Idonia: A Romance of Old LondonWallis, Arthur Frederick
History
Idonia: A Romance of Old London
Wallis, Arthur Frederick
Great Britain -- History -- Elizabeth, 1558-1603 -- Fiction; London (England) -- Fiction
'Twas a face very pale limned, in which there yet appeared each
minutest feature, hue, and lock of hair even, so ingeniously was all
done. Behind the face was a foil of plain blue to show it off; and so
exact and perfect as the thing was, it lay in my palm no bigger than a
crown piece. I examined it closely. There was a kind of pride in the
eyes which looked at you direct, and the eyebrows descended a little
inwards towards the nose, as one sees them sometimes in a man that
brooks not to be crossed, but seldom in a girl. Her mouth and chin
were small and shapely, yet otherwise of no particular account. I
judged it to be the picture of one that saw swiftly and without fear,
and moreover that the mere sight of things, and a quick apprehension of
them, determined her actions. Somehow so (methought) looked that
scrupulous Saint that doubted his Lord without proof of vision; whereat
calling to mind his tardy and so great repentance, I felt a catch of
hope that my mother repented likewise, and by her repentance was
justified.
My father entering then, I gave up the locket, which he took from me
quietly, saying it was by an Exeter youth that had since gone to Court
and painted many notable persons there; one N. Hillyard, whose father
had been High Sheriff of Exeter twenty years since, his mother being a
London woman named Laurence Wall, and that the lady's father had been a
goldsmith; moreover (which was singular) 'twas to one of the same
family (I think a son) that I was directed to present my letters of
exchange. The hour then drawing towards the time I was to meet with my
father's friend, and there being many things to be attended to, I
dressed hastily and was soon ready below, where I found my father
again, and Sprot, in the great hall, with my clothes and other
necessaries, which they bestowed in two or three deerskin wallets that
lay open on the floor. These were to go forward by the carrier, who
undertook to deliver them as far as to Devizes, whence I was to hire
such means of carriage as seemed advisable, whether by sumpter-beasts
or waggon, for the rest of my journey.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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