The String of Pearls (1850), p. 428

sidered that after all there would be a waterman in the boat, and that the river at that time of the day was populous, so she thought that Todd dared not attempt anything.
"Very well," she said; "so that we are quick, I care not."
"I am to the full," said Todd, "as anxious as you can be to get the job settled."
Mrs. Lovett thought that there was something ominous in the way in which he pronounced the word "job;" but then she thought perhaps she was too critical, and she followed him to the stairs by the side of the old bridge, certainly not without suspicions, but they were only general ones. The idea struck her, however, that she should be safer with two watermen, and she said—
"We will have two men, and by so doing we shall go quicker down the stream."
"So we shall," said Todd; "it is a good idea. Hilloa! first oars, here—first oars!"
"Here you are, sir," said a waterman.
"We want a couple of you," said Todd.
"Yes, your honour. Here we are—me and my mate. All's right, your honour. Now, Bill, look alive.—Mind the step, ma'am. That's yer sort. Where to, your honour ?"
"To Pigs Quay."
"Ay, ay. Give way, Bill, give way. A nice day for the water, your honour; a fine fresh air, nd not too much of it. Easy, Bill."
"Very," said Todd, as he took his place beside Mrs. Lovett in the stern of the boat, which in a moment, propelled by the vigorous strokes of the two rowers, shot out into the middle of the stream. He whispered to Mrs. Lovett—
"Now, how delightful it would be if you'and I, with all our money, were going from England to-day!"
"No."
"No? Why, I cannot concieve anything more pleasant. Ha! ha!"
Both Todd and Mrs. Lovett were so much occupied in watching each other, that they did not perceive another boat push off from the same stairs at which they had embarked with two men in it, and which kept in their wake pretty closely. The two watermen of Todd's boat, however, saw it, and they looked at each other, but they said nothing. They went upon the wise plan, that it was no business of theirs; and so they pulled away, while Todd glanced uneasily into the pale face of Mrs. Lovett.
To say that Mrs. Lovett kept an eye upon Todd, would be but faintly to express the feline-like watchfulness with which she regarded him, as they sat together in the boat. There was not the slightest movement of his eye—the least twitch of a muscle of his face, that she did not observe, and strive to draw some conclusion from; and he felt that his very soul was being looked into by that bold woman, who had been the companion of his iniquity, and whom he was now plotting and planning, by some mad desperate means, to deprive of her share of that ill-gotten wealth, which never in this world, even if ten times the amount, could make either of them happy.

CHAPTER XCVII.
THE ATTEMPTED MURDER ON THE THAMES.

The boat that followed Todd did not, after a time, keep quite in the wake of the one containing him and Mrs. Lovett. It rather went on a line parallel to it, but it kept at a convenient distance; and there were those in that beat, who never took an eye off Todd and his female accomplice.

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