Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-11-03
Tho Lilly.s Husband.
MRs. LAHorRr's BETTER HALE Nor SO BLACK
AZ HR 10 PAINTED.

NEW York, Oct. 27.-The recent London
Law suits, which resulted in the declaration
! that Mrs. Langtry paid her husband salary
on condition that he does mot modest her"
have occasioned widespread comment Of .
character the reverse Of complimentary to
that unfortunate gentleman the husband Of Q
professional beauty. gentleman we'll
know in New York, and . member Of several
prominent clubs, authorizes the publication
Of the facts:
He says: "Some two or three years ago
Mr. Langtry came to America and refused.
~ will be remembered, TO make any state
ment to the press of the reasons for his visit
During his stay in America he vas for the
greater part Of the time my guest At my place
| In the country, and since his return we have
kept up correspondence 1t intervals. He
talked with me very freely. and l feel at
liberty under the present circumstances to
give publicity to the facts gathered from him.
According to his story, the first discovery OF
Mrs Langtry in the Island Of Jersey was
made By the Duke of Bedford. He was very
much struck by her beauty, and paid her q
great deal of attention. A. that time Mr..
and Mrs. Langtry we're living in afiiuent
circumstances the life Of . country gentle
man and his wife on the income of his
property, which amounted, he claims, to
f45, 900, or nearly S250,OOO.
.sOn his return to London from his visit,
the Prince of Wales heard so mnch from the
Duke of the extraordinary beauty Of Mrs.
Langtry that he actually accompanied his
Grace Of Bedford to jersey for the purpose
of meeting the beauty. The heir apparent
was as much pleased with Mrs. Langtry as
the Duke, and the way the Prince introduced
her into English society is an old story. |
When the inevitable financial crash came
for il was impossible for the Langtrys to hold
their own very long on the comparatively
small income they possessed in the most ex-
pensive society in the world-Mr. Langtry,
who had hitherto been q good-tempered, I'M
suspicious spectator of his wife's triumphs,
insisted that they must retire from the world
and live on the income of Government ap-
pointmept which he believed he could obtain.
But to this the spoiled beauty would not listen
for moment, and then announced he: in
tention of going on the stage.
THE BEAUTY AND THE BARONET.
"Mr. Langtry informed her that if she did
so he would never live with her again under
any circumstances. The rupture which then
was, in reality, final. She declared
openly that the only man she ever cared for
was Sir George Chetwynd; that she did not
care snap of her finger whether Langtry
lived with her or not, and ended by running
OIL to the Continent with Chetwynd, where
they travelled under an assumed name.
"NOw for a man and woman, as we'll known
as they were, to attempt to conceal their
Identity was an absurdity; they were quickly
recognized, and society in London knew of
their escapade in less than a week. Natural
|y, when they returned to London, the doors
Of society were closed, and for this reason,
and not because she went on the stage.
at was Mrs. Paget, the daughter of Mrs
Paran Stevens, who, knowing these facts,
saw to it that Mrs Langtry's introductions
we're ignored and that she was not received
n society in New York. At this time Mr..
aud Mrs Langtry separated. His reason for
not procuring divorce ut the time is said to
be not that he ever intended to live with her
again, but that, under the laws of Jersey,
which was ceded by France and England on
certain peculiar conditions, no such thing as
4 divorce is granted. At any rate, it WAS
Mrs. Langtry who proposed to pay to MIR.
Langtry portion OF her earnings on the
'taue, not as salary not to modest her, but
for the purpose o. paying back in part, at
least, the fortune she has squandered. After
her friends Langtry agreed to per.
init her to do this.
The agreement, however, has never been
carried out in the way il was intended to have
been performed. Mrs. Langtry then went on
the stage. and her career since then is we'll
known, but these facts will cast light on
some subsequent occurrences, which at the
Time seemed mysterious. - Philadelphia
Press.