Kennedy, driven to madness by his wife's
infidelity, which had become known to him through the quarrel between
Phineas and Mr. Bonteen,--had endeavoured to murder his wife's lover,
who had with the utmost effrontery invaded the injured husband's
presence with a view of deterring him by threats from a publication
of his wrongs. This murder had been nearly accomplished in the centre
of the metropolis,--by daylight, as if that made it worse,--on a
Sunday, which added infinitely to the delightful horror of the
catastrophe; and yet no public notice had been taken of it! The
would-be murderer had been a Cabinet Minister, and the lover who was
so nearly murdered had been an Under-Secretary of State, and was even
now a member of Parliament. And then it was positively known that the
lady's father, who had always been held in the highest respect as
a nobleman, favoured his daughter's lover, and not his daughter's
husband. All which things together filled the public with dismay, and
caused a delightful excitement, giving quite a feature of its own to
the season.
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