"What shall I do?" he said, "I must escape—escape! Yes. How the fire roars! I will not sleep. Oh, no—no! It is done now; the old house is gone—gone!"
Todd fell fast asleep in the pulpit.
CHAPTER CLI.
SHIFTS THE SCENE TO ONE OF QUIET GOODNESS AND SERENITY.
The necessities of our story force us for a short space of time to leave Sweeney Todd in the pulpit of St. Dunstan's Church, and his house in process of demolition by fire, while we take the reader back again to Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, where the Ingestries resided in such loving and pleasant union.
The communication that Sir Richard Blunt had made to them, had had the effect of disturbing the serenity of Mark Ingestrie to a much greater extent than he would have liked to admit, or than he was at all likely to let Johanna know.
She, too, the fair and gentle Johanna, felt an acute pang as she thought on the stern, revengeful character of Todd; and began to fancy, that if he wished to work her any woe, he would take a means of doing so which would touch her much more severely than as if he aimed at her own life, by attacking that of her husband, to whom, after so many perils, she was at length so very happily united.
"Oh, Mark," she said, "you will, you must promise me that you will depart at once from here."
"We will be gone directly, Johanna. But who have we here? Why, there is an arrival already. I will go and see who it is. It is some one in a coach."
"Oh, no—no, Mark, do not go."
"Not go?"