The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1913-10-04

able OF leaving the apartment tha
night, In her kimono.
'Ill 60 to Capri" resignedly. Dy
mantle bombs were not the wors
things In the world.
II don't want to 60 now
The duke picked up fresh cigar
cite. How the devil must have laugh
ed when the Lord made Eve!"
CHAPTER w.
The Joke Of Monsieur.
With the same inward bitterness
that attends the mental processes Of
h performing tiger on being sent back
to its cage, Courtlandt returned to
his taxicab. He wanted to roar aNd
lash and devour something. Instead
he could only twist the ends OF his
mustache savagely. So she was q
grand duchess. or at least the NOR
ganatic wife Of q grand duke! 1t did
not seem possible that any woman
could be 90 full of malice. He sim
ply could not understand. 1t was
Essentially the italian spirit; doubt
Hess, till she heard his voice, she had
forgotten all about the episode that
had foundered his ship OF happiness.
Her statement as to the primal
cause was purely inventive. There
was not q grain Of truth in 1t. He
could not possibly have been SO rude
He had been too Indifferent. Too In.
different! The repetition OF the phrase
made him sit straighter. Pshaw! II
could not be that He possessed a
little vanity; II he had not, his his
tory would not have been worth a
Ecrawl. But he denied the pos session
gehemently, as men are wont to do
Strange, q man will admit smashing
hose ten articles of advisement
Known as the decalogue and yet deny
he inherent quality which surrenders
he dmissiop--vanity. However you
may look at 1t, mans vanity Is q com
has q definite and commendable pur-
,Ose: the conquest Of man, his purse,
Ind half Of his time.
Too Indifferent Was 1t possible
hat he had reused her enmity SIM
ply because he had made 1t evident
hat her charms did not interest him
Beyond lifting his hat to her, perhaps
Exchanging a comment on the weather,
Ills courtesies had not been extended.
,Ourtlandt was peculiar In some re.
srects. A woman attracted him, or
she did not. In the one case he was
lffable, winning, pleasant, full of those
agreeable little surprises that In turn
attract woman. In the other. case,
ne passed on. for his Impressions were
instant and did not require the usual
Diminishing.
A grand duchess! The straw-color-
BID mustache now described two az
Eressive points. What an impossible
bid world Il was! The ambition of
the English nobility was on far low
er scale than that Of their continental
cousins. On the little isle they were
satisfied to marry soubrettes and
ehorus girls. Here, the lady must be
no less parsonage than grand
opera singer or primiere danceuse.
rhe continental noble at least show
I'D some discemment; he did not
Choose haphazard; he desired the I'm
shed product and was not to be sat
sfied with the material in the raw.
Oh, stubborn Dutchman that he had
been! Blind fool! To have run away
instead OF fighting to the last ditch
For his happiness! The Desimore wo-
IMAM was right: 1t had taken him :
Tong time to come to the conclusion
That she had done him an Ill turn.
md during all these weary months
! he had drawn a melancholy picture
1f himself as q wounded lion, creep
ing into the Jungle to hide its hurts,
kwhen, truth be known, he had taken
The ways of the tackass for a model.
He saw plainly enough now. More
Than this, where there had been mere
obstacles to overcome there were
how steep mountains, perhaps mac
fessible for all he knew. His jaw
bet, and the pressure of his lips broke
She sweep of his mustache, convert
3ng It into bristling tufts, warlike and
Fesolute.
3 AZ he was leaving, a square of light
ATTRACTED his attention. He looked UP
30 see the outline of the bearded
Russ In the window. Poor devil! He
WAS going to have a merry time Of II.
!Nell, that was his AFFAIR. Besides.
Russians, half the year chilled by
heir bitter SHOWS, were susceptible
TO volcanoes: they courted them as a
tOunterbelance. Perhaps he had
bpoken roughly, but his temper had
hot been under control. One thing
he recalled with grim satisfaction.
He had sent a barbed arrow up the
ube to disturb the felicity Of the
|tlove-cote. The duke would be rather
curious to know what was meant In
referring to the night she had come
TO his, Court,andt's, room. He laugh
I'd. It would be fitting climax In
Heed II the duke called him out.
But what Of the pretty woman In
The Taverne Royale? What about
her! At whose bidding had she fol.
lowed him? One or the other Of them
had not told the truth and he was In
Iclined to believe that the prevarica.
lion had its source In the p0megran-
hte lips Of the Calabrian. To give the
bid barb one more twist, to learn II
IT. venom0us point still held and hurt;
1othing would have Afforded the diva
more delight. Courtlandf glared at
The window as the shade rolled down.
When the taxicab Joined the LONG
Inc Of carriages and automobiles op'
pcsite the Austrian ambassador
c0uxtlandt awoke to the dismal and
lioQuieting fact that he had formu
lated no plan Of action. He had done
no more than to give the driver his
directions; and now that he had ar
Lived, he had the choice of two alter
natives. He could wait to see heI
Eome out or return at once to his
loteL which, a. subsequent events ar
1rmed, would have been the more sen
ible course. He would have been
confronted with small dificuty In
aiming admission to the house. He
new enough of these general recep
Ions: the announcing Of his name
vould have conveyed nothing to the
ost, who knew perhaps third of his