LOVE LETTERS OF MURDERED COUNTESS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 113, 28 September 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

LOVE LETTERS OF MURDERED COUNTESS.

ITALIAN COUtT ROMANCE WHICH KXDKI) IN TRAGEDY. A pitiful stun nf suffering on tin; part of a beautiful l:ul\ -in-waiting to Queen Elena of Italy is revealed by the publication ill Koine of letters, which were written by Countess Giulia Trigona to her lover, Lieutenant Baron Vinevenzo Paterno, who is now on trial for murdering her. The baron and the countess were well-' known in Rome, and their unhappy infatuation for each other caused great distress among their friends. The countess was finally removed from, her post as lady-in-waiting. She appealed to her lover, and they met at a small hotel in Rome in March of last year. The meeting ended in a violent quarrel, and cries were heard, and the countess was found dead on a couch, while the baron lay wounded on the floor. It is alleged that he killed the countess because she would not give him more money and then attempted suicide. The lawyer Cerrao, who had charge of

the countess' action for a separation from her husband, told the court on Monday that Baron Paterno was overloaded with debts and tried to induce the. countess to pay them. Moreover, in one of their last interviews the countess had told him (Cerrao) that Paterno had struck her with a stick and even showed him the bruises. Baron Paterno denied the accusations, but admitted having treated the countess brutally on one occasion and having addressed her as "Canaille." Both accused and accuser grew very excited and exchanged angry words.

The countess' maid declared on Tuesday that the countess pawned jewels and gave the money to Paterno, who pretended to borrow it from a moneylender.

A remarkable incident on Wednesday was the disclosure of an extraordinary document despatched to the princess by the jealous Sicilian just as she was about to go into residence at the Quirinal Palace for the performance of her Court duties.

The document is nothing less than a formal table of six commandments that run as follows:

Thou shalt salute his Majesty the King, but with ceremonious coldness. Thou shalt not look upon the King's noble guards. Thou shalt not go to the theatre. Thou shalt shun the greetings of men. Thou shalt not pay visits, nor on any account receive visits from males.

Thou shalt never reply to masculine voices over the telephone. Paterno seemed much cast down by the evidence of the princess's maid, Maddi, who with regard to the bullying and blackmail alleged to have been practised on the victim by her spendthrift lover said that Paterno, on taking £l6O from her just after she had obtained this loan through her lawyer, kissed the princess' hands in contentment. Her lawyer, Signor Cerrao, stated that when Paterno realised that his further exploitation of the princess was frustrated by legal so intent was he on provoking scandal at any cost that he arranged for a foul-mouthed cabman to ascend to her private apartment in the Royal palace and create a scene on the pretence of not having paid his fare. Another singular fact brought to light was that Paterno rented no fewer than four apartments in different parts of Palermo, so as to lessen the suspicions of the princess' family and friends as to their place of meeting.

Some hundreds of letters from the countess to her lover have been read to the jury. LOVE BRINGS SUFFERING. The letters indicate the suffering she endured for a whole year before her death, and months after she was disgraced. On April 30 she wrote to her lover a letter, in which she said: My adored Enzo. —I feel infinitely sad, almost more for you than for me. I understand that when one is in love certain things cannot be borne without suffering; but. my love, what fault have I therein? I love only you in the world, and never, for a single instant, would my love belong to any other. Why, why, my love, have you forced me to love you so? You have taken me, body and soul, and I suffei so much. My brain whirls, and I would give anything to know that at least you are calm and tranquil, and that you love me now as on the first •lay. In a letter of June 26 the Countess wrote: —

My adored Enzo.—Your letter of this morning has been a terrible blow. Do you really wish to leave me for ever? How can 1 live without you? I feel that I cannot go on leading this infernal life. I cannot tell you precisely the date of my liberation (from her husband), but one of these days I shall be alone in the world, without your love to uphold and comfort me. Come to Rome; we shall be so happy, and who knows if we may not arrange things so as to avoid the sorrow of separation? I will forget and abandon everything else for your sake, but do not forsake me like this. I kiss yon passionately with all the ardor of my undying love. G. How her love for Paterno had embittered her against her husband is shown in the following: July 25. My troubles are not ended, and continue to persecute me with incredible obstinacy and ferocity. The Toad (apparently her husband) telegraphed me this eveniug to say that lie will join me on Thursday in Milan. I have felt my heart freeze, and I could have cried for sheer disappointment and despair. LIFE THAT PALLED. The following letter is dated Vetriolo. August 21, ISO!): My Enzo, —For two nights 1 have not my eyes, thinking of your wicked letter, which has deeply grieved nte. How can you say you love me when you cause me so much suffering? My beautiful dream of love is dispelled in a moment, leaving me alone and so unhappy! l'es, I swear it; I seem to be alone in the world, abandoned by everybody. Is it true that I must only see you for a few months more? No; don't say it, unless you wish to cause my death. — Thy Giulia.

From Palermo the countess wrote that there were moments when she seemed to lose her reason. Then a letter comes from her lover which "restores me to life":—

Your tenderness has re-awakened in me the mad desire to see you again. Enzo, mio, how happy I shall be on the day when i can be near you and clasp you in my arms. . . ~ I swear there are days when I feel 1 can bear it no longer. I should like to leave Vetriolo and fly to thee Eternally thine! Giulia.

For a time the lovprs stayed together at Geneva, but the baron went off, leaving the lady desolate. Then she wrote:

Aly Enzo, —I am in despair at no having yon here any longer. Thi: morning, towards half-past ,ni. 'went to your door, hoping yon migh still be there, i wanted to kis- you to sec you. to siy I adoiv yon. am ask you not to leave; but you ha< already gone. My ldizo. what im mense sadness ami discouragement! uiulerstand now more than ever thai you are indispensable to me. and tlml without you, love, [ should not be abb to live.

At Palermo, in January, I'.lll), fiaroi: Paterno had shown signs of jealous} because he had seen the countess speaking to another man. She then wrote:—

What could I do, my adored one? We cannot and must not betray our feelings, and sometimes at the cost of a sacrifice, we must deceive the public. I adore you my Enzo. I kiss you with all my passion, the full extent of which you do not yet know. Thy Giulia. Early in February this year the eonntess returned to Rome. Doubts of her lover's fidelity had grown stronger. He had spoken angrily to her over the telephone, and she writes: My adored and wicked Enzo, —1 do not know what has come over you, and' why you were so irritable and cruel to me this evening over the telephone. You told be without any complaints that you did not want to send even so much as a little kiss. lam going to bed amazed, fallen from the clouds. I embrace you very sadly, wondering at your causeless discourtesy. . . . Giulia.

In a letter written only three weeks before the tragedy, the countess wrote: My adored Enzo, —Why do you tear to pieces a poor woman's heart in this cruel manner? Is this all the love you have for me ? You treat me as if I were a bad woman, deserving

of contempt and detestation. Good-bye, my treasure, I love you so, so much, and I have been wholly yours for the last nineteen months. Press me to your heart ever. I swear it, for I have adored you so strongly, even if you do not love me any longer; embrace me. . . Let me kiss you as I did the first time. Good-bye, my soul.