“Get money, Mullholland-get money. It takes money to make love strong.
Say what you will, a woman’s heart is sure to be sound on the gold
question. Mark ye, Mullholland!—there is an easy way to get money. Do
you take? (His fingers wander over his forehead, as he watches intently
in George’s face.) You can make names? Such things are done by men in
higher walks, you know. Quite a common affair in these parts. The Judge
has carried off your property; make a fair exchange-you can use his
name, get money with it, and make it hold fast the woman you love.
There are three things, George, you may set down as facts that will be
of service to you through life, and they are these: when a man
eternally rings in your ears the immoralities of the age, watch him
closely; when a man makes what he has done for others a boast, set him
down a knave; and when a woman dwells upon the excellent qualities of
her many admirers, set her down as wanting. But, get money, and when
you have got it, charm back this beautiful creature.”
Such is the advice of Mr. Soloman Snivel, the paid intriguer of the
venerable Judge.
CHAPTER XXV.
A SLIGHT CHANGE IN THE PICTURE.
The two lone revellers remain at the pier-table; moody and hectic. Mr.
Snivel drops into a sound sleep, his head resting on the marble.
Weak-minded, jealous, contentious-with all the attendants natural to
one who leads an unsettled life, sits George Mullholland, his elbow
resting on the table, and his head poised thoughtfully in his hand. “I
will have revenge-sweet revenge; yes, I will have revenge to-night!” he
mutters, and sets his teeth firmly.
In Anna’s chamber all is hushed into stillness. The silvery moonbeams
play softly through the half-closed windows, lighting up and giving an
air of enchantment to the scene. Curtains hang, mist-like, from massive
cornices in gilt. Satin drapery, mysteriously underlaid with lace, and
floating in bewitching chasteness over a fairy-like bed, makes more
voluptuous that ravishing form calmly sleeping-half revealed among the
snowy sheets, and forming a picture before which fancy soars, passion
unbends itself, and sentiment is led away captive. With such exquisite
forms strange nature excites our love;—that love that like a little
stream meanders capriciously through our feelings, refreshing life,
purifying our thoughts, exciting our ambition, and modulating our
actions. That love, too, like a quick-sand, too often proves a
destroyer to the weak-minded.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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