Of this latter species was our heroe. He considered
this poor girl as one whose happiness or misery he
had caused to be dependent on himself. Her beauty
was still the object of desire, though greater beauty,
or a fresher object, might have been more so; but the
little abatement which fruition had occasioned to
this was highly overbalanced by the considerations
of the affection which she visibly bore him, and of
the situation into which he had brought her. The
former of these created gratitude, the latter compassion;
and both, together with his desire for her person,
raised in him a passion which might, without any great
violence to the word, be called love; though, perhaps,
it was at first not very judiciously placed.
This, then, was the true reason of that insensibility
which he had shown to the charms of Sophia, and that
behaviour in her which might have been reasonably
enough interpreted as an encouragement to his addresses;
for as he could not think of abandoning his Molly,
poor and destitute as she was, so no more could he
entertain a notion of betraying such a creature as
Sophia. And surely, had he given the least encouragement
to any passion for that young lady, he must have been
absolutely guilty of one or other of those crimes;
either of which would, in my opinion, have very justly
subjected him to that fate, which, at his first introduction
into this history, I mentioned to have been generally
predicted as his certain destiny.
Chapter vii.
Being the shortest chapter in this book.
Her mother first perceived the alteration in the shape
of Molly; and in order to hide it from her neighbours,
she foolishly clothed her in that sack which Sophia
had sent her; though, indeed, that young lady had
little apprehension that the poor woman would have
been weak enough to let any of her daughters wear
it in that form.
Molly was charmed with the first opportunity she ever
had of showing her beauty to advantage; for though
she could very well bear to contemplate herself in
the glass, even when dressed in rags; and though she
had in that dress conquered the heart of Jones, and
perhaps of some others; yet she thought the addition
of finery would much improve her charms, and extend
her conquests.
Molly, therefore, having dressed herself out in this
sack, with a new laced cap, and some other ornaments
which Tom had given her, repairs to church with her
fan in her hand the very next Sunday. The great
are deceived if they imagine they have appropriated
ambition and vanity to themselves. These noble
qualities flourish as notably in a country church
and churchyard as in the drawing-room, or in the closet.
Schemes have indeed been laid in the vestry which would
hardly disgrace the conclave. Here is a ministry,
and here is an opposition. Here are plots and
circumventions, parties and factions, equal to those
which are to be found in courts.
