The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1875-12-30
He hesitated, as if 10th to ak the

) ChaIlolles safc4sticSily. +" | am at a
: loss to knog tOw IT came into yoar
: pOssessiOB.p
"Ihat Is easily explained" {" rejOine,i
: he c0ntemptuOusly. "Fnjs packet
, was sent To me half an hour ago from
the Marquis ide Verneuil, with the
assurances tbet it contained a gauge
: d'amour given by you t. the King.
Is this true ~
; CharlOtteis eyes flashed, the bIa0i
rushed il: torrents over neck, check.
} and brow as, drawing herself up, she
replied haughtily, al refuse to answer
= any questions rejecting on my honor,
Monsieur &c Conde."
. This Is no moment for trifliny, be-
: lieVe me, /" said he, earnestly; and a
passionate look OF hope stolen into his
eyes at her indignant words. "As
: your bstrOthed husband, your honor
is in my keeping, aud must be told
in explicit terms whether this state
ment is true or false"
: 'Sines you can doubt me SD far, the
truth OF unlruth matters little. Your
} trust In me must indeed be small,
since it could be shaken by a few
words from Henrietts d'Entragues," !"
J said Charlotte, haughtiIy.
81 had never needed them but for
: your undisguised pleasure in the az.
attentions OF the King. Has not your
own conduet justified me? Do you
think, Ma'iemOiselie de MOntmOrenci,
q man OF IIssnOr could look with indif-
ference of HenTi's admiration for his
affianced bride, knowing, as do, his
motives for breaking oil your first en-
gagement r'
"You seem tn b. deep in King
Henris confidence, Monsieur, since
even hts motives are revealed to
you"
Probably you are the only person
in tue whole court TO whom they are
not perfectly plain" returned the
Prince. "Fhe COmte de Bassompierre
has made no secret of the fact that
the King separated you from him be
cause in his handsome favOrite he
feared a. formidable rival to himself.
Forgive my plain speaking it is nee
essary. He betrothed you to me be-
cause he could not i'm mIgine that the
plain, shy boy OF COnde,' as he calls
me, would be any impediment in his
way. But not all his power, not even
your influence, would have compelled
me to sign that contract had known
this wicked design at the time. Now,
Mdlle. de MOntmorenci, before trust
ing you with my honor, can you won-
der that must know how that glove
came into the hands of the King ~
Confused, ashamed, alarmed at this
revelation, Charlotte stood before her
offended lover, her eyes dropping, her
head averted, hot bushes coming into
her face, then fading into marble pale
ness as a glimpse of the peril she had
so rashly cCurted flashed before her.
A sense of sulfocation oppressed her, q
colvulsive rising in her throat threat
ened to choke her with hysterieal
emotion. Instinciively she put up her
hands to HUE her face, but the shame
and agitation were too much to be
borne. Losing in u moment all her
false pride, all her foolish coquetry
and resentment, she east an i'm ploring
glance at Henri de Condo, burst into
flood of tears, and would have fallen
half-fainting to the floor, but for his
arms invOluntArily extended to re-
ceive her.
Such an ans wer t. his ha;f-cOntemp-
tuOus reproaches was very different |
from what COnde expected. He was
not prepared for manifestations of ag- |
ilstion and shame, where he had an |
ticipated only pride and GOODNESS; for |
indications of warmer sentiment, |
where he expected only Indifference |
aud scOrn. For the first time he suf- |
fered a CLEAN of hope to steal through |
his heart. Never before had he be-
held his beautiful fiancee in his arms,
aud, forgetting his anger and pride,
forgetting his just cause of Jealousy, |
forgetting everything save her ex-
ceeding beauty and helplessness, he
pressed his lips passiOnately again and
again on check aud brow, calling her
by every fond name of endearment, |
and impIoring her to forgive him.
''Speak but one word" cried he.
"Oniy tell me -yeu love me-only tell /
me that the Odious accusation was
false! But one word, and will trust |
you to the death"
"rrust me without, Henri" said
Charlotte, softly, smiling through her
tears.
For a moment he paused, looking
steadily into the beautiful, blushing
face, the lovely, radiant eyes that met
his so shyly, yet without a shadow of
guile. Then bending down he kissed
her lips and said earnestly: l trust
you, Charlotte"
Presently Charlotte took up her
glove from the table.
"I only answered one of your ques-
tions," said she. "Have you no fur
ther curiosity, Henri 2"
If Conde had any, he was too mag
unanimous to betray it. "Not so far as
Mademoiselle de Montmorenci is con-
cerned," said he.
"Ah but you must have for my
credits sake" said Charlotte. 81 lost
this glove the evening of our betroth-
al, and was vain to think that he
who had just pledged his faith to me
had stolen my glove. If King Henri
took it, he had no warrant from me
from the theft"
Conde took the glove and the fair
hand that held it in his. "Ah! Char
lOtte, can you ever forgive my dis
courteous words, my ungentle sus-
picions ?'
ayes, Henri for had you loved me
less you had been less Jealous of my
honor. We can afford to forgive our
mutual misunderstanding, since with
tomorrow will begin our mutual con-
fidence and love-"
The marriage of the Prince de COnde
and Charlotte de Montmorenci was
celebrated with gorgeous magnificence
the next day in the cathedral of Notre
Dame. The King himself gave the
bride away, and the whole court as
sembled to witness the ceremony.
Her dress, we are told by the old
chrOniclers, though composed entire
ly of white, was so covered with
Jewels and rich embroidery that the
original fabric could not be seen, aud
she seemed one blaze of light. The
bridgroom's attire was equally mag
nificent, being also of white, and
sparkling with gems.
But the sequel to this romantic
marriage was, perhaps, the greatest |
romance of all. After q few DAYS |
spent in wedding festivities the Prince
and Princess COnde retired to their |
chateau of Enghein, in Lorraine.
A month or two having elapsed |
without any sign of their return to |
court, the King sent an express, COM
manding their immediate presence. |
The establishment of King, cOurtiers,
and the lively Partisan world may be |
| imagined, when it was discovered |
| that the result of this command was |
| the immediate elOpement of the illus |
trious bride and bridegroom.
The lively Parisians were
in state of various conster-
nation. Such an event had never
occurred before, as a man running
away with his own wife and the as
tOnishment increased when it trans
pired that the Prince and Princes had
departed from their castle OF Enghein
in the early morning, disguised in the
dresses of q peasant, and his wife.
The Kings rage knew no bounds. he
gave orders for an immediate pursuit,
but the fngitives had crossed the from
tier before their route was discovered,
and Philip III afforded them a refuge
in his Flemish dOminions.
On that mOnarch's refusal 10 give
up his illustriOus guests, the enamOur-
ed King declared war against him
but in the midst of his preparations
he was struck down by the hand Of
Ravaillac, the assassin. After his
death the voluntary exiles ventured
to return to France.
Hharlotta da Conda lived To verify