The Washington herald., 1906-10-11

gaze unfalteringly fixed on his. demand
I ing, beseeching, commanding of him he
I knew not what.
! Vividly ne remembered how her first
glance had filled his soul with doubt and
/ trouble, with dreams and wild, intolerant
/ desires. How he had struggled 10 resist
/ her, to remain true to his English love.
I whom in his heart of hearts he always
worshiped, and worshiped still, Then
( the drifting. when day by DAY his resO-
/ lutions weakened one by one. Last OF all
I that mad and fateful night when Kath-
erin bad come at ii witch hour to his
rooms and prayed for his assistance
/ The story she had told himl Her dis
1 tress and her despair Even now it was
At times impossible 10 realize that she
/ had been so base. He shuddered TO re-
call her acting, her incredibly perfect
acting. Weeping In his arms. she had pre-
tended a confession. She had fallen. she
said, victim TO a momentary weakness.
/ q criminal weakness. and her desire was
only to escape the consequences OF her
folly. y great man, the very greatest,
. had sought her love with gifts, and for
"a moment she had been tcmpted-the gifts
were jewels. jewels Tit only for a queen
10 wear. She gave him the Jewels
wrapped In an unsigned letter fun of i'm
precation and remOrsc, whose contents
she recited to his unwilling ears. She
imploTed him 10 be the messenger Of their
return. He was to take them that very
instant 30 a certain chamberlain, 10 say
10 him certain words, and then. on his
retmn-well, what he would, she loved
him, she said, and was willing 10 bestow
on him for love that gift which another
and greater than he had sought to pur-
chase in vain.
Ia Ia, 4
her bidding. and then returning generously
put her from him and refused to profit
by her hour OF weakness and surrender
Then came the morrow. the darkest
morning OF his life, the saddest and most
humiliatinE, when his angry chief with
Wrathtul face and blazing eyes had in
formed him Of that letters inner mean
ing; had told him 10 his face he was a
fool and untitled for the duties of his
office
It seemed that ne had carried TO the
hands of a double traitor a damnably
injurious weapon Of destruction. and for
moment the life OF a king had rested
on the tickle disposition Of a rascal The
Jewels were a snare, Tor their facets had
been poisoned and their Hghtest handling
meant certain death. The king had been
saved, but policy demanded "a sacrifice.
and the traitor whose tTcaCheIy had
saved the king. the chamberlain into
whose hands Cressingham had cOnfded
the fatal letter was rightfully made the
victim. A lesser victim was Crossing
ham himself for he was constrained TO
resign, the world being carelessly in
formed that his own failing health was
the cause of his retirement, an excuse
ruinous 10 him from its transparent sim
plicity.
Only Niyella had entirely escaped, for
CTessingham had kept her secret and
she had known how TO convince both him
and her imperial host that her hands
We're clean in the affair soon after his
retirement she had followed him 90 Eng
land anxious for his complete sUbjuga-
tiou, for, curiouslv enough. the woman
had fallen deeply in love with the self
contained, reserved young EHgl.shman
whom she had ruined and who had never
once reproached her for his ruin
But he had been too severely handled by
fate and felt his disaster too keenIy and
completely 10 resume at once the part of
ardent lover. For her sake and at her
bidding he had remained ia England.
longing all the while to hide himself al
the worlds end, but in spite of such "a
real sacrifice he had been unable to sat
isfy her of his devotion, and al the same
time "a closer knowledge Of the woman
had given him cause for much serious
reflection and misgiving.
He had discovered her 10 possess an
Unsuitable craving for admiration. excite
ment. and conquest. His own colducsS
mad aroused her every energy. He had
studied the methods she employed with
other men and recognized them applied in
fOrm q thousand times intensified TO him
self Gradually she declined IN his es-
and strange suspicious. and he would at
last have been content 10 break the bonds
between them: but here the tragic con-
Crariety Of fate came into evidence.
The more that his affection for her sub
sided, the stronger grew the flame of
hers for him, and sometimes. the mask
thrown altogether aside. she showed her
self TO him. a woman with her wOmanly
. armor of reserve dissolved. q creature OF
pathos and passion. imperious. languish-
ing and pleading in a breath. madly re-
seuttul of his coldness, his slave, his
play,hing. did he care to stoop.
Then came the Interview with Perigord
in which his suspicious were converted
into certainties and the scales finally re-
moved from his eyes Thereafter he had
no choice but to recognize in Katheriu
Niyella her veritable ego, and while the
man in him saw her outer covering beau
tiful as that OF an angel. his minds eye
caught traces of a soul within wicked
iiCentiOus, and powerful for evil Had he
been a free agent he would have fled
from England TO escape her; but bound
by chains he dared not break, he was
forced to remain and honestly eudeavoT
to achieve the task which he had been
allotted
It became his duty to clucidate q hid
den page in madame's history. to win
from her. since she alone held the key to
the riddle, the story Of her parentage. to
ascertain the name of her father. well
assured in his heart tho while that that
name. once revealed. would open the door
10 "a chamber of horrors Uuspeakable. He
felt that he stood upon the threshold If
q tragedy mysterious and terrible EiC
knew himself that meaUest of all cre2-
lures. "a SPY, and hating his occupation
with all the ardor of u straightforward
upright nature, be caught himself pity
ing the woman and Welding to the weak
ness Of procrastinatiOn.
Meanwhile Nine Viyella. seeking the
reason of his growing coldness. had had