Penny Dreadful Multipack Vol. 1 (Illustrated. Annotated. 'Wagner The Wehr-Wolf,' 'Varney The Vampire,' 'The Mysteries of London Vol. 1' + Bonus Features) (Penny Dreadful Multipacks) (215 page)

MR. GREENWOOD

 ABOUT six o'clock in the evening-ten days after the incident
which concluded the preceding chapter, - a handsome cabriolet drove up to the
door of a house in Spring Gardens.
    Down jumped the tiger - an urchin not much bigger than a
walking stick - and away went the knocker, rat-tat-tat, for upwards of fifteen
seconds. A servant in livery opened the door, and an elegantly-dressed
gentleman, about six or seven and twenty years of age, alighted from the
vehicle.
    This gentleman rushed up stairs to his study, drew forth his
cheque-book, wrote an order upon his banker for a thousand pounds, enclosed it
in an envelope, and immediately despatched the letter to Lord Tremordyn by one
of his numerous domestics. He had that afternoon lost the money to his lordship
In some sporting-bet; and, "as it was a debt of honour," he could not
possibly think of sitting down to dinner, or even pulling off his boots (which,
being fashionable, pinched him excessively) without settling it.
    As soon as he had done this, another servant entered the
room, and said, "If you please, sir, Mrs. Mangles has called, and is
waiting below to see you. She has been here these three hours, and wishes very
much to say a few words to you, sir."
    "What! that bothering upholsterer's wife!"
ejaculated the gentleman, in a tone of indignation which would have induced a
stranger to believe that he was the most persecuted man in the world. "Why
- her husband's account hasn't been owing quite a year yet; and here she is
boring from morning to night."
    "Please, sir, she says that her husband is locked up in
a spunging-house."
    "Serve him right!"
    "But he is a hard-working sober man —"
    "He shouldn't run into debt."
    "And he has five children."
    "It is really disgusting! these lower orders literally
swarm with children!"
    "And if you would only pay a quarter of the money, he
would get out to-night."
    "I won't pay a sixpence till January."
    "Then he will be totally ruined, sir, his wife
says."
    "Well - he must be ruined, then. Go and turn her out,
and send up Lafleur."
    And the fashionable gentleman, who would not owe
 
a debt of honour
 
for half an hour, thought no more
of the sum which was due to a tradesman, which had been already owing for
nearly a year, and which he could have immediately settled without the
slightest inconvenience to himself.
    For this man was rich; and, having got his money in the City
(God knows how), had now come to the West End to make the most of it.
    "Lafieur," said the fashionable gentleman to the
French valet, "you must dismiss that fellow John to-morrow morning."
    "Yes, sir."
    "He actually had the impertinence to bring me a message
from a dun, while I was in a hurry to get dressed for dinner."
    "Indeed, sir - you don't say so sir!" ejaculated
the valet, who had as much horror of a dun as an overseer has of a pauper.
"Yes, sir - I will dismiss him to-morrow, sir - and without a character
too."
    "Do, Lafleur. And now to dress. Are the company
come?"
    "Mr. Chichester and Sir Rupert Harborough are in the
drawing-room, sir."
    "Oh!" said Mr. Greenwood - for such was the
gentleman's name - "very well!"
    Having carelessly perused three or four letters which he
found upon his table, he repaired to his dressing-room, where he washed his
hands in a silver basin, while the poor upholsterer's wife returned to her
husband in the lock-up house, to say that their last hope had failed, and that
nothing but a debtor's gaol awaited them. Accordingly, while the poor man was
being carried off to Whitecross Street Prison, Mr. Greenwood repaired to his
elegantly furnished drawing-room to welcome the guests whom he had invited that
day to dinner.
    "My dear Sir Rupert," said Mr. Greenwood, "I
am delighted to see you. Chichester, how are you? Where have you both been for
the last six months? Scarcely had I the pleasure of forming your acquaintance,
when you were off like shots: and I have never seen nor heard of you till this
morning."
    "Upon my honour, I hardly know what we have been doing
- or indeed, what we have not been doing," ejaculated the baronet.
"We have been in Paris and Brussels, and enjoyed all the pleasures of the
Continent."
    "And we found our way into the good graces of the
Parisian ladies, and the purses of their husbands," observed Chichester,
with a complacent smile.
    "Ah! ah!" said Mr. Greenwood, laughing.
"Trust you both for allowing yourselves to starve in a land of
plenty."
    "And so here we are, come back to England quite fresh
and ready for new sport," said Chichester. " You see that it is
useful to go abroad for a season every now and then. Immediately after I passed
through the Insolvents' Court, two years ago, I went to Paris for six months,
and came home again with a new reputation, as it were."
    "By the bye, Sir Rupert," exclaimed Mr. -
Greenwood, "I lost a cool thousand to your father-in-law this afternoon at
Tattersall's."
    "What! does the old lord do things in so spirited a way
as that?" cried the baronet.
    "Yes - now and then. I believe you and he are not on
very good terms? When I asked him after you a month or two ago, he appeared to
evade the conversation."
    "The fact is," said the baronet, "old Lord
and Lady Tremordyn pretend that I treat their daughter with neglect - just
because I cannot and will not be tied to my wife's apron strings. I did not
want to marry her; but Lady Tremordyn intrigued to catch me; and the old lord
came down handsome - and so the match was made up."
    The baronet did not think of informing his friend that he
had stipulated for twenty thousand pounds to pay his debts, ere he would do
justice to the young and beautiful creature whom he had seduced, and whose
pathetic appeal to her mother has been already laid before the reader in the
chapter which treats of the Black Chamber of the General Post Office.
    "Do you know what has become of your old flame Diana
Arlington?" inquired Mr. Greenwood of the baronet, after a pause.
    " And was she not your old flame too ?" said Sir
Rupert, laughing. "I believe that when you were plain Mr. George Montague,
instead of Mr. Montague Greenwood —"
    "Oh! I have assumed the name of Greenwood, remember,
because a relation of that name has left me a considerable fortune."
    "Well - that is a very good story to tell the world,
but not friends, my dear fellow," said the baronet, coolly. " But we
were talking of the Enchantress. I presume she is still under the protection of
the Earl of Warrington?"
    "So I understand," replied Greenwood.
    "Well - I must say," continued the baronet, "
I always liked Diana; and I dare say we should have been together up to the
present moment, if it had not been for that infernal affair of Markham's."
    "Ah! Richard Markham!" ejaculated Mr. Greenwood
hastily. "I have heard of him - but never seen him."
    "I and Mr. Chichester were compelled to sacrifice him
to save ourselves," observed Harborough.
    "Yes - yes - it was a pity - a great pity," cried
Greenwood,  poking the fire violently. 
    "I wonder what has become of that same Markham?"
said Chichester.
    "I understand that he lost the greater portion of his
property by some unfortunate speculation or. another, but the nature of which I
have never- learnt," replied Greenwood.
    "And what about this Steam-Packet Company of which you
were speaking this morning ?" inquired Sir Rupert Harborough.
    "The fact is, I have got a certain Italian count in
tow, and I intend to make him useful. He is an emigrant from the Grand Duchy of
Castelcicala, having been concerned in some treasonable proceedings with Prince
Alberto, who is the Grand Duke's nephew, and who has also been compelled to fly
to some other country. Be it as it may, this Count Alteroni and I became
acquainted; and, in the course of conversation, he observed that a fortune
might be made by the establishment of a line of steam-packets between London
and Montoni, the capital of Castelicicala. He added that he should be very
willing to embark his own capital in such an enterprise. '
How extraordinary!
'
I immediately exclaimed: '
I had myself entertained the very same idea!
'
The count was enchanted; and he has already advanced a considerable sum.
    At this moment dinner was announced; and the three gentlemen
proceeded to the apartment in which it was served up. The repast consisted of
all the luxuries in season, and many out of season: the choicest wines were
produced; and justice was done to each and all, while wit and humour flowed as
freely, and sparkled as brightly as the juice of the grape itself. The baronet
was more affable than ever ;- Mr. Chichester related several amusing anecdotes
of midnight sprees, policemen, knockers, station-houses, and magistrates ;- and
Mr. Greenwood explained his plans relative to the steam-packets.
    "I should very much like to have you both in the
Direction," said Mr. Montague Greenwood,, when he had terminated his
elucidations: "but I have learnt that this Richard Markham, of whom we
have been talking, is acquainted with the count; and if he saw your names
connected with the affair, he would instantly blow upon it. I should, then have
the count upon me for the fifteen thousand pounds he has already lodged in my
hands."
    "Let us write an anonymous letter to the count, and
inform him that Markham has been convicted at the Old Bailey," suggested
Chichester.
    "No - no," ejaculated Greenwood emphatically:
" you have injured that young man enough already."
    "And what do you care about him?" cried
Chichester. "You said just now that you had never seen him."
    " I did - and I repeat the assertion," answered
Greenwood; then, in a very serious tone, he added, "and I will beg you
both to remember, gentlemen, that if you wish to co-operate with me in any of
those speculations which I know so well how to manage, you will leave Mr.
Richard Markham alone; for I have certain private reasons for being rather
anxious to do him a service than an injury."
    "Well, I will not in any way interfere with your good
intentions," said the baronet. 
    "Nor I," observed Chichester.
    "And as it is impossible for you to enter my 
Steam-Packet Company," added Mr. Greenwood "I will let you into
another good thing which I have in view, and in which a certain banker is
concerned. To tell you the real truth, this banker has been insolvent for some
time; and if his father had not advanced him about fifty thousand pounds three
years ago, he would most undoubtedly have gone to smash. As it
 
was, the Lords of the Treasury
got hold of his real position, by some means or another - he never could divine
how; and they refused a tender which he sent in for a certain money contract -
I don't know exactly what. Now his position is more desperate than ever, and he
and I are going to do an admirable stroke of business. I will let you both into
it."
    We need scarcely remind the reader that the tanker now
alluded to was the writer of one of the letters perused by the Examiner's
clerks in the
 
Black Chamber.
    The conversation between the three gentlemen was proceeding
very comfortably, when a servant entered the room, and, handing his master a
card upon a silver tray, said, "This gentleman, sir, requests to be
allowed to see you, if perfectly convenient."
    "The Count Alteroni!" exclaimed Mr. Greenwood.
"What the devil could have brought him to London at this time of night?
John - show him into the study - there is a good fire for him; and if that
won't warm his heart, perhaps a bottle of Burgundy will."
    The servant left the room; and in a few moments Mr.
Greenwood hastened to join the count in the elegant apartment which was
denominated "the study."
    "My dear sir, I have to apologise for calling thus
late," said the count; "but the truth is that I had a little business
which brought me up to town to-day, and in this neighbourhood too; and I
thought —" 
    "Pray offer no excuses, my dear count,"
interrupted Mr. Greenwood. "The truth is, I wished to see you very
particularly - upon a matter not alto gather connected with our enterprise
—"
    "Indeed," said the count; "you interest me.
Pray explain yourself."
    "In the first place, allow me to ask whether the ladies
are yet acquainted with the undertaking in which you have embarked?"
    "Yes - I acquainted them with the fact this very
morning."
    "And do they approve of it?"
    "They approve of every thing of which I think well, and
disapprove of all that I abhor."
    "And do they know that I am the projector and principal
in the enterprise?" demanded Greenwood.
    "They are acquainted with every thing," answered
the count. "Indeed, they have formed of you the same exalted opinion which
I myself entertain. It would be strange if they had not. We met you at the
house of Lord Tremordyn; and that nobleman spoke in the highest possible terms
of you. But what connection exists between all those questions which you have
put to me, and the matter concerning which you desired to see me?"
    "I am not sure that I ought to explain myself at
present, nor to you in the first instance," was the answer, delivered with
some embarrassment of manner: "at all events I should wish you to know a
little more of me, and to have some reason to thank me for the little service
which I shall have the means of rendering you, in enabling you to treble your
capital."
    The count appeared mystified; and Mr. Greenwood continued:-
    "I had the pleasure of seeing the amiable countess and
her lovely daughter many times last summer at the house of Lord Tremordyn; and
no one could know the Signora Isabella without being forcibly struck by her
personal and mental qualifications. To render myself agreeable to Miss Isabella
would be the height of my earthly happiness. You will pardon my presumption;
but —"
    Mr. Greenwood ceased, and looked at the count to ascertain
the effect which his words had produced. 
    The honourable and open-hearted Italian was not averse to
this proposition. He considered his own affairs and prospects in Castelcicala
to be so desperate that he was bound to make the best provision he could for
his daughter in a free, enlightened, and hospitable nation. Mr. Greenwood was
good looking, moving in the best society, well-spoken of by a peer of the realm
(who, by the way, merely judged of Greenwood's character by the punctuality
with which he paid his gambling debts), and evidently immensely rich - his
manners were elegant, and his taste refined ;- and, in a word, he might be
called a most eligible suitor for the hand of the count's daughter. Not being
over-well skilled in affairs of the heart himself, the count had not noticed
the attachment which decidedly existed between Isabella and Richard Markham;
and it never for a moment struck him that his daughter might manifest the most
powerful repugnance to Mr. Greenwood.
    "I have no doubt," said he, after a long pause,
"that Isabella will feel highly flattered by your good opinion of her.
Indeed, I shall inform her without delay of the manner in which you have
expressed yourself."
    "My dear sir," interrupted Greenwood hastily,
"in the name of heaven tell the Signora nothing at all about our present
conversation. Her delicacy would be offended. Rather give me an opportunity of
making myself better known to your daughter."
    "I understand you. Come and pass a week or two with us
at Richmond. We have not a soul staying with us at the present moment, Mr
Markham, who was our last guest, having returned to his own abode about ten
days ago."
    "This is a busy time with me," began Mr.
Greenwood; "and I could scarcely spare a week with justice to yourself and
my own interests—"
    "True," interrupted the count. "I will bring
the ladies up to town at the beginning of the new year. We have a very pressing
invitation from the Tremordyns, and I will avail myself of it."
    Mr. Greenwood expressed his gratitude to the count for the
favour which his suit thus received; and in a few minutes the Italian noble
took his leave, more than ever convinced of the honour, wealth, and
business-like habits of Mr. Greenwood.
    "There," said the man of the world, as he once
more seated himself at the table in the dining-room, where he had left the
baronet and Chichester, "I have not passed the last hour unprofitably. I
have not only demanded the hand of the count's lovely daughter, but have also
persuaded the count to pay a few weeks' visit to your father-in-law, Lord
Tremordyn," he added, addressing Sir Rupert.
    "And what good do you propose by the latter
arrangement?" demanded the baronet.
    "I shall get the count's family at a house which
Richard Markham stands no chance of visiting: for even if the count asked him
to call upon him there, Markham would refuse, because he is sure to have read
or heard that you, Sir Rupert, have married Lady Cecilia Huntingfield, and he
would be afraid of meeting you at Lord Tremordyn's residence."
    "And why should you be so anxious to separate the count
from Markham, since Chichester and I are not to be in the Steam-packet
concern?"
    "Because I myself could not, for certain reasons, visit
the count's family if I stood the chance of meeting that same Richard
Markham."
 
Mr.
Greenwood then immediately changed the conversation, and pushed the bottle
briskly about.