The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 293: what you’re looking at

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nen i nna a a tt eS CE SS =e 282 THE MYSTERIES. whisper in the Earl’s ear, “I will be terribly avenged for this! To-morrow all London shall know that Lerd Desborough is a miserable im- potent, and that his wife has been the mistress of the resuscitated felon Ramsey.” The nobleman became pale as a corpse and stag- gered back as if struck by a death-blow: but, in- stantaneously recovering himeelf, he ied in a low hoarse tone, “ Do so—and in the evening I will declare in the House of Lords the conditions upon which that same Philip Ramsey procured a pardon through the interest of the Prince of Wales!” “Ah! what is that whispering?” suddenly ex- claimed Meagies, clutching his EKoyal Highness forcibly by the arm. ‘The Prince menaces me,” was the calm olser- vation made by the Ear. “E thought as much” 4; Meagien. “Bat, by heavens! wo will be terribly avenged uporm him, if he dare injure a hair of your lord- ship’s head. And new begone, you Prince of Rascals!” added the indignant Tim, pushing his Royal Highness violently towards the door. The infuriate Princes would have blurted forth some vindictive mendee: but his lips were sealed by the terror of having the contents of the pistal sent after him. The vengeanre ef Meagin was not however quite completed yet: ane leat humi- liation he berned to inflict upen his royal adver- sary;—aend yet he wavered fer a moment. But only for 2 moment !—the temptation was too strong, and the provocation he had in various ways received was too great, not to overcome all mo- mentary scruples. Accordingly, he placed the pistol upem the mantel—bounded after the Prince —and, applying his feet te the nethermost quarter of the rogal voluptuary, kicked him down the stairs. Ga! crowning infamy—supreme homiliation! A yell of mingied pain and rage burst from the lips of his Royal Highness ;—and his retreat by means of the private dsov of Stamfeed Manor was aneom- plished with an almost imaredibie eabmity. “Now, Mr. Meagtes,” said the Bari of rough, when Tim returned, laughing heartily, to the parlour, after having performed the foregoing feat,—“ you must permit me to offer you some tes- timonial of my gratitude for the service which you have rendered me this night.” “I want nothing, my lord,” responded Tim. * You have already done enough for me by attest- ing this document and thereby confirming its vali- dity beyond all possibility of dispute on the part of the Prince,” “But inasmuch as you exhibit such a marvel- lous aptitude for the somewhat difficult task of coping with that unprincipled voluptuary,” resumed the Earl,—* and as I myself have no inclination to spare him in the slightest degree, I fancy that a certain little acknowledgment which I possess, and which bears his signature, would prove more useful in your hands than in mine. Without farther preface, therefore, I beg your acceptance of this receipt for twenty thousand pounds, in which the Prince is indedDted to me ;—and I hope you will succeed in recovering the amount.” “ By heavens! thisisa gift ngt to be refused,” exclaimed Meagles: “and yet it is a reward a thousand times greater than I can either deserve or look for,” added Meagies, as he glanced with sparkling eyes and joyous features over the LO.U. which the Prince had given the Earl on that memo- rable night of his sojourn at Desborough House. “ You need not hesitate to accept it—and I re- quire no thanks,” said Eleanor’s husband. “I should never think of enforcing payment thereof on my own account: bat you will not have the same scruples. I bestow it upon you, not only asa proof of gratitade, but likewise as a means of punishing an usprincipied voluptuary.” “On those conditions, my lord, I accept the handsome gift,” exclaimed Meagies: “and depend upon it, his Royal Highness shal be speedily brought to book.” Meagies then took leave ef the Euri of De- borough, and repaired te the wag-aiie public- house whess Wasp had bear le& im change of tho horses. CHAPTER CXKCIEL SER SECRET GONELAVE. Iv was about six o'clock in the evening, thuve. er hair, and a demeaueur that wernt ence imposing and calculated to inspise a profound respect. He was dressed ip a somewhat eld-fashioned style, bat with a remarkshle precision and mas@eeus; and in the battan-hole of his \zpeliing doubiy-bremsted coat he wore the ribend of a foreign exdhe. The second individual in this group was a fine tall, handsome man,, in the pulse of lth, but with & contain air of dissipation and debanchery beneath the ganfility of his appeasanee.. Hismemmners were those of a polished courtier: his appere! was in the best possibie taste >—and. yet@here wes a sumething about him, which, to the ege of the keen observer accustomed to look deeper then the surface, denoted the accomplished rake and finished voluptuary. The third was a still younger man, of equally aristocratic appearance with the two individuals just presented to our readers—dressed as fashion- ably and as elegantly as the second — and having all the seriousness of countenance which charac- terised the first. His age could not have exceeded thirty ;—and yet his discourse wag as measured, his air as grave, and his demeanour as imposing as if he were far more advanced along the pathway of life. The first mentioned individual was the Marquis de Saint Croix—the second was the Marquis de Bellois—the third the Duke de Villebelle: and the person who made the fourth in the little knot of deliberators, was the reader’s old friend, Mr, Page. The three first were French noblemen who had been cc wpelled to fly from their native land, on account of their aristocratic station and their poli- tical opinions. The Marquis de Saint Croix was the one who had lent twenty thousand pounds to the Prince of Wales a few months previously, at : the instigation of the Amazon: the Marquis de | Bellois was the object of Mrs. Fitzherbert’s passing t e amour during that lady’s temporary residenec in a Se a seep evennepmnr=—eenspessanememtninenn i h (COU (C DOO (CO