The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 375: what you’re looking at

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

a nee SS Ee THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. 361 |! _—_ \\\\ | | A, GIO ie La | Med GL > = = ~ ————— —————————— a = y = = r . = af = sou x ~ AA A = — — 4 oe : ~s f - : = f t = f | . lb e——=>2 : ’ oe Se Go Ge ———— SSI R< BC. SS SS NS = — Hl HT A Priel y — = fl Ur = cd | | Hi [ye } { I by ' , — <= . i t | as NCE | Ne —<—<— i a dy Mj GY CE EA \ 4 Hf Vi Al Nh iyi x = Mi | = AAT | 0O——= ea sina. \Y iD — glow ;—no dye nor factitious confection could crown CHAPTER XCY. the dark hair with a brighter glory than its own purply glossiness. And though the complexion of EDITHA. this lady was of oriental duskiness, yet would it have been a very folly and a shame to have en- Ir was on the fifth evening after the incidents just | deavoured to mitigate its dark beauty by the appli- related; and if we peep into the Countess of Cur- | ance of aught whiter or make that skin fairer. Yor zon’s bourdoir between eight and nine o’clock, we | that soft and delicate tint of bronze—the softest and shall observe her ladyship occupied with the elegant | most delicate that can possibly be conceived—gave mysteries of the toilette. And yet the word mysteries | her the appearance of the warm Andalusian or glew- scarcely applies in the present instance: for noneed | jng Italian,—as if she were one of the impassioned had Editha of cosmetics, sophistications, or adven- | daughters of the sunny south! titious appliances to enhance the natural splendour Her eyes, so dark and yet so full of living lustre, of her charms. seemed like ebony condensing all the brilliancy ot No succedaneous enamel was required for those | diamonds: as suns they appeared to burn these who pearly tecth that were without spot or blemish and | gazed upon them—and, as suns also, did they seem which shone between the lips that were full and red as | as if worlds of bliss and realms of paradise lay con- aiuscious fruit of the tropics: no art could shed | cealed in the depths of their glory! upon the cheeks the hue of a richer carnation than| he had chosen for her evening toilette a rich that which the warm blood itself gave in its mantling | satin dress of a shining amber colour, and which 46* — on er ee ee oe ee - ee ee ee ET COmiclbooolkks.c®