t the blows should begin to descend on her. Then the three
hags set upon me like furies; but their abuse only irritated me, and I
broke the pier-'glass, the china, and the furniture, and as they still
howled and shrieked I roared out that if they did not cease I would break
their heads. At this they began to calm.
I threw myself upon the fatal sofa, and bade the mother to return me the
bills of exchange; but just then the watchman came in.
There is only one watchman to a district, which he perambulates all night
with a lantern in one hand and a staff in the other. On these men the
peace of the great city depends. I put three or four crowns into his hand
and said "Go away," and so saying shut the door upon him. Then I sat down
once more and asked again for the bills of exchange:
"I have not got them; my daughter keeps them."
"Call her."
The two maids said that whilst I was breaking the china she had escaped
by the street door, and that they did not know what had become of her.
Then the mother and aunts began to shriek, weep, and exclaim,--
"My poor daughter alone in the streets of London at midnight! My dear
niece, alas! alas! she is lost. Cursed be the hour when you came to
England to make us all unhappy!"
My rage had evaporated, and I trembled at the thought of this young
frightened girl running about the streets at such an hour.
"Go and look for her at the neighbours' houses," I said to the servants,
"no doubt you will find her. When you tell me she is safe, you shall have
a guinea apiece."
When the three Gorgons saw I was interested, their tears, complaints, and
invectives began again with renewed vigor, while I kept silence as much
as to say that they were in the right. I awaited the return of the
servants with impatience, and at last at one o'clock they came back with
looks of despair.
"We have looked for her everywhere," said they, "but we can't find her."
I gave them the two guineas as if they had succeeded, whilst I sat
motionless reflecting on the terrible consequences of my anger. How
foolish is man when he is in love!
I was idiot enough to express my repentance to the three old cheats. I
begged them to seek for her everywhere when dawn appeared, and to let me
know of her return that I might fall at her feet to beg pardon, and never
see her face again. I also promised to pay for all the damage I had done,
and to give them a full receipt for the bills of exchange. After these
acts, don
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