The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 290: what you’re looking at

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276 THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. Having paid his respects to Nell Gibson and the other females, the Hangman desired Mrs. Young to produce a couple of bottles of wine; and as he threw down a guinea at the same moment the woman bustled about with alacrity to give the necessary order. An old harridan of nearly ninety, bent double with age and who had passed the whole of her long life in houses of crime, acted as Mrs. Young's servant; and she was accordingly de- spatched to the nearest public-house to fetch the wine. Whenshe returned and placed the bottles upon the table, the Hangman exclaimed in a ban- tering tone, “ Halloa! Mother Franklin, are you still alive?” | “Yes, you see I be,” answered the old hag, wag- ging her toothless jaws with a merry laugh. “Why, how old are you now, you witch 2” de- manded the Hangman. “ Eighty-nine, come next Febiverry,” responded the hag; “and you'll never reach that age, Mr. Coffin—for you’re doomed to go out of the world in the same way as you've helped a many others to quit it:” and she laughed with a hideous cackling sound that presently merged into a choking cough which brought the scalding rheum into her bleared eyes. “ By Satan!” exclaimed Coffin, ferociously, “1 shall have the satisfaction of tucking you up before I die, you infernal old beldame! Why, I don’t be- lieve you were ever in a respectable house in your life 2?” “ That’s true enough,” answered the hag, with her horrible chuckle. “ I was born in such a house as this—l was bred in it—I became prematurely old in it,’ she continued, glancing significantly towards the girls upon the sofa. “J have been the child of crime—the mother of crime—and the widow of crime: and now I may say I am the great, great grandmother of crime! Lord bless ye, you won’t see one in a thousand—no, nor yet one in a million —that comes to my age after passing all one’s life in such houses as this here! ‘They mostly die in ditches—or on dunghills—or in hospitals or work- houses—long, long before they come to even half my age!” “Hold your tongue, you old witch !” ejaculated Nell Gibson, half starting from her chair in a rage. ‘‘T declare if you’re allowed to let your tongue run on like this, V’1l leave the house.”’ “Ivs shameful to let Mother Franklin talk just as she likes,” observed the young females upon the sofa: but they did not threaten to leave the house —for they were entirely in Mrs. Young’s power; whereas Nell Gibson was totally independent of the woman. “ There—take that, you old beldame, and be off!” said the Hangman savagely, tossing her a shilling. Mother Franklin, who had thrown a look of dia- bolical spite upon Nell Gibson when she threatened to leave the house, now fastened the same malig- nant look upon the Hangman, muttering to herself, “ What! only a shilling—a beggarly shilling, for fetching that wine and standing all this abuse:” then suddenly picking up the coin, she bustled out of the room, laughing with that hideous laugh which was between a cackle and a cough. The Hangman, perceiving that he had just drawn the ancient harridan into a conversation which had thrown a damp upon the spirits of those ee ee present, hastened to pour out the wine and pass round the glasses, the contents of which were speedily disposed of. The girls upon the sofa were specially prompt in emptying their glasses; and they looked particularly satisfied when Mr. Coffin refilled them. ‘Then, after chatting on various subjects for about a quarter of an hour, the Hang- man said to Nell Gibson, “I want to speak to you upon very particular business.” She looked at him for a moment with a strange gaze, in which astonishment, indignation, and dis- gust were all clearly and plainly blended: then suddenly bursting out into a loud laugh, she said, “No, Mr. Coffin—apny living soul but the public executioner!” ‘** What does the girl mean?” growled the Hang- man, his countenance all of a sudden assuming a look of diabolical ferocity: but the next moment, recollecting that it was his policy to conciliate in- stead of angering Ellen Gibson, he said in as mild a tone as it was in his nature to adopt, “I didn’t mean any tender proposal, Nel}: but it’s on a mat- ter of business I want to speak to you—and so if you'll just put on your bonnet and shawl and step out with me, we can chat as we walk up and down the street: or may be you would step round as far as Bencull’s for half-an-hour or so.” “‘ No—I don’t want to go out to night,” said Nell: it’s raw and damp, and I’ve got acold. But we can talk here :”—and she made a sign to Mother Young and the four girls, who all took the hint accordingly and quitted the room. ‘“ Now, then, what is it?” inquired the young woman, still retaining her in- dolent attitude as she lolled in the arm-chair near the fire. * And so yon wouldn’t have accepted me as your lover 2?” said the Hangman, with a jocose look, as he really began to feel somewhat excited by the provok- ing abandonment of the young woman’s fine person in that attitude of indolent wantonncss. “Faugh! there is a smell about you as if you had been touching dead bodies,” replied Nell, who was of a very independent spirit and did not mind saying what she thought: indeedj, vile, depraved, remorseless prostitute as she was, and ready also to sell herself to even the most disgusting old men so long as she was adequately paid, she neverthe- less recoiledin unfeigned loathing and aversion from | the idea of such contact with the public executioner, “Well, at all events you are candid, Nell,” said Daniel Coffin after a brief pause, during which he bit his lip almost till the blood came, so desperate for a moment was his vexation at the disgust with which the young woman regarded him. * But come, —it’sno use for you and me to wrangle while there’s business to be done: so I suppose we are all good friends again 2?” | “To be sure,” answered Nell, instantaneously recovering her good humour: “so long as you don’t tallt to me in a particular way, we shall be | the best friends in the world, as we always have been hitherto ;—and if there’s anything to be done © in which my services can be made handy, you know very well that you can command me.” “Tam glad to hear you speak in this sensible way,” said Coffin, laying aside all his recent resent- ment: “ because there really is something im- | portant on hand. You recollect that night, down at the dark crib, when you enticed a young lady | ” | there—— ' EN CORNICLYOC 6S (€()