Даниэль Дефо - Roxana

In a word, Amy went, and was gone five long Hours; but when she came back, I cou’d see by her Countenance, that her Success had been suitable to her Pains; for she came laughing and gaping, O Madam! says she , I have pleas’d you to the Life; [239] to the Life : in every detail. and with that, she tells me how she had fix’d upon a House in a Court in the Minories ? [240] the Minories : a street between Aldgate and the tower in the City of London. that she was directed to it meerly by Accident; that it was a Female Family, the Master of the House being gone to New-England ; and that the Woman had four Children; kept two Maids, and liv’d very handsomely, but wanted Company to divert her; and that on that very account, she had agreed to take Boarders.

Amy agreed for a good handsome Price, because she was resolv’d I shou’d be us’d well; so she bargain’d to give her 35 l . for the Half-Year, and 50 l . if we took a Maid, leaving that to my Choice; and that we might be satisfied we shou’d meet with nothing very gay; the People were QUAKERS, [241] QUAKERS : Quakers practised a sober way of life, abstaining from all frivolity, the pursuit of pleasure, and even from music and art. Their distinctive clothing (see note 231) and mode of speaking aroused animosity, and they were frequently reviled in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Defoe, however, did not share the widespread dislike of them. and I lik’d them the better.

I was so pleas’d, that I resolv’d to go with Amy the next Day to see the Lodgings, and to see the Woman of the House, and see how I lik’d them; but if I was pleas’d with the general, I was much more pleas’d with the particulars; for the Gentlewoman, I must call her so, tho’ she was a QUAKER, was a most courteous, obliging, mannerly Person; perfectly well-bred, and perfectly well-humour’d, and in short, the most agreeable Conversation that ever I met with; and which was worth all, so grave, and yet so pleasant and so merry, that ’tis scarce possible for me to express how I was pleas’d and delighted with her Company; and particularly, I was so pleas’d, that I wou’d go away no more; so I e’en took up my Lodging there the very first Night.

In the mean time, tho’ it took up Amy almost a Month so entirely, to put off all the Appearances of Housekeeping, as above; it need take me up no Time to relate it; ’tis enough to say, that Amy quitted all that Part of the World, and came Pack and Package to me, and here we took up our Abode.

I was now in a perfect Retreat indeed; remote from the Eyes of all that ever had seen me, and as much out of the way of being ever seen or heard-of by any of the Gang that us’d to follow me, as if I had been among the Mountains in Lancashire ; for when did a Blue Garter, or a Coach-and-Six come into a little narrow Passage in the Minories , or Goodman’s-Fields ? [242] Goodman’s-Fields : originally pastures lying east of the Minories owned by a farmer called Goodman, but by 1720 converted into streets with houses occupied by merchants. The area was prosperous but unfashionable. And as there was no Fear of them, so really I had no Desire to see them, or so much as to hear from them any-more, as long as I liv’d.

I seem’d in a little Hurry while Amy came and went, so every-Day, at first; but when that was over, I liv’d here perfectly retir’d, and with a most pleasant and agreeable Lady; I must call her so, for tho’ a QUAKER, she had a full Share of good Breeding, sufficient to her, if she had been a Dutchess; in a word, she was the most agreeable Creature in her Conversation, as I said before , that ever I met with.

I pretended, after I had been there some time, to be extreamly in Love with the Dress of the QUAKERS, [243] the Dress of the QUAKERS : Quakers wore very plain, simply-made clothes. Particularly distinctive were the plain, broad-brimmed hats of the men, worn instead of wigs, and the old-fashioned country hats with high pointed crowns like church steeples of the women. and this pleas’d her so much, that she wou’d needs dress me up one Day in a Suit of her own Cloaths; but my real Design was, to see whether it wou’d pass upon me for a Disguise.

Amy was struck with the Novelty, tho’ I had not mention’d my Design to her, and when the QUAKER was gone out of the Room, says Amy , I guess your Meaning; it is a perfect Disguise to you; why you look quite another-body, I shou’d not have known you myself; nay, says Amy , more than that, it makes you look ten Years younger than you did.

Nothing cou’d please me better than that; and when Amy repeated it, I was so fond of it, that I ask’d my QUAKER, (I won’t call her Landlady, ’tis indeed, too course a Word for her, and she deserv’d a much better) I say, I ask’d her if she wou’d sell it; I told her, I was so fond of it, that I wou’d give her enough to buy her a better Suit; she declin’d it at first, but I soon perceiv’d that it was chiefly in good Manners, because I shou’d not dishonour mysef, as she call’d it, to put on her old Cloaths; but if I pleas’d to accept of them, she wou’d give me them for my dressing-Cloaths, and go with me, and buy a Suit for me, that might be better-worth my wearing.

But as I convers’d in a very frank open Manner with her, I bid her do the like with me; that I made no Scruples of such things; but that if she wou’d let me have them, I wou’d satisfie her; so she let me know what they cost, and to make her amends, I gave her three Guineas more than they cost her.

This good (tho’ unhappy) QUAKER had the Misfortune to have had a bad Husband, and he was gone beyond-Sea; she had a good House, and well-furnish’d, and had some Jointure of her own Estate, which supported her and her Children, so that she did not want, but she was not at-all above such a Help, as my being there was to her; so she was as glad of me, as I was of her.

However, as I knew there was no way to fix this new Acquaintance, like making myself a Friend to her, I began with making her some handsome Presents, and the like to her Children; and first, opening my Bundles one Day in my Chamber, I heard her in another Room, and call’d her in, with a kind of familiar way; there I show’d her some of my fine Cloaths, and having among the rest of my things, a Piece of very fine new Holland, [244] Holland : linen (originally from Holland). which I had bought a little before, worth about 9s . an Ell, I pull’d it out, Here, my Friend , says I, I will make you a Present, if you will accept of it ; and with that I laid the Piece of Holland in her Lap.

I cou’d see she was surpriz’d, and that she cou’d hardly speak; What dost thou mean ? says she; indeed I cannot have the Face to accept so fine a Present as this ; adding, ’Tis fit for thy own Use, but ’tis above my Wear, indeed : I thought she had meant she must not wear it so fine, because she was a QUAKER; SO I return’d, Why, do not you QUAKERS wear fine Linnen neither? Yes, says she , we wear fine Linnen when we can afford it, but this is too good for me: However, I made her take it, and she was very thankful too; but my End was answer’d another Way; for by this I engag’d her so, that as I found her a Woman of Understanding, and of Honesty too, I might, upon any Occasion, have a Confidence in her, which was indeed, what I very much wanted.

By accustoming myself to converse with her, I had not only learn’d to dress like a QUAKER, but so us’d myself to THEE and THOU, that I talk’d like a QUAKER too, as readily and naturally as if I had been born among them; and, in a word, I pass’d for a QUAKER among all People that did not know me; I went but little Abroad, but I had been so us’d to a Coach, that I knew not how well to go without one; besides, I thought it wou’d be a farther Disguise to me, so I told my QUAKER-Friend one Day, that I thought I liv’d too close; that I wanted Air; she propos’d taking a Hackney-Coach sometimes, or a Boat; but I told her, I had always had a Coach of my own, till now, and I cou’d find in my Heart to have one again.