Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 190 — page 58: what you’re looking at

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ee eee ee structions te attend ae you: she will hencefortk re- side in the castle, and will come whenever you require her presence.” **] thank yon, sir,”’ replied the prisoner, humbly. Felton bowed slightly, and went towards the door. Just as he was about to step over the threshold, Lord de Winter appeared iu the corridor, followed by the soldier who had b.en sent to inform him that her Jadyship had He heid in his hand a bottle of salts. ““Well, what is the matter here?” said he in a jeering tone, when he saw the lady standing, and Felton just about to leave the room. ‘‘Is# this dead person alive ain? By jove, Felton, my boy, did you not see that took you fora novice, and gave you the first act of a comedy, of which we shall doubtless have the pleasure to see all the continuation?’ ‘*T thoughtso,.my lord,” said Felton. ‘* But as, after all, the prisoner is a woman, I wished to have that con- sideration for her, which is due from every well bred man to a woman, if not for her sake, at least for his | Her ladyship shuddered throughout her frame. These weens of Felton penetrated like ice through all her ‘*So,” continued Lord de Winter, still laughing, “*these beautiful locks, so skillfully displayed, that del- \ icate comp exion, and that languishing look, have not yet seduced your stony heart ? . “No, my lord,’ replied the insensible young man; and, believe me, it requires more than al petty stratagems and affections of a woman to cor- rupt me. “As that is the case, my brave lieutenant let us leave the lady to find a something new and let us go to su ; ‘ h, you my be quite easy; she has a very fertile . pee tly and the second act of this comedy will s00n follow the first.”’ As he uttered those words, Lord de Wilton took Fel- ton by the arm, and led him away luughing, ‘*Oh, I will surely find what you should have!” mut- tered her ladyship, between her teeth. ‘Make your- yelf easy r spoiled monk, poor converted soldier, whose uniform has been cut out of a churchman’s hab- pF y ‘* Apropos, my lady,’’ «aid Lord de Winter, stopping on the threshold of the door, ‘‘ do not allow this faudure t to disturb you appetite. Taste this fowl, and that fish, which I give you my honor, 1 have not had poisoned. I am on good terms with my cook, and, us he does not , expect to be my heir, I have great confidence in him. ; Doasido. Farewell, my dear sister, till your next . fainting-fit.”’ This was all that her ladyship could endure, Her hands grasped the arms of her chair convuisively, she ground her teeth heavily, her eyes followed the move- - ment of the door as it closed behind Lord de Winter Felton; and then, as soon as she found herself alone, a new peresraee of despair invaded her—her glance wandered to the table; she saw a knife that glim- mered on it, and rushing forward, she snatched it up; but dreadful was her disappointment when she foun ‘ that the edge was rounded, and the blade of flexible sil- ver. ‘ A shout of laughter resounded from behind the half- closed door which was agen opened, “Ah, ah !"’ exclaimed Lord de Winter, ‘‘do you see, ~~, Felton? Itis exactly as I told you, That knife was Pare intended for you, my boy : she would have killed you. eA It is one of her vices thus to get rid, in one way or an- other, of those who annoy her. If I had attended to aa you, the knife would have been of steel, and pointed, mA and then—farewell, Felton. She would have cut your | en throat first, and all our throats afterwards. Just look, | od John, how well she holds her knife?" | ie Her mares, in fact, still held the inoffensive weapon Ls in her convulsive grasp; but these last words, this crowning insult, uunerved her hand, her strength, and hy . even her will, and the knife fell upon the ground. ; ** You are quite right, my lord,” said Felton, in a tone ‘ of deep disgust, which penetrated to the very recesses of her ladAship’s heart. ‘You are right, aud I was in the wrong.”’ And they both once more left the room. Bat, on this occasion, the lady lenta more attentive ear than before, and she h their steps becomin more distant, until the sound was lost in the depths o the corridors. “*T am undone!’ she muttered: “I am in the power of people over whom I shall have no greatcr influence than over statues of bronze or cate. They know me thoroughly, and bear tplates proof against my arms. And yet,” ‘she continued, a moment after, ‘\it is impossible that everything should terminate as gl have willed it,”’ ‘ In fact, as this last remark, and this instinctive return as o ,. 7 mens ewe. — ee re - 7 a 7 . ‘7, dicated, fear and al) feeble sentiments could a * 2 ladyship seated herself ata table, eat of various viands, drank a small quantity of S sh wine, and felt that all her resolution was restored, Before she retired to rest, she had already studied, analyzed, commented on, and examined, in every pos- sible way, the words, the steps, the gestures even the silence of her gaolers; and, from th and profound, and skilful examination, it resulted that — -—< - 4 . ; : Ky * — : — _ ' ~— ~ — Felton, had spoken in her favor, since Lord de Winter had re to listen to him, ** Weak or strong,” reasoned her ladyship, ‘‘this man has a ray of pity in a his soul; aa ra By, Ragen ardeweyg ag ete: . consume him. As tothe other one, he knows me, he | fears me, and knows what he has to expect from me should I ever escape from his hands;it is, therefore, ecUly useless to attempt anyth ng in reference to him. >, spt, with Felton, it ie diiferent. He appears to be a * signs, and ; is learned, | ritual.”’ One word, especially, recurred to the prisoner's mind. | et 1 ond attended to you,”’ said Lord de Winter to ton, A THE THREE GUARDSMEN. simple, pure, and virtuous young man. There are means of winning him. a ladyship laid down, and slept with a smile upon her lips. Any one who had seen her sleeping, wonld have taken her for a young girl, dreaming of the gar- land of flowers which she was to braid around her fore- head at the approaching ball. CHAPTER LI. THE SECOND DAY OF IMPRISONMENT. Her ladyship was ae that she had at last de- feated d’Artagnan, and was looking on the spectacle of his death; and it wasthe sight of his abominated blood, flowing beneath the executioner’s axe, which called forth the charming smile that hovered on her lips, She slept like a prisoner lulled by dunning hope. On the next morning, when they entered the room, she was stillin bed, Felton remained in the corrider. He had brought with him thewoman of whom he had spoken on the previous evening, and who had just arrived. This woman entered. and approached her la- dyship’s bed, offering her services, Her ladyship was habitually pale, and her complex- ion woud, therefore, easily deceive any one who saw her for the first time. ; ‘**T am feverish,”’ she said; “I have nct slept a mo- ment throughout the tedious night, I am in dreadful suffering: will you be more humane than they were age ay evening? AllI ask is, to be permitted to re- main in bed.” ‘**Would you like a physician to be sent for?” asked | as to this the woman. Felton listened to this dialogue, without uttering a word. Her ladyship reflected, that, the more numerous the persons who surrounded her, the more would she have to soften, and the more severe would be the vigilance of Lord de Winter. Resides, the physician might declare that the malady was feigned; and her ladyship ene ree the first throw, did not design to lose the secon ‘‘A physician?’’ said she~—-‘‘ and for what purpose? Those gentlemen declared, ome pes that my illness was allacomedy. It will undoubtedly Le the same to- day; for, since last night, there has been abundant time to prejudice the doctor.” ‘“*Then,’’ said Felton, in a tone of impatience, “ say yourself, madam, what you desire to have done “Ah, my God! can Itcll? Ifecl my sufferings, and thatis all. Give me what you please—it is of little consequence to me.”’ ‘*Go for Lord de Winter,’ said Felton, wearied by these repeated complaints. ‘*Oh, no, nol’? exclaimed the lady; ‘‘no, sir, do not send for him, I beseech you? I am very well—I do not want anything—do not send for him!” She uttered this exclamation with a vehemence so natural, that Felton was attracted for a few steps into the chamber. ‘* He is touched,” thought her may hes 4 ‘*‘And yet, madam," said Felton, ‘‘if you are really suffering, we must send for a physician. If you are deceiving us, 80 much the worse for yourself; but, at all a we shall have nothing to reproach ourselves with.’ Her ladyship made no reply; but, turning her beanti- ful head on the pillow, she burst intoa paroxysm of tears and sobs. Felton looked at her for a moment with his ordinary insensibility; but, seeing that the crisis threatened to continue, he left the room. The woman followed him; and Lord de Winter did not make his appearance. ‘I think I begin to see my way,’’ muttered the lady, with savage delight, as she buried herself under the bed- clothes, to hide from those who might be watching her this burst of heartfelt satisfaction, Two hours passed away. ‘It is now time for my malady to end,” thought she. ‘*Let me get up, and gain some benefit to-day. I have but ten days, and this evening two of them will have already passed away."’ When the servants entered the lady's chamber in the morning, her breakfast had been brought. She con- cluded that they would soon return to take it away, and that she should then see Felton —— Her ladyship was not deceived. Felton re- ap an without noticing whether the lady had touched anything or not, he ordered the attendants to remove the table, which was generally brought in with everything prepared upon it. Felton, holdinga book in his hand, saw every other person leave the room. Reclining in an easy-chair near the fireplace, beauti- ful, pale, and resigned, her ladyship looked like a holy }- long predominate in that deep-thinking soul.. Her virgin expecting martyrdom. e ton approached her, and said: ‘** Lord de Winter, who, like yourself, madam, is a Catholic, has imagined that the privations of the rites and ceremonies of your religion might be painful to you; he therefore permits you to read the daily office of your mass; and here is a book which contains the From the manner with which Felton laid the book on Felton was, upon the whole, the least invulnerable of | the little table near her ladyship, from the tone in which he pronounced the words, your mass, and from the contemptuous smile with which he accompanied them, her ladyship raised her head, and looked. more attentively at the officer. .. Then—by that precise manner of wearing the hair, by that dress of exaggerated rye” by that fore- head, as polished as marble, but equally beta and im- penetrable—she one of those gloomy puri- tans whom she had so often met with both at the court of King James and at that of the of France, ang spite of the recollections of St. Bartholo- mew, they sometimes came to seek a refuge. She then experienced one of those sudden inspira- —— eee ee oa ee eee eee ee a ee ————— tions which are reserved for genius alone on those great emergencies, those momentous cries, which de- cide their fortunes or their lives. Those two words—your mass—and a single glance at Felton, had in fact, revealed to her all the importance of the answer which she was about to make. But, with that rapidity of intelligence which was culiar to her, that answer presented itself, as if ready ormed oon her lips, ‘* TY’said she, in an accent of contempt, equal to that which she had observed in the voice of the young ofticer—** I sir!—my mass? Lord de Winter, the cor- rupted Catholic, well knows thatI am not of his reli- gion, and it is a snare which he wishes to spread for me.”’ ‘*And of what religton are you then, madam*’ demanded Felton, with an astonishment, which, in a of his self-command, he could not perfectly con- ceal, ‘* T will tell, it,” exclaimed the lady, with feigned en- thusiasm, ‘‘ when I shall have suffered sufficiently for my faith.” The looks of Felton discovered to her ladyship all the extent of space which she had opened to herself by this single expression. And yet the young officer remained mute motionless. His countenance alone had spoken ‘*Tam in the hands of —) enemies,’’ continued she in the enthusiastic tone which she knew was popular amongst the puritans,—‘‘ Well! either*may my God save me, or may I perish formy God! Thatis the an- swer which I eA Fb to convey to Lord de Winter; and book,*’ continu she, pointing to the ritual with the tip of her finger, but without touching it as though she would have becn contaminated by the touch —“you can carry it away, and make use of it yourself;ifor you are, un- doubtedly, doubly the accomplice of Lord de Winter— an accomplice in his persecution, and an accomplice in his heresy.”’ Felton mde no reply; but he took the book with the same repugnance that he had before manifested, and in a pensive mood withdrew. ordde Winter came at about five in the evening. During the day, her ladyship had fotnd time to trace the plan of her proceedings; and she received him like ® woman who had already recovered al] her adyan- tages. **It appears,’’ said the baron, seating himself on a chair opposite the lady, and stretching his feet careless- ly towards the hearth—“ it appears that we have made a ngs apostacy.”’ ‘** What do you mean, sir?”’ “*T mean that, since the last time we saw each other, we have changed our religion. Have you by chance married a third husband, a protestant?” **Explain yourself, _ ord,”’ replied the prisoner, with great dignity; ‘‘for [hear your words, but do nos understand them.”’ ‘** Then the truth must be that you have no religion at all, Well, Ilike that the better,’’ said Lord de Winter, with a sneer. *‘ Itis certainly more in unison with your own prin- ciples ” coldly replied the roe hy ‘Oh, I confess to you that itis quite a matter of indifference tome.” ‘** You cannot avow a religious indifference, my lord, but what your debauchery and crimes cufficient y con- ‘What! and do youtalk of debanchery, Madame Messalina? Do you talk of crimes, Lady Macbeth? Either I have misunderstood you, or you are, by God, exceedingly imprudent.’’ ‘**Y ou speak thus, my lord, becanse we are overheard,” coldly replied her ladyship, :‘ and you wish to prejudice your goalers and your executioners against me.”’ “My goalers! my executioners! Why, madam you speak poetically, and hememg eee is turned to- night to tragedy. But after all,in eigh ig you will ne you ought to be, and my task will be accom- s 1 P f ‘Infamous task! impious task!’’ replied the lady- with the feigned enthusiasm of the victim who pro, vokes her i ‘ **] verily belii te, upon my honor,’ said Lord de Winter, rising, “that this singular creature is going mad. Come, come, calm yourself, Madame Puritan, or I will put you intoadungeon, By jove, itis my Span- ish wine that hac just got into your head, is it nor? But be quiet; this intoxication is not dangerous, and will have no bad consequence.” And Lord de Winter left the room swearing, which was at that iime, a habit periectly gentlemanly. Felton was, in fact, behind the door, and had not loss one syllable of the conversation. Her ladyship had judged correctly. “Yes, go, go! said she to her brother, ‘! The conse. quences are, on the contrary fast es - But you, fool that you are, will not know them until itis too to evade them.” Silence again prevailed; and two more hours elapsed. Supper was brought in, and her ladyship was found engaged in prayers—prayers which she hai learned from an austere Puritan, an old servant of her second husband. She appeared to be in a sort of ecstacy,and not even to observe what was passing around her. Felton made a sign that she was not to be disturbed; and when everything was arranged, he softly left the room with the soldiers. The lady knew that she might be watched, and, therefore, she continued at her prayers until the end. She fancied that the sentinel at her door did not main- tain his usual step, but seemed to listen to her. For the present, she desired nothing more. She arose, seated herself at the table, ate a little, and only drank some water. In an hour afterwards, the table was removed, bnt her ladyship remarked that, on this occdéfon, Felton did not accompany the soldiers, and Gomicboo (E(o) » al ee ae