The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 364: what you’re looking at

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

ANOTHER FIVE THOUSAND GUINEAS © 331 and ask her ladyship to be your banker. The fact is, she possesses a secret mine of wealth unknown to your lordship, and which I only discovered by accident. A little bird whis- pered it in my ears — ’”’ At this moment a footman entered, and made a whispered communication to Lord Sackville to the effect that a young female, who gave the name of Miss Gertrude, wished to see him immediately in the adjacent parlour. Apologizing to ' Captain Tash on account of leaving him for a few minutes, Lord Sackville hastened to the next apartment, where Gertrude put Editha’s note into his hand. Horace im- mediately perused it, but the reader must not fancy that he was very much surprised at the request contained therein, for, as Gertrude had observed to her mistress, that was an age when every titled lady was either a lender or borrower in respect to her paramour. Besides, whist and faro were all the rage in fashionable life, and many ladies were such desperate gamesters that they lost or won thousands in the course of the year. It therefore instantaneously struck Lord Sackville that the Countess of Curzon had contracted one of those “ debts of honour ”’ (Oh, the vile prostitution of the term!) which must be paid at once, and hence the interpretation of the cruel need which her ladyship expe- rienced for the money. On hinting this idea to Gertrude she hastened to confirm it, adding that her mistress was in such a dreadful state of mind for fear of being disgraced by any delay in the payment of the debt that she was well- nigh distracted. ‘“ Distracted indeed! ’’ exclaimed Horace, as he turned away irom the abigail, and began walking in an agitated manner to and fro, for he himself felt distracted at being thus applied to for an amount which he had no means of procuring at the moment. What on earth was he to do? Not for worlds would he refuse thus to befriend Lady Curzon, and yet he could not possibly see how he was to raise the money. Suddenly the extraordinary yet very significant remark of Captain Tash recurred to his mind. Could Venetia assist him? Had his wife really some peculiar resources unknown to him? It was scarcely possible. Being acquainted with all her previous history, he did not see how this could be. And yet ‘lash had spoken with the air of a man well assured of what Connicloooks (C(O)