Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-08-31

PARIS, August 6.-Oh We disciples of
naturalism. We who look with contempt
upon inventors of romancers, We who de-
vote a dozen pages to the description of
the terrible effects produced upon your
hero by eating too many unripe apples;
We who, out of the category OF 'human
documents" see no salvation, listen to
nv story and see OF what deplOrable eX-
cesSes may be guilty the eXuberant
imaginatiOns of those who write unnatu
raj n0Yels-noYels of adventures. A
widow, still pretty, still blooming, rich
in this worlds goods, lives in charming
villa at Clamart-I beg pardon, but it IS
not given to every one, as to your person
ages, to inhabit rabbit hutch, with
mouldy cheese rind and decayin@ potato
Feelings before the entrance, as she was
a strange creature, this Nine. van Heed
eghem, and please take notice that her
name is not of my coinage. She was in
consolable, she wept, with naught buttwo
hired girls near her, she bewailed the
memory of two successive husbands and
of one lOng~lost sister, from whom had
come no tidings since their common in
fancy. PRAY remember that / warned you
of the unlikelihoOd of my tale, and be
prepared for what will follow-it is ever so
much more so. One day-the sun, by way
of exception, was shining brightly the
girls in the kitchen were singing meTily
! am sorry not to be able to record what
the widow was doing-a ring came at the
garden gate: stranger of commanding
presence. with, upon his arm, the
trembling form of a lovely woman. enter
ed. He is the Duke of Hassunburg;
twice has his noble father sat upon a
throne, and twice has the odiOGs hydra of
revolution plunged father and son into the
- ~ ,le.f Il
where their meals We're thrust them
through grated windows, just as BideI,
the menagerie man, does to his beasts-sO
much is history. His companion is
precisely the long-lOst sister. They had
met upon the steamer going to Algiers;
he had bathed her aching brOws and con-
siderately held a basin for her when she
was seasick; he had sOothed her when III
affection. Gained her fears when the wild
waves of the Mediterranean dashed angri-
" against their frail bark; he had rescued
her from dangers more terrible than
death. and he has loved her for her suffer
ings, and she him, because he pitied her.
They had parted upon landing at Al
giers, but they met again and he welded
her, vet secretly, so as not to atfront the
ire of the aristocratic father, in whose
opinion none but a Princess of the blood
is a helpmeet worthy Of his child, And
the sister confirmed the recital and Yaunt-
ed the noble qualities, the transcendent
goodness of him who had bathed her
aching brows, etc, and Nine. van Heed
eghem was melted to tears and made the
loving pair a handsome present, after
which they left the hOspitable mansion,
going. so they said, to. NYons, where the
Duke had Urchased the Villa C0nstan-
tin. that magnificent bit Of property, than
which not even Genoa the superb can
boast of more splendid palace.
Three years elapse; once more the Duke
of Hassuuburg rings at The CLAIMANT gar
den gate, the hired girl opens, Nine. van
Heedeghem PUSHES to meet
'.AloneE' she shrieks. where is
Alice? What have you done with my Sis
ter?"
Sadly the Duke shakes his head, tear
courses down his manly cheek; he is ST.
lent, he hesltates, he would conceal the
piteous truth, hut this truly noble soul
is above assimilation, it cannot conceal
the truth he will not seek to appear other
than he is-a dupe and a victim. She
whom he had comforted. she for whom he
held a basin when she was seasick, ETC.;
she for whom he had braved parental
wrath, had betrayed and robbed him. She
had stolen 0,000f. and elOped with an en-
tire stranger; she was gone and he was
desolate-notice here, pray, the similitude
of the Dukes situation and that of Mud
era when Conrad went to loot the domi-
Gle of Said Pasha and illuminate against
the yile plagiarism. 'sNretched, abandOn-
ed woman!" sObbed van Heedeghem; II
disoYn her; / blush to have ever given her
the sacred name Of sister; to me hence
forth she shall be as though she never
wasw And that sweet, sympathet ic out
burst touched the Duke; "all is not lost"
he exclaimed, ''be mine" The Duke was
practical, even though his proposal was
opposed to the sage precepts Of Leviticus
and to the no less sage laws which are in
force in merry England But it shocked
the proprietress Of the Clalhart villa;
there are limits co sympathy. What did
he take her for? How dare he? A SYM
pathetic heart may beat in the female
breast and vet, withal, it's owner be an
honest woman! Nine. van Heedeghem's
anger was sincere and 1ustinaDIe, but
with one single word the Duke Gained the
storm. HMy intentions are pure" he pro-
tested; ''strictly honorable are they; it is
your hand, not only your love, crave"
and then the widow shrieked again, ''Biga-
mist! neyerl" for, although a recent deci-
sion in the Partisan courts FieiDiY pro-
tects the institution OF bigamy, it is more
agreeable TO go publicly and deliberately
and ask the bench's opinion on that ques.
ton. But the Duke explained; he re-
vealed another secret; there had always
been a skeleton in that households closet.
His former marriage lacked certain for
malities, it was not worth more than about
four cents; in short, he was not married
at all, and she might become Duchess,
A Duchess That altered the case,
Nine van Heedeghem hesitated. She did
not say yes, but she did not say no, and
promised to think the matter over, upon
which this flower Of chiyalry unveiled all
the sublime delicacy Of his soul. Il you
refuse" he cried, 81 will prosecute your
sister for the theft of those 100000; my
lawyer shall cover your name with in
fanny, you and yours shall be dishonored
forever
l'his trait of nobility, worthy of
another age, oyercame all scruples, land the
widow threw herself upon the manly
breast of the tras-Rhenan paladin.
The next scene is absolutely melodra-
matte and of a style, | am proud to re-
mark, now, happily, altogether out of
fashion. This scene is in cemetery; the
sad expresses shake their sombre, pointed
heads at sky where the pallid moon rides
upon the black courses of the storm. The
cry of the screech owl alone breaks the
nocturnal silence; huge moths flutter
among the flowers which deck the graves
of the newly,buried dead=it has been mo-
tioed that there are seldom any gardens on
- 1~e.xyr tranv ETYrsT ind