The Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay Volume I Part 74

Miss Planta, asked him for Lady Harcourt's maid; he bowed slightly, and pa.s.sed on without making any answer.

Very pleasant this!--I then begged we might turn back, not caring for another adventure of the same sort. Miss Planta complied; and we met two more of the yellow-laced saunterers, with whom she had precisely the same success.

I think I never remember to have felt so much shame from my situation as at that time. To arrive at a house where no mistress nor master of it cared about receiving me; to wander about, a guest uninvited, a visitor unthought of; without even a room to go to, a person to inquire for, or even a servant to speak to! It was now I felt the real want of either a man or maid, to send forward, and find out what we were to do with ourselves; and indeed I resolved, then, I would not another time be so pa.s.sive to unauthorized directions.

The fault of this strange reception was certainly in the lady of the house, whose affair it was to have given orders, previous to our arrival, that some of her people should shew us to whatever apartment she destined for us. The queen herself had sent word that we were to attend her; and however impossible it was that she could receive us herself, which her own attendance upon their majesties made really impracticable, it was inc.u.mbent upon her to have taken care that we should not have been utterly neglected.

We strayed thus, backwards and forwards, for a full quarter of an hour, in these nearly deserted straggling pa.s.sages; and then, at length, met a French woman, whom Miss Planta immediately seized upon: it was Lady Harcourt's woman, and Miss Planta had seen her at Windsor.

"Pray shew us," cried Miss Planta, "where we are to go."

She was civil, and led us to a parlour looking very pleasantly upon the park, and asked if we would have some tea. Miss Planta a.s.sented. She told us the king and queen were in the park, and left us. As there was a garden-door to this room, I thought it very possible the royal party and their suite might return to the house that way. This gave great addition to my discomposure, for I thought that to see them all in this forlorn plight would be still the worst part of the business,--I therefore pressed Miss Planta to let us make another attempt to discover our own rooms.

Miss Planta laughed exceedingly at my disturbance, but complied very obligingly with my request. In this our second wandering forth we had no better success than in the first; we either met n.o.body, or only were crossed by such superfine men in laced liveries, that we attempted not to question them. My constant dread was Of meeting any of the royal party, while I knew not whither to run. Miss Planta, more inured to such situations, was not at all surprised by our difficulties and disgraces, and only diverted by my distress from them.

We met at last with Mhaughendorf, and Miss Planta eagerly desired to be conducted to the princesses' rooms, that she might see if every thing was prepared for them. When they had looked at the apartments destined for the princesses, Miss Planta proposed our sitting down to our tea in the Princess Elizabeth's room. This was extremely disagreeable to me, as I was sensible it must seem a great freedom from me, should her royal highness surprise us there; but it was no freedom for Miss Planta, as she had belonged to all the princesses these nine years, and is eternally in their sight. I could not, therefore, persuade her of the difference; and she desired Mhaughendorf to go and order our tea upstairs.

A HASTY INTRODUCTION To LADY HARCOURT.

Miss Planta, followed by poor me, then whisked backwards and forwards, from one of the apartments to another, superintending all the preparations; and, as we were crossing a landing-place, a lady appeared upon the stairs, and Miss Planta called out "It's Lady Harcourt," and ran down to meet her.

They talked together a few minutes. "I must get you, Miss Planta," said she, looking up towards me, "to introduce me to Miss Burney."

She then came up the stairs, said she was glad to see me, and desired I would order any thing I wanted, either for the queen or for myself. Cold enough was my silent curtsey.

She talked again to Miss Planta, who, already knowing her, from seeing her frequently when in waiting, as she is one of the ladies of the bedchamber, was much more sociable than myself. She afterwards turned to me, and said, "If there is anything you want, Miss Burney, pray speak for it." And she added, "My sisters will attend you presently;--you will excuse me,--I have not a moment from their majesties." And then she curtseyed, and left us.

We returned to the Princess Elizabeth's room, and there the tea followed, but not the promised sisters. I never saw Miss Planta laugh so heartily before nor since; but my dismay was possibly comical to behold.

APPARITION OF THE PRINCESSES.

The tea was just poured out, when the door opened, and in entered all the princesses. I was very much ashamed, and started up, but had no asylum whither to run. They all asked us how we did after our journey; and I made an apology, as well as I could, to the Princess Elizabeth, for my intrusion into her apartment--confessing I did not know where to find my own.

The princess royal, eagerly coming up to me, said, "I thought you would be distressed at first arriving, and I wanted to help you; and I enquired where your room was, and said I would look at it myself; and I went round to it, but I found the king was that way, and so, you know, I could not go past him; but indeed I wished to have seen it for you."

There was hardly any thanking her for such infinite sweetness; they then desired us to go on with our tea, and went into the princess royal's room.

I was now a little revived; and soon after the Princess Elizabeth came back, and asked if we had done, desiring us at the same time not to hurry.

Yes, we said; and ashamed of thus keeping possession of her room, I was gliding out, when she flew to me, and said, "Don't go!--pray come and stay with me a little." She then flew to another end of the room, and getting a chair, brought it herself close up to me, and seating herself on another, said, "Come, sit down by me, Miss Burney."

You may suppose how I resisted and apologised,--truly telling her that I had not opposed her royal highness's design, from being ashamed of even suspecting it. She only laughed good-humouredly, and made me take the chair she had thus condescended to fetch me. ... In a very few minutes, the other princesses came for her. The princess royal then told me she was quite sorry to hear we had been so much distressed--and I found Miss Plantabad recounted our adventures.

I was not glad of this, though greatly gratified by the goodness of the princess. But I know how quickly complaints circulate, and I wish not even for redress by such means, which commonly, when so obtained, is more humiliating than the offence which calls for it.

FROM PILLAR TO POST.

When the princesses left us, we were again at a loss what to do with ourselves; we saw several pa.s.sing servants, maids as well as men, and Miss Planta applied to them all to shew me my room, which I was anxious to inhabit in peace and solitude: however, they all promised to send, some one else, but no one came. Miss Planta, in the midst of the diversion she received from my unavailing earnestness to get into some retreat, had the good-nature to say, "I knew how this would turn out, and wished the visit over before it began; but it must really be very new to you, unused as you are to it, and accustomed to so much attention in other places."

At length she seized upon a woman servant, who undertook to conduct me to this wished-for room. Miss Planta accompanied me, and off we set.

In descending the stairs, a door opened which led to one of the state rooms, in which were the royal family. We glided softly past; but the princess royal, attended by the d.u.c.h.ess of Ancaster, came out to us. We soon found her royal highness had told our tale. "Miss Vernons," said the d.u.c.h.ess, "will come to take care of you; you must both go and take possession of the eating-parlour, where you will sup; and the equerries will be of your party."

I said not a word, but of general thanks, still longing only to go to my own room. I whispered this to Miss Planta, who obligingly, though rather reluctantly, consented to pursue our first scheme. But when the d.u.c.h.ess observed that we were turning off, she called out, "I see you do not know your way, so I'll come and show you to the eating-parlour." The princess royal said she would come with us also; and, according to direction, we were therefore necessitated to proceed.

When we got to the hall leading to this parlour, we were suddenly stopped by the appearance of the king, who just then came out of that very room. Lord Harcourt attended with a candle in his hand, and a group of gentlemen followed. We were advanced too far to retreat, and therefore only stood still. The king stopped, and spoke to the d.u.c.h.ess of Ancaster; and then spoke very graciously to Miss Planta and me, inquiring when we set out, and what sort of journey we had had. He then ascended the stairs, the princess royal accompanying him, and all the rest following; the d.u.c.h.ess first pointing to the door of the eating-parlour, and bidding us go there and expect Miss Vernons.

Lord Harcourt, during this meeting, had contrived to slip behind the king, to make me a very civil bow; and when his majesty moved on, he slid nearer me, and whispered a welcome to his house in very civil terms. This was all he could do, so situated.

We now entered the eating-room. We sat down,--but no Miss Vernons!

Presently the door opened,--I hoped they were coming,--but a clergyman, a stranger to us both, appeared. This gentleman, I afterwards found, was Mr. Hagget, chaplain to Lord Harcourt, and rector of a living in his lordship's gift and neighbourhood; a young man, sensible, easy, and remarkably handsome, in very high favour with all the family. With n.o.body to introduce us to each other, we could but rise and bow, and curtsey, and sit down again.

In a few minutes, again the door gave hopes to me of Miss Vernons;--but there only appeared a party of gentlemen. Major Price came foremost, and immediately introduced me to General Harcourt. The general is a very shy man, with an air of much haughtiness; he bowed and retreated, and sat down, and was wholly silent. Colonel Fairly followed him, and taking a chair next mine, began some of the civilest speeches imaginable, concerning this opportunity of making acquaintance with me.

Just then came in a housemaid, and said she would show me my room.

I rose hastily. Miss Planta, who knew everybody present except the clergyman, was now willing to have sat still and chatted; but nothing short of compulsion could have kept me in such a situation, and therefore I instantly accompanied the maid; and poor Miss Planta could not stay behind. The truth is the non-appearance of any of the ladies of the house struck me as being so extremely uncivil, that I desired nothing but to retire from all the party.

I felt quite relieved when I once took possession of a room that, for the time, I might call my own; and I could not possibly listen to Miss Planta's desire of returning to the company. I told her frankly that it was a situation so utterly disagreeable to me, that I must beg to decline placing myself in it again. She was afraid, she said, that, as the d.u.c.h.ess of Ancaster had taken the trouble to show us the room, and to tell us what to do, in the presence of the princess royal, the queen might hear of our absconding, and not be pleased with it.

"I must risk that," I answered--"I shall openly tell my reasons, If questioned, and I firmly believe they will be satisfactory. If not questioned, I shall say nothing; and indeed I very much wish you would do the same."

She agreed,--consented, rather--and I was the more obliged to her from seeing it was contrary to her inclination. I was sorry, but I could not compliment at the expense of putting myself again into a situation I had been so earnest to change. Miss Planta bore it very well, and only wished the maid farther for never finding us out till we began to be comfortable without her.

"THE EQUERRIES WANT THE LADIES."

Here we remained about two hours, unsummoned, unnoticed, unoccupied,--except in forcing open a box which Mrs. Thielky had lent me for my wardrobe, and of which I had left the key, ingeniously, at Windsor. At ten o'clock a maid came to the door, and said supper was ready.

"Who sent you?" I called out.

"Who do you come from?" cried Miss Planta.

She was gone;--we could get no answer. About a quarter of an hour after, one of those gentlemen footmen, for whom you must already have discovered my partiality, called out, from the stairs, without troubling himself to come to the door, "The supper waits."

He was already gone; but Miss Planta darted after him, calling out, "Who sent you?--who did you come to?"