Across the street in the courtyard the prisoners were taking their daily
exercise. Two by two they marched slowly around the enclosure in the
centre of which a small bed of geraniums struggled bravely in mortal
combat with the dust and grime of Centre Street. Some of the prisoners
walked with heads erect and shoulders thrown back, others slouched along
with their arms dangling and their chins resting upon their chests. When
one of them failed to keep up with the rest, a keeper, who stood in the
shade by a bit of ivy in a corner of the wall, got after him. Somehow
the note on the desk did not seem to fit any one of the gentry whom I
could see so distinctly from my window. The name, too, did not have the
customary Tombs sound--De Nevers? _De Nevaire_--I repeated it slowly to
myself with varying accent. It seemed as though I had known the name
before. It carried with it a suggestion of the novels of Stanley J.
Weyman, of books on old towns and the châteaux and cathedrals of France.
I wondered who the devil Charles Julius Francis de Nevers could be.
Of course, if one answered all the letters one gets from the Tombs it
would keep a secretary busy most of the working hours of the day, and if
one acceded to all the various requests the prisoners make to interview
them personally or to see their fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers,
sweethearts and wives, a prosecutor might as well run an intelligence
office and be done with it. But as I re-read the note I began to have a
sneaking feeling of curiosity to see what Charles Julius Francis de
Nevers looked like, so I departed from the usual rule of my office, rang
for a messenger and directed him to ascertain the full name of the
prisoner from whom the note had come, the crime with which he was
charged, and the date of his incarceration, also to supply me at once
with copies of the indictment and the complaint; then I instructed him
to have De Nevers brought over as soon as he could be got into shape.
I had almost forgotten that I was expecting a visitor when, a couple of
hours later, an undersized deputy-sheriff entered my office and reported
that he had a prisoner in his custody for whom I had sent to the Tombs.
Glancing up from my desk I saw standing behind his keeper a tall and
distinguished-looking man in fashionably cut garments, whose well shaped
head and narrow face, thin aquiline nose, and carefully trimmed pointed
beard seemed to bespeak somewhat different antecedents from those of the
ordinary occupant of a cell in the City Prison. I should have
instinctively risen from my chair and offered my aristocratic looking
visitor a chair had not the keeper unconsciously brought me to a
realization of my true position by remarking:
"Say, Counsellor, I guess while you're talking to his nibs I'll step out
into the hall and take a smoke."
"Certainly," said I, glad to be rid of him, "I will be responsible for
the--er--prisoner."
Then, as the keeper hesitated in putting his suggestion into execution,
I reached into the upper right-hand drawer of my desk, produced two of
what are commonly known in the parlance of the Criminal Courts Building
as "cigars" and handed them to him.
"Well," said I, after the keeper had departed closing the door behind
him and leaving the visitor standing in the middle of the office, "I
have sent for you as you requested and shall be glad to hear anything
you have to say. Of course any communication which you may see fit to
make to me is voluntary and, in the event for your trial for--er--any
crime with which you may be charged, may be used against you." I had a
certain feeling of embarrassment in making this customary declaration
since the whole idea of this person being a criminal was so incongruous
as to put a heavy strain on one's credulity. However, I recalled that a
certain distinguished Englishman of letters has declared "that there is
no essential incongruity between crime and culture." He acknowledged my
remark with a slight smile of half-amused deprecation and with a
courteous bow took the seat to which I motioned him.
"I wish to thank you," he said in excellent English marked by the
slightest possible suggestion of a foreign accent, "for your exceeding
courtesy in responding so quickly to my request. I am aware," he added,
"that it is unusual for prisoners to seek interviews with the--what
shall I say--_juge d'instruction_, as we call him, but," he added with a
smile, "I think you will find that mine is an unusual affair."
I had already begun to think so, and reaching to the upper drawer on the
left-hand side of my desk, I produced from the box reserved for judges,
prominent members of the bar, borough presidents, commissioners of
departments and distinguished foreigners, a Havana of the variety known
in our purlieus as a "_good_ cigar," and tendered the same to him.
"Ah," he said, "many thanks, _merci, non_, I do not smoke the cigar.
M'sieu' perhaps has a cigarette? M'sieu' will pardon me if I say that
this is the first act of kindness which has been accorded to me since my
incarceration three weeks ago."
Somewhere I found a box of cigarettes, one of which he removed,
gracefully holding it between fingers which I noticed were singularly
white and delicate, and lighting it with the air of a diplomat at an
international conference.
"You can hardly appreciate," he ventured, "the humiliation to which I,
an officer and a gentleman of France, have been subjected."
I lighted the cigar which he had declined and with mingled feelings of
embarrassment, distrust and curiosity inquired if his name was Charles
Julius Francis de Nevers. I wish it were possible to describe the
precise look which flashed across his face as he answered my question.
"That is my name," he said, "or at least rather, I am Charles Julius
Francis, and I am of Nevers. May I speak confidentially? Were my family
to be aware of my present situation they would never recover from the
humiliation and disgrace connected with it."
"Certainly," said I, "anything which you may tell me which you wish to
be kept confidential I will treat as such, provided, of course, that
what you tell me is the truth."
"You shall hear nothing else," he replied. Then leaning back in his
chair he said simply and with great dignity, "I am by direct inheritance
today the Duc de Nevers, my father, the last duke, having died in the
month of February, 1905."
Any such announcement would ordinarily have filled me with amusement,
but that the gentleman sitting before me should declare himself to be a
duke or even a prince seemed entirely natural.
"Indeed!" said I, unable to think of any more appropriate remark.
"Yes," said De Nevers, "and M'sieu' is naturally surprised that one of
my distinguished position should be now a tenant of an American jail.
But if M'sieu' will do me the honor of listening for a few moments I
will explain my present extraordinary predicament. I am Charles Julius
François, eldest son of the late Oscar Odon, Duc de Nevers, Grand
Commander of the Legion of Honor, and Knight of the Garter. I was born
in Paris in the year 1860 at 148 Rue Champs Elysée; my mother, the
dowager duchess, is now residing at the Château de Nevers in the
Province of Nievre in France. My sister Jeanne married Prince Henry of
Aremberg, and now lives in Brussells at the Palais d'Aremberg, situated
at the corner of the Rue de Regence near the Palais de Justice. My
sister Louise, the Countess of Kilkenny, is living in Ireland. My sister
Camille married the Marquis of Londonderry and is residing in London at
the present time. My sister Evelyn married the Earl of Dudley and is
living in Dublin. I have one other sister, Marie, who is with my mother.
My brother, Count André de Nevers is at present Naval Attaché at Berlin.
My brother Fernand is an officer of artillery stationed in Madagascar,
and my youngest brother Marcel is also an officer of artillery attached
to the 8th Regiment in Nancy. I make this statement by way of
introduction in order that you may understand fully my situation. During
my childhood I had an English tutor in Paris, and when I reached the age
of ten years I was sent by my father to the College Louis le Grand where
I took the course of Science and Letters and graduated from the Lycée
with the degree of Bachelor on the 5th of August, 1877. Having passed my
examination for the Polytechnic I remained there two years, and on my
graduation received a commission as Sous-Lieutenant of Engineers, and
immediately entered the Application School at Fontainebleau, where I was
graduated in 1881 as Lieutenant of Engineers and assigned to the First
Regiment of Engineers at Versailles--"
De Nevers paused and exhaled the cigarette smoke.
"M'sieu' will pardon me if I go into detail for only in that way will he
be convinced of the accuracy of what I am telling him."
"Pray, go on," said I. "If what you tell me is true your case is
extraordinary indeed."
"My first act of service," continued De Nevers, "was on the 10th of
August when I was sent to Tonkin. I will not trouble you with the
details of my voyage on the transport to China, but will simply state
that I was wounded in the engagement at Yung Chuang on the 7th of
November of the same year and had the distinction of receiving the Cross
of the Legion of Honor therefor. I was immediately furloughed back to
France, where I entered the Superior School of War and took my Staff
Major brevet. At the same time I seized the opportunity to follow the
course of the Sorbonne and secured the additional degree of Doctor of
Science. I had received an excellent education in my youth and always
had a taste for study, which I have taken pains to pursue in whatever
part of the world I happened to be stationed. As a result I am able to
converse with considerable fluency in English, as perhaps you have
already observed, as well as in Spanish, Italian, German, Russian,
Arabic, and, to a considerable extent, in Japanese.
"In 1883 I was sent to Berlin as Military Attaché, but was subsequently
recalled because I had violated the rules of international etiquette by
fighting three duels with German officers. The Ambassador at this time
was Charles de Courcel. You will understand that there was no disgrace
connected with my recall, but the necessity of defending my honor was
incompatible with the rules of the service, and after fifteen months in
Berlin I was remanded to Versailles with the rank of First Lieutenant,
under Colonel Quinivet. Here I pursued my studies and was then ordered
to the Soudan, whence, after being wounded, I was sent to Senegal. Here
I acted as Governor of the City of St. Louis. As you are doubtless
aware, the climate of Senegal is exceedingly unhealthy. I fell ill with
a fever and was obliged to return to France where I was assigned to the
office of the General Staff Major in Paris. At the opening of the war
with Dahomey in 1892, I was sent in command of the Engineers of the
Corps Expeditional, and on the 17th of November of that year was
severely wounded at Dakar in Dahomey, having received a spear cut
through the lungs. On this occasion I had the distinction of being
promoted as Major of Engineers and was created an Officer of the Legion
of Honor on the battle field. The wound in my lungs was of such a
serious character that Colonel Dodds sent me back once more to France on
furlough, and President Carnot was kind enough to give me his personal
commendation for my services.
"I was now thirty-three years old and had already attained high rank in
my profession. I had had opportunity to pursue studies in chemistry,
medicine and science, and my only interest was in the service of my
country and in qualifying myself for my future duties. My life up to
that time had been uniformly happy; I was the eldest son and beloved
both of my father and mother. My social position gave me the entrée to
the best of society wherever I happened to be. As yet, however, I had
never been in love. At this time occurred the affair which in a measure
changed my career. The wound in my lungs was slow in healing, and at the
earnest invitation of my sister, Lady Londonderry, I went to London. At
that time she was living in Belgravia Square. It was here I met my first
wife."
De Nevers paused. The cigarette had gone out. For the first time he
seemed to lose perfect control of himself. I busied myself with some
papers until he should have regained his self possession.
"You will understand," he said in a few moments, "these things are not
governed by law and statute. The woman with whom I fell in love and who
was in every respect the equal in intellectual attainments, beauty and
charm of manner of my own people, was the nursery governess in my
sister's household. She returned my affection and agreed to marry me.
The proposed marriage excited the utmost antipathy on the part of my
family; my fiancée was dismissed from my sister's household, and I
returned to Paris with the intention of endeavoring by every means in my
power to induce my father to permit me to wed the woman I loved. It is
doubtless difficult for M'sieu' to appreciate the position of a French
officer. In America--Ah--America is free, one can marry the woman one
loves, but in France no officer can marry without the consent of the
Minister of War and of the President of the Republic; and more than that
he cannot marry unless his intended wife possesses a dowry of at least
fifty thousand francs which must be deposited with the Minister of War
for investment."
"In spite of the fact that I enjoyed the confidence and friendship of
President Carnot the latter, at my father's request, refused me
permission to marry. There was no choice left for me but to resign my
commission, and this I did. I returned to England and was married at St.
Thomas's Church, London, on the 21st of June, 1893.
"My education as an engineer had been of the most highly technical and
thorough character, and I had every reason to believe that in America I
could earn a comfortable living. My wife and I, therefore, sailed for
America immediately after our marriage. I first secured a position in
some iron works in South Boston, and for a time lived happily. A boy,
Oscar, named after my father, was born to us while we were living in the
town of Winchester near Boston. Another son was born a year later in the
same place, and still a third in Pittsburgh, where I had gone to assume
the position of general foreman of the Homestead Steel Works and
assistant master mechanic of the Carnegie Steel Company. I rapidly
secured the confidence of my employers and was sent upon several
occasions to study new processes in different parts of the country.
During one of my vacations we returned to England and visited my wife's
people, who lived in Manchester; here she died on the 17th of June,
1901."
De Nevers paused again and it was some moments before he continued.
"After the death of my wife my father expressed himself as ready for a
reconciliation, but although this took place I had not the heart to
remain in France. I liked America and had attained distinction in my
profession. I therefore expressed my intention of returning to continue
my career as an engineer, but at the earnest solicitation of my father,
left my three children with my parents. They are now living at the
château of my mother at Nievre.
"I was sent to Chicago to study a new blast furnace, and two years
later, when Mr. Schwab organized the Russo-American Company at
Mariopool, South Siberia, he offered me the position of general manager,
which I accepted. Here I remained until November, 1904, when all the
American engineers were arrested and imprisoned on the order of General
Kozoubsky of the Russian Engineers, who at the same time shot and
murdered my assistant, Thomas D. McDonald, for refusing to allow him to
remove pig iron from the storehouse without giving a receipt for it.
Ambassador McCormick secured our immediate release, and we returned to
the States. M'sieu' has no idea of the power of these Russian officers.
The murder of my assistant was of the most brutal character. Kozoubsky
came to my office and demanded the iron, but having secured it, refused
to sign the receipt which McDonald presented to him. McDonald said: 'You
shall not remove the iron if you do not sign the receipt.' As he spoke
the words the General drew his revolver and shot him down like a dog.
"I returned to America in January, 1905, and have since then been doing
work as a consulting engineer. Last January I visited my parents in
Paris at their home at 148 Champs Elysée. You have doubtless seen the
mansion with its two gates and black railing of decorative iron. I had
no sooner returned to America than I received a cable announcing the
death of my father."
De Nevers removed from his breast pocket a bundle of carefully folded
papers from which he produced a sheet of heavy stationery with a deep
border of mourning and a large black cross at the top, of which the
following is a copy:
MM. Her Grace the Duchess Dowager of Nevers; his Grace the Duke
Charles J. F. of Nevers and his children Oscar, Hilda and John;
their Highnesses the Prince and Princess Henry of Aremberg; Captain
the Count André of Nevers; Captain the Count Fernand of Nevers; the
Earl and Countess of Kilkenny; the Marquis and Marchioness of
Londonderry; the Earl and Countess of Dudley; the Countess Marie of
Nevers; Lieutenant the Count Marcel of Nevers have the sorrow to
announce the subite death at the family seat at Nevers (France), of
His Grace Oscar Odon, Duke of Nevers, Grand Commander of the Legion
of Honor, Knight of the Garter. Their husband, father, grandfather
and uncle beloved.
Masonic burial shall take place at Nevers on Tuesday, February 21,
1905.
New York, February 20, 1905.