The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 221: what you’re looking at

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THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. 207 | “ A bumper to ratify that most judicious senti- | served with a half-smile, “ Mr. Sackville, am I to ment!’ exclaimed the dissipated Sir Douglas Hun- tingucii. * And now,” resumed the Marquis of Leveson, when the glasses had been filled and emptied, “it becomes my painful duty to ask our young and es- teemed friend Mr. Sackville, whether, as the husband of the Jady whose name will have to be mentioned presently, and whose image is doubtless in all our minds, he has any remark to make ere our proceed- ings continue any fartier ?” “For the moment I have only a suggestion to offer,” replied Horace, speaking in a firm tone: “ which is, that your lorship shall take the names in the order they issued from the ballot, and each shall answer yea or nay, as explanatory of the result of his suit in respect to the lady alluded to.” ‘“‘ Be it so,” said the Marquis of Leveson: “and I think the suggestion is a good one. Accord- ing to the ballot, the names stood in the following order :— Monday—The Earl of Curzon. Tuesday —Sir Douglas Huntingdon. W ednesday—Colonel Malpas. Thursday-—The Prince Regent. Friday—The Marquis of Leveson. Saturday —Mr. Sackville. According, then, to this category, I call upon the Earl of Curzon to speak first.” “fam bound to admit, frankly and candidly,” replied this nobleman, “that I experienced no suc- cess in the matter alluded to.” * Sir Douglas Huntingdon!” exclaimed the Mar- of Leveson. With equal frankness and candour, I declare that I was as unsuccessful as Lord Curzon,” an- swered the baronet. “Colonel Malpas!” exclaimed the Marquis. “My lord,” said that individual, rising from his chair, and speaking in a voice which borrowed its calmness from desperation; “ I am bound, however painful the announcement may be to any friend pre- sent,—and seeing the peculiar nature of the circum-: stances which were initiated in an after-dinner frolic, I hope there will be no loss of friendship on this ac- count,—I am bound, I say, to declare that the result of my campaign made me for the time being the happiest of men.” Having thus spoken, the Colonel resumed his chair and immediately tossed off a bumper of wine. “Let the names be called to the end of the list,” said Horace Sackville, whose face was white as a sheet, but whose voice was nevertheless marked by a firm decision. “Be it so,” exclaimed the Marquis of Leveson. “The Prince Regent!” “On my honour, as a man and a gentleman—set- ting aside my rank for the present,’ returned his Royal Highness, “J cannot boast of having been blest with the favours of the lady alluded to.” The Earl of Curzon and Sir Douglas Huntingdon exchanged rapid looks, expressive of surprise at this announcement, the truth of which they could not doubt: they therefore both fell back upon the belief that Captain Tash must have deceived them in his representation of Venetia’s visit to Carlton House. “ My own name stands next upon the list,” said the Marquis of Leveson, “and my explanation is precisely the same as that already given by his Royal Highness :”—then, after a moment’s pause, he ob- call upon you 2?” “Most assuredly,” returned Horace, his cheeks now slightly flushing, and his voice remaining im- perturbably calm. “I wooed Venetia—and I won her. She is my wife. But if Colonel Malpas can prove that previously to our wedding-day, he suc- ceeded in obtaining the favours of her whom I have thus made my wife, I cannot possibly, under the very peculiar circumstances of the case, be offended with him. Seeing, however, that so far as I am con- cerned, a love-campaign which commenced as an after-dinner frolic, has terminated in the most serious and solemn manner for myself—namely, in mar- riage,—I hope that Colonel Malpas will not stand forward to blast the reputation of my wife without having irrefragable evidence to produce in support of his assertion: and I likewise hope that you, whom I now address, will not consider that the present scene is nothing more than another act in that same after-dinner farce, but that you will treat the matter with all the solemnity and seriousness that should characterise a jury of honourable men.”’ There was atone of deep feeling in this speech which produced a visible effect upon all present: and the Earl of Curzon, now that his heart was somewhat warmed by the generous wine, was the very first to exclaim, “By heaven, Sackville, you shall have fair play!” This sentiment was echoed by the Prince Regent, the Marquis of Leveson, and Sir Douglas Huntingdon: while Malpas, whose heart was sinking within his breast, tossed off two or three glasses of wine in rapid succession. But still sustained to a considerable degree by the courage which often arises from the despera- tion of a neck-or-nothing position, he rose from his seat amidst a profound silence, and spoke as follows :— “Far be it from me to make a declaration of so serious and solemn a nature as that which I have put forth, without being enabled to substantiate it, Hitherto we have all of us been apt to deal lightly enough with the reputation of women; and we should doubtless have continued to do so in the pre- sent instance, were it not that the lady in question has recently married one of our party, and that the husband himself is present. I will make no lengthy comment upon what I may term the im- prudence, if not the actual indelicacy, of Mr. Sackville appearing amongst us under existing circumstances: but I cannot help adding that whatever statements he may now hear to shock his feelings, he himself to some extent courts the feelings they are thus calculated to excite.” He paused for a few instants; and those who glanced furtively at Horace Sackville, saw that he was evidently labouring under the influence of emotions which he had some little trouble to re- strain. His cheeks had a hectic flush, like that of fever, upon them—his eyes were fixed, but un- naturally bright—and his lips were firmly com- pressed. His whole appearance indicated the inevitable bursting forth of a terrific storm: it was the yoleano as yet sleeping, but surrounded by the fever-heat that preludes an explosion. “IT will now proceed to my proofs,” resumed Malpas, who alone mistook Sackville’s ominous looks and guarded silence for the evidences of a crushed and broken spirit. “ You are aware that my day for the love-campaign was a Wednesday. me GC OMIGIIOOKSTEO