The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 273: what you’re looking at

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

00. oe CEE? 9 eEesee- ae = Se oe a ain pnd = 260 THE MYSTERIFS. and which is dated from Dover,” said the Duchess. “He states that a slight injury which he had sus- tained from a fall compelled him to repair to the sea-side to recruit his strength. Have you seen yoor friend the Marchioness of Bellenden lataly ?” inquired the Duchess, merely for the sake of con- tinuing the discourse, in>which there was a sudden pause after the previous observation. *No—thé Marchioness has let London for a short time,” returned Eleanor. “1 believe that her law-suit which is now verging upon its close, has compelled her to visit some provincial places where she expects to glean valuable information in aid of her cause. But I remember,” added the Countess, laughing, “that I was to give you a scolding, Georgiana, for wilfully and wickedly placing me in such an awkward predicament with your scape- grace cousin.” “My dearest friend,” exclaimed the Ducheas, likewise smiling, but rather with a sly significancy than a positive gaiety, “if you never find yourself in a more perplexing or perilous dilemma than that one, you will indeed have reason to congratulate your good fortunes. The romantic adventure in which you were involved with my cousin Gabriel is nothing when compared with an incident that hap- pened to me some time agu at the very country- seat which you have lately purchased.” . ‘‘What! at Stamford Manor do you mean?” cried the Lady Desborough. “I never heard of your being there.” “And yet I passed a nicht within its walls about eight or ten weeks ago,” continued the Duchess: “and I had a companion with me—one of the handsomcest gallants of the are——” “Ah! a light breaks in upon me!” interrupted Eleanor. “ But is it possible that you were the lady who visited the Manor one evening with the Prince ?” “Such is the fact, my dear friend,” responded the Duchess, smiling. “I do not fear to make you my confidant. Indeed, I have already confessed to you, upon a previous occasion, that there has existed a certain intimacy between myself and his Royal Highness—whom, by the bye, I have ceased to look upon with any favourable sentiment since his cruel and heartless conduct to our poor friend Fitzherbert. But how came you to learn that the Prince and a lady passed the night at Stamford Manor ?” “From the old couple who were in charge of the house when the Earl and myself first went to in- spect it,” answered the Countess. “They were full of the visit which his Royal Highness paid the Manor; and I can assure you, my dear Georgiana, ; that they were not sparing in the compliments which they lavished upon your beauty.” -“I am much obliged to them,” said the magnifi- cent Duchess, smiling complacently as she turned her head for a moment to catch a glimpse of her splendid countenance in the nearest mirror. “ But I hope that they did not suspect who I was?” she observed, with a sudden manifestation of anxiety. “They entertained not the faintest idea of the truth in that respect,” answered the Countess. “ Bat how came yon to incor the risk of so seriously compromising yourself?” “I will narrate to you the whole adventure, my dear Eleanor, returned the Duchess ; “and you will a race EER aENRen—eereeemegeeneneennnpere ee en eee ae then see that there was one little episode im it far more perplexing, extraordinary, and romantic than your affair with the disguised Lord Florimel. — But, by the bye,” exclaimed Georgiana, as the sudden thought struck her, “did that worthy old couple at Stamford Manor ever tell you anything relative to a ghost which was alleged to have been © seen at the house on the very evening of the visit of his Royal Highness and myself?” “A ghost!” ejaculated the Countess, laughing. — “No—lI never was favoured with any tale of that nature. But I recollect, now you mention the cir- cumstance, that old Mrs. Bryan one day com- — menced an anecdote of the kind in the presence of the Earl and myself; and his lordship cut her — short by a request that no silly narratives of ap- paritions might ever be circulated in his household. — I was theréfore deprived of the exciting pleasure of hearing Mrs. Bryan’s ghost story,” added the beauteous Eleanor, still smiling gaily. “Then you shall enjoy that pleasure now, my dear friend,” rejoined the Duchess of Devonshire, continuing the discourse in the same semi-jocalar and chatty strain. “ But first I must tell you how the Prince and myself happened to be benighted and to take refuge at Stamford Manor. Some weeks avo I Ict you into the secret of all that had occurred relative to poor Octavia Clarendon. Well, you know that when she suddenly lost the use of her reason on visiting the Prince at Carl- ton House, his Royal Highness sent for me and I conveyed her to my villa in Buckinghamshire. The Prince, being greatly alarmed on her account, and fecling uneasy lest proper precautions should not be adopted to prevent her from escaping and making her wrongs public, followed me next morn- ing to the villa. There he passed the rest of that day—but without seeing Octavia, whom I had al- ready placed under the care of the discreet and trustworthy Dr. Clarges. Having assured himself that every necessary measure had been adopted to meet the distressing emergency, the Prince re- solved to return to town in the evening; and he insisted that I should become his travelling-com- panion. As we were passing along the road in the vicinage of Stamford Manor, the carriage broke down : and, having learnt from a peasant who was journeying that way at the moment, that we might no doubt obtain an asylum at the Manor, which was merely occupied by an old couple charged with the care of it, the Prince persuaded me to act upon the suggestion. The Prince's servants were accordingly left to patch up the carriage as well as they could and take it back to Aylesbury, with instructions to get it repaired during the night and call for us early in the morning at the Manor. A short walk brought us to the front door of that mansion; and an asylum did we accordingly ob- tain. Now it happened that a certain Mr. and Mrs. Page were there at the time, on business con- nected with Sir Richard Stamford; and of this Mr. Page the Prince had some knowledge. In the course of conversation Mr. Page related to us that very ghost-story with which Mrs. Bryan was no : ° doulst anxious to regale your ears when the Earl, as you just now informed me, cut short her old- womanish gerry: The substance of the story was that while Mr. and Mrs, Page were occupied in the library of the mansion, they were suddenly visited by the apparition of that notorious criminal, Dl ee DOO a Ieee —,: — ion — _ 2 ea a> whe — m— eum-e mei@ieo Geen eee So SS