New-York tribune., 1911-04-23
Chapter XIX.

w IlE llol'
Chapter XIX.
DESTINY, if it was Destiny, seemed to
- thrust its ineXOrablc hand into her life
from that day forth. Thus. no ordinary
thirst for gossip could to her mind account
for the furor stirred up by the announcement
of her engagement. She expected local
furry. The exubcrant fluctuations OF Nir-
ginia TruScott and the rcproachful gaze OF
Price Buckley left Pau forthwith
were as easy OF prediction as sunrise. She
also anticipated certain amount OF Partisan
comment with a transatlantic echo wherein
Rodoslav's name would be grotcSquely mis-
spelled and her private fortune grossly mis-
stated. This WAS her utmost flight of con-
lecture. In the actual iSSuc, she found her
self an international sensation.
RodoSlav S rank, Justin Blair's money and
political affiliations, and the memory Of her
own transit, a radiant d6butantc, across a
Washington season, were the groundwork.
The rest WAS chromatic journalism. They
received their first warning New Years of
the giant mushroom that had sprung up in
America. y reporter crossed France eX-
prcSSly to ask Justin if it was true that he
had refused Dukcdom. Details more than
ample reached them with the next bundle of
New York papers. Read at haphazard. they
presented a Whirlwlnd of rubbish as sudden.
as caprlciouS rs incXplicablc as tlying
cloud OF dust. RodoSlav was bv turns a
Oulda hero and a braincSS dcgcucratc: his
ancestral home was both a barn and castle
straight out of medieval romance.
Ann was variouSly described rs chic. stat
ucsquc, petite blond and brunette. a Iuno
and Dresden shcphcrdcss. There was gal
liant agreement rs to her charm, bnllancc.
and cultivation. with the less chvalrouS i'm
plcation that she was throwing ii all away
on foreigner. The match itself was roundlv
denounced rs a mere vulgar act of barter.
Il was said TO have reused the bitter hostility
OF the Pope on account of the difference of
religion, and of the Austrian Emperor bv
reason of the disparity in rank Both. how
ever, had gwen a reluctant assent. The
BRIDE to he would fOrSWcar the faith Of her
fathers and donate large sums to the church.
while Franz Josef, in order TO make her
worthy OF marriage with his subject. would
on her wedding day confer upon her a title
which was Scycrally described as Baroness.
Countess, Duchess, and Princes. The
journal that held 10 the Duchess myth con
tuved to make the dignity retroactive and
include Justin Blair, which proved that the
Young man who crossed France for an inter
view was not So irresponsible as he seemed
80 much for the news columns and cdi-
toualS scanned at random. Traced hocl
day by day. the not of unrcason WAS found
to have It's source in the speech of a Member
OF Congress who, taking the earliest cable
despatch for text, had belaborcd inter.
national matches in general and introduced
a bilI to tax all fortunes that LETT the country.
a. marriage settlements.
And all because once blocked that
WheIpS nomination for Sheriff" groancd
Justln. lie went back TO one or two Of thc
wilder accounts and rcrcad them with a ,yr,.
lace "Pinheads!' he calculated. How can
th,Gy set up TO Judge a man of Rodoslay's
callhcr;. Gathering up the whole mass Of
i4iSrcpresentaiions, he thrust il sayagclv ;nto
the hrc. There's some OF it he WON'T scrin
he declared. 'NN'
'THERE was little of it. however that
KodOsldN did not hear ah,ut N;r,;,;.