Previous to his return to town, on the following morning, Grimaldi sought and obtained a few minutes' private conversation with Mackintosh. In this interview, he used his utmost endeavours to awaken his mind to a sense of his situation, to induce him to reflect on the crimes he had committed, and to place before him the inevitable consequences of his career if he held the same course; by all of which remonstrances the man appeared much affected, and for which he expressed himself very grateful. It was scarcely necessary for Grimaldi to add, that any communication between them must be discontinued for the future; but, lest his true repentance might be endangered by the loss of the only friend he seemed to have, he gave him permission to write to him if he ever needed his assistance, and assured him that if it were in his power to relieve him, the appeal should never be made in vain. It says something for the honour of human nature and the sincerity of the man's repentance, that he never took undue advantage of this permission, and, indeed, was never heard of by Grimaldi again.
The witness returned to town, as he had every reason to do, with a light heart; and as he never heard any further intelligence either of the half-dozen gentlemen, or the six Lucretias to whom he had so unwittingly introduced his wife, he experienced no further trouble or disquiet on this score.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XIII.
AN INTERPOLATION.
The facts relating to Grimaldi's connexion with John Mackoull, alias Mackintosh, are the following:—
Mackoull, during two years previous to Michaelmas, 1804, was a publican; he kept the George Inn, at Hayes, in Kent; and, in his own words, in his "Abuses of Justice," mentions the following particulars:—"In justice to Mr. Grimaldi, I will shortly state the commencement and nature of our acquaintance. I saw him for the first time as a guest at my house at Hayes, where, from the attention I paid him and his friends, he visited me several times.
"Shortly after I came to London, I accidentally met him, and invited him and his wife to dine with me. The invitation was accepted, and he in turn invited me and my wife to dine; indeed, the whole of our acquaintance consisted in several times mutually dining at each other's houses."
Mackoull lived in White Lion-court, in Throgmorton-street, and the occasional intimacy appears to have continued till 1807, in which year, on March 13th, Lund had a benefit at the Woolwich Theatre, when the Bolognas, Grimaldi, and Norman, were to enact Don Juan. Mackoull accompanied John Bologna from London to Woolwich on the morning of the 13th; the performances went off well at night, and the whole party continued there till two o'clock in the afternoon of the 14th, when Mackoull left, Grimaldi having promised to dine with him on the Wednesday following.