ngovernable, and he determined to carry her off by force. To carry
out his purpose, he induced his friend Lord Mohun to assist him in the
attempt. According to one account, "he dodged the fair actress for a
whole day at the theatre, stationed a coach near the Horseshoe Tavern,
in Drury Lane, to carry her off in, and hired six soldiers to force
her into it. As the beautiful actress came down Drury Lane, at ten
o'clock at night, accompanied by her mother and brother, and escorted
by her friend Mr. Page, one of the soldiers seized her in his arms,
and endeavoured to force her into the coach. But the lady's scream
attracted a crowd, and Captain Hill, finding his endeavours
ineffectual, bid the soldiers let her go. Disappointed in their
object, Lord Mohun and Captain Hill vowed vengeance; and Mrs.
Bracegirdle on reaching home sent her servant to Mr. Mountford's house
to take care of himself, warning him against Lord Mohun and Captain
Hill, "who she feared, had no good intention toward him, and did wait
for him in the street." It appears that Mountford had already heard of
the attempt to carry off Mrs. Bracegirdle, and hearing that Lord Mohun
and Captain Hill were in the street, did not shrink from approaching
them."

The account says that he addressed Lord Mohun, and told him how sorry
he was to find him in the company of such a pitiful fellow as Captain
Hill, whereupon, it is said, "the captain came forth and said he would
justify himself, and went towards the middle of the street, and Mr.
Mountford followed him and drew." The end of the quarrel was that
Mountford fell with a terrible wound, of which he died on the
following day, declaring in his last moments that Captain Hill ran him
through the body before he could draw his sword. Captain Hill, it
seems, owed Mountford a deadly grudge, having attributed his rejection
by Mrs. Bracegirdle to her love for him--an unlikely passion, it is
thought, as Mountford was a married man, with a good-looking wife of
his own, afterwards Mrs. Verbruggen, and a celebrated actress.

Oulton House, Suffolk, long known as the "Haunted House," acquired its
ill-omened name from a tragic occurrence traditionally said to have
happened many years ago, and the peasantry in the neighbourhood affirm
that at midnight a wild huntsman, with his hounds, accompanied by a
lady carrying a poisoned cup, is occasionally seen. The story is that,
in the reign of George II., a squire, returning unexpectedly home