The Mystery of the Lost Dauphin (Louis XVII) — John Shaqi
The Mystery of the Lost Dauphin (Louis XVII)Pardo Bazán, Emilia, condesa de
General
The Mystery of the Lost Dauphin (Louis XVII)
Pardo Bazán, Emilia, condesa de
Louis XVII, of France, 1785-1795 -- Fiction
From these automobiles alights a party headed by a slender grave-looking
young man of simple charming manners whose light grey eyes smile often.
He is accompanied by a graceful young matron leading by the hand a
handsome little fellow of some six years who wears a Louis Dix-Sept
coiffure and long auburn curls on his shoulders.
An elderly lady of patrician countenance stands near me. I turn
inquiring eyes into hers. With the grace and courtesy of a salon dame,
she beckons me closer, whispering in my ear:
"His Majesty Jean III, Her Majesty Marie Madelaine and His Royal
Highness the Dauphin, Henri-Charles-Louis."
My companion reverently and profoundly inclines her body, as the
procession rushes past us. I do likewise, albeit with an unpleasant
consciousness of an absence of the grace which envelops this member of
the "Survivance" at my side.
As we raise our heads, a man of distinguished appearance and of a
pronounced Bourbon type hurries past us, to join the advancing party.
"'Tis Monsieur," observes the lady. "'Tis the Prince Charles-Louis. He
is the soul of the cause."
We follow his elegant person past the kneeling congregation which fills
the central nave. The royal family approach the chancel until reaching
the group of crimson prie-Dieus and velvet cushions. The sanctuary is
crimson-draped; the white-haired venerable prelate is crimson-robed; the
altar blazes with the crimson tongues of wax tapers: for 'tis a _Messe
Rouge_ that is to be celebrated today, in honor of the royal victim of
one hundred and thirteen years ago.
"Explain to me the genealogy," I say to my guide, when we have taken
seats.
"The slender dark-haired gentleman and Monsieur are the great grandsons
of Louis Seize."
"In what manner are they descended?"
"Their father was Charles-Edmond Naundorff, fifth child of Charles
William Naundorff, the Prussian watch-maker, who claimed the French
crown during the reign of his uncle, known in history as Louis XVIII."
"Tell me more of these gentlemen."
"Jean III, whose entire name is Auguste-Jean-Charles-Emmanuel de
Bourbon, was born in Maestricht, Holland, in 1872. He and Monsieur were
adopted in early childhood by their father's sister, Amélie, the wife of
Monsieur Laprade of Poictiers--the beautiful, imperious Amélie whose
face was the reincarnation in feature and expression of the ill-fated
martyr queen, Marie Antoinette."
"Was not that resemblance accepted as corroborating evidence of her
father's integrity?"
"Madame," said my aristocratic companion, turning upon me wonderful
glowing eyes that seemed to reflect a throne transformed into a
scaffold, "Madame, the face of Amélie Naundorff convulsed the government
of the Restoration to such an extent that even the palsied limbs of the
man called Louis XVIII, grew rigid in terror. During one crucial moment
the usurper summoned the strength to stand upon his bandaged feet and
shatter with one blow the ascendancy of his nephew, Charles William
Naundorff."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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