“Yes, rather. He goes down, half murders the lover, and then throws him in the river; and, thinking he’s dead, runs off with the girl.”
“Exactly.”
“But she wasn’t rich?”
“No, but she is very handsome; a perfect Venus.”
“And what could have been his object?”
“To gratify the king.”
“I see; just so; and has he acted a friend to you?”
“No, not to me in particular; but as he promised to befriend all of us, I kept the thing secret from the Londoners, for £500 isn’t to be sneezed at, you know.”
“And do you mean to say that all this is true?”
“Then he’s a villain of the worst sort.”