The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 138: what you’re looking at

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

112 THE COURT OF LONDON Then all in a moment the thought flashed to his mind that Mrs. Brace, taking advantage of his illness, had abandoned him and fled from the metropolis. : “Yes, by Heaven! it must be so,” he cried aloud, in a savage tone, and with a sort of subdued howl like that of a wild beast. “She has long had a hankering to bolt to America, and I remember that last night she talked a good deal about it. Perhaps, after all, those stories concerning the Gallows’ Widow’s party and the visit of Lord Florimel’s page were only pure inventions, damnable lies, in fact, to throw me the more completely off my guard and make me think that in the first place her finances were utterly beggared, and in the second place that she had plenty of business on hand at the moment to occupy her attention. Yes, yes, I see it all. The wretch has bolted. And who knows,” added Frederick Dray, another strong spasm shaking his entire form with convulsive violence, “ that she has not poisoned me? By Heaven! I feel as if I was poisoned. This nausea, this headache, these uneasy sensations — Oh, the vile woman, she has poisoned me! ”’ Then, after arriving at this horrible conclusion, theunhappy man lay motionless and silent for several minutes, pondering on the presumed treachery of his paramour and what he believed to be his own hopeless condition. But, suddenly raising himself up in the bed, he resolved, if possible, to ascertain the worst; and, staggering forth from the couch, he with pain and difficulty drew on some clothing. Then, enveloping himself in a dressing-gown, he took the light in his hand and quitted the room. Sustaining himself by the balusters, he slowly descended the stairs, his feet appearing to be as heavy as lead and all his veins tingling with uneasy sensations. The nausea at _ the stomach still continued, and the violence of the headache was unabated. Several times he thought he must sink down on the steps, or fall headlong; but he clung to the railings with one hand while he held the candle in the other; and in this manner he at length succeeded in gaining the bottom of the stairs. Entering the parlour where Mrs. Brace was accustomed to sit, he found the wax candles burning upon the table, her work-box open, and a glass with some wine in it standing near. His fears that she had abandoned the house were therefore CONNIE NOOO KS