Agnes, or, Beauty and Pleasure — page 22: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ee me we os eres — ee .- ES A ° 14 AGNES: able career, as Viceroy of the Anglo-Indian posses- sions, returned to this country to receive the thanks of Parliament, the gift of the estates to which I have alluded, and the peerage of Ormsby. You, Morton Evelyn, are his lineai descendant— you are the heir to his wealth—you are Lord Ormsby!” Mr. Waldron had been speaking slowly and in measured terms: but these concluding announce- ments he made more deliberately and cautiously still; for he perceived that a faintness, produced by an overpowering joy, was creeping upon Hvelyn, Indeed it would be impossible to describe the effect of those revelations; and unable to give utterance to a word, Morton took and pressed the lawyer's - hand, retaining it for some moments, while the tears trickled down his cheeks. “And now, my dear Morton,” said Mr. Wal- dron, after a long pause, during which the young man regained his self-possession, “ I have told you everything. But you cannot immediately assume the title which belongs to you: you must wait until the assembling of Parliament—which will be in a month or six weeks—when certain formsor ceremonies will have to take place before 2 Com- mittee of Privileges of the House of Lords; and your right to the title will be immediayely recog- nised. Indeed, as we have now all the documents which are requisite for obtaining possession of the fortune and estates, those same papers necessarily establish your claim to the peerage. To-morrow we will give the proper notices in respect to the money and the land;—and now you may hasten home to communicate all these joyous tidings to OR, BEAUTY AND PLEASURE. |to himself that a coronet would sit gracefully in- deed upon that superbly handsome head. CHAPTER IV. ORMSBY. TnRovGuovr that day Morton Evelyn was a prey to all the restlessness, the feverish excitement, and the wildering sense of an intoxicating joy at the brilliant prospects which lay before him. He had no power for deliberate reflection: he was like a ebild suddenly surrounded with quantities of new toys. He embraced his wife a thousand times, and lavished the most fervid caresses upon his babe, Honoria was more sedate and reasonable: but she was in such an excellent humour that she did not utter a syllable of rebuke or remonstrance for what she nevertheless conceived to be the ex- trevagance of Morton’s conduct. He could not long remain in-doors: he felt as if the whole world were interested in his happiness—and he longed to impart it. He was like a woman anxious to commubpicate a secret to all her gossiping friends. Morton sped to the hotel where in his bachelor- _days he was wont to dine, but where for upwards 'of a year past he had been almost a. perfect stranger; and he told his tale to the landlord, to 'the waiters, and to two or three acquaintances whom he met in the coffee-room. He was wild— almost delirious with happiness. He proceeded _to the shops where he was accustomed to deal: he Honoria.” | made purchases of things that he did not want, Morton Evelyn again pressed his father-in-law’s | that he might find opportunities of publishing his hand with fervour; and he hastened from the private | affairs as widely as possible. He ordered home room—for he was burning with a joyous anxiety | quantities of the costliest jewellery as presents for to carry the intelligence to his wife. In the front Honoria; for was she not shortly to be hailed as a office Mr. Timperley—who had evidently been all| Peeress? and must she not deck her superb person along in his employer’s secret—descended from bis | with all the most brilliant gems? Morton wan- high stool; and making a low bow to Morton, | dered about the streets, stopping every acquaint- said, “Permit me to congratulate you, sir—or I | ance in order to tell his tale, and bestowing the ought more properly to address you as my lord.” “ No—not yet, Timperley—not quite yet!” ejacu- lated Evelyn: but how pleasing did that title of “my lord” sound to his ears! The old eopying clerk—whose brain was fuddled with the lingering effects of the previous night’s potations—gazed with stupid wonderment : while the out-door clerk, imitating Mr. Timperley’s ex- ample, leapt down from his stool and bowed to Morton; though he was as much at a loss as the old copying clerk to understand the meaning of the scene that was passing: for of the three offi- eials Timperley alone had been in the secret. Morton threw down a five-pound note, desiring that the clerks would regale themselves to cele- brate his good fortune ; and he sped homeward. The house was reached: he rushed up to the drawing-room—where he found Mr. and Mrs, Lister seated with Honoria ; and in a moment the tidings were communicated. Honoria, as the reader may suppose, was too strong-minded to faint: but she was sufficiently enamoured of wealth and titles to give vent to the most joyous exclamations on receiving the announcements from her husband’s lips. Mr. and Mrs. Lister proffered their sincerest congratulations; and Morton’ felt more proud than ever of his wife, as he thought most fervid pressures of the hand upon individuals to whom he was only slightly known, and whom _ he had previously been accnstomed to pass with a | simple bow of recognition. He met a gentleman who held a high repute in the fashionable world, and whom he had originally encountered at one of | Mire. Lister’s evening parties. This gentleman proposed that Morton should become a member of the very aristocratic and exclusive club to which he himself belonged: the offer was gratefully ac- cepted; and the fashionable gentleman promised to propose Evelyn’s name that very day. : A night’s rest sobered down somewhat the wild- ness of Morton’s joy—or at least calmed its deli- rium; and after breakfast he set off for Mr. Waldron’s office. The lawyer was already there, and awaiting him. Morton sat down; and Mr. Waldron said, “I have drawn up the requisite documents to be served as notices upon the Com- missioners of the Sinking Funti and the Govern- ment, They are ready for your signature.” Timperley made his appearance with the papers, which Morton at once signed; and Mr. Waldron said, “ Take a cab, Timperley—and leave these notices in the proper quarters.” The clerk bowed and disappeared; and Wal- dron, pointing to ao immense pile of dcecuments COMMcooolkKs ee (E(0)