第88章 Volume 3(16)

Lord Glenfallen rested,if to lie in the mere attitude of repose were to do so,in his dressing-room,and thus I had an opportunity of witnessing,far oftener than Iwished it,the fearful workings of his mind.

His agony often broke out into such fearful paroxysms that delirium and total loss of reason appeared to be impending.He frequently spoke of flying from the country,and bringing with him all the witnesses of the appalling scene upon which the prosecution was founded;then,again,he would fiercely lament that the blow which he had inflicted had not ended all.

The assizes arrived,however,and upon the day appointed Lord Glenfallen and Iattended in order to give our evidence.

The cause was called on,and the prisoner appeared at the bar.

Great curiosity and interest were felt respecting the trial,so that the court was crowded to excess.

The prisoner,however,without appearing to take the trouble of listening to the indictment,pleaded guilty,and no repre-sentations on the part of the court availed to induce her to retract her plea.

After much time had been wasted in a fruitless attempt to prevail upon her to reconsider her words,the court proceeded,according to the usual form,to pass sentence.

This having been done,the prisoner was about to be removed,when she said,in a low,distinct voice:

'A word--a word,my lord!--Is Lord Glenfallen here in the court?'

On being told that he was,she raised her voice to a tone of loud menace,and continued:

'Hardress,Earl of Glenfallen,I accuse you here in this court of justice of two crimes,--first,that you married a second wife,while the first was living;and again,that you prompted me to the murder,for attempting which I am to die.Secure him--chain him--bring him here.'

There was a laugh through the court at these words,which were naturally treated by the judge as a violent extemporary recrimination,and the woman was desired to be silent.

'You won't take him,then?'she said;

'you won't try him?You'll let him go free?'

It was intimated by the court that he would certainly be allowed 'to go free,' and she was ordered again to be removed.

Before,however,the mandate was executed,she threw her arms wildly into the air,and uttered one piercing shriek so full of preternatural rage and despair,that it might fitly have ushered a soul into those realms where hope can come no more.

The sound still rang in my ears,months after the voice that had uttered it was for ever silent.

The wretched woman was executed in accordance with the sentence which had been pronounced.

For some time after this event,Lord Glenfallen appeared,if possible,to suffer more than he had done before,and altogether his language,which often amounted to half confessions of the guilt imputed to him,and all the circumstances connected with the late occurrences,formed a mass of evidence so convincing that I wrote to my father,detailing the grounds of my fears,and imploring him to come to Cahergillagh without delay,in order to remove me from my husband's control,previously to taking legal steps for a final separation.

Circumstanced as I was,my existence was little short of intolerable,for,besides the fearful suspicions which attached to my husband,I plainly perceived that if Lord Glenfallen were not relieved,and that speedily,insanity must supervene.I therefore expected my father's arrival,or at least a letter to announce it,with indescribable impatience.

About a week after the execution had taken place,Lord Glenfallen one morning met me with an unusually sprightly air.

'Fanny,'said he,'I have it now for the first time in my power to explain to your satisfaction everything which has hitherto appeared suspicious or mysterious in my conduct.After breakfast come with me to my study,and I shall,I hope,make all things clear.'

This invitation afforded me more real pleasure than I had experienced for months.

Something had certainly occurred to tranquillize my husband's mind in no ordinary degree,and I thought it by no means impossible that he would,in the proposed interview,prove himself the most injured and innocent of men.

Full of this hope,I repaired to his study at the appointed hour.He was writing busily when I entered the room,and just raising his eyes,he requested me to be seated.

I took a chair as he desired,and remained silently awaiting his leisure,while he finished,folded,directed,and sealed his letter.Laying it then upon the table with the address downward,he said,'My dearest Fanny,I know I must have appeared very strange to you and very unkind--often even cruel.Before the end of this week I will show you the necessity of my conduct--how impossible it was that I should have seemed otherwise.I am conscious that many acts of mine must have inevitably given rise to painful suspicions--suspicions which,indeed,upon one occasion,you very properly communicated to me.I have got two letters from a quarter which commands respect,containing information as to the course by which I may be enabled to prove the negative of all the crimes which even the most credulous suspicion could lay to my charge.

I expected a third by this morning's post,containing documents which will set the matter for ever at rest,but owing,no doubt,to some neglect,or,perhaps,to some difficulty in collecting the papers,some inevitable delay,it has not come to hand this morning,according to my expectation.