"Oh yes, my Lady," answered the fiend; "scarce a day--I am sure not a week passes, without a stone being put up by mourning friends in memory of those whom they would fain forget; and once the earth is shovelled in, you know, it matters little how the dead man went. In truth, to most men, 'tis a charity to cut them off from a few years of sorrow. 'Tis a sad world, full of cares, my Lady; and I know that too, poor creature as I am. Here they are pressing me hard for the rent of my house; and where I am to get it I am sure I cannot tell."
"There!" said the Countess, throwing a purse upon the table; "and if you skilfully accomplish that which is needed, you shall be rich."
The woman seized her hand to kiss it; but the Countess drew it away, as if a serpent stung her. "Come, no foolery," she said. "You know I pay well for services; but they must be rendered duly. I have told you that this person shall be entirely in your power. You shall have every opportunity to practise on him your skill. He shall be altogether in your hands. Is there anything more you need?"
"Ha, ha, ha!" said Mrs. Turner, laughing with a low titter. "I thought first it was a woman, till your ladyship said he: for ladies have not, in general, such enmities to men."
"My friendships are the friendships of my friends," cried the Countess; "their hate my hate. 'Tis not that this man has injured me, but he is dangerous to one I love. He must die! See you to the means. I have heard that the late Queen Catherine, of France, was so well served in cases such as these, that those whom she dreaded or disliked, disappeared as if by magic. The smelling of a nosegay--a pair of scented gloves--a cup of fragrant wine--would clear her Court in a few hours of those who cumbered it."
"All tales! my Lady," replied Mrs. Turner; "except, perhaps, the wine. I doubt not that she did deliver herself of enemies by such means, and those the best, too, she could employ; but odours to kill, must be strong scents, indeed; and, 'tis more like, some friendly valet helped to season the soup of the good Monseigneur, than that he took the poison by the nose. However, there is one thing I can say, that there is no secret in the sciences with which my friend, good Doctor Foreman, is unfurnished; and, moreover, that he will employ them all to please your ladyship."
"Well, consult him, then," said Lady Essex; "let him know that his reward is sure. Think you he has ever practised in this sort before?"
"I must not say that, my Lady," replied Mrs. Turner, with a shrewd look; "but I know well, that in this country, and in many others, too, he has served great men in various ways. Ay, kings and princes; and, I suspect, their foes have had cause to know it, too. But he is as secret as the grave, and never babbles of the things he has done."
"That is the man we want," said the Countess; "speak to him about the matter, and let me know what he says."
"That I will, my Lady," answered Mrs. Turner. "But who is the gentleman we have to deal with?"