The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 17: what you’re looking at

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THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. 3 and to her joy she learnt that a letter had been | received from London, containing favourable intelligence. In that response Mr. Beckford briefly expressed his sorrow at the aunt’s misfor- tune, and undertook to honour thenceforth the joint draught of the two nieces for the same half- yearly sum as before. HWighteen months now passed away without any incident worthy of record: but at the end of this period the usual draught drawn by the sis- ters upon Mr. Beckford was returned unpaid from the London banker through the Canterbury one. The words, ‘‘ No instructions to cash this cheque,” seemed to indicate some oversight on Mr. Beckford’s part; and Louisa accordingly wrote to him. But her letter remained without an answer; and a second, third, and fourth epistle experienced the same unaccountable and alarming silence. ‘The Canterbury banker con- siderately offered to get his London agent to call upon Mr. Beckford: but the London banker never took any notice of the application. In fine, several weeks passed without enabling the orphans to elicit any satisfactory intelligence con- cerning the matter; and were it not for Louisa’s economies and savings, they would have been plunged into the most serious embarrassments. As it was, however, they saw the immediate necessity of adopting: some measure to ascertain the cause of Mr. Beckford’s silence; and, after a long deliberation, the young ladies could arrive at no other conclusion than that one of them must proceed to London. The moment this step was determined upon, Clara sprang from the arm-chair in which she had been indolently half-reclining, and volun- teered to undertake the journey ; alleging that as she was the elder it was her duty to encounter any perils attendant thereon. She likewise ob- served that as Louisa was so well acquainted with the household duties and was moreover accus- tomed to minister to their poor afflicted aunt, it was In every respect advisable for her to remain at home. ‘The younger sister offered no objec- tion to this reasoning; and an inside place hav- ing been secured in the stage-coach for the fol- lowing day, Clara made her little preparations for departure. The young lady was not indolent now. <A re- markable spirit of activity seemed suddenly to have inspired that form which looked so softly voluptuous and so sensuously lazy as it lolled in the arm-chair. To tell the truth, Clara expe- rienced a secret.and unknown joy at the thought of visiting London—that city of which she had heard her aunt speak at times, and of which she had read such exciting accounts in novels and love-tales. She was however ashamed of herself for giving way to this sensation of pleasure, un- defined though it were ;—and when she beheld her afflicted aunt, and then turned her eyes to- wards her fair young sister—when she saw that unfortunate relative gazing on vacaney with dull aud meaningless look, and when she observed the crystal tears trickling down the damask sur- face of Louisa’s cheeks,—Clara was stricken with remorse to think that she should even for a single moment have rejoiced at the prospect of leaving the home which contained all she had near or dear to her upon earth. It was in the month of July, 1814, that Clara Stanley was thus called upon by circumstances to undertake a journey to London. She was now twenty-one years of age, and assuredly was as magnificent a creature as the sun ever shone upon. Louisa was a little more than nineteen ; and her enchanting beauty was combined with so gentle and winning a grace that the most brutal ruffian in the universe could not have injured a hair of that lovely being’s head. The appearance of the elder sister was calculated to ravish and enthral the senses—that of the younger to captivate the mind. Clara had a look that was amorous and languishing: but artless inno- cence sate enthroned on Louisa’s brow and beamed in every glance that flashed from hier eyes. The former was endowed with woman’s softest and most seducing charms: the latter was the impersonation of candour and purity. Such were the two beings who stood, on a July mnaorning, at the door of the cottage to breathe a few last fond words in each other’s ears and exchange the farewell kiss. The weather was superb: the earth was already flooded with the burnished glory that poured from the eastern horizon;—and the flowers were expanding to the god of day—some in the splen- dour of their pomp—others in the delicacy of their beauty. In the shade formed by the evergreens and larger plants, the dew-drops still hung im- pearled to the pink, the lily, and the rose—like tears upon beauty’s cheek, where the tints ex- pressing each transient emotion are so exquisite in their blendings. But where the sun-beams shone full upon emerald leaf and variegated flower, the morning’s freshness had exhaled away; and the golden air was becoming heavy and faint with perfume. Beneath the mingling honey-suckles and roses which covered the cottage portico and formed a natural canopy that far outvied the velvet gaud which spreads above the thrones of kings,—the sisters stood to say their last farewells. Louisa’s grief was enhanced by a presentiment of evil for which she could not account, and which she could not shake off. It appeared to her as if she were embracing her sister for the last time,—as if they were separating, not for days only, but for months and years—perhaps for ever! Clara was astonished and distressed at the wildness of Louisa’s sorrow, which partook of the nature of arending anguish and deep despair: but when the young maiden, amidst passionate sobs and deluging tears, revealed the presentiment which thus tortured her, the elder sister shuddered as if she had just received the explanation of a mis- giving which had likewise sprung up in her own mind. GOMIGIOOKS C(O) ae |