Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1885-07-24
THE WOMAN IN RED.
A Thrilling Italian Story of the
Last Century.
D., GEORGE w. NJ. REYNOLDS
CHAPTER MI.

ANOTHER PLOT TO CARRY OFF FRAN
CEsCA.
There was deep CONSERVATION and
grief In the Palace Donati; and al
though the dreaded .JeweSS had depar-
ted, the Countess and Francesca could
not shake off the vague terror which
her presence had caused She had
said Sho would return, and they knew
iHtuitivcly that She would keep her
word. The Countess Donati had Just
cause for alarm and dismay. She car
ried in her breast the knowledge -the
terrible secret that Francesca, her
dearly beloved Francesca, was not her
daughter. And now the words of this
woman-her manner and her intimate
acquaintance with circumstances none
but the real mother could have known
carried conviction to the soul of Con-
stanZa Donai that the Woman i'm Red
was indeed the mother of the girl
whom she had always looked upon a
her own. But though she bore about
with her this inward consciousness
sho did not suffer it to find vent i'm
words, even to herself, and To Frances
ca vebemently and angrily denied il. "
"Mother, dear MOTHER the young
girl cried Edo tell me that | am
indeed your daughter, and not that of
the poor Jcwess.'
"1ou are you are my child. The
woman is mad, and will take steps
10 have her punished as an impostOr
Shc shall be sent to prison and
scourged.
Mono. dear mother; do not have
her ill-uscd,' cried the gentle girl
"Shc has suffered much, and is in deep
grief. Poor woman, although she is
mistaken with respect to me, | feel
sure that she has really lost her child.
and, doubtless. it is that loss which
has driven her frantic
While mother and daughter thus
converse. the one trying TO reasSure
the other. a servant entered the room.
~ messenger. my lady. has just ar
rived, bearing dispatch from We
nice
Tho Countess took the mssve, and.
hastily breaking the seal proceeded
TO road it, 1t was from her husband
the Count; and, rs ConstanZa Donati
read it, her heart sank within her
With cry OF anguish she threw her
~ IL
burst Of uncomfortable grief
The Count wrote to say that one
misfortune had fallen on another; that
hc was utterly ruined in a pecuniary
sense; and his only hope of deliver
ancc from his difficulties was the OBJ
tanning Immediately of hundred and
fifty thousand ducats.
The unfortunate Countess had tried
In every conceivable way to obtain the
money. and had failed in all her eff
forts. And now ruin stared her in the
face. Francesca. her more than
daughter. for whom she would risk so
much, would be penniless instead of
wealthy heiress.
The Countess determined on making
ono great effort to avert the ruin which
threatened her husband. She gathered
together all her Jewels and valuables.
as also all trancesca's; and. placing
these in box, she sailed out with the
determination of selling or pledging
them for their full value. She knew,
alas. that the whole together could not
AMOUNT in value to more than half the
moGcy; btt yet she hoped that the full
saia migai be borrowed. she giving
her own s",u ity in addition.
Il is malt. and Francesca is again
a. 40. Ear chamber opens into a cor
a0r lead , from the great saloon of
IT, Palace Sonati. The poor girl is
o., ,wheimei with sorrow, for, besides
th. trouble i'm which her mother is in
viewed. Tie memory of her interview
W n the Woman in Red weighs heavi-
" n her mind She remembered her
p1Iting words-that she would return
Ia lain her daughter.
Inc windows of the large saloon
look out on garden tastefully laid
out i'm the italian style.
Two figures may be observed steal
ing cautiously along in the shadow,
AM silently approaching the mansion.
They have just alighted from a car
risge on the other side Of the wall
which divides the pleasure grounds of
the Palace Donati from . narrow street
running at the back. Both men are
cloaked. and both men carry swords.