The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 187: what you’re looking at

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176 and ho fell heavily without uttering a word, cither etanned or killed. A piercing shriek burst from the dameel’s lips; and overcome with terror and despair, ahe fainted in the arms of the females. When she returned to consciousness, she found herself undressed and lying in the bed of that cham- ber which she knew too well, and whence for a moment there had seemed the hope if not the cer- | THE MYSTERIES OF THR COURT. and estates, alrcady an M.P., and with the | eesage in prospective, was little better than a driveling idiot: while his two brothers, having finished their education at those pandemonia called Universities, were looking out for government places; and his three sisters were vain and frivolous girls, reflect ing the character and example of their mother, and looking out for husbands as their brothers were for tainty of escape. In a word, she was stilla cap- places tive at Boech-Tree Lodge. CHAPTER XXXVIIL THE MASQUBRADE.. Tre Duke and Duchess of Harcourt gave a grand masquerade-ball at their splencdid mansion overlook- ing the Green Park. This palatial edifice had only been recently built : it occupied an enormous space of ground—immense sums had been laid out alike on ite architectural arrangements and its internal embellishments — and in all respects it was suid to rival the Sovereign’s palace in the immediate vicinity. The Duke and Duchess of Harcourt were giving a splendid series of entertainments to celebrate their installation in their new residence; and this masquerade-ball formed ane of the festivals. His Grace was about sixty-four years of age, and boasted his descent from one of the oldest families in the kingdom. Retrospecting over a long line of an- eestors-—or contemplating their portraits in the picture-gallery of his new pelace—he might safely reckon amongst them as largo a number of mis- ereants, marauders, and ruffians, together with as pretty a sprinkling of demireps, as ever entered into the catalogue of any aristocratic genealogy. Bat with this point we have at present nothing to do: suffice it to say that hus Grace the Duke of Harcourt was supremely proud of his bloodstained ancestors and courtezan ancestresses; and therefore we may safely leave him—cortainly unenvied—fo euch pleasant satisfaction. He was an ultra-Tory —not from honest conviction, because he was too shaHow-minded to be able to understand great poli- tical questions‘or national interests: but he was a Tory, for the simple reason that his father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather, and so on, were all Tories before him—and therefore he inherited their prejudices along with the hereditary title and estates. In person, he was a short, thin, lantern- visaged, mean-looking little man; and when etand- ing next to his valet or his butler, if a stranger had been asked “ Which is the Duke?” he would have been sure to point out either the valet or the butler in preference.to the Duke himself. The Duchess was twenty years younger than her husband—tall, stately, and in the glorious emdox- point of forty-four. She had a proud and haughty look ; but was withal vain, conceited, frivolous, and narrow-minded. Half-a-dozen children whose ages variod from sixteen to twenty-four, were the issue of her anion with the Duke of Harcourt: but we will nut now intrude upon the reader the long- winded and high-sounding names of the three sons and three daughters forming the olive branches of this ducal family. Suffice it to say that my Lord Marquis the eldest son, who was hoir to the ti‘le It was at Harcourt House, then, that this splen- did masquerade-ball was given. The aristocracy and “elite of fashion” (ae Court sycophants and servile scribes phrase it) had been talking and thinking of the forthcoming hall for a month past, and had been making ample preparations for their appearance at it. When the wished-for evening arrived, all the approaches to the manskm were thronged with carriages; and the police showed themselves mighty busy with their staves in clear- ing the way for those brilliant equipages amongst tho “mob” and “rabble” (as the aristocracy term the working-classes). Two thousand invitations had been issued. Not that the Duke and Duchess of Harcourt had any friendly fceling towards a quar- ter so many peraons: but they gathered together such a vast quantity of guests in order to show the world what an immense multitude their new palace could accommodate. The entrance-hall was thronged with servants is gorgeous liveries—the immense staircases were hung with flowers that festooned above the statues and around the numerous lamps—the landings were embellished in a similar manner—and the spacious saloons were a perfect blaze of light, splendour, and magnificence. The guests, almost countless as they seemed, were multiplied over and over again in the immense mirrors which adorned the walla; and so numerous were the apartments thrown open for their reception, that they constituted a perfect maze for those who were not familiar with them. The largest of all was the concert-room, which was sur- rounded with boxes resembling those of a theatre, and in which the elderly or more quiet portion of the might seat themselves and enjoy the splendid coup d'ail presented by the busy, bustling, joyous crowd on the floor below. Nearly all the company wore masques, or fancy dresses of some kind; and the grotesqua, the ludi- crous, and the fantastic blended strangely with the splendour, gorgeousness, and elegance of the whole. We will not pause to individualize the costumes: suffice it to eay that unusual efforts had been made by many of the guests to introduce novelties of all descriptions—some pleasing, others startling—but all characterized by the display of wealth. The carriages had begun to arrive shortly before ten o'clock; and by eleven all who intended to be present were there. So immense was the new palace, and so numerous were the asloons thrown open for their antertainment, that there was no inconvenient crowding—except perhaps here and there, where some masque by the novelty of his ap- parel or the fluent wit of his conversation succeeded in engrossing the attention of a large group around him. Amongst the earliest of the arrivals were two gentlemen, the tallor of whom was attired in the elegant costume of a Spanish Cavalier, and the other. in a@ suit of admirably devised pasteboard DOO (CO