The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-20
c0PuR0aHTEn, T907 R 0RHNG Ns. ALL RaMT0 RESERvEM.

earth was an aged foreign. duke who had
 brought thither his daughter a girl of
 the same age as Camille, in the vain
 hope of her restoration to health. The
 girl died there: and the dukes grief was
 such as almost to deprive him of req
 son. While he was in the midst of his
 mental agony he suddenly met the Lady l with the Camelias on the street. In his l blinded mind there came the thought l that the spirit of his daughter had ap-
 peared to him; and, indeed, there was an extraordinary resemblance between the dead girl and the living one. Seizing l Camille in his arms the old man wept I over her; and when he realized that his l fancy had played him trick he still implored leave to worship the image Of | his dead child.
 1 Camille told the duke that she was an | orphan. ill and friendless and he bade
 her consider herself as taking the place
 of his daughter The weary girl con l sented Visions of new life began to I dawn upon her. She felt that her life | In Paris had been only some terrible, fe- yered dream, from which she had awak- | ened at last
 l At first the frequenters of the spa | laughed and wagged their heads, but ] when they found that the old duke really
 regarded Camille as his daughter they 1 sped to the old man with stories of the sii Pasl' 1neN nad enough to tell and | It did not lose anything in the telling The old man summoned Camille and told 1 her what he had heard. With tears of i genuine overpowering grief Camille con- | 1essed all, and begged the duke to take | no more interest in her-she was un- | worthy of his kindness and would go , away. Her slender frame shuddered while l she spoke, she saw before her a life
 with which she had thought herself done | forever, but with a-piteous sigh she re- l signed herself to fate
 1 Camilles confession was a savage blow 1 to the duke. From the moment her re- | semblance to his dead child vanished 1 In his eyes. But she had become neces- l sity of the old mans life. Her care was his only pretext for wishing to live l longer
 Therefore, when both had recovered | themselves somewhat, he asked her If | she thought herself capable of rejecting her past life, of plotting it out forever | If so, he would still be her friend and | protector
 With fresh tears Of gratitude, Camille embraced her benefactor and declared that | the past was buried forever. Scandalous | tongues might wag as they would now l Camille was happy. She gained strength | daily; and sine said to herself that God l would again grant her health and beauty 1 in exchange for her repentance and con l version. And truly her peaceful minds the | waters exercise, natural fatigue and l sleep had in a measure restored her by the end of summer
 I Then the duke accompanied his protege 1 to Paris where the world was shocked l at first-or pretended to be-until it 1 learned the real situation, when the world 1 became sneering and scornful. Camille was established in a little home i of her own. where the duke visited her 1 daily as father might visit daughter. | No dandies hung over her chair at the | Cafe Anglais at night now and when she l visited theatre she went accompanied by duenna and no young men about l town dared stroll nonchalantly to her l side as they had done formerly She was | living down her past and doing it bravely. | It was two years from the time when 1 Armand Duval had first been entranced
 with the lovelness of Camille. He was walking in the foyer of Varieties with a | friend when a woman passed, plainly l dressed and yelled, with whom his friend l exchanged bows.
 "Who is she2 asked Armand Camille Gautier," was the reply She has greatly changed" was all Duval could say.
 'So you know her?" responded his friend. Well, she is greatly changed. She has been adopted by rich old
 duke of some sort l believe. but the
 poor girl has consumption and will not last long,"
 Armands heart beat vioIently-he
 could not tell why. His friend looked at him in surprise. Why" said he,
 are you in love with herr" "Oh, mo-" replied Armand, 'I never spoke to her but once and then only for a minute"
 Later Duval saw Camille in her box. |, hectic, frail beauty, contrasting strong
 ly with the fresh youthful loveliness
 that had been hers two years before. She had returned to Paris greatly i'm proved and lovelier than ever but she
 was not cured. The wasting and n-
 sidious disease of which she was the
 victim was not to be shaken off by one
 summers stay at Bagnieres.
 Camille had haunted Armand for two
 years. Now that he saw her again his
 mind was plunged into a turmut out of which emerged only two thoughts
 borne in upon him so that he could not
 doubt. He loved Camille. It was fate
 And he must see her, must talk with
 her. It was imperative.
 He discovered that a woman whom
 he had formerly known, Prudence Du-
 verney. lived next house to Camille in
 the Rue dAntin. Prudence was all her
 name implied, except that 1t took no
 great diplomacy to make her tell all
 she knew and something of what she
 imagined. Prudence was 40, had once
 tried to act, made failure of it. and
 relying upon her Knowledge of Paris had gone into the millinery business
 and made a success of it. She was
 Camilles milliner. and more or less a
 companion for her. It was easy to get
 Prudence to talk about Camille.
 she must be Il charming person."
 ventured the willy Armand. '1 wish I
 knew her"
 "Oh. well. at the opera some time
 will introduce you"
 Could you not arrange it so that l could call--as your friend?" faltered Armand.
 "Oh. dear me. mol" said Prudence
 aNademoiselle Cfautier receives nobody That is nobody but the Count de N. Sne only allows him to make the most formal calls. But do you know, slie
 borrows money of him."
 "Borrows money of him?" Armand
 wnced
 "oh, yes. but you must not mention
 it. The Duke would be furious if be
 knew You see the Duke allows her
 sixty thousand france year. but what
 is that to Camille? In spite of what the Duke allows her and what she borrows,
 she is deeply in debt" When Prudence told Camille of the
 young man who so ardently desired to
 make her acquaintance thoughtful, sad
 look came into her eyes Armand Du- val she said. meditatively. .'Yes. bring him." Camille remembered Armand. In fact in the past two years she had often thought of the young man who had ap- nroarhed her in the old days in a manner