“Upon observing her ancient father’s distress, Clarintha was overcome with filial devotion; falling to her knees by his chair, and taking his hands in hers, she kissed and wept over them. At length she said, ‘Indeed, my revered father, I should deserve utter condemnation, were I, by my importunings, to bring sorrow upon your grey hairs! But, forgive me—forgive your daughter, when I confide how ardently, how earnestly I have longed for you to speak to me of my mother—ah! ever has the name of ‘mother’ been a sacred word to me, yet I know aught of her!’
“‘Ah, my darling child!” cried her afflicted parent, ‘that blessed name has ne’er passed my lips since thou wert an infant! But your mother’s image is ever before my eye, for thou art her very likeness—thy ebony curls, thy fair skin, thy rosy cheeks, thy extremely large feet—’”
Here the reciter was kicked in the shin by Betsey.
“And just say ‘your’ and not ‘thy’, please, William.”
“As you wish, Betsey, but it is most improper. Ahem: ‘Know then, my Clarintha, that I was the fifteenth son of a noble but impoverished family, and at an early age, resolved to seek my fortune by going to sea. I found employment with a merchant ship, bound for India, but, a month into our voyage, a violent hurricane drove us out of our course, and we were shipwrecked on a remote and exotic island. My servant and I, being strong swimmers, were alone cast upon the shore, more dead than alive!”
Charles then interrupted the narrative, to call out the folly of the captain for not reefing the sails in good time, and to speculate which could have been the island in question given the probable course and position of the vessel, until Betsey clamoured for him to be quiet.
“After sending up our fervent thanks to Providence for our delivery,” Fanny said with a gentle smile from her corner.
“‘After thanking Providence for our delivery,” repeated William, “and not presuming to ask why no other of the crew were worthy of being likewise saved from a watery grave, we looked about us and found that we were in a veritable Paradise. Abundant streams ran with fresh, cold water which, to our parched lips, was more tantalizing than the most refined elixir, and the luxuriant growth along the shoreline provided an abundance of wild fruits and cocoa-nuts, upon which I made a hearty repast before resting my tired limbs within the welcome shelter of a spacious hut of palm leaves which Ajax, my ingenious servant, had constructed.
“‘On our second day, we resolved to explore the shoreline of this strange island in the expectation of encountering some habitation—we walked all day, but saw no villages or other signs of human industry, until, in the late afternoon, we met with two dusky natives of the isle, bare-limbed and clad only in loincloths, most strikingly graceful and noble in bearing. These young men greeted us with every sign of friendliness and unsuspicion.
“‘We had no language in common, but through gestures and expressions, I managed to convey our plight and something of my birth, background and expectations. They in return gave us to understand that they were royal princes, returning to their city from a hunting expedition. Their father had intended for them to go to university and study moral philosophy, but Tankiko and Tomkoko (for these were their names) had resisted the plan, preferring instead to apprentice themselves to two local wheelwrights.
“‘They then commenced to unfold more intelligence to me concerning their royal family, and in particular, of their younger sister, whose name was—’” Gibson paused, folded his arms across his chest, and looked up at the smoke-stained ceiling. “Let’s see, all heroines must have a name which ends with the letter ‘a.’ Very well... ‘named Tamatina.’”
“Princess Tamatina!”
“‘As the brothers, with eloquent gestures, described Tamatina’s beauty, her gentleness of spirit, the nobility of her character, and the unrivalled purity and innocence of her soul, I straightaway discovered in my breast an unquenchable adoration for the fair unknown, and I vowed upon all the shells that bestrew the shore, to love her eternally, if she would consent to be my wife!
“‘This proposal was met with the utmost approbation by my new companions, and we all instantly resolved to travel to the capital city of the island, which was located on a mountain-side, halfway between an active volcano and—”
Eliza the servant then entered with the knife box and boldly complained about all the papers and clutter and nonsense on the table, and the folks sitting around it, all of which prevented her—she who had been on her feet since before sunrise—from laying the cloth for dinner. The young people arose with one accord and there being no-where else in the house spacious enough to accommodate five persons together, Mr. Gibson proposed that they walk outside for a time, despite the bitter cold.
Susan was for staying behind, she declared herself unfit to be seen, etc., as she had passed a good part of the day in the grimy confines of the kitchen—but Fanny offered her own warm wool cloak, in which Susan could wrap herself well from neck to ankle and no-one would be the wiser. Susan still resisted, then yielded upon hearing that Mr. Gibson’s intended destination was Miller’s bakery.
Susan hastily tucked her unkempt hair into her bonnet, and well-swaddled in the cloak, she was prepared to join the expedition.
Once outside, Mr. Gibson intended to take Fanny’s arm, but Betsey hung about him tenaciously, and there was not sufficient room in the lane to walk three abreast. Fanny and Susan followed behind,
