The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1866-06-30
THE BRIDES DEATH.

.
/ ern France, which the country folks call by
a name which is best interpreted, The
Brides Death."
It is a little, blue, frail innocent thing.
Yet, If you ask the. reason, of its name, any
peasant girl in Languedoc viii tell you the
same story.
There lived, within sight. of the Rhone,
years ago, an old chemist and his daughter
He was a German by birth, but had married
a Frenchwuman, aud since that day dwelt
in her native land His name was Werner.
His daughters Antoinette
-S5he was a very handsome girl, and since
her Inother.s7 early death had been the min
istering spirit Of her old fathers humble
dwelling. andiwas loved by him very fondIv
She had avery singular disposition, gen
erally merry and good-humored, but when
arousedto anger utterly unappeasabIe, until
she had in some way punished the offender,
and with her quarrel was never made up
with tears and kisses, sLsD with other girls
1t was a lucky thing that she quarrelEd very
rarely. 1iB esd II rzeas sF7oa ef
s Being. beautiful, and in peasaBts's eyes,
an heiTess Of some Importance, even the
dread Whieha was generally entertained Of
Izold " erner, On account of his mysterious
chemist lore, did not keep suitors from the
I7door.oH -sL1a % 1cT di
e But Ant6inette looked coldly on all the
sterneF sex, untilone autumn morning the
/ young MARQUIS of GrenOble was brought by
fate to break his arm at Chemist Werner5s
door, and to be nursed back to shealth and
strength by the old man. ehoWvas as cum
ming n beech as any in all j.anguedoc. dnl75
! + lhehad been dangerous illness, owing
partly to the heat of the weather and the
fact that.the yOUngam marquis had been.drink-
ing much more wine than was good for him
-andthe recovery was quite amiracle Ts7
Ia The youth was property grateful, and
would have rewarded the old man with
money and costly gifts 1G vg-satl.
These being declined, he bestowed upon
the chemist and his daughter his friendship
and became regular visitor at their little
/ b me.
Soon ne declared to Ahtoniette that he
was miserable save In her presence, and
that she possessed not only lis Friendship
fbut his heart -aaa aF hl.i
r. She was warm -hearted passionate crea-
ture, and after his avowal of love, every day
found the handsome Marquis dearer to her
For his sake she deeized herself In hOh-
day attire, for his sake braided the splendid
black hair that gllttered ike jet in the sun
shine
Nothing she did but was done with a
thought of him. and in view of her high
position as his wife, she forsook her old
companions, and took to studying the speech
and manners of those above her, until the
little peasant vulgarities into which she had
fallen were quite unlearnt
The girls of her village were sorely vexed
by this; and many a slaHderous word was
supplementary a taunting glance given to-
ward the chemists beautiful daughter as she
passed the cottage doors.
Antoinette knew of them all, but she
thought of her triumph when she should be
at last Madame Ia 4HdrqttiSe, and held her
peace. 80 'a1 .i
It was enough for her that young Greno-
bic held her brown hand so tenderIy IN their
secret rambles by moonlight, and said such
fattering things of her beauty and her
goodness.
She trusted him as she would have trusted
en- angel, butt alas young Grenoble was
only a very faulty mortal .-....-
at last his visits to the cottage became
rarer; finally they ceased; and Antoinette,
hOrror-stricken, heard a rumOr that he was
about to marry beautiful young lady of his
own rank within the next month.
/. She wept and trembled but refused to
believe and finally sought an interview with
the young marquis. ..
She met him on the road near his chateau,
and he paused, confused but defiant, to con-
front her
e 9, This is not true.fbey tell me ?" painted
AntOlnette " You are not betrOthed to that
blue-eyed lady2 You love no one but me,
as you have so often told me ;? They are
slandering you-are they not, Grenoble p
And she looked up into his eyes lovingly.
The youth put his arm around her waist.
" If they say l have ceased to love you,
they lie, he said. 4To be sure, my family
insists that | shall marry Mademoiselle
Amanda; but what of that? l have still
another chateau, and you and l may yet be
friends
And he kissed her
Antoinette let him do it; she made no
indignant protest only from her black eyes
glittered sheathing lightning.
In a moment more she made him courte-
sey and turned from him. Whatsb thought
he could not guess.
She said not one word Perhaps he
thought little of her, for his wedding-day
drew near, and his young bride engrossed
bis thoughts.
1t came at last, Sunny and beautiful a
morning as ever smiled on France and every
one in the village crowded toward the
church to witness the ceremony, and the
women all wondering maliciously what
Antoinette would do now
For the girl herself, she arose at dawn,
dressed herselfin her scarlet bodice and
gold cross and earrings, and went out be-
side the river.
1t was early spring, and only those pale
blue, tiny flowers were yet in bloom. Ol
these she piucked a fragrant handful, and
carried them into her fathers labratory
She remained there an hour; then, with
her bouquet, took her place at the church
porch, to await the coming of the bridal
party
They came at last And when the bride
in her white vail, crossed the porch Antoi
nette stepped forward
" Wear these, gentle lady" she said
One bestows them who has loved also
And she put the flowers into the bride
{ fingers
! The lady received them with a smile, and
they were in her bosom when she knelt a
the altar. She had never heard of Antoi
nette, and the gift and the speech pleased
her. Besides, at that day the flowers haC
never been called Brides Death, but only
f - Brides Beauty"
The ceremony went on-the holy words
; were uttered. 1t was time for the bride t
rise, but she did not move
t The priest spoke to lsef in vain. TIL,
/ bridegroom bent over here