The herald., 1898-10-23


proud and resolute beauty.
had never seen her appear az lovely
as she did at that moment. The raven
masses OF her disordered chevelure, the
dazzling wfiteness Of neck and brow,
| the exquisite contour of her form, with
the grace and strength and pose Of q
Diana, and the naughty and yet
charming look of her sweet face, taken
| together, made her seem to me the
most fascinating creature in existence.
1t made me rather uncomfortable to
see her handling such a dangerous
looking weapon so Familiarity. and
made up my mind that she should dis
pense with it when she came to be my
wife.
| "Gadzooks, Ippolita," said I, thou
art not used to these plaything's. and !
prythee, put it away from thee. For
| do much fear me that thou wilt cut
thyself."
For answer she laughed the prettiest
laugh imaginable. The fire of her anger
had subsidized, and she was now her
| own sweet self once more.
| I now noticed for the first time that
| Ippolfta was without the coronet of
diamonds which l had seen her wear
at our first meeting. I was naturally
interested in the matter, and 1 asked
her if she had left it home when she
came to the postern gate with F1orella.
May. Timoteo. it Is a matter Of no
moment, as I will straightway show
thee. I will tell thee the secret, lest
thou hear it from others, and think
slightingly of me for it. A year ago,
come Michaelmas. the duke my faith
er, being hard pressed by his trades
i. <-~1x \ It.~-- 1r H.~~~
this same coronet, and did pawn them
with the old moneylender Montefiori.
putting in place of them in the diadem
lot Of pebbles, which shone with
great lustre. and seemed in every way
as good as the original. 1t will be a
rare jest upon these rogues, when they
do discover it,
I thought as she did; at the same
time wondered why the old duke had
not pawned some of that great guam
tity of gold and silver plate of which
he was possessed, instead of taking the
jewels of his beautiful and only child.
As though she had OWNED my thought,
she now continued:
Having told thee the one secret, I
will cen make a clean breast of it, and
reveal to thee another. Thou didst
doubtless take note yestreen, at the
dukes banquet, of an exceeding great
display of tableware of gold and sill
ver Alas, that I must say it to thee,
but the whole outfit is bogus, and the
goblets, plates and basins which thou
didst see are but brass and pewter
copies of the originals, now also, like
the diamonds, in the possession OF the
old Sir Isaac the Usurer."
A tear drop came into her dark lus-
trous eyes as she spoke, and in my
mind was pictured at that moment the
whole story of the old dukes riotOus
and extrava CANT career and of his an
gelic daughters consequent privatiOn
and maidenly shame. The pity of it
touched my heart, and that, together
with the sad and SURPRISING loveliness
of her present appearance, so wrought
upon me, that I caught her to me,
swore that I loved her as never mortal
damigella was loved before, and be-
sought her to name, upon the instant
the happy day. To my astonishment
she drew away from me. and upon her
face there was look of fear and of
indecision.
"Oh, Timoteo," said she, in accents
of tenderness, II do love thee right
we'll, believe me, but how can I, oh
how can link my young life with one
who is descended from the devil?"
May, Sis-norina Albizzi." said with
some hauteur while at the same time
I wondered much at her remark. II
am indeed of old and noble lineage, but
beshrew me if I claim to trace it back
to the gentleman whom thou didst
mention."
1T cannot be- said she, gazing at
me with her magnificent eyes wide
open in surprise, that thou hast not
heard the tale which is told in every
corner of the land anent the family of
the Pazzi? Surely thou dost but jest"
by a whole wagon load of saints"
said I.
This, then, was the tale, fair
prince, as it was told me by my grand
am. whiles that l was but small
child 1t was many years ago that the
thing first happened, being at the time
when my great grandsire, Galeazzo
Albizd, had the misunderstanding with
thy great grandfather, Lodovico de-
Pazzi. Now, when Lodovico had been
dispatched, and his head stuck upon a
pike over the great door of the palace
Of the signory, it was night and they
bore the fleadless trunk into the hall of
justice, where it was to lie upon the
following day to be gazed at by the
people,"
At this moment. the countess gave a
startled and terrified glance over my
shoulder, and at the same time uttered
a quick cry of alarm. l turned swiftly
and beheld, standing within the door
way of the stair which led below, a |
burly and hirsute ruffian. We had been |
SO taken up with each other, and the |
sweet moments of our interview had |
sped SO pleasantly, that we had made |
no account of where we were, and had |
forgotten the presence of the robbers |
in the castle until, all in a twinkling, |
we found them upon US.
The rogue was unarmed and, as / |
drew my sword and made a spring for |
him, he turned to run down the stair |
placing his right hand upon the door |
casing as he went out. At this second, I !
slammed the door to, catching his !
wrist between It and the jamb. 1t was
a heavy door, and did not fit very close
ly to the casing, SO that his hand stuck
straight out into the room like point
ing hand upon sign board. He natur-
ally raised a great ado about the mat
ter.
"Cut it off," cried Ippolita.
1t was happy suggestion which the
darling girl had made, and 1 went to
work and gave it two or three hacks,
and sawed at 1t awhile, and haggled
at it, and finally got it off. l was