Pelham — Complete

by Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton

  CHAPTER LXXIX.

  Nihil est furacius illo Non fuit Autolyci tam piccata manus.--Martial.

  Quo teneam vultus mutantem Protea nodo?--Horace.

  When I left the magistrate, I knew not whither my next step shouldtend. There was, however, no time to indulge the idle stupor, whichGlanville's situation at first occasioned; with a violent effort, Ishook it off, and bent all my mind to discover the best method toavail myself, to the utmost, of the short reprieve I had succeeded inobtaining; at length, one of those sudden thoughts which, from theirsuddenness appear more brilliant than they really are, flashed upon mymind. I remembered the accomplished character of Mr. Job Jonson, andthe circumstance of my having seen him in company with Thornton. Now,although it was not very likely that Thornton should have madeMr. Jonson his confidant, in any of those affairs which it was soessentially his advantage to confine exclusively to himself; yet theacuteness and penetration visible in the character of the worthy Job,might not have lain so fallow during his companionship with Thornton,but that it might have made some discoveries which would considerablyassist me in my researches; besides, as it is literally true inthe systematized roguery of London, that "birds of a feather flocktogether," it was by no means unlikely that the honest Job might behonoured with the friendship of Mr. Dawson, as well as the company ofMr. Thornton; in which case I looked forward with greater confidence tothe detection of the notable pair.

  I could not, however, conceal from myself, that this was but a veryunstable and ill-linked chain of reasoning, and there were moments, whenthe appearances against Glanville wore so close a semblance of truth,that all my friendship could scarcely drive from my mind an intrusivesuspicion that he might have deceived me, and that the accusation mightnot be groundless.

  This unwelcome idea did not, however, at all lessen the rapidity withwhich I hastened towards the memorable gin shop, where I had whilom metMr. Gordon--there I hoped to find either the address of that gentleman,or of the "Club," to which he had taken me, in company with Tringle andDartmore: either at this said club, or of that said gentleman, I thoughtit not unlikely that I might hear some tidings of the person of Mr.Job Jonson--if not, I was resolved to return to the office, and employMr.--my mulberry-cheeked acquaintance of the last night, in a searchafter the holy Job.

  Fate saved me a world of trouble; as I was hastily walking onwards, Ihappened to turn my eyes on the opposite side of the way, and discovereda man dressed, in what the newspapers term, the very height of thefashion, namely, in the most ostentatious attire that ever flaunted atMargate, or blazoned in the Palais Royale. The nether garments of thispetit maitre, consisted of a pair of blue tight pantaloons, profuselybraided, and terminating in Hessian boots, adorned with brass spurs ofthe most burnished resplendency; a black velvet waistcoat, studded withgold stars, was backed by a green frock coat, covered, notwithstandingthe heat of the weather, with fur, and frogged and cordonne with themost lordly indifference, both as to taste and expense: a small Frenchhat, which might not have been much too large for my Lord of P--, wasset jauntily in the centre of a system of long black curls, whichmy eye, long accustomed to penetrate the arcana of habilatory art,discovered at once to be a wig. A fierce black mustacheo, very muchcurled, wandered lovingly from the upper lip, towards the eyes, whichhad an unfortunate prepossession for eccentricity in their direction. Tocomplete the picture, we must suppose some colouring--and this consistedin a very nice and delicate touch of the rouge pot, which could not becalled by so harsh a term as paint; say, rather that it was a tinge.

  No sooner had I set my eyes upon this figure, than I crossed over tothe side of the way which it was adorning, and followed its motions at arespectful but observant distance.

  At length my freluquet marched into a jeweller's shop in Oxford-street;with a careless air, I affected, two minutes afterwards, to saunterinto the same shop; the shopman was shewing his bijouterie to him of theHessians with the greatest respect; and, beguiled by the splendour ofthe wig and waistcoat, turned me over to his apprentice--another time,I might have been indignant at perceiving that the air noble, on whichI piqued myself far more than all other gifts of nature, personal ormental, was by no means so universally acknowledged as I had vainlyimagined--at that moment I was too occupied to think of my insulteddignity. While I was pretending to appear wholly engrossed with someseals, I kept a vigilant eye on my superb fellow customer: at last, Isaw him secrete a diamond ring, and thrust it, by a singular movementof the fore finger, up the fur cuff of his capacious sleeve; presently,some other article of minute size disappeared in the like manner.

  The gentleman then rose, expressed himself very well satisfied by thegreat taste of the jeweller, said he should look in again on Saturday,when he hoped the set he had ordered would be completed, and gravelytook his departure amidst the prodigal bows of the shopman and hishelpmates; meanwhile, I bought a seal of small value, paid for it, andfollowed my old acquaintance, for the reader has doubtless discovered,long before this, that the gentleman was no other than Mr. Job Jonson.

  Slowly and struttingly did the man of two virtues perform the wholepilgrimage of Oxford-street. He stopped at Cumberland-gate, and, lookinground, with an air of gentlemanlike indecision, seemed to considerwhether or not he should join the loungers in the park: fortunately forthat well bred set, his doubts terminated in their favour, and Mr.Job Jonson entered the park. Every one happened to be thronging toKensington Gardens, and the man of two virtues accordingly cut acrossthe park, as the shortest, but the least frequented way thither, inorder to confer upon them the dangerous honour of his company.

  Directly I perceived that there were but few persons in the immediatelocality to observe me, and that those consisted of a tall guardsmanand his wife, a family of young children, with their nursery-maid, anda debilitated East India captain; walking for the sake of his liver, Iovertook the incomparable Job, made him a low bow, and thus reverentlyaccosted him--

  "Mr. Jonson, I am delighted once more to meet you--suffer me to remindyou of the very pleasant morning I passed with you in the neighbourhoodof Hampton Court. I perceive, by your mustachios and military dress,that you have entered the army since that day; I congratulate theBritish troops on such an admirable acquisition."

  Mr. Jonson's assurance forsook him for a moment, but he lost no time inregaining a quality which was so natural to his character. He assumed afierce look, and relevant sa moustache sourit amerement, like Voltaire'sgovernor [Note: Don Fernand d'Ibarra in the "Candide"]--"D--n youreyes, Sir," he cried, "do you mean to insult me? I know none of your Mr.Jonsons, and I never set my eyes upon you before."

  "Lookye, my dear Mr. Job Jonson," replied I, "as I can prove not onlyall I say, but much more that I shall not say--such as your littlemistakes just now, at the jeweller's shop in Oxford-street, perhaps itwould be better for you not to oblige me to create a mob, and give youin charge--pardon my abruptness of speech--to a constable!--Surely therewill be no need of such a disagreeable occurrence, when I assure you,in the first place, that I perfectly forgive you for ridding me ofthe unnecessary comforts of a pocket-book and handkerchief, theunphilosophical appendage of a purse, and the effeminate gage d'amourof a gold bracelet; nor is this all--it is perfectly indifferent to me,whether you levy contributions on jewellers or gentlemen, and I amvery far from wishing to intrude upon your harmless occupations, or tointerfere with your innocent amusements. I see, Mr. Jonson, that you arebeginning to understand me; let me facilitate so desirable an end byan additional information, that, since it is preceded with a promiseto open my purse, may tend somewhat to open your heart; I am, at thismoment, in great want of your assistance--favour me with it, and I willpay you to your soul's content. Are we friends now, Mr. Job Jonson?"

  My old friend burst out into a loud laugh. "Well, Sir, I must say thatyour frankness enchants me. I can no longer dissemble with you; indeed,I perceive, it would be useless; besides, I always adored candour--it ismy favourite virtue. Tell me how I can help you, and you may command myservice
s."

  "One word," said I: "will you be open and ingenuous with me? I shall askyou certain questions, not in the least affecting your own safety, butto which, if you would serve me, you must give me (and since candour isyour favourite virtue, this will be no difficult task) your most candidreplies. To strengthen you in so righteous a course, know also, thatthe said replies will come verbatim before a court of law, and that,therefore, it will be a matter of prudence to shape them as closelyto the truth as your inclinations will allow. To counterbalance thisinformation, which, I own, is not very inviting, I repeat, that thequestions asked you will be wholly foreign to your own affairs, andthat, should you prove of that assistance to me which I anticipate, Iwill so testify my gratitude as to place you beyond the necessityof pillaging rural young gentlemen and credulous shopkeepers for thefuture;--all your present pursuits need only be carried on for yourprivate amusement."

  "I repeat, that you may command me," returned Mr. Jonson, gracefullyputting his hand to his heart.

  "Pray, then," said I, "to come at once to the point, how long have youbeen acquainted with Mr. Thomas Thornton?"

  "For some months only," returned Job, without the least embarrassment.

  "And Mr. Dawson?" said I.

  A slight change came over Jonson's countenance: he hesitated. "Excuseme, Sir," said he; "but I am, really, perfectly unacquainted with you,and I may be falling into some trap of the law, of which, Heaven knows,I am as ignorant as a babe unborn."

  I saw the knavish justice of this remark; and in my predominating zealto serve Glanville, I looked upon the inconvenience of discoveringmyself to a pickpocket and sharper, as a consideration not worthattending to. In order, therefore, to remove his doubts, and, atthe same time, to have a more secret and undisturbed place for ourconference, I proposed to him to accompany me home; at first, Mr.Jonson demurred, but I soon half persuaded and half intimidated him intocompliance.

  Not particularly liking to be publicly seen with a person of hissplendid description and celebrated character, I made him walk before meto Mivart's, and I followed him closely, never turning my eye, either tothe right or the left, lest he should endeavour to escape me. There wasno fear of this, for Mr. Jonson was both a bold and a crafty man, and itrequired, perhaps, but little of his penetration to discover that I wasno officer nor informer, and that my communication had been of a naturelikely enough to terminate in his advantage; there was, therefore, butlittle need of his courage in accompanying me to my hotel.

  There were a good many foreigners of rank at Mivart's, and the waiterstook my companion for an ambassador at least:--he received their homagewith the mingled dignity and condescension natural to so great a man.

  As the day was now far advanced, I deemed it but hospitable to offer Mr.Job Jonson some edible refreshment. With the frankness on which he sojustly valued himself, he accepted my proposal. I ordered some coldmeat, and two bottles of wine; and, mindful of old maxims, deferredmy business till his repast was over. I conversed with him merely uponordinary topics, and, at another time, should have been much amusedby the singular mixture of impudence and shrewdness which formed thestratum of his character.

  At length his appetite was satisfied, and one of the bottles emptied;with the other before him, his body easily reclining on my librarychair, his eyes apparently cast downwards, but ever and anon glancingup at my countenance with a searching and curious look, Mr. Job Jonsonprepared himself for our conference; accordingly I began.

  "You say that you are acquainted with Mr. Dawson; where is he atpresent?"

  "I don't know," answered Jonson, laconically.

  "Come," said I, "no trifling--if you do not know, you can learn."

  "Possibly I can, in the course of time," rejoined honest Job.

  "If you cannot tell me his residence at once," said I, "our conferenceis at an end; that is a leading feature in my inquiries."

  Jonson paused before he replied--"You have spoken to me frankly, let usdo nothing by halves--tell me, at once, the nature of the service I cando you, and the amount of my reward, and then you shall have my answer.With respect to Dawson, I will confess to you, that I did once know himwell, and that we have done many a mad prank together, which I shouldnot like the bugaboos and bulkies to know; you will, therefore, see thatI am naturally reluctant to tell you any thing about him, unless yourhonour will inform me of the why and the wherefore."

  I was somewhat startled by this speech, and by the shrewd, cunning eyewhich dwelt upon me, as it was uttered; but, however, I was by no meanssure, that acceding to his proposal would not be my readiest andwisest way to the object I had in view. Nevertheless, there were somepreliminary questions to be got over first: perhaps Dawson might be toodear a friend to the candid Job, for the latter to endanger his safety;or perhaps, (and this was more probable,) Jonson might be perfectlyignorant of any thing likely to aid me: in this case my communicationwould be useless; accordingly I said, after a short consideration--

  "Patience, my dear Mr. Jonson--patience, you shall know all in goodtime; meanwhile I must--even for Dawson's sake--question you blindfold.What, now, if your poor friend Dawson were in imminent danger, and thatyou might have the power to save him, would you not do all you could?"

  The small, coarse features of Mr. Job, grew blank, with a curious sortof disappointment: "Is that all?" said he. "No! unless I were well paidfor my pains in his behalf, he might go to Botany Bay, for all I care."

  "What!" I cried, in a tone of reproach, "is this your friendship?I thought, just now, that you said Dawson had been an old and firmassociate of yours."

  "An old one, your honour; but not a firm one. A short time ago, I wasin great distress, and he and Thornton had, God knows how! about twothousand pounds between them; but I could not worm a stiver out ofDawson--that gripe-all, Thornton, got it all from him."

  "Two thousand pounds!" said I, in a calm voice, though my heart beatviolently; "that's a great sum for a poor fellow like Dawson. How longago is it since he had it?"

  "About two or three months," answered Jonson.

  "Pray, have you seen much of Dawson lately?" I asked.

  "I have," replied Jonson.

  "Indeed!" said I. "I thought you told me, just now, that you wereunacquainted with his residence?"

  "So I am," replied Jonson, coldly, "it is not at his own house that Iever see him."

  I was silent, for I was now rapidly and minutely weighing the benefitsand disadvantages of trusting Jonson as he had desired me to do.

  To reduce the question to the simplest form of logic, he had eitherthe power of assisting my investigation, or he had not: if not, neithercould he much impede it, and therefore, it mattered little whether hewas in my confidence or not; if he had the power, the doubt was, whetherit would be better for me to benefit by it openly, or by stratagem; thatis--whether it were wiser to state the whole case to him, or continueto gain whatever I was able by dint of a blind examination. Now, thedisadvantage of candour was, that if it were his wish to screen Dawsonand his friend, he would be prepared to do so, and even to put them ontheir guard against my suspicions; but the indifference he had testifiedwith regard to Dawson seemed to render this probability very small. Thebenefits of candour were more prominent: Job would then be fully awarethat his own safety was not at stake; and should I make it more hisinterest to serve the innocent than the guilty, I should have the entireadvantage, not only of any actual information he might possess, butof his skill and shrewdness in providing additional proof, or at leastsuggesting advantageous hints. Moreover, in spite of my vanity andopinion of my own penetration, I could not but confess, that it wasunlikely that my cross-examination should be very successful with so oldand experienced a sinner as Mr. Jonson. "Set a thief to catch a thief,"is among the wisest of wise sayings, and accordingly I resolved infavour of a disclosure.

  Drawing my chair close to Jonson's, fixing my eye upon his countenance,and throwing into my own the most open, yet earnest expression I couldsummon, I briefly proceeded to sketch Glanv
ille's situation (onlyconcealing his name), and Thornton's charges. I mentioned my ownsuspicions of the accuser, and my desire of discovering Dawson, whomThornton appeared to me artfully to secrete. Lastly, I concluded, witha solemn promise, that if my listener could, by any zeal, exertion,knowledge, or contrivance of his own, procure the detection of the men,whom I was convinced were the murderers, a pension of three hundredpounds a-year should be immediately settled upon him.

  During my communication, the patient Job sat mute and still, fixing hiseyes on the ground, and only betraying, by an occasional elevationof the brows, that he took the slightest interest in the tale: when,however, I touched upon the peroration, which so tenderly concluded withthe mention of three hundred pounds a-year, a visible change came overthe countenance of Mr. Jonson. He rubbed his hands with an air of greatcontent, and one sudden smile broke over his features, and almost buriedhis eyes amid the intricate host of wrinkles it called forth: the smilevanished as rapidly as it came, and Mr. Job turned round to me with asolemn and sedate aspect.

  "Well, your honour," said he, "I'm glad you've told me all; we must seewhat can be done. As for Thornton, I'm afraid we shan't make much outof him, for he's an old offender, whose conscience is as hard as abrick-bat; but, of Dawson, I hope better things. However, you must letme go now, for this is a matter that requires a vast deal of privateconsideration. I shall call upon you tomorrow, Sir, before ten o'clock,since you say matters are so pressing; and, I trust, you will then seethat you have no reason to repent of the confidence you have placed in aman of honour."

  So saying, Mr. Job Jonson emptied the remainder of the bottle into histumbler, held it up to the light with the gusto of a connoisseur, andconcluded his potations with a hearty smack of the lips, followed by along sigh.

  "Ah, your honour!" said he, "good wine is a marvellous whetter of theintellect; but your true philosopher is always moderate: for my part, Inever exceed my two bottles."

  And with these words, this true philosopher took his departure.

  No sooner was I freed from his presence, than my thoughts flew to Ellen:I had neither been able to call nor write the whole of the day; and Iwas painfully fearful, lest my precautions with Sir Reginald's valet hadbeen frustrated, and the alarm of his imprisonment reached her and LadyGlanville. Harassed by this fear, I disregarded the lateness of thehour, and immediately repaired to Berkeley-square.

  Lady and Miss Glanville were alone and at dinner: the servant spoke withhis usual unconcern--"They are quite well?" said I, relieved, but stillanxious: and the servant replying in the affirmative, I again returnedhome, and wrote a long, and, I hope, consoling letter to Sir Reginald.

  VOLUME VIII.