Mrs. Bennet’s door before any one came to open it; at length a maid servant appeared,
who, being asked if Mrs. Bennet was at home, answered, with
some confusion in her countenance, that she did not know;
“but, madam,” said she, “if you will send up your name, I will
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HENRY FIELDING
go and see.” Amelia then told her name, and the wench, after
staying a considerable time, returned and acquainted her that
Mrs. Bennet was at home. She was then ushered into a parlour
and told that the lady would wait on her presently.
In this parlour Amelia cooled her heels, as the phrase is,
near a quarter of an hour. She seemed, indeed, at this time, in
the miserable situation of one of those poor wretches who
make their morning visits to the great to solicit favours, or perhaps to solicit the payment of a debt, for both are alike treated
as beggars, and the latter sometimes considered as the more
troublesome beggars of the two.
During her stay here, Amelia observed the house to be in
great confusion; a great bustle was heard above-stairs, and
the maid ran up and down several times in a great hurry.
At length Mrs. Bennet herself came in. She was greatly disordered in her looks, and had, as the women call it, huddled on
her cloaths in much haste; for, in truth, she was in bed when
Amelia fi rst came. Of this fact she informed her, as the only
apology she could make for having caused her to wait so long
for her company.
Amelia very readily accepted her apology, but asked her
with a smile, if these early hours were usual with her? Mrs.
Bennet turned as red as scarlet at the question, and answered,
“No, indeed, dear madam. I am for the most part a very early
riser; but I happened accidentally to sit up very late last night.
I am sure I had little expectation of your intending me such
a favour this morning.”
Amelia, looking very steadfastly at her, said, “Is it possible,
madam, you should think such a note as this would raise no
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