Ellen Percy; or, The Memoirs of an Actress — page 100: what you’re looking at

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ELLEN PERCY; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF AN ACTRESS. 87 his assembled lieges that his most delicious experiences of life had been derived from the extreme sensitiveness of two tastes which he possessed. One was a passion for the odour of flowers, sweet essences, and everything fragrant: the other was 4 devoted love of melody in all its forms, whether vocal or instrumental, the sing- ing of birds, the humming of insects, or the rip- plibg of streams. The King went oi to say that he could not help thinking that the natural mer- cifulness of his disposition arose from the soft in- fluences of these qualities or tastes, whichever you may choose to call them; and he appealed to his courtiers and the assembled myriads of his subjects to pronounce whether his reign had been a mild one oF not? Then of course the courtiers and the people are most loyal in their devotion, love, and admiration towards their aged monarch—all shout enthusiastically, clap their hands, and begin danc- ing for joy around that venerable king; so that he is greatly affected and begins to dance like- wise.” * What ! dance at ninety ?” I inquired. “Ob, yes! to be sure!” answered Mr. Jingie- ton: “one may do anything on the stage, you know, and also in an unknown island.” “No doubt. Pray proceed.” J will, Miss Trafford. Well, the dance being over, and the King having wiped away his tears, his Majesty proceeds to inform his courtiers and his people that he is about to choose a husband for his charming granddaughter, the Princess Mimosetta. He athounces that he has made up his mind to put all ideas of rank out of the ques- tion, and to judge of the qualities of a bridegroom according to those very tastes which he himself possessed to such a degree, and which have had the effect of rendering his own disposition so mild and merciful. This great King therefore orders proclamation to be made that whosoever can prove the possession of the most exquisite taste in respect to music, and likewise the most delicate sensi- tiveness in respect to sweet odours and fragrances, shall be honoured with the hand of the Princess Mimogetta, and shall be recognised as heir to the erown of the Unkuowa Island, The heralds make proclamation to this effect; and the first scene closes with a tableau of courtiers kneeling to their good old King, who stretches out his sceptre over theni to bless them. Grand effect there, Miss Trafford, I can assure you!” “16 must lave been, Mr. Jingleton. But do you nut think that if you were to favour me with a call on somie future occasion Ps * You migiit be out—you might be engaged—or a thousand things--and you would miss the re- mainder of the plot! I beseech vou therefore to let me finish my description now. The seeond scene coimmeiices; and the stage represents a grand hall in the royal palace. Tie King is seated on his throne; the Princess Mimosetta occupies another throne; and there is a vacant one to be filled by the bridegroom, for this is the day of com- petition. The Princess is beautifully apparelled in a lavender-coloured satin dress, and with a tiara upon her head. In addition to the royal person- ages, there are courtiers, heralds, populace, and guards assembled. The prociamation is apuin made: scyeral aspirants come forward—but they fail to convince the King of the excellence of their tastes in respect to music and fragrances. At last the trumpets sound, and a beautiful young Prince makes his appearance.” * Where is the Prince supposed to conie froin P” I asked; “ because the old King had no relations except his granddaughter—and no other land is known to this unknown island.” “True, Miss Trafford,” said Mr. Jingleton, with & somewhat puzzled air; “I did aot think of explaining where the Prinee ¢ame from. But it did not much matter, you know-—as the audience would not ask the question! Besides, on the stage as well as in fairy tales, a Prince is always forthcoming when wanted ; and we havo this ad- vantage over the o¢currenees of real life,—that it is not necessary to explain who owr Princes are. They announce their names, and that is sufficient. Well, this beautiful young Prinee who suddenly appears in the palace-hall, makes an excellent speech, declaring his name to be Melodori- ferous ” “ Rather & sisgular name for a royal personage —was if not P” I asked. * Pray, Miss Trafford,’ exclaimed Mr. Jin- gleton, “ pause for a moment to analyze the name —pronounce it ia soft accents, so as to estimate its euphony—and study its combination of meanings, so as to judge of its appropriate expressiveness. Melodoriferous! Does it not convey the joint ideas of melody and odours—mmusie and fragrance ?P It ig a name alike harmonious and sweet-scented. So thought the King of the Unknown Island ; and so thought the Princess Mimosetta. Conceive therefore the delight of King, Princess, courtiers, heralds, guards, and people, when they begin to perceive that the atmosphere is filled with the most delicious odours—eau-de-cologne, lavender-water, bergamot, otto of roses, milleflewrs 3 “The milleflewrs would alone be sufficient, I should euonceive, for the purpose of appropriately aud satisfactorily introducing the Prince ?” * Well, Miss Trafford, there was no harm in having all the other scents. The King was re- joiced—the Princess was enchanted; for that young Prince was a veritable embodiment of per- funie—a substantial concentration of fragrance—a peripatetic nosegay. Then he raised his voice, and sang in the most ravishing manner. In a word, all present were thrown into eestacies: for the beautiful Prince showed how well he merited his name of Melodotiferous. He is welcomed asa worthy bridegroom tor the Princess aud as the future King of the Unknown Island. All is hap- pinésswhen suddenly a clap of thunder startles everybody; the earth opens that is to saya trap in the stage does~and up comes a horrible old hag, the Fairy Pestiferosa. This vile creature has always cherished a deadly enmity towards the beautiful young Prince, and by certain untoward circumstances she has now an opportunity of wreaking her vengeance——” ** And those untoward circumstances,” I said. “ Well, Miss Trafford,” responded Mr. Jingleton, “they were fully explained in my original manu- script of the play: they were embodied indeed in a dialogue which I represented as taking place between Prince Melodoriferous and the Fairy Pesti- ferosa—very thrilling and very startling, [ can assure you!-—but the manager cut it all out, to my infinite horror and disgust. Alas! there was ee CORNICLOOOLK (EO)