afterwards I returned
home again in the company of Mr. Raunham.

'He parted from me at the steps of my porch, and went back towards
the rectory. Whilst I still stood at the door, musing on my strange
deliverance, I saw a figure advance from beneath the shadow of the park
trees. It was the figure of a woman.

'When she came near, the twilight was sufficient to show me her attire:
it was a cloak reaching to the bottom of her dress, and a thick veil
covering her face. These features, together with her size and gait,
aided also by a flash of perception as to the chain of events which had
saved her life, told me that she was my wife Eunice.

'I gnashed my teeth in a frenzy of despair; I had lost Cytherea; I had
gained one whose beauty had departed, whose utterance was complaint,
whose mind was shallow, and who drank brandy every day. The revulsion
of feeling was terrible. Providence, whom I had just thanked, seemed a
mocking tormentor laughing at me. I felt like a madman.

'She came close--started at seeing me outside--then spoke to me. Her
first words were reproof for what I had unintentionally done, and
sounded as an earnest of what I was to be cursed with as long as we both
lived. I answered angrily; this tone of mine changed her complaints
to irritation. She taunted me with a secret she had discovered, which
concerned Miss Aldclyffe and myself. I was surprised to learn it--more
surprised that she knew it, but concealed my feeling.

'"How could you serve me so?" she said, her breath smelling of spirits
even then. "You love another woman--yes, you do. See how you drive me
about! I have been to the station, intending to leave you for ever, and
yet I come to try you once more."

'An indescribable exasperation had sprung up in me as she talked--rage
and regret were all in all. Scarcely knowing what I did, I furiously
raised my hand and swung it round with my whole force to strike her. She
turned quickly--and it was the poor creature's end. By her movement my
hand came edgewise exactly in the nape of the neck--as men strike a hare
to kill it. The effect staggered me with amazement. The blow must have
disturbed the vertebrae; she fell at my feet, made a few movements, and
uttered one low sound.

'I ran indoors for water and some wine, I came out and lanced her arm
with my penknife. But she lay still, and I found that she was dead.

'It was a long time before I could realize my horrible position. For
several minutes I