The Life and Legacy of Harriette Wilson. Harriette Wilson
sneaking b—kg—d!" said the man, still holding fast by one end of the whip, "this is not the first time you have attempted to cheat me."
"Let go my whip, and be d——d to you!" bawled Deerhurst.
The man however refused and in the struggle it was broken.
"Now d—n your soul," said Deerhurst, darting from the curricle without the least regard to our fears, and leaving us to manage two spirited horses how we could. In an instant he had stripped off his coat and was hard at it with the fat, dirty turnpike-man.
"Oh!" ejaculated I, in despair, "that ever I should have ventured out in such disgusting society!"
"Very disgusting indeed," echoed Sophia.
Once Deerhurst was down; but we soon discovered that the fat turnpike-man was undermost, and, "Go it, my lord! you a lord? a rum lord!" burst from a Babel-like confused world of voices.
The Honourable Arthur Upton happened to be passing at this moment. I called out to him by his name, and he came up to the curricle. I told him that we were frightened almost to death at the scene which presented itself, and our peculiar situation, having no proper dresses nor shoes for walking, and requested that he would make somebody stand at the heads of the horses.
He did so, and afterwards obligingly made his way to Lord Deerhurst. He begged his lordship would excuse the liberty he took, adding, "We know each other personally Lord Deerhurst, and I cannot help feeling hurt and grieved to see you so engaged, particularly with two young ladies under your immediate protection. I feel myself bound, seeing so many blackguards against you, to stand by you, as long as you choose to keep me in this very disgraceful situation."
"What," cried out the many-mouthed mob, "you are another lord, I suppose? Here's rum lords for you! cheating a poor man out of twopence, and then stopping to fight in the road. My sarvices to you, my lord! Who would not be a lord!"
"Out of respect for you, Mr. Upton," said Deerhurst, "I will pay this fellow;" and thus, after knocking the poor man about till he was black and blue, his lordship being possessed of all such skill as his friends Crib and Jackson had taught him, he paid him the twopence which was originally his due, and was hissed and hooted till he drove out of sight.
When he rejoined us, his nose and fingers were covered with blood.
"Did you ever see such an impudent rascal, my dear Sophia?" said Deerhurst to her.
"Never in my life," prettily repeated Sophia in her own cuckoo-strain.
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