The Mysteries of London; or, Lights and Shadows of London Life — page 164: what you’re looking at

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

LE ST 148 A A em a -_- “ Very good,” assented the other, “ but if the machine itself is the great difficulty, why not inflate the body of it with hydrogen gas, as we did the model, and have recourse to the same means to keep the decep- tion from being detected ?” “Jt would be of no use,” negatived Parkins; “there is a strong rumour spread abroad now that we have been deluding the public all along, and that would be only making matters worse. Besides, the funds are getting low, and it was from Greene I ex- pected to reeruit them.” ? “Then if the company is at this hour to be con- sidered defunct,” said Mr. Luke Sharp, “let us pay due respect to its memery by celebrating its obse- quies as we inaugurated its birth, with a good dinner. lam at the present moment in need of some refresh- ment to restore my peace of mind, for I consider a man with a dissatisfied interior is at war with all the world.” | “You may yourself cenduct the ceremony after that or any other fashion you will,” returned Parkins, taking up his hat and filling his pockets with those papers from the desk that he thought worthy of pre- servation ; “but you must dine alone, for I have other business to attend to that will occupy me the remainder of the day.” “And for the financial department?” suggested Sharp. “There is a five-pound note, which you can em- ploy as your inclination prompts, To-morrow, if you will call upon me at my villa, I will see what further gum can be given. The clerk we have hired can sell the fittings-up, and pay himself; and I will leave him a note to that effect, so that he may get it when he returns from dinner;” and writing a few lines, he enclosed them in an envelope, and placed it in a con- spicuous pesition en the empty desk. “ Well, now I think the coast is clear, and I may venture,” soliloquised Mr. Sharp, who, whilst the managing director was thus occupied, had been anxiously reconaoitring the pavement from the win- dow; “so, if the case is indeed hopeless, and the future yields no prospect ef living upon shares, I will at once quit this cemetery of departed promises, and forget my disappointment in the consoling atmosphere of a tavern;” and buttoning his coat up to the throat with an air of tranquil resignation, he apostrophised the doomed furniture of the office in a strain of pathetic regret, and, bidding a temporary farewell to the late director, he glided through the green baize portal, and vanished, Parkins had no sooner been relieved of his presence, than, taking the key off the hook where it hung, he locked the outer door, called up the housekeeper, who inhabited some dreary kitchen below, and giving the key into her hands, with a strict injunction to her that it should be delivered to the clerk as soon as he returned, he passed out into the street, and, calling a cab, drove eff at once to the residence of Mr. Fitzroy Greene, With the knowledge that he held that individual’s bond for sixty thousand pounds, he had no doubt of bringing him to some favourabie arrangement for its restoration, or failing that, he had resolved upon im- mediately availing himself of the power of arrest. From the intelligence he had that morning received respecting the intrigue in which he was engaged, he surmised that Greene, momentarily anticipating an exposure of the fraud that had been practised, was striving to strengthen his position by forming, under THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON, A Rt and, theugh such an announceement had been altoge- ther unexpected, he yet rejoiced at it as being likely to assist him in gaining his object. With these thoughts passing through his mind, he contentedly reviewed the prospect he had of keeping himself secure, and yet considerably enlarging his resources, when the vehicle stopped at the house, and he saw the tiger lingering on the door-step in a condition of palpable perplexity. From the statement of Dick he learned that Mr. Fitzroy Greene had about an hour previously taken his departure, and that the companion of his flight was the lady with whom he had been seen engaged in dif- ferent parts of the town for some weeks before, It was then discovered that an elopement had taken place, and from further inquiries that had been instituted by Lord Walsingham, who had called there also to obtain some information of the track of his missing relative, it was ascertained besides that post-horses had been ordered in readiness that morning at an early hour, and that the fugitives had fled to the continent until the consent to the marriage had been obtained by the lady from her family, and their return could take place without molestation. Doubly enraged by his plan being thus thwarted, Parkins quitted the house; and with a savage growl at Dick, and a similar burst of indignation at the ill fortune that seemed to attend him, he turned aside into the main road with the intention of pursuing his way homeward. That Greene, on whom he had relied as being so deeply interwoven in his toils, should escape from them in a way that had never been con- sidered possible till now—that he should elude the subtle contrivances by which he had hoped to have him entirely at his mercy—was a blow that he was quite unprepared for. But on his arrival at the villa at Brixton fresh embarrassments were disclosed, and he saw that the fortune he had devoted his life to build tip was now crumbling down about his head, and threatening to overwhelm him in its destruction. A pile of letters were there awaiting him; and as he took up one after another, to ascertain their con- tents, his rage and disappointment increased, Many were from shareholders in the company, who demanded another meeting for the purpose of hearing the pro- mised report of the engineer ; others wereon unpleasant business connected with different societies that he had got some connection with; but there were two letters, conveying more important and disastrous tidings than the rest, which convinced him that the impending danger was indeed mvure imminent than he had con- templated, and too great to be averted by any artifice, or to be met by any bold assurance. an The first of these missives that disclosed the depth of the precipice that yawned before him was from the Manchester solicitor, Mr. Jefferson, who had been the active agent in the affair of the disputed estate, and who now wrote to say that having ascertained the imposition that had been practised, he was prepared to recover the whole amount that had been paid on the faith of those documents being genuine; and unless the fullest and most satisfactory details could be given, exculpating Parkins from having knowingly mixed himself up in the transaction, he threatened to indict the whole party for fraudulent representations. The other was of a still more dangerous tendency. It purported to be from the savings-bank of which Par- kins had a few years before got himself appointed | actuary, and it alleged that certain defalcations having | been that day discovered, and ths money having been false pretences, an alliance with a lady of fortune; traced to have passed through his hands, an inquiry ve we ee ew eae S&S ‘GOI DOO = Gi @