Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A55296
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The gallant ladies, or, The mutual confidence. The first part a novel / translated out of the French.; Dames galantes. English
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Poisson, Raymond, 1633-1690.
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1685
(1685)
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Wing P2745; ESTC R40074
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41,773
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139
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without intermission at that rate that I was several times reduc'd to the utmost extremities to escape the effects of his brutish Passion Till now Madam I had tasted too much of the satisfaction of loving and being belov'd Here it was my Fortune to be plagued by a Man who was my aversion for I hated Spichetti mortally If I shew'd him the least kindness imaginable that fed his hopes if I treated him ill that provok'd him so that nothing but a perfect Miracle or Death could put an end to my misfortunes Bernard who took upon him to be my Privy Counsellor reproach'd me for not followinig his advice that I protest I was never in so perplex'd a condition in my life At last Hieronimo calling me one day by my right name told me he knew all my Adventures and if I did not resolve to comply with his desires in a week he would send my Husband word where I was and look so narrowly to me in the mean time that I should find it impossible to escape out of his Hands I did all I could to perswade him I was not the Person he took me for but it would not do he knew all my concerns though I could never learn how he came to be so perfectly inform'd The miserable condition I was reduc'd to made me think of nothing now but dying which I resolv'd to do rather than satisfy the beastly desires of this filthy Italian However I thought I was bound to try all means of delivering my self before I gave my self quite over to despair and so set my self to consider what was possibly to be done to obtain my liberty First then I took my Jewels and Bill of Exchange for a considerable Sum and some ready Money I had left with the Letters of Recommendation to the Dutchess of Savoy and gave them all to Bernard when Spichetti was out of the way then telling him he should be my Governour for the future I begg'd him to invent some means to free me from the violence which my Tyrant threatned me with To effect which the better we agreed he should pretend to leave me which he presently put in execution and corrupted the Gardner of the Castle where I was which inabled him to give me notice how his indeavours succeeded The Day which Spichetti set me now drawing near without any hopes of escaping it came into my Head to desire a little longer time which he was easily perswaded to grant because I made him believe his perseverance had made some progress in my Heart He took this opportunity to try if he could dazle me with his Wealth which he set forth with such advantage as would have gone a great way with any Woman but my self but his offers were thrown away upon me I had but one Day left now which Spichetti impatiently waited for when I had notice every thing was ready for my deliverence which was thus I was to get out of my Window into the Garden by a Cord Ladder in the Gardners House there were two Suits of Mens Clothes for me and my Maid and Bernard was to wait for me with Horses an hundred paces from thence Though this design was well enough contriv'd yet he might have justly questioned the success of it if he had consider'd Hieronimo was an Italian in Love jealous and suspicious and such Monsters are hard to be impos'd upon in things of this importance but great dangers require strong resolutions One thing happen'd to my advantage Spichetti was taken with a violent Fever and grew light-headed but not so bad as to hinder him from ordering me to be lock'd up in my Chamber This caution was to no purpose for I got away as we had contriv'd and travel'd all Night without knowing what Road we were in At last when day broke we found our selves on the top of a Mountain from whence we discover'd a great many more which compos'd an extraordinary pleasant solitude We kept on till Sun-rise through untrodden Paths which brought us to an Hermitage that stood in a very melancholy place The charitable Hermits whom I found there made me as welcome as they could I had never been on Horseback before was very weary and wanted rest The eldest of the Hermits led me into a little neat Cell where I slept for some time for my Mind was so disturb'd that I soon wak'd and found out my good Host who had got some Herbs and Fruit for me to eat whose cleanly dressing made up what they wanted in abundance Summer was just now coming on and if I had had but the least inclination to spend my life in a Desart far from the noise and communication of the World I should have been much more delighted with this solitude but alas I was in no condition to hearken to the Musick of the Birds to try the neighbouring Eccho's or to consider the Beauty of the Rocks my Head was taken up with other cares The Hermit who applied himself to entertain me soon perceiv'd I was melancholy and took occasion to say whatever he thought might comfort me I observ'd more Understanding and Politeness in his Discourse than usally Hermits are Masters of but what most surpriz'd me was that after he had looked stedfastly upon me he told me the Clothes I wore did not belong to my Sex I should have thought he had discover'd it by my Complexion or my Shape but that continuing to look upon me he added that Love had caused all the miseries of my Life He ask'd me the Minute of my Nativity which I told him as near as I could and then he spoke of several things in general to me which gave me warning to take heed of Though what he said was very serious yet I could not forbear laughing for I could not fancy I should be the happier or unhappier for being born a Minute sooner or later For all that he inlarg'd his Discourse upon the future and his Predictions have prov'd very true I thought it now time to take leave of the Hermit and was inquiring of him what place I might safely retire to where I might hear how my Affairs went in the World when my Woman who lay asleep upon the ground was bitten by a Scorpion This accident forc'd me to stay two days longer in the Desart during which time the Hermit was so civil as to relate his Life to me which discover'd him to be a Man of Quality His Story had a great many extraordinary events in it but I have so many to tell you that relate to my self that I shall take notice of the Hermit's no otherwise than as they fall into my own Relation At last My dear Child said he to me you see an unhappy Man who once gave himself wholly over to the World the remembrance of which serves only to renew my repentance of those extravagances and errours which her dangerous maxims ingag'd me in The Knowledge I have of the disgraces which attend those who are
had only suffer'd my self to be belov'd I had not till now felt those pleasing pains which seize upon one's Heart before it is firmly determin'd to abandon it felf wholly to Love I had always been ignorant of the lively pleasures it injoys in the beginnings of a Passion those trifles which have such great effects in a Word those little things which indifferent People call folly but which make the most delightful employment of Lovers I forgot all my misfortunes the only one I fear'd was being forc'd to part with Mezelon I would not so much as suppose that Bernard's return could ingage me to a Journey from thence and I accommodated my Morals to my Love and often flatter'd my self that the hatred my Husband shew'd to me was a sufficient Dispensation from my Conjugal Faith In short Madam I forbore nothing but what came too close both upon my own Honour as well as his and made no manner of scruple of all the rest Most Women in the World if they were sincere would freely own what I confess now for I do not believe I am the first Example in this kind Mezelon's Return brought a great many People of Quality to see him for he was generally beloved and all who came were delighted to hear the Description of his supposed Death and Resurrection which we had not yet got from him Being one Evening with his Mother and Sister and one of his Kinswomen we put him upon the Relation of his Adventures in Candie which he comply'd with in these Terms The History of Mezelon I Went on Roard the Duke of Beaufort's Ship and I cannot tell you Ladies whether our Voyage was stormy or calm all I can say is That I was sick all the while I was at Sea never was upon the Deck till we saw Candie and the Inconvenience I suffer'd during the whole Passage hindred me from learning any of the Sea-terms As soon as I landed I quickly recovered my Health again and made it my Business to be as near the General as I could whose Example was sufficient to inspire us all with generous Emulation You must needs be inform'd of what pass'd at the Siege by the Publick News so that I shall not enter into the Particulars which cannot but be tedious to those that know them already I suppose it is my Story and not that of the Turks or the Venetians you desire to learn therefore I shall tell you That in the lost Battel I was dangerously wounded I was I said before near the Duke of Beaufort's Person who had sent his Aydes de Camp to carry his Orders into several parts of the Field he commanded me also to bring on some Troops to sustain a Battalion which began to give ground to the Enemy When I had executed his Orders I return'd but could not find him any where and immediately it was reported among us that he was kill'd I thrust my self in among the thickest to learn the truth and got nothing for my pains but two deep Wounds upon my Head and my Shoulder which however kept me not from being one of the last that made good their Retreat into the Town The ill success of this Day made them refuse to let me into my Quarters being much wounded and not yet dress'd I was in great distress not knowing where to go and was beginning to faint when the Patriarch of Candie and his eldest Daughter lighting upon me in that Condition charitably took me into their House Their Assistance came very seasonably but what was then 〈…〉 to me was like afterwards 〈…〉 me The Patriarch's Daughter whose Name was Eustochia dress'd my Wounds and I had reason to thank her for her Care but I have always held this Maxim That Benesits receiv'd from a Fair Hand are more obliging than those we receive from a Deformed Object Eustochia was one of the last for she had the ugliest Face I ever saw which she conceal'd from me as much as she could and my Covntry-men embarqu'd and sail'd away without my knowing of it I was reckon'd among the Slain because I had not appear'd in the Town since the Battel and my Host durst not own he had resus'd to take me in so that our Forces went away and I was left behind When I was cured Eustochia look'd upon my Heart as a due Recompence for the good Offices she had dene me but though I ow'd her a great deal I could not extend my Gratitude so sar She had a Sister indeed to whom I would willingly have been beholden for my Life and without that Tie would have been glad to have discharg'd to her the Obligations I had to Eustochia who perceiving I look'd kindly on her and guessing what Thoughts she had inspir'd me with immediately chang'd her Love into Hatred and a desire of destroying me As nothing can be more Amorous than the Heart of a Greek so nothing is more Violent than their Resentment The Town surrendred as you have heard and the Turks made their Victorious Entry into it Eustochia got acquainted with a Janizary who deplor'd the loss of his Brother that was kill'd in the last Fight she inform'd her self what kind of Man he was what Station he had in the Army and then told him a few days after she believ'd I had kill'd him The Janizary without considering there was no likelihood of her knowing what she told him thought of nothing but revenging his Brother's Death and express'd great earnestness to have me in his power which she engag'd to bring about But her charitable Sister discovering her Design would not suffer me to perish so unjustly and there being no time to be lost took a Resolution as bold as it was generous She knew her Father was too weak a Man to oppose Eustochia's Intentions and so it would be Labour lost to meddle with him But understanding 〈…〉 let the Treaty of Capitulation be infring'd especially in any thing that concern'd our Nation she order'd her Business so as to be brought before him and spoke to him thus in Greek which he understood very well I come Sir said she to him to desire Justice not against any of your Soldiers or the Officers of your Army but against my own Sister whose wicked Mind has preval'd with her to commit so black an Action as I cannot think of it without horrour A young Frenchman lay at my Father's House It is true my Sister seeing his Life in a great deal of danger took a great deal of care of him and has cured him of two desperate Hurts but now to her shame and his almost unavoidable destruction she has chang'd her mind and would take away that Life she has preserv'd And so to add Imposture to her Eury she has made the Janizary Achâ—aec 〈…〉 Frenchman kill'd his Brother in the last Sally and has promis'd to put this innocent Victim into his Hands which she sacrifices more to her own Revenge than to Achidec 's Grief Begin now Sir