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abundantly testify。
“Humph!” said Monks significantly; and with a look of eager
inquiry; “there may be money’s worth to get; eh?”
“Perhaps there may;” was the composed reply。
“Something that was taken from her;” said Monks。 “Something
that she wore。 Something that—”
“You had better bid;” interrupted Mrs。 Bumble。 “I have heard
enough; already; to assure me that you are the man I ought to talk
to。”
Mr。 Bumble; who had not yet been admitted by his better half
into any greater share of the secret than he had originally
possessed; listened to this dialogue with outstretched neck and
distended eyes; which he directed towards his wife and Monks; by
turns; in undisguised astonishment—increased; if possible; when
the latter sternly demanded what sum was required for the
disclosure。
“What’s it worth to you?” asked the woman; as collectedly as
before。
“It may be nothing; it may be twenty pounds;” replied Monks。
“Speak out; and let me know which。”
“Add five pounds to the sum you have named; give me five…andtwenty pounds in gold;” said the woman; “and I’ll tell you all I
know。 Not before。”
“Five…and…twenty pounds!” exclaimed Monks; drawing back。
“I spoke as plainly as I could;” replied Mrs。 Bumble。 “It’s not a
large sum; either。”
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“Not a large sum for a paltry secret; that may be nothing when
it’s told!” cried Monks impatiently; “and which has been lying
dead for twelve years past or more!”
“Such matters keep well; and; like good wine; often double their
value in course of time;” answered the matron; still preserving the
resolute indifference she had assumed。 “As to lying dead; there
are those who will lie dead for twelve thousand years to come; or
twelve million; for anything you or I know; who will tell strange
tales at last!”
“What if I pay it for nothing?” asked Monks hesitatingly。
“You can easily take it away again;” replied the matron。 “I am
but a woman; alone here; and unprotected。”
“Not alone; my dear; nor unprotected neither;” submitted Mr。
Bumble; in a voice tremulous with fear; “I am here; my dear。 And
besides;” said Mr。 Bumble; his teeth chattering as he spoke; “Mr。
Monks is too much of a gentleman to attempt any violence on
porochial persons。 Mr。 Monks is aware that I am not a young man;
my dear; and also that I am a little run to seed; as I may say; but he
has heerd—I say I have no doubt Mr。 Monks has heerd; my dear—
that I am a very determined officer; with very uncommon
strength; if I’m once roused。 I only want a little rousing; that’s all。”
As Mr。 Bumble spoke; he made a melancholy feint of grasping
his lantern with fierce determination; and plainly showed; by the
alarmed expression of every feature; that he did want a little
rousing; and not a little; prior to making any very warlike
demonstration—unless; indeed; against paupers; or other person
or persons trained down for the purpose。
“You are a fool;” said Mrs。 Bumble; in reply; “and had better
hold your tongue。”
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“He had better have cut it out; before he came; if he can’t speak
in a lower tone;” said Monks grimly。 “So! He’s your husband; eh?”
“He my husband!” tittered the matron; parrying the question。
“I thought as much; when you came in;” rejoined Monks;
marking the angry glance which the lady darted at her spouse as
she spoke。 “So much the better; I have less hesitation in dealing
with two people; when I find that there’s only one will between
them。 I’m in earnest。 See here!” He thrust his hand into a side…
pocket; and; producing a canvas bag; told out twenty…five
sovereigns on the table; and pushed them over to the woman。
“Now;” he said; “gather them up; and when this cursed peal of
thunder; which I feel is coming up to break over the house…top; is
gone; let’s hear your story。”
The thunder; which seemed in fact much nearer and to shiver
and break almost over their heads; having subsided; Monks;
raising his face from the table; bent forward to listen to what the
woman should say。 The faces of the three nearly touched; as the
two men leaned over the small table in their eagerness to hear;
and the woman also leaned forward to render her whisper audible。
The sickly rays of the suspended lantern falling directly upon
them; aggravated the paleness and anxiety of their countenances;
which; encircled by the deepest gloom and darkness; looked
ghastly in the extreme。
“When this woman; that we called old Sally; died;” the matron
began; “she and I were alone。”
“Was there no one by?” asked Monks; in the same hollow
whisper; “no sick wretch or idiot in some other bed? No one who
could hear; and might; by possibility; understand?”
“Not a soul;” replied the woman; “we were alone。 I stood alone
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beside the body when death came over it。”
“Good;” said Monks; regarding her attentively。 “Go on。”
“She spoke of a young creature;” resumed the matron; “who
had brought a child into the world some years before; not merely
in the same room; but in the same bed; in which she then lay
dying。”
‘‘Ay?” said Monks; with quivering lip; and glancing over his
shoulder。 “Blood! How things come about!”
“The child was the one you named to him last night;” said the
matron; nodding carelessly towards her husband; “the mother this
nurse had robbed。”
“In life?” asked Monks。
“In death;” replied the woman; with something like a shudder。
“She stole from the corpse; when it had hardly turned to one; that
which the dead mother had prayed her; with her last breath; to
keep for the infant’s sake。”
“She sold it?” cried Monks; with desperate eagerness; “did she
sell it? Where! When? To whom? How long before?”
“As she told me; with great difficulty; that she had done this;”
said the matron; “she fell back and died。”
“Without saying more?” cried Monks; in a voice which; from its
very suppression; seemed only the more furious。 “It’s a lie! I’ll not
be played with。 She said more。 I’ll tear the life out of you both; but
I’ll know what it was。”
“She didn’t utter another word;” said the woman; to all
appearance unmoved (as Mr。 Bumble was very far from being) by
the strange man’s violence; “but she clutched my gown; violently;
with one hand; which was partly closed; and when I saw that she
was dead; and so removed the hand by force; I found it clasped a
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scrap of dirty paper。”
“Which contained—” interposed Monks; stretching forward。
“Nothing;” replied the woman; “it was a pawnbroker’s
duplicate。”
“For what?” demanded Monks。
“In good time I’ll tell you;” said the woman。 “I judge that she
had kept the trinket; for some time; in the hope of turning it to
better account; and then had pawned it; and had saved or scraped
toget