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

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  Speaker 1: Ninety one the Marquis of Holmsford. It was eleven o'clock
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  Speaker 1: on the following day when the Marquis of Holmsford rose
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  Speaker 1: from the arms of one of the hoories who formed
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  Speaker 1: his harem. He thrust his feet into a pair of
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  Speaker 1: red Morocco slippers, put on an elegant dressing gown of
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  Speaker 1: gay colored silk, and passed from the room of his
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  Speaker 1: charmer to his own chamber. There he entered a bath
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  Speaker 1: of warm milk, and, while luxuriating in the tepid fluid
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  Speaker 1: which imparted temporary vigor to a frame enfeebled by age
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  Speaker 1: and dissipation, he partook of a bowl of the richest
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  Speaker 1: French soup called consommee, which his valet presented on a
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  Speaker 1: massive silver salver. Having finished a broth that was well
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  Speaker 1: calculated to replenish the juices of his wasting frame, the
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  Speaker 1: hoary voluptuary left the bath, which was immediately wheeled into
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  Speaker 1: an adjacent chamber. Every morning was a certain quantity consisting
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  Speaker 1: of many gallons of new milk supplied for the use
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  Speaker 1: of the Marquis of Holmsford, and when it had served
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  Speaker 1: him for one bath, it became the perquisite of his valet,
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  Speaker 1: And what did this domestic do with it? Had he
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  Speaker 1: possessed hogs, he would not have given to those unclean
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  Speaker 1: beasts the fluid which had washed off all the impurities
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  Speaker 1: of his master's person. No, he would not have allowed
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  Speaker 1: the very pigs to partake of the milk with which
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  Speaker 1: the disgusting exudations of the old voluptuary's body had commingled.
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  Speaker 1: But he contracted with a milkman whose walk was in
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  Speaker 1: a very poor neighborhood, and that milkman paid the valet
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  Speaker 1: a certain sum daily for the perquisite. It was then
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  Speaker 1: retailed to the poor as the best country grass fed milk.
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  Speaker 1: Let Us, however, returned to the marquis. Upon quitting his bath,
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  Speaker 1: he commenced the mysteries of the toilet, that ceremony which
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  Speaker 1: involves so many repulsive details when connected with old men
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  Speaker 1: or old women, who have recourse to cosmetics or sucsidaneous
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  Speaker 1: means to render less apparent the ravages of time and debauchery.
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  Speaker 1: Taking out his complete set of false teeth, he placed
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  Speaker 1: them in a glass filled with pure lavender water. His
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  Speaker 1: dressing case supplied a silver instrument to scrape the white
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  Speaker 1: fur from a tongue that denoted the fever produced by
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  Speaker 1: the previous evening's deep potations. A pair of silver tweezers
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  Speaker 1: removed the hairs from his nostrils, and in the meantime,
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  Speaker 1: his wig, stretched upon a block, was skillfully dressed by
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  Speaker 1: the valet. It was past midday when Lord Holmsford quitted
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  Speaker 1: his chamber, looking at as well as all the artificial
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  Speaker 1: means which he adopted towards the improvement of his person,
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  Speaker 1: and all the accessories of faultless clothes, whitest linen and
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  Speaker 1: richest jewelry could render an old, worn out bow of
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  Speaker 1: sixty four. As he was descending the stairs, a servant
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  Speaker 1: met him and said, in a profoundly respectful tone, mister Greenwood,
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  Speaker 1: my lord is in the drawing room. The Marquis nodded
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  Speaker 1: his head as much as to say that he heard
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  Speaker 1: the announcement, and proceeded to the apartment, where the Member
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  Speaker 1: for Rottenborough was waiting. Well, Greenwood, my boy, cried the Marquis,
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  Speaker 1: affecting the sparkling hilarity of youth, and endeavoring to walk
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  Speaker 1: with a jaunty and easy air, just as if his
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  Speaker 1: old bones did not move heavily in their sockets like
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  Speaker 1: a door on rusty hinges. How goes the world with you?
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  Speaker 1: As for me, by God, I really think I am
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  Speaker 1: growing young again. Instead, your lordship does look uncommonly, well,
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  Speaker 1: said Greenwood, who had his own purposes to serve by
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  Speaker 1: flattering the nobleman. And for a man of fifty two,
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  Speaker 1: come Greenwood. That won't do, cried the Marquis. Fifty one,
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  Speaker 1: if you please last birthday? Yes, I meant in your
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  Speaker 1: fifty second year, my lord, said Greenwood, with admirable composure
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  Speaker 1: of countenance, although he well knew that the hoary old
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  Speaker 1: sinner would never see sixty four again. But as I
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  Speaker 1: was observing, you are really an astonishing man. And if
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  Speaker 1: I were married, e gad, I should deem it but
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  Speaker 1: prudent to request your lordship not to call at the
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  Speaker 1: house except when I was at home. Ah, you rogue, Greenwood,
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  Speaker 1: exclaimed the Marquis, highly delighted at the compliment thus conveyed.
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  Speaker 1: For with debauches in fashionable life, such a degrading assertion
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  Speaker 1: is a compliment, and a most welcome one too. No, No,
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  Speaker 1: not so bad as that either, Greenwood. Friendship before everything, No,
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  Speaker 1: my lord, love before everything with your lordship, cried Greenwood, gravely,
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  Speaker 1: sustaining the familiar poke in the chest which his former
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  Speaker 1: compliment had elicited from the old nobleman. You are really
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  Speaker 1: terrible amongst the women, and somehow or another they cannot
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  Speaker 1: resist you. By the bye, How gets on the action
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  Speaker 1: which Dolibel has against you? What Dolibel, the actor at
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  Speaker 1: the Haymarket ejaculated? The marquis, Oh, settled, settled long ago
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  Speaker 1: My lawyer ferreted out in overdue bill of his for
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  Speaker 1: ninety odd pounds, bought it up for seven guineas, sued
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  Speaker 1: him on it, and threw him into some hole of
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  Speaker 1: a place in the city that they call red Cross.
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  Speaker 1: No blue Cross, I think, suggested Greenwood doubtingly, although he
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  Speaker 1: knew perfectly well to what place the Marquis was alluding. No, No,
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  Speaker 1: that isn't it either, cried the nobleman. White Cross Street.
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  Speaker 1: That's it, ah, white Cross Street, So it is, exclaimed Greenwood.
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  Speaker 1: What a memory your lordship has. Yes, improves daily better
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  Speaker 1: than when I was a boy, said the Marquis. But
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  Speaker 1: as I was observing, my solicitor threw Dollo Bell into
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  Speaker 1: Whitecross Street jail and starved him into a compromise. I
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  Speaker 1: consented to give him his discharge from the debt and
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  Speaker 1: a ten pound note to see his way with when
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  Speaker 1: he came out. But his wife was really a nice woman.
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  Speaker 1: She was a very nice woman, observed Greenwood. You got
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  Speaker 1: out of that little crim can very nicely. Then there
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: was Maxton's affair. What the tea dealer in Bond Street,
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  Speaker 1: exclaimed the marquis chuckling with delight as his exploits in
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  Speaker 1: the Wars of love were thus recalled to his mind.
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  Speaker 1: Oh that was not so easily settled, my dear fellow.
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  Speaker 1: It went up to within a week of trial, and
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  Speaker 1: then Maxton agreed to stop all further proceedings and take
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  Speaker 1: his wife back if she came with a cool two
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  Speaker 1: thousand in her pocket. Well, my lawyer, knowing fellow, that
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  Speaker 1: drew him into a correspondence and got him to receive
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  Speaker 1: his wife home she went. Maxton met her with open arms,
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  Speaker 1: declared before witnesses that he was at length convinced of
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  Speaker 1: her innocence. This he said to patch up her reputation,
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  Speaker 1: and all was well till next morning, when he asked
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  Speaker 1: her to give him the two thousand pounds that he
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  Speaker 1: might take them to the bank. Then she laughed in
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  Speaker 1: his face, and he saw that he was done. Condonation
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  Speaker 1: the civilians call it, and so he could not go
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  Speaker 1: on with the suit. Capital, wasn't it Capital? Indeed, ejaculated Greenwood,
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  Speaker 1: nearly dying with laughter. The marquis never for a moment
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  Speaker 1: suspected it to be all forced, but rubbed his hands
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  Speaker 1: together so briskly and chuckled so heartily that a violent
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  Speaker 1: fit of coughing supervened, and he was compelled to turn
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  Speaker 1: aside to hold in his false teeth. Your lordship has
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  Speaker 1: caught a little cold, said the member for Rottenborough. But
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  Speaker 1: it is nothing, a mere nothing. I often have a
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  Speaker 1: cough like that. I've known many young men much younger
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  Speaker 1: than your lordship have worse coughs. Oh, I know that
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  Speaker 1: it's nothing, cried the Marquis, still stammering with a diabolical
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  Speaker 1: irritation in the throat. By the bye, said Greenwood, imagining
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  Speaker 1: that he had now so effectually worked himself into the
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  Speaker 1: old nobleman's good graces that he might safely explain the
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  Speaker 1: business that had brought him thither. You are not in
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  Speaker 1: any hurry for the ten thousand I borrowed of you
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  Speaker 1: at the beginning of the year. Not in the least,
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  Speaker 1: my dear fellow, returned the Marquis. But while I think
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  Speaker 1: of it, what has become of the fair Georgian the
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  Speaker 1: blue eyed malcatoun I handed her over to Dapper some
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  Speaker 1: time ago? Answered Greenwood. We were, however, speaking of those
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  Speaker 1: ten thousand pounds a trifle, A mere trifle. Say no
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  Speaker 1: more about it, cried the nobleman. I expected as much
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  Speaker 1: from your Lordship's generous friendship, said Greenwood, obsequiously. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: I came to tax you for a further loan, just
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  Speaker 1: for a few days. Impossible at present, my dear fellow,
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  Speaker 1: interrupted the Marquis rather peremptorily, for he had entertained doubts
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  Speaker 1: of his friend's prosperity for some time past, and this
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  Speaker 1: application only tended to confirm his suspicions. I am really
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  Speaker 1: so pressed at this moment. The dialog was interrupted by
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  Speaker 1: the sudden entrance of a servant, who said, my lord,
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  Speaker 1: the Prince of Montoni requests an interview with your lordship.
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  Speaker 1: The Prince Richard here, exclaimed Greenwood, thrown off his guard,
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  Speaker 1: show his highness up immediately, said the Marquis in the
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  Speaker 1: tone of a man who was surprised but not alarmed
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  Speaker 1: at this visit. My Lord interrupted Greenwood, speaking in a
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  Speaker 1: hurried and thick tone. I have the most urgent reasons
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  Speaker 1: for not meeting the Prince of Montoni, for not even
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  Speaker 1: being seen by him. I implore you not to say
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  Speaker 1: say that I am here, not even to allude to me.
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  Speaker 1: And having uttered this hasty injunction, Greenwood passed into a
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  Speaker 1: back drawing room, which was separated from the front one
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  Speaker 1: by folding doors. But it was easy to overhear in
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  Speaker 1: the former apartment all that was said in the latter
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  Speaker 1: scarcely had the Member for Rottenborough thus retreated when the
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  Speaker 1: Prince was ushered into the presence of the Marquis of Holmsford.
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  Speaker 1: Those two personages had never met before, and the moment
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  Speaker 1: they thus found themselves face to face, they surveyed each
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  Speaker 1: other with rapid but scrutinizing glances. On one side, Richard
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  Speaker 1: Markham was naturally curious to behold the man, the monster
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  Speaker 1: in human form, who could have practiced so much a
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  Speaker 1: villainy against so much virtue, who in a word, had
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  Speaker 1: destroyed the happiness of the deceased and laments mother of Catherine.
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  Speaker 1: On the other hand, the marquis was struck by the
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  Speaker 1: handsome and noble appearance of that fine young man who
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  Speaker 1: had raised himself from a sphere comparatively humble to an
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  Speaker 1: exalted position, who had led armies to a crowning triumph
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  Speaker 1: through the deadly strife of battle, and who was himself
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  Speaker 1: the personification of that generous spirit of political freedom which
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  Speaker 1: now influences the civilized world from the banks of the
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  Speaker 1: Thames to the waters of the Volga. And oh, what
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  Speaker 1: a contrast was formed in that splendid drawing room, where
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  Speaker 1: a great prince and a wealthy peer now met for
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  Speaker 1: the first time, the one possessing a heart beating with
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  Speaker 1: all the generous emotions that can redeem frail humanity from
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  Speaker 1: some of the dire consequences of the primal fall, the
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  Speaker 1: other accustomed to sacrifice all and everything to his own
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  Speaker 1: selfish lusts and degrading debaucheries. The one endowed with that
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  Speaker 1: manly beauty which associates so well with the dignity of
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  Speaker 1: high rank and the aristocracy of virtue, the other sinking
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  Speaker 1: beneath the infirmities of age and the ravages of dissipation.
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  Speaker 1: The one noble alike by nature and by name, the
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  Speaker 1: other noble only by name. The one carrying his head
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  Speaker 1: erect and well, able to meet the glance of every
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  Speaker 1: eye that would seek to penetrate into the recesses of
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  Speaker 1: his soul. The other, conscious of having outraged so many
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  Speaker 1: hearts that he quailed beneath the look of every visitor
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  Speaker 1: whose business was not immediately announced. The one, in a word,
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  Speaker 1: the type of all that is great, good, chivalrous, and estimable.
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  Speaker 1: The other a representative of a vicious, hereditary aristocracy. The
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  Speaker 1: Marquis requested our hero to be seated, and, having himself
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  Speaker 1: taken a chair, waited for an explanation of the motives
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  Speaker 1: of this visit. I have called upon you, my lord,
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  Speaker 1: said Richard, for the purpose of requesting one half hour's
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  Speaker 1: serious conversation on a subject which deeply interests me, and
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  Speaker 1: an amiable girl whom I only yesterday discovered to be
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  Speaker 1: my sister. My name is not unknown to your lordship.
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  Speaker 1: I have heard much of your highness, interrupted the nobleman,
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  Speaker 1: and am well acquainted with those great achievements which have
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  Speaker 1: covered you with glory. When I said that my name
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  Speaker 1: was not unknown to your lordship, continued Richard, bowing coldly
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  Speaker 1: in acknowledgment of the compliment, thus paid him. I did
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  Speaker 1: not allude to that title by which the forms of
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  Speaker 1: ceremony compelled me to announce myself. I intended you to
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  Speaker 1: understand that the name of Markham must occupy no agreeable
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  Speaker 1: place in your Lordship's memory. Your Highness oversteps the bounds
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  Speaker 1: of courtesy in undertaking to answer for the state of
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  Speaker 1: my feelings, exclaimed the Marquis, with evident signs of astonishment.
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  Speaker 1: Your Highness insinuates that I have reason for self reproach,
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  Speaker 1: and this between strangers. Pardon me for interrupting your lordship,
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  Speaker 1: said our hero, calmly but firmly. If we were personally
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  Speaker 1: strangers to each other until now, the name of my
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  Speaker 1: deceased father was not unknown to you, nor am I
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  Speaker 1: unacquainted with your conduct towards one who was dear to him.
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  Speaker 1: And now, my lord, let us understand each other. I
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  Speaker 1: came not hither on an inimicable errand scarcely even to
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  Speaker 1: reproach you. You are an old man, and it would
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  Speaker 1: be unseemly in me, who am a young man, to
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  Speaker 1: assume a tone of intimidation or of menace. But I
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  Speaker 1: come to request an explanation of a certain affair which
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  Speaker 1: is to some degree enveloped in doubt and mystery, Although
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  Speaker 1: alas I dread the very worst, I come, as one
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  Speaker 1: gentleman seeks another, to demand the only atonement that can
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  Speaker 1: be made for wrongs inflicted years ago on him who
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  Speaker 1: was the author of my being. And that atonement is
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  Speaker 1: a full avowal of the past, so that no uncertainty,
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  Speaker 1: even as to the worst, may dwell in the minds
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  Speaker 1: of those who are now interested in the subject to
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  Speaker 1: which I allude. Your Highness is laboring under some extraordinary error,
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  Speaker 1: said the Marquis of Holmsford warmly. I declare most solemnly
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  Speaker 1: that the name of your father was totally unknown to me. Indeed,
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  Speaker 1: I never heard of your family until the newspapers first
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: became busy with your own exploits in Italy. Is this possible,
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  Speaker 1: cried Richard. Then, as a sudden reminiscence struck him, he said,
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  Speaker 1: in a musing tone, Yes, it may be so. In
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  Speaker 1: her last letter, addressed to the Marquis of Holmsford, poor
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Harriet intimated that the name of her husband was unknown
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  Speaker 1: to him, and that letter was never sent. Although the
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  Speaker 1: Prince uttered those words rather in amusing tone to himself
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  Speaker 1: than in direct address to the Marquis, the latter caught
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  Speaker 1: the name of Harriet and instantly became deeply agitated. Harriet,
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  Speaker 1: my Lord, did your highness mention the name of Harriet?
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  Speaker 1: Murmured the nobleman. Yes, my lord, continued Richard. I say
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  Speaker 1: that I have hitherto been speaking in enigmas, but I
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  Speaker 1: will now explain myself better. It is of one whom
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  Speaker 1: you knew, as Harriet Wilmot, that I require explanations at
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  Speaker 1: your hands. Harriet Wilmot, Yes I knew her, said the
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  Speaker 1: Marquis faintly. I did her grievous wrong, and yet your
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  Speaker 1: lordship will understand. Wherefore I feel interested in all that
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  Speaker 1: relates to Harriet Wilmot, interrupted Markham, when I declare to
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  Speaker 1: you that she was secretly married to my own father,
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  Speaker 1: and it is her child whom I yesterday embraced as
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  Speaker 1: a sister. As there is a God in heaven, my lord,
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: exclaimed the Marquis of Holmsford emphatically, I never until this
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  Speaker 1: moment knew the name of Harriet's husband, and with equal solemnity.
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  Speaker 1: Would I assert on my death bed that she was innocent?
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  Speaker 1: My Lord? She was innocent? Oh, if I could believe,
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  Speaker 1: if I were assured, Richard could say no more. He
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  Speaker 1: pressed his hand to his brow, as if to steady
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  Speaker 1: his brain and collect his thoughts, and tears trembled on
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  Speaker 1: his long black lashes. Prince of Montoni cried the marquis,
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  Speaker 1: rising from his seat and speaking with more sincerity and
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  Speaker 1: more seriousness than had characterized his tone for many many years.
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  Speaker 1: I am a man of pleasure, I admit, a man
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  Speaker 1: of gallantry, I allow, but I have no inclination to gratify,
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  Speaker 1: no interest to serve by uttering a falsehood. Now again
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  Speaker 1: I declare to you, as God is my judge, that
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  Speaker 1: Harriet was innocent in respect to myself, and I believe nay.
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  Speaker 1: I would venture to assert innocent also with regard to others,
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  Speaker 1: and faithful to her husband, my Lord, said Richard, in
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: a voice tremulous with mingled emotions of joy and doubt.
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  Speaker 1: And as he spoke, he also rose from his seat
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  Speaker 1: and took the nobleman's hand, which he pressed with nervous force.
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  Speaker 1: My Lord, prove to me what you have just stated.
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  Speaker 1: Explain all that took place between yourself and Harriet on
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  Speaker 1: that night which appears to have been so fatal to
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  Speaker 1: her happiness. Show me in a word that she was innocent,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: and I will banish from my mind all angry feelings
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: which may have been excited by the knowledge of your
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: intrigues to undermine her virtue. I cannot, for a moment
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  Speaker 1: hesitate to satisfy you in this respect, said the Marquis.
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  Speaker 1: Resume your seat, my lord, and I will narrate as
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  Speaker 1: calmly and distinctly as I can, all that transpired on
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: the night when she was inveigled to my house. For
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: I perceive that you are well acquainted with many deepses
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  Speaker 1: concerning her. It is but right to inform you, observed, Richard,
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  Speaker 1: that the old woman who aided your designs with regard
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  Speaker 1: to her, whom I must consider to have been my stepmother,
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  Speaker 1: has committed to paper a narrative of all which she
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: knew relative to that unfortunate young woman. But there is
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  Speaker 1: one gap which your lordship must fill up, one mystery
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  Speaker 1: which is as yet unrevealed. I allude to the incidents
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  Speaker 1: of that fatal night, when, even if Harriet escaped innocent.
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  Speaker 1: From this house, she, by some strange combination of untoward circumstances,
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  Speaker 1: lost the confidence of my father, her husband, and appeared
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  Speaker 1: guilty in his eyes. And yet she was innocent, exclaimed
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  Speaker 1: the Marquis emphatically. Listen, Prince, to what I am about
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  Speaker 1: to say. The old woman to whom you have alluded
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  Speaker 1: in veigeled Harriet to my house, and I confess by
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  Speaker 1: my instructions, I knew that she was married, but the
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  Speaker 1: old woman told me not to whom. Even if she knew,
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  Speaker 1: she did know, remarked our hero. But the marriage was
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  Speaker 1: kept secret, and I never asked the vile procurus any
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  Speaker 1: particulars concerning it, interrupted the Marquis. All I coveted was
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  Speaker 1: Harriet's person. I cared nothing for her connections or circumstances.
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  Speaker 1: The young mother came hither with her child in her arms.
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  Speaker 1: One of my female servants took the babe from her
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  Speaker 1: and locked her in a room where she expected to
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  Speaker 1: find the woman whom she believed to be her friend.
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  Speaker 1: But she was alone with me. She knew me, and
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  Speaker 1: the conviction that she was betrayed flashed to her mind
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  Speaker 1: the moment her eyes met mine. Then she fell upon
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: her knees and implored me to save her, to spare her.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: I was inflamed with wine, maddened with desire, and I
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: heeded not her prayers. I attempted to reason with her,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: But not all the tempting offers I made her, Not
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: all the promises I uttered, not all the inducements I
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: held out could persuade her to submit to my wishes.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: I was already a widower, and I even swore to
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: make her my wife, so soon as a divorce could
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: be obtained between herself and her husband, if she would
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: become my mistress. No, she wept and shrieked, She prayed
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: and menaced, She grew violent and imploring by turns at length.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: For I must tell you all I had recourse to Violet.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: I was no longer able to master my passions, but
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: she resisted me with a strength and energy that surprised me.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: I was completely baffled, and Harriet remained innocent. Thank God,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: Thank God, exclaimed Markham, fervently clasping his hands together. Yes,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: my lord, she remained innocent. Continued the marquis, And when
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: I myself grew more cool, I felt ashamed, humiliated, cast
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: down in the presence of that young woman who had
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: preserved her virtue from my violence, the first who ever
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: entered that room and conquered me. I suddenly experienced an
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: admiration for her, such as I had never known till then.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: On behalf of any female, I approached her in my turn,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: I became a suppliant. But it was for pardon. I
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: deplored the outrage I had committed. I went upon my
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: knees to ask her forgiveness my child. She suddenly exclaimed,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: as if awaking from a profound reveren. I rang the
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: bell and received her child at the door in my
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: own arms. I carried the babe to her. She covered
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: it with kisses, and my manner touched her, for she
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: declared that she would pardon me if I never molested
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: her more, I called Heaven to witness the sincerity of
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: the oath that I then pledged to observe this condition.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Two hours had thus elapsed, and when she was composed,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: I rang the bell and ordered a hackney coach to
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: be fetched. When the vehicle arrived, I escorted her to it,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: but as I handed her down the steps of the
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: front door, a gentleman who was passing at the moment
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: caught sight of her countenance, Harriet, he exclaimed, in a
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: voice of mingled astonishment, rage, and despair. My husband, she
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: cried with a wild shriek, and she would have fallen
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: on the pavement had I not caught her in my arms, Sir,
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: I said to the stranger, this lady is innocent, although
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: appearances may be against her. Innocent, he repeated, in a
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: tone of bitterness and grief. Innocent when she comes calmly
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: from the house of the Marquis of Holmsford and sinks
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: into the Marquis of Holmsford's arms. No, I am not
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: to be deceived, Harriet, vile woman. I cast you off forever.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: And with these words, the stranger hurried away. Alas that
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: was my poor father, said Markham, the tears trickling down
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: his cheeks. I had no opportunity to explain the circumstances
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: that had occurred, continued the nobleman. After a pause, your
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: father disappeared with the rapidity of lightning, and the moment
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: he was gone, Harriet burst from my arms, evidently in
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: pursuit of him. I was so bewildered with the suddenness
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: of these events that I remained transfixed, as it were,
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: to the spot. At length. I hurried down the street
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: after Harriet, but I could not overtake her. Distressed beyond measure,
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: I returned home, vented my wrath upon the old woman,
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: whom I loathed as the authoress of this misfortune, and
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: drove her from my house. The wretch wrote to me afterwards,
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: and even endeavored to obtain an interview with me, but
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: I would never see her more. And did your lordship
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: lose sight of poor Harriet altogether? Asked Richard. I once
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: received a letter from her, was the reply. I think
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: it must have been about a year after the occurrences
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: which I have just related. She wrote, in a mild
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: and respectful tone, declaring that the sufferings of her half
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: famished child could alone have induced her to apply for
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: assistance to me. I enclosed her a hundred pounds, and
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: desired her, in my letter of reply, never to hesitate
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: to avail herself of my purse, as I should not
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: attempt to take any advantage of the assistance which I
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: might render her. But to my astonishment, she set back
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: eighty pounds, retaining only twenty, and declaring in a brief
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: note that she felt ashamed of being even compelled to
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: accept that sum I never heard from her again, but
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: I gather from your Highness's observations that she is no
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: longer living. She died unhappily, miserably upwards of thirteen years ago,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: said Richard. A strange combination of circumstances threw me in
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: the way of her daughter, the orphan, whom she left
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: about fifteen months ago. And it was only last night
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: that I discovered a sister in her whom I had
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: known as Catherine Wilmot. Catherine Wilmot, exclaimed the Marquis. Surely
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: that name is known to me. My sister was accused
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: of a crime which the Reverend Reginald Tracy had in
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: reality perpetrated, and I remember the occurrence full well. Interrupted
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: the Marquis when that exposure of the rector of Saint
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: David's took place. I was struck by the name of Wilmot.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: But I suspected not for a moment that the Catharine
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: Wilmot who was concerned in that affair, and whose innocence
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: transpired so clearly, was the daughter of poor Harriet Catherine Markham.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: For such as now her name, said Richard, was for
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: a period the victim of circumstantial evidence, even as a
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: combination of unfortunate circumstances had persecuted her mother before her. Yes,
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: it was evidence of that kind which ruined Harriet in
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: the eyes of my father. But I shall intrude no
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: longer upon your lordship, unless it be to say that
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: your candid explanation this day has gone far to retrieve
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: the past in my estimation. For oh, my lord, you
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: can perhaps understand how welcome to me is the conviction
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: that the mother of my newly discovered sister was virtuous,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: and to her poor girl the assurance of her parent's
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: innocence will be joyful. Indeed, everything is now cleared up,
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: and the narrative of Catherine's parentage is complete. Its truth
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: is proved by the fact that certain letters now in
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: my possession are in the handwriting of my father, and
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: some which Harriet also wrote, correspond with a fragment of
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: a note that the poor creature commenced on her death bed,
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: and which has remained in her daughter's possession. One link
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: was alone, wanting to make the history perfect. The occurrence
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: of that night which was so fatal to my stepmother's
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: happiness that link your Lordship has supplied, and I thank you.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: The Prince then took his leave of the Marquis. Scarcely
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: had Richard left the room when Greenwood re entered it
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: from the back apartment. His countenance was pale, his manner
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: was agitated. What is the matter with you? Demanded the Marquis,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: astonished at his friend's altered mien. Your Lordship cannot divine,
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: how nearly all that I have overheard concerns me, was
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: the answer, and Greenwood left the house abruptly. We must
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: leave the reader to imagine the joy that prevailed at
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: Markham Place when the Prince returned thither the bearer of
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: those happy tidings which proved the legitimacy of Catherine and
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: the innocence of her departed but not unlamented mother. End
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: of section ninety one. Recording by Linda Johnson