The Stranger Part 15

_Bar._ Name it.

_Stra._ That you allow me to be gone to-morrow, and not endeavour to detain me.

_Bar._ Go! Whither?

_Stra._ No matter! Promise this, or I will not come.

_Bar._ Well, I do promise. Come.

_Stra._ I have directions to give my servant.

_Bar._ In half an hour then we shall expect you. Remember, you have given your word.

_Stra._ I have. [_Exit BARON.--The STRANGER walks up and down, thoughtful and melancholy._]--Francis!

_Enter FRANCIS._

_Fra._ Sir!

_Stra._ Why are you out of the way?

_Fran._ Sir, I came when I heard you call.

_Stra._ I shall leave this place to-morrow.

_Fra._ With all my heart.

_Stra._ Perhaps to go into another land.

_Fra._ With all my heart again.

_Stra._ Perhaps into another quarter of the globe.

_Fra._ With all my heart still. Into which quarter?

_Stra._ Wherever Heaven directs! Away! away! from Europe! From this cultivated moral lazaret! Do you hear, Francis? To-morrow early.

_Fra._ Very well. [_Going._

_Stra._ Come here, come here first, I have an errand for you. Hire that carriage in the village; drive to the town hard by; you may be back by sun-set. I shall give you a letter to a widow who lives there. With her you will find two children. They are mine.

_Fra._ [_Astonished._] Your children, sir!

_Stra._ Take them, and bring them hither.

_Fra._ Your children, sir!

_Stra._ Yes, mine! Is it so very inconceivable?

_Fra._ That I should have been three years in your service, and never have heard them mentioned, is somewhat strange.

_Stra._ Pshaw!

_Fra._ You have been married then?

_Stra._ Go, and prepare for our journey.

_Fra._ That I can do in five minutes. [_Going._

_Stra._ I shall come and write the letter directly.

_Fra._ Very well, sir. [_Exit._

_Stra._ Yes, I'll take them with me. I'll accustom myself to the sight of them. The innocents! they shall not be poisoned by the refinements of society. Rather let them hunt their daily sustenance upon some desert island with their bow and arrow; or creep, like torpid Hottentots, into a corner, and stare at each other. Better to do nothing than to do evil.

Fool that I was, to be prevailed upon once more to exhibit myself among these apes! What a ridiculous figure shall I be! and in the capacity of a suitor too! Pshaw! he cannot be serious! 'Tis but a friendly artifice to draw me from my solitude. Why did I promise him? Yes, my sufferings have been many; and, to oblige a friend, why should I hesitate to add another painful hour to the wretched calendar of my life! I'll go. I'll go. [_Exit._

SCENE II.

_The Antichamber._

_Enter CHARLOTTE._

_Char._ No, indeed, my lady! If you chuse to bury yourself in the country, I shall take my leave. I am not calculated for a country life.

And, to sum up all, when I think of this Mrs. Haller--

_Enter SOLOMON._

_Sol._ [_Overhearing her last words._] What of Mrs. Haller, my sweet Miss?

_Char._ Why, Mr. Solomon, who is Mrs. Haller? You know every thing; you hear every thing.

_Sol._ I have received no letters from any part of Europe on the subject, Miss.

_Char._ But who is to blame? The Count and Countess. She dines with them; and at this very moment is drinking tea with them. Is this proper?

_Sol._ By no means.

_Char._ Shouldn't a Count and a Countess, in all their actions, show a certain degree of pride and pomposity?

_Sol._ To be sure! To be sure they should!

_Char._ No, I won't submit to it. I'll tell her ladys.h.i.+p, when I dress her to-morrow, that either Mrs. Haller or I must quit the house.

_Sol._ [_Seeing the BARON._] St!

_Enter BARON._