appeared to be particularly fond of little
Marie; who, strikingly resembled her father.
Sometime, after the receipt of his first
letter. Courtenay wrote from America,
announcing a remittance, through a third
party, of eight hundred francs; which, however
his family never received. Marguerite
Titau, or Courtenay, heard no more of her
husband after that letter; and, at length,
believing herself to be once more a widow,
and resigning herself to her misfortune,
continued to bring up her children as well as her
feeble resources permitted. The eldest, Jean
Courtenay, as soon as he was able to handle
an oar, became a sailor; and Marie assisted
her mother in her household occupations.

Years rolled on; and, after the peace
of eighteen hundred and fifteen, Lord
William Courtenay appeared in England, and
had his estates restored to him. A rumour
floated over the county of Devon, about this
time, to the effect, that the noble Earl having
disguised himself as a common sailor, had
gone to one of the principal hotels in Exeter,
and mingled in the conversations of the bar
and tap-rooms, with a view of finding out
the sort of reception he might expect, if he
returned publicly to his estate and lordship
of Powderham Castle. Learning, however,
that stoning, or tarring and feathering,
would be deemed the most appropriate welcome,
Lord William Courtenay, thinking it
imprudent to venture, returned immediately
to France. The restored Earl of Devon took
up his residence in a sumptuous hotel, in the
Place Vendôme in Paris; and bought a most
beautiful and agreeable country-house,
situated near Corbeil, in the little village of
Draveil. In this country retreat he soon
won for himself the name of the Bear of
Draveil. His only associates were his
steward, Mr. Woods, and his family. He
went out seldom, and was generally
accompanied by Miss Woods, the steward's
daughter; and, of course, Lord William
Courtenay was not spared by the evil
tongues of his neighbourhood.

In eighteen hundred and thirty-five, the
Earl of Devon died, leaving by his will all
his property to Mr. and Mrs. Woods, and
their three children, George, Henry, and Jane.
After going through the necessary legal
formalities prescribed by French law, Mr.
Woods came into possession of the furniture
of the hotel, at number eighteen Place Vendôme,
and the country seat of Draveil. After
disposing of the Chateau of Draveil to a
Monsieur and Madame Dalloz, and after
realising the sum of eight thousand pounds by
the sale of the furniture, which was rich in
objects of art vertu, Mr. Woods on receiving
the proceeds of these sales, hastened back to
England with his family.

We must now return to humble life, and
the little village of Saint Christoly. In
eighteen hundred and thirty-six, Marguerite
Titau, or Courtenay, was dead. Her son,
Jean Courtenay, had gone to sea, and never
more been heard of; and Marie Courtenay
was supporting herself by her labour, when,
one day, she received a letter from Paris,
written in English. Now Marie, so far from
knowing how to read English, could not
speak French, knowing nothing but the
patois of her department. Luckily, however,
she knew an Englishman who had lived
twenty years in her native village, and who
translated the letter for her. It was from an
unknown person, informing her of the death
of her father, at number eighteen or nineteen
Place Vendome, leaving a large fortune, and
advising her to take the steps necessary to
inherit it.

Marie, believing the letter to be an ill-timed
jest, and putting it into her pocket,
kept it there until the edges became chafed,
and the letter destroyed. Nevertheless, in
eighteen hundred and forty-one, a M. Falempin,
a lawyer, having business which called
him from Saint Christoly to Paris, Marie
begged him to make inquiries respecting the
particulars mentioned in the mysterious
letter; but, soon after his arrival in Paris,
the lawyer fell ill, and died. Some time
afterwards, the Maire of Saint Christoly
wrote to the English consul at Bordeaux, to
enquire the fate of Lord William Courtenay,
but he never received any answer to his
letter. At length, in eighteen hundred and
fifty-three, a lawyer who happened to be
passing some time at Lespaire, heard the
story of the poor woman, said to be the
daughter and heiress of Lord Courtenay.
Incredulous at first, after seeing and questioning
Marie, now Madame Baty, and after
having made inquiries in the neighbourhood,
the lawyer became convinced that the story
told by the poor woman was perfectly true.

Of course he was entrusted with the case,
and went up to Paris, where, after having
ascertained the particulars of the death of
Lord Courtenay, he commenced legal
proceedings, for the purpose, in the first place,
of proving the legitimacy of Marie Courtenay,
and, in the second place, of claiming, in her
name, the only property of the late Earl
which Mr. Woods had not taken to England,
namely, the estate of Draveil. The estate
had gone into the hands of third parties,
Monsieur Dalloz having sold it to Monsieur
Séguin.

On the eighth of August, eighteen hundred
and fifty-seven, the case was tried before the
First Chamber of the Civil Tribunal of the
Seine. Henry Woods, the only surviving
member of his family, did not answer the
summons of the court. M. Limet, the advocate
of Madame Baty, in her name begged
the court to declare her the legitimate
daughter and heiress of Lord William Courtenay,
and to condemn Henry Woods to
restore to her a third part of the movable
and immovable property of the late Lord