Should She Have Left Him? — page 230: what you’re looking at

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

ONE OCCURRENCE. 917 tion passed away. Her first thought was that a. servant maid, basely taking advantage of her absence, had occupied her apartments. But the fine texture and costly lace of the garment did not belong to a servant maid. Hilda scanned the features of the sleeping woman. Beautiful as they were, they were devoid of soul and uninformed by intellect. Ah! They were familiar. She looked again and drew back in disgust. The woman was La Hoyle, her husband’s mistress, the divinity of the multi-colored lights. The woman who, for hire, exposed her charms before the public! Rumor had connected Hilda’s husband’s name with that of La Hoyle, but she had refused to believe it. Now, however, she knew Rumor was truthful. This animal, not half so refined as one of his horses, was what pleased Waldemar. Disgust was followed by anger. It was not the anger of outraged love; she had no love for him to be outraged; but the anger of a woman whose pride was hurt—who thought of . the ridicule and contempt of her inferiors—of the delight and laughter of her equals; anger that the man she called husband should have invaded her apartments with such a thing—that her own private domain should have been so contaminated. With head very erect she left the room, descend- ing the stairs to the entrance hall, where she sum- moned the servants. All of them had been out of the way on her arrival, for it was yet early morning. None of them save the hall porter, and perhaps Wal- CONMUG JOO cS (GO)