s suburban studies in the Louvre. At the
foot of the bed is an older painting, probably by Joseph Imbert, the
subject being the Virgin and Child, treated quite in his manner.

"On a table in the dressing-room are nearly a dozen swords, some of them
very rich and splendid. One in particular, an elegant, dainty
dress-rapier, is fairly encrusted with gems and jewelry. On the chairs,
scattered about the room, a courtier's wardrobe of the utmost magnificence
lies as if thrown down in confusion--silks, velvets, laces and
embroideries, collars and chains set with precious stones, orders and
decorations blazing with diamonds--a piled-up profusion indeed of all the
luxurious and costly appointments of a favorite at the most gorgeous and
extravagant court in Europe.

"We took an _al-fresco_ lunch in the court, provided beforehand by the
intendant, and then returned through the entire range of buildings to the
chapel. Our old friend failed us here. He had never been in the chapel,
and declined to accompany us farther than the entrance. We had reserved
the chapel until the afternoon, thinking it would prove the richest
treasury of the chateau, studio-rumors placing here a collection of
original old masters. But we were grievously disappointed, finding nothing
but black ruin and decay. The roof over the chancel is entirely open to
the sky, and a wide-yawning crack extends down the rear wall to the
ground, as if a lightning-stroke had riven it asunder. The canvas of the
altar-piece has fallen like a covering over the altar, screening and
preserving it, so that its beautiful marble and alabaster sculptures still
retain their integrity; but the picture itself crumbled to pieces as we
touched it, and the other paintings, of which there are a great number,
are all in much the same state--black, defaced and destroyed beyond
recognition or hope of restoration. If there are originals of Salvator
Rosa, Rubens or Rembrandt here, they are lost to the world for ever."

* * * * *

The foregoing description has been summarized from letters and statements
of the artist visitors. The following sketch is from the same sources,
collated with popular tradition and hints obtained from historic
researches. Partly narrative, partly legend and partly surmise, it gives
the story of Chateau Courance as nearly as it will probably ever be known.

Early in the eighteenth century the estates of Courance came into the
possessio