The Mysteries of London; or, Lights and Shadows of London Life — page 96: what you’re looking at

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

dl scan ena A PICO OL LE THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON, vO ae ee SO . —) at the feet of his wife so incensed him, that, ‘without | you favoured me with your company, it had formed waiting for further explanations, he immediately | the principal topic of our conversation.” spot, | The shrieks of his wife brought the domestics to | same time in what way her visit could have any con- nection with the earl’s delusion; “and may I inquire how I happen to be concerned in this?” | drew his sword and killed him on the the room where this horrible tragedy had taken place, and it was then discovered that the supposed lover was Sir Charles Bradley, the yeunger brother of the countess, and who had that day, after an absence of several years, arrived at the mansion to solicit from his sister her influence with her husband in procuring some office in the state. The countess soon after died ef grief, and smitten with remorse, the earl relinquished his seat, and spent the remainder of his life in town, leaving the relatives of the unfortunate victim to con- sole themselves for the loss by the possession of the fine old hall, which was given over to the Bradley family in consideration of the deplorable circumstances of the death never being made public. The recollec- tion of the calamity of which he had been the cause, it was supposed, brought on derangement ; for the earl from that period until his death, which occurred a few years afterwards was said to be haunted by a most eingular apparition,” “ An apparition !” “Yes, and of the most remarkable kind. The apparition of a human head,” “A human head?” echoed Celestine, horror- stricken, as the peculiar circumstances of her own case were forced upon her mind. “In no respect, as I have been told,” continued Lord Walsingham, “resembling the features of the unfortunate young man who had been slain, but a grim and ghastly visage that struck terror into the hearts of all whwo saw it.” “All,” repeated the opera: dancer, with a shudder; “then the earl was not the subject of a merely op- tical illusion, for there must have been some frightful reality in this phantom if likewise it was witnessed by others,” “So runneth the legend,” observed the earl, quietly’ “for it was said to have been frequently noticed by the entire household.” “True, you are but relating to me the family legend,” said Celestine, now re-assured. “Well, the earl, as I told you, died a few years after this sad event, and the spectre head was pre- sumed to have disappeared with him; but, strange to say—for now comes the most remarkable part of my story—it continued to haunt his successor, the grand- father of the present earl, in the like manner.” “ According to the tradition, of course!” exclaimed the opera-cdancer, who, deeply interested in this re- cital, now breathlessly listened to its continuation. “ Yes, of course, according to the tradition,” pursued the narrator, noticing with a smile the way in which he had worked upon her imagination. “ But its ap- pearance did not cease even then, for the earl’s father frequently saw it before his death, and the present earl bas not escaped its visitations.” * How borrible!” ejaculated the girl; “ but he is no doubt convinced that this delusive fancy proceeds from some disorderéd condition of the brain, that medical skill could overcome.” “On the contrary, he believes firmly in its reality.” * And you———” “A sceptic in all such matters, I have frequently tried to reason him out of the belief, but in vain. The circumstances that I have told you are well known to most of his friends, theugh, as you may conceive, the sabject is one to which he is rarely known to allude; but, by a singular coincidence, on the very morning “that this Bradley Hall, the scene of the unfortunate event I related to you, had some time before passed into his hands from certain pecuniary advances made to the lest owner by the former earl having remained unpaid, The dislike he naturally felt towards a place so intimately associated, as he fancied, with the spec- tral head that had so long haunted the family, caused him to entrust the entire management of the estate to an agent, who, it since appears, has taken advan- tage of the confidence reposed in him to appropriate some considerable sums to his own use,” in this matter,” “You shall ses, The malady of the for 7 deem it to be, caused by the vivid nye pt annoy him, returned with greater force than ever.” again the remembrance of her own visitation to her, phatically ; Sand the envi, after speakings own excellence in words of oe he added, with a slight bow, * were not A TS “ Indeed !” ejaculated Celestine, wondering at the “Why, he then told me,” resumed W “Still, my lord, I cannot perceive how Lam involved father’s sufferings from the same visionary and the life of comparative ree) has himselt SO ee ee ee after any dis- turbance of the mind; and on the evening of your début this illusion, -which had fet: nal Uinip coebed $0 “On that evening!” gasped the opera-dancer, as occurred “On that evening,” repeated Lord W em- | to my ear, remarked to me how singular it was that the spectre of horror should be thus so curiously evoked by the presence of an images of loveliness. He had noticed, it seems, the peculiar features of some foreigner who was present, and the whole of the night after- wards he was haunted by the apparition of the head, | © with the expression of this remarkable physiognomy embodied in its shadowy outline.” “How incomprehensible is this mystery!” cried Celestine, communing rather with her own than uttering an observation intended to be heard, for she instinctively felt that the countenance must have been that of the Italian, “Not at all,” said Walsingham, in reply; for he misunderstood the cause of her perplexity; * the ap~ parent wonder admits of easy explanation. The mind of the earl was excited; the remarkable features of the man he had seen, I dere say, produced an unusually strong impression; and on his return home he naturally mingled, as we do in dreams, that which he had really beheld with the characteristics of thet which he only fancied that he saw.” _“ And do not the physicians attempt to dispel this singular belief?” asked Celestine, “ The earl is so averse to receiving medical opinions upon the subject, that he has declined every offer that has been made to him. Perhaps he feels it to be a weakness, and is afraid to confess it; or, confident of its reality, he may consider, as his father found it, that the best exertions of the faculty weuld be of no avail, | However, having been lately admitted to his confi- dence in this respect, I recommended matriage as likely to be the most effectual cure; and as I began to be regarded by him as his best adviser, he bad called upon me that morning to relate the new form which | his ghostly visitaut had taken.” comicbooks.com il _— oo.