The Mysteries of the Court of London Vol. 7 — page 322: what you’re looking at

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

CS ee eegetes ee eee SPS ee aces =a = = os waemse of a % &§ *- =e oe «gt to -— 9 iD =— Va @ eo = —. woe meen DO oe 2 wehbe eam 6m i) + | THE MYSTERIES OF ,THS COURT. 209 perils which surrounded him—and then to act, as circametanees should direct, either with grovelling eutreaty or with lofty deflance. But Queen Indora had foreseen that through this phase the mind of the Duke of Marchmont would pass; and there- fore had she spared nothing ix her arrangements which was calculated to sustain the most awe- *inepiring effects, and to strike bim as it were blow upon blow, each one more powerful than its prede- ceseor. . OHAPTER CXLV. THE WITNESSES. Fru Queen, fathoming everything that was pass- ing in the mind of the criminal who now stood in her presence, suffered several minutes to elapse be- fore she opened the proceedings by word of mouth. At length she spoke. It was in «#& slow, clear, measured voice—sufficiently cold to convey an im- pression of the implacable sternness of justice— and yet not deviating from the femihine harmony which became her sex and her queenly station. ‘“‘ Prisoner,” she said, “ you bave been summoned by the force of circumstances before a tribunal which, though not constituted according to the laws of your country, nevertheless wields a power which you cannot possibly defy. I know full well all the hopes that you ere now entertaining: but they will be defeated! est assured that I should not have undertaken a task in the accomplishment of which there was the slightest scintillation of doubt. Your own conscience must tell you whether you have in your lifetime perpetrated deeds that would render you amenable to any human tribu- mal; and if so, then are you amenable to this! Man of many crimes, the hour of retribution is come—and Providence has ordained that the tan- gled web which you yourself have woven by your countless iniquities, should tiis night close in finally around you !” The Duke of Marchmont thought for a moment of making a reply: but a second reflection bade him remain faithful to the policy of hearing all that could be alleged against him: for he had by this time begun to suspect who most of the wit- nesses were, that either veiled or masked were ar- rayed against him upon the platform. 5 “Your crimes, prisoner,” continued Queen In- dora, “are now about to experience a terrible re- vival in your memory—even if that memory could ever have lost sight of them while conscience fed the eternal lamp which sheds ite light in the desecrated sanctuary of your soul. Asa train of spectres passes through the diseased imagination, so shall your iniquities, as well as their accom- plices, their agente, or their victims, be presented in vivid reality to your view. First let me speak of that amiable and excellent wife of yours—the loving and affectionate Lavinia -—— whom by the basset of conspiracies you sought ‘o brand with a charge as infamous as it was false, and to sully her purity in order that you might obtein a ground for her repudiation. This, which was the lightest of your ‘misdeeds, would for any other man be crushing and overwhelming! And next I wilt speak to you of your black turpitude towards a J > a=vere ~~ MESS Ss aw 5 corge 686 US ae! 6 eee Cee eee ee ae Cees OS young woman whose character was her only for- tune—and against whom, by aid of opiate drugs, you perpetrated the foulest and most infamous outrage. Behold! she is here!—she who ie alike a witness ready to testify of your black ‘designs against your wife, and of your dark satanio villany against herself!” Thus speaking, Indora pointed towards the veiled female who sat upon her right hand: the veil wae thrown off—and the countenance of Amy Sutton was revealed. Looks of malignant hatred and flend-like vevenge were thése which thie in- jured young woman bent upon the Duke of March- mont; and he recoiled in horror therefrom—not eo much, because the looks themselves touched a remorseful chord in his conscience, as because it truck him that the victim of his lust was there to gloat over his final undoing and atter fall. “ Aud now I would address you as 4 man,” con- tinued Queen Indora, “ who endeavoured to suborn others to the exeeution of your villanous purposes -~as one who lavished gold by thousands to induce a needy spendthrift to wield the bravo’s dagger against my own life! Here ie a deed which, if proclaimed to the world, would bring you before « tribunal constituted on a basis different from this one! There sits the man who can testify how he wae thus suborned, and who on a previous occa- sion had lent his eid in your diabolical mathina- tions against your own wife!” While giving utterance to this last sentence, Queen [ndora’s extended arm pointed towards the masked individual who sat next to Amy Sutton, on the right hand of the throne; and when that in- dividual took off hie mask, he revealed the counte- nance of Wilson Stanhope. His countenance ex- pressed a species of terror as if the man himself entertained but a vague idea of how all these pro- cvedings would terminate, and was therefore by no means assured that exposure to the whole world would not engue and that condign punish- ment would not overtake himself. “ And now I will speak to you,” continued Queen Indora, “of a darker crime than’even those to which I have alluded,—a crime which, when de- signed by yo8, was not altogether frustrated by ciroumstances—but which was so far carried into effect that it struck a fellow-creature, though not the owe whom it was meant to strike: namely, myself! Prisoner, 1t was at your instigation that ? the assassin-blow was dealt in the garden of my villa-2esidence: and here is a witness who can teas- tify to the discourse which subsequently took place between yourself and the agent of your iniquity {” Thus speaking, Queen Indora made a signa for the female on her left hand, to remove the veil which covered her countenance; and when this was done, the Duke bebeld Mrs. Ozenden. He was not altogether without a suspicion thet she indeed was tke veiled female who sat in that place: but when the suspicion was turned inty certainty, he felt a horrible tightening at the heart—for it seemed to him as if even those whom his gold had maintdined in luxury, were arraying themeelves against him. This idea is always a harrowing one for the individual who feels that the ground is slipping away beneath his feet: be- cause it is frightfully ominous of the crowning catastrophe. Thus the presences of Mrs Oxenden COMIC OOO© SS (CO)