Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-08-27
CHAPTER l.

!
Paul Trafford had attained that his
thrill of curiosity. A man who was
reckoned the richest in the world
could not be other than an object Of
supreme interest to people whose
first cry was money. The fact that
he had arrived at Monte Carlo the
day before had been as much a
topic of conversation as If he had
been King Edward or the Gear. Now
that he appeared and was recognize
ed, princes, duchesses and adven-
turers instinctively fell back little
making way for him and his party
to pass on. Here and there some
one claimed the privilege of his &C.
quaintance, and bowed before his
nod as before a popes benediction.
Those who followed IN his train were
besieged with greetings. Mr. and
Mrs. George Trafford were actually
cut off from the procession and made
prisoners Of war. The Duke of Wilt
shire only maintained his position at
Miss Trafford's side by being rude
to people, and turning his back on
them.
As for Paula herself, she passed on,
between her father and the man she
had almost promised to marry, I'M
moved by the stir she created. She
was aware of 1t, but she was used
to it. Having been SO constantly her
fathers companion during the last
four years, she had come to take
public attention as matter Of
course. At first the interest she III
spired had been impersonal--the In
terest inseparable from one whom
the American press called "the
greatest heiress on earth" Her
fortune was compared with that Of
the Queen of Holland, and of the
daughters of the Rothschild and
Rockefeller families, but that was all.
Now, however, at twenty-five, she
was emerged from the golden mist
that had surrounded her, and was as
Stunning personality. The Towering OF
her beauty had done something to-
wards this. People had found it
superfluous that girl with so much
money should have complexion like
rose-petals floating in milk They re-
sented the fact that her figure had
needless grace, and her face an ex-
preston of appeal which there was
no resisting. Rumprs of marriage
sprang up wherever she appeared.
The girl knew these things without
taking actual account of them, or let
ting them form part of her daily con
sciousness. At this minute she could
ignore the fact that her looks were
being criticised and her income ap.
praised, in gazing about her, with
amusement, at the novelty of the
scene.
Were now in one of those spots
of Norman STAND" said the Duke OF
Wiltshire, as they entered the first
saloon. (which modern civilization
likes to set apart as cities of refuge
from the rules of caste and conven
tionality."
Paula turned her soft eyes slowly
towards him. They were blue eyes
with black lashes-the Celtic eyes
inherited from her fathers mother
the eyes in which faith is mingled
with superstition, in which self-devo
ton has dash of insincerity, and
in which laughter never wholly hides
the mist Of tears. Between the browt
there was a tiny, perpendicular fur
row, like that Of person endeavor
Ing to see through the rights ant
wrongs Of things, and conscientiously
trying to be sure. 1t was this puzzled
inquiring look that the Duke Of Wilt
shire specially loved in her. 1t gavs
him an opportunity for the kind O.
explanatory work In which he excel
led In the House Of Lords.
Haven't you noticed" he went on
in answer to Paula's unspoken inter
rogation "that in all the great CAPT
tails OF the world-London, Paris, AM
New York, for instance-there ar,
two or three expensive restaurant
and luxurious hotels where on cross
ing the very Threshold one steps out
side all the limitations of national
ity, moral prejudice and class distin
tion?"
That's very true" Paul TRAITOR.
said, in confederation.
He liked to listen to Wiltshires re
Elections on subjects that he himsel
had never thought about. Hes a.
ways widening your mind in some d
rection where you never looked be
fore" he remarked, now and ther
to Paula. The girl was glad to be
lieve 1t. 1t was one more attractio
of mind, where physical charms wei
so lacking; it was one more explain:
ton of her willingness to marry hin
She liked him. "No one could he'll
liking him." she often told herself
and yet as they moved slowly alon
amid the crowd, with so many eye
upon them, she regretted the fac
that he was shorter than herself, an
that he had this air of hopeless medi,
Gritty. The men of her own famil
We're all equipped for command. He
father, who had been a New Englan
farmers son, and himself a farmer
boy, overtopped most men by hea
and was undeniably handsome. Eve
her cousin, George, who was big ar
numbering, had something dominatir
about him. 1t seemed strange to h,
therefore, that this English duke, tt
head of the illustrious house of He
royd, the descendant of line whoi
good looks had helped to make He
bein, Vandyck, and Reynolds famou
should have been sent into the wor