A Penny Dreadful

Paintings of powdered wigmen plastered on the wall.
Lights from the rotunda glaring up and down the hall.
I see you there on the staircase where we first met last fall.
Was it romance when we danced at the Governor's Ball?
I had to leave that evening, I had taken quite poor health.
I couldn't let you see I was a man who had no wealth.
I had a dime from time to time, but I cared not to dwell
In foreign lands with devil'd hands, lest it become my knell.
I started as a grifter charming women for their purse.
I soon moved on to darker things, 'til I became the worst.
And I cared not what became their lot and laid them in a hearse.
Until I saw a thing of awe and strove to break my curse.
It's gone on too long.
I know it's wrong.
Still, I sing my song.
I sought help from every corner, but I was too impure.
I visited a man of God, but he said I was obscured.
A man like me saw me on my knees, and said there was no cure.
"Forget thy sins, begin again, and no longer be unsure."
So here I am this evening, waiting out the night.
I'm sorry to surprise you, love, but you mustn't fright.
Once you see the man in me, I know you will delight.
To me you're trussed, and now you must bare it for the bite.
It's gone on too long.
I know it's wrong.
Still, I sing my song.