Agnes: A Tale of the Streets — page 43: what you’re looking at

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

AGNES 5 OR, BEAUTY AND PLEASURE. ANT passed. But his uncle, fearing that ho would get | cely. “How you startled me!”—and she coverod into fresh mischief, and looking upon London as a place that was proverbially ruinous to young mon, insisted upon taking him again upon the Con- tinont. Lisetta, who was much attached to ILailes, besought and implored that some arrangement might be made for hor to accompany him. Tho old uncle was purblind: the girl accordingly ‘cropped the redundancy of her beautiful black hair, apparcliled herself in a neat suit of black, put on e white neckcloth, and looked the genteel young valet to perfection. The namo of Cesario was substituted for Lisetta; and thus Andrew’s mistress accompanied him abroad, the uncle ro- maining ignorant of tho cheat. ‘This old gentle- man did not long survive the departure from tingland ; snd when he had breathed his last and was buried in some Continental town, Lisetta might have at once resumed ker female apparel, were it not that two distinct reasons prevented her from doing so. Tho first was that inasmuch as she was entered in the passport of the Mossrs. Hailes as Cesario the valet, she could not all in a moment resuine her proper character without procuring a passport on ber own account—which she could only do at e frontior town on re-entering the country. The other reason was that Androw [Tai'»g had suflicient decency about him tu bo un- vi ' + . havo it thought that he only waited uni the breath was out of his uncle’s bady in order to live openly with a mistress. And then, being upon the Continent, he found that he liked it after all better than England ; and he resolved to romain there until it was time to return to London for the pending trial. On arriving in the metropolis, he would have induced Lisotta to resume tho apparel of her sex and return to her lodgings at Notting Hill; but she bad an excuse ready to persuade him to allow her to remain a ahy or two longer in her present disguise and position. Tho truth is, she wished to obtain the op- portunity of thoroughly unmasking Hector Hard- ress, and saving Androw from being forced into a uuion with Jusephine. We nust now take leave of young Ifailes and Lisctta for the present, and return to the villa at Buyswater. Jt was about eight o'clock in the evening when Cicely roturned from her oxpedition to the che- mists’ shops; and hastening up the private stair- case, she sped into her boudoir. ‘There she at once produced the three or four bottles containing the poison sho bad purchased; and she poured the contents into one pbial, While she was thus vccu- picd, she was suddenly startled by hearing a fvot- step behind her: she turned and beheld Joscphine LLardress. Cicely bad accidentally omitted to lock the door of her boudoir; and an ejaculation of angry im- patience at her own folly escaped her lips. Thero she was, still in the plain dress in which she had gone fourth to make her purchases~with the com- mon straw bonnet and the thick veil—another veil and a shawl lying upon the table in a manner which showed that they also had been part and parcel of this singular toilet: and moreover she was empty- ing the contents of three or four little bottles, Jabelled “Laupanum, Poison,” into a larger phial, which had no label at all. : “Ah! is that you, Josephine ?” ejaculated Ci- up tho phials with her kerchief. “Tam sorry that I should have disturbed you, Cicoly; I did not know that I ought to have beon under the ceremony of knocking at your boudoir. door. But good heavens! where have you been in this strango dress ?” “Where have I been? Josephine. I will tell you to-morrow—or next day But don’t say a word, there’s a dear girl !” “You frighten me, Cicoly!” interjected Miss Ifardress. “I caught a glimpse of those little bottles which you have endeavoured to conceal! Pray tell me r ‘Now do not be foolish, Josephine — nor get silly ideas into your head. You know vory well that I suffer from toothache——”’ “You?” cjaculated Miss Hardress. “ Wh you havo not a bad tooth in your head!” sess “T mean that I do not sleep ye! at night——” “Ob, Cicely, what ¢» you mean? This confu- sion on your part perplexea me !” “Silly girl!’ ejaculated Cicely, with petulance : “do not question me any more! I mean nothing wrong! Iam not going to poison myself —uor you—nor Hector. But perhaps,” she added some- what haughtily, “I may be permitted to have my secrete as well as you. Josephine; and I will thank you to keep mino.” Miss Ilardress answered not a word: she was profoundly humiliated—she was inwardly bewil- dered and frightened; and in a few moments she left the room. e “ Ifow provoking !’’ ejaculated Cicely to horself ; “just when I thought that 1 had managed every- thing so nicely and had dune wy work so cau- tiously !” Being regularly out of temper—angry alike with herself and Josephine—she tossed the bottles into a drawer, turned the key in haste, and then began to put off ber homely garb and resume a becoming evening-apparel, Mcanwhile Josephine had descended to the par- Jour, where she threw herself upon a sofa, clasp- ing her hands in anguish, and mentally ejacu- lating, “ Good heavens! what can Cicely mean? Why at every step in my wretched life da I now encounter fresh horrors or perplexities >—-fresh sources of vexation and torment? What eax sho mean? Shall I tell Ilvetor? No, no! 1 dgre not! And yot Hush! who comes?” ° It was [lector himself, who having just sprung out of a cab, rushed into the house, and mado his way straight to the parlour. The instant he opened tho door, or rather throw if open with violence, Josephine was startlod by the pallor and haggardness of his countenance. “Good heavens, Hector!” she cried, flying to- wards him; “what has happened ?” “All is lost! everything will be discovered ! You and I, Josephine, must fly {” “My God!”—and she tottered towards a seat, upon which she sank down. “Yes—all is lost There is not s bope, nor a chance—nor the ghgst’ of a chance!” pursued Hector with concentrated bitterness in his accents. “Young Iailes will not have you!—he bas dis- covered that it was your hand which fired tho third pistol that night !—bo has accused me as an accomplice in the murder—and to-morrow niurn- Ob, no matter now, ElDOO! dase I havo kept your secrets, ° S