Chapter vii.

A strange resolution of Sophia, and a more strange stratagem of Mrs

Honour.

Though Mrs Honour was principally attached to her own interest, she

was not without some little attachment to Sophia. To say truth, it was

very difficult for any one to know that young lady without loving her.

She no sooner therefore heard a piece of news, which she imagined to

be of great importance to her mistress, than, quite forgetting the

anger which she had conceived two days before, at her unpleasant

dismission from Sophia's presence, she ran hastily to inform her of

the news.

The beginning of her discourse was as abrupt as her entrance into the

room. “O dear ma'am!” says she, “what doth your la'ship think? To be

sure I am frightened out of my wits; and yet I thought it my duty to

tell your la'ship, though perhaps it may make you angry, for we

servants don't always know what will make our ladies angry; for, to be

sure, everything is always laid to the charge of a servant. When our

ladies are out of humour, to be sure we must be scolded; and to be

sure I should not wonder if your la'ship should be out of humour; nay,

it must surprize you certainly, ay, and shock you too.”--“Good Honour,

let me know it without any longer preface,” says Sophia; “there are

few things, I promise you, which will surprize, and fewer which will

shock me.”--“Dear ma'am,” answered Honour, “to be sure, I overheard my

master talking to parson Supple about getting a licence this very

afternoon; and to be sure I heard him say, your la'ship should be

married to-morrow morning.” Sophia turned pale at these words, and

repeated eagerly, “To-morrow morning!”--“Yes, ma'am,” replied the

trusty waiting-woman, “I will take my oath I heard my master say

so.”--“Honour,” says Sophia, “you have both surprized and shocked me

to such a degree that I have scarce any breath or spirits left. What

is to be done in my dreadful situation?”--“I wish I was able to advise

your la'ship,” says she. “Do advise me,” cries Sophia; “pray, dear

Honour, advise me. Think what you would attempt if it was your own

case.”--“Indeed, ma'am,” cries Honour, “I wish your la'ship and I

could change situations; that is, I mean without hurting your la'ship;

for to be sure I don't wish you so bad as to be a servant; but because

that if so be it was my case, I should find no manner of difficulty in

it; for, in my poor opinion, young Squire Blifil is a charming, sweet,

handsome man.”--“Don't mention such stuff,” cries Sophia. “Such

stuff!” repeated Honour; “why, there. Well, to be sure, what's one

man's meat is another man's poison, and the same is altogether as true

of women.”--“Honour,” says Sophia, “rather than submit to be the wife

of that contemptible wretch, I would plunge a dagger into my

heart.”--“O lud! ma'am!” answered the other, “I am sure you frighten

me out of my wits now. Let me beseech your la'ship not to suffer such

wicked thoughts to come into your head. O lud! to be sure I tremble

every inch of me. Dear ma'am, consider, that to be denied Christian

burial, and to have your corpse buried in the highway, and a stake

drove through you, as farmer Halfpenny was served at Ox Cross; and, to

be sure, his ghost hath walked there ever since, for several people

have seen him. To be sure it can be nothing but the devil which can

put such wicked thoughts into the head of anybody; for certainly it is

less wicked to hurt all the world than one's own dear self; and so I

have heard said by more parsons than one. If your la'ship hath such a

violent aversion, and hates the young gentleman so very bad, that you

can't bear to think of going into bed to him; for to be sure there may

be such antipathies in nature, and one had lieverer touch a toad than

the flesh of some people.”--

Sophia had been too much wrapt in contemplation to pay any great

attention to the foregoing excellent discourse of her maid;

interrupting her therefore, without making any answer to it, she said,

“Honour, I am come to a resolution. I am determined to leave my

father's house this very night; and if you have the friendship for me

which you have often professed, you will keep me company.”--“That I

will, ma'am, to the world's end,” answered Honour; “but I beg your

la'ship to consider the consequence before you undertake any rash

action. Where can your la'ship possibly go?”--“There is,” replied

Sophia, “a lady of quality in London, a relation of mine, who spent

several months with my aunt in the country; during all which time she

treated me with great kindness, and expressed so much pleasure in my

company, that she earnestly desired my aunt to suffer me to go with

her to London. As she is a woman of very great note, I shall easily

find her out, and I make no doubt of being very well and kindly

received by her.”--“I would not have your la'ship too confident of

that,” cries Honour; “for the first lady I lived with used to invite

people very earnestly to her house; but if she heard afterwards they

were coming, she used to get out of the way. Besides, though this lady

would be very glad to see your la'ship, as to be sure anybody would be

glad to see your la'ship, yet when she hears your la'ship is run away

from my master--” “You are mistaken, Honour,” says Sophia: “she looks

upon the authority of a father in a much lower light than I do; for

she pressed me violently to go to London with her, and when I refused

to go without my father's consent, she laughed me to scorn, called me

silly country girl, and said, I should make a pure loving wife, since

I could be so dutiful a daughter. So I have no doubt but she will both

receive me and protect me too, till my father, finding me out of his

power, can be brought to some reason.”

“Well, but, ma'am,” answered Honour, “how doth your la'ship think of

making your escape? Where will you get any horses or conveyance? For

as for your own horse, as all the servants know a little how matters

stand between my master and your la'ship, Robin will be hanged before

he will suffer it to go out of the stable without my master's express

orders.” “I intend to escape,” said Sophia, “by walking out of the

doors when they are open. I thank Heaven my legs are very able to

carry me. They have supported me many a long evening”--“Yes, to be

sure,” cries Honour, “I will follow your la'ship through the world;

but your la'ship had almost as good be alone: for I should not be able

to defend you, if any robbers, or other villains, should meet with

you. Nay, I should be in as horrible a fright as your la'ship; for to

be certain, they would ravish us both. Besides, ma'am, consider how

cold the nights are now; we shall be frozen to death.”--“A good brisk

pace,” answered Sophia, “will preserve us from the cold; and if you

cannot defend me from a villain, Honour, I will defend you; for I will

take a pistol with me. There are two always charged in the

hall.”--“Dear ma'am, you frighten me more and more,” cries Honour:

“sure your la'ship would not venture to fire it off! I had rather run

any chance than your la'ship should do that.”--“Why so?” says Sophia,

smiling; “would not you, Honour, fire a pistol at any one who should

attack your virtue?”--“To be sure, ma'am,” cries Honour, “one's virtue

is a dear thing, especially to us poor servants; for it is our

livelihood, as a body may say: yet I mortally hate fire-arms; for so

many accidents happen by them.”--“Well, well,” says Sophia, “I believe

I may ensure your virtue at a very cheap rate, without carrying any

arms with us; for I intend to take horses at the very first town we

come to, and we shall hardly be attacked in our way thither. Look'ee,

Honour, I am resolved to go; and if you will attend me, I promise you

I will reward you to the very utmost of my power.”

This last argument had a stronger effect on Honour than all the

preceding. And since she saw her mistress so determined, she desisted

from any further dissuasions. They then entered into a debate on ways

and means of executing their project. Here a very stubborn difficulty

occurred, and this was the removal of their effects, which was much

more easily got over by the mistress than by the maid; for when a lady

hath once taken a resolution to run to a lover, or to run from him,

all obstacles are considered as trifles. But Honour was inspired by no

such motive; she had no raptures to expect, nor any terrors to shun;

and besides the real value of her clothes, in which consisted a great

part of her fortune, she had a capricious fondness for several gowns,

and other things; either because they became her, or because they were

given her by such a particular person; because she had bought them

lately, or because she had had them long; or for some other reasons

equally good; so that she could not endure the thoughts of leaving the

poor things behind her exposed to the mercy of Western, who, she

doubted not, would in his rage make them suffer martyrdom.

The ingenious Mrs Honour having applied all her oratory to dissuade

her mistress from her purpose, when she found her positively

determined, at last started the following expedient to remove her

clothes, viz., to get herself turned out of doors that very evening.

Sophia highly approved this method, but doubted how it might be

brought about. “O, ma'am,” cries Honour, “your la'ship may trust that

to me; we servants very well know how to obtain this favour of our

masters and mistresses; though sometimes, indeed, where they owe us

more wages than they can readily pay, they will put up with all our

affronts, and will hardly take any warning we can give them; but the

squire is none of those; and since your la'ship is resolved upon

setting out to-night, I warrant I get discharged this afternoon.” It

was then resolved that she should pack up some linen and a night-gown

for Sophia, with her own things; and as for all her other clothes, the

young lady abandoned them with no more remorse than the sailor feels

when he throws over the goods of others, in order to save his own

life.