This agreeable intimation being communicated, he conveyed a caution
of the same nature to Mrs. Hornbeck, as he led her to her apartment;
and darkness and silence no sooner prevailed in the house, than
he and his trusted squire set out on their different voyages.
Everything would have succeeded according to their wish, had not
the valet-de-chambre suffered himself to fall asleep at the side of
his inamorata, and, in the agitation of a violent dream, exclaimed
in a voice so unlike that of her supposed adorer, that she
distinguished the difference at once. Waking him with a pinch and
a loud shriek, she threatened to prosecute him for a rape, and
reviled him with all the epithets her rage and disappointment could
suggest.
The Frenchman, finding himself detected, behaved with great temper
and address: be begged she would compose herself, on account of
her own reputation, which was extremely dear to him; protesting that
he had a most inviolable esteem for her person. His representations
had weight with the duenna, who, upon recollection, comprehended
the whole affair, and thought it would be her interest to bring
matters to an accommodation.
Pages:
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624