Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1894-10-04
THE VENUS OF PARIS.
BY Richard Pryce.

udpS, the luoSt Itdutllui NolHdH III
Paris.
She had everything TO make her life
| happy. Her husband adored her and
trusted her implicitly. He gave her 4
| freedom that he knew she would not
abuse and he took pride in her
social triumphs.
She was not vain--the really beauti
full are seldom so: and if her trfumphs
were necessary to her life as the air
Of heaven, at least they were brilliant
and great.
She made the art of being beautiful
her whole study. 1t became to her an
absorbing interest, and admiration was
to her as food and drink.
Her eyes, blue as the sea, were the
, inspiration of the young poets of the
capital; her lips We're ideals 1t was
said; her teeth We're perfect, and her
head the head of goddess.
The very people knew her, and as
voices "y'la la belle comtesser'
"V'la la Venus de Paris"
On her thirtieth birthday great
terror came into her life, and would
not be stilled. Night and day it
haunted her. 1t came to her like a
f, specter, and stood forever before her,
and sometimes it sat like ice upon her
heart.
A well-known figure in Partisan So
ciety Of the time was certain veteran,
the Marechal Boutigny
He was grim and sinister. He spoke
often to Nine. la Comtesse of the great
beauty of his own day. the famous
Aurene de Frontignac
"She Is dead, is she not?" said she,
one night.
ITO the world, Nine. la Comtesse"
"She lives, then! She must be TO-"
Madame Shuddered A certain pallor
took her face and NJ. lie Marechal gave
his grim laugh
without doubt" he said.
"She was very beautiful. she asked
later. seeming fascinated by the sub
ject.
He saw once more the whiteness of
her face, and he smiled She shud-
dered again.
Yes, madame" he said.
There was silence; and then she per-
sisted:
More beautiful than r.
Nay, that were impossble.' he said,
with grim gallantry.
The cold fear at her heart goaded
| her on.
las beautifulg'
Mime. In Comtesse will pardon her,
he said; "Aurelie de Frontignac was
as beautiful. .
She moved away then, and sought
out an old woman the Duchess d
Anigno. This lady was so, and her
memory was fresh and true.
You must have seen women fa.rer
than I-Anrelie de Frontignac, for ex-
ample"
''Ah she was beautiful cried the
old woman; YES, my dear, you have
had one rival within my memory
Then the countess knew what She
wished to know, and she passed on TO
her husband; Il am little tired, Jules.
| wish TO go homev'
In a certain village called Arbisson,
not many miles from Paris, stood big
square house within walls. The great
gates were kept firmly barred and all
communication with the outside world
was carried on through a little side
door, In the neglected garden, Old
world flowers managed to grow IN
rich disorder.
The people of the village had. long
since lost their curiosity as TO the
woman who lived her lonely life
within those walls
Thirty years ago the house had been
suddenly bought, and lady and two
servants had taken up their abode
there, and had since lived quietly on.
For ten years the lady never left the
grounds.
Old Pierre Roget, the notary, had
happened to be passing when the oocu-
pants arrived, and the word had gone
round that the lady was very beaud-
ful-"Comme un reve," he had said.
But at the end of those ten years, it
was faded and gray haired woman
who began to take her solitary walks.
The notary had gone to his rest, and
his words were forgotten.
Though not far from Paris, this vii
lage knew little of the life of the
great city, and faces that were known
in the capital, as the bust On a penny
Is known. might pass throueh sthe
street Of ADHESION unrecogniz'ad.
Still the cure said that tire single
visitor who, perhaps once in a year or
two, called at the old house and was
admitted, was, he thought the famous
Marechal Boutigny, Of whom they had
all heard.
The servants told nothing, and ma
dame was hereto, and did not at
tend mass, 50 that the cure had no
more claim to admittanee to her house
than any of the other inhabitants Of
the village, and could boast nc more
knowledge Of her than they.
There arrived one day In Arbission a