The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1898-11-05


The train left Florence at six; it was now
after FIVE. All the way there he held the
letter in his hands; it was all that re-
manned to him of his wife Niolante. BY
Mrs. Selwyn's desire Nicoli went with
him. He was not in a fit state, she
| thought, to travel alone.
He had been longing for the train to ar
rive, and yet when it did SO, when he
heard Sedi called out by the loud-voiced
porter-when the speed slackened and the
engine stopped-he would fam have gone
on; uncertainty then seemed better to
him than what he might hear and see.
1t was small station, prettily built and
gay with flowers. AS he left the carrlag
Lord Vivian saw group Of people gath,
cred on the platform; there was hushcd,
solemn silence over them, only broken,
every now and then, by the shrill cry Of a
woman who recognized a beloved enc,
crushed and dead. Two gentlemen adj
vanced to meet Lord Vivian. One was
DR.. Sheene, the other Signor di Luna,
who had waited for him.
! The English doctor spoke first.
Il believe you are Lord Selwyn,' he
said. "Of course, you have received my
| telegram"
How is she-my wife? Let me see her
at once" was the reply.
Not this moment, Lord Vivian; you
must wait"
IF I wait. shall die said Lord Wv
ian calmly. Il can bear no more; tell me,
at least, how she is
| And the two men looked at each other,
neither daring to speak.
How came Lady Selwyn in the train
| alonei" said DR.. Sheene. She was quite
| alone, apparently without either servant
or friend: how did it happen!'
II cannot explain it at all. | did not
even know that she had left the house
Oh, let me see her. Do not keep me
talking here; am half mad with sorrow
Is she much hurt? Is she injured? Can
she be taken homeT
They looked at each other aglin-the
two who knew the fatal truth. each G,c3d-
ing to speak The man before them, with
his vistful, pleading face. saw that look,
and long, low moan came from his lips
Not that he cried. 'Oh. heaven.
anything but that. She is not dead?"
No denial such as he thirsted TO hea /,
came from them: the solemn expression
of each face deepened. Lord Vivian
grasped DR.. Sheene's arm.
''Do you not see l am going mad?' he
Kissed. Tell me the truth
You have spoken it, my lord" was the
reply; you have said it. Heaven help
you to bear it. She is dead"
Dead" he moaned at last MY wife
-Nio!ante-it cannot be-
Heaven gives, and heaven takes
away" said the solemn voice of the Eng
lish doctor.
They went with him to the long, mar
row waiting room, where, side by side,
the dead awaited removal. She lay apart
from the rest. a resting place had been
made for her, and there, in the quiet sleep
of death lay the woman Lord Vivian be
lievcd to be his wife. He passed in 81
lence the long table where the bodies of
women, children and men lay so motion
less and still-passed them in grave. sol
emn silence. When he came to the pls &c
where she lay, a low moan broke from his
lips.
The golden hair hung in rich profusion,
stained here and there with blood. The
costly fur cloak was wrapped round the
quiet figure.
Lord Vivian took tress Of the golden
hair in his hands.
1T is my wife," he cried. Il bought
that cloak for her three years ago. Let
me see her face.
But here the doctors grave voice inter
fered; the doctors strong. firm hand drew
him gently back.
Heaven forbid!" he said 'You loved
your wife; l would not have you look up
on what lies there for all the worId-the
horror of it would kill you There is no
single feature left; the weight of half
carriage fell upon your wife's face and
crushed it,"
He hnelt down in silence by her side
and buried MS face in his hands What
passed between his soul and its Maker in
that hour none will ever know. If ever
he had been impatient with her youth
and her simplicity, her ignorance of the
world, her unstudied frankness it was
all avenged now.
And then the heavy task came of tax
ing home what everybody believed to he
the body of Fioante Lady Selvyn. Lord
Vivian regained his outward calm: in
heart and sou there ragged torrent of
grief, of remorse, of hewildered sorrow
and hopeless despair, that knew no words
but he came of race strong to hear.
When the first sharp pang was over, he
began TO arrange so that all honor should
be paid to tho body OF his wife. He would
not leave her. Hastily writing n note to
Mrs. Selwyn. he sent Nicoli back to Flor
ence with every detail of the accident.
while he remained ut Scdi.
Mrs. Selwyn was drcadfully shocked.
For many days afterward she was exceed
n=ly i'll. both in body and mind. She
would have given all she had in the world
TO have had the unhappy girl back again
No one ever knew how Beatrice Leigh
felt that intelligence. She il was who
received Nicoli, and who. nj Mrs. Sci
said the usual civil things: lamented with
all due ptoPrictv the sad accident: con
doled with Mrs. Selwyn; hoped Lord Wv
ian would not be unconsoablo-hut no
one ever knew what she really thought
and felt.
There was grand funeral attended by
all the nobility and many of the poor of
Florence. Lady Niolante Selwyn was
laid 10 rest in the sunny cemetery of Flor
encc. There a white marble monument
was raised. and on il, in letters of gold.
was inscribed:
Sacred
To the Memory Of
NI0LANTE LADY SELWYN.
The beloved Wife of Lord Vivian Selwvn.
Who died in the 23d year Of her age.
Regretted and mourned by her
Borrowing Husband.