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

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

street, on the cold pavement,—yes—such a death were preferable. to the jess of hee honour ! Alas i alas: poor erphan girl, deeply—deeply do we sympathise with thee—beundiesa is our cem- passion, O persesuted virgin ! | But whither doce she now fly so quickly ?—what mew ides. has atized upon her imagination ?7—what sudden impulse is sha ebeying thus precipitately ? She remembera thet there is such a persean in the world aa Meagles—sha is hastening to Jarmyn Street @ ascertein whether it be mally true that be has undertaken a journey te Scotland, For this purpose is ahe spending en so franticly again—'tia her only -hope—~-and hrr ardent longing to find it realized, lends wings to her feet. But « sadden. vertige seizes upon her—she stop shoxt—hex brain neels—she staggara forward a few paces, extending ber arms as if te implore assistance -—than sinks uppe a decor: step in that vile neighbour- to her eum euite of apertmenta at Cariten Howe, Mra. Fitzhasbert was canted alonn in a pensive mood, ‘wpom a sofs placed nesr the fire which barat in the guste os if with a eheesfuiness that mocked har moarnful aspeet. Not only wan she indignant and offended om 80- ‘| esusss af the scene whieb had eccurrzed ca the night && F reaching evil weighing heavily upon her. For though thie was by no means the only whieh sha bed ever axpemicnced with the of Wales, it was nevertheless the first that iasted so long aud that had led te no.attempt at rpsenciliation on bia part. What: coukd this paranverance in maintaining a enmity mean i--what did & aguify? Had | geen; hermnaantra their fegnivation:? Or, waa his Royal Highness in reality so deeply attached bh. Eady Dasborengs that he net enly pined on account of the disappointment he kad expexieuced, but luxe- wias chesi am unfargiving rancour against ha who. bad thus interposed between bimapif and thea | intended vwietim. of his lust 7 i 4 third wes drawing: to ts qlose—and not a ward nor a line from him whe hefere God was her husband, though tae detestable laws made by man. forbade the eonmemion. At first the lady’s indignation and resentment sustained en ker own side a feeling which weuld have made her decline any ayswer ta a verbal message and send back a written ene unopened: then, as her move angry sentiments gave way to the fondness which she really experienced for the Prince, her pside provapted her te shroud herself in a re- serve as gloomy as that in whick he had shut him- self up ;-end thee from neither side had emanated ball: bus thene was likewise a presentiment } thar the deepest woe the superb creature. whose eyes were $1} living baneath the same roof, thia husband and wife had not seen each other fer three whole days! New therefore the-lady’s pride was more than. ever wounded; and indignation was again asserting its empire in her breast How haughty was now that earl an her exquisitely chiaelled lip !—how menac- ing was the light which ahone in her large blue eyes! —hoew nesvously did her taper fisgera play vath the long, pale, glossy treasen which flewed down upon her plump shoulders of dazzling whiteness aad the besam of such luxurious proportions ! Should she await the royal pleasure of her hus- band to make up their serious differenees? — or ehawid she pen a line conveying the first overture to im ? These were the questions which ahe asked herself in » saoment of milder mood : and she was deliberat- ing the points within her own breast, when a servant theew open the daor of the apartment, amnouncing Mr. Meagles. A glow of triumph and the animation of joy ‘lighted up the splendid features af Mra. Fitzherbert, as. she rose to. receive the guest: for it instantly atruck ber that he was.come asa messenger af peace from his Royal Highness. Meagles, who was attired in a suit of blask, but whoae coat mevextbeless had a certain sporting cut about i, endeavoured to assume a demureneses of countenance which he deemed. suitable to the task which he had taken in hand: and indeed, he did fee} dimatiafied and low-spirited concerning it—for, much as he seally disliked Mra. Fitsherbert, he could not reaist the painful reflection, now when matters were coming, to a paint, that it was a woman againat whom he was about to wage war. Even at the last mo- ment would ke have gladly retreated from eny far- i in the business: but intezeat — self-inte tism,—éthese prevailed with a man who was far from being deficient in qualities natu- rally generous and traits unquestionably amiable. With a greater courtesy than she had ever before maanifested towards him, did Mrs. 'itzherbert proffer ber hand to Mr. Meagles and request him to be seated: then, with the tact of that. goad breeding which affected te sea in him anly an ordinary visitor and not a messenger sent on a special errand, she hegan ta converse on the current topios. of the day with as much graceful ease aud unpretending flueacy as if she had naught weighing on her mind. Meaglea was far more embarrassed than he thought he should be. Mra. Fitzherbert’s cordiality ef manner disaxmoad him ef the rancour whieh he hed ebarished against her; and her extreme beauty touched his. heart, enlisting his sympathies in apite of himself, He adored the fair eex—and it struck ing criminal to plunge into being #0 new beaming kindly and whose lipa were emiling apea, him. But he thought of the dukedem which he. hoped ta gain eventually—and once more did egotism tiamphi Avexting his head partially, so that the lady's at- tillery of charcss and fascinations should not play with such powerful effect upan his looks, he availed himself af a momentary pause in the discourse to observe,“ Madam—your Boyal Highness—I know not exactly which to eall yan—-—” “ Ah! then at all eventa you are no stranger to the secret of my marriage with the Prince of Wales f* NOOO) lin ©) CO ‘SS CO