The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 262: what you’re looking at

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

THE MYSTERIES. 247 pointment to me if I do not meet you on this occa- | And as that name struck the ears of the frail daughter of George the Third, she gave so sudden a start and turned so ashy pale, that the Duchess of Devonshire exclaimed, “Good heavens! your Royal Highness is unwell !” At these words, Lord Florimel sprang towards the bell-pull to summon assistance: but the Princess, instantaneously recovering her presence of mind by one of those almost superhuman efforts of which we mortals are sometimes capable in pressing emer- gencies, stopped the young nobleman with her own hand—saying, “It is nothing—a sudden indisposi- tion seized upon me: but it has passed.” “ Are you sure that you feel better, my dearest friend?” inquired the Countess of Desborough, hastily accosting the Princess Sophia. “Oh! 1 am well aware that your Royal Highness is subject to these sudden and evanescent attacks ——” “Thank you for your kind solicitude, my dear Eleanor,” said the Princess: “I can assure you that the faintness—the giddiness—which seized upon me, has totally passed.” And, as she uttered these words, she darted a signi- ficant look upon the Countess, to imply that her presence of mind was completely restored. Eleanor now returned to Pauline, who was stand- ing at a little distance ;—and, taking the young lady’s hand, she said in a low and rapid whisper, “ You must be presented as if you had never seen the Princess before :”---then, leading her towards Sophia, she exclaimed, “ Permit me to introduce to your Royal Highness a much esteemed and amiable friend of mine—Miss Pauline Clarendon.” “Every friend of yours, Eleanor, is weleome to me,” said the Princess Sophia, receiving Pauline with a more than ordinary condescension and graceful affability; although the colour came and went in rapid transitions upon the cheeks of the very handsome but frail and dishonoured daughter ot George the Third. Lord Florimel was likewise presented to the Princess, and then to the Countess, with whom he was previously unacquainted — the Duchess of Devonshire performing this ceremony for her nobie cousin; and the conversation turned upon the grand entertainment which the Prince of Wales was to give on the following evening. “fam glad this subject has been mentioned,” observed the Duchess of Devonshire, who, in spite of her levity, was excessively good-natured, and who had taken a great fancy to Pauline: “be- cause,” she continued, “ Miss Clarendon is anxious to be present at his Royal Highness’s ball—and I am unable to introduce her, inasmuch as I am honoured by an invitation to dine with his Royal Highness and Mrs. Fitzherbert. But you, my dear Eleanor,” she added, turning towards the Countess of Desborough, “will perhaps take charge of our young friend, who, I may observe, is shortly to become Lady:Florimel.” “1 should be delighted to present Miss Claren- don to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales,” said the Countess: “ but circumstances, I fear, will prevent me from accepting the invitation with which I have been honoured.” “Indeed, my dear Eleanor,” exclaimed the Prin- cess Sophia, “you must over-rule any circum- stances which threaten to keep you away from my royal brother’s entertainment to-morrow evening, ‘I shall be there—and it will prove a great disap- sion at Carlton House. I shall even consider it unkind towards myself if yoa remain absent.” * And I, too,” said the Duchess of Devonshire, “shall be grieved if I do not meet you to-morrow evening, Eleanor. You must positively renounce any other engagement which you may have formed.” It was with no small degree of difficulty that the Countess of Desborough concealed her yexation at being thus pressed: for, as the reader may easily conceive, she had her own private motives for not wishing to attend the heir-apparent’s bail, nor indeed even to come in contact with his Royal Highness again. The eonversation which she had overheard between him and the Magsman had filled her with loathing, indignation, and aversion for that princely voluptuary: and any tenderness of feeling which she might at one moment have experienced towards him, had been changed by a deeper reading of his character into abhorrence and disgust. But the Princess Sophia—not suspecting that her friend had any private motive of dislike with regard to the Prinee of Wales, and anxious by any means to coneiliate and please the young lady who was the depositress of her own tremendous secret—continued to urge the point relative to the invitation to Carlton House, witha zeal and earnest- ness which amounted almost to a command and rendered a refusal impossible. * Yes, my dear Eleanor, you must go—and Miss larendon will then be enabled to accompany you,” said the Princess. “ Were it not inconsistent with the prevatiug etiquette, L would myself introduce Miss Clarendon.” And as she uttered these words, the Princess Sophia threw a look full of deep meaning upon Pauline—as much as to say, “Keep my secret faithfully—and I will prove your friend in all things.” The result of so much pressing on the part of her Royal Highness and the Duchess of Devon- shire, was that Eleanor was compelled to yield ;— and, in thus yielding, she was also under the ne- cessity of offering to act as ekaperon for Miss Pauline Clarendon on the oecasion. It was con- sequently arranged that Pauline should repair to Desborough House in Berkeley Square at nine o'clock on the following evening, and thence acecom- pany the Countess to the palatial residenee of the Prince of Wales. This matter being settled, to the great delight of the young lady, she and Florimel took their leave. When they were once more alone together in the carriage, and as they were whirling back to Ca- vendish Square, Florimel said, “ And now, my be- loved Pauline, you have gained your point most effectually ; and to-morrow evening J shall have the pleasure of dancing with you at Carlton House. But what excuse will you make to your father and sister for having accompanied me in my carriage this morning ?—and upon what pretext will you be enabled to leaye the house in ball-room costume to-morrow evening ?” “ My dear Gabriel,” replied Pauline, “when we reach Cavendish Square presently, you must de- mand a private interview with my father, and inform him that you have honoured me by a proposal, ap CN es om ete Oe ee a — COMIC OOO© <SriGOoO