University of Virginia Library

18. CHAPTER XVIII.

The following morning found Clifton on his
way to the post-office, in the faint hope that if he
received no communications from his friends in
New-York, Julia might by a line inform him where
she resided in London. Although by no means
certain that she was aware of his being in that city,
yet the bare possibility that such might be the case,
determined him to apply at the post-office and inquire
for letters. As he was pushing forward, a
vehicle similar to that which Mr. Borrowdale occupied
on the previous day, suddenly turned a corner
of the street in front of him, and the only lady who
was seated in it, as nearly as he could judge at the
distance, resembled his charming fair one. As the
high-mettled steeds dashed onward with their lovely
burthen, he at once saw the impossibility of overtaking

them on foot; and an empty hackney coach
passing, he hailed the jehu, and was soon in full
pursuit of the receding landau.

The jaded hacks were at Clifton's instance urged
to their utmost speed, and after submitting to numerous
detentions, caused by those obstacles which
momentarily interrupt the progress of vehicles
in the metropolis—during which the landau was at
times seen, and again suddenly turning a corner
disappeared—he at length to his great gratification
saw it drawn up at the door of a handsome mansion
in Portland Place. With all possible rapidity
the fatigued horses were driven to the spot, but before
their arrival the lady had entered the house,
although the carriage still remained at the door.
Presuming that she was paying a morning visit,
Clifton dismissed his hack and remained on the opposite
side of the street, determined to accost the
lady on her re-appearance, if, as he little doubted, she
was his beloved Julia. At least two hours elapsed
before the door opened, and to Clifton's infinite
chagrin and vexation, a superannuated specimen of
the feminine sex appeared, compared with whom
the beautiful Julia was “Hyperion to a satyr.”

As she entered the vehicle our hero moved away
with a heavy heart, in spirit and appearance resembling
the mortified fox hunter, who, after following
the hounds through a morning's eager chase,
finds the cunning Reynard too shrewd for his pursuers,
and the game run down in the shape of an

attenuated rabbit. Again he directed his steps
towards the post-office—musing as he went on as
many of his late disappointments and distresses as
his memory could conveniently compass in so brief
a space of time. It at length occurred to his mind
that he had been particularly remiss in not pursuing
the landau to its ultimate destination, or inquiring
the name of its owner from the footman, as there
remained scarcely a doubt of its being the same
carriage in which Julia was seated the day before,
and by learning the residence of the owner, he
would at once have been enabled to procure an interview
with her he loved. But as it fared with all
his recent movements, the lucky moment was irretrievably
past. On arriving at the post-office, the
clerk on his inquiring for letters, presented him with
a large package which bore the city post-mark.
On opening it with eager haste, he found a brief
letter inclosed, from an ordinary of Newgate, stating
that it contained the last dying words of James
Maddox, the culprit, who attempted the robbery of
Lord Templeton; and who had revived after
Clifton's withdrawal from his cell, to the astonishment
of the physician and his attendants. The
letter closed with the information that the criminal
departed this life on the day following, praying with
his last breath that the substance of his disclosure
might be forwarded to Clifton at the first opportunity;
which was not performed in consequence of
the absence of the lad who had before called on
him, and conducted him to the prison, and who
alone knew his place of residence.

As will be conceived, our hero lost no time in
gaining his lodgings, where he found on his table
the cards of Lord Templeton and the Hon. Mr.
Courtenay. This unexpected and grateful token of
continued regard from the only persons in England
whose good opinion he really courted, caused the
tears to flow over cheeks unused to the presence of
such womanly visitors.

As soon as his emotion had subsided, he addressed
himself to the packet, and to his astonishment
perused the following narrative, which, from
its importance to our hero, and its influence on his
destinies, deserves to be recorded in a new chapter