Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1879-08-20

On what a fearful hour that was for
me! What did those letters contain?
The vilest betrayal of which man was
ever yet the victim; and they were writ
ten by one of my most intimate friendsl
And in what a strain! what passion
what certainty of his love being shared
How he spoke of secrecy! Wat coun-
sells he lavished on the art Of deceiving
a husband! And all these letters were
of time when [ was married and per-
fectly happyl Shall tell you what I
felt? Imagine the intoxication caused
by deadly poison. / drank deeply of
that poison. Tread all the letters; all.
Then I refolded them, retied the ribbon,
replaced the packet, and shut the
drawer.
81 knew that if 1 did not 20 for her
at IL o'clock she would come back from
the countesse's in the evening. And so
it happened. She got down hastily from
the carriage and ran towards me as /
stood waiting for her on the steps. She
kissed me with extreme tenderness and
seemed to be very glad to be withsme
again. Ilet nothing be seen on my face
We talked, we supped together and then
retired to our separate bedrooms. / did
not close my eyes. Wide awake, /
counted every hour. When the clock
struck quarter past midnight I got up
and passed into her bedroom. There
was the beautiful blonde head buried in
the white pillows. It is just that angels
are depicted in the midst of white clouds.
What frightful lie was this on the part
of nature; vice with face of such inno-
cence! My resolution was taken. Ihad
the stubbornness of the mailman haunted
By fixed idea. The poison had cor
roded my whole soul.
"Iplaced my right hand gently under
her throat and strangled her. She
opened for one moment her large, dark
blue eyes, looked at me with astonish-
ment, then closed them and died. She
died without struggling against me, as if
falling asleep. She was never angry
with me, not even when I killed her.
One drop of blood fell from ermouth
on the back of my hand. You know
where; did not perceive it until the
next day, when it had dried. We buried
her without any one suspecting the
truth. [ lived there in complete soil
tude; who was there to control my
actions2 She had neither relatives nor
protectors to question me on the subject
and | designedly put off writing to my
friends, SO that none of them could
arrive in time.
"On coming back from the vault I did
not feel the slightest weight on my con-
science. [ had been cruel, but she de.
served it. l did not hate her; I could
forget her; hardly thought about it.
Never did a man commit murder with
less remorse than I.
Con my return, | found in the
chateau the countess so often men.
toned. My measures had been so well
taken that she also arrived too late for
the funeral. She seemed much agitated
on seeing me. Terror, sympathy, grief
Il know not what-made her speak 50
confusedly that l could not understand
what she said to console me.
"Did I even listen to her? What
need had l of consolation? I was not
sorrow-stricken. Finally she took me
Familiarity by the hand and said in low
voice that she was obliged to confde to
me secret and that she counted on my
honor as a nobleman not to abuse it.
She had given my wife to keep for her a
package of letters that she could not
keep herself, and she begged of me to
give them back to her. While she was
speaking felt several times that
shivered from head to foot. With ap-
parent GOODNESS l questioned her on the
contents Of these letters. At this ques-
ton the lady started and replied with
indignation.
"Sir, your wife was more generous
than you. When she took charge of
these letters she did not ask me their
contents. She even gave nae her word
never to look at then, and 2 con-
WINGED that she never even glanced at
them. Hers was a noble soul, and she
would have disdained to break in secret
her given word"
"FIt is well,' I replied. How shall
I recognize the packageY
"' 1t was tried by pink ribbon with
silver edge.'
"'I will go and search for it,
II took my wife's keys and began to
search for the packet; although I knew
where it was, 1 pretended to have some
difficulty in finding it,
SO Is it this!' I said, handing it to the
countess.
yes, yes! See, the knot I made is
still there. She never touched it,
Il did not dare to lift my eyes to her.
[ feared lest she should read in them
that had undone it, and that had un-
done something else besides. 7 took
leave of her hastily; she got into her
carriage and drove off. Poor woman,
she had her excuse. Her husband was
brutal and dissipated. If I had been
like him [ should have deserved wife
like her. Oh! but my wife! Her heart
was innocent, her soul angelic! She
loved her husband even in the moment
when her husband killed her. do not
know what I did during the first hours
that followed. When I came back to
the consciousness of the horrible reality
[ was in the vault, beside the coffin. 1
saw the lid slowly raised and the dead
woman within rose noiselessly before me.
| was stretched stiff and stark, beside the
coffin, one hand on it's edge and the
Ill I@,, L, L