Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1909-09-17
THE TRUE BLUEBEARD
He Was a Cruelty and Malevo-
iently Malisned Frenchman.
NOT A MuRDERoUs MONSTER.
He Had Matrimonial Misfortunss, u
is True, but He Seems to Have Been
the Only One Who Came TO Grief on

Account Of Thern-His Tragic End.
The supposedly detestable Bluebeard.
the monster OF murderous poIygamy.
the very name OF the ogre into whose
mouth one used. II one could. In child
hoods happy hour, to throw india rub
Der balls. was In truth a man who has
been as cruelty and inadvertently ma
ligned by history rs Nero. Richard Ill.
Macbeth. tutti quaint. So SAYS nj.
Anatole France-and pray who can
speak with higher authority on the
real facts Of faery?-in LES Sept
Femmes de Ia Barbe Bleue eft Autrcs
Contes Mervellleux" One knew nj
ready that Charles Perrault first wrote
I'm about 16G0. the historical biography
OF Bluebeard. but one did not know
until now how deeply Perrault. prob
ably through false information. wrong
ell the memory of an excellent and III
treated parsonage. From NJ. France
we learn that NJ. Bernard de Montra
goux. OF old and noble descent. lived
In 1850 or whereabouts at the ancestral
Chateau Les Guillettes, on his estates
between Complegne and Pierrefopds
The castle. of frowning outward as
poet, was inside treasure house OF
taste and wealth. Its owner. contrary
to long existing tradition, wore no
beard, only n mustache and a little
tuft below the lower lip. He WAS
known through the COUNTRYSIDE as
Bluebeard because his hair was very
black. and therefore his. close shayep
checks and chin were markedly blue
He was fine figure OF a man who
In spite OF his manifest advantages es
good match. did not get on well with
women or his own rank In lie. This
was due TO an incurable shyness on bis
part. Pleasant and pretty girls who
had been well brought up attracted
him Immensely. but also filed him
with an INDISPENSABLE terror.
The first notable result OF this NJ.
hiction was that the unfortunate or.
phan' Tor such he had been since his
early youth. Incapable Of making pro-
posals for the hand Of any OF the at
tractive and high born ladies' I'm the
neighborhoOd, married a certain Co
iette Passage. u fascinating girl I'm her
way, against whose character nothing
seems known. who was going round
the country with dancing bear.
Things went we'll enough for few
months, and then Colette, who had at
iirst reveled In being a lady of quail
ity. began TO long for her old freedom.
Ihe longing became irresistible. aud mt
last she took her departure secretly
with her justly beloved bear II IS
noteworthy that they made their es-
cape by way OF room that had door
leading to what had been water
meadows. and so TO open country.
Perrault called this room lie petit cab
met, but IL was also known as 1.-THE
wretched Processes ROOM" because
Florcntine painter had covered its
walls with the most lifeiike figures OF
Gree. Niobc and Procris. The tragic
eject Of these paintings was enhanced
by the porphyry flooring OF the room.
which suggested bloodstains.
Montragoux appeared inconsolable
ut the disappearance. which was COM
plete. OF Colette, his first wife. and
doubtless his lot would have been far
less unhappy IL he had never tried TO
console himself. This, most unfor-
tunately, he did by marrying one
Jeanne dc In Cloche, who turned out
to be violent dipsomaniac. Blue
beard was OF n nature so kindly and
noble that, although In a At of mad
passion she nearly killed him with a
Kitchen knife, he continually hoped to
reclaim her 10y Kindness. But one day
she strayed into the generally shut up
princesses' room. took the painted fig
ures for real people and was SO terri
fled that she rushed wildly into the
open fields. tumbled into a deep pool.
and so was drowned.
SO things went on. a new affiiction
with each new wife, and In each case
the final catastrophe was associated
with the Processes room. The climax
TO the unhappy career OF the more
than worthy and lovable Bernard de
Montragoux came with his seventh
wife, Jeanne de Lespoisse, cleverest
and most fascinating OF family OF
utterly INSCRIPTIONS Adventures. No
one knew anything about the supposed
late husband or the mother. or the
two brothers. dragon and musket-
eer, one was n low rascal and a mere
sponge; the other lived on gaming and
on the good nature OF women to whom
he made love- Anne. the sister. was
the incarnation OF malicious cunning.
Associated with this precious family
was certain Chevalier de Merius.
who had great deal to do with the
final tragedy OF NJ. de Montragoux's
career. The nature Of this tragedy
may be inferred. but It is curious that.
while Perrault represented Bluebeard
as taking Journey In order to lag q
trap for his wife, the fact was exactly
opposite. Both before and after his
marriage he had heaped benefits on
all these wretches. When he was
Obliged TO go away In the matter OF
an inheritance he gave all his keys
without reserve to his wife, warning
her out OF pure love against the un-
happy associations OF the Processes
room. AS soon as he was out of the
way trap was laid for him, and It
was In that very room that he was
most treacherousiy assassinated. The
worst and the best OF IL was that NJ.
De Merlus. after marrying the wealthy
widow, became an exemplary husband
End subject OF the king. \
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