The Seamstress; or, The White Slave of England — page 46: what you’re looking at

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

THE SEAMSTRESS. 39 Lavenham turned abruptly from the dock—the | charm of her external graces: but the other re- ___ushers and policeman cleared the way for his egress sembled Eve while yet in the garden of Eden and —and he hastened out of the court, as if he were anxious to escape from the gaze of those who thronged in such numbers there. CHAPTER XII. MUTUAL CONFIDENCE. It was about a week after the occurrences just re- lated ;—and if we peep into Miss Barnet’s chamber, one evening at about six o’clock, we shall find that young person and Virginia Mordaunt seated at the tea-table, where the former naturally presided in her quality of hostess. For she had invited the seamstress to pass the evening with her and have a pleasant chat ;—and inasmueh as Virginia had been toiling hard for the last three or four days with the work that she obtained through Miss Barnett’s good offices, she was not sorry to indulge in a few hours’ recreation. The tea-table presented an appearance of neatness harmonizing with the general aspect of Miss Bar- net’s chamber. The metal tea-pot was polished to a degree that made it look like silver: the cups and saucers, sugar-basin, and milk-jug were arranged with due precision upon the tray;—and a new cotiage-loaf, a seed-cake, and a small pat of fresh butter constituted the fare. A cheerful fire blazed in the grate: the curtains were drawn over the window ;—and the mellow light shed by a candle- lamp in the middle of the table, enhanced the air of humble comfort which characterised the room. As Virginia glanced around, she could not help envying Julia the possession of such a neat abode: that is to say, she did not experience the sentiment of envy in,its evil meaning—iuch less was she jeal- ous of the comparative prosperity of her friend ;— - but she wished that she herself was as comfortably situated. Not but that she still entertained some very distant misgivings relative to the source of this prosperity,—misgivings as vague and undefinable to her comprehension as the unknown terrors of those presentiments of evil which so frequently steal into the human mind without any apparent cause. Be- sides, Virginia was of so candid, pure, and confiding anature, that she could not easily be induced to think ill of one who had behaved so kindly to her ; —and she therefore did all she could to hush those uncertain suspicions which nevertheless, and in despite of herself, continued to float dreamily in her mind, but without making any vivid impression, The contrast between those two young females was assuredly great, and might now be especially noticed, seated as they were alone together in friendly companionship. The one was the personi- fication of a luxurious sensuousness: the other was the impersonation of the tenderest sensibilities ;— the one was a glowing, ardent, impassioned Hebe- like creature, whom the libertine would covet as a mistress: the other was a retiring, bashful, in- genuous, and Sylphide being, whom the true acimirer of woman’s angelic qualities would glory to make his wife:—the one was a true descendant of Eve after the Wall, when the diadem of innocence and immortality had been dashed from the brow of the mother of the human race, leaving her the only ee ee sss" Steserssseenstnnesns stee before the forbidden fruit had stained the virginal purity of her lips. Such were the different and antagonistic lights in which Julia Barnet and Virginia Mordaunt were to be regarded, —the former calculated only to minister to the luxurious longings of the man of pleasure —but the latter adapted to become the ornament, the honour, and the happiness of a good man’s home. Whether the virtues of our orphan heroine will conduct her to that enviable destiny, will appear in the sequel. Miss Barnet did the honours of her tea-table in the most friendly manner. She was a young woman without any ridiculous affectation: and she did not look down with the air of a patroness upon the orphan seamstressswhem she was entertaining in her comfortable room. If she despised anything in reference to Miss Mordaunt, it assuredly was not her poverty—but her virtue: and as she contem- plated the sweet countenance which was impressed with an air of innocence as natural as that of a child, she thought within herself that the poverty of the young seamstress would not be long ere it broke down every barrier that protected the virtue! ‘Now that we are seated so comfortably and in such a friendly manner together, my dear Virginia,” said Miss Barnet, when the repast was concluded, “you shall tell me as much as you choose relative to your past history. For you are so young to be an orphan and so completely friendless in the world: although, be it understood, my dear girl, I mean to prove a friend to you to the utmost of my power——” “You have already, Julia,’ observed our heroine, hastily wiping away the tears which had begun to trickle down her cheeks at the mention of that orphan state the bitterness of which she had been doomed to feel so keenly. ‘Had it not been for you, I do not know what would have become of me. But you were asking me concerning my earlier history; and the friendship you have testified towards me, merits my fullest confidence. Listen, then—and I will enter upon a narrative which has so many features of varied interest for me, dull and tedious as it may perhaps appear to you.” *On the contrary,’ exclaimed Miss Barnet, draw- ing her chair closer towards the fire;—“I am certain to sympathise with you in any feelings that the details of your history may engender, bavause I already entertain a very sincere friendship for you. And now proceed, my dear girl: I am all attention.” “My father died when I was quite an infant,” began Virginia; ‘‘and my mother neyer mentioned to me the station of life which he filled. She never spoke of him of her own accord: and if I occasion- ally ventured a question upon the subject, she would reply laconically and immediately direct the con- versation into another channel. And very, very seldom was it that I ever did recur to that topic: for she was an excellent, kind, and indulgent parent towards me—and I would not for worlds have wil- fully caused her the slightest affliction. I was her only child—and she loved me tenderly. Three years have elapsed since she was snatched away from me—and at the time of her death I was only fifteen. But, though too young to be thus aban- LI, ; 4 comicbooks: (E(0)