The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-03-29
QUEER STORY.
How Mrs. Sykes Met the Kaiser at
Cowes.

the most superb event of the Cowes season,
but period had now arrived in the career of
Mrs. Sykes at which she felt that in one form
or another it was imperative that she should
meet royalty. For two years-ever since, in
fact, Mr.. Sykes had converted himself as he
used to express it, from tradesman to gen.
tleman, by selling Sykes's Soap Substitute to
a limited company-Mrs Sykes had been
steadfastly maneuvring herself into society.
BY reason of her husbands enormous wealth,
and her own not prescriptions astuteness,
she had succeeded, upt point. But, though
the circles in which royalty moves are not in
accessible to certain portions of the common
herd, the line, which even in these days has to
be drawn somewhere, had hitherto been drawn
at Mrs. Sykes. She had sustained severe
disappointment in connection with the Marl-
borough House garden party, but defeat only
acts as O stimulant on some natures, and as
Mr.. Sykes, whose one hobby was yachting, was
going to Cowes for the Royal Yacht Squadron
meeting, Mrs. Sykes was seized with the in
spiration that her failure in London might be
retrieved by forcing herself into the Duchess
of Beaumonde's entertainment to the English
and German royalties in the Isle of Wight.
When she came to consider how this was to
pS uCCOuupllSucu lltIC WIS Ollt W WHO'LL
Mrs. Sykes's thoughts at once turned This
was certain Lady Pail Mall, whose husband
was afflicted with a chronic impecuniosity
which made it extremely difficult for both to
keep up the state and dignity beftting their
station. Her ladyship, being young, pretty,
and clever woman, was often compelled to
practice various stratagems and devices in or
der to keep her own and her husbands heads
above the waters of debt, which constantly
threatened to overwhelm them Not the least
remunerative of the many avocations pursued
by her ladyship, whereby she contrived to
make her rank and position profitable in
pecuniary sense, was that of social sponsor
and general guide, philosopher, and friend to
people who, like the Sykeses, were at once
wealthy, ambitious, vulgar, and generally un-
presentable. While Lord Pail Mall borrowed
money freely from the husbands of those
ladies for whom Lady Pail Mall procured in
vitations, presented at Court. patronized and
introduced into her set, her ladyship accepted
from the ladies themselves numerous hand
some and costly gifts.
All this Mrs. Sykes knew and appreciated,
and upon it she formed her scheme. 1t was a
scheme, however, in which her husbands CO.
operation was indispensable, for in spite of the
fact that Mrs. Sykes enjoyed a liberal allow
ance her anxiety to shine in the world kept her
in perpetual state of financial embarrassment.
At the present moment, SO far from having
any spare cash in her pocket, she was very
seriously in debt. She was obliged, there
fore, to confdc in her husband before she
could carry her scheme into effect. John
Sykes had heard good deal about the Ouch
nF lo., i
portunity of appreciating the depth of his
wife's anxiety to get there, but he opened his
eyes considerably when he was given to under
stand that with the view of procuring card
Mrs. Sykes. contemplated making a costly
present of jewelry to Lady Pail Mall.
''You don't mean to say that you want to
offer bribe to real countess !" exclaimed
Sykes, a vulgar man, possessed of a simple
mind and a limited vocabulary.
''Bribe What dreadful expression -
answered his wife. ~ propose to make her
ladyship present, John, that is all. To one
in her position it would be an insult to offer
anything but diamonds The only question is
what form the present should take | think
a necklace
at will cost a lot of money, Polly.n
''Not more than we can Afford" replied his
wife. at might be fifteen hundred-it might
be two thousand; but you never were mean
man, john
To do him justice, John was not. During
the last two years he had, in his own phrase,
''stuck at nothing in the way of expenditure
for the purpose Of enabling his wife to attain
that position in the world on which she had
set her heart, though, as Mrs. Sykes very well
knew, his wrath would have been great if he
had known that she had spent several hundred
pounds more than he was aware of. He only
needed to be convinced that Lady Pail Mall
was amenable to the influence which his wife
proposed to bring to bear on her, and that
there was reasonable prospect of her lady
ship being able to procure the desired guid
pro quo, When Mrs Sykes, by dint of long
argument and eXpostulation, had CON
yinced him on these points he was
ready to go and buy the diamonds at once
But he insisted on buying them himself Mrs.
Sykes had not intended this, but she found her
husband firm on the point, and was too good
a diplomatist to contest it.
"You had better call on her ladyship this
afternoon and sound her about the business -
he said, in conclusion. s'Two thousand pounds
is bit Of money, and don't want to jump
before come to the fence You can see how
she takes it before get the stones, and mind
you do it carefully"
Mrs. Sykes did it--whether carefully or not
is matter Of opinion. She succeeded, at any
rate in making Lady Pail Mall understand
what she wanted aud what she was prepared