New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-10-17

| ened ? Think OF yourself hCnccforwaru only Us
| her SON. not his"
| tried TO do so, but the brand OF disgrace was
nevertheless burned into my heart the same.
Those ensuinc days, up to the time OF the execu-
ton. and after it as well. Swallowed with
fearful gloom When the fatal day itself arrived.
Mrs Dorian watched me in illhid perturbation
and | was sure that she had misgiN lngs lest
should succumb to relapse Of my former all
mcnt. But for the stay and help OF her pres
cncc might indeed have done so. hen all was
over she told me OF how Leopold ClatIss had paid
the dismal debt which he owed to his fellow
men. but she permitted no printed account or the
execution 10 reach my hands. He had died with
stolid calm, never once hinchng as he assembled
the scofold, showing trace OF weakness
while he met his doom.
| n,lring this most mOurnful and bitter period
Of my life was not without a sense of consoa-
tcn and thanksgiving. The worse woe from
which my prutectrcss had snatched me seemed
like some direct Heavenly ntercession. My
knowledge of the world about was not 50
United but that | could than partially esti-
mate the rarity of my pres mt p-sition. The
caprice of foreign eccentric lady had completely
altered my future. Thus would have run the
general popular comment deciding that was one
| in many thousands But this conclusion would
have been unfair. Ms. Dorian had countless
caprices. an yet the sentiment which had IN
spircd dcscN ed a glager term. more conven-
tonal woman would have repcssed such an emo
ton as hers A woman of dantier cabre would
la, c sh1lnl< from my possible inherited faults
| A woman Of less bold mag nation and less vital
! sympathies would have found in my s0mbrc ante
! cedents a icas IN for clothing her pity impcrson-
! ally. and have made it, if regarded at all a mere
! bcncV olcnt act Of aims. But MIS-. Dorian. who
! loved TO gIatify her whims. had fcarlessy faced
| tic emergency OF n much more serious lmpu'sc
| The shadow of the scafold bathcd me the stigma
of All atro'ir rrmc p:arliSi me was human
! Nn!f which mrsht he swept into That BLACK
| whirlpool of DEGRADATION ever ready for such
! hc,Llc,S Out.aSts 1t dclighted h,T to snatch me
as u hr,,nl from tie bnnng. 1t delighted her
TO bcromc my rescue, my salvation. my lucky
| accident my star Of good omen. my destiny
| my pcrsOniiicd fate Her love for me was wholly
! spontaneous and natural. | had charmed her
from the first hour that she dad seen me. and
| tie s,ell of this charm dccncncd during my
| weeks of bodily peril and grew fascination
! while recovery slowly buoyed me through con
| valcsccn,c to Icgamed health | do not know
| what | did said To make her so tcndcry fond
| of me. In the after yeats Of our intercourse L
| have never known. We sometimes hear OF
! crafty adventmels winning with all sorts Of
|
But / am certain that my guardian would have
been proof against any such willy siege in one Of
older years She had no ready crcdence for the
s'ratecic and plausible. and she was by no means
| blind to the stolid material vantage which any
one who sought her special FAY or might count
! II; On securing Her estimate Of character was
rapid AM usually correct | have sometimes
fancicd that she gave fIcer rein to her instincts
teCansc of a selfreliant certainty that they could
land her in any awkward swamps or fens
The foot that trca,s carefully often does so from
muscular frailty. and they who walk through life
with lax gait are not always the most easily
trpped.
She assured me that she had no cause to fear
had reused the slightest suspicion in Mr.. Steven
Dorian Not that he isn't quite capable of
Ina ing it about any at moments notice
she frankly allowed "EIe is the sort of person
who feeds on dstrllst of everybody, and l ques-
ton whether he has ever given a fellow-creatIre
ce it for q sin lie unselish motive lie has been
in the silk all his liie just my late nus
banl | suppose there is spI cry smooth
ness about silk that makes the continual handing
OF it morally hurtful as If one were always on
! his guard a .ainst oily rogueS. He has an Idea
! that | should ADOPT his boy, Foulke. as my heir.
whch is purely absurd. What horid thlnE have
! thus far done in my life that should be forced
! 10 gaze continually upon tEat armament OF
| fIecles? | should always, IN mor3idY ner,
yous way, he trying 10 count them BESIDES L
| ha,e bloOd-rVlatiOns OF my own III france as laf
rs that gO,S. AMI FOukc VIII PROBABLY get large
! heritage from his father. .
our steamer sailed 50 early that none Of Mrs.
! Dorian's friends were at the wharf 10 pld her
! farewell ! was glad, for obvious reasons that
| neither Mr. Ste, en- EOrian nor his son ap cared.
! | left America with sad eNultatlon AS her
shores receded from my gaze saw them m th!Ou n
| teals rather Of rpl0ach than regret. W mar hah
! this lan brouoht me but sorrow ana heart
! brcaI<in,? There lay the dishonor. the lntamy OF
| nv faherhOod Why should il not abide there
! f,,rn With between
| A new life was promised Inc in those unseen east
| eIn Ian s of whose art AMI lOetry AMI precious
| antiquity | was not altogether lshoi'til@ rar
! best | should never return
! And these feelings Of long DURATION
| hal thus far seen only what was darkest am most
| PAINFUL in American life; | now saw what was
INST brilliant an alluring in European Before
| placing me at school in Gene a. my irl' II showed
! me nearly every country In Europe. we uav-
! g led almost en- prince; we had our courier, our
| servants. our conyeniences an luxuries | drank
| deep dralghts of care the bancful rast loSC LOT
| me its raw. haring tine; new association diew
n kinilv haze across it TIL the retrospective PiCV
ur, looked as dim as some Of these Oh l&led
! tapcstries n the galleries which we VISITED NY
! altered con litions of living were assumed WIN
| sli hit constraint awkwarlncss. mad no VuI
| ga,ities to Ii g down either in sreech or deport
| ment: my careful and patient mother hah never
| lost her own sense OF these ncetlcs am 10 nNseu
| they came rs unc nSclouS dover IL was
! sironre with what ease filed my present place
! il was like finding a costly garment. qulety put
! finq il IN and pcrcei in the ht to be eXcelrnI
! Sometimes the intense un eaty OF my fortunes
would confront and imrrss me the widening
score Of my own experiences as ! stood before
! 800 root statue in Rome or watched some
masterpiece OF painting in Florence. would brlng
me bewildered thrill What "ulfs OF difference
! Law between our sumptuous Partisan apartments
| "Lonce ono could see that glorious Arc de 1ri-
o mphc' that MIGHTY sweep Of the Place de Ia
c. ncordc AMI the little suburban dwelling near
the huge black rock. or the solemn nowery uh er-
tnI,ers shon with it's satin-lined coffin in the win
dow and its two or three tiny upstairs bedrooms
|
But of all parts Of Europe Switzerland became
Ms Dorian would leave me for months at time
While was at school; in nearly al the great cap
ita's she had frends-artists, poets, painters, men
| ~ exce tiunal talent in a hundred WAYS: whom