The Mysteries of the Court of London, Vol. 7 — page 200: what you’re looking at

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

| 20 eae wt 8 hee Lenhiaat ae Se sew Ue SR? wee Oe - panama eeinal “Good God, that I should have made you weep!” cried Christian: and in the excitement, the confusion, and the hurry of his own thoughts and feelings, he seized her emall fair hand. It was however instantancously withdrawn—but not in anger; for the beauteous lia flung upon him, through the dimness of her tears, a look which eloquently proclaimed that. sho compre- hended all his generous sympathy.and was grate- ful for it. Then hastily wiping sway those tears, she hurried from tha room. At the sane moment there wae a double knock at the dotr; and Chris. tian retraced his way to his own room. He was in the midst of painful and bewildering conjectures as to the nature of that mystery which enveloped the lovely Isabella, and which seemed to be assuciated with so much erael coercion and un- natural tyranny,-—when the trull of a servant-girl' knocked at his door, and throwing it open, said, “Here's a genelman which wants you, Mr. Ash- | ton: and this is his card.” | —s- Our hero took the card, and found that it re- presented the ariateeratic though perkaps not very euphonious name of the Chevalier Gumbinnen. _ The owner of this name had been left standing in the passage by the maid-of-all-work ; and Chris- tian, on hurrying forth, was horrified to perceive a mop on bis visitor’s right baud, and a pail of dirty water under hia very nose. He flung a hasty reproach at the girl, and began confounding himeelf in excuses to the Chevalier,—who received them all with a sedate silence and a sort of inane mystification of lock-—which indeed was by no means astonishing, when it somes to be consi- dered that the Chevalier Gumbinnen understood not a syllable of English. Obristian hastily led the way into his own sitting-room—handed the Chevalier a chair—end awaited explanations, although he had no dyubt in his own mind that the visit bore reference to the advertisement in the newspaper. The Chevalier Gumbinnen was a little man, with a somewhat dirt6y look. He had very red hair, huge moustaches, and small eyes of pinkish blue. There certainly was nothing aristocratio in hie appearance, whatever there might be in hia name: neither was there ahy particular freshness in his costume. On the contrary, it seemed a little the worse for wear, I¢ consisted of a blue dress coat with a stand-up collar; it was cut } _ round in front, and thus sloped away isito the tails: it had a great deal of black braiding about I wee we es wee ae ~~ it, and was worn unbuttoned. The waisteoat w white—or rather had been a week back when i first came home from the wash: but it was evident that this article, as well as the Chevalicr’s shir, had not been put on clean in the morning of that particular @sy. His pantaloons were black, with long stripes of braiding: bis bat was of singular shape, and somewhat deficient in nap. He wore s profusion of jewellery, which locked very well at the first glance, but perbaps would not have borne the close inspection of a cowmoisewr in euch arti- cles, Indeed, we are very much afraid that if the Chevalier Gumbinnen had svught to raise a loan upon al) the personal property which was in- cluded under this pafticular head, the pawn- broker would have pronounced the diamonds to be paste, and would have found that the pold chains passed not readily though the ordeul of the test. 0, ETE ee | wees ee ay ory gta pS sqm BD. ter” =e ee Swe = i, ~— ao a2 @= anew THE MYSTERON OF THE COURT. SPER eTy 3 pig Uy ~<a ESR TES wipe Sed rh Ee Op eve ie seine ee ai wes a Oe eo he —<« i a teen + = wb Wt at o_— = 2 wn Geyer om = © Oe 169 ing acid. In a word, this foreign gentetenn’s appearance was sufficient to mystify Christian com siderably as to who or what he could possibly be Without Speaking a word, the Chevalier Gam bixwen drew forth a somewhat soiled pocket-Rook and produmng thence a dirty ecrap of paper, dive played it before Christian's eyes,—at the same tinke fixing upon him a look of knowingness rather than , Tt¢ was our hero's own edivertisemant, cut out of the Zines; he therefore hastened ¢o declars that it was so, and that he was the 0. A, therein specified. Still the Che- vatier maintained a profound silence; so that Christian was at « low whether to conclude that hia vieiter was altogether dumb, or that he was merely unable to comprehend the English lan- guage. Again however wes the Chevalior’s hand plunged into the pocket-Book; and now he drew orth a larger card than bis own, and which he presented to our hero, -It was mot the cleanest in the world: but nevertheless, whatsoever it had on it waa perfevtly visible. On ‘dhe upper part there << Ripe VD = —=ae <> Tages. | was a eovereign crown; and woder it there was the name of the Duke of Muaxe-Stolburg Quotha. The addroes in the right hand corner wae AGivart's Hotet. . Here was grandeur! It was evidently « reign- ing Duke who was eonding for Obriduan; and doubtless the Chevalier Gumbinnen was some high dignitary attached to the pereen of his Royal Highness. Such waa the conclusion to which our bero naturally came. He looked at the Ohevalier ; and the Ohevalier looked at him. Did the Chevalier mean to speak Por, indeed, could he speak at all P Obristian could not help thinking it wea rather a strange procecding to send this silent gentleman on such « business; and he began to some- whet awkward. The QOhevalier however conde- scended presently to relieve him fréen bis embar- rassinent; for, taking. out a hat cumbrous watch—which would doubtless have been consi- dered handsome in the time when pinchbecke were in fashion—he displayed the dial before Obristian’s eyea; and pointing to the hour of fowr, gave a sort of significant grunt, and then stered for half a minute in the youth’s countenance, to assure hipefelf that the intimation was comprehended. Obrittian bowed: the Chevalier mado, # very slight and cond ingly dignified inclination of the kead—put on his napless bat-—and took his departure. The whole proceeding was singular enough : but Christian understood that be was to call, at Mivart’s Hotel to soe his Royal Highness, the reigning Duke of Maxe-Stolburg-Quothe, at four o'oluok. It was now a little past three; and therefore our hero had only just time to dress himself in his best apparel and est off to Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, While, procecding thither, hia thoughts were divided between las- be}la Vincent and the busikess on which be was now bent. He of course imagined that the Duke required an English secretary ; and hence the ap- plication to himeelf, made through that vary in- teresting, intelligent, and enlightening person the Chevalicr Gumbinnen. Christian could have wished to remain a week or two longer at Mre. Ohubb’s ere entering upon another situation: but he had his bread to get, and must sot throw away a chance. Besides, it suddenly uccurred to him that COMIC OOO© (C a nee My ath ad, i fentey Pron ge SS CO