The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 267: what you’re looking at

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TE and a woman—bdoth of about middle age; their appearance evidently the master of the little inn—came forth with a lan- Some conversation took place between these the muleteers; and then one of the ER? gis , was no relay to be had. Kate understood what was meant, and felt sadly perplexed. Oh! if she could but converse with these people in their own language, 80 as to ascertain how long she was to make up her mind to be delayed: but she could not glean this information—and her only resource the mules had enjoyed rest and bait. She accord- ingly followed the innkeeper and his wife into the house, where she was shown to a room on the ground-floor; and without any sign or intimation from herself, a young servant-woman began to spread the table for supper. Spain is notorious for the indifferent accommo- dation of its hotels, inns, and taverns, even in the argest and most populous cities: but the secluded and inferior kinds of hostelries are of the very worst and description. The one where cont ricketty chairs, a rude table, and a dilapidated side-board, constituted the furniture : while a few miserable prints, representing scriptural scenes, served as embellishments for tho the walls. There was no drapery to the window; and two of the panes being broken, were stopped up with rags stuffed through,—recourse not even being had to the expedient of pasting paper over the apertures. Kate eat down, dispirited and uneasy. She liked not this halt in so lonely a place: she could not prevent her previous suspicions from reviving in her mind: for she felt almost convinced that the high road had been deviated from—and the longer she reflected on this circumstance, the more ominous did it appear. By the light of the lan- tern when she first descended from the vehicle, she had observed the countenances of the inn- keeper and his wife; and they were not over pre- possessing. She now studied the features of the attendant who was spreading the table. This was e girl of about eighteen—decidedly pretty—but with one of those countenances whigh are too in- expressive, too quiet and reserved, to afford much indication of the individual’s character. She was attired in a very homely manner, but yet with a certain degree of neatness: her figure was light and graceful; and the short petticoats revealed all THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. the lower part of her symmetrical limbs. Indeed, the skirt of her dress did not descend below the middle of the swell of the leg,—thus completely displaying the well-turned ankles. She walked with steps of elastic firmness—carried her head and shoulders well—and, altogether, in personal was far from uninteresting. She said not a word,—probably having been already in- formed that the lady-guest was a foreigner and spoke not the Spanish tongue: but every now and then she fixed her dark eyes with an apparent curiosity upon Miss Marshall. The viands which the girl placed upon the table, were by no means calculated to provoke an appe- tite; and indeed Kate was in no humour to touch them at all, even if they had been more inviting, She however took on her plate, 20 as not to give offence by altogether repudiating the fare; and when the supper was over, the mistress of the inn made her ap Her coun- tenance was very much flushed—she had a strange vacant look—and for the first few moments, Kate could not comprehend what was the matter with her. She was not however long at a loes to dis- cover the cause of the woman’s excitement : for the smell of her breath and her unsteady movements showed that she was considerably under the in- fluence of liquor. Disgusted beyond expression, Mise Marshall recoiled from the woman's ayprosch: but the latter was too far inebriated to notice the sentiment of loathing which her presence thus in- spired. ing up the candle, she beckoned Kate to follow her: but as Miss Marshall hesitated— not exactly understanding what this new proceed- ing meant—the woman made signs to show that she purposed to conduct her to a bed-chamber. Kate was now more than ever a prey to un- pleasant misgivings, when she found it was in- tended that she should pase the night at that lonely inn in the depth of a forest. She issued from the room; and repairing to the place which had already been pginted out to her as the stable, found the muleteers attending to their animals by the light of a lantern suspended to the roof. She pointed to the mules, and then to the chaise which remained standing in front of the hostelry: but the drivers gave her to understand, as well as they were able, that it was their mtention to pass the night at the inn. She assumed a peremptory air, again indicating the animals and the vehicle, and making every possible sign to ehow har anziety to The manner in which they shook their heads, was that of dogged determination; and Kate, that it was useless to them farther, beckoned them to bring her trunk from the chaise into the hostelry. This was at once done ; and the inebriate landlady guided the fellow who bore the box, up the narrow and dilapidated staircase. Kate followed; and in a few moments was left alone in a wretchedly farnished little bed-. room. The candle, which the mistress of the tavern had placed upon the table, dimly lighted that gloomy-looking and poverty-stricken chamber. Kate sat down, and abandoned herself to her re- flections. Her mind was still full of miegivings: but with her natural courage, she endeavoured to reason herself out of them. She had already received experience to the effect that the roade were bad, and the posting-arrangements for travele ling wretchedly incomplete, in Spain :—might it a ep Sr Ser NG A ee (COL (C DOO CS (COL