The Mysteries of London; or, Lights and Shadows of London Life — page 139: what you’re looking at

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

ae LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF LONDON LIFE, Beatrice and Pietro Bazzini; and who was placed by my friend here in an asylum at Naples, and then taken away when she was eight years old, to be reclaimed by her proper parents. I was a witness to it all, and can swear to the truth of the same whenever called ” “You hear that,” said the Italian, triumphantly ; “ Now shall we come to terms, or shall I and my honest comrade patiently wait the return of his lord- and let him see what a valuable acquaintance be has made?” - “You are bent upon my ruin,” sobbed Celestine, now completely overwhelmed with grief at the cruel fate that appeared in store for her; “I have no answer to make. You have me in your power, and I must submit to my destiny ;” and clasping her hands before her face, she drooped her head upon the table, and wept bitterly in the abandonment of despair. * Come,” exclaimed Bazzini, “I have no intention of boing harsh with you; for, as I have said to you before, though there is no love between us, you are still my own child; and I am not one of those who would kill the bird that gives us the golden egg. You see we want money, and we know that you have the best right to give it us. Get a thousand pounds for us out of your noble friend, and I promise you that we will trouble you no more.” “A thousand pounds!” repeated Celestine, raising her face, that, moistened with tears, exhibited an ashy paleness; “I have not that sum in my posses- sion.” | “ Well, to-morrow night will do,” continued Baz- | zini; “and if you will promise me it shall be ready, | I will corae at the same hour.” “T do promise—it shall be then obtained for you,” gasped the timid girl, scarcely knowing what she said, but catching at the slightest hope that presented | itself of being free from her persecutors, if it were only | foratime. “To-morrow night, at the same hour, I | will procure for you a thousand pounds.” } “ Right,” growled forth Borelli, “you are well | provided for here; and it will be but proper for you to give some assistance to your poor father, who has | to work very hard to gain a decent living, I assure ” ** Remember,” added the Italian, emphatically, “ if | weleave you now so contentedly, it is because we | depend upon your promise, which, for your own sake, it will be as well to have strictly kept. I shall myself come to claim the amount.” “ And you will then free me from this tyrannical per-ecution ?” urged Celestine; “I shall obtain, by the payment of this sum, an immunity from all further yisits, and need never apprehend any similar annoy- ance or extortion for the future?” “ Precisely so,” returned Bazzini, with a significant ) glance at his comrade; “it is our intention to leave | England as soon after as possible.” y **Then I must be content to comply with your exorbitant demand,” said Celestine, us she dreaded every moment the return of Walsingham, and was afraid of prolonging the interview. “I will give | what you require on those conditions; but you must _ leave me instantly.” “ Well, it wouldn’t be as well for you if his lordship happened to find us here, certainly,” cried Borelli; _ “for you see that we should be obliged to tell him ‘| What we came for, and that might lead, perhaps, to ‘| some rather unpleasant explanations.” } “Do not delay your departure another moment,” implored Celestine, who, glancing at the time-piece, ee EE DS | TS _-_——- _ — — owe ee or or 133 saw with nervous impatience the minute hand was rapidly traversing the dial towards the completion of another circuit; “it is past midnight, and even now I fancy I can hear the wheels of Lord Walsingham’s carrisge.”’ ‘Let us have some wine first,” demanded the Italian, “I know his lordship keeps an excellent cellar.” Celestine rapidly snatched a decanter that was on the sideboard, and hastily filled two glasses with the contents, “That diamond necklace sparkles so brilliantly in the light, that I really could not think of leaving without it,” observed Bazzini, as he tossed off the wine, and fixed his eyes on the coveted treasure. “ It was a gift, I cannot part with it,” said Celes- tine, firmly, remembering that it was the first present Wal-iugham had made, “ Well, we are in no burry,” coolly rejoined the other, returning with a replenished glass to the sofa; “you can have time to consider whether it is to be given up or not.” “Take it and begone,” yielded the terrified dan- sense, whose feats were now becoming more intense with the lapse of every minute, «“ That brooch, those bracelets,” further insisted the Italian, as, having pocketed the necklace, he noticed the value of the cther ornaments she wore; “they will serve us instead of ready money in the mean- time.” Celestine detached the trinkets from her dress, and relinquished them into the grasp of Bazzini, who had extended hia hand for their reception. ‘You have now all that I pessess; leave me, I beseech you.” “ Well, I don’t know that there is any occasion for us to stop longer, Tony,” spoke the Italian, addressing his comrade ; “ and if she keeps her promise to-morrow night, I shall be satisfied. So for the present, my girl,” he added, with brusque effrontery, nodding a salutation as he refilled his glass for the third time, *‘T shall wish you good-night, and pleasant dreams for your companions.” “ Good-night, mademoiselle,” added Borelli, with a bluff acknowledgment, as he followed the example of his companion; and then accompanying the Italian, who had thrown open the window, they stepped out together upon the lawn, and disappeared in the dark- ness of the grounds beyond. The moment they departed, Celestine, who had with difficulty suatained her presence of mind during the tortnres of the scene that had just terminated, sank upon the couch the Italian had so recently quitted, and, with a tumultuous confusion of thoughts passing through her brain, she reviewed the appalling conspiracy of which she had been the victim. The conviction she had of the deeply-seated pre- judices of Lord Walsingham, so clearly set forth in the conversation that had taken place between them; the utter hopelessness of retaining his regard when he learned the ignominy of her origin; the fear of the Italian’s vengeance when he found his demands were not complied with, and the impossibility of assigning a satisfactory reason for obtaining so large an amount from her lover, were successively the subjects of her reflection. Deeply did she brood over the evils by which she was threatened, and the more she reflected the more she was convinced that there was no other course left open to her but immediate flight from the new home to which her persecution had extended. Conscious that she had neither nerve nor fortitude ——_ =—_—~_ — — Per ee —— - —_— EOMMICGOO© mM eC) m