While
Peyton waits for the "Comstock Colonel," an anxious woman sits in
her queenly boudoir.
Natalie's beauty is ravishing. The exquisite elegance of her manner
is in keeping with the charms of the shining loveliness which makes
her a cynosure in the "Bois."
Face to face with a dilemma, the fair "chatelaine" racks her brain
for a new expedient. Her woman's wit is nonplussed.
Villa Rocca DEMANDS, URGES, PLEADS, SUES for marriage. Is it love?
Of all her swains he is the only one who touches her heart. At his
approach, her tell-tale pulse beats high. She dare not yet quit
Hardin. There is a campaign before her. To force Hardin to marry
her, even secretly, is the main attack. He is now old. Then, to
establish her daughter as the heiress of Lagunitas. After Hardin's
death, marriage with Villa Rocca. That is the goal. But how to
restrain his lover-like ardor.
She smiles at her reflection in the glass. She knows "the fatal
gift of beauty." It is another woman than the "queen of the gambling
hell" who smiles back at her. The pearls on her neck rise and fall.
Hardin! Ah, yes; his possible treachery! Would he dare to take the
convent pupil away from her? Perhaps.
A devilish smile plays on her lips.
Pages:
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476