Delta chief., 1884-03-12
MRS. fRERE's DIAMONDS.

nAahVNDDs
Mr.. Frere was very rich old gentle
man of somewhat parsimonious habits.
His one extratagance was love for
Young women.t He was an excellent
sxample,,of the blderly lovcr;he was not
satisfied unless 10 had n pretty young
wife. and then r. made love to the sex
=, large bargainA Atg only for youth and
The first Mrs Freke was a lovely girl
with blue blood in her veins. She was
poor. and Mr.. Frere's wealth tempted
her. She brought with her As her sole
dowry splendid diamond necklace
which had been preserved rs an heir
loom in her family, Mr.. Frerc was al
most rs proud Of this as he WAS Of his
wife. and he from tine to time added
diamond ornaments. until finally she
possessed one of the finest tets to be
eeen In any London drawing-room.
She altered strangely after her mar
riagc. became devoted to dress, amuse-
menis. and excitement. But shc WAS
Suict and amiablo with her husband.
except that at 6rst she frequently COM
planned because he twould not give her
what she wished But after while she left
Of reproaching him. He would not
give her an allowaisce; he liked to play
the generous and uxorious husband.
and give her n dress when it took his
fancy to do so. There was n danger
ous light in her eyes sometimes when
she submitted to him. But she did SUBJ
nit.
Eventually, however. she lost pa
tiencc. and dealt i'm the hnrdcs; blow
that lies within woman's power. She
ran away with yvild young cousin Of
her own whom shc had loved before her
marriage He was spcnd,hrift, and
had made away with his slender for
time; so Mr. Frcre had one comfort in
his uneasy situation--hc felt sure his
foolish wif6 would discover what pov-
erty meante She had gone 10 Paris,
md these !who met her thought her
looking wretchedly III; but she always
appeared very gay and dressed mag
nifcenily.
In six months She died and left Mr..
Frcre frcS Of all but her memory. Tho
cousin went to America and did not re-
appc2f in England for many years. 1t
seerlkd he was doing well abroad,
Frcre had disliked the idea OF
Ping a divorce. perhaps fearing that
oaid crown and scant fringe OF
white hairs might raise . laugh In
court. But now that he was 40 agrcca-
bly, set at liberty he Immediately 6cpnn
10 pay assiduous attentic n TO ono pretty
young lady after another. The mum.
her Of young ladies with whom his
name WAS associated did not arise from
his own changcablenoss. but from their
unanimous rejection of his addresses.
For poor Mrs. Frcro's career Was not
forgotten. She had been fnvorite in
her time, and most Of her acqp-int-
ances regarded him In tho light of an
old ogre. who had driven hc- to her
ruin and death. This was very irving
TO Mr.. Frere. fer he really dotted upon
youthful beauty, and he much wished
TO appear again in the society which he
feared had been snccring at him with
another young and lsvcly bride ON his
arm.
But his case really seemed desperate.
Most ladies gave him the oold shoulder
~ soon as they guessed at his inteu-
tions; II any allowed him To propose, Il
was only for tho pleasure OF refusing
Kim. The poor old gentleman got
quite depressed and knew not what to
do. He began to think Of travelling and
snticing some innocent young creature
into wcdlock who had never heard of
the lstc Mrs. Frere and her sad end.
II was September. and he was Mt n
large country house. whore there were a
number of delicious morssls in tho
shape Of young women; he could not
tear himself away from their csptiva-
lions. yot he dared not propose to any
ono Of them, for his recent experiences
had made him nervous. 1t was hsmil-
iating to be rejected by some girlish
srcaturc fresh from the schc s!-rocm,
and then meet her every day; and he
did not want to 70 away from tho
house. for tho girls were not unkind to
Him. They tsassd, and pleased, and
aattercd him. Only he noticed that he
could never be with one Of them alone.
They always went about him in little
companies Of three or four. In fact,
they had determined that the old
would-be lady-killer should never get
the chance to make love to any one Of
them. A new addi.ion to tho circio,
lady who had boon the beauty Of the
season just over, seemed much amused