Mr. Berners returned to his most desolate home; took, by his physician's advice a powerful narcotic, and slept the sleep of utter oblivion, and waked late on the next morning more refreshed than he had felt for many weeks past.
He visited his wife as usual, and found her in the same quiescent state of mind and body and still utterly unconscious of her situation, utterly ignorant that within a few days past the dread death warrant had been read to her, which doomed her young life to die in the beautiful month of June, now so near at hand—in the blooming month of roses, her favorite of all the twelve.
Yes, the death warrant had been duly read to her, but not one word of it all had she understood; and that was all that had been done to inform her of her real situation. If it was any one's duty to impress the truth upon her mind, provided her mind could be made capable of receiving the impression, every one shrunk from it, and prayed that to the last she might never know more of her condition than she now did.
As for the rest—the preparation of her soul to meet her Judge—what would have been the use of talking, about salvation to a poor young creature driven to insanity by the horrors of a false accusation and an unjust conviction?
The best Christians, as well as her nearest friends, were willing to leave her soul to the mercy of Heaven.
She was even unsuspicious that she was destined to be a mother.
This circumstance, that so deepened the pathos and terror of her position, also invested her with a more profound and pathetic interest in the eyes of her husband.
Would she live to bring forth her child, even though the governor did spare her life so long? he asked himself, as he gazed fondly on her pale face and sunken eyes.
Would the child—perhaps destined to be born in the prison—live to leave it? And then, what must happen to the mother? And what must be the after life for the child?
And fondly as he loved, he earnestly prayed that both mother and child might die in the impending travail unless—unless the new petition sent up to the governor, and grounded upon the report of the physicians, should get her a full pardon.