St. Paul daily globe., 1890-05-11
ONLY AN IRRESPONSIBLE WOMAN.
She Was Fond of Admiration and Claimed 1t Always Even
at the Price of Human Life.
Story Of One Mans Passionate Alteration Under Italy
Warm Sun--She Only Laughed.

He had met ner at CaSd uel hio, "l0
of the few houses that he frequented IN
Florence, and his first impression OF her
was repusve.
The thoughtlessness, the continual
laughter and jest upon everything,
which seemed like 4 trait of cynlcsm;
the familiarity of manner. which went
quite too far. and the impertinent row.
dyism which made the Countess Lea dl
Maia type quite by herself, had caused
him to avoid her.
For Massimiliano Montalto vas really
man of by-gOne times, with soul OF
the chivalrous and mystic temper of
medieval days. The great love of his
life was his mother, who lived in
small town of Piedmont, and with whom
he maintained a constant daily corre-
spondence, Ikea child or lover. VI
love, his ideal was too elevated. Illicit
relations seemed to HIM abject. like a
betrayal; they were repugnant to hlmi
and he had never found young girl
who answered to his ideal of wife.
The girls of the present day seemed to
him too frivolous and too badly brought
up. Therefore lie rarely sought the So
ciety of women; and Lea, more than all
those whom he had met in Florence.
disgusted and repealed him.
But Lea had quickly OWNED the dis
like of Mass (as his friends called him).
and the false Self-esteem OF woman
accustomed to alteration and incense
was piqued and even offended by it. 1t
seemed to her unnatural.
However good at heart she may have
been, Lea was dominated by an uncOn
scious desire to charm, by an overpow-
ering wish to be admired and sought.
The wave of admiration and worship
rising around her cansed her an acnte
sensation of pleasure, which intoxicated
her. On the line OF the greatest resist
ance- she redoubled her will and en-
ergy, without meaning any harm Or
wishing to injure amy one, but as dis
play Of WOman'S pOwer.aS a proof OF her
own destinations.
Lea had promised herself to conquer
and tame "the wild man."
She had been obliged to do certain
violence to his reserve, but she had sue
ceeded, partly by force and partly by
stratageni, in penetrating to the last in
trenchmentS of the enemy.
At Casa del Rio Mass had become her
aim. She called him, shefattracted him
self to him 50 Kind. so simple. so friend
lv, that Mass, after a little holding back,
had ended by acceDting the familiarity
so spontaneously offered to HIM. So
there was established between them a
friendship that quickly attained the de-
gree Of genuine intimacy.
"Aiontalto, come here; tell me what
YOU have been doing with yourself
these days. You know that you must
keep me Informed"
And between them went on intermi-
nable conversations, which generally
turned into Semi-seri0us disputes, for
these two were almost always at oppo-
site poles.
Once, IN salating him, Lea had said:
II. too, receive my friends on the
evenings when l do not go out, l hope
you will come to see me, too"
And Mass had quickly replied: Il
will come" And he had gone there,
again and again, at first ralely, then
frequently, then almost every evening.
They often had little quarrelS. Mass
rebuked her for her wayWardness an'
her small follies. He had assumed the
tone ofssan old friend. of an elder
brother. Lea laughed and gave herself
a void Of amusement in this continual
contest, this play of jests, of repartee,
i
teased her "wild man."
One evening she asked him to his
face, "Ihen YOU never have loved?
Truly. do You not love any one? You
must tell me, because am your conf
dante"
The question strangely disturbed
him. and lie answered No"
"But are you then an anchorite?"
And Lea's eyes, a trlfle moeking, faSci-
mated him.
Mass had~quickly turned the conver-
sation, but that night he bad not been
able to sleep. He did not appear for
several days.
When he did reappear, Lea reproved
she seemed cool toward him, and great
ly occupied with n new acquaintance an
elegant yonng man from Rome, the
brother Of one of her friends who had
come to pass little time with his sister.
Mass felt uncomfortable. He did not
understand why, bnt that newcomer
and the manners, a little too familiar as
usual, 0faI .ea, gave him annoyance.
Another evening q heavier blow
awaited Rim. .t...,,.
There were only present himself,
Lea, and her husband, man of the
world, no tenger very young, amiable,
his wife, in the conviction that she
would not go too far. Lea had begun a
frolic with him; she tantaliZed him,
leased him, petted him; she ended by
seating bcrSelf on his knees and kissing
him. At this kiss the heart of Mass
gave a bound. and his veins were in q
tumult why? Was he jealous? And
of her husband? II
1t was like lightning flash by which
he beheld himself lost.
He took leave ALMOST Immediately,
went out as If beWildered and began to
wander through the streets, beyond the
city walls, upon the hills, without know
ing where he went, overcome and hOr-
rifed by that sudden revelation, with a
pfcking down in the depths OF his heart
that kiss.
Useless to delude himself to dissimu-
late any longer TO himself. ltWaS love
love Of that sound, true sort that one
can experience at thirty years of age
with a mystic, virgin soul like his. And
it burat forth with impetus. with VIC
lence, like great iutoXication, Unf0rt-
innate that ne was Now his soul was
wandering in the tempest of All unholy
passion, now all the moral structure OF
his life was tottering.
He wandered in frenzy until dawn
seeking to refresh his burning head
with the cool breeze. He understood
that ii was needful to make an immedl
ate decision. lie resolved 10 ask for /;
furl0ugh and go away. Having oh
tained leave Of absence, he excused hi:
sudden departure in note to Lea, al
leging urgent family affairs. ant
FASTENED to take refuge with his mother
The image of Lea haunted him an,
absorbed his vitality. He felt that sh
was established in his heart, never f
be torn away from it. The remorse o
loving the wife Of another tortured him
but passion was stronger than remorse
Should lie kill himself? No. Their
was his mother. And then, it would b
another crime, and cowardice. more
over. He hoped that he might die.
Meanwhile letter from Lea had no
failed to arrive. She complained of hi
strange departure, she reproved him
reminded him of their good friendship
and Informed him, with her uSua
audacity, that without him she misse
something necessary TO her, and begge'