Ormond; Or, The Secret Witness. Volume 1 (of 3)Brown, Charles Brockden
History
Ormond; Or, The Secret Witness. Volume 1 (of 3)
Brown, Charles Brockden
Gothic fiction; Philadelphia (Pa.) -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction; Young women -- Fiction
A few moments after, a young fellow smartly dressed entered the
apartment. He was immediately addressed by the other, who said to him,
"Well, Tom, where's your master: there's a lady wants him," (pointing to
Constantia, and laying a grinning emphasis on the word "lady".) She
turned to the new-comer: "Friend, are you Mr. Craig's servant?"
The fellow seemed somewhat irritated at the bluntness of her
interrogatory. The appellation of servant sat uneasily, perhaps, on his
pride, especially as coming from a person of her appearance. He put on
an air of familiar ridicule, and surveyed her in silence. She resumed,
in an authoritative tone:--"Where does Mr. Craig spend this evening? I
have business with him of the highest importance, and that will not bear
delay. I must see him this night." He seemed preparing to make some
impertinent answer, but she anticipated it: "You had better answer me
with decency. If you do not, your master shall hear of it."
This menace was not ineffectual. He began in perceive himself in the
wrong, and surlily muttered, "Why, if you must know, he is gone to Mr.
Ormond's." And where lived Mr. Ormond? In Arch Street; he mentioned the
number on her questioning him to that effect.
Being furnished with this information, she left them. Her project was
not to be thwarted by slight impediments, and she forthwith proceeded to
Ormond's dwelling. "Who was this Ormond?" she inquired of herself as she
went along: "whence originated and of what nature is the connection
between him and Craig? Are they united by unison of designs and sympathy
of character, or is this stranger a new subject on whom Craig is
practising his arts? The last supposition is not impossible. Is it not
my duty to disconcert his machinations and save a new victim from his
treachery? But I ought to be sure before I act. He may now be honest, or
tending to honesty, and my interference may cast him backward, or
impede his progress."
The house to which she had been directed was spacious and magnificent.
She was answered by a servant, whose uniform was extremely singular and
fanciful, whose features and accents bespoke him to be English, with a
politeness to which she knew that the simplicity of her dress gave her
no title. Craig, he told her, was in the drawing-room above stairs. He
offered to carry him any message, and ushered her, meanwhile, into a
parlour. She was surprised at the splendour of the room. The ceiling was
painted with a gay design, the walls stuccoed in relief, and the floor
covered with a Persian carpet, with suitable accompaniments of mirrors,
tables, and sofas.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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