Chapter I: Front Matter

The Storm.—The Old Smithy.—A Deed of Blood.—The Death Cry.—The Child of the Dead.—Remorse and Despair.

CHAPTER II.

The Lull of the Tempest.—Morning is Coming.—The Child of Mystery.—The Necklace.—A Surprise and a Disappearance.—The Inscription.—The Lord of Learmont.

CHAPTER III.

Ten Years have Flown.—The Old Rose Inn.—A Snow Storm.—Tom the Factotum.—An Arrival to the Old Smithy.—The Mysterious Stranger.

CHAPTER IV.

The Old Smithy.—A Lone Man.—The Alarm.—The Mysterious Conference.—Guilt and Misery.

CHAPTER V.

The Morning.—A Visit.—Blasted Hopes.—The Arranged Meeting.—The Packet.—And the Knife.

CHAPTER VI.

Night Again.—The Ruins.—The Conference.—The Old Oaken Door.—The Resolve.

CHAPTER VII.

The Conference, Continued.—Mutual Security.—The Oaken Door and the Strange Appearance.—Mysteries Thicken.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Mansion.—Offers of Magnitude.—The Double Plot.

CHAPTER IX.

London in 1742.—Gray’s Home.—The Child.—The Voice of Conscience.—A Visit.

CHAPTER X.

The Disappearance.—Mrs. Bridget Strangeways and the Old Oaken Chest.—Albert’s Grief and Despair.

CHAPTER XI.

Learmont in London.—The Endeavour to Drown Thought.—Life in 1742.—All is not Gold that Glitters.

CHAPTER XII.

The Consequences of Crime.—A Familiar Friend.—A Cloud upon Learmont’s Felicity.

CHAPTER XIII.

A Walk in the Park.—A Recognition.—The Question.—A Defiance.—Jacob Gray’s First Visit.—The Dream.

CHAPTER XIV.

The Dark Threat.—The Biter Bit.—Another Murder Projected.—Learmont’s Reasoning.

CHAPTER XV.

Chase.—A Long Race, And its Results.

CHAPTER XVI.

The Lone House in Ancient Lambeth.—The Boy.—A Solitary Heart.

CHAPTER XVII.

“The Chequers,” at Westminster.—Britton’s Notions of Greatness.—“When the Wine is In, the Wit is Out.”

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Lone Max.—The Voice of Conscience.

CHAPTER XIX.

Learmont’s Adventure.—A Discovery.—The Haunted House.—Exultation, and a Resolution.

CHAPTER XX.

The Guide.—The Old House.—The Murder.

CHAPTER XXI.

A Sunny Morning.—The Chamber in the Old House.

CHAPTER XXII.

Learmont at Home.—His Exultation.—The Smith.—The Plot.

CHAPTER XXIII.

The Projected Murder.—The Unconscious Sleeper.—A Night of Horror.

CHAPTER XXIV.

The Attempted Assassination.—A Surprise.—Ada’s Surmises.—The Agony of Gray.

CHAPTER XXV.

The Escape.—Taunts.—The Confession.—Learmont’s Rage and Discomfiture.

CHAPTER XXVI.

The Morning.—The Body of the Murdered Man.—The Old Inn.—Jacob’s Reflections.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Ada’s Flight and Despair.—Old Westminster Bridge at Daybreak.—The Smith.—Mad Maud.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Ada’s Wanderings.—The Pearl Necklace.—A Kind Heart.—The Park.—A Joyous Meeting.—The Arrangement.

CHAPTER XXIX.

The Young Lovers.—The Gallant of a Hundred Years Since.—Hopes and Fears.—The Dream of a True Heart.

CHAPTER XXX.

Jacob’s Return Home.—An Unexpected Visitor.—The Lonely Watch.

CHAPTER XXXI.

Ada’s Fate Again Against Her.—The Threat.—The New Home.

CHAPTER XXXII.

Albert’s Disappointment.—Tibbs, the Bear Warden.—The Search.—A Consultation.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Learmont at Home.—Dark Reflections.—The Summons.—The Confederates.—Suspicions.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

The Girl in Her Melancholy Home.—The Prison House.—A Dungeon’s Gloom.—Unavailing Sorrow.

CHAPTER XXV.

Ada’s Appeal.—The Promise.—Ada’s Despair.—Gray’s Triumph.

CHAPTER XXVI.

The Squire.—The Life of a Captive.—A Strange Fatality.—The Associates.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Learmont at Home.—The Baronetcy.—A Visitor.—The Rejected Offer.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Ada’s Lone Home.—The Summer.—An Adventure.

CHAPTER XXIX.

The Alarm.—The Pursuit.—A Mob in the Last Century.—The Fugitive.—Maud, the Beggar.

CHAPTER XXX.

The Tale.—A Blighted Heart’s Despair.

CHAPTER XXXI.

The Interview.—Jacob Gray’s Meditations.—The Slip of Paper.—The Nail.—The Guilty Conscience.—The Departure.

CHAPTER XXXII.

Jacob Gray’s Fears.—The Promise.—Ada’s Meditations.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Britton at the Chequers.—The Visit.—A Mysterious Stranger.—The Good Company.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

The Fête.—Villany Prospers for a Season.—An Interruption.—The Dance.

CHAPTER XXXV.

The Ball-room.—A Noble Family.—The Interruption.—Unexpected End of Learmont’s Fête.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Albert Seyton.—The Lonely Search.—A Suggestion.—An Important Visit.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

The Pursuit.—The Attempted Murder.—A Providential Interference.—The Papers.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

The Meeting at Mill-bank.—The Knife.—Ada’s Fate Hangs on a Thread.—The Bold Plunge.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

The Smith’s Anger.—A Drunken Tour through Westminster in the Olden Time.—The Watch.—A Scene at the Chequers.—The Determination.

CHAPTER XL.

The Old House Again.—Ada’s Alarm.—Gray and His Gold.

CHAPTER XLI.

A Human Voice.—The Departure.—An Unexpected Meeting.—The Reception.

CHAPTER XLII.

Gray’s Cunning.—Danger Thickens.—The Hour of Retribution has not Come.

CHAPTER XLIII.

The Proposal.—Gray’s Reasoning.—The Vault.—Ada’s Tears.—A Guilty Heart’s Agony.

CHAPTER XLIV.

The Search.—The Confession.—The Strange Report.—An Awful Dilemma.

CHAPTER XLV.

The Lonely Watcher.—Gray’s Cunning.—The Cupboard on the Stairs.

CHAPTER XLVI.

The Death of the Elder Seyton.—Albert’s Grief.—The Prophecy.

CHAPTER XLVII.

The Smith at Learmont House.—The Breakfast.—The Threat, and its Results.—The Caution.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

The Escape.—A Song of the Times.

CHAPTER XLIX.

The Projected Murder.—The Alarm.—The Death-Shot.—Ada’s Anguish and Indignation.

CHAPTER L.

The Ruin at Night.—The Fire.—Gray’s Behaviour.—A Challenge.—Old Westminster Again.

CHAPTER LI.

The Alcove on the Bridge.—Gray’s Speech to Ada.—The Flight.—The Hunt.—The Last Refuge.

CHAPTER LII.

The Dark Court.—A Deed of Blood.—The Pursuit Continued.—The Mother and the Child.

CHAPTER LIII.

A Mother’s Care.—The Pursuit.—A Successful Ruse.—The Second Visit.

CHAPTER LIV.

The Staircase.—The Old Attic.—A Friend in Need.—Fair Play.—Gray’s Despair.

CHAPTER LV.

The Escape over the Houses.—Many Perils.—Gray’s Great Sufferings.—The Guide Rope.

CHAPTER LVI.

The Robbers.—The Drugged Wine.—Visions of the Mind Diseased.

CHAPTER LVII.

Ada’s Escape.—The Magistrate.—Ada’s Ignorance of London Localities.—Learmont’s Fright.

CHAPTER LVIII.

An Anecdote.—Sir Francis Hartleton’s House at Westminster.—The Reception.—Ada’s Conduct and Feelings.

CHAPTER LIX.

Jacob Gray and His Kind Friends.—The Plunder.—Thieves’ Morality.—The Drive to Hampstead.

CHAPTER LX.

Ada at Sir Francis Hartleton’s.—The Philosophy of a Young Heart.—A Confession.—The Pleasure of Sympathy.

CHAPTER LXI.

Albert Seyton’s Destitution.—A Lone and Wearied Spirit.—The Application to Learmont, and the Meeting with Sir Francis Hartleton.

CHAPTER LXII.

Jacob Grey in the Hampstead Fields.—The Placard.—The Reward.

CHAPTER LXIII.

Gray’s Proceedings.—A Narrow Escape.—The Night Visit to Learmont.

CHAPTER LXIV.

The Chequers.—Britton’s Corner.—An Alarm.—The Mysterious Stranger.—A Quarrel.—A Fight and a Little Anatomy.

CHAPTER LXV.

An Interview with a Secretary of State.—Sir Francis Hartleton’s Difficulties.

CHAPTER LXVI.

Gray’s Visit to Learmont.—The Disappointment.—A Week of Terror.—The Street Newsvender.

CHAPTER LXVII.

The Disappointment.—The Last Resource.—A Strange Meeting.—The Confession.

CHAPTER LXVIII.

Britton and Learmont.—Mind and Matter Produce Similar Results.—Learmont’s Weakness and Fears.—The Chair.

CHAPTER LXIX.

A Walk and a Meeting.—The Vision at the Open Casement.—Learmont’s Perturbation.

CHAPTER LXX.

The Jew and the Necklace.—Gray’s Troubles and Surmises.—An Adventure.

CHAPTER LXXI.

The Pursuit.—A Successful Ruse.—The Long Night.—Gray’s Terror.

CHAPTER LXXII.

The Return of Learmont.—The Interview.—Doubts and Fears.

CHAPTER LXXIII.

The Troublesome Shoe-maker.—Gray’s Agony and Danger.—The Flight.

CHAPTER LXXIV.

Ada’s Home.—A Happy Scene.—The Serenity of Goodness.

CHAPTER LXXV.

Britton in His Glory Again.—The Song and the Legal Functionary.—The Surprise.

CHAPTER LXXVI.

The Old Associates.—Gray’s Fears.—The Old Attic at the Chequers.

CHAPTER LXXVII.

The Smith’s Plot Against Gray.—An Accommodating Friend.

CHAPTER LXXVIII.

Gray on the House Tops.—Specimens of the Rising Generation.—The Old Attic.

CHAPTER LXXIX.

The Interview between Albert and Learmont.—The Promise, and Albert’s Relation.

CHAPTER LXXX.

The Unfortunate Confidence of Albert Seyton.—Learmont’s Promises and Treachery.

CHAPTER LXXXI.

Learmont’s Improved Prospects.—The Park.—Ada’s Recollections.—The Meeting.

CHAPTER LXXXII.

Learmont’s Sneers.—The Spy.—The Amateur Constable.

CHAPTER LXXXIII.

Gray’s Peril.—A Peep into Domestic Affairs.—The Corpulent Lady.—The Man who Was Hung on Monday.

CHAPTER LXXXIV.

The Mystery Explained.—The Escape.—Jacob Gray’s New Lodging.

CHAPTER LXXXV.

Learmont’s Treachery to Albert Seyton.—The Plot Against Gray.

CHAPTER LXXXVI.

Gray at Home.—The Confession.—A Walk through Westminster in Search of a Wig.

CHAPTER LXXXVII.

Jacob Gray’s Disguise.—The Troublesome Shoemaker Again.—The Visit.

CHAPTER LXXXVIII.

Mad Maud and the Magistrate.—The Scraps of Gray’s Confession.

CHAPTER LXXXIX.

The Revelation.—Learmont’s Deep Duplicity.—Albert’s Gratitude.

CHAPTER XC.

The Last Meeting.—Mutual Cunning.—The Squire and Jacob Gray.

CHAPTER XCI.

The Pursuit.—The Spy.—The Three Wherries on the Thames.

CHAPTER XCII.

The Chase on the Thames.—Albert’s Successful Disguise.—The Old Stairs at Buckingham-street.

CHAPTER XCIII.

Gray at Home.—Albert’s Joy and Exultation.—The Meeting in the Old Door Way.

CHAPTER XCIV.

Strong Drink at the Chequers.—The Summons to Britton.—His Majesty’s Amusements.

CHAPTER XCV.

The Walk in Search of Albert.—The Recognition at Charing Cross.

CHAPTER XCVI.

Sir Francis Hartleton’s Surprise at Albert’s Place of Destination.—The Watch on the Squires’ House.—Ada’s Disappointment.

CHAPTER XCVII.

The Visit to Gray’s House.—Learmont’s Exultation.

CHAPTER XCVIII.

Albert’s Love and Determination.—The Squire’s Dream.

CHAPTER XCIX.

Ada’s Faith in Albert Seyton.—The Confidence of a Generous Heart.

CHAPTER C.

Learmont’s Visit to the Chequers.—The Sleeping Smith.

CHAPTER CI.

The Search.—The Assignation.—Britton’s Surprise and Exaltation.

CHAPTER CII.

The Hour of Eleven.—Gray in His Solitary Home.—The Lover’s Watch.—The Eve of the Murder.

CHAPTER CIII.

From Twelve to One.

CHAPTER CIV.

The Murder.

CHAPTER CV.

After the Murder.

CHAPTER CVI.

The Arrest.

CHAPTER CVII.

The Interview and the Exculpation.—Sir Francis Hartleton’s Caution.

CHAPTER CVIII.

Albert’s Despair.—The Tests of Truth.

CHAPTER CIX.

The Meeting of the Lovers.

CHAPTER CX.

The Lovers.—The Interview of Sir Francis Hartleton with the Secretary of State.—The Ball.

CHAPTER CXI.

The Confession.

CHAPTER CXII.

The Consultation with Albert and Ada.—The Arrangement for the Ball.

CHAPTER CXIII.

Learmont and Britton after the Murder.

CHAPTER CXIV.

Albert’s Visit to Learmont.—The Squire’s Triumph.

CHAPTER CXV.

The Masked Ball.

CHAPTER CXVI.

The Death of Learmont.

CHAPTER CXVII.

The Pursuit for Britton.

CHAPTER CXVIII.

Conclusion.

THE AUTHOR TO HIS READERS.

THE HOPE OF ALBERT SEYTON TO ADA THE BETRAYED.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

Lloyd’s

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Romance and General Interest

There's not a passion of the mind,

A moving thraldom of the o’verwrought brain,

But with the magic of an art which is immortal,

Is enshrined here.—Ben Jonson.

I have a tale of war for knight

Lay of love for beauty bright,

Fairy tale to lull the heir,

Goblins grim the maids to scare.—Scott.

Vol. I.

London:

Printed and Published by E. Lloyd, 12 Salisbury Square, Fleet Street.

———

1843.