A Woodland Queen | Page 4

the author's ideas before making
an entire meal of them. D.W.]

A WOODLAND QUEEN ('Reine des Bois')
By ANDRE THEURIET
With a Preface by MELCHIOR DE VOGUE, of the French academy

ANDRE THEURIET
CLAUDE-ADHEMAR-ANDRE THEURIET was born at Marly-le-Roi
(Seine et Oise), October 8,1833. His ancestors came from Lorraine. He
was educated at Bar-le-Duc and went to Paris in 1854 to study
jurisprudence. After finishing his courses he entered the Department of
the Treasury, and after an honorable career there, resigned as
chef-de-bureau. He is a poet, a dramatist, but, above all, a writer of
great fiction.
As early as 1857 the poems of Theuriet were printed in the 'Revue de
Paris' and the 'Revue des Deux Mondes'. His greatest novel, 'Reine des
Bois' (Woodland Queen), was crowned by the Academie Francaise in
1890. To the public in general he became first known in 1870 by his
'Nouvelles Intimes'. Since that time he has published a great many
volumes of poems, drama, and fiction. A great writer, he perhaps meets
the wishes of that large class of readers who seek in literature agreeable
rest and distraction, rather than excitement or aesthetic gratification. He
is one of the greatest spirits that survived the bankruptcy of
Romanticism. He excels in the description of country nooks and
corners; of that polite rusticity which knows nothing of the delving
laborers of 'La Terre', but only of graceful and learned leisure, of
solitude nursed in revery, and of passion that seems the springtide of
germinating nature. He possesses great originality and the passionate
spirit of a 'paysagiste': pictures of provincial life and family-interiors
seem to appeal to his most pronounced sympathies. His taste is delicate,
his style healthy and frank, and at the same time limpid and animated.
After receiving, in 1890, the Prix Vitet for the ensemble of his literary
productions, he was elected to the Academy in 1896. To the stage
Theuriet has given 'Jean-Marie', drama in verses (Odeon, February 11,
1871). It is yet kept on the repertoire together with his 'Maison de deux
Barbeaux (1865), Raymonde (1887), and Les Maugars (1901).'
His novels, tales, and poems comprise a long list. 'Le Bleu et le Noir'
(1873) was also crowned by the Academy. Then followed, at short
intervals: 'Mademoiselle Guignon (1874.); Le Mariage de Gerard
(1875); La Fortune d'Angele (1876); Raymonde (1877),' a romance of
modern life, vastly esteemed by the reading public; 'Le Don Juan de
Vireloup (1877); Sous Bois, Impressions d'un Forestier (1878); Le
Filleul d'un Marquis (1878); Les Nids (1879); Le fils Maugars (1879);

La Maison de deux Barbeaux (1879); Toute seule (1880); Sauvageonne
(1880), his most realistic work; Les Enchantements de la Foret (1881);
Le Livre de la Payse (poetry, 1882); Madame Heurteloup (1882); Peche
de Jeunesse (1883); Le Journal de Tristan, mostly autobiographical;
Bigarreau (1885); Eusebe Lombard (1885); Les OEillets de Kerlatz
(1885); Helene (1886); Nos Oiseaux (beautiful verses, 1886); La Vie
Rustique (1887); Amour d'Automne (1888); Josette (1888); Deux
Soeurs (1889); Contes pour les Soirs d'Hiver (1890); Charme
Dangereux (1891); La Ronde des Saisons et des Mois (1889); La
Charmeresse (1891); Fleur de Nice (1896); Bois Fleury (1897); Refuge
(1898); Villa Tranquille (1899); Claudette (1900); La Petite Derniere
(1901); Le Manuscrit du Chanoine (1902), etc.
Besides this abundant production Andre Theuriet has also contributed
to various journals and magazines: 'Le Moniteur, Le Musee Universal,
L'Illustration, Le Figaro, Le Gaulois, La Republique Francaise, etc.; he
has lectured in Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland, and has even found
leisure to fill the post as Mayor of Bourg-la-Reine (Seine et Oise),
perhaps no onerous office (1882-1900). He has also been an 'Officier
de la Legion d'Honneur' since 1895. MELCHIOR DE VOGUE de
l'Academie Francaise.

A WOODLAND QUEEN
BOOK 1.
CHAPTER I
THE UNFINISHED WILL
Toward the middle of October, about the time of the beechnut harvest,
M. Eustache Destourbet, justice of the Peace of Auberive, accompanied
by his clerk, Etienne Seurrot, left his home at Abbatiale, in order to
repair to the Chateau of Vivey, where he was to take part in removing
the seals on some property whose owner had deceased.
At that period, 1857, the canton of Auberive, which stretches its
massive forests like a thick wall between the level plain of Langres and
the ancient Chatillonais, had but one main road of communication: that
from Langres to Bar-sur-Aube. The almost parallel adjacent route, from

Auberive to Vivey, was not then in existence; and in order to reach this
last commune, or hamlet, the traveller had to follow a narrow grass-
bordered path, leading through the forest up the hill of Charboniere,
from the summit of which was seen that intermingling of narrow
gorges and wooded heights which is so characteristic of this
mountainous region. On all sides were indented horizons of trees,
among which a few, of more