The House of the Whispering Pines by Anna Katharine Green

I am not mad; -- I would to heaven I were! For then, 'tis like I should forget myself: O, if I could, what grief should I forget! Preach some philosophy to make me mad, For being not mad, but sensible of grief, My reasonable part produces reason How I may be delivered of these woes. "King John".

"I regret to disturb you, Arthur; but my business is of great importance, and should be made known to you at once. This I say as a friend. I might have waited for the report to have reached you from hearsay, or through the evening papers; but I preferred to be the one to tell you. You can understand why."