CHAPTER III.

Clutha Leader, Volume XVII, Issue 834, 11 July 1890, Page 7

CHAPTER 111.

The circumstances of the murder— for such it undoubtedly was — were so cruel and exceptional that a thrill was scut through London when the newspapers were delivered on Monday morning. The victim was Margaret Neale, the Countess of Southfort's governess; and her body had been discovered- by a constable, soon after dawn, at the bottom of the flight of steps leading down to the fountain from the side next Park Lane. On first seeing the body, he had thought, from its attitude, that it was a woman sleeping there ; but on descending ,the

steps the constable perceived without touching her that she was dead. On a surgeon being quickly brought to the spot, he pronounced life to have been extinct for several hours; and from the dew upon the dead woman's clothing and certain other appearances, the body must have lain there all night. The authorities had had all Sunday, to prosecute inquiries before the murder became public in the next morning's papers ; but as far as could be gathered, they had not found much light. First of all, the identity of the victim in itself made it difficult to get at a clue. She had gone back to Lady Southfort's house in Grosvenor Square after singing at the concert, and had certainly not left the house up to the hour of dinner (half-past 8). At what hour she went out nobody could say ; but it must have been during dinner, because, when sent for by Lady Southfort after dinner to come to the drawing-room, to the general surprise she was nowhere , to be found. But a constable who was on duty in Park lane had seen a lady of the same height and similarly dressed hurriedly cross the road from Mount street and enter the small gate of the , Park at a quarter past 9 ; he noticed that she went straight across the road towards the fountain. At 10 o'clock the gate referred to was always closed ,for the night There was little doubt that this was Miss Neale ; but the identification did not go far. She had never been known to leavo the house before, except for some well-known purpose and at a usual hour ; and the fact of her stealing out — as sho must have done — added to the mystery. All her papers and effects were examined ; but nothing was discovered to suggest an explanation of her conduct. She was not believed to have any acquaintance in London, and was shy and retiring in •disposition. To Lady Southfort, who knew the governess so well, it was incredible that she should have been in Hyde Park after dark — incredible and incomprehensible, the lach declared ; until she saw with her own eyes the lifeless proof of it. So much the newspaper reports, in substance:, contained on Monday morning. During the course of the day many people applied for admission to view the body. To some it was allowed, and to Frank Holmes among others. As he stood, silent, gazing on the white placid face of the murdered girl, Mr Clayton the banker came beside him. They were both listening again, in fancy, to the notes which had moved them so singularly a few hours before the hand of a swift and cruel death silenced her sweet throat for ever. 'It is awful, Holmos,' said the banker in a whisper. ' Only think of her, on Saturday afternoon — and — look at her breast ' They turned away, and k£t the place. On the street Mr Clayton stopped, and laying his hand heavily on the younger man's shoulder, exclaimed : ' Frank, if the murderer is not caught within the next 24 hours, I will offer L2OOO i*eward over my own name for his arrest !' Holmes listened without comment. The banker was powerfully excited ; but the other, more experienced, though not less moved, had his faculties cool and under control. He was profoundedly interested in this tragedy, not alone on account of the character of the poor victim, but by reason of the dark cloud of mystery which enveloped the deed. He knew privately that the police — for the present — were literally at fault. Miss Neale's manner of life had been so simple and regular and retired, and her character in Lady Southfort's house — outside of which she was not known — so gentle an«"l winning, that even imagination was at a loss to suggest a motive for her death. It seemed possible to be accounted for only as a mistake in the dark ; but nobody in Lady Southfort's house or out of it could throw the faintest light upon the unprecedented act of the governess privately leaving the house and at such an hour. The ever enterprising and eager evening papers failed to add one iota to the information already made pu :>lic. This was to many a disheartening sign; anil the inquest, to take place the next day, was awaited with anxious interest. The brevity of the. proceedings in the, coroner's court was significant of dearth of infoi mation. Only two witnesses, or at most three, demanded special attention. The first was the polipe constable who had made the discovery ; he was passing near the fountain at half-past 3 on Sunday morning when he saw the body of a well-dressed young woman lying at the bottom of the steps. At first he thought she was asleep ; but on drawing near he saw that she was dead — murdered by a wound in the bi'east. Except some blood upon the stones where she lay, no marks were visible. A surgeon was brought, and a close and extensive examination of the vicinity made, but without result. The doctor who made the post-mortem examination deposed that a sharp instrument (a knife or dagger) had penetrated the heart, and that death must have been instantaneous ; the face retained the calm expression of sleep. The Countess of Southfort, who was several times deeply affected in the course of her evidence, mude some interesting statements. Questioned as to the history of the deceased, she said that Miss Neale was the only child "of

a clergyman, now dead, and had been in her family as governess for four years. Lady Soufchfort knew nothing of the girl's relatives — she had no near relation?, and had never corresponded with any. As far as shei Lady Southfort, knew, Miss Neale had had no acquaintance outside her own doors. She had habitually avoided strangers, and had been very remarkable in that respect. Then the following passed : ' Was it from constitutional shyness that she avoided strangers T ' Yes, to a great extent. Miss Neale was very shy.' ' She sang at a concert on the day of her death V 1 It was a private concert, and I had to use considerable persuasion before I could induce her to sing.' ' Was she in the practice of singing in your own drawing-room for your guests V ' No ; I never asked her to do so, except when the guests were special friends whom she was well acquainted with.' ' I infer from a previous answer,' said the examining solicitor, ' that there was something else besides constitutional shyness which caused the deceased to shrink from notice. Was that the case — to your ladyship's knowledge f Lady Southfort hesitated, and the silence of deepening interest made her hesitation seem more significant. 'There was something,' she said at length, in a low and distinct voice, ' known only to myself, and involving a painful secret of Miss Neal's life. Ido not see how it bears upon the case at all — and I would fain preserve the poor girl's secret still.' There was a minute's silence. 'Ft was nothing to be ashamed of,' the countess added,' 'or it would not have been Miss Neale's,' ' We have no doubt as to that,' observed the coroner ; ' and every person in court sympathises with your ladyship. But we cannot pass the point over. If you would make known to me, privately, the character of the secret in question, I would decide whether or not it should be disclosed in evidence.' Lady Southfort inclined her head ; and amid deep silence, wrote a few words on a leaf of a memorandum book, tore the leaf out and passed it, folded, to the corner. He read it with attention, and pausing a moment, said : ' I thank your ladyship. After reading what you have been good enough to communicate to me, I much regret to say that the information may have a very important bearing upon Margaret Neale's death.' The solicitor then continued his examination. ' Pray, what was the secret, Lady Southfort V ' Miss Neale was married.' ' To whom f * I do not know. Her husband married her, ovr:r five years ago, under the name of Vernon — Julius Veruon. But it was an assumed name.' ' Where were they married V 'At a registry office.' (Giving the address.) 'I inspected the register myself, when she told me of it.' ' How do you know that Julius Vernon was an assumed name V ' After their marriage her husband entered" the army. I do not know which branch of the service; hut there was no officer of that name in the army list.' ' Did the wife not know the branch of the service to which her husband belonged V 'No ; she had no idea. He went abroad soon after obtaining his commission, and she never saw him again.' ' Do you mean deserted her V ' She never regarded it so. He was poor, and unable to maintain her until he got promotion. She was willing to maintain herself until then. It was he.r hope that five years' foreign service would be sufficient to enable him to come back to her. Meanwhile, she was very sensitive of observation, and secluded herself as much as possible.' Pressed further on the point, Lady Southfort admitted that she believed the wife to have been deserted. The man never wrote a line to her after leaving England, or sent her any evidence of being alive and remembering her. Whether any fear of desertion had crept into the wife's breast, Lady Southfort could not say ; slip was bravely holding on to the hope of the five years, notwithstanding his silence and neglect. Asked if she had noticed any alteration in Margaret Neale's manner of late, she answered in the negative ; she had been a little flustered after the applause she won at the concert, but that had passed away in an hour. ' Now, Lady Southfort, kindly think before you answer. Can you remember anything which would throw light upon her leaving your house that evening V 'No ; nothing whatever. I have been constantly thinking upon it since. It was the only time she had ever done such an act, and I could hardly credit it, until there was no "room for doubt. She always breakfasted with me ; the letters were distributed at the table ; Miss Neale had not received a letter for weeks except one, which was from a music-seller. She never appeared to expect a letter, and always took a morning paper to look through.' ' Do you know if her husband is still living, or where he is V ' I have not the slightest idea.' This concluded Lady Southfort's evidence. It was deeply interesting, in

the dearth of other information ; but did it lead any one to a clue to the secret of the girl's death % Nobody could believe so. However, it gave the police something to work upon, and anything was better than nothing, though it was not easy to form a theory from the melancholy revelation made by Lady Southfort. There was still a strong prevalence of opinion that Miss Neale had been murdered by mistake. (To be Continued.)