nature, held me in a bondage that more than all things else must
make any investigation into this mystery a danger and a pain from
which any woman might well recoil, even though she bore in her heart
memories of a past like mine.




VI.

MRS. POLLARD.


My mind she has mated, and amazed my sight;
I think but dare not speak.
--MACBETH.

That day was a marked one in my life. It was not only the longest I
have ever known, but it was by far the dreariest, and, if I may use
the word in this connection, the most unearthly. Indeed, I cannot
think of it to this day without a shudder; its effect being much the
same upon my memory as that of a vigil in some underground tomb,
where each moment was emphasized with horror lest the dead lying
before me might stir beneath their cerements and wake. The continual
presence of one or both of the brothers at my side did not tend to
alleviate the dread which the silence, the constant suspense, the
cold gloom of the ever dimly-lighted chamber were calculated to
arouse; for the atmosphere of unreality and gloom was upon them
too, and, saving the quick, short sigh that escaped from their lips
now and then, neither of them spoke nor relaxed for an instant from