Ellen Percy; or, The Memoirs of an Actress — page 209: what you’re looking at

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: | | | | —-——— ! 196 Duke and the Marquis; for they are of course most anxious to learn the result of the examina- tion.” I accordingly quitted the chamber, and pro- ceeded to the drawing-room, where I found the Duke of Ardleigh and his son Herbert. I made the report with which I was entrusted; and the Marquis of Dalrymple, clasping his hands fervently, exclaimed, “God grant that my dear mother may survive !” “ At all events the affair looks better than I had expected,” said the Duke. “I hope there is no injury to the skullP Perhaps you can tell me Miss Perey, whether Mr. What’s-his name Ah, I recollect! Singleton!—said anything about trepanning or trephining. You are doubtless aware, my dear Herbert, that there is a great deal of difference between the two; and as I was one day explaining to Peaseblossom I remem- ber, the rascal had fallen asleep after I had con- descended to play him half-a-dozen tunes on the Violin Eh! and by Jove,” ejaculated the Duke, thus suddenly interrupting himself, “I wonder whether my dear old cremona got smashed in the upsetting of the carriage !” Considerably excited by his apprehensions on the point, the Duke rushed from the room; and the Marquis glanced after him for a moment, with a half-contemptuous, half-melancholy expression upon his lips. “And thus, Miss Percy,” said Herbert, now turning to me, as we found ourselves alone to- gether, “we meet again! And in the first instance allow me to renew the assurances of my gratitude for all the kind things you said to me on that memorable day, exactly seven montis ago, when in Mr. Wilkinson’s ofice——” “T remember full well, my lord,” I interrupted him, “all that then took place. You declared that the words I spoke, the advice I gave you, and the well-meant things I said to you, were seed that should not fall upon barren ground.” “And I told you truly!” exclaimed Herbert. “When I left England seven months ago, I thought it would be for a long, long period. I remember that I said to you that if we should ever meet again, you should not blush to know me. I did not then think we should so soon en- counter each other as destiny has thus led us to do. My parents came to me in Paris—they be- sought me to return and at least spend the Christmas holidays with them, even though im- mediately afterwards I should go abroad again. Miss Percy, I was overruled: I did net wish to return to England—at least not for a long, long time to come. It was far from my desire to incur the chance of meeting "4 He stopped short, and suddenly averted his countenance: then he took three or four hasty strides across the room; and returning to me, he asked, with a pale face and an agitated, suspense- ful look, “ How did she bear the calamity which smote us? does she think of me as a sister think- ing of a brother? And if—and if—by any acci- dent we should happen to meet ¥ “My lord, cannot you turn the discourse upon | some other topic?” I inquired, terribly apprehen- | ive lest we were approaching dangerous ground. “Yes!” he exclaimed; “there is a topic which ee C—O ELLEN PERCY; OR, THE MEMOIES OF AN ACTRESS. to give you the assurance that the kind words you spoke to me ere I left England, were not thrown away. I have become an altered being—or at least I have returned to be what I was when you first knew me! Oh, yes, my kind good friend!— for so I must call you, and so I must ever regard you!—I am telling you the truth !” “T believe you, my lord,” I replied: for there was an unquestionable sincerity in the young nobleman’s words and looks. “ Ah! there is one further observation I must make!” he ejaculated; “and this is to convey the assurance that although in one sense I regretted poor Mary should have gone upon the stage, yet that since she resolved to embrace that profession, I rejoiced unfeignedly when I read of her suc- cess.” The Duke of Ardleigh now abruptly returned to the drawing-room, exclaiming, “My old cre- mona! my favourite violin! it has ceased to exist! It is smashed to atoms! Good heavens! what distressing calamities to be compelled to commu- nicate to one’s friends! My wife nearly smashed to pieces !—and my fiddle completely so!” I availed myself of this opportunity to glide forth from the drawing-room ; and I was about to proceed to Mary Glentworth’s chamber to com- municate all that had happened, when I met Juliet upon the landing. She beckoned me into &@ neighbouring apartment; and when we were there alone together, she asked, “ What meant you, my dear Ellen, by that earnestly whispered injunction, to the effect that I was not to breathe the name of Mary Glentworth in the presence of the Ardleigh family ?” “It is a strange and exciting tale which I have to tell you, Juliet,’ I responded; “and if these particulars have hitherto been withheld from your knowledge, it has been through no want of confi- dence, but simply because there is involved in Mary’s history one of those secrets which it is always expedient to keep narrowed within the most limited compass.” With this apologetic preface I proceeded to give Juliet the outlines of all that I myself was ac- quainted with in respect to Mary Glentworth,— her parentage, the discovery which she had made that the Duke of Ardleigh was her father, and the inauspicious love she had conceived for the Mar: quis of Dalrymple. Juliet listened with interest and astonishment; and when I had concluded, she exclaimed, “ Alas, poor Mary! she has known troubles as great as any that 1 myself ever ex- perienced! But will not these present complica- tions prove very embarrassing for her? It is quite evident that the Duchess must remain some time beneath this roof—all the laws of hospitality compel me to bid the husband and the son stay here likewise and yet on the other hand the asylum which I have offered and promised to Mary " “Tt is indeed embarrassing!” I interrupted Juliet. “Iknow not what I can do—unless it be to depart stealthily with Mary to some other place for the present i “Had you not better see what she herself says?” inquired Lady Frederick Ravenscliffe. “ Yes—of course she must be consulted. But Mr. Singleton has some communication to make ! I ought to touch upon, Miss Percy !—and this is| to me ; and it is concerning Mary Glentworth, I ter we ee > = 0)(0)0) (COLAMUC SS (E(e)