The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 70: what you’re looking at

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a aL aa aL a SS a a THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. by the strangeness of the whole proceeding—had lost no time in resuming his apparel; and he had scarcely dressed himself when she re-appeared with a light in her hand. He immediately fixed his eyes upon her to see whether she came with any hostile intent ; and though there was certainly little to glean of ari encouraging character from a coun- tenance naturally sinister and repulsive, yet at the same time he beheld naught in her looks to belie the assurances of safety she had ere now given him. She nevertheless gazed upon him with a singular earnestness, that had however nothing threatening in it: and yet her regards were of a nature which he could not comprehend. “You doubtless wish for explanations why you must depart so abruptly and-in the middle of the night,” she said, at length breaking silence, and speaking in that curt, blunt, and imperious manner which seemed habitual to her.: “but you will re- ceive none from my lips. It suits me to act in this way. But there is one point on which I may as well enlighten you at once—which is, that all I told you about my haying seen or spoken to the lady’s-maid at Evergreen Villa is pure invention on my part. I never took any trouble at all in the matter, and know nothing more of the young lady or her concerns than what I told you yesterday when you first came to the cottage. And now depart.” “But this is most singular—most unaccount- able!’ exclaimed Saxondale, his courage reviving in proportion as he saw that there was actually no ground for alarm. “Depart, I say?’ cried Madge Somers, stamping her foot impatiently. “If you stayed here for an hour, you would not drag from my lips a single word more than I choose to tell you.” _ Lord Saxondale, perceiving that it was utterly useless to stand arguing the point with this singular woman, no longer hesitated to obey her command; and he accordingly followed her from the room. She descended the stairs with the candle in her hand, and held open the cottage-door, her entire manner evincing an unaccountable impatience for him to begone. He accordingly went forth without another word; and speeding across the fields, en- tered the Seven Sisters Road. Meanwhile Madge Somers closed the front door and returned to her companion Chiffin, whom she found seated near the table and drinking large draughts of brandy-and-water, to which he bad managed to help himself by aid of the glimmering light that peeped in through the window. CHAPTER XIII. & GLANCE AT THE PAST. WHATEVER intention Madge Somers might have had a few minutes back, of entering into full par- 53 which he had briefly alluded when they were cross ing the field together, and respecting which she was anxious to obtain the fullest and completest ex- planations. Madge Somers therefore felt that she had a difficult game to play with the formidable Chiffin, and that it would require all her arts of diplomacy to effect the double object of satisfying him in respect to her own conduct, and at the same time gleaning what she wanted to know from his lips. “ You are enjoying yourself,” she said, flinging off her old cloak and sitting down near the table. “ Well, I think it wants something to put one m a good humour after this disappointment,” growled the Cannibal. “ But it wasn’t for a glass of brandy- and-water that I came up here to-night, I can tell you,” he added. ‘ Who’s to pay me the hundred pounds [ have just lost by your silly nonsense in letting that young fellow go? For I hav’n’t forgot that you said just now my share would come to that amount.” “‘ Now, Chiffin,” answered Madge Somers, “you have known me some years, and I have never de- ceived you in business matters—have I ?” “ No—I can’t say that you have,” responded the Cannibal sullenly. “We have done a few things together, and you have always been fair and straight- forward enough—there’s no denying that: and now, what next ?” “You will believe me, then, if I make you a cer- tain promise ?” said Madge interrogatively. * Yes—I think I may,” replied Chiffin: “ for we all know you are a strange kind of a creature, and there’s some of the folks down at Sol Patch’s really fancies you are a witch. I don’t mean no offence, Madge 8 “Witches need not have recourse to the means I adopt for a living,” rejoined the woman abruptly. “ But about this promise of mine. If I tell you that to-morrow evening at nine o’clock I will bring you a hundred pounds to the Billy Goat, or any where else you choose to appoint, will you be satisfied for the loss of your booty this night? And I think you ought to be,” she added ere he had time to answer ; “for it will be a hundred pounds earned by you without risk, whereas if this work had been done to-night there would have been risk, although everything was so nicely arranged to make all traces disappear.” “ Well, if I was’ sure of having the blunt te- morrow night,” said Chiffin, slowly suffering himself to be pacified, “I shouldn’t care much about that young fellow being allowed to walk clean off under my very nose, as one may say.” “Then you shall have the hundred pounds to- morrow night, Chiffin,’ said Madge Somers, with the confidence of one who knows that the promise will be fulfilled. “And now you will tell me,” asked the Cannibal, “what the deuce all this means ~why you dropped the candle and called out—why you pushed me from the room and banged the door as a signal that I ticulars with Chiffin the Cannibal as to the cause of wasn’t wanted—and why you let the young chap her singular behaviour towards Lord Saxondale, she escape at all.” ‘Did you not see that he opened his eyes all ina had come to a very opposite resolution by the time | she returned to him. In short, for reasons best moment, just as we were bending over the bed?” known to herself, she had entirely changed her asked Madge. mind, and determined to keep her own counsel. At | “No—that I didn’t!” replied Chiffin gruflly; the same time there were certain particulars to, “and if he did open his eyes like that. then all I -_-__ ee ei —e—_ COMICOOO© S (CO)