Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-15
A PARTISAN ROMANCE.
SpleHdDrs of Nine. Blanche De Cassin-
The Story of a Remarkable Career
From tile Washtub to Place and Power.

| SpleHdBrs of Nine. Blanche De Cassin--
The Story of Remarkable Career
From the Washtub to Place and Power.
There are twelve broad avenues, says
Paris letter to the New Orleans Pieayune,
radiating from the Place de fEtoile, and all
around this beautiful square, with its grand
triumphal arch, stand stately houses &C.
cupied by the wealthiest inhabitants of
/ the capital. The entrances to the man.
sions are in the Rues de Tilsit and Pres
bourg, and on the sides fronting toward
the arch are rectangular gardens, pro-
teeted by high iron ratings with gilded
spikes. One of these mansions is the
Paris home of Mrs. John W. Mackay, and
two doors away. at the corner of the Rue
de Tilsit and the Avenue de Friedland, is
the residence Of Nine. Blanche de Cassin,
certainly one of the most remarkable of
the Aspasias who are the peculiar product
of the life of this modern Babylon. Those
who drive up the avenue on their way to
/ the Bots de BoulOgne may almost any
fine afternoon see the oval face and pale
blonde hair OF the old girl herself, whose
monogram, &c. b. in gilt letters orna-
ment the windows of all four floors of the
house peering out from one of them. Now
in reality this handsome mansion, al
though richly furnished, filled with ser
wants and crowded with art treasures, is
little better than a gilded prison for its
mistress. Its salons (there are four of
them en- suite) are something wonderful
in the way of interior decorations, very
rich and gorgeous indeed, but still with
something about the snowy cOlors of
satins and heavy Genoa Yelvets of the
furniture and hangings which betrays
that loud taste common among women of
| the class to which Blanche de Cassin pc
longs. This fastuOusnesS extends to all
the details Of the establishment, which is
run on a scale that none but a purse
several times millionaire could stand
without bankruptcy. There are twenty
carriage and eight saddle horses, not to
speak of many vehicles, in the stables.
On the walls of the gallery and in the
glass cases Of the salon are pictures and
rare bronzes valued at $2,000,OO0, among
them being a Raphael that ranks among
the greatest works of that greatest Of
masters.
1t was rumored the other day that
Blanche de Cassin contemplated turning
all these art treasures into solid cash, but
those who are in position to know
declare that they will never pass under
the auctioneer's hammer, for the old lady,
anxious to hand her name down to poster
ity, has made a Will leaving them all to
the Louvre on the sole. condition that, like
the La Cases and Theirs collections, they
be placed in a room apart, to be known
| forever as the Sale de Cassin.
Idon't know whether the French govern
ment will, when the time comes, accept
such bequest, but / happen to know
that Blanche does not get much satisfac-
ton out of her wealth and luxurious sur
roundings. She is in constant terror that
thieves VIII break in and steal, and to
this fear is added the haunting vision of
prison cells and dungeons, for this ''vieille
garde' is firmly convinced that she has
political past which, if known to the
powers that be, would inevitably lead to
her arrest as one of most dangerous
enemies of the Republic. These fears are
I perfectly groundless, for her share in one
of the many cOnspiracies. of the 10th May
is quite as well known to everybody as is
| the rest of her notorious and vicious
career. She began life as a, washerwO-
man. and a very pretty one she was, too,
when one morning as she brought home
his washing she attracted the notice of an
English Earl, who took her from her iron
| ing board and launched her forth on the
current of Gle monde on Pom s'amuse."
! The noble Earl, who found her costly
| investment, soon broke off the HaisOn,
! and went back to England poorer if not
! a wiser man. Then a rich contractor of
| public works-it was during the days
| when Baron Haussmann was transform
! ing Paris into city of palaCes-fell into
/ her clutches, and she cleaned him out so
! completely that when she exchanged him
/ for crowned head he gladly accepted an
! allowance from a mistress who had cost
| him, all told 100000 francs. The
/ crowned head that succeeded the con-
! tractor was Napoleon III. and she proved
/ quite as compromising a mistress for the
| '1nephew of his uncle'' as ever Marguerite
! Bellanger had been. During the latter
| part of the Second Empire her salon had
! considerable political Importance, and as
/ she was known to have the ear OF the
master the cOurtiers of the courtesan
| were perhaps as numerous as those of the
Emperor. When Napoleon III. died
| Blanche went into deep mourning and
even made pilgrimage to Chlselhurst,
where she remained for hours OH hef
knees before his tomb.
Under the government of the 10th May
| Blanche de Cassin put her pretty little
hands into one of the many cOnspiracies
formed against the third Republic. Once
a week there were mysterious gatherings
/ at her house, and those who attended
them-they were all prominent members
of the Imperialist party-toOk all sorts of
precautions to avoid attracting notice.
/ Gen. Fleury was always the first arrival,
! and it was Blanche herself who, on these
! evenings, opened the door to the conspira-
/ tors, for great care was taken to give all
| the servants a holiday in order to avoid
eavesdrOpping. The object of the con-
spiracy was to devise some way of Ie-
| establishing the Empire by means of
| coup d'etat similar to that which founded
1t on December 2, 1851, and the conspira-
tors thought they were on the high road
to success when, with BIanche's assist
ance, they secured the neutrality if not
the completely of an officer of high rank,
occupying a confidential position on the
staff Of the Marshal President. When
( first approached on the subject, this officer
fatty refused to have anything to do with
! The plot, but Blanche arranged that he
should make the acquaintance Of pretty
friend Of hers, who soon got such
an influence over the gallant
do everything th2t she asked Of him.
This conspiracy, like ali the others' came
to nothing, and when the Kept ollcahs
1 got control of matters. Blanche became 50
! frightened lest she should be called to
1 account for her share in it that she
| wanted to sell out and leave the country;
| but in those unsettled days no one felt
| disposed to invest in real estate, and as
! her house was worth between four and
| five millions, she abandoned her project.
! For a long time, however, she kept out of
sight, avoiding the bois, the theatres, and
! the other public places, where women of
her class are so fond of showing them
selves; she kept her bedroom door fas-
tened at night with a heavy steel chain
and slept with a revolver under her
pillow. To this day she does not feel
altogether satisfied that her share in that
conspiracy is forgotten, and she some
times mas attacks Of nervous fear that are
none the less painful because theV are
purely imaginary. 1 am certain that the
troubles in Spain must be giving her
world of anxiety, for when the French
IL
Carlos after the last Carlist uprising she
gave hospitality for one night to the
Spanish Pretender. 1t is perhaps in
Paris alone that such a strange career is
possible, a career which beginning at the
steps of the throne has led to wealth, to
power, and to a certain kind Of social
Importance.
Chinese Conceit.