Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-12
She came to meet me with kind {

She came to meet me with kind o
| tremble in her air and face and fgurer.
can't describe her appearance any othel
way, but thought, as took her shaking
hand and looked at the graceful form vi
brating with some strange emotion, "Ii
this creature is a beautiful fiend, capable oi
the most deliberate cold-blooded crimes,
she certainly can act the timid, tender
woman to perfection"
Glow good of you to come just when ]
said, DOCTOR" she faltered, and as we sat
down she added, 'T wanted to talk to you
-alone-when-whenC Cecil was away"
She stopped, as if unable to say more, and
Ireplied: 'T suppose you did not wish your
husband present as you ask me to call in
Office hours"
'I am afraid he would be angry if he
knew I had sent for you or spoken to you. "
A long pause, would not help her bit.
was becoming very angry with her. for
there was lying on the table bv her side a
bunch of fresh roses and a photograph of
Amory Rhodes. Both flowers and photo
graph had quite recently been laid there,
for the papers in which they had been
folded were lying beside them.
am afraid my silence made her more
nervous still, for her color went and came.
and her breathing was much. quickened.
At last she said, Doctor, I am very anx-
ious about Cecil"
"Why SOP" asked bravely.
She glanced timidlv at me and replied,
"He is so-what shall call it-ftful-so
strange He never used to be cross with
me, neverP' and then the tears came, not
in a burst, or like the way a woman cries
when she feels herself i'll used; but in slow,
heavy drops, that fell with kind OF splash
on the roses over which she was by that
time leaning.
''Do you give Cecil no cause for being
what you call CROSSE" I asked little
sharply.
To my surprise she answered meekly,
"No; that am aware Of I try all can to
please m-except-exoept-I can't ex-
plain, I fear, how his strange ways have
made me different, somehow. feel fright
ened at times. 1 don't like to be as affec-
tionate as used to be and want to be. be-
cause he says 1 am only pretending. It is
SO hard on me, could have borne anything
but that"
Still was rigid and unhelpful, God par
don me, and when she could she resumed,
Doctor, often fear Cecil can't be-" A
longer pause than before. Then she asked
hesitatinglv: "You were sometimes puz-
zled over his illness. He did not seem to
you very i'll, you said, and vet he did not
get we'll as you expected. Did you never
think that perhaps his mind might be a
little warped-off its balance?"
Never such thought occurred to me,
Mrs. Harrington, nor do believe it would
have occurred to any doctor. i"
"Ah, that is the difficulty Always when
he is physically unwell, the mental dis
turbance disappears But it is there,
doctor; it is there. Poor Cecil can hide it
from everybody, but know, know"
''Do you wish me to infer that you con-
slider your husband out of his mind?"
asked sternly.
81 ust confde in you, doctor, she said,
sobbing; ''there is nothing else to do I
have kept the secret for a long time, be-
cause 1 could always pretend to Cecil that
did not know, and while ne did no one
any harm saw no reason to tell. But
now he has become suspicious Of me and