Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-08-22
BETWEEN OURSELVES.

france. Inc society mas put MIN out, ana the
Carlton club of London has stricken his name
from its books. Queen Victoria will probably
forbid his appearance at court, and all his
fellow mobiles ont him, while his friends regard
him as dead. Society has commenced rigor-
ous work of communication, and yet he is
Lord Marquis, and q cousin of the Queen.
Now in this social tragedy, if We knew all it's
details, its cOncreteness, and its actual work.
ings, am sure we should consider the noble
Marquis subject for more real pity than
anger. He is the victim, and while he is in
the pillory let's take good look at his case.
In the first place Mrs. Wetmore was married,
but had achieved a divorce, in order to make a
conquest of my Lord Henry and his most Sc
duotive title. et
Whatever proposition came from him, it is q
poser to know that a woman well moored In
ling to throw them overheard for no better i'm
pulse than worldly vanity, and the glory of a
title. No affection was involved; such women
go astray, but are not led. because all the cir
cumstances prove deliberate action on their
part. She was the seducer, not he, for her con
sent was more than an invitation, and in this
particular instance it took on such provoca-
ton of assurance, that it was plain sailing to
my Lord Henry Paget. If ties usually regard
ed the most indissoluble we're nothing to her in
advance. what should less binding ones be to
him, when he discovered her real motive of at
tack2 The motive counts for nothing with her
sympathizers. now that she is dead, through
chagrin over failure, but it is probably suficing
enough to him and his defenders. He may be
an irredeemable rufian, but Mrs. Wetmore
can't gain anything by such . plea because of
her advances and concessions, and possibly her
full knowledge of Lord Henry's faiings
in the matter of women-just as Gwendolen in
Daniel Deronda was aware of Grandcourt's
upon his bead.
They didn't effect his rent roll, nor his sol
vency, and the rest was merely his own per-
sonal experience, which it was well to ignore
as matter which might be disagreeable in its
reflex on after and possibly more permanent
ties. Women have never told their own story
fully yet; they never do; they never will.
If they did many conclusions would be
reversed, and many verdicts annulled.
Who was to blame, Anthony or Cleopatra?
the Queen of Sheba or Solomon, whom she de-
iberately sought out for her conquest And
Telemachus too think of his prosecutions by
the fascinating Calypso, and then fancy him
ostracised for giving her The go-by. Instances
come rushing to the resoue-of Venus and
Adonis, of Delilah and Samson-but it isn't
necessary to recapitulate. The wise observer
knows that with this sort of woman, the Annie
Wetmore kind, it is we'll studied progress from
inception to completion. The mistake is in
making martyrs, and victims of them
when they fail, and throwing the
whole blame Of the business on the seconds in
it. We are writing now of married women
whose potential crochet is vanity, and whose
sole agency in life seems to be to bring about
social oonquests, of one sort OK another. They
have secured husband. and he is serviceab}e
enough as a pecuniary factor, and cover for
more liberty than could be enjoyed without
him. But tits curious how soon he can be su-
perseded by some ambition of society, and
sometimes his very name foregone, as in the
case of Mrs. Wetmore, if higher aud more
impressive one tempts. To be sure such ex-
treme instances are rare, only, perhaps. be-
cause the titled fools are not all az susceptible
of co operation in the overthrow of families as
Lord Henry. The fuss here is about name,
and the edium is going to rest upon the man.
who backed out of throwing away the best part
of his, representing social prsstige and revenue.
upon a woman who had csimly cast off her own
as q preliminary process to noble rehabilita-
ton.
The notoriety of this peer isn't at all to be
coveted, bat there is probably more extenua-
ton for him than for his "victiu.'' He be.
longs to class which is always snobbishly pur-
sued.
The pages of Thackery TEEN with well told
plots and schemes wherein such as he figure, in
just the situations of The Paget- Wetmore af-
fair. With the Anglo-mania besetting our upper
class, she snobbish pursuit is quite "a effeo :
lively carried on, as by those to the manner
born. Why not? Vanity springs eternal in
women's breast. To achieve social preemin-
ence, to compass worldly grandeur, to be some
body with big sounding name is the am
bition of majority of the fair seq in these
interesting times. It is managed too, withoub
the faintess pre- tense at anything like senti-
ment. Society is occasionally astonished at
some especially pronounced case of getting an
establishment without the affectation of any
motive save business, bat we are getting to re-
gard such alliances as matters of course. Not
long ago the people opened their eyes over the
cold-blooded marrying of an old codger by a
young woman whose worldly wisdom, and
ideas of settlement would discount
old Lady Kews. Under her beetling
black brows the venerable dame had some SEN
timent which would come to the surfaoe at
rare intervals tempered with q caustic dash.-
The calculating young woman may feel some
remorseful regret in the blood when she has
chance of marrying q mau quarter of a GEN.
tury younger than herself. instead of quar-
ter of a century older.
Women ought to be pretty sure Of winning
when they enter themselves fairly or unfairly
for the social prizes. To make }aaseo, or
even blunder, is ruin. Success would have
made Mrs. Wetnore's extraordinary game &c.
ceptabls; bat to lose it and have rival Ameri-
can wear the title, why death was the ouly ref
uge for the disappointed heart.
Now, really, was the man SO very much to
blame when he knew the exact nature of the
designs against him2 he had more at stake
if he looked upon the thing as game, and
perhaps that's what made him give up. May