Даниэль Дефо - Roxana

This was so obliging, that nothing cou’d be more; so upon this Foot, he immediately set to Work to prepare things for his Journey; and by his Directions, so did I too: But now I had a terrible Difficulty upon me, and which way to get over it, I knew not; and that was, in what Manner to take Care of what I had to leave behind me; I was Rich, as I have said, very Rich, and what to do with it, I knew not, nor who to leave in Trust, I knew not; I had no-body but Amy , in the World, and to travel without Amy , was very uncomfortable; or to leave all I had in the World with her, and if she miscarried, be ruin’d at once, was still a frightful Thought; for Amy might die, and whose Hands things might fall into, I knew not: This gave me great Uneasiness, and I knew not what to do; for I could not mention it to the Prince, lest he should see that I was richer than he thought I was.

But the Prince made all this easie to me; for in concerting Measures for our Journey, he started the thing himself, and ask’d me merrily one Evening, who I wou’d trust with all my Wealth, in my Absence?

My Wealth, my Lord, said I, except what I owe to your Goodness, is but small; but yet, that little I have, I confess, causes some Thoughtfulness; because I have no Acquaintance in Paris , that I dare trust with it, nor anybody but my Woman, to leave in the House; and how to do without her upon the Road, I do not well know.

As to the Road, be not concern’d, says the Prince , I’ll provide you Servants to your Mind; and as for your Woman, if you can trust her, leave her here, and I’ll put you in a Way how to secure things, as well as if you were at Home: I bow’d, and told him, I cou’d not be put into better hands than his own, and that therefore, I wou’d govern all my Measures by his Directions; so we talk’d no more of it that Night.

The next Day he sent me in a great Iron Chest, so large, that it was as much as six lusty Fellows could get up the Steps, into the House; and in this I put, indeed, all my Wealth; and for my Safety, he order’d a good honest ancient Man and his Wife, to be in the House with her, to keep her Company, and a Maid-Servant, and Boy; so that there was a good Family, and Amy was Madam, the Mistress of the House.

Things being thus secur’d, we set out Incog . [129] Incog. as hecall’d it : incognito. Abbreviating words was a fashionable affectation. Swift complains of abbreviations such as ‘Rep for Reputation’ and ‘Incog for Incognito’ in his essay on Polite Conversation . See Jonathan Swift, A Proposal for Correcting the English Tongue. Polite Conversation, Etc ., ed. by Herbert Davis with Louis Landa (Basil Blackwood, 1957), pp. 114–15. as he call’d it; but we had two Coaches and Six Horses; two Chaises; and about eight Men-Servants on Horseback, all very well Arm’d.

Never was woman better us’d in this World, that went upon no other Account than I did; I had three Women-Servants to wait on me, one whereof was an old Madam —, who thorowly understood her Business, and manag’d every thing, as if she had been Major Domo ; so I had no Trouble; they had one Coach to themselves, and the Prince and I in the other; only that sometimes, where he knew it necessary, I went into their Coach; and one particular Gentleman of the Retinue rode with him.

I shall say no more of the Journey, than that when we came to those frightful Mountains, the Alps ; there was no travelling in our Coaches, so he order’d a Horse-Litter, but carried by Mules, to be provided for me, and himself went on Horseback; the Coaches went some other Way back to Lyons ; then we had coaches hir’d at Turin , which met us at Susa ; so that we were accommodated again, and went by easie Journeys afterwards, to Rome , where his Business, whatever it was , call’d him to stay some time; and from thence to Venice .

He was as good as his Word, indeed; for I had the Pleasure of his Company, and in a word, engross’d his Conversation almost all the Way: He took Delight in showing me every thing that was to be seen, and particularly, in telling me something of the History of every thing he show’d me.

What valuable Pains were here thrown away upon One, who he was sure, at last, to abandon with Regret! How below himself, did a Man of Quality, and of a thousand Accomplishments, behave in all this! ’Tis one of my Reasons for entring into this Part, which otherwise wou’d not be worth relating: Had I been a Daughter, or a Wife, of whom it might be said, that he had a just Concern in their Instruction, or Improvement, it had been an admirable Step; but all this to a Whore! to one who he carried with him upon no Account, that could be rationally agreeable; and none but to gratifie the meanest of humane Frailties: This was the Wonder of it.

But such is the Power of a vicious Inclination; Whoring was, in a Word, his Darling Crime; the worst Excursion he made; for he was otherwise, one of the most excellent Persons in the World; no Passions; no furious Excursions; [130] Excursion … Excursions : impropriety… outbursts. no ostentatious Pride; the most humble, courteous, affable Person in the World; not an Oath; not an indecent Word, or the least Blemish in Behaviour, was to be seen in all his Conversation, except as before excepted; and it has given me Occasion for many dark Reflections since; to look back and think, that I should be the Snare of such a Person’s Life; that I should influence him to so much Wickedness; and that I should be the Instrument in the Hand of the Devil, to do him so much Prejudice.

We were near two Year upon this Grand Tour , as it may be call’d, during most of which, I resided at Rome , or at Venice , having only been twice at Florence , and once at Naples : I made some very diverting and useful Observations in all these Places; and particularly, of the Conduct of the Ladies; for I had Opportunity to converse very much among them, by the Help of the old Witch that travell’d with us; she had been at Naples , and at Venice , and had liv’d in the former, several Years, where, as I found, she had liv’d but a loose Life, as indeed, the Women of Naples generally do; and, in short, I found she was fully acquainted with all the intrieguing Arts of that Part of the World.

Here my Lord bought me a little Female Turkish Slave, who being Taken at Sea by a Malthese Man of War, was brought in there; and of her I learnt the Turkish Language; their Way of Dressing, and Dancing, and some Turkish , or rather Moorish Songs, of which I made Use, to my Advantage, on an extraordinary Occasion, some Years after, as you shall hear in its Place. I need not say I learnt Italian too, for I got pretty well Mistress of that, before I had been there a Year; and as I had Leisure enough, and lov’d the Language, I read all the Italian Books I cou’d come at.

I began to be so in Love with Italy , especially with Naples and Venice , that I cou’d have been very well satisfied to have sent for Amy , and have taken up my Residence there for Life.

As to Rome , I did not like it at-all: The Swarms of Ecclesiasticks of all Kinds, on one side, and the scoundrel Rabbles of the Common People, on the other, make Rome the unpleasantest Place in the World, to live in; the innumerable Number of Valets, Lacqueys, and other Servants, is such, that they us’d to say, that there are very few of the Common People in Rome , but what have been Footmen, or Porters, or Grooms to Cardinals, or Foreign Ambassadors: In a Word, they have an Air of sharping and couzening, [131] couzening : cheating, beguiling. quarrelling and scolding, upon their general Behaviour; and when I was there, the Footmen made such a Broil between two Great Families in Rome , about which of their Coaches (the Ladies being in the Coaches on either side,) shou’d give Way to t’other; that there was above thirty People wounded on both Sides; five or six kill’d outright; and both the Ladies frighted almost to Death.