Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1909-10-22
THE TRUE BLUEDEARD
fe Was a Cruelty and MaIevo.
Iently MaIigned Frenchman.
mr. A MURDEROUS MONSTER.

H,Had Matrimonial Misfortunes, II
SITrue, but He Seems to Have Been
Il Only One Who Came to Grief on
Aount of Them-His Tragic End.
Thsupposedly detestable Bluebeard,
the )nster of murderous polygamy.
the w name of the ogre into whose
moutbne used, if one could. in child
hood'sappy hour, to throw india rub
Der la. was In truth q man who has
been acruelly and malevolently ma
ligned9 history as Nero, Richard I'LL,
Macbet tutti quaint. So says NJ.
AnatoIeFrance-and pray who can
speak VII higher authority on the
real Fac of faery?-in lies Sept
Femmes.a la Barbe-Bleue ct Autres
Contes A-yeilleuX." One knew al
ready thaCharles Perrault first wrote,
In about 40, the historical biography
of Bluebed. but one did not know
until now ow deeply Perrault, prob
ably throut false Information, wrong
ed the menry Of an excellent and Ill
treated pefnage. From NJ. France
we learn thu VI. Bernard de Montra-
goux, Of old nd noble descent, lived
In 1850 or theabouts at the ancestral
I Chateau Les billettes, on his estates
between Couirgne and Pierrefonds.
The castle, ofirowning outward as
pect, was inst n treasure house Of
taste and weah. It's owner. contrary
to long existg tradition, wore no
beard. only 1nustache and little
tuft below tn lower lip. He was
known through the countryside as
Bluebeard becAa his hair was very
black. and therere his close sbaven
cheeks and chingere markedly blue.
He was fine lire of man who.
In spite Of his mnifest advantages as
a good match, didot get ON well with
women Of his owtrank In life. This
was due to an incul Bile shyness on his
part. Pleasant an pretty girls who
had been well broght up attracted
him immensely, bp also filed him
with an indescribaH terror
The first notable esult of this af-
fiction was that thalnfortunate Or
phan. for such he haEbeen since his
early youth. incapablef making pro-
poSals for the hand ofny Of the at
tractive and high bornladies in the
neighborhood, marriedt certain Co
lette Passage. fascinatg girl in her
way. against whose charcter nothing
seems known, who WaSroing round
the country with a dtcing bear.
Things went well enougbfor few
months, and then Colette, Tho had at
first reveled in being a lac of quail
ity, began to long for her Oh freedom.
The longing became irresistile. and at
last she took her departure secretly
with her justly beloved BEG. 1t is
noteworthy that they madeaheir es-
cape by way Of a room that ft door
leading to what had beeh water
meadows. and so to open buntry.
Perrault called this room lie pet cab
met" but it was also known b 1.-The
wretched Processes room," bcause
a Florentine painter had coverl its
walls with the most lifelike fglh,s of
Gree. Niobe and Procris. The tagic
effect OF these paintings was enhac
by the porphyry flooring of the fpm.
which suggested bloodstains.
MontragCux appeared inconsolale
at the Disappearance, which was cpn-
plete. of Colette, his first wife, ad
doubtless his lot would have been fr
less unhappy if he had never triedp
console himself. This, most unf6
tunately, he did by marrying ON
Jeanne de la Cloche, who turned ON
to be violent dipsomaniac Bluet
beard was Of a nature so kindly and
noble that, although I'm fit of mad
passion she nearly killed him with a
Kitchen knife, he continually hoped to
reclaim her by 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
fed that she rushed wildly into the
open fields, tumbed into a deep pool.
and so was drowned.
So things went on, a new affliction
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 loyable Bernard de
MontragouX came with his seventh
wife, Jeanne de LespOisse, cleyerest
and most fascinating Of family of
utterly INSCRIPTIONS Adventures. No
one knew anything about the supposed
late husband Of the mother. OF the
two brothers, dragoon and a musket.
Ger, one was d low rascal and mere
sponge; the other lived on gaming and
on the good nature of women to whou,
be made love. Anne. the sister. was
the incarnation of malicious cunning.
Associated with this precious family
was certain Chevalier de Merlus,
who had a 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 PerrauIt represented Biuebeard
as taking journey in Older to lay
trap for his wife, the fact was exactly
opposite. Both before and after his
marriage he had hecped benefits OH
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 I'M
happy associations Of the princesses'
room. AS soon as he was out Of the
way trap was laid for him, and 1t
was In the very room that he was
most treacl Nrously assassinated. The