The Mysteries of London; or, Lights and Shadows of London Life — page 68: what you’re looking at

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

60 ee compelled to show, of course forbid me to interpret your proposition otherwise than as referring to an arrangement that is too frequent between the distinct classes of society to which we belong, to excite much remark or reprehension, I have been forced ————— ssi too often to hear proposals—many of them less deli- licately made than your own—to doubt the esti- mate formed of our character by the world. We are to be the creatures of circumstances —to be bought as a toy for the gratification of the passing hour, and then to be sold and for- getten with as little regret as a discarded-equipage. We are supposed to have the convenient facility of transferring our affections at will to the highest bidder, and to be caught by the glitter of a coronet sooner than by the brightness of a character. Lord Walsing- bam, I am not one of these; I am deeply susceptible of kindness and attachment—where I once love I must love for ever: but pride, if no better motive prompted me, would deter me from entering into a conventional alliance that could be severed with a word, and sundered without a sigh.” “ Celestine, let me assure you that I am sincere in | the offer I have made,” replied the nobleman, slightly ——_ -- ——- --————— abashed by the spirit she had manifested, and showing in the lessened confidence of his manner the effect that this speech had produced upon him, “I have listened to you with interest, with a respectful acknow- ledgment of the right that you have thus to inquire into my future arrangements. In return, Celestine, hear me, It is my determination never to marry, but at the same time I cannot be supposed insensible to the happiness I should derive from an attachment that is constant and permanent. If you will become the mistress of this mansion, and accept with it the adora- tion of its owner, sure of his undivided homage, and secure in his fidelity, I will prove to you that our union, though anrecognised by the more precise, shall not be wanting in those conditions that combine to render such alliances happy and lasting.” “Then, my lord, I will confess to you, that from what I have heard—from all that I have seen—that if I could be induced to accept such terms, it would be to your lordship that I should yield,” said the opera-dancer, casting her eyes diffidently to the ground, where the scattered leaves of a rose that she had thoughtleasly plucked to pieces, as these words were spoken, seemed to symbolise the fate to which she had consigned herself. “Thanks, thanks, my charming Celestine, for this encouragement,” returned Lord Walsingham. “To- morrow evening, then, I shall anxiously await your decision.” Celestine timidly murmured an affirmative, and they saw advancing towards them Madame Romani, who had been loitering behind under the pretext of gather- ing a bouquet, with which she appeared, and who now interrupted farther conversation by reminding Celes- tine that there were some important purchases to be made before they returned home, and which must necessarily hasten their departure. As if utterly un- acquainted with the nature of the communication that had taken place between the nobleman and her pro- tegé, she pretended to see nothing in her heightened colour or embarrassed manner to provoke suspicion ; and the visit was soon after brought to a conclusion, without a remark being added by either of the party that could be construed into an allusion to the scene thet bad occurred in the bower. “My dear Romani,” said Celestine to her com- panion, as they were returning in the vehicle to town, rr a _. —ae ee Oe ae ee eee THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON, ee eee eee “how imprudent has been this nd with what surprise have I heard that you, with e know- ledge of the sentiments expressed by Lord Walsing- That I, who have so indignantly rejected every over- ture of the kind, should be so suddenly betrayed this—and by you!” “ You will not reproach me,” answered the .song- you should have been made acquainted before we.set forth, had I not been afraid your sensitive mind would have taken fright at the proposal. But tell me, first of all, how do you like Lord Walsingham ?” “ Oh, he is teo kind, too to believe in their excellence on your authority.” “ And what possible scruples could you have that would prevent your acceptance of such aman as a husband ?” | “Perhaps none” rejoined the danseuse; “but then it is not . husband that he has made his advances,” “It is the same thing, Celestine, in all but the name,” continued the songstress, persuasiyely, “I have my own rigid notions of strict morality, too; but not one of them wouid interfere with my acceptance of such an eligible offer as that which Lord Walsing- ham has made.” . | “You are acquainted, then, with what has passed ?” “JT can guess it pretty accurately. I can picture to myself, as soon as I had left you a few minutes to enjoy each other’s company, his avowal of an attachment that he has long urged me to reveal to you. I can fancy, first, your surprise; then your dis- trust, as he began to plead his deep devotion; and then I can understand your heart fluttering with excitement as you hesitated to grant or rejoct the favours he sued so passionately to obtain.” ** And if I held out hopes to him of to his proposal, should I not lower myself in his eyes as well as in your own?” asked the opera-dancer, * The reply that I must give,” continued Madame Romani, “ will convince you that I have far different views of your position, It was to secure you a de- sirable friend that I thus brought you to a nobleman who has wealth to make his protection valuable, and accomplishments to render his society agreeable. You are now in the zenith of a career as brilliant as it is deservedly prosperous, At present your exertions are attended with more than honours for their reward; but the current of public fayour is a most uncertain stream—one moment you may be drifting placidly along its surface, with the breath of wa you into the haven of fortune, and the next you are left by the receding of the uncertain tide, stranded and wrecked, without a helping hand for the present or a hope for the future. It was to shield you from these re- verses that I have introduced to you one whom you may love, as well as look up to for support; and if your alliance is not that which I should have wished you to form, it is only because such an alliance is not to be obtained with the only class that will give you the pre-eminence of station to which you are entitled.” mir With many such speeches, teeming with spec sophistry, did Madame Romani strive to conquer prejudices of the opera-dancer; and when the carriage 7 ‘an . 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