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90 - Mysteries of London Vol II by George W M Reynolds · Mysteries of London Vol. II

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Speaker 1: History. I must carry my recollection back between seventeen and
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Speaker 1: eighteen years. Not that it requires any effort to call
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Speaker 1: to mind the leading facts in this sad history. No, no,
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Speaker 1: they are too well impressed upon my memory. But there
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Speaker 1: are certain details connected with my own position at the
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Speaker 1: time which will need the fullest explanation in order to
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Speaker 1: show how one like me could have become the friend
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Speaker 1: of Harriet Wilmot. At that epoch, I kept a boarding house,
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Speaker 1: a fashionable boarding house, in a fashionable street at the
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Speaker 1: West End. I was not then ugly and withered as
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Speaker 1: I am now. I had the remains of great beauty,
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Speaker 1: or I was very beautiful when young. I was also
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Speaker 1: of pleasant and agreeable manners, and knew well how to
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Speaker 1: do the honors of a table. You will not therefore
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Speaker 1: be surprised when I tell you that I was a
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Speaker 1: great favorite with a persons who lodged at my establishment,
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Speaker 1: and with the still more numerous visitors. It is true
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Speaker 1: that this establishment was a boarding house, and it was
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Speaker 1: conducted to all outward appearances in a most respectable manner.
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Speaker 1: But it had its interior mysteries, as well as many
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Speaker 1: other dwellings in this metropolis. The fact is that I
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Speaker 1: was well known to a large circle of nobles and
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Speaker 1: gentlemen who employed all their leisure time in intrigues and
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Speaker 1: the moors. Having been gay myself from fifteen to forty,
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Speaker 1: I was deeply versed in various modes of entrapping respectable
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Speaker 1: young persons and even ladies in the meshes artfully spread
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Speaker 1: to ensure a constant supply of new victims to the
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Speaker 1: lust of those men of pleasure. Having changed my name
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Speaker 1: and thrown a veil, as it were, over the past,
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Speaker 1: I opened the boarding house by means of the funds
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Speaker 1: supplied by my patrons, and soon experienced great success. By
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Speaker 1: paying all my tradesmen with the utmost punctuality, I acquired
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Speaker 1: a good character in the neighborhood. Or Your tradesmen can
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Speaker 1: always make or mar you, their shops being the scandal marts,
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Speaker 1: where all reports favorable or unfavorable are put into circulation,
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Speaker 1: and as they consider that those who pay well must
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Speaker 1: necessarily be respectable, regularity on that point is certain to
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Speaker 1: insure their advantageous opinion. Having thus founded the respectability of
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Speaker 1: my establishment, the rest was easy enough. The calculations made
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Speaker 1: by myself and patrons were these boarding houses are usually
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Speaker 1: inhabited by ladies possessing incomes which, though derived from sources
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Speaker 1: that are sure are too small to enable them to
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Speaker 1: set up in housekeeping for themselves. Elderly widows with their daughters.
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Speaker 1: Young widows who coming from the country are from abroad,
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Speaker 1: are strangers in London, but a wish to marry again,
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Speaker 1: and therefore seek that society which is most easily entered.
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Speaker 1: Friendless orphans who possess small innuities, aunts and their nieces
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Speaker 1: grandmothers were their granddaughters. These are the class of ladies
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Speaker 1: who principally support boarding houses. Thus there is always a
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Speaker 1: large proportion of young ladies in these establishments, and that
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Speaker 1: of a dozen there are sure to be three or
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Speaker 1: four very good looking. There can now be no difficulty
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Speaker 1: in understanding the motives which induced my patrons to place
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Speaker 1: me at the head of a boarding house. I must
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Speaker 1: now record the plan of operations. In all boarding houses,
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Speaker 1: the number of ladies preponderates greatly over that of gentlemen.
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Speaker 1: My average was usually about twenty ladies and four or
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Speaker 1: five gentlemen. Three times every week we had music and
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Speaker 1: dancing in the evening, and as there was a lack
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Speaker 1: of bows. I of course supplied the deficiency by inviting
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Speaker 1: some highly respectable gentlemen with whom I had the honor
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Speaker 1: to be acquainted. These were, of course my patrons, and
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Speaker 1: when they were at the house, they always took care
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Speaker 1: to treat me with a proper politeness, as if all
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Speaker 1: they knew of me was highly to my credit and honor.
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Speaker 1: They thus became constant visitors and were unable to improve
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Speaker 1: their acquaintance with any of the young ladies whom they fancied,
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Speaker 1: as they were very attentive also to the elderly ladies,
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Speaker 1: and as good wine and nigas were never spared upon
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Speaker 1: those occasions. The mammas, aunts and grandmammas were very fond
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Speaker 1: of our evenings entertainments, and considered the gentlemen whom I
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Speaker 1: invited to be the most delightful creatures in the world.
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Speaker 1: Sometimes rubbers of whist would vary the amusements, and as
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Speaker 1: my patrons were not only all rich, but had their
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Speaker 1: own private purposes to serve in frequenting my house, they
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Speaker 1: allowed the old ladies to cheat them without manifesting the
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Speaker 1: least ill will or else they actually played badly to
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Speaker 1: enable the said old ladies to win. It was therefore
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Speaker 1: impossible that they could have failed to become especial favorites.
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Speaker 1: And of these advantages they avail themselves in their designs
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Speaker 1: upon the young ladies. The lodgers in boarding houses are
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Speaker 1: always mean and avaricious. The smallness of their incomes does
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Speaker 1: not permit them to indulge largely in their natural taste
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Speaker 1: for dress. And yet nowhere do females maintain such desperate
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Speaker 1: struggles to appear fine in their apparel. Thus, the ladies
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Speaker 1: in boarding houses can easily be persuaded to accept of presents,
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Speaker 1: and of these my patrons were by no means sparing.
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Speaker 1: A gold chain was a certain passport to a young
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Speaker 1: lady's favor, and the velvet or silk dress would secure
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Speaker 1: the good opinion of the art or Grandmamma, and even
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Speaker 1: of the mamma. Moreovero when one of my patrons appeared
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Speaker 1: particularly attentive to any young lady, she concluded, of course
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Speaker 1: that his intentions were honorable, and in a very short
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Speaker 1: time she became his victim. In a word, my boarding house,
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Speaker 1: though ostensibly so respectable, was nothing more nor less than
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Speaker 1: a brothel conducted with regard to outward decencies, and carefully
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Speaker 1: hushing up scandals that occurred within. I must now proceed
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Speaker 1: to the principal topic of my history. It was, as
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Speaker 1: I said, between seventeen and eighteen years ago, at the
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Speaker 1: Marquis of Holmsford, who was one of my best patrons,
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Speaker 1: called upon me and said that he had seen a
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Speaker 1: beautiful young woman enter a humble lodging house in a
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Speaker 1: street not far from my own, and he directed me
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Speaker 1: to institute inquiries concerning her. I did so, and in
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Speaker 1: due course ascertain that her name was Harriet Wilmot, that
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Speaker 1: she lived with her father in poor lodgings, and that
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Speaker 1: they were by no means well off. I managed to
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Speaker 1: get acquainted with Harriet and called upon her. Her father
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Speaker 1: was very ill, dying indeed of a broken heart through
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Speaker 1: losses in business. It moreover appeared that he had arrived
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Speaker 1: in London only a short time before, and with a
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Speaker 1: small sum of ready money, which he embarked in a
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Speaker 1: little speculation that totally failed. They were sorely pressed by
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Speaker 1: penury when I thus sought them out, and as I
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Speaker 1: then knew well how to offer assistance in a delicate
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Speaker 1: manner that could give no offense, I was looked upon
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Speaker 1: by the poor young woman as an angel sent to
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Speaker 1: minister to the wants of her dying father. The Marquis
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Speaker 1: supplied me liberally with the means of thus aiding them,
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Speaker 1: and I called regularly every day. My plan was to
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Speaker 1: instill into Harriet's mind elevated notions of the position which
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Speaker 1: she ought to reach through the medium of her personal attractions.
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Speaker 1: I told her of great lords who had fallen in
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Speaker 1: love with females in obscure stations, and who had married them.
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Speaker 1: And as I also supplied Harriet with clothes, I took
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Speaker 1: good care that they should be of such a nature
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Speaker 1: as was calculated to engender ideas of finery. But all
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Speaker 1: my arts failed to corrupt the pure mind of miss Wilmot.
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Speaker 1: She listened to me with respect, never with interest. She
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Speaker 1: wore the garments that I gave her, because she had
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Speaker 1: none other. I saw that it was no use to
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Speaker 1: think of introducing the marquis to her immediately, and such
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Speaker 1: was the passion he had conceived for her, that he
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Speaker 1: did not become lukewarm with delay. In three weeks after
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Speaker 1: I first became acquainted with the Wilmots, the old man died.
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Speaker 1: The purse of the Marquis supplied through my agency the
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Speaker 1: means of respectable interment. And when the first week of
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Speaker 1: mourning was over, I gently upon Harriet's situation. She threw
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Speaker 1: herself into my arms, called me her benefactress and only friend,
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Speaker 1: and thanked me for my kindness towards her deceased father
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Speaker 1: and herself in such sincere, such ardent, and yet such
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Speaker 1: artless terms that for the first time in my life
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Speaker 1: I experienced a remorse and the treacherous part I was playing.
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Speaker 1: Harriet declared that she could not possibly think of being
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Speaker 1: a burden to me, and implored me to follow up
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Speaker 1: my goodness towards her by procuring her a menial situation.
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Speaker 1: As she was determined to go out to service, I
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Speaker 1: told her I would consider what I could do for her,
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Speaker 1: and I went away more than half resolved to gratify
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Speaker 1: her wish and place her beyond the reach of the
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Speaker 1: Marquis by obtaining for her a situation through the means
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Speaker 1: of my tradesman. But when I reached my own house,
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Speaker 1: I found the Marquis waiting for me, and he was
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Speaker 1: so liberal with his gold and so useful to me
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Speaker 1: as my best patron, that I did not dare offend him.
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Speaker 1: I accordingly hushed my scruples and communicated to him all
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Speaker 1: that had just occurred. He directed me to get Harriet
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Speaker 1: into my house on any terms and leave the rest
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Speaker 1: to him. I was over persuaded, and the next day
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Speaker 1: I went to Harriet and said, were my dear child.
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Speaker 1: I've been thinking of your wish to earn your own living,
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Speaker 1: and I have a proposal to make to you. I
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Speaker 1: require a young person to act as my housekeeper. Will
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Speaker 1: you take the place. You shall have your own room
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Speaker 1: to yourself, and I will make you as comfortable as
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Speaker 1: I can. The tears of gratitude and the tokens of
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Speaker 1: affection towards me with which that friendless young woman met
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Speaker 1: my offer actually wrung my heart. I wept myself, Yes,
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Speaker 1: I wept myself, and I weep now too, as all
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Speaker 1: those memories returned to me with overwhelming force. Harriet Wilmot
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Speaker 1: thus entered my service. But the very same day that
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Speaker 1: she came into my house, I was attacked with a
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Speaker 1: sudden and malignant fever, which threw me upon a sick
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Speaker 1: bed for ten days. I was insensible to all that
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Speaker 1: was passing around me, and when I awoke from that
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Speaker 1: mental darkness. I found Harriet by my bedside for ten
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Speaker 1: days and ten nights had she watched near me, scarcely
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Speaker 1: snatching a few moments repose in the arm chair. She
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Speaker 1: was pale and wan with long vigils, But how her
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Speaker 1: beautiful countenance lighted up with the animation of joy when
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Speaker 1: the physician declared that I should recover, and this same
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Speaker 1: physician assured me that I owed my life more to
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Speaker 1: the care of the faithful Harriet than to his skill.
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Speaker 1: I was overwhelmed by this demonstration of so much gratitude
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Speaker 1: on her part, and I determined to place her beyond
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Speaker 1: the reach of danger the moment I was convalescent. But
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Speaker 1: when I recovered and was once more involved in the
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Speaker 1: bustle and intrigues of my business, my good resolutions rapidly vanished,
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Speaker 1: for the gold and the patronage of the Marquis of
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Speaker 1: Holmsford were so necessary to me. The Marquis now became
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Speaker 1: a more constant visitor than ever at the house, and
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Speaker 1: he found opportunities to pay his attentions to Harriet. But
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Speaker 1: she did not comprehend his hints, and he soon spoke
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Speaker 1: more boldly. Then she grew alarmed still, as she afterwards
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Speaker 1: told me, she did not choose to annoy me by complaints,
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Speaker 1: and she contented herself by shunning the Marquis as much
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Speaker 1: as possible. At length, one evening, when in flame with wine,
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Speaker 1: he forced his way into her chamber and declared his
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Speaker 1: use in such unequivocal terms that the poor creature could
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Speaker 1: no longer support his importunities. She indignantly commanded him to
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Speaker 1: leave her. He grew bolder and attempted violence. She escaped
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Speaker 1: from him and quitted the house from a lodging, which
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Speaker 1: she immediately took. She wrote me a letter detailing the
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Speaker 1: insults she had endured, reiterating all her former expressions of
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Speaker 1: gratitude towards me, acquitting me of all blame in the transaction,
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Speaker 1: but declaring that, as she supposed, I could not prevent
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Speaker 1: the Marquis from visiting at the house, she must respectfully
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Speaker 1: but firmly decline remaining in my service. I hastened to her,
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Speaker 1: and was not very urgent in my desire that she
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Speaker 1: should return, for I remembered her goodness to me when
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Speaker 1: I was ill, and my heart was softened in her
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Speaker 1: favor by means of one of my tradesmen. She almost
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Speaker 1: immediately obtained a situation as nursery maid in a family
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Speaker 1: residing at Lower Holloway. I kept this circumstance concealed from
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Speaker 1: the Marquis of Holmsford, to whom I declared that I
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Speaker 1: knew not whither she had gone, and it was impossible
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Speaker 1: that he could now blame me, as he himself had
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Speaker 1: driven her by his rashness from my house. I must
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Speaker 1: observe that all these incidents, from the first moment of
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Speaker 1: my acquaintance with Harriet until she thus quitted my house,
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Speaker 1: occurred within a period of three months. Harriet was not
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Speaker 1: happy in her new place. She found that her mistress
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Speaker 1: was an ill tempered vixen and her master a despotic upstart.
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Speaker 1: But an event occurred which entirely changed her gloomy prospects
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Speaker 1: and enabled her to leave her situation without the necessity
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Speaker 1: of seeking for another. During her walks with the children
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Speaker 1: whom she had attended upon, she met with a gentleman
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Speaker 1: of middle age, but handsome person and agreeable manners, and
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Speaker 1: some accident, which I have forgotten, made them acquainted. From
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Speaker 1: that time they met every day. The gentleman became deeply
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Speaker 1: enamored of her, but never once did he make a
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Speaker 1: dishonorable proposal. She told him that she was a poor,
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Speaker 1: friendless orphan, and he pitied her. In a short time
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Speaker 1: he learned to appreciate the purity of her mind, and
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Speaker 1: he loved her. He offered her his hand, but his
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Speaker 1: pride imposed a condition. He was wealthy, he was a widower,
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Speaker 1: he had two children, and he probably disliked the idea
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Speaker 1: of introducing to the world as his wife one who
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Speaker 1: had been a servant. She was unhappy in her place,
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Speaker 1: without friends, without protectors, and she yielded to his solicitations
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Speaker 1: for a private union. They were married married at Norwood,
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Speaker 1: where the register will doubtless attest the fact the gentleman
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Speaker 1: was mister Markham of Markham Place. I never was in
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Speaker 1: the neighborhood of that mansion until my a year ago.
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Speaker 1: Then I sought for the first time, and I sighed
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Speaker 1: as I thought of Harriet Wilmot, For she ought to
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Speaker 1: have become the mistress of the spacious dwelling, and so
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Speaker 1: she doubtless would have become, had not my treachery blighted
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Speaker 1: all her hopes, all her prospects. But I must go
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Speaker 1: back to resume the threat of my history. In due course,
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Speaker 1: mister Markham took a comfortable lodging for his young bride
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Speaker 1: in a street somewhere near Brunswick Square. Precisely ten months
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Speaker 1: after their union. Catherine was born, and mister Markham now
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Speaker 1: seriously thought of acknowledging his wife and child. She had
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Speaker 1: hitherto passed by the name of missus Wilmot since the marriage,
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Speaker 1: and the husband regretted that he had not at once
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Speaker 1: boldly proclaimed his second matrimonial connection to the world. All
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Speaker 1: these facts I subsequently learned from Harriet's own lips. It
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Speaker 1: was about three months after the birth of Catherine, but
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Speaker 1: I met Harriet one day in the street, and she
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Speaker 1: seemed to me more beautiful than ever. She had written
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Speaker 1: to announce to me that she was married, but without
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Speaker 1: saying to whom, nor indicating where she lived. When I
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Speaker 1: thus encountered her holding her babe in her arms, she
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Speaker 1: invited me to her lodgings, for she said, my husband
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Speaker 1: will not be offended with me for communicating all the
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Speaker 1: particulars of my happiness to you, since you were the
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Speaker 1: only friend I found in the time of my poverty,
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Speaker 1: and when my poor father was on his death bed. Besides,
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Speaker 1: she added, with a smile of infinite satisfaction, my husband
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Speaker 1: is about to acknowledge me as his wife and take
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Speaker 1: me to his own home. While we were yet speaking,
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Speaker 1: the Marquis of Holmsford rode by on horseback, and as
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Speaker 1: he turned to nod to me, he instantly recognized Harriet.
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Speaker 1: She also knew him, and, hurrying along with some alarm,
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Speaker 1: entered her lodging, which was close by. I followed her.
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Speaker 1: The incident which had disturbed her was soon forgotten, and
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Speaker 1: she then told me all the particulars of her first
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Speaker 1: meeting and her subsequent marriage with mister Markham, and how
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Speaker 1: she doted it upon her child. Never did I behold
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Speaker 1: a mother so enthusiastic in her tenderness towards the offspring,
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Speaker 1: which she loved and in which she felt pride. I
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Speaker 1: took leave of her and promised to call again soon.
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Speaker 1: On my return home, I was by no means disappointed
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Speaker 1: to find the Marquis waiting for me. He said, you
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Speaker 1: are acquainted with Harriet's abode. How happens it that you
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Speaker 1: have kept it secret from me? I assured him that
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Speaker 1: I had only just discovered it. Well, it may be
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Speaker 1: as you assert, he continued, but do not deceive me
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Speaker 1: in what I now require at your hands. Harriet looks
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Speaker 1: more lovely than ever, and all my passion for her
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Speaker 1: is real. She must be mine, and to you I
19:03
Speaker 1: look for aid in obtaining for me the gratification of
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Speaker 1: my wishes. I told him that Harriet was married, and
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Speaker 1: that the child he had seen in her arms was
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Speaker 1: her own, but I did not mention the name of
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Speaker 1: her husband. I care nothing for her marriage or her maternity,
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Speaker 1: said the Marquis. She is charming, and that's all I
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Speaker 1: choose to think of. When money and cunning can produce
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Speaker 1: anything in the city, is it not probable that I
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Speaker 1: should entertain ridiculous scruples the money I possess, And if
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Speaker 1: cunning were a wealth, you would be the richest woman
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Speaker 1: in England. I remember this conversation as well as if
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Speaker 1: it only occurred yesterday. Vainly did I represent to his
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Speaker 1: lordship the difficulty of accomplishing the design he had in view.
19:52
Speaker 1: I assured him that Harriet's virtue was beyond the possibility
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Speaker 1: of corruption. He replied that art of could not fail
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Speaker 1: to succeed, and that if I appeared cold in the
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Speaker 1: cause he would employ another and less scrupulous agent. I
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Speaker 1: trembled lest I should lose his patronage and that of
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Speaker 1: his friends, and I promised to do my best. The
20:16
Speaker 1: Marquis left me saying, within a week, I shall expect
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Speaker 1: that you will have matured some scheme that may make
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Speaker 1: her mine, and your reward shall be liberal. I was
20:28
Speaker 1: now sorely perplexed, and all longer hesitated to obey the Marquis,
20:33
Speaker 1: because my own interests were concerned. But I knew not
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Speaker 1: what project to devise at length. After having racked my
20:40
Speaker 1: brain for some short time, I hit upon a device
20:43
Speaker 1: which seemed to be the most feasible my ingenuity could suggest.
20:47
Speaker 1: But I resolved to cultivate the intimacy of Harriet. Or
20:50
Speaker 1: nearly a week ere I put it into execution. I
20:55
Speaker 1: accordingly contrived to be almost constantly with her for the
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Speaker 1: next five days, saving when she expected her husband of
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Speaker 1: his coming. She was usually made aware by letters from him.
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Speaker 1: Some of these epistles she read to me in the
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Speaker 1: ingenious confidence of her pure soul, And well might she
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Speaker 1: rejoice in them, well might she treasure them, for they
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Speaker 1: were replete with tenderness and love. I know not exactly
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Speaker 1: now what it was that prompted me to possess myself
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Speaker 1: of some of those letters in which mister Markham spoke
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Speaker 1: of Harriet as his wife and the infant Catharine as
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Speaker 1: his own child. But I most probably thought that my
21:36
Speaker 1: knowledge of that secret union and its fruit might be
21:39
Speaker 1: turned to advantage, especially as I saw that a wealthy
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Speaker 1: and well born man was struggling with his pride whether
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Speaker 1: to proclaim to the world his marriage with an obscure servant,
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Speaker 1: or whether he should continue to keep the affair secret
21:54
Speaker 1: at all events. I cannot conceal the fact that I abstracted,
21:57
Speaker 1: during a temporary absence of Harriet from the room on
22:01
Speaker 1: one occasion, when I called three of the letters from
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Speaker 1: her desk, three epistles in which mister Markham alluded in
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Speaker 1: the most unequivocal terms to his private marriage with Harriet
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Speaker 1: and the existence of the fruit of that union. These
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Speaker 1: letters were addressed simply Missus Wilmot, and without the mention
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Speaker 1: of her abode on the envelope, because, as I learnt
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Speaker 1: from Harriet, mister Markham always sent them by a messenger
22:27
Speaker 1: from a tavern in Lower Holloway, never from his own house,
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Speaker 1: nor by any one of his servants, And by omitting
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Speaker 1: the address, no clue could be afforded to impertinent curiosity
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Speaker 1: should a letter of assent happen to be lost. But
22:44
Speaker 1: to return to the scheme which I had formed for
22:47
Speaker 1: the ruin of Harriet. During the five days that we
22:50
Speaker 1: were so constantly together, as I have stated above, I
22:54
Speaker 1: professed the most sincere friendship for Harriet, and she declared
22:58
Speaker 1: that the feeling was not only reciprocal, that on her
23:02
Speaker 1: part it was founded on the most sincere gratitude for
23:06
Speaker 1: my former kindness. And grateful she really was. It was
23:10
Speaker 1: her nature to be grateful and good towards any one
23:14
Speaker 1: who was good or seemed good to her. But she
23:18
Speaker 1: could not even have hated her bitterest enemies, had she
23:21
Speaker 1: known any persons who were openly and avowedly her foes.
23:26
Speaker 1: She was all gentleness and amiability, all ingenuousness and candor.
23:32
Speaker 1: Why do I thus dwell upon her excellent qualities? Since
23:36
Speaker 1: the more blameless was she, the less pardonable was I.
23:40
Speaker 1: When I took leave of her on the fifth evening,
23:42
Speaker 1: she said to me, mister Markham will not be able
23:45
Speaker 1: to visit me at all to morrow you would afford
23:48
Speaker 1: me pleasure by dining with me and passing a long evening.
23:52
Speaker 1: The invitation exactly suited my purposes, and I readily accepted it.
23:57
Speaker 1: But on the following day, instead of repairing to Harriet's
24:00
Speaker 1: lodging at four o'clock has promised, I went straight to
24:04
Speaker 1: Holmsford House. The Marquis was at home. He awaited my coming,
24:09
Speaker 1: for I had communicated my design to him by note
24:12
Speaker 1: on the preceding evening. Holmsford House has long been notorious
24:17
Speaker 1: for the debaucheries of its lordly owner. Separated from his
24:22
Speaker 1: wife and enjoying an immense fortune, the Marquis as for
24:25
Speaker 1: many years letter life, which were he a private individual,
24:29
Speaker 1: would exclude him from society, but which does not, in
24:33
Speaker 1: the least degree injure him in the elevated sphere wherein
24:38
Speaker 1: he moves. His dwelling is fitted up in the most luxurious,
24:42
Speaker 1: the most voluptuous manner, and is provided with all possible
24:46
Speaker 1: means to facilitate his designs upon those virtuous females who
24:51
Speaker 1: may be entrapped into his mansion, but who will not
24:54
Speaker 1: yield to him, save when overcome by violence, and to
24:58
Speaker 1: that extreme measure as the marquis never hesitated to resort,
25:04
Speaker 1: for who would think, however, a greater wrongs of appealing
25:07
Speaker 1: to the law against the nobleman, so powerful, so wealthy,
25:11
Speaker 1: and so unprincipled as the Marquis of Holmesford. There was
25:17
Speaker 1: one room in Holmsford House which I must particularly describe.
25:22
Speaker 1: It was a bedchamber, small but furnished in the most
25:26
Speaker 1: sumptuous manner. It had no side windows, but there was
25:30
Speaker 1: a skylight on the roof, and the double set of
25:33
Speaker 1: panes were fixed in the ample wood work, with an
25:35
Speaker 1: interval of perhaps four inches between each pair, and thus
25:40
Speaker 1: no screams, no shrieks could penetrate beyond that strangely contrived window.
25:47
Speaker 1: The double panes deadened every sound which transpired in that room.
25:52
Speaker 1: Similar precautions were adopted in respect to the other parts
25:56
Speaker 1: of the chamber. The doors were double and covered with
25:59
Speaker 1: thick bay, so that they fixed tightly in their setting.
26:03
Speaker 1: The walls were also double, with a considerable interval between them.
26:07
Speaker 1: There was even a false floor half a foot above
26:10
Speaker 1: the proper one, and carpets were spread so thickly that
26:14
Speaker 1: not even a footstep echoed in that chamber. I shall
26:19
Speaker 1: now continue the narrative of my project against Harriet. Immediately
26:24
Speaker 1: upon my arrival in Holmesford House, I wrote a note
26:27
Speaker 1: to the intended victim. It was thus worded, come to me,
26:31
Speaker 1: dearest Harriet, with out an instant's delay. After the receipt
26:35
Speaker 1: of this I am in sad tribulation at the house
26:39
Speaker 1: of a friend, but I cannot spare a moment to
26:42
Speaker 1: give you an idea of the sudden misfortune which has
26:45
Speaker 1: overtaken me. If you ever loved me, and if I
26:48
Speaker 1: have the slightest claim upon your kindness, come the bearer
26:53
Speaker 1: of this note will conduct you to the friend's house
26:55
Speaker 1: where I am. Poor harrietatually conceive that it must be
27:01
Speaker 1: some serious event which could prevent me from keeping my
27:05
Speaker 1: engagement with her, and she hesitated not to accompany the
27:09
Speaker 1: female servant who delivered the note to her. She took
27:13
Speaker 1: her child in her arms. The servant of the marquis
27:16
Speaker 1: suggested that she should leave the babe in the care
27:19
Speaker 1: of Harriet's own domestic but Harriet would never separate herself
27:23
Speaker 1: from her beloved infant. The servant could not offer further
27:27
Speaker 1: remonstrance on this point, and Harriet entered the Hackney coach
27:31
Speaker 1: which was waiting to convey her to destruction. It was
27:36
Speaker 1: in the very depth of winter, and consequently quite dark
27:41
Speaker 1: when Harriet reached Holmesford House. The lamps over the entrance
27:45
Speaker 1: had been purposely left unlighted, and thus the poor young
27:48
Speaker 1: woman did not observe the vast exterior of the mansion
27:52
Speaker 1: to which she had come. But when the front door
27:56
Speaker 1: had closed behind her and she found herself in the hall,
28:00
Speaker 1: she exhibited some alarm, for dimly, as it was seen
28:04
Speaker 1: by the luster of one faint lamp, she observed enough
28:07
Speaker 1: to convince her that she was in no common dwelling.
28:11
Speaker 1: The servant, who had of course received her cue, noticed
28:15
Speaker 1: the impression thus made upon her, and hastened to say
28:18
Speaker 1: something of a reassuring nature. And thus in a few
28:21
Speaker 1: minutes Harriet was inveigled into the chamber which I have
28:25
Speaker 1: before described. Permit me to hold the baby, Madam, said
28:30
Speaker 1: the servant. Your friend is ill in that bed. Harriet,
28:35
Speaker 1: doubtless bewildered at the strangers of the whole proceeding, mechanically
28:40
Speaker 1: passed the child to the servant and advanced towards the bed,
28:44
Speaker 1: the curtains of which were drawn around. She heard the
28:48
Speaker 1: door's close. She looked round. The servant had disappeared with
28:52
Speaker 1: a babe, and Harriet was now alone with the Marquis
28:57
Speaker 1: of Holmsford. Two hours elapsed, I was awaiting in a
29:02
Speaker 1: distant part of the mansion the issue of that foul plot.
29:06
Speaker 1: Wine and generous cordials were on the table, and I
29:10
Speaker 1: drank deeply of them to drown the sad thoughts which
29:13
Speaker 1: oppressed me. Never had I before experienced, never have I
29:18
Speaker 1: since known such terrible emotions. All the particulars of my
29:24
Speaker 1: connection with Harriet rushed to my mind. I remembered how
29:28
Speaker 1: I first beheld her affectionately tending the dying bed of
29:32
Speaker 1: her father, how she sat day and night by my side,
29:37
Speaker 1: ministering unto me and my malady, as if she were
29:40
Speaker 1: my daughter. How I had seen her a happy wife,
29:45
Speaker 1: content with retirement and privacy, content even with being, as
29:49
Speaker 1: it were, an unacknowledged wife, so long as she enjoyed
29:53
Speaker 1: her husband's love. And how she had conducted herself as
29:57
Speaker 1: a tender mother, fondling and nursing her innocent little one.
30:02
Speaker 1: I thought of all this, and at the same time
30:05
Speaker 1: I was almost distracted with the idea of the infernal
30:08
Speaker 1: treachery which had now ensnared her. Years have passed since
30:14
Speaker 1: that foul night, and its memory haunts me still. I
30:19
Speaker 1: have made many many lovely girl's victims to the lust
30:23
Speaker 1: of my employers. But none, no, not one, do I regret,
30:29
Speaker 1: save Harriet Markham. Two hours elapsed, I say, and at
30:35
Speaker 1: length the Marquis of Holmsford made his appearance. He was
30:39
Speaker 1: dreadfully frightened. His manner was wild and excited. I could
30:43
Speaker 1: not gather from the expression of his confidence whether he
30:47
Speaker 1: had triumphed or lost the victory to which he aspired
30:51
Speaker 1: over a virtuous and defenseless woman. I interrogated him with
30:54
Speaker 1: a gesture of impatience. Damnable woman, he exclaimed, if there
31:00
Speaker 1: were not such creatures as you, there would be less
31:03
Speaker 1: scopeful the vices of men like me begone. I would
31:06
Speaker 1: not endure another such scene. No, not were I offered
31:10
Speaker 1: a sovereign crown. I made some observation, but he interrupted
31:15
Speaker 1: me fiercely and commanded me to depart. I dared not disobey.
31:20
Speaker 1: His manner was actually terrific. He appeared as if he
31:23
Speaker 1: had just witnessed some horrible specter, or had perpetuated a
31:28
Speaker 1: dreadful crime. I returned home, and never did I pass
31:32
Speaker 1: such a miserable night. All next day I waited in
31:36
Speaker 1: expectation of hearing from the marquis, but no communication arrived.
31:42
Speaker 1: In the evening, I went to Harriet's lodging and saw
31:45
Speaker 1: the landlady in answer to my inquiries. She said, missus
31:49
Speaker 1: Wilmot remained out until a very late hour last night,
31:52
Speaker 1: or rather this morning. It was nearly one when she
31:55
Speaker 1: came home with her child, and she was in an
31:58
Speaker 1: almost frantic state, and not so wildly and incoherently that
32:02
Speaker 1: I could not comprehend her. I persuaded her to retire
32:06
Speaker 1: to her chamber, and offered to sit up with her.
32:09
Speaker 1: She allowed me to conduct her to her room, but
32:12
Speaker 1: insisted on remaining alone. Poor thing. I heard her walking
32:16
Speaker 1: up and down the chamber until past five, and then
32:19
Speaker 1: all became quiet. I suppose she had retired to bed.
32:24
Speaker 1: When I rose at eight, I learned from the servant
32:27
Speaker 1: that she had gone out with her child half an
32:30
Speaker 1: hour previously. She has not been back since, and I
32:33
Speaker 1: feel alarmed at her absence. Some sudden calamity has perhaps
32:38
Speaker 1: overtaken her. I said, terribly frightened at these tidings. Have
32:43
Speaker 1: the kindness to send your servant to let me know
32:46
Speaker 1: when she returns, but you need not tell her that
32:49
Speaker 1: you do. So I have my reasons. The landlady, believing
32:53
Speaker 1: me to be an intimate friend of Harriet, readily promised
32:56
Speaker 1: compliance with my request. I was about to depart when
33:00
Speaker 1: she suddenly recollected something and said, I had nearly forgotten
33:04
Speaker 1: to tell you that about an hour ago the messenger
33:08
Speaker 1: that usually comes from the gentleman who visits Missus Wilmot,
33:11
Speaker 1: and who she says is her husband. Yes, yes, cried
33:14
Speaker 1: I impatiently. The messenger has left a small packet for her,
33:19
Speaker 1: continued the landlady. Let me see it, I said, thinking
33:23
Speaker 1: that its contents might afford me some clue to the
33:25
Speaker 1: mystery of Harriet's disappearance. I am acquainted with all Missus
33:30
Speaker 1: Wilmot's affairs, for you know how intimate we are. The
33:34
Speaker 1: landlady showed me the packet without the least hesitation, and
33:37
Speaker 1: I instantly recognized in the address the handwriting of mister Markham.
33:43
Speaker 1: I longed to open the parcel, but dared not, so
33:46
Speaker 1: I took my departure, having reiterated my desire to be
33:50
Speaker 1: informed of Harriet's return the moment it might happen. The
33:55
Speaker 1: next evening came and I had neither heard from the
33:58
Speaker 1: landlady nor seen the key. I sent a note to
34:02
Speaker 1: the letter, but he had left town on the previous day.
34:05
Speaker 1: A thought struck me, could he have persuaded Harriet to
34:09
Speaker 1: accompany him? Had he so far overcome the virtue of
34:13
Speaker 1: that pure minded creature. I thought of the packet from
34:16
Speaker 1: mister Markham, and longed to ascertain its contents. A strong
34:21
Speaker 1: suspicion lurked in my mind that it was connected with
34:24
Speaker 1: the affair in some way or another. I, however, waited
34:28
Speaker 1: a week, and, hearing no tidings of any kind concerning Harriet,
34:33
Speaker 1: went boldly to her lodgings. Missus Wilmot's disappearances so strange.
34:39
Speaker 1: I said to the landlady that, having consulted my legal adviser,
34:43
Speaker 1: and acting on the plea of being her intimate friend,
34:46
Speaker 1: I am determined to open that packet which was sent
34:49
Speaker 1: for her, and which I think must afford some clue
34:52
Speaker 1: as to her absence. The landlady gave me the packet, saying,
34:57
Speaker 1: if you take the responsibility on yourself, well and good
35:01
Speaker 1: but I will have nothing to do with the business.
35:04
Speaker 1: This was better than I had even expected, and I
35:07
Speaker 1: departed with the parcel. I was not long in returning
35:11
Speaker 1: to my house, and the moment I had reached my
35:14
Speaker 1: own chamber, I tore open the parcel. It contained four letters,
35:20
Speaker 1: but the contents of one will explain the presence of
35:23
Speaker 1: the other three. That one was from mister Markham, and
35:28
Speaker 1: ran as nearly as I can recollect. Thus, after the
35:32
Speaker 1: terrible discovery which I made last night, I can never
35:36
Speaker 1: see you more. You have wantonly betrayed the confidence and
35:40
Speaker 1: affection of a man who descended from his eminence to
35:43
Speaker 1: court your love in your social obscurity. But the moral
35:48
Speaker 1: bond that united us is riven asunder, and the legal
35:52
Speaker 1: one shall be equally broken, should you dare to represent
35:56
Speaker 1: yourself as my wife. The most horrible suspicion haunts me
36:01
Speaker 1: that even your child may not be mine. Keep that infant, then,
36:06
Speaker 1: and be good to it, if your depraved heart will
36:09
Speaker 1: allow you, and that you may not sink into the
36:12
Speaker 1: lowest grades of crime from the embraces of the noble
36:15
Speaker 1: libertine to whom you have abandoned yourself. I have instructed
36:20
Speaker 1: my banker to pay to you, as missus Wilmot, a
36:23
Speaker 1: monthly stipend of ten pounds. I have destroyed all your letters,
36:28
Speaker 1: save the three which I enclose, and I return them
36:31
Speaker 1: to you in the hope that a re perusal of
36:34
Speaker 1: them will place before you, in all its glaring flagrancy,
36:38
Speaker 1: the contrast between your protestations and your deeds. This terrible
36:45
Speaker 1: document bore no signature, but it was impossible, either by
36:49
Speaker 1: its nature or the handwriting, that it could have emanated
36:53
Speaker 1: from any one save mister Markham. The three letters accompanying
36:57
Speaker 1: it contained expressions of sincere gratitude and fervent affection towards
37:02
Speaker 1: mister Markham, and denoted three particular phrases in Harriet's connection
37:07
Speaker 1: with him, namely her assent to their union, the fact
37:11
Speaker 1: that she was in a way to become a mother,
37:14
Speaker 1: and the announcement of approaching maternity. I wept as I
37:18
Speaker 1: read them. I wept as I thought of all I
37:21
Speaker 1: had done in accomplishing the ruin of poor Harriet. The
37:26
Speaker 1: Marquis came no more to my house. I saw by
37:30
Speaker 1: the newspapers that he had returned to London a few
37:33
Speaker 1: weeks after the sad incidents, just described again. I sought
37:37
Speaker 1: an interview with him, but he would neither see nor
37:40
Speaker 1: correspond with me. My other patrons deserted me. They had
37:44
Speaker 1: been introduced by the marquis, and finding that he had
37:47
Speaker 1: some private reason to shun me, they fell off rapidly.
37:52
Speaker 1: I was compelled to break up my establishment. It ruined
37:55
Speaker 1: me in pocket, as it had ruined many many young
37:58
Speaker 1: females in virtue. But for none of my victims did
38:02
Speaker 1: I w reck no, not one save Harriet Markham. I
38:08
Speaker 1: fell gradually lower and lower in the scale of my avocations,
38:13
Speaker 1: but still I contrived to gain a living in various
38:16
Speaker 1: ways which have no connection with the object of this narrative.
38:20
Speaker 1: It was about a year after the sad events above
38:22
Speaker 1: recorded that I one day met Harriet Wilmot face to
38:26
Speaker 1: face in the neighborhood of Bloomsbury. She was poorly clad
38:31
Speaker 1: and sickly in appearance, and her countenance was expressive of
38:35
Speaker 1: profound mental dejection. She held a letter in her hand,
38:40
Speaker 1: but she had not her child with her, and she
38:43
Speaker 1: was hurrying rapidly along, most probably to the post office. Harriet,
38:49
Speaker 1: I exclaimed, catching her by the hand. She started at
38:53
Speaker 1: being thus accosted but the moment her eyes fell on
38:56
Speaker 1: my countenance, she shuddered visibly, and out you. And then
39:02
Speaker 1: she darted away, as if in affright, dropping the letter
39:05
Speaker 1: upon the pavement. For some moment, I was so stupefied
39:09
Speaker 1: by her abrupt flight that I stood as it were paralyzed.
39:14
Speaker 1: But seeing the letter upon the pavement, I recovered the
39:17
Speaker 1: use of my limbs and hastened to pick it up.
39:20
Speaker 1: It was addressed to the Marquis of Holmesford Holmsford House.
39:26
Speaker 1: I hurried away with it, saying to myself, now I
39:29
Speaker 1: shall discover how far the connection between Harriet and the
39:32
Speaker 1: Marquis went. But I was disappointed. The letter merely contained,
39:37
Speaker 1: as far as I can remember, these words. I ought
39:42
Speaker 1: not to address your lordship under the peculiar the distressing
39:46
Speaker 1: circumstances which made us acquainted. But necessity compels me to
39:51
Speaker 1: appeal to your Lordship's bounty. It is not for myself, however,
39:55
Speaker 1: that I implore your aid, but for the sake of
39:58
Speaker 1: my child, who is starving. Oh my lord, if you
40:02
Speaker 1: only knew what the feelings of a mother are when
40:05
Speaker 1: she beholds her infant shrieking for food and turning its
40:09
Speaker 1: eyes towards her countenance in so piteous a manner that
40:12
Speaker 1: they speak the language of famine far more eloquently than
40:16
Speaker 1: its tongue could possibly do, were it able to express
40:19
Speaker 1: its wants in words. If you could understand these feelings,
40:23
Speaker 1: you would not think ill of me, because I thus
40:25
Speaker 1: appealed to your bounty. An address was given in an
40:29
Speaker 1: obscure street in Bloomsbury, and the letter assigned Harriet Wilmot. Again,
40:35
Speaker 1: I felt for that poor creature who was now reduced,
40:38
Speaker 1: with a poor infant of fifteen months old, to such
40:41
Speaker 1: a state of penury. And I do not say to
40:44
Speaker 1: render myself less despicable than I must appear in the
40:48
Speaker 1: eyes of those who may peruse this narrative. But I
40:52
Speaker 1: merely stated as a fact that I hastened home, gathered
40:56
Speaker 1: together the few shillings which I possessed, and hurried off
41:00
Speaker 1: to the address mentioned in Harriet's letter. But when I
41:04
Speaker 1: reached the house indicated I learned from the landlady that
41:07
Speaker 1: missus Wilmot had suddenly departed half an hour before. She
41:11
Speaker 1: was very poor, observed the woman, but she was honest.
41:15
Speaker 1: She strove hard to maintain herself with her needle and
41:18
Speaker 1: starved herself to feed her infant. She thought herself quite
41:22
Speaker 1: happy when she earned five shillings in a week. Night
41:25
Speaker 1: after night did the poor creature sit up till she
41:28
Speaker 1: was nearly blind, toiling constantly at her work, And when
41:32
Speaker 1: she went away so suddenly, just now she offered me
41:35
Speaker 1: her shawl in payment of the little arrears of rent.
41:38
Speaker 1: Do my God, I would sooner have given her all
41:41
Speaker 1: I had and have taken a rag from her. Ah,
41:46
Speaker 1: added the woman, wiping her eyes. There's something very wrong
41:49
Speaker 1: somewhere in the country when such good mothers are allowed
41:52
Speaker 1: to die by inches through sheer famine. I went away
41:57
Speaker 1: very miserable. I felt convinced that Harriet, when she perceived
42:00
Speaker 1: she had lost her letter, suspected that it might fall
42:03
Speaker 1: into my hands, and that I should thereby learn her
42:06
Speaker 1: place of abode. And it was clear that she had
42:09
Speaker 1: departed so abruptly to avoid me. I have kept that letter,
42:14
Speaker 1: as well as all the others to which I refer
42:16
Speaker 1: in my history, as nearly as I can recollect. Two
42:20
Speaker 1: years and three quarters passed away, and again I saw Harriet.
42:25
Speaker 1: It was in the month of January, about noon on
42:27
Speaker 1: a bitter cold day, and I was walking through long acre,
42:31
Speaker 1: when I suddenly perceived her enter a house which was
42:34
Speaker 1: evidently let in lodgings to poor families. She did not
42:38
Speaker 1: observe me, but I felt a violent longing to make
42:41
Speaker 1: my peace, if possible, with that unfortunate victim of my treachery.
42:46
Speaker 1: The door stood open for the accommodation of the various inmates,
42:50
Speaker 1: and I hurried up the staircase. I heard footsteps before me,
42:55
Speaker 1: and I followed them to the very top of the house,
42:58
Speaker 1: and then I call a glimpse of Harriet entering a
43:01
Speaker 1: back garret. I advanced to the door and knocked gently.
43:06
Speaker 1: Harriet immediately opened it, But when she beheld me, she
43:09
Speaker 1: recoiled with such an expression of horror and alarm upon
43:13
Speaker 1: her deathlike countenance that I was dreadfully embarrassed, my dear friend,
43:19
Speaker 1: I said, at length, pray, in the name of Heaven,
43:21
Speaker 1: hear me you. She cried, in that shrieking kind of
43:25
Speaker 1: tone which had marked her utterance of the word when
43:27
Speaker 1: we met before, and which showed her utter abhorrence of me,
43:33
Speaker 1: a sentiment I well deserved, hear you. Oh no, no,
43:39
Speaker 1: And she closed the door violently. I knew not how
43:43
Speaker 1: to act I felt convinced that she had never communicated
43:46
Speaker 1: with mister Markham since the period when he made that
43:49
Speaker 1: mysterious but terrible discovery to which he alluded in his
43:53
Speaker 1: letter that fell into my hands. I thought I would
43:57
Speaker 1: acquaint her with the existence of that letter and the
43:59
Speaker 1: name of its contents, because it promised an income which
44:03
Speaker 1: would have placed her above want. So I sat down
44:06
Speaker 1: upon the stairs to reflect how I should proceed to
44:08
Speaker 1: induce her to hear me. In a few minutes, the
44:12
Speaker 1: door opened quickly, and Harriet, with her child, who was
44:15
Speaker 1: then four years old, in her arms and the small
44:18
Speaker 1: bundle in her hand, appeared on the landing. She shrank
44:23
Speaker 1: back when she saw me. She evidently thought I was gone. Then,
44:27
Speaker 1: recovering herself, she exclaimed, wretch, why do you haunt me?
44:32
Speaker 1: Have you not injured me enough already? Will you not
44:35
Speaker 1: even let me die in peace? I started up, saying,
44:39
Speaker 1: do hear me? You know not how important? But ere
44:42
Speaker 1: I could utter another word, she rushed wildly past me
44:46
Speaker 1: and ran down the stairs with a precipitation which manifested
44:50
Speaker 1: her profound horror at my presence. Thus had I involuntarily
44:56
Speaker 1: driven her a second time from her humble home. I
45:01
Speaker 1: was sorely afflicted for many reasons, but chiefly because my
45:05
Speaker 1: motives were not on either occasion wrong. I was about
45:09
Speaker 1: to take my departure when I thought I would cast
45:11
Speaker 1: a look at the interior of the chamber, which she
45:14
Speaker 1: had inhabited. By its appearance, I hoped to judge of
45:18
Speaker 1: her circumstances, which I sincerely wished might be improved. I
45:23
Speaker 1: entered the room. It was evidently a ready furnished garret.
45:28
Speaker 1: I am able to recognize such facts at a glance.
45:31
Speaker 1: Though not absolutely wretched, it was mean, very mean, too
45:35
Speaker 1: mean to permit the idea that she, poor creature, was
45:38
Speaker 1: comfortable in her resources. Several papers were burning in the grate.
45:44
Speaker 1: She had evidently set fire to them the moment ere
45:46
Speaker 1: she left the room in the precipitated manner described. I
45:51
Speaker 1: hastened to extinguish the smoldering flames, but redeemed the fragment
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Speaker 1: of only one important paper. It contained the commencement of
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Speaker 1: a letter, evidently written that morning, as I discovered by
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Speaker 1: the date. Strange to say, it was another epistle addressed
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Speaker 1: to the Marquis of Holmesford Holmsford House. Its contents were
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Speaker 1: to this effect. Your Lordship will pardon me again intruding
46:15
Speaker 1: myself upon your notice. But a deep sense of the
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Speaker 1: duty I owe to my child, and the dread of
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Speaker 1: leaving the poor innocent girl to the mercy of strangers,
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Speaker 1: for the hand of death seems to be already upon me,
46:28
Speaker 1: must serve as my excuse for thus troubling you. And
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Speaker 1: when your Lordship reflects that it is you that I
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Speaker 1: owe the hideous misery which has been my lot for
46:38
Speaker 1: nearly four years through you, that I lost for love
46:42
Speaker 1: and confidence of my husband, your Lordship's heart will not
46:45
Speaker 1: allow this appeal to be made in vain. Hitherto your
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Speaker 1: Lordship has remained unacquainted with the name of that husband
46:54
Speaker 1: of whom I speak. But now it is my duty
46:56
Speaker 1: to reveal it to you that your Lordship may see
47:00
Speaker 1: and X. The remainder had been so scorched that it
47:05
Speaker 1: was illegible conjecture relative to the termination of the sentence?
47:09
Speaker 1: Was vain? Was the unfinished word explain? Or was it express? Often?
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Speaker 1: Often have I sat and wondered what the end of
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Speaker 1: the passage originally was. Here the flames singed that sad letter.
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Speaker 1: She felt the hand of death already upon her, and
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Speaker 1: I had driven her from the place where she wished
47:30
Speaker 1: to die in peace, wretch, wretch that I was. From
47:35
Speaker 1: that time forth I never saw her more. All I
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Speaker 1: know of Harriet Markham is now told. The only link
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Speaker 1: where is missing in the chain of my narrative is
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Speaker 1: the detailed account of the mode in which mister Markham
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Speaker 1: discovered that his wife had become the victim of the
47:51
Speaker 1: Marquis of Holmsford. That mystery the Marquis himself may be
47:57
Speaker 1: enabled to explain. My task is terminated, nor would I,
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Speaker 1: for worlds be compelled to accomplish it over again. It
48:05
Speaker 1: has given additional poignancy to thoughts that frequently oppressed me
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Speaker 1: and has aroused others equally painful, but which had slumbered
48:13
Speaker 1: for years and years until now. And where I write,
48:17
Speaker 1: I dare not name the place, nor even those at
48:20
Speaker 1: whose command I write. There is a fearful gloom that
48:24
Speaker 1: is congenial, too congenial, with those appalling reminiscences. Perhaps I
48:29
Speaker 1: should have felt and expressed less remorse for the past,
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Speaker 1: had I written under more pleasant circumstances. Perhaps in that case,
48:38
Speaker 1: many of those dread images which here haunt my mind
48:42
Speaker 1: and are reflected and there bewailings and felf reproaches which
48:46
Speaker 1: appear in these pages would not have visited me. Still,
48:52
Speaker 1: had I performed this task in a cheerful chamber and
48:55
Speaker 1: in the gladdening sunlight, even then I must have felt
48:59
Speaker 1: some remorse for all of the bad deeds of my life.
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Speaker 1: The treachery which I perpetrated towards Harriet is the blackest.
49:08
Speaker 1: May her sweet daughter Catharine be more happy, more fortunate.
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Speaker 1: End of Section ninety