North Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1867-current, 1868-11-04
WHOLE No. 629.

: gardener son--that he was bus poor
) gcntlcman-whcn Beauseant made his
appearance, not so much to eXult in her
humiliation as to lay his fortune at her
feet, and bear her to q hume more suta-
BILE for her reception-a home of wealth,
luxury, and station. She was begging
him to respect her anguish, when Melnot-
te opened the door silently, and perceived
Deauscant addressing Pauline. paused at
the threshold, and looked silently. But
when he beheld Bcauseant, in spite of
Pauline's entreaties, attempting to clasp
her in his arms, he sprang forward and
dashed him to the other end of the room.
Enraged, Beauseant ievelled a pistol at
him.
"Oh, spare him, spare my husband -
shrieked Pauline. Observation-Disclosures
no-no,' and she fell and tainted in the
arms of Claude.
On recovering she found herself alone
with her husband.
"All gone, oil calm,r she exclaimed,
looking around her. SIS every thing a
dream? Thou art safe, unhurt. | do love
thee" she added tenderly, .but am q
woman, and, and no blood is splt?''
"No, lady, no. replied Melnottc, "my
|
as even danger in thy cause"
They were here interrupted by the en-
trance of the widow Menottc, who came
to tell them of the approach of Pauline's
! parents.
"Ah, madam" she continued, address
ing Pauline, 'do not let them injure him ::
if you knew how much he dotted on you -
"Injnrc him!'' exclaimed Pauline, 'no
madam, be not afraid
On the entrance of the parents. Claude
renounced all pretensions to her person.
by giving consent to a divorce, and fully
confessing the fraud which annulled her
marriage.
Your daughter sir" said he, handing
the paper to Monsieur Deschappelles,
'has been foully wronged, grant it, sir /;
but her own lips will tell you that, from
the hour she crossed this Threshold |
returned to my station and respected her 5.
Pure and inviolate as when yester- morn
you laid your hand upon her head and
blessed her, yield her back to you. For
myself, l deliver you forever from my
presence. An outcast and criminal, /
shall seek some distant land where may
mourn my sin, and pray for your daught'
er's peace. Farewell farewell to you all
forever
| < n x = ::
Two years and half had rolled on
since the incidents related above, when
there marched into the streets of Lyons,
regiment fresh from Italy, and under COM
mand Of Colonel-now General, Dumas,
In the corps there was young officer,
who in those two years and half had
risen to Colonel's rank. was the hero Of
Lido. and altogether was a mysterious
person. His fellow officers knew him by
the name Of Morier, and his constant
melancholy, the loneliness Of his habits,
his daring valor, his brilliant rise in the
profession, the friendship of his General,
and the tavors of his Commander in Chief,
all tended to make him as much the mat
ter Of gossip as admiration. 1t is almost
unnecessary to say it was Claude Melnot-
te, who had gone to Italy with General
Dumas he had placed himself where
foe was most dreadful wherever France
needed an aid there was no torlorn hope
without him. But instead of meeting
death, he distinguished himself by brave
deeds he was thrifty, economical man.
and managed to find in Italy second
Mexico for he had saved something very
handsome. On his arrival at Lyons, he
asked every one, who could know anything
about her, about Pauline, and was amazed
to hear that she had consented to Il divorce
| from him, from her husband Claude
Melnotte, and on that very day she was
to authorize the necessary proceedings Of
annulling her present illegal marriage, and
signing a contract which was to make or
| Beauseants wife within one week. Not
that she was false to Claude, no, her heart
was still devotedly attached to him, but
she alone could be the means of saving her
father from bankruptcy, by procuring a
large sum to meet demands that could only
be obtained by giving her hand to Beau
seant, who, on that condition, would
advance the money.
AS the clock struck one, the hour fixed
for annulling the contract, Gen. Dumas,
accompanied by Claude Melnotte as Col.
Morier, entered into the room in the house
of Monsieur Deschappellcs, where the
contract was to take place, and where
Pauline, in great detection, sat with her
parents. On seeing her cousin enter,
Pauline implorcd him to save her.
II cannot help you,' was the reply;
II am too poor; but hold,'' continued the
General. ''you sec my friend Morier.--
Melnotte is his most intimate friend,
fought in the same fields slept in the same
tent. Have you any message to send to
Melnotte? ? any word to soften his brow?n
She approached Mclnotte, but, with
stern air, he turned away from her. She
spoke to him, and as he heard her voice,
the old time came DER again.
"Tel Mclnotte," she said, "that for
years l never nursed Il thought that was
not his that on his wandering way, daily
and nightly, | poured mourner's prayer.
Tell him that now l would rather share
his lowliest cot; walk by his side an out.
cast; work for him; live upon the light of
one kind smile from him, than wear the
crown the Bourbons lost"
Almost maddened with the Joy that
these sweet words produced, Melnotte ex-
claimed, in mOurn.ul tone:
"You love him thus, and yet desert
him.
"Say that if his eye,' continued Pau
line, ''could read this heart; its struggles,
it's temptations his love itself would par
don that desertion Look at that poor
old man; he is my father; he stands On
the verge of an abyss; he calls upon his
child to save him Shall | shrink from
him who is MY father? withhold my hand
and see parent perish? Tell him this,
and say we shall meet again in Heaven
Here the voice Of Beauseant, who was
standing at the table on which the papers
were scattered, was heard exclaiming:
"The papers are prepared, we only need
your hand and seal
''Stay, lady," exclaimed Melnotte, with |
anxiety, detaining Pauline, zone word
more. Were but your duty with your
faith united, would you still share the
lowborn peasants lot?'
"Would - exclaimed Pauline. "Ah! |
better death with him | love, than all the |
pomp. which is but as the flowers that