Ellen Percy; or, The Memoirs of an Actress — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

ee SS EE_EEeEeEEeEE———————Ee eee ——— 4 ELLEN PERCY; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF AN ACTRESS, —_—_—-—_—- I hastened down to the drawing-room, the door of which I reached just as Mr. Norman and Juliet were passing into that apartment. “ Welcome, Mr. Norman, back to England!— welcome likewise to River House!” said Lord Frederick, rising from the sofa and extending his hand to his father-in-law with a certain degree of composure, the maintenance of which I knew must be costing the unhappy young nobleman the most painful efforts. “T am truly sorry,” replied Mr. Norman, grasp- ing the hand of his son-in-law, “to find that you have sustained such injuries,” “The less said upon the subject the better, Mr. Norman,” replied Frederick: then with a sickly smile he added, “ We all have our little vanity, I presume: and it is a very painful thing to be—to be”’ he gasped and seemed as if about to suffo- cate; but regaining his firmness, he went on to say, “to be so cruelly disfigured, and to be com- pelled to wear this cursed bandage!” “Let us sit down and talk quietly upon the subject,” said Mr. Norman, “Surely it is the dinner-hour?” ejaculated Frederick, consulting his watch; “and you must be hungry, Mr. Norman P—you too, Miss Percy ?” “T have not the slightest appetite,” interrupted Mr. Norman; “and I would much rather - * But I have a good appetite !” exclaimed Lord Frederick ; “ and it is close upon six o'clock. Din- ner must be served up:’—and hastening across the room, he pulled the bell violently ; for I could full well understand that he was a prey to a terri- fic under-current of excitement. ‘I have not felt in better spirits,” he said, “for some days past, Your presence’—glancing towards Mr. Norman and myself—“ has quite cheered me!” He now affected to laugh: but the attempt was a ghastly and a sickly one; and I saw that Mr. Norman was not deceived by it—for he looked both grave and distressed, “Tet him have his own way, my dear father,” whispered Juliet entreatingly. “He is indeed in better spirits — your return has enlivened him!” At this moment the footman entered the apart- ment to announce that dinner was served up in the dining-room; and Lord Frederick, hastening to give me his arm, led the way down stairs. Mr. Norman and Juliet followed. Juliet was whisper- ing something to her sire,—no doubt entreating him to humour her husband in all things, and to touch as little as possible upon the topic which so much excited him. As for Lord Frederick himself, he affected to be chatting gaily; but as I knew full well how hollow was this cheerfulness on his part, it sounded terribly unnatural to my ears,— just for all the world as if a corpse itself was giving utterance to tones of merriment! “Tt is astonishing how well and happy I feel this afternoon,” he exclaimed: “ these visits have quite enlivened me! No bad compliment to Juliet! The dear girl has done all she could to cheer my spirits: but different voices and different circum- stances are as effective as change of scene. I shall soon be well! I feel that I have a capital appetite ; and that is an excellent sign. I suppuse you came across by the steamer, Mr. Norman ?” The reply was in the affirmative: but it was given in a grave mournful tone, as if Mr. Norman himself was not deceived by his son-in-law’s as- sumed hilarity—and as if he could not bring him- self to join in it, “Well then, you likewise must have a good appetite; and we will sit down and enjoy our- selves,” proceeded Lord Frederick, as we entered the dining-room. “ He is evidently much better,” said Juliet in a hasty whisper to me, as she passed my chair to take her own seat at the head of the table. “ Let us encourage him in this mood !” The dinner progressed : Lord Frederick rattled away—Juliet was deceived by the apparent cheer- fulness of his manner—but I saw that it was not so with her father, who continued to wear a grave and distressed Jook, as if he felt convinced that Lord Frederick was acting a part the necessity for which he could not altogether comprehend. I saw that the young nobleman was overdoing the thing, and taking the very course to excite sinister sus- picions in his father-in-law’s mind. But I could not check him; I dared not so much as make him a significant sign ; for I sat precisely opposite to Mr. Norman—and every now and then his looks seemed painfully to interrogate me as to the meaning of the strange scene which was passing before him. At length the dessert was placed upon the table ; and the footman withdrew. After a little while Juliet rose; and I prepared to accom- pany her to the drawing-room. Then Lord Fre- derick started up, exclaiming, “ You need not leave us by ourselves! I have had enough wine—and I know that Mr, Norman does not linger over the bottle.” **T will nevertheless take another glass with you,” said Mr. Norman, maintaining his seat. For a moment Lord Frederick looked undecided and uneasy. Isaw that he dreaded to be left alone with his father-in-law; and I came to his rescue by saying, “ Well, Juliet, as this is no for- mal party nor ceremonial occasion, we also can re- main.” We accordingly resumed our seats: but ina few minutes Mr. Norman, who really did not care about drinking wine, said, “ Perhaps, after all, it would be more agreeable if we ascended to the drawing-room ?” Again Lord Frederick offered me his arm: this time Juliet and her father were in advance of us; and the young nobleman, lingering behind them, whispered to me in feverish haste, “ You did well, Miss Percy, not to leave us together! For God's sake don’t suffer me to be for a moment alone with Mr. Norman! I must manage to get rid of him as soon as possible—at least in a day or two: but heaven only knows how !” I was about to advise Lord Frederick to abstain from overacting his part, when it struck me that in his unnatural and morbid state of mind the least check which he might experience would pro- duce the strongest reaction, and would plunge him from the height of a cheerfulness which was as- sumed into the depths of a despondency which he would not be able to conceal. I therefore said nothing upon the subject. But here I must ob- serve that whatsoever assistance I lent to the maintenance of this fearful secret, was for the sake of his wife and that of his father-in-law : for apart from these considerations I had too little esteem and respect for the young nobleman’s character to COLA (C (E@)