The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1883-10-13
A Young Wife at Richmond.

who has very nice house at Kew and
until year or two ago there was a
third member in the firm in the person
of Thomas uncle, Mr.. BabbingtOn
Backbone, the Calcutta representa-
tive of the establishment. But, unfor-
tunately, Mr.. Backbone, like many
Englishmen who live in India, drank
too much Scotch whisky and Bass ale,
and ate too much curry and too many
'Bombay ducks )" the result being that
at the age or fifty-five his liver declined
to bear the strain put upon it, and col.
lapsed, leaving its owner so weak and
ill that he had barely time ere he died
to telegraph to his partners in England
brief notice of his impending fate.
This alarming despatch arrived at a
particularly inopportune moment. Mr..
Thomas Bilbury had on the day pie
vious, married very charming young
lady, Lydia Lapples by name ; and the
| intelligence of his uncle's sad condition
necessitated that the newly-made hus
band--who, by the way, had only be-
come acquainted with his bride about
six weeks before marriage-should,
without a moments delay, take the
train for Dover, cross to Calais, and
thence go by the quickest route to Cal
cutta. The affair was pressing. Mr..
Blackthorne's death would certainly
throw the business into confusion, and
any hesitation on the part of the English
partners might imperil the future OF
the firm.
"Go at once, my dear boy" wrote
Mr.. Joseph Bilbury to his son, who was
in the Isle of Wight, "and send your
wife to me. / will take care Of her,
and see her settled in your new home
at Richmond. would go myself, but
my gout won't allow me. And, above
all things, take care OF your liver"
There was no help for it. Mr.. Bill
bury, Jr., felt that ne must go; so go
he did, putting the best face on the
matter, and bidding very long and
tender goodbye to his poor little wife.
He escorted her across to Portsmouth,
put her into London train, kissed her,
saw her off, and then took the next
train for Dover.
She settled down in her new home on
Richmond Hill; and he for many
months afterward wol lked hard at his
desk in Calcutta, arranging the worldly
affairs of his dead uncle, and from
time to time sending home reports OF
his progress, and love-letters to Lydia
r Two years, in fact, elapsed ere hi
was able to return to England, anc
5 then he returned, as he had gone out
at a moments notice. Unforeseen cir
cumstances suddenly left him free
3 and, unwilling to lose day, he tool
Q the first homeward-bound steamer
/, which, 50 it happened, was also talking
Q to Richmond letter, written a few
|, days eaIlier, in which Mr.. Blbury
l. among ether matters, regretted to hi
n wife that the pressure of business woul
70 not leave him at liberty for at least
n month.
n He travelled home without adventure
l. landed in due course at Dover, arrive
of in London late at night, and, withou
ID having written word of warning t
i'd Lydia, hurried on next morning
as Richmond Hill. Why he did not writ
s. OF telegraph, we cannot say; perhaI
lg he thought his sudden appearance wou
es agreeably surprise his wife; or perhal
be he was too excited to be able to think
'st all. But in any case, he neither wro
a. nor telegraped a single word of prepar
d. tion.
of 1t was a fine sunny morning in Sur
lot mer Mr.. Thomas Bilbury had scarce
ar seen his new home, which he had TAX
to in hurry Immediately before his we
to ding and he was walking eagerly
A the shot carriage drive leading to t
or house, when, happening to cast his ga
le- toward the upward the upper window
j a he caught sight of fair, white-drap
,irl figure which was watering some flow
md ing plants that stood in row on
me sill. He at once recognized the figure
ans that of his wife, and was about to ut
nd a cry of salutation when he suddei
not became conscious that she did not
ter cognize him, for with graceful mod
his ty she withdrew from the window a
en-, disappeared as soon as she became c.
Iere scious that he was watching her.
red idea struck him. 1t was foolish,
,ear not wholly unatural, one. He wo
so pretend to be some one elsa frie
712, say, of her husband's-and would
ison to see her as such. OF course
New would at once recognize his voice;
and then the surprise, and the consequ
IS to pleasure would be the more comp
was If he thus deferred them. He knocl
ence therefore, at the door, and to the
in want who appeared announced that
fight had Just returned from India and
men sired to see Mrs. Bilbury. He gav'
b an name, but he was admitted and sh
into the drawing-room, where, in 5