The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 49: what you’re looking at

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

THE PORTRAIT ol my vows?” said Ramsey, modulating his own voice to the tender sensuousness of the scene; and, taking the hand of the countess, he fastened his lips upon the warm, plump flesh, which thrilled wth the ecstatic fervour that animated her entire being. ‘‘ Should not I rather question you, my be- loved Eleanor,” he continued, “‘ respecting the permanence of that attachment which you now feel toward the friendless stranger ? ”’ ‘“ Ah! how can you speak in this mournful, hopeless manner of yourself, Gustavus? ’’ exclaimed the countess, darting upon him a look of mingled devotedness and re- proach. ‘‘ Wherefore use the word friendless? Am not I your friend? Would I not lay down my life to serve you? Oh, my beloved Gustavus, you had forgotten that there was such a being as myself in the world when you made that observation.”’ ‘‘ Pardon me, dearest, dearest Eleanor,’’ said the resusci- tated criminal, folding that charming and elegant woman in his embrace and imprinting a thousand kisses upon her glowing, burning, blushing cheeks. ‘“‘I had not forgotten you,” he continued, in the murmuring tone which indicates the strength of sensual passion. ‘‘ No, never, never can | forget you, my beloved; never can I cease to remember that you are the only being whom I ever truly adored and by whom I was ever loved so tenderly in return. All my hopes of happiness are centred in thee, Eleanor. Were I doomed to separate from thee, my well-beloved, I should end my days in the blood of a distracted suicide.” “Oh, speak not in such dreadful terms as these! ”’ whis- pered the countess, her own voice being subdued and hushed by the power of her passion; and, half-reclining in his arms, she gazed long and ardently upon the handsome countenance of her lover, while the beatings of her heart were plainly audible to the ears of both. ‘‘ Wherefore should you enter- tain an idea of even the possibility of our separation? Are you not happy beneath this roof? Do you pant for change, Gustavus? ”’ “No, no; ten thousand times no, my angel,’ he re- sponded, accompanying his words with fervid caresses. “How can I possibly pant for change? Oh, no! no! But ask yourself, dearest Eleanor, whether this state of bliss can endure for ever? Does it not appear like a } KS) \