The Young Duchess; or, Memoirs of a Lady of Quality — page 243: what you’re looking at

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

J ——— ee ee ee GD pS LE THE YOUNG DUCHESS: OR, MEMOIRS OF A LADY OF QUALITY. in the chambers of Lady Todmorden’s daughters. The appearance of the Count at once created a sensation; for very few,: except the lady of the mansion and her daughters, suspected that he had been there before that evening in another garb. As the ‘‘distinguished foreigner” made his way amidst the crowd—bestowing bows, smiles, or shakes of the hand, according to the degree of intimacy on which he considered himself to be or chose to place himself with those whose salutations he thus acknowledged—his elegant appearance attracted general admiration. The exquisite cut of his clothes, the seemingly unstudied precision with which his cravat was tied, the white waistcoat so accurately fitting the slender form, without crease or wrinkle—in a word, the entire appearance of this personage elicited the admiration of the ladies and provoked no small amount of envy and jealousy on that of the gentlemen. As he made his way through the principal apartments, he beheld the Duchess of Ardleigh (no fonger in a fancy dress) conversing with a group of ladies at the upper end of the room. He did not immediately proceed thither, because it was not his policy to seem to force himself upon persons of rank, but rather to show that he him- self was courted. Thus he was affecting to plunge very deeply into discourse with some old noble- man whose good opinion he thought he might just as well win en passant, when the Duchess beckoned him towards her. “Pardon me, my lord,” he said, ‘but I must obey that sign from a superior divinity :"—and he advanced with ‘his wonted graceful ease towards the group of which the Duchess was the central star. ‘‘ Count,” said the Duchess, ‘‘ you must decide a little dispute which has arisen amongst us.” “ And if your Grace be one of the disputants,” was the reply, ‘“‘I hope that I shall be enabled to make you come off victorious.” ‘Several of these ladies have declared their conviction that you have been here before this evening,” continued the Duchess, “and that you bore your part amidst the gaieties which just now prevailed. I, on the other hand, express my con- viction that you have not been here.” Mandeville at this moment caught a whisper which one lady was breathing in the ear of another, to this effect—‘‘ Now see if he don’t admit that he was dressed as a Troubadour!” ‘““Indeed, your Grace,” said Mandeville, ‘‘I am sorry that in settling this little dispute—which by the bye elevates me into an importance highly flattering, but very little deserved,—in settling the dispute however, I regret that truth compels me to decide against your ladyship. I was here just now: indeed, I have been here all the even- ing I wore a domino, which I threw off but a few minutes back in the gentlemen’s cloak-room.” ‘“ Then he was not the Troubadour, after all!” the whisper again reached his ear. “ And now,” said Mandeville, “‘ might I venture to ask whether your Grace has appeared this evening in any other costume than that which you at present wear ?” we “Yes,” she replied: and suddenly recollecting that there were at least a dozen Swiss shepherd- esses just now amongst the company, she added, “If the truth must be revealed, I wore the fancy dress of a Bernese peasant girl.” The result of this conversation was to create the completest mystery in respect to the veritable garbs in which Mandeville and the Duchess had respectively appeared. We may farther proceed to observe that the young Duchess now looked surpassingly beautiful in the evening toilet which had succeeded the Page’s costume. She was slightly pale from the lingering effects of the shock which she had sustained from the disclosure of Sir Abel Kingston’s countenance: but now, as she leant upon Mandeville’s arm while he escorted her to the supper-room, she felt as if she were clinging to one who had the power to save her from all evils and perils; and the colour came back to her cheeks, and the light of confidence, and joy, and gratitude—we might almost have said of love—danced in her beautiful eyes. We will not protract this chapter, which is al- ready a long one, to an unnecessary length by de- scribing the splendour of the banquet, nor by dwelling on the delight of Lady Todmorden as she saw how well everything was going off, and how Mr. Warren the stockbroker was evidently attaching himself to one of her daughters ; while a Marquis, who was a widower, was paying atten- tion to the second—and a young Baronet, who had just come of age, was whispering tenderly in the ear of the third. Nor will we stop to chronicle all the encomiums which were whispered amongst the guests upon the brilliancy of the entertainment. It however seemed to be universally acknowledged that it was the most splendid ever yet giver™&at Todmorden House; and Mandeville whispered to the Duchess, ‘If her ladyship only succeeds in getting off one of her daughters by means of this affair, she will have made a good speculation.” Some of the company began to leave the supper- table; and amongst them were Count Mandeville and the Duchess of Ardleigh. “T have to thank you, Hippolyte,” she whis- pered, as she leant upon his arm, ‘‘ for the mode, as delicate as it was ingenious, in which you just now averted all suspicion relative to the fact that you and I had been so much together during the earlier part of the evening. There was onespite- ful old lady who vowed and protested that you were the Troubadour, while I heard another whis- per that she thought I was the Page.” ‘“* And now, dear Mary,” interjected Mandeville, ““they are completely thrown off the right scent. But I wish to speak to you particularly. Shall we revisit the conservatory ? No one is likely to be there now, and we may be enabled to have a little discourse alone together.” ‘¢ What have you to say to me? \Has anything fresh transpired ?”—and the Duchess spoke quickly and nervously. “Fear nothing! rely entirely on me!” said Mandeville. “Yes, yes!—I do, I do!” and she clung more closely to his arm. They proceeded to the conservatory, where, as they had anticipated, they found themselves alone together. ‘Dearest Mary,” said the Count, “you were not deceived—there was no illusion. That man still lives.” ‘“* Ah!”—and the Duchess turned pale. ‘You have already made inquiries ? You have already obtained some clue?” ‘‘ More than that,” responded Mandeville, with COMO YN Wn) Colin