The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 353: what you’re looking at

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

322 REYNOLDS’ WORKS will dream of excluding him from the sphere in which he moves. Such was the individual who was leagued with the Duke of Marchmont to accomplish the destruction of the duchess. During the week which had elapsed since the infamous com- pact was made, he had already been admitted to a footing of intimacy in the duke’s mansion, and the duchess had received him with a becoming courtesy. She herself was ig- norant of his profligate habits; she might perhaps have heard it whispered ‘ that he was a little gay,” but though herself a thoroughly well principled and right-minded woman, she nevertheless knew that if she were to look coldly upon all the male portion of her visitors who bore a similar reputation to that of Mr. Stanhope, she would have to debar herself from society altogether. Besides, she was docile to the will of her husband; it was not in her nature to rebel against him. She was already unhappy enough on account of his neglect to be careful not to aggravate it into downright hatred, for she knew not the full extent of that feeling of bitterness which he entertained toward her. His friends became her friends; it was sufficient for Lavinia that her husband wished her to receive any particular individuals with cordiality, to ensure that hospitable welcome on her part, and thus was she giving her hand to the villain who was secretly pledged to the accomplishment of her destruc- tion. In order that the reader may properly understand the scene which we are about to relate, it is necessary to give some little description of that cabinet which joined the library. It has already been described as a sort of slip, con- taining only one window, and commodious enough for a person to lounge in by himself, or for a couple of friends to indulge in a confidential chat or discuss a bottle of wine. It seemed to have been intended by the architect who built the mansion to serve as a little retiring-room from the library itself, for in addition to the door opening from the passage, there was another door of communication between the cabinet and the library. But on taking possession of that mansion, the Duke of Marchmont had completely cut off the cabinet from the library, by having the door fastened up and book-shelves arranged against it in the library itself. The fact was, his Grace had purchased more books than the ECORnNICOOKS (E(0)