Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1904-02-25

| 80 THIS woman WIN youth anu
gorgeous beauty, with every gift OF
earth, with power and free will to
have been good and great II she
would--this woman, who by right of
her age and sex ought to have been
the last to stand between husband and
wife, exulted in the success Of her
petty prosecutions, Of her clever in
nuendoes and skillful playing upon
tho feelings of Lord and Lady Selwyn.
Mrs. Selwyn wondered that she bore
tho news so quietly wondered that
new light and brighter beauty flashed
in her proud face-wondered that she
seemed gayer of heart than she had
even been before.
There was not so much preparation
for this farewell ball as there had
been for Countess Sitani's fete. The
suite OF rooms at the villa Pisani was
large and beautifully arranged; the
last Of them, a coy little boudoir,
hung with green satin and gold,
opened into the grounds where the
river ran like a broad silver stream.
The grounds were tastefully
decorated; coIored lamps were sus,
pended from the fragrant trees, the
trailing vines were in full beauty,
roses and lilies filed the air with lus-
yiOus perfume.
That day--how well Vivian re-
membered 1t In after years!-Lady
Vlolante was more than usually dull.
There had been some conversation
about sending Rupert to England with
Mrs. Selwyn, and the mothers heart
rose In hot rebellion against 1t,
1T shall not bel" she said, while
the three looked upon her with won
dering eyes. IF my boy goes to Eng
land | go to. He shall not be taken
from my care.
"Do you propose going to Elton and
oxford with him. asked Miss Leigh,
with smile; but Lord vivian said,
gravely;
Your wish shall be respected,
VoIante even though 1t be against the
boys welfare. We will not mention
the subject again"
She looked on the three cold. avert
ed faces, and bitter cry rose from
her aching heart.
III she were but dead, he would be
free!"
That little scene took place n day
or two before the ball and the
domestic atmosphere darkened per.
ceptlbly after 1t. There Is, perhaps,
no phase of married life SO painful as
that through which Lord and Lady
Selwyn were now passing A coldness
nothing could remove, constraint
nothing lessened, an ostrangement for
which they could hardly account;
whole multitude Of trilles each one
taken separately, light as air, but
taken altogether, they formed
barrier both seemed unable to cross.
Lady Selwyn thought her husband
unktnd and cruel in thinking of send
ing her boy from her; Vivian thought
his wife purposely contradicted every
Wish that he expressed.
The whole house was filled with tho
preparations for the ball. and Lady
Violante--listless, Indifferent, weary
at heart-went out in the grounds to
be alone with her wretChedness She
was intensely miserable, a great gulf
seemed to have arisen between her
and her husband, one that could never
be bridged over, and that morning in
the summer skies and the lily leaves,
in the emerald grass and crimson
flowers, in the waves of the river and
the beams of the sun, she read only
those words:
IF | were dead he would be free"
She dreaded the evening fete. She
dreaded going back to the house. She
had begun to feel ne"vously afraid of
her husband and of his mother afraid
to speak before them. She had grown
constrained. embarrassed. almost
awkward. when in their presence. II
Vivian looked preoccupied, or grave,
she thought he was repenting of hav.
ing ever seen her She had become
perfectly morbid over it.
Seeing out In the bright sunshine
girl SO young and SO lovely, who
would have imagined that she was one
of the most miserable of women p.
who would have dreamed that her
only wish was that she lay dead SO
that her husband might be free?
She went In to lunch, and heard
Mrs Selwyn and Miss Leigh talk of
their plans ON arriving once more in
England, Lord Vivian was no,
present; he was engaged ON some
business relative to the evening
iestivity
II was an opportunity the two ladies
could not resist. This fair,faced girl
had indirectly driven them both from
the home they loved She had con.
Quered although the victory had
probably cost her her husbands love.
There was no Vivian to interfere now
with grave voiec-they had ii all their
own way.
Nothing ili.hred or positively dis.
courteous was said Fine ladies' know
how to sting and To stab without one
t.Il,1p NArl FrhA,,