The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1885-07-31
THE STORY.
afas a young man when tn

tfas young man when the event occn, ed
wi have tried to immortalizs in INV PC.
tuf Saho, II Madame |ill pardon ara old m RR,..s
va, "a a Wen looking youth and tolerns Y
| successful surgeon. l became an artist SdYch
later on in my life, and at the time / s2eakN9f
had a good and increasing practice in one OF the
southern French watering places. The town
was much frequented by foreigners, chiefly by
English and Americans, and the latter greatly
scandalized and upset all our ideas of propriety
by the independence of their women, especially
| of the unmarried ladies. Among these last was
a certain Miss Claude Maryon, commonly
| known to the habitues Of our town as "Madem
oiselle Claude" How she came by her rather
| masculine Christian name l never knew, nor
why she was always called by it in preference
to her surname; but the name CHANGED to be
| an appropriate one for Mademoiselle Claude
| was an artist of some merit and fame. Indeed,
| 1t was she who first led me to think seriously
| of art as profession. She was rich, independ-
ent and original, and had come to S-both for
the beauty OF the scenery and the health of her
companion, Miss Anne Harland, a girl of about
ee-and-twenty. tall, pa.e, shy and studiously
inclined. She was the orphan and almost PEN
nllesS daughter OF poor American minister and
protege of Mile Claude, who often spoke of
her as my child" and took a sort of motherly
interest in her welbeing. She expected her to
be in some sort literary success if the girls
health which was in nervous and delicate
state, did not break down. Miss Anne had,
think, mind beyond her years, and she had
worked beyond her strength to cultivate it, but
she was wanting in the elements of determine
ton and success that so much distinguished her
patroness. and | always had great doubts as to
the result OF these sangulne expectations
But if Miss Harland were wanting in the ele-
ment of success, she had at least her element of
interest. She was not at all pretty, and her ex-
cessive shyness and proneness to take life pro
foundly au grand serieux lent certain touch
of awkwardness and embarrassment to her
movements that to me had kind of pathetic
attraction. But she was SO appealing, SO thor
oughly feminine, so curiously compounded of
unusual intelligence and childlike naivete, that
one forgot her want of beauty and was only
interested in trying to pierce through her timid-
ity and reserve.
She had an extraordinary capacity for love, !
and her devotion to Mile Claude was beyond |
all bounds of ordinary friendship or even graft
tude; it amounted to religion, and religion |
intensified by an imaginative and strongly pas |
sionate nature. In many ways the idol was |
worthy of the worship. Mile Claude was An |
mes seniority nearly ten years, and greatly her |
superior in intellect and force of character; |
powerful woman with the fine massive beauty |
of the old Roman type, splendidly sincere, des |
potic and gracious, thoroughly worldly wise |
and one of the most sympathetic, warm hearted |
women l have ever met. twas impossible not |
to love and admire her when you knew her, |
and her friends did BOTH Among these, how
ever, were not very many of her own sex, and |
those few were artists or Americans; her circle |
of acquaintance had too marked a stamp of |
more or less refined Bohemianism to suit the |
rigid responsibility and conventionaty of the |
English and French ladies. Almost every one |
in S-of any pretensions TO literary or artistic |
distinction found easy entry into Mile Clsudes |
delightful society. had entered 1t first as |
doctor to Miss Harland, but the love OF art |
soon drew us together and we became fast |
friends, the two ladies treating me with sort |
of sisterly confidence and kindness which was |
new to me. and which l enjoyed as much as l |
res pected it.
One day | made a discovery. Miss Anne |
had her strong loves and hates. She by no
means shared her friends impartial air of bon
lain NJ lie Comte de Lstourelle whom she par
ticularly disliked, partly / think because of his
marked attentions to Mile Claude, and partly
rom the innate shrinking of pure and sensi-
i've nature from the presence of evil. NJ de
Laiourelle was quite young man but be had
neither heart principle; his chief attractions
we're deliberately charming manners and aris-
ocraiic bearing, fair, handsome face and
marvellous aptitude for the violin. / never
lesrd more exquisite playing, except perhaps
~ one or two celebrated professionals; TO lis |
en- to him you would have said he had the |
Oui vi II OOu III MS niger eilus IL was tle |
,nly indication of divinity that / ever saw in | I
nm suppose it was his beauty and musical .
'enius that so much attracted Nile Claude
he was very susceptible TO both-but be SEEM
d TO have the right of entrance to her society {
{ all hours Of the day, and availed himself OF l
be encouragement her kindness gave him in a Q
ray that annoyed me inexpressibly. / knew 1
be young man had no faith in women and no v
everence for them. AFrehchwoman would have j
rem q, much at glance; but Mile Claude had {