The Mysteries of the Court of London Vol. 7 — page 330: what you’re looking at

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

Ghee OE 2 eS 7 eee es Ooh ew OEE auger wile. queaoer (tpn sree = aoe <=" > eeiiwggi.s GE gi=em © THE MYSTERIES OR THR COURT. who can no longer be spoken of as the Duchess of Marchmont P”—and tears of compassion trickled down Indora’s cheeks as she gave utterance to these words. ° “The unfortunate lady of whom your Majesty speaks,” rejoined Mr, Coleman, “is kneeling by the bed-side of her husband. The village clergy- ' man bas just arrived; and the perishing sinner is joining with him in prayer——” “Bat Laviniz ?” said the Queen, in accents of most mournful inquiry. e “That lady who is so deeply to be pitied,” re- sponded Coleman, “seems as if she likewise had received her death-blow., She is overwhelmed with grief and horror. She jooks as if she were in a dream—in a kind of balf-stupor which numbs the intensity of her affliction. She can scarcely believe that all she has heard is true. Was it not a distressing scene, madam, When your Majesty broke to the unhappy lady the terrific intelli- gence ?” “It was a scene,” answered Indore? shuddering | at the bare secollection, “which I never, neger can forget,—a sdene which will often hereafter haunt me; for the wild shriek whi€h rang forth | from Lavinie’s lips is still sounding in my ears. ; Ob, yos—it was a frightful scene! And yet I was | in a measure prepared for it: for I had previouely granted the unhappy, lady an interview, before the proceedings in the tribunal commenced. And ia that interview I had endeavoured to prepare Lavinia’s mind as much as possible for sumething | dreadful. But, Ob! when I sought her a second | time, and began breaking the frightful intelligence ; as delicately as I could~——Oh! Mr. Coleman, the spectacle of anguish that I witnessed cannot pos- sibly be described! Ah! it is terribfe to reflect that in performing an act of justico—in proclaim. ing wrong and making right come uppermost—the consequences should redound with such appalling power upon the head of an innocent person !” | The Queen wiped away tho tears from her eyes; | and after a bref pause, Mr. Coleman inquired, “Where are that brother and sister ?—where are thoxe whom we must now call the Duke of March: * mont and Lady Christina Vivian ?” “T left them alone together after that dreadful scene when their wretched relative fell at their feet and confessed his stupendous guilt.. He was removed to the chamber up-stairs; and thgn I said enough to, my young friends to make them cem- " prehend how it was that they belonged to the ducal house of Marchmont, ard that Obristian was now the bearer of the proud title. Yes— that young brother and sister alone together, that they might weep for joy and for grief in each other's arms,—for joy at this wondrous ghange in their circumstances, and for grief as they thought of their perished parents. I will now seek them ; and before I retire to rest, I will likewise see that unbappy lady the idea of whose grief fills my own heart with woe.” “ And J, with your Majesty’s permission, will at once repair to London,” said Mr. Coleman, “ to com- municate the results of this night's p to him who is so deeply interested in them.” “But not until his unhappy brother shall have breathed His last,” rejoined the Queen, “ must you proclaim to the world how guilt hea been made manifest end how innocence is vindicated.” ¢ eo } 2 Bio mE any ED = a =e left | from the hand of an assassin. é eee eaeee} Oe «See OD wep eet wet oe oc 317 Mr. Coleman bowed in acknowledgment of In- dura’s command; and he then took a respectful leave of the Queen, who forthwith proceeded to the apartment where she had left Christian and Christina nearly an hour back. Li | OHAPTEL OXLVIL DEATH. e Ig were scarcely possible to convey an idea of tho feelings experienced by the twins on contem- plating @their suddenly altered position. That Christian should be the bearer of a ducal title— that Obristina should now have a patrician prefix to her nanse—were facte which they could scarcely comprehend. They who had believed themselves to belong to a family in the middle-class of life, had now been told that they bore one of the loftiest names in the British Peerage, Moreover, they who not a very long while beck hed known the pinching need of penury, and had moistened poverty’s crust with their tears, were to be now surrounded by almost boundless wealth and to be in the possas- sion of immense means of doing good. As yet they were anacquainted with aj] the minute details witch so intimately concerned the mystery of their birth: but Queen Indore had told them sufficient to make them aware that they were the children of that Duke of Marohmont of whose murder they had read and heard, and at which they had shuddered,—the children of that Duchess Elisa for whose sorrows they had wept though at the same time believing her to have been the guilty paramour of Bertram Vivian. But now they knew that their mother was innocent— that neither previous to hor departure from Oak- lands, nor eubsequent to it, had she deviated from the path of rectitude e-aud that though she and Ber- tram had loved fondly and devotedly, yet that this love of theirs had not betrayed ,them into error. Christian and Christina could therefore look with- out ehame upon the memory of their upbappy mother: but not the less painful were thé tears which they shed when reflecting how much that poor mother must have suffered ere she sank into ber namel&s grave in an obscure village church- ard in, a distant county! And the twins wept Painful too as they thought of their unhappy sire, WJo when wandering forth in his despair, and in the silence of night, bad met his death These were painful retrospections truly; and mingling with the con- eciousness of rank and wealth and brilliant posi- tion, they taught the twins the world’s invariable lesson—that there is no perfect bappiness upon earth, and that however high the chalice may be filled with honey, there is to be at least one drop uf gall mingled With ite contents. And now too Christian aud Christina were en: abled to regard as a relation that noble-minded man whom, ae Mr. Redcliffe, they had known as a friend and a benefactor: and Ob! how they re- joiced that bisinnocence had been made manifent. But hore gen was the gall mingling with the for if on the one hand the startling reve- © rw ow tes 9 M4 mye Cee eS on eee — a ee eee) eg Pe eee wee ee oe —_— - —- sp-iieie, «gS See = == Te ee eee ee Oe eee Eee ee a EE Re Sle honey s ) lations of this night had rendered themawarethat ; they had a relative of whom they could be proud. | LOAO© (C©) SS (CO)