Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1911-05-05

should be perfectly willing to play a
game of cards for anything one could
mention-not even excepting a ladys
favor. And under the circumstances,
with a waning of affection in the case
of Prince John, what more natural was
1t than that Parish should have won
the game and the stake?
On the morning after the momen-
tous game Van Buren, went his jour
ney alone. Parish returned to his
Ogdensburg home, but in the cutter
beside him and behind the spirited
team of trotters that his large stable
was famous for sat the woman who
was to preside over his establishment
for more than ten years to come.
The home Parish took her to was
grand one, as homes went In the
America of that era. II was a low,
square structure that stood on Wash
ington street, facing the broad st.
Lawrence, and with its grounds occu-
pied whole block. The house was
surrounded by high stone wall, with
only two entrances cut through 1t, one
with stately wide gates opening on
Washington street and the other for
the servants use in the rear. The wall
was so high that only the trees around
the mansion within could be seen
above 1t, which gave to its inmates
the privacy that is so dear to the av-
erage Brton's heart in his home.
Happiness Lasted Long.
The social world of the aristocratic
old place knew Nine. vespucci only
through the daily spectacle she pre-
scented as she drove out alone and in
considerable state In her open car
riage behind the blooded Parish
horses. OF all the houses in Ogdsns-
burg there was only one she ever en-
tered. That was a home on the OBJ
posite side of Washington street,
where a gentle old lady received her
out Of sheer pity for the solitary state
of the foreign woman who had elected
to cut herself OF from the companion
ship of her sex for the sake OF the
man she loved.
That she loved Parish and that he
returned this affection In kind there
Is no question. Happiness dwelt In
that home for a decade, and the only
thing that marred the perfection OF
her life was the ostracism Of her sex,
and this seemed to fret. her not at all.
She was young. beautiful and had
everything that went with great wealth
and came from a generous mans great
love.
The men who were famiiiars In the
house had the greatest respect for her
aud treated her as If her position was
socially unassailable. Possibly this
conduct had something to do with her
tragic end, for she gradually grew I'M
perious toward the members OF her
masculine court, and more particularly
SO toward the master Of the place and
of her fortunes. This attitude finally
resulted one day, out of her assurance
of the power she welded over Parish,
in her giving some orders concerning
the management of the estate that
were directly opposite to Parish's
ideals on the subject.
With all the dignity and suavity OF
manner for which he was famous ne
told her the time had come when she
must leave him and his house. He
suggested that Paris would be an ex-
cellent place for her to take up resi-
dence In, and that he would. naturally,
provide for her so that she might live
In the style to which she had been
accustomed. OF the effect OF this ulti'
matum had on her subsequent events
showed. But at the time she was as
dignified as a woman Of her training
only could be.
Then Nine. vespucci went away
Paris became her home, but 1t was
solitary and heart-breaking one fol-
her. The letters she wrote to one OF
her old men friends in the Maple city
fold of this solitude and this heart
break. She wrote to him at intervals
of two years; and then word reached
her friends that she was dead. OF
how great was her love for Parish
this brief record Of absence from his
side bears witness. Beyond the stone
that marks her grave, in Pere-la
Chaise. there exist no tangible rec
ords of her in this country today. ex
cent a silver box marked with the
vespucci coat of arms and packet
of letters she wrote in Paris.
AS for Parish, his life had a more
glorious ending. so far as the exter
mails were concerned. A short time
after Nine. Vespucci disappeared
from Ogdensburg Parish received
word that he had inherited through
his mothers family the title and the
lands Of Baron Won Steftenburg IN
Germany. Before he left New Yori
for Germany he destroyed the tradi
ton that the men of his family never
married by wedding Mrs. Randolph
of New York, a widow, who had beer
one Of his lifelong friends and whs
accompanied him to his castle in Ba
yaria, but did not accompany him Il
Ogdensburg on his one return to tina
town. His house, slightly altered and
with the surrounding wall removed
is now owned by George Hall, mag
nate end former mayor of ogdens
burg.
Two-thirds Of the words In the av
-