Mr. Munden may be in fault, you cannot hope to escape your share in the censure.'
Poor Mrs. Munden, who looked upon this lady as a second mother, would not attempt to offer any thing in opposition to the arguments she used; and, besides, could not forbear avowing, within herself, the justice of them. 'Well, Madam,' answered she, with a deep sigh, 'I shall endeavour to follow your ladyship's advice; and, since I am a wife, will do my best to make the yoke I have submitted to, sit as lightly upon me as possible.'
Lady Trusty perceiving her spirits were very much depressed, omitted nothing, that the shortness of time would allow, to persuade her to believe, that her condition was not so unhappy, in reality, as she at present imagined it to be; and having brought her to somewhat of a more chearful temper, conducted her into the room where Sir Ralph and Mr. Munden were still discoursing on the matter in question.
'Welcome, my fair charge,' cried the former, taking her by the hand, and drawing her towards Mr. Munden; 'I have once already had the honour of giving you to this gentleman—permit me to do so a second time; I hope with the same satisfaction, on both sides, as at first.'
'On mine, by Heaven, it is!' replied Mr. Munden, flying hastily to embrace her, as she moved slowly forward; 'if my dearest Betsy will promise to forget what is past, the pains I have suffered, during this interruption of my happiness, will be a sufficient security for her, that I shall be very careful for the future to avoid doing any thing that may again subject me to the like misfortune.'
These words, and the tender air which he assumed in speaking them, were so much beyond what Mrs. Munden could have expected from him, after his late treatment of her, that all her pride, her anger, and even her indifference, subsided at that instant, and gave place to sentiments of the most gentle nature.
'You must believe,' answered she, with an infinity of sweetness in her voice and eyes, 'that I have also had my share of anguish: but whatever inquietudes you have sustained on my account must be forgotten on your part, as it shall be mine to make atonement for them by every thing in my power, which can flatter me with the hopes of doing so.'
Insensible and morose as Mr. Munden was, he could not avoid, on this obliging behaviour in his fair wife, being touched in reality with some soft emotions, which he so well knew how to magnify the appearance of, that not only herself, but the bye-standers, imagined he was the most transported man alive.
Impossible it is to express how much Sir Ralph, and his good lady, rejoiced to see this happy event: they entertained them very elegantly at dinner, in the afternoon they went all together to take the air in Kensington Gardens; and a great deal of company coming in the evening to visit Lady Trusty, every thing contributed to keep up the spirit and good-humour of the newly re-united pair.
CHAPTER XI
Contains some few particulars which followed the reconciliation
Though this reconciliation was not altogether sincere on the side of Mr. Munden, yet being made in the presence of Sir Ralph and Lady Trusty, it kept him from giving any flagrant remonstrations, at present, that it was not so; and he continued to live with his amiable wife in the most seeming good harmony for some time.
She, on her part, performed with the utmost exactitude all she had promised to him; and though she could not be said to feel for him all that warmth of affection which renders the discharge of our duty so great a pleasure to ourselves, yet her good-nature and good-sense well supplied that deficiency, and left him no room to accuse her of the least failure in what might be expected from the best of wives.
During this interval of tranquillity, she lost the society of two persons, the tenderness of whose friendship for her she had experienced in a thousand instances: Mr. Francis Thoughtless, who had stayed so long in town, merely through the indulgence of his commanding officer, was now obliged to repair to his regiment, then quartered at Leeds in Yorkshire; and Sir Ralph Trusty, having finished his affairs in town, his lady returned with him to their country-seat.
Thus was she almost at once deprived of the only two persons to whom she could impart her mind without reserve, or on whose advice she could depend in any exigence whatever; for, as to her elder brother, he was too eager in the pursuit of his pleasures, and too much absorbed in them, to be truly solicitous for any thing that did not immediately relate to them; she saw him but seldom, and, when she did so, there was a certain distance in his behaviour towards her which would not permit her to talk to him with that freedom she could have wished to do.
She had not, however, any fresh motive to regret their departure on this account; Mr. Munden continued to behave to her in much the same manner as he had done since the breach had been made up between them: he was, indeed, very much abroad; but as she was far from being passionately fond of him, and only desired he would treat her with civility when with her, the little she enjoyed of his company was no manner of affliction to her.
She still retained some part of that gaiety, and love of a variety of conversation, which had always been a predominant propensity in her nature; and though in all her excursions, and the liberties she took, she carefully avoided every thing that might taint her virtue, or even cast a blemish on her reputation, yet were they such, as a husband who had loved with more ardency, would not, perhaps, have been very easy under: on his part, also, the late hours he came home at—the messages and letters which were daily brought to him by porters, might have given much disquiet to a wife, not defended from jealousy by so great a share of indifference: but in this they were perfectly agreed—neither offered to interfere with the amusements of the other, nor even pretended to enquire into the nature of them.
Though this was a mode of living together, which was far from being capable of producing that happiness for which the state of marriage was ordained, yet was it perfectly easy to persons who had so little real affection for each other; and, however blameable in the eyes of the truly discreet, escaped the censure of the generality of mankind, by it's being so frequently practised.
But I shall not expatiate on their present manner of behaviour to each other, since it was not of any long continuance, but proceed to the recital of a little adventure, which, though it may seem trifling to the reader in the repetition, will hereafter be found of some consequence.
It was a mighty custom with Lady Mellasin and Miss Flora, when they had nothing of more consequence to entertain them, to go among the shops, and amuse themselves with enquiring after new fashions, and looking over that variety of merchandize which is daily brought to this great mart of vanity and luxury.
Mrs. Munden, while in a virgin state, and a boarder at Mr. Goodman's, used frequently to accompany those ladies when bent on such sort of rambles; and she still was fond enough of satisfying her curiosity this way, at such times as she found nothing else to do, or was not in a humour to give or receive visits.
Happening one day to pass by the well-furnished shop of an eminent mercer, and seeing several silks lie spread upon the counter, she was tempted to step in, and examine them more nearly. A great number of others were also taken from the shelves, and laid before her; but she not seeming to approve any of them, the mercer told her he had some curious pieces out of the loom that morning of a quite new pattern, which he had sent his man with to a lady of quality, and expected he would be back in a few minutes, so intreated she would be pleased either to stay a little, or give him directions where she might be waited upon.
Mrs. Munden complied with the former of these requests; and the rather, because, while they were talking, she heard from a parlour, behind the shop, a harpsichord very finely touched, accompanied with a female voice which sung, in the most harmonious accents, part of this air, composed by the celebrated Signior Bononcini—
'M'insegna l'amor l'inganno,
Mi togl'al cor, l'assanno,
Mi da l'ardir amor,
Mi da l'ardir amor.'
The attention Mrs. Munden gave to the musick, preventing her from speaking, the mercer said he was sorry she