a Zabriskie is superior to most of her
sex. That her husband mistrusts her is evident, but whether this is the
result of the stand she has taken in his regard, or only a manifestation
of dementia, I have as yet been unable to determine. I dread to leave
them alone together, and yet when I presume to suggest that she should
be on her guard in her interviews with him, she smiles very placidly and
tells me that nothing would give her greater joy than to see him lift
his hand against her, for that would argue that he is not accountable
for his deeds or assertions.

Yet it would be a grief to see her injured by this passionate and
unhappy man.

You have said that you wanted all the details I could give; so I feel
bound to say that Dr. Zabriskie tries to be considerate of his wife,
though he often fails in the attempt. When she offers herself as his
guide, or assists him with his mail or performs any of the many acts of
kindness by which she continually manifests her sense of his affliction,
he thanks her with courtesy and often with kindness, yet I know she
would willingly exchange all his set phrases for one fond embrace or
impulsive smile of affection. It would be too much to say that he is
not in the full possession of his faculties, and yet upon what other
hypothesis can we account for the inconsistencies of his conduct?

I have before me two visions of mental suffering. At noon I passed the
office door, and looking within, saw the figure of Dr. Zabriskie seated
in his great chair, lost in thought or deep in those memories which make
an abyss in one's consciousness. His hands, which were clenched, rested
upon the arms of his chair, and in one of them I detected a woman's
glove, which I had no difficulty in recognizing as one of the pair worn
by his wife this morning. He held it as a tiger might hold his prey or a
miser his gold, but his set features and sightless eyes betrayed that a
conflict of emotions was being waged within him, among which tenderness
had but little share. Though alive as he usually is to every sound,
he was too absorbed at this moment to notice my presence, though I had
taken no pains to approach quietly. I therefore stood for a full minute
watching him, till an irresistible sense of the shame at thus spying
upon a blind man in his moments of secret anguish compelled me to
withdraw. But not before I saw his features relax in a storm of
passionate feeling, as he rained kisses after kisses on the sen