The sun., 1908-04-26


10 which her life was cast,
L.
Julie de Lespinasse was the illeEtimate
daughter Of Julie dAlbon, the heiress Of an
ancient and iustrious family. who at the
age Of ie was married 10 the Comte d'Albon,
her cousin. The union was unhappy,
For more than twelve years, indeed, the
young people lived an outwardly united
lie In the ancient feudal castle Of Avauges,
which formed a part Of Julie d'Albon's
inheritance. They had four children, Of
whom two survived. but soon after the
birth Of the last-the son and heir-the
Comte d'Albon withdrew 10 his native town
Of Roanne, where he died. Our author
points out that we must not judge the
conduct Of the young wife thus left prac-
tically a widow, by the standard Of our
own times. From the point Of view Of most
Of her contemporaries 1t was inevitable
that a woman in such circumstances should
take a second husband informally; or in
other words. a lover. II would seem, how
ever, that Nine d'Albon must have acted
With unusual caution; for although all her
acquaintances knew that she had lover
nobody knew who he was. and 1t is only
quite recently that his identity has been
revealed by the patient research Of NJ de
ekgur. When her legitimate son Camille
was years old Nine. d'Albon gave birth TO
another boy. Of whom scarcely anything is
known He was educated apparently In a
monastery at Lyons, and In due time be-
came a monk Twenty months later was
born his sister, the subject Of the present
memoir, whom a far different lot awaited.
The little girl was baptized the day after
her birth In a Lyons church and received
the names Of Julie-Jeanne- Eleanore being
entered in the parish register as the child
Of Claude Lespinasse. bourgeois de Lyon,
and dame Julie Navarro, his wife, Both
Of these were purely fictitious personages.
the name Of Lespinasss being derived from
one OF the D,Albon estates
4 OF the years which Immediately followed
the biographer can tell US little beyond the
fact that Nine. d'Albon could not bring her
self 10 renounce her illegitimate daughter
as practically she had renounced her illegiti-
mate son. The childhood OF Julie was almost
certainly passed in the ancient chateau Of
Avauges, which stood on the road between
Lyons and Tarare. Hither the little girl
seems to have been brought after a year
or more spent, as was then the custom
even for legitimate children, In the cottage
Of some humble foster mother. She was
then and always thereafter known under
the name OF Lespinasse, and some preteXt
Of adoption was probably invented to ac-
count for her presence at the castle. The
FIRST half dozen years Of her childhood we're
unquestionably happy. She was brought
up with the same care as the two legitimate
children, and probably treated with equal
respect When she was years old,
however, an event occurred which was
destined to exercise a most unfavor-
able influence upon her future-the mar
rage, namely, Of her half sister, Diane
d'Albon, with Gaspard de Vichy- Champ
rond, 3 neighbor and an old friend Of the
family In order to explain how jules
fortunes were affected by this alliance our
author here finds 1t necessary to consider |
the question Of her descent on the fathers |
eide, question much debated by the gos-
eips Of her own day, and in later times by |
litterateurs who have interested themselves |
In her history. The secret was preserved |
with such extraordinary care and success
that It remained undeciphered until within |
the last few years, when the key to the mys-
terry was found by NJ. de segur in come
hitherto unpublished manuscripts. The |
father Of Julie de Lespinasse was he thinks
and virtually demonstrates, no other than
the very Gaspard de Vichy who seven
years after her birth became the husband |
Of her elder sister. The situation is GER
tainly not a pleasant one to contemplate. |
Our authors comment is we can imagine |
the suitor, level headed, hard natured,
bent at all costs upon an advantageous
for himself and careless Of
the means by which ii should be obtained;
the girl Diane, knowing nothing Of the
horrible complication, and fascinated, per-
haps. as girls often have been fascinated,
by the finished manners and ripe experience
Of a lover twenty-one years older than her.
self; the mother, heart wrung, conscience
stricken, yielding reluctantly to the pres
sure brought from both sides TO bear upon
her.