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Show The Story of a King's Love Token I y Bj NATALIE ik UOGORY. I Illustrated by F. Kulz. Afc TRIANGLE of cobweb linen thread woven in subtle design, yellow with age and ex- SiiB"' haling the perfume of rose leaves and dainty WfT women, a shawl made two hundred ears ago at . the order of a Monarch as a love token to his fl Queen It is in possession of Viscount Pierre de 1 Tardy dc Montravel. It lies now In a box, far ! removed from the days when it rested on lin- M perial shoulders, the cynosure and envy of all women, the living proof of the ardor of Louis I XV. for his Queen, the beautiful Marie Leszczyn- 1 Tbis shawl is a family heirloom Viscount de 1 Montravel. as a scion of a French noble family. 1 ruined and persecuted during the French revolu- 1 uon, resembles his confreres of the most recent ' revolution the Russian In that h; is a wan-dcrer. wan-dcrer. His native country has nothing to offer '! him, having taken away all, and he prefers to be ! an exile. Africa. South America, the unexplored U f regions of Canada-all have been backgrounds I J1- for the Viscount s adventurous spirit. Now. it Z a New York and one of its picturesque studios, 1 profusely decorated with souvenirs of the Q strange peoples he has seen and the primitive J countries he has explored The shawl is but 1 one of his heirlooms U passed through the I ! extravagant relpn of Louis XV. to Marie Antoi- II nette. who in turn gave It as a souvenir to Uie S great-great-grandmothcr of Viscount-de Mon-M Mon-M j travel. I This triangular cobweb, measuring six feet 1 bv nine, was made at the order of Louis XV. for I Marie Leszczynska, daughter of an exiled Polish I King, whom Louis married after setting the dip-ffi dip-ffi lomatlc world in a whirl by his ardent wooing f of the wrong woman. It recalls one of the few I I love matches in royal houses, for Louis XV. Bj ordered the storv 4o be woven into the shawl H with the extravagance which later became a H characteristic of his .eign. Throughout the fine r cobweb design two letter "Lb" are Interwoven. If surrounded by Polish and French crowns, the I symbols of the love of Louis and Leszczynska. H Louis XV. was five years old when he became E King, though he naturally reigned under a J Regency Kindly, and fearfully extravagant, he S was beloved by his people for many years, un- ri,e ver excesses hich had been his charm A became so wild that even those who had dub- L bed him ' Louis le Bien Aime," sickened and Jf turned from him. At an early age a marriage f with Marie-Anne Victoria, Infanta of Spain, had If been arranged by the diplomats of the two I . countries. It was a much-sought alliance, for the relations between the fcwo countries had al- Nways been strained. Louis accepted the engagement and the Infanta In-fanta with the stoicism of a King. Perhaps the court life around him did much to dull his mind Into submission. Vice and elegance reigned supreme, wit and vulgarity went together, professional pro-fessional jesters and elegant women mingled In the enervating atmosphere which pervaded the HflHf . Dmum , c.r n-nlla .mri Hlfipd (hairs ' were the fit settings for the facile amours of that period And into this absm of corruption. ia breath of fresh air entered. Young I,ouis XV. saw Marie Leszczynska. daughter of the exiled King of Poland, and fell In love w ith her. Like a true Monarch he asserted his will He refused to marry the Infanta, ho was alieady living in France, learning both the language and the customs of the country preparatory to becoming be-coming Queen. The King's ministers were thrown Into consternation. con-sternation. They cajoled and they begged; they pointed out the possible grave political crisis; but though the King was only fifteen years old, he obstinately refused to obey. Who was this Marie Leszczynska, whose chance meeting with the King of France was destined to change the history of two nations? Mario was the daughter of King Stanislas I. and Countess Leszczynska. and she started life in a military camp. She was born in the midst of the struggle waged by Poland against Rus-- Rus-- sian Czarlsm, she was an infant when her father's armies fled from Warsaw. History tells that in the melee of the flight she was lost. Some kindly people, seeing an abondoned child, picked her up and seeing by her garments that she was of exalted rank, hid her in a barn. She was found by her nurse just In time to be saved from a fire which had started In the barn. Then years later, when Stanislas's castle was besieged by Peter the Great of Russia, Marie was saved once again by being lowered from a castle window and hidden In a farmhouse. And In the midst of constant danger and frequent fights Marie received her education from a Polish The vhnw 1 of llif hi nntiful Hnric T i'vzc v ln nl.n uon J " fI jl KW the heart of Louis XV. and became Queen ol Irauce. W - L ' "f" "V Wt f : ' Mm v ; noblewoman. But there is little doubt that her best preparation for the troubled existence of a Queen of France was gained In the military tamps where most of her childhood was spent. She could not be surprised; her nerves were inured to the unexpected. With the death of King Charles XII. of Sweden, Swe-den, the great ally of Stanislas, the latter abdicated ab-dicated the throne of Poland and sought refuge in France. Louis XV. received him with cordi ality and offered him the rule of his newly acquired ac-quired province of Lorraine. It is said that an old beggar Woman, whom Marie had helped, met the girl one day in the rambling g .rdens surrounding her father's castlo In Lorraine. "You will bo Queen of France." said the old woman looking at the young girl. Marie laughed. The mere thought was preposterous But six months had not passed before Louis had so far advanced in his wooing that he had already sent the Cardinal dc Rohan to Stanislas, asking for his daughter's hand. "What will you do with the Infanta?" was Stanislas's reply. "What can you say to Spain' Do you want to celebrate my daughter s wedding with war?" But Louis was persistent After much persuasion persua-sion and ardent protestations, ho obtained the consent of Marie's parents-tho girl herself having left the question for them to decide It was hardly a question that any woman would dare settle alone, A movement of the head might preclplLito a European war or break a heart, and. can there be any doubt. Marie's heart must have fluttered at the whirlwind wooing of Louis le Bien Alrae. The next step was the Infanta. Louis's Prime Minister the Duke of Bourbon, showed the way to overcome that obstacle. The Infanta was declared de-clared too young for the proper performance of marital duties, and returned to her father with many honors, great pomp and numerous presents pres-ents The Queen of Spain. Incensed, wauted to declare war. but fortunately for Louis. Philip V of Spain was his uncle. He placated his lrato wife avoided war and the incident was closed. Louis XV. was free. But he was also impatient He made no attempt at-tempt to hide his infatuation Ho showered Marie with gifts and hurried the preparations for the wedding. When she finally came to Fon-tainebleu, Fon-tainebleu, ho went to meet her, surrounded b the entire court, and there were more presents. "I receive your gifts with pleasure," she answered, an-swered, "but happy and overcome by the gift you make of your heart, permit me to distribute them amdng those who are witnesses of my great happiness." Cool, collected, it must have been her childhood child-hood spent in the midst of a fighting army that - 1 IhA nnlcfl In . il!, I ,n.l T .nnis's f 1 1 n I 1 1 1 - t,a'- (ui .. . vm... tuous onslnught. The wedding, which took place in 1723, was Just as masniilcent a spectacle as Louis's wooing. woo-ing. He was happy and he did not care if the world kuew it. Ho was in love with his fiancee and let the world see it. He wooed and won Marie with the same grand gesture as he disposed dis-posed of politics and history: "Aprcs mol le deluge." Tradition places the making of the shawl to this period of exuberance. His be loved Queen should have a shawl then It must I be a work of art, a true expression of his great I esteem- f The shawl was worthy of a Monarch's taste Experts say that each fine linen thread Is made up of twenty-five finer threads, each as gossa- mery as cocoon silk. The women working on the I thread and the making of the shawl had to wrap j their hands in raw meat every night to keep them soft and delicate enough to handle the work; the texture of the shawl Is so fine that no human eye could work long on it without get- l ting dimmed. But this was before the great j Revolution. The common people did not matter: 1 they existed for the comfort and the pleasure I of the rich. Each lace maker, however, was allowed to ex- 1 erclse her own imagination In working out the i pattern. Looking at the shawl, It Is evident that each woman was told that there must he two I letter "L's ' surrounded by French and Polish j crowns worked into a fine cobweb of no special design So some of the letters are dainty with crowns, whereas others are thick and ungainly. Perhaps as each woman worked, she thought with fondness of Louis le Blcn Alme and his Queen. The pity of it is that be lost both the j love and confidence of his people before he died. j for he was too weak and Impetuous to establish a strong autocracy, and France fell a prey to j the subtle disorganization which brought her to j the Revolution. t Marie Leszczynska must have worn the shawl with pride; it belonged to the perfumed and ex-'otic ex-'otic atmosphere of that decadent court, just as J It belonged on the shoulders of a beautiful j woman. She must have valued it. for the shawl j is next heard of as the property of Marie An- ' I toinette. Perhaps it was a wedding girt; Mario Antoinette married Louis XVI. two years before 1 Marie's death. , Marie Antoinette probably often wore the l to keep the chill from her shoulders, bare jl in the low-cut brocaded gown of her period- During the mad revels that marked the last breath of royalty, even this Queen, who could not imagine the existence of poverty, valued this souvenir of Marie Leszczynska. Perhaps the shawl could repeat the famous scene where Mario An- toinette was told that the people are revolting. "What do they want?" she asked. "They are shouting for bread "If they have no bread, why don't they eat cake?" was her rejoinder. She was haughty. These were the first days of the Revolution- 1 And. perhaps, she drew together the long ends of the shawl. ii . different from the mood In which she handed this same shawl to her favorite lady of honor, the Baroness de la Baume. Marie An- f. toinette and Louis XVI. were being lead to the $.J prison of the temple. She took the shawl off her shoulders. SXH "Take this," she said, "as a token of my affec- . ' Hon and go away, for God only knows where this Revolution will end. I feel I shall never enter this palace igain. g' The Baroness do la Baume, whose husband Qrand i hamberlain of the Court, was wise. i. I TuHnt wl1ti hor .ill hor nwn ipwpk nnrl man? I " r that Marie Antoinette had given her. she fled to Germany, where she remained until Marat, the revolutionary tyrant, was killed by Charlotte , I pi. lay and Napoleon was elected First Consul. H Afl he was anxious to gain the friendship of the fust families, he went to much trouble to bring ' H them back from exile. Meanwhile, though the Baron dc la Baume had been killed by the revo- lutfonlats, the Baroness returned to France. iH The history of the shawl becomes a happy i one once more, for now it is the wedding veil for a line of titled brides. The Baroness de la H Baume gave It to her daughter, who was twelve at the time of the flight to Germany, and who became the Marquise de Clausonette by mar- riage It next graced the bead of her daughter, who became the Marquise dc Leautaud-Mablane. Next, her daughter, the Countess de Tardy he Montravel, having worn it at her own wedding, passed It on to her nephew, Viscount de Tardy do Montravel, the present owner The shawl owed its origin to a great lovo and through the two hundred years of its existence i it has remained a gift of love given to crown Kl love's triumph But history does not tell us of I the pain that Marie Leszczynska must have'suf- i fered when, with the shawl on her shoulders. she saw the rise of Madame du Barry as court favorite and then of the famous Mme de Pompa- dour. The interlaclnc letters with the surround- H iug crowns of France and Poland mockingly brought shadows of what had been. Perhaps H some of the hrldcs that followed also looked at the fine cobweb with tears in their eyes. His- H tory talks of thrones au J nrara and the suffering of the people, but it Is silent on shattered dreams and broken ideals. H |
