Beautiful Rienzi; or, The secret vendetta — page 229: what you’re looking at

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

224 BEAUTIFUL RIENZI. ‘‘He was afraid [ would do something desperate; he was mistaken. Iwas never more calm; my ideas ranged themselves with precision; I felt composed as a frozen sea. ‘“* We entered our cab; at the moment a small Canadian sleigh passed by us and dashed furiously on; it contained Cecil Beaumont and my wife; her head was upon his shoulder, his arm was passed round her, exultation flashed over his face, ‘‘<This is the last act of the drama!’ I said, pointing to ens ‘there goes my wife and my successor to her vows?’ «««Pursue them!’ shouted Pemberton; ‘horsewhip the fel- low?’ ‘““No,’ L answered; ‘that man is beyond my vengeance; a wrathful Heaven has decreed that he should be my brother.’ ‘here was a. steamer about to leave for Boston that same night, and in it I determined to take passage, and leave the city of my humiliation. I no longer desired to confront my wife; I washed my hands of her, and resolved henceforth to leave her free. <The pang which rankled longest was the discovery that she was not the pure, high-souled being I had worshiped; that the transcendent virtues and the nobility of her morals had not been genuine; that the Isolina of my love was a heavenly creation that had never existed. ‘‘T wished to procure some sort of divorce, in order to leave her the more completely free, but Pemberton sternly opposed the measure, on account of the publicity which would ensue. «She has not waited for a divorce,’ he said, bitterly; ‘and you are not bound to drag your horses into deeper mire, until you have a handle to go by. When she has publicly betrayed her marriage vows, then you shall sue for a divorce, and when free, unite yourself to a worthy lady of your own land, and perpetuate the name of your house.’ ‘<The name shall die with me!’ I exclaimed, firmly; ‘I have wedded for the last time?’ | ‘In due time we returned to Joselyn Wold, but I only staid until my affairs were all wound up. I appointed Pemberton guardian of my estate; made my will, leaving the whole of the immense wealth which had made the Jose- CORNUCG OOO S (©)