CHAPTER CLXIII.
AFTER CONVICTION—PEACE AT ARMLEY GAOL—INTERVIEW WITH HIS RELATIVES—PEACIANA.
The accounts which appeared in the several papers of the condition of Charles Peace were at this time most conflicting. Some declared him to be in a sinking, desponding state, and hinted at his committing suicide if he was not carefully watched, while other journalists said he was perfectly resigned to his position, and was preparing, as best he could, to meet his doom with becoming fortitude.
Very much was made of the supposed letters which Peace dropped whilst running away from Bannercross on the night of the murder, and their supposed authorship by Mrs. Dyson.
They formed the subject of much of her cross-examination at the trial, and have been often referred to to show the terms of intimacy upon which she must have been with Peace. We are, therefore, glad to be able to say upon authority that the letters are not hers. That authority is none other than the statement of Mr. Dyson himself.
During the summer of 1876, when Mr. Dyson took out a peace warrant against Peace for threatening and annoying himself and family, he consulted Mr. Chambers, solicitor.
At that time the letters alleged to have been written by Mrs. Dyson to Peace were in existence, and had been seen by Mr. Dyson and other persons.
Mr. Dyson expressed to Mr. Chambers his full assurance that the letters were not his wife’s, but were forgeries concocted by Peace for purposes of annoyance. He was anxious that Peace should not be able to bring the letters into court, for he felt sure he would do so, if possible, for the sake of further annoyance and persecutions.
Peace’s step-son, accompanied by a friend, visited him in Armley Gaol. The cell was in a sort of cage within the cell, two sides made by the walls, and two composed of iron bars from floor to ceiling. Beyond this was the cell itself, into which no friends were allowed to pass.
The prisoner was dressed and sitting in a rail-backed arm chair, such as is common in old-fashioned public-houses. As the visitors entered his face was turned towards the door, and over his head, behind him, was a gas light.