The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 376: what you’re looking at

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

362 THE MYSTERIES seemed to array her in the brightness of a robe made of golden tissue. The low body left her polished shoulders entirely bare, and revealed sufficient of the bust to show the sculptural contours of the round, fair,and well-detached bosoms. The naked arms had a graceful curve which admirably became their per- fect modelling; and though the skirt of the shining robe was so ample, yet did its plaits and folds afford an external indication of the symmetry which it con- cealed. Thus the shape of the lower limbs might be conjectured — aye, followed and delineated by the mind’s eye, especially when the imagination was as- sisted by the exquisite conformation of the foot and ankle that peeped from beneath the satin dress. Pearls set off the purple glossiness of her luxuriant hair —and pearls also marked with their delicate tracery the roundness of her swan-like neck. Nothing could exceed the glowing appearance of the Countess of Curzon in that dark oriental loveliness which made her seem like a houri fresh from the sensuali- ties and luxuriousness of Mahomet’s paradise. All the brilliance of beauty, the grace of motion, and the seductiveness of Jook which ever combined to render woman alike charming and dangerous, now mingled all the magic of their spells wherewith to invest the Countess of Curzon. In the brilliant toilette which Editha had just achieved, she was efficiently assisted by the faithful Gertrude, her principal lady’s-maid. This young woman, who was herself exceedingly beautiful, was devotedly attached to her mistress—not merely because she was a confidant in Lady Curzon’s in- trigues, nor because she was well remunerated for her complicity, but because she really loved the Countess for her own sake, with a rare amount of disinterested affection. “Your ladyship never appeared more beautiful than you are to-night,” said Gertrude, as she threw a rich ermine cloak over the shoulders of her mistress. “J am glad you tell me so, my dear girl,” replied Editha, laughing gaily; “for 1 know that you are impartial. And now remember what Ihave told you “Your ladyship knows,” said Gertrude, with a meaning look, “that I always attend to your lady- ship’s commands.” “You do, my dear girl,” observed the Countess, tapping her caressingly on the cheek, “and you are aware that there is nothing I will not do to serve you in return. Whenever you finda husband that will suit you,’ added Editha with a gay smile, “I shall take care of your dowry.” “Oh! there is time enough to think of that,” exclaimed Gertrude. “I do not wish to quit your ladyship’s service, even to be married ——” “But you must not lend a willing ear to the idle flatteries of men,” said Editha. Wait till you are married, Gertrude, and then you can do anything —gratifying every phantasy and yielding to every whim. But in the meantime, prudence should lead you to be what the world ealls virtuous. At all events,” she added, with a gay laugh and with a look singularly full of wickedness and arch signifi- cance, “do not yield to the honied words of my husband,” “Oh! was not that farce an amusing one ?” cried Gertrude, bursting into a peel of the mer- riest laughter, while her own looks also expressed a roguish meaning. “It was better than any OF THE COURT. play at a theatre: such eqniyoques! But when will his lordship return home ?” “I do not know exactly,” responded Editha, “In a few days, I presume. He told me that he was going to France on some sudden and pressing business. Whether it be true or not, I cannot say. But ’tis now nine o’clock, and I must be off to Lady Lechmere’s.” The Countess thereupon issued forth from her boudoir, and descended the stairs with the splendid ermine cloak flowing loosely around her. When at the bottom of the staircase she looked up; and perceiving that Gertrude was leaning over the ballusters of ‘the landing above, Editha gave the abigail a parting look of deep meaning, which was responded to by one of equally vivid intelligence. Lady Curzon then entered the carriage, and was driven to Lady Lechmere’s abode in North Audley Street. The brilliant saloons of this mansion were al- ready crowded when Editha made her appearance: but amongst all the blaze of beauty and fashion there assembled, no female scion of the aristocracy was more remarkable for the loveliness of her per- son and the elegance of her attire, than Lady Curzon. Immediately on entering, she was sur- rounced by a host of admirers: and assuredly that was a moment of proud triumph for the charming patrician lady, to perceive that many rivals were deserted by their fickle gallants, who now hastened to pay their homage to herself, Lady Lechmere was a widow on the shady side of forty: and notwithstanding the disparity of their years, Lady Curzon being only six-and- twenty, the closest friendship existed between them. Amongst the brilliant company thus assembled at Lady Lechmere’s, perhaps the only one of the male sex, who could not boast of being descended either from some Norman cut-throat Baron, or from some vile harlot of the reign of Charles II, —and who could not produce a genealogical tree containing a thousand names, or a coat of arms interwoven with the mosaic work of endless quarterings,—the only man, in fact, who had no prestige of high birth, lofty rank, and proud title to recommend him to the notice of the fashionable world, was Mr. Emmerson, the bill-broker of Nicholas Lane, Lombard Street. It was true, that if he possessed an office in the dingy reg‘ons of the City, he likewise owned a splendid house at Clap- ham; and that if he had no aristocratic title to embellish his name, at all events he had the repu- tation of enjoying an immense fortune. Neverthe- less, these circumstances would not have sufficed as an introduction into the exclusive circles of the West End, had not some other influence been exer- cised in order to throw open the gilded portals of fashion to admit him within the sphere of that roseate scene of luxury. What, then, had proved the talisman to open these doors to the bill-broker of Nicholas Lane ?— what was the mysterious sesame which had pro- duced this magic effect? It was to the Countess of Curzon that Emmerson was indebted for the extraordinary privilege which he thus enjoyed. In plain terms, Editha had become his mistress! Possessed of the forged bills, Emmerson had experienced but little trouble in coercing her; and when once she had abandoned herself to him in —_—_ --—-_— _ GOmiGcdoo (C S