Rose Mortimer; Or, The Ballet-Girl's Revenge — page 128: what you’re looking at

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

122 ROSE MORTIMER 5 OR, i Their uncle, the Earl of Sloeford, had been foully assassinated, Slain in his bed by the hand of an undiscovered midnight robber. A robber it was ascertained beyond a doubt, for large sums of money had been abstracted from vari- ous parts of the house, A plate robbery had occurred upon the same night, of such magnitude as to convince any one who could entertain a doubt upon the subject. Mr. Spencer Bellisle had sueceeded to the earldom and estates and a great bulk of the property. The Earl’s favourite niece, Lady Bellisle, had some time previous to his demise disappointed his hopes by having formed an'‘attachment to her cousin, the heir to the title. It was a wild infatuation, which they deemed could come to no good, for Mr. Spencer Bellisle had returned home, after a protracted sojourn in foreign countries, and a strange reputation had preceded him. Rumours were given out of certain discreditable transactions with which his name had been con- nected. At Spa and Baden-Baden, and other of the great German gambling towns, he had been more than once degraded by reported discoveries of false play. At least, so it was said. However, Mr. Spencer Bellisle no sooner became a belted earl than these rumours were heard no more. The Earl of Sloeford was a most influential man, possessed.no end of votes, several livings, and was one of the first of the county magistrates. As soon as the inquest upon the body of the mur- dered earl was over, and the funeral obsequies were carried out in all the solemn pomp and grandeur be- fitting one of the earl’s high worldly rank had been got through, it became publicly known that Mr. Spencer Bellisle, the new earl, was betrothed to the Lady Bellisle, his cousin. Such was the state of affairs when Clara St.John and Mr, Edgar Deville arrived upon the scene of the recent tragedy. Clara had not been there long when she found good reason to congratulate herself upon the choice of a refuge which she had made. The murder made her prick up her ears, and at once she was upon the alert. To this shrewd keen-sighted woman of the world there was a strange significance in the speedy be- trothal of the cousins. Clara, too, soon found means to collect scraps of the infamous reports which had preceded the return of Mr. Spencer Bellisle to his native land. He was the only person ,who had, up to the pre=- sent, benefited by the sudden and awful death of the late earl. Clara and her avowed husband had not been long at Sloeford House when Lady Bellisle announced her intention of taking a short tour in company with the earl. It was thought to be rather a singular freak, but people of such high rank were of course above all vee Suspicion, and so the precious pair of cousins eit. Clara did all that layin her power to learn the object of their departure, but only succeeded in obtaining reasons which she knew to be false. A fragment of a conversation which she happened to overhear assured her of this much. As the words will touch upon a futnre chapter in some slight degree, we propose to give them. The Earl of Sloeford and his affianced wife were sit- ting in the library talking over their projécted tour, when Clara came on them by accident in this wise. Since her residence at Sloeford House she had taken a great fancy to exploring the many secret pas- sages, sliding panels, and other medieval contrivances with which the mansion abounded. One day Clara had been examining her own sleep- ing apartment very narrowly, when, upon raising some faded tapestry which had evidently been upon the walls from very remote ages, she discovered a slight dent in the wall, At once upon the gui vive for adventure and dis- coveries, she pressed the part eagerly in every direction. A door, ingeniously concealed in the panel, revolved and opened. She entered the dark passage upon which it opened, and, not thinking of any risk she might be incurring, proceeded eagerly along. It was a winding narrow way—so narrow that one person only ata time could proceed along it, and so low that she had to stoop nearly double. She arrived atthe end of this, when suddenly it grew more lofty. She was able to stand upright and could feel no ceiling. Another step brought her to a standstill. * So, so,” thought Clara. ‘There must be a door hereabouts.” She stretched out her hand, but only to encounter the hard wall upon every side. Many minutes she passed there searching, but vainly, for the door. Yet she was not to be baffled. ‘“ Tt must be here,’’ she muttered. Her conviction inspired her with courage, and she kept to her task. Minutes grew into an hour, and yet no signs of success, 4 The closeness of the place, too, was most unpleasant. The passage was of great length, aud there was no ventilation. | Still she persevered in her search, struggling boldly against a close and stifling sensation which appeared to be overpowering her. By slow degrees—fatally slow—she felt a faintness stealing over her. ONS So alarming did this presently grow that the bold determined adventuress was forced to pause in her labours to rest her head, throbbing with the difficulty of respiration in the passage, the veins in her fore- head swelling to twice their size, and standing out purple, like thick cords, against the cold wall. Oh! how welcome was the cold to her fevered throbbing brow! = Somewhat revived by this, she was about to rise, when she fancied that her ear caught the faint sound of voices. “Ah! af last!” She listened eagerly. She did not move nor breathe. But her utmost efforts failed to catch anything more. She could now distinctly hear the whisperings, but they were too low to allow her to catch even one word distinctly. It was tantalising. Teasing to the highest degree, She renewed her search for the door, which she now felt more convinced than ever was there. , Suddenly her hands were arrested in their progress over the walls. . She heard some voices in angry discussion close at hand. So loudly was the conversation now carried on that she could almost catch its nature. Then there was a blow struek, followed by the falling. of a body. , dT Then she could hear a door opened, so near to, her that instinctively she glanced up, | But no, not yet. Another second, and the same sound was repeated. Gomichoo SalO