Agnes, or, Beauty and Pleasure — page 116: what you’re looking at

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

a a a a 108 presented to me as having behaved sp nobly and forbearingly when giving his evidence on that me- morable trial where the life of my husband’s cousin was at stake! But how came you, Mr. De Vere, to know so many particulars ‘ “Has not the name of a young lady in England ever been mentioned in your hearing! I mean, Miss Evelyn.” “Yes!” exclaimed the quadroon. “I have heard, through my husband, how Miss Evelyn be- haved so kindly to Winifred———” ** And to that Miss Evelyn is my heart devoted,” rejoined Charles; “and in her letters to me she has frequently spoken of Winifred—and she has told me how Winifred’s cousin, Gustavus, had married a young West Indian lady.” “And, Ob! is not this extraordinary,” cried the quadroon, “ that you should fall in with me in the midst of this Apennine seclusion? I feel as if we were old acquaintances, Mr. De Vere!” * And I shall never forget,” returned our hero enthusiastically, “the generous hospitality which I have experienced beneath your roof. Perhaps! you know that I belong to the British Embassy at Naples? But no—you were not aware of os “ Yes—on the contrary,” interjected Emily, “I now remember to have heard so. But how, in the name of heaven, came you to be involved in such frightful dilemmas ?” “4A few words of explanation will suffice,” re- sponded our hero, “to prove to you that I a in- nocent - “Oh! that I knew from the outset !” exclaimed the quadroon. “Did I not tell you so last night at the gate? Yes!” she added, while a blush flitted over her handsome countenance; “ your looks were sufficient to prove that you were incapable of a misdeed aed “And your good opinion of me is not unwar- ranted,” rejoined Charles. “Certain affairs—of which the world will doubtless soon hear more— compelied me to visit Florence. Scarcely had I arrived there, when I was seized upon—it was by error—I was mistaken for another—and hurried off to captivity at Bagno. Thence I escaped in the uniform of the Governor. The tale is now too long to tell you y ‘You shall tell it me presently,” exclaimed the quadroon,—“ at least if you think fit.” “ Ob, yes! after all your kindness I can have no secrets from you! But your husband, madam —excuse me for again alluding to him but may I hope to have the pleasure of seeing him ?” “ Yes—assuredly,” rejoined Emily: “ you will see him presently. He will not rise to breakfast. Ob ! he will be astonished when he hears that a friend—for so indeed under all circumstances I must call you “ “Pray let me be considered as such!” inter- jected Charles. “And now pardon my selfishness —but have you any reason to believe that my pre- sence here is suspected by the police of this dis- trict ?” “Not the slightest reason! I have spoken to the servants—the groom is fidelity personified— end you need fear nothing. I presume that your plans are already settled ?” “To return to Florence without delay,” ee eon ee AGNES; OR, BEAUTY AND PLEASUR2, swered our hero. “ Do not start, madam! I trust ( that I shall now incur no danger there: it will only be while journeying thither, and before I can seek the protection of the British Embassy at that capital, that my safety may be imperilled.” “Well,” said the quadroon, “we must pre- sently devise some scheme to ensure you a safe journey to Florence. Perhaps you are not in a hurry for an hour or two ?” “T would much rather adopt cautious and pru- dential measures,” responded Charles, “than wil- fully court peril by rashness or precipitation, Besides, I feel so comfortable beneath your hospi- table roof, that it would be most uncourteous and churlish on my part to express a desire to hasten away.” “Now let us breakfast,” said Emily, acknow- ledging with an amiable smile and a graceful bow the courteous compliment which had just fallen from our hero’s lips. “You wiil pardon me,” said Charles, when they were seated at table, “for remarking that the two portraits in the chamber where I slept last night, bear a striking resemblance sf “Do you think so?” asked Emily, with a smile and a blush. “Tt is impossible to think otherwise,” returned De Vere. “It-was an artist of no ordinary skiil——” “Ob, pray cease your compliments, Mr. De Vere!” exclaimed the quadroon; “or you will re- tain the colour incessantly upon my cheeks!” “Am I to understand,” asked Charles, with some degree of surprise, “that it was your own pencil which delineated those likenesses of your- self ?” “ My own pencil,” rejoined the quadroon. “ Ah! perhaps you think me very vain and conceited for choosing such subjects: but one day the humour took me—lI wished to depict a contrast Indeed, Mr. De Vere,” she added after a brief pause, and in a more serious tone, “I wanted to analyze my own feelings, and ask myself whether I was happier as Emily Pionock in my own native Jamaica, with my straw hat, my loose dress, and my basket of fruit—or as Mrs. Barrington, bedecked with gems and jewels in Europe, and studying all the Pari- sian fashions.” This was too delicate a subject for Charles De Vere to venture an observation upon, inasmuch as it seemed to involve the point whether the qua- droon were happier in a single or ina wedded state; and he could not help thinking that it was a topic which ought not to have been broached to him at all. Emily seemed to fathom what was passing in his mind; for she at once said, “I should not allude to this point, Mr. De Vere, did it not help me on towards the explanations which I owe you on account of last night. Nay, do not interrupt me!—for my own sake I must insist upon giving them,” The quadroon spoke so earnestly and entreat- ingly that our hero felt himself bound, as it were, to listen to her; and moreover, in her position of his hostess, she evidently had a right to rule and direct the conversation. Charles therefore held his peace; and Emily continued in the following manner :— “Suffer me to assure you at the very outset, ab- | Mr. De Vere, that I love my husband. Yes !—I book (©) 5}