The first page on which his eye fell was the page on the
right-hand side. It contained those very letters--three in
number--which he had once been so anxious to see. He tried to
read them, but no effort could fix his wandering attention. He
looked aside to the opposite page, on the left hand. It was the
page that contained the leading articles.
They were three in number. The first was on foreign politics; the
second was a sarcastic commentary on a recent division in the
House of Lords; the third was one of those articles on social
subjects which have greatly and honorably helped to raise the
reputation of the _Times_ above all contest and all rivalry.
The lines of this third article which first caught his eye
comprised the opening sentence of the second paragraph, and
contained these words:
It appears, from the narrative which will be found in another
part of our columns, that this unfortunate woman married, in the
spring of the year 18--, one Mr. Fergus Duncan, of Glendarn, in
the Highlands of Scotland. . .
The letters swam and mingled together under his eyes before he
could go on to the next sentence. His wife exhibited as an object
for public compassion in the _Times_ newspaper! On the brink of
the dreadful discovery that was advancing on him, his mind reeled
back, and a deadly faintness came over him.
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