Read "A Bankrupt Heart, Volume I" by Florence Marryat online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
All the women who had witnessed the accident hung over the parapet of the bridge, screaming at the top of their voices after the manner of their kind, whilst the men ran off for assistance. The police were summoned; boats, with grappling irons, were put out, and every effort made to rescue the unfortunate suicide, but in vain. Nothing was seen or heard of the body. No crafts had been immediately under the bridge at the moment. Two or three empty barges were moored in its vicinity, but their black beams could tell no tales. The search was not given up until it was pronounced unavailing, and the police went back to report the circumstance at headquarters. Next morning there appeared a paragraph in the dailies with the headline -- ‘Mysterious Suicide from Waterloo Bridge.'
‘Last evening, as the large audiences were turning out of the transpontine theatres, and wending their way homewards, a thrilling accident, or what may have been so, occurred on Waterloo Bridge. A tall, lady-like, well-dressed young woman, was walking quietly amongst the passengers, apparently as soberly-disposed as any amongst them, when, without sound or warning, she suddenly vaulted over the parapet and dashed into the river. The act was so unpremeditated, and took the bystanders so completely by surprise, that there was no opportunity of preventing the terrible catastrophe. The peaceful crowd was immediately transformed into an agitated mass; all striving to give the alarm, or aid in rescuing the unfortunate woman. The police behaved magnificently on the occasion. In less time than we could write the words, boats were put out and every possible assistance given, but no trace of the body could be found though the grappling-irons were used in every direction. It is supposed that she must have fractured her skull against one of the empty barges moored in proximity to the bridge, and sunk beyond recall. The occurrence created a painful sensation among the bystanders. Women were fainting, and men rushing about in all directions.