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Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created from the title page by thetranscriber and is placed in the public domain.
THE MONSTER
THE MONSTER
by
NEW YORK
PULITZER PUBLISHING COMPANY
1913
Copyright, 1913,
By Edgar Saltus
Copyright in Great Britain
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
CHAPTERS
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII
The Monster
I
When the clergyman had gone, thebride turned.
Before her was an open windowbefore which was the open sea. Inthe air was a tropical languor, a savourof brine, the scent of lilies, the soundof mandolins that are far away. Below, in thegarden, were masses of scarlet, high heaps ofgeranium blooms. A bit beyond was theCaprian blue of the San Diego Bay. There,a yacht rode, white and spacious. The yachtbelonged to her husband who was beside her.She turned again and as passionately he embracedher; she coloured.
For the moment, as they stood there, theyseemed so sheerly dissimilar that they mighthave come of alien races, from different zones.He, with his fair hair, his fair skin, his resoluteand aggressive face, was typically Anglo-Saxon.She, with her delicate features, herdense black hair, and disquieting eyes, looked[8]like a Madrilene Madonna—one of thosefascinating and slightly shocking creations ofseventeenth-century art that more nearly resembleinfantas serenaded by caballeros thanqueens of the sky. There was a deeper contrast.He appeared frankly material; she,all soul.
Leisurely she freed herself.
“One might know,” she began, then paused.A smile completed the sentence.
He smiled too.
“Yes, Leilah, one might know that howeverI hold you to m