Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1904-03-08

Oone, tnen, Mary Ucs.,vngei" CRIED
Law at last, his teeth setting sayagel,
together. Come. then, trxitress AND
slave, and kneel before me. d. Won did
once before!"
1 Then there ensued strange and hor.
r1Die spectacle. A hush as of death
Tell upon the group. Mary Connynge
trembling, hating, yet always advaac-
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 dream. Her knees would have in
deed sunk beneath her. She drew
from her bosom sill1en kerchief. as
though she would indeed have per-
formed the ignoble 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
irrepressible exclamation of agony.
bWill Law, as one grown swiftly old,
haggard, broken-down, stood gazing in
wide-eyed horror at this woman, so hui
inflated in the presence of all in this
brilliantly-lighted hall; before the
blazing mirrors which should have re-
Elected 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- Will 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 remorse or in despair.
Then he extended hand to the woman
who would have sunk before him.
God forgive me! madam" he cried.
II had forgot. Savage indeed you are
and have been, but it's not for me to
treat you brutality"
Your grace" said he, turning to-
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-fainting brother bowed before
passing through the door, it might
have seen that which he must long
have borne in memory.
Mary Connynge, trembling, pallid,
utterly. broken, never found her. way
back to the right hand of the regent.
She half stumbled into a chair near
the foot of the table. Her bosom f1ut-
tered at the base of the throat. Half
Dllndly she reached out her hand to-
ward glass of wine which stood near
by. foaming and sparkling, its gem
like drops of keen pungency 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 retreating figure of
the man who had thus scornfully used
her. All at-once, slowly, and then
with a sudden crash, she sank down
upon her seat and fell forward across
the table. The fragile glass snapped
In her fingers, The amber wine rushed
in swift flood across the linen. In the
broadening stain there fell and lay
blazing the great gem of France.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE NEWS,
"Lady Kitty! Lady Kitty! Have
you heard the news?"
Thus, GREATNESS, the countess Of
Warrington, Lady Catharine's English
neighbor in exile, who burst into the
drawing-room early in the morning,
not waiting for announcement of her.
presence.
may, not yet, my DEAR said Lady
Catharine, advancing, and embracing
her. What is it, pray? Has the
poodle swallowed bone, or. the baby
perhaps cut another tooth? AID, for
sooth, how is the little one?"
"The streets are full Of it." said she.
Have YOU not heard, really?":: -. j..
Il must say. not yet. But what Is;
it," ..s ,.c.s. ~
why, the quarrel between; the ere-.
gent and his director-general, Mr.;
Law" 81, -. ~
mo, ! have not heard Of it,. Lady,
eatharine sought refuge behind her
own fan. 'But tell me-" she continued.
"But that is not all. Twas the rea-
son for the quarrel. Paris is all. agog.,
Twas about a woman!" .e..,
"You mean-there was-a woman?,
eyes, it all happened last night, at
the Palais Royal. The woman is, dead
died last night. IT'S said she fell In
a fit at the very table lat u lit
tie supper given by the -regent-and
that when they came to her she was:
quite dead" III. .,....u,...;,
But Mr.. Law" S. 49, .,.:S~..,,
"'TWas he that killed her!"s.:. 4, /
"Good God! What mean !, you3...
cried Lady Catharine her own face