I Could Not Be Mistaken; In The Fat, Beer-Blown Landlord Of The
Ale-House I Recognized My Old Rival Harlequin, And In His Slattern
Spouse, The Once Trim And Dimpling Columbine.
The change of my looks, from youth to manhood, and the change of my
circumstances, prevented them from recognizing me.
They could not
suspect, in the dashing young buck, fashionably dressed, and driving
his own equipage, their former comrade, the painted beau, with old
peaked hat and long, flimsy, sky-blue coat. My heart yearned with
kindness towards Columbine, and I was glad to see her establishment a
thriving one. As soon as the harness was adjusted, I tossed a small
purse of gold into her ample bosom; and then, pretending give my horses
a hearty cut of the whip, I made the lash curl with a whistling about
the sleek sides of ancient Harlequin. The horses dashed off like
lightning, and I was whirled out of sight, before either of the parties
could get over their surprise at my liberal donations. I have always
considered this as one of the greatest proofs of my poetical genius. It
was distributing poetical justice in perfection.
I now entered London en cavalier, and became a blood upon town. I
took fashionable lodgings in the West End; employed the first tailor;
frequented the regular lounges; gambled a little; lost my money
good-humoredly, and gained a number of fashionable good-for-nothing
acquaintances. Had I had more industry and ambition in my nature, I
might have worked my way to the very height of fashion, as I saw many
laborious gentlemen doing around me. But it is a toilsome, an anxious,
and an unhappy life; there are few beings so sleepless and miserable as
your cultivators of fashionable smiles.
I was quite content with that kind of society which forms the frontiers
of fashion, and may be easily taken possession of. I found it a light,
easy, productive soil. I had but to go about and sow visiting cards,
and I reaped a whole harvest of invitations. Indeed, my figure and
address were by no means against me. It was whispered, too, among the
young ladies, that I was prodigiously clever, and wrote poetry; and the
old ladies had ascertained that I was a young gentleman of good family,
handsome fortune, and "great expectations."
I now was carried away by the hurry of gay life, so intoxicating to a
young man; and which a man of poetical temperament enjoys so highly on
his first tasting of it. That rapid variety of sensations; that whirl
of brilliant objects; that succession of pungent pleasures. I had no
time for thought; I only felt. I never attempted to write poetry; my
poetry seemed all to go off by transpiration. I lived poetry; it was
all a poetical dream to me. A mere sensualist knows nothing of the
delights of a splendid metropolis. He lives in a round of animal
gratifications and heartless habits. But to a young man of poetical
feelings it is an ideal world; a scene of enchantment and delusion; his
imagination is in perpetual excitement, and gives a spiritual zest to
every pleasure.
A season of town life somewhat sobered me of my intoxication; or rather
I was rendered more serious by one of my old complaints - I fell in
love. It was with a very pretty, though a very haughty fair one, who
had come to London under the care of an old maiden aunt, to enjoy the
pleasures of a winter in town, and to get married. There was not a
doubt of her commanding a choice of lovers; for she had long been the
belle of a little cathedral town; and one of the prebendaries had
absolutely celebrated her beauty in a copy of Latin verses.
I paid my court to her, and was favorably received both by her and her
aunt. Nay, I had a marked preference shown me over the younger son of a
needy baronet, and a captain of dragoons on half pay. I did not
absolutely take the field in form, for I was determined not to be
precipitate; but I drove my equipage frequently through the street in
which she lived, and was always sure to see her at the window,
generally with a book in her hand. I resumed my knack at rhyming, and
sent her a long copy of verses; anonymously to be sure; but she knew my
handwriting. They displayed, however, the most delightful ignorance on
the subject. The young lady showed them to me; wondered who they could
be written by; and declared there was nothing in this world she loved
so much as poetry: while the maiden aunt would put her pinching
spectacles on her nose, and read them, with blunders in sense and
sound, that were excruciating to an author's ears; protesting there was
nothing equal to them in the whole elegant extracts.
The fashionable season closed without my adventuring to make a
declaration, though. I certainly had encouragement. I was not perfectly
sure that I had effected a lodgment in the young lady's heart; and, to
tell the truth, the aunt overdid her part, and was a little too
extravagant in her liking of me. I knew that maiden aunts were not apt
to be captivated by the mere personal merits of their nieces' admirers,
and I wanted to ascertain how much of all this favor I owed to my
driving an equipage and having great expectations.
I had received many hints how charming their native town was during the
summer months; what pleasant society they had; and what beautiful
drives about the neighborhood. They had not, therefore, returned home
long, before I made my appearance in dashing style, driving down the
principal street. It is an easy thing to put a little quiet cathedral
town in a buzz. The very next morning I was seen at prayers, seated in
the pew of the reigning belle.
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