"You are aware that Jane Osborne was to have been married this day to
James Ryan, and that they and their friends have been here for the last
week. On Tuesday last, the very day on the morning of which cousin Mac
Carthy despatched the letter inviting us here, the whole of the company
were walking about the grounds a little before dinner. It seems that an
unfortunate creature, who had been seduced by James Ryan, was seen
prowling in the neighbourhood in a moody, melancholy state for some days
previous. He had separated from her for several months, and, they say,
had provided for her rather handsomely; but she had been seduced by the
promise of his marrying her; and the shame of her unhappy condition,
uniting with disappointment and jealousy, had disordered her intellects.
During the whole forenoon of this Tuesday she had been walking in the
plantations near Spring House, with her cloak folded tight round her,
the hood nearly covering her face; and she had avoided conversing with
or even meeting any of the family.
"Charles Mac Carthy, at the time I mentioned, was walking between James
Ryan and another, at a little distance from the rest, on a gravel path,
skirting a shrubbery. The whole party was thrown into the utmost
consternation by the report of a pistol, fired from a thickly planted
part of the shrubbery which Charles and his companions had just passed.
He fell instantly, and it was found that he had been wounded in the leg.
One of the party was a medical man. His assistance was immediately
given, and, on examining, he declared that the injury was very slight,
that no bone was broken, it was merely a flesh wound, and that it would
certainly be well in a few days. 'We shall know more by Sunday,' said
Charles, as he was carried to his chamber. His wound was immediately
dressed, and so slight was the inconvenience which it gave that several
of his friends spent a portion of the evening in his apartment.
"On inquiry, it was found that the unlucky shot was fired by the poor
girl I just mentioned. It was also manifest that she had aimed, not at
Charles, but at the destroyer of her innocence and happiness, who was
walking beside him. After a fruitless search for her through the
grounds, she walked into the house of her own accord, laughing and
dancing, and singing wildly, and every moment exclaiming that she had
at last killed Mr. Ryan. When she heard that it was Charles, and not
Mr. Ryan, who was shot, she fell into a violent fit, out of which,
after working convulsively for some time, she sprung to the door,
escaped from the crowd that pursued her, and could never be taken
until last night, when she was brought here, perfectly frantic, a
little before our arrival.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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