The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 236: what you’re looking at

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IAL MYSTERIES. cd ponfined is one fraught with the most pleasing remi- niscences and the most delicious hopes. But I would that my fair gaoler were here with me—the more 50, inasmuch as I begin to feel famished for want of ood bd “ Think you, dear Florimel, that I should neglect you? whispered the soft, dulcet, and never-to-be- forgetten voice of the Unknown Lady: and the next instant the young nobleman was clasped in her arms. One long delicious kiss,—a kiss sustained for up- wards of a minute by mouth glued te mouth,—sent a burning thrill through the forms of the paramours thus reunited;—and then the lady, reaching some delicate refreshments from the table, made Florimel partake thereof as he lay half-reclining in her arms end with his head pillowed upon her glowing, naked mn. . “Tell me, my charming friend,” he said, “ how long have I been unwell—hours or days? For I utterly ignorant on that head.” : “This is the third day after the accident,” mur- mured the Unknown, “It is the 8th of April—and it is now about seven in the evening. But how you came Aere—how “t happens that J am your nurse——" “Then I am not at Bellenden Priory?” said Flo- nmel, hastily. “Can you think it possible f demanded the Un- known. “ But you mast not talk too much now— nor must I engage your attention too long. You have been delirious—and the doctor has given you opiates. In a few moments you mast return to your couch, and endeavour to enjoy a sound refreshing sleep. Then tomorrow morning you will awake convalescent; and I shal] be enabled to give you such explanations as you require.” . “Be it as you say, my charming nurse,” cried Florimel, bestowing a warm kiss upon the breast that had just served as his pillow. He now returned to bed; and when he was once more ensconced in the luxarious couch, the Unknown seated herself in the arm-chair by the side; and, with one of his hands clasped in her own, she seemed anxious and ready to perform all the duties of a good nurse and afford all the tender ministrations of a loving woman. CHAPTER CLXXIX. THE MARRIAGE, We are now abeut to enter upon one of the most Important and interesting episodes of our narrative, “an episode which is marked with a date consti- tuting a fatal era in the lives of two individuals. Yes “fatal to the honour of the vile Prince who swore to love a woman whom he had almost previously made up his mind to hate,—and fatal to the unhappy, amiable, and excelient Princess whom circumstances made the sacrifice to expediency and the victim of a cold-blooded, heartless, and cowardly tyrant ! It was in the evening of the Sth of April, 1795, that the marriage between their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and Caroline of Brunswick was Celebrated at the Royal Chapel, in St. James's Palace, The King, the Queen, and all the Royal Family were present,—save and except the Duke of York: for this cowardly and incompetent brag- rg ATS eg a tata randemnnegeneashapeiappeacscae? 2238 gart was absent on the continent, where he was lead- ing the British troops into all kinds of disaster, de- feat, and disgrace. . We need hardly say that the bridal ceremony was characterised by all the pomp, ostentation, and splen- dour which the British Court had ever kept up at the expense of the crushed, wronged, and plundered people. The Queen was bedizened with diamonds, while her nostrils were black with snuff: and the precious stones which gemmed the ostrich plumes and shone upon the brows, and necks, and bosoms, and arms of the Princesses and other ladies present, might have paid off a handsome instalment of the National Debt. The King wore upon his countenance that stolid smile of satisfaction which was peculiar to him: the Queen was stern in her studied composure and severe in her prim stateliness. The Princess Amelia sur- veyed Caroline of Brunswick with a melanoholy in- terest: for the royal Daughter of England doubtless presaged full well the destiny of her unhappy and as yet unsuspecting cousin! And Caroline herself—how did she appear upon this solemn and memorable occasion’ Nothing could be more touchingly amiable than her de- meanour—nothing more winning than her whole aspect. Upon her countenance there was the habi- tual smile, but beaming faiutly though not alto- gether subdued,—yet mingling with an expression which showed that ahe felt ali the awe-inspiring associations of the ceremony, and that she resigned herself placidly and docilely to th : path which had been prepared for her by others a' id which was not the one of her own choosing. ‘Tt ere was also in her look a holy reliance upon the / ili of the Supreme Being, as the chief arbiter of tose destinies which the machinery of Man put in‘) motion, but which He could control at any mov.ent! And the Prince—how app.ared he then and there? With a countenance flushed by drinking, and with eyes that swam vacantly in a bacchanalian mist, did he attend at the altar. His licentious looks lingered devouringly upon the much-exposed charms of the Countess of Jersey and Mrs. Harvey Aston ;—and he even had the hardihood to bestow a significant smile upon the former—a token of regard which the infamous woman did not fail to greet with a triumphant expression of countenance, and reward with the sweetest wreathing cf her red lips. The Princess Caroline beheld these bare-faced signs of intelligence between the man who in five minutes would be her husband, and the woman who was already her too successful rival: and though for an instant the warm blood rushed to the countenance of the poor victim, and she experienced a sad tightening at the heart,—yet at the next moment she recovered all her self-possession through the aid of her divine temper, her enduring disposition, and her studied resolve to meet with resignation whatever might be in store for her. And now the ceremony commenced. The Arch- bishop of Canterbury officiated; and the King him- sclf gave the bride away. As the solemnity pro- greased, the pious resignation of the Princess deepened into a dejection against which ahe could not combat;—while the heir-apparent became irri- table and impatient. Suddenly he perceived a tear —a pearly tear—fall from the countenance of the Princess on the edge of the velvet cushion whereon she knelt ;—and, inatead of being softened by that DOO SS co