The Seamstress; or, The White Slave of England — page 77: what you’re looking at

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

70 . Street—and in the broad daylight!” exclaimed the Duke, now becoming interested in the matter. * Such was the fact, my lord,’ continued the _femme-de-chambre. “The young woman was dressed with the utmost neatness—a neatness that indeed was not without a certain air of elegance. In plain terms, she looked quite lady-like—and no one, who did not know her, would have suspected that she wds a mere needle-woman.” “ But at all events it is most indiscreet for my son to parade his mistress thus publicly!” ejaculated the Duke, in a tone of vexation. “Ido not for a moment believe that she is his lordship’s mistress at all,” said Clementine. “ Now your Grace is aware that the penetration of wo- man is far more keen in certain respects than that of man;—and your Grace does not require to be informed that this faculty of penetration is particu- larly acute amongst females of my nation and of my class,” added Clementine, with a smile that displayed her beautiful teeth. thanks to that faculty, I came to the conclusion, aiter watching them for some time, that the young dressmaker is not the mistress of the Marquis of Arden. I observed them narrowly, although from a distance;—and the more intently I gazed, the - more acute seemed to become my powers of pene- tration. Ah! my lord, there are a thousand little signs by which the pensioned mistress may be detected,—a myriad indications by which her posi- | tion is revealed to the keen observer! A husband’s demeanour towards his wife and a lover’s conduct | towards her whom he intends to make his wife, are | as distinct as possible from the mutual bearing of a young man and his paramour.” | “ But if the paramour be naturally modest and | reserved—and if she be sincerely attached to her | “Well, my lord, a THE SEAMSTRESS. and arrives at conclusions in such a case? The very way in which the young woman leant upon his lord- ship’s arms—the delicate tenderness and respectful admiration with which he regarded her—the manner In which she received all the little attentions that a lover lavishes upon the cherished being who is to become his wife—the total absence of aay looks of Sinister meaning,—in fine, their mutual bearing, conduct, and demeanour, all convinced me that their connexion is neither illicit nor immoral. And more. than this—I followed them as far as the Regent's | Park: —and they separated at the gate leading towards Camden Town—the Marquis not even ac- _companying her to the door of her own abode, al- | though she lives at no great distance from the spot where they thus parted.” __ “Ah! you followed her home, then?” said the Duke, interrogatively. _ Yes, my lord,’ replied the femme-de-chambre ; — “and she dwells in a small, humble, but respectable-looking house. Now, then, does your Grace think that she “is the Marquis of Arden’s mistress? Would she not have a fine lodging, if she were?—and would he not have escorted her at least to her very door? But, no—all their pro- ceedings were characterised by the strictest pro- _priety and by an unmistakable delicacy. I stopped in the neighbourhood for a few minutes to make inquiries at one of the shops;—and I learnt that the people of the house where the dressmaker dwells, are of the highest respectability, although poor—and [I also ascertained that the young woman herself bears an irreproachable character.” “What is her name?” asked the Duke of Bel- mont. “ Virginia Mordaunt,” replied Clementine. “ Ah! a sweet pretty name,” observed his Grace, lover?” said the Duke, inquiringly —although he in amusing tone. “ Bat do you really and truly was much troubled by all that had now fallen from | believe that my son contemplates such an insane the lips of Clementine. “Still is it easy to perceive that she és a para- mour,” responded the Frenchwoman emphatically. | proceeding as marriage with this obscure girl ?” _ ©T am confident that such is his lordship’s in- tention,” answered the abigail. “He is evidently ‘My lord, I watched that young couple narrowly. infatuated with her beauty ;—and when your Grace I saw them approach the window of a jeweller’s recollects that so many noblemen have married shop: and the Marquis was evidently persuading actresses and such-like women, there’s nothing his fair companion to enter it with him. Now, astonishing if the Marquis of Arden should se- when a nobleman or gentleman proposes toafemale riously propose to unite himself with a dress- to accompany him into a shop of that description, it can only be for one purpose — namely, to make her a present of whatever she may choose to select: and, under those cireumstanees, no mistress or paramour ever refuses the offer, I don’t care how sincere her love may be. But this dressmaker did refuse —and persisted in her refusal, moreover—and gained the point likewise; and, even froma distance, I was enabled to notice that this refusal was urged with a delicacy and yet with a firmness such as no pensioned mistress ever did display or will display in this wicked world of our’s.” “ You really seem to attach an undue import- ance to the veriest trifles, Clementine,” said the Duke, who was unwilling to admit even unto himself the full force of the abivail’s reasoning. “No, my lord:—I am a woman, and I observe with the eyes of a woman and judge with the expe- rieuce of a woman also,” answered the femme-de- chambre. maker.” | “The idiot!” ejaculated his Grace of Belmont. “And now that I bethink me of my son’s manner of late, I remember that it has undergone a great change. But this I attributed to certain grave and important considerations which family affairs have forced upon his mind,” continued the Duke, in a musing tone. ‘‘ Yes—his manner is changed—and ‘he has evidently grown far more steady. For | weeks past, he has returned home at regular hours —he has been much alone in his apartment—he has taken to reading—and he has refused all in- vitations to dinner-parties, balls, and svirées. Un- happy boy! does he mean to disgrace the proud name of Belmont ?” “T do not know, my lord,” said Clementine, in a tone of remonstrance, “ whether it be a disgrace for _a young nobleman to wed a female without a title: but I certainly should advise your lordship to suffer “ Besides, does your Grace imagine that | me to adopt the necessary measures to put an end I took no notice of the thousand-and-one signs by | to the connexion which the Marquis of Arden has means of which an acute observer forms impressions ' now formed.” 19)(0)(0) () (2)