The Works of George W. M. Reynolds — page 268: what you’re looking at

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

THE AUDIENCE AND THE LETTER 251° all the freedom peculiar to Continental ladies, cannot be denied; but that she was criminal and faithless to her hus- band is not to be believed for a single moment. And now a few words relative to Bergami. He was at the time of which we are writing about thirty-eight years of ave, and remarkably handsome. His dark hair, glossy whiskers, and delicately pencilled moustache set off a counte- nance that was pale and pensive. His dark eyes were gener- ally cast downward, as if in thought, but his fine form, slender even to youthful symmetry, was upright as aqart. He dressed habitually in deep black, though on formal occasions, when in attendance upon the princess, he wore a sort of uniform surtout coat of blue cloth, frogged, braided, and buttoned close up to the ch . In either costume he looked the perfect gentleman, but in the latter he had a military appearance truly becoming. In manners he was gentle, unassuming, but agreeably courteous. His conversation, unobtrusive and quiet, was interesting, instructive, and often fascinating, while he him- self appeared entirely unconscious of its powers. ‘Toward the princess his demeanour was ever characterized by the most marked respect, and though from his very boyhood he had known her, yet did he never appear to lose sight of the great distance which social conventionalisms had placed between him and her. Indeed, so delicate, so consider- ate, and so nobly generous was his behaviour toward her Royal Highness that he never, under any circumstances, would allow himself to be left alone with her even for an instant; and uf, when in the drawing-room, he beheld a chance oi all the ladies in waiting being absent from the apartment at one and the same moment, he invariably made it a point of retiring ere left in téte-d-téte with the princess. | Having recorded these few observations relative to char- acters whom history has made memorable, we now resume the thread of our narrative. ‘“ Iam sure I do not know how long we are likely to remain here,”’ said the princess, pursuing the thread of a conversa- tion already commenced in the drawing-room ere she came out to walk in the garden. “So much now depends upon the course which events may take in France. You see, it is quite evident from the newspaper reports that there will CORNICOOO CS (C(O)