The walls were hung with gorgeous
curtains, which imparted the combination of grandeur and grace, that
no other species of adornment can achieve; and as they fell from the
ceiling to the floor, their rich and ponderous folds, concealing all
angles and straight lines, appeared to shut in the scene from infinite
space. For aught Georgiana knew, it might be a pavilion among the
clouds. And Aylmer, excluding the sunshine, which would have
interfered with his chemical processes, had supplied its place with
perfumed lamps, emitting flames of various hue, but all uniting in a
soft, empurpled radiance. He now knelt by his wife's side, watching
her earnestly, but without alarm; for he was confident in his science,
and felt that he could draw a magic circle round her, within which
no evil might intrude.
"Where am I? Ah, I remember!" said Georgiana, faintly; and she
placed her hand over her cheek, to hide the terrible mark from her
husband's eyes.
"Fear not, dearest!" exclaimed he. "Do not shrink from me!
Believe me, Georgiana, I even rejoice in this single imperfection,
since it will be such a rapture to remove it."
"Oh, spare me!" sadly replied his wife. "Pray do not look at it
again. I never can forget that convulsive shudder."
In order to soothe Georgiana, and, as it were, to release her
mind from the burthen of actual things, Aylmer now put in practice
some of the light and playful secrets which science had taught him
among its profounder lore.
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