The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 256: what you’re looking at

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

=—— -~—— — forth with all the ascents of a fervid and unmistak- able sincerity. “Command me—order me, as thon wilt, my guardian genius!—for such shall I henceforth con- sider thee—and such wilt thou become in-respest to myy destinies!” cried the infatuated young nobleman, growing: each instant more and more enslaved to a despotiam that was as delicious as it was Incompre- hensible : then, as if he-suddenly felt all the folly of thus yielding himself up to an unknown tyrant, albeit the chains which ske east upon him were of silk and of flowera, he exclaimed, “ Oh! whence is derived that power of fascination and of enchant- ment which thou hast learnt to wield over me with such irresistible suecess? "Tis the effluence of a wondrous beauty the glory of which I am as yet only permitted to imagine, but in the voluptuousness of winch I have revelled again and again! Oh! tell me then, adored one, what shall thy slave do to testify his devotion !—whither shall he repair?— when shail he take his departure from this great eity f--and how long shal] be remain away? Give me thy commands upon all these points, my guar- dian angel—my unkaown geddess—my unseen divi- nity |~-asd thou shalt be obeyed to.the very letter— aye, to the very letter, as I have a‘soul to be saved!” “You solemnly—sacredly—inviolably swear to all thie?” rmaurmureid the ledy, in a tone of subdued ecstacy and triamph. “ Let me feel you place your hand upen your heart end take the most serious of oaths to perform your promise.” “There!—now are you content, my angel?” asked Fiorime), when he bad done as he qas directed. “ ‘Yes—and I love you more—Oh! ten thousand times more than ever!” exclaimed tho Unknown, embracing him with rapture. “The conditions I impose upon you, my Gabriel, are these: —that when night comes you suffer-yourself to be placed in my carriage, which will take you to Dover, were you will fix your abode for a few weeks. You can thence write to your own mansion in Picondilly, ordering such servantsas you may choose to select for the purpose to follow you to that sen-port ;—and there you. will remain for six weeks without returning to the metropolis. Now, do you repent of the promise you have given me and the gath you have taken ?” “No—no—I do not repent!” exclaimed the in- fatuated young nobleman. “But shall I be eom- pelled to live m solitude at Dover ?—shall I not be enabled to press you in my arms during =n mterval which, without you, will seem long and tedious in- deed t” “Qh leave all that tome, my Gabriel!’ returned the impassioned womam, straining him again and again to her heaving, glowmg, throbbing bosom, and lavishing upon him those caresses which were so fall of rapture, eestacy, and voluptuoumess. “ You must ask meno more questions, Gabriel ; but per- haps you will be better pleased with all that may take place than you can now possibly anticipate. Is our bargain complete?—is our compact settled ?” “ It s—it is, my angel!” ‘cried the young noble- man: “and thus—and thus—and thus do I ratify it,” he added, accompanying each fervid qaculation with as warm a kiss impressed upon the moist lips that sought his own. We need not dwell lenger upon this scene. Suffice it to say that the Unknown Lady remained with her mfatuated paramour for another hour, until he sank off into a delicious slumber. She then rose from the arm-chair in which she had seated herself while he was aimking into that refreshing sleep that stole gradually upon him; and on quitting the room she carefully locked the door behind hen, take ing the key from the look so that no one could pose~ sibly enter the chamber from without. Then a profound silence reigned in that apart- meut,—a silence that was broken only by the low } and regular respiration of the sleeping nobleman. — Bat gradually a slight rustling of the drapery hanging around the bed and sweeping the floor, broke gently and almost imperceptibly upon that stillness ;—and some one crept with infinite caution from beneath the couch. Then the individual paused — listened —and held his breath, as if it were an inanimate spectre from the grave. The. young nobleman continued to sleep on profoundly —uninterraptediy;—and the intruder, satisfied thar. this wae the esse, took a pair of scissors from his. pocket, and cut off a small piece of the curtains. surrounding the bed. He then felt his way in. the same cautious, noiseless manner, towards the-- window; and from the hangings drawn «o closvly over the shatters, he out another fragment with his . scissors. Again be paused — again he listened ~— and he acquired the certainty that Lord Florimel.. was steeped in the Lethean sweets of a profound slumber The intrader now took from about his person « several sieleton-keys, whish he tried one after another in the look of the door of the ehamber. This proceeding he conducted with the eame caution which he had hitherto observed—stopping fre- quently and holding his breath to listen whether the sleeping nobleman had been disturbed. Bat .-| Fiorimel’s slamber was proof against the lowsounds. of the keys grating in the look ; and at length the. intruder succeeded in opening the door. He peeped forth: the coast was clear—and, carefully fastening the door behind him, he entered the | passage, which was now lighted by the sun-beame - that flowed through a window over the staircase.. Descending that staircase, the intruder opened the door at the foot and entered the garden. Plunging into an avenue of evergreens, he passed rapidly and unobserved along the shaded walk towards the: gate, whence he issued without encountering a. soul to notice or question him. When night came, Lord Florimel] awoke to find the Umimown Lady seated in the arm-chair by his side; and, in the profound darkness of titat cham- ber, but assisted by the hands of the syren, he put on the male apparel which her thoughtful care provided for him. Thistoilette was interrupted by many ardent caresses: but at length it was com- pleted ;—and, a bandage having been placed over Lord Florimels eyes, he was led forth by his com- panion from the boudoir of love, and mystery, and darkness. The stairs were descended — the garden was traversed—the gate was passed—and into the carriage which was waiting did Lord Florimel mount, still gnided by the Unknown. Hasty fare- wells were whispered between them : the door was closed—-and the vehicle rolled rapidly away. For some minutes did the young nobleman re- main plunged in the reflections which this new phase in his life was so well calculated to excite: then, taking off the bandage, he found, as he had © eee OS a OE GOH GOO ‘ SS (COLUM