The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 304: what you’re looking at

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

TOO LATE 269 the room with uneven steps, as if his brain were swimming round; then he wandered about the house like a restless spirit. His sorrowing wife and the equally afflicted Rose dared not follow him; they feared to increase the terrible irritability that was gaining so rapidly upon him. At length three o’clock struck; and at that moment the ladies were in the parlour on the ground floor, while Mr. Foster was moving about in the upper part of the house. The door of the parlour was open, and the two unhappy females sat listening in breathless silence; for every time the sounds of the merchant’s footsteps ceased to be heard by them, if only for a few moments, a mortal terror seized upon them. And yet they dared not reveal to each other, even by a look, the dreadful apprehensions which they mutually felt. Presently, soon after the clock in the kitchen had struck thrice, Mr. Foster was heard to enter his dressing-room. His wife knew that he had pistols there; and, unable any longer to restrain herself, she rushed from the parlour. Rose, animated with a poignant sympathy, hastened to follow her; and the two ladies were hurrying up the stairs, when the report of firearms fell upon their ears. A scream burst from the lips of each; but still they ran — they flew to the dressing-room! And there — great God! what a spectacle met their horri- fied vision! He whom they loved was no more. Stretched upon the carpet, with his head frightfully shattered, lay the desperate suicide; while the thin white smoke was curling in wreaths toward the ceiling, and the air was im- pregnated with the smell of the powder. With a piercing scream, Rose threw herself upon the corpse of her sire and gave way to all the anguish of her indescribable grief. But the effect produced upon Mrs. Foster was different. For a few moments, nay, for nearly a minute, did she stand transfixed upon the threshold of the chamber, her eyes bent with an awful wildness upon the scene before her. Then, suddenly a rending, thrilling, penetrating shriek burst from her lips,—a lengthened vibration as the heart’s cords broke in twain; and she fell headlong, a lifeless corpse by the side of her husband. At this moment the servants entered the room, and Rose was borne away, in a senseless state, to her own chamber. (C(O) Doo SS (Cc) =