u must know, she entertained company that
night,--persons of the highest standing in the county.

"Presently her husband, all unconscious of the terrible
sentiments she entertained towards him, and the fearful purpose
she had announced, enters the room, makes obeisance to his
guests, and goes to take his wife's hand.

"What does she? She draws back with so strange a look, and such
forbidding words, that the company were disconcerted.
Consternation fell on all present; and erelong they made their
excuses, and left the house. Thus the prisoner was left alone
with her husband; but, meantime, curiosity had been excited by
her strange conduct, and some of the servants, with foreboding
hearts, listened at the door of the dining-room. What did they
hear, gentlemen? A furious quarrel, in which, however, the
deceased was comparatively passive, and the prisoner again
threatened his life, with vehemence. Her passion, it is clear,
had not cooled.

"Now it may fairly be alleged, on behalf of the prisoner, that
the witnesses for the crown were on one side of the door, the
prisoner and the deceased on the other, and that such evidence
should be received with caution. I grant this--where it is not
sustained by other circumstances, or by direct proofs. Let us
then give the prisoner the benefit of this doubt, and let us
inquire how the deceased himself understood her,--he, who not
only heard the words, and the accents, but saw the looks,
whatever they were, that accompanied them.

"Gentlemen, he was a man of known courage and resolution; yet
he was found, after this terrible interview, much cowed and
dejected. He spoke to Mrs. Ryder of his death as an event not
far distant, and so went to his bedroom in a melancholy and
foreboding state. And where was that bedroom? He was thrust, by
his wife's orders, into a small chamber, and not allowed to
enter hers,--he, the master of the house, her husband, and her
lord.

"But his interpretation of the prisoner's words did not end
there. He left us a further comment by his actions next
ensuing. He dared not--(I beg pardon, this is my inference:
receive it as such)--he _did_ not, remain in that house a
single night. He at all events bolted his chamber door inside;
and in the very dead of night, notwith