nostrum, would find cause to curse.

"Aylmer, are you in earnest?" asked Georgiana, looking at him with
amazement and fear. "It is terrible to possess such power, or even to
dream of possessing it."

"O, do not tremble, my love," said her husband. "I would not wrong
either you or myself by working such inharmonious effects upon our
lives; but I would have you consider how trifling, in comparison, is
the skill requisite to remove this little hand."

At the mention of the birthmark, Georgiana, as usual, shrank as if a
red-hot iron had touched her cheek.

Again Aylmer applied himself to his labors. She could hear his voice
in the distant furnace-room giving directions to Aminadab, whose
harsh, uncouth, misshapen tones were audible in response, more like
the grunt or growl of a brute than human speech. After hours of
absence, Aylmer reappeared and proposed that she should now examine
his cabinet of chemical products and natural treasures of the earth.
Among the former he showed her a small vial, in which, he remarked,
was contained a gentle yet most powerful fragrance, capable of
impregnating all the breezes that blow across a kingdom. They were of
inestimable value, the contents of that little vial; and, as he said
so, he threw some of the perfume into the air and filled the room with
piercing and invigorating delight.

"And what is this?" asked Georgiana, pointing to a small crystal globe
containing a gold-colored liquid. "It is so beautiful to the eye that
I could imagine it the elixir of life."