Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-11-17
CHAPTER Xxx.

Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the
P'eitdeS, or loose the bands of Orion?
And now to hear what the outside
WOrld-"reSp6Ctability with its thou
sand gigs"-had said to the deed Ofvio-
lence committed atthe Red Hall. With
III twelve hours of Mrs. Eyre'S death,
the whole countryside was ringing
with IT; the house was besieged by per-
sons who came from far and near TO ask
II tie dread report were true, and to
CLEAN such details of the tragedy as
tHoy might.
The scandals that had been ahoat
Concerning Madcap were forgotten in
the horror her fate excited-0nly her
youth and sweetness were remembered
nOW, and an indignant thrOb Of pity for
the murdered, of hatred for the muir
dorer, thrilled every heart.
The disappearance of the diamonds
reduced the crime to one OF simple
greed: but there were persons, of whom
Mis-. IranSOme was one, who boldly de-
cIaG2Q that they did not believe word
aJout the diamonds, but felt sure Mr..
Eyre ha / killed her in fit OF jealousy
al hor Irritation with Lord Lowell.
buC this idea-fOr Mr.. Eyre's devO-
tou 20 his wife was we'll known, and no
greater proof Of his love could be asked
III which he now lay-Was received cold
ly; and, indeed, the first confusion aud
horror had scarcely subsidized, when it
became known that the man DrgeS
Wda released, and the woman Hester
Clarke, after short preliminary in
IuiIy, been committed to take her trial
on the capital charge at the next as
siZas. And then the public curiosity,
thaC had slackened little over 50 dull
a criminal rs the gardener, rose to fever
heat, as, bit by bit, the circumstances
ooL2I out that were said to have lie to
Lpr drrrSt.
Lord Lowell had been at Red Hall on
that fatal night, and his discarded as
tress had followed him there, and,
Stung tOa jealous madness, had gained
access to Mrs. Eyre, and stabbed her to
lie heart, then escaped before the muir
der was discovered; this was the first
account bruited abroad.
A second declared that Mr.. Eyre,
supposed to be engaged below, had dis
covered Lord Lovel hidden in the house
after he had OstenSibly left it, and that
in the struggle which enSued, Mr. Eyre
had snatChed up a weapon. that had
pierced Madcap as she threw herself
between the two men, her cries bring
Ing the gardener to her rescue, who
was forthwith seized by the servants as
the murderer.
A third account emphatically denied
the two former ones, and said that the
murder had been committed by tramp,
who had been refused aims at the ser
wants hall, and, hanging about the
place, saw her through the drawing
room windows with the diamonds on her
neck and arms, and by means of q lad
der placed against the wall, had later
on entered her bedroom window, but
finding her awake, had stabbed her,
and escaped with his booty.
The pathetic circumstances of Mad
caps death, the knowledge of how she
had been but a dying woman when her
child was born, SlIenced more than one
peStllent tongue, and gradually, during
the fortnight that elapsed between her
death and the opening of the assiZes at
MarmltOn, the opinion that she had
been more thoughtless than SHINING,
gained ground, while the strong i'm
preston against Hester Clarke deepen
ed.
That after two days flight she should
have been arrested in the Red Hall it.
self, with the dead child OF its murder
ed mistress on her knees, was held as
but another proof Of her guilt. 1t is
the fascination that the victim has for
the slayer that leads to so many con.
v'ctions, and Testers affection for the
cnlld being unknown beyond the vii
lara, her presence at his death was sup
posed to be the result of mere accident.
Meanwhile the Duke and Duchess
had unexpectedly returned, he to offer
his sympathy and support to Mr.. Eyre
in his present unhappy position; she to
count The hours till the opening day of
tae assjzes, when, in company with GER
tain other liHe ladies of the county. she
would occupy a seat whence she could
see and hear everything that passed in
40 Madcap to stand now.