Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-07-08

|
ner lonely tower, out of the reach of tempta
uon, and surrounded only by her maidens
employ the weary interval in listening TO tn
nooie deeds OF his ancestors, and embroider
ing gorgeous scarf to present him on his re
turn but In these days of balls, festivals
ana beaux, the young Alliance has a mucl
narder trlal-and We seriously advise th,
help. Nv Vol
The following day, Aubertin found III,
whole party drawn up to receive him-M
Fradei occupying his large armchair at tn,
mead OF table covered with parchments
ana M. Dumont, the notary-a hard -featu red
cold, methodical looking being-seated NJ hi
rlgnt while on the opposite side Lestelle sat
win her elbow resting on the table and he,
head bent down and as she slightly raisad |;
on the entrance Of her lover, he saw that he,
eyes were red and swollen from excessiv,
weeping Having bowed to the gentlemen
ana pressed the cold, trembling hand of Les
teile TO his h-' he sat down and waited
calmly for M. Fradel to commence the busi
ness that had brought them together.
" You are aware, M. Aubertin,' said the
Ola gentleman at length. "that my ward i.
very young and that In accepting you for her
husband she acts contrary to nv wishes and
| sex?'' Vi nei
All this is not new to me, :" replied the
young man, while he stole an arch look at
Lesteile, who was watching him with breath
| less anxiety
wen, then, We may as well come to the
point at once Without my consent your mar
rlage cannot take place until MademoisaIJe
Verney is of age-a period Of which il wants
| nearly three years; and your signing this
| oeed, oy which the whole of her property is
settled unalienably upon herself, without Civ
ing any one else power to draw or dispose of
| one So~ OF 1t, Is the only condition upon which
the hand OF Lestelle shall be yours
A crimson blush passed over the cheek and
brow OF Claude Aubertin, and there was
moment pause, during which the keen glance
OF the old man, the cold scrutiny of the no.
tary, and the pleading eyes of the anxious
girl were fixed eagerly upon his face. The
struggle, however, was but of short duration:
ana with cheerful smile upon his face
he held out his hand for the paper, and elan,
cing rapidly over its contents, instantly affixed
his name. 1T is well,' said NJ. Fradel, com.
placently. Now, MademoiseIle.'
The hand Of the young girl trembIed a. Vi
olently that Aubertin was obliged to gu;de
1t and when the signature was at length com
pieted, she hung herself upon his bosom, and
wept long and passionately Even the notary
was moved into something like sympathy, and.
gathering up his papers, hastened to follow
his patron from the room, and leave the lovers
az full liberty to give vent to their feelings:
but regard for the timid and weeping girl'
who clung to him SO fondly and impIorineIv
subdued the offended pride of Claude AnSey,,,
tin, and had Little difficulty in soothing her
fears, and winning back the sunshine of her
happy smiles.
few days after this they were married.
and the three succeeding years which gIided
past so happily with them, are marFAd =
Ma - So. y. y,O 49, ,hs innate nnhihtY.9t.eRe
the barriers OF rank and aristocracy were
beaten down, and men owned no limits to
their own wild wills. Claude Aubertin was
revolutionist in the best sense of the word
his proud spirit had been stung by the worldly
scorn OF those whom he inwardly despised;
but not for this did he turn upon his oppres-
sors-not for any feeling save the pure and
holy love of liberty. And when that name
became prostituted to the very worst pur-
poscs-when it was made the watchword to
crime and bloodshed-he yet clung to it as In
his first hour of youthful enthusiasm, and
trusted everything to its power when the first
lntoxicatlon should have passed away, and
be succeeded by an age of reason and ration.
ality.
Lestelle loved her husband too well not to
have imbibed his principles; and the costly
saloon of Ia belle cheyenne, as she was called,
were nightly thronged with the leading po-
litical characters of the time But LssteIle
was no longer girl, laughing from the over.
flow of her gladsOme spirit. Her smiles were
less frequent, and had often a purpose to an
swer, which those who looked upon her fair
and bright face never dreamed of There
was many proud aristOcrat who, although he
know it not, owed life and fortune to that
beautiful and resistless pleader.
The only cloud that rested on the happiness
Of Lestelle was occasioned py the scrupuIous
reserve of Aubertin on all affairs connected
with her property nor could her fondness
and devotion remove the unpleasant feeling
which a consciousness of his total dependence
upon his wife was likely to engender in his
proud and sensitive spirit, and although she
tried to obviate the difficulty by liberali.y
which panied far moro than it pleased him,
still there were moments when he bitterly felt
the want Of funds, which could only be drawn
through her instrumentality, and which he
would have died rather than asked for.
OF late it had been observed that Lestelle
was much altered. She would sit for hours in
an attitude of deep thought, and was peevish
and abstracted when reused, as If the plans
which she was evidently arranging in her own
mind required the concentration of every
thought and energy. She would be absent,
too, for hours together, no one knew where,
accompanied only by her attendant; she, the
gentle and timid, who but few months be-
fore had feared to venture from home without
the protection OF ner husband. But Auber-
tin, although he felt the alteration, asked no
questions; he had too much faith in her affec
tlon to have the remotest idea of the fearful
shock that awaited him.
One morning, contrary to her usual custom,
Lestelle took her breakfast in her own apart
ment, sending a message by her maid, re-
questing the presence Of her husband at II
exactly in her boudOir; and Aubertin, not
being able at the moment to invent any de-
cent excuse for refusing to comply with her
request, reluctantly promised to attend her at
the hour appointed, determined that the
meeting should be as brief as possible. Ho
imagined that it merely related TO matters OF
a pecuniary nature, a subject of which he
always entertained a nervous horror.
"Is it possible" thought Claude, that
she can have generously anticipated my wish
to have sufficient funds at my disposal 10
prove Of beneficial service to my country
And yet, even if it were so, and her guardian
consented, I would never accept them !"
at the appointed time, Aubertin presented
himself at the door of his wife's boudoir, the
first glance at which confirmed his previous
suspicious as to the purport Of his visit. Les