The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1905-09-20

" You PROPOSE said Loder, 'tha
for consideration Of money 1 shou..
trade on dummy, when you are othe]
wise engageo?'
' After all, the other urged, VIVA
1 ask OF you is a simple thing. Merel
to carry through ny Il u.ine duties fo
week or two occasionally. When
find my endurance giving way-whe
respite etom-s essential. The wor
would be rothing, the pay anythin
you like tO name. ."
The double hesitates and the othe
Urges. A. objections are waved away
Chilcote agrees to discharge his SCI
want and his secretary, who might p
Sibly recognize substitute. Then the,
came dawn (ss the Count and Paol
must have) to the question OF th
wife.
You have entirely fors often on
thing said L.der. You can hardl!
dismiss your wife.
NJ wife doesn't count.
Pm afraid I scarcely agree. Th
complications would be slightly
slightly"-- BE paused. THE fac
OF your being married bars it. CAM
you see that?"
You mistake the position salt
Chi,cots. I tell you my wife and
are nothing to each other. She goe'
hsr way; I 90 mine. We have on!
own friends, our own rooms. Mari
age, actual marriage, doesn't enter tht
question. We meet occasionally al
meals, and at other peoples houses
sometimes ne go cut together for the
sake Of. appearances; beyond thai
nothing. II you take up my life nt
one will trouble you less than my wife
I can promise that"
So it was arranged in the novel, ano
so, probably, it was discussed and at.
ranged by the Count Adriano Beni
culli and Aninoro Paolo, the valet.
AS a valet Paolo has been all his life
around men OF distinction and refine
ment, and he acquired the ways ano
manners Of the great. Added to this
be is, by every account, man good
looking as the Count himself. They
are both tall, dark, with ciear-cut
features and pronounced personalities.
The resemblance, according to every
one, is uncanny.
OF course, the Counts intention
when be made bis bargain with Paolo
was merely to be relieved Of his tire.
some social duties. Instead OF having
to make himself agreeable all the time,
If he could train his double to repre-.
ssrt him properly be need only be
bored occasionally. SO he supplied
Paolo literally with good clothes and
plenty Of money. He gave him all
the luxuries he dreamed OF; be set him
in one OF his own palaces, where be
could play MASTER at his pleasure. BE
played 1t charmingly.
The news went abroad that the
Count BeDicuili had improved i'm
menseiy. He was far less taciturn,
far less dcmineering than formerly.
The Countess heard these things. She
had not laid eyes upon her husband
for months, but she could not believe
them true. She sighed, however, and
wished they were, for In her heart OF
hearts she loved her husband.
At last at some ball she met Paolo
masquerading as the Count. She had
never looked more lovely, she had
never been more gracious. The sup.
posed Count smiled upon her with
new alteration, and the poor woman
trembled and glowed with Joy. II
seemed to her the love Of her girlhood
to her.
All that evening the man whom
she took to be her husband was at her
side, assiduous in his attentions, whis-
pering such compliments as she had
not heard since first he wooed her.
After this there followed days Of
happiness, such days as the hero and
heroine of ''The Masquersder" passed,
while the secret OF John Loder's, lden-
tity was still hidden. To the Coun-
tress BeniculH the valet was the hus-
band Of her youth. All Rome told in
amazsment OF the reconciliation be-.
tween the eccentric Count and bis
charming Titianhaired wife.
And, wonder OF wonders, the
Counts eccentricitiss had grown
fewer in the years OF their separation.
He seemed to be a considerate, nor
NAL. healthy person, whose greatest
desire was to advance her happiness.
She made the most Of the present and
decided to refer as little as possible to
the bitter, unhappy past.
One day, while her love dream was
at it's height, the Countess and he1
supposed Count drove over to Rimin1
to make an excursion into the won
derful caves that are there. When
any reference was made to the past
with it's unhappiness she said, like the
heroine OF ''The Masquerader, " y
don't want explanations. want tc
to enjoy the momens without hav'
ing things snalyzsd or smoothered
away. Can't you understand? CAM
you see that I'm wonderfully, terribly
happy-to have you-as you are?'
Paolo walked toward the caves o1
Rimini, In the Counts clothes, fol
lowed by the Counts servants, With
his arms about tee exquisite Countess
Beniculli. lie knew that they lovec
ani be forgot all else until suddenly
a scream Of rage called him to the
realities Of life.
A woman stood in bis path way
with the menace of truth in her voice
upbraiding him for bis faithlessness
To the trembling Countess she an
nounced herself as bis wife, his wife
in the eyes Of God and the Church o:
Rome.
OF course she would not believe 81
preposterous tale as that the Ccua
tess could believe him to be her hus
band. How long, however, the Coun
tess would have clung to her belie
we may only conjecture, for IN tbt
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