The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 361: what you’re looking at

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

330 REYNOLDS’ WORKS at the villa, he hastened away to see his dearly beloved Isabella Vincent. It was six o’clock in the evening, dinner was over at the villa, and the queen said to Christina, “‘ You have not been out to-day, my dear girl, and your cheeks are somewhat pale after last night’s entertainment. Go and take an hour’s ramble in the garden or in the neighbourhood, so that you may return revivified and refreshed, to give me your kind assistance in watching by the side of Sagoonah’s couch. Christina, intending to confine her ramble to the garden, threw on a large summer straw hat, and issued forth from the villa. She had caught up a volume of poems before leaving her room, and on passing out into the garden she endeavoured to fix her attention upon the book, but she could not. Her cheek was indeed pale, as the queen had noticed, but this pallor was not the effect of the entertain- ment only. The young maiden had been thinking of all that took place between herself and Lord Octavian on the preceding night, and though not for a single instant did she regret the line of conduct she had pursued, yet she could not help feeling the influence of those occurrences. She loved one who was the husband of another, and with all her sense of duty 1t was impossible to stifle and crush this love in her heart. Yet there was a serenity, if not an actual happiness, in Christina’s thoughts, when pondering the in- tention of Lord Octavian to rejoin his wife, the amiable Zoe. ' Christina felt as if the air of the garden did not do her any good, as if it wanted that elasticity and freshness which could alone benefit her, and opening the gate she passed into the road. Thence she turned into a lane at a little dis- tance, and along this well-shaded narrow avenue she ram- bled with the book in her hand, but with her thoughts fixed on subjects far different from its contents. Be it recollected that it is the month of September of which we are writing. The day had been sultry; it had left a portion of its heaviness in the evening atmosphere, and this was the reason why Christina had fancied that the air in the garden had been deficient in elasticity. She was proceeding along the lane when all of a sudden she heard footsteps behind her, preceded by a sound as if of some one bursting through the hedge, and on looking back our heroine found herself confronted by a figure that filled ECORNICLIOOKS (E(0)