dark-haired, and about twenty-five years of age. In an
interview with the Vicar of Darnall a few days before his
execution, Peace asserted positively that Mrs. Dyson had been his
mistress. Mrs. Dyson as strenuously denied the fact. There was
no question that on one occasion Peace and Mrs. Dyson had been
photographed together, that he had given her a ring, and that he
had been in the habit of going to music halls and public-houses
with Mrs. Dyson, who was a woman of intemperate habits.

Peace had introduced Mrs. Dyson to his wife and daughter, and on
one occasion was said to have taken her to his mother's house,
much to the old lady's indignation. If there were not many
instances of ugly men who have been notably successful with
women, one might doubt the likelihood of Mrs. Dyson falling a
victim to the charms of Charles Peace. But Peace, for all his
ugliness, could be wonderfully ingratiating when he chose.
According to Mrs. Dyson, Peace was a demon, "beyond the power of
even a Shakespeare to paint," who persecuted her with his
attentions, and, when he found them rejected, devoted all his
malignant energies to making the lives of her husband and herself
unbearable. According to Peace's story he was a slighted lover
who had been treated by Mrs. Dyson with contumely and
ingratitude.

Whether to put a stop to his wife's intimacy with Peace, or to
protect himself against the latter's wanton persecution, sometime
about the end of June, 1876, Dyson threw over into the garden of
Peace's house a card, on which was written: "Charles Peace is
requested not to interfere with my family." On July 1 Peace met
Mr. Dyson in the street, and tried to trip him up. The same