Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1870-01-11
A Bogus Lord" Played Out, and a
Silly Girl and her Parents Brought
down to Grief and Shame.

Probably there never has been in
our social history a more fragrant
case OF the eagerness of a certain
class Of American girls to be deceived
by foreign adventurers than the
Ainsley-Radford affair, which has
just come to a quick conclusion in
New York. 50 rapid has been the
whole action Of the comedy that its
incidents from the beginning are
still familiar in the minds of news
,.aper readers. A few months ago
Lord Hubert AinsIey appeared upon
the surface Of 80 called fashionable
society in New York. A,personable
young man OF easy manners, he soon
became talked about, and speedily
an engagement was announced be-
tween his lordship and young lady
OF respectable and wealthy parent
age in Brooklyn. The newspapers
printed the bills of fare Of his break
fasts, and described the unique cut
OF his coats. Presently it was dis
covered that there was no such name
as his in the peelage; and a few
days later a special messenger whom
the mother of his aflianced bride had
sent TO Europe on a mission of in
quiry, returned with the news that
the young adventurer was one Rich
ard Radtord, @ valet by profession,
who had picked up his accomplish
menus from bis masters and a little
money from some gaming table on
the continent. These facts also, fully
sustained, appeared in print, and the
false pretences of Mr.. Dick Radford
were fully exposed.
Had the matter ended here, il
would have been like host of SINH
lar attempted impostures with which
the world has been familiar. A lit
Tile modification, few heart pangs
somewhat amelIorated by wounded
pride, would have been left and ia
nine days all would have been for
gotten. But it did not end here.-
The betrothed lady was girl OF
spirit. Mr. Rsyford's winnings were
OF solid gold aud his impudence OF
substantial brass, and he bore him.
self stoutly up. She would have
him. Dreaming, perhaps, of Paul
ines love-match, of how behind the
fictitious eloquence which described
the palace on the Lake of Como
there lurked the romantic brilIiancy
of Claude's character, and, forgetting
that the Lady of Lyons would never
have welded her disguised lover had
his fraud been disclosed beforehand,
she insisted that the marriage should
take place. The mother, carrying to
the last extreme that servile ODE
dience of American parents, at which
foreign critics 80 wonder, acquiesced
in the eveny which her daughters
decision, in her view. made inevitable.
The nuptials were celebrated with
splendor. The dashing groom con-
tinued his career in New York
awhile, and then, wisely avoiding the
chilly reserve of Boston society, car
RED his grandeur to Philadelphia for
a season.
And now, after a few short weeks
of seeming welded happiness, we
have the last act. The husband. I'M
able to obtain his wife's fortune, and
at the end of his own purse, has
stolen the jewels which contributed
so much to the magnifcence of the
trosseau, and has fled from tho coun-
try, leaving host of unpaid credit
ors. The bride returns to her home
in brain fever, but with an ex-
perience of misery, of cruelty, OF
abuse, which she thinks will en-
title her to a divorce. The sad story
is worth telling and worth rejecting
upon, as the exhibition Of a phase of
American society; but we cannot
let it pass without expressing our
conviction that it is decidedly an
exceptional phase. Infatuated wo-
men are not uncommon but women
so blindly infatuated and parents 50
wickedIy compliant are happily rare