Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1908-08-11
CHAPTER xIII.-fcontinued.,


Christmas came and found her in this
frame OF mind. There were very few
tourists now. and the long corridors had
sepulchral air, the snowy mountain tops
were dotted out by mist and rain. For
Pamela, Christmastide had been a season
OF much gayety hitherto season of new
lroc<s and many dances, hunting and
hunt ballc, and the change. was a severe
test of that young lady's temper.
In almost every excursion she had be-
guiled the tedium of the way with some
pleasant day dream. Castellani would APP
pear In the most unlooked-for manner at
the resting place where they were to
lunch. He would have followed them
from England at his leisure, and would
come upon them unannounced, pleased to
ftartle her by his sudden apparition. In
absence she had recalled 50 many tender
speeches, so many indications Of regard
and she had taught herself to believe
that he really cared for her, and had but
been withheld from a declaration by a
noble dignity which would not s.oop to
WOO a woman richer than himself.
HE is poor and proud" she thought.
She had thought of him SO necessarily
that 1t was hardly coincidence, and yet
1t seemed to her a miracle when his voice
sounded behind her in the midst of her
reverie.
You ought not to be out of doors, Miss
Ransone, when the sun is so nearly
down"
She turned and faced him, pale first
with infinite pleasure, and then rosy to
the roots Of her faxen hair.
When did you Gomez she asked Gag
erly. Have you been long in Italy?"
II only came last night. / have not
seen Mrs. Greswold yet. She is well,
hope%
''She is not over WELL She frets dread
fully, | am afraid. 1t is so sad that she
and Uncle George shorld be living apart
for some mysterious reason which nobody
knows. They were the most perfect cou-
pie"
Mrs. Greswold is perfect woman"
And Uncle George has the finest char
acter. His first marriage was unhappy,
/ believe, nobody ever talked about It,
think it was only just known in the
family that he had married in Italy when
he was a young man, and that his wife
had died within year. 1t was supposed
nobody knew anything about her."
Rather hard upon the dead lady to be
condemned by her husbands silence. Will
you take me to your aunt?"
with pleasure. / think she ought to
be charmed to see you, for we lead the
most solitary existence here. Ny aunt
has set her face against knowing any
body, in the hotel or out of it. Aud there
have been some really charming people
staying here; people one would go out of
ones way to know. Have you come here
for your health?"
For my pleasure only. / was sick to
death Of England and of cities. l longed
to steep myself IL the infinite and the
beautiful. Those indigo clouds above the
mountains yonder-with that bold splash
Of orape shining through the gorge
are worth the journey, were there no mole
than that; and when ine wintry stars
glass themselves in the lake by and by,
ah then one knows what it is to be the
living, acting element in world of pass
i've beauty. And to think that there are
men and women in London cropping about
In the fog, and fancying themselves
alive ~
with marked coldness.
II am staying at the hotel" Mr.. Cas-
tellani said. II hope | may drop In some
times-to-morrow even. Miss Ransome is
good enough to say she would like to
Sing some duets with me-"
Miss Ransome knows l have not been
receiving any visitors" Mildred answer
ed, with a touch of Representatives,.
"Oh, but Mr.. Castellani is an old
friend! The people you avoided were
strangers" said Pamela eagerly
Mildred made no further protest Few
men would have accepted permission so
grudgingly given. but Castelani stopped
at no obstacle when he had serious pur-
pose to serve. and in this case his pur-
pose was very serious; for life or death,
he told himself.
He came next day and the day after
that, and every day for four or five
weeks, till the first flush Of precocious
spring lent beauty to the landscape and
softness to the sky. Mildred submitted
to his visits and by and by fell into the
habit of being amused by Castellani; in
terested in his talk of men and women
and of books, of which he seemed 20 have
reid all of any mark that had ever been
written. She allowed herself to be infer
Csted; she allowed herself to be soothed
by his music; she let him become an in
fuence in her life: but never did this
presumptuous wooer beguile her Into one
single thought that wronged her absent
husband. Her intellect Acknowledged the
tempter's intellectual sway, but her heart
knew no wavering.
L.
vincible with women. The weakes., and
In some cases the worst of the sex had
educated him into the belief that no wom-
an lived who could resist him. And here
was a woman whom he intensely admired.
aid whose married life Ii had been his
privilege TO wreck.
He knew that Mildred Crossword was
three times richer than Pamela Ransomc.
The wealth o. the Faussets came within
the region Of his knowledge; and ne know
how large a fortune John Fsusset had
left his daughter. and how entirely thst
fortune was at her own disposal. lie
might have had Pamela for the asking
Pamela, with a paltry fifteen hunogel \
year: Pamela. who sang false and bored
him beyond measure. The higher prize
seemed impossible; but it was his nature
30 attempt the impossible. His belief in
his own power was boundless.
''She cannot divorce her husband" he
told himself; but he may divorce her"
lie thought himself very near success
In these lengthening afternoons in the
beginning OF February when he vas 81
lowed to spend the lovely hour of sun
down in Mrs Greswold's salon. watching
tie sunset from the wide plate-glass win
dow, WHICH commanded a panoranS Of
lake and mountain. with every exquisite
change from concentrated light to suHus,N:;
color. and then TO deepening purple that
slowly dsrkened into night.
While Cesar Cagseliani battered hini-
self that he was on the threshold of
success. Mildred GreSwold was d>liherat-
Ing how best TO escape from him and his
society forever Had she been alone there