The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-06-13

sword the king had given him, was
petted by the lades-even by Marie
Antoinette, then in the fine heyday of
her gayety before her sad end. l mean
the time when he had his celebrated
affair with la Comtesse de Bourbon, and
with Mme Thellison.
For this little swarthy fellow, with
his peering eye, his boasting over the
greatness of the republic he served so
well, was ever the admirer of a petit
coat when its wearer was fair. ] am
told he had several duels on his hands
on that account OF one of which and
its mysterious cause DR.. Franklin him
self has preserved the account.
But there is another-one between
himself and one of the fairest. cleverest
most charming and dangerous women
of the court at Versailles, which I
have never seen recorded. and which l
will put down as had it myself from
the great captains lips.
The ladywas q, Comtesse Hortense
lie FeWe, a rich young WMav, and who
besides Capt. Paul. had many aspirants
to her favor, among others Lord Whit
tlesey, of the English foreign office. In
the end she became, as you will remem-
Der, the countess of Whittlesey. the
mother of the present earl GS13).
Now, at that time the English We're
piqued at Capt. Jones, would not allow
him any merits excepting of the Capt.
Kidd order, and dearly wished to catch
him that they might swing him from q
yard-arm.
Well, Captain Jones, just then idle.
and because he was a man who must
have some activity, even If it were play
Ing with the fire of the devil, found
time for many affairs, as l have said.
Among others he conceived the passion
for Nine. lie Fevre. She was of medium
height, fair, plump, with the most be-
witching lips, and enticing grey eyes.
always exquisitely gowned among
Marie Antoinette's ladies-always most
proficient at the affected simplicity that
played about The Little Trianon.
And behold our swarthy American
captain. the great son of a Scotch gar
dener. signing for her, until all the court
noticed it, and made sport of him, and
called him Nine. Comtesse's Poor
Paul" And madame herself liked it
all, counting him but one more victim.
But she played him off. as she did many
other gentlemen, French, Italian, Ger
mans and Russians, who wrote verses
to her and called her the fair. cruel.
cold lie Fevre after the fashion of that
day when the sentimentality, as NJ.
Rousseau so well expressed it, but hid
the horrid seriousness of the time I'M
der this veneer all "out of joint"
She smiled, as I say, on all; had no
favorite; fiirted and encouraged just
enough without suffering scandal to
touch her skirts. And in the mean
time, though no one knew 1t, she had
become secretly plighted to Lord Whit
tlesey. 1t would not have been prudent
for lady who courted popularity at
Versailles at this period to have con-
fessed penchant for an Englishman.
Now. while our captain was a shrewd
follow on the quarter deck, he was a
simpleton where a woman was con-
cerned, as many brave men before and
since have been. More than simple, he
was as vain as a peacock over his
achievement in this direction.
And so one night after great affair
at court, when Nine. la Comtesse had
been particularly cold, he was not sur