Ellen Percy; or, The Memoirs of an Actress — page 99: what you’re looking at

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86 ELLEN PERCY; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF AN ACTRESS, esaled by the drapery which hung around the Bower part of the bed. i thrust it aside—and be- fruld the poor dog lying dead. X snatched it up to satisfy myself that life was fndeed extinct; and on finding that it was so, I was greatly distressed; for I knew what a fa- vourite the little animal was with Lady Lilla Essen- dine. Taking it with me, I descended the stairs, and showed the dead animal to her ladyship. Al- though I had expected that she would be much afflicted, yet I certainly was not prepared for so great an effect as that which the incident produced upon her. Her naturally pale countenance became s0 deadly white that methought she was about to swoon again; and for several moments she gasped as if battling convulsively against the sensation of returning faintness. I quickly gave her a bottle of volatile salts, which I had brought with me as a precaution; and it suddenly seemed to revive her. She however insisted on seeing the poor dog buried under a rose-tree in the garden before we set out for our drive; and this was speedily accomplished by the footman. For the remainder of that day Lady Lilla con- tinued dull and languid; and when night came I begged that she would permit me to sleep with her, or that she would allow her maid to occupy the sofa in the room. But she would not accede to either of these requests, and all I could elicit from her was a promise that she would not hesitate to call me if she felt the least indisposed during the night. When alone in my own chamber, I remembered for the first time since the occurrence of the inci- dents, that strange answer which the lady’s-maid had given me in respect to the place adjoining her mistress’s chamber, and which I haa until then fancied to be a dressing-room. As I have already said, I had on a few previous occasions been in Lady Lilla’s chamber, but never in that little inner room: nor did I recollect that I had ever once seen the door open except during the preceding night when Lilla emerged thence. But then I had not so much as caught a glimpse of the interior of that room, for she had immediately closed the door behind her. "Without being at all prone to attach undue importance to events that might be trivial, nor to envelope them in a mystery suitable only for the pages of a romance,—I nevertheless could not help thinking that there was something strange in the fact that Lilla’s own maid should not have access to a place that would at least want occa- sional sweeping and cleansing, even though it was without an article of furniture. I have spoken of it as a little room, because by the configuration of the house and the position of the adjacent chambers (Lilla’s and the spare bed-room) I could form a tolerably accurate idea of its dimensions. It was on the side of the house, and had a window at which I remembered to have observed from the outside that there were red curtains with broad yellow binding. ‘With such handsome draperies it was scarcely to be supposed that the little room was otherwise unfurnished; and therefore if it were furnished, did it not require the occasional care of a domestic P These questions I asked myself; and trivial though they may seem, they nevertheless bewil- dered me. I liked Lady Lilla—I may say that I loved her; for she was a sister in her kindness to- wards me. How I hated, therefore, all these mye- teries, great or insignificant, which at every point appeared to invest the circumstances attending her! But still I thought to myself I was foolish to attach such importance to this new mystery of the room which always remained locked: for who could tell but that the solution thereof, if known to me, would be as simple as that of the riddle which puzzles one for a moment, but which when solved, makes one almost angry with one’s-self for not having guessed itP Perhaps that room wasa sort of sanctum where Lilla kept valuable jewels or family relics, which she did not choose to be inter- fered with or inspected by her servants? Still my curiosity was piqued; and while again wishing that no mystery of any kind attached itself toa being in whom [I felt so deep an interest, I sank into slumber. | A week passed without any incident worthy of the slightest note; and during this interval Lady Lilla Essendine recovered her wonted health and spirits. But before I continue-the thread of my narrative, L should remark that we had discoursed together on the death of the favourite little dog; and Lilla expressed her belief that the instinct of the faithful animal had made it aware that she was in a very dangerous state at the time, and that it had died of sheer grief. She opened a volume of natural history to illustrate her argument by seve- ral extraordinary instances of canine fidelity; and I therefore arrived at the same conclusion as that which she had already formed. I have said that a week passed since her lady- ship’s illness; and during this period I called upon the Normans, whe had received fresh letters from Juliet. . There was likewise one for me; and the tenour of all of them argued most favourably fora belief in her perfect happiness. I called likewise upon Melissa Harrison, whose health was by this time somewhat improved,—though she despaired of complete recovery; and she was forbidden the hope of returning to the stage. I compelled her to accept pecuniary succour from me; and nothing could exceed the gratitude of the unfortunate young woman. The incident which I am about to relate, oc- curred during the night of the day following my visit to Miss Harrison. Lilla and I had dined alone together; and a little before eleven o’clock we retired to our respective chambers. I soon fell asleep ; and my slumber, as it subsequently trans. pired, had lasted about two hours when I was startled up by that alarm which next to the cry of “ Murder!” is the most terrible of all cries: namely, that of “ Fire!” Fora moment I thought it must be merely a wild dream: but the next in- stant that hope was banished; for there was the quick rush of footsteps overhead—and the voice of the lady’s-maid was shrieking forth the dire alarm upon the landing. I rushed from my chamber; and at the same moment Lady Lilla Hssendine made her appearance on the other side. The ter- rible truth was quickly ascertained; the draperies of the lady’s-maid’s bed were ina blaze: the foolish young woman had been reading by candle-light— and had fallen asleep, only to awake to find her room in a conflagration ! The men-servyants, having huddled on a few clothes, rushed to the burning chamber in the hope of extinguishing the fire: but they quickly Gomicbook ¢om