Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-06-18
CHAPTER XXXN.
Constance's Master.

so, as usual, you have muddled the
whole matter?"
Il, Renee"
Yes, you madam. Who else?
Abominable stupidity."
The Count de Marsac was en- des-
habille of the most pronounced char
acter. His f1owery dressing gown hung
loosely round his limbs; his feet were
thrust into the most fragrant of wool
worked slippers. A great brown cigar
was in his mouth, but it did not seem
to afford him much satisfaction. His
brow was dark, his accents forbidding
and yet the angry words he spoke were
addressed to a woman, whose deprecat-
ing looks, as well as her great beauty
might have moved a heart of stone.
Constance had found her master.
From the day of her clandestine mar
riage with Rene de Marsac, she had
been a slave to his will. At first she
had been not anxious to avOw her mar
riage, but after a time she desired
nothing more earnestly, for she soon
found that her husband used her mere
ly as a means of obtaining money, by
fair means or foul. She gave him as
much of her allowance as she could
possibly spare; she sold her jewels for
his benefit and when other ways failed,
she sank so low as to take trifling ar
ticles of value from her aunt and other
persons and to give them to him.
He would not, perhaps, have thought
of asking her to thieve for him, if she
had not begun to do it Of her own
will, but when he found that she did
not shrink even from that he began
to exploit her powers for his own ad-
vantage. Many a small trinket did
Lady Esler lose about this time and
more than one servant was suspected
and sent away for the theft; but in
reality it was Constance who quietly
distracted each one from the drawer
of the box where it was kept and sent
by post to her husband in London.
But for some time she confined herself
to small matters and it required some
persuasion from Rene before she could
bring herself to attempt the robbery OF
Lady Esler's celebrated rubies In vain
had she demonstrated with him ON the
danger of this attempt; he had but one
answer to her remark:
IF you don't do it you cant care for
me as you say you do and we had
better not meet amy more"
He had found that this reply sue
ceeded when every form of persuasion
failed. Constance could not bear the
idea of a complete separation from him
and would do or dare anything in order
to remain in his favor. So that he Ill
timateIy compelled her to make the
attempt, as he had known all along
that she would do it if he insisted upon
it,
They managed to meet fairly often,
though not without difficulty and dam
ger. Sometimes Constance made an eX-
redition to London in the company of
her maid, Martin, who was more in her
confidence than anybody knew, and on
these occasions she always met Rene
de Marsac At other times they made
an appointment in some sheltered lane
or copse between Hurst and Aldersleigl
and at much rarer intervals Rene came
to Hurst and was admitted to a secret
interview with his wife in her own
apartments. The excitement and the
danger of discovery added a spice OF
interest to their intercourse, which
otherwise it might have lacked. For
Rene was by no means Of a constant
disposition and his wife was Of a ma
ture essentially cold, except where pas
sion for him was concerned. On the
present occasion they were in Rene
lodgings and Martin was shopping in
the neighborhood having been charged
to meet her young mistress at the
railway station about o'clock. II
was now 4 and Constance had plenty
of time in which to listen to the re
proaches which, although she pre-
tended surprise, she had fully expected
to hear from her husbands lips.
"Abominable stupidityr said Rene
looking straight before him, with a
frOWn.
Constance sat facing him, as she
usually did by preference, having found
that he was not always unmoved by
her appearance. She had certainly de
veIoped into a magnifcently handsome
woman and she knew it. There was
rare beauty in the creamy tints of the
eXquisiteIy nodded cheeks. in the
curved red lips. the great dark velvety
/ eyes and she did her best to enhance
7 every one of her charms by all The
help that dress and ornament couIC
afford. The yellow and golden brown
Of her costume accentuated the pail
tInts Of her complexion and the black
ness Of her raven hair, the large ha
with dropping feathers. which sh
specially affected, became her admir-
ably; her gloves, shoes and other mino
adjuncts of the toilet were perfect O
their kind She had dressed for Rene
eye and he secretly appreciated tn
compliment although he was at tn
moment too angry to show his appre
citation
4 don't see that il was my fault q
all" said Constance. rather nervously
however. AUNT Selma had moved al
her cases while 1 was out the day be
fore and I knew nothing about it;
took the case from the corner wher
the rubies had always been kept be
5 fore; how was I to know that they wer