The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1847-10-09

| the shoulder-knot, the lrst time that
Buckingham appeared in it, and for
| warding them forthwith by safe mes
senger to himself.
A fortnight afterwards, the two tags
were in the possession Of Richelieu.
The duke had worn the aiguillette at a
state ball. and the emissary Of the car
dinal had cut away couple Of its pen
dants unobserved. The vindictive min.
ister gloted over his prize! Now as he
believed, his revenge was certain.
The first care of Richeleu was to
| carry the diamonds to the king, and to
acquaint him with the method by which,
| they had been procured. Louis exam.
ined them closely. There could be no
| doubt that they had indeed formed a
portion OF the ornament which had been
his last present to his wife; his pale
| brow flushed with rage, and before the
| cardinal left the royal closet, every pre-
caution was taken to insure the speedy
exposure of the queen.
On the foil owing morning, Louis him
self announced to Anne OF Austria, that
ball given by the civil magistrates ol
Paris, at the to wn hall, would take place
The day but one following, and he cou-
pied this information with the re-
quest, that she would appear in the
aiguillette which he had lately presen.
| ted her. She eplyed simply ard calm
ly that he should be obeyed.
The eight and forty hours which
were still TO intervene before his ven.
gence could be accomplished, appeared
so many centuries to the cardinal duke.
Anna Of Austria was now fairly in
the tolls. and still her composure remain
ed unrufled. How was this apparent
tranquility to be explained? RicheIieu
had already experienced that, aided by
Buckingham and Madame de Chevreuse
she had possessed the power to battle
even his ingenuity; but she now stood
alone, and had she venlured upon so
dangerous step as that of replacing the
Jewels, he well knew that on the pre-
sent occasion she possessed neither the
time nor the means.
The hour of the festival at length
struck; and it had been arranged that
the king should irstmak his entrance
into the ballroom, accompanied by hls
minister, and that the queen should fol.
low, attended by her own court. Rich.
elieu was enabled to calculate upon
commencing his triumph from the very
moment Of her appearance on the
Threshold.
Precisely an hour before midnight,
the queen was announced. and every
eye at once turned eagerly towards
her. She was magnificent alike in
'oveIiness and apparel. She wore
Spanish costume, consisting OF dress
Of green satin, broidered with gold
and silver, having hanging sleeves,
which were Iooped back with large ru-
bies, serving as buttons. Her ruff was
open, and displayed her bosom, which
was extremely beautiful, and upon her
head she had small cap of green vel
vet, surmounted by heron feather;
while from her shoulder depended
gracefully the aiguilette, with its l2
diamond tags.
AS she entered, the king approached
her-avowedly to offer his compli.
ments upon her appearance, but actu.
ally to count the tags. His arithmetic
amounted to dozen. The cardinal
stood pace behind him quiverIng
with rage. The twelve tags were
hanging from the shoulder of the queen,
and, nevertheless, he grasped two of
them in his hand at the same moment,
Ave, in his hand, for he had resolved
not to lose an instant in triumphing
over the proud and insolent beauty
who had laughed his passion to scorn,
and made him the mark for the ridlcuIe
of his associates. The vow that he
uttered IN his heart, as he gazed upon
her calm and defying brow that night.
probably caused Buckingham his lite;
for Richeieu was not duped by the
belief that the shouder-knot Of the
duke, from whence his own two tags
had been severed was not Identical
with that now floating over the arm Of
Anne Of Austria.
The plot had, nevertheless failed,
and once more the cardinal was beaten
upon his own ground.
1t is, however, time that we should
disclose the, secret Of this apparently
mysterious incident 10 our readers.
On his return from the state ball, at
which he had appeared with the oiguil-
lette Of Anne Of Austria, Buckingham,
who would confde to no one the care
Of his precious ornament, was about
to restore it to his casket, wher he per.