The Washington times., 1913-07-04


syllable had upon him. The mask which
| he carried always with him fell sud
denly away. He turned upon her with
an abruptness almost disconcerting. His
eyes were lit with fire, and there was
strange flush upon his cheeks.
Where" he demanded - where is
she?"
The Duchess looked at him with SYM
pathy. She was a kindly woman, and
she had probed his secret long ago.
''She Is in q little village some 5Ol
miles across the frontier. in Siberia. j
had imagined that you might have
| known
SIBERIA He repeated the word in
| blank amazement. The Duchess nodded.
Now 1 have told you something very
Interesting" she said. land in return /
am going to ask you something. You
quarreled with her, did you not?"
Scarcely that. I asked her to marry
me-" he answered.
Which Of course was Impossible.
Impossible? Why?"
She raised her eyebrows.
rs 1t conceivable" she exclaimed.
that you do not know"
Il know Of no other barrier save the
difference in our social positions" he
said gravely.
She was silent for a moment.
You did not know, then-be calm, my
friend-that Emily had husband liy-
ing?"
A sharp little cry, almost Immediately
smothered. broke from his lips. He
looked at his companion aghast. A flood
Of new light seemed to be breaking In
Married. Emily married." he ex-
claimed. "And she never told me-"
"she probably meant to in her own
good time" the duchess said. "Of
course, do not know how matters were
between you. only / fancied that some
change had come to her during the last
few montha 1 hoped that she was
growing to care for somebody. She is
too rare a woman to lead forever a
lonely life" .-. r-- ..
but her husband?" he stammered.
"She will never do more" the duchess
said gravely. than look upon his face
life in one Of the gloomiest and most
impregnable of Siberian fortresses.
Some day, IL you like. will tell you the
story Of her marriage. 1t was q most
unhappy one" e.. ,s ,srv., breath,
lessly.
She hesitated. A foreign prince bowed
before her. his breast glittering with
orders. She looked up at him smiling.
Prince" she said. Mr.. Guest and I
are celebrating together the plot Of his
next novel. and It is wonderfully fas-
cinating."
He bowed low and passed on. She
turned again to Douglas.
i can tell you," she said suffi-
ciently In half a dozen sentences. Emily
was the orphan child of one of the
richest and noblest Hungarian families
the man she married was half Pole.
half Hungarian, poor. but also Of
noble family. His life was a network
of deceit. he himself was a conspirator
of the lowest order.
He married Emily for her money
that It might be used for what he called
ha Ch ire fn haU
anything to do with 1t he first ill-treat-
ed her shamefully, and afterward de-
serted her. Twice he was graciously
pardoned by the Gar, twice he broke
his word OF honor and plunged again
into infsmy. The third time 1t seemed
that nothing could save him. for he
was caught in the act Of directing
shameful conspiracy against the man
who had treated him SO generously.
He was sentenced to death, but Emily
after terrible difficulties wo. his life
from the Czar herself whenever other
means had failed. He was condemned
to Imprisonment for life. and she gave
her word that she would never ask for
any mitigation OF that sentence.
Think OF the generosity of that ac-
tion! Although the man had treated
her vilely, and she was young and beau
tifui, yet she doomed herself to a per-
petual widowhood in order to save his
life. I happen to know, too. that her
love for him was wholly dead"
1T was magnificent" he murmured
with something that sounded like a sob.
She came to live In London. where
her story was little known. That was
ten years ago. / think that am almost
the only person who knows the whole
truth about her. and II you ask me why
have told you. well. can only say
that II was by instinct"
Duchess" he said, you have told
me the story of a heroine-now let
me tell you the story OF fool! L
poor. friendless. and untried. She was
the only person from whom received
any spontaneous kindness whatever.
She visited me when was i'll. she ask
ed me to her house, she encouraged ME
in nv work she showed me how ,x-
quisite q thing the intelligent sympa-
thy of n cultivated woman can be 10 a
man who Is struggling for expression
And in return-listen. There were
others whom she had befriended-like
me. She had keen literary instincts as
you know. and It was her pleasure to
help in any way young beginners. She
was also a woman and beautiful Some
of them lost their heads: two especially.
II was their fault-not hers. They were
presumptuous. and she rebuked them.
They whined like whipped ours went
wrong as II chanced afterward and
were held up to me as warnings 1t
was her vanity. they declared which
prompted her kindness. We were ali
puppets TO her-not men. She had no
heart.
When my turn came should be
served like the rest. I loved her,
Duchess: who could help II? And the
time came when we stood face to face,
and I saw the woman shining out Of
her eyes and the gates OF Heaven were
open TO me. Was there ever such
transcendental folly as mine? I locked