But, nevertheless, her ladyship never lost an opportunity of wearing
Rebecca's jewels at court, whenever the Queen held a drawing-room; or
at the York assizes and ball, when she appeared there: not of course
because she took any interest in such things, but because she considered
it her duty to attend, as one of the chief ladies of the county.
Thus Sir Wilfrid of Ivanhoe, having attained the height of his wishes,
was, like many a man when he has reached that dangerous elevation,
disappointed. Ah, dear friends, it is but too often so in life! Many a
garden, seen from a distance, looks fresh and green, which, when
beheld closely, is dismal and weedy; the shady walks melancholy and
grass-grown; the bowers you would fain repose in, cushioned with
stinging-nettles. I have ridden in a caique upon the waters of the
Bosphorus, and looked upon the capital of the Soldan of Turkey. As seen
from those blue waters, with palace and pinnacle, with gilded dome and
towering cypress, it seemeth a very Paradise of Mahound: but, enter
the city, and it is but a beggarly labyrinth of rickety huts and dirty
alleys, where the ways are steep and the smells are foul, tenanted by
mangy dogs and ragged beggars--a dismal illusion! Life is such, ah,
well-a-day! It is only hope which is real, and reality is a bitterness
and a deceit.
Pages:
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439