Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1881-08-24

dition admitted and that money could
procure for singularly enough q relative
OF his had bequeathed him ELS, 900 Just
about the time that he lost his love and
his reason,) but he was dangerously
mad, and had more than once attempted
to kill his attendant. [ asked the ply
stefan whether there was any hope of his
being cured, upon which that prudent
gentleman smiled and remarked that he
had seen as bad cases as that come
round.
The ensuing autumn [ went on the
continent for change and recreation, for
L missed Spencer more than I should
have anticipated-more, perhaps, than
If he had been dead. [ renewed my ac-
quaintance with Naples and Venice, with
Constantinople and Madrid. At last,
one spring day, found myself in Paris
Sitting in cafe on the boulevard I took
up copy of Galignani and read in it
that Captain the Hon. Arthur Taverney
had died of fever I'D Bombay. The
paragraph added that he left widow
and an infant daughter in England
L returned to London in June. NV
heart was softened toward Mrs. Taver-
ney, and wished to renew my acquaint-
ance with her and to make that of the
little child's whom it's father had never
seen. l found her living alone in a
small house in Hampstead It was a
lovely spot at that time of year, and
London, with it's busy season, might
have been hundred miles away for all
that could be seen or heard of it. I
found Mrs. Taverney looking very
handsome in her mourning dress, and
the baby was a healthy and energetic
little creature, with its mothers ewes
and hair. Our talk was friendly and
quiet, and mostly kept clear of the
things that lay nearest to the heart of
both OF us; but the two men whom we
did not meme waited behind our words
and spoke in our silence. Yet I was
panied to believe that I detected some
thing in her tone occasionally indicating
that she held poor Spencer to be in
some way the origin of her grief. "If
he had never crossed my path all would
have gone WE'LL seemed to be the grist
Of her feeling. Nothing more unreasona-
bic or unjust could be imagined, but
there is no logic in woman's suffering.
[ was confirmed by this in my previous
conclusion-that she could never have
heard OF Spencer insanity; indeed, it was
known to but very few persons. was
half-minded to tell it to her then, but on
second thought it seemed to me best not
to assume Of the responsibility of the
revelation; it should come from some
other source, if at all.
I met Col. Masters several times in
London, and he seemed inclined to re-
new the cordial relations which had sub
sisted between us previous to the recent
events. At length he invited me to
come with him to his country seat for a
couple of days; there was to be I" a few
| friends and plenty of quiet and fresh air;
nothing elaborate" After some hesita-
ton, I agreed to go. A party of us
went out by special train, and we found
the house and grounds at their loveliest;
but in the afternoon some heavy showers
came on, compelling us to take shelter
indoors. Here we amused ourselves as
best we might, but it began to be rather
dull, and we looked forward to the time
when dinner should be ready. At length
just before the dressing bell rang, I saw
from the window at which I happened
to be standing carriage drive up to the
door. A lady dressed in black got out
of it; following her, a maid with baby
in her arms. It was Mrs. Taverney. She
had come in complete ignorance Of there
being any company in the house, and as
she had not faced society since her loss,
and there were no ladies among the
colonels guests, the situation promised
to be rather awkward.
She accommodated herself to it very
gracefully. She greeted us all with
courtesy and composure, and was pre-
vailed upon to preside at the dinner
table. After dinner she announced her
intention of retiring to the little chalet
in the park, where a bedroom had been
fitted up. One and all of us were ready
to give up our rooms to her, but she re-
fused all offers. She had often before
slept in the chalet, and preferred it to her
house. Finding her resolute, the colonel
and I accompanied her over there, the
maid bringing the child. The clouds had
cleared away, and it was now bright
moonlight.
The interior arrangement of the chalet
was very simple. There were two
rooms, each about fifteen feet square,
opening into each other. The first of
these was the bedroom, and had one
large window on the right as you en-
tered. The other room was used as a
parlor; it had books and writing table,
and sofa in the bay-window. Adjoin-
ing it was small chamber, at that time
used for lumber. The onl y entrance to
the building was by the front door,
which was Of solid wood, and could be
securely fastened. But the neighbor-
hood was very quiet one and such a
thing as burglary had not been heard
of for years. After having seen Mrs.
Taverney safely into her little hermitage,
therefore, we left her there without any
apprehensions. The maid went back
with us. We locked the door on the
outside, it being arranged that the maid
was to be over early in the morning to
attend to washing and dressing the baby.
Mrs. Taverney stood at the open win
dow and waved her hand in adieu to us
as we set off on our homeward journey.
Then she closed the window and fas-
tened it.