“Death seems to have been inflicted by two instruments—­a wounding and a cutting one.  As yet, no other weapon but the stake has been discovered, and a strict search for the missing hand has also proved fruitless.  No motive for this wanton outrage suggests itself, except that the unhappy gentleman was in the habit of wearing on his right hand a sapphire ring of great value.” (An heirloom; it is on my finger as I write, dear Nell.  Oh! my poor boy.) “All curiosity is astir to discover the perpetrator of this horrible deed; and it is with the deepest regret that we are obliged to state that every fresh link in the chain of evidence points with fatal accuracy to one whose position, character, and universal popularity would seem to place him above suspicion.  We would not willingly intrude upon the privacy of domestic interests, but the following facts will too soon be matters of public notoriety.

“A younger sister of the deceased appears to have formed a matrimonial engagement with George Manners, Esq., of Beckfield.  It was strongly opposed by Mr. Lascelles, and the objection (which at the time appeared unreasonable) may have been founded on a more intimate knowledge of the suitor’s character than was then possessed by others.  The match was broken off, and all intercourse was suspended till the night of the murder, when Mr. Manners gained admittance to the hall in the absence of Mr. Lascelles, and was for some hours alone in the young lady’s company.  They were found together a little before nine o’clock by Mr. Lascelles, and a violent scene ensued, in the course of which the young lady left the apartment. (Miss Lascelles has been ill ever since the unhappy event, and is so still.  Her deposition was taken in writing at the hall.) From the young lady’s evidence it appears, first, that the passions of both were strongly excited, and she admits having felt sufficient apprehension to induce her to twice warn Mr. Manners to self-control.  Secondly, that Mr. Manners avowed himself prepared to defy Mr. Lascelles’ authority in the matter of the marriage; and thirdly, the two sentences of their final conversation that she overheard (both Mr. Manners’) were what can hardly be interpreted otherwise than as a threat, that ‘their next meeting should be a different one,’ and that then ‘he would not ask for Mr. Lascelles’ hand, but take it.’  The diabolical character of determined and premeditated vindictiveness thus given to an otherwise unaccountable outrage upon his victim, goes far to take away the feeling of pity which we should otherwise have felt for the murderer, regarding him as under the maddening influences of disappointed love and temporary passion.  Perhaps, however, the most fatally conclusive evidence against Mr. Manners lies in the time that elapsed between his leaving the hall and being found in the park by the murdered body.  He left the house at a quarter past nine—­he was found by the body of the deceased a little before eleven; so