DIANE OF VILLE MARIE
A ROMANCE OF FRENCH CANADA
BY
BLANCHE LUCILE MACDONNELL.
TORONTO
WILLIAM BRIGGS,
29-33 Richmond St West.
Montreal: C. W. COATES, Halifax: S. F. HUESTIS.
1898
Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada,in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight,by William Briggs, at the Department ofAgriculture.
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
A Mother
WHO WAS
INSPIRATION, FRIEND AND COMFORTER.
PREFACE.
THIS story is an attempt to make known themen and women who once lived and lovedand suffered amid these very scenes wherein we arenow enacting our own life stories.
In dealing with historical events and characters itseems only fair to the reader to avow what libertieshave been taken with facts, and to state exactly towhat extent this tale is founded upon history.
The Le Ber family were prominent figures amongtheir contemporaries. Jacques Le Ber, brother-in-lawto the redoubtable Charles Le Moyne, was one of therichest merchants of New France. A hardy andintrepid soldier, he was ennobled by Louis XIV.in 1696. In speaking of him M. Dollier de Cassonsays: “M. Jacques Le Ber has in this way renderedvaluable services to the colony, exposing himselfvery often in canoe, on the ice, or in the woods,carrying despatches.”
His only daughter, Jeanne Le Ber, was considereda great heiress. At seventeen she determined to offerherself as an expiatory offering for the sins of hercountry. During the fifteen years following sheremained in seclusion in her father’s house, and wasnever seen but once, and that exactly as describedin this story. Later, this fair enthusiast decided togive the Sisters of the Congregation sufficient moneyto build their church, if they would provide her acell behind the altar in which she could spend theremainder of her days. This cell, divided into threestoreys, and extending the whole length of the building,was from ten to twelve feet deep.
The original deed, containing these conditions—drawnup by Bassett, a notary of Ville Marie, andsigned by the principal nuns of the Congregation,as well as by M. Dollier d