Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-01-19

less in his VeNatICn, mat III IS eNceeuihS-
ly doubtful if the duke is alive tomorrow
to regret his folly
CHAPTER II.
"Eh hien, prophet of evil said the duke,
coming down the room, with what tales
are you frightening the duchess! Come.
shall it be billiards?' and sauntered Oft
with him.
And the duchess went to her own apart
ment, where Olympe awaited her; and me
minutes af.erward wrapped from head to
foot in a vast cachemisere. she had stolen
down & private passage to the street, with
Olympe beside her. We must ask the
gend' arme, Olympic; we may have to go 20
the prefecture; We must learn where ne
Leconte is to be found And learn she
did: ard in less than an hour an angry
concierge had becn racitied with handful
of gold pieces. and lad ushe red INTO the
room, where the young sous-lleutenaht sat
busy with 4 letter, his sister from the
country.
The moment that the door closed the
duchess dropped her vast wrap into
Olyn,pe's hands. and stood before him IN
ali her starry beauty. the sheen of her pale
satins, the sparkle of her innumerable dia-
monds the dazzle of her white shoulders
just as she had come from the opera
For a moment he was aghast. But he
had sprung to his feet. To what do l owe
the honor he began.
.Oh, monsieur cried the duchess, Il
come to You Supplicant! An houf ago
my husband insulted YOU
''Btterly!'
"Oh, monsieur clasping her beautiful
upl:fte6 hands and raising to his the eyes
overflowing with tears. And 1t means
"Sapristi 1t means bloodshed, madame"
he exclaimed.
"Oh, no. nor she cried Not that! Not
that! And fer such an idle thing-oh, never
that! Oh, monsieur, you are successful,
you are powerful, the emperor is your
friend, you can afford to be magnanimous!
1 beg, l beg you to let it pass
Let 1t pass, madame! You know not
what you say. Let it pass! Ha! ha!'
What good, alas. what good will it do
you to take his Iife?'
1T will enace the stain on my honor, the
sting of his blow. Behold, my cheek burns
with it yet!''
land n.ine too, believe me-" she said,
lifting again the great innocent eyes to his.
1T was hot-headed-it was wrong-oh, If
there is any repatriation"
"Sacre! There is no reparation," said the
officer, like a hero OF tragedy, but death
his death Or mine.''
'Oh, do not say so! Life is SO precious
death is SO dreadful-and, oh monsieur,
forgiveness is so beautifu!'
For giveness of such Z humiliation!'
us it more of humiliation than l under
go; 1, a woman, who come to you in your
apartment, and beg my husbands life of
you? l have asked-I have heard-they tell
me your ball never fails
"And is it monsieur, your husband, who
perhaps sends you here.
"CieI! 1t is you who now insult him as
grievously! Oh, you cannot, for that mo-
mentary burst of foolish veXation, be will
ing to take from him life, from me my hus
band, from my little sleeping son his father!
1 implore you"
Duchess" said the lieutenant. you are
only wasting time, and compromising your
self here in my apartment.
Il confde in your honor, your silence
she cried
'.It is WELL" he answered. But no more
You ask too much.
'Oh, have you no mercy?
/ None. The insult given in the face
of all the world, and in the face of all the
world 1t must be wiped out"
Monsieur Leconte, you have proved your
valor the battlefield. 1t is not the first
rencontre you have had with pistols and
with swords. Your courage is byword
II you treat this affair as beneath notice,
as the action OF an exaSperated man whom
you have reason to pity, it will not injure
you. 1t will give you great friendships. of
which you may be glad in the future. Your
friend, the emperor, does not wish an added
excitement just now. Oh, believe me, you
can we'll afford to send no challenge-to
act as If nothing had taken place-tO give
1t your diSdain.
The officer gaZed at her wonderingly-so
young, so beautiful, so Respondent, sad
so imploring. Perhaps her last arguments
gave him cause. And then the statements
relative to his courage-they were certainly
true-it was we'll known. And to win the
SaraZnes BeauxieuX, perhaps, to the en-
pire-it might be worth while. And then
mad, rash humor seized him. Madame"
he said, II will accede to your wishes
one condition. Your husbands blow still
tingles on my cheek. L will repay it-by
leaving my kiss upon the cheek of his
wife,
For a moment the duchess turned, gasp
ingly, holding both hands to Olympic, and
her pallor where the rose bloomed be-
meath the ivory became the pallor of death
But directly she had summoned her re-
sources. What had she come here for but
to purchase the life of her boys father
at any cost? She turned again and glanced
I'D at him, and then dropped her lids till
the long black lashes swept her marble
cheek 'Volontiers, monsieur" she said,
and she made a step forward softly turn
ing her check.
But the man did not move The beauti-
full creature there, proud so chaste, will
ing to purchase safety for her childs father
at the price of this insult to herself this
insult of which in all the years of her life
she would be sensible, the color now rising
slowly in her cheek, wildly, in stain. as
if to meet the affront. No, he could not!
have saved your husbands life-for my
bullet would have pierced his heart. Go.
I will keep your secret" And doubling her
senses bewildered, full of joy, the duchess
suddenly fell on her knees before him and
seized his hand and covered 1t with kisses
And then Olympic had the cache-misere
about her, and the officer had gone down
When the duchess recalled that scene and
it's expressions of her gratitude, she knew
1t never would have happened SO but for
that Basque woman, her peasant grand
mother.