The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1905-09-22
+" You propose, said Loder, that
for consideration Of money should
trade on dummy, when you are other
wise enQape(1?,

| IOu pfOPOSci bdiu LOQet, Una
for consideration Of money I shou.t
trade on dummy, when you are other
wise engaged?'
After all, the other urged, what
l ask OF you Is Bimple thing. Merely
to carry through my routine duties fol
q week or two occasionally. When
lind my endurance giving way-wher
q respite becomes essential. The work
would be nothing, the pay anything
you like to name. >"
The double hesltates and the othe,
urges. All objections are waved away
Ohilcote agrees to discharge his ser.
want and his secretary, who might 2, S
sioly recognize substitute. Then they
Came dawn (as the Count and PaolI
must have) to the question of the
wife.
"'You have entirely forR often one
thing, said Lcder. You can hardly
dismiss your wife.
My wife doesn't count
Pm afraid scarcely agree. The
complications would be slightly
s!tghtly"-- He paused. Tho fact
of your being married bars 1t. CAN'T
you see that2"
You mistake the position,' said
Chilcota. Il tell you my wife and |
are nothing to each other. She goea
her way; go mine. We have our
own friends, our own rooms. Marri.
age, actual marriage, doesn t enter the
question. We meet occasionally at
meals, and at other peoples houses;
sometimes we go out together for the
sake Of appearances; beyond that
nothing. II you take up my life no
one will trouble you less than my wife
Il can promise that"
So 1T was arranged in the novel, and
so, probably, 1T was discussed and ar.
ranged by the Count Adriano Deni.
QUILL and Aninoro Paolo, the valet.
AS a valet Paolo has been all his life
around mon Of distinction and refine
ment, and he acquired the ways and
manners Of the great. Added to this,
he Is, by every account q man good
looking as tho Count himself. They
are both tall, dark, with clear cut
features and pronounced personalities
The resemblance, according to every
one, Is uncanny.
OF course, the Counts intention
when he made his bargain with Paolo
was merely to bs relieved of his tire.
some social duties. Instead of having
to make himself agreeable all the time
II he could train his double to repre-.
sent him properly he need only be
| bored occasionally. So he supplied
Paolo literally with good clothes and
plenty of money. He gave him all
the luxurics he dreamed Of; he set him
IN one OF his own palaces, where he
could play MASTER at his pleasure. He
| played 1t charmingly.
The news went abroad that the
Count Bepicu.li had improved i'm.
mensely. He was far less taciturn,
far less domineering than formerly.
The Countess heard these things She
had not laid eyes upon her husband
for months, but sine could not believe
them true. She sighed, however, and
wished they were, for In her heart of
hearts she loved her hus hand
| At last at some ball she met Paolo
masquorading 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 10y. Ii
seemed to her the love of her girlhood
returning 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 woocd her.
After this there followed days of
| happiness, such days as the hero and
heroine OF The MaSquerader" passed,
while the secret Of j Ohm Loder's, iden,
tity was still hidden. TO the Coun.
tress Beniculli the valet was the hus-
band of her youth. All Rome told In
amazement Of the reconciliation be.
tween the eccentric Count and his
charming Titianhaired wife.
And, wonder of wonders, the
Counts eccentrIctios had grown
fewer In the years Of their separation.
He seemed to be a consderate, 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 her
supposed Count drove over to Rimini
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, 81
don't want explanations. | want to
to enjoy the moment without hav.
Ing things analyzsd or smoothered
away. Can't you understand? Can't
you see that Pm wonderfully, terribly
happy to have you as you are?"
Paolo walked toward the caves OF
lSlmini, In the Counts clothes, fol,
lowed by the Counts servants, with
his arms about the exquisite Countess
Beniculli. He knew that they loved
and he forgot all else until suddenly
a scream OF rage called him to the
realities OF life.
woman stood In his path way,
with tho menace OF truth in her voice,
upbraiding him for his faithlcssness.
10 the trembling Countess she an.
nounCed herself as his wifo, his wife
In tho eyes OF God and the Church OF
Rome.
OF course she would not believe sc
preposterous tale as that the CCun.
tess could believe him to bo her hus.
band. How long, however, the Coun.
tess would have clung to her belief
we may only conjecture, for in the
midst OF his true wife's insults and
the noble lady's tears, Paolo fell upon
his knees and confessed the part he