A Servant of Satan: Romantic Career of Prado the Assassin — page 196: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

188 A SERVANT OF SATAN. though she could no longer either respect or esteem him. Her father, who was a violent man, drove her from the home of her childhood, and warned her if she ever dared to cross his threshold again he would have her turned away by his servants. The situation had now become a truly desperate one. Frederick sold his horses and carriages, his furniture, and valuable bric-a-brac—yes, even his wife’s jewels and costly dresses, and moved with her toa small house in the out- skirts of Madrid. Unknown to her, however, he hired a suite of rooms in a fashionable street, and, going into part- nership with two disreputable adventurers, he started a private gambling hell. | | Poor Dolores! her days of happiness were over. She was now always alone in the dingy little house in the suburbs. Weeping and privations were fast robbing her of her beauty, and Frederick, whenever he looked at her, which was seldom, had the cruelty to taunt her with what he called *‘her washed-out appearance!” He bitterly complained of having married a woman who was of no earthly use to him. _ Had you but known how to play your cards,” he would often say to her, ‘‘ you might have avoided the quarrel with your infernal old idiot of a father. He is soft enough, in all conscience, when one knows how to handle him. But, no; you must needs go into heroics and get yourself kicked out of the house for your pains. Upon my word, Dolores, you are worse than a fool. Without you I would never have come down in the world dike this.” The poor woman, terrified by the violence of her hus- band, who was fast losing his former refinement and dis- ; tinction, and was becoming downright brutal, eculd only ery and sob, imploring her dear ‘‘Hric” to take pity on her. But her tears only seemed to exasperate him more, and as lately his gambling saloon, thanks to his partners, ecomicbooks (ele)