The Dickinson press., 1894-03-03

Pie heard that Francis vanC. scholar
and gentleman. was found dead on hia
wife's grave. There wus a smile on
his face when they raised him. %
though he knew the truth.
CHATTER XVI.
Hyacinth Vanc's trial. while 1t lnsted.
occupied the attention OF all EpRiaud:
dlerc had not been 20 hatrh sensation
there hnd been no such sensation for
years. There had been cases Of pois.
ontng and horrible murders. hut noah.
Ing like thts-a young and beautiful
girl In her jealousy had slain the
woman she believed to l,c her rival.
1t was Il trial that had been expected
Tor many months; hut the prisoner had
been seriously Ill. and It had lsecn de-
'ayet until she was well enough to ap.
1ear at the bar of justice.
The March Assixcs at Inversion were
Che general subject Of conversation:
every one was on the alert. The grand
Jury found a true bill, aud Hyacinth
Vanc was to be tried for her iIfc for
the willful murder Of Lady Fraser.
Hyacinth's father was dead. and. hut
for Alan, she would have been alone in
the world. He would have lavishel
his whole wealth in her defense. He
employed the clevcrest and most clio.
quent counsel; he left NO stone uuturn.
cd: he wore himself to a shadow In his
effOrts-but circumstantial evidence
was too strong for him.
The day Of the trial came, and from
all parts of England people went TO scc
the heroine of the Denc Hall tragedy.
There had been nothing like tho cx.
element for years.
The evidence aEa 'Est the prisoner
was strong. Ladies' Of unimpcnchablo
veracity came forward and said that
they had heard the prisoner threaten
TINT she would slay the deceasesl n
she took her lover from her; and those
words, spoken by the girl In the mad
frenzy of jealousy, meaning nothing
then. bad a very different and far
more hO; ible sound when repeated
In a court Of Justice. Shc had been
heard to threaten Lady Fraser. A dos
en- witnesses could swear to the III.
feeling there was between the two.
On the night Of the murder they had
quarreled: Hyacinth had been heard to
say TINT she would XIII her rival II she
took her lover from her. 1t vas next
proved TINT after those few yhnrn
words H!acinth left the BALLROOM with
the blue .and-whtte shawl rouul her
ehouldere: the snme shawl WAS found
cinched IN the dead womau's hnuis.
and fastened to 1t was one Of tho bluc
cornfowers Miss vane had worn.
The evidence was strong: NO ono
else had even n faint dislike to the
hapless lady. The crime had never
been committed for booty: her jcwclry
was lying about, but not even n ring
had been touched. There vas No p,ssl.
BILE motive to be assigned save jealousy: ::
there was no one Jealous but HyacIuili
Vane. The evidence as 10 the shawl
found Ii tho murdered wOmnn's lands
proved that Hyacinth vane must have
been with her when she died: there.
fore she must have killed her.
So argued the prosecutions; IN thought
the jury; nnd in defense whit was
there to bc said? Most eloquent m.
peals were made by the clever counsel
employed They spoke of the prison.
er's youth 0nd beauty: they tried to
show how impossible 1t was that "A
girl SO your 8, SO fragile, 80 weak, could
have been guilty Of NO gross a crime.
They made the most of one polnt--the
absence OF q weapon: hut from the
, first 1t was evident TINT the trial was
going against her. Perhaps her youth
and beauty, instead of pleading for her.
were against her. The Jury had to
steel themselves.
The evidence hns told against her:
one could read 1t in the filccs Of the
jurymen, which grew gravcr and sad.
der-in the face of the Judge, which
was s0rrOwful with n great sorrow-
In the weeping eyes of women and tho
bent brOWs of stern men.
The time came when the short sun.
shine of the March day was over, and
dull, yellow light iilleI ...u court
when the jury went out to consider
their verdict, and the prisoper, white
and cold as death, was led from the
dock. The jury were absent for moro
tf.an an hour, and when they returned
1t was to a scene no one ever forgot.
Through the large windows could be
aeen the darkening sky, and the hOarse
murmur of the crowd surrounding the
court could Ike plainly heard. Tier after
tier Of eager faces was lifted, all eyes
were bent In one direction. The 4as
had been lighted. and threw q curious
6vid hue on the hundreds Of assembled
4hco0. The one object Of interest WoD
The night of the hall came, and great
had been the preparations. A hall At
R0sedene was Que of the most pleas.
urable events In the country, and this
was above ull others eagerly looked
for. Hyaclnth. by her lover's desire.
wore dreas Of rich. white silk. M.
perbly trimmed with blue coruflowerx:
wreath OF blue c0rnnowers lny ON the
golden hair, aud she wore a knot Of tho
dowcrs ut her breast. An ex0uisitc
toilet It was. one just suited to hcr fair
sPrtng.like lOveliness. She wns m
pleased with her lovers admiration that
something Of her former Elnd yo,,nw
,happiness caMc back to her.
Alan was waiting for kor In thc hn,,
aud klesel the sweet wlstful fnc" ' shrs
was raised to Ills. '~" ''''''
How beautiful you look. INV dnr,.
Ing! hc said. Now .wo Win have .
night 70 happy that Il shall he iikc = :
summer dream to ux. Let mu ssc vo,,r
lear face bright md glad as Il n nov, I"
They went into the 6all. room toU"th.
\ sr. Lady ltosetlcne watching anxic,,sIy
She had seen something In the Wilow..
dark eyes tllat bodetl mischief. When
Lady Fraser entered the bnll.rn,n,"
which she did an hour latcr thnn mo-.
Of the others-all eyes wcrc tnrms.s
wondcringly toward hcr. Tho l,eausv
OF every other woman nnled l,.s.,r.. Il. !.