Mrs. Enderby and her child
disappeared in a day or two. It was said that ladies from London had
come and fetched her away, and she was no more heard of in that
little town.
Miss Bygrave, an elder sister of Mrs. Enderby, had received a letter
from Paul summoning her to the wife's aid: and this letter, dated
from Liverpool, after disclosing in a few words the whole situation,
went on to say that the writer, though he would never more be seen
by those who knew him, would not fail to send his wife what money he
could as often as he could. And, after half a year, sums had begun
to be remitted, in envelopes bearing a Californian postmark. They
were not much use, however, to Mrs. Enderby. A few days after her
arrival at her home in London, she had been discovered hanging, with
a rope round her neck, from a nail behind her bedroom door. Cut down
in time, her life was saved, but reason had forsaken her. She was
taken away to an asylum, and remained there for five years.
By that time, she seemed to have quite recovered. Her home was now
to be with her sister, Theresa Bygrave. Her child, Maud Enderby, was
nearly seven years old. Mrs. Enderby returned to the world not quite
the same woman as when she left it.
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