The Young Duchess; or, Memoirs of a Lady of Quality — page 46: what you’re looking at

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

THE YOUNG DUCIIESS; OR, MEMOIRS OF A LADY OF QUALITY, lady, in an ironical tone. ‘Judging by her ap- pearance, Dorsetshire may boast of very beautiful women—and Southdale perhaps may produce the loveliest of all.” Trevor became ghastly pale, all his hardihood _ and assurance forsook him in a moment; and again staggering against the gate, it was also again in a hollow voice that he said, ‘‘ Why those allusions? what is it that you know? Speak out, IT entreat you! At all events let there be a thorough understanding between us!” ‘You ask me what I know,” said the lady; ‘and I reply that I know a/Z! It was not for nothing that I was just now engaged in an hour's chat with the garrulous old parish cler P “Ah!”—and Trevor at once understood to what extent the revelations of Mr. Hogben might have gone, and how far he himself was compro- mised thereby. ‘‘ Now, permit me to offer a few words of explanation,” he went on to observe. ‘‘ Doubtless the clerk spoke to you of a marriage certificate——” ‘Precisely so. He was in the vestry when you displayed that certificate to the vicar.” “Oh! and. you can doubtless comprehend,” ejaculated Trevor, ‘how to satisfy the scruples of that clergyman, who refused to christen the infant in a particular name until he received a certain proof—you can comprehend, I say, how I manufactured a certificate ” “Ah! was it so?” ejaculated the lady, who did not seem prepared for this explanation: and then she murmured to herself, ‘‘ Well, it may be so!” ‘It was comparatively easy,” continued Trevor, “‘to cheat the vicar with a fabricated certificate —the offence was a very venial one—it. injured nobody—whereas, on the other hand, it saved cer- tain feelings from being too deeply wounde ” “Enough, Herbert! enough!” interjected the lady. ‘“ You need not tell me how considerate you have been on account of the feelings: of. that woman !” Trevor started, and an angry flush passed over his countenance; for he keenly and poignantly felt the terrible insult which was thus suddenly levelled against his Ethel. But he knew him- self to be powerless to avenge it: he even felt that it would be imprudent to notice it more than he had inyoluntarily done; and he said in as quiet a tone as he could command, “I will see you to-morrow; and whatsoever you may wish to be done under existing circumstances—what- soever stipulations you have to make , ‘“‘ Not to-morrow,” said the lady. “I shall not be in London.” ‘“Where then shall you be? Are you going to 7 “T am going on a little journey,” she inter- rupted him, ‘‘ which will perhaps occupy me for two or three days.” “Ah! a journey ?” said Trevor. ‘And might I venture to inquire whither you are thus going ? Not that I assert the remotest right to control your actions-—no, nor even to question them . ‘Oh, there is no secret,” interjected the lady, “in respect to the journey which I am about to undertake. J am going into a county where you passed a few months some two years ago; and it was no wonder,” she added, throwing a tincture of irony into the silver melody of her voice, “ that you should have written up at the time to tell me what a delightful neighbourhood it was—how much you were enjoying yourself, and how happy you were e ‘Ah! I understand the allusion,” said Trevor “Tn plain terms, you mean that you are going into Dorsetshire ?” “Tam. It will be a nice little trip.” “ And — and — which part of Dorsetshire?” faltered forth Trevor. ‘‘Oh, Southdale of course,” rejoined the lady. Trevor reflected for a few moments; and then, in a voice which again sounded hollow even to his own ears, and with pale careworn looks, he said, “‘You are determined to follow this up to the very uttermost. Well, I confess that I am in your power. And now deal with me as you will.” ‘Ah, then, you propose to save me the journey into Dorsetshire?” cried the lady. ‘‘ Well, this is very kind of you, and shall be duly taken into account. We may therefore meet to-morrow, as you just now proposed—and you will then have the kindness to sign a certain paper which I shall in the meanwhile have drawn up.” “Yes — anything! everything!” ejaculated Trevor, with a tone and look. of grateful eager- ness. ‘‘Name anything else that you will!— anything that I can do——” “T do not know that there will be anything else,” answered the lady coolly and carelessly.- ‘* And now farewell.” .With these words she sauntered away from the spot; and Trevor remained leaning against the gate, giving way to his painful reflections. The dusk was deepening around him; but, Oh! if any one could have beheld his features at that moment, they would have revealed an expression of almost’ mortal anguish—betraying the inten- sity of the affliction which had seized upon his soul! At length he began slowly to retrace his way to the cottage, exerting efforts that were well-nigh preterhuman to masier his feelings and compose his looks. Meanwhile the disguised lady, instead of enter- ing the village, struck off into a path which diverged from the commencement of the little street ; and at a distance of about a hundred and fifty yards up that narrow shady lane a horse and gig were standing; while a man, who was in charge of the equipage, lay upon the grassy bank, smoking his pipe. On hearing approachivg foot- steps, he rose up; and as he beheld the seeming young gentleman emerge from the surrounding obscurity, he exclaimed, ‘‘ Why, sir, I thought you was never coming !” ‘“‘T have been detained much longer than I an- ticipated,” replied the lady. ‘ But I told you at the outset that you were to wait, no matter how long-—-and that you should be liberally re- warded.” “Oh, I wasn’t afeerd of that, sir,” said the man, who had the air of an hostler in a some- what decayed and seedy state. The lady took her seat in the gig, observing, ‘We shall soon accomplish the dozen miles be- tween this and Maidstone.” ‘““Werry soon, sir,” said the man, as he took the driver’s seat ; and then flicking his horse with the whip, he added, “The mare is a good ’un, and gets over the ground in deuced good style.” The equipage sped along; and about half-au- oO CONplclooks