The Young Duchess; or, Memoirs of a Lady of Quality — page 288: what you’re looking at

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

974 THE YOUNG DUCHESS; completest darkness. Count | Mandeville—for he it was—unlocked that door by means of a key with which he had been provided, and he passed into a vestibule where a lamp was burning. He at once ascended a staircase; and on reaching a landing, which was also lighted, he perceived at a glance which door it was that he had now to open. Thither he proceeded: the handle turned in his grasp—he crossed the threshold, and entered a room where the atmosphere’was warm and per- fumed. This was the ante-chamber leading to the sleeping apartment of the Duchess; and tltere was the beautiful Duchess herself, in a most voluptuous deshabillée, waiting to receive him. Mandeville strained her in his arms. She hid her blushing countenance upon his breast, and she murmured a few words of welcome. At that very instant hasty footsteps were heard rushing along the passage outside; and the Duchess ejaculated in an access of terror, ‘“‘ Good heavens ! what can this mean ?” Mandeville, without for a moment losing his presence of mind, muehee to _ door ang. turned the key. “Tt must be Lavinia doming for some purpose or another!” murmured the young Duchess. There was now a violent knocking at the door: the countenance of the frail patrician lady in- dicated a strange bewildering terror: but Man- deville whispered, “It must be your husband! it must be the Duke !” . ‘No, no! he would not do this!” responded the Duchess, i in a quick agitated whisper. ‘ Surely it cannot be——” 44 , The knocking continued; and now a stoice was heard exclaiming, “Open, my dear Mary! do open the door! I am frightened to death! there are ghosts and spectres!—Oh, good God! and skeletons ! an accent of anguish and almost of mortal terror in the tones ofthat female voice which was thus speaking, the knocking was ‘redoubled. . “Ah! I suspected it!” said the young Duchess. “T must admit her !—it 1s the Duke’s mother! | I will soon get rid of her! There !”—and opening the door of the bed-chamber, she pushed Mande- ville into it. Then the young Duchess flew to open the ante- room door; and her mother-in-law rushed in, flinging her terrified looks over her shoulder, for she evidently thought that she was being pursued by some objects of ghastly horror. She had nothing on but her night-gear; and throwing herself upon the sofa, she began giving vent to all the strange ideas that came into her head at the time ; and she shivered visibly—not with the cold, for it was the month of June—but with the effects of the fright which through her disordered imagination she had sustained. She was a woman of about forty-six years of age—of tall stature, and full proportions. Pre- vious to the loss of her intellect—when she had carried her head high, and felt herself the Duchess —she was of a grand commanding figure, superbly ‘handsome, and of a splendid symmetry. But though many evidences of that beauty remained, the lapse of time and the influence of her mental malady had failed not to show their ravages: for the hair was streaked with white—there were wrinkles upon the brow—the eyes had a peculiar look, and also an incipient glaze—the figure had Open! open !”—and while. there was: Cee OR, MEMOIRS OF A LADY OF QUALITY. lost its plumpness and the rounded symmetry of its proportions. Yet the brilliancy of the teeth remained. ‘* Ah, my dear Mary, you should not have kept me waiting!” cried the unfortunate lady. “‘Itis so unlike you! you are generally so good and kind! Ah, those horrid spectres!—they chased me with whips of scorpions! But have I ever done any harm? No, never! It is true there was a time when I did not want Herbert to marry you—but he did at last—and so much the better. Don’t let the ghosts come here! For heaven’s sake lock the; door, Mary! I know that Mrs. Quinlan is nothing but an old ghost herself: ‘*My dear mother,” interrupted the young Duchess, speaking in the most soothing and affec- tionate terms to her who was only her mother-in- law,—“ Mrs. Quinlan is very kind and good to you—you used to be very fond of her “T only love’ you, Mary,” replied the unfor- tunate Dowager-Duchess. ‘I mean to remain here with you - At this moment there was another knock at the outer:door: the young Duchess flew to open it ——and Mrs. ‘Quinlan, the unfortunate lady’s keeper, made her appearance. She was a woman of about fifty, with a determined, though by no means repulsive or disagreeable, much less a cruel expression of countenance: but she had the air of one in whose disposition firmness and benevolence were blended: She was in her night-dress, with a flannel wrapper thrown over it. ** Good heavens !” ejaculated the young Duchess somewhat angrily ; “how did thfs happen ?” _ At that same instant the Dowager-Duchess, who had flung a glance of affright upon Mrs. Quinlan, flew towards the bed-chamber, into which she rushed, locking the door against her daughter-in-law and Mrs. Quinlan, who bounded after her. The young Duchess was suddenly transfixed with consternation and dismay: for her mother-in-law had locked herself in the chamber along with Count Mandeville! ‘Tam sure, your Grace,” said Mrs. Quinlan, ‘“‘] am very sorry this should have happened. I always lock the outer doors of our suite of apart- ments, as your Grace knows; and I hide the keys under my pillow. But somehow or another I quite forgot to do it this evening—and then I must have slept so sound—or perhaps the poor lady glided away so softly ——” ‘‘No matter!” interrupted the young Duchess angrily, as she almost stamped her foot with rage: “the mischief is now done!” ‘Well, your Grace,” said Mrs. Quinlan, some- what surprised at the vehemence of the young Duchess, ‘‘I don’t think there’s so much mischief done after all. Accidents will happen—and this is pretty nearly the first time that ever such a thing has occured to me during the four years I’ve been in attendance on her Grace.” “True!” said the young Duchess, now recover- ing somewhat of her presence of mind, and per- ceiving that her anger might well be regarded as utterly incommensurate with the actual character of the incident itself. ‘I did not mean to speak harshly, Mrs. Quinlan———Only I have been ter- ribly frightened—my mother-in-law knocked so furiously at the door But, Ah! how is it that she — to have taken a sudden dislike towards you?’ YN Wn) COMO Colin