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61 - Mysteries of London Vol I part 1 by George W M Reynolds · Mysteries of London Vol. I part 1

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Speaker 1: Eight. It was the first of January eighteen thirty nine.
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Speaker 1: The weather was cold and inclement. Nature and nakedness appeared
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Speaker 1: to recline upon the turfless grave of summer. The ancient
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Speaker 1: river which intersects the mightiest city upon the surface of
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Speaker 1: the earth, was swollen, and in the country through which
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Speaker 1: it wound its way, the fields were flooded. In many parts,
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Speaker 1: the trees were stripped of their verdere. The singing of
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Speaker 1: birds had ceased. Gloomy and mournful was the face of nature,
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Speaker 1: somber and lowering the aspect of the proud city. So pale,
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Speaker 1: so faint were the beams of the mid day sun
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Speaker 1: that the summit of Saint Paul's, which a few months
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Speaker 1: back was wont to glitter as if it were crowned
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Speaker 1: with a diadem of gold, was now veiled in a
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Speaker 1: murky cloud. And the mirrored pinnacles of the modern Babylon,
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Speaker 1: which a few were each tipped as with a star,
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Speaker 1: pointed upwards to a sky anymous and foreboding. Nevertheless, the
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Speaker 1: ingenuity and wondrous perseverance of man had adopted all precautions
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Speaker 1: to expel the cold from the palaces of the rich
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Speaker 1: and powerful, and to surround the lordly owners of those
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Speaker 1: splendid mansions with the most delicious wines and the most
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Speaker 1: lauxroous food indoors, to induce them to forget that winter
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Speaker 1: rained without soft carpets, thick curtains, satin in velvet and
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Speaker 1: silk downy beds beneath gorgeous canopies, warm clothing, and cheerful fires,
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Speaker 1: combined to defy the approach of winter, and to render
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Speaker 1: the absence of genial summer a matter of small regret. Then,
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Speaker 1: when the occupants of these palaces went abroad, there was
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Speaker 1: no bold exertion required for them to face the nipping cold,
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Speaker 1: for they stepped from their thresholds into carriages thickly lined
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Speaker 1: with wool and supplied with cushions, soft, luxurious, and warm.
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Speaker 1: But that cold, which thus expelled from the palaces of
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Speaker 1: the rich, took refuge in the dwellings of the poor,
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Speaker 1: and there it remained sharp as a razor, pitiless as
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Speaker 1: an executioner, exorbitable as a judge, and keen the northwestern
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Speaker 1: wind that blows from the ice bound coasts of Labador.
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Speaker 1: No silks, nor satins, nor velvets, nor carpets nor canopies,
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Speaker 1: nor curtains, had the dwellings of the poor to defy
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Speaker 1: or even mitigate the freezing malady of that chill which
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Speaker 1: engendered in the Arctic regions of eternal snow, and having
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Speaker 1: swept over the frozen river in the mighty forests of America,
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Speaker 1: had come to vent its collected spite upon the islands
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Speaker 1: of Europe, shivering, starving in their miserable hovels. The industrious many,
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Speaker 1: by the sweat of whose brow, the indolent few were
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Speaker 1: supplied with their silks and their satins and their velvets,
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Speaker 1: wept bitter, bitter tears over their suffering and famished children,
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Speaker 1: and nursed the day on which their little ones were born,
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Speaker 1: for the winter was a very hard one. In bread,
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Speaker 1: Bread was very dear, yes, bread which thou, Almighty God,
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Speaker 1: hath given to feed those whom thou didst create after
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Speaker 1: thine own image. And even bread was too dear for
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Speaker 1: the starving poor to buy. How long, long, oh Lord,
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Speaker 1: wilt thou permit a few to wrest everything from the
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Speaker 1: many to monopolies, accumulate and gripe, snatched, drag forth, cling
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Speaker 1: to the fruits of the earth for their own behoof alone.
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Speaker 1: How long shall there exist such spells on the privilege
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Speaker 1: of birth? How long must all happiness and all misery
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Speaker 1: be summed up in the words wealth and poverty? We
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Speaker 1: said that it was New Year's Day, eighteen thirty nine.
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Speaker 1: In the palaces of the great were rejoicings in music
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Speaker 1: and festivity, and diamonds glittered, and feathers waved, and silks rustled,
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Speaker 1: the elastic floors bent beneath the steps of the dancers.
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Speaker 1: The wine flowed in crystal cups, and the fruits of
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Speaker 1: summer were amongst the dainties spread to tempt the appetite
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Speaker 1: of the aristocracy. Ah, there was happiness indeed, in thus
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Speaker 1: welcoming the new year, for those who there greeted its
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Speaker 1: presence were well assured that it would teem with the
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Speaker 1: joys and banishments which had characterized the one that had
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Speaker 1: just sunk into the grave of time. And how was
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Speaker 1: it with the poor of this mighty metropolis, the imperial city,
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Speaker 1: to whose marts whole navies waffed the commerce of the world.
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Speaker 1: The granaries were full, the pastures had surrendered up oxen
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Speaker 1: to commemorate the season. The provision shops teemed with food
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Speaker 1: of the most luxurious and humblest kinds alike. A stranger
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Speaker 1: walking through this great city would have wondered where the
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Speaker 1: mouths were that could consume such fast quantities of food,
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Speaker 1: And yet thousands famished for want of the merest necessities
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Speaker 1: of life. The hovels of the poor echoed not to
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Speaker 1: the sounds of mirth and music, but to the wail
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Speaker 1: of hunger and the cry of misery. In those sad abodes,
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Speaker 1: there was no jovelty to welcome a new year, for
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Speaker 1: a new year was a curse, a mere prolongation of
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Speaker 1: the acute and pognan horrors of the one gone by.
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Speaker 1: Alas that New Year's day was one of strange contrasts
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Speaker 1: in the social sphere of London. And as London is
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Speaker 1: the heart of this empire, the disease which prevails in
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Speaker 1: the core is conveyed through every vein and artery over
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Speaker 1: the entire national frame. The country that contains the greatest
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Speaker 1: wealth of all the territories of the universe is that
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Speaker 1: which also knows the greatest amount of hideous, revolting, heart
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Speaker 1: rendering misery. In England, men and women die of starvation
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Speaker 1: in the streets. In England, women murder their children to
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Speaker 1: save them from a lingering death by famine. In England,
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Speaker 1: the poor commit crimes to obtain an asylum in a jail.
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Speaker 1: In England, aged females die by their own hands in
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Speaker 1: order to avoid the workhouse. There is one cause of
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Speaker 1: all these miseries and horrors, one fatal scourge invented by
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Speaker 1: their rich to torture the poor, One infernal principle of
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Speaker 1: mischief and of woe which has taken root in the land,
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Speaker 1: one element of a cruelty, so keen and so refined
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Speaker 1: that it outdoes the agonies endured in the inquisition of
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Speaker 1: the olden time. And this fertile source of misery and murder,
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Speaker 1: and suicide and crime is the treatment of the workhouse.
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Speaker 1: Alas when the bees have made the honey, the epirus
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Speaker 1: comes and takes all away, begrudging the industrious insects even
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Speaker 1: a morsel of the wax. Let us examine for a
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Speaker 1: moment the social scale of these realms, the sovereign, the aristocracy,
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Speaker 1: the clergy, the middle class, the industrious classes. The lowest
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Speaker 1: step in the latter is occupied by that class which
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Speaker 1: is the most numerous, the most useful, and which ought
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Speaker 1: to be the most influential. The average annual incomes of
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Speaker 1: the individuals of each class are as follows. The sovereign
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Speaker 1: five hundred thousand pounds, the member of the aristocracy thirty
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Speaker 1: thousand pounds, the priest seven thousand, five hundred pounds, the
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Speaker 1: member of the middle classes three hundred pounds, the member
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Speaker 1: of the industrious class twenty pounds. Is this reasonable as
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Speaker 1: this just? Is this even consistent with common sense? It
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Speaker 1: was New Year's Day, eighteen thirty nine. The rich man
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Speaker 1: sat down to a table crowned with every luxury. The
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Speaker 1: pauper in the workhouse had not enough to eat. The
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Speaker 1: contrast may thus be represented the aristocracy turtle, venison, turkey, hare, pheasant,
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Speaker 1: paragoid pie, plum pudding, mince pies, jellies, blank manager, trifle, preserves, cakes,
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Speaker 1: fruits of all kinds, wines of every description. The industrious
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Speaker 1: pour one half pound bread, four ounced bacon, one half
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Speaker 1: pound potatoes, one and a half pint of gruel. And
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Speaker 1: this was New Year's Day, eighteen thirty nine. But to proceed,
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Speaker 1: it was five o'clock in the evening. Three persons were
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Speaker 1: conversing together on Constitution Hill, beneath the wall of the
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Speaker 1: palace gardens. Two of them, who were wrapped up in
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Speaker 1: warm pilot coats, are well known to our readers. The
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Speaker 1: third was a young lad of about sixteen or seventeen
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Speaker 1: and very short in stature. Was dressed in a blue jacket,
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Speaker 1: dark waistcoat of coarse materials, and corduroy trousers. His countenance
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Speaker 1: was effeminate and by no means bad looking. His eyes
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Speaker 1: were dark and intelligent, his teeth good. The name of
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Speaker 1: this youth was Henry Holford. Well, my boy, said the
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Speaker 1: resurrection Man, for he was one of the lad's companions,
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Speaker 1: the other being the redoubtable Cracksman. Well, my boy, do
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Speaker 1: you feel equal to this undertaking? Quite, answered Holford in
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Speaker 1: a decided tone. If we succeed, you know, observed the Cracksman,
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Speaker 1: it will be a jolly good thing for you. And
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Speaker 1: if you happen to get nabbed, why all the beaks
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Speaker 1: can do to you will be to send you for
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Speaker 1: a month or two upon the stepper. In that there case,
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Speaker 1: Tony and me will take care of you when you
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Speaker 1: come out, won't we. Tony, certainly, replied the resurrection Man.
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Speaker 1: But if you get scented Harry. He continued, addressing himself
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Speaker 1: to the lad As you approached the big house, you
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Speaker 1: must have a run for it, and we shall stay
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Speaker 1: here and leave the rope over the wall for two hours.
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Speaker 1: If you don't come back by that time, we shall
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Speaker 1: suppose that you either got into some quiet corner of
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Speaker 1: the palace or that you're taken. And then whichever happens
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Speaker 1: of these two events, we shan't be any service to you.
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Speaker 1: One thing I should like you to bear in mind, youngster,
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Speaker 1: said the cracksman, And that is, if you don't pluck
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Speaker 1: up your courage well and prepare for all kinds of
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Speaker 1: dangers and difficulties, you much better give up the thing
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Speaker 1: at once. We don't want you to run neck and
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Speaker 1: heels into a business that you're afraid of. Afraid, exclaimed
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Speaker 1: the youth contemptuously. I shall not fail for want of courage.
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Speaker 1: I have made up my mind to risk the venture,
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Speaker 1: and let the result be what it will, I shall
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Speaker 1: go through with it. That's what I call speaking like
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Speaker 1: a man, said the burglar. Though you are but a boy,
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Speaker 1: take a drop of brandy before you begin. Not a drop,
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Speaker 1: answered Holford. I require a clear head and quick eye,
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Speaker 1: and dare not drink well as you will, said the cracksman,
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Speaker 1: and he took a tolerably long drought from the case
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Speaker 1: bottle which he had produced from his pocket. He then
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Speaker 1: handed the bottle to the resurrection man, who also paid
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Speaker 1: his respects to it. With a hearty good will already,
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Speaker 1: said Halford. There's no use in delay, not a bit,
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Speaker 1: observed the cracksman. Tony and me will help you over
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Speaker 1: the wall in a jiffy. By the aid of the
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Speaker 1: resurrection man and the burglar, the youth sealed the wall
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Speaker 1: of the palace gardens, and ere he dropped upon the
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Speaker 1: inner side. He said, in a low but firm tone,
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Speaker 1: good night. Halford was now within the enclosure of the
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Speaker 1: Royal Demise. The evening was very dark, but at a
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Speaker 1: distance the windows of the palace shone with a effulescence.
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Speaker 1: Thither word did he proceed, advancing cautiously along, for he
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Speaker 1: knew that there was a piece of water in the
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Speaker 1: pleasure grounds. This small lake he soon left on his
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Speaker 1: right hand, and he was shortly within fifty yards of
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Speaker 1: the back part of Buckingham Palace. At that moment he
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Speaker 1: was suddenly startled by hearing voices close to him. He
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Speaker 1: stood still and listened. Steps approached, and he heard a
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Speaker 1: gardener issue some instructions to a subordinate. There was a
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Speaker 1: tuff of trees near at hand. Holford had not a
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Speaker 1: moment to lose. He darted into the thicket of evergreens,
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Speaker 1: where he concealed himself. What was that, said the gardener,
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Speaker 1: stopping short. I heard nothing, answered the man. Yes, there
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Speaker 1: was a rustling of those trees, a cat perhaps, or
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Speaker 1: what of the aquatic birds? All was still, and the gardener,
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Speaker 1: accompanied by his man, proceeded on his way. The sounds
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Speaker 1: of their footsteps were soon lost in the distance, and
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Speaker 1: Holford emerged from his hiding place without any farther alarm.
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Speaker 1: He reached the back premises of the palace. He now
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Speaker 1: became involved in a maze of out houses and offices,
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Speaker 1: and was at a loss which direction to take. He
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Speaker 1: was going cautiously along the wall of one of those
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Speaker 1: buildings when he suddenly ran against a man who was
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Speaker 1: advancing rapidly in a contrary direction. HOLA, who the devil is? This?
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Speaker 1: Cried the man. In clutching hold of Holford's collar, he
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Speaker 1: dragged him a few paces until he brought him beneath
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Speaker 1: the window, whence streamed a powerful light. I suppose you're
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Speaker 1: the new boy that they had gardener hired this morning, Yes, sir,
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Speaker 1: answered Holford, gladly availing himself of an excuse thus so
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Speaker 1: conveniently suggested by the air of the man who had
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Speaker 1: collared him. Then mind which way you go in future,
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Speaker 1: young broccoli sprout, exclaimed the other, and, dismissing the youth
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Speaker 1: with a slight cuff on the head, he passed on.
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Speaker 1: Holford hastened away from the light of the window, and,
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Speaker 1: crossing a small court, reached a glass door opening into
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Speaker 1: the back part of the palace. The adventurous lad laid
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Speaker 1: his hand upon the latch. The door was not locked,
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Speaker 1: and he hesitated not a moment to enter the royal abode.
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Speaker 1: He was now in a low vestibule, well lighted, and
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Speaker 1: at the extremity of which there was a staircase. In
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Speaker 1: one corner of the vestibule was a marble table on
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Speaker 1: which lay several cloaks, the skirts of which hung down
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Speaker 1: to the ground. This circumstance was particularly fortunate for the
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Speaker 1: safety of the intruder, inasmuch as he had scarcely entered
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Speaker 1: the vestibule. When the sound of footsteps rapidly descending the
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Speaker 1: staircase fell upon his ears, he hastened to conceal himself
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Speaker 1: beneath the table, the cloak serving effectively to veil his person.
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Speaker 1: Two footmen in glorious liveries shortly made their appearance in
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Speaker 1: the vestibule. When you say, her majesty is demanded, one
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Speaker 1: in the Roman drawing room replied the other. The sculpture
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Speaker 1: gallery is to be lighted up this evening. You can
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Speaker 1: attend to that duty at once, if you will very well,
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Speaker 1: said the first speaker, and he left the vestible by
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Speaker 1: means of a door on the right hand side, by
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Speaker 1: which door he neglected to close behind him. The other
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Speaker 1: servant advanced straight up to the marble table, and, swiping
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Speaker 1: off the cloaks, threw them all over his left arm.
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Speaker 1: Halford's person was now exposed to the eyes of any
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Speaker 1: one who might happen to glance beneath the table. The
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Speaker 1: domestic was, however, a tall and stately individual, and kept
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Speaker 1: his head elevated. Having taken the cloaks from the table,
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Speaker 1: he slowly retraced his steps up the stairs and disappeared
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Speaker 1: from Holford's view. The young adventurer started from his hiding place.
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Speaker 1: The door by which one of the servants had left
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Speaker 1: the vestibule for the purpose of repairing to the sculpture
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Speaker 1: gallery was open. It communicated with a long passage only
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Speaker 1: feebly lighted. Halford hesitated not a moment and proceeded in
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Speaker 1: this direction. He advanced to the end of the passage
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Speaker 1: and entered a narrow corridor branching off to the right
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Speaker 1: and lighted by lamps sustained in the hands of two
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Speaker 1: tall statues. Again, the sound of footsteps fell upon Holford's ears,
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Speaker 1: and he had scarcely time to slip behind one of
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Speaker 1: these statues when the domestic whom he had before seen
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Speaker 1: entered that part of the building appeared at the end
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Speaker 1: of the corridor. The servant passed without observing him, and
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Speaker 1: the youthful intruder emerged from his lurking place. He now
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Speaker 1: pursued his way without interruption through several passages and rooms,
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Speaker 1: until he reached a magnificent marble hall at the farther
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Speaker 1: extremity of which were numerous dependents of the palace grouped
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Speaker 1: together and conversing in a low tone. Halford instantly shrank
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Speaker 1: back into the passage by which he had reached the hall.
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Speaker 1: Exactly opposite was the entrance to the sculpture gallery. To
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Speaker 1: retrace his steps was useless. He determined to proceed, but
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Speaker 1: how was he to cross the hall? A few moments
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Speaker 1: reflection suggested to him an expedient. He walked boldly across
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Speaker 1: the hall, and his presence excited no suspicion, it being
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Speaker 1: impossible for the dependants collected together at the other end
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Speaker 1: to observe the nature of his garb at that distance.
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Speaker 1: He now gained access to the sculpture gallery, but there
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Speaker 1: he found no means of concealment. He determined to explore elsewhere,
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Speaker 1: and speedily found himself in a magnificent saloon adjoining the library,
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Speaker 1: and where he beheld sofas with the drapery hanging down
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Speaker 1: to the carpet. It was beneath one of these downy
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Speaker 1: sofas that the daring intruder into the royal dwelling took refuge,
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Speaker 1: and there comfortably extended at full length. He chuckled triumphantly
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Speaker 1: at the success which had up to this moment attended
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Speaker 1: his adventurous undertaking. We have before said that he was
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Speaker 1: a very small stature, and he moreover, thin and delicate
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Speaker 1: and easily packed away. Some time passed, and no one
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Speaker 1: appeared to interrupt the reflections of Henry Holford. Hour after
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Speaker 1: hour glided by, and at length the palace clock struck nine.
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Speaker 1: Scarcely had the last chime died away, when the folding
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Speaker 1: doors were thrown open and a gorgeous possession of nobles
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Speaker 1: and ladies entered the apartment. The magnificence of the dresses
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Speaker 1: worn by England's pyreses and high born dames, the waving plumes,
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Speaker 1: the glittering jewels, the sparkling diamonds, combined with a glorious
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Speaker 1: assemblage of female loveliness, formed a spectacle at once awe inspiring,
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Speaker 1: ravishing and delightful. A little in advance of that splendid cortege,
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Speaker 1: conversing easily with the ladies who walked one pace behind
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Speaker 1: her on either side, and embellished with precious stones of
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Speaker 1: regal price, moved the sovereign of the mightiest empire in
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Speaker 1: the universe. Upon her high and polished brow, Victoria War.
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Speaker 1: A tier of diamonds, diamonds innumerable and of immense value,
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Speaker 1: studded her Stomacher diamond penance adorned her ears, and diamonds
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Speaker 1: also glistened upon her wrists. She walked with grace and dignity,
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Speaker 1: and her noble bearing compensated for the shortness of her statue.
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Speaker 1: The queen advanced to the very sofa beneath which Holford
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Speaker 1: lay concealed, and seated herself upon it. The ladies and
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Speaker 1: nobles of the court, together with the guests present upon
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Speaker 1: the occasion, stood at a respectful distance from the sovereign.
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Speaker 1: This splendor of the scene was enhanced by the brilliant
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Speaker 1: uniforms of several military officers of high rank, and the
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Speaker 1: court dresses of the foreign ambassadors. The blaze of light
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Speaker 1: in which the room was bathed was reflected from the
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Speaker 1: diamonds on the ladies and the stars and orders which
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Speaker 1: the nobles wore upon their breasts. At that time, Victoria
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Speaker 1: was yet a virgin queen, if not strictly beautiful, Her
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Speaker 1: countenance was very pleasing, Her light brown hair was worn
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Speaker 1: quite plain, her blue eyes were animated with intellect, and
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Speaker 1: when she smiled, her lips revealed a set of teeth
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Speaker 1: white as oriental pearls. Her bust was magnificent in her
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Speaker 1: figure good in spite of the lowness of her statue.
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Speaker 1: Her manner was distinguished by somewhat of the impatience which
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Speaker 1: characterized all the family of George the Third, and which
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Speaker 1: seemed to result from a slightly nervous temperament. She appeared
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Speaker 1: to require answers to her questions more promptly than the
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Speaker 1: court etiquette permitted those around her to respond to her inquiries.
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Speaker 1: With regard to the condition of the humbler classes of
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Speaker 1: her subjects, she was totally ignorant. She knew that they
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Speaker 1: were suffering some distress, but the fearful amount of that
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Speaker 1: misery was carefully concealed from her. She only read the
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Speaker 1: journals favorable to the ministry, and they took care to
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Speaker 1: report nothing which might offend or wound her. Thus, she,
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Speaker 1: who should have known everything relative to her people, in reality,
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Speaker 1: scarcely knew anything. Foremost amid the chiefs of foreign diplomacy
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Speaker 1: was the ambassador from the court of Castle Sequela. He
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Speaker 1: was a man of advanced years, and on his breast
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Speaker 1: glittered the stars of all the principal orders of knighthood
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Speaker 1: in Europe, the Cross and Bath of England, the Legion
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Speaker 1: of Honor of France, the Golden Fleece of Spain, the
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Speaker 1: Black Eagle of Prussia, the Sword of Sweden, the Crescent
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Speaker 1: of Turkey, Saint Nipo Mesiss of Austria, and the Lion
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Speaker 1: Rampant of Castle sequelab Ussadors of France and Austria were
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Speaker 1: also present upon this occasion. Count Sebastini, the representative of
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Speaker 1: Lewis Philippe, being clad in the splendid uniform of a
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Speaker 1: general in the French Army and wearing the grand cordon
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Speaker 1: of the Legion of Honor, and Prince Essa Haze, the
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Speaker 1: Austrian minister and himself the possessor of his states more
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Speaker 1: extensive than many a German principality, wearing a court dress
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Speaker 1: covered with lace and glittering with stars. Several members of
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Speaker 1: the English cabinet were also present. There was one whose
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Speaker 1: good tempered and handsome continents, gentimately demeanor, stout and sturdy form,
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Speaker 1: and complacent smile would hardly have induced a stranger to
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Speaker 1: believe that this was Viscomte Melbourne, the Prime Minister of England.
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Speaker 1: Next was a short personage with a refined and intelligent,
19:51
Speaker 1: though by no means an imposing air, a something sharp
19:55
Speaker 1: and cunning in the curl of the mouth and the
19:57
Speaker 1: flash of the eye, and a weak, disagreeable voice, frequently
20:01
Speaker 1: stammering and hesitating at a long sentence. This was Lord
20:05
Speaker 1: John Russell, the Secretary for the Home Department. Near Lord
20:09
Speaker 1: John Russell was a tall man of about fifty, very
20:12
Speaker 1: good looking, with dark and well curled hocks, glossy whiskers,
20:16
Speaker 1: and an elegant figure, but excessively foppish in his attire
20:20
Speaker 1: and somewhat affected in manner. And this was Lord Palmiston,
20:24
Speaker 1: Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Conversing with this nobleman was a
20:28
Speaker 1: personage with pale and shallow cheeks, luxurant in naturally curling locks,
20:32
Speaker 1: dark and interesting in appearance, and in the prime of life,
20:35
Speaker 1: whose conversation denoted him to be a man of elegant taste,
20:39
Speaker 1: and whose manners were those of a Finnish gentleman, but
20:43
Speaker 1: who little suited the idea which a stranger would have
20:46
Speaker 1: formed of a great viceroy or a responsible minister. Nevertheless,
20:50
Speaker 1: this was the Marquis of Normandy, lately Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,
20:54
Speaker 1: and the time in which we are speaking Secretary for
20:57
Speaker 1: the Colonies, The conversation turned up on the specimens of
21:01
Speaker 1: art in the gallery of sculpture, which the noble company
21:04
Speaker 1: had just visited. In this manner, an hour passed away,
21:08
Speaker 1: and at the expiration of that period, the Queen and
21:11
Speaker 1: her numerous guests repaired to the drawing rooms on the
21:13
Speaker 1: first floor, where arrangements had been made for a grand
21:16
Speaker 1: musical entertainment. The entire progeny was viewed with ease, and
21:21
Speaker 1: the conversation plainly heard by the phlebian intruder upon that
21:25
Speaker 1: scene of patrician splendor and glory, and well the musical
21:29
Speaker 1: tones of the Queen's voice had fallen upon his ears.
21:32
Speaker 1: He had listened to the words of great lords and
21:34
Speaker 1: high born ladies at that moment, how little, how contemptible,
21:38
Speaker 1: did he feel himself to be. Never had he entertained
21:42
Speaker 1: so humble an opinion of his own worth and value
21:44
Speaker 1: in society as he did at that period. He a
21:47
Speaker 1: common pot boy in a public house, had for an
21:50
Speaker 1: hour been the unseen companion of a queen in her
21:53
Speaker 1: mightiest Palladians and loveliest deanes, and had he been discovered
21:57
Speaker 1: in his retreat, he would have been termed earned ignominiously.
22:01
Speaker 1: Forth like the man in the parable who went to
22:04
Speaker 1: the marriage feast without a wedding garment. For two more
22:07
Speaker 1: mortal hours did Holford remain beneath the sofa, cromped by
22:11
Speaker 1: his recumbent and uneasy position, and already more than half
22:14
Speaker 1: inclined to regret the adventure upon which he had so
22:18
Speaker 1: precipitately entered. At length, the palace grew quiet, and servants
22:22
Speaker 1: entered the room in which Holford was concealed to extinguish
22:25
Speaker 1: the lights. The moment that this duty was performed and
22:28
Speaker 1: the domestics had withdrawn, Holford emerged from beneath the sofa
22:31
Speaker 1: and seated himself upon it. He was proud to think
22:34
Speaker 1: that now he occupied the place where the royalty had
22:36
Speaker 1: so lately been. The voice of the Queen still seemed
22:39
Speaker 1: to ring in his ears, and he felt an unknown
22:41
Speaker 1: and unaccountable species of happiness in recalling to mind and
22:45
Speaker 1: pondering upon all that had fallen from her lips at
22:49
Speaker 1: that moment. How he envied those peers and high born
22:51
Speaker 1: dames who were privileged to approach the royal presence and
22:54
Speaker 1: bask beneath the smile of the sovereign. How he wished
22:58
Speaker 1: that his lot had been cast in a different sphere.
23:01
Speaker 1: But no, it was useless to regret what could not
23:04
Speaker 1: be remedied. And although he was now in a palace
23:06
Speaker 1: and seated upon the very cushion which a few hours
23:09
Speaker 1: previously had been pressed by royalty, he was not one
23:13
Speaker 1: adam less Henry Holford the pop boy. The reverie of
23:16
Speaker 1: this extraordinary youth was long visions, the most wild and fantastical,
23:21
Speaker 1: sustained a powerful excitement in his imagination. At length the
23:24
Speaker 1: clock struck two. Halford awoke from his strange meditations and
23:28
Speaker 1: collected his scattered ideas. He now felt the cravings of hunger,
23:32
Speaker 1: and determined to explore the palace in search of food.
23:35
Speaker 1: He had already seen enough of its geography to be
23:38
Speaker 1: enabled to guess the precise position of the servant's offices,
23:41
Speaker 1: and thither he now directed his steps. He reached the
23:44
Speaker 1: grand marble Hall, which was lighted by lamps. There was
23:47
Speaker 1: no one there. He crossed it and proceeded along those
23:51
Speaker 1: passages which he had already threaded a few hours before.
23:55
Speaker 1: After wandering about for some time, and to his infinite
23:58
Speaker 1: surprise and joy, without encountering a soul, he reached the
24:02
Speaker 1: servant's offices. A short search conducted him to a well
24:06
Speaker 1: stored larder. Some of the dishes had evidently been put
24:10
Speaker 1: away in a hurry, for silver spoons and forks had
24:13
Speaker 1: been left in them. Holford might have possessed himself a
24:16
Speaker 1: property of considerable value, but such an idea never for
24:19
Speaker 1: a moment entered his head. He moreover contented himself with
24:23
Speaker 1: the simplest foods he could find. Then, remembering that four
24:27
Speaker 1: and twenty hours might elapse ere he should be enabled
24:30
Speaker 1: to return to the larder, he supplied himself with a
24:34
Speaker 1: sufficient amount of provender to last during that interval. Having
24:38
Speaker 1: adopted this precaution, he stole back again to the room,
24:41
Speaker 1: where the friendly sofa had already afforded a secure hiding place.
24:45
Speaker 1: He once more crept beneath the costly drapery, extended himself
24:49
Speaker 1: upon his back, and fell asleep. End of Chapter fifty eight.
24:55
Speaker 1: Recording by Judy Geynen