Palaces and prisons

But, with a mighty homage of the mind, We give to thee a lovely woman’s form; Because, in that should ever be enshrined All things opposed to treason, war and storm. Thy face is beautiful; we love thy name; If others dye those snowy garments red, And drag thee downward into utter shame, It is not through the path where we have led.

PHILADELPHIA: T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS; 306 CHESTNUT STREET.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

MRS. ANN S. STEPHENS’ WORKS.

Each Work is complete in one volume, 12mo.

PALACES AND PRISONS. MARRIED IN HASTE. RUBY GRAY’S STRATEGY. THE CURSE OF GOLD.

WIVES AND WIDOWS; OR, THE BROKEN LIFE. THE REJECTED WIFE. THE GOLD BRICK. THE HEIRESS.

FASHION AND FAMINE. THE OLD HOMESTEAD. SILENT STRUGGLES. MARY DERWENT.

THE WIFE’S SECRET. THE SOLDIER’S ORPHANS. MABEL’S MISTAKE. DOUBLY FALSE.

Price of each, $1.75 in Cloth; or $1.50 in Paper Cover.

Above books are for sale by all Booksellers. Copies of any or all of the above books will be sent to any one, to any place, postage pre-paid, on receipt of their price by the Publishers,

T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS, 306 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA.

CONTENTS.

Chapter Page I.— THE COUNTESS AND THE DOCTOR 23 II.— THE LADY IN THE PARK 28 III.— THE EGYPTIAN SCARABEE 34 IV.— KING LOUIS THE FIFTEENTH 38 V.— THE DWARF AND THE DAUPHINESS 41 VI.— HOUSEHOLD FAMINE 45 VII.— THE PRISONER OF THE BASTILLE 53 VIII.— AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR 60 IX.— COUNT DE MIRABEAU AND MONSIEUR JACQUES 62 X.— MONSIEUR JACQUES IS INTRUSTED WITH A DELICATE MISSION 67 XI.— THE MARKET WOMAN 71 XII.— EARLY IN THE MORNING 74 XIII.— THEY THREE BREAKFAST TOGETHER 79 XIV.— MARGUERITE FINDS HER PATH OF DUTY AMONG THE FLOWERS 84 XV.— IN THE DUNGEONS OF THE BASTILLE 92 XVI.— THE KING’S work-shop 100 XVII.— THE KING AND THE WORKMAN 105 XVIII.— THE LANDLADY AND THE WHITE HENS 113 XIX.— THE SWISS COTTAGE 118 XX.— ROYAL MILKMAIDS 122 XXI.— DAME TILLERY TEACHES THE COURT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT 128 XXII.— THE QUEEN’S PERIL 132 XXIII.— COUNT MIRABEAU AND HIS FATHER 137 XXIV.— THE OLD NOBLEMAN MAKES CONCESSIONS 142 XXV.— THE LINK WHICH CONNECTED MIRABEAU WITH THE COURT 146 XXVI.— THE LANDLADY OF THE SWAN PLUMES HERSELF 153 XXVII.— DAME TILLERY PIQUED 157 XXVIII.— UNWELCOME GUESTS 162 XXIX.— THE QUEEN AND HER LADIES 166 XXX.— TRUE WOMANLY POWER 171 XXXI.— THE JOY OF A GREAT SURPRISE 175 XXXII.— MONSIEUR JACQUES PLEADS BEFORE ROYALTY 178 XXXIII.— ZAMARA BRINGS BAD NEWS FOR HIS MISTRESS 182 XXXIV.— MADAME’S CRIME COMES HOME TO TORTURE HER 186 XXXV.— DAME TILLERY DINES WITH THE COUNTESS DUBERRY 190 XXXVI.— THE DISGUISED COUNTESS 194 XXXVII.— JOYFUL NEWS 199 XXXVIII.— MIRABEAU AND HIS FOSTER BROTHER IN COUNCIL 203 XXXIX.— A VISITOR AFTER DARK 207 XL.— THE GOVERNOR AND THE PAGE 211 XLI.— THE COUNTESS AND HER VICTIM MEET 216 XLII.— THE PAGE TRANSFORMED 221 XLIII.— THE LAST ROULEAU OF GOLD 225 XLIV.— DAME TILLERY OBTAINS AN AUDIENCE IN THE PARK 230 XLV.— ONE VIRTUE LEFT 237 XLVI.— WAITING FOR THE MORNING 242 XLVII.— DEAD SEA FRUIT 247 XLVIII.— THE BITTERNESS OF DEATH 251 XLIX.— A WOMAN’S NATURE TRANSFORMED 256 L.— THE DAME OF THE DAIRY 261 LI.— EFFORTS AT ATONEMENT 265 LII.— MONSIEUR JACQUES TURNS BLACKSMITH AGAIN 272 LIII.— LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS 276 LIV.— A DETERMINED BENEFACTOR 281 LV.— GENEROSITY AND DIPLOMACY 285 LVI.— THE ENERGY OF MADNESS 288 LVII.— UNSEXED WOMANHOOD 292 LVIII.— THE FIRST ROLL OF THUNDER 297 LIX.— THE FIRST DRAW-BRIDGE 301 LX.— THE PRISONERS FREE 306 LXI.— THEY THREE MEET AGAIN 309 LXII.— THE PRISONER AT HOME 317 LXIII.— SEARCHING FOR THE SERPENT RING 321 LXIV.— DOWN IN THE LEAFY SHADOWS 326 LXV.— THE PRISONER AND THE KING 331 LXVI.— ON TO VERSAILLES 336 LXVII.— LOUISON BRISOT IN THE RUINS 339 LXVIII.— MARGUERITE COMFORTS HER FATHER 348 LXIX.— QUEENLY STRUGGLES 356 LXX.— ENEMIES RECONCILED 360 LXXI.— MIND SWAYING MIND 365 LXXII.— SPYING AND WATCHING 371 LXXIII.— FATHER AND DAUGHTER 376 LXXIV.— LOVE 381 LXXV.— CRAFT MEETING TREACHERY 388 LXXVI.— CRIMINATION AND INDIFFERENCE 392 LXXVII.— AMONG THE FLOWERS 398 LXXVIII.— THE MARKET WOMAN 402 LXXIX.— THE WOMEN OF FRANCE 406 LXXX.— TAKING AN OBSERVATION 412 LXXXI.— THE MIDNIGHT REVEL 418 LXXXII.— THROWING OFF DISGUISES 423 LXXXIII.— THE DOUBLE SPY 430 LXXXIV.— LOUISON AND MARGUERITE 436 LXXXV.— MIRABEAU BUYS FLOWERS 443 LXXXVI.— ANOTHER CUSTOMER 451 LXXXVII.— THE SEALED LETTER 456 LXXXVIII.— DAME TILLERY PROCLAIMS HER HEIRESS 462 LXXXIX.— MARGUERITE SEEKS THE QUEEN 469 XC.— A BITTER HUMILIATION ACCEPTED 475 XCI.— THE BAFFLED SPY 482 XCII.— THE VIPER TURNS 487 XCIII.— THE QUEEN’S LETTER 492 XCIV.— LOUISON BRISOT VISITS ROBESPIERRE 498 XCV.— THE FRAUD OF FASCINATION 507 XCVI.— ZAMARA IS MASTER OF THE SITUATION 512 XCVII.— BAFFLED AND DEFEATED 518 XCVIII.— A THANKLESS LOVER AND HOSTS OF ENEMIES 525 XCIX.— FETE IN THE CHAMP DE MARS 530 C.— THE QUEEN GIVES UP HER RING 535 CI.— ZAMARA IS TEMPTED TO EARN MORE GOLD 540 CII.— A LOVER’S QUARREL 545 CIII.— PERFECT RECONCILIATION 551 CIV.— A THEFT AND AN INSULT 555 CV.— THE SECRET OF THE RING 561 CVI.— THE OLD MAN FALLS ASLEEP 564 CVII.— THE SCARABEE DOES ITS DEADLY WORK 570 CVIII.— THE STORMING OF THE TUILERIES 576 CIX.— THE PRISONS 580 CX.— BOUGHT BY BLOOD 584 CXI.— THE GODDESS OF REASON 587

PALACES AND PRISONS.

CHAPTER I. THE COUNTESS AND THE DOCTOR.

A beautiful woman—if a coarse nature ever can give beauty to faultless features—sat in one of those charming little saloons which made the Grand Trianon the gayest and most popular palace in France. She was not alone—such women usually avoid solitude; but the person who stood before her that day was so unlike any of the venal courtiers that usually surrounded her, that his presence there, in itself, was remarkable. He was a tall, spare man, a little under thirty. His hair was flaxen, soft, and of that exceeding fineness, which is seldom found except upon the head of an infant. His eyes were of a keen, variable gray, sometimes pale in their color, sometimes almost black. The face was one of remarkable refinement—exquisitely cut and perfect in the contour as the best dreams of a sculptor; the complexion pure, changeable, delicate, and fair. The least emotion brought a faint color over the forehead, which was threaded about the temples with a network of azure veins.

Never was contrast more perfect than that which existed between this man and the woman, in whose presence he was not allowed to sit. His air, his gestures, the very bend of his person, was a protest of refinement against the coarseness which, to his sensitive nature, made her wonderful beauty repulsive. This woman was questioning him imperiously. She wanted a favor, yet had not the grace to ask it gently.

“They tell me that you have this power—then why hesitate? When a subject has the ability to serve his king, it is treason to waver.”

“But, madam, I may not have the power. Our Saviour himself carried healing to the poor—never to kings; besides, it is given to man once to die. That is a law which human art cannot reach, and divine power has limited. The King of France is an old man, and, like the most humble of us, his days are numbered.”

The woman started up in sudden terror.

“Is this prophecy, or is it rank treason?” she said.

“Madame, it is the simple truth. No art that I ever heard of can make an old man young; the waters of eternal youth are fabulous. Great power lies in human knowledge, but not such as you would evoke. Were it otherwise——”

The man paused, and a faint color stained the pure whiteness of his forehead. The countess seated herself. A glow of angry impatience had succeeded to her sudden panic, and she seized upon his hesitation as a wild animal snatches at food.

“Well, were it otherwise, what then?”

“Then it would be a consideration for any wise man, whether, in continuing the king’s life beyond that period ordained of God, wrong might not be done to the people of France.”

“Wrong done to the people of France!” cried the woman, grasping the arm of her gilded chair with angry vehemence; “the people of France! What are they but hounds, born to do the bidding of the king.”

“Forgive me, Madame la Countess; but it is said——”

“Well, what is said? Some miserable absurdity, no doubt; another scandal of the people you talk of. Do not hesitate and stammer as if you were afraid—I will help you out. It is said that not long since I, myself, was one of the people—among the lowest, too. Is that it?”

The man bowed very gravely, and looked upon that beautiful face, which had long since forgotten to blush, with a sentiment of profound pity.

The woman laughed scornfully, and clenched the arm of her chair in fierce wrath.

“_You_ presume to pity me! I might have forgiven the rest; but this you shall have good cause to remember.”

The man bowed, and made a movement toward the door. His face was perfectly calm, his step even. She evidently had not terrified him by her violence.

This wonderful composure astonished the woman, who had become so used to adulation and assumed homage, that an assertion of self-respect took her by surprise.

“I have not yet dismissed you, monsieur,” she said, with an effort at self-control.

The man turned again, and waited while the countess took a golden tablet from her bosom, and read a memorandum from its ivory leaves.

“This power of healing is not the most marvellous of your gifts, this memorandum tells me.”

“It is the one I am most grateful for,” answered the man.

“But that of divination! Tell me if it is true that in Vienna the Empress Maria Theresa sent for you to read the horoscope of her daughter, the Dauphiness of France?”

“If her majesty had so honored my poor gifts, it would be a base return to speak of it.”