Middletown transcript., 1912-07-27
CHAPTER Vii.
A distant Menace.

DaSLlmeS QTdW " q CAOSS3 anu NNO
hour arrives when the curtain falls
on the masque. The friends Of my
lady. however reluctantly, were
Obliged at last to forgo further holi-
day-making, depart from the Mount,
and return to the court. An imposing
cavalcade, cleaning in crimson and
gold. they wended down the dark
rock: laughing ladies, pranked-out
cavaliers who waved their perfumed
hands with farewell kisses to the
grim stronghold in the desert, late
their palace of pleasure, and to the
young mistress thereof.
"Good-by, Elise!" The marquis was
last to go.
"Good-by."
He took her hand; held 1t to his
Inns. On the whole, he was not ILL
pleased. His wooing had apparently
prospered, for, although the marriage
had been long arranged, my ladys
beauty and capriciousness had famed
in him the desire to appear a success
full suitor for her heart as well as her
uduQ, IL SOluGLlIuCO 014C Aou5hSA N~-N
thus failed to receive his delicate gall
lantries in the mood in which they
were rendered, the marquis vanity
only allowed him to conclude that
woman does not laugh if she is dis
pleased. 1t was enough that she found
him diverting; he served her; they
were friends and had danced and nd
den through the spring days in ami
cable fashion.
"Good-by," he repeated. when
are you coming to court again? The
queen is sure to ask l understand
her majesty is planning all manner
of brilliant entertainments, yet Yer
sailles-without you, Elise!"
"Me?" arching her finely penciled
brows. ooh, I'm thinking of staying
here, becoming a nun, and restoring
the Mount to its old religious pres
tige."
"Then I'll come back monk" he
returned in the same tone.
eff you come back at ALL" provok-
ingly. There, go! The others will
soon be out OF slght!
81, too-alas, Elise!"
He touched his horse; rode on, but
soon looked back to where, against
a great, grim wall, stood a figure all
in white cleaning in the sunshine.
The marquis stopped; drew from his
breast a deep red rose, and, gazing
upward, gracefully kissed the glowing
token. Beneath the aureole Of golden
hair my lady's proud face rewarded
him with a faint smile, and some
thing-a tiny Observation-Disclosures
like a dove above the frowning, time
worn rock. At that, with the eloquent
gesture of a troubadour, he threw
his arm backward, as if to launch the
Impress on the rose to the crimson
lips of the girl, and then, plying his
spurs, galloped off.
And as he went at pace, head
long if not dangerous and fitting the
exigencies of the moment, my lord
smiled. Truly had he presented a per
feet, dainty and gallant figure for any
woman's eyes, and the Lady Elise, he
fancied, was not the least discerning
Of her sex. And had he seen the girl,
when an unkind angle of the wall hid
him from sight, his own nice estimate
of the situation would have suffered
no cnange. The Mount, which for
merly had resounded to the life and
merriment of the people from the
court. on a sudden to her looked cold,
barren, empty.
"Heigh-ho!" she murmured, stretch
ing her arms toward that point where
he-they-had vanished. Il shall die
of ennui, am sure!" And thought
fully retraced her steps to her own
room.
But she did not long stay there;
by way of makeshift for gaiety, sub
stituted activity. The Mount, full Of
early recoIlections and treasure-house
mystery, furnished an incentive for
exploration, and for several days she
devoted herself to its study; now
pausing for an instant's contemplation
of a sculptured thing of beauty, then
before some closed door that held her,
as at the threshold of Bluebeard's
forbidden chamber.
One day, such a door stood open
and her curiosity became cured. She
had passed beneath a machicolated
gateway, and climbing a stairway
that began in a watch-tower, found
herself Unexpectedly on a great plat
form. Here several men, unkempt,
pale, like creatures from another
world, were walking to and fro; but
at sight of her, an order was issued
and they vanished through a trap
all save one, misshapen dwarf who
remained to shut the iron door, ad-
Just the fastening and turn a ponder
GUS key. For a moment she stood
staring.
why did you do that?" she asked
angrily.
"The governors ORDERS" said the
man, bowlng hideously, They are to
see no one"
Then let them up at once! Do
Ahsar?n At oncel"
sgan to unlock the door,
W..llegd om. After that, her interest
In the rock waned; the Mount seemed
but a prison; she, herself, desired
only to escape from it.
Have my saddle put on Saladin,
she said to Beppo the next day
toward the end Of a long afternoon
Very we'll, my lady. Who accom-
panies your ladyship?"
mo one!" With slight emphasis
Il ride alone"
Beppo discretely suppressed his sur
prise. "Is your ladyship going far!
If so, l beg to remind that tonight is
the change Of the moon, and the
grand, n>+ the little tide may be
coming In"
i was already aware of it, and shall
keep between the Mount and the
shore. Have my horse sent to the up.
per gate," she added, and soon after.
ward rode down.
The town was astir, and many
looked after her as she passed; not
kindly, but with the varying expires.
sions she had Of late begun to notice
Again was she cognizant of that feel.
ing Of secret antagonism, even from
these people whose houses clung to