Show EEGINALDS WIFE i I I Water Besant in the Strand Magazine ACT i You dear old boy said the girl I am Lure I wish it could be with all my Sart I I have any heart t dont believe you have replied the i boy gloomily Well out Reg consider youve got no I money Ive got 5000 I a man cant maka his way upon that ho must be a poor f stickYou You would go abroad with it and dig I I and taue your wife with youto wash and I cook We would do something with tho money 1 here You snould stay in London Rosie Yes In a suburban villa at Shepherds Shep-herds Bush perhaps No Reg when I marry it I ever dol am in no hurryI I will stop out of this tm into one exactly like it Tho room was a splendid drawing j room In Palace Gardens splendidly furnished fur-nished I shall have my footman and my I i carriage and I shalI Rosie give mo the right to earn all these things for you tho young man cried impetuously You can only earn them for me by the time you have one foot in the grave Hadnt I better in the meantime marry come old gentleman with his one foot in the grave so as to be ready for you against I the lime when you come home In two or I three years the other foot I aaro say would I I elide into tho grave as well 9 You laugh at my trouble You ieei nothing I I tie pater would part but be wont t he says ho wants all his money for himself und that Ive got to marry welL Besides Reghere her face clouded and she lowered I low-ered her voicotnere are times when he looks anxious We didnt always live in Palace Gardens Suppose we should lose f it all as quickly as we got It Oh I she shivered and trembled No I will never never marry a poor man Get rich ray I dear ooy and you may aspire even to the valuable possession of this heartless Land handthe held it out He took it pressed i stooped ard kissed her then he dropped her hand and walked quickly out of the roomPoor Reggie J she murmured I ihI wishbut what is the use of wishing I wish-ing t ACT I Two men one young the other about 50 i sat in the veranda of a small bungalow It was after breakfast < They lay back in i long bamboo chairs each wita a cigar J f looked aa if they were resting In reality I they wore talking business and that very serlo sly I 4 Yes sir said the elder man with something of an American accent I have 1 jomehow taken a fancy to this place Tne utuntion is healthy f Well I dont know lIve had more than one touch of fever here Tho climate is lovely Except in the rains The soil is fertile Ive dropped nvo thousand In It and they havent como up again yet They will I have been round the estate and I see money in it Well sir heres my offer 5000 down hard cash as soon as 1 the papers aro signed Reginald sat up Ha was on the point oft of-t accepting the proposal when a pony rode up to the house and the rider n native natve I groom jumped off and gave him a note He opened it and read It was from his nearest near-est nei hbor two or threa miles away Dont sell that man your estate Gold has I been found The whole country is full of gold Hold on Hes an assayer I he I offers to buy be quite sure that he has found sola on your land P G He put the note into his pocket gave a verbal messaeo o the boy and turned to his guest without betraying the least astonishment as-tonishment or emotion hI beg your pardon The note was from Bellamy my next neighbor Welt You were sayingI Only that I have taken a fancy per I hap a foolish fancyto this place of yours and Ill give you if you like all that you have spent upon it Well he replied reflectively but with I a twinkle in his eye that seems hand some But the place isnt really worth the half that I have spent upon it Anybody would tell you that Come let us be honest I hon-est whatever we are Ill tell you a better way Wo will put the matter into the hands of Bellamy He knows what a coffee j plantation is worth He shall name the price and if we can agree upon that we will make a deal of it The other man changed color He wanted want-ed to settle the thing at once as between gentlemen What need of third parties j But Reginald stood quite firm and he presently rode away quite sure that in 1 day or two this planter too would have the news A month later the young coffee planter It stood on the deck of a steamer homeward bound In his pocketbook was a plan of his auriferous estate in a hag hanging I 1 around his neck was a small collection of yellow nuggets in his boxes was a cnosen assortment of quartz ACT Ill Well sir 1 said the financier youve brought this thing to me Yoa want my advice Well my advice is dont fool away the only good thing that will ever happen to you Luck such as this dont como more than once in a lifetime r j I have been offered 10000 for my estate es-tate I tateObi Obi 1 Have youl I Ten thousand I That J WHS liberalvery liberal indeed Ten thousand for a gold reef But I thought as an old friend of my lather you would perhaps Young man dont fool It away Hes waiting for you round the corner I suppose sup-pose with a bottle of fizz ready to close He is 4 Well go and drInk his champagne A ways get whatever you can And then tel him you will see him I certainly will sir if you advise it And then And thenleave it to me Andyoung f manI think I heard I year or two ago something about you and my girl Rosie There was something sir Not enough t trouble you about lt Sac told me Rosie tells me all her love affairs I Is she is she unmarried Oh yes and for the moment believe she is free She has had one or two engagements en-gagements but somehow they have come to nothing There was tho French count but that was knocked on the head very early in consequence of things discovered And there was the boom in Guano but he fortunately smashed much toRosle8 jay because she never liked him The last was Lord Evergreen He was a nice old chap hen you could understand what he said end Rosie would have hiied the title very much though his grandchildren opposed the thing Well sir I suppose you couldnt understand the trouble we took to keep that old man alive for his own wedding Science did all that i could but twas of no use The financier sighwd The ways or Providence are inscrutable He died sir the day before1 That was very Bad A dashsbing of the cup from the lip sir My daughter would be a countess Well young gentleman about this estate of yours I think I see a wayI think I am not yet surethat I do see 1 way Go now See this liberal gentleman and drink his champagne and como here in a week Then i I still see my way you shall understand un-derstand what it means to hold the position in the city which is mine ndaumny I call upon Hostel Not till this day week nol till I have t made my way plain ACT IV And so it means this Oh Roaie you I look lovelier than ever and Im as happy BE a king It means this Your father is the greatest genius in tim world He buys i my property forGOOOO6OOOO Thats i over 2000 a year for me and ho makes a company out of i with 150OOD capital jl Ho says that taking 10000 sat of it for expenses there will be a profit of 80000 And all that he gives to youiiOooo thats 8000 a year for you and 60000 thats 2000 more my dearest Rj > sie You remember what you said that when you married you should step out of one room like this into another justas good Ob Regglelsho sank upon his osomusou know I never could love any body but ou Its true I was engaged to old Lord Evergreen but I that was only because I be-cause he had one footyou knowand when the other foot went in too ust a day too soon actually laughed So the pater is going to make a company of I is he Well hope he wont put any of his own money into i Im sure because of lato all the companies have turned out so badly Butmy child tho place is full of gold I Then why did ho turn It into a company com-pany my dear boy And why didnt he make you stick to it But you know nothing noth-ing of the city Now let us sit down and talk about what we shall dodont you i talk ridiculous boyACT 1 I ACT v I Another house just like the first The bride stepped out of one place into another i With their 5000 or 56000 a year the young couple could just manage to make both ends meet The husband was devoted I de-voted the wife had everything that she could wish Who could be happier than I this pair in a nest so luxurious their life I so padded their days so full of sunshine I It was a year after marriage Tho wife I contrary to her usual custom was the first at breakfast A few letters were waiting r for her chiefly invitations Among them I lay one addressed to her husband Not looking at the address she opened and road thatas well DEAl REaiXAin venture to address you as an old friend of your oVn and sphoolfollow of your motners I am a widow with four children My husband was the vicar of your old parish you remember re-member him and me I was left with a little income of about JOO a year Twelvemonths Twelve-months ago I was persuaded in order to double my incomea thing which seemed certain from tie prospectus invest everything in a new and rich gold mine Everything Ana the mine has never paid anything The companyit ia called tho I Rynard Gold Reef companyis in liquidation liquida-tion because though there is leally tho gold there it costs too much to pot it I lave no relatives anywhere to help me Unless Un-less I can get assistance mv children and I must go at once tomorrow into the workhouse Yes wo are paupers I am I ruined by the cruel lies of that prospectus and the wickedness which deluded me and I I know not how many others out of my money I have been foolish and um pun I I ished but those people who will punish I them Help me if you can my dear Reginald Regi-nald Oh for Gods sake help my children I chil-dren and me Help your mothers friend your own old friend I This said Rose meditatively is exactly ex-actly the kind 01 tiling to make Haggle Uncomfortable un-comfortable Why it might make aim unhappy un-happy all day Better turn it She dropped the letter into the fire Hes oran or-an impulsive emotional nature and ho doesnt understand the city I people are so foolish What a lot of fibs the poor old pater does tell to be sure Hes a regular novelist Oh hero you are you lazy boy I Kiss me Rosle He looked us handsome hand-some as Apollo and as cheerful I wish all the world were as happy as you and me Heicno Some poor devils Im afraid I Tea or coffee Reci i |