The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 91: what you’re looking at

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

FS ET ee I RS Te TS SE MD a a Sk Se Sa ee a ee THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT, ——————— ls Louisa instantaneously recognised the handwriting of Jocelyn: and the roseate tinge deepened upon her lovely countenance as she read the following lines :— ** Piazza Hotel, Covent Garden, London. ‘““ Tuesday evening, Sept. 17th. ‘My ever dearest Louisa, ‘‘T have arrived in this great city just in time to save the post with these few words, which I pen for the purpose of convincing you that your loved image is ever uppermost in my thoughts. To-morrow I shall call upon your sister in Stratton Street, and will write to you again. I hope to be able to return to Canterbury on Friday, or Saturday at latest. j ‘- Your sincerely affectionate and faithful “ JOCELYN LOFTUS.” “Dearest Jocelyn!” murmured Louisa to herself, as a thrill of holy ecstacy penetrated her heart: then, placing the letter under her pillow, she said, “‘ And now, Mary, before I give you an account of the causes of my absence, tell me all you may have to communicate. Was not some message delivered to you on Tuesday night to account for my sudden disappearance ?— and under what circumstances was I just now brought home again ?” “Twill tell you all I know, Miss,” returned the faithful and affectionate domestic. ‘ The clock in the kitchen had struck ten on Tuesday evening when I thought that you were staying out along time in the garden—and I began to fear you would catch cold. I accordingly went out to seek you: but you were nowhere to be found. I was very uneasy, but still fancied that you might have gone out for a walk and strolled farther than usual. Three quarters of an hour passed ; and then a strange old crone, looking like a gipsy, called at the gate and said that she had come with a message from Miss Louisa Stanley. I asked her what the message was; and she said you had gone to stay two or three days with some lady- friends of Mr. Loftus, in the neighbourhood of Can- terbury, and that there was no cause to be alarmed at your absence. She then hurried away: but I con- fess that I.was by no means satisfied—for I thought this was very unlike your usual conduct, Miss. How- ever, there was no help for it: but I passed a sleep- less night. All day yesterday I was still more un- easy—and the longer I thought of your absence and |. the strange message, the more alarmed I got. When night came again, I could not for the life of me go to bed: I was restless, feverish, and ill. SoI sat by the side of your poor aunt, Miss—and then I went down into the kitchen—and everything looked so lonely and dull, I didn’t know what to do. It seemed as if there'd been a death in the house. But I won’t spin my story out longer than I need. I was sitting by the kitchen fire as the clock struck two—and then I thought that I must go to bed or I should he too ill to-morrow to attend on your aunt. But just as I had come to this determination a carriage drove up to the gate; and I ran out in the hope that you had come back. So you had—but in a deep swoon: and a gentleman and a lady who were inside, told me that you had met with some accident—but I didn’t hear exactly what they said, for I was so flurried and frightened to see youin such astate. Tho lady got out and helped me to carry you up-stairs; and when we had undressed you, she gave gave me asealed note, saying, ‘ When your young mistress has recovered her composure, bid her read this.’—She then went away and returned to the carriage which instantly drove off,”’ 77 “Where is the note?” inquired Louisa, with mingled curiosity and suspense. ‘“‘ Here, Miss,” said the servant. ‘I would not give it you at first, till I had told you my story—because from what the lady in black said, I feared it contained something that might ruffle your feelings.” “The lady in black !” echoed Louisa, struck by the reminiscence that it was a female clad in deep mourn- ing who had appeared so suddenly in the crypt. ‘““'Yes— she was a tall lady, dressed in black,” an- swered the servant: ‘but as she had her veil down, and it was a very thick one, I could not see her face. But her voice was sweet and mild—Oh! so mild, and also so melancholy, that flurried though I was, it quite touched me.” “ And the gentleman who was with her in the car- riage ?” said Louisa, inquiringly. “Oh! I couldn’t see his face at all,” was the re- sponse. ‘ He remained inside the vehicle—and as it was then quite dark and the moon had gone down, I only saw his figure as one may say—but his voice was agitated and nervous.” Louisa now opened the note which the maid-ser- vant had given her; and she found that it contained the following lines, penned in an elegant female hand writing :— ‘*The lady who is instrumental in deliverlng Miss Louisa Stanley from a most outrageous and unjustifiable persecu- tion, ventures to plead on behalf of the offender. She is well aware that Miss Stanley’s feelings must be excited to a most painful degree of indignation, and that she will pro- bably deem it her duty to communicate all the facts to those friends on whose counsel she is accustomed to rely. But the writer of this note earnestly implores Miss Stanley not only to deal leniently with the offender, but also to urge her friends to throw the veil of oblivion upon the matter. This is the only reward which the writer seeks or asks for delivering Miss Stanley from a serious danger and restoring her to her home: but she may confidently add that Miss Stanley has no occasion to apprehend a repe- tition of the outrage, nor any farther molestation or insult from the same quarter.” “ This is an appeal to my generosity—and it shall not be made in vain,” thought Louisa to herself. ‘““Nevertheless, for my own sake, I must give the fullest explanations to my faithful servant now, and to Jocelyn when he returns. But I will place the seal of silence upon their lips.” Having thus mused upon the course which she should adopt, the young lady proceeded to detail her adventures to the ear of her maid, who was shocked, surprised, and indignant at the treatment to which her beloved mistress had been subjected. She how- ever agreed with Louisa that it would be ungenerous towards the lady in black not to comply with an appeal that was couched in terms of so much delicate earnestness. Secrecy and silence were therefore re- solved upon—the more readily, too, inasmuch as the lady’s note contained so positive an assurance against any future cause of alarm. As for the blow which Louisa had received from her fall in the crypt, its effect had been rather to stun than injure her: there was a slight abrasion of the skin, and some blood had trickled forth—but there was no fear of any scar remaining to injure her beauty. == © CO ee ee ee ee a ee ee ee ee ——_ —— | | eConnicloooks (C(0)