THE MURDER.
It wanted five minutes to nine o'clock when Anthony Tidkins reached the
corner of Oxford Street and the Edgeware Road.
A cab was standing a few yards up the latter thoroughfare; and as the
driver was sitting quietly on his box, without endeavouring to catch a
fare, it instantly struck the Resurrection Man that his unknown
patroness might be the occupant of the vehicle, and was waiting for him.
He accordingly approached the window, and by the reflection of a shop
gas-light, perceived the veiled lady inside.
"Is it you?" she said, unable to distinguish his countenance beneath his
slouched hat.
"Yes, ma'am. All right," he cried to the driver; and, opening the door,
entered the cab.
It then moved rapidly away—the driver having evidently received his
instructions before-hand.
"Draw up the window," said the lady.
Tidkins obeyed.
"You remember your promise to be blindfolded?" continued Adeline.
"I have forgotten nothing that passed between us, ma'am."
He had taken off his hat upon entering the vehicle; and Adeline now drew
over his head a large flesh-coloured silk cap, or bag, fitted with a
string that enabled her to gather it in and fasten it round his neck—but
not so tightly as to impede the free current of air.
"I am sorry to be compelled to subject you to any inconvenience," she
said, loathing herself at the same time for being compelled to address
this conciliatory language to such a man—a murderer by profession!
"Don't mention it, ma'am: it's all in the way of business."
A profound silence then ensued between them.
On his part the Resurrection Man, who was intimately acquainted with
London and all its multitudinous mazes, endeavoured to follow in his
mind the course which the vehicle was taking; and for some time he was
enabled to calculate it accurately enough. But it presently turned off
to the left, and shortly afterwards took several windings, which
completely baffled his reckoning. He accordingly abandoned the labour,
and trusted to accident to furnish him with the clue which he desired.
On her side, Adeline was a prey to the most horrible emotions. Now that
she had carried the dread proceedings up to the point which they had
reached, she recoiled from urging them to the awful catastrophe. Vainly
did she endeavour to tranquillise herself with the specious reasoning
that she would not become a murderess, since _her_ hands were not to do
the deed,—or that even if that name must attach itself to her, she was
justified in adopting any means, however extreme, to rid herself of a
remorseless enemy:—vainly did she thus argue:—the crime she was about to
commit, or to have committed for her, seemed appalling! Often during
this long ride was she on the point of declaring to her terrible
companion that she would stop short and abandon the murderous project at
once: and then would come soul-harrowing remembrances of Lydia's
tyranny, accompanied by violent longings after vengeance.
Thus did nearly three quarters of an hour pass, when the cab suddenly
halted.
"Put on your hat—draw up your cloak-collar—and hold down your head as
you alight," said Adeline in a rapid whisper.
The Resurrection Man understood her; and the darkness of the night
favoured the precautions which Lady Ravensworth had suggested to prevent
the driver, who opened the door, from observing that Tidkins's face was
covered with the flesh-coloured silk.
"Wait until our return," said Adeline: "we may not be back for two, or
even three hours;—but in any case wait."
And she placed a piece of gold in the man's hand.
[Illustration]
She then took the arm of Tidkins and hurried him across the fields—for
such he could feel the soil upon which he was walking to be.
In this manner did they proceed for upwards of half an hour, when they
reached the fence surrounding the gardens of Ravensworth Hall. Adeline
opened the wicket by means of a key which she had with her, and hurried
her companion through the grounds to the private door at the southern
extremity of the mansion. This she also opened and locked again when
they had entered. She then conducted the Resurrection Man up the
staircase, and finally into her boudoir.
Guiding him to a chair, she released him from the silk cap; but when it
was removed, he could perceive nothing—for the room was quite dark.
"My enemy is certain to come hither shortly," whispered Adeline: "it may
be directly—or it may be in an hour;—still she is sure to come. I shall
conceal you behind a curtain—in case _the wrong person_ might happen to
enter the room by accident. But when any one comes in, and you hear me
close the door and say 'WRETCH!' rush upon her—seize her by the
throat—and strangle her. Are you strong enough to do this?—_for no blood
must be shed_."
"Trust to me, ma'am," returned Tidkins. "The woman—whoever she may
be—will never speak again after my fingers once grasp her neck."
Adeline then guided him behind the curtain of her bed; and she herself
took her post near the door.
And now succeeded a most appalling interval of nearly twenty
minutes,—appalling only to Adeline; for her hardened accomplice was
thinking far more of the additional sum he was about to earn, than of
the deed he was hired to perpetrate.
But, Adeline—oh, her thoughts were terrible in the extreme! Not that she
dreaded the failure of the deadly plot, and a consequent exposure of the
whole machination:—no—her plans were too well laid to admit that
contingency. But she felt her mind harrowing up, as it were, at the
blackness of the tragedy which was in preparation.
Twenty minutes, we said, elapsed:—twenty years of mental agony—twenty
thousand of acute suffering, did that interval appear to be.
At length a step echoed in the corridor;—nearer and nearer it came.
Good God! what pangs lacerated the heart of Lady Ravensworth;—and even
then—far as she had gone—she was on the point of rushing forward, and
crying, "No! no!—spare—spare her!"
But some demon whispered in her ear, "Now is the time for
vengeance!"—and she retained her post—she stifled the better feelings
that had agitated within her—she nerved herself to be merciless and
unrelenting.
She knew that the step approaching was that of Lydia; for Lydia allowed
none of the other servants to enter her mistress's own private chamber.
The reason of this must be obvious to the reader:—Lydia only repaired
thither for the sake of appearances—and not to do the work which it was
her duty to perform. No—that had been left for Adeline herself to
execute!
And now the handle of the lock was agitated—the door opened—and Lydia,
bearing a light, entered the room.
Instantly Adeline closed the door violently—exclaiming, "WRETCH, your
time is come!"
Lydia started—and dropped the light.
But in another second the Resurrection Man, springing like a tiger from
his lair, rushed upon her from behind the curtain—seized her throat with
his iron grasp—and threw her on the floor as easily as if she were a
child.
The light had gone out—and the fearful deed was consummated in the dark.
A low gurgling—a suffocating sound—and the convulsions of a body in the
agony of death were the terrible indications to Adeline that the work
was indeed in awful progress!
Faint and sick at heart—with whirling brain—and bright sparks flashing
from her eyes—Lady Ravensworth leant against the door for support.
Two minutes thus elapsed—the gurgling sound every instant growing
fainter and fainter.
Adeline felt as if her own senses were leaving her—as if she were going
mad.
Suddenly a low, hoarse voice near her whispered, "It's all over!"
Then Lady Ravensworth was suddenly recalled to the consciousness of her
perilous position,—awakened to the necessity of carrying out all her
pre-arranged measures of precaution to the end.
"We must now dispose of the body," she said, in a low and hurried tone.
"You must take it on your back, and carry it for a short distance,
whither I will lead you. But, first—here is a bag: it contains two
hundred and fifty sovereigns—fifty more than I promised you."
The Resurrection Man clutched the gold eagerly:—the weight was
sufficient to convince him that his patroness was not deceiving him.
While he was hugging his ill-earned gains, Adeline hastily felt her way
to the bureau, opened it, and took forth her casket of jewels. She left
the door of the bureau open, and the key in the lock.
The Resurrection Man now suffered her to replace the silk cap over his
head:—what would he not have done for one who paid so liberally!
Then, taking the body upon his back, he was led by Adeline from the
boudoir.
They descended the stairs, and passed out of the mansion by the private
door, which Adeline closed but left the key in the lock.
She conducted him through the grounds once more, leaving the wicket
open—and proceeded across a field, in one corner of which was a large
deep pond.
A pile of stones was near the brink.
"Throw the body upon the ground," said Adeline.
The Resurrection Man obeyed, and seated himself quietly by it.
Adeline averted her eyes from the pale countenance, on which a faint
stream of straggling moonlight stole through the darkness of the
night;—and rapidly did she busy herself to secure her casket of rich
jewels and several huge stones about the corpse. This she did by means
of a strong cord, with which she had provided herself; for—fearful
woman!—she had not omitted one single detail of her horrible plan—nor
did she hesitate to sacrifice her precious casket to aid in the
assurance of her own safety.
When this labour was finished,—and it did not occupy many
minutes,—Adeline rolled the body down the precipitous bank into the
pond.
There was a splash—a gurgling sound; and all was still.
"By God!" murmured the Resurrection Man; "this is the cleverest woman I
ever met in my life. I really quite admire her!"
The words did not, however, reach the ears of Lady Ravensworth,—or she
would have recoiled with abhorrence from that fearful admiration which
she had excited in the mind of such a miscreant—a resurrectionist—a
murderer!
"Every thing is now finished," said Adeline, breathing more freely. "Let
as depart."
She led her companion across the fields:—her delicate feet were wet with
the dew;—and though she felt wearied—oh! so wearied that she was ready
to sink,—yet that woman—within a few weeks of becoming a mother—was
armed with an almost superhuman energy, now that it was too late to
retreat and her enemy was no more.
When they reached the cab, the driver was sleeping on his box; and
before he was well awake, the Resurrection Man had entered the vehicle.
"Back to the place where you took up my companion," said Adeline, as she
followed Tidkins into the cab.
And now she was journeying side by side with one who had just
perpetrated a cold-blooded murder,—she the promptress—he the instrument!
In three quarters of an hour they again stopped at the corner of the
Edgeware Road, Adeline having removed the cap from the Resurrection
Man's head a few minutes previously.
The cab was dismissed:—Tidkins had vainly looked to discover its number.
Adeline, by bribing the driver, had provided against _that_ contingency
also!
"Any other time, ma'am," said Tidkins, "that you require my services—or
can recommend me to your friends——"
"Yes—certainly," interrupted Adeline. "Good night."
And she hastened rapidly away.
"It's no use for me to attempt to follow her," murmured the Resurrection
Man to himself: "she is too wary for that."
He then pursued his way homewards, well contented with his night's work.
And Adeline regained admittance to her town-mansion, having so well
contrived matters that the housekeeper never suspected she had once
quitted it during the day or night.
Between three and four o'clock in the morning the rain began to pour
down in torrents, and continued until past eight,—so that Lady
Ravensworth was enabled to assure herself with the conviction that even
the very footsteps of herself and Anthony Tidkins were effaced from the
grounds belonging to the Hall, and from the fields in one of which was
the pond to whose depths the corpse of the murdered victim had been
consigned.