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
Discouraged and almost destitute, I bethought me of my knowledge of
watchmaking and so it came to pass that I established myself in this
humble business. Thérèse, this is the sign I displayed outside my door:
Schutzenstrasse, 52. I was well patronized and lived contentedly until
an officer called to see my license. He asked me many questions,
demanded to be shown my baptismal certificate and a testimonial of good
conduct from the last parish in which I had lived. Having no such
documents, I was in great perplexity. At this juncture, a woman who
called herself Naundorff's sister, advised me to apply to Monsieur Le
Coq, Superintendent of the Prussian Police and a Frenchman by birth.
Before proceeding, I must explain that this woman, whose devotion to me
was as genuine as it was unremitting, had some time previous come from
some mysterious quarter to live in my house. Her industry made my
slender income yield me some comfort. Following her advice, I wrote to
Le Coq, revealing to him my entire history. He came to visit me and
demanded to see the proofs of my identity. I showed him some of my
documents,--those which had been sewed by Montmorin in the collar of the
ragged coat which I had worn during my vagrancy. They included letters
belonging to our mother and our father's seal. Le Coq was amazed and
remarked that he could give me no advice until after consulting with the
King. On the following day, he came to say that I must relinquish the
documents. I was forced to obey, saving only a portion of the seal.
From that moment, I was dogged by the police and finally driven out of
Berlin.
"You are in danger here," said Le Coq. "The magistracy has not forgotten
that no corroborating documents rendered your passport valid. Go to some
little town and be there known by the name of Naundorff."
A guard was furnished for my protection. I was admonished to observe the
strictest reserve, for the eye of Napoleon was keen. Prussia dared not
incur his enmity.
"When you are asked for your papers," said Le Coq, as I was departing,
"answer that they are with the Court."
I went to Spandau in the search of peace, there to live in a coffin more
effectual than the one which had enclosed me as I left the Tower, that
is to say, the name "Naundorff." This spurious term was entered on the
village registers. There is not another instance in Prussian annals of
the right of citizenship being conferred upon a man in consequence of
the arbitrary adjustment of an official, in the absence of documentary
evidence.
I put out my sign. The faithful woman--the so-called sister of
Naundorff--was with me still. However the arrangement had originated,
whether or not she acted as an instrument of my enemies, her devotion
was genuine. To silence malicious tongues, I called her sister.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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