Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-04-05
THEY JILTED FAMOUS MEN.
But Some Of These Women Lived to
Regret Their Decisions.


But Some of These Women Lived to
Regret Their Decisions.
"Oh. why did not marry dear Char
ley? How happy we should have
been!"
In this burst of confidence to friend
a beautiful American heiress regret
ted her jilting years ago Of Charles
Stewart Parnell,'s but there are not
wanting admirers of the great Irish
leader who affirm that the jilting was
the best thing that could have happen
ed to him. A happy married life would
probably have prevented his entering
the political arena altogether.
AS a young man-his brother, Mr..
John H. Parnell, tells us-the Irish
politician fell in love with a pretty
Wicklow girl Of good family, wi
whom he hunted a good deal, but the
affair came to nothing and Parnell re-
mained heart-free until he visited Par
is in 1879, and there met a young
American heiress, to whom he became
engaged.
They parted for time, she to go to
Rome and he to return to Ireland, and
ultimately the girl wrote, saying she
was returning to America, without
mentioning anything about the en-
gagement. Parnell followed her to
America, and the engagement seemed
to be renewed, when Miss W sud-
denly told him she was not going to
marry him, making the excuse that he
was only an Irish gentleman, without
sumeient means to marry. with no
name in public, and that she could not
marry any one without great pub.
lie name"
This dumbfounded Charley" who,
after trying his best to persuade her
to marry him, gave up the heart-break-
ing job. To distract his thoughts Par
nell plunged into politics, with what
result the world knows. He never met
the lady again, but according to the
authority mentioned, another Ameri-
can heiress In later years proposed to
Charley" who left Paris to escape
her,
This romantic episode of political
life calls to mind the lifting OF the
we'll known Unionist politician. Mr..
Henry Chaplin, who years ago was en-
gagged to Lady Florence Paget, a
daughter of a former Lord Anglesey,
one of the loveliest women in English
society; In fact, she was known as
the Pocket Venus"
The engagement had been publicly
announced and the day Of the marriage
fixed, when the startling news leaked
out that Lady Paget had eloped with
the late Marquis Of Hastings. one Of
the most daring turf plungers the rae
ing world has ever known. Under the
pretext Of shopping at a certain we'll
known emporium in the west end Lady
Paget walked in one door and out Of
another, where she met the marquis,
with whom she Immediately drove
away. They were at once married.
Only a year or two ago Fate gave
Mr.. Chaplin his revenge. His horse,
Hermit won the Derby at enormous
odds-something like 66 to land Lord
Hastings was ruined. He died only
four years after his romantic marriage
and his widow, who afterwards mar
ried Sir George Chetwynd, also died q
few years ago. 1t was something like
twelve years before Mr.. Chaplin recov-
cred from the blow, and then he mar
ried Lady Florence Leveson- Cover,
sister of the present Duke Of Suther-
land.
The story Of how Charles Dickens
was Tilted Is particularly interesting.
When he was 18 Dickens became ac-
quainted with the three daughters Of
George Beadnell, a Lombard street
banker. With one Of them, Maria (the
original Of Dora in David Copper
field"), who was year his senior, be
Immediately fell in love. and Maria
flirted with him very desperately. But
the love- making Of the future novelist
was not treated very seriously, for he
was not considered by any means an
eligible party, and even Maria herself
adopted an attitude Of amused toler-
ance.
For three years the affair went on,
and then Dickens realized that his case
was hopeless. He pleaded In vain,
with the girl, whose caprices madden
ed and gladdened him alternately, for,
as a matter Of fact. Maria Beadnell was
la willful coquette. The end Of 1t all
was a reply that held out no hope. and
so the parting came. For twenty years
they saw no more Of one another. Ul-
timately Maria Beadnell was married
to Henry Louis Winter, and when
Dickens met her again time had
wrought sad havoc on his youthful
ideal. Mrs. Winter wrote to her old
lover, but Dickens did not care to re-
new a correspondence with his old
sweetheart. Then Mr.. Winter failed,
and the chagrined wife appealed to the
lover of her girlhood for help, but with
out avail, and the romance ended long
before Mrs. Winters death in 1885.
A curious fact regarding the jilting
of famous men is that through pique
they have occasionally been led into
marriages which have resulted In the
utmost misery for both husband and
wife. There was John Ruskin, for In
stance, who fell in love as a boy with
the beautiful Rose de la Touche, whom
he wooed with poems, romances and
dramas and mute worship, receiving
nothing in return but chilly Indifference
and lively ridicule. The result was
that at the age of 29 he married lady
of great beauty. Miss Gray, of family
long intimate with the Ruskins. The
marriage, we are told. was somewhat
hurried act, and brought no happiness
to either, and six years afterward 1t
was dissolved.
Then there Is the case Of Lord By
ron, who was led into his unhappy
matrimonial alliance with Miss Mil
banke, only daughter and heiress of