Volume Two--Chapter Three.
’Tis pleasing to be schooled in a strange tongue
By female lips and eyes; that is, I mean
When both the teacher and the taught are young,
As was the case, at least, where I had been.
They smile so when one’s right, and when one’s wrong
They smile still more.
Byron.
Monsieur de Fontanges, aware of the impetuosity and caprice of his wife (at the same time that he acknowledged her many redeeming good qualities), did not further attempt to thwart her inclinations. His great objection to her plan was, the impropriety of retaining a prisoner, whom he was bound to give up to the proper authorities. He made a virtue of necessity, and having acquainted Newton with the wish of Madame de Fontanges, requested his parole of honour that he would not attempt to escape, if he was not delivered up to the authorities, and remain some time at Lieu Desiré. Newton, who had no wish to be acquainted with a French cachot, sooner than it was absolutely necessary, gave the promise required by Monsieur de Fontanges, assuring him that ingratitude was not a part of his character. Monsieur de Fontanges then requested that Newton would accept of a portion of his wardrobe, which he would direct to be sent to the room that would be prepared for him. This affair being arranged, Newton made his bow to the lady, and in company with Monsieur de Fontanges, retired from the boudoir.
It may be suspected by the reader, that Madame de Fontanges was one of those ladies who cared a great deal about having their own way, and very little for her husband. As to the first part of the accusation, I can only observe, that I never yet had the fortune to fall in with any lady who did not try all she could to have her own way, nor do I conceive it to be a crime. As to the second, if the reader has formed that supposition, he is much mistaken. Madame de Fontanges was very much attached to her husband, and the attachment as well as the confidence was reciprocal.
It was not therefore from any feeling of jealousy that Monsieur de Fontanges had combated her resolution; but, as we have before observed, from a conviction that he was wanting in his duty, when he did not report the arrival of Newton at the plantation. The wish of Madame de Fontanges to detain Newton was, as she declared, a caprice on her part, which had entered her head, to amuse herself by teaching him French. It is true that had not Newton been remarkably prepossessing in his appearance, the idea would in all probability have never been conceived; but, observing that he was much above the common class, and wishing to relieve the general monotony of her life by any thing which would create amusement, she had formed the idea, which, when combated by her husband, was immediately strengthened to a resolution.
Of this Newton received the benefit. An excellent dinner or rather supper with Monsieur de Fontanges, a comfortable bed in a room supplied with all that convenience or luxury could demand, enabled him to pass a very different night from those which we have latterly described.
About twelve o’clock the ensuing day, Newton was summoned by one of the slave girls to the boudoir of Madame de Fontanges. He found her on the ottoman, as before. Newton, who had been operated upon by a black barber, and was dressed in the habiliments of Monsieur de Fontanges, made a much more respectable appearance than upon his former introduction.
“Bon jour, Monsieur,” said the lady.
Newton bowed respectfully.
“Comment vous appelez-vous?”
Newton, not understanding, answered with another bow.
“Le jeun homme n’entends pas madame,” observed Mimi.
“Que c’est ennuyant, monsieur,” said Madame Fontanges, pointing to herself; “Moi—Madame de Fontanges—vous,”—pointing to him.
“Newton Forster.”
“Nu—tong Fasta—ah, c’est bon, cela commence,” said the lady. “Allons, mes enfans répétez lui tous vous noms.”
“Moi—Mimi,” said the girl bearing that name, going up to Newton, and pointing to herself.
“Mimi,” repeated Newton, with a smile and nod of his head.
“Moi—Charlotte.”
“Moi—Louise.”
“Moi—Céleste.”
“Moi—Nina.”
“Moi—Caroline.”
“Moi—Manchette.”
“Et moi—Cupidon,” finished the little black boy, running up, and then retreating as fast back into his corner.
Newton repeated all the names, as the individuals respectively introduced themselves to him. Then there was a pause, during which, at the desire of Monsieur de Fontanges, Newton was offered a chair, and sat down.
“Allons—dites lui les noms de toute la garniture,” said Madame de Fontanges to her attendants.
“Oui, madame,” said Mimi, going up to Newton, and pointing to the fan in her hand,—”éventail.”
“Eventail,” repeated Newton, who began to be amused, and who now repeated every French word after them.
“Flaçon,” said Charlotte, showing him the eau de Cologne bottle.
“Chaise,” cried Louise, holding up a chair.
“Livre,” said Nina, pointing to a book.
“Mouchoir,” said Caroline, holding up an embroidered handkerchief.
“Montre” followed up Manchette, pointing to her mistress’s watch.
“Canapé,” cried Céleste, pointing to the ottoman.
“Joli garçon,” bawled out Cupidon, coming up to Newton, and pointing to himself.
This created a laugh, and then the lesson was continued. Every article in the room was successively pointed out to Newton, and he was obliged to repeat the name; and afterwards the articles of their dress were resorted to, much to his amusement. Then there was a dead stand:— the fact is, that there is no talking with noun substantives only.
“Ah! mon Dieu! il faut envoyer pour Monsieur de Fontanges,” cried the lady; “va le chercher, Louise.”
Monsieur de Fontanges soon made his appearance, when the lady explained to him their dilemma, and requested his assistance. Monsieur de Fontanges laughed, and explained to Newton, and then, by means of his interpretation, connected sentences were made, according to the fancy of the lady, some of which were the cause of great merriment. After an hour, the gentlemen made their bows.
“I think,” observed Monsieur de Fontanges, as they walked away, “that if you really are as anxious to learn our language as madame is to teach you, you had better come to me every morning for an hour. I shall have great pleasure in giving you any assistance in my power, and I trust that in a very short time that, with a little study of the grammar and dictionary, you will be able to hold a conversation with Madame de Fontanges, or even with her dark-complexioned page.”
Newton expressed his acknowledgments, and the next day he received his first lesson; after which he was summoned to support the theory by practice in the boudoir of Madame de Fontanges. It is hardly necessary to observe that each day increased the facility of communication.
For three months Newton was domiciled with Monsieur and Madame Fontanges, both of whom had gradually formed such an attachment to him, that the idea of parting never entered their head. He was now a very tolerable French scholar, and his narratives and adventures were to his benefactors a source of amusement, which amply repaid them for the trouble and kindness which they had shown to him. Newton was, in fact, a general favourite with every one on the plantation, from the highest to the lowest; and his presence received the same smile of welcome at the cottage of the slave, as at the boudoir of Madame de Fontanges.
Whatever may have been the result of Newton’s observations relative to slavery in the English colonies, his feelings of dislike insensibly wore away during his residence at Lieu Desirée; there he was at least convinced that a slave might be perfectly happy. It must be acknowledged that the French have invariably proved the kindest and most considerate of masters, and the state of bondage is much mitigated in the islands which appertain to that nation. The reason is obvious: in France, there is a bonhommie, a degree of equality established between the different grades of society by universal politeness. A French servant is familiar with his master at the same time that he is respectful: and the master, in return, condescends to his inferior without forgetting their relative positions. This runs through society in general, and as no one can well be polite without some good-nature (for politeness, frivolous as it may appear, is a strong check upon those feelings of selfishness, too apt to be indulged in), it leads to a general feeling of good will towards others. This has naturally been practised by Frenchmen wherever they may be; and the consequence is, that the slaves are treated with more consideration, and, in return, have warmer feelings of attachment towards their owners than are to be found in colonies belonging to other nations. Newton perceived and acknowledged this, and, comparing the condition of the people at Lieu Desirée with that of most of the peasantry of Europe, was unwillingly obliged to confess that the former were in every respect the more fortunate and the more happy of the two.
One morning, soon after Newton had breakfasted with Monsieur de Fontanges, and had been summoned to the boudoir, a letter was brought in. It was from the governor to Monsieur de Fontanges, stating that he had heard with great surprise that Monsieur de Fontanges concealed an English prisoner in his house, and desiring that he might be immediately sent up to head-quarters. That there might be no delay or refusal, a corporal, accompanied by two file of men, brought down the intimation to the plantation.
Newton was in the very middle of a long story, Madame de Fontanges on the ottoman, and her attendants collected round her, seated on the floor—even Cupidon had advanced from his corner to within half distance, his mouth and eyes wide open, when Monsieur de Fontanges entered the boudoir, with anxiety and chagrin expressed in his countenance.
“Qu’est ce qu’il y a, mon ami?” said Madame de Fontanges, rising hastily and running up to her husband.
Monsieur de Fontanges answered by putting the governor’s letter into his wife’s hands.
“Ah! les barbares!” cried Madame de Fontanges, “est il possible? Pauvre Monsieur Nutong! on l’amène au cachôt.”
“Au cachôt!” cried all the coloured girls at a breath, and bursting into tears—“oh ciel!”
Monsieur de Fontanges then explained to Newton the order which he had received. Newton replied that he had had no right to expect otherwise on his first landing on the island; that he had incurred a heavy debt of gratitude to them for having preserved him so long from a prison; and that the remembrance of their kindness would tend to beguile the tedious hours of captivity (from which it may appear that Newton, in point of expressing himself, was half a Frenchman already). He then kissed the hand of Madame de Fontanges, tried to console the little slave girls, who were all au désespoir, patted Cupidon on the head, by way of farewell, and quitted the boudoir, in which he had passed so many happy hours. When he was outside, he again expressed his obligations to Monsieur de Fontanges, who then stated his determination to call upon his brother, the governor, and try to alleviate the hardships of his lot as much as was possible. In less than an hour Newton, in company with his host, was on the road to Basse Terre, leaving the corporal and his two file of men to walk back as fast as they could; the corporal having sufficient savoir vivre not to refuse the pledge of the governor’s brother for the safe delivery of the prisoner.
It was not until late in the evening that they arrived at Basse Terre, when they immediately proceeded to the house of the governor, and were admitted to his presence.
The governor, who had been much displeased at the circumstance of Newton having remained so long on the island, was more pacified when Monsieur de Fontanges explained to him the way in which he had been made prisoner, and the hardships which he had previously endured. Monsieur de Fontanges accounted for his long detention at Lieu Desirée by stating the real fact, viz, the pertinacity of Madame de Fontanges; which, although it might have been considered a very poor argument in England, had its due weight in a French colony.
The governor entered into conversation with Newton, who detailed to him the horrors of the shipwreck which he had undergone. The narrative appeared to affect him much. He told Newton that under such circumstances he could hardly consider him as a prisoner, and would take the first opportunity of releasing him, and would accept his parole for not quitting the island. Newton returned his thanks for so much courtesy, and withdrew in company with Monsieur de Fontanges.
“Monsieur le Marquis has much sympathy for those who have been shipwrecked,” observed Monsieur de Fontanges, after they had quitted the room. “Poor man! he lost his wife, a beautiful young woman, and his only child, a little girl, about seven years back, when they were proceeding home in a vessel bound to Havre. The vessel has never been heard of since, and he has never recovered the loss.”
“In what year was it?” inquired Newton.
“In the autumn of the year —.”
“There were many vessels wrecked on our coast during that dreadful winter,” replied Newton: “I myself, when in a coaster, picked up several articles belonging to a French vessel. I have them in my possession now;—they are of some value.”
“What did they consist of?” inquired Monsieur de Fontanges.
“A large trunk, containing the wearing apparel of a female and a child: there were also several orders of knighthood, and some jewels; but I hardly know what they were, as it is some time since I have looked at them.”
“How strange that you could find no clue to discover the names of the parties!”
“There were French letters,” replied Newton, “which I could not read; they were only signed by initials, which did not correspond with the marks on the linen belonging to the lady, although the surname might have been the same as that of the child.”
“Do you recollect the initials?”
“Perfectly well: the marks on the lady’s apparel were LC, that on the linen of the infant JF.”
“Mon Dieu! mon Dieu!” cried Monsieur de Fontanges; “then it may indeed have been the apparel of the Marquise de Fontanges. The linen must have been some marked with her maiden name, which was Louise de Colmar. The child was christened Julie de Fontanges, after her grandmother. My poor brother had intended to take his passage home in the same vessel, his successor being hourly expected; but the frigate in which the new governor had embarked was taken by an English squadron, and my brother was forced to remain here.”
“Then the property must undoubtedly belong to the marquis,” replied Newton: “I only wish I could have been able to assure him that his wife and child were equally safe; but that I am afraid is impossible, as there can be no doubt but that they were all lost. Do you mean to communicate what I have told you to the marquis?”
“By no means; it will only tear open a wound which has but partially healed. If you will send me all the particulars when you return I shall feel much obliged, not that the effects are of any consequence. The marquise and her child are undoubtedly lost, and it could be no consolation to my brother to ascertain that a trunk of their effects had been saved.”
Here the conversation dropped, and was never again renewed.
Newton was heartily welcomed again at Lieu Desirée, where he remained three weeks, when a note from the governor informed him that a cartel was about to sail.
It was with mutual pain that Newton and his kind friends took their farewell of each other. In this instance Monsieur de Fontanges did not accompany him to Basse Terre; but bade him adieu at his own door. Newton, soon after he was on the road, perceived that Monsieur de Fontanges had acted from a motive of delicacy, that he might not receive the thanks of Newton for two valises, well furnished, which overtook Newton about a quarter of a mile from the plantation, slung on each side of a horse, under the guidance of a little negro, perched on the middle. Newton made his acknowledgments to the governor for his kind consideration, then embarked on board of the Marie Therese schooner, and in three days he once more found himself on shore in an English colony; with which piece of information I conclude this chapter.