The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 255: what you’re looking at

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

CHAPTER XXIV THE QUEEN THE reader will be kind enough to remember that while Mrs. Bredalbane was reciting her narrative of awful interest to Lady Prescott, the Princess Charlotte was enchained, a spellbound listener, in the antechamber. But at the moment when Mrs. Bredalbane seemed about to enter upon the most thrilling portion of her history, the outer door of that antechamber opened suddenly, and the Princess Charlotte, turning abruptly around, gave vent to an ejacu- lation of mingled amazement and alarm on beholding the prim, starch figure of the queen. | This was the ejaculation that reached the ears of the Honourable Mrs. Bredalbane and Lady Prescott, and spring- ing from their seats by the cheerful fire that was blazing in the inner room, they rushed to the doorway, flung aside the curtain, and, to their indescribable wonderment, beheld the Princess Charlotte on one side of the antechamber and her Majesty the Queen on the other. Instantaneously struck with the conviction that their conversation had been overheard by one or the other of the royal ladies, if not by both, Mrs. Bredalbane and Lady Prescott exchanged looks of uneasiness and vexation. ‘What are you doing here, at this time of night?” demanded the queen, bending a harsh and severe look upon the young princess. “I — I— came — that is,’”’ stammered the youthful Charlotte, utterly at 2 loss what response to give or what: excuse to make, ‘‘ I came to — to — ”’ ‘Methinks, to say the least of it,’”’ said the queen, bridling up, “it is particularly indiscreet for a young princess, the daughter of England’s regent, the granddaughter of Eng- 226 Gomicbdooks (E(0)