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?"