Linnet: A Romance

“TO INTRODUCE MR FLORIAN WOOD” ’Twas at Zell in the Zillerthal. Now, whoever knows the Alps, knows the Zillerthal well as the centre of all that is most Tyrolese in the Tyrol. Fr...

A FRESH ACQUAINTANCE It was a steep pull up to the little village on the hill, which Florian had selected by pure intuition for their immediate headquarters. But once they had arr...

WITHIN SIGHT OF A HEROINE Next morning early, aroused by the cloister bell, Will Deverill rose, and looked out of his window. Oh, such an exquisite day! In that clear, crisp air t...

ENTER LINNET Lunch on the summit was delicious that day, and the view was glorious. But when they returned in the evening to the inn at St Valentin—that was the name of their vill...

THE WIRTH’S THEORY In the evening, while they dined, the landlord came in to see how they fared, and wish them good appetite: ’tis the custom with distinguished guests in the Tyro...

THE ROBBLER A day or two passed, and the young men from time to time saw, by glimpses and snatches, a good deal of Linnet. For now the summer season on the hills was over, and the...

WAGER OF BATTLE That evening at the _Wirthshaus_, as things turned out, Will and Florian had an excellent opportunity afforded them of observing for themselves the manners and cus...

THE HUMAN HEART Next morning Will woke of himself very early. He jumped out of bed at once, and crossed, as he stood, to the open window. The sun had just risen. Light wisps of wh...

THE MAN OF THE WORLD For some four or five mornings after this hillside interview, Florian noticed every day a most unaccountable fancy on Will Deverill’s part for solitary walks ...

HAIL, COLUMBIA! And next morning, indeed, saw them safe at Innsbruck. ’Twas a pull to get away; Will frankly admitted to his own soul he felt it so. But he saw it was right, and ...

PRIVATE INQUIRY During the rest of the young men’s stay at Innsbruck the pretty American was, as Florian remarked, “a distinct feature.” Such is the fickleness of man, indeed, tha...

THE MADDING CROWD Andreas Hausberger was a dictator. He kept his own counsel till the moment of action grew ripe for birth in the womb of time; then, heeding no man, he gave his o...

A FIRST NIGHT ’Twas with no little trepidation that Linnet arrayed herself that eventful night for her first appearance on this or any other public platform. When her hair was dre...

AND IF FOR EVER “It’s no use wasting words,” Florian observed, with decision. “As our old friend Homer justly remarks, ‘Great is the power of words; wing’d words may make this way...

A CRITICAL EVENING Florian and Rue, as it happened, were very ill-informed as to the Tyrolese minstrel market, otherwise they would certainly never have chosen Meran as a place of...

SCHLOSS TYROL “Where shall we go to-day?” Will inquired next morning, as they sipped their early coffee at the Erzherzog Johann. He was already hard at work on his projected opere...

CAUGHT OUT That avowal of Linnet’s that she didn’t want Andreas Hausberger to know of Will’s presence in the town put Will’s relations towards her during the next few weeks on a d...

TAKEN BY SURPRISE Andreas Hausberger was a wise and prudent man. He felt convinced by this time that Linnet, as he said to himself—though to no one else, for to confess it would h...

SPIRITUAL WEAPONS The Herr Vicar in Meran! It was wonderful, miraculous! For a minute or two, Linnet was so utterly taken aback at this unexpected portent that she hardly knew ho...

FLORIAN ON MATRIMONY In spite of the lateness of the season, and Will’s preoccupation, that visit to the Dolomites turned out a complete success. Rue was in excellent spirits; Flo...

FORTUNE’S WHEEL It was with no little trepidation that Will mounted the Küchelberg on the morning after his return to Meran from the Dolomites. Would Linnet be there, he wondered,...

A WOMAN’S STRATAGEM For the next three years, Will heard and saw nothing more of Linnet. Not that he failed to make indirect inquiries, as time went on, from every likely source, ...

A PROPHET INDEED! While Will Deverill’s operetta was still in rehearsal at the Duke of Edinburgh’s, a little episode occurred at Rue’s house in Hans Place, which was not without a...

offer any direct explanation, was yet reminded at once of some very remarkable and surprising feats he had seen performed by a fakir in India, who had told him the name of his futu...

THE ART OF PROPHESYING They walked on, side by side, to the house in Grosvenor Gardens. Florian let himself in with a latch-key, and rang the bell for his servant. While he waited...

A DRAMATIC VENTURE Among the minor successes of that London season, all the world reckoned the Colorado Seer’s Psycho-physical Entertainment at the Assyrian Hall in Bond Street, a...

A WOMAN’S HEART The papers next morning, with one accord, were almost unanimous in their praise of _Honeysuckle_. Will’s operetta didn’t set the Thames on fire, to be sure—a first...

AULD LANG SYNE A week or two later, one bright spring afternoon, Will was strolling by himself down the sunny side of Bond Street. All the world was there—for the world was in tow...

SIGNORA CASALMONTE Three years and more had passed since Will’s visit to the Tyrol. Events had moved fast for his fortunes meanwhile. He was a well-known man now in theatrical cir...

FROM LINNET’S STANDPOINT Yes; it was Linnet indeed! The natural chances of Will’s profession had thrown them together almost inevitably on the very first night of her appearance i...

AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR How she got through that song, how she got through that scene, Linnet never knew. She was conscious of but two things—Will Deverill’s presence and the Blesse...

WHEN GREEK MEETS GREEK Andreas handed the card to Will with a sardonic smile. “That wild fellow again,” he muttered. “I didn’t know he was in England. I suppose I must go down to ...

WEDDED FELICITY Signora Casalmonte scored a distinct success. She was the great dramatic and musical reality of that London season. All the world flocked to hear her; her voice ma...

PLAYING WITH FIRE And yet, Linnet was happier that first season in London than ever before since her marriage with Andreas. She knew well why. In fear and trembling, with many a q...

AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE When Will, with fear and trembling, explained his plan half-an-hour later at the _châlet_ to Andreas Hausberger, that wise man of business, instead of flouting...

GOLDEN HOPES Mr Franz Lindner, _alias_ Signor Francesco of the London Pavilion, laid down his morning paper at his lodgings in Soho, with unmistakable outward and visible signs of...

AN ECCLESIASTICAL QUESTION While _Cophetua’s Adventure_ was running at the Harmony, Will necessarily saw a good deal of Linnet. Signora Casalmonte was now the talk of the town. He...

BEGINNINGS OF EVIL Andreas Hausberger was right. Philippina’s nemesis found her out all too quickly. Just six weeks later, Will Deverill had called round one afternoon at Florian’...

HUSBAND OR LOVER? The Hausbergers spent that winter in Italy. Andreas thought the London air was beginning to tell upon Linnet’s throat, and he took good care, accordingly, to get...

DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE Mr Joaquin Holmes was making a morning call one of those days on Mrs Theodore Livingstone—better known to the readers of these pages as Philippina—at her furn...

OPEN WAR He glared at them for a moment before he fully took it in. The Seer, thus suddenly surprised, loosed his hold on Linnet, and drew back instinctively. But an awful feeling...

GOD’S LAW—OR MAN’S? Linnet took less than one minute to make up her mind. Not twice in his life should Andreas treat her so before her own servants. She was too proud to cry; but ...

PRUDENCE It was a trying position for Will. He hardly knew what to do. Duty and love pulled him one way, chivalry and the hot blood of youth the other. When a beautiful woman make...

LINNET’S RIVAL Will hailed a cab in St James’s Street, and drove straight to his sister’s, only pausing by the way to despatch a hasty telegram to the management of the Harmony: “...

AND WILL’S At Will’s chambers, meanwhile, Linnet sat and waited, her flushed face in her hands, her hot ears tingling. She had plenty of time in Will’s absence to reflect and to r...

BY AUTHORITY As Florian sat there, scribbling off a few lines of apology for their hasty departure, the door opened of a sudden—and Will Deverill entered. Florian rose, a little ...

HOME AGAIN! Andreas Hausberger was always a wise man in his generation. The moment he knew Linnet had left his house, he realised forthwith that the one great danger to his intere...

SEEMINGLY UNCONNECTED Franz Lindner! And how was Franz Lindner engaged during these stormy days? He was working out by degrees his own scheme in life for making himself rich, and ...

THE BUBBLE BURSTS Complacent Mr Holmes saw him safely off by the last train to Nice, before retiring for the night to his own snug quarters. ’Tis thus one prepares one’s pigeons f...

THE PIGEON FLIES HOME A Robbler’s not a man to be lightly discomposed by the mere accident that he happens to have committed a murder. Franz’s first impulse, indeed, as he left th...

ANDREAS HAUSBERGER PAYS That night again Franz didn’t trouble to undress. He lay on the bed in his clothes, and let the candle burn out as it would in its socket. Early next morni...

EXIT FRANZ LINDNER The first thing Linnet felt, as she sprang forward to her husband, who lay dying or dead on the floor in front of her, was a pervading sense, not of sorrow or o...

A CONFESSION OF FAITH It was a terrible time for Linnet, those few days at the inn, while she waited to bury her murdered husband. She felt so lonely, here among her own people; h...