Leap Over the Turrets

"Here they come," murmured the crowd gathered for the annual Assumption Day parade in the tiny French village of Oizon. All eyes turned to the tall man with horn-rimmed glasses and the small, serious-faced woman who walked in the procession behind him.

To the village folk, the Marquis and Marquise de Voguee were almost legendary figures. He held one of the oldest titles, owned one of the biggest fortunes in France. Like his illustrious forebears, he was a fastidious man of the world, loved to travel, to hunt on his vast estates, to entertain lavishly in his turreted ancestral home, the Chateau de la Verrerie. Dressed in exclusive Dior gowns, his wife was every inch the grande dame, and on occasion, as she accompanied her financier husband on business trips, she helped close many a solid financial deal herself.

As the Marquis and Marquise walked through the sunny streets of Oizon last week, their hands clasped, looking neither right nor left, the villagers continued to buzz and whisper. It was the last time they would ever see the Marquis and Marquise de Voguee.

The Marquis, 63, and his wife, 58, are about to abandon their sumptuous life. The Marquis will shave his well-groomed head and don the rough cowl of a Benedictine monk, and the Marquise will forsake her finery for the simple habit of the Little Sisters of the Ascension. In a monastery in central France, he will till the land with his brother monks, eat the simplest of foods, rise at night to chant the office. She will nurse the sick and aid the poor in parts of Paris where on past visits her limousine never brought her. They will never see each other again.

The Marquis and Marquise, who have been married 35 years, made their decision long ago, but wanted to wait until the last of their five children settled down. This week their youngest son, Geoffrey, 23, is to be married. Four of their children (the fifth is a Benedictine monk) will inherit the family fortune. The Marquis and Marquise said goodbye to their family in typical fashion--at a party. Said the Marquis: "I shall miss my hunting rifle most of all."

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