inent; what
could her ladyship do? The man must be disposed of, even at the
sacrifice of truth; her ladyship gave the required promise (_intending
never to keep it_,) you performed the service, and very properly, I
own, come to receive your reward. Of course, you perceive the
impossibility of a compliance with your wishes. No intrigue can exist
between the patrician and the plebeian--you are low-born, she of the
noblest blood of the kingdom. Are you so blind, man, that you cannot
see--or are you so stupid that you cannot comprehend--the repugnance
which her ladyship must naturally feel at the very idea of an amorous
intimacy existing between a high-born lady and--good heavens!--a
_butler_? Here, my good fellow, is a purse, containing fifty
guineas--I will double the sum to-morrow. Now go; and remember that
you have everything to expect from our generosity, in a pecuniary
point of view; but a repetition of your demand for her ladyship's
favors, will most assuredly result to your lasting disadvantage.'

"Seeing the folly of attempting to press my claim further, I sneaked
out of the room, with very much the air of a disconcerted cur with his
tail between his legs, to use a simile more expressive than elegant.
The moment I had entered my own chamber, the clock in a neighboring
steeple proclaimed the hour of two, and then for the first time I
remembered the appointment which I had made with my two particular
friends, from the "Jolly Thieves," in reference to the disposal of
Lagrange's body. The hour appointed for meeting them, was passed; and
suddenly a thought struck me--a strange thought--which had no sooner
flashed through my mind, than I resolved to act upon its suggestion.
'Twas a glorious plan of revenge, and one which could only have
emanated from my fertile imagination.

"'The corpse of the Frenchman shall become the instrument of my
vengeance,' thought I, chuckling with glee. 'I shall not need the
assistance of those two fellows now--and, if they are still lurking
about the house, I will reward them for their trouble and send them
away. Ah, lucky thought--lucky thought!'

"I found my two friends in waiting for me; they grumbled much at my
want of punctuality, but their murmurings were hushed when I paid them
liberally, and dismissed them, saying that I had discovered a much
safer and more convenient method of disposing of the body, than the