, 1884-12-28

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oath ShRt you were at the time in q raging
ielrium. could pledge my professional
reputation that your actions were The result
Of madness fear nothing on that score
my wife"
/ spoke boldly, but as / spoke a thought
shot through me-a thought which blanched
my cheek and brought the beads of per-
sptraticn to my brow. / knew enough
OF law 10 10 aware that a husband could
not in a criminal case give evidences for or
against his wife. My marriage with Phil
ippa had deprived her OF the benefit OF my
testimony as TO her insanity. l trembfed
like a leaf as / pieturrd whit might hnppen
in the event Of her being tried for the muir
der Of Sir Mervyn Ferrand. The very
nurses had but seen her sane. No one but
myself and perhaps my servant had seen
her in her madness II nlHf' frTH
MY dismay was such that / was bound TO
lsave the room in order 70 recover. my
thanked heaven thai we were on foreign
soil. The thought that my unreasoning
love might have destroyed her / Owed was
almost more than I could bear. IaMH sifn
fancy | have fingered long enough over
that terribls tlmo when my wife FIRST
learned that the dream which had hnunte
her was reality-thnt her hand had un-
knowingly avenged her supposed and pro-
meditated wrgng. Let me but say that the
mental anguish Into which the knowledge
plunged her was not unattended by physical
evil In fact. for many days my poor girl
was III. very III. Ny mother and I nursed
her with every care, and by and by youth
and n splendid constitution reasserted tho M
selves, and. a shadow Of her former self, she
was able TO leave her bed. My mother was
tenderness itself to her daughter. She know
nothing Of the true cause Of her illness; in
dsod, she blamed mo roundly for not having
taken proper care OF my beautiful bride.
and vowed lnughingly that for the future
nothing should induco her TO trust Philippe
out Of her sight. M
Now that Philippe know all she had done,
i thought 1t better to tell her that although
be had no intention Of so doing, Sir Mervyn
Ferrand. in causing n mock marriage to DO
celebrated, had by a strange chance really
pIade her his wife. This gave her little
comfort. ut makes my crime the greater, /"
che said, bitterly. ~ have killed my hus-
band instead Of my seducerl l am not fit
to liver
Weeks went by. Philippe gradually grew
stro nger, and, what was even more a cause
OF JOY to me, calmer and more reasonable
on "a certain subject With all the po wer !
could bring 10 bear l had never ceased to
impress upon her that morally she was limo
cent, and | believed my words were bearing
fruit Her fits Of mental anguish and self
reproach grew OF less frequent Occurrences.
She did not. whenever we we're alone, con-
tinually harp on her crime. Calm seemed
to settle upon us once more, and / venture
to hope that the great physician, Time,
would one day bring to my, wife's heart
HCh+ohAAhk eAAt hABaN 10 AAAN
happiness; but l knew l must wait years and
years for this.
She was changed, greatly changed. Her
lips seldom smiled; her eyes never bright
ened, unless when she saw me drawing near.
Sho seemed older and graver. But l knew,
in spite OF all, she loved me with a deathless
love.
Although at last we had ceased to discuss
tho sorrow Of our life, l suspected 1t was
seldom absent from her mind. Sometimes
ms / Inv beside her | henrd her manning and
talking In her troubled dreams, and too well
! kne W the cause. As my arm stole round
her. and assured her OF tho safety and GER
tainty Of my great love, in my heart l
cursed the dead man whose evil deed had
brought such lasting WOO on the fair head
pillowed on my bosom All mel what life
might have been for us two, now that love
reigned between usl .
Once-it was shortly after Philippa began
10 creep. a weak invalid, about the fragrant
p~dtio-sho said 10 me. with evident mean
ing in her voice;
aBasil. do Won zee the London papersF'