Show R D lL lLAO AO IA t C CO r hAP O. O X 7 E r N ir L V i 0 Corinne gorinne Published By Griffith Inc by Gertrude arrangement screen as Countess versIon with any Zat Atherton bY Frank Lloyd National and I T n 1 ILM U J It L A I Copyright 1923 by Gertrude Atherton r r- rr cM r Continued Those Those ose whom I d to to- love j would soon soon have o 0 me e had hadI I not pla played ed the gains gaUe a 0 adroitly as as themselves am and nc it if I 1 ha had permitted per per- i mUted them to f feel aura O ot me The last thing any of oZ them Q m wanted was depth of feeling tragic tragic- pa pasT pas sion slon 0 0 My mot most desperate rato affair was my last last- after a a. long Interval I 1 was wa as ii in my y e early sortIes forties I 1 pad had thought myself too utterly disillusioned 4 ever over to Imagine Im- Im agine myself In love again Men are gross and ridiculous c creatures In the main and aside from my personal disappointments I thought ought it was time for that chapter o 04 my life lifo to finish I 1 was a amusing myself my self with diplomatic intrigue I Iwas Iwas Iwas was in the Balkans at th the time e. e that breeding gro ground nd o of war microbes ml- ml and I 1 was interested ted in a a avery very cry J delicate situation in n which I pla played ed a certain p part pait lt The awakening was wa violent II He was an Austrian with an n Important place In the government he came cameto to Belgrade on a private mission mission- lon He was a very great in Ia inmany many wa ways s 's and I think I really elly loved ed him for tor he seemed to me ine entirely worthy o of ol it He Ie certainly w was s mad enough about t mo ze for a a a. lime for lor for a year ear to be exact When he be returned to Vien Vienna VIenia a it t was waa not riot difficult for tor me to find nod an excuse to go also Although Zat- Zat at I was a Hun Hungarian ian a he never ver visited his Hungarian n estates except except except ex ex- ex- ex for the boar hunting and and anc spent his time timo when o on l i leave ave e or b between tween appointments in Vienna where he had inherited a n. palace palace- r rI I must tell lell you ou th that t the city cUy resl-p resl dence of ot a a. noble nobleman In ii U the Dual Dl Empire was always called caled a v palace lace however much it might ht loo look like Uke a ahouse house I I shall always remember this man roan with a a. certain pleasure and for he ho is the only man suffer sufferS A who I ever made me woman forgets the lovers she h ha has dismissed as quickly as possible Their memory Is hateful to her like the memory of ot all aU mistakes But this man made me mo suffer sutter hor- hor libl He married a y young Qung un girl Irl out of ol duty to his House and unexpectedly unexpectedly unexpectedly un un- un- un expectedly fell In with her Therefore although J t 1 l and completely still do I ome- ome sometimes times dwell with a certain cynical pleasure on the memory eory o oj of him him him- Have you ou never eve seen him since asked Clavering sharply shaf He lIe had returned to his chair How long ago wa was that than Quite sixteen years ago I 1 didiot did not hot visit Vienna again for or several years In fact not not- until after n r m my husbands husband's death when whim I t re returned there to live But by that time I had bad lost both youth 1 and beauty His flIs wife had died but left him an lin lint t heir beir and he showed no po disposition n nto to ma marry rr again certainly he hp p was wasas wasas as indifferent to me as I to him AVe We Ye often met and ad as 11 he lie e r respected t my mind and m my knowledge gf f I L European affairs we talked politics j together and he sometimes asked ed f f. f m my advice But iut ut to go back back- ft A After fter r that was over O I determined to put love definitely definitely out of my life I believed then and finally t that af J I had haq mt the gift of ot Inspiring love i nor would I 1 I ever risk humiliation and suffering Buttering I r again I played the gr great a game of life lite and politics I 1 wall wag ya still beautiful for beautiful for a few years year J. J lad had ladan an Increasingly gre great t position all the advantages Q an I j that money co could cod d procure My Iy Mym clever My gowns m maid Id was yer very as time went or on 01 were of a mag pia I simplicity all 11 frou i were renounced J I h had q tin ho mind to I Invite tc the valuation I heard applied d to certain American women In ip Paris elderly and ar rey Ji f. f I I Clavering laughed for the first time I wonder you OU ever made mad a IL i ml mistake talie of ot any port I also 1 o let cler f If you OU are a t type pg As ne well as an al individual I 1 have I t think followed followed fol fol- ol- ol lowed Intelligently your val sal involutions atH and convolutions ons so o far I 1 am only hoping lipping you ron will ng not get beyond my depth What t ya Val your our attitude tow toward rd your our past mistakes mistakes beyond Jit t j you nm have told me Did you on puffer remorse I as I 1 am told women do when wilen they i either voluntarily ren renounce or are permitted to sin no more I 1 neither regarded them as mistakes mistakes mis mis- takes nor did I suffer r Ever Every human being m J c what wIit are arc called mistakes and those hapP happened hap hap- P ned ened to be mine Ther Therefore tre I If f dismissed them to the limbo o of ot the thet t inevitable As All your world i tI I am told looks upon you ou fl 93 the f i coming dramatist it may appeal t to your Imagination to visualize that and dramatic undercurrent un uh- secret and vital 1 o of what was ws on op tl till the surface a a. proud and lite Oh it if th there r are regrets itis itIs it itIs Is for the weight o of memories the completeness of ot the slaying of ot mental youth youth which which cannot survive brutal facts I 1 think that for fol women of my type what type type what may b bp called d the this intellectual intel Intel- siren the siren lover over phase is inevitable We Ve are goaded not only by the imperious demands pf w womanhood manhood and t the e hope lope pf pt tile the perfect companion but t by 1 ty love of adventure ennui I bly acme more obscure complex complex- vengeance on th the husband who ha has wrecked our first illusions on Illusions on ife its itself ll Bringing up p family and so social o cial dat traditions h have v nothing to fo do 10 with it Only opportunity counts MOreover 1 we ar are not the product of of- r. r our ur immediate forebears but ut of ofa ofa a a. thousand th thousand unknown ancestors an an- 0 God True Irue h Unfortunately these women wh who o have wasted so much time on love lovo never realize the tragic futility until Time Timo himself el disposes of temptation and then i it is too late ate Jor anything but regrets regress of ot sort The war may pay haye have solved the problem for tor or m many ny P- P desperate ac I spirIt My l own case h has a assumed an n entirely different complexion With my Thy youth restored I have the tha world at my r feet teet once more but Itt safe guarded by the wisdom of ot experience ence nce IrL ence-IrL in so RO far as a mortal ever may be The bare idea of that old game ramo of prowling s sex ser I fills lUl me pie with wH f and disgust Tho The body may DaY maybo y be bo young yoUna again but my mind re- re though it is IR is packed with memories p p. very pf pt Life Lite When I 1 found that my beauty was restored I thought of ol nothing less than returning to the tho conquest of men In the old manner although quite aware of or its powerful powerful pow pow- erful aid in the tho work I have made mado tin In say liz n Ft n. n Austria p Of I late lale of ol course couise I l have thou thought ht of little else but what this le recrudescence ru- ru of ot my youth means eans t to you and to o myself But But please please o do not interrupt this rupt this I 1 shall not discuss with you O 1 oi again until Mon ion 01 day if day if then But t once more moe I t wish t to impress im In impress im- im that I in indulge In- In press you O ou with the fact tact in nothing no so 10 futile fume as re regrets re- re Sackcloth and grets for my pas pt t ashes provokes s nothing b but t a smile from Crom women off ot m my type lYle and class Moreover I believe that my education tion would not be complete without that experience experienCe ll mine understand not eak ng for fOl women of ot otI I am s Bother other temperaments opportunities I o of less intellect o of or humbler char char- actor acter weaker will wUl And if 1 I had persisted in virtue at that time I should probably y make a fool too of cr m myself se f today a an a even more complete fool than women do when youth slipping but still the they feet feel aid of ol ar art and are aro able 10 with the arts t fascinate younger men That almost standardized chapter chapter chapter chap chap- ter I renounced peremptorily My Iy pride was too great to permit meto meto me to be foolish even i in the privacy of my mind over me men half halt my roy ageNor ageNor age Nor or did I make malia any of ot the usual usua frantic attempts to keep beep young I loo looking bolting ing 1 I had ad seen t too much of that tha laughed at t It t too often Nevertheless I hated the toe approach of ot age the t decay of beauty the dea death h o of or magnetism as s bitterly as the silliest Woman oman 1 I h had d eyer net met et lose Some women merely fade their complexions the brightness of ot their their- eyes ye and hair haIrs Others grow heavy solid stout tout or gr flabby bYi I the muscles m of the face and neck loosen and nc sag t the e features alterI alter aHer up wither I seemed seemed slowly to dry up There hero was no flesh to hang or loose sl skin tn to wr wrinkle e but it t seemed to me t that at I had bach ten thousand lines I thou thought ht it a a. ho horrid rid fate I could d not know knew t that at Nature mean meaning to be le cruel had nad given ven methe me ma mathe the best chance for the renewal S t the appearance as well eU as th the fact fac a of youth I s suppose all aU this thia seems trivial v over over lost to you this you this mourning g youth youth- Not at all aU It must have been hell to a woman like you As for they they may make In n general nera more fuss fus about it lt but I 1 fancy they hate it t l less ss than Uan men than women worn wom Yes es men are vainer valner en said sall Madame fer nt But I have ave yet to waste any sympathy on men realized cd I II suppose I only fully that UH my youth th my IllY beauty flY tny when magnetic charm had gone men men ceased to make violent love loveto loveto loveto to m me T They ey still UH paid court for J J. was 2 a V very ry important person my great prestige was a sort of halo neglected my and and I had never mind lJ There ere Wa was nothing 1 of sig significance sig- sig all aU during read e J had haq not pot n these thes years I was VOlS as profoundly Interested ted in the great political I. I and unseen un unseen un- un seen currents Of f intelligent intel Intel- or an-or or as any seen ag ns an fillY any man man or of European society woman art of life Moreover I J had t the e I hadnot had hadnot point and to te a a fine rifle that even in m friendship friendship friend friend- forgotten not pot subtle to the men are drawn ship IP s who now how to envelop woman And AndI mystery certain herself elt Jn in a to always eager European men mell ar are I talk taU with an accomplished woman the no longer if it she he has haJJ even eyen power to stir their facile passions that sex my realized When V n I power had left me I 1 adopted an tactics tactics never never entirely new W set of ot cynical smile on would I provoke pro a fI to the power had I once th the faces evidence of distort With no enchantment Ir I for my lost re regret ret the alert and al always always always al- al r remained m merely relY interested woman of any ways sufficiently if it world to whom men ment companions com corn were wert welcome nothing pr the more friendships I I cemented many maRY cultivated a cynIcal nl al philosophy for formy formy formy succor and al although although although al- al private my mom moments moments mo mo- time there were though for a re groping and mo of ot b bewildered m ments fit pf rebellion emon or a sudden and intense r of inferiority I hideous sense twisted the necks of those noxious themselves upward up thrusting rusting wee l and ward itc my p consciousness W and tramPled tram- tram I threatening to strangle it it Pled them under the hee heel hee of ol my mv will vill It was by no means the least happy interval of my life for I was deal I healthy health I took a great very ery and there wasa was was was' of outdoor e exercises freedom I ne er had 3 a sense pf Of experienced before Love is slavery slavery slavery slav slav- and I was no longer a slave ery de death th as LIS I husbands husband's ds d's After fter ft f my rpy hu you I opened the palace palace pal pal- ace in Vienna once more My neph nephew w and ad his wife preferred Paris and I teased leased it from them expecting expectIng expectIng expect expect- ing to follow the life I 1 had mapped for interests inter Inter- out ot until I was too old ests ts pf Pt any R port ort rt I 1 had a brilliant and I J was something of ol a political political po po- power Of course I knew lon be- be long that the war Va was pre hatreds li and nl ambitions reached leached their climax and advised this man manof manof of ot whom I J. have havO spoken Mathilda Mathilde Loyos and other friends to invest the United large sums of ot money In m States Judge Trent Prent arranged the trusteeship in each case case case- Where I Js this man 7 know lie Jio went down own I 1 do q pot not with the old regime of ol course and would he be a paUP pauper f but for these American merean InV investments and a small amount in Switzerland lIe He has oc- oc d no position In the ne new y government government gov gov- although hough he was a liberal in s. s W What at he lie is doing I have no idea I have not seen him for years Well Well eQ BO p on It Jt was waa only when I became aware of a a growing mental lassi lassi- lassitude tude 1 a constant feIl enso c of effort fort in W tn 1 talking pl everlastingly y on subjects that called for constant alertness and often reorientation that I was r really aghast and began to took look toward the future pot only with a sense sensa of ot but of Intel Intel- intolerable erable rl w weariness rip I used to feel feelan feelan an inclination to turn my head away with an actual physical gesture I ture turo when conJ concentration was imper I t thought t that at my condition condi then tion was psychological th that t I hart had Jived hived too much and too hard that my memory was pv overburdened rb and my sense pf of the futility and mean mean- ingles ness of life too overwhelming overwhelm overwhelm- ing But I know now that the condition W was S physical P the tho jesuit of ot the degeneration of certain cells I spent the tho summer on my estate in 11 Hungary and jl when it was waa over I determined to close the palace in Vienna and remain in the country 1 I could not go goback goback goback back to that restless high pitched life ute with its ceaseless gayety on tho the one ono hand and its feverish politics politics poli poll tics and portentous rumblings on the other My tired Ire mind rebelled I And the long strain had d told on my health J I 1 lived an almost completely outdoor life riding walking walking- swim swimming swim swim- ming ng in the tho lake hunting but careful not to overtax my f strength strength- I 1 was not In 11 love lo with lIre e t far 1 from tro it Hu ButI had no in intention intention In in- of adding invalidism to my disintegrations In the evening evening eve eve- ning I 1 played cards with m my s serc- serc tary or practised at the piano with so some sonie e revival levi of ot my old interest in music I |