The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom, Complete - Tobias Smollett
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Such were the reflections of the generous Farrel, who, while he performed
the last office of friendship, in closing the eyes of the much-lamented
Melvil, perceived a warmth on the skin, which the hand of death seldom
leaves unextinguished. This uncommon sensation he reported to the
physician, who, though he could feel no pulsation of the heart or
arteries, conjectured that life still lingered in some of its interior
haunts, and immediately ordered such applications to the extremities and
surface of the body, as might help to concentrate and reinforce the
natural heat.
By these prescriptions, which for some time produced no sensible effect,
the embers were, in all probability, kept glowing, and the vital power
revived, for, after a considerable pause, respiration was gradually
renewed at long intervals, a languid motion was perceived at the heart,
a few feeble and irregular pulsations were felt at the wrist, the
clay-coloured livery of death began to vanish from his face, the
circulation acquired new force, and he opened his eyes with a sigh,
which proclaimed his return from the shades of death.
When he recovered the faculty of swallowing, a cordial was administered,
and whether the fever abated, in consequence of the blood's being cooled
and condensed during the recess of action in the solids, or nature, in
that agony, had prepared a proper channel for the expulsion of the
disease, certain it is, he was from this moment rid of all bodily pain;
he retrieved the animal functions, and nothing remained of his malady but
an extreme weakness and languor, the effect of nature's being fatigued in
the battle she had won.
Unutterable was the joy that took possession of his mother and sister
when Farrel flew into her apartment to intimate this happy turn. Scarce
could they be restrained from pouring forth their transports in the
presence of Renaldo, who was still too feeble to endure such
communication; indeed, he was extremely mortified and dejected at this
event, which had diffused such pleasure and satisfaction among his
friends, for though his distemper was mastered, the fatal cause of it
still rankled at his heart, and he considered this respite from death as
a protraction of his misery.
When he was congratulated by the Major on the triumph of his
constitution, he replied, with a groan, "I would to heaven it had been
otherwise, for I am reserved for all the horrors of the most poignant
sorrow and remorse. O Monimia! Monimia! I hoped by this time to have
convinced thy gentle shade, that I was, at least intentionally, innocent
of that ruthless barbarity which hath brought thee to an untimely grave.
Heaven and earth! do I still survive the consciousness of that dire
catastrophe! and lives the atrocious villain who hath blasted all our
hopes!"
With these last words the fire darted from his eyes, and his brother,
snatching this occasional handle for reconciling him to life, joined in
his exclamations against the treacherous Fathom, and observed, that he
should not, in point of honour, wish to die, until he should have
sacrificed that traitor to the manes of the beauteous Monimia. This
incitement acted as a spur upon exhausted nature, causing the blood to
circulate with fresh vigour, and encouraging him to take such sustenance
as would recruit his strength, and repair the damage which his health had
sustained.
His sister assiduously attended him in his recovery, flattering his
appetite, and amusing his sorrow at the same time; the clergyman
assailed his despondence with religious weapons, as well as with
arguments drawn from philosophy; and the fury of his passions being
already expended, he became so tractable as to listen to his
remonstrances. But notwithstanding the joint endeavours of all his
friends, a deep fixed melancholy remained after every consequence of his
disease had vanished. In vain they essayed to elude his grief by gaiety
and diversions, in vain they tried to decoy his heart into some new
engagement.
These kind attempts served only to feed and nourish that melancholy which
pined within his bosom. Monimia still haunted him in the midst of these
amusements, while his reflection whispered to him, "Pleasures like these
I might have relished with her participation." That darling idea mingled
in all the female assemblies at which he was present, eclipsing their
attractions, and enhancing the bitterness of his loss; for absence,
enthusiasm, and even his despair had heightened the charms of the fair
orphan into something supernatural and divine.
Time, that commonly weakens the traces of remembrance, seemed to deepen
its impressions in his breast; nightly, in his dreams, did he converse
with his dear Monimia, sometimes on the verdant bank of a delightful
stream, where he breathed, in soft murmurs, the dictates of his love and
admiration; sometimes reclined within the tufted grove, his arm encircled
and sustained her snowy neck, whilst she, with looks of love ineffable,
gazed on his face, invoking Heaven to bless her husband and her lord.
Yet, even in these illusions was his fancy oft alarmed for the ill-fated
fair. Sometimes he viewed her tottering on the brink of a steep
precipice, far distant from his helping hand; at other times she seemed
to sail along the boisterous tide, imploring his assistance, then would
he start with horror from his sleep, and feel his sorrows more than
realised; he deserted his couch, he avoided the society of mankind, he
courted sequestered shades where he could indulge his melancholy; there
his mind brooded over his calamity until his imagination became familiar
with all the ravages of death; it contemplated the gradual decline of
Monimia's health, her tears, her distress, her despair at his imagined
cruelty; he saw, through that perspective, every blossom of her beauty
wither, every sparkle vanish from her eyes; he beheld her faded lips, her
pale cheek, and her inanimated features, the symmetry of which not death
itself was able to destroy. His fancy conveyed her breathless corse to
the cold grave, o'er which, perhaps, no tear humane was shed, where her
delicate limbs were consigned to dust, where she was dished out a
delicious banquet to the unsparing worm.
Over these pictures he dwelt with a sort of pleasing anguish, until he
became so enamoured of her tomb, that he could no longer resist the
desire that compelled him to make a pilgrimage to the dear hallowed spot,
where all his once gay hopes lay buried; that he might nightly visit the
silent habitation of his ruined love, embrace the sacred earth with which
she was now compounded, moisten it with his tears, and bid the turf lie
easy on her breast. Besides the prospect of this gloomy enjoyment, he
was urged to return to England, by an eager desire of taking vengeance on
the perfidious Fathom, as well as of acquitting himself of the
obligations he owed in that kingdom, to those who had assisted him in his
distress. He therefore communicated his intention to Farrel, who would
have insisted upon attending him in the journey, had not he been conjured
to stay and manage Renaldo's affairs in his absence. Every previous step
being taken, he took leave of the Countess and his sister, who had, with
all their interest and elocution, opposed his design, the execution of
which, they justly feared, would, instead of dissipating, augment his
chagrin; and now, seeing him determined, they shed a flood of tears at
his departure, and he set out from Vienna in a post-chaise, accompanied
by a trusty valet-de-chambre on horseback.
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
RENALDO MEETS WITH A LIVING MONUMENT OF JUSTICE, AND ENCOUNTERS A
PERSONAGE OF SOME NOTE IN THESE MEMOIRS.
As this domestic was very well qualified for making all the proper
dispositions, and adjusting every necessary article on the road, Renaldo
totally abstracted himself from earthly considerations, and mused without
ceasing on that theme which was the constant subject of his
contemplation. He was blind to the objects that surrounded him; he
scarce ever felt the importunities of nature; and had not they been
reinforced by the pressing entreaties of his attendant, he would have
proceeded without refreshment or repose. In this absence of mind did he
traverse a great part of Germany, in his way to the Austrian Netherlands,
and arrived at the fortress of Luxemburg, where he was obliged to tarry a
whole day on account of an accident which had happened to his chaise.
Here he went to view the fortifications; and as he walked along the
ramparts, his ears were saluted with these words: "Heaven bless the noble
Count de Melvil! will not he turn the eyes of compassion on an old
fellow-soldier reduced to misfortune and disgrace?"
Surprised at this address, which was attended with the clanking of
chains, Renaldo lifted up his eyes, and perceived the person who spoke
to be one of two malefactors shackled together, who had been sentenced
for some crime to work as labourers on the fortifications. His face was
so covered with hair, and his whole appearance so disguised by the
squalid habit which he wore, that the Count could not recollect his
features, until he gave him to understand that his name was Ratchcali.
Melvil immediately recognised his fellow-student at Vienna, and his
brother-volunteer upon the Rhine, and expressed equal surprise and
concern at seeing him in such a deplorable situation.
Nothing renders the soul so callous and insensible as the searing brands
of infamy and disgrace. Without betraying the least symptoms of shame or
confusion, "Count," says he, "this is the fate of war, at least of the
war in which I have been engaged, ever since I took leave of the Imperial
army, and retreated with your old companion Fathom. Long life to that
original genius! If he is not unhappily eclipsed by some unfortunate
interposition, before his terrene parts are purified, I foresee that he
will shine a star of the first magnitude in the world of adventure."
At mention of this detested name, Renaldo's heart began to throb with
indignation; yet he suppressed the emotion, and desired to know the
meaning of that splendid encomium which he had bestowed upon his
confederate. "It would be quite unnecessary," replied Ratchcali, "for a
man in my present situation to equivocate or disguise the truth. The
nature of my disgrace is perfectly well known. I am condemned to hard
labour for life; and unless some lucky accident, which I cannot now
foresee, shall intervene, all I can expect is some alleviation of my hard
lot from the generosity of such gentlemen as you, who compassionate the
sufferings of your fellow-creatures. In order to engage your benevolence
the more in my behalf, I shall, if you will give me the hearing,
faithfully inform you of some particulars, which it may import you to
know, concerning my old acquaintance Ferdinand Count Fathom, whose real
character hath perhaps hitherto escaped your notice."
Then he proceeded to give a regular detail of all the strokes of finesse
which he, in conjunction with our adventurer, had practised upon Melvil
and others, during their residence at Vienna, and the campaigns they had
made upon the Rhine. He explained the nature of the robbery which was
supposed to have been done by the Count's valet, together with the manner
of their desertion. He described his separation from Fathom, their
meeting at London, the traffic they carried on in copartnership; and the
misfortune that reduced Ferdinand to the condition in which he was found
by Melvil.
"After having gratified the honest lawyer," said he, "with a share of
the unfortunate Fathom's spoils, and packed up all my own valuable
effects, my new auxiliary Maurice and I posted to Harwich, embarked in
the packet-boat, and next day arrived at Helvoetsluys; from thence we
repaired to the Hague, in order to mingle in the gaieties of the place,
and exercise our talents at play, which is there cultivated with
universal eagerness. But, chancing to meet with an old acquaintance,
whom I did not at all desire to see, I found it convenient to withdraw
softly to Rotterdam; from whence we set out for Antwerp; and, having made
a tour of the Austrian Netherlands, set up our rest at Brussels, and
concerted a plan for laying the Flemings under contribution.
"From our appearance we procured admission into the most polite
assemblies, and succeeded to a wonder in all our operations; until our
career was unfortunately checked by the indiscretion of my ally, who,
being detected in the very act of conveying a card, was immediately
introduced to a magistrate. And this minister of justice was so curious,
inquisitive, and clear-sighted, that Count Maurice, finding it impossible
to elude his penetration, was fain to stipulate for his own safety, by
giving up his friend to the cognisance of the law. I was accordingly
apprehended, before I knew the cause of my arrest; and being unhappily
known by some soldiers of the Prince's guard, my character turned out so
little to the approbation of the inquisitors, that all my effects were
confiscated for the benefit of the state, and I was by a formal sentence
condemned to labour on the fortifications all the days of my life; while
Maurice escaped at the expense of five hundred stripes, which he received
in public from the hands of the common executioner.
"Thus have I, without evasion or mental reservation, given a faithful
account of the steps by which I have arrived at this barrier, which is
likely to be the ne plus ultra of my peregrinations, unless the generous
Count de Melvil will deign to interpose his interest in behalf of an old
fellow-soldier, who may yet live to justify his mediation."
Renaldo had no reason to doubt the truth of this story, every
circumstance of which tended to corroborate the intelligence he had
already received touching the character of Fathom, whom he now considered
with a double portion of abhorrence, as the most abandoned miscreant that
nature had ever produced. Though Ratchcali did not possess a much higher
place in his opinion, he favoured him with marks of his bounty, and
exhorted him, if possible, to reform his heart; but he would by no means
promise to interpose his credit in favour of a wretch self-convicted of
such enormous villany and fraud. He could not help moralising upon this
rencontre, which inspired him with great contempt for human nature. And
next day he proceeded on his journey with a heavy heart, ruminating on
the perfidy of mankind, and, between whiles, transported with the
prospect of revenging all his calamities upon the accursed author.
While he was wrapped up in these reveries, his carriage rolled along, and
had already entered a wood between Mons and Tournay, when his dream was
suddenly interrupted by the explosion of several pistols that were fired
among the thickets at a little distance from the road. Roused at this
alarm, he snatched his sword that stood by him, and springing from the
chaise, ran directly towards the spot, being close followed by his valet,
who had alighted and armed himself with a pistol in each hand. About
forty yards from the highway, they arrived in a little glade or opening,
where they saw a single man standing at bay against five banditti, after
having killed one of their companions, and lost his own horse, that lay
dead upon the ground.
Melvil seeing this odds, and immediately guessing their design, rushed
among them without hesitation, and in an instant ran his sword through
the heart of one whose hand was raised to smite the gentleman behind,
while he was engaged with the rest in front. At the same time the valet
disabled another by a shot in the shoulder; so that the number being now
equal on both sides, a furious combat ensued, every man being paired with
an antagonist, and each having recourse to swords, as all their pieces
had been discharged. Renaldo's adversary, finding himself pressed with
equal fury and skill, retreated gradually among the trees, until he
vanished altogether into the thickest of the wood; and his two companions
followed his example with great ease, the valet-de-chambre being hurt in
the leg, and the stranger so much exhausted by the wounds he had received
before Renaldo's interposition, that, when the young gentleman approached
to congratulate him on the defeat of the robbers, he, in advancing to
embrace his deliverer, dropped down motionless on the grass.
The Count, with that warmth of sympathy and benevolence which was natural
to his heart, lifted up the wounded cavalier in his arms, and carried him
to the chaise, in which he was deposited, while the valet-de-chambre
reloaded his pistols, and prepared for a second attack, as they did not
doubt that the banditti would return with a reinforcement. However,
before they reappeared, Renaldo's driver disengaged him from the wood,
and in less than a quarter of an hour they arrived at a village, where
they halted for assistance to the stranger, who, though still alive, had
not recovered the use of his senses.
After he was undressed, and laid in a warm bed, a surgeon examined his
body, and found a wound in his neck by a sword, and another in his right
side, occasioned by a pistol-shot; so that his prognostic was very
dubious. Meanwhile, he applied proper dressings to both; and, in half an
hour after this administration, the gentleman gave some tokens of
perception. He looked around him with a wildness of fury in his aspect,
as if he had thought himself in the hands of the robbers by whom he had
been attacked. But, when he saw the assiduity with which the bystanders
exerted themselves in his behalf, one raising his head from the pillow,
while another exhorted him to swallow a little wine which was warmed for
the purpose; when he beheld the sympathising looks of all present, and
heard himself accosted in the most cordial terms by the person whom he
recollected as his deliverer, all the severity vanished from his
countenance; he took Renaldo's hand, and pressed it to his lips; and,
while the tears gushed from his eyes, "Praised be God," said he, "that
virtue and generosity are still to be found among the sons of men."
Everybody in the apartment was affected by this exclamation; and Melvil,
above all the rest, felt such emotions as he could scarcely restrain. He
entreated the gentleman to believe himself in the midst of such friends
as would effectually secure him from all violence and mortification; he
conjured him to compose the perturbation of his spirits, and quiet the
apprehensions of his mind with that reflection; and protested, that he
himself would not quit the house while his attendance should be deemed
necessary for the stranger's cure, or his conversation conducive to his
amusement.
These assurances, considered with the heroic part which the young
Hungarian had already acted in his behalf, inspired the cavalier with
such a sublime idea of Melvil, that he gazed upon him with silent
astonishment, as an angel sent from heaven for his succour; and, in the
transport of his gratitude, could not help exclaiming, "Sure Providence
hath still something in reserve for this unfortunate wretch, in whose
favour such a miracle of courage and generosity hath interposed!"
Being accommodated with proper care and attendance, his constitution in a
little time overcame the fever; and, at the third dressing, the surgeon
declared him out of all danger from his wounds. Then was Renaldo
indulged with opportunities of conversing with the patient, and of
inquiring into the particulars of his fortune and designs in life, with a
view to manifest the inclination he felt to serve him in his future
occasions.
The more this stranger contemplated the character of the Count, the more
his amazement increased, on account of his extraordinary benevolence in
favour of a person whose merit he could not possibly know; he even
expressed his surprise on this subject to Renaldo, who at length told
him, that, although his best offices should always be ready for the
occasions of any gentleman in distress, his particular attachment and
regard to him was improved by an additional consideration. "I am no
stranger," said he, "to the virtues and honour of the gallant Don Diego
de Zelos."
"Heaven and earth!" cried the stranger, starting from his seat with
extreme emotion, "do I then live to hear myself addressed by that
long-lost appellation! my heart glows at the expression! my spirits are
kindled with a flame that thrills through every nerve! Say, young
gentleman, if you are really an inhabitant of earth, by what means are
you acquainted with the unhappy name of Zelos?"
In answer to this eager interrogation, Renaldo gave him to understand,
that in the course of his travels, he had resided a short time at
Seville, where he had frequently seen Don Diego, and often heard his
character mentioned with uncommon esteem and veneration. "Alas!" replied
the Castilian, "that justice is no longer done to the wretched Zelos; his
honours are blasted, and his reputation canker-bitten by the venomous
tooth of slander."
He then proceeded to unfold his misfortunes, as they have already been
explained in the former part of these memoirs; at the recapitulation of
which, the heart of Melvil, being intendered by his own calamities, was
so deeply affected, that he re-echoed the groans of Don Diego, and wept
over his sufferings with the most filial sympathy. When he repeated the
story of that cruel fraud which was practised upon him by the faithless
Fadini, Melvil, whose mind and imagination teemed with the villanies of
Fathom, was immediately struck with the conjecture of his being the
knave; because, indeed, he could not believe that any other person was so
abandoned by principle and humanity as to take such a barbarous advantage
of a gentleman in distress.
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
HIS RETURN TO ENGLAND, AND MIDNIGHT PILGRIMAGE TO MONIMIA'S TOMB.
He considered the date of that unparalleled transaction, which agreed
with his conjecture, and from the inquiries he made concerning the person
of the traitor, gathered reasons sufficient to confirm his supposition.
Thus certified, "That is the villain," cried the Count, "whose infernal
arts have overwhelmed me with such misery as Heaven itself hath made no
remedy to dispel! To revenge my wrongs on that perfidious miscreant, is
one of the chief reasons for which I deign to drag about an hateful
being. O Don Diego! what is life, when all its enjoyments are so easily
poisoned by the machinations of such a worm!" So saying, he smote his
breast in all the agony of woe, and besought the Spaniard to relate the
steps he took in consequence of this disaster.
The Castilian's cheeks reddened at this information, which enforced his
own resentment, and casting up his eyes to heaven, "Sacred powers!" cried
he, "let him not perish, before you bring him within my reach. You ask
me, noble cavalier, what measures I took in this abyss of misery? For
the first day, I was tortured with apprehensions for the friendly Fadini,
fearing that he had been robbed and murdered for the jewels which he had,
perhaps, too unwarily exposed to sale. But this terror soon vanished
before the true presages of my fate, when, on the morrow, I found the
whole family in tears and confusion, and heard my landlord pour forth the
most bitter imprecations against the fugitive, who had deflowered his
daughter, and even robbed the house. You will ask, which of the passions
of my heart were interested on this occasion? they were shame and
indignation. All my grief flowed in another channel; I blushed to find
my judgment deceived; I scorned to complain; but, in my heart, denounced
vengeance against my base betrayer. I silently retired to my apartment,
in order to commune with my own thoughts.
"I had borne greater calamities without being driven to despair; I
summoned all my fortitude to my assistance, and resolved to live in spite
of affliction. Thus determined, I betook myself to the house of a
general officer, whose character was fair in the world; and having
obtained admission in consequence of my Oriental appearance, 'To a man of
honour,' said I, 'the unfortunate need no introduction. My habit
proclaims me a Persian; this passport from the States of Holland will
confirm that supposition. I have been robbed of jewels to a considerable
value, by a wretch whom I favoured with my confidence; and now, reduced
to extreme indigence, I come to offer myself as a soldier in the armies
of France. I have health and strength sufficient to discharge that duty.
Nor am I unacquainted with a military life, which was once my glory and
occupation. I therefore sue for your protection, that I may be received,
though in the lowest order of them that serve the King; and that your
future favour may depend upon my behaviour in that capacity.'
"The general, surprised at my declaration, surveyed me with uncommon
attention; he perused my certificate; asked divers questions concerning
the art of war, to which I returned such answers as convinced him that I
was not wholly ignorant in that particular. In short, I was enlisted as
a volunteer in his own regiment, and soon after promoted to the rank of a
subaltern, and the office of equerry to his own son, who, at that time,
had attained to the degree of colonel, though his age did not exceed
eighteen years.