There it is possible I
may be--oh, no, no--not happy; but I may be powerful, and have cringing
slaves about me, who, finding that I am rich, will tell me that I am
beautiful, and I shall be able to drink deeply of the intoxicating cup
of pleasure, in some land where prudery, or what is called propriety,
has not set up its banner as it has in this land of outward virtue. As
for Todd--I--I will try to be assured that he is a corpse before I
breathe freely; and if I fail in that, I will hope that we shall be
thousands of leagues asunder." A shadow passed the window. Mrs. Lovett started to her feet. "Ah! who comes? 'Tis he--no--God! 'tis Todd." For a moment she pressed her hands upon her face, as though she would
squeeze out the traces of passion from the muscles, and then her old set
smile came back again. Todd entered the shop. For a few moments they
looked at each other in silence, and then Todd said--

"Alone?" "Quite," she replied. He gave one of his peculiar laughs, and then glided into the parlour
behind the shop. Mrs. Lovett followed him. "News?" he said. "None." "Hem! The time is coming." "The time to leave off this--"

"Yes. The time to quit business, Mrs. Lovett. All goes well--swimmingly. Ha! ha!" She shuddered as she said--

"Do not laugh." "Let those laugh who win," replied Todd. "How old are you, Sarah?" "Old?" "Yes, or to shape the question perhaps more to a woman's liking, how
young are you? Have you yet many years before you in which to enjoy the
fruits of our labours? Have you the iron frame which will enable you to
say--'I shall revel for years in the soft enjoyments of luxury stolen
from a world I hate?' Tell me." Mrs. Lovett fell into a musing attitude, and Todd thought she was
reflecting upon her age; but at length she said--

"I sometimes think I would give half of what is mine if I could forget
how I became possessed of the whole." "Indeed!" "Yes, Todd. Has no such feeling ever crossed you?" "Never! I am implacable. Fate made me a barber, but nature made me
something else. In the formation of man there is a something that gives
weakness to his resolves, and makes him pause upon the verge of
enterprise with a shrinking horror. That is what the world calls
conscience. It has no hold of me. I have but one feeling towards the
human race, and that is hatred. I saw that while they pretended to bow
down to God, they had in reality set up another idol in their heart of
hearts. Gold! gold! Tell me--how many men there are in this great city
who do not worship gold far more sincerely and heartily than they
worship Heaven?" "Few--few." "Few? None, I say, none. No. The future is a dream--an _ignis fatuus_--a
vapour. The present we can grasp--ha!" "What is our wealth, Todd?" "Hundreds of thousands." He shaded his eyes with his hands, and peered from the parlour into the
shop. "Who is that keeps dodging past the window each moment, and peeping in
at every convenient open space in the glass that he can find?" Mrs. Lovett looked, and then, after an effort, she said--

"Todd, I was going to speak to you of that man." "Ah!" "Listen; I suspect him. For some days past he has haunted the shop, and
makes endeavours to become acquainted with me. I did not think it sound
policy wholly to shun him, but gave him such encouragement as might
supply me with opportunities of judging if he were a spy or not." "Humph!" "I think him dangerous." Todd's eyes glistened like burning coals. "Should he come into your shop to be shaved, Todd--"

"Ha! ha!" The horrible laugh rang through the place, and Mrs. Lovett's lover, with
the moustache, sprung to the other side of Bell Yard, for the unearthly
sound even reached his ears as he was peeping through the window to
catch a glimpse of the charming widow. "You understand me, Todd?" "Perfectly--perfectly--I shall know him again. Ah, my dear Mrs. Lovett,
how dangerous it is to be safe in this world. Even our virtue cannot
escape detraction; but we will live in hopes of better times. You and I
will show the world, yet, what wealth is." "Yes--yes." Todd crept close to her, and was about to place his arm round her waist,
but she started from him, exclaiming--

"No--no, Todd--a thousand times no. Have we not before quarrelled upon
this point. Do not approach me, or our compact, infernal as it is, is at
an end. I have sold my soul to you, but I have not bartered myself." The expression of Todd's countenance at this juncture was that of an
incarnate fiend. He glared at Mrs. Lovett as though with the horrible
fascination of his ugliness he would overcome her, and then slowly
rising, he said--

"Her soul--ha! She has sold her soul to me--ha! I will call to-morrow." He left the shop, and as he passed the gent who, by force of his
moustache, hoped to win the affections of Mrs. Lovett, he gave him such
a look that he terrified him and the gent found himself in the shop
before he was aware. "Bless me, what a horrid looking fellow! I swear by my courage and
honour I never saw such a face. Ah, my charmer! Who was that left your
charming presence just now?" "Some one who came for a pie." "'Pon honour, he's enough to poison all the pies! Oh, you beauty,
yo--ou--ou--ou--"

The gallant's mouth was so full of a veal pie that he had stuffed into
it that for some few moments he could not produce an intelligible sound. When he had recovered, he walked into the parlour and sat down, saying--

"Now, Mrs. Lovett, here am I, 'pon honour, your humble servant, and stop
my breath if I'd say as much to the commander-in-chief. When's the happy
day to be?" "Do you really love me?" "Do I love you? Do I love fighting? Do I love honour--glory? Do I love
eating and drinking? Do I love myself?" "Ah, Major Bounce, you military men are so gallant." "'Pon honour we are. General Cavendish used to say to me--'Bounce,' says
he, 'if you don't make your fortune by war, which you ought to do,
Bounce, 'pon honour, you will make it by love.' 'General,' says I--now I
was always ready for a smart answer, Mrs. Lovett--so 'General,' says I,
'the same to you!'" "Very smart." "Yes, wasn't it. 'Pon honour it was, and 'pon soul you looks more and
more charming every day that I see you." "Oh you flatterer!" "No--no. Bar flattering--bar flattering. His Majesty has often said,
'Talk of flattery. Oh dear, Bounce is the man for me. He is right
down--straight up-off handed. And no sort of mistake, on--on--on.'" Another pie converted the oratory of the major into something between a
grunt and a sigh. "But major, I'm afraid that you will regret marrying me. If I convert
all I have into money"--the major pricked up his ears--"I could not make
of it more than fifty thousand pounds." The major's eyes opened to the size of pint saucers, as he said--

"Fifty--fift--fif.--Say it again!" "Fifty thousand pounds." The major rose and embraced Mrs. Lovett. Tears actually came into his
eyes, and gulping down the pie, he cried--

"You have fifty thousand charms.