The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-08-14

there more than haH Gay, atlu SsSn 80.
,er regrets for my absence put tue otnels
out OF temper. Her foudncss LOT nie moaS
90 farms to make iler give;rp dancing. SO as
nat VI no Obliged to nut her hand into
ssrarr.r,s. and upthing caused her seed
~raUe ,Iisnleas ure as the compliments sne
r. 40 .art TO receive. In word, baa TOT
my wife an innocent ,usi!d, who asa no
tha.,rht Int for me; and who would ceaiess
Nor dreams to meas enormous crimes N sue
hati not dreamt 81 me.
.s<One day kRow'nGt what demoa "nts-
ne,,ed in nv ear, Surprising all TINS were
ru,,, f,issimulaticn?' ,Men are mad eaough
i, 3 Geek how they can torment themselves IN
the midst of tile greatest happiness.
=. Nv wife had awGk-table, the drawer
,os which she kent carefully locked. nad
.,n,iced this seceral times. She never 1or-
e,nt the kew, and never left the drawer open.
uThe question ran in my head, nas
con che he hiding fro<n me there? .nso
taken leave of ny senses. no longer pe-
iieyed either in the annocence OF ner saee
or In the purity Of her eyes, In her earesses
or in her kisses Suppose oil thaS were
nothing but hypocrisy?
t.One morning the Countess came af;aiu
to fetch her, and after much eptreats SUE
ceeded in deciding her to spend the gay
with her. Our estates were solne h'sses
apart, and l promised my VIE 10 90 aao
join her. ,,.s lat tho
courtyard / gathered together all tue hess
IN fhe house and tried them in the lock OF
rho little drawer. Orc of them opened IL.
7 felt like a man committing his first crime:
I wax thief about TO sslrprise the secrets OF
feeble woman. My hands trembled as
drew from out tue drawer, prudentiy, care,
fnlIy. one by one, the objects contained
therein. so that no confusion should Detray
that strange hand had ransackcd them.
NV breast beaved; was well-nigh suf1o-
Gated. Behold! Suddenly, beneath mass
Of lace. I had placed my hand on packet
~ iettersi / felt ms il fash OF lightning
had passed fcom head to my heart. Alas
one glance told me what these letters were!
They were lose-letters!
"Thc packet was tied by pink ribbon
with a silver edge.
nAs I touched the ribbon the thought
occurred to me: Is this right Is this
cork worthy OF an honest man2 10 steal
the secrets OF woman! Secrets which be-
long to the time when she was young glri /!
Can 7 ask her to render an account or the
thoughts she had before she belonged 10
me Can be jealous Of time when she
did not know me? Who could suspect her
of fault Who? / was base enough to
do so. and the devil again whispered III my
ear: 'Supposng that these letters were
of time when l had already right to all
her Thoughts right to be jealous even o!
her dreams; when she was already mine:
I united the ribbon. No one sa" me.
There was not even mirror in the room 10
make me blush for myself. I opened one
letter, then another, and read them TO the
end"
ooh! what fearful hour that was for
me, What did those letters contain? The
yilest betrayal of which man was ever yet
the victim; and they were written by one
of nv most intimate friends! And in what
strain what passion what certainty OF
his love being shared How he spoke OF
secrecy! What counsels be lavished on the
art of deceiying husbandl And all these
letters were OF Il time when l was married
and perfectly happy! Shall l tell you what
felt. Imagine the intoXcation caused by
deadly poison. I drank deeply OF that
poison. | read all the letters: all. Then l
refolded them, retied the ribbon, replaced
the packet, and shut the drawer.
II knew that ii did not so for her at
| - O'Clock she would come back from the
Countess's in the evening. And so it hap
| pened. She got down hastily from the car
| riare and ran towards me as | stood waiting
for her on the steps. She kissed me with
extreme tenderness, and seemed to be very
clad to be with me again. I let nothing BIZ
seen on my face. We talked, we suppeC
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 go
I'D and passed into her bedroom. There
was the beautiful blonde head buried in the
white pillows. 1t is thus that angels are de-
picted in the midst Of white clouds. What
a irightfu lie was this on the part OF Ma
ture; vice with face OF such innocence
NV resolution was taken. l had the stub
bornness OF the mailman hunted by a tXeC
idea. The poison had corroded my whole
soul.
"l placed my right hand gently undel
her throat and hastily strangled her. She
opened for one moment her large, dark
blue eyes, looked at me with establishment
then closed them and died. She died with.
out struggling against me, as if falling
asleep. She was never angry with me
not even when killed her. One drop of
blood fell from her mouth on the back OF
my land. You know where. I did not
dried. We buried her without any one
su>pectiag the truth. lived there In com.
plete solitude. Who was there to control
my actions? 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.
ION coming back from the vault did
not feel the slightest weight on my con.
science. bad been cruel, but she deserved
it. / did not hate her; could forget her T;
( hardly thought about it. Never did man
commit a murder with less remorse than l.
ION my return found in the chateau
| the Countess so often mentioned. MY mea'
4 sures had been so we'll taken that she aiso
! arrived too late for the funeral. She seemed
much agitated on seeing me. Terror, syui.
4 pathy, gref-I know net what-maae hei
speak so confusedly that could not uhoel'
stand what she said to eonsofe ine.
Ibid even listen to herS What neeo
had ~ ,eonsolations I was not sorrow
stricken. FINALLY she took me familiarly
hr the ba,Ad and said an a low voice that
She syas obliged to conSde to nae secret,
,anss that she counted on my honor as no.
hens.n not to abuse it. She had given to
INV yige to keep for her apacEaSeef letters
that size eouIe not keep herself, and she
begged of lue to give them back to her
While she WAS speaking seh several times
that | shiyered from head to foot. With ap.
narent GOODNESS I questioned her OF The
contents OF these letters. AT this question
the lady started AID replied @ath indisna-
ton.
as Sir, your wife was more generous than
you. When she took charge OF these k4-
4 :