Страница 763 из 896

"The patient was a woman of great beauty, and young; assuredly

not much past twenty. Her hair was torn and ragged, and her arms

were bound to her sides with sashes and handkerchiefs. I noticed

that these bonds were all portions of a gentleman's dress. On one

of them, which was a fringed scarf for a dress of ceremony, I saw

the armorial bearings of a Noble, and the letter E.

"I saw this, within the first minute of my contemplation of the

patient; for, in her restless strivings she had turned over on

her face on the edge of the bed, had drawn the end of the scarf

into her mouth, and was in danger of suffocation. My first act

was to put out my hand to relieve her breathing; and in moving

the scarf aside, the embroidery in the corner caught my sight.