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Fiction

Notes Chapter XIII

Lady Booby retires to her room early, throws herself on her bed, and endures “Agonies of
Love, Rage, and Despair.” Mrs. Slipslop arrives and commiserates her, informing her of
Beau Didapper’s plan to abduct Fanny. Lady Booby dismisses Slipslop with an order to
report back when the abduction of Fanny has been executed. Alone, Lady Booby goes back
to talking to herself about her degrading passion for Joseph and the absurdity of his preference
for Fanny. Soon, however, Slipslop returns with the news that Joseph and Fanny have been
revealed to be siblings. Lady Booby rushes off to tell Pamela, who disbelieves the report
because she has never heard that her parents had any children other than herself and Joseph.
Lady Booby summons Joseph, Fanny, and the Pedlar to the Hall, where the Pedlar repeats his
tale.

Did u know? Mr. Booby persuades everyone to withhold judgment on the story until the
next day, when Mr. and Mrs. Andrews will arrive to meet their daughter
and son-in-law.

Chapter XIV

Late at night, Beau Didapper goes off in search of the sleeping Fanny and accidentally jumps
into bed with Slipslop, who takes the Beau to be Joseph. Once the participants discover their
mistakes, Slipslop decides to pretend that Didapper has scandalized her by making this attempt,
hoping thereby to “restore her Lady’s Opinion of her impregnable Chastity.” Her cry of “Murther!
Murther! Rape! Robbery! Ruin!” brings the barely clad Adams to the rescue, but in the dark
he takes the soft-skinned Didapper to be the woman and the bearded Slipslop to be the man,
so he attacks Slipslop and allows Didapper to make his escape. He scuffles with Slipslop,
and when Lady Booby arrives to find them together in bed and in states of undress, she
naturally misinterprets the situation. She soon spots Didapper’s laced shirt and diamond
buttons, however, and together they sort out what has happened. Lady Booby laughs and
departs, and Mr. Adams soon follows suit, but instead of returning to his own bed, he
accidentally enters Fanny’s room. Fanny is sleeping so deeply that she does not wake up, so
she and the clergymen share the bed innocently until morning. Joseph enters the chamber at
dawn, whereupon the two bedfellows awake and are surprised to see each other. Joseph is
briefly angry at the clergyman, but Adams explains the events of the night before, and Joseph
concludes that Adams simply “turned right instead of left.” He then leads Mr. Adams back
to his room.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:

1. Fielding gives a record of the emotional turbulence Lady Booby has endured since the
departure of Joseph from ......... .
2. The arrival of Joseph and Fanny, Mr. and Mrs. ......... conclude an argument about whether.

3. Wilson identifies Joseph by a ......... on his chest.
4. Lady Booby meets the gentleman who assaulted ......... .

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