so, and although I begged and prayed and commanded her
not to have so dangerous a man in the house, she held her own; and in
the face of my remonstrances, and those of her husband, Count Ferruci
came to stay with us.

"From the moment he entered the house there was nothing but trouble.
Vrain became jealous, and, mad with drugs he took, often treated Lydia
with cruelty and violence, and she came to me for protection. I spoke to
Vrain, and he insulted me, wishing to turn me out of the house; but for
Lydia's sake I remained. Then a Miss Tyler came to stay, and falling in
love with Count Ferruci, grew jealous of Lydia, and made trouble with
Vrain. The end of it was that after a succession of scenes, in which the
old man behaved like the lunatic he was, he left the house, and not one
of us knew where he went to. That was the last Lydia saw of her husband.

"After that trouble I insisted that Count Ferruci should leave the
house; also Miss Tyler. They both did, but came back at times to pay
Lydia a visit. We tried to find Vrain, but could not, as he had
vanished altogether. Ferruci, I saw, was in love with Lydia, and she
with him, but neither the one nor the other hinted at a future marriage
should Vrain die. I do not say that Lydia was a fond wife to Vrain, but
he treated her so badly that he could not expect her to be; and I dare
say I am the one to blame all through, as I made Lydia marry Vrain when
she loved Ferruci. But I did it all for the best, so as to get money for
my dear girl; and if it has turned out for the worst, my inordinate
affection for my child is to blame. All I have done has been for Lydia's
sake; all Ferruci did was for Lydia's sake, as he truly loved her; but I
swear by all that I hold most holy that Lydia knew not how either of us
was working to secure her happiness. Well, Ferruci is dead, and I am in
jail, so we have paid in full for our wickedness.

"I had no idea of getting rid of Vrain until one day Ferruci took me
aside and told me that he had found Vrain at Salisbury. He stated that
the man was still taking morphia, but in spite of his excesses had so
strong a constitution that it appeared he would live for many years. The
Count then said that he loved Lydia dearer than life, and wished to
marry her if Vrain could be got out of the way. I cried out against
murder being done, as I never entertained such an idea for a moment; but
Ferruci denied that he wished to harm the man. He wanted him put awa