The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 83: what you’re looking at

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

64 REYNOLDS’ WORKS draughts of wine could serve to arouse her. The duke at once saw that something was wrong, and he was speedily made acquainted with all that had occurred. He gave vent to bitter imprecations against the mishap, and then on questioning Madame Angelique more closely as to the personal appearance of the individual who had rescued Christina, he recognized Lord Octavian Meredith. “ Ah!” he exclaimed, “‘ I have known for a long time that Meredith was deeply in love with this girl, and perhaps she will now fall entirely into his hands.” ‘“ And if not,’’ responded Madame Angelique, ‘‘ she will return to the Lady Indora, perhaps she has already returned, and perhaps Indora conjectures that it is I who had the girl carried off. I feel, my lord, as if troubles were thickening around me — ” ‘ And I also,’ muttered the duke, with deep concentrated bitterness; then he hastened to add aloud, ‘“ But we must do something, my dear madam; we are not to be beaten and baffled in this manner — ”’ ‘“ But what on earth can we do?” asked Madame An- gelique, with an air of completest bewilderment. “Yes, what can we do?” said the duke, almost equally bewildered. ‘‘ You know that the Lady Indora was already your enemy; you have the certainty that she gave the information against you to the commissioners of police, and now this occurrence will only embitter her ten thousand times more virulently against you, —ay, ten thousand, thou- sand times.” | 5 The duke looked very hard and very significantly at Madame Angelique, who returned his gaze, but evidently at first with only a vague and uncertain idea of what he meant, until the deepening shade upon his countenance, ominous and scowling, gradually excited within her a notion of what was dwelling in his mind. She flung a half-frightened glance around, as if to assure herself that there were no listeners to their discourse, and then she said, in a half- hushed voice, “ Explain yourself, my lord; tell me candidly what you mean.”’ “I mean, Madame Angelique,” he responded, likewise in a low, subdued tone, ‘‘ that the Lady Indora must be made away with by some means or another, whether Sagoonah will accomplish the deed or not.” ECORNICIIOOKS (E(0)