The Young Duchess; or, Memoirs of a Lady of Quality — page 160: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

9° ~ THE YOUNG DUCHESS; OR, MEMOIRS OF A LADY OF QUALITY. 146 to say that I did anything so precious low as to go to a coffee-house—a slap-bang perhaps—a trough ” “Well, I daresay I was mistaken,” interrupted Osborne; ‘‘and this is all the more likely inas- much as the person whom I took for you, seemed to dive suddenly in, holding down his head some- what, just as if he did not care particularly to be seen.” ‘‘Ah, well—now you're convinced it wasn’t me,” exclaimed Sylvester. ‘I almost wish it had been; for now I’ve got the turtle and venison rising in my throat. It was too rich a dinner. Im afraid I feed too well—But where are you going? To Astley’s, no doubt ?” “Well,” faltered out Launcelot, “I was think- ing of looking in there for a few minutes: but I am not sure 7 ‘“Oh, nonsense! round to the stage-door. you go behind the scenes “Thank you. I shall not go behind the scenes this evening.” “Well, I will join you presently,” resumed Sylvester, ‘in the boxes. I just want to step behind the scenes to say a word to my pretty Alice. I haven’t seen her these two days; and the truth is her weekly money was due yesterday 9 come along. We'll pass I won’t tell Selina that 9) oe —ten guineas, you know—and I must go and: give it to her. I hate being behindhand in these sort of things—and I can’t bear to look mean.” The two young gentlemen now separated,— Launcelot bending his way towards the principal entrance, the doors having been just thrown open—and Sylvester passing round to the rear of the theatre, so that he might get upon the stage. On ascending into that region, young Casey found | that a part where a light usually burnt, was now involved in darkness; and he was groping his way along, when he heard voices in whispering ' conversation close by. He was mean and paltry . enough to have listened under any circumstances : but still less likely than ever was he to hesitate | when he recognised one of the voices to be Miss : Alice Denton’s. But to whom was she talking in this mysterious manner? and who could be the subject of her discourse ? “Of course I hate him,” she was saying at the moment: ‘how could it be possible to do other- wise ? a stupid conceited fellow! as ugly as a baboon—and giving himself as many airs as if he were the greatest lord in the land !” ‘‘ Why, who can she mean ?” asked Sylvester of himself. “With that horrid red hair of his — and those green eyes—and his face covered with freckles , ‘‘A whipper-snapper coxcomb !” said the other voice: “I should like to punch his head for him !’—and now Sylvester discovered that his beautiful Alice was in discourse with no less a person than the famous acrobat Mr. Blundell. ‘‘He is the meanest fellow too on the face ot the earth,” continued the young lady: “he did not bring me my paltry allowance the day before yesterday—and so I suppose I shall see him to-morrow ;—and then next pay-day he will make to-morrow weck, so that by these means he will gain three clear days! That’s the way he is accustomed to serve me, with his nasty mean tricks !” 4 “ Well, never mind, my dear Alicc,” said Blundell : ‘‘ he doesn’t suspect how thick you and me are together; and you had better ‘xeep friends with him just for the present. But I say, come along—we shall be wanted.” Sylvester heard a sound very much resembling the meeting of two pairs of lips; and this was followed by the creaking of footsteps moving away from the spot where the preceding colloquy had taken place. Sylvester’s blood was boiling: the place was pitch dark—and he could not resist the temptation of doing what Mr. Blundell had expressed a desire of doing towards himself— namely, of inflicting that species of chastisement which is called ‘‘ punching the head.” Sylvester therefore groped his way hastily forward in the direction which he fancied his faithless mistress and his rival had taken: he proceeded some dozen paces—he paused to listen—he thought he heard the sound of persons breathing close by him; he advanced — stretched out his arms — and was already gloating at the idea of the punishment which he was about to inflict on the acrobat, when, behold! as he crept noiselessly on, he sud- denly came in contact with a hairy object—and he found himself hugged in a couple of hirsute arms that seemed to be ready extended to receive him in their embrace. Sylvester comprehended the truth in a moment he was in the grip of the bear—and a terrified cry pealed from his lips! We must here explain that the bear was tutored to perform particular antics in the pre- sence of a certain number of lights,—which lesson the sagacity of the animal had enabled it to acquire with the utmost proficiency. But inas- much as there was no necessity for the brute to practise its tricks behind the scenes, it had been placed in a secluded spot where there was no need to have any lights at all for the time being; and thus the gas which was usually flaming there at that hour had been extinguished. Hence the miserable dilemma into which poor Sylvester Casey plunged with so fearful a suddenness. The cry that pealed from his lips rang through all that portion of the establishment: lights quickly flamed around—carpenters and scene- shifters came rushing to the spot—the doors of the several dressing-rooms opened — and out rushed a number of actors and nymphs in their theatrical costumes. TEjaculations of dismay and shrieks of terror at first indicated the feelings which were inspired by the spectacle: but in a very few moments a peal of laughter broke in upon the other sounds—this was followed by an- other, and then another—until all who were as- sembled there yielded to the hilarious inclinations engendered by the ludicrous figure which poor Sylvester cut in the embrace of the bear. And we are compelled by a strict regard for truth to add that no explosion of merriment was more jocund—we had almost termed it boisterous— than that which emanated from the faithless Miss Alice Denton. The carpenters and scene-shifters quickly com- menced an assault upon the bear, in order to in- duce the animal to relax his hold upon the un- fortunate victim who was roaring and screaming, and crying and yelling in the hirsute arms that held him tight. The brute’s muzzle was over his shoulder: but fortunately it was a good-natured k COMO YN Wn) Colin