The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-10


~ duchssses being so very Few,
Al3kU she must have been either-you
~ are mistaken. She was a Duch-
ess of Lauenstein, of the me-
&otined house OF Observation-Disclosures
~ h dead. and nobody who cared for
-. except her children. need be sorry 1t
hould b 30.
they lived at Stolxenau always. the
Anke and she, In the heart OF the famous
pina forest, with sand wastes beyond. in
~ dark loneliness; in splendid, gilded
rsnp. On very rare occasions. when eti-
suette compelled, they would spend a
~ days in Berlin--in the gloomy old
raIsce Of the Ilsenstrasse-but as soon as
Il possibly could the duke would return
u his pigs ana his poultry yard. The
2uhe was, by preference, a gentleman
isS1ner; on this expensive and engrossing
ouussmsat he wasted an absurdly dis
Roportionate share Of his very consider
lid incom6, a still larger share Of his
III lsss considerable intelligence, and al
most the whole OF his nearly illimitable
hiBure. He was great. big, fair man,
\ sckly complexion, with magnificent
nustacAe and 4 constant tendency to
hollis. In his youth he had contracted q
mrasgs little habit of shining. which at
tines simply maddcned his wife.
M Duchess Eleanor had committed
shs fatal mistake Of accepting a husband
shs hsd previously twice refused She
had eccspted him because everybody adj
MRd her to do so. and also because she
M ruereeded In convincing herself that.
really, 10 accept him was the wisest and
kindo6f thing she could do. The kindest,
especially: 1t Is all very we'll to say that
~ n ~ ~ t,a * hut fa
quite q closely connected with contempt,
vhich h some women, kills love for good
md IL The Duchess Eleanor would have
laughed, or fumed, had any one told her
that she had married the duke from pity
Of his constancy; nor would such a view
have been correct, as no woman ever
msrries for a single reason only, but GER
talnly the fact remains that she had first
refused him twice. One refusal surely
may be most charming prelude to ac-
ctrtance-but two?
Well. they were married and had many
children Half a dozen children fill the
biggest house, but small children are put
70 bed at early hours, and then come the
lnterminable evenings. Up yonder, by the
haitic, you can seldom sit out after sun
~; even In summer you must be con-
tsht to light your lamps indoors, and re-
meet that In week or two you will have
70 light them earlier.
Duke Ernest hated twilight, being al
ways far too busy to waste the precious
moments. He could not converse, he new
y read; he did accounts. all through the
longest evenings. about eggs, and pounds
Of pork and carloads Of manure.
was the evenings. undoubtedly, Of
winch she first noticed the monotonous
Earar, tt.At
curing which she realized very little Of
anything, There could be no more diff
eut woman to comprehend, had any one
iaken the trouble to examine her character,
snan this Duchess of Lauenstein. She
WAS one OF those human beings who de-
noeratey undertake to misunderstood
uelF own disposition, and therefore to
Mave undeyeloped or to misdevelop their
ywn natural qualities--or. rather, to allow
nag tnese qualities should misdevelop
@emseives With that innate timidity
waen is born of hereditary pride she had
y. nersef from childhood to ignore every
ss,ufai impulse or instinct or ebullition of
.e,eahSr cnerishtng that dread of the ridic-
sos "nieh was ever present before her
yes checking herself, eurbing, keeping
JACK inundated by a. mother who laugh
3 ~ ner. fretting inwardiy under the self
imposed strain. An Austrian by birth, she
~ partially broken down some of her
os.ners during few years of society
saisy In the reserved circle Of Viennese
- .a'ocracy; once married to Duke Ernest,
NJ ~ aad disappeared behind the hedge. She
~ ~ never, from her youth upward come
~. w contact with any form of real life out
Nv ner castle walls; ahe had no idea how
MAJ oor existed, or the rich, or what any
lFt
c rsNs' beyond the little set of coropeted
cousins who formed to her-altboueb Of
s,u'se. she knew there were common neo-
r., ana also Chinamen-the whole sentient
human race
~. s,o,tunately for her, the duke. her hus-
= u y. discouraged her taking any Interest
s., Me many things which for him had no
Ss'sa'ence' and also in the few nursuits
,sr So, shgressing most of his attention,
~. ~ ne said, beyond her ken. He had.
~, sourse, a small army of officials under
,ers az intendant," treasurer. inspec-
~ stewards. head foresters, head keen
- certera; he was under these in so
h. as ne listened to all their proposals:
s,,. s.ooa next to them In SO far as he
IA, sss suggested something else. His va
sos,, n'oriiiig and evening, reported all the
S.,~ anu the scandal that ought never TO
hen. t.esehed so august a personage, and
Hen osck, at his own discretion, any mem
ha,ss ~ seuses the duke would have conn
vo,. hau ne known. Unable to delegate
ev.rs. 70 others. convinced that he could DO
n,,. s.lns far better himself, his trans
evss,' noked q silver-headed cane into
/, - uuhshill on his estate and ordered
CORE removed TO some equally offensive
n often II was not removed. And
sn,,. iound it again, he had either for
D-NesA 9il ahnllf IL or ha La