The Irish standard., 1889-03-23
81 don't know"
sThen you VIII tell me nothing about heris
mo, sir.n
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sThen you VIII tell me nothing about hertz
mo, sir"
CHAPTER II.
The lady's father understood at once that
he would only lose time by insisting; he
questioned the servants, went to the cher
Of police and gathered all possible informa-
ton.
The functionary quietly explained that
there were every day women disappearing
from their conjugal domicile; he had even
the kindness to communicate statistics COM
piled with great care by the head clerk OF
the bureau Of police showing that the an
nual average of these disappearance was
much larger for women between twenty
and thirty-tive than for women that were
older or younger.
The desolate father clamored against the
hypothesis which this communication inn
piled; he answered for his daughters
moral character, and, besides, supposing
that she had left her husband willingly,
she would have made known her intention
or explained her fight; she would have car
red with her some luggage, and, more
over, the husband would not have accepted
this departure with such incredible resig-
nation. But the chief of police put to him
the following dilemma:
"Either your daughter went away will
ingly; in this case shall send you to an IN
spector, who will put at your disposal some
of his agents who are accustomed to make
these kind of researches; it will cost you a
few hundred dollars; but doubt OF the
success in the absence Of the clew. Or else
there has been a crime committed, as you
seem to believe. l have not sufficient
ground to order Immediately a search to be
made; but you can address yourself to the
district attorney, who, upon your affidavit,
will put the wheels of justice IN motion"
This was very grave, but the unhappy
father, after having consulted his wife and
few intimate friends, after having sent
to the family lawyer, who could obtain no
explanation, he thought he could not pass
in silence Leonora's disappearance, and he
decided to put the case in the hands Of judi
cial authorities.
The public prosecutor had the case ex-
planned to him. Mr. and Mrs Champion
were rich property owners. I.eonora, was
their only daughter. They had made the
acquaintance of Gustave Brownlow in the
country at the house of a mutual friend.
Gustave belonged to an honorable family
who had owned a fortune, but had lost it
again. Nothing wrong was known con-
corning him, if not that he was without
money and without a position. They had
not encouraged his attentions to Miss
Champion; but the girl had fallen deeply in
love with the handsome gentleman. The
parents refused to give their consent to the
marriage; the girl declared that she would
never take any man for her husband but
Gustave. They were obstinate on both
sides, and when she came Of age she mar
ried her favorite suitor. Unfortunately,
Leonora, once she had attained her MAORI
ty. enjoyed the free disposal of large fort
une which had been left her by an aunt,
and the young man must have been ac-
quainted with this fact. The marriage had
taken place against tbs formally expressed
will Of the parents, and since that time all
relations between the two families had been
broken off.
It was known through the servants and
the school friends of Leonora, who con-
tinued to visit her, that there was trouble
in the house, that there were often violent
storms between the husband and the wife.
The absolute silence in which Mr.. Brown
low shut himself up justified any kind OF
superstition, for he had no interest in COW
ering up the wrong doings of his wife it
there had been any, or to hide the motives
of her absence if he knew them. OF course
it was repugnant to lmpute murder to
man whose education and bringing up
seemed to prevent such suspicion. But it
was not impossible that a. man of secret
i've nature might have been carried away
by moment Of anger and that once the
crime committed he had applied all the re-
sources of cultivated and intelligent mind
to wipe out all traces.
The district attorney could hardly be.
ieve that man of position like Mr.. Brown
low could have committed 80 frightful a
crime. He knew besides how difficult it Is
to hide a body. If the husband had come
back from a journey one would suppose that
he had thrown his wife over precipice,
drowned her in river, Or strangled her in
some wood. But he could not have left his
house until seven O'Clock; he had returned
at three o'clock in the morning. It was not
in eight hours that he could have found the
necessary time for the execution OF the
crime. It was legitimate to exact from him
an explanation as to the employment of his
time and to discover what reasons he might
have given to himself for this apparently
unexplainable disappearance.
On the next morning Gustave Brownlow
received an invitation to present himself at
RASSSOAo~A. ~
ing him enter this officer was struck by the
expression of gloomy determination which
was stamped on his face; one could read
in it at the first glance cold resolution and
an entire possession. He took seat
without saying word looking attentively
at the prosecutor. The two men observed
each other before opening hostilities. The
peoples lawyer waited for moment in the
hope that his adversary would by his first
words betray sentiments of some kind; but
the silence becoming prolonged he was
forced to open the conversation.
"Ihave sent for you, sir, to ask you for
some explanation of the disappearance of
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