THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER.—JACOB.
On the same evening that the interview between the Earl of Ellingham and
Sir Ralph Walsingham took place, as narrated in the preceding chapter,
the following scene occurred at the house of Toby Bunce in Earl Street,
Seven Dials.
Mrs. Bunce was alone in the dirty, dingy back room, which could not be
said to be lighted, but merely redeemed from total darkness, by the
solitary candle that stood on the table; and she was busily employed in
lighting the fire.
Having succeeded in this object, she placed the kettle on the grate to
boil; and then took from a cupboard a bottle half full of gin, two
common blue mugs, a broken basin containing a little lump sugar, and a
couple of pewter spoons, all of which articles she ranged around the
brass candle-stick with a view to make as good a show as possible.
Then she seated herself by the fire, and consulted an old silver-watch
which she drew from her pocket, and which was in reality the property of
her husband, whom she would not however trust with it under any
consideration.
"Eight o'clock," she said aloud in a musing tone. "He can't be very long
now; and Toby won't be in till ten. If he is, I'll send him out
again—with a flea in his ear," she added, chuckling at the idea of her
supremacy in her own domestic sphere. "I wonder who'd be ruled by a
feller like Toby? Not me, indeed! I should think not. But I wish old
Bones would come," she continued, with a glance of satisfaction at the
table. "Every thing does look so comfortable; and I've put 'em in such a
manner that the light falls on 'em all at once. Toby never would have
thought of that. It's only us women that know what tidiness is."
Tidiness indeed! The windows were dingy with dirt—the walls were
begrimed with smoke and dust—the floor was as black as the deck of a
collier—and the cob-webs hung like filthy rags in the corners of the
room.
Scarcely had Mrs. Bunce completed her survey of the place and its
arrangements, when a low knock summoned her to the street-door; and in a
few moments she returned, accompanied by Old Death.
The hideous man was very cold; and, seating himself as near the fire as
possible without actually burning his knees, he said, "Now, Betsy my
dear, brew me a mug of something cheering as soon as possible."
"That I will, Ben," returned Mrs. Bunce, in as pleasant a tone of voice
as she could assume; then she bustled about with great alacrity until
the steaming liquid was duly compounded, and Old Death had expressed his
satisfaction by means of a short grunt after the first sip.
"Is it nice, Ben?" asked Mrs. Bunce endearingly.
"Very. Now make yourself some, Betsy; and sit down quietly, for we must
have a talk about you know what. Business has prevented me from
attending to it before; but now that I have got an evening to spare—and
Toby is out of the way——"
"Oh! you know very well, Ben," interrupted Mrs. Bunce, "that I can
always manage _him_ as I like. He's such a fool, and so completely under
my thumb, that I shouldn't even mind telling him I'd been your mistress
for years before I was his wife."
"Keep your tongue quiet, Betsy—keep your tongue quiet," exclaimed Old
Death, with a hyena-like growl. "Never provoke irritation unnecessarily.
But let's to business. Jacob is out on the watch after Tom Rain; and I
told the lad to come up here before ten. And now about this letter," he
continued drawing one from his pocket-book: "it proves, you see, that
the child is well-born—and if the address had only been written on the
outside, we might make a good thing of the matter."
"Just so," observed Mrs. Bunce. "When Mr. Rainford called this afternoon
he was so particular in asking me whether I had found any papers about
the woman's clothes; but I declared I had not—and he was quite
satisfied. He paid me, too, very handsome for the funeral expenses and
all my trouble. If he was to know about that letter, Ben?"
"How can he know?" exclaimed Old Death impatiently. "Now what I think,"
he continued in a milder tone, "is just this:—the woman Watts was
reduced to such a desperate state of poverty, that she wrote this letter
to the mother of the boy Charles——"
"Why, of course," interrupted Mrs. Bunce. "She says as much _in_ the
letter."
"Will you listen to me?" growled Old Death angrily: "you don't know what
I was going to observe."
"Don't be cross, Ben: I won't stop you again," said the woman in a
coaxing tone.
"Mind you don't, then," ejaculated Bones, allowing himself to be
pacified. "Well, this Sarah Watts wrote that letter, as I was saying,
with the intention of sending it, no doubt, either by post or by an
acquaintance to the lady in London. I think that is plain enough. Then,
when she had finished writing it, something evidently made her change
her mind, and resolve on coming up to London herself. This is also
plain; because, if it wasn't so, why did the letter never go—and why did
she come to London?"
"How well you do talk, Ben," said Mrs. Bunce.
"I talk to the point, I hope," observed Old Death. "Now how stands the
matter? Here is a very important letter, wanting two main things to
render it completely valuable to us. The first thing it wants is the
name of the place from which it would have been dated, had it ever been
sent: and the second thing it wants is the name of the lady to whom it
was intended to be sent. In a word, it wants the address of the writer
and the address of the lady to whom it was written, and who is the
mother of that boy Charles."
"What good would it do you to have the address of the writer, since she
is dead and buried?" asked Mrs. Bunce.
"Because I could then visit the place where the woman was when she wrote
this letter," replied Old Death. "I could make inquiries concerning the
late Sarah Watts; and I know too well how to put two and two together
not to arrive at some certainty in the long run."
"To be sure!" ejaculated Mrs. Bunce. "How clever you are, dear Ben."
"I don't know about being clever, Betsy my dear," returned the hideous
old man; "but _this_ I do think—that I'm rather wide awake."
And then he chuckled so heartily, while his toothless jaws wagged up and
down so horribly, that he appeared to be a corpse under a process of
galvanism; for if a dead body could be made to utter sounds, they would
not be more sepulchral than those which now emanated from the throat of
Old Death.
Mrs. Bunce considered it to be her duty to chuckle also; and her
querulous tones seemed a humble accompaniment to the guttural sounds
which we have attempted to describe.
At length the chuckling ceased on both sides; and Mrs. Bunce replenished
the mugs with hot gin-and-water.
"But even as it is," suddenly observed Old Death, after a hasty glance
at the letter, which he now slowly folded up and returned to his greasy
pocket-book,—"but even as it is, we may still make something of the
business. If we could only find a clue to the mother of that boy, it
would be a fortune in itself. I tell you what we must do!" he exclaimed
emphatically.
"What?" asked his ancient mistress.
"Get that boy into our own keeping," replied Bones, with a sly smile;
"and then we can pump him of all he may happen to know concerning the
deceased Sarah Watts."
"Excellent!" cried Mrs. Bunce, clapping her hands, "But how will you
find out where Mr. Rainford lives?"
"Jacob is after him. For several reasons I want to know as much as I can
about that strange fellow. The very day that I made the bargain with him
about smashing all the flimsies he might bring me, he wrote an
extraordinary note to the very lady whom he had robbed the night before;
and he made her go into the witness-box at Bow Street and deliberately
perjure herself to serve him. Then he starts off to Pall Mall, when the
Jewess prisoner was brought up, and delivers a note at the house of Lord
Ellingham; and Lord Ellingham comes straight down to the Police-Court
and swears black and blue that the Jewess is innocent."
"And was she?" asked Mrs. Bunce.
"That's more than I can say," answered Old Death; "seeing that I know
nothing at all about the affair. Well, these two strange things, showing
an extraordinary influence on the part of Rainford over Lady Hatfield on
the one side, and Lord Ellingham on the other, have quite puzzled me. He
is an enigma that I must solve."
"Does not Tullock know all about him?" demanded Mrs. Bunce.
"Tullock knows only that Tom took to the road some years ago, down in
the country; for Tullock then did at Winchester just what I do now in
London: only," added Bones, with a knowing glance and a compressed smile
of the lips which puckered up his hideous face into one unvaried mass of
wrinkles,—"only, my dear Betsy, Tullock never had the connexion which I
have. He had no correspondent at Hamburg to whom he could send over the
notes that are stolen, and stopped at the Bank: he had no well-contrived
places to receive goods—places," continued Old Death, emphatically,
"which have baffled the police for thirty years, and will baffle them as
long again——if I live."
"And why should you not, dear?" said Mrs. Bunce coaxingly.
"Because I cannot expect it," replied Old Death abruptly. "However—you
know what I have done for myself, and in what way I manage my business.
You only, Betsy dear, are acquainted with my secrets."
"And you are as safe with me as if I was deaf and dumb and unable to
write," rejoined the woman.
"I know that—I know that," said Bones, hastily: then in a slower tone he
added significantly, "Because if there was a smash, we should all go
together, Betsy."
"Lor! Ben—don't talk in that way—don't!" cried Mrs. Bunce. "Let's
see—what were we saying? Oh! you was telling me about Mr. Rainford."
"I was only observing that Tullock lost sight of him for some years, and
knows nothing that happened to him till he turned up in London the other
day."
"I don't suppose Rainford is his proper name?" observed the woman
inquiringly.
"Tullock never told me," answered Bones; "and as he and Tom are thick
together, I can't ask him too many questions. The fact is, Rainford will
prove the most useful man I ever had in my service, as I may call it;
and I must not risk offending him. See how neatly he did that job the
other night—how beautifully he came off with the two thousand!"
"And it never got into the papers either," observed Mrs. Bunce.
"Not a bit of it!" cried Old Death, with another chuckle. "Tom
calculated all that beforehand—or he never would have been fool enough
to go so quietly and introduce himself as Captain Sparks to the very
people he meant to rob. Ha! ha! clear-headed fellow, that Tom! He first
ascertained the precise character of all the parties concerned; and he
knew that he might plunder them with impunity. Sir Christopher and Mr.
Torrens were sure not to talk about it, for fear of the whole
disgraceful story about the purchase of the daughter coming out. Frank
Curtis is a cowardly boaster, who would not like it to be known that a
single highwayman had mastered him;—the lawyer was sure to speak or hold
his tongue, just as his rich client Sir Christopher ordered him;—and
Jeffreys was safe. Tom weighed all this, and boldly introduced himself
to them without the least attempt at disguising his person. Oh! It was
capitally managed—and Tom is a valuable fellow!"
Mr. Bones seldom spoke so long at a time; but he was carried away by his
enthusiastic admiration of Tom Rainford; and he accordingly talked
himself so effectually out of breath, that a fit of coughing supervened,
and he was nearly choked.
Betsy, however, slapped him on the back; and the old man gradually
recovered himself—but not before his fierce-looking eyes were dimmed
with the scalding rheum which overflowed them.
"You are afraid to offend Mr. Rainford," said Mrs. Bunce, after a pause,
"and yet you think of taking away that boy from him."
"Pshaw!" cried Old Death, whom the coughing-fit had put into a bad
humour; "do you think I should steal the child and then tell him of it?"
"Of course not," said Mrs. Bunce. "I am a fool."
"You are indeed, Betsy," rejoined Old Death. "And yet you are the
_least_ foolish woman I ever knew; or else I never should have made you
my confidant as I have done. And now I tell you, Betsy, that I have many
great schemes in my head; and I shall require your assistance. In the
first place we must get hold of that boy Charley somehow or
another—provided we can find out Rainford's abode, which I think is
scarcely doubtful. Then we must act upon all the information we can
glean from the child, and find out who his mother really is. In the next
place I must ascertain all I can concerning this Jewess—this Esther de
Medina. If she _did_ steal the diamonds, she is the cleverest female
thief in all England—for she has managed to get clean off with her
prize; and such a woman would be invaluable to me. Besides, if she
pursues the same game—supposing that she has really begun it—she will
want my assistance to dispose of the property; and she will gladly
listen to my overtures. Such a beautiful creature as I understand she
is, could insinuate herself anywhere, and rob the best houses in London.
Ah! Betsy, I must not sleep over these matters. But, hark! That's
Jacob's knock!"
"Poor Jacob!" cried Mrs. Bunce, with a subdued sigh: "If he only knew——"
"Silence, woman!" cried Bones in a furious manner. "Go to the door."
Mrs. Bunce was frightened by the vehemence of Old Death's manner, and
hastened to obey his command.
In a few moments she returned, followed by Jacob, who seemed sinking
with fatigue.
"Well," said Old Death impatiently, "what news?"
"Give me something to eat first—for I am famished," cried Jacob,
throwing himself upon a chair.
"Not a morsel, till you tell me what you have done!" exclaimed Bones
angrily, as he rose from his seat.
"I will _not_ speak a word on that subject before I have had food," said
Jacob, his bright eyes flashing fire, and a hectic glow appearing on his
pale cheeks. "You make me wander about all day on your business, without
a penny in my pocket to buy a piece of bread——"
"Because he who has to earn his supper works all the better for it,"
ejaculated Bones, his lips quivering with rage. "Now speak, Jacob—or, by
God——"
"You sha'n't bully me in this way," cried the lad, bursting into tears,
and yet with all the evidences of intense passion working upon his
countenance. "By what right do you treat me like a dog? You fling me a
bone when you choose—and you think I will lick your hand like a spaniel.
I tell you once for all, I won't put up with it any longer."
"You won't, Jacob—you won't, eh?" said Old Death, in a very low tone;
but at the same time he dealt the lad such a sudden and severe box on
the ears, that the poor youth was hurled heavily from his chair on the
hard floor.
But, springing up in a moment, he flew like a tiger at Old Death, whose
small amount of strength was exhausted by the effort which it had
required on the part of so aged a man to deal such a blow; and Jacob
would have mastered him in another instant, had not Mrs. Bunce
interfered.
With a loud scream, she precipitated herself on the lad; and, seizing
him in her bony arms, forced him back into his seat, saying—"There,
Jacob—for God's sake be quiet; and I'll give you something nice
directly."
The lad made no reply, but darted a look of vindictive hate towards Old
Death, who had sunk back exhausted on the chair which he had ere now
quitted.
Then Mrs. Bunce hastened to the cupboard and produced a loaf and the
remains of a cold joint, which she placed before Jacob, who, enraged as
he was at the treatment he had just received, could not help wondering
within himself how Toby's wife had become so liberal as to place the
viands without reserve at his disposal.
The woman seemed to penetrate his thoughts; for she said, "Eat as much
as you like, Jacob: don't be afraid. I sha'n't mind if you eat
it—_nearly_ all."
The lad smothered his resentment so far as not to permit it to interfere
with his appetite; and he devoured his supper without once glancing
towards Old Death, who on his side appeared unable to recover from the
surprise into which Jacob's unusually rebellious conduct had thrown him.
A profound silence reigned in that room for several minutes.
At length Jacob made an end of his meal; and then Old Death spoke.
"And so this is the reward," he said, "which I receive for all my
kindness towards you. Without me, what would have become of you?
Deserted by your parents—a foundling—a miserable infant, abandoned to
the tender mercies of the workhouse authorities——"
"Would that I had died _then_!" interrupted Jacob emphatically. "You
make a boast of having taken care of me—of having reared me—such a
rearing as it has been!—and yet I wish you had left me to perish on the
workhouse steps where, you say, you found me. I have tried to be
obedient to you—I have done all I could to please you; but do you ever
utter a kind word to me? Even when I succeed in doing your bidding, what
reward is mine? Blows—reproaches—sorry meals, few and far between——"
"Well, well, Jacob—I think I have not _quite_ done my duty towards you,"
said Old Death, who in reality could have murdered the boy at that
moment, but who was compelled to adopt a conciliatory tone and manner in
order to retain so useful an auxiliary in his service: "but let us say
no more about it—and things shall be better in future. Instead of having
no regular place of abode and sleeping in lodging-houses, you shall have
half-a-crown a week, Jacob, to hire a little room for yourself."
"There—Jacob; only think of that!" cried Mrs. Bunce, in a tone
expressive of high approval of this munificence on the part of Old
Death.
"And you shall have threepence every day for your dinner, Jacob,"
continued Bones, "in addition to your breakfast and tea which you always
get here."
"But will you keep to that arrangement?" asked the lad, considerably
softened by this prospect, which was far brighter than any he had as yet
beheld.
"I will—I will," replied Old Death. "And if you have brought me any good
news to-night, I'll give you ten shillings—ten whole shillings, Jacob—to
buy some nice clothes and shoes in Monmouth Street."
"Put down the money!" cried Jacob, now completely won back to the
interests of the crafty old villain who knew so well how to curb the
evanescent spirit of his miserable slave.
"I will," said Bones; and he laid four half-crowns upon the table.
"That's right!" exclaimed Jacob, his eyes glistening with delight at the
prospect of fingering such a treasure: then he glanced rapidly at his
ragged apparel, with a smile on his lip that expressed his conviction of
shortly being able to procure a more comfortable attire.
"Go on," said Old Death. "What have you done?"
"When Mr. Rainford went away from here this afternoon," returned Jacob,
"I followed him at a good distance—but not so far off that I stood a
chance of losing sight of him. Well, first he went to Tullock's; and
there he stayed some little time. Then he walked into an eating-house in
the Strand; and at that place he stopped about a couple of hours—while I
walked up and down on the other side of the way. At length he came out,
with another gentleman——"
"What was he like?" demanded Old Death.
"A fine—tall—handsome man—with dark hair and eyes," responded Jacob.
"I don't know him," said Bones. "Never mind;—go on with your story, and
let it be as short as possible."
"Well," continued the lad, "this gentleman and Mr. Rainford walked
together as far as Bridge Street, Blackfriars: and there they parted.
The gentleman went into a house in Bridge Street—and Mr. Rainford
crossed the bridge. It was now getting dusk; and I was obliged to keep
closer to him. But he seldom turned round—and when he did, I took good
care he should not see me. So, on he went till he came to the Elephant
and Castle; and close by there he suddenly met a lady with a dark veil
over her face, and holding a little boy by the hand. They stood and
talked for a moment just opposite a shop-window which was lighted up;
and I saw well enough that the little boy was the very same that was
brought here the other night by the woman who was buried so quietly this
morning."
"Then we know that the boy is still in _his_ care!" ejaculated Old
Death, exchanging significant glances with Mrs. Bunce. "Go on, Jacob. I
can see that the ten shillings will be yours."
"Yes—that they will!" cried the lad, apparently having forgotten the
blow which he had recently received. "Well, so I knew the boy at once,
though he is much changed—nicely dressed, and already quite plump and
rosy. Mr. Rainford patted him on the face, and the boy laughed and
seemed so happy! Then Mr. Rainford gave the lady his arm; and they
walked a little way down the road till they came to a jeweller's shop,
where they stopped to look in at the window. Mr. Rainford pointed out
some article to the lady; and they went into the shop, the lady still
holding the little boy carefully by the hand. The moment they were safe
inside, I watched them through the window; and I saw Mr. Rainford
looking at a pair of ear-rings. In a few moments he handed them to the
lady. She lifted up her veil to examine them; and I knew her again in a
moment. But who do you think she was?"
Old Death shook his head.
"No—I don't think you ever could guess," cried Jacob.
"Then who is she?" demanded Bones impatiently.
"The Jewess who was accused of stealing the diamonds at Bow Street the
other day," answered Jacob.
"Esther de Medina!" cried Old Death. "The very person we were speaking
about just now!" he added, exchanging another glance with Mrs. Bunce.
"But go on, Jacob—go on."
"I was rather surprised at that discovery," continued Jacob; "because I
thought it so odd that both Mr. Rainford and the Jewess should have been
had up on the very same day at Bow Street, on different charges, and
that both should have got off."
"It is strange—very strange!" murmured Old Death. "But did you find out
Tom Rain's address? That is the chief thing _I_ want to know."
"Don't be in a hurry," said Jacob: "let me tell my story in my own way.
Well, so the Jewess seemed to like the ear-rings; and she gave Mr.
Rainford such a sweet smile—Oh! what a sweet smile—as he pulled out his
purse and paid for them. I don't know how it was—but it really went to
my heart to think that such a beautiful lady should——"
"Never mind what you felt, Jacob," interrupted Old Death abruptly. "Make
an end of your story."
"Well, the ear-rings were put into a nice little box, with some wool to
keep them from rubbing; and the lady drew down her veil again, before
she left the shop."
"Now, Jacob—tell me the truth," said Old Death: "did either Tom Rain or
the Jewess take any little thing—at a moment, you know, when the
jeweller's back was turned——"
"No—not a thing!" cried the lad emphatically. "I can swear they did
not."
"You are quite sure?" observed Old Death.
"As sure as that I'm here; for I never took my eyes off them from the
moment they entered the shop till they came out," responded Jacob. "And
when they did come out, I was very near being seen by Mr. Rainford—for I
was then in front of them; and I had only just time to slip into the
shade of the wall between the windows of the jeweller's shop and the
next one. Then I heard Mr. Rainford say to the Jewess, '_Now this little
present is in part a recompense for the diamonds which I made you give
up_.'—The lady said something in a low tone; but I could not catch
it—and they went on, the little boy with them."
"Then she did steal the diamonds!" exclaimed Old Death. "But how could
such a man as Lord Ellingham feel any interest in her? and how could he
have been induced to perjure himself to save her?"
"Isn't it strange?" said Mrs. Bunce.
"I'm all in the dark at present," returned Bones. "But go on, Jacob."
"They walked on till they came to a street on the left-hand side; and
into that street they turned. I never lost sight of them once; but two
or three times I thought Mr. Rainford would have twigged me. He did not,
though; and I at last traced them to a house in Lock's Fields——"
"Lock's Fields—eh?" cried Old Death. "Can they possibly be living
there?"
"They are," returned Jacob; "and I can take you over to the very street
and the very house any time you like."
"Well done!" ejaculated Bones, indulging in another long and hearty
chuckle, which was echoed by Mrs. Bunce; and then they both rubbed their
hands gleefully to think that they had made such important discoveries
through the medium of Jacob.
Fresh supplies of grog were brewed; and the lad was not only permitted
to consign the four half-crowns to his pocket, but was also regaled with
an occasional sip of gin-and-water from Mrs. Bunce's own mug.
The return of Toby at ten o'clock prevented any further conversation on
the interesting topics which had previously been discussed; for Mrs.
Bunce's husband was not admitted to the entire confidence of his spouse
and of Mr. Benjamin Bones, alias Old Death.