The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 152: what you’re looking at

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

THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. did recollect you, though,” she added with one of her bland smiles. “ Well—are you still carrying on the old game ?” he asked, chuckling significantly: and then he continued to smoke his cigar. ‘‘ Just the same, sir—just the same,” responded the woman. “I shall be glad to see you up in the Square: my house is greatly altered——" “ Quite a palace, I dare say?” observed Brad. shaw, with a laugh, “ Well—it is a nice comfortable place, sir,” she replied. “I have made a little money—and what is more, Mr. Bradshaw, I know how to keep it.” “J wish the deuce I did,” he exclaimed, abruptly. “My pockets are so infernally leaky—and then I have got the habit of shaking my elbow——” “ Of what, sir?” cried Mrs. Gale, in unfeigned astonishment. “Why, of gambling—rattling the dioce-box, I mean,” was the answer. “I don’t mind telling you all this, because I look upon you as an old ac- quaintance. I am staying up at the Manor just for the present—but only for a few days, I think : and then I shall be off to Franoe again. I have got my wife with me: but her company is some- what of the dullest at times—and so I stepped down here to the Blue Lion in the hope of meeting some one to chat to in the parlour. I was however ali alone till you dropped in. But, by the bye, what on earth are you doing in this part of the world at such an hour ?” “Well, Mr. Bradshaw,” replied the woman, as- suming a mysterious air of confidence, “since you are good enough to treat me as an old acquaint- ance, I must not make astranger of you. The fact is, 1am engaged on a little enterprise which, *§ i& succeed, will put a few hundreds into my pocket, and a good many hundreds into the pocket of some lucky girl, if I oan only find just what I want.” “ And what do you want, in the devil’s name f” demanded Bradshaw, his curiosity excited by the mysterious, or rather incomprehensible response which he had just received: besides, he was always. interested in any matter where money formed a por- tion of the topic, “Well, sir,” continned Mrs. Gale, drawing her chair nearer to the one in which he was seated, “it is the strangest adventure in the whole world—and yet not the first of the sort, either, that I’ve known or been engaged in. The truth is, my best patron is an elderly gentleman—a little older than you may be, sir—begging pardon for the allusion: and he is a terrible rake—a terrible rake! Well, sir, he came to me this morning, and said that he was quite wearied of ail the conquests he had recently made— the old fool! I could scarcely help laughing in his face—and yet he isa very good-looking man, con- sidering his age—and enormously rich—m fact one of the richest commoners in England.” “Well—and what did he want with you?” in- quired Bradshaw: “to find him some new beauty to tempt his sated appetite and please his palled fancy °” “Just so,” returned Mrs. Gale. “But she must be a lady—a perfect lady in manners and speech as well as in appearance—dnd of course very beautiful. In fact, with the exception of these stipulations, he left the affair for me to manage as I choose: and heazing of a lovely creature who was reported to live at Wandsworth, I have been to inquire about her. But I find she has left with her husband—and now [am at my wit’send. It would have been a thousand guineas in her pocket—and from all I have heard, she was not so prudish as to have ree jected the offer.” ‘‘ A thousand guineas!” echoed Bradshaw. “A hundred you mean f” “I mean what I said, sir,” replied the artfal wo- man, already confident that success awaited her. “A thousand guineas will this old fool give—and yet I ought not to speak disrespectfully of him, for it would be worth a couple of hundred guineas to meif I succeeded. But where to search for such a being———” “ And do you mean to tell me that this simpleton, whoever he is, will toss his money away in such a manner f” inquired Bradshaw. “ Why, sir, he is worth a hundred thousand a year,’ returned Mrs. Gale: “ and being a bachelor, devoted to pleasure, he cares not how much he spends upon the gratification of his whims and phaatasies.””’ “ Well, there are such fools in the world—plenty of them,” observed Bradshaw: then, with some little hesitation, he said, “It is very singular—but I think I know a lady who for such an amount might be induced to overcome her scruplese——” “Ab! my dear sir, if you could only put me in the way of success in this instance, 1 should be so thankful !” exclaimed the woman, “The atrictest secrecy may be relied upon, as a matter of course——— ’ “And about the payment of the money?” said Bradshaw, his voice dropping to a low confidential cone. “Ob! in any way most agreeable,” replied Mra Gale. “Suppose that I was to fetch the lady ina coach, I would hand over half the amount at once on my own responsibility: and the other half should be presented to herself by the gentleman at my house, where the interview must take place.” “Will you allow me to help in the management of this affair & demanded Bradshaw: “and I pro~ mise you that the lady whom [ will introduce to you shall even exceed your expectations in every point. Beautiful—of elegant manners—fascinating and seductive when she chooses—young and well formed——"” “ My dear sir, if you can really manage this mat- ter a8 you say,” interrupted Mrs. Gale, apparently thrown into an ecstacy of delight, “I not only accept your services, but shall be infinitely obliged into the bargain.” “Then let us consider the compact made,” said Bradshaw. “ Let me see—this is Saturday evening: shall we say Monday night at eight or nine o'clock, whichever you choose ?”’ “Tn what neighbourhood must I be to receive the lady ?” asked Mrs. Gale. “Why, totell you the trnth,” was the response, “she is a friend of my wife’s—a married woman, mind—but her husband is absent—in France, [ believe—and she has been a little gay, but quite pri- vately and secretly-———” . “ All these particulars [do not seek to know,” interrupted Mra. Gale, “The gentleman for whom Iam acting will not ask her name—although he may communicate his own, if he is pleased witn her and desires to see her again. This, however, I Wa, ——— EOMICOOOKS. conn