Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1856-08-20

not SO, Tedd bHlS1etteT, WHICH 1OE5uHe, IN
one of her freaks, kindly threw in my way.
Il may enlighten you as to her opinion of
you. before she became your Duchess, and
you can easily judge whether she has since
been likely to change it."
Philip took the letter, and drawing near
light, perceived that it was in the hand-Wri-
ting of Henrietta. It had been addressed
by her, when at the convent Of Chaillot, to
Sophie Nivelle, whov distantly related
to the Chevelier de Lorraine. Init, with
the careless confidence of girlhood, she had
expatiatedI ION theE fne person the charming
voice, and the affable, yet digni6ed man.
pers Of Louis XIV. in terms Of unquali-
4ed admiration. Theconcluding sentence
ran thus:
"Do you know, my dear Sophie, that it
is coR6dently asserted by those who should
know, that the King regrets not having
made me his Queen, now that am going
to be married to his brother? HIS brother
shall I d describe him to you? No! my
heart revolts at the idea. Imagine him
just the reverse of Louis, stern, severe, Graf
ty, superstitious, in short, every thing that
is repulsive, and you cannot be far from the
truth. And this man is to be my husband.
It is the will of my mother, and, [ am
compelled to admit, of the King"
While Philip perused the letter, the cold,
glitter in eye of Lorraine was fixed stead
fastly upon his features, and MS they writh-
ed and darkeaed beneath the baleful infu-
ence of jealousy and anger, and incipient
hate, malignant and satisfied smile curled
his lips. When he had finished reading
it, he crushed it in his hand, then dashed
it to the floor, trampled upon it, and ground
it with the heel of his boot.
Hold, J" said Lorraine -''if you destroy
this precious epistle, there will be nothing
by which | can refresh your memory when
your heart again softens in the warmth of
one Of her fascinating smiles"
" It would take but one of them to turn
it to adamant. Do as you will, Lorraine
+ You wish for freedom. I, too, am content
to be made free"
"That is not sufficient must have
your aid in securing me the opportunity.
You must introduce me at court as an En-
. glish nobleman''
Impossible! you would be known!'
F Slightly disguised, shall be in nc
danger. My long absence has placed NE
beyond the recollection of many, even
should | appear without any,"
But why" said Philip, "should you
, , seek to meet her at court? Surely" p and
his lips turEed white as he spoke" you
would not select SO public place to-
81 te-ss.----. ,'ttgGr4@ Z. -.
6 And why not? As ! mean to ust
: neither lead nor stool"
Gay, understand Poison is to bt
your agent"
I" It will be the most prudent one Can
q not we procure the aid of her maitre d
: hotel ?"
i Without doubt, if we offer him gol,
) enough"
, = "When shall it be ?-that is, when vii
! there be opportunity 2"
- "There is to be a ball next Wednesda
;o I evening, in honor of her successful negc
- - tiation."
% Wednesday evening-there must b
a. some time for preparation-it will be 500
\ enough"
10 10 "Soon enough" repeated Philip, me
N N chanically, as Lorraine again muffied him
- = self in his cloak, and drew his cowl owe
~ . his face.
The next day, Lorraine accompanie
id Philip to st. Cloud, who introduced hir
ID to the King as an English nobleman, VIII
I was travelling incognito As professe
friend to his brother, Louis gave him
ur gracious welcome, which secured him th
,h polite attention of the courtiers.
d. That night, at late hour, the maitre
nd hotel of the Duchess was observed by on
ed who for several hours had kept watchfl
ne eye upon him, advancing stealthily alor
one of the corridors. One or twice IL
noaitre d hotel imagined that he hear
al footsteps behind him. He stopped, al
rs turned dark lantern in such manner
to reveal any person that might be lurkir
. near. Before be could satisfy himself re
he ative to the truth Of his conjecture, he wi
we followed had time to shelter himself in
ui- recess. 1t was but the echo of my ov
ur steps," he muttered to himself In fe
of moments he reached door beneath whit
is cleaned light. He tapped lightly
gainst it, and it was Immediately open'
to BY the Chevalier de Lorraine. The moi
ose of turning key was distinctly heard, al
then man in the garb of menial car
is cautiously forward, and stationed hims'
ce. close to the door. The conversation of t
rth two within the chamber was in low al
suppressed voices, and the listener caug
only few broken sentences. These, ho
ever, were enoug to confirm the suspici
lrt, that had drawn him to the spot The voi
sed of the Chevalier was deep and earnest, a
md occasionally was intermingled the click
: to gold. At last they, in measure, seem
to forget the caution which had at first
yer strained them, and the listener distinc
en- heard the sentences that follow
less "You will remember" said Lorrai
md. " that I do not wish it to be poison Il
. will operate Immediately, as it will be m
r at likely to excite suspicion.
eau I" understand" was the reply.
With "Can l depend On your skill r"
Without the least apprehension"
Not All will be well, then"
and 4 movement as if the two were abor
city separate, caused him to precipitately le
hit I the door, but what he had now been,
to hear, joined with few words which
ough had heard in the evening, enabled hir
flush understand that the person whose life
yet, were plotting against, was no other
ly on Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans.
CONCLUSION NEXT WEEK.
40