Mrs. Lovett, when she found that her proposition to turn evidence against Todd would not be listened to, but that it was the fixed4 determination of the authorities to include her in the prosecution5, became deeply despondent6. Upon being taken back to Newgate, she did not say one word to any one; but when she was placed in her cell, she paced to and fro in its narrow confines with that restless perturbed7 manner which may be noticed in wild animals when caged.
After about an hour, then, she called to one of the attendants of the prison, saying—
"I wish to speak to some one who has authority to hear what I may choose to relate."
"The chaplain will come," was the reply.
"The chaplain!" repeated Mrs. Lovett with a burst of rage, "what do I want with chaplains? Do I not know perfectly8 well that when a person is found too idiotic9 for ordinary duties he is made a chaplain of a jail? No! I will not speak to any of your chaplains."
"Well, I never!" said the turnkey. "Our chaplain for certain ain't a conjuror10, but I never heard afore that he was sent here on account of being weak in the upper story. It's likely enough though for all that. Perhaps Mrs. Lovett, you'd like to see the Governor?"
"Yes, he will do much better."
"Very good."
Such a prisoner as Mrs. Lovett could command an interview with the Governor of Newgate at any reasonable period; and that functionary11 having been apprised12 of her wish to see him, together with what she had said of the chaplain, repaired to her cell with an ill-concealed smile upon his face, for in his heart he perfectly agreed in Mrs. Lovett's estimation of jail chaplains.
"Well, madam," he said. "What have you to say to me?"
"In the first place, sir, I am here without other clothing then that which I now wear. Is it inconsistent with your regulations for me to have a box of clothes brought me from my home?"
"Oh no—you can have them. I will get an order from the committing magistrate13 for you to have your clothes brought here. Of course they will be scrupulously14 examined before they reach you."
"What for?"
"It is our custom, that's all."
"You are afraid that I should escape?"
"Oh, no—no! No woman ever yet escaped from Newgate, and I don't think any man ever will again."
"Perhaps not. For my part, I care not how many men escape, so that you take good care Sweeney Todd does not."
"You may make yourself easy upon that score."
"Good—then when I get my clothes here, I will make a full confession15 of all I know, regarding Todd's crimes."
"And your own?"
"Yes, if you like. And my own. Be it so. But mark me, I will have no pettifogging, prying16, canting parsons in the cell. If you bring your chaplain here I am mute."
"Very well, I will say as much. Of course, if you are inclined to make a confession, you can make it to whom you please."
"I should presume so."
With this, the Governor left Mrs. Lovett, and she commenced again her uneasy pacing of the cell. In about two hours, a large box was brought to her with nearly the whole of her clothes from her house in Bell Yard. She selected a dress, with a number of heavy flounces, and put it on, appearing to be much better satisfied than she had been.
"Ah," said the turnkey, "that's the way with women. Give them dress, and even in Newgate they feel comfortable, but make 'em go shabby, and you had much better hang them outright17."
Another hour passed, and then the Governor, with a magistrate and writing materials, came to the cell of the wretched woman.
"If Mrs. Lovett," he said, "you still think proper to persevere18 in your intention of making a confession, this gentleman, who is a magistrate, will in his official capacity receive it, and I will witness it; but you do it entirely19 at your own risk and peril20."
"I know it," replied Mrs. Lovett, "and I likewise do it to the risk of the peril of Sweeney Todd."
"You can make what statement you please. How far it will be taken as evidence against another, will depend entirely upon how it is in essentials corroborated21 by others," said the magistrate.
"I am content. Now, sir, will you listen to me?"
"Most certainly."
The Governor arranged his writing materials, and while the magistrate listened, Mrs. Lovett said in a calm clear voice—
"Believing that I am upon the brink22 of the grave, I make this statement. Todd first connived23 the idea of that mutual24 guilt25 which we have both since carried out. He bought the house in Bell Yard, as likewise the one in Fleet Street, and by his own exertions26, he excavated27 an underground connection between the two, mining right under St. Dunstan's church, and through the vaults28 of that building. When he had completed all his arrangements, he came to me, and cautiously made his offer; but he did not tell me that those arrangements were then complete, as that he doubtless thought would have placed him too much in my power, in the event of my refusing to co-operate with him in his iniquity29. He need not have given himself that amount of trouble; I was willing. The plan he proposed was, that the pie-shop should be opened, for the sole purpose of getting rid of the bodies of people, whom he might think proper to murder, in or under his shop. He said that fearing nothing, and believing nothing, he had come to the conclusion, that money was the great thing to be desired in this world, inasmuch as to it he had found that all people bowed down. He said that after the murder of any one, he would take the flesh from the bones quickly, and convey to the shelves of the bake-house in Bell Yard the pieces, as materials for the pies. Minor30 arrangements he left to me. He murdered many. The business went on and prospered31, and we both grew rich. He refused me my share of the spoil; and so I believe we both fell to our present state."
Mrs. Lovett Makes Her Confession To The Governor Of Newgate.
Mrs. Lovett Makes Her Confession To The Governor Of Newgate.
"Have you any more to add?" said the magistrate.
"Nothing. But I will answer you any question you may choose to ask of me upon the subject."
"No. It is not my province to ask anything. This is clearly a voluntary statement and confession. No questions need be, or ought to be, asked concerning it at all."
"Very well."
"You are aware that it will be used against you."
"And against Todd?"
"Yes, it is a strong corroboration32 of the evidence against him; and as such, if there had been any doubt, would have gone far towards making his conviction certain."
"Then I am satisfied, sir."
The magistrate slightly inclined his head and left the cell with the Governor. When they were outside he said to the latter—
"I would advise you to keep a sharp watch upon that woman. My firm opinion is, that she contemplates33 suicide, and that this statement is merely made for the purpose of damaging Todd as much as possible."
"No doubt, sir. You may depend upon our keeping a good watch upon her. It is quite impossible she can do herself a mischief34. There is literally35 nothing in the cell for her to convert to any such use; besides, I doubt if really great criminals ever have the courage to die by their own hands."
"Well, it may be so; of course your experience of these people is very considerable. I only tell you my impression."
"For which, sir, I am much obliged, and will be doubly cautious."
Mrs. Lovett, when she was once more alone, paced her cell in the same restless manner that she had done before. It was not then so much as it is now the custom in Newgate to keep such a strict watch upon prisoners before conviction, and with the exception that there was a man in the passage close at hand, boxed up in a sentry-box, and whose duty it was now and then to open the small square wicket in the cell door, and see that the prisoner was all right, Mrs. Lovett had no surveillance over her.
As she paced to and fro, she muttered to herself—
"Yes, I will do it. They think that I would go through the formal parade of a trial. They think that I will stand in one of their courts shrinking before a jury; but I will not—I will not. Oh no, Todd may do all that. It is fitting that he should; but I, having failed in my one great enterprise, will bid adieu to life."
She paused, for the man was at the wicket.
"Do you want anything?" he said.
"No, my friend. Only the poor privilege of being alone."
"Humph! I thought I heard you speaking."
"I was only rehearsing my defence."
The turnkey stared at her through the little bars that crossed even that small orifice in the door, and then closed it without another word. He was scarcely used to such an amount of cool effrontery38 as he found exhibited by Mrs. Lovett.
"Alone again," she said. "Alone again. I must be cautious, or they will suspect my purpose. I must only converse39 with myself in faint whispers. I would not be thwarted40 willingly in this my last and boldest act; and I am resolved that I will not live to look upon the light of another day. I am resolved, and wound up to my purpose. Oh, what poor fools they are to fancy they can prevent such a one as I am from dying when and how I wish! They have unwittingly supplied me with the ready means of death to-day."
These words were spoken so low, that if the turnkey had been listening with all his might on the other side of the door he could not possibly have overheard them. The recent visit of that functionary, if the peep through the little opening in the door could be called a visit, had taught Mrs. Lovett to be more cautious how she trusted the air of her cell with the secret resolves of her teeming41 brain.
But now that she had really and truly made up her mind to commit suicide, all the worst passions of her nature seemed to be up in arms and to wage wild war in her heart and brain; while amid them all was the intense hatred42 of Todd, and the hope that she should be revenged upon him, by his being brought to death upon the scaffold, triumphant43 over every other.
"I had hoped," she said; "oh, how I had hoped, that I might have had the satisfaction of witnessing such a scene—but that is past now. I must go before him; but still it is with the conviction that die he must. I feel, I know that he will not have the courage to do as I am about to do, and if he had, I am certain he has not provided himself with the means of success as I have provided myself."
These last words she scarcely whispered to herself, so very fearful was she that they might be overheard by the turnkey who was so close at hand.
And now a fear came over her that he was watching her through some little hole or crevice44 of the door, and the very thought was sufficient to make her wonderfully uneasy. If it were so, there was quite sufficient reflected light in the cell to make every one of her actions easily observable, and so her cherished design of taking her own life would be defeated completely.
In lieu of a piece of whalebone in the back of her dress, there was a small tin tube, soldered45 perfectly tight against the escape of any fluid, and made fast at each end. That tin tube had been in the dress she now selected for many months, and it was filled with a subtle liquid poison, a very few drops of which would prove certainly fatal.
She dreaded46 that she should be observed to take this ingenious contrivance from her dress and pounced47 upon before she could break it open and make use of its contents.
She sat down on the miserable48 kind of bench which served as a bed, and in a very low whisper to herself she said—
"I must wait till night—yes, I must wait till night!"
She knew well that the indulgence of a light would be denied to her, and she smiled to herself, as she thought how that mistaken piece of prison policy would enable her to free herself from what now was the bitter encumbrance49 of existence.
"The twilight50," she muttered, "will soon creep into this gloomy place, and it will be my twilight, too—the twilight of my life before, and only just before, the night of death begins. That night will know no dawn—that long, long sleep which will know no waking! Yea, I will then escape from this strong prison!"
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
compensating
|
|
| 补偿，补助，修正 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
recording
|
|
| n.录音，记录 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
prosecution
|
|
| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
despondent
|
|
| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
perturbed
|
|
| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
idiotic
|
|
| adj.白痴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
conjuror
|
|
| n.魔术师，变戏法者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
functionary
|
|
| n.官员；公职人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
apprised
|
|
| v.告知，通知( apprise的过去式和过去分词 )；评价 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
magistrate
|
|
| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
scrupulously
|
|
| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
confession
|
|
| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
prying
|
|
| adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
outright
|
|
| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
persevere
|
|
| v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
peril
|
|
| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
corroborated
|
|
| v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
brink
|
|
| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
connived
|
|
| v.密谋 ( connive的过去式和过去分词 )；搞阴谋；默许；纵容 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
mutual
|
|
| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
guilt
|
|
| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
exertions
|
|
| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
excavated
|
|
| v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
vaults
|
|
| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
iniquity
|
|
| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
minor
|
|
| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
prospered
|
|
| 成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
corroboration
|
|
| n.进一步的证实，进一步的证据 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
contemplates
|
|
| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的第三人称单数 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
mischief
|
|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
literally
|
|
| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
dodge
|
|
| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
innocence
|
|
| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
effrontery
|
|
| n.厚颜无耻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
converse
|
|
| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
thwarted
|
|
| 阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
teeming
|
|
| adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
hatred
|
|
| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
triumphant
|
|
| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
crevice
|
|
| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
soldered
|
|
| v.（使）焊接，焊合( solder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
dreaded
|
|
| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
pounced
|
|
| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
miserable
|
|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
encumbrance
|
|
| n.妨碍物，累赘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
twilight
|
|
| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |