The morning arrived, and at the appointed hour Sir Henry Ashwoode dismounted in Whitefriar Street, and gave the bridle1 of his horse to the groom2 who accompanied him.
"Well," thought he, as he entered the dingy3, dilapidated square in which Chancey's lodgings4 were situated5, "this matter, at all events, is arranged—I sha'n't hang, though I'm half inclined to allow I deserve to do so for my infernal folly6 in trying the thing at all; but no matter, it has given me a lesson I sha'n't soon forget. As to the rest, what care I now? Let ruin pounce7 upon me in any shape but that—luckily I have still enough to keep body and soul together left."
He paused to indulge in ruminations of no very pleasant kind, and then half muttered,—
"I have been a fool—I have walked in a dream. Only to think of a man like me, who has seen something of the world, allowing that d——d hag to play him such a trick. Well, I believe it is true, after all, that we cannot have wisdom without paying for it. If my acquisitions bear any proportion to my outlay8, I ought to be a Solomon by this time."
The door was opened to his summons by Gordon Chancey himself. When Ashwoode entered, Chancey carefully locked the door on the inside and placed the key in his pocket.
"It's as well, Sir Henry, to be on the safe side," observed Chancey, shuffling9 towards the table. "Dear me, dear me, there's no such thing as being too careful—is there, Sir Henry?"
"Well, well, well, let's to business," said young Ashwoode, hurriedly, seating himself at the end of a heavy deal table, at which was a chair, and taking from his pocket a large leathern pocket-book. "You have the—the security here?"
"Of course—oh, dear, of course," replied the barrister; "the bond and warrant of attorney—that d——d forgery10—it is in the next room, very safe—oh, dear me, yes indeed."
It struck Ashwoode that there was something, he could not exactly say what, unusual and sinister12 in the manner of Mr. Chancey, as well as in his emphasis and language, and he fixed13 his eye upon him for a moment with a searching glance. The barrister, however, busied himself with tumbling over some papers in a drawer.
"Well, why don't you get it?" asked Ashwoode, impatiently.
"Never mind, never mind," replied Chancey; "do you reckon your money over, and be very sure the bond will come time enough. I don't wonder, though, you're eager to have it fast in your own hands again—but it will come—it will come."
Ashwoode proceeded to open the pocket-book and to turn over the notes.
"They're all right," said he, "they're all right. But, hush14!" he added, slightly changing colour—"I hear something stirring in the next room."
"Oh, dear, dear, it's nothing but the cat," rejoined Chancey, with an ugly laugh.
"Your cat treads very heavily," said Ashwoode, suspiciously.
"So it does," rejoined Chancey, "it does tread heavy; it's a very large cat, so it is; it has wonderful great claws; it can see in the dark; it's a great cat; it never missed a rat yet; and I've seen it lure15 the bird off a branch with the mere16 power of its eye; it's a great cat—but reckon your money, and I'll go in for the bond."
This strange speech was uttered in a manner at least as strange, and Chancey, without waiting for commentary or interruption, passed into the next room. The step crossed the adjoining chamber17, and Ashwoode heard the rustling18 of papers; it then returned, the door opened, and not Gordon Chancey, but Nicholas Blarden entered the room and confronted Sir Henry Ashwoode. Personal fear in bodily conflict was a thing unknown to the young baronet, but now all courage, all strength forsook19 him, and he stood gazing in vacant horror upon that, to him, most tremendous apparition20, with a face white as ashes, and covered with the starting dews of terror.
With that hideous22 combination, a smile and a scowl23, stamped upon his coarse features, the wretch24 stood with folded arms, in an attitude of indescribable exultation25, gazing with savage26, gloating eyes full upon his appalled27 and terror-stricken victim. Fixed as statues they both remained for several minutes.
"Ho, ho, ho! you look frightened, young man," exclaimed Blarden, with a horse laugh; "you look as if you were going to be hanged—you look as if the hemp28 were round your neck—you look as if the hangman had you by the collar, you do—ho, ho, ho!"
"It's hard to get the words out," continued Blarden, with ferocious30 glee. "I never knew the man yet could do a last dying speech smooth—a sort of choking comes on, eh?—the sight of the minister and the hangman makes a man feel so quare, eh?—and the coffin31 looks so ugly, and all the crowd; it's confusing somehow, and puts a man out, eh?—ho, ho, ho!"
Ashwoode laid his hand upon his forehead, and gazed on in blank horror.
"Why, you're not such a great man, by half, as you were in the play-house the other evening," continued Blarden; "you don't look so grand, by any manner of means. Some way or other, you look a little sickish or so. I'm afraid you don't like my company—ho, ho, ho!"
Still Sir Henry remained locked in the same stupefied silence.
"Ho, ho! you seem to think your hemp is twisted, and your boards sawed," resumed Blarden; "you seem to think you're in a fix at last—and so do I, by ——!" he thundered, "for I have the rope fairly round your weasand, and, by —— I'll make you dance upon nothing, at Gallows32 Hill, before you're a month older. Do you hear that—do you—you swindler? Eh—you gaol33-bird, you common forger11, you robber, you crows' meat—who holds the winning cards now?"
"Where—where's the bond?" said Ashwoode, scarce audibly.
"Where's your precious bond, you forger, you gibbet-carrion?" shouted Blarden, exultingly34. "Where's your forged bond—the bond that will crack your neck for you—where is it, eh? Why, here—here in my breeches pocket—that's where it is. I hope you think it safe enough—eh, you gallows-tassle?"
Yielding to some confused instinctive35 prompting to recover the fatal instrument, Ashwoode drew his sword, and would have rushed upon his brutal36 and triumphant37 persecutor38; but Blarden was not unprepared even for this. With the quickness of light, he snatched a pistol from his coat pocket, recoiling39, as he did so, a hurried pace or two, and while he turned, coward as he was, pale and livid as death, he levelled it at the young man's breast, and both stood for an instant motionless, in the attitudes of deadly antagonism40.
"Put up your sword; I have you there, as well as everywhere else—regularly checkmated, by ——!" shouted Blarden, with the ferocity of half-desperate cowardice41. "Put up your sword, I say, and don't be a bloody42 idiot, along with everything else. Don't you see you're done for?—there's not a chance left you. You're in the cage, and there's no need to knock yourself to pieces against the bars—you're done for, I tell you."
With a mute but expressive43 gesture of despair, Ashwoode grasped his sword by the slender, glittering blade, and broke it across. The fragments dropped from his hands, and he sunk almost lifeless into a chair—a spectacle so ghastly, that Blarden for a moment thought that death was about to rescue his victim.
"Chancey, come out here," exclaimed Blarden; "the fellow has taken the staggers—come out, will you?"
"Oh! dear me, dear me," said Chancey, in his own quiet way, "but he looks very bad."
"Go over and shake him," said Blarden, still holding the pistol in his hand. "What are you afraid of? He can't hurt you—he has broken his bilbo across—the symbol of gentility. By ——! he's a good deal down in the mouth."
While they thus debated, Ashwoode rose up, looking more like a corpse44 endowed with motion than a living man.
"Take me away at once," said he, with a sullen45 wildness—"take me away to gaol, or where you will—anywhere were better than this place. Take me away; I am ruined—blasted. Make the most of it—your infernal scheme has succeeded—take me to prison."
"Oh, murder! he wants to go to gaol—do you hear him, Chancey?" cried Blarden—"such an elegant, fine gentleman to think of such a thing: only to think of a baronet in gaol—and for forgery, too—and the condemned46 cell such an ungentlemanly sort of a hole. Why, you'd have to use perfumes to no end, to make the place fit for the reception of your aristocratic visitors—my Lord this, and my Lady that—for, of course, you'll keep none but the best of company—ho, ho, ho! Perhaps the judge that's to try you may turn out to be an old acquaintance, for your luck is surprising—isn't it, Chancey?—and he'll pay you a fine compliment, and express his regret when he's going to pass sentence, eh?—ho, ho, ho! But, after all, I'd advise you, if the condescension47 is not too much to expect from such a very fine gentleman as you, to consort48 as much as possible with the turnkey—he's the most useful friend you can make, under your peculiarly delicate circumstances—ho, ho!—eh? It's just possible he mayn't like to associate with you, for some of them fellows are rather stiff, d'ye see, and won't keep company with certain classes of the coves50 in quod, such as forgers or pickpockets51; but if he'll allow it, you'd better get intimate with him—ho, ho, ho!—eh?"
"Take me to the prison, sir," said Ashwoode, sternly—"I suppose you mean to do so. Let your officers remove me at once—you have, no doubt, men for the purpose in the next room. Let them call a coach, and I will go with them—but let it be at once."
"Well, you're not far out there, by ——!" replied Blarden. "I have a broad-shouldered acquaintance or two, and a little bit of a warrant—you understand?—in the next apartment. Grimes, Grimes, come in here—you're wanted."
A huge, ill-looking fellow, with his coat buttoned up to his chin, and a short pipe protruding52 from the corner of his mouth, swaggered into the chamber, with that peculiar49 gait which seems as if contracted by habitually53 shouldering and jostling through mobs and all manner of riotous54 assemblies.
"That's the bird?" said the fellow, interrogatively, and pointing with his pipe carelessly at Ashwoode. "You're my prisoner," he added, gruffly addressing the unfortunate young man, and at the same time planting his ponderous55 hand heavily upon his shoulder, he in the other exhibited a crumpled56 warrant.
Grimes departed, and Blarden, after a long pause, suddenly addressing himself to Ashwoode, resumed, in a somewhat altered tone, but with intenser sternness still,—
"Now, I tell you what it is, my young cove21, I have a sort of half a notion not to send you to gaol at all, do you hear?"
"Pshaw, pshaw!" said Ashwoode, turning bitterly away.
"I tell you I'm speaking what I mean," rejoined Blarden; "I'll not send you there now at any rate. I want to have a bit of chat with you this evening, and it shall rest with you whether you go there at all or not; I'll give you the choice fairly. We'll meet, then, at Morley Court this evening, at eight o'clock; and for fear of accidents in the meantime, you'll have no objection to our mutual58 friend, Mr. Chancey, and our common acquaintance, Mr. Grimes, accompanying you home in the coach, and just keeping an eye on you till I come, for fear you might be out walking when I call—you understand me? But here's Grimes. Mr. Grimes, my particular friend Sir Henry Ashwoode has taken an extraordinary remarkable59 fancy to you, and wishes to know whether you'll do him the favour to take a jaunt60 with him in a carriage to see his house at Morley Court, and to spend the day with him and Mr. Chancey, for he finds that his health requires him to keep at home, and he has a particular objection to be left alone, even for a minute. Sir Henry, the coach is at the door. You'd better bundle up your bank-notes, they may be useful to you. Chancey, tell Sir Henry's groom, as you pass, that he'll not want his horse any more to-day."
The party went out; Sir Henry, pale as death, and scarcely able to support himself on his limbs, walking between Chancey and the herculean constable61. Blarden saw them safely shut up in the vehicle, and giving the coachman his orders, gazed after them as they drove away in the direction of Morley Court, with a flushed face and a bounding heart.
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1
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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3
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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4
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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5
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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6
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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7
pounce
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| n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意 | |
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8
outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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9
shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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10
forgery
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| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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forger
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| v.伪造；n.（钱、文件等的）伪造者 | |
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12
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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13
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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14
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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15
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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16
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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17
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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18
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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19
forsook
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| forsake的过去式 | |
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20
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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21
cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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22
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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23
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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24
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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25
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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26
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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27
appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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28
hemp
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| n.大麻；纤维 | |
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29
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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30
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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31
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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32
gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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33
gaol
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| n.(jail)监狱；(不加冠词)监禁；vt.使…坐牢 | |
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34
exultingly
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| 兴高采烈地，得意地 | |
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35
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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36
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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37
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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38
persecutor
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| n. 迫害者 | |
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39
recoiling
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| v.畏缩( recoil的现在分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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40
antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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41
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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42
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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43
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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44
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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45
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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46
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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47
condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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48
consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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49
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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50
coves
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| n.小海湾( cove的名词复数 )；家伙 | |
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51
pickpockets
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| n.扒手( pickpocket的名词复数 ) | |
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52
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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53
habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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54
riotous
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| adj.骚乱的；狂欢的 | |
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55
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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56
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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57
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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58
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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59
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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60
jaunt
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| v.短程旅游；n.游览 | |
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61
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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