The Works of George W. M. Reynolds — page 184: what you’re looking at

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

THE RAMBLE 167 minutely examining the dress, and likewise consulting a book of costumes which she possessed, delivered herself in the ensuing manner: ‘This is intended to represent a Spanish costume, be- longing to the court of that country of about three hundred years ago. Soiled, faded, and ruined as it is, there is no difficulty in ascertaining that 1t was of the richest materials, and that its trimmings and its embellishments were of the very costliest description. I have no hesitation in pro- nouncing that such a dress could only have been intended for a lady of rank, or at least of great wealth, and further- more my opinion is that it was made in London. I do not think that any provincial milliner could have turned out such an exquisite piece of workmanship as this must un- doubtedly have been. The person for whom it was intended must have possessed a superb figure, of well-developed pro- portions, but yet of a just and admirable symmetry.” Having obtained this information, the head constable necessarily came to the conclusion that the dress belonged neither to the opera-dancer nor to her servant. It must therefore have been brought into that neighbourhood with the intention of being delivered into the hands of some lady for whom it was made. The constable remembered how it had been intimated at the inquest that the unfortunate deceased Emily Archer had boasted at the peasant’s cottage of her acquaintance with Lord Saxondale and Lord Harold Staunton. He likewise reflected that the idea had all along existed that the two women were on their way to the castle when they met their untimely and dreadful fate. Thus was it natural that he should now ask himself the question, whether that masquerade dress had been intended for Lady Saxondale, or for any guest who might happen to be staying with her at the time. If it were so, the fact might at the first glance appear to be of but the most trivial importance, inasmuch as no matter whither the women were bound at the time, or what their errand might be, the constable considered it to be perfectly clear that they had been in- tercepted by a miscreant or miscreants, who, for purposes of plunder, had assassinated them. But still he deemed it important to ascertain every possible particular in respect to the victims. He knew full well that the most insignifi- cant facts, and those which at first may appear to be most CONNIE DOOKS (E(©)