t--many fairy stories are ready and waiting to
come true if only people will believe in them long enough.

For many years Elizabeth Marbury and I had spent our summers in that
charming French town, Versailles, before we had any hope of realizing a
home of our own there. We loved the place, with its glamour of romance
and history, and we prowled around the old gardens and explored the old
houses, and dreamed dreams and saw visions.

One old house that particularly interested us was the villa that had
once been the home of the Duc de Nemours, son of Louis Philippe. It was
situated directly on the famous Park of Versailles which is, as everyone
knows, one of the most beautiful parks in all the world. The villa had
not been lived in since the occupancy of de Nemours. Before the villa
came to de Nemours it had been a part of the royal property that was
portioned out to Mesdames de France, the disagreeable daughters of Louis
XV. You will remember how disagreeable they were to Marie Antoinette,
and what a burden they made her life. I wish our house had belonged to
more romantic people; Madame du Barry or Madame de Pompadour would have
suited me better!

How many, many times we peeped through the high iron railing at this
enchanted domain, sleeping like the castle in the fairy tale. The garden
was overgrown with weeds and shrubbery, the house was shabby and sadly
in need of paint. We sighed and thought how happy would be our fortune
if we might some day penetrate the mysteries of the tangled garden and
the abandoned villa. Little did we dream that this would one day be our
home.

We first went to Versailles as casual summer visitors and our stay was
brief. We loved it so much that the next summer we went again, this time
for the season, and found ourselves members of a happy pension family.
Then we decided to rent an apartment of our own, for the next year, and
soon we were considering the leases of houses, and finally we arrived at
the supreme audacity of negotiating for the purchase of one. We had a
great friend in Versailles, Victorien Sardou, the novelist and
playwright so honored by the people of France. His wonderful house at
Marly le Roi was a constant joy to us, and made us always more eager for
a permanent home of our own in the neighborhood. Sardou was as eager for
the finding of our house as we were, and it was he who finally made it
possible for us to buy our historic villa. He did everything for us,
introduced