Omaha daily bee., 1888-03-18

see you about. You remember Arthur
Varley's wife, of course?"
Castleton looked up with interest.
"She died last week at Nice"
Possibly l saw nothing of it,"
~ attended her in her last illness. 1t
va a curious case: ! was called in very
suddenly in the middle of the night.
She had been thrown from her horse
that day, while riding, and the shock,
Arthur said, brought on n congestive
chill, though she was not injured. l did
not believe it could have that effect
without prolonged mental strain pre-
ceding the fall. Arthur looked aghast
when / suggested as much. Still, he
ended by acknowledging that Mrs. Var
ley had seemed to have something in
her mind for a long time. L did not
! think him looking we'll, either. Well,
to be brief, her brain became affected,
ing delirium. And what form do you
| suppose her mania took? She imagined
| she had murdered that nan who was
found dead in the grounds of her villa
the morning of the day she was married
to Arthur.
Castleton had thrown himself back in
his chair. He smoked a few moments
with his eyes on the ceiling. Then he
said
81 am going to give you the benefit of
an experience l had-well, it's twenty
| years ago, now. During a short So
journ in the southwest 1 happened to
witness the marriage of two youthful
lo~vers-the girl, at least, could not have
been more than fifteen-a runaway
| couple l believe The bridegroom,
| who was a colossal fellow, a finimal, had
| just enough money in his pocket to pay
for his license. the bride, l suspect,
| had no other trousseau or dover than
the clothes she wore on her back
at the time. But, though the two could
barely write their names, and were
thus deficient in worldly goods, they
went off as happy as lords. The Incl
lent was diverting, but | should not
have remembered it if it had not been
my youthful imagination. 1t was not
only beauty superlative in a degree, but
| most unusual in kind. She was as light
and flexible as a panther. She had a
mass of tawny hair, and with it the
warm olive-tinted complexion which
habiturlly accompanies black hair.
| Most singular of all, though, she had
eyebrows %unevenly marked; while one
was straight and level the other, the
left one, was as keenly arched as a Cir
cumfeX accent"
Moornouse gave vent to. a low excla-
nation.
"Of course 1 did not see my crackers
again. Castleton resumed. Three
wears ago, however, | met here in Paris
| the woman we have both since known as
| having the same popularity. The first
time | saw Madamed'Arroyos-all Paris
was talking about her-I was reminded
| of my beautiful young savage, who had
gone out of my mind in the interval
as completely as though she had never
| existed. Arthur Marley had already
secured the entree to the villa on the
Avenue de IImperatrice and was MAX
ing the running against all competitors,
J and | was frequently there with them.
| One day that a portrait of II lady was
being discussed | ventured to make the
remark that | had only once before seen
eyebrows like hers. ! went on to tell
her the incident I just told you. We
were standing a little apart together"
Castleton here suddenly leaned intently
forward in his chair. 'The change
that swept over that woman's face L
could not begin to describe to you.
Some people might not have noticed 1T.
[ might not have under some clrcum-
| stances. She had herself under control
in a moment. To the last.I am sure she
never suspected for an instant that she
had BETRAYED herself to me. But that
one moment to me was like a flash OF
light on darkness. The belief, prepos-
ferrous as it seemed at first, that the wild
| chit of a country girl | had seer mar
| ried wears before, and this elegant
woman of the world, were one and the
| same person, sprung up in me ana re-