The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-08-12

the king to stand In the way OF
his very marked attention to the queen.
His position as heir and his long resi-
dence mt court, almost as son to Louis,
ave him ample opportunities for press
ing his unscemly suit. He was the
first to see Mary at the meeting place
kings representative on all occasions.
Beau ils" was rather a handsome
fellow, but thought himself vastly
handsomer than lie was, and had some
talents, which he was likewise careful
to estimate at their full value, to say
the least. He was very well liked by
women, md I'm turn considered himself
irresistible. He was very impressions
able to feminine charms, was at heart
n libertine, and, rs he grew older, be
came q debauchce whose memory will
faint France for centuries to come.
Mary saw his weakness more clearly
than his wickedness, being blinded to
the latter by the veil of her w limo.
cence. She laughed at and with him,
and permitted herself Il great deal of
his company-so much, In fact, that |
grew n little jealous for Brandon's
sake, and, if the truth must be told, for
the first time began to have doubts of
her. L seriously feared that when
Louis should die Brandon might find
n much more dangerous rival In the
new king, who, although married,
would probably try to keep Mary at
his court ever should lie be driven to
the extreme of divorclng Claude as
Ciaudc's father had divorced Joan.
1 believed, In cnsc Mary should vol
UNFAIRLY prove false and remain I'm
France either as the wife or the mis-
tress of Francis, that Brandon would
quietly but surely contrive some means
to take her life, and / hoped he would.
L spoke to my wife, Jane, about the
queens conduct, and she finally admit
ted that she did not like it, so l, unable
to remain silent any longer, determined
10 put Mary Oh her guard, and for that
purpose spoke very freely to her on the
subject.
ooh, you goose!' sire said laughingly.
"Hc Is almost as great n fool as Hen
~" Then the tears came to her eyes,
and half angrily, half Historically,
shaking me by the arm, she continued:
"Do you not know? Can you not see
that | would give this hand or my eyes,
almost my life, just to fall upon my
face In front Of Charles Brandon at
this moment? Do you not know that
q womnn with a. love I'm her heart such
as l have for him is safe from every
one and everything; that it is her sheet
anchor, sure and fast? Have YOU not
wit enough tn know that?"
"Ycs, L hnve,r responded for tho
time completely silcnccd. With her ia
voritc tactics she had, as usual, put mo
In the wrong, though L soon came
again to the attack.
"But lie Is 80 base that 1 gricvc to
see you with him."
IL suppose lie is not very good" she
responded, "but 1t seems to be the way
OF these people among whom l have
fallen, and he cannot harm mo-"
ooh, but he can! One does not go
poar smallpox. and there is n moral
contnglon quite as dangerous, IL not so
p~crccptiblc, aud equally to be avoid
cd. 1t must he q wonderfully healthy
moral nature, pure and chaste to the
core, that Will be entirely contagion
proof and safe from it,"
She hung her head In thought and
then lifted her eyes appealingly 10 nc
cam not that, Edwin? Toll me! Tell
me frankly; nm | not? 1T IS the ono
thing OF good I have always strlven
for. am so full of other faults that if
have not that there is no good in
ME" Her eyes and voice were full of
tears, and l knew in my heart that L
stood before as pure a soul as ever
came from the hand of God.
You are, your majesty; never
doubt" l answered. at is prc.cml-
ncntly the one thing in womanhood to
which all mankind kneels." And | fell
upon my knee and kissed her hand
with a Of reverence, faith and
trust that has mover left me from that
day to this. AS to my estimate of how
francis would act when Louis should
die, YOU will see that l was right.
Not long after this Lady Caskodcn
and were given permission to return
to England, and Immediately prepared
for u homcward journey.
AS we left, Mary placed in my hands
a letter for Brandon, whose lulk was so
rcassuring that ! knew he had never
been out OF hor thoughts. looked at
the letter n moment and said. in all
seriousness, "Your majesty, had not
better provide an extra box for it,"
Shc gave n nervous little laugh, and
the tears filed her eyes as she whisper
ed huskily: II fancy there Is one who
will not think 1t too large. Goodby,
gOodby" So we left Mary, fair, sweet
girl queen, all alone among those ter
rlblc strangers. Alone with one little
English maiden, even years Of ago,
Anne Boleyn.