The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-11-27

naughty bearing which counts for so much in the artificial French capital, she regarded herself as fit for any line of work. As a preliminary. to success ful business she rented a sumptuously Furnished apartment in the Avenue des Champs Elysees, hired half dozen servants, and bought showy victoria and pair. Then she was ready.
 For month she attracted a great deal of attention in the carriage pa rades or the Bols. Everybody re- marked her. Everybody wanted to know who she was, and nobody knew. That was the first lesson; she was talked about and had become a person age. One day she drove in her showy victoria to the banking house of Oppen- helm Bros. The two young men, Rob- ert and Eugene, are bachelors and bar ! ons She was received by their confi- dential secretary, Michel Briand. To this young man she recited a romantic story. She was on the point of receiv- lng, she said, a very large inheritance, but she had had trouble with her hus- band, and he had placed obstacles in
 
 ry she showed MT. Briand a number of letters from various attorneys, which had been cleverly forged. Mr. Briand, according to the Paris newspapers, was overcome by the extreme distinction Of the countess" and straightway he fell head over ears in love with her-or iie experienced that feeling which serves the same end according to the Paris code. He left his wife and two small children, and was henceforth her slave. At the end of four months, in | order to satisfy the exigencies of the countess, he had robbed his employers | of seventy-five thousand dollars &C., I cording to the Oppenheims story, of twenty thousand according to his own. | Whatever the sum, the countess had it. When the oppenheims discovered the loss and threatened to prosecute him, l the countess went to see them She was very high and mighty. She ex- | pressed lively indignation at the dis honesty of MT. Briand, but added that, | out of pity for him, she would under take to repay the entire amount that he had stolen. The Oppenheims were | pleased, not only with the proposition but with the countess and agreed to drop any thought of prosecution. How much they were pleased with the coun- tess will never be known, exactly, al | though she hinted in court that she | might have something to tell if the case went against her. In any event, these two flowery letters were put in evi dence at the trial:
 A million thanks, dear madame, for your exquisite letter. May God and the l Holy Virgin bless you-you and your | adorable children. return to you the letter of M. Briand We will speak of l it later if you will permit. You may be | sure that your mention of my beloved | mother will bring you blessings. Thanks for that delicious thought, which has touched me above all. I re- l main at your feet Your very respect | full and devoted
 l ROBERT OPPENHEIM' Dear Madam: I beg you to have l courage and to confide in the Holy Vir-
 gin, who, from on high protects those who have confidence in her. am as indignant as you, and possibly more so. l But, with courage and confidence, you l will see that you will triumph over | falsehood and duplicity and infamy-to l use your words. Do not let yourself be | downcast for anything in the world l Fight valiantly for the good cause. Have no fear and continue the work
 you have so admirably begun.
 ROBERT OPPENHETM." It was but a few days after the writ l i,,o >r Jaff hof ia l helms compained to the police of both | Briand and the countess, and they were
 arrested At the trial everybody was
 affected visibly by the grandeur and
 beauty of the young woman When
 her history came out she smiled lightly
 and her attorney did the same. He de- nied nothing, and seemed to think it I all very good joke He told the jury
 what very bright young woman she was. In the flush of his admiration for l her he even went so far as to read a 1 note that she had written to Victorien 1 Sardou, in which she begged the play
 wright to help her get place on the | stage.
 l q have played comedy so well in the | fashionable world" were the conclud l ing words of the note, "that I do moi
 despair of playing it even better on the
 stage"
 The jurors thought, that was very
 witty, and rubbed their hands in ap
 preciation. They were still smiling in
 diligently when Briand's attorney at | tackled them. His client, he declared
 was the dupe of an artful woman. Al
 these words the jurors looked very
 much hurt. but they brightened III
 when the attorney went on to say how
 much his client had loved the coun
 tess. From this the attorney took hi!
 cue, and in the course of half an hour:
 speech he dwelt on the beauty. the sa
 credness of such a love. At the end th' jury was in a real sentimental stew