Ellen Percy; or, The Memoirs of an Actress — page 244: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

i a ELLEN PERCY; OB, THE MEMOIRS OF AN ACTRESS, 231 Jet St. Clair order his vessel to be raised if he think fit! At all events he will see that his dia- bolical secret is discovered; and he will not dare recur to that scheme of satanic wickedness in respect to yourself.” “Oh, Beda!’ I exclaimed, “ how can I ever re- pay you for having thus saved my life? Hence- forth, my dear girl,” I continued, again folding her in my arms, “ you shall not be my menial— you shall be my companion—my friend!” “ No, Miss Perey,” replied Beda, with firm- ness of voice, though her lustrous eyes vibrated with the emotions which filled her heart: “the poor gipsy -girl is no fitting companion for an eiegant lady like yourself. I am your friend— devotedly and faithfully so: but my friendship must be displayed from a respectful distance. Nothing shall induce me to alter my position towards you. Do not therefore press it !” * Well, Beda, i¢é must be as you wish,” I said carressing her affectionately. “ But remember that I consider myself under so deep an obligation to you, that henceforth I shall love you as if you were my sister.—But Ah!” I exclaimed as a sudden thought struck me, “ what of your young friend William Lardner? Is there no possibility that he may become involved in any diffi- culty on account of the occurrences of this even- ing ?” “ How is it possible?” asked Beda. “Who can prove that it was his hand which scuttled the vessel? Will St. Clair voluntarily reveal the mystery of that sinister mechanism, and accuse William of having put it into requisition? Or will he not, when it is discovered—as discovered it must be by those who take measures to raise the vessel—will he not, I say, with a great show of indignation proclaim his astonishment that a ship evidently intended for all the contingencies of a contraband trade, should have been sold to him as a pleasure-yacht? However, let us leave him to extricate himself from this embarrassment as best he may. William Lardner will no longer remain in his service ? “ And what can I do for that young man?” I asked, “He would accept no reward: but yet I must insist upon sending him through you some testimonial of my gratitude: for without his as- sistance you would eobalily have failed to pene- trate that which you have so appropriately denomi- nated as the tangled web which was woven to enamesh me.” “He will accept no reward, Miss!” replied Beda. “He intends to seek another service on board some vessel: and—and,” added the gipsy girl with a slight flushing of the cheeks, “he has promised to write to me occasionally: but I told him that I must first obtain your consent before I would agree to receive his letters.” * You did well, Beda,’ I answered, compre- hending that a feeling of attachment had sprung up between herself and William Lardner. ‘‘ He is evidently a good young man: and although you are both very young yet there can be no harm in your occasionally receiving a letter in which he may tell you how he is getting on. You may inform him that such is the opinion which I have expiessed; and you may add that if ever circum- stances should transpire, through disappointment or want of employment, to render the succour of * ——— a friend needful, he must not hesitate to apply to mo.” Beda took my hand and pressed it to her lips. We continued to discourse a little longer upon the topics of such strange, wild, and horrible interest which for an hour had been engaging us; and Beda, as a thought struck her, asked, “ How do you think, Miss, that Captain St. Clair could have discovered the intention of Mr. and Mrs. Norman to come to Ramsgate? Because, you see, he must have known it at least a week or ten days before they set off: or else he could not have sent to Dunkirk to order his yacht to come to the harbour of this town.” “The inténtion of Mr. and Mrs. Norman to spend the vacation at Ramsgate, was no secret at the theatre—it was generally known in the dra- matic world—and, if I recollect rightly, it was mentioned in a theatrical publication. Thus, you see, Captain St. Clair might very easily have learnt the rumour even by accident; while the slightest inquiry would have made him acquainted with it.” I was now compelled to rejoin the Normans in the drawing-room: but I knew not precisely what explanations to give them. As the reader is aware, I had all along abstained from entering into particulars relative to the persecutions I had endured on the part of St. Clair; and if I were now to describe the proceedings in which I had been engaged with Beda, it would necessitate the complete revelation of all the past. And then, too, Mr, Norman would naturally insist, that, de- spite Zarah’s injunctions, I should invoke the aid of the law against St. Clair: and I should be forced to explain why, apart from those injune- tions, there was a motive which induced me to observe certain terms with him: namely, his knowledge of my parentage and of the fatal secret which related to my father. Therefore, all things considered, I was resolved to tell the Normans as little as possible; and indeed it was so easy to satisfy them; for these worthy people were totally devoid of curiosity—they were sitiple-minded— and they reposed an illimitable confidence in me. On rejoining them in the drawing-room, I gave them to understand that Beda had fallen in with some old acquaintances, and that hence her re- peated absences from the house. I added that I had been with her to assure myself that she had fallen into no disreputable company ; and that her explanations had been delayed till the evening in order that she might have an opportunity of show- ing me who her friends were and satisfying me on every point. The Normans were themselves satisfied with all that I thus said; and scarcely had I finished those meagre explanations, when the landlady of the house came rushing into the room, to announce that a vessel had gone down in the harbour. Mr. Norman started up; and looking at his watch found that it was close upon eleven o’clock : but as the night was gloriously fine, the heavens being gemmed with stars, he resolved to walk forth and view whatsoever was to be seen of the catastrophe. Mrs, Norman agreed to accompany him: I was about to refuse, when it suddealy struck me that I should perhaps do well to glean upon the spot, if possible, whatsoever surmises and conjectures [ might there hear passing around. We accordingly issued forth; and the pier was LL LC LE CL ae Tm tm | COMMUC JOO <S (COLA