Port Royal commercial and Beaufort County Republican. [volume] (Port Royal, S.C.) 1873-1874, 1874-02-19
" How. lady 2"

"For one year be faithful to the love
you have professed, and I will be yours
as truly as heaven shall spare my
life."
"Oh, cruel suspense !"
You demur ?"
"Nay, lady, I shall fulfill your in
functions as I promised"
eff at the expiration of a year you
do not hear from me, then the contract
shall be null and void. Take this
half ring" she continued, "and when
1 supply the broken portion I will be
yours"
He kissed the little emblem, swors
again and again to be faithful, and
pressing her hand to his lips bade her
adieu.
He was conducted away as mystic
riously as he had been brought thither
nor could he by any possible means
discover where he had been, his COM
panions rejecting all bribes, and even
refusing to answer the simplest ques-
tions.
Months roll on. Colonel Merville is
true to his VOW, and happy in the an
ticipation of love. Suddenly he was
ordered on an embassy to Vienna, the
gayest of all the European capitals,
about the time that Napoleon was
planning to marry the Archduchess
Maria Louisa. The young Colonel is
handsome, manly, and already distin-
guished in arms, and becomes at once
great favorite at court, every effort
being made by the women to captivate
him, but in vain he is constant and
true to his VOW.
But his heart is not made of stone
the very fact that he had entertained
such tender feelings for the..white domi-
no had doubtless made him more sus.
ceptible than before.
At last he met the young Baroness
Caroline Won Waldroff, and in spite OF
his vows she captivates him, and he Sc
cretly curses the engagement he had so
blindly made at Paris. She seems to
wonder at what she believes to be his
devotion-and yet the distance he
maintains ! The truth was that his
sense of honor was so great that,
though he felt he loved the young bar
oness, and even she returned his affec-
ton, still he had given his word, and
that was sacred.
The satin domino is no longer the
ideal of his heart, but assumes the
most repulsive form in his imagination,
and becomes, in place of his good
angel, the evil genius.
Well, time rolls on he is to run in a
few days-it is once more the carnival
season; and in Vienna, too, that gay
city. He joins in the festivities of the
masked ball, and wonder fills his brain,
when, about the middle of the evening,
the white domino steals before him in
the same white satin dress he had seen
her wear year before at the French
Opera House in Paris. Was 1T not a
fancy?
"i come, Colonel Eugene Merville,
to hold you to your promise" she said,
laying her hand lightly upon his arm.
els this reality or a dream ?" asked
the amazed soldier.
"Come, follow me, and you shall
see that it is a reality" continued the
mask, pleasantly.
"I will"
"Have you been faithful to your
promise ?" asked the domino, rs they
retired into saloon.
"Most truly in act; but, alas, I fear
not in heart"
"Indeed."
cit is too true, lady, that I have
seen and loved another though my
VOW to you has kept me from saying so
to her."
"And who is it that you love?"
CT will be frank with you, and you
will keep my secret"
"Most religiously."
"It is the Baroness Won Waldroff, !"
he said, with sigh.
"And you really love her?'
"Alas only too dearly" said the
soldier, sadly.
Nevertheless I must hold you to
your promise. Here is the other half
of the ring; can you produce its
mate p
Here it is" said Eugene Merville.
"Then ], too, keep my promise, "
said the domino, raising her mask, and
showing to his astonished view the face
of the Baroness Won Waldroff.
She had seen and loved him for his
manly spirit and character, and having
found by inquiry that he was worthy of
her love, she had managed this deli
cate intrigue, and had tested him, and
now gave him her wealth, title, and
everything.
They were married with great pomp,
and accompanied the archduchess to
Paris. Napoleon, to crown the happi-
ness of his favorite, made him at once
q nanaral of division