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

en- v1cElm TO the nanG Oh the assassin
He dwelt upon the awful haste, and
the peculiarly pathetic circumstances
that had attended her last moments
how, when practically dying woman,
she had yet fingered on till her little
prematurely born babe saw the light,
and then had died, unconscious to the
last of having an enemy in the world,
sending with almost her dying breath
message to the prisoner at the bar.
He then proceeded to state that Mrs.
Eyre had lately lived in great tranquil
ty and retirement, their sole visitor be-
inc Lord Lovel.
He would presently show that the
visits Of the latter had an important
bearing on the case, but meanwhile he
| would describe the Red Hall, a model
of which lay on the table,. From the
manner in which it was blocked up by
stables and other buildings at the side,
and by the cliff in the rear, it would be
shown how almost impossible it was to
gain access to Mrs. Eyre's bedroom
without attempting it from the front.
There was no question Of the servants
being concerned in the murder. as they
were all below stairs at the time, with
the exception Of the nurse, who was in
conversation with Lord LOvel when the
shrek was heard that announced some
fatal event, and set every one rushing
toward the wing in which Mrs Eyre'S
room was situated.
Not one of them bore her any malice;
even the gardener, when arrested for
the crime. declared his inability to COM
nit it, because she had always been
kind to him, and Ito use his own WOrdS)
he had studied her likes and dislikeS
hoy md hos Of 10 ,-+p
was not a single soul living who could
have an unkind impulse toward her
save the prisoner at the bar, who had
been possessed of that crueleSr. most
unreasOning madness that can take
possession Of the human HEARTBEAT
0usy.
For the innocent intercourse that had
taken place between that poor murder
ed young lady and her old companion
ana playfellOW. Lord lOyel, had been
exaggerated. by vulgar report, into
connection very different to the one
that existed; and on the evening in
question. the prisoner had followed him
to the Red Hall, and. herself hidden,
been witness to, and auditor of, a con-
verSatiOn that took place between Mrs.
Eyre and Lord Lovel. Nh. Eyre having
temporarily withdrawn to the next
room.
1t would be shown in Lord Lovel's
evidence how, after wishing his hostess
good night, he waited awhile for Mr..
Eyre, but presently departed, the but
Ter locking the door behind him. But
in the moonlight he distinctly saw
figure cross to the wing opposite Mrs.
Eyre's room, and in which thenur6erieS
were situated, and quickly following it,
to oil +l,n,
tenanted, save by the sleeping children.
The nurse shortly entering. he adj
vanCed with her to the inner room, and
he had stood for, perhaps, some five or
SIX minutes cOnverSing with her, when
the cry was heard of which mention has
been before made.
1t was to be remembered that Mr..
Eyre and the servants We're all below
stairs; from the back her room was I'M
apprOachable, and the only possible
manner by which the murderer could
have got ingreSS to it was by ladder
placed against the wall by the gardener
that afternoon. and forgotten by him
in the Discharge of his duties until very
late that night; but on this oversight
the most important evidence of the
whole case hinged, and would be gone
into in due course.
On reaching Mrs. Eyre's apartment
they were hOrrOr-struck to see her
bleeding and unconscious, while Mr..
Eyre himself, reused by her cry, hay
ing reached her more quickly than
they, by ascending the staircase that
led from his study to the bedroom. was
stanching the blood that flowed from
her side.
Almost Immediately afterward. the
diamonds she had worn that night were
discovered to be missing, and a man
seen to be peering in at the window,
who was Immediately seized upon, and
in due course committed for trial as the
murderer.
AS prisoner, his ps were closed, but
when Mr.. Eyre awakened from the
stupOr into which the death of his wife
had thrown him, he Immediately order
ed the mans release, and demanded the
committal of the only person living
who could have desired to harm his
wife, and so were able to obtain from
his gardener the real story of that I'M
happy night.
That evidence would presently be re-
lated, for the present it was sufficient
to say that he had forgotten to remove
the ladder from the side of the house
during the afternoon, and, remember
ing it late at night, and fearing Mr..
Eyre'S displeasure, had gone up to the
Hall, and after watching about some
time, was in the act Of grasping it for
removal, when, by it's weight, he felt
that something was on it, and the next
moment heard shrek above him, and
head foremost, at the peril Of her neck,
the prisoner had come rushing down al
most into the mans arms. 1t might be
argued thai the SiiIlok she gave was of
horror at something she had beheld
through the open window, but it was
far more probable that it escaped her
in the sudden fear that possessed her
at finding some one at the foot of the
ladder and so cutting off her escape.
while an innocent person would GER
tainly have raised an alarm, and, with
natural horror, described what she had
seen above, instead Of fighting with the
man like a wild cat Ito use his own
WOrdS) and so escaping him, not a trace
of her being found for two whole DAYS.
But on the third night she returned Sc
cretly to the Red Hall, supposing that
the nurse, in whose confidence she ap-
peared to be, would admit her; but Lord
LOvel, who was sitting up with Mr..
Eyre'S sick child, opened the door, and
seeing her disordered condition and
hand deeply gashed and stained with
blood, in the name of mercy, and posi-
bly, on account of the past relations that
had existed between them, babe her
escape while there was yet time, and
before Mr.. Eyre should awaken from
the living death in which he lay, to de-
nounce her.
But in the prisoners perverted heart
ray of goodness was to be found in