The Mysteries of London; or, Lights and Shadows of London Life — page 106: what you’re looking at

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100 after a pause of consideration, “ and you shall find it an effectual one,” “And you are certain of the efficacy of this pre- paration—that it will produce all those effects that you, spoke about ?” “ Certain!” ejaculated the Italian. “I know from the number of instances with which I am acquainted that it isas unfailing in its operation as it is of baffling detection. Of that death which art has contrived nature is alone accused.” “Then to-morrew call upon me at this direction,” said the agent, giving the Italian his card, “and you shall receive what farther instructions are necessary, with the conditions for which you have stipulated. I hoped through that important packet, which I pre- served so long and so carefully till I could employ it to advantage, to have been able to enforce the earl’s assent to whatever 1 might propose, but for that some other mode must be adopted. He shall find that I will not tamely submit to be driven from office and be compelled to sacrifice that fortune which my inge- nuity had secured.” *“‘The use to which I shall put them,” affirmed Bazzini, “ will in no respect interfere with any effort you may ehoose to make to reinstate yourself in your position. I have a certain object to attain, and it is only through such a channel that I can arrive at the point I seek ; but this is a project entirel y unconnected with your own.” “ Well, I will refuse no longer—they shall be yours, my good friend Bazzini,” cried Jarvis, extending his hand; “ and now let us have one more glass to cement a friendship that, though thus renewed by chance, I trust will be of long duration between us, and then till to-morrow farewell.” The glasses were again filled, emptied, and with a recapitulation of the terms of the compact, the two diabolical miscreants separated, Jarvis to chuckle over the fate to which he had doomed his denouncer, and Bazzini to sustain the assumed character under which he intended that evening to deceive the opera-dancer. CHAPTER XXI. THE, ADVENTURE IN THE PARK. Ona of the many phases of metropolitan life which never fail to carry with them a certain charm of inte- rest and variety, is presented by the Regent’s Park on a fine summer evening; a scene that, to the eye even of the most cursory observer, is replete with sug- gestive objects either for the passing reflection of the moment, or for those more profound thoughts that engage the attention of the philosopher. That fine enclosure, with its broad and spacious avenues, its smoothly-gravelled walks, its soft green turf, its rows of stately trees, its pleasant vistas, and the zone of noble mansions by which it is engirdled, is a rare boon to the denizen of the smoky city; and of which, as the poorest shares its privileges with the wealthiest, the Londoner may well be proud. The artisan and his family may here breathe the pure fresh air of the country, wafted from the heights of Hampstead, without a taint from the poisoned stmosphere that hangs like a thick mist of putrefying atoms around his own humble dwelling, doomed by ihe errors of a sluggish legislature to exist side by side vith all the nuisances that a great city generates, and hat the tenacious clutch of vested interest preserves. Che children, gambolling with the careless laugh of ‘fe re eee aa ee ee -_—- = THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON, infancy over the verdant sward, their gleeful play winning a smile of encouraging sympathy from parents, or else extorting from the nursery maid who accompanies them a timorous word of remonstrance as she sees approaching the self-important guardian of the rights and privileges of the place; the throng of promenaders of all classes scattered over the broad area of the park, the flirtations of loving couples going on in quiet corners, the whirl of the carriages that roll round the outer circle in succession, the studious lounger poring by the last rays of ‘the daylight over the pages of some favourite pocket the co- quettish servant girl smirking at the tall soldier by the railings, and the feeble movements of the invalid beyond, whose faltering limbs scarcely enable him to perform the exercise prescribed, make up, with a hun- dred other individual features, the varied aspect that the park presents on these occasions. On this evening there were some among its fre- quenters with whom our narrative is connected. In a dress too plain to attract notice, with her veil drawn in folds over her countenance, and anxiously avoiding the stream of pedestrians that were now issuing from the thoroughfares adjacent, towards the entrances of the enclosure, Celestine arrived at the — place appointed. ‘ Willingly would she have cherished the belief that the proposed interview was one that she need not fear — to seek—that it was but the ruse of a romantic ad- mirer, who sought by such a mode to disclose his passion. Her heart, fluttering with a variety of con- tending emotions, convinced her that there lurked a deeper interest in the adventure, Several times had she been on the point of turning back and leaving the affair still involved in mystery, or to be unravelled by succeeding incidents, but a powerful sity impelled her onwards, and she resolved to set her mind at rest by a firm and decisive course of action that would free her from the dread that she had pre- viously felt, or make her fears become more terrible than ever. The cloud that hung over the passages of her early life excited the most vivid apprehensions of the reve- lation that she expected to be made, and was the source of her most poignant sorrows, The idea had never been absent from her mind that this constant attendance of the Italian had been prompted by the knowledge he possessed of her real history; and now that the meaning of his continual annoyance was about to be made known, and his motives at last ex- plained, her feelings were wrought to the acutest pitch of sensibility, and she shuddered lest her worst surmise should find a fearful confirmation in his — words. The clock struck the appointed hour, and precisely at the same instant a figure emerged from the crowd of promenaders, and assumed a solitary position in the | centre of the avenue opposite Gloucester Gate, Though his face was averted from the place where | she stood, Celestine needed no further proof that he © was the writer of the note that had brought her — thither, and, nerving herself for the encounter, she — crossed over to the spot, and, with as much courage as she could command, eonfronted those repulsive — features which had so often before inspired her with — an unconquerable aversion, a One timid look forced with a sudden effort, and she — saw that it was indeed the Italian who stood before her. Returning a glance of recognition, whilst a ray or triumph shot across his visage, he bowed respectfully, CORNICE OC) cS com Pro oe