The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-08-19

/ ere long time. or q deed, Brother Henry
was right. Better had II been for Louis to
have married a human devil than me. for
IL mCkcth a very one out of mo IL mine
eyes Lut rest upon him.. and thou know
est fun we'll what kind of a devil L make.
| Brother Henry knoweth, at any rate. For
all this do ] gr,eve. but have no remedy
nor want ono. 1 sometimes do almost
compassionate the old king, but 1 cannot
forbear. for he turneth my very blood tc
biting gall, and must cen take the conse-
qucnces of his own folly. Truly Is he
wild for love of me, this poor old man,
and the more ] hold him at a distance the
more he fondly dotes. / do verify believe
| he would try to stand upon his foolish
old head did l but insist. 1 sometimes
have q thought to make him try 1t. He
doeth enough that Is senseless and ABB
surd. In all conscience. as 1t Is. At all of
this do the courtiers smile and laugh and
put me forward to other pranks-that Is,
all but Il few of the elders, who shake
their heads. but dare do nothing else for
fear of the dauphin. who will soon be
king and who stands first in urging and
abettinG me. SO II Is easy for me to do
what l wish. and above all to leave UNI
done that which 1 wish not. for L do easily
rule them all, as good Sir Edwin and dear
Jane will testify. L have n ball every
night wherein l do make a deal of amuse-
ment for every one by dancing La Volta
with his majesty until his heels. and his
poor old head, too. are like to fall off.
Others importune me for those dances.
/ SSDCCluhy tIc htuDllll, put Il duEh anu
shake my head and say that I will dance
with no one but the king. because he
dances so we'll. This pleases his majesty
nightly and makcth an opening for me
to avoid the touch OF other men, for / am
Jealous OF myself for thy sake, and save
and garner every little touch for thee.
80 Sir Edwin will tell YOU 1 dance with
no one else and surely never will.
You remember well, / doubt not, when
thou first didst teach me this new dance.
Ah. how delightful 1t was. and yet how
at first 1t did frighten and anger me.
Thou canst not know how my heart beat
during all the time of that first dance. /
thought, of Ii surety, II would burst, and
then the wild thrill of frightened ecstasy
that made my blood run like fire! I knew
1t must be wrong, for 1t was, In truth, too
sweet a thing to be right. And then 1
grew angry at thee as the cause of my
w~rongdoing and Scolded thee, and repented
1t. as usual. Truly didst thou conquer,
not win, me. Then afterward, withal 1t
30 frightened me, how L longed to dance
again. and could In no way stay myself
from asking. At times could 1 hardly
walt till evening fell. and when upon oc-
casion thou didst not come L was so angry
1 said L hated thee. What must thou have
thought of me, so forward and bold! And
that afternoon! All. 1 think Of 1t every
hour. and see and hear It all and live it
DER and DER, as 1t sweeter grows with
memory's ripening touch. Some moments
there are that send their glad ripple down
through LIES stream to the verge Of the
grave, and truly blest Is one who can
smile upon and kiss these memory waves
and draw from thence a bliss that never
fails: but thou knowest full well my heart,
and / need not tease thee with its out
pourings.
There Is yet another matter of which /
wish to write in very earnestness. Sir
Edwin spoke to me thereof, and what he
said hath given me serious thought. !
thank him for his words. of which he
will tell thee In full If thou but importune
him thereto. 1t is this: Tho dauphin,
Francis ~d'Angouleme, hath fallen des-
pcratcly fond of me and is quite as i'm
Fortunate and almost as foolish as the
elder lover. This people in this strange
land OF Fraice have, In sooth, some curl
GUS notions. For an example thereto, no
one thinks to find anything unseemins in
the dauphin's conduct by reason of his
having already n wife, and more, that
wife the Princess Claude, daughter to the
king. j laugh at him and let him say
what he Will. for in truth 1 am powerless
to prevent 1t. Words cannot scar even n
rose leaf and Will not harm me-. Then, by
his help and example. 1 am justified in the
eyes OF the court In that i so treat the
king. which otherwise 1t were impossible
for me 10 do and live here. So, however
much / may loathe them, yet / am driven
to tolerate his words. which 1 turn OFF
with n laugh, making sure. thou maycst
know, that 1t come to nothing more than
| MoIu tuu III IL Is, however HluCn Il
wish 1t not. that I do use him to help me
treat the king as ] like. and do then use
the poor old king as my buckler against
this dukes too great familiarity. But, my
friend. when the king comes to die, then
shall i have my fears of this Young
Francis d'AnGoulcmc. He Is desperate
for me. and i know not to what length he
might go. The king cannot live long, as
the thread OF his life is like rotten flax.
and when he dies thou must come with
out delay. since j shall be in deadly peril.
1 have n messenger waiting at all hours
ready to send to thee upon q moments
notice. and when he comes waste not a
precious instant. 1t may mean all to thee
and me. I could write on and on forever,
but 1t would be only to tell thee DER and
o'cr that my heart is full of thee to over
lowing. L thank thee that thou hast
never doubted me, and will see that thou
hast hereafter only good cause for better
faith. MARY, Regina.
"Regina!' That was all. Only a
queen! Surely no one could charge
Brandon with possessing too modest
tastes.
1t was, I think, during tho second
week I'm December that 1 gave this let.
ter to Brandon, and about a fortnight
later there came to him n messenger
from Paris, bringing another from
Mary, as follows:
Master Charles Brandon:
Sir and Dear Friend, Greeting-I have
but time to write that the king is so Ill he
cannot but die ere morning. Thou know
est that which 1 last wrote to thee, and I'm
addition thereto I would say that al
though / have, as thou likewise knowest,
my brothers. permission to marry whom
I wish. yet as I nave his one consent II Is
safer that we act upon that rather tha'
be SO scrupulous as to ask for another.
30 1t were better that thou take me to
wife upon the old one rather than risk
the necessity of having to do 1t without
any. 1 say no more. but come with all
the speed thou knowest. MARY.
1t Is needless to say that Brandon
started In haste for Paris. He left
court for the ostcnsible purpose OF
paying me a visit, and came to Ipswich,
whence we sailed.
The French king was dead before
Mary's message reached London, and
when we arrived at Paris FRANCIS I.
reigned on the throne of his father-in.
law. I had guessed only too accurate.
ly. AS soon as the restraint of the old
kings presence, light as 1t had been,
wa removed, the young king opened
his attack upon Mary In dreadful ear.
nest. He begged and pleaded and
swore his love, which was surely
manifest enough. ana within three days