FRENCH judicial annals are rich in strange and romantic episodes, but
there are few narratives so replete with pathetic interest as the story
of Gabrielle de Launay, a lady whose cause was tried before the High
Court of Paris about the middle of the eighteenth century, and created
a profound sensation throughout France at that epoch.
Mademoiselle de Launay was the only child of an eminent judge of
Toulouse, where Gabrielle was born about the year 1730. M. de Launay,
as the President of the Civil Tribunal of Toulouse, occupied a position
of distinction, to which he was additionally entitled as a member of
one of the leading families of the province. Between himself and the
son of the late General de Serres, a deceased friend of the President
de Launay, there existed an intimacy which gave colour to the belief
entertained in the most exclusive social circles of Toulouse that young
Captain Maurice de Serres was selected to be the future husband of the
judge's beautiful daughter, then in her eighteenth year, whilst Maurice
was nine years her senior. The birth and fortune of the two young
people were equally in harmony, and the match thus appeared in every
way suitable.
The surmises of the gossips were shortly confirmed by the formal
announcement of the betrothal, and Maurice was on the point of asking
the approval of his widowed mother, who resided in Paris, when an
incident occurred which threatened to dash the cup of happiness from
his lips. An official letter from the Minister of War reached Captain
de Serres, instructing him, with all despatch, to rejoin his regiment,
suddenly ordered abroad on active service in the far East.
The next morning, at an early hour, the young officer presented himself
at the residence of President de Launay, greatly to the surprise of the
worthy judge and his daughter, to whom he despairingly imparted the
untoward tidings. The grief of Maurice and Gabrielle at the prospect of
their sudden separation, for a long and uncertain period, was poignant
in the extreme, and M. de Launay was himself profoundly distressed by
this unexpected blow to his projects for his only child's happiness.
After the first outburst, Maurice entreated the President to hasten the
marriage and permit Gabrielle to accompany her husband to the Indies,
if she would consent to undertake the voyage. Gabrielle joined her
prayers to her lover's, but her father refused absolutely to listen
to the proposal. Apart from his reluctance to part from his child for
an indefinite term, the good President pointed out to the young man
the hardships of a voyage to the most distant quarter of the globe,
and the danger of exposure to a climate then regarded as fatal to many
Europeans.
"Suppose Gabrielle, young as she is, were to sicken and die thousands
of miles from her native land," said the President; "could you ever
recover from the consequences of your rash imprudence, or could I
forgive myself for my own weakness and folly?"
"Then, sir," exclaimed Maurice, passionately, "I only know of one
alternative. I will at once resign my commission, and adopt a new
profession--I care not what, so that it shall not separate me from the
woman I love."
M. de Launay shook his head, and, with a grave smile, replied that
such an act would be unworthy of a French soldier and a scion of the
noble house of de Serres. As a last resort, Maurice implored the
President to sanction the immediate celebration of the marriage, with
the understanding that Gabrielle should remain under her father's
protection until her husband's return from foreign service, which, he
anticipated, would be in about two years. To this request, also, M. de
Launay returned an inflexible negative, without vouchsafing any reason,
except that such was his decision.
Finding all his efforts vain, Maurice resigned himself to the
inevitable, whilst Gabrielle sadly prepared to obey the command of one
to whose behests she had ever yielded a dutiful submission, comforting
herself, perchance, with the secret hope that her love and fidelity to
Maurice would be more cherished, and invested with a greater heroism in
his eyes, after two long, weary years of trial and separation.
In maintaining an attitude of firmness throughout the dilemma in which
he had been placed by the inconsiderate passion of the young officer,
M. de Launay manifested the possession of all the wisdom requisite
in dealing with a difficult problem; but in adhering strictly to
the French custom of decorously assisting at all interviews between
unmarried young people of opposite sexes, and in failing to leave
the lovers together alone for a short time, the President showed a
deplorable want of knowledge of the human heart. The thought did not
occur to him that a few tears, kisses, and vows of constancy would go
far towards reconciling Maurice and Gabrielle to the sweet sorrow of
parting, and that with these innocent crumbs of comfort the parental
presence is totally uncongenial. Never in the history of love has it
been deemed admissible that there should be witnesses to the tender
words of farewell, the fond look in each other's eyes, the soft
pressure of each other's hands, the whispered oath of eternal fidelity,
and the many mysterious nothings which at such times are held sacred.
Oblivious of these delicate considerations, the worthy President gave
the young people no opportunity for a leave-taking which would have
been to them a relief and a precious souvenir. Their parting was one
of silence and dejection, but at the last moment Maurice found means
to murmur in Gabrielle's ear, "I will be in the garden at midnight,
under your window; meet me there to say good-bye." She spoke no word
of reply, but a glance at her face assured him that his prayer had
been heard and granted. With a tranquil smile, he bade farewell to the
President, who again betrayed a sad lack of penetration in accompanying
him to the gate, without the remotest suspicion that a clandestine
midnight meeting of the lovers had been planned under his own eyes, and
that the young officer's sudden composure arose from a joy he found it
difficult to conceal.
[Illustration: "FAREWELL."]