Des Arc weekly citizen., 1869-03-23

! of noon, long tralnS OI cOurtlerS Wltn their retinues and armed attendants, many head of renowned and an cient house, many warrior famous for valor and conduct might be seen threading the mazcs of the crowded thoroughfares towardrhc royal palace.
 A double ceremony of singular and solemn nature was soon to be enacted there-thc interment ofa noble soldier, slain lately in an unjust quarrel, and the I investiturc of an unwilling woman with the robes of holy sisterhood prepatory to her lifelong intcrment in that scpulchrc of the living body-se- pulchre of the pining soul--the con- vent cloistcrs Armand dc Laguy! Marguerite dc vaudreuill
 Many circumstances had united in this matter to call forth much excite ment, much grave interest in the minds ofall who had heard tell of itl-the singular and wildromance ofthe story, the furious and cruel combat which had resulted from it--aud last least, the violent, and, as it was generally con sidered, unnatural resentment of the King toward the guilty victim who survived tic ruin she had wrought. The story was in trnth, then, but little understood--a thousand rumors were abroad, and of course no one ac-. curately true-yet in each there was share of truth land the amount of the whole was, perhaps, less wide of the mark than is usual in matters of the kind And thus they ran. Marguer- ite de vaudreuil had been betrothed to the youngest of Frances famous war riors, Charles de La-Hire, who after a time fell--as it was related by his young friend and kinsman, Armand de Laguy --covered with wounds and honor The body had been found outstretched beneath tlg. survivor who, himself desperately hurt, had alone witnessed, and in vain endeavorod to preveut, his cousins slaughter. The face of Charles de La-Hire, as all men deemed the corpse to be, was mangled and defaced so frightfully as 10 render recognition I'by the features utterly hopelcss--yet l from the emblazoned surcoat which it bore, the well known armour on the limbs, the signet ring upon the finger, and the accustomed sword clenched in the dead right hand, none doubted the identity of the body, or questioned the truth of Armond's story.
 Armand dc Laguy, succeeding by his cousins death to all lands and lord ships, returned to the metropolis. m!x- cd in the gayeties of that gay period, when all the court of Frauce was reyel- ing in the. celebration of the union of the Dauphin with the lovely Ma " Stuart, in after days the hapless queen of Scotland.
 He wore no decent and accustomed garb of mourning-he suffered no in- terval, however brief, dne to decorum at least if not to kindly feeling, to elapse before it was announced that Marguerite de. Vaudreuil, the dead mans late betrothed, was instantly to | wed his living cousin. Her wandrous beauty, her all seductive manners, her extreme youth had in valn pleaded a. gainst the general cesnure of the court the world Men had frowned on her for aw hile, and women sneered and slandcred !-but after little while, as lthe novelty of the story wore. away the indignation against her inconstan- cy ceased, and she was once again in- stalH4 the leader of the courts unwed- sd utiss.
 lenly, on the very eve of her in-
 tended nuptails, Charles de La-Hire returned--ransomed, as it turned out,
 by Brissac, from the Italian dungeons of the Prince of Parma, and making
 fearful charges oftreason and intended
 murder against Armand de Laguy.
 The Kinx had commanded that the
 truth should be proved by a solemn
 combat, had sworn to execute upon the
 felons block whichever of the two
 should yield or confess falsehood, had sWOTn tildt tuC luCOuotdht ISA"i uSAAeS,
 who, on the return of De La-Hire. had
 returned instantly to her former feel
 ings, asserting her perfect confidence
 in the truth to Charles, the treachery of Armand, should either wed the vic- tor, or live and die the inmate of the most rigorous convent in his realm. \ The battle had been fought yester- day !-Armand de Laguy fell, mortal ly wounded by his wronged cousin 8
 han1 and with his latest breath declar-
 ed his treasons, and iinplored pardon from his King, his kinsman, and his God happy to perish by a brave mans sword : not by headman's axe. And Mar } guerite the victor's prize-rejected by } the man she has betrayed--herself re- l fusing, even if he were willing, to wed 3 with him whom she could but dishon- ! or--had now no option save death or f the detested cloister. And now men , piticd-women wept-all frowned and wondered and kept silence. That n young, vain, capricious beauty-thc pct Q and spoiled child from her very cradle Q of gayaud luxurious court-worship. f oJ enr h,,. al, v,,,u l;l- n n cacnud Aphvo,