Cañon City record., 1904-01-28

and deliberately as II she were feeding
him slow poison. He was very weak
and decrepit at best, being compelled
frequently upon public occasions. such.
for example. as the coronation tourna-
ment of which l have spoken. to lie
upon a couch.
Mary's conduct was really cruel. bui
then. remember the provocajon, and
that she was acting in self defense
All this was easier for her than you
might suppose. for the kings grasp of
power. never very strong, was begin
ming to relax even what little grip It
had All faces were turned toward
the rising sun. young Francis, duke OF
Angouleme, the kings distant cousin,
who would soon be king in Louis place
As this young rising sun. himself va t
ly smitten with Mary. openly encour-
aged her In what she did. the couruers
of course followed suit. and the old
king found himself surrounded by a
court only too ready to be amused by
his lively young queen at his expense.
This condition Of affairs Mary well
coined with herwhole soul, and to accent
1t and nail assurance. / fear. played
ever 80 lightly and coyly upon the
heartstrings of the young duke. which
responded all too loudly to her velvet
touch and almost frightened her to
death with their volume OF sound later
on. This Francis d'Angouleme. the
dauphin, had fallen desperately In love
with Mary at nrst sight, something
against which the fact that be was
married to Claude, daughter of Louis.
In no way initiated He was q very
distant relative of Louis, going away
back to St Louis for his heirship to
the French crown. The king had
daughters in plenty, but, as you know.
the gallant Frenchmen say. according
to their law sale. The realm Of
France is 20 great and glorious a heri-
tage that 1t may not be taken by a
woman" Too great and glorious TO be
taken by 4 woman. forsoothi France
would have been vastly better OF had
she been governed BY . woman now
and then, for a country always pros
pers under n queen
Franeis had for many years lived at
court as the recognized heir, and. as
the custom was, called his distant cous-
In Louis Uncle" Uncle" Louis In
turn called Francis ''Ce Groe Garcon." :"
and Queen Mary called him Monsieur.
mon beau hls." in q mock motberly
manner that was very laughabie. A
mother of eighteen to a good boy" of
twenty-twoI Dangerous relationship
And dangerous indeed II would have
been for Mary had she not been as
pure and true a. abe was willful and
tgs+
neither his wife nor the respec. he
owed the king TO stand in the way OF
his very marked attention TO the queen.
His position as heir and his long resi-
dence at court, almost as son to Louis.
gave him ample opportunities for press
ing his unseemly suit. He was the
FIRST TO see Mary at the meeting place
this side OF Abbeviile. and was the
kings representative on all occasions.
Beau fils" was rather a handsome
fellow, but thought himself vastly
hAndsomer than he was. and had some
talents. which he was likewise careful
10 estimate at their full value. TO say
the least. He was very well liked by
women. and in turn considered himself
Irresistible. He was very impression
a libertine, and. as he grew older, be-
came n debauchec whose memory will
tnint France for centuries to come.
Mary saw his weakness more clearly
than his wickedness being blinded to
the latter by the veil OF her own inno-
cencc. She laughed at and with him.
and permitted herself grea; deal OF
his company-so much, in fact, that I
grew n little Jealous for BraDdon's
sake, and. " the truth must be told. for
the first time began to have doubts OF
her. seriously feared that when
Louis should die Brandon might find
much more dangerous rival in the
new king. who. although married.
would probably try TO keep Mary at
his court even should he be driven TO
Claude's father had divorced Joan
l believed, In case Mary should vol
unfairly prove false and remain in
France either as the wife or the mis-
tress OF Francis, that Brandon would
quietly but surely contrive some means
10 take her life, and | hoped be would
spoke TO my wife. Jane. about the
queens conduct. and she finally admit
ted that she did no; ike IL. so |. unable
to remain silent any longer determined
to put Mary on her guard. aud for that
purpose spoke very freely to her ON the
subject.
"oh. you gooser' she said laughiugiy,
"He is almost as great fool as Hen.
ry." Then the tears came to her eyes.
aud half angrily, half Historically.
shaking me by the arm, she continued;
DO you not know7 Can you not see
that l would give this hand or my eyes.
almost my life. just to fall upon my
face in front of Charles Brandon at
this momentl DO you not know that
n woman with n love In her heart such
as | have for him Is snfc from eNnrN