The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 248: what you’re looking at

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242 THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. CHAPTER XLVI. THE MILLINER. Bur in the meanwhile, let us see*what had taken place at the villa-residence of the Princess In- dora. The carriage left that house at about three o’clock in order to reach the Regent’s Park at the hour appointed to fetch Christina home; and Mark, the steward, went with it as far as Oxford Street, as he had several purchases to make on be- half of the household which he superintended. Sagoonah issued forth as if to walk in the garden; and her tall, lithe, supple form, arrayed in the white garments of an ayah, was lost amidst the avenues of embowering trees. There was a strange expression in Sagoonah’s lustrous eyes: they seemed to burn with an unearthly light;—a mingled fierceness and satisfaction hovered in their luminous depths, defying all power of description. Her lips of vivid scarlet were at first compressed * as if with the resoluteness of some settled purpose : but on reaching the extremity of the garden, where it was bounded by a close fence separating it from a field; the ayah paused to listen: and then her thin bright lips, parting with the hushed state of suspense, revealed her teeth of ivory whiteness and purity. The finely modelled bust, which the white garment only partially concealed—and which in its round and well-divided contours, unsupported by corset, resembled sculptured marble of a dusky hue—remained upheaved with that same suspense. Then she advanced through the shrubs; and looked over the fence. She perceived a female very hand- somely dressed, and carrying a large brown paper parcel in her hands, loitering about in the field. Sagoonah, on catching that female’s eye, made an imperious sign for her to advance: the woman hastened to obey it, and came close up under the fence. “Why were you not here at the moment?” de- manded the ayah angrily: and though she spoke in broken English, yet her language was perfectly comprehensible. “I was fearful of approaching too close up to the fence,” was the well-dressed female’s response : and she likewise spoke the English tongue in a manner which proved her to be a foreigner. “ And yet I sent word by your spy this fore- noon,” rejoined Sagoonah, “that you were to be here punctually at a quarter past three. However, it is of little consequence since you are here. Go round boldly to the front door—I will give you ad- mittance—you are certain to obtain an interview with her ladyship—and you must thew manage according to your own ingenuity.” As she uttered these last words, Sagoonah’s eyes flashed again with a fierce unnatural bril- liancy,—as if from the present proceeding she an- ticipated some grand triumph for herself. “Ts there nothing to be apprehended ?” inquired the female with the parcel. “ Nothing,” responded Sagoonah. “As I sent you word in the morning, the men-servants were sure to be out with the “carriage—and 1 Mark had arranged to go up into London to make pur- chases.” Having thus spoken, Sagoonah glided away from the vicinage of the fence, and re-entered the house ; while the woman with whom she had been conversing, passed round to the front door. Her summons thereat was promptly answered by Sa- goonah, who admitted her into the hall, and pre- tended to remain conversing with her a few minutes, as if to learn what her business might be. Then the ayah proceeded to the drawing-room, where her mistress was reclining upon one of the luxuriant ottomans; and with the wonted grace- ful inclination of her form when addressing the Princess, or any other person whom she had to regard as a superior, she said, “ May it please your ladyship, the milliner has called. ef “The milliner, Sagoonah ?” exclaimed Indora: “T do not expect any such person. It must bea mistake.” “Tt does not appear to be a mistake, lady,” rejoined the ayah: “for the woman speaks with the confidence of one who knows that she is right.” “Then let her come hither,’ answered the Princess; “and I will ascertain what her proceed- ing can mean.” Sagoonah bowed again, and issued from the apartment. Descending to the hall, she bent a significant look with the lustrous flashing of her eyes upon the woman who was waiting there, and whom we may as well at once announce to our reader to be none other than Madame Angelique herself. This infamous creature followed Sagoonah to the drawins-room; and as she entered the ayah closed the door behind her. Madame Angelique —who had now personally taken in hand a busi- ness for which none of her spies nor agents had hitherto appeared competent—had seen Indora. when riding in her carriage or walking in her garden; and therefore knew that she was beautiful. But now that she beheld her close, she was per- fectly amazed by the mingled grandeur and en- chanting magnificence of those charms which she thus contemplated. Nor less too was she as- tonished by the elegance, the richness, and the sumptuousness of the apartment itself. Self- possessed as the wily woman was, and generally having all her wits about her, Madame Angelique was for a few moments bewildered and astounded by the fairy scene which she beheld and the oriental houri who was its presiding genius. In- dora, with her accustomed affability, gave the woman an encouraging smile: for she perceived her astonishment, and she imagined her to be respectable. Indeed, it had not for a moment entered the mind of the Princess that the visitress could be a female of infamous description, or that she was one of those very persons against whom Mr. Redcliffe’s warning-letter was di- rected. “Tam told that you are a milliner,’ said In- dora: “but I think that there must be some mistake, as I have not sent for any one of that description.” “Your ladyship will, I hope, pardon my intru- sion,” replied Madame Angelique. “I did not tell your domestic that I was sent for: but the young woman understands English so indifferently, and I myself speak it with such little accuracy, that the error arose from these circumstances.” michbook (E©@) (E() =|