The Mysteries of London, Vol. IV — page 138: what you’re looking at

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

TIE MYSTERIES OF LONDON. - rrr ILA IL, senmed to have a fore-knowledge that something | 50 gencrously advanced and 69 vitally necessary ta rood was to happen to you; and now Jam sure of | him at the time, Now, ~“y dear young lady, I have it. But pray make haste and sce what tho lawyer ' no more to say, farther than that this card fur- wants with you. —Julia did not require to be pressed upon this point: she herself was too anxious to solve this new mystery to permit any unnecessary ielay to take place; and, having dressed littlo larry in his Sunday apparel, she put on her best sonnet and shawl, and away the sister went with ner little brother to the lawyer's. They entered an office in which there were a great many clerks, who ull left off writing to turn round and have a look at she pretty young lady—for a lady did Julia really 3cem, as she actually was by birth, education, and manners:—but when she timidly mentioned her name, She found herself the object of the most re- spectful attention, The head clerk ushered hes and ner brother into a handsome apartment, wLere an ‘iderly gentleman, with a benevolent countenance, was Seated at a desk covered with papers; and the reception which ho gave Julia Murray was more than courtcous—it was cordial and, as it were, pater- nally kind. ‘Sit down, young lady,’ ho said, hand- ing her to a chair: ‘and you, my little fellow, place yourself near your sister. And now, Miss Murray,’ he continued, raising his large silver spectacles from his eyes to his forehead, ‘I have some good news to communicate to you; and I am sure, after all I have heard of you, Iam proud and happy to be the medium of conveying anything agreeable to your ears,—* You are very kind, sir,’ murmured the roung maiden, still in the deepest suspense.—‘ Did you ever hear your late father speak of any one who owed hima sum of money?’ enquired the lawyer.— Julia reflected for a few moments, and then replied in the negative.— Well, perhaps ho did not mention his private affairs before you,’ observed the lawyer; Gt is nevertheless a fact, that many years ego he ad- vanced a certain sum to a friend who was in diffi- culties; bit these embarrassments continucd, end- ing in bankruptcy or something of the sort; and so your poor father lost the whele amount thus ad- vanced. The friend went abroad; and he has lat- terly returned to England, a rich man—having re- trieyed his fortuncs in a foreign clime. He made enquiries after your parents, and to his sorrow learnt that they were no more; but he could not succeed in tracing you ont. At length he saw a re- port of a certain caso in the newspaper, aud ascer- tained that you were the young lady therein men- tioned. His sorrow at the first appearance of the sffair was only equalled py his joy when he beheld the result; for he has your interest deeply at heart. He has, however, b en compelled te Jeave London in a great hurry ;—but before he went away, he gave me certain instructions, which I hare fulfilled with all possi, tdespatch. The sum which he borrowed of your father, with compound interest, amounts to six hundred pounds; and this money I have laid out for you in the purchase of a neat little house, with good, serviceable furniture, in Camden Town, There is an excellont young gentlemen’s school closo by; and my client has paid a year in advance for Master Harry’s tuition, He also intends that you shall be at no expense for the boy’s education. Over and above all this, I am instructed to place these fifty pounds in your hands; and if my client has thus done more than his actual liability to your father required, it is simply as a recompense for the long delay which has occurred in refunding a Joan | is too nishes the address of your house, of which J lke. wise present you the key; and may this little g'ea~ of good fortune encourage you to pursuc the course which has hitherto won for you so much esteem, and which may yet lead you to the highest pinnacle of happiness and prosperity.’ With these words, the kind-hearted man shook Julia warmly by the hand ; the young maiden endearoured to express her heart-felt gratitude for the unexpected benefits thus showered upon her: but tears—tears of happi- ness flowed down her cheeks—and her bosom was so full of strange and conflicting emotions, that her powers of utterance were suspended. Even as she took up the bank notes, the key, and the card, and thrust them all together into her little silk bag, her hands trembled s0 that she could scarcely perform those simple acts; and when in a few minutes she fourd herself walking along the street, with little Harry by her side, she could not remember leaving the lawyer’s office. Sho~fancied that she had been giving way to some wild hallucination—somoe ab- surd delusion of the brain: but when sho felt in her bag, there were tle proofs of the reality ! “Tt was no easy task to make little Harry com. prehend the altered nature of their circumstances. He could not conceive how his sister had possibly obtained a house of her own, and fancied that she was joking with him; for he had not been able to understand very much of what tho lawyer had said to Julia, However, all doubts on the boy’s part vanished, when he heard his sister explain to their landlady every thing that had taken placo at Mr. Richardson’s, and conclude by requesting that good woman to accompany her forthwith to Camdon Town. This desire was complied with; and away they all three went in a cab to the address desig nated upon the card. In duetime the vehicle drew up opposite a neat house forming one of a terrace recently built; and the little party entered the dwelling with the least possible delay. It was all new from top to bottom,—the furniture, which was substantial and good, was new likewise ;—the hang- ings to the windows and the carpets had been selected with admirable taste in reference to the colour and pattern of the paper on the walls :—in fact, the abode was fitted up in the most comfortablo manner! ‘I congratulate you, my dear Miss Mur ray,’ exclaimed her companion ; ‘and I am sure I am as delighted as yourself, although I shall lose you asa lodger. But you do not, then, think that it was the gentleman in the cloak who has done all this?’—‘ No,’ answered Julia; ‘that cannot bo, be causo Lam sure the gentleman you speak of never knew my father; and moreover the kind friend who bas thus handsomely repaid the money my father lent him, has gone out of town.’—‘ Then how came the gentleman in the cloak to call and tell jou, Miss, that the lawyer wished to.see you %’— ‘Ah! I never thought of thats’ exclaimed Julia. ‘And yat,’ she added, after a few moments’ serious reflection, ‘Mr. Richardson said that my father’s debtor had found me out through the medium of tho newspaper report; and this circumstance may have brought him and the gentleman in the cloak to- getner.’—' True!’ ejaculated the garrulous woman. ‘Oh! what a sweet place this is, to be sure!’—*It good for me,’ said Julia, in a mournful tone. (C(O) (C