The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 253: what you’re looking at

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

224 REYNOLDS’ WORKS had at the time given up his senatorial duties, and since his return from the East had found no opportunity of resuming them. | When the party assembled at Oaklands, Captain Stanley began to think that the time had now arrived when he might with propriety afford indications that he aspired to Chris- tina’s hand. The nuptials of the young duke were ap- proaching, the period for mourning was expiring, there was gaiety at the ducal country-seat, and Stanley considered that it was no longer necessary to veil his feelings toward Christina so studiously as he had hitherto done. Be it under- stood that he was utterly unacquainted with everything that had passed between herself and Lord Octavian Mere- dith; he knew not that her affections had ever been in the slightest degree engaged, and though he had as yet no reason to flatter himself that he had made any impression upon her heart, he nevertheless imagined the field to be fairly open for an honourable courtship. He reflected, how- ever, that a lady of Christina’s rank, the sister of a duke, might well aspire to a lofty alliance, and that both she and her brother might look forward to the time when an aristo- cratic coronet might by marriage grace her brows. But on the other hand, Robert Stanley likewise knew that Christina had no ambition, and that where she fixed her affections she would bestow her hand. He was likewise aware that her brother would consult her happiness rather than her inter- ests in a more worldly sense, and thus he had no fear that his addresses would be repudiated on the ground that Lady Christina Vivian aimed at a loftier alliance. It was on the second morning after the arrival of the party at Oaklands that Christina rose early and rambled forth by herself in the grounds. The spring season was yielding to the warmer influence of summer; nature was all smiling around her. The spacious gardens were embellished with the choicest floral beauties, the birds were carolling blithely in the trees, the fountains were catching in their crystal jets the beams of the Orient sun. The dew was still upon the grass; there was a sweet freshness in the air, and the young lady felt her spirits rise as she passed through those beauteous grounds belonging to the immense domain that owned the lordship of her brother. Proceeding beyond the gardens, she entered the fields, and insensibly continued her ramble CONNIE NOOLKS (E()