Chapter 5 A Sleepless Night for Sophia
The next morning Tom went hunting with Mr Western, and
afterwards was invited to dinner.
The lovely Sophia was brighter than usual that day, and if she
wanted Tom to notice her, she certainly succeeded.
Another dinner guest was Mr Supple, the priest from the
village church. He was a good-natured man who was always
silent at table, though his mouth was never shut. In other words,
he had one of the best appetites in the world. After dinner,
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though, he loved to talk, and he had some news.
'I believe, lady, you saw a young woman at church yesterday,
wearing one of your own dresses. After you left, this dress caused
a terrible battle. This morning the young woman in question was
called to explain the matter to Mr Allworthy. When she appeared,
everyone could see that she will soon give birth to a bastard. As
she refused to name the father, she will be sent to prison.'
'Is that your news?' cried Western. 'Nothing more important?
Come, Tommy, drink up and pass the bottle.'
Tom made a polite excuse and quickly left the table.
'Aha,' said Western, after he had gone. 'I see, I see! Tom is
certainly the father of this bastard.'
' I should be very sorry if that is true,' said Supple.
'Why sorry?' cried Western. 'Haven't you been the father of
any bastards yourself? You must have been lucky, then.'
'I am sure you joke, Mr Western,' replied the priest. 'And I
hope you are wrong about the young gentleman. He is a little
wild, perhaps, but a good young man. I would not like to see him
lose the good opinion of Mr Allworthy'
'No, no,' said Western. 'He will lose nobody's good opinion,
and the women will like him better. Ask my daughter here. You
have no worse opinion of a young man for giving a girl a bastard,
have you, Sophy?'
It was a cruel question to ask poor Sophia. She had seen Tom's
colour change when he heard the news, and she thought her
father's suspicions were correct. Her heart at once told her the
great secret it had been hiding. Shocked and confused, she
excused herself and went to her room.
•
Tom hurried home, and found Molly was still there. He asked for a
private conversation with Mr Allworthy, and said he was the guilty
father. He begged Mr Allworthy to let Molly return to her family.
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After hesitating for some time, Mr Allworthy agreed. He then
spoke for a long time about right and wrong. Tom listened
gratefully, and promised to improve.
Mr Allworthy was certainly angry with Tom, but he was also
pleased with his honour and honesty, so Thwackum could not
persuade him to punish the young man.
Square was more clever. He reminded Mr Allworthy of all the
things Tom had done for the gamekeeper and his family.
'Now we can see, sir, that these things were not done out of
friendship, but to get Molly for his wicked ways.'
For the first time, the good Mr Allworthy began to have a bad
impression of Tom.
•
That night, Sophia slept very little. She was already dressed when
her maid, Mrs Honour, came to wake her.
'Oh, madam,' said Mrs Honour,'what do you think?' And with
these words she began to tell Sophia all the gossip from the
village about Tom and Molly.
What passed through poor Sophia's mind? The reader will
remember that only yesterday the news of Molly had opened
Sophia's eyes to her heart's love. Now she decided she felt
nothing for Tom. But love is a disease, and the very next time she
saw him all her former feelings returned. From that time her
heart kept changing from hot to cold to hot again until Sophia
was desperate for a cure.
She decided to avoid Tom, and made plans to visit her aunt,
but Fortune stopped the plan with an accident.
•
Every day, Mr Western grew fonder of his daughter, almost more
than his precious dogs. Since he could not bring himself to
abandon the dogs, he managed cleverly to enjoy both dogs and
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daughter by taking Sophia hunting with him.
Sophia disliked the sport, which was too rough for her, but she
always obeyed her father. She decided not to visit her aunt until
the end of the hunting season.
The second time she went hunting her horse started to behave
badly. Tom was nearby, and saw that she was in danger. He
quickly rode up, jumped off his horse, and was in time to catch
Sophia as her horse threw her and ran off.
'Are you hurt, madam?' he asked her. When she said she was
unhurt he said,'Then heaven be praised. If I have broken my arm
it is nothing, after the danger you were in.'
'Broken your arm!' screamed Sophia.
'I am afraid I have, madam,' said Tom. 'But I still have a good
arm to help you home.'
Mr Western then came back with the other riders and Sophia's
horse. Finding his daughter unhurt he was delighted, and
everyone returned to the house, where a doctor was called to
look at Tom's arm.
This brave act of Tom's made a deep impression on Sophia's
heart, and she no longer wanted to visit her aunt.