Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXV, No. 5, November 1849Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXV, No. 5, November 1849
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
At day-break M. Anspach had his hair dressed, and attiring himself in
the most elegant manner, drove in his carriage to the Porte Maillot,
which was the place of rendezvous. He put 300,000 francs in gold in his
carriage, that he might immediately leave the country for foreign lands,
until the family of the chevalier had ceased to mourn his death, for you
must know that the major had a certain trick in fencing that he
considered sure, so that according to his belief the chevalier was as
good as dead.
The thing succeeded as he had foreseen; they made some passes, and as
soon as the major perceived that the chevalier was getting excited, he
made such a furious thrust en tierce that M. Palissandre saw the flash
and fell struck by the thunder.
It was hardly daylight, and M. Anspach was in such a hurry to get in his
carriage that he made a mistake, and entering that of the chevalier, was
many leagues distant ere he discovered his error, and it was then too
late to return.
Arrived at London, he remembered that his banker could tell him what had
become of his carriage, his 300,000 francs and the Chevalier de
Palissandre. He wrote to him then, and took advantage of the opportunity
to ask him to send funds, for after turning his pockets inside out he
had only found a few Louis. He had to wait some time for an answer, and
in promenading the Park to beguile the weary moments he fell in love
with a young Creole from the Spanish West Indies. The lady was on the
point of embarking for Havana, and as our heedless hero could not become
accustomed to the climate nor the plum-pudding, he raised a thousand
crowns on some diamonds he had with him, and borrowed a thousand Louis
from a friend attached to the French embassy, whom he had fortunately
encountered in the street; the next morning he embarked on the same
vessel as the young Creole, and was on his way to the West Indies.
After arriving at the Havana he wrote again to his banker, asking anew
for his carriage and the chevalier, and demanding money. But the vessel
that carried his dispatches was apparently lost, for six months
afterward, the major had spent his last doubloon, and was still
expecting an answer from his agent; he was also terribly tired of his
love affair. In this emergency he thought the best means to obtain
information was to seek it in person, even at the risk of being arrested
as a deserter from his regiment; he resolved, however, to be prudent,
and to enter Paris incognito. He sold his wardrobe to pay for his
passage, and landed without any misfortune, assuming the first name that
occurred to him.
His friends who recognized him gave him a warm welcome, and informed him
that his banker had left for America, carrying with him 500,000 francs,
the price of an estate the major had sold the year previous. This new
accident entirely disturbed his equanimity, as the above sum, with that
lost in the carriage, comprised nearly all his fortune.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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