Front matter
Reading edition
LORRAINE
A ROMANCE
By ROBERT W. CHAMBERS
Author of "Cardigan,"
"The Maid at Arms,"
"The Maids of Paradise,"
"The Fighting Chance," etc.
A. L. BURT COMPANY
Publishers New York
Published by arrangement with Harper & Brothers
Copyright, 1897, by Harper & Brothers.
All rights reserved.
TO
MY FATHER
LORRAINE!
When Yesterday shall dawn again, And the long line athwart the hill Shall quicken with the bugle's thrill, Thine own shall come to thee, Lorraine! Then in each vineyard, vale, and plain, The quiet dead shall stir the earth And rise, reborn, in thy new birth— Thou holy martyr-maid, Lorraine! Is it in vain thy sweet tears stain Thy mother's breast? Her castled crest Is lifted now! God guide her quest! She seeks thine own for thee, Lorraine! So Yesterday shall live again, And the steel line along the Rhine Shall cuirass thee and all that's thine. France lives—thy France—divine Lorraine! R. W. C.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author desires to acknowledge his indebtedness to the valuable volumes of Messrs. Victor Duruy, Archibald Forbes, Sir William Fraser, Dr. J. von Pflugk-Harttung, G. Tissandier, Comdt. Grandin, and "Un Officier de Marine," concerning (wholly or in part) the events of 1870-1871.
Occasionally the author has deemed it best to change the names of villages, officers, and regiments or battalions.
The author believes that the romance separated from the facts should leave the historical basis virtually accurate.
R. W. C.
New York, September, 1897.