University of Virginia Library

15. CHAPTER XV.

The day after this painful interview, James changed his apartments to
another house, and for the next three weeks rarely saw Frederica except in
his mother's presence. To the latter he had, on the same day, freely confided
all, and although she was disappointed in the union she had looked forward
to, between her son and Frederica, she was prepared for this revelation
of his love for Grace Weldon. She, therefore, coincided with him in the
propriety of changing his home for the present, until Frederica should in
some measure overcome this attachment. During the three weeks that followed,
the unhappy Frederica was silent and sorrowful. When James did
enter the shop, at intervals of two or three days, she would make an effort
to appear cheerful; but it was an effort that it pained him to witness.

During the same three weeks, Clow had been laying his plans both for his
own ambitious ends, and his sister's elevation. Carlton Ellery, who, by
means of money raised on the plate, had paid his forged draft, had also been
busy plotting; for he had revenge to gratify, and a rival to overthrow. Jack
Brigs had not been idle, though he kept very close in his den under the
`Devil's Ladder,' for fear of the Police. He had also envy and hatred of
his own to indulge. Poor George Anson, the husband of the murdered
woman, had been examined and fully committed for trial; no suspicion being
directed against Clow, as he had feared, on account of the mark on the pistol.
Isabel, the quadroon, had also made, in the meanwhile, a most brilliant
debut as a cantatrice! Thus three weeks have produced changes, and advanced
materially the march of our story.

We will now take the reader to the handsomely furnished private chamber
of the mulatto. It is seven o'clock in the evening. Clow is walking up and
down his room in a rich brocade dressing gown; for in all points this ambitious
man imitated the luxury of the race he hated. The apartment remained
pretty much as when we last saw it, save that a writing desk was

open upon the table, and letters and writing materials, and written papers
strewn upon it.

His face wore a look of unquiet reflection, as if he was troubled and perplexed.
He stopped by the table, and took up a letter that lay upon it,
which he had finished writing a few minutes before, and begun to peruse it.
At this moment a door at the extremity of the room opened, and Isabel entered.
She was dressed richly, and her hair was arranged with great taste,
as if for the opera. She advanced towards him with an anxious expression
upon her fine countenance; a look of earnest solicitude. Without lifting his
eyes. he said, morosely.

`I have waited for you! You have been long dressing! There is what
I have written! Read it!' And he placed it before her.

`It does not suit me, brother,' she answered, firmly. `If you will allow
me to pen it, I will satisfy myself.'

`Well, write it, then! But first promise me, that after you have had this
interview with him, and fail to impress him with your beauty and love, you
will quietly yield to my wishes in respect to Carlton Ellery!'

`Yes, I promise, brother,' she answered confidently, her dark eyes smiling
brilliantly with the thought of conquest over one she loved. `In permitting
me to have this interview, you are doing me a kindness that I know how to
appreciate, dear brother!'

`I trust you will appreciate it,' he said, with a peculiar sinister smile.
`Now write your missile, and let me see how you will improve upon mine!'

She took the pen and proceeded to write, folding the letter sheet in the
form of a note.

`Sir, — The writer, a lady not altogether unknown to you, is very desirous
of seeing you on a subject in which her happiness and your honor are
most intimately concerned. If you will so far place confidence in an anonymous
communication as to regard this bold request, have the kindness to
call at No. 17 Dormer Place, — street, at eight o'clock, to-morrow evening.
Placing full trust in your benevolent nature and generous spirit, the
writer feels that she may look for you without fear of disappointment.'

`That is better, perhaps, because more artful! How does it concern his
honor?' he asked quickly.

`This is only to make the lure more certain, brother,' she answered, quietly,
yet carefully avoiding lifting her eyes to meet his, which she felt were
fastened upon her face with incipient suspicion.

`It is very well done, girl,' he said, glancing over it a second time, and
speaking with a gratified smile. `I will destroy mine. Now seal it and
direct it to the person. To-morrow I will see that he has it!'

`You seem to be strangely willing now that I should see him,' she said,
fixing her eyes upon his, which dropped suddenly before her gaze; `day after
day you have been putting me off, and thwarting me, but now you are
even willing to take the letter in person rather than he should not have it.
This is very kind in you, brother!' she said, with the slightest possible
shade of irony; which, however, he did not seem to notice, though he
colored as he replied,

`I want it over, and you to be convinced that he is indifferent to you, so
that you can give yourself to my views! You have been obstinate long
enough!'

`I promise, if I fail in my purpose, I will be as yielding as you could
wish!'

`You will do as I desire?'

`Yes.'

`Use every art to ensnare him?'

`Yes.'

`Then you will not fail of success.'

The letter, or rather note, was now folded by the young girl, and addressed,
in a delicate hand,

`James Daily, Esq.,
No. — Central Wharf.'

`Now retire,' said Clow, taking the note. `There is my bell! I expect
a visiter! As soon as he is gone I will go to the opera with you. You do
not sing till eight, and it is now but seven.'

The young quadroon left the apartment with a slight expression of gratification
animating her dark, handsome eyes, but which she strove to conceal
under a look of composure and indifference. After she had passed through
the door, he followed her steps, and locked it; and at the same moment a
foot-fall outside of the other door of the apartment, and a low tapping upon
the pannel with the finger nails, announced a guest.

Clow crossed the room, opened the door, and admitted Carlton Ellery.

`You are ever at your post, Philip,' said this young man, with a gay air,
but which nevertheless did not conceal a certain look of conscious degradation.

`You are also prompt, Mr. Ellery,' answered Clow, with civility, as if desirous
of conciliating his co-worker in guilt. `What news do you bring tonight?'

`Why I am quite full of news; but more than all, I am full of that lovely
little Jewish opera singer! I have heard her, last night was the third
night, and I am in raptures. She is divine! I do not know which most to
praise, her voice or her beauty!'

`I have no time to talk of singers, Mr. Ellery,' answered Clow, concealing
under a cold look of disapproval his deep inward satisfaction. `What
more of our matter with regard to this young merchant's clerk?'

`It progresses favorably. To-morrow, as you know, will be the crisis.
Every thing has been most artfully laid! He will fall, and there is no help
for him!'

`He must fall,' responded Clow, with strong feeling.

`You are, if possible, more his enemy than I, Philip! What can have
made you so much his enemy? I have asked you more than once, but your
bitterness just now surprises me. What is there between you and Daily?'

`It matters not! He has crossed my path twice. I am two-fold his enemy.
He is a marplot to my plans, he is an obstacle to my dearest wishes.'

`You could not say more if he was your rival, as he is mine! This is
the ground of my hostility to him! Besides, I hate him that he, an upstart
from beggary, should ever dare to aspire to the hand of Miss Weldon! I
hate him, too, because he has subjected me to a gross insult from her in the
public street, of which I told you, Clow. But we are having our revenges!
Jack also is not idle! So between us, if one fails, the other is sure to succeed!'

`I rejoice to hear it,' answered the mulatto, in a tone of deep satisfaction.

`I rejoice to know it is so! I have done my part, also! see this note that I
have written to him!'

`Why what a lady's hand you write!' exclaimed Ellery, as he opened
the letter which Clow handed to him. `One would swear it was written by
a female! Yes, this will bring him into our power! That is all I wish!
This will do the work, be assured! The other parts of our plan will work
out of themselves to-morrow, as you know.'

`Yes. I should like to be a witness!'

`As I shall be! But I will report to you all. Give me the letter, and I
will see that he gets it to-morrow in time! Now about this charming opera-girl
— this adorable Jewess! Have you been able to learn who she is, or
any thing about her since I saw you? No one knows! She comes and goes
from the theatre no one knows how or where; and it is my belief that she
lives in Jerusalem, for I can't find any body that knows where she lives
here, unless it is you, Philip, who know every thing!'

`I do know,' answered the mulatto, in a quiet way.

`You know! Then I must know. How did you ascertain? The sum I
offered you — one hundred dollars — when I was here night before last, to
ascertain where she was, and get me an introduction to her, shall be yours!
How did you find out?'

`I do not deem it necessary to let all the machinery of my results be
known. It is sufficient that I know where she lodges, and that I can get
you an introduction!'

`Then you are my best friend! I am irrevocably in love with her! I
am captivated! Who is she? The whole town is taken by surprise!
Who is she? every body asks, but nobody answers.'

`The name by which she made her debut, and is known to the public, I
learn is not her true name! She is the daughter of a Portuguese nobleman,
and a Jewess, his wife. The nobleman is a widower, and is poor, and
necessity has led him to place his accomplished daughter in the position she
has now taken before the world. My knowledge of the Portuguese, and
my character as one in the society of the hotels and in the street, gave me
facilities, you perceive, in making my inquiries, and, as a Portuguese, of obtaining
their confidence. His daughter is not nineteen yet, has been brought
up in the most perfect seclusion, and is as beautiful in the drawing-room as
upon the stage!'

`Then you have seen and spoken with her?'

`Yes, and supped with them. I have the free entree to their house,
and perhaps I could have the privilege of introducing you.'

`It would be a privilege to be prized,' exclaimed the handsome roué.

`But I caution you, Mr. Ellery! The maiden is of noble blood! Her
father is her protector! She may become your wife, possibly, but never let
it enter your thoughts for an instant that she can be to you any thing less!'

`An opera-girl!' repeated the haughty young aristocrat, with a derisive
movement of his fine lip.

`Two weeks ago she was not an opera-singer!' answered the mulatto,
impressively. `She was then thy equal! Why is she less so now?'

`Well, let it pass, Philip! She can be nothing to thee! Get me the introduction,
and I will let my good fortune shape out the rest!'

`You were to give me one hundred dollars, observed the mulatto, whose
characteristic avarice was always forward in its own manifestation.

`I did, and you shall have it when you have fulfilled the conditions.'

`To-night I will see them again. To-morrow night, of course, you will be
here!'

`Yes.'

`Then I will let you know my success, and when you can pay, with me, a
visit to her.'

`You are a prince for aiding a friend, Philip,' said Ellery, grasping his
hand and warmly shaking it. `Take no denial from your friend, the Don,
her old father! I must see her!'

`And you may depend upon it, your wish shall be gratified,' answered the
mulatto, with very positive significance. `But why do you hasten?'

`Why? It is the opera-divinity's night! I must be there! for I would
not lose a note for a pearl each! What! a lady's glove, Philip!' exclaimed
the young man, stooping and lifting from the floor beside the table a white
glove, made for a very small hand. `You have visiters of the other sex,
too, my lonely anchorite! I have had my suspicions; I had heard the retireing
rustling of silks before I was admitted!'

`It was a glove I found in the street, and brought home.'

`That is not so, Philip; for see you, this has the very shape of the fullness
of the fingers, and looks as if just drawn off. I would swear it was
warm when I came in!'

`Mr. Ellery will oblige me by keeping his gay conclusions to himself. I
will take the glove.'

`I see how it is! But I will not pry into your affairs, Philip. It is a
charming hand wore that! Wilt tell me how you came by it, Philip?'

`I will in a few days — not now! By-and-bye you shall know,' answered
the mulatto, with a look of singular meaning, which Ellery did not notice.

In a moment after he took his leave, and Clow sought the apartment of
his sister.

He found her muffled in a hood and shawls. Throwing on a furred cloak,
and taking a bat with a broad brim, he took her arm and led her along a
gallery, ascended a flight of stairs, descended another, entered a room elegantly
furnished, crossed it, and descended a flight of hall stairs, opened a
door and emerged upon a street some distance from that in the front of his
own habitation. Here a carriage was in waiting, into which he assisted his
sister, and then followed her, merely saying to the driver, `It is late — drive
fast!'