passed.

"There is a room which is used as a morning-room at Lachine. This faces
the road and opens by a large glass folding-door on to the lawn. The
lawn is thirty yards across, and is only divided from the highway by
a low wall with an iron rail above it. It was into this room that Mrs.
Barclay went upon her return. The blinds were not down, for the room was
seldom used in the evening, but Mrs. Barclay herself lit the lamp and
then rang the bell, asking Jane Stewart, the house-maid, to bring her
a cup of tea, which was quite contrary to her usual habits. The Colonel
had been sitting in the dining-room, but hearing that his wife had
returned he joined her in the morning-room. The coachman saw him cross
the hall and enter it. He was never seen again alive.

"The tea which had been ordered was brought up at the end of ten
minutes; but the maid, as she approached the door, was surprised to
hear the voices of her master and mistress in furious altercation. She
knocked without receiving any answer, and even turned the handle, but
only to find that the door was locked upon the inside. Naturally enough
she ran down to tell the cook, and the two women with the coachman came
up into the hall and listened to the dispute which was still raging.
They all agreed that only two voices were to be heard, those of Barclay
and of his wife. Barclay's remarks were subdued and abrupt, so that none
of them were audible to the listeners. The lady's, on the other hand,
were most bitter, and when she raised her voice could be plainly heard.
'You coward!' she repeated over and over again. 'What can be done now?
What can be done now? Give me back my life. I will never so much as
breathe the same air with you again! You coward! You coward!' Those were
scraps of her conversation, ending in a sudden dreadful cry in the man's
voice, with a crash, and a piercing scream from the woman. Convinced
that some tragedy had occurred, the coachman rushed to the door and
strove to force it, while scream after scream issued from within. He was
unable, however, to make his way in, and the maids were too distracted
with fear to be of any assistance to him. A sudden thought struck him,
however, and he ran through the hall door and round to the lawn upon
which the long French windows open. One side of the window was open,
which I understand was quite usual in the summer-time, and he passed
without difficulty into the room. His mistress had ceased to scream and
was