Banter Disabuses Me
At the tavern, Roderick meets Banter and confidentially communicates the entire affair, concluding with promises of service. Banter listens patiently, then regards him long with a look of disdain before asking if Roderick truly believes his business is done. When Roderick confirms his belief, Banter declares a halter would do the job more effectually, exclaiming he would tuck himself up rather than be such a gull to two scoundrels like Strutwell and Straddle. Shocked, Roderick asks for explanation. Banter reveals that Straddle is a poor, contemptible wretch who lives by borrowing and pimping for his fellow peers. He has undoubtedly introduced Roderick to Strutwell, who is notorious for unnatural passions—Banter expresses amazement that this character never reached Roderick’s ears. Far from possessing influence at court, Strutwell’s interest is so low he can barely provide for a superannuated footman once a year in the customs or excise. It is common for Strutwell to amuse strangers, run down by his jackals, with such assurances and caresses until he has stripped them of cash and valuables, often of their chastity, then left them to want and infamy. His servants receive no wages beyond their share of the spoils. The whole conduct toward Roderick follows this pattern exactly, and nobody versed in the ways of the world could have been imposed upon.
Utter Mortification
Roderick leaves the reader to judge how he relishes this information, which has precipitated him from the highest pinnacle of hope to the lowest abyss of despondence, nearly determining him to follow Banter’s advice and end his chagrin with a halter. He has no room to doubt his friend’s veracity, for upon recollection he finds every circumstance of Strutwell’s behavior exactly tallying with the character described. His hugs, embraces, squeezes, and eager looks are no longer mysterious, nor his defense of Petronius, nor the jealous frown of his valet-de-chambre, who it appears had been the favorite pathic of his lord.
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