Madame d'Ivry came in a dress of stupendous splendour, even
more brilliant than that in which Miss Ethel had figured at the last
assembly. If the Duchess intended to ecraser Miss Newcome by the superior
magnificence of her toilet, she was disappointed. Miss Newcome wore a
plain white frock on the occasion, and resumed, Madame d'Ivry said, her
role of ingenue for that night.
During the brief season in which gentlemen enjoyed the favour of Mary
Queen of Scots, that wandering sovereign led them through all the paces
and vagaries of a regular passion. As in a fair, where time is short and
pleasures numerous, the master of the theatrical booth shows you a
tragedy, a farce, and a pantomime, all in a quarter of an hour, having a
dozen new audiences to witness his entertainments in the course of the
forenoon; so this lady with her platonic lovers went through the complete
dramatic course,--tragedies of jealousy, pantomimes of rapture, and
farces of parting. There were billets on one side and the other; hints of
a fatal destiny, and a ruthless, lynx-eyed tyrant, who held a demoniac
grasp over the Duchess by means of certain secrets which he knew: there
were regrets that we had not known each other sooner: why were we brought
out of our convent and sacrificed to Monsieur le Duc? There were frolic
interchanges of fancy and poesy: pretty bouderies; sweet reconciliations;
yawns finally--and separation.
Pages:
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833