The old lady herself seconded her husband's desires and painted the advantages that the dear child would derive from the proposed arrangements in such glowing colours that the delighted parent, thinking that his daughter's fortune was made forever, hesitated not in giving his permission, in consequence of which Rebecca was soon installed in her new habitation as the adopted daughter of the wealthy Mr. and Mrs. B.
The young girl was at first delighted at a change so greatly for the better, but could not refrain from expressing her astonishment at the secluded manner in which Mrs. B. seemed to live. This, she was informed, was entirely owing to the bad state of her health and that it was enjoined by her medical adviser that she should confine herself as much as possible to her own apartment. Such being the case, Rebecca and her protector generally took their meals together; once in every day she was allowed to visit the invalid, with whom she stayed for about an hour; the old lady always received her with the greatest kindness and never failed at parting to impress upon her mind the importance of her doing all in her power to retain the affection of Mr.
B. by striving continually to please him and to study carefully all his little peculiarities. He, in the meantime, continued to behave towards her with the most devoted affection, and each evening upon the removal of the tea equipage he would endeavour to improve her in reading and writing; he would occasionally seek to divert her by reading to her some amusing story, which by degrees assumed a rather voluptuous character, so much so, indeed, that without knowing why she would feel her young cheeks glow with the blush of confusion as she listened to the amatory descriptions rather too vividly explicit. At other times he would sit gazing at her for several minutes exclaiming, as to himself, 'How lovely, how very like!' Then, seizing her in his arms, he would seat her upon his knee and almost stifle her with kisses. One evening he, by accident, discovered that she had a small mole underneath her left breast. Wonderful similitude! so had his dear departed child; and this was a sufficient excuse for frequently uncovering her youthful bosom in order that he might kiss and finger the beloved spot which so strongly reminded him of his lost daughter.
But he was all a cheat. He had never been married-never had a child; the hypocritical old beldame who resided with him had been once a well-known procuress whom he paid to assist him in his nefarious practices, and by their united efforts too often fatally succeeded in their diabolical designs. Thus, in the present instance, he so artfully proceeded by imperceptible degrees to undermine the virtue of the artless Rebecca that ere she had become sensible of her danger she had nothing left to grant, or he to ask. Her innocence thus destroyed, she was easily persuaded to keep her father in ignorance of her fall. The vile assistant was rewarded and dismissed; and the degraded girl consented to be introduced to her neighbours as the daughter of the man who had so cruelly abused her confidence.
At this tender age (she had not yet completed her eighteenth year) had the once innocent girl consented to become a pander to the lusts of this hoary-headed miscreant, who having long been satiated with the charms of his young victim had repeatedly threatened to cast her forth upon the world if she refused to assist him in luring fresh victims to his frightful lair, and as she had no home save that of her betrayer, for shame and guilt would for ever prevent her from returning to her father, she determined to avoid the horrors of more general prostitution by reluctantly becoming his agent.
The office keeper was liberally rewarded for directing any young or beautiful girl to his house, where she was introduced to the supposed daughter: an appointment was then made with the intended victim and the rest may be conceived.
As Rebecca was entirely unacquainted with the misfortunes of Delia-and fearing that the innocent friend of her childhood was upon the brink of destruction-she, in the impulse of the moment, acted in the manner previously described.
Rebecca listened to Delia's history with the greatest astonishment and commiseration, but candidly advised her that having nothing to lose she could not do better under existing circumstances than endeavour to make the most of what fortune had thrown in her way. 'If,' said she,
'you can make up your mind to submit to the embraces of the old brute, you'll find him liberal enough, for his wealth is boundless and, after all, it is but the idea; for I can assure you,' she added, laughingly,
'that with him a little coaxing goes a very great way; play your cards, therefore, as well as you can, and if you succeed in making him your dupe, why it's no more than he deserves. And so farewell; for should he come while I am here all would be destroyed.' They embraced and parted.
On the afternoon Mr. B. arrived according to promise and remained with Delia until the evening was far advanced, during which time he did not venture on the most trifling liberty but contented himself with pressing her hand occasionally during the conversation and kissing her lips at parting; this conduct he pursued for more than a week, when grown somewhat bolder he would, in a gentle manner, force her to sit upon his knee, and as he pretended to discover some still greater resemblance to his (imaginary) daughter, make that a pretext for repeating his kisses more frequently and with greater fervour.
Delia having in the meantime seriously reflected on her present friendless situation, and seeing no other mode of escaping from a life of infamy, the bare contemplation of which filled her mind with horror, and secretly determined of two evils to choose the least and submit to the wishes of her antiquated admirer with the best possible grace.
When therefore upon one evening in particular she perceived by the increased sparkling of his eyes and the nervous trembling of his limbs that he had made up his mind to bring things to a crisis (with which intent he was, in his most insinuating manner, endeavouring to prevail on her to take an additional quantity of wine, while his own glass was frequently passed untouched), she resolved to humour his whim and accordingly assumed the greatest hilarity, laughing at his jokes and at intervals even returning his caresses, drinking freely of the wine which he continued to press upon her the more quickly as her excitement increased. This she found it absolutely necessary to do, in order to conceal the disgust she in reality experienced during the scene which it now became plain was to ensue that very evening. Her plan succeeded, her brain began to reel, her head sank upon his shoulder and in a state of unconsciousness he bore her to her chamber and quickly followed.
The day was dawning as she awoke to a full sense of her degradation and the tears she shed were neither feigned or hypothetical, although her tempter, believing that they flowed from a different cause, begged her to moderate her grief and be consoled. He pretended to regret the indiscretion he had been guilty of, which he declared would never have happened had not his nature been completely changed from the effects of the wine he had taken, and that his remorse was equal to her own. He then endeavoured to soothe her by the consideration of how much better it really was that the error had been committed with a man of years and experience like himself than with a vain young coxcomb, who having gratified his vanity at the expense of her peace would leave her in despair and wretchedness, while he, on the contrary, would never forsake her; his life should be passed in one continued endeavour to make her forget her sorrows, trusting to time and her own feelings for a repetition of the great reward that he had in the present instance so ungenerously wrested from her; his protestations were mingled with caresses and he ultimately succeeded not only in obtaining forgiveness for the past but in exhorting from her a promise that while she accepted from him the protection of a father, she would not, at all times, withhold from him the rights and privileges of a husband.
The result of this arrangement was her removal to comfortable apartments at Islington, for which he paid one guinea and a half per week; he generally saw her once a week, leaving her on the following morning with a sum of money more than sufficient to cover all her necessary expenses until his next visit. This intimacy had now continued for nearly two years, and such was her precise situation at the commencement of our acquaintance.
She assured me that she had but few friends, notwithstanding she had been so long away from home; in fact, with the exception of Rebecca, who had some months back left the house of her reputed father under the protection of a young ensign who had since forsaken her, she was on visiting terms with no one; and it was at the invitation of that young lady that she had attended the ball on the previous evening, and at her lodgings she had changed her dress, both going and returning.
Having finished her narrative, she continued with an affectionate smile, 'And now, sir, you perceive that young as I am, I have experienced none of the joys, but an abundance of the bitterness, of love. It's true that for a time I certainly did admire the fine figure and external appearance of my first ravisher, but although forced from necessity to share his home and suffer his caresses, the memory of the unmanly advantage he had taken to deprive me of my innocence made him almost hateful to me. How little did I imagine two days ago that I was about to become myself a suitor; yet such is the fact, and I boldly confess that at the very moment when my delighted ears were charmed with the sweetness of your voice, my heart first felt the power of love and owned you for its master. Do not despise me for this folly; I own that I am quite unworthy and have, therefore, shown myself to you without
