The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-11-28 00:00:00

CHAPTER II

and his Mother manage the De Croissi
' • falls in love, after being left an

N Fabie

The Baroness de Croissi, and Fabien aged fourteen,
found themselves at the mercy of an imperious man who
considered their existence as a stain upon the honour of
his house. After the death of the old man they were
wishful of escaping from the tyranny which would inevi-
tably be exercised to weigh upon them by the new lord of
Croissi, but they were both of them deceived as to the in-
tentions of the mysterious Albert. To their great as-
tonishment he announced to them with much gracious-
ness. that he desired that nothing should be changed in
the mansion house, and that his mother-in-law and his
brother should continue to hold the same state as formerly ;
that as for himself he would return to Paris, leaving
to them the management of his property, of which, never-
theless, they should render him once a-year a true ac-
count. He was convinced, added he gallantly, that his
estate could not but prosper in the hands of a lady, whom
his father had considered worthy to be his companion.
This generosity, which the baroness and her son were far
from expecting, excited their gratitude to the utmost.
Both had been accustomed to hear the old man speak of
Albert, only with the most profound respect, and this
noble conduct tended to augment the regard that had been
inspired for him. As we have said the Baroness was of
poor family. If therefore she quitted the chateau she
had no other step to take but to enter a convent. On the
other band Fabien as a younger brother had no right to
the property which his father left ; and this law which en-

tirely despoiled the younger scions of a family for the sake
of the elder brothers, was more severe in Normandy than
in any other province : whence the term " Cadets of Nor-
mandie" became a nickname for all who had little of the
world's goods in their possession. Thus were both mo-
ther and son compelled to accept the protection of the
Baron de Croissi even if their respect to the will of the
new head of the family had not been to them as a law.
To tell the truth, this conduct of Albert's had its origin
in other sentiments than those of benevolence, it was not
benevolence alone which he had thus all of a sudden
manifested for the widow and son of the deceased lord,
for on his arrival at his estates, which were formerly
greatly impaired,' he found them so much improved and
so prosperous, that they could not but prove satisfactory
to him. His father had taken occasion to inform him
that this cheering state of the revenue of the ancient
house of De Croissi had arisen from the prudent and wise
administrations and suggestions of his second wife ; and
as Albert could not accustom himself to reside in the
country he was not sorry to leave his little territory in
the care of a person not only skilful but trustworthy, and
one whose superintendance he could have for nothing.
Thus then the source of his generosity was explained ;
besides he did not dare to commit an act of violence upon
the good opinions of the neighbouring nobility in driv-
ing his stepmother and little brother from the paternal
roof.

Madame de Croissi and Fabien therefore remained in
Normandy, and the Baron returned to Paris, where he
at once cast himself headlong into those intrigues by
which he intended to push his fortunes. The quiet Cha-
teau of Croissi, which for a time had been agitated by the
death of the old lord and by the presence of Albert, took
again its accustomed aspect ; the Baroness continued to
manage the affairs of her son-in-law with the same wis-
dom as before, and Fabien, young as he was, aided her in
this duty. The second son of the Baron was thus brought
up in a sort of worship for his elder brother, and, from
the age when reason first dawns, he habituated himself to
look upon him as the complete ruler of his destiny ; and
when his mother died, which took place nearly two years
after the death of the old Baron, Fabien did not refuse to
undertake in his turn the management of the De Croissi
domains,—think'ng, while he did so, that he was but the
steward and first domestic of his elder brother.
Left to himself in the paternal chateau, Fabien led a
dull and monotonous life. Happily for him he had no
ambition. and expressed no desire to follow the example
of those country gentlemen who went abroad to seek ad-
ventures, and who exposed their lives at every moment
in party quarrels, since they had nothing else to risk.
In fact, he was ignorant of himself in this isolated re-
treat, and never dreamt that it was possible to elevate
himself above the modest position which be had tacitly
accepted. A new event took place to augment in him
that love of solitude, and give him a veritable aversion to
the world. At some distance from De Croissi was an old
chateau, which had remained a long time uninhabited,
having fallen into ruins during the wars. It then be-
longed to a noble family who had quitted Normandy, its
members having followed divers fortunes ; and so unfor-
tunate had been their lot, that their name was almost
effaced in the memory of the country people in the vici-
nity. But some few years after the epoch when this
history commenced, the almost obsolete name had been
mentioned afresh : they had repaired a wing of the old
house, and so soon as it was habitable, an old lady, al-
most an octogenarian, and a young girl of about fifteen
years, her pupil, came to reside in it. The old lady had
known brighter days at the court of Henry Quatre ; but
it was supposed that to this brilliance she owed much of
the decay of her ancient splendour, and that she there-
fore consented to retire to this sad chateau. Her young
companion was her niece, the only offshoot of the ancient
family of Montglat, of which house both bore the name.
Fabien did not pay much attention to his new neigh-
bours, and several months passed away before he visited
them ;as they lived, in fact, extremely retired. One day,
however, chance or caprice of his horse having directed
his way to Montglat, he resolved to go p far as the man-
sion-house, and, prompted by a feeling of courtesy natu-
ral to gentlemen of his time, offered his services to the
two noble recluses. Who can tell which struck the young
man the most—the amiability, the wit, and profound
knowledge of the old lady ; or the grace, beauty, and,
sweetness of the young countess ? Be it as it may, Fa-
bien found an infinite charm in the society of his hitherto
neglected neighbours, and he often took occasion to see
them. At length the old lady let him into her confidence
as to their projects. They were poor, and the lands of
Montglat were all barren ; and as their fortunes consisted
in them, they wished to better them. For this purpose
the old Baroness thought she could not take better advice
from any one than Fabien, as to what should be done.
On his part the young agriculturist could not refuse his
advice to two persons so interesting—the one for her
extreme youth, the other for her extreme age, and both
for their misfortunes. He visited them every day, took
in hand the direction of their property, and soon might
be said to reside with his neighbours.
One may easily divine what the consequence was of
this intimacy. Fabien loved Mlle. Elizabeth de Montglat,
and he was beloved by her in return. It was a sweet, a
modest, innocent love, which grew under the eyes of the
excellent aunt, without giving her offence, and almost with
her consent. Fabien found in his intercourse with these
graceful, elegant, and polished women of the world, that
delicacy of ideas, that urbanity of manners, that he had
never known till then; and fora long time he thought that
his attentions at Montglat, had no other cause than the
charms which he found in the conversation of its inmates.
No avowal had been exchanged, no project had been put
forward ; nevertheless, these three persons understood
each other excellently. True it was that Fabien was poor ;
but the moderate fortune, which would revert to Mlle.
Montglat after the death of her aunt, would not establish
between them a great disproportion of wealth. There was
therefore no serious obstacle to their union ; and in their
young imaginations they saw before them the most smiling
future, when a thunderbolt fell to crush their sweetest
hopes. Madame de Montglat, in her sequestered retreat,
bad preserved her correspondence with certain ladies of
the court, who had formerly been her friends. Uneasy
for Elizabeth's future welfare, she had many times soli-
cited her old friends to interest themselves for the young
orphan girl. For a long time no reply was returned to
her entreaties, and the good old lady was remarking with
grief the gradual weakening of her health ; when at length
she received a reply from the Marquise de Chevreuse, to
whom she had more particularly recommended her little
girl. This letter announced that the place of maid of
honour to the Queen had been obtained for Elizabeth de
Montglat. What should she do under such circumstances ?
Should she, for the vague hope, sometime or another, of
marrying her child to a younger son who had nothing, and
who depended absolutely upon an avaricious brother, re-
nounce the brilliant advantages which now were offered for
Elizabeth's acceptance ? The determination of the old lady
was therefore made up at once, and Elizabeth departed for
Paris with her aunt, and we leave the imagination to pic-
ture what promises were exchanged between the two
young people before their separation ; for this catastrophe
had compelled the timid Fabien to declare himself. Nor
were his vows unexchanged. Elizabeth de Montglat truly
loved him.
On the first arrival of the two ladies at court, Fabien
often received news from them, and a word or two was
furtively slipped into the letters of her aunt, by Elizabeth.
But soon these letters became rare ; and when Madame
de Montglat died, they ceased altogether, the young lady
appearing to entertain a convenient feeling which could not
permit her to continue a correspondence that courtly man-
ners no longer sanctioned. In the brilliant world in which
she now lived she had found many attractions to chase
poor Fabien from her heart and thoughts. It was with this
reflection that she rested herself when his last letters com-
plaining of her silence remained unanswered. At length
Fabien lamented, and then abjured the ungrateful one,
who so quickly forget her sacred promises. His grief then
became more calm, and manifested itself in a profound and
concentrated sentiment, which betrayed itself only in con-
tinual melancholy.
Two years thus passed away. Fabien, crossed in his
dearest affections, had recovered that taste for solitude,
and had fallen into a sort of apathy which rendered him
more than ever blind to all sorts of ambitious views. He
desired nothing more than to live in obscurity, and die
unknown, in the place where he was born, since the one
for whom he at one time desired grandeur and opulence,
thought no more of him. In this listless mood was he
absorbed when the Baron Albert suddenly arrived at the
chateau.

(To be continued.)