The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-03-11

sary for her to take a lover"
And as soon as he coulde he haoa,
with many others, to attempt the demon.
stration of that theorem.
Well, this time the impeccal,laysy,h
logical diagnosis of Woo Molise ha6 l,aar
found to fail. Not only, after some
months, the beautiful Signora .Marchis
BAD no lover, but it appeared also that
sac never was to have one.
Always dressed with an aadorable ele-
gance, withsa luxury fulLof good taste.
tae beautiful Gemma lowed to arnnse
herself, moving freely in that society
nsw Tor her, Afinding herself in her right
place as marvellous plant'in a vase of
valuable porcelain, developing itself in
all Its splendor: She went to dances, to
the theatre, enjoying the plebiscite Of
admiration provided by her beauty, CO.
quoting a ittles with her adorers, fut-
tering about thes fire in order to make
them sparkle, herrwingSof golden but
terhy, but never letting herself be
burned.
In the very momentsof declaration,
in the midst of oneaof those waltzes
whose notes seeml made on purpose to
stife expiring virtue IN. their serpentine
spirals, she cut -shont-her adorer by turn
ing her angelic headand sayingserenely:
'1 don't see my husband. Look q
little where my husband is, if you will
be SO kind"
| And it was known gthat her greatest
delight was to relate precisely to her
husband the declaratians~which she had
received. When she~came home with
him from a ball, all wrapped inyth
white silken folds of her sortie.dusbal,
with her purethroat, her snowyshouk1e
that blossomed still more fairtfromaher
swansdown boa; when in the evening
she met him in the-dining room, STILL in
| visiting costume, with her slim waist
tightly compressed by an exquisiteAy teIe-
gunt gown, with her face animated by
the slight.excitement which-elegant con
versation always produces in young
woman, she amused herself immensely
in addressing to her hushcnd. some of
these provoking and rogish phrases:
'You know i was at,CountessiF oschis'.
Molise was there, You know. Always
faithful and, always in despair. And
also Comelli, she thatEhas such lngubri-
Gus gallantry. He hasspromisedsto kin
himself for my sake within a month;
we shall see. All! Ahi"
And sitting opposite to@him, in rustic
of satin and jet, making shine likestwo
stars the brilliants, lsrgeas hazelnuts,
which adorned hers1nall ears, she con-
tinued to laugh, with. her elastic, laugh
ter, full of mischiefs and full of tender
ness.
All, indeed, old Marchis could caIl
himself a fortunate imam!
Fortunate? Yes, he ought to have
considered himself SO. When he set
himself to reason about it, to.describe
mentally his conurgal situation, he had
to conclude that he would havesdone
wrong to complains of his destiny. And
yet
What of the terribly unexpectedshad
he now discovered in the depths of the
pure sapphire of Commas eyes? Was
there arisen in his soul the doubt that
that faithfuhess against every trial,
that GOODNESS toward her admirers, was
nothing but the4wish to. presenxetintact
a position acquiref with difficulty, and
that precisely to that position was di-
rected all the tendernessAshown toward
himself! | do not know, but the vivid
and impetuous joysof the wedding was
no longer in him. although his love re-
manned the. same. and psinful doubt
thrilled in his voice'when he replied to
the playful confidence ofSGemma, for
cling himself to laugh, too,
tab
geance of the tyrant.hangsowe you
All, the poor tyrant, ,howshe loved her!
How she had known how tobind him
with her little hands, white and per-
fumed as two iliesi FOR nothing in the
world would he hare discovened the
truth, changed into certainty his To-
menting doubt SO sheghad oniyto ask in
order to obtain; for now for him that
Ioveof which hedoubted had become his
life, and he felt apainfnl stricturesat his
heart at the mere Thought that day
might come when he's would be obliged
torefuse her somsthing. Yet that day
came. Suddenly, by,one of those mys-
terious complications of business, his
bank, which until then had gonelfrom
triumph to trirulph SuniteEwentsa VIC
lentssipck. Noss aandsy-doxunfan, one
Of those open, public arnins@which4pro-
duce great fadmes, bat one of those
deep, sintiurate, seeretcriEesshx tsmust be
bornewithoutsa word, a. lament, under
penalty ffdeath; sthatscan beovercome
only byfurce of small prixstions, little
hidden savings;sit lis then that strict
economy in the family becomes 1neces-
sary. The luxury Of Gemma in those
moments became Absolutely ruinous1fur
Her HUSBAND; ne ougmr 40 nave warned
hey, sought to checklher; he daredtnot,
and continued to content her, butsvery
soon came the time-when he.couldtdo so
no more.
1t was on the occasion,of ! a great ball
to which she was -to go;sshe had ordered
from Paris marvellous gown that be-
came her to perfection; still shetwas not
satisfied. Some days before, ingthe show
case of the most fashionable fiewelers of
the city, a diadem had.set inzrevolution
all the feminine imagmationS superb
jewel, of antique style, set in Gleragilt,
of starry pallor, where. the bri1kants
seemed drops offame. Comma wished
10 have it, and indeed it would be, diff
StAb w AAtAA a AdIO oH@AfseSh w ttCPd11AOob
religious richness of that jewea, more
than her snowy profile of an angel in
ecstaey.
Ten thousand francs was the price of
that jewel, and Marchis did not have
them. Mute, immovable, his heart op-
pressed, he listened to Commas words
as she described it to him. How could
he tell her, how could he even tell her
that he had not the 10, 0francs! 1t was
terrible. To another woman who should
have had that caprice one might have
proposed to have her own diamonds re-
set after that model, or perhaps even to
have an imitation diadem made. No
one would have suspected it. But he
feitthat the danger lay in confessingh his
powerfessness. Yet it mnst be done.
And he made an effort Tat courage.
Comma had seated herself beside. him,
throwing back and bending little to
| ane side her blonde head with that IRE
sistible feminine movement which dis
plays the white throat, the pure line
descending from the slenderneck to the
full bloomed bust down to the round
and flexible waist.
81 would like to have it; it seems to
me that should look well. Don't you
think 80? I have great wish to be
heay1tiful Tf Won tnevy -vylfvp,