The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 317: what you’re looking at

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

906 THE MYSTERIES. who has gathered gold in the nastiest ways, remembers at length the petty sums which he pilfered when a boy from his master’s till: and in a anonynius letter he returns the amount, with interest and com- pound interest duly reckoned—and then his con- ecience is satisfied. In the same manner does com- punction frequently smite the hearts of men who have succeeded in what is called “defrauding the revenue;” and hence those anonymous remittances to the Chancellor of the Exchequer which are acknow- Jedged day after day in the 7imes newspeper. Such is the wondrous texture of the human mind; and therefore it cannot be a matter for astonishment if King George IIT now experienced those inscrutable yearnings which prompted him to seek out his son and at least set eyes upon him once in this worid, if not to reveal to his ears the tremendous secret of their close affinity. Throughout the day ‘following hile faterview with Meagies and the huntress at St James's Palaces, this inclination grew stronger and stsenger in the breast of the King. It settled down iméo one of those in- vincible longiegs whieh so often take pesscasion of the human mind, especially when in a morbid state: it assumed the chasacter of am irresistibic craving that would woust the very ressom &f not gratified. Hours passed away tims, while the monarch at one time paced his apartament in a. canditien of fearfal ax- citement, and a6 encther Gung himedif up a sole and gave way to the bitterest anguish. The image of Haunah Lightinet seemed to haunt him,—to stand before him whiehever way he tamed bis locks—to be there, in his presence, even theugh he shut hie cyes with the thought of testing the reality of the appari- ton. He ssw her, young and lovely as she was wham ne fest knew her,—bdut with a melancholy air sub- duing the eaptivating sweetuess and the winning charme cf ber medest beauty p-—he saw her with her sylph-tike form oo fall of the elegunce and grace which heresecterian dress set off and did not mar;— he caw her with those meiting liquid eyes, 50 full of a mournfal tenderness, and with the roses ef her lips parted by the saddest smile above the strings of pearls that shone between! Yeo—2t was thas he saw her now,—eaw her only im imagination, i¢ was trac, ~—Dbat still saw her as plainly, and as clearly, and as visibly as if she were indeed there as a being of fiesh and blood ! “Oh! do not haunt me thus, Hannah—do not haunt me thus!” exclaimed the King aloud, in the bitterness of his mental misery, “Ah! I wronged thee——-my God! I wronged thee—I know that I wronged thee! But thou wilt forgive me, Hannah— thon wilt forgive me! Oh! do not look so reproach- folly upon me! I will see our son—TI will aasure my- eetf that he is happy. Ah! now thou seemest to amfle, Hannah: thou art pleased by that promise} Well, then, I will propitiate thy shade: thon shalt sleep tranquilly in thy tomb! Yes—TI will see our son ;—and if he be poor, I will enrich him—if he be ambitious, I will ennoble him—if he be in sorrow, I will sympathise with him. But thou dost not require that I shall tell him who he really is ?—thoa dost not demand that I shall confess to him the secret of his birth? Oh! now thy looks become sombre again! Well, then, I will reveal to him even that: yes, thy shade shall be appeased, Hannah—only do not haunt me thus!” And then the image of the long dead Quakeress appeared to grow fainter and fainter—dying away in a gossamer transparency, until it seemed to mingle with the ambient alr. Then the monarch, considerably tranquillised, but having resolved to lose no time in adopting measures to search for his unacknowledged son, quitted hisz chamber and joined the Royal Family at the dinner- table. When the repast was concluded,—it being now about eight oclock in the evening,—the King retired again to his own apartment, whither he sum- moned a confidential page. “Listen attentively to what I am about to say to you,” began the monarch, in a calm and deliberate voice. “You have doubtless heard of a certain Sir Richard Stamford, who possessed near Aylesbury a mansion which, as I bave been told, he disposed of some months simee to Lord Desborough ?” “TI have not only heard of that same Sir Richard Stamford, sire,” answered the page: “but I know him well by dight. Indeed, I saw him this morn- ing-——" “ This morning I” ejaculated the King: “ this morn- ing—eh? Where did you see him, sir—where did you see him?” “ May it please your Majesty, Sir Richard Stamfrd dwells in the vicinity ef Windeor,” re- turned the page: “and he frequently walks im the park. His extraordinary resemblance to your most gracious Majesty's son, the Prince of Waleg is the theme of conversation in Windsor.” “Do you kuew emactly where he Hives? de- manded the monarch, after a fu molmater’ refisc- tion. “T do, sire,” was the response. “ Then lead me thither, young gumffenean,” said the King. “I naust see thie Richard Mamferd epan n- siness of private iespertemes. And, Refh you, de— teke care that mo one knows of the visit which I om abeut to pay kim.” The page bewed eubuniesion to this command; and he and the King sallied firth frum the Canile by the most sserut macanmes ef egress. The distances which thay hed to traverse Was not very grest; and when fhey arrived within aight of A strange feeling now seized upon George III, as he paused for a moment to contemplate that dwelling which stood oat, in the solitude of its site, from amidst the scene that was otherwise dimly outlined in the obscurity of the evening: and a sensation which sp- peared to him like a presentiment of evil, gradually crept over his entire frame. At length, summoning all his presence of mind to aid him in a course along which an irresistible power seemed to be impelling him, the monareh approached the door, at which he knocked gently. The cum- mons was soon answered by the landlady—an oid woman of respectable appearance ;—and, by the light which she carried in her hand, she immediately re- cognised the King. “Hush!” said his Majesty, perceiving that he was known: and, entering the passage, he asked, “Is Sir Richard 8 within »” “ Yes, sire,” returned the landlady. “ But-———" “Not another word!” said the King, cutting short whatever objection she was about to make. “ Which is his apartment ?” “Up stairs, may it please your Majesty,” rejoined the old woman. ‘I will show your Majesty the way.” SS ElOOO®