The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 176: what you’re looking at

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

170 upon all that had occurred—for he certainly felt but little inclination for sleep. CHAPTER XXXITII. LETTICE RODNEY. It was about nine o’clock in the morning following the night of which we have been speaking, that Lettice Rodney awoke in a chamber around which her eyes slowly wandered with an expression as if she were not over well satisfied with her quarters. It was a large room, furnished in an antiquated style, and of gloomy aspect,—though some recent preparations had evidently been made to give it an air of comfort. The latticed windows were small; the ceiling was low; the walls were of wainscot ; the chairs were of a dark wood, massive and heavy. The same might be said of the bed- stead: but the bedding materials themselves were all new ; and these, together with the draperies, were of a superior quality to the other appoint- ments of the chamber. It was this cireumstance which indicated how recent arrangements had been made to render the place more habitable than it would otherwise have been. Lettice Rodney awoke, as we have said, at about nine o’clock: and Jooking around her, she seemed smitten with the gloom of her quarters, In a few minutes, however, when she grew more com- pletely awake, a smile appeared upon her exceed- imely handsome countenance, as she murmured to herself, “But, after all, it is @ ehange and a novelty; and I am to be most munificently re- compensed P” | She raised herself up in the couch—rested her elbow upon the pillow-—-and sustained her head with her hand. In that position she would have formed an admirable study for the pencil of an artist. No corset now imprisoned the contours of her shape, which therefore took their own natural and voluptuous developments. Her glossy brown har floated negligently over the hand which sus- tained her head, and over the shoulders which were covered with the snowy night-dress. Pleasure and dissipation had not marred the gorgeous beauty of her form; the rounded and full undulations of the bust retained their proper position, as if all the freshness of youth had remained associated with the exuberant charms of a superb womanhood. The gweeping length of her limbs was delineated by the bed-clothes: all the flowing outlines of her form were traceable, and could be followed by the eye, if an observer had been present. The semi-languor which accompanies the first few minutes of the morn’s awakening, gave a certain expression of sensuous: ness to her countenance,—or rather softly deepened teat which if habitually wore. She was a splendid creature, well-grown and fresh coloured; but the fulness of her contours stopped short just at that degree of luxuriance when they touched upon embonpoint—while the hue upon her cheeks was not the ruddiness of the rustic hoyden, but the carnation glow upon a finely grained skin. Ler lips were of coral redness—habitually moist—and seeming to invite fervid kisses, as well as to be enabled to give them back with a kindred ardour, THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT, Her teeth were somewhat large, but of ivory white- ness and faultlessly even: her nose was straight— her forehead high. It has already been stated that she was about two-and-twenty; and since the age of fifteen had she dwelt under the evil auspices of Madame Angelique. Her temperament was naturally luxurious: she had fallen an easy victim to the wiles of that abominable woman; and as she was an orphan, she had no happy home to regret. On the contrary: of the four females whom we introduced to the reader at the milliner’s establishment, Lettice was the one least accessible to remorseful feelings, and most inclined to abandon herself fully and completely to the mode of ex- istence she was pursuing. She lay half-reclining upon her pillow in that apartment around which her: eyes wandered by no means lovingly at first:. yet, as we have seen, she consoled herself quickly enough for this change in her quarters, by the reflection that there was novelty in it, and that she was embarking in some adventure which would remunerate her well, though she as yet scarcely comprehended the pre- cise nature of the services required at her hands. While she lay thinking, the door opened slowly ; and an old woman, with trembling limbs, and head shaking as if it were palsied, made her appearance. She was followed by a buxom-looking young girl of about seventeen, and who was the old woman’s granddaughter. This girl carried a large deal box, which was corded, and which she set down upon the floor. i —® “Ah! then,” said Lettice, as she beheld the box, “‘some one has been this morning ?” “Wo, maam—it was in the middle of the night,” answered the old woman: and in a mys- terious manner, she added, “It was the Duke himself, together with a young gentleman. His Grace told me yesterday morning—as I think I mentioned to you, ma’am—that I was to sib up, as it was most likely some one would be calling.” “T must have slept soundly enough, Mrs. Nor- wood,” observed Lettice: “for I heard no noise of doors opening. I shall get up now. And Pheebe,” she added, addressing herself to the girl, “see that -you get me the best breakfast you can possibly accomplish. But, dear me, what a place this is— so lonely and desolate !’’ “Ah! it was once thriving enough, ma’am,” — said Mrs. Norwood, “when the late farmer had * it bP] “ And how long has the place been in this con- | dition ?” inquired Lettice. “Oh! upward of the last twelve months, or so,’ responded the old woman. ‘“ His Grace’s bailiff let me and my granddaughter live here for nothing, just to keep the rooms aired and take eare of the furniture, till some new tenant comes. You see, ma’arn, the person who had it last, was a bachelor; and he went on at such a pace he soon got ruined and was sent to gaol for debt, where he died of a fever brought on by hard drinking. There was more than a year’s rent owing; and so his Grace’s bailiff kept the furni- ture in the house. All the farm stock was sola off; and now there isn’t.so much as a hen to lay an egg. -However, thanks to’ bis Grace’s libe- rality, there. is everything in the place to make ou comfortable, ma’am, while you are here,” ' The old woman withdrew, followed by her grand- 0)(0)0) (C(O) S (C(O)