Ascending the stoop,
he rang the bell, and in a few moments a pleasant-faced lady appeared at
the door. Inquiring if Mrs. Edwards was within, and being informed in
the affirmative, he was invited to enter the cool and cosy parlor and
await her appearance.
After a short delay Mrs. Edwards entered the room, and the heart of the
detective was at once touched at the sad and sorrowful expression which
she wore. She was young, scarcely more than twenty, and a handsome
brunette. Her dark hair was brushed in wavy ringlets back from a broad,
intellectual brow, and the dark eyes were dewy, as if with recent tears.
Her cheeks were pale, and there were heavy shadows under the eyes, which
told of sorrow and a heart ill at ease. Another thing the detective
noticed, with a feeling of compassion, for he was himself a man of
family, the lady was about to become a mother. How strange and
unreasonable it seemed, that a young man of Edwards' position in
society, with a lovely and loving wife, with business prospects of the
most excellent character, could sacrifice all upon the altar of a base
and ignoble ambition to be suddenly rich. That he could at one fell blow
cast away the ties of kindred, the love of a devoted wife, the blissful
anticipation of becoming a happy and proud father, and in an evil hour
yield to a temptation which eventually would place the brand of the
felon upon his brow, would cause him to be shunned and despised by his
former friends and associates, clothe him in the garb of the convict,
and, if justice were meted out to him, would make him an inmate of a
prison.
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