The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 74: what you’re looking at

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

THE MYSTERIES. he reflected that Lady Letitia Lade must have had ample time to play off the artillery of her charms upon the voluptuous Prince, or that his Royal Highness himself must have succeeded in conquering any affected seruples on her part; and, advancing on tip-toe to the door, he stooped down and peeped through the key-hole. His eye commanded a full view of the interior of that luxurious retreat ;—and, behold! the Prince and the Amazon were wading about in the same bath —disporting, like a merman and a mermaid, in the spacious pool of tepid and perfumed water, The numerous mirrors reflected and multiplied their forms—or rather their busts, which appeared above the level of the bath; and so enchantingly beautiful did Lady Letitia appear, with her black hair streaming over her shoulders of dazzling whiteness, that Tim Meagles, although he had long been on terms of the most tender intimacy with her, was for a moment annoyed at himself for hav- ing purposely brought her to Carleton House on the present occasion with the view of throwing her into the arms of the Prince. But this feeling of jealousy was as evanescent as, ander the circumstances, itwas absurd; and it was instantaneously succeeded by a lively satisfaction, as he thought to himself, “She has played. her cards admirably —and she will succeed in engross- ing the Prince’s attention during the half-hour that [ enjoined her to be sure and keep him engaged !” Thus rejoicing in the success of a pre-arranged stratagem, Tim Meagles stale noiselessly away trom the door of the bath-room; and advancing"to ‘the royal couch, he took from beneath the pillow a long, thin gold chain to which a key of very pe- culiar workmanship was attached. He then approached the writing-desk to which we have already alluded; and haying carefully opened it, he proceeded to examine several small packets of papers, which were tied round with pink riband, and bore endorsements indicative of the various matters to which they respectively referred. But while thus occupied, he more than once east an anxious look towards the door of the bath- room :—his apprehensions were not however veri- fied by any sudden interruption on the part of the Prinee. His search in the two compartments of the desk lasted for upwards of ten minutes, there being numerous packets of papers, which he examined one after the other until nearly the whole were thus disposed of—and still he had not lighted on the particular parcel which he sought. He now began to fear that it might not be in the desk at all:—and yet he knew full well that the Prince kept every document of an important or private nature there. But, as it frequently happens in such eases, the very last packet which Tim Meagles drew from the desk bore the endorsement that he had hitherto so vainly sought ; and having secured this little parcel about his person, he re-arranged all the others—locked the desk—and restored the key to its place of concealment under the pillow of the couch. For a few moments a smile of triumph played upon the lips of Tim Meagles: but it almost im- mediately yielded to that calm, free-and-easy, and independent expression which was the natural characteristic of his features. Drawing a large arm-chair close to the fire, he deposited himself 59 indolently in the luxurious seat, and lighted a cigar, In a few minutes the door of the bath-room opened, and Lady Letitia came forth, followed by the Prince. The former had resumed her male attire; but her hair, the natural gloss of which was enhanced by an artificial brilliancy in consequence of its immersion in the water, would have betrayed the fact that she had entered the bath, even if Tim Meagles were not already acquainted with it. Not a blush appeared upon the lady’s cheek—not the slightest embarrassment marked her manner, as she emerged from the voluptuous bathing-room : but Meagles turned an arch look upon the Prince, exclaiming, “ Well, are you displeased with me for having brought our Amazonian friend this morn- ing ?” “Hold your tongue, Tim,” cried the lady, laugh- ing. “Ah! [thought I smelt the delightful flavour of the weed, Lwill keep you company with a cigar, while the Prince dresses himself—-and then for breakfast. I already feel as hungry as a hunter.” * Or a huntress—which ?” observed Meagles. “Both,” replied Lady Letitia, throwing herself upon a chair opposite to her humourous friend: then, taking an elegant ivory case from the pocket of her frock-coat, she drew forth a little Spanish cigarette, which she lighted by the aid of Meagles’ full-flavoured Havannah. A quarter of an hour was thus whiled away by means of smoking and chattering ; and in the inter- val the Prince of Wales had made such improve- ments in his toilette that he now appeared in an elegant deshabillée. Germain shortly afterwards entered the room, bearing a large silver tray con« taining the breakfast-things;—and although he observed Lady Letitia and instantly recognised her, he nevertheless affected to take no more notice of her presence than if she were a phantom visible only to the Prince and Meagles. For Germain was a very discreet Frenchman: otherwise he would not have long held the post of valet intime, or rather “ confidential gentleman,” about the person of the Prince of Wales. An elegant breakfast was now served up, and to which both Lady Letitia and Tim Meagles did ample justice: but George had indulged over-night too liberally in curacoa-punch to,be able to eat with any degree of appetite in the morning. “You don’t seem to be peckish, my dear Prince,” observed Meagiles, as he committed a second and very desperate assault upon a cold partridge pie. “You made the punch too strong last night, Tim,” answered his Royal Highness. “Egad! I should have thought that the bath would have put you all to rights,” exclaimed Mea- gles, with a sly look first at the Prince and then at the Amazon. “]T shall owe you a grudge, Tim, if you indulge in any impudent allusions,” said Lady Letitia, smil- ing, and making a jest of her profligacy. “Twill be upon my good behaviour, my dear,” observed Tim. “By the bye, my dear Prince,” he continued, turning towards his Royal Highness, “ I missed you from a quarter to six to nearly half-past ten last evening——” * And you are very likely to miss me for precisely the same period this evening, Mr. Meagles,” inter- rupted the Prince, suddenly assuming a tone that had just sufficient haughtiness in it to serve as a cee i ee Com Clooolks.conn