The Mysteries of the Court of London by Pauline Clarendon — page 286: what you’re looking at

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

TERRIBLE AND STRANGE REVELATIONS 285 ‘‘ Heaven only knows!’’ exclaimed Julia. ‘ But I must confess that I have often had my suspicions on that point,”’ she observed, shaking her head ominously. “Well, go on. I suppose,’’ continued Page, “‘ that your father and the Warrens put their wits together to see what they could do with the papers.” “No such thing!” returned Julia. ‘ The Warrens kept their own secret relative to the half of the document which they had in their possession; and my father walked off with the pocketbook, leaving those people to conduct his sister’s funeral. Remember, all this occurred sixteen years ago, just about the time that my mother died. Well, time slipped away, and five or six years back my father and I went to live in that court where he died the other day and you found me. Three years ago he fell in with the Magsman, who about that period took the house next door for his own purposes. My father’s name being Lightfoot instantly struck the Magsman with a certain suspicion; and on con- versing together they found that they had met before, in past times. For this Magsman was none other than Joseph Warren, formerly a clerk in Martin’s bank at Aylesbury. Then Warren told my father about the half of the document which his wife had discovered; and my father was most anxious to learn what had become of it. Warren informed him that soon aiter the funeral of Hannah Lightfoot had taken place, he wrote to the Home Secretary, enclosing a copy of the fragment of the paper and offering to sell it for a handsome sum of money. The negotiation was long and tedious; but at the end of several months a bargain was struck, and Mrs. Warren was sent by her husband to London to receive the money and give up the document. It, how- ever, appears that she never returned to Aylesbury; and irom that moment Warren lost all clue to her. He repaired to London in search of her; all was in vain, and what seemed more extraordinary was the fact that she had not been to the Home Office at all. Her husband therefore concluded that she had met her death either by accident or foul means; and we may suppose that he was not a little vexed at this failure of his grand hopes of enriching himself. He remained in London, and soon took to those ways which we now find him pursuing.” ‘And how came you to learn all these latter particu- GOMIGaOOKS (GO)