At the Mercy of TiberiusEvans, Augusta J. (Augusta Jane)
History
At the Mercy of Tiberius
Evans, Augusta J. (Augusta Jane)
Rome -- History -- Tiberius, 14-37 -- Fiction
"Under cover of storm and darkness he escaped with his plunder, to some
point north of X--where doubtless he boarded (unperceived) the freight
train, and at some convenient point slipped into a wooded country, and
made his way to Pennsylvania. Why were valuable bonds untouched?
Because they might aid in betraying him. What conceivable interest had
he in the destruction of Gen'l Darrington's will? It is in evidence,
that the lamp was burning, and the contents of that envelope could have
possessed no value for a man ignorant of the provisions of the will;
and the superscription it was impossible to misread. Suppose that this
mysterious person was fully cognizant of the family secrets of the
Darringtons? Suppose that he knew that Mrs. Brentano and her daughter
would inherit a large fortune, if Gen'l Darrington died intestate? If
he had wooed and won the heart of the daughter, and believed that her
rights had been sacrificed to promote the aggrandizement of an alien,
the adopted step-son Prince, had not such a man, the accepted lover of
the daughter, a personal interest in the provisions of a will which
disinherited Mrs. Brentano, and her child? Have you not now, motive,
means, and opportunity, and links of evidence that point to this man as
the real agent, the guilty author of the awful crime we are all leagued
in solemn, legal covenant to punish? Suppose that fully aware of the
prisoner's mission to X--, he had secretly followed her, and
supplemented her afternoon visit, by the fatal interview of the night?
Doubtless he had intended escorting her home, but when the frightful
tragedy was completed, the curse of Cain drove him, in terror, to
instant flight; and he sought safety in western wilds, leaving his
innocent and hapless betrothed to bear the penalty of his crime. The
handkerchief used to administer chloroform, bore her initials; was
doubtless a souvenir given in days gone by to that unworthy miscreant,
as a token of affection, by the trusting woman he deserted in the hour
of peril. In this solution of an awful enigma, is there an undue strain
upon credylity; is there any antagonism of facts which the torn
envelope, the pipe, the twenty-dollar gold pieces in Pennsylvania, do
not reconcile?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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