The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-12-13
CHAPTER XXI
A NOBLE COUNT.


ent at this exciting moment.
Good or bad?" Mrs. Woodgrove
asked.
Good, royal, grand"
"Of whom?" demanded Elsie.
"Of friend of yours, my dear"
''Oh, do tell; am burning to know it. :"
'Then hold your tongue, love-" Mrs.
Woodgrove said, laughing, for Mar
Gus could not keep a secret for five con-
secutive minutes"
"Well," remarked the old man, 81
may as well paralyze you at once-Mrs.
Clarence Grindlay is going to be mar
ried."
"Oh, Marcus, at her time of lifer'
Eyes, and what's the worst of i'll
mean the best of it's that she is go
ing to wed German baron"
Not Count Won Thun?" Elsie asked.
"Oh, did not like him."
Ibid you not, darling? Well, it's all
settled, so it's no use crying over spilled
milk. Now, here's where we come in.
Marion is going to give a ball on
Wednesday evening to exhibit her lord
ly captive, and we are hidden guests
now, who will go?'
mot l." Mrs. Woodgrove said, de-
cisively, "but l should like Frank to
take Elsie, and you, Marcus, must ac-
company them out of respect to Mar
ion."
Perhaps in no city of the world can
such unbounded, reckless extravaganza
be witnessed as in New York, the capt.
tai of the land of republican simplicity.
Ostentation and rank seem more natur-
ally associated, but, bless your life,
when John Smith, who never had a
recognized grandfather, has made his
pile" he knows how to lord it with the
best of them.
The Grindlay mansion on the night of
the ball outrivaled Aladdin's palace.
The flowers for decoration cost five
thousand dollars: gorgeous servants
twenty years ago one saw no liveries in
the Empire city-brilliant in plush and
tinsel, fitted like plumed birds amid a
tropical blaze of gold and purple.
In the center of the spacious hall
fountain was erected-a lovely marble
basin, from whose depths naiads blew
forth Jets of eau-de-cologne or rosewa-
ter, while from the dropping, bell
shaped flowers of group of astras
hung dainty petals tipped with tiny
electric lights. Rooms hung with rich
draperies, floors covered with carpets
from the looms of Turkey, soft and ir-
responsive TO the tread of the foot;
ceilings hand-painted and glowing in
rich color; fantastic tables and chairs
of quaint device; costly inlaid cabinets;
rich vases; priceless china-it was like
vision of fairyland, only, after all, as
sensible Marcus WoOdgrove observed,
it was the fairyland of the stage-one
could not help expecting to see lIarle-
quin plunge through an old family
picture" @ or Columbine pirouetting
on the polished floor.
No man in his senses would dare a
description of the fair owner of these
delights She was radiant as dream,
for Worth had out-Worthed himself for
the occasion; yet, as one gazed at the
diamonds, sparkling like dew drops over
skirt and bodice, one couldn't help
wondering how much she would fetch
dO duCllOH II SOle JISO siS SliC SSOOu.
Baron Won Thun must be proud
man this night to survey these count
less signs of untold wealth and say: in
seven days all this shall be mine"
Elsie, in her white robe and simple
wreath of flowers, looked like 4 snow
drop which had tumbled into 4 gor-
geous bed of tulips. She had one little
shadow of disappointment. Frank. her
darling Frank, was not flawless, he, all
ungifted with the natural perception
of the beautiful. which his wife in
stinctively enjoyed, saw nothing incon-
gruous, no lack of harmony in all the
barbaric pomp around him, nay, even
reveled in its very gorgeousnesS.
Mr.. Woodgrove was, as he put it,
mad clean through"
''She might have founded a hospital
with what to-night's hummery will
cost her." he said Indignantly, land all
in honor of a foreigner"
Two gushing girls passed at that mo-
ment, and Elsie was amused to hear
them murmur:
"Oh, the dear, dear baron"
isn't he love?"
$50 distinguished lookingl"
"Such an air."
But his accent, they say, is not very
good"
"Pshaw, dear, you couldn't expect
baron to talk like college professor.
Such a man sets the fashion of pro-
hunciation."
"To be sure he does Oh isn't Mrs