The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 276: what you’re looking at

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

256 REYNOLDS’ WORKS approaching along the avenue fell upon his ear, and just at that spot close by the door, there were no high trees to intercept the starlight. All therefore was clear, and the ancient earl popped down behind a shrub to see who the individual was that now approached the gate. It was Christian Ashton, and in the sudden surprise with which the nobleman was thus smitten, he gave such a start as to rustle the shrub, but Christian heard it not. The earl tarried where he was, crouching down like a frog; he perceived our hero insert the key in the lock, open the gate, pass forth, shut it again, and then the relocking thereof fell on his lordship’s ear. ‘Well, am I really awake?”’ asked the earl of himself; ‘or is this a dream? [I have either discovered something extraordinary to a degree, or else I am the silliest young dotard that ever existed.” Bewildered and confused, the earl wended his way back to the library, filled a bumper, tossed it off, and threw himself back in his chair to meditate. Sleep stole upon him, and he was presently awakened by the entrance of Makepeace. His first impulse was to tell the valet everything that had hap- pened; his second thought was to hold his tongue, for the idea slipped into his head that he had drunk too much wine and had been dreaming. He inquired what o’clock it was, and was told it was past eleven. Lord Osmond and the ladies had already retired to their respective chambers, and the earl accordingly went up to his own. On entering his dressing-room, the first thing he did was to glance at a par- ticular nail to which the key of the private garden door was wont to be hung, and there, sure enough, it was. Nor need this be at all astonishing to the reader, inasmuch as Makepeace had during the day procured a counterpart key, in accordance with instructions given by Lord Osmond, who remunerated him liberally for everything he did. But when the earl thus caught sight of that key, his sus- picion was strengthened to the effect that he had dreamed this new incident of the garden, and as nothing would have been more galling to his mean petty vanity than to appear ridiculous in the eyes of his servant, he breathed not a syl- lable relative to his supposed dream. Yet when Makepeace had retired, the Earl of Lascelles reflected more and more on the occurrence, and he was haunted by the apprehension CORNICLOOOLK