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Bella-Demonia. 
 
 A DRAMATIC STORY 
 
 BY 
 
 SELINA DOLARO. 
 
 We are but pieces in the game He plays 
 Upon this checker-board of nights and days,- 
 Hither and thither moves, and checks and slays. 
 And one by one back in the closet lays. 
 
 Omar-i-Kh ayy&m. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 
 
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 *.+* 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 A. M. PALMEK, Esq., 
 
 PALMER'S AND MADISON SQUARE THEATRES, 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 To you, to whom I owe so many a kindly word and deed, at times when Fate 
 pressed hardest, — given with gentle, simple courtesy, as if the service rendering were 
 a hoon receiving, — to you, whose unspoken sympathy has brought me comfort in my 
 darkest hours, I have naught to give in return, nor ever shall have, save remem- 
 brance. "Will vou accept it? 
 
 SELINA DOLARO. 
 
 
 Copyright, 1889, by J. B. Lippincott Company. 
 
 All Rights Reserved. 
 
 U ■ ■ - - ■ • Til 
 
M JHetnonam* 
 
 SELLNA DOLAEO. 
 
 Yon rising Moon that looks upon us twain, 
 How oft hereafter will she wax and wane, 
 
 How oft, hereafter rising, look for us 
 Through this same Garden, and for One in vain ! 
 
 And when, like her, O Saki. yon shall pass 
 Among the Guests, star-scattered on the grass, 
 
 And in your joyous errand reach the spot 
 Where 1 made ewe,— turn down an empty glass ! 
 
 Omar-i-Khayyam. 
 
 She said to me one day, not long ago, " I wonder whether I shall live to see my 
 hook come out, and hear what critics say? I fear I shall not." And her doubt 
 proved just. Madame Dolaro, of whose self the world knew but one aspect, that 
 which strove to please its fickle fancy on the mimic stage, has left a world of friends 
 to mourn a loss that few, who knew her not, as some of us, can realize. 
 
 Born but a few months more than thirty-five years since, she lived her life with 
 all its disappointments and its joys — neither of which were few — calmly serene in 
 every purpose of her earthly span. When, on the morning of the 25th, we buried 
 what was left to us of her, quietly, as she wished, among the graves of those who 
 died in her ancestral faith, in a green nook among the Cypress "Hills, the honored 
 few who, with her to the end, heard her last words and caught her dying breath 
 when on the world she closed her weary eyes, felt that her time had come, and 
 thanked the God in whom through all her pilgrimage on earth she placed her trust 
 with gentle, simple faith, that He had suffered her to end the work she had begun, 
 and, merciful at last, had let her fall asleep in " perfect peace that passeth under- 
 standing." For in death, as she had been in life, she lay a sweet ensample to her 
 children and her friends. 
 
 She married early — in her fifteenth year — one who, like her, was of the Jewish 
 faith ; he traced his ancestry, without a flaw, back to a family who from their home 
 in Spain were thrust in 1492 and sought a safe retreat in Italy. "Finding a refuge at 
 Belasco, thence they took than- name, discarding that which Spain had known them 
 by, — Miara. 
 
 Her artist life began in '70, after some three years spent developing her matchless 
 voice at the Conservatoire of Paris, and she made her first debut upon the stage that 
 year in " Chilperic" at the Lyceum Theatre. Success crowned every task she 
 'tempted from the start ; the artist world flocked eager to acclaim this prima donna 
 who was but a child, and all, the press of England told the world of her rare tri- 
 umphs in light opera. Later, in " Zampa" and in " Fleur de Lys," in " Madame 
 Angot" and "La Perichole," she showed the public that in opera-bouffe there may 
 be something more than vulgar jest, suggestive quip, and veiled indecency, throwing 
 around burlesque a zaimph of. art. Under the circumstances, 'twas not strange that, 
 presently discarding such light roles, she trod at last the operatic stage under Carl 
 Rosa's management, and then it was that, conscious of her power, she re-created 
 " Carmen," and at once took, as it were of right, the place reserved for her. 
 
 Her " Carmen" first was played in '79, — in February, — and from that time 
 forth it seemed as if her future were secured ; but circumstances which proverbially 
 are out of our control ordained that she should cede her place in opera to some one 
 else less fit for it than she had been, and soon we find her once again, with all the 
 cares of management upon her hands, leading her company in opera-bouffe, on-ly, 
 however, for a while ; for next we find her singing " Carmen" in New York, — 
 this time in Italian, and now surrounded by an envious foreign clique who strove 
 to hinder her in all she did, till, weary of their petty jealousies, she sought once 
 more her English home for rest. In 1883 she came again, and shone among us here 
 in comedy. She played in " Caste," and those who saw how she won every heart 
 with Polly Eccles' tears have since sought vainly for her like again. Since then 
 until her doul declared itself, she played a vast vari^t}' of roles, comedy, buifesque, 
 drama, opera-bouffe, and charmed us with her tears as with her smiles, — for even in 
 her most Cimmerian hours, Madame Dolaro smiled upon the world that was the bet- 
 ter that she lived therein, but used her with such merciless despite, until at last when 
 luck had seemed to turn and some of her desires began to bask in realization, then 
 the strained cord snapped. Her health, which had left much to be desired, gave way 
 
j v IN MEMOMAM.—SELINA DOLARO. 
 
 without the warning- of an hour, and she who yesterday had been the queen of opera 
 and comedy was laid upon abed of sickness from which those who saw her there ne'er 
 dared to hope that she could rise again, and plucky though she was, she too made up 
 her mind she was to die. 
 
 'Twas only in her later years that I was privileged to know her, when the blow 
 had fallen that deprived her of the power to revel in the glorious gift of life; but 
 even then her bravery was such that high above misfortunes such as most men would 
 succumb to, -lie triumphantly rose, and began her work in life anew : her voice, her 
 strength, much of her sweet self, gone, she turned her hands and brain to other work. 
 Early in '87. when at first her fragile body rallied from the shock of her first seizure, she 
 took up the pen and put the final touches to a play called " Fashion" which she wrote 
 some years ago, but which had never been produced. Hearing the play was ready 
 for the stage, her friends came round her ami entreated her to let them act it for her 
 benefit, and A ME. Palmer foremost of them all lent her his stage and its accessories 
 wherewith to mount her brilliant comedy. In May — the 19th of the month — this 
 work received its first production, and was played as perfectly as any drama could, 
 by a well-chosen cast of faithful friends who strove their utmost to make " Dolly's 
 play" a threat success. How they succeeded has been written in the annals of the 
 stage. Now she could rest awhile, and by the sea Madame Dolaro and her daughter 
 lived a few short months in perfect peace, and so when she returned to town it almost 
 seemed as if she might be with us soon again as once she had been, but the daily- 
 cares, the constant wonder where to turn for work that she could do, began to break 
 again the skein of life that rest had almost weft. 
 
 "When in the winter-time of '87 her drama ; ' Fashion" was produced and all its 
 beauties marred by rank incompetence of some of those who played it, and " the 
 press" who in the spring had chanted in its praise turned round and said that 
 " Dolly's play" had failed to please the public, then she realized that she must seek 
 more uncongenial work to make her daily bread, and so she wrote articles, stories 
 for the magazines, and made that book entitled " Mes Amours" out of the poems 
 and the doggerel rhymes that she had written and that faithful friends wrote for her, 
 giving her their leave to print their verses. Not content to wait and trust to Fortune 
 for some unexpected gift, she turned at once to the most arduous task of all her life, 
 — " Bella-Demonia." With loving care she labored at her book, reading authorities 
 and histories, and, having gathered her materials, she took them to the sea-shore. 
 There we wrote (hers was the brain and mine the hand alone) " Bella-Demonia: a 
 Dramatic Tale." The world has read how when this book was done and publishers 
 had read it and agreed to publish it the manuscript was lost,— was stolen from the 
 office of The World by some malignant fiend whose wickedness the patient light- 
 nings yet have failed to blast. Up to that hour her health had seemed to us im- 
 proving daily, but this frightful loss seemed such a shock to the poor fragile soul that 
 from that day the end began, and as she bravely sate her down and wrote again her 
 book from memory (for site kept no notes), the hand of Death seemed to be drawing 
 her away from us. The book at length was done over again, and then the Lippin- 
 cotts made her an offer that she could accept, so that the latter months were lived at 
 least in comfort, if not luxury. 
 
 Meanwhile, she made another drama of her book, which still awaits production ; 
 it is called " Bella-Demonia," like her novel, and in it she voices the dramatic scenes 
 through which the people of her novel pass. This done, she did not " fold her hands 
 for sleep," but set to work once more and wrote a new novel, which just two days 
 before the end began was finished. She had been down town to see about its publi- 
 cation, when, chancing to call upon her with a friend, we found her lying crimsoned 
 with her life that ebbed from the old deep-hidden wound. That was upon the 19th, 
 Saturday, and from that time with all the care we knew how to bestow we tended 
 her. though we, her children and her friends, knew well that this was the beginning 
 of the coming end. 
 
 All Sunday and on Monday just a gleam of hope lit up the twilight of our grief, 
 but Tuesday afternoon the little life began the final struggle to be free. On Wednes- 
 day her sharper sufferings ceased, and in the afternoon the look of pain died from her 
 face and one of exquisite contentment took its place. She was so fair! Then, at a 
 quarter after six o'clock, she tried to speak to us just once again, and, gentle, trust- 
 ing, loving to the last, she ceased to strive to hold her little life, and, weary of her 
 day's work in the world, which for her fragile frame had been so bard, she laid her 
 down to rest and trustingly gave back her soul to God — and fell asleep. 
 
 Edward Heron-Allen. 
 
 26th January, 1889. 
 
LIPPINCOTT'S 
 
 MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 MARCH, 1889. 
 
 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 PROLOGUE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE HONORABLE JOHN VYVIAN FANE. 
 
 " "OUT indeed, Excellency, the fare is three roubles." 
 JD "Away! and quickly." 
 
 " But indeed " 
 
 " What ! still whining ? Here ! take that !" 
 
 The sharp^shriek of a man in pain rang out in the wintry ,air, 
 and was lost on the snow-clad Prospect. An isvoshtshik — a sleigh- 
 driver — had been struck across the face by the passenger who had just 
 descended from his droschky, at the top of the Newski Prospect. 
 
 The isvoshtshik was a miserable specimen of the Russian moujik or 
 peasant class, clad in the ragged fur coat and pleated boots of his pro- 
 fession, and, as he cowered against the side of his droschky, formed a 
 wonderful contrast to the man who had struck him. The latter stood 
 illumined by the oil lamp that lit the curb hard by (I am talking of the 
 Petersburg of twenty years ago), a figure of military erectness, clad 
 in a long and tightly-fitting coat of dark cloth, heavily trimmed with 
 Astrachan fur ; the cap on his head and the gloves on his hands were 
 of the same material, and his feet were encased in high polished leather 
 boots whose simplicity bespoke their English manufacture. The face 
 illuminated as the man turned, by the oil lamp, was finely cut and of 
 an ivory pallor. What was visible of the closely-cut hair beneath the 
 fur cap was of a jet-black, as was also the stiff military moustache which, 
 drawn to fine points on either side, disclosed a thin, pale, cruel mouth. 
 The man looked down at the trembling moujik, one hand upon his hip, 
 the other holding a light rattan which still quivered with the force of 
 the blow which had just been laid across the moujik' 's face. 
 
 There was nothing very noteworthy — especially at the time of 
 
 307 
 
308 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 which I write — in a droschky-driver being struck by his client, but the 
 stillness of the air in the keen frost of the Russian winter seemed to 
 accentuate the bitterness of the cry that rang out. At any rate, it 
 attracted the notice of a man who, stepping from the shadow of a 
 neighboring gate-way, approached the group. 
 
 " Come, come," said the new arrival, in the tone of one accustomed 
 to command, " men are not flogged in the streets of Petersburg for 
 nothing. What is the meaning of this?" 
 
 The man who had struck the sleigh-driver turned on his heel and 
 confronted his interrogator. The manner of the latter immediately 
 changed, and, straightening his figure as he raised his hand in military 
 salute, he exclaimed, in a tone of surprise, — » 
 
 " The Gospodar Vyvian Fane ! We are punctual !" 
 
 As he spoke, the rnoujik, who had fastened his eyes on the new- 
 comer's face, sprang upon the driving-seat of his droschky, exclaiming 
 under his breath as he did so, — 
 
 " Dmitri Keratieff, of the Secret Police ! Holy St. Katerine, what 
 an escape !" And, before either of the pair could turn, he had started 
 his horse and disappeared down one of the by-streets leading out of 
 the Newski Prospect. 
 
 "Yes," said the man whom Keratieff had addressed as Vyvian 
 Fane, in answer to the Police Agent's ejaculation, " my business is 
 of a kind that demands punctuality on my part, promptitude on yours. 
 No need to trouble about this scoundrel — ah! he is gone; it is well. 
 He tried to claim a double fare : he mistook his man." 
 
 And the Honorable John Vyvian Fane laughed, a little hard laugh 
 that parted his thin lips over two rows of small cruel teeth. 
 
 " You have brought the papers ?" queried Keratieff. 
 
 " Here they are," replied Fane, drawing a letter-case from his 
 pocket and taking thence a folded sheet. " This one will be more than 
 sufficient. It is a letter from Alexis Dorski, the Terrorist leader, to 
 the Prince Ladislas Galitzin. You will see that it proves the intimacy 
 of the two." 
 
 "That will indeed be sufficient," returned the Police Agent; and, 
 hastily unbuttoning the cloak which was wrapped about his somewhat 
 stunted form, the light of a small flat lantern shone out, instantly lit 
 by some chemical process, and illuminating the sheet which Keratieff 
 perused attentively. 
 
 " It is more than enough," observed he, as he extinguished the 
 light and refolded the paper, which he, in turn, placed in his pocket- 
 book. " How does the Prince Ladislas come to have let this fall into 
 our hands?" 
 
 " He had intrusted it to his sister, the Princess Carita Galitzin, for 
 safe custody. It is from her that it was — obtained." 
 
 The Chief of Police glanced quickly and keenly at the impassive 
 face of the Englishman. 
 
 " Ah !" he ejaculated. Then, after an instant's pause, he asked, 
 " When do you desire that this arrest should take place?" 
 
 " At once. Within an hour he must be safely lodged in the Fort- 
 ress of St. Peter and St. Paul." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 309 
 
 "So soon?" 
 
 "Yes. The young fool was so ill-advised as to attempt to make a 
 scene at the Club to-night. The matter must not be taken up again 
 to-morrow. He must have disappeared. You understand ?" 
 
 " Perfectly." 
 
 "And mark me, also," continued Fane, lowering his voice, though 
 in the moonlight it was plain that no one was near. "Once in the 
 fortress, he must not come out. There must be no trial." 
 
 The Police Agent smiled : 
 
 " Have no fear, Gospodar Fane. Prisoners who take the ground- 
 floor apartments of St. Peter and St. Paul seldom come to trial. The 
 place is damp. Life is uncertain. The Prince Ladislas is delicate. 
 By the bye, you might like to assist when — wheu the time comes. A 
 prison funeral is an interesting thing — to a foreigner." 
 
 "Are you sure you can lay your hand upon him at once?" queried 
 Fane, not appearing to notice the other's words. 
 
 " In an hour he will be safely lodged," answered Keratieff, echoing 
 the Englishman's words. 
 
 " Where is he now ? He left the Club at once." 
 
 " He is with his wife." 
 
 " What /" 
 
 " With his wife. The prince has been more than a year married. 
 A mesalliance, Excellency." 
 
 " I did not know of this." 
 
 " Nor any one else, with the exception of Dmitri Keratieff and the 
 Princess Carita his sister." 
 
 " The deuce !" 
 
 " There is yet time in half an hour, should you change your mind." 
 
 " Change my mind ! Never ! the revenge will be all the finer. 
 What a chance !" 
 
 Vyvian Fane was about to leave his companion, when the latter 
 stopped him, laying a hand upon his arm. 
 
 " This is a terrible revenge, Gospodar Fane," he said. " It strikes 
 his sister and his wife with him." 
 
 " Well ?" 
 
 " It will probably kill both these women." 
 
 Vyvian Fane had bitten the end from a cigar and had struck a 
 match. As he held the flame close to his face, his dark sinister eyes 
 flashed into those of the Police Agent. 
 
 The cruel smile disfigured his face again, as he threw down the 
 match and without a word turned on his heel and strode off into the 
 night. 
 
 " What a devil !" said Keratieff to himself, as he looked after the 
 retreating figure. " But all the same an invaluable member of our 
 Third Section." And then, hailing a droschky which had been hover- 
 ing about as if anticipating a fare, he sprang into it, and disappeared in 
 the direction of the police head-quarters. 
 
 As the sound of the sleigh-bells died away in the distance, the 
 moon shone down upon the Newski Prospect and the square of St. 
 Nicholas, which were once more deserted in the frost-bitten air. 
 
3io BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HUSBAND AND WIFE. 
 
 Of St. Petersburg, as of every other city of the world, the most 
 magnificent and the most squalid dwelling-places abut upon the river. 
 Just as the late Tuileries and the Louvre, in common with the obscurest 
 tenements of the Quartier Latin, look upon the Seine, — just as the 
 Houses of Parliament and Somerset House, in common with the 'long- 
 shore hovels of the city, look upon the Thames, — so in Petersburg the 
 Winter Palace, in common with the warrens of the moujik population, 
 looks upon the Neva. 
 
 In these warrens live for the most part the students of the city ; 
 here it is that the majority of Nihilist intrigues foster and spread, and 
 here it is that the domestic spy, the dvornik, or concierge, is most looked 
 after and best paid by the Secret Police. It is here also that tenements 
 can be found whose dvorniks are better paid by the tenants than by the 
 police, and where individuals who desire to efface themselves conceal 
 their identities behind passports either fictitious in themselves or issued 
 to worthy citizens who have died or disappeared long ago. 
 
 In a blind alley leading from the inner court of one of the most 
 intricate blocks of buildings we find with difficulty a low door, an- 
 nouncing a squalid interior, to all appearance a stable or warehouse. 
 We might knock here for an hour without evoking any sign of human 
 habitation, but draw a stick or stone lightly across the door and we 
 are answered by a single word whispered inside. A couple of these 
 passwords are exchanged, and the door opens noiselessly. 
 
 Immediately the foot-fall is muffled by the furs with which the 
 hall-way is strewn. We pass through heavy curtains and reach the 
 innermost room of this abode, which, lit entirely by sky-lights and 
 softly-burning lamps, is a very jewel-box. The apartment into which 
 we have penetrated is carpeted with Ukraine and Siberian skins, the 
 walls are hung with silks from Ispahan and embroideries from Damas- 
 cus. The furniture is of the carved ebony from the banks of the 
 Indus, ancient weapons of Turkish origin are festooned upon the silken 
 walls, and on the tables are scattered the gold and silver trinkets of 
 Indian and Persian master-workmen. An inlaid lute of Venetian craft 
 lies upon a chair, an Angora cat is stretched asleep upon another, at 
 opposite ends of the room hang masterpieces of Flemish and French 
 art, in a corner stands a marble statuette from some Florentine atelier: 
 in a word, all that luxury and taste can conceive is grouped here as 
 a proper setting for the woman who lies upon a huge divan, nestling 
 among the piled-up cushions in her garments of soft clinging silks, — 
 waiting. 
 
 The woman who waits is the Princess Nadine Galitzin, once the 
 handmaiden of the Princess Carita, and now the wife of the young 
 Prince Ladislas. 
 
 Yes, the Prince Ladislas Galitzin had made what the w 7 orld would 
 have stigmatized as a mesalliance, but no one would doubt for a mo- 
 ment, looking at the woman as she lies on her divan, that some strain 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 311 
 
 of noble blood, a bar sinister if you will, made her worthy to share the 
 title even of the last Prince Galitzin. 
 
 As she lies waiting the advent of her husband, her mind wanders 
 back over all the ecstasy of the past two years. She lives over again 
 the happy days in the chateau by Ladoga, where she lived more the 
 companion and sister of the Princess Carita than her handmaid, — the 
 arrival from college of Prince Ladislas, — the gradual awaking in her 
 soul of the conviction that this was the Kamar-al-Zaman of her dreams, 
 the King of the Time for her. She remembers the steps in their 
 courtship, the first time that their eyes met and rested in each other, 
 and the death thenceforth of the indifference of the maiden to her mis- 
 tress's brother; their sudden meeting in one of the corridors, when the 
 prince had clasped her in hiy arms and kissed her for the first time and 
 then fled without a word ; then the progress of their secret betrothal, 
 so sedulously concealed from the old Prince Galitzin ; the misery with 
 which she learned of his approaching departure to take up his commis- 
 sion in the Tzar's body-guard, the Regiment of the Transfiguration, 
 and how the prince persuaded his old tutor the family chaplain to 
 marry them secretly in the chapel of the chateau ; their flight to Peters- 
 burg ; the joys of the year that had elapsed since then, — the greatest 
 of all, perhaps, the day when the Princess Carita had come to her 
 hiding-place to welcome her by the sweet name of sister. 
 
 The concealment of their marriage had been a matter of vital neces- 
 sity. The young Prince Galitzin, last of his branch of a family exalted 
 throughout the history of the Empire, had in his wild student days 
 been suspected of liberal views, and the Tzar had designed for him a 
 brilliant marriage with the daughter of one of the oldest conservative 
 families of his realm. Hence his position in the body-guard ; hence 
 the necessity for the concealment of his marriage. Only one besides 
 his sister knew of it, and that was Dmitri Keratieff, Chief of that 
 Third Section, — the secret police that, even to-day, make life in Russia 
 a perpetual terror. But Dmitri Keratieff owed much to the Galitzin 
 family, and with him the secret was safe until such time as its keeping 
 should conflict with his devotion to his master. 
 
 The Princess Nadine lay anxiously awaiting her husband : her 
 state was delicately precarious, and the mystery that surrounded her 
 sometimes told hard upon her. Suppose anything should happen? 
 The secret police, she knew too well, acted blindly like the Council of 
 Ten upon denunciations made by unknown enemies. If such a fate 
 should befall her idol, what would be his doom, — and hers ? At the 
 thought, recurring as it did to-night with tenfold persistence, she buried 
 her head in the cushions and groaned rather than cried, — 
 
 " Husband ! husband !" 
 
 A rattle of the rings of the hangings, a strong step upon the piled- 
 up furs, and he is with her. 
 
 "Nadia — matiouchka [little mother], beloved! I am here!" 
 
 She is in his arms in an instant ; all her misery, all her appre- 
 hension, is lost in the ecstasy of his kiss. Yes, he is safe, — safe from 
 all harm ; for no one can disturb them here. Their secret is too well 
 guarded. She has no fear. 
 
312 BELLA-DEMONIA . 
 
 " I have been so frightened, Ladislas : every hour that you are not 
 with me I torture myself with fears for you. Suppose they should 
 discover me? Perhaps they would look upon your disobedience to 
 the Tzar as cause for your arrest, — for — for anything. Oh, be careful, 
 beloved ; should anything befall you it would kill me, — would kill us 
 both. Think of that other life that shall be so dear to us, Ladislas." 
 
 " Courage, — courage, Nadia !" he replies. " There is no danger. 
 We cannot be discovered, sweetheart. I know how lonely, how dull 
 you must be. Well, to-night I have a surprise for you : we expect a 
 visitor." 
 
 " A visitor ?" A look of alarm creeps into the beautiful eyes as 
 she echoes his words. 
 
 " Yes. You have heard me speak of Alexis Alexandrovitch ?" 
 
 " Alexis Dorski, the Nihilist !" 
 
 "The same. My old college companion, unknown even to the 
 faction of which he is the leader, comes to Petersburg to-night. I 
 want him to see my wife, my pride. He is coming here." 
 
 " Oh, Ladislas, how imprudent you are !" 
 
 " Not at all. I have the fullest knowledge that his presence here 
 is unsuspected. Nothing can ever assail Alexis Dorski if he so wills 
 it. Have no fear, darling." 
 
 As he speaks, the old servant who alone waits upon the Princess 
 Ladislas Galitzin enters the room. 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 " A peddler, an old man armed with the passwords and countersign, 
 desires to speak with your Excellency." 
 
 " Admit him." 
 
 The servitor retires, and a moment later, lifting the hangings, gives 
 entrance to a bent figure carrying a pack. As soon as the servant has 
 left them the peddler rises to his full height. With a gesture he flings 
 off his disguise of hair and beard and stands before them a young 
 giant. 
 
 " Alexis Alexandrovitch !" 
 
 " Ladislas Ladislaievitch !" 
 
 And the two men are locked in each other's arms. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ARREST. 
 
 " At last, after so many years, old friend !" It is the Prince La- 
 dislas who speaks, holding the other by the hand. Then, turning to 
 the woman whose frightened eyes are fixed upon the new-comer, he 
 says, " Nadia, this is my old friend Alexis Alexandrovitch Dorski." 
 
 " I have heard much of you from my husband, Alexis Alexandro- 
 vitch," said she, raising her eyes once more to Dorski's, and addressing 
 him in the familiar Russian fashion. " Welcome to our hiding-place 
 and our home." 
 
 " No doubt you fear me, princess," returned Dorski ; " but your 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 313 
 
 fears are groundless, believe me. No word or act of mine can implicate 
 your husband. I sought this interview to tell you so." 
 
 " I pray that it be so," said the Princess Nadine. 
 
 " Well, and how goes the cause?" put in Ladislas Galitzin, cheerily. 
 
 " Bravely," replied the other, " both here and in the provinces. 
 We have friends at court, high up, — very high, — in the Regiment of 
 the Transfiguration, as in all three sections of the police. A few years, 
 maybe, a few months, perhaps, and Russia shall be free. What 
 Alexander the Second has done for us already he will do again. He 
 
 will add to his reforms, and Russia will be free. If not " And 
 
 his sentence closed with significant silence. 
 
 The princess turned a look of fear towards her husband. 
 
 " Have no fear, matiouehka" replied the latter, interpreting her 
 look. u I am no conspirator. Alexis and I are friends, but no more. 
 I am not one of his lieutenants. By St. Katerine !" continued he, with 
 a laugh, " I care too little for it all to risk my neck. I am too much 
 at peace with the world, too happy with you, sweetheart, to bear ill- 
 will towards any man, be he Tzar or moujilc. No, I was never made 
 for a Terrorist. I left that all behind me when I left college; and 
 when our secret society that was to do such wonders was broken up 
 without my being implicated, why, I thought myself well out of it, 
 and settled down as a respectable married man." And he laughed 
 again carelessly as he threw himself on the divan beside his wife. 
 
 " Right !" exclaimed Dorski. " That is as it should be. Do not 
 let us say anything more about it. See, I have brought you something." 
 So saying, he drew from his pocket a little leather case. Opening it, 
 he disclosed a portrait of himself set round with opals, which he handed 
 to the princess. 
 
 " It is a little wedding-present, though it comes late for the wed- 
 ding," said he. " But it may serve to impress upon your mind the 
 features of a man who would willingly give up his liberty, and, if 
 needs be, his life, for your husband." 
 
 " I thank you, Alexis Alexandrovitch," replied the woman. " I 
 shall cherish your present. But why did you let them set opals round 
 it? I think they will bring us misfortune. Am I not foolish?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed," cried Ladislas, " by all the saints, a most excellent 
 portrait, old friend. It shall be one of our greatest treasures." 
 
 The three stood together looking at the miniature, when suddenly 
 the stillness was broken by three heavy blows upon the outer door, and 
 by a voice crying, in the silence of the night, — 
 
 " Open, in the name of His Majesty the Tzar !" 
 
 Every face became white as they exchanged glances; Ladislas 
 hurriedly thrust the portrait into his pocket, and Dorski exclaimed, — 
 
 " Great heaven ! I am discovered ! And yet, — it is impossible. 
 My presence is undreamt of. No matter ; hide me, — somewhere, — 
 anywhere." 
 
 " Here, — here, — quick," whispered Prince Ladislas, pressing a 
 spring in the frame of one of the large pictures. The picture swung 
 out from the wall, disclosing an open space behind it, contrived in the 
 building. " In here ; and do not utter a sound." 
 
314 
 
 BELLA-DEMONIA . 
 
 " Do not betray my presence by word pr look," whispered Dorski, 
 gathering up his pack and his disguise, and stepping into the recess. 
 " I will not be taken alive." 
 
 Ladislas Galitzin hurriedly closed the picture, and took his place 
 on the divan beside his wife, who was more dead than alive with terror. 
 Meanwhile, the blows on the outer door and the summons were repeated. 
 
 " Open, in the name of His Majesty the Tzar !" 
 
 " Open the door !" cried Prince Galitzin, loud enough to be heard 
 outside. "There is no reason why the inmates of this house should 
 fear the mandates of our father the Tzar." 
 
 Footsteps sounded in the corridor, a clank as of arms was heard, 
 and Dmitri Keratieff stepped into the room. 
 
 " What is the meaning of this?" demanded the prince, haughtily. 
 " See, you have terrified my — my — mistress almost to death. We 
 harbor no suspected persons here." 
 
 " My business is with you, Excellency." 
 
 " Indeed ! Name it." 
 
 " I hold a warrant for your arrest on a charge of treason against 
 the sacred person of His Majesty." 
 
 " Of treason ! — I ? Monstrous ! Of what am I accused ?" 
 
 " Of complicity with the traitor Alexis Dorski." 
 
 " He is not here ! he is not here !" cried the princess, recovering 
 consciousness in time to hear the police-officer's last words. 
 
 " I know it," replied the latter. " The police is well informed of 
 his movements ; he is now in the Ukraine. The prince is arrested, 
 however, on the evidence of a letter he has received from Dorski, and 
 which is in the hands of the police." 
 
 "His letter !" exclaimed the prince. "How " 
 
 " Enough said," broke in the officer. " We cannot enter into ex- 
 planations. Your Excellency will follow me?" 
 
 "Yes." Ladislas was about to follow him, when suddenly the 
 portrait of Dorski flashed across his mind. Quick as thought his hand 
 sought his pocket where it lay ; but the keen eye of the Chief of Police 
 caught the action, and, supposing the prince to be in search of some 
 weapon, he sprang upon him, crying out as he did so a word of command 
 in Russian. Two soldiers entered the room. At a sign from Keratieff 
 they seized the prince's arms. Then Keratieff, putting his hand into 
 the prince's pocket, drew forth the miniature! 
 
 "Ah!" he exclaimed, "there needed but this. A portrait of the 
 traitor himself carried on the prince's person. Come. Let us go." 
 
 " Send out your soldiers for a moment, Keratieff," said the prince. 
 " I have something to say." 
 
 Keratieff gave the word, and the soldiers retired. 
 
 " Where am I to be taken ?" asked Prince Galitzin. 
 
 " To the Schlusselburg." 
 
 At the word the prince turned paler yet. Then, commanding him- 
 self, he said, — 
 
 " Keratieff, you and I know too well what this means. This 
 lady is my wife : let me be alone with her for five minutes. You 
 will not refuse me. I give you my word that I will await you here." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 315 
 
 "So be it," returned the Chief of Police, softened in spite of himself 
 as he took in the condition of affairs at a glance. " In five minutes I 
 will return." And he left the husband and wife alone. 
 
 As soon as he was gone, Ladislas Galitzin flung himself by the side 
 of his wife, and whispered eagerly in her ear : 
 
 " Nadia, — matiouchka, — look up, beloved. All may yet be well. 
 They have no suspicion that he is here. When I am gone, aid him to 
 escape. Tell him that this is Vyvian Fane's work : I insulted him in 
 the Club to-night. If anything should befall me, bid him avenge me, 
 and you. My poor darling, how can I leave you thus, now? Send at 
 once for Carita. She will care for you till I am free, — and longer, if 
 need shall be. Come, come, be brave. See ! I am not afraid !" 
 
 And so in agony he tried to soothe, to comfort the paralyzed woman. 
 It seemed like an instant only when Keratieif appeared, pale and silent, 
 at the door. 
 
 They went out together. 
 
 In the outer street a droschky awaited them, into which Keratieif 
 stepped with his prisoner. The two soldiers followed on horseback as 
 the party moved off in the night. 
 
 An hour later the same droschky drove away from the ferry landing 
 of the Fortress of the Schlusselburg. As he made for his hovel by the 
 Neva, the isvoshtshik said to himself, — 
 
 " So that was your business with the Gospodar Keratieff, son of 
 a dog ! Ah ! scoundrel, ah ! filth, you would strike me with your 
 cane, would you? We shall see; we shall see. The Terror is some- 
 times as powerful as the Secret Police !" 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 A NIHILIST LEADER. 
 
 Meanwhile, as he heard the sound of the sleigh-bells vanish 
 in the distance, Alexis Dorski, opening the picture-frame from the 
 inside, stepped into the room in which the arrest had been made. 
 
 The Princess Galitzin was lying motionless upon the divan. Kneel- 
 ing by her side, the Terrorist endeavored to rouse her. 
 
 " Princess," he whispered, " rouse yourself, I implore you. The 
 night grows old, and I must away. Rouse yourself, and listen to 
 me." 
 
 Raising herself as if with great difficulty, the eyes of the princess 
 met those of the Nihilist. As they met, she shrank back with a start, 
 exclaiming, — 
 
 " Leave me ! leave me ! I cannot bear to look at you ! It was for 
 you they took him." 
 
 " Nay, Nadine Fedorovna, it was not for me. Some private 
 revenge has been at work to-night, and — hear me — I swear by the 
 Holy Saints and my devotion to the cause of Liberty that I will 
 avenge your husband. Tell me, has he never mentioned any enemy 
 by name?" 
 
316 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " Yes, yes : he bade me tell you ! It has been the work of the 
 Englishman, Vyvian Fane. Swear — swear to me that if they kill 
 Ladislas you will avenge him !" 
 
 " I swear it. If this charge is proven against this Vyvian Fane, 
 should it be the work of my whole lifetime, I will punish him. I have 
 sworn it!" 
 
 " Thank you, — thank you, Alexis Alexaudrovitch ! Ah ! but what 
 agony !" And with a convulsive movement the woman buried her 
 head in the cushions once more. 
 
 Alexis Dorski stood looking down at her. In an instant his keen 
 instinct had taken in the gravity of her condition : he realized that if 
 a triple murder were not to be the work of the night's arrest, aid must 
 be summoned immediately. Bending over her prostrate form, he 
 whispered, in a tone whose softness would have made his desperate 
 followers marvel, — 
 
 "Tell me, Nadine Fedorovna, have you no friend that I can call, 
 — no woman ?" 
 
 "Carita! Carita!" she moaned, between her clinched teeth. 
 
 Rising and hastily resuming his disguise, Dorski went out into the 
 night. 
 
 ifc $1 $: Hi Ifc % %. % 
 
 Half an hour later the dvornik of the Galitzin Palace was roused 
 by a knocking on his door. 
 
 "Dog of a reveller, what wantest thou at such a time?" 
 
 And there came back through the door the almost whispered 
 words, — 
 
 " In the name of His Majesty and of the Third Section, a message 
 for her Excellency the Princess Carita Alexandrovna." 
 
 Hastily tumbling out of his improvised bed, the dvornik opened 
 the door. There stood on the threshold an old peddler. 
 
 " Deliver this to one of the princess's women at once. It must 
 reach her hand immediately. You understand?" 
 
 " Yes, Excellency," replied the dvornik, accustomed to seeing the 
 emissaries of the secret police in every form of disguise. 
 
 And half an hour later the troika of the Princess Galitzin swept out 
 from under the gate-way and disappeared in the direction of the Neva. 
 
 It still wanted three hours of daylight, and the peddler, having 
 delivered his summons at the Galitzin Palace, thought for an instant, 
 and then stepped off at a brisk pace down the broad Prospect, towards 
 the square of St. Katerine, where three or four droschkies stood, await- 
 ing the chance of a night-customer. 
 
 As he passed the group of isvoshtshiks that stood smoking in a door- 
 way he laid one hand upon his hip, the fingers pointing earthward, 
 raising the other to his ear. As he did so he ejaculated the familiar 
 greeting, — 
 
 " Zdrasteouitai" (" Good-night"). 
 
 And one of the group answered with a guttural " Choroskho /" 
 (" All right !") 
 
 The peddler pursued his way. 
 
 The moujik who had answered his salutation, after a moment's 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 317 
 
 delay, bade his companions good-night, and, mounting the driving-seat 
 of his droschky, started off in pursuit of the peddler. He passed him 
 under a lamp, and as the peddler repeated the motion he had previously 
 made, the moujik drew his horse towards the curb, and held out a hand 
 palm upward, as if ascertaining whether it rained or not. 
 
 "The night is fine," said the peddler. 
 
 " The air is free," said the isvoshtskik. 
 
 " The air is Russian," said the peddler. 
 
 " Men must have air/' said the isvoshishih. 
 
 " Choroskho !" 
 
 The droschky drew up, and without a word the peddler got in and 
 was driven a few yards down a by-street. Here he said, " Halt !" and 
 the droschky stopped. The peddler alighted, and, drawing a small 
 object from beneath his arm, held it up to the moujik. It was a small 
 gold disk on which was enamelled a red cross. 
 
 " Holy St. Nicholas !" ejaculated the moujik : " it is the Chief. 
 What are my lord's commands?" 
 
 " One of the isvoshtehiks of Petersburg drove a prisoner from the 
 Neva to one of the fortresses to-night. You will bring him to this 
 address at ten o'clock in the morning." And the peddler wrote a few 
 words on a slip of paper, which the isvoshtshik read carefully and then 
 destroyed. 
 
 " If he be alive, he will be there, Excellency." 
 
 " Good ! Salutation and freedom !" 
 
 " Amen. Salutation and freedom !" 
 
 And the pair parted once more in opposite directions. 
 
 At the time appointed next morning, Alexis Dorski sat before the 
 stove in a room of one of the houses of a quiet suburb of St. Peters- 
 burg. He was immersed in thought, but looked up expectantly as 
 the clock struck. He had not long to wait. Almost immediately the 
 moujik whom he had accosted on the Newski Prospect entered, accom- 
 panied by the one whom we met at the opening of this history. 
 
 After castkig over him a keen glance of inspection, Dorski and the 
 new-comer exchanged three or four almost imperceptible signs and 
 countersigns. He was apparently satisfied with his examination, and 
 said, — 
 
 " Last night you were employed by the police." 
 
 " Yes, Excellency." 
 
 " To what ferry did you take the prisoner ?" 
 
 "To the ferry of the Schlusselburg, Excellency." 
 
 "Good God ! Know you anything of the arrest?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed, Excellency," answered the moujik, eagerly, " that do I. 
 Earlier in the evening a foreigner hired me to take him to the head of 
 the Newski Prospect. There, when I demanded my fare, he struck 
 me with his cane: see, here is the scar: it will be weeks healing. 
 There he was met by the Gospodar Keratieff of the police, and, burn- 
 ing with fury, I hung about. When they parted, Dmitri Keratieff 
 took me to police head-quarters, thence to the Neva, and thence with his 
 prisoner to the Schlusselburg Ferry. Ah ! dog of a foreigner ! wait for 
 me!" 
 
318 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " Did Keratieff address the foreigner by name ?" 
 
 "Yes, Excellency: it was — it was — Ivan — something." 
 
 " Vyvian Fane?" 
 
 " Yes ! yes ! that was it, God be praised ! I could not remember." 
 
 " Good ! That will do. Your name ?" 
 
 " Rodia Pouschkoff." 
 
 " It is well. Good-day. Salutation and freedom !" 
 
 " Amen. Salutation and freedom !" 
 
 The two moujiks left the room. 
 
 "Now, Vyvian Fane, — since that seems to be your name, — the 
 issue remains between you and me. If the fate of the Schlusselburg 
 befalls Ladislas Ladislaievitch, beware ! The world is not wide enough 
 to hide you from the talons of the Terror !" 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE PKINCESS CARITA. 
 
 Two days have elapsed since the events occurred which are recorded 
 in the preceding chapter. 
 
 In one of the lower rooms of the Galitzin Palace, fitted up as a 
 boudoir, the Princess Carita Galitzin sat at her writing-table, her head 
 resting on her hands. She was dressed in black, and her sable gar- 
 ments served to heighten the pallor of her face no less than the red 
 eyelids that announced the fact that she had been weeping. 
 
 Every few minutes she would eagerly look through the papers on 
 the desk before her, as if in search of something which she sought in 
 vain. 
 
 At last she is roused by a footstep in the corridor. The hangings 
 of the door part and fall together again, and the Honorable John 
 Vyvian Fane enters the room unannounced. 
 
 "Well," he says, by way of greeting, as he flings himself into a 
 chair, " at last Madame la Princesse is good enough to send for her 
 devoted slave, after an absence from home of forty-eight hours. Pray, 
 what new intrigue, what new amourette, is engrossing the Princess 
 Carita 's attention ?" The cruel sneer is on his lips, a tone of raillery 
 is in his voice. 
 
 " I have been at the death-bed of two of your victims," she re- 
 plies, never taking her eyes from his. 
 
 " You speak in riddles, princess." 
 
 "No, I speak plainly. You have killed a woman and her child 
 by way of revenging yourself upon a man who never harmed you, 
 whose only crime was to know your true vile self." 
 
 " What do you mean ?" 
 
 " I mean that you have caused the arrest of my brother by means 
 of a letter that he confided to me for safe-keeping, and which you, 
 cowardly thief that you are, have stolen from this bureau." 
 
 " I am sorry, of course, to hear of your brother's misfortune, but a 
 man who is in communication with traitors to the Tzar has no business 
 to get married, — especially clandestinely." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 31 9 
 
 The princess rose and came close to him. 
 
 "How did you know/' said she, "that I was speaking of my 
 brother's wife?" 
 
 The man saw his false step immediately, and endeavored to re- 
 trieve it. 
 
 " I did not know," he stammered : " I only assumed. You seemed 
 so excited that I concluded " 
 
 " Cease lying to me, John Vyvian Fane ! I do not expect you to 
 show mercy, but I look at least for shame, even from you. What have 
 you done with the document you have stolen ?" 
 
 "Really, princess, this scene is beginning to pass the possibilities. 
 If your brother has been arrested for treason, I am of course sorry, 
 for it must naturally entail unpleasant consequences upon you. If he 
 has been so foolish as to make a secret marriage, I am of course sorry 
 for his wife. If, as you say, she is dead, I think she is better off than 
 she would be as the wife of a convict witli a ' wolf's passport' to Siberia. 
 This is all I have to say." 
 
 " You hound !" 
 
 "Take care, princess. I am not accustomed to insult of this kind, 
 and I will not allow it even from you. Do you hear me? I will not 
 allow it ! Do you think that I am a man to be played with ? I think 
 I have given you proof ere now to the contrary. Be good enough to 
 remember what I say!" 
 
 For all reply the princess pointed to the door. 
 
 " Go !" said she, " and never let me see your coward face again. 
 Go, I say, or I will summon my servants and have you thrown out, — 
 ay! thrown out, — and I will take the consequences of my action. Do 
 you think I, Carita Galitzin, fear you, police spy though you have 
 proved yourself to be? You hear me. I am ready to take the con- 
 sequences, I tell you." 
 
 " In any case," returned Fane, with a violent effort at self-control, 
 " I see that it is useless to prolong this interview. I leave you now ; 
 but I will return when you are prepared to listen to reason. I deny 
 all your charges against me, and at some future time I will prove to 
 you that any trouble your — relations may be in they have brought upon 
 themselves. Good-morning. Mind ! when I return 3^011 will be civil : 
 at present I can make excuses for you." 
 
 And, with a feeble attempt at nonchalance, the Honorable John 
 Vyvian Fane left the room. 
 
 Left by herself, the Princess Galitzin buried her head once more 
 in her hands and resumed her interrupted chain of thought. At last 
 she rose, and, hastily effecting some changes in her toilet, she prepared 
 to leave the house. Whatever was to be her brother's fate, she must 
 seek an interview with him at once; and well she knew the difficulties 
 that lay before her in encompassing her end. 
 
 All that day she flew from official to official, from minister to 
 minister ; she even sought and obtained an interview with the Tzare- 
 witch himself, and nightfall saw her, provided with the necessary 
 passes, at the ferry of the Schlusselburg, accompanied by a captain of 
 the military police. 
 
320 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IN THE FOBTBESS OF THE SCHLUSSELBUBG. 
 
 On one of the islands that cluster in the mouth of the river Neva 
 rises a gaunt pile of buildings, within hailing-distance of which no boat 
 save one ever approaches. It is the dreaded Fortress of the Schlussel- 
 burg, one of the great prisons where political suspects are incarcerated. 
 The other is the Fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul. The Schlussel- 
 burg has been dramatically described by an American writer as follows : 
 " The guards are so thick on the banks of the island that they can 
 speak to one another, and their orders are, as they pace their beats, to 
 shoot any person who attempts to land. No warning is given, no pass- 
 word is asked. As soon as the foot of a stranger touches the turf on 
 the banks of the island a bullet is fired at his heart. His body falls 
 into the stream and floats down to the sea. No questions are asked. 
 Only one boat is allowed to land on the island ; that is painted black 
 and belongs to the police. No one has ever returned from that prison. 
 People may have been released from it, but if so they have never con- 
 fessed the fact; and the popular belief is that whoever lands there 
 once never leaves alive except to go to Siberia." 
 
 It was hither that the young Prince Ladislas had been brought, 
 and at nightfall on the day of which we speak the Princess Galitzin 
 took her seat in the boat to gain the fortress on a visit — an unheard-of 
 concession — in company with the two officers. 
 
 She was met at the entrance to the fortress by the chaplain of the 
 prison, an old parish priest, a batiushka who had found his way 
 thither twenty years before for having sympathized with and ministered 
 to some dying Nihilist. 
 
 The old man's face was inexpressibly sad as he greeted the princess 
 with the benediction of the Church. 
 
 " We must be brave, my daughter," he said. " The prince your 
 brother is grievously ill. On the night of his arrival he was confined 
 in one of the lower cells, and the cold and damp attacked him. You 
 must be prepared for a great change." 
 
 "My God! is he dead?" 
 
 " No, my child." 
 
 "He is dying?" 
 
 " We are in the hands of God !" 
 
 She laid her hand upon his sleeve : 
 
 " Tell me, batiushka. They have poisoned him ?" 
 
 The priest made the sign of the cross as he replied once more, — 
 
 " We are in the hands of God, my daughter. Come with me. 
 
 They have moved him into one of the upper rooms." 
 
 ******** 
 
 In a room looking out over the city, whose lights twinkled across 
 the water, the Prince Ladislas lay dying. That was obvious to the 
 princess the moment she laid her eyes upon the wasted form and drawn 
 features. The film of death was growing over his eyes. For a mo- 
 ment he hardly seemed to notice her ; then, raising himself with an 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 321 
 
 effort for an instant, only to fall back upon his pallet exhausted, he 
 whispered, — 
 
 " Carita — you ! Nadia, — where is she ?" 
 
 " Ladislas, — brother, — my God ! how can I tell you !" And she 
 sank on her knees by the dying man's side. 
 
 He raised himself again on one elbow. 
 
 "Where is she? Why do you not answer? Holy Mother! has 
 he killed her, too? Yes! yes! She is dead, — my wife, Nadia; is it 
 not so ?" 
 
 He was answered only by the broken sobs of the prostrate woman. 
 
 " Carita," he whispered, with fast-failing breath, "you will avenge 
 us, you and Alexis. Listen : it was the Englishman Vyvian Fane that 
 betrayed me. He stole the ietter from you : how he did it I cannot 
 tell; it matters not. Keratieffhas it. You swear this?" 
 
 " I swear it, brother !" 
 
 " Thank God ! Come closer. I cannot see you, but you are there, 
 are you not, matiouchka beloved " 
 
 A deep sigh ended his sentence, which his sister caught in a last 
 wild kiss. 
 
 The Prince Ladislas was dead. 
 
 She had arrived but just in time. 
 
 The clocks were striking midnight as the princess landed once more 
 at the ferry pier. 
 
 Her troika awaited her, and she was swallowed up by the night. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 A woman's vengeance. 
 
 Early in the day that succeeded the death of the Prince Ladislas 
 Galitzin in the Fortress of the Schusselburg, the Chief of the Secret 
 Police, Dmitri Keratieff, sat in his office, pondering over the events of the 
 last few days. The Chief was not satisfied with the turn that affairs 
 had taken. In the exercise of his duties as commander of the dreaded 
 Third Section many a cruel task had fallen to his lot to perform; often 
 he had known himself to be the instrument of private vengeances which 
 he had had to work out or be himself suspected of sympathy with the 
 omnipresent agents of the Nihilists. But this time he felt that he had 
 been the compulsory party to a crime that surpassed any in his 
 official experience in cold ferocity. It was therefore with a new feel- 
 ing of distaste and apprehension that he read on the card that had 
 been brought him by one of his subordinates the name of the Princess 
 Galitzin. 
 
 Still, there was no reason that he could allege for not receiving her, 
 whilst there existed, as he knew, many why he should do so, and finally 
 he gave orders that she should be admitted. 
 
 She entered the room a moment later, and seated herself opposite to 
 him. Thus placed, they regarded each other in silence for the space of 
 a full minute. At last the Police Agent spoke : 
 
 " What can I do for you, madaine ?" said he. 
 Vol. XLIIL— 21 
 
322 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " You can do me the first and last favor that any member of our 
 family will ever ask of you in return for all or any that we have done 
 for you, Dmitri Semenovitch." 
 
 The Chief of Police fidgeted uneasily in his chair. He did not 
 like the proem ; but all he said was, — 
 
 " Pray proceed. Anything that I can reasonably do for the 
 Princess Galitzin shall be done." 
 
 " Good !" replied she. " This is what I require. My brother, as 
 you know, is dead. His arrest was the death-blow of his wife, of 
 whose existence you alone besides myself were aware. She died in my 
 arms, and her child with her, the night after Ladislas was taken from 
 her. I demand from you the documents on which he was arrested." 
 
 " Princess," replied KeratiefF, " in the first place I do not admit the 
 existence of any document that led to the late Prince Galitzin's arrest; 
 but, even if such were the case, what you ask would be impossible. 
 Supposing that such documents existed, I should be responsible for 
 their safe custody, and were they to leave my hands I should get in 
 exchange for them ' a wolf's passport/ as they say. And the Siberian 
 mines at my time of life are not a thing to be played with." 
 
 "One moment," returned the Princess, "and I will prove to you 
 that I am already well informed. The Prince Ladislas Galitzin was 
 arrested in consequence of a letter written to him by the Nihilist leader 
 Dorski. This letter was stolen from me and delivered to you by one 
 of your foreign agents, the Honor-able John Vyvian Fane. By all the 
 rights of common gratitude I demand this letter of you, as a man." 
 
 " Princess," replied KeratiefF, imperturbably, " I am not in a posi- 
 tion to admit the correctness of your — surmises. I do not know, as a 
 man, — the capacity in which you make this request of me, — that Mr. 
 Vyvian Fane has any connection with this department. If you have 
 nothing more to urge, I must beg you to conclude this interview, which, 
 believe me, is as painful to me as it is to you." 
 
 For a few moments the princess remained in silent thought. Then, 
 as if with an effort, she made up her mind, and, turning once more 
 to KeratiefF, who had risen as if to terminate the conversation, she 
 said, — 
 
 " Dmitri Semenovitch, I will say no more of the relations which 
 have existed between our respective families. I appeal to you as a 
 man no longer. But as head of the Russian police you have been 
 made perforce the repository of many family secrets, many details of 
 domestic dramas reach your ears. I am going to recount to you the 
 incidents of a tragedy more bitter than any you yet have heard within 
 
 these walls. Listen !" 
 
 ******** 
 
 An hour later, at the close of her story the Chief of Police rose 
 from his seat, and, going to an iron chest that stood in the corner of 
 the room, he took thence a paper, which he handed to the princess. 
 
 " "VVIiat you have told me," said he, gravely, " convinces me of your 
 right to this document. Here is the letter stolen from you by John 
 Vyvian Fane : he confessed the theft to me when he delivered it to 
 me as the piece d' accusation on which the arrest took place. Make your 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 323 
 
 mind easy, raadame. This Englishman will leave the country at once, 
 never to return. In three days from now he will cross the frontier." 
 
 " At last ! at last !" thought the princess, as she was rapidly borne 
 through the streets of Petersburg, ten minutes afterwards. " I have 
 my proofs, and you shall be avenged, Ladislas, and you, Nadia, sweet 
 sister mine. My God, I thank thee ! — I thank thee !" 
 
 Five days later St. Petersburg rang with the news that the travel- 
 ling-carriage of the Honorable John Vyvian Fane, whose figure had 
 been a prominent one in the festivities of the past season, had been 
 attacked by brigands just over the Polish frontier, and that the English- 
 man had been massacred. 
 
 That night the Princess Galitzin fell on her knees in the oratory of 
 the Galitzin Palace and cried aloud to God, — 
 
 " Vengeance is mine ! vengeance is mine !" 
 
 And the chaplain, entering the oratory a moment after, found her 
 in floods of tears, the first that she had shed since the murder of her 
 brother. 
 
 BOOK I.— VIENNA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A MASQUERADE BALL. 
 
 The grand masquerade at the Vienna Opera-House, of the 15th 
 August, 1876, was at its height. 
 
 Round about the corridors, in and out of the boxes, over the floor, 
 the stage, and the balconies, surged the bedlamite crowd of foolishly- 
 dressed men and dominoed women, who were enjoying, or trying to 
 enjoy, or pretending to enjoy, the " grand masquerade." The scene 
 was gay enough, as novelists say, in all conscience, but it must be con- 
 fessed that unless one is a member of a large and merry party, or unless 
 one has some particular intrigue to carry to its more or less lurid 
 termination, a masked ball is the deadliest, dullest, dreariest affair that 
 was ever invented for the torture of the long-suffering and ironically 
 so-called " gay world." 
 
 On no mind did this circumstance impress itself with drearier per- 
 sistence than on that of Captain the Honorable Aubyn Goddard, some- 
 time of the Twentieth Hussars, and now occupying the uncomfortable 
 but none the less on that account eagerly-sought-after position of 
 Queen's Messenger. 
 
 Captain Goddard was the ideal guardsman of the young lady's 
 dream. Well over the regulation six feet in height, and broad in pro- 
 portion, his well-balanced head was covered with close-cropped fair 
 hair; his irreproachable moustache was carefully trimmed, and the 
 look of intense boredom on his handsome face gave him a certain 
 Byronic expression that evidently found favor in the majority of bright 
 eyes that flashed from beneath dominos of all colors ; or at least so it 
 would seem from the persistency with which the fair— or dark — artil- 
 
324 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 lerists attacked him, with nod, beck, wreathed smile, nudge, punch, 
 and apology. 
 
 But Captain Aubyn Goddard seemed invulnerable, for no irritation 
 or challenge seemed able to rouse him from his apathy as he leaned 
 against one of the pilasters at the foot of the grand staircase and 
 slightly yawned .as he watched the procession before him and wondered 
 vaguely on the chance that found him there when he would infinitely 
 rather be in bed. 
 
 I use the word " chance" advisedly. 
 
 In his capacity of Queen's Messenger he had arrived in Vienna 
 bearing despatches the previous evening, and early that morning had 
 delivered his despatches at the Austrian Foreign Office. He was to 
 leave on the following afternoon. 
 
 For the previous five years the political world had been in a fer- 
 ment over that time-honored bogie, the Eastern Question. In 1871 
 Mr. Gladstone had sat calmly in Whitehall, and uttered no protest, 
 whilst Russia, repudiating the Treaty of Paris of 1856, converted the 
 Black Sea into a Russian lake, and the effete demagogue whom Lord 
 Beaconsfield has handed down to posterity in his famous epigram, as 
 " a sophisticated rhetorician inebriated with the exuberance of his own 
 verbosity," had rendered the taking of Sevastopol vain, and surrendered 
 all that Europe had won with her blood in the Crimean War. From 
 that time (1871) a cloud had begun to gather in the East, which now 
 threatened to burst and engulf the Balkan Peninsula, and called forth 
 the historic "Andrassy Note" in December, 1875, following on the 
 rising in Herzegovina. 
 
 At the sound of Count Andrassy's clarion, Europe awakened from 
 the sleep into which she had been lulled by successive Liberal govern- 
 ments and Gladstonian croonings, and throughout 1876 there had been 
 almost daily interchange of despatches between London, Berlin, Vienna, 
 and Constantinople. As a natural consequence, trusty messengers were 
 in increased demand, and Captain Aubyn Goddard, having, unlike the 
 majority of men of his years, spent his days as a subaltern in the 
 study of European politics and languages, had been one of the first to 
 receive a commission as one of Her Majesty's postmen, and to com- 
 mence the nomad career of Queen's Messenger specially detailed for 
 Oriental service. 
 
 Things were quieting down, and Europe might have had peace, 
 when the deposition and suicide of Abd-ul-Aziz, and the ten days' 
 sultanate of the imbecile Murad the Fifth, once more gave the malcon- 
 tents in the Balkan Peninsula the opportunity they had looked for, 
 and brought the present Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid the Second to the 
 throne, determined to put down the disturbances that threatened to rend 
 asunder the empire founded by the first Othman and consolidated by 
 Suleiman the Magnificent. 
 
 Some cruelties practised by the Turkish soldiery at Batak in 
 Bulgaria afforded Mr. Gladstone the Irrepressible an opportunity to 
 fulminate which no consideration for the welfare of Europe could 
 allow him to let slip, and accordingly he published his incandescent 
 pamphlet on " Bulgarian Atrocities" that in course of time plunged 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 325 
 
 Europe in war and gave Russia the opportunity she had so long desired 
 to encroach in the southeast and southwest of her dominions. 
 
 European Cabinets were preparing for the Conference at Constanti- 
 nople of January, 1877, and thus we find Captain Aubyn Goddard in 
 Vienna in the August of the preceding year. 
 
 As the bearer of important despatches, the Queen's Messenger 
 had not thought it expedient to look up any of his convivial acquaint- 
 ances in the Austrian capital, and after delivering his despatches in the 
 morning he had taken a long and solitary drive, idly wondering how 
 he should kill the hours of that evening and of the following day 
 until he should return to the Foreign Office. 
 
 On his return from his drive his question was answered for him. 
 As he entered his hotel an envelope was put into his hand. 
 
 He turned it over and over, profoundly perplexed. What could 
 it mean ? Whom could it be from ? He had apprised no one 
 of his arrival, and the handwriting was entirely unfamiliar. But 
 that he was known was evident; for the superscription was in full : 
 
 To — Captain the Honorable Aubyn Goddard. 
 
 There was nothing to indicate whether the note was addressed in a 
 male or a female handwriting : at last he came to the conclusion that 
 there was only one solution for the mystery, and that that was inside 
 the envelope. 
 
 Accordingly he opened it. 
 
 Nothing ! not a word of any kind. Only a ticket for the masked 
 ball at the opera-house that evening. 
 
 Well ! there was his evening accounted for. But whence could 
 the ticket have come ? Who had brought it? A servant in a black 
 livery that gave no indication of his master's rank or nationality. 
 
 " Anyhow," thought the Queen's Messenger, " I'll go. There 
 can be no harm in that. I know how to take care of myself. No 
 doubt my mysterious host will reveal his — or her? — incognito, at the 
 ball." 
 
 And so he had dined, had strolled out on to the Prater and watched 
 the motley passing panorama of people as he listened to the strains 
 of " unser Strauss," and when the last chords of the march from 
 "Tannhauser" had exploded into the blue vault of the sounding-board 
 he stepped into a cab and was deposited at the doors of the Grand 
 Opera-House. 
 
 But that had been two hours previous to the moment when we first 
 set eyes on him, and as yet no solution of the mystery of his presence 
 there had offered itself. The ball was at its height, and would pres- 
 ently wane. People who had come on business had transacted it and 
 gone away, people who had come after intrigues had found them and 
 were developing them, and people who had wandered in, unattached 
 and for no particular reason, were beginning to have had enough of it 
 and were turning their thoughts homeward. 
 
 Among these latter, as we have said, was the Honorable Aubyn 
 Goddard, and he had just stretched himself and was casting a last look 
 round, after the manner of the man who is about to depart, when a 
 woman passed him. 
 
326 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 Her figure, which was gorgeously proportioned, was entirely clad 
 in a tightly-fitting domino of black satin, heavily brocaded with a 
 raised black embroidery. A hood covered her hair, and a black half- 
 mask rendered more brilliant a pair of grand black eyes that caught his 
 for an instant as she passed, and the rich crimson of a rather stern mouth. 
 The jaw was massive, and the complexion colorless. Thus much 
 Goddard had had time to notice, when his attention was diverted to a 
 shambling awkward figure that seemed to be following her. It was 
 that of a man in the costume of a mediaeval jester, that accorded well 
 with his sinister, ugly face. As the woman disappeared in the crowd, 
 Goddard saw the hunchback address her, and saw her shrink from him 
 with a gesture of repulsion, leaving him biting his nails as he leered 
 after her for a moment before starting in pursuit. 
 
 Captain Goddard for the first time since his arrival felt an awaken- 
 ing interest in the scene, and resumed his place against the pilaster, 
 waiting for the brocaded domino to pass again. 
 
 Suddenly he heard an exclamation behind him, and, looking round, 
 saw the same woman hastily descending the grand staircase. At the 
 same moment the hunchback appeared, shuffling down after her, 
 evidently in hot pursuit. He caught her at the foot of the stairs, 
 and as he passed slipped a piece of paper into her hand which she 
 instantly dropped. Next moment both hunchback and domino once 
 more disappeared. 
 
 By this time thoroughly aroused, Goddard stooped and picked up 
 the twisted scrap of paper, though not without a certain sensation that 
 he had no right to do so. He opened it. 
 
 The paper was blank ! 
 
 " Egad," said he to himself, " this is getting interesting. But, 
 despatches or no despatches, that little beast mustn't be allowed to insult 
 that glorious creature." And Captain Goddard — who was only a man, 
 after all — started off in the direction the pair had taken. 
 
 His towering frame forced for him a passage through the throng, and 
 he had hardly got half-way around before he found himself immediately 
 behind the brocaded domino. 
 
 Where was the hunchback? Ah! there he was. He had passed 
 the domino, and was just advancing as if to address her, when the 
 woman turned sharply and was almost thrown into Goddard's arms. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," said she in English without a trace of foreign 
 accent, as she stood irresolute before him. 
 
 "I beg yours," replied Goddard. "Can I be of any assistance? 
 I see that you are being annoyed." 
 
 " If an utter stranger may so far trespass upon the goodness of a 
 gentleman, may I beg you to conduct me to my carriage? I am 
 alarmed and foolishly upset by this man's persecution." 
 
 " Certainly," answered Goddard, extending his arm, as he looked 
 round in search of the hunchback, who had disappeared. 
 
 Together they made their way to the entrance. Suddenly the 
 woman spoke : 
 
 "I beg that you will forgive me, and I hope you will not mis- 
 understand my object in begging your momentary protection, but I felt 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 327 
 
 that as an English gentleman I could trust you not to look upon me as 
 — as — one of these." 
 
 " Of course ; of course," replied Goddard, feeling nevertheless 
 vaguely disappointed. 
 
 They had reached the grand entrance, and Goddard made as if to 
 turn. 
 
 " Not that way," said the domino. " My carriage is at the side- 
 entrance." 
 
 " Oh !" returned the Queen's Messenger, his spirits imperceptibly 
 reviving. 
 
 She led him down a narrow passage to a door that opened upon a 
 side-street. At the curb stood a perfectly-appointed black coupe, with 
 a single horse of the same color. Goddard opened the door, and she 
 stepped in. 
 
 " Will you not accept my protection as far as you have to go?" said 
 Goddard, seeing his " adventure" vanishing into thin air. " You may 
 not yet be safe." 
 
 " No," said she, raising her hand as if to stop him. " I am quite 
 safe now." 
 
 " Can I direct your coachman ?" 
 
 " He needs no directions." 
 
 " At least you will allow me to call and ascertain that you are quite 
 recovered from your alarm," pleaded Goddard, despairingly. 
 
 .The woman appeared to reflect for a moment, and then she said, — 
 
 " If I give you that permission, will you promise not to make any 
 inquiries about me, and to forget afterwards that we ever met?" 
 
 " Yes," — this desperately. 
 
 " On your honor?" 
 
 " On my honor." 
 
 " Very well." And she took a card from the rack before her, and 
 scribbled a word or two on it in pencil, saying, as she handed it to 
 him, " Do me the pleasure to breakfast with me at this address at 
 twelve to-morrow, or rather to-day." 
 
 "I will be punctual." 
 
 " That is well. And now good-night. Au revoir, and a thousand 
 thanks, Captain Aubyn Goddard /" 
 
 His name ! she knew it ! He started back to get a better view of 
 the carriage. Instantly the door was slammed from the inside, and 
 the coupe dashed off and was lost in the dimly-lighted street. 
 
 Goddard took the card which he held in his hand to the nearest 
 lamp. On it was engraved, in tiny capitals, — 
 
 THE BARONESS ALTDORFF, 
 
 and an address was added in pencil. 
 
 " Well, I'm damned !" remarked Captain Aubyn Goddard to 
 himself, as he lit a cigar and walked round to the main entrance of the 
 opera-house as a point of departure for his stroll home in the moon- 
 light. 
 
328 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE BARONESS ALTDORFF. 
 
 Notwithstanding the late hour of his return from the ball, and 
 the fact that after his return he had spent an hour in fruitless wonder 
 on the events — or rather the event — of the evening, it was a good two 
 hours before mid-day when Captain Aubyn Goddard left his hotel 
 and proceeded to stroll almost unconsciously in the direction of the 
 place of his rendezvous. 
 
 To say that he was interested and perplexed is to use a miserably 
 inadequate form of words; but the main outcome of his reflections was 
 that he put the whole thing down as a bal-masque intrigue of a rather 
 more than usual interest, as regarded its commencement at any rate. 
 
 There was something indescribably baffling about the woman he 
 had escorted to the street, and whom he hoped to see again within a 
 couple of hours. There was nothing in her voice or manner that 
 betrayed aught but perfect gentleness of birth and breeding. The idea 
 of risking a word of reproof from those wonderful lips, or a look of 
 disdain from those amazing eyes, was quite out of the question ; and 
 yet she had made his acquaintance in almost orthodox bal-masque" style, 
 and had given him a rendezvous for the morrow in quite orthodox bal- 
 masque style. To the Queen's Messenger on service, adventures of all 
 kinds are necessarily a forbidden luxury, and yet Goddard would- not 
 for one moment admit to himself that he was running into any personal 
 danger. He could not retrospectively satisfy himself of the woman's 
 nationality. She spoke' very perfect English ; and yet there was a 
 pretty uncertainty about her r's that betrayed either foreign birth or 
 long residence abroad. 
 
 Of the manner of his coming reception, however, he had no doubt. 
 He would be ushered into a boudoir from which daylight would be care- 
 fully excluded, a scent of musk or something equally sensuous would 
 hang in the air, the room would be hung with soft silks and decorated 
 with heavily-perfumed exotic flowers, and the woman herself would 
 either be reclining on a divan, or would enter the room with the upward 
 sweep of a shapely arm through velvet portieres, clad in some bewitch- 
 ing and lace-covered neglige. The woman herself, he felt certain, 
 would be dark, and of a heavy, sensuous type of beauty. The face 
 would be not quite innocent of the veloutine of Fay, and would be 
 either of a brilliant coloring or of a properly improper ivory pallor. 
 
 Together they would partake of a delicate and recherche repast, 
 and after breakfast she would sing to him, accompanying herself on 
 
 the piano, or more probably on the guitar. And then Well, why 
 
 anticipate? 
 
 He was sufficiently " experienced" to know exactly what to expect. 
 
 His reflections were suddenly cut short by his arrival at the very 
 house, "The Villa Altdorff," which the incognita of the night before 
 had inscribed upon the card she had given him. It was situated quite 
 on the outskirts of the city, where the suburbs begin to assume a dis- 
 tinctly rural appearance. A high quickset hedge divided and hid the 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 329 
 
 grounds of the villa from the road, but a barred gate opened upon a 
 curving drive that led up to the house. A glance at the house did not 
 serve to enlighten the Queen's Messenger. It had the appearance of 
 being deserted. All the windows were closed with heavy shutters. No 
 smoke rose from the clustered chimneys, no sigu of life appeared within 
 the gate, which was securely fastened. 
 
 With difficulty restraining an exclamation of surprise, and forget- 
 ting, in his astonishment, his promise not to make inquiries, Goddard 
 turned to a municipal gardener who was sweeping under the tulip-trees 
 that lined the quiet suburban road. 
 
 " What is this house ?" he asked. 
 
 "That," returned the man, eying him suspiciously, "is the Villa 
 Altdorff." 
 
 "And who lives here?" 
 
 " No one." 
 
 "How? No one?" 
 
 "No. It has been closed ever since the death of the Baroness 
 Altdorff, three years ago." 
 
 " But it does not look neglected." 
 
 " No; the family keep the gardens neat, but it is never occupied." 
 
 " You are sure ?" 
 
 The man vouchsafed no answer. He had turned once more to his 
 work, and studiously ignored his questioner, whom he probably took 
 for a gentlemanly burglar compiling notes for a campaign. * 
 
 So this was the end of his adventure ! Better so, after all, thought 
 the Queen's Messenger, since he had to be at the Foreign Office at four 
 to receive Andrassy's despatches. The end ? Stay ! it wanted yet an 
 hour of mid-day ; he would continue his walk and return at the time 
 appointed : at least should chance ever throw him against his dazzling 
 domino again she should not be able to reproach him with not having 
 fulfilled the terms of her invitation. 
 
 The Honorable Aubyn Goddard walked on, beyond the outer forti- 
 fications. 
 
 Punctually at twelve o'clock he found himself once more at the 
 gate of the Villa Altdorff; and now a new surprise awaited him. The 
 gate stood open ! He entered. As he walked up the drive he noted 
 with ever-increasing, wonderment that the shutters were all thrown 
 open, as were the lower windows. From one chimney a column of 
 smoke rose into the air. On the veranda in front stood two chairs, 
 and some Oriental rugs lay before them. On one of them lay a shawl 
 and a book, giving evidence of recent occupation. From one corner 
 of the rug a very British fox-terrier rose, stretched himself, and trotted 
 down the drive to meet him and assure himself that the perfume of the 
 visitor was a friendly perfume. 
 
 As he readied the door it was opened by a grave butler in the 
 correctest black, — not by the pert Parisian maid he had anticipated, — 
 who ushered him at once into a drawing-room matted with Indian 
 grass and furnished throughout in the white-gold style ascribed to 
 Louis XV. Dazed beyond the power of expression, Goddard was 
 walking to a window to inspect the exterior, when the full soft voice 
 
330 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 that had been echoing in his brain for the past ten hours said behind 
 him, — 
 
 " Captain Goddard." 
 
 He turned, to see his hostess advancing towards him with out- 
 stretched hand. 
 
 True to his anticipation, she was dark ; but there the correctness of 
 his anticipation began and ended. The gorgeous figure was held with 
 stately erectness, and was clad from throat to foot in the most correctly 
 fitting of tailor-made suits ("Turned out by Morgan, for a fiver!" 
 ejaculated Goddard to himself), at the throat and wrists a collar and 
 cuffs of the snowiest linen, secured by plain gold buttons. Her only 
 ornament was a crimson rose thrust into the bosom of the dress. The 
 raven-black hair was carried smoothly off the high white forehead and 
 drawn to a simple coil at the back of the head. 
 
 The vision before him was one of ideal health, perfect womanly 
 beauty, and eminent " good form." Aubyn Goddard stood speechless. 
 The Baroness Altdorff was, of course, perfectly self-possessed. 
 
 "You are punctual, Captain Goddard. That is well. We shall 
 have the more time in which to make each other's acquaintance, — or 
 rather to improve it." 
 
 " Pardon me," said Goddard, in reply, " if for a few moments 
 I am too bewildered to talk rationally. You have me at a great 
 disadvantage. Will you tell me where we have met before to-day?" 
 
 " Not now. But before we part, — yes. Let me see : at four o'clock 
 you must be at the Foreign Office, at five you leave Vienna. I am 
 right, am I not ? Yes ? Then I propose that we breakfast at once and 
 talk afterwards." 
 
 " I am completely at Madanie's service." 
 
 " Don't make any rash announcements ! you ought to mistrust 
 me profoundly. Admit at least that my conduct has been highly 
 irregular." 
 
 « Well, I " 
 
 " The fact is," broke in the woman, in a serious tone, " I have 
 long wished to make your acquaintance. The opportunity arrived for 
 me to do you a service, unknown to yourself, and in doing it I killed 
 two birds with one stone : I took the part of Captain Aubyn Goddard 
 in a diplomatic war, and made his acquaintance into the bargain. All 
 is fair, you know, in war !" 
 
 " And in love !" concluded Goddard, with a nervous laugh. 
 
 " Exactly," replied the Baroness Altdorff, with a slight blush, " but 
 at present the former alone engrosses our attention. But come; break- 
 fast is ready. Will you follow me? Unlike most women who make 
 gentlemen's acquaintances under romantic circumstances, I am raven- 
 onsly hungry." 
 
 She led the way into the dining-room, where a breakfast was served 
 in perfect taste but supreme simplicity. 
 
 "At least you will begin," said Goddard, as he seated himself, 
 " by giving me a few words of explanation. First, how did you 
 know my name? and, second, did you send me the ticket for yester- 
 day's ball?" 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 33] 
 
 " I know your name, for in the society of Vienna not to know 
 Captain Aubyn Goddard, of Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service, is to 
 argue one's self unknown. It was I who sent you the ticket for last 
 night's ball, for reasons that I will explain to you presently. I am 
 very much interested in the questions that have brought you to Vienna 
 four times in as many months, and chance favored me last night in 
 bringing about a meeting to which I have long looked forward." 
 
 She spoke with charming frankness, looking him straight in the 
 eyes, and it was with a, to him, altogether new sensation that he replied, 
 with a little inclination, — 
 
 " Whatever may have been your motive, baroness, believe me, I 
 congratulate myself, more profoundly than I can say on so short an 
 acquaintance, on the chance that has thrown us together — at last." 
 
 A ring of intense earnestness had come into his voice as he answered, 
 returning her gaze. The woman flushed perceptibly as she turned the 
 conversation : 
 
 "Your profession must be a strangely interesting one. You are so 
 much behind the scenes. The Powers will unite in conference about 
 December or January, will they not?" 
 
 He glanced at her keenly. "I cannot tell," replied he, cautiously, 
 " but it looks like it at present." 
 
 " It seems so strange to me that England should submit so calmly 
 to the dictation of Russia. I should have thought that your govern- 
 ment would have despatched a fleet to the Levant." 
 
 " That would not take place unless the Conference should prove 
 abortive." 
 
 " Ah ! then the step is already considered ?" 
 
 " I do not know," replied Goddard, shortly, as he suddenly perceived 
 that he had been led into an important disclosure. Then he added, 
 " You seem vastly interested in European politics. Ladies do not 
 usually trouble about such matters." 
 
 "Oh, I adore them," replied the baroness, with a laugh; "but it 
 annoys me when I see your English interests calmly flung into the lap 
 of Gortschakotf by your Mr. Gladstone." 
 
 " Mr. Gladstone will have nothing to do with it," replied Goddard, 
 dryly. " The entertainment of 1871 will not be repeated, I can assure 
 you. So long as Lord Beaconsfield lives, you may be sure that the 
 Pruth will bound Russia on the southwest, and Batoum and Constan- 
 tinople will not become Russian military seaports." He spoke with 
 quick indignation, for Goddard was of the true Tory faith, and the light 
 tone of this foreign woman stung him in a sensitive place. The Baron- 
 ess Altdorff plunged her eyes deep into his, and leaned forward as she 
 replied, — 
 
 " That is how I like to hear a man talk. That is the substance of 
 your despatches, on this mission?" 
 
 Goddard was about to lie promptly in expressing his ignorance, but 
 something in the woman's look made his heart leap into his throat, and 
 he answered nothing, as the color rose to the roots of his hair. 
 
 " That is right," she said, softly. " I could not imagine you lying 
 to me." 
 
332 
 
 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " No," answered the man, shortly : " I cannot lie to you." 
 
 The Baroness Altdorff rose. 
 
 " Let us go into the drawing-room," she said, with a sudden change 
 of manner. " We have yet an hour before you need start. At half- 
 past three my coupe will take you to the Foreign Office, and thence to 
 the station. Will yon oblige me by sending my man from the Office 
 to settle your bill and bring your luggage from your hotel ? I do not 
 want you to return." 
 
 " Really, I feel ashamed to take advantage " began Goddard. 
 
 " Promise me ! promise me !" she interrupted, eagerly. 
 
 " Certainly, it shall be as you wish. But, in heaven's name, give 
 me some explanation of all this mystery." 
 
 " Very well," replied she ; " I will. I need not tell Captain God- 
 dard that diplomacy in Russia sticks at nothing. I happened to have 
 learnt that an effort would be made to detain you in Vienna by the 
 Russian agents there. You were to be summoned from your hotel last 
 night. They laid their plans well. I sent you the ticket to insure 
 your absence, and came myself to the ball to see that you were safely 
 there. The hunchback whom you saw persecuting me adopted that 
 course to mix you up in a most unpleasant esclandre. He knew that 
 an English gentleman would not suffer an unprotected woman to be 
 insulted in his presence. It is needless to say that he was a political 
 spy. Had we left the opera-house by the main entrance you would 
 have found yourself this morning in a duel or a police court. It was 
 necessary to hide you to-day. I thought of this place as we sought my 
 carriage. They have watched for you at your hotel all day. Remember, 
 you have promised not to return there with your despatches." 
 
 "Do you think I am going to run away from the creature?" said 
 Goddard, indignantly. 
 
 " It is your duty to guard your despatches," answered the woman, 
 calmly. 
 
 " You are right," answered he, simply, after a pause. 
 
 The conversation took another turn. Her interest drew from God- 
 dard — almost, I was going to say, the story of his life, and when the 
 clock struck half-past three it was almost with a start that he recalled 
 himself to the present. 
 
 It was the Baroness Altdorff who cut the conversation short. " It 
 is time for you to go," she said. " I am sorry." 
 
 "And I too, baroness," replied Goddard. "I have not half ex- 
 pressed to you my gratitude for all you liave done for me, still less for 
 these charming hours with you." 
 
 "Then you forgive my plot against your liberty ?" 
 
 " Yes," replied he, boldly. " All is fair, as we said, in love and 
 war, and — and both are here." 
 
 The Baroness Altdorff crimsoned despite herself. 
 
 " Good- by," said she, holding out her hand again. 
 
 " Not good-by, I trust," pleaded he, as he held the delicate white 
 hand in his. They had reached the front door, where the presence of 
 the grave butler holding open the door of the coupe which stood in 
 readiness placed a restraint upon the wild declaration he was tempted 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 333 
 
 to pour out to her. " Not good-by, baroness, but au revoir. Is it not 
 so?" And he leaned forward as he pressed the taper fingers. 
 
 " I hope so, — believe me," replied she, and her pallor intensified. 
 
 " Then I go not altogether in despair," said Goddard, gayly, as he 
 descended the steps. 
 
 As he took his seat in the carriage he turned to where she stood on 
 the veranda. 
 
 "I forgot!" he exclaimed. "You said you would tell me where 
 we met before to-day. Where was it?" 
 
 "At the ball last night," 
 
 The servant slammed the door, and the carriage whirled off down 
 the drive. As it turned out of the gate, Goddard looked hastily out 
 of the window. The windows of the Villa Altdorff were once more 
 shuttered as they had been in the morning. No smoke rose from the 
 chimneys. All signs of human habitation had disappeared. 
 
 The Villa Altdorff seemed deserted ! 
 
 Captain the Honorable Aubyn Goddard flung himself back on the 
 cushions of the coupe. 
 
 " By Jove !" he exclaimed, " this carriage is real enough, or I should 
 believe the whole thing was a dream." 
 
 Whilst he transacted his business at the Foreign Office, the coupe 
 went to his hotel for his luggage. 
 
 The servant brought back word that two gentlemen refusing to give 
 their names had been waiting for him since mid-day. 
 
 They were waiting still. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE POWER BEHIND THE THRONE. 
 
 The police system of Russia is divided into three sections, the 
 First Section, consisting of the ordinary patrol of gendarmerie, the 
 Second Section, consisting of what are called the Political Police, 
 originally instituted by the Tzar Nicholas to control corruption among 
 officials, but now, and at the time of which I write, a vast organiza- 
 tion having its representatives in almost every city of the world, and 
 the hated and dreaded Third Section, of Secret Police, having its spies 
 in every house, in every restaurant, in every public place, almost in 
 every family. The three are united under one head, and during the 
 crisis of 1876-77 that head had, as may be supposed, more than enough 
 to occupy it. 
 
 One of the largest suites in the Public Offices of Petersburg is 
 devoted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Adjoining it is the Min- 
 istry of the Interior. Connecting the two are two small rooms, one 
 an inner room opening upon the vestibule, the other looking out upon 
 the Newski Prospect, These two rooms are devoted to the use of the 
 Chief of Police — "The White Terror," as he is called — and his 
 personal staff, consisting of a private and two ministerial secretaries. 
 
334 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 In the outer room sat Prince Schouloff, the Chief of Police, and the 
 position he occupied between the two principal Ministries indicated his 
 importance in the affairs of the Empire. 
 
 No one who saw him seated in his great leather-covered chair before 
 his table could fail to be impressed with the personality of the man. 
 Though he sits huddled up, as it were, there can be no mistaking the 
 massive proportions of the man : his hand alone, as it lies on the table 
 before him, gives overwhelming evidence of his tremendous physical 
 strength. He is a comparatively young man, — not more than forty 
 years old, — despite the fact that his closely-cut hair is almost snow- 
 white, and that the clearly-traced lines round his eyes and mouth give 
 evidence of years of anxiety, if not of physical suffering. In startling 
 contrast to his white hair are his thick eyebrows and elaborately- 
 pointed moustache, which are of the intensest black. At this moment 
 his keen gray eyes look straight before him from beneath the heavy 
 brows, and his face wears the expression habitual to it in repose, — one 
 of concentrated watchfulness. 
 
 Before him — it is morning — lies a heap of letters, which for the 
 past half-hour has been slowly diminishing as he opens one after another, 
 and, after making a note upon each in pencil, for the direction of the 
 secretaries, lays them in two heaps, one to the right of the pile for the 
 political secretaries, the other to the left for future private reference. 
 At this moment the morning task of looking; through the mail has been 
 arrested, — arrested by the paper that he holds in the hand that lies on 
 the desk before him. He is not looking at it. It would be useless, 
 for it is not of an ordinary kind. It is written on a large square sheet 
 of thin blue paper; in the upper left-hand corner, arranged within a 
 diamond, appears the following design, in Greek capitals : 
 
 Incomprehensible to the uninitiated, Prince Schouloff reads within the 
 lozenge the word " Bella-Demonia. A.H.2.R.", and, having progressed 
 thus far, he has laid down the paper and is plunged in thought. The 
 letter is in cipher, and is sealed to him until the arrival of his private 
 secretary, who has the custody of the key to the enigma. 
 
 He has not long to wait. A slight noise behind him causes him to 
 turn his head. A young man has entered the room, and has silently 
 taken his seat at a smaller desk in the corner. 
 
 "Ah, Dmitri Dmitrievitch, is that you? I am waiting for you." 
 
 "A despatch from Bella-Demonia?" 
 
 " Yes. Have you your dial ?" 
 
 " Here it is, Excellency." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA . 
 
 335 
 
 " Set it : A.H.2.R." 
 
 " It is done." 
 
 "Read me this." And the Chief of Police hands the document 
 to his private secretary, and turns once more to the unopened letters 
 before him. For half an hour no sound breaks the silence, save the 
 slight squeak of the cipher-dial, as, letter by letter, the young man 
 interprets the despatch.* 
 
 * BELLA-DEMONIA'S CIPHER-DIAL. 
 
 The cipher-dial referred to in the text, the original of which is in my possession, 
 is an instrument of great interest and ingenuity, and an explanatory note may not 
 he out of place at this point. It is a mode of cipher-construction that practically 
 defies solution, like a combination-lock, and 
 was used by the staff in command of the forces 
 in Asia Minor during the Turko-Russian War, 
 on whose main outlines the story of Bella-De- 
 monia has been constructed. 
 
 All that is necessary, for two people who 
 wish to communicate in cryptograph by its 
 means, to bear in mind is a key or combina- 
 tion, such as is used by Bella-Demonia in the 
 text,— to wit, A.H.2.R. 
 
 The instrument consists of an outer dial, 
 AA', out of which a circular chamber has 
 been cut which receives a smaller dial, BB', 
 which falls into its place so as to be level with 
 the raised rim of the dial AA'. It is further 
 kept in place by a little pin, D, which falls 
 into a hole in the centre of the dial AA', as at 
 E. The dial BB / may be rotated in the dial 
 AA' by means of the milled knob C. The 
 alphabet and a few numerals are engraved 
 round the edges of the dials, as seen in the 
 illustration. 
 
 Now, supposing Bella-Demonia to be writing the despatch referred to above, on 
 the combination A.H.2.R. She sets the dial as in the illustration. The H of the 
 inner circle falls under the A of the outer. The " 2R" means that the dial BB' 
 must be rotated two spaces to the right, to find each letter in the cryptograph mes- 
 sage. " III" would mean, one space to the right ; " 3L," three to the left, and so on. 
 
 We will assume that Bella-Demonia wishes to write her own name on the for- 
 mula A.H.2.R. The dial is set as in the illustration. 
 
 She turns the dial BB' to the right, so as to find the second space from the B in 
 the upper or outer circle (of the dial AA'). It will be found that the letter that 
 falls under B is G. G, therefore, is the first letter. Now to find the equivalent of 
 the second, E ; without moving the dials she finds E in the outer circle, turns the 
 dial BB / two spaces to the right, and finds the letter H has come under the E. H is 
 therefore the second letter of the word Bella-Demonia. Next the L. L is found 
 on the outer dial, the inner is revolved two spaces, and M is the letter found. Now 
 for the second L. The dial BB' is once more shifted two to the right, and the 
 letter K represents the second L. Following the rule, and always turning the dial 
 two spaces to the right, A is found on the outer and in turn Z on the inner circle, 
 so that the letters 6HMKZ represent the word BELLA; and, proceeding in the 
 same way, DEMON I A is represented in cryptograph by the letters 2.Z.D.D.A.V.L. 
 
 BELLADEMONIA=GHMKZ2ZDDAVL. 
 
 Now, Prince Schoujoff receives the letters Ghmkz2zddavl, and to find out what 
 they mean sets his dial A.H.2.R., — t.e.,with the A of the dial AA 7 over the H of 
 the' dial BB'. 
 
 In reading, the above process is reversed only in the fact that the letter to he in- 
 terpreted is sought on the inner circle (of the dial BB'). He finds G on the dial 
 BB', rotates it two spaces to the right, and finds over it, on the dial A A', the letter B. 
 Next he rotates the H on BB', and finds over it E on A A'. The M on BB' rotated 
 
336 
 
 BELLA-DEM0N1A . 
 
 At the end of that time the secretary rises and lays before his 
 chief a paper on which appears the following, in French : 
 
 "Vienna, 25th August, 1876. 
 
 " Captain the Honorable Aubyn Goddard, Twentieth Hussars, 
 especially detailed Queen's Messenger for Oriental affairs. Age about 
 34. Single. English gentleman in every sense of the word. Unap- 
 proachable by ordinary means. Passed through Vienna August 15 and 
 16, bearing despatches for Foreign Office. 
 
 " In the event of Conference, England will maintain armed neu- 
 trality. In the event of Russia taking meditated action, will occupy 
 the Bosphorus. Integrity of Ottoman Empire will be supported : par- 
 ticular attention to Batoum and Trebizonde. No further details. 
 
 " Leave for Petersburg to-night. 
 
 " Bella-Demonia." 
 
 " H'm !" ejaculated the Chief of Police, as he carefully folded the 
 cipher message and its translation and placed them in his pocket-book. 
 " This is important. 'English gentleman. Unapproachable by ordi- 
 nary means. No further details.' I don't like that. Bella-Demonia 
 does not usually stop half-way in her inquiries. She is coming here. 
 That is well, and I shall meet this marvellous woman at last!" 
 
 And, the current of his thoughts evidently changed by the receipt 
 of the despatch, he altered some of the notes on the letters before him, 
 and as one of the secretaries took away the bundle for distribution he 
 said to him, — 
 
 " Inform the secretary of His Excellency the Minister for War that 
 Prince Schouloff will wait upon his Chief in an hour's time." 
 
 When this latter had left the room, the prince turned to Dmitri 
 Dmitrievitch Keratieff, his private secretary, and remarked, — 
 
 " You are sure that you never heard your father, Dmitri Keratieff, 
 refer by name to this Baroness Altdorff, — 'Bella-Demonia,' as they 
 call her?" 
 
 "Never, Excellency. After the attempt upon the life of His 
 Majesty in which my father received his death-wound, he spoke to me 
 
 two spaces gives him L on AA'; and K on BB' rotated two spaces gives him a 
 second L. Z treated the same way gives A on AA', and thus out of " Ghmkz" the 
 first half " Bella" is produced, and in the same way the whole word, and the whole 
 despatch. 
 
 The great point to be noted is that by this means the same letter never means 
 the same thing twice, so that the principal means of deciphering cryptograms — i.e., 
 the observation of the most recurrent letters and substituting for them the commonest 
 vowels and consonants — is destroyed. Without ever going more than two spaces to 
 the right or left, 4010 different combinations can be formed ; whilst if the persons in 
 possession of the dials choose to read upward for writing and dowmvard for reading, 
 instead of as above dowmvard for writing and upward for reading, 16,080,100 com- 
 binations can be formed, and it is that number of chances to one against anybody 
 but the right person hitting on the formula. 
 
 . Of course any arrangement of the letters of the alphabet, and any number of 
 numerals, omitting the 1 and the 0, can be engraved on the two dials, so long as they 
 coincide exactly with each other. 
 
 Selina Dolaro. 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 337 
 
 of a woman who possessed his cipher-dial, but never mentioned her 
 name. I was very young then." 
 
 At the private secretary's words Prince SchoulofFs face clouded. The 
 attempted assassination of the Tzar in which the late Chief of Police 
 lost his life was a subject which the present Chief — for state reasons, 
 he said — never allowed to be mentioned in his presence. However, 
 his private secretary, as son of his predecessor, and Prince SchoulofF's 
 especial protegg, considered himself a privileged person. At the time 
 of his father's death Dmitri Dmitrievitch KeratiefF had been one of 
 the junior clerks in the Department of Police, and when his father 
 met his death in the abortive attempt of the followers of Alexis 
 Dorski, Prince Schouloff, who came to Petersburg to take the direction 
 of the police, sought out his predecessor's son and appointed him his 
 confidential secretary. Dorski had disappeared, — he was reported 
 killed at Odessa soon after, — and his society had been broken up. 
 From that moment his conspiracy had been a forbidden subject, like 
 many others, in the Department of Police. 
 
 Now, however, the Chief did not silence his secretary, but re- 
 marked, with the air of a man who dimly recalls a half-forgotten in- 
 cident, — 
 
 " How did he refer to her?" 
 
 " Though it was eight years ago, I remember his words as if they 
 had been spoken yesterday. ' Dmitri,' he said, 'you are too young now 
 to understand the workings of the section in which you are a subordi- 
 nate; but some day you may be called to a position of trust therein. 
 There exists a duplicate of the cipher-dial with which I construct my 
 political correspondence. Should ever a woman communicate with you 
 by its means, lay the matter at once before your Chief, and tell him 
 that I, Dmitri Keratieff, left for him the injunction that she was to be 
 considered. Trust her utterly: the welfare of the Holy Russian Em- 
 pire is in her heart, and may be in her hands.' I believe this Bella- 
 Demonia to be the woman, Excellency, for my father would never have 
 intrusted his cipher-dial to any one who would either duplicate or 
 misuse it." 
 
 " I think you are right," returned Schouloff, as he reconcentrated 
 his attention upon the papers before him. 
 
 That day he devoted to important interviews with the Ministers of 
 War and of Foreign Affairs, and at the closing of the office at four 
 o'clock another step, and an important one, had been taken in the 
 policy that was to eventuate in the war of 1877. 
 
 The office was closed. The secretaries had gone, a servant had 
 placed a reading-lamp upon his table, and Prince Schouloff was 
 alone. 
 
 He stretched his arms above his head in the manner of a man con- 
 cluding his work or turning to some lighter employment. No one 
 looking at him as he sat, idly for the moment looking out over the 
 Prospect that teemed with life below him, would have dreamed that 
 the hard, ascetic-looking man, with "diplomacy" written on every line 
 of his face, the man whose word could at any moment send families 
 to Siberia with a " wolf's passport," or plunge the Cabinet in inter- 
 Vol. XLIIL— 22 
 
338 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 national complications, had been, eight years before we see him in the 
 office of the Police — Alexis Dorski, the Nihilist! 
 
 It was he. But of this circumstance only two living souls were 
 aware, and those were Prince Schouloff himself — and in after-years, 
 people who know have said, One other. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 Prince Schouloff rose, and, walking to the window, looked out 
 over the Prospect of Alexander Newski, seeking a momentary relief 
 from the cramped position to which he had been constrained by his 
 work during the hours of toil. For a few minutes he stood idly 
 watching the droschkies and troikas that crossed and recrossed one an- 
 other, listening to the jangle of their bells and to the vague murmur 
 of the isvoshtshiks' voices as they apostrophized and harangued their 
 ponies, after the manner of their class. Then he drew down the blinds 
 to shut out the remainder of the already dying daylight, and seated 
 himself once more at his bureau. 
 
 From a carefully-locked drawer he took a small bundle of folded 
 blue sheets, and placed at the bottom thereof " Bella-Denionia's" de- 
 spatch of the morning, and was about to replace the bundle, when a 
 second thought struck him, and he unfolded them all in turn, running 
 his eyes rapidly over their contents as he did so. All the originals 
 were in cipher, but the translation was attached to each in his secretary's 
 handwriting. 
 
 " This is a most marvellous woman," soliloquized he, as he con- 
 cluded his cursory examination of the bundle. " I wonder how she 
 is to be accounted for. Among all the political agents of the Russian 
 administration, of her alone nothing is known : as a rule, the Holy 
 Empire is well informed as to the antecedents of its — spies ; but in the 
 case of this woman it is different. Who is she? — or, rather, who was 
 she? Who is — or was — the Baron Altdorff? I have sent Dmitri Kera- 
 tieff in turn to London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, in search of information 
 regarding her. I have inquired into all her aliases in vain : every- 
 where we are met and assisted by her work, but by the woman herself 
 — never. Well, well, notwithstanding the mystery, I would trust her 
 where I would not trust Dmitri Keratieff himself. The treasury of 
 the Department has been at her service for five years. A mere adven- 
 turess — my English agent Emily Dashton, for instance — in her position 
 would long ago have realized a million or so of roubles and disappeared. 
 But Bella-Demonia is true to her trust under all circumstances : her 
 motive, whatever it be, must be a strong one, and in due time no 
 doubt she will elect to present herself. She says in this last despatch 
 that she is coming here : when will she arrive ? By St. Nicholas ! I — I, 
 Schouloff, confess that I am curious — nay, anxious — to see her. — What 
 is it?" 
 
 The concluding words of his soliloquy were addressed to the 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 339 
 
 dvomik of the office, who had entered the room after a premonitory- 
 knock. 
 
 "A lady," replied the dvomik, "desires to speak with your Ex- 
 cellency." And he handed to the prince a card on which was engraved 
 " The Countess Laroche, Avenue de Jena, Paris," and in pencil had 
 been added, in Russian, " HoteT d'Europe, — Evropeiskaya Gosstinnitza." 
 
 " You told her that the office was closed ?" 
 
 "Yes, Excellency, but she insisted that I should inquire if you 
 were still here." 
 
 " Did she state her business ?" 
 
 " No, Excellency : she said only that she had just arrived from 
 Vienna." 
 
 "From Vienna? Ah! Admit her, and order two of the guard 
 to station in the secretaries' office, before she comes through it." 
 
 Prince Schouloff had twice narrowly escaped assassination in this 
 very room, and was prepared for emergencies. 
 
 Two minutes later a woman entered the room. She stood for a 
 moment at the door, and said, interrogatively, — 
 
 " Prince Schouloff?" 
 
 " I am he," returned Schouloff, scrutinizing her narrowly. " Be 
 seated, sodaini." He spoke in Russian, and his visitor answered in 
 the same language : 
 
 " I see you have placed your Cossacks in the anteroom. I should 
 have saved you the trouble by announcing myself as the Baroness 
 Altdorff. It suits me, however, to be the Countess Laroche, travelling 
 for her health : so I gave to the dvomik the name by which I am to be 
 known so long as I remain in Petersburg." There was a simple, com- 
 manding dignity in her words as she spoke, seating herself the while in 
 the chair indicated, opposite to the Chief of Police. Prince Schouloff 
 had remained standing. 
 
 " Bella-Demonia !" he said, simply. 
 
 " I am she." 
 
 Without another word, he went to the door, and called out, " Cho- 
 rosklio ! Ogon /" (" All right ! Go away !") and the footsteps of the 
 two soldiers were heard retiring down the corridor. Schouloff returned, 
 and, seating himself in the great leather-covered chair, remarked, — 
 
 "I will not waste time in trivial compliments. I can only say that 
 it affords me a profound satisfaction to meet Bella-Demonia face to face. 
 You will explain the object of this visit in your own words and at your 
 own time." 
 
 " It was time for us to meet. The negotiations at Vienna are 
 practically closed. You will find that Bismarck and Andrassy are 
 acting together, have done so from the first, and will do so to the end. 
 The policy of Great Britain is cut and dried. Their plans are formed. 
 It is time to form ours." 
 
 " Ours ?" 
 
 " Yes, — yours and mine." 
 
 Schouloff thought for a moment. Then he said, — 
 
 "Madame von Altdorff, let us understand each other from the 
 commencement " 
 
340 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " Countess Laroche, if you please," corrected she. 
 
 " Very good, — Countess Laroche. You are staying at the Hdtel 
 d'Europe. Have you a passport ? — but of course you have." 
 
 " I have five," returned she, simply. 
 
 " I beg your pardon !" 
 
 " Here they are," said she, taking a thin packet from the bosom of 
 her dress. "Two of them are, as you see, countersigned by yourself. 
 Here is that of the Countess Laroche, dated, issued, and visa-ed in 
 Paris ; these are respectively those of Mrs. Damian, issued and visa-ed 
 in London; of the Baroness Altdorff, signed by yourself, in Berlin; 
 of the Baroness Altdorff, similarly signed, in Vienna; and of Madame 
 Raczewitz, issued, and so forth, in Constantinople." 
 
 The Chief of Police seemed thunderstruck. 
 
 " Madame," said he, " in two minutes you have impressed me as I 
 have never been impressed before. May I ask your nationality? Your 
 Russian is perfect, but foreign ; your French is the same." 
 
 "I am cosmopolitan. I am in turn English, French, German, 
 Russian, and, what is most to our present purpose, Roumeliote, but 
 always and everywhere Bella-Demonia. Do I make myself clear?" 
 
 " To me — perfectly. Your identity established, pray consider the 
 Department of Police at your service. And now, what have you to 
 say ?" 
 
 " More than can be said now. One question, however, before we 
 terminate this interview. When do we declare war?" 
 
 Schouloff started, despite his training, despite himself. 
 
 "War?" he echoed. 
 
 " Yes,— with Turkey." 
 
 For reply the Chief leaned forward and raised the shade from the 
 lamp, flooding the room with light. He fixed his eyes on Bella- 
 Demonia's face. She returned his gaze unflinchingly. She was dressed 
 from head to foot in some black-beaded material, with here and there a 
 flash of crimson, in a lining, a ribbon, or a feather. The Chief was 
 apparently satisfied with his scrutiny. 
 
 " When the Porte shall have rejected the conditions presented by 
 the Conference." 
 
 " They will not be of a nature that the Porte can accept?" 
 
 A moment's pause, and then Schouloff answered, shortly, — 
 
 "No!" 
 
 " Good ! That is enough for to-day. To-morrow I will lay my 
 plans before you. Is it agreed ?" 
 
 " Perfectly." 
 
 Ten minutes later Prince Schouloff sat alone in his sanctum, buried 
 in his complicated reflections. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A PLAN OF CAMPAIGN. 
 
 On the following afternoon, when the secretaries had gone and 
 the offices had been closed to the world, as -the bells of the neighbor- 
 ing Cathedral of St. Isaac's tolled the hour of five, Prince Schouloff 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 341 
 
 sat once more in his sanctum, in conference with the Baroness Alt- 
 dorff. 
 
 "As I understand the position," Bella-Demonia was saying, "our 
 plans stand thus. The conditions laid before the Ottoman Cabinet will 
 be of a nature that will render their acceptance impossible. When this 
 is an accomplished fact, and the Powers have protested by protocol, 
 Russia will cross the Pruth, and enter Asia Minor by Batoum or Kars 
 without further notice." 
 
 " Exactly." 
 
 " What opposition shall we meet ?" 
 
 "In Europe, little or none. Roumania will join our cause, and 
 probably Bulgaria. In Asia we shall probably have difficulty with 
 Moukhtar Pasha." 
 
 " And where shall we station our political observatory?" 
 
 " Probably at Odessa." 
 
 " That is wrong. It is too far from Stamboul." 
 
 "Has Bella-Demonia anything better to suggest?" 
 
 "Certainly, or she would not be here. Give me a map of the 
 country." 
 
 Schouloff laid a chart of the Balkan Peninsula on the table, and 
 together they bent over the sheet, the woman demonstrating with her 
 finger as she spoke quickly and decisively, in the tones of one stating 
 a case with which he is entirely familiar : 
 
 " Immediately on the declaration of war, long before we reach the 
 Danube, the Buda-Pesth, Giurgevo, and Varna route to Constantinople 
 will be closed. The ports of the Black Sea will be blockaded, the sea- 
 route from any other port will be impracticable. The only line of 
 communication between the Powers and the Porte, therefore, will be 
 across the Balkans by way of the Shipka Pass. To reach this point, 
 messengers must pass through Belgrade, Widin, and possibly Plevna. 
 From Shipka they must reach Stamboul by Eski Saghra and Adrian- 
 ople. On the road between the two lies the village of Deve-kiui. At 
 that village Madame Helen Raczewitz, a Roumeliote lady, must take 
 a hunting-villa at once. By the time our armies cross the Pruth she 
 will be firmly established there, and his Excellency Prince Schouloff 
 will always be a welcome visitor." 
 
 As she ceased she looked up into Schouloff 's face to mark the effect 
 of her words. 
 
 " Then you propose " said he. 
 
 " To found a political observatory, away from large cities or mili- 
 tary centres, though within a certain radius of Eski Saghra, — an ob- 
 servatory, however, on the inevitable line of route between Stamboul 
 and Europe." 
 
 " But between this and next year I have important duties that call 
 me to Paris and London. I could not occupy the chateau of which 
 you speak." 
 
 " But I could. I propose to be there within a month." 
 
 "You know the state of a civilized country on the first outbreak 
 of a war and before military control is established. Do you fully 
 realize what would be the condition of affairs in Bulgaria ? The good 
 
342 BELLA-DEMON I A. 
 
 Gladstone was nearer the truth than is his wont in his broehure on 
 Batak." 
 
 Bella-Demonia's lip curled scornfully. 
 
 " Do you think," said she, " that a woman who has lived the life 
 of Bella-Demonia is likely to flinch at the thought of a sojourn in a 
 country notoriously Russophile? Besides, inquire at Philippopolis and" 
 Sofia concerning Madame Raczewitz: you will be satisfied, I think, 
 that I am safe among the Balkans." 
 
 Prince Schouloff had resumed his seat, and now remained silent 
 for a few moments, watching the woman opposite him. 
 
 "Madame von AltdorfF," said he, at length, "I do not ask a con- 
 fidence which apparently you are desirous of withholding, but it is 
 obvious that it must have been some terrible cataclysm in your life 
 that plunged you into the whirlpool of political intrigue." 
 
 " A cataclysm indeed ! — one that shattered every womanly feeling 
 within me ; one that turned my life into one protracted longing for ex- 
 citement and distraction. When, on the death of Dmitri Keratieffat 
 the hands of Alexis Dorski's band, you took his place in the councils 
 of the nation, a month of keen observation of your methods satisfied 
 me that under your chieftainship the office of political agent would be 
 no sinecure. I wrote to you : you gave me my first commission, and 
 in an hour my womanhood, my past, was laid aside, — in a word, I be- 
 came — Bella-Demonia !" 
 
 " I would that we had met sooner, baroness. With such a partner 
 as yourself, there is no height to Avhich an ambitious man might not 
 aspire." 
 
 She looked at him for an instant as if in alarm. Then, resuming 
 the cold, hard tone that was natural to her, she said, — 
 
 "It is just as well that we did not meet then, for I am incapable 
 of aught but hate. You understand me?" 
 
 " Perfectly," replied Schouloff. And the conversation changed. 
 
 A fortnight later the " plan of campaign" was settled. Day after 
 day the Chief of Police had been closeted with the Baroness Altdorff, 
 and nothing remained to be discussed, of the policy of the Chief and 
 his lieutenante. " The Countess Laroche" was making ready for her 
 departure; and in two days' time Prince Schouloff would have left 
 Petersburg for Paris en route for London. 
 
 They sat, as usual, in the bureau of the Department of Police, and 
 Bella-Demonia had just folded up her last sheet of notes, written in the 
 cipher under which we first made her acquaintance. 
 
 " So !" she said, " all is finished." 
 
 "Almost," replied Schouloff. 
 
 " How? almost? Have you anything else to say?" 
 
 " Yes. Give me your attention, if you please, for a few moments 
 longer, baroness : what remains to be said is not unimportant." He 
 paused for a moment, as if searching for words : then he resumed. 
 "You have never enlightened me, baroness, on the subject of your 
 past, and for my part I have no desire to be enlightened. I only know 
 that you are incomparable as you are incomprehensible ; I only know 
 that, whatever your birth may have been, you would add lustre to any 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 343 
 
 name that you would deign to adopt. The family of Schouloff is 
 second to none in the Russian Empire, and since before our history 
 began the Schouloffs have ranked side by side with the Romanoffs, the 
 Dolgouroukis, and the Khristovs. This name, in all humility, I offer 
 to you. Will you be my wife ?" 
 
 Bella-Demonia had risen and walked to the window. 
 
 There, she turned and faced Schouloff, who sat, nervously — for 
 him — twisting an end of his moustache. 
 
 " Prince Schouloff," said she, " I regret from the bottom of my 
 soul that you should have honored me with this proposition. I can 
 never be more to you than I am now. I know that I am in your 
 power, I have expressed my willingness to place myself still further in 
 your hands, and I have no fear for the result. But more than your 
 adjutant I can never be. Let us forget this scene, and resume our old 
 positions with regard to each other. I can never be your wife." 
 
 A sharp contraction passed across the man's features, but he regained 
 his old icy composure as he replied, — 
 
 " I know you too well to urge my suit. Some day I hope, however, 
 that you may reconsider your decision. Should that day ever arrive, I 
 leave it in your hands to tell me of it. Meanwhile, I am always your 
 obedient servant." 
 
 She inclined her head in silence. 
 
 " I think there is no more to be said," he resumed. " So, au revoir. 
 Early in the year I will join you in our Bulgarian observatory." 
 
 " Good !" she replied, simply. " I shall look forward to your 
 coming. Au revoir!" 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A COMMITTEE OF WAYS AND MEANS. 
 
 "But, my dear girl, for heaven's sake be reasonable. How the 
 deuce do you suppose I can get ten thousand pounds ?" 
 
 " How should I know ?" 
 
 " Very well, then : don't be absurd." 
 
 And Major Homer Carteret and Mrs. Bradley Dashton sat looking 
 at each other as if hoping to derive inspiration from each other's 
 ingenuous countenances. 
 
 They were excellently well matched, this brother and sister : he 
 was a gentlemanly adventurer, and she was a garrison hack. This is 
 perhaps a trifle crude. Let us explain. 
 
 Major Homer Carteret was " society runner" for a syndicate of 
 Oriental gentlemen who promoted companies in the far-Eastern city. 
 His was the task of snaring ornamental directors with high-sounding 
 titles, and moneyed youngsters with plethoric bank-accounts : no one 
 in the business had so keen a scent or so sure a hand, no one was so 
 
344 
 
 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 innocent a (professional) victim or so enthusiastic a (professional) sup- 
 porter as Major Homer Carteret, and, though Dick Saville and other 
 ribald spirits who had suffered by and with him averred that his 
 military commission was one in the Salvation Army, there was no 
 denying that, diplomatic and deprecating to the last degree, Major 
 Carteret was a most useful member of the society which for a consider- 
 ation he adorned. 
 
 To explain yet further, the major owed his rank to some obscure 
 Indian regiment, and according to his own account had seen much 
 service in the Empire; but a majority in a Sikh regiment is not a 
 lucrative post, nor is it one in which the undoubted talents of the 
 major found full scope, and he took the first opportunity to seek the 
 mother-country as the pioneer of a queer gold-mining company, and, 
 having found the work profitable and congenial, realized that this was 
 his proper sphere, and settled in London, where his fame spread among 
 wealthy but unpresentable financiers, as purveyor of directors and social 
 "drummer" for the stocks of his employers. His business found an 
 able co-operator in the person of his sister, when she too forsook her 
 all — to wit, all the officers in Bengal — and established herself in the 
 cosey little house in Mayfair where we find her sitting on this bright 
 November morning, in conference with Major Homer Carteret. 
 
 Their tactics were such as to compel the admiration of all who 
 suffered by them. The major and his sister were "devilish good 
 fellows," both of them : did any gilded youth desire to meet any par- 
 ticular damsel en petit comite, Mrs. Dashton could always be depended 
 upon to give a little dinner, at which she and her brother counted for 
 little save as hosts. During dinner Mrs. Dashton, with some excuse 
 or apology for talking shop, would deftly draw from the major a few 
 enthusiastic words regarding his last "investment;" over the wine and 
 the first cigar the major generally managed to re-introduce the subject, 
 and the gilded youth, as a rule, bit at the bait and "went a hundred" 
 in company with the major, "just for fun." The company generally 
 turned out to be one of unlimited liability, and in due season burst with 
 more or less explosive force, and the major when reproached would 
 express the most awful consternation, but "as a friend of the directors" 
 would manage to limit the gilded youth's liability to a " few" thousands, 
 whilst he, poor old chap, was absolutely ruined, and in his despair 
 would borrow five hundred for a month to sret himself on his feet again. 
 As the five hundred was always punctually repaid, he always got it, 
 and with it the commiseration and absolution of his unconscious victims. 
 For the supply of ornamental directors he had a fixed ascending scale: 
 a baronet, so much ; a baron, so much ; a viscount, an earl, a marquis, 
 a duke, so much apiece, according to the standing of the title in the 
 financial Debrett which financiers keep locked up in their strong boxes. 
 
 For her share in the proceedings Mrs. Dashton charged a regular 
 commission, with now and then a bonus. At this moment she wanted 
 a bonus, but the bonus she wanted was ten thousand pounds, and at 
 this moment it was decidedly inconvenient. The major was " filling 
 the cast," to put it dramatically, of a company for the exploitation of 
 some absolutely inaccessible copper-mines in Asia Minor, and, though 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 345 
 
 the syndicate was wealthy, the major had run through about as much 
 " petty cash" as the concern could stand. 
 
 He was consequently constrained to remark, — 
 
 " For heaven's sake, be reasonable !" 
 
 "Well, it's your own affair, Homer. If Arlingford doesn't have 
 this ten thou, by Monday, ' up he goes' at Tattersall's and the Club; 
 and that means the extinction of Arlingford ; and the extinction of 
 Arlingford means the extinction of the Ararat Mining Company." 
 
 "But, hang it all, he's had between fifteen and twenty thousand 
 already, and the company is beginning to look into the accounts." 
 
 "Well, what if he has? you've had the value of your money. 
 Without his house for head-quarters you'd never have filled your board 
 of directors, and you certainly wouldn't have got young Saville, or 
 young Midas, to 'go a hundred for fun,' as you call it. Besides, you 
 must get this American Briggs. He's a millionaire, and so long as 
 Arlingford's on his feet you can always strike him there. He's to be 
 at this dinner there to-night to say good-by to Goddard." 
 
 " Goddard ?" 
 
 " You argue yourself unknown. Twentieth Hussars, Queen's Mes- 
 senger, most popular man in London." 
 i " Never met him." 
 
 "No, you wouldn't : he hasn't got any hundreds 'to go for fun'." 
 
 "Keep to business, if you please." 
 
 " I am keeping to business. I want ten thousand pounds." 
 
 " Well, I haven't got them, and can't get them. There." 
 
 " Well, what are we going to do?" 
 
 "I don't know. Can't you borrow it from Schouloff? These 
 Russian princes are always fabulously rich." 
 
 " Schouloff could certainly get it me if he wanted anything in 
 return for it. He told me at the Ackerlys' last night that there was a 
 favor I could do him ; but I can't do him ten thousand pouuds' worth 
 of work in three days." 
 
 " Still, you could try him. See what he wants." 
 
 "I shall certainly do that this afternoon ; but it's a forlorn hope." 
 
 There was a minute's silence, -and then the brother broke out : 
 
 " Don't sit saying nothing ! Suggest something, for goodness' sake." 
 
 " I was just about to do so," returned Mrs. Dashton, her eyes fixed 
 on the fire. " You go straight into the city and move heaven and earth 
 to get the money. I'll write to Schouloff to get him here this after- 
 noon. Write from the city to Lady Arlingford to say you are detained, 
 but will come in after dinner: I'll write later on and say I'm ill, but 
 will also come in afterwards. Meet me at Arlingford's at nine o'clock, 
 and before they're out from dinner we'll compare notes. I haven't 
 much hope." 
 
 " Nor have I." 
 
 " Well, do your best, anyhow." 
 
 "You bet I will." 
 
 And Major Homer Carteret took up his hat and left the house. 
 
 As soon as he had gone, Mrs. Bradley Dashton sat down and 
 wrote a few lines. 
 
346 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " Take this," said she to the servant who appeared in answer to her 
 summons, " to the Russian Legation, and wait for an answer." 
 
 This done, she walked to the fire and held out her fingers to the 
 blaze. 
 
 Mrs. Bradley Dashton was an extremely handsome woman in the 
 luxurious blonde style of beauty. Her eight-and-twenty years sat 
 lightly on her fuzzy brow, and the ravages of the Indian climate, and 
 the excitement of her life as the successive flame of every subaltern in 
 the Bengal Staff Corps, had left no trace upon her regular features. 
 
 This had not escaped the notice of the Earl of Arlingford when 
 he visited India on a hunting-tour, a couple of years before, and, un- 
 mindful of the existence of his wife in England, or perhaps relying on 
 that lady for protection against the ultimate wiles of the siren, he had 
 easily persuaded her to abandon Bengal for London ; and in her secret 
 soul Emily Dashton cherished a hope, founded on a light promise of 
 Lord Arlingford's, that so soon as her ladyship should seek redress of 
 her wrongs through the medium of the divorce court, she, Emily 
 Dashton, should graduate as the Countess of Arlingford in the peerage 
 of England. 
 
 Hence her anxiety to aid his lordship in the present strait, hence 
 her late conference with her brother the major, and hence her summons 
 to Prince Schouloff, whose ally she had been, off and on, ever since her 
 return to England. 
 
 The answer to the latter arrived promptly, and with a little sigh of 
 satisfaction Mrs. Bradley Dashton proceeded to lunch. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A POLITICAL COMMISSION. 
 
 At three o'clock that afternoon, clad in the most bewitching of 
 wrappers, Mrs. Bradley Dashton lay curled up in an arm-chair before 
 her fire, expectant. It cannot be said that her features were free from 
 care, for there's many a slip 'twixt the fingers and ten thousand pounds ; 
 still, she was more hopeful than she had been in the morning, for Schou- 
 loff's prompt reply to her note and his obedience to her summons 
 pointed to the fact that there was something she could do for him, and 
 Prince Schouloff 's service, though one of danger and intricacy, was ex- 
 cellently well paid. 
 
 The miniature cathedral chimes of the carriage-clock on the mantel- 
 piece had hardly struck thrice when Mrs. Dashton heard a hansom 
 checking its mad career at her door, and, a moment after, Schouloff 
 entered the room. She did not rise, but extended to him her hand, 
 which the Russian bent himself reverentially to kiss. 
 
 " And how goes it with my charming ally ?" he began. 
 
 " Pretty well, thanks. At this moment I'm bored. I want some- 
 thing to do, — something exciting. That's why I asked you to call." 
 
 "Ah! I thought as much. Well, how much is it this time?" he 
 asked, in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. 
 
 " Ten thousand pounds." 
 
BELLA-DEM0N1A. 347 
 
 " Dear me ! is that all ?" 
 
 " That's all for the present," said she, ignoring the sarcasm. 
 
 " Only ten thousand pounds !" repeated Prince Schouloff. 
 
 "Can I have it?" 
 
 " Well, I hope so. It will depend on yourself." 
 
 " You don't mean to say," she said, eagerly, " that there's anything 
 I can do for you that's worth ten thousand pounds? I want it by 
 Monday." 
 
 " If you will do what I want, your work will be done by midnight. 
 At one A.M., unless you fear I might compromise you by so untimely 
 a call, I will come here and pay you ten thousand pounds, in notes or 
 gold. How do you, want them?" 
 
 " Don't play with me, Schouloff," said the woman, nervously : " I 
 can't bear it. I want this money awfully badly." 
 
 " I am not playing. I was never more serious in my life. I heard 
 that his lordship needed ten thousand pounds, and obtained the money 
 yesterday in the hope that you could earn it." 
 
 tl Earn it ! It's a large sum !" 
 
 " An enormous sum, — the greatest I have ever paid for an individual 
 service." 
 
 " I suppose you want something impossible." 
 
 "To a woman so beautiful and talented as Mrs. Bradley Dashton, 
 nothing should be impossible." 
 
 The woman sat watching him. She knew her man, and the thought 
 that the money was within her reach was so sweet that she postponed 
 as far as possible the stating of the condition which she felt sure must 
 shatter her hopes. 
 
 " Well," she said, at last, " what do you want me to do?" 
 
 Schouloff became suddenly very grave. 
 
 " Emily Dashton," he said, " I know no Englishwoman who can 
 work with your promptitude and finesse. You have often served me in 
 what may be called police-cases : I have never employed you in political 
 intrigue. I am going to give you a commission higher than any you 
 have executed hitherto." 
 
 "Why don't you give it to Bella-Demonia ?" asked she, sus- 
 piciously. 
 
 " Because the Baroness Altdorff is at this moment in Turkey, — for 
 her health." 
 
 " Well, what is it ? I'll do your commission, — whatever it is," 
 concluded she, desperately. 
 
 " Good ! If you can, I know you will ; but it is something higher 
 than the stealing of a letter or the extortion of a confession. Listen ! 
 You are bidden to a dinner at Lord Arlingford's to-night." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " To meet Captain Aubyn Goddard." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " He starts by the night-express from Charing Cross by Dover, for 
 Vienna, en route for Constantinople, with governmental despatches of 
 the highest importance." 
 
 "Yes, yes. Go on." 
 
348 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " He must not go." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " He must be detained." 
 
 " And who is to detain him ?" asked the woman, with an expressive 
 shrug of the shoulders. 
 
 " You." 
 
 " I!" 
 
 " Exactly." 
 
 " Prince Schouloff, do you realize what you have asked ?" 
 
 " Do you realize that you have asked for ten thousand pounds ?" 
 
 " Do you know Aubyn Goddard ?" 
 
 " By reputation, — well." 
 
 " And how do you suppose he is to be prevented from doing his 
 duty?" 
 
 " I have not the vaguest idea. If I had, I should save ten thousand 
 pounds." 
 
 For a full minute the two sat looking at each other, the man 
 deadly calm, the woman evidently profoundly agitated. At last she 
 spoke. 
 
 " If this is the price of the money, I had better abandon all hope 
 of it. The thing is grotesquely impossible. You know, as well as I 
 do, that from the moment he leaves Arlingford's till he enters the 
 train at Calais he will be watched by armed men. How can he be 
 stopped ?" 
 
 " He cannot be stopped. Besides, I do not want him stopped, — 
 only detained : till to-morrow morning will be sufficient. The delay 
 of his despatches for a few hours is all that is necessary. Force is out 
 of the question : he must not start." 
 
 " And you expect me to prevent him, — to keep him in London ?" 
 
 "You knew him in India, did you not?" 
 
 "Yes," answered the woman, with a flush, "but that was all 
 over years ago. I have no more power over him than — than you 
 have." 
 
 " Well," said Schouloff, looking at his watch, " I must go. It is 
 four o'clock. Between this and midnight a woman like you might 
 wreck an empire. Think it over : do not throw down your cards 
 before you have played a single one. I dine at the Duke's to-night : 
 at ten I shall drop in at the Arlingfords'. At eleven you will put 
 your scheme, whatever it may be, into operation. At twelve the mail 
 will go without the Queen's Messenger, — I hope. And at one I shall 
 have the honor of waiting upon you with ten thousand pounds, — I hope. 
 Now, au plaisir and a bientdt." 
 
 And before Mrs. Dashton could say another word he had left the 
 room. As the rattle of his cab-wheels died away in the distance, 
 Mrs. Dashton dropped into her chair, and lay there motionless, her 
 eyes fastened on the wall before her. 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 349 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CAPTAIN AUBYN GODDARD. 
 
 It was nine o'clock. 
 
 In the drawing-room of Arlingford House, Piccadilly, Mrs. 
 Bradley Dashton sat in a low arm-chair before the fire in much the 
 same attitude as we left her at her own house in May fair. The lights 
 were turned low, but the butler was making a tour of the room, turn- 
 ing them up one by one. 
 
 "Dinner is not over yet, Cookson?" remarked she. 
 
 "Not yet, ma'am. Dinner was late." 
 
 " When Major Carteret arrives, show him in here." 
 
 " Yes, ma'am." 
 
 To judge by the expression on Mrs. Bradley Dashton's face, her 
 plans had not undergone any simplification since the afternoon, and 
 she had evidently arrived at that point at which there is nothing to 
 be done save to await developments from external sources. It was 
 therefore with a sigh of relief and anticipation that she rose and moved 
 towards the door as Cookson a few moments later drew aside the por- 
 tieres, announcing, — 
 
 " Major Carteret." 
 
 " How late you are !" she exclaimed, hurriedly. " I began to be 
 afraid that you wouldn't get here before dinner was over " 
 
 " What! doubt mef And after so much devotion to the cause, — 
 after foregoing a charming dinner here and rushing through my solitary 
 one at the Club on purpose to serve you ? Really, my dear child " 
 
 " You're too civil to have any good news," interrupted she. " Keep 
 your society manner for Lady Arlingford. You're only truthful when 
 you're disagreeable. Be disagreeable now; for I want the truth. 
 Have you been able to raise the money ?" 
 
 " I regret to say that it was impossible." 
 
 "Well, what's to be done?" 
 
 " I don't know. There's only Schouloff left. I saw him this 
 afternoon, and he hinted that you could be of service to him. I sup- 
 pose you've seen him ?" 
 
 " Yes, I've seen him." 
 
 " And can he help us ?" 
 
 « Yes, if " 
 
 "If! Good God! listen to her! As though there could be any 
 'if ! Of course you'll do what he wants. What is it?" 
 
 " Captain Goddard leaves to-night for Vienna with despatches " 
 
 " Well, what has it to do with himf" 
 
 " Schouloff wants him detained. That's all." 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 The tone of Major Carteret's exclamation spoke volumes. 
 
 " I'm getting bored with this Goddard," said he, after a pause. 
 
 " Of course I regret that," said she, " but he's an old sweetheart 
 of Alice Arlingford's, I think. That should make him interesting to 
 you." 
 
350 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 "Indeed! Why?" 
 
 "Because you have been laboring under the delusion that you 
 might, by the employment of much strategy, induce Lady Arlingford to 
 care for you or compromise herself. You have not succeeded, nor are 
 you likely to succeed. You are not her ' form/ even did she intend to 
 be so charming as to give her husband cause for alarm, — which does 
 not, I grieve to say, seem likely. You forced your entree here by 
 lending Jack Arlingford money. Well, you are here. What advantage 
 have you gained ?" 
 
 " You are delightfully frank, — I might almost say rude. Why ?" 
 
 " Because you're no use to me : so why should I be civil ?" 
 
 "An admirable reason; but you might reflect " 
 
 At this juncture Cookson the butler entered, and put an end to 
 the colloquy by saying to Carteret, — 
 
 "His lordship desires to know if you will join them in the dining- 
 room." 
 
 " Oh ! very well," replied Carteret. " Yes." And he went. 
 
 " Who's here, Cookson ?" said Mrs. Dashton when he had gone. 
 
 " Mr. Cincinnatus Q. Briggs, an American gentleman, ma'am, 
 Master — erghem ! — Mr. Charles Middleton, and Miss Middleton." 
 
 "Is that all? What made dinner late?" asked Mrs. Dashton, in 
 quick alarm. 
 
 " They were waiting for a gentleman who sent a note at the last 
 moment, ma'am." 
 
 " Do you know who it was ?" 
 
 " I think it was " 
 
 " Captain Goddard." 
 
 A footman made the announcement, cutting his superior short as 
 Captain Goddard entered the room. Mrs. Dashton had resumed her 
 seat before the fire, and the new-comer did not notice her. 
 
 " Not quite finished dinner yet, sir," said the butler. " Would you 
 like to go into the dining-room?" 
 
 " Thanks, no. I'll wait here." 
 
 " And I'll keep you company !" 
 
 The words were spoken by Mrs. Dashton, who turned as she spoke 
 and held out her hand. Seeing her, Goddard uttered an exclamation 
 of surprise. 
 
 " Hullo, Dashey !" he cried. " How are you, old lady ? How 
 stunning you look ! Egad ! and deadly respectable, too, — for you." 
 
 " Hold your tongue. We're not in India now ; and please remem- 
 ber it's something like seven or eight years since we met there." 
 
 « But " 
 
 " Don't ! Don't look at me and say it's impossible to remember 
 seven or eight years. I'll take all your compliments for granted, — 
 and I'll take a little discretion and prudence at the same time, if you 
 please. Do you understand me, Captain Goddard ?" 
 
 "Perfectly, Mrs. Dashton," replied he, gravely. There was a 
 moment's pause, and then he added, with a quick intonation of sud- 
 denly-aroused suspicion in his voice, — 
 
 " What are you doing here ?" 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 351 
 
 " In England ?" queried she, meeting his tone with one of subdued 
 defiance. 
 
 " No : in this house." 
 
 " Oh ! on a visit." 
 
 " Whose invitation ?" 
 
 " Whose business ?" 
 
 " That depends." 
 
 "On what?" 
 
 " On you." 
 
 " Not on you ?" 
 
 " That also depends." 
 
 The little colloquy was made with laconic rapidity. As silence 
 reigned again, Mrs. Dashton eyed her opponent keenly, as if measuring 
 their respective strengths. Finally, seeming to satisfy herself of her 
 own inferiority, she resumed, in an altered tone, — 
 
 " Well, what do you want to know ?" 
 
 " How you got into this house." 
 
 " By Lord Arlingford's invitation." 
 
 " So I thought !" 
 
 The woman bit her lip. 
 
 " Well, next?" she asked, containing herself with an effort. 
 
 " How long have you known Lady Arlingford ?" was Goddard's 
 next question. 
 
 " Since I arrived in England from Nice." 
 
 " So I supposed ! How long is that ?" 
 
 " About two months." 
 
 " How do you like her?" 
 
 " I don't know. I haven't thought." 
 
 " How does she like you?" 
 
 "I don't know. I haven't cared. How does she like you?" 
 
 "Well, I hope." 
 
 " Good ! I'm glad to find some one she does care for." 
 
 " You don't like Lady Arlingford as well as her husband, do 
 
 you 
 
 9" 
 
 Mrs. Dashton rose with an impatient gesture. 
 
 " I'm getting a little tired of your questions," she said, petulantly. 
 "Tell me plainly, is it ' Pax' between us?" 
 
 " Yes, if you behave yourself. Now look here, Dashey," he con- 
 tinued, frankly, " it's a rough thing to hurt a woman's feelings, and 
 I hate to be hard on you, but Lady Arlingford is my cousin, and a 
 dear friend into the bargain, and — and — well, hang it ! you've no 
 right here in the same house with her, and if you give me cause I shall 
 be compelled to drop her a hint, and then most likely she'll " 
 
 " Do as her husband bids her, — as all dutiful and obedient wives 
 should !" 
 
 " Oh !" The intonation which Goddard threw into the ejaculation 
 was unmistakable. 
 
 " Exactly" said Mrs. Dashton, as if in reply. " It is ' Pax/ isn't 
 it ? Let us forget, forgive, and shake hands over it. I'm not going 
 to stay long : I go abroad in less than a month : so you needn't be 
 
352 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 alarmed on Lady Arlingford's account. I must have a pleasant life, 
 if I die for it, and if Lady Arlingford won't ask me to her house, — 
 why, Lord Arlingford must, — that's all. I'm very little in England, 
 but to keep my Continental friends going I must have a good house 
 in London at my back." 
 
 " Do your Continental friends care much ?" 
 
 " Of course they do, — Prince Schouloff, for instance, who entertains 
 so charmingly, whose yacht, opera-boxes, villas everywhere, are always 
 at my disposal. He sees me here; he likes to come to Lord Arling- 
 ford's informal little gatherings after his stately dinners and ceremo- 
 nials. For Arlingford's little parties are not particularly ceremonious, 
 are they ?" 
 
 "Well, — erghem ! — you're here, aren't you, old lady? so you ought 
 to know." 
 
 He spoke lightly, but in his heart he was thinking, " Poor Alice ! 
 I wonder how I can help her." What Mrs. Dashton would have 
 answered remains uninvented ; for at that moment a rattle of the rings 
 of the portieres announced the arrival from the dining-room of Lady 
 Arlingford and Miss Kitty Middleton. 
 
 The Countess of Arlingford, rapidly taking in the pair that rose as 
 she entered, bowed icily as she greeted Mrs. Bradley Dashton, who re- 
 turned her bow with something of defiance in the gesture of her head. 
 The enmity of the two women was obvious to the merest observer. 
 Turning to Goddard, however, her manner entirely changed. 
 
 " Ah, Aubyn !" she exclaimed, " I am so glad to see you ! What 
 a long while it seems since you went away ! You remember Kitty, of 
 course, and — Mrs. Bradley Dashton — Captain " 
 
 " Captain Goddard and I have met before," said Mrs. Dashton, 
 with a smile, "and we have just been re-cementing our friendship." 
 
 Goddard looked for a moment at the gold-headed Kitty, who stood 
 staring at him, and then said. — 
 
 " Kitty, kiss your old pal at once !" 
 
 " Let me see," mused Kitty : " what is it the Yankee says ? Oh, 
 yes! Why, cert'nly." And with much deliberation Miss Middleton 
 proceeded to kiss the handsome Queen's Messenger. 
 
 " Kitty," said Lady Arlingford, " do be more careful — before 
 strangers." 
 
 " Oh," replied the girl, turning saucily with her arms still round 
 Goddard's neck, " Mrs. Dashton won't be scared at a kiss — more or 
 less," she added in Goddard's ear. 
 
 "So you're as wild as ever?" said the latter, who was suffering 
 from mingled amusement and embarrassment. 
 
 "Worse a great deal," put in Lady Arlingford. "If you could 
 have heard her at dinner " 
 
 " Well," explained Kitty, "you wanted some one to wake you up. 
 You looked like a block of marble, and' you ought to be very much 
 obliged to me for being so disreputable a person. What do you suppose 
 I asked the Yankee, Aubyn?" 
 
 " Something more awful than usual, or you would not be so much 
 amused. Go on : I'm ready to be shocked." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 353 
 
 " I put on my most serious face and asked what he did when he 
 found a more than usually high mantel-piece. He looked puzzled, and 
 waited for an explanation : so I explained by asking if, under the cir- 
 cumstances, he stood on his head, so as to get his feet up, in the national 
 attitude." 
 
 "What did he do?" 
 
 "Sold me dead. Instead of being a bit amazed or amused, he 
 said, < Is that out of Punch f " 
 
 " Poor Kitty ! how crushing !" 
 
 "Never mind. I shall survive the blow, and come up smiling for 
 the second round. I'll get Mrs. Dashton to tell me about Prince 
 SchoulofF's adventures and crimes. I'm always so interested in anyone 
 with a Russian name, — sort of blood-curdling, isn't it? You'll tell me 
 of the beautiful murders he's committed, won't you, Mrs. Dashton ? 
 It'll cheer me up." 
 
 "If the prince heard you," said Lady Arlingford, with a smile, 
 "you would probably be sent to Siberia for life." 
 
 " Who is your Russian curiosity you're so keen about ?" asked 
 Goddard. 
 
 " Prince Schouloff, the Russian plenipotentiary. You know him, 
 surely ?" 
 
 " I know o/him. An unprincipled scoundrel, from all accounts, — 
 utterly unscrupulous, — a relentless, indomitable autocrat ; in short, a 
 thoroughly typical diplomat, who bears the reputation of uninterrupted 
 success in his career by never having fallen a victim to the tender passion. 
 There's a hearsay description for you." 
 
 " In that case," said Mrs. Dashton, " his days of success are num- 
 bered now." 
 
 " And who is the conqueror ?" 
 
 "Why, Bella-Demonia." 
 
 "And who's Bella-Demonia?" pursued Goddard. 
 
 " Oh, come on, Mrs. Dashton," broke in Kitty. " You can tell him 
 about Bella-Demonia presently." 
 
 " You should not bore Mrs. Dashton, Kitty," said Lady Arling- 
 ford. 
 
 "Don't mind her, Mrs. Dashton," said the young woman, drawing 
 her victim towards the billiard-room, that was separated from the 
 drawing-room by heavy curtains. " You got to where the two spies 
 crept out from the window-curtains, their daggers gleaming! — Eeeh !" 
 
 Kitty Middleton's sentence closed with a scream. She had run into 
 Cookson, who at that moment entered through the curtains with coffee. 
 Recovering herself, however, she took her cup and disappeared with 
 Mrs. Dashton. 
 
 Left alone with Goddard, Lady Arlingford seated herself by his 
 side, saying, as she did so, — 
 
 " How long it seems since you went to India ! And by what a 
 strange collection of accidents it is that we have never met since!" 
 
 " Do you remember the day I left ?" said he, in reply. " We were 
 dreadful spoons, weren't we ? Ah, I little thought then that I should 
 come back to find you had forgotten your first sweetheart !" 
 Vol. XLIIL— 23 
 
354 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " How do you know- 
 
 u That I was your first? Why, you were only three years old when 
 we met." 
 
 "Well, how do you know I have forgotten? But, seriously, you 
 were in hopes of getting into active service. I heard General Saville 
 say something of your getting a command. Is that true?" 
 
 " Partly. I expect to get an appointment that may lead to a com- 
 mand. General Savi lie's awfully fond of me, — dear old chap ! He'd 
 do anything for me, and he has great influence at head-quarters." 
 
 " Of course your knowledge of Eastern languages will help your 
 promotion." 
 
 " Well, yes, to a certain extent. I must say that I look forward to 
 active service as my greatest luck. I can say it to you, Alice: I feel 
 that if the chance comes I can make a career, and my chance has come, 
 I think. The mission on which I start to-night is of the greatest 
 importance. Vital issues depend on the prompt delivery of my de- 
 spatches : the loss of an hour might prove fatal to their eifect. I am 
 the more anxious to carry through to-night's job satisfactorily, as it will 
 be my last service before retiring." 
 
 " But, in spite of all that, I shall hate to see you leave for Afghan- 
 istan." 
 
 " Ah, but you don't know how tired I am of being a toy soldier. 
 I'm only a sort of postman, after all !" 
 
 " Nice thing for a Queen's Messenger to say !" 
 
 " Well, denuded of the swagger, it's much the same. I carry de- 
 spatches ; so does the postman. He works harder and gets worse paid, 
 — that's all. There has been one thing about it lately, however, — an 
 adventure that interested me immensely, and I had made up my mind 
 to see the end of it, but I shall probably be prevented by this very 
 stroke of good luck. And I'm just disappointed. Human nature, 
 you know " 
 
 " An adventure? Tell me about it." 
 
 " I will. This last August, waiting in Vienna for despatches, I 
 went to a masquerade, and, after having been thoroughly bored by the 
 usual round of stupidity, was just leaving, when a woman who I had 
 noticed was being followed and annoyed by a man put herself under 
 ray escort to regain her carriage unmolested. The voice was unmis- 
 takably gentle : no one, even in that questionable place, could have 
 presumed to be impertinent to her. You felt at once that she feared no 
 insult : even in asking a service she had the air of conferring a favor. 
 The charm of this confidence in herself and in me was so profound 
 that I forgot everything else and could only speculate on the mystery. 
 She hurried me forward till we reached a side-door and found ourselves 
 in a lonely street, apparently far from the general entrance. Here a 
 brougham was waiting. She jumped in. Aghast at the thought that 
 the adventure was to end there and then, I begged to be allowed to 
 see her again. In reply she made me promise to ask no questions of 
 or about her, and then, giving me an invitation to breakfast the fol- 
 lowing dav, said, ' Good-night, and many thanks, Captain Aubyn 
 Goddard !' " 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 355 
 
 "She Knew you ! Who was she?" 
 
 " To this moment I have not the vaguest idea, beyond that she is 
 called the Baroness Altdorff. By the time I had read her name and 
 address on the card she had given me, her brougham was out of 
 sight." 
 
 " You take away my breath. It is fascinating ; but I suppose I 
 need ask no more ?" 
 
 "You are mistaken. Equivocal as the adventure appears in the 
 beginning, to the end I can tell you every detail." 
 
 "Did you go to breakfast? But of course you did. What a 
 question !" 
 
 " The address was in the suburbs. I found a little house hidden 
 in a garden that at first appeared deserted, but at the appointed time I 
 was admitted at once. A simplicity and elegance that bespoke the 
 owner pervaded this charming nest. The whole place was a dumb 
 repudiation of the feverish adventure of the night before, — all was 
 such rattling ' good form ;' there was that crisp, get-up- early appearance 
 which boded more the advent of a healthy English girl in her spotless 
 cuffs and collar than of my heroine, whose entrance put an end to my 
 reflections. She was quite unknown to me. I will spare you all 
 description. The confidence that had been her chief attraction the 
 night before saved a world of awkwardness. She had a strange 
 charm, and, intelligent and often profound as her conversation on 
 current events was, I give you my word I entirely forgot that 
 I had never seen her before. It seemed as though we were old 
 friends." 
 
 " What was she like ? Very beautiful ?" 
 
 " I really don't know." 
 
 " What an absurd answer !" 
 
 " But I mean it. I don't know if she is what is called beautiful ; 
 I don't know if she is what I thought beautiful. I only know that 
 that is a point one ignores in her presence. I doubt if any one could 
 describe her after seeing her." 
 
 Lady Arlingford smiled. 
 
 "You have described her, by not being able to describe her," she 
 said. 
 
 Aubyn Goddard colored. 
 
 " My dear Alice," said he, " you show me I've been making an 
 awful fool of myself." 
 
 " Aubyn," returned the woman, earnestly, " the love of a man is 
 not foolish, in my eyes." 
 
 He started. 
 
 " Love ?" said he. 
 
 " Yes, love !" she replied. 
 
 A dead silence fell between them. 
 
356 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A GAME OF ECARTE. 
 
 It was broken by the sound of a boyish voice exclaiming behind 
 them, — 
 
 " Hullo, Goddard ! you back again ? I heard my governor say you 
 were going to Afghanistan. Is it true? I wish I could go with you." 
 Charlie Middleton had just entered the room. 
 
 " I hope it's true," replied Goddard, pleasantly. " I think so. Are 
 you going into the service?" 
 
 "No. The mater always begins to cry when any one says 
 'soldier,' and a fellow can't make his mother cry, can he? — beastly 
 bad form. Where's my beastly sister? She's always in the way 
 when one doesn't want her. The other day I was talking to Mrs. 
 Dashton, and — well, catch Kitty giving a fellow a chance! — not she. 
 Deuced fine woman, Mrs. Dashton, ain't she? I say, has she got any 
 Mr. Dashton ?" 
 
 " The memory of man runneth not to the contrary," quoted God- 
 dard, a quaint look coming into his eyes. " You take my advice, 
 Charlie, and give Mrs. Dashton a wide berth." 
 
 "Well, I think a good many people are a good deal too hard on 
 her. She's a woman not easily understood. Now, I do understand her," 
 said Charlie, with the superiority of his seventeen years. 
 
 " Come and talk to your May Queen, Charlie," called Kitty from 
 the door of the billiard-room at this point. 
 
 "Oh, you ! vulgar beggar," ejaculated Charlie, coloring helplessly. 
 " There's a sister for a man to have !" 
 
 "Come to its May Queen, mother's darling," reiterated Kitty, 
 laughing herself into the room. "You didn't know Charlie was his 
 mother's darling, did you? His mother ought to have heard him 
 calling Mrs. Dashton the May Queen." 
 
 At this point Charlie Middleton's overtaxed forbearance became too 
 much for him : he made a wild rush for his escaping sister which took 
 them both out of the room. 
 
 " What a good girl that is," said Lady Arlingford, " in spite of her 
 wild tongue ! I don't know what I should do without her." 
 
 " Is it true that she's to marry Dick Saville ?" 
 
 "Yes: they were made for each other; but I shall miss her sadly. 
 She is always ready with a cheery word to dispel the very worst attack 
 of blues. My life would be much worse without her." 
 
 "Worse?" 
 
 " I — I mean — I meant to say I don't make friends quickly : you 
 know I am not what the French call 'expansive,' and as one gets 
 older " 
 
 Goddard had been watching her color come and go as she strove to 
 retrieve her slip of the tongue, and now he interrupted her gravely. 
 
 "Alice," said he, "what does all this mean? You are not like 
 your old self. We were boy and girl together for as long as we can 
 remember; friendship and affection like ours do not fade with the 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 357 
 
 years that pass us by, — no, dear, — and my affection for you tells me 
 more than I dreaded to hear. I have kept silent long enough, — too 
 long, it may be. Vague rumors have reached me, which I have not 
 heeded, thinking that you would speak if there was aught to say. 
 Tell me, what is your trouble?" 
 
 " Trouble ? Why, what an alarmist you are !" 
 
 " That is no answer. Look here, Alice : I am going away to-night, 
 possibly for months, and I must come straight to the point. We will 
 speak plainly. It is no use pretending not to know what the world 
 says of Arlingford. The world is not always — or often — right; but — 
 what is Mrs. Bradley Dashton doing here? why do you admit her?" 
 
 " I — my dear Aubyn, you know very little of Jack Arlingford, to 
 ask me such a question. He invites his own friends, and Mrs. Dashton 
 is one of them. Let us talk of something else." 
 
 " No, we will talk of nothing else. I want to hear something 
 of your life since your marriage. In all your letters you have been 
 strangely reticent on this subject. Lots of gossip, but not a word of 
 yourself. I believe I am the only man whose relationship to you gives 
 him a right to question your husband." 
 
 " A right ! My dear boy, you are so impetuous. If I do not 
 complain, why should you? Why insist on pursuing an unpleasant 
 subject ? Do you not see I am content ? I made a mistake, that's all." 
 
 " That's all ! When I heard of your marriage — I was in Calcutta 
 at the time — I wondered how your puritanical mother's consent had 
 been won. Everybody knew Jack Arlingford's past. It would not 
 have been telling tales out of school, in his case, and I wished that at 
 that time I could have been in London. When I came home soon 
 after, you seemed happy, and — and — I think I must have been a fool 
 not to look deeper into my old play-fellow's heart." 
 
 " And if there was no heart to search ?" 
 
 "Ah ! but how you are changed ! You will not complain, you are 
 too brave, and I was wrong to ask what you desire should remain 
 unasked. Forgive me ; I'm a blundering soldier ; but remember, dear, 
 I'm always your friend, and if you can ever break the ice that binds 
 your confidence, count on me. Count on me, dear, to the last." 
 
 For an instant Lady Arlingford's lips trembled ; then, breaking 
 down, she hid her face in her hands. 
 
 " Oh, why has God so punished me ?" she murmured. " I thought 
 I was stronger." 
 
 " Now I have made you cry ! Don't give way," said Goddard, 
 helplessly. " What have I said ?" 
 
 " Not you, — not you," answered the woman. " I thought I was 
 hardened; but — if you only knew what my life has been." 
 
 "Won't you tell me? Perhaps you think things are worse than 
 they really are." 
 
 " Think ! There is nothing worse than my life. God never con- 
 demned a creature to misery more deep than mine. But come ! forget 
 what I have said. Don't be frightened ; you see I am unstrung. I 
 am not ill, but I think it is good to unburden my heart : it is not so 
 hard to confide in you. But I had made up my mind never to speak 
 
358 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 of my trouble : I have no patience with women who have but one 
 idea of relief, — the divorce court. I would sooner die than show the 
 world my sorrow." 
 
 " You may carry that reticence too far. I would stake my life you 
 are not to blame." 
 
 " You might hold me blameless. You know me, have known me 
 all my life. But can you say to the world, ' Here is a girl, brought up 
 by a good simple mother in the simple faith of marry, love, and obey your 
 husband, — an honest, uninteresting creed that thousands of women live 
 up to. This girl is married to " a man of the world." She is full of 
 belief in the holy bond ; her illusions are unbroken, and her faiths 
 supreme. One by one they snap, as all in her finds no response in him. 
 She fades and withers. The world asks, "What is his crime?" It 
 seeks a crime punishable by law, as if the atmosphere of his presence 
 were not crime enough !' Oh, the curse of our false, worldly society, 
 which demands position at any cost, which admits a man with any past, 
 nor inquires further than his title! 'Her ladyship' makes up for all 
 shortcomings. Of this is the world created by Fashion, but it is not 
 the world created by God." 
 
 " Poor girl ! poor girl ! what can I say ? How can I advise you ?" 
 
 " There is no advice I could take, — for the child's sake. My poor 
 little girl would be the worst sufferer. How can I brand the father 
 without branding the child? For her sake I will endure; but it is 
 almost beyond endurance. I have told you so much that I may as 
 well tell you the last infamy. I missed my pearl necklace some days 
 ago. The same evening, that woman, who was going to the theatre 
 with us, was standing in front of that glass as I came iuto the room. 
 As she saw me she hastily unclasped something from her neck. My 
 heart stood still ; I cannot tell why, but I am convinced she had my 
 necklace !" 
 
 " You do not think she stole it !" 
 
 " Not for a moment. He gave it her." 
 
 "I cannot believe that any man, no matter how bad, could be so 
 lost to shame as to offer any woman such an insult !" 
 
 In the excitement under which they both labored, neither had 
 heard a slight movement beyond the curtains of the billiard-room. 
 Unperceived by them, Mrs. Dash ton had been about to enter the room, 
 when the instinct of her class bade her listen. She was eagerly drink- 
 ing in the whole conversation. 
 
 "I am not mistaken," resumed the countess. "My shame comes 
 to me a thousand times over as I speak of it. How I have endured 
 that woman's presence so long I do not know. Do you think because 
 I look passionless that I do not feel, that I cannot see, the scarce-con- 
 cealed sneers of the women, the open, half- proffered pity of the men 
 around me? I have borne it all till now ; but the end has come, and 
 if my suspicion about the necklace should prove correct " 
 
 " Yes, yes," interrupted Goddard, eagerly, "sometimes a momentary 
 impulse may determine what has been a long and weary struggle ; and 
 should such an impulse come to you, do not hesitate to command me. 
 There is nothing I would not sacrifice for you !" 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 359 
 
 "Boooh!" 
 
 " Goodness ! how you startled me !" 
 
 The speakers were Kitty Middleton and Mrs. Dashton. The for- 
 mer had come running in through the billiard-room, and had seized the 
 latter round the waist as she came. 
 
 " I'll lay an even tenner," said the girl, cheerily, as they entered to- 
 gether, "that Mrs. Dashton's been listening. You know the proverb? 
 How do you come out, Mrs. Dashton ?" 
 
 " Kitty, you're too bad !" expostulated Lady Arlingford. " I hope 
 Mrs. Dashton will excuse you." 
 
 " Of course she will," returned Kitty. " I've got a capital story to 
 tell her while we put our hair straight and powder our noses. It's 
 mildly improper. Come along. The men are coming in." 
 
 And before Mrs. Dashton could say a word, she had been whisked 
 out of the room again. 
 
 At this moment there entered from the dining-room, laughing and 
 talkjng together, Lord Arlingford, Major Carteret, and Mr. Cincinnatus 
 Q. Briggs. 
 
 " Ah, Goddard ! glad to see you again," said his lordship, shaking 
 Goddard by the hand. " Sorry you were detained. Major Carteret, 
 Captain Goddard — Mr. Briggs. Mr. Briggs will be glad to ask you 
 some questions about Berlin that I couldn't answer. I know you can. 
 He is doing Europe; and I tell him no one is better able than you to 
 give him the information he seeks." 
 
 "Only too happy," replied Goddard, bowing. "I fancy I knew a 
 brother of yours, Mr. Briggs. He was painting at Leipsio — Horace 
 I think his name was. Am I right?" 
 
 " Perfectly," replied Briggs. " He often spoke of you, and he gave 
 me a letter of introduction which your absence from London has pre- 
 vented my using." 
 
 " I need not say, command me. I am, unfortunately, obliged to 
 leave town to-night, on urgent business; but I hope to be back in 
 about a fortnight. Come and have a chat then and tell me what I 
 can do." 
 
 " Thank you. I shall come with pleasure." 
 
 Mr. Cincinnatus Q. Briggs was a most disappointing American, 
 — that is, from the English point of view of Kitty Middleton. His 
 clear-cut face was innocent of goatee, his clothes, though of Gothamite 
 origin, fitted him with a precision worthy of Saville Row or Conduit 
 Street, his full deep voice was guiltless of the least suspicion of twang, 
 he neither hazarded " guesses" on subjects under discussion nor spent 
 his time in vain "calculations" concerning the affairs of life. He 
 never " reckoned," nor did he " enthuse." He ate with a fork in 
 the regulation manner, and, whilst justly proud of the Yellowstone 
 Park and the Yosemite Valley, did not dismiss Vesuvius with the 
 reflection that his country boasted a waterfall that could extinguish 
 it in two minutes. In fact, instead of being an American gentleman, 
 he was a gentlemanly American ; and Kitty Middleton, who watched 
 to see him put his feet on the table and wave a handkerchief em- 
 broidered with the stars and stripes, was disappointed and annoyed. 
 
360 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 As he turned to Lady Arlingford, the master of the house remarked 
 to Goddard, — 
 
 "You go to-night, I understand? Things seem pretty lively at 
 the Foreign Office. ' What's to be the end of it all ?' is the only 
 question one hears nowadays, and no one seems able to answer it. By 
 the way," continued he, lowering his voice, " Mrs. Dashton tells me 
 you knew her in India." 
 
 " Yes : most of our fellows can claim that — honor. I scarcely ex- 
 pected to meet her here, — or in the same house as any man's wife." 
 
 The words were spoken with bitter emphasis, and the speaker 
 turned on his heel, to be immediately tackled by Charlie Middleton, 
 who had entered with the men. Arlingford looked after him and 
 muttered between his teeth, — 
 
 " You shall pay for that, you puppy !" 
 
 Mrs. Dashton, entering the room at that moment, caught his ex- 
 pression, and came up to him with a mischievous smile on her face. 
 
 " Tt-tt-tt !" said she. " Has he been scolded by his wife's friend, 
 — naughty boy ? Goddard's affection for Alice is really quite touch- 
 ing, isn't it?" 
 
 " Don't play the fool !" was the courteous rejoinder. " What did 
 Schouloff say ? Can he let us have the money ?" 
 
 " Ye-es." 
 
 " What does he want for it ?" 
 
 " More than I can do." 
 
 " Nonsense ! you must do anything he says. I must have it." 
 
 " He wants Goddard detained to-night. He must be delayed at 
 any cost. This is the price of the loan." 
 
 14 Oh !" 
 
 44 Exactly. What do you think about it ?" 
 
 44 How can he be detained ?" 
 
 44 1 think I know a way, if you will consent." 
 
 44 If! when you know I must have the ten thousand by Monday 
 or be posted !" 
 
 44 Very well. Let me wear the pearl necklace to-night. I brought 
 it with me." 
 
 44 The necklace ! Why— how ?" 
 
 44 Ask no questions. Yes or no ?" 
 
 44 No,— not that," 
 
 44 All right : manage for yourself." 
 
 44 Hang it, Emily ! don't be angry with me." 
 
 44 Then don't be a fool !" 
 
 "I'll — I'll decide in ten minutes." And Arlingford turned and 
 walked into the billiard-room. 
 
 Left alone, Mrs. Dashton's face was crossed by a look of triumph. 
 
 44 So, my lady," said she to herself, "pure and passionless as you 
 pretend to be, you can feel ! So can I, when I am unwelcome. You 
 have sneered at me long enough. What did you say ? If your sus- 
 picions about the necklace were true, your patience would not last. 
 We shall see ! and you, Captain Goddard, will have an opportunity of 
 making your sacrifice for friendship." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 361 
 
 Then she joined the group at the fireplace. 
 
 "That's right; go on, — pitch into me," Kitty was saying from her 
 position on the floor by Lady Arlingford's side, " but all ray escapades 
 are knocked into fits by Bella-Demonia's. Mrs. Dashton has been 
 telling rae about her. Who knows her ?" 
 
 " By reputation, everybody," said Major Carteret. 
 
 " Everybody but the Wild Westerner," put in Briggs ; and then, 
 as they looked at him for an explanation, — it being prior to Buffalo 
 Bill's visit to London, — he went on : " Miss Middleton told me I 
 should have appeared in my native costume, — that is to say, beads, 
 feathers, wampum, and a tomahawk, — and wanted to know if we hunted 
 buffaloes on Broadway and Wall Street. I revenged myself by treat- 
 ing her to the dear old stand-by about Bears being the indigenous 
 animals of those jungles. She didn't know what I meant." 
 
 "Didn't I!" said Kitty, indignantly. "But I knew you were 
 making an old stock joke, or I'd have said I was Irish, just to get in 
 the Bull." 
 
 " Mr. Briggs," said Lady Arliugford, as the American was about 
 to reply, " as an old friend of Kitty's let me tell you it is hopeless trying 
 to ' sit on' her. She will not be sat upon." 
 
 " I am patient," replied Briggs. " But may I not know more of 
 Miss Middleton's latest shock, Bel la-Demon ia?" 
 
 " I did not suppose," said Carteret, " that there was a man who had 
 not heard of her. To tell all her adventures would fill another ' Arabian 
 Nights.' Strange that her name should be unknown to you ! No woman 
 is more talked about, and personally less known : she is more abused 
 and praised than auy living creature; I never heard her name spoken 
 in any society that her defenders were not as earnest as her abusers. 
 One thing is sure enough, she must be a very remarkably intelligent 
 woman, for she certainly puzzles both friends and enemies alike." 
 
 " Did you never meet her?" asked Briggs. 
 
 " No. I believe she has never been known to receive any one on 
 simply social grounds. Politics are her sphere, and it is remarkable 
 that she never makes a mistake. A man may be admitted to her circle 
 who has apparently no more value as a politician than I have as a mil- 
 liner, but it always turns out that he was the one man who was vitally 
 necessary to this or that plot. Volumes could be filled with stories 
 about her." 
 
 " But the stories told about her are generally untrue," put in Mrs. 
 Dashton. " I know her well. She is one of the most generous creat- 
 ures imaginable. If any one in distress wants anything, off they go to 
 Bella-Demonia." 
 
 As she said this, Arlingford entered the room unperceived, accom- 
 panied by Prince Schouloff, and remained in conversation with him iu 
 the background. The prince's tall figure was clad in evening dress, the 
 biack-and-red ribbon of St. Vladimir across his waistcoast, and the jewel 
 of the order hanging below his cravat. 
 
 " She must be rich, to live as she does," resumed Briggs. 
 
 " Fabulously," replied Mrs. Dashton. " I must confess, I envy her. 
 A woman with unlimited money and brains is rare enough to excite 
 
362 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 that feeling in any one. But we are boring Lady Arlingford horrlbl; 
 You do not care to hear of interesting people, do you, Lady Arlinj 
 ford?" 
 
 "When they are not reputable, — no," replied her ladyship, quietl; 
 " I am sorry to say I cannot so far live up to the times as to adm 
 those people to be interesting." 
 
 " What do you say, Captain Goddard ?" said Mrs. Dashton. " Dor 
 you think Bella-Deruonia interesting?" 
 
 " Yes, and no," replied he. " My principal feeling is one of pity,- 
 of sorrow. I cannot forget that she is a woman, and a woman wl 
 fights against the world must at best be the loser." 
 
 " The sentiment I should expect to find expressed by so brave 
 soldier as Captain Goddard," said Prince Schouloff, " whom," he co 
 tinued, as Lady Arlingford presented them, " I have long hoped 
 meet, and am charmed to know." 
 
 The two men shook hands. 
 
 " May I add to your information ?" pursued the prince. " Mu 
 has been said, and much has been written, of Bella-Demonia. She 
 relentless in her hate as she is gentle in her love. Revenge is h 
 life, — revenge for her wrongs. Once hear her speak of them, and t. 
 name she is known by suits her to perfection." 
 
 " But what is her real name ?" asked Briggs. 
 
 " No one knows," replied Carteret. 
 
 " Or no one who knows tells," put in Mrs. Dashton. 
 
 "Bella-Demonia never lets any one know what she wishes to i 
 main unknown," concluded Prince Schouloff; then, turning to God- 
 dard, he added, "I have just come from the Duke's, where I heard 
 of your probable promotion, — from General Saville. Let me congratu- 
 late you." 
 
 " Thanks." 
 
 "Will you call on me to-morrow?" 
 
 " Very sorry I can't. I leave London to-night." 
 
 " Well, it is a pleasure deferred. A soldier is always the slave of 
 his duty. If I were a woman I would never have a soldier lover. I 
 am sorry we cannot improve our acquaintance now : however, call on 
 me when you return, — or in Berlin. I shall be there in a week, and 
 I will present you to Bella-Demonia." 
 
 Goddard bowed and rejoined the others. The prince looked after 
 him. 
 
 " Perhaps you will not go," said he to himself; and, taking a tele- 
 gram from his pocket, he read, " ' The despatches carried by Captain 
 Goddard contain ultimatum ; their detention imperative. Explanation 
 and further instructions by messenger.' Well, well, lifl is uncertain : 
 the young man thinks he will start to-night on his mission, — 1 think 
 he will not. Which of us is right, I wonder?" And he seated him- 
 self by a bookcase and began idly turning over the leaves of an album. 
 
 " I say, Mrs. Dashton," cried Charlie Middleton to that lady, who 
 was conversing with Lord Arlingford, "you promised to play me a 
 game of billiards. Come now, while they're not looking, and we'll 
 study the game." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. ' 363 
 
 " Will you be very good if I do?" 
 
 "Awfully!" replied the boy, and started for the billiard-room. 
 
 "Will you spare me to this bad child?" said she to Arlingford, as 
 she rose. 
 
 " I wish I were the bad child !" returned he, and as he spoke he 
 took the hand that hung by her side and pressed it. The action was 
 not lost upon Lady Arlingford, who happened to be looking iu their 
 direction, and Goddard, noticing her change of color, followed the 
 direction of her eyes and grasped the situation. 
 
 Lord Arlingford walked over to Prince Schouloff. 
 
 "I am afraid, prince," said he, "that you find it dull." 
 
 "Oh, no," replied Schouloff, looking him straight in the eyes. 
 " We shall all be much amused, I hope, presently. When one has an 
 object to serve, all things are amusing. Er — Captain Goddard must 
 soon go. So will I." And he returned to the study of the album. 
 
 "What did Emily mean, I wonder?" reflected Arlingford, recalled 
 to actualities by the prince's words and manner. "Can it be that if 
 she wears the necklace Goddard will resent the affront and delay his 
 departure? Ah !" — and a new light broke in upon him, — " she's right, 
 as usual. We shall see; we shall see." 
 
 " It seems as though when you go," Lady Arlingford was saying 
 to Goddard, " I shall be at the mercy of that creature." 
 
 " Cheer up, little woman," he answered. " Don't give way. 
 Pretend you don't care : it's the worst punishment you could inflict." 
 
 " Come and see a catastrophe," broke in Kitty. " I'm going to 
 spoil sport. I want to show you how Mrs. Dashton teaches Charlie 
 billiards. Nice game, billiards. Listen ! not a sound. Follow 
 me." 
 
 She started towards the billiard-room, accompanied by Carteret and 
 Briggs, and Lady Arlingford pursued her to prevent the accomplish- 
 ment of her vile purpose. Goddard was following, when Arlingford, 
 who had been watching for the opportunity, stopped him. 
 
 " Look here, Goddard," said he, " you are an old friend of Alice's. 
 I wish you'd advise her to be more civil to Mrs. Dashton." 
 
 "You must do your own dirty work," replied Goddard, hotly; 
 "and, by God, sir, that's not the advice I would give your wife, even 
 if I had less regard for her than I have! You ought to send that 
 woman away." 
 
 " Really, Goddard," answered Arlingford, haughtily, " upou my 
 word I don't understand you." 
 
 " Yes, you do ! and you make my position doubly difficult by 
 evading the question." 
 
 " By what right do you dare question my actions ?" 
 
 " By the rights of blood and friendship !" 
 
 "For my wife! I fail to recognize the right. Now look here: 
 I've been patient long enough. I'm sorry you're in love with my 
 wife » 
 
 " In love ! Stop- 
 
 " But she is my wife," continued Arlingford, imperturbably, " and 
 I forbid you to see her any more. Do you hear ?" 
 
364 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " You hound !" cried Goddard, " if I didn't respect her feelings, I'd 
 thrash you in your own house." Then, as the others, attracted by his 
 tone, re-entered from the billiard-room, he added, " For her sake, no 
 scene now ; but later on you and I will settle." 
 
 " What is the matter ?" said Lady Arlingford, anxiously, as she came 
 between them. " You are quarrelling !" 
 
 "No, no," said Goddard; "only arguing." 
 
 "A trifle warmly, perhaps," added Arlingford. "We were dis- 
 puting a point at ecarte\ We will settle it now, if you like, Goddard. 
 I'll bet you a hundred pounds I'm right." 
 
 " So be it : we shall see." 
 
 Kitty Middleton, who saw that something was amiss, busied herself 
 with Charlie getting the card-table ready, whilst Arlingford rapidly 
 sorted out the unnecessary cards from the pack and threw them on 
 a side-table. Throughout the above scene Prince Schouloff had sat 
 apparently absorbed in the album he had taken up. Arlingford and 
 Goddard seated themselves at the table and began to play. Carteret 
 and Briggs were standing in a bow- window, discussing American finance, 
 Lady Arlingford was alone by the fire, and Kitty sat at the piano close 
 beside her, running her fingers lightly over the keys. 
 
 As the game began, Mrs. Dashton strolled in from the billiard-room. 
 As she did so, the prince looked at his watch. It was eleven. In a 
 quarter of an hour Goddard must be gone. Mrs. Dashton came to 
 Arlingford's side, and whispered, — 
 
 " Well? The prince grows impatient. Am I to aid you ?" 
 
 " Wear the necklace !" said he, desperately. 
 
 " The despatches will be detained : you will get the money," she 
 whispered, adding to herself as she left the room, "Goddard will be 
 ruined, and ' Dashey' will have scored one !" 
 
 As she went out, Prince Schouloff strolled over to Lady Arlingford's 
 side. 
 
 " Lady Arlingford," said he, " I do not see you much in society 
 now, and you look pale. I hope you are not suffering? You should 
 go abroad for a time. Lord Arlingford must bring you to Nice, and 
 you, Miss Middleton, must come also." 
 
 " Kitty will not be Miss Middleton for long, prince," answered 
 Lady Arlingford for her. 
 
 "Then I shall look forward to welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Saville 
 wherever I may be," answered Schouloff, with a bow to Kitty. 
 
 At this moment Mrs. Dashton entered the room, wearing a row of 
 magnificent pearls round her neck. Lady Arlingford, catching sight of 
 them, started violently, and Prince Schouloff said, in the quiet careful 
 tone that alone betrayed the fact that he was a foreigner, — 
 
 " What beautiful pearls you have, Mrs. Dashton ! Excuse me, but 
 I had not noticed them before." 
 
 " Yes," answered she, carelessly, " they are pretty. A present." 
 
 Goddard turned his head, and his eyes fell on the necklace. Lady 
 Arlingford was steadying herself with difficulty against her chair. 
 
 " You cowardly blackguard !" he hissed across the table at Arling- 
 ford. 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 365 
 
 " You are my wife's champion, it would seem," sneered lie. " Defend 
 her !" 
 
 " Come and see the game, prince," said Mrs. Dashton, moving over 
 to the card-table, where she was joined by Mr. Briggs and Major Car- 
 teret. Meanwhile, Lady Arlingford had crossed to the table where the 
 useless cards had been thrown down, and, taking up one of them, — a 
 two of clubs, — wrote on it hurriedly in pencil, " I will not stay another 
 hour in this house. I go with you." 
 
 Mrs. Dashton had watched her closely. 
 
 " Much on the game?" asked she, carelessly. 
 
 " For so much excitement," said the prince, " there should be at 
 least ten thousand pounds !" 
 
 Lady Arlingford came over to Goddard's side. There she dropped 
 her handkerchief, and as she stooped to pick it up slipped the card 
 on which she had written into Goddard's lap. He took it stealthily, 
 unconscious that Mrs. Dashton had followed every movement. 
 
 Suddenly the latter stooped and whispered in Arlingford's ear. 
 
 " What is that you have hidden?" cried he to Goddard. 
 
 " I — I do not understand," stammered Goddard. 
 
 " You have a card there, and I demand that it be shown !" 
 
 " I cannot show it." 
 
 " I did not suppose you could," sneered Arlingford, slipping a card 
 from his hand unobserved into that of Mrs. Dashton, and flinging the 
 rest on the table. " You see I do not hold the king." 
 
 " What do you mean ?" cried Goddard, growing deathly pale. 
 
 " I mean that I do not play cards with a man who cheats !" howled 
 Arlingford. 
 
 Goddard started to his feet. 
 
 "My God !" he exclaimed, pressing his hands to his head. As he 
 rose, an elderly military-looking man had entered the room. It was 
 General Saville. 
 
 " Well, how are you all ?" he exclaimed, comprehensively. " Aubyn, 
 I bring you good news, my boy. To-night's mission will be your last. 
 I have gained my point with the Duke, and he has confirmed your 
 staff-appointment." Then, observing for the first time the dead silence 
 and the dismayed faces round him, he continued, — 
 
 " What is the matter? Why don't you speak, some of you?" 
 
 " I repeat," said Arlingford, with deadly distinctness, "your methods 
 'are not such as to permit gentlemen to play cards with you, and I must 
 desire that you leave this house at once." 
 
 " Arlingford," cried General Saville, " how dare you ! You must 
 be mad. I demand an explanation." 
 
 " Captain Goddard holds a card that was not dealt to him, which he 
 refuses to show, and which I assert is the king of clubs." 
 " Good heavens ! Deny it, Aubyn : tell him he lies !" 
 " Mrs. Dashton and Prince Scbouloff also saw him take the card 
 from his lap," continued Arlingford, calmly. 
 
 " Answer !" thundered the general, growing purple. 
 
 " It is a lie," said Goddard, quietly. 
 
 " Then show the card," said Arlingford. 
 
366 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " Yes, show the card," cried the general. 
 
 " I cannot." 
 
 A dead silence fell in the room. It was broken by the sound of 
 a fall. Unobserved, during the above scene Lady Arlingford had 
 been struggling to speak. An iron grip seemed to be upon her 
 throat, and she struggled in vain. As Goddard spoke, she fell sense- 
 less to the floor. 
 
 "Captain Goddard," said General Saville, stiffly, "it will be 
 obvious to you that there is only one course for you to pursue. I will 
 save you the trouble of resigning your commission, and your diplo- 
 matic post is vacant. You will take your name from your Club lists 
 to-morrow, and — God ! boy," concluded the old gentleman, all but 
 breaking down, " I'd sooner you'd been a murderer than a black- 
 leg." 
 
 General Saville turned, and, seeing Schouloff, went towards him. 
 Goddard looked round him for a moment, and, seeing even Kitty's face 
 averted as she bent over Lady Arlingford, exclaimed, — 
 
 " Ruined ! God help me !" 
 
 And he rushed from the room. 
 
 An hour later, in the little May fair drawing-room Prince Schouloff 
 paid over to Mrs. Bradley Dash ton ten thousand pounds in Bank-of- 
 Eugland notes. 
 
 Not a word was said on either side. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN A POLITICAL OBSERVATORY. 
 
 The polttical crisis which opened the year 1876 with the " Andrassy 
 Note" closed it with the Conference at Constantinople of January, 1877. 
 By the middle of that month the Cabinets of Europe had realized the 
 fact that the Conference had been met by a rejection of its proposals 
 on the part of the Sublime Porte, and at the end of March the Six 
 Powers forwarded to the Sultan their ultimatum in the form of a 
 Protocol. Turkey, however, pursued her time-honored policy of 
 masterly inactivity, and on the 24th of April Europe was startled by 
 the news that Russia had declared war against the Sultan in defence 
 of the Christian populations of the Balkan Peninsula, had crossed the 
 Pruth into Rou mania, which had promptly declared itself on the side 
 of the Muscovite, and had entered Asia Minor at Batoum, Kars, and 
 Bayazid. 
 
 The only explanation vouchsafed to Europe was contained in the 
 circular note of Prince Gortschakoff, and the Powers, after entering 
 their formal protest, assumed a position of armed neutrality. 
 
 The campaign opened, as is familiar to the student of modern 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 3g7 
 
 history, with a series of Russian successes both in Europe and Asia. 
 General Gourko crossed the Danube without opposition in June, and 
 invested Tirnova on the 7th of July, preparatory to crossing the 
 Balkans at Yeni Saghra five days later with a flying column. It was 
 not till then that Russia saw the mistake she had made in overlooking 
 Plevna, and turned in that direction" to find it occupied and fortified by 
 the greatest general of the Ottoman forces, Osman Pasha. On the 
 20th and on the 31st of July two desperate assaults of this position 
 resulted in the total defeat of the Russian arms, and Gourko was driven 
 back beyond the Balkans, whilst in Asia Moukhtar Pasha gained his 
 first decisive victory at Kars. 
 
 Thus, in August, 1877, when our story reopens, the Muscovite ad- 
 vance had received a temporary but serious check, Todleben had been 
 called to the investment of Plevna, and the nations looked at one 
 another with apprehensive glances as they asked themselves and one 
 another, " What next ?" 
 
 Meanwhile, the principal post of observation established by Russia 
 in the Balkans was at the village of Deve-kiui, on the road from Eski 
 Saghra to Adrianople, where, snugly established in the Villa Kristov 
 Hisar, Prince SchoulofF and the Baroness Altdorff anxiously watched 
 the successive turns which events were taking. 
 
 A few weeks before this they had been joined by Mrs. Bradley 
 Dash ton, who since we parted from her in London had suffered a series 
 of reverses in the prosecution of her plans. Indeed, important events 
 and changes had taken place in the lives of most of the actors in the 
 drama with which we are concerned, all resulting directly and indi- 
 rectly from the tragedy enacted at Arlingford House on the night that 
 saw the successful issue of the plot concocted against Captain Aubyn 
 Goddard. 
 
 For weeks Lady Arlingford had lain unconscious between life and 
 death. In her delirium she had raved much about that fatal evening, 
 but her utterances had been ascribed to the state of her brain ; and 
 when she recovered from the blow and emerged into the light of reason, 
 Goddard was to all intents and purposes lost to the world. As soon as 
 she could be moved, Alice Arlingford had been taken to her mother's 
 house in Berkeley Square, and here Kitty Middleton had been her only 
 confidante. To her she had told the whole dismal story as soon as she 
 was sufficiently herself to do so, and both agreed that to publish the 
 facts now, in the absence of Goddard, would be to lay themselves open 
 to the charge of having invented the story to clear the man whom 
 Arlingford had — though vainly — tried to brand as his wife's lover. 
 So they had waited on in the hope that Goddard might be heard of 
 again, and that he might be summoned home to assist in his own ex- 
 culpation from the charges brought against him by the Earl of Arling- 
 ford, Mrs. Dashton, and Major Homer Carteret. 
 
 One step, however, had been taken which the events of the evening 
 and the episode of the necklace had rendered inevitable : this was the 
 divorce of the Earl and Countess of Arlingford, which went by default 
 in the absence of his lordship and upon the admissions of Mrs. Dashton. 
 Soon after the disappearance of Goddard, Arlingford had found that 
 
36g BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 the glances bestowed upon him in club-rooms, never of the warmest, 
 had become arctic in their frigidity. He found that men refused to 
 hear the name of Aubyn Goddard spoken by his lips, and that his 
 efforts to deepen the cloud which rested over the ex Queen's Messenger 
 were practically abortive. Under these circumstances, his lordship had 
 betaken himself to the more congenial atmosphere of Nice and Monte 
 Carlo, whither Mrs. Dashton had shortly after followed him, and, after 
 passing six months of varied fortune at the tables, found himself in 
 the, to him, familiar predicament of being " cleaned out." It was then 
 that the summons of Prince Sehouloff had seemed to Mrs. Dashton 
 laden with the pleasant perfume of hope, and, obeying it, armed with 
 passes through the Russian lines, she had joined the Prince and Bella- 
 Demonia in their political observatory, anxious to serve the Chief of 
 Police for the furtherance of her own plans, which seemed to have 
 encountered a serious and abiding check. 
 
 The divorce of the Countess of Arlingford and the marriage of 
 Kitty Middleton to Dick Saville had taken place almost simultaneously, 
 and thus a powerful ally had joined the campaign for the rehabilitation 
 of Aubyn Goddard. 
 
 Of Goddard himself the news had been at first scanty, then depress- 
 ing, and finally overwhelming. What might have been the effect on 
 European history had he started on that fatal night with his despatches, 
 it is not for us to conjecture. He had reached Charing Cross five 
 minutes too late, and had laid his despatches with his resignation on 
 his chief's table at eight o'clock on the following morning, and they had 
 left London with another messenger by the ten-o'clock mail. Later 
 in the day he had had a long interview with General Saville, from 
 which the sturdy old warrior had emerged with something very like a 
 tear in the one eye that active service had left him, and had emphat- 
 ically remarked to a Club crony, — 
 
 " Damn the boy ! I love and admire him more than ever. He 
 won't tell me anything about it, but I'll swear" — which he did with 
 unction — " that a more honorable fellow never lived. Some day we 
 shall get to the bottom of this miserable affair; meanwhile, we can 
 only wait and hope for the best." 
 
 General Saville took upon himself to lay Goddard's resignations, 
 with a statement of the circumstances, before the committees of his 
 various Clubs, and those illustrious bodies had decided to hold his 
 membership in abeyance, pending an inquiry and explanation. 
 
 On the following day Goddard had started for America, bound for 
 a ranch owned by General Saville in Dakota Territory. A few months 
 later, one of the periodical revolutions having eventuated in Central 
 America, Goddard's soldier instinct overcame him, and he had placed 
 himself at the head of a regiment of filibuster os, on the side of the 
 existing government. In one of the decisive engagements he had per- 
 formed deeds of unheard-of valor, and had been reported dead, — killed 
 by a stray shot at the moment of victory, — and so he had gone out 
 of this history, and his record was to all intents and purposes closed. 
 
 Things were in this condition when our story reopens at the Villa 
 Kristov Hisar in Bulgaria, in the month of August, 1877. 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. g™ 
 
 Prince Schouloff sat in his study, which looked out upon the ve- 
 randa of the villa, going over a bundle of despatches, and ever and 
 anon consulting a map that lay before him. At his elbow stood his 
 private secretary Dmitri Keratieff, awaiting the attention of his chief. 
 Well, said the prince, looking up from his map, " what have 
 you to report r 
 
 "Mrs Dashton tried to open the mail-bag early this morning- she 
 said she had enclosed a letter by mistake. I opened it for her • there 
 was no letter of hers in the bag. Madame von Altdorff sent a de- 
 spatch by her courier-secretary before daylight." 
 
 "Ah ! Know you its contents?" 
 
 "No, Excellency. I am more useful alive than dead, and I never 
 question the incoming or outgoing of Eodia Pouschkoff." 
 
 The secretary laughed as he spoke, and Schouloff nodded his head 
 gravely but approvingly. 
 
 "Did you see him start?" 
 
 "Yes, Excellency. He took the direction of Eski Saghra " 
 
 " He has not returned ?" 
 
 "Not yet." 
 
 "Anything else?" 
 
 " Mrs. Dashton bade me present her compliments and say that she 
 desired to speak with your Excellency as soon as you should be at 
 leisure." 
 
 " Where is she now ?" 
 
 " On the terrace." 
 
 " Ask her to honor me with a visit, here and now." 
 
 The secretary retired. 
 
 "Ah, Emily Dashton," soliloquized the prince, "you are unable to 
 control your curiosity ; you are madly eager to know why I sent for you. 
 Take care ! You are an excellent servant, but you can never direct 
 Examine my mail-bag ! how rococo ! The method has neither novelty 
 nor ingenuity to recommend it, and still, undaunted, you play your 
 little, your very little, tricks." 
 
 ax Al ^ Prince Scll oulorf, leaning back in his chair, laughed aloud, as 
 Mrs. Dashton appeared at the French window leading out upon the 
 terrace. 
 
 " Alone, and amused ?" said she, looking at him from the window. 
 " Happy man !" 
 
 "Sensible people," replied Schouloff, " never depend upon any one 
 for anything, not even for their amusement." 
 
 _ " As usual, your sentiment is flawless. But are you sure you are as 
 independent as you think?" 
 
 " It has been the study of my life to be so." 
 
 " And, like most students, you have absorbed yourself so much in 
 the study of others that you have left no time to study yourself. You 
 leave that for fools like me." 
 
 " Do you find me interesting?" 
 
 " Er— urn— ye-es. But not so original as I expected." 
 
 " Well," said Schouloff, in the altered tone of a man desirous of 
 changing the subject, " I will try to do better. So much for your 
 Vol. XLIIL— 24 
 
370 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 amusement. Now for your business. I understand you wished to 
 speak to me?" 
 
 " Yes," answered Mrs. Dashton, her manner also altering. " I am 
 not satisfied with the way things have turned out. You offered to 
 help me, and I carried out my part of the bargain. I knew that when 
 Lady Arlingford saw her pearls on my neck she would do something 
 foolish that would detain Goddard. She did more; but I am no 
 nearer the realization of my hopes. I am getting tired of scheming, 
 and want rest." 
 
 " Why reproach me with — pardon me ! — your own folly ? I wished 
 Captain Goddard detained, and was willing to pay for it. You under- 
 took to effect the delay, and received the payment for so doing, — an 
 enormous sum : is it not so? It is with Lord Arlingford you are not 
 satisfied, not with me. Come, be frank; what did he promise you? 
 You do not answer. Well, he promised that if you would help him, 
 he would drive Lady Arlingford to claim a divorce, and would then 
 marry you. The first he has done; the second he has not." 
 
 "How do you know this?" 
 
 " I did not know ; but you betray your own secrets. But your 
 ambition is a wrong one. As a woman you are charming, as a wife 
 you would be stupid." 
 
 " Do you suppose," broke out the woman, impetuously, " that be- 
 cause I have led a rough life I have no feeling ? You have guessed 
 half the situation, so hear it all. I am fond of Jack Arlingford. I 
 know he's a bad lot ; perhaps that's why I like him : I'm not such 
 a very good lot myself! — and good people make me angry. He cares 
 for me, I believe, and if everything had not gone so contrary, I think 
 he would have kept his promise ; but after the divorce everything went 
 so wrong that I was obliged to leave London. I joined him in Nice, 
 and now he is broke there, and cannot move a step till he gets money." 
 
 Prince Schouloff smiled. 
 
 " Shall I prove to you," he said, " that he will not keep his word — 
 even so far as he can — to you ?" 
 
 " How ? Do you mean that he does not really care for me ? If 
 I thought that !" 
 
 " Lord Arlingford is at this moment trying to marry a rich 
 American, a cousin of the Mr. Briggs whom we met at his house. He 
 cares for nothing save gambling, and his affection for you will be regu- 
 lated by the amount you subscribe to the fund. Now, let me know the 
 amount necessary to — your happiness, and try to find out for me accu- 
 rate details as to the death of Captain Goddard. I am much interested 
 in him." 
 
 " In Goddard ? Where did you lose sight of him ? Let me see : 
 where did you lose sight of him ? I think I remember. After the 
 scandal he started for Dakota, for a ranch belonging to General Saville. 
 There the soldier got the better of him, and he joined that Central 
 American revolution, and was reported dead. Is that right?" 
 
 " Perfectly : you are accuracy and clearness to perfection, as far as 
 our information goes ; but I should like the details. Now, I have a 
 charming villa at Mentone, of which I should like to make a wedding- 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 371 
 
 present to the bride who can give me accurate details of Captain God- 
 dard's death. The certificate of the marriage is not necessary to secure 
 the gift." 
 
 " Which means, translated ?" 
 
 " What you please ! Mrs. Dashton, you are a clever woman, es- 
 pecially so where the finesse of a woman's nature is concerned : witness, 
 for instance, your instinct in Lady Arlingford's case, where you judged 
 exactly the moment to strike. I should value your opinion just now. 
 Erghem ! I see a great change in Bel la-Demon ia. She takes no inter- 
 est in anything. I have sought in vain the reason : can you help me ?" 
 
 " You once said, ' Bella-Demonia never allows any one to know 
 what she wishes to remain unknown.' That is my answer now. I am 
 a woman of fairly strong nerve ; but ask Bella-Demonia a question 
 about herself? — excuse me! See," continued she, rising, and moving 
 to the window, " there she is on the terrace. She looks gentle enough ; 
 but when she chooses to freeze you, her cold stare of wonder at your 
 audacity would daunt a braver woman than I. But be sure that if I 
 can help you I will. She is coming this way. Shall I go?" 
 
 " Not yet. See if her manner helps you." 
 
 And the prince walked to the window to meet the object of his recent 
 conversation. 
 
 " Who, to see her sweet soft face," thought he, " would believe that 
 she could be so hard to conquer? Yet for close upon a year I have 
 fluttered like a moth in vain around the flame of her fascination, — I, 
 Alexis Schouloif!" 
 
 Two quickly successive reports, the boom of a distant gun, rever- 
 berated dully on the air, as the Baroness Altdorff stepped into the 
 room, giving her hand to Prince Schouloff as she did so. 
 
 " Those were the cannon of Eski Saghra, prince. It is true, then, 
 that the Flying Legion has arrived in the neighborhood ?" 
 
 "Such are my last instructions, baroness," returned the prince, 
 gravely, looking at his watch. 
 
 " What a picture you made there, baroness !" put in Mrs. Dashton 
 at this point, — "a living embodiment of tranquil power in repose. 
 Dreaming pleasant things, I judge by your expression. You are a 
 true subject for an artist." 
 
 " You evidently have not remarked, Mrs. Dashton," interrupted 
 Bella-Demonia, icily, " that I do not like flattery. From a woman it 
 means either nothing or a great deal too much. Prince, I shall have, 
 I think, great news for you before the afternoon is over. Mrs. Dash- 
 ton, you have not yet visited me in my own apartments : you must 
 come and see me there. The prince is good enough to let me have an 
 entire wing to myself, where no one ever comes save at my request." 
 
 " I shall look forward to coming and seeing you chez vous. I have 
 so much yet to say to you and ask you." 
 
 " You will find me a bad gossip " 
 
 " But I will do all that, and I am positively dying for a good long 
 talk. This place, with all respect to Prince Schouloff, is so far from 
 civilization ! Upon my word, it's as hard to get here as — as — as it was 
 for poor Goddard to get himself killed." 
 
372 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 She said the last words after a hesitation, as if she had been search- 
 ing vainly for a simile. As she concluded, Bella-Demonia turned 
 deathly white, but controlled herself with a violent eifort which did not 
 escape the narrow observation of Schouloff. 
 
 " What a singular comparison to make !" said she, at last. 
 
 " Perhaps it was," said Mrs. Dashton, reflectively. " I don't know 
 what brought him to my mind at that moment. Strange break, his, — 
 a man who was apparently just reaching the zenith of his career, or, 
 if not quite that, with every promise for the future, to ruin himself so 
 completely ! — it is inconceivable. But why should I wander on so, 
 about a stranger to you? — but then, you see, I knew him so well." 
 
 "You knew him?" put in Bella-Demonia, eagerly; then, recovering 
 herself once more, she added, " What was the name?" 
 
 "Aubyn Goddard. I'll tell you all about it some day, when I 
 come to see you in your own rooms." 
 
 " That will be very soon," said Prince Schouloff to himself. Then 
 he added aloud to Bella-Demonia, "You are interested, baroness?" 
 
 "Naturally! A man who ruins himself at the very moment that 
 his prospects seemed most bright must have had the usual cause, — a 
 woman. Hence the story must be at least amusiug." 
 
 " Then you believe," said the prince, " that when a man is ruined, 
 a woman is always the cause. Oh, fie!" 
 
 " Not at all, in the way you put it. A man may be ruined by many 
 causes ; but when he brings about his own ruin it is pretty safe to assume 
 that there is a woman." 
 
 " Well," said Schouloff, " I will argue that point later." 
 
 " It must be nearly time our bold travellers arrived. I must watch 
 from the terrace for them, in case there be any young man in the party 
 whom I can make my own. Who are these visitors, prince?" 
 
 " They shall announce themselves to you, Mrs. Dashton." 
 
 " Well, no doubt it's some pleasant surprise you have in store for 
 me. I won't be inquisitive. I hope I don't shock you, baroness?" 
 
 " I shocked !" returned Bella-Demonia, in an accent of ironical sur- 
 prise, " I, — the byword of Europe ! My right to censure or extol was 
 stolen from me years ago." 
 
 "And J don't believe I ever had that right. Well, au revoir. I 
 must go and get ready." 
 
 And Mrs. Dashton disappeared from the room with a laugh. 
 
 "Who are these visitors, prince?" said Bella-Demonia, when she 
 had gone. "You have told me nothing." 
 
 "Because there was nothing to tell, till this morning. A Mr. 
 Saville and his wife, — charming people : they will interest you. They 
 want to see me, — and you, — and, arriving at the frontier two days since, 
 applied to me for passes through the lines. They arrived at Eski 
 Saghra last night, and are coming on this morning. The proximity of 
 the Flying Legion has made me nervous about them." 
 
 Bella-Demonia dismissed the subject with a little shrug. 
 
 " Tell me," said she, " why did you ask that woman, Mrs. Dashton, 
 here ?" 
 
 " Because I thought she would amuse you." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA . 373 
 
 " Because you wanted her to find out something for you, from me, 
 — from me !" 
 
 " If you know, why ask ?" 
 
 " To give you a chance of being honest with me. You know I 
 hate lies and the cowardice that begets them. Ask me what you want 
 to know. Have I ever been wanting in courage to speak?" 
 
 " You are irritable, baroness ; yet I have been patient, and not — 
 not ungenerous?" 
 
 " Forgive me, if, in the weariness I feel, I forget how much I owe 
 you. When I first sought you I was seeking distraction : you offered me 
 politics, absorbing as heart or brain could desire. I had nothing to live 
 for till you brought me within range of your vast world of schemes. 
 By degrees the fascination of your power gained on me. To see great 
 nations tremble or rejoice, to see life or death meted out, was the breath 
 of life to me. For years of feverish oblivion I have to thank you, and 
 I do. But I am still a woman, and my very being is weary. See the 
 traces !" As she spoke, she turned to the mirror over the mantel-shelf, 
 and leaned upon it. " If only my revenge had not been torn from me, 
 I would have served an eternity. If heaven had but been just to me !" 
 
 " My hope," said the Russian, gently, " has been to bring yon more 
 than oblivion. Must that hope always be vain ? Will you never for- 
 get the cares, the sombre side of life, and remember but the glowing 
 sunshine which is yours by right of love?" 
 
 He had risen and approached her as he spoke. She drew away, as 
 she said, — 
 
 "I thought our compact was clear. Must I remind you? When 
 I accepted your service, I knew that I risked my life in a service of 
 danger ; that life I sold you, — if need should come, my death ; but I did 
 not sell you myself." 
 
 "No, that you only give. Oh, it is only ' Bella-Demonia' who is 
 dead to love : to find mercy, the mother of love, one must appeal to 
 charity. 'Carita/ — it is a sweet name, and I would call you by it." 
 
 " The name was my mother's : it is sacred to me. But come ! do 
 not let us speak in riddles. You know some part of my secret, you 
 would know more. I tell you frankly you will learn nothing through 
 that woman. You have the better chance. Question me ! I may re- 
 serve what I like, but I will not lie." 
 
 For an instant the two stood silently looking at each other, and then 
 the prince spoke. 
 
 " Did you care for this man Goddard ?" said he. 
 
 " With my whole soul !" 
 
 " Why did you never speak of him?" 
 
 " That which lies near the heart is far from the lips." 
 
 " Do you know what has become of him ?" 
 
 " He is dead, if that woman spoke true. Well, so much the better 
 for you and for your work. You will find me the better destroyer now 
 that the one touch of womanhood is laid at rest forever. Direct, and I 
 will execute. Let me think only of wrongs and the blight they bring. 
 I told you I would give you news. I have news for you, — brave 
 news." 
 
374 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 "Tell me, what is it?" 
 
 " The Russian arms have received a serious check. For the last 
 month your best-laid plans of campaign have been frustrated by the 
 unerring precision of the movements of this Flying Legion of which 
 we hear so much and see so little : is it not so ?" 
 
 " Perfectly. The latest despatches of Skobeleff are to that effect." 
 
 " Well, the chief of the Flying Legion, Beyaz Murad Bey, will 
 be in my power to-night. What is his capture worth ?" 
 
 " Murad here ! It cannot be possible !" 
 
 The prince rose to his feet and commenced pacing up and down the 
 room. The Baroness Altdorff smiled as she leaned back in her chair. 
 
 " Is that a reflection ?" said she. " You are not complimentary to 
 my powers of fascination, to say nothing of my skill as a diplomatist, 
 — some say ' decoy.' " 
 
 " You are in earnest !" exclaimed Schouloff, coming to a full stop 
 before her. 
 
 " Perfectly. I came to the conclusion that he must be taken out 
 of your way. But for him, we should be in possession of the Shipka 
 Pass. He is advancing upon Plevna. Once let him join Osman, and 
 we shall see what the Grand Duke, Todleben, and Skobeleff can do, — 
 such a three against such a two ! I shall remove him, this terror, 
 Beyaz Murad, — Murad Bey." 
 
 " Not easy " 
 
 " No, not easy, but Well, never mind my plan of action : the 
 
 result is all that you need know. Admit that* I chose our location here 
 with forethought, three months before hostilities commenced. After 
 much delicate work, I have caused the report to reach the Chief that 
 in consequence of your weakness — of your weakness !" — and she laughed 
 a little — " I was in possession of important strategic secrets, that I 
 had expressed great admiration of his bravery and was impressionable, 
 — impressionable! — in short, that he might learn all I knew with a 
 little trouble. The Flying Legion encamped last night near Eski 
 Saghra. They are short of provisions, and knowledge of our move- 
 ments is imperative. Well, by my arrangement he has laid a trap for 
 me into which he will fall himself." 
 
 Prince Schouloffs eyes glowed with admiration. 
 
 " By St. Nicholas ! ingenious as only Bella-Demonia could be ! 
 Perhaps this is the only one line that could have snared him. What 
 marvellous tact ! what instinct ! Ah ! if you are not for me, what a 
 pity you were not born a man ! You are sure he will come?" 
 
 " I await only a letter by my courier-secretary Podia, to confirm 
 what I say." 
 
 " Tell me, how were you inspired to such a glorious plan ?" 
 
 " I wanted to earn your supreme gratitude, and, so, my freedom. 
 
 I had hoped — till she dispelled my dream But never mind : since 
 
 he is lost to me, no danger can appall me. I thought for a brief hour 
 that I might know the joys denied me and given to others ; but no ! 
 like the fabled Jew, so must my pilgrimage last forever. No peace ! 
 no love ! naught that woman counts her right. Well, so be it !" 
 
 She covered her face with her hands as she became silent, and the 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 375 
 
 interview was interrupted by the entrance of a servant bearing two 
 cards. 
 
 "Ah, baroness," said Schouloff, as he read the names of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Richard Saville, " our expected guests are here. They will amuse 
 you. Mr. Saville belongs to a very good family, and finished his ec- 
 centric career by marrying an eccentric young lady, — a Miss Middleton. 
 They call them 'The Shocks;' and we are indeed fortunate that they 
 arrive so opportunely to enliven us." 
 
 Then, turning to the servant, he said, — 
 
 " Inform Mr. and Mrs. Saville that Prince Schouloff and the 
 Baroness Altdorff will wait upon them immediately in the hall." 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 DICK SAVILLE. 
 
 Dick Saville was an excellent specimen of the young English- 
 man whose personal qualities cause him to be universally dubbed "a 
 devilish good fellow." Only son of General Saville, he had elected not 
 to follow the profession of arms, but became Aubyn Goddard's chum 
 at Oxford, where, with widely divergent tastes, they were as inseparable 
 as circumstances would permit. Goddard had been a reading man and 
 an athlete, Saville had been an athlete, but there their similarity of 
 pursuits had ended. Notwithstanding his multifarious escapades, in- 
 dulged in with the object of emblazoning the gray old university town 
 a lively heraldic gules, Dick Saville was an inveterate favorite with the 
 dons, and even in that paradise for women Dick suffered a positive 
 embarrassment of attentions from the petticoated inhabitants of his 
 alma mater. Still, the process of compelling an objectionable proctor 
 and his bull-dog to take a midnight bath in the college fountain and 
 proceed home in each other's clothes turned inside out is not calculated 
 to act as an example of discipline to undergraduates, and Dick Saville 
 returned to the bosom of his father, — who, I regret to say, roared with 
 delight, — to spare the authorities the heart-rending task of " sending 
 him down" covered with ignominy and unpaid bills. 
 
 At the premature close of his academic career Dick started for the 
 Cape en route for Seringapatam, and, having returned home via India 
 and Egypt, met Kitty Middleton at a dance at Lady Arlingford's. 
 
 In five minutes Dick realized that he had met " that other self," 
 and historians tell us that Kitty became kissed. This duty performed, 
 he started for Madagascar en route for Persia and Russia, with two 
 flannel shirts, a tooth-brush, and a photograph of Kitty. He escaped 
 from a horde of Koords with nothing but a pair of tattered trousers 
 and the photograph — also tattered — of Kitty, and when he told her of 
 his escapes observed that she grew dreadfully white and didn't laugh 
 at or abuse him for a whole quarter of an hour. Announcing his in- 
 tention of starting for New York en route for Japan and China, Kitty 
 put her foot down firmly, and asked what was the maximum of lug- 
 gage that she would be allowed to take. Dick argued that she would 
 
376 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 have to camp in very rough places, to which Kitty replied that so long 
 as he took a thick rug and plenty of quinine she didn't care. And so 
 at the end of the season of 1877 the Morning Post announced that at 
 St. Peter's, Eaton Square, Richard Arthur Chenevix Saville, son of 
 General Sir Richard Saville, V.C., K.C.B., had married Catherine 
 Maude, daughter of the late Sir Cyrus Middleton, K.C.M.G. It was 
 a " marriage," not a " wedding," and Mr. and Mrs. Saville started for 
 Paris and Monte Carlo with one object alone in view, — to wit, the ex- 
 oneration of Goddard. 
 
 So long as there was any hope of Goddard's return, Dick had agreed 
 with Kitty and Lady Arlingford that they must wait for his assistance 
 to this end ; but now that he was dead, Dick announced his intention 
 of taking the matter into his own hands and extorting a confession from 
 Arlingford and Mrs. Dash ton. Dick was no fool. The presence of 
 Prince Schouloff on that fatal night, the delay of Goddard's all-impor- 
 tant despatches, and the immediately subsequent clearance of Arling- 
 ford's most pressing liabilities had given him a clue, and when he found 
 that nothing was to be done with Arlingford or the Dashton, he wrote 
 for passes to Prince Schouloff, whom he personally knew, on the plea 
 that he was anxious to pay a country-house visit in the middle of the 
 seat of war. 
 
 Thus on this eventful afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Dick Saville found 
 themselves in the hall of the Villa Kristov Hisar at Deve-kiui, near 
 Eski Saghra, awaiting the appearance of their host and hostess. 
 
 They had not long to wait before Schouloff appeared with Bella- 
 Demonia. 
 
 Schouloff greeted Saville and his wife warmly. 
 
 " Let me present you," said he, " to the Baroness Altdorff, Mrs. 
 Saville,— Mr. Saville." 
 
 " I am charmed to see you," said the baroness. " We owe a great 
 debt to Providence for having brought you safely to us. I have ordered 
 some tea immediately. I learnt the custom in England and Russia, 
 and never enjoy it so much as when I am far from civilization." 
 
 " It's contrast that gives the charm to everything," replied Kitty. 
 "Dick and I pass our lives in search of it. It was to find a contrast 
 to the deadly respectable that made us become so disreputable. You 
 know, we are called ' The Shocks' because we keep people in a continual 
 state of excitement. I tell them it's good for their health. They 
 probably consider it heroic treatment ; but it's quite necessary for some 
 complaints." 
 
 " For instance?" queried Bella-Demonia, who was equally astonished 
 and amused. 
 
 " Dulness and stupidity ! There is no doubt we are good for our 
 own people, but better still for the world. Nothing amuses Dick and 
 me so much as to devise some awful escapade, — that is, what the world 
 is pleased to consider awful. Time after time we say, ' This is sure 
 to settle us: we shall be ostracized, — kicked out.' Net a bit of good. 
 Dick's too rich : people look upon it as a new and charming eccen- 
 tricity, and that's all. But I must be boring you dreadfully. Some- 
 body must stop me talking, or I shall go on forever." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 377 
 
 "Don't stop!" exclaimed Bella-Demonia: "you are more than 
 delicious. I will only interrupt you for a moment, to ask how and by 
 what accident you are here." 
 
 " By no accident," said Dick Saville. " We came to find you, 
 baroness, and Prince Schouloff." 
 
 " Indeed ? You surprise me. What can we do for you ?" 
 
 " Mrs. Saville has been telling you of some of our follies," an- 
 swered Dick. " How long we should have continued to afford amuse- 
 ment to our friends is uncertain, because an event occurred which 
 changed the current of my idiocy." 
 
 " Well, we won't contradict you," said Bella-Demonia, " it is so re- 
 freshing to hear you display your superior intelligence in your own 
 way." 
 
 " Intelligence ! I am trying to convince you, baroness, that I am 
 a fool." 
 
 " I am afraid you are not succeeding very well. Still, I would not 
 interfere with the amusement of any living creature : so I promise 
 to assume anything you please, if you promise to continue your 
 story." 
 
 "Oh, Dick doesn't need any inducement to talk," put in Kitty: 
 " he runs me very close, and I've killed several people." 
 
 " The last time we met, Mrs. Saville," said Prince Schouloff, " I 
 tried to make you promise to visit me at Nice. I did not expect that 
 you would ever wander so far from the world as to make that visit 
 here. But I am none the less indebted to you, believe me." 
 
 " You are too good, prince. It is to remind you of the time of 
 which you speak that we have come to take you by storm." 
 
 " Since you have come so far to find us, I presume, like the Baron- 
 ess Altdorff, that there is some service we may render you. For my- 
 self, pray command me; and I am sure that the baroness feels with 
 me." 
 
 " Most assuredly," said Bella-Demonia. 
 
 " Well, then," said Dick Saville, "since I cannot convince you that 
 I deserve to be called a fool for my pains, let me at least convince you 
 that I can be a hard-working friend ; and it is on behalf of that friend- 
 ship that I have come in search of certain information and assistance. 
 The prince has spoken of his last meeting with Mrs. Saville. On that 
 occasion a tragedy was enacted which ruined the career of the best 
 fellow that ever lived. I speak of Aubyn Goddard." 
 
 " Goddard !" The speaker was Bella-Demonia, who leaned forward, 
 her eyes eagerly fixed on Dick's ugly but sympathetic face. 
 
 " Doubtless you, madame," said Kitty, " heard of the affair. I was 
 present. It was terrible." 
 
 The Baroness Altdorff bowed her head in silence. 
 
 " It is to clear my dead friend's memory from a foul stigma," con- 
 tinued Saville, "that I have determined to prove his accusers guilty of 
 the vilest conspiracy ever formed. Captain Goddard was accused of 
 cheating at cards at the house of Lord Arlingford." 
 
 " But surely," put in Bella-Demonia, " it must have been easy for 
 Captain Goddard to disprove the accusation ?" 
 
378 
 
 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " There is the mystery. On investigation, there is no doubt that he 
 had a card in his possession which he refused to show. This, in face 
 of the fact that the king of trumps — they were playing ecarte — was not 
 to be found, gave color to the charge ; though every one knew that Ar- 
 lingford was quite capable of managing the cards well enough, even 
 if he had been unaided by confederates : he had two on that occasion, a 
 Major Carteret and his sister, Mrs. Bradley Dashton." 
 
 " Mrs. Dashton !" said Bella-Demonia. " She is in the house at 
 this moment." 
 
 " Here ! now ?" answered Saville. " May I ask you to say nothing 
 of my mission, and allow me to make my request of you before I meet 
 her?" 
 
 " I will see that no one enters," said the prince, rising, and moving 
 towards the door. As he passed Bella-Demonia he said, in an under- 
 tone, " I have given orders to Kapiodovitch to have an escort ready to 
 receive our visitor of this evening." 
 
 " You make a grave charge against this Lord Arlingford," said she 
 to Dick Saville. 
 
 " I am sure of my facts, how T ever, — morally sure. But proof to 
 establish those facts is absolutely necessary. I believe that you, madame, 
 and Prince Schouloff, can help me." 
 
 " I ? but I never heard of Lord Arlingford." 
 
 " It is of Jack Vy vian Fane's career in St. Petersburg that I wish 
 information." 
 
 " Vy vian Fane !" 
 
 It was more a gasp than an exclamation that broke from the 
 Baroness Altdorff as she spoke the words. Prince Schouloff sat nar- 
 rowly watching her, a shade of perplexity enveloping his brow. 
 
 " You remember him ?" asked Saville. 
 
 " Eemember him !" answered the baroness. " Perfectly. He was 
 the cause of a terrible tragedy, and paid with his life for his treachery." 
 
 " You are mistaken, baroness. Vyvian Fane is alive, and is now 
 Lord Arlingford. The title came to him, it is true, very unexpectedly." 
 
 " And this is the man who ruined Captain Goddard ? In St. 
 Petersburg he betrayed an innocent man to death, — a man beloved by 
 all, a man who knew no wrong, — and struck down his wife and child 
 with the self-same blow. Oh, you did well to come to me ! I can 
 give you all the information that you want. Listen !" 
 
 At this moment a servant entered. 
 
 "Your Excellency's secretary has returned," said he to Bella- 
 Demonia. 
 
 " Admit him." 
 
 The giant form of Rodia Pouschkoff entered the room. Deliver- 
 ing a note to his mistress, he waited whilst she read it, and then, re- 
 ceiving a hurried command in a low tone, left the room once more. 
 The Baroness Altdorff turned to Dick Saville. 
 
 " I must ask you to wait until to-morrow," she said, " for the de- 
 tails. A sudden call interrupts us." And she rang for a servant. 
 
 " Conduct Mr. and Mrs. Saville to their apartments. — Au revoir, 
 Mrs. Saville, and I hope a bientot." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 379 
 
 Dick Saville and his wife left the room, accompanied by the servant. 
 When they were gone, Bella-Demonia turned to the prince: 
 
 " Beyaz Murad is here, at the gates. Follow me." And she led 
 the way to her own wing of the chateau. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SNARE. 
 
 The boudoir-study of the Baroness Altdorff was a large room open- 
 ing upon the terrace. When she entered it, accompanied by Prince 
 Schouloff, it was illuminated by a couple of lamps, that served to in- 
 tensify the gloom beyond the radius of their light. 
 
 " This omnipotent general is here," she said, turning to the prince 
 as she closed the door. " I will admit him by this window. Once 
 here, you will have the house surrounded by Kapiodovitch's men, and 
 when I have learnt all I can of his plans I will give a signal. I have 
 my revolver here: I will fire once." 
 
 As she spoke she threw open the shutters that guarded the windows, 
 and the light of the rising moon poured into the room ; then she came 
 close to the prince, and said, looking him deeply in the eyes, — 
 " What will you give me for this man's capture ?" 
 " Whatever you choose to ask. What shall it be?" 
 " The life of one man, taken or given when and how I shall decide /" 
 " Baroness !" 
 
 " Don't wonder ; don't be surprised : only promise, — promise me 
 by all that you hold holy." 
 " It shall be as you wish." 
 " Good ! Now go !" 
 
 Prince Schouloff left the room, and she listened to his footsteps 
 growing fainter down the corridor. 
 
 " At last," said she, as she loosened the fastenings of the window, 
 — "at last I shall be avenged! He lives! How has he escaped all 
 these years ? But what does it matter ? Ah ! how I could have vin- 
 dicated you, Aubyn Goddard, had you too lived ! but I can show the 
 world that your honor was stolen from you by a felon ; and I will /" 
 
 She sank into a low chair before the fire, which blazed despite the 
 season, her back turned to the window, her face hidden in her hands. 
 
 A slight noise as the window is pushed open from the outside, and 
 a man steps into the room. He is dressed in the simple but striking 
 costume of a Turkish staff-officer. His black military frock is buttoned 
 to the chin, relieved only by the star of the Medjidieh which blazes on 
 the left breast, and thrown into shadow by the folds of his voluminous 
 military cloak. One arm, which is evidently wounded, rests in the 
 breast of his coat, and his feet are cased in high boots which bear the 
 traces of hard and rough riding. 
 
 The woman lowers her hands and turns slowly with a little smile 
 upon her face. As their eyes meet, she starts violently and springs to 
 her feet. A cry breaks from her : 
 
380 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " Aubyn Goddard ! You ! Living ! Here, and called Beyaz 
 Murad ! What does it mean ?" 
 
 On his part he is no whit less astounded. He advances towards 
 her: 
 
 " The Baroness Altdorff! Is it real ? My God ! at last I see you 
 again ! Is this a dream?" 
 
 Quick as thought she has flown to the door and double-locked it, 
 then to the window, which she hastily bars once more. At last she 
 turns and comes to him. 
 
 " Would to God we never might waken !" she whispers, in a 
 frightened moan. 
 
 As for him, the object of his coming, all, is forgotten in the ecstasy 
 of seeing her again. 
 
 " If you only knew," he says, " how often I have prayed that I 
 might live to see you once more ! Through all the wild excitement of 
 fighting, that hope has been my talisman. I have thought how foolish 
 I was to obey you and not try to find you again in Vienna, till it was 
 too late! When I made up my mind to tell you that I could no 
 longer keep my promise, that I must try to win you back, — that, wild 
 and impetuous as was the dream, its strength swept my reason from 
 me, — ah ! I felt that I must return and read once more in your sweet 
 face a promise that- 
 
 " For pity's sake " 
 
 " I sought you too late : you had gone, and left no trace behind. 
 It was a moment of bitter despair, for I thought you would have 
 smiled pardon upon me, and I felt I should not have had to beg in 
 vain. Was I wrong?" 
 
 " Oh, forgive me, Aubyn ! Why did I not know ? Let me speak 
 now." 
 
 " Not yet ! Let me tell you first, before I touch your lips, that I 
 am ruined, disgraced, — that I have been robbed of name, fame, honor 
 — no! hardly that. But you will believe that no fault of mine has 
 exiled me." 
 
 " You will break my heart !" 
 
 " You have heard how, and why, I left England ?" 
 
 " Yes, — but just now." 
 
 " Do you believe me guilty of the crime of which I was accused?" 
 
 "I knoio that you were not, and all the world would have known 
 the same, if you had demanded an explanation." 
 
 " And that I could neither demand nor give." 
 
 "Oh, you were wrong! You must have been mad not to see how 
 base a suspicion you allowed to take root. Why did you keep silent?" 
 
 She had come close to him and laid her hand upon his arm, — the 
 wounded one. He became deathly white, and staggered at her touch. 
 
 " What is it?" she exclaimed. " You are ill." 
 
 " No, no ; it is nothing. Give me some water. Ah ! Nothing 
 serious, — only a bit painful. I was w^ounded a few days ago, and as 
 I was riding here my horse stumbled ; I had only one hand, and he 
 threw me. I — I think the wound has opened again. Don't be 
 alarmed : it's all right. It does not pain me now." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 381 
 
 He paused and caught his breath. 
 
 " It's stupid of rue to get kuocked over so easily," he continued, 
 " but I've been ill some time, and I suppose that's why I got faint. 
 You were asking me something?" 
 
 " Are you better ?" she asked, anxiously. 
 
 " Yes, — yes. Listen ! You asked me why I did not explain how I 
 got that card. I could not. It meant the loss of honor for a woman 
 or for me. The whole thing was a plot, but I could not have proved 
 any conspiracy. This woman was cruelly wronged; I had known her 
 from a child ; she was helpless and alone: — can you wonder that I 
 chose even disgrace to save her ?" 
 
 " But she was wrong to let you do so. How could she keep silent 
 and let you ruin yourself? It was cruel !" 
 
 " Don't blame her ; she was not to blame, and it can do no good 
 now. I only tell you this because I could not bear that a thought of 
 suspicion should be between us. I had a card on which she had written 
 a message, — innocent enough in itself, but which those who sought to 
 entrap us both could have made to appear guilty. This is the secret of 
 my crime. Do you believe me?" 
 
 "As I believe in God!" 
 
 " My darling !" 
 
 They were in each other's arms, the world forgetting in the glory 
 of the moment that they knew each other's love. 
 
 "And you will tell me that there is nothing to prevent you resting 
 here upon my heart forever. The war can't last much longer, and I 
 shall be free. Then will you help me to forget the weary time before 
 I knew you? Ah !" 
 
 The cry was wrung from him by his agony. 
 
 " Ah ! you are badly hurt ! you are hiding it from me !" she 
 said. 
 
 " It is true," he gasped : " the wound is deep, and I am more hurt 
 than I thought. It's only the loss of blood, however. Don't come 
 near. It will frighten you." 
 
 At that moment a slight noise upon the terrace outside struck her 
 ear, and recalled her to the present. It was the light clank of a rifle 
 as it touched the gravel. 
 
 " My God !" she exclaimed, " there is danger here. You must try 
 to keep strong, — to get away. Heaven forgive me ! you are betrayed ! 
 Can't you walk? Try. Come here into my room : it is your only 
 chance of safety." 
 
 Her words and tone recalled him too to his senses. 
 
 " Why are you here ?" he said ; " and where is the woman I came 
 to see? — Bella-Demonia? I don't understand." 
 
 " Don't try to understand. I will tell you when you are safe. 
 Come with me." 
 
 " What do you mean ? I can't " 
 
 A footstep in the corridor. Quick as thought the woman seized his 
 wounded arm, and with the pain he fell senseless to the ground. Then 
 she fired her revolver, — twice. A knock on the door ! She drew his 
 pistol from its holster and laid it on the floor, drawing his cloak over 
 
382 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 his face as she did so. With a crash the door fell open, and Prince 
 SchoulofF entered the room. 
 
 " For God's sake get help !" she exclaimed. " When he found he 
 was betrayed he would have killed me. I shot him. He was going to 
 escape. I tried to keep him : he was desperate — then I fired. He is 
 dead!" 
 
 " I was wrong to let you risk such an interview," said the prince, 
 looking at the prostrate form. " I will see myself that no one enters 
 till he is taken away." 
 
 He was moving to the door. Then he turned and came back. 
 " Perhaps he is only wounded," he said, laying his hand upon the 
 senseless man's heart. He was just going once more, when he saw the 
 revolver on the floor. He picked it up and pointed it at the still form. 
 
 " Better make quite sure !" he said. 
 
 He was about to fire, when Bella-Demonia flung herself upon the 
 body. 
 
 " No ! no !" she cried, " I have lied to you ! I have betrayed you 
 both !" 
 
 The cloak fell from Goddard's features. The prince looked at him. 
 
 " Captain Goddard !" he exclaimed. 
 
 "Yes, yes! It is Captain Goddard. Listen! For this man's 
 capture you promised me the life of one man given or taken how and 
 when I should decide. / claim his !" 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FACE TO FACE. 
 
 For the next few days the inhabitants of the Villa Kristov Hisar 
 lived in a state of suppressed excitement. Prince Schouloff's first care 
 was to send Mrs. Dashton off to Nice, armed with all that was needful 
 to bring Lord Arlingford back to London, but ignorant of what had 
 taken place at the villa. Of the amazement of Dick Saville and his 
 wife it is unnecessary to speak. Kitty and the Baroness Altdorff re- 
 lieved each other in the care of Goddard, who woke from his swoon 
 in a high delirium. 
 
 The prince said but little, biding his time and waiting for Bella- 
 Demonia to speak. 
 
 At last, one day when Goddard was fairly convalescent, she sent 
 for him to her boudoir. She was sitting listlessly before the fire when 
 he entered, and, looking up, gave him her hand, which he respectfully 
 kissed. 
 
 "Be seated, prince," she said. "The time has come when some 
 explanation is due to you. I wish to give it to you now." 
 
 " You are not overtaxing your strength, baroness ?" 
 
 " No. I am as eager to question as I am willing to answer." 
 
 " I am all attention." 
 
 " Had you any suspicion that Beyaz Murad Bey and Aubyn God- 
 dard were one and the same man ?" 
 
 " Not the faintest." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 383 
 
 " You believed him to be dead ?" 
 
 " Implicitly." 
 
 "What has been the result of his detention here?" 
 
 " The result has been the beginning of the end. The Flying 
 Legion, suddenly deprived of its leader, has lost its position as an 
 independent army corps. Radetzky and Gourko have at last defeated 
 Suleiman, and the Russian standard floats in the Shipka Pass. Sulei- 
 man is trying to regain his position, but in vain. Meanwhile, Skobe- 
 leff refuses to take warning from July, or advice from Todleben, and 
 is preparing to attack Plevna once more, now that Osman's reinforce- 
 ments have been stopped." 
 
 " It has been a great work," said the baroness, drearily. 
 
 " For which a great price has been paid, baroness." 
 
 " A great price ?" 
 
 " The life of Captain Goddard given and taken when and how you 
 decided," said SchoulofiP. 
 
 " Ah ! it was fortunate for Lord Arlingford, his betrayer, that it 
 was so ! Had it not been Goddard's it would have been his." 
 
 "You have plunged me in a whirl of wonder, baroness. The 
 afternoon that Mr. and Mrs. Saville arrived you expressed your igno- 
 rance of Viscount Arlingford. Five minutes later the sound of his 
 name caused you the first strong emotion that I have ever known you 
 to betray. It is with John Vyvian Fane that you are concerned, — 
 John Vyvian Fane, now Viscount Arlingford. You have cause to 
 hate him. Tell me about it : I can help you, and I will." 
 
 "You?" 
 
 " Even so. Lord Arlingford was at one time in the employ of 
 the secret police in Petersburg " 
 
 " I know !" 
 
 " He was expelled for making it the instrument of a private ven- 
 geance " 
 
 " I know !" 
 
 " He implicated an innocent man in the socialist schemes of one 
 Dorski " 
 
 " I know !" 
 
 " You know ! you know !" exclaimed Schouloff. " How do you 
 know?" 
 
 " You ask me how I know. You ask me why I have sworn an 
 oath of vengeance against this Lord Arlingford, once John Vyvian 
 Fane. Ask me rather the question you have spent time and money in 
 vain to have answered : ask me rather who I am." 
 
 " My God ! what do you mean ?" 
 
 " I am the Princess Carita Galitzin V 
 
 " Holy St. Katerine !" 
 
 Prince Schouloif rose and went successively to the doors leading 
 into the corridor, and into Bella-Demonia's apartments, to make sure 
 against eavesdroppers. 
 
 Then he returned to her side, and, bending till his eyes were 
 plunged in hers, he took her wrist in his soft irresistible grasp and 
 said, in a low, distinct voice, — 
 
384 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " And I am Alexis Dorshi!" 
 ******** 
 
 For some minutes a dead silence reigned in the room. 
 
 The Princess Galitzin, to call her by her real name, had sprung to 
 her feet, pressing her hands to her throbbing temples, as she looked 
 down at the man who, after intrusting her with the master-secret of his 
 life, had resumed his seat calmly. 
 
 " The mystery of the cipher-dial is at last explained," said'Schouloff 
 at length. 
 
 "And his son, — Dmitri Dmitrievitch Keratieff, — does he know?" 
 
 " No one knows, save the Princess Galitzin, and Schouloff, the 
 Chief of Police." 
 
 " Why have you told me?" 
 
 "You have a letter of mine." 
 
 "True: here it is." And, rapidly unfastening the bosom of her 
 dress, she took therefrom a tightly-folded paper, which, opening, she 
 laid before him. 
 
 "That is your handwriting?" she said. 
 
 "No; it was the handwriting of Alexis Dorski the Terrorist. It 
 was missing from among the secret papers of Keratieff. It was to 
 obtain it that, primarily, I obtained his position. I have sought it 
 ever since. It was to obtain it that I made his son my confidential 
 secretary. Had I known in whose hands it lay, I should have rested 
 easy." 
 
 " It is at your service. Now !" 
 
 "Now?" 
 
 "Tell me: Vyvian Fane was reported assassinated on the Polish 
 frontier." 
 
 " True ; but it was his valet who was murdered and mutilated 
 beyond recognition. His connection w T ith the Third Section gave him 
 means of learning the conspiracy against him. He boarded an English 
 cruiser which lay off the Fortress of the Schlusselburg. Arrived in 
 England, the unexpected reversion of the title and estates of Arling- 
 ford served more completely to conceal him : the name of Vyvian Fane 
 was dropped. I alone of the Department have kept track of his lord- 
 ship, and I have surrounded him with such a net-work that when the 
 time comes to strike, he cannot escape me !" 
 
 " Cannot escape you f 
 
 " Yes, me. Over the senseless form of your brother's wife I swore 
 to avenge my friend Ladislas Galitzin. It was I who apprised you of 
 her condition that fatal night. Since then I have made Arlingford my 
 tool in many a plot, only the more surely to shatter him when I turn 
 down my thumbs and cry, like the Romans in the arena, ' HabetP " 
 
 "When shall you strike?" 
 
 "As soon as the war is over and Captain Goddard can return with 
 us to London. I have sent Mrs. Dashton to take him thither supplied 
 with the necessary funds to bring him within our grasp. I summoned 
 her here to obtain information of Captain Goddard's death. I confess 
 to you that I would have given ten years of ray life to get it ; for 
 then I dreamed that perhaps you — well, well, that is over now. I will 
 
BELLA-DEMON I A. 385 
 
 show you that I am grateful to ' Bella-Demonia.' I will show you that 
 though I cannot be your lover I can still be your friend and ally, and 
 my power is as much yours as it would be were you mine. No, not 
 a word ! I do not wear my heart upon my sleeve, but, princess, I 
 love you more than I shall ever tell you. Now ! it is over. There ! 
 we will change the subject." 
 
 The princess had risen as he spoke. When he became silent she 
 moved to his side, and, sinking on her knees beside him, she took his 
 hand in hers. A strong shudder passed across his frame, as the woman 
 bent and pressed her lips to his hand and a hot tear fell upon it. 
 
 Then, as she raised her head and looked at him, he bent his rever- 
 ently, and for the first and last time kissed the marble-cold brow that 
 was upturned to him. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SOWING THE WIND. 
 
 When our story reopens in the month of April, 1878, great changes 
 — almost cataclysms — have occurred in Europe. The Treaty of San 
 Stefano has been signed, and the Powers, walking to the enormity of 
 its conditions, are preparing for the Congress of Berlin. What might 
 have been the end of the Turko-Russian war of 1877-78 had the 
 Flying Legion succeeded in reaching Osman Pasha, it is impossible to 
 surmise. The dispersal of that mysterious organization seemed to 
 mark the turning-point of the war. Osman's last supplies reached 
 him from Sofia in November, and on the 9th of December, driven to 
 despair, he made his heroic and historic sortie, which would have 
 undoubtedly been successful had not treachery from within the bastions 
 of Plevna apprised Todleben of his intention, and enabled the 
 Russian general, at the cost of the Siberian regiment, to force the sur- 
 render, with all the honors of war, of the greatest soldier that Turkey 
 had known since the days of Mahmoud the Reformer. New Year's 
 day, 1878, saw Gourko across the Etropol Balkans, and on Twelfth- 
 Night he supped in Sofia. At the end of the month Adrianople was 
 reached, and a British fleet entered the Bosphorus under a protest 
 which England's Greatest Statesman utterly disregarded. 
 
 In this way was Constantinople saved the ignominy of becoming a 
 Russian watering-place. 
 
 Meanwhile, the actors in our drama had reassembled in London, 
 where the last act was to be played out. Goddard had recovered from 
 the effects of his wound only after months of patient nursing on the 
 part of his soul's idol. Lord Arlingford had returned to town, and 
 Prince Schouloff, present ostensibly on diplomatic service, was shift- 
 ing the strings of the web he had drawn around his victim, from 
 finger to finger, as the development of events required. 
 
 Our story reopens in the little drawing-room of Mrs. Bradley 
 Dashton's cosey maisonnette in Mayfair. Two men are present, one 
 Vol. XLIII.— 25 
 
386 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 pacing irritably up and down, the othen comfortably ensconced in an 
 arm-chair. 
 
 The first is Viscount Arlingford, the second is that promising sol- 
 dier of the array of financial martyrs, Major Homer Carteret. Lord 
 Arlingford comes suddenly to a full stop. 
 
 " Why the deuce," says he, "did you let Emily come back to Eng- 
 land, least of all at this most critical juncture? You know how im- 
 petuous she is, and among the ways out of our present difficulties you 
 know very well that there is no choice." 
 
 " And you know very well, my dear Arlingford, that I can't 
 control her any more than you can. She appeared to come to the 
 decision in an instant, and declined to allow me to argue the point. 
 I've always warned you that she would be dangerous if the spirit so 
 moved her, and yet you allowed the Briggs affair to get into print. 
 Indeed, it was sheer folly of you to make the running in that direction 
 at all." 
 
 " You put the case charmingly, my dear Carteret, only you seem to 
 forget that at the time I went for the little Briggs there was no other 
 course open, — indeed, that it is only within the last twenty-four hours 
 that circumstances have permitted me to drop her out at all. Another 
 trifle that you overlook is that neither you nor I could have foreseen 
 the extraordinary turn affairs have taken. I shall be able now to pay 
 all my debts and start for Algiers as soon as possible." 
 
 " That is, supposing Emily to be tractable." 
 
 " You leave me to manage her : she's not likely to give me much 
 trouble. What a time she is ! I shall be late. I promised to go 
 and look at a horse : they tell me he's a clipper, and up to my weight, 
 — can jump anything. Look here ! I wish you'd go down to Rice's and 
 tell him I can't come till to-morrow, but that if his horse is all he 
 says he is, I'll take him." 
 
 " But I thought you said you were going to Algiers ?" remarked 
 Major Carteret, with an interrogative inflection. 
 
 " Yes, so I am. But I fancy I can win a bit steeple-chasing be- 
 fore I go. Featherstone, who's ordered out to India, has offered me a 
 couple of horses that have been running wonderfully well at some of 
 the small meetings. He only wants three hundred and fifty pounds 
 for 'em, — dirt-cheap. The three will do me very well ; and when I go 
 I'll give you the lot, if you like, and you can hunt this year." 
 
 " Thanks, old man," replied Carteret, rising. " I'll go and inspect 
 my future property; but, egad! I'm afraid my creditors will do most 
 of the hunting." 
 
 " Oh ! all right. Say they're still mine. Good-by. Be in time 
 to-night." 
 
 " Yes. Good-by." 
 
 And his lordship was left alone. Not for long, however, for a 
 moment later Mrs. Dashton entered the room. 
 
 " Aren't you glad to see me, Jack ?" she said, advancing with both 
 hands outstretched. " I've so much to forgive you that — I daren't 
 begin. Suppose I absolve you blind, without going into the details. 
 Tell me, weren't you surprised to know that I was here ?" 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 387 
 
 " Yes, — deucedly surprised. And I wish you hadn't come." 
 
 " How horrid of you to say that ! and it's such a long time since 
 I've seen you, too, you bad boy!5i 
 
 She had come up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders 
 as he sat. He disengaged himself a trifle impatiently. 
 
 " My dear girl," he said, " I wish you wouldn't do this. You 
 know it bores me. You shouldn't have come over : you'll upset all 
 my plans. Why didn't you stop in Paris?" 
 
 " Because I am fool enough to care for you, and weak enough to 
 believe you cared a little for me. But don't place too much reliance 
 on my folly. I tell you, Jack, that the day I make up my mind that 
 you mean to throw me over, it will be a bad day for you !" She had 
 come close to him, and her tone changed from one of intense earnest- 
 ness to one of ugly cynicism. " I'm afraid you'll make me lose my 
 temper. Don't ! I'm not nice when I'm angry." 
 
 " Now, look here, Emily : this tragic tone is out of place. You 
 know it's no use acting with me." 
 
 " When I do act with you, it will be forcibly enough to claim your 
 attention ; but before that happens, I want you to explain one or two 
 things. I came here expecting that you would be glad to see me. I 
 didn't believe the stories I heard about an American girl ; and now I 
 want to know from you how much truth there was in them. That you 
 would be unscrupulous enough to deceive me I don't doubt, but that 
 you would be fool enough to arouse my enmity I doubt very much. 
 But, bah ! I didn't come to England to threaten. Are you going to 
 marry the girl ?" 
 
 " No !" 
 
 Mrs. Dashton heaved a sigh of relief. 
 
 "Ah! I was sure of you," she said. "Why do you try to make 
 me jealous? You shouldn't do it, Jack, — you shouldn't do it. Well, 
 the trouble of the journey is well repaid, now that the suspense is 
 over. Of course I knew it wasn't true; yet I couldn't rest until I 
 was sure." 
 
 " Now, look here, Emily," exclaimed Arlingford, rising to his feet : 
 "let us put an end to this. I'm going back to my wife." 
 
 " What ! You're not in earnest?" 
 
 " I am, — perfectly." 
 
 "Very well ! so am I. You shan't do it!" 
 
 " Don't talk nonsense, but listen to me. An aunt of my wife's has 
 left her her fortune and advised her to make friends with me. You 
 
 penny. Now make up your mind to accept 
 go to Paris as soon as I can ; meanwhile, I'll see you get all the money 
 
 you want " 
 
 " Do you suppose," broke in the woman indignantly, " that I am 
 the kind of woman to be ordered about? — to be a pensioner on your 
 wife's bounty? Undeceive yourself! It's your turn to listen tome. 
 I would have endured any privation for you and with you — for love. 
 That is over : you make it a business transaction. Very well : you 
 
388 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 must accept my terms. I have disgraced myself long enough for you. 
 You will marry me." 
 
 " Don't be a fool," was the brutal response. " One must draw the 
 line somewhere, and I couldn't fly in the face of the world as far as that. 
 I have a few friends I must consider, and " 
 
 " So ! I am not good enough for you, — you, who cannot enter a 
 decent house in England, — you, the sharper, — the thief! Do you 
 forget I know how you ruined Goddard?" 
 
 " I don't care a damn what you know. I was willing to take care 
 of you ; you refuse help. Soil ! A woman who lets a married man 
 make love to her always gets the worst of it in the long run. I am 
 going to become respectable, and in five years no one will remember 
 that I was ever anything else. You might have known, as I didn't 
 ask you to come, that I didn't want you " 
 
 He was cut short by the entrance of a servant with a note. Mrs. 
 Dashton tore it open and glanced through it, visibly excited. Hastily 
 writing a few words at her escritoire, she handed the -answer to the ser- 
 vant, who left the room. Mrs. Dashton appeared to have recovered 
 all her composure. 
 
 "T thought we knew each other pretty well," she said, "but it 
 appears that we are both destined to make discoveries. Your new fad 
 for respectability is a little startling. My determination may be 
 equally astonishing. I simply decline to take the place you assign 
 to me." 
 
 " My dear Emily, the great charm about you icas, that you were so 
 thoroughly sensible. You are not like yourself to-day. I've told you 
 what I mean to do." 
 
 "In other words, you defy me. Now I'll tell you what J mean to 
 do. I can't make you marry me, but you certainly shan't marry any- 
 body else. I have helped you in your dirty work, I have done things 
 for your sake that no money in the world would have induced me to 
 do, and if you suppose that you can calmly say, ■ Good-by, I've no 
 further use for you,' and expect that that is the end, you are vastly 
 mistaken. So your idea of a sensible woman — such as you are good 
 enough to call me — is one who is always ready to subscribe to your 
 pleasure or income as necessity demands? So long as her sen.se is 
 used for your benefit, she is charming, but you are always surprised 
 when she exerts it in her own behalf. I will be sensible, and mind you 
 don't regret it. So I am to wander away an outcast, — declassee, — whilst 
 you become a respectable member of society? Charming !" 
 
 As she spoke, Lord Arlingford had risen, and, taking his hat and 
 cane, had moved to the door. Seeing him on the point of departure, 
 she ran to him and flung her arms about him. 
 
 " Oh, Jack, Jack," she cried, "don't go like that ! I was only des- 
 perate. Say you did not mean what you said. You don't really mean 
 to throw me over, after all your promises?" 
 
 " I've said all I have to say," answered the man, roughly. " Let 
 me go. You know ' scenes' bore me. Let me go, I say !" 
 
 He flung her from him, and went out. Her foot catching on 
 some piece of furniture, she fell heavily to the ground. For a moment 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 389 
 
 she lay as if dazed ; then a great sob escaped her, and with difficulty 
 she rose and staggered to her writing-table. Her eyes fell upon the 
 note that lay where she had left it. 
 
 " Ah, Jack," she said, aloud, " if you had known who was waiting 
 an answer to this letter, you would have been more — more discreet." 
 
 She touched a bell, and the next moment Captain Aubyn Goddard 
 entered the room. 
 
 " I am glad you are here," she said, recovering herself as she went 
 to meet him. " You have been very kind to me, — much kinder than 
 I deserve, for until this moment I had no intention of repaying you." 
 
 "Poor old lady!" answered Goddard, soothingly. "Why, how 
 upset you are! What has happened? Can I do anything to help 
 you ?" 
 
 " Always the same kindly sympathy, Aubyn. How good you are ! 
 I see by this note you came over to get a confession from Jack Arling- 
 ford. You want my help. You value this vindication very much, do 
 you not?" 
 
 " Of course I do. Until his confession is obtained, there may be 
 those who doubt me ; and, more than the opinion of all, there is one 
 whose faith in me must be justified. There is to be a meeting to-night 
 at Briggs's to endeavor to bring it about, and you can help it, I know. 
 You've known me for years, old girl, and you know I was innocent, 
 don't you ?" 
 
 " More ! I will prove it. But you must go now, for I expect a 
 visitor. Give me the address of your friend where the explanation 
 is to take place, and you shall have proof, — all the proof you want. 
 And don't judge me too harshly for my share in the matter : I have 
 had but one excuse, — I did it for him. And just now he struck me 
 down !— Oh !" 
 
 " He struck you !" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "My God! What a brute!" 
 
 " Never mind now : you must go. I — I am engaged. But we 
 shall meet to-night." 
 
 Goddard left her. When she was alone, she moved once more to 
 her desk, and, opening a locked drawer, took from it an envelope, at 
 which she gazed for a few moments motionless. 
 
 Then hurriedly she tore it open and took from it a playing-card. 
 
 It was the king of clubs. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE VENGEANCE OF THREE WOMEN. 
 
 As she stood looking at it, the servant entered, bearing a card on a 
 salver. She took it up with an air of lazy indifference which quickly 
 changed to one of strong emotion. 
 
 " Lady Arlingford !" she exclaimed ; then, turning to the servant, 
 she added, " You did not say that I was in ?" 
 
390 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " No, ma'am," answered the domestic. " I said that I would see." 
 
 " Say, not at home." Then, as the servant was leaving the room, 
 she added, " Stay !" 
 
 She stood, twirling the piece of pasteboard in her fingers. 
 
 " What can she want of me, — that woman, — here in my house ?" 
 Then, apparently making up her mind, she hastily concealed the play- 
 ing-card in the bosom of her dress, and said, " Show her in." 
 
 Lady Arlingford entered the room, and the two women bowed with- 
 out speaking. 
 
 " You are surprised to see me," said Lady Arlingford, recovering 
 herself the first. " I owe you, perhaps, an apology for intruding upon 
 you, but I felt that I must come. I — I have a favor to ask." 
 
 The concluding words were spoken with an obvious effort, and 
 Mrs. Dashton, with an inclination of her head, signified that she was 
 listening. 
 
 " You have heard that there is to be a meeting to-night for the 
 exoneration of Captain Goddard ?" said her ladyship. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " You will be there ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "I — I — you have heard that I desire to re-marry Lord Arlingford ?" 
 
 " I have heard it." 
 
 " Mrs. Dashton, it is better to speak plainly. I know that Lord 
 Arlingford's position in the matter will depend greatly on what you 
 will say. I know what your feelings under the circumstances must be. 
 I hope — I believe — that he will make every possible reparation. I 
 have come to beg that you will hold your hand so far as you can." 
 
 "What do you wish me to do?" 
 
 "Am I right in supposing that your evidence can ruin his lord- 
 ship? — I mean, in the matter of the card ?" 
 
 For all answer Mrs. Bradley Dashton slowly drew the king of 
 clubs from its resting-place and laid it on the table. 
 
 As Lady Arlingford's eyes fell upon it, she exclaimed, — 
 
 " It is as I feared. I have come to beg that you will not confront 
 him with that card. It will be ray care that Captain Goddard shall 
 produce the card which he actually held, — the one on which I wrote. 
 Will you not be merciful? — will you not shield my husband so far as 
 not to add this horrible evidence to mine?" 
 
 "Lady Arlingford," returned Mrs. Dashton, "you have been frank 
 with me; I will be equally so with you. An hour ago I would have 
 guarded this card with my life; but within this hour things have 
 altered." 
 
 " But surely " 
 
 " No ! let me think." 
 
 Her reflections were interrupted by the re-entrance of the servant. 
 
 " The Baroness Altdorff is below," said he to his mistress, in a 
 low tone. 
 
 " Ask her to come here," said Mrs. Dashton ; then, turning to the 
 suppliant woman before her, she said, — 
 
 " A lady is below, who calls by appointment. On what she will 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 391 
 
 say my decision must in a great measure depend. If you will step 
 into this next room, I will tell you what that decision is when she 
 has left me." 
 
 " You say that she can influence you : will you not let me try to 
 influence her? A woman should be merciful to one of her sex." 
 
 " Perhaps. At present I cannot tell. Step in here, however, and 
 in ten minutes you shall know." 
 
 There was no time for parley, and the Countess of Arlingford stepped 
 into the adjoining boudoir. Mrs. Bradley Dashton stood looking at the 
 card that lay upon the table. 
 
 "Ah," said she, as if apostrophizing the pasteboard, "I wonder 
 into whose hands you will eventually fall? Those two men and that 
 woman who have just left this room would give a good deal for you, 
 and Bella-Demonia wants you more than either of them. Ah, baroness, 
 you want my assistance in unmasking Lord Arlingford ! You little 
 know how much I can serve you, and how willingly I will do so." 
 
 The next moment Bella-Demonia was announced. 
 
 " You are punctual, baroness," said Mrs. Dashton, coming forward. 
 " That is good, for it seems we have much to do. You will believe, I 
 am sure, that I appreciate the confidence you have reposed in me, and 
 I will justify it." 
 
 " You have already justified it by guarding the secret of Captain 
 Goddard's identity with the Turkish general who reached the Villa 
 Kristov Hisar just before you left us." 
 
 " But I never knew it until after Lord Arlingford had left me in 
 Paris and returned to London." 
 
 " It was as well, we thought, that you should get some suspicion 
 of what kind of man this Arlingford really is, before you knew so im- 
 portant a secret. You know, we women, when we love " 
 
 " Yes, yes ; I know all that you would say. Your letter of yester- 
 day tells me I can help you further." 
 
 " Yes ; and I trust we may count upon you ?" 
 
 " I know what you want, and — yes, you may count upon me. I 
 will meet you to-night at Mr. Briggs's in Hereford Street at nine 
 o'clock, and, believe me, Goddard will have no more valuable ally 
 there than Emily Dashton." 
 
 " I supposed," said Bella-Demonia, " that I should have had a hard 
 fight to gain your aid. I will not ask why you are so unexpectedly 
 won over, but I want you to know that my gratitude shall be no empty 
 form of words. I will endeavor to prove to you how I value your 
 sacrifice. May I speak frankly?" 
 
 Mrs. Dashton had seated herself in the low arm-chair, and bowed 
 her head silently. The other woman continued: 
 
 " Captaiu Goddard's vindication must be in a great measure due to 
 you and what you will say. I know that the words which will give 
 joy to us will bring pain and grief to you. Mrs. Dashton, I can't be 
 a humbug, and it is not for me to preach to you. The part you have 
 played in the drama which is to end to-night will cost you many a 
 pang. You are a woman, alone in your struggle with life. I should 
 like you to feel that you can always count on one woman who will 
 
392 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 sympathize with, will assist, and, if necessary, protect you, and that 
 that woman is she whom you have known as Bella-Demonia." 
 
 Mrs. Dashton had not raised her eyes. 
 
 " Don't give me too much credit for speaking the truth to-night." 
 
 " I can see that you are much upset. Let me beg you to take a 
 little rest now. I will send my carriage for you at nine o'clock." 
 
 " Thank you. I will be ready." 
 
 "I suppose I am right in thinking that you still possess the card 
 that Lord Arlingford gave you to conceal, — to destroy ?" 
 
 Mrs. Dashton pointed to the table. n 
 
 " There it is !" she said. 
 
 "Ah! you will give it me?" said Bella-Demonia, eagerly. 
 
 Mrs. Dashton smiled. 
 
 " In that room a woman awaits your departure to renew a re- 
 quest she has made to me. She also desires this card, that she may 
 destroy it." 
 
 " A woman ? — who ?" 
 
 " The Countess of Arlingford." 
 
 "No? I am most anxious to meet Lady Arlingford in this way, 
 informally," said she, eagerly. " You would oblige me very much by 
 asking her to come in here, and by presenting us to each other." 
 
 " I should like to do as you wish, but I am afraid to trust myself 
 in such a meeting." 
 
 "If you will do as I ask and make some excuse to leave us together 
 for a short time, I promise you that you shall be spared the embarrass- 
 ment of ever meeting her again." 
 
 " You are mysterious as usual, baroness, but I know if you promise, 
 that you can perform, and I will do as you wish. Is there anything in 
 particular that you wish me to say ?" 
 
 " No ; only, as soon as you can, make some excuse and leave us." 
 
 " Certainly. And by what name do you wish me to present you ?" 
 
 " By my own." 
 
 " The Baroness Altdorff ?" 
 
 " No ; the Princess Galitzin." 
 
 " What !" 
 
 "That is my real name, which you and Prince Schouloff alone 
 have heard." 
 
 There was no time to express her surprise, as Mrs. Dashton opened 
 the door of the boudoir and the Countess of Arlingford entered the 
 room. 
 
 "Lady Arlingford," said Mrs, Dashton, "let me present you to a 
 friend. The Princess Galitzin — Lady Arlingford." 
 
 The two women bowed to each other. 
 
 "I must be going immediately," said Bella-Demonia. "I think 
 my carriage must be back." 
 
 " If you will excuse me, I will go and see," said Mrs. Dashton. 
 " I have some orders to give." 
 
 And she left them together. 
 
 "I think, Lady Arlingford," began the Princess Galitzin, "that 
 we have a mutual friend in Captain Goddard. I may tell you that I 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 393 
 
 shall be present at the meeting which is to take place to-night. It will 
 be painful to you, but at least it will have the advantage of proving the 
 innocence of our friend." 
 
 "You know him? Oh, I am so glad!" replied Lady Arlingford. 
 "I think he is the embodiment of all that is honest and true in man. 
 I had, alas! the misfortune of doing him the greatest wrong that was 
 ever done " 
 
 " I am sure you exaggerate your share," put in the princess, gently. 
 
 "Of course I was innocent of the intention, but the result is the 
 same. It seems so hard that after bearing my burden for so long I 
 should have broken down at that moment, as you know. Just as I 
 was about to tell how I had given him the card, I became insensible. 
 I never shall forget the horror of that moment. I could have exonerated 
 Aubvn with a word, and that word I could not speak. I tried — I 
 fought, it seemed to me, for hours, till the blank of insensibility came 
 over me. Oh, it was cruel !" 
 
 "Are you not afraid of overtaxing your strength, Lady Arlingford ? 
 Would it not be wiser to avoid such an explanation as must take place 
 to-night? Your friends might represent you, and save you much 
 pain." 
 
 " No, I must be present, for a reason so strong that nothing can 
 overcome it. It is not alone to vindicate my old friend that I go. I 
 go to intercede for one who will find no defenders, — one who I feel is 
 so alone that his need has won my sympathy, — my husband !" 
 
 " You can plead for him? But he is no longer your husband : you 
 are divorced." 
 
 "He is my child's father: what divorce of law can alter that? 
 You will think that I am very weak, but I have my own opinions. 
 There is nothing of the Bohemian in my disposition." 
 
 " Bohemian ! May I ask what you call ' Bohemian' ? You do not 
 answer. Let me define it for you. It is something distinct from 'a 
 lady.' A lady means one who is well born, tenderly nurtured, care- 
 fully educated ; always placed — that is, presumably placed — beyond the 
 knowledge of evil, she is sheltered from contact with the sufferings 
 and sorrows of her less fortunate sisters. The woman who enjoys these 
 advantages is called a lady, — a title which signifies, not the individual, 
 but the manner of her training. A Bohemian, as you intend it, means 
 one who is outside the pale of respectability, an object of suspicion, 
 one whom you only consent to meet when she can be of service to you. 
 Yet I have known many ' ladies' the names of whose lovers are better 
 known than the inner life of the reigning Bohemian. You would be 
 surprised to know that Bohemians look down on certain sections of 
 ' society' in amazement and pity." 
 
 " You have evidently made your experiences in unfortunate ex- 
 amples," replied Lady Arlingford. "Do you not believe that there 
 are ladies who are good women?" 
 
 "God forbid that I should not ! There is a sweet old-world title 
 that brings to my mind all that is noble and good in womanhood, — a 
 title that lives in my heart, shrouded in reverence, — a title that fits the 
 beings who have rendered the name of mother sacred. That title is 
 
394 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 ' gentlewoman.' That title I believe in, and it is found in Bohemia as 
 well as in society." 
 
 " These are strange expressions for the Princess Galitzin, who can 
 know but little of these people except by force of imagination." 
 
 " You are mistaken. My flag bears the red and white of Bohemia, 
 and has seen good service, believe me. Perhaps you will understand 
 me better if I tell you that I am called Bella-Demonia" 
 
 " Bella-Demonia !" Lady Arlingford had risen to her feet. 
 
 "You appear shocked," said the Princess Galitzin. 
 
 " I am a little startled, I confess. I was not prepared to meet so — 
 so — public — a character." 
 
 " And you would not have cared to meet me, if you had known 
 who I was. Would you?" 
 
 " I will admit — as I do not share your opinions — that I should 
 have refused to meet the bearer of the name ' Bella-Demonia :' a meet- 
 ing would not be pleasant for either of us. Still, I feel bound to say 
 that you are quite different from what I should have expected." 
 
 " Thank you for your generous admission : you are good enough 
 to imply that there is nothing in my appearance or manner to deprive 
 me of the inestimable boon of at least looking presentable. You are a 
 good woman and capable of noble impulses, but charity for your fellow- 
 women seems to be no part of your creed. Is it ignorance or intoler- 
 ance that makes you condemn without even one expression of regret a 
 woman of whom you know nothing?" 
 
 "Nothing? I have heard " 
 
 " Heard ? I said Jcnoio." 
 
 "Pardon me for reminding you that you have only yourself to 
 blame for the impression formed of you. If a woman has no husband, 
 and yet " 
 
 " If respectability is based upon the possession of a husband, then 
 I am worthy of your highest esteem. Lady Arlingford, I am about 
 to tell you a story which may — I hope will — interest you." 
 
 Her ladyship bent her head, and the princess continued : 
 
 " My mother died when I was very young. I lived with my father 
 at our chateau in the province of Ladoga, alone save for the compan- 
 ionship of a young girl, the daughter of a serf mother. She was my 
 companion and friend rather than my attendant, and we were romantic 
 and impressionable, both of us. One day we had wandered far from 
 the chateau, among the woods. We were about to return home, when 
 a crashing in the bushes announced the presence of some large animal. 
 An instant later one of our mountain bears bounded into the clearing. 
 We clung to each other almost senseless with terror, when suddenly 
 we heard the report of a rifle close to us, and the beast fell dead. A 
 moment after, a man sprang through the bushes, congratulating us on 
 our escape, and apologizing for his sudden apparition and the alarm he 
 had caused us. He escorted us home, and was welcomed by my father, 
 the more warmly when it transpired that he was of good family. He 
 was an Englishman, on a hunting-tour, he said. He was staying close 
 by, and became a constant visitor at the house. The sequel is — banale. 
 I fancied myself in love. My brother, to whom the stranger was 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 395 
 
 personally antipathetic, had contracted a secret marriage with my late 
 companion, and they had gone to Petersburg, where my brother was 
 commissioned in our Regiment of the Transfiguration. Left alone, 
 we were not long in following my brother's example : we were married 
 secretly, on account of my father, whose pride of race was worthy of a 
 Galitzin, and in the winter the family moved to Petersburg. There my 
 brother's suspicions were aroused, and, determined to drive this English- 
 man from Petersburg, he sought an opportunity of quarrelling with him. 
 One night there was a terrible scandal at the Club. My brother accused 
 my husband of cheating, and a meeting was arranged. Late that night 
 he caused my brother's arrest. Oh, in my unhappy country it is not 
 difficult to rob a man of liberty and even life on the merest suspicion ! 
 I will spare you my tears, my distraction, and give you the facts briefly. 
 I learnt that my brother had been denounced by my husband. He was 
 doomed. I never saw him again : he died. When it is inconvenient 
 to substantiate a charge against a political prisoner in Russia, he has a 
 convenient way of dying. From that moment I had but one thought, 
 but one passion, — revenge ! My husband was expelled the country, 
 and on the frontier his carriage was wrecked by bandits, and himself 
 — as I thought — assassinated. I sought oblivion of my wrongs and 
 plunged into the sea of politics. I became Prince Schouloff's most 
 able lieutenant. In a word, I became ' Bella-Dernouia.' My despera- 
 tion made me famous ; but, though employed by the government, my 
 sympathies were always with the oppressed, and many a life have I 
 saved when it has been to all intents and purposes doomed. But why 
 continue? Even such feverish excitement as mine becomes weari- 
 some, and just when I was most weary I met Captain Goddard. For 
 the first time I felt glad that I had been spared the commission of a 
 crime, that my hands were innocent of my husband's blood." 
 
 As she finished speaking, Lady Arlingford rose. 
 
 " You have forced me to listen to a discourse," said she, coldly, 
 " that cannot possibly concern me and can only be painful to yourself." 
 
 " You will change your opinion," answered the Princess Galitzin. 
 " I told you this story to illustrate the point of our discussion. I tell 
 you it is well for you that all people do not gauge a woman's virtue 
 by the possession of a husband j for you have never had one, and are 
 unfortunate enough to be the mother of a child not born in wedlock." 
 
 " I ! How dare you " 
 
 " How dare I ? Why, the man who murdered my brother and 
 with him his wife and unborn child, the man whom I hounded hungry 
 for his life, is alive ! Because the man you think to be your husband 
 is mine!" 
 
 " My God ! it is not true ! — it cannot be true !" 
 
 " I tell you that the man who robbed me of name and dignity, of 
 my very birthright of gentlewoman, who made of me a character for 
 such women as you to sneer at, is alive. He was John Yyvian Fane; 
 he is Viscount Arlingford." 
 
 " Ah, you are only saying this because I offended you. I did not 
 mean to be so cruel. See, I kneel to you to ask you for the truth. 
 Will you swear to me that what you have said is true or untrue?" 
 
396 
 
 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " It is true, so help me God ! And I will prove it." 
 When Mrs. Dash ton entered the room, Lady Arlingford lay sense- 
 less at the feet of the princess. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 WEAVING THE WEB. 
 
 When, half an hour later, the Princess Galitzin entered her rooms 
 at her hotel, she foimd Prince Schouloff seated, patiently awaiting her 
 arrival. 
 
 " I came to tell you," said he, rising to meet her as she entered, 
 " that there are new complications, of which you are ignorant, and 
 which it would be well for you to know." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " Lord Arlingford's position with regard to his wife is considerably 
 altered since yesterday." 
 
 " I think not." 
 
 Schouloff looked at her critically for a moment, and then resumed : 
 
 " I learn that her ladyship is willing to forget and forgive every- 
 thing, and proposes to be re-married to him." 
 
 " You are wrong in your facts, prince," answered she, with a hardly 
 perceptible smile. " Lady Arlingford is not willing to forget or to for- 
 give, and she has no intention of re-marrying him, for she has never 
 been divorced." 
 
 For a brief moment it flashed across the prince that the woman's 
 mind was wandering; but, if so, her placid smile belied the fact. He 
 contented himself with answering simply, — 
 
 " I do not understand you : you speak in riddles." 
 
 " Of which you would like to have the solution." 
 
 "Where is that solution to be obtained?" queried the prince, 
 patiently. 
 
 " Why, of Lady Arlingford, of course." 
 
 " I should like to see her," said Schouloff, reflectively. " Do you 
 think she can receive me at this time ?" 
 
 " I am sure she will be charmed, prince." 
 
 " And where is she now ? — can you tell me ?" 
 
 " Here." 
 
 "Here! Where?" 
 
 " In this room, — before you." 
 
 " In heaven's name, what do you mean ?" 
 
 " I am she." 
 
 The words were said simply as the princess dropped into a chair. 
 
 For a minute not a word was said. Then the prince sprang to his 
 feet and exclaimed, — 
 
 " I see it all ! You married this man in Russia, did you not?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " It was thus that he had access to your apartments and stole — my 
 letter?" 
 
 " Exactly." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 397 
 
 " Does any one else know of this ? Of course not." 
 
 " Yes. I have seen the woman he pretended to marry this after- 
 noon, and I told her. It was time." 
 
 " How did she take it ?" 
 
 " As you might suppose." 
 
 " Well, what are you going to do about it?" 
 
 " It is the last weapon I hold in reserve to compel Arlingford to con- 
 fess his share in the plot that ruined Goddard. Until that confession 
 is obtained, I hold my rights over his head. Once Goddard is free, the 
 annulment of our marriage is an easy task ; the time that has elapsed, 
 the circumstances, — everything will assist; and you would require no 
 assistance." 
 
 The prince had been standing staring into the fireplace. Now he 
 turned, and, looking her full in the eyes, he said, calmly, — 
 
 " And then ?" 
 
 She blushed violently, and answered not a word. 
 
 "Never mind," continued the prince. "I have shown you that I 
 have your happiness, rather than mine, at heart: I will prove it yet 
 further to you. We shall meet at Mr. Briggs's at half-past nine. In 
 spite of the snares we have tangled around the feet of Arlingford, he 
 may yet brazen his way out, at least temporarily. I will come prepared 
 with the last and most coercive resource, which we have in the Russian 
 police." 
 
 "You will dare? — here in England?" 
 
 "You forget that John Vyvian Fane was a duly-enrolled member 
 of the Third Section ?" 
 
 " Forget it !" 
 
 "Well, though no formal extradition treaty exists, the arm of His 
 Majesty the Tzar is long enough to reach his servants, wherever they 
 may be. Leave it to me." 
 
 " Willingly. Till to-night, then ?" 
 
 " Au revair." 
 
 CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 
 
 It was shortly after eight o'clock, and Mr. Cincinnatus Q. Briggs 
 sat at his table in the library of his house in Hereford Street, busily 
 engaged in writing. 
 
 From the point of view of the ordinary English novelist, whose 
 knowledge of the American gentleman is bounded on the East by his 
 steamer acquaintance with the travelling salesman and on the West by 
 the charming stories of Bret Harte, added to the occasional " gun" stories 
 of more or less inventive bar-room loafers, whose daily bread — or, more 
 accurately speaking, whose daily whiskey — is obtained by their ability 
 to amuse the crowd, Mr. Cincinnatus Q. Briggs was a most disappoint- 
 ing American. His rooms were furnished with the tasteful simplicity 
 of a scholarly traveller's den. The carpets were unsullied by promis- 
 cuous expectoration, the walls were decorated with a few proof etchings 
 
398 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 and here and there a masterpiece in aquarelle ; there were no carica- 
 tures of colored deacons, nor were there portraits of fast trotters and 
 the whiskers of Mr. Vanderbilt to be seen. With the exception of a 
 small revolver which lay in one of the pigeon-holes of the desk, there 
 was not a " gun" of any kind to be found, the arms and legs of the 
 furniture had not been whittled into fanciful designs under the bowie 
 of their owner, and the paraphernalia of cocktail-manufacture were 
 conspicuous by their absence. 
 
 Mr. Briggs laid down his pen, and, leaning back in his chair, — 
 which, by the bye, he did not tilt upon its hinder legs, — took up the 
 letter which he had just completed. 
 
 " I think that this will do," said he to himself, as he read over his 
 composition : 
 
 " My dear Mr. Saville, — 
 
 " I regret to say that Lord Arlingford refuses to avail himself of 
 the opportunity of flight. He has evidently some strong weapon in 
 reserve. He means to fight ; and, unless yours are stronger, I fear my 
 stupid cousin will succeed in ruining her life. He is a clever scoundrel, 
 and has adopted the surest means of making her his defender, by affect- 
 ing to confide in her all that is detrimental to him, and so cutting the 
 ground from under every one else's feet. I send you this as arranged, 
 that you may bring all your batteries to bear at once. I expect Lord 
 Arlingford at any moment. 
 
 " Faithfully yours, 
 
 " Cincinnatus Q. Briggs." 
 
 He put this letter into an envelope, and, addressing it to Dick 
 Saville at Claridge's, touched a bell. 
 
 " See that this goes at once," said he to the servant who appeared at 
 the sound of the bell and took the letter. This done, the American 
 turned once more to his papers. 
 
 " Let me see," soliloquized he : " where is that girl's letter ? Ah ! 
 here it is. My dear cousin, — You are very kind, but I am quite old 
 enough to take care of myself. — Yes, quite old enough, but, unfortu- 
 nately, neither ugly nor poor enough. — If I had wanted you to take 
 care of me, I should have married you years ago. — How devilish cruel a 
 woman can be when she thinks fit ! — / don't like to say hard things of 
 a woman, but I am sorry to say I cannot sympathize with the lady who 
 was Lord Arlingford' s wife, — you surprise me, my dear cousin ! — and 
 I must take his word before hers, — naturally, poor little girl ! Urn — m. 
 That young woman means business : we Briggs's generally do. It's 
 lucky for her I came to Europe when I did ; otherwise she'd have flung 
 herself away on this fellow to a certainty. But I think, my lord Ar- 
 lingford, that you have reached the end of your rope, and I'll lay odds 
 that it isn't from any scruple of your own that it doesn't hang you. 
 Well, I came to Europe for excitement, and, egad ! I'm likely to get a 
 genteel sufficiency of it to-night. Thanks to you, my lord, I witnessed 
 the beginning, and am about to witness the end, of one of the liveliest 
 sensations that London has known for a good many years." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 399 
 
 At this point Mr. Briggs's soliloquy was interrupted by the en- 
 trance of a servant announcing Dick Saville. 
 
 " Mr. Saville !" exclaimed Briggs, " delighted to see you. You're 
 early ; but you can't have got my letter yet ?" 
 
 " Letter ?" replied Dick : " what letter ? No. I only dropped in 
 on my way to fetch my wife, to ask how things were going on. I 
 dined at the Club to try and find out if anything fresh had happened. 
 I've brought the papers for Arlingford to sign : here they are in 
 duplicate." 
 
 Mr. Briggs took them and glanced over one. 
 
 "I think Captain Goddard must be a remarkably forgiving man, 
 to consider such a reparation sufficient," observed he. " On my side 
 of the water a man in his position would, I fear, fill a man in Arling- 
 ford's with leaden bullets, and the jury would differ singularly on the 
 verdict to be returned." 
 
 " I said something of the sort to him," returned Saville. " But 
 he pointed out to me that there was nothing to be gained, but rather 
 the reverse, from greater publicity. All he insists upon is that Ar- 
 lingford should sign this Statutory Declaration and leave the country 
 at once." 
 
 " Do you think that he will do it?" 
 
 " I think he will ; but one can never be sure of such a blackguard. 
 I shouldn't be very much surprised if at the last moment he didn't 
 turn up." 
 
 " He told me he would be here at nine o'clock, but I confess I 
 shouldn't be astonished if he weakened at the last moment. I must 
 say, he has reduced the art of bluff to an applied science. When I 
 advised him to give up my cousin, telling him we had the means 
 to compel him to do so, his defiance was superb. I hope for all our 
 sakes that the Baroness Altdorff possesses the power she promises to 
 use with such effect. I tell you, dealing with him is no child's play ! 
 No, sir /" 
 
 " Well, I congratulate you on being quit of him as far as your 
 cousin is concerned." 
 
 "How? quit of him?" 
 
 "Yes," replied Saville: "owing to very singular circumstances, 
 he will make no further attempt to marry her." 
 
 " Is that really so? And these circumstances are ?" 
 
 " Eight thousand a year ! Did you ever remark, Mr. Briggs, that 
 the greatest scoundrels always get the best kind of love, and that a 
 certain kind of good woman will cling to the man she has chosen — in 
 the face of every reason why she should not — with a strength that she 
 would display in no other cause? Well, such a woman is Lady Ar- 
 lingford. She insists on going back to him." 
 
 " No !" 
 
 " It is so nevertheless. She has come into eight thousand a year, 
 and proposes to invest it in Arlingford and connubial respectability. 
 This relieves you of all personal anxiety. Lady Arlingford is ready 
 to leave England with him. It only remains for us to see that he 
 signs this document." 
 
400 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 " And when will the Baroness — Bella-Demonia — arrive ?" 
 
 " In good time. She is a capricious mystery, that woman, but her 
 power is enormous. She demands that we unquestioningly submit to 
 her instructions to-night. She refuses to tell us what power she holds 
 over Arlingford, and exacts a meeting with Lady Arlingford before 
 her identity is made known. Altogether, the evening promises to be 
 eventful. By Jove ! it's time I ran round for my wife. Au revoir ! 
 I'll be back inside a quarter of an hour." 
 
 And Dick Saville left the room. As he did so, the servant entered 
 with a card, which Briggs read, an expression of perplexity crossing 
 his face. 
 
 "Carteret?" he said, — " Major Homer Carteret? The name seems 
 somehow familiar, but I can't place the man." 
 
 " The gentleman said he would be much obliged if you could see 
 him for one moment," said the servant. 
 
 " Well, for one moment — show him up." 
 
 Major Carteret swung into the room on his best stride. 
 
 " I must apologize for calling at this unseemly hour," said he. " You 
 don't remember me, Mr. Briggs. We met at Lord Arlingford's — er — 
 some time ago." 
 
 " No apology is necessary," replied Mr. Briggs, gravely. " I re- 
 member perfectly. Pray be seated. Er — you wished to see me ?" 
 
 " It is by Lord Arlingford's request that I am here. I came to say 
 that he cannot be here so soon as he anticipated. Most important busi- 
 ness " 
 
 "So I expected," interrupted Briggs. "I think it very judi- 
 cious " 
 
 "Pardon me, Mr. Briggs," interrupted the major, in turn, "you 
 are mistaken. The business that detains Lord Arlingford is as unex- 
 pected as it is urgent, — so urgent that he was unable to keep his ap- 
 pointment with me at the Club : he sent me a line asking me particularly 
 to come here at once, fearing that you might misconstrue his absence. 
 Erghem ! I am very glad to have this opportunity of talking over 
 this unhappy affair. I saw Lady Arlingford yesterday afternoon, and 
 after we had discussed the matter she decided to make Arlingford an 
 offer which I shall advise him to accept." 
 
 " May I ask if the offer concerns me in any way ?" observed Mr. 
 Briggs. 
 
 " Most certainly. Her ladyship's offer will cause Lord Arlingford 
 to resign Miss Briggs's hand. Erghem ! I have always had a great 
 regard for Lady Arlingford, and it is her wish to re-marry her ex- 
 husband." 
 
 " I have heard something of this a few moments ago." 
 
 " She looks upon it as the right thing to do for the child's sake, and, 
 though I don't profess to be better than my neighbor, I must say that 
 I agree with her." 
 
 And the major inflated his chest till he looked like a police-sergeant. 
 
 " I believe," said Mr. Briggs, drily, " that the amount of Lady 
 Arlingford's income through the recent death of her aunt is now eight 
 thousand a year. Am I not accurate, Major Carteret ?" 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 401 
 
 "Quite; but- 
 
 " As Lord Arlingford's./WewcZ," pursued the American, in the same 
 tone, "you understand, of course, that on the interview of to-night 
 depend his personal liberty, and, consequently, his ability to accept his 
 late wife's offer." 
 
 "His liberty?" 
 
 " He will have to make full confession of his share in the conspiracy 
 by which Captain Goddard was ruined. Er — please be seated. We 
 shall spare Lady Arlingford as much as possible, but Captain Goddard's 
 vindication is the first consideration. Frankly, if he refuses we shall 
 convict him — and his accomplices — of conspiracy and criminal libel. 
 Er — please be seated. I have been drawn into this matter by my 
 cousin's unfortunate infatuation for Lord Arlingford." 
 
 " Mr. Briggs," replied the major, " I — I feel it is only due to my- 
 self to say that though I am, as you observe, Lord Arlingford's friend, 
 I am deeply grieved at the part he took in that unfortunate business." 
 
 "I expected as much, and I am sure you are. Your good feeling 
 in the matter simplifies a request I am about to make. Er — we are 
 perfectly prepared to do without your testimony against him, but it 
 might hasten matters to have it. How much do you want for it?" 
 
 Mr. Briggs leaned back complacently as Major Carteret sprang to 
 his feet. 
 
 " Sir !" shouted he, " how dare you ? I — er — er Five hun- 
 dred pounds." 
 
 " Please be seated." 
 
 The major sat down. 
 
 "You shall have that amount to-night after the meeting. For the 
 present, good-evening. You will be back in half an hour, if you 
 please." 
 
 " Certainly," replied the warrior, and, taking his hat, he took with 
 it his departure. 
 
 Mr. Briggs looked after him for a moment, his head slightly on one 
 side. 
 
 Then he carefully selected a cigarette, which he thoughtfully lit. 
 Then, walking to the fireplace to deposit the match, he slowly winked 
 at himself in the pier-glass. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 REAPING THE WHIRLWIND. 
 
 Mr. Cincinnatus Q. Briggs's complacent appreciation of his own 
 diplomacy was interrupted by the sudden irruption of Kitty Savilie, 
 followed by Dick. 
 
 " How d'ye do, Mr. Briggs ?" was her greeting. " Dick wanted me 
 not to come. The idea ! — as if I would miss seeing my old friend Aubyn 
 Goddard set right. What a long time it is since we met, and how queer 
 that we should both be mixed up in this dreadful business ! I little 
 thought, when I sat next to you at dinner and was so impertinent to 
 Vol. XLIIL— 26 
 
402 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 you, that night at Lord Arlingford's, that the evening would end so 
 tragically. I suppose you heard about Lady Arlingford's long 
 illness?" 
 
 " Yes, but not the whole of the trouble," replied Briggs, surprised 
 at finding himself getting in a word edgeways. 
 
 " Well, you know, when she recovered she did nothing but blame 
 herself for the whole affair. I believe that if Lord Arlingford had 
 not been so careless of all decency, she would have begged his pardon. 
 Her people insisted on a divorce, though, and she was too weak to 
 oppose it, and when she got well she confided to me that if ever she 
 found an opportunity she meant to ask him to marry her over again." 
 
 "But why?" 
 
 " For the sake of her child. Oh, what silly women these good 
 women are ! I'm so glad I'm a bad one ! I was so impatient with 
 her that we nearly quarrelled ; and now that Dick has determined that 
 Goddard shall be set right, she has begged to be allowed to come and 
 give Arlingford one more chance. Oh, that woman is too much of an 
 angel " 
 
 " My dear Kitty," mildly expostulated Dick, " will you confine your 
 attention to the matter in hand, and not expand on your personal 
 feelings?" 
 
 " My dear Dick," was the reply, " will you let me say one word 
 without interruption ? Mr. Briggs is an old friend of mine : we met 
 but once, it is true, but it's all the same ; we should have been old 
 friends if we had met more frequently: shouldn't we, Mr. Briggs?" 
 
 " My dear madam," answered the American, "you overwhelm me. 
 To have met you but once, is both a privilege and a privation. It is to 
 have lived and to have ceased living at the same moment. It is " 
 
 "Mr. Briggs! if you finish that sentence I shall have a fit! I'm 
 not accustomed to it. Dick when he intends to be most polite generally 
 says, ' I say, old gal, you're not looking half bad to-night,' or when he 
 means to be most affectionate, 'Here, Tramp ! come and be smacked.'" 
 
 "Really, my dear," broke in Dick at this point, "these domestic 
 
 details, — really " And, at a loss for words to balance his wife's 
 
 eloquence, he raised her hand deferentially to his lips. 
 
 "Why, Dick," exclaimed she, looking at him in alarm, "you're 
 not well. All this excitement has been too much for you. Sit down, 
 and don't talk. Oh, Mr. Briggs, I had a most mysterious little note 
 from Lady Arlingford, just as I was starting to come here. Let me 
 see: what did I do with it? Ah, here it is." 
 
 She took a letter from her pocket and read as follows: 
 
 " / have heard terrible news this afternoon, and am nearly mad with 
 hope and fear. I will explain all to you. I must speak to the lady whom 
 you call Bella-Demonia alone: so when we meet to-night make some excuse 
 to leave us together for a few minutes. Read this to Mr. Briggs, and ask 
 him to manage with you to do as I wish. — What does it mean ?" 
 
 She laid the letter down on the writing-table. As she did so, 
 she uttered a little exclamation, and, turning to Briggs, quoth very 
 gravely, — 
 
 " Oh ! I am so much obliged." 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 403 
 
 "I am charmed, of course; but why?" returned Briggs, in amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 " Because at last you've satisfied me that you are an American. 
 Now, I wonder if you got this purposely for me, or if it's a toy?" 
 
 Her glance had fallen on the little revolver, and, taking it up, she 
 brandished it with glee. 
 
 " Be careful, for gracious' sake !" exclaimed Briggs, in alarm. 
 "It's loaded; and, though it's very small, it would kill at this 
 range." 
 
 " Oh, goodness !" cried Kitty, as she dropped the weapon among 
 the papers in comic consternation. " But come, what do you make of 
 Lady Arlingford's note ?" 
 
 "I can make nothing of it. At all events, her request is simple 
 enough. They will both be here in a few moments, and if you will 
 come into the library I should like to show you some etchings I have 
 bought, — a Seymour-Haden, a couple of Wilfrid Ball's, and a Haig or 
 two. I am told they're very fine." 
 
 "I should like to see them very much," returned Kitty, "though I 
 don't understand them a bit." 
 
 Mr. Cincinnatus Q. Briggs was a most disappointing American. 
 Instead of buying diamonds or pictures to sell, he spent his spare cash 
 on rare bric-a-brac, etchings, and engravings to keep. You might be 
 with him for twenty-four hours and never hear what anything he pos- 
 sessed had cost him. He had not the vaguest conception as to the 
 price of his wines, and, though as ardent a collector of early-printed 
 books and first editions as the most uneducated Westerner settled in 
 New York, he positively knew what books he had, and had " read at" all 
 of them. It is probable that had he been a married man the house 
 he lived in would not have been made over to his wife to cheat his 
 creditors in the event of financial shipwreck. 
 
 Kitty was still pondering when Lady Arlingford was announced. 
 Briggs advanced to conduct her to a chair. 
 
 " I hope you are not fatigued, Lady Arlingford," said he. " Have 
 you seen Captain Goddard yet ?" 
 
 " Not yet," replied she. " I expected to find him here. Ah, 
 Kitty, how happy you look! I'm so glad, dear! You got my 
 letter ?" 
 
 " Yes, dear, but I don't understand it. Have you seen the Baroness 
 Altdorff?" 
 
 " Yes, — this afternoon, by accident ; and I learnt from her the 
 truth." 
 
 " The truth ?" 
 
 " Yes. She told me who she was and is." 
 
 "Who is she? what is she?" exclaimed Dick and Kitty both 
 together. 
 
 " You do not know ?" 
 
 "No. Who is she?" 
 
 " The Princess Galitzin" 
 
 The words were uttered by a servant who at this moment threw 
 open the folding doors and admitted Bella-Demonia to the presence of 
 
404 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 three people whose faces took on an expression of unspeakable amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 " Oh, Dick," whispered Kitty, " who is she going to turn out to 
 be next? Are you sure — are you sure that she is not Mrs. Richard 
 Saville, among other things?" 
 
 " I swear she isn't," replied the no less astonished Dick, in the 
 same tone. 
 
 " She'll be somebody else in a minute. I know she will." 
 
 " Probably." 
 
 Meanwhile, Mr. Briggs, leading the new-comer forward, said to 
 Lady Arlingford, — 
 
 " Lady Arlingford, allow me to present to you " 
 
 " The princess and I have already met," said her ladyship. 
 
 " Yes," returned Bella-Demonia, " and Mrs. and Mr. Saville I 
 already know. How are you?" 
 
 " I was just going — as we have a few minutes yet — to show Mrs. 
 Saville some pet etchings of mine," said Mr. Briggs. " Would you 
 care to see them, princess?" 
 
 The Princess Galitzin exchanged a glance with Lady Arlingford, 
 and then answered, — 
 
 " Thank you ; I would rather see them later, if you will allow me, 
 but do not let me deprive Mr. and Mrs. Saville of the pleasure. I do 
 not feel quite up to enjoying etchings just now." 
 
 " Nor I," said Lady Arlingford. 
 
 "Well, then," pursued Mr. Briggs, "if you will pardon us for a 
 while ?" 
 
 " By all means." 
 
 As Kitty left the room, she whispered to Lady Arlingford, — 
 
 " Are you sure you are strong enough ? Shall I stay?" 
 
 " No, no : leave us," was the reply, and the next moment the two 
 women were once more alone. 
 
 Lady Arlingford rose. " Will you give me your hand ?" she said. 
 " After hearing your story, I don't feel fit to touch you. I must have 
 provoked you beyond endurance by my ignorance. Can you find it 
 in your heart to forgive me?" 
 
 "If I could wipe out your injuries as easily as I can forgive you, — 
 if indeed there is anything to forgive, — I do so a thousand times over. 
 Can you believe that in knowing your trouble I have forgotten my own? 
 How I wish I could help you ! how I should like to prove the depth 
 and reality of my sympathy !" 
 
 " You can prove it, and, if you will, you can give me all the peace 
 I can hope to gain out of this sad life. If I should ask something of 
 you that will tax your goodness to its depths, would you grant me my 
 prayer? God knows I feel I have no right to expect so much from 
 you ; but " 
 
 " There is no effort I would spare to help you. What can I do ?" 
 
 "I implore you to give Jack — Lord Arlingford — one chance to 
 clear himself of some of the charges of which you think him guilty. 
 That horrible story you told me — there must be some explanation. 
 Let him speak in his own behalf. I know he will do his utmost to re- 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 405 
 
 pair the injury he did Aubyn, and I am sure Aubyn will bury the past, 
 if only for my sake. Will you not do the same ? Influential, protected 
 as you are in your own country, surely you have only to ask for the an- 
 nulment of your marriage with my — my — husband, to obtain it. Is it 
 not so ?" 
 
 " Yes ; but why do you ask ?" 
 
 " Because I would help him to atone for his past ; because if you 
 will give him his freedom I will still take him back. Oh, don't shrink 
 from me ! Hear what I have to say before you condemn me. Remem- 
 ber, I have a child. It is my duty to do all in my power to bring her 
 father back to her." 
 
 " And you would live with that man, despising him as you must, 
 because you feel it to be your duty?" 
 
 " Even so ! It is the least I can do to atone to my little girl for the 
 wrong that has been done her. I should be unable to meet her eyes, as 
 she asks for her father, if I had not done all in my power to redeem 
 him. Will you do what I ask ?" 
 
 The Princess Galitzin rose, and, walking to the window, appeared to 
 reflect deeply. Then she came back, and said, — 
 
 " For your sake, I promise that so far as my own injuries are con- 
 cerned I will forgive him. But his ruin of Aubyn Goddard I cannot 
 — will not forgive. Not upon me, but on his confession to-night, will 
 depend his liberty. His fate is in his own hands." 
 
 "Ah ! how can I thank you? I am confident now." 
 
 At this moment Mr. Briggs entered the room. 
 
 "Captain Goddard has just arrived," said he. " Shall I bring him 
 in here?" 
 
 " One moment," said Lady Arlingford. " I — I can bear no more 
 to-night. May I ask you, Mr. Briggs, to let me rest awhile in another 
 room, and then I will go home." 
 
 " Certainly : it shall be as you wish," replied Mr. Briggs. " Come 
 in here. I will see that your carriage is ready at any moment." 
 
 Her ladyship turned to the princess and extended her hand as she 
 said, — 
 
 " May I see you once more before I leave England ? I don't know 
 if I am doing what is right, but I hope so." 
 
 Bella-Demonia bent her head, and Lady Arlingford left the room 
 with Mr. Briggs. 
 
 Left alone, the woman looked after the departing form, and said, 
 half aloud, — 
 
 " Who shall say that you are wrong? Not I, indeed, — I who have 
 forgotten my revenge in my new-born dream." She pressed her hands 
 to her head, and turned, just as Aubyn Goddard entered the room. 
 
 They faced each other for a few moments without speaking, and 
 then Goddard, advancing, took both her hands in his. 
 
 "So I am to thank you for honor as well as for life," said he, 
 gravely. 
 
 " That sounds almost like a reproach," replied she. " Have I not 
 done everything I could to atone for my share in the disaster I so 
 unwittingly brought on you ? Besides, it was your delirium, and not 
 
406 BELLA-DEMONIA. 
 
 the prince, that detained you at Deve-kiui. As far as he was concerned, 
 you were free to go as you had come." 
 
 " He is a wonderful man. Having caught me, I wonder he did not 
 kill me: I had given him trouble enough. Besides, he would have 
 been killing two birds with one stone, — or rather two men with one 
 bullet. That evening when I lay unconscious at your feet — yours and 
 his — the scene must have been terrible: it is never out of my mind." 
 
 " It is one of the few moments of my life that I am ashamed of. 
 When the prince recognized you and I knew my trick to save you had 
 been useless, I gave up all hope, and in the desperation of the moment 
 I offered to buy your life from him. 'Only let him escape,' said I, 
 ' and I promise never to see him again, and I — my life — shall be given 
 to you !' " 
 
 " My God ! And what did he say ?" 
 
 " He said, simply, ' I have loved you as long as I have known you, 
 and you evidently do not understand that emotion as I do. I hope to 
 show you that I can be at the same time a disappointed lover and — a 
 gentleman.' That was all that was said till you were on the high-road 
 to recovery and we laid our plans for the trapping of Arlingford. I 
 am not ashamed to say that I fell on my knees and asked his pardon. 
 It was he who planned and devised so that your capture and where- 
 abouts should be kept a secret from Skobeleff." 
 
 " How generous !" 
 
 " It was well for you that your wound proved so dangerous, and 
 that before you could be moved peace was proclaimed at San Stefano." 
 
 Aubyn Goddard raised her hand to his lips, and said, in a voice 
 that betrayed the depth of his emotion, — 
 
 " And you have borne all this for me ! I wonder why?" 
 
 "Why?" answered Bella-Demonia, with a quick smile and shake 
 of her head. " Because you are personally very distasteful to me ; 
 because, in short, I do not like you; because we are antipathetic to 
 each other; because you have been so nobly treated that you deserve 
 no sympathy. Are these reasons enough, Aubyn?" 
 
 And the man, who was just a man and no longer Aubyn Goddard 
 the Hero, clasped to his breast the woman, who was just a woman and 
 no longer Bella-Demonia the Mystery, as she lay in his arms and gave 
 up her soul to the ecstasy of his kiss. 
 
 They were very nearly caught by Mr. Briggs, who entered the room 
 at the moment, or rather just after it. 
 
 " Princess," said he, " Lord Arlingford is here. Shall he come in ?" 
 
 " Wait one moment," returned she. " My plan is much upset by 
 Lady Arlingford's strange determination, but I have promised her my 
 aid. If he signs the papers I am willing to avoid seeing him, and it 
 will be best that he should not know that I have found him. Let me 
 retire for a while, where I can hear what he has to say. This conserva- 
 tory will do." 
 
 " It shall be as you wish," answered Mr. Briggs, showing her 
 to a little conservatory built out over the porch of the house, commu- 
 nicating by a French window with the apartment. As she turned 
 towards it she gave her hand to Goddard, who bent and kissed it. 
 
BELLA-DEMONIA. 407 
 
 " Oh !" observed Mr. Briggs to himself. " Ah \" 
 
 Then he went to the door and admitted Dick Saville, accompanied 
 by Arlingford and Major Carteret. The gallant major was evidently 
 very nervous : he stood a little apart from his principal and twisted his 
 moustache spasmodically, a fit subject for an artist who might desire to 
 make a "Study of a Man, ratting." 
 
 Mr. Briggs motioned the four men to be seated, and took his place 
 at the writing-table. Then, slightly clearing his throat, he observed, — 
 
 "As we all know for what purpose we are here, it will, I think, 
 only be necessary for me to read this statutory declaration, which has 
 been drawn up in duplicate for the signature of his lordship." 
 
 Arlingford signified his attention, and Mr. Briggs continued : 
 
 "The declaration reads as follows: 'I, John Vyvian Fane, Vis- 
 count Arlingford, do hereby solemnly declare that the charges made 
 by me against Captain the Honorable Aubyn Goddard were false; 
 that I made the said charges knowing them to be false, and with a 
 specific purpose which was accomplished in the failure of his mission.' 
 Now, Lord Arlingford, if you will affix your signature in the presence 
 of witnesses, we can terminate this very painful meeting." 
 
 Arlingford sprang to his feet. 
 
 " Sign that !" he cried. " I refuse to sign it ! I am willing to say 
 that to the best of my belief I made a mistake ; but sign such a mon- 
 strous production as that? Certainly not!" 
 
 " You know the alternative, Lord Arlingford," said Dick Saville. 
 
 " I have told you what I will do," retorted Arlingford, turning upon 
 him, "and there is no power on earth that can force me to do more." 
 
 " Perhaps / can persuade Lord Arlingford to sign," said a quiet, 
 rich voice behind them, as Bella-Demonia stepped into the room. 
 Hearing the words, Arlingford started violently and turned to meet the 
 woman's stare. 
 
 " Carita Galitzin !" he exclaimed. " My God !" 
 
 "Hardly that," replied the princess, in mock deprecation, "but, 
 unfortunately, your wife." 
 
 "His wife!" The exclamation broke forth simultaneously from 
 the other four. Goddard started as if he had been shot, and went 
 quickly to the woman's side. 
 
 " What do you mean?" he said, in a husky undertone. 
 
 " Wait," she replied. 
 
 Meanwhile, Arlingford, with a violent effort, had recovered his 
 self-control. 
 
 "You will have," said he, sneeringly, "some difficulty in proving 
 that the very hurried form that we went through was a legal marriage, 
 even in Russia, and you will doubtless be too sensible to risk proving 
 yourself to have been my mistress." 
 
 Goddard, with a half-cough of rage, sprang at him, but was re- 
 strained by Saville and by the princess, who stepped between them. 
 
 " Unfortunately," said she, in a tone of withering scorn, " to have 
 been your wife is, if possible, the greater disgrace. You overestimate 
 the honor of a marriage with yourself, and you underestimate the fact 
 that you are in no position to oppose my slightest whim." 
 
408 BELLA-DEMON l A. 
 
 " Indeed ? Because ?" 
 
 " Because on me depends not only your ability to obtain the means 
 of subsistence, but your liberty, your very life itself, belong to me. I 
 have but to hold up my finger and your doom is sealed. You will 
 sign that document at once." 
 
 " Charming !" returned Arlingford ; " but we are in England now, 
 and I am prepared to defend any action you may choose to bring. I 
 refuse to sign. Do your worst ! I defy you !" he concluded, violently. 
 
 " Mr. Briggs," said the princess, " I saw Prince Schouloff's carriage 
 below. Will you be so good as to call him? Thanks." 
 
 And Mr. Cincinnatus Q. Briggs left the room. 
 
 "In all the years," resumed the princess, coming close to Arling- 
 ford, " during which I sought for the murderer of my brother, I thought 
 that nothing but his death could appease me. Now, however, fortu- 
 nately for you, I have found a man whose honor is as pure as God's 
 blessed mercy, a man by comparison with whom you are too unclean 
 a thing even to kill." 
 
 She turned on her heel and returned to Goddard's side as Mr. 
 Briggs re-entered the room, accompanied by Prince Schouloif. 
 
 "Prince," said Carita Galitzin to the Chief of Police, "will you 
 kindly tell Lord Arlingford that if necessary we shall not be wanting 
 in proofs to substantiate our charges of bigamy, nor shall we shrink 
 from the publicity consequent on taking steps to frustrate his present 
 plans?" 
 
 " The prince will doubtless remember," said Arlingford, with a cool 
 assurance that was sublime, " that the onus of disproof lies with the 
 accused, and that I am in my own country and therefore have the best 
 chance of assuming the character of accuser. You, as foreigners, will 
 have to go through certain formalities before being able to institute 
 legal proceedings. I shall therefore proceed at once to prove that yours 
 is simply an attempt at blackmail." 
 
 " I am compelled to admit that Lord Arlingford's view of the legal 
 position is entirely correct," replied Prince Schouloif, quietly. 
 
 Had a thunder-bolt fallen among them, the consternation of his 
 auditors could not have been more lively. 
 
 "You agree with him !" exclaimed the princess. 
 
 " I am so sure of his accuracy," returned the prince, calmly, " that 
 I have taken the very position he so clearly points out to be the best. 
 The negotiations pending between our respective governments have 
 enabled me to procure a warrant for the immediate arrest of John 
 Vyvian Fane, Viscount Arlingford, and it will be in Petersburg — not 
 in London — that his lordship will have to answer the charge." 
 
 "What charge?" 
 
 " Murder." 
 
 " Murder !" echoed Arlingford, his air of cynic assurance suddenly 
 changing to one of alarmed concern. " You can scarcely charge a man 
 with that of which he is ignorant. You can charge him with whatever 
 you please, but I learn for the first time that I have killed any one. 
 Preposterous! May I know whom I murdered?" 
 
 " You will find all duly stated in this warrant," answered the 
 
BELLA-DEMON I A. 409 
 
 prince, handing him a paper. "Your long residence in Russia, and, 
 above all, your connection with the police, render you sufficiently con- 
 versant with our code to convince you that we are acting within our 
 right, and/' added he, significantly, " that we seldom act in vain." 
 
 " Your methods are at least expensive," ejaculated Arlingford. 
 
 " You are well able to judge of that point. My officers are below : 
 you will, I presume, accompany them without further trouble. — Mr. 
 Briggs, will you allow me to write some instructions? Thank you." 
 
 And the prince seated himself at the writing-table, whilst Arling- 
 ford stared dazedly at the warrant that he held in his hands. A servant 
 appeared and handed a slip of paper to Mr. Briggs, who whispered to 
 the princess. The latter left the room, as Dick Saville approached 
 Prince Schouloff and remarked, — 
 
 " Prince, this is a desperate accusation, — and so unexpected." 
 
 "Desperate diseases," returned the prince, " require desperate reme- 
 dies. I feared that he might be unmanageable : so I took this 
 precaution." 
 
 " But shall you be able to prove him guilty?" 
 
 "That is quite unimportant," was the answer. "Lord Arlingford 
 will doubtless be glad to sign any document before his trial, rather 
 than return to Russia. You understand ?" 
 
 " May I ask," said Mr. Briggs, who had joined them, " when and 
 where this murder was committed?" 
 
 " God knows : I don't," returned the prince, laconically, as he 
 turned once more to his writing. 
 
 Mr. Briggs's free and enlightened American mind was confused. 
 
 " But surely " he begau. 
 
 " My dear fellow," said Dick Saville, taking him aside, " what the 
 deuce is the use of being a Russian prince if you can't prove a man 
 guilty of anything you like on an emergency?" 
 
 Meanwhile, Aubyn Goddard had approached the diplomat. 
 
 " I am much indebted to you " he began. 
 
 " Not at all," interrupted Schouloff. " I was unfortunate enough 
 to be a party — for reasons of state — to your trouble ; it is but right that 
 I should be a party to your vindication. I repeat, for reasons of state 
 I was compelled to act as I did, knowing that I could vindicate you at 
 the right moment. That act was as repugnant to me in the manner of 
 its performance, as to give you my assistance to-day is a pleasure." 
 
 Lord Arlingford had finished the perusal of the warrant, and had 
 scribbled a few words in his note-book which he gave to Major Car- 
 teret for delivery to his wife. Now he moved towards the door. 
 There he turned and faced the five men. The Princess Galitzin and 
 Mrs. Bradley Dashton entered the room behind and unobserved by 
 him. 
 
 " You calculated with perfect certainty," said his lordship, with a 
 brave show of defiance, " and I am not fool enough to resist you and 
 give you the chance of killing me 'in self-defence.' Fortunately, my 
 wife is in a position to institute proceedings, which will be done at once. 
 Egad ! you're all very clever, but I observe that Captain Goddard's 
 little card-trick remains still unexplained. The disappearance of that 
 
410 BELLA-DEMON1A. 
 
 king of trumps was queer, wasn't it? Let me see : I think the suit 
 was clubs." 
 
 " You need not tax your memory," said a voice — " Bella-Demonia's" 
 — behind him. " The card is here !" She laid it on the table, and all 
 bent forward to look at it. " You see," pursued the princess, " that 
 this card is one bearing on its back the monogram of a gambling-club 
 to which Lord Arlingford belonged, which was immediately afterwards 
 broken up. The other, — the one held by Captain Goddard, — a two 
 of clubs, will be forthcoming if required. This card was given to 
 Mrs. Dashton to destroy, that night, by Lord Arlingford. Fortunately, 
 she did not do so. The reason of Captain Goddard's refusal to show 
 that two of clubs has been explained : so that the signing of this 
 declaration is no longer necessary." 
 
 " You will state fully," said Dick Saville to Mrs. Dashton, who was 
 leaning against the writing-table, " how and when this card came into 
 your possession ?" 
 
 " In any terms you choose to dictate," she said. 
 
 Arlingford had been staggered for the moment, but came up to 
 time, game to the last. 
 
 " I congratulate you all," said he, with an evil sneer, " on the 
 value of 31rs. Dashton's word !" 
 
 "You will find that it is to be depended on," said Mrs. Dashton, 
 quietly. " I told you this afternoon that " 
 
 "That I was to do a great many things," broke in Arlingford, in 
 his former tone. "Among others, that I was to marry you." 
 
 " No ; I told you that you should marry no other." 
 
 " And /told you that a man does not marry his " 
 
 " Stop !" cried the woman, her eyes blazing with fury. Her glance 
 fell on the revolver lying under her hand : quick as thought she raised 
 it and fired. Lord Arlingford fell heavily to the ground, mortally 
 wounded. 
 
 Amid the general consternation, the Princess Galitzin went to 
 Mrs. Dashton's side. She was fainting. 
 
 "Whew! what shall we do now?" said Dick Saville to Prince 
 Sch on 1 off. 
 
 " Mrs. Dashton is one of my witnesses," returned he. " I will see 
 that she leaves the country at once. She will never return." 
 
 A door was thrown open, and Lady Arlingford rushed into the 
 room. Seeing her husband lying on the floor, she flung herself by his 
 side. 
 
 " My God !" she cried, " how did this happen ?" 
 
 Arlingford, with a supreme effort, raised himself, and, making a 
 sign imposing silence on the others, addressed his wife: 
 
 " I — I — the game was up," he said. " I — I — shot myself. Poor 
 little woman ! you are well rid of me." 
 
 He sank into her arms. 
 
 John Vyvian Fane, Viscount Arlingford, was dead. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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