New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-12-19
VIOLET WOODS HUSBAND
A STORY IN THREE CHAPTERS.

L.
Somehow or other they had become great TRENDS
Not that they were men cast in the same lines, put
w ccs-that huge factor in human actions
had induced them to be very frequently togethei.
They had been chums In way, rs iar I''ch 40
tlaiT UNDERGRADUATES days at Cambridge Wncre
Andrew Grett0n had first got into the way Oh pour,
ING ont bis really fine tenor voice TO an Vi
Elliott Beesly's recu!Dbent figure ana meerscua"ia
pipe. .. psos,v camo mn to town to eat his
dinners the two friends took suite OF IoonS VI
wb;ch wonld permit them comfortably ana WIN
hecom;ne patience to await the hour wheh laii'o
and clients should present lhemsees; thu es+ab
,shment IN Gray's Inn had been set up tna1 tuo
latter came home night from musicai drum
shut mn your law books, have done with prose.
cried C,rettcn fingiug down his hat Elhott' my
toy Pve seen my fate ,,,., Dali, ;.,,out
What's that T lacOnlcally asKeo beesiT "i'"o"'
looking up from his armchair. Ia
.Mysfatel Get out you fusty lawyer; an angeii'
being in swansdown and-ieaven kno oUy w minc
with eyes that bowl yOu over: None OF yorr inll'o
inc misses tottering and dropping their eyes
nothing of that sort-superb lines, my dear poy'
and such q smile ,.,,, u,.siv
SLOWLY. as he pulled out rings OF pale blue SMOKE
and watched them rise and vanish INTO alr; roo,,,
We'll | iiatter myself that Once Again feaiiy
went Of tonight. l never felt IN better VOICE IN
my life and Miss Wood Is quite eonnoisseud
knows what's good can tel you, saw Sr;ed
how she appreciated the erescehdo paNs'so' 'i''O
tonte aftnities, Ieh z continued lBeesy. Quick
work. But these things arc lnsfantane?us-ihe
photographs of dogs and babies-I suppose!
What .aconic beggar yoq are; shSniu QUIZ cn lc
heels do Won hear cried Gretton helping himself
70 q brandy -and-soda. You wouIuh' nay az Il
chance she's surrounded with men, ana l an tel
won IL vonld do you n lot OF good. I'm 10 iunch
18th Che Woods on Friday. I'll take you to call on
Sunday-no refusal, look upon the thing as nxed:i
Mrs Woods lived in 5oony hTus sna K SD
Gardens She had been a handsome snowy gIl III
her youth, but all traces OF beauty haa oe Ha
washed SSi by t9s she indeed
silly now than when she first gave her hand ana
fine person into MIR: Tobias Woods keeping; Dae
the friy,ality that is admissible at nineteen, Win
fine shoulders and the right turn OF throat is not TO
be tolerated in the same being grown hopeiessLy
out OF all ,G Srpp Of mind e she literally sagnae
and submitted herself passiyely with PLUMP foigea
hands TO whatever fate had IN store TOT her ne
with Christian resignation, finding even IN hcr 9eep
crane loophoes of comfort in the fact that the ate
stockbroker was buried Ill the Inoss
nef and that mourning really did become darhhg
Violet wonderfully. ,,.>. 4.
Mrs. Woods love for her only daughter was at
once her greatest weakness and her redeemlng
point She idolized this girl. who was renned
and more delicate version of herself In past DAYS,
and entered into her amusemens ana as
WAS A genial lady who liked AZ all times rs she ex-
pressed it, to see young folk about. Sls KEPT
and dances so that Miss Violet's admirers found
nnr . hv no means inaccessible goddess Accessible
abe was at most times approachable at lew, ior
Miss Wood was not entirely as Other young ladies'
caproious aud fantastic she was at inomehtS hlei-
ancholy and despODding Mt Others, bus al no time
to be sHblued by ordinary means i,
(srotton and Bcesy were well received from the
first in this hosptable honse, SO that the Tenor
ardor increased rather than Diminished anu the
two men got into tho habit OF being there H.
MI Andrew Gretton was man on whom fortune
had been pleased to bestOw handsome person,
tnnar voice and sufficient means. But society like
tho wicked fairy in the tale had added another GIT
that ll-nigh nuliled the other attractions; sne
had given Mr.. Gretton, namely, an exaggerated
rerception of his own superiority to the world at
large. Society had patted him on the back he had
bnen likened unto Mario, he had been gushed over
by maiden ladies' and had been taken into namma's
back drawing-room and confidence. In short MI
Andrew Grctton had become tribe spolit: ,yooa
How could nice girl-a girl like Miss WOOD,
come TO have such mother! said GIetton one
night. as he and Beesly left the house IN BaysWater
and lighted their cigars preparatory TO haiiihg q
Il should rather put it that II vas exceedingly
clover on Mrs. Woods part to have produgrSsd aa
is something special about that girl there's ilne
cut, a nicely about her; she wasn't ready made,
nor, 1 take it. turned out of mould .Ao
Yes yes, Of course; the girl is everything she
should be, but my dear boy, the mother what
mother -in-law! Ye heavens! no. by JOye. should
have forgotten myself long ago. ana gone IN 10! R Fe
the.by old man, you heard what they were saying
tonight They want us to come over TO LARS 1Or
self for almost every week in January, and TO be
obliged to go and eat my plum-pudding IN York
shire. wish you would run over ana iooh t a,orr
about and take them to the theatres and you can
trot Violet round and sec those little french icows
don't get at her, u.,,o. ,,,4
we object to anybody else having IT., Ell Never
mind, my boy PHI go over and carry MISS WOODS
parcels. Am to make meteoroiogicaI reports
Weather fair. daughter calm, mamma moderate
and that sort Of thingr roi.u
on. and perhaps shall be able to run over replied
Oretton. who always had a hundred pans Diu
YOU hear that old fellow Cadbury tonight saying
What The silent old boy with the whiskersp
asked Beesly L never know what he does at inc
Woods; he never speaks, but no Is always There;
He's got a lot Of money. returned Andrew. ana
has proposed no end OF times to violet, Mrs. W ooa
tells me- The old idiot hangs round casthg les JeuH
doux at Miss Wood. Isn't it capital joker ma
hap
Towards the middle of December the Woods
found themsol YES comfortably ensconced in Paris
in one Of the many hotels that look on 10 me
10 Ieay town: so Elliott Beesly had escorted the
mother and daughter over the Channel, and had
ALREADY written to his friend Andrew, telling him
re- did 10 occnr to Beesy tn at any difficulty could
possibly arise out of the situation He bad IN his
nature tuge OF old-fashi3ned GhlyaIy w,c ann ne
speeches but he at the same .ne the leas' sus-
ceptiLle of beings to that emotional side OF man
that is engendercd by the proximity OF pretty
women. He had absolutely nothing OF inc uir.
enough confessed he had never, with the most faS-
cinstins maiden got beyond the desire of seeng,hef
happily married to somebody else.
he y',s hard worker and great smoker; these
habits sono, apart from tho bent of his mind,
might have prevented him being anything OF
that be accepted the charge half jcstingy laid upon
him by Gretton and in his ignorance, one might say
innocence of such matters, found himself, III less
tnan three weeks. in the great crisis Of bis life.
How mnoh nere accident. the circumstances IN
which NO are thrown influence our actions, and
bend our purpose. is not generally admitted. Ii any
ono had told Elliott Beesly. he lighted his cigar
that foesy November right in Bayswater. that III q
lew weeks time he would be madlY in love with the
young lady to whom he had just 30 co9ily babe