The Mysteries of the Court of London by Pauline Clarendon — page 153: what you’re looking at

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

CHAPTER XVI THE PRINCE OF WALES AT about the same hour that Mr. Page awoke to the consciousness of an excruciating rheumatism in all his limbs, the following scene took place in Carlton House. Picture to yourself, reader, a spacious bedchamber, magnificently furnished and fitted up in the most luxurious style, with a carpet so thick that the feet sank into it as if they were treading on soft sand, and with draperies so ample and rich that the casements were impervious to even the slightest breath of the sharp wintry air. The couch stood upon a dais or raised platform, which was approached by three steps, and the curtains, of satin and of gold brocade, flowed down from a canopy of purple velvet adorned with a plume of ostrich feathers. By the side of the bed there was a night-table of rose- wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and on this were placed two or three bottles of soda-water, a bottle of hock, a small decanter half-filled with brandy, a crystal jug containing the pure element, and several tumblers. The toilet-table, which stood between the two windows nearest to the bed, was of the most elegant description. A large mirror, set in a gold frame, was fixed on supporters at the back, in such a manner that it could be moved to suit any light prevailing in the room, or any attitude which the individual consulting the glass might choose to take. There were two dressing-cases, both of the finest gold, and the smaller one was embellished around the edges with precious stones. ‘To judge by the number of razors, tooth- brushes, combs, hair-brushes, nail-scissors, tweezers for removing superfluous hairs from the nose, boxes of dentifrice, jars of pomatum, perfumed soaps, phials of fragrant oil, 150 Gomicbooks co m