The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 342: what you’re looking at

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

CHAPTER XXV THE SAFE AND THE CASH-BOX ANASTATIA repaired, as we have said, to a seat at the farther extremity of the room, and her brother the viscount, after reflecting for a few moments, lounged round the apartment in order to join her there. He was revolving in his mind how to break to his sister the particular subject of his difficulties, when Christian and Christina approached. Anastatia’s countenance immediately brightened up, and she spoke to the twins with as much cordiality as if they were long-standing friends instead of the mere acquaintances of this particular evening. The viscount joined in the discourse as a pretext for keeping near his sister, but he wished in his heart that Christian and Christina would move away to another part of the room. It happened that while Anastatia was thus talking, she mechanically arranged the body of her dress, or rather, the lace which trimmed it, and the little key fell from her bosom. It alighted on the flowing skirt of her apparel, and thus did not fall at once upon the floor, whence the carpet had been taken up for the sake of the dancers. The viscount, who was lounging against a table behind his sister’s chair, noticed that the key thus fell; the incident was however unper- ceived by Lady Anastatia as well as by the twins. For a few minutes Lord Rushbrook suffered the key to remain where it was, in order to ascertain whether his sister would immediately miss it, but finding that she did not, he dropped his handkerchief as if quite accidentally. Picking it up again, he took up the key with it, for he had so managed the fall of the kerchief that it alighted immediately over the key itself. | Another dance was now about to commence. Lady 311 CORNICLOOOKS (CO)