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O-DAY'S SHORT STORY.J iomance…

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O-DAY'S SHORT STORY.J iomance of Famous Families. WAS LOUIS PHILIPPE AN I IMPOSTOR ? When Thomas Wynn, first, Lord New- borough, journeyed slowly and painfully across Europe, a little over a century ago, to recruit his shattered health under the bloe skies of Italy, it seemed more likely that he would leave hio bones in that land of "sunshine and song" than that he would encounter at his eleventh hour the one romance of his life. But in his ca3e, as in many, Cupid winged his shaft when least expected; aaid the aged baron, who, a few months earlier, seemed to be on nodding j tsrins with death, suiiuenly found the feeble flicker of life fanned into tierce flame by the 3we-2t eyes and gracem: n?ure ot a girl more than young euough to bo hit; own granddaughter. The baro-n first set eyes on the maid who j thus inspired pastTon :cr tne ilrst time in | his aged brea.st -,rom -,tis box at the principal Opera. House in Florence. To him. ions- sated as he thought with the delights ci this world, the first glimpse Of iiaria Stella Ctuapptai, the laost bewitching bailerijia ia.' j Italy, was a revelation of the beauties and graoes of the lHuna. ngare. The frssli, j aoounding vitality of her youth, the sparkle ot her eyes, the irradiating sun.-hine of her Simile, aad the incomparable grace of her I figure and mexv-ementn fired the laggard i iiood in his veins and converted, as hy a liiraele, the feeole old man into the ardent ind passionate Jover. That the gixl who had captivated his eyes a,r-d hea-, -t v,,a,s oZ a.cd heart was oi mean .)irtii-th daughter of an ex-gao:er. the child of obscurity and strugg'ie—counted naught with him when weighed again-t the consuming desire to call the prise hiS own; and before many weeks nad passed be had won her content and that of her parents to make the ballet-da nee" a British peeress and his wife. Ill-assorted as the union was. it was happy beyond all expectation. The barcn sur- rcuuded his wife with love and tender minis- tiations; and whon, a few years later, her lord and hasba-ua died, leaving two little! boys as pledges of their IoNe, his widow mourned the old man as deeply and ,-in- cerely as if he hiad been a youthful lover cut off in his lJMm. The baroa had not long been underground: when Maria I.acty New borough, yielding to an overpowering desire to see her old heme and family again, returned to Florence with her two children, naturally expecting to he received with ojpe;» arms. To her dismay, however, her reception was frigid and for- mal. -.4he was treated with the utmost res- pect, and even d-aferer.ee, by the members of her family; bur, of the affection she had hoped to meet with there was no trace ex- oept in the case of her father, who alone showed delight in seeing her again. To this coldness was added mystery; for every obstacle was thrown in the way of communion between fathe- and daughter who were never allowed to converse together without the embarrassjng presence of a thi'-d member of the family, who made an exchange of conflden sss impossible. Thiisi surrounded by coldness and mystery, is it any wonder that Lady Newborough was glad to escape from the home of her childhood and to find in strangers the companionship she was denied by her own flesh and blood After travelling for a few years in Italy she was summoned home to the bedside of her parent, who was dying, and who insisted on seeing his chrild once more in spite of the opposition of the rest of his family: but again, although Chiappini begged with tea-s to be left aiore for a few minutes with his daughter, his request was refused. It was evident that -he had some secret to coa- fide to her; but so persistent was the watch kept on him that he diexl without having the opportunity to reveal it. Naturally this second experience coir pleted Lady Xewborodsh's disgust with her family; she shook the dust of the home of her childhood finally off her feet and made I her home with her two bo-vs in. Florence, brood- ing over the strange conduct of her kith and kin, and wondering what was the secret ■ which her father had. as she thought, taken to his grave. Her suspense, however, was not destined to be long; ior within six months i there was placed in her hands a letter, which her father had written before his final ill- ness and had entrusted to a friend to give to his aaugater, in ca.se he was prevented from f confiding his secret to her in person. j Lady Newborougii had not read many lines of this strange letter before she made an a.m,azin.;r discovery. SJie was not the daughter of C'liia ppini, but was the child of a French nobleman of high rank and great wealth. It was a strangly romantic disclosure which was conveyed in the feeble handwriting of the doomed man, who was unwilling to die with- out revealing to his so-called daughter the story of her birth, and expressing his remorse for the part he had been compelled to play in so long concealing it. Briefly, the story was this. About four months before Maria Stella came into the world a great foreign nobleman and his lady arrived in the town in which Chiappini lived, with a numerous retinue and every evidence of wealth. The great lady was expecting to give birth to a child; as. by a curious coin- cidenee, was the wife of Chria.ppini. letter, "I was much astonished," ran the letter, "by the affability of this great foreigner, who sent for me, gave me money, made me drink wine with him, and expressed a wish to serve me in every possible way. After repeated conversations he disclosed his purposes to me, with large tribes and commands to; ?Mrecy. He told me that it was absolutely neceseary, for the weightiest family rentS, that the child which his countess was about to give birth to should be a son; and, there- fore, he urged me, in the event of her giving birth to a daughter and my wife bearing a son, to allow the children to he exchanged. In answer to my proto-sts he assured me that my boy should be nobly provided for, and that he would fill one of the highest. places in Europe." By large bribes and promises of favour Chiappini wag finally persuaded to consent to the exchange. The countess gave birth to a daughter; the gaoler's wife becajne the mother of a fine boy; and the infante were duly exchanged. The count, his lady, and his retinue disappeared, taking the baby son of Chiappini with them; and the infant daughter of the countess was left to grow up in the poor home ot the couple who had adopted her. This, then, was the secret, which was known only to Chiappini, his wife, and eldest son, each of whom had been bribed and sworn to secrecy; and which only the com- punction of the pseudo-father led him to reveal at the last mrment. Whatever curio- sity Lady Ne who rough might have felt before tho disclosure was, as may be imagined, now increased tenfold. Who was this high-placed nobleman to whom she owed her birth, and who had so ba-ely exchanged and aban- doned her? This was the problem she set herself tJ solve. Fortunately, Lhiappuii's letter furnished a startling ciue oy giving the name of the town and the hou^e in which she was born, as well as the nctrrtey of the Marchese. who owned the house, and his steward. To travel to the little Tuscany town and to discover the steward was the work of a few days. The steward, now a very old man, had a vivid recollection ot the incident; but she coiiid learn little from him that was helpiul beyond the fact that the French nobieman a man of very exaltfd rank, and that hi- name was the Comte de Join- vilie. Thus enlightened, her ladyship decided to prosecute Inr inquiries in France. She went to Joinvillc. and there mada iho startlitig discovery that the Comte de Joinvills was none other than a K^yai Prince, His Highness the Due d'Orleans, a lineal descendant of Loui/i XIII., and a possible heir to the great tkrorie of France. Hern, indued, "as a discovery which might well have completely turned any le,6- ta lanced htad than that of Lady New- borough. S'le, who Had always considered herself the ignobly born daughter of a. petLy provincial saoler, who had been proud to eara a salary by di--porting herself on the stage, was ia reality one of the greatest a t C,2? t ladies in all France; in tact, alter the Duoh-csse d Angouleme, the first princess of the blood royai, and heiress to immense riches! The thought was intoxicating; the revolu- tion iu her life dazaiing. But how to estab- lish her claims was a Question hard to solve. Naturally, the high-plac-cd father who had deserted her would still more emphatically repudiate her now that his --scu-the child of the gaolers wife—was likely to wear the crown of iranc? at no great distance of time. Her next step was to go to Paris and to pub- lish the following advertisement in the lead- ing newspapers "If the heir of the Comte (Ie Join.viLi', who travelled and resided in Italy in tha year 177,5, will call at the Hotel de rtre he wil! hear of something greatly to his advantage. Maria Stella had not long to wait for an answer to this notice: for the very next morning a cor- pulent and courteous old abbe was ushered into the room in which her ladyship wa? &itt'.n?, and, with deep cbe?anc?. anncuneed himself as the messenger of Monseigneur and Due ¡ d'CriciEi. Bui what interest," Lady Newborough a?ked. can Lie Lii;; possibly have in my adyerti-nent? A?urMHy. my lady." was the abbe's an_€r, h?. Highness is keenly inteiestel in ;t. icr h? is heir tc the Ccnte de Join- v^'ei is father, wbo. though th? Du" dOrirans always assumed the title of Comte de Joinville when travelling." Kere. then, was confirmation "strong as Hciy Writ of Lady New bo rough's suspi- cion?, if any had been nce sary. But the interview, prcnising though it seemed, proved abortive. When the abbe discovered that there was no question of a "great bsri- tage" fcr his tatron the Dr. but that the advertiser's object was to make embarras- sing inquine? about a certain episode in Tuvcany in 1775, he grew confused, and after a few ,stammered excuses and apologies jiowed himself hastily cut of the rcom, leav- ing Lady Newbcrough little wiser than when he entered it. Then followed a period of great nnhappi- ness and bitter disappointment for Lady Newborough. In whatever direction she pr-esspd her inquiries she was met with insuperable and tantalising obstacles; she fell into the hands of unprincipled men, who, while professing to help in her search, squandered her money and robbed her merci- lessly. Her fortune, large as it was, dwindled: her health gave way under the continucl strain; and, in sh,?rt, from the day she made the discovery of her birth her life was clouded with almost unbroken unhappiness. Time after time she tried to bring her claim forward, only—so strong were the forces arrayed against her—to fail again and again; and when, in course of time. Louis Philippe 'as --he had good reason to think, the son of Chiappini, the gaoler) came to the throne of France, her case was more hopeless still. In spite of her troubles, however, she survived her husband. Lord Newborough, thirty-seven years; saw one of her sons, the second baron, laid to rest: and her second sou, grandfather of the present peer, assume the title. Was Maria Stella, the ballerina, the gaoler's daughter of Tuscany, or was she, as she honestly, anCl on apna-rently unimpeachable grounds, believed, daughter of the Duo d'Orleans and a princess of France? Pro- bably the truth will never be placed beyond I all question, although, apart from the evidences we have ciVfD, there are abundant grounds in support, of her story. Louis i Philippe was, as the world knows, perhaps the most unroyal king who ever wore a crown-a plebeian in presence, manners, and speech—such a man, in fact, as one might, expect the gaoler's son to develop into. He lacked all the graces and distinction of his predecessors on the throne; and his boorish- ne--s and awkwardness were the talk and wonder of every Court of Europe. In this connection. Lady Newborough men- tions a curious incident in the volume in which she tells the story of her olaim and her wrongs. One day, in company with one of her boys, she paid a visit to the Palais Royal, the Paris home of the Due d'Orleans, when a portrait of the DIC arrested the boy s i attention. Look, mamma he exclaimed. here is a picture of grandpapa. The little fellow was quite right. The portrait of Louis Pbil'ppe. King of France, might have passed easily as a presentment of Chiappini, the Florentine gaoler, whose son Lady New- bci-ou.-h, to her last days, declared that he was-

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