474 THE STRING OF PEARLS.
». ' Ill I III I I I ' ■ ' I .1
As the effects of her submersion wore off, and her ordinary strength came
back to her, he mind became intently fixed upon but one object, and that was i
how to be completely and'bitterly revenged upon Todd.
" He shall hang," she said. " He shall hang, but I must think of the means, !
while I likewise take care to avoid the gallows myself ; but he shall hang, let the |
consequences be what they may." j
| The landlady of the public*house was very assiduous in her attention to Mrs. !
Lovett, and while she was thus thinking of her revenge upon Todd, she (the I
landlady) made her appearance in the room with a steaming glass of mulled and j
spiced wine. j
| " I hope you are better/' she said ; u and if you will give me the name and
address of your friends, I will send to them at once/'
| " Friends !" said Mrs. Lovet^. rl How came you to think that I had any
friends V*
u Well, I hardly thought you were without. Don't most folks have friends of
some sort or another ?"
" Ah, I had forgotten. I have a friend with me— a very dear friend, who will
not forsake me. I have more of them at home — for I have a home."
" Oh " thought the landlady, u she is raving."
" Bring me my stays/' sa*d Mrs. Lovett.
The stays, which, together with the rest of her apparel, now had got quite dry, j
was brought to her, and in a little secret pocket in them, Mrs. Lovett dived with !
jher two fingers, and found a damp five pound note.
j "Take that," she said, " for your trouble. I do not want any change. Only
be so good now as to help me to dress, and tell me what the time is."
| "Three o'clock," said the landlady, "and I'm sure you can't think how
pleased I am that you are better. Do you really think you are strong enough to
go home yet ?"
?* Yes. What 1 have to do at home will lend me strength, if I wanted it."
* Mrs. Lovett was soon dressed, and at her request a coach was sent for ; and
in the course of half-an-hour from the time that the landlady had asked her if
she should send for her friends, she, Mrs. Lovett, was bowling along the dense
; thoroughfares of the city to her home. j
' What pen could describe the dark and malignant thoughts that filled her
brain as she proceeded ? What language would be strong enough to depict the
j storm of passion that raged in the bosom of that imperious woman ? I
j It must suffice, that she made herself a solemn promise of vengeance against
j Todd, let the risk or the actual consequences to herself be what they might.
If with perfect safety to herself she could be revenged upon him— of course she
would ; but she resolved not to hesitate, even if it involved a self-sacrifice, so full
of the very agony of rage was she. \
" He shall hang — he shall hang !" \
Such were the words she uttered as the lumbering hackney-coach reached j
Fleet Street. j
For all she knew to the contrary, Todd might be looking from his door, for
that he had gone home in great triumph at the thought of having got rid of her \
she did not doubt ; and so as it was just then a great object with her to keep him
in that pleasant delusion, she got quite down among the straw at the bottom [of j
j the hackney-coach.
But she kept her eyes — those bright metallic-looking eyes, which, with a j
;questinable taste, had been so much admired by the lawyers' clerks of the Temple
;and Lincoln's Inn — she kept her eyes just on the edge of the coach window, so j
that she might have a passing glance at Todd's shop.
Todd was at the door. !
How r pleased and self-satisfied he looked ! He was rubbing his huge hands
slowly together, and a grim smile was on his horrible features.
Mrs. Lovett clinched her hands until her nails made marks in the palms of
them that did not come out for hours, and in a harsh growling voice, she said—
EN