The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1868-09-17

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branches of knowledge. Her attention
was. however, directed chiefly to chemis-
trv. and especially to the subicctot poisons.
The book she was looking for related to
the latter topic, and was very rare. u
had sought Tor it in nearly every large city
i'm Europe. and had left orders for 1t Win
every bookseller without restriction ~ 10
mice. At last she had tmccd Il copy to
Rome. aud TO the very shop in which We
stood and no pleasure short of owning 1T
could be greater than that Of hndingit her
self
Vol I s]acrcely know what induced me
IN act ns did. Ihnye often tried To truce
the line OF my thoughts ON this occasloni
and have mover succeeded IN dong so to
INV satisfaction. Perhaps / was moved
and instipated by the devil on perhaps
had conceived a tain of thought oil wlnen
was unconscious. BE that ns n may, Whie
she was looking through a pile OF muS'l
, volumes / had overturned FOR her t'unu
I'M another part of the shop the book she
was 80 eaoer to obtain. Instead of giving
n 10 her. / earemlly concealed IT under my
co,t and soon ntterwurd she left the shop
promisinp 10 return the following day
was now in a dilemma. l wat obilged
either 10 replace the book or to take the
old bookseller into my confidence. Many
pcrsops wonld have done neither of these
thiurs. but would have stolen the Work
without any computations OF conscience
1 determined TO buy It; go | paid double
mice To insure the old mun's secrecy, ana
went of with my treasure.
Next morning when ] arrived at the cor.
uer Of the Via Condotti and the Corso, |
found nv acquaintance waiting IN her car
riaee. She got ont and joined me
thought this very singular behavior. HOW
ever, / put the best possible Interpretation
upon il. and hattered myself that l effect
ually concealed my thoughts. Her CONVEX
sahon was still upon poisons-slow secret
poisons such as those used by the Borgias
and Tophanias, aud he mode OF preparation
which i lost. / did not know what to
think Of IT. The talked in the most volu-
ble manner Of those deadly agents, and
informed me without reserve that the great
desire Of her life was 10 be able to make q
poison which could cause death without
leaving q trace by which IL could be detect
ed. 1 was not easily shocked, but such
ideas entertained by q woman of wonderful
beauty and elegance staggered me. lbegnn
10 study her physically andpspchologically,
and before we arrived nj the Piazza di Mon
tecitoio had formed very definite conclu-
sions in regard TO her.
In the FIRST place ! noticed that the pu-
pills Of her ewes were largely dilated; that
thew did not contract when we came into
the full light Of the sun; and that she vas
unable to hold her hands steady. Then /
perceived that there WIS an excitement OF
manner about her " which she seemed to
be unaware. IL seemed to me to be mv1l-
untary, and it alteruatod with short periods
Of mental depression, during which, not
w~ithstauding all her efforts, tears came in
10 her eyes.
From these facts l concluded that she
was under the influence Of some powerful
narcotic substance opium perhaps; and
from the style and purport of her converse
ton. 1 further judged that she contempla-
ted killing some one with poison, provided
she could do so with safety TO herself.
When / returned home ] took up the
book / had purchased the previous day. IL
was a small thin quarto volume, and pur-
ported 10 be an exact account OF the poison
with which Locusta killed Brittannicus iu
a few seconds, and Of that which Seimun
administered to Duisua, and which was so
slow and subtle IN its action that several
aontlIa elapsed before death o. place.
There were many marginal notes written in
a small aud delicate hand, several of which
suggested various improvements IN the ant
Of making these pOisons. As turned over
the leaves I observed that a letter on each
page had q red line drawn under IT, Be
ginning with the first page | traced them
all out, and spelled the name Cesaro Bor-
gia. i had no doubt, therefore, that the
book had once belonged 10 that brilliant,
but ntrociously wicked prince, and Ind
doubtless served him IN his various toxico-
'ogical operations.
~. a.. l..E Y..vI.tt.l "a IA .ult4st
which for many years had interested Inc,
merely, however, M n matter Of science.
With my ideas ia regard 10 my newly iounA
acquaintance, / deemed Il a dangerous vol
ume 10 place in her hands, There Were
therefore, two good reasons why | doterm-
incd 90 Keep il; so 1 carefully sealed itup
and concealed II IN an out-oi-the-wny place
among various objects OF curiosity and ant
which l had picked mp in my wander
ings.
In regard 10 the lady, j made u few in
quiries. and, having aaceTtuiued that her
name was so unromantic a one aB Brown;
that she wns married; that her husband was
an invalid, and that she had apartments in
the Pnlazzo Barberini ! dismissed her and
her supposed schemes % much as possible
from my attention, | wished 10 employ
my mind with other thoughts, bnt every
morning, az 1 have stated, she ohrruded
herself upon me, aud persisted in,her con-
yersationB relative to poison. Finally !
came 20 detest her most cordially and
would gladly have rid myself of the hateful
association had / not been tied up in a way
which ] cannot disclose without breaking
faith with others and exposing matters re-
lating to myself which l am not yet ready
10 make public.
l dressed myself with scrupulous care
for the dinner, aud at a few minutes before
seven drove to the Palazzo Barberiui. /
made the proper inquiries of the porter,
and was directed 10 Mrs, Browns apart
menta. In an antoroom | found a servant
In plain clothes, to whom | gave my name,
and by whom ] was shown into the draw
ing-room, II was a large and lofty cham
Der, elegantly aud tastefully furnished
Before 1 had time to observe my surround
ings more closely, the curtains which con-
cealed the door al the end of tho room
were thrown aside, and my hostess adj
vanced to meet me. To my surprise, in
stead Of greeting me as an acquaintance,
she bowed in a stately manner, and mo,
toned me TO be seated, politely inquired
the object Of my visit.
/ am not easily thrown off my guard, and
at that period of my life was even more
self-possessed than now; but this strang,
conduct so confused me that / made somt
absurd reply, and remained standing.
"TheTe IL evidently a mistake" said th,
lady. you were announced 10 me as Mr.
; St Armand. / cannot r%ecollect that / havI
had the honor Of knowing any gentleman
Of that name, and your face is altogethe
= strange TO me,
Then Madame" said ], with some as
a perity in my voice, permit me 10 beg par
! don for my intrusion. In justice, however
I TO myself / must be allowed 10 reminl
9 you that you hnve taken the liberty Of walk
. ing with me every morning for more tina
! four months past, and this very day yor
! invitedme to dinner"
With these words bowed. and ha