Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-07-14
CHAPTER XXIX.
GOSSIP.

n apparently dlnlleSS lll9rcHlnS anO
d cOuntermarching in the deliles o
If the forest of Thuringia, during
s. which no one in the French army
o outside the chiefs, knew what was
e going on and on the 18th of Octo
# ber, 1906, the Deaths Heads Cui.
i rassiers found themselves, with the
rest of the heavy cavalry of the Inn
4 perial Guard, marching for Jena in
a the midst of hundreds of conflicting
[ rumors.
t 1t was on this day that Gabriel
Lenoir, while on the march, fell in
D to conversation with staff officer,
e who brought him an order, and
/. whom he had known while at Ber-
lin, year before, the said officer
I having come there with dispatches.
| The young mans name was
Count Delaroche, and he belonged
to an old royalist family.
He was gay young fellow, full
( of fun and frolic, fond of pleasure,
adoring Paris, with sentimental
leaning toward the old nobility, but
J enthusiastic in praise of the way the
emperor was carrying forward the
glory of France.
He had special admiration for
the Grand Duke of Berg, on whose
, staff he was serving.
"Ah," he said to Gabriel, as they
rode along, sit is all very well for
you Red Republicans to say there
is nothing i'm the old blood and the
old TRADITIONS but see what they
have matle of him. He is verita-
bic knight of romance" .
"And yet only the son of an inn
keeper" observed Gabriel; Tor he
felt in that bitter humOr when he
loved to contradict every one in his
own heart-soreness. as to IneZ. ~
am told that he carries the man.
ner5 of the camp into court Della
roche"
Delaroche retorted Indignantly:
"You are misinfOrned. ItiS true
| am one of the old kind, but |
must admit that never, even at the
court of Louis the Martyr, have |
seen such perfect breeding as at the !
| Tuileries under our emperor. All, !
Lenoir, you should see the ladies of
| her majesty. Such angelic beauty, |
such perfect grace! / declare 10 |
you that L have lost my heart II
dozen times over to each of them |
individually"
Gabriel began to take an interest |
in the conversation now, and
asked:
"Were you much in Paris last
winter ?"
"Much in Paris! I should say
so. Why, his highness, the Grand
Duke of Berg, was Governor of Par
g, tnAly 10 tho |
palace every day."
'Then you saw all the empress's
ladies pretty frequently
81 should say 1 did and, as /
said, lost my heart to all, one after
another. But they only laughed at
me. A poor count, with nothing
but an old name and his sword,
does not attract them. 1t takes
millionaire or a prince, even II he's
only cursed PruSsian."
GA Prussian Then there was"
ayes, Prussian prince of blood
q fellow called the Prince Of Pots
dam. They were all wild over him,
and swear l never could see any
thing in the fellow"
81 heard there was some idea of
his marrying a French lady," Oh
served the young colonel, with af-
fected carelessness.
"Oh, you mean MademOiselle de
Real. Yes, heard about that, but
| don't believe a word of ii. Look
out, colonel, we're running on the
heels of the Third. We had better
halt and let the column open up"
Gabriel slackeneL the pace OF his
horse, which he had allowed to
press on in the excitement of his
questions, and continued:
"You said you did not believe 1t.
May l ask why'not? l heard from
very good authority that they were
to make match"
"I don't believe it," repeated
Delaroche, obstinately. "Any one
could see that she hated the Prus-
sian. | did hear Il stOry-but never
mind that. l don't want TO repeat
court gossip. And after all, it only
came from that old St. Jean,"
Gabriel turned cold and hot as he
rode. What secret was in the air? ?
AS gently rs he could, without rous-
ing his companions suspicious, he
tried to lead the conversation
back.
'OIu 81. jean 1Ou lICdil lbC
marquise, suppose" |!
"Yes, / do. She's an old cat. |
ought to know her, for she's II great
aunt of mine"
"And she spreads scandalOus stO-
ries, / suppose, about all the ladies?"
"NO, no, not quite so bad. Give
the devil his due. Old st. Jean is a
regular old matchmaker and / be-
Iieve had set her mind on making
that poor girl marry the Prussian. ,
You know she held the Office Of
mistress of the robes, and had II
great deal of control over the
maids of honor" .
ayes, and what of j" :"
"Well, you know she could do Il ,
great deal in excusing them from !
duty or putting them on at differ 5
ent times, to suit her own purposes" s
al don't understand"
"I mean-cOnfOund it, LenOir- I
she could throw them into the way ,
of any lover she fancied, easily
enough. II she wanted TO encOur- :
age a man, she could give him a {
hint as to who would wait on the ,
empress at such IL time, and tell him [
to be there" /,
"And she thus threw this prince" :
"Into constant communication
with MademOiselle de Real.
ought to know it, because was
madly in love with her myself once,
and whenever tried To get n chance ;
to speak TO her, there was that con-
founded Prussian at her elbow, and
my gracious aunt on guard, ready !
to carry off intruders. would 4
have tried picking quarrel with {
him, but, cOnfOund it, he was an {
ambassador, and sacred on that ac- c
count. And besides, they say the !
fellow fences cOnfoundly well. lie 7
was taking lessons from ST. George |
and the Mameluke Roustan every {
morning all the time he was in Par e
is" )
"Indeed ?"
Gabriel began to think to himself q
that he saw reason for the princes c
show of courage when they met at 9
Berlin. He fancied doubtless that !
he could beat LenOir now, after his
lessons.
The young cuirasser ground his
teeth as he thought of the prospect c
of fight. y
"I'li show him % he muttered,
"when the old Deaths Heads charge q
,,,hathor hia IacSons will stand him Il