The Mysteries of the Court of London Vol. 7 — page 65: what you’re looking at

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

| 53 THE MYSTERIES OF THR COURT. a a eae a ETO TEE EES EG OO EP aN, pag SE Se —_—_———— 2 ee eee ee oe EE. ee ae ee ee a a) oe SU ECEETEETS we, at sll: for she was all modesty and confuson. However, she inquired for the ballet master, and besought employment. He desired her to afford him a specimen of her abilities; and I suppose that as in consequence of her timidity she ac- quitted herself with some degree of awkwardness, he chucked her under the chin—no doubt for the of encouraging her. She boxed his ears in return. For a moment he appeared as if about to be desperately angry : but altering his mind he burst out into a hearty laugh—for he was a very good-natured man. This little incident gave the young lady spirits; and then shé acquitted hereelf eo well that he resolved to prepare her for the dallet. Then she went through a course of train- ing: her progress wag in -~her proficiency was soon complete. e ballet-niaster treated her with kindness—protected her from insult—and ap- peared to have conceived a paternal affection for the young lady after the repulse which his first amatory overture had received. At length the day came when she was to make her appearan in publio; and every wall in Paris was cover with immense posters, announcing the intended debut of Mademoiselle Atalanta—for that was the mame which the exquisite imagination of the ballet-master bestowed upon her.” “And ea very pretty name tool’ observed Softly: “but of course not so captivating as Armantine. Pray proceed.” “ Atelante’s triumph was immense,” continued the French girl ; “and the reviews on the follow- ing day spoke of her as a perfect miracle in the Terpsichorean sphere. It may perhaps be ae well to observe that out of the dozen principal critiques the ballet-master himeelf wrote seven, all in dif- ferent strains of eulogy; and the remaining five were penned by the reviewers immediately after the champasgne-supper which the Director of the Opera geve to the gentleman of the press in the Geden-room. But all this apart, Atalanta’s triumph was really immense. She appeared as 6 sylph amongst a mass of clouds: she had wings at her back—flowers in her hair; and whatecever beauties of fourm she possessed were developed by the gausy drapery. The enthusiasm her ap- pearance excited, no doubt inepired her to put forth all her powers; and subsequent critiques — which were sot penned by the friendly ballet- master, and sof written under the influence of the Director’s champagne—pronounced her style of dancing to,ba a perfect combination of all the ele- gancies and graces pertaining to the art.” “The ravishing creature!” ejaculated Softly. “But I fancy I see in this lovely embodiment of és Pray anticipate nothing !” interjected Arman- tine, again tapping ber foolish young lover's cheek ina playful manner. “You may easily suppose that she had a great many overtures, and was exposed to many temptations—ecme of which, when rejected, changed into persecution. And mow I come to that part on ae motive for telling you this tele. Amongst noblemen and gentlemen -— foreign. as well us ¥rench—who obtained admittance behind the scenes and were allowed the entrée of the Green: room, was & fierce military-looking Englishman, some forty yoass of age, whe wade the most byil- Bent overtures to paciselle Atalanta: but, along with the rest, he experienced a decisive refusal. He became the most persevering of her persecutors. He had her carried off to a lonely house on the outskirts of Paris: but thence she escaped. A second time was she carried off ; and on this occasion to a house of infaray, where the unprincipled Efiglishman vowed that if she did not submit by fair means, violence should be used, and all Paris should know next dey that Atalanta, the supposed paragon of virtue, had passed the night there. She however escaped a second time; the police were informed of the outrage—and the Englishman was ordered to leave Paris. His infatuation took a phase by no means uncommon: it turned from love to hate--and he secretly set himeelf to work to find out who Mademoieelle Atalanta really was. He succeeded: he commu: nicated with her family; and for the third time was she carried off when leaving the opera —but on this oocasion by her father and brother. She was taken back to her convent. This was what the Englishman desired; and he found means of causing a letter to be conveyed to her, intimating that if she would consent to fly with him, he would effect her escape. She showed the letter to the Superior: it was conveyed to the police—and the Englishman was turned out of France. Circum- stances recently brough{, Atalanta to London. This very day she bas encountered the Englishman ; and hg has threatened her with his implacable vengeance unless she chooses to place herself under his pro- tection.” “And the charming Atlante,” exclaimed Suftly, “is, as I all along suspected, the equally charming Armantine P” “Put all the charmings out of the question,” responded the young lady, with a smile, “and you are right. Now, my dear Augustus, you are ace quainted with one episode in my life.” * Yea—and Madame Angelique told me that your father is a Marquise,” he immediately added. “Ah! pray do not speak of him,” murmured Armantine. “If I were married, if would indeed be very, very different |” “And Madame Angelique,” pursued Softly, “helped the Duke of Marchmont to carry you off from the convent two or three months back.” rs you see Marchmont,” was the wily French girl guarded response, “he will tell you all about it.” “ I egw him just now,” rejoined Softly. “ Ab, indeed |!” ejaculated Armantine quickly. “'Yese—he called upon me for a few minutes,” rejoined the Hon. Augustus Softly, “ about half- an-hour before you came in. To tell you the truth —being rather proud of my conquest, I spoke of it to the Duke; and he said enough to confirm Madame Angelique's tale. But about this Eng- lishman of your’s —— what is his name f” “ His name f—Oaptain Oartwright,” responded Armantine: and then she added with «a visible shudder, “ And, Ob! he is so terribly ferocious— © such a desperate man! I am sure I should faint if he made his appearance to molest me |” “ Molest you, my dear girl Pf” exclaimed Mr. Softly, assuming a very valorous look ; “ not while I am bere to defend you! No matter whether swords or plstole—egad! I would teach him a lesson which he should nob forget |” . Armantine watched her lover pasrowly, but ECOMRniclacae SS (CO)