London Victoria station

Yes, Phil was really smitten with Jenny.

And now, the admired of the most famous general of horse- defies the world to become an acknowledged royal mistress and her sprig of royalty the black sheep of a crowned family by no means lily-white at that she reminds me of old field marshal prince de ligne making love to a very young girl and succeeding or nearly succeeding before he had time to reflect a million cried the field marshal if i was a lieutenant now end of phil sheridan's friend section nine of abroad with mark twain and eugene field by h w fisher this librivox recording is in the public domain elizabeth was a he said mark mark my word elizabeth was a he said clemens when i was starting for london the end of june eighteen ninety four leaving the clemenses at the normandy paris and when you have a little time in england i wish you would look up all that pesky question for me not in westminster abbey i cried in alarm now don't you try to be gay said mark it's bad enough if i got that reputation when i want to be taken seriously i know they haven't got through ascertaining for the teenth time whether charles the first really lost his head when his overbearing noodle dropped into the basket on the scaffold opposite the horse guards you showed me the spot yourself i don't want any ghoulish work done just go to the british museum and every other library and nose up everything appertaining to queen elizabeth's manly character you get the authorities for a consideration of course and i'll do the rest then you go down surrey way and find a place or castle or summer house called overcourt or something that's where elizabeth lived in her teens and metamorphosed into a boy but the editor will never allow you to write on such a subject better let me do it not on your life said mark it's my discovery and i'm paying you for the work you do just as the new york world and the sun do when you come down to hard tacks you will find that there are no questionable proceedings whatever just an exchange of babies as in the old time operas troubadour and the rest the editor will have no kick coming the editor of course was mrs clemens who as a rule censored mark's manuscript tooth combed it as he called it cutting out such gems as the affairs of the cat who had a family in every port mark told me that when he got through with joan of arc he would tackle this here elizabeth proposition a person full of placid egotism and obsessed with self-importance he called her if i do elizabeth half as well as i intend to do joan and did the prince and pauper i will have three serious books to my credit and after that i will be damned thrice damned elizabeth would have said if i allow anybody to take me for a mere fun-maker he gave me some more instructions talking at random mostly and paid me in advance for the work i was to do twenty-four hours later i landed at victoria station london for having business in antwerp i had traveled via holland a foreign correspondent that was my trade then is shifted merrily from one place to another so it happened that i went back to france after a fortnight in england or even sooner the clemenses were packing and i had mark all to myself for an hour or so what made you first doubt the virgin queen's sex i asked never mind her gorgeous swearing maybe what did you find out in surrey i duly reported that i had gone to overcourt with a friend had explored the queen elizabeth's chambers the woods and countryside and had interviewed a lot of old and some young gossips with this result elizabeth i was told came to overcourt when a child of four or five as a young person supposed to be elizabeth that is the daughter of anne boleyn and henry the eighth left there some ten years later when the princess was seven or eight king henry who was attending parliament had promised to come and see his little girl two weeks hence overcourt is within easy riding distance of london but even as they were preparing to give hal ought to be hell interpolated mark a rousing reception to feed the brood in particular elizabeth was suddenly attacked by malignant fever and died there was only one in the know her grace's governess i gave her name to mark but have quite forgotten it I remember, though, that she remained in the royal service for some forty years afterwards.

In fact, that she and Elizabeth never separated while both lived.

I can imagine how that poor woman felt, commented Mark.

He was short and stout, and drew attention to his figure by wearing light-coloured trousers adorned with a striking check.

From Victoria Station he drove at once to his office in Jermyn Street.

A young and wizened-looking clerk was already at work in the outer room.

I will see no one this morning, Maunders, said Mr. Jarvis as he passed through.

She wondered how he would appreciate the presence of a daughter instead.

End of chapter eight Chapter nine of Running Water by A.E.W. Mason This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Sylvia makes the acquaintance of her father Sylvia left Chamonix the next afternoon.

It was a Saturday, and she stepped out of her railway carriage onto the platform of Victoria Station at seven o'clock on Sunday evening.

She was tired by her long journey, and she felt rather lonely as she waited for her trunks to be passed by the officers of the custom house.

In what locality did this Mr. James or Thomas Cardew come across this ordinary handbag?

In the cloakroom at Victoria Station.

It was given to him in mistake for his own.

the cloak-room at victoria station

yes the brighton line

the line is immaterial mr worthing i confess i feel somewhat bewildered by what you have just told me to be borne or at any rate bred in a hand-bag whether it had handles or not seems to me to display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life that reminds one of the worst excesses of the french revolution and i presume you know what that unfortunate movement led to as for the particular locality in which the handy-bag was found a cloak-room at a railway station might serve to conceal a social indiscretion has probably indeed been used for that purpose before now, but it can hardly be regarded as an assured basis for a recognized position in good society.

He gave me some more instructions, talking at random mostly, and paid me in advance for the work I was to do.

Twenty-four hours later, I landed at Victoria Station, London, for having business in Antwerp I had traveled via Holland.

A foreign correspondent, that was my trade then, is shifted merrily from one place to another, so it happened that I went back to France after a fortnight in England, or even sooner.

The Clemenses were packing, and I had Mark all to myself for an hour or so.

He was a small youth with crisp black hair and sharp black eyes, combativeness writ large all over him.

"You didn't see who brought this to the office?" "I did not." "Where do you come from?" "Victoria." "What's your name?" "George Smith, though I don't see what that's got to do with you." "Then that only shows that your range of vision is limited.

Because, Mr. George Smith, although there's no answer to this little communication, you're likely to hear of it again.

Good day." The young gentleman withdrew with something like a sniff of scorn.

Hailing a passing handsome, I had practically to lift her onto it.

She seemed to have all at once grown helpless.

I told the driver to take us to Victoria fast.

An idea had occurred to me.

Like I'd start...

Any grotty hotel that you can think of in Victoria Station or King's Cross, I've probably stayed in there.

And it was just, I would just get fucked, start doing gear in the hotel room, then I'd just walk around the lobby aimlessly walking around, and then I'd go out for like...

The amount of cigarettes I'd go through, like outside, and then not go to work the next day.