The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-02-19
considerable time one afternoon. The
count came away from the interview
in a very bad temper. He sent for his
daughter. She had never seen him 50

count came away from the interview
in very bad temper. He sent for his
daughter. She had never seen him 10
angry. ''s
This il the result he began, ''of
your hiding yourself in the back
ground and letting your cousin take
your place. The king has asked ME
for her hand
Marguerite turned very pale. Had
it meant nothing, then, this kindness
that seemed to read her soul? But
her courage rose to the occasion.
1T is not strange, my father, that
he should prefer her." she answered
"She is SO beautiful
Beautiful! Bah! She is vain, self, |
ish and Eighty, pretty wife for the
king of France! She has no dignity, |
no reserve. What happened to you
last night? You looked as nothing |
and she was magnificent" |
Marguerite colored. Her father had |
not noticed her generous act of folly |
He would have been angry, indeed, if !
he had. But the mischief was done
and she must bear the consequences. |
Il have not told her vet continued
the count. There is time enough. 1t
makes me angry to think of her tri-
umphing over you, but itAis your own
fault"
He spoke more truly than he knew.
Marguerite went away and shed a few
tears in secret. 1t was not disap.
pointed ambition; she could have
loved the king.
That night when the court was as
sembled the count, with no sign of
the modification which filled his soul,
| turned to Margot, who was still at
tired in her borrowed plumes: 4
| MY niece" he said, "the king of
| France has done you the honor to ask
for your hand"
A murmur of surprise and disap-
peintment ran round the circle-Mar-
got turned pale at the sudden realiza-
ton of her hopes.
For miner she faltered.
Her uncle led her forward, but the
king stepped back.
| There is some mistake" he said.
| that Is not the lady,
| The count looked puzzled
"This is my niece, sir" he said.
81 thought she was your daughter,
1 my lord. This is the lady ! wish to
marry and, bending low to Marguer-
1 ite, who, composed on the surface but
with anguish in her heart, stood by
| witnessing the success of her rival, he
raised her hand to his lips. The color
4 famed over her face with joy and sur
4 prise, Transforming it with absolute
beauty. At that moment she could
i have borne comparison with anyone.
She had entered into her kingdom, the
sovereignty of the heart, and even
4 Margot paled before her in the light
of the radiance that shone from her
4 eyes. How had the error come about?
i But Margot, who with. all her faults
i was not ungenerous, gave the>explana-
ton.
! ut is my fault Marguerite lent me
her robes and her jewels. She knew
wanted to look my best and have
4 SO few of my own
Her splendid dress and assured
manner had led the king astray. He
looked at Marguerite with tender ap-
/ prevail. He had not been mistaken;
this was the wife he wanted, a help
mate and friend, one who would see
l things as he did and labor with him
i for the welfare Of the people commit
ted to his charge. The count had
nothing to say, since everything had
turned out as he wished. Indeed he
was sorry for Margot, who had taken
her disappointment well. She should
not lose by it. he resolved. Such a
/ big prize as the king of France was
not for her, but there were other
i chances, and after all it was not every
woman who was suited to be the wife
i of a saint
i So Marguerite turned her back on
fair Provence and went up to the
northern capital, which was hence
forth to be her home, small place
4 indeed, compared with the Paris of
modern times, confined almost entire
lily within the limits of the island of
4 the city, with Notre Dame rising in
the midst. Of it. its glory and its
lcrown. Here again it was her fate to
be overdone by the commanding per-
sonality of her mother-in-law-
Blanche of CASTLE. But her husband
loved her and they spent many happy
hours together, snatched by stealth
from the obligations of their position
and the weighty preoccupations of
state affairs. She accompanied him to
4 the crusades and took accomplishing
ly her share, of the hardships and suf-.
erings inseparable from the cam.
lpaign. Overcoming her natural tim
idity she showed herself heroine at
| the Siege of Damietta, where her
courage and her energy saved the life
of the king and his mobiles, prisoners
in the hands of the Saracens. 1t was
| from her sickbed that she directed
operations and kept up the spirit of
1.-the defenders. When the great king
died and the whole nation was then
plunged in mourning, she retired into
lseclusion, and we hear of her no more
| came across this story in an old
French book. I cannot vouch for it's
1 historic accuracy, but there is more
than a grain Of truth in these old
legends where one chronicler relates
] what another has passed unnoticed..
/ Edith Stanto,th. In The Maontfcdf