Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-22
o her feet, and said in accents choked with

passion:
IL had best 20 at once, then. You exile
me, as you threatened to exile poor Phlli-
bertr'
you exile yourself, if so you prefer, " re-
Piled the King. There was bell rope with
in few yards of him, and he moved toward
1t. With hand lifted, as if in the act OF
summoning servant, he went on:
Il await your orders. If you refuse to
accept my terms, declare so, and you shall
be at once conducted to the frontier" The
Princess, grown wan as ashes, clenched her
lips together and stood for several seconds
with an irresolute look. At length she
waved her hand, and murmured in the tones
of one from whom concession is wrung by
bitter throes:
"I-I do not refuse. will at least re-
main for the State ball on Thursday. II
have announced my intention of doing so,
and, whatever your tyrrany, prefer that
you should not appear before your subjects
in the light of a monarch who has made his
own mother fugitive from his realm,
Clarimond smiled very coldly. eff you
had chosen to dwell here in peace, you
would have had slight cause to complain of
tyrranyl As it is, your continued sojourn
is one of sufferance alone"
"Su1erancep' gasped the Princess.
Precisely. You came here with two mo-
tives The first was to pit yourself against
faiths and principles of mine which are
part of nv life. The second was to try and
force me into a marriage of the merest love-
less convention. The weapons you have
used in either case were the same that dealt
my dead father the keenest grief, and per-
hSps drove him prematurely to his grave.
Yours, madam, is a stormy and truculent
spirit. inherit nothing of it, but possibly
/ inherit from YOU alone the strength of will
which too long has clothed itself in for
bearance. That strength OF will you shall
now have chance to test As l said, you
will be watched. Being the lady highest of
rank in my kingdom, 1 will accord you the
right of receiving nv guests on Thursday.
But if the least sign of discourtesy is shown
by you toward any guest who crosses the
threshold of my palace on the morrow you
shall be conducted where the turbulence
and rebellion of your disposition may boil
and ferment to the discomfort of others
rather than my own. There, now, think it
is all quite plain between u.s.
Quite plainr' muttered the Princess.
''Ies, L see-I see. You wish to crowd
your rooms with vulgarians.''
'Iou need not gaze upon those vulgarians
unless you so desire. Certainly number
of people whom you will rate as vulgarians
will present themselves. Among these will
be young lady ian American-or an Anglo
American l might more truly call herr with
whom l shall open the ball Her name is
Kathleen Kennaird, and / shall dance the
first quadriile with her. She is the most
beautiful woman / have ever seen, the most
beautiful l ever expect to see, though
should live two lives instead of one. But
were she hunchback negress fresh from
Africa in her beads and war paint, it need
matter nothing either to you or those as
sembled. l am master; j am King. For
7 m INV
self"
He passed, with an sir of unwonted but
very distinct pride, down along the waxed
floor Of the spacious saloon. But she who
had heard him with one or two convulsive
shudders, now gave kind of wrathful
spring, both hands hanging clenched at her
sides
"You will account to your Emperor" she
called. ''You are not so great as you vaunt
yourself, Clarimond of Saltravia- You
you are just mad enough to marry this
creature. l recall now that one of your
cousins-the King of Sa1ony' own nephew,
too-disgraced himself by q low marriage.
No doubt it is in your blood to do such
horrible things But 1 will prevent this"
The Princess face glistened with little
beads of sweat, and her ewes were blazing.
II will 60 to the Emperor at once. will"
She recoiled, for Clarimond had hurried
back toward where she had stood. half
covering in her frenzy. 1t seemed to the
Princess that perhaps he might actually do
her some personal violence, though if her
mind had proved less clouded by anger and
dismay she would have realized that from
one of his usually gentle spirit such a
course in anv circumstances, would have
been unthipkable.
All that the KING meant to do was to
seize the bell rope which brief while ago
D.
reaching the spot where it hung, he gave it
q strong pull, and almost Immediately the
footman, in the royal livery, answered his
summons
'Yor shall go at once to the Emperor"
he said in low and very tranquil voice.
Il will give these men orders fer carriages
and will see that special train is prepared
for YOU the instant you reach -''
''No, no." broke hoarsely from the Prin-
cess. ''Send them away. II did not
mean what | said" In trice she had
grown piteously humble. 'I-I was more
than half in joke, nv dear Clarimond," +" and
q little pathetic jet of laughter broke from
her lips, like an efete spirit from q ruined
fountain.
The King looked at her with great steadi-
ness for : second or two. Gas you wish"
ne then said, and gave sign of dismissal to
the two servants, who promptly vanished.
The Princess had, indeed, pulled in sail
Her son had seemed TO her during
the few past minutes, like rock
against which she would only waste
her strength in vain. Besides, she
was proud of his kingship, and would
have suffered untold regret if the Emperor
had presumed to attempt his deposition. 1t
was all quite clear to her mind in this brief
interval-she had gone too far She might
have known that the lion in him would sud-
denly turn on her like this. He would
keep the very letter of his menace, too, un-
less her entire tactics were changed forth
with. Revolving in their democracy though
sne held his views to be, hereafter she must
conform to them or leave those lovely Sal
travisn hills. And, surely, she was quar-
tered here in most magnificent way. Her
two or three Italian palaces were nothing to
this, in which so lordly suite of chambers
had been allowed her. And then this en-
chanting valley, so radiantly improved in
spite of all her grumblings to the contraryl
And the waters, too; she had no idea of tine
wondrous good they would do her rheuma-
tisn. 1t might all get stupid in the win
ter, but the winter was still good distance
of. Time enough to skip off to Rome or
Naples again by the end of November.
And then there was Blanca d'Este. The
girls love for her son was now almost
madness. For that most seemly of unions
there was yet hope. Yes, a hope, why
not? "School yourself" darted through
the Princess's mind, Ito a self-efacement,
difficult, yet not impossible. In the end he
may yield and marry her. Then your turn
viii come in real earnest, for if once there
Is a queen, if once there are little princes
and princesses, he will grow more conserva-
o1r do hat hoy