The cabinets of Bercy
and St. Cloud knew them; so did the arbors of Asnieres, where, in
oilskin and _vareuse_, muster for their Sabbat the ancient mariners of
the Seine. Nay, it has been whispered that more than once--close veiled
and clinging tightly to her husband's arm--Isabel witnessed at _Mabille_
and the _Chaumiere_ the choregraphic triumphs of _Frisette_, _Pomare_,
and _Mogador_.
My hand trembles while I record such enormities and backslidings. O
Brougham-girls of Belgravia, who "never gave your mothers a moment's
uneasiness"--stars of the Western hemisphere, who can be trusted any
where without fear of your wandering from your orbits--think on this
lost Pleiad, once your companion, and be warned. Men are deceivers ever,
even when they mean matrimony; and the tender mercies of the Light
Dragoon are cruel.
Isabel was dreadfully startled at the sudden appearance of her cousin.
Her notions of his power were quite unlimited and irrational, and I
believe her first thought was that he had changed his mind about the
propriety of her marriage, and was come to carry her back into the house
of her bondage with the strong hand.
When his curt sentences told her the facts, sorry as she was, it
certainly was rather a relief to her.
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