imagine he had not left this country; but I put myself in communication
with the French and Belgian police, as the best mode of tracing him if
he had crossed the sea. I had all the provincial papers filed at Peele's
and Deacon's Coffee-houses critically scanned, so that if any harm
befell him I should hear of it. This was a precaution I added to the
usual police inquiry through the _Hue and Cry_.
One day I got intelligence through a West-of-England paper that a
gentleman, answering to the description of Mr. Percival, had been found
wandering along the coast, in a state which indicated mental
disorganisation. I lost no time in proceeding to the spot, with the
doctor, and with Mrs. Percival, who insisted upon being of the party.
We claimed the poor man, who yielded himself up to our control like an
infant. We brought him to London, and took apartments for him in a
western suburb, so as to be out of the eye of gossips, and near to that
of his physician. It is, perhaps, needless to say that his wife attended
on him mainly with her own hands, and would let none but the rudest
offices be performed by any other person. Carriage rides, gentle
exercise, and tonic medicines told beneficially on the patient day by
day; so that in a few weeks, under the doctor's advice, arrangements
were made to take him, in his own yacht, to the north of Europe.
The physician explained to me that the secret of his malady was
disappointed or impatient ambition. He was an only son. He had
inherited, with his father's property, that gentleman's desire to
establish a house. He feared that the curse of sterility had fallen on
him or his wife, and the constant brooding over this thought had curdled
jealousy in his heart.
In the north of Europe Mr. Percival's mental health was completely
restored. On his return to England he called upon me, and thanked me
very sincerely for the part I had played in the narrative I have
described--stating that if any thing could exceed the claims I had upon
his gratitude for the attention I had bestowed upon him, it would be
the faithful manner in which I had combated and sought to destroy his
unfounded suspicions of his wife. A better or nobler woman did not, he
said, exist. She had, he feared, impaired her health by her vigilant
attention to him during his illness; and the only grief he now had was
the apprehension that, being _enceinte_, the change of air, and
Continental travel, which had just been recommended for her sake, would
be inadequate to restore a vigour and tone to her delicate system. I am
happy, however, in being able to state that these fears have not been
realised. Mr. and Mrs. Percival, who are among the very happiest people
in the world (the health of both, in mind and in body, being as nearly
perfect as they can be), have two sons, with the prospect of
contributing more guarantees against the termination of their pedigree
in this generation.
The End.
London:
Levey And Robson, Printers, Great New Street,
Fetter Lane.
* * * * *
Typographical Errors Corrected By The Etext Transcriber:
which indeed their was=> which indeed there was {pg 23}
thet investigation=> that investigation {pg 53}
which aliowed him=> which allowed him {pg 65}
a great deal of commissration=> a great deal of commisseration {pg 96}
unpretentious estabment=> unpretentious establishment {pg 111}
legiclature of great britain=> legislature of great britain {pg 125}
from which purported to have been issued=> from which it purported to
have been issued {pg 135}
she would cetainly=> she would certainly {pg 140}
neither of of which=> neither of of which {pg 147}
if dossible=> if possible {pg 153}
these must must be vouched=> these must be vouched {pg 186}
suffer it to to lie=> suffer it to lie {pg 197}
dispute and itigation=> dispute and litigation {pg 210}
he face became as pale=> his face became as pale {pg 236}
begining to the end=> beginning to the end {pg 243}
friends and acquaintance=> friends and acquaintances {pg 267}