Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1892-02-25

Mile. de Boncour was in a considera-
bic quandary. And she had never been
in such thing as a quandary till she be-
came enthused over some Americans in
Paris, their delightful chic, their ravish-
ing sang froid, their piquant extensions
of les convenances. She at that time
told the compte, 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. OF course this greatly
shocked the compte, and his friends to a
man blamed him for having permitted
Natalie 80 much latitude of association
with. the American ladies and their pc
culiar ideas of the eternal fitness of
things.
When Natalie met 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 shepossessed,
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 determina-
tion, so she watched some American
girls to find out the most effective way
to cut loose from old, if picturesque, as
sociations.
When one 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 to Tiffany's to sell her
grandaunts 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 generous
type of nose, who offered her what
seemed to her tobe 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 bad
quarter of an hour, and Natalie sailed
for America and freedom, carrying
handbag and a cage, in which futtered
her pet canary.
1 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 d'Epinville, 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 "ma
femme"
AT any 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 compte.
Then the Vassar girl, who it turned
out earned her own living by tying her
papa's white cambria cravats of evenings,
for which task she received a yearly
stipend which ran 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 dEpinville,
especially as the marquis was so old and
sure to have another stroke of paralysis
soon. But Natalie was not to be dis
couraged, the combination of French
nerve and American ideas is a motor
whose power is only to be gauged by
pneumatics.
Natalie first of all moved from the
beautiful hotel and established herself
in a charming fiat with a professional
chaperon old enough to be anybody's
mother and plain enough to be the syn
dicate stepmother Of all the virtues.
Now Natalie defied criticism and made
her effort toward making her way. She
could not go back to Paris, that was
certain, and she did not intend to let
''go back Oh her." as young
man said, the Vassar girls brother, who
met her and admired her, but told his
sister she'd better be little careful,
you know.
! Natalie could emhroider rayishingly;