Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1864-10-12

from the window, and was on the point of
leading her down stairs, when we met the
doctor
"Mme. Reumont'' he said somewhat
angrily, "you know have often requested
you never to go into the upper corridor;
and you have promised me to follow my
advice. Whenetef trust those under my
care have the habit of pacing the most
implicit reliance in them and 1t annoys
me greatly to find myself deceived
IL really am very sorry, doctor. she
said, "bnt pray pardon me could not
help it As soon as | heard the voice OF
the sergeant the attraction became greater
than | could resist; but | will endeavor
in future to show more resolution. Pray,
look over it this time"
The docto- bowed somewhat coolly;
and at that moment female assistant
coming up, Nine Reumont left US, and
went to her room.
"You would greatly oblige me-" said
the doctor to me, as soon as we were by
ourselves, "if you would pursuade Mn e.
Reumont to leave the corridor wheneval al
you find her there especially when any OF
the militia are exercising on the common,
as it invariably brings on a relapse
| "But, | inquired, Sin what way can
|
! dear to her that was in the army, that the
sight Of q few so oilers, and such clumsy
recruits as those, should have so painful
an affect upon her feelings?"
81 am sorry to say there is nothing of
the romantic in her case to raise your
sympathy. Never was there one within
these walls whose malady arose from
more commonplace origin. Poor Nine.
Reumont has been from the time she was
sixteen years of age, ii i the last few years,
a goyerness For the first ten wears she
was in ladies school She then left it to
take charge of the preparatory education
of little boy, the son of a widowed Irish
nOblemari. Shortly after her arrival he
married again. His second wife had
family rapidly, but they were all boys
As Nine. Reumont was much liked, (un-
derstand the Nine. is only brevet rank, for
she is still unmarried,) she continued in
her situation, and the education OF all
these sons was confided to her till they
| had reached ten or eleven years Of age,
when they were sent to school. Although
! the nobleman had, during his first wifes
! lifetime, resided regular Y on his estate,
the second found the climate did not agree
with her health ard, in consequence, his
lordship was generally absent from Ire
land the greater part Of the year, leaving
to Nine. Reumont the charge of the chill
dren, and that of the house to the old
! fema e servant who had been bred upon
the estate. The mansion, or rather cas-
| tie, was situated in u barren ard almost
desolate part of Ulster.
Nothing could be more dull or uninter-
esting than the life poor Nine Reumont
| led during the absence Of his lOrdship
/ Iati nj, i,,t tho tn
neighborhood, but for miles round, was
exceedingly small. and among them was
rot one gentleman family. The natural
| griety of the poor Frenchw0man, and her
national faci itv to adapt herself to all sit
uations, would soon have induced her TO
seek for acquaintances among the more
respectable tenants on his lordships estate,
but that noblemans ideas, and still more
So her ladyship's, were exceedingly aris-
tocratic, and Nine. Reumont was forbid
den to associate with their neighbors, lest
the children might acquire vulg gar, common
habits, at variance with the position in
the society they were destined to mix
with Miserable as the snobism appeared
to Nine Reumont she was obliged to
obey the orders It was also impossible
for her to form intimacies with the dOmes-
tics of the establishment, and the result
was that the poor woman, being In the
midst of a certain society, was obliged to
pass her life in a sort of solitary contine-
ment, totally unrelieved, except by her
duties to her young pupils. They, OF
course, were no intimates for her, and the
poor Frenchwoman submitted in silence
and resignation to the almost insupporta-
BILE solitude of her existence, made only
bearable by the know edge that out of her
bo T., h.
ute to the maintenance of an aged mother
who resided in a village in Lorraine. But
this life of seclusion, so averse to her ua-
tional taste and natural temperament, did
not pass without its effects on her mind
which at last began to sink under 1t Al
first she concealed the depressing effect
with great resolution, but the very effort
concealment required brought on a still
greater weakness. How it occurred that
the disease took the particular turn 1t did
it is impossible to say; but 1T seems tC
have settled itself on the most wearisome
portion of her duties. One great wish o.
his lordship was, that his children should
have good classical education, and tC
: obtain this the more certainly, Nine Reu
mont was especially directed to instruct
them in the first principles of Latin gram
mar and n somewhat more extended knOwl
edge of Greek and Roman history. L
was upon Greek history that her mind
: appeared to give way; perhaps, from the
insupportable mOnotony 0f continually
year after year, going over it with hel
seven pupils, about as distasteful a tasl
e as could be wellimagined to lively French
wont n, confined almost n prisoner 10 {
, SOLITARY Irish mansion. The immediate
. cause which brought the malady 10 az
apex | cannot trace, but at last the ool
! woman's delusion centered itself in The
: belief that she was the Persian tyran
: Xerxes Perhaps the concentration OF the
; maladv was brought on by the news OF the
sudden death Of her mother, TO whom i
appears she was much attached for it de
: yeioped itself IN that form a few month:
: after she heard of il. Her exeentricities
, when first imagining herself the Eastern
, desnot. were so absurd. that she wai
obliged to be placed in strict confinement
) Bv attention and kindness the malady ha:
T much abated indeed, it hardly ever ap-
t pears unless some Gnlucky allusion Is made
ia Greek history, or she sees some of thos'
4 unfortrnate militia men exercising, wheI
- ;p,p adiotalv rpturDS