“‘I see the whole affair plainly now,’ said the magistrate; ‘they had become involved in one of these quarrels; words ran high; he probably struck her; and then, becoming infuriated as his anger rose, murdered her; and, either from dread of discovery, or disgust of life, killed himself: thus it must have been; and a most deplorable affair it is, too.’
“‘Where is my sister Lelia?’ I asked of Juan.
“‘She went some days ago to spend a week with some lady friend of hers.’
“‘How far is she from here?’
“‘Some six miles, sir.’
“‘Take one of the fastest horses and go after her: say only her brother has arrived, and wishes to see her—nothing more.’
“‘Yes, sir:’ the servant departed.
“Some lay sisters were sent for, and came from the neighboring convent to lay out the bodies. Scarcely was their mournful task completed, when Juan returned with Lelia. The beautiful girl burst into tears as she rushed to embrace me; and her grief redoubled when I told her of that day’s sad events.’
“‘My brother, dear, you little know the many lonely days I’ve passed since you left us, and how often I have wished for you; that bad woman always treated me with contempt, and father never cared for me; I have passed my days alone, always alone, dreaming and regretting: father changed much, however, in his opinion of you, and would have had you back again, but madame always opposed it; but I little thought, when I left here a week ago, that I should find them both dead on returning.
“I consoled poor Lelia as much as possible, and promised her many future years of happiness; and so far as that happiness depended on myself, I kept my promise. When shown the dead body of her father, she burst into torrents of tears, and fell fainting over the corpse. We removed her to her own room, and the bodies were consigned to mother earth without her again seeing them. With pious care my sister had tended on her mother’s grave: and flowers of all hues, all species, grew there in wild luxuriance: and a spirit of holiness seemed breathed around it, as if the pure soul that had animated that mortal clay, still hallowed, still guarded the casket the immortal gem had once inhabited, and preserved it from evil influence.