H. De Vere Stacpoole

“ She will separate us soon enough without my letting,” replied Molly. “But she will not separate us with my consent. Rupert, I am not angry now. When one is driven to a last pass, one leaves anger behind one. ”

“ She doubtless regretted having brought the stranger with her, and it seemed to Jerningham that there was some occult reason for this regret personal to himself.
“You fear——”
“Nothing. You are too sensible a man to come to mischief.”
“Confound the woman!” muttered Jerningham as she turned away from him. He went back to the ball-room, where a quadrille was just ending, caught the mysterious one off the arm of her partner and introduced himself.
Ah, that voice, touched with the slightest foreign accent! Those eyes that seemed to smile at him behind the disguise of the yellow mask! ”

“ However, there was a sufficiency of strangers, visitors to the Wells who were bare acquaintances, and so forth, to lend a tinge of intrigue to the business.
At nine o'clock Rupert Jerningham, alone and in all the glory of a Knight Templar’s dress, stood to receive his guests at the top of the broad flight of stairs leading to the ball-room. He had reckoned on his aunt, Lady Dawlish of Templetown, to help him out, and he had not reckoned in vain, for she was one of the first to arrive.
“Indisposed! And what’s her indisposition?” asked the good lady.
“Temper,” replied Jerningham. ”

“ The combination of intuition and ascertained fact had raised her soul in arms against this woman who she felt would prove to be the destruction of her happiness. Many a woman has seen the destruction of her peace of mind foreshadowed in the form of another woman, but few women have had the courage and decision in action displayed by Mrs. Molly Jerningham. ”

“ You are not a person easily to be forgotten.”
“Tell me at least her name.”
“She is the Countess Giuliano.”
“Introduce me to her.”
“It is a pity we came so late that you were not able to receive us,” said Mrs. Todmorden. “You were dancing with that lady in grey over there when we arrived.”
“Mrs. Lysaght.”
“Yes, and you were so preoccupied with her that you forgot to see me. Let us leave it so; admire the Countess with your eyes and it will be all the better for your peace of mind—she carries danger with her.” ”

“ Next morning at eleven o’clock, as Jerningham took his place at the breakfast-table, he found a letter by his plate. It was a letter from his wife, and it was short but not at all sweet.
You apparently forgot last night that my window looks over the terrace. Temper I can forgive and a great many things, but not that. I am leaving you this morning, and when you receive this I shall be gone. Thank God I have a mother to take shelter with and to shield me from a bad husband. ”

“ Then, as they sat together in a corner and watched the next dance, he lost interest in her. A lady who had just arrived in the company of Mrs. Todmorden of the Wells fascinated his eye. She was tall, dressed entirely in black, and wearing a yellow mask. Her figure was divine, and her hair dressed in a foreign style he had never seen before. ”

“ Not that I sent Rose.”
“The music will bring her down quicker than her maid,” said Lady Dawlish. Then she forgot Molly and her temper and everything else in the business of receiving the first guests, among whom were George Lysaght and his wife.
Mrs. Lysaght was not wearing her mask; she carried it loose with her fan. Jerningham claimed her for the first dance, and before it was over he found himself wondering what had come to the woman to make her so fascinating, and why he had never thought of her before. ”

“ Todmorden has gone, sir; she felt suddenly indisposed and asked me to make her excuses. The other lady with her gave me this note for you, which was to be delivered private.”
Jerningham took the scrap of folded paper, opened it and read:
Mrs. T. has taken me away—perhaps it is better so. But if you wish to see me to say good-bye, my carriage will pass your gates to-morrow evening at ten o’clock, going from the Wells to London. I am returning to Italy. No signature. ”

“ Go and introduce yourself. You are host, and have a free hand; and so my hands will be washed of the matter.”
She spoke with the irritability of a sensible woman who has unwittingly or against her will assisted in some foolish business. ”