A Silver Brand — page 32: what you’re looking at

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

pen 4 | A SILVER BRAND. ‘spirited man, handsome, with a likeness Aubrey in- stantly detected of Count Roderich and of the Baron Valentin himself. A fiery-spirited man, if the brill- iant flash of the eye, the haughty curl of the thin lip, meant anything. The Baron Valentin gave one hoarse groan, and a singular blending of anger, remorse, and horror looked forth from bis quivering features. But the next instant it was all swept away bya stronger passion as his eyes darted to the lady’s portrait, and seemed to cling there with mingled adoration and anguish. A wonderful face it was. No wonder the artist had produced such a beauteous gem of art, if there had been a living model before him. A woman royally beautiful, with a sweet, angelic gentleness of expression blending with the high-bred grace that was indescribably charming. A face to drive passionate men into wild deeds. Those wonderful, magnetic eyes would take a hold no after experi- ‘ence could efface. This stern baron, it was plain, had been under the spell of their witchery. Even now he forgot the spectators, the circumstances, the time and place, and stood spell-bound, gazing, ~ gazing—all his soul in his look, the color slowly creeping into his pale cheek, the old fire kindling in his eyes.° . | “Lady Pauline!” he murmured, in a low, passion- ate tone. | Herr von Schubert’s eyes never lost a single change of expression. He smiled a slow, dark smile, that made Aubrey shrink, and the latter ad- vanced between them hastily from a vague prompt- ing, and spoke: “Baron Baer.” The baron started, turned, looked from one to the other in a strange blind stare, then put his hand to his head, and staggered out of the gallery. But outside they heard a heavy fall. a Rushing forth they saw two servants lifting up the senseless figure of their master and bearing it away toward his private suite of rooms, GOmMmiIcboo cS (eo)