Ellen Percy; or, The Memoirs of an Actress — page 240: what you’re looking at

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

ELLEN PERCY; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF AN ACTRESS. ee ee —_—_—_----—-:----_-- se ———— Le i 22 another I might have composed, I should have assuredly believed that it t#as my own writing. Suspicion for many reasons pointed to Lady Lilla Hssendine as the authoress of the forgery, and to St. Clair as her accomplice. I turned to ques- tion Beda: but she, anticipating my intention, said, “ Not now, Miss! You shall know every- thing presently. We have yet a deed to per- form.” Again her dark eyes flung a signal at the youth- ful sailor ; and he lost no time in obeying it. We returned into the other cabin; and there William, having deposited the wax candle upon the table, proceeded to lift off the cushion of one of the sofas. “Keep that note,” hastily whispered Beda to me, as I still retained the odious forgery in my hand. I accordingly secured the document about my person,—watching the while the proceedings of the young mariner William. He had lifted off, as I have said, the cushion of the sofa,—the frame- work of which, as the reader will understand, was a permanent fixture on one side of the cabin; so that indeed it resembled an oriental divay. In the flat surface of the boarding on which the cushion had rested, a small square was made to lift out; and when that piece of wood was removed, there appeared an upright bar of iron, with a cross handle of the same metal. Upon this cross-piece the young mariner fixed his hands firmly; and he turned it completely round—a proceeding which required a considerable degree of force. He then hastily replaced the little trap-door, threw back the cushion over if, and flung a look of strange mean. ing upon Beda. Immediately after the turning of that iron handle, my ears caught a sound like that of gurgling water underneath the floor of the cabin ; and I glanced towards Beda for an expla- nation. “ Now let us away!” cried the young girl: and she pushed me towards the carpeted stairs. There was something in the words which she uttered and the movement by which they were ac- companied, that seemed to imply the necessity of haste; and I sped up the staircase. Beda was close behind me,—the young man bringing up the rear; and in a moment we all three stood upon the deck. 7 “Now, Miss Percy,” said Beda, “ we have no- thing more to do herve !” “But I insist upon knowing,’ I exclaimed, “ whet all this means :”—for I felt frizhtened, and had vague sensations of terror creeping over me at what seemed to be the sinister mystery of these ’ proceedings. You shall know all directly,” answered Beda, “Good bye, William,” she added, turning towards the youth to whom she extended her hand. “A thousand thanks for all that you have done.” “Whatever he may have done,” I hastened to observe, “ whether right or whether wrong, it has evidently been with the intention of serving me; andal must reward him:’—at the same time I drew forth my purse. “No reward will I take, Miss Percy,” replied William firmly ; and again making me a respectful bow, he retreated to the farther extremity of the vessel. Beda and I now stepped upon the pier; and ———— — the young gipsy girl hurried me along towards the town. Just as we were emerging from the pier, we beheld a female figure, closely veiled rapidly approaching. Beda—who was on the side nearest to her—laid her hand upon the arm of that veiled lady, for a lady she evidently was; and the young gipsy girl said to her in a low clear voice, “ Kvery- thing is discovered, and you are bafiled.” The lady stopped short; and the single cjacula- tion * Ah!” burst from her lips: but Beda hurried me along—the iron gate at the entrance of tho pier was passed through—and as [ glanced behind, I perceived the veiled lady still standing, as if transfixed, upon the spot where we had left her. “Who was that person, Beda?” I asked, though not without a suspicion as to what the response might be. “That person, Miss,” answered the gipsy girl, “is the authoress of the letter which you have about you—the one whose hand perpetrated the odious forgery! It is Lady Lilla Essendine.” “T thought so!” I exclaimed. ‘ And that yacht “Tt belongs to Captain St, Clair,” Beda. There also my surmise was correct: but I asked no rAore questions—for we were proceeding rapidly through the streets, and in a few minutes we should be at home. The house was reached: we re-entered by the back way; and unobserved by a soul, we regained my bed-chamber. * Now, Miss Percy,” said Beda, “TI will tell you everything; and you will learn wherefore I have kept the secret until this moment. But first of all les me give you the assurance that I—poor humble girl though I be—have had the oppor- tunity of testifying my gratitude towards you: for I have saved your life!” “ Ts this possible, Beda ?” I exclaimed, trembling not merely with the joyous senso of security, but likewise at the thought of having escaped some dread and fearful peril. “Oh, my poor Beda! I who had mistrusted you for a moment! But come to my arms! [ told vou there was no kind- ness too great for me to display if your actions justified your words !” Beda—who had maintained the sibel firmness, composure, and decision while witnessing the various proceedings on board the vessel—now wept like a child: but they were tears of joy which she shed as I folded her in my arms and embraced her affectionately. “Tell me everything,” I said, when she had wiped away those tears from her cheeks —and now it was a luminous look of love she bent upon me. * Grant me your patience, Miss,’’ she said; “ for the tale is somewhat a long one, and I must be minute in its particulars, On the evening when [ first arrived in Ramsgate, you remember, Miss, that you sent me out to make a few purchases— for you were to leave on the following morning, As Iwas walking through one of the streets, I met that young man whom you havo just seen oa board the vessel. We looked at each other with the mutual conviction that we were no strangers, It was he who remembered me first. ‘Surely you must be Beda?’ he said.—‘ And you,’ I imme. diately replied, as the recognition flashed to my rejoined COMIC NOOK (COU