Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1895-05-17
CHAPTER VIII
UP THE RHINE.


UP THE RHINE.
One Of tho magnificent floating palaces
that serve as steamships between tn s
country and Europe safely landed DR..
Ralph Warringham and his young wife
on the coast of cd England.
Ralphs honeymoon was scarcely that
round of unaloyed JOY which it is com
monty alleged to be, AMI which the
Doctor had expected
When he was alone thcro was always
recurring a pang o: conscience, not FOR
his llial ii obedicnce-hc was convinced
that lie had done strictly right in that
respcct-but for another reason. lie
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 hc 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
sengcrs, at least the male portion OF
them, gathered, and 1t must be owned
that she understood, as lew women do,
the art of entertaining a large circle OF
admirers. But her husband soon teyan
to think that she devoted herself rather
freely TO the exercise of her so ial
accomplishments. 1t has lcen said to
b, Door breeding for a married couple
to make their relations apparent In com
pany by too exclusive devotion to each
other. OF this error Mrs Warringham as
suredy never showed herself guilty.
When she was sitting on deck with half
sc,rc of gentlemen SurrOundi g her, all
eager to get smile and pleasant word
from her, and none disappointed, surely
none would have guessed, from appear
ances, that the handsome gcntlemar, who
usually sat little aside aud took by no
means leading rart In the conyersa'
ton. was the husband OF that vlvacious
and charming lady. However TINS
might pleacc othors, it was not to tie
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 tc
thinking on this subject, and, eager as
he was to find excuses for Lucys be-
havior, called himself jealous mon
ster. Cid h. 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 a harcm.
| Was not Lucy, by her theatrical career,
accustomed to an unembarraSScd aSSO'
citation with men, and could she break
una fixed habit within few days? Prob
ably the idea had never struck her that
she was not acting just as he would have
liked her to do He might throw out
somo hints, and resolved to do so.
But Notwithstanding all this reason
ing. which to his head seemed COnclu
sive, his heart would not be quictcd. 1t
obstinately asserted that his reasons to
complain were as plenty as blackberr.es
He did throw out hints, pretty broad
ones, too But Lucy had way OF turn
ing of the shafts of his anger with
lest, a smile, kiss, and funny little
D Is dc SeuL that was simply irresistible.
| Ralph felt his anger vanish like snow
| under the rays of an April sun, folded
her i'm his arms, swOrc that he had the
dearest, pretticst 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 Gaily occurrence, and always
ended in the same manner. Mrs. War
ringham went on as before, and Ralph
spent most of his time inyenting 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 ,uve for her per-
yadcd al parts of lis being, and he
fn think Of bnT
| faithlessness' as hypothetical case. II
would have been fatal blow to his van.
ty also, of which he possessed his full
share. 1t would have justified all the
malicious criticism of the world which
he had so proudly dcspoled. 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.
ue consoled himself with the horo
that all wou'd 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 on:e proceed to
the continent Ralph had been in Eng"
land before, and felt. in advance, the
pleasure of serving her as cicerone.
Rut here he was to have another disap-
pointmcnt lie soon fonnd that Lucy
felt very little interest in the things that
had the greatest charm for him. At
Stratfori- on Avon he could clearly per
ceivc that inwardly she pronounced
Shakespeare a bore, although to p'ease
him she declared herself "charmed" with
everything he Showed her At other
p'a-os of interes, this experience was
repeated, AMI Ralph was realty shocked,
when, on the boat in which they crossed
over to Ostend, she admitted that OF all
the things she had seen in Eng and
nothing had pleased her more than the
magnificent shops in Regent street ana
The afternoon rarade of society" In
| Rotten Row.
The fact was, that l.ncys education
was of vciy limited nature, and the
natural endowmcnts Of her mind not OF
a very high ord Everybody knows
that the gift of mimicry is but remotely
allied to the higher talents, and it is
common cxpcr c lcc that even gr"at ac-
tors are seldom, if ever, men OF extra
ordinary general intelligence.
| Aft,r sncndinu some tine III tic an