The Vinton record. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1866-1891, 1866-02-22

y The honest hearted fellow was
sincerely attached to his royal mas
ter, and he listened gravelyj to
Marie's account of the strange con-
duct of her visitor, and the suspi-
cions to which it gave rise, .,.r
a 1T Is bad,' he said thoughtfully ;
though I believe there is nothing
in it. BY good luck, | have orders
to attend his majesty in. his private
apartments an hour hence. K, will
put him on his guard; then surely
no harm can come, of it., t .'n,
, Somewhat to the surprise Of
Francois, the King manifested no
disquietude at this disclosure,
though the grave look and attent.
i've manner with which he listened,
showed that he considered it of no
light import. He bade him charge
Marie . ., ......;. l..-.
TO tell no one what she had dis
covered, but to come to the palace
with her flowers an hour earlier
than was her wont, by no means
forgetting her golden lilies. a.o
- King Philip sat in his audience
hall, surrounded by his retinue. A
number fthe royal family stood
near him-among them the Count
de Neville, his wife, and the little
son, sweet boy of three, whose
winning and sprightly ways made
him favorite with the king.
'And please your Majesty, Marie,
the flower girl, is awaiting with
out said one Of the guard.
admit her. said the king.
81 Marie had never seen King Philip
in his robes Of state, and the royal
pomp that surrounded him im1
pressed her with a feeling of awe
as she entered. But this was
Quickly dissip9ted by. the Kings
gracious manner, as he bade her
approach. ..".....- ..,. '' ,,..''i'
Il see you have not forgotten my
favorite,' he said, taking the basket
from her hand. ''' 80, ~
Just admire these queenly lilies,
fair Countess, and inhale the fra
GRANGE from the roses.' ~ '''' 81
'But why do you start and turn
pale p he added, as with an invol-
untary shudder she drew back from
the flowers he would have placed
in her hand. . }a ../J htE i'aN.
% IL crave your Majesty's par
don,' she stammered, but the odor
Of the roses always affects me thus
The Kings eyes followed, the
Countess as she retreated to the
window, at the further end Of the
hall, under the pretext of obtaining
air. He then fixed them search
ingly on her husbands face, whose
mind seemed to be entirely occu-
pied by the laughing boy he held
in his arms. .
Attracted by the bright color
Of the lilies, the child stretched out
its hanG for them. A sudden
thought struck the king as he OBJ
served this.
See how eagerly Louis is regard
ing them ? he said turning to the
Count. Let him have them.'
With fond smile, the father
took the flowers and held them be-
fore the boy, who, clutching them
with his dimpled hands, raised them
with a gleeful shout, to his lips. ~
Instantly a deadly palor over
spread his face, and with a faint
gasp he fell dead in. his fathers
arms H., rf. o.. .,. l. ... I,..,-
The Countess had kept a furtive
watch on the Kings movements
from her retreat, and forgetting
everything in her terror sprang for
ward to arrest her husbands arm.
"Monster she exclaimed, glar-
ing upon him like a tigress robbed
of her young, "you have destroyed
your child" .' '. "
"And you," said Philip, pointing
to the flowers, still
claspedin the childs' rigid fingers,
"you would have murdered your
King-p m ~. =. .- 80.
'Gs this the woman that called at
your cottage this morning'w he in.
quired, turning to Marie. oi !ayr}'
"The same, your majesty" BE-
AS soon as the Count compre-
hended the full meaning Of these
words, he cast look of horror and
detestation upon his wife, then ta-
king his dead boy, he laid him on
the pile of cushions at the Kings
feet.
"I can lay before you no stronger
proof, SIRE" he faltered, "that was
ignorant of the existence of this