PEOPLE WHO LEAD DOUBLE LIVES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 17, 13 February 1909, Page 3

PEOPLE WHO LEAD DOUBLE LIVES.

iS A CHAT WITH A PARISIAN DETECTIVE. At a certain rate, chielly patronised by students and by Bohemians of all ■ kinds, situated in one of those small j! sirens oil' the Uouluvard St. Michel J i which seemed to lead nowhere in parJI tictuar, a grey-haired, rather military- .. looking man was one of the habitues. ' I For a long lime we wondered what 1 brought him almost nightly lo the little cafe, which, if it wore a satisfying oldJ time air appealing to one's ariislic , sense, was nevertheless botu shabby and ' quiet. At last one evening an opportunity ;" occurred of addressing il. X , owing ' to the fact that ive were compelled to j share a corner of Ms little table because of the numerous customers who had J , come in. ' After some desultory conversation, in | ! which as one of its subjects figured an extraordinary ease of tho discovery of ( the double life led by a well-known in- . habitant of the Boulevard St. Germain, . M. X—— said, somewhat suddenly: "There aru many people who would be surprised to know the number of double lives there arc in this city of Paris. My business in past years more I than nowadays brought me into contact with many of these people. "Vou arc not old enough," he con

I tinned, after a pause, "to remember the case of the Cuiute d'A . For many years he used to go out every morning, or almost every morning, from his house near what is now the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, and rolurn to it either at lunch or later. Xo one knew where he passed his time, but the servants had some idea that he was engaged in speculations on the Bourse. By quite an accident one day his secret was given away. "In those days there used to bo many gambling saloons in the neighborhood of tho Palais Royal, and on a certain morning one of the proprietors of a gambling den was fatally stabbed by one of his victims, and upon being taken to a neighboring hospital he was recognised, when his false board had been taken oil' him, as the well-known Comle d'A . For upwards of fifteen years the Comte d'A had been in the habit of spending his time in the gambling saloon which he and another less distinguished but not more honest individual ran b one of the buildings of the Palais Royal. And from the profits they made by the clever and elaborate system of cheating and plucking of 'pigeons' he kept up not only his beautiful mansion hi Paris and a line stud of horses, but also a

chateau in Touraine, and, report said was generous to ninny a 'star' of the theatrical lirmainent of the time. "But for this attack made by one oi his gambling victims, the Comtc d'A might have led this double life for yeavs longer without discovery. Xot only was his disguise excellent, but he learned oven to change his voice and his manner. "At least one President of the French Republic," continued the speaker, "lias during the last thirty years led a double existence. And, strange to say, it was I, then in the service uf the (loverainent, who was destined to discover this fuel, which was only made known to the world by a sordid tragedy. "What induces people, and especially men of high .social position, to lead these double lives it is difficult to say,''replied the speaker in answer to a question j "sometimes 1 fancy it must be a form of mental aberration, for by no means can such a case as that of Mile. S be explained. "For several years there stood at the corner of one of the stroets which debouch into the Place de la Madeleine a ragged but extremely beautiful girl selling (lowers which were in season; and she must have made a good thing out of her calling of bouquinisto, as many a boulevardier purchased flowers of her. and did not stop for change, whilst report had it that 'ln Petit Bouquiniste,' by which title she was generally known, had received many quite serious proposals from customers who had become her ardtnt admirers. "One night, however, a great sensation was created at the Opera by the beauty ol a certain young lady in the boxes. Many eyes and lorgnettes were turned upon her in curiosity, and at last a gentleman well known on the llourse and also in theatrical society suddenly recognised in the dark-haired beauty, whose dress and jewels set oil' her lovelhioss to perfection, a slrnusre resemblance to the fair-haire.l Mower-seller of the Place de la Madeleine. "Xext day 'La Petite Boiiquimste' was at her post as usual, and. upon being taxed by the gentleman who had been it the Opera the night before as also being there, stoutly denied the accusation. But, strange to say, the little never again appeared at the corner of the Place lie la Madeleine; mid I afterwards discovered (employed liy jr. J!—, who was very curious concerning her identity) that the apparently poor bouquiniste was quite a wealthy young woman, living with an aunt of

the neighborhood of Surcsnoss. It appears that she had almost daily for several years played the part of a llower-seller for many hours, returning home to her aunt's house shortly after noon, as a general rule to appear in the Bois de Boulogne during the afternoon dressed in beautiful clothes, and a dark-haired instead of a fair-haired girl. "I was told that she made quite a small fortune out of her nowcr-seiling, it being nothing uncommon for rich admirers to give her two or three francs for a buttonhole which had cost her in the markets) perhaps hardly as many sous. On several occasions I was to.'d she look as much as a hundred francs a day, almost incredible though this amount seems."