The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1913-10-03

Il
bride with him.
There was no disappointment in the
reception Of the young countess at the
capital. From the moment she APP
peared at court she created a sensa-
| ton. The czar showed his admiration
| upon receiving her, and the men Of the
imperial family We'd with each other
for her favor The first painter in st.
| Petersburg begged to paint her. Her
husband, far from fearing that he
would be ignored from having a peas
| ant wife, began to dread the attention
! OF men who We're loading her with
every attention. 1t was not long be-
fore certain grand duke fell under
| the influence of the countess beauty,
and one evening when she was pre-
| pairing to go to a ball at the Winter
palace her husband saw her putting on
a necklace Of pearls SO valuable that
his fathers whole estate would not
have purchased it.
The trouble had begun. The countess
| admitted that the grand duke who was
so attentive to her had given it to her,
and since her husband could not give
her such presents she would get them
where she could
Alexis did not go with his wife that
night to. the ball, and when she came
home he was not there. Nor was he
ever seen again at the capital. His
wife continued to live there sumptu-
ously. but whence she derived her in
,I,o
Ivan was devoted to her and wished
to marry her, but could not do so as
long as she had husband living.
One day papers came from America
stating that a man had jumped from
the deck of a steamer in New York
bay. His baggage on being examined
had revealed the fact that he was q
Russian named Alexis Alexandrovich.
Had this news come a year earlier
the Grand Duke Ivan would have mar
ried the widow. Unfortunately when
it reached st. Petersburg she had had
an illness that spoiled her beauty. So
her lover settled 100000 rubles upon
her, thus purchasing an amicable sep
aration between him and her.
in the matter Of drawing wealth into
her net. Her gems alone were a for
tune. She had been successful in the
way she had planned. She was very
rich, but she had no standing among
her own sex. She left Russia and
bought villa on one of the Italian
lakes, a chateau in an aristocratic
ovxA 90 Do -,a
Establishments elsewhere. But, while
she lived in grandeur, she had not risen
socially above the peasant she was
born. She made several entrees into
the social life Of places where she was
not known, but her story followed her,
and she was dropped.
The countess had no conscience, but
she had dread. There were active
as well as passive crimes to her debit,
and she feared that some one Of them
would tear down the structure she had
built up and leave her at the mercy OF
the law. She had no remOrse for the
young man whose life she had wreck
ed. She had been born without such
sensibilities. She lived without either
conscience or remorse, but the cloud
that hung over her slowly deepened.
At first it was no bigger than a mans
hand. She had relied implicitly for
immunity from punishment upon that
puissant beauty with which she felt
sure she could bring any man to do her
bidding. Then came the loss Of her
weapon, and for the first time in her
life she felt defenseless.
One day the cloud which had now be
come as black as midnight sent forth
q bolt. She was in her garden in her
villa on the lake. A man whose hair
was as white as snow and whose face
was furrowed met her face to face as
she turned clump of trees.
who are your" asked the countess.
And what are you doing in my
groundsP'
II have come to warn you. AS to
who am, can prove my identity by
a single word"
Speak it." she said.
"Laisw
She shuddered, but made no reply.
But presently she said:
II thought you were dead"
II preferred you should think me
dead and arranged the evidence of my
| demise. But there is no time to lose.
| For that love / bore you when you
were child and but youth l have
come to save you. Go from here at
| once. The Italian police are coming
this night to arrest you on the requisi-
| ton of the car of Russia. This
| know; how l know 1t does not matter"
He turned and left the garden. The
| countess staggered to the house, and
within half an hour, disguised as an
old man, she was pulled in boat
across the lake, where she hired post
carriage and was drawn over the bor-
der into Switzerland.
Count Alexandrovich returned to Rus
STA, intending to devote himself to his
old father and mother, whom he had
made to suffer for his iii fated mar
riage. He found them both dead, hav-
ing succumbed to the ruin of the son
they loved so well. The count sold his
| estates and. returning to America I'M
der an assumed name, made a home
for himself In the far west, where he