The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 206: what you’re looking at

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

THE MYSTERIRS OF THE COURT: numerous deaths, as well as frightful injuries, mu- tilations, and contusions, were the consequence. - The gentleman whom Lettice found bending over her, was a surgeon who happened to be in the ill-fated train; and as he was unhurt, he had rendered all possible assistance to those who, though escaping death, were otherwise less fortunate than himself. Lettice had been merely stunned by the first shock of the accident: she was in all other respects completely uninjured ; and in a few minutes after her return to conscious- nees, she was enabled to rise and move about. The scene which ted itself to her contem- plation, was a frightful and a sad one. The line was encumbered in one pert with the overturned i d in another strown with the frag- ments of the shattered ones. Boxes, trunks, and portmanteaux were heaped pell-meil together,— some having been broken open by the fall, and the articles of apparel, both male and female, all cast out and mixed ~ On the slope of the embankment several wounded persons lay here. and there; and in another part there was a horrible array of mutilated and disfigured corpses. As the eyes of Lettioe wandered over this fearful grouping of the dead, her heart sickened within her, and she felt her brain reel, on eatching sight of the apparel of her travelling-companion, the unfortunate Mrs. Rayner: Yes—but it was only by the raiment that the deceased could be thus recognised: for her countenance was so horribly disfigured that scarcely a lineament, much less a trace of its former beauty, remained. Lettico— though, as the reader is aware, far from possessing any extreme sensibility--was nevertheless shocked and horrified at this tragio occurrence which had thus cut off an amiable lady in the bioom of her youth ae well as in the early sammer of her beauty, and at the very time she was on her way to re- ceive the inheritance bequeathed by her parents. Lettice beck as she averted her eyes from the shocking spectacle, and would have fallen if sho had not béen caught in the arms of surgeon who was still near her. : Those who have been unfortunate enough to Witness a ternfie railway accident, are but too _ painfully aware of the dread. confusion which is euperadded to the horror of the seane; and those who have been happy enough to escape such a spectacle, may nevertheless imagination the full range of its supervening cir- cumstances. The moans of the wounded sufferers mingling with the shrieks, the cries, and the jamentations of relatives who bave survived the dead=the hurrying to and fro of half-dismayed officials—the process of disencumbering the line as speedily as possible-—and the flocking of horrified Rereane to the spo when the accident cccurs in close vicinage of a town,—these are the salient characteristics of the scene following upon the appalling drama. And so it all was on the pre- sent cecasion. But it does not suit the purpose of our tale to dwell at any greater length thereon : suffice it to say that the surgeon who had hitherto shown so much attention to Lettice Rodney, now advieed her to enter one of the vehicles which were by this time near the spot, and proceed to the town which was at no great distance. He assured her that she must not think of continuing her journey until the morrow; for that at least a -” 197 good night's rest was requisite after the shock which she had ienced, and which, unless she wgs careful, might be followed by concussion of the brain. She did indeed feel like.one bewildered and whose thoughts were all in confusion. The medical man was kind and attentive: he gave her his arm, and conducted her towards the piles of luggage that she might select her own boxes. Here again wes a fresh source of bewilderment for Lettice Rodney: for she beheld some of her own dresses and other articles of apparel scattered about. The surgeon assisted her to separate them from the rest with which they were mixed up; and on learning from her what her name was, he took the trouble to search for everything which was marked with the initials L. BR. In short, after much trouble, perplexity, and confusion, the good-natured surgeon sucoseded in filling a couple of boxes the lids of which were beoken off, with those effects which Lettice had either been enabled to point out, or which he himself concsived to belong to her from the indications already men- tioned: then, having seen her safe into a vehicle, together with her baggaje, he took his leave,— hastening to render his assistance to the next sufferer who required it. Lettice Rodney was borne to the principal hotel in the town near to the spot where the accident occurred; and feeling exceedingly unwell, she at once retired to bed. It was not antil the third day after the accident that the effects of the shock began to wear off. It had been followed, as the medical man more than half predicted, by slight concussion, evidenced in a certain ringing in the ears and a continuous droning sound in the brain, as well as by heaviness of the head and confusion of the thoughts. During these three days, there- fore, Lettice kept her bed, and was attended upon by a surgeon living in the town. When however she began to got better, ahe felt anxious to learn some particulars as to the results of the accident ; and a local newspaper was accordingly furnished her. The particulars of the tragic occurrence itself, as well as of the proceedings before the Coroner, were given with the wonted minuteness of detail; and in perusing the sad narrative, Lettice observed that the names of all the killed were given with the exception of one lady, who was represented as being altogether unknown. It ap- with their |‘peared, indeed, that she had no card-case with her ; nor about her person was there di any letter er other document affording the slightest olue to the establishment of her identity. Now, as the name of Mrs. Rayner was al omitted from the list of killed, Lettioe Rodney at once comprehended that i¢ was this very name which ought to fill up the blank left m the sad catalogue, and that the unknown lady thus described was none other than her travelling-companion ! : Lettice was making up her mind to give this information to the landlord of the hotel, or to the surgeon who was attending upon her, with a view to have it conveyed to the proper quarter,—when she began the inspection of her trunks for the first time since she became an inmate of that hotel. She now discovered that there was a variety of articles of linen which did not belong to her, mixed up with those effects which were really her own: but when she perceived that the former were all marked with the initials L. R., she beheld the = wena —, “ar. Pn on—are OEE, ee (COL (C DOO CS (COL