The Young Duchess; or, Memoirs of a Lady of Quality — page 180: what you’re looking at

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166 A te Nr eager THE YOUNG DUCHESS; OR, MEMOIRS OF A LADY OF QUALITY. it. Ihad listened to his speech with increasing alarm; and I was now fully convinced that for some unaccountable purpose or another it was in- tended to render me the victim of Russian hatred or tyranny. J implored the Frenchman to save me.—‘ That is precisely what I came to do, madam, if you would: permit me,’ he answered; ‘and I should counsel you not to throw yourself henceforth in the way of Russian Embassies in countries where they may possess the power to injure you. Moreover, I hope for my intended son-in-law’s sake, you will keep the business strictly private; and in order to avert suspicion, you will have the goodness, madam, to write a letter to the Countess Olonetz excusing yourself for not being present at her soirée and alleging some reason for your precipitate departure from Constantionple. I will take care that your note shall not be delivered until the first thing in the morning.’—I expressed my most grateful thanks to the good-hearted landlord; and I insisted upon leaving a very handsoriie peéuniary present for his intended son-in-law, the engineer of the Russian steamship. He then accompanied me on board a Genoese vessel, which, as he had pre- viously ascertained, was to weigh anchor that evening ; and I was soon beyond the reach of my Russian enemies. Thus terminated this strange episode; but for the solution of the mystery thereof I have never been enabled to obtain the slightest clue; and the only conjecture I can form is that the whole proceeding must have been the consequence of some strange mistake on the part of the Russian Ambassdor at Constanti- nople. ‘‘ And now let me turn to other subjects, and hasten to bring this narrative of mine to a con- clusion. I arrived in safety at Genoa, where I determined to remain for a few weeks: but on the very day after I landed there, whom should I meet inhaling the pure Mediterranean breeze upon one of the noble quays of that city, but Lord Langport? He was looking pale and ill; and he informed me that it was as an invalid he came to acquire new health from that delightful region. He had recently been elevated from the embassy at Wurtemburg to that at Turin; and I had re- mained in ignorance of the change, for during my sojourn in the East I had seldom seen any English newspapers. His lordship mournfully and reproachfully gave me to understand that his illness had chiefly arisen from grief and annoyance at my conduct in so abruptly flying from Paris without condescending to afford him so much as a single line in answer to the letter he had sent me. I told him that it would be painful for me to enter into explanations relative to the particular phrase of which I had made use on the occasion of our last interview; but I begged him to under- stand that there was no criminal weakness for which a woman might blush at the bottom of my resolve to remain unmarried.—‘My dear Miss Malcolm,’ he answered, ‘ whatever your real reason may be, I swear that if you reveal it, it can make no difference in my sentiments. I love you for yourself only; but I fear you do not give me credit for sincerity ?’—I suffered him thus to continue talking to me, for there was an inde- scribable rapture in listening to his voice and I felt touched by his pale pensive appearance.— At all events. my dear Miss Malcolm,’ he said, as I Ot re te was about to bid him farewell, ‘let us see each other as friends, even if it be impossible that we may meet on other terms. I swear to you that if you agree to this, I will not again mention the word love in your hearing.’—What could I say ? I deeply loved that man, and I was weak enough to suppose that we could meet only as friends without any further detriment to my peace of mind. And thus we did meet; and we walked together daily upon the quays—and he kept his word, for he breathed not again the language of love, though I must confess that on the other hand he was always giving me the most fervid assurances of his friendship. His health improved, the colour came back to his cheeks, and at the expiration of three or four weeks after we thus met at Genoa, he looked handsomer than ever. One day he told me that as his strength was per- fectly restored, he must return to his post at Turin. There was a pause, during which I felt deeply affected. At length the silence was broken by Langport himself, who in a tremulous voice asked me what my plans were—whether I pur- posed to remain at Genoa, or whether I intended to go elsewhere? He then in a cold tone apolo- gized for asking these questions, adding that le knew he had no right on the mere ground of friendship to interrogate me in respect to my movements. Although then «a woman of forty- three years of age—too old, you will think, to make such a silly fool of myself—I nevertheless felt in- clined to cry like a child at these remarks and at the tone in which they were delivered. Lang- port saw his advantage, and he exclaimed in passionate accents, ‘Oh, why have you yourself restrained me to the cold language of friendship when it is in far other terms I would address you now that we’ are about to separate? Who can tell when we shall meet again? It is your pre- sence which has given me health here, at Genoa! IT know not how it may fare with me on my return to Turin! Really, Mildred, you make me think that there is some terrible mystery at the bottom of all this: but if so, believe me when I declare that however nearly or closely this mystery may concern yourself, it could have no possible in- fluence with the strength of my affection.’— ‘Leave me now,’ I said, my heart palpitating violently ; ‘and to-morrow we will meet here again and at the same hour.’ ‘We separated accordingly ; and I returned to my hotel, pondering everything which had taken place, and becoming more and more resolved to reveal everything to’ Langport on the morrow. ‘He is so noble-minded, so generous-hearted, so disinterested,’ I said to myself, ‘he will sympa- thise with me; he will not blame me; he will regard me with friendship and not with disgust ! We may go to the altar for the sake of maintain- ing appearances before the world ; but it shall be as abrother and sister that we must live to- gether !’—And then, silly fool that I was! I aban- doned myself to this dream with as much ardour as a young maiden in yielding deliciously to the” impressions of a first love: I conjured up visions of happiness more fantastic than those which had ever appeared through the vapours of opium to the oriental reveller in the drug. But let me not dwell upon this phase of my weakness, my silli- ness, my vanity: let me pass on to the next inci dent in my narrative. YN Wn) COMO Ir ret. Colin