Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1904-03-21

you had better have it at once"
"A telegram" said his master,
sleepily; who can have telegraphed
to me? Read it, Nicoli."
But the valet hesitated;; his white
face and trembling hands might have
told his master that he had already
done sc.
Perhaps" said Nicoli, cit would
be better if the signor would read il
himself; it might contain bad news"
"Nonsense!" said Lord Vivian, with
a smile, rousing himself. What bad
news can come to me-"
He took the paper from the mans
hand and read. Bewilderment and
unutterable surprise came over him
frst-no fear. OF course, it was a
mistake. Far from being in the train
al Sedi, his wife was sleeping near;
that he knew. For the accident he
was sorry; but it was not his wife who
was there.
There is some mistake" he said
to the valet, who stood by in silence
Il must get up, though, and set it
straight. Get me some Coffee,
Nicoh."
The man went away. Still silent
and trembling, Lord Vivian dressed
himself hurriedly.
"How could such a mistake arise?"
he asked himself. How could such a
foolish error be nader"
He went to his wife's room and
turned the handle; the door was
locked.
'Violante," he cried, Il want to speak
to you"
There was no answer.
"Violante, darling!" he cried again,
Il want you!"
Still no answer, and a deadly chill
of fear came over him. He tried to
remember when he had seen her last,
and what she had said to him. He
remembered she was standing with
Mrs. Rochester, Prince Cesare and
Miss Leigh He had gone to remind
Beatrice of the next dance. He could
not recall any word he had spoken to
his wife, but he remembered how she
had looked at him-the sweet, plead
ing expression of the dark eyes, the
love told so plainly in the beautiful
face. He had not seen her after that
"Violante!" he cried again, and his
strong heart began to tremble with
strange dread.
Just then he heard Nicoli enter his
room with the coffee.
Never mind that" said Lord Vivian.
hastily 'Nicoli, could you break open
a door quietly, without making much
noise?"
Yes, Nicoli could do that He went
to fetch the necessary implements, and
his master stood with the dawn of
terrible fear in his face. Once more
he cried "Violante!" but no answer
came from the silent, deserted rooms.
Then came Nicoli, and in three min
utes the door was opened, and Lord
Selwyn entered. What did it mean?
There was the bed, with its pretty
white hangings, but no Violante lay
there. No one had slept there; the
room was empty, Silent, and desolate.
With that strange dread growing on
him, he opened the door that led to her
dressing-room: it was all silent, all
desolate. No Violante was there!
What did it mean? An accident at
Sedli. and Lady Selwyn was in the
trainl The words. in letters of fire.
seemed to flame round him. Then his
eyes fell upon the letter addressed to
himself in Violante's well-knOwn writ
ing.
He tore it open; he read it once
twice-.thrice: he cried aloud that he
could not understand it-he knew not
what ii meant Why had she gone
from him?-his wife, whom. in spite of
the cloud and the GOODNESS that had
arisen between them, he loved better
than all the world besides.
What did she mean by setting him
free? What was freedom. or anything
else, to him, compared with her? He
knew nothing of the cruel words she
had verheard-nothing of the torture
that had been hers when she saw him
so kind to Beatrice Leigh. He did not
know that fierce jealousy and deep
1--WE udl uIlNGu ACl nan nAiNs 11C uh-
derstood none of these things, and he
cried aloud again, why had she left
him?'
A fatal accident, and Lady Selwyn
was in the trainl The words came to
him with a fresh meaning now. Sedi,
he knew. was a station on the road to
Genoa-Genoa led to England The
cry that came from his white lips
startled the sleepers from their
dreams. He understood at length
Violante had left him, and something
terrible had happened. What was it?
What was the worst? Was she living
or dead?
To be continued.