Ellen Percy; or, The Memoirs of an Actress — page 160: what you’re looking at

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

ELLEN PERCY; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF AN ACTRESS, friendship towards you, you should command me —and you know not with what joy I would render you any service that it lay in my power to perform !” * Accept my gratitude, my lord,” I answered: “but there is nothing And yet there might be!” T ejaculated, thus suddenly interrupting my- self as a thought flashed to my mind. “Tell me what it is!” exclaimed the generous young nobleman eagerly. “I see there is some- thing which I possibly might do re “You yourself have repeated, my lord,” I an- swered, “ what I myself said some time back—that we are to be friends! Now, I am going to give you a proof of my friendship by confiding to you a secret; and you can give me a proof of yours by acting in pursuance of that revelation.” “Command me to any extent!” replied Dal- rymple, evidently overjoyed at the prospect of rendering his services available to me. “Lord Frederick Ravenscliffe,’ I continued, “is about to marry—or at least he hopes he is about to marry Lady Cecilia Urban. But I hinted to you the last time we met”—and I spoke rapidly as I alluded to that meeting—*“ that he had conducted himself in a dishonovrable manner towards some one of my acquaintance. Who that injured one is, I shall not name, nor must you seek to know. Suffice it to say that many reasons ren- der it expedient to frustrate Lord Frederick’s de- sign of possessing himself of the wealth of the rich heiress Lady Cecilia.” * And how would you accomplish your purpose? how would you for your friend’s sake interfere to prevent the contemplated alliance? Tell me,” ex- claimed Dalrymple, “in what manner I can serve you for you must doubtless have some settled plan in your mind.” “You must understand, my lord,” I continued, “that for certain reasons it is nece3sary Lord Frederick Ravenscliffe should remain ignorant of the source whence the blow is struck at his inten- tions “$ “Indeed!” said Dalrymple: “then the matter is difficult to manage. I know you too well to believe that you would condescend to an anony- mous letter.” “That plan I for a moment thoucht of, and the next instant rejected,’ was my answer. “ But cannot you, my lord i “ Ah!” he exclaimed, “ there is certainly a plan —a means by which the whole affair could be con- ducted so as to produce an extraordinary effect upon Lady Cecilia, and at the same time to fulfil your aim of complete secrecy in respect to the source whence the warning emanates.” “ And those means?” I asked. “To-morrow night,” proceeded the Marquis of Dalrymple, “there is a grand masked ball at Ard- leigh House, Lady Cecilia Urban will be there; and I cannot have any difficulty in discovering her, no matter how admirable may be the disguise of her costume. If your injured friend thinks fit to be present, I will furnish you with a card of ad- mission; and in the guise of a gipsy she would find an opportunity of saying whatsoever she may think fit to Lady Cecilia.” . L reflected for a few moments; and then I said, “Thank you, my lord, for your kindness: I ac- cept the proposition,” 147 “Then the card shall be sent,’ replied Dal- rymple. “To-morrow evening, so soon as I shall have ascertained in what garb Lady Cecilia has made her appearance, I will whisper the secret in the ear of your gipsy friend. But how shall I know her?—for in such a crowded assemblage there may be a dozen who will wear a gipsy costume.” “The gipsy,” I answered, “ whom you will wish to recognise, shall carry in her hand an artificial white rose:’—for the association of that flower with the name of gipsy was strong in my mind at the moment on account of the adventure with St. Clair on the preceding evening, “ Be it so,” responded the Marquis: “TI shall not fail to fulfil my part of the enterprise. But I have yet a few things to say. It is arranged by my mother that as the clock strikes one there is to be a general unmasking ” “IT understand, my lord,” I interrupted him. “ Before that hour my friend in the gipsy costume shall take her departure; so that the countenance of no uninvited stranger will be revealed,” “At nine o’clock to-morrow evening,” pro- ceeded the young nobleman, “the guests will begin to assemble. On entering the great hall, your friend will have to hand her card to the porter, who will merely satisfy himself that it is one that has been issued: for the cards have numbers upon them, but no names. Your friend will pass on without molestation. It will be by looking at my mother’s list and ascertaining the number of Lady Cecilia’s card, that I shall be enabled to fathom the disguise of her costume, whatever it be: for I shall enjoin the hall-porter to bear in mind the dress of the lady who presents that par- ticular card—and he will then give me the infore mation. So soon as [ obtain it, it shall be whis- pered in the ear of your gipsy friend carrying the white rose in her hand.” I again expressed my gratitude to the young nobleman for his kindness ; and instead of pursuing my way to Lady Cecilia Urban’s, I returned to Hunter Street. I found Mr. and Mrs. Norman and Juliet still seated together in the breaktast parlour—Mr. Norman engaged with the newspaper —his wife studying apart ina new plece—and the daughter apparently reading a book, though in reality buried in her reflections. “There is a topic,’ I said, taking my seat amongst them, “ which for two or three days has not been mentioned.” “I know what you mean, dear Ellen,” said Juliet, with quivering lips: “ but ¢thaé topic, though unspoken of, has not been absent from my thoughts.” Mr. and Mrs. Norman intimated the same ; and théy all three regarded me with curiosity—for they saw by my look and manner that I had something to communicate. “Since you are all in the same mind still,” I proceeded, “ I can have no hesitation in informing you that the object may be carried out. Lam offered a card of admission to a masked ball at the Duchess of Ardleigh’s to-morrow night: Lady Cecilia Urban will be there: I will go disguised as @ gipsy: and under the pretext of telling her for- tune, will convey a warning which it must be her own fault if she neglect. I will enjoin her to secrecy: but even if she should neglect my injunc- vw = CONMIC OOK Eom