Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1855-06-02

Charlotte the plain " shy boy of Conde," as
he generally styles me, was designed for the
honor OF being this husband of convenience /;
Tut had known his guileful project at the
time when ne required me to sign the contract,
not all the powers of France, nor even the
influence OF your charms should have bribcd
me to subscribe that paper"
1t is not now irrevocablc,' said Charlotte.
proudly.
1t is if you are willing to accede to the
conditions on. which / am ready to join in its
fulflment."
! Name them"
You must see the king no more after our
| marriage"
That win be no sacrifice and, after your
| communication, / could not look upon him with
out Indignation. How little did imagine that
such bascness could sully the glory of him of
whom fame has spoken such bright things %
Charlotte, it is his prevailing foible. The
sin that was unchecked in youth, gained
strength in middle age, and now amounts to
madness. There will be no security for our
welded happiness if we remain in his domin-
ions but can | ask you to forsake friends and
country for me ?" said Conde
"Shall l not find all these things and more
also, in the husband Of my heart 2" returned
Charlotte, tenderly.
Ah, Charlotte, can you forgive nv uneentle
doubts ?" said Conde, throwing himself at her
feet.
Yes, for they are proofs of the sincerity
of your affection and had you been less zeal.
Gus Of my honor, | should not have loved you
so well" said she. From this hour We are
as one and it will be the happiness of nv life
to resign myself to your guidance"
Then, my sweet Charlotte, must, for the
sake of the fading roses on these fair cheeks.
dismiss you to your pillow, without farther
parlance," returned Conde. They exchanged
a mute caress, and parted.
The marriage was celebrated with royal pomp
on the following day, at high noon, in the
church Of Notre Dame. Conde received his
lovely bride from the hand of his royal rival
but the kings exultation in the success of the
deep laid scheme, by which he had separated
the object of his lawless passion from her first
lover, to unite her with one from whom he
vainly imagined he should have little to fear,
was of brief duration. The nuptial festivities
received a sudden interruption on the follow
ing morning, in consequence OF the disap-
appearance of both bride and bridegroom
and what was stranger STILL it was soon dis
covered that they had eloped together. The
good people of Paris were thrown into the
most viracious amaZement at an event SO
entirely without parallel, either in history,
poetry, or romance, as the first prince of the
blood running away with his own wife and
their ~o@oriet--ae... i~n-oasAa, whan- tha cir
cumstance of this lawful abduction transpired,
by which it appeared that the Prince de Conde,
accompanied by his ilustrious bride quilted
their chamber an hour before dawn, and that
he had actually carried her OF, riding behind
him on a pillion, disguised in the grey frieze
cloak and hood of farmers wife
The enamored king, transported with rage at
having been thus outwitted by the boy-bride-
groom gave orders for an immediate pursuit.
The welded lovers were, however, beyond his
reach. They had crossed the Spanish frontier
before their route was traced, and Philip the
Third afforded them a refuge in his dominions
The refusal Of that monarch to give up these
illustrious fugitives, produced declaration of
war from Henri. He was, in fact, so pertina-
cious in his attempts to obtain possession of the
object of his lawless passion, that it was not
till after his death that Conde ventured to
return, with his lovely wife, from the voluntary
exile to which they had devoted themselves as
q refuge from dishonor. The splendid talents
and noble qualities Of Henri de Conde have
obtained for him so distinguished place in the
annals of his country that the title of the
" Great Conde" would undoubtedly have per-
tanned to him, if the renown of his illustrious
son. by Charlotte de Montmorenci, had not,
in after years, transcribed his own.
History has, with her usual partalty, pass
ed lightly over this dark spot in the character
of the gay, the gallant, the chivalric Henri
Quartre, without bestowing single comment
on the lofty spirit of honorable independence
that characterised the conduct of his Youthful
kinsman on this trying occasion and has left
wholly unnoticed the virtue and conjugal hero
ism of the high-born beauty, who nobly pre-
ferred sharing the poverty and exile of her hus-
band, TO all the pomp and distinctions that
were in the gift of a royal lover.