Detective and mystery stories; English fiction -- 19th century
Mr. Anderton was a gentleman of good origin, closely connected with
some of the first families in Yorkshire, where he had formed the
acquaintance of Miss Boleton, while staying at the house of her great
aunt, Miss B----. He appears to have been of a most gentle and amiable
disposition, though unfortunately so shy and retiring as to have formed
comparatively very few intimacies. All, however, who could be numbered
among his acquaintance seem to have been equally astonished at the
charge brought against him on the death of his wife, with whom he was
always supposed, though from his retired habits little was positively
known, to have lived upon terms of the most perfect felicity. As
the event proved, the case would in effect never have come on for
trial; but, had it done so, the defence would have brought forward
overwhelming evidence of the incredibility of such a crime on the part
of one of so gentle and affectionate a disposition.
During the four years and a-half of their married life there does not
appear to have been a cloud upon their happiness. Mrs. Anderton's
letters to her great aunt, Miss B---- (to whom I am indebted for
almost the whole of the important information I have been able to
collect respecting the family) are full of expressions of attachment
to her husband and instances of his devotion to her. Copies of several
of these letters are enclosed, and from these it will be seen how
unvarying was their attachment to each other. Throughout the entire
series, extending over the whole period of her married life, there is
not a single expression which could lead to any other conclusion.
It is, however, evident that the delicate health with which Mrs.
Anderton had been afflicted from her birth, still continued, and in two
instances we have indications of the same mysterious attacks noticed
in the letter of Mrs. Vansittart, before quoted. These, however,
appear to have been but very slight. They had for some years been of
more and more rare occurrence, and from this date, (October, 1852), we
have no further record of anything of the kind. Still Mrs. Anderton's
general health continued very unsatisfactory, and almost everything
seems to have been tried by her for its improvement. Among the enclosed
correspondence are letters dated from Baden, Ems, Lucca, Cairo, and
other places to which the Andertons had, at different times, gone for
the health of one or other, Mr. Anderton being also, as stated in Mrs.
Ward's letter of the 14th June, 1851,[2] extremely delicate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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