Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-01-07
The Dancer and the Duke.

A correspondent writing OF the once
famous danseuse Fanny Elssler says
"Fanny's beauty and fascination were
very dishonesty employed to win the
heart and confidence of Napoleon LIS
only legitimate child, the young Duke
de Reichstadt. The Duke, delicate in
health from his birth, had never seemed
capable of feeling the least interest in
life. He was btase congenitally; nothing
could rouse him from a profound indif-
ference and melancholy that permeated
his whole being. He distrusted every
body; was unwilling to 60 into society;
was never SO disconnected as when walk
ing alone in the gardens of Schonbrunn,
suburb of the Austrian capital. 1t
was thought that if his affections could
be enlisted his mind would assert itself.
A number of the fairest young women
about the court were presented to him,
and they labored vainly to make an i'm
preston. Their charms, their blandish-
ments, their fiattery, their conversation,
their passion, real or feigned, moved him
not jot. He turned from them in weari-
ness, and begged to be excused. Some
sagacious functionary suggested that the
ballet queen should be introduced to the
forlorn youth in the guise of peasant,
in the hope that she; so accustomed to
conquests, might conquer even HIM. The
proposal having been made to her she
consented, In consideration of 10000
forms, it is said, to undertake the deli
cate mission. A sterling artist off as
we'll as on the stage, the details were left
to her. and wisely left, as the sequel
proved Knowing the hour of the day
when it was his habit to be on the
grounds of Schonbrunn, she managed to
be there likewise, as if by accident.
Very carefully and daintily attired as a
peasant girl, set off with every artifice
she could command, she looked bcwitch-
ing, and she thoroughly understood how
to enact the part of a charming sngen,te.
The youth could not help but notice her
for she assumed to be SO busy tending
the flowers as to be unaware of his pres
ence. For several days he satisfied him
self with admiring her, but at last a
curiosity he had never felt before
prompted him to accost her. She
blushed when she replied, and every
word she spoke appeared to him like a
revelation. In short, he fell in love
with her, and she pretended to return
his love, never intimating that she was
not ignorant of his birth and position.
Day after day they met in the gardens
then they extended their excursions on
foot and in carriage, until a new spirit
and new life became his. He made
her his cOnfdd,ate; he told her of his
bitter past, the dependency; of the hope
and JOY she had been the first to awaken
in his nature; that she was the one
human being, in all the world, he loved
or cared for. Theirs was an idyllic life,
while it lasted. He was known to her
only as Louis, she to him only as Marie.
Very soon they were almost inseparable.
Everything was made to favor their be-
ing alone; high expectations having been
formed that the much-desired change
had been wrought. That he loved her
deeply, devotedly, Accordingly as man
can love once, and only once, there is no
reason to doubt. In the midst of this
beautiful dream of happiness, the Duke,
being one day in the city, felt inclined
to visit the theater; having heard even
in his solitude of the wonderful dancer
That evening he sat listless in the box,
hardly needing the performance, scarce
ly noticing the ballet until 1.-THE figure
of brightness and beauty bounded upon
the scene. He was all eyes and ANNA
ton at once. He had never imagined so
marvellous likeness to Marie. Could
he be mistaken? He leveled his lorgnette
again and again. The vision of the lover
could not be deceived. The truth and
the whole truth soon flashed upon him.
His Marie and everybody's Fanny were
one and the same. The glass fell from
his hand; the poor boy turned deadly
pale, and would have swooned in his
seat had he not been taken from the
theater and driven home almost insensi.
BILE. The next morning the story was all
over Vienna. Louis never saw Marie
more. The little hope and faith he had
she had aroused; after that cruel trick
he fell once more into himself, never to
hope again. He did not live very long.
The very night he died she was dancing
in crowded and applauding theater
She had forgotten all about him, but she
still remembered the 10000 forms"