Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-10-29
THE CONFESSION.

The little town of COldwell-fast riS-
inc in Importance rs a resort for rheu.
nstic patientS, who came there to battle
in tie icy ferruginoHS waters of the
snrjug whence the place derived its
rame-this little town had never been
N startled as on the DAY when a rumoI
WAS spread that Mr.. Dermerell had
killed his wife. \ wife-murder is al
ways an appalling thing, which fright
egs families more than any other sort
of crime. because II must needs he the
ourcume of those wretched domestic
troubles about which all married people
have some experience; but when the
SuS,ectrd murderer Is Il gentleman
known and respected rs Edward Der
morell WAS. the shock comes with al,
:br greater force Those of the Cold
wrlllteS who had nU high opinion of
artists as class. pecane comfortably
rooted in their antlpathy against them
bv this horrible affair for Dermerell
Was a painter, aud very promising
one, who had already made Coldwell
POPULAR by the pretty landscapes of its
euyiTOnS which he had exhibited in the
Academy. MANY in tie town had re-
garied bin in the light of public ben
efactor. and, as he was an artist who
paid his bills regularly and wore his
hair cut like other folks, nobody would
have thought him capable of such an
ahomiuable thing as destroying his
wife 10y poison ; though the persons
ab0ye-Said. who dislike artists, seemed
10 think II Il natural thing enough once
the charge had gone forth against him.
Edward DeTmerel was not vet in
custody; he was being watched 10y the
police until the cOrOner'S inquest should
be over. Detectives SLEPT in his house,
and had taken possession of all his pa
pers; he could not go out without be-
iHg followed by conStableS, who. under
pretenCe of preventing him from being
mUiled, logged him 10 SEE that he did
not escape. On the morning appointed
for the inquest, crowd composed of
al the inhabitants who could leave their
shops or their work, tried to push into
tie tOWn-hall. where the coroner was
going 10 sit; and those who could not
gain ddmittance lolteTed outside to get
a good view of the accused when he
arrived. His offense was meanwhile
discussed with all the nausecus details
winch rumOr had been able to collect,
and there was a name which every
tongue coupled with the suspected muir
derer's-that of Lady Lexington, wife
Of Sir Richard Lexington, Of Torwood
Hall.
Sir Richard and Lady Lexington had
been Edward Dermerell's best patrons.
He had won his first medal by a por-
TRAIT of the baIOnet'S beautiful wife /;
and tie had since been invited frequently
to TorwoOd, to paint pictures for the
decoration of the Hall-being treated
on all occasions as an hOnored guest,
These thingS,were notorious, and 1t was
also well known that Dermerell's wife
had never been invited to Torwood
with him. Why? Some said it was
because she was a foreigner who could
not SPEAK English; others because she
was an invalid but since her servants
had begun 10 tattle about the circum-
stance which had preceded her death,
every body in ColdWell was aware that
Mr. and Mrs. Dermerell had not lived
happily together. The tradesmen of
the town remembered the artists wife
is an eccentric dark-eyed lady, some
tlnoS dOwdy in her attire, sometimes
absurdly over-dreSSed and they had
noticed this popularity in her, that,
when smartly arrayed, she would hag-
gle over her purchases like a fish-fag,
whereas when she was shabbily clad
She gave her orders in a good-natured
careless style, never asking about the
cost Of things, but apparently bent on
gratifying all her whIms so far as her
purse would allow. Her servants de-
scrIbed her as scOld, but they, too,
lad observed that there was a strange
eapriciOusnesS in her behavior, for on
some days she would lounge about the
house in dressing-gown and slippers-a
Ianguid, smiling, and childish creature,
Who would recline for hours on a sofa,
playing with her lap-dOg, or telling for
tunes 10 herself with cards, or else
hanging about her husband IS studio and
smoking cigarettes whilst On the days
Wien she dOnned her fine dresses, she
gave herself insufferable airs, screamed
al everybody about trIfes, and accused
her husband Of making love to Lady
Lexington. y hOusemaid affirmed
mat Mr.. Dermerell, returning from |
norwood, had one evening been as
sdultrd 10y his wife, who beat him with |
her lists and pulled ott punches of his |
halr, calling him all sorts of atrocious |
halnes. 1t was admitted, however, that |
Mrs Dermerell was very attractive,
and, barring the fact that she could |
hardly read or write, a person who gave |
one the idea Of being a lady when she |
ClO'e TO put on company manners. |
Truth is,7 said Mr. Chickwood, a |
ilasy local grocer, ''I've heard that |
Madam Dermerell was a model, what
ever That may mean but | s'pOse it's |
woman who pOstureS, without much |
cIoJhlng about her, as a Venus, "a Su- |
Sahia, and all that; and that Mr.. Der |
Derell married her when he was reSld- |
ing abroad and scarcely able to scrape |
living with his brush.'
Anyhow he never much liked her."
sdid Mr.. Pencuik, a serious chemist |
shall have TO depose that he came |
uiIee times to my place to buy doses of |
Ciioral, saying thst his lady wanted |
Ihem for SleeplesSneSs.
ANA didn't that excite your suSpic- |
IONS - asked Mr.. Chickwood, with his
Iedd OR one side, as if his friend Pen
o ouiA had not displayed the necessary
amount of prudence.
SlceplesSness doesn't excite a chem
iS1 SGsplclOns," answered Mr.. PEN
on' oIlk' IN a tone of superiority. "You
sSi Sel iuciter matches, don't you, without
;tuiIihmg that your customers are anx-
,I ,3uo 10 poison themselves with the phos-
;Ay, 1t depends on the dose though"
replied Mr.. ChickwOod. rebuked and
Father confused.
Vel, suppOSing a man buys several
nnlaIi doses and then mixes them-that
!, MSgtd ~, make one big dose, wouldn't
e. - sad Mr. Pencuik, who, seeing an
s .oohsiVe circle of listeners gather
soa,. aUunu nm, spoke sententiously. 81
Hon say that Mr.. Dermerell did mix