I shall be passing again, I know, in the course of the day. Pray attend to this gentleman's orders, I beg of you." So saying, the shaving customer bounced out of the shop without another
word; and as he crossed the threshold, he gave a wink to Crotchet, who
was close at hand, and when that gentleman followed him, he said--

"Crotchet, Todd very nearly got me into a line. He was going out with
the person we saw go to the shop, but I got away, or else, as he said,
he would have polished me off." "Not a doubt of it, in this here world, Foster," said Crotchet. "Ah,
he's a rum 'un, he is. We haven't come across sich a one as he for one
while, and it will be a jolly lot o' Sundays afore we meets with sich
another." "It will, indeed. Is Fletcher keeping an eye on the shop?" "Oh, yes, right as a trivet. He's there, and so is Godfrey." While this brief conversation was going on between the officers who had
been left to watch Sweeney Todd's shop, that individual himself
accompanied the customer, whom he had been conversing with, to Norfolk
Street, Strand. The well-dressed personage stopped at a good-looking
house, and said--

"Mr. Mundell only lodges here for the present. His state of mind, in
consequence of a heavy loss he has sustained, would not permit him to
stay in his own house at Kensington." "Mr. Mundell?" said Todd. "Yes. That is the gentleman you are to shave and dress." "May I presume to ask, sir, what he is?" "Oh, he is a--a--kind of merchant, you understand, and makes what use of
his money he thinks proper." "The same!" gasped Todd. The door of the house was opened, and there was no retreat, although, at
the moment, Todd felt as though he would much rather not shave and dress
the man of whom he had procured the £8,000 upon the string of pearls;
but to show any hesitation now might beget enquiry and enquiry might be
awkward, so summoning all his natural audacity to his aid, Todd followed
his guide into the house. He was a little puzzled to know who this
person could be, until a woman made her appearance from one of the rooms
upon the ground floor, and cried--

"There now, go out, do. We don't want you any more; you have got your
pocket money, so be off with you, and don't let me see your face again
till night." "No, my dear," said the well-dressed personage. "Certainly not. This is
the barber." "Good God, Blisset, do you think I am blind, that I can't see the
barber. Will you go? The captain is waiting for me to pour out his
coffee, and attend to his other concerns, which nobody knows better than
you, and yet you will be perpetually in the way." "No, my dear. I--I only--"

"Hoity toity, are we going to have a disturbance, Mr. B? Recollect, sir,
that I dress you well and give you money, and expect you to make
yourself agreeable while I attend to the gentlemen lodgers, so be off
with you; I'm sure, of all the troublesome husbands for a woman to have,
you are about the worst, for you have neither the spirit to act like a
man, nor the sense to keep out of the way." "Ha!" said Todd. Both the lodging-house keeper and his wife started at the odd sound. "What was that?" said the woman. "Only me, madam," said Todd, "I laughed slightly at that blue-bottle
walking on the ceiling, that's all." "What a laugh," said Blisset, as he left the house; and then the lady of
the mansion turning to Todd, said--

"You are to attend to Mr. Mundell, poor man. You will find him in the
front room on the second floor, poor man." "Is he ill, madam?" "Oh, I don't know, I rather think he's grizzling about some of his
money, that's all, but it don't matter one way or the other. They say he
is as rich as a Jew, and I'll take good care he pays enough here." "Mrs. B--Mrs. B," cried a voice from the parlour. "Yes, captain, I'm coming.--I'm coming, captain." The lady bounced into the breakfast-parlour and closed the door, leaving
Todd to find his way up stairs as he best could. After a hideous chuckle
at the thought of Mr. Blisset's singular position in society, he
commenced ascending the stairs. He accomplished the first flight without
meeting with any one, but upon the second he encountered a servant girl
with a pail, and Todd gave her such a hideous glance, accompanied by
such a frightful contortion of his visage, that down went the pail, and
the girl flew up stairs again, and locked herself in one of the attics. Without waiting to ascertain what effect the descent of the pail might
have upon the nerves of the captain and the landlady, Todd pursued his
course to the room whither he had been directed, and tapped at the door. "Come in," said a meek, tremulous voice. "Come in." Todd opened the door, and stood in the presence of the man over whose
long tried skill and habitual cunning he had obtained such a triumph in
the affair of the pearls at Mundell Villa. John Mundell now, though, was
far from looking like the John Mundell of the villa. He sat by the fire,
wrapped up in a flannel dressing-gown, with a beard of portentous
length. His cheeks had fallen in. His brow was corrugated by premature
wrinkles, and the corners of his mouth were drawn down as though a look
of mental distress had become quite a thing of habit with him now. "Who are you?" he growled out, as Todd came into the room, and with a
show of carefulness closed the door after him. "Who are you, eh?" "Come to shave you, sir, and dress your hair." "Ah!" cried Mundell, as he gave a start. "Where have I heard that voice
before? Why does it put me in mind of my loss? My £8000! My money--my
money. Am I to lose another £8000? That will make £16,000. Oh, dear. Oh,
dear. Oh dear! Who are you? Speak, friend. Who are you?" "Only a barber, sir," said Todd, "come to shave you, and dress your
hair. Ain't you well, sir? Shall I call again?" "No--no--no! My losses distracts me. Only the barber? Ah, yes to be
sure--only the barber. I must go to court, and ask for the duke of
something. Good God, yes! I will see all the dukes, until I find out my
duke. He who had my £8000, and has left me so poor and so wretched. Oh,
dear! Oh, dear, my money--my hard-earned money. Oh, gracious, if I were
to lose another £8000, I should go mad--mad--mad!" "Shall I begin, sir?" said Todd. "Begin? Begin what? Oh, yes, my hair; and I must be shaved too, or they
won't let me in at all. I will have the pearls or my money. I will see
all the dukes, and pounce upon _my_ duke. Oh, yes, I will have the
pearls or the money." "Pearls, sir?" said Todd, as he began to arrange the shaving apparatus
he had brought with him. "Did you say pearls?" "Bah! what do you know about pearls, who, I dare say, never saw one. Bah! You--a poor beggarly barber. But I will have them back, or my
money. I will raise London, but I will find them. I will see the queen
herself, and know what duke she gave the pearls to, and then I will find
him and have my money." "Now, sir. A little this way." "Oh, dear--oh, dear! What do you charge?" "Anything you please, sir.