"Let him come, if so it pleases him. Pray, Mr. Bryce, do you consider that we are bound to shape our course with a view to gratifying old Nap?" demanded the vivacious lady.
Mr. Bryce wondered privately what his wife's feelings would be, if one day a round shot from a French man-of-war should rush through the room in which she was seated. But to Sandgate they went, on a rainy autumn day, when the sea wailed dismally, and the wind howled more dismally still, and the lodgings which Mr. Bryce had managed to secure wore an aspect most dismal of all. Even Mrs. Bryce's spirits were affected by the state of the atmosphere.
Books in their possession were few, and had already been read. Jack failed to appear so soon as they had expected. Mr. Bryce sallied forth, despite the rain; but the ladies could not think of following his example. Mrs. Bryce in despair turned to some old volumes of the Gentleman's Magazine, lying in a corner; and in so doing, to her gratification, she fished out two or three recent numbers of the same serial.
"Ah, ha, my dear Polly, now we shall do," she declared cheerfully. "Now we may defy the elements, and you shall get on with your purse-netting, and I will find something to read aloud for your entertainment. I wonder much that Jack does not come."
"Jack is busy, or he would be here," Polly said confidently. Just as she had her half-netted blue silk purse nicely arranged between foot and knee, Mr. Bryce walked in, carrying letters,—at the sight of which Polly dropped her work, and started up.
"Nay, not from France. Nothing from France," Mr. Bryce said with quick understanding; and Polly returned to her seat languidly. "One from Bath for you, and one from Norfolk for my wife. Two letters in a day! You ladies may count yourselves fortunate."
Mr. Bryce disappeared anew, and Polly remarked, "My grandmother has written to me."
"Read it aloud, Polly. 'Twill serve before the Magazine," quoth Mrs. Bryce, and Polly complied, looking ahead, lest she should stumble upon any sentence meant only for herself. The letter ran as follows:
"Bath, Oct. 28, 1803."
"MY DEAR POLLY,—Yours to Molly has very seriously disquieted my mind, I assure you. If General Moore, with his gᵗ experience considers that the French landing may be apprehended as likely soon to Take Place, 'tis sure the height of imprudence for you to remain in that neighbourhood, where the French Army, if it lands, will doubtless Pillage and Burn to the best of their Ability."
"Nor does it appear to me, my dear Polly, that you will be greatly the better off in Lonⁿ, where certainly the Invading Army will immediately march, so soon as it has effected a Landing."
"I am therefore about to Propose what seems to me the wiser plan for all of you. Which is, that you and Mrs. Bryce shou'd return again to Bath, without Delay, leaving Mr. Bryce, as Dou'tless he will desire, to take his proper share in the Defence of our Country. If Mrs. Bryce be willing to act according to this plan, I most gladly offer to her such Humble Accommodation as is in my power to bestow. The aspect of affairs is truly Alarming; and if it be seriously apprehended that Lonⁿ is like to be in greater danger of Bustle and Trouble than Bath, there is no Necessity for you all to remain in that part of England. If Mrs. Bryce can dispense for a while with the Good Table to which she is used, and can put up with more Humble Fare, then every friendly Accommodation in my power is at her Service."
"Last Saturday there appear'd before the Market Place forty-three Blacks, who said they had been prisoners to the french, but had been retaken, and were come to offer themselves volunteers to King George. The Country men stared at them, and the women cried out. The next morning here arrived a coach-full of the same colour. They are all sent to Marlborough, how to be disposed of I don't know."
"My love to Jack, who I hope will not be spoiled by his many friends,—alas, too frequently the case in these days of scarcity of Good Young Men. Molly is well and behaves herself."
"Bath, it is expected, will soon be crowded with Irish Company. A great many large houses were engaged last week. The Bristol people think that, were the french to effect a landing on some of the Welsh coasts, they might soon expect to be troubled with them there and at Bath. Several meetings have been held on this subject. But 'tis the opinion of most that Lonⁿ lies in greater danger."
"Yesterday was a solemn day for humiliation. The places of worship were well attended; and the Clergy here exerted themselves, I trust, to the best of their Abilitys."
"May God graciously avert from Old England so great a Calamity as the presence of an Enemy upon her soil."
"Adieu.—Your affectionate Grandmother,"
"C. FAIRBANK."
Mrs. Bryce pronounced the writer's mode of expression to be "vastly old-fashioned."