"Assuredly, sir," responded the other; "but in the present instance—"
"But in the present instance," interrupted Mr. Hughes, "that happens to be the case. My daughter Maria has my full permission to marry Mr. Grimaldi; and I have no doubt she will avail herself of that permission in the course of a very few weeks."
The accuser was dumb-foundered, and Grimaldi was delighted—now, for the first time perceiving that Mr. Hughes had been amusing himself at the expense of the mischief-maker.
"Nevertheless," said Mr. Hughes, turning to his accepted son-in-law with a grave face, but through all the gravity of which he could perceive a struggling smile,—"Nevertheless, you acted very wrong, Mr. Grimaldi, in kissing my daughter so publicly; and I beg that whenever, for the future, you and she deem it essential to indulge in such amusements, it may be done in private. This is rendered necessary by the laws which at present govern society, and I am certain will be far more consonant to the feelings and delicacy of the young lady in question."
With these words Mr. Hughes made a low bow to the officious and disinterested individual who had made the speech, and, opening the door, called to the servants "to show the gentleman out." Then turning to Grimaldi, he took him by the arm, and walked towards the breakfast-room, declaring that the meal had been waiting half an hour or more, that the coffee would be cold, and Maria quite tired of waiting for him.
From this moment the course of true love ran smooth for once: and Mr. Hughes, in all his subsequent behaviour to Grimaldi sufficiently evinced his high sense of the innate worth of a young man, who, under very adverse circumstances and with many temptations to contend against, had behaved with so much honesty and candour.
On the Saturday after this pleasant termination of a scene which threatened to be attended with very different results, the house in Penton-street was taken possession of, and next Easter Sunday the young couple were asked in church for the first time. Sadler's Wells opened as usual on Easter Monday,[23] and Grimaldi appeared in a new part, a more prominent one than he had yet had, and one which increased his reputation considerably.
[23] Sadler's Wells, on Easter Monday, April 9, 1798, opened with a Prelude, entitled, "Easter Monday; or, a Peep at the Wells." The prolocutory characters by Dubois and Mrs. Davis: in the concluding scene were introduced the whole Company, and a Ballet Divertissement; the dances by the Misses Bruguiers, their first appearances, and by Mr. King, who, it will be remembered, in the recital of the alarm created by the Pentonville robbers, is said, "while armed with a heavy stick, to have crept cautiously into the back garden, groped about, and soon returned out of breath." The amusements of the evening concluded with an entirely new harlequinade, called "The Monster of the Cave; or, Harlequin and the Fay." Principal characters by Mr. King, Mr. Grimaldi, Mr. Davis, and Mr. Dubois, Miss Bruguier, and Mrs. Roffey. Joe for the first time, on the bill of the day, has the honourable distinction of Mr. prefixed to his name; hitherto it was "Master Grimaldi." On Monday, July 30, was produced a new Grand Comic Spectacle and Harlequinade, called "Blue Beard, Black Beard, Red Beard, and Grey Beard;" in which the motley hero of Pantomime, it was announced, would respectfully endeavour to keep up the spirit of the old English adage,
"'Tis merry in Hall, when Beards wag all,"