The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 243: what you’re looking at

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

CONCLUSION OF THE MYSTERIES 221 out the designs of Miss Bathurst and Mrs. Fitzherbert. All the relatives, even to the remotest cousins of these two ladies, were well provided for. Pensions, places, and sine- cures were conferred upon some, quick promotion in the military and civil services was obtained for others. The prince grumbled sometimes at these demands upon him, and sometimes he contented himself with merely expressing his astonishment that Venetia should use her interest almost exclusively on behalf of two families. But he never refused compliance with her requests. The last demand that she made upon him ere her visit to Canterbury was to have Miss Bathurst’s name placed upon the pension list, and as Horace was so closely related to that lady, the prayer did not seem unnatural on Venetia’s part. The prince grumbled for a few moments, and at length yielded his consent, so that the name of Elizabeth Bathurst was speedily introduced upon the pension list for an income of seven hundred pounds a year, ‘‘ in consideration of the eminent services of her late father,’’? who was a general in the army, but being a mere drawing-room soldier, had always managed to command garrisons at home, and had never seen a hostile shot fired in his life. | Altogether, down to the period at which we have brought our narrative, Venetia had more than fulfilled the expecta- tions which Miss Bathurst and Mrs. Fitzherbert formed when they devised the memorable intrigue that wafted her upon the glowing sea of fashionable life. The three thousand pounds which those two ladies had advanced for the equip- ment of the charming vessel that was thus launched had been amply repaid fifty-fold in the rich cargo which it was con- stantly bearing into port, and thus was the original design crowned with the most extraordinary success. (C(O) nn) GDoOo <Si in