Both parties in the recent extraordinary abduction case, where a
Mrs. JONES was carried off down a rope-ladder at midnight by her own
husband, Mr. JONES, have published statements defending their own line
of conduct. The following is Mrs. JONES'S version:--
"As public opinion appears to have erroneously taken
my--so-called--husband's side, as far as I can gather from my having
been twice chased through the streets by an infuriated mob, and
four separate attempts having been made to blow up my house
with nitro-glycerine, I feel compelled to explain--with much
reluctance--why it was that I declined to live with Mr. JONES.
"To begin with, it was only under _the most awful threats_ that Mr.
JONES prevailed on me to become his wife. His words--I remember them
well--were, 'My darling, you know how tenderly I adore you; if you
don't marry me _at once_ I'll break every bone in your body!' He then
snatched my bonnet, a _new one_, from my head, and so acted on my
_nerves_ that I went off to the Registry Office and was married. That
he was actuated by merely mercenary motives is proved by the fact that
the gratuity (of half-a-crown), which he presented to the Registry
Clerk, he actually _borrowed from me!_ I knew him already to be
unprincipled; but never until that moment had it flashed upon me that
he was a _fortune-hunter!_ However, as he had the drawing-room poker
with him--he kept it concealed up his back during the ceremony at the
Registry Office--I did not at that time say anything, but handed him
the coin. I do not know if I should have left him at once, had he not
aggravated the baseness of his conduct by using the vulgar expression,
'Fork it out quick!' But I regret to say that his origin is painfully
_low_. Whereas, anybody who consults _my_ relatives will hear from
them that they belong to the very highest County Families. Indeed, he
would hear it all day long if he lived with them, as I do!
"On the day of the abduction, I was treated _barbarously!_ Even the
cab in which I was taken off was, so the coachman informed me, 'put
down to my account.' Oh, had I but guessed the truth about Mr. JONES
when I went to the Altar--I mean the Registry Office! Supper consisted
of _cold mutton and pickles_ (!) which latter he upset, and I had a
dress _ruined_."
On perusing the above, Mr. JONES decided that he could no longer keep
silence, and has made public the subjoined explanation:--
"When I first saw Mrs. JONES--then Miss THOMPSON--her youthful grace
quite captivated me. Her age was under fifty-six, and mine was just
sixty. She was, in fact, as I told her at the time, almost old enough
to know her own mind. It is true that she was wealthy, but that had
no influence on my conduct. On the contrary I felt it as a positive
drawback, as my domestic ideal has always been Love in a Cottage! But
as she was bent upon our marrying, I agreed to waive this objection.
"In proof of this assertion I need only say that on the _very day
after_ our first meeting, I received the following letter:--
"'PRICELESS AND ADORABLE PET,--How _are_ your little
tootsy-wootsicums? _Did_ they get wet in conducting me home after
that _delicious_ interview? If so, and you were to catch cold in your
precious head, I should never forgive myself. Oh, come and see me
_soon!_ Your Own, till Death, ANGELINA.'
"Possibly I may be blamed for publishing this letter. I do it for
_her_ sake, not for mine. Even now I believe that, were I left alone
with her for an hour, with none of her relatives nor a policeman near,
I could persuade her to retract her calumnious statement about the
poker. I conclude by saying that it is my belief that her relatives,
who are all of them powerful mesmerists, have _hypnotised her!_"
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