The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 110: what you’re looking at

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

CHE MYSTREARS. bearted wreteh that eoyld xemain zamoyed,by the tears which thine own ill-treatmeut.has provoked ! Mmowest thou not what woman’s love is? 1% would’ prompt her to die for thee—to lay down her life to ease thine ar the Jivas of her children? She has ber fanita, her failings, and her caprices: but, O man! pardon them—pardon them—for they are as nothing in camparisan with her devotion, her affection, and her teaderness. As a greia of mus- tard seed is to the whole earth, so are woman’s. 95 cirowlate—and to describe all the spectral ahadews whigh rested upon souls goaded to despair ! As three ocloek in the afternoen drow nigh Mr. Foster’s excitement besame iatolerable, Ho first began to pace the room with uneven steps, as if hig brain were swimming round-: then he wandered about the house like a reséless spirit His sorrowing wife and the equally afRicted Bose dared aot follow bim: they feared te inersase the terrible irritability that was gaining so rapidly upon foibles to her love! But you will point out bad | him, wives— profligate daughters and sisters — aban- daned mothers? Alas—alas, it is true—too true: bat ask thyself, O Man! who made them thus ?— who reduced those wratched creatures to what they are? The reply, if truly gives, recails with a crushing weight of terrible accusation upon thy- self! For ’tis thow who hast worked all that in- fernal mischief. Take the vilest of the vile—the raost loathsome of the loathsome forms at vice whose features bear the vivid impress of dissipa- tion and dabauchery,—and trace this lost one’s his- tory of crimo back to thas mement.when vingin innocenes was wrecked in guilty enjoyment, and! theu wilt heay.a-tale of fervent love op her part. and aruel deeeption on that of the gedgdar! Yosa— ‘%is thou, O Man! who art the mest ruat'iless enemy aad the most warelenting oppressoz of that een to preclaim whose wrongs we have more than eaace ventured to wield our pen, feeble and inef. feetual though our championship may be ! But let us resume the thread of our narrative. Kester, the ruined merchant, awoke uarefreshed fgom his alambors; and when his eyes fell apon the At length three o’olock struck;—and at that moment the ladies were in the parlour on the ground-floor—while Mr. Foster was moviag about in the upper part of the house. Thedoorof the parlour was open—and the two unhappy females sate Imtening in breathiess silence: for every time the sounds of the merchant's footsteps ceased to be heard by them—if only for a few moments—a mortal terror seized upon them. And yest they dared not reveal to each other, even by a look, ie dreadful apprehensions whieh they mutually t. Preaently—soon after the clock in the kitchen had struck thrice—Mr. Foster was heard to enter his dreasing-room. His wife knew that he ha’ pistols there; and, unable any longer to restrain her- self, she rushed from the parlour. Rose, animated with a poignant sympathy, hastened to fallow her; —and the two ladies were hurrying up the stuirs, i when the report of Gre-arms fell upon their ears. A soream barst from the lips of each : but still they raa—dhey flew to the dressing-room ! And there--great God! what a specteele met pale and care-wora conuntenances of those who j their horrified visioa! He whom they loved was |. were so dear to him, be endeavonred to amile his | gratituile for the vigil which he saw they had been ‘keeping. But, heavens! so full of waeaney aad! woe was.his omila, that,it told tvo plainly mind | fast fading with the heart that was breakiag within ! Beth wite and daughter beheld that terrible indica- tiom of the mortal shook-whieh he whom they adored | bad raocived : butithey dared not look at each other, . lest they should batray the agonising fears that; Aree DOW upperntest im their saind. Mr. Fester rose--performed his toilette with a: precision thatwes habitaal, and therefore mechani- cal in the present inatance—aend descended to the. breakfaat-table. He endearoured to appear tran- quil and composed: but the trentendeus efforts which he thus made to congeal all that he fel, were: only conecatratiag bis emotiens with a maddening. effect. His wife and daughter implored him not to leave home that day: they dared not offer to ac- eompany him int the City—and they cowd not enffer him to repaiy thither alona. With a ghastly look, he myarmured an aseont to their prayer— adding in a low and bollew tone, “It would be use- leas even if I were te go |” The morniag wore away—heaven knows how! We cannot pause to sonjecture all the feelings and emotions experienced during the few hours which followed the coremoay of sittiag dewn to a break- ” fast that was removed almostauntasted. To attempt such a description would be to undertake the task of showing how human beings oan live whole ages of pain and anguish in as many miantes: it would be to depict each throb of a pulse violent with the agitation of deliriam—to note each tremer which passed tbrough veins wherein lightning seemed to na.more. Stretehed upon the carpet, with his head frightially shateered, lay the desperate suicide: while the thin white smoke was carling in wreatli; towards the oeiling--and the air was impregna‘: | with the smell of the powder. With a-piercing seream, Rose threw herselt upon the corpse of her sire and gave way to ali the an. guish of bar indescribable grief. But the effec: produced upon Mrs. Foster was diferent :—for a few moments—nay, for nearly a minute did she: stand transfixed upon the threshold of the eaamber —~her eyes bent with an awful wildness tpen the scene before her, Then, saddenly a rendiag— thrilliag—penetratiag shriek burst from her lips, — a lengthened vibration as the hearts chords broke in twain; and she fell headlong —a lifeless corpse by the side of her husband. At this moment the servants entered the room and Rose was borne away, in a senseless state, to her own chamber. Bat scarcely had one of the domestics beguo to administer restoratives to the unfortunate girl who had thus seddenly been made aa orphan, when a loud double knock at the door called down the other dependant to answer the imperious summons. The atrival was Mr. Meagles, who came as the bearer of the money"which was to satisfy the mer- chant’s chim upon the Princa The Amazon had |. introducad the Marquis of Saint Croix to his Royal Highmess's private apartment at the very tmement’ that the clock was striking one—and in less than a quarter of an. hour the bond was signed and the cash paid down. But the Prinee was so much pleased with the old French nobleman that he insisted upon | his staying to partake of lunch; and when Tx | A a a cS COMICOOOKS. COR