True American. [volume] (Steubenville [Ohio]) 1855-1861, 1856-10-08
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! VOLUME 2. 2.-NUMBER I'D.


What were the feelings Of Ro samond,
when she listened to this strange tale
The food gates Of passion were thrown
down--he barriers Of pride and principle,
gave way, and in that fearful hour, the Sc.
cret of her long boarded passion was re-
pealed to the weak and vascilIating hus,
band of another. From that moment
Rosamond never re-entered her sisters
apartment, and never again met Herbert
Belenden save in the presence of Others
Of the household But it was obscr we'd,
and mentioned long afterwards, when cir
cumstances awakened fearful suspicious,
that the charge of the helpless sufferer
now devolved entirely on superanuated
old woman who had long been regarded
with an evil eye for her malice and ILL
omened power OF mischief. ..'.e'r
Toough crushed nearly out of all sem.
blance to humanity, Lilias seemed to
cling to life with wonderful tenacity, and
the physician reiterated his opinion that
care alone was necessary to restore her
to comparative health. ara .-.
:She will never walk again, poor thing
said he, gravely, "sRe will scarcely be
able 10 recover the use of her hands her
features, too, must always be terribly dis
lorled, and | doubt whether her eyesight
WILDE fully reslored-but no vital func-
ton is seriously injured, aud she may yet
live many years." '
That very night, or rather at dawn of
the following day, 1IiIias was found stark
aud stiff in death, while the old woman,
whose business it was to watch the suf-
ferer, layin deep sleep on the floor be-
side her. The physician seemed thunder
! struck when he beheld the lifeless body
g of her whom he had left hut few hours
r before in comparative safety, but he could
g not take it upon himself to assert that
= some sudden change had not occurred,
;. some rapid and violent attack of disease
d whose symptoms were unmarked, in the
: general disorganization of her whole
o frame. In consequence of her disfgured
: appearance, her bod was not allowed to
= lie in stale, although pompous funeral
! graced the obsequies OF the once beaui-
!; full Countess of Moreland. The Earl
3 wore the semblance Of decent sorrow-
0 the lady Rosamond assumed the dusky
Il hablliments Of wo-and yet, it was OBJ
: served. that the old watcher, whose care
t lessncss had in all probability shortened
5 the days of the unhappy countess, was
d taken into the household, and honored
4 with the confidence of the lady of Folk
stone. ..... '.. 81. '..
] Three months had scarcely elapsed,
I after the lrght(ul events jus. narrated,
5 when marriage was solemnized secret
: y by lorch-lght, in the chapel at Falk.
stone. The bride was the beautiful Ros
amnnd, and her voice rang out through
= the dark aisles of The lonely church with
! almost unnatural clearness as she uttered
: the solemn responses. But the tones oI
the bridegroom were hollow and low, an6
! his frame quivered with strong emotion,
G for his weak and tilnid nature shrunk
from the thought Of that which he had
s done, and that which he was now doing
He had yielded to the bolder wickcdness
y of the woman at his side, but he was ap-
: palled by the shadows which conscience
: called before his bewidered sight. Rosa
y mond was revenged, alike upon the sister
u who had wronged, and the bastard love-
who had wavered when decision woulc
= have afforded happiness to both. Lilia'
. was laid in an unhonored grave, Herber
Bellenden was her welded husband, ant
s the long cherished bitterness Of her way
), ward heart had at last poured out its ven,
ON, and Was relieved. ID '" a
" v. Did she moi fear the anger Of an aveng
" ing Providence ! Did she not know tina
:, retrlbutlve Justice, sooner or later, mus
y overiake the guiltyl She was allowe,
!. Just time enough to learn that the hus
" band for whom she had perilled her sou
=, was rendered utterly contemplate by hi
y vacillating character, and his low vices
: and then The hour Of reckoning came
: A child was born to the earldom Of More
: land--a son to inherit the name and hon
= ors OF an ancient race-but cry Of mex
! !, pressible horror from all wholooked upor
him was his only welcome to world o
! suffering. The stamp ofa mothers evi
:, passions was upon the Innocent babe--hi'
y narrcd and crippled limbs. his learfull,
9 distorted face bore the awful sembance o
: the unhappy dead. 1t was the face Of the
! buried Lilias ~
I For twenty years Rosamond was man
n acled and bound like a wild beast, clfain
. ed to the walls Of her own apartment, al
object of terror and pity to all who look
i ed upon her raving madness, or listened
. 10 the wild howlings Of her insanity
The child, helpless, crippled idiot, out.
: lived its miserable parents, and by it;
> death in IT,, the line Of two Of Eng
lands noblest families became extinct
4 while the estates fell to distant collateral
!. heirs.
i, Such was the real history Of those fail
n children whose pictured semblance had
so fascinated my gaze In that lonely
! chamber such were thsfortunes Of those
! for whom Ikad fancied ! destiny Of in