It was as if the proudest Daughters of the American Revolution had suddenly been told that their ancestors were all spies in the pay of George III. "It doesn't make the slightest difference whether a great family took part in the Crusades or not," said aristocratic Count Emmanuel de Las Cases. "It is still a great family." But very few French aristocrats were able last week to put so brave a front on the matter. The fact was that the patrician pedigrees of 250 aristocratic families had just had a great fall.
In the year 1839, the Orleans "Citizen King," Louis...
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