IN WHICH THE "EVENING MOON" GIVES A SEQUEL TO ITS "ROMANCE IN REAL
LIFE."
We have much pleasure (said the _Evening Moon_, two days after the fire)
in presenting our readers with the last act of a drama which, in plot,
incident, and extraordinary development of character, equals anything in
the way of sensationalism which has ever graced theatrical boards. The
opportunity is an agreeable one to us, as it enables us to do justice
to a gentleman who has had reason to complain of what has appeared in
our columns concerning him. What we have to say resolves itself into
something more than the last act of a drama; it is both that and the
commencement of a Sequel which, in all human probability, and because
of the nature of the persons engaged in it, will have a happier ending
than that which has been closed by the burning down of the house,
No. 119, Great Porter Square.
In our yesterday's issues we gave the full particulars of that fire.
No one was injured except the two wretched beings who met their just
and awful fate in the grave they had prepared for themselves. They
have passed away from this world, but it will be long before the
memory of their crime and its involvements will be forgotten. It has
been determined to pull down the fatal house in which the murder was
committed, and to rebuild it anew. The house next to it, No. 118,
occupied by Mrs. Preedy, lodging-house keeper, received some damage
from the fire; but Mrs. Preedy is fully insured, and her loss will be
a gain to her--a paradox, but strictly accurate, for the murder in the
adjoining house had brought hers into disrepute, and her business was
languishing. It will revive now that the fire has burnt out the terror
of the crime; and the worthy Mrs. Preedy may congratulate herself
upon having gained friends in the persons of Mr. Frederick Holdfast
and the intrepid, noble-hearted lady who will shortly bear his name.
In Mrs. Preedy's house lived an old bedridden lady, Mrs. Bailey,
whose life was with some difficulty saved. She herself placed serious
obstacles in the way of her preservation, screaming out when they
attempted to remove her from her bed. She clung to this household god
with such tenacity that there was nothing for it but to humour the old
lady, and to remove it with her. As they carried it down stairs, the
covering was by an accident ripped, and there rolled out of it between
thirty and forty sovereigns, which Mrs. Bailey had hoarded up since the
death of her husband, an event which occurred Heaven knows how many
years ago. The distress of the old lady was extreme, but the gold was
picked up and returned to its owner, minus a few sovereigns, which
somehow had stuck to the fingers of the searchers. She is, however,
no loser by the accident, as Mr. Frederick Holdfast made good the
deficiency. It is satisfactory to learn that a cherished tradition
current in Great Porter Square, that the old lady's mattress was stuffed
with gold, was verified by the ripping of the sacking. Mrs. Bailey will
no doubt find another safe for her treasure in the future. The bedridden
old lady sustained a loss in the burning of a linnet without a note to
its voice, and a very old bull-finch, whose cage hung at the foot of her
bed--a sacrifice of life, in addition to the more terrible sacrifice of
two human beings, which we were almost forgetting to mention.
In another part of our paper will be found a full report of the
proceedings at the inquest upon the bodies of the man and woman, which
were found in the back room of No. 119, Great Porter Square. The inquest
was held this morning, and a verdict of accidental death by burning was
returned. As a rule such inquests are dull, miserable affairs, and there
is but little variety in the evidence presented to the coroner and his
panel, but in this special case were elements of unexpected romance
which raised it far above the ordinary level of a simple death by
misadventure.
Last evening a private note was sent to our office, signed by Frederick
Holdfast, requesting as an act of justice, that the Special Reporter who
wrote "The Romance of Real Life" from Mrs. Holdfast's account of her
career and misfortunes, should attend and take whatever notice of the
proceedings he might deem fit and proper. In accordance with the request
our Special Reporter attended, and the present report is written by him
for our paper. The disclosures which were made at the inquest were as
interesting as they were surprising, and our Reporter thanks Mr.
Frederick Holdfast for the opportunity afforded him of being present.
At the inquest our Reporter renewed his acquaintance with Mr. Goldberry,
solicitor, a gentleman whose name will be remembered as having
voluntarily come forward to defend Antony Cowlrick at the Martin Street
Police Court, when, upon the barest suspicion, without a tittle of
direct evidence, that person was accused by the police of the murder of
a man unknown in No. 119, Great Porter Square. Our readers will remember
how stoutly, and under what disadvantages, Mr. Goldberry defended the
man wrongfully accused of the crime; how he protested against the
numerous remands, and lifted up his voice in the cause of justice
against Scotland Yard officialism; and how at length, to the manifest
chagrin of the police, Antony Cowlrick was discharged from custody. The
particulars of the interview which took place in Leicester Square, a few
minutes after Antony Cowlrick's departure from the Police Court, between
our Reporter, Mr. Goldberry, and the accused man, was fully reported
in our columns. In that interview our Reporter lent Antony Cowlrick a
sovereign, which was faithfully repaid. We purpose reprinting in a
pamphlet that report and the "Romance in Real Life," in addition to what
appears in our present issue relating to the case. They are worthy of
a record in a more permanent form than the columns of a newspaper.
"Do you remember," said Mr. Goldberry to our Reporter, referring to
that interview, "that Antony Cowlrick said to me that if at any time he
should need my services, he would call upon or send for me?"
"I do," replied our Reporter, "and I remember, also, that Antony
Cowlrick asked you if you thought God would allow the guilty to escape,
or that He needed the assistance of a lawyer to punish the man who shed
another's blood."
"Yes," said Mr. Goldberry, gravely, "he used those words, and in this
case they are justified by events. God has punished the murderers
without the assistance of a lawyer."
"Why do you recall the name of Antony Cowlrick?" inquired our Reporter.
"Because I am here to represent him. He has not only paid me for my past
services--forcing the money upon me--but he has thanked me for them,
which, in the bitterness of his heart, he declined to do, although he
was not asked, when he was finally discharged."
"I had a suspicion," remarked our Reporter, "at that time that he was a
gentleman; he spoke like one, and had the manner of one. It was chiefly
for that reason I took an interest in him."
"No, no," said Mr. Goldberry, jocosely; "you wanted copy. Every man to
his trade."
"I could retort with good effect," said our Reporter, good-humouredly,
"but I spare you. Will Antony Cowlrick be here this morning?"
"Yes, and others whom you know."
At this moment a lady and a gentleman entered the room in which the
inquest was held, and advancing to Mr. Goldberry shook hands with him.
The gentleman was Antony Cowlrick, who, after a few words with his
lawyer, turned, and offered his hand to our Reporter.
"I must apologise," he said, "for not having kept the half-appointment
I made with you on the day you so generously lent me the sovereign in
Leicester Square, but I had my reasons, which you will understand when
I tell you as much of my story as I think it proper for you to know."
"I attend here," said our Reporter, "on behalf of my paper, in response
to a letter sent to our editor by Mr. Frederick Holdfast."
"I am Frederick Holdfast," said the gentleman. "Antony Cowlrick was an
assumed name; I could not use my own when I was falsely accused of the
murder of my father."
He turned aside with quivering lips, and our Reporter, holding his
grief in respect, did not intrude upon it. The face of the lady who
accompanied Frederick Holdfast appeared singularly familiar to our
Reporter, and his curiosity was presently appeased by Mr. Goldberry, who
informed him that she was the lady who, by the happiest of chances, met
Mr. Frederick Holdfast in Leicester Square after his discharge.
"Were she willing to allow herself to be used in such a way," observed
the lawyer, "her photograph to-morrow could be sold in thousands all
over England. But she does not belong to that class of woman. She is a
heroine, in the truest sense of the word. Mrs. Holdfast, who supplied
you with a Romance in Real Life fit for a novel instead of the columns
of a newspaper, would not, in such circumstances as these, have
withstood the temptation. But there are women and women."
"I grant you," said our Reporter, "that I was deceived in the character
of Mrs. Holdfast. Am I the first who has been beguiled by the soft
speeches of a fair woman? And, my dear sir, if you want novels and
romances, take my word for it, you cannot do better than go to the
columns of a newspaper for them. What has become of Mrs. Holdfast's
baby?"
"The child will be cared for," replied Mr. Goldberry, "by Frederick
Holdfast, and will be brought up in ignorance of her mother's crimes."
The proceedings at the inquest commenced languidly, but were soon
brightened by the extraordinary revelations made by the witnesses. The
bodies of the two persons burnt to death were identified, and then
evidence was given, in dramatic sequence, in proof that, at the time of
their death, the deceased were engaged in unlawful proceedings, and that
the male deceased had formed a deliberate plan for setting fire to the
house.
Mrs. Preedy, lodging-house keeper, deposed to the letting of a furnished
attic to a man who gave the name of Richard Manx, and who spoke like a
foreigner. The rent of this attic was three shillings a week, but she
had never seen the colour of Richard Manx's money; he "gave out" to her
that he was very poor; she had no doubt he was the man who was found
dead in the next house; neither had she any doubt that it was he who had
spread the report that her house was haunted, and that he did it to ruin
her. This witness rambled in her evidence, and caused great laughter by
her irrelevant replies to questions.
Mrs. Whittaker, lodging-house keeper in Buckingham Palace Road, deposed
to the letting of her first-floor to Mr. Pelham at a rental of three
guineas per week. He paid his rent regularly, and she believed him to be
a gentleman of considerable means. She recognised the body of the male
deceased as Mr. Pelham.
The principal detective employed by Mr. Frederick Holdfast testified
that the male body was that of Richard Manx, otherwise Pelham, a
notorious blackleg; that he had lodged at No. 118, Great Porter Square
as Richard Manx, and in Buckingham Palace Road as Mr. Pelham; that he
(the detective) was employed to watch the deceased on suspicion that he
was implicated in the murder of Mr. Holdfast, senior; that on the night
of the fire he saw a female enter 118, Great Porter Square, in the
company of the deceased; and that this female was Mrs. Holdfast, widow
of the gentleman who had been murdered some months ago.
A sensation was then caused by the appearance of Mr. Frederick Holdfast
as a witness. He recognised the bodies as those of Mr. Pelham and Mrs.
Holdfast, his father's second wife. Before his father contracted a
second marriage he had an acquaintance with the deceased persons in
Oxford. Mr. Pelham was a blackleg, and had been expelled from the
company of gentlemen for cheating with dice; and Mrs. Holdfast was a
woman not entitled to respect. The witness, in reply to questions put
by his lawyer, Mr. Goldberry, said he was the man who, under the name
of Antony Cowlrick, had been wrongfully charged at the Martin Street
Police-court with the murder of a gentleman, who, it was now known, was
his father; and that he had in his possession evidence in his father's
handwriting which proved, beyond the possibility of doubt, that his
father had been murdered by one or both of the deceased. The other
portions of this witness's evidence, relating to his taking possession
of the house No. 119 Great Porter Square, and to the watch he set upon
Mr. Pelham's movements, are fully detailed in our verbatim report of
the inquest, and will be found most startling and dramatic.
Even more dramatic was the evidence of the next witness, Blanche
Daffarn, Mr. Frederick Holdfast's _fiancée_, a young lady of great
personal attractions. For the purpose of clearing her lover from the
dreadful accusation brought against him, she had disguised herself as a
servant, and had taken service as a maid-of-all-work with Mrs. Preedy.
It was through her instrumentality that Pelham and Richard Manx were
discovered to be one and the same person, and had it not been for her
courage and devotion there is but little doubt that the guilty ones
would have escaped. She gave her evidence with clearness and modesty,
and she was frequently interrupted by murmurs of applause, which the
Coroner did not attempt to suppress.
It might have been supposed that the climax of interest was reached when
the fair witness, towards whom every face in the room was turned in
admiration, took her seat; but it was not; a higher point was attained
upon the appearance of a little girl, a mere child, whom our Reporter
at once recognised as Fanny, a match girl, with whom our readers have
already made acquaintance. The brightness, the vivacity, and the
adventures of this little waif in connection with the case, no less than
her sensibility and gratitude towards her guardian angel, Miss Blanche
Daffarn, produced a profound impression. It would be hard to say whether
tears or smiles predominated while this intelligent and grateful child
stood before the Coroner; both were freely produced by the wonderful
touches of nature which gleamed through little Fanny's narrative, which
she was allowed to relate almost without interruption from Coroner and
jury. It is pleasant to be able to state that Fanny's future is made
safe; Mr. Frederick Holdfast and his _fiancée_ are her protectors. The
child is rescued from the gin shop and the gutter.
The inquest was over, and still the persons in the crowded room lingered
for a parting glance at those who had played their parts in the strange
and varied drama. The interest in the proceedings had extended beyond
the Court, and a large concourse of persons had gathered outside, eager
to see the brave young lady and the child, whose names will be mentioned
in terms of admiration in every home in the kingdom. Such is the power
of the newspaper. To convey to remote distances, into village and city,
to the firesides of the poor and the rich, the records of ennobling
deeds, and to cause "God bless you little Fanny!" "May you live happy
lives, Frederick and Blanche!" to be breathed by the millions whose
hearts shall be stirred by this story of love and crime, of cunning
which over-reached itself and suffering which blossomed into sweetness,
the last scenes of which were enacted in a common lodging-house in Great
Porter Square.
_THE END._
Transcriber's note
Words in italics have been surrounded by _underscores_ and small
capitals have been changed to all capitals.
Punctuation errors have been corrected silently. Also the
following corrections have been made, on page
iv "XLIV" changed to "XLVI" (XLVI.--In which the "Evening Moon"
gives a sequel)
12 "be" changed to "he" (in secret to kill the father he betrayed!)
23 "the the" changed to "the" (raised the child's head)
32 "sindirect" changed to "indirect" (in an indirect way)
50 "were" changed to "where" (into the shop where people are served)
84 "Mr." changed to "Mrs." (gave her to deliver to Mrs. Holdfast)
165 "thoughful" changed to "thoughtful" (Kind, thoughtful husband)
189 "a" changed to "as" (in as few words as possible)
229 "in in" changed to "in" (what appears in our present issue).
Otherwise the original has been preserved, including inconsistent
spelling and hyphenation.