The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-09-06

Bonapartist plotting OF late years the
wonderful cid lady openly renowned all
hopes of the nominal head of the family
Prince Victor. eldest son OF Plon-Plon and
Clothilde and her own nephew. This Vic
tor, living in the ignoble ease in Brussels.
with a family he could not bring with
him to a throne, has merely served, in
Mathildes estimation. to stand as dog
in-ihe-manger in the way Of fortunes of
| her favorite, Victor's brother, the DASH
| ing Russian major general. Louis Ma
poleon, commanding the guards Of the
empress, who came Fastening from Tifiis
to her bedside.
For days Mathilde continued plotting.
seemingly in vain Then, with the break
| ing out of the Dreyfus affair a great OPP
| portunity seemed open to her. She per-
ceived in the strangely mixed party of
| Circumstances of the natiouaiists q
chance for one of her nephews.
THE niece of Napoleon l. pinned to her
/ corsage the cocarde of the grumblers'
and started in with Cope, Houssaye,
de Vogue, vandal, Barres, the aristocrats
of the academy and all the old drum
the republic.
But Prince Victor would not bulge. He
would neither say yes or no. He kept
both enemies and friends alike engaged
in guessing-until the exposition of 1850
came to occupy attention and make a
queer kind of temporary peace. We
must not spoil the exposition said the
French business men,
IF they were to offer my brother Vic
tor the throne Of France on silver plate
he would begin by looking under the plate
for a plot or trick against him." Louis is
reported to have said at this epoch.
In order to embark, we must first dis
EMBARK were the now historic words of
old Mathilde Immediately on the failure
of one plot she built another. She always
preferred Louis. Now she said:
IF Victor will not move. then Louis
shalli'' So she began pushing Louis. She
gave out that he was TO be her sole heir.
Now rumor has it that the Demidoffs
have paid her annually since 1915, pen
sion of 100000 francs, and that the ag-
gregate of all these sums have always
drawn interest as kind of fund she
has been keeping in reserve for the party.
She has, also, all that she has saved out of
her own great fortune. She possessed in
her own right the palace in the Rue de
Berri. filed from cellar to garnet with
paintings, statuary. bric-a- brac, furniture
and tapestries; a collection of incompar-
able Jewels in which is to be found the
famous necklace of three rows of pearls
presented by Napoleon /. of Catherine OF
Wurtemberg. her mother. and the noble
chateau at Enghein on the outskirts Of
Paris. where she now lies ill.
When Victor, in his soft nest at Brus-
sells, heard of this plan he was furious
with jealousy. Yet he only brooded, con-
tending himself for the rest with quietly
gathering to him such of the Napoleonic
party as allowed themselves to dwell on
the theory that no good come from the
split in their ranks.
Still Victor made no move, until Ma
thilde as the crowning triumph of her old
age, found a wife for Louis, a wife who
could help him on to the imperial throne
OF France. This was none less than that
statuesque young Juno, the Grande Ouch
ess Helene. daughter of the Grand Duke
Vladimir and sister of our guest of last
year. Boris How enar the subjecting was
to succeeding. and how great was the
Russian encouragement of Louis, may be
gathered from the fact that at the break
ing out of the Dreyfus imbroglio he was
but colonel in the Russian army. Well
while in Brussels. absent from his regi-
ment and conspiring against the French
republic. the car actually promoted this
IN he inr
over the heads of eighty colonies of the
Russian army. What act. even of car,
could be more significant?
The aged Mathilde thrilled at the
thought of the success after all those
years of waiting Then, in Brussels, Vic
tor heard of the engagement.
Louis shall not marry herr he cried.
How will you prevent it?" they asked
II will marry her myself he exciaim-
ed, in fury of resentment.
He did not marry her, and this spring.
as you know, she was married to an
other But Prince Victors venemous ap-
position. when it took the form of a pro-
posal for the lady's hand, as well as a
refusal to move down and out of the po-
s;tion of head of the house. proved suf-
ficient to balk all these fine plans for
Louis. Victor, as pretender and chief of
the Bonapartes, could demand the hand
of Helene. and on refusing him the car E
advisers were against the marriage with
his younger brother.
So. once more Mathilde saw her schemes
ruined. In the last two years has she
made others? AS she now lies very aged
woman. on her dangerous bed Of pain.
mixed company gathers round her. Eu-
genie her ancient enemy. comes to for
give her. Chotilde her pious sster-in-law.
speaks to her of her soul.
HORSE PISTOLS CLASSIFIED