The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1884-08-02
ADDERLEi BYNG'S ROMANCE.

Mr.. AldcrIey Benyon Byng was
nearly. If not quite, the richest COM
moner in England. He was about
thirty five years of age, tall and slight,
with pale, interesting face. and a fad
ed yellow moustache. His vices we've
comparatively few, and of a gentle
manly disposition. His rear relations
consisted of a couple of married sis
tiers. He had no entanglements, and
was not a gambler. Needless to say,
therefore, that he WAS &C. nowledSed by
common consent to be the most eligi-
Die ba1H in London. But, though by
no means impervious to the charms of
the fair sex, Byng was unusually diff
cult to please. The loveliest young
Qnbutu3li,S and the most astute mothers
had for years angled unsuccessfully for
the glittering prize. But each recrr-
sing season brought with it some fresh
er beauty or some more confident mann
M, and hence the hunting of Byrg
went merrily on.
He liked TO talk to women about
pictures, about poetry, love, transcen-
dental philosophy, and matters sener-
ally mystical and ethereal. He found
them so much more tolerant than men,
and SO much less apt to detect his ut
ter and ghastly ignorance of nearly ev-
cry subject upon which he convers cd.
Men, in fact, considered Byng an at
fected nincoEpoop, and only endured
him for the sake of his wealth.
"Why the deuce don't you marry,
Adderley?" remarked Captain Tom
Carbury one day.
Tom Carbury was Byng's devoted
adhcrcnt. He had lived upon him for
some years, and it was only when his
eccentricity and vanity became utterly
wearisome to the practical henchman
that he limited at matrimony. Carbury,
moreover, did not see why he should
not make a pretty good thing out OF
his patrons marriage by judicious ar
rangcment with the brides family.
"NIv dear Tom," answered the trans
cendentaliSt, ''where am | to find a
woman with kindred spirit; with a
soul above the common things of earth
one who can really sympathise with my
Own idiosyncrasy.o '
blessed if | know" answered the
Captain, puzzled by his patrons long
words but if | were in your shoes |
should get rather sick of being hunted
about by all the old dowagers in Lon
don, and o5led by every girl who comes
out. should marry one of them just
to spite the rest.
Il certainly cannot marry them all, y
mused Byng, lansuidIy. 'Weil, Car
bury, III think about it."
The Captain also determined to
think it over, for, as stated, he was get
ting little tired of his position. He
was a thick-set, bull nccked man of two
or three and forty, very fond of good
living, and devoted to London and
Paris Byng, on the other hand, pro
fessed to despise frivolous amusements
lived like an anchorite for months to-
gether, and was in the habit of ocCas,
ionally rushing off to wild and uncivil.
lied parts of the globe, where the I'm
fortunate Captain was forced to submit
to very unwelcome privations. a jour
ney through Tartary had brought the
Captain to the verge of rebellion, and
although he did not like the idea o
quarreling with his bread and butter, he
felt that he could not endure many
more such terrible experiences, SO he
began to look about him for a help,
m lite suitable to the Grant philoso,
pher.
The Captains difficulty naturally lay
in the abundance of material from whici
he had to make the selection. After
mature consideration, however, he de.
cided in favor Of a certain Miss Con
stance Lexington. She was exceed
ingly pretty. it was her first season, anc
her only near relative was her father, {
gentleman whose pedigree was much
longer than his rent-roll. Besides Mr.
Lexington, as the Captain knew, wa:
| by no means ovcrburdened with cash
and was not likely to have any hesita
ton in arranging some little SCENE b,
which Carbury might share in the adj
vantages Miss Lexington would derive
from brilliant marriage.
"What deuced pretty girl you
daughter is p said the Captain on,