The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-04-03
TWO QUEENS.

IWO QUEENS.
One rainy evening toward the close
of April, 1871, penGerOus old travel
ing coach toiled YEARLY up the hill, the
summit of which is crowned by the an
cient town of Jougne, on the road be-
tween Ions les Saulniers and BesancoD,
the capital of the province of Franche-
| Comte. There were two women in the
ceedingly elegant, occupied the seat
facing the h.rses; the other, who sat
opposite to her, was young person of
sprightly countenance, whose simple
costume and deferential manner an
nounced her at once to be either a wait
| ing-maid or dame de compagne. From
time to time one or the other of the two
travellers would thrust her head out of
the carriage window to urge on the pos
tilion or look back down the road, ap
parently to see whether any one were
| following.
notwithstanding the entreaties of the
ladies, and his own best endeavors,
Maitre Jacques, the position, failed
miserably in his attempts to induce his
two heavy Flemish horses to get into
| trot, let alone gallop. The road was
so bad, the rain so binding, the ruts so
many, the mud so deep, that the best
the poor beasts could do in response to
| their masters oaths and loud cracks of
the whip was to give an occasional jerk
forward, or a stumble, and then resume
their wonted funeral pace.
"Heaven help me, Susanne This
dreadful journey will never end; we
cannot possibly reach Besancon to-
night" observed the lady who sat with
her face to the horses. Mon Dieu
how I wish we were all over it and
safe !"
Madame is too nervous that gen.
tleman on horseback we have seen at
the last three stations, and who las fol.
lowed us, has frightened her. Believe
me, am sure he is no spy; he is toe
nice for that. l am persuaded that he
is only fascinated by madame's charms,
and has not recognized her. Oh, he is
no more a sansculotte than [ am"
"It matters very little what you think
about him l have my fears. and my
reasons for having them. Put your
head out once more, and see if he is
still in sight"
Susanne did as she was bid, and pres
emily shutting down the window as quick
as she could to prevent the rain from
pouring in, gave her mistress the reas-
suring news that not only had the OBJ
noxious stranger disappeared, but also
that the gate of Jougne was close at
hand. "And, madame, through break
in the clouds I saw the mountains of
Switzerland so you see we are ap
preaching the frontier"
"That is well, we will stop for sup
per here at the Lion dor, and then
b I,E
said her mistress.
In few moments more the carriage
rumbled through the narrow streets of
Jougne, and presently, stopped under
the porte cOchere of the hotel of the
golden lion.
"WiI the ladies get down % said the
Jolly innkeeper as he stood with the half
opened door in one hard ard his cap in
the other, bowling with extra civility to
his two new guests, and delighted at
the prospect of their being detained all
night under his roof, for travellers had
become very rare in those troubled
times. "Will the ladies get down
Supper will be ready at a moments no
tice."
Certainly, we want it at once, and
let it be good, substantial meal, for I
can assure you, we are really hungry"
answered the tall lady, as she jumped
out, and, turning to the position, in
quired if il were possible to reach Bes- |
ancon before midnight.
Perfectly impossible, madame; the |
roads are in a shocking state. We |
should only run the risk of breakdown
half way"
"And that would be intolerable. |
Atoms Susanna, get down and bring |
in with you all the shawls, pillows and |
aight-bags you can find, for, since we |
must sleep here, we may as well make |
ourselv at home"
Susanue, loaded with rugs and satch-
els, followed her mistress into the house |
and the two travellers emerging from the
shades of the hall entered the brightly
illuminated dining room. A fire cracked
cheerfully on the hearth, and the large
apartment, with many little tables Gov
cred with suow-white cloths aud shin
ing glass, looked quite cosy. The Ia
dies, taking off their wraps, seated
themselves by the fire, and presently
the landlaiy drew in front of them a
table on which she placed two smoking
bowls of broth.
The bright light of the fire threw its
cheerful glare on the countenance of
the tell lady, and showed her to pos
sess such rare and stately beauty that
the worthy landlady, on returning to
the kitchen, proclaimed to her satel-
lites that she never before had seen so
queenly a persN mage " CeSt 1t11e UeritG-
bic refine (she is perfect queen). I'll
warrant she's some fine court march,
oness on ker way over the frontier"
said she, "and, poor soul, I would be
thn 10 10 1o.l,A 4
Indeed the lady justified these en-
comiums. Her figure was graceful and
her features regular, her
eyes bright and vivacious. Her hair,
in which still fingered traces of pow der,
was drawn high up over her ample fore
head, whilst one heavy curl hung down
on her shoulder. Her complexion was
brilliant, and, varying con-
stantly on the least emotion, gave ine
lie to those OF her enemies who declared
she used paint. The only defect that
could be possibly found with this other
wise perfect face was that the lower lip,
slightly too thick, protrUded little be-
yond the upper one, as is frequently
observed in portraits of the sovereigns
of the house of Aus tria.
Her costume was simple, consisting
of gray petticoat and lowered chintz
overskirt, made in the fashion recently
so popular and styled "Dolly Warden"
Her attendant, whom she called Sd
sanna, was q pretty and unpretending
Young woman belonging to the viva
cious class of French serving-maids
by Moliere and Beau
marchais as 8oubretteS.
The two travellers had scarcely tas ed
their first spoonful of soup when the
doors of the apartment were thrown
open, and a fOnctiOnndire of the pro-
visionary Government. Wearing his tri-