CHAPTER XIII
MOLLY'S FIRST MINUET
I have now to tell you how Molly made her first public appearance atthe assembly, and how she delighted and pleased the kindly ladies whoformed the company.
It was a crowded gathering. Lord Fylingdale, it was known, would bepresent. Many gentlemen, therefore, who would otherwise have been atthe coffee house, the tavern, or the cockpit, were present in honourof this distinguished visitor, or in the hope of being presented tohim. And all the ladies visiting the spa were there as well, young andold, matrons and maids; the latter, perhaps, permitting themselvesdreams of greatness.
His lordship arrived brave in apparel, tall, handsome, proud, still inearly manhood, wearing his star upon his breast. Every girl's heartbeat only to think of the chance should she be able to attract theattention and the passion of such a man. He was accompanied (say,followed) by his secretary, our poet--the only poet that our town hasproduced. The master of the ceremonies received him with a profoundbow, and, after a few words, conducted him to the chair or throne onwhich sat the Lady Anastasia with a small court around her. Then themusic began, and Lord Fylingdale led out that lady for the minuet. Andthe company stood around in a circle, admiring. He next danced withthe young wife of a Norfolk gentleman and member of Parliament, afterwhich he retired and stood apart. Sir Harry followed, dancing twicewith a fine show of agility. After him others of lower rank followed.Towards the conclusion of the minuet Molly entered the room, led byher guardian, Captain Crowle, and followed by myself in my newdisguise.
The captain was no better dressed than if he were sitting in the CrownInn, save that he had exchanged his worsted stockings for white silk.He looked what he was--a simple sailor and commander of a ship. But noone regarded him or myself, because all eyes were turned upon Molly.
She appeared before the astonished assembly clothed, so to speak, withdiamonds and precious stones, glittering in the light of the candleslike a crowd of stars. She was covered with jewels. Diamonds were inher headdress; they were also hanging from her neck; there were rubiesand emeralds, sapphires and opals in her necklace and her bracelets;heavy gold chains, light gold chains, gold chains set with pearls werehanging about her. She was clothed, I say, from head to foot with goldand with precious stones.
The intention of the captain was carried out. On her first appearanceshe proclaimed herself as she stood before them all as an heiress whowas able to carry a great fortune upon her back, as the saying is, andto have another great fortune at home. Never before had the companybeheld so strange a sight; a girl wearing so much wealth and suchsplendid jewels for a simple assembly.
Then from lip to lip was passed the words, "Who is she? What is hername? Where does she come from? What is her family? What is themeaning of this resplendent show of gems and gold? Are they real? Whydoes she wear them?" And for the whole of that evening, while Mollywas in the room, no one thought of anything except this wonderfulvision of dazzling jewels. The eyes of the whole company followed herabout, and in their conversation they talked of nothing else. For, ofall things, this was the most unexpected, and, to all the othermaidens, the most disconcerting. They were plain country girls, whileMolly was a goddess. To say that she outshone them all is to saynothing. There was no comparison possible.
Truly the captain was right. There was no one in that room who couldcompare with Molly--either for beauty or for bravery of apparel. Asfor her beauty, it was of the kind the power of which women seem notto understand. Men, who do understand it, call it loveliness. Venusherself--Helen of Troy--Fair Rosamond--Jane Shore--all the fair womenof whom we have heard, possessed, I am sure, this loveliness. Yourregular beauty of straight features of which so much is made dothnever, I think, attract mankind so surely, or so quickly; doth neverhold men so strongly; doth never make them so mad with love. It is thewoman of the soft eyes, the sweet eyes, the eyes that are sometimeshazel and sometimes blue, the eyes full of light and sunshine, theeyes where Cupid plays; the lips that are always ready to smile; thelips so rosy red; so round and small; the cheek that is like a peachfor softness and for bloom, touched with a natural pink and red; therounded chin; the forehead white and not too large; the light brownhair that is almost flaxen, curling naturally but disposed by art.Such a woman was Molly.
Yet not a weakly thin slip of a girl. She was tall and strong; herarms were round and white as a woman's should be, but they were big aswell, as if they could do man's work--they were strengthened androunded by the oars which she had handled from childhood. Her amplecheek wanted no daub of paint; it had a fine healthy colour, like adamask rose, but more delicate; her eyes were full and bright; therewas no girl in the place, not even among the country ladies, couldshow a face and figure so strong, so finely moulded, of such large andgenerous charms. When the men gazed upon her they gasped; when thewomen gazed upon her their hearts sank low with envy.
How am I to describe her dress? I know that her head was made in whatthey called the English fashion, with a structure of lace, thin wiresand round rolls on cushions, with ringlets at the sides and pinned toa small cap on the top.
All I can safely say about her dress is that she wore a gown ofcherry-coloured silk, with gold flowers over a petticoat of pink silkadorned by a kind of network of gold lace; that her sleeves were widewith a quantity of lace--I have never carried a cargo of lace, andtherefore I know not its value; that her gloves were of white silk;that her arms were loaded with bracelets which clanged and clashedwhen she moved; and that chains of gold hung round her neck and overher shoulders.
The master of ceremonies received us with distinction.
"Captain Crowle," he said, loudly, "you have too long withheld yourlovely ward from the assembly of the spa. I would invite her to dancethe last minuet with Mr. Pentecrosse."
All this had been arranged beforehand. The people gazed curiously, andbegan to press around us as I advanced with Molly's hand in mine.
"Be not abashed, Jack," whispered the old captain. "They know not whatto think. Show them how the dance should be done. Slide and sprawl, mylad. Sprawl with a will and both together," he added, hoarsely, "witha yo-heave-ho!"
Then the music began again, and Molly stood opposite to me--and thedance began.
For my own part I obeyed the captain's admonition. I endeavoured toforget the people who were looking on--I tried to think that we wererehearsing in the garden--and feeling confidence return, I began toslide and sprawl with a will.
All the people were gathered round us in a circle. The ladies, holdingtheir fans before their faces, tittered and giggled audibly. The men,for their part, laughed openly, making observations not intended to begood-natured. They were laughing at me! And I was getting on, as Ibelieved, so well. However, I did not know the cause of theirmerriment, and carried on the sprawling with a greater will than ever.
I am sorry now, whenever I think upon it, that Molly had not a betterpartner. For my performance, which was quite correct, and in everyparticular exactly what Mr. Prappet had taught me, was distinguished,I learned afterwards, by a certain exaggeration of gesture due to mydesire to be correct, which made the dance ridiculous. If only I hadbeen permitted to give them a hornpipe! What had I, a mere tarpaulin,as they say, to do with fine clothes, fashionable sliding andsprawling, and the pretence of fashionable manners?
You must not think that Molly, though it was her first appearance inpublic, though she wore these fine things for the first time, thoughall eyes were upon her, was in the least degree abashed. She boreherself with modesty and an assumed unconsciousness of what peoplewere saying and how they were looking at her, which certainly did hergreat credit. And I am quite sure that, whatever my own performance,hers was full of grace and ease, and the dignity which makes thisdance so fit for great lords and ladies and so unfit for rustic swainsand shepherdesses. She smiled upon her partner as sweetly as if wewere together in the garden; she played her fan as prettily as if wewere rehearsing the dance with mirth and merriment--it was a costlyfan, with paintings u
pon it and a handle set with pearls.
The dance was finished at last, and I led my partner to the end of theroom, where the maids sat all in a row with white aprons and whitecaps--among them Molly's woman, Nigra--to repair any disorder to thehead or to the dress caused by the active movements of the dance.
And then they all began to talk. I could hear fragments and wholesentences. They were talking about us.
"Who is she, then?" asked one lady, impatiently. "Where does she comefrom?"
"Perhaps a sea nymph," replied a gentleman, gallantly, "brought fromthe ocean by the god Neptune, who stands over yonder. One can smellthe seaweed."
"And the gems and chains come, I suppose, from old wrecks."
"Or," said the ancient beau, Sir Harry, "a wood nymph from the trainof Diana. In that case the old gentleman may be the god Pan. Thenymphs of Diana, it appears, have lately taken lessons in thefashionable dance. As yet, unfortunately----" He shrugged hisshoulders.
"I cannot choose but hear, Jack," said Molly. "Let us make as if weheard nothing."
"She is an actress," said another lady. "I saw her last night in theplay. She personated an impudent maidservant. The chains and gems arefalse; one can see that with half an eye. They are what those vagabondfolk call stage properties."
Yet another took up the parable. "She should be put to the door, orshe should stand in a white apron with the maids. What? We are decentand respectable ladies, I hope."
"They are not gems at all," observed a young fellow, anxious to displayhis wit. "They are the lamps from the garden. She has cut them down andhung them round herself. See the pretty colours--red--green--blue."
"Let her put them back again, then, and leave the company into whichshe dares to intrude." This was the spiteful person who had seen heron the stage and knew her for one of the strollers. The resentment ofthe ladies against a woman who presumed to be more finely dressed thanthemselves, and to display more jewels than they themselves possessed,or even hoped to possess, was deeper and louder than one could believepossible. Yet this was a polite assembly, and these ladies had learnedthe manners which we are taught to copy, at a distance--we who are notgentlefolk.
"Jack," said Molly, "these are the flouts of which the captain warnedus. Lead me round the room. Right through the middle of them, so thatthey may see with half an eye how false are my jewels."
I obeyed. They fell back, making a lane for us, and talking about usafter we passed through them, without the least affectation of awhisper.
They had an opportunity, however, of seeing the dress and thetrappings more closely.
"My dear," said one, "the jewels are real. I am sure they are real. Onthe stage they wear large glass things. Those are brilliants of thefirst water in her hair, and those are true pearls about her neck."
"And her dress," said another, "is of the finest silk; and did you seethe gold lace in front of her petticoat? The dress and the jewels,they must be worth--oh! worth a whole estate. Who can she be?"
"Such a woman," observed an elderly matron very sweetly, "wouldprobably be ashamed to say where she found those things. Oh! But themaster of the ceremonies must be warned. She must not be toleratedhere again."
"How kind they are, Jack!" whispered Molly.
"Who is the fellow with her?" I heard next.
"He sells flounders and eels in the market. I have seen him in a bluecoat and long white sleeves and an apron."
"No. He is a clerk in a counting-house."
"Not at all. The fellow, like the girl, belongs to the strollers. Isaw him last night laying a carpet on the stage."
"A personable fellow, with a well turned leg." This compliment made meblush. "It is his misfortune that he must be coupled with so impudenta baggage."
"You see, Jack," said Molly, "it all comes back to me."
So we went on walking round the room, pretending to hear nothing. Wemet Victory, also walking round the room with her beau, a youngmerchant of the town. She, fortunate girl! had no jewels with which toexcite the envy, hatred, and malice of the ladies. She was unmolested,though not a gentlewoman by station.
"Molly," she said, "you are splendid. I have never seen such a show ofjewels. But you will drive them mad with envy. Hateful creatures! Isee them turning green. The minuet was beautiful, my dear. Oh! Jack,you made me laugh. Never was seen such posturing. The men are angry,because they think you meant to make them ridiculous."
Thus may one learn unpalatable truth, even from friends. My"posturing," then, as the girl called it, was ridiculous. And Ithought my performance correct, and quite in the style of the highestfashion!
Then the captain joined in. "Famous!" he said. "Jack, you rolled aboutlike a porpoise at the bows. Never believe that a sailor cannot showthe way at a dance. Molly, my dear, you were not so brisk as Jack. Butit was very well, very well, indeed. The women cannot containthemselves for spite and envy. What did I tell you, my dear?"