Rose Mortimer; Or, The Ballet-Girl's Revenge — page 154: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

148 ROSE MORTIMER 5; OR, However, his ready wit served him once more, and he surmounted the difficulty. *“T shall not confront him,” he said, ‘or his cun- ning might devise some tale to deceive you yet. Take him off his guard, but fear nothing, I shall be at hand in case of need.,”’ ‘CHAPTER LIX. THE LOVER’S VISIT — THE MAIDEN’S FEARS — TREACHERY EXPOSED — ACCUSATIONS — THE MASK FALLS—OPEN VIOLENCE—THE RUFFIAN’S ASSAULT—*' HELP!’’--THE FLIGHT—THE HOUSE- TOP—THE PARAPET—‘MY BLOOD BE UPON YOUR HEAD !”’—THE DEATH OF THE LIBERTINE. MERMET hurried downstairs. As he gained the passage the knocking was re- peated. “*T’1l open the door myself ” he thought, ‘‘ for after all I’ve said this girl will never venture.to. It is dark, and he will not see me. He is drunk with passion, and will have no eyes nor ears but for her, The boldness of the freak pleased the Arab, and he proceeded at once to put his project into execution. But not before the knocking was repeated. He opened the door and drew back behind it, ad- mitting, as he had anticipated, the lover of the im- prudent Lotty Chepstow. Arthur Brownbill passed in, but, seeing no one there, imagined that his fair one had opened the door and then fled in maidenly diffidence. He hastily closed the door and hurried on. Had he been less pre-occupied, he could not have failed to notice the dark form of the Arab there. As it was, he simply walked on without looking left or right. He ran upstairs” and Mermet slipped from his hiding-place. ‘‘He’s gone,” miuttated the necromancer, ‘‘ and now for it.”’ He anticipated a scene, and was already rubbing his hands in glee at the thought. Little did he care for the anguish he had caused in the breast of the loving and confiding Lotty Chepstow. His own vile ends were in a fair way of being served, and he cared for no more. ““T wonder what they will be up to,” he muttered. “A fit of curiosity is on me, and I must see it out.” Saying which, he drew nearer to the stairs. Here even he failed to hear anything whatever, and by slow and cautious degrees he mounted the Stairs. Surely never had stairs before creaked so audibly. Each step he took appeared to ring out an alarm to the whole house. But he was not to be daunted now. Muttering curses, not loud, but deep, he crept on, At the top stair he drew up short. He could hear voices. ‘“ Now for it,’? he muttered. ready. Glorious sport !” The ardent lover, Arthur Brownbill, with the feverish haste of passion, had pushed his way upstairs. Miss Chepstow was seated in the apartment where the necromancer had quitted her. Her eyes were dimmed with tears. Tears of bitter humiliation. Tears of outraged affection and maidenly self- esteem. which had “flown freely as soon as she had been relieved from the necromancer’s presence. As her lover entered the room a few words mur- mured through her grief rather startled the expectant and amorous Bpownbill. ‘‘They’re at it al- ‘Oh, man, man!” she exclaimed, “‘ why do you ever thus trifle with the heart you affect to love? Is there no pure affection in God’s own image? It can- not be all deceit.”’ “ Hullo!”’ thought Mr. Brownbill, markably queer.’’ He advanced into the room. It was dark now, for the flickering lamp had ex- pired while Mermet was about to depart, and the unhappy girl was so grief-stricken at the discovery of her lover’s perfidy that she had not thought of re- plenishing it. ‘No matter,” she muttered, drying her eyes and endeavouring to persuade herself that she was now firm. ‘No matter. I’ll banish him from my heart, from my thoughts—forget that Arthur ever lived there.”’ The lover’s footstep startled her in the middle of her soliloquy. ‘© Who’s there ?” Now Mr. Brownbill was so thoroughly startled by the words which he had chanced to overhear that he felt very little inclined to make himself heard. “Ts that you ?”’ said -Miss Chepstow, after a while, “You have not Jet him in. Oh! sir, spare me, if you can, the pain of seeing him again—dismiss him, if possible.” Mr. Brownbill started back aghast. ‘¢ Damnation !’’ he muttered aloud. rival in the field I find.”’ ‘‘ Who is it?’ said. Miss Chepstow, this time in rather a tremulous tone. “Tis I, madam,” said Mr. Brownbill, in an indig- nant tone. ‘* Perfidious woman!” cé Ah! 19 - . Lotty, Lotty, I little suspected you of falsehood,” es And he pretended to weep. There was no light to show off his grief-stricken expression of contenance, but he contrived to throw a lachrymose cadence into his voice, which was inyaria~ bly very effective. ‘‘ What do you here ?”” demanded Miss Chepstow, sternly. *¢ What ?”’ ‘¢ What do you here ?” “1? Why, my dear Lotty.”’ “Silence! Depart at once, man, I tell you.’’ “* What, what do you mean ?’’ ‘‘This, that your villainies are known to me,” ** Lotty, this is madness.’’ ‘¢ Leave this house immediately, or, by the heavens above, I will have you ejected with ignominy.” This brought matters to a crisis with an alarming rapidity. The tone of the rowé and debauchee changed in an instant. He no longer thought it necessary to, assume the tone of injur red i innocence. It was clear enough that, wherever she had oviained her information, she had. learnt that of him which would render useless all further attempt at deception. He burst into a coarse laugh. ‘‘ Hah! hah! my dear Lotty. You forget one im- portant fact whilst uttering these cruel, not to say unladylike, absurdities.” ‘‘ What mean you ?’’ ‘“‘That you might eject me if you were physically capable, my love, but as for having me ejected, that’s a moral impossibility.’’ ** How so?” ‘* Why the form of speech used implies the presence of other persons in the house,” ce Ah! 19? *< This looks re- “’There’s a You are discovered, ** And I happen to know that you are alone here.” ~ ‘6 Monster !”? COMmc ooo ] |