John Bull | Page 5

woman! let me have a bit of a peep. [Looking out.] Och, the crater! Och, the--
Mrs. Brul. Heyday! I should'n't have thought of your peeping after a young woman, indeed!
Dennis. Be asy, Mrs. Brulgruddery! it's a way we have in Ireland.--There's a face!
Mrs. Brul. Well, and hav'n't I a face, pray?
Dennis. That you have, my lambkin! You have had one these fifty years, I'll bound for you.
Mrs. Brul. Fifty years! you are the greatest brute that ever dug potatoes.
Re-enter PEREGRINE, supporting MARY.
Pereg. This way. Cheer your spirits; the ruffian with whom I saw you struggling, has fled across the Heath; but his speed prevented my saving your property. Was your money, too, in the parcel with your clothes?
Mary. All I possessed in the world, sir;--and he has so frighten'd me!--Indeed. I thank you, sir; indeed I do!
Pereg. Come, come, compose yourself. Whither are you going, pretty one?
Mary. I must not tell, sir.
Pereg. Then whither do you come from?
Mary. No body must know, sir.
Pereg. Umph! Then your proceedings, child, are a secret?
Mary. Yes, sir.
Pereg. Yet you appear to need a friend to direct them. A heath is a rare place to find one: in the absence of a better, confide in me.
Mary. You forget that you are a stranger, sir.
Pereg. I always do--when the defenceless want my assistance.
Mary. But, perhaps you might betray me, sir.
Pereg. Never--by the honour of a man!
Mary. Pray don't swear by that, sir! for, then, you'll betray me, I'm certain.
Pereg. Have you ever suffered from treachery, then, poor innocence?
Mary. Yes, sir.
Pereg. And may not one of your own sex have been treacherous to you?
Mary. No, sir; I'm very sure he was a man.
Dennis. Oh, the blackguard!
Mrs. Brul. Hold your tongue, do!
Pereg. Listen to me, child. I would proffer you friendship, for your own sake--for the sake of benevolence. When ages, indeed, are nearly equal, nature is prone to breathe so warmly on the blossoms of a friendship between the sexes, that the fruit is desire; but time, fair one, is scattering snow on my temples, while Hebe waves her freshest ringlets over yours. Rely, then, on one who has numbered years sufficient to correct his passions; who has encountered difficulties enough to teach him sympathy; and who would stretch forth his hand to a wandering female, and shelter her like a father.
Mary. Oh, sir! I do want protection sadly indeed! I am very miserable! [Weeping.
Pereg. Come, do not droop. The cause of your distress, perhaps, is trifling; but, light gales of adversity will make women weep. A woman's tear falls like the dew that zephyrs shake from roses.--Nay, confide in me.
Mary. I will, sir; but---- [Looking round.
Pereg. Leave us a little, honest friends.
Dennis. A hem!--Come, Mrs. Brulgruddery! let you and I pair off, my lambkin!
Mrs. Brul. [Going.] Ah! she's no better than she should be, I'll warrant her.
Dennis. By the powers, she's well enough though, for all that. [Exeunt DENNIS and MRS. BRUL. into the House.
Pereg. Now, sweet one, your name?
Mary. Mary, sir.
Pereg. What else?
Mary. Don't ask me that, sir: my poor father might be sorry it was mentioned, now.
Pereg. Have you quitted your father, then?
Mary. I left his house at day-break, this morning, sir.
Pereg. What is he?
Mary. A tradesman in the neighbouring town, sir.
Pereg. Is he aware of your departure?
Mary. No, sir,
Pereg. And your mother--?
Mary. I was very little, when she died, sir.
Pereg. Has your father, since her death, treated you with cruelty?
Mary. He? Oh, bless him! no! he is the kindest father that ever breathed, sir.
Pereg. How must such a father be agonized by the loss of his child!
Mary. Pray, sir, don't talk of that!
Pereg. Why did you fly from him?
Mary. Sir, I----I----but that's my story, sir.
Pereg. Relate it, then.
Mary. Yes, sir.--You must know, then, sir, that--there was a young gentleman in this neighbourhood, that--O dear, sir, I'm quite ashamed!
Pereg. Come, child, I will relieve you from the embarrassment of narration, and sum up your history in one word;--love.
Mary. That's the beginning of it, sir; but a great deal happen'd afterwards.
Pereg. And who is the hero of your story, my poor girl?
Mary. The hero of----? O, I understand--he is much above me in fortune, sir. To be sure, I should have thought of that, before he got such power over my heart, to make me so wretched, now he has deserted me.
Pereg. He would have thought of that, had his own heart been generous.
Mary. He is reckon'd very generous, sir; he can afford to be so. When the old gentleman dies, he will have all the great family estate. I am going to the house, now, sir.
Pereg. For what purpose?
Mary. To try if I can see him for the last time, sir: to tell him I shall always pray for his happiness, when I am far away from a place which he has made it