The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-03-02
THE SILVER BROCADE

It was so stiff it could literally stand
alone. The groundwork was as white
as alabaster. 1t was powdered with
argent dots placed so closely together
that the effect was a shimmerisg, sill.
very surface. indescribably beautiful.
Lady Betty Dufferin wore 1t hrst at
one OF George Tvs levees. Her por-
trait was painted in It. A cherry-lip-
ped, saucy-nosed, insolent-eyed beauty
was Lady Betty, and a fame, it was
said, Of His Royal TIighness.
Her descendants brought it to Vir.
ginia, where it was rustled through
many stately minuet over polished
floors under the soft light OF waxen
candles in sconce and chandelier II
6nally came into the possession OF the
famous Dufferin twins. who fought
desperately over it. and were con
sumed with veXation because their
mother refused to allow either to ap-
pear in 1t. inasmueh as it was her hob
by to dress both these beautiful girls
exactly alike, and there was not
enough of the brocade to so round
One of Alva Dufferin's daughters.
however, wore It at White Sulphur
Springs one summer in the sixties,
and created havoc wherever she
stepped. She was the counterfeit
representation OF her illustrious an
cestress, Lady Betty, and appeared to
have inherited many of the traits of
that frolicsome dame. 1t was she
who. clad in the silver brocade. pulled
off her satin slipper and, filling it with
champagne, gave it to one of her
adorers, while the rest nearly came
to blows over the question who could
secure the other tiny hagon Thus
Betty Dufferin had a flamboyant and
checkered career The least said
about it here the better.
Her grandohild. an exquisite slip of
a girl, ran away with a strollng actor
a pictureque vagabOnd, and went upon
the stage. She made over the silver
brocade, which haG fallen to her, into
a stage gown for society rlay. She
wore it with great eclat on the omen
ing night, and the leading man walked
up the back breadths and tore it off
the waist. Thereupon Miss Julia
Deyereux tainted with vexation and
the curtain was ru1g down.
Next day. in a fret. the actress gave
the still beautiful fabric to her maid
who promptly took it to a funny little
shop near Varick street. and concluded
a bargain with daughter of Israel.
And here "Dick" Fanshaw found it,
No one ever knew from what corner
Of the habitable globe came Dick"
Fanshaw and his beautiful wife They
spoke as Familiarity of Monte Carlo
and Paris as they did of Mexico and
the Klondike. She had been used to
luXury-that was apparent-even If
now she did not possess it. She car
ried about her an air of faded splen-
dor and the somewhat passe costumes
of the lovely woman always retained
a vestige of elegance.
Mrs. Fanshaw was one of those
splendid creatures for whom superb
dress would seem to have been invent
ed. She was a veritable Juno. with
wonderful hair the exact tint of old
copper and eyes the exact tint of old
blue china. She was far more refined
in her manner and bearing than was
her husband. Her proud, sensitive
face grew often scornful and mutinous
as she regarded her swarthy evil.look-
ing lord. That she barely tolerated
his presence was plain enough to see.
One could not blame her when ono
seriously studied the face of Dick"
Fanshaw. He had the air of a brigand.
His hair was the coarse blue black OF
the Orient, and his eyes We're like
smoldering fires. A frightfu mus
tache, ocstentatiously and deliberately
curled, and a short, thick nose added
to his forbidding and sinister appear
ance. He was addicted to wearing
tlashy jewelry when he could afford
it. and his SLOUGH hats and vivid neck
ties were awful to behold
But there was one thing about
"Dick" Fanshaw that all the men
agreed that sat at the card table with
He was just as cool and self-contained
when he was losing as when he was
winning. In fact his apparent indif-
ference to money was magnificent.
One watching his inscrutable face
and coldblooded manner as he shufled
and dealt a hand that meant defeat
for him would have said "Why.
money means nothing to this man.
He is playing merely for the fun of
the thing"
But in Fanshaw's circle 1t was quite
well understood that the gambler was
in desperate straits. For months he
had lost steadily, recouping now and
then enough to keep him still in the
game.
The Fanshaws had modest apart.
ments half way UP town, in neigh
borhood of not unblenished reputa-
ton They lived-Ifeaven knows how
There were frequent quarrels between
the handsome, hish-spirited woman
and the heavy-browed. fiery-eyed hus-
band Mrs. Fanshaw often carried
traces of tears upon her face, and
sometimes a red mark upon her cheek.
as from five angry fingers. The Cos
sip of the house ran that men cams
to the apartments as much to look at
the beauty as to play cards with the
beast
At all events, the Fanshaws be.
longed to that strange intermediary
world where everyone lives by his
wits. That the husband was a rank
adventurer it needed no profound sa-
gacity to discern. That the wife was
a beautiful, unhappy woman, immeas-
urably his superior was also apparent
at a glance.
Night after night Mrs. Fanshaw sat
in her tiny sitting room watching
group of gamblers through the cur
tanned doorway that led into her hus.
bands smoking room. She had no
other occupation but to make herself
rs attractive as her limited purse
would permit. She had no woman
friends for her husband would not al
ow her to receive any one save the
men he brought to their apartments,
She never went out unless Fanshaw,
suspicious and Sc rdonic, walked at
Ter side.
: The poor woman was virtually a
prisoner. Her beauty was used by
or husband 70 I11rn mon To he tnh IL