The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 232: what you’re looking at

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

210 THE COURT OF LONDON was duly made known to Venetia on the following day, and she received her instructions from Miss Bathurst, through Mrs. Arbuthnot, how to act. It was now decided that she should permit herself to become accessible to her suitors, so that by discouraging those whose turns preceded that of the prince her conduct might the more effectually pique his curiosity and rivet his interest. Thus on the Monday, which was the first day of the love-campaign, when she beheld the Earl of Curzon in the park, evidently trusting to the chapter of accidents to furnish him with some means of obtaining access to her, she purposely let her parrot loose to afford him the wished-for opportunity. He was not slow in avail- ing himself of it, and then Venetia had an occasion of playing off upon him all the artillery of those airs of haughty indigna- tion, proud defiance, and cold contempt which she had been practising for more than two months. It was a pleasure for Venetia to humble the self-sufficient nobleman who dared hope to vanquish her who was destined for a far loftier position, and she did humble him. Then, as he went away, her peals of silver laughter proclaimed her triumph. The next day was the turn of Sir Douglas Huntingdon, and as Venetia had heard his character from Horace Sack- ville, to the effect that he was a good-natured, generous-. hearted, offhand, though dissipated young man, she was resolved to treat him very differently from the Earl of Cur-. zon. Moreover, as he actually went and gave a very consider-. able sum in the purchase of Acacia Cottage and other houses, the whole being salable only as one lot, and this on purpose: to obtain a pretext for calling upon her, she felt somewhat. flattered by the compliment thus implied, and therefore, when he appeared in her presence, she treated him with the: most affable display of good temper. This amiable humour was encouraged on her part by his own conduct, for, as the reader will recollect, he frankly, and we might almost say bluntly, offered her marriage. She had therefore no reason,. as indeed she had no desire, to be offended with him; she even took a sort of liking to him, and treated him with a. good-natured raillery, which disarmed him of all possible. resentment on account of the refusal which his proposition. received. Relative to Colonel Malpas, whose turn came next, Vene-. tia had received a very different character indeed, and she Commicloooks (CO nin