The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 223: what you’re looking at

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212. THE MYSTRERIES OF THE COURT. (nner rere naar eee a eeerrnne rca eee ag it to his pocket. The blood gushed forth in a tor- | newspapers. She moreover knew that her connexion rent, pouring over the babe, and thus covering it with Lord Saxondale could not last for ever; and with the sanguine tide from that very breast whence . she regarded her position at the Opera as the means it had been wont to receive its nourishment. of obtaining a new admirer when circumstances The Cannibal, unmoved by the ghastly spectacle | should sooner or later sever her from the present which he had himself created —unless indeed it were | one. She hiked, too, to have an opportunity of & grim satisfaction that he experienced in having | boasting her good fortune in the presence of the done the fearful work and thus secured his eafoty | other ballet-dancers; for she fancied that her posi- and his vengeance at the same time—now procured | tion was a very brilliant one, and that instead of any water and a towel, and washed as well ae he could | shame being attached thereto, i¢ wae exooedingly the stains of murder from his person. This being | enviable and adnurabie. done, he possessed himself of his coat from the| But returning from our digression, we must hasten recess, and avas about to take his departure, when | to describe wherefore Lord Harold Staunton was on he bethought himself of the bottle which contained | the particular night of which we now speak, paying the chloroform. He had placed it on the table the | a visit to Evergreen Villa. On knocking at the door instant he had poured some of its contents on the | he inquired of the servant who answered the sum- handkerchief: the table had been upset—and where | mons if Lord Saxondale were within P—but before was the bottle? He searched, and found that it | any answer could be given, that young nobleman had fallen upon the garments of the woman: the , himself rushed out of the exquisitely furnished par- stopper had not come out; and with infinite de- | lour on the ground-floor, exclaiming, “I thought I light the Cannibal re-possessed himself of an arti- | could not be mistaken: I knew it was your voice! cle which had already proved (according tg his own | Come in, my dear fellow—I am delighted to ses notions) so exceedingly useful, and which might | you!” therefore be of the same utility on a future ooca-| Lord Harold accordingly entered the parioute sion. where a supper consisting of all imaginable delica- The ruffian now at length quitted the barge, and | cies and dainties was spread upon the table, and was speedily at a distanee from the scene of his | where Emily herself was lounging negligently on fearful crime. a sofa. She was dressed—or rather we should say undressed—in a French wrapper trimmed with the mame most costly lace; and her beautiful dark hair was flowing in luxuriant masses over a neck more ex- CHAPTER XLV. posed than was consistent with perfect modesty. “Ah, Lord Harold!” she said, extending her THB LADY OF MANY LOVERS. hand to the young nobleman, with whom ahe was well acquainted, and indeed had been very intimately Fr was about half-past ten o’clock on the same | acquainted on some former occasion: “I am glad to night of the frightful tragedy, that Lord Harold | see you af the villa. But, you naughty man, you! Staunton knocked at the door of Evergreen Villa | what have you been doing? fighting a duel! Oh in the Seven Sisters Road. The reader cannot | fie! I am shocked at you.” have forgotten that this beautiful little suburban | “It is one of those unfortunate occurrences, Miss residence was the abode of Miss Emily Archer— | Archer,” responded Staunton, with a forced gaiety, alias Mademoiselle Emilie d’Alembert—the fasci- | “‘ which will happen in life. Here is our friend nating danseuse, who had succeeded in ensnaring Saxondale who will some day or another have to dy the foolish and frivolous Lord Saxondale in her | the same thing. Who knows, indeed, but that ho meshes. Prettily furnished as the villa was pre- | may be compelled to fight a duel on your ac- viously to her acquaintance with him, it now pre- | count ?” sented a a spectacle of almoet oriental luxury: that | “Oh, that would be amusing!” exclaimed Emily, is to say, in miniature. Everything that the taste ompping her bands gleefully, ss if somo new source of a most extravagant woman could possibly fancy, | of had been suddenly developed to her or that the infatuation of a reckless spendthrift | mind; and she felt as Xerxes might have been eup- could supply, in the shape of exquisite furniture, posed to feel had anybody suggested the “ new plea- mirrors, pictures, ornaments, nick-nacks, and costly sare” for the discovery of — that royal volup- trifles of every varicty, was now to be seen within | tuary offered a reward. the walls of that villa. The connexion of Lord; “Iam very much obliged to you, my dear Emily,” Satondale with Miss Archer had been exceedingly | said Lord Saxondale, “for wishing to place my life in brief as to time, but had already proved wonder- | jeopardy: but I am not enough tared of you yet to fully expensive as to money. She had introduced | wish to be prematurely out off from your sweet him to a person of whom we shall have to speak | society.” more anon, and who was supplying him with funds | “Beautifully expressed!” exclaimed the danseuse, at a most exorbitant rate of interest: and by far | “Don’t you think your friend Edmund is exceed- the greater portion of the moneys thus obtained, | ingly witty and clever, Lord Haruld P” went to gratify the syren’s whims and caprices. “Oh! I always told him so,” was the response: Miss Archer remained upon the s-ege for several | and Staunton, as he gave it, darted at Emily a quick reasons. In the first place she liked the excitement | glance of mockery, which she acknowledged by a connected with the ballet—she liked the applause | transient archness of the curling lip. It was as bestowed upon the dancers—ehe liked the flattery much as to say on Lord Harold’s part, “ You know and the flirting that took place behind the scenes— | he isa fool;” and on Miss Emily’s, “Of couree I and she liked to see the name of Mademoiselle do.” Emilie d'Alembert in the dramatic criticisms in the! “Thank you both for the compliment,” cried a ge eects toenpeeeengerreeeerep eee ee ape, GON GoOO SS CO