Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-07-18
time | eloped with Colonel Darcy until

time eloped with Colonel Darcy until
| met you again"
''Now, my DEAR" said Frank, edo not
harass your mind imagining | am
curious about that time, for | am not
[ always was satisfied that my wife,
whatever were the circumstances, did
what she thought best"
" A wife should have no secrets from
her husband, Frank" said Kate, laugh
ing.
And Uice oersa," retorted Frank.
"Of course" said Kate, saucily
Was 1t not cruel in me to leave you,
my betrothed husband, without a word
of explanation, to elope with the dashing
colonelW .
"There must have been a good rea-
son for it, little wife," answered loyal
Frank.
"There was. But to my story You
must have wondered often, as I did,
Frank, why my father had such objec-
tons to our marriage, because, previous
to that, he was full of your praise, and
has confessed to me since that had he
been free to choose he could not have
chosen a better man for my husband.
But Colonel Darcy, than whom great
er william never walked, held secret of
his like the sword of Damocles over his
head, threatening to let it fall if he
thwarted him in any Of his wishes. You
were in his way, and my father had to
act coolly to you, by the colonies orders,
remember, not by any wish of his own
The secret was this: My father, while
a student in Vienna, met an actress then
rising into considerable note. She was
beautiful talented and fascinating, and
my father, bewitched by her beauty and
genius, with the rash impetuosity of
youth, fell in love with her, proposed,
was accepted, and they were married.
The marriage was far from being a hap
py one, and my father very soon re-
pented the headstrong act that had tied
him to one whom he found to be nothing
but scheming adventures. The bick-
erlngs of this mismated couple [ leave
you to imagine; sufficient to say that at
last, by mutual agreement, they separa-
ted, my father settling a large sum of
money on his wife, she promising never
to return to England while he lived She
returned to the stage under her original
pseudonym of Signora Bettini, and, five
years afterward, the country rang with
the news of her death by fire in Paris
ian theatre. My father FASTENED to Paris
and buried his wife decently. Two years
after her death he met my mother, and
their meeting soon developed into that
love which has been the mainstay of my
fathers existence since. Six years ago,
this so-called Colonel Darcy called on
my father and gave him the astounding
news that his first wife was still alive in
Naples-that she had never returned to
the stage-but that the Signora Bettim
who was burned at Paris was her young
er sister who had not yet made much of
a reputation, and, as she resembled her
elder sister good deal, desired to gain
it under her name. How this intelli-
gence affected my poor father you can
readily guess; his hair grew white, his
| face furrowed, his step wavering, and
his whole life series Of apprehensions
lest his daughter should be discovered
to be illegitimate, his own honor
dimmed, and his beloved wife's name a
reproach. He compromised with the
then needy colonel by settling hand
some annuity on him, and consenting
that when l grew up 1 should marry
him. This continued up to the time of
our elopement When [ consented to
marry Darcy I knew only that he had
my father in his power; but what it was
[ knew not, SO [ stipulated that [
should have my own time to get ready,
feeling confident that if I could not re-
move the impeachment | could at least
find something in the colonePs history
to counterbalance it. During our en-
gagement drew the whole story from
father, threatening to break it if he did
not tell me- Ia aEe.gu
But" said Frank, ''if you had not
proved anything, did you mean to mar
ry the colonel?"
| '''No, never! I would have died
first" answered Kate. ''But had [
found everything to be true as he said,
| father and would have left England
quietly, and settled in some remote
village ON the Continent is#
"But you would have sent for me,
surely ?" said Frank.
"Sent for you'll" answered Kate.
"You do not imagine that would have
kept you to our engagement, if such a
loAAAiiSo Ntes' II w
"That would have made no differ
ence in my love, you know" said Frank,
reproachfully.
II could never have married any one
to bring reproach on his family-but
/ let me continue"
"You might at least have had my as
sistance to ferret out the scoundrel."
Frank" said Kate, II am proud, and
would rather have died than have you
know my shame, had it been true. Well,
[ hired a private detective, who soon
found that the colonel-whose real name
was Salford-Was worthless scamp and
adventurer, who, under assumed names,
had forged bills on several banks in Eu-
rope, and was in great demand by police
officers generally. With this information
1 might easily have repealed the colonel,
but was determined to get at the truth
of the other matter. Here, again, my
detective assisted me. My father still
happened to have a picture of his first
wife in his desk, which | showed the de-
tectlve. In tracing the colonel to place