The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-05-16
CHAPTER Will
Up THE RHINE

that serve as steamships between this
country and Europe safely landed Dr.
Ralph Warringham and his young wife
| on the coast of old England.
Ralph's honeymoon was scarcely that
round Of unalloyed JOY which it Is COM
monty alleged to be, and which the
Doctor had expected.
When he was alone there was always
recurring pang of conscience, not for
his filjal di i:obedience-he was convinced
| that he had done strictly right in that
respect-but for another reason. He
could not Danish the self-reproach that
he had obtained bride under false pre-
lenses, in not telling her his ex-
act financial position. Only when
he was with her and nobody
to disturb them he. felt completely
happy. But he soon began to think that
his wife did not give him that pleasure
as frequently as he would have liked
During the passage on the steamer she
was the center around which the pas
sengers, at least the male portion OF
them, gathered, and it must be owned
that she understood as few women do,
the art Of entertaining large circle OF
admirers But her husband soon began
to think that she devoted herself rather
freely to the exercise Of her social
accom- plishments. 1t has been said to
be Door breeding for married couple
10 make their relations apparent in COM
pany by too exclusive devotion to each
other. OF this error Mrs. Warringham as
suredly never showed herself guilty.
When she was sitting on deck with half @
score of gentlemen surrounding her, all
eager TO get smile and pleasant word
from her, and none disappointed, surely
none would have guessed, from appear
anees, that the handsome gentleman, who
usually sat little aside and took by no
means leading part in the converse
tior, was the husband OF that vivacious
and charming lady. However this
might please others, it was not to the
taste of the Doctor, who, in the fervid-
ness of his young love, grudged every
body the slightest glance caught from
the idol of his heart. Ralph fell to
thinking on this subject, and, eager as
he was to find excuses for Lucy's be-
havior, called himself jealous mon
ster Did he expect his wife to have no
tongue nor eyes but for him? II that
was the case, he should go to
Turkey and shut her up in harem.
Was not Lucy, by her theatrical career,
accustomed to an unembarrassed asso.
citation with men, and could she break
up fixed habit within few days? Prob
ably the idea had never struck her that
she was not acting justas he would have
liked her to do. He might throw out
some hints, and resolved to do 80.
But notwithstanding all this reason
ing, which to his head seemed conclu-
sive, his heart would not be quieted. 1t
obstinatei: asserted that his reasons to
complain were as plenty as blackberries.
He did throw out hints, pretty broad
ones, too But Lucy had way Of turn
ing off the shafts Of his anger with a
Jest, smile, a kiss, and funny little
pus de seul that was simply irresistible.
Ralph felt his anger vanish like snow
under the rays Of an April sun, folded
her in his arms, swore that he had the
dearest, prettiest little wife on the globe,
and promised that he would never again
trouble her with his foolish jealousy.
These little occurrences became, even
during the nine days Of the ocean voy-
age, Of daily occurrence, and always
ended in the same manner. Mrs War
ringham went on as before, and Ralph
spent most of his time inventing grounds
on which to excuse her before himself.
To admit that she did not care as
much for him as he did for her would
have seemed to Ralph equal to SEN
tence Of death. His love for her per.
vaded all parts of his being, and he
could not even bear to think Of her
faithlessness as a hypothetical case. 1t
would have been fatal blow to his van
ity also, of which he possessed his full
share. It would have justified all the
malicious criticism of the world which
he had so proudly despoiled. And. worse
than all, it would have meant that he
had given the love of his admired mother
for the possession of creature that was
utterly unworthy Of such sacrifice.
He consoled himself with the hope
that all would change for the better as
soon as they left the ship, when they
would no longer be thrown into hourly
contact with strangers.
The intention was to stay but short
time in England, and, after having seen
the principal sights, at once proceed to
the continent. Ralph had been in Eng
land before, and felt, in advance, the
pleasure of serving her as cicerone.
But here he was to have another disap.
pointment He soon forpd that Lucy
felt very little interest in the things that
had the greatest charm for him. At
Stratford- on Avon he could clearly per-
ceive that inwardly she pronounced
Shakespeare bore, although to please
him she declared herself charmed" with
everything he showed her. At other
places of interest this experience was
repeated, and Ralph was greatly shocked,
when, on the boat in which they crossed
over to Ostend, she admitted that OF all
the things she had seen in England
nothing had pleased her more than the
magnificent shops in Regent street and
the afternoon parade of society" in
Rotten Row.
The fact was, that Lucy's education
was of a very limited nature, and the
natural endowments Of her mind not Of
very high order Everybody knows
that the gift of mimicry is but remotely
allied to the higher talents, and it is
common experience that even great &C
tors are seldom, il ever, men of extra
ordinary general intelligence.
After spending some time In the aD-
cient cities Of the Netherlands and Bel
gium, the Doctor and his wife at Bonn
took q steamer for trip up the Rhine.
Perhaps no other journey can be made
so thoroughly enjoyable as one on that
river. Having bcen one Of the chief at
fractions to tourists ever since the modern
great travelling mania begun, the Rhine
and the adjacent country have brought all
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