erlooked the fertility (for
growth of good and for growth of evil equally) which is inherent in
human nature. There are virtues that exalt us, and vices that degrade
us, whose mysterious origin is, not in our parents, but in ourselves.
When I think of Helena, I ask myself, where is the trace which reveals
that the first murder in the world was the product of inherited crime?

The criminal left the prison, on the expiration of her sentence, so
secretly that it was impossible to trace her. Some months later, Miss
Jillgall received an illustrated newspaper published in the United
States. She showed me one of the portraits in it.

"Do you recognize the illustrious original?" she asked, with indignant
emphasis on the last two words. I recognized Helena. "Now read her new
title," Miss Jillgall continued.

I read: "The Reverend Miss Gracedieu."

The biographical notice followed. Here is an extract: "This eminent
lady, the victim of a shocking miscarriage of justice in England, is
now the distinguished leader of a new community in the United States. We
hail in her the great intellect which asserts the superiority of woman
over man. In the first French Revolution, the attempt made by men
to found a rational religion met with only temporary success. It was
reserved for the mightier spirit of woman to lay the foundations more
firmly, and to dedicate one of the noblest edifices in this city to the
Worship of Pure Reason. Readers who wish for further information will
do well to provide themselves with the Reverend Miss Gracedieu's
Orations--the tenth edition of which is advertised in our columns."

"I once asked you," Miss Jillgall reminded me, "what Helena would do
when she came out of prison, and you said she would do very well. Oh,
Mr. Governor, Solomon was nothing to You!"

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Legacy of Cain, by Wilkie Collins

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