The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 170: what you’re looking at

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

THE WOUNDED AYAH 147 Sagoonah’s object,” said the queen, “‘ in apparelling herself in my costume and taking some of my richest gems with her. Could the wretched young woman have meditated robbery and flight? ”’ ‘‘ It appears impossible,’”’ observed Christian, ‘‘ to put any other construction upon the circumstances, however much we may be disposed to suspend an opinion in the absence of a positive knowledge or of more criminatory evidence.”’ ‘“T have always thought,” said Christina, ‘‘ that Sagoonah was a strange creature,”’ ‘ But I always deemed her faithful and most devotedly attached to me,” said the queen. ‘‘ [ would have staked my existence on Sagoonah’s fidelity; I should have deemed her utterly incapable of a dishonest action.” “It is strange — most strange,”’ said Christina, in a musing tone, and her looks indicated that something peculiar was passing in her mind. ‘What is in your thoughts, my dear girl?”’ asked the queen, earnestly. Christina conceived that 1t would be improper to conceal any longer those nocturnal proceedings of Sagoonah which some weeks back had come to her knowledge, and relative to which she had chidden and remonstrated with her. She accordingly explained how she had one night detected Sa- goonah poring over a huge file of the 7’1mes, in contravention of the queen’s injunction; and how on another night she had followed Sagoonah into the chamber where her Majesty was sleeping. Indora listened with mingled alarm and astonish- ment, and then she became profoundly pensive for several minutes. In reply to questions which her Majesty presently put, Christina detailed the explanations which Sagoonah had given on the two occasions respectively. “In reference to reading the Times,’ said our young heroine, ‘‘ Sagoonah pleaded a desire to prosecute her Eng- lish studies, and I believed her. In respect to her visit to your ladyship’s chamber, she advanced a tissue of super- stitious beliefs, the grossness of which I endeavoured to point out. She declared her love for you, and spoke of the dread which she had lest evil spirits should do your ladyship a mischief. Considering that her offences arose from igno- rance and not from absolute wilfulness, and that she could not possibly entertain any sinister design, I promised to EOMIGIOOKS (CO)