Records Of A Girlhood Volume 1 (1 Of 2) - Frances Ann Kemble (sad books to read TXT) 📗
- Author: Frances Ann Kemble
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Passed Under Our Eyes, And Within The Space Of A Few Hours.
I Have Heard Nothing Of My Brother; My Mother Distresses Me By
Talking Of Him, Ignorant As She Is Of What Would Give Her So Much
More Anxiety About Him. I Feel, While I Listen To Her, Almost
Guilty Of Deceit; And Yet I Am Sure We Were Right In Doing For Her
What She Cannot Do For Herself, Keeping Her Mind As Long As
Possible In Comparative Tranquillity About Him.
Our Sunday At Heaton Terminated With Much Solemn Propriety By Lord
W---- Reading Aloud The Evening Prayers To The Whole Family,
Visitors, And Servants Assembled; A Ceremony Which, Combined And
Contrasted With So Much Of The Pomps And Vanities Of The World,
Gave Me A Pleasant Feeling Toward These People, Who Live In The
Midst Of Them Without Forgetting Better Things. I Mean To Make
Studying German And Drawing (And Endeavoring To Abate My
Self-Esteem) My Principal Occupations This Winter. I Have Met At
Heaton Lord Francis Leveson Gower, The Translator Of "Faust." I
Like Him Very Much; He Is A Young Man Of A Great Deal Of Talent,
With A Charming, Gentle Manner, And A Very Handsome, Sweet Face.
Good-By, Dear H----. Write To Me Soon, And Direct To No. 79 Great
Russell Street, Bloomsbury. I Should Like To Find A Letter From You
There, Waiting For Me.
Our Arrangement For Driving In To The Theater From Heaton Compelled Me
Once Or Twice To Sit Down To Dinner In My Theatrical Costume, A Device
For Saving Time In Dressing At The Theater Which Might Have Taxed My
Self-Possession Unpleasantly; But The Persons I Was Surrounded By Were
All Singularly Kind And Amiable To Me, And My Appearing Among Them In
These Picturesque Fancy Dresses Was Rather A Source Of Amusement To Us
All. Many Years After, A Lady Who Was Not Staying In The House, But Was
Invited From The Neighborhood To Dine At Heaton One Evening, Told Me How
Amazed She Had Been On The Sudden Wide Opening Of The Drawing-Room Doors
To See Me Enter, In Full Mediæval Costume Of Black Satin And Velvet, Cut
Titian Fashion, And With A Long, Sweeping Train, For Which Apparition
She Had Not Been Previously Prepared. Of Lord W---- I Have Already
Spoken, And Have Only To Add That, In Spite Of His Character Of A Mere
Dissipated Man Of Fashion, He Had An Unusual Taste For And Knowledge Of
Music, And Had Composed Some That Is Not Destitute Of Merit; He Played
Well On The Organ, And Delighted In That Noble Instrument, A Fine
Volume 1 Chapter 16 Pg 94Specimen Of Which Adorned One Of The Drawing-Rooms At Heaton. Moreover,
He Possessed An Accomplishment Of A Very Different Order, A Remarkable
Proficiency In Anatomy, Which He Had Studied Very Thoroughly. He Had
Made Himself Enough Of A Practical Surgeon To Be Able, On The Occasion
Of The Fatal Accident Which Befell Mr. Huskisson On The Day Of The
Opening Of The Railroad, To Save The Unfortunate Gentleman From Bleeding
To Death On The Spot, By Tying Up The Femoral Artery, Which Had Been
Severed. His Fine Riding In The Hunting-Field And On The Race-Course Was
A Less Peculiar Talent Among His Special Associates. Lady W---- Was
Strikingly Handsome In Person, And Extremely Attractive In Her Manners.
She Was Tall And Graceful, The Upper Part Of Her Face, Eyes, Brow, And
Forehead Were Radiant And Sweet, And, Though The Rest Of Her Features
Were Not Regularly Beautiful, Her Countenance Was Noble And Her Smile
Had A Peculiar Charm Of Expression At Once Winning And Mischievous. My
Father Said She Was Very Like Her Fascinating Mother, The Celebrated
Miss Farren. She Was Extremely Kind To Me, Petting Me Almost Like A
Spoiled Child, Dressing Me In Her Own Exquisite Riding-Habit And
Mounting Me On Her Own Favorite Horse, Which Was All Very Delightful To
Me. My Father And Mother Probably Thought The Acquaintance Of These
Distinguished Members Of The Highest English Society Advantageous To Me.
I Have No Doubt They Felt Both Pride And Pleasure In The Notice Bestowed
Upon Me By Persons So Much My Superiors In Rank, And Had A Natural
Sympathy In My Enjoyment Of All The Gay Grandeur And Kindly Indulgence
By Which I Was Surrounded At Heaton. I Now Take The Freedom To Doubt How
Far They Were Judicious In Allowing Me To Be So Taken Out Of My Own
Proper Social Sphere. It Encouraged My Taste For The Luxurious
Refinement And Elegant Magnificence Of A Mode Of Life Never Likely To Be
Mine, And Undoubtedly Increased My Distaste For The Coarse And Common
Details Of My Professional Duties Behind The Scenes, And The Sham
Splendors Of The Stage. The Guests At Heaton Of Whom I Have A Distinct
Remembrance Were Mr. And Lady Harriet Baring, Afterward Lord And Lady
Ashburton. I Knew Them Both In After-Life, And Liked Them Very Much; Mr.
Baring Was Highly Cultivated And Extremely Amiable; His Wife Was Much
Cleverer Than He, And In Many Respects A Remarkable Woman. The Beautiful
Sisters, Anne And Isabella Forrester, With Their Brother Cecil, Were At
Heaton At This Time. They Were Celebrated Beauties: The Elder, Afterward
Countess Of Chesterfield, Was A Brunette; The Younger, Who Married
Colonel Anson, The Most Renowned Lady-Killer Of His Day, Was A Blonde;
And They Were Both Of Them Exquisitely Pretty, And Used To Remind Me Of
The French Quatrain--
"Vous Êtes Belle, Et Votre Soeur Est Belle;
Entre Vous Deux, Tout Choix Serait Bien Doux.
L'Amour Êtait Blond, Comme Vous,
Mais Il Aimait Une Brune, Comme Elle."
They Had Beautiful Figures As Well As Faces, And Dressed Peculiarly And
So As To Display Them To The Greatest Advantage. Long And Very Full
Skirts Gathered Or Plaited All Round A Pointed Waist Were Then The
Fashion; These Lovely Ladies, With A Righteous Scorn Of All
Disfigurement Of Their Beauty, Wore Extremely Short Skirts, Which Showed
Their Thorough-Bred Feet And Ankles, And Were Perfectly Plain Round
Their Waists And Over Their Hips, With Bodies So Low On The Shoulders
And Bosom That There Was Certainly As Little As Possible Of Their
Volume 1 Chapter 16 Pg 95Beautiful Persons Concealed. I Remember Wishing It Were Consistent With
Her Comfort And The General Decorum Of Modern Manners That Isabella
Forrester's Gown Could Only Slip Entirely Off Her Exquisite Bust. I
Suppose I Felt As Poor Gibson, The Sculptor, Who, Looking At His Friend
And Pupil's (Miss Hosmer's) Statue Of Beatrice Cenci, The Back Of Which
Was Copied From That Of Lady A---- T----, Exclaimed In His Slow,
Measured, Deliberate Manner, "And To Think That The Cursed Prejudices Of
Society Prevent My Seeing That Beautiful Back!" Count And Countess
Batthyany (She The Former Widow Of The Celebrated Austrian General,
Bubna, A Most Distinguished And Charming Woman) Were Visitors At Heaton
At This Time, As Was Also Henry Greville, With Whom I Then First Became
Acquainted, And Who From That Time Until His Death Was My Kind And
Constant Friend. He Was For Several Years Attached To The Embassy In
Paris, And Afterward Had Some Small Nominal Post In The Household Of The
Duchess Of Cambridge, And Was Gentleman Gold-Stick In Waiting At Court.
He Was Not In Any Way Intellectually Remarkable; He Had A Passion For
Music, And Was One Of The Best Society Singers Of His Day, Being (That,
To Me, Incomprehensible Thing) A _Mélomane_ For One Kind Of Music Only.
Passionately Fond Of Italian Operatic Music, He Did Not Understand, And
Therefore Cordially Detested, German Music. He Had A Passion For The
Stage; But Though He Delighted In Acting He Did Not Particularly Excel
In It. He Had A Taste For Everything Elegant And Refined, And His Small
House In May-Fair Was A Perfect Casket Full Of Gems. He Was A Natural
Exquisite, And Perfectly Simple And Unaffected, A Great Authority In All
Matters Of Fashion Both In Paris And In London, And A Universal
Favorite, Especially With The Women, In The Highest Society Of Both
Capitals. His Social Position, Friendly Intimacy With Several Of The
Most Celebrated Musical And Dramatic Artists Of His Day, Passion For
Political And Private Gossip, Easy And Pleasant Style Of Letter-Writing,
And General Rather Supercilious Fastidiousness, Used Sometimes To Remind
Me Of Horace Walpole. He Had A Singularly Kind Heart And Amiable Nature,
For A Life Of Mere Frivolous Pleasure Had Not Impaired The One Or The
Other. His Serviceableness To His Friends Was Unwearied, And His
Generous Liberality Toward All Whom He Could Help Either With His
Interest, His Trouble, Or His Purse Was Unfailing.
The Whole Gay Party Assembled At Heaton, My Mother And Myself Included,
Went To Liverpool For The Opening Of The Railroad. The Throng Of
Strangers Gathered There For The Same Purpose Made It Almost Impossible
To Obtain A Night's Lodging For Love Or Money; And Glad And Thankful
Were We To Put Up With And Be Put Up In A Tiny Garret By Our Old Friend,
Mr. Radley, Of The Adelphi, Which Many Would Have Given Twice What We
Paid To Obtain. The Day Opened Gloriously, And Never Was Seen An
Innumerable Concourse Of Sight-Seers In Better Humor Than The Surging,
Swaying Crowd That Lined The Railroad With Living Faces. How Dreadfully
That Brilliant Opening Was Overcast I Have Described In The Letter Given
Above. After This Disastrous Event The Day Became Overcast, And As We
Neared Manchester The Sky Grew Cloudy And Dark, And It Began To Rain.
The Vast Concourse Of People Who Had Assembled To Witness The Triumphant
Arrival Of The Successful Travelers Was Of The Lowest Order Of Mechanics
And Artisans, Among Whom Great Distress And A Dangerous Spirit Of
Discontent With The Government At That Time Prevailed. Groans And Hisses
Greeted The Carriage, Full Of Influential Personages, In Which The Duke
Of Wellington Sat. High Above The Grim And Grimy Crowd Of Scowling Faces
Volume 1 Chapter 16 Pg 96A Loom Had Been Erected, At Which Sat A Tattered, Starved-Looking
Weaver, Evidently Set There As A _Representative Man_, To Protest
Against This Triumph Of Machinery, And The Gain And Glory Which The
Wealthy Liverpool And Manchester Men Were Likely To Derive From It. The
Contrast Between Our Departure From Liverpool And Our Arrival At
Manchester Was One Of The Most Striking Things I Ever Witnessed. The
News Of
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