Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-08-07

she pointed, and there | saw my wife
standing with CHASTITY terror on her
face and desperate fear in her eyes. /
held the bottle up to her
" Is it true?' I asked
And she fell upon her knees, cover
ing, as she cried out
Yes, it is true,'
Il cannot describe" continued Sir
Rudolph, my feelings of horror
Since the shock have never been the
same man. An hour later, stood with
my unfortunate wife in her boudoir,
resolved that we should part that
hour, never to meet again. had loved
her very dearly; but, when / knew
that she had taken the life of that fair
little child, loathing took the place of
love.
II told her in grave, measured
words, that we must part that night.
never more to meet. I told her that
the struggle in my heart was hard
one, that I felt inclined to deliver her
up to justice and to the fate she de-
served. But she was a woman, and
my wife-I could not see her hanged.
hesitated, as it seemed to me, be-
tween two sins-screening a muir
deress, and giving up to justice the
wife who had sinned for me-
IF l talked to you forever, Uric
Kate, I could not tell you all the de-
tails of that horrible scene. Poor,
beautiful Nest! Her grief was terri
BILE to witness. She chung to me, she
knelt at my feet, she prayed and
pleaded with such passionate despair
that it might almost have moved a
heart Of stone. What she had done
had been done for love of me- What
did that little fragile life matter?
What was it in comparison with my
fortune, my love and hers? I saw that
what the old nurse had said was true
she did not regard the deed she had
committed as murder.
"Ah, you cannot tell what it was to
me to have the woman I had loved the
best in the world crouching in tears
at my feet! This woman, weeping.
praying, was my darling Nest; the
face | had loved, the white hands 7
had kissed and caressed. were those
Of murderess, and that murderess
was my wife! Hour after hour passed
on that terrible Christmas Eve. We
were still together, and I was unable
to decide what to do. I could not give
her up to justice. She was my wife.
and she had sinned for me; yet the
murder was none the less a terrible
one. NO man was ever more wretched
or more bewildered. Poor Nest, how
she loved me! She crouched at my
feet in an agony of tears, and I could
not raise her tc comfort her-I could
not soothe her. She was worn and
exhausted with the passion of her
grief
Do not send me from you, love!"
she cried, in a voice like that of a dy-
ing woman. Kill me, if you will.
should bless even death from your
hands,
What was l to do? She had COM
mitted cruel crime, she deserved
punishment: yea, as she clung to my
feet in tears, how could 1 decide?
:" 1T was all for you,' she moaned.
1 could not bear that you should go
across the sea. l have loved you so
dearly and so long, it seemed as though
we should never be happy
Happy! AS thous.4 sin could ever
lead to happyness!'
I would have killed myself, Ru-
dolph,' she said, to make you happy
And | knew it was true l could
not give her up to justice, and I GER
tainly could not take her to my heart
again, although she had sinned for me.
I'VE had been three hours together,
when a sudden idea occurred to me.
We could be husband and wife no
more. [ could never kiss the face of
murderess; I could never touch the
hands that had taken the life Of that
fair little child. All was over between
my once beloved Nest and me-over
forever. But l could shield her in
some measure. She should never. if I
could help it, mix with the world
again. The idea occurred to me to
bring her to Ullamere-no place could
be more out of the world-and to live
out here the remainder of our sorrow
full lives apart. l would keep her
secret on those conditions She must
be content to live alone without friends
or visitors
For myself, so hot was my indig-
nation that | swore | would never
touch her hands again; and she prom
ised that she would never even Law a
finger on me. Poor Nest, She broke
that promise only once. We were to
live together-that is under one roof
but were to be further apart than
strangers; more than the bitterness
of death lay between us. She was
never TO approach my rooms. nor l
hers. We were to speak only when
necessity compelled us. So | hoped
to compromise matters, to punish her |
for her sin, and in some measure to |
shield her from the consequences. Yet
felt that l had made a most miser- |
able compromise
1 remember that she looked at me. |
hopeless despair shining in her eyes. |
Rudolph, she said, the sentence
you have passed is heavier than the
sentence of death; but | accept it. and |
submit to it, coming from you
Then came two or three days that
shall never forget, the abrupt break
ng up of the party of friends, the sur
Prise Of the servants. Some of them
left in charge of Brooke; the two
most faithful I brought here. left
+ha |