Stealing the police seal had been immensely difficult. After breaking into an office, Anthony had been forced to hide under the desk when an officer had come in to retrieve his baton. But he had managed it, doing exactly what Mr. Todd had instructed. He had not opened the letter Todd had bade him deliver, nor had he made any inquiries as to its contents, but sealed it with it with blue wax.
When the work was done, the letter was unceremoniously stuffed into the prison post warden's box. Noting the special seal, the post warden requested the classified information required to address it. It was delivered on time to the overnight mail express train.
--
Mrs. Lovett's teeth held fast to her lower lip as she was escorted back to the prison cell. The moment the door slammed shut, she burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Todd was seated on the floor, trying to catch a fly with one hand.
"He..Norwood, my solicitor...out the window, you'll see..."
Todd leaned up and glanced out the window, observing a bespectacled thin man being carried across the grounds by two prison guards. He let out a small 'hrmph' of derision, then noticed the fly on the wall, smashed it against the stone and wiped his hand off on his trousers.
"He asked me to MARRY him," Lovett giggled, kneeling down beside him and pressing her face into his shoulder as she tried to quell her laughter.
Todd dead-panned, and looked at her. "You're joking."
"No, no, he did, and then he fainted. They're taking him to the doctor up the road."
"And?" Todd pressed, clearly amused.
"And what?" Lovett asked breathlessly, wiping away tears of mirth.
"What did you say?"
"Oh," she slumped beside him and drew her fingernails lightly against his collarbone. "I didn't say anything, really. He got himself so worked up, he flummoxed himself into thinking I said yes."
"What a queer fellow. I suppose it's all very well, you having your claws in him," Todd said jovially, yanking her against him, grasping her sleeve.
"Mmm?"she mumbled, kissing his neck.
"After all, he's provided us with funds," he tore at her sleeve.
"What are you-"
"Hush. I'll buy you a better dress."
He dislodged himself from her and went to tie the strip of fabric around one of the bars in the window.
"Are we leaving tonight?" Lovett asked, examining her torn sleeve.
"You'll see."
--
"Master Reginald, you have post."
Whispers floated through the hall.
"I thought he was an orphan."
"Who would write to him?"
"Maybe he's been expelled."
Toby accepted the letter gingerly. Normally he took a solitary luncheon outside or with one of the masters, but the weather was too brutal to be caught out of doors.
Seeing the police seal on the front, Toby tensed slightly. Were they going to revoke his scholarship?
Carefully, he broke the seal, pulled the letter open and began to read the crisp, tight handwriting.
Tobias,
No doubt you have been well rewarded in exchange for offering your testimony against me. It is rather a pity that it has to be in vain. In all honesty, I did not mind you, and as I'm sure you know, I am not particularly fond of people as a rule. In any case, I hope this reaches you in good health, and I look forward to seeing you again in the very near feature.
Yours,
Benjamin Barker
aka
Sweeney Todd
PS. As you may have guessed, I am no longer at Newgate. I found that incarceration did not agree with me, so I was regretfully forced to leave. I am in the area, however, and I do plan to drop in. I'm certain you're dying to see me.
S.T.
The initials had been written in blood. With shaking hands, Toby set down the letter. The earthshattering feeling of paralysis he had felt while observing Todd prowling the basement with his bloody razor - searching for him- had returned. He gave a great jerking shudder and dropped down to the floor, shaking uncontrollably. He wrapped his arms around his knees and began to rock back and forth, ignorant of the jeering, curious boys around him.
Someone must have had the sense to go for a master, because several of the staff had arrived.
"What is it, lad, what's wrong?" Master Langley asked urgently, kneeling down to take Toby's clammy hands.
One of the others spotted the letter on the floor. Upon its review, the dean was sent for, and the police contacted immediately.
--
Todd worked quickly, but in silence while Lovett watched with bated breath. With the aid of a piece of string, a bow and a thick rope, Anthony had managed to hoist up the basket full of supplies in a few short moments. Once Todd gave him the signal, he fled back to his flat to make further arrangements.
The door swung open on silent hinges, having been well oiled before hand. Todd spied MacKenna asleep in his chair and paused for a moment of debate. Seconds later, the Lieutenant's corpse lay in the middle of the cell in a pool of blood, the inner workings of his neck and throat exposed to the cold air.
Lovett observed Todd quietly, a small frisson of pleasure running through her: pleasure at seeing something done so well. Todd carefully oiled the hinges of the neighbouring door. Silently, he slipped the pick into the lock, working it until with a minuscule click, the tumblers fell into place. Gently he pulled the door open and quietly bade Lovett bring the basket of supplies. Without a sound, they slipped into the cell, and without a sound, shut the door. As long as they stayed in the corners nearest the door, they were invisible.
"What do you mean, ESCAPED?" Sir Blunt screeched.
"Well, sir, we've had a telegram from the Norwich area police, and-"
"Get to the POINT."
"They say they've had a letter from Todd, saying he'd escaped-"
"Has anyone bothered to CHECK THE CELL?"
At that moment, another officer burst into the room.
"Sir Inspector-"
"WHAT?"
"It's MacKenna, sir, he's..." the officer gulped. "He's dead. His throat's cut, he's in Barker's cell."
"And Barker is..." it was more of a statement than a question: Blunt knew the answer.
"Gone."
--
The prison was empty of every guard, constable and warden, save one token guard. Half the police forces of London were fanning out across the southern countryside in search of the escaped prisoner.
It had worked beautifully. Mrs. Lovett balanced on the low guiding rail that normally directed the steps of prisoners on the main concourse, giggling like a school girl. Todd laughed with her as she lost her balance, catching her around the waist. Drunk with success, they collapsed in the middle of the floor. Todd's hand crept up Lovett's skirt as he gazed down at her, torn between fondness and lust. It baffled him.
There was nothing that could prevent him from keeping his promise, that was certain. But with just as much certainty, he felt something deep within him stir reluctantly away from the idea of putting an end to her. The desire to possess. If he killed her, he would no longer have her, and for some inexplicable reason, that troubled him.
"I could have you, you know. Right now," he informed her, scratching his fingers against her thigh. Lovett purred, and grabbed his collar.
"Mm. Better not, though. There's a guard out there."
Todd looked up from her like a lion guarding its prize.
"Is there really? Well, I suppose they had to leave one. Would you like me to get rid of him for you?"
Slowly, Lovett nodded. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, a lover's kiss. Then he got up from the floor and lifted her with him. She clung to his arm and watched as he unsheathed the deadly boning knife.
The guard in question was a boy barely over the age of twenty. Gently, Todd removed Lovett from his arm and crept up very slowly behind the guard. Lovett drifted around, watching with a morbid, catlike curiosity. Todd grasped the boy's hair, yanking his head back. Before he could yell for help, Todd brought the knife up to his neck and drew it across his throat like a violinist drawing a bow across the strings. The hapless guard's eyes bulged and he clawed at his throat, his mouth working like a fish's out of water as blood gushed from his severed jugular and carotid arteries. He sank to his knees, and possessed by some kind of sickly fascination, Lovett knelt down with him, parted and eyes focused as her ears perceived the rushing sound of air escaping through the gaping grinning wound that split his throat. His lungs slowly deflated, his body seizing, rigor mortis racing across his form almost instantaneously.
Todd watched her with an arched eyebrow. He had thought the sophistication, the beauty of extinguishing a life to be beyond her. But clearly it wasn't, he observed as she began to blink as if coming out of a trance. As something of an afterthought, she seized the revolver from the dead officer's belt and tucked it into her skirts. She then got up and returned to Todd's arm, tucking her head against her neck.
Full of idle fancy, they strolled out like tots on a bank holiday.
--
The bodies of Lord Irving and his wife would not be found for weeks, despite the light of day, as they had been cleverly deposited in the river. Todd adjusted his top hat while Lovett smoothed on of the lapels of his black silk waistcoat. She herself was humming with pleasure, having discarded the dirty green lace for a rich red velvet. Some quick work with a bone comb, and Todd had fixed her hair into a shape sufficiently artful enough to pass for an upperclass hairstyle. They were both in need of a wash, but it could wait.
It was half past noon, and the depot was primarily empty. The coach was due to arrive any minute, so they lingered in the shadows, sharing kisses and whispers.
Hans Norwood hated when people kissed in public. A high class pair like this one, too, such nerve. He glanced at them as they stepped out to meet their coach, and felt his heart contract. There, on the arm of a tall, broad man with a pale face and dark circled eyes, was Mrs. Lovett. He was about to call her name when the man glanced in his direction. Never before had Norwood seen such a gaze: pale blue eyes like a wolf's, surrounded by darkened flesh. A quirk of thick lips, and flaring of nostrils spoke of a natural predator, perfectly designed for the kill.
Sweeney Todd
With Eleanor. His Eleanor.
They got in the cab. Immediately, Norwood dashed back in the direction of Newgate.
The mangled corpse of the young guard greeted him. He fought down a wave of nausea and staggered into the arsenal. The only thing remaining was a long Winchester rifle. Shaking with an angry excitement, Norwood and made his way to the stables.
--
"Mr. Todd, who are we going to use as witnesses?"
Todd blinked. "What?"
Lovett shrugged, snuggling against him. "At the wedding. Well, the marriage, anyway. Because obviously we can't have a proper wedding, but maybe something small. And I suppose we'd need false names. But then, you said America, perhaps in America...and you'll get another ring, won't you?"
Todd stiffened. The coach had pulled to a stop. He checked his recently acquired pocket watch. They were early.
"Come on," he grunted, pushing open the door.
He paid off the cabbie and glanced around. The rendezvous point was foggy and deserted, surrounded by dour woods on both sides.
"You didn't answer my question, Mr. Todd," Lovett snipped, wrapping her arms around herself as a chilly wind rushed through the trees.
"What question?"
"I said, we'll get our own rings, right. You'll sell that old one."
"I didn't say that," Todd said distractedly as an image rose, unbidden, of his wedding day. The happy, teary smile of his wife as he slipped the ring on to his finger. Lucy. All ashes now.
Perhaps it was time to do what he had promised himself he would. Surely it was the only way he could cleanse the stigma of what Lucy had become; what he had done to her. No, it was Lovett's fault. Lovett could've helped Lucy. Lovett could have nursed her back to health.
Hadn't she tried? Hadn't she tried to stop her?
Todd brushed that thought away, turning from Lovett and staring out at the skeletal birch trees.
"Damnit, Benjamin, you listen here," Lovett cried, hurt creeping into her angry voice. "You loved Lucy, yes, I know, and I was jealous, I was always jealous. But I won't share you with a dead woman with nothing but air in her head-"
Todd let out a great roar of rage and whirled on her, the fileting knife clutched in his hand. He took a few slow steps towards her. Upon seeing the knife, Lovett felt herself cringing inside. It wasn't fear that made her heart fail, but pain of a different kind.
He was going to betray her.
She let out a great gasping sob of anguish, slipping down onto the frozen leaves as Todd advanced on her, his face twisted, his soul torn between vengeance and an affection that threatened to crack his armour. The sound of hoof beats could be heard down the road. He would have to hurry.
Lovett watched him helplessly, tears flowing down her cheeks. She let out a little whimper as he raised the blade. As he prepared to strike, a shadow loomed across him from behind. The improbability of it almost made her laugh. It was Norwood, flushed and crazed. Raising a rifle.
"Benjamin!" she cried a warning. He snarled angrily and reached for her. There was a small metallic click. He glanced down too late and saw the pistol clutched in her hand. Before he could make a move, Lovett, her eyes wide and desperate, pulled the trigger.
There was a flash and a bang. Todd jerked back, one hand flying to his chest. There was no bullet hole. No pain. He was alive.
She had missed. Before she could speak, he batted the gun away and seized her by the throat, ignoring the choked, protesting cries, his face cracking into a savage, victorious grin as he brought the knife to her skin. Eyes wide and terrified, she mouthed the word "no". Within this instant, the familiar thick, heavy sound of a body falling to the ground resonated around the trees, followed by a clatter of metal.
Startled, Todd glanced over his shoulder to see a form struggling for breath on the ground, a rifle lying on the ground beside him. Lovett immediately pushed him away and leapt to her feet, massaging her throat.
"You...I didn't...you LIED."
"I..."Frowning, Todd looked from the slowly dying man, and then back to Lovett, his eyes full of bafflement and shock. He stared at Lovett as if he had never seen her before.
"Why...?" he turned back and made a vague confused gesture towards the man. "Why didn't you shoot me? Why didn't you let him...is that your solicitor? Why didn't you let him shoot me?"
"Couldn't," Lovett rasped, leaning sulkily against an oak tree. Todd marched up to her and grasped her shoulders.
"Why the hell not?" he demanded roughly. Lovett couldn't look him in the eyes, so she spoke to his chin.
"Love you."
His frown deepening, he lifted her chin and forced her to look at him.
"You would've let me kill you?"
"I don't know, I wasn't thinking-" the confused cry was cut short as Todd pressed his lips to hers, not demanding or wanton, but soft, sensuous and loving. Lovett quivered as he held her face gently in his palms. When he pulled away, her expression was full of a childlike sadness, her eyebrows drawn together.
"How can I trust you? Ever?"
"Perhaps you can't," Todd admitted. "But we aren't trusting creatures, you and I."
Lovett bit her lip. He let out a small sigh.
"Wait," he ordered quietly, and then walked a few feet off the road to a soft patch of ground. Slowly, he drew his wedding ring off his finger and let it lay in his palm for a moment, watching the tarnished white gold shimmer dimly in the cold afternoon sun. Then, slowly, but without hesitation, he knelt down, swept up a handful of dirt and set the ring in the small indentation he had made in the earth. As if throwing soil on a grave, he covered it completely. Then, brushing off his hands, he rose and returned to where Lovett stood waiting. She smiled at him, mollified and sad at the same time. She understood now the enormous effort it had cost him; she had never been in love before, after all.
Looping his arm around her waist, Todd kiss her skin where he had nicked it with the blade. A soft moan floated up from behind them.
"Eleanor..."
Lovett grimaced and turned around. Todd followed her as she trudged up to where Norwood lay, a bloody wound in his chest. Kneeling down, Lovett looking into her lawyer's pathetic eyes.
"It seems we shan't be married after all, Mr. Norwood."
He couldn't articulate a reply, but a small whimper escaped him. A gurgling noise rose from his throat as he tried to breathe.
Lovett glanced up at Todd, who shrugged and stroked the back of her neck. Wordlessly, she reached for the rose coloured handkerchief from Norwood's pocket. Carefully, she placed it over his mouth and nose and held it there, her frame twitching slightly with each jerking movement as Norwood struggled. Todd tilted Lovett's head up and crushed his lips to hers as she suffocated the hapless solicitor. Norwood's tear-blurred sight was beginning to fade, but the vision of this monster of a man kissing the woman he loved, kissing her with such wantonness and need would stay with him into the afterlife.
When the deed was done, the pair relieved Norwood's body of all valuables. Together, they rolled the corpse into a nearby ravine, and kissed with shameless passion while it sank into the mire.