The weekly clarion., 1875-12-01

-
e remarked on the extreme distance whic
! separated his cousin from simple ger
] tleman, but added, that, the first surpris
: over, he did not see that the thing wa
. impossible.
The news spread like wildfre. Mad
! emoiselle is to marry Lauzun." was tn
only echo repeated through the who'll
day Fluctuations, batteries, eadeaux d
! noces poured in on every side. The con
i tract was signed the duchy of Mont
Il Pensier and the principality of Domoe
1 were settled on the bridegroom-elect
! But all the sunshine was presently over
clouded. The king sent for his cousin
and informed her that be had been re
8 preached for sacrificing her and her for
1 tune to the aggrandizement of Lauzun
and that he could not permit the affair tc
proceed. All her tears and supplications
4 were of no avail. The kings will was
4 inhexible; but that of his cousin was nc
less SO. A clandestine marriage took
Il place, and Louis, who had now legiti-
i mate excuse for getting rid of a man
whose presence had become importunate,
tsent for his nOHsqltetairps, and Lauzun
found himself very shortly on his way to
1.-The Chateau de Piquerol.
Nine years of exile had passed away,
when a whisper spread like wildfre
Through the court Lauzun was par
hdoned-Lauzun had returned-Lauzun
was to be presented The counts old
friends, hardly knowing what sort of wei
come should be accorded to the banished
imam, determined to wait and regulate
their conduct by that of the king. More
than one tender heart began once more
to tremble at a name SO long forgotten,
while the younger members of the court
burned with anxiety to behold so brilliant
star, which had been so long eclipsed.
Ii was remarked that even the kings
eyes wandered frequently to the door
| npon the evening when the liberated
captive was expected to appear while
mademoiselle, whose happiness it was
impossible to disguise, awaited her low
ers arrival with true womanly faith, well
assured that his accustomed sGUOir uiUTe
would inspire him with the very looks
and words with which to satisfy his ma
| jesty and to reinstate himself in the good
graces of the court. At last he came,
and not the statue which descended at
the banquet of Don Juan, had taken
| fancy to present itself at the Louvre,
| could have produced a more startling i'm
preston. The counts worn-out habili-
lnentS, his long beard, his disordered
hair, his altogether Gothic toilet, pro-
duced sensation equally sad and pro-
found. 1t was thought that his long suf-
ferings had deprived him of his senses,
and the stupetaction became general
But Lauzun advanced with an air of
dignifed sadness and knelt before the
king, who was startled into an eiacula-
tion OF surprise.
''This is rather a singular toilet, NJ de
Lauzun
''Sire," he replied, cit is the custom
of man who has had the misfortune to
displease your majesty. The royal lips
have not uttered my pardon and | consider
myself still prisoner"
"Rise, then, monsieur, and receive your
pardon"
''Ah, sire the blow which felled me
was SO terrible, it requires no less pow
erful hand than your own to raise me
up"
The royal fingers were graciously ex-
tended and covered with respectful
kisses.
"Ah, well, my dear count, said Louis,
smiling, 81 see with pleasure that you
have not forgotten the courtly graces in
which you ever stood unrivalled. We
must, it seems, forget your bygone fol-
lies, and become indulgent to those which
are to come.
This little scene having been got
through very effectively, Lauzun regain
ed in few hours all his former populari-
ty. His marriage with the kings cousin.
procured for him distinction which no
amount of royal GOODNESS could destroy.
Louis would not consent to restore him
either the Qraades or the petites entrees,
but to this prohibition he easily reconciled
himself Freedom freedom, in its full
sense, was the only word which had any
charm left for him. and, his ambition
still unsatisfed, scared higher now than
the servitude of court favor. No one had
been more scrupulous and devoted to the
religion of etiquette, no one more joyous
or docile in harness hut the time had
come when the caprices of others must
yield to his own, and his way was to be
made over the necks of his enemies.
Some months had passed, and Lauzun
was absent from the court-in England,
it was said; when the most singular
agitation prevailed among the silks and
laces of Versailles. The queen of Eng
land had arrived in Paris BY whom es-
corted by whom protected in her
flight and exile? By M de Lauznen
Never had hero of romance so gloriOusly
ended the most brilliant of his adversa-
ries Louis the Fourteenth returning in
haste from Marty, received the counts
respectful letter:
''SIRE-The king of England confid.
ing in my care the king and the prince of
Wales, has commanded me not to leave
them except under the protection of your
majesty.
q am greatly embarrassed, as my
disgrace interdicts me from presenting
myself at court"
A response amiable and gracious, as
the king well knew how to make it, au.
thorized Lauzun to conduct the queen to
Versailles, restoring him at the same time
the grandes entree. X . :; This
return was a complete and final triumph.
The intimate counsellor of the Stuarts
could not fail to regain the confidence of
Louis, who was their sworn protector and
ally. The depth of bis views and the
hardihood of his propositions rendered
him indispensable. The king acknowl-
edged that his courage and sagacity were
necessary to him, and Lauzun found him
self at last so safely anchored at court
that his displacement was no longer posi-
ble
About fifty years later, after the death
of the grand monarque, the ladies of the
court, during their drives in the Bois de
Boulogne, used to point out to each other
man still strikingly handsome riding
the most furious horses and managing
them with equal strength and dexterity.
That" they would say, is the cele-