THE 26TH OF NOVEMBER.
As soon as the first gleam of morning penetrated through the curtains of
the boudoir in the Villa near Upper Clapton, Walter leapt from her
couch.
Conflicting feelings of joy and sorrow filled her bosom. The day--the
happy day had at length arrived, when, according to the promise of the
man on whom she looked as her benefactor, that grand event was to be
accomplished, which would release her from the detestable disguise which
she had now maintained for a period of nearly five years. The era had
come when she was again to appear in the garb that suited alike her
charms and her inclinations. This circumstance inspired her with the
most heartfelt happiness.
But, on the other hand, she loved--tenderly loved one who had meditated
against her an outrage of a most infamous description. Instead of
hailing her approaching return to her female attire as the signal for
the consummation of the fond hopes in which she had a few weeks before
indulged,--hopes which pictured to her imagination delicious scenes of
matrimonial bliss in the society of George Montague,--she was compelled
to separate that dream of felicity from the fact of her emancipation
from a thraldom repulsive to her delicacy and her tastes.
It was, therefore, with mingled feelings of happiness and melancholy,
that she commenced her usual toilette--that masculine toilette which she
was that day to wear for the last time.
"You ought to be in good spirits this morning, my dearest mistress,"
said Louisa, as she entered the room: "the period so anxiously looked
forward to by you has at length arrived."
"And to-morrow--to-morrow," exclaimed Walter, her hazel eyes lighting up
with a brilliant expression of joy, "you, my excellent Louisa, will
assist me to adorn myself with that garb which I have neglected so of
late!"
"I shall be happy both for your sake and mine," returned Louisa, who was
indeed deeply attached to her mistress; "and when I see you recovering
all your usual spirits, in a foreign land----"
"In Switzerland," hastily interrupted Walter; "in Switzerland--whither
you will accompany me, my good and faithful Louisa; and to which
delightful country we will proceed without delay! There indeed I shall
be happy--and, I hope, contented!"
"Mr. Stephens is to be here at ten, is he not?" said Louisa, after a
short pause.
"At ten precisely; and we then repair forthwith to the West End of the
town, where certain preliminaries are requisite previously to receiving
an immense sum of money which will be paid over to us at the Bank of
England. This much Mr. Stephens told me yesterday. He had never
communicated so much before."
"And this very afternoon it is your determination to leave London?" said
Louisa.
"I am now resolved upon that step," replied the lady. "You alone shall
accompany me: Mr. Stephens has promised to provide for the groom and the
old cook. Therefore, while I am absent this morning about the momentous
business--the real nature of which, by-the-bye, has yet to be explained
to me--you will make all the preparations that may be necessary for our
journey."
This conversation took place while Louisa hastily lighted the fire in
the boudoir. In a few minutes the grate sent up a cheering and grateful
heat; and the flames roared up the chimney. The lady, with an elegant
dressing-gown folded loosely around her, and her delicate white feet
thrust into red morocco slippers, threw herself into her luxurious
easy-chair while Louisa hastened to serve up breakfast upon a little
rose-wood table, covered with a napkin as white as snow. But the meal
passed away almost untouched: the lady's heart was too full of hope and
tender melancholy to allow her to experience the least appetite.
The mysterious toilette was completed: and Walter descended to the
parlour, attired in masculine garments for the last time!
At ten o'clock precisely Mr. Stephens arrived. He was dressed with
peculiar neatness and care; but his countenance was very pale, and his
eyes vibrated in a restless manner in their sockets. He, however,
assumed a bold composure; and thus the profound anxiety to which he was
at that moment a prey, was unnoticed by Walter Sydney.
They seated themselves upon the sofa, and looked at each other for an
instant without speaking. Those glances on either side expressed, in the
ardent language of the eye, the words--"This is the day!"
"Walter," said Mr. Stephens, at length breaking the silence which had
prevailed, "your conduct to-day must crown my designs with glorious
success, or involve me in irretrievable ruin."
"You may rely with confidence upon my discretion and prudence," answered
Walter. "Command me in all respects--consistently with honour."
"Honour!" exclaimed Stephens impatiently: "why do you for ever mention
that unmeaning word? _Honour_ is a conventional term, and is often used
in a manner inconsistently with common sense and sound judgment.
_Honour_ is all very well when it is brought in contact with _honour_
only; but when it has to oppose fraud and deceit, it must succumb if it
trust solely to its own force. The most honest lawyer sets chichanery
and quibble to work, to counteract the chichanery and quibble of his
pettifogging opponent: the politician calls the machinery of intrigue
into play, in order to fight his foeman with that foeman's own
weapons:--if the French employ the aid of riflemen concealed in the
thicket while the fair fight takes place upon the plain, the English
must do the same."
"I certainly comprehend the necessity of frequently fighting a man with
his own weapons," said Walter; "but I do not see to what point in our
affairs your reasoning tends."
"Suppose, Walter," resumed Stephens, speaking very earnestly, and
emphatically accentuating every syllable,--"suppose that you had a
friend who was entitled to certain rights which were withheld from him
by means of some detestable quibble and low chicanery; suppose that by
stating that your friend's name was George instead of William, for
instance, you could put him in possession of what is justly and
legitimately his due, but which, remember, is shamefully and most
dishonestly kept away from him;--in this case, should you hesitate to
declare that his name was George, and not William?"
"I think that I should be inclined to make the statement, to serve the
cause of justice and to render a friend a signal service," answered
Sydney, after a moment's hesitation.
"I could not have expected a different reply," exclaimed Stephens, a
gleam of joy animating his pale countenance: "and you would do so with
less remorse when you found that you were transferring property from one
individual who could well spare what he was never justly entitled to, to
a person who would starve without the restoration of his legitimate
rights."
"Oh! certainly," said Walter; and this time the reply was given without
an instant's meditation.
"Then," continued Stephens, more and more satisfied with the influence
of his sophistry, "you would in such a case eschew those maudlin and
mawkish ideas of _honour_, which arbitrarily exact that a falsehood must
never be told for a good purpose, and that illegitimate means must
never--never be adopted to work out virtuous and profitable ends?"
"My conduct in assuming this disguise," returned Sydney, with a smile
and a blush, "has proved to you, I should imagine, that I should not
hesitate to make use of a deceit comparatively innocent, with a view to
oppose fraud and ensure permanent benefit to my friend and myself."
"Oh! Walter, you should have been a man in person as well as in mind!"
cried Stephens, enthusiastically. "Now I have no fears of the result of
my plans; and before sun-set you shall be worth ten thousand pounds!"
"Ten thousand pounds!" repeated Walter, mechanically. "How much can be
done with such a sum as that!"
"You expressed a wish to leave this country, and visit the south of
Europe," said Stephens: "you will have ample means to gratify all your
tastes, and administer to all your inclinations. Only conceive a
beautiful little cottage on the shore of the lake of Brienz--that pearl
of the Oberland; the fair boat-women--the daughters of Switzerland--passing
in their little shallops beneath your windows, and singing their
national songs, full of charming tenderness, while the soft music
mingles with the murmuring waves and the sounds of the oars!"
"Oh! what an enchanting picture!" cried Walter. "And have you ever seen
such as this?"
"I have; and I feel convinced that the existence I recommend is the one
which will best suit you. To-day," continued Stephens, watching his
companion's countenance with a little anxiety, "shall you recover your
rights;--to-day shall you oppose the innocent deceit to the enormous
fraud;--to-day shall you do for _yourself_ what you ere now stated you
would do for a _friend_!"
"If you have drawn my own case in putting those queries to me,--if
immense advantages will be derived from my behaviour in this affair,--if
I am merely wresting from the hands of base cupidity that which is
justly mine own,--and if the enemy whom we oppose can well afford to
restore to me the means of subsistence, and thus render me independent
for the remainder of my days,--oh! how can I hesitate for a moment? how
can I refuse to entrust myself wholely and solely--blindly and
confidently--in your hands,--you who have done so much for me, and who
have taught me to respect, honour, and obey you?"
The lady uttered these words with a species of electric enthusiasm,
while her eyes brightened, and her cheeks were suffused with the purple
glow of animation. The specious arguments and the glowing description of
Swiss life, brought forward by Stephens with admirable dexterity,
awakened all the ardour of an impassioned soul; and the bosom of that
beauteous creature palpitated with hope, with joy, and with excitement,
as she gazed upon the future through the mirror presented by Stephens to
her view.
She was now exactly in a frame of mind suited to his purpose. Without
allowing her ardour time to abate, and while she was animated by the
delicious aspirations which he had conjured up, as it were by an
enchanter's spell, in her breast, he took her by he hand, and led her up
to the mantelpiece; then, pointing to the portrait of her brother, he
said in a low, hurried, and yet solemn tone,--"The fortune which must be
wrested from the grasp of cupidity this day, would have belonged to your
brother; and no power on earth could have deprived him of it; for, had
he lived, he would yesterday have attained his twenty-first year! His
death is unknown to him who holds this money: but, by a miserable legal
technicality, you--_you_, his sister, and _in justice_ his
heiress--_you_ would be deprived of that fortune by the man who now
grasps it, and who would chuckle at any plan which made it his own. Now
do you comprehend me? You have but to say that your name is _Walter_,
instead of _Eliza_,--and you will recover your just rights, defeat the
wretched chicanery of the law, and enter into possession of those
resources which belong to you in the eyes of God, but which, if you
shrink, will be for ever alienated from you and yours!"
"In one word," said the lady, "I am to personate my brother?"
"Precisely! Do you hesitate?" demanded Stephens: "will you allow the
property of your family to pass into the hands of a stranger, who
possesses not the remotest right to its enjoyment? or will you by one
bold effort--an effort that cannot fail--direct that fortune into its
just, its proper, and its legitimate channel?"
"The temptation is great," said the lady, earnestly contemplating the
portrait of her brother; "but the danger--the danger?" she added
hastily: "what would be the result if we were detected?"
"Nothing--nothing, save the total loss of the entire fortune,"
answered Stephens: "and, therefore, you perceive, that want of
nerve--hesitation--awkwardness--blushes--confusion on your part, would
ruin all. Be firm--be collected--be calm and resolute--and our plans
_must_ be crowned with unequivocal success!"
"Oh! if I proceed farther, I will pass through the ordeal with ease and
safety," exclaimed the lady: "I can nerve my mind to encounter any
danger, when it is well defined, and I know its extent;--it is only when
it is vague, uncertain, and indistinct, that I shrink from meeting it.
Yes," she continued, after a few moments' reflection, "I will follow
your counsel in all respects: you _do_ know--you _must_ know how much we
risk, and how far we compromise ourselves;--and when I see you ready to
urge on this matter to the end, how can I fear to accompany you? Yes,"
she added, after another pause, much longer than the preceding one,--"I
will be Walter Sydney throughout this day at least!"
"My dear friend," ejaculated Stephens, in a transport of joy, "you act
in a manner worthy of your noble-hearted brother, I see--he smiles upon
you even in his picture-frame."
"I will retrieve from the hands of strangers that which is thine, dear
brother," said the lady, addressing herself to the portrait as if it
could hear the words which she pronounced with a melancholy solemnity:
then, turning towards Stephens, she exclaimed, "But you must acquaint me
with the ceremonies we have to fulfil, and the duties which I shall have
to perform, in order to accomplish the desired aim."
"I need not instruct you now," returned Stephens: "the forms are
nothing, and explain themselves, as it were;--a few papers to sign at a
certain person's house in Grosvenor Square--then a ride to the Bank--and
all is over. But we must now take our departure: the hackney-coach that
brought us hither is waiting to convey us to the West End."
Stephens and Sydney issued from the house together. The former gave
certain directions to the coachman; and they then commenced their
memorable journey.
Mr. Stephens did not allow his companion a single moment for calm and
dispassionate reflection. He continued to expatiate upon the happiness
which was within her reach amidst the rural scenery of Switzerland: he
conjured up before her mental vision the most ravishing and delightful
pictures of domestic tranquillity, so congenial to her tastes:--he fed
her imagination with all those fairy visions which were calculated to
attract and dazzle a mind tinged with a romantic shade;--and then he
skilfully introduced those specious arguments which blinded her as to
the real nature of the deceit in which she was so prominent an agent. He
thus sustained an artificial state of excitement, bordering upon
enthusiasm, in the bosom of that confiding and generous-hearted woman;
and not for one moment during that long ride, did she repent of the step
she had taken. In fact, such an influence did the reasoning of Stephens
exercise upon her mind, that she ceased to think of the possibility of
either incurring danger or doing wrong;--she knew not how serious might
be the consequences of detection;--she believed that she was combating
the chicanery of the law with a similar weapon, the use of which was
justified and rendered legitimate by the peculiar circumstances of the
case.
The hackney-coach proceeded by way of the New Road, and stopped to take
up Mr. Mac Chizzle at his residence near Saint Pancras New Church. The
vehicle then proceeded to Grosvenor Square, where it stopped opposite
one of those princely dwellings whose dingy exteriors afford to the eye
of the foreigner accustomed to the gorgeous edifices of continental
cities, but little promise of the wealth, grandeur, and magnificence
which exist within.
The door was opened by a footman in splendid livery.
This domestic immediately recognised Mr. Stephens, and said, "His
lordship expects you, sir."
The three visitors alighted from the coach: and as Stephens walked with
the disguised lady into the hall of the mansion, he said in a hurried
whisper, "Courage, my dear Walter: you are now about to appear in the
presence of the Earl of Warrington!"
The servant led the way up a wide staircase, and conducted the visitors
into a library fitted up in the most luxurious and costly manner. Cases
filled with magnificently bound volumes, statues of exquisite sculpture,
and pictures of eminent artists, denoted the taste of the aristocratic
possessor of that lordly mansion.
Two individuals were seated at a table covered with papers and legal
documents. One was a fine, tall, middle-aged man, with a noble and
handsome countenance, polished manners, and most kind and affable
address:--the other was an old gentleman with a bald head, sharp
features, and constant smile upon his lips when he addressed the
personage just described.
The first was the Earl of Warrington; the other was his solicitor, Mr.
Pakenham.
The Earl rose and greeted Mr. Stephens cordially; then, turning towards
Walter, he shook her kindly by the hand, and said, "I need not ask if
you are the young gentleman to whom I am to be introduced as Mr. Walter
Sydney."
"This is my ward, your lordship," said Mr. Stephens, smiling. "I think
it is scarcely necessary to call your lordship's attention to the
striking resemblance which he bears to his lamented father."
"Yes--it would be impossible to mistake him," said his lordship hastily,
while a cloud passed over his brow. "But sit down--pray sit down; and we
will proceed to business. I presume that gentleman is your professional
adviser?"
"Mr. Mac Chizzle," observed Stephens, introducing the lawyer. "Mr.
Pakenham, I have had the pleasure of seeing you before," he added,
addressing the nobleman's attorney with a placid smile.
Mr. Pakenham acknowledged the salutation with a bow; and his eye
wandered for a moment, with some surprise, towards Mac Chizzle,--as much
as to say, "I am astonished to see a person like you employed in so
important an affair."
When every one was seated, the Earl of Warrington referred to some
papers placed before him, and said, "The object of this meeting is known
to every one present. The duty that devolves upon me is to transfer to
Walter Sydney, the only son and heir of the late Stanford Sydney, upon
being satisfied with respect to the identity of the claimant, the sum of
forty-one thousand pounds now invested in certain stocks in the Bank of
England."
"It is needless, I presume," said Mr. Pakenham, "to enter into the
particulars of this inheritance. We on our side admit our liability to
pay the amount specified by his lordship, to the proper claimant."
"Quite satisfactory," observed Mac Chizzle, to whom these observations
were addressed.
"The proofs of identity are, then, all that your lordship now requires?"
said Mr. Stephens.
"And I only require them as a mere matter of necessary form and
ceremony, Mr. Stephens," returned the Earl of Warrington. "I am well
aware of your acquaintance with the late Mrs. Sydney, and of the fact
that the deceased lady left her children to your care."
"My lord, here are the various certificates," said Stephens, placing a
small packet of papers before the Earl. "In the first instance you have
the marriage certificate of Stanford Sydney and Letitia Hardinge, the
natural daughter of the late Earl of Warrington, your lordship's uncle."
"Well--well," exclaimed the nobleman, somewhat impatiently, as if he
were anxious to get rid as soon as possible of a business by no means
pleasant to him. "That certificate is beyond all dispute."
"Here," continued Stephens, "is the certificate of the birth of Eliza
Sydney, born October 12th, 1810; and here is the certificate of her
death, which took place on the 14th of February, 1831."
"This certificate is not necessary," observed Mr. Pakenham; "as in no
case, under the provisions of these deeds," he added, pointing to a pile
of documents before him, "could that young lady have instituted even a
shadow of a claim to this money."
[Illustration]
"We had better possess one deed too many, than one too few," said Mr.
Stephens, with another bland smile.
"Oh! certainly," exclaimed the Earl. "And this precaution shows the
exact condition of the late Mr. Stanford Sydney's family. The daughter
is no more: the son lives, and is present."
"Here, then, my lord," continued Stephens, "is the certificate of the
birth of Walter Sydney, on the 25th day of November, 1814."
The nobleman examined this document with far more attention than he had
devoted to either of the former. He then handed it to Mr. Pakenham, who
also scrutinized it narrowly.
"It is quite correct, my Lord," said this gentleman. "We now require two
witnesses as to identity."
"I presume his Lordship will receive me as one," observed Mr. Stephens,
"considering my intimate acquaintance with all--"
"Oh certainly--certainly," interrupted the Earl hastily.
"And Mr. Mac Chizzle will tender his evidence in the other instance,"
said Stephens.
"I have known this young gentleman for the last six years," exclaimed
Mac Chizzle, pointing towards Walter, "and I knew his mother also."
"Is your Lordship satisfied?" enquired Mr. Pakenham, after a short
pause.
"Perfectly," answered the nobleman, without hesitation. "I am, however,
in your hands."
"Oh! as for me," returned Mr. Pakenham, "I have no objection to offer.
Your Lordship is acquainted with Mr. Stephens."
"Yes--yes," again interrupted the Earl; "I have known Mr. Stephens for
some years--and I know him to be a man of honour."
"Then there is nothing more to be said," observed Pakenham.
"No--nothing," added Mac Chizzle; "but to complete the business."
"I will now read the release," said Mr. Pakenham.
The solicitor settled himself in a comfortable manner in his chair, and
taking up a deed consisting of several folios, proceeded to make his
hearers as much acquainted with its contents as the multifarious
redundancies of law terms would allow.
The disguised lady had now time for reflection. She had been more or
less prepared for the assertion of Mr. Stephens that Eliza Sydney was
dead, and that Walter was living:--but the bare-faced falsehood uttered
by Mac Chizzle (who, so far from having been acquainted with her for
years, had never seen her until that morning), shocked and astounded
her. She had also just learnt for the first time, that her late mother
was the natural daughter of an Earl; and she perceived that she herself
could claim a distant kinship with the nobleman in whose presence she
then was. This circumstance inspired her with feelings in his favour,
which were enhanced by the urbanity of his manners, and the readiness
with which he admitted all the proofs submitted to him by Mr. Stephens.
She had expected, from the arguments used by this gentleman to convince
her that she should not hesitate to fight the law with its own weapons,
&c., that every obstacle would be thrown in the way of her claims by him
on whom they were to be made;--and she was astonished when she compared
all the specious representations of Stephens with the readiness,
good-will, and alacrity manifested by the Earl in yielding up an
enormous sum of money. Now also, for the first time, it struck her as
remarkable that Stephens had promised her ten thousand pounds only--a
fourth part of that amount to which, according to his own showing, she
alone was justly entitled.
All these reflections passed rapidly through her mind while the lawyer
was reading the deed of release, not one word of which was attended to
by her. She suddenly felt as if her eyes were opened to a fearful
conspiracy, in which she was playing a conspicuous part:--she trembled,
as if she were standing upon the edge of a precipice;--and yet she knew
not how to act. She was bewildered: but the uppermost idea in her mind
was that she had gone too far to retreat.
This was the impression that ruled her thoughts at the precise moment
when Mr. Pakenham brought the reading of the long wearisome document to
a termination. The buzzing, droning noise which had filled her ears for
upwards of twenty minutes, suddenly ceased;--and she heard a voice say
in a kind tone. "Will you now please to sign this?"
She started--but immediately recovered her presence of mind, and, taking
the pen from the lawyer's hand, applied the signature of _Walter Sydney_
to the document. It was next witnessed by Pakenham, Stephens, and Mac
Chizzle, and handed to the Earl.
The nobleman then took several papers--familiar to all those who have
ever possessed Bank Stock--from an iron safe in one corner of the
library, and handing them to the disguised lady, said, "Mr. Walter
Sydney, I have much pleasure in putting you in possession of this
fortune; and I can assure you that my best--my very best wishes for your
health and prosperity, accompany the transfer."
Walter received the documents mechanically as it were, and murmured a
few words of thanks and gratitude.
"Perhaps, Mr. Stephens," said the Earl, when the ceremony was thus
completed, "you and your friends will do me the honour to accept of a
slight refreshment in an adjoining room. You will excuse my absence; but
I have a few matters of pressing importance to transact with my
solicitor, and which cannot possibly be postponed. You must accept this
as my apology; and believe in my regret that I cannot keep you company."
The Earl shook hands with both Stephens and Sydney, and bowed to Mac
Chizzle. These three individuals then withdrew.
An elegant collation was prepared for them in another apartment; but Mac
Chizzle was the only one who seemed inclined to pay his respects to it.
Walter, however, gladly swallowed a glass of wine; for she felt
exhausted with the excitement she had passed through. Stephens was too
highly elated either to eat or drink, and too anxious to complete the
business in the City, to allow Mac Chizzle to waste much time over the
delicacies of which the collation consisted.
They were, therefore, all three soon on their way to the Bank of
England.
"Well, I think we managed the job very correctly," said Mac Chizzle.
"Everything passed off precisely as I had anticipated," observed Mr.
Stephens. "But you, Walter--you are serious."
"I do not look upon the transaction in the same light as I did a couple
of hours since," answered she coldly.
"Ah! my dear friend," cried Stephens, "you are deceived by the apparent
urbanity of that nobleman, and the mildness of his solicitor. They
assumed that appearance because there was no help for them;--they had no
good to gain by throwing obstacles in our way."
"But the certificate of _my_ death was a forgery," said Walter,
bitterly.
"A necessary alteration of names--without which the accomplishment of
our plan would have been impossible," answered Stephens. "But let me
ease your mind in one respect, my dear Walter. That nobleman is a
relation of yours--and yet until this day his name has never been
mentioned to you. And why? Because he visits upon you the hatred which
he entertained for your deceased mother! Did you not observe that he
interrupted me when I spoke of her? did you not notice that he touched
with extreme aversion upon the topics connected with your revered
parents?"
"I did!--I did!" exclaimed Walter.
"He hates you!--he detests you!" continued Stephens, emphatically; "and
he will not countenance any claim which you might advance towards
kinship with him. His duties as a nobleman and a gentleman dictated the
outward civility with which he treated you; but his heart gave no echo
to the words of congratulation which issued from his lips."
"I believe you--I know that you are speaking the truth," cried Walter.
"Pardon me, if for a moment I ceased to look upon you as a friend."
Stephens pressed the hand of the too-confiding being, over whom his
dangerous eloquence and subtle reasoning possessed an influence so
omnipotent for purposes of evil; and he then again launched out into
glowing descriptions of the sources and means of happiness within her
reach. This reasoning, aided by the hope that in a few hours she should
be enabled to quit London for ever, restored the lady's disposition to
that same easy and pliant state, to which Stephens had devoted nearly
five years to model it.
At length the hackney-coach stopped at the Bank of England. Stephens
hurried to the rotunda to obtain the assistance of a stock-broker, for
the purpose of transferring and selling out the immense sum which now
appeared within his reach, and to obtain which he had devoted his time,
his money, and his tranquillity!
Walter and the lawyer awaited his return beneath the porch of the
entrance. After the lapse of a few moments he appeared, accompanied by a
broker of his acquaintance. They then all four proceeded together to the
office where the business was to be transacted.
The broker explained the affair to a clerk, and the clerk, after
consulting a huge volume, received the documents which Lord Warrington
had handed over to Sydney. Having compared those papers with the entries
in the book, the clerk made a sign to three men who were lounging at the
upper end of the office, near the stove, and who had the appearance of
messengers, or porters.
These men moved hastily forward, and advanced up to Stephens, Mac
Chizzle, and Walter Sydney.
A deadly pallor spread over the countenance of Stephens; Mac Chizzle
appeared alarmed; but Walter remained still unsuspicious of danger.
"Those are the persons," said the clerk, significantly, as he pointed to
the three conspirators, to whom he observed, almost in the same breath,
"Your plans are detected--these men are officers!"
"Officers!" ejaculated Sydney; "What does this mean?"
"We are here to apprehend you," answered the foremost of those
functionaries. "Resistance will be vain: there are others outside in
readiness."
"Merciful heavens!" cried Walter, joining her hands in agony: "Oh!
Stephens, to what have you brought me!"
That unhappy man hung down his head, and made no reply. He felt crushed
by this unexpected blow, which came upon him at the very instant when
the object of his dearest hopes seemed within his reach.
As for Mac Chizzle, he resigned himself with dogged submission to his
fate.
The officers and their prisoners now proceeded to the Mansion House,
accompanied by the clerk and the stock-broker.
Sydney--a prey to the most dreadful apprehensions and painful
remorse--was compelled to lean for support upon the arm of the officer
who had charge of her.
Sir Peter Laurie sat for the Lord Mayor.
The worthy knight is the terror of all swindlers, mock companies, and
bubble firms existing in the City of London: wherever there is fraud,
within the jurisdiction of the civic authorities, he is certain to root
it out. He has conferred more benefit upon the commercial world, and has
devoted himself more energetically to protect the interests of the
trading community, than any other alderman. Unlike the generality of the
city magistrates, who are coarse, vulgar, ignorant, and narrow-minded
men, Sir Peter Laurie is possessed of a high range of intellect, and is
an enlightened, an agreeable, and a polished gentleman.
It was about three o'clock in the afternoon, when Stephens, Mac Chizzle,
and Sydney were placed in the dock of the Mansion House Police-office.
The solicitor of the Bank of England attended for the prosecution.
"With what do you charge these prisoners?" demanded the magistrate.
"With conspiring to obtain the sum of forty-one thousand pounds from the
hands of the Earl of Warrington, and the Governor and Company of the
Bank of England."
"Is his lordship present?"
"Your worship, he is, at this moment, unaware of the diabolical fraud
that has been contemplated, and in part perpetrated upon him. He has
given up to the prisoners certain documents, which constituted their
authority for transferring and selling out the sum I have mentioned. By
certain means the intentions of the prisoners were discovered some time
ago; and secret information was given to the Bank directors upon the
subject. The directors were not, however, permitted to communicate with
the Earl of Warrington, under penalty of receiving no farther
information from the quarter whence the original warning emanated. Under
all circumstances, I shall content myself with stating sufficient to
support the charge to-day, so that your worship may remand the prisoners
until a period when the attendance of the Earl of Warrington can be
procured."
"State your case."
"I charge this prisoner," said the solicitor, pointing towards Sydney,
"with endeavouring to obtain the sum of forty-one thousand pounds from
the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, under pretence of being
one Walter Sydney, a man--whereas the prisoner's name is Eliza Sydney,
and she is a woman!"
An immense sensation prevailed in the justice-room at this announcement.
The disguised lady moaned audibly, and leant against the bar of the dock
for support.
"And I charge the other prisoners, Robert Stephens and Hugh Mac Chizzle,
with aiding and abetting in the crime," added the solicitor, after a
pause.
The unhappy lady, yielding to emotions and feelings which she was now no
longer able to control, threw herself upon her knees, clasped her hands
together in an agony of grief, and exclaimed, "It is true! I am not what
I seem! I have been guilty of a fearful deception--a horrible cheat: but
it was he--he," she cried, pointing to Stephens, "who made me do it!"
There was an universal sentiment of deep sympathy with the female
prisoner, throughout the court; and the worthy alderman himself was
affected.
"You must remember," he said, in a kind tone, "that anything which you
admit here, may be used against you elsewhere."
"I am anxious to confess all that I have done, and all that I know,"
cried the lady; "and in so doing, I shall in some measure atone for the
enormity of my guilt, which I now view in its true light!"
"Under these circumstances," said the alderman, "let the case stand over
until to-morrow."
The prisoners were then removed.
In another hour they were inmates of the Giltspur-street Compter.
And how terminated the 26th of November for Walter Sydney? Instead of
being in possession of an ample fortune, and about to visit a clime
where she hoped to enjoy all the blessings of domestic tranquillity, and
the charms of rural bliss, she found herself a prisoner, charged with a
crime of deep dye!
Oh! what a sudden reverse was this!
Still, upon that eventful day, there was one hope of hers fulfilled. She
threw aside her masculine attire, and assumed the garb adapted to her
sex. A messenger was despatched to the villa, to communicate the sad
tidings of the arrest to Louisa, and procure suitable clothing for her
wretched mistress.
But, alas! that garb in which she had so ardently desired to appear
again, was now doomed to be worn, for the first time, in a prison:--the
new epoch of her life, which was to be marked by a return to feminine
habits, was commenced in a dungeon!
Still that new period had begun; and from henceforth we shall know her
only by her real name of Eliza Sydney.