The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 126: what you’re looking at

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

A VISIT TO HEADCORN 105 such enormous turpitude with one whose life seemed so pure, whose heart was so generous, and whose philanthropy was so noble. And then too, Queen Indora herself had entered into certain particulars which tended to strengthen the conviction that Christian had now formed, and thus it was with no reluctance, with no fear of labouring in a worthless cause, that our young hero was at present de- voting himself to such duties as the position of circum- stances suggested. In pursuance of one of these tasks, we find him taking his seat in a railway carriage at the Southeastern Terminus, a few days after the incidents we have detailed in the pre- ceding chapters. He was bound for Headcorn, that little village in the neighbourhood of Ashford to which the un- fortunate Amy Sutton had retired in order to conceal her shame from the world. In a couple of hours he reached his destination, and on proceeding to the neat little cottage where he had last seen Amy, he learned that she was still residing there. She was not however at home at the instant he called, but Mrs. Willis, the farmer’s widow who kept the cottage, at once recognized Christian and invited him to enter. In the course of conversation he learned that Amy had become a mother a few weeks previously, but that the offspring of her dishonour perished at its birth. It further appeared that Amy had since been very ill, and that only a few days had elapsed since she left the couch of sickness to breathe the fresh air. She had now gone to ramble for a short distance in the adjacent fields, and her return might be soon expected. Mrs. Willis informed Christian that the unhappy young woman had suffered even more from mental anguish than from physical malady, that at times she had been seized with fits of violent excite- ment, while at others she had sunk into moods of the deepest despondency. All this the farmer’s widow related in a spirit of benevolent compassion, and not with the whispering tongue of scandal, nor did she exhibit the slightest curiosity in respect to the motive of our hero’s visit. Amy soon afterward made her appearance, and Christian was shocked by the alteration that had taken place in her. She was not more than twenty-five, but she looked a dozen years older; her countenance was thin, haggard, and care- worn. He had known her as exceedingly handsome; he GOMIIGIOG Ss) (SO)