The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 357: what you’re looking at

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

had been to the Palace but had failed in the accomplishment of his mission. However, there was now no help for it but to wait; and therefore, by way of a little pastime for the next hour or so, those amiable Germans sustained an incessant quarrel amongst themselves. But the result of the proceeding showed that a nicer sense of honour dwelt in the breast of the Chevalier Kadger than his friends gave him credit for: in- asmuch as at the expiration of about an hour and a half, he re-appeared with a face that was very red and very radiant. The redness arose from a strong glass of brandy-and-water of which he had partaken in the servants’ hall at Buckingham Palace; and the radiancy was derived from the complete success which had crowned his mission: so that after all, the Chevatier’s companions found they had wrongfully suspected their upright com- rade, and that he had zot turned into the nearest public-house to drink and smoke out the two shil- lings accumulated in halfpence. We now return to Buckingham Palace itself. It was verging towards midnight; and the doors of the refreshment rooms had been thrown open for those who thought fit to avail themselves of the viands and the wines, the fruits and the liqueurs, so profusely set out upon the tables. It was how- ever deemed too early for a general influx of the company to these rooms; and but few domestics remained there in attendance. The head-butler was nevertheless at his post near the sideboard; and instead of lounging there, he stood statue-like with that prim formality which had become habi- tual. Presently a solitary guest, whose form and countenance were completely concealed by a long flowing domino, strolled in a leisurely manner into the refreshment-room — surveyed the profusely covered tables through a small opening in his hood —and then seating himself, began paying his re- spects to cold chicken and ham. The butler at once let fly the cork of a bottle of champagne, which he placed upon the table near the solitary supper- eater; and the contents of that bottle speedily disappeared down the supper-eater’s throat. But it could scarcely be a matter of surprise that he required so considerable a quantity of wine, inas- much as it had to wash down a proportionate amount of food: for it was no ordinary supper of which this gentleman had partaken. He kept his hood all the time over his head, and as much over his countenance too as the process of eating and drinking would permit: but this circumstance was no source of marvel to the butler, inasmuch as he knew that the masques were to preserve their incog- vito until a prescribed hour; — and with this knowledge likewise, the other domestics in attend- ance abstained, with a becoming delicacy, from Standing anywhere in front of the supper-eater, so that they might not have the appearance of being inspired by curiosity to ascertain who he was. Having partaken of a copious repast, emptied the champagne-bottle, and finished off with a few glasses of sherry and port, the gentleman in the domino issued from the room. About twenty minutes elapsed, during which a few other guests strolled in to partake of wine or lemonade, but of nothing more substantial; and the butler was still maintaining his post at the sideboard, when he was recalled from a temporary fit of abstraction to the fact that the identical THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. 351. domino of the copious supper-eater was again in- troducing itself to his visual perception. © The worthy butler of course thought that it could be nothing more than the mere curiosity of an idle lounger stroiling in to see how things were pro- gressing in the refreshment-room: but scarcely could that same butler believe his own eyes, when he saw the domino sit down quietly at the table, and commence a vigorous attack upon the viands nearest. It required no small circumstance to shake the butler from the equillibrium of his prim formal dignity: but at this spectacle, which com- prised the rapid disappearance of a savoury pie, he certainly did look aghast. However, he had his duty to perform; and when regaining his self- possession, he lost no time in accomplishing it: Another bottle of champagne was accordingly drawn and placed on the table for the behoof of the supper-eater. The meal on this occasion was not less copious than the formey one, either in re- spect to solids or fluids; and having, as the butler thought, not merely appeased but most outrage- ously gorged his appetite, the domino departed from the refreshment-room. Three or four other guests almost immediately made their appearance ; and thus the attendant domestics had no opportunity to give verbal ex- pression amongst themselves to the wonder which they did not the less experience at the gastronomic feat achieved by the domino. At length, however, the room was once more empty; and the butler was just marvelling within himself whether the great supper-eater felt comfortable in the condi- tion of a gorged boa-constrictor—when his eyes settled on the same identical domino once more! “Surely,” thought the butler to himself, “he is never coming for a third supper ?”’—and the attendant domestics exchanged rapid glances amongst themselves with a similar significancy. But the domino in question had returned for the most substantial of purposes. Down he sate— deep was the incision which his knife made into the breast of a superb capon—ham and tongue from neighbouring dishes found their way to his plate—and when the champagne was placed by his side, he quafied glass after glass with a rapidity and a zest which seemed in perfect keeping with the gigantic magnitude of his appetite. The butler was astounded: he stared at the brilliant chandelier pendant in the centre of the room, to convince himself that he was broad awake—but he could not quite succeed in coming to a conclu- sion on the point; and still therefore he hada vague idea that he must have been dozing and dreaming—an impression which lasted for the next twenty minutes that followed the departure of the supper-eater from the room. The guests now began to make their appearance in greater numbers ; and some of them sate down at table. The butler became so occupied that his thoughts ceased gradually to dwell with so much intentness upon the incidents we have been re- lating—until all of a sudden they were again con- centrated on the same point, and with a more powerful intensity than ever, on beholding the re- appearance of the particular domino, * Good heavens!” thought the butler to himself, “is it possible that he is coming for a fourth ee) fp RD RP en or sgt oe red NE oe a supper? No—it cannot be! It is a downright physical impossibility! No human creature (C(O)INN) (C 6)(0)(0) KS nn) oA te fA ete co rt a)