Not that he showed frenzy or made any display of the grief or
surprise natural to the occasion. On the contrary, he was the
quietest person present, and among all the emotions his white face
mirrored I saw no signs of what might be called sorrow. Yet his
appearance was one to wring the heart and rouse the most
contradictory conjectures as to just what chord in his evidently
highly strung nature throbbed most acutely to the horror and
astonishment of this appalling end of so short a married life.
His eye, which was fixed on the prostrate body of his bride, did
not yield up its secret. When he moved and came to where she lay
and caught his first sight of the ribbon and the pistol attached to
it, the most experienced among us were baffled as to the nature of
his feelings and thoughts. One thing alone was patent to all. He
had no wish to touch this woman whom he had so lately sworn to
cherish. His eyes devoured her, he shuddered and strove several
times to speak, and though kneeling by her side, he did not reach
forth his hand nor did he let a tear fall on the appealing features
so pathetically turned upward as if to meet his look.
Suddenly he leaped to his feet.
"Must she stay here?" he demanded, looking about for the person most
in authority.
The captain answered by a question:
"How do you account for her being here at all? What explanation
have you, as her husband, to give for this strange suicide of your
wife?"
For reply, Mr.
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