8 4 * * ft * * * * *
* j. * * JML * * )&. * * JML * * ^
_y_ _^_ _y _^_ .yr
****
i * * *
* JB, * ^K. #
*
* * *
&
* *
*
V
JR. *
ft * ,(% e J8L *
- * *
;
* *
JH
rma
* * dSL * ' JR.. * J&.
**
* * jfflfc. * JBt. * A.
A. *
* iSfe. *
>**
tJ
JH.
I
MEMOIRS
FEMME DE CHAMBRE.
A NOVEL.
BY THE
COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
RICHARD BBNTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
1846.
MEMOIRS
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE.
CHAPTER I.
WE live in an age when to write memoirs is
almost as common, if not quite as easy, as to
read them. It is the knowledge of this fact
that gives me courage to attempt the task I
have imposed on myself, and should I fail in
executing it, I shall have at least achieved my
principal object, that of noting down events from
which some moral may be drawn, some warning
taken. The sentiments and opinions of a person
who has filled only a position generally deemed
so subaltern a one, as that of a Femme de
VOL. I. B
2 MEMOIRS OF
Chambre, may be considered beneath the notice
of grave and highly polished readers ; but she
who has been brought in close contact and
daily association with individuals of her own
sex, allowed to possess cultivated minds, and
placed in the highest class, must be indeed
peculiarly dull and unobservant if she has not
profited by such advantages, and has not
become able to draw inferences, and to form
comments on what she has witnessed. Who
will deny that the Memoirs of Madame de
Motteville furnish some entertaining and in-
structive anecdotes ancUinformation relative to
herroyal mistress, Anne of Austria, the suspected
wife of Louis XIII. ? and without the Memoirs
of Madame de Stael, formerly Mademoiselle de
Launay, of how many amusing facts connected
with her haughty mistress, the Duchess de
Maine, should we have remained ignorant ? I do
not presume to institute any comparison between
Mesdamesde Motteville, de Stael, and my humble
self; far be such vanity from me. I only name
them to illustrate a hypothesis which I would fain
advance, namely, that no one, not even a parent,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 6
a husband, or the most intimate friend, can have
the same opportunities of studying the charac-
ter, disposition, temper, and peculiarities of a
lady, as has her Femme de Chambre, who sees
not only her person, but also her mind en desha-
bille. Well and truly has it been observed by a
clever writer, that no man is a hero to his
Valet de Chambre. As well, and as truly may
it be asserted, that no woman is a heroine to her
personal attendant. How interesting then must
be the study in the dressing rooms of persons
who are seen by the world only in full costume,
with their manners as Scrupulously got up for
the occasion as is their dress, both calculated to
produce the most advantageous effect in society,
and laid aside when in the privacy of the
chambre de toilette, that sanctuary, where no
concealments can exist. Having, as I hope,
established my hypothesis that Femmes de
Chambre can best know their mistresses, and
proved, if I may be permitted to parody two
lines of Pope, that
" They best can paint them,
Who have dressed then most ;"
B 2
4 MEMOIRS OF
I will commence by giving some account of my-
self, for it strikes me that a certain knowledge
o
of an Author is always necessary in order that
more confidence should be placed in his or her
productions, and more allowance made for their
defects.
I am the daughter of a man, who filled for
some years the anomalous situation of private
secretary, and sur-intendant de maison, to a
nobleman of large expenditure and small means.
I use the word anomalous, because my father
possessed all the confidence of his employer,
which could be accorded to the most trusted
friend ; yet, had to perform services which no
friend could be charged with, and from which
many menials w T ould have recoiled. The well
educated secretary, whose province it was to
write and copy letters of great importance in
more than two languages, his employer holding
a high official appointment, had also the painful,
and often humiliating task to perform, of sooth-
ing angry creditors, conciliating suspicious len-
ders of money, and making a small sum cover as
large a surface of debt, as gold-beaters do their
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 5
thin leaf, which they draw out to so wonderful
an extent. He was an excellent Chancellor
of the Exchequer of his needy master, and
an adept in the difficult art of keeping up
appearances when any one, with less tact, would
have let the nakedness of the land be seen.
Was a dinner to be given, a ball or concert to
be got up, when the funds were so low that no
sovereign could be found in Lord Willamere's
purse, although his royal Sovereign smiled
most graciously on him whenever opportunity
offered, Stratford, so was my father named,
was told to manage some way or other to find
money for those who would no longer furnish
things on credit, and to talk over those who were
less obdurate, to add some more items to their
already long bills. Musicians and singers, he
has often been heard to say, were the most un-
manageable persons he had to deal with. They
would insist on ready money, especially those
amongst them who had established reputations,
and high salaries at the Italian Opera ; and these
were precisely the persons whom Lord Willa-
mere desired most should perform at his concerts,
MEMOIRS OF
Many has been the Casta Diva, who, in spite
of all the honied words addressed to her by
Mom. le Secretaire, in order to coax her either to
moderate her demands, or to give credit to his
Lord for the payment of her extravagant ones,
who has uttered refusals in a louder and harsher
tone, than was ever ventured on in the most
termagant roles before the public, and who has
insisted on being paid in advance with gold for
her notes.
Many have been the rising singers, whose
fame had not yet been stamped by fashion, and
who consequently would have been content
with a trifling remuneration, who sung at
concert after concert at Lord Willamere's with-
out receiving any, lured by the delusive hopes
that their names figuring in the papers, as
having appeared there, might lead to a com-
mand from royalty, or future paid engagements.
My father dared not reveal to those poor
artistes how little chance there was of his Lord's
advancing their interests ; or how tenacious he
was of never interfering in the patronage of
those appointed to arrange concerts at "the
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 7
Castle at Windsor," or at " the Palace ;" yet it
pained him to permit them to remain in error*
and to see them incurring expense they could
but ill afford, in order to be well-dressed at
Lord Willamere's concerts, whenever the prima
donnas of the day inexorably refused to sing at
them. Lenders of money were lured to grant
loans, by hopes held out of good situations
to be procured for their relations ; and credir
tors were soothed by similar promises. My
Lord Willamere, too, was a bachelor, exceed-
ingly good-looking, and with very captivating
manners, two advantages, which, joined to his
high rank and fashion, led all those interested
in his welfare to believe that he must inevitably
marry some rich heiress, whose wealth would
enable him to pay off all his debts. Hence,
never did one of those poor victims, almost
always sought for their gold, appear in the
metropolis, that she was not selected by the
creditors of Lord Willamere as his bride, and
each of these delusive hopes was the cause of
a prolongation of their patience, and of his
lordship's bills.
MEMOIRS OF
The suavity of his manner, and easiness
of his temper, had attached his secretary to
Lord "Willamere ; and although he saw much
to censure in the reckless extravagance of his
employer, and his utter carelessness of the
sufferings or ruin of those who trusted him,
he nevertheless had so fascinated my father,
that he would have made any sacrifice rather
than abandon him.
The secretary often accompanied his lord to
Altonbury Castle, the seat of the marquis of
that name, who had married Lord Willamere's
only sister. He there saw my mother, who
was a governess to Lady Altonbury's children,
became captivated by her ' beauty and gentle-
ness, and, after a courtship of some length,
protracted by the consciousness of their mutual
poverty, and state of dependence, and the
dread of entailing increased difficulties on
each other, they, hopeless of any amelioration
in their circumstances, took the desperate step
of marrying. My mother, like her husband, was
an orphan with no near relations, so there was
no one to consult on the step they were about
A FEMA1E DE CHAMBRE. 9
to take no one to warn them of its conse-
quences. Lord Willamere, who felt he could not
do without my father, made a merit of neces-
sity, and told him, when the approaching event
was announced to him, that if he were deter-
mined to marry a portionless bride, an act of
folly, however, which he most gravely coun-
selled him against, he would grant his sanction
to his bringing his wife to "Willamere House.
Mrs. Stratford might make herself useful in
superintending the domestic arrangements, and
checking the imposition of the housekeeper and
housemaids; nay, as Lady Altonbury had in-
formed him she wrote a fine hand, and was a
proficient in French, German, and Italian, she
might be made serviceable in copying out the
foreign correspondence. My father's poverty
left him no alternative, and my mother entered
on a life of painful dependence, with all the
humiliation, but not the salary, of a servant.
My father's was indeed a laborious and un-
happy life. The only son 'of a poor curate,
who half-starved himself to send him to college,
and who only lived long enough to see him
B 3
10 MEMOIRS OF
become a good scholar, the poor young man
found himself wholly dependent on those in
the college who could speak personally of his
character ' and acquirements. Through the
recommendation of one of these, a man of
considerable influence, he entered the house of
Lord Willamere, fully convinced that one who
held so high an official appointment could not
fail to have an opportunity of remunerating
his services : and faithfully and conscientiously
he determined they should be fulfilled, trust-
ing that he might eventually look forward to
some situation offering a modest competency.
Too inexperienced to name a salary for his
services, he went on from year to year, re-
ceiving now and then, sums of ten pounds, as
instalments of the allowance, the precise amount
of which had never been specified ; the receipt
of which small payments, however, he had
always carefully noted, calculating on deduct-
ing them from the gross amount he was to
have whenever a day of reckoning came.
This so much wished-for day, however, never
arrived. Lord Willamere never had a moment's
'A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 11
time to look into his own personal or household
expenditure, much less to come to a settlement
with his secretary ; and the delicacy of senti-
ment of the said secretary, added to his perfect
knowledge of the many claims on his lord, and
the very small means for meeting even a
quarter of them, prevented his urging his own
interests, or even reminding his employer of
the pecuniary embarrassments in which he con-
tinually found himself. If ' Lord Willamere
ever bestowed a thought on the position of his
secretary, and it is doubtful if he ever found
time for it, so occupied was he in finding ex-
pedients to meet the difficulties of his own, he
probably consoled himself by thinking that
" Stratford could rub on some way or another.
His tradesmen would certainly give credit to his
secretary, the person through whom all his pay-
ments were made. Yes, Stratford was sure to
get on; and then, persons like him could live
for so little, that they could not be exposed to
the annoyances that attend men of high rank
with fortunes inadequate to meet the demands
entailed by their station."
12 MEMOIRS OF
Those with large establishments are more
disposed to underrate, than overrate, the pecu-
niary wants of persons in subordinate situations.
They seldom reflect that regularity in pay-
ments, so essential to the well-being of all
classes, becomes doubly necessary to those with
limited means ; and that no degree of economy,
however scrupulously exercised, can ward off
the ruinous results of an ill-paid income.
Obliged to be almost constantly in Wlllamere
House, to be ready to attend his lord's sum-
mons, it was deemed expedient that my father
should reside altogether there. His repasts,
and he took care that they should be as frugal
as possible, were furnished in the mansion by a
fille de cuisine) whose skill in the culinary
department he rarely taxed more than in the
cooking of a couple of mutton chops or a beef
steak with some potatoes ; and his solitary meals
were any thing but luxurious or cheerful.
They who bask in the sunshine of fortune,
with enjoyments courting them on every side,
can form but a faint notion of the intensity
with which the poor and lonely cherish affec-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 13
tion, that first cordial drop in the bitter cup of
life, which has cheered, and made them forget
its former unpalatableness. To be no longer a
solitary being on earth, unloved, uncared for,
wearing away existence in the monotonous
routine of uninteresting duties, is almost to be
happy ; but to be warmly, fondly loved, and by
a creature, too, gifted with no common mind, as
well as no ordinary share of beauty and accom-
plishment, was indeed bliss. No wonder, then,
that my father forgot his dependent state, his
contracted means, prudence every thing but
that he loved, and was beloved; and without
a home, however humble, which he could call his
own, wedded; and, by Lord Willamere's per-
mission, brought his bride to Willamere House.
His lordship had never been so much struck
with her beauty, as when, on his return home
a few days after his secretary's marriage,
he presented himself in the small sitting room
assigned for her use, to offer his congratulations,
and express his hope that she would make
herself at home and comfortable. There are
many men who never think of sin till an oppor-
14 MEMOIRS OF
tunity of committing it with facility, if not
with impunity, seems to be afforded to them.
" Egad," thought Lord Willamere, as he left
the meanly furnished and small room inhabited
by my mother, " I never remarked how very
handsome Stratford's wife is before. I know
no woman in the society in which I live, who is
half so beautiful. The fellow has devilish good
taste, I must acknowledge. My libertine
friends will congratulate me on having so fair
an inmate, and all my denials will never con-
vince them that / had nothing to say to arrang-
ing this marriage, or that I do not feel a more
than common interest in Mrs. Stratford. And,
by Jove, it will be very difficult not to feel
a more than ordinary interest in her. Having
so pretty a woman thrown in one's way, as it
were, brought into my very house, and without
any contrivance whatever of mine; yes, the
temptation might prove too strong for a wiser
man than I am, where a beautiful woman is in
question, and I fear will be too great for me.
Well, Stratford must blame himself if any
thing should happen. It will be his own
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 15
fault for bringing her into my house. How-
ever innocent our acquaintance may be, the
goodnaturecl world will be sure to think the
reverse, and Mrs. Stratford's reputation will
suffer as much, as if she were blameable;
and, apres tout, when a woman's reputation
is injured, I don't see why / need be so scru-
pulous of seeking the good fortune for which
I shall be sure to have the credit! I am
tired of the Duchess. She really is so over-
loving, so exigeante, that a jealous wife of my
own could not be more ennuyeuse than this
wife of my friend. Yet, hang me if I would
not rather injure any man of my acquaintance
than poor Stratford. He is so gentleman-like
in his feelings, so refined in his habits, and so
delicate about asking for money. I almost
wish he had not thrown this temptation in my
way.
" What fools married men are ! They always
lay the foundation of their wives' fall. Look at
every trial occasioned by conjugal infidelity,
and one will find that it was the > husband who
established between some one of his dissolute
16 MEMOIRS OF
friends, and his wife, the most dangerous of
all habits, that of allowing him to become Vami
de la maison, whose daily visits and constant
attendance have often brought the lady's name
into disrepute before aught more than appear-^
ances could be urged against her. The poor
woman finds herself the town talk before she
dreamt of evil. The foolish husband, convinced
of the innocence of his w r ife, and the sincerity of
his friend, vows that lie will not be bullied by the
world into breaking off an intimacy that has
become necessary to his comfort. The wife's
mind, by slow, perhaps, but by sure degrees,
gets accustomed to the notion of having her
name coupled with Lord A, or Mr. B. Lord A
or Mr. B begins to think it a folly to let the
world talk without cause, and opportunity, that
bane to virtue, leads from imaginary to real
guilt.
"O ye unhappy husband ! knew ye your danger
as we bachelors and hommes de bonnes fortunes do,
how would ye eschew permitting such dangerous
intimacies beneath your roofs ! How would ^e
shun the insidious friend, who begins by making
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 17
himself agreeable to both husband and wife, by
breaking the monotony of their conjugal tete
a tetes, and ends by destroying every vestige of
affection between them.
" But here I am moralizing on the fate of
husbands in general, even while meditating an
injury on one in particular. Strange folly, is
it not, that men who as bachelors have had
personal experience of the consequences which
too frequently result from the weakness of
husbands in exposing their wives to temptation,
should fall precisely into the same error when
they become Benedicts ? This does seem strange
and unaccountable ! but the cause may be traced
to the want of reason men betray in the selection
of their wives. They marry only for beauty,
or for fortune. The beauty is loved and treated,
for a short time, as a mistress, then slighted as
a wife. Her society becomes irksome, her con-
sciousness of the change in her husband's feel-
ings, and few have the delicacy or kindness to
conceal such changes, wounds and offends her ;
reproaches, sullenness, or low spirits ensue.
His home is no longer agreeable, and he is glad
18 MEMOIRS OF
to call in the aid of some pleasant friend, to
render it less intolerable. One folly leads to
another, until the husband rushes into a court of
law, to have an evaluation made by twelve
honest men, of the loss he has sustained in his
wife's affection and society, both of which he
was, in all probability, heartily tired of; or if,
more patient and enduring, he submits to his fate
without seeking redress from the law, he must
be content with being pointed at, poor easy
man, as a fool, who is imposed on, or as a
wretch who connives at the guilt of his wife,
and his own dishonour.
" It is this knowledge of life, that is, life in the
world in which I live, that has caused me to be
a bachelor at Hang it, I hate to mention
the precise age at which I have arrived. I
certainly don't look so old," and Lord Willamere
glanced complacently at himself in the glass.
" I wish my hair did not get so thin about the
temples. I have tried every balm, oil, and po-
matum ever advertised in the newspapers, but I
find no advantage from them. What a strange
fancy the old tyrant Time has for hair ! I sup-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 19
pose he mistakes it for hay, and so mows it with
the scythe, with which he is always represented."
Such were the cogitations of Lord Willamere
on the day he paid his secretary's wife his first
visit. If any of our readers should question how
we became acquainted with the said cogitations,
questions which we warn them are always con-
sidered by Authors as unpolite as if in society
some one inquired how certain facts just stated,
and supposed to be known only by individuals
equally interested in not revealing them, came
to be known we inform them once for all,
that historians, biographers, and novelists, are
endowed with a peculiar faculty, denied to
others that of knowing what passes in the minds
of the characters they portray. How else should
grave historians be able to give us not only the
words of kings, heroes, and statesmen, uttered in
the privacy of their chambers, to ministers, gene-
rals, and secretaries, who have never been even
suspected of betraying their confidence, but even
the thoughts known only to themselves? Having
now, as we hope, established our right to the pri-
vilege we claim of making our readers acquainted
20 MEMOIRS OF
with the secret thoughts and reflections of the
characters we attempt to delineate, we trust we
may henceforth continue to unroof the heads of
our personages, and display what passes in them, as
Asmodeus did the roofs of houses, without being
further questioned as to our means of acquiring
information, and that our readers will take for
granted all we write. In this confidence we
leave them at the close of this, our first chapter,
meaning in the second to let them see the result
of Lord Willamere's cogitations.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 21
CHAPTER II.
HAD Lord TYillamere followed the dictates
of his inclinations, his first visit to the wife of
his secretary would have been quickly followed
up by a second ; but the prudence instigated by
a consciousness of his own evil intentions, whis-
pered the necessity of allowing some days to
elapse before he presented himself again in her
apartment. My father felt rather flattered than
surprised when informed of the courtesy of his
employer ; and, good easy man ! received it as
a proof of the respect entertained for himself.
Bnt when, a few days after, Lord Willamere
proposed that he and Mrs. Stratford should dine
with him, and urged it so strongly that he knew
not how to refuse, a doubt, for the first time,
k
crossed his mind whether it would be correct to
bring his wife to the table of Lord Willamere,
22 MEMOIRS OF
without the presence of any other lady to
sanction it.
" Surely," said the Earl, observing his hesi-
tation to accept the invitation, " you, my dear
Stratford, who have been for so many years
domesticated, as it were, here, and who have
so often dined tete-cl-tete with me, cannot let
any false notions of etiquette or ceremony
prevent your wife from making a trio at my
table ? Were you, my good fellow, to ask me
to make a third with you and madameat dinner,
in your apartment, there could surely be no
impropriety in my accepting it. Where, then,
can be the difference in you and her diningwith
me in mine ?"
Although this sophistry did not convince
the secretary, it embarrassed him, and not
knowing how to get out of the dilemma IE
which he found himself placed by it, he ac-
cepted the invitation.
" I wish you had declined it, my dear," said
my mother, " for I don't think it either prudent
or proper that I should dine at Lord Willa-
mere's table without any other woman. You
A fEMME DE CHAMBRE. 23
know I had a great objection to becoming an
inmate in the house of a single man, and that
only your prayers that our union should no
longer be protracted, and the impossibility of
our scanty means furnishing us a lodging else-
where, induced me to consent to a measure
which, could it be avoided, I would repudiate."
" Well then, dearest, all I will urge is, that
as I foolishly accepted the invitation, do pray
for this once accompany me. Lord Willamere
seemed to have set his heart on it, and may be
offended if you do not go. There will be no
other guests, and henceforth we will decline
dining with him."
"I would not have you decline ; on the con-
trary, I wish you to live exactly on the same
terms with his lordship as previously to our
marriage, when you used to dine with him so
often."
" What, and leave you to dine alone, Emily ?
No ; that I could not bring myself to do."
And the fond husband pressed the delicate
form of his wife to his heart, and she, unwilling
to refuse any request of his, silenced the plead-
24 MEMOIRS OF
ing of her own better judgment, and consented
to dine with his lordship. The air of embarrass-
ment and timidity with which she entered the
library, betrayed to Lord Willamere that my
mother was an unwilling guest there; and with
all the tact peculiar to a well-bred man, and
above all, one who had deeply studied woman,
he instantly endeavoured to re-assure her, by
the respectful manner in which he welcomed
her. Had she been a person of the most
exalted rank, he could not have evinced a more
deferential tone towards her ; and many were
the ladies of his acquaintance, with high-sound-
ing titles, who would have been surprised had
they witnessed how much more respectful was
his treatment of his poor secretary's wife, than
of themselves. Lord Willamere was one of the
most agreeable men of his day, and seldom did
he wish to please, that his efforts were not
crowned with success. His conversation, at
once brilliant and rational, possessed the power
of drawing out those with whom he talked;
and never did they leave his society without
being pleased with him, and satisfied with
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 25
themselves. Often had my mother, during his
frequent visits to his sister, Lady Altonbury,
been a delighted listener to the conversation of
Lord Willamere, while she presided at the tea-
table ; but she was forced to admit that he
appeared to less advantage there, than while
doing the honours of his own ; and the delicate
tact with which he directed his attention equally
to her husband as toll erself, flattered while it
pleased her. Nevertheless, she could neither
vanquish nor dissemble the constraint, which a
consciousness of her being in a false position
imposed on her, and never had she appeared
to less advantage than on that day, when, en-
trenched in a more than ordinary degree of
reserve, she did little more than assent in
monosyllables to the observations of her clever
host.
The dessert had only been a few minutes
placed on the table, when the abrupt entrance
of two gentlemen increased the embarrass-
ment of my mother. Nor did Lord Willa-
mere seem pleased by their presence. Both
stared with ill-disguised astonishment at the
VOL. i. c
26 MEMOIRS OF
lady, and this circumstance rendered her still
more sensible of the equivocalness of her posi-
tion. Lord Willamere, with intuitive delicacy,
marked her increased embarrassment, as well as
the glances of unchecked admiration which his
visitors directed towards her. Hoping, however,
that they would soon withdraw, he did not at
first present them to her ; but when they stated
that they had dined at- the coffee-room at the
House of Commons, where they had been
detained by a debate, and had come to commu-
nicate some political news to him, he was-
compelled to ask them to sit down and have
some wine. " Permit me, Mrs. Stratford, to
present to you, Lord Henry Middlecourt and
Mr. Addington," said Lord Willamere. The
evident embarrassment and timidity of my
mother, while it brought the roses to her
cheek, and enhanced her beauty, only served
to convince the libertine friends of her host, that
the suspicions they had formed to her disad-
vantage were but too well founded. Each in
turn addressed some common-place observa-
tion to her, but her reserved demeanour, and
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 27
monosyllabic replies, discouraged their advances,
although their injurious opinion of her re-
mained unchanged. My mother sate on thorns,
and when Lord Willamere asked her advice on
some subject connected with furnishing houses,
to which the conversation had turned, she,
anxious to make known to the strangers her
real position, referred to my father, saying,
" My husband, my lord, is more conversant
with such matters than I am." This speech
she expected would at once remove the
surmises to which her presence, en famille as
it were, at Lord Willamere 's table had given
rise, for, that injurious surmises had been
formed, she with feminine quickness of appre-
hension had guessed; but she little knew
the men who had formed them, for no
sooner had they become acquainted with the
fact, that the beautiful woman before them
was the wife of their host's secretary, than
their prurient imaginations created an attach-
ment between the parties, little creditable to
the virtue of the lady or the morals of Lord
"Willamere. They exchanged glances of intel-
c 2
28 MEMOIRS OF
ligence confirmatory of their suspicions, while
my poor mother's prophetic spirit quailed as it
divined the gross insult which these suspicions
offered to her. She longed to leave the room,
yet . dreaded doing so, lest such a step might
betray the fact of her being an inmate at Lord
Willamere's, and so render her case still worse
in their eyes. For the first time she began to
think her husband obtuse, when stealing
* c3
sundry looks at him expressive of her dissatis-
faction, she saw that he appeared wholly un-
conscious of any cause for such a feeling on
her part, and was quietly eating some fruit.
Not so careless was Lord Willamere. He
evinced, by various ways, that he was sensible
that she was ill at ease, and that he was pained
at her being so. His manner towards her
became, if possible, more respectful than before
the entrance of his unwelcomed guests; and,
when he saw that it failed to reassure her, he
proposed ringing to command coffee to be
served in the library.
"As this is the first time, Mrs. Stratford,
that you have honoured me by your presence
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 29
here," said he, " I must not permit you to be
bored too long in the dining-room. When
my sister, Lady Altonbury, conies to town,
I hope you will give her and me the pleasure
of your company at dinner here often."
There was a considerateness and delicacy in
this speech which gratified my mother, although
the motive of it was so obvious to her, that she
more than ever reproached herself for having
been overruled into placing herself in a posi-
tion that rendered it necessary. Never pre-
viously had she been so sensible of her husband's
want of knowledge of the world, and more
especially of the usages du monde, against which
her presence at the table of Lord Willamere,
without any other female to countenance it,
was a violation, as then, because she had never
before seen him placed in any position that
called for the exercise of his savoir vixre. Bred
in a college, and among students who like
himself depended solely on their acquirements
for future subsistence, he had little time, and
no occasion, to become acquainted with the
etiquette of society; and his natural good-
30 MEMOIRS OF
breeding had hitherto prevented this want of
knowledge of the conventional habits of life,
from being noticed. Almost as great a recluse
in the house of his patron, as he had been at
college, his solitary habits were only broken
into by an occasional tete-a-tete dinner with
Lord "Willamere, and an Easter or Christmas
visit to his lordship's sister, when he accom-
panied him in order to be on the spot to carry
on the voluminous correspondence that devolved
on the man in office. No wonder, then, that he
was ignorant of the rules of etiquette, invented
to hold society together, and any breach of
which is looked on by the supporters of this
artificial code as a sin of deeper dye than one
involving the most serious consequences. The
very frankness and honesty of his nature, joined
to the seclusion of his youth in a college, and
since then in the house of Lord Willamere,
rendered him more unfit than other men for
Lhe acquisition of this species of knowledge ;
and while perfectly capable of giving an epi-
tome of the laws of nations, he might at any
hour unconsciously commit a solecism on the
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 31
puny ones of the artificial circle denomi-
nated the fashionable world. It was this igno-
rance that led him to urge his wife to fulfil
the dinner engagement he had accepted for her
with Lord Willamere, and which kept him
from comprehending the glances of painful
embarrassment which from time to time she
cast towards him, after the arrival of Lord
Henry Middlecourt and Mr. Addingtou.
" Dear, good William, his is too fine a nature
to suspect the evils that render a strict obser-
vance of the rules of etiquette so necessary in
society," thought his fond wife. " It must,
therefore, be my duty to guard against any
infraction of them, and to avoid, henceforth,
those embarrassing positions into which his
ignorance of conventional usages might lead
me."
"Were you ill, dearest Emily?" inquired
my father, when he joined his wife in the
library ; leaving Lord Willamere to hear the
political news which his visitors came to com-
municate.
" No, not ill, William ; onlv ill at ease,
32 MEMOIRS OP
because conscious that I committed a breach in
the rules of propriety in dining at Lord Willa-
mere's table. I was mortified that two of his
lordship's friends should have become cognizant
of the fact, and was covered with confusion at
the bare idea of the evil interpretation they
would but too probably put on it."
" Surely, Emily, you judge them too se-
verely ! What evil could be attributed when
I, your husband, was present?"
" Alas, dear William, had you lived, as
I have done, in families where appearances were
as severely judged as crimes, you would not
wonder that I felt embarrassed, nay more,
positively alarmed, this evening."
Then it was that my mother revealed to her
simple-minded husband some of those laws of
etiquette of which he had previously been in
utter ignorance, and made him a wiser, though
not a happier man ; for now, aware that his
wife's objection to dining at Lord Willamere's
table was founded on her sense of propriety,
and not, as he had before imagined, from a
dislike to society, he felt hurt that a man so
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 33
well versed in a knowledge of the world as his
lordship, should have proposed a step in viola-
tion of its usages ; and he promised that hence-
forth he would never urge his Emily to act
contrary to her own sense of what was correct.
" You are a devilish lucky dog, Willamere,"
said Lord Henry Middlecourt to his host, when
the door closed after his lordship's secretary.
" I am not aware of any peculiar good luck
just now," replied Lord Willamere, endeavour-
ing to look as unconscious as possible, although
well divining to what good fortune his friend
alluded.
" Come, come, don't be so very sly ; you
know perfectly well that I refer to the luck of
your having a secretary with so very handsome
a wife, and who is so sociable as to come and
dine with you, en famille, whenever you
wish it."
"You are quite wrong in your conjectures,
I can assure you, Middlecourt. Mrs. Stratford
never dined with me before, is a particularly
correct woman, and a great favourite with my
sister, Lady Altonbury."
c3
34 MEMOIRS OF
" All this we are bound to believe, my dear
fellow, the moment you assert it, and more
especially with such a grave face. Never-
theless I must still consider you a very lucky
man to have so simple-minded a secretary
with so handsome a wife ; why, he seemed as
innocent of his own false position as a child,
while his handsome wife betrayed in a
thousand ways her overwhelming consciousness
of it."
" I really can see nothing false in his position.
He has dined with me a hundred times before."
" Yes, when he was a bachelor I suppose ;
and if you can get him to see no harm in
bringing his beautiful wife into your lordship's
dangerous company, to enable her to contrast
your powers of captivation, allowed by all
women to be irresistible, with his simplicity
and manque de savoir vivre, I must persevere in
thinking you a lucky fellow."
"No more of this bantering, Middlecourt;
it is out of place, I assure you." And Lord
Willamere looked so displeased, that his friend
saw it was time to drop the subject. But
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 35
though he did so, his conviction that a ten-
dresse towards the secretary's pretty wife ex-
isted on the part of Lord "Willamere, remained
firm as ever; nay, the very seriousness with
which the latter denied it, convinced him still
more of the truth of his suspicions.
"When Lord Henry Middlecourt and Mr.
Addington walked from Lord "Willamere's to
their club that night, they renewed the subject
of Mrs. Stratford.
" She is either a dragon of prudery, which
her presence at Willamere's table would seem
to impugn, or else she is afraid of making him
jealous, for you saw how cold and reserved
she was," said Lord Henry Middlecourt.
"But might we not put a more charitable
interpretation on the poor woman's conduct?"
observed Mr. Addington. " She may be correct,
though not versed in the rules of strict pro-
priety, as her dining with Willamere implies :
and she may be in love with her husband, who
is a very good-looking fellow a possibility
that never has entered your head, my friend."
Their arrival at their club prevented Mr.
Addington offering any other hypothesis in
36 MEMOIRS OF
justification of the secretary's wife; but none
that he could suggest would have changed the*
opinion of his companion, who, accustomed to
look on the evil side of all pictures, had made
up his mind on this subject. Xor did he
refrain from communicating it to others.
Many were the young roues at the club that
night to whom he gave an exaggerated account
of the snug little party he had broken in upon
at Wlllamere'sj exciting in the minds of all a
strong desire to see the beautiful Mrs. Strat-
ford, a sentiment of envy at the bonne fortune
of Willamere, and of contempt for the secre-
tary, whom they set down either as a duped,
or an infamous husband conniving at his own
dishonour. Thus, while two beings, innocent
of even a thought of guilt, and incapable of
entertaining one, were quietly and calmly
slumbering on their pillows, slander was busy
with their names : the pure wife was mentioned
as one who might be sought, if not won, by
any of the libertines among whom the fame of
her beauty was bandied about ; and the finger
of scorn was ready to be pointed at her honour-
able-minded husband, by men who would have
A 1'EMME DE CHAMBRE. 37
gloried in dishonouring him; and Lord "Wil-
lamere was considered as a very lucky fellow,
much to be envied for this bonne fortune. How
far from the truth were the suspicions of these
libertines ! For Avhile they declared Lord
AVillamere a lucky dog, and circulated among
their coteries the report of his supposed liaison
with his secretary's wife, that nobleman was
devising plans for furnishing excuses for being
admitted to her presence, yet so awed by her
dignified reserve, that many of those schemes
which suggested themselves to his prolific
brain, were dismissed in his dread lest their
being carried too promptly into execution
might alarm or offend her sensitive delicacy.
Yet this very delicacy and reserve invested her
with new charms. Never previously had he
encountered a woman who inspired him with
such a dread of incurring her displeasure.
Was it possible that she had already divined
the sentiments he felt towards her, so guarded
too as he had been ? To the unlucky and
ill-timed visit of Lord Henry Middlecourt and
Mr. Addington, he attributed her extraorcli-
38 MEMOIRS OF
nary reserve ; and heartily did he wish both
these gentlemen in a place not to be named to
ears polite, for their mal-a-propos visit and its
consequences. He felt certain that one, if not
both men would give their own version of the
dinner party they had broken in on, and that
the reputation of Mrs. Stratford would be made
the sport of their coteries. He lamented this
probability, not from any respect for her cha-
racter, but from a dread that such reports
might not only, by some chance, reach her ears,
and so put her still more on her guard, but
that they might encourage other pretenders to
her favour.
"Fools," thought Lord Willamere, "while
they believe me blessed with her affection,
I dare not even hint that I aspire to it, lest she
should discard me from her presence for ever.
What a lovely, what an exquisite creature she
is ! There is something about her that repels
even the slightest approach to familiarity, and
makes me feel when near her, that I shall never
have courage to tell her I love her. I wish
I could get her out of my head out of my
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 39
heart, I should have said for hang me if she
has not taken possession of that fortress, which,
though often assailed, and with sundry breaches
made in it, never before capitulated to a vic-
torious enemy. To think of her lavishing the
treasures of her affection on poor simple Strat-
ford, while I would give worlds, if I possessed
them, for even the privilege of merely seeing
her every day and being permitted to converse
with her. I could not have believed it possible
that in so short a time I should have become
so madly in love, and with so little prospect
too of a return. To see her husband eating
his dinner as phlegmatically as if she were not
seated opposite to him, while her beautiful
face, lovely in all its various expressions,
rendered it a difficult task for me to keep my
eyes from it even for a moment, or to eat a
morsel, was really wonderful. Happy man !
he is so sure of her affection that he can eat in
peace, while the bare idea of ever making her
sensible of my passion sends the blood so
rapidly to my heart that my pulse throbs and
my hand trembles. I can think of nothing but
40 MEMOIRS OF
her. The notion that she is beneath my roof,
that only a few stairs and a corridor separate
us, fires my blood. Vain thought an im-
passable gulph divides us ! She loves another,
and is a virtuous, a chaste woman. Only such
can inspire the passion I now feel. Could
I hope to vanquish the virtue of the too charm-
ing Emily, I should love her less madly than
I do ; and libertine as I have been, and as
I am, she would be less dazzlingly bright, less
lovely, were she divested of that purity, which,
like a veil, shades, but conceals not her beauty,
giving a winning grace to it. Then the
absence of all coquetry, all desire to please,
how it enhances her attractions! If women
did but know how much more they captivate
iis by not seeking to do so, and how irresistible
a charm virtue lends them, how few would
become our victims, and have to deplore their
own credulity and our falsehood ! "
Such were the reflections that filled the mind
of the enamoured Lord Willamere, as he re-
clined on his sleepless couch, tortured by the
pangs of a hopeless passion.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 41
CHAPTER III.
LORD WILLAMERE allowed four days to pass
over after the dinner described in our former
chapter, before he ventured again to present
himself at the door of the little sitting-room
occupied by the wife of his secretary. How
often during those four days, which seemed to
him of interminable length, had he been
tempted to break through the restrictions
his prudence had imposed on him, and to seek
the presence of her Avho now occupied all his
thoughts ! But a dread of alarming her by his
too frequent visits deterred him ; and he ima-
gined that a forbearance which cost him so
many struggles merited the reward of a less
cold reception than he had previously expe-
rienced. The four days which had appeared to
creep so slowly, and to be of such interminable
42 MEMOIRS OF
length to him, had glided so rapidly by with
Mrs. Stratford, that, when he sent to inquire if
she were at home, his visit struck her as fol-
lowing so quickly on the heels of his former
one, that a sense of its impropriety brought the
blush of wounded delicacy to her cheek.
" Present my respects to his lordship,
and say that I am so particularly engaged that
I cannot receive visitors," said she to the
servant.
The message had so powerful an effect on
the nerves of Lord Willamere, that he posi-
tively grew red and then pale, as he reflected
on it. How cold, IIOAV cutting ! nay, how
insolent was such treatment of him, and in
his own house too ! And for the nonce Lord
Willamere forgot that the very circumstance
which added to his displeasure on this occasion,
namely, his visit being refused in his own house,
ought to have pleaded against his entertaining
any project hostile to the honour or peace of
those who so far confided in him as to become
its inmates. He forgot the gross breach of
hospitality and of honour he meditated, and
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 43
with a meanness unworthy of a gentleman,
presumed that the very circumstance which
ought to have rendered Mrs. Stratford sacred
in his eyes, should have induced a more respect-
ful deference to his proposed courtesy. Then
it occurred to him that she might be unwell, or
perhaps in an undress in which she did not wish
to be seen. Yes, it must be so, and he had been
wrong in blaming her for declining his visit.
The wife of a poor secretary could not be
expected to be always dressed in a style fit to
receive visitors of distinction, like les grandes
dames of his acquaintance, and allowance must
be made for Mrs. Stratford. He longed to
inquire after her health when he entered the
bureau where her husband was writing, but
an embarrassment unusual to him, which,
whether proceeding from a consciousness of
his own evil intentions, or a dread of awaken-
ing the suspicions of his secretary, checked the
inquiry as it rose to his lips, and he felt, for
the first time, ill at ease with Stratford.
"When he rode out in the afternoon, and
passed a certain nursery in the environs of
44 MEMOIRS OF
London, no less remarkable for the beauty of
the bouquets sold there than for the extrava-
gance of the prices demanded for them, he
omitted not to purchase one for the lady of his
thoughts; and as he threw down the guinea
asked for it, he forgot that the said guinea was
one of the last remaining in his purse from a
loan effected some ten days before on the
reasonable terms of fifty per cent; nay more,
he remembered not that the poor secretary's
wife for whom this superfluous luxury was
intended, might, from his backwardness in pay-
ing the services of her husband, be in want of
many of the comforts, if not necessaries of life.
He thought only of marking his attention by a
delicate gift that might remind the receiver of
the donor, and as he had the fragrant bouquet
enveloped in paper, and confided to the hands of
his groom, he only wished that he might have
the pleasure of presenting it in person to the
lady for whom it was designed.
" I have now, my lord, some very rare and
fine specimens of the flowers your lordship has
so often asked for," said the nursery-man.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 5
" I do not require any at present," was the
reply; but a whole history of man's inconstancy
was comprised In it.
" There's really no knowing what to make of
these great folk," observed the nursery-man to
his wife, when, having seen Lord Willamere
gallop off, he entered the little parlour in which
she was seated at her work. " Why, it was only
a month ago that my Lord Willamere used to
come here continually, asking for that new
species of heart's-ease, and saying he would give
any price for it ; and now, when I have taken
such pains to get it, and expected to be well
paid for my trouble, he tells me he doesn't
require it. I suppose as how the lady he
wanted it for has now some fresh fancy."
"It's more likely, Thomas, that his lords/tip
has some fresh fancy. Ah! you men, you men.
I often think that one might guess the changes
in these fine gentlemen's hearts, by the changes
in their orders for flowers. One time they're
mad for some particular flower, and will be
satisfied with no other, because, as every fool
might know, the lady who is the favourite for
46 MEMOIRS OF
the time, likes that best- Then some other
flower is wanted, and only that will do."
" But mayhap, Mary, that it isn't the fault
of the men, but the women. Your sex are so
changeable, that one day you like one flower,
and the next another."
" JS^o, Thomas, it's no such thing, we always
prefer the flower we liked best when we were
in love. Don't I always prefer the moss-rose
above all other flowers ? and don't you remem-
ber how you used to bring me one every Sunday
while they were in bloom, and I used to keep it
in water, and sigh when it faded ? Ah ! how
well I remember those days ! But I am sure
that there is always some new love in the case
when these fine gentlemen ask for a new flower.
Do you remember how many bouquets of
forget-me-not this same Lord Willamere used
to send to that grand house in Grosvenor
Square, during one season ? Then the prices he
used to pay, a few weeks ago, for heart's-ease
to send to Belgrave Square ! Ah ! I warrant
me the poor lady there may want heart's-ease
now, for what he cares about the matter, for
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 47
there's a new fancy in his mind, I'll be
sworn."
" Well, well, Mary, that's no business of ours.
We must hear, see, and say nothing. But I
often think to myself, that if husbands wanted
to find out their wives' secrets, they might dis-
cover 'em by going round to our green-houses.
They'd then learn the prices, and mayhap the
buyers, of the rare flowers their ladies have
every day, and that would make 'em open their
eyes. What husband, except during the honey-
moon, would pay such sums for particular
flowers as many a gentleman pays here ? "
" Yes, Thomas, it's all very true, and ladies
might also find out, when those for whom
they sometimes lose honour, and risk shame
and disgrace, are playing 'em false, by inquiring
at our green-houses, what flowers are now
bought by certain gentlemen, and where they
are sent to? "
" It's all the better for our trade, Mary, that
such questions are seldom asked, or if asked,
that we are too cute to answer 'em."
" It sometimes makes me sad, Thomas, to think
48 MEMOIRS OF
that such innocent things as flowers should be
used for sinful purposes. Sure their delicate
colours, lovely bloom, and fragrant scent, ought
to remind one of the Giver of all good, who has
yielded them to please us, and ought to chase
evil thoughts away. But, forgetful of this,
these beautiful things, that live tut for a day,
are sent to breathe secret but evil thoughts,
/ . . ^-'
where sometimes a letter dare not be sent or a
visit paid; and they turn to be the messengers
of sin, and do the work of corruption. Little
does a husband think, when he sees a fine nose-
gay on the table of his handsome wife, or in
her bosom, or held with pleasure to her nose,
that it speaks to her as plainly, but more
secretly than words could do, of some false
friend, whom he has received into his house,
and who is planning his dishonour."
" You're always for going to the end of things,
Mary, and you remind me of what you read
out of the book one day about seeing sermons
in stones. For you'd make a sermon out of
flowers, and spoil our trade into the bargain."
" No Thomas, I wouldn't, but I'd let no man,
A FEMME DE CHAMBEE. 49
,x
were I a gentleman, give a nosegay to my wife.
I'd have only gentlemen going to be married or
wishing to be so, have the privilege of sending
- ".",]
nosegays to those they have proposed for, and
"^~^~ * . - ......
then flowers would be looked on as the mes-
------- -" ------ " - "7
sengers of honest, lawful love, instead of
"
" Lord love your simple heart, Mary ! if that
was the case we nurserymen would starve."
When Lord Willamere's bouquet was sent
to Mrs. Stratford, she was half tempted to
return it; but the fear of having the appearance
of attaching too much importance to so trifling
a gift, and of exciting the remarks of his
Lordship's servants, deterred her. For the first
time, the sight and perfume of these beautiful
offsprings of summer failed to give her plea-
sure, for, though a passionate admirer of flowers,
and those sent to her were peculiarly fine
they were associated in her mind with the
humiliating consciousness that the donor enter-
tained towards her sentiments less accordant
with the respect due to a virtuous woman, to
which she thought herself entitled, than with the
VOL. I. D
50 MEMOIRS OF
insolent freedom adopted by libertines to
women, who by their levity had encouraged
such advances.
Sterne, no mean judge of the female heart,
has said, " that a man has seldom an offer of
kindness to make to a woman, without her
having a presentiment of it some moments
before ;" and we would maintain that no married
woman, however pure and innocent, has ever
had the misfortune and a serious one it may be
deemed of inspiring a passion in the breast of
a man, without suspecting it, even before he has
resumed to make the guilty avowal. Let no
woman therefore at least no Avoman with the
quick sense of propriety, peculiar to every one
of the sex before being tainted by a contact
with the demoralized plead in extenuation for
having her ear insulted by a declaration of
unhallowed passion, that "it came unexpectedly
on her, that she was not prepared for it;" asser-
tions too often had recourse to by coquettes,
whose love of admiration had led them to give a
tacit encouragement to such avowals; yet whose
prudence induced them to shrink back, alarmed
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 51
at the precipice on whose edge they found
themselves trembling. Let them remember the
verse which truly says,
" He comes too near, who comes to be denied ;"
and be convinced that although a woman may
retain sufficient virtue to repel a seducer, she
has lost a portion of her purity and dignity in
having permitted a declaration of love.
Looking on the flowers before her as a tacit
avowal of a more than common interest in
seeking to please her, Mrs. Stratford determined
not to retain them. But how were they to be
disposed of ? She reflected for a few minutes,
and, no other plan suggesting itself, she opened
the casement of her bedroom and flung the
bouquet from it. She felt more at ease when
it had disappeared, yet she wished that Lord
Willamere could know, without her having the
ungracious task of informing him, how unvalued
had been his gift, and how unwelcome would
be any future one. How little did she imagine
that the very step she had adopted, had accom-
plished this wish of hers !
Lord Willamere had gone to his stables an
D 2
52 MEMOIRS OF
unusual occurrence with him to be present,
while a veterinary surgeon examined the foot of
a favourite horse which had met with an
accident, and was returning to his house across
the leads at the back of it, when the bouquet
lying before him attracted his eyes. Was it
possible that a gift of Ms had been thus
scornfully rejected ? Yet it must be so. It
was the identical one which an hour before he
had sent to Mrs. Stratford, the windows of
whose bed-chamber looked out on the leads !
Could it have been her husband who in a fit of
jealousy had flung them away ? There was a
salve to his vanity in this supposition, and men
always are disposed to believe what most
gratifies their besetting foible. Yes, it must be
that uxorious fool Stratford who threw them
away Mrs. Stratford had accepted them, con-
sequently she was not likely to have done the
deed. Nevertheless, to put an end to all
misgivings, he went to the bureau where his
secretary was writing, and there sate that
individual intent on his occupation, and with a
pile of neatly filled pages of precis writing,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 53
that proved he had not abandoned his task
during his lordship's absence. "You have
worked hard to-day, Stratford," observed Lord
Willamere.
" Yes, my lord, rather, for I have not quitted
my desk since the morning."
" The devil you have not !" thought my
lord ; " it was she then after all who threw
away the flowers! She really provokes me
into a perseverance of my efforts to vanquish
her prudery, even though I may not prove
successful. Had she been as willing to com-
mence a flirtation with me as three parts of the
women I meet in society are, I should probably
have not felt half so strong a desire to make an
impression on her as I now do; but, to be
foiled by an obscure governess, the wife too
of my secretary, and under my own roof,
would be too bad. I should for ever lose my
reputation as a homme des bonnes fortunes, a
reputation now so long and triumphantly
sustained ; ay, so long there's the devil of it ;
perhaps it is because I am not so youthful as I
was, that I am thus scornfully treated."
54 MEMOIRS OF
And Lord Willamere sighed, and cast a
melancholy glance in the small mirror that hung
near his desk. How frequently had that same
glass showed him the reflection of his own face,
when meditating, or flushed with conquest, he
had contemplated it with complacency, while
latterly, and more especially now, it revealed to
him the ravages of the ruthless tyrant Time, de-
noted by locks besprent with silver; and, oh! how
much fewer, and further between, than some
summers before; and certain harsh lines around
his eyes, vulgarly but expressively denominated
crow's-feet. His complexion, too, had somewhat
" fallen into the sere and yellow leaf," and the
muscles extending from the cheeks to the chin
came out in an alto relievo, by no means desir-
able for a man who still had pretensions to
disturb the peace of female hearts.
Yet this humiliating contemplation of his
own altered appearance, far from discouraging
him to persevere in his attempts to conquer the
affections of Mrs. Stratford, only served to
pique his vanity into achieving it. Yes, he
would prove, that he was still, though a less
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 55
handsome, quite as dangerous a man as ever;
and he who had vanquished so many high-born
dames, would not have the mortification of being
defeated by a mere nobody, who, though certain-
ly extremely beautiful, could not be a conquest
to make any sensation in society. A-propos, of
high-born dames, he remembered that he had in
his pocket an unopened letter from the Duchess
of Rosehampton. He had received it some hours
before, when on the point of mounting his
horse to go and buy the bouquet for her wlio
had so scornfully flung it away, and had ever
since forgotten it as completely as its writer.
" Full of reproaches, I dare say," thought he, as
he now opened the billet, embossed with a ducal
coronet in gold and redolent with perfume.
" Yes, the old story : where have I been ? what
have I been doing ? and why has she not seen,
or heard from me? 'Time was when I
counted the hours that kept me from her,
but now not even a bouquet for three whole
days.' Yes, yes, the old story," thought
Lord Willamere, as he tore the billet into
atoms, " 'Time wasj so they all say. How
56 MEMOIRS OF
many billets with the same reproaches have I
not received. By Jove ! one might imagine all
were Avritten by the same hand, so precisely
similar are they. It is odd, that, with so much
imagination, women should not possess the
power of varying their phrases on such occa-
sions, instead of always writing the self- same
reproaches.
" The poor duchess ! I wish I had thought of
buying her some heartVease to-day ; she needs
it, if I may trust her letter. The fellow, too,
reminded me that he had procured some. But
how the devil can a man remember to buy
a bouquet for one woman, when his whole
thoughts are occupied by another ? I am half
tempted to send her the one so scornfully re-
jected by her rival : but, no, that won't do, for
she is so quick-sighted that she would instantly
divine that it was designed for some one else, so
I must not increase the jealousy that I see by her
letter is already awakened in her breast. The
poor duchess! I could really pity her, when
I remember how passionately, how madly I once
loved her, making her believe, ay, by Jove ! and
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 57
believing myself also at the time, that our love
was to endure for ever ! But what is a poor devil
of a fellow to do, when satiety and indifference
take the place of passion, the never-failing
result of a successful one? Of all ghosts,
defend me from the ghost of departed love,
which haunts one, to scare away the hopes and
joys that usher in a new attachment. Well,
I suppose I must call on the poor duchess. It
will be some consolation for the wound just
inflicted on my amour propre by Mrs. Stratford,
to see one" of the most admired of our aristo-
cratic beauties, and the leader of fashion too,
pale from anxiety occasioned by my absence,
and delighted to see me again. Poor duchess !
how many men envy me your smiles, and
would give half their possessions to exchange
places with me in your favour, while I, for
three whole days, have forgotten your exist-
ence, and am only reminded of it by a letter
filled with tender reproaches? "Willamere,
Willarnere, you're a sad dog ! " and here the
coxcomb again glanced in the mirror ; " how
many women's hearts have you not vanquished,
D 3
58 MEMOIRS OF
while the stupid world believed you were en-
gaged only on protocols, and defeating the
tactics of foreign diplomatists ? Oh ! the relief
of flying from the dry details of official duty,
to the elegant boudoir, redolent of perfume, of
some lovely creature, fiere and haughty to
every man save yourself; in whose presence one
can forget the wily arts of contemporary politi-
cal opponents, and the crooked policy of other
nations! Yes, I flatter myself, that I have
shone in the cabinet as well as in the boudoir,"
and Lord Willamere drew up his head, and ar-
ranged his well-tied neckcloth. "People are
mistaken, when they fancy that a handsome
man, and a well-dressed one too, seldom makes
a good man of business. I have proved the
fallacy of this opinion, and I defy any one to
say that while indulging in affaires de cwur,
I have neglected les affaires de tete."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 59
CHAPTER IV.
" MAY I claim a few moments of your lord-
ship's time?" asked Lord Willamere's secre-
tary, with a timid and embarrassed air, when
tete-a-tte next day with his employer.
" Certainly, certainly," was the answer ; but
his lordship's countenance betrayed some con-
fusion as he seated himself.
" The creditors, my lord, have been very
clamorous of late, and threaten to put execu-
tions into the house."
" You have told them, I suppose, that such a
step would be unavailing ? " replied Lord Willa-
mere, his countenance assuming its usual expres-
sion of dignified calmness. The truth was, he
feared Mr. Stratford was about to speak to him
on a subject that interested him infinitely more
than his debts, namely, the wife of the said
60 MEMOIRS OF
secretary ; for the old proverb, " a guilty con-
science needs no accuser," was verified in his
case, and his equanimity became restored when
he found that it was only about his creditors
that he was to be spoken to.
" Yes, my lord, I told them that your fur-
niture, plate, books, &c. were assigned over to
another creditor. They then declared their
intention of seizing your carriages and horses,
when I assured them that both were jobbed ;
on which they got very angry, and said they
would at least endeavour to annoy your lord-
ship by exposure, for they would have execu-
tions, and seizures made, and afterwards try the
cases in court."
" This, Stratford, would, I confess, be any-
thing but agreeable. You must see these
harpies again : temporise with them if you can ;
if not, we must raise some more money by bills,
a thing I don't like if it can be avoided."
"It is a ruinous system, my lord, and as
likely eventually to lead to exposure as the
measure it is meant to prevent."
"Well, see what you can do with these
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 61
people, Stratford; talk them over, promise
them that in a year, or, if that will not do,
six months, they shall be paid."
" I have so often held out promises never
realized, that they no longer put faith in what
I say ;" and Stratford changed colour at the
consciousness of having not only lost the re-
spect of Lord Willamere's creditors, but his
own too, by having deluded them with false
promises.
" Something must turn up," resumed his
lordship, " in the course of the next six months
to enable me to pay a portion at least, of the
debts, to these troublesome people."
" Ay, so you have said every six months of
the last seven years," thought his secretary,
" and with no better prospect of the realization
of such unfounded hope than at present." But
he did not give utterance to this thought, for
his was too delicate a mind to add to his patron's
annoyances by aught like a reproach. Again,
Lord Willamere arose to depart, and once more
his secretary begged him to stay for a few
minutes, but this time the request was made
62 MEMOIRS OF
with much more diffidence and embarrassment
of manner than before. "If not very incon-
venient to your lordship, might I solicit some
money on my own account ? As a married
man, I have more occasion for money than
formerly."
" Very true, my good Stratford ; and your
wants must be the first attended to. But at this
moment I happen to be poorer than usual. I
can only spare you ten pounds; but in a few
days you shall have more."
His lordship gave a cheque on his banker
for the money, rather wincing while he did so,
as the recollection crossed his mind, that only a
few pounds more of his remained in the said
banker's hands, and that his next quarter's
salary was already half anticipated. "If my
time were not so wholly occupied by official
business and affaires de cceur," thought he, as
he drove in his cabriolet to the Duchess of
Rosehampton's, " I should be hipped todeath by
my pecuniary embarrassments. By Jove ! they
are enough to torment a man out of his senses
if he had time to think of them. Luckily for
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 63
me I have not, so the onus falls on Stratford.
I wish he had not taken my ten pounds just
now, though, for he has scarcely left me a
sovereign for my menus plaisirs. A-propos of
sovereigns, what a blessing it is to have one,
not the golden effigy, though that in the plural
number, to a large amount, is not to be found
fault with ; but a bond fide sovereign of flesh
and blood, requiring ministers, ay, and paying
them well too, through the assistance of Parlia-
ment, making them feel satisfied when every
quarter-day comes round, if they are so on
no other."
Here his lordship's soliloquy was stopped by
his arrival at Rosehampton House. He threw
the reins on the splash-board of the cabriolet,
while his diminutive cab boy ran to the horse's
head, which even on tiptoes he could scarcely
reach, and his master, descending from the
vehicle, ascended the steps.
An accurate observer might have noticed
that there was much less elasticity in his step,
and much less animation in his countenance,
than on former visits to this mansion, and
64 MEMOIRS OF
these symptoms might have revealed the state of
his feelings towards its noble mistress.
" Well, I see'd a funny thing this 'ere day,
William," said Lord Willamere's Upper house-
maid to his lordship's groom, as they met in
the servants' hall to have a sociable cup of tea
together, on the evening of the day that the
bouquet had been bought at the nursery garden.
" And what did you see, Hannah ? "
" Why, I see'd his lordship pick up as fine a
nosegay as ever I looked upon in all my born
days, as he was a crossing the leads coming in
from the stable ; and, what's more, I see'd Mrs.
Stratford, not five minutes before, throw the
same nosegay out of her window. I can't be
sworn that I see'd her face, but I see'd her hand,
and a precious small white vone it is for the
matter of that, as it pitched the flowers out.
Thinks I to myself, you might give them 'ere
flowers to a poor servant, if how be it you did
not like to keep 'em yourself, instead of
throwing 'em out on the leads to be spoilt;
but when I see's his Lordship pick them
up and carry them into the house, marry come
A FEMME DE CHAMBEE. 65
up, says I, you might have sent my lord the
nosegay civilly, and not throw 'em out of the
window to fall in his way. Some people are so
handsome, that they think other people must be
sure to admire 'em, and be glad to pick up the
flowers they throw out of the window ; but I
knows what I knows, and I'm no blinder than
others; and when some people are asked to dine
with lords, just for all the world as if they
were born ladies instead of only being gover-
nesses, it is not for nothing I'm certain."
" How your tongue does run on, Hannah,
to be sure, twenty-four to the dozen at least.
Why, my lord bought a nosegay at the nursery-
man's to day ; and, what's more, paid a golden
sovereign for it, for I saw him pull it out of his
waistcoat pocket and throw it down on the
counter; and moreover, I thought to myself,
it's no wonder we poor servants can't get our
wages, when our masters give a sovereign for a
nosegay."
" Lord ! William, you don't say so ! Is it pos-
sible that any one would give twenty shillings,
a whole month of my wages, for a few flowers ? "
66 MEMOIRS OF
" Little you know, Hannah, what lords and
gentlemen will do when the fancy takes them;
Lord help you, they think no more of money
than of dust."
" Ay, William, and that's the reason that so
many of 'em comes to want it. But what be-
came of the nosegay his lordship bought?"
" I brought it home wrapped up in paper and
handed it at the door to the porter."
" And I took it from the porter, and carried
it with his lordship's compliments to Mrs. Strat-
ford," said a footman who had heard the
conversation between the house-maid and
groom.
" Then as sure as day," exclaimed William,
" it was the nosegay my lord sent her that she
threw out of the window."
" You may be sure," said the footman, " for
I noticed that she did not seem much pleased
with the present, for she hesitated a minute
before she took it from my hands ; and looked as
if she had more than half a mind to send it
back."
"Well, the himperance of some people!
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 67
where will it stop ? Throw a nosegay that cost
twenty shillings, and was sent her by a lord ;
and her husband's master, and hers too, as a
body may say, out of the window ! She ought
to be ashamed of herself!"
"Perhaps she wished to show his lordship
that she cared neither for him or his nosegay,"
remarked Thomas, the footman. " And that's
my hopinion, for I saw, the day she dined with
my Lord, that he was continually looking at
her ; and well he might for the matter of that,
for a handsomer face, or a more heleganter
figure I have seldom see'd."
" Then you must have been blind, Mr.
Thomas," exclaimed Hannah with warmth,
" for, to my thinking, Mrs. Stratford is anything
but ansome. Why she has no more colour in
her cheeks than a white rose with just a little
pink shade in the middle; and her eyelashes are
so long, that one can hardly see the colour of
her eyes ; and her hair is jet black I can't
abide black hair," (Hannah had red,) " and
she's moreover so distant, and so shy like, that
there's nothing free and easy about her, as there
68 MEMOIRS OF
was in the governess at my last place. Ah !
Miss Cullen was a very different person, so full
of fun and frolic. She'd come down when
master and mistress were out and the children
asleep, and play blind-man's-buff in the
servants' hall with us as pleasant as possible,
and we were all as free with her, as if she were
one of ourselves."
" All that's mighty well, Hannah ; but to my
thinking, governesses as don't know their places,
aren't fit for 'em. They aren't hired to romp in
the servants' hall, but to attend to the learning
and behaviour of the children entrusted to their
care. A governess ought to be as much like a
lady as possible ; and as for Mrs. Stratford, I'm
sure I never see'd a lady more genteel."
" Marry come up, Mr. Thomas, who made you
such a judge of ladies ?"
" Waiting on 'em, Mrs. Hannah, to be sure.
Servants who wait at table, have a good oppor-
tunity of judging of those who think no more
of their presence than if they were stocks or
stones ; and I have often formed my own
hopinions while they were eating and chatting."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 69
"Well, you may think as you like, Mr.
Thomas, but you'll never get me to believe it
was ladylike in Mrs. Stratford to throw his
lordship's flowers out of window, and in his
own house too. What do you think, Sally ? "
This question was addressed to a very pretty
young woman who had entered while Thomas
was speaking, and who filled the situation of
under-housemaid.
"Ay, Sally, do you think that if my lord
sent a nosegay to Mrs. Stratford, and that she
thought it wasn't right to keep it, it was
wrong of her to throw it out of the window ? "
demanded Thomas, with an air of anxiety.
" I don't see what else she could do with it,
Thomas. If she kept it, it would, to my
thinking, be like saying she approved of my
lord's attention."
"Right, Sally, right," exclaimed Thomas,
with a look of great satisfaction ; " I was sure
you would think as I do."
" Well, if I was my lord," said Hannah,
" I'd see Mrs. Stratford far enough, I can tell
her, before I'd send her any nosegays at a
70 MEMOIRS OF
sovereign a piece. "What's she, that she's to
be made so much of, I should like to know ?"
" She's a well behaved, vartuous woman,
that's what she is, Hannah, who wishes to keep
her own place, and let my lord keep his ; and
if she can manage that, it will be no easy
matter, for his lordship can never see a hand-
some face without trying to make a fool of the
owner, and more shame for him."
Thomas glanced so expressively at the blush-
ing face of pretty Sally, that it was clear his
indignation at his lord's laxity of morals was
not wholly disinterested ; while Hannah, grow-
ing red with anger, declared, " that for her
part, she never had nothink whatsomedever to
say against his lordship ; though she'd met him
many's the time in the dressing and bed-room,
he'd never been himperant to her ; though
other people," and she glanced spitefully at
pretty Sally, " were always trying to keep out
of his way ;" an assertion the truth of which
no one present seemed disposed to question.
While Lord Willamere was devising schemes
to seduce the wife of his secretary, unchecked
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 71
by one feeling of remorse, that unhappy man
was submitting to the humiliation of going to
cr: litor after creditor, in order to talk them
over into waiting another year, or even six
months, for the settlement of their accounts ;
conscious all the while, that there existed no
more likelihood of their being paid at the ter-
mination of the time demanded, than at the
present. So often had these promises been
made, and so ill kept, that the patience of the
creditors of Lord Willamere was exhausted,
and the reproaches, which they were defied
an opportunity of uttering to his lordship,
were directed with unsparing acerbity to his
secretary.
" I'll tell you what, Mr. Stratford, you can
no longer make me believe that if Lord Willa-
mere had the principle to pay, he could not
find the means," said Mr. Bloxam, the butcher.
" Why what becomes of his salary ? Ay, tell
me that. Havn't I been renewing his bills
till I'm tired of 'em ? / must pay for my meat,
and why shouldn't he ? "
This was only a specimen of the scenes
72 MEMOIRS OF
which Stratford had to go through with all the
persons who served the establishment of Lord
Willamere. The servants, too, demanded their
long arrears of wages in a tone that might have
conveyed their belief that Mr. Stratford alone
was answerable for the delay ; and the trades-
people to whom he was indebted for the supply
of his own wants, wants limited to the strict
necessaries of life, had now also become im-
portunate.
He would return in an evening, fatigued in
body and depressed in mind, to seek conso-
lation from the partner of his joys and sor-
rows ; but, alas ! the joys were " like angel
visits, few and far between," while the cares
were of daily and increasing occurrence. In
vain did his fond wife endeavour to soothe his
broken spirits, and to render their frugal meals
cheerful. The privations and discomforts,
which, in spite of her attempts to conceal
them, were but too apparent, were now more
severely felt than if he alone had to bear them ;
and his affection for her doubly increased his
acute sense of the hardships of their lot.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 73
Bitterly did lie now reproach himself for his
selfishness in withdrawing her from compara-
tive comfort to almost positive want; and
when he learned that she was in a state likely
to make him a father in some mouths hence,
the tidings that under happier circumstances
would have filled his heart with gladness, now
only added to his gloom. His Emily, never
blessed with robust health, became more deli-
cate every day, and evidently required comforts
which his poverty precluded the possibility of
his providing for her. Her resignation, and her
attempts to maintain a cheerfulness under a
complication of evils that would have tested
the firmness of a stoic, often brought tears to
his eyes ; and as he beheld her during the long
evenings, occupied in converting her own
slender stock of clothes into habiliments for
their unborn infant, he would reflect with
many a pang, how her scanty wardrobe now
melting away was to be replenished, and how
so frail a form was to suffice for the maternal
duties and housewifery cares his idolized Emily
would be called on to fulfil. What, too,
VOL. r. E
74 MEMOIRS OF
would be the fate of their poor child ? Was it
to be doomed to pine through the vicissitudes of
a dreary life of dependence, making its un-
fortunate parents reflect with still more bitter-
ness on a union, that, were they but blessed
with a modest competency, they would have
felt to be indeed a blissful one ? Poverty !
thou gaunt spectre, whose approach fills all
with dread ; who frightest away summer friends
even more rapidly than winter chases away the
poor insects that basked in sunshine, never
art thou so terrible, as when we behold thy
chilling results on those dearer to us than life
itself, and yet have not the power to ward off
thy presence !
Lord Willamere had not desisted from his
evil intentions towards the wife of his secretary,
although foiled in his repeated attempts to
find an opportunity of carrying them into effect.
Many had been the visits offered, and the
invitations to dinner given on his part to Mr.
and Mrs. Stratford ; but the ill health of the
latter offered so strong a plea for rejecting both,
that, although he was unwillingly compelled to
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 75
postpone following up his schemes against her
honour, he was by no means disposed to abandon
them. Often would he send the most rare and
costly fruit to the invalid, purchased at a price that
would have abundantly supplied the substantial
comforts and necessaries of which she stood in
so much need ; but what knew he of the pri-
vations which his extravagance and recklessness
entailed on those who depended on him for
subsistence ? He never experienced any priva-
tions, save the temporary want of some useless
luxury or expensive bauble, which, when his
finances were low, he might have denied himself
for some time, but which, when his purse was
again filled, he indulged himself in. That any
one beneath his roof should be in actual want
of a substantial, if not a dainty meal, never
once entered his thoughts, and, if it had, he
would in all probability have pronounced the
person a fool, for not seeking, as he did, the
supply of all wants by rushing into debt,
without ever thinking how such debts were to
be discharged. The fact was, Lord Willamere
avoided as much as possible ever reflecting on
E 2
70 MEMOIRS OF
disagreeable subjects, and piqued himself not a
little on this proof of his epicurean philosophy.
He fared luxuriously every day, either at the
tables of his friends, or at his own, and it never
occurred to him, that the woman he most ad-
mired, and the man he most trusted, had
barely sufficient food to support existence.
A portion of the next quarter's salary having
been allotted to the tradespeople who supplied
Willamere House, they consented to renew
once more the bills of his lordship, already so
often renewed; but on the proviso that his
secretary should indorse them.
" The impudent scoundrels ! " exclaimed Lord
Willamere. "But of course, Stratford, you'll
sign them. It is a mere matter of form in-
sisted on by these harpies to pique me."
" If I possessed the means to meet the bills
when due, readily, my lord, would I indorse
them; but it strikes me that, as there is no
probability of this being the case, it would not
be honest on my part to do so."
"Really this is carrying your scruples to a
very absurd extent, Stratford. It is not what
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 77
I looked for in a man whom I believed perfectly
devoted to my interests. The moment you
refuse what these rascals require, you will have
inflicted a mortal wound on my credit; for
they will naturally enough say, * Why his
bills can be worth nothing when his own secre-
tary, who best knows his affairs, will not
indorse them.' "
This argument was irresistible with Strat-
ford, not that his conscience was at all con-
vinced by it, but that he saw his refusal would
not only seriously offend Lord Willamere, but
totally destroy his already straitened credit with
his tradespeople. He signed the bills, and
from that moment became haunted with the
dread that he had committed an act that would
entail misery on him at no distant day ; and
this addition to his troubles achieved the ruin
of his health, already greatly impaired by
constant anxiety and privations.
78 MEMOIRS OF
CHAPTER V.
QUICKLY did his doting wife detect the change
in her husband's aspect. His heavy eyes, pale
and haggard cheeks, and the sickly smile that
tried to re-assure her, when alarmed by these
symptoms she tremblingly questioned their
cause, but too well convinced her that the
pressure of hard necessity at present, and the
dread of actual want hereafter, were preying
on his life. And this, this was the sad result
of her compliance with his long, and often reite-
rated prayers for her consent to their union ! Oh !
why had she yielded to it, against the dictates
of her own better judgment. Had their mar-
riage brought happiness to him, she would have
borne with fortitude all the privations induced
by poverty. But when did happiness and
poverty dwell together? Does not the. former,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 79
terrified, quickly fly away, when the latter
shows its grim face ? Alas, yes ! How brief
had been their felicity ! A few halcyon days,
and now cankering cares had scared away
peace; and Love, Love only, had remained to
confront the dire spectre Poverty. And was
not Love itself, in this cruel position, an
addition to their misery ? Did it not, in the
pity, the anxiety it awakened in their breasts
for each other, aggravate, ten-fold, their suffer-
ings ? Could she have experienced, for herself
alone, one half the inquietude, the sleepless,
agonizing inquietude, that filled her tortured
heart for him? Ah, no! well she knew she
could not, and were lie but exempted from the
hardships of their position, she could bear them
without a murmur. Such were the bitter
reflections that continually filled the minds of
both husband and wife ; increasing their mutual
tenderness to an almost morbid state of exalta-
tion, which like a fever preyed upon their lives,
and prostrated their mental energies.
When the time for his wife's accouchement
drew near, Mr. Stratford demanded from Lord
80 MEMOIRS OF
Willamere for her use, the money, which for
his own, a delicacy amounting to weakness
would have precluded him from urging.
" How unfortunate that you did not ask me
yesterday, my good fellow," replied his lord-
ship ; " but as my ill luck would have it, I lost
last night at whist all the money I had, and
was just thinking of asking you to look out for
some one who would cash a bill for me. If you
know any one who will do so, your wants shall
be the first attended to from the produce."
There was something so like a bribe, to do
that which he so much disliked, held out in the
promise that his wants should be the first attended
to, that Stratford's sensitiveness was wounded,
and there was a self-respect, almost amounting
to dignity of manner, in his air, when he de-
clared that, however pressing his wants were,
he preferred bearing the annoyance to continuing
:i system so ruinous to his lordship, as that of
raising money at such exorbitant interest.
" Your wants, Stratford, must then be much
less pressing than mine, the relief for which
cannot, 1 am sorry to say, be postponed,"
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 81
replied Lord Willamere, " so you must assist
me on this occasion. I am going to the country
to-morrow, to stay a few days at the Duke of
Evandale's, and money I must have*"
" Could he but see, and hear the conversation
of the man to whom he sends me to borrow
money," thought Stratford, as he wended his
way to a money-lender in Chancery Lane, " he
would be less ready to have recourse to such
men, and more careful in managing his re-
sources. Where will all this end?"
This was a question that often presented
itself to his mind of late, when on his sleepless
pillow he reflected with alarm on the heavy
liabilities he had incurred for Lord Willamere,
and remembered the utter carelessness of that
nobleman in all pecuniary matters, as well as
his own total inability to meet any portion of
them. At last he reached the house of Mr.
Solomons, and after waiting half-an-hour in a
dark and dingy room, ill ventilated, and con-
taining only three or four rickety chairs, and a
table covered with a cloth, on which various
devices were scrawled with ink, and sundry
E 3
82 MEMOIRS OF
spots of grease, and stains of wine or beer were
visible, he was summoned to the sanctum of
Mr. Solomons, and ushered there by a lad of
some sixteen years old, whose pale and elon-
gated face spoke as ill for the larder of his
employer, as his thread-bare and greasy coat'
did for his liberality in providing him with
clothing.
" So here you are again, Mr. Stratford,' 1 ex-
claimed Mr. Solomons, his coarse mouth
relaxing into an ironical smile ; " I didn't expect
to see you here so soon, after all you said
against raising money by bills. I hope you
ain't come here for any such purpose now, for
two reasons : first, I don't like to see a gentleman
act contrary to his conscience, and you said it
went against yours to pay fifty per cent, for
raising money ; and secondly, never was cash so
scarce in the city as at present no getting it,
I can assure you. Why there's my Lord Duke
of Deloraine has told me, he won't object to
paying sixty, ay, or even sixty-five per cent, if
I can get his grace five thousand pounds for
six months. ' Can't be done, my lord duke,'
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 83
says I: 'Must be done, Mr. Solomons,' says
he, 'for I positively want the money.' 'I
might manage it at three months, your grace,'
says I, f but at six months I couldn't do it for
Her Majesty herself, if she required it.' ( Wei],
at three months then I suppose it must be,'
says his grace ; and I managed it at sixty-five
per cent., but it is not for every one I could or
would have done it, I can tell you.*
" I want cash for a bill of Lord Willamere's
for two hundred and fifty pounds, Mr. Solo-
mons, and require it to be at six months."
" Quite out of the question, sir, quite out of
the question. You may suppose that if I re-
fused my Lord Duke of Deloraine, one of the
best customers I have, a nobleman that never
makes the slightest objection to any rate of
interest I demand, I am not likely to do it for
Lord Willamere, who sends you here huckstering
and beating down my terms in a manner that
is by no means the one I like to do business
in."
The blood mounted to the temples of poor
Stratford, while he listened to this coarse re-
84 MEMOIRS OF
proach, but he felt that it would not be prudent
to resent it; for well did he know, that ill-dis-
posed as was Mr. Solomons to lend the required
accommodation, the other money-lenders with
whom he had dealt for Lord Willamere,
were still less inclined to discount his bills.
" AVill you tell me at once, Mr. Solomons, what
you will accept for cashing a bill at three
months, and whether or not, I may count on
you renewing it at the expiration of that term,
for as many more months ?"
" Well then, Mr. Stratford, at a word, I am
ready to find you the money, (you are of course
aware I have no funds myself,) at sixty-five per
cent, and a douceur for myself for the renewal.
I will not be unreasonable ; twenty-five pounds
will satisfy me, but less than that I will not take."
"I must consult Lord "Willamere, before I
can accept such very extravagant conditions."
" And extravagant as you are pleased to con-
sider them, I may not be in the humour to offer
them again. Money was never so scarce in the
market. Every one wants it, and I have at
present no less than eight noblemen on my list,
A FEttME DE CHAMBRE. 85
who will give me a higher rate of interest than
Lord Willamere."
Stratford returned to his patron's, and ac-
quainted him with the hard conditions named
by Mr. Solomons, adding, that to accept them
would be little short of madness,
" We must, nevertheless, do so, my good
fellow," replied Lord Willamere ; " there is no
help for it ; for, since you left this, confidently
counting on your accomplishing the loan, I
have bought a very fine horse, which was
brought here for me to see, and the dealer in-
sists on having ready money for him. I have
made a capital bargain, for I have got him to
take a hundred and fifty less, in consideration of
paying him ready money. He refused selling him
for two hundred and fifty to Lord George Deve-
reux, who offered him a bill at six months. You
must therefore go back to Solomons, and close
with him on his own terms. Iwish you had done
so at once, for I want the money confoundedly."
The bill was cashed, Mr. Solomons making
a great merit of not having swerved from his
conditions, which he declared he considered
86 MEMOIRS OF
himself fully warranted in doing, owing to Mr.
Stratford not having at once closed with them;
but he took care to retain the sixty-five per
cent, interest in advance, in spite of all Strat-
ford's remonstrances to the contrary, saying,
he always of late made a point of it, to prevent
his clients suffering from the unpunctuality of
noblemen and gentlemen.
This deduction so far diminished the sum
raised, that, when it was handed over to Lord
Willamere, he uttered "curses not loud, but
deep," on the grasping scoundrel, as he termed
Mr. Solomons ; and avowed that now, however
he might regret it, it was totally out of his
power to appropriate any portion of it to the
wants of his secretary. "Devilish sorry,
Stratford, but I can't help it, I can't, by Jove !
It can't make much difference to you, whether
you have the money now or in a fortnight
hence. A devilish great bore to be compelled
to give up the horse too! hang that rascal
Solomons. I must send my groom to say I
have changed my mind about the horse, and
won't buy him."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 87
That evening the poor secretary wandered
into a remote street to the house of a pawn-
broker which he had often noticed in his
rambles, and there raised ten guineas on his
gold watch and chain, worth thrice that sum, in
order that the hour of trial of his wife, now daily
expected, should not find him penniless ; and
when he returned to her, he endeavoured to
assume a cheerful aspect as he pressed her to
his heart. He assisted her with almost femi-
nine forethought and activity in preparing for
the little stranger, whose birth they anticipated
with trembling anxiety; and having secured the
attendance of the nurse of his wife, a respecta-
ble and attached though humble friend, he
waited with a trepidation known only to those
who feel that the object dearer to them
than life is in danger, the event so long looked
forward to.
The following night I opened my eyes on this
world of care, and was as fondly pressed to the
breast of my poor father, as if I were the heiress
to broad lands and a long line of ancient
ancestry. The extreme delicacy of my mother's
88 MEMOIRS OF
health induced her medical adviser to prohibit
her attempting to nurse ; and the narrow cir-
cumstances of my parents precluding them from
engaging a wet nurse, my mother determined
on rearing me by hand. Her health seemed to
revive ; and when she left her sick chamber,
the few who saw her, thought her looking mora
beautiful than ever. Lord Willamere offered
himself as sponsor to the infant ; and his kind
sister, Lady Altonbury, proposed being the
godmother. When he paid his first visit to
the young mother, her increased loveliness
re-awakened the evil thoughts that had been
slumbering in his mind since her arrival beneath
his roof. He tried that generally sure road to a
mother's heart, praises of her infant, and, affect-
ing to admire children, pronounced that I was
one of the prettiest he had ever seen. Flattered
by his commendations of me, and thinking that
in her new character of a mother, Lord
Willamere would find more to respect than
admire, in- a woman wholly occupied by her
husband and child, she forgot that she had
ever seen aught in his manner that indicated
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE.
89
any sentiment of a more personal nature on his
part towards her ; and she consequently evinced
less reserve in her reception of him, although
the most rigid and scrupulous disciplinarian in
female decorum could have detected nothing to
censure in her manner.
* Women, far less pure-minded and reserved
than Mrs. Stratford, find, on first becoming a
mother, a material change in their feelings and
notions. There is something so purifying, so
sacred in maternity, that its benign influence
corrects vanity and sobers down levity.
Unhappily, circumstances too often occur which
abridge the duration of this holy influence, but
few can deny that it has existed. Many a vain
coquette has forgotten self in the love excited
for her offspring, and has felt more gratified by
the admiration bestowed on its beauty, than by
all the commendations ever given to her own. If
such is the effect produced by maternity on minds
of ordinary stamp, its result on one of so superior
a nature as Mrs. Stratford's, may easily be
imagined. A woman of the most advanced age
could not have supposed herself more wholly
90 MEMOIRS OF
out of the pale of libertine pursuits than she
did now, when to her matronly character was
added that of a mother. Deeply impressed
with a sense of the sacred duties this new tie
involved, she, in the innocence of her heart,
believed that it invested her in the eyes of
others with as holy a shield from sinful thoughts
as it did in her own. Hence the change in her
manner, which, although less formal and
reserved, was nevertheless all that decorum
and female dignity could desire.
Lady Altonbury came to London expressly
to answer at the baptismal font for the little
stranger, and the knowledge so fully impressed
on the mind of Mrs. Stratford of the seriousness
and importance which that amiable and excel-
lent lady attached to the duties of a godmother,
was a source of comfort to her, now that Lady
Altonbury had undertaken them for her child.
On the day of the christening, Lord Willamere
voluntarily promised his secretary, that all his
influence should be exerted to procure him an
appointment the first vacancy that occurred;
and this unsolicited pledge on his part would
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 91
have convinced Mrs. Stratford, had any doubt
still remained in her mind, that he no longer
entertained any warmer sentiment than good
Avill towards herself.
Xot long, however, was she suffered to remain
in this belief. Lord Willamere, under the plea
of coming to inquire after the health of his god-
daughter, sought occasions to visit her; and
although he never did so without apprising his
secretary, carelessly saying, " I will just step
up and see Mrs. Stratford and my little god-
child," both husband and wife began to find
that these calls were more frequent than they
wished, and heartily longed for the promised
appointment, which would enable them to leave
a house where they could not be safe from the
intrusion of the owner.
And now the time drew near when the bills
indorsed by Stratford were to fall due: he
reminded Lord Willamere of the fact, and
urged as strongly as he could the necessity of
making a provision to meet them. They had
been once renewed as had been agreed on, but
Mr. Solomons had on that occasion frankly
92 MEMOIRS OF
declared his intention of not again granting their
renewal. When told of this, Lord Willamere
had assured his secretary that the money should
be forthcoming, but these repeated assurances
had failed to remove the anxiety that haunted
him. Too well were his worst fears justified
when, the day the bills fell due, Lord Willamere
confessed his inability to meet them, and advised
Stratford to leave town, or conceal himself in
some obscure corner of it until he could obtain
money to satisfy Mr. Solomons. The advice
came too late. While the poor secretary was
meditating where he should go to, and how to
break this annoying intelligence to his wife, at
that moment greatly distressed by the illness of
her child, he was arrested. Lord Willamere
was absent at the House of Lords, when this
mortifying event occurred. His lordship's
solicitor, to whom Stratford wrote, w r as not to
be found ; and the sheriff's officer, after waiting
an hour at the request of his prisoner, and
seeing that further delay was not likely to tend
to any advantages to himself, peremptorily in-
sisted on his accompanying him to his abode,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 93
there to wait until Lord Willamere's solicitor
could be found. Dreading to have an interview
with his wife under the distressing circum-
stances of the moment, he wrote a few lines to
her, to be delivered in case he did not return at
night, left a note, detailing the state of the
case, for Lord Willamere, and then resigned
himself to his fate.
" I suppose, Sir, as how you would wish for us
to go to Serle Street in a carriage ?" said Mr. Moses.
"As you please," replied the inexperienced
Stratford.
" No, sir ; not as I, but as you pleases. It
bain't nothing to me whatsomnever to be seen
going along the streets with you; but 'twill
do your credit no good, I can tell you, for you
to be seen with me. I'm well known, though
I say it as shouldn't say it perhaps, for being
the smartest man in my profession in all
London. I'm always picked out for doing
business with gentlemen at the west end of the
town ; and gentlemen as are really of the right
sort, never find me uncivil, or against granting
'em every accommodation as lies in my power ;
94 MEMOIRS OF
provided they can afford it and are willing to
pay for it."
"Let us have a carriage, then," said the
secretary; and one being called, he and his
accommodating companion entered it, and were
driven off to Serle Street.
Misfortunes, though long anticipated, fall
not less heavily when they arrive. How often
had a presentiment of the event that had now
occurred, haunted Stratford during the last six
months, and chased sleep from his pillow;
nevertheless the realization of his fears over-
whelmed him, as much as if he had never
previously thought of its probability. His
wife, his child the latter, too, ill and suffering,
and its anxious mother, so much needing his
presence to support and comfort her! What
would be his Emily's feelings when she should
learn the truth ? and that she must learn it he
felt but too assured, for he knew that at that
moment Lord Willamere, however he might
wish to release him from durance, had not the
funds at command to do so ; and his knowledge
of his lordship's solicitor, Mr. Spelerman, did
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 95
not encourage him to hope that he would put
himself to any inconvenience or trouble to
extricate him, even though well aware that it
was solely for the accommodation of his lordship,
that his secretary had indorsed the bills.
" "Well, he's safe off, that's certain," said
Mr. Bermingham, the mattre d'hotel of Lord
Willamere, as he saw from the window of his
private room the carriage that contained Mr.
Stratford and the sheriff's officer drive away.
" I kept out of the way lest he should ask me
to return him the sovereign he advanced me this
morning. I saw he had no more in his purse ;
and I got that out of him by telling him there
was not a shilling in the house to pay for
letters or parcels. And not far from the truth
neither, for the other servants haven't seen a
farthing of their wages for the last six months,
and I have taken good care not to keep a
sixpence of mine by me. No, no ; the minute
I lay my hand on a five-pound note, I go off and
lodge it in safe hands, where I can get interest
for it. No one shall catch me advancing
a shilling for my lord. I'm not such a fool.
96 MEMOIRS OF
And I owe Mr. Stratford no obligations^ I'm
sure. Quite the contrary, for he's a regular
skin-flint, and tries all he can to prevent me
from having any profits out of my place. I
could make a much better thing out of it if lie
were not in the house, looking after the cellar
book, and doing a hundred other mean things,
for which he'll get but little thanks in the end,
as I know. Why, the poor devil and his
pretty wife half starve themselves rather than
go in debt, and are too proud to touch any of
my lord's things. More fools they, say I."
Sally, the under-housemaid, as good-natured
as she was pretty, had, from the moment of
Mrs. Stratford's arrival at Willamere House,
taken a great liking to that lady. She had
noticed the severe system of economy adhered
to by the young couple, and with a quickness
of perception peculiar to her sex, had divined
the sentiments of Lord Willamere towards
Mrs. Stratford; and had observed the reserve
with which his attentions were treated.
"Yes," thought pretty Sally, "Mrs. Strat-
ford is a virtuous and well-conducted lady, and
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 97
it goes to my heart to see the straits to which
she and her husband are driven. I'm sure
they hardly eat enough to keep body and soul
together; and she's always trying to save me
trouble by doing every thing she can to keep
her rooms neat and clean. It's a pity to see
true lovers so ill off;" and Sally heaved a
deep sigh, partly from pity for my mother,
and partly because she was reminded, by the
case of my parents, of the consequences that
result from improvident marriages, the dread
of which had alone rendered her, for the
last year, obdurate to the pleadings of Thomas
the footman for their union. "Yes, it's a
terrible thing to see the person one loves
wanting the comforts to which he or she has
been accustomed," thought Sally ; " and then
to have a poor baby to face this cold hard-
working world, without any thing to leave for
its support, if death should snatch away its
parents ! M
VOL. I.
98 MEMOIRS OP
CHAPTER VI.
THE interest excited in Sally's breast for my
mother led her continually to the chamber she
occupied to perform a thousand little services
and acts of kindness. She was ever ready to
go of errands, to execute commissions, to take
charge of ^e bread, butter, milk, and meat,
brought to the house for the use of the young
couple ; and took especial care that no portion of
any of these articles should be abstracted, a
thing certain to have occurred, had she not
interfered to prevent it. Thomas, too, lent his
aid to protect the comestibles designed for the
little menage on the second floor, and united with
his beloved Sally in rendering every service in
his power to my parents.
No sooner had he been made aware of the
arrest of my father, and the news was
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 99
quickly spread through the house, than he
communicated it to his sweetheart.
" Oh, my ! " exclaimed Sally, " what a terrible
blow to the poor lady ! and the dear little baby
so ill too ! They did not get a wink of sleep
all night, I'm sure, the poor child wailed so
much ; and, although I got up and went to
their room to help to nurse it, or be of use,
Mrs. Stratford wouldn't let me sit up. Ah !
Thomas, you see what a sad thing it is for
people to marry before they have laid by a
little to make them comfortable ! "
" So you are always saying, Sally ; and yet
time passes away, and our youth goes with it,
while we are trying to scrape together a little
sum to have to depend on in case of illness. It
often makes me gloomy, Sally, when I think
how long we'll have to wait ; although I'm sure
we do all we can to save money. We have
neither of us tasted beer the last year, nor
taken sugar in our tea, out of economy, yet
how little it adds to our savings."
"Don't say so, Thomas. It will make a
good many shillings at the year's end; and
F 2
100 MEMOIRS OF
besides, leaving off sugar and beer now will
enable us to do without them always. Do we feel
a bit the worse, Thomas, since we left them off?"
" No, certainly, Sally ; and for my part I
think I feel better ; but then, our fellow-
servants jeer us, and that sometimes makes me
half ashamed."
" You men, you men, Thomas, havn't half
the courage of us women in such matters !
We don't mind being jeered, when we know it's
for a good cause. But, Lord bless me, here are
we gossipping all this while, instead of doing
our work. I'll just run up and see if I can't be
of some use to Mrs. Stratford. Poor lady, how
I pity her!"
" And I'll ask Mr. Bermingham's leave to
get out for an hour or two, and run to Serle
Street, to where I heard the bailiff order the
fly to be driven."
" Do, dear Thomas. It will be a comfort to
poor Mr. Stratford to see some face that he
knows in that dismal prison. Oh ! it makes
me tremble to think of the poor gentleman shut
up with iron bars on every side !"
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 101
" It's not quite so bad as that yet, Sally ; for
they have taken him first of all to what they
call a ' lock-up house,' where I'll go and see if
he wants me to take any letters for him. So
good bye, dear Sally. Do now give me your
hand, there's a dear. Ah ! you don't know
how I love you ! "
" Well, you may be sure I'm not ungrateful,
Thomas," was the reply, as the blushing Sally
withdrew her hand from the fond grasp of her
lover, and hurried from the spot.
On approaching the door of my mother's
chamber, she heard the voice of Mrs. Hannah,
the upper housemaid, in that quarter. The
circumstance was so unusual, for Mrs. Hannah
was known, all through the house, to bear no
good-will to the secretary or his wife, that
Sally instantly guessed that her present visit
was to convey the evil intelligence of the
husband's arrest to his poor wife. Yet she felt
almost angry with herself for the suspicion,
and thought, "No, bad and ill-natured as
Hannah is, she wouldn't have the heart to do
that, neither."
102 MEMOIRS OF
I
Her fears, however, were confirmed, when the
door opening to admit the retreat of the sour-
tempered Mrs. Hannah, she heard her say,
" Yes, ma'am, a prison is a very dreadful place,
indeed. Not as I knows from hexperence, for,
God be thanked, neither I nor any one belong-
ing to me was ever in one, but I've been told,
that the poor prisoners are all locked up in dark
cells with iron bars, and handcuffed, and chained
to the wall, and fed on black bread and musty
water. Yes, a prison is a dreadful place ; and
then, being ever after called a gaol-bird by
every one as knows a man was there ! But, hid,
ma'am, how mighty pale you look! Mayhap
you'd like to take a little somewhat ? "
"No, thank you, I shall be better by-and-
by," was the answer, uttered in so tremulous a
tone, that Sally felt convinced there were tears
in the eyes of the speaker.
" I've just been to Mrs. Stratford," said Mrs.
Hannah, when she perceived Sally. " I dare
say you wanted to have the first story, but she
is so proud and distant-like, that I determined,
the moment I heard that her husband was
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 103
inarched off to gaol, to give her the news, just
to show her that, for all her airs and conceit, we
servants are above her and her husband, in not
being taken off to prison. Would you believe
it, Sally? she never asked a question; only
trembled like an aspen leaf, turned as pale as
death, and I thought was going to faint. But
not a bit of it. She seemed, after a great strug-
gle, to recover herself in a minute or two, and
looked so anxious to be left alone, that, seeing
nothing was to be got out of her, I came away."
"Oh, Mrs. Hannah! how could you have the
heart to tell it to her, all of a sudden, without
taking time to break it to her by degrees ? "
"Stuff, nonsense; the sooner people know
things that concern them, the better ; and as she
has always been so high and mighty-like with
me, whenever I wished to have a bit of chat with
her, I was not sorry to have an opportunity of
paying her off."
Always respectful towards my mother,
never did Sally feel so profound a deference
towards her as at present. Uneducated as she
was, there was a natural goodness and delicacy
104 MEMOIRS OP
in her mind, that well supplied the place of
culture and acquired refinement, and made her
so conscious of the sacredness of grief, that she
was under the influence of considerable emotion
when, after allowing some time to elapse after
Hannah had disappeared, she timidly knocked at
the door of my mother's chamber.
"I beg pardon, ma'am, but I thought I might
be useful. Will you please to let me nurse the
dear baby a bit ? "
The tears, restrained in the presence of Han-
nah, had plenteously flowed after her departure,
and my mother's pale face was covered with
them. She silently placed me in Sally's arms, and
turned away to conceal that she was weeping.
" I hope you'll pardon me, ma'am, but, indeed,
you must try and not take on so. Things may
not be so bad as you fear. Mr. Stratford is not
gone to prison yet, and I trust in God won' be
sent there. He has only been taken to the sheriff's
officer's house, until matters are settled."
" Are you sure of this, my good Sally ? "
" Quite sure, ma'am, and Thomas has gone
there in order to make himself useful by taking
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 105
any letters that Mr. Stratford might wish to
send."
" How kind and thoughtful," observed Mrs,
Stratford.
" And no more than Mr. Stratford deserves
from every one," said Sally, "for he's all good-
ness and kindness himself."
This simple, but well merited commendation,
touched the heart of the fond wife, and again
brought the tears to her eyes ; but she pressed
the hand of Sally, and thanked her with a
glance more eloquent than words.
" You'll see, ma'am, we'll soon have him back
here, please God ; for as soon as ever my lord
hears of what has happened, he'll get him out."
This hope was, however, much less strong
in the breast of my mother than in that of
Sally ; for she had seen enough of Lord Willa-
mere's recklessness with regard to money mat-
ters, to dread that his finances might not be in
a state to enable him to liberate her husband.
Sally danced me in her arms, addressed the
most endearing epithets to me, and succeeded
in bringing. smiles to my poor little face.
F3
106 MEMOIRS OF
" See, ma'am," said the kind-hearted girl,
" how little missy laughs and coos. Isn't she
a sweet little darling ? and so good ! It's quite
a pleasure to nurse her, and I wish you'd let me
have the care of her oftener. I dote on pretty
children, and never am so happy as when nur-
sing 'em ; and this sweet baby is so good, that
it's quite a treat to be allowed to have her."
When was a mother's breast insensible
to a compliment addressed to her first-born?
Even in the midst of her affliction, mine felt
a pleasure in Sally's well-timed praises of hers,
and the gopd girl was rewarded for her efforts
to please, by seeing that they were not wholly
unsuccessful.
" If you could, without neglecting your duty,
take charge of my child," said my mother,
" I would go to the place where my husband is."
"Pray don't think of it, ma'am, 'twould only
vex and grieve Mr. Stratford to see you in such
a place. Thomas will soon be back, and bring
you a letter, you may be sure ; for, only think,
ma'am, if Mr. Stratford did not write a note to
you before he was taken off, or send to see you,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 107
it could only be because he did not wish you to
appear before the sheriff's officer, or to tell you
of his trouble until it was over. And you
wouldn't have known anything of it, ma'am,
only for Hannah's being so busy and meddling
as to come and tell you. I wish she had let it
alone, and so spared you a couple or three hours'
uneasiness. But some people have so little
feeling, that they don't know how to behave to
those that have."
Hour after hour passed, each fraught with
indescribable anxiety and dismay to the dis-
tressed wife, before Thomas made his appear-
ance ; and the intelligence he brought was but
little calculated to remove her fears. He had
taken notes from the secretary to Lord Willa-
mere to the House of Lords, and also to his
lordship's solicitor, Mr. Spellerman; but as
neither had attended to the summons they con-
tained, Mr. Stratford would, he feared, after a
fruitless delay of some four or five hours, be
removed to prison.
" I know Mr. Spellerman teas at home," said
Thomas, as he related the particulars of his
103 MEMOIRS OF
errand to Sally; " his servant told me he had a
party to dinner, and could not be disturbed, so
had desired to be denied to every one. I assure
you, my dear Sally, it grieved me to the heart,
ay, and angered me too, when I saw the rooms
all lighted up at his house, and smelt the rich
dainties preparing in the kitchen, and saw the
various wines, and fine plate on the side-board,
while poor Mr. Stratford, who worked early
and late for the benefit of my lord, and who has,
as you and I know, hardly enough to keep body
and soul together, was taken from his wife, and
was left fretting through the long hours, in a
dark, dingy, lock-up house, with no friend to
comfort him, and indebted to a poor servant like
myself, for a good office."
" Ah ! Thomas, it was enough to pain you.
But you know that when Mr. Spellerman asked
his friends to dinner, he couldn't know that his
presence would be required elsewhere; and he
couldn't well leave 'em."
" But, could'nt he give me a line to take to
one of his clerks, I should like to know, telling
him to go and get poor Mr. Stratford liberated ? "
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 109
" So he ought, Thomas ; but I suppose, and
more's the pity, it never entered his head."
" Or mayhap, which is more likely, Sally,
he had no wish to interpose in the business.
'Twas lucky I had the thought to take in my
pocket the three pounds I had ready to put
into the Saving Bank, for, just as I expected,
poor Mr. Stratford had not a shilling about
him. That screw, Bermingham, had his last
sovereign out of him this morning; and in a
lock-up house, many a demand is made for
money. Oh, Lord ! the imposition I saw going
on there is not to be imagined. I forced the
poor gentleman to take the three pounds, and a
difficult job I had to do so."
" God bless you, dear Thomas," said Sally
with moistened eyes, and laying her hand fondly
on his ; " I never loved you so well as at this
moment. I, too, have my little earnings in my
box, and they shall all go to help Mr. Stratford."
" Well, Sally, if you love me better for it,
'twill be some consolation for knowing that
what I gave away will keep us some months
longer from being married; and this thought,
110 MEMOIRS OF
I'll own the truth, worried me all the way
coming home ; yet, believe me, for all that, I'd
give it over again, Sally, rather than see the
good gentleman in distress."
" Bless you for that, Thomas, bless you ! "
and Sally vouchsafed a kiss to her sweetheart,
a rare and duly appreciated favour ; and they
separated: she, to deliver a note of which
Thomas had been the bearer, from my father
to my mother ; and Thomas, to excuse his long
absence to the Maitre cT Hotel, no easy matter,
for that person, although by no means over
attentive to his own duties, was little disposed
to overlook the slightest negligence on the parts
of others with regard to theirs. When Sally
had ascended the back stairs to go to my
mother, she - heard the footsteps of her
master mounting the front staircase on the
same errand. She, therefore, retired to her
own room, to wait until he had withdrawn from
my mother's, and left her door ajar that she
might hear him depart. He had been almost
half an hour in the room, when Sally heard
my mother's voice, in a more elevated tone
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. Ill
than she had ever previously known that lady
to use it, command him to withdraw. " Un-
hand me instantly, unhand me! my lord," ex-
claimed my mother ; " you insult me, and
degrade yourself."
Sally trembled, but, nevertheless, approached
the door to be ready to come to my mother's
aid if required.
" Pardon me, loveliest, most beloved of
women. On my knees I implore you to for-
give a moment of madness, caused by the in-
toxicating effect of your resistless charms. I
have long and passionately loved you. In vain
have I struggled to subdue my unhappy passion,
and to chase your beauteous image from my
breast."
"Rise, my lord; every word you utter is
an insult; and, oh! merciful powers! what a
moment have you chosen to wound, to outrage
me !" And here a burst of tears checked my
mother's utterance.
" Only hear me. Promise that you will par-
don my rash attempt to compel you to listen to
my vows of eternal affection ; promise that you
112 MEMOIRS OF
will not shun my sight, and I will submit to
be your slave, to have no will but yours, no
object in life but to please you and study your
wishes. My life, my fortune, all I lay at
your feet. Stratford shall be instantly released,
and I will procure for him a lucrative appoint-
ment, if you will promise to be less cruel, less
scornful."
" Never, never ! " exclaimed my mother,
" sooner would I submit to the worst ills that
Poverty can inflict, than owe to him, who
would dishonour the man who has faithfully
served and implicitly trusted him, a single
favour. Leave the room, my lord, or permit
me to do so."
" Only say that you will not leave the house,
that you will not betray my folly, my madness,
and I will leave you. Nay, more ; I swear
I will never again enter your presence without
your permission."
" Every moment that sees you here, adds to
the insult you have already offered to me. I
will enter into no terms, make no promises, and
I insist on being left alone."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 113
" You shall be obeyed, loveliest, but haughtiest
of your sex. Such is your power over me, that
I yield obedience to your commands even when
you bid me leave you, the most difficult of all ;"
and Lord Willamere, bowing lowly, quitted the
room, leaving my mother overpowered by feel-
ings of insulted virtue and indignation.
A short note from Lord Willamere, express-
ing his regret that he could not procure money
to liberate him, was the only tidings that reached
my poor father at the house of the sheriff's
officer ; and even for this note he was indebted
to the indefatigable activity of the good-natured
Thomas, who had induced the door-keeper of
the House of Lords to take the one confided to
him by my father to his lord, the former
note had not reached Lord Willamere.
From Mr. Spellerman, not even a note could
be obtained, that gentleman persisting in re-
fusing to acknowledge his being in town,
although his servant had admitted the fact.
The sheriff's officer, well experienced in similar
cases, was not slow in discovering that his pri-
soner was not likely to prove a profitable one.
114 MEMOIRS OF
His inability, whether real or pretended, to pay
the fare for the carriage that conveyed them to
Serle-street, impressed him with a conviction of
this truth ; and he lost as little time as possible
in communicating it to his fidus Achates, the
master of the house, whose interests it mate-
rially concerned.
" There's not much to be made of this 'ere
chap, I can tell you," said Mr. Moses.
" Sorry to hear it," replied Mr. Isaacs ; " he's
either as close-fisted a feller as ever I corned
across, or else he's a pauper ; and in either case,
he'll bring no grist to your mill, I'm a think-
ing. Some of these 'ere chaps keep such a
fast hold on their money, that there's no lugging
a shilling out of 'em, and, mayhap, this one is of
that sort."
" I don't much think it," said Mr. Moses,
shaking his head, " for he's corned out of a house
where there's a terrible scarcity of money.
Why, that there Lord Willamere never pays
no one, until he's forced; his name's as well
known for that, as Rothschild's is for the con-
trary."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 115
" Yes, that's true enough ; but don't you
know that, often when a master is hard up,
those as have the management of his money
matters, are well to do in the world, and make
their fortunes by him?"
" No doubt, it's often the case, but, some-
how or other, I don't think it is so with this
'ere feller."
" Well, tune will tell, but I have my doubts
that he's not so poor as he pretends, and I'll tell
you my reasons. Mr. Solomons, as cute a chap
as I knows anywhere, told me, that of all the
customers he ever had, this one was the hardest
about beating down interest and trying to get
money on easy terms. It was this very beating
down of interest as made Solomons discount
the bills ; for, says he to himself, ' If they didn't
mean to pay, and didn't know they would have
the wherewithal, they'd never be so sharp about
beating down the interest ; for, those as knows
they cant pay, makes no bother about what
they promises to pay. And,' says Solomons
to himself, ' This Mr. Stratford must have
money, for he seems to understand the value of
116 MEMOIRS OF
it so well, which I've remarked, those as have
the most of it always do. Would Mr. Stratford
take such pains and trouble to beat me down
about the interest, if it was only for his em-
ployer's sake ? No, no, he has a personal motive
in it, I'm sure, and as Lord Willamere is such
an extravagant and thoughtless man, this 'ere
chap must have had plenty of hopportunities of
making money."
" Somehow or other, I think this chap too
great a spooney to have profited by such
chances. Why, lord love you, Mr. Isaacs, there's
some men such perfect fools, that they're not up
to anything. This man turned so white in the
face, and his lips trembled so when I nabbed
him, that I made certain he had not the where-
withal to get his release, nor no great hopes of
having any friend to come forward."
Soon after this conversation between Messrs.
Moses and Isaacs, Thomas made his appearance,
and, with much difficulty, induced my poor
father to accept the loan of three pounds,
after which, he took the notes, as previously
stated, to his lord, and to Mr. Spellerman.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 117
Anxious to ascertain the precise state of the
prisoner's finances, Mr. Isaacs entered the room,
and inquired, with some show of urbanity,
whether he would not be pleased to take some
refeshment.
" Nothing thank you," was the reply.
" You can have anything you like here, sir,
from turtle soup down to mutton broth, and
from any French entree you choose to ask for,
down to a plain mutton chop or beefsteak."
" I require nothing at present," said my
father.
" It's growing dusk, so I suppose you'd like
candles ? "
" Yes," was the reply, and forthwith a pair of
wax lights were placed on the table. My father,
with the rigid system of economy he was in
the habit of practising, immediately extin-
guished one of the candles, which produced a
contemptuous smile from Mr. Isaacs, as he
mentally promised, that his prisoner should
pay, ay and at triple cost too, for both of
them.
" I wonder," said he to himself, " how he thinks
118 MEMOIRS
we as keep houses for the accommodation of
such as him, are to live?"
" Have you any friend you'd like to send
for, sir ? " inquired he.
" I have already sent to two ; " was the
answer.
" And who took the messages or notes ? "
" Lord Willamere's servant who came here."
" Then, sir, I must tell you, that it's against
the regulations of this house, that any one but
my people, or Mr. Moses's, should go of errands
for prisoners. I keep men purposely for it,
which I must pay, and how am I to be able to
do so, if I'm defrauded out of my regular
profits ?"
My father's face became flushed with indig-
nation, when he heard the term defrauded,
addressed to himself. He, however, so far
mastered his feelings as to say, that he was
ignorant that he was transgressing the rules of
the house, when he employed Lord Willamere's
servant.
" You'll have to pay just the same, sir, that's
all, for as my men were in attendance, and
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE, 119
ready to go on your errands, their time must be
paid for."
" Very well," answered my father ; and he
was once more left to his solitude.
120 MEMOIRS OF
CHAPTER VII.
How tediously did the time pass on with
my father, in this wretched chamber ! his
mind a prey to anxiety, as he dwelt with bitter-
ness on the state of his poor wife, should he, as
he now began to fear would be the case, be
compelled to leave this place of temporary con-
finement for a prison. Oh ! why had he involved
her fate in his more wretched one ? And their
poor child too! Often did he press his icy
hands to his burning temples, to cool the fever
raging there, and endeavour to think upon some
resource, or some well-disposed acquaintance
who might be induced to extricate him. He
passed over in review all the persons he knew in
London, but, alas I as they were chiefly, if not
entirely composed of the tradespeople of Lord
Willamere, to whom large sums were long due,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 121
the retrospection brought him little comfort.
One, however, among the number, he recollected
had always manifested more patience and
civility than the others. This was the grocer,
Mr. Manvers, whose character for integrity he
had ever found justified by the correctness of
his accounts and moderation of his charges. He
would send for Mr. Manvers, relate his position
to him, and perhaps he might be induced to
come to his aid in this dilemma. But, then,
Pride interposed, to check the latent hope sug-
gested by this expedient. How was he to
solicit so great a favour from one on whose
kindness he had no claim ? How reveal to him,
a comparative stranger, the affairs of Lord
"WiHamere, the entanglement of which had led
to the bill transactions, and finally to his own
imprisonment? Was he, who had borne poverty,
and all the privations it entails, uncomplain-
ingly, to now become a suitor to a person of
whom he knew little, and who knew even less of
him ? Oh ! there was pain and humiliation in
the very thought, and he abandoned it almost
as soon as it had been formed. But then again
VOL. i. G
122 MEMOIRS OF
came the recollection of his Emily and their
child. What was to become of them, when he
should be the inmate of a prison ? Was he not
selfish, in giving way to the dictates of his
own pride, when his adored wife's peace of mind
was in question ? Yes, he would vanquish his
scruples, stifle the sense of delicacy that made him
shrink from soliciting the aid of Mr. Manvers,
and at once write to him to request his presence.
" To what vexation, what humiliation would
I not submit, to be enabled to return home to my
poor Emily, before she learns the cause of my long
and unusual absence ! " exclaimed my father.
He wrote to Mr. Manvers, and Mr. Isaacs,
having despatched the note, again proffered
refreshments to his prisoner.
" You'll surely not refuse to order a bottle of
wine, sir ? " said that individual, on profitable,
not hospitable thoughts intent.
"I prefer a little tea," was the answer: and
Mr. Isaacs withdrew, evidently ill-pleased at the
result of his offer.
After a few minutes had elapsed, Mr. Moses
made his appearance.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 1 23
" As you seem unacquainted with the rules
of houses like this, sir, I must just tell you, that
it's the custom for all gentlemen as stop here to
call for something, even if they don't want it,
for the good of the house. That's how people
like Mr. Isaacs live, and are able to pay rent and
taxes ; and if it suits gentlemen's convenience to
remain here a few hours, just to see what their
friends will do for 'em, or to try if indeed they
have any friends, for this is the place to find that
out, they ought to remember to behave genteelly,
and do what's expected of 'em."
" I did not know the regulations," answered
my father, with a deep sigh, "and as I felt
unequal to touching any refreshments, I did not
think it necessary to order any,"
" Very likely, sir, but you need not take any
if you don't like it. This is Liberty Hall in that
respect, for all it's a lock-up house, but every
one as comes here must order something for
the good of the house. In like manner I must
be paid for allowing you to stay here, when I
could have taken you off straight to prison at
once. I just mention these things because I see
G 2
124 MEMOIRS OF
you are not used to our business. But you'll
become so in the course of time, I dare say, and
then you'll want no one to instruct you."
"I have ordered some tea," observed Mr.
Stratford.
" Lord love you, sir ! that goes for nothing.
Order a couple of bottles of wine. Mr. Isaacs
and I will empty one to your health, and the
other will go to Mrs. Isaacs's cupboard. ' Live
and let live,' that's my motto; and I don't
think any one can object to it."
Before the poor secretary could assent or
dissent to the proverb, uttered with much self-
complacency by Mr. Moses, the messenger
returned from Mr. Manvers, saying that an
answer would be sent. My father's faint
hope of assistance from that quarter instantly
faded, and it was not until it had vanished, that
he became sensible, by the pang of disappoint-
ment, that he had counted on it. "Ay, ay,
I see how it is," said Mr. Moses, the old story !
Won't come. 'An answer will be sent,' means
precisely, that no more notice will be taken of
the request. It's astonishing how tender-hearted
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 125
people's friends become, when they hear men
are shut up in a prison. They can't bear to see
a friend in distress, I suppose, so never come
near 'em. It's a pity, sir, you went to the
expense of sending a messenger for nothing.
A pretty sum 'twill come to, too ; for Jem must
have half killed the cab-horse, to have got there
and back in so -short a time ! "
" I'll trouble you for the fare of the cab, and
the payment of my messenger," said Mr. Isaacs,
entering the room : " Short reckonings make long
friends, as the saying is, and it's the rule of my
house to have everything paid for when had."
"How much is the amount?" asked my
father, putting his hand into his pocket.
" Seven shillings and sixpence for the cab, and
five shillings for the messenger."
" And as your hand is in, sir, 'twill be just as
well to pay me for the fly that we came in here.
It's but a trifle seven and sixpence; so a
sovereign will clear both the little accounts,"
observed Mr. Moses.
The sovereign was abstracted from the pocket
of Mr. Stratford, and handed over to the claim-
126 MEMOIRS OF
ants, who left the room to divide it between
them.
" I say, Moses, did you see, we got him to
fork out at last," said Mr. Isaacs, " for all you
thought he had no money."
" He's no better than he should be, you may
be sure," was the reply; "for he positively
pretended to have no cash, when I asked him for
some to pay the cab when we arrived. A regular
screw, and deserves to be worked. I can't
abide such fellows wanting to do us out of our
profits. They ought to be ashamed of them-
selves, but they have no shame in 'em."
" It's no use letting him remain here, you may
take my word for it ; the house will gain nothing
by such a skin-flint, and no one will come to
release him. You see the man he sent for
wouldn't come, nor the lawyer that the servant
went for."
" I'm quite of your opinion, and will march
him off, but let us first get a couple of bottles of
wine out of him. I told him 'twas the custom
here, so he's prepared for it."
"If I thought he had another sovereign or
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 127
two left, I'd send up the wine, but I didn't hear
the jingle of any more coin in his pocket when
he drew out the one we've got."
" Let us take our chance. I'm rather thirsty,
and two or three glasses of wine will do me good ;
and it's my opinion that there's a few more
sovereigns where this one came from."
" Very well, I'll send up the wine, so that he
can't say that it was not served to him."
" No, no, it's all fair and above board here,
Mr. Isaacs."
Contrary to the expectations of Messrs.
Isaacs and Moses, and indeed of my father,
himself, Mr. Manvers, the grocer, in due time
made his appearance at Serle Street. He was
a grave man, and on this occasion looked even
more so than usual. He listened with an
unchanged aspect to the statement of the se-
cretary. He, however, shook his head when
the bill transactions were explained, and opened
his eyes in astonishment when informed that no
portion of the money raised had ever entered the
purse of Stratford.
" Lord Willamere will not, surely, leave you
128 MEMOIRS OP
here to suffer for his debts?" demanded Mr.
Manvers.
" His lordship would not, I am convinced,
had he the means, this moment, of releasing me."
" But ought he, can he, as an honest man, let
you be imprisoned on his account, if he has
plate, horses, carriages, furniture, any of those
things which even persons much beneath his
lordship in station are not without ? v
My father was silent, for he did not think
himself justified in disclosing to any one the
fact, that all the personal and household pro-
perty of Lord Willamere had long been
assigned over to a friendly creditor, in order to
preserve them from those less amicably disposed.
Careless and culpably negligent as Lord "Willa-
mere had been towards him, my father possessed
so good a heart, and was so guileless, and un-
skilled in worldly lore, that he judged the
blamable conduct of Lord Willamere much
more leniently that it deserved, and shrank from
revealing aught that could militate against
either his character or his pecuniary interests.
While he paused, embarrassed what reply to
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 129
make, Mr. Manvers looked still more gravely
than before, and his countenance assumed an
expression of austerity, that left little hope in
the mind of the poor secretary that he had any-
thing to expect from him.
" You have not answered my question, Mr.
Stratford, and your silence, I confess, appears
incomprehensible to me. If Lord Willamere
suffers you to be imprisoned for his debts, he
being, as a peer, protected from arrest, then
I must pronounce his conduct anything but
what might be expected from a nobleman or
gentleman, and your forbearance towards him
surprises me. I have another question to ask
you, Mr. Stratford. Do you think the house of
Lord Willamere, a professed libertine, as his
lordship is accused of being, a proper abode for
your young and handsome wife, when you can
no longer be there to protect her ?"
" I have no friends, no means to provide her
a home, however humble," said my father ; his
lips tremulous with emotion. " If I had, never
should she have entered that house."
" Perhaps it would have been better for both
G3
130 MEMOIES OF
your sakes that she never had," observed
Mr. Manvers gravely.
My father looked at him inquiringly, and then
said, " Why, why would it have been better ?
I know that it would have been infinitely better
for her, that we had not married : it needs no
one to remind me of that ; for one of the heaviest
reproaches I have to make myself, was the
having urged her to leave a home where she
was esteemed, respected, and knew no privations,
to share my lot, the hardships of which I ought
to have too well known to have exposed her to
them."
" I did not mean to reproach you with your
marriage, although it must be admitted it was
an imprudent one, situated as you were."
" Why then did you say it would have been
as well that my wife had never entered Lord
Willamere's house ? "
" I hardly know, Mr. Stratford, whether I am
justified in entering on so very delicate a
subject; yet, as I made the reflection you have
repeated, perhaps I ought to state the reason.
You are not probably aware of the evil rumours
A FEMME BE CHAMBRE. 131
circulated against your honour, and the purity
of your wife, in consequence of her having taken
up her abode beneath the roof of Lord Willa-
mere?"
" Merciful God, is it so?" exclaimed my father,
turning pale as death. " Oh, my poor Emily !
my poor Emily!" and he sank into a chair.
His agony, too deep to leave a -doubt, even on
the most suspicious mind, that it was feigned,
secretly touched the feelings of Mr. Manvers, an
upright, honourable man, who could sympathize
with the pain he had unconsciously inflicted.
" Was it not enough to entail poverty on her,
but must I also have exposed her fair fame,
dearer to me than life itself, to calumny ? Oh !
Mr. Manvers, if you knew her, you would, like
me, be convinced of her purity, of her irreproach-
able conduct ! And is this then the reward of a
conjugal devotion, seldom equalled, never ex-
ceeded, of a resignation under privation rarely
borne with such fortitude even by man ? Oh,
this is the most bitter of all my trials, the one
which most unmans me."
And my poor father gave way to the emotion,
132 MEMOIRS OF
he could no longer control ; all the griefs pent
up in his heart for long months, seemed now to
overflow the boundaries in which they had
hitherto been confined, and his agitated frame
shook in the vain struggle to subdue them.
" How has this man been wronged !" thought
Mr. Manvers; "I wish I had not revealed to
him the evil rumours that had reached me."
"I feel hardly less indignant a ^ the injury
offered to Lord Willamere, by those base and
unfounded slanders, than at that aimed at my
wife, and my own character," said my father.
" He is incapable of harbouring even a dis-
honourable thought towards me or mine, and
would, I am sure, be the first to resent such a
charge. But tell me, I entreat you, Mr.
Manvers, what you really did hear ? To refute
slander, one should be made aware of its extent ;
and though it will be indeed a most painful
thing for me to listen to reports so humiliating,
so wounding to my feelings; nevertheless,
I must request you to be explicit with
me."
And, although pale as marble, my father, by
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE.
a violent effort of self-control, assumed a more
calm and composed aspect.
" I wish you would not call on me to inflict
this pain on you, and on myself also," replied
Mr. Manvers ; " for I assure you, I am now so
fully convinced of the utter falsehood of the
rumours I had heard, that it will be very pain-
ful for me to repeat them. Spare me the dis-
agreeable task, and as an amend for the chagrin
I have already caused you, and at a moment,
too, when you had so much cause for annoy-
ance on other grounds, allow me to tell you,
that if I can be of use to you in your present
dilemma, it will really give me satisfaction to
do so."
" Thanks, thanks ! I feel your kindness as
I ought, but you must let me know the worst."
" Well then but really I hardly can bring
myself to utter what must inflict pain, know-
ing, as I now do, the utter falsehood of the
reports."
" Pray let me hear them at once."
" You were represented as one of those con-
venient husbands who submit to their own
134 MEMOIRS OF
dishonour. Men who, instead of being the
guardians of the purity of their wives, expose
them to temptation, and profit by the result."
My father groaned aloud and shuddered, and
Mr. Manvers again begged to be excused
entering into further particulars.
*" Proceed, I pray you to proceed," exclaimed
the agitated man.
" A lucrative place was, it has been stated,
to be the reward of your in ." Infamy, he
would have said, but he checked himself at
the first syllable.
" Oh God! Oh God!" muttered my father.
" These evil rumours were chiefly circulated
by servants, who had heard them from their
masters, some of whom had seen you and your
wife at the table of Lord Willamere, and
marked the more than ordinary interest his
lordship appeared to take in the lady. Her
beauty, and residence in Lord Willamere's
house, added to his well-known libertinism,
offered sufficient grounds for slander ; and when
the reports in question proceeded from his
lordship's friends and companions, you can
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 135
hardly wonder that they received credence.
If gentlemen knew the injury they inflict by
their unrestrained conversations and comments
in the presence of servants waiting on them at
table, they would be less apt to indulge in them.
All the rumours that float about London, and
find their way at last into the slanderous news-
papers, may be traced to this source. A few
coarse jokes, or the bantering too often carried
on between libertines, have frequently led to
the loss of reputation of women, whose only
faults were a levity originating in high spirits,
and indulged in, through want of knowledge of
the world."
"And this terrible slander obtained belief?"
" I regret to say it did. Few persons take
the trouble of inquiring into the truth or false-
hood of evil reports. It is enough that a
semblance of probability exists, to gain them
general credence, and the slandered are often
the last to hear of them."
My father felt as if the brand of dishonour
had fixed an indelible mark on his brow. At
one moment, the burning blood of shame
136 MEMOIRS OF
mounted to his very temples, and the next, a
cold shudder passed over his frame.
The presence of Mr. Moses interrupted fur-
ther conversation; and was explained by that
person informing the prisoner, that he could no
longer remain in Serle Street " I have let
you stay here longer than I ought," said Mr.
Moses; " but now we must be off."
At this moment the voice of Mr. Isaacs was
heard in tones of loud expostulation on the
stairs. " It's no use, Ma'am, going up to dis-
turb the prisoner now, for he's just going to be
taken off to gaol."
" I will, I must see him," said a voice, which
even though half- choked by emotion, still re-
tained an unusual sweetness. " Good God ! it
is my wife," exclaimed my father, rushing to the
door to meet her, forgetful for the moment that
it was locked, and her tremulous tones of en-
treaties still reaching his ear. " I will ring,
sir," said Mr. Manvers; and pulling the bell-
rope repeatedly, Mr. Isaacs made his appear-
ance. " Be so good as to allow Mrs. Stratford
to come up to her husband : or stay, I will go
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 137
and conduct her myself." And so saying, Mr.
Manvers left the room and went to her.
" I didn't know, sir, whether you might wish
to see the lady or not."
" Not wish to see my wife ? " exclaimed
my father, greatly agitated.
" Why, for the matter of that, sir, I couldn't
be sure that she was your wife." Here my
father looked so fiercely at him, that he changed
his tone. " I beg pardon, sir," resumed he ;
" what I meant was, that so many ladies come
here after gentlemen when they are arrested,
and always say they are their wives, that I some-
times don't know what to think ; and often the
gentlemen would rather not see 'em, and scold
me for letting 'em in, they cry, and take on
so."
He had hardly finished this speech, when the
agitated, tearful wife entered, and was pressed
in the arms of her husband. The meeting was
a very touching one ; and Mr. Manvers, having
made a sign to Mr. Isaacs to withdraw, was on
the point of following him, when my father re-
quested him to remain. " I almost wish you
138 MEMOIRS OF
had not come here, my poor Emily," said he ;
" this is no place for you."
"My place is near you, wherever you may
be, dearest," replied his wife,, clinging with trem-
bling eagerness to his arm, as if to seek protec-
tion " you must bear up against this trial, my
beloved."
" With you I can bear any trial, but do not
let us again be separated. Let me share your
prison, it will be happiness, compared with the
wretchedness of being parted from you. I have
brought our child, and a few things for present
use. She is below with Sally, who accom-
panied me here. I left Willamere House, never
more to enter it. Oh ! William, you know not,
you cannot know, what I have suffered since
you left me;" and here a passionate burst of
tears impeded my mother's utterance. > ,;
"Speak, dearest Emily! say what has oc-
curred. I implore you to tell me."
My mother cast a timid glance at Mr.
Manvers, as if to indicate to her husband, that
what she had to communicate was not fit for
a stranger's ear; but he, understanding that
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 139
appealing look, told her that Mr. Manvers was
his friend, his only one in the present hour of
trial, and begged her to have no reserve on
account of his presence.
" Oh ! William, how have you been deceived
by the selfish unfeeling man, in whom you have
trusted ! Could you have imagined that Lord
Willamere, emboldened by your absence, and
forgetful of all decency or pity for my dis-
tress, dared to insult me by an avowal of his
passion ! "
My father started from his seat as if an adder
had stung him; his very brow became crim-
soned with indignation and shame, and he
shook with emption. " The villain, the villain!"
exclaimed he, "and it is for this man; but no,
I will not profane the name of man by so calling
him ; it is for this vile, this heartless wretch,
that I am now a prisoner; that I have for
months and years suffered privations and humi-
liations without end, while unceasingly toiling
in his service, too conscious of his pecuniary
embarrassments to remind him of my own.
Oh ! Emily, can you forgive me for having
140 MEMOIRS OF
exposed you to such insult ? " And here my
poor father's utterance was checked by the vio-
lence of his feelings.
His wife forgot her own grief in pity for his,
and soothed him with a tenderness that melted
the heart of Manvers, who now, perfectly con-
vinced of the utter falsehood of the tales circu-
lated against this poor but excellent couple,
determined to assist them to the utmost of hi&
power. He arranged with Messrs. Isaacs and
Moses, that their prisoner should remain where
he was for the night, that accommodation
should be found for his wife and child; and
having seen a repast which he had ordered
served to them, he bade them farewell for the
night, promising to be with them early next
mornino;.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 141
CHAPTER VIII.
TRUE love ! the most unselfish of all the
passions, thou that canst make thy votaries
forget self in anxiety for another, and that
canst only lead them to unhappiness through
the object beloved Oh, what like thee can
refine and purify the heart !
Each occupied only by thought for the other,
my father and mother endeavoured to assume the
appearance of a calmness that was, alas ! foreign
to the minds of both. What the morrow might
bring, neither dared to reflect on. A prison,
in all its dreariness, arose in the gloomy vista
which their imaginations pictured ; and a dread
of separation, the last worst ill of all that
menaced them, haunted their thoughts. Yet,
notwithstanding these dismal forebodings, each
tried to cheat the other by the semblance of
142 MEMOIRS OF
composure, while their hearts were a prey to
anxiety and depression. The baseness of one
whom he had regarded and confided in, over-
powered the firmness of my father. In whom
henceforth was he to trust, when Lord Willa-
mere, whom he had so faithfully, so devotedly
served, had betrayed and wounded him in the
most tender point? When he looked on the
pale but beautiful face of his wife, on which
care had already left its traces, but where
purity and innocence had set their seal, he
wondered, that even the most reckless libertine
should have dared to entertain for such abeing
aught approaching to an unholy feeling. Was
she, in her calm and almost angelic beauty, a
fit object for the sensual desires and grovelling
appetites of a libertine ? O ! no. It was sacri-
lege so to regard her, and accursed be he who
had presumed to insult her chaste ears with
vows of lawless passion, or to view her in any
other light than that of a model for wives and
mothers. And this was the woman with whose
fair fame the tongues of sinful men had been
busy. There was torture, there was madness
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 143
in the thought ; and as he looked on that mild
and lovely face, beaming with tenderness on her
slumbering infant, and turning from it to him
with glances full of pitying affection, he felt that
debased and corrupted indeed must those be,
who could, after having once seen her, harbour,
even for a moment, a single suspicion to her
disadvantage,
Poor man, ignorant of the world, and of the
vice of those who form a considerable portion
of its denizens, he was prone to judge others
by himself. As soon could he have suspected
the chastity of an angel as that of the lovely
creature before him ; and he could have wept
in very tenderness, as a fond mother would over
an innocent and wronged daughter, as he re-
membered that his Emily had been traduced
and insulted. But not always were his feelings
so calm. At moments, an unconquerable rage
would fill his mind ; and had the vile libertine,
who had dared to breathe his passionate vows
to his wife's ear, or the base aspersers of her
fame and his honour, stood before him, he
would have perilled his life to avenge the
144 MEMOIRS OF
wrong. Never previously had his breast been
shook by such a whirlwind of contending pas-
sions. Anger, love, and pity strove by turns
for mastery; but jealousy, "the green-eyed
monster," that tortures less pure breasts, found
no entrance in his honest and confiding one.
He knew that his honour was as safe in the
keeping of his Emily as in his own ; and that the
mind of his slumbering child was not more free
from earthly stain or sin than was hers. Never,
if he could guard against it, should her ear be
shocked by hearing that her virtue had been
questioned that she had been regarded as the
paramour of Lord Willamere ! He felt that
he would prefer death to her learning this
terrible tale, for he wished that her pure mind
should never be sullied by a knowledge that
such wickedness could be, and, above all, be
directed to her. And he too, how had his
character, that by which he lived, by which
he hoped to gain an honourable maintenance
for his wife and child been assailed ! O God !
that he should have lived to be pointed at by
the finger of scorn, as that vilest of all wretches
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 145
that shame manhood, a husband conniving at
his own dishonour !
While these torturing reflections passed
through his mind, his wife marked their effect
on his changeful countenance, and, approaching
him, gently pressed her fair and delicate hand
on his fevered brow.
"Do not give way to painful thoughts,
dearest," said she, in the low and sweet accents
that ever soothed and charmed his ear. "A
prison is not always, I am prone to hope, so
cheerless an abode as it is represented. Heaven
be praised, I have a right to be with you, even
there, and never did I bless this privilege more
than now. I can make pretty drawings, and
various ingenious little things, which, through
the medium of Mr. Manvers, who seems so
kindly disposed towards us, may find a sale.
We have been accustomed to privations, and,
God be thanked! have learned to bear them,
and I trust that by our joint exertions we can
earn sufficient to supply our wants."
" Bless you, my sweet Emily ! always my
soother and comforter under every trial," replied
VOL. I. H
146 MEMOIRS OF
the fond husband, as he removed the hand from
his temples and pressed it to his lips. " Yes,
even a prison cheered by your presence will be to
me preferable, oh! how far preferable, than
a palace would be without, could I but forget
that it was my selfishness that has led you
there."
" How you torment yourself, dearest ! You
ought long ere this to have known how warmly
my heart pleaded your suit for our marriage, and
that aught like regret for that which I must ever
consider the happiest event of my whole life,
sounds like a reproach to me for having encum-
bered you with a wife and child."
" Blessed, blessed ties, that bind me to an
existence that without them would be, indeed,
a dreary, an insupportable one ! Yes, even here,
with so much to render me anxious for the
present, and to alarm me for the future, I feel
that I have a great deal to be thankful for, and
that, while Heaven spares me you and our
child, I ought not to despair."
In such communing, this poor, but loving pair
passed the early part of the night, until slumber,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 147
that greatest of all blessings to the wretched,
pressed their eyelids, and for a few hours
granted an oblivion of their cares.
When my father opened his eyes next morning,
for a moment he felt as if in a dream ; but the
sight of the iron-barred windows, and the unclean
room with its gaudy but faded finery, brought
the reality to his mind. His wife and child still
slept, and as the light from the shutterless
window fell on their faces the calm beauty of
both touched him almost to tears. The child
smiled in its slumber poor innocent ! uncon-
scious that even already care and poverty had
laid their chilling grasp on its young life, and
that, from its gentle sleep, it was to open its
eyes in a prison ; and the fair young mother in
her slumber sighed forth the name of her hus-
band, and pressed the pillow on which her head
reclined, to her cheek, believing it to be his
hand. Oh, Sleep ! how calm, how holy art thou !
How like thy sister, Death ! Surely, if ever it
be permitted to mortals to hold communion with
heavenly spirits, it must be when resigned to thy
benign influence. They are then more freed
H 2
148 MEMOIRS OF
from worldly thoughts and sinful passions, and
their very helplessness, like that of infants,
places them more immediately under the pro-
tection of their Father in heaven. My father's
troubled spirit became calm as he contemplated
the two beloved beings in repose. They com-
prised his world, his only treasure. Were they
no longer in existence, life would no more have
a single charm, a single blessing for him. There
lay his all the only comfort, the sole drops of
sweetness vouchsafed to his cup of bitterness ;
and yet, how were his cares for the present, and
his dread for the future, rendered sharper by his
anxiety for their well-being ! He feared lest
every noise might break their slumbers, now so
sweet and calm, and that his poor Emily should
awake sooner than he could wish, to behold the
iron bars of their prison, and be reminded of the
painful realities of their actual position.
" How many," thought my father, as he gazed,
with almost woman's tenderness, on his wife and
child, "less worthy, oh! how infinitely less
worthy than my poor Emily, are at this moment
pillowed on down, and surrounded by all the
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 149
appliances of wealth and splendour, who will
awake to enjoy luxuries, and to frame new and
imaginary wants, certain of the means of pro-
curing them, while this fair, this pure creature
will awake to feel ' the stings and arrows ' of our
hard fortune, denied even a modest competency
wherewith to minister to our humble desires!
Oh, Fortune I well hast thou been accounted
blind, when thou canst heap thy golden stores
on the less worthy, and leave a being like this
to pine in want. But let me not murmur.
Thy ways, Almighty, are inscrutable, and, as
Thou hast deemed it fit to steep me and mine in
poverty, teach me to bear it with resignation.
Teach me to remember, whenever misfortune
presses most heavily upon me, that hundreds,
nay, thousands, more worthy than I am, are
exposed to similar, perhaps to greater trials, and
to bow with submission to Thy will."
Those who have fought with fortune, and
vainly resisted her strokes, will acknowledge
that the angry spirit in which they have been
received, greatly adds to the irritation of the
wounds inflicted. But no sooner does resigna-
150 MEMOIRS OF
tion take the place of anger, than a mental relief
is experienced ; although the wounds are deep
as before, they rankle less; and submission
brings, in time, healing on its wings. My
mother at length awoke, but her first glance was
not, as her husband feared it would be, at the
iron-barred window, but at him; and, oh! what
unutterable love was in that look. The next
glance was at her sleeping child, and then her
eyes were lifted towards Heaven, in thanks for
the possession of these blessings. How angelic
did she appear, as with rapt devotion her lips
moved in prayer, and, when ended, she pressed
them to her husband's brow !
Mr. Manvers was announced before my father
and mother had completed their matinal meal.
His manner towards them was even more cordial
than on the preceding evening, and he assured
the former that he felt the utmost desire to be
of use to him.
" To do this, it will be necessary for me to
know your exact position, and the extent of the
engagements into which you have entered," said
the worthy man.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 151
When informed of them, and the amount
was much larger than he had anticipated,
he questioned my father as to the likelihood
of Lord Willamere's ever paying those debts
which, in truth, were his, and his only. The
bare mention of that name brought the flush
of indignation to the cheek of the poor
secretary, while he answered, that before he
had learned the base attempt of his lordship to
corrupt his wife, he would have considered a
doubt on this subject as an injury and insult
to him. " But now," added my father, " I can
believe him capable of anything, and my con-
viction is, that he will leave me to suffer for my
foolish and misplaced confidence in his honour."
"I hardly know what to advise, or what
to do," observed Mr. Manvers. " Your respon-
sibilities amount to a large, a very large sum."
But here a glance at the pale cheeks and tear-
ful eyes of my mother, so touched the feelings
of the kind-hearted man, that his pity for her
almost conquered his prudence. Still, the sum
required to free my father from the whole of his
liabilities was too serious a one to be lightly
152 MEMOIRS OF
proffered. It was true, Mr. Manvers was a
rich man, and had only two children to provide
for ; but to pay so much money for so worthless
a person as Lord Willamere, was really
vexatious. Yet, if he did not free my father,
the poor man would be sent to prison, and the
fair young creature before him, and her child,
would have to share his hard lot. What a
foolish man Stratford must be to have involved
himself in such a labyrinth of difficulties for
any one, but more especially for so unworthy a
person as Lord Willamere; and a sentiment
of anger against the poor secretary entered his
mind.
A thorough man of business, with habits
of scrupulous exactitude in fulfilling his engage-
ments, and consequently cautious in forming
them, he could not make allowance for the
utter want of prudence in my father, as revealed
by the statement he had extracted from him,
nor for his total ignorance and inexperience in
matters of business. There was something of
contempt mingled in the pity he entertained for
him. But then followed the reflection, and
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 153
there was a certain portion of self-complacency
in it, of the general deficiency of learned men
in a pecuniary knowledge of affairs, and of their
vast inferiority in this respect to men of business
like himself. He felt disposed to thank pro-
vidence that he was not a scholar, lest he too
might have been as ignorant of money matters
as the poor ruined man before him: but this
very self-complacency engendered kind senti-
ments towards my father. " I'll tell you what,
sir," said he, " 111 at once pay this bill of Mr.
Solomon's, and, as no other detainer has been
lodged against you, my doing so will secure
your liberty. Let me settle with the harpies
here, for be assured you are no match for them."
" I know not how to thank you, indeed I
hardly think I ought to accept the service you
so very kindly offer to render me, knowing, as
I do, that I am not likely to have the means of
repaying you."
But the eloquent glance of my mother spoke
volumes to the good-natured Mr. Manvers, and
he had seldom in his life experienced more
self-satisfaction than at that moment, when
H 3
154 MEMOIRS OF
assured that he had rendered so charming a
woman happy. He left the room, to arrange
matters with Messrs. Moses and Isaacs ; and
my mother threw herself into the arms of her
husband, filled with gratitude to Heaven, for
having in their hour of need raised up such
a friend to serve them. The thinness of the
walls and partitions of the ill-built house of
Mr. Isaacs, enabled those in the rooms im-
mediately above the ones occupied by the
owner, to overhear all that passed in them, and
my parents soon heard loud and angry voices in
discussion.
" What ! twenty shillings for two bottles of
sherry?" exclaimed Mr. Manvers ; " why, I keep
as good wine as any merchant in London, and
I never dreamt of charging any such price."
" That may be, sir," replied Mr. Isaacs,
sulkily. "You charge what you like, and I
charge what pleases me. Your customers go
to you through choice, and may go elsewhere if
it suits them ; mine come to me from necessity,
can't help themselves, and so I must charge
accordingly."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 155
" You don't mean to say that Mr. Stratford
drank two bottles of wine last night, do you?"
" He might have drunk 'em, if it so pleased
him to do, for they were served to him ; but as
he didn't that wasn't my fault, they must be
paid for all the same. And what's more, I
don't see why people should grumble about
such trifles. * Live and let live,' is my motto ;
and I must say, that I never had a worse cus-
tomer enter my house than this here friend of
yours. Wouldn't have a bit of dinner served,
nor order any thing, which he ought to have
done, if only from a sense of common decency
and for the good of the house."
The husband and wife looked at each other,
as they listened to this new code of lock-up-
house etiquette ; and both mentally prayed that
they might never again be subjected to its
influence.
To those not accustomed to analyze human
character and motives, it would have appeared
a strange anomaly, to hear Mr. Manvers dis-
puting every item of the gross imposition en-
tered in Mr. Isaacs' account, while determined,
156 MEMOIRS OF
with but a faint prospect of eventually being
reimbursed, to pay the whole of the amount of
the writ taken out against my father by the
usurer Solomons, with all the legal expenses
that had accumulated thereon. But to those
acquainted with mankind, there was nothing
strange in this mixture of parsimony and gene-
rosity, for they know that they continually
meet in the same individuals; and that it is
owing to a strict observance of prudence and
economy, that people are enabled to perform
generous actions.
And now all accounts were settled, and the
harpies of the lock-up-house paid, the next
question was, where were the Stratfords to go ?
" Have you no friends who would receive you
for a few days, until we could see what can be
done?" demanded he; but the rapid and melan-
choly change in the countenances of both hus-
band and wife gave a negative to the question,
before their faltering lips could pronounce one ;
and the kind-hearted, but somewhat brusque
Manvers sincerely regretted having asked one
which, by reminding them of their friendless
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 157
position, had evidently occasioned them so much
pain. " How very stupid it was of me," re-
sumed he, after a short pause, " to forget that
I have a couple of spare rooms at my house,
where you will be very comfortable for the
present, and where I can assure you of a very
hearty welcome."
There was nothing left for my parents, but
to accept the kind invitation ; and, deeply im-
pressed with a sense of the goodness of him
who gave it, they entered the hackney-coach,
which had been sent for by Mr. Manvers, and
drove to his house. With a delicate regard to
the feelings of his new guests, he led them into
the house through the private door instead of
through the shop, that they might not be ex-
posed to the prying gaze of the shopmen or
customers who filled it ; and having conducted
them up stairs into a neatly furnished sitting-
room, with an excellent bed-room and dressing-
room adjoining, he told them to consider them-
selves quite at home, and begged that they
would share his repasts, naming the hours at
which they were served.
158 MEMOIRS OF
" On hospitable thoughts intent," Mr. Man-
vers went to consult with his housekeeper, who
also enacted the part of cook in his large but
well-ordered establishment, on the necessity of
making some addition to the family dinner.
He always dined apart from his clerks, as he
partook that meal with his two daughters, girls
of ten and eleven years old, on whom he doted.
" A gentleman and his wife, particular friends
of mine," said Mr. Manvers, anxious to impress
the precise Mrs. Manley with a respectful con-
sideration for his guests, " have done me the
favour to come and spend some time with me,
and I desire that every attention may be paid
to their comfort while they remain."
" Certainly, sir," was the reply.
" Have a couple of roast chickens added to
dinner ; and tell Betsey the housemaid to give
all the time she can spare from her work to
Mrs. Stratford's child."
" Two additional rooms to clean every day,
sir, will, I fear, not leave Betsey any time for
the child ; but I know a nice tidy young girl,
sir, a cousin of Betsey's, who is looking out for
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 159
a place, and who would be very glad, for the
sake of her meals, to come here and take charge
of the child, and wait on the lady too while
they stay, and she could sleep with Betsey."
" A capital plan, Mrs. Manley, send for her
directly ; but mind, Mrs. Stratford is not to
know that this young person has been engaged
on her account. Let it be supposed that she
belongs to the house." And having satisfac-
torily made these arrangements, Mr. Manvers
hurried off to his shop to superintend his busi-
ness, well pleased with himself and others ;
while Mrs. Manley, having sent out for the
chickens and for Betsey's cousin, donned her
best cap, and a snowy-muslin apron, and pro-
ceeded to pay her respects to the new visitors.
" I hope, Ma'am, that you won't scruple to
ring the bell for anything you want," said the
good woman, after having respectfully wel-
comed my father and mother. " Here, Ma'am,
you'll find plenty of nice books ; " and she
took the key of a large and well-stored book-
case from her pocket, and handed it to my
mother. " I'll send you up the morning papers
160 MEMOIRS OF
immediately, sir; and here you'll find paper,
pens, and ink," continued she, addressing my
father, as she opened a neat mahogany writing-
desk, which formed one of the pieces of furniture
of the apartment. " Oh, the dear child ! bless
its little heart, what a pretty creature !" said
Mrs. Manley, turning to the baby which its
mother had laid on the sofa, and who, refreshed
by its long sleep, was now smiling and stretch-
ing out its little rounded limbs in apparent
comfort.
" We have a handy, active young person in
the house, who will be glad, Ma'am, to take
charge of little miss and to wait on you, as
my master ordered. She'll be here in a few
minutes; and, in the meanwhile, I'll just step
and make a little panada, for I'm sure, by its
yawning, that the little darling is hungry."
And off went Mrs. Manley, leaving my parents
much pleased with her, and thankful that the
kindness of their host would not be thwarted
by the ill-will of his confidential servant, as is
too often the case in similar circumstances.
Ere half an hour had elapsed, the child had
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 161
partaken of its panada, which was excellent, and
was cooing and smiling as gaily, as if, to use a
common phrase, " it had been born with the
silver spoon in its mouth," which had so lately
fed it : and its parents, thankful to Providence
for their recent release from prison and present
shelter, tried to be as happy as they were
grateful.
162 MEMOIRS OF
CHAPTER IX.
GREAT was Lord Willamere's regret and dis-
satisfaction when he learned that my mother had
left his house. Well knowing her poverty and
dependent situation, he had not anticipated her
taking this step, and, careless as he in general was
with regard to the feelings of others, it is only
rendering him justice to state, that, could he have
recalled the event that had, as he imagined, led
to it, gladly would he have done so. He felt,
now, that it was too late to atone for the eviL
What an error he had committed in alarming the
virtue he had so long wished to undermine!
How ill-timed was his rash declaration of love,
at a moment when the position of her hus-
band must have engrossed all my mother's
thoughts, and excited, even more than usual,
all her tenderness; and when he, with common
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 163
tact, ought to have evinced even more than
ordinary delicacy and respect in his conduct
towards her ! Yes ; he had grossly committed
himself; thrown up the game, as he termed it,
when by skilfully playing his cards he might
have won it, and, by having given way to the
impulse of his mad passion, he had created fear
and dislike, where he would have made every
sacrifice, save that of his guilty affection, to
have excited regard. He blamed the wine he
had drank at dinner, for having had so little
self-control in his interview with my mother.
He cursed his own folly, nay, accused her loveli-
ness, heightened in his eyes by her agitation and
tears for her husband, for his own madness in
throwing off all disguise, and trying to compel
Jier to listen to his vows. He recalled, with
deep emotion, her terrified glance as she shrank
from his approach, and the disdain with which
she repelled him. Yes, even he, libertine as he
was, had been awed by the withering scorn of
an insulted and unprotected woman, and, mad as
was the passion with which her exquisite beauty
had inspired him, he was conscious that his
164 MEMOIRS OF
spirit had quailed beneath her reproving glance,
and that he dared not again encounter it. How
great must be her contempt of him, who in the
moment of her heavy trial, the arrest of her
husband, when she most needed the solace of
sympathy and respect, could violate all the laws
of decorum and hospitality, and offer insult to
her whom he should have sought to shield from
aught approaching it. He struck his temples
with his open hand as these thoughts passed
through his mind. He accused himself, again
and again, of having invaded the sanctity of his
own roof, in offending a virtuous woman while
beneath it, and almost loathed himself for having,
by hie mad conduct, driven her to seek shelter
elsewhere. And Stratford, too! that worthy, that
honest and disinterested man, who had so faith-
fully served him for years ! who had borne, with
a delicacy and patience unequalled, the priva-
tions which the irregularity and scantiness of the
payments made to him must have occasioned !
who was, even now, deprived of his liberty, not
for any debt of his own contracting, but for one
of the very man who was plotting to injure him
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 165
in the tenderest point, and who seized the
opportunity afforded him by the incarceration
of his poor secretary, to outrage his wife by
licentious and open avowals of passion ! Lord
"Willamere, although a libertine and a volup-
tuary, was not wholly destitute of good feeling ;
and there were moments in his life when the
still small voice of conscience would make itself
heard, and cause him to regret, that, in the
reckless indulgence of his own evil propensities,
he had inflicted injury on others. He had not
sufficient firmness or self-control to resist tempta-
tion, nor moral principle enough to be aware of
the enormity of his misdeeds, or of the extent of
the evil entailed on others by his transgressions.
He really felt a good-will, and no inconsider-
able degree of respect towards his secretary, and
would, if occasion offered, have rendered him
any service in his power ; but, while ready to do
this, he would not have scrupled to have used
every effort to seduce the wife of his bosom, and
would have laughed to scorn any attempt to
make him sensible of the dishonour and turpitude
of such conduct.
166 MEMOIRS OF
Fully convinced that Stratford would have
sooner died than connive at any dereliction from
virtue in his wife, and that even a doubt of her
purity would render him inconsolable, lie, never-
theless, would have heedlessly compromised her
reputation, rather than miss an opportunity of
being in her company, and would have exposed
that of her worthy husband, by letting it be
supposed that he tacitly acquiesced in his own
dishonour. Now, however, foiled in his schemes,
and his intended victim having escaped from his
power, he regretted his own rash conduct, and
experienced more pain at having aggravated the
trials and sufferings of his poor secretary, than
any of his roue friends would have believed him
capable of feeling. A sentiment of shame, as
deep as it was unusual with him to know,
mingled with his self-reproach ; and, had he had
hundreds at his command at that moment, there
is no doubt his first use of them would have
been to have released my father from every debt
of his for which he was liable, and to have paid
him every shilling of the arrears of salary for
which he was indebted to him. Nay, more, he
A FEMME UE CHAMBRE. 167
would, had the opportunity offered at that crisis,
have bestowed on him any appointment he could
have procured, as some reparation for the injury
he had attempted to inflict on him. " Poor
fellow ! " thought Lord Willamere, " I really do
believe he liked me, and liked me for myself
alone. He was, indeed, disinterested, and de-
voted to my interest. Heigh ho ! Why did he
marry a woman so exquisitely handsome, that
nothing short of a saint, and Heaven knows I
never set up to be one, could have resisted her
charms, or have failed to endeavour to rival him
in her affection ? And then to bring her to my
house too ! It was nothing short of madness.
As well might one place untold heaps of gold
within reach of a thief, and trust that he will not
appropriate it, as throw beauty like Mrs. Strat-
ford's in sight of a fellow like me, and think I
could behold it without wishing to possess it.
Eeally, such husbands bring on, by their own
folly, the evils which common prudence or know-
ledge of the world might avert, and have only
themselves to blame for the result."
By such sophistry as this did Lord Willamere
168 MEMOIRS OF
endeavour to silence the whispers of conscience,
and after a brief time his self-reproach subsided
into less painful feelings. He said to himself,
that it was no use fretting about what could
not be helped. He had not the money to free
ppor Stratford. When he got any, he would
certainly do so (and he meant it at the time ) ;
but until then he would banish the whole affair
from his mind : and he did banish it, by plunging
into every species of amusement that offered, and
by occupying his thoughts with more agreeable
subjects. Yet this man, who after the lapse of
a few days bestowed not a thought on the pain-
ful position to which my mother must be re-
duced, without money, and totally friendless,
as he believed her and her husband to be,
imagined that he had loved her ! And so it
is, that many heartless voluptuaries, like him,
deceive themselves, and profane the sentiment
of love, by mistaking the gross and sensual
passion, which alone they are capable of feeling,
for the pure and ennobling one which ever seeks
the happiness of the object beloved, in preference
to selfish enjoyment. Lord Willamere would,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 169
after a few days had gone by, have forgotten
the existence of the man whom he believed to
be pining in a prison for his debts, had he not
been reminded of it by piles of unopened and
unanswered letters, the accumulation occasioned
by Stratford's absence. He glanced with alarm
on the heaps, which he had not sufficient moral
courage to open, and dismissed his maitre d" hotel,
Mr. Bermingham, angrily from his presence, for
having reminded him that sundry creditors were
impatient and clamorous for a settlement of
their accounts, and that he had paid away his
last shilling in discharging the various small
items of daily expenditure ; the latter assertion
being wholly unfounded. The fact was, no
sooner had the sapient Mr. Bermingham ascer-
tained that Stratford w r as not likely to return to
Willamere House, than he began to think of
taking advantage of his absence. The circum-
stance of Mr. Stratford's so abruptly quitting
it, as well as Sally's letting drop some hints
of the dear lady being too good to stay in a
house where some people .didn't know how to
treat an angel when under their roof, had led to
VOL. I. I
170 MEMOIRS OF
this conclusion on his part, and he determined
on making an effort to increase the extent of his
power, by busying himself in matters which had,
hitherto, been exclusively confided to the juris-
diction of the secretary. He went to some of
the least respectable of the tradespeople, made
them understand that, henceforth, he would have
the examination and arrangement of their ac-
counts, and that, if made worth his while, he
would not be so mean and scrupulous as Mr.
Stratford, in regard to the quality or quantity
of the articles furnished, and would be much
more pressing with his lord for the payment of
the bills. Urged on by the hope of a liberal per
centage from these said tradesmen, Mr. Ber-
mingham took the liberty of presenting himself,
with a file of their bills, in the office of his lord
and master ; but his reception there was such as
to convince him that he had miscalculated his
powers of utility in a financial point of view : a
discovery, however, which he carefully concealed
from those most interested in the matter, and
whom he deceived by promises he was aware that
he had but little chance of performing.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 171
To go on any longer without a private secre-
tary, Lord Willamere felt to be impossible.
He must, therefore, look out for one without
loss of time; but, en attendant, how was he to
get on, without money, until the next quarter's
salary beqame due ?
While he was reflecting on this point, a
card, with a letter from a Mr. Humphry, was
brought him. With Mr. Humphry his lord-
ship had formerly had negotiations of rather
a delicate nature, the result of which had been
to transfer a certain number of hundreds of
pounds into his lordship's purse, and an appoint-
ment of a certain yearly value to the brother of
the said Mr. Humphry. The card reminded
L/ord Willamere of this fact, one which was
never remembered without unpleasant twinges
of conscience ; for, to have given an appoint-
ment without any scrutiny into the character
or capability of filling it of the person on whom
it was conferred, was rendered still more blame-
able from the circumstance that pecuniary mo-
tives had induced this dereliction from honour
and duty. His lordship's poverty, rather than his
i 2
172 MEMOIRS OF
will, had led to this culpable traffic ; and this
same cause operated as strongly at the present
moment as on the former occasion.
" Yes ; I will see Mr. Humphry," said he to
his servant, " show him into my study."
Mr. Humphry, through the medium of some
clerks in the government offices, with whom he
kept up an acquaintance, managed to be ge-
nerally au fait of appointments falling vacant,
or about to be created. He now came to inform
Lord Willamere that a certain one had fallen
into his lordship's gift the previous night,
through the death of the late holder, and he
solicited it for a friend of his, a gentleman, as
he said, of considerable abilities and high cha-
racter; who, he added, was willing to pay a
reasonable douceur for the appointment. Lord
Willamere coloured, felt embarrassed for a
moment, and had Mr. Humphry been skilled
in reading the thoughts by the expression of the
face, he would have discovered that his lordship
had not yet entirely conquered the pride and
delicacy peculiar to high-born men, before want
of money, that leveller, and destroyer of such
A PEMME DE CHAMBRE. 173
sentiments, has blunted them. But Mr. Hum-
phry, a total stranger to such feelings, was
unsuspicious of their existence in the breasts of
others, and attributed the heightened colour of
Lord Willamere to satisfaction at the prospect
of an advantageous treaty with him, rather than
to a latent sense of shame and humiliation at
entering into such reprehensible negotiations.
The very place now become vacant was the one
designed for poor Stratford, as the one formerly
granted through Mr. Humphry's arrangement
had also been. This recollection flashed through
the mind of Lord Willamere, and a sigh of real
but transient regret followed it. " This man,"
thought he, "is the evil genius of Stratford.
This is the second time that he has stepped be-
tween him and fortune ;" and something of dis-
like towards Mr. Humphry was mingled with
regret for Stratford. How anxious are men to
turn the blame they merit, to some one else !
It never occurred to Lord Willamere, that his
own reckless extravagance, entailing pecuniary
embarrassments which rendered money indis-
pensable for their relief, had prostrated the
174 MEMOIRS OF
honourable principles which ought to have pre-
cluded his having recourse to negotiations like
those entered into with Mr. Humphry, and
that these, and not that person, had defeated the
interests of poor Stratford.
There are always Mr. Humphrys to be found,
ready to avail themselves of the laxity of prin-
ciple and pecuniary wants of men in power ; but
, his lordship, anxious to throw the blame off his
own shoulders to those of another, looked on Mr.
Humphry as the evil genius, as he termed it, of his
late secretary. He was silent for some moments?
and his companion, imagining that his taciturnity
originated in some mental calculation on the value
of the appointment solicited, resumed the topic.
"Your lordship will not, I hope, be very
unreasonable in your demands."
Lord Willamere's cheeks again glowed, and
he would have liked to have kicked his visitor
out of the room, but he nevertheless vanquished
his indignation, and observed that " the appoint-
ment was rather a lucrative one, and, conse-
quently, a consideration in proportion to its
value was naturally to be expected ; " adding,
A EEMME DE CHAMBRE. 175
that " as it was promised to another," (an asser-
tion the truth of which Mr. Humphry wholly
disbelieved, and took to be only made as a plea
for a larger douceur for the appointment,) " he
could not break his promise, unless the tempta-
tion to do so was very strong indeed."
This paltering with his own honour, or rather
with the slight portion of it that still remained
in his heart, cost Lord Willamere no inconsi- 4
derable effort ; but he was urged on to it by the
recollection of certain pressing debts of honour,
the non-payment of which would compromise
him in society 5 and also yes, positively, Reader
also by the remembrance, that only through
a supply to be obtained by the present mode,
could he release poor Stratford from prison.
This last reflection silenced his wavering
scruples. He fancied that the end justified the
means; nay, more, grown bold by something
resembling a gleam of self-satisfaction, he de-
termined to insist on a larger remuneration
for the appointment than he might otherwise
have been disposed to require.
" Well, my lord, what sum will your lordship
176 MEMOIRS OF
really be satisfied with ? " demanded Mr. Hum-
phry, a little crest-fallen at the gravity of
Lord Willamere, which he shrewdly guessed
augured that the appointment would not be
obtained on what he called reasonable terms.
" I will not accept a sous less than two thou-
sand guineas," replied his lordship.
" Two thousand guineas is a very large sum,
my lord, for my friend to sink. I had hoped
that half that sum, or, at most, fifteen hundred
pounds, would have been considered sufficient."
The fierte of the nobleman was not all gone,
although the honour and probity of the man
had departed. Lord Willamere drew himself
up to his full height; and when he did so,
there was a dignity in his demeanour that
Seldom failed to produce an effect on those with
whom he wished it to be successful. Mr.
Humphry saw at a glance that no less than the
sum named would be accepted. Nevertheless,
he made one more attempt to economise some
additional sum, however small, for himself.
" I am then to understand, my lord, that two
thousand pounds is your ultimatum ?"
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 177
" I said guineas, sir," was the reply, uttered
with as stately an air as if the speaker had
never degraded himself, or was not even at the
moment engaged in a transaction contrary to
his duty.
" Well, my lord, the money shall be forth-
coming the day that my friend is gazetted to
the appointment!."
Lord Willarnere bit his nether lip ; and, after
a pause, said, " that half the sum would be very
acceptable to him at that time."
" There's many things between the cup and
the lip, my lord," observed Mr. Humphry.
" You don't mean to insinuate, that having
pledged myself to bestow the appointment on
your friend, I would break my promise ? " de-
manded the peer angrily.
" I beg pardon, my lord ; but, as your lord-
ship confessed to me a short time ago that you
had promised this very appointment to another,
I thought" and here Mr. Humphry abruptly
stopped, for the glance of offended dignity and
fierceness of the earl, rendered him fearful of
finishing the sentence he had been about to
i 3
178 MEMOIRS OF
utter, which meant nothing more nor less, than
to state in as civil terms as such an insulting
suspicion could be worded, that he feared his
lordship might, after receiving the money, be-
stow the appointment on another.
The pride which is not sufficiently strong to
prevent a man from committing an unworthy
action, often survives the heavy blows inflicted
on it by his turpitude, and by the pangs it
occasions, avenges his misdeeds. Lord Willa-
mere positively writhed under the agony of the
insult implied by Mr. Humphry's interrupted
speech; yet such was the thraldom in which
his pecuniary difficulties had plunged him, that
he feared to break off the agreement which he
had but just completed, by giving utterance to
the anger he felt. He again bit his lip; and
although the sudden pallor which replaced the
flush of rage that but a moment before had crim-
soned his brow, betrayed the internal struggle,
he smoothed his countenance, and observed
" O ! I understand, Mr. Humphry ; you meant
to say that the uncertainty of life might pre-
vent my fulfilling the pledge."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 179
" Yes, my lord, precisely ; that is exactly
what I meant to say," replied Mr. Humphry,
inwardly smiling at the favourable interpreta-
tion of his doubts given by his lordship.
" There is one way in which this can be
arranged. If you will let me have five hun-
dred guineas to-day, and your note of hand,
payable on the day when your friend is gazetted,
for the remaining sum of fifteen hundred
guineas, I will give you my note for five hun-
dred guineas, which note you will return me
the day the appointment is gazetted."
Mr. Humphry was afraid of refusing these
conditions, lest he should too far offend the
peer; nor dared he avow that his lordship's
bill for five hundred guineas was not worth as
many sixpences in his opinion, although such
was the fact. He, therefore, determined to
risk the money ; and, drawing from his pocket-
book a blank cheque, filled it up for the amount,
and handed it to his lordship, who bowed him
out with his accustomed dignity.
" I have not made a bad thing of it after all,"
thought Mr. Humphry, as he left Willamere
180 MEMOIRS OF
House, " although I had hoped to have made a
better. His lordship is not so hard up as I
thought, or he would have accepted fifteen
hundred instead of two thousand. I shall put
one thousand in my pocket by this transaction
after all, for I persuaded Gilchrist that there
was no chance of getting the appointment for
less than three thousand. I wish now I had
said four; and so I would have done, had I
anticipated -that his lordship would have stood
out so firmly for the two thousand. But it
can't be helped now. I must only try to make
it up next time. Bless my stars, how proud
these lords can be, when anything excites their
mettle! Why, hang me, if he didn't draw
himself up two inches at least above his natural
stature, when I was going to ask what security
I was to have if I paid the money down, that
he mightn't give the place to some one else !
He's a queer'un, that's what he is. Not above
doing a wrong action, but greatly above being
told he has done it."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 181
CHAPTER X.
" AND now for releasing poor Stratford," said
Lord Willamere, as his vulgar visitor departed.
" I should like to go to him myself, but I have
not courage to meet him, after that unlucky
scene with his wife. With his notions, he could,
I am sure, ill brook my presence ; so I must
send Spellerman to liberate him. I must first,
however, get this cheque cashed." And putting
the said cheque in his waistcoat pocket, Lord
Willamere rang the bell, and ordered his
brougham to be at the door as soon as possible.
" Your lordship's groom has just been here to
say that the bay horse is lame to-day."
" The devil it is ! Well then, tell him to
have the brown horse harnessed."
" The brown, my lord, was sent, last evening,
182 MEMOIRS OF
to the job-man's, to be exchanged for another,
for it was off its feed for the last two days, and
the job-man, your lordship, sent word that he
had not a horse to take his place."
" What the devil does the fellow mean ?
Does he suppose that I am to pay him extrava-
gant prices for job-horses, and he is not to keep
others in readiness to supply their places in
case of accidents ?"
" The groom said, my lord, that the job-man
seemed very careless, and, in short, my lord,
was anything but civil," observed Mr. Berming-
ham; who, for reasons of his own, was very
desirous that his lord and master's custom should
be transferred to another job-man, a particular
friend of his, who promised not only to supply
him with a quiet and sure-footed nag whenever
he wished to ride, but to allow him a certain per
centage on the account, if he procured him Lord
Willamere's custom.
" What a bore ! " exclaimed his lordship.
" Have my saddle-horses round as soon as pos-
sible, and I will call and reprimand Mr. Wil-
kinson."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 183
" I hope his lordship won't let out what I said
about the job-man being careless and uncivil, for,
if he does, the truth may come out. I only said
it just to get his lordship to take away his cus-
tom from him, for it's no use letting a fellow go
on serving with horses who won't give a per
centage, when I know a man who will."
Lord Willamere was half inclined to send
Bermingham to the bank, with the cheque, but a
dislike to that person's seeing whose signature
was to it, prevented his employing him on this
occasion. He therefore rode to the bank, took
the amount of the cheque in bank notes, and
turned his horse's head towards the office of Mr.
Spellerman, determined to give that gentleman
wherewithal to release poor Stratford from
prison, and a further sum towards the payment
of the arrears of his salary. Lord Willamere
felt such a real satisfaction in the prospect of
discharging this duty, that it almost reconciled
him to the means by which such an end was to
be attained. His mind was relieved from a
weight that had oppressed it ever since the
arrest of Stratford for his debt, and could he
184 MEMOIRS OF
have banished the recollection of his unsuccess-
ful suit to the wife of that individual, he would
have been comparatively happy. That, how-
ever, still rankled in his breast, and inflicted as
deep a mortification on his vanity as on his
heart. Unluckily for Lord Willamere's good
intentions, the yard of the job-man with whom
he dealt lay on the route to Mr. Spellerman's
office ; and more unluckily still, just as his lord-
ship was- passing the door, the job-man himself
was entering it. Lord Willamere immediately
dismounted, for the purpose of expostulating on
the alleged complaints made against that person,
and for insisting on having fresh horses sent in
place of those incapable of doing their work.
Nothing could exceed the civility of Mr. Wil-
kinson, except it was his regret that he had not,
at the moment, any horses worthy to replace
those jobbed to his lordship. He would do
anything in the world to please or oblige his
lordship, but what could he do ? Horses never
were so dear, or money so scarce, as at the pre-
sent time. Although thousands of pounds were
due to him, he could not call in even a few
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 185
hundreds. The nobility and gentry didn't like
being asked for money, and he hoped none of
'em could say that he ever dunned 'em. No; he
knew his place better.
This last hint appealed powerfully to Lord
Willamere's feelings, by reminding him, that for
the last three years, he had only paid a very
small portion of his large account to Mr. Wil-
kinson.
To be sure, resumed that person, three of
the finest horses he had seen for many years
were that morning offered to him for sale, and
at a very reasonable price too. Five hun-
dred pounds were demanded ; but ready money
only would be accepted. He really had not
that sum at command. If he had, he would not
have hesitated a moment, for the horses were
well worth seven hundred and fifty pounds.
But what could he do ? His lordship might
look at them, if he pleased, for the owner had
left them in the stable for a few hours, on the
chance of their being seen by one of his cus-
tomers.
" There can be no harm in just looking at
186 MEMOIRS OF
them," thought Lord Willamere, as he followed
Mr. Wilkinson to the stable.
"Lead out the horses, Tom," said Mr. Wil-
kinson.
" Yes, sir," replied Tom, pulling down a fore
lock of his hair, as a mark of respect.
" Just trot 'em out a bit."
The horses were trotted out ; Mr. Wilkinson
pointing out their perfections with all the gusto
of a connoisseur, and the savoirfaire valoir of an
experienced dealer.
tf Never saw finer steppers in my life, my
lord. What capital action ! There is not their
match to be found in all England. I only wish
I wasn't so poor at this moment, and I'd buy
them at once, and job them to your lordship.
I'd be sorry to see 'em with any one else, that's
the truth of it, for I take a pleasure in furnishing
your lordship's equipages with my best horses.
Only I make it a point never to dun any noble-
man, I'd just request your lordship to let me
have enough money on account to secure these
fine horses, for it will really hurt me to see them
go to some one else."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 187
Lord Willamere could no longer resist the
temptation held out to him. Poor Stratford, in
his prison, faded away before the pleasure of
becoming the possessor of the finest horses, and
greatest bargain in all England ; or, if he was
remembered, it was with a shake of the head,
and a " Que toulez-wus ? " He can be released the
moment I get the 1500 guineas from Hum-
phry, which must be in a few days, and a
week sooner or later can make no great differ-
ence to him, after all.
" Well, Mr. Wilkinson, as you are in such
want of money, I will enable you to buy these
horses." And Lord Willamere drew forth the
500/., and transferred them to the dealer's hand ;
and he, quite as much surprised as delighted at
so unexpected a payment, pocketed the money,
bowed his lordship to the door, promising that
the horses should be forthwith sent to the stables
of Willamere House, and when the peer had
departed, rubbed his hands and smiled at the
reflection that he had done a profitable day's
work ; he having, some days previously, bought
the said horses at a country fair, for two hundred.
188 MEMOIRS OF
" He'd have seen me far enough," thought Mr.
Wilkinson, " before he'd have paid me five hun-
dred pounds in one slap, if he had not been kept
with jaded nags the last few months, and had
not set his heart on having these. How easy it
is to do even the sharpest of these lords and gen-
tlemen, when one knows how to go about it !
I'd bet five pounds that if his dearest friend had
offered his lordship these same nags for one half
the money, he wouldn't have given it. No, we
are the persons to do 'em."
When my father and mother were summoned
to the hospitable board of Mr. Manvers, they
found his two daughters, interesting-looking
girls, of the ages of nine and ten, with him.
" Martha and Mary, this lady," bowing to my
mother, " will, I hope, be so good as to remain
some time in this house, and I trust, my dear
girls, that your conduct will be such as to merit
her approbation and conciliate her esteem. You,
madam, will, I hope, overlook any little shyness
and awkwardness on their pails," continued Mr.
Manvers, " and take into consideration their not
having had a mother's care." And here the lips
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 189
of the speaker became tremulous with emotion.
My mother shook hands with the little girls,
who met her advances to acquaintanceship with
gentleness and cordiality ; and then the little
party, marshalled by the kind host, took their
seats at table.
Nothing could exceed the attention evinced
by Mr. Manvers towards his guests ; and there
was such a perfect freedom from ceremony, yet
such a respectful deference mingled with his
cordiality, that both husband and wife felt that
they were welcomed guests, and that their pre-
sence, far from imposing any constraint, con-
ferred a pleasure on their host. It was true, he
pressed them to partake of the good things set
before them, with an earnest warmth that might,
at the tables of persons in a more elevated class
of life, be deemed homely, if not vulgar; it being
now considered, in the highest circles, unneces-
sary, if not unbecoming, to show that attention
towards guests formerly so generally adopted by
hosts and hostesses, who are now content to let
the duty of offering the dishes to those assem-
bled at their tables devolve on the servants;
190 MEMOIRS OF
they themselves appearing more as guests than
masters or mistresses of the feast. But, in the
peculiar position of those now at his table, this
homely cordiality on the part of Mr. Manvers
was very acceptable, and served greatly to put
them at their ease. The doting, yet judiciously
displayed affection of the widowed father to his
little daughters, and their gentleness and do-
cility, conciliated the esteem and good-will of
my parents, who felt their confidence in the
goodness of heart of their host greatly increased
by thus witnessing his unaffected kindness in
his domestic circle, and the tenderness of his
children toward him. It was long since his
visitors had experienced such kindness as they
met with beneath the roof of Mr. Manvers.
Unskilled in the ceremonious usages of society,
this good man allowed his feelings to take their
natural course, which led to a warmth of wel-
come unchecked by the reserve usually main-
tained towards persons comparatively strangers,
on a first visit.
My mother cast many an anxious glance to
her husband, whose pallor, and total loss of ap-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 191
petite, alarmed and distressed her ; for, although
their kind host pressed him to eat, and repeatedly
engaged him to do honour to his old sherry,
he scarcely touched the good things set before
him, and at length acknowledged that he felt
too feverish to venture on drinking wine.
" You must not be cast down, Mr. Stratford,"
said Mr. Manvers; "only take care of your
health, and I will procure you enough occupa-
tion, ay, and well paid occupation too, to secure
your comfort and independence. I began the
world with far less advantages than you possess.
I had not your fine education, and, like you,
was an orphan. I had nothing but a willing
spirit, an active turn of mind, and a thorough
conviction of the truth of the old proverb, that
honesty is the best policy. The world has pros-
pered with me. I am now well to do in life.
If it pleased God to take me away to-morrow, I
have wherewithal to provide amply and hand-
somely for these dear little girls, and have
nothing to reproach myself with in the manner
in which my fortune has been acquired. Take
courage by my example, my good sir. You are
192 MEMOIRS OP
still a young man, with plenty of years before
you to work, and leave your little miss as well
off as both my girls will be after my death."
The two daughters of Mr. Manvers no sooner
heard him utter the \vord death, than they rose,
and with tears in their eyes ran to him, and,
clinging to his neck, clasped him in their arms,
as if they would shield him from the fell de-
stroyer, whose very name filled their innocent
hearts with terror. That terrible name was
associated in their youthful minds with the loss
of a dearly-loved mother, still fondly remem-
bered. They had seen her fade away, day by
day ; her cheeks become paler, her eyes more
lustrous ; they had noticed her voice, always
low and gentle, grow still more faint, when,
with accents tremulous with love and emotion,
she addressed the tender watchers around her
couch that couch she was doomed to leave
no more. They saw her still lovely in death,
before the coffin-lid shut out that calm pale
face for ever from their sight ; and they beheld
that coffin, covered with its funeral pall, borne
from the home, in which her presence had
A PEMME DE CHAMBRE. 193
been wont to diffuse happiness. They remem-
bered all this ; hence, never did they hear the
solemn word Death, pronounced, that word so
often irreverently uttered, without deep emo-
tion ; and when their father referred to his own
decease, they flew to him as if they could save
him from the approach of the King of Terrors.
Mr. Manvers well understood what was pass-
ing in their innocent hearts ; and his thoughts,
too, were with the dead, as he pressed with
almost womanly fondness his motherless chil-
dren to his breast.
My father and mother were not indifferent
spectators of this little scene. A gloomy pre-
sentiment, often the forerunner of danger,
flashed through the thoughts of my poor father,
as an internal feeling of pain and debility im-
pressed him with a sense of his own ruined
health. He looked at his poor wife, bethought
himself of how desolate her lot would be, and
his child too, and tears rushed into his eyes.
]f[y mother believed that they arose from sym-
pathy with the feelings of their host, and she
loved him the more for this new proof of his
VOL. I. K
194 MEMOIRS OP
sensibility, so perfectly in unison with her own.
Had she known the real source of his emotion,
how dreadful would have been her state ! but
" God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,"
and she was to be yet for a time spared the
wretchedness of knowing the affliction impend-
ing over her.
Mr. Manvers had been too well accustomed
to watch the incipient approaches of the fearful
malady that had snatched from him the wife of
his bosom, not to feel some alarm as he marked
the pallid brow of Stratford, and the bright
hectic spot that frequently showed itself on his
cheek.
A cough, that seemed to shake the chest of
the sufferer, added to the alarm of his host,
while my mother, from never previously having
witnessed the insidious approaches of the disease,
although anxious about what she believed to be
but a temporary indisposition, was wholly igno-
rant of the extent of the danger that menaced a
life infinitely dearer to her than her own. Mr.
Manvers immediately called in the best medical
aid ; but to avoid alarming the patient, arranged
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 195
that Dr. Rysdale was to drop in, as if by chance,
be introduced as a friend of the host, and, by
degrees, gain the confidence of both the hus-
band and wife, and prescribe for the former.
When pressed by my father to inquire about
a situation for him, for the delicacy of the sick
man made him recoil from trespassing on the
hospitality of his kind friend, Mr. Manvers
would say, "Don't be uneasy, I can find you a
situation any day, but you must first re-esta-
blish your health ; that is the first point to be
attended to, every thing else is subordinate
to it."
Anxious to render herself useful, and in
some way to repay the obligations conferred
by Mr. Manvers, Mrs. Stratford devoted three
hours of every day to the instruction of his
children. Their docility and aptitude in learn-
ing, rendered her task a labour of love; and
their progress delighted their fond parent so
much, that he blessed the hour when he secured
them, even for a limited time, the advantages
of such an instructress.
But the peacefulness of his asylum, and the
K 2
196 MEMOIRS OF
kindness of his host, availed not to check the
ravages of the disease which was preying on
the frame, of Stratford. Plis cheek became
daily more pale and shrunken; his eye more
glassy, and his cough more frequent and harass-
ing. Sleep and appetite forsook him ; and his
physician acknowledged to Mr. Manvers, that
the remedies he had hitherto administered had,
to his great regret and disappointment, pro-
duced no salutary effect. He suggested the
propriety of seeking change of air ; not, as he ad-
mitted, that he hoped any very material change
from it ; nevertheless it was right, he thought,
to try every chance of preserving a life so
valuable to Mr. Stratford's wife and child.
Mr. Manvers immediately engaged a house
at Brompton, surrounded by a cheerful garden,
sent to it many of the comforts so seldom
to be found in lodging-houses; and in a very
few days after the change of air had been
recommended, he announced to the grateful
couple that all was ready for their reception
at their new abode. " When Mr. Stratford's
health is restored, as I trust in God it soon will
K.2
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 197
be," said the worthy man, " my girls will, with
your permission, Madam," addressing Mrs. Strat-
ford, "take up their abode with you, at the
house I have taken for you."
Mr. and Mrs. Stratford possessed minds and
hearts, not only fully capable of appreciating
the generosity and delicacy of Mr. Manvers'
conduct towards them, but fully capable of
emulating it towards others, had fortune en-
abled them to do so. The consciousness of this
sentiment in their own breasts rendered their
sense of obligations to their kind friend less
painful and humiliating than if they themselves
were less generously disposed ; and Mrs. Strat-
ford hoped a day might come, when it would
be in his power to prove her deep sense of the
favours conferred on her and her husband, in
their hour of need.
198 MEMOIRS OP
CHAPTER XL
NEITHER my father nor mother were persons
who could feel happy while depending solely
on the charity or kindness of others. In pro-
portion to the warm sense they entertained of
the generosity exercised towards them, was
their dread of trespassing too much on it ; and
while those with less delicacy would have
enjoyed the present advantages afforded them,
without any scruple, they shrank from the
bare idea of encroaching on a hospitality, the
value of which no one could better appreciate.
They had a spirit of honest independence, as
far removed from false pride as from ingrati-
tude, that led them to wish to earn their daily
bread by their own exertions ; and they felt
that to live in idleness, though even but for a
short time, would be too painful and humili-
A FEMME DE OHAMBRE. 199
x
ating, owing, as they already did, so weighty
an obligation to Mr. Manvers. "Let us at
least, for a few days, rest in peace and quiet
here, dearest," said my mother, as she marked
the pale face and thoughtful brow of her de-
jected husband ; " Mr. Manvers, who is so
considerate arid kind, may be able to hear of
sorae sitr.ation or occupation, by which we can
earn a subsistence. I can, perhaps, through the
medium of his extensive connexions and recom-
mendations, go out to give lessons as a daily
governess; and with your talents and know-
ledge, it will be hard, indeed, if we cannot
find means to live."
My father tried to smile an assent to his
wife's hopes and projects ; but the smile was so
faint, so sickly, that it indicated how much less
sanguine were his expectations than hers. A
secret presentiment filled his heart, that the
slow fever, occasioned by anxiety, which had
so long been undermining his health, and which
the events of the last two days had greatly in-
creased, had struck at the vital principle ; and
as he looked on his adored wife and child, likely
200 MEMOIRS OF
to be soon left unprovided for and friendless,
in a world in which he had found only endless
toil, repaid by deceit and ingratitude, from him
for whom he had used his best exertions, a cold
shudder came over him, and he almost wished
that they, too, might share the sleep of death,
which he felt an internal conviction would soon
be his. The base conduct of Lord Willamere
had wounded my father to the heart's core, and
struck at the very root of his life. In vain had
he endeavoured to seek a refuge from the bitter
thoughts that preyed on his very existence, in
the deep contempt which conduct like that of
Lord Willamere was so well calculated to in-
spire in a noble mind and generous heart like
his. But his natural sensibility was stronger
than his acquired philosophy, and triumphed
over every effort which the latter suggested, to
pluck forth the poisoned arrow from his heart
My father, too, was a proud, though a poor
man, and could ill brook the bitter knowledge,
that the wife of his bosom the only being who
had ever loved him, or whom he had loved
should have her name made the subject of
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 201
slander, or be profaned by the ribald jests of
the heartless voluptuaries who associated with
the libertine Lord Willanaere. And now hope,
the delusive syren, had ceased to cheat him.
A conviction of his own state, and its probable
result, had taken possession of his mind ; and
the prospect of being torn from his wife and
child, fraught with bitterness, excited his affec-
tion for those beloved objects into a morbid
tenderness, that served to aggravate the fatal
disease that was preying on him. His eyes
would follow his wife wheresoever she moved,
or dwell on their child, until tears of human
fondness, wrung from him by the thought that
he must soon leave those dear beings, would
fill them.
There is a love, so deep, so devoted, that
the thought of leaving the object of it is
too terrible to be entertained, even for a
moment ; and the heart turns with the same
instinctive shudder from such a possibility, as
the body shrinks from the scalpel of the surgeon
who comes prepared to perform some horrible
operation on it. Such was the love of my
K3
202 MEMOIRS OF
mother for her husband. Not a change in his
pale face, not an alteration in his burning hand,
escaped her ; and every symptom in his malady
was noted with a fearful exactness, that proved
but too well how she marked the phases of it.
Yet, though she saw him day after day grow
more weak, and heard the cruel cough that
shook his poor chest, as if it would burst it, she
dared not anticipate the terrible result of all
this suffering, and clung to hope, though there
was no longer anchorage for it. Oh ! how the
fear of parting incr<\ ye? affection, those only
can tell who have experienced the agony of
beholding the pcr.S'jri . i<-;>.-.v: t ii; Kf. 1 in fla^g' 11 ',
Then it is, that the chain of affection seems
newlv rivetted, as if to resist the possibility
of \>VMV rent asunder; and that the love
previously felt, however fond, however true,
appears light in comparison with the act Til
present, when to all the past is added the vague,
but terrible dread 01 u.- - fatnrv, that future,
when even the happiness of watching over the
invalid may be denied, and the cold grave
may contain the form for which no couch that
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 203
love can smooth, is now deemed sufficiently
soft.
" No, it won't, it can't be," would my mother
say to herself, when some fearful anticipation of
losing her adored husband almost made her
heart die within her tortured breast. "It
would be too, too terrible. God is too good, too
merciful, to try me so far beyond my strength
to bear. No ; he will not be taken from me.
He may live, denied the blessing of health, and
all its enjoyments; be a helpless invalid, con-
fined to one chamber ; but this, even this, will
be happiness to me, compared with the dread,
the horror of losing him for ever; of feeling
alone, in a cold and pitiless world, after having
known the blessing, the unutterable blessing,
of a love like his."
The day arrived that my father wa s to be
removed from the house of Mr. Manvers to the
one taken for him at Brompton. A hired
carriage, of the most easy and comfortable kind
that could be procured, was engaged to convey
him, into which he was assisted by his kind
friend, with two of his clerks, and propped up
204 MEMOIRS OF
by pillows; and his head resting on the shoulder
of his wife, the female servant and child occu-
pying the opposite seat of the vehicle, he was
driven towards Brompton.
It was a bright and beautiful day. The
streets were filled with gaily dressed persons ;
innumerable carriages and equestrians were
passing along on every side, which gave the air
of 2, fete day to the whole scene. What a con-
trast did it offer to the feelings of the hapless
pair, who turned from it with sadness, as if the
bright sunshine and gaiety around them in-
creased their sense of the desolation of their
own hearts. What to them were the embla-
zoned carriages whirled along by proud and
stately steeds; the gaudy-liveried menials that
belonged to them ; and the richly dressed occu-
pants, who bestowed not even a passing glance
on the humble vehicle that was conveying them
to the quiet home where they were to await
the sentence that was to decide the fate of both,
the sentence of life or death to my father!
This pair, in the midst of a gay and busy popu-
lation, each member of which was occupied
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 205
solely with his or her own cares, or pleasures,
felt that they were alone. Shut out from
the sympathies of those among whom they
glided, they were, as some poor and hum-
ble stream that flows into the ocean, lost
and confounded in the vast mass into
which they were plunged, and they instinc-
tively pressed closer to each other, as this con-
viction forced itself on their minds. Their
passage was obstructed by the crowd around
the gates at Hyde Park, assembled in the hope
of seeing the Sovereign pass, and for some
minutes their carriage could not move on. My
mother would fain have escaped the careless
and indifferent glances of the gay personages,
whose eyes, for a brief moment, rested on the
pale face of her husband, and then turned, with
an altered expression, to hers, for beauty, how-
ever chastened by sorrow, is always attractive
to the idle loungers of fashion; but she
dreaded to avert her head, lest the movement
should derange that of the dear invalid resting
on her shoulder, and so only cast down her
eyes when the inquisitive and impertinent gaze
206 MEMOIRS OF
of the equestrians, who peered into the carriage,
caused the blood to mount to her delicate
cheek.
" Look there, Willamere ; did you ever be-
hold a more lovely face ? " exclaimed a fashion-
able looking man to his companion, directing
his attention to the humble vehicle of my
parents; "by Jove! the sick man is to be
envied, for possessing so beautiful a nurse."
Lord Willamere turned quickly round, ever
anxious in his search for beauty, and his glance
met the death-like face of his poor secretary,
whose languid eye rested for a moment on his
countenance, and then closed, as if to shut out
some object too painful to be longer contem-
plated. A momentary pang shot through the
libertine's heart, as his eye took in the face of
the dying man, for that my father was dying,
he felt as convinced as of his own identity.
From him his eyes turned to the face of my
mother, which, though still beautiful as ever,
was impressed with such care and sadness, as
proclaimed that she had suffered much since
they had last met. She had not seen Lord
Willamere, for, distressed by the gaze of his
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 207
companion, she had avoided again looking in
the direction where he was; but her husband
had recognised him, and the shudder that shook
his frame alarmed her so much, that she feared
some sudden change for the worse in his
health had occasioned it. "It was only a
spasm, dearest," replied my father, in answer
to her inquiry, "I shall be better when we
are out of this crowd."
The sight of the man he had loved and
trusted, but who had so basely betrayed the
confidence he had reposed in his honour,
greatly agitated the weak frame of the poor
invalid, and although he struggled to conquer
his emotion, and named not the subject to his
wife, it became evident to her that some sudden
change had occurred, which deteriorated his pre-
vious state. Lord Willamere looked no more
towards the carriage which contained those he
had so deeply injured. Remorse, an unusual,
visitor in his heart, had found entrance, and
his aspect underwent such an alteration, that
when his companion again demanded his
opinion of the beautiful woman he had pointed
out, he asked him if he felt unwell.
208 MEMOIRS OF
" Only a slight head-ache," was the answer.
A slight heart-ache, would have been nearer the
truth.
" I've a great mind to follow the carriage
and discover where this beauty dwells," said Sir
Henry Biverstock.
"You will gain nothing by it," observed
Lord Willamere, " for the lady is evidently a
modest woman."
" No other would be worth the trouble of pur-
suit,"" was the reply, " forbidden fruit alone is
tempting."
" But even so warm an admirer of beauty
and modesty as Sir Henry Biverstock, might
pause before he subjects a woman in affliction,
as the one we have just seen evidently is, to
annoyance by a pursuit wholly unencouraged
by even a glance of hers," rejoined the peer.
There was a sarcastic severity in the tone
and manner of Lord Willamere, as he uttered
these words, that instantly led his companion
to conclude that his lordship had a more than
ordinary interest in the fair unknown. His
sudden change of countenance the moment
A FEMME DE CHAMBKE. 209
after he saw her, and his ill-dissembled anxiety
to prevent him from following her carriage
confirmed his suspicions, and decided him on
pursuing the bent of his own inclinations, by
keeping the vehicle in view.
"I had no notion, my dear Willamere," said
the baronet, " that you were so considerate of
the feelings of those who attract your admira-
tion, as your advice just now given would lead
me to suppose. Come, be frank and own the
truth. Have you not tried to dissuade me
from following this belle incognita, merely
because you intend to take a similar step
yourself?"
Lord Willamere, albeit unused to blush,
felt his cheeks glow at this charge; but re-
covering his self-possession, he asserted on his
word of honour that he had no such intention.
" Then you have more self-control, or less
admiration for the lady than I possess," ob-
served Sir Henry Riverstock, " so adieu ;" and
he turned his horse's head towards the road to
Kensington, the direction which the carriage
in which my parents were had taken, and soon
210 MEMOIRS OF
overtook it. He had, however, sufficient sense,
if not delicacy, to remain behind the carriage,
desirous of not offending the lovely woman it
contained, until he reached the spot where the
road leads off on the left to.Brompton, where
he met Mr. Addington, one of the roue cronies
of Lord Willamere. This gentleman had seen
and recognised my parents, and the encounter
had brought back fresh to his mind his having
formerly met them at Willamere House, and
the scandal that Lord Henry Middlecourt and
he had then imagined, and afterwards circu-
lated relative to the supposed liaison between
Lord Willamere and the handsome Mrs. Strat-
ford, as also of the secretary's connivance at
the intrigue.
" How-d'ye-do, Riverstock," exclaimed Mr.
Addington. " I've just seen in that fly," point-
ing to the one in front, "a devilish beautiful
woman ; a flame of Willamere's, and the wife
of his secretary, who, par parentfose, looks as
if he is not likely to trouble his frail rib long
with his presence. The poor devil is evidently
dying."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 211
"Hah! hah! my Lord Willamere, I have
caught you, have I?" soliloquized Sir Henry
Riverstock. " This explains your anxiety to
prevent my following the carriage of the fair
one. Would you believe it, Addington, when
I pointed out the lady in question to Willa-
mere, believing that he had never seen her
before, the sly dog affected not to know her ;
and when I proposed to ride after her carriage
in order to discover her abode, he preached me
as moral a lesson as if he were a saint, and
I only a sinner. But are you quite sure, my
dear fellow, that the lady is the person you
assert her to be ? "
" Perfectly. I recognised her at one glance.
Indeed she is too pretty to be easily mistaken
for another. I once passed some hours in her
company, much to her dissatisfaction, I dare be
sworn, for she looked deucedly put out of her
way by the intrusion of Henry Middlecourt
and myself into the dining-room of Willamere,
where she, her cara sposo, and his lordship,
made a trio at dessert, quite enfamille. Willa-
mere wished us anywhere else, I could plainly
212 MEMOIRS OF
see, and endeavoured to dupe us, by assuming
towards the lady as deferential an air as if she
were a duchess, instead of the wife of his secre-
tary ; who, poor man, was enjoying his fruit
to all appearance wholly unconscious that he
stood in a peculiarly false position, as either a
dishonourable, or a deceived husband."
"I am sorry I must leave you," said Sir
Henry Blverstock, " for I have an engagement,
so good bye."
" A bonne fortune, I conclude," was the reply;
"for those are the only engagements men
attend to in our times ;" and off rode Mr.
Addington to London, while the baronet gal-
loped briskly after the carriage which held the
object that had excited so great an interest in
his breast.
When some days before Lord Willamere had
paid away the money to Mr. Wilkinson the horse-
dealer, and secured the horses, agreeing to give an
increased yearly stipend for their hire on job, in
consideration of the great price that person
alleged he had given for them, he rode away
in a different direction from that which lie
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 213
had originally intended taking. It was now
useless, he felt, to see Mr. Spelburne, as he had
no longer the money to give him to liberate my
father. " Well, after all, a few days more
or less incarceration can't be of much conse-
quence to him,"" thought the peer ; " a lock-up
house is, I understand, no very bad place a
sort of ready-furnished lodging, as I have heard,
only diiferent from others, inasmuch as the
lodger is not permitted to leave it until the pro-
prietor is quite satisfied that there is no detainer
remaining there against him. Heaven be
praised, I have no personal experience of those
sort of places ! Glorious privilege of the peer-
age! which keeps us, the porcelain of human
clay, safe from such contamination. Yes, I dare
say Stratford has his comforts around him ; his
beautiful wife by his side! Who would not
submit to a [prison to secure a tete-a-tete with
such a creature ? He is not much to be pitied
with such a companion. Yet husbands are such
strange dogs, especially after a year of marriage,
that a prison might seem to a benedict no less
gloomy with a wife than without one. I'll
214 MEMOIRS OF
certainly relieve poor Stratford the moment
I receive the money from Mr. Humphrey, and
that must be in a few days. En attendant, I
will think no more of him, which will be
much the wisest plan, for boring myself about
his imprisonment can do him no good, and
would only put me into the blue devils. I cer-
tainly am a devilish kind-hearted fellow in the
main, for I have had no fewer than a dozen
disagreeable twinges of conscience since poor
Stratford was arrested on my account ; and if
I had not so much philosophy as I possess, I
should really have been as gloomy as a gamester
on awaking in the morning, after he has lost his
last guinea. Yes, philosophy is a marvellously
good thing in such emergencies. It consoles us
wonderfully in the misfortunes that befall our
friends. It is a pity it is not so successful in
those that assail ourselves."
An organ, played by an Italian boy, at that
moment struck up a merry tune, and this inci-
dent, so trifling in itself, gave an entire change
to the thoughts of Lord Willamere. Strange
power of music, to abstract us from the actual
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 215
present, and transport us to other scenes ! The
tune was a favourite one with the Duchess of
Rosehampton, and Willamere had, during the
heyday of his passion for that lovely, but er-
ring woman, often danced with her to its
measure. A vision of her sparkling eyes and
sweet smile at such moments flashed on his
memory, and he bethought him of his past
triumphs, when, envied by half the men who
helped to fill the gilded salons de bal in the
great houses in London, he led the lovely
duchess, sparkling in diamonds, and " the ob-
served of all observers," through the mazy
dance. There had been more of sentiment
in 'Willamere's unhallowed liaison with the
Duchess, than in any other of his numerous
bonnes fortunes. The reason was, that she was
not as lightly won as his other conquests. Poor
woman ! Nature meant her to be something
better than a mere leader of the ton; one of
those heartless, soulless butterflies, who bask
in the sunshine of fashion, and waste their
lives in its frivolous pursuits and pleasures.
Left an orphan while yet in infancy, she had,
216 MEMOIRS OF
unhappily, no watchful mother to instill pre-
cepts of religion and morality into her mind,
to watch over her youth, and to guide her
through the perils that beset the path of the
young and fair. She had no father or brother
to shield her from the advances of the worthless
or designing, or to warn her ere she irrevocably
bestowed her hand on one undeserving the
boon. Left to the guardianship of a distant
relation, who thought he was conscientiously
fulfilling the charge consigned to him, when he
engaged a governess, strongly recommended by
a lady of high rank, to preside over the instruc-
tion of his fair ward, and duly attended to the
care of her large fortune, the Lady Adelaide
St. John grew up to be an accomplished
woman. She was an admirable musician ; drew
in a masterly style ; danced almost too well for
a lady, as many matrons with daughters less
skilled in the science of Terpsichore, and the
said daughters themselves, averred ; rode like an
amazon ; walked like a Diana ; and was so
naturally graceful, that her every movement
enhanced the rare beauty of her face and
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 217
figure. But while no pains nor expense were
spared in perfecting her accomplishments, her
moral training had been wholly neglected.
With warm feelings, a kind heart, and its too
frequent accompaniment, a quick temper, she
was never taught to regulate the first, nor to
control the latter. She would melt with pity
over a tale of distress, yet the next moment
inflict pain by some ebullition of anger occa-
sioned by a trifle. She wished all around her to
be happy, would have willingly made any sacri-
fice to accomplish this, was incapable of any
malice, but expected, as a right, that she herself
was to be also exempt from the ills to which
human flesh are heirs. She was impatient
under the trials that await even the most
favoured of Fortune's pets, and resented as a
personal injury any contre temps that militated
against her schemes of pleasure. There was so
much goodness in her nature, that a skilful
hand might have easily eradicated the weeds
that had sprung up in the too rich soil ; but
unfortunately Madame de Tremonville was the
last person in the world to discover their roots,
VOL. i. L
218 MEMOIRS OF
or, even had she marked them, to pluck them
out. The warmth of her pupil's feelings she
cherished, rather than attempted to regulate :
Her kindness of heart she loved, nay, almost
idolized her for, because innumerable and
gratifying proofs of it were continually evinced
towards herself; and her quickness of temper
was tolerated, if not encouraged, as demon-
strative of genius, which Madame de Tre-
monville declared was always accompanied by
a certain vivacity of temper, as is exemplified
by the term " genus irritabile" always applied
to clever persons.
Married while yet little more than a child,
the duke, though tenderly attached to her,
was so wholly engrossed by politics as to have
little time to devote to his beautiful and inex-
perienced wife, who, left without a guide to
advise, or a friend to guard her, soon became
engulphed in the vortex of fashion.
Such was the woman who had fallen a prey
to the artful and practised seducer, Lord Willa-
mere; and who, haunted by the remorse
which never fails, sooner or later, to follow
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 219
unhallowed liaisons, now wept in anguish her
lapse from virtue, and the ingratitude of him
who, having been "loved, not wisely but too
well," had lured her from it. Fierce was the
war which love, pride, and remorse waged in
her tortured breast, even while yet her seducer,
unsated by possession, proved by his unremit-
ting attention, the passion he felt for her.
Every hour of his absence found her wretched.
She trembled before the unsuspecting husband,
whose honour she had betrayed in forfeiting
her own. Every word of kindness from hiiv
seemed like a dagger plunged into her heart, and
made her feel ready to fall at his feet, avow
her guilt, and draw on her head all its humi-
liating, its fearful consequences. Her de-
pression of spirits, her altered looks, the traces
of tears so often visible on her pale cheeks,
alarmed, and excited a fresh interest in her
fond husband, every proof of which inflicted
agony on the wretched woman. She hardly
dared to meet his glance, and fancied that even
indifferent spectators could read on her brow
the stamp of shame. She trembled before
L 2
220 MEMOIRS OF
her servants ; for they, as she rightly imagined,
must have formed their own conclusions on the
frequency of Lord Willamere's visits, and of
her interviews with him in Kensington Gar-
dens. Such had been the state of her feelings for
some time, when her lover, who had been of
late so remiss in his attentions as to alarm her
pride, and wound her affection, surprised
her by a visit. The vision his memory had
conjured up, by the aid of the tune played by
the organ in the street, had induced this tardy
visit. He cheated himself into the expectation
of finding her radiant in beauty as before
tears of repentance had stained her cheeks, and
dimmed the lustre of her eyes, and he fancied
that, after a few reproaches, uttered more in
sorrow than in anger, she would accept the
falsehoods he meant to urge in extenuation of
his neglect. But her changed aspect, her im-
paired beauty, and evidently destroyed health,
which might have awakened pity in the
sternest breast, excited only anger in his callous
one. ' He reproached, instead of attempting
to soothe her. Asked how she could hope that
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 223
after having committed the suicide of her own
beauty, she could retain the heart it had en-
thralled, and whether any lover could give up
his time to one who was always steeped in tears.
The indignation of the duchess was for some
time too great for words to be taunted by him
who had plunged her into guilt and shame, who
had steeped her nightly pillow, to which sleep
was now a stranger, in tears, was not to be
borne. " Begone," said she, when words found
utterance; "never again presume to appear
before me. I loathe myself for having stooped
to love one so heartless, so worthless; and
my turpitude is increased tenfold in my own
eyes, by the discovery that you have no one
quality to extenuate my crime."
Angered beyond the power of gentlemanly
forbearance, Lord Willamere arose to depart.
"Remember," said he spitefully, "that when
your ill-humour has ceased, you may find that I
am not to be recalled," and he left the room.
* # * *
Great was the regret next day, when the
sudden death of the young and beautiful
222 MEMOIRS OF
Duchess of Rosehampton was announced. Her
grace had complained of indisposition when she
went to dress for dinner ; grew worse, and
found herself unable to leave her chamber. She
refused to permit a physician to be sent for,
and was found a corse next morning when her
femme de chambre entered her room. An empty
bottle, marked " Laudanum," discovered by her
bed-side, revealed the cause of her death. She
had of late become compelled to have recourse
to it to procure sleep, and, urged to desperation,
had in a moment of phrenzy swallowed its
contents.
Her husband mourned her long and deeply ;
and, ignorant of her sin and its results, believed
that the over-dose which produced her death
had been taken through mistake. Young,
beautiful, blessed with rank, wealth, and so
fondly beloved by him, he could not imagine a
cause for her committing suicide. No, she
must have taken the deadly potion without
being aware of its strength, and he must ever
regret her loss. There were, however, some
who but too well guessed the truth. One was
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 223
the femme de chambre, who saw her, pale as
marble, and deluged in tears, enter with un-
steady steps her dressing-room, a few minutes
after Lord Willamere had left the house. She
marked the look of utter despair which revealed
what was passing in the broken heart of her
mistress, when the duchess desired to be left
alone that fatal night ; and so impressed was she
by a dread of some impending catastrophe,
that, had the duke been at home, she would
have confessed her fears that it was not safe to
have the duchess left alone. Unfortunately,
the duke was at the House of Lords, and re-
turned not until all was over. Although the sus-
picion that a guilty attachment existed between
their lady and Lord Willamere had long been
excited in the minds of the servants, such was
the good- will her gentleness and goodness had
created in their breasts, and so strong was the
respect they entertained for the duke, that no
whisper ever betrayed the secret. The femme
de chambre, who had for some time marked the
unhappiness of the duchess, and surmised the
cause, would have died sooner than breathe a
224 MEMOIRS or
word that could darken her fame, or lead the
betrayed and bereaved husband to suspect, that
the wife whose sudden death he so deeply
deplored, had been unworthy of his affection.
It was remarked that whenever by chance Lord
Willamere's name was mentioned in her presence,
she would turn deadly pale, and a shudder would
pass over her frame ; but when questioned why
this occurred, she would give some excuse, and
change the subject. The sudden death of the
duchess greatly shocked Lord Willamere. He
had anticipated no such tragical catastrophe, and
for some time it affected his spirits, and he
blamed himself for his unkindness at their last
interview. But after a few months she was
thought of no more, save when a street organ
happened to play her favourite air, and then he
would turn pale and sigh. The tune, however,
like all other ones, became old-fashioned, and
ceased to be played by the organs, so he was
released from this last reminder of her whose
peace he had destroyed, and whom he had
driven to self-destruction.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 225
CHAPTER XH.
WE left Sir Henry Eiverstock following the
carriage that contained Mr. and Mrs. Strat-
ford. He had the tact and decency not to
come so near it as to be seen by its occupants ;
and as he observed it stop in front of the
garden-gate of a small but neat cottage, into
which the invalid was assisted by his wife and
a female servant, he stopped his horse until
they had time to pass into the house, and then,
having noted the locality, he retraced his route
to the Park. The intelligence of the supposed
frailty of the fair object of his pursuit, conveyed
by Mr. Addington, only served to encourage the
evil designs excited by her beauty in the mind
of the libertine baronet. Why might not he
seek to please, and win her smiles, as well as
Lord Willamere had d6ne? Was he not as
L3
226 MEMOIRS OF
good-looking, much younger, and richer than
his lordship? and why therefore not aspire to
the same success ? So reasoned Sir Henry
Riverstock, as he slowly rode back to the park,
his thoughts occupied by the lovely woman he
had seen, and bent on leaving no effort untried
to gain her favour. This incipient passion did
not, however, deter him from examining every
pretty woman he saw in the Park, as if each
not personally known to him were an attain-
able object; or in fact, as if the women were,
like horses exposed in a dealer's yard, led forth
to be exhibited to the highest bidder.
" She is handsomer, a thousand times hand-
somer than any of them," said he to himself.
" What a lucky fellow Willamere was to have
won her, and in the meridian of her beauty too,
before she had become so pale and delicate as
at present. But this paleness and delicacy will
subside when she comes to be no longer con-
stantly immured with that sickly husband of
hers. The being shut up with such an un-
healthy fellow is enough to make any woman
look ill. It is like renewing the old story of
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 227
Mezentius, chaining the living to the dead, to
have such fine a creature tied to that poor faded
shrunken skeleton, who has scarcely a breath of
life left in his body. I'll write to her at once.
Or, let me see, shall I wait a little? Her
husband can't last long, and women's hearts are
said to be peculiarly softened during the first
days of widowhood."
Thus reflected the sensual and libertine Sir
Henry Riverstock, to whom a doubt of the
truth of the statement of Mr. Addington never
occurred. Indeed, he seldom questioned any
scandalous story, for, judging of the mass
of mankind by self, he was prone to give
credence to every evil that could be imputed
to it.
It is long since we left Mr. and Mrs. Strat-
ford entering the abode near Brompton, pro-
vided for them by their kind and considerate
friend, Mr. Manvers. In it they found every
comfort that an invalid could require, and both
husband and wife, as they looked around on the
neat and cheerful rooms, and into the garden,
gay with flowers, and enlivened by the carols
228 MEMOIRS OF
of innumerable birds, mentally blessed him to
whom they owed so much.
" The pure air and quiet of this sweet place,
will, with the blessing of God, restore you,"
said the doting wife, as she looked fondly and
anxiously at the pale face and sunken eyes of
her husband.
He shook his head sorrowfully, but spoke
not, and turned away to hide his emotion.
Oh! what a pang shot through his wife's heart
at that moment, as his conviction of the utter
hopelessness of his case was revealed to her by
his silence, and the emotion he tried to conceal.
She struggled to master her feelings and assume
a calm demeanour, while her heart was torn by
grief and dread ; but a tremulous movement of
her lips, and an increased paleness of her face,
betrayed what she felt.
Day after day, did she examine with the
watchful eyes of love, the altered aspect of her
husband. The pure air and quiet, on which
she had so much counted for effecting a bene-
ficial change in his state, had failed to produce
the desired end, and each hour saw him become
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 229
more deathly pallid, more emaciated, and more
languid than before; while a cough that shook
his feeble frame, but too well proclaimed that
consumption, that most terrible of maladies,
was making rapid strides in its destructive
progress to end his life. He would lay for hours
dozing on a sofa in the chamber, so death-like,
that his labouring breath alone proved he was
still a denizen of earth, and his wife would fix
her eyes on that pale brow, and those sharply
chiselled features which the finger of approach-
ing Death had already touched, as if to imprint
them on her memory, while tears, bitter,
burning tears, would chase each other down her
cheeks.
Often would the pallid sleeper murmur her
name in a tone of such deep tenderness, as to
thrill through her heart, while heavy sighs
heaved his breast, and proved that even in
slumber, he was haunted by the thought of
their coming separation. At such moments
she would look from the sleeping father to
his slumbering child. The one with the pallor
of death on his brow, marking how fleetly the
230 MEMOIRS OF
sands of life were ebbing, and the other rosy,
plump, and dimpled, smiling in its dreams, un-
conscious of the state of the authors of its
being, and of the fate impending over them.
" Could I but preserve him, even thus," Mrs.
Stratford would say, as she gazed on her
husband, " I would be content. To watch over
him as now ; to guard his slumbers from inter-
ruption ; to minister to his wants ; oh ! it
would be happiness ! But to know that the
dear face I am now looking on will soon be
hidden from my eyes for ever, that, shut from
the light of day in the dark and narrow grave,
the worms will prey on it, and decay deface
those fair lineaments, O God! O (rod! the
bitterness of death is in such thoughts, and
reason staggers beneath a load of anguish too
heavy to be borne. Would to heaven that our
helpless child and I were summoned to accom-
pany my husband to the grave ! Pardon me,
merciful Father, if weak and sinful, I shrink
from the cup of bitterness thou hast willed
1 should drink to the very dregs. Have mercy
on me, and take me and the child that thou hast
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 231
given me hence, for I have not courage to live
after the grave shall have closed over my
husband."
How mournful and tender were the commun-
ings of the dying husband and doting wife,
during the days that intervened between their
earthly separation. How did he, full of faith
in the divine mercy of his heavenly Father,
endeavour to reconcile her to the inevitable
blow that would leave her a lonely mourner on
earth, and a dependant on the kindness of Mr.
Manvers. But though the pious resignation of
the Christian was exerted to chasten the grief of
the fond husband and father, it could not always
subdue the anguish with which he contemplated
a separation from those so dear to him. He
would, when he believed himself unobserved,
gaze on his wife and child until tears blinded
him, and he would turn his face away to
conceal his emotion, lest it might inflict a fresh
pang on the tender nurse who seldom left his
pillow.
One day, when the weather was more than
usually sultry, and that its enervating effect
232 MEMOIRS OF
made itself felt by an increased languor and
exhaustion of his debilitated frame, his wife,
while using a fan to cool his fevered brow, said
she longed for the fresh breezes of autumn to
bring restored health to him.
" Alas ! dearest, health will never more visit
me," replied he. "Cheat not yourself, my
Emily, with illusive hopes. I shall leave you
before the first autumnal breeze sweeps the
leaves from those trees we both daily look on."
" Say not, oh ! say not so, William," and the
speaker arose and pressed him in her arms, as
if to preserve him from the grasp of the de-
stroyer Death, while a torrent of tears bathed her
cheeks. " You will yet recover. The Almighty
will take pity on me, and knowing my weak-
ness will not try me beyond my strength of
endurance. Oh! William, I could not part
from you, I could not see you die ! " and the
frame of the wretched wife shook in agony.
Never previously had she dared to contemplate
the terrible result of the malady that she saw
day by day making such fearful inroads on the
life of her husband. That he was in danger,
A FEMME DE CHAMBKE. 233
in imminent danger, she could not conceal from
herself, though, with the delusion peculiar to
love in such cases, she refused to believe the
possibility of the calamity which menaced her.
It was too dreadful to be supported even in
thought; and if for a moment it suggested
itself, her terrified imagination shrunk from it,
and, with a shudder, she would say, " Oh ! no ;
God is too good. He, who knows the secrets of
all hearts, and the weakness of his poor sinful
children, knows that such a blow would indeed
overwhelm me, and leave my poor child doubly
an orphan."
But now to hear from his own lips a confirma-
tion of fears too terrible to be admitted, even in
thought, struck her to the heart, and sounded a
funeral knell to departed hope. No longer
could she cheat herself, or shut her eyes to the
dreadful truth ; and with this conviction came a
stunning sense of despair and desolation, that
almost deprived her of the power to quell the
demonstrations of her agony, which she felt
must inflict such pain on her husband.
"I feared this, my poor Emily," said he,
234 MEMOIRS OF
" and have long wished, but had not courage, to
prepare you for what is inevitable. Remember
that we part not for ever, that life soon passes,
that you will follow me, and that we shall,
through the mercy of our blessed Redeemer, be
hereafter reunited where no more partings are."
How eagerly did her ears drink in the sounds
of that dear voice, soon to be hushed in the
silence of death! Was it indeed possible that
his days were numbered? that soon the dark
grave would hide from her view that dear face,
now beaming on her with unutterable love?
She could not speak. Every attempt to pro-
nounce even a single word brought on a sense
of suffocation that threatened to overpower her.
So, mute and motionless, save by the quick
rising of her agitated breast, she remained
plunged in grief.
Oh ! how overwhelming is the first conviction
that the object dearest to us on earth is about
to be snatched from us for ever ! How do we
gaze on those features that must soon be shut
out from our sight, how listen to those accents
that never uttered an unkind word, and which
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 235
will soon meet our ears no more ! The deep
emotion of her husband had so exhausted his
weak frame that he sank into a gentle sleep,
during which his unhappy wife found a momen-
tary relief in tears. They flowed long and
silently. She suffered no sob to escape from
her oppressed heart, nor did her tearful eyes
turn from the pale and attenuated face before
her ; which, save for the motion produced by
his quick respiration, might have been mistaken
for that of the dead. The door of the chamber
opened, and the female servant who waited on
Mrs. Stratford entered with a letter addressed
to her. " It was brought by a groom, ma'am,"
whispered she, "who said he would call to-
morrow for an answer." Having made a sign
to her not to disturb the sleeper, Mrs. Stratford
put the letter into her pocket without bestowing
a thought on whom it might come from, nor
did it occur to her memory again until the next
day, when the maid came to inform her that
the servant who had brought the letter the
previous day, had called, and was waiting for an
answer.
236 MEMOIRS OF
" What letter, dearest ? " asked her husband.
" I had totally forgotten it," replied his wife,
drawing it from her pocket with its seal unbroken.
" I thought we had been forgotten by
all, except our kind friend, Mr. Manvers,"
observed Mr. Stratford, as he looked at his
wife, who opened the letter with an indifference
and carelessness that betokened how little inte-
rest it occasioned ; but soon her aspect changed
her pale cheek became crimsoned, her eyes
darted glances of anger and indignation, and in
a voice tremulous with emotion, she told the
servant that there was no answer.
" Something in that letter has moved, has
agitated you, Emily. Is it as I suspect ? Has
that unprincipled man, Lord Willamere, whom
I saw in Piccadilly the day we were coming
here, discovered our abode, and again renewed
his insults?"
The face of the speaker, previously pale as
death, was now flushed by indignation, and his
hand trembled as he held it forth for the letter.
"It is not from that bad man, my dear
William, I assure you it is not."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 237
" Then why did its perusal agitate and dis-
tress you, my own Emily?"
" The least thing agitates me of late," replied
Mrs. Stratford, endeavouring to assume a care-
less air, though trembling lest her husband
should insist upon seeing the letter, which would,
she was well aware, excite emotions most inju-
rious in his weak state.
" Let me read it, Emily ! " and he held out
his hand eagerly for the letter.
" Do not read it, dear William. Oblige me
by not insisting on it."
" We have too short a time to be together,
my poor love, for me to forego one of the dear
privileges you accorded me when you blessed
me with your hand, that of having no secrets
between us."
" But this odious letter will only vex you.
I know not its vile writer, and why should we
bestow a single thought on him or it?"
"I will see it, Emily !" and the sick man,
with an impatience very unusual in him, and
which was probably the effect of the fever
preying on his exhausted frame, motioned to
238 MEMOIRS OF
have the letter given to him. Fearing that a
continued opposition to his wishes might be as
injurious as a perusal of the hated epistle, his
wife resigned it to his trembling hand, her own
as tremulous ; but scarcely had his eyes glanced
over the first few lines, ere his face became
suffused with the red blush of wounded pride
and indignation, even to his very temples, and
he sunk back exhausted, and gasping for
breath, on his pillow. A violent paroxysm of
coughing rapidly ensued, which terribly shook
his frame, and was followed by an ensanguined
stream, which gushed from his mouth, threaten-
ing immediate death by suffocation. The cries
of his distracted wife brought a servant to her
aid. A messenger was dispatched for the next
medical man. who was soon in attendance, and
who tried, but, alas ! in vain, to stay the ebbing
tide of life, for ere an hour had elapsed, he had
ceased to breathe. No tears, no groan, marked
the bereaved wife's sense of the calamity that
had befallen her. Pale, and motionless as a
statue, with her eyes fixed on the face of the
departed, and his lifeless hand still clasped con-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 239
vulsively in hers, she seemed unconscious that
he was indeed gone for ever, and heedless of
the reiterated requests of the doctor and the
servant, that she should retire to another
room. But when with a gentle force they
endeavoured to remove her from the spot, she
resisted their efforts with an unnatural strength
for so slight a frame, and breaking from their
arms, she threw herself on the body of her
husband, and clasping it wildly to her breast,
fell into strong convulsions. Though accus-
tomed to such trying scenes of grief, the over-
whelming agony he here witnessed made a deep
impression on Mr. Dawkins, the surgeon, and
he used every effort that his skill and expe-
rience could suggest, to afford relief to his
patient. But the fiat had gone forth, and
human skill was vain. At the expiration of
three days she ceased to suffer, and her pure
and spotless soul fled to join that of the husband
she had so fondly, truly loved, leaving their
helpless child as a mournful legacy to the pity of
Mr. Manvers, the only sincere friend its unhappy
parents had ever known. He was faithful to
240 MEMOIRS OF
the trust, and having attended their cold re-
mains to a neighbouring cemetery with everj
observance of respect, and seen them interred
in one grave, he took the orphan to his house,
where, provided with all comfort, she was
tended with as much care as if she had beer
his own child. When old enough to receive
tuition she was sent to an excellent school, it
being the intention of her benefactor that she
should be brought up as a governess.
To render her fit for this situation, no ex-
pense was saved, and during the years that
intervened ere she was deemed sufficiently
accomplished to instruct others, she continued
to have every kindness lavished on her by her
generous friend and his family. When arrived
at an age to comprehend her position, (I trust
my readers will permit me to avoid the egotist-
ical 7, and write of myself as if I wrote of
another,) Mr. Manvers revealed to her the
particulars of the sad story, and premature
deaths of her parents. ' He painted in bright
and unfading colours, the virtues and misfor-
tunes of the amiable and ill-fated pair. He
A FEMME DE CHAMBEE. 241
loved to dwell on every detail connected with
them, that brought forth more strikingly their
virtues and noble qualities; and while doing
so, the history of their wrongs, all of which
were well known to him, was exposed to her.
The heartlessness, and utter selfishness of those
among whom the destiny of her father had
been cast, filled her mind with disgust and
dread, but it also strengthened and steeled it
against the illusions to which youth is prone.
At an age when young girls see only the
bright side of life, she was impressed with a
conviction that the heirs of poverty are born to
endure many and heavy trials ; and that forti-
tude and resignation, which can alone enable
them to support such evils, must be assiduously
cultivated, as a spirit of discontent and repining
will but increase the sense of them.
The same fatal disease that had snatched
away the wife of Mr. Manvers, deprived him
of his children, when they had become old
enough to be his friends, as well as com-
panions. It was on these trying occasions that
the orphan he had protected was enabled to
VOL. i. M
242 MEMOIRS OF
prove most strongly her gratitude and devotion.
She nursed the sick with unwearying attention
and tenderness, and soothed the bereaved father
when his offspring were taken from him, with
an assiduity which, if it could not heal the deep
wounds inflicted on his peace, served at least to
mitigate his sense of their anguish.
Fortune, that blind goddess, who seems to
delight in persecuting those least able to resist
her shafts, and who had so sternly frowned on
her parents, had reserved some of her arrows to
pierce the orphan they had left behind, and
that too when her only friend, the worthy Mr.
Manvers, was on the point of securing to her a
provision, that would have precluded her from
ever experiencing the ills that wait on poverty.
Having amassed a large fortune, and no longer
blessed with those dear objects for whom he
had laboured to acquire it, he determined on
bequeathing it to her whom he had befriended.
His only near relative was a sister, whose cha-
racter and conduct were so dissimilar to his
own, as to have produced a long and serious
estrangement between them. Her extrava-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 243
gance had often involved her in difficulties,
o *
from the consequences of which he had several
times extricated her, at the cost of heavy pecu-
niary sacrifices, but his kindness had failed to
make a proper impression on her callous heart.
He had discovered her ingratitude, and although
determined to make a provision that would
secure her from want when he should be no
more, he, in the warmth of his generous
affection, thought his wealth could nowhere be
so well bestowed as on the young girl whose
attention to his lost offspring, and devotion to
himself, had won his regard. He had imme-
diately after the death of her parents added a
codicil to his will, bequeathing the sum of two
thousand pounds to her. He now determined
to destroy this will, and to replace it by
another ; but the very day he had consigned it
to the flames, and gone to his solicitor to give
him instructions to prepare another, he found
that gentleman had been called into the country,
and was not expected to return for some days.
" Let me know when he arrives," said Mr.
Manvers to the clerk, " for I have business of
M 2
244 MEMOIRS OF
some importance to consult him on," and he
walked away from Lincoln's Inn, his mind filled
by the thought of securing his large fortune to
the person he most regarded. That evening he
made notes of instruction for the drawing of
his will, in which an annuity of two hundred a
year was to be bequeathed to his sister; half
that sum to his worthy housekeeper, a consider-
able provision to his confidential clerk, and dona-
tions to all his other clerks and domestics whose
services had entitled them to his esteem. To
the orphan was the remainder of his wealth,
amounting to no less a sum than sixty thousand
pounds, to revert, and he named two of his
most respected friends as executors. He
signed the sheet of paper on which he had writ-
ten these notes, and having placed it on his
desk, intending to lock it up next morning,
retired to his pillow that night with a mind at
rest, satisfied at having taken steps to put into
execution an intention formed ever since the
death of his second daughter. With more
virtues than fall to the lot of most men, Mr.
Manvers had one defect, that was a superstitious
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 245
dread connected with making his will. He
thought that death was less likely to visit him
while he had made no testamentary arrange-
ment of his affairs ; and this weakness, which he
hardly acknowledged to himself, had led him from
month to month to postpone making a new one.
To conquer this disposition to procrastination,
of the weakness of which he felt sensible, he
had taken the step of committing the will made
during the life of his daughter to the flames,
and the very next day had gone to his solicitor's
to have a new one drawn up in due form. But
the truth of the proverb, that " Man proposes,
and God disposes," was never more exemplified
than in his case ; for he never awoke from the
sleep into which he fell the night after he had
written his notes relative to his will ; that calm
slumber, before dropping into which, his last
thought had been one of self-satisfaction at
having, as he thought, so well disposed of his
honestly acquired wealth.
246 MEMOIRS OF
CHAPTER XIII.
THE next morning, about the hour which
Mr. Manvers generally left his chamber, his
sister called to seek an interview with him, for
the purpose of soliciting pecuniary aid ; having,
as was her wont, exceeded the quarterly stipend
he assigned for her support. She was informed
that he had not yet descended, and was shown
into a private room at the back of his shop,
where he was in the habit of receiving people
on business. She had not remained more than
a quarter of an hour there, when the shrieks of
the housemaid, who rushed down stairs, struck
her ear, and hearing the shocked and grief-
stricken woman announce to the housekeeper
that their dear, their good master was no more,
she hurried up to his chamber, and found her.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 247
brother a corse ! She glanced around ; for even
the awful sight before her failed to touch her
cold and callous heart ; and her eyes fell on the
paper on the desk near his bedside. In a
moment she became conscious of its importance,
and seizing it with the rapidity of lightning,
she conveyed it to her pocket before the house-
keeper and confidential! clerk of the deceased
could reach the chamber; and then throwing
herself on the bed, and clasping the lifeless
body in her arms, she so well simulated a
paroxysm of despair and anguish, as to excite
the commiseration of those present, although
they had previously felt ill-disposed towards
her, from knowing the chagrin and trouble she
had so frequently inflicted on their departed
friend and master. A surgeon who had been
sent for on the first alarm, now arrived, and
pronounced that life had been for several hours
extinct. Mr. Vernon, the head clerk, in the
presence of the surgeon, placed seals on all the
desks, drawers, &c., and despatched messengers
to the two friends whom his late employer had
told him were to be his executors.
243 MEMOIRS OF
Mr. Manvers had informed him some time
previously, of his intention to bequeath the
principal portion of his fortune to the orphan.
The worthy housekeeper had likewise been told
this by her master, so both now regarded the
young girl as the heiress to his wealth; and,
having known and loved her since her infancy,
they had a satisfaction in her good fortune.
Mrs. Forsythe, the sister of the deceased, so
well enacted her role, as to impose on all pre-
sent, and convince them that she was a prey to
grief. Force was necessary to remove her from
the lifeless body of her brother, and so wholly
overwhelmed by grief did she appear to be
that the humane and worthy housekeeper pro-
posed having a bed made for her in an adjoining
chamber, she having declared, with a frantic
vehemence of tenderness, that she would not be
denied the sad consolation of remaining near
his corse until it was to be removed for ever
from her sight.
Having carried her point of remaining on the
spot, and watching that nothing was removed,
for Mrs. Forsythe to her other bad qualities
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 249
united a degree of suspicion rarely found but
in those who, capable themselves of every
turpitude, are prone to attribute similar dispo-
sitions to all with whom they come in contact,
she swallowed a calming potion, prescribed by
the surgeon, and being left alone to try the
efficacy of its eifect, drew the paper signed
by her late brother from its concealment, and
carefully perused its contents. The writing
and paper looked so fresh, and the circum-
stance, too, of its laying on the desk, with the
pen still in the inkbottle by its side, struck her
as proofs that the document in her hand had
only been indited the previous night, before her
brother had sought that pillow whence it was
decreed by the Almighty that he was to rise
no more. She trembled with emotion as the
possibility that this might be his only testa-
mentary disposition occurred to her; and a
thrill of joy and triumph passed through her
mind at the thought that it was secure in her
possession, and unknown to any one else. Oh,
if it should prove to be So ! If no other will
could be found among his papers, or at his
M3
250 MEMOIRS OF
solicitor's, how might she benefit by having dis-
covered and secreted it ! How fortunate was
it that she had been urged by want to visit the
deceased that morning; that she was on the
spot at the identical time ; had been the first to
enter his chamber, or at least that side of it
where his writing-desk stood, and had time to
hide the important paper. Yes, if no will
could be found, she she, the sister he disliked,
the object of his charity, who had come that
very morning to crave a further extension of it,
ashamed to meet his cold glance and reproachful
eye at this new proof of her improvidence !
Yes, she would, in default of a will being
found, become the natural heiress to all his
wealth, and his protegee, Miss Stratford, for
whom he intended to defraud her, his nearest
relation, his own sister, would be left a depen-
dent on the bounty of her whom probably she
had been taught to undervalue, if not to
despise ! Oh ! there was happiness in the very
thought of attaining the wealth her heart had
long pined for, and of which she had so often
envied her brother the possession ! She would
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 251
not, like him, toil on to increase the ample
store he had amassed. No, she would make
it minister to those gratifications of which she
had but too long been deprived ; she would
revel in those luxuries and pleasures she
longed to enjoy ; and the wealth, for the at-
tainment of which he had so strictly attended
to business for years, and denied himself so
many indulgences, she, yes, she whom he had
reprehended, and to whom he had doled out
a stinted stipend, would reap the benefit of
all his parsimony and industry. And the
heartless woman smiled in triumphant antici-
pation of those riches she hoped to enjoy.
But if a former will had not been destroyed !
Ah ! there was the rub ; and she trembled as
the possibility of this again crossed her mind.
She determined that she would continue to
enact the role of a mourning sister, so success-
fully commenced, excite the good-will and
sympathy of those around her, who entertained
so deep a respect for her departed brother;
so that in case her worst fears were realized by
the existence of a will, she might, by conci-
252 MEMOIRS OF
Hating the good opinion of the legatee, or
legatees, derive some pecuniary advantage from
them. She controlled herself sufficiently to
appear wholly absorbed in grief, and so well
did she play her part, that she succeeded in
duping the worthy individuals who had an
opportunity of witnessing her assumed chagrin.
The result is soon told. No will could be
found. Selina Stratford was left without any
provision; and Mrs. Forsythe, the cold, calcu-
lating, and selfish Mrs. Forsythe, became the
inheritress of the large fortune of her brother.
^sTo sooner was it ascertained that Mrs.
Forsythe was indeed the legal inheritress of her
brother's fortune, than she threw off the mask
of grief she had previously assumed, and boldly
asserted her rights. She demanded an exact
account of the possessions that had devolved on
her, left no drawer or desk unsearched, no closet
unexplored ; examined every room, and every
piece of furniture in each, and found with
delight that the wealth, which was now her
own, far exceeded her most sanguine expecta-
tions. She looked with a suspicion, which she
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 253
had not the delicacy to conceal, on the head
clerk, a man of the strictest probity, repeatedly
told him he must render an exact account of his
late master's affairs, and insulted the old house-
keeper, the tried and faithful servant in whom
Mr. Manvers had placed implicit confidence, by
finding fault with the household arrangements,
and declaring her intention of changing the
whole system.
The orphan had been summoned from the
establishment in Sloane- street, where she had,
during the last twelve years, resided as a
parlour boarder, to come and visit the cold
remains of her friend and benefactor, and had
arrived at his abode soon after the melancholy
intelligence of his death had reached her.
Looked on by the head clerk and housekeeper
as the person who was to inherit their late
master's fortune, they were anxious that she
should remain in the house, and received her
with every demonstration of respect. They
knew that her grief was heartfelt, and deeply
sympathized in it. Mrs. Forsythe treated her
with a fawning attention during the first two or
254 MEMOIRS OF
three days, calculating that, should a will be
found, and that the orphan was to be the heiress
of her brother, it would be politic to conciliate
her good will, in the hope that it might lead to
an addition to whatever provision Mr. Manvers
might have assigned for her. That it would be
a small one, she entertained no doubt, and, con-
sequently, she was desirous of profiting by any
chance that offered to increase it. Her flattery
was so fulsome and unacceptable to the orphan,
that it required a lively recollection of the
benefits received from Mr. Manvers, and a warm
sense of gratitude for them, to make her tole-
rate his sister, whose manners and tone were so
dissimilar to her own, as to render her society
anything but agreeable to her. When, how-
ever, the fact of Mrs. Forsythe being the
heiress to her brother's possessions was made
known, that person soon changed her manner
towards the protegee of her brother ; her fulsome
adulation was turned to an insolent brusquerie
still more insupportable, and she reminded the
poor girl of her dependent position, with a
coarseness so absolutely revolting, that Selina
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 255
left the house where she had never previously
experienced aught save kindness and affection,
evinced with a delicacy that enhanced the value
of both.
She returned to the establishment in Sloane-
street, where she had resided as a parlour
boarder, determined to solicit the assistance of
the Mesdames Patterson to procure her a situ-
ation as governess. The change in her position
had already been made known to them, for Mrs.
Forsythe, with a malice and littleness of mind
peculiar to her, had written them a letter,
stating that the girl whom her brother had
foolishly brought up, and educated as if she
were a lady, was now left a beggar ; and that
she, being sole possessor of his wealth, must
decline making so bad a use of it, as to allow
any portion to be wasted in paying any arrears
due to them. It happened unfortunately that a
quarter's salary had fallen due two days after
the death of Mr. Manvers, and as the sum was
no less a one than fifty pounds, that generous
man having, to ensure the comfort of his
ward, agreed to pay the liberal allowance of
256 MEMOIRS OF
two hundred per annum for her board and
lodging, the intelligence conveyed by his sister
occasioned no very agreeable surprise in the
establishment in Sloane-street.
The Mesdames Patterson were elderly maiden
ladies, who, after having struggled during the
commencement of their career as teachers
through many and heavy pecuniary difficulties,
found themselves, after twenty years employed
in tuition, in a state of comparative affluence,
less the fruit of their industry than the conse-
quence of the rigid system of economy in which
they had persevered. They demanded large
remuneration from their pupils, and fed them so
frugally, that the children consigned to the
tender mercies of a poor-house were not more
sparingly dieted than the young ladies in their
establishment. The difference was, the first
were served on delf, pewter, or tin, on hucka-
back ; the second on delicate china or plate, on
snowy damask. All breakage by the servants
was charged in the quarterly accounts to the
young ladies, and though the parents might
murmur at the extravagance of such charges,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 257
the Mesdames Patterson would not abate one
shilling of them, saying, that in their establish-
ment they permitted nothing but the very best
china and glass to be used, and the breakage
must be paid for.
The sum thus mulcted, amounted to no in-
considerable one at the close of each year, and
the young ladies of the Misses Patterson's esta-
blishment were compelled to console themselves
for the damaged, bohea tea, bought at half-
price, the adulterated cocoa and chocolate, the
coarse sugar, rancid butter, pale-blue milk, and
stale household bread, supplied for their morn-
ing and evening repasts, by the recherche ele-
gance of the damask, china, plate, and glass, on
which they were served. The paucity of the
dinners, and bad quality of the low-priced
viands, the Misses Patterson thought were
amply atoned for by the irreproachable elegance
of the dinner service. And even this elegance
became a source of profit instead of cost to the
establishment, for each young lady was expected
to bring a silver teapot, cream-ewer, and sugar-
basin, half-a-dozen silver forks, and spoons, with
258 MEMOIRS OF
a silver dish, which, on their leaving the school,
were to become the property of the Mesdames
Patterson. Thus these ladies, at the expiration
of a few years, found themselves the owners
of an extensive assortment of plate, which went
on accumulating every year, the charges for
keeping which in repair were regularly entered
in the accounts of the pupils.
It was a subject of general remark and com-
mendation, that the young ladies of the Misses
Patterson's establishment had clearer com-
plexions, and slighter waists, than those of any
other ; and were much less frequently attacked
by inflammatory complaints. With such ad-
vantages, what parent could listen to the repre-
sentations of her daughter, on the paucity or
quality of her food ? even if young ladies were
prone to make such. But that those confided to
the Mesdames Patterson were not so disposed,
will not surprise our readers, when we add, that
few young ladies were received by them until they
had entered their thirteenth year (theirs being
what is termed a finishing school ) ; a period of
life at which les demoiselles begin to be extremely
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 259
sensible of the advantages of a clear complexion
and slight waist, and are willing to submit to a
spare diet to secure them. To orphans, rich
enough to pay the large remuneration required,
the maiden sisters, when their education was
finished, offered a home, as parlour boarders ; and
among these, Selina Stratford had been placed.
She now returned, believing (so ignorant was
she of the world) that she should receive kind-
ness and commiseration, under her present afflic-
tion, from the Misses Patterson. Her reception
was a very different one to that on which she
counted. They listened to her with unmoved
countenances, although her words were often
interrupted by tears, and when she had con-
cluded, told her that a letter from Mrs. Forsythe
had made them perfectly aware of her position.
"When we received you into this house,"
said the senior of the Misses Patterson, " we
were wholly ignorant that you were a dependent
on the charity of a grocer. We demurred
about receiving a pupil placed by a person in
that station of life, having always made it a rule
to accept only young ladies of good family.
260 MEMOIRS OF
Indeed, we carefully concealed from our other
pupils, and their parents, that the Mr. Manvers
who placed you here, and paid your bills, was
no other than the tradesman who probably
served them with all the articles in his trade.
But to find ourselves taken in, defrauded, as it
were, out of our just claims you are aware,
Miss Stratford, that one quarter's salary became
due a week ago, and that another quarter has
commenced, and also that the rules of our house
are, that a quarter's notice of leaving should be
given, or the salary paid in advance is really
too bad. It was shameful of Mr. Manvers not
to have made arrangements that we should be
paid, when we had departed so far from our esta-
blished rules as to receive a young person who
had no other recommendation to our notice than
his. Yes, it was most dishonorable, I must say."
Selina Stratford, confounded and indignant
at hearing such reproaches uttered against her
benefactor, whose name had never previously
been pronounced by the Mesdames Patterson
unaccompanied by praises of his generosity,
liberality, and punctuality, stood amazed and
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 261
silent. Frequent had been the presents,
graciously offered, and thankfully accepted,
from Mr. Manvers to the Misses Patterson, of
cases of superior tea, Greek honey, dried fruits,
and sweetmeats, with other dainties peculiar
to his craft, given to induce these starch
and somewhat haughty dames to show favour
and kindness to his protegee. Nor were these
cadeaux unavailing; for these ladies had often
declared, that from none of the friends or parents
of their pupils had they received such constant
and useful gifts, as from the guardian of Miss
Stratford; and their smiles and indulgence
to her having been meted out in proportion, she
had, with the confidence of youth and inex-
perience, fully calculated that now, in her hour
of need, they would not desert her. She
counted on being received by them until they
could hear of a situation for her as governess,
in which their recommendation could place her.
Their harsh words and altered mien convinced
her that she had been greatly in error when
she built her hopes on so unstable a foundation
as their good-will ; and as this conviction forced
262 MEMOIRS OF
itself on her mind tears filled her eyes less the
result of selfish regret at the probable con-
sequences to herself, than at discovering the
unworthiness of those of whom she had hitherto
entertained a favourable opinion. The first
lessons in the school of adversity are ever ac-
quired with pain, and this pain is always in
proportion to the native goodness of the scholar.
Selina Stratford felt how differently she would
have acted in similar circumstances, and this
consciousness of a better nature rendered her
regret more acute, her indignation more lively.
" Brought up in the principles of probity that
govern this house, you cannot, surely, help
feeling, Miss Stratford, that we ought not to be
losers by our misplaced confidence in Mr. Man-
vers," resumed the elder Miss Patterson. " He
was liberal in his allowance of pocket money to
you ; indeed more so than was right, considering
your dependent position, and his shameful neg-
lect in not providing for you. He made you
presents, too, of considerable value, and you
cannot, surely, have idly expended the money
you received ? "
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 263
" I have still some by me, madam," replied
Selina.
" Then you will have but little profited by
the instruction received beneath this roof, if
you can hesitate a moment in appropriating
every shilling you possess towards paying, as
far as it will go, for the quarter due to us by
your late friend. Your watch, trinkets, best
clothes, India shawl, and books, will help to
defray our account, and, although we shall still
be heavy losers, we cannot blame you, provided
you give up, as you are in common honesty
bound to do, all that you possess."
" Yes, this will be only fair ; and my sister
and I show our kindness and forbearance to you,
in pointing out how you may clear yourself from
debt," observed the junior Miss Patterson, as-
suming a bland air.
" I accede, at once, to your proposal, madam,"
replied Selina, " and hope that, in return for my
willingness to give up all I possess, you will
kindly use your influence to procure me a
situation as governess my sole chance of sub-
sistence, henceforth."
264 MEMOIRS OF
" Certainly, if we should hear of any person
wanting a governess, we will think of you, but
I fear it will not be very likely.
" People begin to find out that private educa-
tion, carried on beneath the parental roof, is
attended with so many disadvantages, that they
prefer sending their children to establishments
like ours. A teacher at a school will be the
object to which your wishes must point, as
being the one most attainable; but bear in
mind, the salaries given are so small, that it
will require the utmost prudence and economy
on your part, to enable you to clothe yourself
with the respectability expected in such esta-
blishments."
" Might I be permitted to remain here until
some such situation offers?" inquired Selina,
her cheeks suffused with red, at being com-
pelled to make this first appeal to the charity
of her fellow-creatures.
The sisters looked at each other, and then,
after a moment's pause, the elder replied, that
provided Miss Stratford would fulfil the duties
of a teacher, in return for her board and
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 265
lodging, they would not object to her remaining
until something offered for her.
" But," added Miss Patterson, " you must be
aware that your position here necessarily be-
comes wholly altered. You must leave the
chamber you have hitherto occupied, and share
the room and bed of Miss Waterhouse. You
must be unremitting in your exertions to per-
form your duty, and merit our approval, in
return for the heavy expense we entail on
ourselves in allowing you to remain here."
" Yes," said the junior Miss Patterson, "your
board and lodging will be a serious expense;
but our humanity and good-nature induce us to
sacrifice our own interest for sake of advancing
yours, and I trust you will know how to estimate
the favour. You can devote your leisure hours
in the evening to mending the house linen, and
doing any little plain work my sister or I may
have occasion for. By the bye, I have just
now some under-petticoats to be made, which
I will have sent to you. Miss Waterhouse is
a steady industrious girl, who never spares her
labour, is ready to turn a hand to any thing,
VOL. i. N
:266 MEMOIRS OF
and never gives trouble to the servants. You
will do well to follow her example in all things,
and, above all, in the humility for which she is
so conspicuous."
Selina listened in silence to the sisters, con-
founded by a sense of her own dependent
position. She knew not what to do, had no
friend to turn to for counsel or protection,
and although she was aware that to accept the
offer made by the Mesdames Patterson would
be to expose herself to the labour, without the
wages of a servant, she thought that even this
would be better, than to go forth alone and
unprotected to seek a home and employment
to support her in it. She thanked the sisters,
and said that for the present she would avail
herself of their offer.
A FEMMK DE CHAMBRE. 207
CHAPTER XIV.
" IT is advisable that no time should be lost
in transferring the money and articles which
we are to have in part payment of the sum due
to us," observed Miss Patterson, after a short
pause and a whispering consultation with her
sister. " Mind, I say in part payment ; for of
course all you possess would go but a very
short way indeed towards discharging your
debt ; and I fully expect that when you get
a situation, with a salary attached to it, you
will appropriate three parts of it to discharging
in full the amount due to us."
" That will be only fair," said the junior
sister, " and Miss Stratford cannot object to it."
Miss Patterson accompanied Selina to her
chamber, and stood peering into each drawer
N 2
268 MEMOIRS OF
as it was opened. " Let me have the money
first ! " exclaimed she, reaching eagerly at the
note-case and purse which were in a corner of
the desk, and clutching them in her grasp.
" Are you sure that you have no more else-
where ? None in your pocket ? "
" Only a few shillings, madam," replied
Selina.
" Let me see."
The orphan drew a purse from her pocket,
and its contents, amounting to some fifteen or
sixteen shillings, were counted over by Miss
Patterson, who, having ascertained the precise
sum, was about to replace it in the purse again,
and to transfer it to her own pocket, when
Selina ventured to say, "Pardon me, but I
should not like to part with that purse. It was
the gift of my kind friend, Mr. Manvers."
" Oh ! you may keep it, if you set such a
store by it," and Miss Patterson threw, rather
than handed back the empty purse; " but your
kind friend, as you are pleased to call him,
would have done better in leaving you some-
thing to keep you in bread hereafter, than in
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 269
foolishly supplying you with more pocket-
money than you wanted ; which has induced
a habit of extravagance greatly to be deplored
in a person in your dependent situation."
" You will oblige me, Madam, by sparing all
reflections on the memory of my best friend,"
said Selina, and tears filled her eyes.
" You must conquer this irritability, if you
intend to thrive in this or any other establish-
ment you may enter," observed Miss Patterson.
< e It will be a great obstacle to you through
life, I can assure you. Let me see how much
gold there is in that other purse, and what
notes there are in the pocket-book."
She waited not for Selina to count the money,
but did so herself; and then, having ascertained
that the note-case was empty, she possessed
herself of the gold, some seventeen or eighteen
sovereigns, and then turned her attention to
the wardrobe.
" You will not require these coloured silk
dresses," observed she. " Black, or very dark
brown, are the colours most suitable to a
governess. I thought your shawl was better,
.270 MEMOIRS OF
but I find it is only a low-priced one. You
lately bought some new linen and stockings,
I have heard ; that was a piece of extravagance,
but they will suit me," and she counted over
the said articles. " Are these all your trinkets ?
Surely I have seen you wear some others !"
" I assure you, madam, these are all I
possess."
" Well, but you need not cry about it, child.
Really you must conquer this habit of shedding
tears on every occasion. It will never do.
Have you not another gold chain, a smaller
one?"
" Yes, madam, one I always wear ; which has
a locket attached, with the hair of my parents."
" A black ribbon will answer quite as well,
and be more suitable to your altered circum-
stances j so give me the chain."'
With unsteady fingers Selina drew the chain
from her neck ; and, having unfastened it from
the locket, consigned it to the hands of Miss
Patterson, who then shamelessly reminded her
that she had not taken off a ring.
" No ! that ring I cannot, will not, part
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 271
from!" exclaimed Selina, tortured beyond the
power of further endurance : " That was the
wedding ring of my mother !'
Her watch, with its chain and seals, was next
demanded, and the whole of her property,
except two or three of her worst gowns, and
a few other indispensable articles, being deli-
vered up to the mean and avaricious woman
who so unblushingly seized them, the orphan
was left to remove her now scanty wardrobe to
the miserable attic she was henceforth to share
with the much-enduring Miss Waterhouse.
Nothing could be more cheerless than this
wretched chamber; so low that Selina could
not stand upright, save in its centre. It was
lighted by a small window, precisely in front
of which, a stack of chimnies protruded so
closely, as nearly to intercept the light, giving
the room the air of a prison. Three iron bars,
to preclude the possibility of ingress or egress,
strengthened the resemblance,which the paucity
and quality of the furniture was not calculated
to destroy. A deal table, very unsteady on its
legs, stood before the window, and a cracked
272 MEMOIRS OF
looking-glass of small dimensions graced it.
A wretched looking bed, with a very soiled
counterpane and curtains, two rickety chairs,
a broken basin and jug, and an empty
pomatum-pot, completed the contents of this
wretched chamber ; and a feAV of the robes of
Miss Waterhouse, suspended on wooden pegs
from the wall, added to the dreariness of its
aspect.
Never previously had Selina ascended to
this portion of the mansion of the Misses
Patterson, or imagined that aught so cheerless
and poverty-stricken could be found beneath a
roof inhabited by persons in easy, if not in
affluent circumstances. She shuddered as she
contemplated the room, and contrasted it with
the clean and cheerful one she had hitherto
occupied, and inwardly prayed that she might
not long be doomed to be an inmate of this
dark and dingy attic. She recoiled with a
sentiment of distaste, she could neither vanquish
nor wholly conceal, as she looked at the dirty
curtains beneath which she was to share the
bed of Miss Waterhouse, and felt that she
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 273
t
would infinitely prefer sleeping alone on the
boards, to such companionship.
Miss Patterson, observing her emotion, and
justly interpreting its cause, said, "You need
not be alarmed about the bed. It is a very
good one, I assure you. Excellent feathers,
and a good straw paillasse under. I never
heard the least complaint of it, and Miss Water-
house has now occupied it for three years, so it
is well aired."
Selina made no reply, and Miss Patterson
withdrew, leaving her to reflect on her altered
position, and all the disagreeable consequences
it entailed.
A servant, in a few minutes after, announced
to her that an elderly gentleman wished to see
her ; and handing her a card, she read with
satisfaction the name of Mr. Vernon, the senior
clerk of her late friend Mr. Manvers. She
hastened down stairs to receive him, and for-
getful for the moment of her 'altered position
in the establishment of the Mesdames Patter-
son, was on the point of entering the sitting-
room formerly assigned to her use, and where
N3
274 MEMOIRS OF
she had been in the habit of receiving Mr.
Manvers, when the servant laid hold of her
dress, and said, " Miss, miss, you must not go
in there any more. Missus told me not to let
you, now as you are hired as a teacher to help
Miss Waterhouse."
The blood rushed to the brows of the orphan
at this address; but a moment's reflection
taught her that there was nothing to be ashamed
of in the poverty that exposed her to such
annoyances, and with a calm demeanour she
inquired of the servant where she could receive
Mr. Vernon ?
" Here in the hall, Miss, if you please, where
Miss Waterhouse sees her friends when
they call. The old gentleman is a-waiting
outside the door, as I didn't like to let him stop
in the hall till I knew whether he really was
a friend of yours, there are so many rogues
going about with false excuses, and there's
always a stray umbrella or so lying about,
which they walk off with, if they can lay their
hands on nothing else. You see, Miss, there's
two or three nice clean chairs here ; so the old
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 275
gentleman and you can sit down and have a bit
of chat ; but hush, Miss," and here the woman
bent close to the ear of Selina, "mind you
don't speak loud; for the old 'uns are very
'quisitive, and will be trying to listen to what
you say. But mum's the word ; I'd lose my
place, if they suspected I put you on your
guard."
" Let in the gentleman, if you please," said
Selina, and in the next moment Mr. Vernon
stood before her.
After a cordial greeting, he turned and said,
" I wish to speak to you, Miss Stratford."
" I am sorry I have no room to receive you
in, replied Selina, "so our conversation must
take place here."
"What, so soon!" muttered Mr. Vernon.
" I did not think that you would already, my
dear young lady, have experienced the effect of
altered circumstances. I expected better things
from the Mesdames Patterson. I came for
the purpose of inviting you to take up your
abode at my humble home for the present.
My wife will be proud and happy to receive
27G MEMOIRS OF
you ; and be assured that whatever our poor
house may want in elegance, you shall find no
deficiency in the cordiality and sincerity of our
welcome. Since I have seen the effect pro-
duced here by our recent affliction, I am doubly
anxious that you should seek a home with my
Avife ; so let me implore you to accept at once
our invitation, and let me conduct you to my
house."
The warmth and kindness with which the
invitation was urged, and a recollection of the
squalid chamber and bed, to be shared with
Miss Waterhouse, decided Selina to accept it.
She requested an interview with the Mesdames
Patterson, communicated to them her intention
of immediately leaving their establishment, and
solicited their recommendation to procure her
a situation as governess in a private family.
" Really you must excuse our doing any such
thing," replied the senior of the sisters. " Leav-
ing our house in such a sudden, I may say, such
a mysterious manner, at a moment's notice, has
a very strange appearance, to say the least of
it. I cannot help thinking that you make a
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 277
very ungrateful return, yes, a very ungrateful
return, indeed, for our great kindness in offering
to maintain you, after the heavy loss we have
sustained by you ; and as you choose to leave
our house, and throw yourself on the protection
of Heaven knows who "
" Pardon me, madam, for interrupting you.
I am going to the house of one of my oldest
friends, of one who has known me from my
infancy, Mr. Yernon, the senior clerk of my
late friend Mr. Manvers."
" Then you may look to him for a recom-
mendation ; for I repeat, we shall certainly not
permit any reference to be made to us, and we
desire to hear or see nothing more of a person
who has proved so ungrateful."
Selina hastened to the wretched chamber
where her now scanty wardrobe had been depo-
sited ; and having had it removed down stairs,
she entered the hackney coach which Mr. Ver-
non had called to the door, and accompanied
by him, was driven off to his house.
The good man looked surprised, when, in
answer to his question of whether the small
278 MEMOIRS OF
box in the coach contained all her property, she
told him of the seizure made of all her valuables
and clothes by the Mesdames Patterson.
" How I rejoice that I have taken you away
from such heartless and selfish women !" said he.
" My wife blamed me for not having at once re-
quested you to make your home with us ; but the
truth is, I expected to the Idst that Mrs. Forsythe
would offer you an asylum with her, or at least
make some provision for you ; and seeing the dis-
like and unjust suspicions she entertained towards
me, I feared that were we to take you at once to
our humble abode, it might prejudice her against
you, and prevent her serving you. As, however,
she has declared that she will do nothing for you,
there is no longer any good to be accomplished
by my wife and I holding back from proving to
you the affection and respect we entertain. We
feel that we cannot better show our gratitude
to our departed friend and benefactor than by
endeavouring to befriend one he so truly loved.
But here we are at home. There's my wife
peeping over the blind, impatient for our arrival.
Welcome, my dear young lady, welcome."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 279
The cordial reception given by Mrs. Vernon,
who vied with her husband in kindness towards
the orphan, was a balm to the wound inflicted
on her heart by the worldly-minded Mesdames
Patterson. She was soon installed in possession
of a small, but neat and cheerful room, which,
with its white dimity bed and window curtains,
and its simple but -useful furniture, appeared
charming in her eyes after the dreary attic,
which she was to have shared, with Miss Water-
house, had she remained in the establishment at
Sloane-street. A homely but comfortable dinner
was soon after served by a tidy,, decent-looking
young woman, and, although neither plate,
expensive china, damask, nor cut-glass decked
the board, the plenty and excellence of the
viands more than compensated for their absence,
and the cordiality of the host and hostess formed
so striking a contrast to the cold formality of
the Misses Patterson, or the rude manners of
Mrs. Forsythe, that Selina was soothed and
cheered by it. " Here, my dear young lady,"
said Mr. Vernon after dinner, " is the key of
my book-case, which contains, if not a large, at
280 MEMOIRS OF
least a good selection of books, the solace of
my leisure hours, which will prevent time
hanging heavily on your hands, when my wife
is occupied with her household concerns."
" I hope Mrs. Vernon will treat me without
ceremony, and allow me to make myself useful,"
replied Selina. " I can work tolerably well at
my needle, and will be glad to assist in any
plain work that may be required."
" Your society, dear young lady, will amply
repay us, without your troubling yourself with
needle-work. The presence of a youthful guest,
and, above all, such a one as you, will be as a
cordial to our old hearts. It will warm them,
and bring back the reminiscences of our youth.
Often have we wished that the Almighty had
blessed us with a daughter, and pictured to
ourselves how she would have cheered our
hearth; for age requires the solace of youth to
break in on its sombre thoughts, as nature does
the sun-beams that disperse the clouds of winter."
" Yes," observed the worthy Mrs. Vernon,
" I feel Miss Stratford's presence will be a
comfort to us."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 281
After a few days passed in quiet comfort
with this excellent pair, Selina thought that it
behoved her to make some exertion to earn a
livelihood for herself, and not sit down in idle-
ness, a dependant on Mr. and Mrs. Vernon.
She expressed her sentiments on this point to
them, and though they endeavoured to make
her feel that her presence beneath their roof,
far from being a source of expense beyond their
means, was a positive pleasure to them, they
could not conquer her repugnance to continue
a tax on their hospitality and kindness. They
declared that, could they at their decease be-
queath to her the modest competency they now
enjoyed, they never would have permitted her
to seek a home elsewhere ; but, knowing that
this was impossible, they having some years
before invested their all in an annuity for their
joint lives, they would not listen to the prompt-
ings of their own desire to retain her, when op-
portunities might offer for her earning an inde-
pendence, or making friends more able, though
not more willing, to serve her than themselves.
" There is still plenty of time, dear child,"
282 MEMOIRS OF
said Mr. Vernon, " to think of procuring you a
situation. Why should you be in such a hurry
to leave us ? "
" How we shall miss you," added his wife ;
" whenever I looked on your bright face, I felt
as if I beheld a nosegay of flowers fresh from
the garden. It reminded me of other times,
when I too was young, just as flowers always
do; and if we consulted our own happiness,
never would we consent to your leaving us.
But we must not be selfish. We must think
of you, and not of ourselves, unable as we
are, by the way in which we have locked
up our little fortune, before we thought you
would ever stand in need of it, to secure you
a competency when we shall be no more."
Such were the persons whom it was the good
fortune of the orphan to be brought in contact
with, when she believed herself without a friend
to whom she could turn for refuge ; and deeply
was their kindness engraved on her heart. Yes,
there are many still on earth as good and kind,
to prove that though the world corrupts some,
it does not sully fine natures.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 283
CHAPTER XV.
" How unfortunate it is, my dear," observed
Mrs. Vernon, " that we have no acquaintances
in a sphere of life that would be useful in ob-
taining Miss Stratford a suitable position. With
her talents and accomplishments, she might
aspire to enter into one of the noblest families as
a governess ; but such appointments cannot be
obtained without recommendations from persons
of a certain station in life, and I fear a refer-
ence to such plain and humble individuals as
ourselves would not satisfy a great lady."
" More's the pity," observed Mr. Vernon,
" but it can't be helped ; we must do what we
can, my dear. I believe the general plan is to
insert an advertisement in one of the news-
papers. We will try this scheme, and take our
chance for its success. How unfortunate that
those worldly-minded and selfish women, the
Misses Patterson, should have behaved so ill at
284 MEMOIRS OP
the last; for a reference to them, the young lady
never having been out before as a governess,
would have removed all difficulty."
" Yes, it is peculiarly unfortunate," added
Mrs. Vernon, thoughtfully.
The advertisement was inserted in a news-
paper, and after two or three days a letter was
addressed to Selina, desiring her to call in
Grosvenor Square, on the Countess of Almond-
bury.
" I wish we knew something of this lady,"
said Mrs. Vernon, as she read over for the third
time the note from Grosvenor Square. " The
address comes from a good quarter ; does it not,
my dear?"
" O yes ; Grosvenor Square is, to my think-
ing, for the nobility what Lombard Street is for
bankers a sort of voucher for their respecta-
bility. There are no furnished houses to be let
by the season there, as in other fashionable parts
of London. One does not see there a house
occupied one spring by a duke, and the next by
some returned nabob or successful speculator.
No ; Grosvenor Square is chiefly inhabited by
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 285
the descendants of those who built the mansions
it contains, and a portion of the thrift and pru-
dence that marked their ancestors seems still to
prevail in the establishments there. New quar-
ters of London are soon filled by another kind
of inhabitants, if not another class, the elder
sons of peers, on their marriage, with limited
means, and unlimited habits of expense, and
bankers, merchants, and bill-brokers, from the
city, who vie with these scions of nobility in
the tastefulness of their establishments."
" Well, I'm glad, my dear, that the letter
comes from the part of the west-end you think
most favourably of ; nevertheless, I should like
to know something of the family in which this
dear girl is likely to be placed."
" It just strikes me that I have heard Lady
Almondbury well spoken of; my lord dealt with
my late worthy employer for many years, and
servants will talk of their lords and ladies with
great freedom when they call to give orders a
practice I have always checked as much as pos-
sible, but which young and giddy clerks, who
like gossip, are prone to encourage. Yes, I
286 MEMOIRS OF
have heard Lady Almondbury spoken of as an
excellent lady, of delicate health. Of his lord-
ship I don^t remember to have heard much, if
anything."
" I'm glad I had a nice new black silk dress,
and a pretty cloak and bonnet, made for Miss
Stratford," observed Mrs. Vernon, "for now
they will come in quite handy ; for those hard-
hearted women, the Misses Pattersons, have
left her scarcely anything good to wear."
" We must fit her out with a neat stock of
clothes, my dear, that she may appear respectably
in whatever family she enters. You'll attend to
this." " Certainly, and with great pleasure."
The next day Selina, accompanied by Mrs.
Vernon, went to Lady Almondbury's, in Grosve-
nor Square. They left the hired vehicle, in which
they had come, before they reached the door,
and then, with a timidity which neither could
vanquish, they approached and knocked at the
door. The porter, a grey-headed and portly
man, with a rubicund face and swelled ankles,
admitted them into the hall, and, having rung
a bell, sent up by the footman who answered it,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 287
the note handed him by Mrs. Vernon. The
porter eyed both as they stood in the hall with
an expression of curiosity that somewhat dis-
turbed them, this being the first time that either
had been exposed to a similar scrutiny, or had
been allowed to remain standing in a hall.
" The ladies are requested to remain a few
minutes in the waiting-room," said the footman
who had taken up the note, and who threw open
the door of a room that communicated with the
hall.
" I'm glad, my dear, that we have got in here,
away from that stern-looking porter," observed
Mrs. Vernon ; " I did not half like the way he
looked at us; it seems to me that I could
better encounter fifty lords and ladies, however
proud and haughty they might be, than be
brought in contact with their servants."
" I experienced precisely the same feeling,
my kind friend," observed Selina ; but before
she had time to say more, they were summoned
to the boudoir of Lady Almondbury. They
found that lady seated in a bergere, propped up
by pillows, and her fragile form and pallid cheeks
288 MEMOIRS OF
but too well attested the delicacy of health
which she urged as an apology for having kept
them waiting. The tasteful and elegant deco-
rations of the room, so far superior to anything
that either Selina or her companion had ever pre-
viously seen, failed to draw their attention from
the faded yet still lovely mistress of the mansion.
" Pray be seated," said she, gracefully bend-
ing her head, and pointing to chairs near her ;
" this young lady," and she looked kindly at
Selina, "has never, I suppose, been out as
a governess before."
Mrs. Vernon replied in the affirmative.
" I could have wished that she had been a
few years older," resumed Lady Almondbury ;
" but her youth," and she smiled encouragingly,
" is not an insuperable objection. I suppose
you are a near relative, madam?" said the
Countess, turning to Mrs. Vernon.
"No, madam; Miss Stratford is no relation
of mine : she is an orphan, but her parents, and
indeed herself, were known to my husband ever
since this young lady was a few months old ;
and we are greatly attached to her."
A EEMME DE CHAMBRE. 289
Lady Almondbury looked kindly at the
speaker, and then, with a glance full of pity
and interest, at Selina ; her beautiful and
changeful countenance denoted her sensibility.
" An orphan !" repeated Lady Almondbury,
and she sighed deeply ; " how old was Miss
Stratford when she lost her mother ? "
" Little more than a year, madam."
Lady Almondbury again sighed, and, looking
with increased kindness towards Selina, said,
" I shall certainly give Miss Stratford a trial.
Do not imagine that I at all doubt her abilities,
but she is so young, and my little girl has been
sadly spoiled by me, I am sorry to say. With
health like mine, threatening every day to take
me from my poor child, it is difficult to refrain
from over-indulgence ;" and Lady Almondbury's
lips trembled with emotion as she spoke.
" Miss Stratford will, I am sure, madam, be
happy to give your ladyship an opportunity of
judging of her qualifications for the situation
for which she offers herself ; and, never having
previously been out, she will be grateful for any
advice."
VOL. i. o
290 MEMOIRS OF
Lady Almondbury, having examined Selina's
attainments with a tact and delicacy that marked
the extent of her own, professed herself so satis-
fied with the result, that she at once offered her
very liberal terms, and requested that she would
enter on her new duties with as little delay as
possible. Mrs. Vernon explained that hers was
the only reference Miss Stratford had to offer,
frankly stating, as concisely as could be, why
the Mesdames Patterson were ill-disposed to
assist Selina's views.
" Your recommendation, madam, will be quite
sufficient," replied Lady Almondbury, perfectly
satisfied, from the countenance and manner of
Mrs. Vernon, that she would be safe in relying
on her for the respectability and worthiness of
any one she recommended.
" I will send for my little girl," added her
ladyship, ringing a silver bell which soon
brought a little page, who was dismissed in"
search of the Lady Adelaide. The young lady
came attended by a French bonne, who had
hitherto taken charge of her.
Lady Adelaide was a lovely child, strikingly
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 291
like her mother, into whose arms she rushed
the moment she entered the room, and whom
she half suffocated with her kisses.
" Doucement, doucement, miladi? said the
French woman, "you will make madame la
comtesse ill."
" So you always say, Felicite, whenever
I kiss my own darling mamma," observed Lady
Adelaide, poutingly, and, again throwing her
arms around the neck of her mother, and
pressing her to her heart.
" This is your governess, dearest. Miss
Stratford, let me present your future pupil to
you," said Lady Almondbury.
The child looked up, half timidly, half in-
quisitively, in the face of Selina, and then
reached out her little dimpled hand to meet
that of her new governess.
"You won't say mamma spoils me, will you?"
said, she; then glancing at her French attendant,
who shrugged her shoulders, and seemed very
well disposed to assert her grounds for having
often previously expressed that opinion, had
she not been restrained by the presence of the
o2
292 MEMOIRS OF
countess. "Don't go away, for I am sure
I shall like you. Do stay !" urged Lady
Adelaide, holding the shawl of Selina.
" Miss Stratford will return in three or four
days, my dear love, and if you are good will
always remain with you," observed Lady
Almondbury.
" But why can't she stay now, dear mamma?"
"La voild, toujours impatiente, toujours cher-
chant que tout le monde suite sa volonte," mur-
mured the French woman, sotto voce.
"Miss Stratford has arrangements to make
that will prevent her being able to remain with
you at present, dearest ; but three or four days
will soon pass away, and then you will see her
again."
Pleased that the little girl had taken a fancy
to her, Selina met her advances half way, which
gratified the mother as well as the child ; and
when she took her leave, Lady Almondbury
graciously and gracefully told Mrs. Yernon
that she hoped she would often come and see
Miss Stratford, when that young lady became
an inmate of Almondbury House.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 293
"Now, mind you come back, for I shall long
to see you again, indeed I shall," said Lady
Adelaide, as Mrs. Vernon and Selina withdrew,
and escorted by the little page, who again
answered the summons of the silver bell, were
ushered down stairs.
"What a beautiful woman, and how kind
and gentle!" exclaimed Selina, when, seated in
the carriage that conveyed them, she found
herself tete-a-tete with her friend Mrs. Vernon.
" Yes ; Lady Almondbury is certainly a
lovely, and appears to be a most amiable lady.
What a pity it is that she should be in such
very delicate health," observed Mrs, Vernon.
" I fear her days are numbered, for never have
I seen more marked symptoms of that fatal
malady, consumption, than in her still beautiful
face."
" May Heaven avert it! " replied Selina; " for,
apart from all selfish considerations, I already
feel a strong interest in, and predisposition to
if
like Lady Almondbury and my future little
pupil."
" I, too, entertain a similar sentiment towards
294 MEMOIRS OF
them, and shall part from you with mitigated
pain and regret, from the belief that you will
be with amiable and kind persons. It will also
be a great comfort to be permitted to visit you,
dearest Selina; a privilege not often accorded
to the friends or relatives of governesses."
" How fortunate I am, dear Mrs. Vernon, to
have found a situation with such a family."
" Heaven grant that nothing may occur to
render it less agreeable than you anticipate."
Mr. Vernon was equally pleased as his wife
when he heard that Selina had formed an
engagement which seemed in every sense to
promise well. He nevertheless told her to re-
member, that, should any unforeseen event occur
to render her stay in Lady Almondbury's family
disagreeable to her, she was always to look
upon his house as her home, to which she would
ever be welcomed, as if she were his own child.
The next day he commissioned his kind-hearted
wife to purchase all that was requisite to
enable Selina to appear in a suitable manner in
the situation she was about to enter. Nor did he
forget, knowing the value of regularity with
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 295
regard to time, to buy her a neat watch, to
replace the more costly one taken possession of
by the Mesdames Patterson. He also forced
into her hand, at parting, a small purse well
stocked, to meet the exigencies that might occur,
before her first quarter's salary became due.
Selina could not leave her kind friends without
tears ; nor Avere they less moved.
When left together, "Let us," said Mrs.
Vernon, " prove our affection for the dear girl
better than by vain regrets for her absence.
Let us give up a few of our little luxuries, that
we can well dispense with, and appropriate the
savings to form a fund for her to inherit at our
deaths. Though small it will be useful."
" An excellent thought, my dear wife ; but
so I must say all your thoughts are. Yes,
there are many things which we can do with-
out, and the absence of which, so far from being
felt to be privations, will be sources of com-
placency, when the motive and result are taken
into consideration."
" Just like you, my dear John, ever ready to
do a kind action," said Mrs. Vernon, taking the
296 MEMOIRS OF
hand of her husband, and pressing her lips to his
cheek. " Now, mind, the first thing to be given
up is our annual holiday of a fortnight by the
sea-side, which I know you only undertook
because you fancied it necessary for my health,
which it really is not, for I never was in better
health. That will be a saving of twelve or
fifteen pounds ; and the next thing to be given
up is the new silk gown, cloak, and bonnet you
buy for me every Christmas ; there will be a
saving of twelve pounds more ; so fancy, twenty-
five, or twenty-seven pounds saved in things
that can be perfectly well done without."
" No, my dear Mary, your health must not
suffer from losing your yearly trip to the sea.
That would never do ; and, as to giving up the
pleasure of buying your Christmas gifts, and
seeing you look so well in them, I have not
self-denial enough to do that. No, let the
savings be on my side, and not on yours. I can
make out a list as long as my arm, of things
I can perfectly do without ; nay, be all the
better for leaving off."
" Now don't provoke me, John. You know
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 297
you're always wanting to give up all your little
comforts, but won't hear of mine being touched
Yes you are you may shake your head, but
it's all true. Don't you remember when our poor
neighbour Tracey's house was burnt to the
ground, and all his property destroyed, how
you gave up buying any thing, or drinking a
glass of wine for a whole year, in order that
you might help him ?"
" Yes, and I remember also, Mary, that our
first quarrel waa^because I would not let you strip
yourself of yonr comforts on that occasion."
" Well, but haven't I as good a right to give
up my comforts, as you have to give up yours?
Yet you always will prevent me," and Mrs.
Vernon looked half offended.
Her husband glanced at her with affection
beaming in his eyes, and drawing her fondly to-
wards him said, " If you knew, my dear Mary,
the comfort and blessing you have been for thirty
years to me, you could well understand how
easily I can give up what other persons think
comforts, or even necessaries."
There was such truthfulness in his look and
298 MEMOIRS OF
voice, that his wife's eyes became suffused with
tears, and she hid them in that fond and faith-
ful breast, murmuring, half indistinctly from
emotion, "That it was just like him, always
carrying every thing his own way, and making
her love him better every day of her life."
Selina Stratford had entered her new home,
thankful to Divine Providence for having given
her one that offered so many causes for grati-
tude. She found a suite of rooms at Almond-
bury House appropriated to her use, and fitted
up in a style of elegance and comfort that left
nothing to be desired. Her pupil welcomed
her with every demonstration of satisfaction ;
and, though more than usually suffering that
day, Lady Almondbury received her in her
dressing-room, and initiated her into the daily
routine her ladyship wished to be preserved.
A male and female attendant were appointed to
receive her orders ; a carriage was to be ready
every day to convey her pupil and herself to
Kensington Gardens ; and Lady AlmondbViry
told her she must not hesitate in commanding
any thing requisite for her use.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 299
CHAPTER XVI.
THE first week of Selina's residence in
Almondbury Hou&e passed off most agreeably
to her. The kindness of its fair and gentle
mistress, and the docility of her pupil, rendered
her situation even more agreeable than her most
sanguine hopes could have anticipated; and
grateful was she to Providence for having
found so eligible a home. When the lessons
were over, by Lady Almondbury's desire, she
would come with her pupil and sit with her
ladyship ; conversing, or playing and singing,
according to the wish of Lady Almondbury,
who, herself an admirable musician, and very
fond of music, was so extremely indulgent in
judging the performance of others, that Selina,
though very timid at first singing before so
perfect a judge, soon learned not to fear her
300 MEMOIRS OF
criticism, and acquired much benefit from the
refined taste of her kind patroness. The
lessons in drawing would also often be given in
presence of the countess, who marked with
pleasure the progress her child made in this
accomplishment.
The rapid improvement soon visible in this
interesting child was a source of the greatest
gratification to Lady Almondbury, while it
enhanced her esteem and regard for Selina, to
whom she believed it was due. When Lady
Adelaide had gone to bed, Lady Almondbury
would regularly summon the governess to her
boudoir to read aloud for her or to converse ;
and by degrees formed such a friendship for
her, and evinced such an interest, that she
drew from her every incident of her past life.
The more Selina knew the mother of her pupil,
the more did her attachment for her increase.
Never previously had she known so fascinating
and amiable a person ; and as her fine qualities
became revealed, she more than ever felt sur-
prised that the husband of such a woman, and
in so delicate a state of health too, could leave
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 301
her for weeks, while he pursued his own amuse-
ment, shooting in the Highlands of Scotland,
where he had hired a moor for the season.
It struck her also as strange that so little refe-
rence was made to Lord Almondbury by his
wife or child, and as she acquired a greater
knowledge of the affectionate nature of both,
she felt disposed to augur ill of him from this
circumstance.
One day Lady Almondbury announced to
her daughter that her papa might be expected
home in a day or two.
"What, so soon, mamma?" exclaimed the
child, her whole countenace changing from its
usual sweet expression to one of dissatisfaction.
Lady Almondbury "s pale cheek became
flushed for a moment, for she knew the in-
ference that must be drawn from the little girl's
naive remark ; but fearful of drawing forth a
further corroboration of how little Lady Ade-
laide had missed or regretted the long absence
of her father, she dropped the subject. Not so
the child, who after a few minutes' silence, and
with a more gloomy expression of countenance
302 MEMOIRS OF
than Selina had ever previously seen her wear,
she observed, " I thought papa would stay away
a long time, mamma."
" He has been absent several weeks, my love."
" Has he indeed ! Well I'm sure I thought
it had been only one or two," was the artless
reply.
There was a nervous trepidation in the
manner of Lady Almondbury for the rest of
the day ; and, towards evening, a feverish excite-
ment replaced the usual gentle calmness and
sweetness that formed so peculiar a charac-
teristic in her. The little silver bell was re-
peatedly had recourse to, and the maitre d'hotel
and housekeeper had been more than once sum-
moned to her ladyship's presence, to receive
injunctions to neglect nothing in the prepara-
tions for their lord's arrival. The cook must
have every thing ready to furnish a repast for
his lordship with as little delay as possible, to
be served as soon after his arrival as he might
desire. His bath must be ready, his wines in
ice; the morning and evening papers ironed,
and laid on his library table ; and in short so
A FEMME DE CHAMBEE. 303
numerous and minute were the orders given by
the countess for the reception of her lord, that
even a less observant person than Selina might
have guessed that there was more of fear than
of love in this assiduity, even had not the ner-
vousness and changed aspect of both mother
and child betrayed that it was not a fond
husband and father, but an exigeant domestic
tyrant, for whom these preparations were made.
Lord Almondbury came not that evening, but
his wife gave instructions that every thing
should be kept prepared in case he arrived
during the night. The next day, and another
passed, and he appeared not, the whole esta-
blishment being kept on the qui mve ; but on
the evening of the fourth day from that on
which he had been expected, he arrived.
Selina was in the boudoir with Lady Almond-
bury when his lordship entered it, and, had any
doubts existed in her mind with regard to his
character, they would speedily have been dis-
pelled by the manner in which he met his charm-
ing and suffering wife after a separation of so
many weeks.
304 MEMOIRS OF
" How are you, Frances ? Much as usual, I
suppose ; always ailing, or at least always com-
plaining ;" and he took the trembling little hand
that was extended to him, and just touched the
brow of his wife with his lips. He stared rudely
at Selina, but without bowing or showing any
of the usual observances which men show to
women in similar circumstances. Lady Al-
mondbury quickly noticed this want of respect
towards her favourite, and hastened to name
her, saying, " This young lady is Miss Strat-
ford, whom I wrote to you about."
" Oh, Adelaide's governess, is it ? Then I
pity her, for by Jupiter she will have anything
but a pleasant time with that tiresome trouble-
some girl, unless she rules her with a firm hand."
Lady Almondbury changed colour, and her
eyes filled with tears, which she turned her head
to conceal, but her husband had noticed them,
and there was something brutal in the mode in
which he evinced his recognition of his wife's
wounded feelings.
" What! tears !" exclaimed he, " and all be-
cause I speak my mind about Adelaide, who,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 305
you must confess, is the most disagreeable girl
in the world."
Anxious to change the subject, Lady Al-
mondbury, with an effort to control her emotion,
that merited a better reward than she could
hope from her tyrannical lord and master, ex-
pressed a hope that he had enjoyed his sojourn
in Scotland, and had good sport.
" Devilish bad, I can tell you ; but that was
owing to my being such a fool as to have taken
two fellows with me, who are as good shots as
myself, and who consequently destroyed more
game than I expected. I asked them, merely
to have some one to talk to in the evenings, in
case I did not fall asleep ; but never again will
I take a fellow who is a good shot that I'm de-
termined on. What's going on in town ? But
what's the use of asking you ? I dare say you
know no more than Adelaide, probably less,
for she most likely hears the gossip of the ser-
vants."
" Miss Stratford will guard against that evil/'
observed Lady Almondbury.
" I must go and have some dinner, and, as
306 MEMOIRS OF
usual, I dare say I shall have a devilish bad
one ; but that is sure to be the case when the
mistress of a house is sickly and lives on slops.
Now it's quite a pleasure to dine at Merling-
ham's or Oxenford's; for their wives are epi-
cures, and understand the merits of a good
cuisine ; while you, Frances," and he glanced
contemptuously towards his wife, " can appre-
ciate nothing beyond a boiled chicken, a con-
somme, or some similarly insipid food for inva-
lids."
When Lord Almondbury left the room, a
silence of some duration ensued. It was evi-
dent that his wife was pained and embarrassed,
and when she spoke it was to attempt some
excuse for him.
"Men, and particularly those blessed with
strong constitutions," observed Lady Almond-
bury, " are prone to dislike sick rooms, if not
sick people ; it is but natural," and a deep sigh
followed the admission, " for those to whom ill-
ness is a stranger cannot make allowance for the
infirmities of invalids, or the privations and con-
straint to which they must submit."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 307
Selina did not venture to reply, but she thought
that hard indeed must be the heart, and unkind
the nature of him, whose conduct drew from his
fair and gentle wife this attempt to excuse it;
but in proportion as her bad opinion of him in-
creased did her high one of Lady Almondbury
become more firmly established. Her patience
and resignation under severe physical suffering,
unrelieved, too, by the affection or attention of
him who ought to have endeavoured to lighten
her sense of them, created the liveliest interest,
joined to the most profound respect for her, in
the heart of Selina, who devoted herself, with
unceasing care, not only to the discharge of her
duty towards her pupil, but to render the con-
finement of Lady Almondbury less irksome and
dull than it had hitherto been. She endeavoured
to amuse and interest the lonely valetudinarian,
and, above all, delighted her by drawing forth in
her presence proofs of the rapid progress made
by Lady Adelaide, whose natural cleverness, and
facility in acquiring knowledge, was really
most gratifying.
The first time Selina was present at an inter-
308 MEMOIRS OF
view between Lord Almondbury and his daugh-
ter, which took place in the boudoir of Lady
Almondbury, she was surprised, and, truth to
say, shocked, at the want of natural affection on
both sides. The father only nodded to the
child, and she in return merely made him a
formal curtsey.
" Go and kiss papa, my dear," said the fond
mother timidly.
" I beg to be excused," was the hard speech
of the father. " I have no pleasure in being
kissed by children, and above all when the mark
of affection is commanded, and not spontaneous."
" Adelaide would, I am sure, be glad to em-
brace you, if you would encourage her a little,"
remarked Lady Almondbury timidly.
" Do you wish to kiss me, young lady ?" de-
manded the unnatural parent, with a most for-
bidding scowl.
" No," replied the child ; " you never wish
to kiss me, and so I don't want to kiss you?
" Adelaide, my dear," said Lady Almond-
bury ; " you should not "
" What ! would you make the girl false ?"
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 309
exclaimed the father angrily. " If she has one
good quality in her perverse nature that of
speaking the truth why should you wish to
destroy it ? "
"You mistake; indeed you do," said the
mother ; " you check all your child's advances
by your sternness towards her ; but, be assured,
it only requires a little kindness to make her
love you as fondly as she does me."
" Do you love me ?"" demanded Lord Almond-
bury, again looking sternly at the little girl.
" No, I don't," was the honest reply.
" Well, I like you for your frankness, for I
hate hypocrisy and fawning," was the ungra-
cious observation.
" You would be pleased to see the progress
Adelaide has made in her studies since she has
had the advantage of being under Miss Strat-
ford's care," said Lady Almondbury.
" Oh ! spare me the exhibition," exclaimed
Lord Almondbury ; " the bare notion sets me
yawning !" and, suiting the action to the word,
he opened his mouth to its utmost extent, and
stretched his arms. " Nothing bores me so much
310 MEMOIRS OF
as when mothers take it into their heads to
show off their children, who, examined by their
teachers, repeat their lessons by rote, like par-
rots, and understand them as little."
Lady Almondbury sighed, but did not attempt
to reason with her husband. She too well knew
the utter uselessness of such a measure, but her
silence offended her tyrant almost as much as
words would have done, for he arose and left the
room, muttering something about " persons who
set themselves up as martyrs, in order to excite
commiseration."
When the door closed after him, Lady Ade-
laide rushed to her mother, and fondly embraced
her.
" Dear, darling mamma," exclaimed the affec-
tionate girl, " how I do love you and hate papa !"
" Adelaide, how you shock, how you distress
me ! Do you not know that it is most sinful,
most wicked, for a child not to love its father ?"
" But papa does not love me the least bit,
indeed he doesn't, dear mamma ; and how can I
love him, when he doesn't love me ?"
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 311
" Because it is your duty, Adelaide : how
often have I told you this, and repeated to you
the deep pain you inflict on me by not Showing
a proper affection to your father !"
" I'm very sorry to give you pain, 'dear kind
mamma; but I don't know what -to do. You
tell me, and so does dear Miss Stratford, that I
must always speak the truth. Now, if I say I
love papa, it will not be the truth; and, though
I try all I can to love him, I can't ; indeed I can't,
mamma !" and the child's eyes filled with tears,
and she hid her face in her mother's bosom.
" You will turn your attention to this point,"
said Lady Almondbury to Selina in Italian. " It
is true, and I deeply regret it ; Lord Almond-
bury does not like children, and least of all
girls. He was greatly disappointed when this
dear child was born ; he wished for a boy ; most,
if not all, men do ; and he has never quite got
over the disappointment. Point out to my poor
Adelaide her duty; make her understand
that she is to conciliate her father by every
means in her power, for the first wish of my
heart is, knowing how precarious my life is, on
312 MEMOIRS OF
how frail a thread it depends, is to see a mutual
affection spring up where it is so natural it
should be. How terrible will it be for my poor
child, when I am taken from her, to find neither
consolation nor affection in her remaining
parent !" .,
Although the little girl did not understand
Italian, the mournful expression of her mother's
face, and the tremulous movement of her lips,
betrayed her agitation, and the little girl sur-
mised her grief; so, clinging fondly to her mo-
ther's breast, and looking up in her face she ex-
claimed, " Ah, dearest mamma ! do not look so
sad, and I will do anything to please you. Yes,
I will try ever so much to love papa ; indeed I
will, for I can't bear to see you unhappy ; in-
deed I can't I"
A few days after this scene Selina and her
pupil were passing through the park, on their
route to take their daily walk in Kensington
Gardens. They saw Lord Almondbury riding
with a distinguished-looking elderly man, who
seemed to draw his lordship's attention to them.
The carriage passed on, without one sign of re-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 313
cognition from' the father to his child, nor did a
single smile, on her part, mark Lady Adelaide's
notice of her parent.
" What a fine countenance the young lady
in your carriage has !" observed the companion
of Lord Almondbury.
" Yes," replied he ; " she has a very fine face.
It is a pity, however, that she happens to be one
of the saints a perfect pattern of propriety and
prudence, in the shape of a governess to my
daughter."
" But in the governess of one's daughter such
peculiarities are surely not -to be found fault
with I" was the reply.
" Perhaps not always ; but there are certain
positions, and mine is one of them, in which,
when a pretty girl is by chance thrown in one's
way, without one's having sought her, it would
be very agreeable to find that she was neither
cold nor prudish."
" I must confess, although I do not pretend
to be more severe than most other men, that I
think one's sins should never be committed at
home, and that the roof beneath which dwell a
VOL. i. p
314 MEMOIRS OF
wife and child should be sacred. To corrupt
the morals of the person to whom is confided
the education of a daughter, is, in my opinion,
a crime of deep dye."
v
" When such crimes, as you term them, are
committed, w.ives are always to blame. If they
will be so foolish as to throw temptation in the
way of poor weak men, they must take the con-
sequences."
" That is, in other words, if a wife confides
in the faith and honour of her husband, which
every pure-minded one is prone to do, she ought,
according to your doctrine, to be punished for
her misplaced confidence. It is precisely this sort
of reasoning that renders wives so fearful of
engaging handsome governesses, and leaves the
last so frequently without employment, as if the
gift of beauty debarred them from the possession
of the still more precious one virtue. I seldom
see a pretty woman enacting the difficult and
painful role of governess, without observing that
she is exposed to the most humiliating suspi-
cions. The common civility due to every one of
the sex cannot be paid her, without its exciting
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 315
surmises, which originate less in any just ground,
furnished by the slightest levity or encourage-
ment on her part, than in the too well-founded
knowledge of the laxity of principle of our sex."
" I am afraid the best of us all are but sad
sinners," observed Lord Alrnondbury, with a
self-complacency more suited to the admission
of a community in the good qualities of man-
kind than in that which dishonours them. This
evident self-complacency seemed to disgust his
companion, who abruptly wished him good
morning, and turned his horse's head in another
direction.
END OF VOL. I.
LONDON I
K. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.
University of California
SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388
Return this material to the library
from which it was borrowed.
'/>PRl 91
*j \S ' X *~T
A 000 056 835 2
0*0000000
\<f ^y %^
* tiBL. fr '$* ' 4 iHLk *" uSo. " * ^
0. * *
A *
. * * ft *
t.x) WW 'fed Wf
* .L .*' JBL* L JL
* *
* JtiL *
* * * 0*
JUL * * JtiC * * JML * JK. *
- . ' * ' * *
^ ^t J^ * J^l ^L
. * 00 * Unive
if ^|L 0^0 0^0 g 01
ft 00*000* Li
0000*00
) 0* * * ft 00 * * *
jfeL * * JML * * JML * *
>000**000
000**080
0j* * X * *M0 ' X. *
j # . * ' *
*****
****
wd .^< fc. A W4
* JBkv : . * J^. * JR * ^. *
a , # * * * * * *
