Page:Moll Flanders (1906 edition).djvu/448

416 the effects; and on seeing the daughter's picture, which appeared to him very beautiful, my lord inquired if she was married. 'No, my lord', says the planter, 'but I believe I shall dispose of her soon after she comes to me.' 'How old is your daughter?' said my lord. 'Why, my lord', replied the planter, 'she is twenty-two years of age.' Then my lord asked my son if he should like that young lady for a wife. 'Nothing, my lord', said Thomas, 'could lay a greater obligation upon me than your lordship's providing me with a wife.'

'Now, sir', said my lord to the planter, 'what do you say to a match between this young gentleman and your daughter? Their ages are agreeable, and, if you can, or will, give her more fortune than he has, his shall be augmented. You partly know his substance, by the money I have now paid you.'

This generous proposal of my lord's pleased the planter to a great degree, and he declared to my lord that he thought nothing could be a greater favour done him, for two reasons; one of which was, that he was certain the young gentleman was as good as he appeared, because he had taken for his plantation so large a sum of money as none but a gentleman could pay. The next reason was, that this marriage, to be performed as soon as my son arrived there, would be a great satisfaction to his wife, whose favourite the daughter was. 'For', added he, 'my wife will not only have the pleasure of seeing her daughter settled on what was our own hereditary estate, but also see her married to a man of substance, without the danger of crossing the seas to be matched to a person equal to herself.'

'Pray, sir', said my lord, 'let me hear what fortune you are willing to give with your daughter; you have but two children, and I know you must be rich.' 'Why, my lord', replied the planter, 'there is no denying that; but you must remember I have a son as well as a daughter to provide for, and he I intend to turn into the mercantile way as soon as he arrives safe from Virginia. I have, my lord', continued he, 'a very large stock-in-trade there, as warehouses of tobacco, etc., lodged in the custom-houses of the ports, to the value of £7000, to which I will add £3000 in money, and I hope you will look upon that as a very competent estate; and when the young gentleman's fortune is joined to that, I believe he will be the richest man in the whole American colonies of his age.'

It was then considered between my lord and Thomas, that no woman with a quarter of that fortune would venture herself over to the West Indies with a man that had ten times as much; so it being hinted to the planter that my lord had agreed to the proposals, they promised to meet the next morning to settle the affair.

In the evening, my lord, with Thomas in his company, hinted the above discourse to me. I was frightened almost out of my wits to think what a large sum of money had been laid out for my son, but kept what I thought to myself. It was agreed that my son was to marry the old planter's daughter, and a lawyer was sent for, with instructions to draw up all the writings for the marriage-settlement, etc., and the next morning a messenger came from the planter with a note to my lord, letting him know, if it was not inconvenient, he would wait on his lordship to breakfast. He came soon after, with a Dutch merchant of great estate, who was our neighbour at The Hague, where they settled every point in question,