The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 89: what you’re looking at

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

CHAPTER VIII THE LADY’S - MAID THE carriage in which Gertrude was seated arrived in a few minutes at Curzon House, Grosvenor Street. The watch- ful hall porter, on the alert for his noble mistress’s return, immediately opened the front door; and Gertrude, with the cloak-hood drawn over her countenance, issued from the carriage, ascended the stone steps in front of the mansion, and was passing rapidly through the hall toward the stair- case, when the hall porter said, ‘‘ Please, your ladyship, my lord has come back.” If death were really a phantom that appeared to those whom it was about to bear away from the realms of earth, then not even the presence of the grim destroyer suddenly starting up before the young lady’s-maid would have caused her so mortal a terror as this announcement which the porter made. It struck upon her brain like the blow of a hammer, pierced her heart with the pang of a fiery arrow, and then the next moment sent an ice-chill quivering through her entire frame. Her feet suddenly appeared to become heavy as lead, and refused to perform their office. As one who in a nightmare seeks to fly from some hideous object, but fancies that he has not the power to drag his limbs along, so was it with Gertrude. But still, while thus transfixed to the spot, and leaning against the hall table to prevent herself from falling, she tenaciously kept the ermine hood closed over her countenance. The hall porter, being overcome with drowsiness, had hurried away into the side room where he slept; and thus he did not observe that his announcement of the earl’s return had produced any extraordinary effect upon her whom he of course believed to be the countess herself. 68 COnniclooolkxs (E(0)