The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 228: what you’re looking at

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

— —— -—-—— - —_——_—_ 999 ~—-— — oe ee ee ee THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. that there was not in all the world such a cunning dog as he was. CHAP? ER | Xb Ti. THE TWO ACCIDENTS. BEFORE removing from Mrs. two visits—one to his sister, and the other to Mr. Redcliffe. He communicated to Christina the in- telligence that hg had obtained a new situation; and the affectionate girl was delighted to find that | her beloved brother so easily procured one employ- ment after another. But on proceeding to Mrs. Macaulay’s in Mortimer Street, Christian learnt that Mr. Redcliffe had been out of town for some | days, and that it was altogether uncertain when he would come back. Christian therefore left a note for him,—making his kind friend acquainted with the change in his position, and expressing a hope to hear from him on his return to London. He | then removed to Kensington, and entered upon the | duties of his new situation. Chubb’s to a new | lodging at Kensington, Christian proceeded to pay | as it were in anguish to think that he could not adequately return the abounding fulness of the affection which she bestowed upon him. For all these reasons he made the mightiest efforts to stifle the feelings which he experienced towards Christina, and to force himself to remain in deed faithful to his wife, even if he could not be so im thought. Thus, as we have said, several weeks passed away; and Christina had not the slightest reason to suspect that he cherished so profound a passion for her. It will be remembered that on the first day of her arrival he had rapturously taken her hand, and had regarded her with a degree of fervid admiration which she could not possibly help’ ob- serving, and which had made her withdraw that hand somewhat abruptly, as the colour mounted to her cheeks and as her eyes were cast down: but she was led to reflect at the time that the man who had rescued her from insult, and had risked his life as the consequence, could not pos- sibly mean himself to insult her. Therefore this particular incident which we have just brought back to the reader’s recollection, and which oc- curred on the first day of her arrival, had not since dwelt sufficiently in her mind to amount to Two or three weeks passed; and it was now the|a suspicion as to the real state of Lord Octa- beginning of April. Three months had elapsed since Christina Ashton became the companion of Lady Octavian Meredith; and it becomes neces- sary for us to describe what had taken place during this interval. The reader will remember | that Lord Octavian had persuaded Christina not to mention to Zoe the circumstance of their previous acquaintance, nor in any way to allude to the duel. | It will likewise be borne in mind that it was with | considerable reluctance the pure-minded Christina | had assented to a course which she conceived = be fraught with a certain degree of duplicity to- wards her amiable friend and benefactress. Never- theless, influenced by Lord Octavian’s sophistical | reasoning, the artless and inexperienced Christina was led to believe it was really for the sake-of insuring Zoe’s happiness, and to avoid giving a shock to her confidence in her husband, that the secret of the duel was to be so religiously kept. For the first few weeks after our young heroine was installed in her new home, Lord Octavian’s conduct was of such a character as to give her not the slightest uneasiness. He never sought to be alone with her: he never regarded her in a way that might lead her to suspect that he cherished a | | passion for her: his demeanour was precisely what | | | again. cated herself from Lord Octavian’s arms :—be- wildered by the effects of the blow and the impassioned ejaculations which had just burst vian’s feelings towards her. But, at the expira- tion of a few weeks, a little incident occurred which began to produce a change in Christina’s mind and make her think tremblingly on several subjects. it was one day—while her brother was still in the employment of the German prince—that Christina, while descending with some degree of rapidity from her own chamber to the drawing- room, trod upon one of the brass rods of the stair- carpet which had got loose; and as it rolled beneath her foot, she fell heavily backward. Her head came with such sudden concussion against the stairs that she was so stupified as to be unable to raise herself up. Some one was at the moment ascending the lower flight: it was Lord Octavian ——and on perceiving what had happened, he sprang to our heroine’s assistance. He raised her up in his arms,—exclaiming, “ Good God, are you hurt ? | Oh, speak to me! for heaven’s sake, speak to me! Sooner my own life, ten thousand times over, than your’s !” These words startled Christina into fullest vitality Blushing, and full of confusion, she extri- it ought to be—that of a friendly but respectful | from his lips, she could not murmur forth a single courtesy. Nevertheless, the young nobleman con- | syllable of thanks for the succour he had rendered tinued to love Christina passionately, devotedly— | her: she staggered into the drawing-room, and we might almost say madly: sank upon a sofa with a returning sense of faint- to exercise the strongest control over his feelings; | ness. Octavian, who had now recorered his own and if he could not subdue them, he at least did | self-possession, rang the bell violently, and ordered not betray them. The reader has seen that there were many good qualities about Lord Octavian Meredith,—that he was naturally generous-hearted —and that though he did not love Zoe in the true meaning of the Penta: he nevertheless cherished a profound gratitude towards the wife who had brought him a fortune—and therefore experienced a full sense of his duty towards that wife. Be- sides, he perceived that she was devotedly attached to him; and it frequently made his heart cry out the maids to administer at once to Miss Ashton,— describing the accident that had occurred. He then, with considerate delicacy, left the apart- ment; and in a short time Christina was so far recovered, that she felt nothing beyond the pain arising from a severe contusion. We _ should observe that Lady Octavian Meredith was passing an hour with her father Mr. Armytage at the time that the accident occurred; and on her return, she was much distressed to hear of it. ~s LL . 0)(0)(6) (C SHn(G)