The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 254: what you’re looking at

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-—-——- —- —+--- - 248 side. As for her apparel,—it was this that at the first glance gave her a gipsy aspect. It consisted of an old cotton gown, with a dingy cloak over it; and instead of a bonnet or cap, she wore a cotton handkerchief tied round her head. Blue woollen stockings and coarse shoes completed her garb. Her appearance was however cleanly; and not- withstanding the poverty of her attire, there was a certain neatness in it which impressed the be- holder with the idea that she had seen better days. “ Ah! poor Crazy Jane,” said the Baronet, in a low tone and with a compassionating look, as he beheld the woman stand up from the opposite side of the fence. “A penny for poor crazy Jane?” she said, thrusting her skinny arm between the palings. “You know, Jane,” said Sir William Stanley, with a benevolent and pitying smile, “that I never give you a penny:’—at the same time he drew forth his purse. ‘No, true!” ejaculated the woman. “I remem- ber now! Sir William Stanley is always chari- table—and that is the reason I so seldom come near the Hall. I don’t like to intrude on good nature. Ah, dear me! I was not always a poor wandering outcast:’—and then drawing back her hand from betwixt the palings, she pressed it to her brow. ‘Poor creature!” said the Baronet. five shillings for you.” She did not however seem to hear him; but with her hand still pressed to her forehead, she muttered incoherently to herself :—then at length speaking in a louder tone, she said, “Ah! I have got something more upon my mind I wish 1 could explain it—but I cannot. It is not the same thing that has haunted me so long—no, it is something new: but alas! I cannot—I cannot!” and the poor creature shook her head despondingly, as if she deeply felt her inability to give lucid expression to some idea that was uppermost in her mind. “Here are the five shillings, Jane,” said the Baronet: and he thrust them through the fence. “Heaven’s blessing upon you!” murmured the afflicted woman—and tears trickled down her wasted countenance: then taking the money, she passed abruptly away and was soon out of sight. “She is as mad as ever, poor creature!” said the Captain. “I remember her from my boy- hood.” “ Yes—and JI remember her for many, many years,” added the Baronet. “ Sadly is she changed, too, since first I knew her! She was then young and good-looking t “ And who is this unfortunate woman ?” asked Mr. Redcliffe. “No one appears rightly able to give any ex- planation on the subject,” returned Sir Wilham Stanley. “She wanders about the country in all directions—and has been seen more than & hun- dred miles from here. Sometimes she disappears altogether for several months, and then suddenly turns up again. There is a half-ruined hut about four miles hence, which she inhabits when in the neighbourhoced; and as you may suppose, she lives entirely upon charity. I have often endeavoured to lead her into conversation, and ascertain if possible what she originally was, and what calamity turned her brain: but L have neyer succeeded in “ Here are a er eee eee THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. eliciting more*than that she had seen better days, and that she had stood in the presence of ladies of the highest rank,—but whether as a companion or a menial, does not very plainly appear—though I should rather suspect in the latter capacity.” The conversation presently turned into some other channel; and the three gentlemen retraced their way to the mansion. CHAPTER XLVII. CRAZY JANE. Ir was in the forenoon—a couple of days after the arrival of Mr. Redcliffe at Stanley Hall, and while this gentleman himself had gone into Liver- pool to see the solicitor employed on behalf of Lettice Rodney—that Captain Stanley was riding out on horseback, followed by one of his father’s grooms. Diverging from the road, he took a smart gallop through the fields; and had arrived in the neighbourhood of a copse, which he was about to skirt, when Crazy Jane suddenly sprang up before him as if she were rising out of the earth. The Captain drew in his steed, and spoke to her with compassionating kindness. “You are Sir William Stanley’s son,” she said, gazing intently upon him; “and you are a good young man—you have all your father’s benevo- lence. No—no, do not put your hand into your pocket—I want not money now. Your father gave me enough to keep gue for I know not how long. Ah, I had something to say the mo- ment I caught sight of you—I determined to say it—and now it is ail slipping out of my head!” At first her utterance was rapid, accentuated, ~ and jerking: but these last words were spoken with a profound mournfulness; and pressing her hand to her forehead, she evidently strove to steady her ideas. “ What is it, Jane?” asked the young gentle- man, in akind tone. “ Think—reflect—take your time: I am inno hurry if you really wish to speak to me.” “T do, I do!” ejaculated the mad woman. “It is something I have got here :’’—and she touched her forehead. ‘‘ No—it is here!” she added after a pause, and she laid her hand upon her heart. “Tt is something that oppresses me—something that lies as heavy as lead on my bosom, and pre- vents me from sleeping at night. I wish I could tell it—I thought 1 could just now—I said it all over to myself, just as I used to say my prayers when I was a child: but it bas all gone out of my head !” “What can it be?” asked Captain Stanley, much interested in the woman’s words and man- ner: for he felt convinced that it was not a mere nieaningless phase of her madness, but that if was this very madness itself which prevented her from giving lucid expression to something that she had really to reveal. “ What is it, you ask P” she said, with a sudden brightening up of her hitherto vacant desponding look. ‘Ah! now there is a gleam shooting into my mind yes, yes, it is about that dreadful murder “The murder?” ejaculated Stanley, all the in- >? ee (€(0) ooo KSC)