The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 103: what you’re looking at

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

30 “ And knowing that I felt interested in the matter, you kindly came to acquaint me with the circum- stance—is it not so?” said the milliner, nerving her- self with that desperate courage which seeks a relief from suspense even at the risk of learning the worst at once. “Well, ma’am—I can’t exactly say it was in such a humour that I called to-night,” responded Mobbs, again fixing his eyes most suspiciously upon her: “for the truth is—and the truth may be as well told at once——” “Oh! certainly,” cried the woman, sinking upon a chair with a feeling as if her senses were abandoun- ing her. “The truth——” “Is that I have reasons to entertaia euapicions, ma’am,” continued Mobbe, laaming forward as he spoke. “ Ah! suspicions—is it possible?” murmured Mrs. Brace, in a dying tone. “'Yes—euspicions of the atrongest nature,” pro- ceeded Mobbe, his tome and fooks every instant becoming more ominous. “ Against whom?” gasped the milliner, as if her very life depended upon the answer. * Against you /” was the terrific A strong spasm shook the wretehed woman from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet—and the natural colour quitting her cheeks and leaving the rouge upon the marble flesh, rendered her posi- tively ghastly. Her livid lips moved quiveringly with the vain attempt to articulate a fow words : her voice remained as it were in her throat, held back by an irresistible weight and accompanied by a suffo- eating sensation. Frogen with dread horror—struck motionless by a tremendous consternation, she eate gaxing with haggard eyes upon that ill-looking countenance which was opposite to her, and on which she read an expression of mingled malignity and fiendish cunning. Ineffable was the anguieh endured by the milliner for upwards of a minute! ating torture seemed to be condensed into that space. Though awfully aware of the necessity of saying something in reply to the terrific accusation made against her, she could not give utterance to a word; —and though equally alive to the appalling fact that her looks were confirming all the man’s suspicions, she was utterly unable to compose her features or even assume the most distant semblance of outraged innocence. A far less intelligent man than Mob\s would have read guilt written on her features, proc) ainied by her looks, and apparent in her manner, as piainly as if the word were stamped with a searing-iron upon her brow. He was accordingly convinced beyond all possibility of doubt that the Gallows’ Widew had placed him upon the rightecent: bat he did not wish to act with a precipitation that should lead to an §mmediate explosion. Indeed, it formed no part of his plan to urge matters to an exposure at all; and therefore he did not contemplate extreme measures with regard to the unhappy woman. He knew that she was rich; and it had been already settled be- tween himself, the Gallows’ Widow, and Carrotty Poll, that the knowledge of Mra. Brace’s tremendous secret should be made the means of extorting considerable sums of money from her. This was a game which suited Mr. Mobbs much better than getting himself restored to office by giving publicity to the murder end thereby explaining the real cause of Grumley’s Whole ages of excruci- | disappearance. Therefore, what he now aimed at was to penetrate into the very depths of the milliner’s secret and ascertain how she had disposed of the corpse of her victim,—so that he might get her com- pletely into his power and make her purse a constant source of supply for his own behoof by holding her crime in terror over her head. Such were the man’s calculations;—and accord- ingly, when he had suffered her to endure all the poignancy of that alarm which was certain to ren- der her as docile and submissive as his purposes re- quired, he said {n a tome through which he only suf- fered his meaning to penetrate dimly and ambi- guously, “ You sce, ma’am, that it’s of no use to deny the thisg—and therefore you'd better make a friend of me.” The milliner started as if from a hideous dream. For her imagination, so intensely tortured, had pic- tured nothing less than the very worst—her imme- diate arrest, a full exposure, the horrors of Newgate, and ali the consecutive details usually resulting from the of go heinous a crime. But in the words which suddenly broke upon her ears through this awful vision, dhe beheld a gleam of hope; and instantaneously catching at it with the feverish haste of denperation, even though it should prove only a straw, she said, “ What mean youf Explain your- self! How can you serve me as a friend ?” “Sy not becoming your enemy, to be eure,” was the immediate response. “ As matters now stand, it is in my power to give you into custody on suspi- cion ef having made away with Peter Grum- “Bat yeu will not do 0, Mr. Mobbs?—you will not rain me?” murmured the wretebed woman, the words escaping through the chattering ef her teeth, and her voice trembling as fearfully as her body. “ Weil, ma’am, it would be a pity to send such a baniisome exeatar’ to the scaffold,” said the man coolly. “QO God! do not aliade to such a herror!” cried Mrs. Brace in an almost shrieking tone;—and fall- fag upon her knees at his feet, the elegant milliner humbled herself like the veriest mendicant to that ill-looking, vulgar, gross-minded ruffian who was himself an assassin—yes, the assassin of his wife and his children ! “Come, get up, ma’am—get up,” he said: “it will be your own fault if I hurt you. I’m sure I don’t want to make a disturbanee about this business —although it’s a wery orkard one——”’ “Ie it possible to hush it upf—can money pur- chase your silence!” ingtfired the milliner, with an hysterical rapidity of tone, as she spraog from her knees and joined her hands imploringly. “Well—I dare say we shall be able to come to an uiderstanding, my dear madam,” said Mobbs, eviioee familiarity, which at any other time would wave been odious and disgusting to a degree, was now welcomed asa proof of good feeling. “But be- fore we touch on that part of the business, 1 must know everything.” “ Everything?” repeated Mrs. Brace, now wonder- ing for the first ttme how muoh he did already know and whence that knowledge was gleaned: and at the same time it struck her that if she bad denied the accusation at the very outset and acted with a for titude proper to the emergency, she would not now be in the power of an unprincipied villain. “Yes—you must tell me everything,” repestn ElOOO® SS