The Adventures of Roderick Random

Counsel Against Naval Service Return

The narrator, having recovered strength, seeks the widow’s advice regarding future conduct. The narrator initially contemplated traveling to London to recover clothes and pay by returning to the ship, which has safely arrived in the Thames. The widow firmly dissuades this course, cautioning that the narrator risks being treated as a deserter for abandoning the sloop and as a mutineer for assaulting the commanding officer—additionally exposing the narrator to that officer’s malicious revenge. The widow instead proposes an alternative arrangement.

Valet Position Recommendation

The widow promises to recommend the narrator as a servant to a single lady of her acquaintance living in the neighborhood with a wealthy nephew, a young foxhunter. The narrator could be quite comfortable provided tolerance for the mistress’s disposition and manners. The widow counsels strongly against revealing the narrator’s true story, as knowledge thereof would poison the narrator’s reception; the established maxim among people of condition excludes gentlemen from domestic positions, as they may become lazy and insolent. Faced with desperate circumstances, the narrator accepts this humble proposal. Within days, the narrator is hired as a footman, having been represented as a young man pressed into sea service by relatives against his will and possessing such disgust for seafaring following shipwreck that he prefers land service. Before assuming duties, the widow provides a character sketch of the mistress.

Profile of the Eccentric Virtuoso Mistress

The prospective mistress is described as a maiden of forty years, notable not for beauty but for learning and taste, famous throughout the region as a perfect female virtuoso. Her eagerness for knowledge reaches such intensity that she neglects her personal appearance to the point of sluttishness. Her physical neglect combined with contempt for men serves her nephew’s interests, as he likely stands to inherit her considerable fortune and therefore permits her eccentric lifestyle. She resides in a private apartment comprising dining room, bedchamber, and study, maintaining her own cook maid, waiting-woman, and footman, rarely dining or conversing with the main family except her niece—a lovely young woman whose frequent late-night company with her aunt damages her own health. The mistress follows Rosicrucian principles, believing invisible beings inhabit earth, air, and sea and can be contacted through chaste living. Upon hearing rumors of the widow and her cat, she visited hoping to meet the cat as a familiar but was disappointed. Her visionary mindset renders her abstract from common worldly affairs, resulting in frequent absences and strange mistakes requiring attentive correction.

CAPÍTULO XXXIX.

The narrator arrives at the eccentric lady’s residence as a footman, having been recommended by Mrs. Sagely, and is immediately struck by his new mistress’s peculiar appearance and mannerisms as she scribbles verses in her study surrounded by books and scientific instruments. During his first dinner service, he catches sight of her niece Narcissa and falls desperately in love at first sight, subsequently spinning a tale of his shipwreck and mistreatment to win her sympathy. He learns that Sir Timothy Thicket has been proposed as a match for Narcissa by her brother, creating in him a mortal hatred for this rival suitor. The following morning brings a noisy fox hunt, and the narrator observes Sir Timothy and the young squire departing while also discovering his mistress’s alarming tendency toward bizarre delusions, including imagining herself a hare pursued by hunters. When Narcissa plays the harpsichord to soothe her aunt’s disturbed mind, the narrator experiences pure bliss at hearing her voice, and despite his lowly station, he begins to nurture confident hopes of eventually winning her love.

My Reception by the Lady

The narrator arrives at the lady’s residence and is introduced by a waiting-woman. He finds his mistress seated in her study in an eccentric posture, engaged in writing. She appears with disheveled sandy hair, prominent gray eyes, and an aquiline nose, surrounded by books, globes, telescopes, and other scholarly apparatus. After observing the narrator curiously, she asks his name, which he conceals as John Brown. She quizzes him humorously about whether he arrived ashore on a whale or dolphin, and about swimming the Hellespont. Satisfied with his answers, she orders new livery and instructs him in his duties as footman: cleaning knives and forks, laying the cloth, waiting at table, and attending her when she goes abroad.