THE LEAVENWORTH MURDER

Auckland Star, Volume XVI, Issue 3807, 21 October 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE LEAVENWORTH MURDER

BY INN A KA2MEBTNE GREEN,

Authoress of "A Strange Disappearance" and "Tiie Sword of Damocles."

XXXVII,

CULMINATION,

Saint-Bcduc ng gold.

—Romeo and Juliet. ■ . . When our actions do not, Our fears do make us traitors.

—Macbeth,

I never saw such a look of mortal triumph on the face of a man as that which crossed

the countenance of the detective,

'' Well,'' said he, " this is unexpected but not wholly unwelcome. lam truly glad to learn Miss Leavenworth is. innocent, but I must hear some few more particulars before I shall be satisfied, Get up, Mr Harwell, and explain yourself. If you are the murderer of Mr Leavenworth, how conrcs it that thing* look so black against everybody but vounielf 2"

But in the hot, feveris-h eyts that Eought him from tbc writhiDg form at his feet, there was mad anxiety and pain, but little explanation. Seeing him make unavailing efforts to speak, I drew near, "Lean on me," said I, lifting him to his feet

His facc,relieved forever from its mask of expression, turned towards me with the

look of a despairing spirit. " Save I'1 gasped ho. " Save her—Mary—they are eendiog a report—stop it 1" •'Yes," broke iv another veice. "If there is a man here who believes in God ond prizes woman's honour, let him stop the issue of this report." And Henry Clavering, dignified as ever, but in a state of extreme agitation, stepped into our midst through an open door at our light. But at the sight of bis face, the man in our aims quivered, shrieked, and gave one bound tbat would have overturned Mr Clavering, herculean of frame as he uas, had not Mr Gryca interposed.

"Waitl" cried he; and holding back the secretary with one hand—where was his rheumatism now !—he put the other in his pocket and drew thence a document which he held up before Mr Clavering. '' It has cot gone yet," eaid he; "be easy. And you, he went on, turning towards Trueman Harwell, " be quiet or—"

His sentence was cut. short by the man springing from his ,graip. "Let me go," shrieked he. " Let nic have my revenge on him who in face of all I hare done for Mary Leavcnwortb, dares to call her his ■nifel Let me—" But at this point he paused; his frame, which had been one tremble, stiffening into stone, and his clutching bands outstretched for his rival's throat, falling heavily back, "Harkl" said be, glaring over Mr Clavering's shoulder: "it is she! I bear her 1 I feel

her! she is on the stairs 1 she is at the dor ! she—" a low shuddering sigh of longing and despair finished the sentence: the door opened, and Mary Leavenworth stood before us.

It was a moment to make young hairs turn grey. To see her face, so pale, ao haggard, so wild in its fixed horror, turned towards Henry Clavering to the utter ignoring of tho real actor in this most horrible scene! Trueman Harwell could not stand it.

". Ah, ah 1" cried he, " look at her ! cold, cold ; not one glance for me,[though I have iuatdrawn JlJui.JxaJjo!: >&**~ fcretvi'TTrfoivto^ from the clasp of a man who in his jealous rage would now have withheld him, he fell oa his knees betorc Mary, clntching her dresa. with frenzied hands. "You ehall look at me," he cried ; "you shall listen to me," he cried ; "you shall listen to me j I will cot loec body and soul for nothing. Mary, they eaid you were in per.l; I could not endure thit thought, so 1 uttered the truth—yes, though I knew what the consequence would be—and all I want now.is for you to say you believe me when I declare, tbat I only meant to secure to you the-for-tune you so muih desired ; tint I never dreamed it would come to this ; that it was because 1 loved you and hoped to win your love in return that I—"

But she did not; seem to see him, did cot seem to hejr him. Her eyes wore fixed upon Henry Ulavcrlog with an awful inquiry in their depths, and none but he could move her.

" You do not hear me 1" shrieked the poor wretch. "Ice that you arc, you would not turn your head it 1 should call to you from tbo depths of hell l" But even that, cry fell unheeded. Pushing her bands down upon his shoulders as though she would sweep some impediment from her path, she endeavoured to advance. " Why is that man here ?" cried she, indicating her hustand with one qvivering hand. " What has he done that he should be brought here to- confront me at this awful time ?"

"I told her to c'oaie here to meet her ancle's murderer," whispered Mr Gryce into my car. . : ; •, ■ \ But before I could reply to her, before Mr Claveriog himself could murmur a word, the guilty wretc"h before her had startedto hisfett. . ; , • r '■

"Don't you know?" cried ho, "thenl Will tell you/ It is because those gentlemen, chivalrous and honourable as they consider themselves,; think that you, the beauty and the Sybarite, committed with your own white hand the deed of blood which has; brought you freedom and fortune. ; Yes, yes, this' man—" turning and pointing: at me—"friend as he has made uimselt out to be, kindly and honourable as ipu have doubtless believed him, but who in every look he has bestowed UDon you, every word he has uttered in your hearing during all these four horrible weeks, has hi en, weaving a cord for your neck—thinks \ ou the assassin of your uncle (as does,per-r haps, this other ,that calls you wife) unknowing that a man stood at your side ready to sweep half the world from your path if that same white.hand rose in bidding. That 1—"... J?;; "You?"" Ah I now she could eec him, vow she could hear him 1

" Yes," clutching her robe again as the hastily recoiled, "didn't you know it? Wliod, in. that dreadful hour of your rejeo: tion by your uncle, you cried aloud for tomeone to help you, didn't you know—" "Don't!" slic shrieked, bursting from him with a look o£ unspeakable honor. " Don't suy that! 0," she gasped, "is the mad cry of a stricken women for aid and pympathy tho call for a murderer?'1 And turning like a doe struck to the heart by tho deadly arrow, she moaned, "Who that ever looks at me now wilL forget that a man—such a man! a man sj low I have over disdained to let my shadow fall beside his, lest we should seem to walk ova level! — thought, .dared to think, that because I was in mortal perplexity I would accept the murder of my beat friend as a relief from it!" Her horror was unbounded.

"U what a chaslisemoDt for folly!" she muimurcd. " What a puniahment for the love'of money, which has always been my curse I"

Henry Clavccing could no longer restrain himself. Leaping to her tide, he bent above her. "Was it nothing but folly, Mury? Are you guiltless of any deeper wrong? Is there no link of complicity between you -two ? Have you nothing on your soul but an inordinate desire to preserve your place in your uncle's will, even at the risk of breaking my heart and wronging your noblo cousin? Ate you ionoccnt ia this matter? ' Tell me !" Lav-

iug his liaud en her head, ho pressed it slowly back and gazed into her eyes; then without a word took her to his breast, and looked calmly around him.

"She i?," said lie,

Ifc was the uplifting of a stifling poll. No one in the room, unless it was the wretched criminal shivering before. us, but felt a eudJcri influx of hope. Even Mary's owe countenance caught a glow. "0," she whispered, withdrawing from his arms the Letter to look at his faea, "and is this the man I have trifled with, iujured, and tortured till tha very name of Mary Leavenworthnvgut well make him shudder 1 Is'this he whom I married in a fit 01

caprice, only to forsake and deny ? Henry, do you declare me innocent in face of all you have seen and heard; in face of that moaning, chattering wretch before us and my own quaking flesh and manifest terror; with the remembrance on your heart and iv your mind of the letter I wrote you the morning after the murder, in which I prayed you to keep away fioin me as I was in such deadly danger, the least hint given to the world that 1 had a secret to conceal would destroy me ? Do you, can you, will you, declare me innocent before God and the world?' " I do," said he. A light such as had never visited her face before passed slowly over it. " Then God forgive me the wrong I have done this noble heart, for I can never forgive myself! \Y ait! said she, as he opened his lipc. Beforo I accept any further tokens of your generous confidence, let me show you what I am. You shall know the worst of the woman you have taken to your heart. Sir Kaymond—" and she turned towards me for the first time, "in those duya when with such an earnest desire for my welfare (as I beliovo notwithstanding this man's insinuations), you sought to induce me to speak out and tell all I knew concorninp this dreadful deed, I did not do it because of one thing : I was afraid. I knew the case looked dark against me Lleanore had told me so ; Eleanore herself—and it was the keenest pang I had to endure—believed me guilty, ahe had her reasons. She knew first, from the directed enveloposhe had found lying underneath my uncle's dead body on the library table, lhat he had been CDgaged at the moment of death in summoning his lawyer to make that change in his will which would transfer my claims to her; secondly, that I had been down to his room the night before, though 1 denied it, for she had heard my door open and ray drees rustle as I passed out. But that ,waa not all, the key that every one felt to be a positive proof of guilt ; wherever found, tad been picked up by her from the floor of- my room ; the lettor written by Mr Olavering to my uncle was found in my fire; and the handkerchief which she bad seen me take from the basket of clean clothes, was produced at tlio inquest stained with pistol-grease. A web seemed tiingled about my feet. I could not stir without encountering some new toil. I knew I was innocent, but if I failed to satisfy of it one who loved me, how could I hepe to convinoe the general public if once called upon to do so. Woreo still, if pure-faced Eleanore, with every apparent mo ive for desiripg loug life to our uncle, was held in such suspicion because of a few circumstantial evidences against her, what would I not have to fear if the truth concerning these things was told 1 The tone and manner of the jury, man at the inquest that asked who would be .benefited by my uncle* will, showed but too plainly. When, therefore, Kleanore, tiue to her heart's generous in. stincts, closed her lips and refused to epcak when speech would hare been my ruin, I let her do it, justifying myself with the thought that she had deemed me capable of tbe ciime and must bear tho consequences. Nor when I saw how dreadful tbese |were likely to prove, did I relent. Fear of the ignominy, suspense, and danger that [would follow confession, sealed my lip?. Oncy once did I hesitate. That was when in the last conversation we had, I saw that, notwithstanding appearance?, you believed in Eleanore'i iuuocenee, and the thought crossed me you might bs induced to believe ia mjuc, if I threw myself upon your mercy. But just then Mr Clavering came, and as in a flash I seemed to realise what my future life would be, stained by suspicion, and instead of yielding to my impulse, went bo far in the other direction as to threaten Mr Claverinc with a denial «jf~«~ •■** »n"uanger was over.

11 Yes, ho will tell you tbat was my welcome to him when, with heart and brain racked by long suspense, he came to my door for one word of assurance that the oeril I was in was not of my own making. That was the greeting I gave him after a year of silence, every momjnt of which wa3 toiture to him. But he forgives me; I see it in his eyes, I hear it in his k acccnts; and you—O, if in the long y«»rs to come you can forget what I huve made islranore suffer by my stlfish fears 5 if with the shadow of her'wrong before you, you can by the grace of somo sweet hepe think a little Ices hardly ot me, do. lam atraid 1 shall never be worthy of it, but yet

if you can, do. As tor this man—torture could not bo worse to me than this standing wiih him in the same room—let him come forward and declare if I by look or word have given him reason to believe I understood his pa-sion much lees returned

" Why ask I" gasped he. " Don't you see it was your iudiiierenco that drove me mad ? To stand before you, to agonize alter you, to follow you with my thoughts in every move you made, to kaow my equl was welded to yours with bands of steel no fire could melt, no force destroy, no strain dissever; to sleop under, the same roof, sit at the same table, and yet moot.not so much as one look to show mo you nnderstood ! It was tlist which nude my life a hell, I was determined you should understand. If I had to leap into a pit of flame you should know wkat I waß, and whiat my passion for jou was. And you do. You comprehend it all now, Shrink as you .will from my presence, cower as you may to tho weak man you call husband, you can never forget the lore of Trueman Harwell—never forget that love, love, love, burniog love for your beauty, was the force which led me down into your uncle's room that night and lent me will to pull the trigger which poured all tho wealth you hold this day into your lap. " Yes," ho went en, towoiing in his preternatural deepair till even the noble form of - Henry Claverini? looked dwarfed betide him, " every dollar that chinka from your purne shall talk of me. , Every gew-gaw <which Hashes on that haughty head, too haughty to bend to me, shall shriek my name into your cars,: fashion, pomp, luxury,—you will have them all; but till gold loses its glitter, satin its gloss, and ease its attraction, you will never forgot the band that gave them to you !" , , > With a look whose evil triumph I cannot describe, he put his band into the arm of the waiting detective, and in another ' moment would have been led from the room; when Mary, crushing down the swell of emotions that was seething in her breast, lifted her head and said, " No.Truemun Haiwr.ll,l cannotgivcycu even that thought for your comfort: Wealth that is laden with such a burdeu were'turturc. 1 cannot accopt the torture, so muse release tho wealth, even if it were mine to dispose of, which it is not. From this day_ Mary Clavering owns uothing but that which comes to her from the husband she has so long and so basely wronged." And raising her hands to her ems, the tore out the diamonds which hung there, and iluug them at the feet of the unfortunate man. ~ It was the final wrench of the rack. With a yell such as I never thought to listen io, from the lips of a man, he flung up his arme,' while all the lurid light of madness' glared on his face, "And I have given my' soul to hell for a shadow I" moaned he, "for a shadow !"

" Well, that is the best day's work I *• ever did ! Your congratulations, Mr Kay- ' moud, upon tho 6iiccc33 of the moat daring " game ever played in a detective's office." ' I looked at the triumuhant ountenauce1' of Mr Gryce in amazement, " What do you mean?" I cried: "did you wlan all ' this!"

"Did I plan it?" ha repealed. "Could I stand here,seeing how things have turaed out, if I had not? Mr ltaymond, let us be comfoi'tiblo. You are a gentleman,but we , can shake hands over this. I have never known such a satisfactory conclusion to a .bad piece of basinets in all my professional g career," . L

Wo did shake liands long and fervently, ' and then I afked him to explain himself. .■

" Well," f aid he; "there has nlwaj'B been one thins; that pligaed me in tit; wry .■. mouioat of my strongest suspicion [.;:ai:;£jf ■ this wornau, and that v,ras>, the |jisto!-ekan- * ing business. I cou'd not reconcile it with r what I knew ol womankind,. J[ could noS, i} make it seem the act of a woman. Did you.' ever know n woman who cleaned';1; p^tolooil; T who even knew the object <$rijj,M 6) Jtpiij < ' ' ■ ';

"so? No. They can fire them and do; but after firing them they do not clean them, Now it is a principle which every detective recognises tlio truth ot, that if of a hundred lending circumstances connected with a crime, ninety-nino of these arc acts pointing to the euspectod party with unerring certainty, but tho hundredth equally important act, one which that person could not have performed.the whole fabric of suspicion is drstroyed, Kccognising Una principle, then, as I have said, I hesitated when it came to the point of arrest. The chain was complete, tho links were fastened, hut ocic link was ot a different size and material from the rest and this argued a break in the chain. I resolved to give her a linal chance, Summoning Mr Clavering, and Mr Harwell, two persona whom I had no reason to suspect, but who were tho only individuals beside herself who could have committed this crime, being the only persons of intellect who wore in the house or believed to bo, at the time of the murder, I notified them separately that tho assassin of Mr Lcavcnworth was not only fouud but was about to be arrested in my house, and that if they wished to hear tho confession which would be sure to follow, they might have the opportunity ot doing so by coming hero at such an hour. They were both too much interested, though for very different reasons, to refuse; and I succeeded in inducing them to conceal themselves in the two rooms from which you saw them issue, knowing that if cither of them had committed this deed, ho had done it for the loveof Mary Leavcnworth, and consequently could not hear her charged with crime and threatened with arrest, without betraying himself. 1 did not hope much from tho oxpcriinont; least of all did I anticipate that Mr Harwell would prove to be the guilty man—but live and learn, Mr Kaymond, live and loam."

XXXVIII

A FUMi CONFESSION,

liotweon tho acting ol! a droadf ul tiling, And tho first motion, nil tlio interim is Like aphantasum ova hiduous dream; Tlio genius and tho mortal instruments Are then in council; and tho stato of man, Liko to v littlo kingdom, sutlers Uion Tho naturo o£ au iusnrroetion.

—Julius Cjesar.

lAM not a bad man; lam ouly au iutenso ono. Ambitlou, love, jealousy, hatred, revonso—transitory omotions with somo, are terriiic passions with me. To be sure they aro quiet and concc;Uod onoa, coiled serpents that make no stir till aroused, but then, deadly in their spring and relentless in their action, Those who have known mo best have not known this. My own mother wa3 ignorant of it. Often and often have I heard her say, " If Trucman only had more sensibility I If Trueiiiau wore not so indifferent to everything 1 In short, if Trueman had moro power in him!" It was the same at school. No ono understood me. They thought me meek ; called me Dough-face. For threa years they called mo this, then I turned upon them. Choosing out their ringleader, I fellfd him to the ground, laid him on his back, and stamped upon him. Ho was handsome before mjr foot came down; afterwards—"Well it is enough ho nevor called me Doughface again. In the store I entered soon after, I met with even less appreciation. Regular at my work and exeot in my'performnncc of it, they thought me a good machine and nothing more. What heart, soul, and feeling could a mnn have who never sported, nevor smoked, and never laughed? I could reckon up figures correctlj, but one scarcely needed heart or soul for that. I could ovon wiite day by day and month by month without showing a flaw in my copy, but that only argued I was no more than they intimated, a regular automaton, 1 let them think so, with the certainty before mo that they wontd one day change their minds as others had done. Tho fact was, I loved nobody well enough, not even myself, to care for any man's opinion. Life ' was well-nigh a blank to me; a dead level plain that had to bo traversed whether I would or not. And suchit might have continued to this day if I had nover mot Mary Lcavenworth. But when, somo nine months since, I left my desk in tho counting hovise for a seat in Mr Lcavenworth'a library, a blazing torch "Jell into my soul whoso flimc has never gone out and never will, till the doom betore me sis accom* " Ursteveninft^JMUuUiM.! JVVhoa on that into tho parlour, and saw this woman standing up before me in her half alluring, half appalling charms, I knew as by a lightning Hash what my future would be if I remained in that house She was in one of her haughty moods, and bestowed upon mo little more than a passing glance. But her indifFercnco made slight impression upon me then. It was enough that I was allowed to stand ia her presence and look unrebuksd upon her loveliness. To be suro it wai liko gazing into tho flower-wreathed crater of an awakening volcano. Fear and fascination were in each moment I lingered there ; but fear and fascination made the moment what it was, and I could not havo withdrawn if I wonld.

And so it was always. Unspeakable pain as well as pleasure was in tha emotion with ■which I regarded her. Yet for all tbat I did not cease to study her hour by hour and day by day; her smile»,her movement, her way of turning her head or lifting her eyelids. I had a purpose in this; I wished to knit her beauty so firmly into the warp and wsof of my being that nothing should ever serve to tear it away. For I taw then as plainly as now, that coquette though eho was, she would ncTer stoop to me. No • I might lie down at hot feet and let her trample over me, she would not even turn to see what it was she had stepped upon. I might spend days, montus.years, learning the alphabet of her wishes, she would not thank me for my pains or even raho the lashes from her cheek to look at me as I passed. I was nothing to her, could not be anything unjesi—and, this thought came slowly—l could in some way become her master.

Meantime I wrote at Mr Loavcmworth's dictation and pleased him. My methodical ways were just to his taste. Aa for the other member of the family, Miss Eleanoro Loayenworth -she treated me just as one of her proud but sympathetic nature might be expected to do. Not familiarly. Sat kindly ; not as a friend, but a3 a member of the household whom she met every da-v----at table, and who, as she or'any one else could see, vfat none too happy or hopeful Six months went by; I had learned two thing*; first, that Mary Lewonworth loved her position a* prospective heiress to a lar»o fortune above every other earthly consideration ; and secondly that she was in possession of a secret which endangered that position. What this was, I had for some time no means of knowing. But when later I became convinced it was one of love I grew more hopeful, strange as it may seem Tor by this time I had learned Mr Leavenworth's disposition almost as, perfectly as that of his niece, and knew that in a matter of this kind he would be uncompromising and that in tho clashing of these two wills something might occur which would mvo we a hold upon her. The only thin* that troubled me was the fact that I did not know the name of the man in whom eh was interested. Bat chance soon favoured me here. One day—a month ago now, I gat down to open Mr Leaven worth's moil as usual. One letter—shall I ever forget it' ran thus: "Hoffman House, " March Ist, 187G, " Mr Horatio Leavenwoeth : 11 Dear sir,— "You have a niece whom you love and trust, onej too, who seems worthy of all tho love and trust that you or any othe man can give her; so beautiful, so charmlag, so tender ia she in face, iorm, manner and conversation. But, dear sir, every rose has its thorn, and your rose is no exception to this rule. Lovely as she is, charming aa sho is, tender as she is, sho is not only capable of trampling on tho rights of one Who trusted her, but of bruising the heart and breaking tho spirit ol him to whom she owes all duty, honour, and observance " If you don't believe this, ask her to her cruel, bewitching face .who and what is her aumblo servant and yours, "Henry Ritchie Clavering." !

If a bomb-shell had exploded at my feet or the evil one himself appeared at my call' I should not have been more astounded' Not only was the name signed to the°c remarkable words, unknown to me, but the epistle itself was that of one who felt himself to be her maste/, a position which, as yon know, I was myself aspiring to occupy. For p, fov? minute, then, I stood a prey to feeling.) of the bitterest wrath and despair; then I grew calm, realising that with this letter i-.i my possession, I was virtually the arbitrator of her destiny. Some men would bitv! , is<;Ut hor there and Oieu, and by ttareatomne to placo it in her unclo's hand v/on from her a look o£ entreaty if no more;

but I—well, my plan* went deeper than that. I know that she mast be in extremity before I could hope to win her. She must feel hersolf slipping orcr the edge of tho precipice before she would clutch at the lirst thing offering succour. I decided to allow tho letter to pa«a into my employer's hands! Bat it had been opened! How could I manage to give it to him in this condition without exciting his suspicion. I know of but one w&y: to let him ace mo open it for what ho would consider the first time. So waiting till he came into the room, I approached him with the letttor, tearing oft' the end of tho envelope as I came. Opening it, I gave a cursory glance at its contents, and tossed it down on the table before him. " That appears to bo ot a private character," said I, "though there is no sign to that effect on tho envelope." Ho took it up while I stood there. At the first word he started, looked at me, seomod satisfied from my expression that I bad not read, far enough to realise i's nature, and whirling slowly around in his chair, devoured the remainder in silence, I waited a moment, then Withdrew to my own desk. One minute, two minutes passed in eilence 5 ho was evidently rereading it; then he hurriedly rose and left the room. As ho passed me I caught a glimpse of his face in the mirror. The expression I saw thero did not tond to lessen the hope that v.as rising in my breast. By following him almost immediately up stairs I ascertained that ho went direct to Mary's room, and when in a few hours later the family collected around the dinner table, I perceived, almost without looking up, that a great and insurmountable barrier had boon raised botwoon him and his favourite niece. Two days passed : days that wero for me one long and unrelieved su-pon?e. Had Mr Leaveuworth answered that letter? Would it all end as it had begun without tho appearnuce of tho mysterious Clavoring on the scene ? I could not tell. Moauwhilo my monotonous work went on, grindiog my heart beneath its relentless wheul. I wrote.and wrote,and wrote.till it scorned as if ray life blood went from me with every drop of ink I used. Always alert and listening, 1 dared not lift my head or turn my eyes at any unusual sound lost I should seem to bo watching. The third night I had a dream ; I have already told Mr Raymond what it wai and hence I wiil not repeat it here. One correction, however, I wish to make in regard to it. In my statement to him I doclared that the face of the man whom I saw lift his baud against my employer was that of Mr Clavering. I lied when I said this, Tho face soea by mo in my droam was my own. It Avas that fact which mado it so horrible to me. Iv the crouching tiguro stoaling warily down stairs, I saw as in a j>lass tho vision of my owu form. Otherwise my account of tbo matter was tiue. Tho vision had a tremondoua effect upon me. Was it a premonition? a forewarning of tho way in which I was to win this coveted creature tor my own? Was the death of her uncle tho bridge that was to span the impassablo gulf between us ; I began to think it might bo; to consider tho possibilities which could mnkc this tbo only path to my olysium; evou wont so far as to picture her lovely face bending gratefully towards mo through the glare of a sudden release from some emergency in which she stood. One thing was sure; if that was tho way I must go, I had at least been taught how to tread it; and all through the dizzy, blurred day that followed, I saw, as I sat at my work, repeated visions of that stealthy, purposeful figure stealing down tha stairs and entering with uplifted pistol into the unconscious presence of my employer. I evon found myself a dozen times that day turning my eyes upon the door through which it was to come, wondering how long it would bo beforo my actual form would pause there, That the moment was at hand 1 did sot imagine. Even when I lett him that night after drinkiog with him tho glass of sherry mentioned at tho inquest, I bad no idea tho action wat so near. But when not three minutes after going upstair*, I caught the sound of a lady s dress rustling through tho hall, and listoiiiug, heard Mary Leavcuworth pnsi my door on her way to the libraiy, I realised that tho fatal hour wascomo; that somothing was Roing 10 bo said or dono in that room which would make thisdecdnoccssary. What? 1 determined to ascertain. Casting about in my mind for tho means of doing so,l remembored that the ventilator running up throngh tho house, opened first into the fßeorooTnr^tttr-HDrafyyatfdir-SfdoHHlyi'la'fo the closet of the largo spare room adjoining mine. Hastily unlocking the door of communication between the rooms, I took my position in the closet. Instantly tho sound of voices reached my ears; all was open below, and standing there.l was as much an auditor of what went on between Mary and her uncle as if I wero in the library itself. And what did I hear ? Enough to assure mo my suspicions were correct; that ir, was a moment of vital interest to her; that Mr Leavenworth, in pursuance of a threat evidently made some time Bince, was in the act of taking stops to change his will, and that Bho had conio to make an appeal to bo forgiven her fault and restored to his favour, What that fault wm, I did not learn. No mention was niaclo of Mr Clavering as her husbaod. I only heard her declare that her action had been the result of impulse rather than love, that she rogrotted it ana desired nothing more than to be free from all obligations to one she would fain forget, and be again to her uncle what she was before sho ever saw this man. I thought.fool that I was it waa a mere engagement she was alluding to, and took the insanest hope from thoe words, and when in a moment later I heard her undo reply, in his sternest tone, that she had irreparably forfeited her claims to hia regard and favour, I did not need her short and bitter cry of shame and disappointment, or that low moan for some one to help her, to sound his death knell in my heart. Creeping back to my own room I waited till I heard her re-ascend, then I stole forth. Calm as I had ever been io my life, I went down the stairs just as I bad seen myself do in my dream, and knocking lightly at tha library door, went m. Mr Leavenworth was sitting iv hia usual place writing. " Excuse mo," uald I as ho looked np, "I have lost my memorandum book and think it possible I may have dropped it in the passage-way when I went for the wine," He bowed and I hurried past him into the closet. Onoe there, I proceeded rapidly into the room beyond, procured the pisto', returned, and almost beforo I realised what I was doing, had taken up my position behind him, aimed and firoiJ. The result was what you know. Without a groan hia head fell forward |on his haads and Mary Leavenworth was the rirtua1 possessor of the thousands she coveted.

My first thought was to procure the letter be was writing. Approaching the table I tore it out from under hia hands, looked at it, saw that it was, as I expected, a summons to his lawyer, and thrust it into my pocKet together with the letter from Mr Clavering which I perceived lying spattered with blood on the table before me. Not till thia was done did I think of myself or remember the echo which that low-, sharp report must have made in the houss, Drop, ping the pistol at the side of tho murdered man, * m l stood ready to shriek to any one who ontcred, that Mr Leavenworth had killed himself. But I was saved from committing such a folly. The report had not been heard, or if so had evidently failed to create an alarm, Ho one came, and I was left to contemplate my work undisturbed, and decide upon the best course to be taken to avoid detection, A moment's study of the wound made in las head by the bullet, convinced me of the impossibility of passing the affair off as a suicide, or even the work of a burglar. To anyone versed iv auch matters it was manifestly a murder, and a most deliberate one. My one hope, then, lay in making it as mysterious as it was deliberate by destroying all clue to the motive 'anil manner of the deed. Picking up the pistol I carried it into tho othci room with the intention of cleaning it, but finding nothing there to do it with, came back for the handkerchief which 1 remembered having seen lying on the flour at Mr Leavenwortu's feet. It was Miss E'.canore's, but I did not know it till I had used it to clean the barrel • then the sight of her initials in one corner so shocked me, I forgot to clean tho cylinder and only thought of hosv I cou ld do away with this cvidcnc3 of her bandKerchiof navmg boon employed for a purpose so suspicious. Not daring to carry it from the room, I sought for means to destroy it' but Uading none, compromised the matter by otrono Df !' d°IP dOWD behind the cushion ot one ot the chairs in tho hope of being able to recover it some time next day when an opportunity would be given to b*m it This done I reloaded the pistol, locked it up arid prepared to leave the 'room. But here the horror which usually folio »vs such deeds, struck me like a thunderbolt and made me for the first time uncertain in mv action. 1 locked the door on Roinfr out eoincthim; I ehould never Imva done if11 had been in fall possession of my faculties. Not

till I reached the top of the aUirs did I realise what I had done, and then it was too lato, for there before.me, candle in hand, and aurpdso written on 'evory feature of her face, stood Hannah, one of the servants, looking at me, " Lor, sir," she cried, bat strange to say, in a low tone, •' where have you been! You look as if you had seen a ghost." And her eyea turned suspiciously to the key which I held in my hand I felt as if some ono had clutched me round the throat. Thrusting the key into my pocket, I took a step towards her, " I will tell you what 1 have seen if you will come downstairs," I whispered, "the ladies will bo disturbed it we talk heie," and smoothing ray brow as best I could, I put out my hand and drew her towards me. What my motive was l hardly knew } the action was probably instinctive, but when I saw thn look which c »mo into her face us I touched her, and tliu al iciitv with which she p optircd to follow mo, I toon courage, remembering the ono or t\v» previous tokens I had had of this girl's unrcaionibln BUaccp1 ibility to my iullucnco; a susceptibility which I mw folt could bu v ihsed and niado to serve my purpose. Taking her down to the pirlour floor, I drew her into the depths of the great drawing-room aud thcro told hor in 110 least alarming way possible whnt had happenod to Mr Licavcnworth. She was of course intensely auitatcd, but she did uot scream ; —the novelty of her position evidoutly awing her as much as it bewildered—and greatly relieved I went on to say that I did not know who committed the deed, but that folks would declare it was I it they kuew I beoa seen by her on the stairs with the library key in my hand. "Hut 1 won't tell," she whispered, trembling violently in her fright aud eagerness. "I will keep tto lnyeolf.• I will say I didn't see anybody." But I soon convinced hor that she could never keep her socrct if tho police once began to questioD'her, and following up my argument with a littlo cajolery, succeeded after n lone while in wiuning her consent to leave the house till tho storm should bo blown ovor. But that givnn, it was some little time before 1 couid make her comprehend that she must depart at once and without going back after her things. Not,' till I brightened up hor wits by a promise to marry her some day, if sho only obeyed mo now, did sho brgiu to look the thing in the face and show any evidence of tho real mother wit sho evidently poaaessod. "Mrs Uelden would take mo in," said she, "if I could only get to X . Sho takes everybody in who aaks her; and sho would keep mo, too, if I told her Mi«s Mary sent me. But I can't get there to-night." I Immediately sot to work to coiwince her that she could, The midnight train did not leavo tho city for a half-hour yet, and tho distance to tho dopot could be easily walked by her in fiftoen minutes. — But she had no money ! I easily supplied that.—And she waa afraid she couldn't tind her way 1 I entered into minutest dircctious. Sho still hesitated, but at length consented to go, aud with some further understanding of the method I was to employ in communicating with her, wo wout down stairs. There wo found a hat and shawl of tho cook's which I put ou her, and in another moment wo were in the carriage-yard. " Remember you are to conio and marry mo some day," sho mminured in reply, throwing her arms about my neck. The movement was sudden,and it was probably at this time sho dropped the candle sho had held unconsciously clenched in her baud till now. I promised her, and sho glided out of tho gate. Of tho dreadful agitation that followod the disappearance of this girl, I can give no better idea than by saying I not only committed tho uddi.ioaal error of locking up the house on my re-entranco but omitted to dispose of tho key thon in my poc'<et, by flinging it into tho street or dropping it in tho hull as I weut up. Tho fact ie, I was so absorbed by tho thought of the danger I stood in from this girl, I forgot everything else. Hannah's p<ilo fac--, Hannah's look of terror as aha turned from my side and flitted down the street, wore continually before mo. I could not escape them; the form of tho dead man lying below was loss vivid. It \%«n as though I wero tiod in fancy to this woman of the white faoo fluttering down the midnight street*. That she would full in something—coma hick or bo brought hick—that I should fiud standing white and horror-stricken on the front stops when I went down in the raerning was lt^rtttft^W^orVYftv^ueWnrcWdifta or 'c'VuVa win her way unchallenged to that littlo cottajjo in a dWtnnt villuge ; that I hid but sent a trailing flag of dangor out into the world with this wretched girl ;—danger that would come hack to me with the first burst of morning light 1 But even these thoughts faded after awhile before tho realtsa ion of tho peril I was in as lout; as the key 'nud papers remained in my possession. How to fjet rid of them ! I dared not leave my room again, or open my window. Some onj might see me and rcmembor it. Indeed I was afrakl to move about in ray room. Mr Leavenworth mignt hear me. Yes, my morbid terror had reached that point— I was foarful of ono whuso cars I myself had forever closed, imagined him in his bed beneath, and wakeful io tholoist souud, But tho necessity of doing something with those evidences of guilt finally overcamo this morbid anxiety, aod drawing the two lett rs from my picket—l; had not yet undressed—l chose out tho most dangerous of tho two, that written by MrLoarenworth himself, and chewing it till it wai more palp, throw it into a corner; but the other had blood on it, and nothing, not ,even the hope of safety, could induce me to put it to lips. I was forced to lie with it clenchorl in my hand, and ths flittine imago of Hannah before my oye*,till the alow morning broke. I have heard it said that a year in heaven seems like a day; I can easily believe it; I know that an hoar in hell seems an eternity 1 But with daylight cam*? hope. Whether it was tho sunshine glancing on tho wall made me think of Mary and all I was ready to do for her sake, or whether it was tho mere return of my natural atoioism in the presence of actual necessity, I cannot tay. I only know that I aroso calm and miater of mysoli Tho problom of tho letter and tho key had solved Itself also. Hide them ? I would not try to ! Instead of that I would put them into plain sight, trusting to the very fact for tbolr being overlooked. Making the letter up into lighters I carried them into the spire room and phced them in a va*e. Then, taking the (key in my hand, went downn »taira, intending to insert it in the lock of tho library door as I went by. But Miss Eleanoro descending almost immediately behind mo, made this impossible. I succeeded, however, in thrusting it without her knowledge, among the filagree work of the gas fixture in the second hall, and thus relieved, went down into tho breakfast room as self-possosscd a man as ever crossed its threshold. M«y was there, looking exceedingly pale and disheartened, and as t met her eyo, which for a wonder turned npoa me as I entered, I could almost have laughed, thinking of tho deliverance that had come to hor, and of the tirao when I should proclaim mycolf to be tho mau who had accomplished i

Of the alarm that speodily foilowcH, and my action at that time and afterwards, I need not speak in detail. I behaved just as I would have done if 1 had had no hand iv the murder. Indeed, 11 icd to forget I had. Even forbore to touch the key, or go to the spare room or make any movement which I wa3 not willing all the world should see, For as things stood, there was not a shadow of evidence against me in the house, neither wai I, a hard ■ working, uncomplaining secretary, whoso pa«sion for ono of his employer's nieces was not even mistrusted I

by the lady herself, a person ti bo suspected of the crime which throw him out of a fair situation. Sj I performed all the duties of my position, summoniog the police, and going for Mr Veelcy, just as I would have done if those hours between my leaving Mr Loavenworth for the first tirno and going down to breakfast in the morning had bscn blotted from my consciousness, And this wns the principle upon which I based my action at the inquest. Leaving that half hour and its occurrences out of the question, I resolved to answer all queries put me as truthfully as I could; the great fault with men situated as I was usually being that they liel too much, committing themselves on unessential mat-

tors. But, alas! in thus planning for my own safety, I forgot one thing, and that was the dangerous position in which I should thus place Mary JLeavenworth as the one beneiitteti by the crime. Not till the inference wag drawn by a juror, from the amount of wine found in Mr Leaven-

I worth's glasj in the morning, that he had come to nis death shortly after my leaving biro, did I realise what ah opening 1 had niadp for suspicion in her direction by adniitting that I had hoard a rustic o'e the' stair a few minutes after going'un. That all present believed it to have betju made]

by Eleanore did not reassure rue. BKb wai to completely disconnects with the cr;mo I could not inngino suspicion ho'di g to her for an in tant. But Mary—lf a outiin had been let down before mo pictirod with tho future as it has since develop d, I could not have sen more plainly what her position would be if attention wore onco directed towards her, So, in tbe vain endeavour to cover up ray blunder, I began to lie. Forced to admit that a shadow of disagreement had boon lately visible between Mr Leavenworth nnd one of his nieces, I threw the burden of it upon E'eanore, as the one beat able to bear it, adding to this denial of the fact that any letter had been received by Mr Leavenworth whit" could in any way tend to explain the crime. The consequence j wefo more serious than I anticipated. Direction had boon given to suspicion which every additional evidence that now came up soemed by s mie strange fatality to strengthen. Not only was it proved that Mr Leavenworth's own pistol had been mod in tho assassination, and that, too, by a person then in the house, but I myself was brought to acknowledge that Eleanorc had learned from me only a little while before how to load, a>ni, atid fire this very pistol—a coincident mischievous enough to have been of the devil's own making. Seeing all this.my fear of what the ladies would admit when questioned, became very great. Lit them in their innocence acknowledge that upunniy ascent, Mary had gone to her uncle's room for the purpos- of persuading him not to carry into eft'eot tho action he ontcmplateii, and what consequences mitfht not ensue! I wis in a torment of apprehension. But events of which I h d at, that tine no knowledg.i.bad oamrro'l to influence them. Eieanore with some show nf re isou, as it scums, n >t only suspected her cousin of the crime, but had informed her of the fair and Mary.ovcrcoms with terror at li odina there was more or less circumstantial evidence supporliog the suspicion, decided to deny whatever told against herself, trusting to Kleauoro's geuorosity not to be contradicted. Nor was her confidence misplaced. Though by the course she thin took, Eleanore was forced to deepen the prejudice rife against herself, she not only foreboro to contradict her cous'n, but wheu a true answer would have injured hor.aotually refused to return any, a lio being something she could not utter, evon to save one especially cndoirod to her. This conduct of hers h id one effect upon me. It aroused my admiration, and made me feel that hero was a woman worth helping if assistance conld be given without danger to mysolf. Yet I doubt if much wjuld have come of my sympathy if I bad not perceived by tho stress laid upon certain w<!ll-kaown mutters th it actual danger hovered about m all while the letter and key remained in the home. Even beforo the handkerchief wai produced I had nnde up my mind t) attempt their destruction, but when that was brought out ami shown I became so alarmed I immediately rose, and making my way under soma pretonce or other to tho floors abiva, snatchod the koy from the gas fixture, the lighters from the vase, and hastening with them down the hall to Maty Leavenworth's room, went in under the expectation of there fi iding a fire in which to destroy them. But to my heavy disappointment there were only a fo* smouldering ashes in the grate, and, thwarted in my dengn, I stood hesitating what to do, when I heard someone coming upstairs Alive to the consequences of bfing found in that room at that timo, I cast tho lighters into tho grate and start d for tho dooi. But in the quick move I made, the key Hew from my hand and slid under a chair. Aglwr at tin mischanco, I paused, but the sound of approaching stops increasing, I lost all control over myself, and flod from the room. And indeed I had no time to loso. I had barely reached my own door when Kloinoro Leavenworth, followed by two sorvantf, appeared at tho top of tho staircase, and proceeded towards the room I had just lift. The sight re-assured mo; sho would sco the key, and take tome means of disposing of it; and indeed I alw.iys supposed that s-Ih did, for no further word of key or letter ever came to my oars. This may explain why the questionable position iv which Elcanoro sson found herself awnkoncd in mo no greater anxiety. I thought tho suspicions of the police rested upon nothing more t:mj;iblo than the peculiarity of her manner at tho inquest, and the discovery of her handkerchief on the sceno of tho trajjody. 1 did not know thuy possessed whit tlioy might call abso'uto proof of her cnv>">r';<vi v"'V 'Vi crimo. BmiMnad, I doubt if I should have pursued a much dillccnt course. n"ry's peril wjs tho one thine; capable of Uuuiii" me, «uu sue <im not appear to be iv peril. On the contrary, every ouo by common consent seamed to ignore nil appearance of guilt on her part. If Mr Uryco, whom I soon learned to fear, had given one .'ign of suspicion, or Mr Kaymond, whom I speedily recognised ai my nvst presisteut though unconscious foe, had betrayed tho lesst distrust of her, I thould have taken warning. Hut they did not, and lulled into a fulso security by their manner, I lot tho dayi go by without suffering any fesra on her account. But not without many anxieties for myself. Hannah's existence precluded all senso of personal security. Knowing the dctermina'ion of the police to find her, I tr id tho vergo of an awful smpense continually. Meantime tho wretched certainty was forcing itself upon mo that I had lost, instead of gained, a hold on Mary Leavenworth. Not only did blio evince tho utmost horror of the deed which had made her tho mistress of her uncle's wealth, but, owing as I believed to the influence of Mr Raymond, soon gavo evidence that she was losing to a certain extent, the characteristics of mind and heart which had made mo hopeful of winning her regard by my action. Thi« revelation drove mo almost insane. Under the terrible restraint forced upon me, I walked my weary round in a state ,pf mind bordering on frenzy. Many and many a timo have I stopped in my work, wip-d my pen and laid it down with tho idea that 1 could not repress myself another moment, but I have always takon it up again and gone on with my task. Mr Kaymond has sometimes shown h's wonder at my sitting in my dead employer's clnir. Great heaven | itjwas my only safogua'd. By koeping the murder constantly beforo my mind, I was enabled to re-train my disippointmont a its failure to bring me the reward I nntici pated

At last there carao a tlmo when my agony could be no longer suppressed. Going down too stairs one evening with Mr Raymond, I saw a strange gentleman standing in the reception-room, loosing at Mary Leavenworth in a way that would have made my blood boil, even if I had not noird him whisper these words, —" But you are my wife and know it, whatever you may say or do !" J

. It wai the lightninm-stroko of my life. After what I had dono to make hor mine, to hear another claim her as already bis own, was stunning, maddening. It lorced a demonstration from me. I had cither to yell in my fury or deal the man beneath some tremondous blow in my hatred. I did not dare to shriek, so I struck the blow Demanding his nnmo from Mr Raymond, and hearing that it wa«, as I expected, Claverine, 1 flung caution reason, common sense, all to the winds, and in a moment of fury donounccd him as the murderer of Mr ticavenworth.

Xho next iuatant I would have given worlds to recall my words. What had I done but drawn attention to myself iv thus accusing a ruau agaiust whom nothing could of course be provod ! Bu1; recall now was impossible. So a'lor a night of thoughl I did the next best thing, gave a superstitions roison for my action, and so restored myself to my former position without eradicating from the mind of Mr Raymond that vague doubt of the man which my own safety demanded. But I had no iutontion of going any further, nor should I have done so if I had not ob-orved that for some reason Mr Raymond was willing to suspect Mr Claverin*?. "But that, once seen,revenge took possession of me, and I asked myselt if the burden of this crime could be thrown on this man. Still I do not believe that any results would have followed if I hud not overheard a whispered conversation between two of the servant", in which I learned that Mr Clavcring had been seen to entar the house on the night of the murder, but was not seen to lenve it. That determined me. With a fact like that for a starting-point, what might I not hope to accomplish ? Hannah alon<-. stood in my way. While she remained alive I saw nothing before me. I made up my mind to destroy her and satisfy my hatred or Mr Glavering atone blow. But how? By whot means could I reach hoc without descrtinsr my post, or make away with her without exciting fresh suspicion? The problem seemed lnsolvable; but Trueman Harwell had not played the part of a machine so loug without, result. Befora I had been n day Btndyins; the question,light broke upon it, and I saw that the only way to accomplish my plans wa3 to inveigle her into destroying herself

JNo sooner had the thought matured than I hastened to act upon it. Knowing the tremendoui risk 1 ran, I took every precau-

tion. Locking myself up in my room, I wrote her a lotter in printed charactersshe having distinctly told me that she could not road writing, in which I played upon her ignorance, toolish fondness and Icish superstition, by telling her I dreamed of her every night and wondered if she d'd of mo, was afraid she. didn't.so enclosed her a little charm which if she would use according to directions (which were that she should first destroy my letter by burningit, nex1, tike in her hand the packet I was careful to enclose, swallow the powder accompanying it, and go to bed) would give her the most beautiful visions. The powder wai a deadly dose of poison and the packet was as you know a forgod confession talaply criminating Henry dlaveriag. Unclosing all these in an envelope in tlie corner of which I had marked a cross; I directed ie, according to agreement, to Mrs Belden and sent it. Then followed the greatest period of suspense I had yet endured. Though I had purposely refrained fiorn putting mv name to the lutter.l felt that the chances of detection were vcryfgreat. The least departure from the course I had marked out for her, would prove fatal. If she opened the packet, or mistrusted the powder, took Mrs Belden into her confidenoo, or even failed to burn my letter, all would hi lost. I could not be sure of her or know the result of my scheme except through the newspapers. Do you think I kept watch of the countenances about me ? devoured the telegraphic news, or started when the bel rang? Andwhen a few days since tead that wiort par agraph in the paper winch a-surcd me that niy elForts had atleas.t produced thp deatli of the woman I feared, do you think I experienced any sense of relief?

But df that why speak? In six hours Jiad come the summon* from Mr Gryce, and —Let these prison wa'ls, this confession itself, tell the rest. lam no longer capable of speech or action.