The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-09
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL.


what blOndeg' asked Mime. de Marty.
"What blondefn he echoed. "But there
is but one blonde here tonight! There,
in front of you, look"
eyes, 1 see her. She is atrociously
. dressed, but pleasing
'Pleasingl A marvel} A perfect mar
. vel! She must be somebody's relation
/ from the country. The Ste-Mcsmes have
I cOnsirs in the suburbs But what a
smile and the set Of the neck and what
shouldersr'
Come, my dear, be quiet, or leave.
want to listen TO Nine Caron.n
| The prince departed. So no one knew
! this incompatible blonde. Who was she
/ He must knew and he would know.
J Suddenly he remembered that the ex-
| cellent Nine Picard, the female usher Of
| the Ste-Mesme box was very old friend
/ Of his.
"Ah, prince, she said, as he approached
| her, there is no one in my box for you
! this evening. 1t is given To-
That is precisely why 1 have come
You know the people in the Ste-Mesme
| box2"
mo, prince: it is the first time have
| seen them. All l know is that they are
| Of the burgeoisie. But you would wish to
| learn more, prince, because Of the blonde!
| Is il not so}"
The last words were said with rare
| delicacy, murmured rather than spoken,
and would have been unacceptable save
! for the accent and tone.
Nine. Picard continued:
"a beautiful woman. She has come
with a small gentleman, I am sure; for
| while she removed her clOak-whiCh al
! ways takes some time--he said not Il single
word-there were no little attentions
| None but husband could have acted So
| But am stupid. | keep up here, fOget-
| ting that you know M. Palmer, who goes
to see her-the beautiful blonde.
m. Palmer?'
eyes, and he can tell you"
"Thank you, Nine. Picard, thank
you"
''Au revoir prince, au revoir."
Prince Agenor had deigned to make the
great, the rich, the vain Palmer his
friend. He was a bourgeois, it is true
but the prince cOnfded to him his finan-
Cial embarrassments, and Palmer was only
too charmed to come to his assistance
The prince avOwed his friendship before
all the world, took him to his box at the
opera and feted him often.
He found the banker alone in the lower
box
The name of his blonde, who has the
Ste Mcsme box"
mime. Derline."
"And there is husband2"
"Assuredly; notary, my notary, the
notary Of the Ste. Mesmes' If you
would see more of her come to our ball
next Thursday. She will be there"
She was nothing more, then, than the
wife of a notary. The prince reflected.
CON, THAT BRUNETTE! THAT BRUNETTE!"
Had he sufficient authority to proclaim
this woman, Nine. Derline to be the most
beautiful woman in Paris} For, be it
known, it was he, the Prince Agenor, who
I I'd Ii.
crown and cOnsecrate the most beautiful
woman in Paris. Why should he not do
500 He had never before hOnOred a bour-
geoise, but the idea was novel, amusing
and hazardous,
He returned to his box, and, as he gazed
at her through his lorgnette, discovered
| u thousand fresh charms.
When the play was over, he placed him
self near the entrance, and said to a group
of his friends, Come, viii show you the
| most beautiful woman in Paris
a reporter who stood there caught the
words and became thereupon most in
terested spectator of the little scene that
followed. A quarter of an hour after
ward he arrived at the Office of his paper
| and hastily inserted a short paragraph in
| the society column.
The next day the prince was heard to
| say to his disciples: "KnOw that the most
beautiful woman in Paris Is a certain
Nine. Derline. This star will be visible
next Thursday, at the Palmers. Go and
do not forget the name, Nine. Derliue."
The next day. Nine. Derline, who usu-
ally slept as soundly and as gently as
child, awoke from a troubled siumber
Opening her eyes she closed them again,
idly, iudolently her thoughts floating be-
tween dream and reality. She seemed 40
see a hundred, two hundred, five hundred
lOrgnettes leveled directly at her and at
her alone.
The maid brought her chocolate and
the mornings paper. Then madame
arose with an effort, slipped her feet into
loose slippers, wrapped herself in a white
cashmere robe and sank into great chair
by the fireplace. She opened her journal
and began to read of the great people who
had been at the opera the evening before.
"The marvellous Marquise de Muriel," she
read. But this marvellous marquiSe was
in her 45th year and Nine. Derline was
but %. She lifted herself slightly to ex-
change a little smile with a beautiful
blonde vision, young and white and pink,
that showed itself in the mirror opposite
"Ah!' she said, "if were a marquise
my name would perhaps be there. Is it
not amusing to see ones name in print2'
And she read on-"We have the honor
of announcing a new star, which has sud
denly appeared in the Partisan constel-
laJlOn. An unknown blonde, with dark
eyes, brilliant eyes, and with shoulders
ah, such shoulders the shoulders were
the event of the evening On all sides
was heard: Who is she? To whom be-
long the divine shouldersn We are
pleased TO inform our readers that they
belong to Nine. Derline, the wife of one
of the richest and most popular notaries
of Paris The Prince de Nerins, who is
an authority on such subjects, said last
evening: She is the most beautiful
woman in Paris >"
That was all; but it was enough. Nay,
it was too much. Nine. Derline felt a
troubled, indefinable emotion--a mixture
of fear and pleasure, of confusion and 10Y,
of satisfied vanity and wounded pride
Her robe fell slightly apart She closed
it brusquely, for she had a feeling that
all Paris was there looking at her, with
the prince at their head, crying: Look
look there is the most beautiful woman
in Paris!"
Prince de Nerins-she knew the name
well, for she had seen it in all the news
paper accounts of the grand marriages
great balls and entertainments given 70
charity. And it was he who had pro-
claimed her! All, decidedly, the pleasure
Outweighed the pain. Trembling with
emotion, she placed herself before a glass,
and gdZed into it long time, cUriously
and eagerly. Certainly, she had known
that she was beautiful, but, oh, power Of
printed words! she now found herself
absolutely bewitching. She was not only