Chapter I: And My Chimney (5)

To attempt an analysis of my feelings at this moment were impossible. The solemnity of the hour--the romantic nature of my present situation, the singularity of my whole adventure, the profound stillness which prevailed, the solitude of the place, were enough of themselves to strike a panic into the stoutest heart, and to unsettle the strongest nerves. But when to these was added the thought--that at the dead of night, and in the company of a being so perfectly inexplicable, I was effecting a clandestine entrance into so remarkable an abode, the kind and sympathising reader will not wonder, when I wished myself bestowed in my own snug quarters in ⸻ Street.

Such were the reflections which passed through my mind during our aerial voyage, throughout which my guide maintained the most rigid silence, only broken at intervals by the occasional creakings of our machine, as it rubbed against the side of the house in its ascent. No sooner had we gained the window, than two brawny arms were extended, circling me in their embrace, and ere I was aware of the change of locality, I found myself standing upright in an apartment, dimly illuminated by a solitary taper. My fellow-voyager was quickly beside me, and again enjoining silence with her finger, she seized the lamp, and bidding me follow, conducted me through a long corridor, till we reached a low door concealed behind some old tapestry, which opening to the touch, disclosed a spectacle as beautiful and enchanting as any described in the Arabian Nights.

The apartment we now entered, was fitted up in a style of Eastern splendour, and its atmosphere was redolent of the most delicious perfumes. The walls were hung round with the most elegant draperies, waving in graceful folds, on which were delineated scenes of Arcadian beauty. The floor was covered with a carpet of the finest texture, in which were wrought with exquisite skill the most striking events in ancient mythology. Attached to the walls by cords composed of alternate threads of crimson silk and gold, were several magnificent pictures illustrative of the loves of Jupiter and Semele, Psyche before the tribunal of Venus, and a variety of other scenes, limned all with felicitous grace. Disposed around the room were luxurious couches, covered with the finest damask, on which were likewise executed after the Italian fashion the early fables of Greece and Rome. Tripods, designed to represent the Graces bearing aloft vases, richly chiselled in the classic taste, were distributed in the angles of the room, and exhaled an intoxicating fragrance.

Chandeliers of the most fanciful description, suspended from the lofty ceiling by rods of silver, shed over this voluptuous scene a soft and tempered light, and imparted to the whole that dreamy beauty which must be seen in order to be duly appreciated. Mirrors of unusual magnitude, multiplying in all directions the gorgeous objects, deceived the eye by their reflections, and mocked the vision with long perspective.

But overwhelming as was the display of opulence, it yielded in attraction to the being for whom all this splendour glistened; and the grandeur of the room served only to show to advantage the matchless beauty of its inmate. These superb decorations, though lavished in boundless profusion, were the mere accessories of a creature, whose loveliness was of that spiritual cast that depended upon no adventitious aid, and which as no obscurity could diminish, so no art could heighten.

When I first obtained a glimpse of this lovely being, she lay reclining upon an ottoman; in one hand holding a lute, and with the other, lost in the profusion of her silken tresses, she supported her head. I could not refrain from recalling the passionate exclamation of Romeo:--

‘See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!’

She was habited in a flowing robe of the purest white, and her hair, escaping from the fillet of roses which had bound it, spread its negligent graces over neck and bosom and shoulder, as though unwilling to reveal the extent of such transcendent charms. Her zone was of pink satin, on which were broidered figures of Cupid in the act of drawing his bow; while the ample folds of her Turkish sleeve were gathered at the wrist by a bracelet of immense rubies, each of which represented a heart pierced through by a golden shaft. Her fingers were decorated with a variety of rings, which as she waved her hand to me as I entered, darted forth a thousand coruscations, and gleamed their brilliant splendours to the sight. Peeping from beneath the envious skirts of her mantle, and almost buried in the downy cushion on which it reposed, lay revealed the prettiest foot you can imagine cased in a satin slipper, which clung to the fairylike member by means of a diamond clasp.

As I entered the apartment, her eyes were downcast, and the expression of her face was mournfully interesting; she had apparently been lost in some melancholy revery. Upon my entrance, however, her countenance brightened, as with a queenly wave of the hand she motioned my conductress from the room, and left me standing, mute, admiring, and bewildered in her presence.

For a moment my brain spun round, and I had not at command a single one of my faculties. Recovering my self-possession, however, and with that, my good breeding, I advanced _en cavalier_, and gracefully sinking on one knee, I bowed my head and exclaimed, ‘Here do I prostrate myself, thou sweet Divinity, and kneel at the shrine of thy beauty.’

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Transcriber’s Notes

New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain. This file uses _underscores_ to indicate italic text.

Itemized changes from the original text:

• p. 8: Supplied comma in phrase “found in every vocation, even the
humbler ones” as suggested by end-of-line spacing.
• p. 155: Supplied opening single quotation mark before phrase ‘it’s
plain that you have not heard the crow of the Emperor of China’s
chanticleer.’
• p. 223: Supplied closing single quotation mark after phrase ‘to
believe in the possibility of his existence.’
• p. 225: Replaced period with question mark after phrase ‘with the
poor, commonplace plodder Hautboy, an American of forty?’
• p. 238: Supplied comma in phrase ‘Sir, this is the very Paradise of
Bachelors!’ as suggested by end-of-line spacing.
• p. 365: Replaced ‘no-so-common’ with ‘not-so-common’ in phrase ‘thy
not-so-common virtues.’
• p. 375: Replaced question mark with period after phrase ‘That is in
compliment to our revolutionary ally.’