The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1856-02-06
a Tr,1e Romance,

A True Romance. f- tsr
In the year of grace sixteen hundred and
eighty seven, Lawrence GuiIlemott d. Anglade
lived in fine house in theorue Royal, at Pa
rs, near the Bastille. He and his wife lived
in great style, kept heir carriage, played high,
talked necessarily Of their high birth and fami
ly estate, appeared to have plenty Of money
which they lent occasionally upon good securi-
ty-and on the strength Of theirow represen-
tations, obtained entrance into the society of
some of the best houses in Paris. For the rest,
they were a worthy respectable couple, like
hundreds of others; their only sin being that
they gave themselves out for being much rich
er and grander than they actually were; M.
d'Angfade being man Of low birth and very
moderate means This was the beginning of
all the sorrows that afterwards befell them.
55 NJ. d'Anglade and his wife occupied the
greater part of the house, but as is general in
Paris, there we're other inmates A certain
count and countess de Montgommeri occupied
the ground floor and the rooms above. The
grounds1oor consisted ofthree rooms which all
opened into a long corridor, at one end of
which was the porte cochere of the courtyard,
and at the other a staircase leading to the
rooms upon the first floor, where there was a
small inner closet or strong room. Here the
count ortcountess kept their.money and jewels.
The able Francois Gagnard, the counts al
moner, a page, and a valet-de7 e7chambre slept
in one Of the three rooms on the ground floor.
Another was the sale -a-manger and the one
which opened from it, served for different pur-
poses. ,,z,-..g-.-.s,g, II, .,.,s,..3rzes ..Ss
A friendly acquaintance soon sprung up be-
tween the d. 'Anglades and the Montgommeries
Soon after he entered the house, the count de
Montgommeri received a large sum of money,
partly Louls-d' 'ors. some of which were quite
new, and others au Gordon, ,~or old ones. The
remainder Of the money was in thirteen bags,
each bag containing a thousand francs; there
was also one bag containing eleven thousand
FIVE hundred liyres in Spanish pistoles. All
this money, together with a magnificent pearl
necklace, estimated to be worth four thousand
Iivres, was secured in a strong Golfer, and the
Golfer was carefully placed in the smaller inner
closet we have mentioned. The d'Anglades
knew all this, and had recommended an invest
ment for his money to the count. One day NJ.
de Montgommeri and his wife agreed to go
and spend a few days at their country house
their neighbors, d'Anglades,f to accompany
them. They accepted the invitation but sub
sequently made some frivolous excuse for re-
naming at home. The count and countess set
off on Monday, the twenty-second OF Septem-
Der, sixten hundred and eighty seven, and gave
out that they should return the following Thurs.
day. The almoner Fable Gagnard and all the
servants accompanied them, except femme
| de-chamber, named Fermenie. and one lac
quay. -Four sewing women employed to EN-
broider some hangings for Madame de Mont
gommeri, were also left in the house; but they
were lodged in another part of the building.
| The key of the outer door Of the room on the
! first floor was confded to the femme de-cham-
bre; the able Gagnard shut and double locked
| the door of his room on the ground floor, and
the family departed, considering that they had
left every thing quite secure. This was show:
ing contempt for burglars that, under the
circumstances, amounted to rashness; and they
seemed to have thought SO, for they returned
home suddenly, twenty four hours earlier thar
they had intended The count declared thai
his mind was troubled by the sight of some
drops of blood which he found upon the table
cloth, and that he determined to quit Vile
Vousin that moment, having prescntimen
that something had happened The able and
the servants did not arrive until after them.
The first thing that struck the able was
finding his room door jar, although, during
the absence Of the count and countess, it hac
seemed to be closed, the able having double.
locked it with his own hands, and the key hac
never been out his possession. All the ser
wants remarked the fact also, but at the momen
it did not, singular to state, make much i'm
preston on them, Supper was served to the
4 H. coll ~
they were still at table, when their neighbor
d'Anglade, came home at eleven o'clock, ac-
companied BY the abbes de Fleury and de Vii
las, who had supped with him at the house
of Ia presidente Roberts. Finding the count
and countess were returned, they all went In,
and presently Madame d 'Anglade joined them
After lively conversation, they all separated
for the night, and everything seemed as usual
~ The next morning the count de Montgom-
merry discovered that he had been robbed
The lock of his strong box had been forced,
and everything it contained had been carried
4 away. s....-
! He, of course, made complaint to the lieu
tenant criminal of the chatelet, who, with the
procureur du roi and thecommissary of police,
lost no time in repairing to the. spot On ex-
amining. they declared the robbery to have
been committed by some one upon the premises,
and decided upon searching the whole house.
D'Anglade and his wife requested that their
own apartments should be first examined
Strict scrutiny was made, but nothing could
be- discovered in the rooms they inhabited.
The officers proceeded to the attics. Madame
dAnglade excused herselffrom accompanying
them upon the plea of sudden faintness. Up
to the attics the officers went, and, concealed IN
an old chest, under wearing apparel and house
linen. they found a rouleau of sixty louis au
Gordon, wrapped in a printed paper, which
the count de Montgommeri declared as his ge-
nealogy. He also said that part of the money
stolen from him consisted of. louis au Gordon, OF
the year 1886 and 1857. ..-
When d'Anglade was questioned about the
money, lie s,ammered and could give no ac-
count of how he came by it. He seemed in
despair and Madame d'Ang!ade said that the
door Of tie apartment of the abbe Gagnard had
not been secured as it ought to have been, and
she insisted that it should likewise be searched.
This was done It was found that money had
L., C.