Mexico weekly ledger., 1892-02-25

"1ATc y0u WctI, CGchette?"
Mile. de Boncour was in a eonsidera-
BILE quandary. And she had been
in such a thing as a quandary till she be-
came nthused over some Americans in
Paris, their delightful chic, their rayish-
ing sang froid. their piquant extensions
Of les convenances. She at that time
told the compile, her brother, that she
feared the ancien regime had become
passe, while she was confident that she
belonged to New France under certain
conditions, TO the New World under any
circumstances. Uf course this greatly
shocked the compte, and his friends to a
man blamed him for having permitted
Natalie so much latitude OF association
with the American ladies and their Pc
cuiiar ideas of the eternal fitness of
things.
When Natalie net a Vassar girl, in q
costume by Felix, who told her that she
worked for her living, the die was cast.
Natalie was poor herself, the little dia-
monds bequeathed her by her grandaunt
representing all the wealth she possessed,
and the complies unique speculations on
the Bourse made even those tentative at
times.
She determined to emulate the Vassar
girl, wear toilets by Felix, and earn her
own living. She knew she dare not ap-
proach the compte with this determine
ton, so she watched some American
girls to find out the most effective way
to cut loose from old, il picturesque, as
sociations.
When u lovely young thing, with
eyes the color Of heaven and cheeks like
tender young rose leaves, told her she
had travelled around the world ''all by
herself" and not a shadow of harm had
happened to her, Natalie watched her
chance and went 10 Tiifany's to sell her
~grandaunt's quasi-historic diamonds. She
was told that the stones were only large
enough to be used in collar buttons, and
was referred to a dealer with a generous
type of nose, who offered her what
seemed to her TO be a ridiculously small
sum OF money for the jewels. But the
Vassar girl worked for her living, and
here was money sufficient to carry Nata-
lie to New York and something over; be-
sides, the jewels were ridiculously small
also. She let the diamonds go, wrote a
letter to her brother that caused him
to tear his hair and expunge her name
from the family register and become the
laughing stock Of the Bourse for a bad
quarter of an hour, and Natalie sailed
for America and freedom, carrying a
handbag and a cage, in which futtered
her pet canary.
l believe there was something else that
actuated her in this stage of her mad
career, and that was that le compte
had told her he intended to arrange a
marriage between her and the old
Marquis dEpinville. whose head shook
when he walked, who wore horribly
large white artificial teeth, who drank
the delectably green absinthe openly on
the boulevard and called Natalie una
femme"
At n rate, Natalie sailed for the
states. and landing in New York went
to a beautiful hotel that almost took
away her breath by its charges. In New
York she met many Of those she had
known in the colony at Paris. But, not
strange to say, they were not quite SO
friendly when they heard under what
circumstances she had come to our hos
pitable shores, and one woman and
mother threatened to write to the compile.
Then the Vassar girl. who 1t turned
out earned her own living by tying her
papa's white cambria erayats of evenings,
for which task she received a yearly
stipend which a away into four figures,
did not ask her to the house on the
avenue, and informed her that for her
part she would have thought it quite de,
lightful to be the Marquise dEpinviile,
especially as the marquis was sc old and
sure TO have another stroke of paralysis
soon. But Natalie was not TO be dis
coaTaged, the combination Of French
nerve and American ideas is a motol
whose power is only to be gagged BY
pneumatics.
Natalie first of all moved from the
beautiful hotel and established herself
in a charming fat with a professional
chaperon old enough to be anybody'E
mother and plain enough to be the syn
dictate stepmother of all the virtues
Now Natalie defied criticism and made
her effort toward making her way. Sht
could not go back to Paris, that wa.
certain, and she did not intend to le+
America Ego back on her." as a youne
man said, the Yassar girls brother, whit
met her and admired her, but told hi!
sister she'd better be a little careful
you know.
Natalie could embroider rayishingly
abe had learned how to do it from tn,
patient sisters in the convent where sht
had been educated. She embroidered
now. It Is not altogether an everyday
event to have the sister Of a connt en-
broidering your table covers and putting
your initials upon your linen, SO the or
ders came in with considerable merri
ment and the pay was generous-yol
coald hardly offer The sister Of a count
q might-have-been marquise, the beg
carly sum you might give to some poo
soul in q garnet.
So Natalie became more and NOR,
Americanized, and said "C~hestnuts, t,
seme Of the stories of former magnif
told her autobiographicaIly by he
companion. She considered herself han
by for the first time in her life. o
course there were moments when sh,
suffered a little from NAL du pays, whe,
the lilies OF France meant something t
her after all. and she thought of MANN
and papa In Pere Ia Chaise with the bea,
wreaths upon their tomb.
Yet she would look up at such time
to Csehette, her canary, which she ma
brought away with her from Paris, an,
says
"Est~ce bieu Won [Are you weln, Ca
chetteF and Cachette would twitte
down 10 her IN q wicked American WA