The Young Duchess; or, Memoirs of a Lady of Quality — page 309: what you’re looking at

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

THE YOUNG DUCHESS: OR, MEMOIRS OF A LADY OF QUALITY. ~~! 295 I appeal in perjury or false-swearing to his holy name, I am innocent of this deed !” ‘“‘ And I, Mary—though unaccustomed to take such oaths—can repeat the same words. But I can do better, as I have told you,” added Mande- ville; “for 1 am able to prove, if necessary, by the hour I returned to Beaconsfield, that I could not have possibly lingered within these walls long enough to commit the crime !” The Count and the Duchess now began to look upon each other in a different light, though neither one was as yet fully and completely convinced of the innocence of the other. They were staggered : —each thought it quite possible that the other might be innocent; and yet there was a lurking misgiving which remained in their minds. It was at this conjuncture that voices from the landing outside reached their ears; and the young Duchess ejaculated, ‘‘My mother-in-law! Do not Jet her see you! Ob, if she should recognise you!” ‘Nonsense! she cannot ! me? I tell you again that I was never in her chamber !” “But I mean when you were in mine! For heaven’s sake hide yourself! Oh, I know best— I know best how you ought to act!” It suddenly occurred to Mandeville that our heroine was right enough in this respect; and he accordingly stepped without another moment’s delay behind the window draperies,—the young Duchess quickly adding, “I will get rid of her almost immediately.” The door opened, and the Dowager-Duchess en- tered the room, followed by Lavinia and two other lady’s-maids who had been specially left in charge of her. “My dear Mary,” she said, with a strange | vacant expression of countenance, ‘ how is it that these girls try to prevent me from coming near you? What does it mean ?” ‘‘Oh, my dear mother, you shall come to me,” cried our heroine, bounding forward. ‘‘ Leave us alone together,” she added, turning towards the handmaidens: then, as they retired, she took the Dowager’s hand, and leading her to a seat where her back was turned towards the draperies behind which Mandeville was concealed, she said in the kindest and most soothing tone, ‘* My dear mother, have you anything upon your mind? If you have, pray tell me! Yes, tell me, I conjure you! You may have had bad dreams r “Tt was the ghost that did it !” exclaimed the Dowager abruptly: “the ghost, I say !—the evil spirit—the dark fiend !—he did it !” “ Did what ?” asked the young Duchess, shud- deringly. ‘“ Took the knife and stabbed the old woman,” responded the Dowager. ‘“I suppose some one will come to ask questions about it—I think that is the custom; and if anything is said to me 39 “ Well, mother—what ?” asked the young Duchess, again quivering with the painful feel- ings which she experienced. ‘‘T shall tell them that they need not give themselves the trouble to search any further into the matter—because the ghost did it. I saw the dark fiend !—Ah! and now [ recollect, Mary, it was in your room.” “In my room, dear mother?” exclaimed our _ Will you not believe | heroine, with a frightened expression of counte- nance. ‘“‘Yes—your room to be sure :”—and the Dow- ager raised her hand to her brow. ‘‘ Yes—I re- collect! To be sure! how could I have for- gotten ? The dark shape—your chamber, Mary —and—and—the more I think of it, the more convinced I am that it had a human form. So you see what a tale I can tell when they come to ask me questions presently. Ah! and how lucky for you, Mary, that the evil spirit did not remain in your room, but that it went away and killed Mrs. Quinlan instead of yourself! We will tell Mr. Condamine of this—and he will pray with us and assure us that it was a special mercy of heaven vouchsafed to you, Mary.” . The young Duchess was now under the in- fluence of an awful consternation and dismay ; for exposure of some kind or another seemed to be almost inevitable. “So let us go to Mr. Condamine’s room at . once,” said the Dowager, rising from the seat | to which her daughter-in-law had conducted | her. ‘‘May I enter? shall I be intruding ?” “YT know him!” exclaimed the abruptly: “I know him! He is Mr. Hornby, the lawyer! gentleman her hand. She was right: he was the Coroner. He closed the door behind him, and taking the Dowager’s hand, he made some few commonplace observa- tions,—at the same time turning towards our heroine, and shaking his head with an ominous significancy, as much as to say, ‘‘ How dreadful ! how shocking !” ~ ‘‘Do you wish to speak alone with me, Mr. Watson ?” asked the young Duchess, with a hur- ried and nervous manner, and in a low and even hoarse tone of voice; “because if so, we will escort her Grace to some other apartment 7 ‘‘T thought it my duty to call upon your lady- ship,” interrupted the Coroner, ‘‘ before the inquest takes place, to ascertain if your Grace has any _ particular wish to express under the present painful circumstances : because, as you are aware, the Jury —who, by the bye, are to meet at the Thornbury Arms at five-o’clock—will come to view the corpse —it is a mere form—but it is indispensable; and if the hour should not suit your Grace—or if you would rather that the ceremony should be post- poned until the ‘arrival of the Duke from London “Yes, to be sure!” the Dowager-Duchess now broke in: “you are Mr. Watson, the Coroner! - I couldn’t for the life of me think just now who it was that made inquiries into such cases as this: now I recollect it is your duty.” ‘“‘My dear mother,” said our heroine, “ will you come with me?—and Mr. Watson shall go with us: —we will take you to the Green Drawing-room, where there are all the pretty china ornaments, you know - “No, I mean to stay here,” replied the Dowager ; COMO oO At that very moment the door opened; anda |; tall, thin, elderly gentleman, with an intelligent , expression of countenance, and a somewhat obse- | quious manner, looked in, bowing, and saying, | Dowager — No—Mr. Watson, the Coroner! » Yes, yes— Watson to be sure !?—and the | Dowager’s features lighted up with a species of . childish satisfaction as she advanced to proffer the | Colin