Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-05-06

happy man. But 1t was easy to see
 from the heavy frown upon his sunny
 face-for he was that rare thing in
 Spain. blue eyed blond, who at first
 sight might have been mistaken for
 an Englishman - that his soul was
 filled with melancholy. And well #
 might be, for Alvarado was the victim
 of a hopeless passion for Mercedes de
 Lara, the viceroy's daughter, known
 from one end of the Caribbean to the
 other from her beauty and her ia
 ther's station as the Pearl of Caracas.
 Nor was his present sadness due to
 unrequited passion, for he was confl-
 dent that the adoration of his heart
 was met with an adequate response
 from its object Indeed. it was no
 secret to him that Mercedes loved him
 with a devotion which matched his
 own. It was not that, but her father
 had announced his intention to be-
 troth the girl to Don Felipe de Tobar y Bobadilla. young gentleman of
 ancient lineage and vast wealth, who
 had been born in America and was the
 reputed head in the western hemi- sphere of the famous family whose
 name he bore
 The consent of Donna Mercedes to
 the betrothal had not been asked. That was q detail which was not con- sidered necessary by parents in the year of grace 1885, and especially not by Spanish. parents. That she should object to the engagement or refuse to carry out her fathers plan never crossed the viceroy's imagination That she might love another was an idea to which he never gave a thought. It was the business of a well brought up Spanish maiden to be passive instrument in the carrying out of her fathers views. especially in things matrimonial. in which, indeed, love found little room for entrance. But Donna Mercedes loved Captain Alvarado, and she cared nothing for Don Felipe. Not that Don Felipe was to her or to any one; he was a Spanish gentleman in every sense of the word-handsome, distin- guished, proud and gallant-but she did not, could not. love him. To com plicate matters still further De Tobar was Captain Alvarado's cherished con- panion and most intimate friend.
 The progress of the love affair be- tween Alvarado and Donna Mercedes had been subjective rather than ob- jective. They had enjoyed some un- usual opportunities for meeting on ac count of the station the former filled in the viceroy's household and the place he held in his heart, yet the op- pOrtunities for extended freedom of in tercourse between young men and wo- men of the gentler class in those days. and especially among SpaniardS of high rank. were extremely limited. The old count took care to see that his daughter was carefully watched and shielded, not because he suspected her of anything. for he did not, but be- cause it was habit of his people and his ancestry. The busy life that he led, the many employments which were thrust upon him. his military du- ties. had kept the days of the young soldier very full. and under the most circumstances he would have had little time for lovemaking.
 But, though they had enjoyed brief Tor personal intercourse, the very impossibilities of free com the difficulties of meeting, had but added fuel and fire to their affection. Love had famed into these two hearts with all the intensity of their tropic blood and tropic land. AL passion could feed for days and grow large upon the remembrance of the fragrance of her hand when he kissed it last in formal salutation. Mercedes soul could infold itself in the recollection of the too ardent pres sure of his lips. the burning yet re- spectful glance he had shot at her. by others unperceived, when he said fare well. The situation was complicated In every possible way for Alvarado. Had he been a man of family. like his friend, De Tobar. he would have gone boldly to the viceroy and asked for the hand of his daughter. in which case he thought he would have met with no but, being ignorant of bis birth. having not even a legal right to the name he bore. he knew that the proud old hidalgo would rather see his daughter dead than welded to him. Of all the ancient splendors of the Spanish people there was left them but one thing of which they could be ancient name. De Lara. who belonged to one of the noblest and most distinguished families of the Ibe- rian peninsula. would never consent to degrade his line by allying his only daughter 10 a nobody. however worthy In other respects the suitor might prove to be.
 Again. had Mercedes father been my other than the lifelong patron and | friend 10 whom he literally owed ev- srything that he possessed. such was .he impetuosity of Alvarado's disposi- 1 ton that al every hazard he would l nave taken the girl by stealth or force l rom her fathers protection. made her ils wife and sought sn asylum in Eng 1 and or France O. wherever he could- l So desperate was his state of mind. So ] his love. that he would nave shrunk from nothing to win her. let just because the viceroy had been l l father to him. just because he had l oved him. had been unexampIed in bis | N