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"Half—pastthree。
"Oh，myhusband，Ihavedonethedeedwhichwillrelieveyouofthewifewhomyouhate！Ihavetakenthepoison——allofitthatwasleftinthepaperpacket，whichwasthefirstthatIfound。
Ifthisisnotenoughtokillme，Ihavemoreleftinthebottle。
"Tenminutespastfive。
"Youhavejustgone，aftergivingmemycomposingdraught。Mycouragefailedmeatthesightofyou。Ithoughttomyself，’Ifhelookatmekindly，IwillconfesswhatIhavedone，andlethimsavemylife。’Youneverlookedatmeatall。Youonlylookedatthemedicine。Iletyougowithoutsayingaword。
"Half—pastfive。
"Ibegintofeelthefirsteffectsofthepoison。Thenurseisasleepatthefootofmybed。Iwon’tcallforassistance；I
won’twakeher。Iwilldie。
"Half—pastnine。
"Theagonywasbeyondmyendurance——Iawokethenurse。Ihaveseenthedoctor。
"Nobodysuspectsanything。Strangetosay，thepainhasleftme；
Ihaveevidentlytakentoolittleofthepoison。Imustopenthebottlewhichcontainsthelargerquantity。Fortunately，youarenotnearme——myresolutiontodie，or，rather，myloathingoflife，remainsasbitterlyunalteredasever。Tomakesureofmycourage，Ihaveforbiddenthenursetosendforyou。Shehasjustgonedownstairsbymyorders。Iamfreetogetthepoisonoutofmydressing—case。
"Tenminutestoten。
"Ihadjusttimetohidethebottle（afterthenursehadleftme）
whenyoucameintomyroom。
"IhadanothermomentofweaknesswhenIsawyou。Ideterminedtogivemyselfalastchanceoflife。Thatistosay，Ideterminedtoofferyoualastopportunityoftreatingmekindly。Iaskedyoutogetmeacupoftea。If，inpayingmethislittleattention，youonlyencouragedmebyonefondwordoronefondlook，Iresolvednottotaketheseconddoseofpoison。
"Youobeyedmywishes，butyouwerenotkind。Yougavememytea，Eustace，asifyouweregivingadrinktoyourdog。Andthenyouwonderedinalanguidway（thinking，Isuppose，ofMrs。Beaulyallthetime），atmydroppingthecupinhandingitbacktoyou。
Ireallycouldnothelpit；myhand_would_tremble。Inmyplace，yourhandmighthavetrembledtoo——withthearsenicunderthebedclothes。Youpolitelyhoped，beforeyouwentaway？thattheteawoulddomegood——and，ohGod，youcouldnotevenlookatmewhenyousaidthat！Youlookedatthebrokenbitsofthetea—cup。
"TheinstantyouwereoutoftheroomItookthepoison——adoubledosethistime。
"Ihavealittlerequesttomakehere，whileIthinkofit。
"Afterremovingthelabelfromthebottle，andputtingitback，clean，inmydressing—case，itstruckmethatIhadfailedtotakethesameprecaution（intheearlymorning）withtheemptypaper—packet，bearingonitthenameoftheotherchemist。I
threwitasideonthecounterpaneofthebed，amongsomeotherloosepapers。myill—temperednursecomplainedofthelitter，andcrumpledthemallupandputthemawaysomewhere。Ihopethechemistwillnotsufferthroughmycarelessness。Praybearitinmindtosaythatheisnottoblame。
"Dexter——somethingremindsmeofMiserrimusDexter。HehasputyourDiarybackagaininthedrawer，andhepressesmeforananswertohisproposals。Hasthisfalsewretchanyconscience？Ifhehas，evenhewillsuffer——whenmydeathanswershim。
"Thenursehasbeeninmyroomagain。Ihavesentheraway。I
havetoldherIwanttobealone。
"Howisthetimegoing？Icannotfindmywatch。Isthepaincomingbackagainandparalyzingme？Idon’tfeelitkeenlyyet。
"Itmaycomeback，though，atanymoment。Ihavestilltoclosemyletterandtoaddressittoyou。And，besides，Imustsaveupmystrengthtohideitunderthepillow，sothatnobodymayfindituntilaftermydeath。
"Farewell，mydear。IwishIhadbeenaprettierwoman。Amorelovingwoman（towardyou）Icouldnotbe。EvennowIdreadthesightofyourdearface。Evennow，ifIallowedmyselftheluxuryoflookingatyou，Idon’tknowthatyoumightnotcharmmeintoconfessingwhatIhavedone——beforeitistoolatetosaveme。
"Butyouarenothere。Betterasitis！betterasitis！
"Oncemore，farewell！Behappierthanyouhavebeenwithme。I
loveyou，Eustace——Iforgiveyou。Whenyouhavenothingelsetothinkabout，thinksometimes，askindlyasyoucan，ofyourpoor，ugly"SARAMACALLAN。"*
NotebyMr。Playmore：
Thelostwordsandphrasessuppliedinthisconcludingportionoftheletteraresofewinnumberthatitisneedlesstomentionthem。Thefragmentswhichwerefoundaccidentallystucktogetherbythegum，andwhichrepresentthepartoftheletterfirstcompletelyreconstructed，beginatthephrase，"Ispokeofyoushamefully，Eustace；"andendwiththebrokensentence，"Ifinpayingmethislittleattention，youonlyencouragedmebyonefondwordoronefondlook，Iresolvednottotake——"Withtheassistancethusaffordedtous，thelaborofputtingtogethertheconcludinghalfoftheletter（dated"October20"）wastrifling，comparedwiththealmostinsurmountabledifficultieswhichweencounteredindealingwiththescatteredwreckoftheprecedingpages。
CHAPTERXLVIII。
WHATELSECOULDIDO？
AssoonasIcoulddrymyeyesandcomposemyspiritsafterreadingthewife’spitiableanddreadfulfarewell，myfirstthoughtwasofEustace——myfirstanxietywastopreventhimfromeverreadingwhatIhadread。
Yes！tothisendithadcome。Ihaddevotedmylifetotheattainmentofoneobject；andthatobjectIhadgained。There，onthetablebeforeme，laythetriumphantvindicationofmyhusband’sinnocence；and，inmercytohim，inmercytothememoryofhisdeadwife，myonehopewasthathemightneverseeit！myonedesirewastohideitfromthepublicview！
Ilookedbackatthestrangecircumstancesunderwhichtheletterhadbeendiscovered。
Itwasallmydoing——asthelawyerhadsaid。Andyet，whatIhaddone，Ihad，sotospeak，doneblindfold。Themerestaccidentmighthavealteredthewholecourseoflaterevents。IhadoverandoveragaininterferedtocheckArielwhensheentreatedtheMasterto"tellherastory。"Ifshehadnotsucceeded，inspiteofmyopposition，MiserrimusDexter’slasteffortofmemorymightneverhavebeendirectedtothetragedyatGleninch。And，again，ifIhadonlyrememberedtomovemychair，andsotogiveBenjaminthesignaltoleaveoff，hewouldneverhavewrittendowntheapparentlysenselesswordswhichhaveledustothediscoveryofthetruth。
Lookingbackateventsinthisframeofmind，theverysightofthelettersickenedandhorrifiedme。Icursedthedaywhichhaddisinterredthefragmentsofitfromtheirfoultomb。JustatthetimewhenEustacehadfoundhiswearywaybacktohealthandstrength；justatthetimewhenwewereunitedagainandhappyagain——whenamonthortwomoremightmakeusfatherandmother，aswellashusbandandwife——thatfrightfulrecordofsufferingandsinhadrisenagainstuslikeanavengingspirit。Thereitfacedmeonthetable，threateningmyhusband’stranquillity；
nay，forallIknew（ifhereaditatthepresentcriticalstageofhisrecovery）eventhreateninghislife！
Thehourstruckfromtheclockonthemantelpiece。ItwasEustace’stimeforpayingmehismorningvisitinmyownlittleroom。Hemightcomeinatanymoment；hemightseetheletter；hemightsnatchtheletteroutofmyhand。Inafrenzyofterrorandloathing，Icaughtupthevilesheetsofpaperandthrewthemintothefire。
Itwasafortunatethingthatacopyonlyhadbeensenttome。Iftheoriginalletterhadbeeninitsplace，IbelieveIshouldhaveburnedtheoriginalatthatmoment。
Thelastmorselofpaperhadbeenbarelyconsumedbytheflameswhenthedooropened，andEustacecamein。
Heglancedatthefire。Theblackcindersoftheburnedpaperwerestillfloatingatthebackofthegrate。Hehadseentheletterbroughttomeatthebreakfast—table。DidhesuspectwhatIhaddone？Hesaidnothing——hestoodgravelylookingintothefire。Thenheadvancedandfixedhiseyesonme。IsupposeIwasverypale。ThefirstwordshespokewerewordswhichaskedmeifIfeltill。
Iwasdeterminednottodeceivehim，eveninthemeresttrifle。
"Iamfeelingalittlenervous，Eustace，"Ianswered；"thatisall。"
Helookedatmeagain，asifheexpectedmetosaysomethingmore。Iremainedsilent。Hetookaletteroutofthebreast—pocketofhiscoatandlaiditonthetablebeforeme——justwheretheConfessionhadlainbeforeIdestroyedit！
"Ihavehadalettert
