The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1885-07-04
Select STORY,
THE ASTROLOGER'S CHAMBER.
A LEGEND OF FRANCE.

A LEGEND OF FRANCE.
From the Cork Erdminer.
In the spring of 1915, when that cam
paign which cost the life of Turenne, was
about to open, nothing was to be seen at
Saint German and at Paris but departures
and preparations for war and the farewells
of gentlemen who quilted sadly the city
and the court.
In the garden of fine mansion at Saint
German the Countess Marguerite was
walking, leaning on the arm Of the Count
Henri de Boisbrand-Lussault, colonel of
the regiment of Royal Cavalry They
both looked graves and the eyes of the
young lady showed that she had been
weeping
care you fully decided on this sacri-
flee ?" asked her husband, after moments
silence
at is no sacrifice, said she, ''it is a
favor | ask of you. | shall be much less
to be pitied in your absence if you will
allow me to go to Lussault. There, sur
rounded by our children and your sister, |
shall resume my old occupation as chate-
laine, and l assure you that it will be much
more agreeable to me to pray for you with
our good peasants of Touraine than to
adorn myself and to 60, my soul filled
with trouble, to the plays and balls of the
Queen"
'sThe King will be displeased at your
absence, Madame You know he does not
like that any one should leave the court,
especially when the departure of some of
the nobility renders it less brilliant"
''Diane will grow weary of the country"
said the Count, s'and will not be consoled
for leaving the pleasures of the court"
'Henri," said Nine. de Boisbriand, 'for-
give me for telling you all [ think. l
would not like to utter word which could
wound you, but am responsible for Diane
since the death of her mother. Her beau
ty, her love of pleasure, the attention which
she attracts, the success she obtains, the
favor of the King, in short frightens me. -"
The voice Of Marguerite trembled while
she spoke, and a brilliant blush suffused
her fair face. The Count listened in 81
lence He reflected an instant. II un-
derstand you" said he, 'you are right, and
thank you"
He kissed tenderly his wife's hand, and
the same evening the Countess began her
preparations for departure, in order that
she might quit Versailles few hours after
her husband.
Diane de Boisbriand was born at the
chateau of St. German, and her beauty,
grace and wit had made her from her child
hood the favorite playmate of the Queen
and the Princesses. Lively and accom-
plished, she was the centre of attraction at
the most brilliant reunions, and, save two
years passed at the Visitation, all her time
was devoted to festivities. She was sur
named the ''little fairy, and nothing could
resist her fanciful charms. Her mother
had never refused her anything, and her
brother, Count Henri, elder than she by
twenty years, treated his pretty sister with
all the indulgence Of father.
The proposed departure of the Countess
was announced to Diane and received with
CONSERVATION. She ran to her brother and
besought him to allow her to remain at st.
German with one of her mothers friends.
For the first time in her life she expert
enced refusal. She burst into tears and
cried "Do you want to bury me alive In
your frightful chateau ?" But Count Henri
was inhexible, and assured her that Lus-
sault was a charming place, and that one
season passed on the banks of the Loire In
the prettiest country in the world, with all
the luxuries of life, and in the company OF
her sister-in-law and of her nephews and
sisters, could hardly be considered inter-
ment.
The Countess babe adieu to her husband
without shedding single tear, and begged
him to bless her children. "Go, Monsieur,
said she to him, 'sforget wife and children,
and think only of serving we'll your king.
But as soon as he had departed she tainted
away, and was, during many hours, between
life and death.
Scarcely restored, she wished to set out,
and some days after the ladies of Lussault
and their suite were' travelling slowly down
the Loire towards Amboise.
The intendant of Lussault awaited them,
and while he superintended their landing,
and conducted the Countess and her chill
dren to the inn of the Golden Lion, Diane
insisted on being taken to the chateau.
She had time before night to visit the
chapel and the principal apartments. Truly,
said she, the kings of long ago knew how
to choose their abodes, and Amboise must
be more agreeable sojourn than st. Ger
main or Versailles.
The next morning they set out early, and
the route from Amboise to Lussault was
sc pretty that Diane began to be reconciled
with her lot; but when she perceived the
gloomy turrets of the Chateau of Lussault
its battlements, the drawbridge and the
ravens whirling round the keep, blackeneC
by 500 winters, the young girl shuddered
"Alas" said she, "must we dwell il
this prison ?"
"You shall see how pretty it is inside,
said Marguerite. II have passed some
very happy days there with your brother
and 1 assure you that were he there, Lus
sault would seem to me more beautiful
than st. Germain"
All the tenants on the estate were assem-
bled before the chateau, and joyfully salu
ted their ladies'. The young girls anC
children offered themwreaths and bouquets
of violets, and baskets of wrinkled apples
and plums of Tours, the only fruits anC
the only flowers that the season afforded
The Countess did not enter the chateau
until she had spoken to all these good peo
pie, and Diane, encouraged by her example
was very gracious to the young girls.