THE RAKE'S PROGRESS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 65, 17 March 1900, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE RAKE'S PROGRESS.

A LA PRANCAIS.

THE VISCOUNT AND HIS VICTIM,

(From Our Special Correspondent.)

LONDON, February 2.

A queer yarn of high life in Paris wjß.s

told in the Assize Courts recently, when

Viscount Arthur D'Assailly, a worn-out

roue of 56, was put on trial for the at-

tempted murder of his latest flame, "Su-

zanne d'Arneville," a casino soubrette of the piquante Parisian type. D'Assailly from youth up had lived at express speed, and at 43 years of age had made away With several decent fortunes. Then,stonebroke in pocket and pretty well used-up physically, he sought refuge in marriage, a wife being- found for him who had the desirable qualifications of a fair face, a trim figure, a spotless reputation, and £1000 a year income. Strange to say, she was devoted to the rakish Viscount, and for four years her influence kept him in the path of virtue and to the green fields and healthy sports of Brittany. At the end of that time his wife's devotion palled on the Viscount, and with renewed health his vicious appetite returned. In the autumn of 1897 he paid a visit to his beloved capital, and there, at the Casino de Paris, met "Suzanne." The lady having no reputation to lose met the Viscount's amorous approaches rather more than halfway, and soon the pair were living- in a spick and span villa at Meadon in an extravagant fashion at the Viscountess' expense. D'Assailly drew upon his wife's

"dot" freely, and what with trips to Monte Carlo, Ostend, and the Canaries, and sifts to his paramour, the Viscount was not long in getting to the end of his tether. A year, in fact, sufficed to land him in "Queer-street" again, but by borrowing here and there he managed to keep the pot boiling until July last, and then "Suzanne" showed a desire to cast thesqueazed orange aside. The crisis came on lotn July, when the Viscount discovered that

"Suzanne" had made domestic arrangements in which he would play no part. Mad with jealousy, the Viscount pulled out a revolver and gave his lost love the contents of its chambers. He hit her in the face, the breast, and the left arm, but she was tough, and her wounds though dangerous did not prove fatal. In a couple of months, indeed, she was out and about again as chirpy and charming as ever, and ready to prosecute with vigour her assailant, from whom she claimed substantial damages.

Put on trial, the Viscount pleaded temporary insanity, and expressed great astonishment at having committed such a crime. The sensational moment of the trial was when "Suzanne," dressed a la derniere mode, went to the witness rail and timidly replied to the questions of the President. Then she faltered and asked to be excused for a minute or two. Eventually she did not know why he fired at I her, and she had forgiven him. His wife, the Viscountess, had given her 12,000fr. as an indemnity, and she had withdrawn her action for damages. Then the Viscountess stepped up to the rail and said she wished to speak to the jury. A lively altercation ensued between the presiding judge and the Maitre Henri Robert, counsel for the Viscount, as to whether she should be allowed to say anything. "Say that you have come to ask for the acquittal of your husband!" shouted the barrister, and the Viscountess replied in a calm voice, "For the sake of my old mother of eighty-three years, I ask you to acquit him. I supplicate you to give him back to me." ' The good lady retired, whilst the Viscount hid his face in his hands and wept. Maitre Henri made an impassioned appeal for his client, whom he pictured as a "spoiled child of fiftysix" and the victim of a passion which had clouded the reason and weakened his will. After a short deliberation the jury returned with a verdict of acquittal. "Merci!" cried the Viscount, as. he threw his arms round the neck of his barrister and kissed him. , The "hero" of this tragi-comedy is described as "quite an old man—he was completely bald, his face pale and wrinkled, his air very morose, and his manner depressed.