Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1859-04-08

world, full of anecdote, she prolonged the
conversation, and then pledged her enter
tainer. exchanging cups with them, and
giving him one into which she had adroitly
dropped a slow but sure poison. Stiffness
settled upon the place-soldier and officer
slept. An occasional snarling bark, or the
paving Of an impatient war-horse alone
broke the silence. No guards had been
set, and the fascinating guest softly sped
away, to tell the perfdious Frederick how
well she had performed her task. Theo-
bald pursued his journey tormented by an
inward fire, his strength wasted, and he
died soon after rejoining his idolized wife.
Rejecting the solicitations of her friends
in Lorraine, Gertrude returned to Moha,
where she sorrowed deeply for the aifec-
tionate and indulgent husband who had di-
vined her very thoughts in the anxious
wish TO please her. Yet the dligent per-
formance of her duties as chateline afforded
her quiet satisfaction and she was be-
ginning to find repose in the lovely valley,
and amidst her obedient and admiring vas
sails, when Thibaut again presented himself,
this time as declared lover. He sang the
songs which he had inscribed on the walls
of his palace, surrounded by eastern bios
SONS, symbolical Of the tropic fervor of
their amorous flow. He called out all the
resources of his wit, told his gayest tales,
described the courts he had visited and the
wise and great with whom he had been fa-
miliar. As he sa. by her side, too. he
modulated his voice to the old familiar
tones, and let its accent speak for him of
the years gone by. Gertrude was won,
and departed with him for Providence, the
land IF music and poetry. Its capital, AK,
could boast little OF architectural splendor,
but it was pleasantly situated in a sort Of
basin, enclosed by fertile hills, on which
wheat fields alternated with luxuriant
vineyards, and groves of almond and olive
trees. Fete followed fete, banquet sue
ceeded banquet. Every one was captivat-
ed by the lovely countess, and the whole
kingdom summoned its chivalry to do her
honor. Sometimes, indeed, she would glad
ly have retired from the magnificent eti-
quette of the court, and have made her life
less a pageant and more an outgrowth of
the affections. But her husband liked it,
and she smilingly said, " By and bye he
will become more serene, and then we shall
settle into a deeper happiness Alas
that anticipated ''by and by" never came to
Gertrude. Thibaut, selfish and inconstant,
wearied of his bride. His love was thing
to be worn upon his helmet, to be embroi-
dered upon his scarf. to be put into set
phrases and sung to his Tyre, not to be cher
/ shed sacredly as the best gift of heaven.
He repudiated her upon the plea of con-
sanguinity, and broken hearted, she sought
once more the haunts of her childhood and
! the castle of Moha. Vain to her were the
gentle influences shed softly upon her from
/ the external world-vain were the kind at
tentions offered her by the mobiles of the
Heshage-vain was the tender thoughtful
ness of her vassals, who delighted at her
return, strove by every art to win her from
her corroding grief-vain was the possession
of a name venerated by four provinces and
a conscience full of peace. The star of her
(, life had set in the clouds of cruelty and de-
eeit, and she sank into the tomb in the very
flush of her youth and beauty, being only
twenty-one years of age.