The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 211: what you’re looking at

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

184 REYNOLDS’ WORKS joined Adolphus, ‘I repeat Ethel, it is you who are the murderess.’ ”’ ‘ Dreadful! horrible!’’ exclaimed Christian. ‘‘ My poor Isabella, your blood must have curdled in your veins? ”’ ‘No language, dear Christian, can describe what I felt,’’ answered the young lady; “it was indeed dreadful and shocking. I dared not penetrate into the room and face those two. Heaven alone can tell how I regained my own chamber, or whether my presence in that drawing-room had passed undiscovered and unsuspected. But when alone, I reflected on the course I should adopt. To remain any longer beneath that roof was impossible, and to betray to the knowledge of justice what I had heard appeared to me equally out of the question. I could not give up my own relatives to the scaffold. Oh, how strenuously did I endeavour to persuade myself that it was all a delusion, and that my brain, fevered by recent illness and horrors, had led me to mis- interpret some words that had caught my ears. But no, it was impossible. As I have already told you, Christian, those dreadful words were seared upon my brain as if with a red- hot iron. But what was I to do? I did not want to let the guilty ones know that I had overheard them, and yet I was resolved to remain no longer in that house of horror and of crime. I so far conquered my feelings as to appear before them once again. It was at luncheon-time. I had previously been ill; they noticed that I was looking paler than ever, and no wonder. I said something about the influence which recent horrors had exercised on my mind —I spoke of the want of change of scene as well as change of air, and the countess herself suggested that I should go into the country for a few weeks, under the care of Mrs. Gardiner the house- keeper. I eagerly caught at the proposition, and said that I would leave that very day. I could not look in the face of either of that wretched pair; I know not therefore whether my words produced any peculiar effect upon them, — in fact I remembered but little more until I found myself seated by the side of Mrs. Gardiner in the travelling-car- riage.” “And whither did you go?” inquired Christian. “Mrs. Gardiner’s son has a small farm near Tunbridge in Kent; she herself was anxious to see him and her daughter- in-law, and it had therefore been arranged that we should ECORMICLIOO KES (E(0)