The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-08-23
A SUICIDES HAIR.
1t was Used as a Mascot by a Fair
Gambler.

Violet. She was n OF n women who
are seldom called by a surname. The
Lady Violet was the name that was in
everybody's mouth, or, Violet tout court.
Stay, / remember seeing her mann once
in the hotel book-Lady Violet Montar-
gis-a peculiar name, which struck me
for some reason or other at the time.
"Ah, she was rather an adept at coin
ing When I knew her she was
Hon. Frances Dalrymple-a girl with
dark hair and light blue eyes; one of
those rare combinations which are down
right unnatural, and which often be-
token some internal arrangement of sys-
tenn, whether moral, intellectual or phys
ical. A beautiful girl, certainly, but
with that steely look which you see
sometimes on the surfaces Of the Thames,
blue steel mixed with water lilies.
Kelley Halswelle knows how to draw
the effect, as yon can see in this years
Grosvenor. 1t always appears to me to
convey a moral; the water lilies tempt
you, and the cold, insidiots water browns
you; therefore, beware Of the lilies. If
poor old Philip Drummond had only
taken that moral heartl"
"Philip Drummond! who is he"
"Have I never told you? Well, I will
give you my experience Of the Hon.
Frances Dalrymple, and then you shall
give me yours of the Lady Violet Mont
argis. 1t was in a country house in the
north in September. Our numbers were
tolerably large, but an omnium gatherum
lot, and very i'll assorted. You know
the sort of household / mean, where
there is no presiding hostess and every
thing is all a tort ct a travers. There
was, indeed, a Mrs. Lionel Trotman,
who was the lawful wife Of our host,
Lionel Trotman, retired sugar boiler, or
something of the kind; but she had the
talent of self effacement to a degree that
was positively painful. Nobody knew
where she was at any moment of the
day, and I assure you that it was a work
of herculean difficulty to discover her
whereabouts in her own drawing room
before saying good night. The conse-
quence was we did what wa right in
our W eyes in wicked and selfish
couples, such as u di~sintegrated house.
hold will relapse into when the presiding
and prudential hand is withdrawn. Of
these couples the most devoted and per-
haps the most interesting was the Hon.
Miss Frances and Philip Drummond.
"Drummond was a brawny, muscular
hero, a fine fellow, unhampered by ex-
cessive brain, a keen sportsman and a
good friend. She was-well, / dare say
you discovered at Monaco. Only you
must remember that at the time Of
which I am speaking she had not devel-
oped those predatory instincts which /
am told she afterward acquired so per-
niciously for her friends. She seemed a
soft, lovable woman, with lustrous eyes
and speaking hands. AS a matter Of
fact, her hands spoke more than her
tongue-it is the way with some incura-
BILE histrionic women.
zone day I was not out with the rest
of the shooting party, owing to a press
of business letters or fit of laziness-I
forget which. But I pottered out in the
afternoon over the turnips a short way
from the house. / was at the hall door
on my return when two men brought
home a CHASTITY burden. It was poor.
Philip Drummond, who had shot him.
self, no one knew exactly how, in get
ting over a hedge or in making his way
through some tangled covers. 1 helped
the men to bring his poor rigid limbs
into the house, wondering to myself how
I could best break the news to the I'M
-discoverable Mrs. Trotman, or, harder
still, to the reserved and somewhat
ba,,b+x, Mice no1rvvp1a We had po+
got far into the house when she met us,
at the head Of the stairs. There was no
explosion Of grief such as I feared; only
a sudden tightening of the corners of
the mouth and a blanched look either Of
superstitious dread or hardly realized
sorrow. She looked for an instant on
the corpse, asked the single question,
He shot himself, Of course? and then
swiftly withdrew.
'sThat evening as / was going to bed I
met her again in the corridor. 4 was
waiting for you.' she said, and her she
began to beg me, by all that I ESld most
precious, to let her see the dead body.
The request struck me as unnatural, /
remember, and somewhat heartless. AL
though / could not have formulated my
objections in words I felt that she was
asking what Jared on my own feelings
and did not suit the circumstances of
the case. At the same time / knew that
the relations in which they stood to each
other prevented me from refusing. i
loved him So she said with an air of
passionate abandon, and I must see him
for the last time. You can come, too, If
you like I led her to the threshold of
the death chamber, threw open the door
for her, but did not enter. You will
leave the door open, please was all that
she spoke.
"Impelled by an irresistible curiosity
I stood at the doorway and watched her.
The room was only illuminated by a
candle which she carried in her hand.
Dark shadows surrounded the bed on
which was stretched the sheeted form of
the man whom ! had known as Philip
Drummond. The rigid outlines of his
body stood out beneath the merciful
white covering which the hands of low
ing care had placed over his death dis
torted features. All the rest Of the room
was black with the darkness Of night;
only the CHASTITY light of the single cam
die, shaded by her hand, bathed in the
Pickering white CLEANS the body Of the
man who had gained eternal sleep. I
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