The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 253: what you’re looking at

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

226 REYNOLDS’ WORKS I shall go to-morrow to buy a set of diamonds for her, and all sorts of jewels, and they shall be put into a beautiful casket. The countess will of course contribute her presents according to her own good taste. But I tell you what I mean to have for the central ornament of the table. There shall be an elegant porcelain vase, filled with bright new sovereigns, all of her present Majesty’s reign. In a word, Makepeace, I mean to have two thousand of them in this vase, and I think the present will be as handsome as unique.’ ‘“T ventured to suggest to his lordship that there might be some difficulty in procuring so many new sovereigns at so short a notice. Huis lordship smiled, and told me that for some time past — indeed, from the very first moment that he thought of marrying Miss Vincent to his son — he had been thinking and preparing for this particular gift. I had access to all the cupboards in his rooms except one, and of this his lordship was wont to keep the key. He bade me take that key and open the cupboard to which it belonged. I did so, and his lordship, still with a smile, indicated a jar, the mouth of which was covered over with paper, and which I at first took to be a jar of preserves or pickles. His lordship lifted off the paper, and showed me that the jar was nearly filled with bright new sovereigns. He poured a quantity out upon the bed. At that very instant Satan whispered in my ear, that shining gold became an irresistible temptation, and that bed upon which it was thus poured out became the bed of death on which the old man’s blood was likewise to be poured out! ”’ Here Makepeace paused in the midst of his narrative of frightful interest, and which Mr. Slater was duly committing to paper. The murderer shaded his countenance with his hands for nearly a minute, and then slowly resumed his tale in the same deep, hollow voice as before. ‘* His lordship informed me that there were exactly eight- een hundred sovereigns in that jar, for that whenever he had drawn money from his banker for some weeks past, he had carefully selected the coins of recent mintage and had depos- ited them there. He added that he should on the morrow call at his banker’s and procure a sufficiency to make up the two thousand. After some more conversation, his lordship dis- missed me for the night, and I retired to my own chamber. When there alone, the temptation assailed me with increasing ECORNICLIOOKS (E(0)