Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-08-15

oblige me by fixing your return for
that day, and on arrival at Naples,
come straight TO me at the hotel, that
I may have the satisfaction Of being
the first to welcome to you as you de-
serve. Telegraph your answer and
the hour of your train; and my car
rage shall meet you at the station.
The dinner hour n be fixed to suit
your convenience Of course: what say
you at eight o'clock! After dinner you
can betake yourself to the Villa Ro-
mani when you please your enjoy
ment of the lady's surprise and rap
ture will be the more keen for having
been slightly delayed. Trusting you
will not refuse to crafty an old mans
within, l am
Yours for the time being.
Cesare Olivia"
This epistle finished and written in
the Grabbed disguised penmanshlp it
was part Of my business to affect. I
folded, sealed and addressed it, and
summoning yincenzo, babe him post
IL Immediately. AS soon as he had
gone on the errand. I sat down to my
yet unfinished breakfast and made
some effort to eat as usual. But my
thoughts were too active for appetite
Il counted on my fingers the days
there We're four, only four, between
me ~and-what? One thing was certain
I must see my wife, or, rather, I
should say my b~etrothed-I must see
her that very day. i then began to
consider how my courtsbip had pro-
crossed since that evening when she
declared she loved me. I had seer her
frequently, though not daily: her be-
hayior had been by turns affectionate.
adoring, timid, gracious, and once or
twice ~passionately loving, though the
latter impulse in her / had always
coldly checked. For, though I could
bear a great deal, any outburst of
sham sentiment on her part sickened
and filled me with such utter loathinC
that often when she was more than
usually tender / dreaded lest my pent-
up wrath should break loose and i'm
pei me to kill her swiftly and suddenly.
as n brushes the head Of a poison
u adder-an all-too-merciful death
for such as she. / preferred TO WOO
her by gifts alone-and her hands
were always ready to take whatever I
or others chose to offer. From a rare
jewel to a common flower she never
refused anything-her strongest pas
stons were vanity and ayarice.
Sparkling gems from the pilfered store
OF Carmelo Neri.-trinsets which / had
especially designed for her,-lace. rich
embroideries, bouquets OF hot-house
blossoms. gilded boxes Of costly sweets
nothing came amiss 10 her-she ac-
cepted all with a certain covetOus glee
which she was at no pains 10 hide
from me-nay, she made it rather evil
dent that she expected such things
as her right.
And after all. what did il matter TO
me? / thOught-of what value We any
thing l possessed save to assist lie in
carrying out the punishment / had
destined for her? / studied her nature
with critical coldness-I saw its in
bred vice artfully concealed beneath
the affeCtation Of yirtue-every day
she sank lower in my eyes. and /
wondered vaguely how / could ever
have loved SO coarse and common a
thing! Lovely she certainly w~as,-love-
ly too are many of the wretched out
casts who sell themselves in the streets
for gold, and who in spite OF their
criminal trade are less vile than such
q woman as the one I had welded.
Mere beauty Of face and form can be
bought as easily as one buys a flower
but he loyal heart, the pure soul, the
lofty Intelligence which can make Of
woman an angei-these are unpur-
chaSable ware. and seldom fall TO the
lot of man. For beauty, though so per-
iShable, is a snare to US all-it mad
dens u blood in spite of ourselves
We men are made so. How
was ii that I, eve I. who now loath-
ed the creature / once loyed-could
not look upon her physical loneliness
without a foolish thrill of passion
awaking within ~me-passion that had
something of the murderous in it
admiration that was almost brutal
feelings which I could not control
though l despised myself for them
while they lasted There Is a weak
point in the strongest Of us, and wick
ed women know well where we are
most vulnerable. One dainty pin
prick well aimed, end all the barriers
Of caution and reserve are broken
down-we are ready to fling away our
souls for a smile or a kiss. Surely at
h last day when we are ju~dged-and
maybe condemned-we can make our
last excuse to the Greater in the words
OF the first misguided man:
III "oihdh WHICH tIOu 2HNpSt 10
be with me,-she tempted me, and I
did eat!"
/ lost no time that day in going to
the villa Romani. / drove there in
my carriage. taking with me the-usual
love Offering in the shape of a large
gilded osier-b2sket full Of white vio-
lets. Their delicious odor reminded
me OF that May morning when Stella
was born-and then quickly there
flashed into my mind the words spok-
en- by Guido Ferrari at the time. How
mysterious they seemed to me then.
how clear their meaning now! On ar
irving at the villa I found my sancie
in her W boudoir, attired in morning
deshabllle, IL a trailing robe of white
cashmere trimmed with Mechlin lace
and s~wansdown can be considered des-
habille. Her rich hair hung loosely
on her shoulders, and she was seated
In a velvet easy chair before a small
sparkling wood fire reading. Her atti-
tude was one of luxurious ease and
grace. but she sprung up as soon as
her maid announced me. and came for
ward with her usual charming air of
welcome, in which there was some