Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-08-08

will be informed early enough when l
present my betrothed to her.
This heartIess, undutiful observa-
ton would have filled Helene with
indignation at any other time, but
now she scarcely heard it. Her whole
feeling was one wild tumult at sound
Of the word betrothed, which, after
all, connects with itself, however
there may be in the world, the
thought of bliss and youthful hope.
My God.'' she sighed, wringing
her hands. Il have always hoped not
to live to pass through this, not that
| was so selfish as to dream of your
going through life alone for my sake,
but l thought the certain shortness of
my life might determine you to let
this cup of agony pass me by, that
you might, perhaps, wait until my
eyes could no longer behold the terri
BILE end
But, Helene. what are you coming
to- shouted Hollfeld, suppressing
his Impotence with great difficulty.
who thinks of death as you are?
We must live live and in the course
of time be very happy. That is what |
certainly hope for. Now l will leave
you. Reflect upon the matter, and you
will come to the same conclusion
which I have reached"
He pressed her hand tenderly to his
lips, breathed a kiss upon her brow,
which he had never done before, took
his hat and softly left the room.
Once outside, separated from the
heart-broken girl by the door only
he turned upon his heel with an evil
mean he looked as he did so! He was
immoderateIy pleased With his per
Torrance, as, an hour before, his
heart had been full of rage. His pas
sion for Elizabeth, famed to madness
by the girls resentment, had robbed
him twice yesterday of all his boosted
self-command. But in the midst Of all
the fury of his love it never for an
instant occurred to him to offer Eliza
beth his hand He would have called
himself mad to entertain such a pro-
ject for a moment. He racked his
brain with vile plans and propositions
for overcoming the resistance of the
fOrester's daughter. Suddenly the
new developments at Gnadeck di-
rected his attention to a wholly new
possibility. The young girl had now
become a desirable party, rich and
of ancient lineage. No wonder that
he inwardly exulted at the news, and
decided instantly. INA moment of gen
erOus impulse to make the bewitch
ing blossom at Gnadeck happy forever
with a proposal of marriage. That she
would accept the honor without delay
was beyond all doubt; for if she had
succeeding in repelling, for a time, and
out of sheer coquetry, all his adj
vances thus far such action was in.
conceivable in the face Of the posi-
biIity of becoming the envied Frau
Won HOllfeld. On that point he was
so perfectly clear and sure that not
one tiniest cloud of doubt darkened
the alluring prospect 1t was, however,
not alone the ardent desire to possess
Elizabeth which impel1ed him to act
as speedily as possible. He was we'll
aware that as soon as the discoveries
in the ruin became known, other
W 0ars would be knocking at the por-
tai seeking the much-talked-of beauti-
full Gold Elsie, and the thought made
his blood boil. Nevertheless, the exc
cution of his plan was destined to
meet another obstacle, and that in
the person Of Helene, not because
some feeling of pity awakened him
for what the ardently loving, unfortu-
nate girl must suffer in consequence
Of the step, for he knew no mercy;
but he was obliged to reflect upon the
contingency that a sudden marriage
might cost him the estate which he
expected from Helene. He must,
therefore be cautious and adroit. We
have seen with what cold blood he ex-
plOitd the deep, blind love of the
unhappy girl, and chained her to him
self by apparently subjecting himself
to her in the weightiest question of
his life.
To be continued