The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1886-07-11
cause Of the despair bv which The Iitue

maiden seemed to he thus overcome.
There was no embarrassment, no reticcnce
in the answer which gushed ont quite spon.
taneously amid the sobs which could not be
controlled. "Ah, Monsieur what shall we
dor cannot give you any milk this morn
Ing. What will become Of ms la Rouge,
our dear La Ronge Is dead We have no
milk to drink, and shall soon have no more
bread to eat. Grandmere Is III, and we have
not sou wherewlth to buy bread. Old
Hubert Is gone to the furnace with a barrow
full Of clover to sell to the superintendent's
wife for her goat, and am ali alone"
The image of her own loneliness was more
than the little maiden could bear, and she
burst into n paroxysm Of grief, hiding her
face In both hsr hands, while Monsieur de
Bellegarde remained aghast, unprepared for
the avowal OF such misery as this. He felt
sore perplexity concerning the form his
coincidence ought IN take. Bnt ms he looked
round In his embarrassment his eye was
caught by the thousand blossoms Of the pas.
sion flower as they balanced 10 and fro in the
wind, and, love lending him that readiness
Of resource he never refuses TO his votaries,
made him exclaim eagerly:
may, hut, Mademoise'le, II was not for
milk | came this morning. but for one OF tho
passion flowers which blossom above your
balcony. The flower which grows In such
abundance here at Talvere Ia so precious at
Luneville that-would you believe itf--the
ladies Of the Court are compelled TO pay
double louis dor for single blossom, and
King Stanislas, who loves no other flower,
never looks kindly on any Of the courtiers
who do not bear sprig Of II at mass on gala
days. As II happens that this very day
there Ia to be grand TIE Denim At the cathe-
dral in honor Of his Majesty's return from
Nancy, rode hither with the humble hope
that yOu would allow me TO purchase one Of
those flowers 10 place in my vest 10 please
him."
The little maiien dried her eyes IN mo.
inent In order to open them wider with the
greater ease, aud then shs smiled so sweetly
that the aiject terror he had felt all the
time he had BEEN speaking vanished in 4
moment. aud when abe nodded acquiescance
aud exclaimed: "Ah, Monsieur, Ills Provi.
dencs has sent You here" and jumped
lightly down and ran across the grass 10
gather the flowers he had asked for, he
prayed that the words might prove prophetic
Of the good fortune In store. In the twin.
king Of an eye did the maiden return with
the lovelisst Of the blossoms Of the passion
flower, and, without the smallest shyness
without any Of that grinacing hesitation a
Court lady would have assumed, did this
child Of nature hand 1t over the wall TO the
cavalier. Strange TO say, however, he burst
not offsr her tha piece Of gold hs had drawn
from his purse as the price of the flower,
Int laid It on the wall. where II caught the
rays Of the morning sun. and glittered like
n star just fallen from the skies. But when
the action was accomplished sudden panic
s-ised him at the boldness of which he had
given proof, aud he hurried away with al.
most uncOurtepus abruptness. But he
might have spared himself all unpleasant
donbt. Helene do Talvers was child of
nature, rs We have said before.
Shs believed every word Of the strange
gentl-msn's speech, and treasured It up like
gospel. She seiaed the gold piece with
childish glee. and laughed joyonsly.
"Oh, lat me run at once and show this 10
dear grandmere ~ she exclaimed, and, with
ont 80 much rs thanking the gentleman for
his custom, or even noticing his abrupt de.
parture, ran swiftly toward the door Of the
chateau.
As the Count turned the angle of the wall
his attention was aroused by the sound OF
voices in discussion. The harsh tones of
scoliing and reproach mingled with the soft
accent Of his lovely Graciosa in gentle ex-
postulation, and he could Just catch a
glimpse Of lit,ls weakened female figure,
with high crowned cap and cross handled
crutch, which, he fult sure, must be that of
the horrible Duchess Grognona. He was
too far off to ssizs the purport of her shrill
words, hut he was sure that he saw her with
one hand raise her crutch with menacng
gesture toward him, while with the other
she threw the gold piece ont into space.
Then the wailng sobs of the poor girl fell
once more upon Ills stricken ear, until,
driven forward by the old lady, the girl
entered the hall door, which closed behind
them, and all was silent again.
"That must lie the old Countess de Talvere,
great lady in her day." murmur4d he, as he
urged his horse to the trOt, "but she reminds
me woefully of the Duchess Grognona not
withstanding.
An hour or Two later IN the morning a Wis
ion, more strange than that which. a few
weeks hsfare had hurst upon the sight OF
Gount Honore de Bsllegard., might have
been seen gliding across the orchard OF the
Chateau de Talvrre, and stealing through
the gate which led out by short cuts and by
paths 10 the high road to Luneville. 1t was
Helene de- Talvere, attir-d in the quaint cos
tune We have already seen, Int enveloped
in large cloak, aud her face concealed by
the old fashioned hood and wimple which
had been forgotten by the maidsns Of her own
time. On her arm hung large basket filled
up with long branches of the passion flower.
which, according to the gentleman who had
paid that early visit to Talvere, wonld be
purchased at such exorbitant price in Lune.
vile.
She FASTENED along the way she remem.
b-r.d to have traverssd with old Hubert,
when unon rare occasions liz had suffered
her Ia accompany him to market, and ar.
rived in The city just as ths cathedral bells
were beginning to ring ont the To Damn psal
always reserved for the grandsst festivities
IT ths church. The grand place TO which
she hurried was filed to overAowing; crowds
from the back streets and by lanes, crowds
from the suburbs and the country, all we're
Fastening 10 sea other crowds Of aristocratio
personagrs attendant on the Kings High
Mass, as this ceremony was called. Well
was II for the poor child that every individ-
nal Of that immense multitude was bent on
making way to the front, In order TO catch
this best view Of the royal procession, which
had entered the building by the CanOn's
door and was to leave Il by the great gate,
SO that no one paid the smallest attsntiNn Ia
her, but suffered her to glide stealthily
through the different groups until she ar
rived at the flight Of marble steps, and took
her station outside the iron halastrads by
which they are protected.
Here she remained, patiently waiting until
the gate should open for the King ani ihs
Court to pass through. She knew well
enough that none Of the bourgeois aud arti
sans, Of whom tho crowd was composed
oonid afford 10 paohass her passion flowers
1t a double lonis apiece, so she gathered her
long, dark cloak Of Lyons cloth closely around
her, aud hiding her basket bsnsAth 1t. took
out her heads, and bending low, wen,
steadily through the rosary, imploring III,
Virgin to grant q blessing on her endsavol
to save grandmsre from the penury amid
which she had languished so long, and like
wise most particularly TO bless the kline
Young gentleman whose suggestion had pm
her In tha way Of accomplishing her desire
How oonld shs dream that at that very mo
msnt another prayer was rising to Hsave,
from the Count ds B-ligsrds to restore th,
estates Of her family TO Helene do Talvsre
and his MaIesty's promise 10 assist his favor
ito In his desirs to obtain the hand of the nov
great hsiress. 90 fsrvsnt was she In her invo
cation, SO long did sue lngsr over the prayer
that the crash OF the great To Denim bell
announcing that mass was over, hurst foril
bsfore she had concluded. Tho shook OF tn
vibration aroused her TO consciousness Of he
situation, and when the great doors Of III