Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1875-02-19

| eSf|P
7 Wheres!"
Part of these remarks were made in TIA
: ian: some calculated in English.
"Bagatelle!'' replied the baron; s'you ar
: mistaken, slgnor. 1t must have been som
some other Villa d'Aosta.''
"No, 1t wasn't" returned the Amer
can; land for my part, [ think you are II
more baron than IN julius Cesar''
| He certainly looked offended, thong
happily the last sentence was in English
in fact, he had been so unaccustomed t.
be contradicted. that it positively con
fused him. Ard he could not help MOTTO
ing that the count looked excessively tic
killed., as well as triumphant
That evening, when the baron advanced
to attend the princess to the salon, she de
clined his offer to place the shawl on he
shoulders, as he had always done; and il
the most perfect manner, without snubbine
or putting him down, allowed him to dis
cover fol- himself that she was utterly in
different to him.. 1t was just as if the
moon were to take the place of the sun. il
a quiet and undemonstrative way, with nc
explanation given.
But, OF course, an explanation was to be
demanded; and as soon as the dinner was
over the baron sought and obtained a tete
| d-tete in the corner of the Sale DIES Danes
We all had the decency to read Galignani
| or play bezique, OF otherwise to throw a
veil over our curiosity, as we anxiously
watched the development of the plot and
tried to hedge our bets before it was too
late.
Suddenly the baron started to his feet
and uttered loud execrative exclamation,
which / decline to translate. His soul
now most clearly betrayed it's passionate
ness, but there was rather more light than
sweetness in his eyes as he glared round
the room in search of the hapless American
We all sprang to our feet, too; the ladies
near the door rapidly retreated, and the
men looked at one another, half amused,
half angrily.
''If | knew who had poisoned the mind
Of madame, 1 would dilaniate' him-tear
him in pieces shrieked the baron. ssThat
viper of an Americana
cit was not the American answered
the count, coming quietly out of a ecess;
II told madame what he had discovered
The baron so far forgot the peri ectness
Of his manners, and evident desire to
please, as with his open palm to slap the
count on the face. But in another second
he found himself in that physical check
mate known as chancery-he had got his
head under his rivals left arm, who was
holding it down to convenient level for
the right hand to bob his nose-and there,
before the princess, in the Sale DIES Danes,
was being displayed scene from the Brit
ish ring; chairs and. tables going every
where, as the quadrupedal monster per-
formed it's cratic revolutions amid the
screams Of women, the shouts of men, the
tgroans of the maatre, and the indescribab1e
cries of establishment uttered by the whole
staff of the hotel, which had been gathered
together at the door by the first exclama-
lions Of the Baron.
The Anglo-Saxon nationality having, in
spite of the principle of non-intervention
separated the Latin and the Teuton, the de-
serted combatant was assisted to his room,
and looked to by an English doctor who
happened to be at the hotel, and who re-
ported that, with the exception of couple
of broken teeth, nothing of consequence
was to be apprehended beyond further
requisition OF his services at rencontre
OF different character, which, however,
would not be possible for some little time.
owing to a dificulty his patient had in see
ing. And the next morning we found that
the maitre had given the Baron notice to
quit the Bon Vivant forthwith and SO we
saw no more Of the Baron Monteggiana
Tavernelle.
In ten days OF SO, the Count received
letter from him, dated at Florence. In it
the Baron demanded satisfaction, and re-
quired that the Count should meet him at
Florence OF, if more convenient, at Rome.
In reply, the latter expressed his readiness
for an interview. but positively declined to
fatigue himself with an unnecessary jour-
ney. The affair could very well be settled
in the place where it began. The letter.
was carefully and fully directed, registered
and posted by the Count himself.
In the ordinary course of events an an
swer was due in four or five days at the
farthest ; but a fortnight passed without
any, and at length he received the follow
ing, dated at Rome >
ieSJu,-T to
which you have done me by, addressing a
letter to me at my house in Florence land
must apologize for my. inability to under
stand it. Your name is strange to me Z
was never in the place from which yoia
write; have not been in Florence for sew
eral months; and [ must conclude that
there is some mistake. 1t is possible that
my name has been assumed by ras,cally
valet who robbed me last year of several
private papers anda considerable sam Of
money, but whom I could not convenient
ly prosecute"
Then followed description which talli-
ed exactly with the appearance of our ba-
ron. 1t seems that the letter being regis
tered, had been sent on to the real baron
at his residence in Rome, instead of being
delivered to the false one at the address
given by him at Florence
The princess was, no doubt, overwhelm-
ed with shame at finding she had been en-
couraging a valet instead of his master: for
she at once admitted the count to the priv
ilege of paying her more attentions than
ever. | think, too, she really liked him.
Anyhow, he had proved himzelf substan-
TALLY able to protect her; and the scuf1e
with his rival had in no degree lessened
him in her esteem.
OF course we were not behind the scenes,
and could only judge of the probable course