 Section 103 of Mysteries of London, Volume 4. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Mysteries of London, Volume 4 by George W. M. Reynolds. Mr. Green's office. On the same morning and at about the same time that Charles Hadfield and Captain Bartelma thus encountered each other in Regent Street, certain incidents of importance to the threat of our narrative occurred elsewhere. We must request the reader to accompany us to a newly fitted up suite of offices in Warwick Court, Hullborn. And in the private room, we shall find Mr. Green seated at a desk covered with papers. A material alteration had taken place in the external appearance of this individual. It was well-dressed, looked clean and neat, and wore an air of assurance instead of the downcast, upsequious, groveling demeanor that had characterized him when in the service of Mr. Heath Coat. His private room was neatly furnished and had a business-like aspect. In the front office, two clerks were busily employed in drawing up statements to be laid before counsel in several heavy suits. And in the passage outside, a process server was waiting for instructions. Mr. Green had drawn his table near the fire that blazed in the grate, for the reader must remember that several months had elapsed since the adventures of this individual with Jack Riley, and it was now the commencement of February 1847. The cheerful flames roared halfway up the chimney, and as Green felt the genial heat diffusing a glow throughout his frame, he smiled triumphantly as he contrasted his present position with what it was in those times when he was compelled to sit without a fire from nine in the morning to six in the evening on the hard, high stool in Heath Coat's front office. Now he was a solicitor on his own account, had his name once more in the law list, could look with complacency into his bank for his book, and when business was over for the day, had nothing to do but to step into an omnibus and ride as far as the door of his neat little dwelling at Bayswater. No wonder then that Mr. Green's countenance had lost his downcast look and its haggard, broken-hearted expression. No wonder that hope beamed in his eyes, and that his tone and manner had recovered the assurance if not the actual dignity of former days. On the particular morning of which we are riding, Mr. Green was more than usually elate, and as he looked over the papers that lay before him, the inward exaltation which he experienced imparted the glow of animation to his features. Presently the door opened and his junior clerk appeared saying, Mr. Heath Coat, sir, let him walk in, return green, assuming a cold tone, but his heart was palpitating violently with mingle feelings of joy, triumph, and in sensation, revenge. In a few moments James Heath Coat entered the room, but oh, how changed was that man, not only in countenance, but also in deportment. His face was thin, haggard, careworn. His eyes, sunken in their sockets, were dim and glazed. His form was bowed, and in the course of a few months his hair had turned from an iron gray to a stainless white. His aspect was deplorable, and his manner was indicative of deep mental distress, anxiety, suffering, and humiliation. Sit down, sir, set green in a patronizing tone. Heath Coat placed his hat upon the floor and took a chair, then fixing his hollow eyes upon his ex-quirk. He was about to open his business, but unable to bear up against the tide of reminiscences that rushed to his soul, he burst into tears. Green effected not to notice this ebullition of grief, but deliberately poked the fire. For a few minutes the old lawyer sat sobbing in the presence of the man whom he had trampled upon during the long period of his vassalage, and at length recovering sufficient composure to enable his tongue to give utterance to the ideas that were uppermost. He said, Mr. Green, you are doubtless astonished to receive a visit from me. Not at all, sir. I expected it, was the laconic reply, and therefore should you have expected it, asked Heath Coat anxiously, because the result of yesterday's trial in the court of Queen's bench places you completely in the power of my victorious client, despondent Green, and you are likewise well aware that every other action pending against you must be decided in the same manner. Yes, I cannot close my eyes to that fact, observed Heath Coat actually wringing his hands, and therefore you are ruined, totally ruined, return Green, with a demoniac smile of triumph, ruined, totally ruined, repeated Heath Coat with that mechanical unconsciousness, which is indicative of despair, blank despair. Not only ruined in pocket, but in character likewise, resumed Green, his tone becoming merciless, nay, absolutely savage and ferocious. That long trial of yesterday, a trial which occupied eight hours, revealed you in your true colors to all the world, the council whom I employed for you to pieces, all your chicanery was unraveled, all your maneuvers traced, followed up and exposed, all your fraudulent proceedings dragged to light, so you who never spared a human being, Mr. Heath Coat, were not spared yesterday, you who never pitied a living soul were not pitied yesterday, the bears to resemble the giant, and you a dwarf, whom he held up writhing and shrieking in presence of the whole court, I the whole country. Every newspaper published this morning contains a long account of the proceedings, and by this time your character stinks in the nostrils of the entire profession. Then am I not sufficiently punished, Mr. Green, asked Heath Coat the tears rolling down his thin, emaciated and shallow countenance, since you first commenced these numerous suits against me, I've not known a moment's peace, sleep has scarcely ever visited my pillow, the awful gulf of infamy and disgrace was always yawning at my feet, look at me, Mr. Green, look at me, am I not changed? My God, I'm 20 years older than I was on that day when you quitted me in such anger and with such dreadful threats. And those threats shall be fulfilled to the very letter, yes, to the very letter, said Mr. Green, in a tone of unmitigated bitterness, I told you that there should be war between us, war to the very night, and I've kept my word, I told you that ere a few months had elapsed, you would bitterly repent your conduct to one who only asked for a little kindness in return for his faithful services, and you've already repented, but my memory is immortal, Mr. Heath Coat, and I can never, never forget the injuries, the insults, the degradations and the wrongs I have received at your hands, my thirst for revenge is therefore insatiable, and this very day shall I adopt another and still more important proceeding with regard to you. My God, all this amounts to a persecution, ejaculated Heath Coat, literally writhing upon his chair, call it what you will, sir, responded green savagely, no words, no entreaties, no menaces, no prayers on your part can stay me in the course which I am adopting, and that course, said Heath Coat, shuddering with apprehension, is an indictment at the obeyly for conspiracy, answered green, no, no, you cannot do it, cried Heath Coat, now becoming dreadfully excited. You are lawyer enough to know that I can do it, rejoined green with a smile of infernal triumph, the evidence obtained from yesterday's proceedings in, call pated, another person with you in the fraud, the damnable fraud that you practiced upon my client years ago, and at this very moment, my clerks are drawing up the statement to be submitted to counsel with a view to an indictment against yourself and your accomplice. I could have borne everything but this, exclaimed the miserable man covering his face with his two thin hands and then shaking his head wildly as if in a species of hysteria. Yes, and you suspected that such would be the course that I should adopt, resumed green, for it is precisely the measure that you yourself would have taken in similar circumstances. What you have done to others, Mr. Heath Coat, shall now be done to you, and it were as reasonable to implore the forbearance of a ravenous tiger as to appeal to me for mercy. One word, Mr. Green, one word, ejaculated Heath Coat starting from his seat. I will at once, yes, this very moment, surrender up all the various sums and properties you claim on behalf of the numerous clients whom you represent against me. I will satisfy and liquidate all your demands, needing myself a beggar, yes, a beggar, upon the face of the earth, on condition that you abandon this criminal prosecution. Peruse that list of my clients and the amount of their claims, said Green, handing the wretched man a paper. The sum is enormous, frightful, exclaimed Heath Coat, his countenance becoming hideous to gaze upon, and to that amount must be added a thousand pounds to satisfy me for the costs which I shall lose by the compromise, return green with implacable coldness, both of tone and manner. As God is my judge, I cannot command that additional thousand pounds which you stipulate for, cried Heath Coat, trembling with nervous excitement, then applied to your brother, Sir Gilbert responded Green, a sardonic smile curling his lips, he is not in England, he has gone abroad, I know not wither, exclaimed the miserable man, months have now elapsed since his mistress became reconciled to her husband, the Marquis of Delmore, and Gilbert suddenly quitted England about the same time, he refused to see me previous to his departure, he rejected my proposals, my humble proposals for a reconciliation, therefore were I even acquainted with his present abode, it would be useless in vain to apply to him for a sucker. Thus is it that all your grand schemes, your magnificence and designs, your comprehensive plans have fallen in with a tremendous crash, bearing you in the ruins, said Green, in a slow and measured tone that was torturing and intolerable with its diabolical sardinism. Well, he continued after a few moments pause, I will renounce the demand of a thousand pounds on condition that you at once, and dare you quit my presence, assign all your property of whatever kind, with a view to the liquidation of these claims and the settlement of all the suits pending against you. I will do so, said Heathcote, provided that you give me an undertaking to abandon all criminal proceedings against me, agreed was the response, and the two lawyers drew up certain documents which they forthwith exchanged, and we may observe that whereas Green's handwriting was firm, clear and legible, that if his discomforted opponent was trembling, blotted and indicative of a terrible excitement. My ruin, my utter ruin, is now consummated, grown Heathcote, wringing his hands bitterly, all that I had heaped up for my old age, and that you had obtained at the sacrifice of the happiness of hundreds, interrupted Green, his tone, suddenly assuming the savage triumph of one who gloats over the downfall of a hated enemy. But we will not prolong our interview, sir, the day of retribution has come at last, and in a few minutes, I have wreaked the pent-up vengeance of long years, be gone, sir, offend me not another moment with your presence. My head clerk shall accompany you to your own office in order that you may place in his hands the securities and the documents specified in the agreement that you have given me. Heathcote made no reply, but turning hastily away took his departure, followed by Green's managing man who received the necessary instructions from his master. Scarcely had the ruined lawyer thus quitted the establishment of his flourishing and merciless oppressor when a lady wearing a thick black veil entered the front office and requested an immediate interview with Mr. Green. The junior clerk delivered this message to his employer and the lady was forthwith introduced to the legal gentleman's presence in the comfortable back room. A rapid glance at his visitress convinced Mr. Green that she was likely to prove no ordinary client for the elegance of her dress, the gracefulness of her demeanor and the dignity of her gait bespoke a lady of distinction and went on taking the chair which he hastened to place for her accommodation. She raised her veil. He was struck by the transcendent beauty of the countenance thus revealed to him. We are alone together, sir, said the lovely stranger looking intently around, but can listeners overhear anything that may pass between us? There is no need of apprehension on that head, madam, answered Green, speak freely and without reserve. I've called upon business of great importance to myself in which may prove most lucrative to you, continued the lady. Before we proceed farther, madam, said the lawyer, may I request to be informed who recommended you to me? A client of yours who resides in Pimlico and with whom I am acquainted answered the beautiful woman. Perhaps you have heard mention made of my name. I was the countess of Caringnano, but I presume that since my husband's native land has become a republic and abolished titles of nobility, I must introduce myself to you as Senora Barthelma. I've heard of you, madam, responded Green, and I shall be delighted to number you amongst my clients. It is for this purpose that I've addressed myself to you today, observed Laura, but I must at once inform you that the object of my visit is scarcely connected with law. If I can serve you, madam, began Green, who was completely fascinated by her beauty and her manners, and serve yourself also, added Laura, yes, you can do both. Know then that I cherish a rankerous, burning hatred against two individuals, father and son, and that the time has now come for me to wreak my vengeance upon them. The sun has just returned from Italy. I saw his arrival mentioned in this morning's paper. And not another day, not another hour, can I rest, ere a train be laid that must lead to the explosion of all the happiness they now expect to enjoy. And who are these persons, madam, asked Green? Their name is Hatfield, and they reside at the mansion of the Earl of Ellingham in Palmel, responded Laura. I'm acquainted with a terrific secret regarding that family, a secret which would make the hair of all England's proud aristocracy stand on end, a secret in fine that now affords me the means of humbling my two mortal enemies in the dust. Will you so become the instrument of my vengeance? Will you perform my bidding in all respects? I know that I ask a great deal that I'm about to involve you in no trifling or unimportant enterprise, and that the business does not with propriety come within the sphere of your professional applications, but the recompense shall be most liberal. And I proffer this note of 500 pounds as an earnest of my intentions in that respect. Green's eyes glistened at the sight of this generous gift and he hastened to assure Senor Barthelma that he not only undertook her business with cheerfulness, but would enter into it with as much enthusiasm as if he were interested in it from personal feeling. I thought that I was not deceived in your character from what I had heard, observed Laura, for let there be no mistake nor misunderstanding between us, Mr. Green, she continued fixing her fine large gray eyes, intently upon him, you have no objection to make money. I have money to dispense amongst those who serve me. You will not feel qualmish nor entertain a modern sentiment of honor in matters that are likely to prove lucrative, and I am ready to pay handsomely for the assistance which you can render me. Proceed, Madam, said Green, we understand each other. Good, ejaculated Laura, and now listen attentively. I'm about to communicate to you secrets of the most starkling character, and it is by the use which must be made of those revelations that my vengeance is to be gratified. At the same time you are to act in this matter without suffering it to be known that you are instigated by me. If questioned respecting the manner in which you became acquainted with these tremendous secrets, you must give some evasive reply. And if my name be suggested as your probable informant, you must declare boldly that you never even heard of me in your life. For those whom I am anxious to crush, overwhelm, uncover with confusion, might tell certain tales of a disagreeable nature concerning myself, but if they be kept in ignorance that it is I who am in the background, they will remain silent in these respects. You see that I am candid with you, Mr. Green. And that very frankness, Madam, renders me the more anxious to serve you, answered the unprincipled attorney. Thanks for this assurance, said Laura, delighted at having found so ready and willing an instrument to carry out her vindictive designs. And now for these tremendous secrets to which I've already alluded. Learn then that the older Mr. Hatfield, of whom I have spoken, and who is a gentleman apparently of high respectability and enjoying a good reputation, Laura and I say that he is in reality none other than the celebrated high women, Thomas Rainford, of former times. Yes, you may well start and be amazed, Mr. Green, continue Laura emphatically, but it is the true, the solemn truth. And it is nothing to that revelation which I have next to make for this Mr. Hatfield, or rather, Thomas Rainford was the older son of the late Earl of Bellingham and being legitimately born, he is the rightful possessor of the peerage and the entailed estates. This is most wonderful ejaculated green, staring almost stupidly with amazement, have yet other revelations to make, continued Laura in a tone of subdued triumph, Thomas Rainford married a certain lady, Georgiana Hatfield and adopted her name. They have a son whose name is Charles and who passes as their nephew because he is illegitimate. It is this son whose arrival in London yesterday is announced in this morning's journals. The same paragraph which records his return from Italy hints at the probability of his shortly leading Lady Frances Ellingham to the altar. You know the sickening, fulsome terms in which such matters are glanced at in the Department of Fashionable Intelligence, but before such marriage shall take place, it is my purpose to carry woe, desolation of heart and for me disgrace and the deepest, deepest humiliation into that proud mansion. I care not that these hatfields should remain in ignorance of the fact that it is really I who strike the blow to be sufficient for me to be convinced that the blow itself is struck. Do you begin to comprehend me? I understand you all together and completely madam, exclaimed Green, you would have me repair forthwith to Ellingham House and by seeking some cause of dispute with one or more of its inmates sees the opportunity to proclaim allowed all the tremendous secrets which you have just revealed to me is not this your purpose. It is, responded Laura, then in a lower but more emphatic tone she added and take care that the whole proceeding be accompanied with such circumstances of notoriety that it must inevitably engage the attention of the public press in a word contrived that all those revelations shall appear in print, Mr. Green, and a thousand guineas shall be your recompense. It shall be done madam, it shall be done, answered the lawyer, his heart exalting at the idea of the munificent reward thus promised. Tomorrow I shall visit you again, said Laura, but remember this affair rests between you and me, should you ever encounter me when I'm walking or riding out with my husband, you will not appear to know me, we are strangers to each other everywhere, save within the four walls of this room. I understand and will obey all your wishes madam, return Green, the lovely but vindictive and profligate woman, then took her departure and the lawyer lost no time in repairing true palmel. End of section 103. Section 104 of Mysteries of London, volume four. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Mysteries of London, volume four by George W. M. Reynolds. Perdita, the lost one. It was about three o'clock in the afternoon when Laura reached the villa on Westbourne Terrace and having laid aside her bonnet and handsome furs, she proceeded to the drawing room where as Rosalie had already informed her, her husband Lorenzo was anxiously awaiting her presence. The fact that he should have stated to the servant his desire that she would speedily return home was a proceeding so unusual on his part, appearing as it did to imply annoyance at her absence that it roused the haughty temper of the imperious Laura and for the first time since their marriage, she wore a frown upon her features when she entered his presence. It was also for the first time that his handsome countenance denoted a storm raging within his breast and all the pent-up violence of which was about to explode against the deceitful want and creature into whose character he had obtained so complete but fatal an insight that morning. You've been asking for me, Lorenzo, so Laura in a cold tone as she seated herself with an air of exhaustion upon a sofa. Yes, madam, I was most anxious to see you as soon as possible, answered the Italian, turning abruptly away from the window at which he had been standing and now advancing towards her. When I came home an hour ago, I was surprised to find that you had been absent since midday and pray, Lorenzo, am I to be kept a prisoner in this house, demanded Laura, in a tone of unfeigned surprise. I had certain purchases to make at different shops and I went out in the carriage for the purpose, permit me to observe that your conduct is undignified in the extreme since you so far forget yourself as to express your feelings to my ladies made. My God, and where I to proclaim my feelings to the whole world, there would be but little cause for wonder exclaimed the Italian vehemently and as he spoke he thrust his hand into his bosom and clutched a dagger at which he had concealed there. But his eyes fell upon the countenance of his wife that countenance so glorious in his beauty, so now with the somber cloud overshadowing it and he would have slain her then and there had not his glance thus suddenly embraced all the loveliness of her features and all the rich contours of her splendid form. For like a welling tide rushed to his soul, a thousand tender reminiscences vividly recalling to his imagination all the joys and delights he had experienced in her arms, the fervid passion he had seen reflected in those magnificent eyes, the luscious kisses he had imprinted on those lips, the wanton playfulness with which her long, luxuriant hair had off time swept across his cheeks, the ineffable bliss that had filled his raptured soul when his head was pulled on that glowing, swelling bosom which now palpitated with haughty indignation. Oh, he thought of all this and he felt that he could not slay one so exquisitely lovely, so transcendently beautiful. Assuredly, your humor is strange today, Lorenzo, said Laura, who though longing to make it up with the man whom she really and sincerely loved, nevertheless was resolved to exact the homage which all women under such circumstances require, namely the first overture towards a reconciliation. At one moment, your eyes glare savagely upon me as if I'd given you some mortal offense, and now they assume an expression of pity and commiseration. Come, sir, confess that you have entertained some outrageous suspicion that you are jealous of me and I shall take the avowal as a proof of affection. Do this, she added, a faint smile of encouragement appearing upon her lips and allowing a glimpse of her brilliant teeth. Do this, Lorenzo, and I will pardon your untimeness. Pardon me, exclaimed the Italian bitterly, for the conduct of his wife now appeared to him to be aggravated by levity and flippancy of the most irritating nature, though in reality she was totally ignorant of the fact that Graven's series charges were agitating in his mind against her. Pardon me, he repeated, his tone now assuming a fierceness that began to amaze and even alarm the young woman whose conscience, as the reader is well aware, was not the clearest in the world. Of this is indeed a hideous mockery, a cool deliberate insult. He continued, yes, a vile insult to offer to pardon me, whatever I ever done to offend you or merit your forbearance or your forgiveness, my God, desire who have been generous and confiding and to you who have been the gross deceiver and the untraceable hypocrite. These are harsh words, Lorenzo, exclaimed Laura, rising from the sofa and drawing herself up to her full height. And though not tall in stature, there was nevertheless something regal and majestically imperious in her air and bearing, yes, they are harsh words, I repeat, and they may lead to a quarrel which no subsequent regrets nor apologies can repair. Let the quarrel be eternal or to the very death, returned Lorenzo, his handsome countenance, now distorted with rage. Oh, I am sick of this world with its hideous deceits, its hollow hearts, its boundless profligacy. I care not how soon I throw off the coil of this life's troubles, but with my last breath shall I curse, bitterly, bitterly, curse the odious name of Perdita. Ah, ejaculated the guilty woman, now perceiving that she was indeed unmasked, but almost immediately recovering her self-possession, she approached her husband and said in her softest, most seductive tones, you have heard evil reports concerning me, Lorenzo, and I hope ere you prejudge me that I shall be allowed an opportunity to give a full explanation, consider my position. It is that of a friendless and orphan woman about to lose perhaps the only being on earth whom she ever loved or who has ever sincerely loved her. Oh, how is it that such a demon heart is harbored in such an angelic form, cried Lorenzo Barthelma, surveying her for a moment with mingle pity and admiration, then immediately after is a full sense of all her tremendous profligacy and deceit springing up in his soul, his eyes glared upon her with the ferocity of a lynx, and a feeling of deep and burning hatred took possession of him. If you refuse me a hearing, if you intend to cast me off with contumely and insults at Perdita, her own eyes flashing fire in their turn, but it seemed like living fire, if such be your intentions, she continued in a tone of mingle bitterness and haughty indifference, though sooner this interview be terminated the better. And she advanced towards the door, her bosom heaving with convulsions almost to bursting from its confinement, no, no, you shall not leave me yet nor thus, cried the Italian darting after and catching her violently by the arm, you shall have the opportunity of explanation which you desire, and God help you in the task. Thus speaking, he forced her back to the sofa and then locked the door of the apartment putting the key in his pocket. This behavior on your part, senior, said Perdita, assuming a composure which she did not, could not feel, is alike mean and cowardly, you seek to intimidate me and that is mean, you use violence towards me and that is cowardly. What have you heard against me? Name the columniator and recite the columnese, but if the accusation resolve itself into this, that I was frail, weak, unchaste, before I became your wife, remember that I never deceived you on that subject, you yourself were my paramour before you were my husband, and when you offered me your hand, I reminded you that it was no virgin bride whom you would receive to the bridal bed. There now you call me Perdita, and I admit that such is my Christian name, but am I responsible for the circumstances which induced my mother to bestow it upon me? You are doubtless aware from the same source whence you have gleaned evil tidings concerning me that I was born in Nugget and that my maternal parent gave me that odious name in a moment of contrition. Well, is this my fault? Be just Lorenzo, I do not ask you to be generous, but again I say, be just. I've listened to you with attention Perdita, and I'm bound to declare that you seek to veil a hideous depravity beneath the most specious sophistry, said Barthelma speaking in a slow, measured tone, with the concentrated fury in his soul. I do not reproach you for your mother's crimes. I commiserate you on that score, but I feel indignant, obiterly, bitterly indignant at all the treachery, the perfidy you have practiced towards me. I knew that you were unchaste as you yourself expressed it, but I believed that it was mere frailty on your part and not in veteran profligacy. Oh Perdita, how dared you bring to the marriage bed of an honorable man, a body polluted with all the vice and iniquity of a penal colony, in which you have been for years common as that of the vilest prostitute. I gave you a noble name, circumstances have robbed it of its aristocratic luster, but it is still honorable. And now how is it menaced you have lavished your favors upon hundreds, you have led a life of such frightful wantonness, young in years as you are, that your soul has grown old in iniquity. Oh, I know it all, I know everything Perdita. All the intricacies of your character are revealed to me. I've read the mysteries of its darkest depths and my eyes are at length open to the astounding folly that I perpetrated in linking my fate with such as you. Then let us separate at once, exclaimed Perdita, her cheeks flushing with indignation. Wherefore prolong this interview, our quarrel has gone too far and become too serious ever to admit of pardon or oblivion. It is not I who will seek such reconciliation, return Barthelma with terrible malignity in his tone and manner. I loved you Perdita. God only knows how tenderly, how sincerely, how devotedly I loved you. I would have died for you. I and should have rejoiced to surrender up my life could such a sacrifice have benefited you. Confident, frank, and full of generous candor, I gave you the love of an honorable man. And you deceived me. Oh, I am now no stranger to all your siren wiles, your cercyan witcheries. I recognize all that artifice and all that duplicity in many of the circumstances which marked our first meetings and which riveted the change that you threw around me. What do you suppose that I can consent to live and become the scorn, the laughing stock and the scandal of all who know me and think you that I will permit you to go forth into the world and point me out with taunting finger to the first idiot whom you may win as your paramour? My God, the thought is maddening. It sears my very brain. And so terrible became the young Italian's aspect with his flashing eyes convulsing countenance and quivering lips that Perdita not seriously alarmed rushed to the door forgetting that it was locked but it opened not to her touch and with her cry of terror she turned towards her husband who was evidently exercising superhuman efforts to restrain the fury that boiled in his breast and darted in lightning shafts from his wild eyes. Oh Lorenzo, Lorenzo, she exclaimed joining her hands together. What do you mean to do? What is it that you require of me? My God, I know that I have been wicked, bio, profligate but I've been faithful to you. I've never ceased to love you from the first moment we met. That day in the Champs Elysees has ever been a bright one. I had the brightest in which my retrospective looks could dwell. That day in the Champs Elysees, repeated by Thelma and a low and hollow tone is one accursed in my memory and in my life. Wretched, profligate, shameless, wanton. He's claimed all his infuriate passion now bursting forth. How dare you allude to that day? How can you think of it without the crimson blush of shame for whose sake did you deck yourself out so meretriciously on that occasion whose jealousy was it to inspire that you bent your warm and lustful looks on me that day? Whom to beguile and win back to your arms perhaps was that deceptive note written that induced me deep on to and Charles had feel. Ah, then you know everything exclaimed Perdita suddenly throwing off the suppliant air and the appealing looks which she had air now assumed and resolving to act with the energy natural to her character. It is useless senior to prolong this painful interview. I've already made the same observation and I now wish you to understand that I will not remain a prisoner any longer here. Open that door and let me depart or I shall summon the servants. Thus speaking she advanced towards the bell pull. You menace me, you dare to menace me? exclaimed Barthelma, springing forward and confronting her so as to bar the way and his whole frame was quivering with a rage that appeared ready to burst forth into the ungovernable fury of a perfect madness. How dare you thus coerce me? demanded Perdita her eyes flashing fire out of my path coward unless you intend to enact the Italian Bravo in this country where men are want to be brave and chivalrous. And as she spoke she pushed him disdainfully aside but here the eye had time to wink or the heart to palpitate once and while a sound between a cry and a yell our frenzied rage burst from the lips of the maddened Barthelma, his dagger flashed before the sight of Perdita and was instantly buried deep in her blizzard. A thrilling agonizing scream proclaimed her mortal agony then ceased suddenly and staggering forward a few paces she fell heavily on the carpet and expired. Barthelma stood for a few moments riveted to the spot silent emotionless with horror at the deed which he had perpetrated while in his solar revulsion a feeling took place with the whelming rapidity that marks the abode of a portent is tied. A mortal dread came over him and then he burst into an agony of tears and throwing himself on the still palpitating body of her whose wondrous beauty had been his pride and his joy. He began to lament her death in the most passionate terms but suddenly there was a sound as of several footsteps rushing up the stairs and then came a loud knocking at the door in the voices of the valet, Rosalie and another servant demanding what was the matter and what meant the piercing scream that had reached their ears. Then Barthelma recollected that as a murderer he would receive a murderous doom and in a moment to his appalled soul started up all the grim and terrible array of the criminal tribunal, the executioner of the assemble myriads and the gibbet. All the frenzy of his maddening mind returned and tearing forth the stiletto from the bosom of a slaughtered wife. He plunged it deep into his own breast. At the same instant the door of the apartment was forced in and the Horus stricken domestic scot sight of their master just at the moment that he fell upon the corpse of their mistress. So perished this youthful pair each endowed with a beauty of no ordinary kind. Yes thus died the tender impassioned Lorenzo and the profligate wanton Perdita. The world is seen no loveliness superior to hers nor known a depravity more inveterate. But was she to be blamed only and not pitied in the slightest degree? It were unjust thus to regard her memory but when her eyes first saw the light had some kind hand been nigh to receive the innocent babe to bear it away from that nougat cell which was the ominous scene of its birth to rear it tenderly and save it from passing in the arms of a fellow mother into a penal settlement. Then to foster and cherish the growing girl with a true maternal care, bend her mind to the contemplation of virtue and protect it from all bad influences, preserve her soul from the effects of vile examples and inculcate principles of chastity, rectitude and religion. Oh then would the prison born Perdita have given by her conduct a refutation to her name and she would have happily excelled in every accomplishment, every amiable characteristic and every endearing qualification that combined like brilliant gems to form for the chaste woman's brow a diadem such as angels wear. Oh my lady Duchess or you high-born daughter of some proud peer whose line of ancestry may be traced back to the period of the Norman conquest. Look not with unmitigated disgust upon the character Perdita, the lost one. Let pity temper the feeling for though the truth which we are about to tell may be not over palatable yet is the moral which the lost one's history affords deserving of consideration. Suppose my lady Duchess or you high-born maiden suppose that either of you have been ushered into this world under such circumstances as those which attended on the birth of Perdita. Suppose that you first saw the light in Nuget that you had been taken by a vile mother to the far off place of her exile that you had been reared where temptations abounded and virtuous influences were unknown and that every example you had before you was evil and profligate. What would have been the result? Do not dare to say my lady Duchess or you high-born maiden that an innate perception of right and wrong and a natural inclination to virtue would have preserved you pure and chaste and untainted throughout the terrible ordeal. No, no you would have fallen as Perdita fell. You would have been dragged through the mire of demoralization as she was. You would have imbibed the infectious poison advice as she did and under such circumstances you my lady Duchess and you high-born maiden would have justified and illustrated in your own lives the history of the lost one. What then do we wish to impress upon our readers? What do we seek to impress upon the legislature and the government? That it is better to adopt means to prevent crime than to study how to punish it when it is committed. We have a thousand laws which proclaim how a man may be sent to the treadmill or to the bulks or to the penal colonies or to the gibbet but we have none devising measures to keep him away from those places. Everything is to punish nothing to prevent. The codes are crowded with enactments inflicting penalties upon grown-up criminals but do not contain a single statute for the protection of the children of the poor against contamination. Look at those emaciated little beings rolling about all day long in the gutters or eating the awful off dust heaps. Does the law stretch forth his hand and pluck them out of that filth which is only too painfully emblematical of the moral mire in which their minds are likewise wallowing? No, the law allows them to play on unheeded but win a few years afterwards these unhappy creatures who can neither read nor write and have no idea of God nor hope nor heaven pill for a slice of rusty bacon or a morsel of cheese from our shop board in order to satisfy the cravings of hunger. Then does the law thrust forth his long arm in his great hand and sees upon the victims of what? It's own neglect. Yes, those are truths which we are never weary of insisting upon. Session after session is ridded away in party squabbles but what remedial steps are taken to moralize, Christianize and civilize the children of the poor? End of section 104. Section 105 of Mysteries of London, Volume 4. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Mysteries of London, Volume 4 by George W. M. Reynolds. Mr. Green's mission. In the meantime, Mr. Green had taken a cab and ordered himself to be driven to the mansion of the Earl of Ellingham in Palmel. While he was proceeding thither, he threw himself back in the vehicle and gave way to a variety of pleasurable reflections. He considered his prospects to be most brilliant and he believed that he was on the high road to a mass as considerable a fortune as that which his late master Heathcote had once enjoyed. He was fortunate for him that he had applied to Jack Riley in the hour of his need the doctor had proved of the greatest assistance to him. And he resolved to run down to Woolrich someday and call upon his old friend at the Hawks. For Jack Riley had been tried for the murder of vitriol Bob and acquitted of the capital charge, but he was condemned to two years imprisonment in a convict ship for manslaughter. The police having appeared to give him a character by which no means recommended him to the good opinion of the jury, nor the mercy of the court. As for the immense quantity of bank notes found upon his person at the time of his arrest, he had positively refused to give any satisfactory account concerning them and as no one stood forward to claim them nor to throw any light upon this mysterious subject, they were declared to be forfeited to the crown on the prisoner's conviction for manslaughter. Pondering upon these and other matters, Mr. Green arrived in due course at the noble mansion in Palmel and on inquiring for Mr. Hatfield, he was informed that this gentleman was ill in bed. But my businesses of the most urgent character said the attorney and I must see him. The domestic to whom this assurance was given conducted Mr. Green into a parlor and hastened to report to the Earl of Ellingham the presence of the visitor. The nobleman accordingly repaired to the room in which Green was waiting and represented to him that Mr. Hatfield was too much indisposed to receive any stranger. If however, added the Earl, you will communicate to me the nature of the affair which has brought you hither, your object will be gained as readily as if you saw Mr. Hatfield. He is an intimate friend of mine, indeed a bosom friend, said the nobleman emphatically and we have no secrets from each other. I must respectfully decline to open my business to your lordship in the first instance, return Mr. Green, but I should be glad if your lordship would witness what I have to say to Mr. Hatfield. Your card informs me that you are an attorney, sir, said the Earl of Ellingham. May I ask if the object to your visit be of a legal nature, because in that case you would do well to address yourself to my solicitor. You must excuse me, my lord, was the laconic answer if I decline giving any explanations. Although I consider your behavior to be far from courteous, Mr. Green said the Earl, I will communicate to Mr. Hatfield your desire to have an interview with him and perhaps under the circumstances he may see you. Good my lord, responded the attorney, I am in no particular hurry and will cheerfully wait an hour or two in order to have the pleasure of seeing Mr. Hatfield. The Earl of Ellingham, forthwith prepared to his half brother's room and mentioned to him all that had occurred, Mr. Hatfield, though feeling weak after the long illness which he had experienced, considered the behavior of the visitor to be so extraordinary that it was advisable to grant the interview demanded. Lord Ellingham accordingly returned to the parlor and thence conducted the attorney to the chamber where Mr. Hatfield was lying in bed. The invalid cast a rapid and searching glance at Green as he entered the room but he recognized in the visitor no one with whom he remembered to have ever been acquainted. Scarcely was the door closed when it opened again and the countess of Ellingham, accompanied by Lady Georgiana, made her appearance but on perceiving a stranger they both drew back and were about to withdraw. There are no secrets here ladies, no secrets I can assure you, exclaimed Mr. Green with a smirking expression of countenance which nevertheless had a deep malignity in it. In that case, come in, said Lord Ellingham and the two ladies accordingly entered the room. Will you now explain the object of your visit, sir? Asked Mr. Hatfield who had observed the sinister aspect which the attorney's features had air now assumed and who entertained a vague presentiment of evil. I must begin by informing you, said Green, taking a seat and glancing around on those present as much as to intimate that he spoke to no one in particular but was addressing them all collectively. I must begin by informing you that I am a very extraordinary person in one respect which is that I am constantly ferreting about amongst all papers, musty documents and ancient records. And while engaged in this occupation I frequently light upon strange secrets, very strange indeed. While it was yet uttering these last words, the rapid look which he threw around convinced him that he had already made a most unpleasant impression upon his auditory for the ladies both turned pale and started while the Earl and Mr. Hatfield exchanged glances significant of alarm. Yes, such is the case, continued Mr. Green chuckling inwardly, though maintaining an external composure and amongst the most singular, the most astounding of the secrets which I have thus dragged to light, the one that I have discovered in connection with your Lordship's family is not the least remarkable. As he thus spoke, the attorney fixed his eyes upon the nobleman who colored deeply in spite of himself for naturally struck him that Green alluded to matters with which the reader is already well acquainted. The same apprehension seized upon Hatfield, Lady Georgiana and the Countess of Ellingham and the suspense which the lawyer's auditory now endured was poignant in the extreme. Your Lordship can, of course, conjecture to what I allude continued Green and you, Mr. Hatfield, he added, turning towards the invalid, cannot possibly misunderstand me. Lady Georgiana rose from the seat which she had taken on entering the room and proceeded to place herself instinctively as it were near the head of the couch so as to be close to her husband. It was a movement which said as eloquently as if her lips had simultaneously explained it, this man menaces evil, but I'm near to console you with all the sympathy of a loving wife. Mr. Green exclaimed the Earl of Ellingham after a few moments' reflection, I appeal to you whether it will not be better that these matters at which you have glanced should be discussed privately between yourself and me. Mr. Hatfield has been ill, very ill, and it would be cruel to excite him at the moment when he is approaching convalescence. I've already stated to your Lordship that whatever communication I have to make must be in the presence of witnesses return the implacable green. I presume that this lady he added with a gentle inclination of his head towards the invalid wife is Lady Georgie Anna Hatfield. You are correct, sir, observed the lady herself with a haughty tone and distant manner, and this lady is the Countess of Ellingham, doubtless, so green altogether unabashed. The beautiful ester bowed in an affirmative reply, but what mean these questions, sir, demanded the Earl impatiently. Surely you will not use language that may prove outrageous to the feelings of ladies who have never offended you. If the truths which I'm about to utter should prove so very disagreeable to hear my Lord, respond to green, they must be equally unpleasant to cherish in the depths of the soul. In a word, you are doubtless all too much accustomed to contemplate these truths, to be liable to any startling effect when they are shaped in words and whispered to the ear. This is an insolence of behavior, sir, which I cannot will not tolerate, exclaimed the Earl of Ellingham. You shall not force your way into the bosom of a family with a view to play upon their feelings with a cruelty that is as refined as it is unaccountable. Very good, my Lord, return green, rising from his seat and taking up his hat. I can as easily proclaim from the head of the stairs or in the hall of your mansion, everything I know, relative to your family, as I can talk the matter quietly over with you in this room. And the villain was moving towards the door when Lord Ellingham caught him by the arm, saying, nay, you must not leave us thus, what object have you in view? What use do you propose to make of the secrets which you have discovered? Speak frankly, candidly, openly, is it money that you require? A new idea flashed to the mind of Mr. Green, as these words fell upon his ears. By serving Senor Barthelma, he would gain a thousand guineas, half of which some was already in his possession. He had therefore only another 500 to receive, and it was possible that he might obtain as many thousands by striking a bargain with a nobleman and making a market of the secrets in his possession. Wherefore does your lordship ask me if I require money? He demanded by way of sounding the earl's intentions, because I'm rich enough to bribe you, was the unhesitating response for the nobleman had already formed a pretty accurate idea of the attorney's character. Green paused, reflected, and began to grow embarrassed. He knew not how to act, how much to demand, what terms to propose. Fearful of spoiling all by carrying his extortionate views too high, he was likewise apprehensive of losing a large by agreeing to take a small amount. The earl guessed what was passing in his mind and pointing to writing materials that lay upon the table. He said, draw a check and I will sign it. Mr. Green sat down and with trembling hand wrote a draft for 5,000 pounds. Lord Ellingham glanced over it and immediately affixed his signature to the document, inserting the names of his bankers in the corner. Stop, ejaculated Mr. Hatfield, starting up in his couch. Arthur retained that check, let not the villain take it, and the earl of Ellingham instantly obeyed this injunction while Green turned with a countenance livid through rage and disappointment towards the invalid. Not one, shilling, shall this man extort from us, continued Mr. Hatfield, powerfully excited. His story is a fabrication. There are no documents in existence which can have revealed our family secrets to him. He has been sent hither by an enemy and who that enemy is, I can too well divine. Yes, yes, I understand you cried the earl, the name of Perdita, suggesting itself immediately to his memory, but at the same time he recollected that neither the countess of Ellingham nor Lady Georgiana was acquainted with the secret of that fatal marriage which Charles had contracted. Vile, despicable tool that you are, resume Mr. Hatfield addressing himself to the attorney. I can see through all your conduct because if your very soul were transparent, the vengeance of an enemy sent you hither and the demand which the earl of Ellingham made respecting your object was suggestive of this extortionate deed that you sought to perpetrate. Be gone, sir, do your worst, we fear you not. You may reveal family matters that may cause pain, but you can do no serious injury for if you allude to the secrets which I myself am referring to, your malignant aim is completely baffled in as much as the documents that could alone corroborate your assertions are no longer in existence, I myself destroyed them. And thoroughly exhausted Mr. Hatfield sank back upon the pillow. At this moment the door was hastily opened and Clarence Villiers rushed into the room. Pardon this abrupt intrusion, he exclaimed, not immediately noticing green, but I have news of some importance though of horrible interest to communicate. That woman Perdita who ensnared my friend Charles with her wiles and witchries is no more. Dead cried Mr. Hatfield again, starting up in the couch. Murdered, assassinated, and by her own husband ejaculated Villiers. I was driving past Westbourne Terrace. There now I saw a crowd. I heard appalling rumors. I inquired the cause and I learned the outline of the frightful tragedy. She is dead. And Barthelma, her husband, who destroyed her has perished by his own hand. Then Charles is beyond all danger for the future, exclaimed Mr. Hatfield. And again did he fall back on his pillow. Lady Georgiana and the Countess of Ellingham hastened to administer restoratives to the in-blit, although they themselves were greatly excited by the intelligence which had just arrived. For it will be remembered they were aware that Charles had fled from London with an abandoned woman who had gained a powerful ascendancy over him. And horrified as they were at the tidings of the murder, they could not help feeling that all apprehension of a relapse on the young man's part into the meshes of the intriguing Perdita was now suddenly removed. While the ladies were ministering to Mr. Hatfield, Clarence Villiers had turned and recognized Green who was standing stupefied and motionless at the sudden news which revealed to him that his fair client Perdita Barthelma had been murdered. Ah, Mr. Green exclaimed Villiers in astonishment at beholding the attorney in the room. What brings you hither? Do you know this person, Clarence, demanded the Earl bending his looks with mingled indignation and decorence upon the man? I've been acquainted with him for many years, began Villiers. Stop, sir, cried the nobleman, again seizing the arm of the attorney who was making for the door. Before you leave us, you shall be thoroughly unmasked in the presence of a gentleman who appears to address you as a friend. Let me go, my Lord, exclaimed Green, struggling to get away for I knew that Villiers could reveal a secret which would at once place the infamy of his character beyond question. Let me go, I say, you have no right to detain me against my will. You shall remain, yet a few minutes, cried the Earl, holding his arm with a strong grasp. This villain continued the nobleman, turning towards Clarence, came hither as the instrument of that woman Perdita's vengeance. That's such as the fact I have no doubt, but in a short time he changed his character. He began to act apart for himself. He played the scoundrel on his own account, and he attempted to extort for me the sum of 5,000 pounds as the purchase money for retaining all the secrets which Perdita could alone have revealed to him. You offered me the money, and the amount was not extravagant, considering the purpose for which it was to have been given, said Green, glancing anxiously at Clarence Villiers. I told you to name your own terms and you drew up this draft, exclaimed the Earl, exhibiting the slip of paper. Then by heaven forbearance and respect, who such a man as you is a positive crime, on my parts of Villiers in an excited tone, and seizing the wretched attorney by the collar, he cried, you go not hence Mr. Green, saving the custody of an officer and under an accusation of forgery. Forgery exclaimed the Earl in amazement, and at the same time the ladies and Mr. Hatfield became interested observers of the scene that was now passing. Yes, forgery my Lord, Crivelliers still retaining his hold upon Green, this man was left joint trustee with myself on behalf of a youth who had a small sum bequeathed to him. The money was sold out of the funds years ago, my signature to the power of attorney being forged. That forgery was perpetrated by the villain before you. Some six months ago he replaced the money, he called upon me, he confessed the deed, he validated his contrition, and I promised to shield him. But now my Lord, now that he dares to set himself up as the persecutor of those whom I have so many reasons to esteem and revere, now that he has ventured to direct his villainies against the peace of an amiable family, I cannot, will not, must not spare him. No Clarence, you shall keep your promise of the Earl, and perhaps the man may be moved by gratitude to repentance. My promise was conditional my Lord, exclaimed Villiers, and if he have represented it otherwise to a living soul, he is uttered a falsehood. I declared to him at the time that I would forgive him, provided he undertook to enter upon the ways of rectitude and honesty, and it is he who has now forfeited his solemn pledge to that effect. No mercy then for this bad, this heartless man. One word, quite green, in a menacing tone, fulfill your threat, Mr. Villiers, and I will at once, without the slightest hesitation or remorse, proclaim to all the world that the man known as Mr. Hatfield. Silence, villain, thundered Clarence, silence, or I will strangle you. No, no, you shall not coerce me, I will speak out, quite green, struggling to disengage himself from the strong grasp in which you was held. Mark what I say, hear me, hear me, all of you, Mr. Hatfield bears an assumed name. He is the Earl's eldest brother, the heir to the title, I, and also Thomas Rainford, who was hanged at Horsemonger Lane Jail. A blow from the clenched fist of Villiers fell the attorney as these last words burst from his lips, and at the same instant a wild shriek, uttered by Lady Georgiana, rang through the room, for Mr. Hatfield has sunk back upon the pillow with a low moan and a death-like pallor of countenance, and almost immediately afterwards, blood oozed from his mouth. All was now confusion and dismay in the chamber of the invalid, but at this juncture, Sir John last sells, made his appearance, a few words hurriedly spoken by the Earl of Ellingham, conveyed to the physician an idea of what had caused the overlaps of his patient, and the worthy man speedily ordered the requisite restoratives. But these were all in vain. Mr. Hatfield had broken a blood vessel internally, and a few minutes after the arrival of the doctor, he expired without a groan. We must draw a veil over the scene of sorrow, which the chamber of death presented, and which we cannot find words to describe. The intensity of that anguish was increased by the almost frantic grief of Charles Hatfield, to having been out for several hours upon his own, and his father's business returned but a few minutes too late to witness the sad catastrophe. He threw himself upon the corpse of his sire, uttered the most passionate lamentations, and even pushed his mother aside when she endeavored to console him. But at length a reaction came, and the violence of the young man's grief gave way to a profound sorrow, a sorrow that was deeply, deeply shared by many other hearts, and the confusion that had taken place when Lady Georgiana screamed echoed through the room, denoting the occurrence of something dreadful. Greene had risen from the floor and made his escape, inwardly cursing himself for having undertaken to become the agent of Perdita's vengeance. The billiards who entertained the most sincere friendship for Mr. Hatfield, and he was goaded almost to madness by the conduct of the vile attorney towards the man whom he thus loved as a brother, felt that such infamy should not go unpunished, scarcely therefore had the terrible conviction burst upon all present in the chamber of death that Mr. Hatfield was indeed no more when billiards rushed frantically in pursuit of him whom he looked upon as the murderer. The chase was successful, and in less than half an hour, Greene was in custody on a charge of forgery. End of section 105. Section 106 of Mysteries of London, volume four. This is a LibriVox recording, all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Mysteries of London, volume four by George W. M. Reynolds. Our narrative is about to close, but every lay aside the pen, a few observations are requisite in order to render the history of each prominent character as complete as possible. Several have already been disposed of, but there yet remain many in whose faith the reader may feel more or less interested and we accordingly proceed to sum up in a few words all the particulars which are wanting to the faithful accomplishment of our task. Mr. Greene in due time figured at the old Bailey where Clarence Villiers appeared to prosecute him for forgery, but the prisoner pleaded guilty in order to obtain the merciful consideration of the court and was sentenced to transportation for seven years instead of for the term of his natural life. Preparatory, however, to his expatriation, he was lodged in one of the convict talks at Woolwich and there he encountered his friend Jack Raleigh, the doctor, who instead of consoling the wretched attorney only laughed at him for the tears which he shed and the useless repinings to which he gave vent. Mr. Greene is at this present moment occupied in the healthy but disagreeable task of repairing the high roads in Van Diemen's land in company with some of the greatest scoundrels that ever disgrace the human species. And he even looks back with bitter regret to those times when he was the oppressed, crushed and despised instrument of James Heathcote. Nor was it a source of solace to Mr. Greene when one fine morning about 10 months ago he recognized the doctor in a newcomer who was thus added to the gang of convicts for Mr. Raleigh having endeavored to stir up his brethren in the Woolwich Hulk to rebellion was discovered in the attempt and forthwith packed off to the island which nature had in the origin made a terrestrial paradise for which the English government has converted into a den of thieves. James Heathcote being utterly ruined by the transfer of all his property for the benefit of the numerous clients whom he had robbed for this affair was completely carried out by Greene's head clerk was compelled to abandon his fine house and take a humble office where he strove hard to reconstruct his once extensive business but the exposure which his character had received in the court of Queen's bench proved a fatal blow to his prospects and an insurmountable obstacle in his path and at the end of six months being unable to pay his rent he was turned out of the little nook to which he had retired and plunged into the deepest poverty. At this juncture his brother Sir Gilbert returned to England and James wrote him a penitential letter imploring his sucker the baronet refused to see him but generously undertook to allow him to Guinness a week in order to keep him from starving and on this pittance for such it is in comparison with the wealth he once possessed the broken down baffled and dispirited man still subsists in some suburb of the metropolis. The Reverend Mr. Sheep Shanks has experienced many ups and downs since we last saw him at the lunatic asylum in Bethnal, Greene. It appears that one evening Dr. Swinton gave a grand supper to the relatives and friends of his pensioners who were present on the occasion as usual and that previously to the repass being served up the doctor had been holding forth in a highly eulogistic style upon the excellent qualities Christian virtues and profound piety of his chaplain. Now the Reverend Mr. Sheep Shanks was out at the time the doctor both declaring and believing that the good man had gone to pay his usual evening visits to the poor in the neighborhood and the guests were all very anxious for the return of the worthy individual who possessed such numerous claims upon their esteem, veneration and respect. But the truth was and the truth must be told that the Reverend Mr. Sheep Shanks instead of visiting the poor or even dreaming of such a thing was smoking his pipe and drinking his gin and water at the cat and the fiddle in Globetown. As he happened to take an extra pipe and two extra glasses on this particular occasion the fumes thereof became more potent than the odor of sanctity. The consequence was that on his return to the lunatic asylum his walk was so unsteady and irregular that his progress up the gravel walk to the front door resembled that of a ship tacking about in the channel. And when he entered the supper room just as the company were sitting down to the well-spread table his nose was so red his cheeks were so flushed and his eyes so vacant and watery that the doctor inquired in a tone of bland anxiety if he were unwell. No, sir, I'm quite well and I am all right was the somewhat savage answer then will you have the kindness to ask a blessing? Mr. Sheep Shanks said the doctor, no sir, responded the pious gentleman, I will see you and the blessing at the devil first. You're drunk sir and I'm ashamed of you. It would be impossible to describe the dismay we might almost term it horrified amazement which this peremptory refusal to say grace and the scandalous attack upon Dr. Swinton's sobriety produced amongst the guests. The physician himself started up in a furious rage forgetful of all his propriety and applying his right foot to the proper quarter he kicked the Reverend Mr. Sheep Shanks ignominiously forth from the lunatic asylum. On the following morning this pious gentleman who was in doubt with so many Christian virtues awoke in a station house to a sense of his altered position. But when introduced to the notice of a magistrate for being drunk and disorderly and kicking up a row at Dr. Swinton's door he boldly proclaimed himself a martyr and held forth a great length and in a peculiar nasal drone on the vanities of this world. The magistrate was however compelled to cut him short by inflicting a fine but as Mr. Sheep Shanks had exhausted all his pecuniary resources at the cat in the fiddle on the preceding evening he was doomed to extend his experience of worldly vanities beneath the roof of the house of correction. There he found that the treadmill was one of the most uncomfortable vanities he had ever yet encountered and the redness of his nose was considerably subdued by the prison's skillet. On his emancipation at the end of a week he took up his abode at the house of a poor widow with whom he was acquainted and whom he induced to convert her front parlor into a receptacle for prayer meetings. This succeeded very well for a few months. The congregation being delighted with Mr. Sheep Shanks discourse and a tolerable amount of pens being collected every evening in furtherance of this pious gentleman's holy purpose of supplying the benighted Eskimo with flannel jackets and religious tracks. But the widow proving at length to be in the family way and Mr. Sheep Shanks not choosing to wait to have the paternity of the expected offspring fixed upon his rubber and shoulders his sudden evaporation from the neighborhood led to the breakup of the prayer meetings and the total ruin of the unfortunate woman. What became of Mr. Sheep Shanks for the next six months we cannot say but one fine Sunday morning he turned up at the obelisk in St. George's Fields where he addressed a crowd in his usual strain. His discourse was however suddenly cut short by the presence of the poor widow who wrapped in rags and with a baby in her arms was bagging in that neighborhood. And when the Reverend Gentleman's delinquencies were proclaimed by the miserable woman he was hooded, pelted and maltreated all up the Westminster road until he managed to escape from his assailants by diving into one of the narrow streets leading out of that great thoroughfare. And after this affair the pious man again disappeared for a season and when we last heard of him he had given up preaching as a trade which he had thoroughly worn out and had but taken himself to the highly respectable and cheering avocation of beating the drum and playing the mouth organ, alias pandian pipes for a colleague who exhibited a punch in Judy's show. We must now direct attention to Captain O. Blunderbuss and Mr. Frank Curtis upon the strength of the handsome pecuniary present made to them by Lord William Trevelyan the former fourth with dubbed himself major and for the first six weeks after this self-bestowed elevation he was under the disagreeable necessity of thrashing his bosom friend soundly at least once a day for being oblivious of the new rank and calling him Captain. At length he succeeded in completely beating into the head of Frank Curtis that he was really a major and when they were seated together of an evening over their whisky and water at some public house the gallant Irishman never failed to recount to his companion all the military services he had rendered the state and all the spenders of his paternal mansion of Blunderbuss Park, Connemara. These statements though ostensibly addressed to Mr. Frank Curtis were really intended for the behoof of the frequenters of the parlors where they were enunciated and the quiet tradesmen into whose ears the flaming narratives with us didn't ended by being particularly proud of the acquaintance of major Gorman, old Blunderbuss. At length, what with succulent dinners at eating houses and oceans of pothine every evening the sum so liberally given by Lord William Trevelyan came to a termination and the two friends were one day holding a council of war or rather sitting in committee of ways and means when a paragraph in the newspaper informed them that Lady Blunt and her son had been upset in a boat during an aquatic excursion at Richmond and drowned in spite of all the efforts made by the footmen to save them. Up jumped both the major and Frank Curtis in ecstasies of joy dissolving themselves as a committee then and there by kicking over the table and away they sped to the mansion in German Street. The intelligence was true Lady Blunt and her son were no more and the stout footmen was disconsolate. There was no will and Frank Curtis accordingly found himself as if by magic the heir-at-law to all those possessions from which his uncle had sought to exclude him years ago. The day in which the remains of the deceased lady under her son were consigned to the tomb was the happiest that major old Blunderbuss and his friend had ever passed in their lives. For the gallant officer resolved to make a regular Irish wake of it and the good Parthen circulated so rapidly that the assembled mourners alarmed the whole street with their noise and laughter. And the most refreshing spectacle was it when major old Blunderbuss without view to enhance the hilarity of the scene kicked the stout footmen completely out of the house and tossed his clothes and rages ignominiously from the window. In the course of a few days the two friends paid a visit to Mr. Strong and Farms. The celebrated engraver in St. James's Street for the purpose of having their cards printed with their armorial bearings on the top. Emin Frank blindly directed the shopman who took the order to write down in his book, the names of Mr. Curtis and major old Blunderbuss, the latter exclaimed in a tone of mingled indignation and disgust. Be Jesus, Frank, and your memory grows worse every day. For be the holy poker and is that Colonel Blunderbuss that I am, the new rank being conferred upon me by her gracious majesty for my services in the East Indies. The shopman wrote down Colonel Blunderbuss accordingly and as a Colonel is the gallant gentleman known at the present day. Reader, if you happen to be passing along German Street any time in the evening after five o'clock you will hear such shouts of laughter and peals of merriment issuing from one of the houses that there can be no mistake as to the identity of that dwelling. We need not tell you the number of the mansion because you cannot fail to discover where Colonel O. Blunderbuss and Mr. Curtis reside by means of the uproarious sounds that emanate from the front parlor in spite of the closed shutters and heavy draperies. And to tell you the truth the neighbors look upon that house as a complete nuisance and rents are falling rapidly in the immediate neighborhood for a quiet old bachelor gentlemen, families and even young blades about town are frightened away from the lodgings that are let in the three or four nearest tenements on either side of the one where the two friends have settled themselves. But these were, these appear nothing for the opinion of their neighbors and are deaf to all remonstrances. They lead a jolly life after their own hearts and in their own peculiar fashion and to witness them in their happy domesticity a stranger and acquainted with their history could not tell that the house and the fortune both belong to Frank Curtis for the Colonel is as much master of both dwelling and purse as his devoted friend. Although Rosalie the French ladies made has not performed a very conspicuous part on the stage of our narrative, we are nevertheless induced to trace her career up to the present time, compelled to appear as a witness at the corner's inquest, which was holding upon her late master and mistress. She attracted the notice of a young Baronette who attended the proceedings through motives of curiosity and as the overtures, which he subsequently made her were far from displeasing. She accepted them after a due amount of affected hesitation. The Baronette was rich and provided in a sumptuous manner for his mistress. He hired and furnished a house for her accommodation in a fashionable street at the West Inn, bought her a broom and a pair of handsome bays, took for her use a box at the opera and allowed her 50 guineas a month for her domestic expenses. In return for this generosity, she treated him with a capriciousness that it would have been intolerable on the part of a sensible man but which only confirmed the insensate spendthrift infatuation. Rosalie's conduct was a matter of calculation and not the unavoidable result of a willful disposition. She knew that she had only to be kind and winning in order to coax him into any extravagant expenditure which would minister to her enjoyments. And her smiles were thus literally purchased with golden diamonds. Six months only did the Baronette's fortune stand this wanton devastation and when he could no longer draw checks for the sums which she required, she had once accepted the protection of an old nobleman who made her very handsome offers and who was in his dotage. But now Mark, the wayward inconsistency of this woman's conduct, the moment she ceased to be depended upon the Baronette, she conceived a violent affection for him, was never happy saved when in his society bestowed upon him two thirds of the money which she received from the ancient peer and even stinted herself to supply his extravagances. She never treated him with the slightest indication of caprice but served him as if she were a purchased slave and he apasha. He gave way to intemperance and in his drunken freaks would beat and ill use her. She endured it all without a murmur so long as he would forgive her when he was sober that linked the old nobleman died one day of indigestion and Rosalie passed into the keeping of a bishop. The right reverend father was one of the most staunch supporters of all measures for the better observance of the Sabbath. He hated Sunday trading as something a shade or two worse than willful murder and no one declined more eloquently than he against the steamboats plying on the Lord's day. Even wished to prevent the railway trains from running on the Sabbath. And his heart rejoiced when he read in the newspapers that apple women, orange girls and shrimp boys had been taken into custody for attempting to earn a penny to buy a meal on the day of rest. But every Sunday evening this respectable old prelate made it a rule to dine with his mistress, die and remain with her to until past 12 at night. And heaven only knows what lying excuses he made to his wife for these intervals of absence. He was, however, far more stingy towards Rosalie than the deceased nobleman and she accordingly cut him in favor of his arch-deacon who was as unmitigated and old sinner as himself. Meantime, the baronet continued to be the young woman's real favorite and when he happened to find himself locked up in the queen's bench prison, she never failed to visit him every day. Her diamonds, her jewels, her rings, her very blot she pawned to raise the sum necessary to procure his release. Although the more his temper grew sourd by adversity, the more brutal became his convict towards her. From the keeping of the arch-deacon she passed into that of a wealthy tradesman who had a spend of establishment in Regent Street. He likewise had a wife and six children but he neglected them for the sake of his mistress. And while he grudged the former even common necessaries, he lavished all his gains upon the latter. At length he learned that Rosalie was constantly visited by the baronet and he broke off the connection. No admirer immediately appearing to supply his place. The French woman wrote a very pretty letter to the bishop complimenting him upon his last speech against Sunday trading and declaring how much pleasure she should experience if he would honor her with a visit. The invitation was irresistible, the prelate went, and the result was that Rosalie once more became his mistress. The renewal of their connection has not since been interrupted and the baronet is still the object of the young woman's affection, still the recipient of two thirds of all the money she can obtain and still the only person in the world who would dare to raise his hand against her. For nearly a year after his attempted suicide, the Marquess of Delmore lived happily with his wife, the past being buried in oblivion. Lady Delmore devoted herself to her husband as far as her own blighted and crushed affections would permit and she at least had the supreme felicity of witnessing the unalloyed happiness which was experienced by Lord William Trevelyan and the lovely Agnes who were united about six months after the reconciliation of the young lady's parents, the consent of the Lord Chancellor being obtained to sanction the marriage. But in the summer of 1847, the Marquess of Delmore was seized with a sudden and alarming illness and in spite of the unwearied attentions of Sir John LaSalle's and Lady Delmore, the old nobleman succumbed to the tyrant's way of death. Upwards of a year has elapsed since that event and we observed by a recent paragraph in the newspapers that the Marcianist has bestowed her hand upon Sir Gilbert Heathcote. Lord William Trevelyan and Agnes are as happy as mortals can hope to be on earth. Their mode of life is somewhat secluded for it is in each other's society that their enjoyment of existence consists. Their charity is unbounded but bestowed privately and unauthentaciously and although you will never hear the name of Lord William Trevelyan proclaimed from the platform of Exeter Hall amidst a list of liberal subscribers to missionary societies and other legalized spindles and robberies of the same class, yet rest assured that many and many a poor family has reason to bless that good nobleman and his amiable wife. Timothy Splint, alias Tim the Snammer continues the occupant of a fine farm in the backwards of the United States. Indeed the property has spread out to an extent which renders the denomination of a state the more correct one. Joshua Pedler and his wife have prospered equally well in Canada and they are now in possession of a large mercantile establishment at Quebec. Mrs. Bunce is dead but her husband still resides at St. Peter's Port in Guernsey and earns a very comfortable livelihood. Jeffries leads a steady industrious life at Liverpool where he has become a substantial merchant and is deservedly respected. Had all these persons been concerned to the horrors of transportation to a penal colony their redemption from sin would have become an impossibility but when placed in a condition to earn an honorable independence even murderers may be put to a better use than hanging them like dogs or sending them into the midst of a vile community where their example would only produce a deeper demoralization. Poor Mr. Bubbleton Stiles. Having failed in getting up his railway company was compelled to pass through the insolvent's court and during the 18 months which have elapsed since that event he has turned his attention to at least a dozen different occupations. On his discharge from the process of light washing in Portugal Street he became a wine merchant but finding that this market was completely flooded he entered the coal and coke trade with may be a little dealing in slates as a necessary adjunct there too. This speculation not succeeding for want of capital Mr. Stiles turned dry solter then town traveler for an ale brewer then commissioned agent for a house in the Willen line and then something else but none of these occupations answering his purpose and hearing of the good luck which had befallen his friends of Blunderbus and Curtis he put on his last clean shirt and paid them a visit. His reception was not at first very encouraging in as much as the gallant average men commenced by knocking him down and bunting up his right eye for the simple reason that Mr. Stiles was unaware of that formidable gentleman's elevation to the rank of colonel and had called him captain. But when explanations took place complete harmony was restored and the worthy bobbleton having been made uncommonly drunk by his two friends received a check for a hundred guineas to enable him to begin the world again. He has made the recommencement accordingly and seems in a fair way to get a living by adhering to one particular occupation instead of having a hundred upon his hands at the same time. Clarence Villiers and Adelaide continue to reside at Brompton. They are well off in a pecuniary point of view and though the art and love of their youth has mellowed down into a deep attachment still are they as happy in each other's society as they were in those days when the marriage date was as yet new with them. And often and often when seated together of an evening do they speak with never failing gratitude and regret of poor Tom Rain. Our readers will doubtless recollect the manuscript which Lord William Trevelyan discovered at the lunatic asylum in Bethnal Green and which recorded the experiences of a victim to that detestable system of quackery which the law allows. He may as well observe that in the course of a short tour which the young nobleman and his wife took to the south of France a few months back Trevelyan encountered Mr. McDonald the author of that lamentable history. This gentleman had completely recovered his mental equilibrium and was living in a strict but happy seclusion with his Aditha and their son. Trevelyan communicated to him the circumstances under which he had found the manuscript and the motives which had induced him to convey it away from its place of concealment in the madhouse. McDonald expressed his current gratitude for the young nobleman's generosity and the papers were consigned to the flames. We will not mention the name of the town where Mr. McDonald is residing for were we guilty of such imprudence the extortioner would be assuredly sent after him. We have now to speak of the inmates of Ellingen House reader the family circle there is as happy as the mournful reminiscence of Mr. Hatfield's sudden death will permit. Charles has become the husband of the beautiful and accomplished Lady Francis and the youthful pair continue to dwell at the Earl's mansion. Lady Georgiana is likewise a prominent resident beneath the same roof and her son amply repays her by his affectionate devotion for any temporary uneasiness or grief which he might have caused her at the lamentable period of his connection with Perdita. Sir John LaSalle is a frequent visitor at the mansion in Palmao and we need scarcely to add that he is always a welcome guest. The Republic of Castle Sacala flourishes under the free institutions which General Markham gave it. It is the model state in Europe and appears to be the solution of a problem whether it is possible for honest rulers a conscientious legislature and a democratic system to extirpate poverty from a country and make an entire people contented free and prosperous. The other rights of labor are recognized in all the plenitude of industry's claims. There are no man who is willing to work and possibly starve. Mendacity is unknown throughout the Republic and when the castle's sickle ends repair graphs translated from the English papers into their own prints and detailing how men, women and children die of starvation, I am very frequently too in the British islands they say to each other, it is a hideous mockery to pretend that true freedom has any existence there. But thank God the tide of liberal sentiments is rolling rapidly over Europe sweeping away the remnants of feudal barbarism leveling all oppressive institutions compelling tyrants to bend to the will of the masses and giving such an impulse to enlighten notions as the world never saw before. And may that tide still flow on with unabating force not wearing off the asperities of barbaric systems by degrees but whirling all abuses away at once and in a moment not proceeding without certainty or uniformity like a stream that is sometimes free and sometimes checked but rushing on in a channel that is brought in deep not here diverted from its course by some obstacle nor there dammed up until the weight of its waters break down the impediment but rolling on with a mighty and irresistible volume and expanding into a glorious and a limitable flood. The end, end of section 106 End of Mysteries of London Volume 4 by George W. M. Reynolds