Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1910-10-26

The Tardy Marriage OF Fitz-
gerald and Lucy Barton.
A UNION PITIFUL, YET COMIC

The Couple Were Utterly Unsuited to
One Another, and He Fled From Her
During the Honeyuaoon-A Reunion
That Failed to Reunite.
The incidents leading M 10 and those
following the marriage Of Edward
Fitzgerald. translator Of the omar
khayyam." were OF ludicrouS and ne
the same time somewhat serious char
acter Mr. Francis Gribble gave the
facts in the Fortnightly Review;
The Lucy Barton story Is very pitt
ful. but IL is also rather comic. She
was 4 QuaSer's daughter. who had
joined the Church Of England rs 4
means. one im1gincs. OF climbing the
social ladder. and she was just the
sort Of person whom Fitzgerald would
esteem. but detcst-prin. pious. me-
thodical. fuSSy. not quite a lady and
yet i'm a weird provincial way world
". the sort of person to whom Il seems
equally important 20 teach in the sun
day school ana 90 be- leader or So
ciety.
Fitzgerald and she had known each
other for the greater part OF their
lives and were both nearly fifty years
Of age when marriage overlook them.
He did not even know that he was en-
gagged TO her. But she told him that he
was. and he was too polite TO contra
dict her
"politcncSS only broke down when.
after the ceremony. she assumed pro-
pictorial airs and insisted that her
husband should pay afternoon calls
with her and dress for dinner That
was the last straw. though very likely
it was also the first
Fitzgerald supposed apparently that
in marrying Lucy Barton lac had mere
" acquired a houscSeepcr who would
know her place. who would confine
her new dignity to her housckeeper's
room. leaving him as free rs OF old 20
T slop about In slippered ease. uukcmpt
unshaven. cnvclopcd In dressing
gown until the evening. with books
all over the floor pipes an over the
mantelpiece and tobacco ash an over
his clothes
1T would not have mattercd. OF
course. IL he had married Tor love and
IL his bride had been woman OF
grace and charm. such enc would
have changed an that Ike fairy wav-
ing 4 magic wand But Fitzgerald had
only married to obligc and Mrs. Fitz-
gerald was not In the least like a fairy.
She was more like female drill ser
geant. conventional. still and starched
yet with pretensions
Her fiow OF fuSsy small talk was a
nuisance. and her interruption OF Fitz-
/ gerald's meditations with the demand
that he should shave and wear clean
linen assumed the proportion Of n
tragedy in his eyes
lie stood Il for 4 fortnight and then
fed. leaving the honeymoon unfinished
going or 10 stay with friends. boiling
like rabbit for its burrow
There were q reunion and an at
tempt at reconciliation. but I'm vain
Fitzgcrald's letters 10 his friends at
this period are like the letters home OF
n boy who is being bullled M school
81 believe he write. 10 Professor
Cowell. there are new channels frettei
in my checks with many unmanly
tears. and there really Is no evidenc,
that he had anything 10 cry about be
NNuu the lail lh@l nc WAS itll- nus
tied out Of comfortable dresSin'
gown into "a Stnrched shirt with higl
collars
THAT fact waS symholical az th'
general Discrepancy OF tastes an,
points OF Wow So wc nud him writ
ing again TIL ] see better how We sc
on ! dare hN on no place to live or al
in. and then before long came defnit
separation AMI the drafting Of q dee
Of settlement.
Fitzgerald. it IS said. used long az
erward 10 walk up and down 4 certain
garden path for hours together calm
himself a fool. and when Ia latcr year
he met his wife again he tirst put on
his hand and then changed his min
and turned his lack"