St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-07-27

tious bachelor-who had the leisure for
flirtatiouS amusement. Now. it may not
be that diplomats in Washington are so
much more inclined to such amusement
than American officials. but the diplO-
mat is man of more leisure and more
surface polish in captivating address.
Tue American official. whatever his
rank, is busy man, and the time that
justly belongs to his family is in most
cases given to official duties. And so it
is that this drive in official life often
throws in the way of gay young wives
the most innocently begun aequaint-
ances, which drift into very troublesome
friendships and end in pitiable scandals.
There are no 'consiStencieS so incOn-
sistent as the glaring Inconsistencies in
official circles. That people who are
known to be walking on the crust of a
by their friends, or protested friends,
in the same set is amazing. 1t was
during the last administration, and
within two years that the attitude
of certain prominent hostesses was
most astonishing. "Monsieur's" assid-
uous attentions had, as was very well
known, brought unhappllless to the
homes of two high officials. In one in
stance scandal was barely averted by
the Intervention of relations whose pO-
litical and social power was sufficient to
cause the recall of the diplomatic, and he
escaped dismissal only because it would
inevitably lead to the exposure they
sought to conceal. 1t was while there
was no end of gossip about monsieur"
and the lady that certain hostesses of
social prominence and profeSSedly their
friends entertained them at dinner par.
ties-the lady always without her hus-
band, and the diplomatic invariably one
of the guests. 1t was presumed that
the husband was invited to the din
ners, but it was we'll known that he
would not accompany his wife where he
was likely to meet her admirer, and that
he regarded the invitations as an insult.
1t was also known that things had
reached a desperate pass, threatening
political ruin and social disgrace. There
fore it became a question whether the
people who encouraged the dangerous
friendship between the officials pretty
wife and the tiirtatious diplomatic were
honest in their motives. These things
happened over and over again, and in
way too evidently prearranged to be
mistaken for accident. At the same
time they were the subject of light and
airy gossip in their own set.
Finally something had to be done.
Desperate eases require desperate rem
edies. The husband, though injured,
was perhaps in his own conscience not
altogether blameless. He had no time
to admire his wife and give her the at
tention she was fond of, and had left
her to receive the devotion of a man
who had the time. His relations said:
You must take the first step. We will
follow" Perhaps in all his life he had
never felt SO Inundated. But he struck
out braYely, gave an entertainment,
and The diplomatic was one of the
guests to whom he was most kind and
courteous. OF course his pretty wife
was the hostess, the world was disarmed
and their set was amused. Shortly after
the diplomatic was abroad, not on a re-
call, but on six months leave of alb
Sence. One would feel inclined to re-
joice if this were the end of it all, but
Monsieur" is again in Washington,
and the goSsipS are watching for the re-
newal of the Old Irritation. However
honest at heart the man may be now,
two things give distrust of his honesty
his past reputation and the continued
absence of his wife.
1t need hardly be said that the diplo-
matte corps is not prudish or straight
laced. 1t can stand great amount OF
Irritation and respectable scandal"
without flinching. But it confessed
itself much scandalized by "Monsieur''
and the diplomats wife; so much that
the latter found the cold shoulder of
the corps too freezing, and finally passed
much of her time in New York. The
transfer of her husband to another post
took the Objectionable lady away.
1t was after her departure that
"Monsieur's" attentions were concen-
trated ON the wife of the American Of
fetal. Whether the foreign circle found
comfort in this OF not, it is certain they
looked OH with much quiet complacency.
That diplomat should carry his gal
lantries with high hand does not ap-
parently disturb them SO long as the OBJ
ject of his gallantries is an American
woman and not woman in their own
circle. Well, it is natural and some
what human selfishness. As for the
troublesome secretary, his flirtatious ca
reer, without doubt, began with his mar
rage. His marriage was one of the two
many international episodes where
riches and foreign titles con-
stitute the medium of exchange.