The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1889-11-06

ed, therefore it you cannot buy Ber-
nardo off, | must even submitto the
degrading alternative, and marry
the man who has my reputation in
his keeping. What a descent, from
the throne of a King to the hand Of
a low, coarse, vulgar, common SOL
dier! Why did | commit to paper
a secret so dangerous, so compromis-
ing, so fatal?"'
'"I sympathize with you very
deeply, and would do anything to
save you from so detestable a union"
said the King. '"This is an affair
which not only involves your repu-
tation, but the honor Of the king
DOM
""Death would be gladly welcom-
ed at this moment" cried the un-
happy Queen.
""Death itself would not save
your reputation while Bernardo has
possession Of your letters"
'"Then | mustsubmit to my fate. &"
"The painful interview ended,
Bernardo was notified that the hand
of the Queen-Mother Of Etruria was
at his disposal. In a few days he
presented himself at Court and
claimed his roval bride. The King
did all be could to make the mar
riage less odious: he made Bernar-
do a marquis, gave him a palace for
his home, a liberal income-in short.
so far as rank and money could do
it, he was raised to the position of
first gentleman Of Etruria, but ma
ture had done little or nothing, to
assist the King in making Bernardo
a gentleman His manners had the
rudeness of the camp rather than
the polish of the Court. He was not
bad looking for an Etrurial, but his
features were coarse, and his figure
displayed more of the robust strength
of his origin than the princely grace
that belonged to his new position.
Bernardo and the Queen-Moth-
er were married in the private chap
ell of the royal palace, and with the
least possible ceremony. The bride
looked the picture of despair; the
groom wore an air Of triumphant
audaeity. Bernardo had cause to
triumph. A man of low birth and
no capacity, he found himself by an
infamous breach ofconfidence, raised
to position in the world, far above
his widest dreams. History tells of
common soldiers, who, by great per-
sonal bravery and extraordinary ma
tural ability, have risen to the high
est position of the .world-eyen to
the throne of Caesars. But the most
daring novelist would hesitate to in
troduce into the widest romance
such character as this man Bern
ardo attaining such a dazzling
height. Yet, this story is no ro-
mantle fiction.
"The poets tell US Of lovely ladies
marrying clowns, and being brought
down to the level Of their "coarser
clay" But, here was a Queen, the
most exalted lady in the land, mar
ried to man who was not worthy to
be her footman. Such a marriage
was a cruel mockery-an outrage on
all the finer feelings of the heart
a crucifixion of the soul. There
have been instances in our own
country Of Young girls in a moment
os folly and infatuation committing
social suicide by marrying their
fathers coachman. But such mes
alliances are happily rare, and the
women who make them do not des-
cend much lower in the social sphere
than that to which they naturally
belong: for the lady who would
willingly marry her fathers coach.
man must be innately vulgar and
hopelessly uurefined. Therefore
she does not suffer that terrible
agony Of the heart which made the
Queen-Mother q Of Etruria the sad.
dest woman in Eurepe-sHE moi
only had to suffer the indignity and
degradation of being the wife Of
such wretch as Bernardo, but she
had to suffer the reproach and oblo-
, guy Of CHOOSING such a man for hel
husband. The world did not know
: must not know-that she was th,
, hopeless victim Of most unmerciful
: circumstances, bound to do the will
Of man for whom love and respect
were alike impossible. Byron
pathetic lines have excited the sym
pathy Of the world for the Prisone
/ Of Chillon, who was chained for lif'
to adungeon's piller; We read will
q shudder Of the man in ancien
4 story who was chained TO a corpse
: These men were the victims o
4 despotic power, and won the sym
: pathy Of the world by their suffer
: ings. But the Queen-Mother in
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