登陆注册
4705400000602

第602章

The Doctor was greatly dejected by this news; but was too good-natured a man not to say that, if she wished to resign, his house and arms were open to her. Still, however, he could not bear to remove her from the Court. His veneration for royalty amounted in truth to idolatry. It can be compared only to the grovelling superstition of those Syrian devotees who made their children pass through the fire to Moloch. When he induced his daughter to accept the place of keeper of the robes, he entertained, as she tells us, a hope that some worldly advantage or other, not set down in the contract of service, would be the result of her connection with the Court. What advantage he expected we do not know, nor did he probably know himself. But, whatever he expected, he certainly got nothing. Miss Burney had been hired for board, lodging, and two hundred a year. Board, lodging, and two hundred a year, she had duly received. We have looked carefully through the Diary, in the hope of finding some trace of those extraordinary benefactions on which the Doctor reckoned.

But we can discover only a promise, never performed, of a gown: and for this promise Miss Burney was expected to return thanks, such as might have suited the beggar with whom Saint Martin, in the legend, divided his cloak. The experience of four years was, however, insufficient to dispel the illusion which had taken possession of the Doctor's mind; and between the dear father and the sweet Queen, there seemed to be little doubt that some day or other Frances would drop down a corpse. Six months had elapsed since the interview between the parent and the daughter. The resignation was not sent in. The sufferer grew worse and worse.

She took bark; but it soon ceased to produce a beneficial effect.

She was stimulated with wine; she was soothed with opium; but in vain. Her breath began to fail. The whisper that she was in a decline spread through the Court. The pains in her side became so severe that she was forced to crawl from the card-table of the old Fury to whom she was tethered, three or four times in an evening for the purpose of taking hartshorn. Had she been a negro slave, a humane planter would have excused her from work. But her Majesty showed no mercy. Thrice a day the accursed bell still rang; the Queen was still to be dressed for the morning at seven, and to be dressed for the day at noon, and to be undressed at midnight. But there had arisen, in literary and fashionable society, a general feeling of compassion for Miss Burney, and of indignation against both her father and the Queen. "Is it possible," said a great French lady to the Doctor, "that your daughter is in a situation where she is never allowed a holiday?"

Horace Walpole wrote to Frances, to express his sympathy.

Boswell, boiling over with good-natured rage, almost forced an entrance into the palace to see her. "My dear ma'am, why do you stay? It won't do, ma'am; you must resign. We can put up with it no longer. Some very violent measures, I assure you, will be taken. We shall address Dr. Burney in a body." Burke and Reynolds, though less noisy, were zealous in the same cause.

Windham spoke to Dr. Burney; but found him still irresolute. "I will set the club upon him," cried Windham; "Miss Burney has some very true admirers there, and I am sure they will eagerly assist." Indeed the Burney family seem to have been apprehensive that some public affront such as the Doctor's unpardonable folly, to use the mildest term, had richly deserved, would be put upon him. The medical men spoke out, and plainly told him that his daughter must resign or die.

At last paternal affection, medical authority, and the voice of all London crying shame, triumphed over Dr. Burney's love of courts. He determined that Frances should write a letter of resignation. It was with difficulty that, though her life was at stake, she mustered spirit to put the paper into the Queen's hands. "I could not," so runs the Diary, "summon courage to present my memorial; my heart always failed me from seeing the Queen's entire freedom from such an expectation. For though I was frequently so ill in her presence that I could hardly stand, I saw she concluded me, while life remained, inevitably hers."

At last with a trembling hand the paper was delivered. Then came the storm. Juno, as in the Aeneid, delegated the work of vengeance to Alecto. The Queen was calm and gentle; but Madame Schwellenberg raved like a maniac in the incurable ward of Bedlam! Such insolence! Such ingratitude! Such folly! Would Miss Burney bring utter destruction on herself and her family? Would she throw away the inestimable advantage of royal protection?

Would she part with privileges which, once relinquished, could never be regained? It was idle to talk of health and life. If people could not live in the palace, the best thing that could befall them was to die in it. The resignation was not accepted.

The language of the medical men became stronger and stronger. Dr.

Burney's parental fears were fully roused; and he explicitly declared, in a letter meant to be shown to the Queen, that his daughter must retire. The Schwellenberg raged like a wild cat. "A scene almost horrible ensued," says Miss Burney. "She was too much enraged for disguise, and uttered the most furious expressions of indignant contempt at our proceedings. I am sure she would gladly have confined us both in the Bastile, had England such a misery, as a fit place to bring us to ourselves, from a daring so outrageous against imperial wishes." This passage deserves notice, as being the only one in the Diary, so far as we have observed, which shows Miss Burney to have been aware that she was a native of a free country, that she could not be pressed for a waiting-maid against her will, and that she had just as good a right to live, if she chose, in Saint Martin's Street, as Queen Charlotte had to live at Saint James's.

同类推荐
  • A Discourse of Coin and Coinage

    A Discourse of Coin and Coinage

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 鹦鹉洲

    鹦鹉洲

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Wheels of Chance

    The Wheels of Chance

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 夏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Martin Eden

    Martin Eden

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 全世界有钱人都在读的赚钱故事

    全世界有钱人都在读的赚钱故事

    本书精选了很多成功人士的经验故事与大家分享,以供借鉴。这些故事覆盖了多个方面和层次,归为28类,分上下两篇,上篇以成功者的经历来讲述追求财富必备的一些主要素质和必知的方式方法;下篇则分别讲述各类商业发达的地方人群致富的故事。
  • 极炎仙尊

    极炎仙尊

    一个少年在偶然之间获得了鸡肋的修仙功法,从而踏入修仙者的世界,且看一个不畏火焰的人,是如何用自己手中的火烧出属于自己的一片天...火星猫基地:543728976
  • 妈妈急需的心理“婴语”书:科学养育0-2岁宝宝

    妈妈急需的心理“婴语”书:科学养育0-2岁宝宝

    肢体语言是人类心理需求的外在表现。在婴幼儿时期,宝宝通过哭喊、微笑、动作、姿势、表情等肢体语言表达自己的心理和生理需求。因此,宝宝的肢体语言在和爸爸妈妈的交流沟通中起着十分重要的作用。如果你懂儿童心理学,如果你了解婴儿的内心需求和心理发育规律,就很容易发现在宝宝的肢体语言中,包含着大量的信息。本书通过漫画+ 心理的切入点,帮助爸爸妈妈洞悉婴儿的心理需求,在日常生活中学会留心宝宝的肢体语言,读懂宝宝的“婴语”,这样才能更好地和宝宝进行交流、沟通,做了解宝宝、理解宝宝意的好妈妈、好爸爸。
  • 佛说九横经

    佛说九横经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 不良世子妃

    不良世子妃

    大婚之日那混蛋相公不见了踪影,她忍。相公喜欢逛窑子睡美人,成,睡就睡吧。婆婆作威作福,好吧,让就让吧。皇后欺压,婆婆刁难,郡主叫板,这些她都不在乎。但是,当她们把注意打到那个温润如玉的男子身上时,她佟卿歌终于怒了。
  • 冒牌的正统圣骑士

    冒牌的正统圣骑士

    尼克立志成为一名正统圣骑士,然而见习这顶帽子似乎怎么也摘不掉........“我阻止了一场阴谋!”“可你还拆了两座圣殿。”“.......我把魔门毁灭了!”“但是你解释一下这和你偷走光明权杖有什么关系?”“哦,那个啊。我毁魔门的时候不小心弄坏了。”“.........”“至......至少我还为圣光之主服务了那么多年.........”“不不不,你以为我不知道你吐唾沫擦圣像的事?”“...........”好吧,他还是去当自己的见习吧........
  • 纵然缘浅 奈何情深

    纵然缘浅 奈何情深

    时光荏苒,匆匆五年。 国际酒店外面繁星璀璨,他终于将她堵在观光电梯里面。 他的目光沿着她紧身短裙包裹出的曲线一路向下…… 耐不住嗓子干涩,她轻咳一声。 他微笑着将视线移回她的脸,“怎么?应酬完了?” 她当然明白他那句意味深长的“应酬”代表什么,回他一个更暧昧的声音,“何必明知故问呢?”“介不介意透露一下,你的价码是多少?” 一楼到了,她以最快速度冲向电梯门。他却更快她一步挡在了电梯门前,“只要让你演女一号,谁都可以陪吗?”“当然,也包括你!”
  • 岁月有乔枝

    岁月有乔枝

    路余光对于乔枝来说,是天赐的男人,他完美无缺,爱她至极。某次采访。问她:“你和路先生是什么时候认识的?”“高中。”她笑着回答。“真是幸运又幸福。”主持人感叹。“那路先生的缺点是什么?”“嗯,这个啊……腹黑,死傲娇,占有欲强,爱乱吃醋。”“呃……”主持人满脸黑线,这可是路先生叫她问的呢。”那,那优点呢?”主持人扬起笑脸,再问。“优点?他没什么优点。”主持人正欲开口,乔枝却抬头,对着前方说:“唯一的优点就是非常爱我。”
  • 系统培养游戏

    系统培养游戏

    苏远穿越了,但是被关了小黑屋。获得了系统,功能却是给人发系统的。系统派,主神空间,轮回公司,还有其他各个派系在各个世界搞风搞雨。苏远只能暂时躲在小黑屋里默默做着准备……
  • 豪门强宠:绯闻老公欠调教

    豪门强宠:绯闻老公欠调教

    【已完结】沈墨凌,站在食物链顶端的钻石男,爱慕者如过江之鲫,大排长龙。可惜他不近女色情有独钟,偏偏只宠温婉上天,妒煞旁人。助理紧张来报:“BOSS,夫人把您送的求婚钻戒拍卖了!”沈墨凌冷眸微眯:“不喜欢?再订做个更大的!”助理更紧张的来报:“BOSS,夫人微博被您的脑残粉围攻!”沈墨凌剑眉一蹙,打开电脑将头像换成一个“碗”,改名“妻奴凌”!助理满脸“妈的智障”!心中怒吼:从前高冷神秘的BOSS去哪了?沈墨凌勾唇浅笑:“尔等单身狗岂能领悟爷的性福!”