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200 The Adventures of Roderick Random chapter xxxix. My reception by that lady——I become enamoured of Narcissa——recount the particulars of my last misfortune——acquire the good opinion of my mistress——an account of the young Squire——I am made acquainted with more particulars of Narcissa’s situation——conceive a mortal hatred against Sir Timothy——examine my lady’s library and performances—— her extravagant behaviour. Fraught with these useful instructions, I repaired to the place of her habitation, and was introduced by the waiting-woman to the presence of my lady, who had not before seen me.—She sat in her study, with one foot on the ground, and the other upon a high stool at some distance from her seat; her sandy locks hung down in a disorder I cannot call beautiful, from her head, which was deprived of its coif,1 for the benefit of scratching with one hand, while she held the stump of a pen in the other.— Her forehead was high and wrinkled, her eyes were large, grey and prominent; her nose was long, sharp and aquiline; her mouth of vast capacity; her visage meagre and freckled, and her chin peeked like a shoemaker’s paring knife: Her upper-lip contained a large quantity of plain Spanish,2 which, by continual falling, had embroidered her neck that was not naturally very white, and the breast of her gown, that flowed loose about her with a negligence truly poetic, discovering linen that was very fine, and to all appearance, never washed but in Castalian streams.3 —Around her lay heaps of books, globes, quadrants, telescopes, and other learned apparatus: Her snuff-box stood at her right hand, at her left-hand lay her handkerchief sufficiently used, and a convenience to spit in appeared on one side of her chair.—She being in a reverie when we entered, the maid did not think proper to disturb her; so that we waited some minutes unobserved , during which time, she bit the quill several times, altered her position, made many wry faces, and at length, with an air of triumph, repeated aloud; “Nor dare th’ immortal Gods my rage oppose!”4 Having committed her success to paper, she turned towards the door, and perceiving us, cried, “What’s the matter?”—“Here’s the young man (replied my conductress) whom Mrs. Sagely recommended as a footman to your ladyship.” On this information she stared in my face a considerable time, and then asked my name, which I thought proper to conceal under that of John Brown.—After having surveyed me with a curious eye, she broke out into “O! ay, thou was shipwrecked I remember.——Whether didst thou come on shore on the back of a whale or a dolphin?”5 To this I answered, I had swam on shore without any assistance.—Then she demanded to know if I had ever been at the Hellespont, and swam from Sestos to Abydos.6 I replied in the negative : Upon which, she bad the maid order a suit of new livery for me, and instruct Volume Two, Chapter XXXIX 201 me in the articles of my duty; so saying, she spit in her snuff-box, and wiped her nose with her cap, which lay on the table, instead of a handkerchief.—We returned to the kitchen, where I was regaled by the maids, who seemed to vie with each other, in expressing their regard for me.—And from them I understood, that my business consisted in cleaning knives and forks, laying the cloth, waiting at table, carrying messages and attending my lady, when she went abroad.—There was a very good suit of livery in the house, which had belonged to my predecessor deceased, and it fitted me exactly, so that there was no occasion for employing a taylor on my account.—I had not been long equipped in this manner, when my lady’s bell rung; upon which, I ran up stairs, and found her stalking about the room in her shift and under petticoat only: I would have immediately retired, as became me, but she bad me come in, and air a clean shift for her; which operation I having performed with some backwardness, she put it on before me without any ceremony, and I verily believe was ignorant of my sex all the time, as being quite absorpt in contemplation.—About four o’clock in the afternoon, I was ordered to lay the cloth, and...

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