The Mysteries of the Court of London Vol. 7 — page 333: what you’re looking at

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

4 y —<—- —i- omad —_- = a @ = *ume@ -« =e 37‘ec ee eee see oes @ — fl. a Gao 820 THE MYSTBRIES OF TRE COURT. enna YY man to whom, notwithstanding all his crimes, her | perfectly well that generous though his anol heart was devoted. It was now communicated to- | the Duke was, he would not disburse the large all the domestics and to the surrounding tenantry | sum that was required to clear him of his liabili- that our young hero was Duke of Marchmont. He | ties. Besides, he constantly trembled lest his received their respectful homago with a becoming | creditors should expose the state of his affairs to modesty; and he gave orders that the faneral ef | the Duke,—who, being & man imbued with the the deceased husband and wife should be con- | hizhest sense of honour in pecuniary matters, was ducted with all possiblo privacy. They wore in- | quite capable of discarding him altogether and terred in the family vault of the village church ; | withdrawing his countendnce from him. The and thus terminated the career of a man whoeo | Duke's marriage had been deeply‘galling to Lord life was full of misdeeds, and of aclady whose eoul | Clandon; and the Youth of the Duchess seemed to was spotless. promise that it might not be unproduotive, of Wilson Stanhope, Mrs. Oxenden, and Armytage | issue. Thus if an heir were born to the title and were released from their captivity, ing to | estates of Marchmont, ¢arewoll to the last hope of { the Queen’s promise; and they all three had their | Lord Clandon, who would be‘doomed to remain a own gool reasons for maintaining a profound | poor Peer, with an income of scarcely a couple of silence in respect to the tranedctions in. which they | thousand a-year, and with debts to ten times that had played a part at Oaklands. Madame An- | amount. . gelique executed a deed, which Mr. Coleman drew! His lordship was therefore inspired with evil up, trausferring the bulk of her property to certain | thoughts by tho narrative he had received from charitable institutions in the metropolis; and she , Mrs. Bailey's lips. At that time, however, he en- was then suffered to take her departure from Oak. | tertained not the slightest idea of assassinating his lands, bitterly repenting that she had ever mised | ubocle: all he aimed at was so to direct his machi- herself up in the affairs of the late owner of that | nations that fhe Duke should at once divorce bim- mension. The Burker was conveyed away secretly, | self from the Duchess and thereby deprive himeelf and under circumstances of all possible precaution, | of the hope of having legitimate progeny from his by tho two Hindoos; and in a deep disguise, as | marriage. I¢ was of the highest importance for woll as under a feigned namey he was placed on | Olandon to achieve this object: for the success of board a ship bound for the East Indies. The | the measure would leave him still heir-presumptive embalmed corpse of Sagoonah was interred in the | to the title and estates of Marchmont; and so ohurchyard of the village of Oaklands. long as he had these prospects before him, he could We have purposely avoided entering as yet into | raise money and satisfy his creditors. any details calculated to clear up the mysteries| He therefore lost no time in putting his evil attending the fate of the Duchese Eliza after her | projects in a train of operation. He threw him- flight from Oaklands, as well as the birth of her | self in the way of the Duke, and insinuated him- twin children; because we shall presently have to | self into his Grace’s confidence. Thoroughly describe the whole of the evidenco which was | versed in all the arts of hypocrisy, he affectod a | given before a Committee of Privileges appointed | mild, submissive, and deferential taanner while | by the House of Lords to investigate tho claim of | proffering his insidious advice; and at the same Christian to the Marchmont, Peerage. But before | time he played his part so well that he seemed to ! commencing those important explanations, we will | be as much swayed by affection towards his lay before the reader the substance of the confes- | brother as by a respectful csteom for the Duchess, ' gion made‘by the deceased nobleman, in the pre-| and by love, gratitude, and veneration for his | sence of Mr. Coleman, Purvis, and the physiciaf, | uncle. The DukeJistoned to him with a thankful and which the solicitor duly comthitted to paper. | confidence; while Clandon affected to believe that In doing this, we shell have to make repeated | the conduct of Eliza and Bertram towards each’ references to the opening chapters of our narra- | other arose from an excess of prudence on the tive; and it would therefore be asewell if the | part of the former, and an extreme sensitiveness over those | on that of the latter. He proceeded to recommend 5 an the | that the Duke should throw Bertram and Eliza : { | | ! reader would here cast a glance earliest portions of the story which loves of Bertram and Elisa. e Soon after the marriage of the Duke oY March- | opportunities of cultivating a friendly intimacy‘ mont'and Miss Lacey, they went abroad on a con- | The bait took: the Duke followed his villanous tinental tour, which lasted for several months; and | nephew’s insidiots advice; and the results were ae they then returned to Oaklands, in the autumn of , Clendon had foreseen. the year 1829. There they were F pga by Lord| He continuously watched the proceedings of Clandon and Bertram Vivian. esi r be- | Bertram and Eliza: he saw how taeir manner haviour of Eliza and Bertram to each other, | changed towards each other, and that all their mystified Lord Clandon, who was perfectly | love was reviving‘in their hearts. Then it was ignorant of the lovés of his brother and Eliza | that he penned an anonymous letter, in a when they were at Oxford—ad indeed the Duke | feigned hand, addressed ‘to the Duke, and the himself likewise was. Lord Clandon fancied | contents of which were to tho effect that that Mrs. Bailey, as pg relation of the youthful | Bertram was dishonouring him. The Duke Duchess, might possibly be in her Grace’s con- | watched the movements of his young wife and more together—end that he should afford then and therefore be enabled to throw | Bertram; ‘and he bohold that embrace in some light on the matter which thus bewil- | which the latter passionately and impetuously ad him. He succeeded, as the reader will | folded the Duchess. Thu reader will recollect in worming out of Mrs. Bailey the en- | the ecene which ensued. Bertram fied to tira nartative of the past. Devilish ideas were | the inn, having previously encountered —e thereby engendered in Lord Clandon’s brain. He | his brother Lord Clandon, to whom he im- _ was ateeped tothe very lips in debt ; and heknew | parted what had occurred; and the inani- ce 7 oer = - en ew em eee inpigaees, A 2920 > YWw~y se | 2 —_ Cy aw @ oe a an ecomniclacclks (CO)