The office keeper was liberally rewarded for directing any young or beautiful girl to his house, where she was introduced to the supposed daughter: an appointment was then made with the intended victim and the rest may be conceived.
As Rebecca was entirely unacquainted with the misfortunes of Delia-and fearing that the innocent friend of her childhood was upon the brink of destruction-she, in the impulse of the moment, acted in the manner previously described.
Rebecca listened to Delia's history with the greatest astonishment and commiseration, but candidly advised her that having nothing to lose she could not do better under existing circumstances than endeavour to make the most of what fortune had thrown in her way. "If," said she,
"you can make up your mind to submit to the embraces of the old brute, you'll find him liberal enough, for his wealth is boundless and, after all, it is but the idea; for I can assure you," she added, laughingly,
"that with him a little coaxing goes a very great way; play your cards, therefore, as well as you can, and if you succeed in making him your dupe, why it's no more than he deserves. And so farewell; for should he come while I am here all would be destroyed." They embraced and parted.
On the afternoon Mr. B. arrived according to promise and remained with Delia until the evening was far advanced, during which time he did not venture on the most trifling liberty but contented himself with pressing her hand occasionally during the conversation and kissing her lips at parting; this conduct he pursued for more than a week, when grown somewhat bolder he would, in a gentle manner, force her to sit upon his knee, and as he pretended to discover some still greater resemblance to his (imaginary) daughter, make that a pretext for repeating his kisses more frequently and with greater fervour.
Delia having in the meantime seriously reflected on her present friendless situation, and seeing no other mode of escaping from a life of infamy, the bare contemplation of which filled her mind with horror, and secretly determined of two evils to choose the least and submit to the wishes of her antiquated admirer with the best possible grace.
When therefore upon one evening in particular she perceived by the increased sparkling of his eyes and the nervous trembling of his limbs that he had made up his mind to bring things to a crisis (with which intent he was, in his most insinuating manner, endeavouring to prevail on her to take an additional quantity of wine, while his own glass was frequently passed untouched), she resolved to humour his whim and accordingly assumed the greatest hilarity, laughing at his jokes and at intervals even returning his caresses, drinking freely of the wine which he continued to press upon her the more quickly as her excitement increased. This she found it absolutely necessary to do, in order to conceal the disgust she in reality experienced during the scene which it now became plain was to ensue that very evening. Her plan succeeded, her brain began to reel, her head sank upon his shoulder and in a state of unconsciousness he bore her to her chamber and quickly followed.
The day was dawning as she awoke to a full sense of her degradation and the tears she shed were neither feigned or hypothetical, although her tempter, believing that they flowed from a different cause, begged her to moderate her grief and be consoled. He pretended to regret the indiscretion he had been guilty of, which he declared would never have happened had not his nature been completely changed from the effects of the wine he had taken, and that his remorse was equal to her own. He then endeavoured to soothe her by the consideration of how much better it really was that the error had been committed with a man of years and experience like himself than with a vain young coxcomb, who having gratified his vanity at the expense of her peace would leave her in despair and wretchedness, while he, on the contrary, would never forsake her; his life should be passed in one continued endeavour to make her forget her sorrows, trusting to time and her own feelings for a repetition of the great reward that he had in the present instance so ungenerously wrested from her; his protestations were mingled with caresses and he ultimately succeeded not only in obtaining forgiveness for the past but in exhorting from her a promise that while she accepted from him the protection of a father, she would not, at all times, withhold from him the rights and privileges of a husband.
The result of this arrangement was her removal to comfortable apartments at Islington, for which he paid one guinea and a half per week; he generally saw her once a week, leaving her on the following morning with a sum of money more than sufficient to cover all her necessary expenses until his next visit. This intimacy had now continued for nearly two years, and such was her precise situation at the commencement of our acquaintance.
She assured me that she had but few friends, notwithstanding she had been so long away from home; in fact, with the exception of Rebecca, who had some months back left the house of her reputed father under the protection of a young ensign who had since forsaken her, she was on visiting terms with no one; and it was at the invitation of that young lady that she had attended the ball on the previous evening, and at her lodgings she had changed her dress, both going and returning.
Having finished her narrative, she continued with an affectionate smile, "And now, sir, you perceive that young as I am, I have experienced none of the joys, but an abundance of the bitterness, of love. It's true that for a time I certainly did admire the fine figure and external appearance of my first ravisher, but although forced from necessity to share his home and suffer his caresses, the memory of the unmanly advantage he had taken to deprive me of my innocence made him almost hateful to me. How little did I imagine two days ago that I was about to become myself a suitor; yet such is the fact, and I boldly confess that at the very moment when my delighted ears were charmed with the sweetness of your voice, my heart first felt the power of love and owned you for its master. Do not despise me for this folly; I own that I am quite unworthy and have, therefore, shown myself to you without disguise. Think of me as you will; for from this moment I am all your own."
And flinging her arms around my neck she pressed her open mouth to mine with such enduring fervency that I was, for a time, completely deprived of breath; and gently forcing myself from her embrace affected to treat the whole affair as one of commonplace compliment, so frequently adopted by females of a certain class; and as I believe few men are less prone to vanity than myself, I attributed her present conduct to the influence of the potent liquor we had been imbibing; I therefore laughingly thanked her for her good opinion of me, and glancing at the clock observed that as it was growing somewhat late; she must, therefore, excuse me for the present as I had to dress for the evening's concert; to which she answered, "No, no, indeed, we part not so; I have made up my mind that you shall at least take tea with me; a coach will in a few moments convey us to my residence and we can then adjourn to the concert together."
I now began to feel my situation anything but pleasant. I had promised to escort both Bessy and Emma to the very place where my beautiful plague now promised to accompany me; I therefore stammered out an excuse-that I was sorry I could not have the pleasure of her company upon that occasion as I had no power to introduce anyone without a ticket, all of which had been previously disposed of. Judge of my consternation when I found that for this contingency she had previously provided, as she exclaimed, producing a ticket from her bosom. "I saw the programme this morning, and not expecting the pleasure of meeting you purchased a ticket there and then; I would not miss the hearing of that charming serenade for ten times the amount."