The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 23: what you’re looking at

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§ THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT, be out of the way in case I should require you and endeavoured to console him by the represen at any time during the next few weeks.” (tation that as these various measures had been «You can always hear of me at this place,” said | adopted so soon after the theft, it was next to impos- the Cannibal. ‘‘ You remember the sign? It’s the | sible that they could fail in achieving the desired Billy Goat.” result. But in her heart Lady Saxondale was really “J shall not forget. And now,” added Farefield, | | tortured by the sorest misgivings; and she appre- “for the remainder of the reward that was agreed | hended the very worst. Both her own suspicions upon between, us.’ _ and those of her husband had at once very naturally Thereupon he counted down a quantity of gold ‘fallen upon Ralph Farefield: but while the old lord upon the table; and as Chiffin consigned the wages | could not bring himself to fancy anything so hor- of iniquity to hia pocket, his hideous countenance | rible as that ae nephew would cause the child to be again expressed its satisfaction with a ferocious | made away with, his wife on the other hand was leer. Ralph Farefield and his agent in crime then sepa- | rated—the former hurrying away to some place of public resort, which he still deemed it prudent to frequent; and the latter proceeding to the tap- room of the boozing-ken, there to expend a portion of his gains in a deep carouse. * CHAPTER IIL THE HEIR. RETURN we now to Saxondale Castle. the inmates of which were thrown into the utmost get’, conster- nation, and dismay by the daring theft of the child. The nursemaid from whom the infant @imund had been stolen, gave an account of the transaction similar to that which Chiffin the Cannibal gave to_ Ralph Farefield. She said that while walking on a little in front of the other servant, and while fol- lowing the circuitous bend of the pathway which wound round a knot of trees standmg on thé river’s bank about a quarter of a mile from the castle, a man with a black mask on his face suddenly rushed forth from amidst those trees; and tearing the child forcibly from her arms, sped away. She shrieked out and fell down senseless. It further appeared that the other nursemaid, hearing the ery, hastened to the spot, and was horror-stricken on finding her fellow-servant lying, as she thought, dead—and the infant gone. She caught sight of the ruffian just as he was springing over a hedge at some distance; and then he disappeared from her view. When re- covering her presence of mind, she ascertained that her companion was not dead, but only in # swoon; and dipping her handkerchief into the mrer, she applied it to her countenance, and by those means brought her back to consciousness. Buth the servant- maids, with the two remaining children, then has- | tened back as quickly as they could to the castle, and gave the alarm. As we above stated, and as may easil y be supposed, the consternation and grief caused by the astound- ing intelligence were immense. Lady Saxondale was at first absolutely petrified: but the old lord gave way to the most frenzied anguish. Her lady- ship soon recovered her presence of mind; and the male dependants of the household were despatched im every direction in search of the lost infant. Some | mounted horses and galloped away to beat the country: others set off on foot; and everything was done that the circumstances suggested to recover the stolen heir and capture the daring thief. Having issued her orders to this effect with a wonderfui degree of calmness and self-possession, Lady Saxon- inle turmed her attention to her afflicted husband, unable to close her eyes to that dreadful even- tuality. Slowly, and Oh! how miserably passed the hours until night came: and then as one by one the ser- | vants returned without having obtained the slightest clue to the missing heir, Lord Saxondale began to yield to the same appalling terrors which his wife had already experienced. It was midnight ere all the messengers came back ; and when the last made his appearance, with nothing better to report than the rest, the old lord again gaye way to all tne frantic bitterness of bis grief. For a while, too, even Lady Saxondale’s firmness of mind seemed to abandon her; and they mingled their tears, their sobs, and the outnourings of their heart’s agony— that old man and his young wife ! But Lady Saxondale was the first to regain her fortitude and her self-possession; and she exerted all her powers to impart some solace to her husband. She now declared that, all things considered, she was persuaded in her own mind that Ralph Farefield, who no doubt was at the bottom of the atrocity, would not dare commit so heinous a crime as mur- der, nor yet allow it to be done; but that he had most probably caused the child to be carried off in order to bring his uncle to terms and wring from him immense pecuniary concessions. In this strain did her ladyship continue to argue for a long time, and with so much outward earnestness if not with an equal inward sincerity, that Lord Saxondale, eagerly catching at any straw of hope, gladly took refuge from the worst apprehensions in the adoption of his | wife’s theory. Thus the night passed; for no pillow was pressed by that couple throughout the long weary hours. When morning dawned, the servants | were all again dispersed over the neighbourhood to make every kind of inquiry that might possibly tend to the recovery of the lost one. All the villages, hamlets, and isolated cottages, within a cireuit of a dozen miles, were visited during this day; and when night came again and the servants returned, the | meagre results of their inquiries amounted to these facts—that for the last few days some ill-looking men had been observed in the vicinage of the castle ; that they had disappeared suddenly; and that a gang of gipsies had been also seen in those parts. But whether there were any connexion between the former and the latter it was impossible to say. As for the child, not the slightest trace had been dis- covered ; and whether the poor infant was dead or alive seemed wrapped up in the darkest mystery. Finally, all the intelligence obtained went to prove that Mr. Ralph Farefield, who was well known in _ the neighbourhood, had not been seen by a single soul who was acquainted with him. Lady Saxondale’s resolution how to act was now promptly taken. She declared her intention of re- anaesthesia nish Connie 0)(0)(0) <S (EC)