Rochester.-- A Profitable Field for Mrs. Winslow.-- Her
sumptuous Apartments.-- The Detectives at Work.-- Mrs.
Winslow's Cautiousness.-- Child-Training.-- Mysterious
Drives.-- A dapper little Blond Gentleman.-- Two Birds
with one Stone.-- A French Divinity.-- Le Compte.
While Superintendent Bangs is on his hunting expedition in the West, we
will follow the fortunes of Mrs. Winslow in the beautiful city of
Rochester.
There is hardly a city in the country better adapted for either the
pursuit of pleasure or wealth than Rochester. Everything combines to
make it so. It nestles in one of the most beautiful valleys in the
world, like the nest of a busy bird in a luxuriant meadow. There is the
sound of pleasant waters, the roar of a mighty cataract, the din of two
score busy mills, the music of the spindles, the cogs and the reels, the
clash and the clangor of the factories, the thunderings of the forges,
and the footfalls of a hundred thousand happy, contented people who have
wrung competence and even luxury from the hard hand of necessity and
toil.
From the summit of Mount Hope Observatory, an elevation of nearly five
hundred feet above the lake, there is a grand picture whereon the eye
may rest. At your feet, and to the north, lies the busy city with the
noble Genesee winding rapidly through it, lending its half-million
horse-power force to the needs of labor, then plunging a hundred feet
downwards, eddying and rushing onward, plunging and eddying again and
again, until it sobers into a steady current northward towards Ontario
through a deep, dark gorge, looking like an ugly serpent trailing to the
lower inland sea where can be seen the city of Charlotte, formerly
called Port Genesee, the port of Rochester, beyond which, on a clear
day, may be seen countless dreamy sails, and steamers with their
trailing plumes of smoke, and still beyond appears the dim outlines of
the far-off Canadian shore. To the east, as far as can be discerned,
lies a country of the nature of "openings"--beautiful groves of trees,
magnificent farms, with the almost palatial homes of the owners, who
have become rich from the legacies of their ancestors with the added
thrift of scores of fruitful years. Southward for a half hundred miles,
stretches the beautiful valley of the Genesee, dimpled by lesser valleys
and a hundred sparkling brooks, and dotted by field and forest and
numberless groups of half-hidden houses, with outbuildings full to
bursting with the fruitage of the fields; while to the west along the
lake are low ranges of sand-hills, and south of these extending nearly
to Lake Erie is a beautiful prairie country, while with a glass can be
traced the ghostly mist perpetually hovering above Niagara.
If this scene be inspiring to the looker-on, the intrinsic beauty of the
city, its unusual life, its fine public buildings, business houses, and
splendid private residences; its clean macadamized streets and broad,
brick walks, shaded with the trees of half a century's growth as in many
of the famous Southern cities; its numberless little parks or "places,"
owned in common by the proprietors of the handsome residences which
surround them, and filled with rare shrubs, flowers, beautiful fountains
and costly statuary; the vast _parterres_ of flowers in the suburbs,
sending in upon every summer wind an Arabian wealth of exquisite
fragrance; the large summer gardens, where beer and Gambrinus reign
supreme; the enticing promenades, and the splendid drives in every
direction from the city--would give any one not completely at war with
every pleasant thing in life a genuine inspiration of pleasure and a
more than ordinary thrill of enjoyment.
It is little wonder, then, that Mrs. Winslow found Rochester a
profitable field for operating in her peculiar double capacity of a
dashing adventuress and a trance medium. She found there not only men of
vast wealth, but of vast immorality, as is quite common all over the
world, and hundreds of firm believers in spiritualism, which was a
special peculiarity to Rochester. Among the first number there were many
who sought her for her charms of figure and manners, which were
certainly powerfully attractive, and which yielded her an elegant income
without positive public degradation, as no man of wealth and position
feels called upon to make known his own peccadilloes for the sake of
exposing the sharer of them, even though she be a dangerous woman; and
consequently there was only that universal verdict of evil against her
which society quite generally, and also quite correctly, pronounces on
forcibly circumstantial evidence.
Her apartments were elegant, and even sumptuous; and though there was a
quite general understanding of her character among the epicurean
gentlemen of the city, she held them aloof with such freezing dignity
that they seldom presumed upon her acquaintance, and were even possessed
of a certain respect for her unusually rare shrewdness in preserving her
reputation, such as it was; so that her rooms, so far as the public were
able to ascertain, were only frequented by those who believed her to be
able to allay their sufferings, or open the gates of the undiscovered
country to their anxious, yearning eyes.
A large amount of money had been paid her by Lyon to prevent a scandal.
The last sum was known to have been five thousand dollars, and it was
quite probable that if there had been an intimacy so ripe as to have
warranted the payment of this amount, still larger sums had doubtless
been expended in maturing so tender a relation. In any event it was
ascertained by Bristol and Fox that Mrs. Winslow had for some time been
living in elegance, though at the same time carefully, being given to no
particular excesses, and it was a matter for considerable speculation
whether she was now in the possession of much money or not.
Fox affected the quiet, well-bred gentleman, expended sufficient money
among the boarders to make them talkative, and even confidential, and
in this way learned a great deal about the madam's habits and
peculiarities that was afterwards useful, though of no particular moment
at that time; while Bristol, who was a florid, well-kept Canadian
gentleman of about forty-five years of age, of a literary and poetical
turn, and with an easy habit of falling into the manner and brogue of an
Englishman, Scotchman, or Irishman, made himself immensely popular with
the old maids under Washington Hall, who in turn were enamored with his
good physical parts and blarneying tongue, and were at any time ready to
confide to him all they knew, and, in fact, a great deal more; so that,
as he professed to be an ardent Spiritualist, he was enabled to become
well informed concerning the leading persons of that persuasion in the
city, of whom he forwarded a complete list, with something of a history
of each; and while not becoming known to or personally familiar with any
one of them--which would have destroyed his usefulness, he was yet able
to keep track of nearly all that was said or done within the charmed
circle; as after each lecture, or seance, the economically-built and
antiquated maidens would retire to a little snuggery behind the
restaurant, to which they would invite the sympathetic Bristol, who was
old enough to protect them from scandal, and then and there, while
easing their by no means ravishing forms of portions of their garments
preparatory to the night's virtuous repose, over strong toast and weak
tea would rattle on in such a bewildering way about the events of the
evening and the good or bad characteristics of the faithful, that
Bristol figuratively, if not in fact, sat at the feet of a trinity of
oracles.
His reports showed that while Mrs. Winslow was accepted among their
number without question, still there was but little known about her
previous history. I felt satisfied that this was true, and had only
stationed Bristol and Fox at Rochester for the purpose of keeping me
informed of her every movement, knowing well enough that after Bangs had
got a good start he would follow up her trail in the West as
remorselessly as I myself would have done.
Mrs. Winslow seemed to be absolutely without associates, either from a
confirmed habit of suspicion of everybody which she seemed to possess,
or from a resolve to maintain as good a character as possible until the
Winslow-Lyon case should be heard in court, so that her evidence, and
particularly her reputation, might not be impeached or broken down; and
it required the constant attention of both Bristol and Fox to discover
in her anything of even a suspicious character, as the nature of her
mediumistic business--allowing as it did scores of visitors daily access
to her rooms, only one being admitted to the trance-room of her
apartments at a time--gave her a vast advantage over them.
It was evident that she had in a measure persuaded herself that she had
a genuine cause of action against Lyon; or, that if she had not, she had
fully determined to make a big fight under any circumstances, as both
the prestige secured by the presumption of some shadow of a claim which
the mere pressing of it in court would give, and the assistance to her
which even a tithe of the damages she claimed would be, would not only
give her a degree of importance and respectability which would greatly
assist her in future operations, but would also yield her the means for
future comfort, without this terrible continued struggle for gold and
the happiness it is supposed to command.
How vain such a hope! and how strange that, with the bitter reminder of
countless never-realized ambitions before them, the adventurer and the
criminal will go on and on, still clinging to the shadow of a hope that
by _some_ exceptional freak of fortune in their favor they may gain the
peace and quietness they so agonizedly long for, but which is just as
irrevocably decreed to be forever beyond their reach as were the
luscious fruits to escape the touch and taste of the condemned and
tortured Phrygian king.
And right here, were I a preacher--being only a _doer_, however--I would
show the criminal neglect of parents, teachers and preachers in forever
warring for reformation, and never battling against the numberless packs
of little foxes of pride and covetousness of society, which drive weak
natures into a constant struggle to excel in power and display, eating
away at the vines until the life, like the fields, is left barren and
desolate, or is only a vast waste of thorns and noxious weeds. My
records are full of lives wrecked upon the glittering rocks built by
false pride and vanity and the greed for gold which society, and even
the aristocratic systems of modern religion compel. Whatever may be
preached, all this cursed assumption of what is not possessed without
years of honest, sturdy toil, is practised in the pulpit, the pew, the
palace, and the poverty-stricken hovel, permeating every stratum of
business, society and religion, until honorable action is at discount,
dishonesty commands a premium of gain and lachrymose sympathy, and the
whole world is being swiftly driven into a surging channel of fraud,
crime and debauchery that will require generations of something besides
splendid hypocrisy and luxurious cant to restrain and purify.
With this digression, which I cannot well avoid, as it contains the
convictions based upon long years of close observation and peculiar
experience, I will return to the woman whom my operatives found so
difficult to analyze and trace out.
Bangs's visit to Dr. Hubbard showed that she had a habit of driving out.
Bristol and Fox became acquainted with this fact at once and transmitted
it in their reports. It appeared that the carriage and driver were
secured at a livery stable near the opera house, a short distance from
her rooms and Fox's boarding-house. I instructed Fox to ascertain to
what points these trips were made, and if any one ever accompanied her.
Careful inquiries at this stable elicited nothing, as Mrs. Winslow's
custom was valuable, and even her driver proved close-mouthed upon the
subject. Accordingly, after Fox had discovered the general direction
taken by Mrs. Winslow and the usual streets frequented at starting, he
strolled out State Street and from thence into Lake View Avenue, which
is but a continuation of State Street. After he had walked some little
distance he was pleased to find that he had company in the person of a
dapper little blond gentleman who was somewhat in advance of him, but
who, though apparently enjoying the morning air, seemed both
apprehensive of being followed, and desirous of the appearance of some
one for whom he was waiting. His make-up gave him something of a foreign
air, and was the most exquisite imaginable. He was a slender, tender
nymph of the male order of fairies, with a face as delicate as a
woman's, with large, blue, expressive eyes, long, luxuriant hair, and as
neat a little moustache as was ever waxed to keep it from melting away
altogether. If his face and figure were neat enough for a millinery
window, his clothing was a model even for a Poole. His lustrous silk hat
scarcely outshone in richness his faultless dress-coat, which was
buttoned low, exposing a perfect duck vest, a spotless shirt-front and a
low, rolling Byron collar, with a delicate flowing tie; while his
pantaloons, which were of a mellow lavender color, seemed only to
increase the effect of his shapely legs, and by their graceful swell at
the instep only to stop to disclose a foot perfect enough for a model.
His jewelry consisted of a modest solitaire diamond pin, and a large
seal ring which he wore upon the little finger of his left hand.
For some reason Fox felt interested in him, and resolved, though
looking for a quite different person, to watch him closely. So he passed
him without giving him an opportunity of seeing his face, and, taking a
position in the bar-room of a small beer-garden a little way beyond,
where he had a good view of the avenue, waited for developments which
were not long in taking place, as the neat little fellow arrived at the
garden a few minutes after Fox, and shortly after Mrs. Winslow's
carriage was seen coming from the direction of the city. Fox saw that he
was bringing two birds down with one stone, and anxiously watched Mrs.
Winslow and the little fop, feeling satisfied that their meeting at the
garden was pre-arranged, for as soon as her carriage came in sight, he
had noticed a look of satisfaction come over the man's face, and when it
was driven up to the door he stepped out nimbly, smiling and bowing like
a brisk wax figure at a show.
The driver was at once discharged, and after watering the horse,
immediately started towards town on foot, occasionally looking over his
shoulder with a sardonic smile on his face, as if pleased at the loving
meeting at the garden, as that sort of thing probably brought him many
an honest penny; but no sooner had the driver turned his back on the
place than Mrs. Winslow said:
"Come, Le Compte, get me a glass of brandy."
Fox thought that pretty strong for a lady who had been damaged a hundred
thousand dollars by breach of promise of marriage, but held his peace,
and a paper before his face, while her admirer danced into the bar and
procured two glasses of brandy, which he took to the carriage upon a
little tray.
"My dear, you were a little late, eh?" said Le Compte.
"Ah, a French divinity," thought Fox.
"Le Compte," replied Mrs. Winslow, handing him a bill with which to pay
for the refreshment, and paying no attention to the little fellow's
remark, "tell that d----d Dutchman that if he don't get some better
brandy, I'll never pay him another penny!"
Fox also thought this pretty strong for the pure, broken-hearted maiden
Mrs. Winslow's bill of complaint against Lyon showed her to be, and he
accordingly made a note of the same, as her friend returned to the
bar-room and paid for the liquor, while saying to the landlord that the
madam desired him to say that the brandy was perfectly exquisite in
flavor.
Presently Mrs. Winslow called out, "Come, Le Compte, get in here!" when
he ran out with the alacrity of a carriage spaniel, sprang into the
carriage, took the reins, and drove away towards the country, looking
like a pretty daisy in the shade of a gigantic sunflower.