The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 191: what you’re looking at

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

“all the £738 THE MYSTERIES, when the lady herself in handsome. ‘ Her stature ts middling : her bust good.’ I-wish she was tall— tall and queen-like, as Georgiana,—or tall and as Pauline: Ah! Pauline—Pauline! how does thine image keep recurring to my thoughts! But let me see what more my correspondent tells | me of my future wife? ‘Her person ts altogether | pleasing ’ Why—that’s entirely a matter of taste ! For my part, I like women whose charms are ma- tured and full, but without the least approach to | coarseness. Let their beauties once verge upon | coarseness, and I have done with them! ‘ Her ac- complishments are numerous and exquisite. Bah! | with what accomplishments can this German prin- | cess be endowed that-shall even equal those of our English ladies? Buat-becanse she ts a princess, | she must of coutse be phraded as a goddeas of per- fection. Well, so be tt: “*tis.a part of the humbug by which all royal personages profit! Kings and Queens, Prinees and Princesses, Royal Dukes and Duchesses, nest be represented as deities: or else King-worship ‘would-soon become extintt! And | now what does my correspondent tell me next? That my future wife’s ‘appearance at Court is majestic. Pshaw! I won't believe it! Majestic, indeed—twith a middling stature! No—no: if he had sill ‘elegant? and ‘graceful, well and good. There wan be nothing majestic in her. A-short woman: oxfly looks ridiculous when dressed up fn the gwaud and finery of a queen or princess. If once the phrase ‘little Queen, or ‘little Prin- ¢ess’ should come into vogue, and be applied to fall-blown women instead of mere girls, the fact mast be taken as a sign of the times—a proof, iedecd, that Royalty is ata discount. But never mind |—~as I have often said before, the mo- nardhical system will last my time out—and damn ! Ah! what have we next in this letter? ‘The manner of her Royal Highness the Princess Carotine, is characterised by sweetness, condescension, and affabitity.” She will need ail her sweetness of temper to put up ‘with my intrigues and infidelities, I can tell her! ‘ Her eyes are blue, and full of intelligence” ‘Yes—and Pauline’s eyes are blue—and_in their delicious depths young Cupid dwells! Blue—deep blue—and rolling with a softly sensuous languor: those are Pauline’s + eyes! And now what is the next detail in my cor- respondent's missive? ‘ The Princess's countenance is highly animated.’ Never was description more vague! Animated with what? There is the coun- tenance of Eleanor of Desborough that breathes desire in every lineament : there is the countenance of Georgiana of Devonshire, that tells the tale cf delicious wantonness in every feature. Then, too, | there is the lovely Rose Foster, whose face reflects all the virginal purity of her soul ;—and there is Pauline’s countenance again, in which a woman’s dignity mingles with the expreasion of the amorous temperament which that dignity itself more than half subdues. Well, now, all this is animation ;— and I'll be bound that my future wife possesses no animation so charming as any one of those faces which are uppermost in my memory. Ah! and of -the four beauties whom I have named, one only has yielded—one only blessed me with her love! The three others have all eluded my pursuit! Eleanor ef Desborough abhors me: Rose Foster fears me; Pauline Clarendon despises me! And yet, if I had not been been a fool, in.every instanee should I have triumphed. A little more persecution—aad Eleanor must have been defeated some how or another : a little more audacity with Rose, on one of the occasions when she was in my power—anad her virginity would have been rifled ;—a little more perseverance with regard to Pauline, instead of losing sight of her altogether since the night of the masquerade—and who knows but that success would have awaited me in that quarter likewise? By heavens! I will renew my endeavours after all three! Yes—the haughty but impassioned and glowing Eleanor of Desborough shall be mine! I told her that the love with which she had inspired me, was changed into hatred;—I told her this on the occasion when Mrs. Fitzherbert burst upon our interview and marred my aim :—but, oh! who could long cherish a feeling of hatred against that splendid createre, with her olive complexion, her glorious eyes so fall of fire, and her superb form so pre-eminently characterised by dignity, grace, and love! -Yes—and Rose Foster—the sweet, in- nocent, timid maiden—shall be mine likewise, even éf I have to send to the extremities of the earth to find her out! Last—bnht not least—oh! no, not least=-the divine Pauline shall bless my arms ;— and then no oriental Sultan will have revelled in beauties-more exquisite than these [” Again did the Prince of Wales pause to gloat im imagination over the picture which he Was thus conjuring up, and to feast his bidinous fancy wpon the charms which he reéaHed in vivid detail to his memory. “ But once again,” he murmured at fength, starting at Uke same time from the voluptuous reverie in which he was steepmg his senses — “once again let me tum my attention to this docu- ment which I have received from Germany. Nevettheless, sarely it must be a bad omen fer my approaching marriage, when I can thmk eo iti upon her who is to become my wife, and to much upon others whom I wish to enjoy as mistresses! Of a verity, the whole portraiture of the Princess Caroline, even with the colouring which my emis- sary has given to it, fascinates me not mightily. There are a few good details—but many unsatis- factory ones. ‘ Exquisite accomplishments’ may mean nothing more than drawing-room frivolities and courtly inanities : ‘sweetness of manner” con- veys the irresistible idea of silliness and want of dignity. But what says my correspondent of her dress? Oh! ‘always evincing the most admirable taste” Vague ard inconetasive ! But her hair? ‘Of a light auburn—profuse—and genetally worn in 2 style of simple elegance.’ If any human being can tell whether this means in bands or ringlets— in bows or frizzed—then Pll consent to be stigma- tized as the greatest fool in Christendom! Ah! I already experience a secret loathing—an unac- countable aversion—-for this German Princess who has been selected as my future wife. The feeling amounts to a presentimest which I cannot resist— a spell which fixes itself insupernbly upon me—s superstition which I cannot shnke off. Oh! if I who have plucked the falrest flowers in beauty’s garden and crowned myself with the brightest gems won from the galaxy of female fashion,—i I who have conquered so often and been baffled so seldom, and to whom the coldest chastity has sud- denly become changed into the warmest passion and the sternest prudery into the most yielding a eel (COU (C DOO (CO