Mr. Lupin retired, and as the stimulant was not at all an ungrateful
thing to Mrs. Oakley, she was about to raise it to her lips, when a
stunning knock at the chapel door made her give such a start, that she
dropped glass, and spirit, and spoon to the ground. No doubt, a
repetition of the knock at the moment, prevented Lupin from hearing the
crash, which the fall in spirits produced. Mrs. Oakley heard him open
the window of his room, and in a voice of stifled anger cry--

"Who is there? Who is there?" "It's me, Groggs, and you know it," said a female voice. "Come down and
open the door, or I will rouse the whole neighbourhood." "Come, you be off. I have some one here." "What, another idiot? Ho!--ho!--ho! Why, Groggs, they will find you out
some day, and limb you. If they only knew that you were Groggs the
returned transport, how they would mob you to be sure. But I have come
for money, old fellow, and I will have it. I ain't drunk, but I have had
enough--just enough, mark me old boy, and you know what I am capable of
when that's the case. I am your wife and you know it. Ho! ho!" Dab came the knocker again upon the chapel door. "Do you want to be my ruin?" said Lupin. "Stay a moment and I will throw
you out five shillings; but if you make any noise you shall not have one
farthing from me." "Shall I not? Ha!--ha! Shall I not? Five shillings indeed!" The lady upon this, feeling no doubt that both her wants and his powers
of persuasion were made very light of, commenced such a tremendous
knocking at the door, that the terrified Lupin at once descended to let
her in, uttering such terrible curses as he went that Mrs. Oakley was
petrified with dismay. Foolish woman! Did she expect that her idol would turn out to be
anything but a common brazen image? In the course of a few moments she heard the couple coming up stairs
again, and when they reached the top, she heard Lupin say, "Confound
you, you always will come with your infernal demands at the very worst
and most awkward times and seasons to me. Did you not take ten pounds
some time ago, and promise to come near me no more?" "Ha!--ha! Yes, I did. But I am here again you see. You thought I would
drink myself to death with that amount of money, and that you would get
rid of me, but it did me good. Ho!--ho!--ho! The good stuff did me
good." "You are a fool," said Lupin. "I tell you, woman, you will be my ruin,
my absolute ruin; and then where will your supplies come from I should
like to know? Why I have an idiot only in the next room, of whom I hope
to make a good thing; and if you had only come in five minutes sooner
you would have been heard by her, and I should have been done up here." "And why don't she hear you now? Have you cut her throat like you did
the woman's by Wapping?" "Hush!--hush! you devil! Why do you allude to that?" "Because I like, my beauty. Because I know you did it. And whenever I do
mention it, the gallows shines out in your face as plain--ay, as plain
as this hand; and I like to see you quake and change colour, and be
ready almost to fall down with your fears. Ho!--ho! I like that. Yes,
it's as good to me as a drop of drink, that it is." "I only wish your throat was cut, that is all." "I know you do. But you won't try that on upon me. No--no. You won't try
that on. Look at this, my beauty. Do you think I would step into a place
of yours without something in the shape of a friend with me? Oh--no--no--"

The lady exhibited the handle and point of the blade of a knife, as she
spoke, at which Mr. Lupin staggered back, and then in a faltering voice
he said--

"I will go and see how my portion has worked with the idiot I mentioned. I gave her a good dose of laudanum in a glass of brandy and water." It may be imagined with what feelings Mrs. Oakley heard this interesting
little dialogue. It may be imagined, if she had at the bottom of her
heart any lingering feelings of right or wrong, how they were likely to
be roused up by all this--how her thoughts were likely to fly back to
the house she had made wretched, and virtually deserted for so long a
period of time. And now what was to become of her? Had she not heard
Lupin denounced by one who knew him well as a murderer--an allegation
which he had not even in the faintest manner denied? Mrs. Oakley went down upon her knees in earnest, and wringing her hands,
she cried--

"God save me for my poor husband and my child's sake!" We will suppose that if any appeals at all reach Heaven, that this was
one of those that would be sure to get there. Hastily pushing aside with
her hands the fragments of the broken glass, Mrs. Oakley flung herself
upon the floor, at the moment that Lupin with a light in his hand
entered the room. "Hilloa!" he said. All was still. Mrs. Oakley did not move hand nor foot. She scarcely
dared to breathe, for she felt that upon his belief that she had
swallowed the narcotic her life rested. When he saw her lying upon the
floor, he gave a short laugh, as he said--

"I thought she could not resist the brandy and water. The laudanum has
done its work quickly indeed. It's well that it has, for if it had not--
Well, well! If I only now had the courage to take a knife to my wife,
and get rid of her once and for all, I should do well. Sister Oakley,
you will not awaken for many hours, and when you do, you will be by far
too much confused to know if you have said all your prayers or not. I
shall make a fortune out of these women." Mrs. Oakley felt upon the point of fainting, and if he had but touched
her, she was certain that she must have gone off; but he felt so
satisfied with the powerful dose of laudanum that he had given her in
the brandy and water, that he did not think it worth while in any way
further to interfere with her. "Old and ugly too!" he muttered, as he left the room. Perhaps these last words cut Mrs. Oakley to the soul more quickly than
all he had previously said. If she was not from that moment cured of
what might in her case be called Lupinism, it was a very odd thing
indeed. The Rev. gent had been gone more than ten minutes before Mrs. Oakley
gathered courage to look up, and to listen to what was taking place in
the next room. Then she found that Lupin was speaking. She was still too
much overcome by terror to rise, but she managed to crawl along the
floor, until she reached the wall between the two rooms. It was a flimsy wall that, composed only of canvas, for the rooms above
the chapel had been got up in a very extemporaneous kind of way. Nothing could take place in the way of conversation in the next room,
that might be distinctly enough heard in the one that Mrs. Oakley was
in. As we have said, Lupin was speaking. Mrs. Oakley placed her ear
close to the canvas, and heard every word that he uttered. "Listen to reason," he said, "listen to reason, Jane. Of course, I will
give you as much money as I can. I do not attempt to deny your claim
upon me, and what is to hinder us working together, and making a good
thing of it?