The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-05-31

The June Harper contains story writ
ten by MIR. James Branch Cabell, OF this
nave" is most charminsly Illustrated In
the development of the authors very
original plot and construction.
The time of the Conspiracy" dates
back some hundreds of years The scene
Is laid in the French Chateau dArnaye.
and the characters. in so far as reyults
nre concerned are the Seur d'Arnaye,
ghis niece. the Demoisclle MatthIctte, and
SRaoul, the Sieur d'Arnaye's reputed page,
.inwlo is in his own proper person Monsieur
Yide Puysange. the lordly lover or the Jem-
apiselle Matthiette.
The story opens with n conversation be-
tween the Sieur d'Arnaye and his niece.
tsThe Sieur tells her that Monsieur de Puy-
tsange will come to wed her on the NOR
ROW. The girl. gentle and beautiful, an
fewers that she does not know Monsieur,
itnnd that. moreover. she does not love
fhm. Her uncle pooll-poohs and evndes
aier for willie, then speaks to her plain
$ 1--WE of gentle quality" he says, may
mot Yield to each lcaping impulse. Is 1t
spf greater import that a girl have her
icallow hearts desire than that a people
go free of Monsieur War and Madame
Rapine? Death yawps at the frontier:
twill you, n d'Arnaye, bid him enter and
ecrfeit his nav? An alliance with Puy-
Sange alone may save u.s.
- While their argument goes on the voice
pf song steals in through the open win
dow from the garden. The words Of the
Eeinger in two Of his verses run:
S'When you are very Old, and am gono
rIearng my name and holding me as one
ID Long dead to you.l In some half jesting
* way
OF speech, sweet as the first, faint sound
of May
] THAT wakens in the woods when throstles
x sing
sIe loved me once, and straightway muir
a muring,
4 My half forgotten rhymes you Will re-.
tx gret
fhe vanished days when l was wont to
49, sing,
4 Sweetheart, my sweet, we may be hap
py yet
1--WE shall know better then. We shall
have done
j With all the toll and turmoil of the
day;
And yet what profits it that We have
The Secret Of all Secrets, when we
stray
No more together? Will this wisdom
The ghost of any sweet familiar thing
Come haggard from the Past or ever
bring
Forgetfulness of those two lovers met |
Within the Sprlngtide. nor too wise to
sing.
Sweetheart, my sweet we may be
happy yet"
Inquiry brings out the fact that Raoul,
the sieur dArnayc's page. is singing his
madrigal to Demoiselle. The Sieur has
1 Raoul brought into the room. He con-
f7Teases his fault, the Demoselle acknowl-
edges hers. They appeal to the old man,
{ but he is incxbe, and Mathette Is sent
Z 10 her room with the renewed assurance
that she Will go to the altar with Mon
sieur de PuySange next day. That she
does so and more, is satisfied to DO so,
IS n denouement (which tests the clever
! ness of a very dcver writer, and brings
the reader face 70 face with the convic-
tion of his own stupidity in not sooner
comprehending the Sieur's love of finesse
and his profound understanding of tho
genus feminine in relation TO love and
romance.
The inspiration for Mr.. Cabelrs pretty.
pathetic little poem, quoted In this re- |
View, is a sonnet of the French poet,
Rousard. His sonnet. however, has only
fourteen lines in all, while Mr.. Cabell's |
poem contains thrty-f!ve.
The Sieur damage is n delicious and |
delicate bit Of character painting, |
nnd the Demoiselle Is as tender
painting, and the DemoIsellc is as tender
{, vision of g!rlhood as one might wish tc
gee, and quite worthy OF her gallant |
frnubadour.
Several descriptive paragraphs In this
story. amcAg the. very best which Mr.. |
.Cabell has s'eyer written, notably this !
That relates to the dawn: "shc-the De-
noiselle-crept through the soft, wet
grass as through the aisles of an unlt |
cathedral. and heard the querulous birds |
call sleepily above: the margin Of night |
was thick with their petulant complaints. |
Behind her was the great shadow Of the |
chateau d'Arnaye and past that an angry |
elemental red that spoke OF day. Her |
grief was an atom lost IN infini,y: the
leaves whispered comfort; each tree bole
hid laughing fauns that reeled tipsily |
In the heavy grass-Youth ewoke in the |
world"
The illustrations done by Albert stcr-
ner will at once fire the imagination OF
lhe reader The face OF the Sieur d'Ar- |
naye IN the first. shrewd and cynical yet
kind and keenly observant wi,llnl; the
figures Of the Two lovers in the third,
when Matthiette seems TO look from her
sweetheart to the pictured town OF Ar
saaye, weighing love against cxpediency,