As he did so he remarked:
"I had rather have died any natural death than have had my miserable
wife's secret known. But since the crime has come to light, this
story of her sin and her repentance may serve in some slight degree
to mitigate public opinion. She was sorely tempted and she
succumbed; the crime of her ancestors was in her blood"
He again walked off. The major unfolded the sheets.
XXV
"WHO WILL TELL THE MAN INSIDE THERE
Later I saw this letter. It was like no other that has ever come
under my eye. Written at intervals, as her hand had power or her
misery found words, it bore on its face all the evidences of that
restless, suffering spirit which for thirty-six hours drove her in
frenzy about her room, and caused Loretta to say, in her effort to
describe her mistress' face as it appeared to her at the end of
this awful time: "It was as if a blight had passed over it. Once
gay and animated beyond the power of any one to describe, it had
become a ghost's face, with the glare of some awful resolve upon
it." I give this letter just as it was written-disjointed
paragraphs, broken sentences, unfinished words and all. The
breaks show where she laid down her pen, possibly for that wild
pacing of the floor which left such unmistakable signs behind it.
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