"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."
"What arm did he employ?"
"That arm which the iniquitous ever use against the upright; the rectitude and tenderness of a noble nature."
"Explain."
"Naundorff's despoilers turned upon him the only effectual weapon at their disposal: they turned, rather they bade him turn upon himself, the greatness and simplicity of his own heart."
I cast my eyes upon the group before the altar, upon the dark grave man, all simplicity, candor and earnestness; upon the gentle comely lady beside him, and the little fellow in the Louis Dix-Sept coiffure.... Just then Monsieur turned his superb head and the fine Bourbon features irradiated the old charm which history and tradition have sought to transmit, but which only the blood of Henri de Navarre can make glowing with life.
The lady placed her elegantly gloved hand upon my arm.
"From their earliest years, the boys were cautioned not to reveal their real name. Under the appellation of Lisbois they were successively placed in several schools. Their identity was more than once discovered, whereupon they were removed. On leaving college, they spent several years in Brittany and Paris, completing their education. Jean III lived on the estate of Monsieur Gabaudan from 1893 to 1898. Monsieur Gabaudan manages an extensive wine business. Jean III, with the shrewd common sense of his grandfather and with the mechanical instinct of his great-grandfather, mastered the details of this business. Only one road seemed to lie before him. He resolutely followed it. In 1900 he removed to Paris. Under the name of De Lisbois, he was connected with a petroleum house. During the last two years, he has, under his true name, been the director of a drilling and sounding company in the interest of which he has made several voyages to Algeria."
"What are Monseigneur's ideas with regards to royal pretensions and claims?"
"Jean III has declared that he will never conspire to be placed upon a throne. 'Circumstances,' says he, 'will decide my destiny.'"