Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-02-12

'No, darling, don't. OF course Won
must not tell i you promised,r, said I.
Hut would have given the world to
know what the child had seen in that
mysterious room, ,l-.,,i. ;.s...... 49,. .;
Haidee strange story aroused in me
the old feeling that mystery of some
kind was hanging over the household.
! remembered the talk I had had with
MIR. Rayncr, shortly after my arrival.
in which he told me of the great
change in his wife, caused by the death
OF her son, and mentioned the out
breaks which sometimes caused him
1.-THE grayest anxietv.' l had under
stood then that he feared for his wife s
reason, but not having seen any out
breaks, and in fact having seen very
Ettie OF her except at meals, this idea
had faded from my mind. Now
Haidee's story made me wondrrif thera
were not an undercurrcnt in the affairs
OF the household which I had not sus-
pected. What if Mr. Rayner, cheer
tu1 as he always seemed, was lahoring
under the burden of wife liable at any
time to break out into wild insanity. it
seemed he had for two nj ghts to wrestle
IN secret with moods of wild waiiine,
which he at first tried to deal with by
gentle remonstranee and at last had to
1 subdue by sedatives. 2~ -.jl.,-,... -
And then a suggestion came to me
which might explain Shi-tlr's important
position i'll the household. Was she
| not the guardian Of Mrs. Ravner, such
as she would need in her husband S abb
sence If really Of feeble intellect? That
| Mr.. Rayner was anxious to keep the
scandal Of having mad wife a secret
from thcworld was clear, from the fact
that Mr. Laurence Readc, who had
taken Q peculiar interest in the affairs
Of the household, had never shown the
least suspicion that this was the case
, the, secluded life Mrs. Rayner led
came to be ascribed to, the caprice, or
some more unworthy motive, of her
husband, while the unfortunate man
was really not her tyralat, but her VIC
tim. ,', .;,,ts att .,t,',~ ;.!., y. .'t.-1:i': "
The only other possible explanation
of what Haidee had seen was that Mr.
Rayner, kind and sweet-tempared to
every one as he always was, and out
warily gentle and Thoughtful to a
touching degree toward his cold wife,
was really the most designing of hypo-
critics, and was putting upon his wife,
under the semblance of devoted affec-
ton, partial restraint which was as
purposcless as it was easy for her to
break through. This idea was absurd.
The other suppositon, dreadful as it
was, was far more probable, 1t was
strange that these attacks should occur
only at night, l thought at first; but
then remembered the day when had
read adam Bede" aloud to her in the
drawing-room, the fearful excitement
into which, apparently without any
cause. she had fallen. which her hus-
bands entrance had as suddenly sub
dncd-at least for the time; for how
could tell what had followed when he
had led her away into that bedroom of
hers which was beginning to have for
Inc the fascination of a haunted cham
Der?
The immediate result of the chld's
conildcnccs to me was q great increase
OF my love for and interest in herself.
We became almost inseparable in and
out of school hours; l encouraged her
TO talk; and she soon fell into the habit |
of telling me, whether / was listening
Or not, those long rambling stories |
which have no beginning, no sequence |
and no end, which are the soiacc of |
children who have no companions of
their own age. And sometimes she
would say: Let us sing, Miss
Christie and l would sing some bal
lad while she would coo an irregular
but not inharmonious Accompaniment
And we We're occupied in this fashion,
sitting at the open window one after
noon. when Mr.. Rayner appeared in
the garden,
TO on, go on: l have been listening
to the concert for ever so long. 1t is az
pretty rs BIRDS
But of course we could not 90 on in
The face OF such critical condition; so
Mr: Rayner, after complaining that he
had taken ticket for the series, told
me more seriously that had Il pretty
voice, as ked me why did not take
pity on their dizziness and come into |
-he drawing-room after tea sometimes
and sing to them. He said: ..Nhat
10 you do every evening after slipping
'n to your turret chamber?'
To which l replied:
~ do my tasks and read something
and then sit in one of nv Ii
and just think and enjoy II
myself"
"Well, we are not going to let you
'njoy yourself up there while we are 4
hoped to death Downstairs; so to- (
light, you may Just: come and share
'ur dizziness in the drawing-room. !.
So after tea Mr.. Rayner got out his
'iolin, and sat downt to the piano; and
We played first some German popular
ongs and then long succession OF the
irs, now lively, now pathetic, now
ramatlc and passionate. out of the old
peras that have delighted Europe for
ears. Mr. Rayner played with the fire
t an enthusiast, and again 1 caught
ne spirit Of his playing, and accom-
anled him, he said, while his face
s no one had ever accompanied him i
efore. 7
When we had finished, and Mr. Ray.
er was putting his violin into its case, +
e suddenly discovered that a corner of a
re latter was damp. u ..,4... ..., a
This will never do" he exclaimed, I
might as well keep it In the garden \
5 In this dem he went on. quite irri- n
IDLY for .him-''Here, Sarah" he !