Ellen Percy; or, The Memoirs of an Actress — page 394: what you’re looking at

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ELLEN PERCY; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF AN ACTRESS, without taking any farther notice of me. I heard the front door close violently ; and then I myself thought of issuing from the house; for now that I was alone, [ experienced a vague terror as I thought of the vindictive father of Felicia, the three ruffians whom he had hired to do his fearful bidding, and the horrible apparatus of the fur- nace and the searing irons. I staggered down the staircase, holding by the banisters to support my- self. My tongue was parched: I endured the agony of burning thirst—my throat seemed as if I had been swallowing ashes: I should have paused to solicita glass of water, only that I was afraid to remain any longer beneath that roof. Great was the relief I experienced when issuing forth into the fresh air; and engaging the first cab which I found unoccupied, I proceeded homeward. It was with the utmost difficulty that I could so far compose my countenance and subdue my horri- fied feelings, when again finding myself with Mary Glentworth, as to avoid exciting her sus- picion that something horrible had occurred; and when I was alone in my chamber, I gaye vent to my emotions in a long fit of weeping. CHAPTER LXV. PETERSFIELD. THREE days afterwards I received a letter from my friend Juliet; and it was with trembling hand that I opened it. The contents ran as follow :— “River House, Dover, ‘March 28, 1842. “My pEAREST ELten,—I write to you in a perfect agony of mind; and I wish to heaven that you were here to offer me your consolations, as you have on previous occasions done with a true sisterly affection when sorrows and afflictions have overwhelmed me. It was all a vile trick, that letter signed by an wnknown friend, and which took Frederick up to London. He kept the ap- pointment at King’s Cross : he waited and waited, but no one came. He was returning to his hotel in the deepest despondency—no longer daring to entertain a hope that there was any sincerity in the letter which had brought him to London— when he was destined to meet with an accident that might have proved fatal. So deeply was he absorbed in his painful reflections at having been made the dupe of so cruel a trick, that he paid no attention to the danger of walking unguardedly through the crowded thoroughfares of London. He was suddenly knocked down by some passing vehicle; and his forehead came with such violent concussion against the sharp kerb-stone that it was laid completely open. He was lified in a state of unconsciousness, and conveyed to the nearest surgeon’s, There it was ascertained that the frontal bones wére severely injured; and the scar which the wound must leave behind it, will prove indelible. Poor Frederick !—he assures me that he has suffered horribly. He returned home yesterday with a black bandage round his head, and in such a state of nervousness and mental agitation that I almost fear his very reason has receiyed a shock from which he will perhaps never 381 looks are for ever spoilt; and though I have said all I could to console him, yet he most deeply feels the calamity. He talks wildly of being com. pelled to wear a black bandage for the remainder of his life: but this I should hope and think will be unnecessary—for the appearance of a scar must prove less unsightly than a sable ribbon tied ever- lastingly over the brow. He will not suffer Mr. Singleton the surgeon to be sent for: he says that he consuJted an eminent London physician, who has given him a prescription together with all the necessary instructions for the treatment of his wound. “T cannot help thinking, dear Ellen, that I am born to experience calamity. After a brief in- terval of happiness in my marriage state I am now doomed to find my husband writhing under the sense of a sad disfigurement. I should how- ever tell you that I have not yet seen the wound; and he has earnestly entreated that I will not seek to look upon it, nor to interfere when he would fain be alone in his dressing-room to treat it according to the instructions of the London physician. I have promised to comply with all his wishes;—and indeed this is the more neces- sary as I cannot conceal from myself the fact that the occurrence has made a very strong impression upon his mind. - At his age and with his remark- ably handsome countenance it is indeed a sad thing to be so disfigured! “Yet even while I am thus writing, the idea is gradually stealing into my mind that under the wise dispensations of heaven those occurrences which we look upon as the direst calamities ‘may often turn out to our advantage. Who knows but that this incident may have the effect of rivet- ing the bonds which attach Frederick to the peaceful seclusion of the life which we are lead- ing >—who knows but that the seeming misfortune may furnish me with additional opportunities of proving my devotion to him? Yes—there is no case so desperate as to be without some species of hope; and at all events it is our duty to submit to the dispensations from above. “ Farewell for the present, my dearest Ellen; and believe me ever your sincerely affectionate friend, “ JULIET RAVENSCLIFFE.” I was by no means surprised to find that the young nobleman had concocted such a tale as that which was now communicated tome. Indeed, for Juliet’s sake, I was glad that he had discovered some means of concealing from her the terrible truth, I wrote her a letter in reply, condoling with her on her sorrows, but not committing myself to such an extent as to veil my knowledge of their actual source beneath any deliberate false- hood. In the forenoon of that same day on which I received Juliet’s letter, I was walking at no great distance from my own house, when at the corner of a street I encountered the matron-looking dame who had beguiled me to Mr. Gower’s abode. She endeavoured to pass me hurriedly, as if she did not notice my presence: but I stopped her, and at once said in a reproachful tone, “ How was it possible that you, a respectable female, and with looks which are very far from denoting a cruel disposi- completely recover. He knows that his good Com Gboo 6S Com