An American Duchess; a pendant to 'Miss Bayle's Romance.'

Front matter

A PENDANT TO 'MISS BAYLE'S ROMANCE' BY W. FRASER RAE IN THREE VOLUMES III. LONDON RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON in fflrbtttar)) to JHafcstj) the (Queen 1891 [All rights rescrr,ed\ CONTENTS OF VOL. III. CHAPTER PAGE I. AT SEA AND ON SHORE - - - I II. THE DUCHESS'S RETURN - - - 34 III. IN THE NEW WORLD - - "53 IV. RAMBLING ABOUT - - - 93 V. PREPARING FOR HOME - - " JS3 VI. HIGH JINKS ON THE 'MONARCHIC' - 175 VII. A FAMILY CONCLAVE - - " 2IS VIII. MONTE CARLO REVISITED - 242 IX. COMPENSATIONS - - - -

Chapter I At Sea And On Shore

The Duke of Windsor felt at home on the sea. He knew the art of navigation better than any other, and his certificate of master mariner proved his proficiency as a sailor ; y*et, when crossing the Atlantic in the Monarchic (the crack steamer of the famed Edelweiss Company), he found as much that was novel during the voyage as the driver of a mail-coach in olden days did when he took his first journey by rail. vol. in. The Duchess was confident that she could instruct her husband in many things concerning Atlantic travel from her own limited experience of it, and she took great pains, during the week before her husband and she started for Liverpool, to instruct him as to what he might expect and as to what he ought to do on the ocean, and when about to set foot upon the sacred soil of her native land.

The Duke placidly accepted the use ful information which his wife insisted upon imparting to him, in the happy conscious ness of her superiority. She was proud of being competent to instruct her husband in matters about which she fancied that she knew far more than he could possibly do. The Duchess of Windsor was seldom puzzled, and it was a rare occurrence for her to make a confession of ignorance ; yet, when she and her husband had been a few minutes on board the Monarchic, she said to him : ' I must say, Eton, that I have never seen anything like this. When mother and I came over to Europe, we were in a first-class steamer ; but this one is so much larger and better arranged, that I am quite surprised. I must take back all I have told you about ocean travel, as I am sure that you will soon find out more about it than I have ever learned.' It is very easy for an English Duke of average intellect to obtain all the informa tion he may desire.

Captain Paracelsus, who was the oldest and most experienced seaman in the service of the Edelweiss Com pany, and who was proud to command the Monarchic, took great pains to furnish the Duke with all the particulars he required. The Duke noted down the facts which were imparted to him, and he regretted more keenly than he had done before that be was not then in the office that he coveted — that of First Lord of the Admiralty. ' If I had my way as First Lord,' he said to himself, after learning many things about the Monarchic and the Edelweiss Company, ' I should add seA*eral vessels like this to our fleet. It costs nearly half as little as those built in our dockyards, and there is not a man-of-war that can compare with her. She has never broken down after her trial trip, while our war ships either go to the bottom or into dock for repairs after their first cruise.' The Duchess repeatedly called her hus band's attention to something Avhich was new to her, and which he treated as part of the ordinary arrangements for the com fort of passengers. ' Do look at this, Eton !' or ' Do look at that !' was her exclamation repeated many times before either had been an hour on board.

Isba expressed herself delighted with everything which she saw, and, when questioned, she gladly admitted that there was no comparison between this steamer and that in which she had been a passenger from Madras to Marseilles. Captain Roker and Mr. Bayle travelled with the party from London, and did not bid the voyagers farewell till they had seen them safely on board ship. The Captain was sorry to be separated from his daughter, yet he had to bear the pain of parting, as Parliament was still sitting, and he had made a good resolution — as many members do during their first session — to remain at his post till the prorogation. ' I am on duty,' he replied, when asked to spend an evening elsewhere. He generally added, when remonstrated with : ' I promised to support the Government, and I must keep my word.

I shall never miss voting in a single division if I can help it.' He almost grudged the few hours which were required for seeing the ducal pair and Isba off. His presence in the House itself was missed all the more because he confined himself to making a House and voting, having virtuously resolved to ab stain from speaking, except on special occasions ; and the member who seldom opens his mouth, except to cheer his own side, and is always to be depended upon being present while the House is sitting, is a man whom the Leader and Whips of his party consider exemplary and praiseworthy. Persons who see each other off have little to say at the last, and then they are often given to repeating themseh*es. The Duke was a practical man, and Captain Roker was not addicted to sentiment, so they discussed matters of business up to the moment when the bell rang, and all those who were not passengers had to return to the tender which had brought them from the landing-stage. ' This is a fine specimen of naval architecture,' was the Duke's remark to Captain Roker after he had learned some details about the steamer, and had walked over in the Captain's company. ' It is a fine boat, I must admit,' was the Captain's reply ; and he added, ' It is very different from the one I came home in from India.' ' I wish,' said the Duke, 'that our dock yards could match such a vessel as this.

If I had been First Lord of the Admiralty, I should have never rested till the Govern ment yards had beaten the private ones.' ' Supposing y-ou had succeeded, your Grace ? What then ? You would have had to resort to cheeseparing, which is always unpopular, and the party would have suffered. I am no friend to economy in official departments. The Government should not be a tradesman, or try to com pete Avith one. "Dear and good" is the motto for any department in the public service which is conducted on genuine old fashioned principles.' ' Well, Roker, you ought to be satisfied with the sums which our men-of-Avar cost ; if they were as good as they are dear, I should quite agree with you.' ' These are revolutionary sentiments, your Grace,' was the comment which Captain Roker uttered with a graA*e face and in his most serious tone ; he continued still more solemnly : ' If your Grace starts with such ideas, I cannot even imagine what you will think when you return from America.

God grant that you may not be made a reA-olutionist byr your visit !' ' Don't concern yourself, Roker. I hope to return with my principles all right and my ideas enlarged. My father often told me that his visit to America Avas a sort of liberal education. If I learn anvthina: bv my visit, I shall not make a bad use of it, I hope. Certainly, my father was never charged with holding levelling sentiments, or of being grossly ignorant, as I am afraid some of my fellow-peers are in these days of progress.' At this stage in the conversation the last bell rang, and the steward called out for those who were not passengers to go on board the tender. Captain Roker shook his head once or twice, as if to show that he was shocked beyond measure ; then he shook hands, saying : ' I hope your Grace will have a pleasant trip, and that I may be wrong in my antici pations ;' and then he hastened to say good bye to his daughter and the Duchess.

In a few minutes' time the tender moved off, those on it and the Monarchic waving handkerchiefs to each other, while the giant vessel steamed away in the opposite direc tion. Whether a man be a Duke or a com moner, an American millionaire or a poor emigrant, he is in a position on board ship entirely different from that which he generally occupies, or can ever occupy, on land. In a modern ship at sea all the passengers are in a prison with a plank, as Dr. Johnson said, or a thin piece of steel, as may be said now, between them and eternity. On shore they may all be liable to sudden death from lightning or an earthquake ; and if they dwell in some of the W'estern States of America, their days may soon be as a tale that is told, when, to use an American phrase, ' a tornado comes along.' Neither on sea nor land are men and women alway-s thinking of what may happen at any moment ; if they gave their minds to considering possibilities, they would be miserable.

True philosophy* con sists in enjoying the passing hour as much as in bearing pain with stoicism and making the best of that which cannot be altered. On board an Atlantic steamer there are always plenty of passengers who desire to have what the American passengers call ' a good time.' The demon of the sea may compel some to groan on deck or in their berths, or to sigh for the solid land ; but the proportion of those who are condemned to torture is smaller than that of those who eat, drink, play, and sleep with regularity and gratification during the twenty-four hours. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Isba were what is called good sailors ; they* felt as well on board the Monarchic as they* would have done in Slough House or at Druid's Mount. Yet they did not find the steamer as pleasant a home as any of the houses in which they might have dwelt in England.

One of the two finest state-rooms was occupied by the Duke and Duchess ; Isba had one to herself in another part of the steamer. Owing chiefly to the practical good sense of the Duchess of Windsor, the Duke's valet and the lady's maids who waited upon her and Isba Avere given a holiday and left behind. Those who travel in America with servants in their train double their worries as well as their expenses. The ducal party appeared regularly at table, and sat near the Captain. Even English Dukes and American millionaires on board ship, Avhen exempt from sea sickness, never think of taking their meals in any other place than the saloon set apart for the purpose, and in which the other passengers congregate, eat heartily, drink heavily, and then, haA-ing nothing else to do, grumble at the badness of the table and the wines.

All the passengers on board the Monarchic took an interest in the Duke, the Duchess, and Isba, and some of them were replete with incorrect information about each. Manyr of the English passengers considered it a special favour to sit at table with the Duke and Duchess ; their American fellows did not account this an honour, yet they were filled with curiosity as to hoAV these aristo crats would conduct themselves. When an American President paid a visit to the North-Western States for the first time, he was most cordiallyreceived, and when he sat down to breakfast or dinner, he was surrounded by an admiring and inquisitive crowd, which display-ed as much interest in the way he satisfied his appetite as any- French spectators did in the olden day's when their King and Queen dined in public.

Familiarity engenders satiety, and after the second dayr the Duke, the Duchess, and Isba ate their breakfast, luncheon, and dinner without being stared at as they* had been at the outset. By that time it was discovered that they were human beings like those Avho accompanied and gazed upon them. Some disappointment was manifested at the Duke avoiding the smoking-room, where play went on, and where he would have been asked to join in the game. Captain Paracelsus had put his cabin at his disposal, and the Duke went there to smoke and chat with him. The Duchess was subjected to a sur prise which Avas not an unalloyed pleasure. She had not been half an hour on board before a lady accosted her in the familiar style which she once thought natural, but Avhich she now thought A-ulgar. This lady was Mrs. Johnson, whom she had seen once or twice only since her marriage, owing, perhaps, to the Johnsons visiting London at a time when the Duchess was either confined to the house through ill ness or else was staying at Druid's Mount.

Mrs. Johnson had not changed since making the Duchess's acquaintance in the days that she was simple Miss Bayle. She had lived for years in Europe without losing any of her American characteristics. ' And who would have thought it !' she exclaimed, as she advanced to the Duchess and took her hand ; ' this is more than I should have expected. If Mr. Johnson were here, wouldn't he be just glad !' WTith a sigh of relief on learning that Mr. Johnson was not on board, the Duchess shook Mrs. Johnson's hand, and said with the self-possession and casuistry of a woman Avho has shown in good society till she has ceased to be quite natural : ' I am delighted to meet you, Mrs. Johnson, and I must say that I never expected to have had such a treat. It is a long time since we met, but I have been glad to see in the papers that your daughters haA'e made such splendid marriages.' ' Please don't say so,' was Mrs. Johnson's pathetic appeal.

She added in a doleful strain : ' I do so wish I were dead, or that the poor girls had never left America.' ' But what's the trouble ? Didn't the one marry a Prince Toricellia and the other a Baron Scharfstein ?' ' I can't say that I have ever been able to pronounce the names as you do, but they sound something like that. But I shouldn't so much care about not being able to speak the names of my sons-in-law, if my poor girls were only happy.' Then Mrs. Johnson began to weep bitterly, and the Duchess, seeling sorry for her, and havings as much dislike for a scene in public as any- Duchess by birth or mar riage can haAe, invited her to come into the stateroom and tell her story there. The story was a long one, and the gist of it is all that the ordinary* reader will care for. ' You maynot know.

Duchess,' began Mrs. Johnson, 'that my girls never were the same persons after being at your wedding in Westminster Abbey. They lost their heads entirely. It wasn't because of the Abbey itself, though they seemed to think it a fine thing to be married in such an old place, but the company afterwards. They met more Princesses, Dukes, and all sorts of lords in a quarter of an hour than they had done in the course of all the years they had been in Europe, and I don't mind telling you noAv, though I never admitted it to them, that I was quite as pleased as they Avere. All the gentlemen were so polite and so different from the British peers I had read about.' ' Well, Mrs. Johnson,' said the Duchess when Mrs. Johnson paused to take breath, to wipe her eyes, and to think about Avhat she should say next, ' I once thought as you did about these titled folks, but I have now lived long enough in England to understand that the pictures of the British aristocracy in American papers are quite different from those of the people I have ever met with.

I have often been told that the Americans are very much VOL. III. pleasanter than those described in books and newspapers, so I suppose we don't understand each other, when we trust to newspaper men and the writers of books.' ' I don't read many books or newspapers, Duchess, and when I do I always look out for murders and divorces ; but I somehow think foreigners in Europe are different from Avhat Americans at home suppose them to be. I guess some are better than others, but not eA'eryone is so fortunate as you have been, and certainly Hattie and Minnie would have been happier if they had neA'er been married.' ' But Avhat is the matter Avith them ?' ' Why ! Hattie had to become a Roman Catholic, because the Italian Prince she married said that no Protestants could be admitted into his family ; and Hattie was so anxious to be a Princess that she said she Avould have become a nun if he had insisted upon it.

Her father said he would never speak to her again if she changed her religion, and he has never seen her since. Minnie married a German Baron, but he was some sort of Protestant — I guess he was a Lutheran — and Mr. John son said that so long as he did not believe in the Pope, he Avould not raise any objections ; but poor Minnie is not any happier with her husband than Hattie is with hers. Both of them have more titles than money, and theyseemed to have ex pected Mr. Johnson would pay their debts, but he declined to pay a cent, and he has so fixed it that the girls get only so much a year, which he has arranged to be paid directly to them.' ' But if they are so miserable, Avhy don't they leaA*e their husbands ?' ' That's what I've said, Duchess, and I wouldn't stay if I were treated as they are.

But both tell me the same thing, and that is, if they should run away they must leave their children behind. Hattie has a boy and a girl, and Minnie has two girls, and they cannot bear the thought of leaving their children ; and Mr. Johnson says that he will not receive them Avhether they come with their children or without them.' ' But your son Abel or Cain — I forget which you call him — how is he getting on ?' ' His name is Abel, though we always call him Cain to distinguish him from his father. He is going ahead, but we seldom hear from him. He went into the sugar business in the Sandwich Islands, and is making heaps of money. You may re member that Mr. Johnson is a verypar ticular man. When he heard from some one who was there that the boy was leading a rather wild life, he wrote to him for an explanation, and he got a fewlines telling him to mind his own business.

This made Mr. Johnson quite mad, and he wrote back telling Cain that he didn't wish to see or hear from him again. He always writes to me, and I never tell Mr. Johnson that I have anything to do with him ; if I did, Mr. Johnson would say he did not wish to see me either.' ' Then, have you had a quarrel with your husband ?' asked the Duchess, adding : ' And are you running away from him now ? For my part, I hope not. I think that wives should alway*s remain with their husbands.' ' I quite agree with you, Duchess, on general principles ; but you shouldn't judge everyone by yourself — not that I am run ning away, because I am going to America now to please Mr. Johnson.' Here Mrs. Johnson first became con fused, and then seemed averse to con tinue the conversation. The Duchess plied her with questions in order to satisfy her curiosity, yet she did not succeed in ob taining replies at once.

Mrs. Johnson was not in the mood for giving answ*ers or explanations ; on the contrary, she was unable to restrain the tears which flowed fast, and she repeated between her sobs : ' I do wish I had never left America.' ' But Avhat is the matter, Mrs. Johnson ?' exclaimed the Duchess, who had become more surprised and inquisitiA-e. ' Surely nothing worse has happened than the marriages of your two daughters ! Can anything haA'e happened to Mr. John son ?' Then, pausing for a moment, she looked at Mrs. Johnson to see if she carried any external token of being a Avidow, it having flashed through her mind that perhaps Mr. Johnson might be dead, and that the remembrance of having lost him had made Mrs. Johnson cry. Drying her tears with a quickness which is peculiar to women in all quarters of the globe and os all nationalities, Mrs. Johnson rapidly said : 'Oh, Mr. Johnson is well enough, if that's what you mean.

His health never was better. If he were to fall sick, I guess it would do him real good; and I am certain it would give me relief, because he would then conclude to go back to America by the first steamer.' ' If Mr. Johnson is quite well, and if you have nothing more to complain of than what you haA'e told me, it seems, Mrs. Johnson, that you are making a great fuss about nothing.' ' I wish, Duchess, it was nothing ; but, unfortunately*, it is not so. However, as you seem to take such an interest in me, I do not mind telling you how matters really stand.' Mrs. Johnson paused, and began to cry again. She felt her position keenly, and she still hesitated to tell her woes even to so SA'mpathetic a listener as the Duchess, the reason being that she was ashamed of her husband as well as aggrieved by his conduct.

She had been in the habit, during many years, of looking up to him as a superfine specimen of the human race. He never merited her homage ; but in this respect he resembled many* husbands whom their wives rank among divinities Avhen they ought to class them among fallen angels. The Duchess waited patiently until Mrs. Johnson had collected herself and was prepared to tell her all she had to communicate. At last she said : ' I guess I shall be all the better for answering your questions, Duchess, though I don't feel at all like doing so. I may tell you, then, that I am going to America to try and raise fifty thousand dollars for Mr. Johnson. He wants the money very badly.' 'What! Is your husband really in diffi culties ? I thought he had plenty to live on, and that was why he left America to have a good time in Europe.' ' He had enough once, and though he gave Hattie and Minnie fifty thousand dollars each when they married, he had quite enough left.

The trouble was that he tried to make more, and he has now lost nearly everything.' ' He has been speculating, I suppose ; but there is nothing wrong in that, as my* father always says, so long as you don't lose anything.' ' But Mr. Johnson is not so smart a man as Mr. Bayle ; besides, he has tried a Avay of making money that I remember hearing your father call " moonshine.'' ' But what is this mystery, Mrs. Johnson ? I can't really make out Avhat you mean.' 'Well, the truth is that Mr. Johnson went to Monte. Carlo to " bust up the bank," as he told me, and now he is about dead broke himself.' ' You don't say ?' exclaimed the Duchess in the phrase of her pre-married days, and added : ' I am sorry to hear it, but I am not surprised. What you should do is to get your husband away from the place instead of collecting more money for him while he is there.' ' He has promised me to leave it as soon as he has won back all his bets, and he is now certain of doing so if he can raise fifty thousand dollars.

He did make half a million one season, and it is only this year that he has been unfortunate. He has got a system which he says is infallible, and when he has made a big pile he means to come awayfor good.' 'Well, Mrs. Johnson, I never could endure a gambler, yet I hope for your sake that Mr. Johnson may be successful. It would have been better for you all if you had never left America.' ' I am sure it would, Duchess, and I shall tell all my friends so, and warn them against visiting Europe and getting married there. I only wish I had known all this sooner.' The Duchess noticed the remark, and she Avinced without saying anything. However, as Isba entered the stateroom it would haA-e been unseemly to continue the com-ersation, and Mrs. Johnson found a pretext for leaving. The male passengers preferred Isba's type of beauty to that of the Duchess, though some of them, among whom a few Englishmen were conspicuous, would have preferred making the elder lady's acquaintance ; but they were married men, and, while they could enjoy conversing with a Duchess and boasting about it, they could not gain any recompense by conversing with Isba.

The fancies of the bachelors naturally* turned to thoughts of love for the maiden. Isba became the subject of much talk and speculation among the passengers. A state ment was current about her to the effect that she was an Indian Princess. The originator of the fable was never discovered. It is true she had told some of those who succeeded in getting on speaking terms Avith her that she was born in Pondicherry, and upon this simple and truthful remark an airy fabric of fiction was reared, the important part being that she was a Princess, and a ward of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, whom she was accompanying to the American continent because she wished to see America before returning to India. She Avas commonly spoken of as the Princess, and she was watched bA' some American passengers with the interest which they would take in a bird of para dise.

They desired to assure themselves how a Princess conducted herself when at table and between meals, and they learned from careful observation that Isba spoke the English tongue as fluently and cor rectlyas they did, that she closely re sembled many an American or English girl of her years, and that her beauty* was her distinguishing characteristic. Those who spoke to her called her Princess : she thought this was done in joke. Yet, as any beautiful girl considers herself a divinity in virtue of her good looks, Isba did not protest when the title was first bestowed upon her, and afterwards she accepted it as a merited compliment. Thus it came about that Isba was always addressed and spoken of on board the Monarchic as the ' Princess.' Four days after the Monarchic steamed away, leaving the Irish coast behind, the expectation of sighting the coast of America began to occupy sanguine and imaginative passengers.

The older stagers among }•■' them busied themselves with getting up a sweepstake on the number of the pilot boat, and when the Duke stepped into the smoking-room one morning, he was asked to take tickets. He took three : one for himself, one for his wife, and one for the Princess, as, in common with the others on board, he now styled Isba. The number of the pilot-boats being limited and fifty being the number of the tickets taken, it was unavoidable that the blanks should be far in excess of the numbers to be drawn. Blanks fell to the lot of the Duke and Duchess, while Isba Avas so fortunate as to draw a number, which was 3. ' That is a lucky* number,' said an envious passenger who had draAvn a blank. 'It is nothing of the sort,' retorted another who had drawn 7. ' I had 3 the last trip, and it did not win.

There is more luck in 7 than in all the numbers put together.' When the Monarchic approached the spot where pilot-boats usually meet inward bound A'essels, tAvo of them were discerned on the horizon, and the excitement grew intense as to the number on the sail of the boat Avhich had the start of the other. The passengers with sharp eyes and powerful glasses Avere able to make out the number long before it was apparent to the naked eye, yet those who had neither sharp eyes nor powerful glasses Avere none the Aviser for what they were told, as one passenger affirmed the number was 15, another that it was 6. While a wrangle went on and each one adhered to his own conclusion, a report spread that the Captain and first officer believed the number to be 3, and when the pilot-boat was near enough for the eye to serve without a glass, it was seen that the Captain and first officer were right, and then a cheer went up for the Princess.