The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 387: what you’re looking at

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

304 THE COURT OF LONDON © ‘“ But this street, or, rather, this lane,’’ said Agatha, still hanging back, “is so dark, it seems as if we were about to plunge into some unknown cavern.” ‘“Oh, nonsense, you have been reading some dreadful romance. I have been here before more than once to see Doctor Maravelli, and already know every inch of the way.” Miss Owen could make no further remonstrance, and accordingly suffered herself to be led onward into the pitch- dark lane by Mrs. Ranger. But still she walked as if every moment expecting either to fall into some yawning gulf, or to be seized upon by some hand thrust forth from the houses which they were skirting; for the truth is that Agatha, though really lacking not the average amount of feminine courage, was in the usual nervous and sickly state arising from her condition, and the influence of which was immensely agoravated by the almost killing means she adopted to con- ceal her position. We have already stated, in an early chapter of this work, that Mrs. Ranger was a perfect mass of counterfeits and frauds in person as well as in mind, a shadow of mere skin and bone, plumped up into goodly proportions by all kinds of succedaneous means and artificial contrivances; and thus a hag who knew so well how to change the outward configuration of her own form could not possibly have been at a loss to devise means of enabling Agatha to model her shape to temporary circumstances. But as a matter of course the unfortunate girl had to submit to a degree of compression that was in itself a positive crucifixion; and this incessant torture from morning till night had not failed to produce very powerful effects upon her nervous system. Hence the terror with which she was really in- spired, and not a tittle of which was assumed, as she threaded the long lane where Mrs. Ranger was now guiding her. At length they beheld a light feebly glimmering in the distance, and resembling a lamp at the extremity of a long vault. | ‘“‘ That is our destination,’’ said Mrs. Ranger, in an encour- aging voice. But Agatha scarcely felt cheered by the announcement, for the light looked feeble and dim as if burning in the chamber of the dead; and attenuated as the poor young lady’s mind was, it cannot be wondered if she experienced all kinds of dread presentiments and supernatural influences Gomicbooks (E(0)