16. CHAPTER XVI
NECESSARY DIGRESSION
On board of the ship in which Charlotte and Mademoiselle
were embarked, was an officer of large unincumbered fortune
and elevated rank, and whom I shall call Crayton.
He was one of those men, who, having travelled in their
youth, pretend to have contracted a peculiar fondness for every
thing foreign, and to hold in contempt the productions of their
own country; and this affected partiality extended even to the
women.
With him therefore the blushing modesty and unaffected simplicity
of Charlotte passed unnoticed; but the forward pertness
of La Rue, the freedom of her conversation, the elegance of her
person, mixed with a certain engaging je ne sais quoi,
perfectly enchanted him.
The reader no doubt has already developed the character of La
Rue: designing, artful, and selfish, she had accepted the devoirs
of Belcour because she was heartily weary of the retired life she
led at the school, wished to be released from what she deemed a
slavery, and to return to that vortex of folly and dissipation
which had once plunged her into the deepest misery; but her
plan she flattered herself was now better formed: she resolved to
put herself under the protection of no man till she had first secured
a settlement; but the clandestine manner in which she left
Madame Du Pont's prevented her putting this plan in execution,
though Belcour solemnly protested he would make her a handsome
settlement the moment they arrived at Portsmouth. This
he afterwards contrived to evade by a pretended hurry of business;
La Rue readily conceiving he never meant to fulfil his promise,
determined to change her battery,
and attack the heart of
Colonel Crayton. She soon discovered the partiality he entertained
for her nation; and having imposed on him a feigned tale
of distress, representing Belcour as a villain who had seduced
her from her friends under promise of marriage, and afterwards
betrayed her, pretending great remorse for the errors she had
committed, and declaring whatever her affection for Belcour
might have been, it was now entirely extinguished, and she
wished for nothing more than an opportunity to leave a course
of life which her soul abhorred; but she had no friends to apply
to, they had all renounced her, and guilt and misery would undoubtedly
be her future portion through life.
Crayton was possessed of many amiable qualities, though the
peculiar trait in his character, which we have already mentioned,
in a great measure threw a shade over them. He was beloved
for his humanity and benevolence by all who
knew him,
but he was easy and unsuspicious himself, and became a dupe
to the artifice of others.
He was, when very young, united to an amiable Parisian lady,
and perhaps it was his affection for her that laid the foundation
for the partiality he ever retained for the whole nation. He had
by her one daughter, who entered into the world but a few
hours before her mother left it. This lady was universally beloved
and admired, being endowed with all the virtues of her
mother, without the weakness of the father: she was married to
Major Beauchamp, and was at this time in the same fleet with
her father, attending her husband to New-York.
Crayton was melted by the affected contrition and distress of
La Rue: he would converse with her for hours, read to her, play
cards with her, listen to all her complaints, and promise to protect
her to the utmost of his power. La Rue
easily saw his character;
her sole aim was to awaken a passion in his bosom that
might turn out to her advantage, and in this aim she was but too
successful, for before the voyage was finished, the infatuated
Colonel gave her from under his hand a promise of marriage on
their arrival at New-York, under forfeiture of five thousand
pounds.
And how did our poor Charlotte pass her time during a tedious
and tempestuous passage? naturally delicate, the fatigue
and sickness which she endured rendered her so weak as to be almost
entirely confined to her bed: yet the kindness and attention
of Montraville in some measure contributed to alleviate her
sufferings, and the hope of hearing from her friends soon after
her arrival, kept up her spirits, and cheered many a gloomy hour.
But during the voyage a great revolution took place not only in
the fortune of La Rue but in the bosom of Belcour:
whilst in pursuit of his amour with Mademoiselle, he had attended little to
the interesting, inobtrusive charms of Charlotte, but when,
cloyed by possession, and disgusted with the art and dissimulation
of one, he beheld the simplicity and gentleness of the other,
the contrast became too striking not to fill him at once with surprise
and admiration. He frequently conversed with Charlotte;
he found her sensible, well informed, but diffident and unassuming.
The languor which the fatigue of her body and perturbation
of her mind spread over her delicate features, served only in his
opinion to render her more lovely: he knew that Montraville did
not design to marry her, and he formed a resolution to endeavour
to gain her himself whenever Montraville should leave her.
Let not the reader imagine Belcour's designs were honourable.
Alas! when once a woman has forgot the respect due
to her-self, by yielding to the solicitations of illicit love, they lose all
their consequence, even in the eyes of the man whose art has betrayed
them, and for whose sake they have sacrificed every valuable
consideration.
The heedless Fair, who stoops to guilty joys,
A man may pity—but he must despise.
Nay, every libertine will think he has a right to insult her with
his licentious passion; and should the unhappy creature shrink
from the insolent overture, he will sneeringly taunt her with
pretence of modesty.
