The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 218: what you’re looking at

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

‘THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE 189 Oh, as these dreadful syllables met mine ears, a cold tremor seized upon me, I shivered violently from head to foot, and should have fallen had I not actually clung to the door-post for support. Then with a mighty effort I so far conquered my emotions as to remain an eager, breathless listener. It was now Mrs. Owen — a name | had sometimes heard before — who spoke. ‘I am well aware,’ she said, ‘ of the truth of your Majesty’s observation, that we have gone much too far to retreat; but what I dread is exposure, and . this alarm I entertain not merely for my own sake, but that of every one implicated in the business. That meddling young man’s escape from the agents of the French pre- fect —’ Here the queen interrupted Mrs. Owen, exclaim- ing, ‘ You are sure that the intelligence is correct?’ ‘ Be- yond all possibility of doubt,’ replied Mrs. Owen, ‘ here is the letter which the prefect of police in Paris has written to the Marquis of Leveson acquainting him with all that is known of the rescue and escape.’ ‘Then as [ still remained spellbound at the threshold of the boudoir, I could hear the rustling of a paper, as of a letter being opened, and then a pause ensued in the conversa- tion, so that I felt assured the queen was reading the letter which Mrs. Owen appeared to have put into her hands. Wherefore did I not fly from that spot? Oh, cannot you comprehend the terrible nature of that curiosity which thus retained me there? And now I was shivering with a chill no longer, but trembling with a burning fever, for the blood was pouring like molten lead through my veins. Eagerly, intensely did I listen to catch the next words that might be uttered. At length the queen spoke again. She had evidently finished the perusal of the letter. ‘ Who could have been the authors of that rescue?’ she said, in the quick, sharp, querulous tone which she adopts when labouring under apprehension or annoyance. ‘ You see,’ she continued, ‘it is quite clear from the report made by the police agents to the prefect, that the plot must have been deeply laid, and that they were Englishmen who accom- plished the rescue. Who could they have been?’ ‘ That is the mystery, and likewise the source of alarm,’ observed Mrs. Owen. ‘ Certain it is that there are now several people who are acquainted with the whole plot which we have been conducting for years past; for of course the self-styled CoOnniclooolks (C(O)