The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1904-06-16

will again do as | shall choose. You
grace, she would come and wipe tbs
dust from my shoes if | should com.
mand it! She would kneel at my feet
and beg of me, if | should command 1t!
Shall prove this, your grace?'
"Oh, assuredly!" replied the regent
with a sarcasm which now seemed his
only relief. "Assuredly, if Monsieur
Las should please. We here in Paris
are quite his humble servants"
Law said nothing. He stood with
his biting blue eyes still fixed upon
Mary Connynge, whose own eyes fall
tered, trying their utmost to escape
from his; whose fingers, resting just
lightly on the snowy Hollands of the
table cloth, moved TREMENDOUSLY; whose
limbs appeared ready to sink beneath
her.
Come, then, Mary Connynge," cried
Law at last, his teeth setting savagely
together Come. then, traitress and
slave, and kneel before me as you did
once before!"
Then there ensucd a strange and hor-
rible spectacle A hush as Of death
fell upon the group Mary Connynge,
trembling, hating, yet always advanc-
ing, did indeed as her master had bid
den! She passed from the head Of the
table, back of the chair of the regent,
who stood gazing with horror in his
eyes; she passed the chair of Aisse,
near which Law now stood; she paused
in front of him, and stood as though
in a dream. Her knees would have in
deed sunk beneath her She drew
from her bosom a silken kerchief, as
though she would indeed have per-
formed the iguoble service which had
been threatened for her There came
neither voice nor motion TO those who
saw this thing The sheer force Of one
strong nature, terrible in the intensity
of one supreme moment--this might
have been the spell which commanded
at the table of the regent Yet this
did occur.
There came a sound which broke the
silence which caused all to start as
with swift relief A sob, short, dry
hard, as from one whose heart is
broken, came from beyond the place
where Law stood facing the trembling
woman. The eyes of. all turned upon
viii Law, from whom had burst this
irrepressiblo exclamation of agony
viii Law, as one grown swiftly Old
haggard. brokcn-down stood gazing in
wide-eyed horror at this woman, so hu-
inflated in the presence of all in this
hrilliantly-liEhtcd hail. before the
blazing mirrors which should have re-
ncctcd back naught but beauty and
Joy, under the twining roses, which
should have been the signs manual Of
undying love, under the smiling
cherubs, which should have typified the
deities of happy love VIII Law too,
had loved Perhaps still he loved
This sharp sound served TO break
also the spell under which Law him
self seemed held He cast aloft his
arms, as in rcmOrse or in despair
Then ne extended q hand to the woman
who would have sunk before him.
God forgive met madam" he cried
Il had forgot Savage indeed you are
and have been. but tbs not for me to
treat you brutal;
Your grace said he, turning to-
ward the regent II crave your par
don Our explanations shall reach you
on the morrow"
He turned and, taking his brother by
the arm, advanced toward the door at
which he had recently entered. paus-
ing not to look behind him Had his
eye been more curious as he and his
half-faintinE brother bowed before
passing through the door. il might
have seen that which he must long
have borne in memory
Mary Connynge, trembling. palhd.
utterly broken, mover found her way
back to The right hand of the regent
She halt stumbled into a chair near
the foot of the table. Her bosom nut-
tered at the base of the throat Half
blindly she reached ont her hand to-
ward a glass of wine which stood near
by, fOaming and sparkling. its gem
like drops of keen punaency swimming
continuously up to the surface Her
hand caught at the slender stem of the
glass Leaning upon her left arm. she
half rose as though TO put it to her
lips. Her head moved, as though she
would follow the relreating figure Of
the man who had thus scorufuliy used
her All at once, slowly. and then
with sudden crash, sho sank down
upon her seat and fell forward across
the table, The fragile glass snapped
in her fingers. The amber wine rushed
in swift food across the linen In the
broadening stain there fen ana lay
blazing tho great gem of France.