The Works of George W. M. Reynolds — page 219: what you’re looking at

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

202 THE COURT OF LONDON Linden felt her way toward the opening in the wall, Jocelyn following close behind her. After three or four vain and ineffectual endeavours to pass her form through the aper- ture, she said, In a volce apparently trembling with alarm, ‘Good heavens! I cannot possibly accomplish my purpose! You remember that you had to drag me through into your own room, and therefore I cannot pass back into my cham- ber unless similarly assisted by some one there. What is to be done? ’”’ she demanded, impatiently. “Compose yourself, Miss Linden, and try once more,”’ responded Loitus. “It is absolutely necessary that you should get back without delay, to remove all traces of our proceedings; otherwise the prefect’s livery servant, when he visits our rooms in the morning -— ”” “Oh, yes, the chances of detection have now become fearful,” interrupted Laura, clinging as if in despair to our young hero. ‘“ But it is no use for me to try and pass through that aperture; I can not; it hurts me, it lacerates my flesh.”’ “Then what in Heaven’s name shall we do?” asked Jocelyn, more crueily bewildered and perplexed than ever. “There is no alternative, I fear,’ replied the lady, in a tone that suddenly became solemnly serious, for the pre- dicament in which she was placed indeed seemed but too well calculated to shock the feelings of a modest damsel. ‘There is only one alternative, I say,” she repeated, “‘ and that 1s to await as patiently as we can until the first dawn of morning shall afford us a glimmer of light by which we may enlarge the aperture. This will not take long to do, and will still leave ample time ere the coming of our gaoler to replace all the masonry and woodwork, and thus remove every trace of our proceedings. I fear, Mr. Loftus, that there is no other alternative than the course I have pointed out.” ‘Tt indeed appears so,’’ observed. Jocelyn, in a tone which expressed all the cruel embarrassment which he so keenly felt. Our young hero and the beauteous Laura Linden therefore found themselves doomed to remain together for several hours in the darkness of the chamber and surrounded by all the temptations of this strange predicament. Gomichbooks (E(0)