Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1879-05-22
Au 0riaiual Stnrg.
Written for the Yorkville Enquirer.
RACHEL RAYS SECRET,
CHAPTER VII.

CHAPTER VII.
Why sleeps he not, when others are at rest
BYRON.
Let US now, for while, turn our attention
to a fashionable German watering-plsce, where
motley crowd Of pleasure-seekers are assem-
bled. Enterprising mothers with passes
daughters, undisguissdly on the qu' v'os tor
eligible parties querulous invalids, young
and old, seeking the benefit Of the baths, with
more or less success ; veteran roues and but
teray coxcombs, gay widows, and unsophistl'
Gated misses just making their debut upon
the stage of society; officers on farlough, stu
dents on holiday tour, travelling artists, poets,
gamblers, men and women Of every rank,
and almost every nationality, under the sun,
compose this varied throng. The season is at
it's height, and every place of amusement is
daily and nightly crowded especially the
gaming tabIes-which, unfortunately, not
places of amusement slone-are the resort OF
a steady and constant influx of visitors, who
Quit them but to make room at once for
fresh set. Vast sums of money are here con-
tinually staked and lost; and who can read
the inward pangs of many heart, concealed
by the mask Of a smiling face? Others, less
used to selfcontrol, betray their misfortunes !;
but no one has leisure to pity them. Only a
week ago, there was suicide-a youth of
eighteen, driven to desperation by repeated
losses, the last and heaviest beinga sum fraud
ulently obtained, and beyond hispower to re-
place, having scattered his brains, with pis-
tol, upon the marble floor Of one Of the ele-
g.nt salons. It was shocking affair, GER
tainly. But it soon blew over, and the re-
membrance of the tragedy was merged into
the engrossing round of dissipation, which
left its votaries no time for melancholy
thoughts
There is one amid the mixed assemblage,
for whom its pleasures, its excitements and
its follies seem to possess no charm; mel
ancholy-looking gentleman who walks apart,
noticing few, though himself the object OF
general remark and unsatis6ed inquiry and
speculation. He haunts the gaming rooms,
which appear to offer him some unaceounta,
bic attraction; unaccountable, because he is
never induced to play. Like shadow he
hovers about the players, watching keenly all
who come and 60. Some people imagine him
to be detective; others, ruined gambler,
whom the force of habit and association still
!. chains to the'scene of his former excitements
and losses He is familiar with no one, is
courteous when addressed, but rarely takes
the initiative, and has never been seen to
smile. 1t has been rumored that he is a
prince in disguise. Again, the assertion has
obtained that he is political envoy, on whose
secret negotiations nations welfare may de-
pend. Ii short, there is no suggestion which
has not been hazarded by the idle and the
curious, concerning this mysterious man, and
none which has not fallen wide of the mark.
A plain American gentleman, with no inter.
est in politics or intrigue, but with the ac-
complishment of one absorbing object, which
sthrows all others in the background, ever in
view, he fingers here in the hope Of discover
ing. some clue to what he seeks, without CIV
ing a thought to the. inquiries which ne ex-
cites, or, indeed, knowing that he is the OBJ
ject of inquiry at all. .-......
t Madame d'Estay, brilliant Frenchwo-
man, widow of an officer who, about twelve
month ago, lost his life in duel, (the result,
it may be added, of levity and imprudence on
. her part), has been informed, by some one
whose information she believes reliable, that
this Monsieur Vivian, as he is here called, is
possessed of immense wealth, and is also
unmarried-a conjunction of circumstances
which appears to her peculiarly fortunate.
By some means or other, she has succeeded in
having him introduced to her, and loses no
opportunity of engaging him in conversation,
and of exercising to the utmost her powers OF
fascination upon him. He is cold and re-
served, and apparently impervious to the del
lcate Aattery which she so gracefully offers
but she is not easily discouraged, for she has
too much at stake to be timid. Let US frank
" admit the truth-she has lost at play of
late, and lost heavily; and she entertains de.
signs upon the purse, if not the heart, Of this
rich American. If it should prove necessary
to marry him, in order to carry out these de-
signs, she will accept the necessity, though
on the whole she would prefer not to enter
upon second. alliance; the married state is
so dull! Monsieur Vivian unhappily does
not fall iu with her plans. 1t may be that he
wilfully blinds himself to them, for they are
certainly plain. enough to be discovered.
There is an English family, which also pays
him much attention, though of different
sort. The father, jolly old fox-hunting
Squire, who feels himself quite out Of his
element in this atmosphere of dissipation, and
amid these odd foreign customs, extends a
friendly degree of interest and sympathy to
one who, apparently has as great distaste
for their surroundings as he has himself; and
thinks that man, without family ties, who
keeps 30 steady amid temptation, must have
some good in him. The mother, placid
fair.faced dame, nearly as young.looking as
her daughters, pities the evident Loneliness
of the stranger, and judges from his aspect
that he has met with bereavement. The
two daughters, Leonora and Camilla, share
their mammals views, but are more reticent
in expressing them. Though Camilla has
whispered to her sister that Mr.. Vivian is GER
tainly EXTREMITY handsome, and that she does
feel so sorry for him. Camilla is the young
est, and though twenty.six years of age, is
still called the haby. and is waited upon and