The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1870-06-08
MADAME DE vARTELLE.

By peeping through the blinds.
-o
MADAME DE VARTELLE.
In the middle of the eighteenth cen
tnry few magistrates were moro Justly
respected by the Parisians than NJ. de
M, conseiHer an pa,lemem. He was
o man of some sixty-fye years of age,
hale and hearty, a thorough gentleman,
and clear headed, incorruptible Judge.
In those days Partisan mansion was as
capacious as q modern hotel, with dukes
for directors. Thus NJ. de NJ. S mansion
accommodated the whole of his family;
or, rather, it was human warren. Three
married sons, and q bishop, the eldest OF
his offspring, three married daughters, q
sister, the widow of President n Nor
tier, and brother, retired from military
service with the rank of lieutcnant-colo-
mel; and the Cross of ST. Louis, lived to-
gether in apparent harmony, united,
happy family. The eldest and youngest
of his married. sons had each boy, the
second only girls; his daughters were
more prolific than their brothers. Each
of these family sections had their sepa-
rate apartments, but every Sunday, and
on certain holidays and family festivals.
they all met Mt the old gentleman's table,
who, it should be stated, had been for
many years q widower.
One morning, while M. de NJ. was en-
gagged in making himself master of q case,
the voluminous documents relating to
which were lying before him, his eye sud
denly alighted upon sealed letter, that
he had nol until that time noticed.
Breaking open the seal, he read the fol-
lowing lines:
''Tremble, wretch! Thou has ruined
me in gaining over thy colleagues to thy
views. From this moment I declare war
against thee to the death. Thou and
thine shall perish one after the other,
with thy destruction alone. shall not
merous victims; it will be difficult for
thee to select it."
Strong in his own consciousness of
rectitude, Nj. de M. threw the letter aside
with contempt, though he did not fail to
inquire Of his servants how it came there.
No one had seen, no one had known any
thing about it. This was the only point
that caused him uneasiness, for it i'm
piled the presence of traitor beneath
his roof and yet the whole of his house
hold had been born and bred in his own
or his fathers service. However, the
affair would soon have passed from his
memory had not circumstace occurred
to give weight to the threats of his anony-
nous correspondent.
One of the assistants in the kitchen,
feeling somewhat hungry, took small
basinful of soup from the huge saucepan
in which the bouiNi was simmering for
the family dinner. Hardly had lie swal-
lowed half-n-dozen spoonfuls, when he
was seized with sharp, violent pains in
the lower part of his stomach, attended
with excessive vomiting. Vigorous rem
edies were promptly applied, and by de
grees the poor fellow was restored to
health.
The master of the house now called all
his people together, and warned them
that there was an unscrupulous enemy
among them, who had vowed the de-
struction of himself and his family. He
reminded them of the pleasant relations
that had always existed between them,
and implored them, for their own sakes,
not to listen to the voice of the tempter,
who would assuredly conduct to the gal
lows. Moved by his dignified and ia
knees, and with tears and sobs protested
their innocence and fidelity, and vowed
vengeance against the ungrateful mon
ster who should seek to injure the best
of masters.
For all that, tho second son, NJ. de
More, his wife, and two of their chill
dren, expired in great agony within the
week, after few hours of intense suffer-
ing. It was hot, close evening, in the
middle of summer, and all four had
drunk copiously from carafe of eau de
groseiAe. The unfortunate lady was ex-
pecting her confinement, and, before
she closed her eyes in eternal sleep, gave
birth to n male child. Madame de
Vartelle, the wife of the youngest son,
took her little nephew into her arms.