第286章 THE UNFORTUNATE BRIDE(4)

When this Letter was written， it was strait shown to Celesia，who look’d upon any Thing that belong’d to Frankwit， withrejoycing Glances； so eagerly she perus’d it， that her tenderEyes beginning to Water， she cry’d out， （fancying she saw theWords dance before her View） ‘Ah！ Cousin， Cousin， yourLetter is running away， sure it can’t go itself to Frankwit.’ Agreat Deal of other pleasing innocent Things she said， but stillher Eyes flow’d more bright with lustrous Beams， as if theywere to shine out； now all that glancing Radiancy which hadbeen so long kept secret， and， as if， as soon as the Cloud ofBlindness once was broke， nothing but Lightnings were toflash for ever after. Thus in mutual Discourse they spent theirHours， while Frankwit was now ravished with the Receipt ofthis charming Answer of Belvira’s， and blest his own Eyeswhich discovered to him the much welcome News of fairCelesia’s. Often he read the Letters o’re and o’re， but there hisFate lay hid， for ‘twas that very Fondness proved his Ruin. Helodg’d at a Cousin’s House of his， and there， （it being a privateFamily） lodged likewise a Blackamoor Lady， then a Widower；a whimsical Knight had taken a Fancy to enjoy her： Enjoy herdid I say？ Enjoy the Devil in the Flesh at once！ I know nothow it was， but he would fain have been a Bed with her， butshe not consenting on unlawful Terms， （but sure all Terms arewith her unlawful） the Knight soon marry’d her， as if therewere not hell enough in Matrimony， but he must wed the Deviltoo. The Knight a little after died， and left this Lady of his（whom I shall Moorea） an Estate of six thousand Pounds perAnn. Now this Moorea observed the joyous Frankwit with aneager Look， her Eyes seemed like Stars of the first Magnitudeglaring in the Night； she greatly importuned him to discoverthe Occasion of his transport， but he denying it， （as ‘tis theHumour of our Sex） made her the more Inquisitive； and beingJealous that it was from a Mistress， employ’d her Maid to stealit， and if she found it such， to bring it her： accordingly itsucceeded， for Frankwit having drank hard with some of theGentlemen of that Shire， found himself indisposed， and soonwent to Bed， having put the Letter in his Pocket： The Maidtherefore to Moorea contrived that all the other Servantsshould be out of the Way， that she might plausibly officiate inthe Warming the Bed of the indisposed Lover， but likely， had itnot been so， she had warmed it by his Intreaties in a morenatural Manner； he being in Bed in an inner Room， she slipsout the Letter from his Pocket， carries it to her Mistress toread， and so restores it whence she had it； in the Morning thepoor Lover wakened in a violent Fever， burning with a Firemore hot than that of Love. In short， he continued Sick aconsiderable while， all which time the Lady Moorea constantlyvisited him， and he as unwillingly saw her （poor Gentleman）as he would have seen a Parson； for as the latter would haveperswaded， so the former scared him to Repentance. In themean while， during his sickness， several Letters were sent tohim by his dear Belvira， and Celesia too， （then learning towrite） had made a shift to give him a line or two in Postwith her Cousin， but all was intercepted by the jealousy of theBlack Moorea， black in her mind， and dark， as well as in herbody. Frank wit too writ several Letters as he was able，complaining of her unkindness， those likewise were all stoptby the same Blackmoor Devil. At last， it happened thatWildvill， （who I told my Reader was Frankwit’s friend） cameto London， his Father likewise dead， and now Master of a veryplentiful fortune， he resolves to marry， and paying a visit toBelvira， enquires of her concerning Frankwit， she all inmourning for the loss， told him his friend was dead. ‘Ah！