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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Experiences of a Barrister, and
+Confessions of an Attorney, by Samuel Warren
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Experiences of a Barrister, and Confessions of an Attorney
+
+Author: Samuel Warren
+
+Release Date: May 18, 2004 [EBook #12371]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPERIENCES OF A BARRISTER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                     THE EXPERIENCES OF A BARRISTER,
+
+                                   AND
+
+                       Confessions of an Attorney.
+
+                            BY SAMUEL WARREN
+
+                                   1880
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+THE MARCH ASSIZE
+
+THE NORTHERN CIRCUIT
+
+THE CONTESTED MARRIAGE
+
+THE MOTHER AND SON
+
+"THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS"
+
+ESTHER MASON
+
+THE MARRIAGE SETTLEMENT
+
+THE SECOND MARRIAGE
+
+CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
+
+"THE ACCOMMODATION BILL"
+
+THE REFUGEE
+
+THE LIFE POLICY
+
+BIGAMY OR NO BIGAMY
+
+JANE ECCLES
+
+"EVERY MAN HIS OWN LAWYER"
+
+THE CHEST OF DRAWERS
+
+THE PUZZLE
+
+THE ONE BLACK SPOT
+
+THE GENTLEMAN BEGGAR
+
+A FASHIONABLE FORGER
+
+THE YOUNG ADVOCATE
+
+A MURDER IN THE TIME OF THE CRUSADES
+
+
+
+
+CONFESSIONS OF AN ATTORNEY.
+
+
+
+
+THE MARCH ASSIZE.
+
+
+Something more than half a century ago, a person, in going along Holborn,
+might have seen, near the corner of one of the thoroughfares which
+diverge towards Russell Square, the respectable-looking shop of a glover
+and haberdasher named James Harvey, a man generally esteemed by his
+neighbors, and who was usually considered well to do in the world. Like
+many London tradesmen, Harvey was originally from the country. He had
+come up to town when a poor lad, to push his fortune, and by dint of
+steadiness and civility, and a small property left him by a distant
+relation, he had been able to get into business on his own account, and
+to attain that most important element of success in London--"a
+connection." Shortly after setting up in the world, he married a young
+woman from his native town, to whom he had been engaged ever since his
+school-days; and at the time our narrative commences he was the father of
+three children.
+
+James Harvey's establishment was one of the best frequented of its class
+in the street. You could never pass without seeing customers going in or
+out. There was evidently not a little business going forward. But
+although, to all appearance, a flourishing concern, the proprietor of the
+establishment was surprised to find that he was continually pinched in
+his circumstances. No matter what was the amount of business transacted
+over the counter, he never got any richer.
+
+At the period referred to, shop-keeping had not attained that degree
+of organization, with respect to counter-men and cashiers, which now
+distinguishes the great houses of trade. The primitive till was not
+yet superseded. This was the weak point in Harvey's arrangements; and
+not to make a needless number of words about it, the poor man was
+regularly robbed by a shopman, whose dexterity in pitching a guinea
+into the drawer, so as to make it jump, unseen, with a jerk into his
+hand, was worthy of Herr Dobler, or any other master of the sublime
+art of jugglery.
+
+Good-natured and unsuspicious, perhaps also not sufficiently vigilant,
+Harvey was long in discovering how he was pillaged. Cartwright, the name
+of the person who was preying on his employer, was not a young man. He
+was between forty and fifty years of age, and had been in various
+situations, where he had always given satisfaction, except on the score
+of being somewhat gay and somewhat irritable. Privately, he was a man of
+loose habits, and for years his extravagances had been paid for by
+property clandestinely abstracted from his too-confiding master. Slow to
+believe in the reality of such wickedness, Mr. Harvey could with
+difficulty entertain the suspicions which began to dawn on his mind. At
+length all doubt was at an end. He detected Cartwright in the very act of
+carrying off goods to a considerable amount. The man was tried at the Old
+Bailey for the offence; but through a technical informality in the
+indictment, acquitted.
+
+Unable to find employment, and with a character gone, the liberated thief
+became savage, revengeful, and desperate. Instead of imputing his fall to
+his own irregularities, he considered his late unfortunate employer as
+the cause of his ruin; and now he bent all the energies of his dark
+nature to destroy the reputation of the man whom he had betrayed and
+plundered. Of all the beings self-delivered to the rule of unscrupulous
+malignity, with whom it has been my fate to come professionally in
+contact, I never knew one so utterly fiendish as this discomfited
+pilferer. Frenzied with his imaginary wrongs, he formed the determination
+to labor, even if it were for years, to ruin his victim. Nothing short of
+death should divert him from this the darling object of his existence.
+
+Animated by these diabolical passions, Cartwright proceeded to his work.
+Harvey, he had too good reason to know, was in debt to persons who had
+made him advances; and by means of artfully-concocted anonymous letters,
+evidently written by some one conversant with the matters on which he
+wrote, he succeeded in alarming the haberdasher's creditors. The
+consequences were--demands of immediate payment, and, in spite of the
+debtor's explanations and promises, writs, heavy law expenses, ruinous
+sacrifices, and ultimate bankruptcy. It may seem almost too marvelous for
+belief, but the story of this terrible revenge and its consequences is no
+fiction. Every incident in my narrative is true, and the whole may be
+found in hard outline in the records of the courts with which a few years
+ago I was familiar.
+
+The humiliated and distressed feelings of Harvey and his family may be
+left to the imagination. When he found himself a ruined man, I dare say
+his mental sufferings were sufficiently acute. Yet he did not sit down in
+despair. To re-establish himself in business in England appeared
+hopeless; but America presented itself as a scene where industry might
+find a reward; and by the kindness of some friends, he was enabled to
+make preparations to emigrate with his wife and children. Towards the
+end of February he quitted London for one of the great seaports, where he
+was to embark for Boston. On arriving there with his family, Mr. Harvey
+took up his abode at a principal hotel. This, in a man of straitened
+means, was doubtless imprudent; but he afterwards attempted to explain
+the circumstance by saying, that as the ship in which he had engaged his
+passage was to sail on the day after his arrival, he had preferred
+incurring a slight additional expense rather than that his wife--who was
+now, with failing spirits, nursing an infant--should be exposed to coarse
+associations and personal discomfort. In the expectation, however, of
+being only one night in the hotel, Harvey was unfortunately disappointed.
+Ship-masters, especially those commanding emigrant vessels, were then, as
+now, habitual promise-breakers; and although each succeeding sun was to
+light them on their way, it was fully a fortnight before the ship stood
+out to sea. By that time a second and more dire reverse had occurred in
+the fortunes of the luckless Harvey.
+
+Cartwright, whose appetite for vengeance was but whetted by his first
+success, had never lost sight of the movements of his victim; and now he
+had followed him to the place of his embarkation, with an eager but
+undefined purpose of working him some further and more deadly mischief.
+Stealthily he hovered about the house which sheltered the unconscious
+object of his malicious hate, plotting, as he afterwards confessed, the
+wildest schemes for satiating his revenge. Several times he made excuses
+for calling at the hotel, in the hope of observing the nature of the
+premises, taking care, however, to avoid being seen by Mr. Harvey or his
+family. A fortnight passed away, and the day of departure of the
+emigrants arrived without the slightest opportunity occurring for the
+gratification of his purposes. The ship was leaving her berth; most of
+the passengers were on board; Mrs. Harvey and the children, with nearly
+the whole of the luggage, were already safely in the vessel; Mr. Harvey
+only remained on shore to purchase some trifling article, and to settle
+his bill at the hotel on removing his last trunk. Cartwright had tracked
+him all day; he could not attack him in the street; and he finally
+followed him to the hotel, in order to wreak his vengeance on him in his
+private apartment, of the situation of which he had informed himself.
+
+Harvey entered the hotel first, and before Cartwright came up, he had
+gone down a passage into the bar to settle the bill which he had incurred
+for the last two days. Not aware of this circumstance, Cartwright, in the
+bustle which prevailed, went up stairs to Mr. Harvey's bedroom and
+parlor, in neither of which, to his surprise, did he find the occupant;
+and he turned away discomfited. Passing along towards the chief
+staircase, he perceived a room of which the door was open, and that on
+the table there lay a gold watch and appendages. Nobody was in the
+apartment: the gentleman who occupied it had only a few moments before
+gone to his bed-chamber for a brief space. Quick as lightning a
+diabolical thought flashed through the brain of the villain, who had been
+baffled in his original intentions. He recollected that he had seen a
+trunk in Harvey's room, and that the keys hung in the lock. An
+inconceivably short space of time served for him to seize the watch, to
+deposit it at the bottom of Harvey's trunk, and to quit the hotel by a
+back stair, which led by a short cut to the harbor. The whole transaction
+was done unperceived, and the wretch at least departed unnoticed.
+
+Having finished his business at the bar, Mr. Harvey repaired to his room,
+locked his trunk, which, being of a small and handy size, he mounted on
+his shoulder, and proceeded to leave the house by the back stair, in
+order to get as quickly as possible to the vessel. Little recked he of
+the interruption which was to be presented to his departure. He had got
+as far as the foot of the stair with his burden, when he was overtaken by
+a waiter, who declared that he was going to leave the house clandestinely
+without settling accounts. It is proper to mention that Mr. Harvey had
+incurred the enmity of this particular waiter in consequence of having,
+out of his slender resources, given him too small a gratuity on the
+occasion of paying a former bill, and not aware of the second bill being
+settled, the waiter was rather glad to have an opportunity of charging
+him with a fraudulent design. In vain Mr. Harvey remonstrated, saying he
+had paid for every thing. The waiter would not believe his statement, and
+detained him "till he should hear better about it."
+
+"Let me go, fellow; I insist upon it," said Mr. Harvey, burning with
+indignation. "I am already too late."
+
+"Not a step, till I ask master if accounts are squared."
+
+At this moment, while the altercation was at the hottest, a terrible
+ringing of bells was heard, and above stairs was a loud noise of voices,
+and of feet running to and fro. A chambermaid came hurriedly down the
+stair, exclaiming that some one had stolen a gold watch from No. 17, and
+that nobody ought to leave the house till it was found. The landlord
+also, moved by the hurricane which had been raised, made his appearance
+at the spot where Harvey was interrupted in his exit.
+
+"What on earth is all this noise about, John?" inquired the landlord of
+the waiter.
+
+"Why, sir, I thought it rather strange for any gentleman to leave the
+house by the back way, carrying his own portmanteau, and so I was making
+a little breeze about it, fearing he had not paid his bill, when all of
+a sudden Sally rushes down the stair and says as how No. 17 has missed
+his gold watch, and that no one should quit the hotel."
+
+No. 17, an old, dry-looking military gentlemen, in a particularly high
+passion, now showed himself on the scene, uttering terrible threats of
+legal proceedings against the house for the loss he had sustained.
+
+Harvey was stupified and indignant, yet he could hardly help smiling at
+the pother. "What," said he, "have I to do with all this? I have paid for
+everything; I am surely entitled to go away if I like. Remember, that if
+I lose my passage to Boston, you shall answer for it."
+
+"I very much regret detaining you, sir," replied the keeper of the hotel;
+"but you hear there has been a robbery committed within the last few
+minutes, and as it will be proper to search every one in the house,
+surely you, who are on the point of departure, will have no objections to
+be searched first, and then be at liberty to go?"
+
+There was something so perfectly reasonable in all this, that
+Harvey stepped into an adjoining parlor, and threw open his trunk
+for inspection, never doubting that his innocence would be
+immediately manifest.
+
+The waiter, whose mean rapacity had been the cause of the detention,
+acted as examiner. He pulled one article after another out of the trunk,
+and at length--horror of horrors!--held up the missing watch with a look
+of triumph and scorn!
+
+"Who put that there?" cried Harvey in an agony of mind which can be
+better imagined than described. "Who has done me this grievous wrong? I
+know nothing as to how the watch came into my trunk."
+
+No one answered this appeal. All present stood for a moment in
+gloomy silence.
+
+"Sir," said the landlord to Harvey on recovering from his surprise, "I am
+sorry for you. For the sake of a miserable trifle, you have brought ruin
+and disgrace on yourself. This is a matter which concerns the honor of my
+house, and cannot stop here. However much it is against my feelings, you
+must go before a magistrate."
+
+"By all means," added No. 17, with the importance of an injured man. "A
+pretty thing that one's watch is not safe in a house like this!"
+
+"John, send Boots for a constable," said the landlord.
+
+Harvey sat with his head leaning on his hand. A deadly cold
+perspiration trickled down his brow. His heart swelled and beat as if
+it would burst. What should he do? His whole prospects were in an
+instant blighted. "Oh God! do not desert a frail and unhappy being:
+give me strength to face this new and terrible misfortune," was a
+prayer he internally uttered. A little revived, he started to his feet,
+and addressing himself to the landlord, he said, "Take me to a
+magistrate instantly, and let us have this diabolical plot unraveled. I
+court inquiry into my character and conduct."
+
+"It is no use saying any more about it," answered the landlord; "here is
+Boots with a constable, and let us all go away together to the nearest
+magistrate. Boots, carry that trunk. John and Sally, you can follow us."
+
+And so the party, trunk and all, under the constable as conductor,
+adjourned to the house of a magistrate in an adjacent street.
+There the matter seemed so clear a case of felony--robbery in a
+dwelling-house--that Harvey, all protestations to the contrary, was
+fully committed for trial at the ensuing March assizes, then but a few
+days distant.
+
+At the period at which these incidents occurred, I was a young man going
+on my first circuits. I had not as yet been honored with perhaps more
+than three or four briefs, and these only in cases so slightly productive
+of fees, that I was compelled to study economy in my excursions. Instead
+of taking up my residence at an inn when visiting ------, a considerable
+seaport, where the court held its sittings, I dwelt in lodgings kept by a
+widow lady, where, at a small expense, I could enjoy perfect quietness,
+free from interruption.
+
+On the evening after my arrival on the March circuit of the year 17--, I
+was sitting in my lodgings perusing a new work on criminal jurisprudence,
+when the landlady, after tapping at the door, entered my room.
+
+"I am sorry to trouble you, sir," said she; "but a lady has called to
+see you about a very distressing law case--very distressing indeed,
+and a very strange case it is too. Only, if you could be so good as
+to see her?"
+
+"Who is she?"
+
+"All I know about it is this: she is a Mrs. Harvey. She and her husband
+and children were to sail yesterday for Boston. All were on board except
+the husband; and he, on leaving the large hotel over the way, was taken
+up for a robbery. Word was in the evening sent by the prisoner to his
+wife to come on shore, with all her children and the luggage; and so she
+came back in the pilot boat, and was in such a state of distress, that my
+brother, who is on the preventive service, and saw her land, took pity on
+her, and had her and her children and things taken to a lodging on the
+quay. As my brother knows that we have a London lawyer staying here, he
+has advised the poor woman to come and consult you about the case."
+
+"Well, I'll see what can be done. Please desire the lady to step in."
+
+A lady was shortly shown in. She had been pretty, and was so still, but
+anxiety was pictured in her pale countenance. Her dress was plain, but
+not inelegant; and altogether she had a neat and engaging appearance.
+
+"Be so good as to sit down," said I, bowing; "and tell me all you would
+like to say."
+
+The poor woman burst into tears; but afterwards recovering herself, she
+told me pretty nearly the whole of her history and that of her husband.
+
+Lawyers have occasion to see so much duplicity, that I did not all at
+once give assent to the idea of Harvey being innocent of the crime of
+which he stood charged.
+
+"There is something perfectly inexplicable in the case," I observed, "and
+it would require sifting. Your husband, I hope has always borne a good
+character?"
+
+"Perfectly so. He was no doubt unfortunate in business; but he got his
+certificate on the first examination; and there are many who would
+testify to his uprightness." And here again my client broke into tears,
+as if overwhelmed with her recollections and prospects.
+
+"I think I recollect Mr. Harvey's shop," said I soothingly. "It seemed a
+very respectable concern; and we must see what can be done. Keep up your
+spirits; the only fear I have arises from the fact of Judge A ---- being
+on the bench. He is usually considered severe, and if exculpatory
+evidence fail, your husband may run the risk of being--transported." A
+word of more terrific import, with which I was about to conclude, stuck
+unuttered in my throat "Have you employed an attorney?" I added.
+
+"No; I have done nothing as yet, but apply to you, to beg of you to be my
+husband's counsel."
+
+"Well, that must be looked to. I shall speak to a local agent, to prepare
+and work out the case; and we shall all do our utmost to get an
+acquittal. To-morrow I will call on your husband in prison."
+
+Many thanks were offered by the unfortunate lady, and she withdrew.
+
+I am not going to inflict on the reader a detailed account of this
+remarkable trial, which turned, as barristers would say, on a beautiful
+point of circumstantial evidence. Along with the attorney, a sharp enough
+person in his way, I examined various parties at the hotel, and made
+myself acquainted with the nature of the premises. The more we
+investigated, however, the more dark and mysterious--always supposing
+Harvey's innocence--did the whole case appear. There was not one
+redeeming trait in the affair, except Harvey's previous good character;
+and good character, by the law of England, goes for nothing in opposition
+to facts proved to the satisfaction of a jury. It was likewise most
+unfortunate that A ---- was to be the presiding judge. This man possessed
+great forensic acquirements, and was of spotless private character; but,
+like the majority of lawyers of that day--when it was no extraordinary
+thing to hang twenty men in a morning at Newgate--he was a staunch
+stickler for the gallows as the only effectual reformer and safeguard of
+the social state. At this time he was but partially recovered from a long
+and severe indisposition, and the traces of recent suffering were
+distinctly apparent on his pale and passionless features.
+
+Harvey was arraigned in due form; the evidence was gone carefully
+through; and everything, so far as I was concerned, was done that man
+could do. But at the time to which I refer, counsel was not allowed to
+address the court on behalf of the prisoner--a practice since introduced
+from Scotland--and consequently I was allowed no opportunity to draw the
+attention of the jury to the total want of any direct evidence of the
+prisoner's guilt. Harvey himself tried to point out the unlikelihood of
+his being guilty; but he was not a man gifted with dialectic qualities,
+and his harangue fell pointless on the understandings of the twelve
+common-place individuals who sat in the jury-box. The judge finally
+proceeded to sum the evidence, and this he did emphatically _against_ the
+prisoner--dwelling with much force on the suspicious circumstance of a
+needy man taking up his abode at an expensive fashionable hotel; his
+furtive descent from his apartments by the back stairs; the undoubted
+fact of the watch being found in his trunk; the improbability of any one
+putting it there but himself; and the extreme likelihood that the robbery
+was effected in a few moments of time by the culprit, just as he passed
+from the bar of the hotel to the room which he had occupied. "If," said
+he to the jury, in concluding his address, "you can, after all these
+circumstances, believe the prisoner to be innocent of the crime laid to
+his charge, it is more than I can do. The thing seems to me as clear as
+the sun at noonday. The evidence, in short, is irresistible; and if the
+just and necessary provisions of the law are not enforced in such very
+plain cases, then society will be dissolved, and security for property
+there will be none. Gentlemen, retire and make up your verdict."
+
+The jury were not disposed to retire. After communing a few minutes
+together, one of them stood up and delivered the verdict: it was
+_Guilty!_ The judge assumed the crowning badge of the judicial
+potentate--the black cap; and the clerk of arraigns asked the prisoner at
+the bar, in the usual form, if he had anything to urge why sentence of
+death should not be passed upon him.
+
+Poor Harvey! I durst scarcely look at him. As the sonorous words fell on
+his ear, he was grasping nervously with shaking hands at the front of the
+dock. He appeared stunned, bewildered, as a man but half-awakened from a
+hideous dream might be supposed to look. He had comprehended, though he
+had scarcely heard, the verdict; for on the instant, the voice which but
+a few years before sang to him by the brook side, was ringing through his
+brain, and he could recognize the little pattering feet of his children,
+as, sobbing and clinging to their shrieking mother's dress, she and they
+were hurried out of court The clerk, after a painful pause, repeated the
+solemn formula. By a strong effort the doomed man mastered his agitation;
+his pale countenance lighted up with indignant fire, and firm and
+self-possessed, he thus replied to the fearful interrogatory:--
+
+"Much could I say in the name, not of mercy, but of justice, why the
+sentence about to be passed on me should not be pronounced; but nothing,
+alas! that will avail me with you, pride-blinded ministers of death. You
+fashion to yourselves--out of your own vain conceits do you
+fashion--modes and instruments, by the aid of which you fondly imagine to
+invest yourselves with attributes which belong only to Omniscience; and
+now I warn you--and it is a voice from the tomb, in whose shadow I
+already stand, which addresses you--that you are about to commit a most
+cruel and deliberate murder."
+
+He paused, and the jury looked into each other's eyes for the courage
+they could not find in their own hearts. The voice of conscience spoke,
+but was only for a few moments audible. The suggestions that what grave
+parliaments, learned judges, and all classes of "respectability"
+sanctioned, could not be wrong, much less murderous or cruel, silenced
+the "still, small" tones, and tranquilized the startled jurors.
+
+"Prisoner at the bar," said the judge with his cold, calm voice of
+destiny, "I cannot listen to such observations: you have been found
+guilty of a heinous offence by a jury of your countrymen after a patient
+trial. With that finding I need scarcely say I entirely agree. I am as
+satisfied of your guilt as if I had seen you commit the act with my own
+bodily eyes. The circumstance of your being a person who, from habits and
+education, should have been above committing so base a crime, only
+aggravates your guilt. However, no matter who or what you have been, you
+must expiate your offence on the scaffold. The law has very properly, for
+the safety of society, decreed the punishment of death for such crimes:
+our only and plain duty is to execute that law."
+
+The prisoner did not reply: he was leaning with his elbows on the front
+of the dock, his bowed face covered with his outspread hands; and the
+judge passed sentence of death in the accustomed form. The court then
+rose, and a turnkey placed his hand upon the prisoner's arm, to lead him
+away. Suddenly he uncovered his face, drew himself up to his full
+height--he was a remarkably tall man--and glared fiercely round upon the
+audience, like a wild animal at bay. "My lord," he cried, or rather
+shouted, in an excited voice. The judge motioned impatiently to the
+jailor, and strong hands impelled the prisoner from the front of the
+dock. Bursting from them, he again sprang forward, and his arms
+outstretched, whilst his glittering eye seemed to hold the judge
+spell-bound, exclaimed, "My lord, before another month has passed away,
+_you_ will appear at the bar of another world, to answer for the life,
+the innocent life, which God bestowed upon me, but which you have
+impiously cast away as a thing of naught and scorn!" He ceased, and was
+at once borne off. The court, in some confusion, hastily departed. It was
+thought at the time that the judge's evidently failing health had
+suggested the prophecy to the prisoner. It only excited a few days'
+wonder, and was forgotten.
+
+The position of a barrister in such circumstances is always painful. I
+need hardly say that my own feelings were of a very distressing kind.
+Conscious that if the unfortunate man really was guilty, he was at least
+not deserving of capital punishment, I exerted myself to procure a
+reprieve. In the first place I waited privately on the judge; but he
+would listen to no proposal for a respite. Along with a number of
+individuals--chiefly of the Society of Friends--I petitioned the crown
+for a commutation of the sentence. But being unaccompanied with a
+recommendation from the judge, the prayer of our petition was of course
+disregarded: the law, it was said, must take its course. How much cruelty
+has been exercised under shelter of that remorseless expression!
+
+I would willingly pass over the succeeding events. Unable to save his
+life, I endeavored to soothe the few remaining hours of the doomed
+convict, and frequently visited him in the condemned cell. The more I saw
+of him, the deeper grew my sympathy in his case, which was that of no
+vulgar felon. "I have been a most unfortunate man," said he one day to
+me. "A destiny towards ruin in fortune and in life has pursued me. I feel
+as if deserted by God and man; yet I know, or at least would persuade
+myself, that Heaven will one day vindicate my innocence of this foul
+charge. To think of being hanged like a dog for a crime at which my soul
+revolts! Great is the crime of those imbecile jurors and that false and
+hard-hearted judge, who thus, by an irreversible decree, consign a
+fellow-mortal to a death of violence and disgrace. Oh God, help me--help
+me to sustain that bitter, bitter hour!" And then the poor man would
+throw himself on his bed and weep.
+
+But the parting with his wife and children. What pen can describe that
+terrible interview! They knelt in prayer, their wobegone countenances
+suffused in tears, and with hands clasped convulsively together. The
+scene was too harrowing and sacred for the eye of a stranger. I rushed
+from the cell, and buried myself in my lodgings, whence I did not remove
+till all was over. Next day James Harvey, a victim of circumstantial
+evidence, and of a barbarous criminal code, perished on the scaffold.
+
+Three weeks afterwards, the court arrived at a populous city in the west
+of England. It had in the interval visited another assize town, and there
+Judge A ---- had left three for execution. At the trials of these men,
+however, I had not attended. So shocked had been my feelings with the
+mournful event which had taken place at ------, that I had gone into
+Wales for the sake of change of scene. After roaming about for a
+fortnight amidst the wild solitudes of Caernarvonshire, I took the stage
+for the city which I knew the court was to visit, and arrived on the day
+previous to the opening of the assizes.
+
+"Well, are we to have a heavy calendar?" I inquired next morning of a
+brother barrister on entering the court.
+
+"Rather light for a March assize," replied the impatient counsel as
+he bustled onward. "There's Cartwright's case--highway robbery--in
+which I am for the prosecution. He'll swing for it, and perhaps four
+or five others."
+
+"A good hanging judge is A ----," said the under-sheriff, who at
+this moment joined us, rubbing his hands, as if pleased with the
+prospect of a few executions. "No chance of the prophecy yonder coming
+to pass I suppose?"
+
+"Not in the least," replied the bustling counsel. "He never looked
+better. His illness has gone completely off. And this day's work will
+brighten him up."
+
+Cartwright's trial came on. I had never seen the man before, and was not
+aware that this was the same person whom Harvey had incidentally told me
+he had discharged for theft; the truth being, that till the last moment
+of his existence, that unfortunate man had not known how much he had been
+a sacrifice to this wretch's malice.
+
+The crime of which the villain now stood accused was that of robbing a
+farmer of the paltry sum of eight shillings, in the neighborhood of
+Ilfracombe. He pleaded not guilty, but put in no defence. A verdict was
+recorded against him, and in due form A ---- sentenced him to be hanged.
+An expression of fiendish malignancy gleamed over the haggard features of
+the felon as he asked leave to address a few words to the court. It was
+granted. Leaning forward, and raising his heavy, scowling eyes to the
+judge, he thus began:--"There is something on my mind, my lord--a
+dreadful crime--which, as I am to die for the eight shillings I took from
+the farmer, I may as well confess. You may remember Harvey, my lord, whom
+you hanged the other day at--?"
+
+"What of him, fellow?" replied the judge, his features suddenly
+flushing crimson.
+
+"Why, my lord, only this--that he was as innocent of the crime for which
+you hanged him as the child yet unborn! I did the deed! I put the watch
+in his trunk!" And to the unutterable horror of the entire court he
+related the whole particulars of the transaction, the origin of his
+grudge against Harvey, and his delight on bringing him to the gallows.
+
+"Inhuman, execrable villain!" gasped the judge in extreme excitement.
+
+"Cleverly done, though! Was it not, my lord?" rejoined the ruffian with
+bitter irony. "The evidence, you know, was irresistible; the crime as
+clear as the sun at noonday; and if in such plain cases, the just and
+necessary law was not enforced, society would be dissolved, and there
+would be no security for property! These were your words, I think. How on
+that occasion I admired your lordship's judgment and eloquence! Society
+would be dissolved if an innocent man were not hanged! Ha!--ha!--ha!
+Capital!--capital!" shouted the ferocious felon with demoniac glee, as he
+marked the effect of his words on the countenance of the judge.
+
+"Remove the prisoner!" cried the sheriff. An officer was about to do so;
+but the judge motioned him to desist. His lordship's features worked
+convulsively. He seemed striving to speak, but the words would not come.
+
+"I suppose, my lord," continued Cartwright in low and hissing tones, as
+the shadow of unutterable despair grew and settled on his face--"I
+suppose you know that his wife destroyed herself. The coroner's jury said
+she had fallen accidentally into the water, _I_ know better. She drowned
+herself under the agonies of a broken heart! I saw her corpse, with the
+dead baby in its arms; and then I felt, knew, that I was lost! Lost,
+doomed to everlasting perdition! But, my lord,"--and here the wretch
+broke into a howl wild and terrific--"_we_ shall go down together--down
+to where your deserts are known. A--h--h! that pinches you, does it?
+Hound of a judge! legal murderer! coward! I spurn and spit upon thee!"
+The rest of the appalling objurgation was inarticulate, as the monster,
+foaming and sputtering, was dragged by an officer from the dock.
+
+Judge A ---- had fallen forwards on his face, fainting and speechless
+with the violence of his emotions. The black cap had dropped from his
+brow. His hands were stretched out across the bench, and various members
+of the bar rushed to his assistance. The court broke up in frightful
+commotion.
+
+Two days afterwards the county paper had the following announcement:--
+
+"Died at the Royal Hotel, ------, on the 27th instant, Judge A ----, from
+an access of fever supervening upon a disorder from which he had
+imperfectly recovered."
+
+The prophecy was fulfilled!
+
+
+
+
+THE NORTHERN CIRCUIT.
+
+
+About the commencement of the present century there stood, near the
+centre of a rather extensive hamlet, not many miles distant from a
+northern seaport town, a large, substantially-built, but somewhat
+straggling building, known as Craig Farm (popularly _Crook_ Farm) House.
+The farm consisted of about one hundred acres of tolerable arable and
+meadow land; and at the time I have indicated, belonged to a farmer of
+the name of Armstrong. He had purchased it about three years previously,
+at a sale held, in pursuance of a decree of the High Court of Chancery,
+for the purpose of liquidating certain costs incurred in the suit of
+Craig _versus_ Craig, which the said high court had nursed so long and
+successfully, as to enable the solicitor to the victorious claimant to
+incarcerate his triumphant client for several years in the Fleet, in
+"satisfaction" of the charges of victory remaining due after the proceeds
+of the sale of Craig Farm had been deducted from the gross total. Farmer
+Armstrong was married, but childless; his dame, like himself, was a
+native of Devonshire. They bore the character of a plodding, taciturn,
+morose-mannered couple: seldom leaving the farm except to attend market,
+and rarely seen at church or chapel, they naturally enough became objects
+of suspicion and dislike to the prying, gossiping villagers, to whom
+mystery or reserve of any kind was of course exceedingly annoying and
+unpleasant.
+
+Soon after Armstrong was settled in his new purchase another stranger
+arrived, and took up his abode in the best apartments of the house. The
+new-comer, a man of about fifty years of age, and evidently, from his
+dress and gait, a sea-faring person, was as reserved and unsocial as his
+landlord. His name, or at least that which he chose to be known by, was
+Wilson. He had one child, a daughter, about thirteen years of age, whom
+he placed at a boarding-school in the adjacent town. He seldom saw her;
+the intercourse between the father and daughter being principally carried
+on through Mary Strugnell, a widow of about thirty years of age, and a
+native of the place. She was engaged as a servant to Mr. Wilson, and
+seldom left Craig Farm except on Sunday afternoons, when, if the weather
+was at all favorable, she paid a visit to an aunt living in the town;
+there saw Miss Wilson; and returned home usually at half-past ten
+o'clock--later rather than earlier. Armstrong was occasionally absent
+from his home for several days together, on business, it was rumored, for
+Wilson; and on the Sunday in the first week of January 1802, both he and
+his wife had been away for upwards of a week, and were not yet returned.
+
+About a quarter-past ten o'clock on that evening the early-retiring
+inhabitants of the hamlet were roused from their slumbers by a loud,
+continuous knocking at the front door of Armstrong's house: louder and
+louder, more and more vehement and impatient, resounded the blows upon
+the stillness of the night, till the soundest sleepers were awakened.
+Windows were hastily thrown open, and presently numerous footsteps
+approached the scene of growing hubbub. The unwonted noise was caused,
+it was found, by Farmer Armstrong, who accompanied by his wife, was
+thundering vehemently upon the door with a heavy black-thorn stick.
+Still no answer was obtained. Mrs. Strugnell, it was supposed, had not
+returned from town; but where was Mr. Wilson, who was almost always at
+home both day and night? Presently a lad called out that a white sheet
+or cloth of some sort was hanging out of one of the back windows. This
+announcement, confirming the vague apprehensions which had begun to
+germinate in the wise heads of the villagers, disposed them to adopt a
+more effectual mode of obtaining admission than knocking seemed likely
+to prove. Johnson, the constable of the parish, a man of great
+shrewdness, at once proposed to break in the door. Armstrong, who, as
+well as his wife, was deadly pale, and trembling violently, either with
+cold or agitation, hesitatingly consented, and crowbars being speedily
+procured, an entrance was forced, and in rushed a score of excited men.
+Armstrong's wife, it was afterwards remembered, caught hold of her
+husband's arm in a hurried, frightened manner, whispered hastily in his
+ear, and then both followed into the house.
+
+"Now, farmer," cried Johnson, as soon as he had procured a light, "lead
+the way up stairs."
+
+Armstrong, who appeared to have somewhat recovered from his panic, darted
+at once up the staircase, followed by the whole body of rustics. On
+reaching the landing-place, he knocked at Mr. Wilson's bedroom door. No
+answer was returned. Armstrong seemed to hesitate, but the constable at
+once lifted the latch; they entered, and then a melancholy spectacle
+presented itself.
+
+Wilson, completely dressed, lay extended on the floor a lifeless corpse.
+He had been stabbed in two places in the breast with some sharp-pointed
+instrument. Life was quite extinct. The window was open. On farther
+inspection, several bundles containing many of Wilson's valuables in
+jewelry and plate, together with clothes, shirts, silk handkerchiefs,
+were found. The wardrobe and a secretary-bureau had been forced open.
+The assassins had, it seemed, been disturbed, and had hurried off by the
+window without their plunder. A hat was also picked up in the room, a
+shiny, black hat, much too small for the deceased. The constable snatched
+it up, and attempted to clap it on Armstrong's head, but it was not
+nearly large enough. This, together with the bundles, dissipated a
+suspicion which had been growing in Johnson's mind, and he roughly
+exclaimed, "You need not look so scared, farmer; it's not you: that's
+quite clear."
+
+To this remark neither Armstrong nor his wife answered a syllable, but
+continued to gaze at the corpse, the bundles, and the broken locks, in
+bewildered terror and astonishment. Presently some one asked if any body
+had seen Mrs. Strugnell?
+
+The question roused Armstrong, and he said, "She is not come home: her
+door is locked."
+
+"How do you know that?" cried the constable, turning sharply round, and
+looking keenly in his face. "How do you know that?"
+
+"Because--because," stammered Armstrong, "because she always locks it
+when she goes out."
+
+"Which is her room?"
+
+"The next to this."
+
+They hastened out, and found the next door was fast.
+
+"Are you there, Mrs. Strugnell?" shouted Johnson.
+
+There was no reply.
+
+"She is never home till half-past ten o'clock on Sunday evenings,"
+remarked Armstrong in a calmer voice.
+
+"The key is in the lock on the inside," cried a young man who had been
+striving to peep through the key-hole.
+
+Armstrong, it was afterwards sworn, started as if he had been shot;
+and his wife again clutched his arm with the same nervous, frenzied
+gripe as before.
+
+"Mrs. Strugnell, are you there?" once more shouted the constable. He was
+answered by a low moan. In an instant the frail door was burst in, and
+Mrs. Strugnell was soon pulled out, apparently more dead than alive, from
+underneath the bedstead, where she, in speechless consternation, lay
+partially concealed. Placing her in a chair, they soon succeeded--much
+more easily, indeed, than they anticipated--in restoring her to
+consciousness.
+
+Nervously she glanced round the circle of eager faces that environed her,
+till her eyes fell upon Armstrong and his wife, when she gave a loud
+shriek, and muttering, "They, _they_ are the murderers!" swooned, or
+appeared to do so, again instantly.
+
+The accused persons, in spite of their frenzied protestations of
+innocence, were instantly seized and taken off to a place of security;
+Mrs. Strugnell was conveyed to a neighbor's close by; the house was
+carefully secured; and the agitated and wondering villagers departed to
+their several homes, but not, I fancy, to sleep any more for that night.
+
+The deposition made by Mrs. Strugnell at the inquest on the body was in
+substance as follows:--
+
+"On the afternoon in question she had, in accordance with her usual
+custom, proceeded to town. She called on her aunt, took tea with her, and
+afterwards went to the Independent Chapel. After service, she called to
+see Miss Wilson, but was informed that, in consequence of a severe cold,
+the young lady was gone to bed. She then immediately proceeded homewards,
+and consequently arrived at Craig Farm more than an hour before her usual
+time. She let herself in with her latch key, and proceeded to her
+bedroom. There was no light in Mr. Wilson's chamber, but she could hear
+him moving about in it. She was just about to go down stairs, having put
+away her Sunday bonnet and shawl, when she heard a noise, as of persons
+entering by the back way, and walking gently across the kitchen floor.
+Alarmed as to who it could be, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong not being expected
+home for several days, she gently closed her door, and locked it. A few
+minutes after, she heard stealthy steps ascending the creaking stairs,
+and presently her door was tried, and a voice in a low hurried whisper
+said, "Mary, are you there?" She was positive it was Mr. Armstrong's
+voice, but was too terrified to answer. Then Mrs. Armstrong--she was sure
+it was she--said also in a whisper, and as if addressing her husband,
+"She is never back at this hour." A minute or so after there was a tap at
+Mr. Wilson's door. She could not catch what answer was made; but by
+Armstrong's reply, she gathered that Mr. Wilson had lain down, and did
+not wish to be disturbed. He was often in the habit of lying down with
+his clothes on. Armstrong said, "I will not disturb you, sir; I'll only
+just put this parcel on the table." There is no lock to Mr. Wilson's
+door. Armstrong stepped into the room, and almost immediately she heard a
+sound as of a violent blow, followed by a deep groan and then all was
+still. She was paralyzed with horror and affright. After the lapse of a
+few seconds, a voice--Mrs. Armstrong's undoubtedly--asked in a tremulous
+tone if "all was over?" Her husband answered "Yes: but where be the keys
+of the writing-desk kept?" "In the little table-drawer," was the reply.
+Armstrong then came out of the bedroom, and both went into Mr. Wilson's
+sitting apartment. They soon returned, and crept stealthily along the
+passage to their own bedroom on the same floor. They then went down
+stairs to the kitchen. One of them--the woman, she had no doubt--went out
+the back way, and heavy footsteps again ascended the stairs. Almost dead
+with fright, she then crawled under the bedstead, and remembered no more
+till she found herself surrounded by the villagers."
+
+In confirmation of this statement, a large clasp-knife belonging to
+Armstrong, and with which it was evident the murder had been perpetrated,
+was found in one corner of Wilson's bedroom; and a mortgage deed, for one
+thousand pounds on Craig Farm, the property of Wilson, and which
+Strugnell swore was always kept in the writing-desk in the front room,
+was discovered in a chest in the prisoner's sleeping apartment, together
+with nearly one hundred and fifty pounds in gold, silver, and county
+bank-notes, although it was known that Armstrong had but a fortnight
+before declined a very advantageous offer of some cows he was desirous of
+purchasing, under the plea of being short of cash. Worse perhaps than
+all, a key of the back-door was found in his pocket, which not only
+confirmed Strugnell's evidence, but clearly demonstrated that the
+knocking at the door for admittance, which had roused and alarmed the
+hamlet, was a pure subterfuge. The conclusion, therefore, almost
+universally arrived at throughout the neighborhood was, that Armstrong
+and his wife were the guilty parties; and that the bundles, the broken
+locks, the sheet hanging out of the window, the shiny, black hat, were,
+like the knocking, mere cunning devices to mislead inquiry.
+
+The case excited great interest in the county, and I esteemed myself
+professionally fortunate in being selected to hold the brief for the
+prosecution. I had satisfied myself, by a perusal of the depositions,
+that there was no doubt of the prisoners' guilt, and I determined that no
+effort on my part should be spared to insure the accomplishment of the
+ends of justice. I drew the indictment myself; and in my opening address
+to the jury dwelt with all the force and eloquence of which I was master
+upon the heinous nature of the crime, and the conclusiveness of the
+evidence by which it had been brought home to the prisoners. I may here,
+by way of parenthesis, mention that I resorted to a plan in my address to
+the jury which I have seldom known to fail. It consisted in fixing my
+eyes and addressing my language to each juror one after the other. In
+this way each considers the address to be an appeal to his individual
+intelligence, and responds to it by falling into the views of the
+barrister. On this occasion the jury easily fell into the trap. I could
+see that I had got them into the humor of putting confidence in the
+evidence I had to produce.
+
+The trial proceeded. The cause of the death was scientifically stated by
+two medical men. Next followed the evidence as to the finding of the
+knife in the bedroom of the deceased; the discovery of the mortgage deed,
+and the large sum of money, in the prisoners' sleeping apartment; the
+finding the key of the back-door in the male prisoner's pocket; and his
+demeanor and expressions on the night of the perpetration of the crime.
+In his cross-examination of the constable, several facts perfectly new to
+me were elicited by the very able counsel for the prisoners. Their
+attorney had judiciously maintained the strictest secrecy as to the
+nature of the defence, so that it now took me completely by surprise. The
+constable, in reply to questions by counsel, stated that the pockets of
+the deceased were empty; that not only his purse, but a gold watch,
+chain, and seals, which he usually wore, had vanished, and no trace of
+them had as yet been discovered. Many other things were also missing. A
+young man of the name of Pearce, apparently a sailor, had been seen in
+the village once or twice in the company of Mary Strugnell; but he did
+not notice what sort of hat he generally wore; he had not seen Pearce
+since the night the crime was committed; had not sought for him.
+
+Mary Strugnell was the next witness. She repeated her previous evidence
+with precision and apparent sincerity, and then I abandoned her with a
+mixed feeling of anxiety and curiosity, to the counsel for the defence.
+A subtle and able cross-examination of more than two hours' duration
+followed; and at its conclusion, I felt that the case for the
+prosecution was so damaged, that a verdict of condemnation was, or ought
+to be, out of the question. The salient points dwelt upon, and varied in
+every possible way, in this long sifting, were these:--"What was the
+reason she did not return in the evening in question to her aunt's to
+supper as usual?"
+
+"She did not know, except that she wished to get home."
+
+"Did she keep company with a man of the name of Pearce?"
+
+"She had walked out with him once or twice."
+
+"When was the last time?"
+
+"She did not remember."
+
+"Did Pearce walk with her home on the night of the murder?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Not part of the way?"
+
+"Yes; part of the way."
+
+"Did Pearce sometimes wear a black, shiny hat?"
+
+"No--yes: she did not remember."
+
+"Where was Pearce now?"
+
+"She didn't know."
+
+"Had he disappeared since that Sunday evening?"
+
+"She didn't know."
+
+"Had she seen him since?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Had Mr. Wilson ever threatened to discharge her for insolence to Mrs.
+Armstrong?"
+
+"Yes; but she knew he was not in earnest."
+
+"Was not the clasp-knife that had been found always left in the kitchen
+for culinary purposes?"
+
+"No--not always; generally--but not _this _time that Armstrong went away,
+she was sure."
+
+"Mary Strugnell, you be a false-sworn woman before God and man!"
+interrupted the male prisoner with great violence of manner.
+
+The outbreak of the prisoner was checked and rebuked by the judge, and
+the cross-examination soon afterwards closed. Had the counsel been
+allowed to follow up his advantage by an address to the jury, he would, I
+doubt not, spite of their prejudices against the prisoners, have obtained
+an acquittal; but as it was, after a neutral sort of charge from the
+judge, by no means the ablest that then adorned the bench, the jurors,
+having deliberated for something more than half an hour, returned into
+court with a verdict of "guilty" against both prisoners, accompanying it,
+however, with a strong recommendation to mercy!
+
+"Mercy!" said the judge. "What for? On what ground?"
+
+The jurors stared at each other and at the judge: they had no reason to
+give! The fact was, their conviction of the prisoners' guilt had been
+very much shaken by the cross-examination of the chief witness for the
+prosecution, and this recommendation was a compromise which conscience
+made with doubt. I have known many such instances.
+
+The usual ridiculous formality of asking the wretched convicts what they
+had to urge why sentence should not be passed upon them was gone through;
+the judge, with unmoved feelings, put on the fatal cap; and then a new
+and startling light burst upon the mysterious, bewildering affair.
+
+"Stop, my lord!" exclaimed Armstrong with rough vehemence. "Hear me
+speak! I'll tell ye all about it; I will indeed, my lord. Quiet,
+Martha, I tell ye. It's I, my lord, that's guilty, not the woman. God
+bless ye, my lord; not the wife! Doant hurt the wife, and I'se tell ye
+all about it. I _alone_ am guilty; not, the Lord be praised, of murder,
+but of robbery!"
+
+"John!--John!" sobbed the wife, clinging passionately to her husband,
+"let us die together!"
+
+"Quiet, Martha, I tell ye! Yes, my lord, I'se tell ye all about it. I was
+gone away, wife and I, for more nor a week, to receive money for Mr.
+Wilson, on account of smuggled goods--that money, my lord, as was found
+in the chest. When we came home on that dreadful Sunday night, my lord,
+we went in the back way; and hearing a noise, I went up stairs, and found
+poor Wilson stone-dead on the floor. I were dreadful skeared, and let
+drop the candle. I called to wife, and told her of it. She screamed out,
+and amaist fainted away. And then, my lord, all at once the devil shot
+into my head to keep the money I had brought; and knowing as the keys of
+the desk where the mortgage writing was kept was in the bedroom, I crept
+back, as that false-hearted woman said, got the keys, and took the deed;
+and then I persuaded wife, who had been trembling in the kitchen all the
+while, that we had better go out quiet again, as there was nobody in the
+house but us: I had tried that woman's door--and we might perhaps be
+taken for the murderers. And so we did; and that's the downright, honest
+truth, my lord. I'm rightly served; but God bless you, doant hurt the
+woman--my wife, my lord, these thirty years. Five-and-twenty years ago
+come May, which I shall never see, we buried our two children. Had they
+lived, I might have been a better man; but the place they left empty was
+soon filled up by love of cursed lucre, and that has brought me here. I
+deserve it; but oh, mercy, my lord! mercy, good gentlemen!"--turning from
+the stony features of the judge to the jury, as if they could help
+him--"not for me, but the wife. She be as innocent of this as a new-born
+babe. It's I! I! scoundrel that I be, that has brought thee, Martha, to
+this shameful pass!" The rugged man snatched his life-companion to his
+breast with passionate emotion, and tears of remorse and agony streamed
+down his rough cheeks.
+
+I was deeply affected, and felt that the man had uttered the whole truth.
+It was evidently one of those cases in which a person liable to suspicion
+damages his own cause by resorting to a trick. No doubt, by his act of
+theft, Armstrong had been driven to an expedient which would not have
+been adopted by a person perfectly innocent. And thus, from one thing to
+another, the charge of murder had been fixed upon him and his hapless
+wife. When his confession had been uttered, I felt a species of
+self-accusation in having contributed to his destruction, and gladly
+would I have undone the whole day's proceedings. The judge, on the
+contrary, was quite undisturbed. Viewing the harangue of Armstrong as a
+mere tissue of falsehood, he cooly pronounced sentence of death on the
+prisoners. They were to be hanged on Monday. This was Friday.
+
+"A bad job!" whispered the counsel for the defence as he passed me. "That
+witness of yours, the woman Strugnell, is the real culprit."
+
+I tasted no dinner that day: I was sick at heart; for I felt as if the
+blood of two fellow-creatures was on my hands. In the evening I sallied
+forth to the judge's lodgings. He listened to all I had to say; but was
+quite imperturbable. The obstinate old man was satisfied that the
+sentence was as it should be. I returned to my inn in a fever of despair.
+Without the approval of the judge, I knew that an application to the
+Secretary of State was futile. There was not even time to send to London,
+unless the judge had granted a respite.
+
+All Saturday and Sunday I was in misery. I denounced capital punishment
+as a gross iniquity--a national sin and disgrace; my feelings of course
+being influenced somewhat by a recollection of that unhappy affair of
+Harvey, noticed in my previous paper. I half resolved to give up the bar,
+and rather go and sweep the streets for a livelihood, than run the risk
+of getting poor people hanged who did not deserve it.
+
+On the Monday morning I was pacing up and down my break fast-room in the
+next assize town, in a state of great excitement, when a chaise-and-four
+drove rapidly up to the hotel, and out tumbled Johnson the constable. His
+tale was soon told. On the previous evening, the landlady of the Black
+Swan, a roadside public-house about four miles distant from the scene of
+the murder, reading the name of Pearce in the report of the trial in the
+Sunday county paper, sent for Johnston to state that that person had on
+the fatal evening called and left a portmanteau in her charge, promising
+to call for it in an hour, but had never been there since. On opening the
+portmanteau, Wilson's watch, chains, and seals, and other property, were
+discovered in it; and Johnson had, as soon as it was possible, set off in
+search of me. Instantly, for there was not a moment to spare, I, in
+company with Armstrong's counsel, sought the judge, and with some
+difficulty obtained from him a formal order to the sheriff to suspend the
+execution till further orders. Off I and the constable started, and
+happily arrived in time to stay the execution, and deprive the
+already-assembled mob of the brutal exhibition they so anxiously awaited.
+On inquiring for Mary Strugnell, we found that she had absconded on the
+evening of the trial. All search for her proved vain.
+
+Five months had passed away; the fate of Armstrong and his wife was still
+undecided, when a message was brought to my chambers in the Temple from a
+woman said to be dying in St. Bartholomew's Hospital. It was Mary
+Strugnell; who, when in a state of intoxication, had fallen down in front
+of a carriage, as she was crossing near Holborn Hill, and had both her
+legs broken. She was dying miserably, and had sent for me to make a full
+confession relative to Wilson's murder. Armstrong's account was perfectly
+correct. The deed was committed by Pearce, and they were packing up their
+plunder when they were startled by the unexpected return of the
+Armstrongs. Pearce, snatching up a bundle and a portmanteau, escaped by
+the window; she had not nerve enough to attempt it, and crawled back to
+her bedroom, where she, watching the doings of the farmer through the
+chinks of the partition which separated her room from the passage,
+concocted the story which convicted the prisoners. Pearce thinking
+himself pursued, too heavily encumbered for rapid flight, left the
+portmanteau as described, intending to call for it in the morning, if his
+fears proved groundless. He, however, had not courage to risk calling
+again, and made the best of his way to London. He was now in Newgate
+under sentence of death for a burglary, accompanied by personal violence
+to the inmates of the dwelling he and his gang had entered and robbed. I
+took care to have the deposition of the dying wretch put into proper
+form; and the result was, after a great deal of petitioning and worrying
+of authorities, a full pardon for both Armstrong and his wife. They sold
+Craig Farm, and removed to some other part of the country, where, I never
+troubled myself to inquire. Deeply grateful was I to be able at last to
+wash my hands of an affair, which had cost me so much anxiety and
+vexation; albeit the lesson it afforded me of not coming hastily to
+conclusions, even when the truth seems, as it were, upon the surface of
+the matter, has not been, I trust, without its uses.
+
+
+
+
+THE CONTESTED MARRIAGE.
+
+
+I had just escaped to my chambers one winter afternoon from a heavy trial
+"at bar" in the King's Bench, Westminster, and was poring over a case
+upon which an "opinion" was urgently solicited, when my clerk entered
+with a letter which he had been requested to deliver by a lady, who had
+called twice before during the day for the purpose of seeing me. Vexed at
+the interruption, I almost snatched the letter from the man's hand,
+hastily broke the seal, and to my great surprise found it was from my
+excellent old friend Sir Jasper Thornely of Thornely Hall, Lancashire. It
+ran as follows:--
+
+"My Dear ----, The bearer of this note is a lady whom I am desirous of
+serving to the utmost extent of my ability. That she is really the widow
+she represents herself to be, and her son consequently heir to the
+magnificent estates now in possession of the Emsdales--you remember how
+they tripped up my heels at the last election for the borough of ------ I
+have no moral doubt whatever; but whether her claim can be legally
+established is another affair. She will tell you the story herself. It
+was a heartless business; but Sir Harry, who, you have no doubt heard,
+broke his neck in a steeple-chase about ten months ago, was a sad wild
+dog. My advice is, to look out for a sharp, clever, persevering attorney,
+and set him upon a hunt for evidence. If he succeed, I undertake to pay
+him a thousand pounds over and above his legal costs. He'll nose it out
+for that, I should think!--Yours, truly,
+
+"Jasper Thornely.
+
+"P.S.--Emsdale's son, I have just heard--confound their
+impudence!--intends, upon the strength of this accession of property, to
+stand for the county against my old friend ----, at the dissolution,
+which cannot now be far off. If you don't think one thousand pounds
+enough, I'll double it. A cruelly, ill-used lady! and as to her son, he's
+the very image of the late Sir Harry Compton. In haste--J.T. I re-open
+the letter to enclose a cheque for a hundred pounds, which you will pay
+the attorney on account. They'll die hard, you may be sure. If it could
+come off next assizes, we should spoil them for the county--J.T."
+
+"Assizes"--"county"--"Sir Harry Compton," I involuntarily murmured, as I
+finished the perusal of my old friend's incoherent epistle. "What on
+earth can the eccentric old fox-hunter mean?" "Show the lady in," I added
+in a louder tone to the clerk. She presently appeared, accompanied by a
+remarkably handsome boy about six years of age, both attired in deep
+mourning. The lady approached with a timid, furtive step and glance, as
+if she were entering the den of some grim ogre, rather than the quiet
+study of a civilized lawyer of mature age. I was at once struck by her
+singular and touching loveliness. I have never seen a woman that so
+completely realized the highest _Madonna_ type of youthful, matronly
+beauty--its starlight radiance and mild serenity of sorrow. Her voice,
+too, gentle and low, had a tone of patient sadness in it strangely
+affecting. She was evidently a person, if not of high birth, of refined
+manners and cultivated mind; and I soon ceased to wonder at warm-hearted
+old Sir Jasper's enthusiasm in her cause. Habitually, however, on my
+guard against first impressions, I courteously, but coldly, invited her
+first to a seat, and next to a more intelligible relation of her business
+with me than could be gathered from the letter of which she was the
+bearer. She complied, and I was soon in possession of the following facts
+and fancies:--
+
+Violet Dalston and her sister Emily had lived for several years in close
+and somewhat straitened retirement with their father, Captain Dalston, at
+Rock Cottage, on the outskirts of a village about six miles distant from
+Leeds, when Captain Dalston, who was an enthusiastic angler, introduced
+to his home a gentleman about twenty-five years of age, of handsome
+exterior and gentlemanly manners, with whom congeniality of tastes and
+pursuits had made him acquainted. This stranger was introduced to Violet
+(my interesting client) and her sister, as a Mr. Henry Grainger, the son
+of a London merchant. The object of his wanderings through the English
+counties was, he said, to recruit his health, which had become affected
+by too close application to business, and to gratify his taste for
+angling, sketching, and so on. He became a frequent visitor; and the
+result, after the lapse of about three months, was a proposal for the
+hand of Violet. His father allowed him, he stated, five hundred pounds
+per annum; but in order not to mortally offend the old gentleman, who was
+determined, if his son married at all, it should be either to rank or
+riches, it would be necessary to conceal the marriage till after his
+death. This commonplace story had been, it appeared, implicitly credited
+by Captain Dalston; and Violet Dalston and Henry Grainger were united in
+holy wedlock--not at the village church near where Captain Dalston
+resided, but in one of the Leeds churches. The witnesses were the
+bride's father and sister, and a Mr. Bilston, a neighbor. This marriage
+had taken place rather more than seven years since, and its sole fruit
+was the fine-looking boy who accompanied his mother to my office. Mr.
+Grainger, soon after the marriage, persuaded the Dalstons to leave Rock
+Cottage, and take up their abode in a picturesque village in Cumberland,
+where he had purchased a small house, with some garden and ornamental
+grounds attached.
+
+Five years rolled away--not, as I could discern, _too_ happily when the
+very frequent absences of Violet's husband in London, as he alleged (all
+her letters to him were directed to the post-office, St. Martin's le
+Grand--till called for), were suddenly greatly prolonged; and on his
+return home, after an absence of more than three months, he abruptly
+informed the family that the affairs of his father, who was dying, had
+been found to be greatly embarrassed, and that nothing was left for him
+and them but emigration to America, with such means as might be saved
+from the wreck of the elder Grainger's property. After much lamentation
+and opposition on the part of Emily Dalston and her father, it was
+finally conceded as Violet's husband wished; and the emigration was to
+have taken place in the following spring, Henry Grainger to follow them
+the instant he could wind up his father's affairs. About three months
+before their intended departure--this very time twelvemonth, as nearly as
+may be--Captain Dalston was suddenly called to London, to close the eyes
+of an only sister. This sad duty fulfilled, he was about to return, when,
+passing towards dusk down St. James Street, he saw Henry Grainger,
+habited in a remarkable sporting-dress, standing with several other
+gentlemen at the door of one of the club-houses. Hastening across the
+street to accost him, he was arrested for a minute or so by a line of
+carriages which turned sharply out of Piccadilly; and when he did reach
+the other side, young Mr. Grainger and his companions had vanished. He
+inquired of the porter, and was assured that no Mr. Grainger, senior or
+junior, was known there. Persisting that he had seen him standing within
+the doorway, and describing his dress, the man with an insolent laugh
+exclaimed that the gentleman who wore that dress was the famous sporting
+baronet, Sir Harry Compton!
+
+Bewildered, and suspecting he hardly knew what, Captain Dalston, in
+defiance of young Grainger's oft-iterated injunctions, determined to call
+at his father's residence, which he had always understood to be in
+Leadenhall Street. No such name was, however, known there; and an
+examination, to which he was advised, of the "Commercial Directory"
+failed to discover the whereabout of the pretended London merchant.
+Heart-sick and spirit-wearied, Captain Dalston returned home only to die.
+A violent cold, caught by imprudently riding in such bitter weather as it
+then was, on the outside of the coach, aggravated by distress of mind,
+brought his already enfeebled frame to the grave in less than two months
+after his arrival in Cumberland. He left his daughters utterly unprovided
+for, except by the legal claim which the eldest possessed on a man who,
+he feared, would turn out to be a worthless impostor. The penalty he paid
+for consenting to so imprudent a marriage was indeed a heavy and bitter
+one. Months passed away, and still no tidings of Violet's husband reached
+the sisters' sad and solitary home. At length, stimulated by
+apprehensions of approaching destitution--whose foot was already on the
+threshold--and desirous of gratifying a whim of Emily's, Violet consented
+to visit the neighborhood of Compton Castle (the seat, her sister had
+ascertained, of the "celebrated sporting baronet," as the porter called
+him) on their way to London, where they had relatives who, though not
+rich, might possibly be able to assist them in obtaining some decent
+means of maintenance. They alighted at the "Compton Arms," and the first
+object which met the astonished gaze of the sisters as they entered the
+principal sitting-room of the inn, was a full-length portrait of Violet's
+husband, in the exact sporting-dress described to them by their father.
+An ivory tablet attached to the lower part of the frame informed the
+gazer that the picture was a copy, by permission, of the celebrated
+portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence, of Sir Harry Compton, Baronet. They were
+confounded, overwhelmed, bewildered. Sir Harry, they found, had been
+killed about eight months previously in a steeple-chase; and the castle
+and estates had passed, in default of direct issue, to a distant
+relative, Lord Emsdale. Their story was soon bruited about; and, in the
+opinion of many persons, was confirmed beyond reasonable question by the
+extraordinary likeness they saw or fancied between Violet's son and the
+deceased baronet. Amongst others, Sir Jasper Thornely was a firm believer
+in the identity of Henry Grainger and Sir Harry Compton; but
+unfortunately, beyond the assertion of the sisters that the portrait of
+Sir Harry was young Grainger's portrait, the real or imaginary likeness
+of the child to his reputed father, and some score of letters addressed
+to Violet by her husband, which Sir Jasper persisted were in Sir Harry's
+handwriting, though few others did (the hand, I saw at a glance, was a
+disguised one), not one tittle of evidence had he been able to procure
+for love or money. As a last resource, he had consigned the case to me,
+and the vulpine sagacity of a London attorney.
+
+I suppose my countenance must be what is called a "speaking" one, for I
+had made no reply in words to this statement of a case upon which I and
+a "London attorney" were to ground measures for wresting a magnificent
+estate from the clutch of a powerful nobleman, and by "next assizes"
+too--when the lady's beautiful eyes filled with tears, and turning to her
+child, she murmured in that gentle, agitating voice of hers, "My poor
+boy." The words I was about to utter died on my tongue, and I remained
+silent for several minutes. After all, thought I, this lady is evidently
+sincere in her expressed conviction that Sir Harry Compton was her
+husband. If her surmise be correct, evidence of the truth may perhaps be
+obtained by a keen search for it; and since Sir Jasper guarantees the
+expenses--I rang the bell. "Step over to Cursitor Street," said I to the
+clerk as soon as he entered; "and if Mr. Ferret is within, ask him to
+step over immediately." Ferret was just the man for such a commission.
+Indefatigable, resolute, sharp-witted, and of a ceaseless, remorseless
+activity, a secret or a fact had need be very profoundly hidden for him
+not to reach and fish it up. I have heard solemn doubts expressed by
+attorneys opposed to him as to whether he ever really and truly slept at
+all--that is, a genuine Christian sleep, as distinguished from a merely
+canine one, with one eye always half open. Mr. Ferret had been for many
+years Mr. Simpkins' managing clerk; but ambition, and the increasing
+requirements of a considerable number of young Ferrets, determined him on
+commencing business on his own account; and about six months previous to
+the period of which I am now writing, a brass door-plate in Cursitor
+Street, Chancery Lane, informed the public that Samuel Ferret, Esq.,
+Attorney-at-Law, might be consulted within.
+
+Mr. Samuel Ferret was fortunately at home; and after a very brief
+interval, made his appearance, entering with a short professional bow to
+me, and a very profound one to the lady, in whom his quick gray eye
+seemed intuitively to espy a client. As soon as he was seated, I handed
+him Sir Jasper's letter. He perused it carefully three times, examined
+the seal attentively, and handed it back with--"An excellent letter as
+far as it goes, and very much to the point. You intend, I suppose, that I
+should undertake this little affair?"
+
+"Yes, if, after hearing the lady's case, you feel disposed to
+venture upon it."
+
+Mr. Samuel Ferret's note-book was out in an instant; and the lady,
+uninterrupted by a syllable from him, re-told her story.
+
+"Good, very good, as far as it goes," remarked undismayed Samuel Ferret
+when she concluded; "only it can scarcely be said to go very far. Moral
+presumption, which, in our courts unfortunately, isn't worth a groat.
+Never mind. _Magna est veritas_, and so on. When, madam, did you say Sir
+Harry--Mr. Grainger--first began to urge emigration?"
+
+"Between two and three years ago."
+
+"Have the goodness, if you please, to hand me the baronetage." I did so.
+"Good," resumed Ferret, after turning over the leaves for a few seconds,
+"very good, as far as it goes. It is now just two years and eight months
+since Sir Harry succeeded his uncle in the title and estates. You would
+no doubt soon have heard, madam, that your husband was dead. Truly the
+heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; and
+yet such conduct towards such a lady"--Ferret intended no mere
+compliment; he was only giving utterance to the thoughts passing through
+his brain; but his client's mounting color warned him to change the
+topic, which he very adroitly did. "You intend, of course," said he,
+addressing me, "to proceed at law? No rumble--tumble through the
+spiritual courts?"
+
+"Certainly, if sufficient evidence to justify such a course can be
+obtained."
+
+"Exactly: Doe, demise of Compton, _versus_ Emsdale; action in ejectment,
+judgment of ouster. Our friend Doe, madam--a very accommodating fellow is
+Doe--will, if we succeed, put you in possession as natural guardian of
+your son. Well, sir," turning to me, "I may as well give you an
+acknowledgment for that cheque. I undertake the business, and shall, if
+possible, be off to Leeds by this evening's mail." The acknowledgment was
+given, and Mr. Ferret, pocketing the cheque, departed in high glee.
+
+"The best man, madam, in all broad London," said I in answer to Mrs.
+Grainger's somewhat puzzled look, "you could have retained. Fond as he
+seems, and in fact is, of money--what sensible person is not?--Lord
+Emsdale could not bribe him with his earldom, now that he is fairly
+engaged in your behalf, I will not say to betray you, but to abate his
+indefatigable activity in furtherance of your interests. Attorneys,
+madam, be assured, whatever nursery tales may teach, have, the very
+sharpest of them, their points of honor." The lady and her son departed,
+and I turned again to the almost forgotten "case."
+
+Three weeks had nearly glided by, and still no tidings of Mr. Ferret.
+Mrs. Grainger, and her sister Emily Dalston, a very charming person, had
+called repeatedly; but as I of course had nothing to communicate, they
+were still condemned to languish under the heart-sickness caused by hope
+deferred. At last our emissary made his wished-for appearance.
+
+"Well, Mr. Ferret," said I, on entering my library, where I found him
+composedly awaiting my arrival, "what success?"
+
+"Why, nothing of much consequence as yet," replied he; "I am, you know,
+only, as it were, just commencing the investigation. The Leeds parson
+that married them is dead, and the old clerk is paralytic, and has lost
+his memory. If, however, they were both alive, and in sound health of
+mind and body, they could, I fancy, help us but little, as Bilston tells
+me neither the Dalstons nor Grainger had ever entered the church till the
+morning of the wedding; and they soon afterwards removed to Cumberland,
+so that it is scarcely possible either parson or clerk could prove that
+Violet Dalston was married to Sir Harry Compton. A very intelligent
+fellow is Bilston: he was present at the marriage, you remember; and a
+glorious witness, if he had only something of importance to depose to;
+powdered hair and a pigtail, double chin, and six feet in girth at least;
+highly respectable--capital witness, very--only, unfortunately, he can
+only testify that a person calling himself Grainger married Violet
+Dalston; not much in that!"
+
+"So, then, your three weeks' labor has been entirely thrown away!"
+
+"Not so fast--not so fast--you jump too hastily at conclusions. The
+Cumberland fellow that sold Grainger the house--only the equity of
+redemption of it, by the way--there's a large mortgage on it--can prove
+nothing. Nobody about there can, except the surgeon; _he_ can prove Mrs.
+Grainger's _accouchement_--that is something. I have been killing myself
+every evening this last week with grog and tobacco smoke at the "Compton
+Arms," in the company of the castle servants, and if the calves' heads
+_had_ known anything essential, I fancy I should have wormed it out of
+them. They have, however, kindly furnished me with a scrawl of
+introduction to the establishment now in town, some of whom I shall have
+the honor to meet, in the character of an out-and-out liberal sporting
+gentleman, at the "Albemarle Arms" this evening. I want to get hold of
+his confidential valet, if he had one--those go-a-head fellows generally
+have--a Swiss, or some other foreign animal."
+
+"Is this all?"
+
+"Why, no," rejoined Ferret, with a sharp twinkle of his sharp gray eye,
+amounting almost to a wink; "there is one circumstance which I cannot
+help thinking, though I scarcely know why, will put us, by the help of
+patience and perseverance, on the right track. In a corner of the
+registry of marriage there is written Z.Z. in bold letters. In no other
+part of the book does this occur. What may that mean?"
+
+"Had the incumbent of the living a curate at the time?"
+
+"No. On that point I am unfortunately too well satisfied. Neither are
+there any names with such initials in any of the Leeds churchyards. Still
+this Z.Z. may be of importance, if we could but discover who he is. But
+how?--that is the question. Advertise? Show our hands to the opposite
+players, and find if Z.Z. is really an entity, and likely to be of
+service, that when we want him in court, he is half way to America. No,
+no; that would never do."
+
+Mr. Ferret I saw was getting into a brown study; and as I had
+pressing business to despatch, I got rid of him as speedily as I
+could, quite satisfied, spite of Z.Z., that Mrs. Grainger's chance of
+becoming Lady Compton was about equal to mine of ascending the
+British throne some fine day.
+
+Two days afterwards I received the following note:--
+
+"Dear Sir--Z.Z. is the man! I'm off to Shropshire. Back, if possible, the
+day after to-morrow. Not a word even to the ladies. Huzza! In haste,
+Samuel Ferret."
+
+What could this mean? Spite of Mr. Ferret's injunction, I could not help
+informing the sisters, who called soon after I received the note, that a
+discovery, esteemed of importance by our emissary, had been made; and
+they returned home with lightened hearts, after agreeing to repeat their
+visit on the day Mr. Ferret had named for his return.
+
+On reaching my chambers about four o'clock in the afternoon of that day,
+I found the ladies there, and in a state of great excitement. Mr. Ferret,
+my clerk had informed them, had called twice, and seemed in the highest
+spirits. We had wasted but a few minutes in conjectures when Mr. Ferret,
+having ascended the stairs two or three at a time, burst, _sans
+cérémonie_, into the apartment.
+
+"Good-day, sir. Lady Compton, your most obedient servant; madam, yours!
+All right! Only just in time to get the writ sealed; served it myself a
+quarter of an hour ago, just as his lordship was getting into his
+carriage. Not a day to lose; just in time. Capital! Glorious!"
+
+"What do you mean, Mr. Ferret?" exclaimed Emily Dalston: her sister was
+too agitated to speak.
+
+"What do I mean? Let us all four step, sir, into your inner sanctum, and
+I'll soon tell you what I mean."
+
+We adjourned, accordingly, to an inner and more private room. Our
+conference lasted about half an hour, at the end of which the ladies
+took their leave: Lady Compton, her beautiful features alternately
+irradiated and clouded by smiles and tears, murmuring in a broken,
+agitated voice, as she shook hands with me, "You see, sir, he intended
+at last to do us justice."
+
+The news that an action had been brought on behalf of an infant son of
+the late Sir Harry Compton against the Earl of Emsdale, for the recovery
+of the estates in the possession of that nobleman, produced the greatest
+excitement in the part of the county where the property was situated. The
+assize town was crowded, on the day the trial was expected to come on, by
+the tenantry of the late baronet and their families, with whom the
+present landlord was by no means popular. As I passed up the principal
+street, towards the court-house, accompanied by my junior, I was received
+with loud hurraings and waving of handkerchiefs, something after the
+manner, I suppose, in which chivalrous steel-clad knights, about to do
+battle in behalf of distressed damsels, were formerly received by the
+miscellaneous spectators of the lists. Numerous favors, cockades,
+streamers, of the Compton colors, used in election contests, purple and
+orange, were also slyly exhibited, to be more ostentatiously displayed if
+the Emsdale party should be beaten. On entering the court, I found it
+crowded, as we say, to the ceiling. Not only every seat, but every inch
+of standing-room that could be obtained, was occupied, and it was with
+great difficulty the ushers of the court preserved a sufficiently clear
+space for the ingress and egress of witnesses and counsel. Lord Emsdale,
+pale and anxious, spite of manifest effort to appear contemptuously
+indifferent, sat near the judge, who had just entered the court. The
+Archbishop of York, whom we had subpoenaed, why, his Grace had openly
+declared, he knew not, was also of course accommodated with a seat on the
+bench. A formidable bar, led by the celebrated Mr. S ----, was, I saw,
+arrayed against us, though what the case was they had to meet, so well
+had Ferret kept his secret, they knew no more than did their horse-hair
+wigs. Ferret had solemnly enjoined the sisters to silence, and no hint, I
+need scarcely say, was likely to escape my lips. The jury, special of
+course, were in attendance, and the case, "Doe, demise of Compton
+_versus_ Emsdale," having been called, they were duly sworn to try the
+issue. My junior, Mr. Frampton, was just rising "to state the case," as
+it is technically called, when a tremendous shouting, rapidly increasing
+in volume and distinctness, and mingled with the sound of carriage
+wheels, was heard approaching, and presently Mr. Samuel Ferret appeared,
+followed by Lady Compton and her son, the rear of the party brought up by
+Sir Jasper Thornely, whose jolly fox-hunting face shone like a full-blown
+peony. The lady, though painfully agitated, looked charmingly; and the
+timid, appealing glance she unconsciously, as it were, threw round the
+court, would, in a doubtful case, have secured a verdict. "Very well got
+up, indeed," said Mr. S ----, in a voice sufficiently loud for the jury
+to hear--"very effectively managed, upon my word." We were, however, in
+too good-humor to heed taunts; and as soon as silence was restored, Mr.
+Frampton briefly stated the case, and I rose to address the jury. My
+speech was purposely brief, business-like, and confident. I detailed the
+circumstances of the marriage of Violet Dalston, then only eighteen years
+of age, with a Mr. Grainger; the birth of a son; and subsequent
+disappearance of the husband; concluding by an assurance to the jury that
+I should prove, by incontrovertible evidence, that Grainger was no other
+person than the late Sir Harry Compton, baronet. This address by no means
+lessened the vague apprehensions of the other side. A counsel that,
+with such materials for eloquence, disdained having recourse to it, must
+needs have a formidable case. The smiling countenances of Mr. S ---- and
+his brethren became suddenly overcast, and the pallor and agitation of
+Lord Emsdale sensibly increased.
+
+We proved our case clearly, step by step: the marriage, the accouchement,
+the handwriting of Grainger--Bilston proved this--to the letters
+addressed to his wife, were clearly established. The register of the
+marriage was produced by the present clerk of the Leeds church; the
+initials Z.Z. were pointed out; and at my suggestion the book was
+deposited for the purposes of the trial with the clerk of the court. Not
+a word of cross-examination had passed the lips of our learned friends on
+the other side: they allowed our evidence to pass as utterly indifferent.
+A change was at hand.
+
+Our next witness was James Kirby, groom to the late baronet and to the
+present earl. After a few unimportant questions, I asked him if he had
+ever seen that gentleman before, pointing to Mr. Ferret, who stood up for
+the more facile recognition of his friend Kirby.
+
+"Oh yes, he remembered the gentleman well; and a very nice, good-natured,
+soft sort of a gentleman he was. He treated witness at the "Albemarle
+Arms," London, to as much brandy and water as he liked, out of respect to
+his late master, whom the gentleman seemed uncommon fond of."
+
+"Well, and what return did you make for so much liberality?"
+
+"Return! very little I do assure ye. I told un how many horses Sir Harry
+kept, and how many races he won; but I couldn't tell un much more, pump
+as much as he would, because, do ye see, I didn't _know_ no more."
+
+An audible titter from the other side greeted the witness as he uttered
+the last sentence. Mr. S ----, with one of his complacent glances at the
+jury-box, remarking in a sufficiently loud whisper, "That he had never
+heard a more conclusive reason for not telling in his life."
+
+"Did you mention that you were present at the death of the late baronet?"
+
+"Yes I did. I told un that I were within about three hundred red yards
+of late master when he had that ugly fall; and that when I got up to
+un, he sort of pulled me down, and whispered hoarse-like, 'Send for
+Reverend Zachariah Zimmerman.' I remembered it, it was sich an
+outlandish name like."
+
+"Oh, oh," thought I, as Mr. S ---- reached across the table for the
+parish register, "Z.Z. is acquiring significance I perceive."
+
+"Well, and what did this gentleman say to that?"
+
+"Say? Why, nothing particular, only seemed quite joyful 'mazed like; and
+when I asked un why, he said it was such a comfort to find his good
+friend Sir Harry had such pious thoughts in his last moments."
+
+The laugh, quickly suppressed, that followed these words, did not come
+from our learned friends on the other side.
+
+"Sir Harry used those words?"
+
+"He did; but as he died two or three minutes after, it were of course no
+use to send for no parson whatsomever."
+
+"Exactly. That will do, unless the other side have any questions to ask."
+No question _was_ put, and the witness went down. "Call," said I to the
+crier of the court--"call the Reverend Zachariah Zimmerman."
+
+This was a bomb-shell. Lord Emsdale, the better to conceal his agitation,
+descended from the bench and took his seat beside his counsel. The
+Reverend Zachariah Zimmerman, examined by Mr. Frampton, deponed in
+substance as follows:--"He was at present rector of Dunby, Shropshire,
+and had been in holy orders more than twenty years. Was on a visit to the
+Reverend Mr. Cramby at Leeds seven years ago, when one morning Mr.
+Cramby, being much indisposed, requested him to perform the marriage
+ceremony for a young couple then waiting in church. He complied, and
+joined in wedlock Violet Dalston and Henry Grainger. The bride was the
+lady now pointed out to him in court; the bridegroom he had discovered,
+about two years ago, to be no other than the late Sir Harry Compton,
+baronet. The initials Z.Z. were his, and written by him. The parish
+clerk, a failing old man, had not officiated at the marriage; a nephew,
+he believed, had acted for him, but he had entered the marriage in the
+usual form afterwards."
+
+"How did you ascertain that Henry Grainger was the late Sir Harry
+Compton?"
+
+"I was introduced to Sir Harry Compton in London, at the house of the
+Archbishop of York, by his Grace himself."
+
+"I remember the incident distinctly, Mr. Zimmerman," said his Grace from
+the bench.
+
+"Besides which," added the rector, "my present living was presented to
+me, about eighteen months since, by the deceased baronet. I must further,
+in justice to myself, explain that I immediately after the introduction,
+sought an elucidation of the mystery from Sir Harry; and he then told me
+that, in a freak of youthful passion, he had married Miss Dalston in the
+name of Grainger, fearing his uncle's displeasure should it reach his
+ears; that his wife had died in her first confinement, after giving birth
+to a still-born child, and he now wished the matter to remain in
+oblivion. He also showed me several letters, which I then believed
+genuine, confirming his story. I heard no more of the matter till waited
+upon by the attorney for the plaintiff, Mr. Ferret."
+
+A breathless silence prevailed during the delivery of this evidence. At
+its conclusion, the dullest brain in court comprehended that the cause
+was gained; and a succession of cheers, which could not be suppressed,
+rang through the court, and were loudly echoed from without. Sir Jasper's
+voice sounding high above all the rest. Suddenly, too, as if by magic,
+almost everybody in court, save the jury and counsel, were decorated with
+orange and purple favors, and a perfect shower of them fell at the feet
+and about the persons of Lady Compton, her sister, who had by this time
+joined her, and the infant Sir Henry. As soon as the expostulations and
+menaces of the judge had restored silence and order, his lordship,
+addressing Lord Emsdale's senior counsel, said, "Well, Brother S ----,
+what course do you propose to adopt ?"
+
+"My lord," replied Mr. S ---- after a pause, "I and my learned friends
+have thought it our duty to advise Lord Emsdale that further opposition
+to the plaintiff's claim would prove ultimately futile; and I have
+therefore to announce, my lord and gentlemen of the jury, that we
+acquiesce in a verdict for the plaintiff."
+
+"You have counseled wisely," replied his lordship. "Gentlemen of the
+jury, you will of course return a verdict for the plaintiff."
+
+The jury hastily and joyfully assented: the verdict was recorded, and the
+court adjourned for an hour in the midst of tumultuous excitement. The
+result of the trial flew through the crowd outside like wildfire; and
+when Lady Compton and her son, after struggling through the
+densely-crowded court, stepped into Sir Jasper's carriage, which was in
+waiting at the door, the enthusiastic uproar that ensued--the hurrahing,
+shouting, waving of hats and handkerchiefs--deafened and bewildered one;
+and it was upwards of an hour ere the slow-moving chariot reached Sir
+Jasper's mansion, though not more than half a mile distant from the town.
+Mr. Ferret, mounted on the box, and almost smothered in purple and
+orange, was a conspicuous object, and a prime favorite with the crowd.
+The next day Lord Emsdale, glad, doubtless, to quit the neighborhood as
+speedily as possible, left the castle, giving Lady Compton immediate
+possession. The joy of the tenantry was unbounded, and under the wakeful
+superintendence of Mr. Ferret, all claims against Lord Emsdale for
+received rents, dilapidations, &c. were adjusted, we may be sure, _not_
+adversely to his client's interests; though he frequently complained, not
+half so satisfactorily as if Lady Compton had not interfered, with what
+Mr. Ferret deemed misplaced generosity in the matter.
+
+As I was obliged to proceed onwards with the circuit, I called at Compton
+Castle to take leave of my interesting and fortunate client a few days
+after her installation there. I was most gratefully received and
+entertained. As I shook hands at parting, her ladyship, after pressing
+upon me a diamond ring of great value, said, whilst her charming eyes
+filled with regretful, yet joyful tears, "Do not forget that poor Henry
+intended at last to do us justice." Prosperity, thought I, will not spoil
+that woman. It _has_ not, as the world, were I authorized to communicate
+her _real_ name, would readily acknowledge.
+
+
+
+
+THE MOTHER AND SON.
+
+
+Dinner had been over about half an hour one Sunday afternoon.--the only
+day on which for years I had been able to enjoy a dinner--and I was
+leisurely sipping a glass of wine, when a carriage drove rapidly up to
+the door, a loud _rat-tat_ followed, and my friend Dr. Curteis, to my
+great surprise, was announced.
+
+"I have called," said the doctor as we shook hands, "to ask you to
+accompany me to Mount Place. I have just received a hurried note from
+Miss Armitage, stating that her mother, after a very brief illness, is
+rapidly sinking, and requesting my attendance, as well as that of a legal
+gentleman, immediately."
+
+"Mrs. Armitage!" I exclaimed, inexpressibly shocked. "Why, it is scarcely
+more than a fortnight ago that I met her at the Rochfords' in brilliant
+health and spirits."
+
+"Even so. But will you accompany me? I don't know where to find any one
+else for the moment, and time presses."
+
+"It is an attorney, probably, rather than a barrister, that is needed;
+but under the circumstances, and knowing her as I do, I cannot hesitate."
+
+We were soon bowling along at a rapid pace, and in little more than an
+hour reached the dying lady's residence, situated in the county of Essex,
+and distant about ten miles from London. We entered together; and Dr.
+Curteis, leaving me in the library, proceeded at once to the sick
+chamber. About ten minutes afterwards the housekeeper, a tall,
+foreign-looking, and rather handsome woman, came into the room, and
+announced that the doctor wished to see me. She was deadly pale, and, I
+observed, trembled like an aspen. I motioned her to precede me; and she,
+with unsteady steps, immediately led the way. So great was her agitation,
+that twice, in ascending the stairs, she only saved herself from falling
+by grasping the banister-rail. The presage I drew from the exhibition of
+such overpowering emotion, by a person whom I knew to have been long not
+only in the service, but in the confidence of Mrs. Armitage, was soon
+confirmed by Dr. Curteis, whom we met coming out of the chamber of the
+expiring patient.
+
+"Step this way," said he, addressing me, and leading to an adjoining
+apartment. "We do not require your attendance, Mrs. Bourdon," said he, as
+soon as we reached it, to the housekeeper, who had swiftly followed us,
+and now stood staring with eager eyes in the doctor's face, as if life
+and death hung on his lips. "Have the goodness to leave us," he added
+tartly, perceiving she did not stir, but continued her fearful,
+scrutinizing glance. She started at his altered tone, flushed crimson,
+then paled to a chalky whiteness, and muttering, left the apartment.
+
+"The danger of her mistress has bewildered her," I remarked.
+
+"Perhaps so," remarked Dr. Curteis. "Be that as it may, Mrs. Armitage is
+beyond all human help. In another hour she will be, as we say, no more."
+
+"I feared so. What is the nature of her disorder?"
+
+"A rapid wasting away, as I am informed. The appearances presented are
+those of a person expiring of atrophy, or extreme emaciation."
+
+"Indeed. And so sudden too!"
+
+"Yes. I am glad you are come, although your professional services will
+not, it seems, be required--a neighboring attorney having performed the
+necessary duty--something, I believe, relative to the will of the dying
+lady. We will speak further together by and by. In the meantime,"
+continued Dr. Curteis, with a perceptible tremor in his voice, "it will
+do neither of us any harm to witness the closing scene of the life of
+Mary Rawdon, whom you and I twenty years ago worshipped as one of the
+gentlest and most beautiful of beings with which the Creator ever graced
+his universe. It will be a peaceful parting. Come."
+
+Just as, with noiseless footsteps, we entered the silent death-chamber,
+the last rays of the setting sun were falling upon the figure of Ellen
+Armitage--who knelt in speechless agony by the bedside of her expiring
+parent--and faintly lighting up the pale, emaciated, sunken features of
+the so lately brilliant, courted Mrs. Armitage! But for the ineffaceable
+splendor of her deep-blue eyes, I should scarcely have recognized her.
+Standing in the shadow, as thrown by the heavy bed-drapery, we gazed and
+listened unperceived.
+
+"Ellen," murmured the dying lady, "come nearer to me. It is growing
+dark, and I cannot see you plainly. Now, then, read to me, beginning at
+the verse you finished with, as good Dr. Curteis entered. Ay," she
+faintly whispered, "it is thus, Ellen, with thy hand clasped in mine,
+and with the words of the holy book sounding from thy dear lips, that I
+would pass away!"
+
+Ellen, interrupted only by her blinding tears, making sad stops,
+complied. Twilight stole on, and threw its shadow over the solemn scene,
+deepening its holiness of sorrow. Night came with all her train; and the
+silver radiance kissed into ethereal beauty the pale face of the weeping
+girl, still pursuing her sad and sacred task. We hesitated to disturb, by
+the slightest movement the repose of a death-bed over which belief and
+hope, those only potent ministers, shed light and calm! At length Dr.
+Curteis advanced gently towards the bed, and taking the daughter's hand,
+said in a low voice, "Had you not better retire, my dear young lady, for
+a few moments?" She understood him, and rising from her knees, threw
+herself in an ecstacy of grief upon the corpse, from which the spirit had
+just passed away. Assistance was summoned, and the sobbing girl was borne
+from the chamber.
+
+I descended, full of emotion, to the library, where Dr. Curteis promised
+shortly to join me. Noiselessly entering the room, I came suddenly upon
+the housekeeper and a tall young man, standing with their backs towards
+me in the recesses of one of the windows, and partly shrouded by the
+heavy cloth curtains. They were evidently in earnest conference, and
+several words, the significance of which did not at the moment strike me,
+reached my ears before they perceived my approach. The instant they did
+so, they turned hastily round, and eyed me with an expression of flurried
+alarm, which at the time surprised me not a little. "All is over, Mrs.
+Bourdon," said I, finding she did not speak; "and your presence is
+probably needed by Miss Armitage." A flash of intelligence, as I spoke,
+passed between the pair; but whether indicative of grief or joy, so
+momentary was the glance, I should have been puzzled to determine. The
+housekeeper immediately left the room, keeping her eyes, as she passed,
+fixed upon me with the same nervous apprehensive look which had before
+irritated Dr. Curteis. The young man followed more slowly. He was a tall
+and rather handsome youth, apparently about one or two-and-twenty years
+of age. His hair was black as jet, and his dark eyes were of singular
+brilliancy; but the expression, I thought, was scarcely a refined or
+highly-intellectual one. His resemblance to Mrs. Bourdon, whose son
+indeed he was, was very striking. He bowed slightly, but courteously, as
+to an equal, as he closed the door, and I was left to the undisturbed
+enjoyment of my own reflections, which, ill-defined and indistinct as
+they were, were anything but pleasant company. My reverie was at length
+interrupted by the entrance of the doctor, with the announcement that the
+carriage was in waiting to re-convey us to town.
+
+We had journeyed several miles on our return before a word was spoken by
+either of us. My companion was apparently even more painfully
+pre-occupied than myself. He was, however, the first to break silence.
+"The emaciated corpse we have just left little resembles the gay,
+beautiful girl, for whose smiles you and I were once disposed to shoot
+each other!" The doctor's voice trembled with emotion, and his face, I
+perceived, was pale as marble.
+
+"Mary Rawdon," I remarked, "lives again in her daughter."
+
+"Yes; her very image. Do you know," continued he, speaking with rapid
+energy, "I suspect Mary Rawdon--Mrs. Armitage, I would say--has been
+foully, treacherously dealt with!"
+
+I started with amazement; and yet the announcement but embodied and gave
+form and color to my own ill-defined and shadowy suspicions.
+
+"Good heavens! How? By whom?"
+
+"Unless I am greatly mistaken, she has been poisoned by an adept in the
+use of such destructive agents."
+
+"Mrs. Bourdon?"
+
+"No; by her son. At least my suspicions point that way. She is probably
+cognizant of the crime. But in order that you should understand the
+grounds upon which my conjectures are principally founded, I must enter
+into a short explanation. Mrs. Bourdon, a woman of Spanish extraction,
+and who formerly occupied a much higher position than she does now, has
+lived with Mrs. Armitage from the period of her husband's death, now
+about sixteen years ago. Mrs. Bourdon has a son, a tall, good-looking
+fellow enough, whom you may have seen."
+
+"He was with his mother in the library as I entered it after
+leaving you."
+
+"Ah! well, hem! This boy, in his mother's opinion--but that perhaps is
+somewhat excusable--exhibited early indications of having been born a
+"genius." Mrs. Armitage, who had been first struck by the beauty of the
+child, gradually acquired the same notion; and the result was, that he
+was little by little invested--with at least her tacit approval--with the
+privileges supposed to be the lawful inheritance of such gifted spirits;
+namely, the right to be as idle as he pleased--geniuses, you know, can,
+according to the popular notion, attain any conceivable amount of
+knowledge _per saltum_ at a bound--and to exalt himself in the stilts of
+his own conceit above the useful and honorable pursuits suited to the
+station in life in which Providence had cast his lot. The fruit of such
+training soon showed itself. Young Bourdon grew up a conceited and
+essentially-ignorant puppy, capable of nothing but bad verses, and
+thoroughly impressed with but one important fact, which was, that he,
+Alfred Bourdon, was the most gifted and the most ill-used of all God's
+creatures. To genius, in any intelligible sense of the term, he has in
+truth no pretension. He is endowed, however, with a kind of reflective
+talent, which is often mistaken by fools for _creative_ power. The morbid
+fancies and melancholy scorn of a Byron, for instance, such gentry
+reflect back from their foggy imaginations in exaggerated and distorted
+feebleness of whining versicles, and so on with other lights celestial
+or infernal. This, however, by the way. The only rational pursuit he ever
+followed, and that only by fits and starts, and to gratify his faculty of
+"wonder," I fancy, was chemistry. A small laboratory was fitted up for
+him in the little summer-house you may have observed at the further
+corner of the lawn. This study of his, if study such desultory snatches
+at science may be called, led him, in his examination of vegetable
+bodies, to a smattering acquaintance with botany, a science of which
+Ellen Armitage is an enthusiastic student. They were foolishly permitted
+to _botanize_ together, and the result was, that Alfred Bourdon, acting
+upon the principle that genius--whether sham or real--levels all merely
+mundane distinctions, had the impudence to aspire to the hand of Miss
+Armitage. His passion, sincere or simulated, has never been, I have
+reason to know, in the slightest degree reciprocated by its object; but
+so blind is vanity, that when, about six weeks ago, an _éclaircissement_
+took place, and the fellow's dream was somewhat rudely dissipated, the
+untoward rejection of his preposterous suit was, there is every reason to
+believe, attributed by both mother and son to the repugnance of Mrs.
+Armitage alone; and to this idiotic hallucination she has, I fear, fallen
+a sacrifice. Judging from the emaciated appearance of the body, and other
+phenomena communicated to me by her ordinary medical attendant--a
+blundering ignoramus, who ought to have called in assistance long
+before--she has been poisoned with _iodine_, which, administered in
+certain quantities, would produce precisely the same symptoms. Happily
+there is no mode of destroying human life which so surely leads to the
+detection of the murderer as the use of such agents; and of this truth
+the post mortem examination of the body, which takes place to-morrow
+morning, will, if I am not grossly mistaken, supply another vivid
+illustration. Legal assistance will no doubt be necessary, and I am sure
+I do not err in expecting that _you_ will aid me in bringing to justice
+the murderer of Mary Rawdon?"
+
+A pressure of his hand was my only answer. "I shall call for you at ten
+o'clock" said he, as he put me down at my own door. I bowed, and the
+carriage drove off.
+
+"Well!" said I, as Dr. Curteis and Mr. ---- the eminent surgeon entered
+the library at Mount Place the following morning after a long absence.
+
+"As I anticipated," replied the doctor with a choking voice: "she has
+been poisoned!"
+
+I started to my feet. "And the murderer?"
+
+"Our suspicions still point to young Bourdon; but the persons of both
+mother and son have been secured."
+
+"Apart?"
+
+"Yes; and I have despatched a servant to request the presence of a
+neighbor--a county magistrate. I expect him momently."
+
+After a brief consultation, we all three directed our steps to the
+summer-house which contained young Bourdon's laboratory. In the room
+itself nothing of importance was discovered; but in an enclosed recess,
+which we broke open, we found a curiously-fashioned glass bottle half
+full of iodine.
+
+"This is it!" said Mr. ----; "and in a powdered state too--just ready
+for mixing with brandy or any other available dissolvent." The powder had
+somewhat the appearance of fine black lead. Nothing further of any
+consequence being observed, we returned to the house, where the
+magistrate had already arrived.
+
+Alfred Bourdon was first brought in; and he having been duly cautioned
+that he was not obliged to answer any question, and that what he did say
+would be taken down, and, if necessary, used against him, I proposed the
+following questions:--
+
+"Have you the key of your laboratory?"
+
+"No; the door is always open."
+
+"Well, then, of any door or cupboard in the room?"
+
+At this question his face flushed purple: he stammered, "There is
+no"--and abruptly paused.
+
+"Do I understand you to say there is no cupboard or place of concealment
+in the room?"
+
+"No: here is the key."
+
+"Has any one had access to the cupboard or recess of which this is the
+key, except yourself?"
+
+The young man shook as if smitten with ague: his lips chattered, but no
+articulate sound escaped them.
+
+"You need not answer the question," said the magistrate, "unless you
+choose to do so. I again warn you that all you say will, if necessary,
+be used against you."
+
+"No one," he at length gasped, mastering his hesitation by a strong
+exertion of the will--"no one can have had access to the place but
+myself. I have never parted with the key."
+
+Mrs. Bourdon was now called in. After interchanging a glance of intense
+agony, and, as it seemed to me, of affectionate intelligence with her
+son, she calmly answered the questions put to her. They were unimportant,
+except the last, and that acted upon her like a galvanic shock. It was
+this--"Did you ever struggle with your son on the landing leading to the
+bedroom of the deceased for the possession of this bottle?" and I held up
+that which we had found in the recess.
+
+A slight scream escaped her lips; and then she stood rigid, erect,
+motionless, glaring alternately at me and at the fatal bottle with eyes
+that seemed starting from their sockets. I glanced towards the son; he
+was also affected in a terrible manner. His knees smote each other, and a
+clammy perspiration burst forth and settled upon his pallid forehead.
+
+"Again I caution you," iterated the magistrate, "that you are not bound
+to answer any of these questions."
+
+The woman's lips moved. "No--never!" she almost inaudibly gasped, and
+fell senseless on the floor.
+
+As soon as she was removed, Jane Withers was called. She deposed that
+three days previously, as she was, just before dusk, arranging some linen
+in a room a few yards distant from the bedroom of her late mistress, she
+was surprised at hearing a noise just outside the door, as of persons
+struggling and speaking in low but earnest tones. She drew aside a corner
+of the muslin curtain of the window which locked upon the passage or
+corridor, and there saw Mrs. Bourdon striving to wrest something from her
+son's hand. She heard Mrs. Bourdon say, "You shall not do it, or you
+shall not have it"--she could not be sure which. A noise of some sort
+seemed to alarm them: they ceased struggling, and listened attentively
+for a few seconds: then Alfred Bourdon stole off on tip-toe, leaving the
+object in dispute, which witness could not see distinctly, in his
+mother's hand. Mrs. Bourdon continued to listen, and presently Miss
+Armitage, opening the door of her mother's chamber, called her by name.
+She immediately placed what was in her hand on the marble top of a
+side-table standing in the corridor, and hastened to Miss Armitage.
+Witness left the room she had been in a few minutes afterwards, and,
+curious to know what Mrs. Bourdon and her son had been struggling for,
+went to the table to look at it. It was an oddly-shaped glass bottle,
+containing a good deal of a blackish-gray powder, which, as she held it
+up to the light, looked like black-lead!
+
+"Would you be able to swear to the bottle if you saw it?"
+
+"Certainly I should."
+
+"By what mark or token?"
+
+"The name of Valpy or Vulpy was cast into it--that is, the name was in
+the glass itself."
+
+"Is this it?"
+
+"It is: I swear most positively."
+
+A letter was also read which had been taken from Bourdon's pocket. It was
+much creased, and was proved to be in the handwriting of Mrs. Armitage.
+It consisted of a severe rebuke at the young man's presumption in seeking
+to address himself to her daughter, which insolent ingratitude, the
+writer said, she should never, whilst she lived, either forget or
+forgive. This last sentence was strongly underlined in a different ink
+from that used by the writer of the letter.
+
+The surgeon deposed to the cause of death. It had been brought on by the
+action of iodine, which, administered in certain quantities, produced
+symptoms as of rapid atrophy, such as had appeared in Mrs. Armitage. The
+glass bottle found in the recess contained iodine in a pulverized state.
+
+I deposed that, on entering the library on the previous evening I
+overheard young Mr. Bourdon, addressing his mother, say, "Now that it is
+done past recall, I will not shrink from any consequences, be they what
+they may!"
+
+This was the substance of the evidence adduced; and the magistrate at
+once committed Alfred Bourdon to Chelmsford jail, to take his trial at
+the next assize for "wilful murder." A coroner's inquisition a few days
+after also returned a verdict of "wilful murder" against him on the
+same evidence.
+
+About an hour after his committal, and just previous to the arrival of
+the vehicle which was to convey him to the county prison, Alfred Bourdon
+requested an interview with me. I very reluctantly consented; but steeled
+as I was against him, I could not avoid feeling dreadfully shocked at the
+change which so brief an interval had wrought upon him. It had done the
+work of years. Despair--black, utter despair--was written in every
+lineament of his expressive countenance.
+
+"I have requested to see you," said the unhappy culprit, "rather than Dr.
+Curteis, because he, I know, is bitterly prejudiced against me. But _you_
+will not refuse, I think, the solemn request of a dying man--for a dying
+man I feel myself to be--however long or short the interval which stands
+between me and the scaffold. It is not with a childish hope that any
+assertion of mine can avail before the tribunal of the law against the
+evidence adduced this day, that I, with all the solemnity befitting a man
+whose days are numbered, declare to you that I am wholly innocent of the
+crime laid to my charge. I have no such expectation; I seek only that
+you, in pity of my youth and untimely fate, should convey to her whom I
+have madly presumed to worship this message: 'Alfred Bourdon was mad, but
+not blood-guilty; and of the crime laid to his charge he is innocent as
+an unborn child.'"
+
+"The pure and holy passion, young man," said I, somewhat startled by his
+impressive manner, "however presumptuous, as far as social considerations
+are concerned, it might be, by which you affect to be inspired, is
+utterly inconsistent with the cruel, dastardly crime of which such
+damning evidence has an hour since been given"--
+
+"Say no more, sir," interrupted Bourdon, sinking back in his seat, and
+burying his face in his hands: "it were a bootless errand; she _could_
+not, in the face of that evidence, believe my unsupported assertion! It
+were as well perhaps she did not. And yet, sir, it is hard to be
+trampled into a felon's grave, loaded with the maledictions of those
+whom you would coin your heart to serve and bless! Ah, sir," he
+continued, whilst tears of agony streamed through his firmly-closed
+fingers, "you cannot conceive the unutterable bitterness of the pang
+which rends the heart of him who feels that he is not only despised,
+but loathed, hated, execrated, by her whom his soul idolizes! Mine was
+no boyish, transient passion: it has grown with my growth, and
+strengthened with my strength. My life has been but one long dream of
+her. All that my soul had drunk in of beauty in the visible earth and
+heavens--the light of setting suns--the radiance of the silver
+stars--the breath of summer flowers, together with all which we imagine
+of celestial purity and grace, seemed to me in her incarnated,
+concentrated, and combined! And now lost--lost--forever lost!" The
+violence of his emotions choked his utterance; and deeply and painfully
+affected, I hastened from his presence.
+
+Time sped as ever onwards, surely, silently; and justice, with her feet
+of lead, but hands of iron, closed gradually upon her quarry. Alfred
+Bourdon was arraigned before a jury of his countrymen, to answer finally
+to the accusation of wilful murder preferred against him.
+
+The evidence, as given before the committing magistrate, and the
+coroner's inquisition, was repeated with some addition of passionate
+expressions used by the prisoner indicative of a desire to be avenged on
+the deceased. The cross-examination by the counsel for the defense was
+able, but failed to shake the case for the prosecution. His own
+admission, that no one but himself had access to the recess where the
+poison was found, told fatally against him. When called upon to address
+the jury, he delivered himself of a speech rather than a defense; of an
+oratorical effusion, instead of a vigorous, and, if possible, damaging
+commentary upon the evidence arrayed against him. It was a labored, and
+in part eloquent, exposition of the necessary fallibility of human
+judgment, illustrated by numerous examples of erroneous verdicts. His
+peroration I jotted down at the time:--"Thus, my lord and gentlemen of
+the jury, is it abundantly manifest, not only by these examples, but by
+the testimony which every man bears in his own breast, that God could not
+have willed, could not have commanded, his creatures to perform a
+pretended duty, which he vouchsafed them no power to perform righteously.
+Oh, be sure that if he had intended, if he had commanded you to pronounce
+irreversible decrees upon your fellow-man, quenching that life which is
+his highest gift, he would have endowed you with gifts to perform that
+duty rightly. Has he done so? Ask not alone the pages dripping with
+innocent blood which I have quoted, but your own hearts! Are you,
+according to the promise of the serpent-tempter, 'gods, knowing good from
+evil?' of such clear omniscience, that you can hurl an unprepared soul
+before the tribunal of its Maker, in the full assurance that you have
+rightly loosed the silver cord which he had measured, have justly broken
+the golden bowl which he had fashioned! Oh, my lord," he concluded, his
+dark eyes flashing with excitement, "it is possible that the first
+announcement of my innocence of this crime, to which you will give
+credence, may be proclaimed from the awful tribunal of him who alone
+cannot err! How if he, whose eye is even now upon us, should then
+proclaim, '_I_ too, sat in judgment on the day when you presumed to doom
+your fellow-worm; and _I_ saw that the murderer was not in the dock, but
+on the bench!' Oh, my lord, think well of what you do--pause ere you
+incur such fearful hazard; for be assured, that for all these things God
+will also bring _you_ to judgment!"
+
+He ceased, and sank back exhausted. His fervid declamation produced a
+considerable impression upon the auditory; but it soon disappeared before
+the calm, impressive charge of the judge, who re-assured the startled
+jury, by reminding them that their duty was to honestly execute the law,
+not to dispute about its justice. For himself, he said, sustained by a
+pure conscience, he was quite willing to incur the hazard hinted at by
+the prisoner. After a careful and luminous summing up, the jury, with
+very slight deliberation, returned a verdict of "Guilty."
+
+As the word passed the lips of the foreman of the jury, a piercing shriek
+rang through the court. It proceeded from a tall figure in black, who,
+with closely-drawn veil, had sat motionless during the trial, just before
+the dock. It was the prisoner's mother. The next instant she rose, and
+throwing back her veil wildly exclaimed, "He is innocent--innocent, I
+tell ye! I alone"--
+
+"Mother! mother! for the love of Heaven be silent!" shouted the prisoner
+with frantic vehemence, and stretching himself over the front of the
+dock, as if to grasp and restrain her.
+
+"Innocent, I tell you!" continued the woman. "I--I alone am the guilty
+person! It was I alone that perpetrated the deed! He knew it not,
+suspected it not, till it was too late. Here," she added, drawing a sheet
+of paper from her bosom--"here is my confession, with each circumstance
+detailed!"
+
+As she waved it over her head, it was snatched by her son, and, swift as
+lightning, torn to shreds. "She is mad! Heed her not--believe her not!"
+He at the same time shouted at the top of his powerful voice, "She is
+distracted--mad! Now, my lord, your sentence! Come!"
+
+The tumult and excitement in the court no language which I can employ
+would convey an adequate impression of. As soon as calm was partially
+restored, Mrs. Bourdon was taken into custody: the prisoner was removed;
+and the court adjourned, of course without passing sentence.
+
+It was even as his mother said! Subsequent investigation, aided by her
+confessions, amply proved that the fearful crime was conceived and
+perpetrated by her alone, in the frantic hope of securing for her
+idolized son the hand and fortune of Miss Armitage. She had often been
+present with him in his laboratory, and had thus become acquainted with
+the uses to which certain agents could be put. She had purloined the key
+of the recess; and he, unfortunately too late to prevent the perpetration
+of the crime, had by mere accident discovered the abstraction of the
+poison. His subsequent declarations had been made for the determined
+purpose of saving his mother's life by the sacrifice of his own!
+
+The wretched woman was not reserved to fall before the justice of her
+country. The hand of God smote her ere the scaffold was prepared for
+her. She was smitten with frenzy, and died raving in the Metropolitan
+Lunatic Asylum. Alfred Bourdon, after a lengthened imprisonment, was
+liberated. He called on me, by appointment, a few days previous to
+leaving this country forever; and I placed in his hands a small
+pocket-Bible, on the fly-leaf of which was written one word--"Ellen!"
+His dim eye lighted up with something of its old fire as he glanced at
+the characters; he then closed the book, placed it in his bosom, and
+waving me a mute farewell--I saw he durst not trust himself to
+speak--hastily departed. I never saw him more!
+
+
+
+
+"THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS."
+
+
+In the month of February of the year following that which witnessed the
+successful establishment of the claim of Sir Harry Compton's infant son
+to his magnificent patrimony, Mr. Samuel Ferret was traveling post with
+all the speed he could command towards Lancashire, in compliance with a
+summons from Lady Compton, requesting, in urgent terms, his immediate
+presence at the castle. It was wild and bitter weather, and the roads
+were in many places rendered dangerous, and almost impassable, by the
+drifting snow. Mr. Ferret, however, pressed onwards with his habitual
+energy and perseverance; and, spite of all elemental and postboy
+opposition, succeeded in accomplishing his journey in much less time
+than, under the circumstances, could have been reasonably expected. But
+swiftly as, for those slow times, he pushed on, it is necessary I should
+anticipate, by a brief period, his arrival at his destination, in order
+to put the reader in possession of the circumstances which had occasioned
+the hurried and pressing message he had received.
+
+Two days before, as Lady Compton and her sister, who had been paying a
+visit to Mrs. Arlington at the Grange, were returning home towards nine
+o'clock in the evening, they observed, as the carriage turned a sharp
+angle of the road leading through Compton Park, a considerable number of
+lighted lanterns borne hurriedly to and fro in various directions, by
+persons apparently in eager but bewildered pursuit of some missing
+object. The carriage was stopped, and in answer to the servants'
+inquiries, it was replied that Major Brandon's crazy niece had escaped
+from her uncle's house; and although traced by the snow-tracks as far as
+the entrance to the park, had not yet been recovered. Mrs. Brandon had
+offered a reward of ten pounds to whoever should secure and reconduct her
+home; hence the hot pursuit of the fugitive, who, it was now supposed,
+must be concealed in the shrubberies. Rumors regarding this unfortunate
+young lady, by no means favorable to the character of her relatives as
+persons of humanity, had previously reached Lady Compton's ears; and she
+determined to avail herself, if possible, of the present opportunity to
+obtain a personal interview with the real or supposed lunatic. The men
+who had been questioned were informed that only the castle servants could
+be allowed to search for the missing person, either in the park or
+shrubberies; and that if there, she would be taken care of, and restored
+to her friends in the morning. The coachman was then ordered to drive on;
+but the wheels had not made half-a-dozen revolutions, when a loud shout
+at some distance, in the direction of the park, followed by a succession
+of piercing screams, announced the discovery and capture of the object of
+the chase. The horses were urged rapidly forward; and ere more than a
+minute had elapsed, the carriage drew up within a few yards of the hunted
+girl and her captors. The instant it stopped, Clara Brandon, liberating
+herself by a frenzied effort from the rude grasp in which she was held by
+an athletic young man, sprang wildly towards it, and with passionate
+intreaty implored mercy and protection. The young man, a son of Mrs.
+Brandon's by a former husband, immediately re-seized her; and with fierce
+violence endeavored to wrench her hand from the handle of the carriage
+door, which she clutched with desperate tenacity. The door flew open,
+the sudden jerk disengaged her hold, and she struggled vainly in her
+captor's powerful grasp. "Save me! save me!" she frantically exclaimed,
+as she felt herself borne off. "You who are, they say, as kind and good
+as you are beautiful and happy, save me from this cruel man!"
+
+Lady Compton, inexpressibly shocked by the piteous spectacle presented by
+the unhappy girl--her scanty clothing soiled, disarrayed, and torn by the
+violence of her struggles; her long flaxen tresses flowing disorderly
+over her face and neck in tangled dishevelment; and the pale, haggard,
+wild expression of her countenance--was for a few moments incapable of
+speech. Her sister was more collected: "Violet," she instantly
+remonstrated, "do not permit this brutal violence."
+
+"What right has she or any one to interfere with us?" demanded the young
+man savagely. "This girl is Major Brandon's ward, as well as niece, and
+_shall_ return to her lawful home! Stand back," continued he, addressing
+the servants, who, at a gesture from Miss Dalston, barred his progress.
+"Withstand me at your peril!"
+
+"Force her from him!" exclaimed Lady Compton, recovering her
+voice. "Gently! gently! I will be answerable for her safe custody
+till the morning."
+
+The athletic fellow struggled desperately; but however powerful and
+determined, he was only one man against a score, nearly all the
+bystanders being tenants or laborers on the Compton estates; and spite of
+his furious efforts, and menaces of law and vengeance, Clara was torn
+from him in a twinkling, and himself hurled with some violence prostrate
+on the road. "Do not let them hurt the man," said Lady Compton, as the
+servants placed the insensible girl in the carriage (she had fainted);
+"and tell him that if he has really any legal claim to the custody of
+this unfortunate person, he must prefer it in the morning."
+
+Immediately on arrival at the castle, the escaped prisoner was conveyed
+to bed, and medical aid instantly summoned. When restored to
+consciousness, whether from the effect of an excess of fever producing
+temporary delirium, or from confirmed mental disease, her speech was
+altogether wild and incoherent--the only at all consistent portions of
+her ravings being piteously--iterated appeals to Lady Compton not to
+surrender her to her aunt in-law, Mrs. Brandon, of whom she seemed to
+entertain an overpowering, indefinable dread. It was evident she had been
+subjected to extremely brutal treatment--such as, in these days of
+improved legislation in such matters, and greatly advanced knowledge of
+the origin and remedy of cerebral infirmity, would not be permitted
+towards the meanest human being, much less a tenderly-nurtured, delicate
+female. At length, under the influence of a composing draught, she sank
+gradually to sleep; and Lady Compton having determined to rescue her, if
+possible, from the suspicious custody of her relatives, and naturally
+apprehensive of the legal difficulties which she could not doubt would
+impede the execution of her generous, if somewhat Quixotic project,
+resolved on at once sending off an express for Mr. Ferret, on whose
+acumen and zeal she knew she could place the fullest reliance.
+
+Clara Brandon's simple history may be briefly summed up. She was the only
+child of a Mr. Frederick Brandon, who, a widower in the second year of
+his marriage, had since principally resided at the "Elms," a handsome
+mansion and grounds which he had leased of the uncle of the late Sir
+Harry Compton. At his decease, which occurred about two years previous to
+poor Clara's escape from confinement, as just narrated, he bequeathed
+his entire fortune, between two and three thousand pounds per annum,
+chiefly secured on land, to his daughter; appointed his elder brother,
+Major Brandon, sole executor of his will, and guardian of his child; and
+in the event of her dying before she had attained her majority--of which
+she wanted, at her father's death, upwards of three years--or without
+lawful issue, the property was to go to the major, to be by him willed at
+his pleasure. Major Brandon, whose physical and mental energies had been
+prematurely broken down--he was only in his fifty-second year--either by
+excess or hard service in the East, perhaps both, had married late in
+life the widow of a brother officer, and the mother of a grown-up son.
+The lady, a woman of inflexible will, considerable remains of a somewhat
+masculine beauty, and about ten years her husband's junior, held him in a
+state of thorough pupilage; and, unchecked by him, devoted all her
+energies to bring about, by fair or foul means, a union between Clara and
+her own son, a cub of some two or three-and-twenty years of age, whose
+sole object in seconding his mother's views upon Clara was the
+acquisition of her wealth. According to popular surmise and report, the
+young lady's mental infirmity had been brought about by the persecutions
+she had endured at the hands of Mrs. Brandon, with a view to force her
+into a marriage she detested. The most reliable authority for the truth
+of these rumors was Susan Hopley, now in the service of Lady Compton, but
+who had lived for many years with Mr. Frederick Brandon and his daughter.
+She had been discharged about six months after her master's decease by
+Mrs. Major Brandon for alleged impertinence; and so thoroughly convinced
+was Susan that the soon-afterwards alleged lunacy of Clara was but a
+juggling pretence to excuse the restraint under which her aunt-in-law,
+for the furtherance of her own vile purposes, had determined to keep
+her, that although out of place at the time, she devoted all the savings
+of her life, between eighty and ninety pounds, to procure "justice" for
+the ill-used orphan. This article, Susan was advised, could be best
+obtained of the lord chancellor; and proceedings were accordingly taken
+before the keeper of the king's conscience, in order to change the
+custody of the pretended lunatic. The affidavits filed in support of the
+petition were, however, so loose and vague, and were met with such
+positive counter-allegations, that the application was at once dismissed
+with costs; and poor Susan--rash suitor for "justice"--reduced to
+absolute penury. These circumstances becoming known to Lady Compton,
+Susan was taken into her service; and it was principally owing to her
+frequently-iterated version of the affair that Clara had been forcibly
+rescued from Mrs. Brandon's son.
+
+On the following morning the patient was much calmer, though her mind
+still wandered somewhat. Fortified by the authority of the physician, who
+certified that to remove her, or even to expose her to agitation, would
+be dangerous, if not fatal, Lady Compton not only refused to deliver her
+up to Major and Mrs. Brandon, but to allow them to see her. Mrs. Brandon,
+in a towering rage, posted off to the nearest magistrate, to demand the
+assistance of peace-officers in obtaining possession of the person of the
+fugitive. That functionary would, however, only so far comply with the
+indignant lady's solicitations, as to send his clerk to the castle to
+ascertain the reason of the young lady's detention; and when his
+messenger returned with a note, enclosing a copy of the physician's
+certificate, he peremptorily decided that the conduct of Lady Compton was
+not only perfectly justifiable, but praiseworthy, and that the matter
+must remain over till the patient was in a condition to be moved. Things
+were precisely in this state, except that Clara Brandon had become
+perfectly rational; and but for an irrepressible nervous dread of again
+falling into the power of her unscrupulous relative, quite calm, when Mr.
+Samuel Ferret made his wished-for appearance on the scene of action.
+
+Long and anxious was the conference which Mr. Ferret held with his
+munificent client and her interesting protégée, if conference that may be
+called in which the astute attorney enacted the part of listener only,
+scarcely once opening his thin, cautious lips. In vain did his eager
+brain silently ransack the whole armory of the law; no weapon could he
+discern which afforded the slightest hope of fighting a successful battle
+with a legally-appointed guardian for the custody of his ward. And yet
+Mr. Ferret felt, as he looked upon the flashing eye and glowing
+countenance of Lady Compton, as she recounted a few of the grievous
+outrages inflicted upon the fair and helpless girl reclining beside
+her--whose varying cheek and meek suffused eyes bore eloquent testimony
+to the truth of the relation--that he would willingly exert a vigor even
+_beyond_ the law to meet his client's wishes, could he but see his way to
+a safe result. At length a ray of light, judging from his
+suddenly-gleaming eyes, seemed to have broken upon the troubled chambers
+of his brain, and he rose somewhat hastily from his chair.
+
+"By the by, I will just step and speak to this Susan Hopley, if your
+ladyship can inform me in what part of the lower regions I am likely to
+meet with her?"
+
+"Let me ring for her."
+
+"No; if you please not. What I have to ask her is of very little
+importance; still, to summon her here might give rise to surmises,
+reports, and so on, which it may be as well to avoid. I had much rather
+see her accidentally, as it were."
+
+"As you please. You will find her somewhere about the housekeeper's
+apartments. You know her by sight, I think?"
+
+"Perfectly; and with your leave I'll take the opportunity of directing
+the horses to be put to. I must be in London by noon to-morrow if
+possible;" and away Mr. Ferret bustled.
+
+"Susan," said Mr. Ferret a few minutes afterwards, "step this way; I want
+to have a word with you. Now, tell me are you goose enough to expect you
+will ever see the money again you so foolishly threw into the bottomless
+pit of chancery?"
+
+"Of course I shall, Mr. Ferret, as soon as ever Miss Clara comes to her
+own. She mentioned it only this morning, and said she was sorry she could
+not repay me at once."
+
+"You are a sensible girl, Susan, though you _did_ go to law with the lord
+chancellor! I want you to be off with me to London; and then perhaps we
+may get your money sooner than you expect."
+
+"Oh, bother the money! Is that _all_ you want me to go to Lunnon for?"
+
+Mr. Ferret replied with a wink of such exceeding intelligence, that
+Susan at once declared she should be ready to start in ten minutes at
+the latest.
+
+"That's a good creature; and, Susan, as there's not the slightest
+occasion to let all the world know who's going to run off with you, it
+may be as well for you to take your bundle and step on a mile or so on
+the road, say to the turn, just beyond the first turnpike." Susan nodded
+with brisk good-humor, and disappeared in a twinkling.
+
+An hour afterwards, Mr. Ferret was on his way back to London, having
+first impressed upon Lady Compton the necessity of immediately relieving
+herself of the grave responsibility she had incurred towards Major
+Brandon for the safe custody of his ward, by sending her home
+immediately. He promised to return on the third day from his departure;
+but on the nature of the measures he intended to adopt, or the hopes he
+entertained of success, he was inflexibly silent; and he moreover
+especially requested that no one, not even Miss Brandon, should know of
+Susan Hopley's journey to the metropolis.
+
+Mr. Ferret, immediately on his arrival in town, called at my chambers,
+and related with his usual minuteness and precision as many of the
+foregoing particulars as he knew and thought proper to communicate to me.
+For the rest I am indebted to subsequent conversations with the different
+parties concerned.
+
+"Well," said I, as soon as he had concluded, "what course do you propose
+to adopt?"
+
+"I wish you to apply, on this affidavit, for a writ of _habeas ad sub._,
+to bring up the body of Clara Brandon. Judge Bailey will be at chambers
+at three o'clock: it is now more than half-past two, and I can be off on
+my return by four at latest."
+
+"A writ of habeas!" I exclaimed with astonishment. "Why, what end can
+that answer? The lady will be remanded, and you and I shall be laughed at
+for our pains."
+
+This writ of _habeas corpus "ad subjiciendum,_" I had better explain to
+the non-professional reader, is the great _prerogative_ writ, the
+operation of which is sometimes suspended by the legislature during
+political panics. It is grounded on the principle that the sovereign has
+at all times a right to inquire, through the judges of the superior
+courts, by what authority his or her subject is held in constraint. It
+issues, as a matter of right, upon the filing of an affidavit, averring
+that to the best of the belief of the deponent the individual sought to
+be brought up is illegally confined; and it is of the essence of the
+proceeding, that the person alleged to be suffering unlawful constraint
+should actually be brought before the "queen herself;" that is, before
+one or more of the judges of the court which has issued the writ, who, if
+they find _the detention illegal_, the only question at issue upon this
+writ may discharge or bail the party. It was quite obvious, therefore,
+that in this case such a proceeding would be altogether futile, as the
+detention in the house of her guardian, under the sanction, too, of the
+lord chancellor, the _ex-officio_ custodier of all lunatics--of a ward of
+alleged disordered intellect--was clearly legal, at least _prima facie_
+so, and not to be disturbed under a _habeas ad sub_. at all events.
+
+"Perhaps so," replied Ferret quite coolly in reply to my exclamation;
+"but I am determined to try every means of releasing the unfortunate
+young lady from the cruel thraldom in which she is held by that harridan
+of an aunt-in-law. She is no more really insane than you are; but at the
+same time so excitable upon certain topics, that it might be perhaps
+difficult to disabuse the chancellor or a jury of the impression so
+industriously propagated to her prejudice. The peremptory rejection by
+her guardian of young Burford's addresses, though sanctioned by her
+father: you know the Burfords?"
+
+"Of Grosvenor Street you mean--the East India director?"
+
+"Yes, his son; and that reminds me that the declaration in that
+everlasting exchequer case must be filed to-morrow. Confound it, how this
+flying about the country puts one out! I thought some one had kidnapped
+her son, or fired Compton Castle at least. By the way, I am much deceived
+if there isn't a wedding there before long."
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+"Yes, Miss Dalston with Sir Jasper's eldest hope."
+
+"You don't mean it?"
+
+"_They_ do at all events, and that is much more to the purpose. A fine
+young fellow enough, and sufficiently rich too"--
+
+"All which rambling talk and anecdote," cried I, interrupting him,
+"means, if I have any skill in reading Mr. Ferret, that that gentleman,
+having some ulterior purpose in view, which I cannot for the moment
+divine, is determined to have this writ, and does not wish to be pestered
+with any argument on the subject. Be it so: it is your affair, not mine.
+And now, as it is just upon three o'clock, let me see your affidavit."
+
+I ran it over. "Rather loose this, Mr. Ferret, but I suppose it will do."
+
+"Well, it _is_ rather loose, but I could not with safety sail much closer
+to the wind. By the by, I think you had better first apply for a rule to
+stay proceedings against the bail in that case of Turner; and after that
+is decided, just ask for this writ, off-hand as it were, and as a matter
+of course. His lordship may not then scrutinize the affidavit quite so
+closely as if he thought counsel had been brought to chambers purposely
+to apply for it."
+
+"Cautious, Mr. Ferret! Well, come along, and I'll see what I can do."
+
+The writ was obtained without difficulty; few questions were asked; and
+at my request the judge made it returnable immediately. By four o'clock,
+Mr. Ferret, who could fortunately sleep as well in a postchaise as in a
+feather-bed, was, as he had promised himself, on his road to Lancashire
+once more, where he had the pleasure of serving Major Brandon personally;
+at the same time tendering in due form the one shilling per mile fixed by
+the statute as preliminary traveling charges. The vituperative eloquence
+showered upon Mr. Ferret by the Major's lady was, I afterwards heard,
+extremely copious and varied, and was borne by him, as I could easily
+believe, with the most philosophic composure.
+
+In due time the parties appeared before Mr. Justice Bailey. Miss Brandon
+was accompanied by her uncle, his wife, and a solicitor; and spite of
+everything I could urge, the judge, as I had forseen, refused to
+interfere in the matter. The poor girl was dreadfully agitated, but kept,
+nevertheless, her eyes upon Mr. Ferret, as the source from which, spite
+of what was passing around her, effectual succor was sure to come. As for
+that gentleman himself, he appeared composedly indifferent to the
+proceedings; and indeed, I thought, seemed rather relieved than otherwise
+when they terminated. I could not comprehend him. Mrs. Brandon, the
+instant the case was decided, clutched Clara's arm within hers, and,
+followed by her husband and the solicitor, sailed out of the apartment
+with an air of triumphant disdain and pride. Miss Brandon looked round
+for Ferret, but not perceiving him--he had left hastily an instant or two
+before--her face became deadly pale, and the most piteous expression of
+hopeless despair I had ever beheld broke from her troubled but
+singularly-expressive eyes. I mechanically followed, with a half-formed
+purpose of remonstrating with Major Brandon in behalf of the unfortunate
+girl, and was by that means soon in possession of the key to Mr. Ferret's
+apparently inexplicable conduct.
+
+The Brandon party walked very fast, and I had scarcely got up with
+them as they were turning out of Chancery Lane into Fleet Street, when
+two men, whose vocation no accustomed eye could for an instant
+mistake, arrested their further progress. "This lady," said one of the
+men, slightly touching Miss Brandon on the shoulder, "is, I believe,
+Clara Brandon?"
+
+"Yes she is; and what of that, fellow?" demanded the major's lady with
+indignant emphasis.
+
+"Not much, ma'am," replied the sheriff's officer, "when you are used to
+it. It is my unpleasant duty to arrest her for the sum of eighty-seven
+pounds, indorsed on this writ, issued at the suit of one Susan Hopley."
+
+"Arrest her!" exclaimed Mrs. Brandon; "why, she is a minor!"
+
+"Minor or major, ma'am, makes very little difference to us. She can plead
+that hereafter, you know. In the meantime, miss, please to step into this
+coach," replied the officer, holding the door open.
+
+"But she's a person of unsound mind," screamed the lady, as Clara,
+nothing loath, sprang into the vehicle.
+
+"So are most people that do business with our establishment," responded
+the imperturbable official, as he shut and fastened the door. "Here is my
+card, sir," he added, addressing the attorney, who now came up. "You see
+where to find the lady, if her friends wish to give bail to the sheriff,
+or, what is always more satisfactory, pay the debt and costs." He then
+jumped on the box, his follower got up behind, and away drove the coach,
+leaving the discomfited major and his fiery better-half in a state of the
+blankest bewilderment!
+
+"Why, what _is_ the meaning of this?" at length gasped Mrs. Brandon,
+fiercely addressing the attorney, as if _he_, were a _particeps criminis_
+in the affair.
+
+"The meaning, my dear madame, is, that Miss Clara Brandon is arrested for
+debt, and carried off to a sponging-house; and that unless you pay the
+money, or file bail, she will tomorrow be lodged in jail," replied the
+unmoved man of law.
+
+"Bail! money! How are we to do either in London, away from home?"
+demanded the major with, for him, much emotion.
+
+I did not wait to hear more, but, almost suffocated with laughter at the
+success of Ferret's audacious _ruse_, hastened over to the Temple. I was
+just leaving chambers for the night--about ten o'clock I think it must
+have been--when Ferret, in exuberant spirits, burst into the room.
+
+"Well, sir, what do you think _now_ of a writ _ad sub._?"
+
+"Why, I think, Mr. Ferret," replied I, looking as serious as I could,
+"that yours is very sharp practice; that the purpose you have put it to
+is an abuse of the writ; that the arrest is consequently illegal; and
+that a judge would, upon motion, quash it with costs."
+
+"To be sure he would: who doubts that? Let him, and welcome! In the
+meantime, Clara Brandon is safe beyond the reach of all the judges or
+chancellors that ever wore horsehair, and that everlasting simpleton of a
+major and his harridan wife roaming the metropolis like distracted
+creatures; and that I take to be the real essence of the thing, whatever
+the big-wigs may decide about the shells!"
+
+"I suppose the plaintiff soon discharged her debtor out of custody?"
+
+"Without loss of time, you may be sure. Miss Brandon, I may tell _you_,
+is with the Rev. Mr. Derwent at Brompton. You know him: the newly-married
+curate of St. Margaret's that was examined in that will case. Well him:
+he is an intelligent, high-principled man; and I have no doubt that,
+under his and Mrs. Derwent's care, all trace of Miss Brandon's mental
+infirmity will disappear long before she attains her majority next June
+twelvemonth; whilst the liberal sum per month which Lady Compton will
+advance, will be of great service to him"
+
+"That appears all very good. But are you sure you can effectually
+conceal the place of her retreat?"
+
+"I have no fear: the twigs that will entangle her precious guardians in
+the labyrinths of a false clue are already set and limed. Before
+to-morrow night they will have discovered, by means of their own
+wonderfully-penetrative sagacity, that Clara has been spirited over to
+France; and before three months are past, the same surprising
+intelligence will rejoice in the discovery that she expired in a _maison
+de santé_--fine comfortable repose, in which fool's paradise I hope to
+have the honor of awakening them about next June twelvemonth, and not as
+at present advised before!"
+
+Everything fortunately turned out as Mr. Ferret anticipated; and when a
+few months had glided by, Clara Brandon was a memory only, save of course
+to the few entrusted with the secret.
+
+The whirligig of time continued as ever to speed on its course, and bring
+round in due season its destined revenges. The health, mental and bodily,
+of Miss Brandon rapidly improved under the kind and judicious treatment
+of Mr. and Mrs. Derwent; and long before the attainment of her majority,
+were pronounced by competent authority to be thoroughly re-established.
+The day following that which completed her twentyfirst year, Mr. Ferret,
+armed with the necessary authority, had the pleasure of announcing to the
+relict of Major Brandon (he had been dead some months), and to her brutal
+son, that they must forthwith depart from the home in which they, to the
+very moment of his announcement, thought themselves secure; and surrender
+every shilling of the property they had so long dreamt was their own.
+They were prostrated by the intelligence, and proved as mean and servile
+in the hour of adversity, as they had been insolent and cruel in the day
+of fancied success and prosperity. The pension of three hundred pounds a
+year for both their lives, proffered by Miss Brandon, was eagerly
+accepted; and they returned to the obscurity from which they had by
+accident emerged.
+
+About six months afterwards, I had the pleasure of drawing up the
+marriage settlement between Clara Brandon and Herbert Burford; and a
+twelvemonth after, that of standing sponsor to one of the lustiest brats
+ever sprinkled at a font: none of which delightful results, if we are to
+believe Mr. Ferret, would have ever been arrived at had not he, at a very
+critical moment, refused to take counsel's opinion upon the virtues,
+capabilities, and powers contained in the great writ of _habeas corpus
+ad subjiciendum_.
+
+
+
+
+ESTHER MASON.
+
+
+About forty years ago, Jabez Woodford, a foreman of shipwrights in the
+Plymouth dockyard, whilst carelessly crossing one of the transverse beams
+of a seventy-four gun-ship, building in that arsenal, missed his footing,
+fell to the bottom of the hold of the huge vessel, and was killed on the
+spot. He left a widow and one child--a boy seven years of age, of placid,
+endearing disposition, but weak intellect--almost in a state of
+destitution. He had been a coarse-tempered, improvident man; and like too
+many of his class, in those days at least, dissipated the whole of his
+large earnings in present sensuous indulgence, utterly careless or
+unmindful of the future. Esther Woodford, who, at the time of her
+husband's death, scarcely numbered five-and-twenty years, was still a
+remarkably comely, as well as interesting, gentle-mannered person; and
+moreover had, for her station in life, received a tolerable education.
+Her rash, ill-assorted marriage with Woodford had been hastily contracted
+when she was barely seventeen years of age, in consequence of a jealous
+pique which she, for some silly reason or other, had conceived regarding
+Henry Mason, an intelligent, young seafaring man, of fair prospects in
+life, and frank disposition, with whom she had for some time previously,
+as the west-country phrase has it, "kept company," and who was, moreover,
+tenderly attached to her. Esther's married life was one long repentance
+of the rash act; and the severance of the tie which bound her to an
+ungenial mate--after the subsidence of the natural horror and compassion
+excited by the sudden and frightful nature of the catastrophe--must have
+been felt as a most blessed relief. A few weeks afterwards, she accepted
+an asylum with her brother-in-law, Davies, a market-gardener in the
+vicinity of Plymouth, where, by persevering industry with her needle, and
+thrifty helpfulness in her sister's household duties, she endeavored to
+compensate her kind-hearted relatives for the support of herself and
+helpless, half-witted child. Mason she had never seen since the day
+previous to her marriage; but she knew he was prospering in the busy
+world, and that, some time before her husband's death, he had been
+appointed chief-mate in a first-class merchant-ship trading to the
+Pacific. He had sailed about a fortnight previous to that event; and now,
+ten lazy months having slowly floated past, the lover of her youth, with
+whom, in that last sunny day of her young life--how distant did it seem,
+viewed through the long intervening vista of days and nights of grief and
+tears!--she had danced so joyously beneath the flowering chestnut-trees,
+was once more near her; and it was--oh happiness!--no longer a sin to
+think of him--no longer a crime to recall and dwell upon the numberless
+proofs of the deep affection, the strong love, he had once felt for her.
+_Once_ felt! Perhaps even now!--How swiftly had the intelligence
+communicated by her sympathizing sister tinted with bright hues the dark
+curtain of the future!
+
+"And yet," murmured poor Esther, the flush of hope fading as suddenly as
+it had arisen, as with meek sad eyes she glanced at the reflection of her
+features in the small oval glass suspended above the mantel-piece--"I
+almost doubt, Susy, dear, if he would recognize me; even if old feelings
+and old times have not long since faded from his memory"--
+
+"Stuff and trumpery about fading away!" broke in Mrs. Davies. "Henry
+Mason is the same true-hearted man he was eight years ago; and as a
+proof that he is, just read this letter, which I promised him to give
+you. There, don't go falling into a flustration; don't now, Esther,
+and to-morrow market-day and all! Don't cry, Esther," she added
+vehemently, but at the same time sobbing furiously herself, and
+throwing her arms round her sister's neck: "but perhaps--perhaps it
+will do us good, both of us!"
+
+It may he necessary to state that I owe the foregoing particulars to the
+interest felt by my wife--herself a native of beautiful Devon--in the
+fortunes of this humble household. Esther was her foster-sister; and it
+happened that just at this period, it being vacation-time, we were paying
+a visit to a family in the neighborhood. A few hours after the receipt of
+the welcome letter, my wife chanced to call on Esther relative to some
+fancy needlework; and on her return, I was of course favored with very
+full and florid details of this little bit of cottage romance; the which
+I, from regard to the reader, have carefully noted down, and as briefly
+as possible expressed.
+
+We met Henry Mason with his recovered treasure on the following evening;
+and certainly a more favorable specimen of the vigorous, active,
+bold-featured, frank-spoken British seaman I never met with. To his
+comparatively excellent education--for which I understood he was indebted
+to his mother, a superior woman, who, having fallen from one of the
+little heights of society, had kept a school at Plymouth--in addition to
+his correct and temperate habits, he was indebted for the rapid
+advance--he was but a few months older than Esther--he had obtained in
+the merchant service. The happiness which beamed upon Esther's face did
+not appear to be of the exuberant, buoyant character that kindled the
+ruddy cheek and ran over at the bright, honest eyes of the hardy sailor:
+there seemed to mingle with it a half-doubting, trembling
+apprehensiveness; albeit it was not difficult to perceive that,
+sorrowfully as had passed her noon of prime, an "Indian summer" of the
+soul was rising upon her brightened existence, and already with its first
+faint flushes lighting up her meek, doubting eyes, and pale, changing
+countenance. Willy, her feeble-minded child, frisked and gambolled by
+their side; and altogether, a happier group than they would, I fancy,
+have been difficult to find in all broad England.
+
+The next week they were married; and one of the partners in the firm by
+which Mason was employed happening to dine with us on the day of the
+wedding, the conversation turned for a few minutes on the bridegroom's
+character and prospects.
+
+"He has the ring of true metal in him," I remarked; "and is, I should
+suppose, a capital seaman?"
+
+"A first-rate one," replied Mr. Roberts. "Indeed so high is my father's
+opinion of him, that he intends to confer upon him the command of a fine
+brig now building for us in the Thames, and intended for the West India
+trade. He possesses also singular courage and daring. Twice, under very
+hazardous circumstances, he has successfully risked his life to save men
+who had fallen overboard. He is altogether a skilful, gallant seaman."
+
+"Such a man," observed another of the company, "might surely have aspired
+higher than to the hand of Esther Woodford, dove-eyed and interesting as
+she may be?"
+
+"Perhaps so," returned Mr. Roberts a little curtly; "though
+he, it seems, could not have thought so. Indeed it is chiefly of
+simple-hearted, chivalrous-minded men like Mason that it can
+be with general truth observed--
+
+'On revient toujours à ses premiers amours.'"
+
+The subject then dropped, and it was a considerable time afterwards, and
+under altogether altered circumstances, when the newly-married couple
+once more crossed my path in life.
+
+It was about eight months after his marriage--though he had been
+profitably enough employed in the interim--that Henry Mason, in
+consequence of the welcome announcement that the new brig was at last
+ready for her captain and cargo, arrived in London to enter upon his new
+appointment.
+
+"These lodgings, Esther," said he, as he was preparing to go out, soon
+after breakfast, on the morning after his arrival, "are scarcely the
+thing; and as I, like you, am a stranger in Cockney-land, I had better
+consult some of the firm upon the subject, before we decide upon
+permanent ones. In the meantime, you and Willy must mind and keep in
+doors when I am not with you, or I shall have one or other of you lost in
+this great wilderness of a city. I shall return in two or three hours. I
+will order something for dinner as I go along: I have your purse.
+Good-by: God bless you both."
+
+Inquiring his way every two or three minutes, Mason presently found
+himself in the vicinity of Tower Stairs. A scuffle in front of a
+public-house attracted his attention; and his ready sympathies were in an
+instant enlisted in behalf of a young sailor, vainly struggling in the
+grasp of several athletic men, and crying lustily on the gaping
+bystanders for help. Mason sprang forward, caught one of the assailants
+by the collar, and hurled him with some violence against the wall. A
+fierce outcry greeted this audacious interference with gentlemen who, in
+those good old times, were but executing the law in a remarkably good old
+manner. Lieutenant Donnagheu, a somewhat celebrated snapper-up of loose
+mariners, emerged upon the scene; and in a few minutes was enabled to
+exult in the secure possession of an additional prize in the unfortunate
+Henry Mason, who, too late, discovered that he had embroiled himself with
+a _pressgang_! Desperate, frenzied were the efforts he made to extricate
+himself from the peril in which he had rashly involved himself. In vain!
+His protestations that he was a mate, a captain, in the merchant service,
+were unheeded or mocked at.
+
+To all his remonstrances he only got the professional answer--"His
+majesty wants you, and that is enough; so come along, and no more
+about it."
+
+Bruised, exhausted, almost mad, he was borne off in triumph to a boat,
+into which he was thrust with several others, and swiftly rowed off to a
+receiving-ship in the river. Even there his assertions and protestations
+were of no avail. Nothing but an Admiralty order, the officer in command
+candidly told him, should effect his liberation. His majesty was in need
+of seamen; and he was evidently too smart a one to be deprived of the
+glory of serving his country. "You must therefore," concluded the
+officer, as he turned laughingly upon his heel, "do as thousands of
+other fine fellows have been compelled to do--'grin and bear it.'" In
+about three weeks from the date of his impressment Mason found himself
+serving in the Mediterranean on board the "Active" frigate, Captain
+Alexander Gordon, without having been permitted one opportunity of
+communicating with the shore. This was certainly very sharp, but it was
+not the less very _common_ practice in those great days of triumphant
+battles by land and sea.
+
+Very drearily passed the time with the bereaved wife. Her husband had
+promised to send home something for dinner, and various groceries; yet
+hour after hour went past, and nothing arrived. Morning flushed into
+noon, day faded to twilight, and still the well-known and always eager
+step sounded not upon the stairs! What could have detained him from his
+wife, shut up, imprisoned, as it were, in that hot, hurrying, stifling
+city? She feared to listen to the suggestions of her boding heart; and
+with feverish restlessness ran out upon the landing, and peered over the
+stairs every time a knock or ring was heard at the street-door. This
+strange behavior was, it seems, noticed by the landlady of the
+lodging-house, and injuriously interpreted. A knock came to the door, and
+that person entered to know at what time _Mrs_. ----, she had forgotten
+the young woman's name, expected the dinner, she, the landlady, had
+undertaken to cook.
+
+Esther timidly replied that her husband had promised to return in two or
+three hours at latest; and that she did not comprehend his continued
+absence--was indeed quite alarmed about it--
+
+"Your husband!" said the woman, glancing insolently at Esther's figure.
+"Are you sure he _is_ your husband?"
+
+The hot blood suffused the temples of the indignant wife as she said,
+"This apartment, madam, I believe is mine?"
+
+"Oh, certainly, as long as you can pay for it;" and rudely slamming the
+door, the landlady departed.
+
+The long wretched night at last over, Esther rose with the light; and
+after giving her son his breakfast from the remains of that of the day
+before, set off with him to the place of business of the Messrs. Roberts.
+It was early, and one clerk only had as yet arrived at the office. He
+informed her that Mr. Henry Mason had not been seen, and that the
+partners were greatly annoyed about it, as his immediate presence was
+absolutely necessary.
+
+Stunned, terrified, bewildered by the frightful calamity which she
+believed had befallen her, she felt convinced that her husband had been
+entrapped and murdered for the sake of the money he had about him: the
+wretched woman tottered back to her lodgings, and threw herself on the
+bed in wild despair. What was to be done for food even for her boy? Her
+husband had not only his pocket-book with him containing his larger
+money, but had taken her purse! She was alone and penniless in a strange
+city! The hungry wailings of her witless child towards evening at length
+aroused her from the stupor of despair into which she had fallen. The
+miserable resource of pawning occurred to her: she could at least, by
+pledging a part of her wardrobe, procure sustenance for her child till
+she could hear from her sister; and with trembling hands she began
+arranging a bundle of such things as she could best spare, when the
+landlady abruptly entered the room, with a peremptory demand--as her
+husband was not returned, and did not appear likely to do so--for a
+month's rent in advance, that being the term the apartments were engaged
+for. The tears, entreaties, expostulations of the miserable wife were of
+no avail. Not one article, the woman declared, should leave her house
+till her claim was settled. She affected to doubt, perhaps really did so,
+that Esther was married; and hinted coarsely at an enforcement of the
+laws against persons who had no visible means of subsistence. In a
+paroxysm of despair, the unhappy woman rushed out of the house; and
+accompanied by her hungry child, again sought the counting-house of the
+Messrs. Roberts. She was now as much too late as she had been too early
+in the morning: the partners and clerks had gone, and she appears to have
+been treated with some rudeness by the porter, who was closing the
+premises when she arrived. Possibly the wildness of her looks, and the
+incoherence of her speech and manner, produced an impression unfavorable
+to her. Retracing her steps--penniless, hungry, sick at heart--she
+thought, as she afterwards declared, that she recognized my wife in one
+of the numerous ladies seated before the counters of a fashionable shop
+in one of the busiest thoroughfares. She entered, and not till she
+approached close to the lady discovered her mistake. She turned
+despairingly away; when a piece of rich lace, lying apparently unheeded
+on the counter, met her eye, and a dreadful suggestion crossed her
+fevered brain; here at least was the means of procuring food for her
+wailing child. She glanced hastily and fearfully round. No eye, she
+thought, observed her; and, horror of horrors! a moment afterwards she
+had concealed the lace beneath her shawl, and with tottering feet was
+hastily leaving the shop. She had not taken half-a-dozen steps when a
+heavy hand was laid upon her shoulder, and a voice, as of a serpent
+hissing in her ear, commanded her to restore the lace she had stolen.
+Transfixed with shame and terror, she stood rooted to the spot, and the
+lace fell on the floor.
+
+"Fetch an officer," said the harsh voice, addressing one of the shopmen.
+
+"No--no--no!" screamed the wretched woman, falling on her knees in wild
+supplication. "For my child's sake--in mercy of the innocent babe as yet
+unborn--pity and forgive me!"
+
+The harsh order was iterated; and Esther Mason, fainting with shame and
+agony, was conveyed to the prison in Giltspur Street. The next day she
+was fully committed to Newgate on the capital charge of privately
+stealing in a shop to the value of five pounds. A few hours after her
+incarceration within those terrible walls, she was prematurely delivered
+of a female child.
+
+I have no moral doubt whatever, I never have had, that at the time of the
+committal of the felonious act, the intellect of Esther Mason was
+disordered. Any other supposition is inconsistent with the whole tenor
+of her previous life and character "Lead us not into temptation" is
+indeed the holiest, because the humblest prayer.
+
+Three weeks had elapsed before the first intimation of these events
+reached me, in a note from the chaplain of Newgate, an excellent,
+kind-hearted man, to whom Mrs. Mason had confided her sad story. I
+immediately hastened to the prison; and in a long interview with her,
+elicited the foregoing statement. I readily assured her that all which
+legal skill could do to extricate her from the awful position in which
+she stood, the gravity of which I did not affect to conceal, should be
+done. The offence with which she was charged had supplied the scaffold
+with numberless victims; and tradesmen were more than ever clamorous for
+the stern execution of a law which, spite of experience, they still
+regarded as the only safeguard of their property. My wife was overwhelmed
+with grief; and in her anxiety to save her unhappy foster-sister, sought,
+without my knowledge, an interview with the prosecutor, in the hope of
+inducing him not to press the charge. Her efforts were unavailing. He had
+suffered much, he said, from such practices, and was "upon principle"
+determined to make an example of every offender he could catch. As to the
+plea that the husband had been forcibly carried off by a pressgang, it
+was absurd; for what would become of the property of tradesmen if the
+wife of every sailor so entrapped were to be allowed to plunder shops
+with impunity? This magnificent reasoning was of course unanswerable; and
+the rebuked petitioner abandoned her bootless errand in despair. Messrs.
+Roberts, I should have mentioned, had by some accident discovered the
+nature of the misfortune which had befallen their officer, and had
+already made urgent application to the Admiralty for his release.
+
+The Old Bailey sessions did not come on for some time: I, however, took
+care to secure at once, as I did not myself practice in that court, the
+highest talent which its bar afforded. Willy, who had been placed in a
+workhouse by the authorities, we had properly taken care of till he could
+be restored to his mother; or, in the event of her conviction, to his
+relatives in Devonshire.
+
+The sessions were at last on: a "true bill" against Esther Mason for
+shoplifting, as it was popularly termed, was unhesitatingly found, and
+with a heavy heart I wended my way to the court to watch the proceedings.
+A few minutes after I entered, Mr. Justice Le Blanc and Mr. Baron Wood,
+who had assisted at an important case of stockjobbing conspiracy, just
+over, left the bench: the learned recorder being doubtless considered
+quite equal to the trial of a mere capital charge of theft.
+
+The prisoner was placed in the dock; but try as I might, I could not
+look at her. It happened to be a calm bright summer day; the air, as if
+in mockery of those death-sessions, humming with busy, lusty life; so
+that, sitting with my back to the prisoner, I could, as it were, read
+her demeanor in the shadow thrown by her figure on the opposite
+sun-lighted wall. There she stood, during the brief moments which sealed
+her earthly doom, with downcast eyes and utterly dejected posture; her
+thin fingers playing mechanically with the flowers and sweet-scented
+herbs spread scantily before her. The trial was very brief: the
+evidence, emphatically conclusive, was confidently given, and vainly
+cross-examined. Nothing remained but an elaborate _ad misericordiam_
+excusative defence, which had been prepared by me, and which the
+prisoner begged her counsel might be allowed to read. This was of course
+refused; the recorder remarking, they might as well allow counsel for
+felons to _address_ juries, as read defences; and _that_, as every
+practical man knew, would be utterly subversive of the due
+administration of justice. The clerk of the court would read the paper,
+if the prisoner felt too agitated to do so. This was done; and very
+vilely done. The clerk, I dare say, read as well as he was able; but
+old, near-sighted, and possessed of anything but a clear enunciation,
+what could be expected? The defence, so read, produced not the slightest
+effect either on the court or jury. The recorder briefly commented on
+the conclusiveness of the evidence for the prosecution; and the jury, in
+the same brief, business-like manner, returned a verdict of Guilty.
+
+"What have you to say," demanded the clerk, "why sentence of death should
+not be pronounced upon you, according to law?"
+
+The shadow started convulsively as the terrible words fell from the man's
+lips; and I saw that the suddenly-upraised eyes of the prisoner were
+fastened on the face of the fearful questioner. The lips, too, appeared
+to move; but no sound reached my ears.
+
+"Speak, woman," said the recorder; "if you have anything to urge before
+sentence is pronounced."
+
+I started up, and turning to the prisoner, besought her in hurried
+accents to speak. "Remind them of the infant at your breast--your
+husband"--
+
+"Who is that conferring with the prisoner?" demanded the judge in an
+angry voice.
+
+I turned, and confronted him with a look as cold and haughty as his
+own. He did not think proper to pursue the inquiry further; and after
+muttering something about the necessity of not interrupting the
+proceedings of the court, again asked the prisoner if she had
+anything to urge.
+
+"Not for myself--not for my sake," at last faintly murmured the
+trembling woman; "but for that of my poor dear infant--my poor witless
+boy! I do not think, sir, I was in my right mind. I was starving. I was
+friendless. My husband, too, whom you have heard"--She stopped abruptly;
+a choking sob struggled in her throat; and but for the supporting arm of
+one of the turnkeys, she would have fallen to the ground.
+
+"Unhappy, guilty woman," said the recorder, with the coolness of a demon,
+"the plea of insanity you would set up is utterly untenable. Your
+husband, it seems, is serving his majesty in the royal navy; defending
+his country, whilst his wife was breaking its laws, by the commission of
+a crime which, but for the stern repression of the law, would sap the
+foundations of the security of property, and"--
+
+I could endure no more. The atmosphere of the court seemed to stifle me;
+and I rushed for relief into the open air. Before, however, I had reached
+the street, a long, piercing scream informed me that the learned judge
+_had done his duty_.
+
+No effort was spared during the interval which elapsed previous to the
+recorder presenting his report to the privy-counsel--a peculiar
+privilege at that time attached to the office--to procure a mitigation
+of the sentence. A petition, setting forth the peculiar circumstances
+of the case, was carefully prepared; and by the indefatigable exertions
+of an excellent Quaker gentleman--whom, as he is still alive, and might
+not choose to have his name blazoned to the world, I will call William
+Friend--was soon very numerously signed. The prosecutor, however,
+obstinately refused to attach his name to the document; and the absence
+of his signature--so strangely did men reason on such matters in those
+days--would, it was feared, weigh heavily against the success of the
+petition. The amiable and enlightened Sir Samuel Romilly not only
+attached his name, but aided us zealously by his advice and influence.
+In short, nothing was omitted that appeared likely to attain the
+desired object.
+
+Two days before the petition was to be forwarded to the proper quarter,
+Henry Mason arrived in England, the exertions of his employers having
+procured his discharge. The "Active" was one of Captain Hoste's squadron,
+which obtained the celebrated victory off Lissa, over the Franco-Venetian
+fleet commanded by Admiral Dobourdieu. Henry Mason, it appeared by the
+testimonials of the captain and officers of his ship, had greatly
+distinguished himself in the action. We inclosed these papers with the
+petition; and then, having done all in our power, awaited with anxious
+impatience the result of the recorder's report. It was announced to me,
+as I was sitting somewhat later than usual at chambers, by Mr. William
+Friend. The judgment to die was confirmed! All our representations had
+not sufficed to counterbalance the supposed necessity of exhibiting
+terrible examples of the fate awaiting the perpetrators of an offence
+said to be greatly on the increase. Excellent William Friend wept like a
+child as he made the announcement.
+
+There are many persons alive who recollect this horrible tragedy--this
+national disgrace--this act of gross barbarity on the part of the great
+personage, who, first having carried off the poor woman's husband, left
+her to die for an act the very consequence of that robbery. Who among the
+spectators can ever forget that heart-rending scene--the hangman taking
+the baby from the breast of the wretched creature just before he put her
+to death! But let us not rake up these terrible reminiscences. Let us
+hope that the _truly guilty_ are forgiven. And let us take consolation
+from reflecting that this event led the great Romilly to enter on his
+celebrated career as a reformer of the criminal law.
+
+The remains of Esther Mason were obtained from the Newgate officials,
+and quietly interred in St. Sepulchre's church-yard. A plain slab, with
+her name only plainly chiselled upon it, was some time afterwards placed
+above the grave. A few years ago I attended a funeral in the same
+grave-yard; and after a slight search, discovered the spot. The
+inscription, though of course much worn, was still quite legible.
+
+I had not seen Henry Mason since his return; but I was glad to hear from
+Mr. William Friend that, after the first passionate burst of rage and
+grief had subsided, he had, apparently at least, thanks to the tender and
+pious expostulations of his wife--with whom, by the kind intervention of
+the sheriffs, he was permitted long and frequent interviews--settled down
+into calmness and resignation. One thing only he would not bear to hear
+even from her, and that was any admission that she had been guilty of,
+even the slightest offence. A hint of the kind, however unintentional,
+would throw him into a paroxysm of fury; and the subject was consequently
+in his presence studiously avoided.
+
+A few days after the execution, Mr. William Friend called on me just
+after breakfast, accompanied by the bereaved husband. I never saw so
+changed a man. All the warm kindliness of his nature had vanished, and
+was replaced by a gloomy fierce austerity, altogether painful to
+contemplate.
+
+"Well, sir," said he, as he barely touched my proffered hand, "they have
+killed her, you see, spite of all you could say or do. It much availed
+me, too, that I had helped to win their boasted victories;" and he
+laughed with savage bitterness.
+
+"Henry--Henry!" exclaimed William Friend, in a reproving accent.
+
+"Well, well, sir," rejoined Mason, impatiently, "you are a good man, and
+have of course your own notions on these matters; I also have mine. Or,
+perhaps, you think it is only the blood of the rich and great which, shed
+unjustly, brings forth the iron harvest? Forgive me," he added, checking
+himself. "I respect you both; but my heart is turned to stone. You do not
+know--none ever knew but I--how kind, how loving, how gentle was that
+poor long-suffering girl."
+
+He turned from us to hide the terrible agony which convulsed him.
+
+"Henry," said Mr. Friend, taking him kindly by the hand, "we pity thee
+sincerely, as thou knowest; but thy bitter, revengeful expressions are
+unchristian, sinful. The authorities whom thou, not for the first time,
+railest on so wildly, acted, be sure of it, from a sense of duty; a
+mistaken one, in my opinion, doubtless; still"--
+
+"Say no more, sir," interrupted Mason. "We differ in opinion upon the
+subject. And now, gentlemen, farewell. I wished to see you, sir, before I
+left this country forever, to thank you for your kind, though fruitless
+exertions. Mr. Friend has promised to be steward for poor Willy of all I
+can remit for his use. Farewell! God bless you both!" He was gone!
+
+War soon afterwards broke out with the United States of America, and Mr.
+Friend discovered that one of the most active and daring officers in the
+Republican navy was Henry Mason, who had entered the American service in
+the maiden name of his wife; and that the large sums he had remitted from
+time to time for the use of Willy, were the produce of his successful
+depredations on British commerce. The instant Mr. Friend made the
+discovery, he refused to pollute his hands with moneys so obtained, and
+declined all further agency in the matter. Mason, however, contrived to
+remit through some other channel to the Davies's, with whom the boy had
+been placed; and a rapid improvement in their circumstances was soon
+visible. These remittances ceased about the middle of 1814; and a
+twelvemonth after the peace with America, we ascertained that Henry Mason
+had been killed in the battle on Lake Champlain, where he had
+distinguished himself, as everywhere else, by the reckless daring and
+furious hate with which he fought against the country which, in his
+unreasoning frenzy, he accused of the murder of his wife. He was
+recognized by one of his former messmates in the "Active;" who, conveyed
+a prisoner on board the American commander Macdonough's ship, recognized
+him as he lay stretched on the deck, in the uniform of an American naval
+officer; his countenance, even in death, wearing the same stormful
+defiant expression which it assumed on the day that his beloved Esther
+perished on the scaffold.
+
+
+
+
+THE MARRIAGE SETTLEMENT
+
+
+"It is really time that a properly-qualified governess had charge of
+those girls," observed my wife, as Mary and Kate after a more than
+usually boisterous romp with their papa, left the room for bed. I may
+here remark, _inter alia_, that I once surprised a dignified and
+highly-distinguished judge at a game of blindman's buff with his
+children, and very heartily he appeared to enjoy it too. "It is really
+time that a properly-qualified governess had charge of those girls. Susan
+May did very well as a nursery teacher, but they are now far beyond her
+control. _I_ cannot attend to their education, and as for you"--The
+sentence was concluded by a shrug of the shoulders and a toss of the
+head, eloquently expressive of the degree of estimation in which _my_
+governing powers were held.
+
+"Time enough, surely, for that," I exclaimed, as soon as I had composed
+myself; for I was a little out of breath. "They may, I think, rub along
+with Susan for another year or two, Mary is but seven years of age"--
+
+"Eight years, if you please. She was eight years old last Thursday
+three weeks."
+
+"Eight years! Then we must have been married nine; Bless me, how the time
+has flown: it seems scarcely so many weeks!"
+
+"Nonsense," rejoined my wife with a sharpness of tone and a rigidity of
+facial muscle which, considering the handsome compliment I had just paid
+her, argued, I was afraid, a foregone conclusion. "You always have
+recourse to some folly of that sort whenever I am desirous of entering
+into a serious consultation on family affairs."
+
+There was some truth in this, I confess. The "consultations" which I
+found profitable were not serious ones with my wife upon domestic
+matters; leading, as they invariably did, to a diminution instead of an
+increase of the little balance at the banker's. If such a proposition
+could therefore be evaded or adjourned by even an extravagant compliment,
+I considered it well laid out. But the expedient, I found, was one which
+did not improve by use. For some time after marriage it answered
+remarkably well; but each succeeding year of wedded bliss marked its
+rapidly-declining efficacy.
+
+"Well, well; go on."
+
+"I say it is absolutely necessary that a first-rate governess should be
+at once engaged. Lady Maldon has been here to-day, and she"--
+
+"Oh, I thought it might be her new ladyship's suggestion. I wish the
+'fountain of honor' was somewhat charier of its knights and ladies, and
+then perhaps"--
+
+"What, for mercy's sake, are you running on about?" interrupted the lady
+with peremptory emphasis. "Fountains of honor, forsooth! One would
+suppose, to hear you talk in that wild, nonsensical way, that you were
+addressing a bench of judges sitting in _banco_, instead of a sensible
+person solicitous for her and your children's welfare."
+
+"Bless the woman," thought I; "what an exalted idea she appears to have
+of forensic eloquence! Proceed, my love," I continued; "there is a
+difference certainly; and I am all attention."
+
+"Lady Maldon knows a young lady--a distant relative, in deed, of
+hers--whom she is anxious to serve"--
+
+"At our expense."
+
+"How can you be so ungenerous? Edith Willoughby is the orphan daughter of
+the late Reverend Mr. Willoughby, curate of Heavy Tree in Warwickshire, I
+believe; and was specially educated for a first-class governess and
+teacher. She speaks French with the true Parisian accent, and her
+Italian, Lady Maldon assures me, is pure Tuscan"--
+
+"He-e-e-m!"
+
+"She dances with grace and elegance; plays the harp and piano with skill
+and taste; is a thorough _artiste_ in drawing and painting; and is,
+moreover, very handsome--though beauty, I admit, is an attribute which in
+a governess might be very well dispensed with."
+
+"True; unless, indeed, it were catching."
+
+I need not prolong this connubial dialogue. It is sufficient to state
+that Edith Willoughby was duly installed in office on the following day;
+and that, much to my surprise, I found that her qualifications for the
+charge she had undertaken were scarcely overcolored. She was a
+well-educated, elegant, and beautiful girl, of refined and fascinating
+manners, and possessed of one of the sweetest, gentlest dispositions that
+ever charmed and graced the family and social circle. She was, I often
+thought, for her own chance of happiness, too ductile, too readily
+yielding to the wishes and fancies of others. In a very short time I came
+to regard her as a daughter, and with my wife and children she was
+speedily a prodigious favorite. Mary and Kate improved rapidly under her
+judicious tuition, and I felt for once positively grateful to busy Lady
+Maldon for her officious interference in my domestic arrangements.
+
+Edith Willoughby had been domiciled with us about two years, when Mr.
+Harlowe, a gentleman of good descent and fine property, had occasion to
+call several times at my private residence on business relating to the
+purchase of a house in South Audley Street, the title to which exhibited
+by the venders was not of the most satisfactory kind. On one occasion he
+stayed to dine with us, and I noticed that he seemed much struck by the
+appearance of our beautiful and accomplished governess. His evident
+emotion startled and pained me in a much higher degree than I could have
+easily accounted for even to myself. Mr. Harlowe was a widower, past his
+first youth certainly, but scarcely more than two or three-and-thirty
+years of age, wealthy, not ill-looking, and, as far as I knew, of average
+character in society. Surely an excellent match, if it should come to
+that, for an orphan girl rich only in fine talents and gentle affections.
+But I could not think so. I disliked the man--_instinctively_ disliked
+and distrusted him; for I could assign no very positive motive for my
+antipathy.
+
+"The reason why, I cannot tell,
+But I don't like thee, Dr. Fell."
+
+These lines indicate an unconquerable feeling which most persons have, I
+presume, experienced; and which frequently, I think, results from a kind
+of cumulative evidence of uncongeniality or unworthiness, made up of a
+number of slight indices of character, which, separately, may appear of
+little moment, but altogether, produce a strong, if undefinable, feeling
+of aversion. Mr. Harlowe's manners were bland, polished, and insinuating;
+his conversation was sparkling and instructive; but a cold sneer seemed
+to play habitually about his lips, and at times there glanced forth a
+concentrated, polished ferocity--so to speak--from his eyes, revealing
+hard and stony depths, which I shuddered to think a being so pure and
+gentle as Edith might be doomed to sound and fathom. That he was a man of
+strong passions and determination of will, was testified by every curve
+of his square, massive head, and every line of his full countenance.
+
+My aversion--reasonable or otherwise, as it might be--was not shared by
+Miss Willoughby; and it was soon apparent that, fascinated, intoxicated
+by her extreme beauty (the man was, I felt, incapable of love in its
+high, generous, and spiritual sense), Mr. Harlowe had determined on
+offering his hand and fortune to the unportioned orphan. He did so, and
+was accepted. I did not conceal my dislike of her suitor from Edith; and
+my wife--who, with feminine exaggeration of the hints I threw out, had
+set him down as a kind of polished human tiger--with tears intreated her
+to avoid the glittering snare. We of course had neither right nor power
+to push our opposition beyond friendly warning and advice; and when we
+found, thanks to Lady Maldon, who was vehemently in favor of the
+match--to, in Edith's position, the dazzling temptation of a splendid
+establishment, and to Mr. Harlowe's eloquent and impassioned
+pleadings--that the rich man's offer was irrevocably accepted, we of
+course forebore from continuing a useless and irritating resistance. Lady
+Maldon had several times very plainly intimated that our aversion to the
+marriage arose solely from a selfish desire of retaining the services of
+her charming relative; so prone are the mean and selfish to impute
+meanness and selfishness to others.
+
+I might, however, I reflected, be of service to Miss Willoughby, by
+securing for her such a marriage settlement as would place her beyond the
+reach of one possible consequence of caprice and change. I spoke to Mr.
+Harlowe on the subject; and he, under the influence of headstrong, eager
+passion, gave me, as I expected, _carte blanche_. I availed myself of the
+license so readily afforded: a deed of settlement was drawn up, signed,
+sealed, and attested in duplicate the day before the wedding; and Edith
+Willoughby, as far as wealth and position in society were concerned, had
+undoubtedly made a surprisingly good bargain.
+
+It happened that just as Lady Maldon, Edith Willoughby, and Mr. Harlowe
+were leaving my chambers after the execution of the deed, Mr. Ferret the
+attorney appeared on the stairs. His hands were full of papers, and he
+was, as usual, in hot haste; but he stopped abruptly as his eye fell upon
+the departing visitors, looked with startled earnestness at Miss
+Willoughby, whom he knew, and then glanced at Mr. Harlowe with an
+expression of angry surprise. That gentleman, who did not appear to
+recognize the new-comer, returned his look with a supercilious,
+contemptuous stare, and passed on with Edith--who had courteously saluted
+the inattentive Mr. Ferret--followed by Lady Maldon.
+
+"What is the meaning of that ominous conjunction?" demanded Mr. Ferret as
+the affianced pair disappeared together.
+
+"Marriage, Mr. Ferret! Do you know any just cause or impediment why they
+should not be joined together in holy wedlock?"
+
+"The fellow's wife is dead then?"
+
+"Yes; she died about a twelvemonth ago. Did you know her?"
+
+"Not personally; by reputation only. A country attorney, Richards of
+Braintree, for whom I transact London business sent me the draught of a
+deed of separation--to which the unfortunate lady, rather than continue
+to live with her husband, had consented--for counsel's opinion. I had an
+interview with Mr. Harlowe himself upon the business; but I see he
+affects to have forgotten me. I do not know much of the merits of the
+case, but according to Richards--no great shakes of a fellow, between
+ourselves--the former Mrs. Harlowe was a martyr to her husband's
+calculated virulence and legal--at least not _illegal_, a great
+distinction, in my opinion, though not so set down in the
+books--despotism. He espoused her for her wealth: that secured, he was
+desirous of ridding himself of the incumbrance to it. A common case!--and
+now, if you please, to business."
+
+I excused myself, as did my wife, from being present at the wedding; but
+everything, I afterwards heard, passed off with great _éclat_. The
+bridegroom was all fervor and obsequiousness; the bride all bashfulness
+and beauty. The "happy pair," I saw by the afternoon newspapers, were to
+pass the honeymoon at Mr. Harlowe's seat, Fairdown Park. The evening of
+the marriage-day was anything, I remember, but a pleasant one to me. I
+reached home by no means hilariously disposed, where I was greeted, by
+way of revival, with the intelligence that my wife, after listening with
+great energy to Lady Maldon's description of the wedding festivities for
+two tremendous hours, had at last been relieved by copious hysteria, and
+that Mary and Kate were in a fair way--if the exploit could be
+accomplished by perseverance--of crying themselves to sleep. These were
+our bridal compliments; much more flattering, I imagine, if not quite so
+honey-accented, as the courtly phrases with which the votaries and the
+victims of Hymen are alike usually greeted.
+
+Time, business, worldly hopes and cares, the triumphs and defeats of an
+exciting profession, gradually weakened the impression made upon me by
+the gentle virtues of Edith Willoughby; and when, about fifteen months
+after the wedding, my wife informed me that she had been accosted by Mrs.
+Harlowe at a shop in Bond Street, my first feeling was one of surprise,
+not untinged with resentment, for what I deemed her ungrateful neglect.
+
+"She recognized you then?" I remarked.
+
+"Recognized me! What do you mean?"
+
+"I thought perhaps she might have forgotten your features, as she
+evidently has our address."
+
+"If you had seen," replied my wife, "how pale, how cold, how utterly
+desolate she looked, you would think less hardly of her. As soon as she
+observed me, a slight scream escaped her; and then she glanced eagerly
+and tremblingly around like a startled fawn. Her husband had passed out
+of the shop to give, I think, some direction to the coachman. She
+tottered towards me, and clasping me in her arms, burst into a passion of
+tears. "Oh, why--why," I asked as soon as I could speak, "why have you
+not written to us?" "I dared not!" she gasped. "But oh tell me, do
+you--does your husband remember me with kindness? Can I still reckon on
+his protection--his support?" I assured her you would receive her as your
+own child: the whispered words had barely passed my lips, when Mr.
+Harlowe, who had swiftly approached us unperceived, said, "Madam, the
+carriage waits." His stern, pitiless eye glanced from his wife to me, and
+stiffly bowing, he said, "Excuse me for interrupting your conversation;
+but time presses. Good-day." A minute afterwards, the carriage drove
+off."
+
+I was greatly shocked at this confirmation of my worst fears; and I
+meditated with intense bitterness on the fate of a being of such meek
+tenderness exposed to the heartless brutalities of a sated sensualist
+like Harlowe. But what could be done? She had chosen, deliberately,
+and after warning, chosen her lot, and must accept the consequences of
+her choice. In all the strong statutes, and sharp biting laws of
+England, there can be found no clause wherewith to shield a woman from
+the "regulated" meanness and despotism of an unprincipled husband.
+Resignation is the sole remedy, and therein the patient must minister
+to herself.
+
+On the morning of the Sunday following Edith's brief interview with my
+wife, and just as we were about to leave the house to attend divine
+service, a cab drove furiously up to the door, and a violent summons by
+both knocker and bell announced the arrival of some strangely-impatient
+visitor. I stepped out upon the drawing-room landing, and looked over the
+banister rail, curious to ascertain who had honored me with so peremptory
+a call. The door was quickly opened, and in ran, or rather staggered,
+Mrs. Harlowe, with a child in long clothes in her arms.
+
+"Shut--shut the door!" she faintly exclaimed, as she sank on one of the
+hall seats. "Pray shut the door--I am pursued!"
+
+I hastened down, and was just in time to save her from falling on the
+floor. She had fainted. I had her carried up stairs, and by the aid of
+proper restoratives, she gradually recovered consciousness. The child, a
+girl about four months old, was seized upon by Mary and Kate, and carried
+off in triumph to the nursery. Sadly changed, indeed, as by the sickness
+of the soul, was poor Edith. The radiant flush of youth and hope
+rendering her sweet face eloquent of joy and pride, was replaced by the
+cold, sad hues of wounded affections and proud despair. I could read in
+her countenance, as in a book, the sad record of long months of wearing
+sorrow, vain regrets, and bitter self-reproach. Her person, too, had lost
+its rounded, airy, graceful outline, and had become thin and angular.
+Her voice, albeit, was musical and gentle as ever, as she murmured, on
+recovering her senses, "You will protect me from my--from that man?" As I
+warmly pressed her hand, in emphatic assurance that I would shield her
+against all comers, another loud summons was heard at the door. A minute
+afterwards, a servant entered, and announced that Mr. Harlowe waited for
+me below. I directed he should be shown into the library; and after
+iterating my assurance to Edith that she was quite safe from violence
+beneath my roof, and that I would presently return to hear her
+explanation of the affair, I went down stairs.
+
+Mr. Harlowe, as I entered, was pacing rapidly up and down the apartment.
+He turned to face me; and I thought he looked even more perturbed and
+anxious than vengeful and angry. He, however, as I coldly bowed, and
+demanded his business with me, instantly assumed a bullying air and tone.
+
+"Mrs. Harlowe is here: she has surreptitiously left South Audley Street
+in a hired cab, and I have traced her to this house."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well! I trust it is well; and I insist that she instantly return to
+her home."
+
+"Her _home_!"
+
+I used the word with an expression significative only of my sense of the
+sort of "home" he had provided for the gentle girl he had sworn to love
+and cherish; but the random shaft found a joint in his armor at which it
+was not aimed. He visibly trembled, and turned pale.
+
+"She has had time to tell you all then! But be assured, sir, that nothing
+she has heard or been told, however true it may be--_may_ be, remember,
+I say--can be legally substantiated except by myself."
+
+What could the man mean? I was fairly puzzled: but, professionally
+accustomed to conceal emotions of surprise and bewilderment, I coldly
+replied--"I have left the lady who has sought the protection of her true
+'home,' merely to ascertain the reason of this visit."
+
+"The reason of my visit!" he exclaimed with renewed fury: "to reconvey
+her to South Audley Street. What else? If you refuse to give her up, I
+shall apply to the police."
+
+I smiled, and approached the bell.
+
+"You will not surrender her then?"
+
+"To judicial process only: of that be assured. I have little doubt that,
+when I am placed in full possession of all the facts of the case, I shall
+be quite able to justify my conduct." He did not reply, and I continued:
+"If you choose to wait here till I have heard Edith's statement, I will
+at once frankly acquaint you with my final determination."
+
+"Be it so: and please to recollect, sir, that you have to deal with a man
+not easily baffled or entrapped by legal subtlety or cunning."
+
+I reascended to the drawing-room; and finding Edith--thanks to the
+ministrations, medicinal and oral, of my bustling and indignant
+lady--much calmer, and thoroughly satisfied that nobody could or should
+wrest her from us, begged her to relate unreservedly the cause or causes
+which had led to her present position. She falteringly complied; and I
+listened with throbbing pulse and burning cheeks to the sad story of her
+wedded wretchedness, dating from within two or three months of the
+marriage; and finally consummated by a disclosure that, if provable,
+might consign Harlowe to the hulks. The tears, the agony, the despair of
+the unhappy lady, excited in me a savageness of feeling, an eager thirst
+for vengeance, which I had believed foreign to my nature. Edith divined
+my thoughts, and taking my hand, said, "Never, sir, never will I appear
+against him: the father of my little Helen shall never be publicly
+accused by me."
+
+"You err, Edith," I rejoined; "it is a positive duty to bring so
+consummate a villain to justice. He has evidently calculated on your
+gentleness of disposition, and must be disappointed."
+
+I soon, however, found it was impossible to shake her resolution on
+this point; and I returned with a heart full of grief and bitterness to
+Mr. Harlowe.
+
+"You will oblige me, sir," I exclaimed as I entered the room, "by
+leaving this house immediately: I would hold no further converse with so
+vile a person."
+
+"How! Do you know to whom you presume to speak in this manner?"
+
+"Perfectly. You are one Harlowe, who, after a few months' residence with
+a beautiful and amiable girl, had extinguished the passion which induced
+him to offer her marriage, showered on her every species of insult and
+indignity of which a cowardly and malignant nature is capable; and who,
+finding that did not kill her, at length consummated, or revealed, I do
+not yet know which term is most applicable, his utter baseness by causing
+her to be informed that his first wife was still living."
+
+"Upon my honor, sir, I believed, when I married Miss Willoughby, that I
+was a widower."
+
+"Your _honor!_ But except to prove that I _do_ thoroughly know and
+appreciate the person I am addressing, I will not bandy words with you.
+After that terrible disclosure--if, indeed, it be a disclosure, not an
+invention--Ah, you start at that"
+
+"At your insolence, sir; not at your senseless surmises."
+
+"Time and the law will show. After, I repeat, this terrible disclosure or
+invention, you, not content with obtaining from your victim's generosity
+a positive promise that she would not send you to the hulks"--
+
+"Sir, have a care."
+
+"Pooh! I say, not content with exacting this promise from your victim,
+you, with your wife, or accomplice, threatened not only to take her child
+from her, but to lock her up in a madhouse, unless she subscribed a
+paper, confessing that she knew, when you espoused her, that you were a
+married man. Now, sir, do I, or do I not, thoroughly know who and what
+the man is I am addressing?"
+
+"Sir," returned Harlowe, recovering his audacity somewhat. "Spite of all
+your hectoring and abuse, I defy you to obtain proof--legal
+proof--whether what Edith has heard is true or false. The affair may
+perhaps be arranged; let her return with me."
+
+"You know she would die first; but it is quite useless to prolong this
+conversation; and I again request you to leave this house."
+
+"If Miss Willoughby would accept an allowance"--
+
+The cool audacity of this proposal to make me an instrument in
+compromising a felony exasperated me beyond all bounds. I rang the bell
+violently, and desired the servant who answered it to show Mr. Harlowe
+out of the house. Finding further persistence useless, the baffled
+villain snatched up his hat, and with a look and gesture of rage and
+contempt, hurried out of the apartment.
+
+The profession of a barrister necessarily begets habits of coolness and
+reflection under the most exciting circumstances; but, I confess, that in
+this instance my ordinary equanimity was so much disturbed, that it was
+some time before I could command sufficient composure to reason calmly
+upon the strange revelations made to me by Edith, and the nature of the
+measures necessary to adopt in order to clear up the mystery attaching to
+them. She persisted in her refusal to have recourse to legal measures
+with a view to the punishment of Harlowe; and I finally determined--after
+a conference with Mr. Ferret, who, having acted for the first Mrs.
+Harlowe, I naturally conjectured must know something of her history and
+connections--to take for the present no ostensible steps in the matter.
+Mr. Ferret, like myself, was persuaded that the sham resuscitation of his
+first wife was a mere trick, to enable Harlowe to rid himself of the
+presence of a woman he no longer cared for. "I will take an opportunity,"
+said Mr. Ferret, "of quietly questioning Richards: he must have known the
+first wife; Eleanor Wickham, I remember, was her maiden name; and if not
+bought over by Harlowe--a by-no-means impossible purchase--can set us
+right at once. I did not understand that the said Eleanor was at all
+celebrated for beauty and accomplishments, such as you say Miss
+Willoughby--Mrs. Harlowe, I mean--describes. She was a native of
+Dorsetshire too, I remember; and the foreign Italian accent you mention,
+is rarely, I fancy, picked up in that charming county. Some flashy
+opera-dancer, depend upon it, whom he has contracted a passing fancy for:
+a slippery gentleman certainly; but, with a little caution, we shall not
+fail to trip his heels up, clever as he may be."
+
+A stronger wrestler than either of us was upon the track of the unhappy
+man. Edith had not been with us above three weeks, when one of Mr.
+Harlowe's servants called at my chambers to say that his master, in
+consequence of a wound he had inflicted on his foot with an axe, whilst
+amusing himself with cutting or pruning some trees in the grounds at
+Fairdown, was seriously ill, and had expressed a wish to see me. I
+could not leave town; but as it was important Mr. Harlowe should be
+seen, I requested Mr. Ferret to proceed to Fairdown House. He did so,
+and late in the evening returned with the startling intelligence that
+Mr. Harlowe was dead!
+
+"Dead!" I exclaimed, much shocked. "Are you serious?" "As a judge. He
+expired, about an hour after I reached the house, of tetanus, commonly
+called locked-jaw. His body, by the contraction of the muscles, was bent
+like a bow, and rested on his heels and the back part of his head. He was
+incapable of speech long before I saw him; but there was a world of
+agonized expression in his eyes!"
+
+"Dreadful! Your journey was useless then?"
+
+"Not precisely. I saw the pretended former wife: a splendid woman, and as
+much Eleanor Wickham of Dorsetshire as I am. They mean, however, to show
+fight, I think; for, as I left the place, I observed that delightful
+knave Richards enter the house. I took the liberty of placing seals upon
+the desks and cabinets, and directed the butler and other servants to see
+that nothing was disturbed or removed till Mrs. Harlowe's--the true Mrs.
+Harlowe's--arrival."
+
+The funeral was to take place on the following Wednesday; and it was
+finally arranged that both of us would accompany Edith to Fairdown on the
+day after it had taken place, and adopt such measures as circumstances
+might render necessary. Mr. Ferret wrote to this effect to all parties
+concerned.
+
+On arriving at the house, I, Ferret, and Mrs. Harlowe, proceeded at once
+to the drawing-room, where we found the pretended wife seated in great
+state, supported on one side by Mr. Richards, and on the other by Mr.
+Quillet the eminent proctor. Edith was dreadfully agitated, and clung
+frightened and trembling to my arm. I conducted her to a seat, and placed
+myself beside her, leaving Mr. Ferret--whom so tremendous an array of law
+and learning, evincing a determination to fight the matter out _à
+l'outrance_, filled with exuberant glee--to open the conference.
+
+"Good-morning, madam," cried he, the moment he entered the room, and
+quite unaffected by the lady's scornful and haughty stare: "good-morning;
+I am delighted to see you in such excellent company. You do not, I hope,
+forget that I once had the honor of transacting business for you?"
+
+"You had transactions of my business!" said the lady, "When, I pray you?"
+
+"God bless me!" cried Ferret, addressing Richards, "what a charming
+Italian accent; and out of Dorsetshire too!"
+
+"Dorsetshire, sir?" exclaimed the lady.
+
+"Ay, Dorsetshire, to be sure. Why, Mr. Richards, our respected client
+appears to have forgotten her place of birth! How very extraordinary!"
+
+Mr. Richards now interfered, to say that Mr. Ferret was apparently
+laboring under a strange misapprehension. "This lady," continued he, "is
+Madame Giulletta Corelli."
+
+"Whe--e--e--w!" rejoined Ferret, thrown for an instant off his balance by
+the suddenness of the confession, and perhaps a little disappointed at so
+placable a termination of the dispute--"Giulletta Corelli! What is the
+meaning of this array then?"
+
+"I am glad, madam," said I, interposing for the first time in the
+conversation, "for your own sake, that you have been advised not to
+persist in the senseless as well as iniquitous scheme devised by the late
+Mr. Harlowe; but this being the case, I am greatly at a loss to know why
+either you or these legal gentlemen are here?"
+
+The brilliant eyes of the Italian flashed with triumphant scorn, and a
+smile of contemptuous irony curled her beautiful lip as she
+replied--"These legal gentlemen will not have much difficulty in
+explaining my right to remain in my own house."
+
+"_Your_ house?"
+
+"Precisely, sir," replied Mr. Quillet. "This mansion, together with all
+other property, real and personal, of which the deceased Henry Harlowe
+died possessed, is bequeathed by will--dated about a month since--to this
+lady, Giulletta Corelli."
+
+"A will!" exclaimed Mr. Ferret with an explosive shout, and turning to
+me, whilst his sharp gray eyes danced with irrepressible mirth--"Did I
+not tell you so?"
+
+"Your usual sagacity, Mr. Ferret, has not in this instance failed you.
+Perhaps you will permit me to read the will? But before I do so,"
+continued Mr. Quillet, as he drew his gold-rimmed spectacles from their
+morocco sheath--"you will allow me, if you please, to state that the
+legatee, delicately appreciating the position of the widow, will allow
+her any reasonable annuity--say five hundred pounds per annum for life."
+
+"Will she really though?" cried Mr. Ferret, boiling over with ecstacy.
+"Madam, let me beg of you to confirm this gracious promise."
+
+"Certainly I do."
+
+"Capital!--glorious!" rejoined Ferret; and I thought he was about to
+perform a salutatory movement, that must have brought his cranium into
+damaging contact with the chandelier under which he was standing. "Is
+it not delightful? How every one--especially an attorney--loves a
+generous giver!"
+
+Mr. Richards appeared to be rendered somewhat uneasy by these strange
+demonstrations. He knew Ferret well, and evidently suspected that
+something was wrong somewhere. "Perhaps, Mr. Quillet," said he, "you had
+better read the will at once."
+
+This was done: the instrument devised in legal and minute form all the
+property, real and personal, to Giulletta Corelli--a natural-born subject
+of his majesty, it appeared, though of foreign parentage, and of
+partially foreign education.
+
+"Allow me to say," broke in Mr. Ferret, interrupting me as I was about to
+speak--"allow me to say, Mr. Richards, that that will does you credit: it
+is, I should say, a first-rate affair, for a country practitioner
+especially. But of course you submitted the draught to counsel?"
+
+"Certainly I did," said Richards tartly.
+
+"No doubt--no doubt. Clearness and precision like that could only have
+proceeded from a master's hand. I shall take a copy of that will,
+Richards, for future guidance, you may depend, the instant it is
+registered in Doctors' Commons."
+
+"Come, come, Mr. Ferret," said I; "this jesting is all very well; but it
+is quite time the farce should end."
+
+"Farce!" exclaimed Mr. Richards.
+
+"Farce!" growled doubtful Mr. Quillet.
+
+"Farce!" murmured the beautiful Giulletta.
+
+"Farce!" cried Mr. Ferret. "My dear sir, it is about one of the most
+charming and genteel comedies ever enacted on any stage, and the
+principal part, too, by one of the most charming of prima donnas. Allow
+me, sir--don't interrupt me! it is too delicious to be shared; it is,
+indeed. Mr. Richards, and you, Mr. Quillet, will you permit me to observe
+that this admirable will has _one_ slight defect?"
+
+"A defect!--where--how?"
+
+"It is really heart-breaking that so much skill and ingenuity should be
+thrown away; but the fact is, gentlemen, that the excellent person who
+signed it had no property to bequeath!"
+
+"How?"
+
+"Not a shilling's worth. Allow me, sir, if you please. This piece of
+parchment, gentlemen, is, I have the pleasure to inform you, a marriage
+settlement."
+
+"A marriage settlement!" exclaimed both the men of law in a breath.
+
+"A marriage settlement, by which, in the event of Mr. Harlowe's decease,
+his entire property passes to his wife, in trust for the children, if
+any; and if not, absolutely to herself." Ferret threw the deed on the
+table, and then giving way to convulsive mirth, threw himself upon the
+sofa, and fairly shouted with glee.
+
+Mr. Quillet seized the document, and, with Richards, eagerly perused it.
+The proctor then rose, and bowing gravely to his astonished client, said,
+"The will, madam, is waste paper. You have been deceived." He then left
+the apartment.
+
+The consternation of the lady and her attorney may be conceived. Madam
+Corelli, giving way to her fiery passions, vented her disappointment in
+passionate reproaches of the deceased; the only effect of which was to
+lay bare still more clearly than before her own cupidity and folly, and
+to increase Edith's painful agitation. I led her down stairs to my wife,
+who, I omitted to mention, had accompanied us from town, and remained in
+the library with the children during our conference. In a very short
+time afterwards Mr. Ferret had cleared the house of its intrusive guests,
+and we had leisure to offer our condolences and congratulations to our
+grateful and interesting client. It was long before Edith recovered her
+former gaiety and health; and I doubt if she would ever have thoroughly
+regained her old cheerfulness and elasticity of mind, had it not been for
+her labor of love in superintending and directing the education of her
+daughter Helen, a charming girl, who fortunately inherited nothing from
+her father but his wealth. The last time I remember to have danced was at
+Helen's wedding. She married a distinguished Irish gentleman, with whom,
+and her mother, I perceive by the newspapers, she appeared at Queen
+Victoria's court in Dublin, one, I am sure, of the brightest stars which
+glittered in that galaxy of beauty and fashion.
+
+
+
+
+THE SECOND MARRIAGE.
+
+
+A busy day in the assize court at Chester, chequered, as usual, by
+alternate victory and defeat, had just terminated, and I was walking
+briskly forth, when an attorney of rather low _caste_ in his
+profession--being principally employed as an intermediary between needy
+felons and the counsel practising in the Crown Court--accosted me, and
+presented a brief; at the same time tendering the fee of two guineas
+marked upon it.
+
+"I am engaged to-morrow, Mr. Barnes," I exclaimed a little testily, "on
+the civil side: besides, you know I very seldom take briefs in the Crown
+Court, even if proffered in due time; and to-morrow will be the last day
+of the assize in Chester! There are plenty of unemployed counsel who will
+be glad of your brief."
+
+"It is a brief in an action of ejectment," replied the attorney--"Woodley
+_versus_ Thorndyke; and is brought to recover possession of a freehold
+estate now held and farmed by the defendant."
+
+"An action of ejectment to recover possession of a freehold estate!
+defended, too, I know, by a powerful bar; for I was offered a brief, but
+declined it. Mr. P ---- leads; and you bring me this for the plaintiff,
+and at the last moment too! You must be crazed."
+
+"I told the plaintiff and her grandfather," rejoined Mr. Barnes, "that it
+was too late to bespeak counsel's attention to the case; and that the
+fee, all they have, with much difficulty, been able to raise, was
+ridiculously small; but they insisted on my applying to you--Oh, here
+they are!"
+
+We had by this time reached the street, and the attorney pointed towards
+two figures standing in attitudes of anxious suspense near the gateway.
+It was dusk, but there was quite sufficient light to distinguish the pale
+and interesting features of a young female, dressed in faded and scanty
+mourning, and accompanied by a respectable-looking old man with white
+hair, and a countenance deeply furrowed by age and grief.
+
+"I told you, Miss Woodley," said the attorney, "that this gentleman would
+decline the brief, especially with such a fee"--
+
+"It is not the fee, man!" I observed, for I was somewhat moved by the
+appealing dejection exhibited by the white-haired man and his timid
+grand-daughter; "but what chance can I have of establishing this person's
+right--if right she have--to the estate she claims, thus suddenly called
+upon to act without previous consultation; and utterly ignorant, except
+as far as this I perceive hastily-scrawled brief will instruct me, both
+of the nature of the plaintiff's claim and of the defence intended to be
+set up against it?"
+
+"If you would undertake it, sir," said the young woman with a tremulous,
+hesitating voice and glistening eyes, "for _his_ sake"--and she glanced
+at her aged companion--"who will else be helpless, homeless."
+
+"The blessing of those who are ready to perish will be yours, sir," said
+the grandfather with meek solemnity, "if you will lend your aid in this
+work of justice and mercy. We have no hope of withstanding the masterful
+violence and wrong of wicked and powerful men except by the aid of the
+law, which we have been taught will ever prove a strong tower of defence
+to those who walk in the paths of peace and right."
+
+The earnestness of the old man's language and manner, and the pleading
+gentleness of the young woman, forcibly impressed me; and, albeit, it was
+a somewhat unprofessional mode of business, I determined to hear their
+story from their own lips, rather than take it from the scrawled brief,
+or through the verbal medium of their attorney.
+
+"You have been truly taught," I answered; "and if really entitled to the
+property you claim, I know of no masterful men that in this land of
+England can hinder you from obtaining possession of it. Come to my hotel
+in about an hour and a-half from hence: I shall then have leisure to hear
+what you have to say. This fee," I added, taking the two guineas from the
+hand of the attorney, who still held the money ready for my acceptance,
+"you must permit me to return. It is too much for you to pay for losing
+your cause; and if I gain it--but mind I do not promise to take it into
+court unless I am thoroughly satisfied you have right and equity on your
+side--I shall expect a much heavier one. Mr. Barnes, I will see you, if
+you please, early in the morning." I then bowed, and hastened on.
+
+Dinner was not ready when I arrived at the hotel; and during the short
+time I had to wait, I more than half repented of having had anything to
+do with this unfortunate suit. However, the pleadings of charity, the
+suggestions of human kindness, reasserted their influence; and by the
+time my new clients arrived, which they did very punctually at the hour I
+had indicated, I had quite regained the equanimity I had momentarily
+lost, and, thanks to mine host's excellent viands and generous wine, was,
+for a lawyer, in a very amiable and benevolent humor indeed.
+
+Our conference was long, anxious, and unsatisfactory. I was obliged to
+send for Barnes before it concluded, in order to thoroughly ascertain the
+precise nature of the case intended to be set up for the defendant, and
+the evidence likely to be adduced in support of it. No ray of consolation
+or of hope came from that quarter. Still, the narrative I had just
+listened to, bearing as it did the impress of truth and sincerity in
+every sentence, strongly disposed me to believe that foul play has been
+practised by the other side; and I determined, at all hazards, to go into
+court, though with but faint hope indeed of a _present_ successful issue.
+
+"It appears more than probable," I remarked on dismissing my clients,
+"that this will is a fabrication; but before such a question had been put
+in issue before a jury, some producible evidence of its being so should
+have been sought for and obtained. As it is, I can only watch the
+defendant's proof of the genuineness of the instrument upon which he has
+obtained probate: one or more of the attesting witnesses _may_, if fraud
+has been practised, break down under a searching cross-examination, or
+incidentally perhaps disclose matter for further investigation."
+
+"One of the attesting witnesses is, as I have already told you, dead,"
+observed Barnes; "and another, Elizabeth Wareing, has, I hear, to-day
+left the country. An affidavit to that effect will no doubt be made
+to-morrow, in order to enable them to give secondary evidence of her
+attestation, though, swear as they may, I have not the slightest doubt
+I could find her if time were allowed, and her presence would at all
+avail us."
+
+"Indeed! This is very important. Would you, Mr. Barnes, have any
+objection," I added, after a few moments' reflection, "to make oath,
+should the turn of affairs to-morrow render your doing so desirable, of
+your belief that you could, reasonable time being allowed, procure the
+attendance of this woman--this Elizabeth Wareing?"
+
+"Not the slightest: though how that would help us to invalidate the will
+Thorndyke claims under I do not understand."
+
+"Perhaps not. At all events do not fail to be early in court. The cause
+is the first in to-morrow's list, remember."
+
+The story confided to me was a very sad, and, unfortunately in many of
+its features, a very common one. Ellen, the only child of the old
+gentleman, Thomas Ward, had early in life married Mr. James Woodley, a
+wealthy yeoman, prosperously settled upon his paternal acres, which he
+cultivated with great diligence and success. The issue of this
+marriage--a very happy one, I was informed--was Mary Woodley, the
+plaintiff in the present action. Mr. Woodley, who had now been dead
+something more than two years, bequeathed the whole of his property, real
+and personal, to his wife, in full confidence, as he expressed himself
+but a few hours before he expired, that she would amply provide for his
+and her child. The value of the property inherited by Mrs. Woodley under
+this will amounted, according to a valuation made a few weeks after the
+testator's decease, to between eight and nine thousand pounds.
+
+Respected as a widow, comfortable in circumstances, and with a daughter
+to engage her affections, Mrs. Woodley might have passed the remainder of
+her existence in happiness. But how frequently do women peril and lose
+all by a second marriage! Such was the case with Mrs. Woodley: to the
+astonishment of everybody, she threw herself away on a man almost unknown
+in the district--a person of no fortune, of mean habits, and altogether
+unworthy of accepting as a husband. Silas Thorndyke, to whom she thus
+committed her happiness, had for a short time acted as bailiff on the
+farm; and no sooner did he feel himself master, than his subserviency
+was changed to selfish indifference, and that gradually assumed a coarser
+character. He discovered that the property, by the will of Mr. Woodley,
+was no secured against every chance or casualty to the use and enjoyment
+of his wife, that it not only did not pass by marriage to the new
+bridegroom, but she was unable to alienate or divest herself of any
+portion of it during life. She could, however, dispose of it by will; but
+in the event of her dying intestate, the whole descended to her daughter,
+Mary Woodley.
+
+Incredibly savage was Thorndyke when he made that discovery; and bitter
+and incessant were the indignities to which he subjected his unfortunate
+wife, for the avowed purpose of forcing her to make a will entirely in
+his favor, and of course disinheriting her daughter. These persecutions
+failed of their object. An unexpected, quiet, passive, but unconquerable
+resistance, was opposed by the, in all other things, cowed and submissive
+woman, to this demand of her domineering husband. Her failing health--for
+gently nurtured and tenderly cherished as she had ever been, the
+callous brutality of her husband soon told upon the unhappy
+creature--warned her that Mary would soon be an orphan, and that upon her
+firmness it depended whether the child of him to whose memory she had
+been, so fatally for herself, unfaithful, should be cast homeless and
+penniless upon the world, or inherit the wealth to which, by every
+principle of right and equity, she was entitled. Come what may, this
+trust at least should not, she mentally resolved, be betrayed or paltered
+with. Every imaginable expedient to vanquish her resolution was resorted
+to. Thorndyke picked a quarrel with Ward her father, who had lived at
+Dale Farm since the morrow of her marriage with Woodley, and the old
+gentleman was compelled to leave, and take up his abode with a distant
+and somewhat needy relative. Next Edward Wilford, the only son of a
+neighboring and prosperous farmer, who had been betrothed to Mary Woodley
+several months before her father's death, was brutally insulted, and
+forbidden the house. All, however, failed to shake the mother's
+resolution; and at length, finding all his efforts fruitless, Thorndyke
+appeared to yield the point, and upon this subject at least ceased to
+harass his unfortunate victim.
+
+Frequent private conferences were now held between Thorndyke, his two
+daughters, and Elizabeth Wareing--a woman approaching middle-age, whom,
+under the specious pretence that Mrs. Thorndyke's increasing ailments
+rendered the services of an experienced matron indispensable, he had
+lately installed at the farm. It was quite evident to both the mother and
+daughter that a much greater degree of intimacy subsisted between the
+master and housekeeper than their relative positions warranted; and from
+some expressions heedlessly dropped by the woman, they suspected them to
+have been once on terms of confidential intimacy. Thorndyke, I should
+have mentioned, was not a native of these parts: he had answered Mr.
+Woodley's advertisement for a bailiff, and his testimonials appearing
+satisfactory, he had been somewhat precipitately engaged. A young man,
+calling himself Edward Wareing, the son of Elizabeth Wareing, and said to
+be engaged in an attorney's office in Liverpool, was also a not
+unfrequent visitor at Dale Farm; and once he had the insolent presumption
+to address a note to Mary Woodley, formally tendering his hand and
+fortune! This, however, did not suit Mr. Thorndyke's views, and Mr.
+Edward Wareing was very effectually rebuked and silenced by his proposed
+father-in-law.
+
+Mrs. Thorndyke's health rapidly declined. The woman Wareing, touched
+possibly by sympathy or remorse, exhibited considerable tenderness and
+compassion towards the invalid; made her nourishing drinks, and
+administered the medicine prescribed by the village practitioner--who,
+after much delay and _pooh, poohing_ by Thorndyke, had been called
+in--with her own hands. About three weeks previous to Mrs. Thorndyke's
+death, a sort of reconciliation was patched up through her
+instrumentality between the husband and wife; and an unwonted expression
+of kindness and compassion, real or simulated, sat upon Thorndyke's
+features every time he approached the dying woman.
+
+The sands of life ebbed swiftly with Mrs. Thorndyke. Infolded in the
+gentle but deadly embrace with which consumption seizes its victims, she
+wasted rapidly away; and, most perplexing symptoms of all, violent
+retchings and nausea, especially after taking her medicine--which,
+according to Davis, the village surgeon, was invariable of a sedative
+character--aggravated and confirmed the fatal disease which was hurrying
+her to the tomb.
+
+Not once during this last illness could Mary Woodley, by chance or
+stratagem, obtain a moment's private interview with her mother, until a
+few minutes before her decease. Until then, under one pretence or
+another, either Elizabeth Wareing, one of Thorndyke's daughters, or
+Thorndyke himself, was always present in the sick-chamber. It was
+evening: darkness had for some time fallen: no light had yet been taken
+into the dying woman's apartment; and the pale starlight which faintly
+illumined the room served, as Mary Woodley softly approached on tiptoe to
+the bedside of her, as she supposed, sleeping parent, but to deepen by
+defining the shadows thrown by the full, heavy hangings, and the old
+massive furniture. Gently, and with a beating heart, Mary Woodley drew
+back the bed-curtain nearest the window. The feeble, uncertain light
+flickered upon the countenance, distinct in its mortal paleness, of her
+parent: the eyes recognized her, and a glance of infinite tenderness
+gleamed for an instant in the rapidly-darkening orbs: the right arm
+essayed to lift itself, as for one fast, last embrace. Vainly! Love, love
+only, was strong, stronger than death, in the expiring mother's heart,
+and the arm fell feebly back on the bedclothes. Mary Woodley bent down in
+eager grief, for she felt instinctively that the bitter hour at last was
+come: their lips met, and the last accents of the mother murmured,
+"Beloved Mary, I--I have been true to you--no will--no"--A slight tremor
+shook her frame: the spirit that looked in love from the windows of the
+eyes departed on its heavenward journey, and the unconscious shell only
+of what had once been her mother remained in the sobbing daughter's arms.
+
+I will not deny that this narrative, which I feel I have but coldly and
+feebly rendered from its earnest, tearful tenderness, as related by Mary
+Woodley, affected me considerably--case-hardened, as, to use an old
+bar-pun, we barristers are supposed to be; nor will the reader be
+surprised to hear that suspicions, graver even than those which pointed
+to forgery, were evoked by the sad history. Much musing upon the strange
+circumstances thus disclosed, and profoundly cogitative on the best mode
+of action to be pursued, the "small hours," the first of them at least,
+surprised me in my arm-chair. I started up, and hastened to bed, well
+knowing from experience that a sleepless vigil is a wretched preparative
+for a morrow of active exertion, whether of mind or body.
+
+I was betimes in court the next morning, and Mr. Barnes, proud as a
+peacock of figuring as an attorney in an important civil suit, was soon
+at my side. The case had excited more interest than I had supposed, and
+the court was very early filled, Mary Woodley and her grandfather soon
+arrived; and a murmur of commiseration ran through the auditory as they
+took their seats by the side of Barnes. There was a strong bar arrayed
+against us; and Mr. Silas Thorndyke, I noticed, was extremely busy and
+important with whisperings and suggestions to his solicitor and
+counsel--received, of course, as such meaningless familiarities usually
+are, with barely civil indifference.
+
+Twelve common jurors were called and sworn well and truly to try the
+issue, and I arose amidst breathless silence to address them. I at once
+frankly stated the circumstances under which the brief had come into my
+hands, and observed, that if, for lack of advised preparation, the
+plaintiff's case failed on that day, another trial, under favor of the
+court above, would, I doubt not, at no distant period of time reverse the
+possibly at present unfavorable decision. "My learned friends on the
+other side," I continued, "smile at this qualified admission of mine: let
+them do so. If they apparently establish to-day the validity of a will
+which strips an only child of the inheritance bequeathed by her father,
+they will, I tell them emphatically, have obtained but a temporary
+triumph for a person who--if I, if you, gentlemen of the jury, are to
+believe the case intended to be set up as a bar to the plantiff's
+claim--has succeeded by the grossest brutality, the most atrocious
+devices, in bending the mind of the deceased Mrs. Thorndyke to his
+selfish purposes. My learned friend need not interrupt me; I shall pursue
+these observations for the present no further--merely adding that I, that
+his lordship, that you, gentlemen of the jury, will require of him the
+strictest proof--proof clear as light--that the instrument upon which he
+relies to defeat the equitable, the righteous claim of the young and
+amiable person by my side, is genuine, and not, as I verily believe "--I
+looked, as I spoke, full in the face of Thorndyke--"FORGED."
+
+"My lord," exclaimed the opposing counsel, "this is really insufferable!"
+
+His lordship, however, did not interpose; and I went on to relate, in the
+most telling manner of which I was capable, the history of the deceased
+Mrs. Thorndyke's first and second marriages; the harmony and happiness of
+the first--the wretchedness and cruelty which characterized the second. I
+narrated also the dying words of Mrs. Thorndyke to her daughter, though
+repeatedly interrupted by the defendant's counsel, who manifested great
+indignation that a statement unsusceptible of legal proof should be
+addressed to the court and jury. My address concluded, I put in James
+Woodley's will; and, as the opposing counsel did not dispute its
+validity, nor require proof of Mary Woodley's identity, I intimated that
+the plaintiff's case was closed.
+
+The speech for the defendant was calm and guarded. It threw, or rather
+attempted to throw, discredit on the death-bed "fiction," got up, Mr.
+P ---- said, simply with a view to effect; and he concluded by averring
+that he should be able to establish the genuineness of the will of Ellen
+Thorndyke, now produced, by irresistible evidence. That done, however
+much the jury might wish the property had been otherwise disposed of,
+they would of course return a verdict in accordance with their oaths and
+the law of the land.
+
+The first witness called was Thomas Headley, a smith, residing near Dale
+Farm. He swore positively that the late Mrs. Thorndyke, whom he knew
+well, had cheerfully signed the will now produced, after it had been
+deliberately read over to her by her husband about a fortnight before her
+death. Silas Thorndyke, John Cummins, Elizabeth Wareing, and witness,
+were the only persons present. Mrs. Thorndyke expressed confidence that
+her husband would provide for Mary Woodley.
+
+"And so I will," said sleek Silas, rising up and looking round upon the
+auditory. "If she will return, I will be a father to her."
+
+No look, no sound of sympathy or approval, greeted this generous
+declaration, and he sat down again not a little disconcerted.
+
+I asked this burly, half-drunken witness but one question--"When is your
+marriage with Rebecca Thorndyke, the defendant's eldest daughter, to be
+celebrated?"
+
+"I don't know, Mr. Lawyer; perhaps never."
+
+"That will do; you can go down."
+
+Mr. P ---- now rose to state that his client was unable to produce
+Elizabeth Wareing, another of the attesting witnesses to the will, in
+court. No suspicion that any opposition to the solemn testament made by
+the deceased Mrs. Thorndyke would be attempted, had been entertained;
+and the woman, unaware that her testimony would be required, had left
+that part of the country. Every effort had been made by the defendant to
+discover her abode without effect. It was believed she had gone to
+America, where she had relatives. The defendant had filed an affidavit
+setting forth these facts, and it was now prayed that secondary evidence
+to establish the genuineness of Elizabeth Wareing's attesting signature
+should be admitted.
+
+I of course vehemently opposed this demand, and broadly hinted that the
+witness was purposely kept out of the way.
+
+"Will my learned friend," said Mr. P ---- with one of his sliest sneers,
+"inform us what motive the defendant could possibly have to keep back a
+witness so necessary to him?"
+
+"Elizabeth Wareing," I curtly replied, "may not, upon reflection, be
+deemed a safe witness to subject to the ordeal of a cross-examination.
+But to settle the matter, my lord," I exclaimed, "I have here an
+affidavit of the plaintiff's attorney, in which he states that he has no
+doubt of being able to find this important witness if time be allowed him
+for the purpose; the defendant of course undertaking to call her when
+produced."
+
+A tremendous clamor of counsel hereupon ensued, and fierce and angry grew
+the war of words. The hubbub was at last terminated by the judge
+recommending that, under the circumstances, "a juror should be
+withdrawn." This suggestion, after some demur, was agreed to. One of the
+jurors was whispered to come out of the box; then the clerk of the court
+exclaimed, "My lord, there are only eleven men on the jury;" and by the
+aid of this venerable, if clumsy expedient, the cause of Woodley _versus_
+Thorndyke was _de facto_ adjourned to a future day.
+
+I had not long returned to the hotel, when I was waited upon by Mr.
+Wilford, senior, the father of the young man who had been forbidden to
+visit Dale Farm by Thorndyke. His son, he informed me, was ill from
+chagrin and anxiety--confined to his bed indeed; and Mary Woodley had
+refused, it seemed, to accept pecuniary aid from either the father or the
+son. Would I endeavor to terminate the estrangement which had for some
+time unhappily existed, and persuade her to accept his, Wilford senior's,
+freely-offered purse and services? I instantly accepted both the mission
+and the large sum which the excellent man tendered. A part of the money I
+gave Barnes to stimulate his exertions, and the rest I placed in the hand
+of Mary Woodley's grandpapa, with a friendly admonition to him not to
+allow his grandchild to make a fool of herself; an exhortation which
+produced its effect in due season.
+
+Summer passed away, autumn had come and gone, and the winter assizes
+were once more upon us. Regular proceedings had been taken, and the
+action in ejectment of Woodley versus Thorndyke was once more on the
+cause list of the Chester circuit court, marked this time as a special
+jury case. Indefatigable as Mr. Barnes had been in his search for
+Elizabeth Wareing, not the slightest trace of her could he discover; and
+I went into court, therefore, with but slight expectation of invalidating
+the, as I fully believed, fictitious will. We had, however, obtained a
+good deal of information relative to the former history not only of the
+absent Mrs. Wareing, but of Thorndyke himself; and it was quite within
+the range of probabilities that something might come out, enabling me to
+use that knowledge to good purpose. The plaintiff and old Mr. Ward were
+seated in court beside Mr. Barnes, as on the former abortive trial; but
+Mary Woodley had, fortunately for herself, lost much of the interest
+which attaches to female comeliness and grace when associated in the mind
+of the spectator with undeserved calamity and sorrow. The black dress
+which she still wore--the orthodox twelve months of mourning for a parent
+had not yet quite elapsed--was now fresh, and of fine quality, and the
+pale lilies of her face were interspersed with delicate roses; whilst by
+her side sat Mr. John Wilford, as happy-looking as if no such things as
+perjurers, forgers, or adverse verdicts existed to disturb the peace of
+the glad world. Altogether, we were decidedly less interesting than on
+the former occasion. Edward Wareing, I must not omit to add, was, greatly
+to our surprise, present. He sat, in great apparent amity, by the side of
+Thorndyke.
+
+It was late in the afternoon, and twilight was gradually stealing over
+the dingy court, when the case was called. The special jury answered to
+their names, were duly sworn, and then nearly the same preliminary
+speeches and admissions were made and put in as on the previous occasion.
+Thomas Headley, the first witness called in support of the pretended
+will, underwent a rigorous cross-examination; but I was unable to extract
+anything of importance from him.
+
+"And now," said the defendant's leading counsel, "let me ask my
+learned friend if he has succeeded in obtaining the attendance of
+Elizabeth Wareing?"
+
+I was of course obliged to confess that we had been unable to find her;
+and the judge remarked that in that ease he could receive secondary
+evidence in proof of her attestation of the will.
+
+A whispered but manifestly eager conference here took place between the
+defendant and his counsel, occasionally joined in by Edward Wareing.
+There appeared to be indecision or hesitation in their deliberations; but
+at last Mr. P ---- rose, and with some ostentation of manner addressed
+the court.
+
+"In the discharge of my duty to the defendant in this action, my lord,
+upon whose fair fame much undeserved obloquy has been cast by the
+speeches of the plaintiff's counsel--speeches insupported by a shadow of
+evidence--I have to state that, anxious above all things to stand
+perfectly justified before his neighbors and society, he has, at great
+trouble and expense, obtained the presence here to-day of the witness
+Elizabeth Wareing. She had gone to reside in France with a respectable
+English family in the situation of housekeeper. We shall now place her in
+the witness-box, and having done so, I trust we shall hear no more of the
+slanderous imputations so freely lavished upon my client. Call Elizabeth
+Wareing into court."
+
+A movement of surprise and curiosity agitated the entire auditory at this
+announcement. Mr. Silas Thorndyke's naturally cadaverous countenance
+assumed an ashy hue, spite of his efforts to appear easy and jubilant;
+and for the first time since the commencement of the proceedings I
+entertained the hope of a successful issue.
+
+Mrs. Wareing appeared in answer to the call, and was duly sworn "to tell
+the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." She was a
+good-looking woman, of perhaps forty years of age, and bore a striking
+resemblance to her son. She rapidly, smoothly, and unhesitatingly
+confirmed the evidence of Headley to a tittle. She trembled, I observed,
+excessively; and on the examining counsel intimating that he had no more
+questions to ask, turned hastily to leave the box.
+
+"Stay--stay, my good woman," I exclaimed; "you and I must have some talk
+together before we part."
+
+She started, and looked at me with frightened earnestness; and then her
+nervous glances stole towards Mr. Silas Thorndyke. There was no comfort
+there: in his countenance she only saw the reflex of the agitation and
+anxiety which marked her own. Sleek Silas, I could see, already repented
+of the rash move he had made, and would have given a good deal to get his
+witness safely and quietly out of court.
+
+It was now nearly dark, and observing that it was necessary the court
+and jury should see as well as hear the witness whilst under
+examination, I requested that lights should be brought in. This was
+done. Two candles were placed in front of the witness-box, one on each
+side of Mrs. Wareing; a few others were disposed about the bench and
+jury desks. The effect of this partial lighting of the gloomy old court
+was, that the witness stood out in strong and bright relief from the
+surrounding shadows, rendering the minutest change or play of her
+features distinctly visible. Mr. Silas Thorndyke was, from his position,
+thrown entirely into the shade, and any telegraphing between him and
+the witness was thus rendered impossible. This preparation, as if for
+some extraordinary and solemn purpose, together with the profound
+silence which reigned in the court, told fearfully, as I expected, upon
+the nerves of Mrs. Elizabeth Wareing. She already seemed as if about to
+swoon with agitation and ill-defined alarm.
+
+"Pray, madam," said I, "is your name Wareing or Tucker?"
+
+She did not answer, and I repeated the question. "Tucker," she at last
+replied in a tremulous whisper.
+
+"I thought so. And pray, Mrs. Tucker, were you ever 'in trouble' in
+London for robbing your lodgings?"
+
+I thought she attempted to answer, but no sound passed her lips. One of
+the ushers of the court handed her a glass of water at my suggestion, and
+she seemed to recover somewhat. I pressed my question; and at last she
+replied in the same low, agitated voice, "Yes, I have been."
+
+"I know you have. Mr. Silas Thorndyke, I believe, was your bail on that
+occasion, and the matter was, I understand, compromised--arranged--at all
+events the prosecution was not pressed. Is not that so?"
+
+"Yes--no--yes."
+
+"Very well: either answer will do. You lived also, I believe, with Mr.
+Thorndyke, as his housekeeper of course, when he was in business as a
+concocter and vender of infallible drugs and pills?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"He was held to be skilful in the preparation of drugs, was he
+not--well-versed in their properties?"
+
+"Yes--I believe so--I do not know. Why am I asked such questions?"
+
+"You will know presently. And now, woman, answer the question I am about
+to put to you, as you will be compelled to answer it to God at the last
+great day--What was the nature of the drug which you or he mixed with the
+medicine prescribed for the late Mrs. Thorndyke?"
+
+A spasmodic shriek, checked by a desperate effort, partially escaped her,
+and she stood fixedly gazing with starting eyes in my face.
+
+The profoundest silence reigned in the court as I iterated the question.
+
+"You must answer, woman," said the judge sternly, "unless you know your
+answer will criminate yourself."
+
+The witness looked wildly round the court, as if in search of counsel or
+sympathy; but encountering none but frowning and eager faces--Thorndyke
+she could not discern in the darkness--she became giddy and
+panic-stricken, and seemed to lose all presence of mind.
+
+"He--he--he," she at last gasped--"he mixed it. I do not know--But
+how," she added, pushing back her hair, and pressing her hands against
+her hot temples, "can this be? What can it mean?"
+
+A movement amongst the bystanders just at this moment attracted
+the notice of the judge, and he immediately exclaimed, "The
+defendant must not leave the court!" An officer placed himself
+beside the wretched murderer as well as forger, and I resumed the
+cross-examination of the witness.
+
+"Now, Mrs. Tucker, please to look at this letter." (It was that which had
+been addressed to Mary Woodley by her son.) "That, I believe, is your
+son's handwriting?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"The body of this will has been written by the same hand. Now, woman,
+answer. Was it your son--this young man who, you perceive, if guilty,
+cannot escape from justice--was it he who forged the names of the
+deceased Mrs. Thorndyke, and of John Cummins attached to it?"
+
+"Not he--not he!" shrieked the wretched woman. "It was
+Thorndyke--Thorndyke himself." And then with a sudden revulsion of
+feeling, as the consequences of what she had uttered flashed upon her,
+she exclaimed, "Oh, Silas, what have I said?--what have I done?"
+
+"Hanged me, that's all, you accursed devil!" replied Thorndyke with
+gloomy ferocity. "But I deserve it for trusting in such an idiot: dolt
+and fool that I was for doing so."
+
+The woman sank down in strong convulsions, and was, by direction of the
+judge, carried out of the hall.
+
+The anxious silence which pervaded the court during this scene, in which
+the reader will have observed I played a bold, tentative, and
+happily-successful game, was broken as the witness was borne off by a
+loud murmur of indignation, followed by congratulatory exclamations on
+the fortunate termination of the suit. The defendant's counsel threw up
+their briefs, and a verdict was at once returned for the plaintiff.
+
+All the inculpated parties were speedily in custody; and the body of Mrs.
+Thorndyke having been disinterred, it was discovered that she had been
+destroyed by bichloride of mercury, of which a considerable quantity was
+detected in the body. I was not present at the trial of Thorndyke and his
+accomplices--he for murder, and Headley for perjury--but I saw by the
+public prints that he was found guilty, and executed: Headley was
+transported: the woman was, if I remember rightly, admitted evidence for
+the crown.
+
+Mary Woodley was of course put into immediate possession of her paternal
+inheritance; and is now--at least she was about four months ago, when I
+dined with her and her husband at Dale Farm--a comely, prosperous matron;
+and as happy as a woman with a numerous progeny and an easy-tempered
+partner can in this, according to romance writers, vale of grief and
+tears expect to be. The service I was fortunately enabled to render her
+forms one of the most pleasing recollections of my life.
+
+
+
+
+CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.
+
+
+In the second year of my connection with the Northern Circuit, when even
+_junior_ briefs were much less numerous than acceptable, I was agreeably
+surprised, as I sat musing on the evening of my arrival in the ancient
+city of York upon the capricious mode in which those powerful personages
+the attorneys distributed their valuable favors, by the entrance of one
+of the most eminent of the race practising in that part of the country,
+and the forthwith tender of a bulky brief in the Crown Court, on which,
+as my glance instinctively fell on the interesting figures, I perceived
+that the large fee, in criminal cases, of fifty guineas was marked. The
+local newspapers, from which I had occasionally seen extracts, had been
+for some time busy with the case; and I knew it therefore to be,
+relatively to the condition in life of the principal person implicated,
+an important one. Rumor had assigned the conduct of the defence to an
+eminent leader on the circuit--since, one of our ablest judges; and on
+looking more closely at the brief, I perceived that that gentleman's name
+had been crossed out, and mine substituted. The fee also--a much less
+agreeable alteration--had been, I saw, considerably reduced; in
+accordance, doubtless, with the attorney's appreciation of the difference
+of value between a silk and a stuff gown.
+
+"You are not, sir, I believe, retained for the prosecution in the crown
+against Everett?" said Mr. Sharpe in his brief, business manner.
+
+"I am not, Mr. Sharpe."
+
+"In that case, I beg to tender you the leading-brief for the defence. It
+was intended, as you perceive, to place it in the hands of our great
+_nisi prius_ leader, but he will be so completely occupied in that court,
+that he has been compelled to decline it. He mentioned you; and from what
+I have myself seen of you in several cases, I have no doubt my
+unfortunate client will have ample justice done him. Mr. Kingston will be
+with you."
+
+I thanked Mr. Sharpe for his compliment, and accepted his brief. As the
+commission would be opened on the following morning, I at once applied
+myself to a perusal of the bulky paper, aided as I read by the verbal
+explanations and commentaries of Mr. Sharpe. Our conference lasted
+several hours; and it was arranged that another should be held early the
+next morning at Mr. Sharpe's office, at which Mr. Kingston would assist.
+
+Dark, intricate, compassed with fearful mystery, was the case so suddenly
+submitted to my guidance; and the few faint gleams of light derived from
+the attorney's research, prescience, and sagacity, served but to render
+dimly visible a still profounder and blacker abyss of crime than that
+disclosed by the evidence for the crown. Young as I then was in the
+profession, no marvel that I felt oppressed by the weight of the
+responsibility cast upon me; or that, when wearied with thinking, and
+dizzy with profitless conjecture, I threw myself into bed, perplexing
+images and shapes of guilt and terror pursued me through my troubled
+sleep! Happily the next day was not that of trial; for I awoke with a
+throbbing pulse and burning brain, and should have been but poorly
+prepared for a struggle involving the issues of life and death. Extremely
+sensitive, as, under the circumstances, I must necessarily have been, to
+the arduous nature of the grave duties so unexpectedly devolved upon me;
+the following _résumé_ of the chief incidents of the case, as confided to
+me by Mr. Sharpe, will, I think, fully account to the reader for the
+nervous irritability under which I for the moment, labored:--
+
+Mr. Frederick Everett, the prisoner about to be arraigned before a jury
+of his countrymen for the frightful crime of murder, had, with his
+father, Captain Anthony Everett, resided for several years past at
+Woodlands Manor-House, the seat of Mrs. Eleanor Fitzhugh, a rich, elderly
+maiden lady, aunt to the first, and sister by marriage to the last-named
+gentleman. A generous, pious, high-minded person Mrs. Fitzhugh was
+represented to have been, but extremely sensitive withal on the score of
+"family." The Fitzhughs of Yorkshire, she was wont to boast, "came in
+with the Conqueror;" and any branch of the glorious tree then firmly
+planted in the soil of England that degraded itself by an alliance with
+wealth, beauty, or worth, dwelling without the pale of her narrow
+prejudices, was inexorably cut off from her affections, and, as far as
+she was able, from her memory. One--the principal of these offenders--had
+been Mary Fitzhugh, her young, fair, gentle, and only sister. In utter
+disdain and slight of the dignity of ancestry, she had chosen to unite
+herself to a gentleman of the name of Mordaunt, who, though possessed of
+great talents, an unspotted name, and, for his age, high rank in the
+civil service of the East India Company, had--inexpiable misfortune--a
+trader for his grandfather! This crime against her "house" Mrs. Eleanor
+Fitzhugh resolved never to forgive; and she steadily returned, unopened,
+the frequent letters addressed to her by her sister, who pined in her
+distant Indian home for a renewal of the old sisterly love which had
+watched over and gladdened her life from infancy to womanhood. A long
+silence--a silence of many years--succeeded; broken at last by the sad
+announcement that the unforgiven one had long since found an early grave
+in a foreign land. The letter which brought the intelligence bore the
+London post-mark, and was written by Captain Everett; to whom, it was
+stated, Mrs. Eleanor Fitzhugh's sister, early widowed, had been united in
+second nuptials, and by whom she had borne a son, Frederick Everett, now
+nearly twenty years of age. The long-pent-up affection of Mrs. Fitzhugh
+for her once idolized sister burst forth at this announcement of her
+death with uncontrollable violence; and, as some atonement for her past
+sinful obduracy, she immediately invited the husband and son of her
+long-lost Mary to Woodlands Manor-House, to be henceforth, she said, she
+hoped their home. Soon after their arrival, Mrs. Fitzhugh made a
+will--the family property was entirely at her disposal--revoking a former
+one, which bequeathed the whole of the real and personal property to a
+distant relative whom she had never seen, and by which all was devised to
+her nephew, who was immediately proclaimed sole heir to the Fitzhugh
+estates, yielding a yearly rental of at least £12,000. Nay, so thoroughly
+was she softened towards the memory of her deceased sister, that the
+will--of which, as I have stated, no secret was made--provided, in the
+event of Frederick dying childless, that the property should pass to his
+father, Mary Fitzhugh's second husband.
+
+No two persons could be more unlike than were the father and
+son--mentally, morally, physically. Frederick Everett was a fair-haired,
+blue-eyed young man, of amiable, caressing manners, gentle disposition,
+and ardent, poetic temperament. His father, on the contrary, was a
+dark-featured, cold, haughty, repulsive man, ever apparently wrapped up
+in selfish and moody reveries. Between him and his son there appeared to
+exist but little of cordial intercourse, although the highly-sensitive
+and religious tone of mind of Frederick Everett caused him to treat his
+parent with unvarying deference and respect.
+
+The poetic temperament of Frederick Everett brought him at last, as
+poetic temperaments are apt to do, into trouble. Youth, beauty,
+innocence, and grace, united in the person of Lucy Carrington--the only
+child of Mr. Stephen Carrington, a respectable retired merchant of
+moderate means, residing within a few miles of Woodlands
+Manor-House--crossed his path; and spite of his shield of many
+quarterings, he was vanquished in an instant, and almost without
+resistance. The at least tacit consent and approval of Mr. Carrington and
+his fair daughter secured, Mr. Everett, junior--hasty, headstrong lover
+that he was--immediately disclosed his matrimonial projects to his father
+and aunt. Captain Everett received the announcement with a sarcastic
+smile, coldly remarking, that if Mrs. Fitzhugh was satisfied, he had no
+objection to offer. But, alas! no sooner did her nephew, with much
+periphrastic eloquence, in part his passion for the daughter of a _mere_
+merchant to his aunt, than a vehement torrent of indignant rebuke broke
+from her lips. She would die rather than consent to so degrading a
+_mésalliance_; and should he persist in yielding to such gross
+infatuation, she would not only disinherit, but banish him her house, and
+cast him forth a beggar on the world. Language like this, one can easily
+understand, provoked language from the indignant young man which in less
+heated moments he would have disdained to utter; and the aunt and nephew
+parted in fierce anger, and after mutual denunciation of each other--he
+as a disobedient ingrate, she as an imperious, ungenerous tyrant. The
+quarrel was with some difficulty patched up by Captain Everett; and with
+the exception of the change which took place in the disappointed lover's
+demeanor--from light-hearted gaiety to gloom and sullenness--things,
+after a few days, went on pretty nearly as before.
+
+The sudden rupture of the hopes Mrs. Eleanor Fitzhugh had reposed in her
+nephew as the restorer of the glories of her ancient "house," tarnished
+by Mary Fitzhugh's marriage, affected dangerously, it soon appeared, that
+lady's already failing health. A fortnight after the quarrel with her
+nephew, she became alarmingly ill. Unusual and baffling symptoms showed
+themselves; and after suffering during eight days from alternate acute
+pain, and heavy, unconquerable drowsiness, she expired in her nephew's
+arms. This sudden and fatal illness of his relative appeared to reawaken
+all Frederick Everett's tenderness and affection for her. He was
+incessant in his close attendance in the sick-chamber, permitting no one
+else to administer to his aunt either aliment or medicine. On this latter
+point, indeed, he insisted, with strange fierceness, taking the medicine
+with his own hand from the man who brought it; and after administering
+the prescribed quantity, carefully locking up the remainder in a cabinet
+in his bed-room.
+
+On the morning of the day that Mrs. Fitzhugh died, her ordinary medical
+attendant, Mr. Smith, terrified and perplexed by the urgency of the
+symptoms exhibited by his patient, called in the aid of a
+locally-eminent physician, Dr. Archer, or Archford--the name is not very
+distinctly written in my memoranda of these occurrences; but we will
+call him Archer--who at once changed the treatment till then pursued,
+and ordered powerful emetics to be administered, without, however, as
+we have seen, producing any saving or sensible effect. The grief of
+Frederick Everett, when all hope was over, was unbounded. He threw
+himself, in a paroxysm of remorse or frenzy, upon the bed, accusing
+himself of having murdered her, with other strange and incoherent
+expressions, upon which an intimation soon afterwards made by Dr. Archer
+threw startling light. That gentleman, conjointly with Mr. Smith,
+requested an immediate interview with Captain Everett, and Mr. Hardyman,
+the deceased lady's land-steward and solicitor, who happened to be in
+the house at the time. The request was of course complied with, and Dr.
+Archer at once bluntly stated that, in his opinion, _poison_ had been
+administered to the deceased lady, though of what precise kind he was
+somewhat at a loss to conjecture--opium essentially, he thought, though
+certainly not in any of its ordinary preparations--one of the alkaloids
+probably which chemical science had recently discovered. Be this as it
+may, a _post-mortem_ examination of the body would clear up all doubts,
+and should take place as speedily as possible. Captain Everett at once
+acceded to Dr. Archer's proposal, at the same time observing that he was
+quite sure the result would entirely disprove that gentleman's
+assumption. Mr. Hardyman also fully concurred in the necessity of a
+rigid investigation; and the _post-mortem_ examination should, it was
+arranged, take place early on the following morning.
+
+"I have another and very painful duty to perform," continued Dr. Archer,
+addressing Captain Everett. "I find that your son, Mr. Frederick Everett,
+alone administered medicine and aliment to Mrs. Fitzhugh during her
+illness. Strange, possibly wholly frenzied expressions, but which sounded
+vastly like cries of remorse, irrepressible by a person unused to crime,
+escaped him in my hearing just after the close of the final scene;
+and--But perhaps, Captain Everett, you had better retire: this is
+scarcely a subject"--
+
+"Go on, sir," said the captain, over whose countenance a strange
+expression--to use Dr. Archer's own words--had _flashed_; "go on: I am
+better now."
+
+"We all know," resumed Dr. Archer, "how greatly Mr. Frederick Everett
+gains in wealth by his aunt's death; and that her decease, moreover, will
+enable him to conclude the marriage to which she was so determinedly
+opposed. I think, therefore, that, under all the circumstances, we shall
+be fully justified in placing the young gentleman under such--I will not
+say custody, but _surveillance_ as will prevent him either from leaving
+the house, should he imagine himself suspected, or of destroying any
+evidence which may possibly exist of his guilt, if indeed he be guilty."
+
+"I entirely agree with you, Dr. Archer," exclaimed Mr. Hardyman, who had
+listened with much excitement to the doctor's narrative; "and will, upon
+my own responsibility, take the necessary steps for effecting the object
+you have in view."
+
+"Gentlemen," said Captain Everett, rising from his chair, "you will of
+course do your duty; but I can take no part, nor offer any counsel, in
+such a case; I must leave you to your own devices." He then left the
+apartment.
+
+He had been gone but a few minutes, when Frederick Everett, still in a
+state of terrible excitement, entered the room, strode fiercely up to Dr.
+Archer, and demanded how he dared propose, as the butler had just
+informed him he had done, a dissection of his aunt's body.
+
+"I will not permit it," continued the agitated young man: "I am master
+here, and I say it shall not be done. What new horror would you
+evoke? Is it not enough that one of the kindest, best of God's
+creatures, has perished, but _another_ sacrifice must--What do I say?
+Enough that I will not permit it. I have seen similar cases-very
+similar cases in--in India!"
+
+The gentleman so strangely addressed had exchanged significant glances
+during the delivery of this incoherent speech; and, quite confirmed in
+their previous impression, Mr. Hardyman, as their spokesman, interrupted
+the speaker, to inform him that _he_ was the suspected assassin of his
+aunt! The accusing sentences had hardly passed the solicitor's lips, when
+the furious young man sprang towards him with the bound of a tiger, and
+at one blow prostrated him on the floor. He was immediately seized by the
+two medical gentlemen, and help having been summoned, he was with much
+difficulty secured, and placed in strict confinement, to await the result
+of the next day's inquiry.
+
+The examination of the body disclosed the terrible fact, that the
+deceased lady had perished by _acetate of morphine_; thus verifying the
+sagacious guess of Dr. Archer. A minute search was immediately made
+throughout Mr. Frederick Everett's apartments, and behind one of the
+drawers of a cabinet in his bedroom--at the back of the shelf or
+partition upon which the drawer rested, and of course completely hidden
+by the drawer itself when in its place--was found a flat tin flask,
+fluted on the outside, and closed with a screw stopper: it was loosely
+enveloped in a sheet of brown paper, directed "--Everett, Esq., Woodlands
+Manor-House, Yorkshire;" and upon close examination, a small quantity of
+white powder, which proved to be _acetate of morphine_, was found in the
+flask. Suspicion of young Everett's guilt now became conviction; and, as
+if to confirm beyond all doubt the soundness of the chain of
+circumstantial evidence in which he was immeshed, the butler, John
+Darby, an aged and trusty servant of the late Mrs. Fitzhugh, made on the
+next day the following deposition before the magistrates:--
+
+"He had taken in, two days before his late mistress was seized with her
+fatal illness, a small brown paper parcel which had been brought by coach
+from London, and for which 2s. 10d carriage was charged and paid. The
+paper found in Mr. Frederick Everett's cabinet was, he could positively
+swear, from the date and figures marked on it, and the handwriting, the
+paper wrapper of that parcel. He had given it to young Mr. Everett, who
+happened to be in the library at the time. About five minutes afterwards,
+he had occasion to return to the library, to inform him that some
+fishing-tackle he had ordered was sent home. The door was ajar; and Mr.
+Frederick did not at first perceive his entrance, as he was standing with
+his back to the door. The paper parcel he, the butler, had just before
+delivered was lying open on the table, and Mr. Everett held in one hand a
+flat tin flask--the witness had no doubt the same found in the
+cabinet--and in the other a note, which he was reading. He, the witness,
+coughed, to attract Mr. Everett's attention, who hurriedly turned round,
+clapped down the flask and the note, shuffling them under the paper
+wrapper, as if to conceal them, and then, in a very confused manner, and
+his face as red as flame, asked witness what he wanted there? Witness
+thought this behavior very strange at the time; but the incident soon
+passed from his mind, and he had thought no more of it till the finding
+of the paper and flask as described by the other witnesses."
+
+Mr. Frederick Everett, who had manifested the strangest impassability, a
+calmness as of despair, throughout the inquiry, which perplexed and
+disheartened Mr. Sharpe, whose services had been retained by Captain
+Everett, allowed even this mischievous evidence to pass without a word of
+comment or explanation; and he was, as a matter of course, fully
+committed for the wilful murder of his relative. The chain of
+circumstantial evidence, motive included, was, it was felt, complete--not
+a link was wanting.
+
+These were the chief incidents disclosed to me by Mr. Sharpe during our
+long and painful consultation. Of the precise nature of the terrible
+suspicions which haunted and disturbed me, I shall only in this place say
+that neither Mr. Sharpe, nor, consequently, myself, would in all
+probability have guessed or glanced at them, but for the persistent
+assertions of Miss Carrington, that her lover was madly sacrificing
+himself from some chimerical motive of honor or duty.
+
+"You do not know, Mr. Sharpe, as I do," she would frequently exclaim with
+tearful vehemence, "the generous, child-like simplicity, the chivalric
+enthusiasm, of his character, his utter abnegation of self, and readiness
+on all occasions to sacrifice his own ease, his own wishes, to forward
+the happiness of others; and, above all, his fantastic notions of
+honor--duty, if you will--which would, I feel assured, prompt him to
+incur any peril, death itself, to shield from danger any one who had
+claims upon him either of blood or of affection. You know to whom my
+suspicions point; and how dreadful to think that one so young, so brave,
+so pious, and so true, should be sacrificed for such a monster as I
+believe that man to be!"
+
+To all these passionate expostulations the attorney could only reply
+that vague suspicions were not judicial proofs; and that if Mr.
+Frederick Everett would persist in his obstinate reserve, a fatal result
+was inevitable. But Mr. Sharpe readily consented to gratify the wishes
+of Mr. Carrington and his daughter on one point: he returned the money,
+not a very large sum, which Captain Everett had sent him, and agreed
+that Mr. Carrington should supply the funds necessary for the defence of
+the prisoner.
+
+Our consultation the next day at Mr. Sharpe's was a sad and hopeless one.
+Nowhere did a gleam of cheerful light break in. The case was
+overwhelmingly complete against the prisoner. The vague suspicions we
+entertained pointed to a crime so monstrous, so incredible, that we felt
+it could not be so much as hinted at upon such, legally considered,
+slight grounds. The prisoner was said to be an eloquent speaker, and I
+undertook to draw up the outline of a defence, impugning, with all the
+dialectic skill I was master of, the conclusiveness of the evidence for
+the crown. To this, and a host of testimony to character which we
+proposed to call, rested our faint hopes of "a good deliverance!"
+
+Business was over, and we were taking a glass of wine with Mr. Sharpe,
+when his chief clerk entered to say that Sergeant Edwards, an old
+soldier--who had spoken to them some time before relative to a large
+claim which he asserted he had against Captain Everett, arising out of a
+legacy bequeathed to him in India, and the best mode of assuring its
+payment by an annuity, as proposed by the captain--had now called to say
+that the terms were at last finally arranged, and that he wished to know
+when Mr. Sharpe would be at leisure to draw up the bond. "He need not
+fear for his money!" exclaimed Sharpe tartly, "the captain will, I fear,
+be rich enough before another week has passed over our heads. Tell him to
+call to-morrow evening; I will see him after I return from court." A few
+minutes afterwards, I and Mr. Kingston took our leave.
+
+The Crown Court was thronged to suffocation on the following morning,
+and the excitement of the auditory appeared to be of the intensest kind.
+Miss Carrington, closely veiled, sat beside her father on one of the
+side-benches. A true bill against the prisoner had been found on the
+previous afternoon; and the trial, it had been arranged, to suit the
+convenience of counsel, should be first proceeded with. The court was
+presided over by Mr. Justice Grose; and Mr. Gurney--afterwards Mr. Baron
+Gurney--with another gentleman appeared for the prosecution. As soon as
+the judge had taken his seat, the prisoner was ordered to be brought in,
+and a hush of expectation pervaded the assembly. In a few minutes he made
+his appearance in the dock. His aspect--calm, mournful, and full of
+patient resignation--spoke strongly to the feelings of the audience, and
+a low murmur of sympathy ran through the court. He bowed respectfully to
+the bench, and then his sad, proud eye wandered round the auditory, till
+it rested on the form of Lucy Carrington, who, overcome by sudden
+emotion, had hidden her weeping face in her father's bosom. Strong
+feeling, which he with difficulty mastered, shook his frame, and blanched
+to a still deeper pallor his fine intellectual countenance. He slowly
+withdrew his gaze from the agitating spectacle, and his troubled glance
+meeting that of Mr. Sharpe, seemed to ask why proceedings, which _could_
+only have one termination, were delayed. He had not long to wait. The
+jury were sworn, and Mr. Gurney rose to address them for the crown.
+Clear, terse, logical, powerful without the slightest pretence to what is
+called eloquence, his speech produced a tremendous impression upon all
+who heard it; and few persons mentally withheld their assent to his
+assertion, as he concluded what was evidently a painful task, "that
+should he produce evidence substantiating the statement he had made, the
+man who could then refuse to believe in the prisoner's guilt, would
+equally refuse credence to actions witnessed by his own bodily eyes."
+
+The different witnesses were then called, and testified to the various
+facts I have before related. Vainly did Mr. Kingston and I exert
+ourselves to invalidate the irresistible proofs of guilt so
+dispassionately detailed. "It is useless," whispered Mr. Sharpe, as I sat
+down after the cross-examination of the aged butler. "You have done all
+that could be done; but he is a doomed man, spite of his innocence, of
+which I feel, every moment that I look at him, the more and more
+convinced. God help us; we are poor, fallible creatures, with all our
+scientific machinery for getting at truth!"
+
+The case for the crown was over, and the prisoner was told that now was
+the time for him to address the jury in answer to the charge preferred
+against him. He bowed courteously to the intimation, and drawing a paper
+from his pocket, spoke, after a few preliminary words of course, nearly
+as follows:--
+
+"I hold in my hand a very acute and eloquent address prepared for me by
+one of the able and zealous gentlemen who appears to-day as my counsel,
+and which, but for the iniquitous law which prohibits the advocate of a
+presumed felon, but possibly quite innocent person, from addressing the
+jury, upon whose verdict his client's fate depends, would no doubt have
+formed the subject-matter of an appeal to you not to yield credence to
+the apparently irrefragable testimony arrayed against me. The substance
+of this defence you must have gathered from the tenor of the
+cross-examinations; but so little effect did it produce, I saw, in that
+form, however ably done, and so satisfied am I that though it were
+rendered with an angel's eloquence, it would prove utterly impotent to
+shake the strong conclusions of my guilt, which you, short-sighted,
+fallible mortals--short-sighted and fallible _because_ mortal!--I mean no
+disrespect--must have drawn from the body of evidence you have heard,
+that I will not weary you or myself by reading it. I will only observe
+that it points especially to the _over_-roof, so to speak, arrayed
+against me--to the folly of supposing that an intentional murderer would
+ostentatiously persist in administering the fatal potion to the victim
+with his own hands, carefully excluding all others from a chance of
+incurring suspicion. There are other points, but this is by far the most
+powerful one; and as I cannot believe _that_ will induce you to return a
+verdict rescuing me from what the foolish world, judging from
+appearances, will call a shameful death, but which I, knowing my own
+heart, feel to be sanctified by the highest motives which can influence
+man--it would be merely waste of time to repeat them. From the first
+moment, gentlemen, that this accusation was preferred against me, I felt
+that I had done with this world; and, young as I am, but for one beloved
+being whose presence lighted up and irradiated this else cold and barren
+earth, I should, with little reluctance, have accepted this gift of an
+apparently severe, but perhaps merciful fate. This life, gentlemen," he
+continued after a short pause, "it has been well said, is but a battle
+and a march. I have been struck down early in the combat; but of what
+moment is that, if it be found by Him who witnesses the world-unnoticed
+deeds of _all_ his soldiers, that I have earned the victor's crown? Let
+it be your consolation, gentlemen, if hereafter you should discover that
+you have sent me to an undeserved death, that you at least will not have
+hurried a soul spotted with the awful crime of murder before its Maker.
+And oh," he exclaimed in conclusion, with solemn earnestness, "may _all_
+who have the guilt of blood upon them hasten, whilst life is still
+granted them, to cleanse themselves by repentance of that foul sin, so
+that not only the sacrifice of one poor life, but that most holy and
+tremendous one offered in the world's consummate hour, may not for them
+have been made in vain! My lord and gentlemen, I have no more to say. You
+will doubtless do your duty: I _have_ done mine."
+
+I was about, a few minutes after the conclusion of this strange and
+unexpected address, to call our witnesses to character, when, to the
+surprise of the whole court, and the consternation of the prisoner, Miss
+Carrington started up, threw aside her veil, and addressing the judge,
+demanded to be heard.
+
+Queenly, graceful, and of touching loveliness did she look in her
+vehemence of sorrow--radiant as sunlight in her days of joy she must have
+been--as she stood up, affection-prompted, regardless of self, of the
+world, to make one last effort to save her affianced husband.
+
+"What would you say, young lady?" said Mr. Justice Grose, kindly. "If you
+have anything to testify in favor of the prisoner, you had better
+communicate with his counsel."
+
+"Not that--not that," she hurriedly replied, as if fearful that her
+strength would fail before she had enunciated her purpose. "Put, my lord,
+put Frederick--the prisoner, I mean--on his oath. Bid him declare, as he
+shall answer at the bar of Almighty God, who is the murderer for whom he
+is about to madly sacrifice himself, and you will then find"--
+
+"Your request is an absurd one," interrupted the judge with some
+asperity. "I have no power to question a prisoner."
+
+"Then," shrieked the unfortunate lady, sinking back fainting and helpless
+in her father's arms, "he is lost--lost!"
+
+She was immediately carried out of court; and as soon as the sensation
+caused by so extraordinary and painful an incident had subsided, the
+trial proceeded. A cloud of witnesses to character were called; the judge
+summed up; the jury deliberated for a few minutes; and a verdict of
+"guilty" was returned. Sentence to die on the day after the next
+followed, and all was over!
+
+Yes; all was, we deemed, over; but happily a decree, reversing that of
+Mr. Justice Grose, had gone forth in Heaven. I was sitting at home about
+an hour after the court had closed, painfully musing on the events of
+the day, when the door of the apartment suddenly flew open, and in
+rushed Mr. Sharpe in a state of great excitement, accompanied by
+Sergeant Edwards, whom the reader will remember had called the previous
+day at that gentleman's house. In a few minutes I was in possession of
+the following important information, elicited by Mr. Sharpe from the
+half-willing, half-reluctant sergeant, whom he had found waiting for him
+at his office:--
+
+In the first place, Captain Everett was _not_ the father of the prisoner!
+The young man was the son of Mary Fitzhugh by her _first_ marriage; and
+his name, consequently, was Mordaunt, not Everett. His mother had
+survived her second marriage barely six months. Everett, calculating
+doubtless upon the great pecuniary advantages which would be likely to
+result to himself as the reputed father of the heir to a splendid English
+estate, should the quarrel with Mrs. Eleanor Fitzhugh--as he nothing
+doubted--be ultimately made up, had brought his deceased wife's infant
+son up as his own. This was the secret of Edwards and his wife; and to
+purchase their silence, Captain Everett had agreed to give the bond for
+an annuity which Mr. Sharpe was to draw up. The story of the legacy was a
+mere pretence. When Edwards was in Yorkshire before, Everett pacified
+him for the time with a sum of money, and a promise to do more for him as
+soon as his reputed son came into the property. He then hurried the
+_cidevant_ sergeant back to London; and at the last interview he had
+with him, gave him a note addressed to a person living in one of the
+streets--I forget which--leading out of the Haymarket, together with a
+five-pound note, which he was to pay the person to whom the letter was
+addressed for some very rare and valuable powder, which the captain
+wanted for scientific purposes, and which Edwards was to forward by coach
+to Woodlands Manor-House. Edwards obeyed his instructions, and delivered
+the message to the queer bushy-bearded foreigner to whom it was
+addressed, who told him that, if he brought him the sum of money
+mentioned in the note on the following day, he should have the article
+required. He also bade him bring a well-stoppered bottle to put it in. As
+the bottle was to be sent by coach, Edwards purchased a tin flask, as
+affording a better security against breakage; and having obtained the
+powder, packed it nicely up, and told his niece, who was staying with him
+at the time, to direct it, as he was in a hurry to go out, to Squire
+Everett, Woodlands Manor-House, Yorkshire, and then take it to the
+booking-office. He thought, of course, though he said _Squire_ in a
+jocular way, that she would have directed it _Captain_ Everett, as she
+knew him well; but it seemed she had not. Edwards had returned to
+Yorkshire only two days since, to get his annuity settled, and
+fortunately was present in court at the trial of Frederick Mordaunt,
+_alias_ Everett, and at once recognized the tin flask as the one he had
+purchased and forwarded to Woodlands, where it must in due course have
+arrived on the day stated by the butler. Terrified and bewildered at the
+consequences of what he had done, or helped to do, Edwards hastened to
+Mr. Sharpe, who, by dint of exhortations, threats, and promises,
+judiciously blended, induced him to make a clean breast of it.
+
+As much astounded as elated by this unlooked-for information, it was some
+minutes before I could sufficiently concentrate my thoughts upon the
+proper course to be pursued. I was not, however, long in deciding.
+Leaving Mr. Sharpe to draw up an affidavit of the facts disclosed, I
+hastened off to the jail, in order to obtain a thorough elucidation of
+all the mysteries.
+
+The revulsion of feeling in the prisoner's mind when he learned that the
+man for whom he had so recklessly sacrificed himself was not only _not_
+his father, but a cold-blooded villain, who, according to the testimony
+of Sergeant Edwards, had embittered, perhaps shortened, his mother's last
+hours, was immediate and excessive. "I should have taken Lucy's advice!"
+he bitterly exclaimed, as he strode to and fro in his cell; "have told
+the truth at all hazards, and have left the rest to God." His explanation
+of the incidents that had so puzzled us all, was as simple as
+satisfactory. He had always, from his earliest days, stood much in awe of
+his father, who in the, to young Mordaunt, sacred character of parent,
+exercised an irresistible control over him; and when the butler entered
+the library, he believed for an instant it was his father who had
+surprised him in the act of reading his correspondence; an act which,
+however unintentional, would, he knew, excite Captain Everett's fiercest
+wrath. Hence arose the dismay and confusion which the butler had
+described. He re-sealed the parcel, and placed it in his reputed father's
+dressing-room; and thought little more of the matter, till, on entering
+his aunt's bedroom on the first evening of her illness, he beheld Everett
+pour a small portion of white powder from the tin flask into the bottle
+containing his aunt's medicine. The terrible truth at once flashed upon
+him. A fierce altercation immediately ensued in the father's
+dressing-room, whither Frederick followed him. Everett persisted that the
+powder was a celebrated Eastern medicament, which would save, if anything
+could, his aunt's life. The young man was not of course deceived by this
+shallow falsehood, and from that moment administered the medicine to the
+patient with his own hands, and kept the bottles which contained it
+locked up in his cabinet. "On the very morning of my aunt's death, I
+surprised him shutting and locking one of my cabinet drawers. So
+dumbfounded was I with horror and dismay at the sight, that he left the
+room by a side-door without observing me. You have now the key to my
+conduct. I loathed to look upon the murderer; but I would have died a
+thousand deaths rather than attempt to save my own life by the sacrifice
+of a father's--how guilty soever he might be."
+
+Furnished with this explanation, and the affidavit of Edwards, I waited
+upon the judge, and obtained not only a respite for the prisoner, but a
+warrant for the arrest of Captain Everett.
+
+It was a busy evening. Edwards was despatched to London in the friendly
+custody of an intelligent officer, to secure the person of the
+foreign-looking vender of subtle poisons; and Mr. Sharpe, with two
+constables, set off in a postchaise for Woodlands Manor-House. It was
+late when they arrived there, and the servants informed them that Captain
+Everett had already retired. They of course insisted upon seeing him; and
+he presently appeared, wrapped in a dressing-gown, and haughtily demanded
+their business with him at such an hour. The answer smote him as with a
+thunderbolt, and he staggered backwards, till arrested by the wall of the
+apartment, and then sank feebly, nervelessly, into a chair. Eagerly,
+after a pause, he questioned the intruders upon the nature of the
+evidence against him. Mr. Sharpe briefly replied that Edwards was in
+custody, and had revealed everything.
+
+"Is it indeed so?" rejoined Everett, seeming to derive resolution and
+fortitude from the very extremity of despair. "Then the game is
+unquestionably lost. It was, however, boldly and skilfully played, and I
+am not a man to whimper over a fatal turn of the dice. In a few minutes,
+gentlemen," he added, "I shall have changed my dress, and be ready to
+accompany you."
+
+"We cannot lose sight of you for an instant," replied Mr. Sharpe. "One of
+the officers must accompany you."
+
+"Be it so: I shall not detain either him or you long."
+
+Captain Everett, followed by the officer, passed into his dressing-room.
+He pulled off his gown; and pointing to a coat suspended on a peg at the
+further extremity of the apartment, requested the constable to reach it
+for him. The man hastened to comply with his wish. Swiftly, Everett
+opened a dressing-case which stood on a table near him: the officer
+heard the sharp clicking of a pistol-lock, and turned swiftly round. Too
+late! A loud report rang through the house; the room was filled with
+smoke; and the wretched assassin and suicide lay extended on the floor a
+mangled corpse!
+
+It would be useless minutely to recapitulate, the final winding-up of
+this eventful drama. Suffice it to record, that Mr. Frederick Mordaunt
+was, after a slight delay, restored to freedom and a splendid position in
+society. After the lapse of a decent interval, he espoused Lucy
+Carrington. Their eldest son represents in this present parliament one of
+the English boroughs, and is by no means an undistinguished member of the
+Commons House.
+
+
+
+
+"THE ACCOMMODATION BILL."
+
+
+Such of the incidents of the following narrative as did not fall within
+my own personal observation, were communicated to me by the late Mr.
+Ralph Symonds, and the dying confessions of James Hornby, one of the
+persons killed by the falling in of the iron roof of the Brunswick
+Theatre. A conversation the other day with a son of Mr. Symonds, who has
+been long settled in London, recalled the entire chain of circumstances
+to my memory with all the vivid distinctness of a first impression.
+
+One evening towards the close of the year 1806, the Leeds coach brought
+Mr. James Hornby to the village of Pool, on the Wharf, in the West-Riding
+of Yorkshire. A small but respectable house on the confines of the place
+had been prepared for his reception, and a few minutes after his descent
+from the top of the coach, the pale, withered-looking man disappeared
+within it. Except for occasional trips to Otley, a small market-town
+distant about three miles from Pool, he rarely afterwards emerged from
+its seclusion. It was not _Time_, we shall presently see--he was indeed
+but four-and-forty years of age--that had bowed his figure, thinned his
+whitening hair, and banished from his countenance all signs of healthy,
+cheerful life. This, too, appeared to be the opinion of the gossips of
+the village, who, congregated, as usual, to witness the arrival and
+departure of the coach, indulged, thought Mr. Symonds, who was an inside
+passenger proceeding on to Otley, in remarkably free-and-easy
+commentaries upon the past, present, and future of the new-comer.
+
+"I mind him well," quavered an old white-haired man. "It's just
+three-and-twenty years ago last Michaelmas. I remember it because of the
+hard frost two years before, that young Jim Hornby left Otley to go to
+Lunnon: just the place, I'm told, to give the finishing polish to such a
+miscreant as he seemed likely to be. He was just out of his time to old
+Hornby, his uncle, the grocer."
+
+"He that's left him such heaps of money?"
+
+"Ay, boy, the very same, though he wouldn't have given him or any one
+else a cheese-paring whilst he lived. This one is a true chip of the
+old block, I'll warrant. You noticed that he rode outside, bitter cold
+as it is?".
+
+"Surely, Gaffer Hicks. But do ye mind what it was he went off in such a
+skurry for? Tom Harris was saying last night at the Horse-Shoe, it was
+something concerning a horse-race or a young woman; he warn't quite
+sensible which."
+
+"I can't say," rejoined the more ancient oracle, "that I quite mind all
+the ups and downs of it. Henry Burton horse-whipped him on the Doncaster
+race-course, _that_ I know; but whether it was about Cinderella that had,
+they said, been tampered with the night before the race, or Miss
+Elizabeth Grainsford, whom Burton married a few weeks afterwards, I
+can't, as Tom Harris says, quite clearly remember."
+
+"Old Hornby had a heavy grip of Burton's farm for a long time before he
+died, they were saying yesterday at Otley. The sheepskins will now no
+doubt be in the nephew's strong box."
+
+"True, lad; and let's hope Master Burton will be regular with his
+payments; for if not, there's Jail and Ruin for him written in capital
+letters on yon fellow's cast-iron phiz, I can see."
+
+The random hits of these Pool gossips, which were here interrupted by
+the departure of the coach, were not very wide of the mark. James Hornby,
+it was quite true, had been publicly horsewhipped twenty-three years
+before by Henry Burton on the Doncaster race-course, ostensibly on
+account of the sudden withdrawal of a horse that should have started, a
+transaction with which young Hornby was in some measure mixed up; but
+especially and really for having dared, upon the strength of presumptive
+heirship to his uncle's wealth, to advance pretensions to the fair hand
+of Elizabeth Gainsford, the eldest daughter of Mr. Robert Gainsford,
+surgeon, of Otley--pretensions indirectly favored, it was said, by the
+father, but contemptuously repudiated by the lady. Be this as it may,
+three weeks after the races, Elizabeth Gainsford became Mrs. Burton, and
+James Hornby hurried off to London, grudgingly furnished for the journey
+by his uncle. He obtained a situation as shopman in one of the large
+grocer establishments of the metropolis; and twenty-three years
+afterwards, the attorney's letter, informing him that he had succeeded to
+all his deceased uncle's property, found him in the same place, and in
+the same capacity.
+
+A perfect yell of delight broke from the lips of the taciturn man as his
+glance devoured the welcome intelligence. "At last!" he shouted with
+maniacal glee; and fiercely crumpling the letter in his hand, as if he
+held a living foe in his grasp, whilst a flash of fiendish passion broke
+from the deep caverns of his sunken eyes--"at last I have thee on the
+hip! Ah, mine enemy!--it is the dead--the dead alone that never return
+to hurl back on the head of the wrong-doer the shame, the misery, the
+ruin he inflicted in his hour of triumph!" The violence of passions
+suddenly unreined after years of jealous curb and watchfulness for a
+moment overcame him, and he reeled as if fainting, into a chair. The
+fierce, stern nature of the man soon mastered the unwonted excitement,
+and in a few minutes he was cold, silent, impassable as ever. The letter
+which he despatched the same evening gave calm, business orders as to
+his uncle's funeral, and other pressing matters upon which the attorney
+had demanded instructions, and concluded by intimating that he should be
+in Yorkshire before many days elapsed. He arrived, as we have seen, and
+took up his abode at one of the houses bequeathed to him in Pool, which
+happened to be unlet.
+
+Yes, for more than twenty bitter years James Hornby had savagely brooded
+over the shame and wrong inflicted on him before the mocking eyes of a
+brutal crowd by Henry Burton. Ever as the day's routine business closed,
+and he retired to the dull solitude of his chamber, the last mind-picture
+which faded on his waking sense was the scene on the crowded race-course,
+with all its exasperating accessories--the merciless exultation of the
+triumphant adversary--the jibes and laughter of his companions--the
+hootings of the mob--to be again repeated with fantastic exaggeration in
+the dreams which troubled and perplexed his broken sleep. No wonder that
+the demons of Revenge and Hate, by whom he was thus goaded, should have
+withered by their poisonous breath the healthful life which God had
+given--have blasted with premature old age a body rocker with curses to
+unblessed repose! It seemed, by his after-confessions, that he had really
+loved Elizabeth Gainsford with all the energy of his violent, moody
+nature, and that her image, fresh, lustrous, radiant, as in the dawn of
+life, unceasingly haunted his imagination with visions of tenderness and
+beauty, lost to him, as he believed, through the wiles, the calumnies,
+and violence of his detested, successful rival.
+
+The matronly person who, a few days after the Christmas following
+Hornby's arrival at Pool, was conversing with her husband in the parlor
+of Grange farmhouse, scarcely realized the air-drawn image which dwelt in
+the memory of the unforgiving, unforgetting man. Mrs. Burton was at this
+time a comely dame, whose _embonpoint_ contour, however indicative of
+florid health and serenity of temper, exhibited little of the airy
+elegance and grace said to have distinguished the girlhood of Elizabeth
+Gainsford. Her soft brown eyes were gentle and kind as ever, but the
+brilliant lights of youth no longer sparkled in their quiet depths, and
+time had not only "thinned her flowing hair"--necessitating caps--but had
+brushed the roses from her cheeks, and swept away, with his searing hand,
+the pale lilies from the furtive coverts whence they had glanced in
+tremulous beauty, in life's sweet prime; yet for all that, and a great
+deal more, Mrs. Burton, I have no manner of doubt, looked charmingly in
+the bright fire-blaze which gleamed in chequered light and shade upon the
+walls, pictures, curtains of the room, and the green leaves and scarlet
+berries of the Christmas holly with which it was profusely decorated.
+Three of her children--the eldest, Elizabeth, a resuscitation of her own
+youth--were by her side, and opposite sat her husband, whose frank,
+hearty countenance seemed to sparkle with careless mirth.
+
+"Hornby will be here presently, Elizabeth," said he. "What a
+disappointment awaits the rascally curmudgeon! His uncle was a prince
+compared to him."
+
+"Disappointment, Henry! to receive four hundred pounds he did not
+expect?"
+
+"Ay, truly, dame. Lawyer Symonds' son Frank, a fine, good-hearted young
+fellow as ever stepped in shoe-leather--Lizzy, girl, if that candle
+were nearer your face it would light without a match"--
+
+"Nonsense, father!"
+
+"Very likely. Frank Symonds, I was saying, believes, and so does his
+father, that Hornby would rejoice at an opportunity of returning with
+interest the smart score I marked upon his back three-and-twenty
+years ago"
+
+"It was a thoughtless, cruel act, Henry," rejoined his wife, "and the
+less said of it the better. I hope the fright we have had will induce you
+to practice a better economy than heretofore; so that, instead of
+allowing two years' interest to accumulate upon us, we may gradually
+reduce the mortgage."
+
+"That we will, dear, depend upon it. We shall be pushed a little at
+first: Kirkshaw, who lent me the two hundred and fifty, can only spare it
+for a month; but no doubt the bank will do a bill for part of it by that
+time. But sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. Here is the money
+for Hornby at all events: and here at last comes the shrivelled atomy; I
+hear his horse. Fanny, light the candles."
+
+If Mrs. Burton had consciously or unconsciously entertained the
+self-flattering notion that the still unwedded bachelor who had
+unsuccessfully wooed her nearly a quarter of a century before, still
+retained a feeling of regretful tenderness for her, she must have been
+grievously surprised by the cold, unrecognizing glance which Hornby
+threw on her as he entered, and curtly replied to her civil greeting.
+_That_ was not the image stamped upon his heart and brain! But when her
+eldest daughter approached the lights to place paper and pens upon the
+table, the flashing glance and white quivering lip of the grave visitor
+revealed the tempest of emotion which for an instant shook him. He
+quickly suppressed all outward manifestation of feeling, and in a dry,
+business tone, demanded if Mr. Burton was ready to pay the interest of
+the mortgage.
+
+"Yes, thank God," replied Burton, "I am: here is the money in notes of
+the Governor and Company of the Bank of England. Count them!"
+
+Hornby bent down over the notes, shading his face with his hand, as if
+more accurately to examine them, and the glance of baffled rage which
+swept across his features was not observed.
+
+"They are quite right," he said, rising from his chair; "and here is
+your receipt."
+
+"Very Good! And now, Hornby, let us have a glass of wine together for the
+sake of old times. Well, well; you need not look so fierce about it. Let
+bygones be bygones, I say. Oh, if you _will_ go--go in God's name!
+Good-night!"
+
+"Good-night!"
+
+"Baffled--foiled!" muttered Hornby as he rode homeward. "Where could he
+get the money? Borrowed it, doubtless, but of whom? Well,
+patience--patience! I shall grip thee yet, Henry Burton!" And the
+possessed man turned round in his saddle, and shook his clenched hand in
+the direction of the house he had quitted. He then steadily pursued his
+way, and soon regained his hermitage.
+
+The month for which Burton had borrowed the two hundred and fifty pounds
+passed rapidly--as months always do to borrowers--and expedient after
+expedient for raising the money was tried in vain. This money must be
+repaid, Kirkshaw had emphatically told him, on the day stipulated. Burton
+applied to the bank at Leeds, with which he usually did business, to
+discount an acceptance, guaranteed by one or two persons whose names he
+mentioned. The answer was the usual civil refusal to accept the proffered
+security for repayment--"the bank was just then full of discounts."
+Burton ventured, as a last resource, to call on Hornby with a request
+that, as the rapid advance in the market-value of land consequent on the
+high war-prices obtained for its produce, had greatly increased the worth
+of Grange Farm, he would add the required sum to the already-existing
+mortgage. He was met by a prompt refusal. Mr. Hornby intended to
+foreclose as speedily as possible the mortgages he already held, and
+invest his capital in more profitable securities. "Well, then--would he
+lend the amount at any interest he chose?"
+
+"The usury laws," replied Hornby, with his usual saturnine sneer, "would
+prevent my acceptance of your obliging offer, even if I had the present
+means, which I have not. My spare cash happens just now to be temporarily
+locked up."
+
+Burton, half-crazed with anxiety, went the following day to the Leeds
+bank with the proffer of a fresh name agreed to be lent him by its
+owner. Useless! "They did not know the party." The applicant mused a
+few moments, and then said, "Would you discount the note of Mr. James
+Hornby of Pool?"
+
+"Certainly; with a great deal of pleasure." Burton hurried away; had his
+horse instantly saddled, and gallopped off to Pool. Hornby was at home.
+
+"You hinted the other day," said Burton, "that if you had not been short
+of present means you might have obliged me with the loan I required"
+
+"Did I?"
+
+"At least I so understood you. I am of course not ignorant, Mr. Hornby,
+that there is no good blood between us two; but I also know that you are
+fond of money, and that you are fully aware that I am quite safe for a
+few hundred pounds. I am come, therefore, to offer you ten pounds _bonus_
+for your acceptance at one month for two hundred and fifty pounds."
+
+"What?" exclaimed Hornby with strange vehemence. "What"
+
+Burton repeated his offer, and Hornby turned away towards the window
+without speaking.
+
+When he again faced Burton, his countenance wore its usual color; but
+the expression of his eyes, the applicant afterwards remembered, was
+wild and exulting.
+
+"Have you a bill stamp?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then draw the bill at once, and I will accept it."
+
+Burton did not require to be twice told. The bill was quickly drawn;
+Hornby took it to another table at the further end of the apartment,
+slowly wrote his name across it, folded, and returned it to Burton, who
+tendered the ten pounds he had offered, and a written acknowledgment that
+the bill had been drawn and accepted for his (Burton's) accommodation.
+
+"I don't want your money, Henry Burton," said Hornby, putting back the
+note and the memorandum. "I am not afraid of losing by this transaction.
+You do not know me yet."
+
+"A queer stick," thought Burton, as he gained the street; "but Old Nick
+is seldom so black as he's painted! He was a plaguy while, I thought,
+signing his name; but I wish I could sign mine to such good purpose."
+
+Burton laid the accepted bill, face downwards, on the bank counter, took
+a pen, indorsed, and passed it to the managing clerk. The gray-headed man
+glanced sharply at the signature, and then at Burton, "Why, surely this
+is not Mr. Hornby's signature? It does not at all resemble it!"
+
+"Not his signature!" exclaimed Burton; "what do you mean by that?"
+
+"Reynolds, look here," continued the clerk, addressing another of the
+bank _employés_. Reynolds looked, and his immediate glance of surprise
+and horror at Burton revealed the impression he had formed.
+
+"Please to step this way, Mr. Burton, to a private apartment," said
+the manager.
+
+"No--no, I won't," stammered the unfortunate man, over whose mind a
+dreadful suspicion had glanced with the suddenness of lightning. "I will
+go back to Hornby;" and he made a desperate but vain effort to snatch the
+fatal instrument. Then, pale and staggering with a confused terror and
+bewilderment, he attempted to rush into the street. He was stopped, with
+the help of the bystanders, by one of the clerks, who had jumped over the
+counter for the purpose.
+
+The messenger despatched by the bankers to Hornby returned with an answer
+that the alleged acceptance was a forgery. It was stated on the part of
+Mr. Hornby that Mr. Burton had indeed requested him to lend two hundred
+and fifty pounds, but he had refused. The frantic asseverations of poor
+Burton were of course disregarded, and he was conveyed to jail. An
+examination took place the next day before the magistrates, and the
+result was, that the prisoner was fully committed on the then capital
+charge for trial at the ensuing assize.
+
+It were useless, as painful, to dwell upon the consternation and agony
+which fell upon the dwellers at Grange Farm when the terrible news
+reached them. A confident belief in the perfect innocence of the
+prisoner, participated by most persons who knew his character and that of
+Hornby, and that it would be triumphantly vindicated on the day of trial,
+which rapidly approached, alone enabled them to bear up against the blow,
+and to await with trembling hope the verdict of a jury.
+
+It was at this crisis of the drama that I became an actor in it. I was
+retained for the defence by my long-known and esteemed friend Symonds,
+whose zeal for his client, stimulated by strong personal friendship, knew
+no bounds. The acceptance, he informed me, so little resembled Hornby's
+handwriting, that if Burton had unfolded the bill when given back to him
+by the villain, he could hardly have failed to suspect the nature of the
+diabolical snare set for his life.
+
+In those days, and until Mr., now Sir, Robert Peel's amendment of the
+criminal law and practice of this country, the acceptor of a bill of
+exchange, on the principle that he was _interested_ in denying the
+genuineness of the signature, could not, according to the English law of
+evidence, be called, on the part of the prosecution, to prove the
+forgery; and of course, after what had taken place, we did not propose to
+call Hornby for the defence. The evidence for the crown consisted,
+therefore, on the day of trial, of the testimony of persons acquainted
+with Hornby's signature, that the acceptance across the inculpated bill
+was not in his handwriting. Burton's behavior at the bank, in endeavoring
+to repossess himself of the bill by violence, was of course detailed, and
+told heavily against him.
+
+All the time this testimony was being given, Hornby sat on one of the
+front seats of the crowded court, exulting in the visible accomplishment
+of his Satanic device. We could see but little of his face, which,
+supported on his elbow, was partially concealed by a handkerchief he held
+in his hand; but I, who narrowly observed him, could occasionally discern
+flashes from under his pent brows--revealments of the fierce struggle
+which raged within.
+
+The moment at last arrived for the prisoner, whose eyes had been for some
+time fixed on Hornby, to speak or read his defence, and a breathless
+silence pervaded the court.
+
+Burton started at the summons, like a man unexpectedly recalled to a
+sense of an imperious, but for the moment forgotten, duty.
+
+"James Hornby!" he suddenly cried with a voice which rang through the
+assembly like a trumpet, "stand up, and if you can face an innocent
+man"--
+
+Hornby, surprised out of his self-possession, mechanically obeyed the
+strange order, sprang involuntarily to his feet, let fall the
+handkerchief that had partially concealed his features, and nervously
+confronted the prisoner.
+
+"Look at me, I say," continued Burton with increasing excitement; "and as
+you hope to escape the terrors of the last judgment, answer truly: did
+you not, with your own hand, and in my presence, sign that bill?"--
+
+"This cannot be permitted," interrupted the judge.
+
+"If you do not speak," proceeded the prisoner, heedless of the
+intimation from the bench; "or if you deny the truth, my life, as sure
+as there is a God in heaven, will be required at your hands. If, in
+consequence of your devilish plotting, these men consign me to a felon's
+grave, I shall not be cold in it when you will be calling upon the
+mountains to fall and cover you from the vengeance of the Judge of
+heaven and earth! Speak, man--save me: save your own soul from mortal
+peril whilst there is yet time for mercy and repentance!"
+
+Hornby's expression of surprise and confusion had gradually changed
+during this appeal to its usual character of dogged impassibility. He
+turned calmly and appealingly towards the bench.
+
+"You need not answer these wild adjurations, Mr. Hornby," said the judge,
+as soon as he could make himself heard.
+
+A smile curled the fellow's lip as he bowed deferentially to his
+lordship, and he sat down without uttering a syllable.
+
+"May the Lord, then, have mercy on my soul!" exclaimed the prisoner
+solemnly. Then glancing at the bench and jury-box, he added, "And you, my
+lord and gentlemen, work your will with my body as quickly as you may: I
+am a lost man!"
+
+The calling of witnesses to character, the opening of the judge's charge,
+pointing from its first sentence to a conviction, elicited no further
+manifestation of feeling from the prisoner: he was as calm as despair.
+
+The judge had been speaking for perhaps ten minutes, when a bustle was
+heard at the hall, as if persons were striving to force their way into
+the body of the court in spite of the resistance of the officers.
+
+"Who is that disturbing the court?" demanded the judge angrily.
+
+"For the love of Heaven let me pass!" we heard uttered in passionate
+tones by a female voice. "I must and will see the judge!"
+
+"Who can this be?" T inquired, addressing Mr. Symonds.
+
+"I cannot conceive," he replied; "surely not Mrs. Burton?"
+
+I had kept my eye, as I spoke, upon Hornby, and noticed that he exhibited
+extraordinary emotion at the sound of the voice, to whomsoever it
+belonged, and was now endeavoring to force his way through the crowded
+and anxious auditory.
+
+"My lord," said I, "I have to request on the part of the prisoner that
+the person desirous of admittance may be heard."
+
+"What has she to say? Or if a material witness, why have you not called
+her at the proper time?" replied his lordship with some irritation.
+
+"My lord, I do not even now know her name; but in a case involving the
+life of the prisoner, it is imperative that no chance be neglected"--
+
+"Let the woman pass into the witness-box," interrupted the judge.
+
+The order brought before our eyes a pale, stunted woman, of about fifty
+years of age, whose excited and by no means unintellectual features, and
+hurried, earnest manner, seemed to betoken great and unusual feeling.
+
+"As I'm alive, Hornby's deformed housekeeper!" whispered Symonds. "This
+poor devil's knot will be unraveled yet."
+
+The woman, whose countenance and demeanor, as she gave her evidence,
+exhibited a serious, almost solemn intelligence, deposed to the
+following effect:--
+
+"Her name was Mary McGrath, and she was the daughter of Irish parents,
+but born and brought up in England. She had been Mr. Hornby's
+housekeeper, and remembered well the 4th of February last, when Mr.
+Burton, the prisoner, called at the house. Witness was dusting in an
+apartment close to her master's business-room, from which it was only
+separated by a thin wooden partition. The door was partly open, and she
+could see as well as hear what was going on without being seen herself.
+She heard the conversation between the prisoner and her master; heard
+Mr. Hornby agree to sign the paper--bill she ought to say--for two
+hundred and fifty pounds; saw him do it, and then deliver it folded up
+to Mr. Burton."
+
+A shout of execration burst from the auditory as these words were
+uttered, and every eye was turned to the spot where Hornby had been
+seated. He had disappeared during the previous confusion.
+
+"Silence!" exclaimed the judge sternly. "Why, woman," he added, "have you
+never spoken of this before?"
+
+"Because, my lord," replied the witness with downcast looks, and in a
+low, broken voice--"because I am a sinful, wicked creature. When my
+master, the day after Mr. Burton had been taken up, discovered that I
+knew his secret, he bribed me with money and great promises of more to
+silence. I had been nearly all my life, gentlemen, poor and miserable,
+almost an outcast, and the temptation was too strong for me. He
+mistrusted me, however--for my mind, he saw, was sore troubled--and he
+sent me off to London yesterday, to be out of the way till all was over.
+The coach stopped at Leeds, and, as it was heavy upon me, I thought,
+especially as it was the blessed Easter-time, that I would step to the
+chapel. His holy name be praised that I did! The scales seemed to fall
+from my eyes, and I saw clearer than I had before the terrible wickedness
+I was committing. I told all to the priest, and he has brought me here to
+make what amends I can for the sin and cruelty of which I have been
+guilty. There--there is all that is left of the wages of crime," she
+added, throwing a purse of money on the floor of the court; and then
+bursting into a flood of tears, she exclaimed with passionate
+earnestness, "for which may the Almighty of his infinite mercy pardon and
+absolve me!"
+
+"Amen!" responded the deep husky voice of the prisoner, snatched back, as
+it were, from the very verge of the grave to liberty and life. "Amen,
+with all my soul!"
+
+The counsel for the crown, cross-examined the witness, but his efforts
+only brought out her evidence in, if possible, a still clearer and more
+trustworthy light. Not a thought of doubt was entertained by any person
+in the court, and the jury, with the alacrity of men relieved of a
+grievous burthen, and without troubling the judge to resume his
+interrupted charge, returned a verdict of acquittal.
+
+The return of Burton to his home figured as an ovation in the Pool and
+Otley annals. The greetings which met him on all sides were boisterous
+and hearty, as English greetings usually are; and it was with some
+difficulty the rustic constabulary could muster a sufficient force to
+save Hornby's domicile from sack and destruction. All the windows were,
+however, smashed, and that the mob felt was something at all events.
+
+Burton profited by the painful ordeal to which he had, primarily through
+his own thoughtlessness, been exposed, and came in a few years to be
+regarded as one of the most prosperous yeomen-farmers of Yorkshire. Mr.
+Frank Symonds' union with Elizabeth Burton was in due time solemnized;
+Mr. Wilberforce, the then popular member for the West Riding, I remember
+hearing, stood sponsor to their eldest born; and Mary McGrath passed the
+remainder of her life in the service of the family her testimony had
+saved from disgrace and ruin.
+
+Mr. James Hornby disappeared from Yorkshire immediately after the trial,
+and, except through his business agents, was not again heard of till the
+catastrophe at the Brunswick Theatre, where he perished. He died
+penitent, after expressing to Mr. Frank Symonds, for whom he had sent,
+his deep sorrow for the evil deed he had planned, and, but for a
+merciful interposition, would have accomplished. As a proof of the
+sincerity of his repentance, he bequeathed the bulk of his property to
+Mrs. Symonds, the daughter of the man he had pursued with such savage
+and relentless hate!
+
+
+
+
+THE REFUGEE.
+
+
+The events which I am about to relate occurred towards the close of the
+last century, some time before I was called to the bar, and do not
+therefore in strictness fall within my own experiences as a barrister.
+Still, as they came to my knowledge with much greater completeness than
+if I had been only professionally engaged to assist in the catastrophe of
+the drama through which they are evolved, and, as I conceive, throw a
+strong light upon the practical working of our criminal jurisprudence, a
+brief page of these slight leaves may not inappropriately record them.
+
+About the time I have indicated, a Mrs. Rushton, the widow of a gentleman
+of commercial opulence, resided in Upper Harley Street, Cavendish Square.
+She was a woman of "family," and by her marriage had greatly lowered
+herself, in her relatives' opinion, by a union with a person who, however
+wealthy and otherwise honorable, was so entirely the architect of his own
+fortunes--owed all that he possessed so immediately to his own skill,
+sagacity, and perseverance--that there was an unpleasant rumor abroad
+about his widowed mother being indebted to her son's success in business
+for having passed the last ten years of her life in ease and competence.
+Mr. Rushton had left his widow a handsome annuity, and to his and her
+only son a well-invested income of upwards of seven thousand a year.
+Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Rushton, who inherited quite her
+full share of family pride, if nothing else, had sought by every method
+she could devise to re-enter the charmed circle from which her union with
+a city merchant had excluded her. The most effectual mode of
+accomplishing her purpose was, she knew, to bring about a marriage
+between her son and a lady who would not be indisposed to accept of
+wealth and a well-appointed establishment in Mayfair as a set-off against
+birth and high connection.
+
+Arthur Rushton, at this time between two and three-and-twenty years of
+age, was a mild, retiring, rather shy person, and endowed with a
+tenderness of disposition, of which the tranquil depths had not as yet
+been ruffled by the faintest breath of passion. His mother possessed
+almost unbounded influence over him; and he ever listened with a smile, a
+languid, half-disdainful one, to her eager speculations upon the numerous
+eligible matches that would present themselves the instant the "season"
+and their new establishment in Mayfair--of which the decoration and
+furnishing engaged all her available time and attention--enabled them to
+open the campaign with effect. Arthur Rushton and myself had been college
+companions, and our friendly intimacy continued for several years
+afterwards. At this period especially we were very cordial and unreserved
+in our intercourse with each other.
+
+London at this time was crowded with French exiles, escaped from the
+devouring sword of Robespierre and his helpers in the work of government
+by the guillotine, almost all of whom claimed to be members of, or
+closely connected with, the ancient nobility of France. Among these was
+an elderly gentleman of the name of De Tourville, who, with his daughter
+Eugénie, had for a considerable time occupied a first floor in King
+Street, Holborn. Him I never saw in life, but Mademoiselle de Tourville
+was one of the most accomplished, graceful, enchantingly-interesting
+persons I have ever seen or known. There was a dangerous fascination in
+the pensive tenderness through which her natural gaiety and archness of
+manner would at intervals flash, like April sunlight glancing through
+clouds and showers, which, the first time I saw her, painfully impressed
+as much as it charmed me--perceiving, as I quickly did, that with her the
+future peace, I could almost have said life, of Arthur Rushton was
+irrevocably bound up. The fountains of his heart were for the first time
+stirred to their inmost depths, and, situated as he and she were, what
+but disappointment, bitterness, and anguish could well-up from those
+troubled waters? Mademoiselle de Tourville, I could perceive, was fully
+aware of the impression she had made upon the sensitive and amiable
+Englishman; and I sometimes discovered an expression of pity--of
+sorrowful tenderness, as it were--pass over her features as some
+distincter revelation than usual of the nature of Arthur Rushton's
+emotions flashed upon her. I also heard her express herself several
+times, as overtly as she could, upon the _impossibility_ there existed
+that she should, however much she might desire it, settle in England, or
+even remain in it for any considerable length of time. All this I
+understood, or thought I did, perfectly; but Rushton, bewildered,
+entranced by feelings altogether new to him, saw nothing, heard nothing
+but her presence, and felt, without reasoning upon it, that in that
+delirious dream it was his fate either to live or else to bear no life.
+Mrs. Rushton--and this greatly surprised me--absorbed in her matrimonial
+and furnishing schemes and projects, saw nothing of what was going on.
+Probably the notion that her son should for an instant think of allying
+himself with an obscure, portionless foreigner, was, to a mind like hers,
+too absurd to be for a moment entertained; or--But stay; borne along by
+a crowd of rushing thoughts, I have, I find, somewhat anticipated the
+regular march of my narrative.
+
+M. and Mademoiselle de Tourville, according to the after-testimony of
+their landlord, Mr. Osborn, had, from the time of their arrival in
+England, a very constant visitor at their lodgings in King Street. He was
+a tall French gentleman, of perhaps thirty years of age, and
+distinguished appearance. His name was La Houssaye. He was very
+frequently with them indeed, and generally he and M. de Tourville would
+go out together in the evening, the latter gentleman not returning home
+till very late. This was more especially the case after Mademoiselle de
+Tourville ceased to reside with her father.
+
+Among the fashionable articles with which Mrs. Rushton was anxious to
+surround herself, was a companion of accomplishments and high-breeding,
+who might help her to rub off the rust she feared to have contracted by
+her connection with the city. A Parisian lady of high lineage and perfect
+breeding might, she thought, be easily obtained; and an advertisement
+brought Mademoiselle de Tourville to her house. Mrs. Rushton was
+delighted with the air and manners of the charming applicant; and after a
+slight inquiry by letter to an address of reference given by the young
+lady, immediately engaged her, on exceedingly liberal terms, for six
+months--that being the longest period for which Mademoiselle de Tourville
+could undertake to remain. She also stipulated for permission to pass the
+greater part of one day in the week--that which might happen to be most
+convenient to Mrs. Rushton--with her father. One other condition
+testified alike to M. de Tourville's present poverty and her own filial
+piety: it was, that her salary should be paid weekly--she would not
+accept it in advance--avowedly for her parent's necessities, who, poor
+exile! and tears stood in Eugénie's dark lustrous eyes as she spoke, was
+ever trembling on the brink of the grave from an affection of the heart
+with which he had been long afflicted. Mademoiselle de Tourville, I
+should state, spoke English exceedingly well as far as the rules of
+syntax and the meanings of words went, and with an accent charming in its
+very defectiveness.
+
+She had resided with Mrs. Rushton, who on all occasions treated her with
+the greatest kindness and consideration, for rather more than two months,
+when an incident occurred which caused the scales to fall suddenly from
+the astonished mother's eyes, and in a moment revealed to her the extent
+of the risk and mischief she had so heedlessly incurred. The carriage was
+at the door, and it struck Mrs. Rushton as she was descending the stairs
+that Mademoiselle de Tourville, who had complained of headache in the
+morning, would like to take an airing with her. The sound of the harp
+issuing from the drawing-room, and the faintly-distinguished tones of her
+voice in some plaintive silver melody perhaps suggested the invitation;
+and thither the mistress of the mansion at once proceeded. The
+folding-doors of the back drawing-room were partially open when Mrs.
+Rushton, on kind thoughts intent, entered the front apartment.
+Mademoiselle de Tourville was seated with her back towards her at the
+harp, pouring forth with her thrilling and delicious voice a French
+romaunt; and there, with his head supported on his elbow, which rested on
+the marble chimney-piece, stood her son, Arthur Rushton, gazing at the
+apparently-unconscious songstress with a look so full of devoted
+tenderness--so completely revealing the intensity of passion by which he
+was possessed--that Mrs. Rushton started with convulsive affright, and
+could not for several minutes give articulation to the dismay and rage
+which choked her utterance Presently, however, her emotions found
+expression, and a storm of vituperative abuse was showered upon the head
+of the astonished Eugénie, designated as an artful _intrigante_, a
+designing pauper, who had insinuated herself into the establishment for
+the sole purpose of entrapping Mr. Arthur Rushton--with a great deal more
+to the same effect. Mademoiselle de Tourville, who had first been too
+much surprised by the unexpected suddenness of the attack to quite
+comprehend the intent and direction of the blows, soon recovered her
+self-possession and hauteur. A smile of contempt curled her beautiful
+lip, as, taking advantage of a momentary pause in Mrs. Rushton's
+breathless tirade, she said, "Permit me, madam, to observe that if, as
+you seem to apprehend, your son has contemplated honoring me by the offer
+of an alliance with his ancient House"--Her look at this moment glanced
+upon the dreadfully agitated young man; the expression of disdainful
+bitterness vanished in an instant from her voice and features; and after
+a few moments, she added, with sad eyes bent upon the floor, "That he
+could not have made a more unhappy choice--more unfortunate for him, more
+impossible for me!" She then hastily left the apartment, and before a
+quarter of an hour had elapsed, had left the house in a hackney-coach.
+
+The scene which followed between the mother and son was a violent and
+distressing one. Mr. Rushton, goaded to fury by his mother's attack upon
+Mademoiselle de Tourville, cast off the habit of deference and submission
+which he had always worn in her presence, and asserted with vehemence his
+right to wed with whom he pleased, and declared that no power on earth
+should prevent him marrying the lady just driven ignominiously from the
+house if she could be brought to accept the offer of his hand and
+fortune! Mrs. Rushton fell into passionate hysterics; and her son, having
+first summoned her maid, withdrew to ruminate on Mademoiselle de
+Tourville's concluding sentence, which troubled him far more that what he
+deemed the injustice of his mother.
+
+When Mrs. Rushton, by the aid of water, pungent essences, and the relief
+which even an hour of time seldom fails to yield in such cases, had
+partially recovered her equanimity, she determined, after careful
+consideration of the best course of action, to consult a solicitor of
+eminence, well acquainted with her late husband, upon the matter. She had
+a dim notion that the Alien Act, if it could be put in motion, might rid
+her of Mademoiselle de Tourville and her friends. Thus resolving, and
+ever scrupulous as to appearances, she carefully smoothed her ruffled
+plumage, changed her disordered dress, and directed the carriage, which
+had been dismissed, to be again brought round to the door. "Mary," she
+added a few moments afterwards, "bring me my jewel-case--the small one:
+you will find it in Made--in that French person's dressing-room."
+
+Mary Austin reappeared in answer to the violent ringing of her impatient
+lady's bell, and stated that the jewel-case could nowhere be found in
+Mademoiselle's dressing-room. "Her clothes, everything belonging to her,
+had been taken out of the wardrobe, and carried away, and perhaps that
+also in mistake no doubt."
+
+"Nonsense, woman!" replied Mrs. Rushton. "I left it not long ago on her
+toilet-glass. I intended to show her a purchase I had made, and not
+finding her, left it as I tell you."
+
+Another search was made with the same ill-success. Mary Austin afterwards
+said that when she returned to her mistress the second time, to say that
+the jewel-case was certainly gone, an expression of satisfaction instead
+of anger, it seemed to her, glanced across Mrs. Rushton's face, who
+immediately left the room, and in a few minutes afterwards was driven
+off in the carriage.
+
+About an hour after her departure I called in Harley Street for Arthur
+Rushton, with whom I had engaged to go this evening to the theatre to
+witness Mrs. Siddons's Lady Macbeth, which neither of us had yet seen. I
+found him in a state of calmed excitement, if I may so express myself;
+and after listening with much interest to the minute account he gave me
+of what had passed, I, young and inexperienced as I was in such affairs,
+took upon myself to suggest that, as the lady he nothing doubted was as
+irreproachable in character as she was confessedly charming and
+attractive in person and manners, and as he was unquestionably his own
+master, Mrs. Rushton's opposition was not likely to be of long
+continuance; and that as to Mademoiselle de Tourville's somewhat
+discouraging expression, such sentences from the lips of ladies--
+
+    "That would be wooed, and not unsought be won"--
+
+were seldom, if ever, I had understood, to be taken in a literal and
+positive sense. Under this mild and soothing treatment, Mr. Rushton
+gradually threw off a portion of the load that oppressed him, and we set
+off in tolerably cheerful mood for the theatre.
+
+Mrs. Siddons' magnificent and appalling impersonation over, we left the
+house; he, melancholy and sombre as I had found him in Harley Street, and
+I in by no means a gay or laughing mood. We parted at my door, and
+whether it was the effect of the tragedy, so wonderfully realized in its
+chief creation, or whether coming events _do_ sometimes cast their
+shadows before, I cannot say, but I know that an hour after Rushton's
+departure I was still sitting alone, my brain throbbing with excitement,
+and so nervous and impressionable, that a sudden, vehement knocking at
+the street entrance caused me to spring up from my chair with a terrified
+start, and before I could master the impulsive emotion, the room-door was
+thrown furiously open, and in reeled Arthur Rushton--pale, haggard,
+wild--his eyes ablaze with horror and affright! Had the ghost of Duncan
+suddenly gleamed out of the viewless air I could not have been more
+startled--awed!
+
+"She is dead!--poisoned!" he shrieked with maniacal fury;
+"killed!--murdered!--and by _her_!"
+
+I gasped for breath, and could hardly articulate--"What! whom?"
+
+"My mother!" he shouted with the same furious vehemence--"Killed! by
+_her_! Oh, horror!--horror!--horror!" and exhausted by the violence of
+his emotions, the unfortunate gentleman staggered, shuddered violently,
+as if shaken by an ague fit, and fell heavily--for I was too confounded
+to yield him timely aid--on the floor.
+
+As soon as I could rally my scattered senses, I caused medical aid to be
+summoned, and got him to bed. Blood was freely taken from both arms, and
+he gradually recovered consciousness. Leaving him in kind and careful
+hands, I hurried off to ascertain what possible foundation there could be
+for the terrible tidings so strangely announced.
+
+I found the establishment in Harley Street in a state of the wildest
+confusion and dismay. Mrs. Rushton _was_ dead; that, at all events, was
+no figment of sudden insanity, and incredible, impossible rumors were
+flying from mouth to mouth with bewildering rapidity and incoherence.
+The name of Mademoiselle de Tourville was repeated in every variety of
+abhorrent emphasis; but it was not till I obtained an interview with
+Mrs. Rushton's solicitor that I could understand what really had
+occurred, or, to speak more properly, what was suspected. Mrs. Rushton
+had made a deposition, of which Mr. Twyte related to me the essential
+points. The deceased lady had gone out in her carriage with the express
+intention of calling on him, the solicitor, to ascertain if it would be
+possible to apply the Alien Act to Mademoiselle de Tourville and her
+father, in order to get them sent out of the country. Mr. Twyte did not
+happen to be at home, and Mrs. Rushton immediately drove to the De
+Tourvilles' lodgings in King Street, Holborn, with the design, she
+admitted, of availing herself of what she was in her own mind satisfied
+was the purely accidental taking away of a jewel-case, to terrify
+Mademoiselle de Tourville, by the threat of a criminal charge, into
+leaving the country, or at least to bind herself not to admit, under any
+circumstances, of Mr. Arthur Rushton's addresses. She found Eugénie in a
+state of extraordinary, and it seemed painful excitement; and the young
+lady entreated that whatever Mrs. Rushton had to say should be reserved
+for another opportunity, when she would calmly consider whatever Mrs.
+Rushton had to urge. The unfortunate lady became somewhat irritated at
+Mademoiselle de Tourville's obstinacy, and the unruffled contempt with
+which she treated the charge of robbery, even after finding the missing
+jewel-case in a band-box, into which it had been thrust with some
+brushes and other articles in the hurry of leaving. Mrs. Rushton was
+iterating her threats in a loud tone of voice, and moved towards the
+bell to direct, she said, the landlord to send for a constable, but with
+no intention whatever of doing so, when Mademoiselle de Tourville caught
+her suddenly by the arm, and bade her step into the next room. Mrs.
+Rushton mechanically obeyed, and was led in silence to the side of a
+bed, of which Eugénie suddenly drew the curtain, and displayed to her,
+with a significant and reproachful gesture, the pale, rigid countenance
+of her father's corpse, who had, it appears, suddenly expired. The shock
+was terrible. Mrs. Rushton staggered back into the sitting-room, sick
+and faint, sank into a chair, and presently asked for a glass of wine.
+"We have no wine," replied Mademoiselle de Tourville; "but there is a
+cordial in the next room which may be better for you." She was absent
+about a minute, and on returning, presented Mrs. Rushton with a large
+wine-glassful of liquid, which the deceased lady eagerly swallowed. The
+taste was strange, but not unpleasant; and instantly afterwards Mrs.
+Rushton left the house. When the carriage reached Harley Street, she was
+found to be in a state of great prostration: powerful stimulants were
+administered, but her life was beyond the reach of medicine. She
+survived just long enough to depose to the foregoing particulars; upon
+which statement Mademoiselle de Tourville had been arrested, and was now
+in custody.
+
+"You seem to have been very precipitate," I exclaimed as soon as the
+solicitor had ceased speaking: "there appears to be as yet no proof that
+the deceased lady died of other than natural causes."
+
+"You are mistaken," rejoined Mr. Twyte. "There is no doubt on the subject
+in the minds of the medical gentlemen, although the _post-mortem_
+examination has not yet taken place. And, as if to put aside all doubt,
+the bottle from which this Eugénie de Tourville admits she took the
+cordial proves to contain distilled laurel-water, a deadly poison,
+curiously colored and flavored."
+
+Greatly perturbed, shocked, astonished as I was, my mind refused to
+admit, even for a moment, the probability, hardly the possibility, of
+Eugénie de Tourville's guilt. The reckless malignancy of spirit evinced
+by so atrocious an act dwelt not, I was sure, within that beauteous
+temple. The motives alleged to have actuated her--fear of a criminal
+charge, admitted to be absurd, and desire to rid herself of an obstacle
+to her marriage with Arthur Rushton--seemed to me altogether strained and
+inapplicable. The desperation of unreasoning hate could alone have
+prompted such a deed; for detection was inevitable, had, in truth, been
+courted rather than attempted to be avoided.
+
+My reasoning made no change in the conclusions of Mr. Twyte the attorney
+for the prosecution, and I hastened home to administer such consolation
+to Arthur Rushton as might consist in the assurance of my firm conviction
+that his beloved mother's life had not been wilfully taken away by
+Eugénie de Tourville. I found him still painfully agitated; and the
+medical attendant told me it was feared by Dr. ---- that brain fever
+would supervene if the utmost care was not taken to keep him as quiet and
+composed as, under the circumstances, was possible. I was, however,
+permitted a few minutes' conversation with him; and my reasoning, or,
+more correctly, my confidently-expressed belief--for his mind seemed
+incapable of following my argument, which it indeed grasped faintly at,
+but slipped from, as it were, in an instant--appeared to relieve him
+wonderfully. I also promised him that no legal or pecuniary assistance
+should be wanting in the endeavor to clear Mademoiselle de Tourville of
+the dreadful imputation preferred against her. I then left him. The
+anticipation of the physician was unfortunately realized: the next
+morning he was in a raging fever, and his life, I was informed, was in
+very imminent danger.
+
+It was a distracting time; but I determinedly, and with much self-effort,
+kept down the nervous agitation which might have otherwise rendered me
+incapable of fulfilling the duties I had undertaken to perform. By
+eleven o'clock in the forenoon I had secured the active and zealous
+services of Mr. White, one of the most celebrated of the criminal
+attorneys of that day. By application in the proper quarter, we obtained
+immediate access to the prisoner, who was temporarily confined in a
+separate room in the Red-Lion Square Lock-up House. Mademoiselle de
+Tourville, although exceedingly pale, agitated, and nervous, still looked
+as lustrously pure, as radiantly innocent of evil thought or deed, as on
+the day that I first beheld her. The practiced eye of the attorney
+scanned her closely. "As innocent of this charge," he whispered, "as you
+or I." I tendered my services to the unfortunate young lady with an
+earnestness of manner which testified more than any words could have done
+how entirely my thoughts acquitted her of offence. Her looks thanked me;
+and when I hinted at the promise exacted of me by Arthur Rushton, a
+bright blush for an instant mantled the pale marble of her cheeks and
+forehead, indicating with the tears, which suddenly filled and trembled
+in her beautiful eyes, a higher sentiment, I thought, than mere
+gratitude. She gave us her unreserved confidence; by which, after careful
+sifting, we obtained only the following by no means entirely satisfactory
+results:--
+
+Mademoiselle de Tourville and her father had escaped from the Terrorists
+of France by the aid of, and in company with, the Chevalier la Houssaye,
+with whom M. de Tourville had previously had but very slight
+acquaintance. The chevalier soon professed a violent admiration for
+Eugénie; and having contrived to lay M. de Tourville under heavy
+pecuniary obligations at play--many of them Mademoiselle de Tourville had
+only very lately discovered--prevailed upon his debtor to exert his
+influence with his daughter to accept La Houssaye's hand in marriage.
+After much resistance, Mademoiselle de Tourville, overcome by the
+commands, entreaties, prayers of her father, consented, but only on
+condition that the marriage should not take place till their return to
+France, which it was thought need not be very long delayed, and that no
+more money obligations should in the meantime be incurred by her father.
+La Houssaye vehemently objected to delay; but finding Eugénie inexorable,
+sullenly acquiesced. It was precisely at this time that the engagement
+with Mrs. Rushton was accepted. On the previous afternoon Mademoiselle de
+Tourville, on leaving Harley Street after the scene with the deceased
+lady, went directly home, and there found both her father and the
+chevalier in hot contention and excitement. As soon as La Houssaye saw
+her, he seized his hat, and rushed out of the apartment and house. Her
+father, who was greatly excited, had barely time to say that he had
+fortunately discovered the chevalier to be a married man, whose wife, a
+woman of property, was still living in Languedoc, when what had always
+been predicted would follow any unusual agitation happened: M. de
+Tourville suddenly placed his hand on his side, uttered a broken
+exclamation, fell into a chair, and expired. It was about two hours after
+this melancholy event that Mrs. Rushton arrived. The account before given
+of the interview which followed was substantially confirmed by
+Mademoiselle de Tourville; who added, that the cordial she had given Mrs.
+Rushton was one her father was in the constant habit of taking when in
+the slightest degree excited, and that she was about to give him some
+when he suddenly fell dead.
+
+We had no doubt, none whatever, that this was the whole, literal truth,
+as far as the knowledge of Mademoiselle de Tourville extended; but how
+could we impart that impression to an Old Bailey jury of those days,
+deprived as we should be of the aid of counsel to address the jury, when
+in reality a speech, pointing to the improbabilities arising from
+character, and the altogether _un_guilty-like mode of administering the
+fatal liquid, was the only possible defence? Cross-examination promised
+nothing; for the evidence would consist of the dying deposition of Mrs.
+Rushton, the finding of the laurel-water, and the medical testimony as to
+the cause of death. The only person upon whom suspicion glanced was La
+Houssaye, and that in a vague and indistinct manner. Still, it was
+necessary to find him without delay, and Mr. White at once sought him at
+his lodgings, of which Mademoiselle de Tourville furnished the address.
+He had left the house suddenly with all his luggage early in the morning,
+and our efforts to trace him proved fruitless. In the meantime the
+_post-mortem_ examination of the body had taken place, and a verdict of
+willful murder against Eugénie de Tourville been unhesitatingly returned.
+She was soon afterwards committed to Newgate for trial.
+
+The Old Bailey session was close at hand, and Arthur Rushton, though
+immediate danger was over, was still in too delicate and precarious a
+state to be informed of the true position of affairs when the final day
+of trial arrived. The case had excited little public attention. It was
+not the fashion in those days to exaggerate the details of crime, and,
+_especially before trial_, give the wings of the morning to every fact
+or fiction that rumor with her busy tongue obscurely whispered. Twenty
+lines of the "Times" would contain the published record of the
+commitment of Eugénie de Tourville for poisoning her mistress, Caroline
+Rushton; and, alas! spite of the crippled but earnest efforts of the
+eminent counsel we had retained, and the eloquent innocence of her
+appearance and demeanor, her conviction and condemnation to death
+without hope of mercy! My brain swam as the measured tones of the
+recorder, commanding the almost immediate and violent destruction of
+that beauteous masterpiece of God, fell upon my ear; and had not Mr.
+White, who saw how greatly I was affected, fairly dragged me out of
+court into the open air, I should have fainted. I scarcely remember how
+I got home--in a coach, I believe; but face Rushton after that dreadful
+scene with a kindly-meant deception--_lie_--in my mouth, I could not,
+had a king's crown been the reward. I retired to my chamber, and on the
+plea of indisposition directed that I should on no account be disturbed.
+Night had fallen, and it was growing somewhat late, when I was startled
+out of the painful reverie in which I was still absorbed by the sudden
+pulling up of a furiously-driven coach, followed by a thundering summons
+at the door, similar to that which aroused me on the evening of Mrs.
+Rushton's death. I seized my hat, rushed down stairs, and opened the
+door. It was Mr. White!
+
+"Well!--well!" I ejaculated.
+
+"Quick--quick!" he exclaimed in reply. "La Houssaye--he is found--has
+sent for us--quick! for life--life is on our speed!"
+
+I was in the vehicle in an instant. In less than ten minutes we had
+reached our destination--a house in Duke Street, Manchester Square.
+
+"He is still alive," replied a young man in answer to Mr. White's hurried
+inquiry. We rapidly ascended the stairs, and in the front apartment of
+the first floor beheld one of the saddest, mournfulest spectacles which
+the world can offer--a fine, athletic man, still in the bloom of natural
+health and vigor, and whose pale features, but for the tracings there of
+fierce, ungoverned passions, were strikingly handsome and intellectual,
+stretched by his own act upon the bed of death! It was La Houssaye! Two
+gentlemen were with him--one a surgeon, and the other evidently a
+clergyman, and, as I subsequently found, a magistrate, who had been sent
+for by the surgeon. A faint smile gleamed over the face of the dying man
+as we entered, and he motioned feebly to a sheet of paper, which, closely
+written upon, was lying upon a table placed near the sofa upon which the
+unhappy suicide was reclining. Mr. White snatched, and eagerly perused
+it. I could see by the vivid lighting up of his keen gray eye that it
+was, in his opinion, satisfactory and sufficient.
+
+"This," said Mr. White, "is your solemn deposition, knowing yourself to
+be dying?"
+
+"Yes, yes," murmured La Houssaye; "the truth--the truth!"
+
+"The declaration of a man," said the clergyman with some asperity of
+tone, "who defyingly, unrepentingly, rushes into the presence of his
+Creator, can be of little value!"
+
+"Ha!" said the dying man, rousing himself by a strong effort;
+"I repent--yes--yes--I repent! I believe--do you hear?--and
+repent--believe. Put that down," he added, in tones momently feebler
+and more husky, as he pointed to the paper; "put that down, or--or
+perhaps--Eu--génie--perhaps"--
+
+As he spoke, the faint light that had momently kindled his glazing eye
+was suddenly quenched; he remained for perhaps half a minute raised on
+his elbow, and with his outstretched finger pointing towards the paper,
+gazing blindly upon vacancy. Then the arm dropped, and he fell back dead!
+
+We escaped as quickly as we could from this fearful death-room, and I
+found that the deposition which Mr. White brought away with him gave a
+full, detailed account, written in the French language, of the
+circumstances which led to the death of Mrs. Rushton.
+
+La Houssaye, finding that M. de Tourville had by some means discovered
+the secret of his previous marriage, and that consequently all hope of
+obtaining the hand of Eugénie, whom he loved with all the passion of his
+fiery nature, would be gone unless De Tourville could be prevented from
+communicating with his daughter, resolved to compass the old man's
+instant destruction. The chevalier persuaded himself that, as he should
+manage it, death would be attributed to the affection of the heart, from
+which M. de Tourville had so long suffered. He procured the distilled
+laurel-water--how and from whom was minutely explained--colored, flavored
+it to resemble as nearly as possible the cordial which he knew M. de
+Tourville--and he only--was in the habit of frequently taking. A
+precisely-similar bottle he also procured--the shop at which it was
+purchased was described--and when he called in King Street, he found no
+difficulty, in an unobserved moment, of substituting one bottle for the
+other. That containing the real cordial he was still in possession of,
+and it would be found in his valise The unexpected arrival of
+Mademoiselle de Tourville frustrated his design, and he rushed in fury
+and dismay from the house. A few hours afterwards, he heard of the sudden
+death of M. de Tourville, and attributing it to his having taken a
+portion of the simulated cordial, he, La Houssaye, fearful of
+consequences, hastily and secretly changed his abode. He had subsequently
+kept silence till the conviction of Eugénie left him no other
+alternative, if he would not see her perish on the scaffold, than a full
+and unreserved confession. This done--Eugénie saved, but lost to him--he
+had nothing more to live for in the world, and should leave it.
+
+This was the essence of the document; and all the parts of it which were
+capable of corroborative proof having been substantiated, a free pardon
+issued from the crown--the technical mode of quashing an unjust criminal
+verdict--and Mademoiselle de Tourville was restored to liberty.
+
+She did not return to France. Something more perhaps than a year after
+the demonstration of her innocence, she was married to Arthur Rushton in
+the Sardinian Catholic Chapel, London, the bridegroom having by her
+influence been induced to embrace the faith of Rome. The establishments
+in Harley Street and Mayfair were broken up; and the newly-espoused pair
+settled in the county of Galway, Ireland, where Mr. Rushton made
+extensive landed purchases. They have lived very happily a long life,
+have been blessed with a large and amiable family, and are now--for they
+are both yet alive--surrounded with grandchildren innumerable.
+
+
+
+
+EXPERIENCES OF A BARRISTER.
+
+
+
+
+THE LIFE POLICY.
+
+
+Besides being the confidential advisers, attorneys are the "confessors"
+of modern England; and the revelations--delicate, serious, not
+unfrequently involving life as well as fortune and character--confided to
+the purchased fidelity and professional honor of men whom romancers of
+all ages have stereotyped as the ghouls and vampires of civilized
+society, are, it is impossible to deny, as rarely divulged as those which
+the penitents of the Greek and Latin churches impart to their spiritual
+guides and helpers; and this possibly for the somewhat vulgar, but very
+sufficient reason, that "a breach of confidence" would as certainly
+involve the professional ruin of an attorney as the commission of a
+felony. An able but eccentric jurisconsult, Mr. Jeremy Bentham, was
+desirous that attorneys should be compelled to disclose on oath whatever
+guilty secrets might be confided to them by their clients; the only
+objection to which ingenious device for the conviction of rogues being,
+that if such a power existed, there would be no secrets to disclose; and,
+as a necessary consequence, that the imperfectly-informed attorney would
+be unable to render his client the justice to which every person, however
+criminal, is clearly entitled--that of having his or her case presented
+before the court appointed to decide upon it in the best and most
+advantageous manner possible. Let it not be forgotten either that the
+attorney is the only real, practical defender of the humble and needy
+against the illegal oppressions of the rich and powerful--the shrewd,
+indomitable agent who gives prosaic reality to the figurative eloquence
+of old Chancellor Fortescue, when he says, "that the lightning may flash
+through, the thunder shake, the tempest beat, upon the English peasant's
+hut, but the king of England, with all his army, cannot lift the latch to
+enter in." The chancellor of course meant, that in this country
+overbearing violence cannot defy, or put itself in the place of the law.
+This is quite true; and why? Chiefly because the attorney is ready, in
+all cases of provable illegality, with his potent strip of parchment
+summoning the great man before "her Sovereign Lady the Queen," there to
+answer for his acts; and the richer the offender, the more keen and eager
+Mr. Attorney to prosecute the suit, however needy his own client; for he
+is then sure of his costs, if he succeed! Again, I cheerfully admit the
+extreme vulgarity of the motive; but its effect in protecting the legal
+rights of the humble is not, I contend, lessened because the reward of
+exertion and success is counted out in good, honest sovereigns, or notes
+of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England.
+
+Thus much by way of conciliatory prologue to the narrative of a few
+incidents revealed in the attorney's privileged confessional; throughout
+which I have of course, in order to avoid any possible recognition of
+those events or incidents, changed the name of every person concerned.
+
+Our old city firm, then, which, I am happy to say, still flourishes
+under the able direction of our active successors, I will
+call--adopting the nomenclature appropriated to us by imaginative
+ladies and gentlemen who favor the world with fancy pen-and-ink
+portraits of the lawyer tribe--that of Flint and Sharp; Sharp being
+myself, and Flint the silver-haired old bachelor we buried a few weeks
+since in Kensal Green Cemetery.
+
+"Mr. Andrews," said a clerk as he threw open the door of the inner office
+one afternoon; "Mr. Jesse Andrews."
+
+"Good-day, Mr. Andrews," was my prompt and civil greeting: "I have good
+news for you. Take a chair."
+
+The good-humored, rather intelligent, and somewhat clouded countenance of
+the new-comer brightened up at these words. "News from my Cousin
+Archibald?" he asked, as he seated himself.
+
+"Yes: He laments your late failure, and commiserates the changed position
+and prospects of your wife and boy, little Archibald, his godson. You he
+has not much compassion for, inasmuch as he attributes your misfortunes
+entirely to mismanagement, and the want of common prudence."
+
+"Candid, certainly," grumbled out Mr. Jesse Andrews; "but an odd sort of
+good news!"
+
+"His deeds are kinder than his words. He will allow, till Archibald
+attains his majority--Let me see--how old is that boy of yours now?"
+
+"Ten. He was two years old when his godfather went to India."
+
+"Well, then, you will receive two hundred pounds per annum, payable
+half-yearly, in advance, for the next ten years--that is, of course, if
+your son lives--in order to enable you to bring him up, and educate him
+properly. After that period has elapsed, your cousin intimates that he
+will place the young man advantageously, and I do not doubt will do
+something for you, should you not by that time have conquered a fair
+position for yourself."
+
+"Is that all?" said Mr. Andrews.
+
+"All! Why, what did you expect?"
+
+"Two or three thousand pounds to set me afloat again. I know of a safe
+speculation, that with, say three thousand pounds capital, would realize
+a handsome fortune in no time."
+
+Mr. Jesse Andrews, I may observe, was one of that numerous class of
+persons who are always on the threshold of realizing millions--the only
+and constant obstacle being the want of a sufficient "capital."
+
+I condoled with him upon his disappointment; but as words, however civil,
+avail little in the way of "capital," Mr. Jesse Andrews, having pocketed
+the first half-yearly installment of the annuity, made his exit in by no
+means a gracious or grateful frame of mind.
+
+Two other half-yearly payments were duly paid him. When he handed me the
+receipt on the last occasion, he said, in a sort of off-hand, careless
+way, "I suppose, if Archy were to die, these payments would cease?"
+
+"Perhaps not," I replied unthinkingly. "At all events, not, I should say,
+till you and your wife were in some way provided for. But your son is not
+ill?" I added.
+
+"No, no; not at present," replied Andrews, coloring, and with a confusion
+of manner which surprised me not a little. It flashed across my mind that
+the boy was dead, and that Andrews, in order not to risk the withdrawal
+or suspension of the annuity, had concealed the fact from us.
+
+"Let me see," I resumed, "we have your present address--Norton
+Folgate, I think?"
+
+"Yes, certainly you have."
+
+"I shall very likely call in a day or two to see Mrs. Andrew! and
+your son."
+
+The man smiled in a reassured, half-sardonic manner. "Do," he answered.
+"Archy is alive, and very well, thank God!"
+
+This confidence dispelled the suspicion I had momentarily entertained,
+and five or six weeks passed away, during which Andrews and his
+affairs were almost as entirely absent from my thoughts as if no such
+man existed.
+
+About the expiration of that time, Mr. Jesse Andrews unexpectedly
+revisited the office, and as soon as I was disengaged, was ushered into
+my private room. He was habited in the deepest mourning, and it naturally
+struck me that either his wife or son was dead--an impression, however,
+which a closer examination of his countenance did not confirm, knowing as
+I did, how affectionate a husband and father he was, with all his faults
+and follies, reputed to be. He looked flurried, nervous, certainly; but
+there was no grief, no sorrow in the restless, disturbed glances which he
+directed to the floor, the ceiling, the window, the fire-place, the
+chairs, the table--everywhere, in fact, except towards my face.
+
+"What is the matter, Mr. Andrews?" I gravely inquired, seeing that he did
+not appear disposed to open the conversation.
+
+"A great calamity, sir--a great calamity," he hurriedly and confusedly
+answered, his face still persistently averted from me--"has happened!
+Archy is dead!"
+
+"Dead!" I exclaimed, considerably shocked. "God bless me! when did
+this happen?"
+
+"Three weeks ago," was the reply. "He died of cholera."
+
+"Of cholera!" This occurred, I should state, in 1830.
+
+"Yes: he was very assiduously attended throughout his sufferings,
+which were protracted and severe, by the eminent Dr. Parkinson, a
+highly-respectable and skilled practitioner, as you doubtless, sir,
+are aware."
+
+I could not comprehend the man. This dry, unconcerned, business-sort of
+gabble was not the language of a suddenly-bereaved parent, and one, too,
+who had lost a considerable annuity by his son's death. What could it
+mean? I was in truth fairly puzzled.
+
+After a considerable interval of silence, which Mr. Andrews, whose eyes
+continued to wander in every direction except that of mine, showed no
+inclination to break, I said--"It will be necessary for me to write
+immediately to your cousin, Mr. Archibald Andrews. I trust, for your
+sake, the annuity will be continued; but of course, till I hear from him,
+the half-yearly payments must be suspended."
+
+"Certainly, certainly: I naturally expected that would be the case," said
+Andrews, still in the same quick, hurried tone. "Quite so."
+
+"You have nothing further to say, I suppose?" I remarked, after another
+dead pause, during which it was very apparent that he was laboring with
+something to which he nervously hesitated to give utterance.
+
+"No--yes--that is, I wished to consult you upon a matter of
+business--connected with--with a life-assurance office."
+
+"A life-assurance office?"
+
+"Yes." The man's pale face flushed crimson, and his speech became
+more and more hurried as he went on. "Yes; fearing, Mr. Sharp, that
+should Archy die, we might be left without resource, I resolved,
+after mature deliberation, to effect an insurance on his life for
+four thousand pounds."
+
+"Four thousand pounds!"
+
+"Yes. All necessary preliminaries were gone through. The medical
+gentleman--since dead of the cholera, by the way--examined the boy of
+course, and the insurance was legally effected for four thousand pounds,
+payable at his death."
+
+I did not speak; a suspicion too horrible to be hinted at held me dumb.
+
+"Unfortunately," Andrews continued, "this insurance was only effected
+about a fortnight before poor Archy's death, and the office refuses
+payment, although, as I have told you, the lad was attended to the very
+hour of his death by Dr. Parkinson, a highly-respectable, most
+unexceptionable gentleman. Very much so indeed."
+
+"I quite agree in that," I answered after a while. "Dr. Parkinson is a
+highly-respectable and eminent man. What reason," I added, "do the
+company assign for non-payment?"
+
+"The very recent completion of the policy."
+
+"Nonsense! How can that fact, standing alone, affect your claim?"
+
+"I do not know," Andrews replied; and all this time I had not been able
+to look fairly in his face; "but they do refuse; and I am anxious that
+your firm should take the matter in hand, and sue them for the amount."
+
+"I must first see Dr. Parkinson," I answered, "and convince myself that
+there is no legitimate reason for repudiating the policy."
+
+"Certainly, certainly," he replied.
+
+"I will write to you to-morrow," I said, rising to terminate the
+conference, "after I have seen Dr. Parkinson, and state whether we will
+or not take proceedings against the insurance company on your behalf."
+
+He thanked me, and hurried off.
+
+Dr. Parkinson confirmed Mr. Jesse Andrews in every particular. He had
+attended the boy, a fine, light-haired lad of eleven or twelve years of
+age, from not long after his seizure till his death. He suffered
+dreadfully, and died unmistakably of Asiatic cholera, and of nothing
+else; of which same disease a servant and a female lodger in the same
+house had died just previously. "It is of course," Dr. Parkinson remarked
+in conclusion, "as unfortunate for the company as it is strangely lucky
+for Andrews; but there is no valid reason for refusing payment."
+
+Upon this representation we wrote the next day to the assurance people,
+threatening proceedings on behalf of Mr. Jesse Andrews.
+
+Early on the morrow one of the managing-directors called on us, to state
+the reasons which induced the company to hesitate at recognizing the
+plaintiff's claim. In addition to the doubts suggested by the brief time
+which had elapsed from the date of the policy to the death of the child,
+there were several other slight circumstances of corroborative suspicion.
+The chief of these was, that a neighbor had declared he heard the father
+indulging in obstreperous mirth in a room adjoining that in which the
+corpse lay only about two hours after his son had expired. This unseemly,
+scandalous hilarity of her husband, the wife appeared to faintly
+remonstrate against. The directors had consequently resolved _non
+obstante_ Dr. Parkinson's declaration, who might, they argued, have been
+deceived, to have the body exhumed in order to a post-mortem examination
+as to the true cause of death. If the parents voluntarily agreed to this
+course, a judicial application to enforce it would be unnecessary, and
+all doubts on the matter could be quietly set at rest. I thought the
+proposal, under the circumstances, reasonable, and called on Mr. and Mrs.
+Andrews to obtain their concurrence. Mrs. Andrews was, I found, absent
+in the country, but her husband was at home; and he, on hearing the
+proposal, was, I thought, a good deal startled--shocked rather--a natural
+emotion perhaps.
+
+"Who--who," he said, after a few moments' silent reflection--"who is to
+conduct this painful, revolting inquiry?"
+
+"Dr. Parkinson will be present, with Mr. Humphrey the surgeon, and Dr.
+Curtis the newly-appointed physician to the assurance office, in place of
+Dr. Morgan who died, as you are aware, a short time since of cholera."
+
+"True. Ah, well, then," he answered almost with alacrity, "be it as they
+wish. Dr. Parkinson will see fair-play."
+
+The examination was effected, and the result was a confirmation, beyond
+doubt or quibble, that death, as Dr. Parkinson had declared, had been
+solely occasioned by cholera. The assurance company still hesitated; but
+as this conduct could now only be looked upon as perverse obstinacy, we
+served them with a writ at once. They gave in; and the money was handed
+over to Mr. Jesse Andrews, whose joy at his sudden riches did not, I was
+forced to admit, appear to be in the slightest degree damped by any
+feeling of sadness for the loss of an only child.
+
+We wrote to inform Mr. Archibald Andrews of these occurrences, and to
+request further instructions with regard to the annuity hitherto paid to
+his cousin. A considerable time would necessarily elapse before an
+answer could be received, and in the meantime Mr. Jesse Andrews plunged
+headlong into the speculation he had been long hankering to engage in,
+and was as he informed me a few weeks afterwards, on the royal road to a
+magnificent fortune.
+
+Clouds soon gathered over this brilliant prospect. The partner, whose
+persuasive tongue and brilliant imagination had induced Mr. Andrews to
+join him with his four thousand pounds, proved to be an arrant cheat and
+swindler; and Mr. Andrews's application to us for legal help and redress
+was just too late to prevent the accomplished dealer in moonshine and
+delusion from embarking at Liverpool for America, with every penny of the
+partnership funds in his pockets!
+
+A favorable reply from Mr. Archibald Andrews had now become a question of
+vital importance to his cousin, who very impatiently awaited its arrival.
+It came at last. Mr. Andrews had died rather suddenly at Bombay a short
+time before my letter arrived there, after executing in triplicate a
+will, of which one of the copies was forwarded to me. By this instrument
+his property--about thirty-five thousand pounds, the greatest portion of
+which had been remitted from time to time for investment in the British
+funds--was disposed of as follows:--Five thousand pounds to his cousin
+Jesse Andrews, for the purpose of educating and maintaining Archibald
+Andrews, the testator's godson, till he should have attained the age of
+twentyone, and the whole of the remaining thirty thousand pounds to be
+then paid over to Archibald with accumulated interest. In the event,
+however, of the death of his godson, the entire property was devised to
+another more distant and wealthier cousin, Mr. Newton, and his son
+Charles, on precisely similar conditions, with the exception that an
+annuity of seventy pounds, payable to Jesse Andrews and his wife during
+their lives, was charged upon it.
+
+Two letters were dispatched the same evening--one to the fortunate
+cousin, Mr. Newton, who lived within what was then known as the twopenny
+post delivery, and another to Mr. Jesse Andrews, who had taken up his
+temporary abode in a cottage near St. Alban's, Hertfordshire. These
+missives informed both gentlemen of the arrival of the Indian mail, and
+the, to them, important dispatches it contained.
+
+Mr. Newton was early at the office on the following morning, and perused
+the will with huge content. He was really quite sorry, though, for poor
+Cousin Jesse: the loss of his son was a sad stroke, much worse than this
+of a fortune which he might have expected to follow as a matter of
+course. And the annuity, Mr. Newton thoughtfully observed, was, after
+all, no contemptible provision for two persons, without family, and of
+modest requirements.
+
+A very different scene was enacted when, late in the evening, and just as
+I was about to leave the office, Mr. Jesse Andrews rushed in, white as a
+sheet, haggard, and wild with passion. "What devil's fables are these you
+write me?" he, burst forth the instant he had gained the threshold of the
+room. "How dare you," he went on, almost shrieking with fury--"how dare
+you attempt to palm off these accursed lies on me? Archy rich--rich--and
+I--. But it is a lie!--an infernal device got up to torture me--to
+drive me wild, distracted--mad!" The excited man literally foamed with
+rage, and so astonished was I, that it was a minute or two before I could
+speak or move.
+
+At last I rose, closed the door, (for the clerks in the outer office were
+hearers and witnesses of this outbreak,) and led the way to an inner and
+more private apartment. "Come with me, Mr. Andrews," I said, "and let us
+talk this matter calmly over."
+
+He mechanically followed, threw himself into a chair, and listened with
+frenzied impatience to the reading of the will.
+
+"A curse is upon me," he shouted, jumping up as I concluded, "the curse
+of God--a judgment upon the crime I but the other day committed--a crime
+as I thought--dolt, idiot that I was--so cunningly contrived, so cleverly
+executed! Fool, villain, madman that I have been; for now, when fortune
+is tendered for my acceptance, I dare not put forth my hand to grasp it;
+fortune, too, not only for me, but--. O God, it will kill us both, Martha
+as well as me, though I alone am to blame for this infernal chance!"
+
+This outburst appeared to relieve him, and he sank back into his chair
+somewhat calmer. I could understand nothing of all that rhapsody,
+knowing, as I did, that his son Archibald had died from natural causes.
+"It _is_ a severe blow," I said, in as soothing a tone as I could
+assume--"a very great disappointment; still, you are secured from extreme
+poverty--from anything like absolute want"--
+
+"It is not that--it is not that!" he broke in, though not quite so wildly
+as before. "Look you, Mr. Sharp, I will tell you all! There may be some
+mode of extrication from this terrible predicament, and I must have your
+advice professionally upon it."
+
+"Go on; I will advise you to the best of my ability."
+
+"Here it is, then: Archy, my son Archy, is alive!--alive! and well in
+health as either you or I!"
+
+I was thunderstruck. Here was indeed a revelation.
+
+"Alive and well," continued Andrews. "Listen! when the cholera began to
+spread so rapidly, I bethought me of insuring the boy's life in case of
+the worst befalling, but not, as I hope for mercy, with the slightest
+thought of harming a hair of his head. This was done. Very soon the
+terrific disease approached our neighborhood, and my wife took Archy to a
+country lodging, returning herself the same evening. The next day our
+only servant was attacked and died. A few hours after that our
+first-floor lodger, a widow of the name of Mason, who had been with us
+but a very short time, was attacked. She suffered dreadfully; and her
+son, a boy about the age of Archy, and with just his hair and
+complexion, took ill also. The woman was delirious with pain; and before
+effective medical aid could be obtained--she was seized in the middle of
+the night--she expired. Her son who had been removed into another room,
+became rapidly worse, and we sent for Dr. Parkinson; the poor fellow was
+partially delirious with pain, and clung piteously round my wife's neck,
+calling her mother, and imploring her to relieve him. Dr. Parkinson
+arrived, and at first sight of the boy, said, 'Your son is very ill,
+Mrs. Andrews--I fear, past recovery; but we will see what can be done.' I
+swear to you, Mr. Sharp, that it was not till this moment the device
+which has ruined us, flashed across my brain. I cautioned my wife in a
+whisper not to undeceive the doctor, who prescribed the most active
+remedies, and was in the room, when the lad died. You know the rest. And
+now, sir, tell me, can anything be done--any device suggested to retrieve
+this miserable blunder, this terrible mistake?"
+
+"This infamous crime, you should say, Mr. Andrews," I replied; "for the
+commission of which you are liable to be transported for life."
+
+"Yes, crime; no doubt that is the true word! But must the innocent child
+suffer for his father's offence?"
+
+"That is the only consideration that could induce me to wag a finger in
+the business. Like many other clever rogues, you are caught in the trap
+you limed for others. Come to me tomorrow; I will think over the matter
+between this and then; but at present I can say nothing. Stay," I added,
+as his hand was on the door; "the identity of your son can be proved, I
+suppose, by better evidence than your own?"
+
+"Certainly, certainly."
+
+"That, will do, then; I will see you in the morning."
+
+If it should cross the mind of any reader that I ought to have given
+this self-confessed felon into custody, I beg to remind him that, for the
+reasons previously stated, such a course on my part was out of the
+question--impossible; and that, had it not been impossible I should do
+so, Mr. Jesse Andrews would not have intrusted me with his criminal
+secret. The only question now therefore was, how, without compromising
+this guilty client, the godfather's legacy could be secured for the
+innocent son.
+
+A conference the next morning with Mr. Flint resulted in our sending for
+Mr. Jesse Andrews, and advising him, for fear of accidents or
+miscarriage in our plans, to betake himself to the kingdom of France for
+a short time. We had then no treaty of extradition with that country. As
+soon as I knew he was safely out of the realm, I waited upon the
+insurance people.
+
+"The money ought not to have been received by Jesse Andrews, you say, Mr.
+Sharp?" observed the managing-gentleman, looking keenly in my face.
+
+"Precisely. It ought not to have been received by him."
+
+"And _why_ not, Mr. Sharp?"
+
+"That is quite an unnecessary question, and one that, you know, I should
+not answer, if I could. That which chiefly concerns you is, that I am
+ready to return the four thousand pounds at once, here on the spot, and
+that delays are dangerous. If you refuse, why, of course--and I rose from
+my chair--I must take back the money."
+
+"Stay--stay! I will just consult with one or two gentlemen, and be with
+you again almost immediately."
+
+In about five minutes he returned. "Well, Mr. Sharp," he said, "we had,
+I suppose; better take the money--obtained, as you say, by mistake."
+
+"Not at all; I said nothing about mistake. I told you it ought not to
+have been received by Andrews!"
+
+"Well--well. I understand. I must, I suppose, give you a receipt?"
+
+"Undoubtedly; and, if you please, precisely in this form."
+
+I handed him a copy on a slip of paper. He ran it over, smiled,
+transcribed it on a stamp, signed it, and, as I handed him a check for
+the amount, placed it in my hands. We mutually bowed, and I went my way.
+
+Notwithstanding Mr. Newton's opposition, who was naturally furious at the
+unexpected turn the affair had taken, the identity of the boy--whom that
+gentleman persisted in asserting to be dead and buried--was clearly
+established; and Mr. Archibald Andrews, on the day he became of age,
+received possession of his fortune. The four thousand pounds had of
+course been repaid out of Jesse Andrews's legacy. That person has, so to
+speak, since skulked through life, a mark for the covert scorn of every
+person acquainted with the very black transaction here recorded. This was
+doubtless a much better fate than he deserved; and in strict, or poetical
+justice, his punishment ought unquestionably to have been much
+greater--more apparent also, than it was, for example's sake. But I am a
+man not of fiction, but of fact, and consequently relate events, not as
+they precisely ought, but as they do, occasionally occur in lawyers'
+offices, and other unpoetical nooks and corners of this prosaic,
+matter-of-fact, working-day world.
+
+
+
+
+BIGAMY OR NO BIGAMY?
+
+
+The firm of Flint and Sharp enjoyed, whether deservedly or not, when I
+was connected with it, as it still does, a high reputation for keen
+practice and shrewd business-management. This kind of professional fame
+is usually far more profitable than the drum-and-trumpet variety of the
+same article; or at least we found it so; and often, from blush of morn
+to far later than dewy eve--which natural phenomena, by the way, were
+only emblematically observed by me during thirty busy years in the
+extinguishment of the street lamps at dawn, and their re-illumination at
+dusk--did I and my partner incessantly pursue our golden avocations;
+deferring what are usually esteemed the pleasures of life--its banquets,
+music, flowers, and lettered ease--till the toil, and heat, and hurry of
+the day were past, and a calm, luminous evening, unclouded by care or
+anxiety, had arrived. This conduct may or may not have been wise; but at
+all events it daily increased the connection and transactions of the
+firm, and ultimately anchored us both very comfortably in the three per
+cents; and this too, I am bold to say, not without our having effected
+some good in our generation. This boast of mine the following passage in
+the life of a distinguished client--known, I am quite sure, by reputation
+to most of the readers of these papers, whom our character for practical
+sagacity and professional shrewdness brought us--will, I think, be
+admitted in some degree to substantiate.
+
+Our connection was a mercantile rather than an aristocratic one, and my
+surprise was therefore considerable, when, on looking through the
+office-blinds to ascertain what vehicle it was that had driven so rapidly
+up to the door, I observed a handsomely-appointed carriage with a coronet
+emblazoned on the panels, out of which a tall footman was handing a lady
+attired in deep but elegant mourning, and closely veiled. I instantly
+withdrew to my private room, and desired that the lady should be
+immediately admitted. Greatly was my surprise increased when the graceful
+and still youthful visitor withdrew her veil, and disclosed the features
+of the Countess of Seyton, upon whose mild, luminous beauty, as rendered
+by the engraving from Sir Thomas Lawrence's picture, I had so frequently
+gazed with admiration. That rare and touching beauty was clouded now; and
+an intense expression of anxiety, fear--almost terror--gleamed from out
+the troubled depths of her fine dark eyes.
+
+"The Countess of Seyton!" I half-involuntarily exclaimed, as with my very
+best bow I handed her ladyship a chair.
+
+"Yes; and you are a partner of this celebrated firm, are you not?"
+
+I bowed again still more profoundly to this compliment, and modestly
+admitted that I was the Sharp of the firm her ladyship was pleased to
+entitle "celebrated."
+
+"Then, Mr. Sharp, I have to consult you professionally upon a matter of
+the utmost--the most vital importance to me and mine." Her ladyship then,
+with some confusion of manner, as if she did not know whether what she
+was doing was in accordance with strict etiquette or not, placed a Bank
+of England note, by way of retainer, before me. I put it back, explaining
+what the usage really was, and the countess replaced it in her purse.
+
+"We shall he proud to render your ladyship any assistance in our power,"
+I said; "but I understood the Messrs. Jackson enjoyed the confidence of
+the house of Seyton?"
+
+"Precisely. They are, so to speak, the hereditary solicitors of the
+family more than of any individual member of it; and therefore, though
+highly respectable persons, unfit to advise me in this particular matter.
+Besides," she added with increasing tremor and hesitation, "to deal with,
+and if possible foil, the individual by whom I am persecuted, requires an
+agent of keener sagacity than either of those gentlemen can boast of;
+sharper, more resolute men; more--you understand what I mean?"
+
+"Perfectly, madam; and allow me to suggest that it is probable our
+interview may be a somewhat prolonged one--your ladyship's carriage,
+which may attract attention, should be at once dismissed. The office of
+the family solicitors is, you are aware, not far off; and as we could not
+explain to them the reason which induces your ladyship to honor us with
+your confidence, it will be as well to avoid any chance of inquiry."
+
+Lady Seyton acquiesced in my suggestion: the carriage was ordered home,
+and Mr. Flint entering just at the time, we both listened with
+earnestness and anxiety to her communication. It is needless to repeat
+verbatim the somewhat prolix, exclamative narration of the countess; the
+essential facts were as follows:--
+
+The Countess of Seyton, previous to her first marriage, was Miss Clara
+Hayley, second daughter of the Reverend John Hayley, the rector of a
+parish in Devonshire. She married, when only nineteen years of age, a
+Captain Gosford. Her husband was ten years older than herself, and, as
+she discovered after marriage, was cursed with a morose and churlish
+temper and disposition. Previous to her acquaintance with Gosford, she
+had been intimate with, almost betrothed to, Mr. Arthur Kingston, a young
+gentleman connected with the peerage, and at that time heir-apparent to
+the great expectancies and actual poverty of his father, Sir Arthur
+Kingston. The haughty baronet, the instant he was made aware of the
+nature of his son's intimacy with the rector's daughter, packed the young
+man off to the continent on his travels. The Reverend John Hayley and his
+beautiful Clara were as proud as the baronet, and extremely indignant
+that it should be thought either of them wished to entrap or delude
+Arthur Kingston into an unequal or ineligible marriage. This feeling of
+pride and resentment aided the success of Mr. Gosford's suit, and Clara
+Hayley, like many other rash, high-notioned young ladies, doomed herself
+to misery, in order to show the world, and Mr. Arthur Kingston and his
+proud father especially, that she had a spirit. The union was a most
+unhappy one. One child only, which died in its infancy, was born to them;
+and after being united somewhat more than two years, a separation,
+vehemently insisted on by the wife's father, took place, and the
+unhappily-wedded daughter returned to her parent's roof. Mr. Gosford--he
+had some time before sold out of the army--traveled about the country in
+search of amusement, and latterly of health, (for his unhappy cankerous
+temper at last affected and broke down his never very robust physical
+constitution), accompanied for the twelvemonth preceding his death by a
+young man belonging to the medical profession, of the name of Chilton.
+Mr. and Mrs. Gosford had been separated a few days less than three years
+when the husband died, at the village of Swords in Ireland, and not far
+distant from Dublin. The intelligence was first conveyed to the widow by
+a paragraph in the "Freeman's Journal," a Dublin newspaper; and by the
+following post a letter arrived from Mr. Chilton, inclosing a ring which
+the deceased had requested should be sent to his wife, and a note,
+dictated just previous to his death-hour, in which he expressed regret
+for the past, and admitted that he alone had been to blame for the
+unhappy separation. A copy of his will, made nearly a twelvemonth
+previously, was also forwarded, by which he bequeathed his property,
+amounting to about three hundred pounds per annum, to a distant relative
+then residing in New Holland. By a memorandum of a subsequent date, Mr.
+Chilton was to have all the money and other personals he might die in
+actual possession of, after defraying the necessary funeral expenses.
+This will, Mr. Chilton stated, the deceased gentleman had expressed a
+wish in his last moments to alter, but death had been too sudden for him
+to be able to give effect to that good, but too long-delayed intention.
+
+It cannot be supposed that the long-before practically widowed wife
+grieved much at the final breaking of the chain which bound her to so
+ungenial a mate; but as Lady Seyton was entirely silent upon the subject,
+our supposition can only rest upon the fact, that Arthur Kingston--who
+had some time previously, in consequence of the death of the Earl of
+Seyton and his only son, an always-weakly child, preceded a few months by
+that of his own father, the baronet, succeeded to the earldom and
+estates--hastened home, on seeing the announcement of Gosford's death in
+the Dublin paper, from the continent, where he had continued to reside
+since his compelled-departure six years before; and soon afterwards found
+his way into Devonshire, and so successfully pressed the renewed offer of
+his hand, that the wedding took place slightly within six months after
+the decease of Mr. Gosford. Life passed brilliantly and happily with the
+earl and countess--to whom three children (a boy and two girls) were
+born--till about five months previous to the present time, when the earl,
+from being caught, when out riding, in a drenching shower of rain, was
+attacked by fever, and after an acute illness of only two or three days'
+duration, expired. The present earl was at the time just turned of five
+years of age.
+
+This blow, we comprehended from the sudden tears which filled the
+beautiful eyes of the countess as she spoke of the earl's decease, was a
+severe one. Still, the grief of widowhood must have been greatly assuaged
+by love for her children, and not inconsiderably, after a while, we may
+be sure, by the brilliant position in which she was left--as, in addition
+to being splendidly jointured, she was appointed by her husband's will
+sole guardian of the young lord, her son.
+
+A terrible reverse awaited her. She was sitting with her father the
+rector, and her still unmarried sister, Jane Hayley, in the drawing-room
+of Seyton House, when a note was brought to her, signed Edward Chilton,
+the writer of which demanded an immediate and private interview, on, he
+alleged, the most important business. Lady Seyton remembered the name,
+and immediately acceded to the man's request. He announced in a brusque,
+insolent tone and manner, that Mr. Gosford had not died at the time his
+death was announced to her, having then only fallen into a state of
+syncope, from which he had unexpectedly recovered, and had lived six
+months longer. "The truth is," added Chilton, "that, chancing the other
+day to be looking over a 'peerage,' I noticed for the first time the date
+of your marriage with the late Earl of Seyton, and I have now to inform
+you that it took place precisely eight days previous to Mr. Gosford's
+death; that it was consequently no marriage at all; and that your son is
+no more Earl of Seyton than I am."
+
+This dreadful announcement, as one might expect, completely overcame the
+countess. She fainted, but not till she had heard and comprehended
+Chilton's hurried injunctions to secrecy and silence. He rang the bell
+for assistance, and then left the house. The mental agony of Lady Seyton
+on recovering consciousness was terrible, and she with great difficulty
+succeeded in concealing its cause from her anxious and wondering
+relatives. Another interview with Chilton appeared to confirm the truth
+of his story beyond doubt or question. He produced a formally-drawn-up
+document, signed by one Pierce Cunningham, grave-digger of Swords, which
+set forth that Charles Gosford was buried on the 26th of June, 1832, and
+that the inscription on his tombstone set forth that he had died June 23d
+of that year. Also a written averment of Patrick Mullins of Dublin, that
+he had lettered the stone at the head of the grave of Charles Gosford in
+Swords burying-ground in 1832, and that its date was, as stated by Pierce
+Cunningham, June 23, 1832.
+
+"Have you copies of those documents?" asked Mr. Flint.
+
+"Yes: I have brought them with me," the countess replied, and handed them
+to Mr. Flint. "In my terror and extremity," continued her ladyship, "and
+unguided by counsel--for, till now I have not dared to speak upon the
+subject to any person--I have given this Chilton, at various times, large
+sums of money--but he is insatiable; and only yesterday--I cannot
+repeat his audacious proposal--you will find it in this note."
+
+"Marriage!" exclaimed Mr. Flint with a burst. He had read the note over
+my shoulder. "The scoundrel!"
+
+My worthy partner was rather excited. The truth was he had a Clara of
+his own at home--a dead sister's child--very pretty, just about
+marriageable, and a good deal resembling, as he told me afterwards, our
+new and interesting client.
+
+"I would die a thousand deaths rather," resumed Lady Seyton, in a low,
+tremulous voice, as she let fall her veil. "Can there," she added in a
+still fainter voice, "be anything done--anything"--
+
+"That depends entirely," interrupted Mr. Flint, "upon whether this fine
+story is or is not a fabrication, got up for the purpose of extorting
+money. It seems to me, I must say, amazingly like one."
+
+"Do you really think so?" exclaimed the lady with joyful vehemence. The
+notion that Chilton was perhaps imposing on her credulity and fears
+seemed not to have struck her before.
+
+"What do you think, Sharp?" said my partner.
+
+I hesitated to give an opinion, as I did not share in the hope
+entertained by Flint. Detection was so certain, that I doubted if so
+cunning a person as Chilton appeared to be would have ventured on a fraud
+so severely punishable. "Suppose," I said, avoiding an answer, "as this
+note appoints an interview at three o'clock to-day at Seyton House, we
+meet him there instead of your ladyship? A little talk with the fellow
+might be serviceable."
+
+Lady Seyton eagerly agreed to this proposal; and it was arranged that we
+should be at Seyton House half an hour before the appointed time, in
+readiness for the gentleman. Lady Seyton left in a hackney-coach,
+somewhat relieved, I thought, by having confided the oppressive secret to
+us, and with a nascent hope slightly flushing her pale, dejected
+countenance.
+
+The firm of Flint and Sharp had then a long conference together, during
+which the lady's statement and Mr. Chilton's documents were, the reader
+may be sure, very minutely conned over, analyzed, and commented upon.
+Finally, it was resolved that, if the approaching interview, the manner
+of which we agreed upon, did not prove satisfactory, Mr. Flint should
+immediately proceed to Ireland, and personally ascertain the truth or
+falsehood of the facts alleged by Chilton.
+
+"Mr. Chilton is announced," said Lady Seyton, hurriedly entering the
+library in Grosvenor Square, where Mr. Flint and myself were seated. "I
+need not be present, I think you said?" she added, in great tremor.
+
+"Certainly not, madam," I replied. "We shall do better alone."
+
+She retired instantly. Flint rose and stationed himself close by the
+door. Presently a sounding, confident step was heard along the passage,
+the library door swung back on its noiseless hinges, and in stalked a man
+of apparently about thirty-five years of age, tall, genteel, and
+soldier-looking. He started back on seeing me, recognizing, I perceived,
+my vocation, at a glance.
+
+"How is this?" he exclaimed. "I expected"--
+
+"The Countess of Seyton. True; but her ladyship has deputed me to confer
+with you on the business mentioned in your note."
+
+"I shall have nothing to say to you," he replied abruptly, and turned
+to leave the room. Mr. Flint had shut, and was standing with his back
+to the door.
+
+"You can't go," he said, in his coolest manner. "The police are
+within call."
+
+"The police! What the devil do you mean?" cried Chilton, angrily; but,
+spite of his assurance, visibly trembling beneath Flint's searching,
+half-sneering look.
+
+"Nothing very remarkable," replied that gentleman, "or unusual in our
+profession. Come, sit down; we are lawyers; you are a man of business, we
+know. I dare say we shall soon understand each other."
+
+Mr. Chilton sat down, and moodily awaited what was next to come.
+
+"You are aware," said Mr. Flint, "that you have rendered yourself liable
+to transportation?"
+
+"What"' exclaimed Chilton, flashing crimson, and starting to his
+feet. "What!"
+
+"To transportation," continued my imperturbable partner, "for seven, ten,
+fourteen years, or for life, at the discretion of the judge; but,
+considering the frequency of the crime of late, I should say there is a
+strong probability that _you_ will be a _lifer_!"
+
+"What devil's gibberish is this?" exclaimed Chilton, frightened, but
+still fierce. "I can prove everything I have said. Mr. Gosford, I
+tell you"--
+
+"Well, well," interrupted Mr. Flint; "put it in that light, how you
+please; turn it which way you will; it's like the key in Blue Beard,
+which, I dare say, you have read of; rub it out on one side, and up it
+comes on the other. Say, by way of argument, that you have _not_ obtained
+money by unfounded threats--a crime which the law holds tantamount to
+highway robbery. You have in that case obtained money for compromising a
+felony--that of polygamy. An awful position, my good sir, choose which
+you will."
+
+Utterly chop-fallen was the lately triumphant man; but he speedily
+rallied.
+
+"I care not," he at length said. "Punish me you may; but the pride of
+this sham countess and the sham earl will be brought low. And I tell you
+once for all," he added, rising at the same time, and speaking in
+ringing, wrathful tones, "that I defy you, and will either be handsomely
+remunerated for silence, or I will at once inform the Honorable James
+Kingston that he is the true Earl of Seyton."
+
+"And I tell _you_," retorted Flint, "that if you attempt to leave this
+room, I will give you into custody at once, and transport you, whatever
+may be the consequence to others. Come, come, let us have no more
+nonsense or bluster. We have strong reasons for believing that the story
+by which you have been extorting money, is a fabrication. If it be so,
+rely upon it we shall detect and punish you. Your only safe course is to
+make a clean breast of it whilst there is yet time. Out with it, man, at
+once, and you shall go Scot-free; nay, have a few score pounds more--say
+a hundred. Be wise in time, I counsel you."
+
+Chilton hesitated; his white lips quivered. There _was_ something
+to reveal.
+
+"I cannot," he muttered, after a considerable pause. "There is nothing to
+disclose."
+
+"You will not! Then your fate be on your own head. I have done with you."
+
+It was now my turn. "Come, come," I said, "it is useless urging this
+man further. How much do you expect? The insolent proposal contained
+in your note is, you well know, out of the question. How much _money_
+do you expect for keeping this wretched affair secret? State your
+terms at once."
+
+"A thousand per annum," was the reply, "and the first year down."
+
+"Modest, upon my word! But I suppose we must comply." I wrote out an
+agreement. "Will you sign this?"
+
+He ran it over. "Yes; Lady Seyton, as she calls herself, will take care
+it never sees the light."
+
+I withdrew, and in two or three minutes returned with a check. "Her
+ladyship has no present cash at the bankers," I said, "and is obliged to
+post-date this check twelve days."
+
+The rascal grumbled a good deal; but as there was no help for it, he took
+the security, signed the agreement, and walked off.
+
+"A sweet nut that for the devil to crack," observed Mr. Flint, looking
+savagely after him. "I am in hopes we shall trounce him yet, bravely as
+he carries it. The check of course is not payable to order or bearer"
+
+"Certainly not; and before twelve days are past, you will have returned
+from Ireland. The agreement may be, I thought, of use with Cunningham or
+Mullins. If they have been conspiring together, they will scarcely admire
+the light in which you can place the arrangement, as affording proof that
+he means to keep the lion's share of the reward to himself."
+
+"Exactly. At all events we shall get at the truth, whatever it be."
+
+The same evening Mr. Flint started for Dublin _viâ_ Holyhead.
+
+I received in due course a letter from him dated the day after his
+arrival there. It was anything but a satisfactory one. The date on the
+grave-stone had been truly represented, and Mullins who erected it was a
+highly respectable man. Flint had also seen the grave-digger, but could
+make nothing out of him. There was no regular register of deaths kept in
+Swords except that belonging to Cunningham; and the minister who buried
+Gosford, and who lived at that time in Dublin, had been dead some time.
+This was disheartening and melancholy enough; and, as if to give our
+unfortunate client the _coup-de-grace_, Mr. Jackson, junior, marched into
+the office just after I had read it, to say that, having been referred by
+Lady Seyton to us for explanations, with respect to a statement made by a
+Mr. Edward Chilton to the Honorable James Kingston, for whom they, the
+Messrs. Jackson, were now acting, by which it appeared that the said
+Honorable James Kingston was, in fact, the true Earl of Seyton, he, Mr.
+Jackson, junior, would be happy to hear what I had to say upon the
+subject! It needed but this. Chilton had, as I feared he would, after
+finding we had been consulted, sold his secret, doubtless advantageously,
+to the heir-at-law. There was still, however, a chance that something
+favorable might turn up, and, as I had no notion of throwing that chance
+away, I carelessly replied that we had reason to believe Chilton's story
+was a malicious fabrication, and that we should of course throw on them
+the onus of judicial proof that Gosford was still alive when the late
+earl's marriage was solemnized. Finally, however, to please Mr. Jackson,
+who professed to be very anxious, for the lady's sake, to avoid
+unnecessary éclat, and to arrange the affair as quietly as possible, I
+agreed to meet him at Lady Seyton's in four days from that time, and hear
+the evidence upon which he relied. This could not at all events render
+our position worse; and it was, meanwhile, agreed that the matter should
+be kept as far as possible profoundly secret.
+
+Three days passed without any further tidings from Mr. Flint, and I
+vehemently feared that his journey had proved a fruitless one, when, on
+the evening previous to the day appointed for the conference at Seyton
+House, a hackney-coach drove rapidly up to the office door, and out
+popped Mr. Flint, followed by two strangers, whom he very watchfully
+escorted into the house.
+
+"Mr. Patrick Mullins and Mr. Pierce Cunningham," said Flint as he shook
+hands with me in a way which, in conjunction with the merry sparkle of
+his eyes, and the boisterous tone of his voice, assured me all was right.
+"Mr. Pierce Cunningham will sleep here to-night," he added; "so Collins
+had better engage a bed out."
+
+Cunningham, an ill-looking lout of a fellow, muttered, that he chose "to
+sleep at a tavern."
+
+"Not if I know it, my fine fellow," rejoined Mr. Flint. "You mean well, I
+dare say; but I cannot lose sight of you for all that. You either sleep
+here or at a station-house."
+
+The man stared with surprise and alarm; but knowing refusal or resistance
+to be hopeless, sullenly assented to the arrangement, and withdrew to the
+room appointed for him, vigilantly guarded. For Mr. Mullins we engaged a
+bed at a neighboring tavern.
+
+Mr. Flint's mission had been skillfully and successfully accomplished. He
+was convinced, by the sullen confusion of manner manifested by
+Cunningham, that some villainous agency had been at work, and he again
+waited on Mullins, the stone-cutter. "Who gave you the order for the
+grave-stone?" he asked. Mr. Mullins referred to his book, and answered
+that he received it by letter. "Had he got that letter?" "Very likely,"
+he replied, "as he seldom destroyed business papers of any kind." "A
+search was instituted, and finally this letter," said Mr. Flint, "worth
+an earl's coronet, torn and dirty as it is, turned up." This invaluable
+document, which bore the London postdate of June 23, 1832, ran as
+follows:--
+
+"Anglesea Hotel, Haymarket, London, _June_ 23, 1832.
+
+"Sir--Please to erect a plain tomb-stone at the head of Charles
+Gosford, Esquire's grave, who died a few month's since at Swords, aged
+thirty-two years. This is all that need be inscribed upon it. You are
+referred to Mr. Guinness of Sackville Street, Dublin, for payment. Your
+obedient servant,
+
+"Edward Chilton."
+
+"You see," continued Flint, "the fellow had inadvertently left out the
+date of Gosford's death, merely stating it occurred a few months
+previously; and Mullins concluded that, in entering the order in his
+day-book, he must have somehow or other confounded the date of the letter
+with that of Gosford's decease. Armed with this precious discovery, I
+again sought Cunningham, and by dint of promises and threats, at last got
+the truth out of the rascal. It was this:--Chilton, who returned to this
+country from the Cape, where he had resided for three years previously,
+about two months ago, having some business to settle in Dublin, went over
+there, and one day visited Swords, read the inscription on Charles
+Gosford's grave-stone, and immediately sought out the grave-digger, and
+asked him if he had any record of that gentleman's burial. Cunningham
+said he had, and produced his book, by which it appeared that it took
+place December 24, 1831. "That cannot be," remarked Chilton, and he
+referred to the head-stone. Cunningham said he had noticed the mistake a
+few days after it was erected; but thinking it of no consequence, and
+never having, that he knew of, seen Mr. Mullins since, he had said, and
+indeed thought, nothing about it. To conclude the story--Chilton
+ultimately, by payment of ten pounds down, and liberal promises for the
+future, prevailed upon the grave-digger to lend himself to the infamous
+device the sight of the grave-stone had suggested to his fertile,
+unscrupulous brain."
+
+This was indeed a glorious success and the firm of Flint and Sharp drank
+the Countess of Seyton's health that evening with great enthusiasm, and
+gleefully "thought of the morrow."
+
+We found the drawing-room of Seyton House occupied by the Honorable James
+Kingston, his solicitors, the Messrs. Jackson, Lady Seyton, and her
+father and sister, to whom she had at length disclosed the source of her
+disquietude. The children were leaving the apartment as we entered it,
+and the grief-dimmed eyes of the countess rested sadly upon her
+bright-eyed boy as he slowly withdrew with his sisters. That look changed
+to one of wild surprise as it encountered Mr. Flint's shining,
+good-humored countenance. I was more composed and reserved than my
+partner, though feeling as vividly as he did the satisfaction of being
+able not only to dispel Lady Seyton's anguish, but to extinguish the
+exultation, and trample on the hopes, of the Honorable James Kingston, a
+stiff, grave, middle-aged piece of hypocritical propriety, who was
+surveying from out the corners of his affectedly-unobservant eyes the
+furniture and decorations of the splendid apartment, and hugging himself
+with the thought that all that was his! Business was immediately
+proceeded with. Chilton was called in. He repeated his former story
+verbatim, and with much fluency and confidence. He then placed in the
+hands of Jackson, senior, the vouchers signed by Cunningham and Mullins.
+The transient light faded from Lady Seyton's countenance as she turned
+despairingly, almost accusingly, towards us.
+
+"What answer have you to make to this gentleman's statement, thus
+corroborated?" demanded Jackson, senior.
+
+"Quite a remarkable one," replied Mr. Flint, as he rang the bell. "Desire
+the gentlemen in the library to step up," he added to the footman who
+answered the summons. In about three minutes in marched Cunningham and
+Mullins, followed by two police-officers. An irrepressible exclamation of
+terror escaped Chilton, which was immediately echoed by Mr. Flint's
+direction to the police, as he pointed towards the trembling caitiff:
+"That is your man--secure him."
+
+A storm of exclamations, questions, remonstrances, instantly broke forth,
+and it was several minutes before attention could be obtained for the
+statements of our two Irish witnesses and the reading of the
+happily-found letter. The effect of the evidence adduced was decisive,
+electrical. Lady Seyton, as its full significance flashed upon her,
+screamed with convulsive joy, and I thought must have fainted from excess
+of emotion. The Rev. John Hayley returned audible thanks to God in a
+voice quivering with rapture, and Miss Hayley ran out of the apartment,
+and presently returned with the children, who were immediately
+half-smothered with their mother's ecstatic kisses. All was for a few
+minutes bewilderment, joy, rapture! Flint persisted to his dying day,
+that Lady Seyton threw her arms round his neck, and kissed his bald old
+forehead. This, however, I cannot personally vouch for, as my attention
+was engaged at the moment by the adverse claimant, the Honorable James
+Kingston, who exhibited one of the most irresistibly comic, wo-begone,
+lackadaisical aspects it is possible to conceive. He made a hurried and
+most undignified exit, and was immediately followed by the discomfited
+"family" solicitors. Chilton was conveyed to a station-house, and the
+next day was fully committed for trial. He was convicted at the next
+sessions, and sentenced to seven years' transportation; and the
+"celebrated" firm of Flint and Sharp, derived considerable lustre, and
+more profit, from this successful stroke of professional dexterity.
+
+
+
+
+JANE ECCLES
+
+
+The criminal business of the office was, during the first three or four
+years of our partnership, entirely superintended by Mr. Flint; he being
+more _an fait_, from early practice, than myself in the art and mystery
+of prosecuting and defending felons, and I was thus happily relieved of
+duties which, in the days when George III. was king, were frequently very
+oppressive and revolting. The criminal practitioner dwelt in an
+atmosphere tainted alike with cruelty and crime, and pulsating
+alternately with merciless decrees of death, and the shrieks and wailings
+of sentenced guilt. And not always guilt! There exist many records of
+proofs, incontestable, but obtained too late, of innocence having been
+legally strangled on the gallows in other cases than that of Eliza
+Fenning. How could it be otherwise with a criminal code crowded in every
+line with penalties of death, nothing but--death? Juster, wiser times
+have dawned upon us, in which truer notions prevail of what man owes to
+man, even when sitting in judgment on transgressors; and this we owe, let
+us not forget, to the exertions of a band of men who, undeterred by the
+sneers of the reputedly wise and _practical_ men of the world, and the
+taunts of "influential" newspapers, persisted in teaching that the rights
+of property could be more firmly cemented than by the shedding of
+blood--law, justice, personal security more effectually vindicated than
+by the gallows. Let me confess that I also was, for many years, amongst
+the mockers, and sincerely held such "theorists" and "dreamers" as Sir
+Samuel Romilly and his fellow-workers in utter contempt. Not so my
+partner, Mr. Flint. Constantly in the presence of criminal judges and
+juries, he had less confidence in the unerring verity of their decisions
+than persons less familiar with them, or who see them only through the
+medium of newspapers. Nothing could exceed his distress of mind if, in
+cases in which he was prosecuting attorney, a convict died persisting in
+his innocence, or without a full confession of guilt. And to such a pitch
+did this morbidly-sensitive feeling at length arrive, that he all at once
+refused to undertake, or in any way meddle with, criminal prosecutions,
+and they were consequently turned over to our head clerk, with occasional
+assistance from me if there happened to be a press of business of the
+sort. Mr. Flint still, however, retained a monopoly of the _defences_,
+except when, from some temporary cause or other, he happened to be
+otherwise engaged, when they fell to me. One of these I am about to
+relate, the result of which, whatever other impression it produced,
+thoroughly cured me--as it may the reader--of any propensity to sneer or
+laugh at criminal-law reformers and denouncers of the gallows.
+
+One forenoon, during the absence of Mr. Flint in Wiltshire, a Mrs.
+Margaret Davies called at the office, in apparently great distress of
+mind. This lady, I must premise, was an old, or at all events an elderly
+maiden, of some four-and-forty years of age--I have heard a very intimate
+female friend of hers say she would never see fifty again, but this was
+spite--and possessed of considerable house property in rather poor
+localities. She found abundant employment for energies which might
+otherwise have turned to cards and scandal, in collecting her weekly,
+monthly, and quarterly rents, and in promoting, or fancying she did, the
+religious and moral welfare of her tenants. Very bare-faced, I well knew,
+were the impositions practiced upon her credulous good-nature in money
+matters, and I strongly suspected the spiritual and moral promises and
+performances of her motley tenantry exhibited as much discrepancy as
+those pertaining to rent. Still, deceived or cheated as she might be,
+good Mrs. Davies never wearied in what she conceived to be well-doing,
+and was ever ready to pour balm and oil into the wounds of the sufferer,
+however self-inflicted or deserved.
+
+"What is the matter now?" I asked as soon as the good lady was seated,
+and had untied and loosened her bonnet, and thrown back her shawl, fast
+walking having heated her prodigiously. "Nothing worse than
+transportation is, I hope, likely to befall any of those interesting
+clients of yours?"
+
+"You are a hard-hearted man, Mr. Sharp," replied Mrs. Davies between a
+smile and a cry; "but being a lawyer, that is of course natural, and, as
+I am not here to consult you as a Christian, of no consequence."
+
+"Complimentary, Mrs. Davies; but pray, go on."
+
+"You know Jane Eccles, one of my tenants in Bank Buildings--the
+embroidress who adopted her sister's orphan child?"
+
+"I remember her name. She obtained, if I recollect rightly, a balance of
+wages for her due to the child's father, a mate, who died at sea. Well,
+what has befallen her?"
+
+"A terrible accusation has been preferred against her," rejoined Mrs.
+Davies; "but as for a moment believing it, that is quite out of the
+question. Jane Eccles," continued the warm-hearted lady, at the same time
+extracting a crumpled newspaper from the miscellaneous contents of her
+reticule--"Jane Eccles works hard from morning till night, keeps herself
+to herself; her little nephew and her rooms are always as clean and nice
+as a new pin; she attends church regularly; and pays her rent punctually
+to the day. This disgraceful story, therefore," he added, placing the
+journal in my hands, "_cannot_ be true."
+
+I glanced over the police news:--'Uttering forged Bank-of-England notes,
+knowing them to be forged;' I exclaimed, "The devil!"
+
+"There's no occasion to be spurting that name out so loudly, Mr. Sharp,"
+said Mrs. Davies with some asperity, "especially in a lawyer's office.
+People have been wrongfully accused before to-day, I suppose?"
+
+I was intent on the report, and not answering, she continued, "I heard
+nothing of it till I read the shameful account in the paper half an hour
+agone. The poor slandered girl was, I dare say, afraid or ashamed to
+send for me."
+
+"This appears to be a very bad case, Mrs. Davies," I said at length.
+"Three forged ten-pound notes changed in one day at different shops each
+time, under the pretence of purchasing articles of small amount, and
+another ten-pound note found in her pocket! All that has, I must say, a
+very ugly look."
+
+"I don't care," exclaimed Mrs. Davies quite fiercely, "if it looks as
+ugly as sin, or if the whole Bank of England was found in her pocket! I
+know Jane Eccles well; she nursed me last spring through the fever; and I
+would be upon my oath that the whole story, from beginning to end, is an
+invention of the devil, or something worse."
+
+"Jane Eccles," I persisted, "appears to have been unable or unwilling to
+give the slightest explanation as to how she became possessed of the
+spurious notes. Who is this brother of hers, 'of such highly respectable
+appearance,' according to the report, who was permitted a private
+interview with her previous to the examination?"
+
+"She has no brother that I have ever heard of," said Mrs. Davies. "It
+must be a mistake of the papers."
+
+"That is not likely. You observed of course that she was fully
+committed--and no wonder!"
+
+Mrs. Davies's faith in the young woman's integrity was not to be shaken
+by any evidence save that of her own bodily eyes, and I agreed to see
+Jane Eccles on the morrow, and make the best arrangements for the
+defence--at Mrs. Davies' charge--which the circumstances and the short
+time I should have for preparation--the Old Bailey session would be on in
+a few days--permitted. The matter so far settled, Mrs. Margaret hurried
+off to see what had become of little Henry, the prisoner's nephew.
+
+I visited Jane Eccles the next day in Newgate. She was a well-grown young
+woman of about two or three-and-twenty--not exactly pretty perhaps, but
+very well-looking. Her brown hair was plainly worn, without a cap, and
+the expression of her face was, I thought, one of sweetness and humility,
+contradicted in some degree by rather harsh lines about the mouth,
+denoting strong will and purpose. As a proof of the existence of this
+last characteristic, I may here mention that, when her first overweening
+confidence had yielded to doubt, she, although dotingly fond of her
+nephew, at this time about eight years of age, firmly refused to see him,
+"in order," she once said to me--and the thought brought a deadly pallor
+to her face--in order that, should the worst befall, her memory might
+not be involuntarily connected in his mind with images of dungeons, and
+disgrace, and shame. Jane Eccles had received what is called in the
+country, "a good schooling," and the books Mrs. Davies had lent her she
+had eagerly perused. She was therefore to a certain extent a cultivated
+person; and her speech and manners were mild, gentle, and, so to speak,
+religious. I generally found, when I visited her, a Bible or prayer-book
+in her hand. This, however, from my experience, comparatively slight
+though it was, did not much impress me in her favor--devotional sentiment
+so easily, for a brief time, assumed, being in nine such cases out of ten
+a hypocritical deceit. Still she, upon the whole, made a decidedly
+favorable impression on me, and I no longer so much wondered at the
+bigotry of unbelief manifested by Mrs. Davies in behalf of her apparently
+amiable and grateful protégée.
+
+But beyond the moral doubt thus suggested of the prisoner's guilt, my
+interviews with her utterly failed to extract anything from her in
+rebutment of the charge upon which she was about to be arraigned. At
+first she persisted in asserting that the prosecution was based upon
+manifest error; that the impounded notes, instead of being forged, were
+genuine Bank-of-England paper. It was some time before I succeeded in
+convincing her that this hope, to which she so eagerly, desperately
+clung, was a fallacious one. I did so at last; and either, thought I, as
+I marked her varying color and faltering voice, "either you are a
+consummate actress, or else the victim of some frightful delusion or
+conspiracy."
+
+"I will see you, if you please, to-morrow," she said, looking up from the
+chair upon which, with her head bowed and her face covered with her
+hands, she had been seated for several minutes in silence. "My thoughts
+are confused now, but to-morrow I shall be more composed; better able to
+decide if--to talk, I mean, of this unhappy business."
+
+I thought it better to comply without remonstrance, and at once
+took my leave.
+
+When I returned the next afternoon, the governor of the prison informed
+me that the brother of my client, James Eccles, quite a dashing
+gentleman, had had a long interview with her. He had left about two hours
+before, with the intention, he said, of calling upon me.
+
+I was conducted to the room where my conferences with the prisoner
+usually took place. In a few minutes she appeared, much flushed and
+excited, it seemed to be alternately with trembling joy and hope, and
+doubt, and nervous fear.
+
+"Well," I said, "I trust you are now ready to give me your unreserved
+confidence, without which, be assured, that any reasonable hope of a
+successful issue from the peril in which you are involved is out of the
+question."
+
+The varying emotions I have noticed were clearly traceable as they swept
+over her tell-tale countenance during the minute or so that elapsed
+before she spoke.
+
+"Tell me candidly, sir," she said at last, "whether, if I owned to you
+that the notes were given to me by a--a person, whom I cannot, if I
+would, produce, to purchase various articles at different shops, and
+return him--the person I mean--the change; and that I made oath this was
+done by me in all innocence of heart, as the God of heaven and earth
+truly knows it was, it would avail me?"
+
+"Not in the least," I replied, angry at such trifling. "How can you ask
+such a question? We must _find_ the person who, you intimate, has
+deceived you, and placed your life in peril; and if that can be proved,
+hang him instead of you. I speak plainly, Miss Eccles," I added in a
+milder tone; "perhaps you may think unfeelingly, but there is no further
+time for playing with this dangerous matter. To-morrow a true bill will
+be found against you, and your trial may then come on immediately. If you
+are careless for yourself, you ought to have some thought for the
+sufferings of your excellent friend, Mrs. Davies; for your nephew, soon
+perhaps to be left friendless and destitute."
+
+"Oh spare me--spare me!" sobbed the unhappy young woman, sinking
+nervelessly into a seat. "Have pity upon me, wretched, bewildered as I
+am!" Tears relieved her, and after awhile, she said, "It is useless, sir,
+to prolong this interview. I could not, I solemnly assure you, if I
+would, tell you where to search for or find the person of whom I spoke.
+And," she added, whilst the lines about her mouth of which I have spoken,
+grew distinct and rigid, "I would not if I could. What indeed would it,
+as I have been told and believe, avail, but to cause the death of two
+deceived innocent persons instead of one? Besides," she continued, trying
+to speak with firmness, and repress the shudder which crept over and
+shook her as with ague--"besides, whatever the verdict, the penalty will
+not, cannot, I am sure, I know, be--be"--
+
+I understood her plainly enough, although her resolution failed to
+sustain her through the sentence.
+
+"Who is this brother--James Eccles, he calls himself--whom you saw at the
+police-office, and who has twice been here, I understand--once to-day?"
+
+A quick start revealed the emotion with which she heard the question,
+and her dilated eyes rested upon me for a moment with eager scrutiny.
+She speedily recovered her presence of mind, and with her eyes again
+fixed on the floor, said in a quivering voice, "My brother! Yes--as you
+say--my brother."
+
+"Mrs. Davies says you have no brother!" I sharply rejoined.
+
+"Good Mrs. Davies," she replied in a tone scarcely above a whisper, and
+without raising her head, "does not know all our family."
+
+A subterfuge was, I was confident, concealed in these words; but after
+again and again urging her to confide in me, and finding warning and
+persuasion alike useless, I withdrew, discomfited and angry, and withal
+as much concerned and grieved as baffled and indignant. On going out, I
+arranged with the governor that the "brother," if he again made his
+appearance, should be detained, _bongré malgré_, till my arrival. Our
+precaution was too late--he did not reappear; and so little notice had
+any one taken of his person, that to advertise a description of him with
+a reward for his apprehension was hopeless.
+
+A true bill was found, and two hours afterwards Jane Eccles was placed in
+the dock. The trial did not last more than twenty minutes, at the end of
+which, an unhesitating verdict of guilty was returned, and she was duly
+sentenced to be hanged by the neck till she was dead. We had retained the
+ablest counsel practicing in the court, but, with no tangible defence,
+their efforts were merely thrown away. Upon being asked what she had to
+say why the sentence of the law should not be carried into effect? she
+repeated her previous statement--that the notes had been given her to
+change by a person in whom she reposed the utmost confidence; and that
+she had not the slightest thought of evil or fraud in what she did. That
+person, however, she repeated once more, could not be produced. Her
+assertions only excited a derisive smile; and all necessary forms having
+been gone through, she was removed from the bar.
+
+The unhappy woman bore the ordeal through which she had just passed with
+much firmness. Once only, whilst sentence was being passed, her
+high-strung resolution appeared to falter and give way. I was watching
+her intently, and I observed that she suddenly directed a piercing look
+towards a distant part of the crowded court. In a moment her eye
+lightened, the expression of extreme horror which had momently darkened
+her countenance passed away, and her partial composure returned. I had
+instinctively, as it were, followed her glance, and thought I detected a
+tall man enveloped in a cloak engaged in dumb momentary communication
+with her. I jumped up from my seat, and hastened as quickly as I could
+through the thronged passages to the spot, and looked eagerly around, but
+the man, whosoever he might be, was gone.
+
+The next act in this sad drama was the decision of the Privy Council upon
+the recorder's report. It came. Several were reprieved, but amongst them
+was _not_ Jane Eccles. She and nine others were to perish at eight
+o'clock on the following morning.
+
+The anxiety and worry inseparable from this most unhappy affair, which,
+from Mr. Flint's protracted absence, I had exclusively to bear, fairly
+knocked me up, and on the evening of the day on which the decision of the
+Council was received, I went to bed much earlier than usual, and really
+ill. Sleep I could not, and I was tossing restlessly about, vainly
+endeavoring to banish from my mind the gloomy and terrible images
+connected with the wretched girl and her swiftly-coming fate, when a
+quick tap sounded on the door, and a servant's voice announced that one
+of the clerks had brought a letter which the superscription directed to
+be read without a moment's delay. I sprang out of bed, snatched the
+letter, and eagerly ran it over. It was from the Newgate chaplain, a very
+worthy, humane gentleman, and stated that, on hearing the result of the
+deliberations of the Privy Council, all the previous stoicism and
+fortitude exhibited by Jane Eccles had completely given way, and she had
+abandoned herself to the wildest terror and despair. As soon as she could
+speak coherently, she implored the governor with frantic earnestness to
+send for me. As this was not only quite useless in the opinion of that
+official, but against the rules, the prisoner's request was not complied
+with. The chaplain, however, thinking it might be as well that I should
+know of her desire to see me, had of his own accord sent me this note. He
+thought that possibly the sheriffs would permit me to have a brief
+interview with the condemned prisoner in the morning, if I arrived
+sufficiently early; and although it could avail nothing as regarded her
+fate in this world, still it might perhaps calm the frightful tumult of
+emotion by which she was at present tossed and shaken, and enable her to
+meet the inevitable hour with fortitude and resignation.
+
+It was useless to return to bed after receiving such a communication,
+and I forthwith dressed myself, determined to sit up and read, if I
+could, till the hour at which I might hope to be admitted to the jail,
+should strike. Slowly and heavily the dark night limped away, and as the
+first rays of the cold wintry dawn reached the earth, I sallied forth. A
+dense, brutal crowd were already assembled in front of the prison, and
+hundreds of well-dressed sight-seers occupied the opposite windows,
+morbidly eager for the rising of the curtain upon the mournful tragedy
+about to be enacted. I obtained admission without much difficulty, but,
+till the arrival of the sheriffs, no conference with the condemned
+prisoners could be possibly permitted. Those important functionaries
+happened on this morning to arrive unusually late, and I paced up and
+down the paved corridor in a fever of impatience and anxiety. They were
+at last announced, but before I could, in the hurry and confusion,
+obtain speech of either of them, the dismal bell tolled out, and I felt
+with a shudder that it was no longer possible to effect my object.
+"Perhaps it is better so," observed the reverend chaplain, in a whisper.
+"She has been more composed for the last two or three hours, and is now,
+I trust, in a better frame of mind for death." I turned, sick at heart,
+to leave the place, and in my agitation missing the right way, came
+directly in view of the terrible procession. Jane Eccles saw me, and a
+terrific scream, followed by frantic heart-rending appeals to me to save
+her, burst with convulsive effort from her white quivering lips. Never
+will the horror of that moment pass from my remembrance. I staggered
+back, as if every spasmodic word struck me like a blow; and then,
+directed by one of the turnkeys, sped in an opposite direction as fast
+as my trembling limbs could carry me--the shrieks of the wretched
+victim, the tolling of the dreadful bell, and the obscene jeers and
+mocks of the foul crowd through which I had to force my way, evoking a
+confused tumult of disgust and horror in my brain, which, if long
+continued, would have driven me mad. On reaching home, I was bled
+freely, and got to bed. This treatment, I have no doubt, prevented a
+violent access of fever; for, as it was, several days passed before I
+could be safely permitted to re-engage in business.
+
+On revisiting the office, a fragment of a letter written by Jane Eccles
+a few hours previous to her death, and evidently addressed to Mrs.
+Davies, was placed by Mr. Flint, who had by this time returned, before
+me. The following is an exact copy of it, with the exception that the
+intervals which I have marked with dots,.... were filled with erasures
+and blots, and that every word seemed to have been traced by a hand
+smitten with palsy:--
+
+"From my Death-place, _Midnight._
+
+"Dear Madam--No, beloved friend--mother, let me call you.... Oh kind,
+gentle mother, I am to die ... to be killed in a few hours by cruel
+men!--I, so young, so unprepared for death, and yet guiltless! Oh never
+doubt that I am guiltless of the offence for which they will have the
+heart to hang me.... Nobody, they say, can save me now; yet if I could
+see the lawyer.... I have been deceived, cruelly deceived, madam--buoyed
+up by lying hopes, till just now the thunder burst, and I--oh God!.... As
+they spoke, the fearful chapter in the Testament came bodily before
+me--the rending of the vail in twain, the terrible darkness, and the
+opened graves!.... I did not write for this, but my brain aches and
+dazzles.... It is too late--too late, they all tell me! ... Ah, if these
+dreadful laws were not so swift, I might yet--but no; _he_ clearly proved
+to me how useless.... I must not think of that.... It is of my nephew, of
+your Henry, child of my affections, that I would speak. Oh, would that
+I.... But hark!--they are coming.... The day has dawned ... to me the day
+of judgment!...."
+
+This incoherent scrawl only confirmed my previous suspicions, but it was
+useless to dwell further on the melancholy subject. The great axe had
+fallen, and whether justly or unjustly, would, I feared, as in many, very
+many other cases, never be clearly ascertained in this world. I was
+mistaken. Another case of "uttering forged Bank-of-England notes, knowing
+them to be forged," which came under our cognizance a few months
+afterwards, revived the fading memory of Jane Eccles's early doom, and
+cleared up every obscurity connected with it.
+
+The offender in this new case, was a tall, dark-complexioned, handsome
+man, of about thirty years of age, of the name of Justin Arnold. His lady
+mother, whose real name I shall conceal under that of Barton, retained us
+for her son's defence, and from her, and other sources, we learned the
+following particulars:--
+
+Justin Arnold was the lady's son by a former marriage. Mrs. Barton, a
+still splendid woman, had, in second nuptials, espoused a very wealthy
+person, and from time to time had covertly supplied Justin Arnold's
+extravagance. This, however, from the wild course the young man pursued,
+could not be forever continued, and after many warnings the supplies were
+stopped. Incapable of reformation, Justin Arnold, in order to obtain the
+means of dissipation, connected himself with a cleverly-organized band of
+swindlers and forgers, who so adroitly managed their nefarious business,
+that, till his capture, they had contrived to keep themselves clear of
+the law--the inferior tools and dupes having been alone caught in its
+fatal meshes. The defence, under these circumstances necessarily a
+difficult, almost impossible one, was undertaken by Mr. Flint, and
+conducted by him with his accustomed skill and energy.
+
+I took a very slight interest in the matter, and heard very little
+concerning it till its judicial conclusion by the conviction of the
+offender, and his condemnation to death. The decision on the
+recorder's report was this time communicated to the authorities of
+Newgate on a Saturday, so that the batch ordered for execution,
+amongst whom was Justin Arnold, would not be hanged till the Monday
+morning. Rather late in the evening a note once more reached me from
+the chaplain of the prison. Justin Arnold wished to see me--_me_, not
+Mr. Flint. He had something of importance to communicate, he said,
+relative to a person in whom I had once felt great interest. It
+flashed across me that this Justin might be the "brother" of Jane
+Eccles, and I determined to see him. I immediately sought out one of
+the sheriffs, and obtained an order empowering me to see the prisoner
+on the afternoon of the morrow, (Sunday).
+
+I found that the convict had expressed great anxiety lest I should
+decline to see him. My hoped-for visit was the only matter which
+appeared to occupy the mind or excite the care of the mocking,
+desperate young man; even the early and shameful termination of his own
+life on the morrow, he seemed to be utterly reckless of. Thus prepared,
+I was the less surprised at the scene which awaited me in the
+prisoner's cell, where I found him in angry altercation with the pale
+and affrighted chaplain.
+
+I had never seen Justin Arnold before, this I was convinced of the
+instant I saw him; but he knew and greeted me instantly by name. His
+swarthy, excited features were flushed and angry; and after briefly
+thanking me for complying with his wishes, he added in a violent rapid
+tone, "This good man has been teasing me. He says, and truly, that I have
+defied God by my life; and now he wishes me to mock that inscrutable
+Being, on the eve of death, by words without sense, meaning, or truth!"
+
+"No, no, no!" ejaculated the reverend gentleman. "I exhorted you to true
+repentance, to peace, charity, to"--
+
+"True repentance, peace, charity!" broke in the prisoner, with a scornful
+burst; "when my heart is full of rage, and bitterness, and despair! Give
+me _time_ for this repentance which you say is so needful--time to lure
+back long since banished hope, and peace, and faith! Poh!--you but flout
+me with words without meaning. I am unfit, you say, for the presence of
+men, but quite fit for that of God, before whom you are about to
+arrogantly cast me! Be it so--my deeds are upon my head! It is at least
+not my fault that I am hurled to judgment before the Eternal Judge
+himself commanded my presence there!"
+
+"He may be unworthy to live," murmured the scared chaplain, "but oh, how
+utterly unfit to die!"
+
+"That is true," rejoined Justin Arnold, with undiminished vehemence.
+"Those, if you will, are words of truth and sense--go you and preach them
+to the makers and executioners of English law. In the meantime I would
+speak privately with this gentleman."
+
+The reverend pastor, with a mute gesture of compassion, sorrow, and
+regret, was about to leave the cell, when he was stayed by the prisoner,
+who exclaimed, "Now, I think of it, you had better, sir, remain. The
+statement I am about to make cannot, for the sake of the victim's
+reputation, and for her friends' sake, have too many witnesses. You both
+remember Jane Eccles?" A broken exclamation from both of us answered him,
+and he quickly added--"Ah, you already guess the truth, I see. Well, I do
+not wonder you should start and turn pale. It _was_ a cruel, shameless
+deed--a dastardly murder if there was ever one. In as few words as
+possible, so you interrupt me not, I will relate _my_ share in the
+atrocious business." He spoke rapidly, and once or twice during the brief
+recital, the moistened eye and husky voice betrayed emotions which his
+pride would have concealed.
+
+"Jane and I were born in Hertfordshire, within a short distance of each
+other. I knew her from a child. She was better off then, I worse than we
+subsequently became--she by her father's bankruptcy, I by my mo--, by
+Mrs. Barton's wealthy marriage. She was about nineteen, I twenty-four,
+when I left the country for London. That she loved me with all the
+fervor of a trusting woman I well knew; and I had, too, for some time
+known that she must be either honorably wooed or not at all. That with
+me, was out of the question, and, as I told you, I came about that time
+to London. You can, I dare say, imagine the rest. We were--I and my
+friends, I mean--at a loss for agents to dispose of our wares, and at the
+same time pressed for money. I met Jane Eccles by accident. Genteel, of
+graceful address and winning manners, she was just fitted for our
+purpose. I feigned re-awakened love, proffered marriage, and a home
+across the Atlantic, as soon as certain trifling but troublesome affairs
+which momently harassed me were arranged. She believed me. I got her to
+change a considerable number of notes under various pretexts, but that
+they were forged she had not and could not have the remotest suspicion.
+You know the catastrophe. After her apprehension I visited this prison as
+her brother, and buoyed her up to the last with illusions of certain
+pardon and release, whatever the verdict, through the influence of my
+wealthy father-in-law, of our immediate union afterwards, and tranquil
+American home. It is needless to say more. She trusted me, and I
+sacrificed her; less flagrant instances of a like nature occur every day.
+And now, gentlemen, I would fain be alone."
+
+"Remorseless villain!" I could not help exclaiming under my breath as he
+moved away.
+
+He turned quickly back, and looking me in the face, without the slightest
+anger, said, "An execrable villain if you like--not a remorseless one!
+Her death alone sits near, and troubles my, to all else, hardened
+conscience. And let me tell you, reverend sir," he continued, resuming
+his former bitterness as he addressed the chaplain--"let me tell you that
+it was not the solemn words of the judge the other day, but her pale,
+reproachful image, standing suddenly beside me in the dock, just as she
+looked when I passed my last deception on her, that caused the tremor and
+affright, complacently attributed by that grave functionary to his own
+sepulchral eloquence. After all, her death cannot be exclusively laid to
+my charge. Those who tried her would not believe her story, and yet it
+was true as death. Had they not been so confident in their own unerring
+wisdom, they might have doomed her to some punishment short of the
+scaffold, and could now have retrieved their error. But I am weary, and
+would, I repeat, be alone. Farewell!" He threw himself on the rude
+pallet, and we silently withdrew.
+
+A paper embodying Justin Arnold's declaration was forwarded to the
+secretary of state, and duly acknowledged, accompanied by an official
+expression of mild regret that it had not been made in time to save the
+life of Jane Eccles. No further notice was taken of the matter, and the
+record of the young woman's judicial sacrifice still doubtless encumbers
+the archives of the Home Office, forming, with numerous others of like
+character, the dark, sanguine background upon which the achievements of
+the great and good men who have so successfully purged the old Draco code
+that now a faint vestige only of the old barbarism remains, stands out in
+bright relief and changeless lustre.
+
+
+
+
+"EVERY MAN HIS OWN LAWYER."
+
+
+A smarter trader, a keener appreciator of the tendencies to a rise or
+fall in colonial produce--sugars more especially--than John Linden, of
+Mincing Lane, it would have been difficult to point out in the wide city
+of London. He was not so immensely rich as many others engaged in the
+same merchant-traffic as himself; nothing at all like it, indeed, for I
+doubt that he could at any time have been esteemed worth more than from
+eighty to ninety thousand pounds; but his transactions, although limited
+in extent when compared with those of the mammoth colonial houses, almost
+always returned more or less of profit; the result of his remarkable
+keenness and sagacity in scenting hurricanes, black insurrections, and
+emancipation bills, whilst yet inappreciable, or deemed afar off, by less
+sensitive organizations. At least to this wonderful prescience of future
+sugar-value did Mr. Linden himself attribute his rise in the world, and
+gradual increase in rotundity, riches, and respectability. This constant
+success engendered, as it is too apt to do, inordinate egotism, conceit,
+self-esteem, vanity. There was scarcely a social, governmental, or
+economical problem which he did not believe himself capable of solving as
+easily as he could eat his dinner when hungry. "Common-sense
+business-habits"--his favorite phrase--he believed to be quite sufficient
+for the elucidation of the most difficult question in law, physic, or
+divinity. The science of law, especially, he held to be an alphabet which
+any man--of common sense and business habits--could as easily master as
+he could count five on his fingers; and there was no end to his ridicule
+of the men with horse-hair head-dresses, and their quirks, quiddits,
+cases, tenures, and such-like devil's lingo. Lawyers, according to him,
+were a set of thorough humbugs and impostors, who gained their living by
+false pretence--that of affording advice and counsel, which every sane
+man could better render himself. He was unmistakably mad upon this
+subject, and he carried his insane theory into practice. He drew his own
+leases, examined the titles of some house-property he purchased, and set
+his hand and seal to the final deeds, guided only by his own common-sense
+spectacles. Once he bid, at the Auction Mart, as high as fifty-three
+thousand pounds for the Holmford estate, Herefordshire; and had he not
+been outbidden by young Palliser, son of the then recently-deceased
+eminent distiller, who was eager to obtain the property, with a view to a
+seat in parliament which its possession was said to almost insure--he
+would, I had not at the time the slightest doubt, have completed the
+purchase, without for a moment dreaming of submitting the vender's title
+to the scrutiny of a professional adviser. Mr. Linden, I should mention,
+had been for some time desirous of resigning his business in Mincing Lane
+to his son, Thomas Linden, the only child born to him by his long-since
+deceased wife, and of retiring, an estated squire-arch, to the _otium
+cum._, or _sine dignitate_, as the case might be, of a country life; and
+this disposition had of late been much quickened by daily-increasing
+apprehensions of negro emancipation and revolutionary interference with
+differential duties--changes which, in conjunction with others of similar
+character, would infallibly bring about that utter commercial ruin which
+Mr. Linden, like every other rich and about-to-retire merchant or
+tradesman whom I have ever known, constantly prophesied to be near at
+hand and inevitable.
+
+With such a gentleman the firm of Flint & Sharp had only professional
+interviews, when procrastinating or doubtful debtors required that he
+should put on the screw--a process which, I have no doubt, he would
+himself have confidently performed, but for the waste of valuable time
+which doing so would necessarily involve. Both Flint and myself were,
+however, privately intimate with him--Flint more especially, who had
+known him from boyhood--and we frequently dined with him on a Sunday at
+his little box at Fulham. Latterly, we had on these occasions met there a
+Mrs. Arnold and her daughter Catherine--an apparently amiable, and
+certainly very pretty and interesting young person--to whom, Mr. Linden
+confidentially informed us, his son Tom had been for some time engaged.
+
+"I don't know much about her family," observed Mr. Linden one day, in the
+course of a gossip at the office, "but she moves in very respectable
+society. Tom met her at the Slades'; but I _do_ know she has something
+like thirty-five thousand pounds in the funds. The instant I was informed
+how matters stood with the young folk, I, as a matter of common sense and
+business, asked the mother, Mrs. Arnold, for a reference to her banker or
+solicitor--there being no doubt that a woman and a minor would be in
+lawyers' leading-strings--and she referred me to Messrs. Dobson of
+Chancery Lane. You know the Dobsons?"
+
+"Perfectly,--what was the reply?"
+
+"That Catherine Arnold, when she came of age--it wants but a very short
+time of that now--would be entitled to the capital of thirty-four
+thousand seven hundred pounds, bequeathed by an uncle, and now lodged in
+the funds in the names of the trustees, Crowther & Jenkins, of Leadenhall
+Street, by whom the interest on that sum was regularly paid,
+half-yearly, through the Messrs. Dobson, for the maintenance and
+education of the heiress. A common-sense, business-like letter in every
+respect, and extremely satisfactory; and as soon as he pleases, after
+Catherine Arnold comes of age, and into actual possession of her fortune,
+Tom may have her, with my blessing over the bargain."
+
+I dined at Laurel Villa, Fulham, about two months after this
+conversation, and Linden and I found ourselves alone over the
+dessert--the young people having gone out for a stroll, attracted
+doubtless by the gay aspect of the Thames, which flows past the miniature
+grounds attached to the villa. Never had I seen Mr. Linden in so gay, so
+mirthful a mood.
+
+"Pass the decanter," he exclaimed, the instant the door had closed upon
+Tom and his _fiancée_. "Pass the decanter, Sharp; I have news for you, my
+boy, now they are gone."
+
+"Indeed! and what may the news be?"
+
+"Fill a bumper for yourself, and I'll give you a toast. Here's to the
+health and prosperity of the proprietor of the Holmford estate; and may
+he live a thousand years, and one over!--Hip--hip--hurra!"
+
+He swallowed his glass of wine, and then, in his intensity of glee,
+laughed himself purple.
+
+"You needn't stare so," he said, as soon as he had partially recovered
+breath; "I am the proprietor of the Holmford property--bought it for
+fifty-six thousand pounds of that young scant-grace and spendthrift,
+Palliser--fifteen thousand pounds less than what it cost him, with the
+outlay he has made upon it. Signed, sealed, delivered, paid for
+yesterday. Ha! ha! ho! Leave John Linden alone for a bargain! It's worth
+seventy thousand pounds if it's worth a shilling. I say," continued he,
+after a renewed spasm of exuberant mirth, "not a word about it to
+anybody--mind! I promised Palliser, who is quietly packing up to be off
+to Italy, or Australia, or Constantinople, or the devil--all of them,
+perhaps, in succession--not to mention a word about it till he was well
+off--you understand? Ha! ha!--ho! ho!" again burst out Mr. Linden. "I
+pity the poor creditors though! Bless you! I shouldn't have had it at
+anything like the price, only for his knowing that I was not likely to be
+running about exposing the affair, by asking lawyers whether an estate in
+a family's possession, as this was in Dursley's for three hundred years,
+had a good title or not. So be careful not to drop a word, even to
+Tom--for my honor's sake. A delicious bargain, and no mistake! Worth, if
+a penny, seventy thousand pounds. Ha! ha!--ho! ho!"
+
+"Then you have really parted with that enormous sum of money without
+having had the title to the estate professionally examined?"
+
+"Title! Fiddlestick! I looked over the deeds myself. Besides, haven't I
+told you the ancestors of Dursley, from whose executors Palliser
+purchased the estate, were in possession of it for centuries. What better
+title than prescription can there be?"
+
+"That may be true enough; but still"--
+
+"I ought, you think, to have risked losing the bargain by delay, and have
+squandered time and money upon fellows in horse-hair wigs, in order to
+ascertain what I sufficiently well knew already? Pooh! I am not in my
+second childhood yet!"
+
+It was useless to argue with him; besides the mischief, if mischief there
+was, had been done, and the not long-delayed entrance of the young couple
+necessitating a change of topic, I innocently inquired what he thought of
+the Negro Emancipation Bill which Mr. Stanley, as the organ of the
+ministry, had introduced a few evenings previously? and was rewarded by a
+perfect deluge of loquacious indignation and invective--during a pause in
+which hurly-burly of angry words I contrived to effect my escape.
+
+"Crowther & Jenkins!" exclaimed one morning, Mr. Flint, looking up from
+the "Times" newspaper he held in his hand. "Crowther & Jenkins!--what is
+it we know about Crowther & Jenkins?"
+
+The question was addressed to me, and I, like my partner, could not at
+the moment precisely recall why those names sounded upon our ears with a
+certain degree of interest as well as familiarity. "Crowther & Jenkins!"
+I echoed. "True; what _do_ we know about Crowther & Jenkins? Oh, I have
+it!--they are the executors of a will under which young Linden's pretty
+bride, that is to be, inherits her fortune."
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Mr. Flint, as he put down the paper, and looked me
+gravely in the face--"I remember now; their names are in the list of
+bankrupts. A failure in the gambling corn-trade too. I hope they have not
+been speculating with the young woman's money."
+
+The words were scarcely out of his mouth when Mr. Linden was announced,
+and presently in walked that gentleman in a state of considerable
+excitement.
+
+"I told you," he began, "some time ago about Crowther & Jenkins being the
+persons in whose names Catherine Arnold's money stood in the funds?"
+
+"Yes," replied Flint; "and I see by the 'Gazette' they are bankrupts,
+and, by your face, that they have speculated with your intended
+daughter-in-law's money, and lost it!"
+
+"Positively so!" rejoined Mr. Linden, with great heat. "Drew it out many
+months ago! But they have exceedingly wealthy connections--at least
+Crowther has--who will, I suppose, arrange Miss Arnold's claim rather
+than their relative should be arraigned for felony."
+
+"Felony!--you are mistaken, my good sir. There is no felony--no _legal_
+felony, I mean--in the matter. Miss Arnold can only prove against the
+estate like any other creditor."
+
+"The devil she can't! Tom, then, must look out for another wife, for I am
+credibly informed there won't be a shilling in the pound."
+
+And so it turned out. The great corn-firm had been insolvent for years;
+and after speculating desperately, and to a frightful extent, with a view
+to recover themselves, had failed to an enormous amount--their assets,
+comparatively speaking, proving to be _nil_.
+
+The ruin spread around, chiefly on account of the vast quantity of
+accommodation-paper they had afloat, was terrible; but upon no one did
+the blow fall with greater severity than on young Linden and his promised
+wife. His father ordered him to instantly break off all acquaintance with
+Miss Arnold; and on the son, who was deeply attached to her, peremptorily
+refusing to do so, Linden, senior, threatened to turn him out of doors,
+and ultimately disinherit him. Angry, indignant, and in love, Thomas
+Linden did a very rash and foolish thing; he persuaded Catherine Arnold
+to consent to a private marriage, arguing that if the indissoluble knot
+were once fairly tied, his father would, as a matter of course--he being
+an only child--become reconciled to what he could no longer hope to
+prevent or remedy.
+
+The imprudent young man deceived both himself and her who trusted in his
+pleasing plausibilities. Ten minutes after he had disclosed the marriage
+to his father, he was turned, almost penniless, out of doors; and the
+exasperated and inexorable old man refused to listen to any
+representation in his favor, by whomsoever proffered, and finally, even
+to permit the mention of his name in his hearing.
+
+"It's of no use," said Mr. Flint, on returning for the last time, from a
+mission undertaken to extort, if possible, some provision against
+absolute starvation for the newly-wedded couple. "He is as cold and hard
+as adamant, and I think, if possible, even more of a tiger than before.
+He will be here presently to give instructions for his will."
+
+"His will! Surely he will draw that up himself after his own
+common-sense, business fashion?"
+
+"He would unquestionably have done so a short time since; but some events
+that have lately occurred have considerably shaken his estimate of his
+own infallibility, and he is, moreover, determined, he says, that there
+shall be no mistake as to effectually disinheriting his son. He has made
+two or three heavy losses, and his mind is altogether in a very cankered,
+distempered state."
+
+Mr. Linden called, as he had promised to do, and gave us the written
+heads of a will which he desired to have at once formally drawn up. By
+this instrument he devised the Holmford estate, and all other property,
+real and personal, of which he might die possessed, to certain charitable
+institutions, in varying proportions, payable as soon after his death as
+the property could be turned into money. "The statute of mortmain does
+not give me much uneasiness," remarked the vindictive old man with a
+bitter smile. "I shall last some time yet. I would have left it all to
+you, Flint," he added, "only that I knew you would defeat my purpose by
+giving it back to that disobedient, ungrateful, worthless boy."
+
+"Do leave it to me," rejoined Mr. Flint, with grave emphasis, "and I
+promise you faithfully this--that the wish respecting it, whatever it may
+be, which trembles on your lip as you are about to leave this world for
+another, and when it may be too late to formally revoke the testament you
+now propose, shall be strictly carried out. That time cannot be a very
+distant one, John Linden, for a man whose hair is white as yours."
+
+It was preaching to the winds. He was deaf, blind, mute, to every attempt
+at changing his resolve. The will was drawn in accordance with his
+peremptorily-iterated instructions, and duly signed, sealed, and
+attested. Not very long afterwards, Mr. Linden disposed of his business
+in Mincing Lane, and retired to Holmford, but with nothing like the
+money-fortune he had once calculated upon, the losses alluded to by Mr.
+Flint, and followed by others, having considerably diminished his wealth.
+
+We ultimately obtained a respectable and remunerative situation for
+Thomas Linden in a mercantile house at Belfast, with which we were
+professionally acquainted, and after securing berths in the _Erin_
+steamer, he, with his wife and mother-in-law, came, with a kind of
+hopeful sadness in their looks and voices, to bid us farewell--for a very
+long time, they and we also feared--
+
+For an eternity, it seemed, on reading the account of the loss of the
+_Erin_, a few days afterwards, with every soul on board! Their names were
+published with those of the other passengers who had embarked, and we had
+of course concluded that they had perished, when a letter reached us from
+Belfast, stating that, through some delay on the part of Mrs. Arnold,
+they had happily lost their passage in the _Erin_, and embarked in the
+next steamer for Belfast, where they arrived in perfect safety. We
+forwarded this intelligence to Holmford, but it elicited no reply.
+
+We heard nothing of Mr. Linden for about two months, except by
+occasional notices in the "Hereford Times", which he regularly forwarded
+to the office, relative to the improvements on the Holmford estate,
+either actually begun or contemplated by its new proprietor. He very
+suddenly reappeared. I was cooling my heels in the waiting-room of the
+chambers of the Barons of the Exchequer, Chancery Lane, awaiting my turn
+of admission, when one of our clerks came in, half-breathless with haste.
+"You are wanted, sir, immediately; Mr. Flint is out, and Mr. Linden is at
+the office raving like a mad-man." I instantly transferred the business I
+was in attendance at chambers upon, to the clerk, and with the help of a
+cab soon reached home.
+
+Mr. Linden was not _raving_ when I arrived. The violence of the paroxysm
+of rage and terror by which he was possessed had passed away, and he
+looked, as I entered, the image of pale, rigid, iron, dumb despair. He
+held a letter and a strip of parchment in his hand; these he presented,
+and with white, stammering lips, bade me read. The letter was from an
+attorney of the name of Sawbridge, giving notice of an action of
+ejectment, to oust him from the possession of the Holmford estate, the
+property, according to Mr. Sawbridge, of one Edwin Majoribanks; and the
+strip of parchment was the writ by which the letter had been quickly
+followed. I was astounded; and my scared looks questioned Mr. Linden for
+further information.
+
+"I do not quite understand it," he said in a hoarse, palpitating voice.
+"No possession or title in the venders; a niece not of age--executors no
+power to sell--Palliser discovered it, robbed me, absconded, and I, oh
+God! am a miserable beggar!"
+
+The last words were uttered with a convulsive scream, and after a few
+frightful struggles he fell down in a fit. I had him conveyed to bed,
+and as soon as he was somewhat recovered, I hastened off to ascertain
+from Sawbridge, whom I knew very intimately, the nature of the claim
+intended to be set up for the plaintiff, Edwin Majoribanks.
+
+I met Sawbridge just as he was leaving his office, and as he was in too
+great a hurry to turn back, I walked along with him, and he rapidly
+detailed the chief facts about to be embodied in the plaintiff's
+declaration. Archibald Dursley, once a London merchant, and who died a
+bachelor, had bequeathed his estate, real and personal, to his brother
+Charles, and a niece, his sister's child--two-thirds to the niece, and
+one-third to the brother. The Holmford property, the will directed,
+should be sold by public auction when the niece came of age, unless she,
+by marriage or otherwise, was enabled, within six months after attaining
+her majority, to pay over to Charles Dursley his third in money,
+according to a valuation made for the purpose by competent assessors. The
+brother, Charles Dursley, had urged upon the executors to anticipate the
+time directed by the will for the sale of the property; and having
+persuaded the niece to give a written authorization for the immediate
+sale, the executors, chiefly, Sawbridge supposed, prompted by their own
+necessities, sold the estate accordingly. But the niece not being of age
+when she signed the authority to sell, her consent was of no legal value;
+and she having since died intestate, Edwin Majoribanks, her cousin and
+undoubted heir-at-law--for the property could not have passed from her,
+even by marriage--now claimed the estate. Charles Dursley, the brother,
+was dead; "and," continued Mr. Sawbridge, "the worst of it is, Linden
+will never get a farthing of his purchase-money from the venders, for
+they are bankrupt, nor from Palliser, who has made permanent arrangements
+for continuing abroad, out of harm's reach. It is just as I tell you,"
+he added, as we shook hands at parting; "but you will of course see the
+will, and satisfy yourself. Good-by."
+
+Here was a precious result of amateur common-sense lawyership! Linden
+could only have examined the abstract of title furnished him by
+Palliser's attorney, and not the right of Dursley's executors to sell; or
+had not been aware that the niece could not during her minority,
+subscribe an effective legal consent.
+
+I found Mr. Flint at the office, and quickly imparted the astounding
+news. He was as much taken aback as myself.
+
+"The obstinate, pig-headed old ass!" he exclaimed; "it almost serves him
+right, if only for his Tom-fool nonsense of 'Every man his own lawyer.'
+What did you say was the niece's name?"
+
+"Well, I don't remember that Sawbridge told me--he was in such a hurry;
+but suppose you go at once and look over the will?"
+
+"True: I will do so;" and away he went.
+
+"This is a very singular affair, Sharp," said Mr. Flint on his return
+from Doctors' Commons, at the same time composedly seating himself,
+hooking his thumbs into the arm-holes of his waistcoat, crossing his
+legs, and tilting his chair back on its hind legs. "A very singular
+affair. Whom, in the name of the god of thieves--Mercury, wasn't he
+called?--do you suppose the bankrupt executors to be? No other,"
+continued Mr. Flint with a sudden burst, "than Crowther & Jenkins!"
+
+"The devil!--and the niece then is"--
+
+"Catherine Arnold--Tom Linden's wife--supposed to have been drowned in
+the _Erin_! That's check-mate, I rather fancy--not only to Mr. Edwin
+Majoribanks, but some one else we know of. The old fellow up stairs
+won't refuse to acknowledge his daughter-in-law now, I fancy!"
+
+This was indeed a happy change in the fortunes of the House of Linden;
+and we discussed, with much alacrity, the best mode of turning
+disclosures so momentous and surprising to the best account. As a first
+step, a letter with an inclosure, was dispatched to Belfast, requiring
+the return of Thomas Linden and family immediately; and the next was to
+plead in form to the action. This done, we awaited Catherine Linden's
+arrival in London, and Mr. Linden senior's convalescence--for his mental
+agitation had resulted in a sharp fit of illness--to effect a
+satisfactory and just arrangement.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Linden and Mrs. Arnold arrived by the earliest
+steamer that left Belfast after the receipt of our letter; and much
+astonished were they by the intelligence that awaited them. Catherine
+Linden was for confirming the validity of the sale of the Holmford estate
+by her now authoritative consent at once, as a mere act of common justice
+and good faith; but this, looking at the total loss of fortune she had
+sustained by the knavery of the executors, and the obstinate, mulish
+temper of the father-in-law, from whom she had already received such
+harsh treatment, could not for a moment be permitted; and it was finally
+resolved to take advantage of the legal position in which she stood, to
+enforce a due present provision for herself and husband, and their
+ultimate succession to the estate.
+
+John Linden gradually recovered; and as soon as it was deemed prudent to
+do so, we informed him that the niece was not dead, as the plaintiff in
+the action of ejectment had supposed, and that of course, if she could
+now be persuaded to ratify the imperative consent she had formerly
+subscribed, he might retain Holmford. At first he received the
+intelligence as a gleam of light and hope, but he soon relapsed into
+doubt and gloom. "What chance was there," he hopelessly argued, "that,
+holding the legal power, she would not exercise it?" It was not, he said,
+in human nature to do otherwise; and he commissioned us to make liberal
+offers for a compromise. Half--he would be content to lose half his
+purchase-money; even a greater sacrifice than that he would agree
+to--anything, indeed, that would not be utter ruin--that did not involve
+utter beggary and destitution in old age.
+
+Three days after this conversation, I announced to him that the lady and
+her husband were below and desirous of seeing him.
+
+"What do they say?" he eagerly demanded. "Will they accept of
+half--two-thirds? What do they say?"
+
+"I cannot precisely tell you. They wish to see you alone, and you can
+urge your own views and offers." He trembled violently, and shrank
+nervously back as I placed my hand on the door-handle of the private
+office. He presently recovered in some degree his self-possession, passed
+in, and I withdrew from the humiliating, but salutary spectacle, of
+obdurate tyrant-power compelled to humble itself before those whom it had
+previously scorned and trampled upon.
+
+The legal arrangements which Flint and I had suggested were effected, and
+Linden, senior, accompanied by his son, daughter-in-law, and Mrs. Arnold,
+set off in restored amity for Holmford House. Edwin Majoribanks abandoned
+his action, and Palliser, finding that matters were satisfactorily
+arranged, retired to England. We afterwards knew that he had discovered
+the defect of title, on applying to a well-known conveyancer, to raise a
+considerable sum by way of mortgage, and that his first step was to
+threaten legal proceedings against Crowther & Jenkins for the recovery of
+his money; but a hint he obtained of the futility of proceedings against
+them, determined him to offer the estate at a low figure to Linden,
+relying upon that gentleman's ostentatious contempt of lawyers that the
+blot in the title, subjected only to his own common-sense spectacles,
+would not be perceived.
+
+
+
+
+THE CHEST OF DRAWERS.
+
+
+I am about to relate a rather curious piece of domestic history, some
+of the incidents of which, revealed at the time of their occurrence in
+contemporary law reports, may be in the remembrance of many readers. It
+took place in one of the midland counties, and at a place which I shall
+call Watley; the names of the chief actors who figured in it must also,
+to spare their modesty of their blushes, as the case may be, be
+changed; and should one of those persons, spite of these precautions,
+apprehend unpleasant recognition, he will be able to console himself
+with the reflection, that all I state beyond that which may be gathered
+from the records of the law courts will be generally ascribed to the
+fancy or invention of the writer. And it is as well, perhaps, that it
+should be so.
+
+Caleb Jennings, a shoemaker, cobler, snob--using the last word in its
+genuine classical sense, and by no means according to the modern
+interpretation by which it is held to signify a genteel sneak or
+pretender--he was anything but that--occupied, some twelve or thirteen
+years ago, a stall at Watley, which, according to the traditions of the
+place, had been hereditary in his family for several generations. He may
+also be said to have flourished there, after the manner of cobblers; for
+this, it must be remembered, was in the good old times, before the
+gutta-percha revolution had carried ruin and dismay into the
+stalls--those of cobblers--which in considerable numbers existed
+throughout the kingdom. Like all his fraternity whom I have ever fallen
+in with or heard of, Caleb was a sturdy radical of the Major Cartwright
+and Henry Hunt school; and being withal industrious, tolerably skillful,
+not inordinately prone to the observance of Saint Mondays, possessed,
+moreover, of a neatly-furnished sleeping and eating apartment in the
+house of which the projecting first floor, supported on stone pillars,
+over-shadowed his humble work-place, he vaunted himself to be as really
+rich as an estated squire, and far more independent.
+
+There was some truth in this boast, as the case which procured us the
+honor of Mr. Jennings's acquaintance sufficiently proved. We were
+employed to bring an action against a wealthy gentleman of the vicinity
+of Watley for a brutal and unprovoked assault he had committed, when in a
+state of partial inebriety, upon a respectable London tradesman who had
+visited the place on business. On the day of trial our witnesses appeared
+to have become suddenly afflicted with an almost total loss of memory;
+and we were only saved from an adverse verdict by the plain,
+straight-forward evidence of Caleb, upon whose sturdy nature the various
+arts which soften or neutralize hostile evidence had been tried in vain.
+Mr. Flint, who personally superintended the case, took quite a liking to
+the man; and it thus happened that we were called upon sometime
+afterwards to aid the said Caleb in extricating himself from the
+extraordinary and perplexing difficulty in which he suddenly and
+unwittingly found himself involved.
+
+The projecting first floor of the house beneath which the humble
+work-shop of Caleb Jennings modestly disclosed itself, had been occupied
+for many years by an ailing and somewhat aged gentleman of the name of
+Lisle. This Mr. Ambrose Lisle was a native of Watley, and had been a
+prosperous merchant of the city of London. Since his return, after about
+twenty years' absence, he had shut himself up in almost total seclusion,
+nourishing a cynical bitterness and acrimony of temper which gradually
+withered up the sources of health and life, till at length it became as
+visible to himself as it had for sometime been to others, that the oil of
+existence was expended, burnt up, and that but a few weak flickers more,
+and the ailing man's plaints and griefs would be hushed in the dark
+silence of the grave.
+
+Mr. Lisle had no relatives at Watley, and the only individual with whom
+he was on terms of personal intimacy, was Mr. Peter Sowerby, an attorney
+of the place, who had for many years transacted all his business. This
+man visited Mr. Lisle most evenings, played at chess with him, and
+gradually acquired an influence over his client which that weak gentleman
+had once or twice feebly, but vainly endeavored to shake off. To this
+clever attorney, it was rumored, Mr. Lisle had bequeathed all his wealth.
+
+This piece of information had been put in circulation by Caleb Jennings,
+who was a sort of humble favorite of Mr. Lisle's, or, at all events, was
+regarded by the misanthrope with less dislike than he manifested towards
+others. Caleb cultivated a few flowers in a little plot of ground at the
+back of the house, and Mr. Lisle would sometimes accept a rose or a bunch
+of violets from him. Other slight services--especially since the recent
+death of his old and garrulous woman-servant, Esther May, who had
+accompanied him from London, and with whom Mr. Jennings had always been
+upon terms of gossiping intimacy--had led to certain familiarities of
+intercourse; and it thus happened that the inquisitive shoemaker became
+partially acquainted with the history of the wrongs and griefs which
+preyed upon, and shortened the life of the prematurely-aged man.
+
+The substance of this every-day, common-place story, as related to us by
+Jennings, and subsequently enlarged and colored from other sources, may
+be very briefly told.
+
+Ambrose Lisle, in consequence of an accident which occurred in his
+infancy, was slightly deformed. His right shoulder--as I understood, for
+I never saw him--grew out, giving an ungraceful and somewhat comical
+twist to his figure, which, in female eyes--youthful ones at least--sadly
+marred the effect of his intelligent and handsome countenance. This
+personal defect rendered him shy and awkward in the presence of women of
+his own class of society; and he had attained the ripe age of
+thirty-seven years, and was a rich and prosperous man, before he gave the
+slightest token of an inclination towards matrimony. About a twelvemonth
+previous to that period of his life, the deaths--quickly following each
+other--of a Mr. and Mrs. Stevens, threw their eldest daughter, Lucy, upon
+Mr. Lisle's hands. Mr. Lisle had been left an orphan at a very early age,
+and Mrs. Stevens--his aunt, and then a maiden lady--had, in accordance
+with his father's will, taken charge of himself and brother till they
+severally attained their majority. Long, however, before that, she
+married Mr. Stevens, by whom she had two children--Lucy and Emily. Her
+husband, whom she survived but two months, died insolvent; and in
+obedience to the dying wishes of his aunt, for whom he appears to have
+felt the tenderest esteem, he took the eldest of her orphan children to
+his home, intending to regard and provide for her as his own adopted
+child and heiress. Emily, the other sister, found refuge in the house of
+a still more distant relative than himself.
+
+The Stevenses had gone to live in a remote part of England--Yorkshire, I
+believe--and it thus fell out, that, till his cousin Lucy arrived at her
+new home, he had not seen her for more than ten years. The pale, and
+somewhat plain child, as he had esteemed her, he was startled to find had
+become a charming woman; and her naturally gay and joyous temperament,
+quick talents, and fresh young beauty, rapidly acquired an overwhelming
+influence over him. Strenuously, but vainly, he struggled against the
+growing infatuation--argued, reasoned with himself--passed in review the
+insurmountable objections to such a union, the difference of age--he,
+leading towards thirty-seven, she, barely twenty-one: he, crooked,
+deformed, of reserved, taciturn temper--she, full of young life, and
+grace, and beauty. It was useless; and nearly a year had passed in the
+bootless struggle, when Lucy Stevens, who had vainly striven to blind
+herself to the nature of the emotions by which her cousin and guardian
+was animated towards her, intimated a wish to accept her sister Emily's
+invitation to pass two or three months with her. This brought the affair
+to a crisis. Buoying himself up with the illusions which people in such
+an unreasonable frame of mind create for themselves, he suddenly entered
+the sitting-room set apart for her private use, with the desperate purpose
+of making his beautiful cousin a formal offer of his hand. She was not in
+the apartment, but her opened writing-desk, and a partly-finished letter
+lying on it, showed that she had been recently there, and would probably
+soon return. Mr. Lisle took two or three agitated turns about the room,
+one of which brought him close to the writing-desk, and his glance
+involuntarily fell upon the unfinished letter. Had a deadly serpent
+leaped suddenly at his throat, the shock could not have been greater. At
+the head of the sheet of paper was a clever pen-and-ink sketch of Lucy
+Stevens and himself--he, kneeling to her in a lovelorn, ludicrous
+attitude, and she, laughing immoderately at his lachrymose and pitiful
+aspect and speech. The letter was addressed to her sister Emily; and the
+enraged lover saw not only that his supposed secret was fully known, but
+that he himself was mocked, laughed at, for his doting folly. At least
+this was his interpretation of the words which swam before his eyes. At
+the instant Lucy returned, and a torrent of imprecation burst from the
+furious man, in which wounded self-love, rageful pride, and long pent-up
+passion, found utterance in wild and bitter words. Half an hour
+afterwards Lucy Stevens had left the merchant's house--for ever, as it
+proved. She, indeed, on arriving at her sister's, sent a letter,
+supplicating forgiveness for the thoughtless, and, as he deemed it,
+insulting sketch, intended only for Emily's eye; but he replied merely by
+a note written by one of his clerks, informing Miss Stevens that Mr.
+Lisle declined any further correspondence with her.
+
+The ire of the angered and vindictive man had, however, begun sensibly to
+abate, and old thoughts, memories, duties, suggested partly by the blank
+which Lucy's absence made in his house, partly by remembrance of the
+solemn promise he had made her mother, were strongly reviving in his
+mind, when he read the announcement of marriage in a provincial journal,
+directed to him, as he believed, in the bride's hand-writing; but this
+was an error, her sister having sent the newspaper. Mr. Lisle also
+construed this into a deliberate mockery and insult, and from that hour
+strove to banish all images and thoughts connected with his cousin, from
+his heart and memory.
+
+He unfortunately adopted the very worst course possible for effecting
+this object. Had he remained amid the buzz and tumult of active life, a
+mere sentimental disappointment, such as thousands of us have sustained
+and afterwards forgotten, would, there can be little doubt, have soon
+ceased to afflict him. He chose to retire from business, visited Watley,
+and habits of miserliness growing rapidly upon his cankered mind, never
+afterwards removed from the lodgings he had hired on first arriving
+there. Thus madly hugging to himself sharp-pointed memories, which a
+sensible man would have speedily cast off and forgotten, the sour
+misanthrope passed a useless, cheerless, weary existence, to which death
+must have been a welcome relief.
+
+Matters were in this state with the morose and aged man--aged mentally
+and corporeally, although his years were but fifty-eight--when Mr. Flint
+made Mr. Jennings's acquaintance. Another month or so had passed away
+when Caleb's attention was one day about noon claimed by a young man
+dressed in mourning, accompanied by a female similarly attired, and from
+their resemblance to each other he conjectured were brother and sister.
+The stranger wished to know if that was the house in which Mr. Ambrose
+Lisle resided. Jennings said it was; and with civil alacrity left his
+stall and rang the front-door bell. The summons was answered by the
+landlady's servant, who, since Esther May's death, had waited on the
+first-floor lodger; and the visitors were invited to go up stairs. Caleb,
+much wondering who they might be, returned to his stall, and from thence
+passed into his eating and sleeping-room just below Mr. Lisle's
+apartments. He was in the act of taking a pipe from the mantel-shelf, in
+order to the more deliberate and satisfactory cogitation on such an
+unusual event, when he was startled by a loud shout, or scream rather,
+from above. The quivering and excited voice was that of Mr. Lisle, and
+the outcry was immediately followed by an explosion of unintelligible
+exclamations from several persons. Caleb was up stairs in an instant,
+and found himself in the midst of a strangely-perplexing and distracted
+scene. Mr. Lisle, pale as his shirt, shaking in every limb, and his eyes
+on fire with passion, was hurling forth a torrent of vituperation and
+reproach at the young woman, whom he evidently mistook for some one else;
+whilst she, extremely terrified, and unable to stand but for the
+assistance of her companion, was tendering a letter in her outstretched
+hand, and uttering broken sentences, which her own agitation and the fury
+of Mr. Lisle's invectives rendered totally incomprehensible. At last the
+fierce old man struck the letter from her hand, and with frantic rage
+ordered both the strangers to leave the room. Caleb urged them to comply,
+and accompanied them down stairs. When they reached the street, he
+observed a woman on the other side of the way, dressed in mourning, and
+much older apparently, though he could not well see her face through the
+thick veil she wore, than she who had thrown Mr. Lisle into such an agony
+of rage, apparently waiting for them. To her the young people immediately
+hastened, and after a brief conference the three turned away up the
+street, and Mr. Jennings saw no more of them.
+
+A quarter of an hour afterwards the house-servant informed Caleb that Mr.
+Lisle had retired to bed, and although still in great agitation, and, as
+she feared, seriously indisposed, would not permit Dr. Clarke to be sent
+for. So sudden and violent a hurricane in the usually dull and drowsy
+atmosphere in which Jennings lived, excited and disturbed him greatly;
+the hours, however, flew past without bringing any relief to his
+curiosity, and evening was falling, when a peculiar knocking on the floor
+over-head announced that Mr. Lisle desired his presence. That gentleman
+was sitting up in bed, and in the growing darkness his face could not be
+very distinctly seen; but Caleb instantly observed a vivid and unusual
+light in the old man's eyes. The letter so strangely delivered was lying
+open before him; and unless the shoe-mender was greatly mistaken, there
+were stains of recent tears upon Mr. Lisie's furrowed and hollow cheeks.
+The voice, too, it struck Caleb, though eager, was gentle and wavering.
+"It was a mistake, Jennings," he said; "I was mad for the moment. Are
+they gone?" he added in a yet more subdued and gentle tone. Caleb
+informed him of what he had seen; and as he did so, the strange light in
+the old man's eyes seemed to quiver and sparkle with a yet intenser
+emotion than before. Presently he shaded them with his hand, and remained
+several minutes silent. He then said with a firmer voice, "I shall be
+glad if you will step to Mr. Sowerby, and tell him I am too unwell to see
+him this evening. But be sure to say nothing else," he eagerly added, as
+Caleb turned away in compliance with his request; "and when you come
+back, let me see you again."
+
+When Jennings returned, he found to his great surprise Mr. Lisle up and
+nearly dressed; and his astonishment increased a hundred-fold upon
+hearing that gentleman say, in a quick but perfectly collected and
+decided manner, that he should set off for London by the mail-train.
+
+"For London--and by night!" exclaimed Caleb, scarcely sure that he
+heard aright.
+
+"Yes--yes! I shall not be observed in the dark," sharply rejoined Mr.
+Lisle; "and you, Caleb, must keep my secret from every body, especially
+from Sowerby. I shall be here in time to see him to-morrow night, and he
+will be none the wiser." This was said with a slight chuckle; and as soon
+as his simple preparations were complete, Mr. Lisle, well wrapped up,
+and his face almost hidden by shawls, locked his door, and assisted by
+Jennings, stole furtively down stairs, and reached unrecognized the
+railway station just in time for the train.
+
+It was quite dark the next evening when Mr. Lisle returned; and so well
+had he managed, that Mr. Sowerby, who paid his usual visit about half an
+hour afterwards, had evidently heard nothing of the suspicious absence of
+his esteemed client from Watley. The old man exulted over the success of
+his deception to Caleb, the next morning, but dropped no hint as to the
+object of his sudden journey.
+
+Three days passed without the occurrence of any incident tending to the
+enlightenment of Mr. Jennings upon these mysterious events, which,
+however, he plainly saw had lamentably shaken the long-since failing man.
+On the afternoon of the fourth day, Mr. Lisle walked, or rather tottered,
+into Caleb's stall, and seated himself on the only vacant stool it
+contained. His manner was confused, and frequently purposeless, and there
+was an anxious, flurried expression in his face, which Jennings did not
+at all like. He remained silent for some time, with the exception of
+partially inaudible snatches of comment or questionings, apparently
+addressed to himself. At last he said, "I shall take a longer journey
+to-morrow, Caleb--much longer; let me see--where did I say? Ah, yes! to
+Glasgow; to be sure to Glasgow!"
+
+"To Glasgow, and to-morrow!" exclaimed the astounded cobbler.
+
+"No, no--not Glasgow; they have removed," feebly rejoined Mr. Lisle.
+"But Lucy has written it down for me. True--true; and to-morrow I
+shall set out."
+
+The strange expression of Mr. Lisle's face became momentarily more
+strongly marked, and Jennings, greatly alarmed, said, "You are ill, Mr.
+Lisle; let me run for Dr. Clarke."
+
+"No--no," he murmured, at the same time striving to rise from his seat,
+which he could only accomplish by Caleb's assistance, and so supported,
+he staggered indoors. "I shall be better to-morrow," he said faintly, and
+then slowly added, "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow! Ah, me! Yes,
+as I said, to-morrow, I"--He paused abruptly, and they gained his
+apartment. He seated himself, and then Jennings, at his mute
+solicitation, assisted him to bed.
+
+He lay some time with his eyes closed; and Caleb could feel--for Mr.
+Lisle held him firmly by the hand, as if to prevent his going away--a
+convulsive shudder pass over his frame. At last he slowly opened his
+eyes, and Caleb saw that he was indeed about to depart upon the long
+journey from which there is no return. The lips of the dying man worked
+inarticulately for some moments; and then with a mighty effort, as it
+seemed, he said, whilst his trembling hand pointed feebly to a bureau
+chest of drawers that stood in the room, "There--there, for Lucy; there,
+the secret place is"--Some inaudible words followed, and then after a
+still mightier struggle than before, he gasped out, "No word--no
+word--to--to Sowerby--for her--Lucy."
+
+More was said, but undistinguishable by mortal ear; and after gazing with
+an expression of indescribable anxiety in the scared face of his
+awe-struck listener, the wearied eyes slowly reclosed--the deep silence
+flowed past; then the convulsive shudder came again, and he was dead!
+
+Caleb Jennings tremblingly summoned the house-servant and the landlady,
+and was still confusedly pondering the broken sentences uttered by the
+dying man, when Mr. Sowerby hurriedly arrived. The attorney's first care
+was to assume the direction of affairs, and to place seals upon every
+article containing or likely to contain anything of value belonging to
+the deceased. This done, he went away to give directions for the funeral,
+which took place a few days afterwards; and it was then formally
+announced that Mr. Sowerby succeeded by will to the large property of
+Ambrose Lisle; under trust, however, for the family, if any, of Robert
+Lisle, the deceased's brother, who had gone when very young to India, and
+had not been heard of for many years--a condition which did not at all
+mar the joy of the crafty lawyer, he having long since instituted private
+inquiries, which perfectly satisfied him, that the said Robert Lisle had
+died, unmarried, at Calcutta.
+
+Mr. Jennings was in a state of great dubiety and consternation. Sowerby
+had emptied the chest of drawers of every valuable it contained; and
+unless he had missed the secret receptacle Mr. Lisle had spoken of, the
+deceased's intentions, whatever they might have been, were clearly
+defeated. And if he had _not_ discovered it, how could he, Jennings, get
+at the drawers to examine them? A fortunate chance brought some relief to
+his perplexities. Ambrose Lisle's furniture was advertised to be sold by
+auction, and Caleb resolved to purchase the bureau chest of drawers at
+almost any price, although to do so would oblige him to break into his
+rent-money, then nearly due. The day of sale came, and, the important lot
+in its turn was put up. In one of the drawers there were a number of
+loose newspapers, and other valueless scraps; and Caleb, with a sly grin,
+asked the auctioneer, if he sold the article with all its contents. "Oh,
+yes," said Sowerby, who was watching the sale; "the buyer may have all it
+contains over his bargain, and much good may it do him." A laugh followed
+the attorney's sneering remark, and the biddings went on. "I want it,"
+observed Caleb "because it just fits a recess like this one in my room
+underneath." This he said to quiet a suspicion he thought he saw
+gathering upon the attorney's brow. It was finally knocked down to Caleb
+at £5 10s., a sum considerably beyond its real value; and he had to
+borrow a sovereign in order to clear his speculative purchase. This done,
+he carried off his prize, and as soon as the closing of the house for the
+night secured him from interruption, he set eagerly to work in search of
+the secret drawer. A long and patient examination was richly rewarded.
+Behind one of the small drawers of the _secrétaire_ portion of the piece
+of furniture was another small one, curiously concealed, which contained
+Bank-of-England notes to the amount of £200, tied up with a letter, upon
+the back of which was written, in the deceased's hand-writing, "To take
+with me." The letter which Caleb, although he read print with facility,
+had much difficulty in making out, was that which Mr. Lisle had struck
+from the young woman's hand a few weeks before, and proved to be a very
+affecting appeal from Lucy Stevens, now Lucy Warner, and a widow, with
+two grown-up children. Her husband had died in insolvent circumstances,
+and she and her sister Emily, who was still single, were endeavoring to
+carry on a school at Bristol, which promised to be sufficiently
+prosperous if the sum of about £150 could be raised, to save the
+furniture from her deceased husband's creditors. The claim was pressing,
+for Mr. Warner had been dead nearly a year, and Mr. Lisle being the only
+relative Mrs. Warner had in the world, she had ventured to entreat his
+assistance for her mother's sake. There could be no moral doubt,
+therefore, that this money was intended for Mrs. Warner's relief; and
+early in the morning Mr. Caleb Jennings dressed himself in his Sunday's
+suit, and with a brief announcement to his landlady that he was about to
+leave Watley for a day or two, on a visit to a friend, set off for the
+railway station. He had not proceeded far when a difficulty struck
+him--the bank-notes were all twenties; and were he to change a
+twenty-pound note at the station, where he was well known, great would be
+the tattle and wonderment, if nothing worse, that would ensue. So Caleb
+tried his credit again, borrowed sufficient for his journey to London,
+and there changed one of the notes.
+
+He soon reached Bristol, and blessed was the relief which the sum of
+money he brought afforded Mrs. Warner. She expressed much sorrow for the
+death of Mr. Lisle, and great gratitude to Caleb. The worthy man
+accepted with some reluctance one of the notes, or at least as much as
+remained of that which he had changed; and after exchanging promises
+with the widow and her relatives to keep the matter secret, departed
+homewards. The young woman, Mrs. Warner's daughter, who had brought the
+letter to Watley, was, Caleb noticed, the very image of her mother, or,
+rather, of what her mother must have been when young. This remarkable
+resemblance it was, no doubt, which had for the moment so confounded and
+agitated Mr. Lisle.
+
+Nothing occurred for about a fortnight after Caleb's return to disquiet
+him, and he had begun to feel tolerably sure that his discovery of the
+notes would remain unsuspected, when, one afternoon, the sudden and
+impetuous entrance of Mr. Sowerby into his stall caused him to jump up
+from his seat with surprise and alarm. The attorney's face was deathly
+white, his eyes glared like a wild beast's, and his whole appearance
+exhibited uncontrollable agitation. "A word with you, Mr. Jennings," he
+gasped--"a word in private, and at once!" Caleb, in scarcely less
+consternation than his visitor, led the way into his inner room, and
+closed the door.
+
+"Restore--give back," screamed the attorney, vainly struggling to
+dissemble the agitation which convulsed him--"that--that which you have
+purloined from the chest of drawers!"
+
+The hot blood rushed to Caleb's face and temples; the wild vehemence and
+suddenness of the demand confounded him; and certain previous dim
+suspicions that the law might not only pronounce what he had done
+illegal, but possibly felonious, returned upon him with terrible force,
+and he quite lost his presence of mind.
+
+"I can't--I can't," he stammered. "It's gone--given away"--
+
+"Gone!" shouted, or, more correctly, howled--Sowerby, at the
+same time flying at Caleb's throat as if he would throttle him.
+"Gone--given away! You lie--you want to drive a bargain with
+me--dog!--liar!--rascal!--thief!"
+
+This was a species of attack which Jennings was at no loss how to meet.
+He shook the attorney roughly off, and hurled him, in the midst of his
+vituperation, to the further end of the room.
+
+They then stood glaring at each other in silence, till the attorney,
+mastering himself as well as he could, essayed another and more rational
+mode of attaining his purpose:--
+
+"Come, come, Jennings," he said, "don't be a fool. Let us understand each
+other. I have just discovered a paper, a memorandum of what you have
+found in the drawers, and to obtain which you bought them. I don't care
+for the money--keep it; only give me the papers--documents."
+
+"Papers--documents!" ejaculated Caleb, in unfeigned surprise.
+
+"Yes--yes; of use to me only. You, I remember, cannot read writing; but
+they are of great consequence to me--to me only, I tell you."
+
+"You can't mean Mrs. Warner's letter?"
+
+"No--no; curse the letter! You are playing with a tiger! Keep the money,
+I tell you; but give up the papers--documents--or I'll transport you!"
+shouted Sowerby with reviving fury.
+
+Caleb, thoroughly bewildered, could only mechanically ejaculate that he
+had no papers or documents.
+
+The rage of the attorney when he found he could extract nothing from
+Jennings was frightful. He literally foamed with passion, uttered the
+wildest threats; and then suddenly changing his key, offered the
+astounded cobbler one--two--three thousand pounds--any sum he chose to
+name, for the papers--documents! This scene of alternate violence and
+cajolery lasted nearly an hour; and then Sowerby rushed from the house as
+if pursued by the furies, and leaving his auditor in a state of thorough
+bewilderment and dismay. It occurred to Caleb, as soon as his mind had
+settled into something like order, that there might be another secret
+drawer; and the recollection of Mr. Lisle's journey to London recurred
+suggestively to him. Another long and eager search, however, proved
+fruitless; and the suspicion was given up, or, more correctly, weakened.
+
+As soon as it was light the next morning, Mr. Sowerby was again with
+him. He was more guarded now, and was at length convinced that Jennings
+had no paper or document to give up. "It was only some important
+memoranda," observed the attorney carelessly, "that would save me a
+world of trouble in a lawsuit I shall have to bring against some heavy
+debtors to Mr. Lisle's estate; but I must do as well as I can without
+them. Good morning." Just as he reached the door a sudden thought
+appeared to strike him. He stopped and said, "By the way, Jennings, in
+the hurry of business I forgot that Mr. Lisle had told me the chest of
+drawers you bought, and a few other articles, were family relics which
+he wished to be given to certain parties he named. The other things I
+have got; and you, I suppose, will let me have the drawers for--say a
+pound profit on your bargain?"
+
+Caleb was not the acutest man in the world; but this sudden proposition,
+carelessly as it was made, suggested curious thoughts. "No," he answered;
+"I shall not part with it. I shall keep it as a memorial of Mr. Lisle."
+
+Sowerby's face assumed as Caleb spoke, a ferocious expression. "Shall
+you?" said he. "Then, be sure, my fine fellow, that you shall also have
+something to remember me by as long as you live."
+
+He then went away, and a few days afterwards Caleb was served with a writ
+for the recovery of the two hundred pounds.
+
+The affair made a great noise in the place; and Caleb's conduct being
+very generally approved, a subscription was set on foot to defray the
+cost of defending the action--one Hayling, a rival attorney to Sowerby,
+having asserted that the words used by the proprietor of the chest of
+drawers at the sale barred his claim to the money found in them. This
+wise gentleman was intrusted with the defence; and strange to say, the
+jury--a common one--spite of the direction of the judge returned a
+verdict for the defendant, upon the ground that Sowerby's jocular or
+sneering remark amounted to a serious, valid leave and license to sell
+two hundred pounds for five pounds ten shillings!
+
+Sowerby obtained, as a matter of course, a rule for a new trial; and a
+fresh action was brought. All at once Hayling refused to go on, alleging
+deficiency of funds. He told Jennings that in his opinion it would be
+better that he should give in to Sowerby's whim, who only wanted the
+drawers in order to comply with the testator's wishes. "Besides,"
+remarked Hayling in conclusion, "he is sure to get the article, you know,
+when it comes to be sold under a writ of _fi fa_." A few days after this
+conversation it was ascertained that Hayling was to succeed to Sowerby's
+business, the latter gentleman being about to retire upon the fortune
+bequeathed him by Mr. Lisle.
+
+At last Caleb, driven nearly out of his senses, though still doggedly
+obstinate, by the harassing perplexities in which he found himself,
+thought of applying to us.
+
+"A very curious affair, upon my word," remarked Mr. Flint, as soon as
+Caleb had unburdened himself of the story of his woes and cares; "and in
+my opinion by no means explainable by Sowerby's anxiety to fulfill the
+testator's wishes. He cannot expect to get two hundred pence out of you;
+and Mrs. Warner, you say, is equally unable to pay. Very odd indeed.
+Perhaps if we could get time, something might turn up."
+
+With this view Flint looked over the papers Caleb had brought, and found
+the declaration was in _trover_--a manifest error--the notes never
+admittedly having been in Sowerby's actual possession. We accordingly
+demurred to the form of action, and the proceedings were set aside. This,
+however, proved of no ultimate benefit. Sowerby persevered, and a fresh
+action was instituted against the unhappy shoe-mender. So utterly
+overcrowed and disconsolate was poor Caleb, that he determined to give up
+the drawers which was all Sowerby even now required, and so wash his
+hands of the unfortunate business. Previous, however, to this being done,
+it was determined that another thorough and scientific examination of
+the mysterious piece of furniture should be made; and for this purpose
+Mr. Flint obtained a workman skilled in the mysteries of secret
+contrivances, from the desk and dressing-case establishment in King
+Street, Holborn, and proceeded with him to Watley.
+
+The man performed his task with great care and skill; every depth and
+width was guaged and measured, in order to ascertain if there were any
+false bottoms or backs; and the workman finally pronounced that there was
+no concealed receptacle in the article.
+
+"I am sure there is," persisted Flint, whom disappointment as usual
+rendered but the more obstinate; "and so is Sowerby: and he knows too,
+that it is so cunningly contrived as to be undiscoverable, except by a
+person in the secret, which he no doubt at first imagined Caleb to be.
+I'll tell you what we'll do--You have the necessary tools with you. Split
+the confounded chest of drawers into shreds--I'll be answerable for the
+consequences."
+
+This was done carefully and methodically, but for some time without
+result. At length the large drawer next the floor had to be knocked to
+pieces; and as it fell apart, one section of the bottom, which, like all
+the others, was divided into two compartments, dropped asunder, and
+discovered a parchment laid flat between the two thin leaves, which, when
+pressed together in the grooves of the drawer, presented precisely the
+same appearance as the rest. Flint snatched up the parchment, and his
+eager eye had scarcely rested an instant on the writing, when a shout of
+triumph burst from him. It was the last will and testament of Ambrose
+Lisle, dated August 21, 1838--the day of his last hurried visit to
+London. It revoked the former will, and bequeathed the whole of his
+property, in equal portions, to his cousins Lucy Warner and Emily
+Stevens, with succession to their children; but with reservation of
+one-half to his brother Robert or children, should he be alive, or have
+left offspring.
+
+Great, it may be supposed was the jubilation of Caleb Jennings at this
+discovery; and all Watley, by his agency, was in a marvelously short
+space of time in a very similar state of excitement. It was very late
+that night when he reached his bed; and how he got there at all, and what
+precisely had happened, except, indeed, that he had somewhere picked up a
+splitting headache, was, for some time after he awoke the next morning,
+very confusedly remembered.
+
+Mr. Flint, by reflection, was by no means so exultant as the worthy
+shoe-mender. The odd mode of packing away a deed of such importance, with
+_no assignable motive for doing so_, except the needless awe with which
+Sowerby was said to have inspired his feeble-spirited client, together
+with what Caleb had said of the shattered state of the deceased's mind
+after the interview with Mrs. Warner's daughter, suggested fears that
+Sowerby might dispute, and perhaps successfully, the validity of this
+last will. My excellent partner, however, determined, as was his wont, to
+put a bold face on the matter; and first clearly settling in his own mind
+what he should and what he should _not_ say, waited upon Mr. Sowerby. The
+news had preceded him, and he was at once surprised and delighted to find
+that the nervous crest-fallen attorney was quite unaware of the
+advantages of his position. On condition of not being called to account
+for the moneys he had received and expended, about £1200, he destroyed
+the former will in Mr. Flint's presence, and gave up, at once, all the
+deceased's papers. From these we learned that Mr. Lisle had written a
+letter to Mrs. Warner, stating what he had done, and where the will would
+be found, and that only herself and Jennings would know the secret. Prom
+infirmity of purpose, or from having subsequently determined on a
+personal interview, the letter was not posted; and Sowerby subsequently
+discovered it, together with a memorandum of the numbers of the
+bank-notes found by Caleb in the secret drawer--the eccentric gentleman
+appears to have had quite a mania for such hiding-places--of a
+writing-desk.
+
+The affair was thus happily terminated; Mrs. Warner, her children, and
+sister, were enriched, and Caleb Jennings was set up in a good way of
+business in his native place, where he still flourishes. Over the
+centre of his shop there is a large nondescript sign, surmounted by a
+golden boot, which upon a close inspection is found to bear a
+resemblance to a huge bureau chest of drawers, all the circumstances
+connected with which may be heard, for the asking, and in much fuller
+detail than I have given, from the lips of the owner of the
+establishment, by any lady or gentleman who will take the trouble of a
+journey to Watley for that purpose.
+
+
+
+
+THE PUZZLE.
+
+
+Tempus fugit! The space of but a few brief yesterdays seems to have
+passed since the occurrence of the following out-of-the-way
+incidents--out-of-the-way, even in our profession, fertile as it is in
+startling experiences; and yet the faithful and unerring tell-tale and
+monitor, Anno Domini 1851, instructs me that a quarter of a century has
+nearly slipped by since the first scene in the complicated play of
+circumstances opened upon me. The date I remember well, for the
+Tower-guns had been proclaiming with their thunder-throats the victory of
+Navarino but a short time before a clerk announced, "William Martin, with
+a message from Major Stewart."
+
+This William Martin was a rather sorry curiosity in his way. He was now
+in the service of our old client, Major Stewart; and a tall, good-looking
+fellow enough, spite of a very decided cast in his eyes, which the
+rascal, when in his cups--no unusual occurrence--declared he had caught
+from his former masters--Edward Thorneycroft, Esq., an enormously rich
+and exceedingly yellow East India director, and his son, Mr. Henry
+Thorneycroft, with whom, until lately transferred to Major Stewart's
+service, he had lived from infancy--his mother and father having formed
+part of the elder Thorneycroft's establishment when he was born. He had a
+notion in his head that he had better blood in his veins than the world
+supposed, and was excessively fond of aping the gentleman; and this he
+did, I must say, with the ease and assurance of a stage-player. His name
+was scarcely out of the clerk's lips when he entered the inner office
+with a great effort at steadiness and deliberation, closed the door very
+carefully and importantly, hung his hat with much precision on a brass
+peg, and then steadying himself by the door-handle, surveyed the
+situation and myself with staring lack-lustre eyes and infinite gravity.
+I saw what was the matter.
+
+"You have been in the 'Sun,' Mr. Martin?"
+
+A wink, inexpressible by words, replied to me, and I could see by the
+motion of the fellow's lips that speech was attempted; but it came so
+thick that it was several minutes before I made out that he meant to
+say the British had been knocking the Turks about like bricks, and
+that he had been patriotically drinking the healths of the said
+British or bricks.
+
+"Have the goodness, sir, to deliver your message, and then instantly
+leave the office."
+
+"Old Tho-o-o-rney," was the hiccoughed reply, "has smoked the--the
+plot. Young Thorney's done for. Ma-a-aried in a false name;
+tra-ansportation--of course."
+
+"What gibberish is this about old Thorney and young Thorney? Do you not
+come from Major Stewart?"
+
+"Ye-e-es, that's right; the route's arrived for the old trump; wishes
+to--to see you"
+
+"Major Stewart dying! Why, you are a more disgraceful scamp than I
+believed you to be. Send this fellow away," I added to a clerk who
+answered my summons. I then hastened off, and was speedily rattling over
+the stones towards Baker Street, Portman Square, where Major Stewart
+resided. As I left the office I heard Martin beg the clerk to lead him to
+the pump previous to sending him off--no doubt for the purpose of
+sobering himself somewhat previous to reappearing before the major,
+whose motives for hiring or retaining such a fellow in his modest
+establishment I could not understand.
+
+"You were expected more than an hour ago," said Dr. Hampton, who was just
+leaving the house. "The major is now, I fear, incapable of business."
+
+There was no time for explanation, and I hastily entered the
+sick-chamber. Major Stewart, though rapidly sinking, recognized me; and
+in obedience to a gesture from her master the aged, weeping house-keeper
+left the room. The major's daughter, Rosamond Stewart, had been absent
+with her aunt, her father's maiden sister, on a visit, I understood, to
+some friends in Scotland, and had not, I concluded, been made acquainted
+with the major's illness, which had only assumed a dangerous character a
+few days previously. The old soldier was dying calmly and
+painlessly--rather from exhaustion of strength, a general failure of the
+powers of life, than from any especial disease. A slight flush tinged the
+mortal pallor of his face as I entered, and the eyes emitted a
+slightly-reproachful expression.
+
+"It is not more, my dear sir," I replied softly but eagerly to his look,
+"than a quarter of an hour ago that I received your message."
+
+I do not know whether he comprehended or even distinctly heard what I
+said, for his feeble but extremely anxious glance was directed whilst
+I spoke to a large oil-portrait of Rosamond Stewart, suspended over
+the mantel-piece. The young lady was a splendid, dark-eyed beauty,
+and of course the pride and darling of her father. Presently
+wrenching, as it were, his eyes from the picture, he looked in my
+face with great earnestness, and bending my ear close to his lips, I
+heard him feebly and brokenly say, "A question to ask you, that's
+all; read--read!" His hand motioned towards a letter which lay open
+on the bed; I ran it over, and the major's anxiety was at once
+explained. Rosamond Stewart had, I found, been a short time
+previously married in Scotland to Henry Thorneycroft, the son of the
+wealthy East India director. Finding his illness becoming serious,
+the major had anticipated the time and mode in which the young people
+had determined to break the intelligence to the irascible father of
+the bridegroom, and the result was the furious and angry letter in
+reply which I was perusing. Mr. Thorneycroft would never, he
+declared, recognize the marriage of his undutiful nephew--nephew,
+_not_ son; for he was, the letter announced, the child of an only
+sister, whose marriage had also mortally offended Mr. Thorneycroft,
+and had been brought up from infancy as his (Mr. Thorneycroft's) son,
+in order that the hated name of Allerton, to which the boy was alone
+legally entitled, might never offend his ear. There was something
+added insinuative of a doubt of the legality of the marriage, in
+consequence of the misnomer of the bridegroom at the ceremony.
+
+"One question," muttered the major, as I finished the perusal of the
+letter--"Is Rosamond's marriage legal?"
+
+"No question about it. How could any one suppose that an involuntary
+misdescription can affect such a contract?"
+
+"Enough--enough!" he gasped. "A great load is gone!--the rest is with
+God. Beloved Rosamond"--The slight whisper was no longer audible; sighs,
+momently becoming fainter and weaker, followed--ceased, and in little
+more than ten minutes after the last word was spoken, life was extinct. I
+rang the bell, and turned to leave the room, and as I did so surprised
+Martin on the other side of the bed. He had been listening, screened by
+the thick damask curtains, and appeared to be a good deal sobered. I
+made no remark, and proceeded on down stairs. The man followed, and as
+soon as we had gained the hall said quickly, yet hesitatingly,
+"Sir--sir!"
+
+"Well, what have you to say?"
+
+"Nothing very particular, sir. But did I understand you to say just now,
+that it was of no consequence if a man married in a false name?"
+
+"That depends upon circumstances. Why do you ask?"
+
+"Oh, nothing--nothing; only I have heard it's transportation, especially
+if there's money."
+
+"Perhaps you are right. Anything else?"
+
+"No," said he, opening the door; "that's all--mere curiosity."
+
+I heard nothing more of the family for some time, except with reference
+to Major Stewart's personal property, about £4000 bequeathed to his
+daughter, with a charge thereon of an annuity of £20 a year for Mrs.
+Leslie, the aged house-keeper; the necessary business connected with
+which we transacted. But about a twelvemonth after the major's death, the
+marriage of the elder Thorneycroft with a widow of the same name as
+himself, and a cousin, the paper stated, was announced; and pretty nearly
+a year and a half subsequent to the appearance of this ominous paragraph,
+the decease of Mr. Henry Thorneycroft at Lausanne, in Switzerland, who
+had left, it was added in the newspaper stock-phrase of journalism, a
+young widow and two sons to mourn their irreparable loss. Silence again,
+as far as we were concerned, settled upon the destinies of the
+descendants of our old military client, till one fine morning a letter
+from Dr. Hampton informed us of the sudden death by apoplexy, a few days
+previously, of the East India director. Dr. Hampton further hinted that
+he should have occasion to write us again in a day or two, relative to
+the deceased's affairs, which, owing to Mr. Thorneycroft's unconquerable
+aversion to making a will, had, it was feared, been left in an extremely
+unsatisfactory state. Dr. Hampton had written to us, at the widow's
+request, in consequence of his having informed her that we had been the
+professional advisers of Major Stewart, and were in all probability those
+of his daughter, Mrs. Henry Allerton.
+
+We did not quite comprehend the drift of this curious epistle; but
+although not specially instructed, we determined at once to write to Mrs.
+Rosamond Thorneycroft or Allerton, who with her family was still abroad,
+and in the meantime take such formal steps in her behalf as might appear
+necessary.
+
+We were not long in doubt as to the motives of the extremely civil
+application to ourselves on the part of the widow of the East India
+director. The deceased's wealth had been almost all invested in land,
+which went, he having died intestate, to his nephew's son, Henry
+Allerton; and the personals in which the widow would share were
+consequently of very small amount. Mrs. Thorneycroft was, therefore,
+anxious to propose, through us, a more satisfactory and equitable
+arrangement. We could of course say nothing till the arrival of Mrs.
+Rosamond Allerton, for which, however, we had only a brief time to wait.
+There were, we found, no indisposition on that lady's part to act with
+generosity towards Mr. Thorneycroft's widow--a showy, vulgarish person,
+by the way, of about forty years of age--but there was a legal difficulty
+in the way, in consequence of the heir-at-law being a minor. Mrs.
+Thorneycroft became at length terribly incensed, and talked a good deal
+of angry nonsense about disputing the claim of Henry Allerton's son to
+the estates, on the ground that his marriage, having been contracted in
+a wrong name, was null and void. Several annoying paragraphs got in
+consequence into the Sunday newspapers, and these brought about a
+terrible disclosure.
+
+About twelve o'clock one day, the Widow Thorneycroft bounced
+unceremoniously into the office, dragging in with her a comely and rather
+interesting-looking young woman, but of a decidedly rustic complexion and
+accent, and followed by a grave, middle-aged clergyman. The widow's large
+eyes sparkled with strong excitement, and her somewhat swarthy features
+were flushed with hot blood.
+
+"I have brought you," she burst out abruptly, "the real Mrs.
+Allerton, and"--
+
+"No, no!" interrupted the young woman, who appeared much
+agitated--"Thorneycroft, not Allerton!"--
+
+"I know, child--I know; but that is nothing to the purpose. This young
+person, Mr. Sharp, is, I repeat, the true and lawful Mrs. Henry
+Allerton."
+
+"Pooh!" I answered; "do you take us for idiots? This," I added with some
+sternness, "is either a ridiculous misapprehension or an attempt at
+imposture, and I am very careless which it may be."
+
+"You are mistaken, sir," rejoined the clergyman mildly. "This young woman
+was certainly married by me at Swindon church, Wilts, to a gentleman of
+the name of Henry Thorneycroft, who, it appears from the newspapers,
+confirmed by this lady, was no other than Mr. Henry Allerton. This
+marriage, we find, took place six months previously to that contracted
+with Rosamond Stewart. I have further to say that this young woman, Maria
+Emsbury, is a very respectable person, and that her marriage-portion, of
+a little more than eight hundred pounds, was given to her husband, whom
+she has only seen thrice since her marriage, to support himself till the
+death of his reputed father, constantly asserted by him to be imminent."
+
+"A story very smoothly told, and I have no doubt in your opinion quite
+satisfactory; but there is one slight matter which I fancy you will find
+somewhat difficult of proof--I mean the identity of Maria Emsbury's
+husband with the son or nephew of the late Mr. Thorneycroft."
+
+"He always said he was the son of the rich East Indian, Mr.
+Thorneycroft," said the young woman with a hysterical sob; "and here,"
+she added, "is his picture in his wedding-dress--that of an officer of
+the Gloucestershire Yeomanry. He gave it me the day before the wedding."
+
+I almost snatched the portrait. Sure enough it was a miniature of Henry
+Allerton--there could be no doubt about that.
+
+Mr. Flint, who had been busy with some papers, here approached and
+glanced at the miniature.
+
+I was utterly confounded, and my partner, I saw, was equally dismayed;
+and no wonder, entertaining as we both did the highest respect and
+admiration for the high-minded and beautiful daughter of Major Stewart.
+
+The Widow Thorneycroft's exultation was exuberant.
+
+"As this only legal marriage," said she, "has been blessed with no issue,
+I am of course, as you must be aware, the legitimate heiress-at-law, as
+my deceased husband's nearest blood-relative. I shall, however," she
+added, "take care to amply provide for my widowed niece-in-law."
+
+The young woman made a profound rustic courtesy, and tears of unaffected
+gratitude, I observed, filled her eyes.
+
+The game was not, however, to be quite so easily surrendered as they
+appeared to imagine. "Tut! tut!" exclaimed Mr. Flint bluntly--"this may
+be mere practice. Who knows how the portrait has been obtained?"
+
+The girl's eyes flashed with honest anger. There was no practice about
+her I felt assured. "Here are other proofs: My husband's signet-ring,
+left accidentally, I think, with me, and two letters which I from
+curiosity took out of his coat-pocket--the day, I am pretty sure it was,
+after we were married."
+
+"If this cumulative circumstantial evidence does not convince you,
+gentlemen," added the Rev. Mr. Wishart, "I have direct personal testimony
+to offer. You know Mr. Angerstein of Bath?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Well, Mr. Henry Thorneycroft or Allerton, was at the time this marriage
+took place, on a visit to that gentleman; and I myself saw the
+bridegroom, whom I had united a fortnight previously in Swindon church,
+walking arm-and-arm with Mr. Angerstein in Sydney Gardens, Bath. I was at
+some little distance, but I recognized both distinctly, and bowed. Mr.
+Angerstein returned my salutation, and he recollects the circumstance
+distinctly. The gentleman walking with him in the uniform of the
+Gloucestershire Yeomanry was, Mr. Angerstein is prepared to depose, Mr.
+Henry Thorneycroft or Allerton."
+
+"You waste time, reverend sir," said Mr. Flint with an affectation of
+firmness and unconcern he was, I knew, far from feeling. "We are the
+attorneys of Mrs. Rosamond Allerton, and shall, I dare say, if you push
+us to it, be able to tear this ingeniously-colored cobweb of yours to
+shreds. If you determine on going to law, your solicitor can serve us; we
+will enter an appearance, and our client will be spared unnecessary
+annoyance."
+
+They were about to leave, when, as ill-luck would have it, one of the
+clerks who, deceived by the momentary silence, and from not having been
+at home when the unwelcome visitors arrived, believed we were disengaged,
+opened the door, and admitted Mrs. Rosamond Allerton and her aunt, Miss
+Stewart. Before we could interpose with a word, the Widow Thorneycroft
+burst out with the whole story in a torrent of exultant Volubility that
+it was impossible to check or restrain.
+
+For awhile contemptuous incredulity, indignant scorn, upheld the assailed
+lady; but as proof after proof was hurled at her, reinforced by the grave
+soberness of the clergyman and the weeping sympathy of the young woman,
+her firmness gave way, and she swooned in her aunt's arms. We should have
+more peremptorily interfered but for our unfortunate client's deprecatory
+gestures. She seemed determined to hear the worst at once. Now, however,
+we had the office cleared of the intruders without much ceremony and, as
+soon as the horror-stricken lady was sufficiently recovered, she was
+conducted to her carriage, and after arranging for an early interview on
+the morrow, was driven off.
+
+I found our interesting, and, I feared, deeply-injured client much
+recovered from the shock which on the previous day had overwhelmed her;
+and although exceedingly pale--lustrously so, as polished Parian
+marble--and still painfully agitated, there was hope, almost confidence,
+in her eye and tone.
+
+"There is some terrible misapprehension in this frightful affair, Mr.
+Sharp," she began. "Henry, my husband, was utterly incapable of a mean or
+dishonest act, much less of such utter baseness as this of which he is
+accused. They also say, do they not," she continued, with a smile of
+haughty contempt, "that he robbed the young woman of her poor dowry--some
+eight hundred pounds? A proper story!"
+
+"That, I confess, from what little I know of Mr. Henry Thorneycroft,
+stamps the whole affair as a fabrication; and yet the Reverend Mr.
+Wishart--a gentleman of high character, I understand--is very positive.
+The young woman, too, appeared truthful and sincere."
+
+"Yes--it cannot be denied. Let me say also--for it is best to look at
+the subject on its darkest side--I find, on looking over my letters,
+that my husband was staying with Mr. Angerstein at the time stated. He
+was also at that period in the Gloucestershire Yeomanry. I gave William
+Martin, but the other day, a suit of his regimentals very little the
+worse for wear."
+
+"You forget to state, Rosamond," said Miss Stewart, who was sitting
+beside her niece, "that Martin, who was with his young master at Bath, is
+willing to make oath that no such marriage took place as asserted, at
+Swindon church."
+
+"That alone would, I fear, my good madam, very little avail. Can I see
+William Martin?"
+
+"Certainly." The bell was rung, and the necessary order given.
+
+"This Martin is much changed for the better, I hear?"
+
+"O yes, entirely so," said Miss Stewart. "He is also exceedingly attached
+to us all, the children especially; and his grief and anger, when
+informed of what had occurred, thoroughly attest his faithfulness and
+sincerity."
+
+Martin entered, and was, I thought, somewhat confused by my apparently
+unexpected presence. A look at his face and head dissipated a
+half-suspicion that had arisen in both Flint's mind and my own.
+
+I asked him a few questions relative to the sojourn of his master
+at Bath, and then said, "I wish you to go with me and Bee this
+Maria Emsbury."
+
+As I spoke, something seemed to attract Martin's attention in the
+street, and suddenly turning round, his arm swept a silver pastil-stand
+off the table. He stooped down to gather up the dispersed pastils, and as
+he did so, said, in answer to my request, "that he had not the slightest
+objection to do so."
+
+"That being the case, we will set off at once, as she and her friends are
+probably at the office by this time. They are desirous of settling the
+matter off-hand," I added with a smile, addressing Mrs. Allerton, "and
+avoiding, if possible, the delays and uncertainties of the law."
+
+As I anticipated, the formidable trio were with Mr. Flint. I introduced
+Martin, and as I did so, watched, with an anxiety I could hardly have
+given a reason for, the effect of his appearance upon the young woman. I
+observed nothing. He was evidently an utter stranger to her, although,
+from the involuntary flush which crossed his features, it occurred to me
+that he was in some way an accomplice with his deceased master in the
+cruel and infamous crime which had, I strongly feared, been perpetrated.
+
+"Was this person present at your marriage?" I asked.
+
+"Certainly not. But I think--now I look at him--that I have seen him
+somewhere--about Swindon, it must have been."
+
+William Martin mumbled out that he had never been in Swindon; neither, he
+was sure, had his master.
+
+"What is that?" said the girl, looking sharply up, and suddenly
+coloring--"What is that?"
+
+Martin, a good deal abashed, again mumbled out his belief that young Mr.
+Thorneycroft, as he was then called, had never been at Swindon.
+
+The indignant scarlet deepened on the young woman's face and temples, and
+she looked at Martin with fixed attention and surprise. Presently
+recovering, as if from some vague confusedness of mind, she said, "What
+you _believe_, can be no consequence--truth is truth, for all that."
+
+The Rev. Mr. Wishart here interposed, remarking that as it was quite
+apparent we were determined to defend the usurpation by Miss Rosamond
+Stewart--a lady to be greatly pitied, no doubt--of another's right, it
+was useless to prolong or renew the interview; and all three took
+immediate leave. A few minutes afterward Martin also departed, still
+vehemently asserting that no such marriage ever took place at Swindon or
+anywhere else.
+
+No stone, as people say, was left unturned by us, in the hope of
+discovering some clue that might enable us to unravel the tangled web of
+coherent, yet, looking at the character of young Mr. Allerton,
+_improbable_ circumstance. We were unsuccessful, and unfortunately many
+other particulars which came to light but deepened the adverse complexion
+of the case. Two respectable persons living at Swindon were ready to
+depose on oath that they had on more than one occasion seen Maria
+Emsbury's sweetheart with Mr. Angerstein at Bath--once especially at the
+theatre, upon the benefit-night of the great Edmund Kean, who had been
+playing there for a few nights.
+
+The entire case, fully stated, was ultimately laid by us before eminent
+counsel--one of whom is now, by the by, a chief-justice--and we were
+advised that the evidence as set forth by us could not be contended
+against with any chance of success. This sad result was communicated by
+me to Mrs. Allerton, as she still unswervingly believed herself to be,
+and was borne with more constancy and firmness than I had expected. Her
+faith in her husband's truth and honor was not in the slightest degree
+shaken by the accumulated proofs. She would not, however, attempt to
+resist them before a court of law. Something would, she was confident,
+thereafter come to light that would vindicate the truth, and confiding in
+our zeal and watchfulness, she, her aunt, and children, would in the
+meantime shelter themselves from the gaze of the world in their former
+retreat at Lausanne.
+
+This being the unhappy lady's final determination, I gave the other side
+notice that we should be ready on a given day to surrender possession of
+the house and effects in South Audley Street, which the Widow
+Thorneycroft had given up to her supposed niece-in-law and family on
+their arrival in England, and to re-obtain which, and thereby decide the
+whole question in dispute, legal proceedings had already been commenced.
+
+On the morning appointed for the purpose--having taken leave of the
+ladies the day previously--I proceeded to South Audley Street, to
+formally give up possession, under protest, however. The niece and aunt
+were not yet gone. This, I found, was owing to Martin, who, according to
+the ladies, was so beside himself with grief and rage that he had been
+unable to expedite as he ought to have done, the packing intrusted to his
+care. I was vexed at this, as the Widow Thorneycroft, her protégée, and
+the Rev. Mr. Wishart, accompanied by a solicitor, were shortly expected;
+and it was desirable that a meeting of the antagonistic parties should be
+avoided. I descended to the lower regions to remonstrate with and hurry
+Martin, and found, as I feared, that his former evil habits had returned
+upon him. It was not yet twelve o'clock, and he was already partially
+intoxicated, and pale, trembling, and nervous from the effects, it was
+clear to me, of the previous night's debauch.
+
+"Your mistress is grossly deceived in you!" I angrily exclaimed; "and if
+my advice were taken, you would be turned out of the house at once
+without a character. There, don't attempt to bamboozle me with that
+nonsense; I've seen fellows crying drunk before now."
+
+He stammered out some broken excuses, to which I very impatiently
+listened; and so thoroughly muddled did his brain appear, that he either
+could not or would not comprehend the possibility of Mrs. Allerton and
+her children being turned out of house and home, as he expressed it, and
+over and over again asked me if nothing could yet be done to prevent it.
+I was completely disgusted with the fellow, and sharply bidding him
+hasten his preparations for departure, rejoined the ladies, who were by
+this time assembled in the back drawing-room, ready shawled and bonneted
+for their journey. It was a sad sight. Rosamond Stewart's splendid face
+was shadowed by deep and bitter grief, borne, it is true, with pride and
+fortitude; but it was easy to see its throbbing pulsations through all
+the forced calmness of the surface. Her aunt, of a weaker nature, sobbed
+loudly in the fullness of her grief; and the children, shrinking
+instinctively in the chilling atmosphere of a great calamity, clung,
+trembling and half-terrified, the eldest especially, to their mother. I
+did not insult them with phrases of condolence, but turned the
+conversation, if such it could be called, upon their future home and
+prospects in Switzerland. Some time had thus elapsed when my combative
+propensities were suddenly aroused by the loud dash of a carriage to the
+door, and the peremptory rat-tat-tat which followed. I felt my cheek
+flame as I said, "They demand admittance as if in possession of an
+assured, decided right. It is not yet too late to refuse possession, and
+take the chances of the law's uncertainty."
+
+Mrs. Allerton shook her head with decisive meaning. "I could not bear
+it," she said in a tone of sorrowful gentleness. "But I trust we shall
+not be intruded upon."
+
+I hurried out of the apartment, and met the triumphant claimants. I
+explained the cause of the delay, and suggested that Mrs. Thorneycroft
+and her friends could amuse themselves in the garden whilst the
+solicitor and I ran over the inventory of the chief valuables to be
+surrendered together.
+
+This was agreed to. A minute or two before the conclusion of this
+necessary formality, I received a message from the ladies, expressive of
+a wish to be gone at once, if I would escort them to the hotel; and
+Martin, who was nowhere to be found, could follow. I hastened to comply
+with their wishes; and we were just about to issue from the front
+drawing-room, into which we had passed through the folding-doors, when we
+were confronted by the widow and her party, who had just reached the
+landing of the great staircase. We drew back in silence. The mutual
+confusion into which we were thrown caused a momentary hesitation only,
+and we were passing on when the butler suddenly appeared.
+
+"A gentleman," he said, "an officer, is at the door, who wishes to see a
+Miss Maria Emsbury, formerly of Swindon."
+
+I stared at the man, discerned a strange expression in his face,
+and it glanced across me at the same moment that I had heard no
+knock at the door.
+
+"See Miss Emsbury!" exclaimed the Widow Thorneycroft, recovering her
+speech--"there is no such person here!"
+
+"Pardon me, madam," I cried, catching eagerly at the interruption, as a
+drowning man is said to do at a straw--"this young person _was_ at least
+Miss Emsbury. Desire the officer to walk up." The butler vanished
+instantly, and we all huddled back disorderly into the drawing-room, some
+one closing the door after us. I felt the grasp of Mrs. Allerton's arm
+tighten convulsively round mine, and her breath I heard, came quick and
+short. I was hardly less agitated myself.
+
+Steps--slow and deliberate steps--were presently heard ascending the
+stairs, the door opened, and in walked a gentleman in the uniform of a
+yeomanry officer, whom at the first glance I could have sworn to be the
+deceased Mr. Henry Allerton. A slight exclamation of terror escaped Mrs.
+Allerton, followed by a loud hysterical scream from the Swindon young
+woman, as she staggered forward towards the stranger, exclaiming, "Oh,
+merciful God!--my husband!" and then fell, overcome with emotion, in his
+outstretched arms.
+
+"Yes," said the Rev. Mr. Wishart promptly, "that is certainly the
+gentleman I united to Maria Emsbury. What can be the meaning of
+this scene?"
+
+"Is that sufficient, Mr. Sharp?" exclaimed the officer, in a voice that
+removed all doubt.
+
+"Quite, quite," I shouted--"more than enough!"
+
+"Very well, then," said William Martin, dashing off his black curling
+wig, removing his whiskers of the same color, and giving his own light,
+but now cropped head of hair and clean-shaved cheeks to view. "Now, then,
+send for the police, and let them transport me--I richly merit it. I
+married this young woman in a false name; I robbed her of her money, and
+I deserve the hulks, if anybody ever did."
+
+You might have heard a pin drop in the apartment whilst the repentant
+rascal thus spoke; and when he ceased, Mrs. Allerton, unable to bear up
+against the tumultuous emotion which his words excited, sank without
+breath or sensation upon a sofa. Assistance was summoned; and whilst the
+as yet imperfectly-informed servants were running from one to another
+with restoratives, I had leisure to look around. The Widow Thorneycroft,
+who had dropped into a chair, sat gazing in bewildered dismay upon the
+stranger, who still held her lately-discovered niece-in-law in his arms;
+and I could see the hot perspiration which had gathered on her brow run
+in large drops down the white channels which they traced through the
+thick rouge of her cheeks. But the reader's fancy will supply the best
+image of this unexpected and extraordinary scene. I cleared the house of
+intruders and visitors as speedily as possible, well assured that matters
+would now adjust themselves without difficulty.
+
+And so it proved. Martin was not sent to the hulks, though no question
+that he amply deserved a punishment as great as that. The self-sacrifice,
+as he deemed it, which he at last made, pleaded for him, and so did his
+pretty-looking wife; and the upshot was, that the mistaken bride's dowry
+was restored, with something over, and that a tavern was taken for them
+in Piccadilly--the White Bear, I think it was--where they lived
+comfortably and happily, I have heard, for a considerable time, and
+having considerably added to their capital, removed to a hotel of a
+higher grade in the city, where they now reside. It was not at all
+surprising that the clergyman and others had been deceived. The disguise,
+and Martin's imitative talent, might have misled persons on their guard,
+much more men unsuspicious of deception. The cast in the eyes, as well as
+a general resemblance of features, also of course greatly aided the
+imposture.
+
+Of Mrs. Rosamond Allerton, I have only to say, for it is all I know, that
+she is rich, unwedded, and still splendidly beautiful, though of course
+somewhat _passé_ compared with herself twenty years since. Happy, too, I
+have no doubt she is, judging from the placid brightness of her aspect
+the last time I saw her beneath the transept of the Crystal Palace, on
+the occasion of its opening by the Queen. I remember wondering at the
+time, if she often recalled to mind the passage in her life which I have
+here recorded.
+
+
+
+
+THE ONE BLACK SPOT.
+
+
+On the evening of a bleak, cold March day, in an early year of this
+century, a woman, scantily clad, led a boy about eight years old, along
+the high-road towards the old city of Exeter. They crept close to the
+hedge-side to shelter themselves from the clouds of dust, which the
+sudden gusts of east wind blew in their faces.
+
+They had walked many miles, and the boy limped painfully. He often looked
+up anxiously into his mother's face, and asked if they had much farther
+to go? She scarcely appeared to notice his inquiries; her fixed eyes and
+sunken cheek gave evidence that sorrow absorbed all her thoughts. When he
+spoke, she drew him closer to her side, but made no reply; until, at
+length, the child, wondering at her silence, began to sob. She stopped
+and looked at her child for a moment, her eyes filled with tears. They
+had gained the top of a hill, from which was visible in the distance, the
+dark massive towers of the cathedral and the church-spires of the city;
+she pointed them out, and said, "We shall soon be there, Ned." Then,
+sitting down on a tree that was felled by the road-side, she took "Ned"
+on her lap, and, bending over him, wept aloud.
+
+"Are you very tired, mother?" said the boy, trying to comfort her. "'Tis
+a long way--but don't cry--we shall see father when we come there."
+
+"Yes--you will see your father once more."
+
+She checked herself; and, striving to dry her tears, sat looking
+wistfully towards the place of her destination.
+
+The tramp of horses, coming up the hill they had just ascended, drew the
+boy's attention to that direction. In a moment he had sprung from his
+mother, and was shouting, with child-like delight, at the appearance of a
+gay cavalcade which approached. About thirty men on horseback, in crimson
+liveries, surrounded two carriages, one of which contained two of His
+Majesty's Judges, accompanied by the High Sheriff of the county, who,
+with his javelin-men, was conducting them to the city, in which the Lent
+Assizes were about to be held.
+
+The woman knelt until the carriages and the gaudy javelin-men had turned
+the corner at the foot of a hill, and were no longer visible; with her
+hands clasped together, she had prayed to God to temper with mercy the
+heart of the Judge, before whom her unfortunate husband, now in jail,
+would have to stand his trial. Then, taking the boy again by the
+hand--unable to explain to him what he had seen--she pursued her way with
+him, silently, along the dusty road.
+
+As they drew nearer to the city, they overtook various groups of
+stragglers, who had deemed it their duty, in spite of the inclement
+weather to wander some miles out of the city to catch an early glimpse of
+"My Lord Judge," and the gay Sheriff's officers. Troops, also, of
+itinerant ballad-singers, rope-dancers, mountebanks, and caravans of wild
+beasts, still followed the Judges, as they had done throughout the
+circuit. "Walk more slowly, Ned," said the mother, checking the boy's
+desire to follow the shows. "I am very tired; let us rest a little here."
+They lingered until the crowd was far ahead of them--and were left alone
+on the road.
+
+Late in the evening, as the last stragglers were returning home, the
+wayfarers found themselves in the suburbs of the city, and the forlorn
+woman looked around anxiously for a lodging. She feared the noisy people
+in the streets; and, turning timidly towards an old citizen who stood by
+his garden-gate, chatting to his housekeeper, and watching the
+passers-by--there was a kindness in his look which gave her
+confidence--so, with a homely courtesy, she ventured to inquire of him
+where she might find a decent resting-place.
+
+"Have you never been here before?" he asked.
+
+"Never but once, sir, when I was a child, many years ago."
+
+"What part of the country do you come from?"
+
+"Uffeulme."
+
+"Uffeulme? How did you get here?"
+
+"We have walked."
+
+"You don't say that you have trudged all the way with that youngster?"
+
+The housekeeper drowned the reply by loudly announcing to the old
+gentleman that his supper was waiting--"We have no lodgings, my good
+woman," she said, turning away from the gate.
+
+"Stop, Martha, stop," said the citizen. "Can't we direct them
+somewhere?--you see they are strangers. I wonder where they could get
+a lodging?"
+
+"I am sure I don't know," replied Martha, peevishly; "your supper will be
+cold--come in!"
+
+"We've had no supper," said the boy.
+
+"Poor little fellow!" said the old gentleman; "then I am sure you shall
+not go without. Martha, the bread and cheese!" And, opening the
+garden-gate, he made the travelers enter and sit down in the
+summer-house, whilst he went to fetch them a draught of cider.
+
+In spite of Martha's grumbling, he managed to get a substantial repast;
+but it grieved him that the woman, though she thanked him very gratefully
+and humbly, appeared unable to eat.
+
+"Your boy eats heartily," said he, "but I am afraid you don't enjoy it."
+
+With a choking utterance she thanked him, but could not eat.
+
+The good old man was striving, as well as he could, to explain to
+them their way to a part of the city, where they might find a
+lodging, when the garden-gate opened, and a young man gave to the
+host a hearty greeting.
+
+At the sound of his voice, the cup the woman held in her hand, fell to
+the ground. This drew the youth's attention to her; he looked earnestly
+at her for a moment, and with an exclamation of surprise, said, "Why,
+this is Susan Harvey?"
+
+The woman hid her face in her hands, and moaned.
+
+"Do you know her, then, Alfred?" said the uncle.
+
+"She nursed me when I was a little sickly boy," replied the youth; "she
+lived many years in my father's house."
+
+"Then I am sure you will take her to some lodging to-night, for she is
+quite a stranger here. There is Martha calling to me again; she is not
+in the best temper to-night, so I had better go in, and I leave them to
+your care."
+
+"Oh! tell me, Mr. Gray, have you seen him?" cried the woman eagerly.
+
+"I have been with him to-day, Susan," said Gray, kindly taking her
+hand--"do not be cast down; all that can be done for Martin, shall be
+done. Let me take you where you can rest to-night, and to-morrow you can
+be with him."
+
+The weary little boy had fallen asleep on the seat; the mother strove to
+arouse him, but Alfred Gray prevented her, by taking the little fellow
+in his arms. He carried him by her side through the streets; she could
+utter no words of gratitude, but her tears flowed fast, and told how the
+young man's sympathy had fallen like balm upon her wounded heart. "God
+has taken pity on me," she said, when they parted.
+
+With a quick step Alfred regained his uncle's cottage; he had a
+difficult task to accomplish. Martin Harvey, now awaiting his trial for
+poaching, and for being concerned in an affray with Sir George Roberts'
+game-keepers, had once been his father's apprentice. Young Gray had
+been endeavoring to procure for him all the legal help which the laws
+then allowed; but his own means were limited, and, when he met Susan
+and her boy in the garden, he had come to visit his uncle to ask his
+assistance. He had now returned on the same errand. He pleaded
+earnestly, and with caution, but was repulsed. It was in vain he urged
+the poverty of agricultural laborers at that season, and the temptation
+which an abundance of game afforded to half-starved men and their
+wretched families.
+
+"Nonsense, Alfred!" said old Mr. Gray. "I would not grudge you the money
+if you did not want it for a bad purpose. You must not excuse men who go
+out with guns and fire at their fellow-creatures in the dark."
+
+"Martin did not fire, uncle--that is what I want to prove, and save him,
+if I can, from transportation. He has a wife and child."
+
+"Wife and child!" repeated the old man thoughtfully. "You did not tell me
+he had a wife and child; that poor woman came from Uffeulme."
+
+"Providence must have guided her," said the younger Gray. "It was indeed
+Harvey's wife and son whom you so lately relieved."
+
+"You shall have the money. I have all through life prayed that my heart
+may not be hardened; and I find, old as I am, that, every day I have
+fresh lessons to learn."
+
+The next morning, while Alfred held anxious consultation with the
+lawyers, the wife and husband met within the prison walls. They sat
+together in silence, for neither could speak a single word of hope. The
+boy never forgot that long and dreary day, during which he watched, with
+wondering thoughts, the sad faces of his ruined parents.
+
+The Crown Court of the Castle was next morning crowded to overflowing.
+Among the struggling crowd that vainly sought to gain admission, was
+Martin Harvey's wife. She was rudely repulsed by the door-keepers, who
+"wondered what women wanted in such places." She still strove to keep her
+ground, and watched with piteous looks the doors of the court. She braved
+the heat and pressure for some time; but a sickly faintness at length
+came over her. She was endeavoring to retreat into the open air, when she
+felt some one touch her shoulder, and turning, saw Alfred Gray making his
+way toward her. After a moment's pause in the cool air, he led her round
+to a side-door, through which there was a private entrance into the
+court. He whispered a word to an officer, who admitted them, and pointed
+to a seat behind the dock, where they were screened from observation, and
+where the woman could see her husband standing between his two
+fellow-prisoners.
+
+The prisoners were listening anxiously to the evidence which the
+principal game-keeper was offering against them. The first, a man about
+sixty, excited greater interest than the others. He earnestly attended to
+what was going on, but gave no sign of fear, as to the result. Brushing
+back his gray locks, he gazed round the court, with something like a
+smile. This man's life had been a strange one. Early in his career he
+had been ejected from a farm which he had held under the father of the
+present prosecutor, Sir George Roberts; he soon after lost what little
+property had been left him, and, in despair enlisted--was sent abroad
+with his regiment--and for many years shared in the toils and
+achievements of our East Indian warfare. Returning home on a small
+pension, he fixed his abode in his native village, and sought to indulge
+his old enmity against the family that had injured him by every kind of
+annoyance in his power. The present baronet, a narrow-minded tyrannical
+man, afforded by his unpopularity good opportunity to old Ralph Somers to
+induce others to join him in his schemes of mischief and revenge. "The
+game," which was plentiful on the estate, and the preservation of which
+was Sir George's chief delight, formed the principal object of attack;
+the poverty of the laborers tempted them to follow the old soldier, who
+managed affairs so warily, that for nine years he had been an object of
+the utmost terror and hatred to Sir George and his keepers, whilst all
+their efforts to detect and capture him had, until now, been fruitless.
+
+Martin Harvey, who stood by his side with his shattered arm in a sling,
+bore marks of acute mental suffering and remorse; but his countenance was
+stamped with its original, open, manly expression--a face often to be
+seen among a group of English farm laborers, expressive of a warm heart,
+full of both courage and kindness.
+
+The evidence was soon given. The game-keepers, on the night of the 24th
+of February, were apprised that poachers were in the plantations. Taking
+with them a stronger force than usual, all well-armed, they discovered
+the objects of their search, in a lane leading out into the fields, and
+shouted to them to surrender. They distinctly saw their figures flying
+before them, and when they approached them, one of the fugitives turned
+round and fired, wounding one of the keepers' legs with a quantity of
+small shot. The keeper immediately fired in return, and brought down a
+poacher; old Ralph's voice was heard shouting to them to desist, and upon
+coming up they found him standing by the side of Martin Harvey, who had
+fallen severely wounded. Three guns lay by them, one of which had been
+discharged, but no one could swear who had fired it; search was made all
+night for the other man, but without success.
+
+When the prisoners were called on for their defence, they looked at one
+another for a moment as if neither wished to speak first; Ralph, however,
+began. He had little to say. Casting a look of defiance at Sir George and
+his lady, who sat in a side-gallery above the court, he freely confessed
+that hatred to the man who had injured him in his youth, and who had
+treated him with harshness on his return from abroad, had been the motive
+of his encouraging and aiding in these midnight depredations; he
+expressed sorrow for having occasioned trouble to his neighbor Harvey.
+"What I can say will be of little use to me here," said Martin Harvey, in
+a hollow voice; "I am ruined, beyond redress; but I was a very poor man
+when I first joined, with others, in snaring game; I often wanted bread,
+and saw my wife and child pinched for food also. The rich people say game
+belongs to them; but--well--all I can say more is, that I take God to
+witness I never lifted a murderous gun against my fellow-man; he who did
+it has escaped; and I have suffered this broken limb--but that I don't
+mind--I have worse than that to bear--I have broken my wife's heart, and
+my child will be left an orphan."
+
+His voice failed. There was an uneasy movement among the audience: and
+a lady, who had been leaning over the rails of the side-gallery
+listening with deep attention, fainted, and was carried out of court.
+The prisoner's pale wife, who had bowed her head behind him in silent
+endurance, heard a whisper among the bystanders that it was Lady
+Roberts, and a hope entered her mind that the lady's tender heart might
+feel for them.
+
+"Have you any witnesses to call?" asked the Judge.
+
+Martin looked round with a vacant gaze; the attorney whispered to him,
+and beckoned to Alfred Gray.
+
+Alfred went into the witness-box, and told of the honesty, sobriety, and
+good conduct of Martin Harvey, during all the years he was in his
+father's house--"He was there before I was born," said the young man,
+"and only left when I was obliged to leave also, sixteen years after. A
+better man never broke bread--he was beloved by every body who knew him.
+Till now his character was never tainted. It's the one black spot."
+
+The Judge commenced summing up; it was evident to all who had paid
+attention to the evidence, that the conviction of two of the prisoners
+was certain. Alfred Gray knew this, and strove to induce the wife to
+leave with him before the fatal close of proceedings; but she shook her
+head and would not go. "I shall have strength to bear it," she said.
+
+He sat down by her side, and heard the fearful verdict of "guilty"
+pronounced against her husband and Ralph Somers; and then the dreaded
+doom of transportation for life awarded to them. As they turned to leave
+the dock, Martin looked down upon the crushed and broken-hearted being
+whom he had sworn to protect and cherish through life, and in spite of
+every effort to repress it, a cry of agony burst from his lips; it was
+answered by a fainter sound, and Alfred Gray lifted the helpless,
+lifeless woman from the ground, and carried her into the open air.
+
+Months passed; and on the day when the convict ship, with its freight of
+heavy hearts, began its silent course over the greatwaters, the widowed
+wife took her fatherless child by the hand, and again traversed the weary
+road which led them to their desolated home.
+
+The kindness of the Grays had supplied a few immediate necessaries. Some
+one had told her of women having, by the aid of friends, managed to meet
+their husbands once more in those distant parts of the earth; and this
+knowledge once in her agitated mind, raised a hope which inspired her to
+pursue her daily task without fainting, and to watch an opportunity of
+making an attempt which she had meditated, even during that dreadful day
+of Martin's trial. She resolved to seek admission into Sir George
+Roberts' mansion, and appeal to the pity of his wife. It was told in the
+village that Lady Roberts had implored her husband to interpose in behalf
+of the men; that his angry and passionate refusal had caused a breach
+between them; that they had lived unhappily ever since; that he had
+strictly forbidden any one to mention the subject, or to convey to Lady
+Roberts any remarks that were made in the neighborhood.
+
+Susan Harvey trembled when she entered the mansion, and timidly asked
+leave to speak to Lady Roberts.
+
+The servant she addressed had known her husband, and pitied her distress;
+and, fearing lest Sir George might pass, he led her into his pantry,
+watching an opportunity to let the lady know of her being there.
+
+After a time Lady Roberts' maid came, and beckoned her to follow
+up-stairs. In a few moments the soft voice of the lady of the mansion was
+cheering her with kind words, and encouraging her to disclose her wishes.
+
+Before she had concluded, a step was heard without, at which the lady
+started and turned pale. Before there was time for retreat Sir George
+hastily entered the apartment.
+
+"Who have you here, Lady Roberts?"
+
+"One who has a request to make, I believe," said the lady, mildly. "I
+wish a few moments with her."
+
+"Have the goodness to walk out of this house," said the baronet to Susan.
+"Lady Roberts, I know this woman and I will not allow you to harbor such
+people here."
+
+Although the convict's wife never again ventured into that house, her
+wants, and those of her child, were, during three years, ministered to by
+the secret agency of the Good Heart that lived so sadly there; and when,
+at the expiration of that period, Lady Roberts died, a trusty messenger
+brought to the cottage a little legacy--sufficient, if ever news came of
+Martin, to enable the wife and child, from whom he was separated, to make
+their way across the earth, and to meet him again.
+
+But during those weary years no tidings of his fate had reached either
+his wife or Alfred Gray--to whom he had promised to write when he reached
+his destination. Another year dragged its slow course over the home of
+affliction, and poor Susan's hopes grew fainter day by day. Her sinking
+frame gave evidence of the sickness that cometh from the heart.
+
+One summer evening, in the next year, Alfred Gray, entered his uncle's
+garden with a letter, and was soon seated in the summer-house reading it
+aloud to his uncle and Martha. Tears stood in the old man's eyes, as some
+touching detail of suffering or privation was related. And, indeed, the
+letter told of little beside. It was from Martin. Soon after his arrival
+in the settlement, Martin had written to Alfred, but the letter had never
+reached England--not an unusual occurrence in those times. After waiting
+long, and getting no reply, he was driven by harsh treatment, and the
+degradation attending the life he led, to attempt, with old Ralph, an
+escape from the settlement. In simple language, he recorded the dreary
+life they led in the woods; how, after a time, old Ralph sickened and
+died; and how, in a desolate place, where the footsteps of man had,
+perhaps, never trod before, Martin Harvey had dug a grave, and buried his
+old companion. After that, unable to endure the terrible solitude, he had
+sought his way back to his former master, and had been treated more
+harshly than before. Fever and disease had wasted his frame, until he had
+prayed that he might die and be at rest; but God had been merciful to
+him, and had inclined the heart of one for whom he labored, who listened
+with compassion to his story, took him under his roof, and restored him
+to health. And now, Martin had obtained a ticket of leave, and served his
+kind master for wages, which he was carefully hoarding to send to Alfred
+Gray, as soon as he should hear from him that those he loved were still
+preserved, and would come and embrace him once more in that distant land.
+
+"They shall go at once, Alfred," said old Mr. Gray, the moment the last
+sentence was read; "they shall not wait; we will provide the
+means--hey, Martha?"
+
+He did not now fear to appeal to his companion. Martha had grown kinder
+of late, and she confessed she had learned of her cousin what gives most
+comfort to those who are drawing near their journey's end. "I can help
+them a little," she said.
+
+"We will all help a little," Alfred replied. "I shall be off at break of
+day to-morrow, on neighbor Collins's pony, and shall give him no rest
+until he sets me down at Uffeulme."
+
+Accordingly, early next morning, Alfred Gray was riding briskly along
+through the pleasant green lanes which led toward his native village. It
+was the middle of June, bright, warm, sunny weather; and the young man's
+spirits was unusually gay, everything around him tending to heighten the
+delight which the good news he carried had inspired him with. The pony
+stepped out bravely, and was only checked when Alfred came in sight of
+the dear old home of his childhood, and heard the well-known chimes
+calling the villagers to their morning service, for it was Sunday. Then
+for a few moments the young man proceeded more slowly, and his
+countenance wore a more saddened look, as the blessed recollections of
+early loves and affections with which the scene was associated in his
+mind, claimed their power over all other thoughts. The voice of an old
+friend, from an apple-orchard hard by, recalled him from his reveries.
+
+He shook hands through the hedge. "I will come and see you in the
+evening, Fred. I must hasten on now. She will go to church this morning,
+and I must go with her."
+
+"Who?" asked the other.
+
+Alfred pointed to the cottage where Susan Harvey dwelt. "I bring her good
+news--I have a letter. Martin is living and well."
+
+The friend shook his head.
+
+Alfred dismounted, and walked towards Susan Harvey's cottage. The door
+was closed, and when he looked through the window he could see no one
+inside. He lifted the latch softly and entered. There was no one there;
+but his entrance had been heard, and a moment after, a fine stout lad
+came out of the inner chamber, took Alfred's proffered hand, and in
+answer to his inquiries, burst into tears.
+
+"She says she cannot live long, sir; but she told me last night, that
+before she died, you would come and tell us news of father. She has been
+saying all the past week that we should hear from him soon."
+
+Whilst the boy spoke, Alfred heard a weak voice, calling his name from
+the inner room.
+
+"Go in," he said, "and tell her I am here."
+
+The boy did so, and then beckoned him to enter.
+
+Susan's submissive features were but little changed, from the time when
+her husband was taken from her; but the weak and wasted form that strove
+to raise itself in vain, as Alfred approached the bed-side, too plainly
+revealed that the struggle was drawing to a close--that the time of rest
+was at hand.
+
+"Thank God, you are come," she said; "you have heard from him? Tell me
+quickly, for my time is short."
+
+"I come to tell you good news, Susan. You may yet be restored to him."
+
+"I shall not see Martin in this world again, Mr. Gray; but I shall close
+my eyes in peace. If you know where he is, and can tell me that my boy
+shall go and be with him, and tell him how, through these long weary
+years, we loved him, and thought of him, and prayed for him--" Here she
+broke off, and beckoned the boy to her. She held his hands within her
+own, whilst Alfred Gray read from the letter all that would comfort her.
+
+When he had done, she said, "God will bless you--you have been very good
+to us in our misery. Now, will you promise me one thing more? Will you
+send my boy to his father, when I am gone?"
+
+The promise was made; and the boy knelt long by her bedside, listening
+to the words of love and consolation which, with her latest breath, she
+uttered for the sake of him who, she hoped, would hear them again from
+his child's lips.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Nearly forty years have passed since they laid her among the graves of
+the humble villagers of Uffeulme. Few remain now who remember her story
+or her name--but, on the other side of the world, amid scenery all
+unlike to that in which she dwelt, there stands a cheerful settler's
+home, and under the shadow of tall acacia trees which surround the
+little garden in which some few English flowers are blooming, there are
+sitting, in the cool of the summer evening, a group whose faces are all
+of the Anglo-Saxon mould. A happy looking couple, in the prime of life,
+are there, with children playing around them; and one little gentle
+girl, they call Susan, is sitting on the knee of an aged, white-haired
+man, looking lovingly into his face, and wondering why his eye so
+watches the setting sun every night, as it sinks behind the blue waters
+in the distance. Two tall, handsome lads, with guns on their shoulders,
+enter the garden, and hasten to show the old man the fruits of their
+day's exploits.
+
+"We have been lucky to-day, grandfather," says the younger; "but Alfred
+says these birds are not like the birds in old England."
+
+"You should hear the sailors talk about the game in England, Martin,"
+replies the brother.
+
+"Grandfather has told us all about England, except the 'birds.' He thinks
+we should run away, if he were to describe them."
+
+The old man looks steadily at the boys for a moment, and his eyes fill
+with tears. "It is a glorious land," he says, with a faltering voice; "it
+is our country; but, Alfred, Martin, you will never leave this happy home
+to go there. Birds there are the rich man's property, and you would not
+dare carry those guns of yours over English ground. If ever you go there,
+your father will tell you where there is a church-yard--and among the
+graves of the poor, there is one--"
+
+He stopped, for Edward Harvey came to the place where his father sat, and
+took his trembling hand within his own; the boys obeyed their mother's
+signal, and followed her into the house; the two men remained sitting
+together, until the silent stars came out.
+
+Then the aged man, leaning on his son's arm, rejoined the family at the
+supper-table--and the peace of God rested on the solitary home. Edward
+Harvey had faithfully kept within his heart, the memory of his mother's
+dying commands.
+
+Martin, his father, had nobly effaced the one Black Spot.
+
+
+
+
+THE GENTLEMAN BEGGAR.
+
+
+One morning, about five years ago, I called by appointment on Mr. John
+Balance, the fashionable pawnbroker, to accompany him to Liverpool, in
+pursuit of a Levanting customer--for Balance, in addition to pawning,
+does a little business in the sixty per cent. line. It rained in torrents
+when the cab stopped at the passage which leads past the pawning-boxes to
+his private door. The cabman rang twice, and at length Balance appeared,
+looming through the mist and rain in the entry, illuminated by his
+perpetual cigar. As I eyed him rather impatiently, remembering that
+trains wait for no man, something like a hairy dog, or a bundle of rags,
+rose up at his feet, and barred his passage for a moment. Then Balance
+cried out with an exclamation, in answer apparently to a something I
+could not hear, "What, man alive!--slept in the passage!--there, take
+that, and get some breakfast, for Heaven's sake!" So saying, he jumped
+into the "Hansom," and we bowled away at ten miles an hour, just catching
+the Express as the doors of the station were closing. My curiosity was
+full set--for although Balance can be free with his money, it is not
+exactly to beggars that his generosity is usually displayed; so when
+comfortably ensconced in a _coupé_ I finished with--
+
+"You are liberal with your money this morning; pray, how often do you
+give silver to street-cadgers?--because I shall know now what walk to
+take when flats and sharps leave off buying law."
+
+Balance, who would have made an excellent parson if he had not been bred
+to a case-hardening trade, and has still a soft bit left in his heart
+that is always fighting with his hard head, did not smile at all, but
+looked as grim as if squeezing a lemon into his Saturday night's punch.
+He answered slowly, "A cadger--yes; a beggar--a miserable wretch, he is
+now; but, let me tell you, Master David, that that miserable bundle of
+rags was born and bred a gentleman--the son of a nobleman, the husband of
+an heiress, and has sat and dined at tables where you and I, Master
+David, are only allowed to view the plate by favor of the butler. I have
+lent him thousands, and been well paid. The last thing I had from him was
+his court-suit; and I hold now his bill for one hundred pounds that will
+be paid, I expect, when he dies."
+
+"Why, what nonsense you are talking! you must be dreaming this morning.
+However, we are alone; I'll light a weed, in defiance of Railway-law,
+while you spin that yarn; for, true or untrue, it will fill up the time
+to Liverpool."
+
+"As for yarn," replied Balance, "the whole story is short enough; and as
+for truth, that you may easily find out if you like to take the trouble.
+I thought the poor wretch was dead, and I own it put me out meeting him
+this morning, for I had a curious dream last night."
+
+"Oh, hang your dreams! Tell us about this gentleman beggar that bleeds
+you of half-crowns--that melts the heart even of a pawnbroker!"
+
+"Well, then, that beggar is the illegitimate son of the late Marquis of
+Hoopborough by a Spanish lady of rank. He received a first rate
+education, and was brought up in his father's house. At a very early age
+he obtained an appointment in a public office, was presented by the
+marquis at court, and received into the first society, where his handsome
+person and agreeable manners made him a great favorite. Soon after coming
+of age, he married the daughter of Sir E. Bumper, who brought him a very
+handsome fortune, which was strictly settled on herself. They lived in
+splendid style, kept several carriages, a house in town, and a place in
+the country. For some reason or other, idleness, or to please his lady's
+pride he said, he resigned his appointment. His father died, and left him
+nothing; indeed, he seemed at that time very handsomely provided for.
+
+"Very soon Mr. and Mrs. Molinos Fitz-Roy began to disagree. She was cold,
+correct--he was hot and random. He was quite dependent on her, and she
+made him feel it. When he began to get into debt, he came to me. At
+length some shocking quarrel occurred--some case of jealousy on the
+wife's side, not without reason, I believe; and the end of it was, Mr.
+Fitz-Roy was turned out of doors. The house was his wife's, the furniture
+was his wife's, and the fortune was his wife's--he was, in fact, her
+pensioner. He left with a few hundred pounds ready money, and some
+personal jewelry, and went to a hotel. On these and credit he lived.
+Being illegitimate, he had no relations--being a fool, when he spent his
+money, he lost his friends. The world took his wife's part, when they
+found she had the fortune, and the only parties who interfered were her
+relatives, who did their best to make the quarrel incurable. To crown
+all, one night he was run over by a cab, was carried to a hospital, and
+lay there for months, and was, during several weeks of the time,
+unconscious. A message to the wife, by the hands of one of his debauched
+companions, sent by a humane surgeon, obtained an intimation that 'if he
+died, Mr. Croak, the undertaker to the family, had orders to see to the
+funeral,' and that Mrs. Molinos was on the point of starting for the
+Continent, not to return for some years. When Fitz-Roy was discharged, he
+came to me, limping on two sticks, to pawn his court-suit, and told me
+his story. I was really sorry for the fellow--such a handsome,
+thoroughbred-looking man. He was going then into the west somewhere, to
+try to hunt out a friend. 'What to do, Balance,' he said, 'I don't know.
+I can't dig, and unless somebody will make me their gamekeeper, I must
+starve, or beg, as my Jezebel bade me, when we parted!'
+
+"I lost sight of Molinos for a long time, and when I next came upon him
+it was in the Rookery of Westminster, in a low lodging-house, where I was
+searching with an officer for stolen goods. He was pointed out to me as
+the 'gentleman-cadger,' because he was so free with his money when 'in
+luck.' He recognized me, but turned away then. I have since seen him, and
+relieved him more than once, although he never asks for anything. How he
+lives, Heaven knows. Without money, without friends, without useful
+education of any kind, he tramps the country, as you saw him, perhaps
+doing a little hop-picking or hay-making, in season, only happy when he
+obtains the means to get drunk. I have heard through the kitchen whispers
+that you know come to me, that he is entitled to some property; and I
+expect if he were to die his wife would pay the hundred pound bill I
+hold; at any rate, what I have told you I know to be true, and the bundle
+of rags I relieved just now is known in every thieves' lodging in England
+as the 'gentleman cadger.'"
+
+This story produced an impression on me: I am fond of speculation, and
+like the excitement of a legal hunt as much as some do a fox-chase. A
+gentleman, a beggar--a wife rolling in wealth--rumors of unknown property
+due to the husband;--it seemed as if there were pickings for me amidst
+this carrion of pauperism.
+
+Before returning from Liverpool, I had purchased the gentleman beggar's
+acceptance from Balance. I then inserted in the "Times" the following
+advertisement: "_Horatio Molinos Fitz-Roy_.--If this gentleman will apply
+to David Discount, Esq., Solicitor, St. James's, he will hear of
+something to his advantage. Any person furnishing Mr. R's correct
+address, shall receive £1 1s. reward. He was last seen," &c. Within
+twenty-four hours I had ample proof of the wide circulation of the
+"Times." My office was besieged with beggars of every degree, men and
+women, lame and blind, Irish, Scotch, and English--some on crutches, some
+in bowls, some in go-carts. They all knew him as "the gentleman," and I
+must do the regular fraternity of tramps the justice to say, that not one
+would answer a question until he made certain that I meant the
+"gentleman" no harm.
+
+One evening, about three weeks after the appearance of the advertisement,
+my clerk announced "another beggar." There came in an old man leaning
+upon a staff, clad in a soldier's greatcoat, all patched and torn, with a
+battered hat, from under which a mass of tangled hair fell over his
+shoulders and half concealed his face. The beggar, in a weak, wheezy,
+hesitating tone, said, "You have advertized for Molinos Fitz-Roy. I hope
+you don't mean him any harm; he is sunk, I think, too low for enmity now;
+and surely no one would sport with such misery as his." These last words
+were uttered in a sort of piteous whisper.
+
+I answered quickly, "Heaven forbid I should sport with misery--I mean and
+hope to do him good, as well as myself."
+
+"Then, sir, I am Molinos Fitz-Roy!"
+
+While we were conversing candles had been brought in. I have not very
+tender nerves--my head would not agree with them--but I own I started and
+shuddered when I saw and knew that the wretched creature before me was
+under thirty years of age, and once a gentleman. Sharp, aquiline
+features, reduced to literal skin and bone, were begrimed and covered
+with dry fair hair; the white teeth of the half-open mouth chattered with
+eagerness, and made more hideous the foul pallor of the rest of the
+countenance. As he stood leaning on a staff half bent, his long, yellow
+bony fingers clasped over the crutch-head of his stick, he was indeed a
+picture of misery, famine, squalor, and premature age, too horrible to
+dwell upon. I made him sit down, sent for some refreshment which he
+devoured like a ghoul, and set to work to unravel his story. It was
+difficult to keep him to the point; but with pains I learned what
+convinced me that he was entitled to some property, whether great or
+small there was no evidence. On parting, I said, "Now, Mr. F, you must
+stay in town while I make proper inquiries. What allowance will be enough
+to keep you comfortably?"
+
+He answered humbly after much pressing, "Would you think ten shillings
+too much?"
+
+I don't like, if I do those things at all, to do them shabbily--so I
+said, "Come every Saturday and you shall have a pound." He was profuse in
+thanks, of course, as all such men are as long as distress lasts.
+
+I had previously learned that my ragged client's wife was in England,
+living in a splendid house in Hyde Park Gardens, under her maiden name.
+On the following day the Earl of Owing called upon me, wanting five
+thousand pounds by five o'clock the same evening. It was a case of life
+or death with him, so I made my terms and took advantage of his pressure
+to execute a _coup de main._ I proposed that he should drive me home to
+receive the money, calling at Mrs. Molinos in Hyde Park Gardens, on our
+way. I knew that the coronet and liveries of his father, the Marquis,
+would ensure me an audience with Mrs. Molinos Fitz-Roy.
+
+My scheme answered. I was introduced into the lady's presence. She was,
+and probably is, a very stately, handsome woman, with a pale complexion,
+high solid forehead, regular features, thin, pinched, self-satisfied
+mouth. My interview was very short. I plunged into the middle of the
+affair, but had scarcely mentioned the word _husband_, when she
+interrupted me with, "I presume you have lent this profligate person
+money, and want me to pay you." She paused, and then said, "He shall not
+have a farthing." As she spoke, her white face became scarlet.
+
+"But, Madam, the man is starving. I have strong reasons for believing he
+is entitled to property, and if you refuse any assistance, I must take
+other measures." She rang the bell, wrote something rapidly on a card,
+and, as the footman appeared, pushed it towards me across the table, with
+the air of touching a toad, saying, "There, sir, is the address of my
+solicitors; apply to them if you think you have any claim. Robert, show
+the person out, and take care he is not admitted again."
+
+So far I had effected nothing; and, to tell the truth, felt rather
+crest-fallen under the influence of that grand manner peculiar to certain
+great ladies and to all great actresses.
+
+My next visit was to the attorneys, Messrs. Leasem and Fashun, of
+Lincoln's Inn Square; and there I was at home. I had had dealings with
+the firm before. They are agents for half the aristocracy, who always
+run in crowds like sheep after the same wine-merchants, the same
+architects, the same horse-dealers, and the same law-agents. It may be
+doubted whether the quality of law and land management they get on this
+principle is quite equal to their wine and horses. At any rate, my
+friends of Lincoln's Inn, like others of the same class, are
+distinguished by their courteous manners, deliberate proceedings,
+innocence of legal technicalities, long credit and heavy charges. Leasem,
+the elder partner, wears powder and a huge bunch of seals, lives in Queen
+Square, drives a brougham, gives the dinners and does the cordial
+department. He is so strict in performing the latter duty, that he once
+addressed a poacher who had shot a Duke's keeper, as "my dear creature,"
+although he afterwards hung him.
+
+Fashun has chambers in St. James Street, drives a cab, wears a tip, and
+does the grand haha style.
+
+My business lay with Leasem. The interviews and letters passing were
+numerous. However, it came at last to the following dialogue:--
+
+"Well, my dear Mr. Discount," began Mr. Leasem, who hates me like poison,
+"I'm really very sorry for that poor dear Molinos--knew his father well;
+a great man, a perfect gentleman; but you know what women are, eh, Mr.
+Discount? My client won't advance a shilling; she knows it would only be
+wasted in low dissipation. Now, don't you think (this was said very
+insinuatingly)--don't you think he had better be sent to the work-house?
+Very comfortable accommodation there, I can assure you--meat twice a
+week, and excellent soup; and then, Mr. D., we might consider about
+allowing you something for that bill."
+
+"Mr. Leasem, can you reconcile it to your conscience to make such an
+arrangement? Here's a wife rolling in luxury, and a husband starving!"
+
+"No, Mr. Discount, not starving; there is the work-house, as I observed
+before; besides, allow me to suggest that these appeals to feeling are
+quite unprofessional--quite unprofessional."
+
+"But, Mr. Leasem, touching this property which the poor man is
+entitled to?"
+
+"Why, there again, Mr. D., you must excuse me; you really must. I don't
+say he is, I don't say he is not. If you know he is entitled to
+property, I am sure you know how to proceed; the law is open to you,
+Mr. Discount--the law is open; and a man of your talent will know how
+to use it."
+
+"Then, Mr. Leasem, you mean that I must, in order to right this starving
+man, file a Bill of Discovery, to extract from you the particulars of his
+rights. You have the Marriage Settlement, and all the information, and
+you decline to allow a pension, or afford any information; the man is to
+starve, or go to the work-house?"
+
+"Why, Mr. D., you are so quick and violent, it really is not
+professional; but you see, (here a subdued smile of triumph,) it has been
+decided that a solicitor is not bound to afford such information as you
+ask, to the injury of his client."
+
+"Then you mean that this poor Molinos may rot and starve, while you keep
+secret from him, at his wife's request, his title to an income, and that
+the Court of Chancery will back you in this iniquity?"
+
+I kept repeating the word "starve," because I saw it made my respectable
+opponent wince. "Well, then, just listen to me: I know that in the happy
+state of our equity law, Chancery can't help my client; but I have
+another plan--I shall go hence to my office, issue a writ, and take your
+client's husband in execution--as soon as he is lodged in jail, I shall
+file his schedule in the Insolvent Court, and when he comes up for his
+discharge, I shall put you in the witness-box, and examine you on oath,
+'touching any property of which you know the insolvent to be possessed,'
+and where will be your privileged communications then?"
+
+The respectable Leasem's face lengthened in a twinkling, his comfortable
+confident air vanished, he ceased twiddling his gold chain, and at length
+he muttered, "Suppose we pay the debt?"
+
+"Why, then, I'll arrest him the day after for another."
+
+"But, my dear Mr. Discount, surely such conduct would not be quite
+respectable?"
+
+"That's my business; my client has been wronged, I am determined to
+right him, and when the aristocratic firm of Leasem and Fashun takes
+refuge according to the custom of respectable repudiators, in the cool
+arbors of the Court of Chancery, why, a mere bill-discounting attorney
+like David Discount, need not hesitate about cutting a bludgeon out of
+the Insolvent Court."
+
+"Well, well, Mr. D., you are so warm--so fiery; we must deliberate, we
+must consult. You will give me until the day after to-morrow, and then
+we'll write you our final determination; in the meantime, send us a copy
+of your authority to act for Mr. Molinos Fitz-Roy."
+
+Of course I lost no time in getting the gentleman beggar to sign a
+proper letter.
+
+On the appointed day came a communication with the L. and F. seal, which
+I opened, not without unprofessional eagerness. It was as follows:--
+
+_"In re Molinos Fitz-Roy and Another._
+
+"Sir,--In answer to your application on behalf of Mr. Molinos Fitz-Roy,
+we beg to inform you that, under the administration of a paternal aunt
+who died intestate, your client is entitled to two thousand five hundred
+pounds eight shillings and sixpence, Three per Cents.; one thousand five
+hundred pounds nineteen shillings and fourpence, Three per Cents.,
+Reduced; one thousand pounds, Long Annuities; five hundred pounds, Bank
+Stock; three thousand five hundred pounds, India Stock, besides other
+securities, making up about ten thousand pounds, which we are prepared to
+transfer over to Mr. Molinos Fitz-Roy's direction forthwith."
+
+Here was a windfall! It quite took away my breath.
+
+At dusk came my gentleman beggar, and what puzzled me was how to break
+the news to him. Being very much overwhelmed with business that day, I
+had not much time for consideration. He came in rather better dressed
+than when I first saw him, with only a week's beard on his chin; but,
+as usual, not quite sober. Six weeks had elapsed since our first
+interview. He was still the humble, trembling, low-voiced creature, I
+first knew him.
+
+After a prelude, I said, "I find, Mr. F., you are entitled to something;
+pray, what do you mean to give me in addition to my bill, for obtaining
+it?" He answered rapidly, "Oh, take half; if there is one hundred pounds,
+take half--if there is five hundred pounds, take half."
+
+"No, no; Mr. F., I don't do business in that way, I shall be satisfied
+with ten per cent."
+
+It was so settled. I then led him out into the street, impelled to tell
+him the news, yet dreading the effect; not daring to make the revelation
+in my office, for fear of a scene.
+
+I began hesitatingly, "Mr. Fitz-Roy, I am happy to say that I find you
+are entitled to ... ten thousand pounds!"
+
+"Ten thousand pounds!" he echoed. "Ten thousand pounds!" he shrieked.
+"Ten thousand pounds!" he yelled; seizing my arm violently. "You are a
+brick--Here, cab! cab!" Several drove up--the shout might have been heard
+a mile off. He jumped in the first.
+
+"Where to?" said the driver.
+
+"To a tailor's, you rascal!"
+
+"Ten thousand pounds! ha, ha, ha!" he repeated hysterically, when in the
+cab; and every moment grasping my arm. Presently he subsided, looked me
+straight in the face, and muttered with agonizing fervor, "What a jolly
+brick you are!"
+
+The tailor, the hosier, the boot-maker, the hair-dresser, were in turn
+visited by this poor pagan of externals. As by degrees under their hands
+he emerged from the beggar to the gentleman, his spirits rose; his eyes
+brightened; he walked erect, but always nervously grasping my
+arm--fearing, apparently, to lose sight of me for a moment, lest his
+fortune, should vanish with me. The impatient pride with which he gave
+his orders to the astonished tradesman for the finest and best of
+everything, and the amazed air of the fashionable hairdresser when he
+presented his matted locks and stubble chin, to be "cut and shaved," may
+be _acted_--it cannot be described.
+
+By the time the external transformation was complete, and I
+sat down in a Cafe in the Haymarket opposite a haggard but handsome
+thoroughbred-looking man, whose air, with the exception of the wild eyes
+and deeply browned face, did not differ from the stereotyped men about
+town sitting around us, Mr. Molinos Fitz-Roy had already almost
+forgotten the past. He bullied the waiter, and criticised the wine, as if
+he had done nothing else but dine and drink and scold there all the days
+of his life.
+
+Once he wished to drink my health, and would have proclaimed his whole
+story to the coffee-room assembly, in a raving style. When I left he
+almost wept in terror at the idea of losing sight of me. But, allowing
+for these ebullitions--the natural result of such a whirl of events--he
+was wonderfully calm and self-possessed.
+
+The next day, his first care was to distribute fifty pounds among his
+friends, the cadgers, at a "house of call" in Westminster, and formally
+to dissolve his connection with them; those present undertaking for the
+"fraternity," that for the future he should never be noticed by them in
+public or private.
+
+I cannot follow his career much further. Adversity had taught him
+nothing. He was soon again surrounded by the well-bred vampires who had
+forgotten him when penniless; but they amused him, and that was enough.
+The ten thousand pounds were rapidly melting when he invited me to a
+grand dinner at Richmond, which included a dozen of the most agreeable,
+good-looking, well-dressed dandies of London, interspersed with a display
+of pretty butterfly bonnets. We dined deliciously, and drank as men do of
+iced wines in the dog-days--looking down from Richmond Hill.
+
+One of the pink-bonnets crowned Fitz-Roy with a wreath of flowers; he
+looked--less the intellect--as handsome as Alcibiades. Intensely
+excited and flushed, he rose with a champagne glass in his hand to
+propose my health.
+
+The oratorical powers of his father had not descended on him. Jerking
+out sentences by spasms, at length he said, "I was a beggar--I am a
+gentleman--thanks to this--"
+
+Here he leaned on my shoulder heavily a moment, and then fell back. We
+raised him, loosened his neckcloth--
+
+"Fainted!" said the ladies--
+
+"Drunk!" said the gentlemen--
+
+He was _dead_!
+
+
+
+
+A FASHIONABLE FORGER.
+
+
+I am an attorney and a bill-discounter. As it is my vocation to lend
+money at high interest to extravagant people, my connection principally
+lies among "fools," sometimes among rogues "of quality." Mine is a
+pursuit which a prejudiced world either holds in sovereign contempt, or
+visits with envy, hatred, and all uncharitableness; but to my mind, there
+are many callings, with finer names, that are no better. It gives me two
+things which I love--money and power; but I cannot deny that it brings
+with it a bad name. The case lies between character and money, and
+involves a matter of taste. Some people like character; I prefer money.
+If I am hated and despised, I chuckle over the "per contra." I find it
+pleasant for members of a proud aristocracy to condescend from their high
+estate to fawn, feign, flatter; to affect even mirthful familiarity in
+order to gain my good-will. I am no Shylock. No client can accuse me of
+desiring either his flesh or his blood. Sentimental vengeance is no item
+in my stock in trade. Gold and bank-notes satisfy my "rage;" or, if need
+be, a good mortgage. Far from seeking revenge, the worst defaulter I ever
+had dealings with cannot deny that I am always willing to accept a good
+post-obit.
+
+I say again, I am daily brought in contact with all ranks of society,
+from the poverty-stricken patentee to the peer; and I am no more
+surprised at receiving an application from a duchess than from a pet
+opera-dancer. In my ante room wait, at this moment, a crowd of
+borrowers. Among the men, (beardless folly and mustachioed craft are most
+prominent,) there is a handsome young fellow, with an elaborate cane and
+wonderfully vacant countenance, who is anticipating in feeble follies, an
+estate that has been in the possession of his ancestors since the reign
+of Henry the Eighth--there is a hairy, high-nosed, broken-down
+nondescript, in appearance something between a horse-dealer and a
+pugilist. He is an old Etonian. Five years ago he drove his four-in-hand;
+he is now waiting to beg a sovereign, having been just discharged from
+the Insolvent Court, for the second time. Among the women, a pretty
+actress, who, a few years since, looked forward to a supper of steak and
+onions, with bottled stout, on a Saturday night, as a great treat, now
+finds one hundred pounds a month insufficient to pay her wine merchant
+and her confectioner. I am obliged to deal with each case according to
+its peculiarities. Genuine undeserved Ruin seldom knocks at my doer. Mine
+is a perpetual battle with people who imbibe trickery at the same rate as
+they dissolve their fortunes. I am a hard man, of course. I should not be
+fit for my pursuit if I were not; but when, by a remote chance, honest
+misfortune pays me a visit, as Rothschilds amused himself at times by
+giving a beggar a guinea, so I occasionally treat myself to the luxury of
+doing a kind action. My favorite subjects for this unnatural generosity,
+are the very young or the poor, innocent, helpless people, who are unfit
+for the war of life. Many among my clients (especially those tempered in
+the "ice book" of fashion and high-life--polished and passionless) would
+be too much for me, if I had not made the face, the eye, the accent, as
+much my study as the mere legal and financial points of discount To show
+what I mean, I will relate what happened to me not long since:--
+
+One day, a middle-aged man in the usual costume of a West-End shopman,
+who had sent in his name as Mr. Axminster, was shown into my private
+room. After a little hesitation, he said, "Although you do not know me,
+living at this end of the town, I know you very well by reputation, and
+that you discount bills. I have a bill here which I want to get
+discounted. I am in the employ of Messrs. Russle and Smooth. The bill is
+drawn by one of our best customers, the Hon. Miss Snape, niece of Lord
+Blimley, and accepted by Major Munge, whom, no doubt, you know by name.
+She has dealt with us for some years--is very, very extravagant; but
+always pays." He put the acceptance--which was for two hundred
+pounds--into my hands.
+
+I looked at it as scrutinizingly as I usually do at such paper The
+Major's signature was familiar to me; but having succeeded to a great
+estate, he had long ceased to be a customer. I instantly detected a
+forgery; by whom?--was the question. Could it be the man before me?
+Experience told me it was not. Perhaps there was something in the
+expression of my countenance which Mr. Axminster did not like, for he
+said, "It is good for the amount, I presume?"
+
+I replied, "Pray, sir, from whom did you get this bill?"
+
+"From Miss Snape herself."
+
+"Have you circulated any other bills made by the same drawer?"
+
+"O yes!" said the draper, without hesitation; "I have paid away a bill
+for one hundred pounds to Mr. Sparkle, the jeweller, to whom Miss Snape
+owed twenty pounds. They gave me the difference."
+
+"And how long has that bill to run now?"
+
+"About a fortnight."
+
+"Did you indorse it?"
+
+"I did. Mr. Sparkle required me to do so, to show that the bill came
+properly into his possession."
+
+"This second bill, you say is urgently required to enable Miss Snape to
+leave town?"
+
+"Yes; she is going to Brighton for the winter."
+
+I gave Mr. Axminster a steady, piercing look of inquiry. "Pray, sir," I
+said, "could you meet that one hundred pounds bill, supposing it could
+not be paid by the accepter?"
+
+"Meet it!" The poor fellow wiped from his forehead the perspiration which
+suddenly broke out at the bare hint of a probability that the bill would
+be dishonored--"Meet it? O no! I am a married man, with a family, and
+have nothing but my salary to depend on."
+
+"Then the sooner you get it taken up, and the less you have to do with
+Miss Snape's bill affairs, the better."
+
+"She has always been punctual hitherto."
+
+"That may be." I pointed to the cross-writing on the document, and said
+deliberately, "_This_ bill is a forgery!"
+
+At these words the poor man turned pale. He snatched up the document, and
+with many incoherent protestations, was rushing toward the door, when I
+called to him in an authoritative tone, to stop. He paused--his manner
+indicating not only doubt, but fear. I said to him, "Don't flurry
+yourself; I only want to serve you. You tell me that you are a married
+man, with children, dependent on daily labor for daily bread, and that
+you have done a little discounting for Miss Snape, out of your earnings.
+Now, although I am a bill-discounter, I don't like to see such men
+victimized. Look at the body of this bill--look at the signature of your
+lady-customer, the drawer. Don't you detect the same fine, thin,
+sharp-pointed handwriting in the words 'Accepted, Dymmock Munge." The
+man, convinced against his will, was at first overcome. When he
+recovered, he raved; he would expose the Honorable Miss Snape, if it cost
+him his bread--he would go at once to the police office. I stopped him,
+by saying roughly, "Don't be a fool! Any such steps would seal your ruin.
+Take my advice; return the bill to the lady, saying, simply, that you
+cannot get it discounted. Leave the rest to me, and I think the bill you
+have indorsed to Sparkle will be paid." Comforted by this assurance,
+Axminster, fearfully changed from the nervous, but smug, hopeful man of
+the morning, departed. It now remained for me to exert what skill I
+possessed, to bring about the desired result. I lost no time in writing a
+letter to the Honorable Miss Snape, of which the following is a copy:--
+
+"Madam,--A bill, purporting to be drawn by you, has been offered to me
+for discount. There is something wrong about it; and, though a stranger
+to you, I advise you to lose no time in getting it back into your own
+hands.--D.D."
+
+I intended to deal with the affair quietly, and without any view to
+profit. The fact is, that I was sorry--you may laugh--but I really was
+sorry to think that a young girl might have given way to temptation under
+pressure of pecuniary difficulties. If it had been a man's case, I doubt
+whether I should have interfered. By the return of post, a lady's maid
+entered my room, profusely decorated with ringlets, lace, and perfumed
+with patchouli. She brought a letter from her mistress. It ran thus:--
+
+"Sir,--I cannot sufficiently express my thanks for your kindness in
+writing to me on the subject of the bills, of which I had also heard a
+few hours previously. As a perfect stranger to you, I cannot estimate
+your kind consideration at too high a value. I trust the matter will be
+explained; but I should much like to see you. If you would be kind
+enough to write a note as soon as you receive this, I will order it to
+be sent to me at once to Tyburn Square. I will wait on you at any hour
+on Friday you may appoint. I believe that I am not mistaken in supposing
+that you transact business for my friend, Sir John Markham, and you will
+therefore know the inclosed to be his handwriting. Again thanking you
+most gratefully, allow me to remain your much and deeply obliged,
+JULIANA SNAPE."
+
+This note was written upon delicate French paper embossed with a coat of
+arms. It was in a fancy envelope--the whole richly perfumed, and
+redolent of rank and fashion. Its contents were an implied confession of
+forgery. Silence, or three lines of indignation, would have been the
+only innocent answer to my letter. But Miss Snape thanked me. She let me
+know, by implication that she was on intimate terms with a name good on
+a West-End bill. My answer was, that I should be alone on the following
+afternoon at five.
+
+At the hour fixed, punctual to a moment, a brougham drew up at the corner
+of the street next to my chambers. The Honorable Miss Snape's card was
+handed in. Presently, she entered, swimming into my room, richly, yet
+simply dressed in the extreme of Parisian good taste. She was pale--or
+rather colorless. She had fair hair, fine teeth, and a fashionable voice.
+She threw herself gracefully into the chair I handed to her, and began by
+uncoiling a string of phrases, to the effect that her visit was merely to
+consult me on "unavoidable pecuniary difficulties."
+
+According to my mode, I allowed her to talk; putting in only an
+occasional word of question that seemed rather a random observation than
+a significant query. At length after walking round and round the subject,
+like a timid horse in a field around a groom with a sieve of oats, she
+came nearer and nearer the subject. When she had fairly approached the
+point, she stopped, as if her courage had failed her. But she soon
+recovered, and observed, "I cannot think why you should take the trouble
+to write so to me, a perfect stranger." Another pause--"I wonder no one
+ever suspected me before."
+
+Here was a confession and a key to character. The cold gray eye, the thin
+compressed lips, which I had had time to observe, were true indexes to
+the "lady's inner heart;" selfish calculating, utterly devoid of
+conscience; unable to conceive the existence of spontaneous kindness;
+utterly indifferent to anything except discovery, and almost indifferent
+to that, because convinced that no serious consequences could affect a
+lady of her rank and influence.
+
+"Madam," I replied, "as long as you dealt with tradesmen accustomed to
+depend on aristocratic customers, your rank and position, and their
+large profits, protected you from suspicion; but you have made a mistake
+in descending from your vantage ground to make a poor shopman your
+innocent accomplice--a man who will be keenly alive to anything
+that may injure his wife or children. His terrors--but for my
+interposition--would have ruined you utterly. Tell me, how many of these
+things have you put afloat?"
+
+She seemed a little taken a-back by this speech, but was wonderfully
+firm. She passed her white, jewelled hand over her eyes, seemed
+calculating, and then whispered, with a confiding look of innocent
+helplessness, admirably assumed, "About as many as amount to twelve
+hundred pounds."
+
+"And what means have you for meeting them?"
+
+At this question so plainly put, her face flushed. She half rose from her
+chair, and exclaimed in the true tone of aristocratic _hauteur_, "Really,
+sir, I do not know what right you have to ask me that question."
+
+I laughed a little, though not very loud. It was rude, I own; but who
+could have helped it? I replied, speaking low, but slowly and
+distinctly--"You forget. I did not send for you; you came to me. You have
+forged bills to the amount of twelve hundred pounds. Yours is not the
+case of a ruined merchant or an ignorant over-tempted clerk. In your case
+a jury"--(she shuddered at that word)--"would find no extenuating
+circumstances; and if you should fall into the hands of justice you will
+be convicted, degraded, clothed in a prison-dress, and transported for
+life. I do not want to speak harshly; but I insist that you find means to
+take up the bill which Mr. Axminster has so unwittingly endorsed!"
+
+The Honorable Miss Snape's grand manner melted away. She wept. She seized
+and pressed my hand. She cast up her eyes, full of tears, and went
+through the part of a repentant victim with great fervor. She would do
+anything--anything in the world to save the poor man. Indeed, she had
+intended to appropriate part of the two hundred pound bill to that
+purpose. She forgot her first statement, that she wanted the money to go
+out of town. Without interrupting, I let her go on and degrade herself by
+a simulated passion of repentance, regret, and thankfulness to me, under
+which she hid her fear and her mortification at being detected. I at
+length put an end to a scene of admirable acting, by recommending her to
+go abroad immediately, to place herself out of reach of any sudden
+discovery; and then lay her case fully before her friends, who would no
+doubt feel bound to come forward with the full amount of the forged
+bills. "But," she exclaimed, with an entreating air, "I have no money; I
+cannot go without money!" To that observation I did not respond although
+I am sure she expected that I should, check-book in hand, offer her a
+loan. I do not say so without reason; for, the very next week, this
+honorable young lady came again, and, with sublime assurance and a number
+of very charming, winning speeches, (which might have had their effect
+upon a younger man), asked me to lend her one hundred pounds, in order
+that she might take the advice I had so obligingly given her, and retire
+into private life for a certain time in the country. I do meet with a
+great many impudent people in the course of my calling--I am not very
+deficient in assurance myself--but this actually took away my breath.
+
+"Really, madam," I answered, "you pay a very ill-compliment to my gray
+hairs, and would fain make me a very ill return for the service I have
+done you, when you ask me to lend a hundred pounds to a young lady who
+owns to having forged to the extent of one thousand two hundred pounds,
+and to owing eight hundred pounds besides. I wished to save a personage
+of your years and position from a disgraceful career; but I am too good a
+trustee for my children to lend money to anybody in such a dangerous
+position as yourself."
+
+"Oh!" she answered, quite unabashed, without a trace of the fearful,
+tender pleading of the previous week's interview--quite as if I had been
+an accomplice, "I can give you excellent security."
+
+"That alters the case; I can lend any amount on good security."
+
+"Well, sir, I can get the acceptance of three friends of ample means"
+
+"Do you mean to tell me, Miss Snape, that you will write down the names
+of three parties who will accept a bill for one hundred pounds for you?"
+
+Yes, she could, and did actually write down the names of three
+distinguished men. Now I knew for certain, that not one of those noblemen
+would have put his name to a bill on any account whatever for his dearest
+friend; but, in her unabashed self-confidence, she thought of passing
+another forgery _on me_. I closed the conference by saying, "I cannot
+assist you;" and she retired with the air of an injured person. In the
+course of a few days, I heard from Mr. Axminster, that his liability of
+one hundred pounds had been duly honored.
+
+In my active and exciting life, one day extinguishes the recollection
+of the events of the preceding day; and, for a time, I thought no more
+about the fashionable forger. I had taken it for granted that,
+heartily frightened, although not repenting, she had paused in her
+felonious pursuits.
+
+My business one day led me to the establishment of one of the most
+wealthy and respectable legal firms in the city, where I am well known,
+and, I believe, valued; for at all times I am most politely, I may say,
+most cordially received. Mutual profits create a wonderful freemasonry
+between those who have not any other sympathy or sentiment. Politics,
+religion, morality, difference of rank, are all equalized and
+republicanized by the division of an account. No sooner had I entered the
+_sanctum_, than the senior partner, Mr. Precepts, began to quiz his
+junior, Mr. Jones, with, "Well, Jones must never joke friend Discount
+anymore about usury. Just imagine," he continued, addressing me, "Jones
+has himself been discounting a bill for a lady; and a deuced pretty one
+too. He sat next her at dinner in Grosvenor Square, last week. Next day
+she gave him a call here, and he could not refuse her extraordinary
+request. Gad, it is hardly fair for Jones to be poaching on your domains
+of West-End paper!"
+
+Mr. Jones smiled quietly, as he observed, "Why, you see, she is the niece
+of one of our best clients; and really I was so taken by surprise, that I
+did not know how to refuse."
+
+"Pray," said I, interrupting his excuses, "does your young lady's name
+begin with S.? Has she not a very pale face, and cold gray eye?"
+
+The partners stared.
+
+"Ah! I see it is so; and can at once tell you that the bill is not
+worth a rush."
+
+"Why, you don't mean--?"
+
+"I mean simply that the acceptance is, I'll lay you a wager, a forgery."
+
+"A forgery!"
+
+"A forgery," I repeated as distinctly as possible.
+
+Mr. Jones hastily, and with broken ejaculations, called for the cash-box.
+With trembling hands he took out the bill, and followed my finger with
+eager, watchful eyes, as I pointed out the proofs of my assertion. A long
+pause was broken by my mocking laugh; for, at the moment, my sense of
+politeness could not restrain my satisfaction at the signal defeat which
+had attended the first experiment of these highly respectable gentlemen
+in the science of usury.
+
+The partners did not have recourse to the police. They did not propose a
+consultation with either Mr. Forrester or Mr. Field; but they took
+certain steps, under my recommendation; the result of which was that at
+an early day, an aunt of the Honorable Miss Snape was driven, to save so
+near a connection from transportation, to sell out some fourteen hundred
+pounds of stock, and all the forgeries were taken up.
+
+One would have thought that the lady who had thus so narrowly escaped,
+had had enough--but forgery, like opium-eating, is one of those charming
+vices which is never abandoned, when once adopted. The forger enjoys not
+only the pleasure of obtaining money so easily, but the triumph of
+befooling sharp men of the world. Dexterous penmanship is a source of the
+same sort of pride as that which animates the skillful rifleman, the
+practiced duellist, or well-trained billiard-player. With a clean Gillott
+he fetches down a capitalist, at three or six months, for a cool hundred
+or a round thousand; just as a Scrope drops over a stag at ten, or a
+Gordon Cumming a monstrous male elephant at a hundred paces.
+
+As I before observed, my connection especially lies among the
+improvident--among those who will be ruined--who are being ruined--and
+who have been ruined. To the last class belongs Francis Fisherton, once
+a gentleman, now without a shilling or a principle; but rich in
+mother-wit--in fact, a _farceur_, after Paul de Kock's own heart. Having
+in by-gone days been one of my willing victims, he occasionally finds
+pleasure and profit in guiding others through the gate he frequented, as
+long as able to pay the tolls. In truth, he is what is called a
+"discount agent."
+
+One day I received a note from him, to say that he would call on me at
+three o'clock the next day to introduce a lady of family, who wanted a
+bill "done" for one hundred pounds. So ordinary a transaction merely
+needed a memorandum in my diary, "Tuesday, 3 p.m.; F.F., £100 Bill." The
+hour came and passed; but no Frank, which was strange--because every one
+must have observed, that, however dilatory people are in paying, they are
+wonderfully punctual when they expect to receive money.
+
+At five o'clock, in rushed my Jackall. His story, disentangled from
+oaths and ejaculations, amounted to this:--In answer to one of the
+advertisements he occasionally addresses "To the Embarrassed," in the
+columns of the "Times," he received a note from a lady, who said she was
+anxious to get a "bill done"--the acceptance of a well-known man of rank
+and fashion. A correspondence was opened, and an appointment made. At the
+hour fixed, neatly shaved, brushed, gloved, booted--the revival, in
+short, of that high-bred Frank Fisherton who was so famous
+
+"In his hot youth, when Crockford's was the thing."
+
+glowing with only one glass of brandy, "just to steady his nerves," he
+met the lady at a West-End pastry-cook's.
+
+After a few words (for all the material questions had been settled by
+correspondence) she stepped into a brougham, and invited Frank to take a
+seat beside her. Elated with a compliment of late years so rare, he
+commenced planning the orgies which were to reward him for weeks of
+enforced fasting, when the coachman, reverentially touching his hat,
+looked down from his seat for orders.
+
+"To ninety-nine, George Street, St. James," cried Fisherton, in his
+loudest tones.
+
+In an instant the young lady's pale face changed to scarlet, and then to
+ghastly green. In a whisper, rising to a scream, she exclaimed, "Good
+heavens! you do not mean to go to _that_ man's house," (meaning me.)
+"Indeed, I cannot go to him, on any account; he is a most horrid man, I
+am told, and charges most extravagantly."
+
+"Madam," answered Frank, in great perturbation, "I beg your pardon, but
+you have been grossly misinformed. I have known that excellent man these
+twenty years, and have paid him hundreds on hundreds; but never so much
+by ten per cent. as you offered me for discounting your bill."
+
+"Sir, I cannot have anything to do with your friend." Then, violently,
+pulling the check-string, "Stop," she gasped, "and _will you_ have the
+goodness to get out?"
+
+"And so I got out," continued Fisherton, "and lost my time; and the heavy
+investment I made in getting myself up for the assignation--new primrose
+gloves, and a shilling to the hair-dresser--hang her! But, did you ever
+know anything like the prejudices that must prevail against you? I am
+disgusted with human nature. Could you lend me half a sovereign till
+Saturday?"
+
+I smiled. I sacrificed the half sovereign, and let him go, for he is not
+exactly the person to whom it was advisable to intrust all the secrets
+relating to the Honorable Miss Snape. Since that day I look each morning
+in the police reports with considerable interest; but, up to the present
+hour, the Honorable Miss Snape has lived and thrived in the best society.
+
+
+
+
+THE YOUNG ADVOCATE.
+
+
+Antoine de Chaulieu was the son of a poor gentleman of Normandy, with a
+long genealogy, a short rent-roll, and a large family. Jacques Rollet
+was the son of a brewer, who did not know who his grandfather was; but
+he had a long purse and only two children. As these youths flourished in
+the early days of liberty, equality, and fraternity, and were near
+neighbors, they naturally hated each other. Their enmity commenced at
+school, where the delicate and refined De Chaulieu, being the only
+gentilhomme among the scholars, was the favorite of the master, (who was
+a bit of an aristocrat in his heart,) although he was about the worst
+dressed boy in the establishment, and never had a sou to spend; while
+Jacques Rollet, sturdy and rough, with smart clothes and plenty of
+money, got flogged six days in the week, ostensibly for being stupid and
+not learning his lessons,--which, indeed, he did not,--but, in reality,
+for constantly quarrelling with and insulting De Chaulieu, who had not
+strength to cope with him. When they left the academy, the feud
+continued in all its vigor, and was fostered by a thousand little
+circumstances arising out of the state of the times, till a separation
+ensued in consequence of an aunt of Antoine de Chaulieu's undertaking
+the expense of sending him to Paris to study the law, and of maintaining
+him there during the necessary period.
+
+With the progress of events came some degree of reaction in favor of
+birth and nobility, and then Antoine, who had passed for the bar, began
+to hold up his head and endeavored to push his fortunes; but fate seemed
+against him. He felt certain that if he possessed any gift in the world
+it was that of eloquence, but he could get no cause to plead; and his
+aunt dying inopportunely, first his resources failed, and then his
+health. He had no sooner returned to his home, than, to complicate his
+difficulties completely, he fell in love with Mademoiselle Natalie de
+Bellefonds, who had just returned from Paris, where she had been
+completing her education. To expatiate on the perfections of Mademoiselle
+Natalie would be a waste of ink and paper; it is sufficient to say that
+she really was a very charming girl, with a fortune which, though not
+large, would have been a most desirable acquisition to De Chaulieu, who
+had nothing. Neither was the fair Natalie indisposed to listen to his
+addresses; but her father could not be expected to countenance the suit
+of a gentleman, however well born, who had not a ten-sous piece in the
+world, and whose prospects were a blank.
+
+While the ambitious and lovesick young barrister was thus pining in
+unwelcome obscurity, his old acquaintance, Jacques Rollet, had been
+acquiring an undesirable notoriety. There was nothing really bad in
+Jacques' disposition, but having been bred up a democrat, with a hatred
+of the nobility, he could not easily accommodate his rough humor to treat
+them with civility when it was no longer safe to insult them. The
+liberties he allowed himself whenever circumstances brought him into
+contact with the higher classes of society, had led him into many
+scrapes, out of which his father's money had one way or another released
+him; but that source of safety had now failed. Old Rollet, having been
+too busy with the affairs of the nation to attend to his business, had
+died insolvent, leaving his son with nothing but his own wits to help him
+out of future difficulties, and it was not long before their exercise was
+called for. Claudine Rollet, his sister, who was a very pretty girl, had
+attracted the attention of Mademoiselle de Bellefonds' brother, Alphonse;
+and as he paid her more attention than from such a quarter was agreeable
+to Jacques, the young men had more than one quarrel on the subject, on
+which occasions they had each, characteristically, given vent to their
+enmity, the one in contemptuous monosyllables, and the other in a volley
+of insulting words. But Claudine had another lover more nearly of her own
+condition of life; this was Claperon, the deputy-governor of the Rouen
+jail, with whom she made acquaintance during one or two compulsory visits
+paid by her brother to that functionary; but Claudine, who was a bit of a
+coquette, though she did not altogether reject his suit, gave him little
+encouragement, so that betwixt hopes and fears, and doubts and
+jealousies, poor Claperon led a very uneasy kind of life.
+
+Affairs had been for some time in this position, when, one fine morning,
+Alphonse de Bellefonds was not to be found in his chamber when his
+servant went to call him; neither had his bed been slept in. He had been
+observed to go out rather late on the preceding evening, but whether or
+not he had returned, nobody could tell. He had not appeared at supper,
+but that was too ordinary an event to awaken suspicion; and little alarm
+was excited till several hours had elapsed, when inquiries were
+instituted and a search commenced, which terminated in the discovery of
+his body, a good deal mangled, lying at the bottom of a pond which had
+belonged to the old brewery. Before any investigations had been made,
+every person had jumped to the conclusion that the young man had been
+murdered, and that Jacques Rollet was the assassin. There was a strong
+presumption in favor of that opinion, which further perquisitions tended
+to confirm. Only the day before, Jacques had been heard to threaten M. de
+Bellefonds with speedy vengeance. On the fatal evening, Alphonse and
+Claudine had been seen together in the neighborhood of the now dismantled
+brewery; and as Jacques, betwixt poverty and democracy, was in bad odor
+with the prudent and respectable part of society, it was not easy for him
+to bring witnesses to character, or prove an unexceptionable alibi. As
+for the Bellefonds and De Chaulieus, and the aristocracy in general, they
+entertained no doubt of his guilt; and finally, the magistrates coming to
+the same opinion, Jacques Rollet was committed for trial, and as a
+testimony of good will Antoine de Chaulieu was selected by the injured
+family to conduct the prosecution.
+
+Here, at last, was the opportunity he had sighed for! So interesting a
+case, too, furnishing such ample occasion for passion, pathos,
+indignation! And how eminently fortunate that the speech which he set
+himself with ardor to prepare, would be delivered in the presence of the
+father and brother of his mistress, and perhaps of the lady herself! The
+evidence against Jacques, it is true, was altogether presumptive; there
+was no proof whatever that he had committed the crime; and for his own
+part he stoutly denied it. But Antoine de Chaulieu entertained no doubt
+of his guilt, and his speech was certainly well calculated to carry
+conviction into the bosom of others. It was of the highest importance to
+his own reputation that he should procure a verdict, and he confidently
+assured the afflicted and enraged family of the victim that their
+vengeance should be satisfied. Under these circumstances could any thing
+be more unwelcome than a piece of intelligence that was privately
+conveyed to him late on the evening before the trial was to come on,
+which tended strongly to exculpate the prisoner, without indicating any
+other person as the criminal? Here was an opportunity lost. The first
+step of the ladder on which he was to rise to fame, fortune, and a wife,
+was slipping from under his feet!
+
+Of course, so interesting a trial was anticipated with great eagerness by
+the public, and the court was crowded with all the beauty and fashion of
+Rouen. Though Jacques Rollet persisted in asserting his innocence,
+founding his defence chiefly on circumstances which were strongly
+corroborated by the information that had reached De Chaulieu the
+preceding evening, he was convicted.
+
+In spite of the very strong doubts he privately entertained respecting
+the justice of the verdict, even De Chaulieu himself, in the first flush
+of success, amid a crowd of congratulating friends, and the approving
+smiles of his mistress, felt gratified and happy; his speech had, for the
+time being, not only convinced others, but himself; warmed with his own
+eloquence, he believed what he said. But when the glow was over, and he
+found himself alone, he did not feel so comfortable. A latent doubt of
+Rollet's guilt now burnt strongly in his mind, and he felt that the blood
+of the innocent would be on his head. It is true there was yet time to
+save the life of the prisoner; but to admit Jacques innocent was to take
+the glory out of his own speech, and turn the sting of his argument
+against himself. Besides, if he produced the witness who had secretly
+given him the information, he should be self-condemned, for he could not
+conceal that he had been aware of the circumstance before the trial.
+
+Matters having gone so far, therefore, it was necessary that Jacques
+Rollet should die; so the affair took its course; and early one morning
+the guillotine was erected in the courtyard of the jail, three criminals
+ascended the scaffold, and three heads fell into the basket which were
+presently afterwards, with the trunks that had been attached to them,
+buried in a corner of the cemetery.
+
+Antoine de Chaulieu was now fairly started in his career, and his success
+was as rapid as the first step towards it had been tardy. He took a
+pretty apartment in the Hotel de Marboeuf Rue Grange-Batelière, and in a
+short time was looked upon as one of the most rising young advocates in
+Paris. His success in one line brought him success in another; he was
+soon a favorite in society, and an object of interest to speculating
+mothers; but his affections still adhered to his old love, Natalie de
+Bellefonds, whose family now gave their assent to the match,--at least,
+prospectively,--a circumstance which furnished such an additional
+incentive to his exertions, that in about two years from the date of his
+first brilliant speech, he was in a sufficiently flourishing condition to
+offer the young lady a suitable home. In anticipation of the happy event,
+he engaged and furnished a suit of apartments in the Rue du Helder; and
+as it was necessary that the bride should come to Paris to provide her
+trousseau, it was agreed that the wedding should take place there,
+instead of at Bellefonds, as had been first projected--an arrangement the
+more desirable, that a press of business rendered M. de Chaulieu's
+absence from Paris inconvenient.
+
+Brides and bridegrooms in France, except of the very high classes, are
+not much in the habit of making those honeymoon excursions so universal
+in this country. A day spent in visiting Versailles, or St. Cloud, or
+even the public places of the city, is generally all that precedes the
+settling down into the habits of daily life. In the present instance, St.
+Denis was selected, from the circumstance of Natalie having a younger
+sister at school there, and also because she had a particular desire to
+see the abbey.
+
+The wedding was to take place on a Thursday; and on the Wednesday
+evening, having spent some hours most agreeably with Natalie, Antoine de
+Chaulieu returned to spend his last night in his bachelor apartments. His
+wardrobe and other small possessions had already been packed up and sent
+to his future home; and there was nothing left in his room now but his
+new wedding suit, which he inspected with considerable satisfaction
+before he undressed and lay down to sleep. Sleep, however, was somewhat
+slow to visit him; and the clock had struck one before he closed his
+eyes. When he opened them again, it was broad daylight; and his first
+thought was, had he overslept himself? He sat up in bed to look at the
+clock, which was exactly opposite; and as he did so, in the large mirror
+over the fireplace he perceived a figure standing behind him. As the
+dilated eyes met his own, he saw it was the face of Jacques Rollet.
+Overcome with horror, he sank back on his pillow, and it was some minutes
+before he ventured to look again in that direction; when he did so, the
+figure had disappeared.
+
+The sudden revulsion of feeling such a vision was calculated to occasion
+in a man elate with joy, may be conceived. For some time after the death
+of his former foe, he had been visited by not unfrequent twinges of
+conscience; but of late, borne along by success, and the hurry of
+Parisian life, these unpleasant remembrances had grown rarer, till at
+length they had faded away altogether. Nothing had been further from his
+thoughts than Jacques Rollet, when he closed his eyes on the preceding
+night, nor when he opened them to that sun which was to shine on what he
+expected to be the happiest day of his life. Where were the high-strung
+nerves now? the elastic frame? the bounding heart?
+
+Heavily and slowly he arose from his bed, for it was time to do so; and
+with a trembling hand and quivering knees, he went through the processes
+of the toilet, gashing his cheek with the razor, and spilling the water
+over his well-polished boots. When he was dressed, scarcely venturing to
+cast a glance in the mirror as he passed it, he quitted the room, and
+descended the stairs, taking the key of the door with him for the purpose
+of leaving it with the porter: the man, however, being absent, he laid it
+on the table in his lodge, and with a relaxed and languid step proceeded
+on his way to the church, where presently arrived the fair Natalie and
+her friends. How difficult it was now to look happy with that pallid face
+and extinguished eye!
+
+"How pale you are! Has any thing happened? You are surely ill," were the
+exclamations that met him on all sides. He tried to carry it off as well
+as he could, but felt that the movements he would have wished to appear
+alert were only convulsive, and that the smiles with which he attempted
+to relax his features were but distorted grimaces. However, the church
+was not the place for further inquiries; and while Natalie gently pressed
+his hand in token of sympathy, they advanced to the altar, and the
+ceremony was performed; after which they stepped into the carriages
+waiting at the door, and drove to the apartments of Madame de Bellefonds,
+where an elegant _déjeuner_ was prepared.
+
+"What ails you, my dear husband?" inquired Natalie, as soon as they
+were alone.
+
+"Nothing, love," he replied; "nothing, I assure you, but a restless night
+and a little overwork, in order that I might have to-day free to enjoy my
+happiness."
+
+"Are you quite sure? Is there nothing else?"
+
+"Nothing, indeed; and pray don't take notice of it; it only makes
+me worse."
+
+Natalie was not deceived, but she saw that what he said was true; notice
+made him worse; so she contented herself with observing him quietly, and
+saying nothing; but, as he _felt_ she was observing him, she might almost
+better have spoken; words are often less embarrassing things than too
+curious eyes.
+
+When they reached Madame de Bellefond's he had the same sort of
+questioning and scrutiny to undergo, till he grew quite impatient under
+it, and betrayed a degree of temper altogether unusual with him. Then
+every body looked astonished; some whispered their remarks, and others
+expressed them by their wondering eyes, till his brow knit, and his
+pallid cheeks became flushed with anger. Neither could he divert
+attention by eating; his parched mouth would not allow him to swallow any
+thing but liquids, of which, however, he indulged in copious libations;
+and it was an exceeding relief to him when the carriage, which was to
+convey them to St. Denis, being announced, furnished an excuse for
+hastily leaving the table. Looking at his watch, he declared it was late;
+and Natalie, who saw how eager he was to be gone, threw her shawl over
+her shoulders, and bidding her friends _good morning_, they hurried away.
+
+It was a fine sunny day in June; and as they drove along the crowded
+boulevards, and through the Porte St. Denis, the young bride and
+bridegroom, to avoid each other's eyes, affected to be gazing out of the
+windows; but when they reached the part of the road where there was
+nothing but trees on each side, they felt it necessary to draw in their
+heads, and make an attempt at conversation, De Chaulieu put his arm round
+his wife's waist, and tried to rouse himself from his depression; but it
+had by this time so reacted upon her, that she could not respond to his
+efforts, and thus the conversation languished, till both felt glad when
+they reached their destination, which would, at all events, furnish them
+something to talk about.
+
+Having quitted the carriage, and ordered a dinner at the Hotel de
+l'Abbaye, the young couple proceeded to visit Mademoiselle Hortense de
+Bellefonds, who was overjoyed to see her sister and new brother-in-law,
+and doubly so when she found that they had obtained permission to take
+her out to spend the afternoon with them. As there is little to be seen
+at St. Denis but the Abbey, on quitting that part of it devoted to
+education, they proceeded to visit the church, with its various objects
+of interest; and as De Chaulieu's thoughts were now forced into another
+direction, his cheerfulness began insensibly to return. Natalie looked so
+beautiful, too, and the affection betwixt the two young sisters was so
+pleasant to behold! And they spent a couple of hours wandering about with
+Hortense, who was almost as well informed as the Suisse, till the brazen
+doors were opened which admitted them to the Royal vault. Satisfied, at
+length, with what they had seen, they began to think of returning to the
+inn, the more especially as De Chaulieu, who had not eaten a morsel of
+food since the previous evening, owned to being hungry; so they directed
+their steps to the door, lingering here and there as they went, to
+inspect a monument or a painting, when, happening to turn his head aside
+to see if his wife, who had stopped to take a last look at the tomb of
+King Dagobert, was following, he beheld with horror the face of Jacques
+Rollet appearing from behind a column! At the same instant his wife
+joined him, and took his arm, inquiring if he was not very much delighted
+with what he had seen. He attempted to say yes, but the word would not be
+forced out; and staggering out of the door, he alleged that a sudden
+faintness had overcome him.
+
+They conducted him to the Hotel, but Natalie now became seriously
+alarmed; and well she might. His complexion looked ghastly, his limbs
+shook, and his features bore an expression of indescribable horror and
+anguish. What could be the meaning of so extraordinary a change in the
+gay, witty, prosperous De Chaulieu, who, till that morning, seemed not to
+have a care in the world? For, plead illness as he might, she felt
+certain, from the expression of his features, that his sufferings were
+not of the body but of the mind; and, unable to imagine any reason for
+such extraordinary manifestations, of which she had never before seen a
+symptom, but a sudden aversion to herself, and regret for the step he had
+taken, her pride took the alarm, and, concealing the distress she really
+felt, she began to assume a haughty and reserved manner towards him,
+which he naturally interpreted into an evidence of anger and contempt.
+The dinner was placed upon the table; but De Chaulieu's appetite, of
+which he had lately boasted, was quite gone, nor was his wife better able
+to eat. The young sister alone did justice to the repast; but although
+the bridegroom could not eat, he could swallow champagne in such copious
+draughts, that ere long the terror and remorse that the apparition of
+Jacques Rollet had awakened in his breast were drowned in intoxication.
+Amazed and indignant, poor Natalie sat silently observing this elect of
+her heart, till overcome with disappointment and grief, she quitted the
+room with her sister, and retired to another apartment, where she gave
+free vent to her feelings in tears.
+
+After passing a couple of hours in confidences and lamentations, they
+recollected that the hours of liberty granted, as an especial favor, to
+Mademoiselle Hortense, had expired; but ashamed to exhibit her husband in
+his present condition to the eyes of strangers, Natalie prepared to
+re-conduct her to the _Maison Royale_ herself. Looking into the
+dining-room as they passed, they saw De Chaulieu lying on a sofa fast
+asleep, in which state he continued when his wife returned. At length,
+however, the driver of their carriage begged to know if Monsieur and
+Madame were ready to return to Paris, and it became necessary to arouse
+him. The transitory effects of the champagne had now subsided; but when
+De Chaulieu recollected what had happened, nothing could exceed his shame
+and mortification. So engrossing indeed were these sensations that they
+quite overpowered his previous one, and, in his present vexation, he, for
+the moment, forgot his fears. He knelt at his wife's feet, begged her
+pardon a thousand times, swore that he adored her, and declared that the
+illness and the effect of the wine had been purely the consequences of
+fasting and over-work. It was not the easiest thing in the world to
+re-assure a woman whose pride, affection, and taste, had been so severely
+wounded; but Natalie tried to believe, or to appear to do so, and a sort
+of reconciliation ensued, not quite sincere on the part of the wife, and
+very humbling on the part of the husband. Under these circumstances it
+was impossible that he should recover his spirits or facility of manner;
+his gaiety was forced, his tenderness constrained; his heart was heavy
+within him; and ever and anon the source whence all this disappointment
+and woe had sprung would recur to his perplexed and tortured mind.
+
+Thus mutually pained and distrustful, they returned to Paris, which they
+reached about nine o'clock. In spite of her depression, Natalie, who had
+not seen her new apartments, felt some curiosity about them, whilst De
+Chaulieu anticipated a triumph in exhibiting the elegant home he had
+prepared for her. With some alacrity, therefore, they stepped out of the
+carriage, the gates of the Hotel were thrown open, the _concierge_ rang
+the bell which announced to the servants that their master and mistress
+had arrived, and whilst these domestics appeared above, holding lights
+over the balustrades, Natalie, followed by her husband, ascended the
+stairs. But when they reached the landing-place of the first flight, they
+saw the figure of a man standing in a corner as if to make way for them;
+the flash from above fell upon his face, and again Antoine de Chaulieu
+recognized the features of Jacques Rollet!
+
+From the circumstance of his wife's preceding him, the figure was not
+observed by De Chaulieu till he was lifting his foot to place it on the
+top stair: the sudden shock caused him to miss the step, and, without
+uttering a sound, he fell back, and never stopped till he reached the
+stones at the bottom. The screams of Natalie brought the concierge from
+below and the maids from above, and an attempt was made to raise the
+unfortunate man from the ground; but with cries of anguish he besought
+them to desist.
+
+"Let me," he said, "die here! What a fearful vengeance is thine! O,
+Natalie, Natalie!" he exclaimed to his wife, who was kneeling beside him,
+"to win fame, and fortune, and yourself, I committed a dreadful crime!
+With lying words I argued away the life of a fellow-creature, whom,
+whilst I uttered them, I half believed to be innocent; and now, when I
+have attained all I desired, and reached the summit of my hopes, the
+Almighty has sent him back upon the earth to blast me with the sight.
+Three times this day--three times this day! Again! again!"--and as he
+spoke, his wild and dilated eyes fixed themselves on one of the
+individuals that surrounded him.
+
+"He is delirious," said they.
+
+"No," said the stranger! "What he says is true enough,--at least in
+part;" and bending over the expiring man, he added, "May Heaven forgive
+you, Antoine de Chaulieu! I was not executed; one who well knew my
+innocence saved my life. I may name him, for he is beyond the reach of
+the law now,--it was Claperon, the jailor, who loved Claudine, and had
+himself killed Alphonse de Bellefonds from jealousy. An unfortunate
+wretch had been several years in the jail for a murder committed during
+the frenzy of a fit of insanity. Long confinement had reduced him to
+idiocy. To save my life Claperon substituted the senseless being for me,
+on the scaffold; he was executed in my stead. He has quitted the country,
+and I have been a vagabond on the face of the earth ever since that time.
+At length I obtained, through the assistance of my sister, the situation
+of concierge in the Hotel Marboeuf, in the Rue Grange-Batelière. I
+entered on my new place yesterday evening, and was desired to awaken the
+gentleman on the third floor at seven o'clock. When I entered the room to
+do so, you were asleep, but before I had time to speak you awoke, and I
+recognized your features in the glass. Knowing that I could not vindicate
+my innocence if you chose to seize me, I fled, and seeing an omnibus
+starting for St. Denis, I got on it with a vague idea of getting on to
+Calais, and crossing the Channel to England. But having only a franc or
+two in my pocket, or indeed in the world, I did not know how to procure
+the means of going forward; and whilst I was lounging about the place,
+forming first one plan and then another, I saw you in the church, and
+concluding you were in pursuit of me, I thought the best way of eluding
+your vigilance was to make my way back to Paris as fast as I could; so I
+set off instantly, and walked all the way; but having no money to pay my
+night's lodging, I came here to borrow a couple of livres of my sister
+Claudine, who lives in the fifth story."
+
+"Thank Heaven!" exclaimed the dying man; "that sin is off my soul!
+Natalie, dear wife, farewell! Forgive, forgive all!"
+
+These were the last words he uttered; the priest, who had been
+summoned in haste, held up the cross before his failing sight; a few
+strong convulsions shook the poor bruised and mangled frame; and then
+all was still.
+
+And thus ended the Young Advocate's Wedding Day.
+
+
+
+
+A MURDER IN THE TIME OF THE CRUSADES.
+
+
+There is, perhaps, no country or climate more beautiful than England, as
+seen in one of its rural landscapes, when the sun has just risen upon a
+cloudless summer's dawn. The very feeling that the delightful freshness
+of the moment will not be entirely destroyed during the whole day,
+renders the prospect more agreeable than the anticipated fiery advance of
+the sun in southern or tropical lands. Exhilaration and gladness are the
+marked characteristics of an English summer morning. So it ever is, and
+so it was hundreds of years ago, when occurred the events we are about to
+narrate. How lovely then, on such a morning as we allude to, looked that
+rich vale in the centre of Gloucestershire, through which the lordly
+Severn flows! The singing of the birds, the reflective splendor of the
+silvery waters, the glittering of the dew as it dazzled and
+disappeared--all combined to charm sound, sight, and sense, and to
+produce a strong feeling of joy. But the horseman, who was passing
+through this graceful scene, scarcely needed the aid of any external
+object to enhance the pleasurable sensation that already filled his
+breast. The stately horse on which he sat, seemed, by its light steps,
+and by ever and anon proudly prancing, to share in the animation of its
+rider. So, the noble stag-hound that followed, and continually looked up
+contentedly at its master, appeared, likewise, a participator in the
+general content. The stranger had indeed cause to rejoice, for he was
+upon the fairest errand. He bad wooed and won the gentle heiress of a
+proud, but good-hearted Gloucestershire baron--he had wooed and won her,
+too, with the full consent of father, kinsmen, and friends, and he was
+now on his way to the baron's castle to arrange with his betrothed the
+ceremonial of the nuptials. Ride on, thou gallant knight, ride on, and
+swifter too; for though the day will be yet early when thou arrivest,
+thou wilt find thyself expected within the Gothic enciente of the Baron
+de Botetourt's dwelling. A banner waves from the topmost tower to do thee
+honor and welcome; there walks, too, by the battlements, one whose night
+has been sleepless because of thee, whose thoughts and whose whole
+existence centre in thee, whose look firmly attaches to the road that
+brings thee to her. Ride on then speedily, Sir Knight, to the happiness
+thy virtue and thy deeds have so well deserved.
+
+This lover is no ordinary suitor: he is of mingled Saxon and Norman noble
+blood, the recent companion-in-arms of Richard Coeur de Lion. His name is
+Ralph de Sudley, and though he has passed his thirtieth year, the effect
+of long toil and war scarcely appears upon his handsome and still very
+youthful countenance. Yet the knight has seen and endured much: he has
+been with Richard at the siege and capture of Acre, and at the battle of
+Azotus. When Conrad of Montferrat fell by the dagger of the assassins,
+Sir Ralph took a prominent part in the stormy debates which ensued among
+the Crusaders. He even proposed with his men-at-arms, and those who would
+follow him, to invade the territory of the Lord of the Mountain, and to
+avenge in his blood the death which that king of murderers had caused to
+be done to Conrad. This event made so deep an impression on his mind,
+that he still took every opportunity of urging upon his own and other
+Christian governments the necessity of extirpating these eastern
+assassins. On his return from the crusades, Sir Ralph found the daughter
+of his friend, the Baron de Botetourt, just verging into beauteous
+womanhood. The glory of his reputation, and the graces of his person,
+gained her heart at once; the Lady Alianore, though much his junior in
+years, loved the knight fondly and devotedly.
+
+Sir Ralph has reached the portcullis of the castle; the wardour and
+men-at-arms are there to receive him with full honors, though he comes
+privately, without his armor or his followers: he wears the civil but
+costly dress of the period, with no other weapon than a slight sword at
+his side. But the baron will have each advent of his future son-in-law
+welcomed as an approach of state.
+
+"Grammercy, Sir Baron," observed the knight, as after passing through a
+crowd of domestics, he grasped his host's hand upon the threshold, "one
+would imagine me Richard of England himself, or rather Saladin, that
+greatest and most gaudy of Oriental Soldans, to see this pompous prelude
+to my disjune with your lovely daughter and yourself."
+
+"Nay, Ralph de Sudley," replied the baron, "my castle must needs put on
+its best looks, when it beholds the entry of one who is to be its lord
+and protector when I shall be no more. But I see you are all impatience
+to go within; and, in truth, the sooner your first interview be over the
+better, for the table is prepared, and the pasty awaits us, and the
+chaplain too, whose inward man, after the morning's Mass, craves some
+solid refreshment."
+
+"A moment, my worthiest of friends, and I am with you," said the knight,
+as he hurried by: in another instant the Lady Alianore was in his
+embrace. Need we repeat the oft-told tale of love? Need we describe the
+day of delight Sir Ralph passed in the castle, lingering from hour to
+hour until the dusk? O, there is some one we must depict, the lady
+herself, who so subdued and softened this knightly soul. There, one hand
+upon the shoulder of her lover, her other hand locked in his, she sits
+listening to his words, and luxuriating in his discourse. The Lady
+Alianore, somewhat tall in stature, but perfect in form, has a face of
+dazzling beauty, yet the bewitching sweetness of her smile is tempered by
+a certain dignity of countenance, to which her dark, raven hair, and
+darker eyes, do not a little contribute; her hands, and the foot that
+peeps from beneath, her graceful robe, are of exquisite smallness, and
+bespeak the purest Norman blood. Her extreme fairness, shaded by her
+sable locks, form a strong contrast to the auburn hair and ruddy visage
+of the stalwart warrior beside her.
+
+"This will indeed be too much, Ralph," observed the lady; "a monarch, his
+queen, and his court, to come to this out-of-the-way castle, to honor the
+wedding of a lone damsel like myself; I can hardly support the idea of so
+much splendor."
+
+"Fear not, my beloved," replied the knight, "Richard is homely enough,
+and all good nature. Moreover, it is but a return of civility; for I it
+was who accompanied him to the altar, where he obtained the hand of
+Berengaria of Navarre; the office was a dangerous one then, since I
+incurred by it the wrath of Philip of France. And why, dearest, should
+not every magnificence attend our nuptials? It is the outward emblem of
+our great content--a mark, like those gorgeous ceremonies that accompany
+the festive prayers of the Church, which tell the people of the earth of
+a joy having something of the gladness and glory of Heaven in it."
+
+"Be it as you wish, my own true knight; yet I almost feel that I am too
+happy. May God bless and protect us!"
+
+Thus passed this bright day, until the approach of dusk imperatively
+compelled the enraptured lovers to separate. The knight had urgent
+business to settle, early on the morrow, at his own castle, before
+setting out for London, to announce to the king the day fixed for the
+espousal, and to beg from the monarch the fulfilment of the promise he
+had made, to be present in person with his court, at the wedding of his
+gallant and faithful vassal. The knight was therefore forced to depart
+ere the gloom advanced; for though his journey lay in a friendly and
+peaceful country, it was not the habit in those days to be abroad much
+after dusk, without an efficient escort.
+
+Sir Ralph reluctantly quitted his betrothed: he made his escape moreover
+from the baron and the chaplain, who prayed his further tarrying, to
+share in another flagon of Rhenish about to be produced. The horse and
+dog were at the porch, and, in a few minutes, the knight had passed the
+drawbridge, and was in the same fair road again.
+
+"I have known Sir Ralph from his birth," observed the baron to the
+chaplain, "and I love him as my own son. The king may well come here to
+see him wedded; for he has not a nobler, braver, or more generous knight
+within his realm."
+
+"Truly, Sir Baron, he is endowed with much excellence," replied the
+priest; "I do greatly admire his strong denunciation against the Templars
+and other warlike orders, who tolerate the protracted existence of that
+band of murderers in the past who have their daggers ever pointed
+against the sons of the Church. Sir Ralph speaks on this subject like a
+true soldier of the Cross."
+
+"Very true," retorted the baron, "yet I wish our chevaliers would cease
+to think of foreign broils and questions, and attend to affairs at home.
+This Rhenish is perfect: after all, wine is the only thing really good
+that originates beyond our seas."
+
+Their discourse had scarcely proceeded farther, when it was suddenly
+interrupted by the loud howling and barking of a dog. The baron and the
+chaplain started up. "It is Leo, Sir Ralph's dog," exclaimed the former,
+"what in God's name can be the matter?" and the two rushed out.
+
+The Lady Alianore, at her orisons above, heard the same terrible howl and
+bark. She instantly descended to the courtyard; as she came there, the
+outer gate was opened, and Leo, the knight's dog, flew past the wardour,
+and ran to the feet of the lady. The animal's mouth was blood-stained,
+and his glaring eye-balls and ruffled crest showed the extent of his fury
+and despair.
+
+"Something dreadful has happened to Sir Ralph," she cried, and urged
+by the dog, who had seized her robe, she hurried through the gate,
+and crossed the drawbridge, with a rapidity those who followed could
+not arrest.
+
+When the baron, his chaplain, and his domestics had proceeded a little
+beyond a quarter of a mile upon the road, a fearful sight met their view.
+
+The knight lay dead upon the green sward by the side of the highway; a
+poignard which had effected the mortal wound, still rested fixed into his
+back. His body was locked fast in the embrace of the Lady Alianore, who
+lay senseless upon it: the dog stood by, howling piteously. No trace
+could be discovered of who had done the deed. No proof was there beyond
+the dagger itself, which was of Oriental fashion, and bore the
+inscription in Latin _Hoc propter verba tua_; naught beyond that and
+another circumstance, which went to show that the knight had been slain
+by an eastern enemy. The dog, as he re-entered the castle, called
+attention to some pieces of blood-stained rag, which, from their
+appearance, had dropped from his mouth; one of these, the innermost, was
+in texture and pattern evidently part of a Syrian garment.
+
+The Lady Alianore did not die under this dreadful calamity: she lived to
+mourn. The knight was interred within the precinct of the Abbey Church of
+Gloucester; his tomb and effigy were in a niche at an angle of the
+cloisters. Here would Alianore continually come, accompanied by Leo, who,
+since his master's death, never left her side; here would she stop,
+fixedly gazing upon the monument, the tear in her eye, and the chill of
+hopeless sorrow in her heart. There are, indeed, few of us, who,
+wandering through the interior of some noble ecclesiastical edifice, can
+suppress a feeling of melancholy, when we view the sepulchre of a knight
+of repute, who has died in his prime, in the midst of his achievements
+and his fame, and who, clad in the harness of his pride, lies
+outstretched in the marble before us. Courage and courtesy, chivalry and
+Christianity, are buried there--there the breast, replete with honor, the
+heart to feel, and the right arm to defend. The monument tells of the
+sudden extinguishment of some bright light that shone in a semi-barbarous
+age, which had its main civilization and refinement from knights and
+churchmen solely. If this sight would sadden a stranger soul, what must
+have been the deep grief of the lady as she contemplated the cold
+memorial of Sir Ralph, and felt that the consummation of her whole
+earthly comfort was there entombed! A secret sentiment that satisfied, or
+rather softened her mental agony, brought her again and again to the
+place--ay, again and again to gaze upon the grave, and then to retire
+into the church to long and ardent prayer.
+
+About two years after the knight had been dead, the Lady Alianore was one
+morning departing through the cloisters from a visit to the tomb, when
+her attention was suddenly arrested by a low growl from the dog who
+accompanied her. She turned back, and saw two persons in the garb of
+foreign merchants or traders, the one pointing out to the other the
+knight's monumental effigy. Scarcely had she made the observation, when
+Leo rushed from her side, and flew at the throat of him who was
+exhibiting the grave; in an instant he brought him to the ground; the
+other endeavored to escape, but some sacristans who heard the noise,
+hastened to the spot, and the men were arrested.
+
+On examination, the two pretended merchants were found to wear eastern
+habilaments beneath their long gowns, and the cloth of the turban was
+concealed under the broad brimmed hat of each. They both had daggers, and
+upon the arm of the one the dog had seized, there was the deep scar of
+what seemed to be a desperate bite. Further proof became needless, for
+when every chance of escape was gone, they made a full confession, and
+appeared to glory in it. They were emissaries from the Old Man of the
+Mountain. The one on a previous occasion had journeyed from the far east
+to do his fearful master's bidding, and had stabbed the knight in the
+back, on the evening he rode in his gladness from the abode of his
+affianced bride. The fanatic himself narrowly escaped destruction at the
+time; for the dog had fixed his teeth into his arm, and it was only by
+allowing the flesh to be torn out, (his dagger was in his victim,) that
+he contrived to reach a swift Arabian horse, which bore him from the
+scene. He had since returned to Phoenicia, and had once more come to
+England, bringing with him a comrade to remove a doubt expressed by his
+master, and to testify to the monarch of the Mountain how effectively his
+object had been accomplished.
+
+The Baron de Botetourt, with the assent of the crown, caused the two
+miscreants to be hanged upon a gibbet on the summit of his castle, their
+turbans tied to their heels. Leo, as if he had nothing more to live for,
+soon after pined and died. The Lady Alianore, retired into a convent, and
+eventually became its abbess. During the course of her monastic life, she
+preserved in silence her undying regret for the knight, and the
+recollection of her happiness, so miserably thwarted. She was always kind
+and gentle, yet always also dignified and reserved. On her death-bed, she
+requested that her remains might be interred in the Abbey of Gloucester,
+nigh unto the tomb of Sir Ralph de Sudley, and that her monumental tablet
+should contain no more than her name and state, and an inscription
+pointing out the extreme vanity of all human felicity. Such a memorial,
+it is said, was, until entirely effaced by time, to be seen, read, and
+thought upon, within the cloisters of Gloucester's time-honored and
+sanctified cathedral.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Experiences of a Barrister, and
+Confessions of an Attorney, by Samuel Warren
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Experiences of a Barrister, and
+Confessions of an Attorney, by Samuel Warren
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Experiences of a Barrister, and Confessions of an Attorney
+
+Author: Samuel Warren
+
+Release Date: May 18, 2004 [EBook #12371]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPERIENCES OF A BARRISTER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                     THE EXPERIENCES OF A BARRISTER,
+
+                                   AND
+
+                       Confessions of an Attorney.
+
+                            BY SAMUEL WARREN
+
+                                   1880
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+THE MARCH ASSIZE
+
+THE NORTHERN CIRCUIT
+
+THE CONTESTED MARRIAGE
+
+THE MOTHER AND SON
+
+"THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS"
+
+ESTHER MASON
+
+THE MARRIAGE SETTLEMENT
+
+THE SECOND MARRIAGE
+
+CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
+
+"THE ACCOMMODATION BILL"
+
+THE REFUGEE
+
+THE LIFE POLICY
+
+BIGAMY OR NO BIGAMY
+
+JANE ECCLES
+
+"EVERY MAN HIS OWN LAWYER"
+
+THE CHEST OF DRAWERS
+
+THE PUZZLE
+
+THE ONE BLACK SPOT
+
+THE GENTLEMAN BEGGAR
+
+A FASHIONABLE FORGER
+
+THE YOUNG ADVOCATE
+
+A MURDER IN THE TIME OF THE CRUSADES
+
+
+
+
+CONFESSIONS OF AN ATTORNEY.
+
+
+
+
+THE MARCH ASSIZE.
+
+
+Something more than half a century ago, a person, in going along Holborn,
+might have seen, near the corner of one of the thoroughfares which
+diverge towards Russell Square, the respectable-looking shop of a glover
+and haberdasher named James Harvey, a man generally esteemed by his
+neighbors, and who was usually considered well to do in the world. Like
+many London tradesmen, Harvey was originally from the country. He had
+come up to town when a poor lad, to push his fortune, and by dint of
+steadiness and civility, and a small property left him by a distant
+relation, he had been able to get into business on his own account, and
+to attain that most important element of success in London--"a
+connection." Shortly after setting up in the world, he married a young
+woman from his native town, to whom he had been engaged ever since his
+school-days; and at the time our narrative commences he was the father of
+three children.
+
+James Harvey's establishment was one of the best frequented of its class
+in the street. You could never pass without seeing customers going in or
+out. There was evidently not a little business going forward. But
+although, to all appearance, a flourishing concern, the proprietor of the
+establishment was surprised to find that he was continually pinched in
+his circumstances. No matter what was the amount of business transacted
+over the counter, he never got any richer.
+
+At the period referred to, shop-keeping had not attained that degree
+of organization, with respect to counter-men and cashiers, which now
+distinguishes the great houses of trade. The primitive till was not
+yet superseded. This was the weak point in Harvey's arrangements; and
+not to make a needless number of words about it, the poor man was
+regularly robbed by a shopman, whose dexterity in pitching a guinea
+into the drawer, so as to make it jump, unseen, with a jerk into his
+hand, was worthy of Herr Dobler, or any other master of the sublime
+art of jugglery.
+
+Good-natured and unsuspicious, perhaps also not sufficiently vigilant,
+Harvey was long in discovering how he was pillaged. Cartwright, the name
+of the person who was preying on his employer, was not a young man. He
+was between forty and fifty years of age, and had been in various
+situations, where he had always given satisfaction, except on the score
+of being somewhat gay and somewhat irritable. Privately, he was a man of
+loose habits, and for years his extravagances had been paid for by
+property clandestinely abstracted from his too-confiding master. Slow to
+believe in the reality of such wickedness, Mr. Harvey could with
+difficulty entertain the suspicions which began to dawn on his mind. At
+length all doubt was at an end. He detected Cartwright in the very act of
+carrying off goods to a considerable amount. The man was tried at the Old
+Bailey for the offence; but through a technical informality in the
+indictment, acquitted.
+
+Unable to find employment, and with a character gone, the liberated thief
+became savage, revengeful, and desperate. Instead of imputing his fall to
+his own irregularities, he considered his late unfortunate employer as
+the cause of his ruin; and now he bent all the energies of his dark
+nature to destroy the reputation of the man whom he had betrayed and
+plundered. Of all the beings self-delivered to the rule of unscrupulous
+malignity, with whom it has been my fate to come professionally in
+contact, I never knew one so utterly fiendish as this discomfited
+pilferer. Frenzied with his imaginary wrongs, he formed the determination
+to labor, even if it were for years, to ruin his victim. Nothing short of
+death should divert him from this the darling object of his existence.
+
+Animated by these diabolical passions, Cartwright proceeded to his work.
+Harvey, he had too good reason to know, was in debt to persons who had
+made him advances; and by means of artfully-concocted anonymous letters,
+evidently written by some one conversant with the matters on which he
+wrote, he succeeded in alarming the haberdasher's creditors. The
+consequences were--demands of immediate payment, and, in spite of the
+debtor's explanations and promises, writs, heavy law expenses, ruinous
+sacrifices, and ultimate bankruptcy. It may seem almost too marvelous for
+belief, but the story of this terrible revenge and its consequences is no
+fiction. Every incident in my narrative is true, and the whole may be
+found in hard outline in the records of the courts with which a few years
+ago I was familiar.
+
+The humiliated and distressed feelings of Harvey and his family may be
+left to the imagination. When he found himself a ruined man, I dare say
+his mental sufferings were sufficiently acute. Yet he did not sit down in
+despair. To re-establish himself in business in England appeared
+hopeless; but America presented itself as a scene where industry might
+find a reward; and by the kindness of some friends, he was enabled to
+make preparations to emigrate with his wife and children. Towards the
+end of February he quitted London for one of the great seaports, where he
+was to embark for Boston. On arriving there with his family, Mr. Harvey
+took up his abode at a principal hotel. This, in a man of straitened
+means, was doubtless imprudent; but he afterwards attempted to explain
+the circumstance by saying, that as the ship in which he had engaged his
+passage was to sail on the day after his arrival, he had preferred
+incurring a slight additional expense rather than that his wife--who was
+now, with failing spirits, nursing an infant--should be exposed to coarse
+associations and personal discomfort. In the expectation, however, of
+being only one night in the hotel, Harvey was unfortunately disappointed.
+Ship-masters, especially those commanding emigrant vessels, were then, as
+now, habitual promise-breakers; and although each succeeding sun was to
+light them on their way, it was fully a fortnight before the ship stood
+out to sea. By that time a second and more dire reverse had occurred in
+the fortunes of the luckless Harvey.
+
+Cartwright, whose appetite for vengeance was but whetted by his first
+success, had never lost sight of the movements of his victim; and now he
+had followed him to the place of his embarkation, with an eager but
+undefined purpose of working him some further and more deadly mischief.
+Stealthily he hovered about the house which sheltered the unconscious
+object of his malicious hate, plotting, as he afterwards confessed, the
+wildest schemes for satiating his revenge. Several times he made excuses
+for calling at the hotel, in the hope of observing the nature of the
+premises, taking care, however, to avoid being seen by Mr. Harvey or his
+family. A fortnight passed away, and the day of departure of the
+emigrants arrived without the slightest opportunity occurring for the
+gratification of his purposes. The ship was leaving her berth; most of
+the passengers were on board; Mrs. Harvey and the children, with nearly
+the whole of the luggage, were already safely in the vessel; Mr. Harvey
+only remained on shore to purchase some trifling article, and to settle
+his bill at the hotel on removing his last trunk. Cartwright had tracked
+him all day; he could not attack him in the street; and he finally
+followed him to the hotel, in order to wreak his vengeance on him in his
+private apartment, of the situation of which he had informed himself.
+
+Harvey entered the hotel first, and before Cartwright came up, he had
+gone down a passage into the bar to settle the bill which he had incurred
+for the last two days. Not aware of this circumstance, Cartwright, in the
+bustle which prevailed, went up stairs to Mr. Harvey's bedroom and
+parlor, in neither of which, to his surprise, did he find the occupant;
+and he turned away discomfited. Passing along towards the chief
+staircase, he perceived a room of which the door was open, and that on
+the table there lay a gold watch and appendages. Nobody was in the
+apartment: the gentleman who occupied it had only a few moments before
+gone to his bed-chamber for a brief space. Quick as lightning a
+diabolical thought flashed through the brain of the villain, who had been
+baffled in his original intentions. He recollected that he had seen a
+trunk in Harvey's room, and that the keys hung in the lock. An
+inconceivably short space of time served for him to seize the watch, to
+deposit it at the bottom of Harvey's trunk, and to quit the hotel by a
+back stair, which led by a short cut to the harbor. The whole transaction
+was done unperceived, and the wretch at least departed unnoticed.
+
+Having finished his business at the bar, Mr. Harvey repaired to his room,
+locked his trunk, which, being of a small and handy size, he mounted on
+his shoulder, and proceeded to leave the house by the back stair, in
+order to get as quickly as possible to the vessel. Little recked he of
+the interruption which was to be presented to his departure. He had got
+as far as the foot of the stair with his burden, when he was overtaken by
+a waiter, who declared that he was going to leave the house clandestinely
+without settling accounts. It is proper to mention that Mr. Harvey had
+incurred the enmity of this particular waiter in consequence of having,
+out of his slender resources, given him too small a gratuity on the
+occasion of paying a former bill, and not aware of the second bill being
+settled, the waiter was rather glad to have an opportunity of charging
+him with a fraudulent design. In vain Mr. Harvey remonstrated, saying he
+had paid for every thing. The waiter would not believe his statement, and
+detained him "till he should hear better about it."
+
+"Let me go, fellow; I insist upon it," said Mr. Harvey, burning with
+indignation. "I am already too late."
+
+"Not a step, till I ask master if accounts are squared."
+
+At this moment, while the altercation was at the hottest, a terrible
+ringing of bells was heard, and above stairs was a loud noise of voices,
+and of feet running to and fro. A chambermaid came hurriedly down the
+stair, exclaiming that some one had stolen a gold watch from No. 17, and
+that nobody ought to leave the house till it was found. The landlord
+also, moved by the hurricane which had been raised, made his appearance
+at the spot where Harvey was interrupted in his exit.
+
+"What on earth is all this noise about, John?" inquired the landlord of
+the waiter.
+
+"Why, sir, I thought it rather strange for any gentleman to leave the
+house by the back way, carrying his own portmanteau, and so I was making
+a little breeze about it, fearing he had not paid his bill, when all of
+a sudden Sally rushes down the stair and says as how No. 17 has missed
+his gold watch, and that no one should quit the hotel."
+
+No. 17, an old, dry-looking military gentlemen, in a particularly high
+passion, now showed himself on the scene, uttering terrible threats of
+legal proceedings against the house for the loss he had sustained.
+
+Harvey was stupified and indignant, yet he could hardly help smiling at
+the pother. "What," said he, "have I to do with all this? I have paid for
+everything; I am surely entitled to go away if I like. Remember, that if
+I lose my passage to Boston, you shall answer for it."
+
+"I very much regret detaining you, sir," replied the keeper of the hotel;
+"but you hear there has been a robbery committed within the last few
+minutes, and as it will be proper to search every one in the house,
+surely you, who are on the point of departure, will have no objections to
+be searched first, and then be at liberty to go?"
+
+There was something so perfectly reasonable in all this, that
+Harvey stepped into an adjoining parlor, and threw open his trunk
+for inspection, never doubting that his innocence would be
+immediately manifest.
+
+The waiter, whose mean rapacity had been the cause of the detention,
+acted as examiner. He pulled one article after another out of the trunk,
+and at length--horror of horrors!--held up the missing watch with a look
+of triumph and scorn!
+
+"Who put that there?" cried Harvey in an agony of mind which can be
+better imagined than described. "Who has done me this grievous wrong? I
+know nothing as to how the watch came into my trunk."
+
+No one answered this appeal. All present stood for a moment in
+gloomy silence.
+
+"Sir," said the landlord to Harvey on recovering from his surprise, "I am
+sorry for you. For the sake of a miserable trifle, you have brought ruin
+and disgrace on yourself. This is a matter which concerns the honor of my
+house, and cannot stop here. However much it is against my feelings, you
+must go before a magistrate."
+
+"By all means," added No. 17, with the importance of an injured man. "A
+pretty thing that one's watch is not safe in a house like this!"
+
+"John, send Boots for a constable," said the landlord.
+
+Harvey sat with his head leaning on his hand. A deadly cold
+perspiration trickled down his brow. His heart swelled and beat as if
+it would burst. What should he do? His whole prospects were in an
+instant blighted. "Oh God! do not desert a frail and unhappy being:
+give me strength to face this new and terrible misfortune," was a
+prayer he internally uttered. A little revived, he started to his feet,
+and addressing himself to the landlord, he said, "Take me to a
+magistrate instantly, and let us have this diabolical plot unraveled. I
+court inquiry into my character and conduct."
+
+"It is no use saying any more about it," answered the landlord; "here is
+Boots with a constable, and let us all go away together to the nearest
+magistrate. Boots, carry that trunk. John and Sally, you can follow us."
+
+And so the party, trunk and all, under the constable as conductor,
+adjourned to the house of a magistrate in an adjacent street.
+There the matter seemed so clear a case of felony--robbery in a
+dwelling-house--that Harvey, all protestations to the contrary, was
+fully committed for trial at the ensuing March assizes, then but a few
+days distant.
+
+At the period at which these incidents occurred, I was a young man going
+on my first circuits. I had not as yet been honored with perhaps more
+than three or four briefs, and these only in cases so slightly productive
+of fees, that I was compelled to study economy in my excursions. Instead
+of taking up my residence at an inn when visiting ------, a considerable
+seaport, where the court held its sittings, I dwelt in lodgings kept by a
+widow lady, where, at a small expense, I could enjoy perfect quietness,
+free from interruption.
+
+On the evening after my arrival on the March circuit of the year 17--, I
+was sitting in my lodgings perusing a new work on criminal jurisprudence,
+when the landlady, after tapping at the door, entered my room.
+
+"I am sorry to trouble you, sir," said she; "but a lady has called to
+see you about a very distressing law case--very distressing indeed,
+and a very strange case it is too. Only, if you could be so good as
+to see her?"
+
+"Who is she?"
+
+"All I know about it is this: she is a Mrs. Harvey. She and her husband
+and children were to sail yesterday for Boston. All were on board except
+the husband; and he, on leaving the large hotel over the way, was taken
+up for a robbery. Word was in the evening sent by the prisoner to his
+wife to come on shore, with all her children and the luggage; and so she
+came back in the pilot boat, and was in such a state of distress, that my
+brother, who is on the preventive service, and saw her land, took pity on
+her, and had her and her children and things taken to a lodging on the
+quay. As my brother knows that we have a London lawyer staying here, he
+has advised the poor woman to come and consult you about the case."
+
+"Well, I'll see what can be done. Please desire the lady to step in."
+
+A lady was shortly shown in. She had been pretty, and was so still, but
+anxiety was pictured in her pale countenance. Her dress was plain, but
+not inelegant; and altogether she had a neat and engaging appearance.
+
+"Be so good as to sit down," said I, bowing; "and tell me all you would
+like to say."
+
+The poor woman burst into tears; but afterwards recovering herself, she
+told me pretty nearly the whole of her history and that of her husband.
+
+Lawyers have occasion to see so much duplicity, that I did not all at
+once give assent to the idea of Harvey being innocent of the crime of
+which he stood charged.
+
+"There is something perfectly inexplicable in the case," I observed, "and
+it would require sifting. Your husband, I hope has always borne a good
+character?"
+
+"Perfectly so. He was no doubt unfortunate in business; but he got his
+certificate on the first examination; and there are many who would
+testify to his uprightness." And here again my client broke into tears,
+as if overwhelmed with her recollections and prospects.
+
+"I think I recollect Mr. Harvey's shop," said I soothingly. "It seemed a
+very respectable concern; and we must see what can be done. Keep up your
+spirits; the only fear I have arises from the fact of Judge A ---- being
+on the bench. He is usually considered severe, and if exculpatory
+evidence fail, your husband may run the risk of being--transported." A
+word of more terrific import, with which I was about to conclude, stuck
+unuttered in my throat "Have you employed an attorney?" I added.
+
+"No; I have done nothing as yet, but apply to you, to beg of you to be my
+husband's counsel."
+
+"Well, that must be looked to. I shall speak to a local agent, to prepare
+and work out the case; and we shall all do our utmost to get an
+acquittal. To-morrow I will call on your husband in prison."
+
+Many thanks were offered by the unfortunate lady, and she withdrew.
+
+I am not going to inflict on the reader a detailed account of this
+remarkable trial, which turned, as barristers would say, on a beautiful
+point of circumstantial evidence. Along with the attorney, a sharp enough
+person in his way, I examined various parties at the hotel, and made
+myself acquainted with the nature of the premises. The more we
+investigated, however, the more dark and mysterious--always supposing
+Harvey's innocence--did the whole case appear. There was not one
+redeeming trait in the affair, except Harvey's previous good character;
+and good character, by the law of England, goes for nothing in opposition
+to facts proved to the satisfaction of a jury. It was likewise most
+unfortunate that A ---- was to be the presiding judge. This man possessed
+great forensic acquirements, and was of spotless private character; but,
+like the majority of lawyers of that day--when it was no extraordinary
+thing to hang twenty men in a morning at Newgate--he was a staunch
+stickler for the gallows as the only effectual reformer and safeguard of
+the social state. At this time he was but partially recovered from a long
+and severe indisposition, and the traces of recent suffering were
+distinctly apparent on his pale and passionless features.
+
+Harvey was arraigned in due form; the evidence was gone carefully
+through; and everything, so far as I was concerned, was done that man
+could do. But at the time to which I refer, counsel was not allowed to
+address the court on behalf of the prisoner--a practice since introduced
+from Scotland--and consequently I was allowed no opportunity to draw the
+attention of the jury to the total want of any direct evidence of the
+prisoner's guilt. Harvey himself tried to point out the unlikelihood of
+his being guilty; but he was not a man gifted with dialectic qualities,
+and his harangue fell pointless on the understandings of the twelve
+common-place individuals who sat in the jury-box. The judge finally
+proceeded to sum the evidence, and this he did emphatically _against_ the
+prisoner--dwelling with much force on the suspicious circumstance of a
+needy man taking up his abode at an expensive fashionable hotel; his
+furtive descent from his apartments by the back stairs; the undoubted
+fact of the watch being found in his trunk; the improbability of any one
+putting it there but himself; and the extreme likelihood that the robbery
+was effected in a few moments of time by the culprit, just as he passed
+from the bar of the hotel to the room which he had occupied. "If," said
+he to the jury, in concluding his address, "you can, after all these
+circumstances, believe the prisoner to be innocent of the crime laid to
+his charge, it is more than I can do. The thing seems to me as clear as
+the sun at noonday. The evidence, in short, is irresistible; and if the
+just and necessary provisions of the law are not enforced in such very
+plain cases, then society will be dissolved, and security for property
+there will be none. Gentlemen, retire and make up your verdict."
+
+The jury were not disposed to retire. After communing a few minutes
+together, one of them stood up and delivered the verdict: it was
+_Guilty!_ The judge assumed the crowning badge of the judicial
+potentate--the black cap; and the clerk of arraigns asked the prisoner at
+the bar, in the usual form, if he had anything to urge why sentence of
+death should not be passed upon him.
+
+Poor Harvey! I durst scarcely look at him. As the sonorous words fell on
+his ear, he was grasping nervously with shaking hands at the front of the
+dock. He appeared stunned, bewildered, as a man but half-awakened from a
+hideous dream might be supposed to look. He had comprehended, though he
+had scarcely heard, the verdict; for on the instant, the voice which but
+a few years before sang to him by the brook side, was ringing through his
+brain, and he could recognize the little pattering feet of his children,
+as, sobbing and clinging to their shrieking mother's dress, she and they
+were hurried out of court The clerk, after a painful pause, repeated the
+solemn formula. By a strong effort the doomed man mastered his agitation;
+his pale countenance lighted up with indignant fire, and firm and
+self-possessed, he thus replied to the fearful interrogatory:--
+
+"Much could I say in the name, not of mercy, but of justice, why the
+sentence about to be passed on me should not be pronounced; but nothing,
+alas! that will avail me with you, pride-blinded ministers of death. You
+fashion to yourselves--out of your own vain conceits do you
+fashion--modes and instruments, by the aid of which you fondly imagine to
+invest yourselves with attributes which belong only to Omniscience; and
+now I warn you--and it is a voice from the tomb, in whose shadow I
+already stand, which addresses you--that you are about to commit a most
+cruel and deliberate murder."
+
+He paused, and the jury looked into each other's eyes for the courage
+they could not find in their own hearts. The voice of conscience spoke,
+but was only for a few moments audible. The suggestions that what grave
+parliaments, learned judges, and all classes of "respectability"
+sanctioned, could not be wrong, much less murderous or cruel, silenced
+the "still, small" tones, and tranquilized the startled jurors.
+
+"Prisoner at the bar," said the judge with his cold, calm voice of
+destiny, "I cannot listen to such observations: you have been found
+guilty of a heinous offence by a jury of your countrymen after a patient
+trial. With that finding I need scarcely say I entirely agree. I am as
+satisfied of your guilt as if I had seen you commit the act with my own
+bodily eyes. The circumstance of your being a person who, from habits and
+education, should have been above committing so base a crime, only
+aggravates your guilt. However, no matter who or what you have been, you
+must expiate your offence on the scaffold. The law has very properly, for
+the safety of society, decreed the punishment of death for such crimes:
+our only and plain duty is to execute that law."
+
+The prisoner did not reply: he was leaning with his elbows on the front
+of the dock, his bowed face covered with his outspread hands; and the
+judge passed sentence of death in the accustomed form. The court then
+rose, and a turnkey placed his hand upon the prisoner's arm, to lead him
+away. Suddenly he uncovered his face, drew himself up to his full
+height--he was a remarkably tall man--and glared fiercely round upon the
+audience, like a wild animal at bay. "My lord," he cried, or rather
+shouted, in an excited voice. The judge motioned impatiently to the
+jailor, and strong hands impelled the prisoner from the front of the
+dock. Bursting from them, he again sprang forward, and his arms
+outstretched, whilst his glittering eye seemed to hold the judge
+spell-bound, exclaimed, "My lord, before another month has passed away,
+_you_ will appear at the bar of another world, to answer for the life,
+the innocent life, which God bestowed upon me, but which you have
+impiously cast away as a thing of naught and scorn!" He ceased, and was
+at once borne off. The court, in some confusion, hastily departed. It was
+thought at the time that the judge's evidently failing health had
+suggested the prophecy to the prisoner. It only excited a few days'
+wonder, and was forgotten.
+
+The position of a barrister in such circumstances is always painful. I
+need hardly say that my own feelings were of a very distressing kind.
+Conscious that if the unfortunate man really was guilty, he was at least
+not deserving of capital punishment, I exerted myself to procure a
+reprieve. In the first place I waited privately on the judge; but he
+would listen to no proposal for a respite. Along with a number of
+individuals--chiefly of the Society of Friends--I petitioned the crown
+for a commutation of the sentence. But being unaccompanied with a
+recommendation from the judge, the prayer of our petition was of course
+disregarded: the law, it was said, must take its course. How much cruelty
+has been exercised under shelter of that remorseless expression!
+
+I would willingly pass over the succeeding events. Unable to save his
+life, I endeavored to soothe the few remaining hours of the doomed
+convict, and frequently visited him in the condemned cell. The more I saw
+of him, the deeper grew my sympathy in his case, which was that of no
+vulgar felon. "I have been a most unfortunate man," said he one day to
+me. "A destiny towards ruin in fortune and in life has pursued me. I feel
+as if deserted by God and man; yet I know, or at least would persuade
+myself, that Heaven will one day vindicate my innocence of this foul
+charge. To think of being hanged like a dog for a crime at which my soul
+revolts! Great is the crime of those imbecile jurors and that false and
+hard-hearted judge, who thus, by an irreversible decree, consign a
+fellow-mortal to a death of violence and disgrace. Oh God, help me--help
+me to sustain that bitter, bitter hour!" And then the poor man would
+throw himself on his bed and weep.
+
+But the parting with his wife and children. What pen can describe that
+terrible interview! They knelt in prayer, their wobegone countenances
+suffused in tears, and with hands clasped convulsively together. The
+scene was too harrowing and sacred for the eye of a stranger. I rushed
+from the cell, and buried myself in my lodgings, whence I did not remove
+till all was over. Next day James Harvey, a victim of circumstantial
+evidence, and of a barbarous criminal code, perished on the scaffold.
+
+Three weeks afterwards, the court arrived at a populous city in the west
+of England. It had in the interval visited another assize town, and there
+Judge A ---- had left three for execution. At the trials of these men,
+however, I had not attended. So shocked had been my feelings with the
+mournful event which had taken place at ------, that I had gone into
+Wales for the sake of change of scene. After roaming about for a
+fortnight amidst the wild solitudes of Caernarvonshire, I took the stage
+for the city which I knew the court was to visit, and arrived on the day
+previous to the opening of the assizes.
+
+"Well, are we to have a heavy calendar?" I inquired next morning of a
+brother barrister on entering the court.
+
+"Rather light for a March assize," replied the impatient counsel as
+he bustled onward. "There's Cartwright's case--highway robbery--in
+which I am for the prosecution. He'll swing for it, and perhaps four
+or five others."
+
+"A good hanging judge is A ----," said the under-sheriff, who at
+this moment joined us, rubbing his hands, as if pleased with the
+prospect of a few executions. "No chance of the prophecy yonder coming
+to pass I suppose?"
+
+"Not in the least," replied the bustling counsel. "He never looked
+better. His illness has gone completely off. And this day's work will
+brighten him up."
+
+Cartwright's trial came on. I had never seen the man before, and was not
+aware that this was the same person whom Harvey had incidentally told me
+he had discharged for theft; the truth being, that till the last moment
+of his existence, that unfortunate man had not known how much he had been
+a sacrifice to this wretch's malice.
+
+The crime of which the villain now stood accused was that of robbing a
+farmer of the paltry sum of eight shillings, in the neighborhood of
+Ilfracombe. He pleaded not guilty, but put in no defence. A verdict was
+recorded against him, and in due form A ---- sentenced him to be hanged.
+An expression of fiendish malignancy gleamed over the haggard features of
+the felon as he asked leave to address a few words to the court. It was
+granted. Leaning forward, and raising his heavy, scowling eyes to the
+judge, he thus began:--"There is something on my mind, my lord--a
+dreadful crime--which, as I am to die for the eight shillings I took from
+the farmer, I may as well confess. You may remember Harvey, my lord, whom
+you hanged the other day at--?"
+
+"What of him, fellow?" replied the judge, his features suddenly
+flushing crimson.
+
+"Why, my lord, only this--that he was as innocent of the crime for which
+you hanged him as the child yet unborn! I did the deed! I put the watch
+in his trunk!" And to the unutterable horror of the entire court he
+related the whole particulars of the transaction, the origin of his
+grudge against Harvey, and his delight on bringing him to the gallows.
+
+"Inhuman, execrable villain!" gasped the judge in extreme excitement.
+
+"Cleverly done, though! Was it not, my lord?" rejoined the ruffian with
+bitter irony. "The evidence, you know, was irresistible; the crime as
+clear as the sun at noonday; and if in such plain cases, the just and
+necessary law was not enforced, society would be dissolved, and there
+would be no security for property! These were your words, I think. How on
+that occasion I admired your lordship's judgment and eloquence! Society
+would be dissolved if an innocent man were not hanged! Ha!--ha!--ha!
+Capital!--capital!" shouted the ferocious felon with demoniac glee, as he
+marked the effect of his words on the countenance of the judge.
+
+"Remove the prisoner!" cried the sheriff. An officer was about to do so;
+but the judge motioned him to desist. His lordship's features worked
+convulsively. He seemed striving to speak, but the words would not come.
+
+"I suppose, my lord," continued Cartwright in low and hissing tones, as
+the shadow of unutterable despair grew and settled on his face--"I
+suppose you know that his wife destroyed herself. The coroner's jury said
+she had fallen accidentally into the water, _I_ know better. She drowned
+herself under the agonies of a broken heart! I saw her corpse, with the
+dead baby in its arms; and then I felt, knew, that I was lost! Lost,
+doomed to everlasting perdition! But, my lord,"--and here the wretch
+broke into a howl wild and terrific--"_we_ shall go down together--down
+to where your deserts are known. A--h--h! that pinches you, does it?
+Hound of a judge! legal murderer! coward! I spurn and spit upon thee!"
+The rest of the appalling objurgation was inarticulate, as the monster,
+foaming and sputtering, was dragged by an officer from the dock.
+
+Judge A ---- had fallen forwards on his face, fainting and speechless
+with the violence of his emotions. The black cap had dropped from his
+brow. His hands were stretched out across the bench, and various members
+of the bar rushed to his assistance. The court broke up in frightful
+commotion.
+
+Two days afterwards the county paper had the following announcement:--
+
+"Died at the Royal Hotel, ------, on the 27th instant, Judge A ----, from
+an access of fever supervening upon a disorder from which he had
+imperfectly recovered."
+
+The prophecy was fulfilled!
+
+
+
+
+THE NORTHERN CIRCUIT.
+
+
+About the commencement of the present century there stood, near the
+centre of a rather extensive hamlet, not many miles distant from a
+northern seaport town, a large, substantially-built, but somewhat
+straggling building, known as Craig Farm (popularly _Crook_ Farm) House.
+The farm consisted of about one hundred acres of tolerable arable and
+meadow land; and at the time I have indicated, belonged to a farmer of
+the name of Armstrong. He had purchased it about three years previously,
+at a sale held, in pursuance of a decree of the High Court of Chancery,
+for the purpose of liquidating certain costs incurred in the suit of
+Craig _versus_ Craig, which the said high court had nursed so long and
+successfully, as to enable the solicitor to the victorious claimant to
+incarcerate his triumphant client for several years in the Fleet, in
+"satisfaction" of the charges of victory remaining due after the proceeds
+of the sale of Craig Farm had been deducted from the gross total. Farmer
+Armstrong was married, but childless; his dame, like himself, was a
+native of Devonshire. They bore the character of a plodding, taciturn,
+morose-mannered couple: seldom leaving the farm except to attend market,
+and rarely seen at church or chapel, they naturally enough became objects
+of suspicion and dislike to the prying, gossiping villagers, to whom
+mystery or reserve of any kind was of course exceedingly annoying and
+unpleasant.
+
+Soon after Armstrong was settled in his new purchase another stranger
+arrived, and took up his abode in the best apartments of the house. The
+new-comer, a man of about fifty years of age, and evidently, from his
+dress and gait, a sea-faring person, was as reserved and unsocial as his
+landlord. His name, or at least that which he chose to be known by, was
+Wilson. He had one child, a daughter, about thirteen years of age, whom
+he placed at a boarding-school in the adjacent town. He seldom saw her;
+the intercourse between the father and daughter being principally carried
+on through Mary Strugnell, a widow of about thirty years of age, and a
+native of the place. She was engaged as a servant to Mr. Wilson, and
+seldom left Craig Farm except on Sunday afternoons, when, if the weather
+was at all favorable, she paid a visit to an aunt living in the town;
+there saw Miss Wilson; and returned home usually at half-past ten
+o'clock--later rather than earlier. Armstrong was occasionally absent
+from his home for several days together, on business, it was rumored, for
+Wilson; and on the Sunday in the first week of January 1802, both he and
+his wife had been away for upwards of a week, and were not yet returned.
+
+About a quarter-past ten o'clock on that evening the early-retiring
+inhabitants of the hamlet were roused from their slumbers by a loud,
+continuous knocking at the front door of Armstrong's house: louder and
+louder, more and more vehement and impatient, resounded the blows upon
+the stillness of the night, till the soundest sleepers were awakened.
+Windows were hastily thrown open, and presently numerous footsteps
+approached the scene of growing hubbub. The unwonted noise was caused,
+it was found, by Farmer Armstrong, who accompanied by his wife, was
+thundering vehemently upon the door with a heavy black-thorn stick.
+Still no answer was obtained. Mrs. Strugnell, it was supposed, had not
+returned from town; but where was Mr. Wilson, who was almost always at
+home both day and night? Presently a lad called out that a white sheet
+or cloth of some sort was hanging out of one of the back windows. This
+announcement, confirming the vague apprehensions which had begun to
+germinate in the wise heads of the villagers, disposed them to adopt a
+more effectual mode of obtaining admission than knocking seemed likely
+to prove. Johnson, the constable of the parish, a man of great
+shrewdness, at once proposed to break in the door. Armstrong, who, as
+well as his wife, was deadly pale, and trembling violently, either with
+cold or agitation, hesitatingly consented, and crowbars being speedily
+procured, an entrance was forced, and in rushed a score of excited men.
+Armstrong's wife, it was afterwards remembered, caught hold of her
+husband's arm in a hurried, frightened manner, whispered hastily in his
+ear, and then both followed into the house.
+
+"Now, farmer," cried Johnson, as soon as he had procured a light, "lead
+the way up stairs."
+
+Armstrong, who appeared to have somewhat recovered from his panic, darted
+at once up the staircase, followed by the whole body of rustics. On
+reaching the landing-place, he knocked at Mr. Wilson's bedroom door. No
+answer was returned. Armstrong seemed to hesitate, but the constable at
+once lifted the latch; they entered, and then a melancholy spectacle
+presented itself.
+
+Wilson, completely dressed, lay extended on the floor a lifeless corpse.
+He had been stabbed in two places in the breast with some sharp-pointed
+instrument. Life was quite extinct. The window was open. On farther
+inspection, several bundles containing many of Wilson's valuables in
+jewelry and plate, together with clothes, shirts, silk handkerchiefs,
+were found. The wardrobe and a secretary-bureau had been forced open.
+The assassins had, it seemed, been disturbed, and had hurried off by the
+window without their plunder. A hat was also picked up in the room, a
+shiny, black hat, much too small for the deceased. The constable snatched
+it up, and attempted to clap it on Armstrong's head, but it was not
+nearly large enough. This, together with the bundles, dissipated a
+suspicion which had been growing in Johnson's mind, and he roughly
+exclaimed, "You need not look so scared, farmer; it's not you: that's
+quite clear."
+
+To this remark neither Armstrong nor his wife answered a syllable, but
+continued to gaze at the corpse, the bundles, and the broken locks, in
+bewildered terror and astonishment. Presently some one asked if any body
+had seen Mrs. Strugnell?
+
+The question roused Armstrong, and he said, "She is not come home: her
+door is locked."
+
+"How do you know that?" cried the constable, turning sharply round, and
+looking keenly in his face. "How do you know that?"
+
+"Because--because," stammered Armstrong, "because she always locks it
+when she goes out."
+
+"Which is her room?"
+
+"The next to this."
+
+They hastened out, and found the next door was fast.
+
+"Are you there, Mrs. Strugnell?" shouted Johnson.
+
+There was no reply.
+
+"She is never home till half-past ten o'clock on Sunday evenings,"
+remarked Armstrong in a calmer voice.
+
+"The key is in the lock on the inside," cried a young man who had been
+striving to peep through the key-hole.
+
+Armstrong, it was afterwards sworn, started as if he had been shot;
+and his wife again clutched his arm with the same nervous, frenzied
+gripe as before.
+
+"Mrs. Strugnell, are you there?" once more shouted the constable. He was
+answered by a low moan. In an instant the frail door was burst in, and
+Mrs. Strugnell was soon pulled out, apparently more dead than alive, from
+underneath the bedstead, where she, in speechless consternation, lay
+partially concealed. Placing her in a chair, they soon succeeded--much
+more easily, indeed, than they anticipated--in restoring her to
+consciousness.
+
+Nervously she glanced round the circle of eager faces that environed her,
+till her eyes fell upon Armstrong and his wife, when she gave a loud
+shriek, and muttering, "They, _they_ are the murderers!" swooned, or
+appeared to do so, again instantly.
+
+The accused persons, in spite of their frenzied protestations of
+innocence, were instantly seized and taken off to a place of security;
+Mrs. Strugnell was conveyed to a neighbor's close by; the house was
+carefully secured; and the agitated and wondering villagers departed to
+their several homes, but not, I fancy, to sleep any more for that night.
+
+The deposition made by Mrs. Strugnell at the inquest on the body was in
+substance as follows:--
+
+"On the afternoon in question she had, in accordance with her usual
+custom, proceeded to town. She called on her aunt, took tea with her, and
+afterwards went to the Independent Chapel. After service, she called to
+see Miss Wilson, but was informed that, in consequence of a severe cold,
+the young lady was gone to bed. She then immediately proceeded homewards,
+and consequently arrived at Craig Farm more than an hour before her usual
+time. She let herself in with her latch key, and proceeded to her
+bedroom. There was no light in Mr. Wilson's chamber, but she could hear
+him moving about in it. She was just about to go down stairs, having put
+away her Sunday bonnet and shawl, when she heard a noise, as of persons
+entering by the back way, and walking gently across the kitchen floor.
+Alarmed as to who it could be, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong not being expected
+home for several days, she gently closed her door, and locked it. A few
+minutes after, she heard stealthy steps ascending the creaking stairs,
+and presently her door was tried, and a voice in a low hurried whisper
+said, "Mary, are you there?" She was positive it was Mr. Armstrong's
+voice, but was too terrified to answer. Then Mrs. Armstrong--she was sure
+it was she--said also in a whisper, and as if addressing her husband,
+"She is never back at this hour." A minute or so after there was a tap at
+Mr. Wilson's door. She could not catch what answer was made; but by
+Armstrong's reply, she gathered that Mr. Wilson had lain down, and did
+not wish to be disturbed. He was often in the habit of lying down with
+his clothes on. Armstrong said, "I will not disturb you, sir; I'll only
+just put this parcel on the table." There is no lock to Mr. Wilson's
+door. Armstrong stepped into the room, and almost immediately she heard a
+sound as of a violent blow, followed by a deep groan and then all was
+still. She was paralyzed with horror and affright. After the lapse of a
+few seconds, a voice--Mrs. Armstrong's undoubtedly--asked in a tremulous
+tone if "all was over?" Her husband answered "Yes: but where be the keys
+of the writing-desk kept?" "In the little table-drawer," was the reply.
+Armstrong then came out of the bedroom, and both went into Mr. Wilson's
+sitting apartment. They soon returned, and crept stealthily along the
+passage to their own bedroom on the same floor. They then went down
+stairs to the kitchen. One of them--the woman, she had no doubt--went out
+the back way, and heavy footsteps again ascended the stairs. Almost dead
+with fright, she then crawled under the bedstead, and remembered no more
+till she found herself surrounded by the villagers."
+
+In confirmation of this statement, a large clasp-knife belonging to
+Armstrong, and with which it was evident the murder had been perpetrated,
+was found in one corner of Wilson's bedroom; and a mortgage deed, for one
+thousand pounds on Craig Farm, the property of Wilson, and which
+Strugnell swore was always kept in the writing-desk in the front room,
+was discovered in a chest in the prisoner's sleeping apartment, together
+with nearly one hundred and fifty pounds in gold, silver, and county
+bank-notes, although it was known that Armstrong had but a fortnight
+before declined a very advantageous offer of some cows he was desirous of
+purchasing, under the plea of being short of cash. Worse perhaps than
+all, a key of the back-door was found in his pocket, which not only
+confirmed Strugnell's evidence, but clearly demonstrated that the
+knocking at the door for admittance, which had roused and alarmed the
+hamlet, was a pure subterfuge. The conclusion, therefore, almost
+universally arrived at throughout the neighborhood was, that Armstrong
+and his wife were the guilty parties; and that the bundles, the broken
+locks, the sheet hanging out of the window, the shiny, black hat, were,
+like the knocking, mere cunning devices to mislead inquiry.
+
+The case excited great interest in the county, and I esteemed myself
+professionally fortunate in being selected to hold the brief for the
+prosecution. I had satisfied myself, by a perusal of the depositions,
+that there was no doubt of the prisoners' guilt, and I determined that no
+effort on my part should be spared to insure the accomplishment of the
+ends of justice. I drew the indictment myself; and in my opening address
+to the jury dwelt with all the force and eloquence of which I was master
+upon the heinous nature of the crime, and the conclusiveness of the
+evidence by which it had been brought home to the prisoners. I may here,
+by way of parenthesis, mention that I resorted to a plan in my address to
+the jury which I have seldom known to fail. It consisted in fixing my
+eyes and addressing my language to each juror one after the other. In
+this way each considers the address to be an appeal to his individual
+intelligence, and responds to it by falling into the views of the
+barrister. On this occasion the jury easily fell into the trap. I could
+see that I had got them into the humor of putting confidence in the
+evidence I had to produce.
+
+The trial proceeded. The cause of the death was scientifically stated by
+two medical men. Next followed the evidence as to the finding of the
+knife in the bedroom of the deceased; the discovery of the mortgage deed,
+and the large sum of money, in the prisoners' sleeping apartment; the
+finding the key of the back-door in the male prisoner's pocket; and his
+demeanor and expressions on the night of the perpetration of the crime.
+In his cross-examination of the constable, several facts perfectly new to
+me were elicited by the very able counsel for the prisoners. Their
+attorney had judiciously maintained the strictest secrecy as to the
+nature of the defence, so that it now took me completely by surprise. The
+constable, in reply to questions by counsel, stated that the pockets of
+the deceased were empty; that not only his purse, but a gold watch,
+chain, and seals, which he usually wore, had vanished, and no trace of
+them had as yet been discovered. Many other things were also missing. A
+young man of the name of Pearce, apparently a sailor, had been seen in
+the village once or twice in the company of Mary Strugnell; but he did
+not notice what sort of hat he generally wore; he had not seen Pearce
+since the night the crime was committed; had not sought for him.
+
+Mary Strugnell was the next witness. She repeated her previous evidence
+with precision and apparent sincerity, and then I abandoned her with a
+mixed feeling of anxiety and curiosity, to the counsel for the defence.
+A subtle and able cross-examination of more than two hours' duration
+followed; and at its conclusion, I felt that the case for the
+prosecution was so damaged, that a verdict of condemnation was, or ought
+to be, out of the question. The salient points dwelt upon, and varied in
+every possible way, in this long sifting, were these:--"What was the
+reason she did not return in the evening in question to her aunt's to
+supper as usual?"
+
+"She did not know, except that she wished to get home."
+
+"Did she keep company with a man of the name of Pearce?"
+
+"She had walked out with him once or twice."
+
+"When was the last time?"
+
+"She did not remember."
+
+"Did Pearce walk with her home on the night of the murder?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Not part of the way?"
+
+"Yes; part of the way."
+
+"Did Pearce sometimes wear a black, shiny hat?"
+
+"No--yes: she did not remember."
+
+"Where was Pearce now?"
+
+"She didn't know."
+
+"Had he disappeared since that Sunday evening?"
+
+"She didn't know."
+
+"Had she seen him since?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Had Mr. Wilson ever threatened to discharge her for insolence to Mrs.
+Armstrong?"
+
+"Yes; but she knew he was not in earnest."
+
+"Was not the clasp-knife that had been found always left in the kitchen
+for culinary purposes?"
+
+"No--not always; generally--but not _this _time that Armstrong went away,
+she was sure."
+
+"Mary Strugnell, you be a false-sworn woman before God and man!"
+interrupted the male prisoner with great violence of manner.
+
+The outbreak of the prisoner was checked and rebuked by the judge, and
+the cross-examination soon afterwards closed. Had the counsel been
+allowed to follow up his advantage by an address to the jury, he would, I
+doubt not, spite of their prejudices against the prisoners, have obtained
+an acquittal; but as it was, after a neutral sort of charge from the
+judge, by no means the ablest that then adorned the bench, the jurors,
+having deliberated for something more than half an hour, returned into
+court with a verdict of "guilty" against both prisoners, accompanying it,
+however, with a strong recommendation to mercy!
+
+"Mercy!" said the judge. "What for? On what ground?"
+
+The jurors stared at each other and at the judge: they had no reason to
+give! The fact was, their conviction of the prisoners' guilt had been
+very much shaken by the cross-examination of the chief witness for the
+prosecution, and this recommendation was a compromise which conscience
+made with doubt. I have known many such instances.
+
+The usual ridiculous formality of asking the wretched convicts what they
+had to urge why sentence should not be passed upon them was gone through;
+the judge, with unmoved feelings, put on the fatal cap; and then a new
+and startling light burst upon the mysterious, bewildering affair.
+
+"Stop, my lord!" exclaimed Armstrong with rough vehemence. "Hear me
+speak! I'll tell ye all about it; I will indeed, my lord. Quiet,
+Martha, I tell ye. It's I, my lord, that's guilty, not the woman. God
+bless ye, my lord; not the wife! Doant hurt the wife, and I'se tell ye
+all about it. I _alone_ am guilty; not, the Lord be praised, of murder,
+but of robbery!"
+
+"John!--John!" sobbed the wife, clinging passionately to her husband,
+"let us die together!"
+
+"Quiet, Martha, I tell ye! Yes, my lord, I'se tell ye all about it. I was
+gone away, wife and I, for more nor a week, to receive money for Mr.
+Wilson, on account of smuggled goods--that money, my lord, as was found
+in the chest. When we came home on that dreadful Sunday night, my lord,
+we went in the back way; and hearing a noise, I went up stairs, and found
+poor Wilson stone-dead on the floor. I were dreadful skeared, and let
+drop the candle. I called to wife, and told her of it. She screamed out,
+and amaist fainted away. And then, my lord, all at once the devil shot
+into my head to keep the money I had brought; and knowing as the keys of
+the desk where the mortgage writing was kept was in the bedroom, I crept
+back, as that false-hearted woman said, got the keys, and took the deed;
+and then I persuaded wife, who had been trembling in the kitchen all the
+while, that we had better go out quiet again, as there was nobody in the
+house but us: I had tried that woman's door--and we might perhaps be
+taken for the murderers. And so we did; and that's the downright, honest
+truth, my lord. I'm rightly served; but God bless you, doant hurt the
+woman--my wife, my lord, these thirty years. Five-and-twenty years ago
+come May, which I shall never see, we buried our two children. Had they
+lived, I might have been a better man; but the place they left empty was
+soon filled up by love of cursed lucre, and that has brought me here. I
+deserve it; but oh, mercy, my lord! mercy, good gentlemen!"--turning from
+the stony features of the judge to the jury, as if they could help
+him--"not for me, but the wife. She be as innocent of this as a new-born
+babe. It's I! I! scoundrel that I be, that has brought thee, Martha, to
+this shameful pass!" The rugged man snatched his life-companion to his
+breast with passionate emotion, and tears of remorse and agony streamed
+down his rough cheeks.
+
+I was deeply affected, and felt that the man had uttered the whole truth.
+It was evidently one of those cases in which a person liable to suspicion
+damages his own cause by resorting to a trick. No doubt, by his act of
+theft, Armstrong had been driven to an expedient which would not have
+been adopted by a person perfectly innocent. And thus, from one thing to
+another, the charge of murder had been fixed upon him and his hapless
+wife. When his confession had been uttered, I felt a species of
+self-accusation in having contributed to his destruction, and gladly
+would I have undone the whole day's proceedings. The judge, on the
+contrary, was quite undisturbed. Viewing the harangue of Armstrong as a
+mere tissue of falsehood, he cooly pronounced sentence of death on the
+prisoners. They were to be hanged on Monday. This was Friday.
+
+"A bad job!" whispered the counsel for the defence as he passed me. "That
+witness of yours, the woman Strugnell, is the real culprit."
+
+I tasted no dinner that day: I was sick at heart; for I felt as if the
+blood of two fellow-creatures was on my hands. In the evening I sallied
+forth to the judge's lodgings. He listened to all I had to say; but was
+quite imperturbable. The obstinate old man was satisfied that the
+sentence was as it should be. I returned to my inn in a fever of despair.
+Without the approval of the judge, I knew that an application to the
+Secretary of State was futile. There was not even time to send to London,
+unless the judge had granted a respite.
+
+All Saturday and Sunday I was in misery. I denounced capital punishment
+as a gross iniquity--a national sin and disgrace; my feelings of course
+being influenced somewhat by a recollection of that unhappy affair of
+Harvey, noticed in my previous paper. I half resolved to give up the bar,
+and rather go and sweep the streets for a livelihood, than run the risk
+of getting poor people hanged who did not deserve it.
+
+On the Monday morning I was pacing up and down my break fast-room in the
+next assize town, in a state of great excitement, when a chaise-and-four
+drove rapidly up to the hotel, and out tumbled Johnson the constable. His
+tale was soon told. On the previous evening, the landlady of the Black
+Swan, a roadside public-house about four miles distant from the scene of
+the murder, reading the name of Pearce in the report of the trial in the
+Sunday county paper, sent for Johnston to state that that person had on
+the fatal evening called and left a portmanteau in her charge, promising
+to call for it in an hour, but had never been there since. On opening the
+portmanteau, Wilson's watch, chains, and seals, and other property, were
+discovered in it; and Johnson had, as soon as it was possible, set off in
+search of me. Instantly, for there was not a moment to spare, I, in
+company with Armstrong's counsel, sought the judge, and with some
+difficulty obtained from him a formal order to the sheriff to suspend the
+execution till further orders. Off I and the constable started, and
+happily arrived in time to stay the execution, and deprive the
+already-assembled mob of the brutal exhibition they so anxiously awaited.
+On inquiring for Mary Strugnell, we found that she had absconded on the
+evening of the trial. All search for her proved vain.
+
+Five months had passed away; the fate of Armstrong and his wife was still
+undecided, when a message was brought to my chambers in the Temple from a
+woman said to be dying in St. Bartholomew's Hospital. It was Mary
+Strugnell; who, when in a state of intoxication, had fallen down in front
+of a carriage, as she was crossing near Holborn Hill, and had both her
+legs broken. She was dying miserably, and had sent for me to make a full
+confession relative to Wilson's murder. Armstrong's account was perfectly
+correct. The deed was committed by Pearce, and they were packing up their
+plunder when they were startled by the unexpected return of the
+Armstrongs. Pearce, snatching up a bundle and a portmanteau, escaped by
+the window; she had not nerve enough to attempt it, and crawled back to
+her bedroom, where she, watching the doings of the farmer through the
+chinks of the partition which separated her room from the passage,
+concocted the story which convicted the prisoners. Pearce thinking
+himself pursued, too heavily encumbered for rapid flight, left the
+portmanteau as described, intending to call for it in the morning, if his
+fears proved groundless. He, however, had not courage to risk calling
+again, and made the best of his way to London. He was now in Newgate
+under sentence of death for a burglary, accompanied by personal violence
+to the inmates of the dwelling he and his gang had entered and robbed. I
+took care to have the deposition of the dying wretch put into proper
+form; and the result was, after a great deal of petitioning and worrying
+of authorities, a full pardon for both Armstrong and his wife. They sold
+Craig Farm, and removed to some other part of the country, where, I never
+troubled myself to inquire. Deeply grateful was I to be able at last to
+wash my hands of an affair, which had cost me so much anxiety and
+vexation; albeit the lesson it afforded me of not coming hastily to
+conclusions, even when the truth seems, as it were, upon the surface of
+the matter, has not been, I trust, without its uses.
+
+
+
+
+THE CONTESTED MARRIAGE.
+
+
+I had just escaped to my chambers one winter afternoon from a heavy trial
+"at bar" in the King's Bench, Westminster, and was poring over a case
+upon which an "opinion" was urgently solicited, when my clerk entered
+with a letter which he had been requested to deliver by a lady, who had
+called twice before during the day for the purpose of seeing me. Vexed at
+the interruption, I almost snatched the letter from the man's hand,
+hastily broke the seal, and to my great surprise found it was from my
+excellent old friend Sir Jasper Thornely of Thornely Hall, Lancashire. It
+ran as follows:--
+
+"My Dear ----, The bearer of this note is a lady whom I am desirous of
+serving to the utmost extent of my ability. That she is really the widow
+she represents herself to be, and her son consequently heir to the
+magnificent estates now in possession of the Emsdales--you remember how
+they tripped up my heels at the last election for the borough of ------ I
+have no moral doubt whatever; but whether her claim can be legally
+established is another affair. She will tell you the story herself. It
+was a heartless business; but Sir Harry, who, you have no doubt heard,
+broke his neck in a steeple-chase about ten months ago, was a sad wild
+dog. My advice is, to look out for a sharp, clever, persevering attorney,
+and set him upon a hunt for evidence. If he succeed, I undertake to pay
+him a thousand pounds over and above his legal costs. He'll nose it out
+for that, I should think!--Yours, truly,
+
+"Jasper Thornely.
+
+"P.S.--Emsdale's son, I have just heard--confound their
+impudence!--intends, upon the strength of this accession of property, to
+stand for the county against my old friend ----, at the dissolution,
+which cannot now be far off. If you don't think one thousand pounds
+enough, I'll double it. A cruelly, ill-used lady! and as to her son, he's
+the very image of the late Sir Harry Compton. In haste--J.T. I re-open
+the letter to enclose a cheque for a hundred pounds, which you will pay
+the attorney on account. They'll die hard, you may be sure. If it could
+come off next assizes, we should spoil them for the county--J.T."
+
+"Assizes"--"county"--"Sir Harry Compton," I involuntarily murmured, as I
+finished the perusal of my old friend's incoherent epistle. "What on
+earth can the eccentric old fox-hunter mean?" "Show the lady in," I added
+in a louder tone to the clerk. She presently appeared, accompanied by a
+remarkably handsome boy about six years of age, both attired in deep
+mourning. The lady approached with a timid, furtive step and glance, as
+if she were entering the den of some grim ogre, rather than the quiet
+study of a civilized lawyer of mature age. I was at once struck by her
+singular and touching loveliness. I have never seen a woman that so
+completely realized the highest _Madonna_ type of youthful, matronly
+beauty--its starlight radiance and mild serenity of sorrow. Her voice,
+too, gentle and low, had a tone of patient sadness in it strangely
+affecting. She was evidently a person, if not of high birth, of refined
+manners and cultivated mind; and I soon ceased to wonder at warm-hearted
+old Sir Jasper's enthusiasm in her cause. Habitually, however, on my
+guard against first impressions, I courteously, but coldly, invited her
+first to a seat, and next to a more intelligible relation of her business
+with me than could be gathered from the letter of which she was the
+bearer. She complied, and I was soon in possession of the following facts
+and fancies:--
+
+Violet Dalston and her sister Emily had lived for several years in close
+and somewhat straitened retirement with their father, Captain Dalston, at
+Rock Cottage, on the outskirts of a village about six miles distant from
+Leeds, when Captain Dalston, who was an enthusiastic angler, introduced
+to his home a gentleman about twenty-five years of age, of handsome
+exterior and gentlemanly manners, with whom congeniality of tastes and
+pursuits had made him acquainted. This stranger was introduced to Violet
+(my interesting client) and her sister, as a Mr. Henry Grainger, the son
+of a London merchant. The object of his wanderings through the English
+counties was, he said, to recruit his health, which had become affected
+by too close application to business, and to gratify his taste for
+angling, sketching, and so on. He became a frequent visitor; and the
+result, after the lapse of about three months, was a proposal for the
+hand of Violet. His father allowed him, he stated, five hundred pounds
+per annum; but in order not to mortally offend the old gentleman, who was
+determined, if his son married at all, it should be either to rank or
+riches, it would be necessary to conceal the marriage till after his
+death. This commonplace story had been, it appeared, implicitly credited
+by Captain Dalston; and Violet Dalston and Henry Grainger were united in
+holy wedlock--not at the village church near where Captain Dalston
+resided, but in one of the Leeds churches. The witnesses were the
+bride's father and sister, and a Mr. Bilston, a neighbor. This marriage
+had taken place rather more than seven years since, and its sole fruit
+was the fine-looking boy who accompanied his mother to my office. Mr.
+Grainger, soon after the marriage, persuaded the Dalstons to leave Rock
+Cottage, and take up their abode in a picturesque village in Cumberland,
+where he had purchased a small house, with some garden and ornamental
+grounds attached.
+
+Five years rolled away--not, as I could discern, _too_ happily when the
+very frequent absences of Violet's husband in London, as he alleged (all
+her letters to him were directed to the post-office, St. Martin's le
+Grand--till called for), were suddenly greatly prolonged; and on his
+return home, after an absence of more than three months, he abruptly
+informed the family that the affairs of his father, who was dying, had
+been found to be greatly embarrassed, and that nothing was left for him
+and them but emigration to America, with such means as might be saved
+from the wreck of the elder Grainger's property. After much lamentation
+and opposition on the part of Emily Dalston and her father, it was
+finally conceded as Violet's husband wished; and the emigration was to
+have taken place in the following spring, Henry Grainger to follow them
+the instant he could wind up his father's affairs. About three months
+before their intended departure--this very time twelvemonth, as nearly as
+may be--Captain Dalston was suddenly called to London, to close the eyes
+of an only sister. This sad duty fulfilled, he was about to return, when,
+passing towards dusk down St. James Street, he saw Henry Grainger,
+habited in a remarkable sporting-dress, standing with several other
+gentlemen at the door of one of the club-houses. Hastening across the
+street to accost him, he was arrested for a minute or so by a line of
+carriages which turned sharply out of Piccadilly; and when he did reach
+the other side, young Mr. Grainger and his companions had vanished. He
+inquired of the porter, and was assured that no Mr. Grainger, senior or
+junior, was known there. Persisting that he had seen him standing within
+the doorway, and describing his dress, the man with an insolent laugh
+exclaimed that the gentleman who wore that dress was the famous sporting
+baronet, Sir Harry Compton!
+
+Bewildered, and suspecting he hardly knew what, Captain Dalston, in
+defiance of young Grainger's oft-iterated injunctions, determined to call
+at his father's residence, which he had always understood to be in
+Leadenhall Street. No such name was, however, known there; and an
+examination, to which he was advised, of the "Commercial Directory"
+failed to discover the whereabout of the pretended London merchant.
+Heart-sick and spirit-wearied, Captain Dalston returned home only to die.
+A violent cold, caught by imprudently riding in such bitter weather as it
+then was, on the outside of the coach, aggravated by distress of mind,
+brought his already enfeebled frame to the grave in less than two months
+after his arrival in Cumberland. He left his daughters utterly unprovided
+for, except by the legal claim which the eldest possessed on a man who,
+he feared, would turn out to be a worthless impostor. The penalty he paid
+for consenting to so imprudent a marriage was indeed a heavy and bitter
+one. Months passed away, and still no tidings of Violet's husband reached
+the sisters' sad and solitary home. At length, stimulated by
+apprehensions of approaching destitution--whose foot was already on the
+threshold--and desirous of gratifying a whim of Emily's, Violet consented
+to visit the neighborhood of Compton Castle (the seat, her sister had
+ascertained, of the "celebrated sporting baronet," as the porter called
+him) on their way to London, where they had relatives who, though not
+rich, might possibly be able to assist them in obtaining some decent
+means of maintenance. They alighted at the "Compton Arms," and the first
+object which met the astonished gaze of the sisters as they entered the
+principal sitting-room of the inn, was a full-length portrait of Violet's
+husband, in the exact sporting-dress described to them by their father.
+An ivory tablet attached to the lower part of the frame informed the
+gazer that the picture was a copy, by permission, of the celebrated
+portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence, of Sir Harry Compton, Baronet. They were
+confounded, overwhelmed, bewildered. Sir Harry, they found, had been
+killed about eight months previously in a steeple-chase; and the castle
+and estates had passed, in default of direct issue, to a distant
+relative, Lord Emsdale. Their story was soon bruited about; and, in the
+opinion of many persons, was confirmed beyond reasonable question by the
+extraordinary likeness they saw or fancied between Violet's son and the
+deceased baronet. Amongst others, Sir Jasper Thornely was a firm believer
+in the identity of Henry Grainger and Sir Harry Compton; but
+unfortunately, beyond the assertion of the sisters that the portrait of
+Sir Harry was young Grainger's portrait, the real or imaginary likeness
+of the child to his reputed father, and some score of letters addressed
+to Violet by her husband, which Sir Jasper persisted were in Sir Harry's
+handwriting, though few others did (the hand, I saw at a glance, was a
+disguised one), not one tittle of evidence had he been able to procure
+for love or money. As a last resource, he had consigned the case to me,
+and the vulpine sagacity of a London attorney.
+
+I suppose my countenance must be what is called a "speaking" one, for I
+had made no reply in words to this statement of a case upon which I and
+a "London attorney" were to ground measures for wresting a magnificent
+estate from the clutch of a powerful nobleman, and by "next assizes"
+too--when the lady's beautiful eyes filled with tears, and turning to her
+child, she murmured in that gentle, agitating voice of hers, "My poor
+boy." The words I was about to utter died on my tongue, and I remained
+silent for several minutes. After all, thought I, this lady is evidently
+sincere in her expressed conviction that Sir Harry Compton was her
+husband. If her surmise be correct, evidence of the truth may perhaps be
+obtained by a keen search for it; and since Sir Jasper guarantees the
+expenses--I rang the bell. "Step over to Cursitor Street," said I to the
+clerk as soon as he entered; "and if Mr. Ferret is within, ask him to
+step over immediately." Ferret was just the man for such a commission.
+Indefatigable, resolute, sharp-witted, and of a ceaseless, remorseless
+activity, a secret or a fact had need be very profoundly hidden for him
+not to reach and fish it up. I have heard solemn doubts expressed by
+attorneys opposed to him as to whether he ever really and truly slept at
+all--that is, a genuine Christian sleep, as distinguished from a merely
+canine one, with one eye always half open. Mr. Ferret had been for many
+years Mr. Simpkins' managing clerk; but ambition, and the increasing
+requirements of a considerable number of young Ferrets, determined him on
+commencing business on his own account; and about six months previous to
+the period of which I am now writing, a brass door-plate in Cursitor
+Street, Chancery Lane, informed the public that Samuel Ferret, Esq.,
+Attorney-at-Law, might be consulted within.
+
+Mr. Samuel Ferret was fortunately at home; and after a very brief
+interval, made his appearance, entering with a short professional bow to
+me, and a very profound one to the lady, in whom his quick gray eye
+seemed intuitively to espy a client. As soon as he was seated, I handed
+him Sir Jasper's letter. He perused it carefully three times, examined
+the seal attentively, and handed it back with--"An excellent letter as
+far as it goes, and very much to the point. You intend, I suppose, that I
+should undertake this little affair?"
+
+"Yes, if, after hearing the lady's case, you feel disposed to
+venture upon it."
+
+Mr. Samuel Ferret's note-book was out in an instant; and the lady,
+uninterrupted by a syllable from him, re-told her story.
+
+"Good, very good, as far as it goes," remarked undismayed Samuel Ferret
+when she concluded; "only it can scarcely be said to go very far. Moral
+presumption, which, in our courts unfortunately, isn't worth a groat.
+Never mind. _Magna est veritas_, and so on. When, madam, did you say Sir
+Harry--Mr. Grainger--first began to urge emigration?"
+
+"Between two and three years ago."
+
+"Have the goodness, if you please, to hand me the baronetage." I did so.
+"Good," resumed Ferret, after turning over the leaves for a few seconds,
+"very good, as far as it goes. It is now just two years and eight months
+since Sir Harry succeeded his uncle in the title and estates. You would
+no doubt soon have heard, madam, that your husband was dead. Truly the
+heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; and
+yet such conduct towards such a lady"--Ferret intended no mere
+compliment; he was only giving utterance to the thoughts passing through
+his brain; but his client's mounting color warned him to change the
+topic, which he very adroitly did. "You intend, of course," said he,
+addressing me, "to proceed at law? No rumble--tumble through the
+spiritual courts?"
+
+"Certainly, if sufficient evidence to justify such a course can be
+obtained."
+
+"Exactly: Doe, demise of Compton, _versus_ Emsdale; action in ejectment,
+judgment of ouster. Our friend Doe, madam--a very accommodating fellow is
+Doe--will, if we succeed, put you in possession as natural guardian of
+your son. Well, sir," turning to me, "I may as well give you an
+acknowledgment for that cheque. I undertake the business, and shall, if
+possible, be off to Leeds by this evening's mail." The acknowledgment was
+given, and Mr. Ferret, pocketing the cheque, departed in high glee.
+
+"The best man, madam, in all broad London," said I in answer to Mrs.
+Grainger's somewhat puzzled look, "you could have retained. Fond as he
+seems, and in fact is, of money--what sensible person is not?--Lord
+Emsdale could not bribe him with his earldom, now that he is fairly
+engaged in your behalf, I will not say to betray you, but to abate his
+indefatigable activity in furtherance of your interests. Attorneys,
+madam, be assured, whatever nursery tales may teach, have, the very
+sharpest of them, their points of honor." The lady and her son departed,
+and I turned again to the almost forgotten "case."
+
+Three weeks had nearly glided by, and still no tidings of Mr. Ferret.
+Mrs. Grainger, and her sister Emily Dalston, a very charming person, had
+called repeatedly; but as I of course had nothing to communicate, they
+were still condemned to languish under the heart-sickness caused by hope
+deferred. At last our emissary made his wished-for appearance.
+
+"Well, Mr. Ferret," said I, on entering my library, where I found him
+composedly awaiting my arrival, "what success?"
+
+"Why, nothing of much consequence as yet," replied he; "I am, you know,
+only, as it were, just commencing the investigation. The Leeds parson
+that married them is dead, and the old clerk is paralytic, and has lost
+his memory. If, however, they were both alive, and in sound health of
+mind and body, they could, I fancy, help us but little, as Bilston tells
+me neither the Dalstons nor Grainger had ever entered the church till the
+morning of the wedding; and they soon afterwards removed to Cumberland,
+so that it is scarcely possible either parson or clerk could prove that
+Violet Dalston was married to Sir Harry Compton. A very intelligent
+fellow is Bilston: he was present at the marriage, you remember; and a
+glorious witness, if he had only something of importance to depose to;
+powdered hair and a pigtail, double chin, and six feet in girth at least;
+highly respectable--capital witness, very--only, unfortunately, he can
+only testify that a person calling himself Grainger married Violet
+Dalston; not much in that!"
+
+"So, then, your three weeks' labor has been entirely thrown away!"
+
+"Not so fast--not so fast--you jump too hastily at conclusions. The
+Cumberland fellow that sold Grainger the house--only the equity of
+redemption of it, by the way--there's a large mortgage on it--can prove
+nothing. Nobody about there can, except the surgeon; _he_ can prove Mrs.
+Grainger's _accouchement_--that is something. I have been killing myself
+every evening this last week with grog and tobacco smoke at the "Compton
+Arms," in the company of the castle servants, and if the calves' heads
+_had_ known anything essential, I fancy I should have wormed it out of
+them. They have, however, kindly furnished me with a scrawl of
+introduction to the establishment now in town, some of whom I shall have
+the honor to meet, in the character of an out-and-out liberal sporting
+gentleman, at the "Albemarle Arms" this evening. I want to get hold of
+his confidential valet, if he had one--those go-a-head fellows generally
+have--a Swiss, or some other foreign animal."
+
+"Is this all?"
+
+"Why, no," rejoined Ferret, with a sharp twinkle of his sharp gray eye,
+amounting almost to a wink; "there is one circumstance which I cannot
+help thinking, though I scarcely know why, will put us, by the help of
+patience and perseverance, on the right track. In a corner of the
+registry of marriage there is written Z.Z. in bold letters. In no other
+part of the book does this occur. What may that mean?"
+
+"Had the incumbent of the living a curate at the time?"
+
+"No. On that point I am unfortunately too well satisfied. Neither are
+there any names with such initials in any of the Leeds churchyards. Still
+this Z.Z. may be of importance, if we could but discover who he is. But
+how?--that is the question. Advertise? Show our hands to the opposite
+players, and find if Z.Z. is really an entity, and likely to be of
+service, that when we want him in court, he is half way to America. No,
+no; that would never do."
+
+Mr. Ferret I saw was getting into a brown study; and as I had
+pressing business to despatch, I got rid of him as speedily as I
+could, quite satisfied, spite of Z.Z., that Mrs. Grainger's chance of
+becoming Lady Compton was about equal to mine of ascending the
+British throne some fine day.
+
+Two days afterwards I received the following note:--
+
+"Dear Sir--Z.Z. is the man! I'm off to Shropshire. Back, if possible, the
+day after to-morrow. Not a word even to the ladies. Huzza! In haste,
+Samuel Ferret."
+
+What could this mean? Spite of Mr. Ferret's injunction, I could not help
+informing the sisters, who called soon after I received the note, that a
+discovery, esteemed of importance by our emissary, had been made; and
+they returned home with lightened hearts, after agreeing to repeat their
+visit on the day Mr. Ferret had named for his return.
+
+On reaching my chambers about four o'clock in the afternoon of that day,
+I found the ladies there, and in a state of great excitement. Mr. Ferret,
+my clerk had informed them, had called twice, and seemed in the highest
+spirits. We had wasted but a few minutes in conjectures when Mr. Ferret,
+having ascended the stairs two or three at a time, burst, _sans
+ceremonie_, into the apartment.
+
+"Good-day, sir. Lady Compton, your most obedient servant; madam, yours!
+All right! Only just in time to get the writ sealed; served it myself a
+quarter of an hour ago, just as his lordship was getting into his
+carriage. Not a day to lose; just in time. Capital! Glorious!"
+
+"What do you mean, Mr. Ferret?" exclaimed Emily Dalston: her sister was
+too agitated to speak.
+
+"What do I mean? Let us all four step, sir, into your inner sanctum, and
+I'll soon tell you what I mean."
+
+We adjourned, accordingly, to an inner and more private room. Our
+conference lasted about half an hour, at the end of which the ladies
+took their leave: Lady Compton, her beautiful features alternately
+irradiated and clouded by smiles and tears, murmuring in a broken,
+agitated voice, as she shook hands with me, "You see, sir, he intended
+at last to do us justice."
+
+The news that an action had been brought on behalf of an infant son of
+the late Sir Harry Compton against the Earl of Emsdale, for the recovery
+of the estates in the possession of that nobleman, produced the greatest
+excitement in the part of the county where the property was situated. The
+assize town was crowded, on the day the trial was expected to come on, by
+the tenantry of the late baronet and their families, with whom the
+present landlord was by no means popular. As I passed up the principal
+street, towards the court-house, accompanied by my junior, I was received
+with loud hurraings and waving of handkerchiefs, something after the
+manner, I suppose, in which chivalrous steel-clad knights, about to do
+battle in behalf of distressed damsels, were formerly received by the
+miscellaneous spectators of the lists. Numerous favors, cockades,
+streamers, of the Compton colors, used in election contests, purple and
+orange, were also slyly exhibited, to be more ostentatiously displayed if
+the Emsdale party should be beaten. On entering the court, I found it
+crowded, as we say, to the ceiling. Not only every seat, but every inch
+of standing-room that could be obtained, was occupied, and it was with
+great difficulty the ushers of the court preserved a sufficiently clear
+space for the ingress and egress of witnesses and counsel. Lord Emsdale,
+pale and anxious, spite of manifest effort to appear contemptuously
+indifferent, sat near the judge, who had just entered the court. The
+Archbishop of York, whom we had subpoenaed, why, his Grace had openly
+declared, he knew not, was also of course accommodated with a seat on the
+bench. A formidable bar, led by the celebrated Mr. S ----, was, I saw,
+arrayed against us, though what the case was they had to meet, so well
+had Ferret kept his secret, they knew no more than did their horse-hair
+wigs. Ferret had solemnly enjoined the sisters to silence, and no hint, I
+need scarcely say, was likely to escape my lips. The jury, special of
+course, were in attendance, and the case, "Doe, demise of Compton
+_versus_ Emsdale," having been called, they were duly sworn to try the
+issue. My junior, Mr. Frampton, was just rising "to state the case," as
+it is technically called, when a tremendous shouting, rapidly increasing
+in volume and distinctness, and mingled with the sound of carriage
+wheels, was heard approaching, and presently Mr. Samuel Ferret appeared,
+followed by Lady Compton and her son, the rear of the party brought up by
+Sir Jasper Thornely, whose jolly fox-hunting face shone like a full-blown
+peony. The lady, though painfully agitated, looked charmingly; and the
+timid, appealing glance she unconsciously, as it were, threw round the
+court, would, in a doubtful case, have secured a verdict. "Very well got
+up, indeed," said Mr. S ----, in a voice sufficiently loud for the jury
+to hear--"very effectively managed, upon my word." We were, however, in
+too good-humor to heed taunts; and as soon as silence was restored, Mr.
+Frampton briefly stated the case, and I rose to address the jury. My
+speech was purposely brief, business-like, and confident. I detailed the
+circumstances of the marriage of Violet Dalston, then only eighteen years
+of age, with a Mr. Grainger; the birth of a son; and subsequent
+disappearance of the husband; concluding by an assurance to the jury that
+I should prove, by incontrovertible evidence, that Grainger was no other
+person than the late Sir Harry Compton, baronet. This address by no means
+lessened the vague apprehensions of the other side. A counsel that,
+with such materials for eloquence, disdained having recourse to it, must
+needs have a formidable case. The smiling countenances of Mr. S ---- and
+his brethren became suddenly overcast, and the pallor and agitation of
+Lord Emsdale sensibly increased.
+
+We proved our case clearly, step by step: the marriage, the accouchement,
+the handwriting of Grainger--Bilston proved this--to the letters
+addressed to his wife, were clearly established. The register of the
+marriage was produced by the present clerk of the Leeds church; the
+initials Z.Z. were pointed out; and at my suggestion the book was
+deposited for the purposes of the trial with the clerk of the court. Not
+a word of cross-examination had passed the lips of our learned friends on
+the other side: they allowed our evidence to pass as utterly indifferent.
+A change was at hand.
+
+Our next witness was James Kirby, groom to the late baronet and to the
+present earl. After a few unimportant questions, I asked him if he had
+ever seen that gentleman before, pointing to Mr. Ferret, who stood up for
+the more facile recognition of his friend Kirby.
+
+"Oh yes, he remembered the gentleman well; and a very nice, good-natured,
+soft sort of a gentleman he was. He treated witness at the "Albemarle
+Arms," London, to as much brandy and water as he liked, out of respect to
+his late master, whom the gentleman seemed uncommon fond of."
+
+"Well, and what return did you make for so much liberality?"
+
+"Return! very little I do assure ye. I told un how many horses Sir Harry
+kept, and how many races he won; but I couldn't tell un much more, pump
+as much as he would, because, do ye see, I didn't _know_ no more."
+
+An audible titter from the other side greeted the witness as he uttered
+the last sentence. Mr. S ----, with one of his complacent glances at the
+jury-box, remarking in a sufficiently loud whisper, "That he had never
+heard a more conclusive reason for not telling in his life."
+
+"Did you mention that you were present at the death of the late baronet?"
+
+"Yes I did. I told un that I were within about three hundred red yards
+of late master when he had that ugly fall; and that when I got up to
+un, he sort of pulled me down, and whispered hoarse-like, 'Send for
+Reverend Zachariah Zimmerman.' I remembered it, it was sich an
+outlandish name like."
+
+"Oh, oh," thought I, as Mr. S ---- reached across the table for the
+parish register, "Z.Z. is acquiring significance I perceive."
+
+"Well, and what did this gentleman say to that?"
+
+"Say? Why, nothing particular, only seemed quite joyful 'mazed like; and
+when I asked un why, he said it was such a comfort to find his good
+friend Sir Harry had such pious thoughts in his last moments."
+
+The laugh, quickly suppressed, that followed these words, did not come
+from our learned friends on the other side.
+
+"Sir Harry used those words?"
+
+"He did; but as he died two or three minutes after, it were of course no
+use to send for no parson whatsomever."
+
+"Exactly. That will do, unless the other side have any questions to ask."
+No question _was_ put, and the witness went down. "Call," said I to the
+crier of the court--"call the Reverend Zachariah Zimmerman."
+
+This was a bomb-shell. Lord Emsdale, the better to conceal his agitation,
+descended from the bench and took his seat beside his counsel. The
+Reverend Zachariah Zimmerman, examined by Mr. Frampton, deponed in
+substance as follows:--"He was at present rector of Dunby, Shropshire,
+and had been in holy orders more than twenty years. Was on a visit to the
+Reverend Mr. Cramby at Leeds seven years ago, when one morning Mr.
+Cramby, being much indisposed, requested him to perform the marriage
+ceremony for a young couple then waiting in church. He complied, and
+joined in wedlock Violet Dalston and Henry Grainger. The bride was the
+lady now pointed out to him in court; the bridegroom he had discovered,
+about two years ago, to be no other than the late Sir Harry Compton,
+baronet. The initials Z.Z. were his, and written by him. The parish
+clerk, a failing old man, had not officiated at the marriage; a nephew,
+he believed, had acted for him, but he had entered the marriage in the
+usual form afterwards."
+
+"How did you ascertain that Henry Grainger was the late Sir Harry
+Compton?"
+
+"I was introduced to Sir Harry Compton in London, at the house of the
+Archbishop of York, by his Grace himself."
+
+"I remember the incident distinctly, Mr. Zimmerman," said his Grace from
+the bench.
+
+"Besides which," added the rector, "my present living was presented to
+me, about eighteen months since, by the deceased baronet. I must further,
+in justice to myself, explain that I immediately after the introduction,
+sought an elucidation of the mystery from Sir Harry; and he then told me
+that, in a freak of youthful passion, he had married Miss Dalston in the
+name of Grainger, fearing his uncle's displeasure should it reach his
+ears; that his wife had died in her first confinement, after giving birth
+to a still-born child, and he now wished the matter to remain in
+oblivion. He also showed me several letters, which I then believed
+genuine, confirming his story. I heard no more of the matter till waited
+upon by the attorney for the plaintiff, Mr. Ferret."
+
+A breathless silence prevailed during the delivery of this evidence. At
+its conclusion, the dullest brain in court comprehended that the cause
+was gained; and a succession of cheers, which could not be suppressed,
+rang through the court, and were loudly echoed from without. Sir Jasper's
+voice sounding high above all the rest. Suddenly, too, as if by magic,
+almost everybody in court, save the jury and counsel, were decorated with
+orange and purple favors, and a perfect shower of them fell at the feet
+and about the persons of Lady Compton, her sister, who had by this time
+joined her, and the infant Sir Henry. As soon as the expostulations and
+menaces of the judge had restored silence and order, his lordship,
+addressing Lord Emsdale's senior counsel, said, "Well, Brother S ----,
+what course do you propose to adopt ?"
+
+"My lord," replied Mr. S ---- after a pause, "I and my learned friends
+have thought it our duty to advise Lord Emsdale that further opposition
+to the plaintiff's claim would prove ultimately futile; and I have
+therefore to announce, my lord and gentlemen of the jury, that we
+acquiesce in a verdict for the plaintiff."
+
+"You have counseled wisely," replied his lordship. "Gentlemen of the
+jury, you will of course return a verdict for the plaintiff."
+
+The jury hastily and joyfully assented: the verdict was recorded, and the
+court adjourned for an hour in the midst of tumultuous excitement. The
+result of the trial flew through the crowd outside like wildfire; and
+when Lady Compton and her son, after struggling through the
+densely-crowded court, stepped into Sir Jasper's carriage, which was in
+waiting at the door, the enthusiastic uproar that ensued--the hurrahing,
+shouting, waving of hats and handkerchiefs--deafened and bewildered one;
+and it was upwards of an hour ere the slow-moving chariot reached Sir
+Jasper's mansion, though not more than half a mile distant from the town.
+Mr. Ferret, mounted on the box, and almost smothered in purple and
+orange, was a conspicuous object, and a prime favorite with the crowd.
+The next day Lord Emsdale, glad, doubtless, to quit the neighborhood as
+speedily as possible, left the castle, giving Lady Compton immediate
+possession. The joy of the tenantry was unbounded, and under the wakeful
+superintendence of Mr. Ferret, all claims against Lord Emsdale for
+received rents, dilapidations, &c. were adjusted, we may be sure, _not_
+adversely to his client's interests; though he frequently complained, not
+half so satisfactorily as if Lady Compton had not interfered, with what
+Mr. Ferret deemed misplaced generosity in the matter.
+
+As I was obliged to proceed onwards with the circuit, I called at Compton
+Castle to take leave of my interesting and fortunate client a few days
+after her installation there. I was most gratefully received and
+entertained. As I shook hands at parting, her ladyship, after pressing
+upon me a diamond ring of great value, said, whilst her charming eyes
+filled with regretful, yet joyful tears, "Do not forget that poor Henry
+intended at last to do us justice." Prosperity, thought I, will not spoil
+that woman. It _has_ not, as the world, were I authorized to communicate
+her _real_ name, would readily acknowledge.
+
+
+
+
+THE MOTHER AND SON.
+
+
+Dinner had been over about half an hour one Sunday afternoon.--the only
+day on which for years I had been able to enjoy a dinner--and I was
+leisurely sipping a glass of wine, when a carriage drove rapidly up to
+the door, a loud _rat-tat_ followed, and my friend Dr. Curteis, to my
+great surprise, was announced.
+
+"I have called," said the doctor as we shook hands, "to ask you to
+accompany me to Mount Place. I have just received a hurried note from
+Miss Armitage, stating that her mother, after a very brief illness, is
+rapidly sinking, and requesting my attendance, as well as that of a legal
+gentleman, immediately."
+
+"Mrs. Armitage!" I exclaimed, inexpressibly shocked. "Why, it is scarcely
+more than a fortnight ago that I met her at the Rochfords' in brilliant
+health and spirits."
+
+"Even so. But will you accompany me? I don't know where to find any one
+else for the moment, and time presses."
+
+"It is an attorney, probably, rather than a barrister, that is needed;
+but under the circumstances, and knowing her as I do, I cannot hesitate."
+
+We were soon bowling along at a rapid pace, and in little more than an
+hour reached the dying lady's residence, situated in the county of Essex,
+and distant about ten miles from London. We entered together; and Dr.
+Curteis, leaving me in the library, proceeded at once to the sick
+chamber. About ten minutes afterwards the housekeeper, a tall,
+foreign-looking, and rather handsome woman, came into the room, and
+announced that the doctor wished to see me. She was deadly pale, and, I
+observed, trembled like an aspen. I motioned her to precede me; and she,
+with unsteady steps, immediately led the way. So great was her agitation,
+that twice, in ascending the stairs, she only saved herself from falling
+by grasping the banister-rail. The presage I drew from the exhibition of
+such overpowering emotion, by a person whom I knew to have been long not
+only in the service, but in the confidence of Mrs. Armitage, was soon
+confirmed by Dr. Curteis, whom we met coming out of the chamber of the
+expiring patient.
+
+"Step this way," said he, addressing me, and leading to an adjoining
+apartment. "We do not require your attendance, Mrs. Bourdon," said he, as
+soon as we reached it, to the housekeeper, who had swiftly followed us,
+and now stood staring with eager eyes in the doctor's face, as if life
+and death hung on his lips. "Have the goodness to leave us," he added
+tartly, perceiving she did not stir, but continued her fearful,
+scrutinizing glance. She started at his altered tone, flushed crimson,
+then paled to a chalky whiteness, and muttering, left the apartment.
+
+"The danger of her mistress has bewildered her," I remarked.
+
+"Perhaps so," remarked Dr. Curteis. "Be that as it may, Mrs. Armitage is
+beyond all human help. In another hour she will be, as we say, no more."
+
+"I feared so. What is the nature of her disorder?"
+
+"A rapid wasting away, as I am informed. The appearances presented are
+those of a person expiring of atrophy, or extreme emaciation."
+
+"Indeed. And so sudden too!"
+
+"Yes. I am glad you are come, although your professional services will
+not, it seems, be required--a neighboring attorney having performed the
+necessary duty--something, I believe, relative to the will of the dying
+lady. We will speak further together by and by. In the meantime,"
+continued Dr. Curteis, with a perceptible tremor in his voice, "it will
+do neither of us any harm to witness the closing scene of the life of
+Mary Rawdon, whom you and I twenty years ago worshipped as one of the
+gentlest and most beautiful of beings with which the Creator ever graced
+his universe. It will be a peaceful parting. Come."
+
+Just as, with noiseless footsteps, we entered the silent death-chamber,
+the last rays of the setting sun were falling upon the figure of Ellen
+Armitage--who knelt in speechless agony by the bedside of her expiring
+parent--and faintly lighting up the pale, emaciated, sunken features of
+the so lately brilliant, courted Mrs. Armitage! But for the ineffaceable
+splendor of her deep-blue eyes, I should scarcely have recognized her.
+Standing in the shadow, as thrown by the heavy bed-drapery, we gazed and
+listened unperceived.
+
+"Ellen," murmured the dying lady, "come nearer to me. It is growing
+dark, and I cannot see you plainly. Now, then, read to me, beginning at
+the verse you finished with, as good Dr. Curteis entered. Ay," she
+faintly whispered, "it is thus, Ellen, with thy hand clasped in mine,
+and with the words of the holy book sounding from thy dear lips, that I
+would pass away!"
+
+Ellen, interrupted only by her blinding tears, making sad stops,
+complied. Twilight stole on, and threw its shadow over the solemn scene,
+deepening its holiness of sorrow. Night came with all her train; and the
+silver radiance kissed into ethereal beauty the pale face of the weeping
+girl, still pursuing her sad and sacred task. We hesitated to disturb, by
+the slightest movement the repose of a death-bed over which belief and
+hope, those only potent ministers, shed light and calm! At length Dr.
+Curteis advanced gently towards the bed, and taking the daughter's hand,
+said in a low voice, "Had you not better retire, my dear young lady, for
+a few moments?" She understood him, and rising from her knees, threw
+herself in an ecstacy of grief upon the corpse, from which the spirit had
+just passed away. Assistance was summoned, and the sobbing girl was borne
+from the chamber.
+
+I descended, full of emotion, to the library, where Dr. Curteis promised
+shortly to join me. Noiselessly entering the room, I came suddenly upon
+the housekeeper and a tall young man, standing with their backs towards
+me in the recesses of one of the windows, and partly shrouded by the
+heavy cloth curtains. They were evidently in earnest conference, and
+several words, the significance of which did not at the moment strike me,
+reached my ears before they perceived my approach. The instant they did
+so, they turned hastily round, and eyed me with an expression of flurried
+alarm, which at the time surprised me not a little. "All is over, Mrs.
+Bourdon," said I, finding she did not speak; "and your presence is
+probably needed by Miss Armitage." A flash of intelligence, as I spoke,
+passed between the pair; but whether indicative of grief or joy, so
+momentary was the glance, I should have been puzzled to determine. The
+housekeeper immediately left the room, keeping her eyes, as she passed,
+fixed upon me with the same nervous apprehensive look which had before
+irritated Dr. Curteis. The young man followed more slowly. He was a tall
+and rather handsome youth, apparently about one or two-and-twenty years
+of age. His hair was black as jet, and his dark eyes were of singular
+brilliancy; but the expression, I thought, was scarcely a refined or
+highly-intellectual one. His resemblance to Mrs. Bourdon, whose son
+indeed he was, was very striking. He bowed slightly, but courteously, as
+to an equal, as he closed the door, and I was left to the undisturbed
+enjoyment of my own reflections, which, ill-defined and indistinct as
+they were, were anything but pleasant company. My reverie was at length
+interrupted by the entrance of the doctor, with the announcement that the
+carriage was in waiting to re-convey us to town.
+
+We had journeyed several miles on our return before a word was spoken by
+either of us. My companion was apparently even more painfully
+pre-occupied than myself. He was, however, the first to break silence.
+"The emaciated corpse we have just left little resembles the gay,
+beautiful girl, for whose smiles you and I were once disposed to shoot
+each other!" The doctor's voice trembled with emotion, and his face, I
+perceived, was pale as marble.
+
+"Mary Rawdon," I remarked, "lives again in her daughter."
+
+"Yes; her very image. Do you know," continued he, speaking with rapid
+energy, "I suspect Mary Rawdon--Mrs. Armitage, I would say--has been
+foully, treacherously dealt with!"
+
+I started with amazement; and yet the announcement but embodied and gave
+form and color to my own ill-defined and shadowy suspicions.
+
+"Good heavens! How? By whom?"
+
+"Unless I am greatly mistaken, she has been poisoned by an adept in the
+use of such destructive agents."
+
+"Mrs. Bourdon?"
+
+"No; by her son. At least my suspicions point that way. She is probably
+cognizant of the crime. But in order that you should understand the
+grounds upon which my conjectures are principally founded, I must enter
+into a short explanation. Mrs. Bourdon, a woman of Spanish extraction,
+and who formerly occupied a much higher position than she does now, has
+lived with Mrs. Armitage from the period of her husband's death, now
+about sixteen years ago. Mrs. Bourdon has a son, a tall, good-looking
+fellow enough, whom you may have seen."
+
+"He was with his mother in the library as I entered it after
+leaving you."
+
+"Ah! well, hem! This boy, in his mother's opinion--but that perhaps is
+somewhat excusable--exhibited early indications of having been born a
+"genius." Mrs. Armitage, who had been first struck by the beauty of the
+child, gradually acquired the same notion; and the result was, that he
+was little by little invested--with at least her tacit approval--with the
+privileges supposed to be the lawful inheritance of such gifted spirits;
+namely, the right to be as idle as he pleased--geniuses, you know, can,
+according to the popular notion, attain any conceivable amount of
+knowledge _per saltum_ at a bound--and to exalt himself in the stilts of
+his own conceit above the useful and honorable pursuits suited to the
+station in life in which Providence had cast his lot. The fruit of such
+training soon showed itself. Young Bourdon grew up a conceited and
+essentially-ignorant puppy, capable of nothing but bad verses, and
+thoroughly impressed with but one important fact, which was, that he,
+Alfred Bourdon, was the most gifted and the most ill-used of all God's
+creatures. To genius, in any intelligible sense of the term, he has in
+truth no pretension. He is endowed, however, with a kind of reflective
+talent, which is often mistaken by fools for _creative_ power. The morbid
+fancies and melancholy scorn of a Byron, for instance, such gentry
+reflect back from their foggy imaginations in exaggerated and distorted
+feebleness of whining versicles, and so on with other lights celestial
+or infernal. This, however, by the way. The only rational pursuit he ever
+followed, and that only by fits and starts, and to gratify his faculty of
+"wonder," I fancy, was chemistry. A small laboratory was fitted up for
+him in the little summer-house you may have observed at the further
+corner of the lawn. This study of his, if study such desultory snatches
+at science may be called, led him, in his examination of vegetable
+bodies, to a smattering acquaintance with botany, a science of which
+Ellen Armitage is an enthusiastic student. They were foolishly permitted
+to _botanize_ together, and the result was, that Alfred Bourdon, acting
+upon the principle that genius--whether sham or real--levels all merely
+mundane distinctions, had the impudence to aspire to the hand of Miss
+Armitage. His passion, sincere or simulated, has never been, I have
+reason to know, in the slightest degree reciprocated by its object; but
+so blind is vanity, that when, about six weeks ago, an _eclaircissement_
+took place, and the fellow's dream was somewhat rudely dissipated, the
+untoward rejection of his preposterous suit was, there is every reason to
+believe, attributed by both mother and son to the repugnance of Mrs.
+Armitage alone; and to this idiotic hallucination she has, I fear, fallen
+a sacrifice. Judging from the emaciated appearance of the body, and other
+phenomena communicated to me by her ordinary medical attendant--a
+blundering ignoramus, who ought to have called in assistance long
+before--she has been poisoned with _iodine_, which, administered in
+certain quantities, would produce precisely the same symptoms. Happily
+there is no mode of destroying human life which so surely leads to the
+detection of the murderer as the use of such agents; and of this truth
+the post mortem examination of the body, which takes place to-morrow
+morning, will, if I am not grossly mistaken, supply another vivid
+illustration. Legal assistance will no doubt be necessary, and I am sure
+I do not err in expecting that _you_ will aid me in bringing to justice
+the murderer of Mary Rawdon?"
+
+A pressure of his hand was my only answer. "I shall call for you at ten
+o'clock" said he, as he put me down at my own door. I bowed, and the
+carriage drove off.
+
+"Well!" said I, as Dr. Curteis and Mr. ---- the eminent surgeon entered
+the library at Mount Place the following morning after a long absence.
+
+"As I anticipated," replied the doctor with a choking voice: "she has
+been poisoned!"
+
+I started to my feet. "And the murderer?"
+
+"Our suspicions still point to young Bourdon; but the persons of both
+mother and son have been secured."
+
+"Apart?"
+
+"Yes; and I have despatched a servant to request the presence of a
+neighbor--a county magistrate. I expect him momently."
+
+After a brief consultation, we all three directed our steps to the
+summer-house which contained young Bourdon's laboratory. In the room
+itself nothing of importance was discovered; but in an enclosed recess,
+which we broke open, we found a curiously-fashioned glass bottle half
+full of iodine.
+
+"This is it!" said Mr. ----; "and in a powdered state too--just ready
+for mixing with brandy or any other available dissolvent." The powder had
+somewhat the appearance of fine black lead. Nothing further of any
+consequence being observed, we returned to the house, where the
+magistrate had already arrived.
+
+Alfred Bourdon was first brought in; and he having been duly cautioned
+that he was not obliged to answer any question, and that what he did say
+would be taken down, and, if necessary, used against him, I proposed the
+following questions:--
+
+"Have you the key of your laboratory?"
+
+"No; the door is always open."
+
+"Well, then, of any door or cupboard in the room?"
+
+At this question his face flushed purple: he stammered, "There is
+no"--and abruptly paused.
+
+"Do I understand you to say there is no cupboard or place of concealment
+in the room?"
+
+"No: here is the key."
+
+"Has any one had access to the cupboard or recess of which this is the
+key, except yourself?"
+
+The young man shook as if smitten with ague: his lips chattered, but no
+articulate sound escaped them.
+
+"You need not answer the question," said the magistrate, "unless you
+choose to do so. I again warn you that all you say will, if necessary,
+be used against you."
+
+"No one," he at length gasped, mastering his hesitation by a strong
+exertion of the will--"no one can have had access to the place but
+myself. I have never parted with the key."
+
+Mrs. Bourdon was now called in. After interchanging a glance of intense
+agony, and, as it seemed to me, of affectionate intelligence with her
+son, she calmly answered the questions put to her. They were unimportant,
+except the last, and that acted upon her like a galvanic shock. It was
+this--"Did you ever struggle with your son on the landing leading to the
+bedroom of the deceased for the possession of this bottle?" and I held up
+that which we had found in the recess.
+
+A slight scream escaped her lips; and then she stood rigid, erect,
+motionless, glaring alternately at me and at the fatal bottle with eyes
+that seemed starting from their sockets. I glanced towards the son; he
+was also affected in a terrible manner. His knees smote each other, and a
+clammy perspiration burst forth and settled upon his pallid forehead.
+
+"Again I caution you," iterated the magistrate, "that you are not bound
+to answer any of these questions."
+
+The woman's lips moved. "No--never!" she almost inaudibly gasped, and
+fell senseless on the floor.
+
+As soon as she was removed, Jane Withers was called. She deposed that
+three days previously, as she was, just before dusk, arranging some linen
+in a room a few yards distant from the bedroom of her late mistress, she
+was surprised at hearing a noise just outside the door, as of persons
+struggling and speaking in low but earnest tones. She drew aside a corner
+of the muslin curtain of the window which locked upon the passage or
+corridor, and there saw Mrs. Bourdon striving to wrest something from her
+son's hand. She heard Mrs. Bourdon say, "You shall not do it, or you
+shall not have it"--she could not be sure which. A noise of some sort
+seemed to alarm them: they ceased struggling, and listened attentively
+for a few seconds: then Alfred Bourdon stole off on tip-toe, leaving the
+object in dispute, which witness could not see distinctly, in his
+mother's hand. Mrs. Bourdon continued to listen, and presently Miss
+Armitage, opening the door of her mother's chamber, called her by name.
+She immediately placed what was in her hand on the marble top of a
+side-table standing in the corridor, and hastened to Miss Armitage.
+Witness left the room she had been in a few minutes afterwards, and,
+curious to know what Mrs. Bourdon and her son had been struggling for,
+went to the table to look at it. It was an oddly-shaped glass bottle,
+containing a good deal of a blackish-gray powder, which, as she held it
+up to the light, looked like black-lead!
+
+"Would you be able to swear to the bottle if you saw it?"
+
+"Certainly I should."
+
+"By what mark or token?"
+
+"The name of Valpy or Vulpy was cast into it--that is, the name was in
+the glass itself."
+
+"Is this it?"
+
+"It is: I swear most positively."
+
+A letter was also read which had been taken from Bourdon's pocket. It was
+much creased, and was proved to be in the handwriting of Mrs. Armitage.
+It consisted of a severe rebuke at the young man's presumption in seeking
+to address himself to her daughter, which insolent ingratitude, the
+writer said, she should never, whilst she lived, either forget or
+forgive. This last sentence was strongly underlined in a different ink
+from that used by the writer of the letter.
+
+The surgeon deposed to the cause of death. It had been brought on by the
+action of iodine, which, administered in certain quantities, produced
+symptoms as of rapid atrophy, such as had appeared in Mrs. Armitage. The
+glass bottle found in the recess contained iodine in a pulverized state.
+
+I deposed that, on entering the library on the previous evening I
+overheard young Mr. Bourdon, addressing his mother, say, "Now that it is
+done past recall, I will not shrink from any consequences, be they what
+they may!"
+
+This was the substance of the evidence adduced; and the magistrate at
+once committed Alfred Bourdon to Chelmsford jail, to take his trial at
+the next assize for "wilful murder." A coroner's inquisition a few days
+after also returned a verdict of "wilful murder" against him on the
+same evidence.
+
+About an hour after his committal, and just previous to the arrival of
+the vehicle which was to convey him to the county prison, Alfred Bourdon
+requested an interview with me. I very reluctantly consented; but steeled
+as I was against him, I could not avoid feeling dreadfully shocked at the
+change which so brief an interval had wrought upon him. It had done the
+work of years. Despair--black, utter despair--was written in every
+lineament of his expressive countenance.
+
+"I have requested to see you," said the unhappy culprit, "rather than Dr.
+Curteis, because he, I know, is bitterly prejudiced against me. But _you_
+will not refuse, I think, the solemn request of a dying man--for a dying
+man I feel myself to be--however long or short the interval which stands
+between me and the scaffold. It is not with a childish hope that any
+assertion of mine can avail before the tribunal of the law against the
+evidence adduced this day, that I, with all the solemnity befitting a man
+whose days are numbered, declare to you that I am wholly innocent of the
+crime laid to my charge. I have no such expectation; I seek only that
+you, in pity of my youth and untimely fate, should convey to her whom I
+have madly presumed to worship this message: 'Alfred Bourdon was mad, but
+not blood-guilty; and of the crime laid to his charge he is innocent as
+an unborn child.'"
+
+"The pure and holy passion, young man," said I, somewhat startled by his
+impressive manner, "however presumptuous, as far as social considerations
+are concerned, it might be, by which you affect to be inspired, is
+utterly inconsistent with the cruel, dastardly crime of which such
+damning evidence has an hour since been given"--
+
+"Say no more, sir," interrupted Bourdon, sinking back in his seat, and
+burying his face in his hands: "it were a bootless errand; she _could_
+not, in the face of that evidence, believe my unsupported assertion! It
+were as well perhaps she did not. And yet, sir, it is hard to be
+trampled into a felon's grave, loaded with the maledictions of those
+whom you would coin your heart to serve and bless! Ah, sir," he
+continued, whilst tears of agony streamed through his firmly-closed
+fingers, "you cannot conceive the unutterable bitterness of the pang
+which rends the heart of him who feels that he is not only despised,
+but loathed, hated, execrated, by her whom his soul idolizes! Mine was
+no boyish, transient passion: it has grown with my growth, and
+strengthened with my strength. My life has been but one long dream of
+her. All that my soul had drunk in of beauty in the visible earth and
+heavens--the light of setting suns--the radiance of the silver
+stars--the breath of summer flowers, together with all which we imagine
+of celestial purity and grace, seemed to me in her incarnated,
+concentrated, and combined! And now lost--lost--forever lost!" The
+violence of his emotions choked his utterance; and deeply and painfully
+affected, I hastened from his presence.
+
+Time sped as ever onwards, surely, silently; and justice, with her feet
+of lead, but hands of iron, closed gradually upon her quarry. Alfred
+Bourdon was arraigned before a jury of his countrymen, to answer finally
+to the accusation of wilful murder preferred against him.
+
+The evidence, as given before the committing magistrate, and the
+coroner's inquisition, was repeated with some addition of passionate
+expressions used by the prisoner indicative of a desire to be avenged on
+the deceased. The cross-examination by the counsel for the defense was
+able, but failed to shake the case for the prosecution. His own
+admission, that no one but himself had access to the recess where the
+poison was found, told fatally against him. When called upon to address
+the jury, he delivered himself of a speech rather than a defense; of an
+oratorical effusion, instead of a vigorous, and, if possible, damaging
+commentary upon the evidence arrayed against him. It was a labored, and
+in part eloquent, exposition of the necessary fallibility of human
+judgment, illustrated by numerous examples of erroneous verdicts. His
+peroration I jotted down at the time:--"Thus, my lord and gentlemen of
+the jury, is it abundantly manifest, not only by these examples, but by
+the testimony which every man bears in his own breast, that God could not
+have willed, could not have commanded, his creatures to perform a
+pretended duty, which he vouchsafed them no power to perform righteously.
+Oh, be sure that if he had intended, if he had commanded you to pronounce
+irreversible decrees upon your fellow-man, quenching that life which is
+his highest gift, he would have endowed you with gifts to perform that
+duty rightly. Has he done so? Ask not alone the pages dripping with
+innocent blood which I have quoted, but your own hearts! Are you,
+according to the promise of the serpent-tempter, 'gods, knowing good from
+evil?' of such clear omniscience, that you can hurl an unprepared soul
+before the tribunal of its Maker, in the full assurance that you have
+rightly loosed the silver cord which he had measured, have justly broken
+the golden bowl which he had fashioned! Oh, my lord," he concluded, his
+dark eyes flashing with excitement, "it is possible that the first
+announcement of my innocence of this crime, to which you will give
+credence, may be proclaimed from the awful tribunal of him who alone
+cannot err! How if he, whose eye is even now upon us, should then
+proclaim, '_I_ too, sat in judgment on the day when you presumed to doom
+your fellow-worm; and _I_ saw that the murderer was not in the dock, but
+on the bench!' Oh, my lord, think well of what you do--pause ere you
+incur such fearful hazard; for be assured, that for all these things God
+will also bring _you_ to judgment!"
+
+He ceased, and sank back exhausted. His fervid declamation produced a
+considerable impression upon the auditory; but it soon disappeared before
+the calm, impressive charge of the judge, who re-assured the startled
+jury, by reminding them that their duty was to honestly execute the law,
+not to dispute about its justice. For himself, he said, sustained by a
+pure conscience, he was quite willing to incur the hazard hinted at by
+the prisoner. After a careful and luminous summing up, the jury, with
+very slight deliberation, returned a verdict of "Guilty."
+
+As the word passed the lips of the foreman of the jury, a piercing shriek
+rang through the court. It proceeded from a tall figure in black, who,
+with closely-drawn veil, had sat motionless during the trial, just before
+the dock. It was the prisoner's mother. The next instant she rose, and
+throwing back her veil wildly exclaimed, "He is innocent--innocent, I
+tell ye! I alone"--
+
+"Mother! mother! for the love of Heaven be silent!" shouted the prisoner
+with frantic vehemence, and stretching himself over the front of the
+dock, as if to grasp and restrain her.
+
+"Innocent, I tell you!" continued the woman. "I--I alone am the guilty
+person! It was I alone that perpetrated the deed! He knew it not,
+suspected it not, till it was too late. Here," she added, drawing a sheet
+of paper from her bosom--"here is my confession, with each circumstance
+detailed!"
+
+As she waved it over her head, it was snatched by her son, and, swift as
+lightning, torn to shreds. "She is mad! Heed her not--believe her not!"
+He at the same time shouted at the top of his powerful voice, "She is
+distracted--mad! Now, my lord, your sentence! Come!"
+
+The tumult and excitement in the court no language which I can employ
+would convey an adequate impression of. As soon as calm was partially
+restored, Mrs. Bourdon was taken into custody: the prisoner was removed;
+and the court adjourned, of course without passing sentence.
+
+It was even as his mother said! Subsequent investigation, aided by her
+confessions, amply proved that the fearful crime was conceived and
+perpetrated by her alone, in the frantic hope of securing for her
+idolized son the hand and fortune of Miss Armitage. She had often been
+present with him in his laboratory, and had thus become acquainted with
+the uses to which certain agents could be put. She had purloined the key
+of the recess; and he, unfortunately too late to prevent the perpetration
+of the crime, had by mere accident discovered the abstraction of the
+poison. His subsequent declarations had been made for the determined
+purpose of saving his mother's life by the sacrifice of his own!
+
+The wretched woman was not reserved to fall before the justice of her
+country. The hand of God smote her ere the scaffold was prepared for
+her. She was smitten with frenzy, and died raving in the Metropolitan
+Lunatic Asylum. Alfred Bourdon, after a lengthened imprisonment, was
+liberated. He called on me, by appointment, a few days previous to
+leaving this country forever; and I placed in his hands a small
+pocket-Bible, on the fly-leaf of which was written one word--"Ellen!"
+His dim eye lighted up with something of its old fire as he glanced at
+the characters; he then closed the book, placed it in his bosom, and
+waving me a mute farewell--I saw he durst not trust himself to
+speak--hastily departed. I never saw him more!
+
+
+
+
+"THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS."
+
+
+In the month of February of the year following that which witnessed the
+successful establishment of the claim of Sir Harry Compton's infant son
+to his magnificent patrimony, Mr. Samuel Ferret was traveling post with
+all the speed he could command towards Lancashire, in compliance with a
+summons from Lady Compton, requesting, in urgent terms, his immediate
+presence at the castle. It was wild and bitter weather, and the roads
+were in many places rendered dangerous, and almost impassable, by the
+drifting snow. Mr. Ferret, however, pressed onwards with his habitual
+energy and perseverance; and, spite of all elemental and postboy
+opposition, succeeded in accomplishing his journey in much less time
+than, under the circumstances, could have been reasonably expected. But
+swiftly as, for those slow times, he pushed on, it is necessary I should
+anticipate, by a brief period, his arrival at his destination, in order
+to put the reader in possession of the circumstances which had occasioned
+the hurried and pressing message he had received.
+
+Two days before, as Lady Compton and her sister, who had been paying a
+visit to Mrs. Arlington at the Grange, were returning home towards nine
+o'clock in the evening, they observed, as the carriage turned a sharp
+angle of the road leading through Compton Park, a considerable number of
+lighted lanterns borne hurriedly to and fro in various directions, by
+persons apparently in eager but bewildered pursuit of some missing
+object. The carriage was stopped, and in answer to the servants'
+inquiries, it was replied that Major Brandon's crazy niece had escaped
+from her uncle's house; and although traced by the snow-tracks as far as
+the entrance to the park, had not yet been recovered. Mrs. Brandon had
+offered a reward of ten pounds to whoever should secure and reconduct her
+home; hence the hot pursuit of the fugitive, who, it was now supposed,
+must be concealed in the shrubberies. Rumors regarding this unfortunate
+young lady, by no means favorable to the character of her relatives as
+persons of humanity, had previously reached Lady Compton's ears; and she
+determined to avail herself, if possible, of the present opportunity to
+obtain a personal interview with the real or supposed lunatic. The men
+who had been questioned were informed that only the castle servants could
+be allowed to search for the missing person, either in the park or
+shrubberies; and that if there, she would be taken care of, and restored
+to her friends in the morning. The coachman was then ordered to drive on;
+but the wheels had not made half-a-dozen revolutions, when a loud shout
+at some distance, in the direction of the park, followed by a succession
+of piercing screams, announced the discovery and capture of the object of
+the chase. The horses were urged rapidly forward; and ere more than a
+minute had elapsed, the carriage drew up within a few yards of the hunted
+girl and her captors. The instant it stopped, Clara Brandon, liberating
+herself by a frenzied effort from the rude grasp in which she was held by
+an athletic young man, sprang wildly towards it, and with passionate
+intreaty implored mercy and protection. The young man, a son of Mrs.
+Brandon's by a former husband, immediately re-seized her; and with fierce
+violence endeavored to wrench her hand from the handle of the carriage
+door, which she clutched with desperate tenacity. The door flew open,
+the sudden jerk disengaged her hold, and she struggled vainly in her
+captor's powerful grasp. "Save me! save me!" she frantically exclaimed,
+as she felt herself borne off. "You who are, they say, as kind and good
+as you are beautiful and happy, save me from this cruel man!"
+
+Lady Compton, inexpressibly shocked by the piteous spectacle presented by
+the unhappy girl--her scanty clothing soiled, disarrayed, and torn by the
+violence of her struggles; her long flaxen tresses flowing disorderly
+over her face and neck in tangled dishevelment; and the pale, haggard,
+wild expression of her countenance--was for a few moments incapable of
+speech. Her sister was more collected: "Violet," she instantly
+remonstrated, "do not permit this brutal violence."
+
+"What right has she or any one to interfere with us?" demanded the young
+man savagely. "This girl is Major Brandon's ward, as well as niece, and
+_shall_ return to her lawful home! Stand back," continued he, addressing
+the servants, who, at a gesture from Miss Dalston, barred his progress.
+"Withstand me at your peril!"
+
+"Force her from him!" exclaimed Lady Compton, recovering her
+voice. "Gently! gently! I will be answerable for her safe custody
+till the morning."
+
+The athletic fellow struggled desperately; but however powerful and
+determined, he was only one man against a score, nearly all the
+bystanders being tenants or laborers on the Compton estates; and spite of
+his furious efforts, and menaces of law and vengeance, Clara was torn
+from him in a twinkling, and himself hurled with some violence prostrate
+on the road. "Do not let them hurt the man," said Lady Compton, as the
+servants placed the insensible girl in the carriage (she had fainted);
+"and tell him that if he has really any legal claim to the custody of
+this unfortunate person, he must prefer it in the morning."
+
+Immediately on arrival at the castle, the escaped prisoner was conveyed
+to bed, and medical aid instantly summoned. When restored to
+consciousness, whether from the effect of an excess of fever producing
+temporary delirium, or from confirmed mental disease, her speech was
+altogether wild and incoherent--the only at all consistent portions of
+her ravings being piteously--iterated appeals to Lady Compton not to
+surrender her to her aunt in-law, Mrs. Brandon, of whom she seemed to
+entertain an overpowering, indefinable dread. It was evident she had been
+subjected to extremely brutal treatment--such as, in these days of
+improved legislation in such matters, and greatly advanced knowledge of
+the origin and remedy of cerebral infirmity, would not be permitted
+towards the meanest human being, much less a tenderly-nurtured, delicate
+female. At length, under the influence of a composing draught, she sank
+gradually to sleep; and Lady Compton having determined to rescue her, if
+possible, from the suspicious custody of her relatives, and naturally
+apprehensive of the legal difficulties which she could not doubt would
+impede the execution of her generous, if somewhat Quixotic project,
+resolved on at once sending off an express for Mr. Ferret, on whose
+acumen and zeal she knew she could place the fullest reliance.
+
+Clara Brandon's simple history may be briefly summed up. She was the only
+child of a Mr. Frederick Brandon, who, a widower in the second year of
+his marriage, had since principally resided at the "Elms," a handsome
+mansion and grounds which he had leased of the uncle of the late Sir
+Harry Compton. At his decease, which occurred about two years previous to
+poor Clara's escape from confinement, as just narrated, he bequeathed
+his entire fortune, between two and three thousand pounds per annum,
+chiefly secured on land, to his daughter; appointed his elder brother,
+Major Brandon, sole executor of his will, and guardian of his child; and
+in the event of her dying before she had attained her majority--of which
+she wanted, at her father's death, upwards of three years--or without
+lawful issue, the property was to go to the major, to be by him willed at
+his pleasure. Major Brandon, whose physical and mental energies had been
+prematurely broken down--he was only in his fifty-second year--either by
+excess or hard service in the East, perhaps both, had married late in
+life the widow of a brother officer, and the mother of a grown-up son.
+The lady, a woman of inflexible will, considerable remains of a somewhat
+masculine beauty, and about ten years her husband's junior, held him in a
+state of thorough pupilage; and, unchecked by him, devoted all her
+energies to bring about, by fair or foul means, a union between Clara and
+her own son, a cub of some two or three-and-twenty years of age, whose
+sole object in seconding his mother's views upon Clara was the
+acquisition of her wealth. According to popular surmise and report, the
+young lady's mental infirmity had been brought about by the persecutions
+she had endured at the hands of Mrs. Brandon, with a view to force her
+into a marriage she detested. The most reliable authority for the truth
+of these rumors was Susan Hopley, now in the service of Lady Compton, but
+who had lived for many years with Mr. Frederick Brandon and his daughter.
+She had been discharged about six months after her master's decease by
+Mrs. Major Brandon for alleged impertinence; and so thoroughly convinced
+was Susan that the soon-afterwards alleged lunacy of Clara was but a
+juggling pretence to excuse the restraint under which her aunt-in-law,
+for the furtherance of her own vile purposes, had determined to keep
+her, that although out of place at the time, she devoted all the savings
+of her life, between eighty and ninety pounds, to procure "justice" for
+the ill-used orphan. This article, Susan was advised, could be best
+obtained of the lord chancellor; and proceedings were accordingly taken
+before the keeper of the king's conscience, in order to change the
+custody of the pretended lunatic. The affidavits filed in support of the
+petition were, however, so loose and vague, and were met with such
+positive counter-allegations, that the application was at once dismissed
+with costs; and poor Susan--rash suitor for "justice"--reduced to
+absolute penury. These circumstances becoming known to Lady Compton,
+Susan was taken into her service; and it was principally owing to her
+frequently-iterated version of the affair that Clara had been forcibly
+rescued from Mrs. Brandon's son.
+
+On the following morning the patient was much calmer, though her mind
+still wandered somewhat. Fortified by the authority of the physician, who
+certified that to remove her, or even to expose her to agitation, would
+be dangerous, if not fatal, Lady Compton not only refused to deliver her
+up to Major and Mrs. Brandon, but to allow them to see her. Mrs. Brandon,
+in a towering rage, posted off to the nearest magistrate, to demand the
+assistance of peace-officers in obtaining possession of the person of the
+fugitive. That functionary would, however, only so far comply with the
+indignant lady's solicitations, as to send his clerk to the castle to
+ascertain the reason of the young lady's detention; and when his
+messenger returned with a note, enclosing a copy of the physician's
+certificate, he peremptorily decided that the conduct of Lady Compton was
+not only perfectly justifiable, but praiseworthy, and that the matter
+must remain over till the patient was in a condition to be moved. Things
+were precisely in this state, except that Clara Brandon had become
+perfectly rational; and but for an irrepressible nervous dread of again
+falling into the power of her unscrupulous relative, quite calm, when Mr.
+Samuel Ferret made his wished-for appearance on the scene of action.
+
+Long and anxious was the conference which Mr. Ferret held with his
+munificent client and her interesting protegee, if conference that may be
+called in which the astute attorney enacted the part of listener only,
+scarcely once opening his thin, cautious lips. In vain did his eager
+brain silently ransack the whole armory of the law; no weapon could he
+discern which afforded the slightest hope of fighting a successful battle
+with a legally-appointed guardian for the custody of his ward. And yet
+Mr. Ferret felt, as he looked upon the flashing eye and glowing
+countenance of Lady Compton, as she recounted a few of the grievous
+outrages inflicted upon the fair and helpless girl reclining beside
+her--whose varying cheek and meek suffused eyes bore eloquent testimony
+to the truth of the relation--that he would willingly exert a vigor even
+_beyond_ the law to meet his client's wishes, could he but see his way to
+a safe result. At length a ray of light, judging from his
+suddenly-gleaming eyes, seemed to have broken upon the troubled chambers
+of his brain, and he rose somewhat hastily from his chair.
+
+"By the by, I will just step and speak to this Susan Hopley, if your
+ladyship can inform me in what part of the lower regions I am likely to
+meet with her?"
+
+"Let me ring for her."
+
+"No; if you please not. What I have to ask her is of very little
+importance; still, to summon her here might give rise to surmises,
+reports, and so on, which it may be as well to avoid. I had much rather
+see her accidentally, as it were."
+
+"As you please. You will find her somewhere about the housekeeper's
+apartments. You know her by sight, I think?"
+
+"Perfectly; and with your leave I'll take the opportunity of directing
+the horses to be put to. I must be in London by noon to-morrow if
+possible;" and away Mr. Ferret bustled.
+
+"Susan," said Mr. Ferret a few minutes afterwards, "step this way; I want
+to have a word with you. Now, tell me are you goose enough to expect you
+will ever see the money again you so foolishly threw into the bottomless
+pit of chancery?"
+
+"Of course I shall, Mr. Ferret, as soon as ever Miss Clara comes to her
+own. She mentioned it only this morning, and said she was sorry she could
+not repay me at once."
+
+"You are a sensible girl, Susan, though you _did_ go to law with the lord
+chancellor! I want you to be off with me to London; and then perhaps we
+may get your money sooner than you expect."
+
+"Oh, bother the money! Is that _all_ you want me to go to Lunnon for?"
+
+Mr. Ferret replied with a wink of such exceeding intelligence, that
+Susan at once declared she should be ready to start in ten minutes at
+the latest.
+
+"That's a good creature; and, Susan, as there's not the slightest
+occasion to let all the world know who's going to run off with you, it
+may be as well for you to take your bundle and step on a mile or so on
+the road, say to the turn, just beyond the first turnpike." Susan nodded
+with brisk good-humor, and disappeared in a twinkling.
+
+An hour afterwards, Mr. Ferret was on his way back to London, having
+first impressed upon Lady Compton the necessity of immediately relieving
+herself of the grave responsibility she had incurred towards Major
+Brandon for the safe custody of his ward, by sending her home
+immediately. He promised to return on the third day from his departure;
+but on the nature of the measures he intended to adopt, or the hopes he
+entertained of success, he was inflexibly silent; and he moreover
+especially requested that no one, not even Miss Brandon, should know of
+Susan Hopley's journey to the metropolis.
+
+Mr. Ferret, immediately on his arrival in town, called at my chambers,
+and related with his usual minuteness and precision as many of the
+foregoing particulars as he knew and thought proper to communicate to me.
+For the rest I am indebted to subsequent conversations with the different
+parties concerned.
+
+"Well," said I, as soon as he had concluded, "what course do you propose
+to adopt?"
+
+"I wish you to apply, on this affidavit, for a writ of _habeas ad sub._,
+to bring up the body of Clara Brandon. Judge Bailey will be at chambers
+at three o'clock: it is now more than half-past two, and I can be off on
+my return by four at latest."
+
+"A writ of habeas!" I exclaimed with astonishment. "Why, what end can
+that answer? The lady will be remanded, and you and I shall be laughed at
+for our pains."
+
+This writ of _habeas corpus "ad subjiciendum,_" I had better explain to
+the non-professional reader, is the great _prerogative_ writ, the
+operation of which is sometimes suspended by the legislature during
+political panics. It is grounded on the principle that the sovereign has
+at all times a right to inquire, through the judges of the superior
+courts, by what authority his or her subject is held in constraint. It
+issues, as a matter of right, upon the filing of an affidavit, averring
+that to the best of the belief of the deponent the individual sought to
+be brought up is illegally confined; and it is of the essence of the
+proceeding, that the person alleged to be suffering unlawful constraint
+should actually be brought before the "queen herself;" that is, before
+one or more of the judges of the court which has issued the writ, who, if
+they find _the detention illegal_, the only question at issue upon this
+writ may discharge or bail the party. It was quite obvious, therefore,
+that in this case such a proceeding would be altogether futile, as the
+detention in the house of her guardian, under the sanction, too, of the
+lord chancellor, the _ex-officio_ custodier of all lunatics--of a ward of
+alleged disordered intellect--was clearly legal, at least _prima facie_
+so, and not to be disturbed under a _habeas ad sub_. at all events.
+
+"Perhaps so," replied Ferret quite coolly in reply to my exclamation;
+"but I am determined to try every means of releasing the unfortunate
+young lady from the cruel thraldom in which she is held by that harridan
+of an aunt-in-law. She is no more really insane than you are; but at the
+same time so excitable upon certain topics, that it might be perhaps
+difficult to disabuse the chancellor or a jury of the impression so
+industriously propagated to her prejudice. The peremptory rejection by
+her guardian of young Burford's addresses, though sanctioned by her
+father: you know the Burfords?"
+
+"Of Grosvenor Street you mean--the East India director?"
+
+"Yes, his son; and that reminds me that the declaration in that
+everlasting exchequer case must be filed to-morrow. Confound it, how this
+flying about the country puts one out! I thought some one had kidnapped
+her son, or fired Compton Castle at least. By the way, I am much deceived
+if there isn't a wedding there before long."
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+"Yes, Miss Dalston with Sir Jasper's eldest hope."
+
+"You don't mean it?"
+
+"_They_ do at all events, and that is much more to the purpose. A fine
+young fellow enough, and sufficiently rich too"--
+
+"All which rambling talk and anecdote," cried I, interrupting him,
+"means, if I have any skill in reading Mr. Ferret, that that gentleman,
+having some ulterior purpose in view, which I cannot for the moment
+divine, is determined to have this writ, and does not wish to be pestered
+with any argument on the subject. Be it so: it is your affair, not mine.
+And now, as it is just upon three o'clock, let me see your affidavit."
+
+I ran it over. "Rather loose this, Mr. Ferret, but I suppose it will do."
+
+"Well, it _is_ rather loose, but I could not with safety sail much closer
+to the wind. By the by, I think you had better first apply for a rule to
+stay proceedings against the bail in that case of Turner; and after that
+is decided, just ask for this writ, off-hand as it were, and as a matter
+of course. His lordship may not then scrutinize the affidavit quite so
+closely as if he thought counsel had been brought to chambers purposely
+to apply for it."
+
+"Cautious, Mr. Ferret! Well, come along, and I'll see what I can do."
+
+The writ was obtained without difficulty; few questions were asked; and
+at my request the judge made it returnable immediately. By four o'clock,
+Mr. Ferret, who could fortunately sleep as well in a postchaise as in a
+feather-bed, was, as he had promised himself, on his road to Lancashire
+once more, where he had the pleasure of serving Major Brandon personally;
+at the same time tendering in due form the one shilling per mile fixed by
+the statute as preliminary traveling charges. The vituperative eloquence
+showered upon Mr. Ferret by the Major's lady was, I afterwards heard,
+extremely copious and varied, and was borne by him, as I could easily
+believe, with the most philosophic composure.
+
+In due time the parties appeared before Mr. Justice Bailey. Miss Brandon
+was accompanied by her uncle, his wife, and a solicitor; and spite of
+everything I could urge, the judge, as I had forseen, refused to
+interfere in the matter. The poor girl was dreadfully agitated, but kept,
+nevertheless, her eyes upon Mr. Ferret, as the source from which, spite
+of what was passing around her, effectual succor was sure to come. As for
+that gentleman himself, he appeared composedly indifferent to the
+proceedings; and indeed, I thought, seemed rather relieved than otherwise
+when they terminated. I could not comprehend him. Mrs. Brandon, the
+instant the case was decided, clutched Clara's arm within hers, and,
+followed by her husband and the solicitor, sailed out of the apartment
+with an air of triumphant disdain and pride. Miss Brandon looked round
+for Ferret, but not perceiving him--he had left hastily an instant or two
+before--her face became deadly pale, and the most piteous expression of
+hopeless despair I had ever beheld broke from her troubled but
+singularly-expressive eyes. I mechanically followed, with a half-formed
+purpose of remonstrating with Major Brandon in behalf of the unfortunate
+girl, and was by that means soon in possession of the key to Mr. Ferret's
+apparently inexplicable conduct.
+
+The Brandon party walked very fast, and I had scarcely got up with
+them as they were turning out of Chancery Lane into Fleet Street, when
+two men, whose vocation no accustomed eye could for an instant
+mistake, arrested their further progress. "This lady," said one of the
+men, slightly touching Miss Brandon on the shoulder, "is, I believe,
+Clara Brandon?"
+
+"Yes she is; and what of that, fellow?" demanded the major's lady with
+indignant emphasis.
+
+"Not much, ma'am," replied the sheriff's officer, "when you are used to
+it. It is my unpleasant duty to arrest her for the sum of eighty-seven
+pounds, indorsed on this writ, issued at the suit of one Susan Hopley."
+
+"Arrest her!" exclaimed Mrs. Brandon; "why, she is a minor!"
+
+"Minor or major, ma'am, makes very little difference to us. She can plead
+that hereafter, you know. In the meantime, miss, please to step into this
+coach," replied the officer, holding the door open.
+
+"But she's a person of unsound mind," screamed the lady, as Clara,
+nothing loath, sprang into the vehicle.
+
+"So are most people that do business with our establishment," responded
+the imperturbable official, as he shut and fastened the door. "Here is my
+card, sir," he added, addressing the attorney, who now came up. "You see
+where to find the lady, if her friends wish to give bail to the sheriff,
+or, what is always more satisfactory, pay the debt and costs." He then
+jumped on the box, his follower got up behind, and away drove the coach,
+leaving the discomfited major and his fiery better-half in a state of the
+blankest bewilderment!
+
+"Why, what _is_ the meaning of this?" at length gasped Mrs. Brandon,
+fiercely addressing the attorney, as if _he_, were a _particeps criminis_
+in the affair.
+
+"The meaning, my dear madame, is, that Miss Clara Brandon is arrested for
+debt, and carried off to a sponging-house; and that unless you pay the
+money, or file bail, she will tomorrow be lodged in jail," replied the
+unmoved man of law.
+
+"Bail! money! How are we to do either in London, away from home?"
+demanded the major with, for him, much emotion.
+
+I did not wait to hear more, but, almost suffocated with laughter at the
+success of Ferret's audacious _ruse_, hastened over to the Temple. I was
+just leaving chambers for the night--about ten o'clock I think it must
+have been--when Ferret, in exuberant spirits, burst into the room.
+
+"Well, sir, what do you think _now_ of a writ _ad sub._?"
+
+"Why, I think, Mr. Ferret," replied I, looking as serious as I could,
+"that yours is very sharp practice; that the purpose you have put it to
+is an abuse of the writ; that the arrest is consequently illegal; and
+that a judge would, upon motion, quash it with costs."
+
+"To be sure he would: who doubts that? Let him, and welcome! In the
+meantime, Clara Brandon is safe beyond the reach of all the judges or
+chancellors that ever wore horsehair, and that everlasting simpleton of a
+major and his harridan wife roaming the metropolis like distracted
+creatures; and that I take to be the real essence of the thing, whatever
+the big-wigs may decide about the shells!"
+
+"I suppose the plaintiff soon discharged her debtor out of custody?"
+
+"Without loss of time, you may be sure. Miss Brandon, I may tell _you_,
+is with the Rev. Mr. Derwent at Brompton. You know him: the newly-married
+curate of St. Margaret's that was examined in that will case. Well him:
+he is an intelligent, high-principled man; and I have no doubt that,
+under his and Mrs. Derwent's care, all trace of Miss Brandon's mental
+infirmity will disappear long before she attains her majority next June
+twelvemonth; whilst the liberal sum per month which Lady Compton will
+advance, will be of great service to him"
+
+"That appears all very good. But are you sure you can effectually
+conceal the place of her retreat?"
+
+"I have no fear: the twigs that will entangle her precious guardians in
+the labyrinths of a false clue are already set and limed. Before
+to-morrow night they will have discovered, by means of their own
+wonderfully-penetrative sagacity, that Clara has been spirited over to
+France; and before three months are past, the same surprising
+intelligence will rejoice in the discovery that she expired in a _maison
+de sante_--fine comfortable repose, in which fool's paradise I hope to
+have the honor of awakening them about next June twelvemonth, and not as
+at present advised before!"
+
+Everything fortunately turned out as Mr. Ferret anticipated; and when a
+few months had glided by, Clara Brandon was a memory only, save of course
+to the few entrusted with the secret.
+
+The whirligig of time continued as ever to speed on its course, and bring
+round in due season its destined revenges. The health, mental and bodily,
+of Miss Brandon rapidly improved under the kind and judicious treatment
+of Mr. and Mrs. Derwent; and long before the attainment of her majority,
+were pronounced by competent authority to be thoroughly re-established.
+The day following that which completed her twentyfirst year, Mr. Ferret,
+armed with the necessary authority, had the pleasure of announcing to the
+relict of Major Brandon (he had been dead some months), and to her brutal
+son, that they must forthwith depart from the home in which they, to the
+very moment of his announcement, thought themselves secure; and surrender
+every shilling of the property they had so long dreamt was their own.
+They were prostrated by the intelligence, and proved as mean and servile
+in the hour of adversity, as they had been insolent and cruel in the day
+of fancied success and prosperity. The pension of three hundred pounds a
+year for both their lives, proffered by Miss Brandon, was eagerly
+accepted; and they returned to the obscurity from which they had by
+accident emerged.
+
+About six months afterwards, I had the pleasure of drawing up the
+marriage settlement between Clara Brandon and Herbert Burford; and a
+twelvemonth after, that of standing sponsor to one of the lustiest brats
+ever sprinkled at a font: none of which delightful results, if we are to
+believe Mr. Ferret, would have ever been arrived at had not he, at a very
+critical moment, refused to take counsel's opinion upon the virtues,
+capabilities, and powers contained in the great writ of _habeas corpus
+ad subjiciendum_.
+
+
+
+
+ESTHER MASON.
+
+
+About forty years ago, Jabez Woodford, a foreman of shipwrights in the
+Plymouth dockyard, whilst carelessly crossing one of the transverse beams
+of a seventy-four gun-ship, building in that arsenal, missed his footing,
+fell to the bottom of the hold of the huge vessel, and was killed on the
+spot. He left a widow and one child--a boy seven years of age, of placid,
+endearing disposition, but weak intellect--almost in a state of
+destitution. He had been a coarse-tempered, improvident man; and like too
+many of his class, in those days at least, dissipated the whole of his
+large earnings in present sensuous indulgence, utterly careless or
+unmindful of the future. Esther Woodford, who, at the time of her
+husband's death, scarcely numbered five-and-twenty years, was still a
+remarkably comely, as well as interesting, gentle-mannered person; and
+moreover had, for her station in life, received a tolerable education.
+Her rash, ill-assorted marriage with Woodford had been hastily contracted
+when she was barely seventeen years of age, in consequence of a jealous
+pique which she, for some silly reason or other, had conceived regarding
+Henry Mason, an intelligent, young seafaring man, of fair prospects in
+life, and frank disposition, with whom she had for some time previously,
+as the west-country phrase has it, "kept company," and who was, moreover,
+tenderly attached to her. Esther's married life was one long repentance
+of the rash act; and the severance of the tie which bound her to an
+ungenial mate--after the subsidence of the natural horror and compassion
+excited by the sudden and frightful nature of the catastrophe--must have
+been felt as a most blessed relief. A few weeks afterwards, she accepted
+an asylum with her brother-in-law, Davies, a market-gardener in the
+vicinity of Plymouth, where, by persevering industry with her needle, and
+thrifty helpfulness in her sister's household duties, she endeavored to
+compensate her kind-hearted relatives for the support of herself and
+helpless, half-witted child. Mason she had never seen since the day
+previous to her marriage; but she knew he was prospering in the busy
+world, and that, some time before her husband's death, he had been
+appointed chief-mate in a first-class merchant-ship trading to the
+Pacific. He had sailed about a fortnight previous to that event; and now,
+ten lazy months having slowly floated past, the lover of her youth, with
+whom, in that last sunny day of her young life--how distant did it seem,
+viewed through the long intervening vista of days and nights of grief and
+tears!--she had danced so joyously beneath the flowering chestnut-trees,
+was once more near her; and it was--oh happiness!--no longer a sin to
+think of him--no longer a crime to recall and dwell upon the numberless
+proofs of the deep affection, the strong love, he had once felt for her.
+_Once_ felt! Perhaps even now!--How swiftly had the intelligence
+communicated by her sympathizing sister tinted with bright hues the dark
+curtain of the future!
+
+"And yet," murmured poor Esther, the flush of hope fading as suddenly as
+it had arisen, as with meek sad eyes she glanced at the reflection of her
+features in the small oval glass suspended above the mantel-piece--"I
+almost doubt, Susy, dear, if he would recognize me; even if old feelings
+and old times have not long since faded from his memory"--
+
+"Stuff and trumpery about fading away!" broke in Mrs. Davies. "Henry
+Mason is the same true-hearted man he was eight years ago; and as a
+proof that he is, just read this letter, which I promised him to give
+you. There, don't go falling into a flustration; don't now, Esther,
+and to-morrow market-day and all! Don't cry, Esther," she added
+vehemently, but at the same time sobbing furiously herself, and
+throwing her arms round her sister's neck: "but perhaps--perhaps it
+will do us good, both of us!"
+
+It may he necessary to state that I owe the foregoing particulars to the
+interest felt by my wife--herself a native of beautiful Devon--in the
+fortunes of this humble household. Esther was her foster-sister; and it
+happened that just at this period, it being vacation-time, we were paying
+a visit to a family in the neighborhood. A few hours after the receipt of
+the welcome letter, my wife chanced to call on Esther relative to some
+fancy needlework; and on her return, I was of course favored with very
+full and florid details of this little bit of cottage romance; the which
+I, from regard to the reader, have carefully noted down, and as briefly
+as possible expressed.
+
+We met Henry Mason with his recovered treasure on the following evening;
+and certainly a more favorable specimen of the vigorous, active,
+bold-featured, frank-spoken British seaman I never met with. To his
+comparatively excellent education--for which I understood he was indebted
+to his mother, a superior woman, who, having fallen from one of the
+little heights of society, had kept a school at Plymouth--in addition to
+his correct and temperate habits, he was indebted for the rapid
+advance--he was but a few months older than Esther--he had obtained in
+the merchant service. The happiness which beamed upon Esther's face did
+not appear to be of the exuberant, buoyant character that kindled the
+ruddy cheek and ran over at the bright, honest eyes of the hardy sailor:
+there seemed to mingle with it a half-doubting, trembling
+apprehensiveness; albeit it was not difficult to perceive that,
+sorrowfully as had passed her noon of prime, an "Indian summer" of the
+soul was rising upon her brightened existence, and already with its first
+faint flushes lighting up her meek, doubting eyes, and pale, changing
+countenance. Willy, her feeble-minded child, frisked and gambolled by
+their side; and altogether, a happier group than they would, I fancy,
+have been difficult to find in all broad England.
+
+The next week they were married; and one of the partners in the firm by
+which Mason was employed happening to dine with us on the day of the
+wedding, the conversation turned for a few minutes on the bridegroom's
+character and prospects.
+
+"He has the ring of true metal in him," I remarked; "and is, I should
+suppose, a capital seaman?"
+
+"A first-rate one," replied Mr. Roberts. "Indeed so high is my father's
+opinion of him, that he intends to confer upon him the command of a fine
+brig now building for us in the Thames, and intended for the West India
+trade. He possesses also singular courage and daring. Twice, under very
+hazardous circumstances, he has successfully risked his life to save men
+who had fallen overboard. He is altogether a skilful, gallant seaman."
+
+"Such a man," observed another of the company, "might surely have aspired
+higher than to the hand of Esther Woodford, dove-eyed and interesting as
+she may be?"
+
+"Perhaps so," returned Mr. Roberts a little curtly; "though
+he, it seems, could not have thought so. Indeed it is chiefly of
+simple-hearted, chivalrous-minded men like Mason that it can
+be with general truth observed--
+
+'On revient toujours a ses premiers amours.'"
+
+The subject then dropped, and it was a considerable time afterwards, and
+under altogether altered circumstances, when the newly-married couple
+once more crossed my path in life.
+
+It was about eight months after his marriage--though he had been
+profitably enough employed in the interim--that Henry Mason, in
+consequence of the welcome announcement that the new brig was at last
+ready for her captain and cargo, arrived in London to enter upon his new
+appointment.
+
+"These lodgings, Esther," said he, as he was preparing to go out, soon
+after breakfast, on the morning after his arrival, "are scarcely the
+thing; and as I, like you, am a stranger in Cockney-land, I had better
+consult some of the firm upon the subject, before we decide upon
+permanent ones. In the meantime, you and Willy must mind and keep in
+doors when I am not with you, or I shall have one or other of you lost in
+this great wilderness of a city. I shall return in two or three hours. I
+will order something for dinner as I go along: I have your purse.
+Good-by: God bless you both."
+
+Inquiring his way every two or three minutes, Mason presently found
+himself in the vicinity of Tower Stairs. A scuffle in front of a
+public-house attracted his attention; and his ready sympathies were in an
+instant enlisted in behalf of a young sailor, vainly struggling in the
+grasp of several athletic men, and crying lustily on the gaping
+bystanders for help. Mason sprang forward, caught one of the assailants
+by the collar, and hurled him with some violence against the wall. A
+fierce outcry greeted this audacious interference with gentlemen who, in
+those good old times, were but executing the law in a remarkably good old
+manner. Lieutenant Donnagheu, a somewhat celebrated snapper-up of loose
+mariners, emerged upon the scene; and in a few minutes was enabled to
+exult in the secure possession of an additional prize in the unfortunate
+Henry Mason, who, too late, discovered that he had embroiled himself with
+a _pressgang_! Desperate, frenzied were the efforts he made to extricate
+himself from the peril in which he had rashly involved himself. In vain!
+His protestations that he was a mate, a captain, in the merchant service,
+were unheeded or mocked at.
+
+To all his remonstrances he only got the professional answer--"His
+majesty wants you, and that is enough; so come along, and no more
+about it."
+
+Bruised, exhausted, almost mad, he was borne off in triumph to a boat,
+into which he was thrust with several others, and swiftly rowed off to a
+receiving-ship in the river. Even there his assertions and protestations
+were of no avail. Nothing but an Admiralty order, the officer in command
+candidly told him, should effect his liberation. His majesty was in need
+of seamen; and he was evidently too smart a one to be deprived of the
+glory of serving his country. "You must therefore," concluded the
+officer, as he turned laughingly upon his heel, "do as thousands of
+other fine fellows have been compelled to do--'grin and bear it.'" In
+about three weeks from the date of his impressment Mason found himself
+serving in the Mediterranean on board the "Active" frigate, Captain
+Alexander Gordon, without having been permitted one opportunity of
+communicating with the shore. This was certainly very sharp, but it was
+not the less very _common_ practice in those great days of triumphant
+battles by land and sea.
+
+Very drearily passed the time with the bereaved wife. Her husband had
+promised to send home something for dinner, and various groceries; yet
+hour after hour went past, and nothing arrived. Morning flushed into
+noon, day faded to twilight, and still the well-known and always eager
+step sounded not upon the stairs! What could have detained him from his
+wife, shut up, imprisoned, as it were, in that hot, hurrying, stifling
+city? She feared to listen to the suggestions of her boding heart; and
+with feverish restlessness ran out upon the landing, and peered over the
+stairs every time a knock or ring was heard at the street-door. This
+strange behavior was, it seems, noticed by the landlady of the
+lodging-house, and injuriously interpreted. A knock came to the door, and
+that person entered to know at what time _Mrs_. ----, she had forgotten
+the young woman's name, expected the dinner, she, the landlady, had
+undertaken to cook.
+
+Esther timidly replied that her husband had promised to return in two or
+three hours at latest; and that she did not comprehend his continued
+absence--was indeed quite alarmed about it--
+
+"Your husband!" said the woman, glancing insolently at Esther's figure.
+"Are you sure he _is_ your husband?"
+
+The hot blood suffused the temples of the indignant wife as she said,
+"This apartment, madam, I believe is mine?"
+
+"Oh, certainly, as long as you can pay for it;" and rudely slamming the
+door, the landlady departed.
+
+The long wretched night at last over, Esther rose with the light; and
+after giving her son his breakfast from the remains of that of the day
+before, set off with him to the place of business of the Messrs. Roberts.
+It was early, and one clerk only had as yet arrived at the office. He
+informed her that Mr. Henry Mason had not been seen, and that the
+partners were greatly annoyed about it, as his immediate presence was
+absolutely necessary.
+
+Stunned, terrified, bewildered by the frightful calamity which she
+believed had befallen her, she felt convinced that her husband had been
+entrapped and murdered for the sake of the money he had about him: the
+wretched woman tottered back to her lodgings, and threw herself on the
+bed in wild despair. What was to be done for food even for her boy? Her
+husband had not only his pocket-book with him containing his larger
+money, but had taken her purse! She was alone and penniless in a strange
+city! The hungry wailings of her witless child towards evening at length
+aroused her from the stupor of despair into which she had fallen. The
+miserable resource of pawning occurred to her: she could at least, by
+pledging a part of her wardrobe, procure sustenance for her child till
+she could hear from her sister; and with trembling hands she began
+arranging a bundle of such things as she could best spare, when the
+landlady abruptly entered the room, with a peremptory demand--as her
+husband was not returned, and did not appear likely to do so--for a
+month's rent in advance, that being the term the apartments were engaged
+for. The tears, entreaties, expostulations of the miserable wife were of
+no avail. Not one article, the woman declared, should leave her house
+till her claim was settled. She affected to doubt, perhaps really did so,
+that Esther was married; and hinted coarsely at an enforcement of the
+laws against persons who had no visible means of subsistence. In a
+paroxysm of despair, the unhappy woman rushed out of the house; and
+accompanied by her hungry child, again sought the counting-house of the
+Messrs. Roberts. She was now as much too late as she had been too early
+in the morning: the partners and clerks had gone, and she appears to have
+been treated with some rudeness by the porter, who was closing the
+premises when she arrived. Possibly the wildness of her looks, and the
+incoherence of her speech and manner, produced an impression unfavorable
+to her. Retracing her steps--penniless, hungry, sick at heart--she
+thought, as she afterwards declared, that she recognized my wife in one
+of the numerous ladies seated before the counters of a fashionable shop
+in one of the busiest thoroughfares. She entered, and not till she
+approached close to the lady discovered her mistake. She turned
+despairingly away; when a piece of rich lace, lying apparently unheeded
+on the counter, met her eye, and a dreadful suggestion crossed her
+fevered brain; here at least was the means of procuring food for her
+wailing child. She glanced hastily and fearfully round. No eye, she
+thought, observed her; and, horror of horrors! a moment afterwards she
+had concealed the lace beneath her shawl, and with tottering feet was
+hastily leaving the shop. She had not taken half-a-dozen steps when a
+heavy hand was laid upon her shoulder, and a voice, as of a serpent
+hissing in her ear, commanded her to restore the lace she had stolen.
+Transfixed with shame and terror, she stood rooted to the spot, and the
+lace fell on the floor.
+
+"Fetch an officer," said the harsh voice, addressing one of the shopmen.
+
+"No--no--no!" screamed the wretched woman, falling on her knees in wild
+supplication. "For my child's sake--in mercy of the innocent babe as yet
+unborn--pity and forgive me!"
+
+The harsh order was iterated; and Esther Mason, fainting with shame and
+agony, was conveyed to the prison in Giltspur Street. The next day she
+was fully committed to Newgate on the capital charge of privately
+stealing in a shop to the value of five pounds. A few hours after her
+incarceration within those terrible walls, she was prematurely delivered
+of a female child.
+
+I have no moral doubt whatever, I never have had, that at the time of the
+committal of the felonious act, the intellect of Esther Mason was
+disordered. Any other supposition is inconsistent with the whole tenor
+of her previous life and character "Lead us not into temptation" is
+indeed the holiest, because the humblest prayer.
+
+Three weeks had elapsed before the first intimation of these events
+reached me, in a note from the chaplain of Newgate, an excellent,
+kind-hearted man, to whom Mrs. Mason had confided her sad story. I
+immediately hastened to the prison; and in a long interview with her,
+elicited the foregoing statement. I readily assured her that all which
+legal skill could do to extricate her from the awful position in which
+she stood, the gravity of which I did not affect to conceal, should be
+done. The offence with which she was charged had supplied the scaffold
+with numberless victims; and tradesmen were more than ever clamorous for
+the stern execution of a law which, spite of experience, they still
+regarded as the only safeguard of their property. My wife was overwhelmed
+with grief; and in her anxiety to save her unhappy foster-sister, sought,
+without my knowledge, an interview with the prosecutor, in the hope of
+inducing him not to press the charge. Her efforts were unavailing. He had
+suffered much, he said, from such practices, and was "upon principle"
+determined to make an example of every offender he could catch. As to the
+plea that the husband had been forcibly carried off by a pressgang, it
+was absurd; for what would become of the property of tradesmen if the
+wife of every sailor so entrapped were to be allowed to plunder shops
+with impunity? This magnificent reasoning was of course unanswerable; and
+the rebuked petitioner abandoned her bootless errand in despair. Messrs.
+Roberts, I should have mentioned, had by some accident discovered the
+nature of the misfortune which had befallen their officer, and had
+already made urgent application to the Admiralty for his release.
+
+The Old Bailey sessions did not come on for some time: I, however, took
+care to secure at once, as I did not myself practice in that court, the
+highest talent which its bar afforded. Willy, who had been placed in a
+workhouse by the authorities, we had properly taken care of till he could
+be restored to his mother; or, in the event of her conviction, to his
+relatives in Devonshire.
+
+The sessions were at last on: a "true bill" against Esther Mason for
+shoplifting, as it was popularly termed, was unhesitatingly found, and
+with a heavy heart I wended my way to the court to watch the proceedings.
+A few minutes after I entered, Mr. Justice Le Blanc and Mr. Baron Wood,
+who had assisted at an important case of stockjobbing conspiracy, just
+over, left the bench: the learned recorder being doubtless considered
+quite equal to the trial of a mere capital charge of theft.
+
+The prisoner was placed in the dock; but try as I might, I could not
+look at her. It happened to be a calm bright summer day; the air, as if
+in mockery of those death-sessions, humming with busy, lusty life; so
+that, sitting with my back to the prisoner, I could, as it were, read
+her demeanor in the shadow thrown by her figure on the opposite
+sun-lighted wall. There she stood, during the brief moments which sealed
+her earthly doom, with downcast eyes and utterly dejected posture; her
+thin fingers playing mechanically with the flowers and sweet-scented
+herbs spread scantily before her. The trial was very brief: the
+evidence, emphatically conclusive, was confidently given, and vainly
+cross-examined. Nothing remained but an elaborate _ad misericordiam_
+excusative defence, which had been prepared by me, and which the
+prisoner begged her counsel might be allowed to read. This was of course
+refused; the recorder remarking, they might as well allow counsel for
+felons to _address_ juries, as read defences; and _that_, as every
+practical man knew, would be utterly subversive of the due
+administration of justice. The clerk of the court would read the paper,
+if the prisoner felt too agitated to do so. This was done; and very
+vilely done. The clerk, I dare say, read as well as he was able; but
+old, near-sighted, and possessed of anything but a clear enunciation,
+what could be expected? The defence, so read, produced not the slightest
+effect either on the court or jury. The recorder briefly commented on
+the conclusiveness of the evidence for the prosecution; and the jury, in
+the same brief, business-like manner, returned a verdict of Guilty.
+
+"What have you to say," demanded the clerk, "why sentence of death should
+not be pronounced upon you, according to law?"
+
+The shadow started convulsively as the terrible words fell from the man's
+lips; and I saw that the suddenly-upraised eyes of the prisoner were
+fastened on the face of the fearful questioner. The lips, too, appeared
+to move; but no sound reached my ears.
+
+"Speak, woman," said the recorder; "if you have anything to urge before
+sentence is pronounced."
+
+I started up, and turning to the prisoner, besought her in hurried
+accents to speak. "Remind them of the infant at your breast--your
+husband"--
+
+"Who is that conferring with the prisoner?" demanded the judge in an
+angry voice.
+
+I turned, and confronted him with a look as cold and haughty as his
+own. He did not think proper to pursue the inquiry further; and after
+muttering something about the necessity of not interrupting the
+proceedings of the court, again asked the prisoner if she had
+anything to urge.
+
+"Not for myself--not for my sake," at last faintly murmured the
+trembling woman; "but for that of my poor dear infant--my poor witless
+boy! I do not think, sir, I was in my right mind. I was starving. I was
+friendless. My husband, too, whom you have heard"--She stopped abruptly;
+a choking sob struggled in her throat; and but for the supporting arm of
+one of the turnkeys, she would have fallen to the ground.
+
+"Unhappy, guilty woman," said the recorder, with the coolness of a demon,
+"the plea of insanity you would set up is utterly untenable. Your
+husband, it seems, is serving his majesty in the royal navy; defending
+his country, whilst his wife was breaking its laws, by the commission of
+a crime which, but for the stern repression of the law, would sap the
+foundations of the security of property, and"--
+
+I could endure no more. The atmosphere of the court seemed to stifle me;
+and I rushed for relief into the open air. Before, however, I had reached
+the street, a long, piercing scream informed me that the learned judge
+_had done his duty_.
+
+No effort was spared during the interval which elapsed previous to the
+recorder presenting his report to the privy-counsel--a peculiar
+privilege at that time attached to the office--to procure a mitigation
+of the sentence. A petition, setting forth the peculiar circumstances
+of the case, was carefully prepared; and by the indefatigable exertions
+of an excellent Quaker gentleman--whom, as he is still alive, and might
+not choose to have his name blazoned to the world, I will call William
+Friend--was soon very numerously signed. The prosecutor, however,
+obstinately refused to attach his name to the document; and the absence
+of his signature--so strangely did men reason on such matters in those
+days--would, it was feared, weigh heavily against the success of the
+petition. The amiable and enlightened Sir Samuel Romilly not only
+attached his name, but aided us zealously by his advice and influence.
+In short, nothing was omitted that appeared likely to attain the
+desired object.
+
+Two days before the petition was to be forwarded to the proper quarter,
+Henry Mason arrived in England, the exertions of his employers having
+procured his discharge. The "Active" was one of Captain Hoste's squadron,
+which obtained the celebrated victory off Lissa, over the Franco-Venetian
+fleet commanded by Admiral Dobourdieu. Henry Mason, it appeared by the
+testimonials of the captain and officers of his ship, had greatly
+distinguished himself in the action. We inclosed these papers with the
+petition; and then, having done all in our power, awaited with anxious
+impatience the result of the recorder's report. It was announced to me,
+as I was sitting somewhat later than usual at chambers, by Mr. William
+Friend. The judgment to die was confirmed! All our representations had
+not sufficed to counterbalance the supposed necessity of exhibiting
+terrible examples of the fate awaiting the perpetrators of an offence
+said to be greatly on the increase. Excellent William Friend wept like a
+child as he made the announcement.
+
+There are many persons alive who recollect this horrible tragedy--this
+national disgrace--this act of gross barbarity on the part of the great
+personage, who, first having carried off the poor woman's husband, left
+her to die for an act the very consequence of that robbery. Who among the
+spectators can ever forget that heart-rending scene--the hangman taking
+the baby from the breast of the wretched creature just before he put her
+to death! But let us not rake up these terrible reminiscences. Let us
+hope that the _truly guilty_ are forgiven. And let us take consolation
+from reflecting that this event led the great Romilly to enter on his
+celebrated career as a reformer of the criminal law.
+
+The remains of Esther Mason were obtained from the Newgate officials,
+and quietly interred in St. Sepulchre's church-yard. A plain slab, with
+her name only plainly chiselled upon it, was some time afterwards placed
+above the grave. A few years ago I attended a funeral in the same
+grave-yard; and after a slight search, discovered the spot. The
+inscription, though of course much worn, was still quite legible.
+
+I had not seen Henry Mason since his return; but I was glad to hear from
+Mr. William Friend that, after the first passionate burst of rage and
+grief had subsided, he had, apparently at least, thanks to the tender and
+pious expostulations of his wife--with whom, by the kind intervention of
+the sheriffs, he was permitted long and frequent interviews--settled down
+into calmness and resignation. One thing only he would not bear to hear
+even from her, and that was any admission that she had been guilty of,
+even the slightest offence. A hint of the kind, however unintentional,
+would throw him into a paroxysm of fury; and the subject was consequently
+in his presence studiously avoided.
+
+A few days after the execution, Mr. William Friend called on me just
+after breakfast, accompanied by the bereaved husband. I never saw so
+changed a man. All the warm kindliness of his nature had vanished, and
+was replaced by a gloomy fierce austerity, altogether painful to
+contemplate.
+
+"Well, sir," said he, as he barely touched my proffered hand, "they have
+killed her, you see, spite of all you could say or do. It much availed
+me, too, that I had helped to win their boasted victories;" and he
+laughed with savage bitterness.
+
+"Henry--Henry!" exclaimed William Friend, in a reproving accent.
+
+"Well, well, sir," rejoined Mason, impatiently, "you are a good man, and
+have of course your own notions on these matters; I also have mine. Or,
+perhaps, you think it is only the blood of the rich and great which, shed
+unjustly, brings forth the iron harvest? Forgive me," he added, checking
+himself. "I respect you both; but my heart is turned to stone. You do not
+know--none ever knew but I--how kind, how loving, how gentle was that
+poor long-suffering girl."
+
+He turned from us to hide the terrible agony which convulsed him.
+
+"Henry," said Mr. Friend, taking him kindly by the hand, "we pity thee
+sincerely, as thou knowest; but thy bitter, revengeful expressions are
+unchristian, sinful. The authorities whom thou, not for the first time,
+railest on so wildly, acted, be sure of it, from a sense of duty; a
+mistaken one, in my opinion, doubtless; still"--
+
+"Say no more, sir," interrupted Mason. "We differ in opinion upon the
+subject. And now, gentlemen, farewell. I wished to see you, sir, before I
+left this country forever, to thank you for your kind, though fruitless
+exertions. Mr. Friend has promised to be steward for poor Willy of all I
+can remit for his use. Farewell! God bless you both!" He was gone!
+
+War soon afterwards broke out with the United States of America, and Mr.
+Friend discovered that one of the most active and daring officers in the
+Republican navy was Henry Mason, who had entered the American service in
+the maiden name of his wife; and that the large sums he had remitted from
+time to time for the use of Willy, were the produce of his successful
+depredations on British commerce. The instant Mr. Friend made the
+discovery, he refused to pollute his hands with moneys so obtained, and
+declined all further agency in the matter. Mason, however, contrived to
+remit through some other channel to the Davies's, with whom the boy had
+been placed; and a rapid improvement in their circumstances was soon
+visible. These remittances ceased about the middle of 1814; and a
+twelvemonth after the peace with America, we ascertained that Henry Mason
+had been killed in the battle on Lake Champlain, where he had
+distinguished himself, as everywhere else, by the reckless daring and
+furious hate with which he fought against the country which, in his
+unreasoning frenzy, he accused of the murder of his wife. He was
+recognized by one of his former messmates in the "Active;" who, conveyed
+a prisoner on board the American commander Macdonough's ship, recognized
+him as he lay stretched on the deck, in the uniform of an American naval
+officer; his countenance, even in death, wearing the same stormful
+defiant expression which it assumed on the day that his beloved Esther
+perished on the scaffold.
+
+
+
+
+THE MARRIAGE SETTLEMENT
+
+
+"It is really time that a properly-qualified governess had charge of
+those girls," observed my wife, as Mary and Kate after a more than
+usually boisterous romp with their papa, left the room for bed. I may
+here remark, _inter alia_, that I once surprised a dignified and
+highly-distinguished judge at a game of blindman's buff with his
+children, and very heartily he appeared to enjoy it too. "It is really
+time that a properly-qualified governess had charge of those girls. Susan
+May did very well as a nursery teacher, but they are now far beyond her
+control. _I_ cannot attend to their education, and as for you"--The
+sentence was concluded by a shrug of the shoulders and a toss of the
+head, eloquently expressive of the degree of estimation in which _my_
+governing powers were held.
+
+"Time enough, surely, for that," I exclaimed, as soon as I had composed
+myself; for I was a little out of breath. "They may, I think, rub along
+with Susan for another year or two, Mary is but seven years of age"--
+
+"Eight years, if you please. She was eight years old last Thursday
+three weeks."
+
+"Eight years! Then we must have been married nine; Bless me, how the time
+has flown: it seems scarcely so many weeks!"
+
+"Nonsense," rejoined my wife with a sharpness of tone and a rigidity of
+facial muscle which, considering the handsome compliment I had just paid
+her, argued, I was afraid, a foregone conclusion. "You always have
+recourse to some folly of that sort whenever I am desirous of entering
+into a serious consultation on family affairs."
+
+There was some truth in this, I confess. The "consultations" which I
+found profitable were not serious ones with my wife upon domestic
+matters; leading, as they invariably did, to a diminution instead of an
+increase of the little balance at the banker's. If such a proposition
+could therefore be evaded or adjourned by even an extravagant compliment,
+I considered it well laid out. But the expedient, I found, was one which
+did not improve by use. For some time after marriage it answered
+remarkably well; but each succeeding year of wedded bliss marked its
+rapidly-declining efficacy.
+
+"Well, well; go on."
+
+"I say it is absolutely necessary that a first-rate governess should be
+at once engaged. Lady Maldon has been here to-day, and she"--
+
+"Oh, I thought it might be her new ladyship's suggestion. I wish the
+'fountain of honor' was somewhat charier of its knights and ladies, and
+then perhaps"--
+
+"What, for mercy's sake, are you running on about?" interrupted the lady
+with peremptory emphasis. "Fountains of honor, forsooth! One would
+suppose, to hear you talk in that wild, nonsensical way, that you were
+addressing a bench of judges sitting in _banco_, instead of a sensible
+person solicitous for her and your children's welfare."
+
+"Bless the woman," thought I; "what an exalted idea she appears to have
+of forensic eloquence! Proceed, my love," I continued; "there is a
+difference certainly; and I am all attention."
+
+"Lady Maldon knows a young lady--a distant relative, in deed, of
+hers--whom she is anxious to serve"--
+
+"At our expense."
+
+"How can you be so ungenerous? Edith Willoughby is the orphan daughter of
+the late Reverend Mr. Willoughby, curate of Heavy Tree in Warwickshire, I
+believe; and was specially educated for a first-class governess and
+teacher. She speaks French with the true Parisian accent, and her
+Italian, Lady Maldon assures me, is pure Tuscan"--
+
+"He-e-e-m!"
+
+"She dances with grace and elegance; plays the harp and piano with skill
+and taste; is a thorough _artiste_ in drawing and painting; and is,
+moreover, very handsome--though beauty, I admit, is an attribute which in
+a governess might be very well dispensed with."
+
+"True; unless, indeed, it were catching."
+
+I need not prolong this connubial dialogue. It is sufficient to state
+that Edith Willoughby was duly installed in office on the following day;
+and that, much to my surprise, I found that her qualifications for the
+charge she had undertaken were scarcely overcolored. She was a
+well-educated, elegant, and beautiful girl, of refined and fascinating
+manners, and possessed of one of the sweetest, gentlest dispositions that
+ever charmed and graced the family and social circle. She was, I often
+thought, for her own chance of happiness, too ductile, too readily
+yielding to the wishes and fancies of others. In a very short time I came
+to regard her as a daughter, and with my wife and children she was
+speedily a prodigious favorite. Mary and Kate improved rapidly under her
+judicious tuition, and I felt for once positively grateful to busy Lady
+Maldon for her officious interference in my domestic arrangements.
+
+Edith Willoughby had been domiciled with us about two years, when Mr.
+Harlowe, a gentleman of good descent and fine property, had occasion to
+call several times at my private residence on business relating to the
+purchase of a house in South Audley Street, the title to which exhibited
+by the venders was not of the most satisfactory kind. On one occasion he
+stayed to dine with us, and I noticed that he seemed much struck by the
+appearance of our beautiful and accomplished governess. His evident
+emotion startled and pained me in a much higher degree than I could have
+easily accounted for even to myself. Mr. Harlowe was a widower, past his
+first youth certainly, but scarcely more than two or three-and-thirty
+years of age, wealthy, not ill-looking, and, as far as I knew, of average
+character in society. Surely an excellent match, if it should come to
+that, for an orphan girl rich only in fine talents and gentle affections.
+But I could not think so. I disliked the man--_instinctively_ disliked
+and distrusted him; for I could assign no very positive motive for my
+antipathy.
+
+"The reason why, I cannot tell,
+But I don't like thee, Dr. Fell."
+
+These lines indicate an unconquerable feeling which most persons have, I
+presume, experienced; and which frequently, I think, results from a kind
+of cumulative evidence of uncongeniality or unworthiness, made up of a
+number of slight indices of character, which, separately, may appear of
+little moment, but altogether, produce a strong, if undefinable, feeling
+of aversion. Mr. Harlowe's manners were bland, polished, and insinuating;
+his conversation was sparkling and instructive; but a cold sneer seemed
+to play habitually about his lips, and at times there glanced forth a
+concentrated, polished ferocity--so to speak--from his eyes, revealing
+hard and stony depths, which I shuddered to think a being so pure and
+gentle as Edith might be doomed to sound and fathom. That he was a man of
+strong passions and determination of will, was testified by every curve
+of his square, massive head, and every line of his full countenance.
+
+My aversion--reasonable or otherwise, as it might be--was not shared by
+Miss Willoughby; and it was soon apparent that, fascinated, intoxicated
+by her extreme beauty (the man was, I felt, incapable of love in its
+high, generous, and spiritual sense), Mr. Harlowe had determined on
+offering his hand and fortune to the unportioned orphan. He did so, and
+was accepted. I did not conceal my dislike of her suitor from Edith; and
+my wife--who, with feminine exaggeration of the hints I threw out, had
+set him down as a kind of polished human tiger--with tears intreated her
+to avoid the glittering snare. We of course had neither right nor power
+to push our opposition beyond friendly warning and advice; and when we
+found, thanks to Lady Maldon, who was vehemently in favor of the
+match--to, in Edith's position, the dazzling temptation of a splendid
+establishment, and to Mr. Harlowe's eloquent and impassioned
+pleadings--that the rich man's offer was irrevocably accepted, we of
+course forebore from continuing a useless and irritating resistance. Lady
+Maldon had several times very plainly intimated that our aversion to the
+marriage arose solely from a selfish desire of retaining the services of
+her charming relative; so prone are the mean and selfish to impute
+meanness and selfishness to others.
+
+I might, however, I reflected, be of service to Miss Willoughby, by
+securing for her such a marriage settlement as would place her beyond the
+reach of one possible consequence of caprice and change. I spoke to Mr.
+Harlowe on the subject; and he, under the influence of headstrong, eager
+passion, gave me, as I expected, _carte blanche_. I availed myself of the
+license so readily afforded: a deed of settlement was drawn up, signed,
+sealed, and attested in duplicate the day before the wedding; and Edith
+Willoughby, as far as wealth and position in society were concerned, had
+undoubtedly made a surprisingly good bargain.
+
+It happened that just as Lady Maldon, Edith Willoughby, and Mr. Harlowe
+were leaving my chambers after the execution of the deed, Mr. Ferret the
+attorney appeared on the stairs. His hands were full of papers, and he
+was, as usual, in hot haste; but he stopped abruptly as his eye fell upon
+the departing visitors, looked with startled earnestness at Miss
+Willoughby, whom he knew, and then glanced at Mr. Harlowe with an
+expression of angry surprise. That gentleman, who did not appear to
+recognize the new-comer, returned his look with a supercilious,
+contemptuous stare, and passed on with Edith--who had courteously saluted
+the inattentive Mr. Ferret--followed by Lady Maldon.
+
+"What is the meaning of that ominous conjunction?" demanded Mr. Ferret as
+the affianced pair disappeared together.
+
+"Marriage, Mr. Ferret! Do you know any just cause or impediment why they
+should not be joined together in holy wedlock?"
+
+"The fellow's wife is dead then?"
+
+"Yes; she died about a twelvemonth ago. Did you know her?"
+
+"Not personally; by reputation only. A country attorney, Richards of
+Braintree, for whom I transact London business sent me the draught of a
+deed of separation--to which the unfortunate lady, rather than continue
+to live with her husband, had consented--for counsel's opinion. I had an
+interview with Mr. Harlowe himself upon the business; but I see he
+affects to have forgotten me. I do not know much of the merits of the
+case, but according to Richards--no great shakes of a fellow, between
+ourselves--the former Mrs. Harlowe was a martyr to her husband's
+calculated virulence and legal--at least not _illegal_, a great
+distinction, in my opinion, though not so set down in the
+books--despotism. He espoused her for her wealth: that secured, he was
+desirous of ridding himself of the incumbrance to it. A common case!--and
+now, if you please, to business."
+
+I excused myself, as did my wife, from being present at the wedding; but
+everything, I afterwards heard, passed off with great _eclat_. The
+bridegroom was all fervor and obsequiousness; the bride all bashfulness
+and beauty. The "happy pair," I saw by the afternoon newspapers, were to
+pass the honeymoon at Mr. Harlowe's seat, Fairdown Park. The evening of
+the marriage-day was anything, I remember, but a pleasant one to me. I
+reached home by no means hilariously disposed, where I was greeted, by
+way of revival, with the intelligence that my wife, after listening with
+great energy to Lady Maldon's description of the wedding festivities for
+two tremendous hours, had at last been relieved by copious hysteria, and
+that Mary and Kate were in a fair way--if the exploit could be
+accomplished by perseverance--of crying themselves to sleep. These were
+our bridal compliments; much more flattering, I imagine, if not quite so
+honey-accented, as the courtly phrases with which the votaries and the
+victims of Hymen are alike usually greeted.
+
+Time, business, worldly hopes and cares, the triumphs and defeats of an
+exciting profession, gradually weakened the impression made upon me by
+the gentle virtues of Edith Willoughby; and when, about fifteen months
+after the wedding, my wife informed me that she had been accosted by Mrs.
+Harlowe at a shop in Bond Street, my first feeling was one of surprise,
+not untinged with resentment, for what I deemed her ungrateful neglect.
+
+"She recognized you then?" I remarked.
+
+"Recognized me! What do you mean?"
+
+"I thought perhaps she might have forgotten your features, as she
+evidently has our address."
+
+"If you had seen," replied my wife, "how pale, how cold, how utterly
+desolate she looked, you would think less hardly of her. As soon as she
+observed me, a slight scream escaped her; and then she glanced eagerly
+and tremblingly around like a startled fawn. Her husband had passed out
+of the shop to give, I think, some direction to the coachman. She
+tottered towards me, and clasping me in her arms, burst into a passion of
+tears. "Oh, why--why," I asked as soon as I could speak, "why have you
+not written to us?" "I dared not!" she gasped. "But oh tell me, do
+you--does your husband remember me with kindness? Can I still reckon on
+his protection--his support?" I assured her you would receive her as your
+own child: the whispered words had barely passed my lips, when Mr.
+Harlowe, who had swiftly approached us unperceived, said, "Madam, the
+carriage waits." His stern, pitiless eye glanced from his wife to me, and
+stiffly bowing, he said, "Excuse me for interrupting your conversation;
+but time presses. Good-day." A minute afterwards, the carriage drove
+off."
+
+I was greatly shocked at this confirmation of my worst fears; and I
+meditated with intense bitterness on the fate of a being of such meek
+tenderness exposed to the heartless brutalities of a sated sensualist
+like Harlowe. But what could be done? She had chosen, deliberately,
+and after warning, chosen her lot, and must accept the consequences of
+her choice. In all the strong statutes, and sharp biting laws of
+England, there can be found no clause wherewith to shield a woman from
+the "regulated" meanness and despotism of an unprincipled husband.
+Resignation is the sole remedy, and therein the patient must minister
+to herself.
+
+On the morning of the Sunday following Edith's brief interview with my
+wife, and just as we were about to leave the house to attend divine
+service, a cab drove furiously up to the door, and a violent summons by
+both knocker and bell announced the arrival of some strangely-impatient
+visitor. I stepped out upon the drawing-room landing, and looked over the
+banister rail, curious to ascertain who had honored me with so peremptory
+a call. The door was quickly opened, and in ran, or rather staggered,
+Mrs. Harlowe, with a child in long clothes in her arms.
+
+"Shut--shut the door!" she faintly exclaimed, as she sank on one of the
+hall seats. "Pray shut the door--I am pursued!"
+
+I hastened down, and was just in time to save her from falling on the
+floor. She had fainted. I had her carried up stairs, and by the aid of
+proper restoratives, she gradually recovered consciousness. The child, a
+girl about four months old, was seized upon by Mary and Kate, and carried
+off in triumph to the nursery. Sadly changed, indeed, as by the sickness
+of the soul, was poor Edith. The radiant flush of youth and hope
+rendering her sweet face eloquent of joy and pride, was replaced by the
+cold, sad hues of wounded affections and proud despair. I could read in
+her countenance, as in a book, the sad record of long months of wearing
+sorrow, vain regrets, and bitter self-reproach. Her person, too, had lost
+its rounded, airy, graceful outline, and had become thin and angular.
+Her voice, albeit, was musical and gentle as ever, as she murmured, on
+recovering her senses, "You will protect me from my--from that man?" As I
+warmly pressed her hand, in emphatic assurance that I would shield her
+against all comers, another loud summons was heard at the door. A minute
+afterwards, a servant entered, and announced that Mr. Harlowe waited for
+me below. I directed he should be shown into the library; and after
+iterating my assurance to Edith that she was quite safe from violence
+beneath my roof, and that I would presently return to hear her
+explanation of the affair, I went down stairs.
+
+Mr. Harlowe, as I entered, was pacing rapidly up and down the apartment.
+He turned to face me; and I thought he looked even more perturbed and
+anxious than vengeful and angry. He, however, as I coldly bowed, and
+demanded his business with me, instantly assumed a bullying air and tone.
+
+"Mrs. Harlowe is here: she has surreptitiously left South Audley Street
+in a hired cab, and I have traced her to this house."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well! I trust it is well; and I insist that she instantly return to
+her home."
+
+"Her _home_!"
+
+I used the word with an expression significative only of my sense of the
+sort of "home" he had provided for the gentle girl he had sworn to love
+and cherish; but the random shaft found a joint in his armor at which it
+was not aimed. He visibly trembled, and turned pale.
+
+"She has had time to tell you all then! But be assured, sir, that nothing
+she has heard or been told, however true it may be--_may_ be, remember,
+I say--can be legally substantiated except by myself."
+
+What could the man mean? I was fairly puzzled: but, professionally
+accustomed to conceal emotions of surprise and bewilderment, I coldly
+replied--"I have left the lady who has sought the protection of her true
+'home,' merely to ascertain the reason of this visit."
+
+"The reason of my visit!" he exclaimed with renewed fury: "to reconvey
+her to South Audley Street. What else? If you refuse to give her up, I
+shall apply to the police."
+
+I smiled, and approached the bell.
+
+"You will not surrender her then?"
+
+"To judicial process only: of that be assured. I have little doubt that,
+when I am placed in full possession of all the facts of the case, I shall
+be quite able to justify my conduct." He did not reply, and I continued:
+"If you choose to wait here till I have heard Edith's statement, I will
+at once frankly acquaint you with my final determination."
+
+"Be it so: and please to recollect, sir, that you have to deal with a man
+not easily baffled or entrapped by legal subtlety or cunning."
+
+I reascended to the drawing-room; and finding Edith--thanks to the
+ministrations, medicinal and oral, of my bustling and indignant
+lady--much calmer, and thoroughly satisfied that nobody could or should
+wrest her from us, begged her to relate unreservedly the cause or causes
+which had led to her present position. She falteringly complied; and I
+listened with throbbing pulse and burning cheeks to the sad story of her
+wedded wretchedness, dating from within two or three months of the
+marriage; and finally consummated by a disclosure that, if provable,
+might consign Harlowe to the hulks. The tears, the agony, the despair of
+the unhappy lady, excited in me a savageness of feeling, an eager thirst
+for vengeance, which I had believed foreign to my nature. Edith divined
+my thoughts, and taking my hand, said, "Never, sir, never will I appear
+against him: the father of my little Helen shall never be publicly
+accused by me."
+
+"You err, Edith," I rejoined; "it is a positive duty to bring so
+consummate a villain to justice. He has evidently calculated on your
+gentleness of disposition, and must be disappointed."
+
+I soon, however, found it was impossible to shake her resolution on
+this point; and I returned with a heart full of grief and bitterness to
+Mr. Harlowe.
+
+"You will oblige me, sir," I exclaimed as I entered the room, "by
+leaving this house immediately: I would hold no further converse with so
+vile a person."
+
+"How! Do you know to whom you presume to speak in this manner?"
+
+"Perfectly. You are one Harlowe, who, after a few months' residence with
+a beautiful and amiable girl, had extinguished the passion which induced
+him to offer her marriage, showered on her every species of insult and
+indignity of which a cowardly and malignant nature is capable; and who,
+finding that did not kill her, at length consummated, or revealed, I do
+not yet know which term is most applicable, his utter baseness by causing
+her to be informed that his first wife was still living."
+
+"Upon my honor, sir, I believed, when I married Miss Willoughby, that I
+was a widower."
+
+"Your _honor!_ But except to prove that I _do_ thoroughly know and
+appreciate the person I am addressing, I will not bandy words with you.
+After that terrible disclosure--if, indeed, it be a disclosure, not an
+invention--Ah, you start at that"
+
+"At your insolence, sir; not at your senseless surmises."
+
+"Time and the law will show. After, I repeat, this terrible disclosure or
+invention, you, not content with obtaining from your victim's generosity
+a positive promise that she would not send you to the hulks"--
+
+"Sir, have a care."
+
+"Pooh! I say, not content with exacting this promise from your victim,
+you, with your wife, or accomplice, threatened not only to take her child
+from her, but to lock her up in a madhouse, unless she subscribed a
+paper, confessing that she knew, when you espoused her, that you were a
+married man. Now, sir, do I, or do I not, thoroughly know who and what
+the man is I am addressing?"
+
+"Sir," returned Harlowe, recovering his audacity somewhat. "Spite of all
+your hectoring and abuse, I defy you to obtain proof--legal
+proof--whether what Edith has heard is true or false. The affair may
+perhaps be arranged; let her return with me."
+
+"You know she would die first; but it is quite useless to prolong this
+conversation; and I again request you to leave this house."
+
+"If Miss Willoughby would accept an allowance"--
+
+The cool audacity of this proposal to make me an instrument in
+compromising a felony exasperated me beyond all bounds. I rang the bell
+violently, and desired the servant who answered it to show Mr. Harlowe
+out of the house. Finding further persistence useless, the baffled
+villain snatched up his hat, and with a look and gesture of rage and
+contempt, hurried out of the apartment.
+
+The profession of a barrister necessarily begets habits of coolness and
+reflection under the most exciting circumstances; but, I confess, that in
+this instance my ordinary equanimity was so much disturbed, that it was
+some time before I could command sufficient composure to reason calmly
+upon the strange revelations made to me by Edith, and the nature of the
+measures necessary to adopt in order to clear up the mystery attaching to
+them. She persisted in her refusal to have recourse to legal measures
+with a view to the punishment of Harlowe; and I finally determined--after
+a conference with Mr. Ferret, who, having acted for the first Mrs.
+Harlowe, I naturally conjectured must know something of her history and
+connections--to take for the present no ostensible steps in the matter.
+Mr. Ferret, like myself, was persuaded that the sham resuscitation of his
+first wife was a mere trick, to enable Harlowe to rid himself of the
+presence of a woman he no longer cared for. "I will take an opportunity,"
+said Mr. Ferret, "of quietly questioning Richards: he must have known the
+first wife; Eleanor Wickham, I remember, was her maiden name; and if not
+bought over by Harlowe--a by-no-means impossible purchase--can set us
+right at once. I did not understand that the said Eleanor was at all
+celebrated for beauty and accomplishments, such as you say Miss
+Willoughby--Mrs. Harlowe, I mean--describes. She was a native of
+Dorsetshire too, I remember; and the foreign Italian accent you mention,
+is rarely, I fancy, picked up in that charming county. Some flashy
+opera-dancer, depend upon it, whom he has contracted a passing fancy for:
+a slippery gentleman certainly; but, with a little caution, we shall not
+fail to trip his heels up, clever as he may be."
+
+A stronger wrestler than either of us was upon the track of the unhappy
+man. Edith had not been with us above three weeks, when one of Mr.
+Harlowe's servants called at my chambers to say that his master, in
+consequence of a wound he had inflicted on his foot with an axe, whilst
+amusing himself with cutting or pruning some trees in the grounds at
+Fairdown, was seriously ill, and had expressed a wish to see me. I
+could not leave town; but as it was important Mr. Harlowe should be
+seen, I requested Mr. Ferret to proceed to Fairdown House. He did so,
+and late in the evening returned with the startling intelligence that
+Mr. Harlowe was dead!
+
+"Dead!" I exclaimed, much shocked. "Are you serious?" "As a judge. He
+expired, about an hour after I reached the house, of tetanus, commonly
+called locked-jaw. His body, by the contraction of the muscles, was bent
+like a bow, and rested on his heels and the back part of his head. He was
+incapable of speech long before I saw him; but there was a world of
+agonized expression in his eyes!"
+
+"Dreadful! Your journey was useless then?"
+
+"Not precisely. I saw the pretended former wife: a splendid woman, and as
+much Eleanor Wickham of Dorsetshire as I am. They mean, however, to show
+fight, I think; for, as I left the place, I observed that delightful
+knave Richards enter the house. I took the liberty of placing seals upon
+the desks and cabinets, and directed the butler and other servants to see
+that nothing was disturbed or removed till Mrs. Harlowe's--the true Mrs.
+Harlowe's--arrival."
+
+The funeral was to take place on the following Wednesday; and it was
+finally arranged that both of us would accompany Edith to Fairdown on the
+day after it had taken place, and adopt such measures as circumstances
+might render necessary. Mr. Ferret wrote to this effect to all parties
+concerned.
+
+On arriving at the house, I, Ferret, and Mrs. Harlowe, proceeded at once
+to the drawing-room, where we found the pretended wife seated in great
+state, supported on one side by Mr. Richards, and on the other by Mr.
+Quillet the eminent proctor. Edith was dreadfully agitated, and clung
+frightened and trembling to my arm. I conducted her to a seat, and placed
+myself beside her, leaving Mr. Ferret--whom so tremendous an array of law
+and learning, evincing a determination to fight the matter out _a
+l'outrance_, filled with exuberant glee--to open the conference.
+
+"Good-morning, madam," cried he, the moment he entered the room, and
+quite unaffected by the lady's scornful and haughty stare: "good-morning;
+I am delighted to see you in such excellent company. You do not, I hope,
+forget that I once had the honor of transacting business for you?"
+
+"You had transactions of my business!" said the lady, "When, I pray you?"
+
+"God bless me!" cried Ferret, addressing Richards, "what a charming
+Italian accent; and out of Dorsetshire too!"
+
+"Dorsetshire, sir?" exclaimed the lady.
+
+"Ay, Dorsetshire, to be sure. Why, Mr. Richards, our respected client
+appears to have forgotten her place of birth! How very extraordinary!"
+
+Mr. Richards now interfered, to say that Mr. Ferret was apparently
+laboring under a strange misapprehension. "This lady," continued he, "is
+Madame Giulletta Corelli."
+
+"Whe--e--e--w!" rejoined Ferret, thrown for an instant off his balance by
+the suddenness of the confession, and perhaps a little disappointed at so
+placable a termination of the dispute--"Giulletta Corelli! What is the
+meaning of this array then?"
+
+"I am glad, madam," said I, interposing for the first time in the
+conversation, "for your own sake, that you have been advised not to
+persist in the senseless as well as iniquitous scheme devised by the late
+Mr. Harlowe; but this being the case, I am greatly at a loss to know why
+either you or these legal gentlemen are here?"
+
+The brilliant eyes of the Italian flashed with triumphant scorn, and a
+smile of contemptuous irony curled her beautiful lip as she
+replied--"These legal gentlemen will not have much difficulty in
+explaining my right to remain in my own house."
+
+"_Your_ house?"
+
+"Precisely, sir," replied Mr. Quillet. "This mansion, together with all
+other property, real and personal, of which the deceased Henry Harlowe
+died possessed, is bequeathed by will--dated about a month since--to this
+lady, Giulletta Corelli."
+
+"A will!" exclaimed Mr. Ferret with an explosive shout, and turning to
+me, whilst his sharp gray eyes danced with irrepressible mirth--"Did I
+not tell you so?"
+
+"Your usual sagacity, Mr. Ferret, has not in this instance failed you.
+Perhaps you will permit me to read the will? But before I do so,"
+continued Mr. Quillet, as he drew his gold-rimmed spectacles from their
+morocco sheath--"you will allow me, if you please, to state that the
+legatee, delicately appreciating the position of the widow, will allow
+her any reasonable annuity--say five hundred pounds per annum for life."
+
+"Will she really though?" cried Mr. Ferret, boiling over with ecstacy.
+"Madam, let me beg of you to confirm this gracious promise."
+
+"Certainly I do."
+
+"Capital!--glorious!" rejoined Ferret; and I thought he was about to
+perform a salutatory movement, that must have brought his cranium into
+damaging contact with the chandelier under which he was standing. "Is
+it not delightful? How every one--especially an attorney--loves a
+generous giver!"
+
+Mr. Richards appeared to be rendered somewhat uneasy by these strange
+demonstrations. He knew Ferret well, and evidently suspected that
+something was wrong somewhere. "Perhaps, Mr. Quillet," said he, "you had
+better read the will at once."
+
+This was done: the instrument devised in legal and minute form all the
+property, real and personal, to Giulletta Corelli--a natural-born subject
+of his majesty, it appeared, though of foreign parentage, and of
+partially foreign education.
+
+"Allow me to say," broke in Mr. Ferret, interrupting me as I was about to
+speak--"allow me to say, Mr. Richards, that that will does you credit: it
+is, I should say, a first-rate affair, for a country practitioner
+especially. But of course you submitted the draught to counsel?"
+
+"Certainly I did," said Richards tartly.
+
+"No doubt--no doubt. Clearness and precision like that could only have
+proceeded from a master's hand. I shall take a copy of that will,
+Richards, for future guidance, you may depend, the instant it is
+registered in Doctors' Commons."
+
+"Come, come, Mr. Ferret," said I; "this jesting is all very well; but it
+is quite time the farce should end."
+
+"Farce!" exclaimed Mr. Richards.
+
+"Farce!" growled doubtful Mr. Quillet.
+
+"Farce!" murmured the beautiful Giulletta.
+
+"Farce!" cried Mr. Ferret. "My dear sir, it is about one of the most
+charming and genteel comedies ever enacted on any stage, and the
+principal part, too, by one of the most charming of prima donnas. Allow
+me, sir--don't interrupt me! it is too delicious to be shared; it is,
+indeed. Mr. Richards, and you, Mr. Quillet, will you permit me to observe
+that this admirable will has _one_ slight defect?"
+
+"A defect!--where--how?"
+
+"It is really heart-breaking that so much skill and ingenuity should be
+thrown away; but the fact is, gentlemen, that the excellent person who
+signed it had no property to bequeath!"
+
+"How?"
+
+"Not a shilling's worth. Allow me, sir, if you please. This piece of
+parchment, gentlemen, is, I have the pleasure to inform you, a marriage
+settlement."
+
+"A marriage settlement!" exclaimed both the men of law in a breath.
+
+"A marriage settlement, by which, in the event of Mr. Harlowe's decease,
+his entire property passes to his wife, in trust for the children, if
+any; and if not, absolutely to herself." Ferret threw the deed on the
+table, and then giving way to convulsive mirth, threw himself upon the
+sofa, and fairly shouted with glee.
+
+Mr. Quillet seized the document, and, with Richards, eagerly perused it.
+The proctor then rose, and bowing gravely to his astonished client, said,
+"The will, madam, is waste paper. You have been deceived." He then left
+the apartment.
+
+The consternation of the lady and her attorney may be conceived. Madam
+Corelli, giving way to her fiery passions, vented her disappointment in
+passionate reproaches of the deceased; the only effect of which was to
+lay bare still more clearly than before her own cupidity and folly, and
+to increase Edith's painful agitation. I led her down stairs to my wife,
+who, I omitted to mention, had accompanied us from town, and remained in
+the library with the children during our conference. In a very short
+time afterwards Mr. Ferret had cleared the house of its intrusive guests,
+and we had leisure to offer our condolences and congratulations to our
+grateful and interesting client. It was long before Edith recovered her
+former gaiety and health; and I doubt if she would ever have thoroughly
+regained her old cheerfulness and elasticity of mind, had it not been for
+her labor of love in superintending and directing the education of her
+daughter Helen, a charming girl, who fortunately inherited nothing from
+her father but his wealth. The last time I remember to have danced was at
+Helen's wedding. She married a distinguished Irish gentleman, with whom,
+and her mother, I perceive by the newspapers, she appeared at Queen
+Victoria's court in Dublin, one, I am sure, of the brightest stars which
+glittered in that galaxy of beauty and fashion.
+
+
+
+
+THE SECOND MARRIAGE.
+
+
+A busy day in the assize court at Chester, chequered, as usual, by
+alternate victory and defeat, had just terminated, and I was walking
+briskly forth, when an attorney of rather low _caste_ in his
+profession--being principally employed as an intermediary between needy
+felons and the counsel practising in the Crown Court--accosted me, and
+presented a brief; at the same time tendering the fee of two guineas
+marked upon it.
+
+"I am engaged to-morrow, Mr. Barnes," I exclaimed a little testily, "on
+the civil side: besides, you know I very seldom take briefs in the Crown
+Court, even if proffered in due time; and to-morrow will be the last day
+of the assize in Chester! There are plenty of unemployed counsel who will
+be glad of your brief."
+
+"It is a brief in an action of ejectment," replied the attorney--"Woodley
+_versus_ Thorndyke; and is brought to recover possession of a freehold
+estate now held and farmed by the defendant."
+
+"An action of ejectment to recover possession of a freehold estate!
+defended, too, I know, by a powerful bar; for I was offered a brief, but
+declined it. Mr. P ---- leads; and you bring me this for the plaintiff,
+and at the last moment too! You must be crazed."
+
+"I told the plaintiff and her grandfather," rejoined Mr. Barnes, "that it
+was too late to bespeak counsel's attention to the case; and that the
+fee, all they have, with much difficulty, been able to raise, was
+ridiculously small; but they insisted on my applying to you--Oh, here
+they are!"
+
+We had by this time reached the street, and the attorney pointed towards
+two figures standing in attitudes of anxious suspense near the gateway.
+It was dusk, but there was quite sufficient light to distinguish the pale
+and interesting features of a young female, dressed in faded and scanty
+mourning, and accompanied by a respectable-looking old man with white
+hair, and a countenance deeply furrowed by age and grief.
+
+"I told you, Miss Woodley," said the attorney, "that this gentleman would
+decline the brief, especially with such a fee"--
+
+"It is not the fee, man!" I observed, for I was somewhat moved by the
+appealing dejection exhibited by the white-haired man and his timid
+grand-daughter; "but what chance can I have of establishing this person's
+right--if right she have--to the estate she claims, thus suddenly called
+upon to act without previous consultation; and utterly ignorant, except
+as far as this I perceive hastily-scrawled brief will instruct me, both
+of the nature of the plaintiff's claim and of the defence intended to be
+set up against it?"
+
+"If you would undertake it, sir," said the young woman with a tremulous,
+hesitating voice and glistening eyes, "for _his_ sake"--and she glanced
+at her aged companion--"who will else be helpless, homeless."
+
+"The blessing of those who are ready to perish will be yours, sir," said
+the grandfather with meek solemnity, "if you will lend your aid in this
+work of justice and mercy. We have no hope of withstanding the masterful
+violence and wrong of wicked and powerful men except by the aid of the
+law, which we have been taught will ever prove a strong tower of defence
+to those who walk in the paths of peace and right."
+
+The earnestness of the old man's language and manner, and the pleading
+gentleness of the young woman, forcibly impressed me; and, albeit, it was
+a somewhat unprofessional mode of business, I determined to hear their
+story from their own lips, rather than take it from the scrawled brief,
+or through the verbal medium of their attorney.
+
+"You have been truly taught," I answered; "and if really entitled to the
+property you claim, I know of no masterful men that in this land of
+England can hinder you from obtaining possession of it. Come to my hotel
+in about an hour and a-half from hence: I shall then have leisure to hear
+what you have to say. This fee," I added, taking the two guineas from the
+hand of the attorney, who still held the money ready for my acceptance,
+"you must permit me to return. It is too much for you to pay for losing
+your cause; and if I gain it--but mind I do not promise to take it into
+court unless I am thoroughly satisfied you have right and equity on your
+side--I shall expect a much heavier one. Mr. Barnes, I will see you, if
+you please, early in the morning." I then bowed, and hastened on.
+
+Dinner was not ready when I arrived at the hotel; and during the short
+time I had to wait, I more than half repented of having had anything to
+do with this unfortunate suit. However, the pleadings of charity, the
+suggestions of human kindness, reasserted their influence; and by the
+time my new clients arrived, which they did very punctually at the hour I
+had indicated, I had quite regained the equanimity I had momentarily
+lost, and, thanks to mine host's excellent viands and generous wine, was,
+for a lawyer, in a very amiable and benevolent humor indeed.
+
+Our conference was long, anxious, and unsatisfactory. I was obliged to
+send for Barnes before it concluded, in order to thoroughly ascertain the
+precise nature of the case intended to be set up for the defendant, and
+the evidence likely to be adduced in support of it. No ray of consolation
+or of hope came from that quarter. Still, the narrative I had just
+listened to, bearing as it did the impress of truth and sincerity in
+every sentence, strongly disposed me to believe that foul play has been
+practised by the other side; and I determined, at all hazards, to go into
+court, though with but faint hope indeed of a _present_ successful issue.
+
+"It appears more than probable," I remarked on dismissing my clients,
+"that this will is a fabrication; but before such a question had been put
+in issue before a jury, some producible evidence of its being so should
+have been sought for and obtained. As it is, I can only watch the
+defendant's proof of the genuineness of the instrument upon which he has
+obtained probate: one or more of the attesting witnesses _may_, if fraud
+has been practised, break down under a searching cross-examination, or
+incidentally perhaps disclose matter for further investigation."
+
+"One of the attesting witnesses is, as I have already told you, dead,"
+observed Barnes; "and another, Elizabeth Wareing, has, I hear, to-day
+left the country. An affidavit to that effect will no doubt be made
+to-morrow, in order to enable them to give secondary evidence of her
+attestation, though, swear as they may, I have not the slightest doubt
+I could find her if time were allowed, and her presence would at all
+avail us."
+
+"Indeed! This is very important. Would you, Mr. Barnes, have any
+objection," I added, after a few moments' reflection, "to make oath,
+should the turn of affairs to-morrow render your doing so desirable, of
+your belief that you could, reasonable time being allowed, procure the
+attendance of this woman--this Elizabeth Wareing?"
+
+"Not the slightest: though how that would help us to invalidate the will
+Thorndyke claims under I do not understand."
+
+"Perhaps not. At all events do not fail to be early in court. The cause
+is the first in to-morrow's list, remember."
+
+The story confided to me was a very sad, and, unfortunately in many of
+its features, a very common one. Ellen, the only child of the old
+gentleman, Thomas Ward, had early in life married Mr. James Woodley, a
+wealthy yeoman, prosperously settled upon his paternal acres, which he
+cultivated with great diligence and success. The issue of this
+marriage--a very happy one, I was informed--was Mary Woodley, the
+plaintiff in the present action. Mr. Woodley, who had now been dead
+something more than two years, bequeathed the whole of his property, real
+and personal, to his wife, in full confidence, as he expressed himself
+but a few hours before he expired, that she would amply provide for his
+and her child. The value of the property inherited by Mrs. Woodley under
+this will amounted, according to a valuation made a few weeks after the
+testator's decease, to between eight and nine thousand pounds.
+
+Respected as a widow, comfortable in circumstances, and with a daughter
+to engage her affections, Mrs. Woodley might have passed the remainder of
+her existence in happiness. But how frequently do women peril and lose
+all by a second marriage! Such was the case with Mrs. Woodley: to the
+astonishment of everybody, she threw herself away on a man almost unknown
+in the district--a person of no fortune, of mean habits, and altogether
+unworthy of accepting as a husband. Silas Thorndyke, to whom she thus
+committed her happiness, had for a short time acted as bailiff on the
+farm; and no sooner did he feel himself master, than his subserviency
+was changed to selfish indifference, and that gradually assumed a coarser
+character. He discovered that the property, by the will of Mr. Woodley,
+was no secured against every chance or casualty to the use and enjoyment
+of his wife, that it not only did not pass by marriage to the new
+bridegroom, but she was unable to alienate or divest herself of any
+portion of it during life. She could, however, dispose of it by will; but
+in the event of her dying intestate, the whole descended to her daughter,
+Mary Woodley.
+
+Incredibly savage was Thorndyke when he made that discovery; and bitter
+and incessant were the indignities to which he subjected his unfortunate
+wife, for the avowed purpose of forcing her to make a will entirely in
+his favor, and of course disinheriting her daughter. These persecutions
+failed of their object. An unexpected, quiet, passive, but unconquerable
+resistance, was opposed by the, in all other things, cowed and submissive
+woman, to this demand of her domineering husband. Her failing health--for
+gently nurtured and tenderly cherished as she had ever been, the
+callous brutality of her husband soon told upon the unhappy
+creature--warned her that Mary would soon be an orphan, and that upon her
+firmness it depended whether the child of him to whose memory she had
+been, so fatally for herself, unfaithful, should be cast homeless and
+penniless upon the world, or inherit the wealth to which, by every
+principle of right and equity, she was entitled. Come what may, this
+trust at least should not, she mentally resolved, be betrayed or paltered
+with. Every imaginable expedient to vanquish her resolution was resorted
+to. Thorndyke picked a quarrel with Ward her father, who had lived at
+Dale Farm since the morrow of her marriage with Woodley, and the old
+gentleman was compelled to leave, and take up his abode with a distant
+and somewhat needy relative. Next Edward Wilford, the only son of a
+neighboring and prosperous farmer, who had been betrothed to Mary Woodley
+several months before her father's death, was brutally insulted, and
+forbidden the house. All, however, failed to shake the mother's
+resolution; and at length, finding all his efforts fruitless, Thorndyke
+appeared to yield the point, and upon this subject at least ceased to
+harass his unfortunate victim.
+
+Frequent private conferences were now held between Thorndyke, his two
+daughters, and Elizabeth Wareing--a woman approaching middle-age, whom,
+under the specious pretence that Mrs. Thorndyke's increasing ailments
+rendered the services of an experienced matron indispensable, he had
+lately installed at the farm. It was quite evident to both the mother and
+daughter that a much greater degree of intimacy subsisted between the
+master and housekeeper than their relative positions warranted; and from
+some expressions heedlessly dropped by the woman, they suspected them to
+have been once on terms of confidential intimacy. Thorndyke, I should
+have mentioned, was not a native of these parts: he had answered Mr.
+Woodley's advertisement for a bailiff, and his testimonials appearing
+satisfactory, he had been somewhat precipitately engaged. A young man,
+calling himself Edward Wareing, the son of Elizabeth Wareing, and said to
+be engaged in an attorney's office in Liverpool, was also a not
+unfrequent visitor at Dale Farm; and once he had the insolent presumption
+to address a note to Mary Woodley, formally tendering his hand and
+fortune! This, however, did not suit Mr. Thorndyke's views, and Mr.
+Edward Wareing was very effectually rebuked and silenced by his proposed
+father-in-law.
+
+Mrs. Thorndyke's health rapidly declined. The woman Wareing, touched
+possibly by sympathy or remorse, exhibited considerable tenderness and
+compassion towards the invalid; made her nourishing drinks, and
+administered the medicine prescribed by the village practitioner--who,
+after much delay and _pooh, poohing_ by Thorndyke, had been called
+in--with her own hands. About three weeks previous to Mrs. Thorndyke's
+death, a sort of reconciliation was patched up through her
+instrumentality between the husband and wife; and an unwonted expression
+of kindness and compassion, real or simulated, sat upon Thorndyke's
+features every time he approached the dying woman.
+
+The sands of life ebbed swiftly with Mrs. Thorndyke. Infolded in the
+gentle but deadly embrace with which consumption seizes its victims, she
+wasted rapidly away; and, most perplexing symptoms of all, violent
+retchings and nausea, especially after taking her medicine--which,
+according to Davis, the village surgeon, was invariable of a sedative
+character--aggravated and confirmed the fatal disease which was hurrying
+her to the tomb.
+
+Not once during this last illness could Mary Woodley, by chance or
+stratagem, obtain a moment's private interview with her mother, until a
+few minutes before her decease. Until then, under one pretence or
+another, either Elizabeth Wareing, one of Thorndyke's daughters, or
+Thorndyke himself, was always present in the sick-chamber. It was
+evening: darkness had for some time fallen: no light had yet been taken
+into the dying woman's apartment; and the pale starlight which faintly
+illumined the room served, as Mary Woodley softly approached on tiptoe to
+the bedside of her, as she supposed, sleeping parent, but to deepen by
+defining the shadows thrown by the full, heavy hangings, and the old
+massive furniture. Gently, and with a beating heart, Mary Woodley drew
+back the bed-curtain nearest the window. The feeble, uncertain light
+flickered upon the countenance, distinct in its mortal paleness, of her
+parent: the eyes recognized her, and a glance of infinite tenderness
+gleamed for an instant in the rapidly-darkening orbs: the right arm
+essayed to lift itself, as for one fast, last embrace. Vainly! Love, love
+only, was strong, stronger than death, in the expiring mother's heart,
+and the arm fell feebly back on the bedclothes. Mary Woodley bent down in
+eager grief, for she felt instinctively that the bitter hour at last was
+come: their lips met, and the last accents of the mother murmured,
+"Beloved Mary, I--I have been true to you--no will--no"--A slight tremor
+shook her frame: the spirit that looked in love from the windows of the
+eyes departed on its heavenward journey, and the unconscious shell only
+of what had once been her mother remained in the sobbing daughter's arms.
+
+I will not deny that this narrative, which I feel I have but coldly and
+feebly rendered from its earnest, tearful tenderness, as related by Mary
+Woodley, affected me considerably--case-hardened, as, to use an old
+bar-pun, we barristers are supposed to be; nor will the reader be
+surprised to hear that suspicions, graver even than those which pointed
+to forgery, were evoked by the sad history. Much musing upon the strange
+circumstances thus disclosed, and profoundly cogitative on the best mode
+of action to be pursued, the "small hours," the first of them at least,
+surprised me in my arm-chair. I started up, and hastened to bed, well
+knowing from experience that a sleepless vigil is a wretched preparative
+for a morrow of active exertion, whether of mind or body.
+
+I was betimes in court the next morning, and Mr. Barnes, proud as a
+peacock of figuring as an attorney in an important civil suit, was soon
+at my side. The case had excited more interest than I had supposed, and
+the court was very early filled, Mary Woodley and her grandfather soon
+arrived; and a murmur of commiseration ran through the auditory as they
+took their seats by the side of Barnes. There was a strong bar arrayed
+against us; and Mr. Silas Thorndyke, I noticed, was extremely busy and
+important with whisperings and suggestions to his solicitor and
+counsel--received, of course, as such meaningless familiarities usually
+are, with barely civil indifference.
+
+Twelve common jurors were called and sworn well and truly to try the
+issue, and I arose amidst breathless silence to address them. I at once
+frankly stated the circumstances under which the brief had come into my
+hands, and observed, that if, for lack of advised preparation, the
+plaintiff's case failed on that day, another trial, under favor of the
+court above, would, I doubt not, at no distant period of time reverse the
+possibly at present unfavorable decision. "My learned friends on the
+other side," I continued, "smile at this qualified admission of mine: let
+them do so. If they apparently establish to-day the validity of a will
+which strips an only child of the inheritance bequeathed by her father,
+they will, I tell them emphatically, have obtained but a temporary
+triumph for a person who--if I, if you, gentlemen of the jury, are to
+believe the case intended to be set up as a bar to the plantiff's
+claim--has succeeded by the grossest brutality, the most atrocious
+devices, in bending the mind of the deceased Mrs. Thorndyke to his
+selfish purposes. My learned friend need not interrupt me; I shall pursue
+these observations for the present no further--merely adding that I, that
+his lordship, that you, gentlemen of the jury, will require of him the
+strictest proof--proof clear as light--that the instrument upon which he
+relies to defeat the equitable, the righteous claim of the young and
+amiable person by my side, is genuine, and not, as I verily believe "--I
+looked, as I spoke, full in the face of Thorndyke--"FORGED."
+
+"My lord," exclaimed the opposing counsel, "this is really insufferable!"
+
+His lordship, however, did not interpose; and I went on to relate, in the
+most telling manner of which I was capable, the history of the deceased
+Mrs. Thorndyke's first and second marriages; the harmony and happiness of
+the first--the wretchedness and cruelty which characterized the second. I
+narrated also the dying words of Mrs. Thorndyke to her daughter, though
+repeatedly interrupted by the defendant's counsel, who manifested great
+indignation that a statement unsusceptible of legal proof should be
+addressed to the court and jury. My address concluded, I put in James
+Woodley's will; and, as the opposing counsel did not dispute its
+validity, nor require proof of Mary Woodley's identity, I intimated that
+the plaintiff's case was closed.
+
+The speech for the defendant was calm and guarded. It threw, or rather
+attempted to throw, discredit on the death-bed "fiction," got up, Mr.
+P ---- said, simply with a view to effect; and he concluded by averring
+that he should be able to establish the genuineness of the will of Ellen
+Thorndyke, now produced, by irresistible evidence. That done, however
+much the jury might wish the property had been otherwise disposed of,
+they would of course return a verdict in accordance with their oaths and
+the law of the land.
+
+The first witness called was Thomas Headley, a smith, residing near Dale
+Farm. He swore positively that the late Mrs. Thorndyke, whom he knew
+well, had cheerfully signed the will now produced, after it had been
+deliberately read over to her by her husband about a fortnight before her
+death. Silas Thorndyke, John Cummins, Elizabeth Wareing, and witness,
+were the only persons present. Mrs. Thorndyke expressed confidence that
+her husband would provide for Mary Woodley.
+
+"And so I will," said sleek Silas, rising up and looking round upon the
+auditory. "If she will return, I will be a father to her."
+
+No look, no sound of sympathy or approval, greeted this generous
+declaration, and he sat down again not a little disconcerted.
+
+I asked this burly, half-drunken witness but one question--"When is your
+marriage with Rebecca Thorndyke, the defendant's eldest daughter, to be
+celebrated?"
+
+"I don't know, Mr. Lawyer; perhaps never."
+
+"That will do; you can go down."
+
+Mr. P ---- now rose to state that his client was unable to produce
+Elizabeth Wareing, another of the attesting witnesses to the will, in
+court. No suspicion that any opposition to the solemn testament made by
+the deceased Mrs. Thorndyke would be attempted, had been entertained;
+and the woman, unaware that her testimony would be required, had left
+that part of the country. Every effort had been made by the defendant to
+discover her abode without effect. It was believed she had gone to
+America, where she had relatives. The defendant had filed an affidavit
+setting forth these facts, and it was now prayed that secondary evidence
+to establish the genuineness of Elizabeth Wareing's attesting signature
+should be admitted.
+
+I of course vehemently opposed this demand, and broadly hinted that the
+witness was purposely kept out of the way.
+
+"Will my learned friend," said Mr. P ---- with one of his sliest sneers,
+"inform us what motive the defendant could possibly have to keep back a
+witness so necessary to him?"
+
+"Elizabeth Wareing," I curtly replied, "may not, upon reflection, be
+deemed a safe witness to subject to the ordeal of a cross-examination.
+But to settle the matter, my lord," I exclaimed, "I have here an
+affidavit of the plaintiff's attorney, in which he states that he has no
+doubt of being able to find this important witness if time be allowed him
+for the purpose; the defendant of course undertaking to call her when
+produced."
+
+A tremendous clamor of counsel hereupon ensued, and fierce and angry grew
+the war of words. The hubbub was at last terminated by the judge
+recommending that, under the circumstances, "a juror should be
+withdrawn." This suggestion, after some demur, was agreed to. One of the
+jurors was whispered to come out of the box; then the clerk of the court
+exclaimed, "My lord, there are only eleven men on the jury;" and by the
+aid of this venerable, if clumsy expedient, the cause of Woodley _versus_
+Thorndyke was _de facto_ adjourned to a future day.
+
+I had not long returned to the hotel, when I was waited upon by Mr.
+Wilford, senior, the father of the young man who had been forbidden to
+visit Dale Farm by Thorndyke. His son, he informed me, was ill from
+chagrin and anxiety--confined to his bed indeed; and Mary Woodley had
+refused, it seemed, to accept pecuniary aid from either the father or the
+son. Would I endeavor to terminate the estrangement which had for some
+time unhappily existed, and persuade her to accept his, Wilford senior's,
+freely-offered purse and services? I instantly accepted both the mission
+and the large sum which the excellent man tendered. A part of the money I
+gave Barnes to stimulate his exertions, and the rest I placed in the hand
+of Mary Woodley's grandpapa, with a friendly admonition to him not to
+allow his grandchild to make a fool of herself; an exhortation which
+produced its effect in due season.
+
+Summer passed away, autumn had come and gone, and the winter assizes
+were once more upon us. Regular proceedings had been taken, and the
+action in ejectment of Woodley versus Thorndyke was once more on the
+cause list of the Chester circuit court, marked this time as a special
+jury case. Indefatigable as Mr. Barnes had been in his search for
+Elizabeth Wareing, not the slightest trace of her could he discover; and
+I went into court, therefore, with but slight expectation of invalidating
+the, as I fully believed, fictitious will. We had, however, obtained a
+good deal of information relative to the former history not only of the
+absent Mrs. Wareing, but of Thorndyke himself; and it was quite within
+the range of probabilities that something might come out, enabling me to
+use that knowledge to good purpose. The plaintiff and old Mr. Ward were
+seated in court beside Mr. Barnes, as on the former abortive trial; but
+Mary Woodley had, fortunately for herself, lost much of the interest
+which attaches to female comeliness and grace when associated in the mind
+of the spectator with undeserved calamity and sorrow. The black dress
+which she still wore--the orthodox twelve months of mourning for a parent
+had not yet quite elapsed--was now fresh, and of fine quality, and the
+pale lilies of her face were interspersed with delicate roses; whilst by
+her side sat Mr. John Wilford, as happy-looking as if no such things as
+perjurers, forgers, or adverse verdicts existed to disturb the peace of
+the glad world. Altogether, we were decidedly less interesting than on
+the former occasion. Edward Wareing, I must not omit to add, was, greatly
+to our surprise, present. He sat, in great apparent amity, by the side of
+Thorndyke.
+
+It was late in the afternoon, and twilight was gradually stealing over
+the dingy court, when the case was called. The special jury answered to
+their names, were duly sworn, and then nearly the same preliminary
+speeches and admissions were made and put in as on the previous occasion.
+Thomas Headley, the first witness called in support of the pretended
+will, underwent a rigorous cross-examination; but I was unable to extract
+anything of importance from him.
+
+"And now," said the defendant's leading counsel, "let me ask my
+learned friend if he has succeeded in obtaining the attendance of
+Elizabeth Wareing?"
+
+I was of course obliged to confess that we had been unable to find her;
+and the judge remarked that in that ease he could receive secondary
+evidence in proof of her attestation of the will.
+
+A whispered but manifestly eager conference here took place between the
+defendant and his counsel, occasionally joined in by Edward Wareing.
+There appeared to be indecision or hesitation in their deliberations; but
+at last Mr. P ---- rose, and with some ostentation of manner addressed
+the court.
+
+"In the discharge of my duty to the defendant in this action, my lord,
+upon whose fair fame much undeserved obloquy has been cast by the
+speeches of the plaintiff's counsel--speeches insupported by a shadow of
+evidence--I have to state that, anxious above all things to stand
+perfectly justified before his neighbors and society, he has, at great
+trouble and expense, obtained the presence here to-day of the witness
+Elizabeth Wareing. She had gone to reside in France with a respectable
+English family in the situation of housekeeper. We shall now place her in
+the witness-box, and having done so, I trust we shall hear no more of the
+slanderous imputations so freely lavished upon my client. Call Elizabeth
+Wareing into court."
+
+A movement of surprise and curiosity agitated the entire auditory at this
+announcement. Mr. Silas Thorndyke's naturally cadaverous countenance
+assumed an ashy hue, spite of his efforts to appear easy and jubilant;
+and for the first time since the commencement of the proceedings I
+entertained the hope of a successful issue.
+
+Mrs. Wareing appeared in answer to the call, and was duly sworn "to tell
+the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." She was a
+good-looking woman, of perhaps forty years of age, and bore a striking
+resemblance to her son. She rapidly, smoothly, and unhesitatingly
+confirmed the evidence of Headley to a tittle. She trembled, I observed,
+excessively; and on the examining counsel intimating that he had no more
+questions to ask, turned hastily to leave the box.
+
+"Stay--stay, my good woman," I exclaimed; "you and I must have some talk
+together before we part."
+
+She started, and looked at me with frightened earnestness; and then her
+nervous glances stole towards Mr. Silas Thorndyke. There was no comfort
+there: in his countenance she only saw the reflex of the agitation and
+anxiety which marked her own. Sleek Silas, I could see, already repented
+of the rash move he had made, and would have given a good deal to get his
+witness safely and quietly out of court.
+
+It was now nearly dark, and observing that it was necessary the court
+and jury should see as well as hear the witness whilst under
+examination, I requested that lights should be brought in. This was
+done. Two candles were placed in front of the witness-box, one on each
+side of Mrs. Wareing; a few others were disposed about the bench and
+jury desks. The effect of this partial lighting of the gloomy old court
+was, that the witness stood out in strong and bright relief from the
+surrounding shadows, rendering the minutest change or play of her
+features distinctly visible. Mr. Silas Thorndyke was, from his position,
+thrown entirely into the shade, and any telegraphing between him and
+the witness was thus rendered impossible. This preparation, as if for
+some extraordinary and solemn purpose, together with the profound
+silence which reigned in the court, told fearfully, as I expected, upon
+the nerves of Mrs. Elizabeth Wareing. She already seemed as if about to
+swoon with agitation and ill-defined alarm.
+
+"Pray, madam," said I, "is your name Wareing or Tucker?"
+
+She did not answer, and I repeated the question. "Tucker," she at last
+replied in a tremulous whisper.
+
+"I thought so. And pray, Mrs. Tucker, were you ever 'in trouble' in
+London for robbing your lodgings?"
+
+I thought she attempted to answer, but no sound passed her lips. One of
+the ushers of the court handed her a glass of water at my suggestion, and
+she seemed to recover somewhat. I pressed my question; and at last she
+replied in the same low, agitated voice, "Yes, I have been."
+
+"I know you have. Mr. Silas Thorndyke, I believe, was your bail on that
+occasion, and the matter was, I understand, compromised--arranged--at all
+events the prosecution was not pressed. Is not that so?"
+
+"Yes--no--yes."
+
+"Very well: either answer will do. You lived also, I believe, with Mr.
+Thorndyke, as his housekeeper of course, when he was in business as a
+concocter and vender of infallible drugs and pills?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"He was held to be skilful in the preparation of drugs, was he
+not--well-versed in their properties?"
+
+"Yes--I believe so--I do not know. Why am I asked such questions?"
+
+"You will know presently. And now, woman, answer the question I am about
+to put to you, as you will be compelled to answer it to God at the last
+great day--What was the nature of the drug which you or he mixed with the
+medicine prescribed for the late Mrs. Thorndyke?"
+
+A spasmodic shriek, checked by a desperate effort, partially escaped her,
+and she stood fixedly gazing with starting eyes in my face.
+
+The profoundest silence reigned in the court as I iterated the question.
+
+"You must answer, woman," said the judge sternly, "unless you know your
+answer will criminate yourself."
+
+The witness looked wildly round the court, as if in search of counsel or
+sympathy; but encountering none but frowning and eager faces--Thorndyke
+she could not discern in the darkness--she became giddy and
+panic-stricken, and seemed to lose all presence of mind.
+
+"He--he--he," she at last gasped--"he mixed it. I do not know--But
+how," she added, pushing back her hair, and pressing her hands against
+her hot temples, "can this be? What can it mean?"
+
+A movement amongst the bystanders just at this moment attracted
+the notice of the judge, and he immediately exclaimed, "The
+defendant must not leave the court!" An officer placed himself
+beside the wretched murderer as well as forger, and I resumed the
+cross-examination of the witness.
+
+"Now, Mrs. Tucker, please to look at this letter." (It was that which had
+been addressed to Mary Woodley by her son.) "That, I believe, is your
+son's handwriting?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"The body of this will has been written by the same hand. Now, woman,
+answer. Was it your son--this young man who, you perceive, if guilty,
+cannot escape from justice--was it he who forged the names of the
+deceased Mrs. Thorndyke, and of John Cummins attached to it?"
+
+"Not he--not he!" shrieked the wretched woman. "It was
+Thorndyke--Thorndyke himself." And then with a sudden revulsion of
+feeling, as the consequences of what she had uttered flashed upon her,
+she exclaimed, "Oh, Silas, what have I said?--what have I done?"
+
+"Hanged me, that's all, you accursed devil!" replied Thorndyke with
+gloomy ferocity. "But I deserve it for trusting in such an idiot: dolt
+and fool that I was for doing so."
+
+The woman sank down in strong convulsions, and was, by direction of the
+judge, carried out of the hall.
+
+The anxious silence which pervaded the court during this scene, in which
+the reader will have observed I played a bold, tentative, and
+happily-successful game, was broken as the witness was borne off by a
+loud murmur of indignation, followed by congratulatory exclamations on
+the fortunate termination of the suit. The defendant's counsel threw up
+their briefs, and a verdict was at once returned for the plaintiff.
+
+All the inculpated parties were speedily in custody; and the body of Mrs.
+Thorndyke having been disinterred, it was discovered that she had been
+destroyed by bichloride of mercury, of which a considerable quantity was
+detected in the body. I was not present at the trial of Thorndyke and his
+accomplices--he for murder, and Headley for perjury--but I saw by the
+public prints that he was found guilty, and executed: Headley was
+transported: the woman was, if I remember rightly, admitted evidence for
+the crown.
+
+Mary Woodley was of course put into immediate possession of her paternal
+inheritance; and is now--at least she was about four months ago, when I
+dined with her and her husband at Dale Farm--a comely, prosperous matron;
+and as happy as a woman with a numerous progeny and an easy-tempered
+partner can in this, according to romance writers, vale of grief and
+tears expect to be. The service I was fortunately enabled to render her
+forms one of the most pleasing recollections of my life.
+
+
+
+
+CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.
+
+
+In the second year of my connection with the Northern Circuit, when even
+_junior_ briefs were much less numerous than acceptable, I was agreeably
+surprised, as I sat musing on the evening of my arrival in the ancient
+city of York upon the capricious mode in which those powerful personages
+the attorneys distributed their valuable favors, by the entrance of one
+of the most eminent of the race practising in that part of the country,
+and the forthwith tender of a bulky brief in the Crown Court, on which,
+as my glance instinctively fell on the interesting figures, I perceived
+that the large fee, in criminal cases, of fifty guineas was marked. The
+local newspapers, from which I had occasionally seen extracts, had been
+for some time busy with the case; and I knew it therefore to be,
+relatively to the condition in life of the principal person implicated,
+an important one. Rumor had assigned the conduct of the defence to an
+eminent leader on the circuit--since, one of our ablest judges; and on
+looking more closely at the brief, I perceived that that gentleman's name
+had been crossed out, and mine substituted. The fee also--a much less
+agreeable alteration--had been, I saw, considerably reduced; in
+accordance, doubtless, with the attorney's appreciation of the difference
+of value between a silk and a stuff gown.
+
+"You are not, sir, I believe, retained for the prosecution in the crown
+against Everett?" said Mr. Sharpe in his brief, business manner.
+
+"I am not, Mr. Sharpe."
+
+"In that case, I beg to tender you the leading-brief for the defence. It
+was intended, as you perceive, to place it in the hands of our great
+_nisi prius_ leader, but he will be so completely occupied in that court,
+that he has been compelled to decline it. He mentioned you; and from what
+I have myself seen of you in several cases, I have no doubt my
+unfortunate client will have ample justice done him. Mr. Kingston will be
+with you."
+
+I thanked Mr. Sharpe for his compliment, and accepted his brief. As the
+commission would be opened on the following morning, I at once applied
+myself to a perusal of the bulky paper, aided as I read by the verbal
+explanations and commentaries of Mr. Sharpe. Our conference lasted
+several hours; and it was arranged that another should be held early the
+next morning at Mr. Sharpe's office, at which Mr. Kingston would assist.
+
+Dark, intricate, compassed with fearful mystery, was the case so suddenly
+submitted to my guidance; and the few faint gleams of light derived from
+the attorney's research, prescience, and sagacity, served but to render
+dimly visible a still profounder and blacker abyss of crime than that
+disclosed by the evidence for the crown. Young as I then was in the
+profession, no marvel that I felt oppressed by the weight of the
+responsibility cast upon me; or that, when wearied with thinking, and
+dizzy with profitless conjecture, I threw myself into bed, perplexing
+images and shapes of guilt and terror pursued me through my troubled
+sleep! Happily the next day was not that of trial; for I awoke with a
+throbbing pulse and burning brain, and should have been but poorly
+prepared for a struggle involving the issues of life and death. Extremely
+sensitive, as, under the circumstances, I must necessarily have been, to
+the arduous nature of the grave duties so unexpectedly devolved upon me;
+the following _resume_ of the chief incidents of the case, as confided to
+me by Mr. Sharpe, will, I think, fully account to the reader for the
+nervous irritability under which I for the moment, labored:--
+
+Mr. Frederick Everett, the prisoner about to be arraigned before a jury
+of his countrymen for the frightful crime of murder, had, with his
+father, Captain Anthony Everett, resided for several years past at
+Woodlands Manor-House, the seat of Mrs. Eleanor Fitzhugh, a rich, elderly
+maiden lady, aunt to the first, and sister by marriage to the last-named
+gentleman. A generous, pious, high-minded person Mrs. Fitzhugh was
+represented to have been, but extremely sensitive withal on the score of
+"family." The Fitzhughs of Yorkshire, she was wont to boast, "came in
+with the Conqueror;" and any branch of the glorious tree then firmly
+planted in the soil of England that degraded itself by an alliance with
+wealth, beauty, or worth, dwelling without the pale of her narrow
+prejudices, was inexorably cut off from her affections, and, as far as
+she was able, from her memory. One--the principal of these offenders--had
+been Mary Fitzhugh, her young, fair, gentle, and only sister. In utter
+disdain and slight of the dignity of ancestry, she had chosen to unite
+herself to a gentleman of the name of Mordaunt, who, though possessed of
+great talents, an unspotted name, and, for his age, high rank in the
+civil service of the East India Company, had--inexpiable misfortune--a
+trader for his grandfather! This crime against her "house" Mrs. Eleanor
+Fitzhugh resolved never to forgive; and she steadily returned, unopened,
+the frequent letters addressed to her by her sister, who pined in her
+distant Indian home for a renewal of the old sisterly love which had
+watched over and gladdened her life from infancy to womanhood. A long
+silence--a silence of many years--succeeded; broken at last by the sad
+announcement that the unforgiven one had long since found an early grave
+in a foreign land. The letter which brought the intelligence bore the
+London post-mark, and was written by Captain Everett; to whom, it was
+stated, Mrs. Eleanor Fitzhugh's sister, early widowed, had been united in
+second nuptials, and by whom she had borne a son, Frederick Everett, now
+nearly twenty years of age. The long-pent-up affection of Mrs. Fitzhugh
+for her once idolized sister burst forth at this announcement of her
+death with uncontrollable violence; and, as some atonement for her past
+sinful obduracy, she immediately invited the husband and son of her
+long-lost Mary to Woodlands Manor-House, to be henceforth, she said, she
+hoped their home. Soon after their arrival, Mrs. Fitzhugh made a
+will--the family property was entirely at her disposal--revoking a former
+one, which bequeathed the whole of the real and personal property to a
+distant relative whom she had never seen, and by which all was devised to
+her nephew, who was immediately proclaimed sole heir to the Fitzhugh
+estates, yielding a yearly rental of at least L12,000. Nay, so thoroughly
+was she softened towards the memory of her deceased sister, that the
+will--of which, as I have stated, no secret was made--provided, in the
+event of Frederick dying childless, that the property should pass to his
+father, Mary Fitzhugh's second husband.
+
+No two persons could be more unlike than were the father and
+son--mentally, morally, physically. Frederick Everett was a fair-haired,
+blue-eyed young man, of amiable, caressing manners, gentle disposition,
+and ardent, poetic temperament. His father, on the contrary, was a
+dark-featured, cold, haughty, repulsive man, ever apparently wrapped up
+in selfish and moody reveries. Between him and his son there appeared to
+exist but little of cordial intercourse, although the highly-sensitive
+and religious tone of mind of Frederick Everett caused him to treat his
+parent with unvarying deference and respect.
+
+The poetic temperament of Frederick Everett brought him at last, as
+poetic temperaments are apt to do, into trouble. Youth, beauty,
+innocence, and grace, united in the person of Lucy Carrington--the only
+child of Mr. Stephen Carrington, a respectable retired merchant of
+moderate means, residing within a few miles of Woodlands
+Manor-House--crossed his path; and spite of his shield of many
+quarterings, he was vanquished in an instant, and almost without
+resistance. The at least tacit consent and approval of Mr. Carrington and
+his fair daughter secured, Mr. Everett, junior--hasty, headstrong lover
+that he was--immediately disclosed his matrimonial projects to his father
+and aunt. Captain Everett received the announcement with a sarcastic
+smile, coldly remarking, that if Mrs. Fitzhugh was satisfied, he had no
+objection to offer. But, alas! no sooner did her nephew, with much
+periphrastic eloquence, in part his passion for the daughter of a _mere_
+merchant to his aunt, than a vehement torrent of indignant rebuke broke
+from her lips. She would die rather than consent to so degrading a
+_mesalliance_; and should he persist in yielding to such gross
+infatuation, she would not only disinherit, but banish him her house, and
+cast him forth a beggar on the world. Language like this, one can easily
+understand, provoked language from the indignant young man which in less
+heated moments he would have disdained to utter; and the aunt and nephew
+parted in fierce anger, and after mutual denunciation of each other--he
+as a disobedient ingrate, she as an imperious, ungenerous tyrant. The
+quarrel was with some difficulty patched up by Captain Everett; and with
+the exception of the change which took place in the disappointed lover's
+demeanor--from light-hearted gaiety to gloom and sullenness--things,
+after a few days, went on pretty nearly as before.
+
+The sudden rupture of the hopes Mrs. Eleanor Fitzhugh had reposed in her
+nephew as the restorer of the glories of her ancient "house," tarnished
+by Mary Fitzhugh's marriage, affected dangerously, it soon appeared, that
+lady's already failing health. A fortnight after the quarrel with her
+nephew, she became alarmingly ill. Unusual and baffling symptoms showed
+themselves; and after suffering during eight days from alternate acute
+pain, and heavy, unconquerable drowsiness, she expired in her nephew's
+arms. This sudden and fatal illness of his relative appeared to reawaken
+all Frederick Everett's tenderness and affection for her. He was
+incessant in his close attendance in the sick-chamber, permitting no one
+else to administer to his aunt either aliment or medicine. On this latter
+point, indeed, he insisted, with strange fierceness, taking the medicine
+with his own hand from the man who brought it; and after administering
+the prescribed quantity, carefully locking up the remainder in a cabinet
+in his bed-room.
+
+On the morning of the day that Mrs. Fitzhugh died, her ordinary medical
+attendant, Mr. Smith, terrified and perplexed by the urgency of the
+symptoms exhibited by his patient, called in the aid of a
+locally-eminent physician, Dr. Archer, or Archford--the name is not very
+distinctly written in my memoranda of these occurrences; but we will
+call him Archer--who at once changed the treatment till then pursued,
+and ordered powerful emetics to be administered, without, however, as
+we have seen, producing any saving or sensible effect. The grief of
+Frederick Everett, when all hope was over, was unbounded. He threw
+himself, in a paroxysm of remorse or frenzy, upon the bed, accusing
+himself of having murdered her, with other strange and incoherent
+expressions, upon which an intimation soon afterwards made by Dr. Archer
+threw startling light. That gentleman, conjointly with Mr. Smith,
+requested an immediate interview with Captain Everett, and Mr. Hardyman,
+the deceased lady's land-steward and solicitor, who happened to be in
+the house at the time. The request was of course complied with, and Dr.
+Archer at once bluntly stated that, in his opinion, _poison_ had been
+administered to the deceased lady, though of what precise kind he was
+somewhat at a loss to conjecture--opium essentially, he thought, though
+certainly not in any of its ordinary preparations--one of the alkaloids
+probably which chemical science had recently discovered. Be this as it
+may, a _post-mortem_ examination of the body would clear up all doubts,
+and should take place as speedily as possible. Captain Everett at once
+acceded to Dr. Archer's proposal, at the same time observing that he was
+quite sure the result would entirely disprove that gentleman's
+assumption. Mr. Hardyman also fully concurred in the necessity of a
+rigid investigation; and the _post-mortem_ examination should, it was
+arranged, take place early on the following morning.
+
+"I have another and very painful duty to perform," continued Dr. Archer,
+addressing Captain Everett. "I find that your son, Mr. Frederick Everett,
+alone administered medicine and aliment to Mrs. Fitzhugh during her
+illness. Strange, possibly wholly frenzied expressions, but which sounded
+vastly like cries of remorse, irrepressible by a person unused to crime,
+escaped him in my hearing just after the close of the final scene;
+and--But perhaps, Captain Everett, you had better retire: this is
+scarcely a subject"--
+
+"Go on, sir," said the captain, over whose countenance a strange
+expression--to use Dr. Archer's own words--had _flashed_; "go on: I am
+better now."
+
+"We all know," resumed Dr. Archer, "how greatly Mr. Frederick Everett
+gains in wealth by his aunt's death; and that her decease, moreover, will
+enable him to conclude the marriage to which she was so determinedly
+opposed. I think, therefore, that, under all the circumstances, we shall
+be fully justified in placing the young gentleman under such--I will not
+say custody, but _surveillance_ as will prevent him either from leaving
+the house, should he imagine himself suspected, or of destroying any
+evidence which may possibly exist of his guilt, if indeed he be guilty."
+
+"I entirely agree with you, Dr. Archer," exclaimed Mr. Hardyman, who had
+listened with much excitement to the doctor's narrative; "and will, upon
+my own responsibility, take the necessary steps for effecting the object
+you have in view."
+
+"Gentlemen," said Captain Everett, rising from his chair, "you will of
+course do your duty; but I can take no part, nor offer any counsel, in
+such a case; I must leave you to your own devices." He then left the
+apartment.
+
+He had been gone but a few minutes, when Frederick Everett, still in a
+state of terrible excitement, entered the room, strode fiercely up to Dr.
+Archer, and demanded how he dared propose, as the butler had just
+informed him he had done, a dissection of his aunt's body.
+
+"I will not permit it," continued the agitated young man: "I am master
+here, and I say it shall not be done. What new horror would you
+evoke? Is it not enough that one of the kindest, best of God's
+creatures, has perished, but _another_ sacrifice must--What do I say?
+Enough that I will not permit it. I have seen similar cases-very
+similar cases in--in India!"
+
+The gentleman so strangely addressed had exchanged significant glances
+during the delivery of this incoherent speech; and, quite confirmed in
+their previous impression, Mr. Hardyman, as their spokesman, interrupted
+the speaker, to inform him that _he_ was the suspected assassin of his
+aunt! The accusing sentences had hardly passed the solicitor's lips, when
+the furious young man sprang towards him with the bound of a tiger, and
+at one blow prostrated him on the floor. He was immediately seized by the
+two medical gentlemen, and help having been summoned, he was with much
+difficulty secured, and placed in strict confinement, to await the result
+of the next day's inquiry.
+
+The examination of the body disclosed the terrible fact, that the
+deceased lady had perished by _acetate of morphine_; thus verifying the
+sagacious guess of Dr. Archer. A minute search was immediately made
+throughout Mr. Frederick Everett's apartments, and behind one of the
+drawers of a cabinet in his bedroom--at the back of the shelf or
+partition upon which the drawer rested, and of course completely hidden
+by the drawer itself when in its place--was found a flat tin flask,
+fluted on the outside, and closed with a screw stopper: it was loosely
+enveloped in a sheet of brown paper, directed "--Everett, Esq., Woodlands
+Manor-House, Yorkshire;" and upon close examination, a small quantity of
+white powder, which proved to be _acetate of morphine_, was found in the
+flask. Suspicion of young Everett's guilt now became conviction; and, as
+if to confirm beyond all doubt the soundness of the chain of
+circumstantial evidence in which he was immeshed, the butler, John
+Darby, an aged and trusty servant of the late Mrs. Fitzhugh, made on the
+next day the following deposition before the magistrates:--
+
+"He had taken in, two days before his late mistress was seized with her
+fatal illness, a small brown paper parcel which had been brought by coach
+from London, and for which 2s. 10d carriage was charged and paid. The
+paper found in Mr. Frederick Everett's cabinet was, he could positively
+swear, from the date and figures marked on it, and the handwriting, the
+paper wrapper of that parcel. He had given it to young Mr. Everett, who
+happened to be in the library at the time. About five minutes afterwards,
+he had occasion to return to the library, to inform him that some
+fishing-tackle he had ordered was sent home. The door was ajar; and Mr.
+Frederick did not at first perceive his entrance, as he was standing with
+his back to the door. The paper parcel he, the butler, had just before
+delivered was lying open on the table, and Mr. Everett held in one hand a
+flat tin flask--the witness had no doubt the same found in the
+cabinet--and in the other a note, which he was reading. He, the witness,
+coughed, to attract Mr. Everett's attention, who hurriedly turned round,
+clapped down the flask and the note, shuffling them under the paper
+wrapper, as if to conceal them, and then, in a very confused manner, and
+his face as red as flame, asked witness what he wanted there? Witness
+thought this behavior very strange at the time; but the incident soon
+passed from his mind, and he had thought no more of it till the finding
+of the paper and flask as described by the other witnesses."
+
+Mr. Frederick Everett, who had manifested the strangest impassability, a
+calmness as of despair, throughout the inquiry, which perplexed and
+disheartened Mr. Sharpe, whose services had been retained by Captain
+Everett, allowed even this mischievous evidence to pass without a word of
+comment or explanation; and he was, as a matter of course, fully
+committed for the wilful murder of his relative. The chain of
+circumstantial evidence, motive included, was, it was felt, complete--not
+a link was wanting.
+
+These were the chief incidents disclosed to me by Mr. Sharpe during our
+long and painful consultation. Of the precise nature of the terrible
+suspicions which haunted and disturbed me, I shall only in this place say
+that neither Mr. Sharpe, nor, consequently, myself, would in all
+probability have guessed or glanced at them, but for the persistent
+assertions of Miss Carrington, that her lover was madly sacrificing
+himself from some chimerical motive of honor or duty.
+
+"You do not know, Mr. Sharpe, as I do," she would frequently exclaim with
+tearful vehemence, "the generous, child-like simplicity, the chivalric
+enthusiasm, of his character, his utter abnegation of self, and readiness
+on all occasions to sacrifice his own ease, his own wishes, to forward
+the happiness of others; and, above all, his fantastic notions of
+honor--duty, if you will--which would, I feel assured, prompt him to
+incur any peril, death itself, to shield from danger any one who had
+claims upon him either of blood or of affection. You know to whom my
+suspicions point; and how dreadful to think that one so young, so brave,
+so pious, and so true, should be sacrificed for such a monster as I
+believe that man to be!"
+
+To all these passionate expostulations the attorney could only reply
+that vague suspicions were not judicial proofs; and that if Mr.
+Frederick Everett would persist in his obstinate reserve, a fatal result
+was inevitable. But Mr. Sharpe readily consented to gratify the wishes
+of Mr. Carrington and his daughter on one point: he returned the money,
+not a very large sum, which Captain Everett had sent him, and agreed
+that Mr. Carrington should supply the funds necessary for the defence of
+the prisoner.
+
+Our consultation the next day at Mr. Sharpe's was a sad and hopeless one.
+Nowhere did a gleam of cheerful light break in. The case was
+overwhelmingly complete against the prisoner. The vague suspicions we
+entertained pointed to a crime so monstrous, so incredible, that we felt
+it could not be so much as hinted at upon such, legally considered,
+slight grounds. The prisoner was said to be an eloquent speaker, and I
+undertook to draw up the outline of a defence, impugning, with all the
+dialectic skill I was master of, the conclusiveness of the evidence for
+the crown. To this, and a host of testimony to character which we
+proposed to call, rested our faint hopes of "a good deliverance!"
+
+Business was over, and we were taking a glass of wine with Mr. Sharpe,
+when his chief clerk entered to say that Sergeant Edwards, an old
+soldier--who had spoken to them some time before relative to a large
+claim which he asserted he had against Captain Everett, arising out of a
+legacy bequeathed to him in India, and the best mode of assuring its
+payment by an annuity, as proposed by the captain--had now called to say
+that the terms were at last finally arranged, and that he wished to know
+when Mr. Sharpe would be at leisure to draw up the bond. "He need not
+fear for his money!" exclaimed Sharpe tartly, "the captain will, I fear,
+be rich enough before another week has passed over our heads. Tell him to
+call to-morrow evening; I will see him after I return from court." A few
+minutes afterwards, I and Mr. Kingston took our leave.
+
+The Crown Court was thronged to suffocation on the following morning,
+and the excitement of the auditory appeared to be of the intensest kind.
+Miss Carrington, closely veiled, sat beside her father on one of the
+side-benches. A true bill against the prisoner had been found on the
+previous afternoon; and the trial, it had been arranged, to suit the
+convenience of counsel, should be first proceeded with. The court was
+presided over by Mr. Justice Grose; and Mr. Gurney--afterwards Mr. Baron
+Gurney--with another gentleman appeared for the prosecution. As soon as
+the judge had taken his seat, the prisoner was ordered to be brought in,
+and a hush of expectation pervaded the assembly. In a few minutes he made
+his appearance in the dock. His aspect--calm, mournful, and full of
+patient resignation--spoke strongly to the feelings of the audience, and
+a low murmur of sympathy ran through the court. He bowed respectfully to
+the bench, and then his sad, proud eye wandered round the auditory, till
+it rested on the form of Lucy Carrington, who, overcome by sudden
+emotion, had hidden her weeping face in her father's bosom. Strong
+feeling, which he with difficulty mastered, shook his frame, and blanched
+to a still deeper pallor his fine intellectual countenance. He slowly
+withdrew his gaze from the agitating spectacle, and his troubled glance
+meeting that of Mr. Sharpe, seemed to ask why proceedings, which _could_
+only have one termination, were delayed. He had not long to wait. The
+jury were sworn, and Mr. Gurney rose to address them for the crown.
+Clear, terse, logical, powerful without the slightest pretence to what is
+called eloquence, his speech produced a tremendous impression upon all
+who heard it; and few persons mentally withheld their assent to his
+assertion, as he concluded what was evidently a painful task, "that
+should he produce evidence substantiating the statement he had made, the
+man who could then refuse to believe in the prisoner's guilt, would
+equally refuse credence to actions witnessed by his own bodily eyes."
+
+The different witnesses were then called, and testified to the various
+facts I have before related. Vainly did Mr. Kingston and I exert
+ourselves to invalidate the irresistible proofs of guilt so
+dispassionately detailed. "It is useless," whispered Mr. Sharpe, as I sat
+down after the cross-examination of the aged butler. "You have done all
+that could be done; but he is a doomed man, spite of his innocence, of
+which I feel, every moment that I look at him, the more and more
+convinced. God help us; we are poor, fallible creatures, with all our
+scientific machinery for getting at truth!"
+
+The case for the crown was over, and the prisoner was told that now was
+the time for him to address the jury in answer to the charge preferred
+against him. He bowed courteously to the intimation, and drawing a paper
+from his pocket, spoke, after a few preliminary words of course, nearly
+as follows:--
+
+"I hold in my hand a very acute and eloquent address prepared for me by
+one of the able and zealous gentlemen who appears to-day as my counsel,
+and which, but for the iniquitous law which prohibits the advocate of a
+presumed felon, but possibly quite innocent person, from addressing the
+jury, upon whose verdict his client's fate depends, would no doubt have
+formed the subject-matter of an appeal to you not to yield credence to
+the apparently irrefragable testimony arrayed against me. The substance
+of this defence you must have gathered from the tenor of the
+cross-examinations; but so little effect did it produce, I saw, in that
+form, however ably done, and so satisfied am I that though it were
+rendered with an angel's eloquence, it would prove utterly impotent to
+shake the strong conclusions of my guilt, which you, short-sighted,
+fallible mortals--short-sighted and fallible _because_ mortal!--I mean no
+disrespect--must have drawn from the body of evidence you have heard,
+that I will not weary you or myself by reading it. I will only observe
+that it points especially to the _over_-roof, so to speak, arrayed
+against me--to the folly of supposing that an intentional murderer would
+ostentatiously persist in administering the fatal potion to the victim
+with his own hands, carefully excluding all others from a chance of
+incurring suspicion. There are other points, but this is by far the most
+powerful one; and as I cannot believe _that_ will induce you to return a
+verdict rescuing me from what the foolish world, judging from
+appearances, will call a shameful death, but which I, knowing my own
+heart, feel to be sanctified by the highest motives which can influence
+man--it would be merely waste of time to repeat them. From the first
+moment, gentlemen, that this accusation was preferred against me, I felt
+that I had done with this world; and, young as I am, but for one beloved
+being whose presence lighted up and irradiated this else cold and barren
+earth, I should, with little reluctance, have accepted this gift of an
+apparently severe, but perhaps merciful fate. This life, gentlemen," he
+continued after a short pause, "it has been well said, is but a battle
+and a march. I have been struck down early in the combat; but of what
+moment is that, if it be found by Him who witnesses the world-unnoticed
+deeds of _all_ his soldiers, that I have earned the victor's crown? Let
+it be your consolation, gentlemen, if hereafter you should discover that
+you have sent me to an undeserved death, that you at least will not have
+hurried a soul spotted with the awful crime of murder before its Maker.
+And oh," he exclaimed in conclusion, with solemn earnestness, "may _all_
+who have the guilt of blood upon them hasten, whilst life is still
+granted them, to cleanse themselves by repentance of that foul sin, so
+that not only the sacrifice of one poor life, but that most holy and
+tremendous one offered in the world's consummate hour, may not for them
+have been made in vain! My lord and gentlemen, I have no more to say. You
+will doubtless do your duty: I _have_ done mine."
+
+I was about, a few minutes after the conclusion of this strange and
+unexpected address, to call our witnesses to character, when, to the
+surprise of the whole court, and the consternation of the prisoner, Miss
+Carrington started up, threw aside her veil, and addressing the judge,
+demanded to be heard.
+
+Queenly, graceful, and of touching loveliness did she look in her
+vehemence of sorrow--radiant as sunlight in her days of joy she must have
+been--as she stood up, affection-prompted, regardless of self, of the
+world, to make one last effort to save her affianced husband.
+
+"What would you say, young lady?" said Mr. Justice Grose, kindly. "If you
+have anything to testify in favor of the prisoner, you had better
+communicate with his counsel."
+
+"Not that--not that," she hurriedly replied, as if fearful that her
+strength would fail before she had enunciated her purpose. "Put, my lord,
+put Frederick--the prisoner, I mean--on his oath. Bid him declare, as he
+shall answer at the bar of Almighty God, who is the murderer for whom he
+is about to madly sacrifice himself, and you will then find"--
+
+"Your request is an absurd one," interrupted the judge with some
+asperity. "I have no power to question a prisoner."
+
+"Then," shrieked the unfortunate lady, sinking back fainting and helpless
+in her father's arms, "he is lost--lost!"
+
+She was immediately carried out of court; and as soon as the sensation
+caused by so extraordinary and painful an incident had subsided, the
+trial proceeded. A cloud of witnesses to character were called; the judge
+summed up; the jury deliberated for a few minutes; and a verdict of
+"guilty" was returned. Sentence to die on the day after the next
+followed, and all was over!
+
+Yes; all was, we deemed, over; but happily a decree, reversing that of
+Mr. Justice Grose, had gone forth in Heaven. I was sitting at home about
+an hour after the court had closed, painfully musing on the events of
+the day, when the door of the apartment suddenly flew open, and in
+rushed Mr. Sharpe in a state of great excitement, accompanied by
+Sergeant Edwards, whom the reader will remember had called the previous
+day at that gentleman's house. In a few minutes I was in possession of
+the following important information, elicited by Mr. Sharpe from the
+half-willing, half-reluctant sergeant, whom he had found waiting for him
+at his office:--
+
+In the first place, Captain Everett was _not_ the father of the prisoner!
+The young man was the son of Mary Fitzhugh by her _first_ marriage; and
+his name, consequently, was Mordaunt, not Everett. His mother had
+survived her second marriage barely six months. Everett, calculating
+doubtless upon the great pecuniary advantages which would be likely to
+result to himself as the reputed father of the heir to a splendid English
+estate, should the quarrel with Mrs. Eleanor Fitzhugh--as he nothing
+doubted--be ultimately made up, had brought his deceased wife's infant
+son up as his own. This was the secret of Edwards and his wife; and to
+purchase their silence, Captain Everett had agreed to give the bond for
+an annuity which Mr. Sharpe was to draw up. The story of the legacy was a
+mere pretence. When Edwards was in Yorkshire before, Everett pacified
+him for the time with a sum of money, and a promise to do more for him as
+soon as his reputed son came into the property. He then hurried the
+_cidevant_ sergeant back to London; and at the last interview he had
+with him, gave him a note addressed to a person living in one of the
+streets--I forget which--leading out of the Haymarket, together with a
+five-pound note, which he was to pay the person to whom the letter was
+addressed for some very rare and valuable powder, which the captain
+wanted for scientific purposes, and which Edwards was to forward by coach
+to Woodlands Manor-House. Edwards obeyed his instructions, and delivered
+the message to the queer bushy-bearded foreigner to whom it was
+addressed, who told him that, if he brought him the sum of money
+mentioned in the note on the following day, he should have the article
+required. He also bade him bring a well-stoppered bottle to put it in. As
+the bottle was to be sent by coach, Edwards purchased a tin flask, as
+affording a better security against breakage; and having obtained the
+powder, packed it nicely up, and told his niece, who was staying with him
+at the time, to direct it, as he was in a hurry to go out, to Squire
+Everett, Woodlands Manor-House, Yorkshire, and then take it to the
+booking-office. He thought, of course, though he said _Squire_ in a
+jocular way, that she would have directed it _Captain_ Everett, as she
+knew him well; but it seemed she had not. Edwards had returned to
+Yorkshire only two days since, to get his annuity settled, and
+fortunately was present in court at the trial of Frederick Mordaunt,
+_alias_ Everett, and at once recognized the tin flask as the one he had
+purchased and forwarded to Woodlands, where it must in due course have
+arrived on the day stated by the butler. Terrified and bewildered at the
+consequences of what he had done, or helped to do, Edwards hastened to
+Mr. Sharpe, who, by dint of exhortations, threats, and promises,
+judiciously blended, induced him to make a clean breast of it.
+
+As much astounded as elated by this unlooked-for information, it was some
+minutes before I could sufficiently concentrate my thoughts upon the
+proper course to be pursued. I was not, however, long in deciding.
+Leaving Mr. Sharpe to draw up an affidavit of the facts disclosed, I
+hastened off to the jail, in order to obtain a thorough elucidation of
+all the mysteries.
+
+The revulsion of feeling in the prisoner's mind when he learned that the
+man for whom he had so recklessly sacrificed himself was not only _not_
+his father, but a cold-blooded villain, who, according to the testimony
+of Sergeant Edwards, had embittered, perhaps shortened, his mother's last
+hours, was immediate and excessive. "I should have taken Lucy's advice!"
+he bitterly exclaimed, as he strode to and fro in his cell; "have told
+the truth at all hazards, and have left the rest to God." His explanation
+of the incidents that had so puzzled us all, was as simple as
+satisfactory. He had always, from his earliest days, stood much in awe of
+his father, who in the, to young Mordaunt, sacred character of parent,
+exercised an irresistible control over him; and when the butler entered
+the library, he believed for an instant it was his father who had
+surprised him in the act of reading his correspondence; an act which,
+however unintentional, would, he knew, excite Captain Everett's fiercest
+wrath. Hence arose the dismay and confusion which the butler had
+described. He re-sealed the parcel, and placed it in his reputed father's
+dressing-room; and thought little more of the matter, till, on entering
+his aunt's bedroom on the first evening of her illness, he beheld Everett
+pour a small portion of white powder from the tin flask into the bottle
+containing his aunt's medicine. The terrible truth at once flashed upon
+him. A fierce altercation immediately ensued in the father's
+dressing-room, whither Frederick followed him. Everett persisted that the
+powder was a celebrated Eastern medicament, which would save, if anything
+could, his aunt's life. The young man was not of course deceived by this
+shallow falsehood, and from that moment administered the medicine to the
+patient with his own hands, and kept the bottles which contained it
+locked up in his cabinet. "On the very morning of my aunt's death, I
+surprised him shutting and locking one of my cabinet drawers. So
+dumbfounded was I with horror and dismay at the sight, that he left the
+room by a side-door without observing me. You have now the key to my
+conduct. I loathed to look upon the murderer; but I would have died a
+thousand deaths rather than attempt to save my own life by the sacrifice
+of a father's--how guilty soever he might be."
+
+Furnished with this explanation, and the affidavit of Edwards, I waited
+upon the judge, and obtained not only a respite for the prisoner, but a
+warrant for the arrest of Captain Everett.
+
+It was a busy evening. Edwards was despatched to London in the friendly
+custody of an intelligent officer, to secure the person of the
+foreign-looking vender of subtle poisons; and Mr. Sharpe, with two
+constables, set off in a postchaise for Woodlands Manor-House. It was
+late when they arrived there, and the servants informed them that Captain
+Everett had already retired. They of course insisted upon seeing him; and
+he presently appeared, wrapped in a dressing-gown, and haughtily demanded
+their business with him at such an hour. The answer smote him as with a
+thunderbolt, and he staggered backwards, till arrested by the wall of the
+apartment, and then sank feebly, nervelessly, into a chair. Eagerly,
+after a pause, he questioned the intruders upon the nature of the
+evidence against him. Mr. Sharpe briefly replied that Edwards was in
+custody, and had revealed everything.
+
+"Is it indeed so?" rejoined Everett, seeming to derive resolution and
+fortitude from the very extremity of despair. "Then the game is
+unquestionably lost. It was, however, boldly and skilfully played, and I
+am not a man to whimper over a fatal turn of the dice. In a few minutes,
+gentlemen," he added, "I shall have changed my dress, and be ready to
+accompany you."
+
+"We cannot lose sight of you for an instant," replied Mr. Sharpe. "One of
+the officers must accompany you."
+
+"Be it so: I shall not detain either him or you long."
+
+Captain Everett, followed by the officer, passed into his dressing-room.
+He pulled off his gown; and pointing to a coat suspended on a peg at the
+further extremity of the apartment, requested the constable to reach it
+for him. The man hastened to comply with his wish. Swiftly, Everett
+opened a dressing-case which stood on a table near him: the officer
+heard the sharp clicking of a pistol-lock, and turned swiftly round. Too
+late! A loud report rang through the house; the room was filled with
+smoke; and the wretched assassin and suicide lay extended on the floor a
+mangled corpse!
+
+It would be useless minutely to recapitulate, the final winding-up of
+this eventful drama. Suffice it to record, that Mr. Frederick Mordaunt
+was, after a slight delay, restored to freedom and a splendid position in
+society. After the lapse of a decent interval, he espoused Lucy
+Carrington. Their eldest son represents in this present parliament one of
+the English boroughs, and is by no means an undistinguished member of the
+Commons House.
+
+
+
+
+"THE ACCOMMODATION BILL."
+
+
+Such of the incidents of the following narrative as did not fall within
+my own personal observation, were communicated to me by the late Mr.
+Ralph Symonds, and the dying confessions of James Hornby, one of the
+persons killed by the falling in of the iron roof of the Brunswick
+Theatre. A conversation the other day with a son of Mr. Symonds, who has
+been long settled in London, recalled the entire chain of circumstances
+to my memory with all the vivid distinctness of a first impression.
+
+One evening towards the close of the year 1806, the Leeds coach brought
+Mr. James Hornby to the village of Pool, on the Wharf, in the West-Riding
+of Yorkshire. A small but respectable house on the confines of the place
+had been prepared for his reception, and a few minutes after his descent
+from the top of the coach, the pale, withered-looking man disappeared
+within it. Except for occasional trips to Otley, a small market-town
+distant about three miles from Pool, he rarely afterwards emerged from
+its seclusion. It was not _Time_, we shall presently see--he was indeed
+but four-and-forty years of age--that had bowed his figure, thinned his
+whitening hair, and banished from his countenance all signs of healthy,
+cheerful life. This, too, appeared to be the opinion of the gossips of
+the village, who, congregated, as usual, to witness the arrival and
+departure of the coach, indulged, thought Mr. Symonds, who was an inside
+passenger proceeding on to Otley, in remarkably free-and-easy
+commentaries upon the past, present, and future of the new-comer.
+
+"I mind him well," quavered an old white-haired man. "It's just
+three-and-twenty years ago last Michaelmas. I remember it because of the
+hard frost two years before, that young Jim Hornby left Otley to go to
+Lunnon: just the place, I'm told, to give the finishing polish to such a
+miscreant as he seemed likely to be. He was just out of his time to old
+Hornby, his uncle, the grocer."
+
+"He that's left him such heaps of money?"
+
+"Ay, boy, the very same, though he wouldn't have given him or any one
+else a cheese-paring whilst he lived. This one is a true chip of the
+old block, I'll warrant. You noticed that he rode outside, bitter cold
+as it is?".
+
+"Surely, Gaffer Hicks. But do ye mind what it was he went off in such a
+skurry for? Tom Harris was saying last night at the Horse-Shoe, it was
+something concerning a horse-race or a young woman; he warn't quite
+sensible which."
+
+"I can't say," rejoined the more ancient oracle, "that I quite mind all
+the ups and downs of it. Henry Burton horse-whipped him on the Doncaster
+race-course, _that_ I know; but whether it was about Cinderella that had,
+they said, been tampered with the night before the race, or Miss
+Elizabeth Grainsford, whom Burton married a few weeks afterwards, I
+can't, as Tom Harris says, quite clearly remember."
+
+"Old Hornby had a heavy grip of Burton's farm for a long time before he
+died, they were saying yesterday at Otley. The sheepskins will now no
+doubt be in the nephew's strong box."
+
+"True, lad; and let's hope Master Burton will be regular with his
+payments; for if not, there's Jail and Ruin for him written in capital
+letters on yon fellow's cast-iron phiz, I can see."
+
+The random hits of these Pool gossips, which were here interrupted by
+the departure of the coach, were not very wide of the mark. James Hornby,
+it was quite true, had been publicly horsewhipped twenty-three years
+before by Henry Burton on the Doncaster race-course, ostensibly on
+account of the sudden withdrawal of a horse that should have started, a
+transaction with which young Hornby was in some measure mixed up; but
+especially and really for having dared, upon the strength of presumptive
+heirship to his uncle's wealth, to advance pretensions to the fair hand
+of Elizabeth Gainsford, the eldest daughter of Mr. Robert Gainsford,
+surgeon, of Otley--pretensions indirectly favored, it was said, by the
+father, but contemptuously repudiated by the lady. Be this as it may,
+three weeks after the races, Elizabeth Gainsford became Mrs. Burton, and
+James Hornby hurried off to London, grudgingly furnished for the journey
+by his uncle. He obtained a situation as shopman in one of the large
+grocer establishments of the metropolis; and twenty-three years
+afterwards, the attorney's letter, informing him that he had succeeded to
+all his deceased uncle's property, found him in the same place, and in
+the same capacity.
+
+A perfect yell of delight broke from the lips of the taciturn man as his
+glance devoured the welcome intelligence. "At last!" he shouted with
+maniacal glee; and fiercely crumpling the letter in his hand, as if he
+held a living foe in his grasp, whilst a flash of fiendish passion broke
+from the deep caverns of his sunken eyes--"at last I have thee on the
+hip! Ah, mine enemy!--it is the dead--the dead alone that never return
+to hurl back on the head of the wrong-doer the shame, the misery, the
+ruin he inflicted in his hour of triumph!" The violence of passions
+suddenly unreined after years of jealous curb and watchfulness for a
+moment overcame him, and he reeled as if fainting, into a chair. The
+fierce, stern nature of the man soon mastered the unwonted excitement,
+and in a few minutes he was cold, silent, impassable as ever. The letter
+which he despatched the same evening gave calm, business orders as to
+his uncle's funeral, and other pressing matters upon which the attorney
+had demanded instructions, and concluded by intimating that he should be
+in Yorkshire before many days elapsed. He arrived, as we have seen, and
+took up his abode at one of the houses bequeathed to him in Pool, which
+happened to be unlet.
+
+Yes, for more than twenty bitter years James Hornby had savagely brooded
+over the shame and wrong inflicted on him before the mocking eyes of a
+brutal crowd by Henry Burton. Ever as the day's routine business closed,
+and he retired to the dull solitude of his chamber, the last mind-picture
+which faded on his waking sense was the scene on the crowded race-course,
+with all its exasperating accessories--the merciless exultation of the
+triumphant adversary--the jibes and laughter of his companions--the
+hootings of the mob--to be again repeated with fantastic exaggeration in
+the dreams which troubled and perplexed his broken sleep. No wonder that
+the demons of Revenge and Hate, by whom he was thus goaded, should have
+withered by their poisonous breath the healthful life which God had
+given--have blasted with premature old age a body rocker with curses to
+unblessed repose! It seemed, by his after-confessions, that he had really
+loved Elizabeth Gainsford with all the energy of his violent, moody
+nature, and that her image, fresh, lustrous, radiant, as in the dawn of
+life, unceasingly haunted his imagination with visions of tenderness and
+beauty, lost to him, as he believed, through the wiles, the calumnies,
+and violence of his detested, successful rival.
+
+The matronly person who, a few days after the Christmas following
+Hornby's arrival at Pool, was conversing with her husband in the parlor
+of Grange farmhouse, scarcely realized the air-drawn image which dwelt in
+the memory of the unforgiving, unforgetting man. Mrs. Burton was at this
+time a comely dame, whose _embonpoint_ contour, however indicative of
+florid health and serenity of temper, exhibited little of the airy
+elegance and grace said to have distinguished the girlhood of Elizabeth
+Gainsford. Her soft brown eyes were gentle and kind as ever, but the
+brilliant lights of youth no longer sparkled in their quiet depths, and
+time had not only "thinned her flowing hair"--necessitating caps--but had
+brushed the roses from her cheeks, and swept away, with his searing hand,
+the pale lilies from the furtive coverts whence they had glanced in
+tremulous beauty, in life's sweet prime; yet for all that, and a great
+deal more, Mrs. Burton, I have no manner of doubt, looked charmingly in
+the bright fire-blaze which gleamed in chequered light and shade upon the
+walls, pictures, curtains of the room, and the green leaves and scarlet
+berries of the Christmas holly with which it was profusely decorated.
+Three of her children--the eldest, Elizabeth, a resuscitation of her own
+youth--were by her side, and opposite sat her husband, whose frank,
+hearty countenance seemed to sparkle with careless mirth.
+
+"Hornby will be here presently, Elizabeth," said he. "What a
+disappointment awaits the rascally curmudgeon! His uncle was a prince
+compared to him."
+
+"Disappointment, Henry! to receive four hundred pounds he did not
+expect?"
+
+"Ay, truly, dame. Lawyer Symonds' son Frank, a fine, good-hearted young
+fellow as ever stepped in shoe-leather--Lizzy, girl, if that candle
+were nearer your face it would light without a match"--
+
+"Nonsense, father!"
+
+"Very likely. Frank Symonds, I was saying, believes, and so does his
+father, that Hornby would rejoice at an opportunity of returning with
+interest the smart score I marked upon his back three-and-twenty
+years ago"
+
+"It was a thoughtless, cruel act, Henry," rejoined his wife, "and the
+less said of it the better. I hope the fright we have had will induce you
+to practice a better economy than heretofore; so that, instead of
+allowing two years' interest to accumulate upon us, we may gradually
+reduce the mortgage."
+
+"That we will, dear, depend upon it. We shall be pushed a little at
+first: Kirkshaw, who lent me the two hundred and fifty, can only spare it
+for a month; but no doubt the bank will do a bill for part of it by that
+time. But sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. Here is the money
+for Hornby at all events: and here at last comes the shrivelled atomy; I
+hear his horse. Fanny, light the candles."
+
+If Mrs. Burton had consciously or unconsciously entertained the
+self-flattering notion that the still unwedded bachelor who had
+unsuccessfully wooed her nearly a quarter of a century before, still
+retained a feeling of regretful tenderness for her, she must have been
+grievously surprised by the cold, unrecognizing glance which Hornby
+threw on her as he entered, and curtly replied to her civil greeting.
+_That_ was not the image stamped upon his heart and brain! But when her
+eldest daughter approached the lights to place paper and pens upon the
+table, the flashing glance and white quivering lip of the grave visitor
+revealed the tempest of emotion which for an instant shook him. He
+quickly suppressed all outward manifestation of feeling, and in a dry,
+business tone, demanded if Mr. Burton was ready to pay the interest of
+the mortgage.
+
+"Yes, thank God," replied Burton, "I am: here is the money in notes of
+the Governor and Company of the Bank of England. Count them!"
+
+Hornby bent down over the notes, shading his face with his hand, as if
+more accurately to examine them, and the glance of baffled rage which
+swept across his features was not observed.
+
+"They are quite right," he said, rising from his chair; "and here is
+your receipt."
+
+"Very Good! And now, Hornby, let us have a glass of wine together for the
+sake of old times. Well, well; you need not look so fierce about it. Let
+bygones be bygones, I say. Oh, if you _will_ go--go in God's name!
+Good-night!"
+
+"Good-night!"
+
+"Baffled--foiled!" muttered Hornby as he rode homeward. "Where could he
+get the money? Borrowed it, doubtless, but of whom? Well,
+patience--patience! I shall grip thee yet, Henry Burton!" And the
+possessed man turned round in his saddle, and shook his clenched hand in
+the direction of the house he had quitted. He then steadily pursued his
+way, and soon regained his hermitage.
+
+The month for which Burton had borrowed the two hundred and fifty pounds
+passed rapidly--as months always do to borrowers--and expedient after
+expedient for raising the money was tried in vain. This money must be
+repaid, Kirkshaw had emphatically told him, on the day stipulated. Burton
+applied to the bank at Leeds, with which he usually did business, to
+discount an acceptance, guaranteed by one or two persons whose names he
+mentioned. The answer was the usual civil refusal to accept the proffered
+security for repayment--"the bank was just then full of discounts."
+Burton ventured, as a last resource, to call on Hornby with a request
+that, as the rapid advance in the market-value of land consequent on the
+high war-prices obtained for its produce, had greatly increased the worth
+of Grange Farm, he would add the required sum to the already-existing
+mortgage. He was met by a prompt refusal. Mr. Hornby intended to
+foreclose as speedily as possible the mortgages he already held, and
+invest his capital in more profitable securities. "Well, then--would he
+lend the amount at any interest he chose?"
+
+"The usury laws," replied Hornby, with his usual saturnine sneer, "would
+prevent my acceptance of your obliging offer, even if I had the present
+means, which I have not. My spare cash happens just now to be temporarily
+locked up."
+
+Burton, half-crazed with anxiety, went the following day to the Leeds
+bank with the proffer of a fresh name agreed to be lent him by its
+owner. Useless! "They did not know the party." The applicant mused a
+few moments, and then said, "Would you discount the note of Mr. James
+Hornby of Pool?"
+
+"Certainly; with a great deal of pleasure." Burton hurried away; had his
+horse instantly saddled, and gallopped off to Pool. Hornby was at home.
+
+"You hinted the other day," said Burton, "that if you had not been short
+of present means you might have obliged me with the loan I required"
+
+"Did I?"
+
+"At least I so understood you. I am of course not ignorant, Mr. Hornby,
+that there is no good blood between us two; but I also know that you are
+fond of money, and that you are fully aware that I am quite safe for a
+few hundred pounds. I am come, therefore, to offer you ten pounds _bonus_
+for your acceptance at one month for two hundred and fifty pounds."
+
+"What?" exclaimed Hornby with strange vehemence. "What"
+
+Burton repeated his offer, and Hornby turned away towards the window
+without speaking.
+
+When he again faced Burton, his countenance wore its usual color; but
+the expression of his eyes, the applicant afterwards remembered, was
+wild and exulting.
+
+"Have you a bill stamp?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then draw the bill at once, and I will accept it."
+
+Burton did not require to be twice told. The bill was quickly drawn;
+Hornby took it to another table at the further end of the apartment,
+slowly wrote his name across it, folded, and returned it to Burton, who
+tendered the ten pounds he had offered, and a written acknowledgment that
+the bill had been drawn and accepted for his (Burton's) accommodation.
+
+"I don't want your money, Henry Burton," said Hornby, putting back the
+note and the memorandum. "I am not afraid of losing by this transaction.
+You do not know me yet."
+
+"A queer stick," thought Burton, as he gained the street; "but Old Nick
+is seldom so black as he's painted! He was a plaguy while, I thought,
+signing his name; but I wish I could sign mine to such good purpose."
+
+Burton laid the accepted bill, face downwards, on the bank counter, took
+a pen, indorsed, and passed it to the managing clerk. The gray-headed man
+glanced sharply at the signature, and then at Burton, "Why, surely this
+is not Mr. Hornby's signature? It does not at all resemble it!"
+
+"Not his signature!" exclaimed Burton; "what do you mean by that?"
+
+"Reynolds, look here," continued the clerk, addressing another of the
+bank _employes_. Reynolds looked, and his immediate glance of surprise
+and horror at Burton revealed the impression he had formed.
+
+"Please to step this way, Mr. Burton, to a private apartment," said
+the manager.
+
+"No--no, I won't," stammered the unfortunate man, over whose mind a
+dreadful suspicion had glanced with the suddenness of lightning. "I will
+go back to Hornby;" and he made a desperate but vain effort to snatch the
+fatal instrument. Then, pale and staggering with a confused terror and
+bewilderment, he attempted to rush into the street. He was stopped, with
+the help of the bystanders, by one of the clerks, who had jumped over the
+counter for the purpose.
+
+The messenger despatched by the bankers to Hornby returned with an answer
+that the alleged acceptance was a forgery. It was stated on the part of
+Mr. Hornby that Mr. Burton had indeed requested him to lend two hundred
+and fifty pounds, but he had refused. The frantic asseverations of poor
+Burton were of course disregarded, and he was conveyed to jail. An
+examination took place the next day before the magistrates, and the
+result was, that the prisoner was fully committed on the then capital
+charge for trial at the ensuing assize.
+
+It were useless, as painful, to dwell upon the consternation and agony
+which fell upon the dwellers at Grange Farm when the terrible news
+reached them. A confident belief in the perfect innocence of the
+prisoner, participated by most persons who knew his character and that of
+Hornby, and that it would be triumphantly vindicated on the day of trial,
+which rapidly approached, alone enabled them to bear up against the blow,
+and to await with trembling hope the verdict of a jury.
+
+It was at this crisis of the drama that I became an actor in it. I was
+retained for the defence by my long-known and esteemed friend Symonds,
+whose zeal for his client, stimulated by strong personal friendship, knew
+no bounds. The acceptance, he informed me, so little resembled Hornby's
+handwriting, that if Burton had unfolded the bill when given back to him
+by the villain, he could hardly have failed to suspect the nature of the
+diabolical snare set for his life.
+
+In those days, and until Mr., now Sir, Robert Peel's amendment of the
+criminal law and practice of this country, the acceptor of a bill of
+exchange, on the principle that he was _interested_ in denying the
+genuineness of the signature, could not, according to the English law of
+evidence, be called, on the part of the prosecution, to prove the
+forgery; and of course, after what had taken place, we did not propose to
+call Hornby for the defence. The evidence for the crown consisted,
+therefore, on the day of trial, of the testimony of persons acquainted
+with Hornby's signature, that the acceptance across the inculpated bill
+was not in his handwriting. Burton's behavior at the bank, in endeavoring
+to repossess himself of the bill by violence, was of course detailed, and
+told heavily against him.
+
+All the time this testimony was being given, Hornby sat on one of the
+front seats of the crowded court, exulting in the visible accomplishment
+of his Satanic device. We could see but little of his face, which,
+supported on his elbow, was partially concealed by a handkerchief he held
+in his hand; but I, who narrowly observed him, could occasionally discern
+flashes from under his pent brows--revealments of the fierce struggle
+which raged within.
+
+The moment at last arrived for the prisoner, whose eyes had been for some
+time fixed on Hornby, to speak or read his defence, and a breathless
+silence pervaded the court.
+
+Burton started at the summons, like a man unexpectedly recalled to a
+sense of an imperious, but for the moment forgotten, duty.
+
+"James Hornby!" he suddenly cried with a voice which rang through the
+assembly like a trumpet, "stand up, and if you can face an innocent
+man"--
+
+Hornby, surprised out of his self-possession, mechanically obeyed the
+strange order, sprang involuntarily to his feet, let fall the
+handkerchief that had partially concealed his features, and nervously
+confronted the prisoner.
+
+"Look at me, I say," continued Burton with increasing excitement; "and as
+you hope to escape the terrors of the last judgment, answer truly: did
+you not, with your own hand, and in my presence, sign that bill?"--
+
+"This cannot be permitted," interrupted the judge.
+
+"If you do not speak," proceeded the prisoner, heedless of the
+intimation from the bench; "or if you deny the truth, my life, as sure
+as there is a God in heaven, will be required at your hands. If, in
+consequence of your devilish plotting, these men consign me to a felon's
+grave, I shall not be cold in it when you will be calling upon the
+mountains to fall and cover you from the vengeance of the Judge of
+heaven and earth! Speak, man--save me: save your own soul from mortal
+peril whilst there is yet time for mercy and repentance!"
+
+Hornby's expression of surprise and confusion had gradually changed
+during this appeal to its usual character of dogged impassibility. He
+turned calmly and appealingly towards the bench.
+
+"You need not answer these wild adjurations, Mr. Hornby," said the judge,
+as soon as he could make himself heard.
+
+A smile curled the fellow's lip as he bowed deferentially to his
+lordship, and he sat down without uttering a syllable.
+
+"May the Lord, then, have mercy on my soul!" exclaimed the prisoner
+solemnly. Then glancing at the bench and jury-box, he added, "And you, my
+lord and gentlemen, work your will with my body as quickly as you may: I
+am a lost man!"
+
+The calling of witnesses to character, the opening of the judge's charge,
+pointing from its first sentence to a conviction, elicited no further
+manifestation of feeling from the prisoner: he was as calm as despair.
+
+The judge had been speaking for perhaps ten minutes, when a bustle was
+heard at the hall, as if persons were striving to force their way into
+the body of the court in spite of the resistance of the officers.
+
+"Who is that disturbing the court?" demanded the judge angrily.
+
+"For the love of Heaven let me pass!" we heard uttered in passionate
+tones by a female voice. "I must and will see the judge!"
+
+"Who can this be?" T inquired, addressing Mr. Symonds.
+
+"I cannot conceive," he replied; "surely not Mrs. Burton?"
+
+I had kept my eye, as I spoke, upon Hornby, and noticed that he exhibited
+extraordinary emotion at the sound of the voice, to whomsoever it
+belonged, and was now endeavoring to force his way through the crowded
+and anxious auditory.
+
+"My lord," said I, "I have to request on the part of the prisoner that
+the person desirous of admittance may be heard."
+
+"What has she to say? Or if a material witness, why have you not called
+her at the proper time?" replied his lordship with some irritation.
+
+"My lord, I do not even now know her name; but in a case involving the
+life of the prisoner, it is imperative that no chance be neglected"--
+
+"Let the woman pass into the witness-box," interrupted the judge.
+
+The order brought before our eyes a pale, stunted woman, of about fifty
+years of age, whose excited and by no means unintellectual features, and
+hurried, earnest manner, seemed to betoken great and unusual feeling.
+
+"As I'm alive, Hornby's deformed housekeeper!" whispered Symonds. "This
+poor devil's knot will be unraveled yet."
+
+The woman, whose countenance and demeanor, as she gave her evidence,
+exhibited a serious, almost solemn intelligence, deposed to the
+following effect:--
+
+"Her name was Mary McGrath, and she was the daughter of Irish parents,
+but born and brought up in England. She had been Mr. Hornby's
+housekeeper, and remembered well the 4th of February last, when Mr.
+Burton, the prisoner, called at the house. Witness was dusting in an
+apartment close to her master's business-room, from which it was only
+separated by a thin wooden partition. The door was partly open, and she
+could see as well as hear what was going on without being seen herself.
+She heard the conversation between the prisoner and her master; heard
+Mr. Hornby agree to sign the paper--bill she ought to say--for two
+hundred and fifty pounds; saw him do it, and then deliver it folded up
+to Mr. Burton."
+
+A shout of execration burst from the auditory as these words were
+uttered, and every eye was turned to the spot where Hornby had been
+seated. He had disappeared during the previous confusion.
+
+"Silence!" exclaimed the judge sternly. "Why, woman," he added, "have you
+never spoken of this before?"
+
+"Because, my lord," replied the witness with downcast looks, and in a
+low, broken voice--"because I am a sinful, wicked creature. When my
+master, the day after Mr. Burton had been taken up, discovered that I
+knew his secret, he bribed me with money and great promises of more to
+silence. I had been nearly all my life, gentlemen, poor and miserable,
+almost an outcast, and the temptation was too strong for me. He
+mistrusted me, however--for my mind, he saw, was sore troubled--and he
+sent me off to London yesterday, to be out of the way till all was over.
+The coach stopped at Leeds, and, as it was heavy upon me, I thought,
+especially as it was the blessed Easter-time, that I would step to the
+chapel. His holy name be praised that I did! The scales seemed to fall
+from my eyes, and I saw clearer than I had before the terrible wickedness
+I was committing. I told all to the priest, and he has brought me here to
+make what amends I can for the sin and cruelty of which I have been
+guilty. There--there is all that is left of the wages of crime," she
+added, throwing a purse of money on the floor of the court; and then
+bursting into a flood of tears, she exclaimed with passionate
+earnestness, "for which may the Almighty of his infinite mercy pardon and
+absolve me!"
+
+"Amen!" responded the deep husky voice of the prisoner, snatched back, as
+it were, from the very verge of the grave to liberty and life. "Amen,
+with all my soul!"
+
+The counsel for the crown, cross-examined the witness, but his efforts
+only brought out her evidence in, if possible, a still clearer and more
+trustworthy light. Not a thought of doubt was entertained by any person
+in the court, and the jury, with the alacrity of men relieved of a
+grievous burthen, and without troubling the judge to resume his
+interrupted charge, returned a verdict of acquittal.
+
+The return of Burton to his home figured as an ovation in the Pool and
+Otley annals. The greetings which met him on all sides were boisterous
+and hearty, as English greetings usually are; and it was with some
+difficulty the rustic constabulary could muster a sufficient force to
+save Hornby's domicile from sack and destruction. All the windows were,
+however, smashed, and that the mob felt was something at all events.
+
+Burton profited by the painful ordeal to which he had, primarily through
+his own thoughtlessness, been exposed, and came in a few years to be
+regarded as one of the most prosperous yeomen-farmers of Yorkshire. Mr.
+Frank Symonds' union with Elizabeth Burton was in due time solemnized;
+Mr. Wilberforce, the then popular member for the West Riding, I remember
+hearing, stood sponsor to their eldest born; and Mary McGrath passed the
+remainder of her life in the service of the family her testimony had
+saved from disgrace and ruin.
+
+Mr. James Hornby disappeared from Yorkshire immediately after the trial,
+and, except through his business agents, was not again heard of till the
+catastrophe at the Brunswick Theatre, where he perished. He died
+penitent, after expressing to Mr. Frank Symonds, for whom he had sent,
+his deep sorrow for the evil deed he had planned, and, but for a
+merciful interposition, would have accomplished. As a proof of the
+sincerity of his repentance, he bequeathed the bulk of his property to
+Mrs. Symonds, the daughter of the man he had pursued with such savage
+and relentless hate!
+
+
+
+
+THE REFUGEE.
+
+
+The events which I am about to relate occurred towards the close of the
+last century, some time before I was called to the bar, and do not
+therefore in strictness fall within my own experiences as a barrister.
+Still, as they came to my knowledge with much greater completeness than
+if I had been only professionally engaged to assist in the catastrophe of
+the drama through which they are evolved, and, as I conceive, throw a
+strong light upon the practical working of our criminal jurisprudence, a
+brief page of these slight leaves may not inappropriately record them.
+
+About the time I have indicated, a Mrs. Rushton, the widow of a gentleman
+of commercial opulence, resided in Upper Harley Street, Cavendish Square.
+She was a woman of "family," and by her marriage had greatly lowered
+herself, in her relatives' opinion, by a union with a person who, however
+wealthy and otherwise honorable, was so entirely the architect of his own
+fortunes--owed all that he possessed so immediately to his own skill,
+sagacity, and perseverance--that there was an unpleasant rumor abroad
+about his widowed mother being indebted to her son's success in business
+for having passed the last ten years of her life in ease and competence.
+Mr. Rushton had left his widow a handsome annuity, and to his and her
+only son a well-invested income of upwards of seven thousand a year.
+Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Rushton, who inherited quite her
+full share of family pride, if nothing else, had sought by every method
+she could devise to re-enter the charmed circle from which her union with
+a city merchant had excluded her. The most effectual mode of
+accomplishing her purpose was, she knew, to bring about a marriage
+between her son and a lady who would not be indisposed to accept of
+wealth and a well-appointed establishment in Mayfair as a set-off against
+birth and high connection.
+
+Arthur Rushton, at this time between two and three-and-twenty years of
+age, was a mild, retiring, rather shy person, and endowed with a
+tenderness of disposition, of which the tranquil depths had not as yet
+been ruffled by the faintest breath of passion. His mother possessed
+almost unbounded influence over him; and he ever listened with a smile, a
+languid, half-disdainful one, to her eager speculations upon the numerous
+eligible matches that would present themselves the instant the "season"
+and their new establishment in Mayfair--of which the decoration and
+furnishing engaged all her available time and attention--enabled them to
+open the campaign with effect. Arthur Rushton and myself had been college
+companions, and our friendly intimacy continued for several years
+afterwards. At this period especially we were very cordial and unreserved
+in our intercourse with each other.
+
+London at this time was crowded with French exiles, escaped from the
+devouring sword of Robespierre and his helpers in the work of government
+by the guillotine, almost all of whom claimed to be members of, or
+closely connected with, the ancient nobility of France. Among these was
+an elderly gentleman of the name of De Tourville, who, with his daughter
+Eugenie, had for a considerable time occupied a first floor in King
+Street, Holborn. Him I never saw in life, but Mademoiselle de Tourville
+was one of the most accomplished, graceful, enchantingly-interesting
+persons I have ever seen or known. There was a dangerous fascination in
+the pensive tenderness through which her natural gaiety and archness of
+manner would at intervals flash, like April sunlight glancing through
+clouds and showers, which, the first time I saw her, painfully impressed
+as much as it charmed me--perceiving, as I quickly did, that with her the
+future peace, I could almost have said life, of Arthur Rushton was
+irrevocably bound up. The fountains of his heart were for the first time
+stirred to their inmost depths, and, situated as he and she were, what
+but disappointment, bitterness, and anguish could well-up from those
+troubled waters? Mademoiselle de Tourville, I could perceive, was fully
+aware of the impression she had made upon the sensitive and amiable
+Englishman; and I sometimes discovered an expression of pity--of
+sorrowful tenderness, as it were--pass over her features as some
+distincter revelation than usual of the nature of Arthur Rushton's
+emotions flashed upon her. I also heard her express herself several
+times, as overtly as she could, upon the _impossibility_ there existed
+that she should, however much she might desire it, settle in England, or
+even remain in it for any considerable length of time. All this I
+understood, or thought I did, perfectly; but Rushton, bewildered,
+entranced by feelings altogether new to him, saw nothing, heard nothing
+but her presence, and felt, without reasoning upon it, that in that
+delirious dream it was his fate either to live or else to bear no life.
+Mrs. Rushton--and this greatly surprised me--absorbed in her matrimonial
+and furnishing schemes and projects, saw nothing of what was going on.
+Probably the notion that her son should for an instant think of allying
+himself with an obscure, portionless foreigner, was, to a mind like hers,
+too absurd to be for a moment entertained; or--But stay; borne along by
+a crowd of rushing thoughts, I have, I find, somewhat anticipated the
+regular march of my narrative.
+
+M. and Mademoiselle de Tourville, according to the after-testimony of
+their landlord, Mr. Osborn, had, from the time of their arrival in
+England, a very constant visitor at their lodgings in King Street. He was
+a tall French gentleman, of perhaps thirty years of age, and
+distinguished appearance. His name was La Houssaye. He was very
+frequently with them indeed, and generally he and M. de Tourville would
+go out together in the evening, the latter gentleman not returning home
+till very late. This was more especially the case after Mademoiselle de
+Tourville ceased to reside with her father.
+
+Among the fashionable articles with which Mrs. Rushton was anxious to
+surround herself, was a companion of accomplishments and high-breeding,
+who might help her to rub off the rust she feared to have contracted by
+her connection with the city. A Parisian lady of high lineage and perfect
+breeding might, she thought, be easily obtained; and an advertisement
+brought Mademoiselle de Tourville to her house. Mrs. Rushton was
+delighted with the air and manners of the charming applicant; and after a
+slight inquiry by letter to an address of reference given by the young
+lady, immediately engaged her, on exceedingly liberal terms, for six
+months--that being the longest period for which Mademoiselle de Tourville
+could undertake to remain. She also stipulated for permission to pass the
+greater part of one day in the week--that which might happen to be most
+convenient to Mrs. Rushton--with her father. One other condition
+testified alike to M. de Tourville's present poverty and her own filial
+piety: it was, that her salary should be paid weekly--she would not
+accept it in advance--avowedly for her parent's necessities, who, poor
+exile! and tears stood in Eugenie's dark lustrous eyes as she spoke, was
+ever trembling on the brink of the grave from an affection of the heart
+with which he had been long afflicted. Mademoiselle de Tourville, I
+should state, spoke English exceedingly well as far as the rules of
+syntax and the meanings of words went, and with an accent charming in its
+very defectiveness.
+
+She had resided with Mrs. Rushton, who on all occasions treated her with
+the greatest kindness and consideration, for rather more than two months,
+when an incident occurred which caused the scales to fall suddenly from
+the astonished mother's eyes, and in a moment revealed to her the extent
+of the risk and mischief she had so heedlessly incurred. The carriage was
+at the door, and it struck Mrs. Rushton as she was descending the stairs
+that Mademoiselle de Tourville, who had complained of headache in the
+morning, would like to take an airing with her. The sound of the harp
+issuing from the drawing-room, and the faintly-distinguished tones of her
+voice in some plaintive silver melody perhaps suggested the invitation;
+and thither the mistress of the mansion at once proceeded. The
+folding-doors of the back drawing-room were partially open when Mrs.
+Rushton, on kind thoughts intent, entered the front apartment.
+Mademoiselle de Tourville was seated with her back towards her at the
+harp, pouring forth with her thrilling and delicious voice a French
+romaunt; and there, with his head supported on his elbow, which rested on
+the marble chimney-piece, stood her son, Arthur Rushton, gazing at the
+apparently-unconscious songstress with a look so full of devoted
+tenderness--so completely revealing the intensity of passion by which he
+was possessed--that Mrs. Rushton started with convulsive affright, and
+could not for several minutes give articulation to the dismay and rage
+which choked her utterance Presently, however, her emotions found
+expression, and a storm of vituperative abuse was showered upon the head
+of the astonished Eugenie, designated as an artful _intrigante_, a
+designing pauper, who had insinuated herself into the establishment for
+the sole purpose of entrapping Mr. Arthur Rushton--with a great deal more
+to the same effect. Mademoiselle de Tourville, who had first been too
+much surprised by the unexpected suddenness of the attack to quite
+comprehend the intent and direction of the blows, soon recovered her
+self-possession and hauteur. A smile of contempt curled her beautiful
+lip, as, taking advantage of a momentary pause in Mrs. Rushton's
+breathless tirade, she said, "Permit me, madam, to observe that if, as
+you seem to apprehend, your son has contemplated honoring me by the offer
+of an alliance with his ancient House"--Her look at this moment glanced
+upon the dreadfully agitated young man; the expression of disdainful
+bitterness vanished in an instant from her voice and features; and after
+a few moments, she added, with sad eyes bent upon the floor, "That he
+could not have made a more unhappy choice--more unfortunate for him, more
+impossible for me!" She then hastily left the apartment, and before a
+quarter of an hour had elapsed, had left the house in a hackney-coach.
+
+The scene which followed between the mother and son was a violent and
+distressing one. Mr. Rushton, goaded to fury by his mother's attack upon
+Mademoiselle de Tourville, cast off the habit of deference and submission
+which he had always worn in her presence, and asserted with vehemence his
+right to wed with whom he pleased, and declared that no power on earth
+should prevent him marrying the lady just driven ignominiously from the
+house if she could be brought to accept the offer of his hand and
+fortune! Mrs. Rushton fell into passionate hysterics; and her son, having
+first summoned her maid, withdrew to ruminate on Mademoiselle de
+Tourville's concluding sentence, which troubled him far more that what he
+deemed the injustice of his mother.
+
+When Mrs. Rushton, by the aid of water, pungent essences, and the relief
+which even an hour of time seldom fails to yield in such cases, had
+partially recovered her equanimity, she determined, after careful
+consideration of the best course of action, to consult a solicitor of
+eminence, well acquainted with her late husband, upon the matter. She had
+a dim notion that the Alien Act, if it could be put in motion, might rid
+her of Mademoiselle de Tourville and her friends. Thus resolving, and
+ever scrupulous as to appearances, she carefully smoothed her ruffled
+plumage, changed her disordered dress, and directed the carriage, which
+had been dismissed, to be again brought round to the door. "Mary," she
+added a few moments afterwards, "bring me my jewel-case--the small one:
+you will find it in Made--in that French person's dressing-room."
+
+Mary Austin reappeared in answer to the violent ringing of her impatient
+lady's bell, and stated that the jewel-case could nowhere be found in
+Mademoiselle's dressing-room. "Her clothes, everything belonging to her,
+had been taken out of the wardrobe, and carried away, and perhaps that
+also in mistake no doubt."
+
+"Nonsense, woman!" replied Mrs. Rushton. "I left it not long ago on her
+toilet-glass. I intended to show her a purchase I had made, and not
+finding her, left it as I tell you."
+
+Another search was made with the same ill-success. Mary Austin afterwards
+said that when she returned to her mistress the second time, to say that
+the jewel-case was certainly gone, an expression of satisfaction instead
+of anger, it seemed to her, glanced across Mrs. Rushton's face, who
+immediately left the room, and in a few minutes afterwards was driven
+off in the carriage.
+
+About an hour after her departure I called in Harley Street for Arthur
+Rushton, with whom I had engaged to go this evening to the theatre to
+witness Mrs. Siddons's Lady Macbeth, which neither of us had yet seen. I
+found him in a state of calmed excitement, if I may so express myself;
+and after listening with much interest to the minute account he gave me
+of what had passed, I, young and inexperienced as I was in such affairs,
+took upon myself to suggest that, as the lady he nothing doubted was as
+irreproachable in character as she was confessedly charming and
+attractive in person and manners, and as he was unquestionably his own
+master, Mrs. Rushton's opposition was not likely to be of long
+continuance; and that as to Mademoiselle de Tourville's somewhat
+discouraging expression, such sentences from the lips of ladies--
+
+    "That would be wooed, and not unsought be won"--
+
+were seldom, if ever, I had understood, to be taken in a literal and
+positive sense. Under this mild and soothing treatment, Mr. Rushton
+gradually threw off a portion of the load that oppressed him, and we set
+off in tolerably cheerful mood for the theatre.
+
+Mrs. Siddons' magnificent and appalling impersonation over, we left the
+house; he, melancholy and sombre as I had found him in Harley Street, and
+I in by no means a gay or laughing mood. We parted at my door, and
+whether it was the effect of the tragedy, so wonderfully realized in its
+chief creation, or whether coming events _do_ sometimes cast their
+shadows before, I cannot say, but I know that an hour after Rushton's
+departure I was still sitting alone, my brain throbbing with excitement,
+and so nervous and impressionable, that a sudden, vehement knocking at
+the street entrance caused me to spring up from my chair with a terrified
+start, and before I could master the impulsive emotion, the room-door was
+thrown furiously open, and in reeled Arthur Rushton--pale, haggard,
+wild--his eyes ablaze with horror and affright! Had the ghost of Duncan
+suddenly gleamed out of the viewless air I could not have been more
+startled--awed!
+
+"She is dead!--poisoned!" he shrieked with maniacal fury;
+"killed!--murdered!--and by _her_!"
+
+I gasped for breath, and could hardly articulate--"What! whom?"
+
+"My mother!" he shouted with the same furious vehemence--"Killed! by
+_her_! Oh, horror!--horror!--horror!" and exhausted by the violence of
+his emotions, the unfortunate gentleman staggered, shuddered violently,
+as if shaken by an ague fit, and fell heavily--for I was too confounded
+to yield him timely aid--on the floor.
+
+As soon as I could rally my scattered senses, I caused medical aid to be
+summoned, and got him to bed. Blood was freely taken from both arms, and
+he gradually recovered consciousness. Leaving him in kind and careful
+hands, I hurried off to ascertain what possible foundation there could be
+for the terrible tidings so strangely announced.
+
+I found the establishment in Harley Street in a state of the wildest
+confusion and dismay. Mrs. Rushton _was_ dead; that, at all events, was
+no figment of sudden insanity, and incredible, impossible rumors were
+flying from mouth to mouth with bewildering rapidity and incoherence.
+The name of Mademoiselle de Tourville was repeated in every variety of
+abhorrent emphasis; but it was not till I obtained an interview with
+Mrs. Rushton's solicitor that I could understand what really had
+occurred, or, to speak more properly, what was suspected. Mrs. Rushton
+had made a deposition, of which Mr. Twyte related to me the essential
+points. The deceased lady had gone out in her carriage with the express
+intention of calling on him, the solicitor, to ascertain if it would be
+possible to apply the Alien Act to Mademoiselle de Tourville and her
+father, in order to get them sent out of the country. Mr. Twyte did not
+happen to be at home, and Mrs. Rushton immediately drove to the De
+Tourvilles' lodgings in King Street, Holborn, with the design, she
+admitted, of availing herself of what she was in her own mind satisfied
+was the purely accidental taking away of a jewel-case, to terrify
+Mademoiselle de Tourville, by the threat of a criminal charge, into
+leaving the country, or at least to bind herself not to admit, under any
+circumstances, of Mr. Arthur Rushton's addresses. She found Eugenie in a
+state of extraordinary, and it seemed painful excitement; and the young
+lady entreated that whatever Mrs. Rushton had to say should be reserved
+for another opportunity, when she would calmly consider whatever Mrs.
+Rushton had to urge. The unfortunate lady became somewhat irritated at
+Mademoiselle de Tourville's obstinacy, and the unruffled contempt with
+which she treated the charge of robbery, even after finding the missing
+jewel-case in a band-box, into which it had been thrust with some
+brushes and other articles in the hurry of leaving. Mrs. Rushton was
+iterating her threats in a loud tone of voice, and moved towards the
+bell to direct, she said, the landlord to send for a constable, but with
+no intention whatever of doing so, when Mademoiselle de Tourville caught
+her suddenly by the arm, and bade her step into the next room. Mrs.
+Rushton mechanically obeyed, and was led in silence to the side of a
+bed, of which Eugenie suddenly drew the curtain, and displayed to her,
+with a significant and reproachful gesture, the pale, rigid countenance
+of her father's corpse, who had, it appears, suddenly expired. The shock
+was terrible. Mrs. Rushton staggered back into the sitting-room, sick
+and faint, sank into a chair, and presently asked for a glass of wine.
+"We have no wine," replied Mademoiselle de Tourville; "but there is a
+cordial in the next room which may be better for you." She was absent
+about a minute, and on returning, presented Mrs. Rushton with a large
+wine-glassful of liquid, which the deceased lady eagerly swallowed. The
+taste was strange, but not unpleasant; and instantly afterwards Mrs.
+Rushton left the house. When the carriage reached Harley Street, she was
+found to be in a state of great prostration: powerful stimulants were
+administered, but her life was beyond the reach of medicine. She
+survived just long enough to depose to the foregoing particulars; upon
+which statement Mademoiselle de Tourville had been arrested, and was now
+in custody.
+
+"You seem to have been very precipitate," I exclaimed as soon as the
+solicitor had ceased speaking: "there appears to be as yet no proof that
+the deceased lady died of other than natural causes."
+
+"You are mistaken," rejoined Mr. Twyte. "There is no doubt on the subject
+in the minds of the medical gentlemen, although the _post-mortem_
+examination has not yet taken place. And, as if to put aside all doubt,
+the bottle from which this Eugenie de Tourville admits she took the
+cordial proves to contain distilled laurel-water, a deadly poison,
+curiously colored and flavored."
+
+Greatly perturbed, shocked, astonished as I was, my mind refused to
+admit, even for a moment, the probability, hardly the possibility, of
+Eugenie de Tourville's guilt. The reckless malignancy of spirit evinced
+by so atrocious an act dwelt not, I was sure, within that beauteous
+temple. The motives alleged to have actuated her--fear of a criminal
+charge, admitted to be absurd, and desire to rid herself of an obstacle
+to her marriage with Arthur Rushton--seemed to me altogether strained and
+inapplicable. The desperation of unreasoning hate could alone have
+prompted such a deed; for detection was inevitable, had, in truth, been
+courted rather than attempted to be avoided.
+
+My reasoning made no change in the conclusions of Mr. Twyte the attorney
+for the prosecution, and I hastened home to administer such consolation
+to Arthur Rushton as might consist in the assurance of my firm conviction
+that his beloved mother's life had not been wilfully taken away by
+Eugenie de Tourville. I found him still painfully agitated; and the
+medical attendant told me it was feared by Dr. ---- that brain fever
+would supervene if the utmost care was not taken to keep him as quiet and
+composed as, under the circumstances, was possible. I was, however,
+permitted a few minutes' conversation with him; and my reasoning, or,
+more correctly, my confidently-expressed belief--for his mind seemed
+incapable of following my argument, which it indeed grasped faintly at,
+but slipped from, as it were, in an instant--appeared to relieve him
+wonderfully. I also promised him that no legal or pecuniary assistance
+should be wanting in the endeavor to clear Mademoiselle de Tourville of
+the dreadful imputation preferred against her. I then left him. The
+anticipation of the physician was unfortunately realized: the next
+morning he was in a raging fever, and his life, I was informed, was in
+very imminent danger.
+
+It was a distracting time; but I determinedly, and with much self-effort,
+kept down the nervous agitation which might have otherwise rendered me
+incapable of fulfilling the duties I had undertaken to perform. By
+eleven o'clock in the forenoon I had secured the active and zealous
+services of Mr. White, one of the most celebrated of the criminal
+attorneys of that day. By application in the proper quarter, we obtained
+immediate access to the prisoner, who was temporarily confined in a
+separate room in the Red-Lion Square Lock-up House. Mademoiselle de
+Tourville, although exceedingly pale, agitated, and nervous, still looked
+as lustrously pure, as radiantly innocent of evil thought or deed, as on
+the day that I first beheld her. The practiced eye of the attorney
+scanned her closely. "As innocent of this charge," he whispered, "as you
+or I." I tendered my services to the unfortunate young lady with an
+earnestness of manner which testified more than any words could have done
+how entirely my thoughts acquitted her of offence. Her looks thanked me;
+and when I hinted at the promise exacted of me by Arthur Rushton, a
+bright blush for an instant mantled the pale marble of her cheeks and
+forehead, indicating with the tears, which suddenly filled and trembled
+in her beautiful eyes, a higher sentiment, I thought, than mere
+gratitude. She gave us her unreserved confidence; by which, after careful
+sifting, we obtained only the following by no means entirely satisfactory
+results:--
+
+Mademoiselle de Tourville and her father had escaped from the Terrorists
+of France by the aid of, and in company with, the Chevalier la Houssaye,
+with whom M. de Tourville had previously had but very slight
+acquaintance. The chevalier soon professed a violent admiration for
+Eugenie; and having contrived to lay M. de Tourville under heavy
+pecuniary obligations at play--many of them Mademoiselle de Tourville had
+only very lately discovered--prevailed upon his debtor to exert his
+influence with his daughter to accept La Houssaye's hand in marriage.
+After much resistance, Mademoiselle de Tourville, overcome by the
+commands, entreaties, prayers of her father, consented, but only on
+condition that the marriage should not take place till their return to
+France, which it was thought need not be very long delayed, and that no
+more money obligations should in the meantime be incurred by her father.
+La Houssaye vehemently objected to delay; but finding Eugenie inexorable,
+sullenly acquiesced. It was precisely at this time that the engagement
+with Mrs. Rushton was accepted. On the previous afternoon Mademoiselle de
+Tourville, on leaving Harley Street after the scene with the deceased
+lady, went directly home, and there found both her father and the
+chevalier in hot contention and excitement. As soon as La Houssaye saw
+her, he seized his hat, and rushed out of the apartment and house. Her
+father, who was greatly excited, had barely time to say that he had
+fortunately discovered the chevalier to be a married man, whose wife, a
+woman of property, was still living in Languedoc, when what had always
+been predicted would follow any unusual agitation happened: M. de
+Tourville suddenly placed his hand on his side, uttered a broken
+exclamation, fell into a chair, and expired. It was about two hours after
+this melancholy event that Mrs. Rushton arrived. The account before given
+of the interview which followed was substantially confirmed by
+Mademoiselle de Tourville; who added, that the cordial she had given Mrs.
+Rushton was one her father was in the constant habit of taking when in
+the slightest degree excited, and that she was about to give him some
+when he suddenly fell dead.
+
+We had no doubt, none whatever, that this was the whole, literal truth,
+as far as the knowledge of Mademoiselle de Tourville extended; but how
+could we impart that impression to an Old Bailey jury of those days,
+deprived as we should be of the aid of counsel to address the jury, when
+in reality a speech, pointing to the improbabilities arising from
+character, and the altogether _un_guilty-like mode of administering the
+fatal liquid, was the only possible defence? Cross-examination promised
+nothing; for the evidence would consist of the dying deposition of Mrs.
+Rushton, the finding of the laurel-water, and the medical testimony as to
+the cause of death. The only person upon whom suspicion glanced was La
+Houssaye, and that in a vague and indistinct manner. Still, it was
+necessary to find him without delay, and Mr. White at once sought him at
+his lodgings, of which Mademoiselle de Tourville furnished the address.
+He had left the house suddenly with all his luggage early in the morning,
+and our efforts to trace him proved fruitless. In the meantime the
+_post-mortem_ examination of the body had taken place, and a verdict of
+willful murder against Eugenie de Tourville been unhesitatingly returned.
+She was soon afterwards committed to Newgate for trial.
+
+The Old Bailey session was close at hand, and Arthur Rushton, though
+immediate danger was over, was still in too delicate and precarious a
+state to be informed of the true position of affairs when the final day
+of trial arrived. The case had excited little public attention. It was
+not the fashion in those days to exaggerate the details of crime, and,
+_especially before trial_, give the wings of the morning to every fact
+or fiction that rumor with her busy tongue obscurely whispered. Twenty
+lines of the "Times" would contain the published record of the
+commitment of Eugenie de Tourville for poisoning her mistress, Caroline
+Rushton; and, alas! spite of the crippled but earnest efforts of the
+eminent counsel we had retained, and the eloquent innocence of her
+appearance and demeanor, her conviction and condemnation to death
+without hope of mercy! My brain swam as the measured tones of the
+recorder, commanding the almost immediate and violent destruction of
+that beauteous masterpiece of God, fell upon my ear; and had not Mr.
+White, who saw how greatly I was affected, fairly dragged me out of
+court into the open air, I should have fainted. I scarcely remember how
+I got home--in a coach, I believe; but face Rushton after that dreadful
+scene with a kindly-meant deception--_lie_--in my mouth, I could not,
+had a king's crown been the reward. I retired to my chamber, and on the
+plea of indisposition directed that I should on no account be disturbed.
+Night had fallen, and it was growing somewhat late, when I was startled
+out of the painful reverie in which I was still absorbed by the sudden
+pulling up of a furiously-driven coach, followed by a thundering summons
+at the door, similar to that which aroused me on the evening of Mrs.
+Rushton's death. I seized my hat, rushed down stairs, and opened the
+door. It was Mr. White!
+
+"Well!--well!" I ejaculated.
+
+"Quick--quick!" he exclaimed in reply. "La Houssaye--he is found--has
+sent for us--quick! for life--life is on our speed!"
+
+I was in the vehicle in an instant. In less than ten minutes we had
+reached our destination--a house in Duke Street, Manchester Square.
+
+"He is still alive," replied a young man in answer to Mr. White's hurried
+inquiry. We rapidly ascended the stairs, and in the front apartment of
+the first floor beheld one of the saddest, mournfulest spectacles which
+the world can offer--a fine, athletic man, still in the bloom of natural
+health and vigor, and whose pale features, but for the tracings there of
+fierce, ungoverned passions, were strikingly handsome and intellectual,
+stretched by his own act upon the bed of death! It was La Houssaye! Two
+gentlemen were with him--one a surgeon, and the other evidently a
+clergyman, and, as I subsequently found, a magistrate, who had been sent
+for by the surgeon. A faint smile gleamed over the face of the dying man
+as we entered, and he motioned feebly to a sheet of paper, which, closely
+written upon, was lying upon a table placed near the sofa upon which the
+unhappy suicide was reclining. Mr. White snatched, and eagerly perused
+it. I could see by the vivid lighting up of his keen gray eye that it
+was, in his opinion, satisfactory and sufficient.
+
+"This," said Mr. White, "is your solemn deposition, knowing yourself to
+be dying?"
+
+"Yes, yes," murmured La Houssaye; "the truth--the truth!"
+
+"The declaration of a man," said the clergyman with some asperity of
+tone, "who defyingly, unrepentingly, rushes into the presence of his
+Creator, can be of little value!"
+
+"Ha!" said the dying man, rousing himself by a strong effort;
+"I repent--yes--yes--I repent! I believe--do you hear?--and
+repent--believe. Put that down," he added, in tones momently feebler
+and more husky, as he pointed to the paper; "put that down, or--or
+perhaps--Eu--genie--perhaps"--
+
+As he spoke, the faint light that had momently kindled his glazing eye
+was suddenly quenched; he remained for perhaps half a minute raised on
+his elbow, and with his outstretched finger pointing towards the paper,
+gazing blindly upon vacancy. Then the arm dropped, and he fell back dead!
+
+We escaped as quickly as we could from this fearful death-room, and I
+found that the deposition which Mr. White brought away with him gave a
+full, detailed account, written in the French language, of the
+circumstances which led to the death of Mrs. Rushton.
+
+La Houssaye, finding that M. de Tourville had by some means discovered
+the secret of his previous marriage, and that consequently all hope of
+obtaining the hand of Eugenie, whom he loved with all the passion of his
+fiery nature, would be gone unless De Tourville could be prevented from
+communicating with his daughter, resolved to compass the old man's
+instant destruction. The chevalier persuaded himself that, as he should
+manage it, death would be attributed to the affection of the heart, from
+which M. de Tourville had so long suffered. He procured the distilled
+laurel-water--how and from whom was minutely explained--colored, flavored
+it to resemble as nearly as possible the cordial which he knew M. de
+Tourville--and he only--was in the habit of frequently taking. A
+precisely-similar bottle he also procured--the shop at which it was
+purchased was described--and when he called in King Street, he found no
+difficulty, in an unobserved moment, of substituting one bottle for the
+other. That containing the real cordial he was still in possession of,
+and it would be found in his valise The unexpected arrival of
+Mademoiselle de Tourville frustrated his design, and he rushed in fury
+and dismay from the house. A few hours afterwards, he heard of the sudden
+death of M. de Tourville, and attributing it to his having taken a
+portion of the simulated cordial, he, La Houssaye, fearful of
+consequences, hastily and secretly changed his abode. He had subsequently
+kept silence till the conviction of Eugenie left him no other
+alternative, if he would not see her perish on the scaffold, than a full
+and unreserved confession. This done--Eugenie saved, but lost to him--he
+had nothing more to live for in the world, and should leave it.
+
+This was the essence of the document; and all the parts of it which were
+capable of corroborative proof having been substantiated, a free pardon
+issued from the crown--the technical mode of quashing an unjust criminal
+verdict--and Mademoiselle de Tourville was restored to liberty.
+
+She did not return to France. Something more perhaps than a year after
+the demonstration of her innocence, she was married to Arthur Rushton in
+the Sardinian Catholic Chapel, London, the bridegroom having by her
+influence been induced to embrace the faith of Rome. The establishments
+in Harley Street and Mayfair were broken up; and the newly-espoused pair
+settled in the county of Galway, Ireland, where Mr. Rushton made
+extensive landed purchases. They have lived very happily a long life,
+have been blessed with a large and amiable family, and are now--for they
+are both yet alive--surrounded with grandchildren innumerable.
+
+
+
+
+EXPERIENCES OF A BARRISTER.
+
+
+
+
+THE LIFE POLICY.
+
+
+Besides being the confidential advisers, attorneys are the "confessors"
+of modern England; and the revelations--delicate, serious, not
+unfrequently involving life as well as fortune and character--confided to
+the purchased fidelity and professional honor of men whom romancers of
+all ages have stereotyped as the ghouls and vampires of civilized
+society, are, it is impossible to deny, as rarely divulged as those which
+the penitents of the Greek and Latin churches impart to their spiritual
+guides and helpers; and this possibly for the somewhat vulgar, but very
+sufficient reason, that "a breach of confidence" would as certainly
+involve the professional ruin of an attorney as the commission of a
+felony. An able but eccentric jurisconsult, Mr. Jeremy Bentham, was
+desirous that attorneys should be compelled to disclose on oath whatever
+guilty secrets might be confided to them by their clients; the only
+objection to which ingenious device for the conviction of rogues being,
+that if such a power existed, there would be no secrets to disclose; and,
+as a necessary consequence, that the imperfectly-informed attorney would
+be unable to render his client the justice to which every person, however
+criminal, is clearly entitled--that of having his or her case presented
+before the court appointed to decide upon it in the best and most
+advantageous manner possible. Let it not be forgotten either that the
+attorney is the only real, practical defender of the humble and needy
+against the illegal oppressions of the rich and powerful--the shrewd,
+indomitable agent who gives prosaic reality to the figurative eloquence
+of old Chancellor Fortescue, when he says, "that the lightning may flash
+through, the thunder shake, the tempest beat, upon the English peasant's
+hut, but the king of England, with all his army, cannot lift the latch to
+enter in." The chancellor of course meant, that in this country
+overbearing violence cannot defy, or put itself in the place of the law.
+This is quite true; and why? Chiefly because the attorney is ready, in
+all cases of provable illegality, with his potent strip of parchment
+summoning the great man before "her Sovereign Lady the Queen," there to
+answer for his acts; and the richer the offender, the more keen and eager
+Mr. Attorney to prosecute the suit, however needy his own client; for he
+is then sure of his costs, if he succeed! Again, I cheerfully admit the
+extreme vulgarity of the motive; but its effect in protecting the legal
+rights of the humble is not, I contend, lessened because the reward of
+exertion and success is counted out in good, honest sovereigns, or notes
+of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England.
+
+Thus much by way of conciliatory prologue to the narrative of a few
+incidents revealed in the attorney's privileged confessional; throughout
+which I have of course, in order to avoid any possible recognition of
+those events or incidents, changed the name of every person concerned.
+
+Our old city firm, then, which, I am happy to say, still flourishes
+under the able direction of our active successors, I will
+call--adopting the nomenclature appropriated to us by imaginative
+ladies and gentlemen who favor the world with fancy pen-and-ink
+portraits of the lawyer tribe--that of Flint and Sharp; Sharp being
+myself, and Flint the silver-haired old bachelor we buried a few weeks
+since in Kensal Green Cemetery.
+
+"Mr. Andrews," said a clerk as he threw open the door of the inner office
+one afternoon; "Mr. Jesse Andrews."
+
+"Good-day, Mr. Andrews," was my prompt and civil greeting: "I have good
+news for you. Take a chair."
+
+The good-humored, rather intelligent, and somewhat clouded countenance of
+the new-comer brightened up at these words. "News from my Cousin
+Archibald?" he asked, as he seated himself.
+
+"Yes: He laments your late failure, and commiserates the changed position
+and prospects of your wife and boy, little Archibald, his godson. You he
+has not much compassion for, inasmuch as he attributes your misfortunes
+entirely to mismanagement, and the want of common prudence."
+
+"Candid, certainly," grumbled out Mr. Jesse Andrews; "but an odd sort of
+good news!"
+
+"His deeds are kinder than his words. He will allow, till Archibald
+attains his majority--Let me see--how old is that boy of yours now?"
+
+"Ten. He was two years old when his godfather went to India."
+
+"Well, then, you will receive two hundred pounds per annum, payable
+half-yearly, in advance, for the next ten years--that is, of course, if
+your son lives--in order to enable you to bring him up, and educate him
+properly. After that period has elapsed, your cousin intimates that he
+will place the young man advantageously, and I do not doubt will do
+something for you, should you not by that time have conquered a fair
+position for yourself."
+
+"Is that all?" said Mr. Andrews.
+
+"All! Why, what did you expect?"
+
+"Two or three thousand pounds to set me afloat again. I know of a safe
+speculation, that with, say three thousand pounds capital, would realize
+a handsome fortune in no time."
+
+Mr. Jesse Andrews, I may observe, was one of that numerous class of
+persons who are always on the threshold of realizing millions--the only
+and constant obstacle being the want of a sufficient "capital."
+
+I condoled with him upon his disappointment; but as words, however civil,
+avail little in the way of "capital," Mr. Jesse Andrews, having pocketed
+the first half-yearly installment of the annuity, made his exit in by no
+means a gracious or grateful frame of mind.
+
+Two other half-yearly payments were duly paid him. When he handed me the
+receipt on the last occasion, he said, in a sort of off-hand, careless
+way, "I suppose, if Archy were to die, these payments would cease?"
+
+"Perhaps not," I replied unthinkingly. "At all events, not, I should say,
+till you and your wife were in some way provided for. But your son is not
+ill?" I added.
+
+"No, no; not at present," replied Andrews, coloring, and with a confusion
+of manner which surprised me not a little. It flashed across my mind that
+the boy was dead, and that Andrews, in order not to risk the withdrawal
+or suspension of the annuity, had concealed the fact from us.
+
+"Let me see," I resumed, "we have your present address--Norton
+Folgate, I think?"
+
+"Yes, certainly you have."
+
+"I shall very likely call in a day or two to see Mrs. Andrew! and
+your son."
+
+The man smiled in a reassured, half-sardonic manner. "Do," he answered.
+"Archy is alive, and very well, thank God!"
+
+This confidence dispelled the suspicion I had momentarily entertained,
+and five or six weeks passed away, during which Andrews and his
+affairs were almost as entirely absent from my thoughts as if no such
+man existed.
+
+About the expiration of that time, Mr. Jesse Andrews unexpectedly
+revisited the office, and as soon as I was disengaged, was ushered into
+my private room. He was habited in the deepest mourning, and it naturally
+struck me that either his wife or son was dead--an impression, however,
+which a closer examination of his countenance did not confirm, knowing as
+I did, how affectionate a husband and father he was, with all his faults
+and follies, reputed to be. He looked flurried, nervous, certainly; but
+there was no grief, no sorrow in the restless, disturbed glances which he
+directed to the floor, the ceiling, the window, the fire-place, the
+chairs, the table--everywhere, in fact, except towards my face.
+
+"What is the matter, Mr. Andrews?" I gravely inquired, seeing that he did
+not appear disposed to open the conversation.
+
+"A great calamity, sir--a great calamity," he hurriedly and confusedly
+answered, his face still persistently averted from me--"has happened!
+Archy is dead!"
+
+"Dead!" I exclaimed, considerably shocked. "God bless me! when did
+this happen?"
+
+"Three weeks ago," was the reply. "He died of cholera."
+
+"Of cholera!" This occurred, I should state, in 1830.
+
+"Yes: he was very assiduously attended throughout his sufferings,
+which were protracted and severe, by the eminent Dr. Parkinson, a
+highly-respectable and skilled practitioner, as you doubtless, sir,
+are aware."
+
+I could not comprehend the man. This dry, unconcerned, business-sort of
+gabble was not the language of a suddenly-bereaved parent, and one, too,
+who had lost a considerable annuity by his son's death. What could it
+mean? I was in truth fairly puzzled.
+
+After a considerable interval of silence, which Mr. Andrews, whose eyes
+continued to wander in every direction except that of mine, showed no
+inclination to break, I said--"It will be necessary for me to write
+immediately to your cousin, Mr. Archibald Andrews. I trust, for your
+sake, the annuity will be continued; but of course, till I hear from him,
+the half-yearly payments must be suspended."
+
+"Certainly, certainly: I naturally expected that would be the case," said
+Andrews, still in the same quick, hurried tone. "Quite so."
+
+"You have nothing further to say, I suppose?" I remarked, after another
+dead pause, during which it was very apparent that he was laboring with
+something to which he nervously hesitated to give utterance.
+
+"No--yes--that is, I wished to consult you upon a matter of
+business--connected with--with a life-assurance office."
+
+"A life-assurance office?"
+
+"Yes." The man's pale face flushed crimson, and his speech became
+more and more hurried as he went on. "Yes; fearing, Mr. Sharp, that
+should Archy die, we might be left without resource, I resolved,
+after mature deliberation, to effect an insurance on his life for
+four thousand pounds."
+
+"Four thousand pounds!"
+
+"Yes. All necessary preliminaries were gone through. The medical
+gentleman--since dead of the cholera, by the way--examined the boy of
+course, and the insurance was legally effected for four thousand pounds,
+payable at his death."
+
+I did not speak; a suspicion too horrible to be hinted at held me dumb.
+
+"Unfortunately," Andrews continued, "this insurance was only effected
+about a fortnight before poor Archy's death, and the office refuses
+payment, although, as I have told you, the lad was attended to the very
+hour of his death by Dr. Parkinson, a highly-respectable, most
+unexceptionable gentleman. Very much so indeed."
+
+"I quite agree in that," I answered after a while. "Dr. Parkinson is a
+highly-respectable and eminent man. What reason," I added, "do the
+company assign for non-payment?"
+
+"The very recent completion of the policy."
+
+"Nonsense! How can that fact, standing alone, affect your claim?"
+
+"I do not know," Andrews replied; and all this time I had not been able
+to look fairly in his face; "but they do refuse; and I am anxious that
+your firm should take the matter in hand, and sue them for the amount."
+
+"I must first see Dr. Parkinson," I answered, "and convince myself that
+there is no legitimate reason for repudiating the policy."
+
+"Certainly, certainly," he replied.
+
+"I will write to you to-morrow," I said, rising to terminate the
+conference, "after I have seen Dr. Parkinson, and state whether we will
+or not take proceedings against the insurance company on your behalf."
+
+He thanked me, and hurried off.
+
+Dr. Parkinson confirmed Mr. Jesse Andrews in every particular. He had
+attended the boy, a fine, light-haired lad of eleven or twelve years of
+age, from not long after his seizure till his death. He suffered
+dreadfully, and died unmistakably of Asiatic cholera, and of nothing
+else; of which same disease a servant and a female lodger in the same
+house had died just previously. "It is of course," Dr. Parkinson remarked
+in conclusion, "as unfortunate for the company as it is strangely lucky
+for Andrews; but there is no valid reason for refusing payment."
+
+Upon this representation we wrote the next day to the assurance people,
+threatening proceedings on behalf of Mr. Jesse Andrews.
+
+Early on the morrow one of the managing-directors called on us, to state
+the reasons which induced the company to hesitate at recognizing the
+plaintiff's claim. In addition to the doubts suggested by the brief time
+which had elapsed from the date of the policy to the death of the child,
+there were several other slight circumstances of corroborative suspicion.
+The chief of these was, that a neighbor had declared he heard the father
+indulging in obstreperous mirth in a room adjoining that in which the
+corpse lay only about two hours after his son had expired. This unseemly,
+scandalous hilarity of her husband, the wife appeared to faintly
+remonstrate against. The directors had consequently resolved _non
+obstante_ Dr. Parkinson's declaration, who might, they argued, have been
+deceived, to have the body exhumed in order to a post-mortem examination
+as to the true cause of death. If the parents voluntarily agreed to this
+course, a judicial application to enforce it would be unnecessary, and
+all doubts on the matter could be quietly set at rest. I thought the
+proposal, under the circumstances, reasonable, and called on Mr. and Mrs.
+Andrews to obtain their concurrence. Mrs. Andrews was, I found, absent
+in the country, but her husband was at home; and he, on hearing the
+proposal, was, I thought, a good deal startled--shocked rather--a natural
+emotion perhaps.
+
+"Who--who," he said, after a few moments' silent reflection--"who is to
+conduct this painful, revolting inquiry?"
+
+"Dr. Parkinson will be present, with Mr. Humphrey the surgeon, and Dr.
+Curtis the newly-appointed physician to the assurance office, in place of
+Dr. Morgan who died, as you are aware, a short time since of cholera."
+
+"True. Ah, well, then," he answered almost with alacrity, "be it as they
+wish. Dr. Parkinson will see fair-play."
+
+The examination was effected, and the result was a confirmation, beyond
+doubt or quibble, that death, as Dr. Parkinson had declared, had been
+solely occasioned by cholera. The assurance company still hesitated; but
+as this conduct could now only be looked upon as perverse obstinacy, we
+served them with a writ at once. They gave in; and the money was handed
+over to Mr. Jesse Andrews, whose joy at his sudden riches did not, I was
+forced to admit, appear to be in the slightest degree damped by any
+feeling of sadness for the loss of an only child.
+
+We wrote to inform Mr. Archibald Andrews of these occurrences, and to
+request further instructions with regard to the annuity hitherto paid to
+his cousin. A considerable time would necessarily elapse before an
+answer could be received, and in the meantime Mr. Jesse Andrews plunged
+headlong into the speculation he had been long hankering to engage in,
+and was as he informed me a few weeks afterwards, on the royal road to a
+magnificent fortune.
+
+Clouds soon gathered over this brilliant prospect. The partner, whose
+persuasive tongue and brilliant imagination had induced Mr. Andrews to
+join him with his four thousand pounds, proved to be an arrant cheat and
+swindler; and Mr. Andrews's application to us for legal help and redress
+was just too late to prevent the accomplished dealer in moonshine and
+delusion from embarking at Liverpool for America, with every penny of the
+partnership funds in his pockets!
+
+A favorable reply from Mr. Archibald Andrews had now become a question of
+vital importance to his cousin, who very impatiently awaited its arrival.
+It came at last. Mr. Andrews had died rather suddenly at Bombay a short
+time before my letter arrived there, after executing in triplicate a
+will, of which one of the copies was forwarded to me. By this instrument
+his property--about thirty-five thousand pounds, the greatest portion of
+which had been remitted from time to time for investment in the British
+funds--was disposed of as follows:--Five thousand pounds to his cousin
+Jesse Andrews, for the purpose of educating and maintaining Archibald
+Andrews, the testator's godson, till he should have attained the age of
+twentyone, and the whole of the remaining thirty thousand pounds to be
+then paid over to Archibald with accumulated interest. In the event,
+however, of the death of his godson, the entire property was devised to
+another more distant and wealthier cousin, Mr. Newton, and his son
+Charles, on precisely similar conditions, with the exception that an
+annuity of seventy pounds, payable to Jesse Andrews and his wife during
+their lives, was charged upon it.
+
+Two letters were dispatched the same evening--one to the fortunate
+cousin, Mr. Newton, who lived within what was then known as the twopenny
+post delivery, and another to Mr. Jesse Andrews, who had taken up his
+temporary abode in a cottage near St. Alban's, Hertfordshire. These
+missives informed both gentlemen of the arrival of the Indian mail, and
+the, to them, important dispatches it contained.
+
+Mr. Newton was early at the office on the following morning, and perused
+the will with huge content. He was really quite sorry, though, for poor
+Cousin Jesse: the loss of his son was a sad stroke, much worse than this
+of a fortune which he might have expected to follow as a matter of
+course. And the annuity, Mr. Newton thoughtfully observed, was, after
+all, no contemptible provision for two persons, without family, and of
+modest requirements.
+
+A very different scene was enacted when, late in the evening, and just as
+I was about to leave the office, Mr. Jesse Andrews rushed in, white as a
+sheet, haggard, and wild with passion. "What devil's fables are these you
+write me?" he, burst forth the instant he had gained the threshold of the
+room. "How dare you," he went on, almost shrieking with fury--"how dare
+you attempt to palm off these accursed lies on me? Archy rich--rich--and
+I--. But it is a lie!--an infernal device got up to torture me--to
+drive me wild, distracted--mad!" The excited man literally foamed with
+rage, and so astonished was I, that it was a minute or two before I could
+speak or move.
+
+At last I rose, closed the door, (for the clerks in the outer office were
+hearers and witnesses of this outbreak,) and led the way to an inner and
+more private apartment. "Come with me, Mr. Andrews," I said, "and let us
+talk this matter calmly over."
+
+He mechanically followed, threw himself into a chair, and listened with
+frenzied impatience to the reading of the will.
+
+"A curse is upon me," he shouted, jumping up as I concluded, "the curse
+of God--a judgment upon the crime I but the other day committed--a crime
+as I thought--dolt, idiot that I was--so cunningly contrived, so cleverly
+executed! Fool, villain, madman that I have been; for now, when fortune
+is tendered for my acceptance, I dare not put forth my hand to grasp it;
+fortune, too, not only for me, but--. O God, it will kill us both, Martha
+as well as me, though I alone am to blame for this infernal chance!"
+
+This outburst appeared to relieve him, and he sank back into his chair
+somewhat calmer. I could understand nothing of all that rhapsody,
+knowing, as I did, that his son Archibald had died from natural causes.
+"It _is_ a severe blow," I said, in as soothing a tone as I could
+assume--"a very great disappointment; still, you are secured from extreme
+poverty--from anything like absolute want"--
+
+"It is not that--it is not that!" he broke in, though not quite so wildly
+as before. "Look you, Mr. Sharp, I will tell you all! There may be some
+mode of extrication from this terrible predicament, and I must have your
+advice professionally upon it."
+
+"Go on; I will advise you to the best of my ability."
+
+"Here it is, then: Archy, my son Archy, is alive!--alive! and well in
+health as either you or I!"
+
+I was thunderstruck. Here was indeed a revelation.
+
+"Alive and well," continued Andrews. "Listen! when the cholera began to
+spread so rapidly, I bethought me of insuring the boy's life in case of
+the worst befalling, but not, as I hope for mercy, with the slightest
+thought of harming a hair of his head. This was done. Very soon the
+terrific disease approached our neighborhood, and my wife took Archy to a
+country lodging, returning herself the same evening. The next day our
+only servant was attacked and died. A few hours after that our
+first-floor lodger, a widow of the name of Mason, who had been with us
+but a very short time, was attacked. She suffered dreadfully; and her
+son, a boy about the age of Archy, and with just his hair and
+complexion, took ill also. The woman was delirious with pain; and before
+effective medical aid could be obtained--she was seized in the middle of
+the night--she expired. Her son who had been removed into another room,
+became rapidly worse, and we sent for Dr. Parkinson; the poor fellow was
+partially delirious with pain, and clung piteously round my wife's neck,
+calling her mother, and imploring her to relieve him. Dr. Parkinson
+arrived, and at first sight of the boy, said, 'Your son is very ill,
+Mrs. Andrews--I fear, past recovery; but we will see what can be done.' I
+swear to you, Mr. Sharp, that it was not till this moment the device
+which has ruined us, flashed across my brain. I cautioned my wife in a
+whisper not to undeceive the doctor, who prescribed the most active
+remedies, and was in the room, when the lad died. You know the rest. And
+now, sir, tell me, can anything be done--any device suggested to retrieve
+this miserable blunder, this terrible mistake?"
+
+"This infamous crime, you should say, Mr. Andrews," I replied; "for the
+commission of which you are liable to be transported for life."
+
+"Yes, crime; no doubt that is the true word! But must the innocent child
+suffer for his father's offence?"
+
+"That is the only consideration that could induce me to wag a finger in
+the business. Like many other clever rogues, you are caught in the trap
+you limed for others. Come to me tomorrow; I will think over the matter
+between this and then; but at present I can say nothing. Stay," I added,
+as his hand was on the door; "the identity of your son can be proved, I
+suppose, by better evidence than your own?"
+
+"Certainly, certainly."
+
+"That, will do, then; I will see you in the morning."
+
+If it should cross the mind of any reader that I ought to have given
+this self-confessed felon into custody, I beg to remind him that, for the
+reasons previously stated, such a course on my part was out of the
+question--impossible; and that, had it not been impossible I should do
+so, Mr. Jesse Andrews would not have intrusted me with his criminal
+secret. The only question now therefore was, how, without compromising
+this guilty client, the godfather's legacy could be secured for the
+innocent son.
+
+A conference the next morning with Mr. Flint resulted in our sending for
+Mr. Jesse Andrews, and advising him, for fear of accidents or
+miscarriage in our plans, to betake himself to the kingdom of France for
+a short time. We had then no treaty of extradition with that country. As
+soon as I knew he was safely out of the realm, I waited upon the
+insurance people.
+
+"The money ought not to have been received by Jesse Andrews, you say, Mr.
+Sharp?" observed the managing-gentleman, looking keenly in my face.
+
+"Precisely. It ought not to have been received by him."
+
+"And _why_ not, Mr. Sharp?"
+
+"That is quite an unnecessary question, and one that, you know, I should
+not answer, if I could. That which chiefly concerns you is, that I am
+ready to return the four thousand pounds at once, here on the spot, and
+that delays are dangerous. If you refuse, why, of course--and I rose from
+my chair--I must take back the money."
+
+"Stay--stay! I will just consult with one or two gentlemen, and be with
+you again almost immediately."
+
+In about five minutes he returned. "Well, Mr. Sharp," he said, "we had,
+I suppose; better take the money--obtained, as you say, by mistake."
+
+"Not at all; I said nothing about mistake. I told you it ought not to
+have been received by Andrews!"
+
+"Well--well. I understand. I must, I suppose, give you a receipt?"
+
+"Undoubtedly; and, if you please, precisely in this form."
+
+I handed him a copy on a slip of paper. He ran it over, smiled,
+transcribed it on a stamp, signed it, and, as I handed him a check for
+the amount, placed it in my hands. We mutually bowed, and I went my way.
+
+Notwithstanding Mr. Newton's opposition, who was naturally furious at the
+unexpected turn the affair had taken, the identity of the boy--whom that
+gentleman persisted in asserting to be dead and buried--was clearly
+established; and Mr. Archibald Andrews, on the day he became of age,
+received possession of his fortune. The four thousand pounds had of
+course been repaid out of Jesse Andrews's legacy. That person has, so to
+speak, since skulked through life, a mark for the covert scorn of every
+person acquainted with the very black transaction here recorded. This was
+doubtless a much better fate than he deserved; and in strict, or poetical
+justice, his punishment ought unquestionably to have been much
+greater--more apparent also, than it was, for example's sake. But I am a
+man not of fiction, but of fact, and consequently relate events, not as
+they precisely ought, but as they do, occasionally occur in lawyers'
+offices, and other unpoetical nooks and corners of this prosaic,
+matter-of-fact, working-day world.
+
+
+
+
+BIGAMY OR NO BIGAMY?
+
+
+The firm of Flint and Sharp enjoyed, whether deservedly or not, when I
+was connected with it, as it still does, a high reputation for keen
+practice and shrewd business-management. This kind of professional fame
+is usually far more profitable than the drum-and-trumpet variety of the
+same article; or at least we found it so; and often, from blush of morn
+to far later than dewy eve--which natural phenomena, by the way, were
+only emblematically observed by me during thirty busy years in the
+extinguishment of the street lamps at dawn, and their re-illumination at
+dusk--did I and my partner incessantly pursue our golden avocations;
+deferring what are usually esteemed the pleasures of life--its banquets,
+music, flowers, and lettered ease--till the toil, and heat, and hurry of
+the day were past, and a calm, luminous evening, unclouded by care or
+anxiety, had arrived. This conduct may or may not have been wise; but at
+all events it daily increased the connection and transactions of the
+firm, and ultimately anchored us both very comfortably in the three per
+cents; and this too, I am bold to say, not without our having effected
+some good in our generation. This boast of mine the following passage in
+the life of a distinguished client--known, I am quite sure, by reputation
+to most of the readers of these papers, whom our character for practical
+sagacity and professional shrewdness brought us--will, I think, be
+admitted in some degree to substantiate.
+
+Our connection was a mercantile rather than an aristocratic one, and my
+surprise was therefore considerable, when, on looking through the
+office-blinds to ascertain what vehicle it was that had driven so rapidly
+up to the door, I observed a handsomely-appointed carriage with a coronet
+emblazoned on the panels, out of which a tall footman was handing a lady
+attired in deep but elegant mourning, and closely veiled. I instantly
+withdrew to my private room, and desired that the lady should be
+immediately admitted. Greatly was my surprise increased when the graceful
+and still youthful visitor withdrew her veil, and disclosed the features
+of the Countess of Seyton, upon whose mild, luminous beauty, as rendered
+by the engraving from Sir Thomas Lawrence's picture, I had so frequently
+gazed with admiration. That rare and touching beauty was clouded now; and
+an intense expression of anxiety, fear--almost terror--gleamed from out
+the troubled depths of her fine dark eyes.
+
+"The Countess of Seyton!" I half-involuntarily exclaimed, as with my very
+best bow I handed her ladyship a chair.
+
+"Yes; and you are a partner of this celebrated firm, are you not?"
+
+I bowed again still more profoundly to this compliment, and modestly
+admitted that I was the Sharp of the firm her ladyship was pleased to
+entitle "celebrated."
+
+"Then, Mr. Sharp, I have to consult you professionally upon a matter of
+the utmost--the most vital importance to me and mine." Her ladyship then,
+with some confusion of manner, as if she did not know whether what she
+was doing was in accordance with strict etiquette or not, placed a Bank
+of England note, by way of retainer, before me. I put it back, explaining
+what the usage really was, and the countess replaced it in her purse.
+
+"We shall he proud to render your ladyship any assistance in our power,"
+I said; "but I understood the Messrs. Jackson enjoyed the confidence of
+the house of Seyton?"
+
+"Precisely. They are, so to speak, the hereditary solicitors of the
+family more than of any individual member of it; and therefore, though
+highly respectable persons, unfit to advise me in this particular matter.
+Besides," she added with increasing tremor and hesitation, "to deal with,
+and if possible foil, the individual by whom I am persecuted, requires an
+agent of keener sagacity than either of those gentlemen can boast of;
+sharper, more resolute men; more--you understand what I mean?"
+
+"Perfectly, madam; and allow me to suggest that it is probable our
+interview may be a somewhat prolonged one--your ladyship's carriage,
+which may attract attention, should be at once dismissed. The office of
+the family solicitors is, you are aware, not far off; and as we could not
+explain to them the reason which induces your ladyship to honor us with
+your confidence, it will be as well to avoid any chance of inquiry."
+
+Lady Seyton acquiesced in my suggestion: the carriage was ordered home,
+and Mr. Flint entering just at the time, we both listened with
+earnestness and anxiety to her communication. It is needless to repeat
+verbatim the somewhat prolix, exclamative narration of the countess; the
+essential facts were as follows:--
+
+The Countess of Seyton, previous to her first marriage, was Miss Clara
+Hayley, second daughter of the Reverend John Hayley, the rector of a
+parish in Devonshire. She married, when only nineteen years of age, a
+Captain Gosford. Her husband was ten years older than herself, and, as
+she discovered after marriage, was cursed with a morose and churlish
+temper and disposition. Previous to her acquaintance with Gosford, she
+had been intimate with, almost betrothed to, Mr. Arthur Kingston, a young
+gentleman connected with the peerage, and at that time heir-apparent to
+the great expectancies and actual poverty of his father, Sir Arthur
+Kingston. The haughty baronet, the instant he was made aware of the
+nature of his son's intimacy with the rector's daughter, packed the young
+man off to the continent on his travels. The Reverend John Hayley and his
+beautiful Clara were as proud as the baronet, and extremely indignant
+that it should be thought either of them wished to entrap or delude
+Arthur Kingston into an unequal or ineligible marriage. This feeling of
+pride and resentment aided the success of Mr. Gosford's suit, and Clara
+Hayley, like many other rash, high-notioned young ladies, doomed herself
+to misery, in order to show the world, and Mr. Arthur Kingston and his
+proud father especially, that she had a spirit. The union was a most
+unhappy one. One child only, which died in its infancy, was born to them;
+and after being united somewhat more than two years, a separation,
+vehemently insisted on by the wife's father, took place, and the
+unhappily-wedded daughter returned to her parent's roof. Mr. Gosford--he
+had some time before sold out of the army--traveled about the country in
+search of amusement, and latterly of health, (for his unhappy cankerous
+temper at last affected and broke down his never very robust physical
+constitution), accompanied for the twelvemonth preceding his death by a
+young man belonging to the medical profession, of the name of Chilton.
+Mr. and Mrs. Gosford had been separated a few days less than three years
+when the husband died, at the village of Swords in Ireland, and not far
+distant from Dublin. The intelligence was first conveyed to the widow by
+a paragraph in the "Freeman's Journal," a Dublin newspaper; and by the
+following post a letter arrived from Mr. Chilton, inclosing a ring which
+the deceased had requested should be sent to his wife, and a note,
+dictated just previous to his death-hour, in which he expressed regret
+for the past, and admitted that he alone had been to blame for the
+unhappy separation. A copy of his will, made nearly a twelvemonth
+previously, was also forwarded, by which he bequeathed his property,
+amounting to about three hundred pounds per annum, to a distant relative
+then residing in New Holland. By a memorandum of a subsequent date, Mr.
+Chilton was to have all the money and other personals he might die in
+actual possession of, after defraying the necessary funeral expenses.
+This will, Mr. Chilton stated, the deceased gentleman had expressed a
+wish in his last moments to alter, but death had been too sudden for him
+to be able to give effect to that good, but too long-delayed intention.
+
+It cannot be supposed that the long-before practically widowed wife
+grieved much at the final breaking of the chain which bound her to so
+ungenial a mate; but as Lady Seyton was entirely silent upon the subject,
+our supposition can only rest upon the fact, that Arthur Kingston--who
+had some time previously, in consequence of the death of the Earl of
+Seyton and his only son, an always-weakly child, preceded a few months by
+that of his own father, the baronet, succeeded to the earldom and
+estates--hastened home, on seeing the announcement of Gosford's death in
+the Dublin paper, from the continent, where he had continued to reside
+since his compelled-departure six years before; and soon afterwards found
+his way into Devonshire, and so successfully pressed the renewed offer of
+his hand, that the wedding took place slightly within six months after
+the decease of Mr. Gosford. Life passed brilliantly and happily with the
+earl and countess--to whom three children (a boy and two girls) were
+born--till about five months previous to the present time, when the earl,
+from being caught, when out riding, in a drenching shower of rain, was
+attacked by fever, and after an acute illness of only two or three days'
+duration, expired. The present earl was at the time just turned of five
+years of age.
+
+This blow, we comprehended from the sudden tears which filled the
+beautiful eyes of the countess as she spoke of the earl's decease, was a
+severe one. Still, the grief of widowhood must have been greatly assuaged
+by love for her children, and not inconsiderably, after a while, we may
+be sure, by the brilliant position in which she was left--as, in addition
+to being splendidly jointured, she was appointed by her husband's will
+sole guardian of the young lord, her son.
+
+A terrible reverse awaited her. She was sitting with her father the
+rector, and her still unmarried sister, Jane Hayley, in the drawing-room
+of Seyton House, when a note was brought to her, signed Edward Chilton,
+the writer of which demanded an immediate and private interview, on, he
+alleged, the most important business. Lady Seyton remembered the name,
+and immediately acceded to the man's request. He announced in a brusque,
+insolent tone and manner, that Mr. Gosford had not died at the time his
+death was announced to her, having then only fallen into a state of
+syncope, from which he had unexpectedly recovered, and had lived six
+months longer. "The truth is," added Chilton, "that, chancing the other
+day to be looking over a 'peerage,' I noticed for the first time the date
+of your marriage with the late Earl of Seyton, and I have now to inform
+you that it took place precisely eight days previous to Mr. Gosford's
+death; that it was consequently no marriage at all; and that your son is
+no more Earl of Seyton than I am."
+
+This dreadful announcement, as one might expect, completely overcame the
+countess. She fainted, but not till she had heard and comprehended
+Chilton's hurried injunctions to secrecy and silence. He rang the bell
+for assistance, and then left the house. The mental agony of Lady Seyton
+on recovering consciousness was terrible, and she with great difficulty
+succeeded in concealing its cause from her anxious and wondering
+relatives. Another interview with Chilton appeared to confirm the truth
+of his story beyond doubt or question. He produced a formally-drawn-up
+document, signed by one Pierce Cunningham, grave-digger of Swords, which
+set forth that Charles Gosford was buried on the 26th of June, 1832, and
+that the inscription on his tombstone set forth that he had died June 23d
+of that year. Also a written averment of Patrick Mullins of Dublin, that
+he had lettered the stone at the head of the grave of Charles Gosford in
+Swords burying-ground in 1832, and that its date was, as stated by Pierce
+Cunningham, June 23, 1832.
+
+"Have you copies of those documents?" asked Mr. Flint.
+
+"Yes: I have brought them with me," the countess replied, and handed them
+to Mr. Flint. "In my terror and extremity," continued her ladyship, "and
+unguided by counsel--for, till now I have not dared to speak upon the
+subject to any person--I have given this Chilton, at various times, large
+sums of money--but he is insatiable; and only yesterday--I cannot
+repeat his audacious proposal--you will find it in this note."
+
+"Marriage!" exclaimed Mr. Flint with a burst. He had read the note over
+my shoulder. "The scoundrel!"
+
+My worthy partner was rather excited. The truth was he had a Clara of
+his own at home--a dead sister's child--very pretty, just about
+marriageable, and a good deal resembling, as he told me afterwards, our
+new and interesting client.
+
+"I would die a thousand deaths rather," resumed Lady Seyton, in a low,
+tremulous voice, as she let fall her veil. "Can there," she added in a
+still fainter voice, "be anything done--anything"--
+
+"That depends entirely," interrupted Mr. Flint, "upon whether this fine
+story is or is not a fabrication, got up for the purpose of extorting
+money. It seems to me, I must say, amazingly like one."
+
+"Do you really think so?" exclaimed the lady with joyful vehemence. The
+notion that Chilton was perhaps imposing on her credulity and fears
+seemed not to have struck her before.
+
+"What do you think, Sharp?" said my partner.
+
+I hesitated to give an opinion, as I did not share in the hope
+entertained by Flint. Detection was so certain, that I doubted if so
+cunning a person as Chilton appeared to be would have ventured on a fraud
+so severely punishable. "Suppose," I said, avoiding an answer, "as this
+note appoints an interview at three o'clock to-day at Seyton House, we
+meet him there instead of your ladyship? A little talk with the fellow
+might be serviceable."
+
+Lady Seyton eagerly agreed to this proposal; and it was arranged that we
+should be at Seyton House half an hour before the appointed time, in
+readiness for the gentleman. Lady Seyton left in a hackney-coach,
+somewhat relieved, I thought, by having confided the oppressive secret to
+us, and with a nascent hope slightly flushing her pale, dejected
+countenance.
+
+The firm of Flint and Sharp had then a long conference together, during
+which the lady's statement and Mr. Chilton's documents were, the reader
+may be sure, very minutely conned over, analyzed, and commented upon.
+Finally, it was resolved that, if the approaching interview, the manner
+of which we agreed upon, did not prove satisfactory, Mr. Flint should
+immediately proceed to Ireland, and personally ascertain the truth or
+falsehood of the facts alleged by Chilton.
+
+"Mr. Chilton is announced," said Lady Seyton, hurriedly entering the
+library in Grosvenor Square, where Mr. Flint and myself were seated. "I
+need not be present, I think you said?" she added, in great tremor.
+
+"Certainly not, madam," I replied. "We shall do better alone."
+
+She retired instantly. Flint rose and stationed himself close by the
+door. Presently a sounding, confident step was heard along the passage,
+the library door swung back on its noiseless hinges, and in stalked a man
+of apparently about thirty-five years of age, tall, genteel, and
+soldier-looking. He started back on seeing me, recognizing, I perceived,
+my vocation, at a glance.
+
+"How is this?" he exclaimed. "I expected"--
+
+"The Countess of Seyton. True; but her ladyship has deputed me to confer
+with you on the business mentioned in your note."
+
+"I shall have nothing to say to you," he replied abruptly, and turned
+to leave the room. Mr. Flint had shut, and was standing with his back
+to the door.
+
+"You can't go," he said, in his coolest manner. "The police are
+within call."
+
+"The police! What the devil do you mean?" cried Chilton, angrily; but,
+spite of his assurance, visibly trembling beneath Flint's searching,
+half-sneering look.
+
+"Nothing very remarkable," replied that gentleman, "or unusual in our
+profession. Come, sit down; we are lawyers; you are a man of business, we
+know. I dare say we shall soon understand each other."
+
+Mr. Chilton sat down, and moodily awaited what was next to come.
+
+"You are aware," said Mr. Flint, "that you have rendered yourself liable
+to transportation?"
+
+"What"' exclaimed Chilton, flashing crimson, and starting to his
+feet. "What!"
+
+"To transportation," continued my imperturbable partner, "for seven, ten,
+fourteen years, or for life, at the discretion of the judge; but,
+considering the frequency of the crime of late, I should say there is a
+strong probability that _you_ will be a _lifer_!"
+
+"What devil's gibberish is this?" exclaimed Chilton, frightened, but
+still fierce. "I can prove everything I have said. Mr. Gosford, I
+tell you"--
+
+"Well, well," interrupted Mr. Flint; "put it in that light, how you
+please; turn it which way you will; it's like the key in Blue Beard,
+which, I dare say, you have read of; rub it out on one side, and up it
+comes on the other. Say, by way of argument, that you have _not_ obtained
+money by unfounded threats--a crime which the law holds tantamount to
+highway robbery. You have in that case obtained money for compromising a
+felony--that of polygamy. An awful position, my good sir, choose which
+you will."
+
+Utterly chop-fallen was the lately triumphant man; but he speedily
+rallied.
+
+"I care not," he at length said. "Punish me you may; but the pride of
+this sham countess and the sham earl will be brought low. And I tell you
+once for all," he added, rising at the same time, and speaking in
+ringing, wrathful tones, "that I defy you, and will either be handsomely
+remunerated for silence, or I will at once inform the Honorable James
+Kingston that he is the true Earl of Seyton."
+
+"And I tell _you_," retorted Flint, "that if you attempt to leave this
+room, I will give you into custody at once, and transport you, whatever
+may be the consequence to others. Come, come, let us have no more
+nonsense or bluster. We have strong reasons for believing that the story
+by which you have been extorting money, is a fabrication. If it be so,
+rely upon it we shall detect and punish you. Your only safe course is to
+make a clean breast of it whilst there is yet time. Out with it, man, at
+once, and you shall go Scot-free; nay, have a few score pounds more--say
+a hundred. Be wise in time, I counsel you."
+
+Chilton hesitated; his white lips quivered. There _was_ something
+to reveal.
+
+"I cannot," he muttered, after a considerable pause. "There is nothing to
+disclose."
+
+"You will not! Then your fate be on your own head. I have done with you."
+
+It was now my turn. "Come, come," I said, "it is useless urging this
+man further. How much do you expect? The insolent proposal contained
+in your note is, you well know, out of the question. How much _money_
+do you expect for keeping this wretched affair secret? State your
+terms at once."
+
+"A thousand per annum," was the reply, "and the first year down."
+
+"Modest, upon my word! But I suppose we must comply." I wrote out an
+agreement. "Will you sign this?"
+
+He ran it over. "Yes; Lady Seyton, as she calls herself, will take care
+it never sees the light."
+
+I withdrew, and in two or three minutes returned with a check. "Her
+ladyship has no present cash at the bankers," I said, "and is obliged to
+post-date this check twelve days."
+
+The rascal grumbled a good deal; but as there was no help for it, he took
+the security, signed the agreement, and walked off.
+
+"A sweet nut that for the devil to crack," observed Mr. Flint, looking
+savagely after him. "I am in hopes we shall trounce him yet, bravely as
+he carries it. The check of course is not payable to order or bearer"
+
+"Certainly not; and before twelve days are past, you will have returned
+from Ireland. The agreement may be, I thought, of use with Cunningham or
+Mullins. If they have been conspiring together, they will scarcely admire
+the light in which you can place the arrangement, as affording proof that
+he means to keep the lion's share of the reward to himself."
+
+"Exactly. At all events we shall get at the truth, whatever it be."
+
+The same evening Mr. Flint started for Dublin _via_ Holyhead.
+
+I received in due course a letter from him dated the day after his
+arrival there. It was anything but a satisfactory one. The date on the
+grave-stone had been truly represented, and Mullins who erected it was a
+highly respectable man. Flint had also seen the grave-digger, but could
+make nothing out of him. There was no regular register of deaths kept in
+Swords except that belonging to Cunningham; and the minister who buried
+Gosford, and who lived at that time in Dublin, had been dead some time.
+This was disheartening and melancholy enough; and, as if to give our
+unfortunate client the _coup-de-grace_, Mr. Jackson, junior, marched into
+the office just after I had read it, to say that, having been referred by
+Lady Seyton to us for explanations, with respect to a statement made by a
+Mr. Edward Chilton to the Honorable James Kingston, for whom they, the
+Messrs. Jackson, were now acting, by which it appeared that the said
+Honorable James Kingston was, in fact, the true Earl of Seyton, he, Mr.
+Jackson, junior, would be happy to hear what I had to say upon the
+subject! It needed but this. Chilton had, as I feared he would, after
+finding we had been consulted, sold his secret, doubtless advantageously,
+to the heir-at-law. There was still, however, a chance that something
+favorable might turn up, and, as I had no notion of throwing that chance
+away, I carelessly replied that we had reason to believe Chilton's story
+was a malicious fabrication, and that we should of course throw on them
+the onus of judicial proof that Gosford was still alive when the late
+earl's marriage was solemnized. Finally, however, to please Mr. Jackson,
+who professed to be very anxious, for the lady's sake, to avoid
+unnecessary eclat, and to arrange the affair as quietly as possible, I
+agreed to meet him at Lady Seyton's in four days from that time, and hear
+the evidence upon which he relied. This could not at all events render
+our position worse; and it was, meanwhile, agreed that the matter should
+be kept as far as possible profoundly secret.
+
+Three days passed without any further tidings from Mr. Flint, and I
+vehemently feared that his journey had proved a fruitless one, when, on
+the evening previous to the day appointed for the conference at Seyton
+House, a hackney-coach drove rapidly up to the office door, and out
+popped Mr. Flint, followed by two strangers, whom he very watchfully
+escorted into the house.
+
+"Mr. Patrick Mullins and Mr. Pierce Cunningham," said Flint as he shook
+hands with me in a way which, in conjunction with the merry sparkle of
+his eyes, and the boisterous tone of his voice, assured me all was right.
+"Mr. Pierce Cunningham will sleep here to-night," he added; "so Collins
+had better engage a bed out."
+
+Cunningham, an ill-looking lout of a fellow, muttered, that he chose "to
+sleep at a tavern."
+
+"Not if I know it, my fine fellow," rejoined Mr. Flint. "You mean well, I
+dare say; but I cannot lose sight of you for all that. You either sleep
+here or at a station-house."
+
+The man stared with surprise and alarm; but knowing refusal or resistance
+to be hopeless, sullenly assented to the arrangement, and withdrew to the
+room appointed for him, vigilantly guarded. For Mr. Mullins we engaged a
+bed at a neighboring tavern.
+
+Mr. Flint's mission had been skillfully and successfully accomplished. He
+was convinced, by the sullen confusion of manner manifested by
+Cunningham, that some villainous agency had been at work, and he again
+waited on Mullins, the stone-cutter. "Who gave you the order for the
+grave-stone?" he asked. Mr. Mullins referred to his book, and answered
+that he received it by letter. "Had he got that letter?" "Very likely,"
+he replied, "as he seldom destroyed business papers of any kind." "A
+search was instituted, and finally this letter," said Mr. Flint, "worth
+an earl's coronet, torn and dirty as it is, turned up." This invaluable
+document, which bore the London postdate of June 23, 1832, ran as
+follows:--
+
+"Anglesea Hotel, Haymarket, London, _June_ 23, 1832.
+
+"Sir--Please to erect a plain tomb-stone at the head of Charles
+Gosford, Esquire's grave, who died a few month's since at Swords, aged
+thirty-two years. This is all that need be inscribed upon it. You are
+referred to Mr. Guinness of Sackville Street, Dublin, for payment. Your
+obedient servant,
+
+"Edward Chilton."
+
+"You see," continued Flint, "the fellow had inadvertently left out the
+date of Gosford's death, merely stating it occurred a few months
+previously; and Mullins concluded that, in entering the order in his
+day-book, he must have somehow or other confounded the date of the letter
+with that of Gosford's decease. Armed with this precious discovery, I
+again sought Cunningham, and by dint of promises and threats, at last got
+the truth out of the rascal. It was this:--Chilton, who returned to this
+country from the Cape, where he had resided for three years previously,
+about two months ago, having some business to settle in Dublin, went over
+there, and one day visited Swords, read the inscription on Charles
+Gosford's grave-stone, and immediately sought out the grave-digger, and
+asked him if he had any record of that gentleman's burial. Cunningham
+said he had, and produced his book, by which it appeared that it took
+place December 24, 1831. "That cannot be," remarked Chilton, and he
+referred to the head-stone. Cunningham said he had noticed the mistake a
+few days after it was erected; but thinking it of no consequence, and
+never having, that he knew of, seen Mr. Mullins since, he had said, and
+indeed thought, nothing about it. To conclude the story--Chilton
+ultimately, by payment of ten pounds down, and liberal promises for the
+future, prevailed upon the grave-digger to lend himself to the infamous
+device the sight of the grave-stone had suggested to his fertile,
+unscrupulous brain."
+
+This was indeed a glorious success and the firm of Flint and Sharp drank
+the Countess of Seyton's health that evening with great enthusiasm, and
+gleefully "thought of the morrow."
+
+We found the drawing-room of Seyton House occupied by the Honorable James
+Kingston, his solicitors, the Messrs. Jackson, Lady Seyton, and her
+father and sister, to whom she had at length disclosed the source of her
+disquietude. The children were leaving the apartment as we entered it,
+and the grief-dimmed eyes of the countess rested sadly upon her
+bright-eyed boy as he slowly withdrew with his sisters. That look changed
+to one of wild surprise as it encountered Mr. Flint's shining,
+good-humored countenance. I was more composed and reserved than my
+partner, though feeling as vividly as he did the satisfaction of being
+able not only to dispel Lady Seyton's anguish, but to extinguish the
+exultation, and trample on the hopes, of the Honorable James Kingston, a
+stiff, grave, middle-aged piece of hypocritical propriety, who was
+surveying from out the corners of his affectedly-unobservant eyes the
+furniture and decorations of the splendid apartment, and hugging himself
+with the thought that all that was his! Business was immediately
+proceeded with. Chilton was called in. He repeated his former story
+verbatim, and with much fluency and confidence. He then placed in the
+hands of Jackson, senior, the vouchers signed by Cunningham and Mullins.
+The transient light faded from Lady Seyton's countenance as she turned
+despairingly, almost accusingly, towards us.
+
+"What answer have you to make to this gentleman's statement, thus
+corroborated?" demanded Jackson, senior.
+
+"Quite a remarkable one," replied Mr. Flint, as he rang the bell. "Desire
+the gentlemen in the library to step up," he added to the footman who
+answered the summons. In about three minutes in marched Cunningham and
+Mullins, followed by two police-officers. An irrepressible exclamation of
+terror escaped Chilton, which was immediately echoed by Mr. Flint's
+direction to the police, as he pointed towards the trembling caitiff:
+"That is your man--secure him."
+
+A storm of exclamations, questions, remonstrances, instantly broke forth,
+and it was several minutes before attention could be obtained for the
+statements of our two Irish witnesses and the reading of the
+happily-found letter. The effect of the evidence adduced was decisive,
+electrical. Lady Seyton, as its full significance flashed upon her,
+screamed with convulsive joy, and I thought must have fainted from excess
+of emotion. The Rev. John Hayley returned audible thanks to God in a
+voice quivering with rapture, and Miss Hayley ran out of the apartment,
+and presently returned with the children, who were immediately
+half-smothered with their mother's ecstatic kisses. All was for a few
+minutes bewilderment, joy, rapture! Flint persisted to his dying day,
+that Lady Seyton threw her arms round his neck, and kissed his bald old
+forehead. This, however, I cannot personally vouch for, as my attention
+was engaged at the moment by the adverse claimant, the Honorable James
+Kingston, who exhibited one of the most irresistibly comic, wo-begone,
+lackadaisical aspects it is possible to conceive. He made a hurried and
+most undignified exit, and was immediately followed by the discomfited
+"family" solicitors. Chilton was conveyed to a station-house, and the
+next day was fully committed for trial. He was convicted at the next
+sessions, and sentenced to seven years' transportation; and the
+"celebrated" firm of Flint and Sharp, derived considerable lustre, and
+more profit, from this successful stroke of professional dexterity.
+
+
+
+
+JANE ECCLES
+
+
+The criminal business of the office was, during the first three or four
+years of our partnership, entirely superintended by Mr. Flint; he being
+more _an fait_, from early practice, than myself in the art and mystery
+of prosecuting and defending felons, and I was thus happily relieved of
+duties which, in the days when George III. was king, were frequently very
+oppressive and revolting. The criminal practitioner dwelt in an
+atmosphere tainted alike with cruelty and crime, and pulsating
+alternately with merciless decrees of death, and the shrieks and wailings
+of sentenced guilt. And not always guilt! There exist many records of
+proofs, incontestable, but obtained too late, of innocence having been
+legally strangled on the gallows in other cases than that of Eliza
+Fenning. How could it be otherwise with a criminal code crowded in every
+line with penalties of death, nothing but--death? Juster, wiser times
+have dawned upon us, in which truer notions prevail of what man owes to
+man, even when sitting in judgment on transgressors; and this we owe, let
+us not forget, to the exertions of a band of men who, undeterred by the
+sneers of the reputedly wise and _practical_ men of the world, and the
+taunts of "influential" newspapers, persisted in teaching that the rights
+of property could be more firmly cemented than by the shedding of
+blood--law, justice, personal security more effectually vindicated than
+by the gallows. Let me confess that I also was, for many years, amongst
+the mockers, and sincerely held such "theorists" and "dreamers" as Sir
+Samuel Romilly and his fellow-workers in utter contempt. Not so my
+partner, Mr. Flint. Constantly in the presence of criminal judges and
+juries, he had less confidence in the unerring verity of their decisions
+than persons less familiar with them, or who see them only through the
+medium of newspapers. Nothing could exceed his distress of mind if, in
+cases in which he was prosecuting attorney, a convict died persisting in
+his innocence, or without a full confession of guilt. And to such a pitch
+did this morbidly-sensitive feeling at length arrive, that he all at once
+refused to undertake, or in any way meddle with, criminal prosecutions,
+and they were consequently turned over to our head clerk, with occasional
+assistance from me if there happened to be a press of business of the
+sort. Mr. Flint still, however, retained a monopoly of the _defences_,
+except when, from some temporary cause or other, he happened to be
+otherwise engaged, when they fell to me. One of these I am about to
+relate, the result of which, whatever other impression it produced,
+thoroughly cured me--as it may the reader--of any propensity to sneer or
+laugh at criminal-law reformers and denouncers of the gallows.
+
+One forenoon, during the absence of Mr. Flint in Wiltshire, a Mrs.
+Margaret Davies called at the office, in apparently great distress of
+mind. This lady, I must premise, was an old, or at all events an elderly
+maiden, of some four-and-forty years of age--I have heard a very intimate
+female friend of hers say she would never see fifty again, but this was
+spite--and possessed of considerable house property in rather poor
+localities. She found abundant employment for energies which might
+otherwise have turned to cards and scandal, in collecting her weekly,
+monthly, and quarterly rents, and in promoting, or fancying she did, the
+religious and moral welfare of her tenants. Very bare-faced, I well knew,
+were the impositions practiced upon her credulous good-nature in money
+matters, and I strongly suspected the spiritual and moral promises and
+performances of her motley tenantry exhibited as much discrepancy as
+those pertaining to rent. Still, deceived or cheated as she might be,
+good Mrs. Davies never wearied in what she conceived to be well-doing,
+and was ever ready to pour balm and oil into the wounds of the sufferer,
+however self-inflicted or deserved.
+
+"What is the matter now?" I asked as soon as the good lady was seated,
+and had untied and loosened her bonnet, and thrown back her shawl, fast
+walking having heated her prodigiously. "Nothing worse than
+transportation is, I hope, likely to befall any of those interesting
+clients of yours?"
+
+"You are a hard-hearted man, Mr. Sharp," replied Mrs. Davies between a
+smile and a cry; "but being a lawyer, that is of course natural, and, as
+I am not here to consult you as a Christian, of no consequence."
+
+"Complimentary, Mrs. Davies; but pray, go on."
+
+"You know Jane Eccles, one of my tenants in Bank Buildings--the
+embroidress who adopted her sister's orphan child?"
+
+"I remember her name. She obtained, if I recollect rightly, a balance of
+wages for her due to the child's father, a mate, who died at sea. Well,
+what has befallen her?"
+
+"A terrible accusation has been preferred against her," rejoined Mrs.
+Davies; "but as for a moment believing it, that is quite out of the
+question. Jane Eccles," continued the warm-hearted lady, at the same time
+extracting a crumpled newspaper from the miscellaneous contents of her
+reticule--"Jane Eccles works hard from morning till night, keeps herself
+to herself; her little nephew and her rooms are always as clean and nice
+as a new pin; she attends church regularly; and pays her rent punctually
+to the day. This disgraceful story, therefore," he added, placing the
+journal in my hands, "_cannot_ be true."
+
+I glanced over the police news:--'Uttering forged Bank-of-England notes,
+knowing them to be forged;' I exclaimed, "The devil!"
+
+"There's no occasion to be spurting that name out so loudly, Mr. Sharp,"
+said Mrs. Davies with some asperity, "especially in a lawyer's office.
+People have been wrongfully accused before to-day, I suppose?"
+
+I was intent on the report, and not answering, she continued, "I heard
+nothing of it till I read the shameful account in the paper half an hour
+agone. The poor slandered girl was, I dare say, afraid or ashamed to
+send for me."
+
+"This appears to be a very bad case, Mrs. Davies," I said at length.
+"Three forged ten-pound notes changed in one day at different shops each
+time, under the pretence of purchasing articles of small amount, and
+another ten-pound note found in her pocket! All that has, I must say, a
+very ugly look."
+
+"I don't care," exclaimed Mrs. Davies quite fiercely, "if it looks as
+ugly as sin, or if the whole Bank of England was found in her pocket! I
+know Jane Eccles well; she nursed me last spring through the fever; and I
+would be upon my oath that the whole story, from beginning to end, is an
+invention of the devil, or something worse."
+
+"Jane Eccles," I persisted, "appears to have been unable or unwilling to
+give the slightest explanation as to how she became possessed of the
+spurious notes. Who is this brother of hers, 'of such highly respectable
+appearance,' according to the report, who was permitted a private
+interview with her previous to the examination?"
+
+"She has no brother that I have ever heard of," said Mrs. Davies. "It
+must be a mistake of the papers."
+
+"That is not likely. You observed of course that she was fully
+committed--and no wonder!"
+
+Mrs. Davies's faith in the young woman's integrity was not to be shaken
+by any evidence save that of her own bodily eyes, and I agreed to see
+Jane Eccles on the morrow, and make the best arrangements for the
+defence--at Mrs. Davies' charge--which the circumstances and the short
+time I should have for preparation--the Old Bailey session would be on in
+a few days--permitted. The matter so far settled, Mrs. Margaret hurried
+off to see what had become of little Henry, the prisoner's nephew.
+
+I visited Jane Eccles the next day in Newgate. She was a well-grown young
+woman of about two or three-and-twenty--not exactly pretty perhaps, but
+very well-looking. Her brown hair was plainly worn, without a cap, and
+the expression of her face was, I thought, one of sweetness and humility,
+contradicted in some degree by rather harsh lines about the mouth,
+denoting strong will and purpose. As a proof of the existence of this
+last characteristic, I may here mention that, when her first overweening
+confidence had yielded to doubt, she, although dotingly fond of her
+nephew, at this time about eight years of age, firmly refused to see him,
+"in order," she once said to me--and the thought brought a deadly pallor
+to her face--in order that, should the worst befall, her memory might
+not be involuntarily connected in his mind with images of dungeons, and
+disgrace, and shame. Jane Eccles had received what is called in the
+country, "a good schooling," and the books Mrs. Davies had lent her she
+had eagerly perused. She was therefore to a certain extent a cultivated
+person; and her speech and manners were mild, gentle, and, so to speak,
+religious. I generally found, when I visited her, a Bible or prayer-book
+in her hand. This, however, from my experience, comparatively slight
+though it was, did not much impress me in her favor--devotional sentiment
+so easily, for a brief time, assumed, being in nine such cases out of ten
+a hypocritical deceit. Still she, upon the whole, made a decidedly
+favorable impression on me, and I no longer so much wondered at the
+bigotry of unbelief manifested by Mrs. Davies in behalf of her apparently
+amiable and grateful protegee.
+
+But beyond the moral doubt thus suggested of the prisoner's guilt, my
+interviews with her utterly failed to extract anything from her in
+rebutment of the charge upon which she was about to be arraigned. At
+first she persisted in asserting that the prosecution was based upon
+manifest error; that the impounded notes, instead of being forged, were
+genuine Bank-of-England paper. It was some time before I succeeded in
+convincing her that this hope, to which she so eagerly, desperately
+clung, was a fallacious one. I did so at last; and either, thought I, as
+I marked her varying color and faltering voice, "either you are a
+consummate actress, or else the victim of some frightful delusion or
+conspiracy."
+
+"I will see you, if you please, to-morrow," she said, looking up from the
+chair upon which, with her head bowed and her face covered with her
+hands, she had been seated for several minutes in silence. "My thoughts
+are confused now, but to-morrow I shall be more composed; better able to
+decide if--to talk, I mean, of this unhappy business."
+
+I thought it better to comply without remonstrance, and at once
+took my leave.
+
+When I returned the next afternoon, the governor of the prison informed
+me that the brother of my client, James Eccles, quite a dashing
+gentleman, had had a long interview with her. He had left about two hours
+before, with the intention, he said, of calling upon me.
+
+I was conducted to the room where my conferences with the prisoner
+usually took place. In a few minutes she appeared, much flushed and
+excited, it seemed to be alternately with trembling joy and hope, and
+doubt, and nervous fear.
+
+"Well," I said, "I trust you are now ready to give me your unreserved
+confidence, without which, be assured, that any reasonable hope of a
+successful issue from the peril in which you are involved is out of the
+question."
+
+The varying emotions I have noticed were clearly traceable as they swept
+over her tell-tale countenance during the minute or so that elapsed
+before she spoke.
+
+"Tell me candidly, sir," she said at last, "whether, if I owned to you
+that the notes were given to me by a--a person, whom I cannot, if I
+would, produce, to purchase various articles at different shops, and
+return him--the person I mean--the change; and that I made oath this was
+done by me in all innocence of heart, as the God of heaven and earth
+truly knows it was, it would avail me?"
+
+"Not in the least," I replied, angry at such trifling. "How can you ask
+such a question? We must _find_ the person who, you intimate, has
+deceived you, and placed your life in peril; and if that can be proved,
+hang him instead of you. I speak plainly, Miss Eccles," I added in a
+milder tone; "perhaps you may think unfeelingly, but there is no further
+time for playing with this dangerous matter. To-morrow a true bill will
+be found against you, and your trial may then come on immediately. If you
+are careless for yourself, you ought to have some thought for the
+sufferings of your excellent friend, Mrs. Davies; for your nephew, soon
+perhaps to be left friendless and destitute."
+
+"Oh spare me--spare me!" sobbed the unhappy young woman, sinking
+nervelessly into a seat. "Have pity upon me, wretched, bewildered as I
+am!" Tears relieved her, and after awhile, she said, "It is useless, sir,
+to prolong this interview. I could not, I solemnly assure you, if I
+would, tell you where to search for or find the person of whom I spoke.
+And," she added, whilst the lines about her mouth of which I have spoken,
+grew distinct and rigid, "I would not if I could. What indeed would it,
+as I have been told and believe, avail, but to cause the death of two
+deceived innocent persons instead of one? Besides," she continued, trying
+to speak with firmness, and repress the shudder which crept over and
+shook her as with ague--"besides, whatever the verdict, the penalty will
+not, cannot, I am sure, I know, be--be"--
+
+I understood her plainly enough, although her resolution failed to
+sustain her through the sentence.
+
+"Who is this brother--James Eccles, he calls himself--whom you saw at the
+police-office, and who has twice been here, I understand--once to-day?"
+
+A quick start revealed the emotion with which she heard the question,
+and her dilated eyes rested upon me for a moment with eager scrutiny.
+She speedily recovered her presence of mind, and with her eyes again
+fixed on the floor, said in a quivering voice, "My brother! Yes--as you
+say--my brother."
+
+"Mrs. Davies says you have no brother!" I sharply rejoined.
+
+"Good Mrs. Davies," she replied in a tone scarcely above a whisper, and
+without raising her head, "does not know all our family."
+
+A subterfuge was, I was confident, concealed in these words; but after
+again and again urging her to confide in me, and finding warning and
+persuasion alike useless, I withdrew, discomfited and angry, and withal
+as much concerned and grieved as baffled and indignant. On going out, I
+arranged with the governor that the "brother," if he again made his
+appearance, should be detained, _bongre malgre_, till my arrival. Our
+precaution was too late--he did not reappear; and so little notice had
+any one taken of his person, that to advertise a description of him with
+a reward for his apprehension was hopeless.
+
+A true bill was found, and two hours afterwards Jane Eccles was placed in
+the dock. The trial did not last more than twenty minutes, at the end of
+which, an unhesitating verdict of guilty was returned, and she was duly
+sentenced to be hanged by the neck till she was dead. We had retained the
+ablest counsel practicing in the court, but, with no tangible defence,
+their efforts were merely thrown away. Upon being asked what she had to
+say why the sentence of the law should not be carried into effect? she
+repeated her previous statement--that the notes had been given her to
+change by a person in whom she reposed the utmost confidence; and that
+she had not the slightest thought of evil or fraud in what she did. That
+person, however, she repeated once more, could not be produced. Her
+assertions only excited a derisive smile; and all necessary forms having
+been gone through, she was removed from the bar.
+
+The unhappy woman bore the ordeal through which she had just passed with
+much firmness. Once only, whilst sentence was being passed, her
+high-strung resolution appeared to falter and give way. I was watching
+her intently, and I observed that she suddenly directed a piercing look
+towards a distant part of the crowded court. In a moment her eye
+lightened, the expression of extreme horror which had momently darkened
+her countenance passed away, and her partial composure returned. I had
+instinctively, as it were, followed her glance, and thought I detected a
+tall man enveloped in a cloak engaged in dumb momentary communication
+with her. I jumped up from my seat, and hastened as quickly as I could
+through the thronged passages to the spot, and looked eagerly around, but
+the man, whosoever he might be, was gone.
+
+The next act in this sad drama was the decision of the Privy Council upon
+the recorder's report. It came. Several were reprieved, but amongst them
+was _not_ Jane Eccles. She and nine others were to perish at eight
+o'clock on the following morning.
+
+The anxiety and worry inseparable from this most unhappy affair, which,
+from Mr. Flint's protracted absence, I had exclusively to bear, fairly
+knocked me up, and on the evening of the day on which the decision of the
+Council was received, I went to bed much earlier than usual, and really
+ill. Sleep I could not, and I was tossing restlessly about, vainly
+endeavoring to banish from my mind the gloomy and terrible images
+connected with the wretched girl and her swiftly-coming fate, when a
+quick tap sounded on the door, and a servant's voice announced that one
+of the clerks had brought a letter which the superscription directed to
+be read without a moment's delay. I sprang out of bed, snatched the
+letter, and eagerly ran it over. It was from the Newgate chaplain, a very
+worthy, humane gentleman, and stated that, on hearing the result of the
+deliberations of the Privy Council, all the previous stoicism and
+fortitude exhibited by Jane Eccles had completely given way, and she had
+abandoned herself to the wildest terror and despair. As soon as she could
+speak coherently, she implored the governor with frantic earnestness to
+send for me. As this was not only quite useless in the opinion of that
+official, but against the rules, the prisoner's request was not complied
+with. The chaplain, however, thinking it might be as well that I should
+know of her desire to see me, had of his own accord sent me this note. He
+thought that possibly the sheriffs would permit me to have a brief
+interview with the condemned prisoner in the morning, if I arrived
+sufficiently early; and although it could avail nothing as regarded her
+fate in this world, still it might perhaps calm the frightful tumult of
+emotion by which she was at present tossed and shaken, and enable her to
+meet the inevitable hour with fortitude and resignation.
+
+It was useless to return to bed after receiving such a communication,
+and I forthwith dressed myself, determined to sit up and read, if I
+could, till the hour at which I might hope to be admitted to the jail,
+should strike. Slowly and heavily the dark night limped away, and as the
+first rays of the cold wintry dawn reached the earth, I sallied forth. A
+dense, brutal crowd were already assembled in front of the prison, and
+hundreds of well-dressed sight-seers occupied the opposite windows,
+morbidly eager for the rising of the curtain upon the mournful tragedy
+about to be enacted. I obtained admission without much difficulty, but,
+till the arrival of the sheriffs, no conference with the condemned
+prisoners could be possibly permitted. Those important functionaries
+happened on this morning to arrive unusually late, and I paced up and
+down the paved corridor in a fever of impatience and anxiety. They were
+at last announced, but before I could, in the hurry and confusion,
+obtain speech of either of them, the dismal bell tolled out, and I felt
+with a shudder that it was no longer possible to effect my object.
+"Perhaps it is better so," observed the reverend chaplain, in a whisper.
+"She has been more composed for the last two or three hours, and is now,
+I trust, in a better frame of mind for death." I turned, sick at heart,
+to leave the place, and in my agitation missing the right way, came
+directly in view of the terrible procession. Jane Eccles saw me, and a
+terrific scream, followed by frantic heart-rending appeals to me to save
+her, burst with convulsive effort from her white quivering lips. Never
+will the horror of that moment pass from my remembrance. I staggered
+back, as if every spasmodic word struck me like a blow; and then,
+directed by one of the turnkeys, sped in an opposite direction as fast
+as my trembling limbs could carry me--the shrieks of the wretched
+victim, the tolling of the dreadful bell, and the obscene jeers and
+mocks of the foul crowd through which I had to force my way, evoking a
+confused tumult of disgust and horror in my brain, which, if long
+continued, would have driven me mad. On reaching home, I was bled
+freely, and got to bed. This treatment, I have no doubt, prevented a
+violent access of fever; for, as it was, several days passed before I
+could be safely permitted to re-engage in business.
+
+On revisiting the office, a fragment of a letter written by Jane Eccles
+a few hours previous to her death, and evidently addressed to Mrs.
+Davies, was placed by Mr. Flint, who had by this time returned, before
+me. The following is an exact copy of it, with the exception that the
+intervals which I have marked with dots,.... were filled with erasures
+and blots, and that every word seemed to have been traced by a hand
+smitten with palsy:--
+
+"From my Death-place, _Midnight._
+
+"Dear Madam--No, beloved friend--mother, let me call you.... Oh kind,
+gentle mother, I am to die ... to be killed in a few hours by cruel
+men!--I, so young, so unprepared for death, and yet guiltless! Oh never
+doubt that I am guiltless of the offence for which they will have the
+heart to hang me.... Nobody, they say, can save me now; yet if I could
+see the lawyer.... I have been deceived, cruelly deceived, madam--buoyed
+up by lying hopes, till just now the thunder burst, and I--oh God!.... As
+they spoke, the fearful chapter in the Testament came bodily before
+me--the rending of the vail in twain, the terrible darkness, and the
+opened graves!.... I did not write for this, but my brain aches and
+dazzles.... It is too late--too late, they all tell me! ... Ah, if these
+dreadful laws were not so swift, I might yet--but no; _he_ clearly proved
+to me how useless.... I must not think of that.... It is of my nephew, of
+your Henry, child of my affections, that I would speak. Oh, would that
+I.... But hark!--they are coming.... The day has dawned ... to me the day
+of judgment!...."
+
+This incoherent scrawl only confirmed my previous suspicions, but it was
+useless to dwell further on the melancholy subject. The great axe had
+fallen, and whether justly or unjustly, would, I feared, as in many, very
+many other cases, never be clearly ascertained in this world. I was
+mistaken. Another case of "uttering forged Bank-of-England notes, knowing
+them to be forged," which came under our cognizance a few months
+afterwards, revived the fading memory of Jane Eccles's early doom, and
+cleared up every obscurity connected with it.
+
+The offender in this new case, was a tall, dark-complexioned, handsome
+man, of about thirty years of age, of the name of Justin Arnold. His lady
+mother, whose real name I shall conceal under that of Barton, retained us
+for her son's defence, and from her, and other sources, we learned the
+following particulars:--
+
+Justin Arnold was the lady's son by a former marriage. Mrs. Barton, a
+still splendid woman, had, in second nuptials, espoused a very wealthy
+person, and from time to time had covertly supplied Justin Arnold's
+extravagance. This, however, from the wild course the young man pursued,
+could not be forever continued, and after many warnings the supplies were
+stopped. Incapable of reformation, Justin Arnold, in order to obtain the
+means of dissipation, connected himself with a cleverly-organized band of
+swindlers and forgers, who so adroitly managed their nefarious business,
+that, till his capture, they had contrived to keep themselves clear of
+the law--the inferior tools and dupes having been alone caught in its
+fatal meshes. The defence, under these circumstances necessarily a
+difficult, almost impossible one, was undertaken by Mr. Flint, and
+conducted by him with his accustomed skill and energy.
+
+I took a very slight interest in the matter, and heard very little
+concerning it till its judicial conclusion by the conviction of the
+offender, and his condemnation to death. The decision on the
+recorder's report was this time communicated to the authorities of
+Newgate on a Saturday, so that the batch ordered for execution,
+amongst whom was Justin Arnold, would not be hanged till the Monday
+morning. Rather late in the evening a note once more reached me from
+the chaplain of the prison. Justin Arnold wished to see me--_me_, not
+Mr. Flint. He had something of importance to communicate, he said,
+relative to a person in whom I had once felt great interest. It
+flashed across me that this Justin might be the "brother" of Jane
+Eccles, and I determined to see him. I immediately sought out one of
+the sheriffs, and obtained an order empowering me to see the prisoner
+on the afternoon of the morrow, (Sunday).
+
+I found that the convict had expressed great anxiety lest I should
+decline to see him. My hoped-for visit was the only matter which
+appeared to occupy the mind or excite the care of the mocking,
+desperate young man; even the early and shameful termination of his own
+life on the morrow, he seemed to be utterly reckless of. Thus prepared,
+I was the less surprised at the scene which awaited me in the
+prisoner's cell, where I found him in angry altercation with the pale
+and affrighted chaplain.
+
+I had never seen Justin Arnold before, this I was convinced of the
+instant I saw him; but he knew and greeted me instantly by name. His
+swarthy, excited features were flushed and angry; and after briefly
+thanking me for complying with his wishes, he added in a violent rapid
+tone, "This good man has been teasing me. He says, and truly, that I have
+defied God by my life; and now he wishes me to mock that inscrutable
+Being, on the eve of death, by words without sense, meaning, or truth!"
+
+"No, no, no!" ejaculated the reverend gentleman. "I exhorted you to true
+repentance, to peace, charity, to"--
+
+"True repentance, peace, charity!" broke in the prisoner, with a scornful
+burst; "when my heart is full of rage, and bitterness, and despair! Give
+me _time_ for this repentance which you say is so needful--time to lure
+back long since banished hope, and peace, and faith! Poh!--you but flout
+me with words without meaning. I am unfit, you say, for the presence of
+men, but quite fit for that of God, before whom you are about to
+arrogantly cast me! Be it so--my deeds are upon my head! It is at least
+not my fault that I am hurled to judgment before the Eternal Judge
+himself commanded my presence there!"
+
+"He may be unworthy to live," murmured the scared chaplain, "but oh, how
+utterly unfit to die!"
+
+"That is true," rejoined Justin Arnold, with undiminished vehemence.
+"Those, if you will, are words of truth and sense--go you and preach them
+to the makers and executioners of English law. In the meantime I would
+speak privately with this gentleman."
+
+The reverend pastor, with a mute gesture of compassion, sorrow, and
+regret, was about to leave the cell, when he was stayed by the prisoner,
+who exclaimed, "Now, I think of it, you had better, sir, remain. The
+statement I am about to make cannot, for the sake of the victim's
+reputation, and for her friends' sake, have too many witnesses. You both
+remember Jane Eccles?" A broken exclamation from both of us answered him,
+and he quickly added--"Ah, you already guess the truth, I see. Well, I do
+not wonder you should start and turn pale. It _was_ a cruel, shameless
+deed--a dastardly murder if there was ever one. In as few words as
+possible, so you interrupt me not, I will relate _my_ share in the
+atrocious business." He spoke rapidly, and once or twice during the brief
+recital, the moistened eye and husky voice betrayed emotions which his
+pride would have concealed.
+
+"Jane and I were born in Hertfordshire, within a short distance of each
+other. I knew her from a child. She was better off then, I worse than we
+subsequently became--she by her father's bankruptcy, I by my mo--, by
+Mrs. Barton's wealthy marriage. She was about nineteen, I twenty-four,
+when I left the country for London. That she loved me with all the
+fervor of a trusting woman I well knew; and I had, too, for some time
+known that she must be either honorably wooed or not at all. That with
+me, was out of the question, and, as I told you, I came about that time
+to London. You can, I dare say, imagine the rest. We were--I and my
+friends, I mean--at a loss for agents to dispose of our wares, and at the
+same time pressed for money. I met Jane Eccles by accident. Genteel, of
+graceful address and winning manners, she was just fitted for our
+purpose. I feigned re-awakened love, proffered marriage, and a home
+across the Atlantic, as soon as certain trifling but troublesome affairs
+which momently harassed me were arranged. She believed me. I got her to
+change a considerable number of notes under various pretexts, but that
+they were forged she had not and could not have the remotest suspicion.
+You know the catastrophe. After her apprehension I visited this prison as
+her brother, and buoyed her up to the last with illusions of certain
+pardon and release, whatever the verdict, through the influence of my
+wealthy father-in-law, of our immediate union afterwards, and tranquil
+American home. It is needless to say more. She trusted me, and I
+sacrificed her; less flagrant instances of a like nature occur every day.
+And now, gentlemen, I would fain be alone."
+
+"Remorseless villain!" I could not help exclaiming under my breath as he
+moved away.
+
+He turned quickly back, and looking me in the face, without the slightest
+anger, said, "An execrable villain if you like--not a remorseless one!
+Her death alone sits near, and troubles my, to all else, hardened
+conscience. And let me tell you, reverend sir," he continued, resuming
+his former bitterness as he addressed the chaplain--"let me tell you that
+it was not the solemn words of the judge the other day, but her pale,
+reproachful image, standing suddenly beside me in the dock, just as she
+looked when I passed my last deception on her, that caused the tremor and
+affright, complacently attributed by that grave functionary to his own
+sepulchral eloquence. After all, her death cannot be exclusively laid to
+my charge. Those who tried her would not believe her story, and yet it
+was true as death. Had they not been so confident in their own unerring
+wisdom, they might have doomed her to some punishment short of the
+scaffold, and could now have retrieved their error. But I am weary, and
+would, I repeat, be alone. Farewell!" He threw himself on the rude
+pallet, and we silently withdrew.
+
+A paper embodying Justin Arnold's declaration was forwarded to the
+secretary of state, and duly acknowledged, accompanied by an official
+expression of mild regret that it had not been made in time to save the
+life of Jane Eccles. No further notice was taken of the matter, and the
+record of the young woman's judicial sacrifice still doubtless encumbers
+the archives of the Home Office, forming, with numerous others of like
+character, the dark, sanguine background upon which the achievements of
+the great and good men who have so successfully purged the old Draco code
+that now a faint vestige only of the old barbarism remains, stands out in
+bright relief and changeless lustre.
+
+
+
+
+"EVERY MAN HIS OWN LAWYER."
+
+
+A smarter trader, a keener appreciator of the tendencies to a rise or
+fall in colonial produce--sugars more especially--than John Linden, of
+Mincing Lane, it would have been difficult to point out in the wide city
+of London. He was not so immensely rich as many others engaged in the
+same merchant-traffic as himself; nothing at all like it, indeed, for I
+doubt that he could at any time have been esteemed worth more than from
+eighty to ninety thousand pounds; but his transactions, although limited
+in extent when compared with those of the mammoth colonial houses, almost
+always returned more or less of profit; the result of his remarkable
+keenness and sagacity in scenting hurricanes, black insurrections, and
+emancipation bills, whilst yet inappreciable, or deemed afar off, by less
+sensitive organizations. At least to this wonderful prescience of future
+sugar-value did Mr. Linden himself attribute his rise in the world, and
+gradual increase in rotundity, riches, and respectability. This constant
+success engendered, as it is too apt to do, inordinate egotism, conceit,
+self-esteem, vanity. There was scarcely a social, governmental, or
+economical problem which he did not believe himself capable of solving as
+easily as he could eat his dinner when hungry. "Common-sense
+business-habits"--his favorite phrase--he believed to be quite sufficient
+for the elucidation of the most difficult question in law, physic, or
+divinity. The science of law, especially, he held to be an alphabet which
+any man--of common sense and business habits--could as easily master as
+he could count five on his fingers; and there was no end to his ridicule
+of the men with horse-hair head-dresses, and their quirks, quiddits,
+cases, tenures, and such-like devil's lingo. Lawyers, according to him,
+were a set of thorough humbugs and impostors, who gained their living by
+false pretence--that of affording advice and counsel, which every sane
+man could better render himself. He was unmistakably mad upon this
+subject, and he carried his insane theory into practice. He drew his own
+leases, examined the titles of some house-property he purchased, and set
+his hand and seal to the final deeds, guided only by his own common-sense
+spectacles. Once he bid, at the Auction Mart, as high as fifty-three
+thousand pounds for the Holmford estate, Herefordshire; and had he not
+been outbidden by young Palliser, son of the then recently-deceased
+eminent distiller, who was eager to obtain the property, with a view to a
+seat in parliament which its possession was said to almost insure--he
+would, I had not at the time the slightest doubt, have completed the
+purchase, without for a moment dreaming of submitting the vender's title
+to the scrutiny of a professional adviser. Mr. Linden, I should mention,
+had been for some time desirous of resigning his business in Mincing Lane
+to his son, Thomas Linden, the only child born to him by his long-since
+deceased wife, and of retiring, an estated squire-arch, to the _otium
+cum._, or _sine dignitate_, as the case might be, of a country life; and
+this disposition had of late been much quickened by daily-increasing
+apprehensions of negro emancipation and revolutionary interference with
+differential duties--changes which, in conjunction with others of similar
+character, would infallibly bring about that utter commercial ruin which
+Mr. Linden, like every other rich and about-to-retire merchant or
+tradesman whom I have ever known, constantly prophesied to be near at
+hand and inevitable.
+
+With such a gentleman the firm of Flint & Sharp had only professional
+interviews, when procrastinating or doubtful debtors required that he
+should put on the screw--a process which, I have no doubt, he would
+himself have confidently performed, but for the waste of valuable time
+which doing so would necessarily involve. Both Flint and myself were,
+however, privately intimate with him--Flint more especially, who had
+known him from boyhood--and we frequently dined with him on a Sunday at
+his little box at Fulham. Latterly, we had on these occasions met there a
+Mrs. Arnold and her daughter Catherine--an apparently amiable, and
+certainly very pretty and interesting young person--to whom, Mr. Linden
+confidentially informed us, his son Tom had been for some time engaged.
+
+"I don't know much about her family," observed Mr. Linden one day, in the
+course of a gossip at the office, "but she moves in very respectable
+society. Tom met her at the Slades'; but I _do_ know she has something
+like thirty-five thousand pounds in the funds. The instant I was informed
+how matters stood with the young folk, I, as a matter of common sense and
+business, asked the mother, Mrs. Arnold, for a reference to her banker or
+solicitor--there being no doubt that a woman and a minor would be in
+lawyers' leading-strings--and she referred me to Messrs. Dobson of
+Chancery Lane. You know the Dobsons?"
+
+"Perfectly,--what was the reply?"
+
+"That Catherine Arnold, when she came of age--it wants but a very short
+time of that now--would be entitled to the capital of thirty-four
+thousand seven hundred pounds, bequeathed by an uncle, and now lodged in
+the funds in the names of the trustees, Crowther & Jenkins, of Leadenhall
+Street, by whom the interest on that sum was regularly paid,
+half-yearly, through the Messrs. Dobson, for the maintenance and
+education of the heiress. A common-sense, business-like letter in every
+respect, and extremely satisfactory; and as soon as he pleases, after
+Catherine Arnold comes of age, and into actual possession of her fortune,
+Tom may have her, with my blessing over the bargain."
+
+I dined at Laurel Villa, Fulham, about two months after this
+conversation, and Linden and I found ourselves alone over the
+dessert--the young people having gone out for a stroll, attracted
+doubtless by the gay aspect of the Thames, which flows past the miniature
+grounds attached to the villa. Never had I seen Mr. Linden in so gay, so
+mirthful a mood.
+
+"Pass the decanter," he exclaimed, the instant the door had closed upon
+Tom and his _fiancee_. "Pass the decanter, Sharp; I have news for you, my
+boy, now they are gone."
+
+"Indeed! and what may the news be?"
+
+"Fill a bumper for yourself, and I'll give you a toast. Here's to the
+health and prosperity of the proprietor of the Holmford estate; and may
+he live a thousand years, and one over!--Hip--hip--hurra!"
+
+He swallowed his glass of wine, and then, in his intensity of glee,
+laughed himself purple.
+
+"You needn't stare so," he said, as soon as he had partially recovered
+breath; "I am the proprietor of the Holmford property--bought it for
+fifty-six thousand pounds of that young scant-grace and spendthrift,
+Palliser--fifteen thousand pounds less than what it cost him, with the
+outlay he has made upon it. Signed, sealed, delivered, paid for
+yesterday. Ha! ha! ho! Leave John Linden alone for a bargain! It's worth
+seventy thousand pounds if it's worth a shilling. I say," continued he,
+after a renewed spasm of exuberant mirth, "not a word about it to
+anybody--mind! I promised Palliser, who is quietly packing up to be off
+to Italy, or Australia, or Constantinople, or the devil--all of them,
+perhaps, in succession--not to mention a word about it till he was well
+off--you understand? Ha! ha!--ho! ho!" again burst out Mr. Linden. "I
+pity the poor creditors though! Bless you! I shouldn't have had it at
+anything like the price, only for his knowing that I was not likely to be
+running about exposing the affair, by asking lawyers whether an estate in
+a family's possession, as this was in Dursley's for three hundred years,
+had a good title or not. So be careful not to drop a word, even to
+Tom--for my honor's sake. A delicious bargain, and no mistake! Worth, if
+a penny, seventy thousand pounds. Ha! ha!--ho! ho!"
+
+"Then you have really parted with that enormous sum of money without
+having had the title to the estate professionally examined?"
+
+"Title! Fiddlestick! I looked over the deeds myself. Besides, haven't I
+told you the ancestors of Dursley, from whose executors Palliser
+purchased the estate, were in possession of it for centuries. What better
+title than prescription can there be?"
+
+"That may be true enough; but still"--
+
+"I ought, you think, to have risked losing the bargain by delay, and have
+squandered time and money upon fellows in horse-hair wigs, in order to
+ascertain what I sufficiently well knew already? Pooh! I am not in my
+second childhood yet!"
+
+It was useless to argue with him; besides the mischief, if mischief there
+was, had been done, and the not long-delayed entrance of the young couple
+necessitating a change of topic, I innocently inquired what he thought of
+the Negro Emancipation Bill which Mr. Stanley, as the organ of the
+ministry, had introduced a few evenings previously? and was rewarded by a
+perfect deluge of loquacious indignation and invective--during a pause in
+which hurly-burly of angry words I contrived to effect my escape.
+
+"Crowther & Jenkins!" exclaimed one morning, Mr. Flint, looking up from
+the "Times" newspaper he held in his hand. "Crowther & Jenkins!--what is
+it we know about Crowther & Jenkins?"
+
+The question was addressed to me, and I, like my partner, could not at
+the moment precisely recall why those names sounded upon our ears with a
+certain degree of interest as well as familiarity. "Crowther & Jenkins!"
+I echoed. "True; what _do_ we know about Crowther & Jenkins? Oh, I have
+it!--they are the executors of a will under which young Linden's pretty
+bride, that is to be, inherits her fortune."
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Mr. Flint, as he put down the paper, and looked me
+gravely in the face--"I remember now; their names are in the list of
+bankrupts. A failure in the gambling corn-trade too. I hope they have not
+been speculating with the young woman's money."
+
+The words were scarcely out of his mouth when Mr. Linden was announced,
+and presently in walked that gentleman in a state of considerable
+excitement.
+
+"I told you," he began, "some time ago about Crowther & Jenkins being the
+persons in whose names Catherine Arnold's money stood in the funds?"
+
+"Yes," replied Flint; "and I see by the 'Gazette' they are bankrupts,
+and, by your face, that they have speculated with your intended
+daughter-in-law's money, and lost it!"
+
+"Positively so!" rejoined Mr. Linden, with great heat. "Drew it out many
+months ago! But they have exceedingly wealthy connections--at least
+Crowther has--who will, I suppose, arrange Miss Arnold's claim rather
+than their relative should be arraigned for felony."
+
+"Felony!--you are mistaken, my good sir. There is no felony--no _legal_
+felony, I mean--in the matter. Miss Arnold can only prove against the
+estate like any other creditor."
+
+"The devil she can't! Tom, then, must look out for another wife, for I am
+credibly informed there won't be a shilling in the pound."
+
+And so it turned out. The great corn-firm had been insolvent for years;
+and after speculating desperately, and to a frightful extent, with a view
+to recover themselves, had failed to an enormous amount--their assets,
+comparatively speaking, proving to be _nil_.
+
+The ruin spread around, chiefly on account of the vast quantity of
+accommodation-paper they had afloat, was terrible; but upon no one did
+the blow fall with greater severity than on young Linden and his promised
+wife. His father ordered him to instantly break off all acquaintance with
+Miss Arnold; and on the son, who was deeply attached to her, peremptorily
+refusing to do so, Linden, senior, threatened to turn him out of doors,
+and ultimately disinherit him. Angry, indignant, and in love, Thomas
+Linden did a very rash and foolish thing; he persuaded Catherine Arnold
+to consent to a private marriage, arguing that if the indissoluble knot
+were once fairly tied, his father would, as a matter of course--he being
+an only child--become reconciled to what he could no longer hope to
+prevent or remedy.
+
+The imprudent young man deceived both himself and her who trusted in his
+pleasing plausibilities. Ten minutes after he had disclosed the marriage
+to his father, he was turned, almost penniless, out of doors; and the
+exasperated and inexorable old man refused to listen to any
+representation in his favor, by whomsoever proffered, and finally, even
+to permit the mention of his name in his hearing.
+
+"It's of no use," said Mr. Flint, on returning for the last time, from a
+mission undertaken to extort, if possible, some provision against
+absolute starvation for the newly-wedded couple. "He is as cold and hard
+as adamant, and I think, if possible, even more of a tiger than before.
+He will be here presently to give instructions for his will."
+
+"His will! Surely he will draw that up himself after his own
+common-sense, business fashion?"
+
+"He would unquestionably have done so a short time since; but some events
+that have lately occurred have considerably shaken his estimate of his
+own infallibility, and he is, moreover, determined, he says, that there
+shall be no mistake as to effectually disinheriting his son. He has made
+two or three heavy losses, and his mind is altogether in a very cankered,
+distempered state."
+
+Mr. Linden called, as he had promised to do, and gave us the written
+heads of a will which he desired to have at once formally drawn up. By
+this instrument he devised the Holmford estate, and all other property,
+real and personal, of which he might die possessed, to certain charitable
+institutions, in varying proportions, payable as soon after his death as
+the property could be turned into money. "The statute of mortmain does
+not give me much uneasiness," remarked the vindictive old man with a
+bitter smile. "I shall last some time yet. I would have left it all to
+you, Flint," he added, "only that I knew you would defeat my purpose by
+giving it back to that disobedient, ungrateful, worthless boy."
+
+"Do leave it to me," rejoined Mr. Flint, with grave emphasis, "and I
+promise you faithfully this--that the wish respecting it, whatever it may
+be, which trembles on your lip as you are about to leave this world for
+another, and when it may be too late to formally revoke the testament you
+now propose, shall be strictly carried out. That time cannot be a very
+distant one, John Linden, for a man whose hair is white as yours."
+
+It was preaching to the winds. He was deaf, blind, mute, to every attempt
+at changing his resolve. The will was drawn in accordance with his
+peremptorily-iterated instructions, and duly signed, sealed, and
+attested. Not very long afterwards, Mr. Linden disposed of his business
+in Mincing Lane, and retired to Holmford, but with nothing like the
+money-fortune he had once calculated upon, the losses alluded to by Mr.
+Flint, and followed by others, having considerably diminished his wealth.
+
+We ultimately obtained a respectable and remunerative situation for
+Thomas Linden in a mercantile house at Belfast, with which we were
+professionally acquainted, and after securing berths in the _Erin_
+steamer, he, with his wife and mother-in-law, came, with a kind of
+hopeful sadness in their looks and voices, to bid us farewell--for a very
+long time, they and we also feared--
+
+For an eternity, it seemed, on reading the account of the loss of the
+_Erin_, a few days afterwards, with every soul on board! Their names were
+published with those of the other passengers who had embarked, and we had
+of course concluded that they had perished, when a letter reached us from
+Belfast, stating that, through some delay on the part of Mrs. Arnold,
+they had happily lost their passage in the _Erin_, and embarked in the
+next steamer for Belfast, where they arrived in perfect safety. We
+forwarded this intelligence to Holmford, but it elicited no reply.
+
+We heard nothing of Mr. Linden for about two months, except by
+occasional notices in the "Hereford Times", which he regularly forwarded
+to the office, relative to the improvements on the Holmford estate,
+either actually begun or contemplated by its new proprietor. He very
+suddenly reappeared. I was cooling my heels in the waiting-room of the
+chambers of the Barons of the Exchequer, Chancery Lane, awaiting my turn
+of admission, when one of our clerks came in, half-breathless with haste.
+"You are wanted, sir, immediately; Mr. Flint is out, and Mr. Linden is at
+the office raving like a mad-man." I instantly transferred the business I
+was in attendance at chambers upon, to the clerk, and with the help of a
+cab soon reached home.
+
+Mr. Linden was not _raving_ when I arrived. The violence of the paroxysm
+of rage and terror by which he was possessed had passed away, and he
+looked, as I entered, the image of pale, rigid, iron, dumb despair. He
+held a letter and a strip of parchment in his hand; these he presented,
+and with white, stammering lips, bade me read. The letter was from an
+attorney of the name of Sawbridge, giving notice of an action of
+ejectment, to oust him from the possession of the Holmford estate, the
+property, according to Mr. Sawbridge, of one Edwin Majoribanks; and the
+strip of parchment was the writ by which the letter had been quickly
+followed. I was astounded; and my scared looks questioned Mr. Linden for
+further information.
+
+"I do not quite understand it," he said in a hoarse, palpitating voice.
+"No possession or title in the venders; a niece not of age--executors no
+power to sell--Palliser discovered it, robbed me, absconded, and I, oh
+God! am a miserable beggar!"
+
+The last words were uttered with a convulsive scream, and after a few
+frightful struggles he fell down in a fit. I had him conveyed to bed,
+and as soon as he was somewhat recovered, I hastened off to ascertain
+from Sawbridge, whom I knew very intimately, the nature of the claim
+intended to be set up for the plaintiff, Edwin Majoribanks.
+
+I met Sawbridge just as he was leaving his office, and as he was in too
+great a hurry to turn back, I walked along with him, and he rapidly
+detailed the chief facts about to be embodied in the plaintiff's
+declaration. Archibald Dursley, once a London merchant, and who died a
+bachelor, had bequeathed his estate, real and personal, to his brother
+Charles, and a niece, his sister's child--two-thirds to the niece, and
+one-third to the brother. The Holmford property, the will directed,
+should be sold by public auction when the niece came of age, unless she,
+by marriage or otherwise, was enabled, within six months after attaining
+her majority, to pay over to Charles Dursley his third in money,
+according to a valuation made for the purpose by competent assessors. The
+brother, Charles Dursley, had urged upon the executors to anticipate the
+time directed by the will for the sale of the property; and having
+persuaded the niece to give a written authorization for the immediate
+sale, the executors, chiefly, Sawbridge supposed, prompted by their own
+necessities, sold the estate accordingly. But the niece not being of age
+when she signed the authority to sell, her consent was of no legal value;
+and she having since died intestate, Edwin Majoribanks, her cousin and
+undoubted heir-at-law--for the property could not have passed from her,
+even by marriage--now claimed the estate. Charles Dursley, the brother,
+was dead; "and," continued Mr. Sawbridge, "the worst of it is, Linden
+will never get a farthing of his purchase-money from the venders, for
+they are bankrupt, nor from Palliser, who has made permanent arrangements
+for continuing abroad, out of harm's reach. It is just as I tell you,"
+he added, as we shook hands at parting; "but you will of course see the
+will, and satisfy yourself. Good-by."
+
+Here was a precious result of amateur common-sense lawyership! Linden
+could only have examined the abstract of title furnished him by
+Palliser's attorney, and not the right of Dursley's executors to sell; or
+had not been aware that the niece could not during her minority,
+subscribe an effective legal consent.
+
+I found Mr. Flint at the office, and quickly imparted the astounding
+news. He was as much taken aback as myself.
+
+"The obstinate, pig-headed old ass!" he exclaimed; "it almost serves him
+right, if only for his Tom-fool nonsense of 'Every man his own lawyer.'
+What did you say was the niece's name?"
+
+"Well, I don't remember that Sawbridge told me--he was in such a hurry;
+but suppose you go at once and look over the will?"
+
+"True: I will do so;" and away he went.
+
+"This is a very singular affair, Sharp," said Mr. Flint on his return
+from Doctors' Commons, at the same time composedly seating himself,
+hooking his thumbs into the arm-holes of his waistcoat, crossing his
+legs, and tilting his chair back on its hind legs. "A very singular
+affair. Whom, in the name of the god of thieves--Mercury, wasn't he
+called?--do you suppose the bankrupt executors to be? No other,"
+continued Mr. Flint with a sudden burst, "than Crowther & Jenkins!"
+
+"The devil!--and the niece then is"--
+
+"Catherine Arnold--Tom Linden's wife--supposed to have been drowned in
+the _Erin_! That's check-mate, I rather fancy--not only to Mr. Edwin
+Majoribanks, but some one else we know of. The old fellow up stairs
+won't refuse to acknowledge his daughter-in-law now, I fancy!"
+
+This was indeed a happy change in the fortunes of the House of Linden;
+and we discussed, with much alacrity, the best mode of turning
+disclosures so momentous and surprising to the best account. As a first
+step, a letter with an inclosure, was dispatched to Belfast, requiring
+the return of Thomas Linden and family immediately; and the next was to
+plead in form to the action. This done, we awaited Catherine Linden's
+arrival in London, and Mr. Linden senior's convalescence--for his mental
+agitation had resulted in a sharp fit of illness--to effect a
+satisfactory and just arrangement.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Linden and Mrs. Arnold arrived by the earliest
+steamer that left Belfast after the receipt of our letter; and much
+astonished were they by the intelligence that awaited them. Catherine
+Linden was for confirming the validity of the sale of the Holmford estate
+by her now authoritative consent at once, as a mere act of common justice
+and good faith; but this, looking at the total loss of fortune she had
+sustained by the knavery of the executors, and the obstinate, mulish
+temper of the father-in-law, from whom she had already received such
+harsh treatment, could not for a moment be permitted; and it was finally
+resolved to take advantage of the legal position in which she stood, to
+enforce a due present provision for herself and husband, and their
+ultimate succession to the estate.
+
+John Linden gradually recovered; and as soon as it was deemed prudent to
+do so, we informed him that the niece was not dead, as the plaintiff in
+the action of ejectment had supposed, and that of course, if she could
+now be persuaded to ratify the imperative consent she had formerly
+subscribed, he might retain Holmford. At first he received the
+intelligence as a gleam of light and hope, but he soon relapsed into
+doubt and gloom. "What chance was there," he hopelessly argued, "that,
+holding the legal power, she would not exercise it?" It was not, he said,
+in human nature to do otherwise; and he commissioned us to make liberal
+offers for a compromise. Half--he would be content to lose half his
+purchase-money; even a greater sacrifice than that he would agree
+to--anything, indeed, that would not be utter ruin--that did not involve
+utter beggary and destitution in old age.
+
+Three days after this conversation, I announced to him that the lady and
+her husband were below and desirous of seeing him.
+
+"What do they say?" he eagerly demanded. "Will they accept of
+half--two-thirds? What do they say?"
+
+"I cannot precisely tell you. They wish to see you alone, and you can
+urge your own views and offers." He trembled violently, and shrank
+nervously back as I placed my hand on the door-handle of the private
+office. He presently recovered in some degree his self-possession, passed
+in, and I withdrew from the humiliating, but salutary spectacle, of
+obdurate tyrant-power compelled to humble itself before those whom it had
+previously scorned and trampled upon.
+
+The legal arrangements which Flint and I had suggested were effected, and
+Linden, senior, accompanied by his son, daughter-in-law, and Mrs. Arnold,
+set off in restored amity for Holmford House. Edwin Majoribanks abandoned
+his action, and Palliser, finding that matters were satisfactorily
+arranged, retired to England. We afterwards knew that he had discovered
+the defect of title, on applying to a well-known conveyancer, to raise a
+considerable sum by way of mortgage, and that his first step was to
+threaten legal proceedings against Crowther & Jenkins for the recovery of
+his money; but a hint he obtained of the futility of proceedings against
+them, determined him to offer the estate at a low figure to Linden,
+relying upon that gentleman's ostentatious contempt of lawyers that the
+blot in the title, subjected only to his own common-sense spectacles,
+would not be perceived.
+
+
+
+
+THE CHEST OF DRAWERS.
+
+
+I am about to relate a rather curious piece of domestic history, some
+of the incidents of which, revealed at the time of their occurrence in
+contemporary law reports, may be in the remembrance of many readers. It
+took place in one of the midland counties, and at a place which I shall
+call Watley; the names of the chief actors who figured in it must also,
+to spare their modesty of their blushes, as the case may be, be
+changed; and should one of those persons, spite of these precautions,
+apprehend unpleasant recognition, he will be able to console himself
+with the reflection, that all I state beyond that which may be gathered
+from the records of the law courts will be generally ascribed to the
+fancy or invention of the writer. And it is as well, perhaps, that it
+should be so.
+
+Caleb Jennings, a shoemaker, cobler, snob--using the last word in its
+genuine classical sense, and by no means according to the modern
+interpretation by which it is held to signify a genteel sneak or
+pretender--he was anything but that--occupied, some twelve or thirteen
+years ago, a stall at Watley, which, according to the traditions of the
+place, had been hereditary in his family for several generations. He may
+also be said to have flourished there, after the manner of cobblers; for
+this, it must be remembered, was in the good old times, before the
+gutta-percha revolution had carried ruin and dismay into the
+stalls--those of cobblers--which in considerable numbers existed
+throughout the kingdom. Like all his fraternity whom I have ever fallen
+in with or heard of, Caleb was a sturdy radical of the Major Cartwright
+and Henry Hunt school; and being withal industrious, tolerably skillful,
+not inordinately prone to the observance of Saint Mondays, possessed,
+moreover, of a neatly-furnished sleeping and eating apartment in the
+house of which the projecting first floor, supported on stone pillars,
+over-shadowed his humble work-place, he vaunted himself to be as really
+rich as an estated squire, and far more independent.
+
+There was some truth in this boast, as the case which procured us the
+honor of Mr. Jennings's acquaintance sufficiently proved. We were
+employed to bring an action against a wealthy gentleman of the vicinity
+of Watley for a brutal and unprovoked assault he had committed, when in a
+state of partial inebriety, upon a respectable London tradesman who had
+visited the place on business. On the day of trial our witnesses appeared
+to have become suddenly afflicted with an almost total loss of memory;
+and we were only saved from an adverse verdict by the plain,
+straight-forward evidence of Caleb, upon whose sturdy nature the various
+arts which soften or neutralize hostile evidence had been tried in vain.
+Mr. Flint, who personally superintended the case, took quite a liking to
+the man; and it thus happened that we were called upon sometime
+afterwards to aid the said Caleb in extricating himself from the
+extraordinary and perplexing difficulty in which he suddenly and
+unwittingly found himself involved.
+
+The projecting first floor of the house beneath which the humble
+work-shop of Caleb Jennings modestly disclosed itself, had been occupied
+for many years by an ailing and somewhat aged gentleman of the name of
+Lisle. This Mr. Ambrose Lisle was a native of Watley, and had been a
+prosperous merchant of the city of London. Since his return, after about
+twenty years' absence, he had shut himself up in almost total seclusion,
+nourishing a cynical bitterness and acrimony of temper which gradually
+withered up the sources of health and life, till at length it became as
+visible to himself as it had for sometime been to others, that the oil of
+existence was expended, burnt up, and that but a few weak flickers more,
+and the ailing man's plaints and griefs would be hushed in the dark
+silence of the grave.
+
+Mr. Lisle had no relatives at Watley, and the only individual with whom
+he was on terms of personal intimacy, was Mr. Peter Sowerby, an attorney
+of the place, who had for many years transacted all his business. This
+man visited Mr. Lisle most evenings, played at chess with him, and
+gradually acquired an influence over his client which that weak gentleman
+had once or twice feebly, but vainly endeavored to shake off. To this
+clever attorney, it was rumored, Mr. Lisle had bequeathed all his wealth.
+
+This piece of information had been put in circulation by Caleb Jennings,
+who was a sort of humble favorite of Mr. Lisle's, or, at all events, was
+regarded by the misanthrope with less dislike than he manifested towards
+others. Caleb cultivated a few flowers in a little plot of ground at the
+back of the house, and Mr. Lisle would sometimes accept a rose or a bunch
+of violets from him. Other slight services--especially since the recent
+death of his old and garrulous woman-servant, Esther May, who had
+accompanied him from London, and with whom Mr. Jennings had always been
+upon terms of gossiping intimacy--had led to certain familiarities of
+intercourse; and it thus happened that the inquisitive shoemaker became
+partially acquainted with the history of the wrongs and griefs which
+preyed upon, and shortened the life of the prematurely-aged man.
+
+The substance of this every-day, common-place story, as related to us by
+Jennings, and subsequently enlarged and colored from other sources, may
+be very briefly told.
+
+Ambrose Lisle, in consequence of an accident which occurred in his
+infancy, was slightly deformed. His right shoulder--as I understood, for
+I never saw him--grew out, giving an ungraceful and somewhat comical
+twist to his figure, which, in female eyes--youthful ones at least--sadly
+marred the effect of his intelligent and handsome countenance. This
+personal defect rendered him shy and awkward in the presence of women of
+his own class of society; and he had attained the ripe age of
+thirty-seven years, and was a rich and prosperous man, before he gave the
+slightest token of an inclination towards matrimony. About a twelvemonth
+previous to that period of his life, the deaths--quickly following each
+other--of a Mr. and Mrs. Stevens, threw their eldest daughter, Lucy, upon
+Mr. Lisle's hands. Mr. Lisle had been left an orphan at a very early age,
+and Mrs. Stevens--his aunt, and then a maiden lady--had, in accordance
+with his father's will, taken charge of himself and brother till they
+severally attained their majority. Long, however, before that, she
+married Mr. Stevens, by whom she had two children--Lucy and Emily. Her
+husband, whom she survived but two months, died insolvent; and in
+obedience to the dying wishes of his aunt, for whom he appears to have
+felt the tenderest esteem, he took the eldest of her orphan children to
+his home, intending to regard and provide for her as his own adopted
+child and heiress. Emily, the other sister, found refuge in the house of
+a still more distant relative than himself.
+
+The Stevenses had gone to live in a remote part of England--Yorkshire, I
+believe--and it thus fell out, that, till his cousin Lucy arrived at her
+new home, he had not seen her for more than ten years. The pale, and
+somewhat plain child, as he had esteemed her, he was startled to find had
+become a charming woman; and her naturally gay and joyous temperament,
+quick talents, and fresh young beauty, rapidly acquired an overwhelming
+influence over him. Strenuously, but vainly, he struggled against the
+growing infatuation--argued, reasoned with himself--passed in review the
+insurmountable objections to such a union, the difference of age--he,
+leading towards thirty-seven, she, barely twenty-one: he, crooked,
+deformed, of reserved, taciturn temper--she, full of young life, and
+grace, and beauty. It was useless; and nearly a year had passed in the
+bootless struggle, when Lucy Stevens, who had vainly striven to blind
+herself to the nature of the emotions by which her cousin and guardian
+was animated towards her, intimated a wish to accept her sister Emily's
+invitation to pass two or three months with her. This brought the affair
+to a crisis. Buoying himself up with the illusions which people in such
+an unreasonable frame of mind create for themselves, he suddenly entered
+the sitting-room set apart for her private use, with the desperate purpose
+of making his beautiful cousin a formal offer of his hand. She was not in
+the apartment, but her opened writing-desk, and a partly-finished letter
+lying on it, showed that she had been recently there, and would probably
+soon return. Mr. Lisle took two or three agitated turns about the room,
+one of which brought him close to the writing-desk, and his glance
+involuntarily fell upon the unfinished letter. Had a deadly serpent
+leaped suddenly at his throat, the shock could not have been greater. At
+the head of the sheet of paper was a clever pen-and-ink sketch of Lucy
+Stevens and himself--he, kneeling to her in a lovelorn, ludicrous
+attitude, and she, laughing immoderately at his lachrymose and pitiful
+aspect and speech. The letter was addressed to her sister Emily; and the
+enraged lover saw not only that his supposed secret was fully known, but
+that he himself was mocked, laughed at, for his doting folly. At least
+this was his interpretation of the words which swam before his eyes. At
+the instant Lucy returned, and a torrent of imprecation burst from the
+furious man, in which wounded self-love, rageful pride, and long pent-up
+passion, found utterance in wild and bitter words. Half an hour
+afterwards Lucy Stevens had left the merchant's house--for ever, as it
+proved. She, indeed, on arriving at her sister's, sent a letter,
+supplicating forgiveness for the thoughtless, and, as he deemed it,
+insulting sketch, intended only for Emily's eye; but he replied merely by
+a note written by one of his clerks, informing Miss Stevens that Mr.
+Lisle declined any further correspondence with her.
+
+The ire of the angered and vindictive man had, however, begun sensibly to
+abate, and old thoughts, memories, duties, suggested partly by the blank
+which Lucy's absence made in his house, partly by remembrance of the
+solemn promise he had made her mother, were strongly reviving in his
+mind, when he read the announcement of marriage in a provincial journal,
+directed to him, as he believed, in the bride's hand-writing; but this
+was an error, her sister having sent the newspaper. Mr. Lisle also
+construed this into a deliberate mockery and insult, and from that hour
+strove to banish all images and thoughts connected with his cousin, from
+his heart and memory.
+
+He unfortunately adopted the very worst course possible for effecting
+this object. Had he remained amid the buzz and tumult of active life, a
+mere sentimental disappointment, such as thousands of us have sustained
+and afterwards forgotten, would, there can be little doubt, have soon
+ceased to afflict him. He chose to retire from business, visited Watley,
+and habits of miserliness growing rapidly upon his cankered mind, never
+afterwards removed from the lodgings he had hired on first arriving
+there. Thus madly hugging to himself sharp-pointed memories, which a
+sensible man would have speedily cast off and forgotten, the sour
+misanthrope passed a useless, cheerless, weary existence, to which death
+must have been a welcome relief.
+
+Matters were in this state with the morose and aged man--aged mentally
+and corporeally, although his years were but fifty-eight--when Mr. Flint
+made Mr. Jennings's acquaintance. Another month or so had passed away
+when Caleb's attention was one day about noon claimed by a young man
+dressed in mourning, accompanied by a female similarly attired, and from
+their resemblance to each other he conjectured were brother and sister.
+The stranger wished to know if that was the house in which Mr. Ambrose
+Lisle resided. Jennings said it was; and with civil alacrity left his
+stall and rang the front-door bell. The summons was answered by the
+landlady's servant, who, since Esther May's death, had waited on the
+first-floor lodger; and the visitors were invited to go up stairs. Caleb,
+much wondering who they might be, returned to his stall, and from thence
+passed into his eating and sleeping-room just below Mr. Lisle's
+apartments. He was in the act of taking a pipe from the mantel-shelf, in
+order to the more deliberate and satisfactory cogitation on such an
+unusual event, when he was startled by a loud shout, or scream rather,
+from above. The quivering and excited voice was that of Mr. Lisle, and
+the outcry was immediately followed by an explosion of unintelligible
+exclamations from several persons. Caleb was up stairs in an instant,
+and found himself in the midst of a strangely-perplexing and distracted
+scene. Mr. Lisle, pale as his shirt, shaking in every limb, and his eyes
+on fire with passion, was hurling forth a torrent of vituperation and
+reproach at the young woman, whom he evidently mistook for some one else;
+whilst she, extremely terrified, and unable to stand but for the
+assistance of her companion, was tendering a letter in her outstretched
+hand, and uttering broken sentences, which her own agitation and the fury
+of Mr. Lisle's invectives rendered totally incomprehensible. At last the
+fierce old man struck the letter from her hand, and with frantic rage
+ordered both the strangers to leave the room. Caleb urged them to comply,
+and accompanied them down stairs. When they reached the street, he
+observed a woman on the other side of the way, dressed in mourning, and
+much older apparently, though he could not well see her face through the
+thick veil she wore, than she who had thrown Mr. Lisle into such an agony
+of rage, apparently waiting for them. To her the young people immediately
+hastened, and after a brief conference the three turned away up the
+street, and Mr. Jennings saw no more of them.
+
+A quarter of an hour afterwards the house-servant informed Caleb that Mr.
+Lisle had retired to bed, and although still in great agitation, and, as
+she feared, seriously indisposed, would not permit Dr. Clarke to be sent
+for. So sudden and violent a hurricane in the usually dull and drowsy
+atmosphere in which Jennings lived, excited and disturbed him greatly;
+the hours, however, flew past without bringing any relief to his
+curiosity, and evening was falling, when a peculiar knocking on the floor
+over-head announced that Mr. Lisle desired his presence. That gentleman
+was sitting up in bed, and in the growing darkness his face could not be
+very distinctly seen; but Caleb instantly observed a vivid and unusual
+light in the old man's eyes. The letter so strangely delivered was lying
+open before him; and unless the shoe-mender was greatly mistaken, there
+were stains of recent tears upon Mr. Lisie's furrowed and hollow cheeks.
+The voice, too, it struck Caleb, though eager, was gentle and wavering.
+"It was a mistake, Jennings," he said; "I was mad for the moment. Are
+they gone?" he added in a yet more subdued and gentle tone. Caleb
+informed him of what he had seen; and as he did so, the strange light in
+the old man's eyes seemed to quiver and sparkle with a yet intenser
+emotion than before. Presently he shaded them with his hand, and remained
+several minutes silent. He then said with a firmer voice, "I shall be
+glad if you will step to Mr. Sowerby, and tell him I am too unwell to see
+him this evening. But be sure to say nothing else," he eagerly added, as
+Caleb turned away in compliance with his request; "and when you come
+back, let me see you again."
+
+When Jennings returned, he found to his great surprise Mr. Lisle up and
+nearly dressed; and his astonishment increased a hundred-fold upon
+hearing that gentleman say, in a quick but perfectly collected and
+decided manner, that he should set off for London by the mail-train.
+
+"For London--and by night!" exclaimed Caleb, scarcely sure that he
+heard aright.
+
+"Yes--yes! I shall not be observed in the dark," sharply rejoined Mr.
+Lisle; "and you, Caleb, must keep my secret from every body, especially
+from Sowerby. I shall be here in time to see him to-morrow night, and he
+will be none the wiser." This was said with a slight chuckle; and as soon
+as his simple preparations were complete, Mr. Lisle, well wrapped up,
+and his face almost hidden by shawls, locked his door, and assisted by
+Jennings, stole furtively down stairs, and reached unrecognized the
+railway station just in time for the train.
+
+It was quite dark the next evening when Mr. Lisle returned; and so well
+had he managed, that Mr. Sowerby, who paid his usual visit about half an
+hour afterwards, had evidently heard nothing of the suspicious absence of
+his esteemed client from Watley. The old man exulted over the success of
+his deception to Caleb, the next morning, but dropped no hint as to the
+object of his sudden journey.
+
+Three days passed without the occurrence of any incident tending to the
+enlightenment of Mr. Jennings upon these mysterious events, which,
+however, he plainly saw had lamentably shaken the long-since failing man.
+On the afternoon of the fourth day, Mr. Lisle walked, or rather tottered,
+into Caleb's stall, and seated himself on the only vacant stool it
+contained. His manner was confused, and frequently purposeless, and there
+was an anxious, flurried expression in his face, which Jennings did not
+at all like. He remained silent for some time, with the exception of
+partially inaudible snatches of comment or questionings, apparently
+addressed to himself. At last he said, "I shall take a longer journey
+to-morrow, Caleb--much longer; let me see--where did I say? Ah, yes! to
+Glasgow; to be sure to Glasgow!"
+
+"To Glasgow, and to-morrow!" exclaimed the astounded cobbler.
+
+"No, no--not Glasgow; they have removed," feebly rejoined Mr. Lisle.
+"But Lucy has written it down for me. True--true; and to-morrow I
+shall set out."
+
+The strange expression of Mr. Lisle's face became momentarily more
+strongly marked, and Jennings, greatly alarmed, said, "You are ill, Mr.
+Lisle; let me run for Dr. Clarke."
+
+"No--no," he murmured, at the same time striving to rise from his seat,
+which he could only accomplish by Caleb's assistance, and so supported,
+he staggered indoors. "I shall be better to-morrow," he said faintly, and
+then slowly added, "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow! Ah, me! Yes,
+as I said, to-morrow, I"--He paused abruptly, and they gained his
+apartment. He seated himself, and then Jennings, at his mute
+solicitation, assisted him to bed.
+
+He lay some time with his eyes closed; and Caleb could feel--for Mr.
+Lisle held him firmly by the hand, as if to prevent his going away--a
+convulsive shudder pass over his frame. At last he slowly opened his
+eyes, and Caleb saw that he was indeed about to depart upon the long
+journey from which there is no return. The lips of the dying man worked
+inarticulately for some moments; and then with a mighty effort, as it
+seemed, he said, whilst his trembling hand pointed feebly to a bureau
+chest of drawers that stood in the room, "There--there, for Lucy; there,
+the secret place is"--Some inaudible words followed, and then after a
+still mightier struggle than before, he gasped out, "No word--no
+word--to--to Sowerby--for her--Lucy."
+
+More was said, but undistinguishable by mortal ear; and after gazing with
+an expression of indescribable anxiety in the scared face of his
+awe-struck listener, the wearied eyes slowly reclosed--the deep silence
+flowed past; then the convulsive shudder came again, and he was dead!
+
+Caleb Jennings tremblingly summoned the house-servant and the landlady,
+and was still confusedly pondering the broken sentences uttered by the
+dying man, when Mr. Sowerby hurriedly arrived. The attorney's first care
+was to assume the direction of affairs, and to place seals upon every
+article containing or likely to contain anything of value belonging to
+the deceased. This done, he went away to give directions for the funeral,
+which took place a few days afterwards; and it was then formally
+announced that Mr. Sowerby succeeded by will to the large property of
+Ambrose Lisle; under trust, however, for the family, if any, of Robert
+Lisle, the deceased's brother, who had gone when very young to India, and
+had not been heard of for many years--a condition which did not at all
+mar the joy of the crafty lawyer, he having long since instituted private
+inquiries, which perfectly satisfied him, that the said Robert Lisle had
+died, unmarried, at Calcutta.
+
+Mr. Jennings was in a state of great dubiety and consternation. Sowerby
+had emptied the chest of drawers of every valuable it contained; and
+unless he had missed the secret receptacle Mr. Lisle had spoken of, the
+deceased's intentions, whatever they might have been, were clearly
+defeated. And if he had _not_ discovered it, how could he, Jennings, get
+at the drawers to examine them? A fortunate chance brought some relief to
+his perplexities. Ambrose Lisle's furniture was advertised to be sold by
+auction, and Caleb resolved to purchase the bureau chest of drawers at
+almost any price, although to do so would oblige him to break into his
+rent-money, then nearly due. The day of sale came, and, the important lot
+in its turn was put up. In one of the drawers there were a number of
+loose newspapers, and other valueless scraps; and Caleb, with a sly grin,
+asked the auctioneer, if he sold the article with all its contents. "Oh,
+yes," said Sowerby, who was watching the sale; "the buyer may have all it
+contains over his bargain, and much good may it do him." A laugh followed
+the attorney's sneering remark, and the biddings went on. "I want it,"
+observed Caleb "because it just fits a recess like this one in my room
+underneath." This he said to quiet a suspicion he thought he saw
+gathering upon the attorney's brow. It was finally knocked down to Caleb
+at L5 10s., a sum considerably beyond its real value; and he had to
+borrow a sovereign in order to clear his speculative purchase. This done,
+he carried off his prize, and as soon as the closing of the house for the
+night secured him from interruption, he set eagerly to work in search of
+the secret drawer. A long and patient examination was richly rewarded.
+Behind one of the small drawers of the _secretaire_ portion of the piece
+of furniture was another small one, curiously concealed, which contained
+Bank-of-England notes to the amount of L200, tied up with a letter, upon
+the back of which was written, in the deceased's hand-writing, "To take
+with me." The letter which Caleb, although he read print with facility,
+had much difficulty in making out, was that which Mr. Lisle had struck
+from the young woman's hand a few weeks before, and proved to be a very
+affecting appeal from Lucy Stevens, now Lucy Warner, and a widow, with
+two grown-up children. Her husband had died in insolvent circumstances,
+and she and her sister Emily, who was still single, were endeavoring to
+carry on a school at Bristol, which promised to be sufficiently
+prosperous if the sum of about L150 could be raised, to save the
+furniture from her deceased husband's creditors. The claim was pressing,
+for Mr. Warner had been dead nearly a year, and Mr. Lisle being the only
+relative Mrs. Warner had in the world, she had ventured to entreat his
+assistance for her mother's sake. There could be no moral doubt,
+therefore, that this money was intended for Mrs. Warner's relief; and
+early in the morning Mr. Caleb Jennings dressed himself in his Sunday's
+suit, and with a brief announcement to his landlady that he was about to
+leave Watley for a day or two, on a visit to a friend, set off for the
+railway station. He had not proceeded far when a difficulty struck
+him--the bank-notes were all twenties; and were he to change a
+twenty-pound note at the station, where he was well known, great would be
+the tattle and wonderment, if nothing worse, that would ensue. So Caleb
+tried his credit again, borrowed sufficient for his journey to London,
+and there changed one of the notes.
+
+He soon reached Bristol, and blessed was the relief which the sum of
+money he brought afforded Mrs. Warner. She expressed much sorrow for the
+death of Mr. Lisle, and great gratitude to Caleb. The worthy man
+accepted with some reluctance one of the notes, or at least as much as
+remained of that which he had changed; and after exchanging promises
+with the widow and her relatives to keep the matter secret, departed
+homewards. The young woman, Mrs. Warner's daughter, who had brought the
+letter to Watley, was, Caleb noticed, the very image of her mother, or,
+rather, of what her mother must have been when young. This remarkable
+resemblance it was, no doubt, which had for the moment so confounded and
+agitated Mr. Lisle.
+
+Nothing occurred for about a fortnight after Caleb's return to disquiet
+him, and he had begun to feel tolerably sure that his discovery of the
+notes would remain unsuspected, when, one afternoon, the sudden and
+impetuous entrance of Mr. Sowerby into his stall caused him to jump up
+from his seat with surprise and alarm. The attorney's face was deathly
+white, his eyes glared like a wild beast's, and his whole appearance
+exhibited uncontrollable agitation. "A word with you, Mr. Jennings," he
+gasped--"a word in private, and at once!" Caleb, in scarcely less
+consternation than his visitor, led the way into his inner room, and
+closed the door.
+
+"Restore--give back," screamed the attorney, vainly struggling to
+dissemble the agitation which convulsed him--"that--that which you have
+purloined from the chest of drawers!"
+
+The hot blood rushed to Caleb's face and temples; the wild vehemence and
+suddenness of the demand confounded him; and certain previous dim
+suspicions that the law might not only pronounce what he had done
+illegal, but possibly felonious, returned upon him with terrible force,
+and he quite lost his presence of mind.
+
+"I can't--I can't," he stammered. "It's gone--given away"--
+
+"Gone!" shouted, or, more correctly, howled--Sowerby, at the
+same time flying at Caleb's throat as if he would throttle him.
+"Gone--given away! You lie--you want to drive a bargain with
+me--dog!--liar!--rascal!--thief!"
+
+This was a species of attack which Jennings was at no loss how to meet.
+He shook the attorney roughly off, and hurled him, in the midst of his
+vituperation, to the further end of the room.
+
+They then stood glaring at each other in silence, till the attorney,
+mastering himself as well as he could, essayed another and more rational
+mode of attaining his purpose:--
+
+"Come, come, Jennings," he said, "don't be a fool. Let us understand each
+other. I have just discovered a paper, a memorandum of what you have
+found in the drawers, and to obtain which you bought them. I don't care
+for the money--keep it; only give me the papers--documents."
+
+"Papers--documents!" ejaculated Caleb, in unfeigned surprise.
+
+"Yes--yes; of use to me only. You, I remember, cannot read writing; but
+they are of great consequence to me--to me only, I tell you."
+
+"You can't mean Mrs. Warner's letter?"
+
+"No--no; curse the letter! You are playing with a tiger! Keep the money,
+I tell you; but give up the papers--documents--or I'll transport you!"
+shouted Sowerby with reviving fury.
+
+Caleb, thoroughly bewildered, could only mechanically ejaculate that he
+had no papers or documents.
+
+The rage of the attorney when he found he could extract nothing from
+Jennings was frightful. He literally foamed with passion, uttered the
+wildest threats; and then suddenly changing his key, offered the
+astounded cobbler one--two--three thousand pounds--any sum he chose to
+name, for the papers--documents! This scene of alternate violence and
+cajolery lasted nearly an hour; and then Sowerby rushed from the house as
+if pursued by the furies, and leaving his auditor in a state of thorough
+bewilderment and dismay. It occurred to Caleb, as soon as his mind had
+settled into something like order, that there might be another secret
+drawer; and the recollection of Mr. Lisle's journey to London recurred
+suggestively to him. Another long and eager search, however, proved
+fruitless; and the suspicion was given up, or, more correctly, weakened.
+
+As soon as it was light the next morning, Mr. Sowerby was again with
+him. He was more guarded now, and was at length convinced that Jennings
+had no paper or document to give up. "It was only some important
+memoranda," observed the attorney carelessly, "that would save me a
+world of trouble in a lawsuit I shall have to bring against some heavy
+debtors to Mr. Lisle's estate; but I must do as well as I can without
+them. Good morning." Just as he reached the door a sudden thought
+appeared to strike him. He stopped and said, "By the way, Jennings, in
+the hurry of business I forgot that Mr. Lisle had told me the chest of
+drawers you bought, and a few other articles, were family relics which
+he wished to be given to certain parties he named. The other things I
+have got; and you, I suppose, will let me have the drawers for--say a
+pound profit on your bargain?"
+
+Caleb was not the acutest man in the world; but this sudden proposition,
+carelessly as it was made, suggested curious thoughts. "No," he answered;
+"I shall not part with it. I shall keep it as a memorial of Mr. Lisle."
+
+Sowerby's face assumed as Caleb spoke, a ferocious expression. "Shall
+you?" said he. "Then, be sure, my fine fellow, that you shall also have
+something to remember me by as long as you live."
+
+He then went away, and a few days afterwards Caleb was served with a writ
+for the recovery of the two hundred pounds.
+
+The affair made a great noise in the place; and Caleb's conduct being
+very generally approved, a subscription was set on foot to defray the
+cost of defending the action--one Hayling, a rival attorney to Sowerby,
+having asserted that the words used by the proprietor of the chest of
+drawers at the sale barred his claim to the money found in them. This
+wise gentleman was intrusted with the defence; and strange to say, the
+jury--a common one--spite of the direction of the judge returned a
+verdict for the defendant, upon the ground that Sowerby's jocular or
+sneering remark amounted to a serious, valid leave and license to sell
+two hundred pounds for five pounds ten shillings!
+
+Sowerby obtained, as a matter of course, a rule for a new trial; and a
+fresh action was brought. All at once Hayling refused to go on, alleging
+deficiency of funds. He told Jennings that in his opinion it would be
+better that he should give in to Sowerby's whim, who only wanted the
+drawers in order to comply with the testator's wishes. "Besides,"
+remarked Hayling in conclusion, "he is sure to get the article, you know,
+when it comes to be sold under a writ of _fi fa_." A few days after this
+conversation it was ascertained that Hayling was to succeed to Sowerby's
+business, the latter gentleman being about to retire upon the fortune
+bequeathed him by Mr. Lisle.
+
+At last Caleb, driven nearly out of his senses, though still doggedly
+obstinate, by the harassing perplexities in which he found himself,
+thought of applying to us.
+
+"A very curious affair, upon my word," remarked Mr. Flint, as soon as
+Caleb had unburdened himself of the story of his woes and cares; "and in
+my opinion by no means explainable by Sowerby's anxiety to fulfill the
+testator's wishes. He cannot expect to get two hundred pence out of you;
+and Mrs. Warner, you say, is equally unable to pay. Very odd indeed.
+Perhaps if we could get time, something might turn up."
+
+With this view Flint looked over the papers Caleb had brought, and found
+the declaration was in _trover_--a manifest error--the notes never
+admittedly having been in Sowerby's actual possession. We accordingly
+demurred to the form of action, and the proceedings were set aside. This,
+however, proved of no ultimate benefit. Sowerby persevered, and a fresh
+action was instituted against the unhappy shoe-mender. So utterly
+overcrowed and disconsolate was poor Caleb, that he determined to give up
+the drawers which was all Sowerby even now required, and so wash his
+hands of the unfortunate business. Previous, however, to this being done,
+it was determined that another thorough and scientific examination of
+the mysterious piece of furniture should be made; and for this purpose
+Mr. Flint obtained a workman skilled in the mysteries of secret
+contrivances, from the desk and dressing-case establishment in King
+Street, Holborn, and proceeded with him to Watley.
+
+The man performed his task with great care and skill; every depth and
+width was guaged and measured, in order to ascertain if there were any
+false bottoms or backs; and the workman finally pronounced that there was
+no concealed receptacle in the article.
+
+"I am sure there is," persisted Flint, whom disappointment as usual
+rendered but the more obstinate; "and so is Sowerby: and he knows too,
+that it is so cunningly contrived as to be undiscoverable, except by a
+person in the secret, which he no doubt at first imagined Caleb to be.
+I'll tell you what we'll do--You have the necessary tools with you. Split
+the confounded chest of drawers into shreds--I'll be answerable for the
+consequences."
+
+This was done carefully and methodically, but for some time without
+result. At length the large drawer next the floor had to be knocked to
+pieces; and as it fell apart, one section of the bottom, which, like all
+the others, was divided into two compartments, dropped asunder, and
+discovered a parchment laid flat between the two thin leaves, which, when
+pressed together in the grooves of the drawer, presented precisely the
+same appearance as the rest. Flint snatched up the parchment, and his
+eager eye had scarcely rested an instant on the writing, when a shout of
+triumph burst from him. It was the last will and testament of Ambrose
+Lisle, dated August 21, 1838--the day of his last hurried visit to
+London. It revoked the former will, and bequeathed the whole of his
+property, in equal portions, to his cousins Lucy Warner and Emily
+Stevens, with succession to their children; but with reservation of
+one-half to his brother Robert or children, should he be alive, or have
+left offspring.
+
+Great, it may be supposed was the jubilation of Caleb Jennings at this
+discovery; and all Watley, by his agency, was in a marvelously short
+space of time in a very similar state of excitement. It was very late
+that night when he reached his bed; and how he got there at all, and what
+precisely had happened, except, indeed, that he had somewhere picked up a
+splitting headache, was, for some time after he awoke the next morning,
+very confusedly remembered.
+
+Mr. Flint, by reflection, was by no means so exultant as the worthy
+shoe-mender. The odd mode of packing away a deed of such importance, with
+_no assignable motive for doing so_, except the needless awe with which
+Sowerby was said to have inspired his feeble-spirited client, together
+with what Caleb had said of the shattered state of the deceased's mind
+after the interview with Mrs. Warner's daughter, suggested fears that
+Sowerby might dispute, and perhaps successfully, the validity of this
+last will. My excellent partner, however, determined, as was his wont, to
+put a bold face on the matter; and first clearly settling in his own mind
+what he should and what he should _not_ say, waited upon Mr. Sowerby. The
+news had preceded him, and he was at once surprised and delighted to find
+that the nervous crest-fallen attorney was quite unaware of the
+advantages of his position. On condition of not being called to account
+for the moneys he had received and expended, about L1200, he destroyed
+the former will in Mr. Flint's presence, and gave up, at once, all the
+deceased's papers. From these we learned that Mr. Lisle had written a
+letter to Mrs. Warner, stating what he had done, and where the will would
+be found, and that only herself and Jennings would know the secret. Prom
+infirmity of purpose, or from having subsequently determined on a
+personal interview, the letter was not posted; and Sowerby subsequently
+discovered it, together with a memorandum of the numbers of the
+bank-notes found by Caleb in the secret drawer--the eccentric gentleman
+appears to have had quite a mania for such hiding-places--of a
+writing-desk.
+
+The affair was thus happily terminated; Mrs. Warner, her children, and
+sister, were enriched, and Caleb Jennings was set up in a good way of
+business in his native place, where he still flourishes. Over the
+centre of his shop there is a large nondescript sign, surmounted by a
+golden boot, which upon a close inspection is found to bear a
+resemblance to a huge bureau chest of drawers, all the circumstances
+connected with which may be heard, for the asking, and in much fuller
+detail than I have given, from the lips of the owner of the
+establishment, by any lady or gentleman who will take the trouble of a
+journey to Watley for that purpose.
+
+
+
+
+THE PUZZLE.
+
+
+Tempus fugit! The space of but a few brief yesterdays seems to have
+passed since the occurrence of the following out-of-the-way
+incidents--out-of-the-way, even in our profession, fertile as it is in
+startling experiences; and yet the faithful and unerring tell-tale and
+monitor, Anno Domini 1851, instructs me that a quarter of a century has
+nearly slipped by since the first scene in the complicated play of
+circumstances opened upon me. The date I remember well, for the
+Tower-guns had been proclaiming with their thunder-throats the victory of
+Navarino but a short time before a clerk announced, "William Martin, with
+a message from Major Stewart."
+
+This William Martin was a rather sorry curiosity in his way. He was now
+in the service of our old client, Major Stewart; and a tall, good-looking
+fellow enough, spite of a very decided cast in his eyes, which the
+rascal, when in his cups--no unusual occurrence--declared he had caught
+from his former masters--Edward Thorneycroft, Esq., an enormously rich
+and exceedingly yellow East India director, and his son, Mr. Henry
+Thorneycroft, with whom, until lately transferred to Major Stewart's
+service, he had lived from infancy--his mother and father having formed
+part of the elder Thorneycroft's establishment when he was born. He had a
+notion in his head that he had better blood in his veins than the world
+supposed, and was excessively fond of aping the gentleman; and this he
+did, I must say, with the ease and assurance of a stage-player. His name
+was scarcely out of the clerk's lips when he entered the inner office
+with a great effort at steadiness and deliberation, closed the door very
+carefully and importantly, hung his hat with much precision on a brass
+peg, and then steadying himself by the door-handle, surveyed the
+situation and myself with staring lack-lustre eyes and infinite gravity.
+I saw what was the matter.
+
+"You have been in the 'Sun,' Mr. Martin?"
+
+A wink, inexpressible by words, replied to me, and I could see by the
+motion of the fellow's lips that speech was attempted; but it came so
+thick that it was several minutes before I made out that he meant to
+say the British had been knocking the Turks about like bricks, and
+that he had been patriotically drinking the healths of the said
+British or bricks.
+
+"Have the goodness, sir, to deliver your message, and then instantly
+leave the office."
+
+"Old Tho-o-o-rney," was the hiccoughed reply, "has smoked the--the
+plot. Young Thorney's done for. Ma-a-aried in a false name;
+tra-ansportation--of course."
+
+"What gibberish is this about old Thorney and young Thorney? Do you not
+come from Major Stewart?"
+
+"Ye-e-es, that's right; the route's arrived for the old trump; wishes
+to--to see you"
+
+"Major Stewart dying! Why, you are a more disgraceful scamp than I
+believed you to be. Send this fellow away," I added to a clerk who
+answered my summons. I then hastened off, and was speedily rattling over
+the stones towards Baker Street, Portman Square, where Major Stewart
+resided. As I left the office I heard Martin beg the clerk to lead him to
+the pump previous to sending him off--no doubt for the purpose of
+sobering himself somewhat previous to reappearing before the major,
+whose motives for hiring or retaining such a fellow in his modest
+establishment I could not understand.
+
+"You were expected more than an hour ago," said Dr. Hampton, who was just
+leaving the house. "The major is now, I fear, incapable of business."
+
+There was no time for explanation, and I hastily entered the
+sick-chamber. Major Stewart, though rapidly sinking, recognized me; and
+in obedience to a gesture from her master the aged, weeping house-keeper
+left the room. The major's daughter, Rosamond Stewart, had been absent
+with her aunt, her father's maiden sister, on a visit, I understood, to
+some friends in Scotland, and had not, I concluded, been made acquainted
+with the major's illness, which had only assumed a dangerous character a
+few days previously. The old soldier was dying calmly and
+painlessly--rather from exhaustion of strength, a general failure of the
+powers of life, than from any especial disease. A slight flush tinged the
+mortal pallor of his face as I entered, and the eyes emitted a
+slightly-reproachful expression.
+
+"It is not more, my dear sir," I replied softly but eagerly to his look,
+"than a quarter of an hour ago that I received your message."
+
+I do not know whether he comprehended or even distinctly heard what I
+said, for his feeble but extremely anxious glance was directed whilst
+I spoke to a large oil-portrait of Rosamond Stewart, suspended over
+the mantel-piece. The young lady was a splendid, dark-eyed beauty,
+and of course the pride and darling of her father. Presently
+wrenching, as it were, his eyes from the picture, he looked in my
+face with great earnestness, and bending my ear close to his lips, I
+heard him feebly and brokenly say, "A question to ask you, that's
+all; read--read!" His hand motioned towards a letter which lay open
+on the bed; I ran it over, and the major's anxiety was at once
+explained. Rosamond Stewart had, I found, been a short time
+previously married in Scotland to Henry Thorneycroft, the son of the
+wealthy East India director. Finding his illness becoming serious,
+the major had anticipated the time and mode in which the young people
+had determined to break the intelligence to the irascible father of
+the bridegroom, and the result was the furious and angry letter in
+reply which I was perusing. Mr. Thorneycroft would never, he
+declared, recognize the marriage of his undutiful nephew--nephew,
+_not_ son; for he was, the letter announced, the child of an only
+sister, whose marriage had also mortally offended Mr. Thorneycroft,
+and had been brought up from infancy as his (Mr. Thorneycroft's) son,
+in order that the hated name of Allerton, to which the boy was alone
+legally entitled, might never offend his ear. There was something
+added insinuative of a doubt of the legality of the marriage, in
+consequence of the misnomer of the bridegroom at the ceremony.
+
+"One question," muttered the major, as I finished the perusal of the
+letter--"Is Rosamond's marriage legal?"
+
+"No question about it. How could any one suppose that an involuntary
+misdescription can affect such a contract?"
+
+"Enough--enough!" he gasped. "A great load is gone!--the rest is with
+God. Beloved Rosamond"--The slight whisper was no longer audible; sighs,
+momently becoming fainter and weaker, followed--ceased, and in little
+more than ten minutes after the last word was spoken, life was extinct. I
+rang the bell, and turned to leave the room, and as I did so surprised
+Martin on the other side of the bed. He had been listening, screened by
+the thick damask curtains, and appeared to be a good deal sobered. I
+made no remark, and proceeded on down stairs. The man followed, and as
+soon as we had gained the hall said quickly, yet hesitatingly,
+"Sir--sir!"
+
+"Well, what have you to say?"
+
+"Nothing very particular, sir. But did I understand you to say just now,
+that it was of no consequence if a man married in a false name?"
+
+"That depends upon circumstances. Why do you ask?"
+
+"Oh, nothing--nothing; only I have heard it's transportation, especially
+if there's money."
+
+"Perhaps you are right. Anything else?"
+
+"No," said he, opening the door; "that's all--mere curiosity."
+
+I heard nothing more of the family for some time, except with reference
+to Major Stewart's personal property, about L4000 bequeathed to his
+daughter, with a charge thereon of an annuity of L20 a year for Mrs.
+Leslie, the aged house-keeper; the necessary business connected with
+which we transacted. But about a twelvemonth after the major's death, the
+marriage of the elder Thorneycroft with a widow of the same name as
+himself, and a cousin, the paper stated, was announced; and pretty nearly
+a year and a half subsequent to the appearance of this ominous paragraph,
+the decease of Mr. Henry Thorneycroft at Lausanne, in Switzerland, who
+had left, it was added in the newspaper stock-phrase of journalism, a
+young widow and two sons to mourn their irreparable loss. Silence again,
+as far as we were concerned, settled upon the destinies of the
+descendants of our old military client, till one fine morning a letter
+from Dr. Hampton informed us of the sudden death by apoplexy, a few days
+previously, of the East India director. Dr. Hampton further hinted that
+he should have occasion to write us again in a day or two, relative to
+the deceased's affairs, which, owing to Mr. Thorneycroft's unconquerable
+aversion to making a will, had, it was feared, been left in an extremely
+unsatisfactory state. Dr. Hampton had written to us, at the widow's
+request, in consequence of his having informed her that we had been the
+professional advisers of Major Stewart, and were in all probability those
+of his daughter, Mrs. Henry Allerton.
+
+We did not quite comprehend the drift of this curious epistle; but
+although not specially instructed, we determined at once to write to Mrs.
+Rosamond Thorneycroft or Allerton, who with her family was still abroad,
+and in the meantime take such formal steps in her behalf as might appear
+necessary.
+
+We were not long in doubt as to the motives of the extremely civil
+application to ourselves on the part of the widow of the East India
+director. The deceased's wealth had been almost all invested in land,
+which went, he having died intestate, to his nephew's son, Henry
+Allerton; and the personals in which the widow would share were
+consequently of very small amount. Mrs. Thorneycroft was, therefore,
+anxious to propose, through us, a more satisfactory and equitable
+arrangement. We could of course say nothing till the arrival of Mrs.
+Rosamond Allerton, for which, however, we had only a brief time to wait.
+There were, we found, no indisposition on that lady's part to act with
+generosity towards Mr. Thorneycroft's widow--a showy, vulgarish person,
+by the way, of about forty years of age--but there was a legal difficulty
+in the way, in consequence of the heir-at-law being a minor. Mrs.
+Thorneycroft became at length terribly incensed, and talked a good deal
+of angry nonsense about disputing the claim of Henry Allerton's son to
+the estates, on the ground that his marriage, having been contracted in
+a wrong name, was null and void. Several annoying paragraphs got in
+consequence into the Sunday newspapers, and these brought about a
+terrible disclosure.
+
+About twelve o'clock one day, the Widow Thorneycroft bounced
+unceremoniously into the office, dragging in with her a comely and rather
+interesting-looking young woman, but of a decidedly rustic complexion and
+accent, and followed by a grave, middle-aged clergyman. The widow's large
+eyes sparkled with strong excitement, and her somewhat swarthy features
+were flushed with hot blood.
+
+"I have brought you," she burst out abruptly, "the real Mrs.
+Allerton, and"--
+
+"No, no!" interrupted the young woman, who appeared much
+agitated--"Thorneycroft, not Allerton!"--
+
+"I know, child--I know; but that is nothing to the purpose. This young
+person, Mr. Sharp, is, I repeat, the true and lawful Mrs. Henry
+Allerton."
+
+"Pooh!" I answered; "do you take us for idiots? This," I added with some
+sternness, "is either a ridiculous misapprehension or an attempt at
+imposture, and I am very careless which it may be."
+
+"You are mistaken, sir," rejoined the clergyman mildly. "This young woman
+was certainly married by me at Swindon church, Wilts, to a gentleman of
+the name of Henry Thorneycroft, who, it appears from the newspapers,
+confirmed by this lady, was no other than Mr. Henry Allerton. This
+marriage, we find, took place six months previously to that contracted
+with Rosamond Stewart. I have further to say that this young woman, Maria
+Emsbury, is a very respectable person, and that her marriage-portion, of
+a little more than eight hundred pounds, was given to her husband, whom
+she has only seen thrice since her marriage, to support himself till the
+death of his reputed father, constantly asserted by him to be imminent."
+
+"A story very smoothly told, and I have no doubt in your opinion quite
+satisfactory; but there is one slight matter which I fancy you will find
+somewhat difficult of proof--I mean the identity of Maria Emsbury's
+husband with the son or nephew of the late Mr. Thorneycroft."
+
+"He always said he was the son of the rich East Indian, Mr.
+Thorneycroft," said the young woman with a hysterical sob; "and here,"
+she added, "is his picture in his wedding-dress--that of an officer of
+the Gloucestershire Yeomanry. He gave it me the day before the wedding."
+
+I almost snatched the portrait. Sure enough it was a miniature of Henry
+Allerton--there could be no doubt about that.
+
+Mr. Flint, who had been busy with some papers, here approached and
+glanced at the miniature.
+
+I was utterly confounded, and my partner, I saw, was equally dismayed;
+and no wonder, entertaining as we both did the highest respect and
+admiration for the high-minded and beautiful daughter of Major Stewart.
+
+The Widow Thorneycroft's exultation was exuberant.
+
+"As this only legal marriage," said she, "has been blessed with no issue,
+I am of course, as you must be aware, the legitimate heiress-at-law, as
+my deceased husband's nearest blood-relative. I shall, however," she
+added, "take care to amply provide for my widowed niece-in-law."
+
+The young woman made a profound rustic courtesy, and tears of unaffected
+gratitude, I observed, filled her eyes.
+
+The game was not, however, to be quite so easily surrendered as they
+appeared to imagine. "Tut! tut!" exclaimed Mr. Flint bluntly--"this may
+be mere practice. Who knows how the portrait has been obtained?"
+
+The girl's eyes flashed with honest anger. There was no practice about
+her I felt assured. "Here are other proofs: My husband's signet-ring,
+left accidentally, I think, with me, and two letters which I from
+curiosity took out of his coat-pocket--the day, I am pretty sure it was,
+after we were married."
+
+"If this cumulative circumstantial evidence does not convince you,
+gentlemen," added the Rev. Mr. Wishart, "I have direct personal testimony
+to offer. You know Mr. Angerstein of Bath?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Well, Mr. Henry Thorneycroft or Allerton, was at the time this marriage
+took place, on a visit to that gentleman; and I myself saw the
+bridegroom, whom I had united a fortnight previously in Swindon church,
+walking arm-and-arm with Mr. Angerstein in Sydney Gardens, Bath. I was at
+some little distance, but I recognized both distinctly, and bowed. Mr.
+Angerstein returned my salutation, and he recollects the circumstance
+distinctly. The gentleman walking with him in the uniform of the
+Gloucestershire Yeomanry was, Mr. Angerstein is prepared to depose, Mr.
+Henry Thorneycroft or Allerton."
+
+"You waste time, reverend sir," said Mr. Flint with an affectation of
+firmness and unconcern he was, I knew, far from feeling. "We are the
+attorneys of Mrs. Rosamond Allerton, and shall, I dare say, if you push
+us to it, be able to tear this ingeniously-colored cobweb of yours to
+shreds. If you determine on going to law, your solicitor can serve us; we
+will enter an appearance, and our client will be spared unnecessary
+annoyance."
+
+They were about to leave, when, as ill-luck would have it, one of the
+clerks who, deceived by the momentary silence, and from not having been
+at home when the unwelcome visitors arrived, believed we were disengaged,
+opened the door, and admitted Mrs. Rosamond Allerton and her aunt, Miss
+Stewart. Before we could interpose with a word, the Widow Thorneycroft
+burst out with the whole story in a torrent of exultant Volubility that
+it was impossible to check or restrain.
+
+For awhile contemptuous incredulity, indignant scorn, upheld the assailed
+lady; but as proof after proof was hurled at her, reinforced by the grave
+soberness of the clergyman and the weeping sympathy of the young woman,
+her firmness gave way, and she swooned in her aunt's arms. We should have
+more peremptorily interfered but for our unfortunate client's deprecatory
+gestures. She seemed determined to hear the worst at once. Now, however,
+we had the office cleared of the intruders without much ceremony and, as
+soon as the horror-stricken lady was sufficiently recovered, she was
+conducted to her carriage, and after arranging for an early interview on
+the morrow, was driven off.
+
+I found our interesting, and, I feared, deeply-injured client much
+recovered from the shock which on the previous day had overwhelmed her;
+and although exceedingly pale--lustrously so, as polished Parian
+marble--and still painfully agitated, there was hope, almost confidence,
+in her eye and tone.
+
+"There is some terrible misapprehension in this frightful affair, Mr.
+Sharp," she began. "Henry, my husband, was utterly incapable of a mean or
+dishonest act, much less of such utter baseness as this of which he is
+accused. They also say, do they not," she continued, with a smile of
+haughty contempt, "that he robbed the young woman of her poor dowry--some
+eight hundred pounds? A proper story!"
+
+"That, I confess, from what little I know of Mr. Henry Thorneycroft,
+stamps the whole affair as a fabrication; and yet the Reverend Mr.
+Wishart--a gentleman of high character, I understand--is very positive.
+The young woman, too, appeared truthful and sincere."
+
+"Yes--it cannot be denied. Let me say also--for it is best to look at
+the subject on its darkest side--I find, on looking over my letters,
+that my husband was staying with Mr. Angerstein at the time stated. He
+was also at that period in the Gloucestershire Yeomanry. I gave William
+Martin, but the other day, a suit of his regimentals very little the
+worse for wear."
+
+"You forget to state, Rosamond," said Miss Stewart, who was sitting
+beside her niece, "that Martin, who was with his young master at Bath, is
+willing to make oath that no such marriage took place as asserted, at
+Swindon church."
+
+"That alone would, I fear, my good madam, very little avail. Can I see
+William Martin?"
+
+"Certainly." The bell was rung, and the necessary order given.
+
+"This Martin is much changed for the better, I hear?"
+
+"O yes, entirely so," said Miss Stewart. "He is also exceedingly attached
+to us all, the children especially; and his grief and anger, when
+informed of what had occurred, thoroughly attest his faithfulness and
+sincerity."
+
+Martin entered, and was, I thought, somewhat confused by my apparently
+unexpected presence. A look at his face and head dissipated a
+half-suspicion that had arisen in both Flint's mind and my own.
+
+I asked him a few questions relative to the sojourn of his master
+at Bath, and then said, "I wish you to go with me and Bee this
+Maria Emsbury."
+
+As I spoke, something seemed to attract Martin's attention in the
+street, and suddenly turning round, his arm swept a silver pastil-stand
+off the table. He stooped down to gather up the dispersed pastils, and as
+he did so, said, in answer to my request, "that he had not the slightest
+objection to do so."
+
+"That being the case, we will set off at once, as she and her friends are
+probably at the office by this time. They are desirous of settling the
+matter off-hand," I added with a smile, addressing Mrs. Allerton, "and
+avoiding, if possible, the delays and uncertainties of the law."
+
+As I anticipated, the formidable trio were with Mr. Flint. I introduced
+Martin, and as I did so, watched, with an anxiety I could hardly have
+given a reason for, the effect of his appearance upon the young woman. I
+observed nothing. He was evidently an utter stranger to her, although,
+from the involuntary flush which crossed his features, it occurred to me
+that he was in some way an accomplice with his deceased master in the
+cruel and infamous crime which had, I strongly feared, been perpetrated.
+
+"Was this person present at your marriage?" I asked.
+
+"Certainly not. But I think--now I look at him--that I have seen him
+somewhere--about Swindon, it must have been."
+
+William Martin mumbled out that he had never been in Swindon; neither, he
+was sure, had his master.
+
+"What is that?" said the girl, looking sharply up, and suddenly
+coloring--"What is that?"
+
+Martin, a good deal abashed, again mumbled out his belief that young Mr.
+Thorneycroft, as he was then called, had never been at Swindon.
+
+The indignant scarlet deepened on the young woman's face and temples, and
+she looked at Martin with fixed attention and surprise. Presently
+recovering, as if from some vague confusedness of mind, she said, "What
+you _believe_, can be no consequence--truth is truth, for all that."
+
+The Rev. Mr. Wishart here interposed, remarking that as it was quite
+apparent we were determined to defend the usurpation by Miss Rosamond
+Stewart--a lady to be greatly pitied, no doubt--of another's right, it
+was useless to prolong or renew the interview; and all three took
+immediate leave. A few minutes afterward Martin also departed, still
+vehemently asserting that no such marriage ever took place at Swindon or
+anywhere else.
+
+No stone, as people say, was left unturned by us, in the hope of
+discovering some clue that might enable us to unravel the tangled web of
+coherent, yet, looking at the character of young Mr. Allerton,
+_improbable_ circumstance. We were unsuccessful, and unfortunately many
+other particulars which came to light but deepened the adverse complexion
+of the case. Two respectable persons living at Swindon were ready to
+depose on oath that they had on more than one occasion seen Maria
+Emsbury's sweetheart with Mr. Angerstein at Bath--once especially at the
+theatre, upon the benefit-night of the great Edmund Kean, who had been
+playing there for a few nights.
+
+The entire case, fully stated, was ultimately laid by us before eminent
+counsel--one of whom is now, by the by, a chief-justice--and we were
+advised that the evidence as set forth by us could not be contended
+against with any chance of success. This sad result was communicated by
+me to Mrs. Allerton, as she still unswervingly believed herself to be,
+and was borne with more constancy and firmness than I had expected. Her
+faith in her husband's truth and honor was not in the slightest degree
+shaken by the accumulated proofs. She would not, however, attempt to
+resist them before a court of law. Something would, she was confident,
+thereafter come to light that would vindicate the truth, and confiding in
+our zeal and watchfulness, she, her aunt, and children, would in the
+meantime shelter themselves from the gaze of the world in their former
+retreat at Lausanne.
+
+This being the unhappy lady's final determination, I gave the other side
+notice that we should be ready on a given day to surrender possession of
+the house and effects in South Audley Street, which the Widow
+Thorneycroft had given up to her supposed niece-in-law and family on
+their arrival in England, and to re-obtain which, and thereby decide the
+whole question in dispute, legal proceedings had already been commenced.
+
+On the morning appointed for the purpose--having taken leave of the
+ladies the day previously--I proceeded to South Audley Street, to
+formally give up possession, under protest, however. The niece and aunt
+were not yet gone. This, I found, was owing to Martin, who, according to
+the ladies, was so beside himself with grief and rage that he had been
+unable to expedite as he ought to have done, the packing intrusted to his
+care. I was vexed at this, as the Widow Thorneycroft, her protegee, and
+the Rev. Mr. Wishart, accompanied by a solicitor, were shortly expected;
+and it was desirable that a meeting of the antagonistic parties should be
+avoided. I descended to the lower regions to remonstrate with and hurry
+Martin, and found, as I feared, that his former evil habits had returned
+upon him. It was not yet twelve o'clock, and he was already partially
+intoxicated, and pale, trembling, and nervous from the effects, it was
+clear to me, of the previous night's debauch.
+
+"Your mistress is grossly deceived in you!" I angrily exclaimed; "and if
+my advice were taken, you would be turned out of the house at once
+without a character. There, don't attempt to bamboozle me with that
+nonsense; I've seen fellows crying drunk before now."
+
+He stammered out some broken excuses, to which I very impatiently
+listened; and so thoroughly muddled did his brain appear, that he either
+could not or would not comprehend the possibility of Mrs. Allerton and
+her children being turned out of house and home, as he expressed it, and
+over and over again asked me if nothing could yet be done to prevent it.
+I was completely disgusted with the fellow, and sharply bidding him
+hasten his preparations for departure, rejoined the ladies, who were by
+this time assembled in the back drawing-room, ready shawled and bonneted
+for their journey. It was a sad sight. Rosamond Stewart's splendid face
+was shadowed by deep and bitter grief, borne, it is true, with pride and
+fortitude; but it was easy to see its throbbing pulsations through all
+the forced calmness of the surface. Her aunt, of a weaker nature, sobbed
+loudly in the fullness of her grief; and the children, shrinking
+instinctively in the chilling atmosphere of a great calamity, clung,
+trembling and half-terrified, the eldest especially, to their mother. I
+did not insult them with phrases of condolence, but turned the
+conversation, if such it could be called, upon their future home and
+prospects in Switzerland. Some time had thus elapsed when my combative
+propensities were suddenly aroused by the loud dash of a carriage to the
+door, and the peremptory rat-tat-tat which followed. I felt my cheek
+flame as I said, "They demand admittance as if in possession of an
+assured, decided right. It is not yet too late to refuse possession, and
+take the chances of the law's uncertainty."
+
+Mrs. Allerton shook her head with decisive meaning. "I could not bear
+it," she said in a tone of sorrowful gentleness. "But I trust we shall
+not be intruded upon."
+
+I hurried out of the apartment, and met the triumphant claimants. I
+explained the cause of the delay, and suggested that Mrs. Thorneycroft
+and her friends could amuse themselves in the garden whilst the
+solicitor and I ran over the inventory of the chief valuables to be
+surrendered together.
+
+This was agreed to. A minute or two before the conclusion of this
+necessary formality, I received a message from the ladies, expressive of
+a wish to be gone at once, if I would escort them to the hotel; and
+Martin, who was nowhere to be found, could follow. I hastened to comply
+with their wishes; and we were just about to issue from the front
+drawing-room, into which we had passed through the folding-doors, when we
+were confronted by the widow and her party, who had just reached the
+landing of the great staircase. We drew back in silence. The mutual
+confusion into which we were thrown caused a momentary hesitation only,
+and we were passing on when the butler suddenly appeared.
+
+"A gentleman," he said, "an officer, is at the door, who wishes to see a
+Miss Maria Emsbury, formerly of Swindon."
+
+I stared at the man, discerned a strange expression in his face,
+and it glanced across me at the same moment that I had heard no
+knock at the door.
+
+"See Miss Emsbury!" exclaimed the Widow Thorneycroft, recovering her
+speech--"there is no such person here!"
+
+"Pardon me, madam," I cried, catching eagerly at the interruption, as a
+drowning man is said to do at a straw--"this young person _was_ at least
+Miss Emsbury. Desire the officer to walk up." The butler vanished
+instantly, and we all huddled back disorderly into the drawing-room, some
+one closing the door after us. I felt the grasp of Mrs. Allerton's arm
+tighten convulsively round mine, and her breath I heard, came quick and
+short. I was hardly less agitated myself.
+
+Steps--slow and deliberate steps--were presently heard ascending the
+stairs, the door opened, and in walked a gentleman in the uniform of a
+yeomanry officer, whom at the first glance I could have sworn to be the
+deceased Mr. Henry Allerton. A slight exclamation of terror escaped Mrs.
+Allerton, followed by a loud hysterical scream from the Swindon young
+woman, as she staggered forward towards the stranger, exclaiming, "Oh,
+merciful God!--my husband!" and then fell, overcome with emotion, in his
+outstretched arms.
+
+"Yes," said the Rev. Mr. Wishart promptly, "that is certainly the
+gentleman I united to Maria Emsbury. What can be the meaning of
+this scene?"
+
+"Is that sufficient, Mr. Sharp?" exclaimed the officer, in a voice that
+removed all doubt.
+
+"Quite, quite," I shouted--"more than enough!"
+
+"Very well, then," said William Martin, dashing off his black curling
+wig, removing his whiskers of the same color, and giving his own light,
+but now cropped head of hair and clean-shaved cheeks to view. "Now, then,
+send for the police, and let them transport me--I richly merit it. I
+married this young woman in a false name; I robbed her of her money, and
+I deserve the hulks, if anybody ever did."
+
+You might have heard a pin drop in the apartment whilst the repentant
+rascal thus spoke; and when he ceased, Mrs. Allerton, unable to bear up
+against the tumultuous emotion which his words excited, sank without
+breath or sensation upon a sofa. Assistance was summoned; and whilst the
+as yet imperfectly-informed servants were running from one to another
+with restoratives, I had leisure to look around. The Widow Thorneycroft,
+who had dropped into a chair, sat gazing in bewildered dismay upon the
+stranger, who still held her lately-discovered niece-in-law in his arms;
+and I could see the hot perspiration which had gathered on her brow run
+in large drops down the white channels which they traced through the
+thick rouge of her cheeks. But the reader's fancy will supply the best
+image of this unexpected and extraordinary scene. I cleared the house of
+intruders and visitors as speedily as possible, well assured that matters
+would now adjust themselves without difficulty.
+
+And so it proved. Martin was not sent to the hulks, though no question
+that he amply deserved a punishment as great as that. The self-sacrifice,
+as he deemed it, which he at last made, pleaded for him, and so did his
+pretty-looking wife; and the upshot was, that the mistaken bride's dowry
+was restored, with something over, and that a tavern was taken for them
+in Piccadilly--the White Bear, I think it was--where they lived
+comfortably and happily, I have heard, for a considerable time, and
+having considerably added to their capital, removed to a hotel of a
+higher grade in the city, where they now reside. It was not at all
+surprising that the clergyman and others had been deceived. The disguise,
+and Martin's imitative talent, might have misled persons on their guard,
+much more men unsuspicious of deception. The cast in the eyes, as well as
+a general resemblance of features, also of course greatly aided the
+imposture.
+
+Of Mrs. Rosamond Allerton, I have only to say, for it is all I know, that
+she is rich, unwedded, and still splendidly beautiful, though of course
+somewhat _passe_ compared with herself twenty years since. Happy, too, I
+have no doubt she is, judging from the placid brightness of her aspect
+the last time I saw her beneath the transept of the Crystal Palace, on
+the occasion of its opening by the Queen. I remember wondering at the
+time, if she often recalled to mind the passage in her life which I have
+here recorded.
+
+
+
+
+THE ONE BLACK SPOT.
+
+
+On the evening of a bleak, cold March day, in an early year of this
+century, a woman, scantily clad, led a boy about eight years old, along
+the high-road towards the old city of Exeter. They crept close to the
+hedge-side to shelter themselves from the clouds of dust, which the
+sudden gusts of east wind blew in their faces.
+
+They had walked many miles, and the boy limped painfully. He often looked
+up anxiously into his mother's face, and asked if they had much farther
+to go? She scarcely appeared to notice his inquiries; her fixed eyes and
+sunken cheek gave evidence that sorrow absorbed all her thoughts. When he
+spoke, she drew him closer to her side, but made no reply; until, at
+length, the child, wondering at her silence, began to sob. She stopped
+and looked at her child for a moment, her eyes filled with tears. They
+had gained the top of a hill, from which was visible in the distance, the
+dark massive towers of the cathedral and the church-spires of the city;
+she pointed them out, and said, "We shall soon be there, Ned." Then,
+sitting down on a tree that was felled by the road-side, she took "Ned"
+on her lap, and, bending over him, wept aloud.
+
+"Are you very tired, mother?" said the boy, trying to comfort her. "'Tis
+a long way--but don't cry--we shall see father when we come there."
+
+"Yes--you will see your father once more."
+
+She checked herself; and, striving to dry her tears, sat looking
+wistfully towards the place of her destination.
+
+The tramp of horses, coming up the hill they had just ascended, drew the
+boy's attention to that direction. In a moment he had sprung from his
+mother, and was shouting, with child-like delight, at the appearance of a
+gay cavalcade which approached. About thirty men on horseback, in crimson
+liveries, surrounded two carriages, one of which contained two of His
+Majesty's Judges, accompanied by the High Sheriff of the county, who,
+with his javelin-men, was conducting them to the city, in which the Lent
+Assizes were about to be held.
+
+The woman knelt until the carriages and the gaudy javelin-men had turned
+the corner at the foot of a hill, and were no longer visible; with her
+hands clasped together, she had prayed to God to temper with mercy the
+heart of the Judge, before whom her unfortunate husband, now in jail,
+would have to stand his trial. Then, taking the boy again by the
+hand--unable to explain to him what he had seen--she pursued her way with
+him, silently, along the dusty road.
+
+As they drew nearer to the city, they overtook various groups of
+stragglers, who had deemed it their duty, in spite of the inclement
+weather to wander some miles out of the city to catch an early glimpse of
+"My Lord Judge," and the gay Sheriff's officers. Troops, also, of
+itinerant ballad-singers, rope-dancers, mountebanks, and caravans of wild
+beasts, still followed the Judges, as they had done throughout the
+circuit. "Walk more slowly, Ned," said the mother, checking the boy's
+desire to follow the shows. "I am very tired; let us rest a little here."
+They lingered until the crowd was far ahead of them--and were left alone
+on the road.
+
+Late in the evening, as the last stragglers were returning home, the
+wayfarers found themselves in the suburbs of the city, and the forlorn
+woman looked around anxiously for a lodging. She feared the noisy people
+in the streets; and, turning timidly towards an old citizen who stood by
+his garden-gate, chatting to his housekeeper, and watching the
+passers-by--there was a kindness in his look which gave her
+confidence--so, with a homely courtesy, she ventured to inquire of him
+where she might find a decent resting-place.
+
+"Have you never been here before?" he asked.
+
+"Never but once, sir, when I was a child, many years ago."
+
+"What part of the country do you come from?"
+
+"Uffeulme."
+
+"Uffeulme? How did you get here?"
+
+"We have walked."
+
+"You don't say that you have trudged all the way with that youngster?"
+
+The housekeeper drowned the reply by loudly announcing to the old
+gentleman that his supper was waiting--"We have no lodgings, my good
+woman," she said, turning away from the gate.
+
+"Stop, Martha, stop," said the citizen. "Can't we direct them
+somewhere?--you see they are strangers. I wonder where they could get
+a lodging?"
+
+"I am sure I don't know," replied Martha, peevishly; "your supper will be
+cold--come in!"
+
+"We've had no supper," said the boy.
+
+"Poor little fellow!" said the old gentleman; "then I am sure you shall
+not go without. Martha, the bread and cheese!" And, opening the
+garden-gate, he made the travelers enter and sit down in the
+summer-house, whilst he went to fetch them a draught of cider.
+
+In spite of Martha's grumbling, he managed to get a substantial repast;
+but it grieved him that the woman, though she thanked him very gratefully
+and humbly, appeared unable to eat.
+
+"Your boy eats heartily," said he, "but I am afraid you don't enjoy it."
+
+With a choking utterance she thanked him, but could not eat.
+
+The good old man was striving, as well as he could, to explain to
+them their way to a part of the city, where they might find a
+lodging, when the garden-gate opened, and a young man gave to the
+host a hearty greeting.
+
+At the sound of his voice, the cup the woman held in her hand, fell to
+the ground. This drew the youth's attention to her; he looked earnestly
+at her for a moment, and with an exclamation of surprise, said, "Why,
+this is Susan Harvey?"
+
+The woman hid her face in her hands, and moaned.
+
+"Do you know her, then, Alfred?" said the uncle.
+
+"She nursed me when I was a little sickly boy," replied the youth; "she
+lived many years in my father's house."
+
+"Then I am sure you will take her to some lodging to-night, for she is
+quite a stranger here. There is Martha calling to me again; she is not
+in the best temper to-night, so I had better go in, and I leave them to
+your care."
+
+"Oh! tell me, Mr. Gray, have you seen him?" cried the woman eagerly.
+
+"I have been with him to-day, Susan," said Gray, kindly taking her
+hand--"do not be cast down; all that can be done for Martin, shall be
+done. Let me take you where you can rest to-night, and to-morrow you can
+be with him."
+
+The weary little boy had fallen asleep on the seat; the mother strove to
+arouse him, but Alfred Gray prevented her, by taking the little fellow
+in his arms. He carried him by her side through the streets; she could
+utter no words of gratitude, but her tears flowed fast, and told how the
+young man's sympathy had fallen like balm upon her wounded heart. "God
+has taken pity on me," she said, when they parted.
+
+With a quick step Alfred regained his uncle's cottage; he had a
+difficult task to accomplish. Martin Harvey, now awaiting his trial for
+poaching, and for being concerned in an affray with Sir George Roberts'
+game-keepers, had once been his father's apprentice. Young Gray had
+been endeavoring to procure for him all the legal help which the laws
+then allowed; but his own means were limited, and, when he met Susan
+and her boy in the garden, he had come to visit his uncle to ask his
+assistance. He had now returned on the same errand. He pleaded
+earnestly, and with caution, but was repulsed. It was in vain he urged
+the poverty of agricultural laborers at that season, and the temptation
+which an abundance of game afforded to half-starved men and their
+wretched families.
+
+"Nonsense, Alfred!" said old Mr. Gray. "I would not grudge you the money
+if you did not want it for a bad purpose. You must not excuse men who go
+out with guns and fire at their fellow-creatures in the dark."
+
+"Martin did not fire, uncle--that is what I want to prove, and save him,
+if I can, from transportation. He has a wife and child."
+
+"Wife and child!" repeated the old man thoughtfully. "You did not tell me
+he had a wife and child; that poor woman came from Uffeulme."
+
+"Providence must have guided her," said the younger Gray. "It was indeed
+Harvey's wife and son whom you so lately relieved."
+
+"You shall have the money. I have all through life prayed that my heart
+may not be hardened; and I find, old as I am, that, every day I have
+fresh lessons to learn."
+
+The next morning, while Alfred held anxious consultation with the
+lawyers, the wife and husband met within the prison walls. They sat
+together in silence, for neither could speak a single word of hope. The
+boy never forgot that long and dreary day, during which he watched, with
+wondering thoughts, the sad faces of his ruined parents.
+
+The Crown Court of the Castle was next morning crowded to overflowing.
+Among the struggling crowd that vainly sought to gain admission, was
+Martin Harvey's wife. She was rudely repulsed by the door-keepers, who
+"wondered what women wanted in such places." She still strove to keep her
+ground, and watched with piteous looks the doors of the court. She braved
+the heat and pressure for some time; but a sickly faintness at length
+came over her. She was endeavoring to retreat into the open air, when she
+felt some one touch her shoulder, and turning, saw Alfred Gray making his
+way toward her. After a moment's pause in the cool air, he led her round
+to a side-door, through which there was a private entrance into the
+court. He whispered a word to an officer, who admitted them, and pointed
+to a seat behind the dock, where they were screened from observation, and
+where the woman could see her husband standing between his two
+fellow-prisoners.
+
+The prisoners were listening anxiously to the evidence which the
+principal game-keeper was offering against them. The first, a man about
+sixty, excited greater interest than the others. He earnestly attended to
+what was going on, but gave no sign of fear, as to the result. Brushing
+back his gray locks, he gazed round the court, with something like a
+smile. This man's life had been a strange one. Early in his career he
+had been ejected from a farm which he had held under the father of the
+present prosecutor, Sir George Roberts; he soon after lost what little
+property had been left him, and, in despair enlisted--was sent abroad
+with his regiment--and for many years shared in the toils and
+achievements of our East Indian warfare. Returning home on a small
+pension, he fixed his abode in his native village, and sought to indulge
+his old enmity against the family that had injured him by every kind of
+annoyance in his power. The present baronet, a narrow-minded tyrannical
+man, afforded by his unpopularity good opportunity to old Ralph Somers to
+induce others to join him in his schemes of mischief and revenge. "The
+game," which was plentiful on the estate, and the preservation of which
+was Sir George's chief delight, formed the principal object of attack;
+the poverty of the laborers tempted them to follow the old soldier, who
+managed affairs so warily, that for nine years he had been an object of
+the utmost terror and hatred to Sir George and his keepers, whilst all
+their efforts to detect and capture him had, until now, been fruitless.
+
+Martin Harvey, who stood by his side with his shattered arm in a sling,
+bore marks of acute mental suffering and remorse; but his countenance was
+stamped with its original, open, manly expression--a face often to be
+seen among a group of English farm laborers, expressive of a warm heart,
+full of both courage and kindness.
+
+The evidence was soon given. The game-keepers, on the night of the 24th
+of February, were apprised that poachers were in the plantations. Taking
+with them a stronger force than usual, all well-armed, they discovered
+the objects of their search, in a lane leading out into the fields, and
+shouted to them to surrender. They distinctly saw their figures flying
+before them, and when they approached them, one of the fugitives turned
+round and fired, wounding one of the keepers' legs with a quantity of
+small shot. The keeper immediately fired in return, and brought down a
+poacher; old Ralph's voice was heard shouting to them to desist, and upon
+coming up they found him standing by the side of Martin Harvey, who had
+fallen severely wounded. Three guns lay by them, one of which had been
+discharged, but no one could swear who had fired it; search was made all
+night for the other man, but without success.
+
+When the prisoners were called on for their defence, they looked at one
+another for a moment as if neither wished to speak first; Ralph, however,
+began. He had little to say. Casting a look of defiance at Sir George and
+his lady, who sat in a side-gallery above the court, he freely confessed
+that hatred to the man who had injured him in his youth, and who had
+treated him with harshness on his return from abroad, had been the motive
+of his encouraging and aiding in these midnight depredations; he
+expressed sorrow for having occasioned trouble to his neighbor Harvey.
+"What I can say will be of little use to me here," said Martin Harvey, in
+a hollow voice; "I am ruined, beyond redress; but I was a very poor man
+when I first joined, with others, in snaring game; I often wanted bread,
+and saw my wife and child pinched for food also. The rich people say game
+belongs to them; but--well--all I can say more is, that I take God to
+witness I never lifted a murderous gun against my fellow-man; he who did
+it has escaped; and I have suffered this broken limb--but that I don't
+mind--I have worse than that to bear--I have broken my wife's heart, and
+my child will be left an orphan."
+
+His voice failed. There was an uneasy movement among the audience: and
+a lady, who had been leaning over the rails of the side-gallery
+listening with deep attention, fainted, and was carried out of court.
+The prisoner's pale wife, who had bowed her head behind him in silent
+endurance, heard a whisper among the bystanders that it was Lady
+Roberts, and a hope entered her mind that the lady's tender heart might
+feel for them.
+
+"Have you any witnesses to call?" asked the Judge.
+
+Martin looked round with a vacant gaze; the attorney whispered to him,
+and beckoned to Alfred Gray.
+
+Alfred went into the witness-box, and told of the honesty, sobriety, and
+good conduct of Martin Harvey, during all the years he was in his
+father's house--"He was there before I was born," said the young man,
+"and only left when I was obliged to leave also, sixteen years after. A
+better man never broke bread--he was beloved by every body who knew him.
+Till now his character was never tainted. It's the one black spot."
+
+The Judge commenced summing up; it was evident to all who had paid
+attention to the evidence, that the conviction of two of the prisoners
+was certain. Alfred Gray knew this, and strove to induce the wife to
+leave with him before the fatal close of proceedings; but she shook her
+head and would not go. "I shall have strength to bear it," she said.
+
+He sat down by her side, and heard the fearful verdict of "guilty"
+pronounced against her husband and Ralph Somers; and then the dreaded
+doom of transportation for life awarded to them. As they turned to leave
+the dock, Martin looked down upon the crushed and broken-hearted being
+whom he had sworn to protect and cherish through life, and in spite of
+every effort to repress it, a cry of agony burst from his lips; it was
+answered by a fainter sound, and Alfred Gray lifted the helpless,
+lifeless woman from the ground, and carried her into the open air.
+
+Months passed; and on the day when the convict ship, with its freight of
+heavy hearts, began its silent course over the greatwaters, the widowed
+wife took her fatherless child by the hand, and again traversed the weary
+road which led them to their desolated home.
+
+The kindness of the Grays had supplied a few immediate necessaries. Some
+one had told her of women having, by the aid of friends, managed to meet
+their husbands once more in those distant parts of the earth; and this
+knowledge once in her agitated mind, raised a hope which inspired her to
+pursue her daily task without fainting, and to watch an opportunity of
+making an attempt which she had meditated, even during that dreadful day
+of Martin's trial. She resolved to seek admission into Sir George
+Roberts' mansion, and appeal to the pity of his wife. It was told in the
+village that Lady Roberts had implored her husband to interpose in behalf
+of the men; that his angry and passionate refusal had caused a breach
+between them; that they had lived unhappily ever since; that he had
+strictly forbidden any one to mention the subject, or to convey to Lady
+Roberts any remarks that were made in the neighborhood.
+
+Susan Harvey trembled when she entered the mansion, and timidly asked
+leave to speak to Lady Roberts.
+
+The servant she addressed had known her husband, and pitied her distress;
+and, fearing lest Sir George might pass, he led her into his pantry,
+watching an opportunity to let the lady know of her being there.
+
+After a time Lady Roberts' maid came, and beckoned her to follow
+up-stairs. In a few moments the soft voice of the lady of the mansion was
+cheering her with kind words, and encouraging her to disclose her wishes.
+
+Before she had concluded, a step was heard without, at which the lady
+started and turned pale. Before there was time for retreat Sir George
+hastily entered the apartment.
+
+"Who have you here, Lady Roberts?"
+
+"One who has a request to make, I believe," said the lady, mildly. "I
+wish a few moments with her."
+
+"Have the goodness to walk out of this house," said the baronet to Susan.
+"Lady Roberts, I know this woman and I will not allow you to harbor such
+people here."
+
+Although the convict's wife never again ventured into that house, her
+wants, and those of her child, were, during three years, ministered to by
+the secret agency of the Good Heart that lived so sadly there; and when,
+at the expiration of that period, Lady Roberts died, a trusty messenger
+brought to the cottage a little legacy--sufficient, if ever news came of
+Martin, to enable the wife and child, from whom he was separated, to make
+their way across the earth, and to meet him again.
+
+But during those weary years no tidings of his fate had reached either
+his wife or Alfred Gray--to whom he had promised to write when he reached
+his destination. Another year dragged its slow course over the home of
+affliction, and poor Susan's hopes grew fainter day by day. Her sinking
+frame gave evidence of the sickness that cometh from the heart.
+
+One summer evening, in the next year, Alfred Gray, entered his uncle's
+garden with a letter, and was soon seated in the summer-house reading it
+aloud to his uncle and Martha. Tears stood in the old man's eyes, as some
+touching detail of suffering or privation was related. And, indeed, the
+letter told of little beside. It was from Martin. Soon after his arrival
+in the settlement, Martin had written to Alfred, but the letter had never
+reached England--not an unusual occurrence in those times. After waiting
+long, and getting no reply, he was driven by harsh treatment, and the
+degradation attending the life he led, to attempt, with old Ralph, an
+escape from the settlement. In simple language, he recorded the dreary
+life they led in the woods; how, after a time, old Ralph sickened and
+died; and how, in a desolate place, where the footsteps of man had,
+perhaps, never trod before, Martin Harvey had dug a grave, and buried his
+old companion. After that, unable to endure the terrible solitude, he had
+sought his way back to his former master, and had been treated more
+harshly than before. Fever and disease had wasted his frame, until he had
+prayed that he might die and be at rest; but God had been merciful to
+him, and had inclined the heart of one for whom he labored, who listened
+with compassion to his story, took him under his roof, and restored him
+to health. And now, Martin had obtained a ticket of leave, and served his
+kind master for wages, which he was carefully hoarding to send to Alfred
+Gray, as soon as he should hear from him that those he loved were still
+preserved, and would come and embrace him once more in that distant land.
+
+"They shall go at once, Alfred," said old Mr. Gray, the moment the last
+sentence was read; "they shall not wait; we will provide the
+means--hey, Martha?"
+
+He did not now fear to appeal to his companion. Martha had grown kinder
+of late, and she confessed she had learned of her cousin what gives most
+comfort to those who are drawing near their journey's end. "I can help
+them a little," she said.
+
+"We will all help a little," Alfred replied. "I shall be off at break of
+day to-morrow, on neighbor Collins's pony, and shall give him no rest
+until he sets me down at Uffeulme."
+
+Accordingly, early next morning, Alfred Gray was riding briskly along
+through the pleasant green lanes which led toward his native village. It
+was the middle of June, bright, warm, sunny weather; and the young man's
+spirits was unusually gay, everything around him tending to heighten the
+delight which the good news he carried had inspired him with. The pony
+stepped out bravely, and was only checked when Alfred came in sight of
+the dear old home of his childhood, and heard the well-known chimes
+calling the villagers to their morning service, for it was Sunday. Then
+for a few moments the young man proceeded more slowly, and his
+countenance wore a more saddened look, as the blessed recollections of
+early loves and affections with which the scene was associated in his
+mind, claimed their power over all other thoughts. The voice of an old
+friend, from an apple-orchard hard by, recalled him from his reveries.
+
+He shook hands through the hedge. "I will come and see you in the
+evening, Fred. I must hasten on now. She will go to church this morning,
+and I must go with her."
+
+"Who?" asked the other.
+
+Alfred pointed to the cottage where Susan Harvey dwelt. "I bring her good
+news--I have a letter. Martin is living and well."
+
+The friend shook his head.
+
+Alfred dismounted, and walked towards Susan Harvey's cottage. The door
+was closed, and when he looked through the window he could see no one
+inside. He lifted the latch softly and entered. There was no one there;
+but his entrance had been heard, and a moment after, a fine stout lad
+came out of the inner chamber, took Alfred's proffered hand, and in
+answer to his inquiries, burst into tears.
+
+"She says she cannot live long, sir; but she told me last night, that
+before she died, you would come and tell us news of father. She has been
+saying all the past week that we should hear from him soon."
+
+Whilst the boy spoke, Alfred heard a weak voice, calling his name from
+the inner room.
+
+"Go in," he said, "and tell her I am here."
+
+The boy did so, and then beckoned him to enter.
+
+Susan's submissive features were but little changed, from the time when
+her husband was taken from her; but the weak and wasted form that strove
+to raise itself in vain, as Alfred approached the bed-side, too plainly
+revealed that the struggle was drawing to a close--that the time of rest
+was at hand.
+
+"Thank God, you are come," she said; "you have heard from him? Tell me
+quickly, for my time is short."
+
+"I come to tell you good news, Susan. You may yet be restored to him."
+
+"I shall not see Martin in this world again, Mr. Gray; but I shall close
+my eyes in peace. If you know where he is, and can tell me that my boy
+shall go and be with him, and tell him how, through these long weary
+years, we loved him, and thought of him, and prayed for him--" Here she
+broke off, and beckoned the boy to her. She held his hands within her
+own, whilst Alfred Gray read from the letter all that would comfort her.
+
+When he had done, she said, "God will bless you--you have been very good
+to us in our misery. Now, will you promise me one thing more? Will you
+send my boy to his father, when I am gone?"
+
+The promise was made; and the boy knelt long by her bedside, listening
+to the words of love and consolation which, with her latest breath, she
+uttered for the sake of him who, she hoped, would hear them again from
+his child's lips.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Nearly forty years have passed since they laid her among the graves of
+the humble villagers of Uffeulme. Few remain now who remember her story
+or her name--but, on the other side of the world, amid scenery all
+unlike to that in which she dwelt, there stands a cheerful settler's
+home, and under the shadow of tall acacia trees which surround the
+little garden in which some few English flowers are blooming, there are
+sitting, in the cool of the summer evening, a group whose faces are all
+of the Anglo-Saxon mould. A happy looking couple, in the prime of life,
+are there, with children playing around them; and one little gentle
+girl, they call Susan, is sitting on the knee of an aged, white-haired
+man, looking lovingly into his face, and wondering why his eye so
+watches the setting sun every night, as it sinks behind the blue waters
+in the distance. Two tall, handsome lads, with guns on their shoulders,
+enter the garden, and hasten to show the old man the fruits of their
+day's exploits.
+
+"We have been lucky to-day, grandfather," says the younger; "but Alfred
+says these birds are not like the birds in old England."
+
+"You should hear the sailors talk about the game in England, Martin,"
+replies the brother.
+
+"Grandfather has told us all about England, except the 'birds.' He thinks
+we should run away, if he were to describe them."
+
+The old man looks steadily at the boys for a moment, and his eyes fill
+with tears. "It is a glorious land," he says, with a faltering voice; "it
+is our country; but, Alfred, Martin, you will never leave this happy home
+to go there. Birds there are the rich man's property, and you would not
+dare carry those guns of yours over English ground. If ever you go there,
+your father will tell you where there is a church-yard--and among the
+graves of the poor, there is one--"
+
+He stopped, for Edward Harvey came to the place where his father sat, and
+took his trembling hand within his own; the boys obeyed their mother's
+signal, and followed her into the house; the two men remained sitting
+together, until the silent stars came out.
+
+Then the aged man, leaning on his son's arm, rejoined the family at the
+supper-table--and the peace of God rested on the solitary home. Edward
+Harvey had faithfully kept within his heart, the memory of his mother's
+dying commands.
+
+Martin, his father, had nobly effaced the one Black Spot.
+
+
+
+
+THE GENTLEMAN BEGGAR.
+
+
+One morning, about five years ago, I called by appointment on Mr. John
+Balance, the fashionable pawnbroker, to accompany him to Liverpool, in
+pursuit of a Levanting customer--for Balance, in addition to pawning,
+does a little business in the sixty per cent. line. It rained in torrents
+when the cab stopped at the passage which leads past the pawning-boxes to
+his private door. The cabman rang twice, and at length Balance appeared,
+looming through the mist and rain in the entry, illuminated by his
+perpetual cigar. As I eyed him rather impatiently, remembering that
+trains wait for no man, something like a hairy dog, or a bundle of rags,
+rose up at his feet, and barred his passage for a moment. Then Balance
+cried out with an exclamation, in answer apparently to a something I
+could not hear, "What, man alive!--slept in the passage!--there, take
+that, and get some breakfast, for Heaven's sake!" So saying, he jumped
+into the "Hansom," and we bowled away at ten miles an hour, just catching
+the Express as the doors of the station were closing. My curiosity was
+full set--for although Balance can be free with his money, it is not
+exactly to beggars that his generosity is usually displayed; so when
+comfortably ensconced in a _coupe_ I finished with--
+
+"You are liberal with your money this morning; pray, how often do you
+give silver to street-cadgers?--because I shall know now what walk to
+take when flats and sharps leave off buying law."
+
+Balance, who would have made an excellent parson if he had not been bred
+to a case-hardening trade, and has still a soft bit left in his heart
+that is always fighting with his hard head, did not smile at all, but
+looked as grim as if squeezing a lemon into his Saturday night's punch.
+He answered slowly, "A cadger--yes; a beggar--a miserable wretch, he is
+now; but, let me tell you, Master David, that that miserable bundle of
+rags was born and bred a gentleman--the son of a nobleman, the husband of
+an heiress, and has sat and dined at tables where you and I, Master
+David, are only allowed to view the plate by favor of the butler. I have
+lent him thousands, and been well paid. The last thing I had from him was
+his court-suit; and I hold now his bill for one hundred pounds that will
+be paid, I expect, when he dies."
+
+"Why, what nonsense you are talking! you must be dreaming this morning.
+However, we are alone; I'll light a weed, in defiance of Railway-law,
+while you spin that yarn; for, true or untrue, it will fill up the time
+to Liverpool."
+
+"As for yarn," replied Balance, "the whole story is short enough; and as
+for truth, that you may easily find out if you like to take the trouble.
+I thought the poor wretch was dead, and I own it put me out meeting him
+this morning, for I had a curious dream last night."
+
+"Oh, hang your dreams! Tell us about this gentleman beggar that bleeds
+you of half-crowns--that melts the heart even of a pawnbroker!"
+
+"Well, then, that beggar is the illegitimate son of the late Marquis of
+Hoopborough by a Spanish lady of rank. He received a first rate
+education, and was brought up in his father's house. At a very early age
+he obtained an appointment in a public office, was presented by the
+marquis at court, and received into the first society, where his handsome
+person and agreeable manners made him a great favorite. Soon after coming
+of age, he married the daughter of Sir E. Bumper, who brought him a very
+handsome fortune, which was strictly settled on herself. They lived in
+splendid style, kept several carriages, a house in town, and a place in
+the country. For some reason or other, idleness, or to please his lady's
+pride he said, he resigned his appointment. His father died, and left him
+nothing; indeed, he seemed at that time very handsomely provided for.
+
+"Very soon Mr. and Mrs. Molinos Fitz-Roy began to disagree. She was cold,
+correct--he was hot and random. He was quite dependent on her, and she
+made him feel it. When he began to get into debt, he came to me. At
+length some shocking quarrel occurred--some case of jealousy on the
+wife's side, not without reason, I believe; and the end of it was, Mr.
+Fitz-Roy was turned out of doors. The house was his wife's, the furniture
+was his wife's, and the fortune was his wife's--he was, in fact, her
+pensioner. He left with a few hundred pounds ready money, and some
+personal jewelry, and went to a hotel. On these and credit he lived.
+Being illegitimate, he had no relations--being a fool, when he spent his
+money, he lost his friends. The world took his wife's part, when they
+found she had the fortune, and the only parties who interfered were her
+relatives, who did their best to make the quarrel incurable. To crown
+all, one night he was run over by a cab, was carried to a hospital, and
+lay there for months, and was, during several weeks of the time,
+unconscious. A message to the wife, by the hands of one of his debauched
+companions, sent by a humane surgeon, obtained an intimation that 'if he
+died, Mr. Croak, the undertaker to the family, had orders to see to the
+funeral,' and that Mrs. Molinos was on the point of starting for the
+Continent, not to return for some years. When Fitz-Roy was discharged, he
+came to me, limping on two sticks, to pawn his court-suit, and told me
+his story. I was really sorry for the fellow--such a handsome,
+thoroughbred-looking man. He was going then into the west somewhere, to
+try to hunt out a friend. 'What to do, Balance,' he said, 'I don't know.
+I can't dig, and unless somebody will make me their gamekeeper, I must
+starve, or beg, as my Jezebel bade me, when we parted!'
+
+"I lost sight of Molinos for a long time, and when I next came upon him
+it was in the Rookery of Westminster, in a low lodging-house, where I was
+searching with an officer for stolen goods. He was pointed out to me as
+the 'gentleman-cadger,' because he was so free with his money when 'in
+luck.' He recognized me, but turned away then. I have since seen him, and
+relieved him more than once, although he never asks for anything. How he
+lives, Heaven knows. Without money, without friends, without useful
+education of any kind, he tramps the country, as you saw him, perhaps
+doing a little hop-picking or hay-making, in season, only happy when he
+obtains the means to get drunk. I have heard through the kitchen whispers
+that you know come to me, that he is entitled to some property; and I
+expect if he were to die his wife would pay the hundred pound bill I
+hold; at any rate, what I have told you I know to be true, and the bundle
+of rags I relieved just now is known in every thieves' lodging in England
+as the 'gentleman cadger.'"
+
+This story produced an impression on me: I am fond of speculation, and
+like the excitement of a legal hunt as much as some do a fox-chase. A
+gentleman, a beggar--a wife rolling in wealth--rumors of unknown property
+due to the husband;--it seemed as if there were pickings for me amidst
+this carrion of pauperism.
+
+Before returning from Liverpool, I had purchased the gentleman beggar's
+acceptance from Balance. I then inserted in the "Times" the following
+advertisement: "_Horatio Molinos Fitz-Roy_.--If this gentleman will apply
+to David Discount, Esq., Solicitor, St. James's, he will hear of
+something to his advantage. Any person furnishing Mr. R's correct
+address, shall receive L1 1s. reward. He was last seen," &c. Within
+twenty-four hours I had ample proof of the wide circulation of the
+"Times." My office was besieged with beggars of every degree, men and
+women, lame and blind, Irish, Scotch, and English--some on crutches, some
+in bowls, some in go-carts. They all knew him as "the gentleman," and I
+must do the regular fraternity of tramps the justice to say, that not one
+would answer a question until he made certain that I meant the
+"gentleman" no harm.
+
+One evening, about three weeks after the appearance of the advertisement,
+my clerk announced "another beggar." There came in an old man leaning
+upon a staff, clad in a soldier's greatcoat, all patched and torn, with a
+battered hat, from under which a mass of tangled hair fell over his
+shoulders and half concealed his face. The beggar, in a weak, wheezy,
+hesitating tone, said, "You have advertized for Molinos Fitz-Roy. I hope
+you don't mean him any harm; he is sunk, I think, too low for enmity now;
+and surely no one would sport with such misery as his." These last words
+were uttered in a sort of piteous whisper.
+
+I answered quickly, "Heaven forbid I should sport with misery--I mean and
+hope to do him good, as well as myself."
+
+"Then, sir, I am Molinos Fitz-Roy!"
+
+While we were conversing candles had been brought in. I have not very
+tender nerves--my head would not agree with them--but I own I started and
+shuddered when I saw and knew that the wretched creature before me was
+under thirty years of age, and once a gentleman. Sharp, aquiline
+features, reduced to literal skin and bone, were begrimed and covered
+with dry fair hair; the white teeth of the half-open mouth chattered with
+eagerness, and made more hideous the foul pallor of the rest of the
+countenance. As he stood leaning on a staff half bent, his long, yellow
+bony fingers clasped over the crutch-head of his stick, he was indeed a
+picture of misery, famine, squalor, and premature age, too horrible to
+dwell upon. I made him sit down, sent for some refreshment which he
+devoured like a ghoul, and set to work to unravel his story. It was
+difficult to keep him to the point; but with pains I learned what
+convinced me that he was entitled to some property, whether great or
+small there was no evidence. On parting, I said, "Now, Mr. F, you must
+stay in town while I make proper inquiries. What allowance will be enough
+to keep you comfortably?"
+
+He answered humbly after much pressing, "Would you think ten shillings
+too much?"
+
+I don't like, if I do those things at all, to do them shabbily--so I
+said, "Come every Saturday and you shall have a pound." He was profuse in
+thanks, of course, as all such men are as long as distress lasts.
+
+I had previously learned that my ragged client's wife was in England,
+living in a splendid house in Hyde Park Gardens, under her maiden name.
+On the following day the Earl of Owing called upon me, wanting five
+thousand pounds by five o'clock the same evening. It was a case of life
+or death with him, so I made my terms and took advantage of his pressure
+to execute a _coup de main._ I proposed that he should drive me home to
+receive the money, calling at Mrs. Molinos in Hyde Park Gardens, on our
+way. I knew that the coronet and liveries of his father, the Marquis,
+would ensure me an audience with Mrs. Molinos Fitz-Roy.
+
+My scheme answered. I was introduced into the lady's presence. She was,
+and probably is, a very stately, handsome woman, with a pale complexion,
+high solid forehead, regular features, thin, pinched, self-satisfied
+mouth. My interview was very short. I plunged into the middle of the
+affair, but had scarcely mentioned the word _husband_, when she
+interrupted me with, "I presume you have lent this profligate person
+money, and want me to pay you." She paused, and then said, "He shall not
+have a farthing." As she spoke, her white face became scarlet.
+
+"But, Madam, the man is starving. I have strong reasons for believing he
+is entitled to property, and if you refuse any assistance, I must take
+other measures." She rang the bell, wrote something rapidly on a card,
+and, as the footman appeared, pushed it towards me across the table, with
+the air of touching a toad, saying, "There, sir, is the address of my
+solicitors; apply to them if you think you have any claim. Robert, show
+the person out, and take care he is not admitted again."
+
+So far I had effected nothing; and, to tell the truth, felt rather
+crest-fallen under the influence of that grand manner peculiar to certain
+great ladies and to all great actresses.
+
+My next visit was to the attorneys, Messrs. Leasem and Fashun, of
+Lincoln's Inn Square; and there I was at home. I had had dealings with
+the firm before. They are agents for half the aristocracy, who always
+run in crowds like sheep after the same wine-merchants, the same
+architects, the same horse-dealers, and the same law-agents. It may be
+doubted whether the quality of law and land management they get on this
+principle is quite equal to their wine and horses. At any rate, my
+friends of Lincoln's Inn, like others of the same class, are
+distinguished by their courteous manners, deliberate proceedings,
+innocence of legal technicalities, long credit and heavy charges. Leasem,
+the elder partner, wears powder and a huge bunch of seals, lives in Queen
+Square, drives a brougham, gives the dinners and does the cordial
+department. He is so strict in performing the latter duty, that he once
+addressed a poacher who had shot a Duke's keeper, as "my dear creature,"
+although he afterwards hung him.
+
+Fashun has chambers in St. James Street, drives a cab, wears a tip, and
+does the grand haha style.
+
+My business lay with Leasem. The interviews and letters passing were
+numerous. However, it came at last to the following dialogue:--
+
+"Well, my dear Mr. Discount," began Mr. Leasem, who hates me like poison,
+"I'm really very sorry for that poor dear Molinos--knew his father well;
+a great man, a perfect gentleman; but you know what women are, eh, Mr.
+Discount? My client won't advance a shilling; she knows it would only be
+wasted in low dissipation. Now, don't you think (this was said very
+insinuatingly)--don't you think he had better be sent to the work-house?
+Very comfortable accommodation there, I can assure you--meat twice a
+week, and excellent soup; and then, Mr. D., we might consider about
+allowing you something for that bill."
+
+"Mr. Leasem, can you reconcile it to your conscience to make such an
+arrangement? Here's a wife rolling in luxury, and a husband starving!"
+
+"No, Mr. Discount, not starving; there is the work-house, as I observed
+before; besides, allow me to suggest that these appeals to feeling are
+quite unprofessional--quite unprofessional."
+
+"But, Mr. Leasem, touching this property which the poor man is
+entitled to?"
+
+"Why, there again, Mr. D., you must excuse me; you really must. I don't
+say he is, I don't say he is not. If you know he is entitled to
+property, I am sure you know how to proceed; the law is open to you,
+Mr. Discount--the law is open; and a man of your talent will know how
+to use it."
+
+"Then, Mr. Leasem, you mean that I must, in order to right this starving
+man, file a Bill of Discovery, to extract from you the particulars of his
+rights. You have the Marriage Settlement, and all the information, and
+you decline to allow a pension, or afford any information; the man is to
+starve, or go to the work-house?"
+
+"Why, Mr. D., you are so quick and violent, it really is not
+professional; but you see, (here a subdued smile of triumph,) it has been
+decided that a solicitor is not bound to afford such information as you
+ask, to the injury of his client."
+
+"Then you mean that this poor Molinos may rot and starve, while you keep
+secret from him, at his wife's request, his title to an income, and that
+the Court of Chancery will back you in this iniquity?"
+
+I kept repeating the word "starve," because I saw it made my respectable
+opponent wince. "Well, then, just listen to me: I know that in the happy
+state of our equity law, Chancery can't help my client; but I have
+another plan--I shall go hence to my office, issue a writ, and take your
+client's husband in execution--as soon as he is lodged in jail, I shall
+file his schedule in the Insolvent Court, and when he comes up for his
+discharge, I shall put you in the witness-box, and examine you on oath,
+'touching any property of which you know the insolvent to be possessed,'
+and where will be your privileged communications then?"
+
+The respectable Leasem's face lengthened in a twinkling, his comfortable
+confident air vanished, he ceased twiddling his gold chain, and at length
+he muttered, "Suppose we pay the debt?"
+
+"Why, then, I'll arrest him the day after for another."
+
+"But, my dear Mr. Discount, surely such conduct would not be quite
+respectable?"
+
+"That's my business; my client has been wronged, I am determined to
+right him, and when the aristocratic firm of Leasem and Fashun takes
+refuge according to the custom of respectable repudiators, in the cool
+arbors of the Court of Chancery, why, a mere bill-discounting attorney
+like David Discount, need not hesitate about cutting a bludgeon out of
+the Insolvent Court."
+
+"Well, well, Mr. D., you are so warm--so fiery; we must deliberate, we
+must consult. You will give me until the day after to-morrow, and then
+we'll write you our final determination; in the meantime, send us a copy
+of your authority to act for Mr. Molinos Fitz-Roy."
+
+Of course I lost no time in getting the gentleman beggar to sign a
+proper letter.
+
+On the appointed day came a communication with the L. and F. seal, which
+I opened, not without unprofessional eagerness. It was as follows:--
+
+_"In re Molinos Fitz-Roy and Another._
+
+"Sir,--In answer to your application on behalf of Mr. Molinos Fitz-Roy,
+we beg to inform you that, under the administration of a paternal aunt
+who died intestate, your client is entitled to two thousand five hundred
+pounds eight shillings and sixpence, Three per Cents.; one thousand five
+hundred pounds nineteen shillings and fourpence, Three per Cents.,
+Reduced; one thousand pounds, Long Annuities; five hundred pounds, Bank
+Stock; three thousand five hundred pounds, India Stock, besides other
+securities, making up about ten thousand pounds, which we are prepared to
+transfer over to Mr. Molinos Fitz-Roy's direction forthwith."
+
+Here was a windfall! It quite took away my breath.
+
+At dusk came my gentleman beggar, and what puzzled me was how to break
+the news to him. Being very much overwhelmed with business that day, I
+had not much time for consideration. He came in rather better dressed
+than when I first saw him, with only a week's beard on his chin; but,
+as usual, not quite sober. Six weeks had elapsed since our first
+interview. He was still the humble, trembling, low-voiced creature, I
+first knew him.
+
+After a prelude, I said, "I find, Mr. F., you are entitled to something;
+pray, what do you mean to give me in addition to my bill, for obtaining
+it?" He answered rapidly, "Oh, take half; if there is one hundred pounds,
+take half--if there is five hundred pounds, take half."
+
+"No, no; Mr. F., I don't do business in that way, I shall be satisfied
+with ten per cent."
+
+It was so settled. I then led him out into the street, impelled to tell
+him the news, yet dreading the effect; not daring to make the revelation
+in my office, for fear of a scene.
+
+I began hesitatingly, "Mr. Fitz-Roy, I am happy to say that I find you
+are entitled to ... ten thousand pounds!"
+
+"Ten thousand pounds!" he echoed. "Ten thousand pounds!" he shrieked.
+"Ten thousand pounds!" he yelled; seizing my arm violently. "You are a
+brick--Here, cab! cab!" Several drove up--the shout might have been heard
+a mile off. He jumped in the first.
+
+"Where to?" said the driver.
+
+"To a tailor's, you rascal!"
+
+"Ten thousand pounds! ha, ha, ha!" he repeated hysterically, when in the
+cab; and every moment grasping my arm. Presently he subsided, looked me
+straight in the face, and muttered with agonizing fervor, "What a jolly
+brick you are!"
+
+The tailor, the hosier, the boot-maker, the hair-dresser, were in turn
+visited by this poor pagan of externals. As by degrees under their hands
+he emerged from the beggar to the gentleman, his spirits rose; his eyes
+brightened; he walked erect, but always nervously grasping my
+arm--fearing, apparently, to lose sight of me for a moment, lest his
+fortune, should vanish with me. The impatient pride with which he gave
+his orders to the astonished tradesman for the finest and best of
+everything, and the amazed air of the fashionable hairdresser when he
+presented his matted locks and stubble chin, to be "cut and shaved," may
+be _acted_--it cannot be described.
+
+By the time the external transformation was complete, and I
+sat down in a Cafe in the Haymarket opposite a haggard but handsome
+thoroughbred-looking man, whose air, with the exception of the wild eyes
+and deeply browned face, did not differ from the stereotyped men about
+town sitting around us, Mr. Molinos Fitz-Roy had already almost
+forgotten the past. He bullied the waiter, and criticised the wine, as if
+he had done nothing else but dine and drink and scold there all the days
+of his life.
+
+Once he wished to drink my health, and would have proclaimed his whole
+story to the coffee-room assembly, in a raving style. When I left he
+almost wept in terror at the idea of losing sight of me. But, allowing
+for these ebullitions--the natural result of such a whirl of events--he
+was wonderfully calm and self-possessed.
+
+The next day, his first care was to distribute fifty pounds among his
+friends, the cadgers, at a "house of call" in Westminster, and formally
+to dissolve his connection with them; those present undertaking for the
+"fraternity," that for the future he should never be noticed by them in
+public or private.
+
+I cannot follow his career much further. Adversity had taught him
+nothing. He was soon again surrounded by the well-bred vampires who had
+forgotten him when penniless; but they amused him, and that was enough.
+The ten thousand pounds were rapidly melting when he invited me to a
+grand dinner at Richmond, which included a dozen of the most agreeable,
+good-looking, well-dressed dandies of London, interspersed with a display
+of pretty butterfly bonnets. We dined deliciously, and drank as men do of
+iced wines in the dog-days--looking down from Richmond Hill.
+
+One of the pink-bonnets crowned Fitz-Roy with a wreath of flowers; he
+looked--less the intellect--as handsome as Alcibiades. Intensely
+excited and flushed, he rose with a champagne glass in his hand to
+propose my health.
+
+The oratorical powers of his father had not descended on him. Jerking
+out sentences by spasms, at length he said, "I was a beggar--I am a
+gentleman--thanks to this--"
+
+Here he leaned on my shoulder heavily a moment, and then fell back. We
+raised him, loosened his neckcloth--
+
+"Fainted!" said the ladies--
+
+"Drunk!" said the gentlemen--
+
+He was _dead_!
+
+
+
+
+A FASHIONABLE FORGER.
+
+
+I am an attorney and a bill-discounter. As it is my vocation to lend
+money at high interest to extravagant people, my connection principally
+lies among "fools," sometimes among rogues "of quality." Mine is a
+pursuit which a prejudiced world either holds in sovereign contempt, or
+visits with envy, hatred, and all uncharitableness; but to my mind, there
+are many callings, with finer names, that are no better. It gives me two
+things which I love--money and power; but I cannot deny that it brings
+with it a bad name. The case lies between character and money, and
+involves a matter of taste. Some people like character; I prefer money.
+If I am hated and despised, I chuckle over the "per contra." I find it
+pleasant for members of a proud aristocracy to condescend from their high
+estate to fawn, feign, flatter; to affect even mirthful familiarity in
+order to gain my good-will. I am no Shylock. No client can accuse me of
+desiring either his flesh or his blood. Sentimental vengeance is no item
+in my stock in trade. Gold and bank-notes satisfy my "rage;" or, if need
+be, a good mortgage. Far from seeking revenge, the worst defaulter I ever
+had dealings with cannot deny that I am always willing to accept a good
+post-obit.
+
+I say again, I am daily brought in contact with all ranks of society,
+from the poverty-stricken patentee to the peer; and I am no more
+surprised at receiving an application from a duchess than from a pet
+opera-dancer. In my ante room wait, at this moment, a crowd of
+borrowers. Among the men, (beardless folly and mustachioed craft are most
+prominent,) there is a handsome young fellow, with an elaborate cane and
+wonderfully vacant countenance, who is anticipating in feeble follies, an
+estate that has been in the possession of his ancestors since the reign
+of Henry the Eighth--there is a hairy, high-nosed, broken-down
+nondescript, in appearance something between a horse-dealer and a
+pugilist. He is an old Etonian. Five years ago he drove his four-in-hand;
+he is now waiting to beg a sovereign, having been just discharged from
+the Insolvent Court, for the second time. Among the women, a pretty
+actress, who, a few years since, looked forward to a supper of steak and
+onions, with bottled stout, on a Saturday night, as a great treat, now
+finds one hundred pounds a month insufficient to pay her wine merchant
+and her confectioner. I am obliged to deal with each case according to
+its peculiarities. Genuine undeserved Ruin seldom knocks at my doer. Mine
+is a perpetual battle with people who imbibe trickery at the same rate as
+they dissolve their fortunes. I am a hard man, of course. I should not be
+fit for my pursuit if I were not; but when, by a remote chance, honest
+misfortune pays me a visit, as Rothschilds amused himself at times by
+giving a beggar a guinea, so I occasionally treat myself to the luxury of
+doing a kind action. My favorite subjects for this unnatural generosity,
+are the very young or the poor, innocent, helpless people, who are unfit
+for the war of life. Many among my clients (especially those tempered in
+the "ice book" of fashion and high-life--polished and passionless) would
+be too much for me, if I had not made the face, the eye, the accent, as
+much my study as the mere legal and financial points of discount To show
+what I mean, I will relate what happened to me not long since:--
+
+One day, a middle-aged man in the usual costume of a West-End shopman,
+who had sent in his name as Mr. Axminster, was shown into my private
+room. After a little hesitation, he said, "Although you do not know me,
+living at this end of the town, I know you very well by reputation, and
+that you discount bills. I have a bill here which I want to get
+discounted. I am in the employ of Messrs. Russle and Smooth. The bill is
+drawn by one of our best customers, the Hon. Miss Snape, niece of Lord
+Blimley, and accepted by Major Munge, whom, no doubt, you know by name.
+She has dealt with us for some years--is very, very extravagant; but
+always pays." He put the acceptance--which was for two hundred
+pounds--into my hands.
+
+I looked at it as scrutinizingly as I usually do at such paper The
+Major's signature was familiar to me; but having succeeded to a great
+estate, he had long ceased to be a customer. I instantly detected a
+forgery; by whom?--was the question. Could it be the man before me?
+Experience told me it was not. Perhaps there was something in the
+expression of my countenance which Mr. Axminster did not like, for he
+said, "It is good for the amount, I presume?"
+
+I replied, "Pray, sir, from whom did you get this bill?"
+
+"From Miss Snape herself."
+
+"Have you circulated any other bills made by the same drawer?"
+
+"O yes!" said the draper, without hesitation; "I have paid away a bill
+for one hundred pounds to Mr. Sparkle, the jeweller, to whom Miss Snape
+owed twenty pounds. They gave me the difference."
+
+"And how long has that bill to run now?"
+
+"About a fortnight."
+
+"Did you indorse it?"
+
+"I did. Mr. Sparkle required me to do so, to show that the bill came
+properly into his possession."
+
+"This second bill, you say is urgently required to enable Miss Snape to
+leave town?"
+
+"Yes; she is going to Brighton for the winter."
+
+I gave Mr. Axminster a steady, piercing look of inquiry. "Pray, sir," I
+said, "could you meet that one hundred pounds bill, supposing it could
+not be paid by the accepter?"
+
+"Meet it!" The poor fellow wiped from his forehead the perspiration which
+suddenly broke out at the bare hint of a probability that the bill would
+be dishonored--"Meet it? O no! I am a married man, with a family, and
+have nothing but my salary to depend on."
+
+"Then the sooner you get it taken up, and the less you have to do with
+Miss Snape's bill affairs, the better."
+
+"She has always been punctual hitherto."
+
+"That may be." I pointed to the cross-writing on the document, and said
+deliberately, "_This_ bill is a forgery!"
+
+At these words the poor man turned pale. He snatched up the document, and
+with many incoherent protestations, was rushing toward the door, when I
+called to him in an authoritative tone, to stop. He paused--his manner
+indicating not only doubt, but fear. I said to him, "Don't flurry
+yourself; I only want to serve you. You tell me that you are a married
+man, with children, dependent on daily labor for daily bread, and that
+you have done a little discounting for Miss Snape, out of your earnings.
+Now, although I am a bill-discounter, I don't like to see such men
+victimized. Look at the body of this bill--look at the signature of your
+lady-customer, the drawer. Don't you detect the same fine, thin,
+sharp-pointed handwriting in the words 'Accepted, Dymmock Munge." The
+man, convinced against his will, was at first overcome. When he
+recovered, he raved; he would expose the Honorable Miss Snape, if it cost
+him his bread--he would go at once to the police office. I stopped him,
+by saying roughly, "Don't be a fool! Any such steps would seal your ruin.
+Take my advice; return the bill to the lady, saying, simply, that you
+cannot get it discounted. Leave the rest to me, and I think the bill you
+have indorsed to Sparkle will be paid." Comforted by this assurance,
+Axminster, fearfully changed from the nervous, but smug, hopeful man of
+the morning, departed. It now remained for me to exert what skill I
+possessed, to bring about the desired result. I lost no time in writing a
+letter to the Honorable Miss Snape, of which the following is a copy:--
+
+"Madam,--A bill, purporting to be drawn by you, has been offered to me
+for discount. There is something wrong about it; and, though a stranger
+to you, I advise you to lose no time in getting it back into your own
+hands.--D.D."
+
+I intended to deal with the affair quietly, and without any view to
+profit. The fact is, that I was sorry--you may laugh--but I really was
+sorry to think that a young girl might have given way to temptation under
+pressure of pecuniary difficulties. If it had been a man's case, I doubt
+whether I should have interfered. By the return of post, a lady's maid
+entered my room, profusely decorated with ringlets, lace, and perfumed
+with patchouli. She brought a letter from her mistress. It ran thus:--
+
+"Sir,--I cannot sufficiently express my thanks for your kindness in
+writing to me on the subject of the bills, of which I had also heard a
+few hours previously. As a perfect stranger to you, I cannot estimate
+your kind consideration at too high a value. I trust the matter will be
+explained; but I should much like to see you. If you would be kind
+enough to write a note as soon as you receive this, I will order it to
+be sent to me at once to Tyburn Square. I will wait on you at any hour
+on Friday you may appoint. I believe that I am not mistaken in supposing
+that you transact business for my friend, Sir John Markham, and you will
+therefore know the inclosed to be his handwriting. Again thanking you
+most gratefully, allow me to remain your much and deeply obliged,
+JULIANA SNAPE."
+
+This note was written upon delicate French paper embossed with a coat of
+arms. It was in a fancy envelope--the whole richly perfumed, and
+redolent of rank and fashion. Its contents were an implied confession of
+forgery. Silence, or three lines of indignation, would have been the
+only innocent answer to my letter. But Miss Snape thanked me. She let me
+know, by implication that she was on intimate terms with a name good on
+a West-End bill. My answer was, that I should be alone on the following
+afternoon at five.
+
+At the hour fixed, punctual to a moment, a brougham drew up at the corner
+of the street next to my chambers. The Honorable Miss Snape's card was
+handed in. Presently, she entered, swimming into my room, richly, yet
+simply dressed in the extreme of Parisian good taste. She was pale--or
+rather colorless. She had fair hair, fine teeth, and a fashionable voice.
+She threw herself gracefully into the chair I handed to her, and began by
+uncoiling a string of phrases, to the effect that her visit was merely to
+consult me on "unavoidable pecuniary difficulties."
+
+According to my mode, I allowed her to talk; putting in only an
+occasional word of question that seemed rather a random observation than
+a significant query. At length after walking round and round the subject,
+like a timid horse in a field around a groom with a sieve of oats, she
+came nearer and nearer the subject. When she had fairly approached the
+point, she stopped, as if her courage had failed her. But she soon
+recovered, and observed, "I cannot think why you should take the trouble
+to write so to me, a perfect stranger." Another pause--"I wonder no one
+ever suspected me before."
+
+Here was a confession and a key to character. The cold gray eye, the thin
+compressed lips, which I had had time to observe, were true indexes to
+the "lady's inner heart;" selfish calculating, utterly devoid of
+conscience; unable to conceive the existence of spontaneous kindness;
+utterly indifferent to anything except discovery, and almost indifferent
+to that, because convinced that no serious consequences could affect a
+lady of her rank and influence.
+
+"Madam," I replied, "as long as you dealt with tradesmen accustomed to
+depend on aristocratic customers, your rank and position, and their
+large profits, protected you from suspicion; but you have made a mistake
+in descending from your vantage ground to make a poor shopman your
+innocent accomplice--a man who will be keenly alive to anything
+that may injure his wife or children. His terrors--but for my
+interposition--would have ruined you utterly. Tell me, how many of these
+things have you put afloat?"
+
+She seemed a little taken a-back by this speech, but was wonderfully
+firm. She passed her white, jewelled hand over her eyes, seemed
+calculating, and then whispered, with a confiding look of innocent
+helplessness, admirably assumed, "About as many as amount to twelve
+hundred pounds."
+
+"And what means have you for meeting them?"
+
+At this question so plainly put, her face flushed. She half rose from her
+chair, and exclaimed in the true tone of aristocratic _hauteur_, "Really,
+sir, I do not know what right you have to ask me that question."
+
+I laughed a little, though not very loud. It was rude, I own; but who
+could have helped it? I replied, speaking low, but slowly and
+distinctly--"You forget. I did not send for you; you came to me. You have
+forged bills to the amount of twelve hundred pounds. Yours is not the
+case of a ruined merchant or an ignorant over-tempted clerk. In your case
+a jury"--(she shuddered at that word)--"would find no extenuating
+circumstances; and if you should fall into the hands of justice you will
+be convicted, degraded, clothed in a prison-dress, and transported for
+life. I do not want to speak harshly; but I insist that you find means to
+take up the bill which Mr. Axminster has so unwittingly endorsed!"
+
+The Honorable Miss Snape's grand manner melted away. She wept. She seized
+and pressed my hand. She cast up her eyes, full of tears, and went
+through the part of a repentant victim with great fervor. She would do
+anything--anything in the world to save the poor man. Indeed, she had
+intended to appropriate part of the two hundred pound bill to that
+purpose. She forgot her first statement, that she wanted the money to go
+out of town. Without interrupting, I let her go on and degrade herself by
+a simulated passion of repentance, regret, and thankfulness to me, under
+which she hid her fear and her mortification at being detected. I at
+length put an end to a scene of admirable acting, by recommending her to
+go abroad immediately, to place herself out of reach of any sudden
+discovery; and then lay her case fully before her friends, who would no
+doubt feel bound to come forward with the full amount of the forged
+bills. "But," she exclaimed, with an entreating air, "I have no money; I
+cannot go without money!" To that observation I did not respond although
+I am sure she expected that I should, check-book in hand, offer her a
+loan. I do not say so without reason; for, the very next week, this
+honorable young lady came again, and, with sublime assurance and a number
+of very charming, winning speeches, (which might have had their effect
+upon a younger man), asked me to lend her one hundred pounds, in order
+that she might take the advice I had so obligingly given her, and retire
+into private life for a certain time in the country. I do meet with a
+great many impudent people in the course of my calling--I am not very
+deficient in assurance myself--but this actually took away my breath.
+
+"Really, madam," I answered, "you pay a very ill-compliment to my gray
+hairs, and would fain make me a very ill return for the service I have
+done you, when you ask me to lend a hundred pounds to a young lady who
+owns to having forged to the extent of one thousand two hundred pounds,
+and to owing eight hundred pounds besides. I wished to save a personage
+of your years and position from a disgraceful career; but I am too good a
+trustee for my children to lend money to anybody in such a dangerous
+position as yourself."
+
+"Oh!" she answered, quite unabashed, without a trace of the fearful,
+tender pleading of the previous week's interview--quite as if I had been
+an accomplice, "I can give you excellent security."
+
+"That alters the case; I can lend any amount on good security."
+
+"Well, sir, I can get the acceptance of three friends of ample means"
+
+"Do you mean to tell me, Miss Snape, that you will write down the names
+of three parties who will accept a bill for one hundred pounds for you?"
+
+Yes, she could, and did actually write down the names of three
+distinguished men. Now I knew for certain, that not one of those noblemen
+would have put his name to a bill on any account whatever for his dearest
+friend; but, in her unabashed self-confidence, she thought of passing
+another forgery _on me_. I closed the conference by saying, "I cannot
+assist you;" and she retired with the air of an injured person. In the
+course of a few days, I heard from Mr. Axminster, that his liability of
+one hundred pounds had been duly honored.
+
+In my active and exciting life, one day extinguishes the recollection
+of the events of the preceding day; and, for a time, I thought no more
+about the fashionable forger. I had taken it for granted that,
+heartily frightened, although not repenting, she had paused in her
+felonious pursuits.
+
+My business one day led me to the establishment of one of the most
+wealthy and respectable legal firms in the city, where I am well known,
+and, I believe, valued; for at all times I am most politely, I may say,
+most cordially received. Mutual profits create a wonderful freemasonry
+between those who have not any other sympathy or sentiment. Politics,
+religion, morality, difference of rank, are all equalized and
+republicanized by the division of an account. No sooner had I entered the
+_sanctum_, than the senior partner, Mr. Precepts, began to quiz his
+junior, Mr. Jones, with, "Well, Jones must never joke friend Discount
+anymore about usury. Just imagine," he continued, addressing me, "Jones
+has himself been discounting a bill for a lady; and a deuced pretty one
+too. He sat next her at dinner in Grosvenor Square, last week. Next day
+she gave him a call here, and he could not refuse her extraordinary
+request. Gad, it is hardly fair for Jones to be poaching on your domains
+of West-End paper!"
+
+Mr. Jones smiled quietly, as he observed, "Why, you see, she is the niece
+of one of our best clients; and really I was so taken by surprise, that I
+did not know how to refuse."
+
+"Pray," said I, interrupting his excuses, "does your young lady's name
+begin with S.? Has she not a very pale face, and cold gray eye?"
+
+The partners stared.
+
+"Ah! I see it is so; and can at once tell you that the bill is not
+worth a rush."
+
+"Why, you don't mean--?"
+
+"I mean simply that the acceptance is, I'll lay you a wager, a forgery."
+
+"A forgery!"
+
+"A forgery," I repeated as distinctly as possible.
+
+Mr. Jones hastily, and with broken ejaculations, called for the cash-box.
+With trembling hands he took out the bill, and followed my finger with
+eager, watchful eyes, as I pointed out the proofs of my assertion. A long
+pause was broken by my mocking laugh; for, at the moment, my sense of
+politeness could not restrain my satisfaction at the signal defeat which
+had attended the first experiment of these highly respectable gentlemen
+in the science of usury.
+
+The partners did not have recourse to the police. They did not propose a
+consultation with either Mr. Forrester or Mr. Field; but they took
+certain steps, under my recommendation; the result of which was that at
+an early day, an aunt of the Honorable Miss Snape was driven, to save so
+near a connection from transportation, to sell out some fourteen hundred
+pounds of stock, and all the forgeries were taken up.
+
+One would have thought that the lady who had thus so narrowly escaped,
+had had enough--but forgery, like opium-eating, is one of those charming
+vices which is never abandoned, when once adopted. The forger enjoys not
+only the pleasure of obtaining money so easily, but the triumph of
+befooling sharp men of the world. Dexterous penmanship is a source of the
+same sort of pride as that which animates the skillful rifleman, the
+practiced duellist, or well-trained billiard-player. With a clean Gillott
+he fetches down a capitalist, at three or six months, for a cool hundred
+or a round thousand; just as a Scrope drops over a stag at ten, or a
+Gordon Cumming a monstrous male elephant at a hundred paces.
+
+As I before observed, my connection especially lies among the
+improvident--among those who will be ruined--who are being ruined--and
+who have been ruined. To the last class belongs Francis Fisherton, once
+a gentleman, now without a shilling or a principle; but rich in
+mother-wit--in fact, a _farceur_, after Paul de Kock's own heart. Having
+in by-gone days been one of my willing victims, he occasionally finds
+pleasure and profit in guiding others through the gate he frequented, as
+long as able to pay the tolls. In truth, he is what is called a
+"discount agent."
+
+One day I received a note from him, to say that he would call on me at
+three o'clock the next day to introduce a lady of family, who wanted a
+bill "done" for one hundred pounds. So ordinary a transaction merely
+needed a memorandum in my diary, "Tuesday, 3 p.m.; F.F., L100 Bill." The
+hour came and passed; but no Frank, which was strange--because every one
+must have observed, that, however dilatory people are in paying, they are
+wonderfully punctual when they expect to receive money.
+
+At five o'clock, in rushed my Jackall. His story, disentangled from
+oaths and ejaculations, amounted to this:--In answer to one of the
+advertisements he occasionally addresses "To the Embarrassed," in the
+columns of the "Times," he received a note from a lady, who said she was
+anxious to get a "bill done"--the acceptance of a well-known man of rank
+and fashion. A correspondence was opened, and an appointment made. At the
+hour fixed, neatly shaved, brushed, gloved, booted--the revival, in
+short, of that high-bred Frank Fisherton who was so famous
+
+"In his hot youth, when Crockford's was the thing."
+
+glowing with only one glass of brandy, "just to steady his nerves," he
+met the lady at a West-End pastry-cook's.
+
+After a few words (for all the material questions had been settled by
+correspondence) she stepped into a brougham, and invited Frank to take a
+seat beside her. Elated with a compliment of late years so rare, he
+commenced planning the orgies which were to reward him for weeks of
+enforced fasting, when the coachman, reverentially touching his hat,
+looked down from his seat for orders.
+
+"To ninety-nine, George Street, St. James," cried Fisherton, in his
+loudest tones.
+
+In an instant the young lady's pale face changed to scarlet, and then to
+ghastly green. In a whisper, rising to a scream, she exclaimed, "Good
+heavens! you do not mean to go to _that_ man's house," (meaning me.)
+"Indeed, I cannot go to him, on any account; he is a most horrid man, I
+am told, and charges most extravagantly."
+
+"Madam," answered Frank, in great perturbation, "I beg your pardon, but
+you have been grossly misinformed. I have known that excellent man these
+twenty years, and have paid him hundreds on hundreds; but never so much
+by ten per cent. as you offered me for discounting your bill."
+
+"Sir, I cannot have anything to do with your friend." Then, violently,
+pulling the check-string, "Stop," she gasped, "and _will you_ have the
+goodness to get out?"
+
+"And so I got out," continued Fisherton, "and lost my time; and the heavy
+investment I made in getting myself up for the assignation--new primrose
+gloves, and a shilling to the hair-dresser--hang her! But, did you ever
+know anything like the prejudices that must prevail against you? I am
+disgusted with human nature. Could you lend me half a sovereign till
+Saturday?"
+
+I smiled. I sacrificed the half sovereign, and let him go, for he is not
+exactly the person to whom it was advisable to intrust all the secrets
+relating to the Honorable Miss Snape. Since that day I look each morning
+in the police reports with considerable interest; but, up to the present
+hour, the Honorable Miss Snape has lived and thrived in the best society.
+
+
+
+
+THE YOUNG ADVOCATE.
+
+
+Antoine de Chaulieu was the son of a poor gentleman of Normandy, with a
+long genealogy, a short rent-roll, and a large family. Jacques Rollet
+was the son of a brewer, who did not know who his grandfather was; but
+he had a long purse and only two children. As these youths flourished in
+the early days of liberty, equality, and fraternity, and were near
+neighbors, they naturally hated each other. Their enmity commenced at
+school, where the delicate and refined De Chaulieu, being the only
+gentilhomme among the scholars, was the favorite of the master, (who was
+a bit of an aristocrat in his heart,) although he was about the worst
+dressed boy in the establishment, and never had a sou to spend; while
+Jacques Rollet, sturdy and rough, with smart clothes and plenty of
+money, got flogged six days in the week, ostensibly for being stupid and
+not learning his lessons,--which, indeed, he did not,--but, in reality,
+for constantly quarrelling with and insulting De Chaulieu, who had not
+strength to cope with him. When they left the academy, the feud
+continued in all its vigor, and was fostered by a thousand little
+circumstances arising out of the state of the times, till a separation
+ensued in consequence of an aunt of Antoine de Chaulieu's undertaking
+the expense of sending him to Paris to study the law, and of maintaining
+him there during the necessary period.
+
+With the progress of events came some degree of reaction in favor of
+birth and nobility, and then Antoine, who had passed for the bar, began
+to hold up his head and endeavored to push his fortunes; but fate seemed
+against him. He felt certain that if he possessed any gift in the world
+it was that of eloquence, but he could get no cause to plead; and his
+aunt dying inopportunely, first his resources failed, and then his
+health. He had no sooner returned to his home, than, to complicate his
+difficulties completely, he fell in love with Mademoiselle Natalie de
+Bellefonds, who had just returned from Paris, where she had been
+completing her education. To expatiate on the perfections of Mademoiselle
+Natalie would be a waste of ink and paper; it is sufficient to say that
+she really was a very charming girl, with a fortune which, though not
+large, would have been a most desirable acquisition to De Chaulieu, who
+had nothing. Neither was the fair Natalie indisposed to listen to his
+addresses; but her father could not be expected to countenance the suit
+of a gentleman, however well born, who had not a ten-sous piece in the
+world, and whose prospects were a blank.
+
+While the ambitious and lovesick young barrister was thus pining in
+unwelcome obscurity, his old acquaintance, Jacques Rollet, had been
+acquiring an undesirable notoriety. There was nothing really bad in
+Jacques' disposition, but having been bred up a democrat, with a hatred
+of the nobility, he could not easily accommodate his rough humor to treat
+them with civility when it was no longer safe to insult them. The
+liberties he allowed himself whenever circumstances brought him into
+contact with the higher classes of society, had led him into many
+scrapes, out of which his father's money had one way or another released
+him; but that source of safety had now failed. Old Rollet, having been
+too busy with the affairs of the nation to attend to his business, had
+died insolvent, leaving his son with nothing but his own wits to help him
+out of future difficulties, and it was not long before their exercise was
+called for. Claudine Rollet, his sister, who was a very pretty girl, had
+attracted the attention of Mademoiselle de Bellefonds' brother, Alphonse;
+and as he paid her more attention than from such a quarter was agreeable
+to Jacques, the young men had more than one quarrel on the subject, on
+which occasions they had each, characteristically, given vent to their
+enmity, the one in contemptuous monosyllables, and the other in a volley
+of insulting words. But Claudine had another lover more nearly of her own
+condition of life; this was Claperon, the deputy-governor of the Rouen
+jail, with whom she made acquaintance during one or two compulsory visits
+paid by her brother to that functionary; but Claudine, who was a bit of a
+coquette, though she did not altogether reject his suit, gave him little
+encouragement, so that betwixt hopes and fears, and doubts and
+jealousies, poor Claperon led a very uneasy kind of life.
+
+Affairs had been for some time in this position, when, one fine morning,
+Alphonse de Bellefonds was not to be found in his chamber when his
+servant went to call him; neither had his bed been slept in. He had been
+observed to go out rather late on the preceding evening, but whether or
+not he had returned, nobody could tell. He had not appeared at supper,
+but that was too ordinary an event to awaken suspicion; and little alarm
+was excited till several hours had elapsed, when inquiries were
+instituted and a search commenced, which terminated in the discovery of
+his body, a good deal mangled, lying at the bottom of a pond which had
+belonged to the old brewery. Before any investigations had been made,
+every person had jumped to the conclusion that the young man had been
+murdered, and that Jacques Rollet was the assassin. There was a strong
+presumption in favor of that opinion, which further perquisitions tended
+to confirm. Only the day before, Jacques had been heard to threaten M. de
+Bellefonds with speedy vengeance. On the fatal evening, Alphonse and
+Claudine had been seen together in the neighborhood of the now dismantled
+brewery; and as Jacques, betwixt poverty and democracy, was in bad odor
+with the prudent and respectable part of society, it was not easy for him
+to bring witnesses to character, or prove an unexceptionable alibi. As
+for the Bellefonds and De Chaulieus, and the aristocracy in general, they
+entertained no doubt of his guilt; and finally, the magistrates coming to
+the same opinion, Jacques Rollet was committed for trial, and as a
+testimony of good will Antoine de Chaulieu was selected by the injured
+family to conduct the prosecution.
+
+Here, at last, was the opportunity he had sighed for! So interesting a
+case, too, furnishing such ample occasion for passion, pathos,
+indignation! And how eminently fortunate that the speech which he set
+himself with ardor to prepare, would be delivered in the presence of the
+father and brother of his mistress, and perhaps of the lady herself! The
+evidence against Jacques, it is true, was altogether presumptive; there
+was no proof whatever that he had committed the crime; and for his own
+part he stoutly denied it. But Antoine de Chaulieu entertained no doubt
+of his guilt, and his speech was certainly well calculated to carry
+conviction into the bosom of others. It was of the highest importance to
+his own reputation that he should procure a verdict, and he confidently
+assured the afflicted and enraged family of the victim that their
+vengeance should be satisfied. Under these circumstances could any thing
+be more unwelcome than a piece of intelligence that was privately
+conveyed to him late on the evening before the trial was to come on,
+which tended strongly to exculpate the prisoner, without indicating any
+other person as the criminal? Here was an opportunity lost. The first
+step of the ladder on which he was to rise to fame, fortune, and a wife,
+was slipping from under his feet!
+
+Of course, so interesting a trial was anticipated with great eagerness by
+the public, and the court was crowded with all the beauty and fashion of
+Rouen. Though Jacques Rollet persisted in asserting his innocence,
+founding his defence chiefly on circumstances which were strongly
+corroborated by the information that had reached De Chaulieu the
+preceding evening, he was convicted.
+
+In spite of the very strong doubts he privately entertained respecting
+the justice of the verdict, even De Chaulieu himself, in the first flush
+of success, amid a crowd of congratulating friends, and the approving
+smiles of his mistress, felt gratified and happy; his speech had, for the
+time being, not only convinced others, but himself; warmed with his own
+eloquence, he believed what he said. But when the glow was over, and he
+found himself alone, he did not feel so comfortable. A latent doubt of
+Rollet's guilt now burnt strongly in his mind, and he felt that the blood
+of the innocent would be on his head. It is true there was yet time to
+save the life of the prisoner; but to admit Jacques innocent was to take
+the glory out of his own speech, and turn the sting of his argument
+against himself. Besides, if he produced the witness who had secretly
+given him the information, he should be self-condemned, for he could not
+conceal that he had been aware of the circumstance before the trial.
+
+Matters having gone so far, therefore, it was necessary that Jacques
+Rollet should die; so the affair took its course; and early one morning
+the guillotine was erected in the courtyard of the jail, three criminals
+ascended the scaffold, and three heads fell into the basket which were
+presently afterwards, with the trunks that had been attached to them,
+buried in a corner of the cemetery.
+
+Antoine de Chaulieu was now fairly started in his career, and his success
+was as rapid as the first step towards it had been tardy. He took a
+pretty apartment in the Hotel de Marboeuf Rue Grange-Bateliere, and in a
+short time was looked upon as one of the most rising young advocates in
+Paris. His success in one line brought him success in another; he was
+soon a favorite in society, and an object of interest to speculating
+mothers; but his affections still adhered to his old love, Natalie de
+Bellefonds, whose family now gave their assent to the match,--at least,
+prospectively,--a circumstance which furnished such an additional
+incentive to his exertions, that in about two years from the date of his
+first brilliant speech, he was in a sufficiently flourishing condition to
+offer the young lady a suitable home. In anticipation of the happy event,
+he engaged and furnished a suit of apartments in the Rue du Helder; and
+as it was necessary that the bride should come to Paris to provide her
+trousseau, it was agreed that the wedding should take place there,
+instead of at Bellefonds, as had been first projected--an arrangement the
+more desirable, that a press of business rendered M. de Chaulieu's
+absence from Paris inconvenient.
+
+Brides and bridegrooms in France, except of the very high classes, are
+not much in the habit of making those honeymoon excursions so universal
+in this country. A day spent in visiting Versailles, or St. Cloud, or
+even the public places of the city, is generally all that precedes the
+settling down into the habits of daily life. In the present instance, St.
+Denis was selected, from the circumstance of Natalie having a younger
+sister at school there, and also because she had a particular desire to
+see the abbey.
+
+The wedding was to take place on a Thursday; and on the Wednesday
+evening, having spent some hours most agreeably with Natalie, Antoine de
+Chaulieu returned to spend his last night in his bachelor apartments. His
+wardrobe and other small possessions had already been packed up and sent
+to his future home; and there was nothing left in his room now but his
+new wedding suit, which he inspected with considerable satisfaction
+before he undressed and lay down to sleep. Sleep, however, was somewhat
+slow to visit him; and the clock had struck one before he closed his
+eyes. When he opened them again, it was broad daylight; and his first
+thought was, had he overslept himself? He sat up in bed to look at the
+clock, which was exactly opposite; and as he did so, in the large mirror
+over the fireplace he perceived a figure standing behind him. As the
+dilated eyes met his own, he saw it was the face of Jacques Rollet.
+Overcome with horror, he sank back on his pillow, and it was some minutes
+before he ventured to look again in that direction; when he did so, the
+figure had disappeared.
+
+The sudden revulsion of feeling such a vision was calculated to occasion
+in a man elate with joy, may be conceived. For some time after the death
+of his former foe, he had been visited by not unfrequent twinges of
+conscience; but of late, borne along by success, and the hurry of
+Parisian life, these unpleasant remembrances had grown rarer, till at
+length they had faded away altogether. Nothing had been further from his
+thoughts than Jacques Rollet, when he closed his eyes on the preceding
+night, nor when he opened them to that sun which was to shine on what he
+expected to be the happiest day of his life. Where were the high-strung
+nerves now? the elastic frame? the bounding heart?
+
+Heavily and slowly he arose from his bed, for it was time to do so; and
+with a trembling hand and quivering knees, he went through the processes
+of the toilet, gashing his cheek with the razor, and spilling the water
+over his well-polished boots. When he was dressed, scarcely venturing to
+cast a glance in the mirror as he passed it, he quitted the room, and
+descended the stairs, taking the key of the door with him for the purpose
+of leaving it with the porter: the man, however, being absent, he laid it
+on the table in his lodge, and with a relaxed and languid step proceeded
+on his way to the church, where presently arrived the fair Natalie and
+her friends. How difficult it was now to look happy with that pallid face
+and extinguished eye!
+
+"How pale you are! Has any thing happened? You are surely ill," were the
+exclamations that met him on all sides. He tried to carry it off as well
+as he could, but felt that the movements he would have wished to appear
+alert were only convulsive, and that the smiles with which he attempted
+to relax his features were but distorted grimaces. However, the church
+was not the place for further inquiries; and while Natalie gently pressed
+his hand in token of sympathy, they advanced to the altar, and the
+ceremony was performed; after which they stepped into the carriages
+waiting at the door, and drove to the apartments of Madame de Bellefonds,
+where an elegant _dejeuner_ was prepared.
+
+"What ails you, my dear husband?" inquired Natalie, as soon as they
+were alone.
+
+"Nothing, love," he replied; "nothing, I assure you, but a restless night
+and a little overwork, in order that I might have to-day free to enjoy my
+happiness."
+
+"Are you quite sure? Is there nothing else?"
+
+"Nothing, indeed; and pray don't take notice of it; it only makes
+me worse."
+
+Natalie was not deceived, but she saw that what he said was true; notice
+made him worse; so she contented herself with observing him quietly, and
+saying nothing; but, as he _felt_ she was observing him, she might almost
+better have spoken; words are often less embarrassing things than too
+curious eyes.
+
+When they reached Madame de Bellefond's he had the same sort of
+questioning and scrutiny to undergo, till he grew quite impatient under
+it, and betrayed a degree of temper altogether unusual with him. Then
+every body looked astonished; some whispered their remarks, and others
+expressed them by their wondering eyes, till his brow knit, and his
+pallid cheeks became flushed with anger. Neither could he divert
+attention by eating; his parched mouth would not allow him to swallow any
+thing but liquids, of which, however, he indulged in copious libations;
+and it was an exceeding relief to him when the carriage, which was to
+convey them to St. Denis, being announced, furnished an excuse for
+hastily leaving the table. Looking at his watch, he declared it was late;
+and Natalie, who saw how eager he was to be gone, threw her shawl over
+her shoulders, and bidding her friends _good morning_, they hurried away.
+
+It was a fine sunny day in June; and as they drove along the crowded
+boulevards, and through the Porte St. Denis, the young bride and
+bridegroom, to avoid each other's eyes, affected to be gazing out of the
+windows; but when they reached the part of the road where there was
+nothing but trees on each side, they felt it necessary to draw in their
+heads, and make an attempt at conversation, De Chaulieu put his arm round
+his wife's waist, and tried to rouse himself from his depression; but it
+had by this time so reacted upon her, that she could not respond to his
+efforts, and thus the conversation languished, till both felt glad when
+they reached their destination, which would, at all events, furnish them
+something to talk about.
+
+Having quitted the carriage, and ordered a dinner at the Hotel de
+l'Abbaye, the young couple proceeded to visit Mademoiselle Hortense de
+Bellefonds, who was overjoyed to see her sister and new brother-in-law,
+and doubly so when she found that they had obtained permission to take
+her out to spend the afternoon with them. As there is little to be seen
+at St. Denis but the Abbey, on quitting that part of it devoted to
+education, they proceeded to visit the church, with its various objects
+of interest; and as De Chaulieu's thoughts were now forced into another
+direction, his cheerfulness began insensibly to return. Natalie looked so
+beautiful, too, and the affection betwixt the two young sisters was so
+pleasant to behold! And they spent a couple of hours wandering about with
+Hortense, who was almost as well informed as the Suisse, till the brazen
+doors were opened which admitted them to the Royal vault. Satisfied, at
+length, with what they had seen, they began to think of returning to the
+inn, the more especially as De Chaulieu, who had not eaten a morsel of
+food since the previous evening, owned to being hungry; so they directed
+their steps to the door, lingering here and there as they went, to
+inspect a monument or a painting, when, happening to turn his head aside
+to see if his wife, who had stopped to take a last look at the tomb of
+King Dagobert, was following, he beheld with horror the face of Jacques
+Rollet appearing from behind a column! At the same instant his wife
+joined him, and took his arm, inquiring if he was not very much delighted
+with what he had seen. He attempted to say yes, but the word would not be
+forced out; and staggering out of the door, he alleged that a sudden
+faintness had overcome him.
+
+They conducted him to the Hotel, but Natalie now became seriously
+alarmed; and well she might. His complexion looked ghastly, his limbs
+shook, and his features bore an expression of indescribable horror and
+anguish. What could be the meaning of so extraordinary a change in the
+gay, witty, prosperous De Chaulieu, who, till that morning, seemed not to
+have a care in the world? For, plead illness as he might, she felt
+certain, from the expression of his features, that his sufferings were
+not of the body but of the mind; and, unable to imagine any reason for
+such extraordinary manifestations, of which she had never before seen a
+symptom, but a sudden aversion to herself, and regret for the step he had
+taken, her pride took the alarm, and, concealing the distress she really
+felt, she began to assume a haughty and reserved manner towards him,
+which he naturally interpreted into an evidence of anger and contempt.
+The dinner was placed upon the table; but De Chaulieu's appetite, of
+which he had lately boasted, was quite gone, nor was his wife better able
+to eat. The young sister alone did justice to the repast; but although
+the bridegroom could not eat, he could swallow champagne in such copious
+draughts, that ere long the terror and remorse that the apparition of
+Jacques Rollet had awakened in his breast were drowned in intoxication.
+Amazed and indignant, poor Natalie sat silently observing this elect of
+her heart, till overcome with disappointment and grief, she quitted the
+room with her sister, and retired to another apartment, where she gave
+free vent to her feelings in tears.
+
+After passing a couple of hours in confidences and lamentations, they
+recollected that the hours of liberty granted, as an especial favor, to
+Mademoiselle Hortense, had expired; but ashamed to exhibit her husband in
+his present condition to the eyes of strangers, Natalie prepared to
+re-conduct her to the _Maison Royale_ herself. Looking into the
+dining-room as they passed, they saw De Chaulieu lying on a sofa fast
+asleep, in which state he continued when his wife returned. At length,
+however, the driver of their carriage begged to know if Monsieur and
+Madame were ready to return to Paris, and it became necessary to arouse
+him. The transitory effects of the champagne had now subsided; but when
+De Chaulieu recollected what had happened, nothing could exceed his shame
+and mortification. So engrossing indeed were these sensations that they
+quite overpowered his previous one, and, in his present vexation, he, for
+the moment, forgot his fears. He knelt at his wife's feet, begged her
+pardon a thousand times, swore that he adored her, and declared that the
+illness and the effect of the wine had been purely the consequences of
+fasting and over-work. It was not the easiest thing in the world to
+re-assure a woman whose pride, affection, and taste, had been so severely
+wounded; but Natalie tried to believe, or to appear to do so, and a sort
+of reconciliation ensued, not quite sincere on the part of the wife, and
+very humbling on the part of the husband. Under these circumstances it
+was impossible that he should recover his spirits or facility of manner;
+his gaiety was forced, his tenderness constrained; his heart was heavy
+within him; and ever and anon the source whence all this disappointment
+and woe had sprung would recur to his perplexed and tortured mind.
+
+Thus mutually pained and distrustful, they returned to Paris, which they
+reached about nine o'clock. In spite of her depression, Natalie, who had
+not seen her new apartments, felt some curiosity about them, whilst De
+Chaulieu anticipated a triumph in exhibiting the elegant home he had
+prepared for her. With some alacrity, therefore, they stepped out of the
+carriage, the gates of the Hotel were thrown open, the _concierge_ rang
+the bell which announced to the servants that their master and mistress
+had arrived, and whilst these domestics appeared above, holding lights
+over the balustrades, Natalie, followed by her husband, ascended the
+stairs. But when they reached the landing-place of the first flight, they
+saw the figure of a man standing in a corner as if to make way for them;
+the flash from above fell upon his face, and again Antoine de Chaulieu
+recognized the features of Jacques Rollet!
+
+From the circumstance of his wife's preceding him, the figure was not
+observed by De Chaulieu till he was lifting his foot to place it on the
+top stair: the sudden shock caused him to miss the step, and, without
+uttering a sound, he fell back, and never stopped till he reached the
+stones at the bottom. The screams of Natalie brought the concierge from
+below and the maids from above, and an attempt was made to raise the
+unfortunate man from the ground; but with cries of anguish he besought
+them to desist.
+
+"Let me," he said, "die here! What a fearful vengeance is thine! O,
+Natalie, Natalie!" he exclaimed to his wife, who was kneeling beside him,
+"to win fame, and fortune, and yourself, I committed a dreadful crime!
+With lying words I argued away the life of a fellow-creature, whom,
+whilst I uttered them, I half believed to be innocent; and now, when I
+have attained all I desired, and reached the summit of my hopes, the
+Almighty has sent him back upon the earth to blast me with the sight.
+Three times this day--three times this day! Again! again!"--and as he
+spoke, his wild and dilated eyes fixed themselves on one of the
+individuals that surrounded him.
+
+"He is delirious," said they.
+
+"No," said the stranger! "What he says is true enough,--at least in
+part;" and bending over the expiring man, he added, "May Heaven forgive
+you, Antoine de Chaulieu! I was not executed; one who well knew my
+innocence saved my life. I may name him, for he is beyond the reach of
+the law now,--it was Claperon, the jailor, who loved Claudine, and had
+himself killed Alphonse de Bellefonds from jealousy. An unfortunate
+wretch had been several years in the jail for a murder committed during
+the frenzy of a fit of insanity. Long confinement had reduced him to
+idiocy. To save my life Claperon substituted the senseless being for me,
+on the scaffold; he was executed in my stead. He has quitted the country,
+and I have been a vagabond on the face of the earth ever since that time.
+At length I obtained, through the assistance of my sister, the situation
+of concierge in the Hotel Marboeuf, in the Rue Grange-Bateliere. I
+entered on my new place yesterday evening, and was desired to awaken the
+gentleman on the third floor at seven o'clock. When I entered the room to
+do so, you were asleep, but before I had time to speak you awoke, and I
+recognized your features in the glass. Knowing that I could not vindicate
+my innocence if you chose to seize me, I fled, and seeing an omnibus
+starting for St. Denis, I got on it with a vague idea of getting on to
+Calais, and crossing the Channel to England. But having only a franc or
+two in my pocket, or indeed in the world, I did not know how to procure
+the means of going forward; and whilst I was lounging about the place,
+forming first one plan and then another, I saw you in the church, and
+concluding you were in pursuit of me, I thought the best way of eluding
+your vigilance was to make my way back to Paris as fast as I could; so I
+set off instantly, and walked all the way; but having no money to pay my
+night's lodging, I came here to borrow a couple of livres of my sister
+Claudine, who lives in the fifth story."
+
+"Thank Heaven!" exclaimed the dying man; "that sin is off my soul!
+Natalie, dear wife, farewell! Forgive, forgive all!"
+
+These were the last words he uttered; the priest, who had been
+summoned in haste, held up the cross before his failing sight; a few
+strong convulsions shook the poor bruised and mangled frame; and then
+all was still.
+
+And thus ended the Young Advocate's Wedding Day.
+
+
+
+
+A MURDER IN THE TIME OF THE CRUSADES.
+
+
+There is, perhaps, no country or climate more beautiful than England, as
+seen in one of its rural landscapes, when the sun has just risen upon a
+cloudless summer's dawn. The very feeling that the delightful freshness
+of the moment will not be entirely destroyed during the whole day,
+renders the prospect more agreeable than the anticipated fiery advance of
+the sun in southern or tropical lands. Exhilaration and gladness are the
+marked characteristics of an English summer morning. So it ever is, and
+so it was hundreds of years ago, when occurred the events we are about to
+narrate. How lovely then, on such a morning as we allude to, looked that
+rich vale in the centre of Gloucestershire, through which the lordly
+Severn flows! The singing of the birds, the reflective splendor of the
+silvery waters, the glittering of the dew as it dazzled and
+disappeared--all combined to charm sound, sight, and sense, and to
+produce a strong feeling of joy. But the horseman, who was passing
+through this graceful scene, scarcely needed the aid of any external
+object to enhance the pleasurable sensation that already filled his
+breast. The stately horse on which he sat, seemed, by its light steps,
+and by ever and anon proudly prancing, to share in the animation of its
+rider. So, the noble stag-hound that followed, and continually looked up
+contentedly at its master, appeared, likewise, a participator in the
+general content. The stranger had indeed cause to rejoice, for he was
+upon the fairest errand. He bad wooed and won the gentle heiress of a
+proud, but good-hearted Gloucestershire baron--he had wooed and won her,
+too, with the full consent of father, kinsmen, and friends, and he was
+now on his way to the baron's castle to arrange with his betrothed the
+ceremonial of the nuptials. Ride on, thou gallant knight, ride on, and
+swifter too; for though the day will be yet early when thou arrivest,
+thou wilt find thyself expected within the Gothic enciente of the Baron
+de Botetourt's dwelling. A banner waves from the topmost tower to do thee
+honor and welcome; there walks, too, by the battlements, one whose night
+has been sleepless because of thee, whose thoughts and whose whole
+existence centre in thee, whose look firmly attaches to the road that
+brings thee to her. Ride on then speedily, Sir Knight, to the happiness
+thy virtue and thy deeds have so well deserved.
+
+This lover is no ordinary suitor: he is of mingled Saxon and Norman noble
+blood, the recent companion-in-arms of Richard Coeur de Lion. His name is
+Ralph de Sudley, and though he has passed his thirtieth year, the effect
+of long toil and war scarcely appears upon his handsome and still very
+youthful countenance. Yet the knight has seen and endured much: he has
+been with Richard at the siege and capture of Acre, and at the battle of
+Azotus. When Conrad of Montferrat fell by the dagger of the assassins,
+Sir Ralph took a prominent part in the stormy debates which ensued among
+the Crusaders. He even proposed with his men-at-arms, and those who would
+follow him, to invade the territory of the Lord of the Mountain, and to
+avenge in his blood the death which that king of murderers had caused to
+be done to Conrad. This event made so deep an impression on his mind,
+that he still took every opportunity of urging upon his own and other
+Christian governments the necessity of extirpating these eastern
+assassins. On his return from the crusades, Sir Ralph found the daughter
+of his friend, the Baron de Botetourt, just verging into beauteous
+womanhood. The glory of his reputation, and the graces of his person,
+gained her heart at once; the Lady Alianore, though much his junior in
+years, loved the knight fondly and devotedly.
+
+Sir Ralph has reached the portcullis of the castle; the wardour and
+men-at-arms are there to receive him with full honors, though he comes
+privately, without his armor or his followers: he wears the civil but
+costly dress of the period, with no other weapon than a slight sword at
+his side. But the baron will have each advent of his future son-in-law
+welcomed as an approach of state.
+
+"Grammercy, Sir Baron," observed the knight, as after passing through a
+crowd of domestics, he grasped his host's hand upon the threshold, "one
+would imagine me Richard of England himself, or rather Saladin, that
+greatest and most gaudy of Oriental Soldans, to see this pompous prelude
+to my disjune with your lovely daughter and yourself."
+
+"Nay, Ralph de Sudley," replied the baron, "my castle must needs put on
+its best looks, when it beholds the entry of one who is to be its lord
+and protector when I shall be no more. But I see you are all impatience
+to go within; and, in truth, the sooner your first interview be over the
+better, for the table is prepared, and the pasty awaits us, and the
+chaplain too, whose inward man, after the morning's Mass, craves some
+solid refreshment."
+
+"A moment, my worthiest of friends, and I am with you," said the knight,
+as he hurried by: in another instant the Lady Alianore was in his
+embrace. Need we repeat the oft-told tale of love? Need we describe the
+day of delight Sir Ralph passed in the castle, lingering from hour to
+hour until the dusk? O, there is some one we must depict, the lady
+herself, who so subdued and softened this knightly soul. There, one hand
+upon the shoulder of her lover, her other hand locked in his, she sits
+listening to his words, and luxuriating in his discourse. The Lady
+Alianore, somewhat tall in stature, but perfect in form, has a face of
+dazzling beauty, yet the bewitching sweetness of her smile is tempered by
+a certain dignity of countenance, to which her dark, raven hair, and
+darker eyes, do not a little contribute; her hands, and the foot that
+peeps from beneath, her graceful robe, are of exquisite smallness, and
+bespeak the purest Norman blood. Her extreme fairness, shaded by her
+sable locks, form a strong contrast to the auburn hair and ruddy visage
+of the stalwart warrior beside her.
+
+"This will indeed be too much, Ralph," observed the lady; "a monarch, his
+queen, and his court, to come to this out-of-the-way castle, to honor the
+wedding of a lone damsel like myself; I can hardly support the idea of so
+much splendor."
+
+"Fear not, my beloved," replied the knight, "Richard is homely enough,
+and all good nature. Moreover, it is but a return of civility; for I it
+was who accompanied him to the altar, where he obtained the hand of
+Berengaria of Navarre; the office was a dangerous one then, since I
+incurred by it the wrath of Philip of France. And why, dearest, should
+not every magnificence attend our nuptials? It is the outward emblem of
+our great content--a mark, like those gorgeous ceremonies that accompany
+the festive prayers of the Church, which tell the people of the earth of
+a joy having something of the gladness and glory of Heaven in it."
+
+"Be it as you wish, my own true knight; yet I almost feel that I am too
+happy. May God bless and protect us!"
+
+Thus passed this bright day, until the approach of dusk imperatively
+compelled the enraptured lovers to separate. The knight had urgent
+business to settle, early on the morrow, at his own castle, before
+setting out for London, to announce to the king the day fixed for the
+espousal, and to beg from the monarch the fulfilment of the promise he
+had made, to be present in person with his court, at the wedding of his
+gallant and faithful vassal. The knight was therefore forced to depart
+ere the gloom advanced; for though his journey lay in a friendly and
+peaceful country, it was not the habit in those days to be abroad much
+after dusk, without an efficient escort.
+
+Sir Ralph reluctantly quitted his betrothed: he made his escape moreover
+from the baron and the chaplain, who prayed his further tarrying, to
+share in another flagon of Rhenish about to be produced. The horse and
+dog were at the porch, and, in a few minutes, the knight had passed the
+drawbridge, and was in the same fair road again.
+
+"I have known Sir Ralph from his birth," observed the baron to the
+chaplain, "and I love him as my own son. The king may well come here to
+see him wedded; for he has not a nobler, braver, or more generous knight
+within his realm."
+
+"Truly, Sir Baron, he is endowed with much excellence," replied the
+priest; "I do greatly admire his strong denunciation against the Templars
+and other warlike orders, who tolerate the protracted existence of that
+band of murderers in the past who have their daggers ever pointed
+against the sons of the Church. Sir Ralph speaks on this subject like a
+true soldier of the Cross."
+
+"Very true," retorted the baron, "yet I wish our chevaliers would cease
+to think of foreign broils and questions, and attend to affairs at home.
+This Rhenish is perfect: after all, wine is the only thing really good
+that originates beyond our seas."
+
+Their discourse had scarcely proceeded farther, when it was suddenly
+interrupted by the loud howling and barking of a dog. The baron and the
+chaplain started up. "It is Leo, Sir Ralph's dog," exclaimed the former,
+"what in God's name can be the matter?" and the two rushed out.
+
+The Lady Alianore, at her orisons above, heard the same terrible howl and
+bark. She instantly descended to the courtyard; as she came there, the
+outer gate was opened, and Leo, the knight's dog, flew past the wardour,
+and ran to the feet of the lady. The animal's mouth was blood-stained,
+and his glaring eye-balls and ruffled crest showed the extent of his fury
+and despair.
+
+"Something dreadful has happened to Sir Ralph," she cried, and urged
+by the dog, who had seized her robe, she hurried through the gate,
+and crossed the drawbridge, with a rapidity those who followed could
+not arrest.
+
+When the baron, his chaplain, and his domestics had proceeded a little
+beyond a quarter of a mile upon the road, a fearful sight met their view.
+
+The knight lay dead upon the green sward by the side of the highway; a
+poignard which had effected the mortal wound, still rested fixed into his
+back. His body was locked fast in the embrace of the Lady Alianore, who
+lay senseless upon it: the dog stood by, howling piteously. No trace
+could be discovered of who had done the deed. No proof was there beyond
+the dagger itself, which was of Oriental fashion, and bore the
+inscription in Latin _Hoc propter verba tua_; naught beyond that and
+another circumstance, which went to show that the knight had been slain
+by an eastern enemy. The dog, as he re-entered the castle, called
+attention to some pieces of blood-stained rag, which, from their
+appearance, had dropped from his mouth; one of these, the innermost, was
+in texture and pattern evidently part of a Syrian garment.
+
+The Lady Alianore did not die under this dreadful calamity: she lived to
+mourn. The knight was interred within the precinct of the Abbey Church of
+Gloucester; his tomb and effigy were in a niche at an angle of the
+cloisters. Here would Alianore continually come, accompanied by Leo, who,
+since his master's death, never left her side; here would she stop,
+fixedly gazing upon the monument, the tear in her eye, and the chill of
+hopeless sorrow in her heart. There are, indeed, few of us, who,
+wandering through the interior of some noble ecclesiastical edifice, can
+suppress a feeling of melancholy, when we view the sepulchre of a knight
+of repute, who has died in his prime, in the midst of his achievements
+and his fame, and who, clad in the harness of his pride, lies
+outstretched in the marble before us. Courage and courtesy, chivalry and
+Christianity, are buried there--there the breast, replete with honor, the
+heart to feel, and the right arm to defend. The monument tells of the
+sudden extinguishment of some bright light that shone in a semi-barbarous
+age, which had its main civilization and refinement from knights and
+churchmen solely. If this sight would sadden a stranger soul, what must
+have been the deep grief of the lady as she contemplated the cold
+memorial of Sir Ralph, and felt that the consummation of her whole
+earthly comfort was there entombed! A secret sentiment that satisfied, or
+rather softened her mental agony, brought her again and again to the
+place--ay, again and again to gaze upon the grave, and then to retire
+into the church to long and ardent prayer.
+
+About two years after the knight had been dead, the Lady Alianore was one
+morning departing through the cloisters from a visit to the tomb, when
+her attention was suddenly arrested by a low growl from the dog who
+accompanied her. She turned back, and saw two persons in the garb of
+foreign merchants or traders, the one pointing out to the other the
+knight's monumental effigy. Scarcely had she made the observation, when
+Leo rushed from her side, and flew at the throat of him who was
+exhibiting the grave; in an instant he brought him to the ground; the
+other endeavored to escape, but some sacristans who heard the noise,
+hastened to the spot, and the men were arrested.
+
+On examination, the two pretended merchants were found to wear eastern
+habilaments beneath their long gowns, and the cloth of the turban was
+concealed under the broad brimmed hat of each. They both had daggers, and
+upon the arm of the one the dog had seized, there was the deep scar of
+what seemed to be a desperate bite. Further proof became needless, for
+when every chance of escape was gone, they made a full confession, and
+appeared to glory in it. They were emissaries from the Old Man of the
+Mountain. The one on a previous occasion had journeyed from the far east
+to do his fearful master's bidding, and had stabbed the knight in the
+back, on the evening he rode in his gladness from the abode of his
+affianced bride. The fanatic himself narrowly escaped destruction at the
+time; for the dog had fixed his teeth into his arm, and it was only by
+allowing the flesh to be torn out, (his dagger was in his victim,) that
+he contrived to reach a swift Arabian horse, which bore him from the
+scene. He had since returned to Phoenicia, and had once more come to
+England, bringing with him a comrade to remove a doubt expressed by his
+master, and to testify to the monarch of the Mountain how effectively his
+object had been accomplished.
+
+The Baron de Botetourt, with the assent of the crown, caused the two
+miscreants to be hanged upon a gibbet on the summit of his castle, their
+turbans tied to their heels. Leo, as if he had nothing more to live for,
+soon after pined and died. The Lady Alianore, retired into a convent, and
+eventually became its abbess. During the course of her monastic life, she
+preserved in silence her undying regret for the knight, and the
+recollection of her happiness, so miserably thwarted. She was always kind
+and gentle, yet always also dignified and reserved. On her death-bed, she
+requested that her remains might be interred in the Abbey of Gloucester,
+nigh unto the tomb of Sir Ralph de Sudley, and that her monumental tablet
+should contain no more than her name and state, and an inscription
+pointing out the extreme vanity of all human felicity. Such a memorial,
+it is said, was, until entirely effaced by time, to be seen, read, and
+thought upon, within the cloisters of Gloucester's time-honored and
+sanctified cathedral.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Experiences of a Barrister, and
+Confessions of an Attorney, by Samuel Warren
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