Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-06-22
"Oh. ma. impossiblen

"Oh. ma, impossibieI"
| mot at all. If Maud is determined to throw
away with such splendid chance she shall not
De aiiowed to spoil all our prospects. / will
write to the duchess and say that on condition
she presents rs at the next drawing-room.
Maud shall break of the engagement to her
SON. No need to tell her that the silly girl in
tends to do 50 in any case; and we must make
Mauu promise 70 hold her tongue til after the
drawlng-room; there is one in a fortnight"
''Oh. ma. what splendid idea. She must be
| quiet till after that. Do--to write at once"
Maud Jobson entered con amore into her
! mothers plan She. too. would like to be pre-
sented No one in their circle of acquain tances
| had ever penetrated the sacred precincts of
buckingham palace. How the Jonses and
Browns and Smiths would open their eyes.
Il don't mind pretending to be engaged to
Eliot for so short time, if don't have to be
| bored with him too much" she said
When the duchess received Mrs. Jobson's
letter her wrath and amazement were excessive.
That should be asked to present that woman
and her daughters such impertinence, such
| presumption Good heavens. what nextr'
| well, my dear aunt" said Lord George,
who was with her at the moment: 1T seems to
| me a lesser evil than that Eliot should marry
into snch family. Very unpleasant / allow
What is Mr. Jobson, George-one never
| hears of him?"
something in the city, believe-and heaps
| of money"
| Il have always so strongly disapproved of
| the influx of dreadful people who have been
received at court within the last few years;
| people that have no claim, no right to force
| themselves into place that should be select.
| but that, alas, is so no longer. How could /
| explain such a presentation to all those who
have known how strongly feel on the subject?
! No, no; l cannot submit to such degrading
| terms,'
Don't write refusal at once quite agree
with all you say: 1t is mpertinent-odeus--
but the alternative seems worse" said Lord
| George.
At the end of two days the duchess received
second note from Mrs. Jobson, which ran as
! follows:
=, Dear pEchess: Not having as yet had any answer
Presses The drawing room is the 29d, and
must ask for an answer al once Mr. Jobsun does not
sa.a th q should take place next mouth 50
| say which. Truly yours
| "ARAnELLA JoBsoN"
The poor duchess! she was indeed driven
! into IL corner. She had always been so staunch
| an upholder of the aristocratic principles OF her
| youth! And now that she should have to decide
between the marriage of her son to Miss Maud
Jobson. or the presentation by herself of this
vulgar and obscure family! 1t indeed a
| cruel dilemma.
Finally. Lord George was made the means of
| the negotiations. He called on Mrs. Jobson and
| informed her that the duchess would consent
!
daughters) on condition that Mrs. and Miss
Jobson would give a written promise to release
Lord Eliot from his engagement as soon as the
drawlng-room was over.
No sooner had Lord George left the house
| than Mrs. and the Misses Jobson flew to their
dressmaker. Nine. Frivole. where they spent
many hours choosing the most magnificent
dresses III which to appear before the queen.
The young ladies We're to have white satin and
| pearls, and Mrs. Jobson selected for herself a
brilliant yelVpt train 70 h.a trim cd
with gold, and pettcoat of rose-pink satin COW
| cred with many colored beads. Then shoes.
| gloves, fans, etc., had to be bought, bouquets
ordered, an appointment made with pho
tographer to photograph The ladies in all their
bravery: lin your largest size" said Mrs. job
son Importantly. The hairdresser had to be
written to and engaged, also rooms taken at the
Grosvenor hotel. In fact the arrangements
kept the whole family in a state of pleasurable
| excitement for DAYS.
Meantime the duchess was in a most I'M
happy frame of mind; the worry and annoy
arce made her positively i'll. She and the duke
mad now taken up their abode in London for
the season. and she, too, had ordered her dress
for the drawing. Anything will do" she told
her dressmaker, who stared in astonishment
Her grace was in the habit of taking such in
terest IN her dress, and liked to exercise her
individual taste considerably. but the whole
business was such humiliation to her this
time that she could not bear to think of it.
happily have the entree." she said to her
! self, 80 shall merely walk through and may
| never see those dreadful people at all"
Some few days before the drawing-room,
Mrs. Jobson, who had. by dligent study of the
Court Circular. acquired some insight into
necessary etiquette, wrote a note to the
duchess to say that the names for the presenta-
| ton cards were Mrs. James Jobson, Miss job
| son. Miss Louisa Jobson, Miss Blanche Jobson."
This as reminder.
The Duchess indeed required no reminder:
the miserable subject engrossed her thoughts.
She saw little of her SON. he remained at Brigh-
ton and she could not bear the society of even
her closest friends. The morning Mrs. job
sons note arrived the duchess wrote the GUS
tomary intmation to the lord chamberlain
| that she meant to attend the drawing-room
land present Mrs. James Jobson.n Having
done this, she left the note on her table, mean
ing to send 1t in the afternoon, and ordered
her carriage to drive to the park. Not very
far from Skye house the carriage came to a
sudden stop. The duchess looked out to see
the cause and discovered little crowd
gathered in front of the church in that street
At that moment lady in full bridal costume
descended from a hired carriage and entered
the church; as the duchess caught sight of her
she started and stared in astonishment
Surely it is-no-it is impossible. Is it Miss
Maud Jobson? Can it be she? Surely Eliot is
not going to steal march on us in this way
No bridesmaids, no wedding party. Oh! I
must see" and hastily calling to her footman
| to open the carriage door, the duchess alighted
anu cuttTSu les tnere was
wedding going on, but the tall broad-shoul-
| dered young bridegroom bore no resemblance
to her son, and the bride, could it be
The duchess listened eagerly for the names
"Alfred Robinson" and Maud Jobson." Was
it possible? might it not be some cousin with
the same name? She would make sure.
AS the newly-wedded pair were leaving the
the church the duchess stepped up to the as
tonished bride, who started and blushed Yesl
it must be the same Maud Jobson. Oh, what a
relief!
II can't understand" she exclaimed, feeling
she must have some explanation.
"Oh! am 80 sorry" cried the bride almost
in tears. ma will be SO vexed"
."Come home with me at once" cried the
Duchess too much excited to weigh her words
and only feeling she must get to the bottom Of
| the story. And before the bride or bridegroom
could speak they were handed into the duchess
brOugham and whirled away to Skye house,
"Home" being the order given to the aston
ished servants.
"Now explain, and the duchess waved her
hand to Maud and her husband to be seated
Il never wanted to marry Lord Eliot" fall
tered the bride; 'but ma thought it would be
grand marriage, and SO we were engaged But
Aft and l always cared for each other. and
when we returned from Nice. and / heard how
the marquiss family hated the thought of his
marrying me, told ma would not marry him.
But we all wanted to be presented 80 ma said
must not break of my engagement till after
the drawing-room. And then Aft got the prom
Use Of good practice in India, but he must sail
tomorrow, 500 we just ran away and were
l. ~