of which, doubtless, adhered to the stomach,
was too clearly the cause of her screams; but, to my surprise, I
discovered, from her broken ejaculations, that the grief of her
husband's illness had been able, in its strength, to fight its way to
her heart, through all her bodily agonies produced by his poison. My
questions regarding her own condition were answered by hysterical
sobs, mixed with ejaculations of pity, and requests to know how he
was, and what was the nature of the complaint by which he had been
attacked--hinting, in dubious terms, that she had been the cause of his
illness, by entailing upon him the necessity of attending her, and
wounding his sensitive heart by her distress. My former communications
to her concerning the poison, and my caution against her acceptance of
it from the hands of her intended murderer, had produced no effect upon
a mind predetermined to believe nothing against the man she loved and
trusted beyond all mortals. She had received it again from him after my
communication; the effects of it were now exhibited in her tortured,
burning viscera; and yet, in the very midst of her agonies, her faith,
confidence, and love stood unshaken; a noble yet melancholy emblem of
the most elevated, yet often least valued and most abused virtues of her
sex. I endeavoured to answer her fevered inquiries about her husband, by
telling her that he stood in great _need of her attendance_; and that,
if she would agree to follow my precepts, and put herself entirely under
my advice and direction, she might, in a very short time, be enabled to
perform her duty of a faithful wife and a kind nurse to her distressed
partner. The first perception she caught of the meaning of my
communication, lighted up her eye, even in the midst of her wringing
pains; and, starting up, she cried, that she would be the most abject
slave to my will, and obey me in all things, if I could assure her of
the blessing of being able to act as nurse and comforter to her husband.
Now I saw my opportunity. On the instant I called up and despatched the
waiting-maid to my home, with directions to my assistant, to send me
instantly an oleaginous mixture, and some powerful emetics, which
I described in a _recipe_. I waited the return of the messenger,
administered the medicines, and watched for a time their operation and
effects. Notwithstanding the continued attacks that had been made on her
system by the doses of an active poison, I was satisf