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THE
MEMOIRS
FEMME DE CHAMBRE.
A NOVEL.
BY THE
COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. III.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
1846.
LONDON :
R.CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.
MEMOIRS
A FEMME DE CHAMBHE.
CHAPTER I.
WHEN left alone with her gentle mistress,
her timidity and embarrassment pained, while
they filled with pity, the heart of Selina. Like
a beautiful bird in a gilded cage, pining for
freedom, and loathing its gorgeous prison, sate
this fair young creature, insensible to the splen-
dour around her, or only remembering it as the
badge of the slavery which gladly would she
escape from. From the first moment of her
entering the house, Mrs. Fraser treated Selina
not as a dependent or inferior, but as an equal,
or rather as a friend. She, with the intuitive
VOL. III. B
2203380
MEMOIRS OF
quickness of her sex, at once perceived that
Selina was more suited to be her companion
than servant. When Selina offered to dress
her beautiful hair, the fair Amy said, " I really
feel ashamed to allow you, Miss Stratford, to
perform any menial service for me. You shall
arrange my hair, if you, in return, will permit
me to dress yours."
This artless delicacy pleased Selina, who
could so well appreciate it ; but with a gentle
firmness, acquired by the knowledge of the
world gained within the last year or two, she
taught Mrs. Fraser to comprehend that the
relative positions of mistress and femme de
chambre must not be lost sight of between
them. When the duties of the toilette were
over, Mrs. Fraser would entreat her to read
aloud to her, to play and sing to her, or to
place her easel, or embroidery-frame, near to
her own, and converse while they drew or
worked. Often would deep sighs burst from
the heart of this young creature, and tears
drop from her eyes; and she would cast an
imploring look at Selina, which said, as plain as
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 6
ever glance spoke, " Why don't you ask me the
cause of my sighs and tears ? "
But Selina, though most Anxious to contri-
bute to the comfort of her amiable mistress,
was by no means desirous to possess her con-
fidence, fearful that she might, in that case, be
expected to be made the medium of communi-
cation between her and those dear relatives,
whose cruel separation from her caused, she felt
assured, the emotions she so' frequently wit-
nessed. It was no selfish dread of losing her
position, that influenced Selina to avoid eliciting
or encouraging the confidence of Mrs. Fraser.
She feared thaf'that amiable young person's
already painful situation would be rendered
still more so, by her harsh and stern husband,
should he discover, that, in spite of his interdic-
tion, she had held any communication with her
mother and sisters, and this dread weighed on her
mind, and induced her to endeavour to change
the subject whenever, as was frequently the
case, Mrs. Fraser was leading to it. Painful
was it to Selina to witness the expression of
keen disappointment that clouded the fair face
B2
4 MEMOIRS OF
of her gentle mistress on these occasions ; yet
when, as was his custom, Mr. Fraser entered
the dressing-room abruptly, without even knock-
ing at the door, and examined the countenances
of his wife and herself, as if he suspected they
were carrying on some secret plot, she rejoiced
that she could meet his searching glance undis-
mayed, and that his scrutiny all over the cham-
ber, in order to discover something to justify
his suspicions, was fruitless. The most jealous
husband could not betray more anxiety or inge-
nuity to detect some clue to a love affair, by which
his honour and peace would be compromised,
than did this self-tormentor, to find out whether
his innocent and unhappy wife kept up any
communication with her family. When her
cheek grew pale, and her eyes betrayed that
sleep was a stranger to them, he would send
off for the most eminent physician, to whom he
would state his fears for her health, which he
declared was dearer to him than life ; and, for
the next three or four days, he would watch
her countenance with all the trembling dread
with which a fond mother examines that of her
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. O
only child. " There must be some dangerous
malady preying on her," would he say, in answer
to the physician's assertion, that he saw only a
delicacy of structure requiring care, and an
extreme sensibility.
" Avoidance of exposure to the night air,
and a peculiar attention to preserve the young
lady from all causes of mental anxiety, are all
that are required; and with these your daugh-
ter will do well," would every new doctor con-
sulted declare; for, dissatisfied with each, a
fresh one was called in every time that his
fears were excited. Perhaps his anger, at
having his youthful wife always mistaken for
his daughter, had something to do in his invari-
ably consulting a new physician, and as each
repeated nearly the same words, he had no
confidence in any of them. " What cause for
anxiety can she have ? " would he say to the
medical adviser. " I have the means, and the
desire, to gratify the most extravagant wishes.
Could she eat gold she might have it ; and her
jewels surpass those of the proudest of our
aristocracy."
O MEMOIRS OF
" Riches do not always bestow happiness, Sir,*
would be the reply. " Mrs. Fraser is very
young ; perhaps the want of companions of her
own age may have engendered the melancholy
which her countenance reveals."
" But she has a companion j a youthful one,
too, who plays and sings to her, who, in short,
devotes herself wholly to her amusement."
" A hired one, probably."
" Yes ; but a very accomplished one, and
very gentle and sweet-tempered, as my wife
tells me."
" With so plain, so aged, and so stern a
husband as you," thought the physician, " it
can hardly be wondered at, that the poor young
creature is low-spirited. How many have I
seen fade, droop, and die, under similar circum-
stances ! "
But though each of the medical men called
in had formed the same opinion, none had
given utterance to this last reflection; and
Mr. Fraser was left to dwell on the probable
cause of his wife's altered looks, and constant
sadness, namely his own harsh conduct, in
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 7
having torn asunder those ties with which her
peace, nay, her very life was bound up. But
although his conscience frequently whispered
this cause, and that he could not silence its
murmurs, he was obstinately bent on not fol-
lowing its dictates no, not even to see the
roses of health bloom on her cheek again, and
her eyes resume their lustre, would he con-
sent to her renewing her intercourse with
her family. Much as he liked her and he did
love her as much as it was in his selfish nature
to love aught save self, her sweetness of temper
and gentleness having rivetted the aifection
her beauty had excited, he would have pre-
ferred seeing her sink into a premature grave,
rather than behold her lavishing on her mother
and sisters that tenderness, the demonstrations
of which, previous to his marriage, had fre-
quently awakened his jealousy and envy ; and
which he felt never would be showered on him-
self.
In vain did he bestow on her the most costly
gifts, procure for her delicate appetite the
rarest dainties, and fill her splendid conser-
8 MEMOIRS OF
vatory with the choicest flowers all these
proofs of attention were received with a faint
smile and a few gracious words, but it was
evident they afforded her no pleasure. Then
would he accuse her of ingratitude, declare that
half the fine things he had heaped on her would
have rendered any reasonable woman in the
world happy, and that he was the most unfor-
tunate man on earth, in having a wife whom
all his exertions could not make even cheerful.
Sometimes his timid victim would endeavour
to lead to the forbidden subject of what could
restore her cheerfulness; though happiness, she
felt, with him, would be out of the question,
for a personal distaste, imbibed from the very
commencement of their acquaintance, and
greatly strengthened by his cruelty in sepa-
rating her from those dear ones for whose
sakes she had sacrificed herself, rendered his
presence irksome to her, and even his atten-
tions odious. Nevertheless, a sense of the
respect due to a husband, and to one, too, old
enough to be her grandfather, so far influenced
her manner, that, although loathing his person,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 9
and shrinking with disgust from even an ap-
proach to familiarity on his part, she invariably
treated him with gentleness and deference.
The only relief she experienced from the sad-
ness that was now becoming habitual to her,
was, when he was absent from home ; then
would she retire to her dressing-room or
boudoir, and, tete-a-tete with Selina, engaged in
reading or conversing, forget for a brief time
her unhappiness. As she got to know Selina
better, her regard for her rapidly increased;
and as Selina discovered the sweetness of
temper, innocence, and candour of her youthful
mistress's character, her affection and esteem
for her augmented. Mrs. Eraser would question
her on the events of her life, not from a motive
of idle curiosity, but from a real interest in
her; and Selina would disclose to her passages
in her short but troubled life, which greatly
touched the feelings of the excellent young
creature.
" You were tqo young to be sensible of a
mother's love, to have missed her tender care,"
would Mrs. Fraser reply ; " you think of her
B3
10 MEMOIRS OF
as blessed in a better world, where the wicked
cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest;
but if you knew the anguish of being separated
from the dearest, fondest mother that ever lived,
every recollection of whom is mingled with some
mark of tenderness, some proof of self-abnegation,
to be found only in a mother's heart, how would
you pity me; but to know that she is within a dis-
tance that might be passed in an hour, that in an
hour I might be clasped to that dear heart
whence I drew my nurture when an infant,
on which my head was so often pillowed to
sleep, yet to be as wholly severed from her, as if
seas rolled between us ; to be denied even the
comfort of hearing from her, or of writing
to her, oh ! this indeed is misery ;" and tears
would stop her utterance. Then would she
resume: "To be separated from sisters, dear,
fond sisters, who shared every thought, who
lightened, by sharing, every care ; to advance
whose interests, as well as to secure comfort
for a dear mother, too long deprived of it, the
sacrifice of all one's own feelings was made,
and to find it made in vain I Oh, how hard
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 11
is it to bear ! and can it be wondered at that
health sinks under such trials ? I would have
been so grateful, too, for any kindness shown
to those so dear to me. I would conquer the
distaste that, in spite of every effort to resist
it, daily increases towards him. I have vowed
at the altar to love, honour, and obey grati-
tude would have supplied the place of a more
tender sentiment; yes, I would have been his
servant, his slave, anything, to prove my grati-
tude, my devotion to him."
Frequently would Mr. Fraser send for Selina,
and question her: "Your mistress," would he
say, " appeared agitated yesterday, when I en-
tered the dressing-room ; what was the cause ?"
"Mrs. Fraser's health and spirits suffer, I
think, Sir, from the seclusion in which she lives."
" Do you think that occasional visits to the
theatres would amuse her ?"
" No, Sir. I do not believe she likes public
amusements."
" Then what do you think is the cause of
her low spirits ? With all that wealth can
purchase, what can she want ?"
12 MEMOIRS OF
" If I may take the liberty of telling you
my opinion, Sir, I should say she pines for an
intercourse with her relations."
" Which she shall never have," interrupted
Mr. Fraser; "no, sooner would I behold her
die, than yield to her wishes on this point.
Yes, sooner would I see her borne to her grave,
although she is the sole object on earth dear to
me, than witness the demonstrations of her
affection lavished on those I hate ; yes, on those
I abhor, because they have engrossed all her
tenderness."
Then, as if angry with himself for having
revealed his hardness of heart, he would tell
Selina to be gone, and menace her with instant
dismissal if she ever betrayed a word he said to
her to her mistress. At other times he would
offer her bribes, if she would undertake to
reason with Mrs. Fraser, and to tell her that
when women married they seldom saw much of
their mothers or sisters after; that it was
childishness and folly to pine at being separated
from them ; and that hundreds of ladies, young,
beautiful, and of high birth, would deem them-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 13
selves happy to be his wife, and possess the
treasures he had lavished on her.
When Selina pleaded, that it would be vain
to address such arguments to one whose affec-
tions were so deeply engaged, he would fly into
a rage, and dismiss her from his presence, saying,
she was almost as foolish as her mistress.
Nevertheless, blind, obstinate, and hard-hearted
as was this selfish old man, he had conceived a good
opinion of Selina, and had so much more con-
fidence in her than in any other person, that he
would have been sorry to see her leave his house.
Day by day the cheek of Mrs. Fraser became
paler, her form more attenuated, and her lan-
gour increased. She was now reduced to a
state of such weakness as to be unable to leave
her sofa; and Selina, who marked with deep
regret the progress of her decline, watched over
her with unceasing care.
The prolonged illness of the wife of the
millionnaire, a lady, too, whose beauty, no less
than whose splendid equipages and magnificent
diamonds, had been the means of drawing
public attention to the old nabob as well as to
14 MEMOIRS OF
herself, could not long be kept a secret. The
newspapers announced the fact, in the set phrases
of regret generally employed on similar occa-
sions; and the door of Mr. Fraser was daily
besieged by inquirers after the health of the
invalid. The physicians called in had various
consultations. There was a frequent pulling
out of gold watches ; sundry sapient shakes of
the head, and differences of opinion, not only as
to the malady, its cause, seat, probable dura-
tion, and termination, but also as to the treat-
ment to be pursued ; each inclining to some pet
system of his own, yet all agreeing on one
point, namely, that if Mrs. Fraser did not get
better, she must get worse a fact that even
the most ignorant of her domestics might have
discovered without a medical consultation.
The fatigue to which Selina was exposed,
seldom leaving the chamber of her mistress, and
sitting up night after night by her bedside, had
such an effect on her own health, that one of
the doctors, having noticed her altered looks,
desired that a nurse should be called in to
relieve her, by taking her place at night by the
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 15
pillow of their patient. This doctor, a humane
and worthy man, had become greatly interested
in the state of Mrs. Fraser ; and her husband,
tortured by the dread of losing her, felt more
disposed to adopt his advice than that of any
of the other physicians. When, therefore,
Doctor Percy insisted on the necessity of a
nurse being called in, and stated that he knew
one whom he could recommend as an intelligent
and trustworthy person, Mr. Fraser gave per-
mission to have her sent, and a few hours after
she made her appearance. Selina was alone
present when she entered, and was instantly
struck by the trepidation evident in her manner.
Her hand shook, her lips trembled, and there
was an agitation in her whole manner, in spite
of every eifort to conceal it, that arrested
Selina's attention. " You seem ill," whis-
pered she.
" No, Madam, only the effect of having
ascended the stairs too rapidly. The palpitation
will subside in a moment."
Mrs. Fraser was asleep, and often murmured
the names of her mother and sisters. Each
1 6 MEMOIRS OF
time that she did so, the nurse trembled, and
turned pale as death, and Selina observed that
she turned away her head, and stealthily applied
her handkerchief to her eyes. There was a
nervousness in all her movements, a suppressed
agitation, that it was evident she sought to
subdue and conceal, but which, nevertheless,
manifested itself in various ways. When Mr.
Fraser entered the sick chamber the nurse
seemed to make a strong effort to recover
her self-control. Although the curtains were
drawn, and only a very feeble light admitted in
the room, she avoided, as much as possible,
coming near him. " You are the nurse sent by
Dr. Percy ? " said he, eyeing her suspiciously.
" Yes, Sir," was the reply, accompanied by
a respectful curtsey.
Selina noticed that these two monosyllables
were uttered by the nurse in a totally different
tone of voice to that in which she had spoken
to her. The bearing, and manner, too, of the
nurse were different. Previous to Mr. Fraser's
entrance, although agitated, there was an un-
mistakable air and demeanour of a gentlewoman
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 17
about the woman, while now she appeared to
affect the air and manner of the generality of
persons of her class.
" Have you had much experience in your
calling?" inquired Mr. Fraser.
" Yes, Sir, a good deal ; and Dr. Percy hal-
ways be s so good as to recommend me, in cases
where he is very hanxious about his patient."
Mr. Fraser drew back the curtain to look on
the sleeper, the nurse standing behind him ; and
Selina saw the woman shudder, and turn pale
as death, as she caught a view of the invalid.
She seemed ready to sink to the earth, for a
moment ; but when Mr. Fraser let the curtain
fall, and turned to speak to her, she had con-
quered her feelings, and assumed a look of
stolid indifference.
" Don't allow any one to enter this room,
except the doctors and Miss Stratford," said
Mr. Fraser ; " and remember that, when Miss
Stratford is out of the room, you must never
allow a note, nor a message, to be delivered to
Mrs. Fraser, nor from her, under penalty of my
severest displeasure."
18 MEMOIRS OF
" I will be sure to hattend to your bor-
ders, Sir," was the answer, accompanied by
another low curtsey ; and he left the room.
No sooner had he disappeared, than the nurse
sank into a chair, gasping for breath, and trem-
bling violently. Selina poured her out a glass
of water, and raised it to her lips, and when a
portion of it had been swallowed, the nurse
seemed revived, and gave her an eloquent
glance of gratitude, with a few whispered
words of thanks, uttered in such correct phrase-
ology, and so wholly free from the vulgar
addition and aspiration of the letter h, as to
convince her that, when speaking to Mr. Fraser,
the nurse had not spoken in her natural voice
or manner. Selina also observed, that, although
she was a woman of much more than ordinary
obesity, her movements were so light, that they
could hardly be heard. Her hands, too, were
wonderfully small, as compared to the large
figure to which they appertained, and the spec-
tacles she wore could not prevent Selina from
noticing that her eyes did not look as if they
required their aid.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 19
When Mrs. Fraser awoke, Selina informed
her that the nurse, recommended by Dr. Percy,
was present.
" I am glad," replied she, " for you, dear
Miss Stratford, may now have a night's rest, of
which I am sure you stand greatly in need.
Nurse, be so good as to give me a little barley-
water."
Selina had kept her eye on the nurse while
Mrs. Fraser spoke, and observed that she was
again greatly agitated. It was, however, evi-
dent that the feelings under which she now was
influenced were of a different kind to the former
ones ; for tears rushed to her eyes, and she was
compelled to remove her spectacles to wipe
them off, before she could pour out the barley-
water, and present it to the invalid.
Mrs. Fraser looked at her for a moment, took
the glass from her hand, and said, " You trem-
ble. Are you ill?"
" No, Madam, thank you, I am only a little
flurried, for the moment, at coming into a
strange place."
The same voice was assumed in speaking to
20 MEMOIRS OF
Mrs. Fraser, as when answering her husband's
questions, but this time the letter h was omitted
to be added to the words to which it had
previously been joined.
" Poor woman, she is so large, that moving
about must indeed flurry her," observed Mrs.
Fraser, in French, to Selina, " Arrange my
pillow, nurse, it is not comfortable," said Mrs.
Fraser.
Selina, seeing that the nurse's agitation still
continued, approached the bed to arrange the
pillow.
" No, dear, good Selina, you must let nurse
do it, that I may get accustomed to her mode
of managing it, otherwise I shall miss you too
much when you are taking your needful rest."
" Indeed I do not require more rest, dear
Madam," replied Selina, " and do not like to
resign my post."
" But I must not grow so selfish as to allow
you to injure your health through your anxiety
to save mine."
The nurse cast a look so full of gratitude
towards Selina, that the latter became more
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 21
convinced than ever that the person before her
took no common interest in the invalid ; and a
gleam of who she might possibly be flashed
through her mind. The nurse now approached
the bed, raised Mrs. Fraser gently in her arms,
supported her on her left, while with her right
she moved the pillows, and smoothed them,
and then placed the invalid in an easy posture.
" Thanks, good nurse, how comfortable you
have made me ! You must not be jealous, dear
Selina, but I really never have had my pillows
so nicely arranged, or felt myself so tenderly,
so gently moved in my bed, since my own
darling mother used to smoothe them, and move
me when I was ill."
The nurse trembled so violently, that Mrs.
Fraser, although she was concealed from her
by the curtain, became conscious of her emotion.
" Do, Selina, ring the bell, and order a glass of
wine for nurse ; she requires it, I am quite sure,
she is so very nervous."
"If you will permit me to leave the room
for a few minutes, I shall quite recover,
Madam," said the nurse, who then quickly
22 MEMOIRS OF
glided away, opening and closing the door so
softly as scarcely to be heard.
" It is very strange, Selina, but I who dis-
like fat and flaxen-haired people, and persons
who wear spectacles, all which prejudices I
know to be very foolish, cannot help feeling
drawn towards this strange nurse, who has all
these imperfections. There is something nice
in the sound of her voice, which recalls some,
one very dear to me to my mind : and had I
closed my eyes, or not looked at her, I could
have fancied that I was resting on my darling
mother's arm, when she supported me. Yes,
I feel I shall like her, though she does look
very disagreeable, with her profusion of flaxen
curls, her spectacles, and her great unwieldy
form."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 23
CHAPTER II.
THE reflections of Mrs. Fraser made so
strong an impression on Selina, that they almost
confirmed the suspicions she had previously
formed, that the nurse was other than what she
assumed to be. What if she were actually the
mother of Mrs. Fraser, and had sought access
to her child by the only means in her power,
and had disguised herself to avoid detection ?
Yes, it must be so. How else could her agita-
tion, her altered voice and manner when speak-
ing to Mr. Fraser, and her tears, be accounted
for ? Selina felt her heart filled with pity for
the mother, thus compelled to travesty herself,
and act the part of a mercenary nurse to her
own child, at the risk that if a detection took
place, she would be expulsed with insult from
24 MEMOIRS OF
the house, by the hard-hearted and relentless
tyrant, who, by keeping her daughter from her
and her sisters, had reduced her to the helpless
state in which she was now placed. She
determined to do all in her power to render
the position of Mrs. Herbert as little painful
as possible, by screening her from the watchful
scrutiny of Mr. Fraser, and attending to her
comforts.
"Illness is apt, by weakening the nerves,
to engender many strange fancies," observed
Mrs. Fraser, after a long silence ; " do you
know, Selina, that when I felt the quick pulsa-
tions of the nurse's heart, and the gentle
touches of her smooth soft hand, I was so
reminded of my mother, that tears came into
my eyes, and I looked in her face in search of
a likeness. But I believe it is not an unusual
thing, when all one's thoughts are filled by one
object, to look for a resemblance ; nay more,
to fancy one has found it, in another's face.
When I used to drive in the streets when I came
back after my marriage, I used to gaze at every
woman accompanied by two nice-looking girls
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 25
I saw, thinking that they might be my dear
mother and sisters, and I used to fancy I traced
resemblances to them. Now there is posi-
tively something about the mouth and teeth
of this nurse, that greatly reminds me of my
darling mother's; I wish she had raven-black
hair, and not those flaxen locks, and then the
likeness would be stronger. My mother is
very slight, and has such a distingue air, and
then her face is very fair and delicate, while
nurse's is coarse and red ; but I am a fool, am I
not, Selina, to indulge in such fancies ? "
As the evening wore away, the nurse became
more composed. She was evidently either of
a very taciturn nature, a peculiarity seldom to
be met with in persons of her profession, or
else she was fearful of her voice being recog-
nised, and Selina was disposed to accept the
latter hypothesis. She never spoke but when
addressed, and then replied as briefly as
possible. Yet there were moments when her
countenance lighted up, and words seemed
hovering on her lips ; but she checked them,
and remained absorbed in thought, her eyes
VOL. in. c
26 MEMOIRS OF
constantly fixed on the bed, and her ear catch-
ino- every sound that proceeded from it. Did
the invalid betray the slightest symptom of
restlessness, the nurse was instantly by her
bedside, ready to move her, and smoothe her
pillow ; and never did she fulfil these duties of
her calling without Mrs. Fraser's expressing
her satisfaction at the mode in which it was
done, as abo remarking how much it reminded
her of her mother. Such allusions never failed
to produce a visible effect on the nurse, notwith-
standing her endeavours to conceal it.
It had been agreed, that Selina was to fill the
place of nurse during the day, while the latter
slept; and during the night nurse was to remain
with the invalid. This arrangement appeared to
satisfy Mrs. Norman, (so was the nurse named;)
and Selina could not help thinking that her
satisfaction was caused by this arrangement
keeping her out of sight of Mr. Fraser,
whose presence always flurried and alarmed
her. When Doctor Percy paid his daily visits,
he several times expressed a desire to see the
nurse ; but, when told by Selina that she wag
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 27
asleep, he forbore to urge it. One night Selina
heard, or fancied she heard, a noise in the
chamber of Mrs. Fraser, which was at no great
distance from her own, and fearful that some
change for the worse had occurred, she arose,
and with stealthy steps entered it. Mrs.
Norman was on her knees, praying by the
bedside, tears streaming down her cheeks, and
an expression of such acute anguish on her
countenance that countenance now more ex-
posed by the spectacles having been removed,
that scarcely a doubt of the justice of her
suspicions remained in the mind of Selina,
Mrs. Norman started in evident alarm, the
moment she became sensible of the entrance
of some person in the room. She arose from
her kneeling posture, snatched up her spec-
tacles, and hastily put them on. When, how-
ever, she saw that the intruder was Selina, her
alarm seemed to diminish, and she gradually
recovered her self-possession. In a few minutes
after Selina's entrance, Mrs. Fraser sighed
heavily, and murmured audibly, " Mother, dear,
dear mother, come to me!"
c2
28 MEMOIRS OF
The nurse started from her chair, flew, rather
than ran, to the bedside, opened the curtain,
and bent over the sleeper, who, awakened by the
movement, yet still not sufficiently so to have
resumed consciousness, flung her arms around
the neck of Mrs. Norman, pressed her passion-
ately to her breast, exclaiming, " Mother,
darling mother, you are come to me at
last."
Quite overcome by this surprise, the nurse
sank fainting on the bed. Selina ran to her
assistance, and Mrs. Fraser, now perfectly
awake, sat up, and looked anxiously at the poor
woman, who, utterly insensible, gave no symp-
tom of life, save a slight pulsation of the heart.
Selina bathed her temples with cold water;
and, to be enabled to do it more effectually,
removed the mass of light curls that covered
her brow. In the operation the false hair fell
off, as well as the cap, and the natural hair, of
a shining black, besprent with grey, stood re-
vealed.
" My mother ! oh, my dear, dear mother !" ex-
claimed Mrs, Fraser, " my heart told me it was
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 29
you !" and, bursting into a passionate fit of
tears, she fondly embraced her parent.
" Fly, fly to the door, Selina," said she, " and
lock it securely. We shall be lost, should
Mr. Fraser discover that she is here."
The injunction was rapidly performed ; and
now Selina, anxious to relieve Mrs. Herbert,
opened her dress and unlaced her corset, when
she found that, instead of the very large woman
the pretended nurse had appeared to be, she
was, in reality, a slight person enveloped in
several wadded dresses. The exertions of Se-
lina to restore the suspended animation of Mrs.
Herbert, were not crowned with success for
half an hour. She then opened her eyes, looked
around, as if awaking from a dream, when
meeting the love-beaming eyes of her daughter,
filled with tears of affection, fixed on her face,
she became conscious of what was passing
around her.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to
describe the scene that ensued. Pressed in
each other's arms, the mother and daughter
mingled their tears and embraces, looked in
30 MEMOIRS OF
each other's faces again and again, as if they
would note the ravages made by sorrow at their
separation.
" My child, my precious child, how you are
changed since I parted from you, blooming in
health!" said Mrs. Herbert, in accents so full
of sadness, that they went right to the hearts
of her hearers; Selina being scarcely less
moved than Mrs. Eraser.
" And you, my dear, my blessed mother,
how pale, how thin you have grown! There
were no white locks amid the dark ones I used
to be so proud of when I left you!" and the
daughter pressed the dishevelled tresses of her
mother to her lips. " But we will part no
more, dearest mother. You will take me to
my old home, to my sisters, will you not ? Oh,
I have been so wretched without you and them,
that I prayed for death !"
How did the tears flow down the pale cheeks
of Mrs. Herbert, as she listened to the artless
words of her child ; and felt her own helpless-
ness to comply with the touching appeal ad-
dressed to her !
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 31
" You do not answer me, dearest mother !
Why do you not speak ; why not promise that
you will take me with you, to dwell for evermore
in my old, my happy home? You know not
how I hate all the splendour that surrounds
me. It only reminds me how dearly it has
been purchased purchased by our separation !"
The agony of the mother is not to be de-
scribed, while revealing to her innocent daugh-
ter, a creature wholly ignorant of the world
and its laws, that the day, the fatal day that
saw her bestow her hand on Mr. Fraser, de-
prived her parent of all right or power to
remove her from his control.
" Almighty God ! " exclaimed Mrs. Fraser,
"am I then doomed to be his slave for ever!
Must I drag on the chain that galls me, that
preys on my very life, and endure to pass the
remnant of it away from you, from my sisters ?
No, no, death would be a thousand times pre-
ferable ! " and here, exhausted by her emotion,
the poor young creature fell back on her
pillow.
" We must not give way to despair, my
32 MEMOIRS or
precious darling ! Mr. Fraser may yet be moved
to pity, and consent that you should see us.
When he is made aware that your illness has
been occasioned by the separation from me,
from your sisters, he will not, no, he cannot
refuse to let us meet, yes frequently meet, and
write to each other. You will tell him this,
darling, and pray him to consent to your wishes.
He loves you, it cannot be otherwise ; and he
will not refuse that on which your happiness
your health depends ! "
" Mother, you know him not. Could you
believe that I had given way to despair, until
I had tried every means to bend his cold and
stubborn heart ? I have prayed to him, on my
knees I have prayed ; I have covered his feet
with my tears, as an abject slave before her
tyrant master, to be allowed to see you, or even
to write to or to hear from you ; but I knelt and
prayed in vain. He will never relent; and
nought remains for me but death, to free me
from this cruel bondage. Finding him deaf to
my entreaties, I tried to move him by a patient
submission to his will ; I dried my tears whenever
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 33
I heard his step, and I importuned him no more ;
but all, all was unavailing. He believes that, while
he lavishes gold and all the gaudy trappings of
wealth about me; while he heaps the most costly
pearls and diamonds on me, I have no cause to
be unhappy ; and that, while he calls in a host
of physicians to minister to my ruined health,
leaving my tortured heart to prey on this weak
frame, he has nothing to reproach himself with."
Well and truly had the artless and wretched
wife revealed the nature of her stern husband.
The disclosure agonized her fond mother, whose
worst thoughts of the man who had torn her
child from her, who would rudely burst asunder
the bonds of love and nature that united her to
her family, had never gone so far as to believe,
that, were the health, the life of the wife he
professed to adore, at stake, he would not in-
stantly consent to aught that would save her.
As the conviction of his utter sternness and
callous nature was now forced on her, the
doting mother's pale face became almost terrible,
from the expression of despair imprinted on it.
She gazed on her faded child ; a shudder passed
c 3
34 MEMOIRS OF
over her frame ; and she lifted her tearful eyes,
as if appealing to God, now that hope of mortal
aid had left her ; and then exclaimed, " And it
was I, I, the mother who should have shielded
her, who should have warned, nay, prevented
her from wedding one so old, so stern, as this
terrible man, who allowed her to bestow the
inestimable blessing of her hand on one so wholly
unworthy of it! My child, my poor child,
can you forgive your unhappy mother for having
consigned you to such a fate ? Alas ! alas !
the pressure of poverty had blinded me to the
possible chances of misery to my daughter ; and
with sorrow oh, how deep yet unavailing ! I
must now admit, that I have merited the heavy
punishment that has fallen on me ! Would to
God it had fallen on me alone ! "
" You must not accuse yourself, dearest
mother. Indeed, you are not to blame. Who
could have foreseen, that aught in human shape
could be so cruel as to part us ? You saw me
form this now hated marriage without any
symptom of repugnance ; nay, more, with cheer-
fulness, confident as I felt, that through it
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 35
I should be enabled to see you, darling mother,
and my dear sisters, restored to an elegant com-
petency, if not to affluence ! I thought only of
the future happy home, the many comforts and
enjoyments, my marriage would secure you;
and in this anticipated happiness I forgot the
age, the ugliness, the chilling manners of him
who was to enable me to bestow it. And had
he done so, mother, I would have blessed him ;
I would have been as the most dutiful of
daughters to him ; and my whole study would
have been to repay his generosity to those
dearer to me than life !"
The countenance of Mrs. Herbert while her
daughter spoke might have offered a study to
an artist who wished to paint the tragic muse.
Never had Selina beheld aught so touching
despair and resignation struggled for mastery
in that pale face, as all the unselfish and loving
nature of her child was revealed to her. And
to think that such a creature, so young, so
beautiful, so pure and noble-minded, should be
so wholly, so irrevocably in the power of one
so stern, so lost to every feeling as Mr. Fraser,
36 MEMOIRS OF
was torture. In the long and wakeful nights
which had passed since her adored daughter
had been taken from her, when she tried
to imagine some cause for his cruel conduct,
and conjured up every probable motive, her
worst fears had never pictured him as dark, as
terrible, and revoltingly selfish as he was now
proved to be.
She felt that with such a man her child must
be wretched. Nurtured in the lap of affection,
and surrounded from her infancy by a mother and
sisters, who, owing to the perfect sympathy that
'existed in their tastes and thoughts, loved her
with a tenderness even beyond that common to
such near relations* how was she to bear the
change to solitude, with such an uncongenial
companion ? It was as if a delicate plant, reared
in a choice conservatory, where it had been
watched with skilful care, had been removed
to some dreary and chilling atmosphere, where
it must soon fade and die ; and she looked at
the altered face of her child, and saw that
such must be her fate ; nay, that already had
the work of destruction commenced ; for the
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 37
fragile being before her could not long bear
up against the cruel destiny she had wrought
for herself, when, through love for her kindred,
she had wedded the terrible man who ruled it.
" Hark ! did I not hear a voice ? " exclaimed
Mrs. Fraser, starting up from her pillow, and
terror imprinted on every feature. " Oh !
mother, disguise yourself quickly, for should
he come we are lost. Help her, Selina ; load
her with all those envelopes that concealed
her from my fond eyes ; surely they will pre-
serve her from his. Quickly put up her own
dark hair, and tie on the false. Ah! there,
I can no longer recognise her ; even the comfort
of seeing her in her own natural shape and
appearance is denied me;" and the poor invalid
burst afresh into tears.
" Would to Heaven, darling, that I were
never to leave off this disguise, could it secure
me the happiness of being near you, of looking
at your sweet face, of hearing that dear voice ! "
The noise that alarmed Mrs. Fraser was
the moving about of the housemaids to per-
form their matinal tasks; and now the grey
38 MEMOIRS OF
dawn began to peep through the shutters, and
reminded Mrs. Herbert that she must resume
her place as nurse, and be prepared for the
entrance of the housemaid, or of him., the most
dreaded, should he descend to inquire after
the invalid. A few drops, of a composing
nature, were administered to Mrs. Fraser, at
whose request her mother partook some also;
and Selina, after receiving the thanks of both
mother and child for the warm sympathy she
had evinced for them, stole stealthily to her
chamber, to dress, and replace " the nurse."
In a few weeks a visible improvement took
place in the health of Mrs. Fraser. Her
mother's presence seemed to revive and re-ani-
mate the principle of life in her delicate frame,
as the change from a deleterious climate to a
mild and genial one revivifies a broken consti-
tution. The hours of fond communion passed
together; the particulars demanded and given
of those dear sisters, so often thought of, had
made the hours fly so rapidly, that when weeks
had gone by, the mother and daughter felt as
if only days had passed. There were times
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 39
when Mrs. Fraser's heart revolted at seeing
her mother treated as a menial, when her
stern and ill-bred husband questioned her
rudely, or when the housekeeper or housemaid
spoke to her familiarly; but Mrs. Herbert
taught her to conquer these movements of
anger, by making her feel, as she did herself,
that these little annoyances should give plea-
sure rather than pain, as furnishing proofs
that her disguise had successfully imposed on
those who offered them.
"Ah! but mother, how dreadful it is that
I am getting well," would Mrs. Fraser say;
" for the moment the doctors announce my
convalescence you will be sent away from me ;
and how, after having been again accustomed
to the blessing of having you near me, can I
ever submit to our separation?"
Whenever Mr. Fraser entered his wife's
chamber she would assume a languid air, answer
his inquiries in a low voice, and enact the
invalid, when she was so much better that she
trembled lest her physician should announce
that fact to him ; but they were in no hurry
40 MEMOIRS OF
to abandon a patient who still persisted in
declaring that she was not cured, arid whose
husband was a nabob.
" I shouldhate myself, dearest mother.," would
Mrs. Fraser say, "for practising deception
about my health, were it not the only chance
for detaining you near me; and yet to think,
that to retain this blessing I keep you from
my sisters, and that you are compelled not
only to assume a menial garb, and be treated
as a servant, but to injure your health, more
precious to me than life, by living enveloped
in that huge mass of drapery, that fevers though
it conceals you."
Mrs. Herbert had explained to her daughter,
that having seen in the newspaper the an-
nouncement of her illness, she had searched
until she succeeded in discovering the physi-
cians who had been called in to attend her.
This discovery had been made by an old
and faithful servant; through whose means,
also, she learned that a nurse was required.
Knowing, by report, that the person recom-
mended by Dr. Percy was an unusually fat
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 41
woman, the thought of representing her, could
she but gain her consent to the measure, at once
flashed across the mind of Mrs. Herbert ; and
she instantly went to Mrs. Norman, told her
the truth, promising, that if permitted to per-
sonate her, all the remuneration received
should be transferred to her. Mrs. Norman,
herself a mother, and a good-hearted woman,
was touched by the grief and agitation of
Mrs. Herbert. Perhaps the desire of fulfilling
a long and lucrative engagement in the country,
without forfeiting the good opinion of Dr.
Percy, by declining the one now proposed,
had its might in influencing her decision. She
finally yielded to the prayers of the agonized
mother, with a proviso that Mrs. Herbert
should remain out of sight of the doctor ; and,
having furnished that lady with the loan of
habiliments and false curls, to enable her at
once to enter the establishment of Mr. Fraser,
and explained that the usual remuneration was
a guinea a day, she saw Mrs. Herbert depart,
filled with gratitude towards her, for having
consented to her wishes.
42 MEMOIRS OF
'* Yes, it's very pleasant to serve a worthy
person, as this poor lady certainly is," solilo-
quized Mrs. Norman, "especially where, by
doing so, one can likewise serve oneself. I shall,
for the next few weeks, be paid for duties
performed in the country, while my represen-
tative is earning money for me in London ; and,
after all, should Dr. Percy ever discover the
truth, he, with his good heart, will readily
pardon this proof of the goodness of mine."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 43
CHAPTER III.
IT was edifying to hear Mrs. Herbert coun-
selling her daughter to obedience to her husband,
and to a patient submission to his will. The
excellent woman left no means untried, to
strengthen the mind of this gentle and inex-
perienced creature; but, perhaps, of all the
arguments made use of, there was not one
which produced so strong an effect on her
mind, as the assurance, that her mother could
better bear the separation, could she be assured
that her child was submitting to it with forti-
tude, and not ruining her health by repining.
" On the spirit in which we receive trials,
dearest, depends their effect," would she say ;
"patience robs them of much of their bitter-
ness ; and the consciousness of having fulfilled
our duty to the utmost of our power, becomes
44 MEMOIRS OF
a balm to the wounds inflicted by Fate. Let
this balm be yours; merit the protection of
the Almighty, by submission to Ms will. Re-
member that there are many persons more
unfortunate than you ; and that the greater
the trials in this life, the greater is the merit
of submission. Let me have the comfort of
knowingj that the impropriety I have com-
mitted, in entering clandestinely a house, whose
master had prohibited my presence, has, at
least, had a salutary effect on your health
and mine."
"But you will write to me, will you not,
dearest mother, and let me write to you ?
Selina, dear, kind, good Selina, will be the
medium of communication between us. I know
she will. With a letter, now and then, from
you, darling mother, I will not sink into
despair, as before."
We leave it to casuists to decide, whether or
not the fond mother was wrong in yielding to
the prayers of her child; or whether Selina
committed a crime in pledging herself to con-
vey the correspondence between them ; but
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 45
even should a verdict be pronounced, by rigid
moralists, against Mrs. Herbert and Selina,
for thus yielding to the reiterated entreaties of
Mrs. Eraser, they would, nevertheless, be con-
soled by the approval of their own hearts, for
having lightened the burden that pressed so
heavily on that of the young and unhappy wife.
And now the physicians pronounced the
sentence so long dreaded, that Mrs. Fraser was
so much better, that a nurse was no longer
required. Mr. Fraser immediately signified
his desire that Mrs. Norman should leave at
the close of the week, only two days of which
had to elapse ; and his wife was endeavouring
to muster up all her strength of mind, to sup-
port the separation. Ever since the notification
of the improvement in her health had been
made to him, which was not until some weeks
after those in the secrets of the sick chamber
had been aware of the fact, he had become
a much more frequent visitor in it, so that the
long conversations between the mother and
child were broken in on ; and they hardly dared
count on an hour's freedom from his presence.
46 MEMOIRS OF
Without any occupation, he walked continually
from room to room of his splendid mansion ;
scolded the servants, found fault with every-
thing that was done, and incapable, from his
bad temper and ill-governed mind, of enjoy-
ing a moment's repose, it seemed to be his
study that nobody else should, if he could pre-
vent it. Mrs. Herbert, from her first entrance
in the house, had incurred his especial dislike.
He never saw her without treating her with
a rudeness, as unusual as ill-bred, towards
a woman occupied in nursing the person he
professed to love above all others his wife.
He would mutter his dislike of fat people in
her hearing, and his distaste of old women
with flaxen locks ; and her equanimity under
his unprovoked insults had no effect in miti-
gating them. The evening of the day previous
to that named for her departure, Mrs. Herbert
was exhorting her weeping daughter to bear
their approaching separation with courage,
when the door of the chamber was violently
thrown open, and, pale with rage, Mr. Fraser
rushed in.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 47
" Leave my house, leave my house, instantly,"
shrieked he, his discordant voice raised to its
utmost pitch. Mrs. Herbert grasped a chair
for support, and seemed ready to sink on the
floor. "I have discovered you, base and
shameless woman, thus to steal into my house,
to teach my wife disobedience and deception."
" Mr. Fraser, Mr. Fraser, how can you
insult my mother?" exclaimed his wife, pale
as marble, and trembling with emotion, as she
interposed between them, and embraced Mrs.
Herbert.
" She shall go this moment, this very mo-
ment," screamed he, " or I will send for the
police, and consign her to their charge, for
entering my house in disguise, and under a
fictitious name."
" And if you do," repeated his wife, drawing
herself up, with a dignity that seemed to sur-
prise and awe him, " never again will I look
on you as other than a cruel tyrant, who, by
his unnatural treatment in separating me from
my family, has compelled the disguise and the
deception he would now punish so severely."
48 MEMOIRS OF
" My child, he is your husband," said Mrs.
Herbert, her trembling lips almost refusing to
articulate the words.
" Hypocrite ! " exclaimed Mr. Fraser, " would
you now again deceive me ? who is it that has
fostered this audacious spirit in a weak girl, who
before you stole like a thief into my house, dared
not question my will, nor seek to frustrate it?"
" You know her not. Oh, my mother, that
you, who are all goodness, who have exhorted
me so strongly to obedience to this cruel man,
should be accused of conduct of which you
are so wholly incapable ! It is your own in-
justice and violence, Sir, that has conquered
my weak submission. There is a point, and
every throb of my heart, and every pang of
my wounded feelings tell me so, at which
submission would be base and unworthy. Let
my mother leave this house, as it becomes a
gentlewoman to do, and permit me to occasionally
see and hear from her and my sisters, and you
will find me in everything else as submissive
as before."
"Never, never. Rather would I see you
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 49
dead at my feet ; rather know that my resolu-
tion had killed you, than consent to this. I
command your mother to leave my house this
instant, and never more to pass its doors."
Mrs. Herbert pressed her child to her heart,
pronounced a blessing on her head, and re-
signing the fainting Mrs. Fraser to the arms
of Selina, hastily left the room, followed by her
ruthless son-in-law, uttering the most cutting
reproaches while she put on her cloak and bonnet,
and not losing sight of her until she left
the house. He then returned to his wife's
chamber ; who, hardly restored to conscious-
ness, lay extended on the sofa, where Selina
had placed her. She shuddered at his approach,
and this involuntary symptom of dread and
dislike increased his anger.
" When your scheming mother descends to
assuming a disguise and false name," said he
sternly, "she should be more careful about
her letters. Look here; I found this epistle
on the stairs ; it fell out of the envelope, which
was addressed to her by her false name, and,
urged by an irresistible impulse, I perused it,
VOL. III. D
50 MEMOIRS OF
and discovered the cheating that had been
practised. This, however, shall never occur
again. I will remove you from the reach of
your family. I will take you out of England ;
and it will depend on yourself, whether I over-
look the insubordination you exhibited this
morning, or not. Have Mrs. Fraser's clothes
packed up," said he to Selina, "for we shall
leave England at once. But stay," added he,
" were you privy to the plan of Mrs. Herbert
for entering my house in disguise ? who hatched
the project? was it Mrs. Eraser, or her
mother ? "
" Mrs. Herbert, believing her daughter's life
to be in danger, and trembling with anxiety
for her, sought to attend her as nurse. Mrs.
Eraser was wholly ignorant of the deception,
until it was accidentally discovered, some time
after Mrs. Herbert was in the house."
: 'You confess, then, that you were aware
that the pretended nurse was Mrs. Herbert,
yet you made no communication of that fact
to me ! "
"I saw Mrs. Fraser's health derive such
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 51
benefit from the care of her mother, that I
dared not interfere," replied Selina, timidly.
" Then you cannot be surprised that I at
once dismiss you from my wife's service. Leave
my house forthwith."
" What ! send away the only person who
can be of use to me," said my gentle mistress.
" You cannot surely be so cruel, in my present
weak state, too!" and tears flowed down her
face.
" There shall be no confederates in my
house, to aid and abet the schemes carried on
against my peace," observed her brutal hus-
band. " I will have only those about you
whom I can depend on, who will consult my
wishes, and not your's. The sooner you leave
the house the better," continued he, addressing
Selina, " Come with me, and deliver up your
mistress's jewels and valuables. The house-
keeper can wait on you," added he, turning to
his weeping wife, " until a suitable attendant is
found for you."
Selina approached Mrs. Fraser, pressed her
trembling hand to her lips, and breathed a
D 2
52 MEMOIRS OF
prayer for her, and then, filled with pity and
regret, hurried from the room, leaving her mis-
tress bitterly weeping. She rendered up to
Mr. Fraser the costly jewels, and other valu-
ables in her charge, he carefully counting out
each, according to the inventory of them de-
livered to her on entering the house. When
this ceremony was finished, he paid her the
salary due; and, relaxing a little from his
sternness, offered her a present.
" No, Sir, I can accept nothing from one who
thinks ill of me," observed Selina ; but, before I
depart, pardon me if I warn you that you are
trifling with your own happiness, that you will
destroy the health of Mrs. Fraser. If you had
listened, as I did, Sir, to the excellent counsel
Mrs. Herbert gave her daughter, how different
would your thoughts be of her ! Be assured
that never did two more admirable women exist
than Mrs. Herbert and Mrs. Fraser, or more
deserving of happiness."
" What bribe have they given you for this
fulsome praise?" demanded the terrible old
man, his sallow face assuming an expression of
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 53
cunning, mingled with dislike ; " and when,
pray, has it become the usage for ladies' maids
to take on themselves to give their opinions on
family affairs to their masters ? "
Selina attempted no reply to this speech ;
but, making him a curtsey, descended the stairs,
left the house, and walking to the nearest
stand of coaches, entered one, and was driven
to her kind friend Mrs. Steadfast's, where she
met with a most cordial reception, and would
have felt comfortable, could she but forget the
unhappy fate of her late charming and interest-
ing mistress, whose thraldom filled her with, the
deepest pity and regret. In two days after,
she read in the ' Morning Post," among the
list of fashionable movements, the departure of
Mr. and Mrs. Fraser, from Grosvenor-square,
for the Continent, and sighed, as she reflected
how sad and painful such a journey must be to
the poor young creature, leaving all dear to her
behind, and with so stern and tyrannical a com-
panion. " Alas ! " thought Selina, " her's is, in-
deed, a splendid misery, from which I can foresee
no release. Her husband will probably live long
MEMOIRS OF
enough to preclude all happiness. Her youth
will wear away under his galling yoke, or else
she will sink into a premature grave, the victim
of his cruelty ! "
In a few days after, the inquiries of Mrs.
Steadfast, made at the request of Selina, in
search of a new situation, were crowned with
success. The young and beautiful Duchess of
Glenallen, whose name figured continually in
the newspapers of the day, as the observed of
all observers, the leader of the ton, the glass of
fashion, required a femme de ckambre, or rather,
something between an humble companion and a
lady's maid. A milliner, who was employed by
her grace, and who happened to be a near
relative of Mrs. Steadfast's, named the subject
to her; and offered to recommend Selina, who,
the bearer of a letter from the modiste, pro-
ceeded the following day to Glenallen House,
and was admitted to the presence of its noble
mistress. The remarkable beauty and aristo-
cratic air of the youthful Duchess greatly
struck Selina, but the natural dignity of the
high-born lady was so tempered by a gracious-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 55
ness of look and manner, that at once capti-
vated those of an inferior station who ap-
proached her, that the grandeur of the stately
Duchess was forgotten in the feminine softness
of the beautiful woman. When, in answer to
her grace's inquiries, Selina informed her of
the cause of her having left her last situation,
the Duchess looked even more kindly at her
than before. " Poor Mrs. Fraser, how much I
pity her!" said the Duchess. " You were quite
right not to have betrayed her and her unfor-
tunate mother to that dreadful old man. I
might, I suppose, refer to Mrs. Herbert for a
testimonial of your abilities, not that I in the
least doubt them."
" Certainly, your grace."
The letter was written, and, in due time, a
most satisfactory answer was received, accom-
panied by a note for Selina, filled with expres-
sions of gratitude and kindness for her devotion
to her late mistress, and regret at Mrs. Eraser's
having lost so faithful an attendant.
Selina now entered on her new duties, and
her gentle mistress lightened them by her amia-
56 MEMOIRS OF
bility. She had been some days in the splendid
establishment, at Glenallen House, before she
saw its master, every hour increasing her admi-
ration for the Duchess.
One morning the Duke's valet tapped at the
dressing-room door, and requested to be in-
formed when his grace could be favoured with
an interview by the Duchess.
When Selina delivered the message, the
Duchess changed colour, and an expression of
annoyance overspread her beautiful face. " Tell
him I will see the Duke in an hour," said she ;
and then she leaned her cheek on her hand, and
remained a few minutes absorbed in reflection,
evidently of a painful nature, if the curved
brow and compressed lips might be taken as
proofs of chagrin. " Give me a glass of water,
and drop some sal volatile into it, my good
Miss Stratford," said her grace.
Selina did as she was told, and the Duchess,
having drank the contents of the glass, sighed
deeply, and, making an effort to resume her
self-composure, commenced the Duties of her
toilette.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 57
From the first day that she entered the
house, Selina had been struck by the unequal
spirits of her noble mistress, but she had never
witnessed her evince such visible signs of pain-
ful emotion as since the interview with her
lord had been requested. Frequent sighs heaved
her exquisite bust, and an impatience in sub-
mitting to being attired, never previously
noticed by her attendant, certified that the
expected visit was anything but agreeable to
her. Her toilette completed, she looked at the
pendule on the mantel-piece, and seeing that
the hour was arrived when the Duke might be
expected, she told Selina to take in her bouquet
and salts to the boudoir, and place them on the
table near her bergere ; and she then betook
herself there.
When Selina, having fulfilled her lady's be-
hest, was leaving the boudoir, an aged and
infirm gentleman entered it. She drew back
to allow him to pass, concluding that he must
be some relation, perhaps the grandsire of the
Duke or Duchess. Of tall stature, though
bent by age, there was something peculiarly
58 MEMOIRS OF
aristocratic in the appearance and bearing of
this old gentleman. " I fear I have disturbed
you earlier than your accustomed hour of leav-
ing your chamber, Duchess," said he, with an
air of perfect good breeding.
"It is of no consequence," was the reply;
but the tone in which it was uttered was so
unlike the usually bland one of the fair Duchess,
that Selina was impressed with a conviction
that the person to whom the words were ad-
dressed did not stand in the relation to her
mistress that she had supposed. No, to a
parent of either herself or her husband, more
respect, or warmth of manner, would have
been shown. Selina left the room, wondering
whether it could be possible that the foppish
old gentleman she had seen could be the Duke
of Glenallen ? but there was such a disparity
of years between him and the Duchess, that
she could hardly bring herself to think so.
She had heard from a Frenchwoman, who had
been the femme-de-chambre of the deceased
mother of the Duchess, and who, having also
served that lady herself before her marriage,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 59
was still, though past her labour, retained in
the establishment as an humble friend and
favourite of her noble mistress, that her Grace
was an heiress of great wealth ; and this cir-
cumstance seemed to render her marriage with
one so very much her senior still more im-
probable.
On enterino; the dressing-room, she found
j O '
that Madame Fanchon w r as there, to pay her
diurnal visit to the Duchess. " Ah! Mademoi-
selle, where is Madame la Duchesse?" demanded
she.
Selina informed her of the summons that
had called her mistress so much earlier than
usual from her chamber, and mentioned having
seen an old gentleman in the boudoir.
" Dat is de Duke, Mademoiselle, have you
net seen him before? ah! mon Dieu! he vill
make her ill; I am sure he vill. He alvays
does ven her asks an entrevue Cher Ange !
quel malheur to have a bad old man for
husband." Then, as if conscious of her indis-
cretion, the Frenchwoman resumed, " You
look good Mademoiselle, you have de education,
D3
CO MEMOIRS OF
and are not like dose giddy young vomen, who
chatter, chatter, and repeat vhatever dey do
hear," forgetting that she, herself, had just
given a proof of indiscretion, which rendered
her comment on the gossiping propensities of
ot\\erfemmes-de-ckamb?'es somewhat out of place ;
"I may derefore say vat I tink to you, Made-
moiselle, vidout being afraid you tell to all de
vorld, and it is a great comfort to be able to open
de mous, and let out all de triste triste toughts
dat do press on de heart, and veigh it down."
Selina bowed assent to the observation ; and
encouraged by this, the old Frenchwoman was
evidently about to give expression to her long
hoarded-up grievances, when the Duchess en-
tered the room, her face flushed, and her whole
air denoting discomposure. Her Grace, never-
theless, assumed a more calm demeanour when
she saw her old servant, "Ah ! ma bonne Fan-
chon, how are you? the rheumatic pains better,
I hope?"
"A leetle, a leetle, cher ange. But you,
you not look like yourself, not happy ?"
"I am only hurried, my good Fanchon, I
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 61
must return to the Duke, who is waiting for
me in the boudoir;" and so saying, the Duchess
drew a gold key from a chain that was inside
her dress, opened her escritoire, took out a
banker's book, wrote a cheque, and having
replaced the book, returned to the boudoir,
kindly nodding to the old Frenchwoman, and
saying "A demain, ma bonne Fanchon, a
demain."
" Ah ! I do guess vat all dat means. Bad
old man ! alvays vanting money. He vill ruin
her if he live long ; and she, clier ange, pays
dear for de liberte to do vat she please. Bad
man! bad man!"
All this seemed strange to Selina; but though
her curiosity was strongly excited, she would
not, on any account, question the old woman,
who, apparently, only waited for a little en-
couragement, to disclose all she knew.
In a few days after, a letter, with a black
seal and deep mourning edges, was delivered
to Selina ; and great was her astonishment
when the signature revealed to her that it
came from her late mistress, Mrs. Fraser, and
62 MEMOIRS OF
announced that she was now, a (not inconsolable)
widow. Yet there was no levity, no elation
in the tone of the letter; it said that poor
Mr. Fraser (how often is the term "poor"
applied to the worthless dead !) had died of an
attack of gout in the stomach, in France, ten
days after he had reached that country;
that she had returned to England with the
remains of her late husband, and was now,
blessed with the society of her mother and
sisters, who had taken up their abode with her,
passing the first weeks of her widowhood in
seclusion. She ended by saying that she longed
to see Selina, whose devoted kindness she never
had forgotten, and never could forget.
Selina obtained permission to go and see
her former mistress.
"I hope, my good Stratford, that she will
not seduce you from me," said the Duchess
kindly, "for I assure you I should consider
such an event as a real misfortune, so well do
you suit me in every possible way."
"And I, your Grace, am so deeply impressed
'with your indulgent goodness, that with all my
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 63
attachment for Mrs. Fraser, I should grieve
to leave your service for hers ; now that with
her good mother and sisters, and released from
the tyranny of so harsh and stern a husband,
she can no longer, as formerly, stand in need
of me."
" Then unhappiness is the strongest claim to
your services, my good Selina?" said the
Duchess.
" I did not mean to say so, your Grace,"
replied Selina, blushing, and looking embar-
rassed.
" Don't deny the sentiment that is so honour-
able to you, my good Stratford," observed the
Duchess, sighing deeply, " and let me hope you
will lonsr remain with me."
(54 MEM01BS OF
CHAPTEE IV.
SELINA found Mrs. Eraser looking beautiful
in her widow's weeds. Never had she appeared
to greater advantage ; for the grave reflections
which the late unexpected event had produced
in her mind, had lent a serious, if not a sad
expression to her lovely face. Her reception
of Selina was full of grateful affection ; nor
was that of her mother and sisters less cor-
dial. They duly appreciated the consolation
she had been to Mrs. Eraser; and the constancy
with which she had borne insult from him, who
was no more a denizen on earth, rather than
betray the confidence reposed in her. How
altered was now the aspect of that house,
formerly resembling nothing so much as a
gilded prison ; where no light footstep was ever
heard, no voice of gladness ever sounded;
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 65
where every one, save its stern gaoler, moved
stealthily through the mansion, afraid to
awaken an echo ; and where he, like some fabled
sorcerer of romance, seemed to cast a spell over
all, to destroy the peace he could not himself
enjoy. Xow, although a becoming gravity
pervaded the abode, that no sounds of rejoic-
ing, no loud knocks of visitors were heard, and
no symptoms of feasting or mirth seen, to
announce the recovered freedom of its young
and beautiful mistress from the state of intole-
rable thraldom in which she had been held;
there were unmistakeable proofs of peace, if
not of happiness. The doting mother could
now, fearless, press her child to her heart, and
lavish on her those attentions dictated by affec-
tion. The duteous daughter could repay them
by her tenderness ; and the fair and gentle
sisters, who had wept so many tears at being
separated from the lovely being, to whom they
were now re-united, basked in her soft smiles,
even although those smiles were less frequent,
and less joyous than their own. The youthful
widow had witnessed death, and in his hours
66 MEMOIRS OF
of suffering had pardoned, nay, more, had
pitied, and would have saved her husband, had
it been in her power. The possession of vast
wealth, bequeathed to her by the departed, in the
spirit of atonement for pain often inflicted, and
patient endurance of it, joined to an unremit-
ting care and attention to soothe the bed of sick-
ness and death, had not dazzled her; yes, he,
the stern, the obdurate old man, had died bless-
ing her ; and she could not look around on the
solid comforts and splendour that surrounded
her, without remembering that she owed them
all to him, whose cold remains were so lately
consigned to the grave.
Mr. Fraser had bequeathed his widow all he
possessed; and the first use she made of her
great wealth, was to secure a noble indepen-
dence to her mother and sisters. The house
was redolent of the perfume of flowers, and the
carol of birds, the property of the fair sisters,
transported there from their former abode.
Every implement of feminine occupation had a
place in the salons formerly so gloomy. Books
were within reach on every gutridon and table ;
4k
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 67
and gentle voices, and loving word?, and sweet
smiles, gave that indefinable charm peculiar
to an abode inhabited by young, accomplished,
and amiable women ; and presided over by
one so capable of superintending it as Mrs.
Herbert.
" I wish, dear Selina, you could return to
me," said Mrs. Fraser. " I should so like to
have you, who shared my trials, partake my
present ," happiness, she was going to say ;
but she paused, as the word rose to her lip,
and, blushing deeply, added, "Xo, I must not
say happiness; it would be ungrateful to the
dead, to him, through whose generosity I am
enabled to enjoy the manifold comforts around
me, and the greatest of all, the society of my
dear mother and sisters ! If you had seen him,
as I did, through his fatal malady, Selina, you
would, like me, forget that he was ever harsh and
austere, and remember only his regret for past
failings, and the kindness evinced at the last.
I cannot" and a tear which stole down her
cheek, marked the truth of the assertion
" enjoy the advantages his generosity have
08 MEMOIRS OF
secured me, without regretting that they have
been acquired by his death."
" If you possessed not dear relatives, who
are so certain to promote your happiness as to
render it independent of my poor services, I
would leave any situation to return to you,
dear Mrs. Fraser; but as, happily, you now
require not my attention, I cannot leave my
present mistress, whose health, by no means
good, and whose spirits unequal, render my
attention acceptable."
" But you will come to see me, dear Selina,
whenever you can ; will you not ? Be assured
that, in me, as well as in my dear mother and
sisters, you shall ever find true and constant
friends. You must not refuse to accept a
slight proof of my regard;" and Mrs. Fraser
arose from her sofa, opened her escritoire, and
taking from it a bank note, forced it into the
hand of Selina. " Eemember that, in all cir-
cumstances and in all times, you may count on
me," resumed the lovely and gentle being;
" and that under my roof you will ever find a
welcome and a home when you desire it."
A FEMME I)E CHAMBRE. 69
The mother and sisters of Mrs. Fraser were
no less kind than herself to Selina, who left
the house filled with gratitude at having secured
such friends.
A growing good-will by degrees sprung up
between the worthy old Frenchwoman and
Selina. The former soon perceived that Made-
moiselle, as she called her, was far superior to
any person in her station with whom sne had
hitherto been brought into contact ; that she pos-
sessed none of the vulgar and idle curiosity,
peculiar to femmes de ckambre; and that she
performed her functions in the service of the
Duchess more as a labour of love than a mere
discharge of them for profit. Adoring the
Duchess, the good woman felt disposed to love
all who sympathized in her affection for that
bright and beautiful being, while she resented,
as a personal injury, any symptom of coldness,
or a less fervent admiration for her than her
own. The Duke's name was never mentioned
in her presence without its producing a change
in her countenance, a deep sigh, almost amount-
ing to a groan, or an impatient shrug of the
70 MEMOIRS OP
shoulders. "Ah, if you knew all, Mademoiselle,
how you Avould pity ce cher angel " would
the Frenchwoman say; " and yet, clat one
vid such beauty, such talents, such fortune,
and high birt, should, trough de vickedness
cf oders, become an object of pity, instead of
one of pride, to dose -who know her, almost
breaks my old heart. No day does pass dat I
do not .tremble for her. Vid her varm heart,
no von to love, whom it is not a sin, a crime to
love. 0, mon Dieu, vhere vill all dis end ! All
de vorld is at her feet. She is so beautiful, dat
all de men adore her ; and so leetle vain, dat de
vomen forgive her for her beauty. Her husband
does not advise, does not yarn her; he leaves
her to float about in de dangerous sea of fashion,
like a ship dat has no von to steer its course, to
point out de rocks and de quicksands dat may
destroy it. She is so young, pauvre cher
ange, she not know de vorld at all ; and if she
do vat is wrong, vat is crime, she vill von day
avake to such misery, dat it vill kill her, or
she vill kill herself."
Such were the reflections that used to burst
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 71
from the over-bur thened heart of the old French-
woman, and fill that of Selina with pity and
dread. Often, when she answered the summons
of the Duchess's bell in the morning, she found
her with heavy eyes and pallid cheeks, that
betrayed that tears more frequently filled up
the hours of night than sleep; and although,
when she paid her daily visit in the dressing-
room, the Duchess would endeavour to conceal
her depression of spirits under the mask of
affected gaiety, she could not impose on her old
and faithful servant, who during the rest of the
day would be wretched.
Though extremely attached to her, it was
evident that the Duchess avoided a tete-a-tete
with Madame Fanchon. Was it that she
dreaded the remonstrances of the privileged old
creature, who had been more the humble friend
than servant of the mother whose memory she
still fondly cherished, as well as her own devoted
attendant since her birth? Whatever the
motive might be, it was clear to Selina, that
the Duchess invariably avoided a tete-a-tete
with Fanchon, and made excuses, whenever, as
72 MEMOIRS OF
was often the case, it was solicited. The low-
ness of spirits increased, the traces of tears
became more frequent, and for whole hours
the Duchess would sit leaning her head on her
hand, so wholly absorbed in reflections, and
painful ones they must have been, judging by
the expression of her countenance, as to be
totally unconscious of the presence of Se-
lina. Then she would start from her reverie,
look at the pendule, dress in a hurry, go to her
boudoir, and remain there until her carriage
was announced. Sometimes it would remain at
the door, the Duchess forgetting it had been
ordered, until it was too late to go out ; and
then, even more dispirited than before, she
would enter her dressing-room, to attire herself
for some grand dinner at which she was ex-
pected to appear, when it was evident she was
almost unequal to the fatigue of dressing.
During the long nights that Selina had to sit
up for her noble mistress, the old French
woman, whose confidence in her discretion had
now become quite established, related to her
the history of the childhood and girlhood of the
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 73
Duchess, without her having given the slightest
encouragement to such a measure. So long
had her hoarded secrets been shut up in her
own heart, not, as it was plain, from discretion,
so much as from not having hitherto found a
person to whom she thought she could safely
confide them, that she now poured them out
freely, interspersed with many ejaculations and
severe censures on those to whom the Duchess's
fate had been confided. We will relate the
tale in a less diffuse and more sober style.
The Duchess of Glenallen was left an orphan
when only in her fourth year. Her mother, one
of the most faultless beings on earth, died in
giving her birth ; and her father, the Marquis
of Oakhampton, followed his beloved wife to
the grave, in four years after ; leaving his only
child one of the richest heiresses in England.
Of the two guardians to whose care he be-
queathed his child, one died within a few
months after the trust had been confided to
him; and the other was, as it unfortunately
turned out, one of the last persons in whom
such a trust should be reposed ; being a man
VOL. III. E
74 MEMOIRS OF
whose indolence and sybarite habits of self-
indulgence had, and with good cause, become
proverbial. He, lamenting the trouble and
responsibility entailed on him by his guardian-
ship, requested a female relation to provide a
governess for the infant heiress: the person
selected was a weak-headed, good-natured
Frenchwoman ; who soon became so passion-
ately attached to the little girl, that she lavished
on her all the tenderness and indulgence cal-
culated to injure a nature disposed to exert,
even at that tender age, a self-will not often
seen in children so young.
Madame de Montauban had once been a
mother, and lost her daughter at about the
same age as the pupil now confided to her care.
The little girl had been very beautiful, and her
death almost occasioned that of her mother, so
intense had been her grief for the loss. Every
handsome child of a similar age, ever seen
afterwards, reminded the poor bereaved mother
of her lost one; nay, she fancied she could
trace a striking resemblance in each to her
departed Julie. In the little Lady Louisa
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 75
Evermond, this fancied resemblance struck Ma-
dame de Montauban more than ever ; hence she
abandoned herself to an adoration for her that
amounted to little less than idolatry. The
clever child soon perceived -the influence she
had acquired over her weak governess, and
exercised it, if not rudely or violently, with a
pertinacity that never failed to carry whatever
point she was bent on obtaining; and, as
Madame de Montauban never combated her
self-will, the poor erring woman remained un-
conscious that her pupil could be indocile if
resisted.
The femme de chambre of her late mother
was, by desire of the Marchioness, always to
remain with her daughter ; and as she transfer-
red all the affection she had borne to her late
mistress to the child, it is not to be wondered
at, that Lady Louisa grew up wholly unac-
customed to the slightest constraint, and was
disposed to give, instead of to receive the law
from her governess. Lord Maplebury, the
relative to whom her guardianship now de-
volved, had, to spare future trouble to himself,
E2
76 MEMOIRS OF
decided that Madame de Montauban should
continue to fill the same post near Lady Louisa,
when that young lady advanced to girlhood,
that she was to occupy during the childhood of
her pupil. Hence- there was no chance for the
over-indulged girl finding, when she entered
her teens, a governess who might correct the
errors engendered by her predecessor. Had
any one told Madame de Montauban that she
was injuring her pupil by her injudicious indul-
gence, and irrational mode of bringing her up,
she would not only have resented such a charge
with indignation, but would have been con-
vinced of its utter injustice.
She loved Lady Louisa so fondly, was so
vain of her beauty, and accomplishments,
that she never imagined the possibility
that even the most fastidious critic could
detect aught to find fault with in a creature so
lovely and amiable. The truth was, the defects
in her pupil were so seldom called into action,
that Madame de Montauban, herself a very
sweet-tempered, kind-hearted woman, was, if
not wholly unconscious of their existence, at
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 77
least far from being acquainted with their
extent : yielding a ready assent to most, if not
all the wishes of the young lady, no occasion
was afforded for the exhibition of ill-humour
or frowardness; or if some symptoms of petu-
lance were occasionally suffered to appear, their
duration was so brief, and the amende, in re-
doubled marks of affection, so quickly followed,
that they were soon forgotten.
Lady Louisa Evermond was passionately
fond of music, and required no stimulus to urge
her to devote the due time and attention ne-
cessary for becoming a proficient in it Drawing
was to her a positive pleasure, instead of an
irksome task. Reading she delighted in, be-
cause the books furnished for her perusal were
much more calculated to amuse than to instruct ;
hence, the governess congratulated herself on
having the most docile pupil in the world;
and boasted that " ce cher ange never gave
her the least trouble, but was quite as desirous
to pursue her studies, as she could be to incite
her to them."
Lady Louisa was not like the generality of
78 MEMOIRS OF
over-indulged young persons, ungrateful, or
ungracious to her governess. On the contrary,
if she neither feared nor respected her very
much, she loved her a great deal; and conscious
that Madame de Montauban entertained for
her the most devoted affection, warmly re-
paid it.
When Lady Louisa Evermond had achieved
her sixteenth year, Madame de Montauban
was seized by an illness which, after the dura-
tion of three weeks, put a period to her exist-
ence. It was then that the orphan girl, rich
in beauty and in fortune, became sensible, for
the first time, of the isolation of her position.
The kind friend, who had doted on her to such
a degree as to be either blind to her faults or
too partial to reprove them, was now no more.
She had no longer by her side one who was
not only ready to fulfil all her wishes, but who
even endeavoured to anticipate them, and who
seemed to think she was only sent into the
world to save her pupil from every care and
annoyance. Deep was the grief of Lady
Louisa for her governess. A thousand traits
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 79
of the gentleness, fondness, and indulgence of
poor Madame de Montauban, were now re-
called to her mind, and as many self-reproaches
came with them, at remembered slights and
offences on her own part; viewed by her, when
they occurred, as scarcely meriting blame, but
which she would now have given all she pos-
sessed to recall. Grief is often {^corrective of
the errors of youth. It ripens, while it sobers
the mind. How far it might have had this
beneficial effect on that of Lady Louisa, no
opportunity of judging was afforded; for, un-
fortunately, no sooner was the guardian of that
young lady made acquainted with the death of
Madame de Montauban, than he applied to a
female relative of his to recommend some one
to fill her place.
80 MEMOIRS OF
CHAPTER V.
IN the course of a week, a lady arrived at
the villa, near London, where, for the sake of
having masters from the metropolis, the resi-
dence of Lady Louisa had been chosen. A
more unfortunate selection of a governess to
correct the errors engendered by the kind-
hearted Frenchwoman could not have been
made than in Mrs. Western. Grave and un-
bending to austerity, a smile or kind word as
seldom emanated from the lips of this rigid
disciplinarian, as gentle thoughts did from her
cold heart. Her stiff carriage and stern counte-
nance made a most disagreeable impression on
Lady Louisa, and the harsh tones of her voice
achieved it. The natural good breeding of the
young lady, led her to make some attempt to
do the honours of her house to the stranger,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. SI
and the effort was a painful one, for her grief
was increased, rather than diminished, when
she saw the person who was to take the place
of her poor dear Madame de Montauban. She,
however, soon regretted that she had taken the
trouble of enacting the hostess, when she saw
Mrs. Western assume all the airs of a gouver-
nante towards a child of some eight or nine
years of age, instead of observing the respectful
politeness due to a young lady of nearly double
that number of years.
" I trust that your ladyship has not been
idle since the death of my predecessor," said
Mrs. Western, unceremoniously taking the
berg^re never occupied since Madame de Mont-
aubon had sat in it.
" I have been too much afflicted by the death
of the friend of my youth," replied Lady
Louisa, and the tremulous movement of her
lips, and tones of her voice, bore evidence to
the truth of her assertion, "to think of any-
thing but the loss I have sustained."
" I am sorry that the lady I have replaced
did not better fulfil her duty, than to leave one
82 MEMOIRS OF
so long under her care, ignorant of the impro-
priety, nay more, the sin, of dwelling on painful
subjects, and of giving way to useless regrets."
" I must beg, Madam," and Lady Louisa
drew herself up to the utmost altitude of her
height, " that nothing in the shape of a censure
may be uttered against one whose death I shall
always deplore, and whose memory I shall ever
fondly cherish ;" and here a passionate burst of
tears proved the depth of her emotion.
" Poor young lady," exclaimed Mrs. Western,
her cold grey eyes glancing sternly at the
weeping and agitated girl before her. " I see
that I have much to undo before I can hope
to establish that steady equilibrium of mind,
without which mortals must ever be the sport
of circumstances, and the slaves of their own
over-indulged sensibility."
A feeling nearly allied to anger and indig-
nation stopped the tears of Lady Louisa. To
shed them before one so heartless and stern,
would, she thought, be unworthy of what was
due to herself. A presentiment that this was
but the commencement of a series of annoy-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 83
ances to be expected from the disagreeable
woman before her, and which it, would require
all her strength of mind and fortitude to resist,
flashed through her thoughts, and she became
calm and dignified in a moment.
" It may be as well, Madam," said she, " that
we should at once come to a perfect under-
standing with respect to our relative positions,
before any thing can occur that may render
them disagreeable or offensive. I have entered
on my seventeenth year, a period when young
women are generally emancipated from the care
of a governess ; and when, as in my unfortunate
case, they are motherless," and here her lips
again trembled as the recollection of her own
isolated position occurred to her, " the role of
the governess changes to that of chaperon or
companion, in which light only can I consider
you."
" Age, in my opinion, should make no diffe-
rence in the position of a conscientious gover-
ness," replied Mrs. Western. " Some young
ladies are as much children at sixteen, ay, or
even after they have entered their seventeenth
34 MEMOIRS OF
year, as at eight or nine," and here the speaker
smiled superciliously ; "and consequently re-
quire a governess to correct their false notions,
and regulate their morbid feelings, quite as
much as children do."
" I am not disposed to reason on the hypo-
thesis you have assumed," observed Lady
Louisa, proudly, and somewhat maliciously ;
" if I were, I might say, that with some persons,
even the advanced age of half a century
does not always preclude errors and defects.
I shall simply confine myself to stating that in
no other light than as a companion or chaperon
can I consider you ; and that any attempt on
your part to enact any other role, will find me
not only refractory but unmanageable."
The pale stern face of Mrs. Western became
flushed with anger as she listened to this speech.
She had been told by the lady who had recom-
mended her to the guardian of Lady Louisa, as
a fit person to replace Madame de Montauban,
that she must be prepared to find her pupil a
high-spirited, spoilt child, whom it would be
her duty to correct, and bring to reason.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 85
" Firmness and severity are the only
weapons that will enable you to conquer the
haughty and ungovernable character of this
young lady," said Mrs. Austin, " and if you
wish to fulfil your duty, you must not be
sparing of either."
Be it known to our readers that Mrs. Austin,
the giver of this counsel, and near relative of
Lord Maplebury, the guardian of Lady Louisa
Evermond, had her own motives for urging Mrs.
Western to harshness, and severity towards
her future pupil. The Duke of Glenallen, an
old and profligate voluptuary, whose fortune
had sustained as much injury from the ruinous
extravagance in which he had through a long
course of years indulged, as his constitution
had from the dissipation to which he had aban-
doned himself, was now anxious to barter his title
for wealth, and to find some young and lovely
being, who, for the sake of the ducal coronet
which he could place on her brow, would con-
sent to soothe his declining years, and sacrifice
her youth and beauty to age and infirmity.
But where was this rara avis to be found ?
86 MEMOIRS OF
Loveliness without wealth would not suit him,
and wealth without beauty would not satisfy
him. To Mrs. Austin, an old friend, the Duke
confided his wants and wishes only a month
before the death of Madame de Montauban;
and it instantly occurred to her, that through
her influence with her relative, Lord Maple-
bury, she might assist in arranging a marriage
between the Duke and his ward, Lady Louisa
Evennond. To be sure, such a union could not
fail to be considered most disproportionate.
So young, so lovely, and so rich as the lady
was, she could not, the moment she entered
society, escape being sought by a train of sui-
tors, whose claims to her regard would leave
those of the aged Duke immeasurably behind.
She must therefore be sought and won before
she entered the great world but how was this
to be accomplished ? attended as she ever was
by her fond and watchful governess, who never
quitted her side, and who had keenness of
apprehension enough quickly to discover the
views of those around her, and to defeat them
the moment she deemed it necessary. The Lady
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 87
Louisa was so happy, too, with her kind and
doting governess, that she could have no in-
ducement, save love, almighty love, for wishing
to change her situation. So great, too, was
the notion entertained by Madame de Mont-
auban, of the merits of her beautiful efeve, that
there were few men, whatever their deserts
might be, that she would consider worthy of
becoming her husband. How little chance,
then, could the old and infirm Duke have to
conciliate her good opinion, or to blind her
to the utter unsuitableness of such a marriage !
No, Mrs. Austin saw there was no hope of
success in that quarter, and had abandoned the
project, when Lord Maplebury called on her
to announce the death of Madame de Mont-
auban, and to request her to find a successor
for that lady.
" But you must remember, my good cousin,"
said Mrs. Austin, " that Lady Louisa is now
past sixteen, and that she requires a dame de
compagnie rather than a governess."
" Call her what you will, dame de compagnie,
chaperon, governess, anything, provided I am
88 MEMOIRS OF
not to be troubled. Eeally my health and
habits will not permit me to be harassed. 1 '
"Nevertheless, my good cousin, in a few
months more you must have this young lady
home, must have her presented at Court, fill
your house with company, and escort her into
public."
" Not for worlds ! not for worlds ! Don't
name such a thing. Why the very notion puts
me in a fever. Feel how my hand burns ;
why did I consent to be named one of her
guardians ? It was perfect madness. But
who could have anticipated that the other two
guardians would die, and leave me in for the
whole trouble ? "
Mrs. Austin was more than half tempted to
offer to relieve her cousin from the charge
which weighed so heavily upon him, and to say
that she would undertake to receive Lady Louisa
under her roof; but the dread of this proposal
being rejected, checked her, for she knew that
Lord Maplebury was disposed to suspicion,
and liked to defeat the projects of those whom
he thought had any design on him. She recol-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 89
lected, too, that he knew she was in embarrassed
circumstances, for he had more than once come
forward to her aid with considerable sums;
hence she fancied that he would attribute
her offer of receiving his ward to its true cause,
an interested motive.
"Yes, yours, my dear cousin, is in truth
a troublesome task, and it is a pity you ever
undertook it. But you are so kind-hearted, so
unselfish, that you are prone to think only
of others, and to forget and forego your own
comfort."
Perhaps in the whole circle of her acquain-
tance Mrs. Austin knew not an individual as
selfish as Lord Maplebury; and so perfectly
convinced was she of this fact, that had she
been called on to name the person the most
engrossed by self, her cousin would have in-
stantly occurred to her mind. With this con-
viction, it required no little hypocrisy to utter
the compliment she had just pronounced, and
no slight confidence in the weakness and vanity
of him to whom it was addressed, to suppose it
would be acceptable. But when was flattery
90 MEMOIRS OF
found to be unacceptable? and the knowledge
of mankind, evinced on this occasion by the
artful and designing Mrs. Austin, was repaid
by the complacency of the peer.
You are right," replied he, " I do trouble
myself too much about others, and after all,
a quoi bon ? One never gets any return for it,
no gratitude. Why, would you believe it, it
was only last week that my rascal of a cook
refused to take physic, although I put myself
into a fever in endeavouring to persuade him."
" How good and kind of you !"
" The soups and entrees for three days before
proved to me that his palate had lost its deli-
cacy of taste, ergo, he required physic. I sent
for my doctor, had Beauplat examined, and
a medicine was ordered for him; the rascal
positively refused to take it ; nay, only fancy
his ingratitude, when I endeavoured to per-
suade him, the fellow said that he was sure
I cared not a rush about his health, and only
thought of my own dinner. There's gratitude
for you ! After that, busy^ yourself about the
health of your servants! In the same way.,
A 1'EMME DE OHAMBRE. 91
there's Janillion, my maitre tfhotel, who has
a cough, the very sound of which attacks my
nerves so much, that I am forced to order him
out of the room; and when I said he must
either get cured or leave my service, the fellow
had the coolness to tell me that in France an
old servant was never discharged because he
was ill, and insinuated that I thought more
of my own ears being annoyed by his cough,
than of his lungs suffering."
" How shocking ! But this comes from your
being too good, too kind ; indeed it does."
" I believe you are right, cousin. But let us
now think of the person who is to be sent to
replace Madame de Montauban. Do you know
of any one?"
" Yes, I do know a lady, very highly recom-
mended; and your ward, by all accounts, requires
a very superior person, for I have heard that
she is extremely self-willed and unmanageable."
" Not more so, I dare say, than the rest of
her sex. You are all self-willed and unmanage-
able, cousin, which is the reason that I have
never married."
92 MEMOIRS OF
" You are determined on not bringing Lady
Louisa to your house, which you ought to do,
or else find a home for her, with some single
lady of good family, who could present her
in society."
" We'll think of that in another year. It
will be quite time enough. There's no hurry.
Many girls are not presented until eighteen;
and an heiress ought to be introduced into
the world rather later than sooner than any
other young women."
"Well, then, I will at once engage Mrs.
Western. Shall I send her to have an inter-
view with you, and take your instructions ?"
" On no accouut. I leave all the arrange-
G
ments to you. Give her all the instructions
you think necessary, but don't let me have any
more trouble on the subject."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 93
CHAPTER VI.
MRS. WESTERN was engaged, and despatched,
after having received the advice and instruc-
tions of Mrs. Austin to rule her pupil with a
firm hand, and not, on any account, to give
way to her in a single point. " If you do,
your stay will be short, I can assure you," were
the last words of Mrs. Austin, when she bade
her farewell. How well disposed Mrs. Western
was to follow this counsel, her first interview
with Lady Louisa proved. But the disposition
to tyrannize increased every day, as her natural
acerbity of temper was aroused into action
by the dignified coldness with which her
attempts to control the young lady were met.
The home, hitherto so cheerful and happy, was
now rendered unbearable to Lady Louisa; who,
before a fortnight had elapsed after the arrival
94 MEMOIBS OF
of Mrs. Western, felt herself compelled to
write to her guardian, to request the dismissal
of that person.
Lord Maplebury was suffering under a slight
attack of gout, when his ward's letter reached
him ; and having read only the signature, he
instantly despatched it to Mrs. Austin, who
perused it with no slight satisfaction, as every
line bore testimony how faithfully Tier instruc-
tions to Mrs. Western had been carried into
effect. " Yes, my scheme works well," thought
she. "I saw that Mrs. Western was a short-
sighted fool, as well as an ill-tempered woman ;
had she not been so, she would have neglected
my advice, and conciliated the good-will of
Lady Louisa, who could so well repay her
indulgence hereafter ; and I almost feared she
would. But now all is right, and it only re-
mains for me to see the Duke of Glenallen, and
make my own terms for securing him the hand
of the fair heiress.
The terms were made; Mrs. Austin was
not only permitted, but incited, to render the
position of Lady Louisa insupportable; no
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 95
answers were returned to the letters of com-
plaint addressed to her guardian, who never
read a single one of them ; and who was told
by Mrs. Austin, to whom he sent them, that
the Tault was all on the side of his ward, and
that Mrs. Western must not be interfered
with. Meanwhile, the Duke of Glenallen was
advised by his confidante to take a villa, the
grounds of which joined those of the one occu-
pied by Lady Louisa. Here his Grace had
opportunities of seeing the lovely heiress during
her daily walks ; and such was the impression
made by her beauty on his susceptible heart,
that even her fortune, greatly as he stood in
need of it, became only a secondary object in
his mind. He found means, through his valet
de chambre, to corrupt the housemaid of Lady
Louisa, who nightly placed a letter, breathing
the most passionate vows of love, on the pillow
of the young lady, whose youth and inexpe-
rience rendered her unconscious of the impro-
priety of the measure. Had Madame de
Montauban been x alive, the first letter would
have been at once shown to her by her pupil ;
9(3 MEMOIRS OF
but such was the treatment she had experienced
at the hands of Mrs. Western, that she was
determined to repose no confidence in her.
The love-letters were therefore kept a secret ;
and, truth to say, were perused with pleasure
by one who felt that she stood alone in the
world, and had no friend to protect her from
the insulting tyranny of Mrs. Western.
About this time a new proof of the desire to
vex and control Lady Louisa was given by
herfemme de chambre being discharged, without
even a cause being alleged for so arbitrary a
measure. Mademoiselle Fanchon had been, as we
previously stated, with her since her birth ; had
been her mother's maid, and doted on her young
mistress. Madame de Montauban, who valued
and esteemed her, had always treated her with
great kindness and consideration, and Lady
Louisa was greatly attached to her. This last
fact was the sole cause of her dismissal ; and
Lady Louisa, who felt it to be so, shed many
tears, when she saw her humble but faithful
friend driven from her house.
The Duke of Glenallen, who, through his
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 97
valet, was made acquainted with every thing
that occurred in the establishment of Lady
Louisa, sought an interview with Madame
Fanchon, the day of her dismissal. He encou-
raged her complaints, conciliated her good will,
and took so lively an interest in the fate of her
young lady, that the old Frenchwoman, capti-
vated by his urbanity and condescension, and
above all, by the purity with which he spoke
her own language, lent 'a willing ear to his
advice.
" Go to Lord Maplebury," said the duke,
" see him, and tell him all you have told me.
He will, he must, release Lady Louisa from the
tyranny under which she now pines, and replace
you with her."
Well did the duke know that Madame
Fanchon's visit to Lord Maplebury would pro-
duce no effect ; but he had his own motives in
urging it. " If you do not succeed in righting
your charming mistress, we will then see what
can be done to free her."
Madame Fanchon adopted this counsel ; was
told Lord Maplebury was engaged, and could
VOL. in. F
98 MEMOIRS OF
see no one. A long letter which she wrote, in-
closing one from Lady Louisa, was, like all the
former ones, sent to Mrs. Austin; and after
waiting a few days, Madame Fanchon
again sought an interview with the Duke of
Glenallen, who was, she now considered, the
only friend her poor young lady or herself
had in the world. A less simple-minded woman
than Madame Fanchon, might well have
been deceived into fhis belief ; so artfully and
skilfully did the old roue enact his part.
"What can be done, my good Madame?"
demanded he ; " you see it is useless to expect
any amelioration in your poor dear young
lady's terrible position from Lord Maplebury.
Has she no other friend, no relation from
whom she can claim protection? 1 '
"Alas! no."
"Does any plan suggest itself to you,
Madame?"
" Only one, your Grace, and that is la derntere
ressource. It is for Miladi to elope vid me.
I have some monies, several hundreds of pounds,
left me by her dear dead moder, and de savings
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 99
of my vages. On dis Miladi could live in a
little cottage, until she comes of age, and
I vill be her femme de chambre, femme de charge,
cuisinidre and every ting, until she is twenty-
vone."
The duke shook his head, and said, "You
forget, Madame, that Lady Louisa's repu-
tation might be compromised by such a step,
and more, that her guardian would have the
right to reclaim her."
" Bon Dieu ! den dere is no vay to save ma
chere Miladi ? "
" Yes, there is one way, and but one ; and
yet there are many objections to it."
" But if it is de only vay, ve must take it."
" It is for me to free Lady Louisa by making
her my wife."
Madame Fanchon started with such un-
dissembled astonishment, that the old roue,
whose skill in the arts of the toilette, and in
concealing the ravages of time, had, he hoped,
given him the appearance of a man at least
twenty years younger than he really was, felt
hurt and mortified.
r2
100 MEMOIRS OF
" It is true, I am not so youthful a suitor as
Lady Louisa might expect," observed his Grace ;
"but my rank, my fortune, render me in all
other respects a most eligible parti ; and after
all, I can see no other mode of freeing her.
If I did, be assured, Madame, I would not
have suggested this one ; for however great the
attractions of Lady Louisa, and I hear they
are very powerful, I have no desire to marry,
and pity for her cruel position has alone
prompted my proposal. v>
" Yes, yes, you speak vat is right. It is de
only vay to save ma pauvre mattresse. To live
nearly five years more vid dat horrid Madame
Vestern 13 too terrible to be tought of. Yes,
yes, de only ting is to marry. But how is it to
be done?"
"Leave all that to me. I will obtain a
special licence, have a female relation of high
rank in a chaise and four on the road outside
the garden of Lady Louisa's villa ; you will be
on the spot to accompany your lady to my house
in London, where my chaplain will be in readi-
ness to bestow on us the nuptial benediction."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 101
" But vill Miladi Louisa consent to go vid
you, to many you," demanded Madame
Fanchon, looking doubtingly.
" I hope she will ; for what else can she do ?
You had better write her a letter, stating all
I have now told you, Madame."
" It is no use ; dat horrid Madame Vestern
vill not allow a letter to reach Miladi. Hela* !
He las ! vat a penible position ! "
"Write the letter, nevertheless, and I will
see if I cannot find means to convey it. I really
feel such pity for this young lady, that there is
nothing I would not attempt, to rescue her."
Madame Fanchon's letter, enclosed in a
passionate one from the Duke, urging an elope-
ment and marriage, as the sole mode of freeing
herself from the shackles of Mrs. Western,
reached Lady Louisa safely. She still hesitated
whether she should adopt the alternative pro-
posed ; but some fresh acts of aggression on the
part of her gomernante, the following day,
decided her. The next night, when all in the
house slept save the housemaid, the youthful
heiress, escorted by that person, left the villa for
102 MEMOIRS OF
ever, and in a few minutes she found herself in
the arms of her faithful Fanchon, who led her to
the carriage of the Lady Isabella Villeroy, the
sister of the Duke of Glenallen, who received
her with an affectionate warmth that greatly
soothed and reassured her drooping spirits.
They proceeded to London, and stopped at the
mansion of the Lady Isabella, where every
thing had been prepared for their reception.
"Here, my sweet sister, for so you must
permit me to call you ; to-morrow you will be
really so," said Lady Isabella Villeroy, " you
will find an end of the slavery and annoyances
you have undergone ;" and she embraced Lady
Louisa, who now, for the first time, saw her
face in the well-lighted drawing-room. Great
was her surprise as she looked on a counte-
nance that bore evident marks that at least half
a century had passed over it, leaving many deep
furrows traced by its progress. There was
something incongruous (to her thinking, at
least,) in a girl of little more than sixteen being
addressed as a sister, by one who looked old
enough to be her grandmother; and then came
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 103
the thought of how the Duke, who had looked
so handsome, (she had only seen him at a con-
siderable distance,) could have so elderly a
sister.
" She is probably by a former marriage, for
she must be at least twenty-five years his
senior," thought Lady Louisa. " I am sorry that
I don't find in his sister a person nearer my
own age, of whom I could make a friend. But
he must be friend and all to me now. How
beautifully he writes, and what a distinguished
air he has ! I wonder whether he is really as
handsome when near as he appeared at a dis-
tance. How romantic, that we should never
have met, never have spoken, until we meet at
the altar ! I never read any thing in a novel
so romantic as this ! "
Lady Isabella Villeroy had too much quick-
ness of apprehension, not to have remarked the
disagreeable impression produced by her age on
the mind of her future sister, and too much
tact, not to wish to remove it. She spoke of her
own bad health, which, as she asserted, made
her look many years older than she was, and
]Q4 MEMOIRS OF
added, that although her face had lost the fresh-
ness of youth, her heart still preserved it, as
her dear sister should find, when they knew
each other better. She accompanied Lady
Louisa to her chamber, remained with her
until Madame Fanchon was dismissed, thus
preventing any confidential communication on
her part, and was the first in the morning to
undraw the curtain of Lady Louisa, whom she
left not until they together entered the carriage
that was to convey them to Grosvenor Square.
The Duke met them in the hall of his mansion,
and so admirably had his wig-maker, valet, and
tailor performed their parts in getting him up,
that at the first glance his future bride felt per-
fectly satisfied with his appearance. Short
lived, however, was her satisfaction; for no
sooner did he approach close to her, than, in
spite of all the aids of art, she detected the
melancholy fact, that her bridegroom was even
considerably older than his sister, the Lady
Isabella Villeroy. Tall, finely-formed, and free
from the embonpoint so destructive to the
would-be-juvenility of elderly ladies and gentle-
A EEMME DE CHAMBRE. 105
men, the Duke, at a certain distance, was still a
very fine-looking man ; but had Lady Louisa,
following his Grace's example, trusted less to
her eyes, and used an opera-glass with a very
powerful lens, as he had been wont to do when
looking at her walking in the pleasure grounds
of her villa, she could not have been mistaken
about his age. Sundry deep lines, known by
the appellation of crow's-feet, encircled the
Duke's eyes, the lids of which, too, were greatly
wrinkled, and the orbs themselves were dim and
faded. His brow was a map traced by the
harsh finger of Time. Nor did the fair and
profuse locks that shaded it, render its ap-
pearance less ancient. His whiskers were so
precisely the same colour as his hair, that they
instantly suggested the notion, that not to
Nature's cunning hand, but that of a skilful
wig-maker did he owe them, and his teeth were
so even and regular, that most gentlemen of
his age might be tempted to inquire the name
of the maker.
Such was the exterior of the Duke of Glen-
alien, the first man who had awakened a tender
F 3
106 MEMOIRS OF
thought in the breast of the young and beauti-
ful Lady Louisa, who now shuddered as he
took her hand, drew her trembling arm through
his, and led her to the state drawing-room,
where an altar had been arranged, near to
which his Grace's chaplain, in full canonicals,
stood with open book, ready to perform the
solemn ceremony that was to unite age and
youth, beauty and infirmity, in the indissoluble
bond of wedlock.
For a moment the unfortunate and deceived
girl felt disposed to refuse to permit the mar-
riage to be solemnized. She trembled at the
thought of pronouncing the fatal vows, that
were to bind her for ever to the strange being
before her ! The snowy locks, and toothless
gums of age would have been less repugnant
to her than the curious specimen of the florid
gothic she was contemplating; for age, when
no attempt to conceal or disguise it is made,
inspires, at least, respect; but "the painted
show;" the wrinkled, be-wigged, and be- whis-
kered, old man by her side ; who was smiling,
and looking the enraptured lover, excited only
A EEMME DE CHAMBRE.
107
her disgust ; and she wished herself back with
the tyrannical Mrs. Western, to endure again
all the insults heaped on her, rather than become
the bride of the Duke. But then came the
thought of his kindness his desire to emanci-
pate her ; and, above all, the girlish shame and
timidity, which deprived her of the moral
courage to decline having the marriage cere-
mony performed now, when all was prepared
for it. No ; she felt that she could not avow
the truth; she could not acknowledge that it
was only while she believed her suitor to be
a young man, that his vows were acceptable to
her ; that she was ready to avail herself of his
aid to escape from the severity of Mrs.
Western, and the thraldom in which she was
held by that tyrannical woman. She must now
submit to the fate entailed on her by a tissue
of circumstances, over which she had no control;
and while shrinking with dismay and disgust
from the man who fondly clasped her hand in
his, she must pronounce the fatal words that
united their destinies. A desperate courage
replaced the trembling timidity and fear that,
108 MEMOIRS OF
a minute before, had filled her breast. She
suffered the Duke to lead her to the altar;
forced herself, although in a voice scarcely
audible, to utter the prescribed words; and
felt the ring placed on her finger.
She seemed as if in a dream, a painful, a
terrible dream it was ! until at the completion
of the ceremony, when the bridegroom pressed
his lips to hers those rosy virginal ones,
which had never before known the touch of
man; she uttered a faint cry, and would have
fallen to the ground had not the Duke sup-
ported her. It was some time ere she was
restored to consciousness. When she opened
her eyes, and saw her husband bending over
her on one side of the sofa where she had been
placed, and the plain face of his sister on the
other, she closed them again with an involun-
tary shudder, as if to shut out a sight too pain-
ful to be borne. A sigh, amounting almost to
a groan, burst from her oppressed bosom ; and
then, summoning all her strength of mind to
her aid, she declared herself to be better, and
then thanked the Duke and his sister for their
kind attention.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 109
CHAPTER VII.
LORD MAPLEBURY'S dislike to trouble, pre-
vented him from taking any steps to mark his
dissatisfaction at the stolen marriage of his
ward. He contented himself, when the intelli-
gence reached him, with giving instructions to
his legal advisers, to see that the Duchess's
fortune was secured to herself; a measure
which the pride and affected disinterestedness
of her husband prevented him from disputing;
and when Mrs. Austin assured Lord Maple-
bury that he might consider himself fortunate
in being now rid of all trouble about his ward,
he was not disposed to question the assertion,
or to regret the cause. Mrs. Austin received
the sum she had bargained for from the Duke,
and Mrs. Western touched a quarter's salary
MEMOIES OF
for the few weeks she had domineered over
her late pupil.
The Duke and Duchess of Glenallen left
England a few days after their nuptials, and
the prolonged tete-a-tetes, which travelling
afforded them, far from decreasing the dislike
of the young and lovely bride to her old hus-
band, only served to increase it to such a degree,
that she found it impossible to conceal the
symptoms of her repugnance. The amour
propre of the vain old roue became wounded,
as daily evidence of his wife's personal distaste
towards him was revealed. His ill-temper,
which he now took no pains to conceal, achieved
the dislike previously excited in the heart of
the Duchess, and made her reckless of annoying
him. The admiration that followed her wher-
ever she appeared, gratified her vanity ; and the
discovery that it vexed her jealous lord, only
induced her to encourage, still more openly, the
attentions of a train of admirers who sur-
rounded her. The fame of her beauty and
fascination, with all the spiteful comments that
such fame never fails to excite, had spread far
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. Ill
and wide, raising up a host of envious women,
and scandal-loving men, prepared to question
her claims, if not to admiration, at least to
respect, when she returned to England. Her
arrival in London produced, in fashionable
parlance, quite a sensation. The women denied
her beauty with a pertinacity and warmth,
only to be equalled by that with which the
men avowed it to be matchless; and ere the
Duchess had been a month in London, the
sceptre of beauty and fashion was decreed to
her by the suffrages of those who elect a
sovereign for the season. The impartiality
with which the lovely Duchess received the
homage of all her admirers, precluded any
jealousy among them, until, in an evil hour,
Lord Glastonbury, captivated by her smiles,
entered the lists, determined to leave no
art untried to make an impression on a
heart that had hitherto resisted all who had
attempted to subdue it. It would be a feat
worthy his ambition, and, coute qui coute,
he would essay it. He studied the tastes
and character of the Duchess, and found that
112 MEMOIRS OF
beneath much levity an under-current of strong
feeling and romantic sentiment lay hidden, by
awakening which, only could her peace be
endangered, or her virtue overthrown. He
assumed a melancholy air, would sit apart, with
his eyes fixed on her face, while other men
pressed around her, until by pursuing this line
of conduct it attracted her attention, and excited
her curiosity. Whenever he caught her glance,
he would appear embarrassed, turn away, yet
resume his earnest gaze when he thought her
unobservant of it ; hover near to listen to the
sound of her voice, and start as from a deep
reverie when spoken to. A perseverance of
some weeks in this system was crowned with
success. That he admired her, the Duchess
felt convinced; his passionate glances, his
reserve, his abstraction, proved it more elo-
quently than all the attentions of the adorers
who crowded around her. How much more
touching was the passion that sought conceal-
ment, and was content to suffer in silence,
than the demonstrations, ajfickes, by the herd
who offered incense at the shrine of her beauty.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 113
She longed, yet feared to hear him own his
love. She already felt there would be more
danger in listening to him, than in hearing
all the flatteries ever previously poured into
her ear ; yet, in proportion to her dread, became
her desire to be assured that her vanity had
not misled her, and that she was indeed beloved
by one who was capable of feeling the passion
with all the fervour and romantic devotion
which her youthful imagination pictured, and
the absence of which, in her other admirers, had
prevented her heart being touched by their
adulation and assiduities. Lord Glastonbury,
experienced in all the wiles employed by his
treacherous sex when they would ensnare the
heart of woman, marked with delight the
interest he had created, but, fearful of dissipa-
ting it, he forbore to approach near to his idol,
or to appear conscious that she observed his
devotion to her. Like a skilful angler, who
tranquilly lets his bait float until his prey
is secured on the hook hidden beneath it, he
kept at a distance, elated to find that, unmindful
of the attentions of her other adorers, the eyes
]14 MEMOIRS OF
of the Duchess were continually directed to
him, and that she became silent and abstracted
in turn. Often did she determine to address
him when she passed near where he stood, but
as often did her courage fail. A vague pre-
sentiment of danger associated itself with his
image in her mind, and even this undefined
dread invested him with new interest and
attraction. When present, he occupied all her
attention ; when absent, her thoughts continu-
ally reverted to him.
Chance sometimes effects that which, without
its interference, might remain long in embryo,
or never be accomplished. One night, on
entering a ball room rather earlier than was her
wont, the robe of the Duchess of Glenallen
became entangled in the branches of an orange
tree placed near a column, against which Lord
Glastonbury was leaning. He came to her aid
to disengage it.
" I fear I am so awkward," said he in a low
voice, his trembling hands betraying his emo-
tion. The Duchess bent down to assist in
disentangling the lace from the branch, and
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 115
their hands involuntarily met. A deep blush
mounted to her very temples, and was suc-
ceeded by an extreme paleness.
" Good heavens, you are ill ! " whispered Lord
Glastonbury, " let me lead you into the con-
servatory, the cool air there will revive
you."
The Duchess took his arm ; they walked
slowly to the conservatory, and hope beat high
in his heart as he felt her white and rounded
arm, which might have served as a model to a
sculptor, so exquisite were its proportions,
tremble within his own. The coolness of the
conservatory revived her, and they paused
at a marble fountain in the centre of it, which
threw up its silvery showers towards the roof
of glass, through which the bright moon-beams
were distinctly seen descending, as if to mingle
with the crystal showers. The rich perfume
of the plants and flowers, the soothing murmur
of the sparkling waters of the fountain, the
distant sounds of the music, and the solitude of
the spot, had a powerful effect on the feelings
of the lovely but thoughtless woman, who, silent
116 MEMOIRS OF
and trembling, dared not meet the impassioned
gaze of Lord Glastonbury.
"Is not this a dream," whispered he, as
he pressed her hand to his throbbing heart.
" How often, loveliest, most adored of women,
have I longed for a moment like this to tell you
the secret that consumes my heart, that preys
on my life. Pity me, oh, most perfect of
created beings, and pardon a hopeless passion,
pure as the lovely object that has given it
birth ! Why, why does an indissoluble barrier
divide our destinies ? We might have loved
4n innocence, in purity ; but now, oh fool that I
amti^ream, that aught so divine as you could
deign to look on one so unworthy as I am!
yet, if a love deeper and more devoted than
ever before filled the breast of man can merit
pity, well do I deserve yours."
The Duchess shuddered, and turned her eyes
on her companion for the first time since they
had entered the conservatory. Those dark,
lustrous eyes were filled with tears, and her
face was pale as marble. A presentiment of
evil filled her heart ; a sense of her own weak-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 117
ness overpowered her. Conscience, even in
that moment of passionate love, whispered, that
sin and sorrow (when were they ever far
asunder ?) would be the result of this interview ;
yet she had not strength to fly from the danger
that menaced her. " Would that we had never
met ! " murmured she.
" Rather say, would that we were never
more to part ! " whispered her lover.
" Let us leave this place," said the Duchess;
and a shudder shook her delicate frame.
" Oh ! go not, until you pronounce my par-
don for presuming to avow the burning passion
that has so long consumed me. Trust me,
loveliest of women, your honour is dearer to
me than life. You have nought to dread from
me. Have I not suffered in silence ? have I not
avoided, rather than sought you ? and would I
not have struggled on, enduring all the pangs
of a hopeless passion, had not destiny drawn us
to-night to this spot ? Suffer me to love, to
adore you ! I ask no sacrifice, I require no
reward. Pity, such as angels might accord to
erring man, is all I crave ; and that virtue need
118 MEMOIRS OF
not deny. Only tell me that, had you been
free, I might have hoped to aspire to the bless-
ing of calling this hand mine" and he pressed
her snowy hand to his lips " and I will ask no
more."
" Oh ! were I free," exclaimed the Duchess,
her voice almost choked by emotion, " this hand
should be yours, in the sight of God and man ! "
" One word more, angel of my life : promise
me that, should you ever be free and the
Duke's age precludes not this possibility pro-
mise me that you will be mine, and only mine."
" I promise," whispered the Duchess ; " and
now, oh ! now let us return to the ball room,
my absence will be remarked ! yet no, let us
not enter the room together. I will go first,
and you must go back through the ante-room."
Never previously had the Duchess had occa-
sion to have recourse to a manoeuvre like this.
Her actions and movements, if open to the
charge of levity, were free from even the
thought of sin, or the dread of evil interpreta-
tion. An hour before, she would have derided
the notion of fearing to enter the ball room
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 119
with any of the admirers who always fluttered
around her ; but now she was no longer strong
in the proud consciousness of her own inno-
cence; she had listened to the pleadings of a
guilty passion nay more, had avowed a reci-
procity ; and, sinfully anticipating the death of
her husband, had engaged the hand which
belonged to him, to another; and conscience
whispered to her, that no longer dared she
encounter the gaze of the crowd, as hitherto
she had been fearlessly wont to do; and that
henceforth, every look, every movement, must
be guarded, lest she should betray, to the prying
eyes of the malignant, the guilty secret of her
love. Never, since the day she had approached
the hymeneal altar, had she felt so timid, so
embarrassed, as when, with unsteady steps, she
again entered the ball room. The crowd, the
heat, the blaze of light, and the joyous sound of
the brisk music, overpowered her so much, that
she was glad when one of the train of her
admirers came forward, and offered her his arm.
And yet, when she had accepted it, she re-
gretted that she had done so, for it seemed like
120 MEMOIRS OF
an infidelity to him on whose arm hers had so
lately rested. What would lie think, should he
see her thus familiarly leaning on another ? and,
for the first time in her life, the Duchess felt
that her actions would henceforth be subjected
to the approval or disapproval of one to whom
she had given a right to judge them to one to
whom she could only be bound by a guilty bond.
" Where have you been, lovely truant ? "
lisped Lord Henry Ellestree. " Your gardes du
carps have separated, and gone in various direc-
tions in search of you. Had any one of them
been absent, while you were unfound, he would
have been sacrificed by the rest, on the sus-
picion of having the envied honour and happi-
ness of being with you ; but as all answered to
the roll-call, no jealousy was excited."
Accustomed as she was to the familiar tone of
badinage of her admirers, never previously had
it sounded so disagreeably to her ears as at this
moment. It appeared to her as nothing short
of insult ; and the thought of how Lord Grlas-
tonbury would have been shocked had he heard
it, increased her disgust.
A FEMME DE CIIAMBRE. 121
" I have been rather indisposed," observed
the Duchess, assuming an air of unusual coldness
and reserve, " and sought relief from the exces-
sive heat of the ball-room, which affected me
the moment I entered it, in the conservatory,
the freshness of which revived me."
<e How cruel not to have given notice to your
body-guard, who claim the privilege of attend-
ing you ! "
" I would not accept royalty on condition of
such attendance," replied the Duchess, in a
tone of undisguised hauteur.
" Ungrateful sovereign ! most despotic of all
rulers ! queen of hearts ! is this your thanks
to the chosen band who wear your chains
and dispute your smiles ? "
" A truce to badinage, Lord Henry Ellestree,
I pray you : I am, in good truth, tired of the
folly of those who waste their time, and make
themselves, and me too, ridiculous, by the
exhibition of their attentions."
"You are surely jesting, fair Duchess; you
cannot be serious? To behold your Grace
unattended by your faithful garde du corps t
VOL. III. G
122 MEMOIRS OF
would be as strange, as to imagine Venus, your
prototype, unaccompanied by the Graces."
At this moment Lord Glastonbury ap-
proached, and took his usual station, at a little
distance from her who occupied all his thoughts.
She felt grateful for his consideration, in not
coming to speak to her, though she longed for
him to do so ; and was obliged to exert all her
eelf-control not to fix her eyes on him. He
looked even more pale and serious than for-
merly, but there was an expression of deep ten-
derness in his glance when it met hers, that
touched her to the heart. And now, those who
had gone in search of the Duchess, through the
suite of rooms, returned, and flocked around
her, as had been their wont; each and all
littering the most flattering speeches, on the
anxiety they had endured through her absence,
and the satisfaction experienced at finding her.
But no longer were their adulations acceptable
to her who had hitherto received them with
pleasure. They had become perfectly irksome
to her, and struck her now, for the first time,
as approaching to impertinence. What would
A FEMME DE CHAMBRL. 123
Lord Glastonbury think of this open and
public homage to her ? Might he not deem it
a great liberty taken, and attribute levity to
her for permitting it? She would not for
worlds that he should think ill of her. Better
were it that she should at once dismiss the
flattering coxcombs around her, than
inflict a single moment's pain on him, even
though such a step might draw on her the
enmity of the vain and giddy train who had
elected her as the object of their adulation.
G 2
124 MEMOIRS OF
CHAPTER VIII.
ACTUATED by these thoughts, the Duchess
assumed a stateliness of demeanour, and a cold
reserve in her manner, as new as they were
unacceptable to her admirers, who looked at
each other askance, to inquire the cause of this
sudden and unaccountable change. Their trouble-
some assiduities were not, however, so easily to
be got rid of, and as the Duchess turned with
distaste from them, she wondered how she ever
could have tolerated such folly. She forgot
how often it had amused and flattered her, to
see this train of young men of fashion haunting
her steps, and disputing her smiles, while other
beauties were left neglected, or occupied only
the attention of one admirer. Lord Glaston-
bury, profoundly skilled in the female heart,
many a one of which he had probed, dissected,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 125
and analysed, marked with inward satisfaction
the alteration so visible in the behaviour of the
object of his guilty love. Her youth, her
exquisite beauty, her deep sensibility, and the
artlessness with which it had been revealed,
made an impression on him that surprised a
heart grown callous from the number of attach-
ments to which it had surrendered itself, and
the brevity of their duration ; but this new
flame bid fair to burn longer and more warmly
than any of the former ones, as its object was
far more worthy of exciting a lasting passion.
What a triumph would it be to his vanity to
see the train of adorers, composed of the most
distinguished young scions of nobility, who
offered their homage to the lovely Duchess,
slighted and dismissed for him ! Yes, the
vain and heartless man, even in the commence-
ment of an attachment, which would involve
the peace and honour of a being, who, though
giddy and fond of admiration, had never yet
been pointed at by the finger of scandal, nay,
whose youth, inexperience, and position, had
conciliated the indulgence of society, and
126 MEMOIRS OF
prevented its attributing evil to her somewhat
open coquetry, could pause to think of the
gratification of his vanity without one reflection
on the certain consequences of it to her!
Oppressed by the new and tumultuous feel-
ings that agitated her breast, the Duchess sate
silent and distraite. She declined the repeated
solicitations of her attending admirers to dance,
though known to be passionately fond of that
exercise, and, fatigued and languid, she arose
to depart long before the conclusion of the
ball. She directed a look of adieu to Lord
Glastonbury, so full % of tenderness, that, as
if unable any longer to control his feel-
ings, he moved hastily from the spot he had
occupied, and, advancing rapidly to her side,
brushing past, as he did so, some of those who
stood ready to dispute which among them
should have the envied honour of leading her to
her carriage, he offered her his arm, which she
accepted, and they left the room.
The surprise of the rest of her admirers
could only be equalled by their anger. They
looked at each other aghast. " Strange !" " ex-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 127
traordinary !" "incomprehensible!" " incroyable !"
broke from the lips of each, as their eyes
followed the retreating steps of the lovely
Duchess; and feelings of wounded vanity,
malice, hatred, and all uncharitableness, filled
their minds towards the detested rival, who had
stepped in between them and their idol, who
saw in this imprudent step, on the part of her
lover, but a new proof of the extent and excess
of his ungovernable passion for her.
" Pardon me, loveliest, dearest," whispered
he, " for thus breaking through the restrictions
imposed by my desire to preserve, from even a
suspicion, a fame dearer to me, oh ! how infiV
nitely dearer than my own, nay, than life itself;
but I could not resist the uncontrollable im-
pulse. I could not see you depart, without
uttering a few words of farewell. It was
torture to me to behold the senseless herd, who
flutter round you, enjoy privileges which I
would die to possess ; or to see this beauteous
arm, the very touch of which thrills through
my frame, confided to one of them. Say you
forgive me ; and, above all, tell me at what
128 MEMOIRS OF
hour I may present myself at your door to-
morrow."
The poor, inexperienced, and misguided young
creature, to whom these words were addressed,
was far from thinking that Lord Glastonbury's
conduct was the result of premeditation, origi-
nating in a vanity that led him thus openly to
display his influence over her, however detri-
mental the exhibition must prove to her repu-
tation ; and she went home, her heart filled by
a guilty passion, and her mind in a tumult of
delight, at the certainty that her feelings were
reciprocated by the object of her unhallowed
affection.
We will not attempt to paint the gradual
progress by which Lord Glastonbury led his
victim from the platonie and romantic attach-
ment to which, at the commencement, he vowed
his views were bounded, to the guilty one at
'which it arrived.
" Skilled in each subtle, wily art,
To taint with sin the mind and heart,
Till virtue, chased by sophistry,
And reason, blind, no more can see
The gulph, which passed, the erring fair,
From transient bliss, wakes to despair."
A ?EMME DE CHAMBRE. 129
The conquest, although achieved, had rot
been as easily won as Lord Glastonbury had
anticipated. Virtue still lingered in the breast
of the Duchess, long after passion had gained
entrance there ; and a less practised and artful
seducer might have been foiled in the attempts
to pervert one, naturally prone to good, had
she fallen into other hands. Steep and slippery
is the descent from virtue to sin, when a guilty
passion is permitted to plead its cause, to a
heart which, "though it loves the offender, yet
detests the offence ;" and so the Duchess found.
Tired of a resistance, as disagreeable as it was
unexpected, yet which, nevertheless, excited in
Lord Glastonbury a still greater desire to sub-
clue it, he at length declared his intention of
leaving England, of becoming an exile, in the
hope that, in a foreign land, he might regain
the peace denied him in his own, where the
sight of the object of his idolatry kept alive
the passion that was consuming him. The
Duchess, doubtful of her own strength to resist
his pleadings, admitted, although it cost her
many a pang, that, by a separation only could
130 MEMOIRS OF
she preserve her own esteem, and the world's
respect.
. All was arranged for the departure of Lord
Glastonbury, when, in a luckless hour, she con-
sented to receive his farewell. That interview,
which was to have been their last for years to
come, perhaps, for ever, saw her fall from
virtue; and her seducer, now master of her
destiny, abandoned his project of exile,
if, indeed, he ever seriously entertained it,
and remained to enjoy the triumph he had
achieved.
For some months the passion of Lord Glas-
tonbury continued unabated; and the devoted
attention and respect with Avhich it was evinced,
consoled, in some measure, the object of it, who,
no longer entitled to her own esteem, watched
jealously for that of him for whom she had
sacrificed it. Many and bitter were the pangs
inflicted on her by conscience, even before she
had any cause to suspect the truth of her lover ;
and often was her pillow steeped in tears
wrung from her by the consciousness, that,
;however he might love, he could not respect her ;
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 131
and the belief, that the demonstrations of this
sentiment, which marked his manner towards
her, were only assumed to soothe her now
morbid sensitiveness. There were moments, it
is true, when, in gilded salons, in a blaze of
light, and sparkling in diamonds, with the dulcet
sounds of music floating around her, and the
more dulcet flatteries of her lover filling her
ear, that she forgot the remorse which, in hours
of solitude and reflection, was preying on her
heart, and abandoned herself to the pleasure
that courted her. But brief was the cessation
from wretchedness. Returned to her home,
that home which she felt she had dishonoured,
conscious that her very servants more than sus-
pected her lapse from virtue, she would sink,
pale and exhausted, into a chair, while herfemme
de chatnbre removed from her person the costly
diamonds that had excited admiration and envy
among many of her sex that night, and would
seek her couch, to which sleep had now become
a rare guest. Her countenance soon bore evi-
dence of the anxiety of her mind ; her beau-
tiful form lost its rounded symmetry, and her
MEMOIRS OF
eyes their lustre. Her lover was not slow to
observe the change in her appearance ; but it
awakened no tenderness in his cold and callous
breast. He marked the effect, but he searched not
the cause of the wretchedness endured by his
victim. He surprised her often in tears, which
were, however, quickly chased away by his
presence; for love still held the bandage over
her eyes, that concealed the worthlessness
of him for whom she had sacrificed so much,
and rendered his visits a source of happiness to
her. When, however, she attempted to reveal
the state of her feelings to her lover, and tried
to paint the remorse and inquietude that
tortured her, he would accuse her of weakness,
and reproach, rather than soothe her, until she
at length found that she had no sympathy to
expect from him ; that she was regarded but as
the plaything of his lighter hours, the object
who was to minister to his pleasure, but with
whose cares and sorrows he could take no part.
These cares and sorrows began now to show their
inevitable effect on the health of the Duchess ;
and her heartless lover, whose vanity had been
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 133
so highly gratified by the admiration her beauty
excited, that his passion for her had been kept
alive by seeing her the acknowledged idol of the
circles in which they moved, now saw other
women usurp her place, while she, wholly en-
grossed by her attachment to him, and the
remorse it occasioned, made no effort to maintain
the supremacy in society that constituted her
firmest hold on his affections. Her tears and
melancholy excited only his anger or ennui ;
her indifference to general admiration, he con-
sidered as a mark of little less than folly, and
the tcte-a-tetes, hitherto sought with pleasure,
if not with the ardour that originally marked
them, began, to use his own phrase, to be a
bore to him. Habit, and a sense of delicacy to
the feelings of the Duchess, alone induced a
continuation of Lord Glastonbury's daily visits,
long after they had ceased to be at all necessary
to his happiness ; nay more, long after they had
become irksome to him.
The Duchess marked his growing indiffe-
rence, and the anguish it inflicted sharpened
the pangs of remorse, which, even in the hey-
134 MEMOIRS OF
day of love, and while yet the object of it
seemed to live but in her presence, made them-
selves so acutely felt. Keenly did she expe-
rience the truth of the axiom, which asserts,
that unhallowed attachments, being founded on
no stable basis, and unsupported by any of the
props, such as mutual esteem, perfect confi-
dence, and the world's respect, which serve to
maintain conjugal affection when the first
impetus of passion has softened down into a
less warm, but more enduring sentiment, can
have but a brief existence. And was it to be
thus neglected, thus left to her own sad and
reproachful thoughts, that she had violated the
laws of virtue, and sacrificed for ever her own
self-respect, and title to that of others ?
Wounded love, offended pride, and womanly
delicacy prompted her to break at once, and
for ever, with him who had won her heart but
to torture it; yet she had not sufficient resolu-
tion to carry this suggestion of her reason into
effect, and she still wore the chain that bound
her to her seducer, although its iron had
entered into her heart, and was daily, hourly,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 135
preying on her life. Often did the beautiful
lines of Goldsmith recur to her memory
" When lovely woman stoops to folly,
And finds too late that men betray,
What charm can soothe her melancholy,
What art can wash her guilt away ?
" The only art, her guilt to cover,
And hide her shame from every eye,
To give repentance to her lover,
And wring his bosom, is to die."
"Perhaps he would regret me, and mourn
that he had been neglectful, unkind," would the
Duchess say to herself, when in the solitude of
her chamber she was left to brood over, almost
to a moody madness, her own remorse, and her
lover's altered conduct. " Oh! were I but sure
that he would give a tear to my fate, that
I should be remembered with tenderness ; yes,
I would invoke death, all unfit as I am to meet
it ! " would she exclaim ; " nay, I would antici-
pate the tardy approach of the pale king of
terrors, and, by a draught of Lethean power,
seek in the grave the peace I can never more
know on earth."
Such were the fearful thoughts that filled the
mind of this poor spoiled child of fortune ; this
136 MEMOIRS OF
idol of fashion, who was looked upon by hundreds
of the giddy throng among whom she moved, as
an object of envy, to fill whose place they would
have thought no sacrifice too great.
By how many trifling incidents may a sensi-
tive heart be wounded, and an estranged affec-
tion be revealed! The bouquets, which Lord
Glastonbury had, during the first months of
his passion, been wont to present to the
Duchess every day when he paid his visit, had
been composed of flowers the odours of which
she preferred above all others ; and with them a
bunch of violets was always placed, as a symbol
of the donor's desire that his passion should be
veiled from the eyes of the world, as that
flower seeks to hide itself from the vulgar gaze.
These bouquets, of late, were eo far less choice
than formerly, as to bear evidence, that
the selection had been confided to some one
ignorant of the allegory, for no more violets
were sent, and the flowers she peculiarly liked
were not only left out, but sometimes days
elapsed in which no bouquet appeared, and
Lord Glastonbury came not.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 137
It was at this period that the faithless lover
became captivated by a new object, who effaced
from his fickle heart the image of one who had
"loved him, not wisely, but too well." So
engrossed was he by his new fiame, that he
scarcely bestowed a thought on his prior one,
who, tortured by the pangs of jealousy and self-
reproach, admitted that her punishment for
forsaking the paths of virtue, though severe,
was well merited, and, coming through him who
had lured her to sin, rendered it still more
bitter. At one moment she determined to
vent, when next they met, the reproaches which
his inconstancy and ingratitude furnished but
too much cause for. Yes, she would tear him
from her heart, even though, in doing so, the
fibres of that agonized heart should be rent
asunder. She would tell him to come no more,
with false vows and deceitful smiles, to cheat
her; but then returning love would master
jealousy and anger, and tears, burning tears,
would deluge those eyes lately so lustrous;
and all the woman, the fond, betrayed woman,
would resume its empire over sterner feelings.
138 MEMOIRS OF
CHAPTER IX.
AND now was revealed to Selina the cause of
the inequality of her unhappy mistress's spirits,
and the frequent traces of tears on her pallid face.
" Can you vondere, Mademoiselle, dat I live
in terror of some terrible catas trophy ?" de-
manded Madame Fanchon. " I never can be-
lieve dat ce clier ange is guilty of more dan
a grande passion for Milor Glastonbury. I
could not bear to tink ill of her whom
I have held in dese old videred arms ven she
vos a baby, and who I love better dan my life.
mon Dieu, mon Dieu ! to tink dat her moder,
who is in heaven, could have von daughter less
pure dan herself, von child not vordy to go to
her in heaven. No, Mademoiselle, I could not,
1 dare not tink such a terrible ting possible.
But yet, I do know dat she loves, madly loves
dis Milor. I have heard her, ven she vas ill,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 139
and I vatched by her bedside, call him by such
fond names, and sigh so deep, as if her poor
heart vould break; and I have trembled vid
fear dat de femme de chambre who vas here
before you came, and was so very curieuse, vould
hear vat she said, and tell it to oders. Ah !
Mademoiselle, de Duke very bad man. He not
advise de pauvre cher ange. He not prevent
dat dangereux Milor to come so often, vich he
ought to do. Who can tell how strange is de
human heart? Yen dis Milor Glastonbury used
to come here every day, and stay hours vid de
Duchesse, I did often vish he vould not come,
and pray dat he might stay avay. But of late,
ven I see dat he not come often, and dat she is
more sad dan ever, dat she looks paler dan
before, and dat I see de marks de tears leave
on her poor dear face ; ah ! den I vish he
vould come, and blame him, and hate him more
dan before for making her unhappy. I fear
every ting. I find de blood run up to my very
forehead ven de servants do mention Milor
Glastonbury's name ; and if von of dem smile,
mon Dieii ! I feel I could beat dem. I do tink
140 MEMOIRS OF
de Duke knows dat de Duchesse love dis Milor,
and he vill some day tell her he knows all, and
vow he vill believe her guilty of all de sin, vichl,
who love her, cannot believe, and he vill make
her give him all her fortune not to be disgraced,
not to be expose to de vorld. And I know de
Duchesse is so fore, dat ven he say he believes
her guilty, it vill eider kill her, or she vill leave
de house, never to see him no more."
Many were the tears shed by Madame Fan-
chon during this confidential disclosure to
Selina, who, shocked at the communication,
though filled with pity for her unhappy and
erring mistress, felt wholly at a loss what step
to take. To remain with one whom she could
not help thinking highly culpable, if not wholly
guilty, was so contrary to her principles, that
she felt disposed to invent some pretext for
resigning her place ; and yet, to abandon her
mistress, when she was evidently suffering such
wretchedness, would be, she thought, unkind,
ungrateful.
The next day a request from the Duke of
Glenallen to see the Duchess, produced even
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 141
an increase of agitation and inquietude on the
part of that lady; and it was so evident, that
Selina experienced the deepest compassion,
when she beheld her mistress, with trembling
limbs, proceed to the boudoir to meet her
husband.
The Duke of Glenallen had been long a
silent, but not unobservant spectator of the
change in his wife's character. He had marked
when she had abandoned general admiration
and homage, for a deeper and more concentrated
sentiment; but he held out no hand to snatch
her from the fearful gulph which yawned to
destroy her peace, and his honour; he uttered no
warning to deter her from ruin. What, to him,
was the certainty of wretchedness that must
await a woman like his wife, when, having
strayed from virtue, and forfeited her own
esteem, she should too late discover the un-
worthiness of him for whom she had sacrificed
herself? That she never had loved, never could
love him, he felt convinced. What, then, was
it to him on whom she bestowed those affections
that never could be his ? All he required was,
142 MEMOIRS OF
that she should not outrage les bienseances du
monde, by permitting her lover to afficher t and
compromise her in society; while he would
make her comprehend that his silence and for-
bearance should be repaid by the absolute
disposal of her large income being confided to
him. The horror and contempt, excited in the
mind of the unhappy Duchess, when her un-
principled husband revealed to her his know-
ledge of her sin, and the conditions on which
alone he would consent to conceal it, are not to
be described. Shame, deep and burning shame,
crimsoned her cheek, and made her hide her
face with her hands, while tears gushed through
her fingers, and fell in showers on her tortured
breast, without affording even a moment's
relief to her bitter agony.
" Spare me, spare me, the deep humiliation
of this hour !" cried she, her utterance impeded
by sobs. " Why, why did you make no eifort to
save me from the toils that ensnared my youth,
from myself. You might have entitled your-
self to my respect, and have enabled me to pre-
serve my own."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 143
" Why this agitation ?" said the Duke, " I did
not mean to give you pain. Indeed I thought,
young as you are, you could hardly believe that
my eyes could be shut to that which was, through
the unguarded and open display of your tendresse
for Lord Glastonbury, made so manifest to all
the world. A husband, though generally the
last to be made acquainted with such matters,
cannot be wholly blind, when decorum is vio-
lated, and his feelings overlooked. You have
put it out of my power to plead ignorance of
your conduct ; but yet it rests with me, to appear
as if I knew it not, and so enable you to retain
your position in society. You now know the
terms on which I will consent to this ; and if
you are wise you will not reject them." So
saying, the Duke withdrew, leaving his wife
a prey to shame and despair.
" What now remains to me ?" demanded the
Duchess, when left again to her own over-
whelming reflections. " It Avas torture to meet
the glance of my husband, while I believed
him in ignorance of my guilt ; but now, now
when he has declared his knowledge of it, how
MEMOIRS OF
can I ever see him more ? Had he reproached,
spurned me, better could I have borne it ; but
to have attempted to traffic with my sin, to
make terms for the concealment of my shame,
oh, it is too, too dreadful! Where can I
turn me for aid ! An orphan, with no pitying
mother's breast on which I could weep my sin,
no sister's heart to appeal to, to shield me
from its fearful consequences, no friend to lean
on, what, what is to become of me ? Under
this roof I cannot remain. I could not again
submit to the degradation of hearing a price
set on the concealment of my shame, and that,
too, by him whose duty it was to protect my
inexperienced youth from the dangers that
beset my path, to save me from myself. I
was not hardened; I would have listened to
his warning voice ; I would have followed his
counsel ; but, with no pity for the poor wretch
he had duped into a marriage so dispropor-
tioned, he allowed me to become an easy prey
to the seducer, and to my own mad passion.
God ! and have I lived to hear a husband
propose terms like those he offered? Am I,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 145
indeed, so lost, so disgraced, that he should
propose them, and I not die of shame in lis->
tening? To have impunity thus offered for
guilt, is worse, oh! how infinitely worse, and
more degrading, than open exposure by a justly
exasperated but honourable husband. Had
mine been such, I would have deplored my sin.
with burning tears at his feet, I would have
entreated permission to hide my guilt in some
secluded spot, where my penitence might, after
long years, efface a portion, at least, of the
stain ; and, if his pity were denied me, I would,
without a murmur, submit to the sentence that
sent me forth from his roof an outcast. But
to confront a husband, whose silence may be
bought with gold ! Oh ! it would be agony,
and infamy, too great to bear. Better would
it be at once to incur the penalty of guilt,
to brave the world's contumely, so hard, so
terrible for a sensitive woman to encounter,
to fly with the partner of my sin, and hide
myself for ever from those who now flatter
and follow me, than to remain beneath this
roof, and meet again the Duke. I will write
VOL. III. H
146 MEMOIRS OF
to Lord Glastonbury ; I will propose to him
to take me away from all this misery, this
degradation. He is the only being on whom I
have a claim, the claim of guilt incurred for
his sake ! There was a time when no day
passed in which he used not to say, that his
happiness would never be complete until I was
all his own ; when one roof would shelter us,
one destiny unite our fates. But, woe is me,
that time has passed ! My remorse, and its
results on the beauty that won him, have cooled
his affection. How often have I marked with
agony the change but too apparent in him !
and yet, knowing this, must I urge a claim
on his pity, or his honour, for the protection
his love would no longer prompt him to offer
me! Whichever way I turn, disgrace and
misery await me! O God! O God! have
mercy on me."
The Duchess's note soon brought Lord Glas-
tonbury to her presence. There was an inco-
herence in it that alarmed him, not for her,
(for, selfish and unfeeling, he cared little for his
victim ;) but for himself it greatly frightened him.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 147
" There must be something wrong," ex-
claimed he, " some discovery made by the
Duke. I hardly know whether I ought to go
to her. Such a step may compromise me in
some way or other. She is so cursedly romantic,
so filled with false notions, that she is capable
of any folly. Yet, if I do not go, she may
take it into her head to come here ; yes, by
Jove ! and fix herself on me. That would be
a terrible affair. Had she done so at first it
would have been different; and I sometimes
wished her to elope with me then, when my
passion was in its zenith. I dreamed of a
divorce to be obtained by the Duke, and of my
marrying her ; no very bad speculation, as she
possesses so large a fortune in her own right,
which would be very convenient in the em-
barrassed state of my affairs. But now, when
satiety has taken the place of affection, when
her remorse, as she calls her blue devils, has
broken her spirits, and made her a Niobe,
always in tears, not thrice her fortune, large as
it is, would tempt me to live with her. No,
no, I am too well acquainted with the sufferings
H2
148 MEMOIRS OF
of poor Chattingham, who married the divorced
Lady Alicia Evelyn, who has, ever since, been
a Magdalen, weeping away her sins, and
drowning his comfort in her tears. The world
is more indulgent to male sinners than to
females. It opens its salons to the first with
a charity highly to be approved, while it rigidly
excludes the second ; that is, it is severe on the
weak, as it always is, and kind to the~strong.
The excluded, left alone to reflect, feels it hard
to bear that her husband should enjoy advan-
tages from which she is debarred. If he stays
at home with her, he becomes bored to death
by her sadness. If he goes into society, she
feels herself ill-used. The consequence is, that,
having deeply considered the question, I have
too much reason to rejoice that the Duchess
did not take advantage of my proposals to fly
with me during the first passionate days of
love, ever to incur the chance of incurring such
a heavy penalty again. But, I must go to her.
Ye Gods ! how bored I shall be. Already do
I feel an inclination to yawn in anticipation of
the interview. I see her face spoiled by tears,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 149
as usual ; hear her voice tremulous, and broken
by sobs, and but no, I must not dwell on
the scene I have to encounter, or I shall lose
courage to go."
" What has happened?" were nearly the first
words that passed the lips of Lord Glastonbury,
as he entered the boudoir of the Duchess of
Glenallen, whom he found more pale and agitated
than ever, and whose hand trembled violently
in his when he took it.
" The Duke has discovered all. Oh ! I am
a lost, a degraded woman," was the reply.
" The devil he has ! I always feared it
would be so. You are so imprudent, so exi-
geante. You would make me come here much
more frequently than was prudent, would insist on
my never leaving you in public, and would not,
in spite of all my advice, burn my letters. You
may blame yourself for all the esclandre that
will take place. The fault certainly was not mine."
"These reproaches are now as ill-timed asf
they are unkind," replied the Duchess, her face
becoming suffused with a deep red, and then
turning pale as marble. " As well may
150 MEMOIRS or
you reproach me for having loved you too
well."
" My clear friend, this is not a time for sen-
timentality," said Lord Glastonbury impa-
tiently. " What do you intend to do ? for that is
now the question."
" Can you ask? Oh, what remains for me to do
but to seek refuge with the only being who has
not a right to reproach me, or to deny me pro- "
tection ?" and floods of tears coursed each other
down the pale cheeks of the Duchess.
" You must be mad to think of such a step ;
and I should be worse than mad not at once
to tell you that it is impossible, and must not
be thought of," replied Lord Glastonbury, with
a vehemence that proved how firm was his
resolution not to consent to the measure sug-
gested by the agonized woman before him, who,
terrified and shocked by his unusual sternness
and violence of manner, sank into a chair, and
covered her face with her hands. " You can
go abroad until this esclandre is forgotten,"
resumed Lord Glastonbury ; " you have, luckily
for you, a large fortune, and that is a salve
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 151
which heals the wounds inflicted on reputation
so well, that after some years only slight scars
remain. You can, after some time, come back
and "
"And you," interrupted the Duchess, her
tears dried by the burning heat of her cheeks,
" what do you mean to do ? Am I to go forth
alone to face a world whose contumely I have
incurred by loving you to my own destruc-
tion?"
" Would you have me plunge you still deeper
in a scrape?" demanded Lord Glastonbury.
The Duchess shuddered at the mean and in-
appropriate word substituted for ruin. " Were
you in a cooler mood to listen, I could
give you a thousand incontrovertible reasons,
many imperative with regard to myself, and
most kindly meant with regard to you, why I
must positively, now, and for ever, decline being
the companion of your flight. If, as I suppose,
you will be immediately driven from this house,
let me advise you to go abroad. I will write
to you often, and keep you au fait of all that
is going on. Nay more, I will make an
152 MEMOIRS OF
excursion to the continent during the recess from
business, and spend a few days wherever you
take up your abode."
While Lord Glastonbury was uttering this
unfeeling speech, every word of which pierced
the heart of the unfortunate woman to whom it
was addressed, as if a dagger had stabbed her,
she became sensible, for the first time, of the
utter worthlessness of the man for whom she
had sacrificed her honour, her peace, and the
world's respect. To find, and in her hour of
need, that he loved her not, that he could
contemplate their separation unmoved, be-
hold, nay counsel her exile from her native
land, from that society whose idol she had
been, until the consequences of her love for
him had thrown her from the pedestal where
she was wont to be worshipped, to hear him
designate the ruin of her reputation, of her
peace, as a " scrape," was too much.
" Leave me ! " said the tortured woman.
" I will trouble you no more."
" Come, come, this is foolish. Do not think,
that, because I will not compromise you and
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 153
myself still more, by agreeing to your unwise,
and, I really must say, absurd and preposterous
plan of our living together, I am unmindful
of your interest and happiness. I best prove
my sincerity by firmly resisting your wishes
on this occasion. You are unhappy at this
moment, it is very natural that you should be
so; but I, who am older, a great deal older,
and have more experience than you, my dear
friend, know that all this sorrow will pass
away. Every strong passion does; their very
intensity exhausts them. I remember when
circumstances compelled me to break off with
my first love, I thought I should never more
know happiness, and for the first few weeks I
was miserable. But, after a time, I became
reasonable ; people always do, and so you will,
my sweet friend."
How often had Lord Glastonbury declared
to the Duchess, that he never had really oved
before he knew her! how frequently sworn,
that no other woman had ever inflicted, or
ever could inflict a pang on his heart! The
belief in the truth of these assertions had been
H3
154 MEMOIRS OF
one of the strongest motives for her affection ;
and often had it been laid to her heart. To
hear him now refer coolly to other loves, offer
his own experience, to prove how easily the
wounds of affection are healed and forgotten,
was agony, was torture to the unhappy woman.
She trembled so violently, and looked so death-
like, that even her false lover began to appre-
hend that hers was not a sorrow that could
lightly pass away, nay, some fears for her
reason and her life flashed on him, as he
looked on her agonized face. He would have
taken her hand, but she waved him from her.
" Leave me, I entreat you !" said she ; " I wish
to be alone. I shall soon be better; but at
present I must be alone."
" As you wish," was the reply ; for, piqued
by her command to withdraw, the pity that
was awaking in his selfish heart became quickly
chilled. " You can write me a line, if I can
be of use," added he; and the door closed
after him. /)
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 155
CHAPTEE X.
IT was long ere the Duchess of Glenallen
moved from the spot, where she had sunk into a
chair. When Lord Glastonbury left the room,
Madame Fanchon, having heard of his visit,
went to Selina, and, with every symptom of
alarm in her countenance, inquired where the
Duchess was. " I know dat Milor Glastonbury
is gone some time. De groom of de chambres
told me so ; and I expected to find de Duchesse
here. Venever dat man come here of late she
is always so sad after, dat I vant to be near
her, doe she not vish it. I have a dread of
someting, I know not vat. I will go to de
boudoir ; and you, Mademoiselle, come vid me,
and stay at de door, and if I call, you come in
directly."
Selina accompanied Madame Fanchon to the
156 MEMOIRS or
door of the boudoir, as she was told; but no
sooner had the latter entered it, than she uttered
a cry, and Selina rushed into the room. They
found the Duchess perfectly insensible, in which
state she had probably been for some time ;
and, for a few minutes, they believed her dead.
Madame Fanchon uttered piercing shrieks,
and, in her terror and grief, lost all power of
being useful, while Selina rang the bell, sent
instantly for the family physician, bathed the
temples of her mistress with cold water, and
used every other effort in her power to restore
suspended animation. At length the Duchess
revived. Her heart beat feebly beneath the
hand of Selina ; she sighed deeply, and opened
her eyes. The joy of Madame Fanchon now
became as wild and unmanageable as her terror
and grief had previously been ; and Selina had
great difficulty in making her comprehend, that
positive quiet was absolutely necessary to the
Duchess. "Cher angel cherange!" exclaimed
the poor old woman, dropping on her knees,
and pressing the hand of her mistress to her
lips, and bathing it with her tears.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 157
Though animation was restored, and a faint
pink hue . replaced the pallid one that had
overspread the face of the Duchess, conscious-
ness was not yet quite restored. She gazed
around her, looked at Madame Fanchon and
Selina inquiringly, then raised her hand to her
brow, as if to collect her thoughts, and, after a
short pause, uttered a piercing cry ; and again
fainted.
The doctor soon after arrived, administered
restoratives, and had her removed to her
chamber, giving the strictest injunctions that
his patient should not, for a moment, be left
alone. He made various inquiries, as to the
state of the Duchess previous to this sudden
attack, inquiries that proved to Selina that he,
like herself, was disposed to attribute it to some
strong moral suffering, rather than to any phy-
sical cause. He remained with the Duchess
until he saw her sink into a state of drowsiness,
and was on the point of withdrawing, when the
Duke of Glenallen entered the chamber.
" My God! doctor, what is all this?" said he,
evidently in great alarm. " I but this moment
158 MEMOIRS OF
entered from my drive, and heard that the
Duchess had been taken suddenly ill."
" I really feel at a loss," replied the physi-
cian ; " not with regard to the peculiar character
of her Grace's malady, but to the origin. I
should attribute it to some sudden moral shock,
some deep grief but that I hear nothing has
occurred to occasion any such emotions."
The Duke turned pale, opened the curtain of
the bed, gazed intently on the pallid, but still
lovely, face of his wife, then, dropping the cur-
tain gently, an expression of the greatest alarm
overspreading his countenance, he whispered
the doctor, who, in return, shook his head, and
uttered a few words sotto voce ; and then both
retired to the next room, to continue the con-
versation.
" Ah ! Mademoiselle, Mademoiselle, how for-
tunate it was dat my heart did visper me to go
to de boudoir. Mon Dieu! mon Dieu! sans cela,
she might be now gone from us for ever. She
has de heart trop chaud, trap fier ; and dat vill
kill her von day. Cher ange ! she vas not used
to chagrin, only for a short time, vid dat
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 159
mcchante Madame Vestern. Ah ! dat voinan
vas de cause of all dis misery. If she not have
tormented cette chere creature more dan nobody
could bear, she never run avay to marry de ruse
old Duke; and I vould not, like von stupid
meux gobemouche, have helped him to do it all.
But, Dieu salt! I did believe it vas for de best?
or I never lend myself in de affair ; but oh !
I now tink it vas all for de vorst."
Selina took her station by the bedside, deter-
mined not to leave it ; and great difficulty had
she to prevent the garrulous old Frenchwoman
from talking, for, though passionately attached
and devoted to the Duchess, Madame Fanchon
was so given to talk, that she could hardly
remain silent a minute. The Duke stole into
the chamber every hour to see how his wife
was ; and so great was the anxiety pictured on
his face, that Selina, although greatly preju-
diced against him by the previous communica-
tions of Madame Fanchon, could not help
pitying him. The old woman noticed this ; and
when he had withdrawn, after the fifth or sixth
visit, shook her head, and whispered, " Ah,
160 MEMOIRS OF
Mademoiselle, you are, like me, a gobemouche.
You tink all dese visits are because he loves
her. No, no ; it is because he loves her fortune,
and is afraid to lose it. Mon Dieu ! ven von
tink dat cette belle creature is not loved for her-
self, she dat has all to make her loved, it drive
me mad. No, he tinks only of de money ; and
if he could keep dat, after her death, he vould
be more glad dan sorry she should die. Oh !
cest un vieux sans cceur, tin egdiste. You may
believe me. Yet vonce he did so deceive me,
dat I tought him de most kind, de most excel-
lent of men, who only vished to marry Miladi
Louise to take her from de power of dat odious
Madame Vestern ; and I did honour and esteem
him for it. But ven I found out de truth, oh,
mon Dieu! how I did hate and despise myself
for having been such a belie as to tink veil
of him!"
And now the torpid state in which the un-
happy Duchess had been for several hours
plunged, changed into one of feverish excite-
ment. She still slept, but her cheeks became
flushed, and her hand burned. She spoke
A FE1VTME DE CHAMBRE. 161
frequently, and the events that had occasioned
the malady which now had seized her occupied
her mind even in the delirium that reigned
over it. She raved of the dishonourable pro-
posal of her husband, of the heartless ingrati-
tude of her lover. She called on death to
release her from an existence now become in-
supportable, and on the Almighty for pardon
for her sin. It was piteous to hear her inco-
herent ravings, and mark the change in her late
pale face. One moment she would, believ-
ing him present, address Lord Glastonbury
by the most endearing epithets deplore that
they had met too late to be joined in holy
wedlock before God and man ; ask him
if he could still love her when shame had set
its stigma on her brow, and all who once
esteemed her turned away in horror and con-
tempt from her approach? The next, 'she
would recal their last interview, utter the most
cutting reproaches, and accuse him of having
destroyed her here and hereafter.
The Duke entered more than once during
the time she was uttering these frantic ravings
162 MEMOIRS or
of delirium ; and his cheek, albeit unused to
flush, grew red as he listened to them.
" She is evidently under the influence of a
brain fever, and knows not what she utters,"
observed he ; "I must again send for the
doctor."
" Ah ! you know too veil dat she speak de
terrible truth," said Madame Fanchon, when he
left the chamber, " and you vill have to ansver
before de throne of de Almighty for de misery
you have brought on dis poor orpheline."
The doctor now declared that the Duchess
was, as her husband had stated, suffering from
a brain fever, and he called in three other
medical men of eminence in their profession, to
assist him with their opinions. For many days
it was their belief that their patient must sink
under the violence of her disease ; and there
were hours in which so total was the prostration
of her strength, that Selina thought her life
could not last through the day. She watched
over her with a tenderness not to be described,
bathed her burning temples with iced water,
and applied cooling draughts to her fevered lips.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 163
Affection and intelligence enabled her to per-
form the functions of a nurse in a manner that
surprised, while it delighted all present ; and the
doctors declared that they had never previously
met with so able and judicious an assistant
as in her. The Duke, whose anxiety won him
the esteem of the physicians, repeatedly thanked
Selina for her unceasing care of the Duchess ;
and the attached Madame Fanchon admitted
that her skill as a nurse was far excelled by
that of Selina.
" I not tink," would she say, " dat any
Engelishe woman have such a power of en-
durance. She never tires, never vants to sleep,
never complains, but dere she sits vid her eyes
fixed on ce cher ange> and so still dat she
never is heard to breathe, and if any ting is
vanted, she glides about de room like a spirit
vidout being heard to move. I do believe it is
all because she speak so leetle. If she has any
toughts, dey are all shut up in her heart, for she
never lets dem out, and so she is not like me,
fatiguee from talking. It is de vay vid de
Engelishe. Dey have not, like de French,
164 MEMOIRS OF
fresh toughts coming into deir minds every
minute, vich forces dem to speak de old toughts
to give room for de new. No, dey have not de
esprit like de French ; if dey had, dey would be
obliged to talk, talk, as I do, and dat would
fatigver dem."
Such was the way in which the amour propre
of Madame Fanchon accounted for the devoted
and never-tiring zeal of Selina in the sick room,
and in which she satisfactorily, to herself at
least, explained her own incapability to fulfil
the office of nurse as Selina did.
Those only who have watched by the couch
of one dear to them, during a malady that
threatens, every moment, to snatch to the grave
the object of their care, can be aware how, under
such trying circumstances, affection and interest
become tenfold increased, and how the life of
the anxious watcher seems to hang on that of
the poor helpless creature struggling between
life and death before her.
"How providential, Almighty God,"
would Selina say to herself in the stillness of
night, "are thy decrees! Thou who hast, by
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 165
filling my heart with tenderness for this Thy
suffering and erring creature, rendered that a
labour of love, which Thy mercy has enabled
me to support, but which, with less affection
for her, I might have lacked zeal, ability, or
strength to fulfil. Grant, O merciful God,
that she may be spared to mourn and atone
for her sin, and so live for the future to Thy
honour and her own salvation."
At length a favourable change took place in
the health of the Duchess, but not until she
was reduced almost to a shadow, and so weak as
to be helpless as an infant. Slow was her
approach to convalescence, but it was marked
by a patience and gentleness that indicated
a great change in her character. No longer
did she pray for the death which she now felt
she was unfit to meet. She evinced gratitude
to all who had contributed towards rescuing
her from danger, but, most of all, to Him who
had vouchsafed to open her eyes to her own
errors and to lead her to seek to atone for them.
Towards Selina she showed a sentiment of
affection, which proved that, even while supposed
166 MEMOIRS OF
to be unconscious of all that was passing
around her, she was sensible of her tender and
watchful care.
"When able to leave her sick chamber, the
Duchess declared her intention of retiring for
some months to a seat of hers in a distant
county. Her physicians approved the scheme,
and persons were despatched to render the
inansipn fit for her reception. Before she left
town, she had a long and touching conversation
with the Duke, in which she censured her own
past conduct so severely, and dealt so mercifully
with his, that even his selfish nature was
melted, and he asked her forgiveness for having
ever wounded her feelings, and promised never
again to occasion her a moment's pain. They
parted amicably, the Duchess appropriating a
considerable portion of her large income to his
use, and determined henceforth to make a
better use of the wealth bestowed by provi-
dence on her, than she had ever hitherto done.
No longer treated as a domestic, but as a
friend, Selina now became the constant and
useful companion of the Duchess. She read to
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 167
her, and drew her attention to works calculated
to strengthen her mind, instead of exciting her
imagination. " The Book of Books, The Holy
Bible," was every day opened, and in its sacred
pages the wounded heart and tortured con-
science of the Duchess found a balm. She soon
learned to be thankful for the events that had,
while nearly depriving her of life, awakened her
to a deep sense of her own unworthiness, and
of gratitude to God for his mercy. She fre-
quently wrote to her husband, to exhort him to
turn his thoughts from this sinful world, on the
pleasures of which he had allowed them too
long to be engrossed, and to prepare for that
better life, to which by repentance he might
still aspire. The answers of the Duke, though
polite, and even affectionate, held out little
hope to his wife that her appeals to his con-
science had the desired effect. Nevertheless,
a sense of duty led her to continue to exhort
him, and, when informed some months after,
that he was seized with a dangerous illness, she
instantly left her tranquil abode, and returned
to his habitation to administer to his comfort.
168 MEMOIRS OF
She watched over him, as a duteous daughter
would have done to a father. She prayed for
him, and even won him to join with her in
prayer. His death-bed, if not all that could be
desired by one whose whole thoughts were now
turned to another world, was not such as could
deprive her of the soothing hope that he had
benefited by her counsel, and profited by her
prayers. He died, thanking her for her care,
after having at her request several times seen a
worthy clergyman, and manifested an earnest
attention to the spiritual comfort he admin-
istered, when all other views faded away.
There had been a time when the Duchess
would have rejoiced in her release from the
chain that had bound her to a husband so every
way unsuited to her ; but that time was passed.
Ever since the illness which had brought her to
o
the verge of the grave, she had learned to view
her own conduct with such sorrow and repent-
ance, that she had become indulgent for his,
O 9
and grateful that he had not exposed her error
and sin to the world. In vain did Madame
Fanchon, with less charity, endeavour to per-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 169
suade the Duchess that the Duke's forbearance
originated in a less worthy motive than that
which she attributed to it. The elevated mind
of her mistress not being prone to detect vice,
to which it was a stranger, she remembered
only the good derived from her husband's
silence, and was not disposed to be ungrateful
for it. The truth was, the danger in which her
life had been placed had so alarmed the Duke,
that believing her illness to have been occa-
sioned by the communication he had ventured
on in the interview that had preceded it, and
which had so strongly excited her, he not only
regretted the dishonourable conduct of which
he had been guilty, but determined henceforth
never to refer to it.
Her deep emotion on that occasion had
revealed to him how much of what was noble
and good still filled her heart. He remembered
how blamable his own conduct towards her had
been; how he had left her, when little more
than a child, exposed to the dangers that must
ever await a young and beautiful woman, with
no husband to protect, no friend to counsel her ;
VOL. III. I
170 MEMOIRS OP
and his better nature, so long shut in by the
thick envelope of selfishness that encased it,
was awakened to a deep sense of pity for her,
and blame to himself. Her generosity towards
him previously to her retiring to the country,
achieved her triumph over his newly- awakened
sense of right ; and had his life been prolonged,
the Duchess would have found in him a true
friend, anxious for her happiness, though in-
capable of forming it. The Duchess returned
to her seclusion, and recommenced the life of
study, broken in upon only by works of good,
that had filled up her time before she went to
London to attend her dying husband. She
established schools, built an hospital, and large
alms-houses, to be supported solely at her ex-
pense. She visited and relieved the poor,
comforted the unhappy, encouraged the de-
serving, and sought to reclaim the erring.
Before three months of her widowhood had
expired, a letter from Lord Glastonbury reached
her. He had left England the day after their
last interview, fearful that some esdandre which
might compromise his personal interests would
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 171
take place. He looked on the Duchess as little
less than insane, and capable of not only
destroying her own position for ever, but of
compromising his. To escape any future
scenes, as he termed it, or any ea-poie, he went
off to the continent, where pleasure had de-
tained him until he read in the newspaper the
death of the Duke of Glenallen. This event
produced serious reflections in his worldly and
unfeeling mind. The Duchess, now free to dis-
pose of her hand and vast fortune, had become
a very different person to the wife whose hus-
band might any day have exposed her, and
compromised her lover. Her sin had not been
revealed to the world. She had not lost caste,
so he could by wedding her secure to himself
the wealthiest heiress in England; a woman, too,
so beautiful as to preclude the possibility of
the man on whom she bestowed her hand being
accused of mercenary motives; and standing
in so high a position in society as to reflect,
rather than receive distinction, on whomsoever
she might marry.
" And of this bonne fortune I am sure," said
i2
172 MEMOIRS OF
Lord Glastonbury to himself; " I am the only
man she ever loved, ever committed herself
with. She Avill be but too happy to redeem
the only sin of her life by a marriage with the
partner of it. I can persuade her that I left
England wholly to save her reputation ; that
my sternness at our last interview was only
assumed to prevent her ruin ; and that never did
I love her so fondly, nor give her such an undeni-
able proof of my attachment, as when I declined to
accept the sacrifice she was anxious to make, of
flying with me. Women are so credulous, so
prone to believe every assertion made by a man
they love, that I feel certain she will receive all
my explanations with perfect confidence, and
I shall bear off a prize, of which every marrying
man in England will envy me the possession.
I am on the whole a devilish lucky dog, and
now rejoice that Lady Julia Mordaunt did not
accept my offer at Paris. Her fortune is not
above one quarter the amount of the Duchess's,
her person not to be compared, and she is ten
years older. Yes, I am a lucky fellow!"
It was after indulging a train of reflections like
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 173
the above quoted, that Lord Glastonbury wrote
a proposal of marriage to the Duchess of Glen-
alien. The letter was an artful one. It re-
ferred, but with the tact of an experienced man
of the world, to their former attachment, and
his desire that the only error of an otherwise
spotless life should be effaced by a marriage that
would redeem and sanctify it. He painted his
unchanged passion in glowing colours, and his
impatience to throw himself at the feet of the
object of it, from which he was only deterred
by the dread of compromising, in the slightest
degree, her whom he hoped, when the required
time for widowhood had passed away, he should
lead to the hymeneal altar.
Never had the Duchess felt so indignant
as after the perusal of this letter. The
blood mounted to her very temples, .and her
lips trembled.
" And this is the man for whom I sinned !
for whom I have for ever lost my own respect,"
exclaimed she ; " oh ! it needed not this fresh
exposure of his unworthiness to humble me in
my own eyes, to renew that repentance for my
174 MEMOIRS OF
guilt which no time can efface. Wed him!
No, not for worlds ! not to buy even the con-
cealment of my sin. Deeply as I deplore, and
must ever lament it, and desirous as I am to
bury it in oblivion from the world, rather would
I brave the worst, his revelation of it, and the
scorn of society, than become his wife."
Her answer to his letter astonished almost as
much as it enraged him. Incapable of com-
prehending or of appreciating a character like
hers, he instantly came to the conclusion that
some new attachment on her part could alone
have led to her rejection of him. Under this
impression he wrote to her again, insinuating,
rather than openly menacing, that if she ever
consented to wed another, he would reveal her
former liaison Avith him.
"How little does he know me," said the
Duchess to herself, if he believes me capable
of deceiving any man who might address me
as a suitor ! No, never again will I marry !"
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 175
CHAPTER XL
IT was some time before the Duchess re-
covered her ordinary state of composure, so
cruelly broken in upon by the heartless and
indelicate letters of Lord Glastonbury. These
new proofs of the baseness of the man she had
once so sinfully loved, overwhelmed her with
shame, and increased her contrition ; a contri-
tion so deep and sincere, that she deemed a long
life of repentance would not be sufficient to
redeem her sin. Every hour of her life was
passed in doing good, or in reading and reflec-
tion ; and when Selina looked on this beautiful
woman, not yet more than two-and-twenty
years old, possessed of boundless wealth, de-
scended from one of the noblest houses, holding
such an elevated rank, and sought after by the
highest and proudest, thus devoting her youth
to the amelioration of the condition of the poor,
176 MEMOIRS OF
and to penitence for one sin, a sin unknown to
the world, she could almost have wept that one
so naturally prone to good, should have been,
by the force of circumstances, hurried into a
crime, the sense of which deprived her of that
happiness, which her personal and mental
attractions, no less than her position, might
have secured her.
The seclusion in which the Duchess of Glen-
alien lived did not preclude her from the
addresses of many of her former admirers.
It is true, they did not, like Lord Glastonbury,
presume to write to her until a year had elapsed
after the death of the Duke. Many of these
suitors were in every way unexceptionable ; and
all had enjoyed opportunities of knowing and
appreciating her whose hand they were anxious
to gain. The Duchess never hesitated a
moment in declining their proposals, persisting
in her resolution never again to marry. Many
were the visits offered by former female friends,
with sons, brothers, or nephews, for whom they
longed to win the prize; but delicate health was
pleaded as an excuse for refusing all visits, and
A PEltME DE CHAMBRE. 177
at length the beautiful recluse, as it now became
the fashion to call her, was left to enjoy in
peace the solitude she preferred ; her interested
friends and admirers piqued into accusing her
of eccentricity or affectation. This was the
happiest period of the life of Selina, and would
have left her nothing to desire, could she but
have seen her beloved mistress less haunted and
pained by the memory of the past Treated
more as a friend than a dependent, she learned
to know the fine qualities of the Duchess, and
with this knowledge her affection and devotion
to her increased.
Months rolled away tranquilly, the Duchess
pursuing the even tenor of her way, dis-
pensing happiness around her, and almost wor-
shipped by all who had opportunities of judging
her. Never was her name mentioned in any
cottage, for miles and miles in her neighbour-
hood, that blessings did not follow it; and never
did she lay her head on her pillow, without
knowing that she had, during the preceding day,
conferred benefits on all requiring her aid.
Yet still the happiness diffused by her to others
178 MEMOIRS OF
brought not that boon to herself; one fatal
remembrance poisoned her existence, and em-
bittered every hour of it.
And now a great change became apparent
in ' the Duchess of Glenallen. Her health,
which had continued delicate ever since her
severe illness, began to betray such unequivocal
symptoms of decay, as to seriously alarm
Selina, and plunge Madame Fanchon into
despair. A hectic cough, pain in the side, uni-
versal lassitude, and sleepless nights, too surely
announced that remorse and grief had impaired,
if not wholly destroyed her constitution.
"Ah! Mademoiselle, Mademoiselle," would
Madame Fanchon say, " ce cher anye will soon
leave us, will become un ange au del, unless we
can persuade her to go to London, and have a
consultation of physicians. It break my heart
to see her vid dat bright pink spot on her
cheek, and her beautiful eyes so much more
brilliant dan ven she vas in health. Veil did I
know dat if ever she did vat vas wrong, she
never could be happy any more. De vorld
might pardon, but she vouldn't forgive herself.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 179
She believed dat her love for dat bad man vas
to be almost excused by his goodness; and she,
judging him by her own noble heart, tought
him perfect. It vas dis belief dat supported
her against de stings of remorse, A r en she tought
he adored her; for even den dere vere times ven
she vas so malheureuse that I trembled lest she
should go to de Duke and tell him all. But
ven she found him so ingrat, so base, her sin
did appear so moche de vorse in her own eyes,
dat she no longer had courage to struggle
against de regret dat has consumed her, for
having lost her own esteem. Dere be dose,
Mademoiselle, and de Duchesse is von of dem
who have de heart so noble, so fine, dat ven
dey have lost deir own respect, dey cannot
evef more have von moment's peace or health,
and vont to be proud of de man for whom dey
have lost it, and to believe dat he at least values
de terrible sacrifice dat dey have made. But
ven even dis belief is gone, and dat every
excuse to satisfy deir own wounded conscience
has fallen avay, den, oh ! den, Mademoiselle, de
proud heart break, de health goes, and dey die/'
180 MEMOIRS OF
Often was Selina reminded of the last days
of Lady Almondbury, as she contemplated the
changed aspect of the Duchess the same
attenuated form, the same faded, yet still lovely
face. A conviction of her danger had taken
possession of the Duchess's mind, and its effect
was a more constant attention to her religious
duties, and a greater composure of spirits.
Madame Fanchon urged her mistress daily to
go to London for medical advice.
" It will be of no use, my good Fanchon,"
would she answer ; " I feel that my days are
numbered, and wish to end them tranquilly here."
At length her repeated entreaties induced the
Duchess to consent to go to London.
" Poor old faithful creature ! " observed her
Grace to Selina ; " although I know how use-
less it is, and dislike the fatigue of the journey,
and leaving this quiet spot, I cannot refuse a
request of hers, so continually urged."
The journey was undertaken; propped by
pillows the invalid reclined in her carriage,
Selina and Fanchon seated opposite to her;
nor when they reached the railway, would she
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 161
quit it, so much did she dread encountering the
additional move, or meeting strangers. The
coach a roomy and commodious landau was
the last of the train, and, immediately before
it, was a box containing horses ; they had only
proceeded a short way when the movement of
the carriage became so violent and unsteady,
that its three occupants were filled with alarm.
Something must be wrong, they felt persuaded;
and, in a terror not to be described, they clung
to the holders to avoid being dashed against
each other. Selina looked out of the window,
and screamed, to attract attention, but her cries
were drowned in the stunning noise of the
train, and the large vehicle, filled with horses,
in front completely masked them from the car-
riages that preceded it. Every moment the
movement of the coach grew more violent ; and
it now became evident to those within it, that
the braces on one side had given way, for the
body of the carriage was whirled on its side,
half over the truck. The imperial, partly
unfastened, swung from side to side, as the
coach, impelled along with a fearful velocity,
was threatened every moment to be shattered
182 MEMOIRS OF
to pieces. The Duchess, thrown on the lower
side, soon became insensible ; Selina and Fan-
chon offered up prayers, deeming that all hope
of mortal aid was now over, when, on entering
a tunnel, the half-prostrate carriage was dashed
with such violence against the side of the arch,
that it was wholly disengaged from the truck,
and shattered to pieces. Selina lost all con-
sciousness the moment this occurred, and when
restored to animation, found herself in a room,
surrounded by half-a-dozen persons, who had
all been occupied about her. For several
minutes she could not remember what had
happened, but gazed on the strangers in surprise.
By degrees she became aware of her situation,
and in alarm called for the Duchess for
Fanchon. Instead of her agonized inquiries
being answered, she was told she must not
speak ; that she must continue perfectly quiet ;
and then she became sensible of great pain in
her head, and in several parts of her person.
She had been placed on a bench, near an open
window, at one of the stations ; and while she
lay there, overcome by bodily torture and
terror, the inquiries, unanswered by those around
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 183
her, were solved by the conversation carried on
outside the window. " We saw the coach
thrown on one side," said the speaker, " and
expected it would be dashed to pieces. We
were on the bridge, and shouted, and ran with
all our might, but, Lord bless you ! what chance
had we of overtaking the train that rushed
madly on, as if the devil himself was driving it !
or of our voices being heard, when that shriek-
ing, puffing engine drowns every other sound.
Oh, it was a terrible sight ! And then, when
we saw the train going to enter the tunnel,
we knew it must all soon be over with the
coach, which was overhanging on the right
side of the truck ; and, sure enough, it was
dashed up against the arch, and fell to pieces
in a moment. In the shock it was disen-
gaged from the truck. We shouted for assis-
tance, and ran to the carriage. Oh, what a
frightful sight it was to see ! One of the
women, they say it was the mistress, was quite
dead. A piece of the wood of the carriage had
struck her on the temple, and the blood had
streamed all over her. Her death, they say,
184 MEMOIRS OP
must have been instantaneous. The old woman
opened her eyes once, looked at the dead lady,
groaned, and never movd afterwards, although
the doctors tried all their skill with both, The
other young woman got a bad cut on the back
of the head, and is dreadfully bruised, but they
say she may recover. 'Twas lucky for her that
the train stopped at this station, for there was
no less than two doctors travelling by it, and
they have been doing all they can for the poor
young creature."
Selina listened with intense interest to the
recapitulation of the fearful scene, in which she
had taken a part, her eyes closed, as if to shut
it out from her sight; and, as it concluded, she
uttered a piercing shriek, and again relapsed
into insensibility. For many days her life was
in the utmost danger, and she was wholly un-
conscious of everything passing around her.
During that time a coroner's inquest had
taken place, and the last mournful duties were
performed to the dead.
Youth, and a good constitution, had enabled
the poor sufferer to survive the injuries she had
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 185
sustained, and the violent fever that had fol-
lowed them; and when restored to convales-
cence, she found the kind-hearted Mrs. Steadfast
watching by her bed. The husband of that worthy
woman having read in the newspaper the details
of the frightful catastrophe, had despatched her
to take charge of Selina ; and she had been many
days with her before the invalid was aware of
the fact. Her presence, and soothing attention,
produced the most favourable effect. The state
of bodily weakness, too, to which Selina was
reduced, left her a passive, rather than a violent
mourner, for the mistress she had learned to
love so fondly, and the good-natured, poor Fan-
chon, from whom she had experienced nothing
but kindness ever since she had known her. She
would remain for hours lost in thought, ques-
tioning herself whether it could indeed be true,
that the lovely being, whose sweet voice still
lingered in her ear, whose gentleness and con-
siderate kindness had been evinced in a thou-
sand nameless, but touching ways, ever since
she had entered her abode, was gone for ever ;
and sincere and deep was the grief of Selina.
186 MEMOIRS OF
Man}* were the tears shed by her as her
thoughts dwelt on the terrible catastrophe that
had deprived her of the best, the gentlest of
mistresses. Although deeply grateful to the
Almighty for the preservation of her own life,
she could not be consoled for the loss of her mis-
tress ; and her sorrow, though not loud and bois-
terous, became a settled sentiment in her breast,
the effect of which greatly retarded her recovery.
The mortal remains of the Duchess and her
faithful old servant Fanchon had been removed
for interment in the church adjoining her late
abode, while Selina had been struggling be-
tween life and death in a brain fever. Fre-
quently did the poor girl revert to the last time
she had seen her, pale as marble, in a deep
swoon, wholly insensible of what was passing
around her. The frantic cries of poor Fanchon,
the terrible velocity of the movement of the
vehicle that contained all three, until the final
crash, were remembered as a fearful but vivid
dream that haunted her. And now all was over.
Again she was houseless. Her beautiful, her
good mistress was gone, she humbly hoped, to
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE, 187
that Heaven to which her deep and never-
ceasing remorse for the one sin of her young
life had entitled her. Yes, penitence so sincere
must plead for her before her Almighty and
merciful Father ; and this confidence in the bliss
she was now enjoying became the only source
of consolation to Selina.
When able to be removed she accompanied
Mrs. Steadfast to London, and in a few days
after despatched a note announcing her arrival
to Mrs. Fraser. In her present state she longed
to see that amiable and gentle being, and was
not without a hope that she might again enter
into her establishment, so warmly had that lady
pressed her to do so when she had last seen her.
The note was brought back by the messenger,
with the intelligence that Mrs. Fraser, with her
mother and sisters, had gone abroad, and were
not expected back to England for a year.
This news inflicted a severe disappointment on
Selina, for she had counted much on receiving
comfort from her for whom she entertained so
sincere a regard.
Mrs. Steadfast, alarmed by the continued
188 MEMOIRS OF
weakness of Selina, called in a skilful physician,
who, made acquainted with the recent affliction
she had experienced, advised to have her re-
moved to a milder climate, which, with a total
change of scene, he thought would be the most
effectual means for her restoration to health.
But how is this advice to be carried into
effect? thought the excellent couple, under
whose roof Selina was sojourning.
" Let us wait, my dear, until she gets a little
better," said Mrs. Steadfast to her husband,
" and we may hear of some lady going abroad,
and requiring an attendant. I often read in
the newspaper inquiries of this nature."
"In the meanwhile," replied her husband, "we
must manage to get Miss Stratford into the fresh
air as much as possible. Our son is such a good
steady lad, and drives so carefully, that he can
take her out for a couple of hours every day in
our gig, and that will set her up."
This kind plan was carried into execution ;
and in the course of a few weeks the glow of
health, which revisited the cheeks of Selina, and
her returning strength, proclaimed 'how judi-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 189
clous and advantageous it had proved. Yet
returning health did not restore her broken
spirits; and as her kind host and hostess
marked this, they bethought themselves of the
physician's advice of change of scenery, to divert
the invalid's mind from the painful topic that
unceasingly filled it. They inquired among
their friends ; looked into the advertisements in
the newspapers, and at length found one that
seemed likely to suit their young friend.
"A lady of distinction," so stated the advertise-
ment, "about to visit the continent, requires a
young person of good education to fill the place
of femme de chambre. She will be expected to
read aloud to her mistress, to act occasionally
as her amanuensis, and to keep her accounts."
"Why, it seems the very thing, my dear,"
observed Mr. Steadfast, "How very few
femmes-de-chambre could be able to fill this
double capacity, and Miss Stratford happens to
be precisely one of the few."
" Yes, she is indeed, and I trust she may be
engaged," said his wife.
The advertisement was answered, an appoint-
190 MEMOIRS OF
ment made, and Selina, in consequence, waited
on the Lady Caldersfoot. The house was one
of small dimensions, but of great pretension,
situated in Wilton Place. The hall was covered
with plaster brackets, on which stood innume-
rable diminutive casts of the most celebrated
works of antiquity. The staircase was deco-
rated in a similar style; and in the drawing-
room, into which she was ushered by a footman
in a livery more remarkable for gaudiness than
good taste, the walls were nearly hidden by a
number of pictures, so execrably bad, that the
eye of Selina, lately accustomed to look on works
by the best masters, turned from them with
surprise, and a conviction that the taste and
knowledge of their owner must indeed be very
defective. To the frames of these vile daubs
were affixed the names of the most remarkable
painters, to whose style and manner they did
not present even the -slightest resemblance. They
had not even the merit of being bad copies of
the masters. Coarse Dutch furniture, painted
brown, and picked out in gold, as the dealers
term it, next attracted her attention ; the chairs
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 191
and sofas covered with stamped cotton velvet.
The curtains were, as upholsterers say, to
match, and the table-covers of the same mate-
rial. Mirrors, of small dimensions, in brown
and gilt frames, decorated the room. On the
mantelpiece and tables were placed various
articles of China, of a quality that would have
thrown the author of Yatheck into a fever, such
wretched specimens were they, mixed with a
quantity of trumpery, the refuse of cheap bric-
a-brac shops, but which were labelled as the
productions of Benvenuto Cellini, and the
masters of his time. German glasses, of fan-
tastic forms, were marked as crystal de roche ;
and old metal boxes incrusted with false stones,
that could not impose on any one for the real,
were placed under glass shades ; as if things of
some value. A few very ill-painted miniatures
were scattered around the tables ; and a gaudy
carpet, of so thin a substance as to betray the
forms of the boards of the floor beneath it,
completed the ensemble of the room in which
Selina was left some twenty minutes before
Lady Caldersfoot made her appearance. A
192 MEMOIRS OF
striking similarity between the room and the
owner instantly struck Selina, for in both
brown and gilding predominated. The. lady
herself, of a brown colour, was attired in brown
silk, not remarkable for its freshness. Her curls
and they were evidently only hers by right
of purchase were brown ; and chains and
bracelets, of what, in modern advertising phrase-
ology, is termed mosaic gold, completed the
costume of a most remarkably ill-looking old
lady.
" Ah, Miss Stratford ! " said she, examining
Selina through her eye-glass ; " I believe I am
right, your name is Miss Stratford." Selina
bowed assent. " Let us go into my library.
I never feel so comfortable anywhere else;" and
she led the way to a room that opened into the
drawing-room. " Pray be seated."
The library, as it was termed, was a large
closet, lined with book-shelves, on which stood,
ranged in goodly show, rows of half- bound
novels and periodicals. Nothing could be more
meretricious, or in worse taste than this room ;
the hangings, the chairs, and sofas, crowded
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 198
into it, leaving hardly space to move, were of
the most ill-assorted colours ; the window-
panes were pasted over with gaudy-coloured
paper, in imitation of stained glass, and the
table was littered with inkstands, presented, as
Lady Caldersfoot took care to inform Selina,
by the greatest men of our time, in recognition
of her talents, and in gratitude for the delight
and instruction their exercise had afforded
them. Selina could not help remarking, that, if
the good-will of the donors of these gifts was
to be estimated by their beauty or value, it
could not be very great, for the inkstands
were mere trumpery, such as may be found
at any of the cheap repositories for modern
antiques.
" Of course, you know my writings ?" said
Lady Caldersfoot.
" I have not that pleasure, Madam," replied
Selina. " Hitherto, my reading has not in-
cluded works of fiction."
" How very strange ! I had thought that a
person could not have been found in this coun-
try, or, indeed, in Europe, unacquainted with
VOL. in. K
194 MEMOIRS OF
my writings. Of course, you have heard of my
literary reputation ? "
Selina again bowed an assent, for which her
conscience reproached her, but which prudence
exacted ; for, short as had been her acquaintance
with Lady Caldersfoot, she had seen enough
of her to be aware, that, to confess the fact
of never having heard of her Ladyship's fame,
would be deemed nothing short of an offence of
deep dye.
" Fame, as the divine Dante says, Miss
Stratford, is not to be lightly won. Mine has
been purchased at the cost of health. Nightly
vigils, passed in poring over the works of philo-
sophers and sages, and days spent in giving to the
world the fruits of my studies, after their passing
through the alembic of my mind, have impaired
my health. The old story, the sword has worn
out the scabbard ; and I must seek a more genial
clime to renovate my frame. You speak French
and Italian fluently, I suppose ? "
" Tolerably, Madam."
" You write a legible hand, I know, by your
answer to my advertisement. Your appearance
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 195
proves a superiority over the ordinary class of
persons offering themselves as femmes de cham-
bre, and this peculiarity suits me ; for, such is
my respect for literature, that I think no lady,
devoting herself to that noble profession, should
have her person approached by a mere menial.
Her handmaiden should be a person of refine-
ment, of education, capable of comprehending
the elevated thoughts and lofty aspirations she
may be called on to copy on paper."
Selina listened with surprise to this exordium,
delivered with an affectation of manner that
rendered it perfectly ludicrous.
" What are your terms, Miss Stratford?"
" Forty pounds was the sum I received in
both my last situations."
" That is a great deal; but I suppose the
ladies you were with, were not literary, had not,
like me, achieved fame, consequently you had a
right, where no lustre could be reflected on you,
to receive a higher remuneration for your ser-
vices. With me it will be wholly different : a
portion of my celebrity will extend to you ;
and, therefore, you will not think me unreason-
K 2
196 MEMOIRS OF
able, if, instead of forty, I offer you twenty-five
pounds, which sum I never exceed. Indeed, I
could find many young persons, who, for the
sake of approaching my person, would gladly
come without any salary ; but I prefer you."
Amused by the absurdity and pretensions of
the lady, Selina felt disposed to accept the
terms offered. To go to a new scene, and a
better climate, were strong inducements, in her
present weak health and depressed spirits ; so
she acceded.
"With whom did you last live?" inquired
Lady Caldersfoot.
" With the Duchess of Glenallen," replied
Selina ; and tears filled her eyes as she uttered
the name.
"What ! the beautiful Duchess of Glenallen,
who met such a fearful death some weeks
ago?"
" The same, Madam."
" And you were the young person so mira-
culously saved? Why, the whole thing was
one of the most remarkable, most tragical cata-
strophes in modern times. Not that such acci-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 197
dents are not common enough in our days ; but
a Duchess, a young, a beautiful, and a rich
Duchess, who had retired from the world, re-
jected suitors by dozens, and all on account of
grief for the death of a very dissolute man, old
enough to be her grandfather, makes all the
difference ; it changes the whole thing. I was
really thinking of turning the event to account,
of writing a novel, to be entitled, * The Incon-
solable; or, the Railroad Disaster.' I had even
traced out a few sketches in my note-book. I
had described the last scene, when, conscious of
her impending destruction, she cried out, * My
beloved, I come to thee ! ' Yes, I shall be de-
lighted to have you, for you can of course give
me every particular, and then I can idealize the
whole. Mere facts are nothing, everything
must be placed in a romantic, a dramatic point
of view ; and in effecting this I shine."
Selina's astonishment was so great, that it
revealed itself in her countenance, and Lady
Caldersfoot, observing it, said, " I see you are
surprised. This is because you have not lived
with persons of genius. They seize, and make
198 MEMOIRS OF
their own, all that can be worked up into books,
and do it so admirably, that even those, who
enacted the roles they describe, can hardly
detect them when they peruse the work.
Glorious attribute of genius! that can invest
common, or even painful circumstances, with an
interest that it only can create."
The engagement was made, the reference to
Mrs. Steadfast was found satisfactory, and
Selina entered her new situation three days
after.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 199
CHAPTER XII.
THREE days after Selina entered the estab-
lishment of Lady Caldersfoot, that lady, attended
by her and a man-servant, left Wilton Place
for the Continent; which event, the evening
previous to their departure, Avas notified by her
Ladyship's own pen in the following terms, and
despatched to a fashionable morning paper for
insertion.
" Among the recent departures from town
we have to announce that of the Lady Calder-
foot and suite, who left her ladyship's elegant
and classic residence in Wilton Place this day,
en route for the Continent. It is said, we know
not with what truth, that this celebrated
authoress and charming lady will occupy her
graphic pen on a work of great importance,
connected with the progress of literature and
the fine arts in France and Italy, which no
person is so capable of tracing as her Ladyship,
200 MEMOIRS OF
whose profound knowledge and exquisite taste,
as well as deep erudition, peculiarly fit her for
the task. The distinguished literati in all the
capitals through which this celebrated lady will
pass, will no doubt eagerly seize the opportunity
afforded them of offering their homage to the
English Corinne."
Instructions were left, that several copies of
the paper were to be forwarded to Paris after
her ladyship, in order, as she explained to
Selina, that publicity should be given to her
movements in other countries as well as in her
own.
Arrived at Dover, Lady Caldersfoot pro-
ceeded to the Ship Inn, where she instantly
summoned the proprietor to her presence.
" Pray, Sir," said she, " is the Governor at pre-
sent at the Castle?"
" No Madam, he left yesterday morning for
town."
"How very unfortunate; but it is all my
own fault. I should have apprised him that I was
coming, and then he would have taken care not
to be out of the way."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 201
The innkeeper looked at her Ladyship with
surprise, for neither her own appearance, nor
that of her carriage or servant, had impressed
him with a very high opinion of her grandeur.
" It may be as well, Sir," resumed the lady,
" that you inform the civil and military autho-
rities here of my arrival. They probably may wish
to mark their respect by some of those atten-
tions usually paid to persons of distinction, and
might feel hurt if left in ignorance of my being
here."
" Who shall I say, Madam ? " inquired her
host.
"The Lady Caldersfoot. Of course you
know my name."
" I can't say I do, your Ladyship ; but so many
lords and ladies pass through here, that I can't
remember names."
" Do you never read, Sir?"
"Oh! yes, your Ladyship, the newspapers.
I hav'n't tune for anything more."
" But, surely, in the newspapers you must
have seen reviews of my works, or extracts
taken from the evening papers."
K3
202 MEMOIRS OF
" Perhaps, my lady, I may ; but as I did not
know your Ladyship's name, I can't be certain."
" I am Lady Caldersfoot, and my celebrity
has, I believe I may say, become European."
" I make no doubt, your Ladyship."
" Will you order your best room to be pre-
pared for me ? People will be here after, if not
at present, curious to see the room and bed I
slept in. A day may come when fragments of
the curtains of the bed in which I have reposed
will be purchased, as those of Voltaire's at
Ferney have been. The innkeeper looked
confounded. " Send my domestic," continued
Lady Caldersfoot, " and have a roast chicken
and half a pint of Sherry served up for my
dinner. If my arrival here becomes generally
known, many persons will doubtless apply for
my autographs ; this generally occurs wherever
I go, and as I do not like to refuse, you maybe
the medium of applying for them ; and now you
may withdraw ;" which Mr. Boniface did, evi-
dently not a little puzzled what to make of his
strange guest.
Thomas Whitlecombe, the footman, now
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 203
made his appearance, bowing and pulling the
forelock of his hair. Thomas was a new
servant, having been sent up from one of the
provinces only ten days before, and was as little
skilled in the usages of a London footman as
in knowledge of the world. He believed his
mistress to be a very great lady, whose orders
he must strictly obey, and he was utterly in-
capable of judging the propriety or absurdity
of them.
" Thomas," said Lady Caldersfoot, " I am
now going to a foreign land, and, to spare dis-
agreeable comments, it will be necessary for you
to change your name from the rustic one of
Thomas to Theodore. Both names begin with
a T, so that the mark on your clothes need not
be altered. Remember, therefore, that from
this day forth you are to answer only to the
name of Theodore."
" But, please your Ladyship, if how be as
I was taken up for going by a false name?
I have heard it is against the law."
" Xo, there is not the least danger of that, so
you need not be alarmed. And, now, mind
204 MEMOIRS OF
N
what I say. When you go down stairs, be par-
ticular in talking of me as much as possible in
the servants' room, or in the tap."
" Oh ! my lady, would that be right ? Why,
if your Ladyship will believe me, I was almost
agoing to blow up two chaps and a couple of
women-servants in the room down stairs, for
talking of their masters and mistresses. Lord
bless us, what things they did say ! "
"You mistake my instructions, Theodore.
I don't mean you to talk as they did."
"God forbid, my lady; for I wouldn't do
such a thing for all the world."
" No, Theodore, you are merely to say that
you have the honour of serving the most cele-
brated lady in England, the greatest authoress."
" And if I may make bold to ask, what is an
hauthoress, your ladyship?"
" A lady who writes books, and instructs the
world. You are to say that in London all eyes
are turned on your mistress; that the most
costly gifts are sent to her, by those delighted
with her writings, and that publishers buy them
at the greatest prices."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 205
" I've been a thinking, your Ladyship, that
if you'd write down all you have told me to
say, in large writing, I'd have it cried by the
town-crier ; he'd do it for a couple of shillings,
and that would make it known better than all
I could say, for I've not got a good memory for
remembering hard words, or saying much at a
time."
" Quelle bete!" muttered the lady, while
Selina felt the greatest difficulty to avoid
smiling. "No, no, Theodore, the town-crier
must not be thought of; but it is positively
necessary that you make all the persons you
meet know that your mistress is a grand lady
and a great authoress."
" Dang it all/' said Thomas, scratching , his
head, " I wish I may be able to remember that
word hau-hauthoress. If it was put down in a
plain hand, I'd learn it by heart, so I would."
" Print it for him, Miss Stratford."
Selina did as she was told, and Theodore, <as
he was henceforth to be called, retired, spelling
over, as he withdrew, the word written down for
him.
206 MEMOIRS OF
" And now you had better go and see my
room arranged, 1 ' said Lady Caldersfoot, " you
can inform the landlady or housemaid, or both,
who I am. When persons of celebrity, like
me, travel, every one is curious to learn some-
thing about them. I have ordered a chicken
for my dinner ; half of it will be quite sufficient
for me, and the other half I will leave for you.
This will save money, so come down in about a
quarter of an hour after my dinner is served ;
I will then have finished, and you can take my
place; and as I shall order a dumb waiter instead
of a living one, nobody will be the wiser, and
I shall have only one dinner to pay for instead
of two."
The meanness of this proceeding was so ex-
tremely disagreeable to Selina, that she would
have preferred going without a dinner to adopt-
ing it ; but she saw that Lady Caldersfoot was
not a woman to be reasoned with, and, what
was more, that she would resent any remon-
strance. One part, however, of her Ladyship's
instructions Selina did not comply with, namely,
she did not enlighten either the hostess or the
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 207
chamber-maid on the celebrity of Lady Calders-
foot, although the former threw herself in her
way with an evident curiosity, probably excited
by the communication made to her by her hus-
band after his interview with the lady.
" How many is the table to be laid for,
Madam ? " inquired the quick, bustling waiter,
who, with a table-cloth and napkin in one hand,
and a knife-tray in the other, entered the room.
" For one only ; and, as I don't like attend-
ance at dinner, place a dumb waiter near my
chair."
The waiter obeyed the order, and in due time
the roast chicken was served. Whether Lady
Caldersfoot's appetite was more than usually
keen, or that the chicken was unusually small,
cannot be well explained ; but the result was,
that so slender a portion of the carcass was left
for Selina, the legs and wings having totally
disappeared, that a bird, however delicate, would
have been exposed to no danger from repletion
had he picked it.
" Don't use a plate, the dish will serve as
well, and prevent observation," said Lady Cal-
208 MEMOIRS OF
dersfoot. " Sit down in my chair, and I will
look out of the window while you dine."
Selina felt like a receiver of stolen goods
while she eat the small share of food left for
her ; and was so apprehensive of being detected
in the operation by the waiter, that she hurried
through it as rapidly as she could.
" As you never drink wine," observed Lady
Caldersfoot, " I need leave none for you." And
taking the decanter, shejemptied the portion of its
contents which she had not consumed into one
of tlb.ejta$ons of her dressing-box, which she had
kept in the room, as it now appeared, for the
purpose. " As one must pay for every thing
in an inn," continued she, " I always make it a
point to have the value of my money. You
may now retire to your room, and I will ring
for the waiter to remove the things," pointing
to the fragments on the table.
The host and hostess of the inn, no bad
judges of appearance, had on seeing Selina set
her down as a lady. When, however, they
found that she was not to dine with Lady
Caldersfoot, and that she had assisted the
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 209
chamber-maid in arranging her Ladyship's room,
they began to think she must act in the capa-
city of femme de chambre.
" "Well, there is really now no means of
judging who persons are by their dress or air,"
said the hostess ; " I could have sworn the young
person was a gentlewoman."
" Yes, she is indeed more like one than that
crazy old woman she accompanies," replied the
husband.
" The poor thing looks much too genteel to
be put in the servants' room with the others,"
observed the hostess.
" I think, my dear, it would be as well to
ask her to dine with us."
" Just as you please, my dear."
" And," resumed she, " I havn't the heart to put
her into one of those dark closets, into which
we generally thrust ladies'-maids. No, I'll let
her keep the room next her mistress's, which I
had chosen for her when I believed she was a
lady, and I'll step up and ask her to dine with us."
Grateful for this civility, Selina politely de-
clined it, alleging a headach, which she really
210 MEMOIRS OF
had, as an excuse. Her spirits were depressed,
for she could not help contrasting the treat-
ment already experienced from her present
mistress, and the prospect of a continuance of
it, with that received from her lamented one,
the Duchess of Glenallen, or the kind and
amiable Mrs. Fraser. To be the companion, nay
more, the servant of so very absurd and ridicu-
lous a woman as Lady Caldersfoot, was highly
mortifying, and must inevitably expose her to
constant annoyance. While making these re-
flections, she was summoned to the presence of
that lady.
" I wish to walk on the Pier," said she ; " the
news of my arrival has doubtlessly spread, and
people will be impatient to see me. I will call
at the circulating libraries, and inquire for my
own books. I always make it a point to do so
when I am travelling it helps the sale ; and
I enjoy the surprise and delight of the librarian
when I disclose who I am."
The dress of Lady Caldersfoot was more re-
markable for its variety of colours and mere-
tricious ornaments, than for richness or good
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 211
taste; and assorted so ill with her plain and
highly rouged face, as always to attract an
attention that would have been anything but
agreeable to most women, but which she consi-
dered as a homage paid to her imagined celebrity.
Selina soon found herself painfully embar-
rassed by the rude staring directed towards her
companion, who, instead of being distressed, or
attributing it to the true cause, was evidently
much gratified, and observed,
"It is quite clear these good people know
who I am, for you see how they follow me.
This is one of the consequences of fame ; but I
am so accustomed to it, that I rather look for
than seek to avoid it."
" Ah ! here is a circulating library ;" and
entering it she said, " Pray, Sir, have you got
* The Delicate Dilemma?'" and Lady Calders-
foot addressed the librarian, assuming an air of
mingled dignity and condescension.
" Yes, Ma'am, I know we have it ; but it is
so little inquired for, that I really hardly know
where to put my hand on it."
And the man commenced searching for the
212 MEMOIRS OF
work. Selina stole a glance at her Ladyship,
on whose countenance anger and indignation
strove for mastery.
" If you cannot find 'The Delicate Dilemma,' "
observed she, " let me have the ' Foibles of
Fashion,' by the same distinguished authoress."
" I'm very sorry, Ma'am, but I have not got
any other of the works of Lady Caldersfoot.
Finding that they are never asked for,
I don't order them. Indeed, the one I am
looking for has been always sent back to me
in a few hours, with an observation that it was
unreadable."
"Which proves," said Lady Caldersfoot, "that
your subscribers must be wholly deficient in
taste and judgment." And she walked with a
stately air out of the shop, leaving its pro-
prietor perfectly astonished. "What an idiot
that monster in human shape is !" observed the
angry authoress. " I was half tempted to de-
clare my name, and overwhelm him with con-
fusion. What Goths the inhabitants of Dover
must be ! But let us proceed to another circu-
lating library."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 213
In their progress in search of one, Lady
Caldersfoot continued to attract so much
attention, that her companion felt really
ashamed.
"That must be some old Frenchwoman,
painted up and dressed in such an outlandish
fashion," said a rough-looking sailor to another,
as they passed, rudely staring at Lady Calders-
foot.
" My heyes," observed a second passer-by,
"what a crazy -looking old frigate!"
None of these insulting comments escaped
the ears of the person to whom they were
directed ; and so greatly did they irritate her,
that Selina, although fully sensible of, and
disgusted with, the vanity and folly which had
occasioned them, pitied Lady Caldersfoot. They
entered a second circulating library, and, as in
the former one, the lady inquired for one of her
novels. The same, or nearly similar, answers
were given to her ; and now her indignation
conquering her prudence, she told the owner
of the shop that his subscribers must be the
most stupid and tasteless readers in the world,
214 MEMOIRS OF
not to have demanded the writings of so cele^
brated an authoress.
" Why, as to that, Madam," replied the man,
piqued into anger by her sweeping censure on
his customers, " I believe my subscribers are
rather above than below the general class ; for
as Dover has a continual succession of distin-
guished and fashionable stationary visitors, as
well as those who pass through, going to, or
coming from France, there must surely be some
good judges of literature among them, and
I have never before been asked for the works
of the authoress you have named."
" You have surely seen the reviews on these
works," said the lady, "and the frequent
complimentary mention of them in extracts
in the newspapers taken from evening papers ?"
" Yes, Madam, I have, but such puffs have
no influence here. A good-natured editor often
speaks favourably of books of which his opinion
is quite different ; and extracts from an evening
paper, we all know to be nothing more nor less
than paid advertisements from the publisher.
Then, madam, we are all aware that publishers
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 215
have vehicles of their own for puffing works,
when editors or critics in the regular line are
too honest to help them to sell bad books by
praising them."
"And pray, Sir, how did you acquire this
intimate knowledge of the secrets of publishers ?"
demanded Lady Caldersfoot haughtily.
" By having lived some years with a fashion-
able publisher in London, Madam," was the
reply.
" I will not give you any more trouble, Sir,"
said Lady Caldersfoot, leaving the shop, angered
beyond measure by the disclosure made by the
librarian, and especially in the presence of
Selina, whom she wished to be deeply impressed
with the value of extracts from evening papers
and favourable reviews. That she should now
be let into the secrets of publishers, a cir-
cumstance which must lower the fame of her
mistress in her eyes, was most vexatious, and,
quite disgusted with Dover librarians, she
retraced her steps to the inn. In the hall she
met the proprietor, and inquired of him, "Whe-
ther he had notified her arrival ?"
216 MEMOIRS OF
" Yes, my lady."
" And what has been the result ?"
" I was told, your Ladyship, that your coming
or o-oing was nothing to the authorities. It
was only to Royalty or Ambassadors that they
were to pay honours."
" Didn't you tell them who I am what my
celebrity is ?"
"Yes, my lady, and they laughed in my
face, and asked me who told me of it? and
when .1 answered, that I had it from your Lady-
ship's own lips, they laughed more and more,
and so I came away."
"Brutes, illiterate brutes!" exclaimed the
lady, "have any requests for my autographs
been made ?"
"Not one, your Ladyship; and though I
offered them to all the travellers in the coffee-
room, just out of civility, no one wanted
them."
"Well, this is most extraordinary, most un-
precedented, I must say, and proves that there
must be no appreciation of literature, or those
whose works adorn it, in Dover. Be so good
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 217
as to send my domestic," and Lady Caldersfoot,
with an air of the utmost dignity, ascended the
stairs. The man soon appeared, his face flushed,
and his eyes emitting a lustre very unusual to
them. " I sent for you, Theodore," said his mis-
tress, " to inform you, that I will sail by the
morning's steamer to Calais. Go, and secure
passages for me and my suite ; mind you say,
the celebrated Lady Caldersfoot and her
suite!"
" Yes, your Ladyship, but I hope you do not
expect me to tell 'em that your Ladyship is
a hauthoress."
" And why not, pray ?"
" Because it may get me into trouble, your
Ladyship."
" Get you into trouble !" repeated the lady, in
astonishment.
" Yes, my Lady. Why I have had such a
piece of work in the servants' room as I never
had in all my born days, and all because I did
as your Ladyship told me. I said you were a
celebrated hauthoress, and all the rest of it, as
your Ladyship desired nie ; when, would you
VOL. III. L
218 MEMOIRS OF
believe it ! one of the ladies'-maids, a himperent
pert cretur as ever I seed in my life, begins for
to laugh outright ; and when I asked her what
she laughed at, she said your Ladyship was one
of the poorest authoresses in all England. I up
and told her, your Ladyship paid your way,
like any other lady, when she burst out louder
than ever, and said she didn't mean anything
about money matters, though she had heard
you were very stingy. ' Then what do you
mean, Miss?' says I. 'I mean,' says she, that
your mistress's books is all stuff and nonsense,
for when I was in my last place, and she sent
her novel as a present to Lady Millenton, her
ladyship laughed downright; and when I
offered to cut the leaves open, her ladyship
told me there was no occasion, for she should
never read a line of it. This put my blood up,
and I said Lady Millenton was no better than she
should be, for being so ungrateful for a present.
And then her fellow-servant, who I believe is
her sweetheart too, for he reddened up when
he saw she was affronted, asked me if I know'd
what a hauthoress was? I said, to be sure
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 219
I did. ' Then/ says he, ' a hauthoress is no better
than a liar, who invents all sorts of stories,
and writes 'em down, and gets money for 'em.
Why it's a burning shame, so it is,' says he, ' to
get money for lies, when poor sarvants are
scolded and discharged if they are found telling
'em.'" _^
" Monsters ! ignorant stupid monsters ! " ex-
claimed Lady Caldersfoot, "not to be able to
perceive the difference between the noble in-
spirations of genius and the moral turpitude of
falsehood."
" Human patience couldn't stand it no longer,
your Ladyship, so I gives him my mind. He
grew more saucy, and we were coming to blows,
when the landlord came and told me your
Ladyship wanted me."
" You must treat such ignorant brutes with
contempt, Theodore," said his mistress, assuming
an air of dignity.
" That's just what I was going to do, your
Ladyship. "Whenever any man hinsults me,
I give him a good hiding, if I can that's my
way of showing my contempt."
L2
220 MEMOIRS OF
"Go now, Theodore, and engage the places
at the packet-office; but be sure to tell that
I am the celebrated Lady Caldersfoot."
" Well, my Lady, I hope no harm will come
of it ; but, to tell the truth, I'm almost afraid
I'll be getting into trouble wherever we go, for
I can't bear to see folks laughing, or to hear 'em.
call your Ladyship a liar."
"Oh! that perfidious Lady Millenton," ex-
claimed Lady Caldersfoot. " How terrible to
find one has been deceived where one had
most trusted ! Ca3sar felt not more despair
when he saw that the mortal wound was in-
flicted by his friend, and exclaimed, <Et tu,
Brute!' than I now do. Well may I say,
'And you, Lady Millenton!'/'
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE remainder of the evening was spent by
Lady Calderfoot in uttering reflections on the
ingratitude, envy, hatred, malice, and all un-
charitableness of the world, and particularly
the female portion of it.
" Oh, Selina ! " exclaimed she, " could you
but know the trials I have experienced in this
way, you would indeed wonder how, with a
frame so delicate, and so exquisitely sensitive
a mind and heart, I have been able to resist
them. This Lady Millenton, whose duplicity
has been this evening revealed to me, I believed
to be my most devoted friend. How many
times has she assured me, that my writings
were the solace of her solitary hours, that I was
a second De Stael ! She has, many a time and
oft, addressed notes to me as Corinne, and has
222 MEMOIRS OF
even requested me to have my portrait painted
as Corinne, at the Capitol. But there is one
consolation in all such trials. I know the
praise came flowing from the heart, forced from
it by excess of honest, fervent admiration.
The after detraction is the offspring of base
envy, wrung from it by seeing the fame, the
celebrity accorded me. Thus, as the bee can
extract nothing but honey, even from poisonous
flowers, I can extract good from evil. However,
such trials enable me to know the human heart,
and this is the secret of my power of painting
its feelings so admirably well. After the first
pangs of disappointment are a little subdued, I
reflect that my own superiority has elicited the
envy, from whose workings I suffer, and I
remember that great genius ever has, and ever
will be, pursued by envious detractors. I made
the reputation of beauty for Lady Millenton,
as well as for many other of my false friends.
J took her for my heroine, painted exaggerated
pictures of her person, flattered it as well as her
mind, and got my publishers to print a key to
(the characters in the book, by which it became
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 223
known who were meant. To be sure, this plan
was useful in extending the sale ; for one of the
most successful baits to catch public curiosity,
is to let it be supposed'that a novel is filled with
personalities. Nevertheless, one has surely reason
to expect that the common-place women, whom
an authoress elevates on a pedestal, and gives a
sort of celebrity to, ought to be grateful. But,
alas ! such is the ingratitude of persons, that
their sense of obligation is forgotten in the
more acute ones of envy and jealousy. Now,
I am convinced that the woman, who Theodore
told me had spoken so insultingly about my
authorship, is a paid agent, sent down here by
my enemies, to incite the ignorant to affront
me. You look incredulous, Selina, but you
know not the persecutions to which persons of
great genius are exposed. Yes, I feel now quite
certain that the negligence of the civil and
military authorities, the rude remarks of the low
persons in the street, and the impertinence of the
librarians, were the result of the machinations of
my enemies, who must have expended great sums
to have gained over those people. But this
.224 MEMOIRS OF
vast expenditure and trouble, taken to prevent
my being honoured with a triumph here, or even
an ovation, is the most convincing proof of my
celebrity, and the envy it creates. I am, like
Rousseau, a martyr to the machinations of my
enemies; but my mind being greater, I do
not allow them to embitter my life, as they
did his."
Selina, who had never before come in contact
with one of the genus irritabile, began to be
seriously alarmed for the sanity of her mistress.
Could that poor, misguided woman really be-
lieve the gross improbabilities she uttered, or
was the whole thing got up to impose on
others ? was a question she put to herself. But
when she reflected on the weakness and vanity
of Lady Caldersfoot, revealed by innumerable
proofs every hour since she had been with her,
she began to think that that lady was a mono-
maniac, mad only on the one subject, and that
one a false estimate of her own talents.
When the bill was brought next morning,
Lady Caldersfoot carefully read over the items,
and added up the total.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 225
" There is a great mistake in this account,"
said she, ringing the bell. The waiter answered
the summons, and she pointed out to him that
dinner had been charged to her femme de
chambre for the previous evening, although
she had not had any. " Tea also is charged,
which is likewise an error, as the young person
partook of none."
*' Both were provided, Madam, and it is the
regular custom in this house to charge for what
has been provided, even though it may not be
eaten."
" I must say I think the custom a very im-
proper one, and also that the charges are very
high."
" I assure your Ladyship that we never make
different prices, whatever may be the station of
our customers."
"But when celebrated persons, authors of
distinction, for example, whose presence in au
inn must draw attention to it, a reductiou
should surely be made."
"No author has hitherto claimed any such
exemption from the general charges of the. house,
L3
.226 MEMOIRS OF
Madam, and I am sure the proprietor would not
Consent to make any abatement."
The bill was paid with great reluctance, and
the waiter and chambermaid received so small
a remuneration, that they were more than half
tempted to refuse it, and betrayed by their
manner their dissatisfaction. The newspaper,
in which was inserted the notice of her de-
parture, written by herself, was sent to the
coffee-room, that its occupants should not
remain in ignorance of having had so remark-
able a lady beneath the same roof with them.
Papers were also sent to the proprietors of both
the libraries visited the previous evening, her
Ladyship being determined, as she said, to
cover them with confusion by this proof of the
estimation in which she was held by the London
world.
When Lady Caldersfoot and suite, as she
loved to term her two attendants, had em-
barked, she desired to speak to the captain of
the packet. He was busily engaged at the
time, and told her servant so, but her Ladyship
,was by no means disposed to wait until he was
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 227
more at leisure, and kept sending " Theodore,"
to him, until the latter, unused to the movement
and odour peculiar to steam-packets, felt com-
pelled to retire, and was not again visible until
the vessel arrived at its destined port. When
the captain did present himself before Lady
Caldersfoot, she told him that she desired to
see him, merely for the purpose of informing
him he had on board one of, if not the most,
distinguished authoresses of England.
"Very proud of the honour, Ma'am, I'm
sure," was the reply ; " which is the lady ? "
"I am the lady, Sir; my name is Lady
Caldersfoot." She expected that the captain
would evince some symptoms of surprise, and
more profound respect than previously ; but he
simply bowed. "I thought it right, Sir, to
inform you of the responsibility you have in-
curred, when you have on board a public cha*
racter like myself one on whom so many eyes
are turned, for whose safety so many thousands
are interested."
" I hope, my Lady, I know my duty, and that
I should take as much care of my vessel and
MEMOIRS OF
passengers if I had only the humblest on
board, as if I had the greatest."
" Nevertheless, Sir, as Caesar thought fit to
tell the boatman when he embarked, ' You
carry Caesar and his fortunes,' I thought it right
to declare who I am."
" Very like, my Lady, but the case is some-
what different. Csesar, as you say, had his
fortune aboard with him, and therefore it was
quite proper for him to give notice of it to the
captain of the packet."
" You mistake, Sir.
" Coming, coming," said the captain, answer-
ing to the repeated calls for him from another
part of the deck. " I beg pardon, my Lady,
I'm wanted." What a rum old un it is!"
thought he, as he hurried away.
" You will now have an opportunity of ob-
serving the effect of mind over body," said
Lady Caldersfoot to Selina, who she kept in
close attendance near her ; " / never suffer the
slightest inconvenience from the sea. Intel-
lectual people,! believe, never do. My secret is to
keep my thoughts fixed on some elevated point."
A FEMME BE CHAMBRE. 229
" That accounts for the old lady's looking up
at the top of the mast ever since we got out of
the harbour/' observed a plain old man sotto voce
to his companion.
" But a-propos of elevated subjects," resumed
Lady Caldersfoot. I am reminded that I must
give some advice to the captain. Perhaps you,
Sir," addressing herself to the plain old man,
" will be so obliging as to inform him that
Lady Caldersfoot wishes to speak to him."
" I'm sorry, Ma'am, I can't go to him ; but
the truth is, it is only by keeping in one pos-
ture, and not attempting to move, that I avoid
sea-sickness. I have been for some time adopt-
ing your plan, Ma'am, of fixing my eyes on the
top of the mast, but I can't yet tell whether
it will succeed or not."
" My plan, Sir ?" reiterated Lady Caldersfoot,
" I really do not comprehend you. I am not
aware of having ever communicated any plan
to you, or, indeed, of having ever seen you
before!"
" Very true, Ma'am, very true ; but I hap-
pened to overhear you tell the young lady with
230 MEMOIRS OF
you, that the best mode to avoid sea-sickness
was to keep the thoughts fixed on some elevated
point, and so I "
" Totally mistook my meaning, Sir," and the
lady moved away with an air of the utmost
dignity. " You see, Selina," observed she,
" how every word that falls from the lips of a
person of celebrity, and, above all, of literary
celebrity, is seized hold of. I cannot utter a
word that there is not some eavesdropper listen-
ing to note it down, in order to transfer it
to his diary or commonplace-book. The worst
of it is, as in the present instance, people
hear the words, but do not comprehend the
sense. Only fancy the vulgar person we have
just seen, imagining that while my thoughts
were ranging through the vast expanse of ether
on high, and resuming some of those problems,
with regard to the heavens, that have occupied
the minds of the greatest philosophers, from
the " starry Galileo" to our own Newton, I was
thinking of the mainmast-top. So it is, that
narrow and uncultivated minds cannot compre-
hend great ones. But I forgot. I must se<?
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 231
the captain ; indeed, it is of vast importance
that I should, not only to me, but perhaps to
thousands. Go and tell him to come to me."
Selina, much embarrassed to thread her way
through the crowd on deck, proceeded in search
of the captain, whom she at length found, and
requested him to go to Lady Caldersfoot. He
seemed in no hurry to attend the summons.
Urged, however, by Selina, he came and pre-
sented himself before the lady.
" I sent for you, Sir," said she, " to explain a
matter that may not only benefit thousands of
your future passengers, but be of considerable
advantage in securing the cleanliness of your
vessel."
" Much obliged, Ma'am," replied the captain,
making an awkward attempt at a bow.
" Having turned my" thoughts to many grave
subjects for benefitting mankind," resumed the
lady, " I have ascertained that the occupation
tfy&&
of the menial faculties by works of the most
spirit-stirring and exciting nature is the only
preventative of that most dreadful ailment, sea-
sickness."
232 MEMOIRS OF
" Lord love you, Ma'am ! it's of no manner
of use. I've seen people get sea-sick while
their minds were intent on reading the state
of the funds, and even while under the excite-
ment of strong liquors."
" How shocking ! " exclaimed Lady Calders-
foot. " But you do not comprehend me. I did
not refer to the vulgar excitement you imagine.
I meant some high intellectual treat. My
works, for example. Buy a complete edition
of them, leave the books in the cabin, and I am
persuaded those who take them up will be so
delighted that they will not suffer from sea-
sickness, however rough the sea may be."
An arch smile of incredulity played over the
lips of the captain.
" Well, my Lady," observed he, " if your
Ladyship will send down a set of the books
gratis, for I can't afford to buy 'em, we'll try the
effect."
" I never give away my works, except to the
most distinguished of the nobility," replied
Lady Caldersfoot haughtily. " I believed I
was rendering a service to humanity, as well as
A FEA1ME DE CHAMBRE. 233
to you, Sir, by recommending this plan to your
attention. If you reject it, the fault is not
mine : I have done my duty in suggesting it,"
and she turned away from the captain with an
air of offended dignity, while he, making a
grimace, meant for the edification of the by-
standers, applied the thumb of his right hand
to his nose, extending the fingers in a direct
line in front of it, and walked away, followed
by the laughter of those to whom this vulgar
gesture was addressed, leaving Lady Calders-
foot wholly unconscious of the cause of the
laughter she heard around her.
" I must elevate my thoughts above this
sublunary sphere," said she to Selina. " I
always do when shocked by the ignorance
and stupidity of the vulgar herd of mankind.
Behold the clouds drifting away, and revealing
the sun, whose bright beams have dispersed
them. Here, Selina, here is my note-book,
write down every word I utter, for I feel an
inspiration, and the passages noted down will
come admirably into my next book, yes," and
the speaker assumed the inspired look of a
234 MEMOIRS OF
gibyl even as the sun disperses the clouds,
so will knowledge disperse the mists of igno-
rance, and enlighten those who now dwell in
darkness. Oh! how my heart swells and exults
at the thought," and the lady pressed her
hand to her heart, and became dreadfully pale.
" Hold me Selina, hold me," exclaimed she
" A basin, a basin," cried out the plain old
man ; but before it could be brought, a most
violent paroxysm of sea-sickness had seized
Lady Caldersfoot. " It's no use looking up at
the mast, after all, it seems," said the plain
old man. " I thought as much. Poor lady,
how sick she is, to be sure ! Why it's as much
as ever the steward can do to hold her up !"
" It's a pity she hadn't some of her own
books to read," observed the captain, winking
his eye at those around him, " for they'd have
kept away the sea-sickness." So prostrated
were the spirits and thoughts of Lady Calders-
foot by the violence of her suffering, that when
the vessel arrived at Calais she was hardly
able to move. She was supported into the
room where passengers wait to have their
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 235
trunks, &c. examined, and there, with a pallid
face, crushed bonnet, and dishevelled locks, she
gat the picture of despair.
" Tell them, Selina, who I am," said she.
" Surely when they know, they will respect
genius; they will allow my property to be
removed to the inn they paid this mark of
respect to Sir Walter Scott when he visited
France ; can they do less towards me ? "
" I am afraid, Madam, my representation
will not have the desired effect," replied Selina,
timidly.
" And why not, pray?" asked the lady
angrily. " Am I a less distinguished writer
less entitled to homage ? "
Urged by this angry remonstrance, Selina
advanced to one of the douaniers, and, ashamed
and embarrassed by her mission, told him, in
pure French, that Lady Caldersfoot was an
authoress of distinction.
" Eh, bien, Mademoiselle, tant mieux pour elle ;
mais quest-ce que cela me fait?"
Selina explained, that she believed it was
customary to exempt authors of distinction from
236 MEMOIRS Of
paying duty on their clothes, or even from
having them examined, and cited Sir Walter
Scott,
" Voltaire Scote," exclaimed the douanier,
(l mais J&tait un homme celcbre, cest autre
chose. Mais pour lui-meme, nous n aur ions pu fair e
exception, malgre tout notre dtsir de lui faire
liommage, si le Gouvernement navait pas donne
des ordres"
Selina returned to Lady Caldersfoot, and re-
lated the ill success of her interview with the
douanier.
" Owing, I am convinced," exclaimed Lady
Caldersfoot, " to your not having properly ex-
plained my celebrity to him. Were I not too ill,
I would have made him sensible of my impor-
tance, and of the dishonour to France in not
marking its respect and deference to genius and
celebrity like mine. Had you told him that I
was considered the De Stael of England, the
Corinne, he must have felt sensible of the pro-
priety of exempting me from all trouble. His
affecting not to know me, for that he does not
know my name and fame I never can believe,
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 237
must be the work of my enemies. " Yes,
the wretch has been bribed by them, I am sure."
The douanier now approached, and demanded
the keys of the dressing-case and trunks of
Lady Caldersfoot, who, too ill and languid to
argue with him, though greatly disposed to do
so, again appealed to Selina to represent to him
once more her claim to exemption from his
regular rules. " Tell him," said she, " that
when the King of the French hears how ill-
treated I have been, which his Majesty shall learn
from my own lips, the persons belonging to the
Custom House will be severely reprimanded."
" A h bah ! nous rerrons cela ; depechez-vous, Ma-
dame," said the douanier, " Donnez-moi les clefs ? "
" Do, pray, Madam," whispered Selina.
" Monsieur," replied Lady Caldersfoot, draw-
ing herself up with dignity, " quand je serai
aux Tuilleries avec sa majestt le Roi des Fran-
cais, je lui dirai que wus ne mavez pas montrk
le respect quon doit a une femme de gtnie, une
auteresse cel^bre comme moi"
" Et en quoi, Madame, ai-je manque le respect
envers wus, s'il wus plait ?"
MEMOIRS OF
This dialogue had excited the attention of
several of the persons around the interlocutors,
and sundry smiles and shrugs of the shoulders
were given among them.
" Depechez-vous, Madame, depechez-vous, U
monde m 'attend" resumed the douanier.
" Monsieur, je dirai au Roi comme vous torn
etes mal conduisv ' envers moi, moi qui suis
consideree la Sta'tl, la Corinne meme, de la Grande
Brctagne"
"Mon Dieu! est-il possible, est-il possible?"
exclaimed the man in a tone of the utmost
impatience.
" Oui, Monsieur, je wus repute que je suis la
Stael de la Grande Bretagne.
"Enfin, Madame, voulez-wus, oui ou non, donner
A circle of persons, evidently much amused,
were now collected around Lady Caldersfoot,
and Selina felt her shame and embarrassment
every moment increase, at being with a person
who drew such ridicule on herself, and those
belonging to her. Pray, pray, give him the
keys," whispered she. Indeed, you will suffer
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 239
in your health from remaining in this place,
and being annoyed."
The keys were reluctantly produced, and
this very reluctance having led the douanier to
believe that the trunks or dressing-box con-
tained something contraband, he minutely
examined the contents of both. He drew out
of the latter a pot of rouge, which he mali-
ciously held up, so that the persons around him
could see it, and, turning the lower end up,
to see the name of the maker, exclaimed, "A
la bonne heure, c'est bien Fran$ais" he replaced
it. He then took up some pearl powder, and
looked at the label, " Encore Fran$ais" said he.
" H parait que la Sta'el de la Grande Bretagne
protege beaucovp les marchandises Fran$aises"
This remark, and the display of the articles
that occasioned it, drew forth a general laugh.
" Mais, quest-ce que cest que fa ?" said the
douanier, drawing forth one of the flacons of
the dressing-box, opening it, and applying it to
his nostrils. " Mafoi, cest du vtn, et du tin fort
aussi, et non pas Franfais. C'est done con-
trebande, et il sera conjisque."
240 MEMOIRS OF
Another laugh followed this last discovery,
but Lady Caldersfoot was too much fatigued,
though dreadfully angry, to give vent to her
indignation.
" How unfortunate," whispered she to Selina,
"that I should have put that sherry in my
dressing-box at Dover ! Did you hear the
brutes around us laugh ? Well might Burke
say, ' The Age of Chivalry was passed.'
Had there been one gentleman among the set,
he would have stepped forward to protect me
from insult. But I will punish that barbarian ;
I will write a book on the outrages committed
on women by the French Custom-house officers,
that must speedily produce a total change in
the whole system. I am, however, convinced,
that my enemies have been at work here, as
well as at Dover, to get me into trouble. Be
assured, that two, if not more emissaries, came
over in the packet with us, paid to occasion
me every possible annoyance in their power."
At length the douanier having finished his
examination of Lady Caldersfoot's effects, she
left the Custom-house, and, supported on the
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 241
arm of Selina, attempted to walk towards the
inn, jostled by porters recommending the
various hotels to which they belonged, or by
men conveying away the luggage of the dif-
ferent passengers.
" Where is Theodore ? Do pray, Selina, call
that stupid fellow, on whom I have never set
my eyes since I entered the ship," said Lady
Caldersfoot.
Selina looked on every side, and at last
beheld Theodore, pale, and evidently still very
unwell, leaning against a walL She elevated
her voice to its utmost extent to call him, Lady
Caldersfoot being too weak to sustain herself
without the support of her arm. One of the
porters, noticing that something was required,
offered his services.
" Call that man," said Selina, pointing out
the servant.
"His name is Theodore," added Lady
Caldersfoot.
" Theodore, Theodore!" cried the porter, with
the lungs of a Stentor; but not the least
VOL. in. M
242 MEMOIRS OF
notice did the person so addressed take of the
summons.
" Look at the stupid monster ! " said his mis-
tress. " There he remains as if deaf."
The porter now approached close to the ser-
vant, and, slapping him on the shoulder, informed
him in French, calling him Theodore, that two
ladies required his presence. But the man not
understanding a single word of French, and
having totally forgotten the new appellation
given him by his mistress, refused to move, and
the porter, in despair, returned to state that
fact.
"Call him by the name of Thomas," said
Selina, guessing the truth ; and no sooner was
this name heard by its owner, than he instantly
accompanied the messenger to Lady Caldersfoot,
who, ill as she was, could not refrain from bit-
terly reproaching him fyr his stupidity. A
fiacre was now called by the Commissionnaire,
into which the unfortunate " de Stael de la
Grande Bretagne" as she loved to term herself,
was assisted. Theodore being ordered by her to
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 243
get up behind, and Selina entering the vehicle,
they were driven off to the hotel, selected not
by Lady Caldersfoot, but by the person most
interested in the choice, namely, the Commis-
sionnaire, who had marked their forlorn state,
and determined to take advantage of it, by con-
ducting them to the worst hotel in Calais, but
which happened to be that to which he be-
longed. Worn down and dispirited, Lady
Caldersfoot, though she perceived the inferiority
of the house as soon as she entered it, was
unequal to the effort of going in search of a
better, and was glad to retire to her bed.
M 2
244 MEMOIRS OF
CHAPTER XIV.
LADY CALDERSFOOT continued so ill that she
was not able to commence her journey to Paris
for two days, although most desirous to leave
the uncomfortable hotel in which she had taken
up her abode. The badness of the accommoda-
tion could only be equalled by the extravagance
of the charges ; and her angry expostulations to
induce a reduction of them proved utterly
unavailing, nay, more, exposed her to much
incivility.
Theodore was found to be perfectly useless,
owing to his entire ignorance of the French
language, joined to his natural stupidity, which
prevented the possibility of his even guessing
the meaning of signs or signals. His mis-
tress too late discovered the mistake she had
made, in bringing with her to a foreign country
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 245
a servant almost incapable of fulfilling his duty
in his own; and, with an unreasonableness
peculiar to weak and irritable persons, repri-
manded him so often, and so severely, as to
render him still more stupid. The whole route
to Paris was embittered by her recriminations
and ill temper.
"How can you be so stupid?" was a fre-
quent question addressed to poor Theodore.
" I'm sure, my Lady, I don't know. I try
all I can not to be so ; but it seems, the more
I try, the worse it is."
This answer, so full of truth and simplicity,
might have disarmed a less unreasonable person
than the one to whom it was addressed ; but it
did not mitigate her wrath, which daily in-
creased, as new and manifold proofs were given
of her servant's sins of omission and com-
mission.
" Mettez le sabot, vite, mettez le sabot ! " would
the postilion cry out, when on the point of
descending a steep hill ; but Theodore remained
fixed in the seat behind the carriage ; and
Selina, compelled to protrude half her person out
246 MEMOIRS OF
of the window, and to scream, to the utmost
extent of her voice, an explanation of what was
required, became hoarse before the end of the
first day's journey.
" Why can't you comprehend what is wanted,
once that it has been told you?" would Lady
Caldersfoot angrily exclaim.
" Oh ! your Ladyship, it all comes because
I don't understand their lingo. If the postboys
would only call out, ' Put on the drag,' I'd know
what they meant in a jiffey, and it would cost
them no more trouble, but they are so obstinate
that they won't."
Never did the simplicity of Theodore extort
a laugh, or even a smile from his mistress, who,
herself wholly deficient in common sense, or
quickness of apprehension, was the last person
to make allowance for these defects in others.
No inn on the route was left without a dispute
about the charges in the bill, and never, in a
single instance, did she carry her point of
getting a reduction made in them. Au con-
traire, the innkeepers were more disposed to
punish her angry expostulations, by adding
A FEMME DE OHAMBRE. 247
some items, alleged to have been omitted by
mistake ; and in many places she was subjected to
an insolence, that led Selina to wonder how she
could risk exposing herself to such annoyances.
Worn down and exhausted, Lady Caldersfoot
and suite, as she styled her two attendants,
entered Paris, and drove to the Hotel Bristol,
where they experienced considerable difficulty
in procuring rooms, the terms demanded being
considerably more than her Ladyship wished
to give, and the proprietor of the hotel not
feeling at all disposed to make any abatement
in his terms to a person whose appearance and
manner were so little engaging. An apparte-
ment au cinquieme was, after much debating,
hired, not, however, without her Ladyship
assuring the landlord, that she was greatly
shocked at the notion of the great and noble
visitors, who would be sure to come to see her,
being exposed to ascend to such a height.
" Perhaps," said she, " you could lend me a
salon au premier to receive the junior branches
of the royal family, the ministers, ambassadors,
and ambassadresses."
248 MEMOIRS OF
This favour was refused. His house, he
assured her, was always too well filled to leave
a salon au premier at his disposal.
And now he was informed much to the dis-
comfiture of Selina of who he had the honour
of lodging. Lady Caldersfoot left nothing un-
said, to impress her importance on his mind ;
but her explanations of her literary celebrity,
though worded in a style of magniloquence
that might have rivalled the puffs on her own
books, extracted from an " evening paper," pro-
duced not the least effect on him. A good
equipage, a dashing courier, and a numerous
suite of domestics, were the claims that never
failed to meet his attention; and the words.,
" mettle folle" which he uttered sotto voce as he
retired from her Ladyship's presence, proved
how little impressed he was by her self-lauda-
tions.
Half dead with fatigue, she ascended to the
fifth story, an operation that cost her many
minutes to perform, and left her panting for
breath when it was achieved.
. The morning after her arrival, Lady Calders-
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 249
foot commanded a voiture de remise, and, ac-
companied by Selina, set out on a shopping
expedition.
" Conduisez-moi a, la premiere modiste" said
she to the laquais de place, appointed to attend
her. He gave her instructions to the coach-
man, who stopped in the Rue de la Paix, at a
very small magazin de modes, and the laquais
hastened to open the door of the carriage.
" Etez-vous bien sur que celle-ci est la premier
magazin de modes a Paris?" demanded Lady
Caldersfoot, impressed with a belief that it
could not be, from the smallness of the shop
and the meagre display in the window.
" Certainement non" replied the laquais.
"Mais pourquoi done m'avez-vous menez id,
quandje vous a dit que je wider otter a la premiere
magazin de Paris?"
" Pardon, Madame, vous m'avez dit d'aller au
premier magazin, non pas a Paris, mais a celui
qui etait le plus pres de T hotel"
" Mon Dieu, que vous etes stupide! " exclaimed
the lady, her face flushed with anger.
" Pas plus stupide qu'un autre," said the man
K 3
250 MEMOIRS OF
sulkily ; " est-ce mafaute que ww ne poutez pas
parler Franfais ?"
Do instruct the monstre where to go, Selina.
Explain that I wish to be driven to the most
fashionable modiste in Paris."
The laquais who had heard the word monster,
and guessed it had been applied to himself,
became outrageous at this insult.
" Monstre /" repeated he, " Vous &tes lien peu
comme~il"faut d'oser appeler un homme comme moi
monstre ! un homme brave, qui a serm son pays.
Mais vow etes comme tous vos compatriotes ; wus
cherchez . d'humilier lea Fran$ais ; et ce ne sera
jamais dit que Pierre Ckdtel, qui a combattu avec
Napolion, a refu du pain d'une meille bete d'An-
glaise qui Vappelle monstre ! Va ! chercher un autre
laquais de place, meille sorciere,je wus souhaite le
bonjour;" and the laquais walked off, leaving the
door of the carriage open, and the steps down.
" Was there ever such insolence ! " demanded
Lady Caldersfoot, almost suffocated with anger.
".What are we to do?"
"I will let down the front glass, request
the coachman to put up the steps, and close the
A FEMME DE CHAMBIIE. 251
door ; and then I think, Madam, you had
better return to the hotel for another laquais"
" Oh, no ! not on any account. I would not
for worlds have the coachman leave the box.
The horses would be sure to run away."
At that moment the owner of the magazin de
modes, who had seen the carriage stop at his
door, came out, and in the most bland tone
inquired whether the ladies had any commands
to honour him with. He assured them he had
a charming assortment of articles of the newest
fashion and the very best taste,
" We require nothing," replied Lady Calders-
foot, her anger not having yet subsided, and
showing itself in her countenance and manner.
" Madame will not find more elegant caps and
bonnets in all Paris," urged the shopkeeper.
" All we require is for you to put up the
steps, and close the door of the carriage," said
Lady Caldersfoot, impatiently.
" Comment) Madame ! Est-ce gue wus me prenez
pour votre laquais de place ? Si vous etiez dispose
d'entrer dans mon magazin, je wus aurais
assiste de descendre ; mais, pour faire le service de
252 MEMOIRS OF
votre laquais, vous mtexcuserez;" and the man-
milliner walked into his shop, and closed the
door with a violence that proved his disappoint-
ment and indignation.
"Was any thing ever like the conduct of
these people?" said Lady Caldersfoot, almost
disposed to weep, yet so indignant, that she
longed to vent her displeasure on any one
within her reach.
And now the passers-by began to pause and
stare into the carriage ; and the remarkable
toilette of the elderly lady, so precisely like
the caricatures of les Anglaises pour rire, ex-
hibited some twenty years before on the Boule-
vards, as well as the evident embarrassment and
distress of Selina, attracted their attention.
Yet no one evinced any sympathy for their
awkward situation, and by degrees the few
persons who first stopped to gaze, drew others,
until a crowd was literally collected around the
carriage.
"Hon Dieu, mon Dieu /" exclaimed Lady
Caldersfoot, in accents that could leave no doubt
of her country, " comme c'est extraordinaire que
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 253
dam tous ces personnes que regarde nous il n'a
pas une qui wulez nous assist*
At that moment a very distinguished looking
man, past the meridian of life, but with the air
and bearing of a soldier, attracted by the crowd,
approached the side of the carriage, close enough
to hear the speech, half objurgatory, half re-
proachful, addressed by Lady Caldersfoot to her
youthful companion. He instantly advanced
to the open door of the vehicle, and taking oft
his hat begged leave to offer his services to the
ladies, and requested they would explain how he
could be useful.
" Nous wus remercie beaucoup, Monsieur" re-
plied Lady Caldersfoot, "pour votre politesse. La
fait est) mon laquais de place ma laisse iei avec la
porte ouvert et Vescalier descends comme TOUS vois,
parceque je lui avez eprochez pour son mauvais
conduite. Imagine) Monsieur, quel horrible position
pour une dame d'etre id en un voiture sans un
laquais pour ferme le porte, expose a Vimpertinente
curiosite de tous ces personnes qui nous entourons"
This speech, uttered in a tone loud enough
to be heard by the persons nearest the carriage,
254 MEMOIRS OF
as it was meant by the speaker it should be,
excited only their merriment, nor did they at-
tempt to conceal their hilarity. The gentleman
who had offered his assistance turned around,
and, with unaffected dignity, gravely rebuked
the laughers, reminding them that such conduct
towards women and strangers was not what
might be expected from Frenchmen. They,
shamed into a sense of their impropriety by his
calm reproof, slunk away, and then he again
repeated his offer of service.
" Si wus wulez avoir le bont& deferme le porte
de la voiture, et de direz A mon cocker de me menez
a la hotel Bristol, Place Vendome, je veux etre bien
reconnoissant, Monsieur, et quand vous saurais
que je suis Lady Caldersfoot, bien savais par mes
travails, jepense que vous ne sera pasfdcht $ avoir
assists moi."
" Pour moi, Madame, c'est assez de savoir
que vous etes femme et etrang^re pour m? engager
de faire tout ce qui pourrait vous etre agreable
ou utile" And putting up the steps with
a dignity of manner that proved that even
humble occupations may be performed without
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 255
any loss of grandeur, and which reminded Lady
Caldersfoot of a passage in one of her favourite
poets, whom she was fond of quoting, that
even dung may be tossed with grace and dignity,
he closed the door, took off his hat, bowed
lowly to her Ladyship, directed the coachman to
drive to the Hotel Bristol, and disappeared.
" Oh! what a man, Selina ! What dignity !
what high breeding! That is indeed a preux
chevalier. How I regret not having asked his
name. Did you observe how the brutes, who
stood gazing and laughing at us, fell back when
he reproved them. He must be a person of
high rank and distinction. A thought strikes
me. Yes, it must be so ! Depend on it he is
the King ! Only fancy what an adventure !
I am now delighted that my laquais de place
left us, as it has led to this delightful rencontre.
What an incident to have to relate : and then
only imagine what his surprise will be when
I am presented at the Tuileries, and that he
discovers my celebrity ! Oh ! it's quite de-
lightful!"
Lady Caldersfoot was so pleased by what she
256 MEMOIRS OF
called this charming adventure, that she quite
forgot the disagreeable event that led to it, ere
she returned to the hotel. Arrived there, how-
ever, she sent for the proprietor, and made a
serious complaint against the laquais, to which,
as is usual in such cases, she was answered,
that of all the laquais in attendance at his
house, Pierre Chatel was considered the most
civil and obliging. He begged her Ladyship's
pardon for venturing to assure her that she
would not find, in all Paris, a servant who
would submit to be accused of stupidity, or
called a monster, as Pierre Chatel had com-
plained had occurred to him.
" Then," said the lady, " I will take out my
own servant ; he will not presume to resent any
of those little ebullitions of temper peculiar to
persons of genius. Monsieur is not, perhaps,
aware that I am one of the most celebrated
writers in Europe !"
" Yes ; Madame did me the honour of con-
fiding that fact to me last evening, on her
arrival."
"Ah! true; I had forgotten it. Be so
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 257
obliging as to send my servant, Theodore.
But stay a moment. Do inform me if the
King is not a tall, handsome, and noble-looking
man?"
" Certainly, Madame, his Majesty is all that.
He is, to be sure, no longer dans sa premiere
jeunesse, mais he is, nevertheless, un ltd komme."
"You see I was right, Selina; yes, perfectly
right. I always am. / never make a mistake,
and am consequently more impatient when I
observe the stupidity of others. Yes, I knew
it was the King."
Theodore now made his appearance, and with
a most rueful countenance, of which, however,
his mistress took no notice.
" You are to go out with the carriage,
Theodore," said she. " I know you are going
to remind me that you do not speak a word of
French, but that does not signify. All you
will be required to do is, to hand to the coach-
man my written instructions of where he is to
drive to, and to open the carriage-door and let
down the steps, just as you do at home."
" I beg your Ladyship's pardon, but I'm so
258 MEMOIRS OF
very hill, I can scarce stand upright. The
sea-sickness almost killed me; and ever since
I have not got a morsel of wholesome victuals,
so I'm nearly starved, and so weak, I don't
know what to do. I can't ask for nothing,
owing to not knowing their lingo, and they
keep offering me such outlandish things as I
never seed in all my born days, and can't abide
the sight of."
" The air and exercise will do you good, and
render you less fastidious about your food ; so
get your hat and be ready, for I shall go out
in a few minutes. And now, Selina, I think
I had better write the announcement of my
arrival, without any loss of time."
Lady Caldersfoot ascended to her appartement
au cinquidme, and seated herself at a table,
where, having devoted a considerable time to the
task, she produced, and with an air of great self-
satisfaction, the following article, which she read
aloud to Selina:
" Nous sommes Jieureux de Pavoir dans notre
pouvoir a annonoez a nos lecteurs que la plm
cefebre auteuresse de la Grande Bretagne ties
FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 259
arrivez dans notre capital. Lady Caldersfoot
est, comme sera devinez toute suite, la dame en
question, et le reputation que ses travails, si
plein d 'information, genie, interet et esprit, a
acquis pour ette, veux, nous ne doute pas,
procurer pour die un reception plus brilliant
que cela de aucun etrang&re qui a jamais entrez
Paris. Sa seigneurie a T intention a restez
settlement un court temps avec nous, etant ap-
pellez par les autres nations de Europe a visi-
tez leurs capitals, comme Us sont pressez de
payez leurs hommage au de Sta'el d'Angle-
terre."
" I think that will do," observed she.
" Pardon me, Madam, but there are a few-
grammatical errors and faults in the idiom,"
said Selina.
"Errors!" exclaimed Lady Caldersfoot,
" what can you possibly be thinking of? I who
write French with as great a facility and purity
as I do English, to be accused of grammatical
errors and faults in the idiom, and by my femme
de chambre, too ! I really wonder at your taking
so great a liberty, and I desire you never pre-
260 MEMOIRS OF
sume to do so again ;" and she turned angrily
away, evidently deeply offended with Selina.
" We will leave this at Galignani's, that he
may not only have it inserted in his paper, but
also in several others," said Lady Caldersfoot.
When arrived at Galignani's, her Ladyship
entered his shop, and announced the purpose of
her visit.
" Your Ladyship's arrival will be regularly
noticed in our paper," replied a clerk who
spoke English perfectly well ; " but if anything
more than a simple mention of the name, arrival,
and at what hotel is required, it must be paid
for as an advertisement."
" Inform me, then, how much it will cost?"
The clerk ran his eyes over the paper, and a
smile he could not conceal betrayed his sense
of its absurdity, and the errors with which it
abounded.
" I wish you to have it inserted in three or
four of the French newspapers," said Lady
Caldersfoot ; " and desire that no change, not
even that of a single word, may be made
in it."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 261
" As you please, Madam," replied the clerk ;
who, having counted over the number of lines,
stated the expense of the advertisements in the
different papers, amounting to a larger sum
than her Ladyship had calculated on, but which
she however paid, remarking how much better
such affairs were managed in London, where
the proprietors of papers were too happy to
receive fashionable news, to make any charge
for its insertion. The advertisement, read
aloud by the clerk as soon as its writer had
left the shop, produced peals of laughter among
the other clerks and habitues.
From Galignani's Lady Caldersfoot pro-
ceeded to Madame Barene, the most celebrated
Parisian modiste, where hats, caps, bonnets,
turbans, and coiffures of every description were
displayed for her inspection. She selected the
most youthful, and of the brightest colours,
resisting the suggestions of Madame Barene,
who, anxious for the credit of her establish-
ment, wished her customers to wear only head-
dresses suited to their ages and countenances.
As several of these, the least appropriate, were
262 MEMOIRS OF
tried on, les demoiselles of the magazin, and,
indeed, the polite Madame Barene herself,
could hardly conceal their inclination to laugh
at the airs and pretensions of the very plain
elderly lady, whose vanity was so openly
exhibited as to lead them to suppose she was
half crazed.
" Je trouve que cette turban de crepe de rose pale
me vats remarquablement bien. Le rose tendre est
mon colour favorite" observed she, assuming a
languishing air, as she admired herself in the
large mirror.
Madame Barene said she was sorry she could
not let her ladyship have that turban, as it was
made for the young bride, La Duchesse de Mira-
flores, and must be sent home immediately.
" Faisez-moi un precistment comme lui," said
Lady Caldersfoot, " et je vous prie, laisse moi
avoir le demain. II faut, aussi, que wus four-
nissez moi avec un garlande de laurier."
" To be worn on a cap, I suppose, Madame ?"
inquired the modiste.
" Pas de tout, pas de tout ; il est pour porter dans
mon cheveux."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 263
The utter astonishment of Madame Barene
and les demoiselles is not to be described, at
the notion of an extremely ill-looking old
woman appearing in her hair, or rather in a wig,
and wearing a wreath.
" Je suis une auteuresse ctlebre, enfin le plus
celebre de la Grande Bretagne, et il est pour cela
quije souhaite de porter le guirlande qui est appro-
prit aux grands auteurs"
" Ah! c'est different, Madame" replied the
modiste. " Et de quelle forme, Miladi, desire-t-elle
que la guirlande soitfaite ? "
" Comme celui represents dans la tableau de
Corinne a la Capitol" answered Lady Calders-
foot, perfectly unconscious of the ridicule to
which she was exposing herself.
Having, as she now considered, made all the
purchases necessary for entering society en
grande toilette, Lady Caldersfoot descended to
her carriage but found that her footman had
deserted his post. The porter explained that the
servant had been taken so dangerously ill, that
he had been obliged to be removed into his
lodge, where he still remained in great pain.
264 MEMOIRS OF
" How provoking," exclaimed Lady Calders-
foot, " that he should choose this time above all
others to fall ill!"
" Qu'est-ce que Madame desire soit fait pour
le pauvre homme ?" inquired the porter.
" Enwyez-lui a VHopital la plus prds" re-
plied she with the utmost indifference, " et
laisser-moi savoir Vadresse de VHopital ou il etes
place. Je loge a T Hotel Bristol"
" Mais, Madame, ce serait mieux que vous vous
chargiez de votre domestique. Pauvre homme, il est
etranger, et nous ne pouwns rienfaire pour lui"
" Enwyez-lui a VHopital, etje veux paye pour
qu'on auriez soin de lui" said the unfeeling old
woman ; and, motioning to the porter to open
the carriage-door, she stepped in, followed by
Selina, who, shocked and disgusted by her
gross selfishness and insensibility, determined,
when she entered the hotel, to see its respect-
able mistress, give her some money to ensure
good treatment for poor simple Thomas, and to
have him removed. The gentle manner, good
countenance, and above all, the pure French of
Selina, won the good-will of the hostess, who
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 265
pledged herself to send off a fiacre with one of
the waiters to remove the poor man, and to
have a physician called in to see him. She did
not let the hostess know that either the money
or kindness originated solely with herself; and
so liberal was the donation she placed in her
hand, that the kind-hearted Frenchwoman, be-
lieving it was sent by Lady Caldersfoot, re-
marked to her husband when Selina had with-
drawn, that " cette vieille folle Anglaise avait un
bon coeur apr^s tout."
" Imaginez-vous, ma chere" observed he,
" quelle ment de me chercher pour mexpliquer
qiielle estprete de donner de ses autograpkes a toutes
les personnes qui desirent d'en avoir ; quelle idee,
nest-ce-pas ?"
" Elle est Anglaise, mon cher, cest assez dire"
was the reply of the hostess, who was firmly
convinced that everything strange and eccen-
tric in Lady Caldersfoot might be attributed to
her being English a belief from which many
of her compatriots, with higher pretensions to
education and knowledge of the world, are not
exempt.
VOL. III. N
266 MEMOIRS OF
The following day the announcement of
Lady Caldersfoot's arrival appeared in Galig-
nani's paper, as also in three or four French
papers, all which were forwarded to her Lady-
ship. But what was her dismay, when she
observed that, in each journal, the notice was
headed by the word annonce, proving that the
paragraphs were paid for.
"How stupid!" exclaimed Lady Caldersfoot.
" This spoils all, for every one will now see
that the notice has been paid for, which will
destroy the intended effect, and give rise to
spiteful remarks among my enemies. Ah ! why
should fame be ever followed by envy? and
why should my compatriots, instead of being
proud of their countrywoman, pursue me with
such jealousy?"
A FEMME DE CHAMBUE. 267
CHAPTER XV.
THE following day Lady Caldersfoot sent her
cards to the English ambassadress, and to the
few acquaintances she possessed at Paris. She
hesitated for some time about favouring, in the
same manner, the Parisian ladies of distinction,
whose names alone were known to her.
" I am," observed she to Selina, "a public
character, and confer honour by making the
first advances towards acquaintanceship with
these ladies."
" Might it not be better to postpone such
advances until your Ladyship has been pre-
sented at the Tuileries by the ambassadress ?"
" Perhaps so, for then they will be more
impressed with a due sense of the honour.
Doubtless they are familiar with my works, and
long to know the writer ; but it is not alone as
N2
268 MEMOIRS OF
an authoress that I wish to be recognised. I
desire to be known as a woman of fashion,
whose opinions on society have great weight
and are of vast importance."
In a few hours after this self - laudation,
and while Selina was employed in adding some
fantastic decorations to the court-dress of her
mistress, the proprietor of the hotel made his
appearance, and, with a triste countenance, an-
nounced that he was the bearer of painful
intelligence. <-H^--
"Good Heavens! what is it?" exclaimed
Lady Caldersfoot. " Has the King been shot at,
and killed, or wounded? That would be too
dreadful to me, who am dying with impatience
to see his Majesty at the Tuileries, and to
thank one of the greatest monarchs of Europe
for the service rendered to me in the street
yesterday by the first gentleman. But you do
not speak ; you do not tell me if my prophetic
soul has rightly divined the fatal calamity you
have come to disclose!" said her Ladyship, forget-
ting that she had not allowed her host time to
speak.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 269
*' God be thanked, Madam," replied he, " the
King is safe ! The sad news I came to com-
municate relates only to your poor servant,
who expired in the hospital after a most
violent spasmodic attack, pronounced to be
cholera."
" Oh ! you have quite relieved me. I was
terrified for the King, and was thinking that an
ode from my pen would be expected, on such
an event, by the whole of the royal family ; in
fact, by all France, if not by *Europe."
" Long may it be, Madam, before the pen of
any poet be called on to write on such a subject,
though, when the sovereign shall be removed
from earth, doubtless every poet in France
and we boast many will pour forth an elegiac
strain, rendering it less necessary for foreign
bards to commemorate it. But, to resume the
triste subject which has brought me into your
Ladyship's presence, I beg to know whether
you have any instructions to give relative to
the interment of your late poor servant?"
" None whatever. He will, of course, be
buried wherever those who die in the hospital
270 MEMOIRS OF
are deposited, unless the students employ the
body for anatomical purposes."
" Oh, Madam!" exclaimed the host, turning
away with an involuntary gesture of horror,
" surely you will authorize me to see that your
poor servant be decently interred."
" I must decline interfering in the business,
and for two reasons. The first is, that I am
a philosopher, and hold it to be wrong to attach
the least importance to where the dead are laid.
The second is, that as, in all probability, the
medical students will take advantage of Theo-
dore's remains for analysing all the internal
appearances symptomatic of the malady which
is supposed to have caused his sudden death,
I do not think it right that I should be charged
with any further expense. If, as I expect, an
autopsy take place, will you be so obliging as
to state to any of the surgeons who may be
employed on the occasion, that a person well-
skilled in scientific researches is desirous to
know, if the extraordinary stupidity so observable
in the deceased when in life, can be at all
explained by any remarkable idiosyncrasy in
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 271
the development of the brain. I am given to
trace effect to cause, and should like to ascer-
tain this point. Indeed, so disposed am I to
throw a light on science, that I have left in-
structions in my will to have my own head
opened, in order that the examination of my
brain may assist in accounting for how far an
unusual development of that organ may con-
firm the hypothesis, that the genius of great
writers and thinkers originates in the large mass
of brains. I see you are surprised at the excess
of my scientific erudition, no less than of my
philosophic self-control and calmness, on sub-
jects that shake the nerves of most of my
sex."
"It is true, Madame, I was not prepared
to find Madame si philosophe. The money that
Miladi sent to my wife last evening, by Made-
moiselle, to be appropriated for the use of the
poor man, who did not live to profit by it,
is still in my hands, with the exception of a
few francs, paid to the persons who conveyed
him to the hospital ; I thought, therefore,
that as it will be amply sufficient to offer a
272 MEMOIRS OF
gratuity to the hospital, and to pay for the
interment, Madame would not object to its being
expended in that way."
"As you please, Sir ; for, although I do not
attach the slightest importance to such matters,
I have no objection to yield to the prejudices
of others; so you may employ the money in
your hands for the purposes you mention, with
only one proviso, namely, that I am not to be
called on for any further sum."
"Madame may be perfectly easy on that
point, for the money I hold is quite enough."
" Quette drole defemme! quelle drole defemme!"
murmured the proprietor of the hotel, as he
descended the stairs; "je commence a croire que
I 'instruction est une mauvaise chose pour les esprits
faibles."
" So myfemme de chambre is not only rich
but generous," said Lady Caldersfoot to her-
self, when left to her meditations. " To give
sum sufficient to defray the expenses of the
funeral, and make a cadeau to the hospital
proves this. I longed to find out the precise
sum, but any question to my host would have
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 273
proved that it did not come from me, whereas
now I shall have the credit of it. How
strange that Selina should have the power to
give so much money! There is something
mysterious in all this, something that might be
turned to account for a novel; I must wind
myself into her confidence, get her to write
down the incidents of her life, and convert it
into a book ; that, with my name, may be a
profitable speculation for me. That reminds
me that I .must get her to note down for me
all that she knows of the Duchess of Glenallen.
Her adventures might be worked up into some-
thing saleable."
Selina had descended to the room of the
mistress of the hotel, to inquire about poor
Thomas, or Theodore, as his lady insisted he
should be called, and was there when the pro-
prietor descended from his interview with Lady
Caldersfoot. Her grave face and moistened
eye revealed that she had heard of the death of
the poor man.
" Poor fellow ! in a strange land, with no
one that he knew, or that could understand
N3
274 MEMOIRS OF
his language, read the prayers for the dying to
him, or close his eyes," said she; "oh! yes, it
is sad to die away from one's own country."
" Be assured, Mademoiselle, he was treated
kindly. Poor fellow, he fell into delirium
almost immediately after he was brought into
the hospital, and died unconscious of where
he was," said the hostess, a good and kind-
hearted woman.
" Miladi, to whom I have communicated her
late servant's death, has allowed me to appro-
priate the money you Deposited in my hands
yesterday, Mademoiselle, for the funeral ex-
penses, and a small gift to the hospital. At
first, Miladi was not disposed to interfere;
but when I told her that the money she had
sent me by you, Mademoiselle, was sufficient,
she permitted me to use it."
Selina blushed deeply at this new proof of
the disingenuousness of her mistress, but made
no comment on it, being determined not to
reveal to the proprietor of the hotel, or his
wife, that the money had been her own. She
shuddered at the thought, that, should she be
A FEMME BE CHAMBRE. 275
taken ill, her heartless and selfish mistress
would not hesitate to send her off to an hos-
pital, and determined that the first opportunity
that should offer, she would avail herself of
it, to seek a home with some mistress on
whose humanity and kindness she might
count.
When summoned to Lady Caldersfoot's
presence, she found that lady had been busily
employed in writing. Various sheets of paper,
marked by erasures at every line, were before
her, proving her industry, if not her facility at
composition ; and her pocket-handkerchief was
applied to her eyes, which bore the traces of tears.
" Ah ! Selina. You have not heard of the
death of poor Theodore ! I have been writing a
little article on the melancholy event, and I have
made such a touching picture of it that it has
greatly moved me. When the landlord came,
and communicated the decease of the poor fellow
to me, in his plain unvarnished manner, it had
no effect whatever on my feelings. Events,
however sad in themselves, never have, unless
represented in a pathetic style ; but when
276 MEMOIRS OF
I colour and dress them in my own way, you
cannot imagine how they touch me. I really
have been shedding tears at what I have been
writing. This article will immortalize poor
Theodore's memory, and reflect eternal honour
on mine, not only as a writer, but as a woman
possessing that sensibility and tenderness apper-
taining solely to great genius. I must read you
this article ; after which I will send it to Galig-
nani's for insertion in several French journals.
The astonishment of Selina at this new
insight into the character of Lady Caldersfoot
is not to be described. That imagination, ex-
cited into action by a craving for notoriety,
should awaken a spurious sensibility that a
simple statement of facts could not arouse,
seemed to her unsophisticated mind little short
of miraculous ; and that her mistress should
avow it so unconcernedly, appeared to her
scarcely less surprising. Hitherto she had
been a stranger to the extraordinary influence
exercised over weak intellects by an inordinate
thirst for celebrity, without the possession of
the abilities necessary to achieve this imaginary
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 277
good. But that an ill-regulated mind, destitute
of one ray of genius, should work itself up to a
false sentiment by a key, as clocks are wound
up to perform certain movements, she had
never hitherto had any opportunity of knowing.
Consequently, she was at a loss to account for
the moral phenomenon. That Lady Caldersfoot
was self-deceived, she could not doubt. The
traces of recent tears in her eyes, the flush on
her cheeks, and the excitement she manifested
at an event which the proprietor of the hotel
had declared a short time before had failed to
occasion her the least regret, bore evidence to
this fact ; and Selina considered it as a new
page opened to her in the book of life, which,
while it furnished her with ample food for re-
flection, did not serve to exalt her opinion of
the heads or hearts of those pretenders to lite-
rature, who seek distinction without the means
of acquiring it.
Lady Caldersfoot cleared her voice, and com-
menced the following article :
" Le morte inattendu d'un domestique Anglaise
dernierement arrive a Paris, dans elle-meme un
278 MEMOIRS OF
tenement tres pen interessante pow la publique,
dement une sujet que engagerez le inter&t de tout
PEurope quand on saurais qu'il etait le laquais
de la celebreMiladi Calder$foot,Varrivee de laquelle
nous vient d'annoncte dans notre dernie're nombre.
Cet malheureux homme devouee a sonnoble maitresse
la suivez de VAngleterre, malgre ses conseilles
souvent rciter&e que le faiblesse de son sant& lui
rendez trtis peu capable pour wyagez. Pierre de
la gloire de son belle et distinguer lady, et soyant
si continuellment habituer de voir les homages
offert a elle dans le trois Royaumes Britannique, U
ne pouvais pas se privez de la bonheur d'etre le
temoin de sa triomphe a Paris, ou la genie est
aussi bien compris, et si dclicatement ftte. Cet
pauvre homme a payez avec sa vie son devotion
pour cette dame ctlebre, mais il ne regrettezpas son
morte excepter ff avoir succumber avans d?avoir
vue son noble maitresse recevais cette homage que
France est toujours fibre d'offrir au grande genie.
Theodore (le malheureux se nomme comme cela)
la jour aprds son arrivee a Paris, voyons Miladi
Caldersfoot sortez dans son voiture, suivez par un
laquais de place, il s'etouffe de chagrin et de jalousie
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 279
qu'un autre que lui avait cette honor, et soubite-
ment tombez malade. Miladi, awe ce profond
sensibilite qit* n'apertain que au femmes de grand
genie, a devinerses souffrances morales, etfrapper
par Tidee qu'il pent etre ronger par la chagrin, a
retournez a la Hotel pour lui consolez. Mais la
coup etait donnez ! II a exige pour dernier con-
solation que son noble maitresse lui lassera montez
derriere son witure, et arrivee chez la premier
modiste de Paris, il est tombe en syncope, et
malgri toute ses attentats et celles de toute les
medicins que la noble lady chercher, il est morte
en peu rfheures apres, benissant la nomme de son
bienfaitrice, son cher noble et ctltbree Miladi
Caldersfoot.
Le douleur qui eprouve cet eminent autoress,
Vempeche de rece'cais le visites de les Princes, les
noblesse, et les hommes la plus marquent dam le
politique, comme dans la literature qui assiege son
porte depuis la matin jusque a la soir. Mais nous
espere que dans quelque jours die paraitra a la
Cour, ou lefamille Royal est impatient de la wir"
Lady Caldersfoot wiped her eyes as she
finished this article, during the perusal of
280 MEMOIRS OF
which the feelings of Selina struggled between
disgust and astonishment. Such a tissue of
falsehood she had not been prepared for, and
she felt angry with herself for feeling disposed
to laugh at it.
" But I am afraid," said Lady Caldersfoot,
running her finger over the lines to count them,
that the insertion of this article will cost me a
great deal of money. How provoking that one
has to pay for such things in France ! Never-
theless, I must have it in the papers ; it can't
be helped."
The article was despatched, copies of the
paper that was to contain it were commanded,
and instructions were given that all visitors
should be told that her Ladyship was still in
such grief that she could receive no one ; but
that if autographs were asked for, she was
ready to bestow them, or to sit for her portrait
to any artists of acknowledged merit that might
solicit that favour.
" I should be glad," said she to Selina, look-
ing at herself in the mirror, " that my portrait
was taken just now, for the shade of melancholy
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 281
diffused over my countenance would lend addi-
tional interest to the picture, more especially as
the date of it will correspond with the death
of poor Theodore, an event which, proving my
deep sensibility, and the devotion always excited
in the breasts of those permitted to approach
me, will be gratifying to posterity."
There were moments when Selina really
doubted the sanity of Lady Caldersfoot, and
yet in no way was the folly of that lady evinced,
except by a vanity so surpassing belief, to all
save those who witnessed its craving for admi-
ration, and the incessant efforts made to win it,
that she was compelled to admit that a mono-
maniac, if not quite mad, approached very near
the confines of insanity, exposing herself to
ridicule, while madness inspired only pity.
Lady Caldersfoot thought, spoke, dreamt only
of self. The rest of the world was looked on
only as in relation to any advantage she could
derive from it. Those who flattered her she
liked, or fancied she liked, for the moment ;
but for those who did not administer to her self-
love she entertained a positive dislike, and
282 MEMOIRS OF
attributed their coldness or reserve to envy and
jealousy of her celebrity. So insatiable was
her vanity, that no food was too coarse to
gratify its voracity. Those, and they were
many, who, for sake of laughing at her, would
utter the most fulsome flatteries, she considered
as her only friends, being wholly blind to their
insincerity, and to the ridicule their adulation
drew on her.
The following day, the papers containing the
absurd article written by Lady Caldersfoot were
sent to her; and again the word "annonce" pre-
fixed to it proved that it was nothing else than
a paid advertisement.
"How enraging!" exclaimed she. "How
abominably stupicl these French newspaper
persons must be ! I wonder the literary people
here don't manage to bring them to reason.
They are more docile with us in England.
Who ever saw the publishers' puffs, quoted from
* evening papers,' the names of which, however,
are never put down, for the good reason that
no such notices were ever given, inserted
as advertisements in London ? No ; here one
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 283
of the great means of extending the fame of
authors, whom critics are too envious of to
render justice to, is unknown ! I have been
thinking, Selina," resumed Lady Caldersfoot,
" that as you have little to occupy your time
here, you might keep notes of my conversation
with you, as well as of the different events that
occur during my stay, and which I shall not
have time to jot down."
" I am afraid, Madam, that I have no talent
to enable me to perform such a task satisfac-
torily."
" I do not, of course, expect you to write as
I do. All I require is a plain statement, which
I can afterwards colour, as only great writers
can. I am sure, that if notes were kept of my con-
versation, even with my femme-de-chambre, just
touched up by me, a publisher in London would
pay me handsomely for the volume ; and I would
make you a present for your trouble. Not that
it would be a trouble, far from it ; it would
really become a labour of love, for I say
such original, such piquant, such witty things,
that you could not fail to be delighted when
2S4 MEMOIRS OF
you read them. But you do not seize the idea
as I expected. I am afraid, that although your
own language is correct, and that you speak
French and Italian tolerably, your intellect is
of a mean order. I have noticed that you do
not appear to appreciate the brilliant things I
say and write. For example, yesterday, when
I read you the notice of the death of poor
Theodore, which drew tears from me, and will,
I venture to predict, from thousands, instead of
showing either the sensibility or enthusiastic ad-
miration I anticipated, you remained unmoved."
"You are right, Madam, my intellect is of
a very mean order. I am a very poor judge of
literature, and incapable of appreciating bril-
liant conversation," replied Selina, anxious to
escape the odious task of noting down the
inane and egotistical sayings of her foolish
mistress.
** Do not despair of becoming other than you
at present are," said Lady Caldersfoot. "A
woman, with an intellect like mine, cannot fail
to produce an effect on yours. At present you
are surprised, overpowered by my genius, but
A EEMME DE CHAMBRE. 285
in time you will become capable of compre-
hending it."
The next day a visiting card, with an invita-
tion to a soiree from the English ambassadress,
put Lady Caldersfoot on the qui vive.
" I must make a striking effect on this occa-
sion," observed she to Selina, " for it will be
the opening of my Parisian campaign. Lady
Granville, that best-bred of all ambassadresses,
will, doubtless, assemble all the elite of French
society to do homage to me, and I should like
to render honour to her salons by my appear-
ance. All eyes will, of course, be fixed on me ;
my dress will be noted and copied, so you must
exert all your taste and skill in my toilette that
evening. I must also not be idle. I must
prepare replies to the elegant compliments that
will, doubtless, be addressed to me on that occa-
sion. Every word I utter will be sure to be
commented on, and noted down; and I must
maintain the honour of an English bel esprit,
by a constant fire of bon mots, and lively sallies.
You must take care that I drink some strong
coffee before I go. It clears the intellect and
excites the fancy."
286 MEMOIRS OF
It became evident to Selina, after some days,
that her mistress's expectations of the sensation
her presence was to excite at Paris, had not
been realized. Disappointed vanity began to
reveal itself in her temper, which, depending
solely on adulation, the want of that stimulant
rendered her irascible and capricious. The
few cards left at her door, and the constant
answer to her daily inquiries, whether auto-
graphs had been requested, or if painters had
solicited permission to paint her portrait, that
no such requests or solicitations had been
made, enraged her. Paris, she assured Selina,
was no longer what it had been. Genius no
more received due homage there, or else her
enemies in England had concocted some scheme
to frustrate her hopes of popularity in the
French capital.
On the evening of the assembly at the
English Embassy, Lady Caldersfoot commenced
her toilette at least three hours before she
could present herself there. Caps were tried
on, turbans and chapeaux, in turn, replaced
them ; and at length her Ladyship decided, that
as the present was to be her first appearance in
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 287
public, she would, as a mark of appropriate
distinction, wear the wreath of bays, com-
manded at Madame de Barene's, on the leaves
of which, Selina was to sew the few loose
brilliants her mistress possessed.
" How slow you are ! will you never have
done ?" repeated the impatient lady, while her
femme de chambre attached the diamonds as
rapidly as she could. A green velvet gown, of
obsolete fashion, and a scarlet India scarf em-
broidered in gold, with the wreath of bays,
fastened behind by a bow of ribbon the colour
of her scarf, and which fell down on her neck,
as the fastening of the wreaths represented on
the busts of Caesar, completed the fantastic
costume of Lady Caldersfoot. A quantity of
rouge, put on the cheek-bones, as well as the
rest of the cheeks, gave a peculiarly fierce look
to her eyes, and her whole appearance was so
outre, that Selina felt assured she would become
an object of general observation at the embassy,
for which she departed perfectly satisfied with
her own appearance, and anticipating a tri-
umphant succts.
288 MEMOIRS OF
When her Ladyship returned at a late hour,
she was in high spirits.
" Never," exclaimed she " was there a more
brilliant or successful debut in the beau monde
than I have made this evening. No one else
was looked at no one else cared for except
me ; I was quite the attraction of the evening ;
and much of my brilliant reception was owing
to two of the attaches at the embassy, who told
every one who I was, not forgetting to explain
that I am the first authoress in England. I
must say those young men were justly proud
of me, for they did nothing but present persons
of distinction to me, and compliment me on
my works. They even repeated passages out
of my ' Delicate Dilemma' and * Elegant
Errors.' I was really almost overpowered by
their attention, and well-turned compliments.
" The Prince de Joinville was there, and was
very civil to me. I overheard him tell a lady,
that he should like of all things to have a
likeness of me for the figure-head of his ship,
was not that flattering? It made the lady,
and a very pretty person she is, so angry, that
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 289
she affected to laugh in a scornful manner, but
I knew it was her envy. Indeed, I must own
that all the women seemed jealous of the
sensation I excited, and the universal atten-
tion I received. Lady Granville, who is all
amiability, was fearful I might be distressed
by the sort of furore with which I was followed,
and several times tried to check the attaches in
their somewhat too marked attentions to me;
but, dear, fine, young men, they were so enthu-
siastic in their admiration of their country-
woman, and so anxious to make the Frenchmen
partake it, that they could not be repressed.
I told the Duke de Joinville, that although
I had not yet had the honour of being pre-
sented at the Tuileries, I had the honour, and
pleasure too, of seeing and speaking to the
King. He looked surprised, asked where, and
I told him. He quite enjoyed it. It is a great
pleasure, and will, I am sure, be a great ad-
vantage to me to have made two such friends
as the two attaches. They will, I foresee, spare
me a good deal of expense in annonces as the
newspaper people here call advertisements for
VOL. UI. O
290 MEMOIRS OF
they will tell every one of my celebrity. I re-
member perfectly having seen these two charm-
ing young men in society in London. They told
me they were longing to have the honour of
being presented to me then, but that they dared
not request that favour, seeing me always sur-
rounded by a crowd, offering homage to me ;
but that here, where my renommce had not yet
become known, they ventured to enjoy my
society before the Parisian world, as^ would be
sure to be the case, engrossed me. They will,
a? they aaid, become my pronetirs, and bring
themselves into fashion by acting as my aide-
de-camps"
Such was the state of excitement into which
Lady Caldersfoot was thrown, that the doubts
of her sanity, often before awakened in the
mind of Selina, became renewed. Never pre-
viously could she have imagined that gratified
vanity could have produced such an intoxica-
tion of the spirits as she now witnessed. It
was evident to her, that the attaches at the
embassy had been, what, in vulgar parlance,
is called hoaxing Lady Caldersfoot; that the
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 291
amiable Lady Granville had endeavoured to
check their mauvaises plaisanteries ; and that her
vain and foolish mistress had furnished the
subject of general hilarity to those to whom her
mischievous and laughter-loving young country-
men had revealed her foibles, they exciting
them into increased action by the gross flatteries
they had addressed to her, without her suspect-
ing for a moment that she was otherwise than
an object o,f general attention and respect.
o 2
292 MEMOIRS OF
am
'.-.,: "V 'be -
CHAPTER XVI.
IT had been agreed that the English ambas-
sadress was to present Lady Caldersfoot at the
next reception at the Tuileries, which was to
take place in two days, and, previous to that
event, her Excellency wished to see that lady.
When she returned from the embassy, an
expression of great dissatisfaction was visible in
her countenance. " I am quite annoyed, Se-
lina," observed her Ladyship, "for the am-
bassadress has been giving me some advice
about my dress, which, though I am sure it
was kindly meant, places me in a disagreeable
dilemma. If I adopt it, the dress I have ready
for the occasion cannot be worn; and if I do
not, it will appear as if I disregarded the
opinion of the ambassadress, to whom I wish
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 293
to pay every mark of respect. Her Excellency
told me that dress was a matter of grave im-
port at Paris ; that the peculiar taste of the
individual was never consulted, but that all
ladies adopted the prevailing fashion, with a
due reference to the age of the wearers. For
example, that women once passed their early
youth, never wore pale pink in France, or even
pale blue, that grave and sober colours were
alone worn by women over thirty ; and recom-
mended me to pay attention to these points.
Can anything be more absurd ? If I did not
know that the ambassadress is the most amiable
person in the world, and quite superior to enter-
taining any feelings of envy or jealousy, I should
be disposed to think that this advice might be
dictated by a motive of preventing my making
as distinguished an appearance as if I followed
my own taste. I suppose the truth is, that,
being extremely popular at Paris, her Ladyship
is fearful of creating angry feelings in the
breasts of the French ladies, by my eclipsing
them at Court, and so wishes to diminish the
effect of my appearance by suggesting my adop-
2U4 MEMOIRS OF
tion of the general mode, which renders all
women alike, whereas my own taste in dress
always makes me appear unique, and at one
glance points me out as a remarkable person.
The young attaches, the other night, advised me
earnestly not to change my style of dress. They
said it was perfection ; and men I have always
considered better judges of dress than women.
At least, in men there can be but one motive for
praising ; they speak from the heart. I must,
I fear, abandon my lovely court-dress, which
produced such an effect at the last drawing-
room of our Queen. Prince Albert appeared
extremely struck with it. Pink and silver has
always been considered peculiarly becoming to
me. 'How vexatious not to be able to wear it
here!"
A new court-dress had to be made; and
Lady Caldersfoot, having adhered to the kind
counsel of the English ambassadress, made a
much more respectable appearance than she had
ever previously presented. Nevertheless, the
profuse use of rouge, and the juvenility of her
edi/ure, deteriorated considerably from the
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 295
effect of the handsome court-dress, and brought
a blush to the cheeks of the amiable lady who
was to present her, and who, truly patriotic in
her feelings, wished the English to appear to
the best advantage at Court.
When dressed, and waiting for her carriage
to proceed to the Tuileries, Lady Caldersfoot
received a pile of French newspapers more
remarkable for their drollery and piquancy,
than for the propriety or good taste of their
contents.
" Open them, Selina. Make haste and glance
over the columns. I am sure, by their being
sent to me, that they must contain something
that will give me pleasure, and exhilarate my
spirits for my presentation at Court. I dare not
open them myself, lest they might soil my
dress."
The colour rose to the face of Selina as her
eye glanced over the pages, and caught a tissue
of the most poignant ridicule, and sarcastic
comments levelled at her mistress, in conse-
quence of the articles published by that lady
in Galignani, and the French papers.
296 MEMOIRS OF
" Why don't you read the paper aloud ?"
demanded Lady Caldersfoot. " You know I
am in momentary expectation of the carriage
being announced."
" The article in this journal," said Selina,
laying down the Figaro, " is not of a nature to
give pleasure; H is extremely impertinent."
"Is it possible?" exclaimed Lady Calders-
foot, looking very angry; "my enemies, -9iy
enemies again at work! Look over the others;
they cannot surely be all offensive."
Selina glanced over each of the papers, but,
finding all of the same character, told her
mistress that they were beneath her notice.
" Read me the least offensive, that I may
judge whence it proceeds," said Lady Calders-
foot.
"If your Ladyship will excuse me, I shall
feel obliged," replied Selina, really unwilling
to inflict the pain she felt such attacks must
give her foolish mistress.
"You will put me out of all patience,"
observed that lady, "read, and at once, as
I have already twice told you."
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 297
Selina, pitying the mortification which the
article she was so peremptorily commanded to
read aloud, must give to one so vain, com-
menced perusing the following article, not
daring to turn her eyes for a moment on Lady
Caldersfoot:
"La bizarrerie des Anglais etait, et sera
toujours un sujet intpuisable de ridicule; mais
il ctait reserve a tine vieille folle, qui se nomme
Miladi Caldersfoot,* (eh quel nom !) d'y mettrv
le comble. Nos lecteurs ne croiront pas, pro-
bablement, quune personne qui a la tanite
inouie de vouloir se faire passer pour une
femme de lettres, ait Veffronterie d'tcrire sur
elle-meme des eloges les plus degoutants quelle
fait inserer dans nos journaux, et que nos
redacteurs par espieglerie out imprimes sous
forme d'annonces. Avec tout le dtsir de ne
pas interrompre Ventente cordiale entre les in-
dividus des deux nations, nous ne pouvons pan
resister d'enrposer la folie ffune ' precieuse ri-
dicule,' encore phis absurde quaucune de celles
* " Caldersfoot veut dire en Anglais, Colderfeet ; c'est a dire,
pied plusfroid."
o3
298 MEMOIRS OF
depeintes par Molitre, et qui fait tort a son pays
par son ignorance, et sa vanite extreme"
Selina read this insulting paragraph with as
little emphasis as possible, wishing, as much as
it was in her power, to diminish its force by a
rapid perusal. The unfortunate person, how-
ever, to whom it was directed, felt every line, nay
every word, as if a poniard had been forced into
her breast, and writhed in agony under the in-
fliction. No wounds inflicted on the body are so
severely felt as those given to the vanity ; and
as Lady Caldersfoot's was most excessive and
vulnerable, her sufferings were intense.
"The wretches! the monsters! the cowards!''
-exclaimed the enraged authoress between every
sentence. " Yes, I see my enemies have bribed
those of my country to attack me in this
dastardly manner. But England will take
it up, I feel persuaded. The Ambassador here
will demand satisfaction of the Prime Minister.
It will, doubtless, be made a national question ;
for England never will suffer itself to be out-
raged in the person of one of its brightest
literary ornaments. Alas! this is one of the
A FEMME i>E CHAMBKE. 299
penalties of fame ; and I could weep bittev
tears, that I, the lover of peace, whose writings
have ever tended to humanize, and soften
national asperities, should be the innocent
cause of a war, in which thousands may be
slain ! Would that I could cheat myself into
the hope that such fearful results may not
follow ! for I look down from the lofty emi-
nence where my genius has elevated me, with
contemptuous pity on such infamous attacks ;
and, were my country not wounded through
me, I should receive them as new proofs of my
superiority. What real genius, of this, or any
age, has escaped the shafts of envy? Voltaire
himself, whose writings some of mine are
thought to resemble, had his Freron ; and Pope
his Curl and Dennis. You see how cool, how
unmoved I am ! Look at me, that you may
hereafter remember how true genius meets the
envenomed darts that seek to wound it."
Selina, as commanded, raised her eyes to the
face of Lady Caldersfoot, but instantly turned
them away, so much was she shocked by the
change in it. Not all the rouge of that lady
300 MEMOIRS OF
could conceal the livid paleness that bespread
her visage. Her eyes flashed with anger, and
her thin lips trembled.
" Yes, I am unmoved," repeated she, though
her unsteady voice told a different tale, " quite
unmoved, nay, glad; for this vile attack will
draw the attention and excite the sympathy of
all Europe."
The carriage was now announced, and Lady
Caldersfoot, although tremulous with emotion,
did not forget to cast an anxious glance at the
mirror before which she stopped, laid on some
more rouge, and then descended to her carriage,
affecting a composure that she was far from
feeling, and which did not deceive Selina as to
the real state of her mind.
"Poor woman," thought she, "how does she
by her vanity embitter a life that, without pre-
tensions which have not even the basis of ordi-
nary talent or education to found them on, and
wliich, consequently, expose her to ridicule,
might pass tranquilly, if not happily ! She is,
naturally, neither ill-natured nor unkind ; but
having taken the absurd fancy of becoming an
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 301
authoress, without any one of the requisites for
such a profession, she becomes vexed and angry
by anything that militates against her ambition,
and is either in a state of excitement, produced
by the flatteries of those who mock her, or
almost maddened by the severity of the truths
of those who search to correct her folly."
In due time Lady Caldersfoot returned from
the Tuileries.
" I have had a most kind reception," said she
to Selina. " The King and Queen were most
gracious to me. Both, with the greatest con-
descension, asked me how long I had been at
Paris; hoped I liked it, and that I intended
to make some stay. I ought to mention, that
the distinguished gentleman who put up the
steps and closed the door of my carriage the
other day, was not the King, and, I now believe,
could be no other than the Prime Minister.
He certainly must be the next in authority to
his Majesty, for there was a lofty grandeur in
his air and manner that could only belong to
some very remarkable person. When I found
the King so amiable and kind to me, I took
302 MEMOIRS OF
the liberty of telling him that my stay in
France must depend on a stop being put to the
shameful attacks published against me in the
French newspapers, and I named the Figaro
and the other papers."
" I regret, my lady," said his Majesty, " that
anything could occur to occasion you pain ; but
let me advise you to treat such attacks as I
do, smile at them."
" I replied, that so I felt disposed to do ; but
that the dread I entertained of the insult to
me being taken up as a national question by
England, and leading to a war, alarmed me.
His Majesty was, at that moment, seized by so
violent a fit of coughing, that for some minutes
he was obliged to keep his handkerchief to his
face ; and, to prove to you what courtiers the
French are, no sooner did he cough, than all
the circle around him coughed too, and applied
their handkerchiefs to their faces. But when his
long fit of coughing had subsided, he kindly told
me not to be alarmed, for that such was the per-
fect good understanding, the entente cordiale, as
he said, between the two nations, that he hoped
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 303
nothing would interrupt it; and then, I suppose,
because his Majesty found that I might still fur-
ther urge him, and that he felt he could not em-
broil himself with the press, he bowed, and moved
on to speak to some one else in the circle. The
ambassadress appeared greatly embarrassed while
I was speaking to the King. I conclude that she
was afraid I might compromise the position of
her husband, by declaring my intention of in-
sisting on his interference. Indeed, her Excel-
lency afterwards explained to me, that attacks
in newspapers were, in France as in England,
either left unnoticed, or the journalists were
prosecuted for libels, and advised me particu-
larly not to take any further step whatever in
the affair."
" I trust your Ladyship will adopt such good
advice," said Selina.
" I have not yet made up my mind. I am so
perfectly mistress of repartee, and have such
a facility of writing piquantes and Iranchantes
things, that I should really like to answer
those impertinent journalists, and prove to
them that wit and raillery is not confined to
304 MEMOIRS OF
France ; and that if their country could boast a
Madame de Sevigne, who excelled in the
epistolary style, and a Madame Dacier,
versed in erudition, England has women, at
the head of whom I believe I may without
vanity place myself, who need not yield the
palm of excellence to France." Lady Calders-
foot drew herself up, and assumed an air of
dignity. " I think," resumed she, " that it was
rather strange that when the ambassadress
presented me, she never referred to my cele-
brity. I expected her Excellency would at
least have said, * I have the honour of present-
big to his Majesty the King of the French,
and to her Majesty the Queen, Lady Calders-
foot, the most celebrated of English autho-
resses.' But not a word of this was said, and
I believe my position, as the head of English
literature, would have not been known, had not
the Prince de Joinville (oh I what a charming
young man he is) whispered something in the
ears of the Bang and Queen, which I feel con-
fident produced that extreme kindness in their
manner towards me, for which I must feel for
A FEMME DE CHAMBHE. 305
ever grateful. I am sure they did not address
the same flattering words to any one else at the
reception. Yes, I never can forget both the
King and Queen condescending to ask me how
long I had been in France, how I liked it, and
how long I intended to stay, and then the
friendly smiles which accompanied these kind
questions. Yes, I may indeed well be proud of
such flattering and gratifying attention from
such a quarter. However, although the ambas-
sadress did not refer to my celebrity, the two
young attaches (and most amiable and gifted
young men they are) made it generally known,
and the consequence was, that all eyes were
turned on me. I saw my two young compa-
triots telling all their acquaintances who I was, as
I could easily judge by the persons spoken to
turning their glances on me. The Prince de
Joinville, too, took great notice of me, and was
most gracious. Son Vitesse Royale even con-
descended to express his regret that I had not
adhered to my English costume for court, be-
cause, as he was pleased to say, he thought it so
peculiarly elegant and becoming."
MEMOIRS OF
So ran on Lady Caldersfoot during the whole
time that Selina was taking off her Court-dress,
her eye* constantly fixed on the Psych* before
which she stood, evidently perfectly pleased by
her own mpffHnmori and the effect she believed
it had produced, and meditating future sutsxs
in the French capital, the recollection of the
annoyance of the morning lost in the pleasure
so lately received at the Tuilerief.
"Well," thought Selina, "if vanity often
furnishes sources of mollification acutely felt,
it must be owned that the salve applied bv
own credulity soon heals the wound." And as
she made this reflection, she felt her pity for
her foolish mistress degenerate into a sentiment
much more akin to contempt.
Lady Caldersfoot imagined that having been
presented at court, and having appeared at a
m>& at the English Embassy, she should find
herself sought after by the most distinguished
persons in the Parisian world of literature and
fashion. But when, after a few days of hope
deferred, and that her expectations were dis-
appointed, her anger became aroused, and
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 307
she vented her mortification in bitter comments
on the envy and jealousy of the Parisians,
who could so neglect a woman whose presence
in their capital conferred honour on them
and it.
" Talk of r entente cordiale" would she say to
Selina " it's all a pretence. If the French really
wished to preserve it, would they have missed
an opportunity of conciliating and marking
their respect for England and the English, by
showing every possible attention to me ? My
enemies have, I know, taken active steps to pre-
vent my receiving the homage due to me here;
nevertheless, they could not have so completely
succeeded, had not the jealousy of the French
aided their malice. A dinner given at the
Tuileries to some distinguished individuals of
the English aristocracy, and to which her
Ladyship was not commanded, achieved her
total discomfiture. That the King and Queen
could, after so flattering a reception, leave her
out at a dinner given to some of her compatriots,
was a slight not to be overlooked. There must
be something more than met the eye in such
308 MEMOIRS OF
a grave insult, and she deemed it a duty due to
herself to ascertain the cause.
A long letter was forthwith written to the
ambassadress, requesting to be made acquainted
with the motive for such an unprecedented
instance of neglect, and offence offered to a
person whose celebrity must be so well-known,
and who -merited a very different treatment.
The answer, although written with all the tact,
good-breeding, and kindness which ever cha-
racterized the ambassadress, and which rendered
her Ladyship so beloved at Paris, failed to
satisfy Lady Caldersfoot. That the invitations,
or rather the commands to the Tuileries, ema-
nated entirely from the court, and could not be
interfered in by ambassadors Lady Calders-
foot found it difficult to believe ; and that any
remonstrance addressed to Royalty on such a
subject (as her Ladyship threatened to write),
would be deemed most indecorous and improper,
she could hardly be brought to admit. A dis-
agreeable correspondence with the ambassa-
dress was the result, and Lady Caldersfoot
determined on no longer prolonging her sojourn
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 309
in a capital where genius and celebrity were
so little appreciated.
The evening of the day on which this reso-
lution was adopted, a command to a concert at
the Tuileries considerably mollified her Lady-
ship's anger; and although, when she returned
from it, she told Selina that no less than three
hundred persons had been present, she persisted
in asserting, that to be invited to concerts at
the palace was a much greater distinction than
to be engaged to dinner. His Majesty, too, had
not only smiled very graciously to her, but had,
quite in a confidential way, remarked on the
heat of the room; and the Queen had in the
most amiable manner inquired if she were fond
of music ? "I feel persuaded," added Lady
Caldersfoot, " that their Majesties having been
informed of my passion for music, (a pretension
Selina had never previously heard her mistress
advance,) they gave the concert in compliment
to me;" and this belief soothed her wounded
vanity so much, that her temper recovered its
tone, she spoke in terms of the highest
eulogium of the Royal family, and wrote
310 MEMOIRS OF
accounts to London for insertion in the papers,
of the distinguished favour shown her at the
Tuileries.
The change of air had so much benefitted the
health of Selina, that she no longer desired to
remain on the continent unless she could obtain
a situation with a more rational, and less ridi-
culous mistress, than her present one. She
shrank, in dismay, from the exposes to which
Lady Caldersfoot was continually subjecting
herself; and was tired, beyond endurance, by
the daily, nay, hourly, self-laudations of her
Ladyship, as well as by her absurd schemes for
extending a celebrity that existed only in her
own weak brain. To accompany her to the
South of France and Italy, would be, Selina
felt, to expose herself to a series of annoyances,
which she had not courage to encounter; and
yet as, with all her faults and follies, Lady
Caldersfoot had always treated her with civility,
she hesitated to leave her in a foreign land.
" I hope you employ the time not occupied
in my personal service, in making notes that
may be useful for my work/' said her mistress.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 311
" Write down your reflections likewise ; for, as
Mirabeau turned the notes furnished by
Dupont to account, I can convert yours into
passages of such profound thought and brilliant
diction, that you never could imagine that mere
common-place remarks could have suggested
A OO
them. Be assured, that genius is the true
Midas, whose touch turns all to gold, as I will
prove to you if you write notes."
The proprietor of the hotel and his wife had,
from the commencement of Lady Caldersfoot's
sejour in their house, treated Selina with the
utmost kindness and attention. They soon
discovered her superiority to the subordinate
place she filled, and as quickly observed the
follies of her mistress, and pitied a well edu-
cated person, who was subjected to a daily
endurance of them. Many comforts, for which
no charge was made to Lady Caldersfoot, were
provided for Selina ; not the least of which was
the loan of books, that agreeably filled up her
solitary hours. Selina was one day descending
the stairs, to return some of the books lent to
her, when the tones of a well-remembered voice
312 MEMOIRS OF
struck on her ear. She paused, turned round
to look on the speaker, and recognised the kind,
the beautiful, Mrs. Fraser, and one of her
sisters. Overjoyed, she approached them, and
no sooner had Mrs. Fraser caught a view of
her face, than she ran and embraced her,
exclaiming, "Dear, good, Selina! how de-
lighted I am to see you! Do come into my
apartment ;"" and seizing the hand of Selina, she
drew, rather than led her into one of the salons
of a very handsome suite of rooms, where Mrs.
Herbert and her other daughter were occupied
writing at a table. Nothing could exceed the
kindness of the reception she met with from
that excellent woman and her unmarried daugh-
ters; while from Mrs. Fraser, a more affec-
tionate one could not be given by a sister.
They had arrived from the South of France
only the previous evening, en route for England,
where they were returning sooner then they
had intended, owing to Miss Herbert's being
on the eve of marriage with a young English
nobleman, with whom they had become ac-
quainted during their travels.
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 313
" All the work of this dear, dear creature,"
said Mrs. Herbert, imprinting a kiss on the
brow of Mrs. Fraser, " who has bestowed a for-
tune on her sisters that renders them eligible
matches for those whose parents might otherwise
make objections that probably could not be got
over."
"No, no, dear mother. Be assured, Lord
Gulstone would have gladly married dear Emma
had she been portionless ; and his parents 'love
him too well to have offered any obstacle to his
wishes."
"Just like you, dearest, always trying to
make light of the good you do," said the fond
mother, her eyes beaming with tenderness.
"And who are you with here, my good
Selina ?" inquired Mrs. Fraser. " How glad I
am that we are in the same house." When in-
formed that Selina was living with Lady Cal-
dersfoot, Mrs. Herbert shook her head : " Poor
Lady Caldersfoot !" said she ; " I knew her very
well some years ago. I hope she is not still
searching after celebrity and acquiring only
notoriety. But I should have said, Poor Selina,
VOL. III. P
314 MEMOIRS OF
instead of Poor Lady Caldersfoot, for, unless her
Ladyship is greatly changed indeed, Selina
cannot have a comfortable place."
" Then she must come to me," interrupted
Mrs. Fraser, taking Selina's hand. " You look
pale and languid, my dear girl ; indeed you do.
Ah ! I knew, when I saw the terrible event an-
nounced in the English papers, what you would
feel ; and often and often did I think of you,
and wish to know where to write to you, to ask
you to come to me. There, don't weep, dear
Selina, for if you have lost one friend you have
still an older, and a most attached one, hasn't
she, mother ?"
" Yes, three friends," replied Mrs. Herbert ;
" for never can your sisters or I forget what a
comfort she was to you and to me, when we
required her kindness."
" But do, dear Selina, arrange to come to me,
and return to England with us. I will transfer
myj'present/fwmi? de chambre to Emma on her
marriage, and you will always stay with me,
won't you ?"
Selina found it difficult to tear herself away
A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. 315
from her kind friends, and before she left them
was obliged to promise to let them see her as
frequently as possible, and to make arrangements
for leaving Lady Caldersfoot, and returning with
them to England. When she had reached the
door Mrs. Fraser called her back, and said, " Oh !
I forgot to ask you what was the good you de-
rived from a certain Messrs. Scott and Murray,
solicitors in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, who adver-
tised, that if Miss Selina Stratford, lately living
with the deceased Duchess of Glenallen, would
apply to them, or furnish her address, she
would hear of something greatly to her ad-
vantage. My mother cut out the advertise-
ment."
"Yes," observed Mrs. Herbert, "and here
it is;" drawing it forth from her writing-desk.
" I thought it just possible that you might not
see it, so kept it to show you when we met.'"
" I never saw or heard of it," replied Selina.
" Probably the advantage held out is the balance
of salary due to me by my late beloved mistress,
which I never thought of since the terrible cata-
strophe that deprived me of her ;" and Selina's
316 MEMOIRS OF
eyes filled .with tears, as they always did when-
ever she reverted to the death of the Duchess.
" You should, however, write to the soli-
citors at once," said Mrs. Herbert, " and I will
forward your letter with mine by this post."
In due time an answer was received from
Messrs. Scott and Murray, stating that their
late client, the Duchess of Glenallen, had, in
consideration of Miss Stratford's faithful ser-
vices to her, and to mark her regard, be-
queathed her the sum of five thousand pounds,
with a portrait of her Grace, a large collection of
books, some trinkets, and the whole of her
wardrobe. Although nearly overpowered by
contending emotions at finding herself now
blessed with a competency that would preclude
her henceforth from servitude, this noble gene-
rosity of a mistress, 'whose loss she had never
ceased to deplore, touched her feelings so
deeply, that it was long ere she could think of
aught but that beautiful and beneficent beino-,
O~
consigned to a premature grave.
Mrs. Fraser, and her mother and sisters,
were overjoyed beyond measure at the good
A PEMME DE CHAMBRE. 317
fortune of one whom they so highly valued.
ji
Not so was Lady Caldersfoot, who, when
apprised of the fact, acknowledged that she had
read the advertisement the day after Selina had
entered her service, but that, fearful of the pos-
sibility of losing so useful a companion for her
travels, she had concealed the circumstance from
her femme-de-chambre ; proving that -self, and
self alone, was ever thought of by^ her. She
added, that this unexpected accession of fortune
would be a very striking incident in a novel,
and that she would certainly make use of it.
" You should rejoice that I kept the secret,"
continued her Ladyship, " since you may now
boast of having approached my person in the
most confidential manner ; an honour which,
from my great celebrity, will reflect much
more distinction on you, than if you had served
Royalty itself."
Selina returned to England with Mrs.
Fraser; engaged a little cottage close to the
beautiful Villa near Richmond, purchased by
that lady; where, surrounded by the books
so often perused aloud to her departed
318 MEMOIRS OF A FEMME DE CHAMBRE.
benefactress, and with her portrait placed in
her little parlour, where it is never looked at
without grateful emotion, she passes her life
tranquilly; a day seldom goes- b,y without
Mrs. Fraser or her sister dropping in to cheer
her solitude. It is said that the curate of a
neighbouring parish, a young man highly
esteemed, is soon to become the husband of
Selina, who, we hope, will, as a happy wife
forget the trials to which she was exposed as a
Governess and FEMME DE CHAMBRE.
'THE END.
LONDON :
. 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.
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