The String of Pearls 100Mrs. Lovett Is Very Intractable Indeed
18
Literature · Crime, Thrillers & Mystery
The String of Pearls 100
Mrs. Lovett Is Very Intractable Indeed
PrestEnglish
Before entering the shop, Mrs. Lovett hovered about it, peeping at the things in the window, and glancing about her as though she had some uncomfortable ideas in her mind concerning the place, and was coquetting with her feelings a little before she could make up her mind to go into it.
At length she laid her hand upon the handle of the door, and turned it. She stood upon the threshold, and her sharp glance at once comprehended that Todd was not there. Johanna advanced towards her, and waited for her to speak.
"Oh," she said. "Is Mr. Todd in?"
"No," said Johanna. "No, madam."
Johanna did not think it worth while at that time to expose herself to the great danger of disobeying Todd's positive commands, to say he was not at home, merely upon a point of punctilious truth. Mrs. Lovett looked keenly at her.
"So," she said, "he is out--is he?"
"Yes, madam."
"And you are Mr. Todd's boy?"
The emphasis which Mrs. Lovett placed upon the word boy, rather alarmed Johanna, and she was more terrified when Mrs. Lovett marched twice round her, as though she were performing some incantation, glaring at her all the while from top to toe.
Whatever was Mrs. Lovett's opinion of Johanna, however, she magnanimously kept it to herself; but the young girl had a sort of perception, that her suit had not escaped the keen and penetrating eyes of Mrs. Lovett. This conviction gave a great air of timidity to Johanna's manner in speaking to the bold bad woman who confronted her.
"And so he is out?" added Mrs. Lovett.
"Yes, madam."
"How long has he been gone?"
"Only a short time."
"Well, my principal business this day, is to see Mr. Todd. I have made such arrangements at home, that I can wait here the whole day if necessary, for see him I must--and see him I will; I had a sort of presentiment that he might be out, notwithstanding I have an appointment with him."
With this Mrs. Lovett sat down and composed herself evidently for a long wait--she did not sit in the shaving-chair though. Johanna thought that as she passed it, she rather shuddered; but that might have been a mere fancy upon the part of our young friend.
Mrs. Lovett was not exactly of the shuddering order of human beings.
"Did he say when he should return?"
"No, madam."
All these questions of Mrs. Lovett's were asked with a sneering kind of incredulity, that was quite sufficient to show Johanna how completely she disbelieved the statement concerning the absence of Todd. That she would wait until Todd was perforce obliged to show himself, Johanna did not doubt. There was something about the pale face and compressed lips of Mrs. Lovett that at once bespoke such a determination; but should any scene of unusual violence ensue, Johanna made up her mind to rush from the shop, if near the door, and if not able to do that, to cast a missile through the window, which she knew would bring her immediate help.
"How long have you been with Mr. Todd?" asked Mrs. Lovett of Johanna.
"Only a few days, madam."
"And what made you come?"
"My necessities, madam. I was in want of a situation, and Mr. Todd wanted an errand boy."
"Humph!" said Mrs. Lovett. "This is very strange." She rested her head upon her hand for a few moments, and appeared to be lost in thought, and at times Johanna could see that she was keenly eyeing her. Truly, Johanna had never felt so thoroughly uncomfortable since she had been in Todd's shop, for she could not but feel that she was discovered.
The only question was now whether, when she did see Todd, Mrs. Lovett would think it worth her while to speak of the affair at all. The probability, however, was that she was too much engrossed in the business that brought her there to pay more than a passing attention to a mystery which, to all appearance, could not in any way concern her.
But Todd all this while was a prisoner in his own parlour, and it may easily be imagined how he chafed and fumed over such a state of things. If any convenient mode of taking the life of Mrs. Lovett had but presented itself to him, how gladly he would have embraced it; but none did; and after enduring the present state of affairs for about a quarter of an hour, he coolly opened the parlour door and walked into the shop as if nothing were amiss.
Mrs. Lovett was not at all taken by surprise at this proceeding. She merely rose and took a step towards the door, as she said, in a cool sarcastic tone--
"I am glad you have come home."
"Come home?" said Todd, with a well-acted look of surprise. "Come home? What do you mean, my dear madam? I am particularly glad to see you, and was particularly desirous to do so."
"Indeed!"
"Yes, to be sure. Really, do you know, I told the lad here, to deny me to anybody but you."
"And he made the slight mistake of denying you to me only."
"Is it possible?--Can such things be? Oh, you careless rascal. Upon my word, some employers would pull your ears--that they would. I'm ashamed of you--that I am. Really, Mrs. Lovett, these boys are always annoying one in some way or another; but walk in, if you please--walk in, and we will soon settle our little affairs."
"Excuse me," said Mrs. Lovett, "I prefer the shop, Mr. Todd."
"You don't say so?"
"You hear me say so, and you might know by this time, that when I say anything--I mean it."
"Of course, Mrs. Lovett, of course," said Todd; "I know you for a lady of infinite powers of mind--of great susceptibility--of feeling--of uncommon intellect and thrift. Please to step into the parlour, and I will settle with you at once, for I believe you call for a small trifle that you are entitled to from me, Mrs. Lovett."
"I do call for what I am entitled to, and I will have it here."
"Charley, just go to St. Dunstan's, my lad, and bring me word the exact time; and then, you can do it all under one, you know, just walk down Fleet-market, and see if you can find any love-apples, and if so, you can ask the price of them, and let me know."
"Yes, sir," said Johanna.
In another moment she was gone. Mrs. Lovett took another step nearer to the door, and actually laid her hand upon it to prevent it closing thoroughly. She did not think that she would be safe if it were shut; and then addressing Todd, she said--
"All disguise between you and I, is useless now, Todd. Give me my half of the money that has been earned by blood. It may have the curse of murder clinging to it, but I will have it--I say I will have it."
"Are you mad?"
"Not yet--not yet. But I shall be, and then it will be time for you to beware of me."
"Mrs. Lovett--Mrs. Lovett, is it not a melancholy thing, that you and I, who may be said to be at war with all the world, should begin to quarrel with each other? If we are not true to one another, what can we expect from others? Have we not for so long carried on our snug little business in safety, merely because we were good friends?"
"No, Todd, no. We never were friends--you know that as well as I do. It is a principal of human nature, that those who are associated together for wicked purposes are never friends. You and I have not been exceptions to the rule. We hate each other--we always did and will, you know it."
"Dear, dear!" said Todd, lifting up his hands, and approaching a step nearer to Mrs. Lovett. "This is afflicting--this is truly afflicting to hear such words from you, Mrs. Lovett."
"Keep off--keep off, I say! Another step, and I will at once into the street, and then to the passers-by scream out for public vengeance upon Todd the murderer!"
"Hush!--hush! God of Heaven! woman, what do you mean by speaking of murder in such a tone?"
"I mean, Todd, what I say; and what I threaten I will do. Keep off--keep off! I will not have you another step nearer to me with that hang-dog look."
"Moderate your tone, woman!" said Todd, as he stamped upon the floor of the shop; "moderate your tone, woman, or you will destroy yourself and me."
"I care not."
"You care not?--what do you mean by that? Have you gone mad in earnest? What do you mean by you care not? Has the scaffold any charms for you?"
"It might have for once, with you for a companion on it, Sweeney Todd; but if I am desperate and reckless, you have yourself to thank for it. Well you know that, Todd. I have toiled, and sinned, and murdered, for what you have done the same, for gold!--Gold was the God of my idolatry, and it was yours. We both seized the same idea. We both saw how gold alone was worshipped in the land. We saw how Heaven was affected to be worshipped by all; but we found out that gold was the real divinity. We saw that it was for the lucre of gain that the priest clothed himself in the garments of his pretended ministry, and spake his mock prayers to the people. We saw that it was for gold only that the rulers of the land struggled and fought. We found that the love and the worship of gold was the true religion of all; and we sought to possess ourselves of the idol."
"Mad!--mad!" cried Todd.
"No, I speak sanely enough now. I say, we found out that by the possession of gold in christian, canting, religious, virtuous England, we should find many worshippers. We found out that thousands upon thousands would bend the knee to us on that account, and on that account only. If we were paragons of virtue, we might rot and starve; but if we were monsters of vice, if we had but gold, and kept but by the side of the law, we should be kings--emperors upon the earth."
"Bah! bah! bah!" cried Todd.
"Well, we took a royal road to our object. We murdered for it, Todd. You dipped your hands in gore, and I helped you. Yes, I do not deny that I helped you."
"Peace, woman!"
"I will not hold my peace. The time has come for you to hear me, and I will make you do so. I will speak trumpet-tongued, and if you like not that word murder, I will shriek it in your ears. If you like not the word blood, I will on the house-tops proclaim and tell the people that it is synonymous with Todd. Ha! ha! You shrink now."
