The Works of George W. M. Reynolds — page 326: what you’re looking at

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

THE BOUDOIR 309 pened, seeing that neither note was addressed to any particu- lar individual. Thanks to that consternation which thus seized upon Venetia at the moment she found herself clasped in the arms of the Earl of Curzon, she gave vent to no cry, no ejaculation; and her presence of mind instantaneously returning, her resolve was taken almost as soon as the discovery of the misadventure itself was made. This resolve was to resign herself to circumstances. Refusal would be impossible as well as ridiculous in respect to a man who not only had her at this instant in his power, but who doubtless could also. produce the letter in pursuance of which he had come thither. Besides which, the ardent kisses that Curzon lavished upon her speedily renewed those sensuous feelings which she had herself been irritating by her imagination and fostering by her fancy; and thus was it that in a very few moments the earl became the object of all those desires with which the image oi the baronet had inspired her. It was between eight and nine o’clock in the morning that the Earl of Curzon stole forth from Venetia’s boudoir and crept back to the chamber which had been allotted to him- self. To say that he was happy were to say nothing; his countenance was radiant with triumph. Pecuniary embar- rassments, troubles tor the present, anxieties for the future, and the dark suspicion that still rankled in his mind relative to his own wife, — all, all, were forgotten, all utterly lost sight of, all absorbed, as 1t were, in the one grand ecstatic reflection that Venetia, the incomparable Venetia, had aban- doned herself to his arms. But how strange, how passing strange was this consum- mation, this sort of realization of the pledge which he had made two months back when he stood in her presence at Acacia Cottage! He had then said, ‘‘ I have sworn to possess you, and I will keep my vow. Be you guarded by all the angels of heaven, I will invoke all the devils of hell to succour me in carrying out my resolve.’’?’ But without violence, without craft, without the succour of any of those infernal powers which he had threatened to enlist in his service, he had obtained the object of his wishes. It was scarcely a triumph; no, it was not a triumph, because there was no preliminary resistance offered. He had been invited to take CORNICE OOOKS Go