MRS. DELILAH JONES.
Mr. Newt's political friends in New York were naturally anxious when he
went to Washington. They had constant communication with the Honorable
Mr. Ele in regard to his colleague; for although they were entirely sure
of Mr. Ele, they could not quite confide in Mr. Newt, nor help feeling
that, in some eccentric moment, even his interest might fail to control
him.
"The truth is, I begin to be sick of it," said General Belch to the calm
William Condor.
That placid gentleman replied that he saw no reason for apprehension.
"But he may let things out, you know," said Belch.
"Yes, but is not our word as good as his," was the assuring reply.
"Perhaps, perhaps," said General Belch, dolefully.
But Belch and Condor were forgotten by the representative they had sent
to Congress when he once snuffed the air of Washington. There was
something grateful to Abel Newt in the wide sphere and complicated
relations of the political capital, of which the atmosphere was one of
intrigue, and which was built over the mines and countermines of
selfishness. He hoodwinked all Belch's spies, so that the Honorable Mr.
Ele could never ascertain any thing about his colleague, until once when
he discovered that the report upon the Grant was to be brought in within
a day or two by the Committee, and that it would be recommended, upon
which he hastened to Abel's lodging. He found him smoking as usual, with
a decanter at hand. It was past midnight, and the room was in the
disorder of a bachelor's sanctum.
Mr. Ele seated himself carelessly, so carelessly that Abel saw at once
that he had come for some very particular purpose. He offered his friend
a tumbler and a cigar, and they talked nimbly of a thousand things. Who
had come, who had gone, and how superb Mrs. Delilah Jones was, who had
suddenly appeared upon the scene, invested with mystery, and bringing a
note to each of the colleagues from General Belch.
"Mrs. Delilah Jones," said that gentleman, in a private note to Ele, "is
our old friend, Kitty Dunham. She appears in Washington as the widow of a
captain in the navy, who died a few years since upon the Brazil station.
She can be of the greatest service to us; and you must have no secrets
from each other about our dear friend, who shall be nameless."
To Abel Newt, General Belch wrote: "My dear Newt, the lady to whom I have
given a letter to you is daughter of an old friend of my family. She
married Captain Jones of the navy, whom she lost some years since upon
the Brazil station. She has seen the world; has money; and comes to
Washington to taste life, to enjoy herself--to doff the sables, perhaps,
who knows? Be kind to her, and take care of your heart. Don't forget the
Grant in the arms of Delilah! Yours, Belch."
Abel Newt, when he received this letter, looked over his books of reports
and statistics.
"Captain Jones--Brazil station," he said, skeptically, to himself. But he
found no such name or event in the obituaries; and he was only the more
amused by his friend Belch's futile efforts at circumvention and control.
"My dear Belch," he replied, after he had made his investigations, "I
have your private note, but I have not yet encountered the superb
Delilah; nor have I forgotten what you said to me about working 'em
through their wives, and sisters, etc. I shall not begin to forget it
now, and I hope to make the Delilah useful in the campaign; for there are
goslings here, more than you would believe. Thank you for such an ally.
_You_, at least, were not born to fail. Yours, A. Newt."
"Goslings, are there? I believe you," said Belch to himself, inwardly
chuckling as he read and folded Abel's letter.
"Ally, hey? Well, that _is_ good," he continued, the chuckle rising into
a laugh. "Well, well, I thought Abel Newt was smart; but he doesn't even
suspect, and I have played a deeper game than was needed."
"I guess that will fix him," said Abel, as he looked over his letter,
laughed, folded it, and sent it off.
Mr. Ele by many a devious path at length approached the object of his
visit, and hoped that Mr. Newt would flesh his maiden sword in the coming
fray. Abel said, without removing his cigar, "I think I shall speak."
He said no more. Mr. Ele shook his foot with inward triumph.
"The Widow Jones will do a smashing business this winter, I suppose," he
said, at length.
"Likely," replied Newt.
"Know her well?"
"Pretty well."
Mr. Ele retired, for he had learned all that his friend meant he should
know.
"Do I know Delilah?" laughed Abel Newt to himself, as he said
"Good-night, Ele."
Yes he did. He had followed up his note to General Belch by calling upon
the superb Mrs. Delilah Jones. But neither the skillful wig, nor the
freshened cheeks, nor the general repairs which her personal appearance
had undergone, could hide from Abel the face of Kitty Dunham, whom he had
sometimes met in other days when suppers were eaten in Grand Street and
wagons were driven to Cato's. He betrayed nothing, however; and she wrote
to General Belch that she had disguised herself so that he did not recall
her in the least.
Abel was intensely amused by the espionage of the Honorable Mr. Ele and
the superb Jones. He told his colleague how greatly he had been impressed
by the widow--that she was really a fascinating woman, and, by Jove!
though she was a widow, and no longer twenty, still there were a good
many worse things a man might do than fall in love with her. 'Pon honor,
he did not feel altogether sure of himself, though he thought he was
hardened if any body was.
Mr. Ele smiled, and said, in a serious way, that she was a splendid
woman, and if Abel persisted he must look out for a rival.
"For I thought it best to lead him on," he wrote to his friend Belch.
As for the lady herself, Abel was so dexterous that she really began to
believe that she might do rather more for herself than her employers. He
brought to bear upon her the whole force of the fascination which had
once been so irresistible; and, like a blowpipe, it melted out the whole
conspiracy against him without her knowing that she had betrayed it.
The point of her instructions from Belch was that she was to persuade him
to be constant to the Grant at any price.
"To-morrow, then, Mr. Newt," she said to him, as they stood together in
the crush of a levee at the White House--"_our_ bill is to be reported,
and favorably."
Mrs. Delilah Jones was a pretty woman, and shrewd. She had large eyes;
languishing at will--at will, also, bright and piercing. Her face was a
smiling, mobile face; the features rather coarse, the expression almost
vulgar, but the vulgarity well concealed. She was dressed in the extreme
of the mode, and drew Mr. Newt's arm very close to her as she spoke.
She observed that Mr. Newt was more than usually disposed to chat. The
honorable representative had dined.
"_Our_ bill, Lady Delilah? Thank you for that," said Abel, in a low
voice, and almost pressing the hand that lay upon his close-held arm.
The reply was a slow turn of the head, and a half languishment in the
eyes as they sought his with the air of saying, "Would you deceive a
woman who trusts in you utterly?"
They moved out of the throng a little, and stood by the window.
"I wish I dared to ask you one thing as a pure favor," said the superb
Mrs. Delilah Jones, and this time the eyes were firm and bright.
"I hoped, by this time, that you dared every thing," replied Abel, with a
vague reproach in his tone.
Mrs. Jones looked at him for a moment with a look of honest inquiry in
her eyes. His own did not falter. Their expression combined confidence
and respect.
"May I then ask," she said, earnestly, and raising her other hand as if
to lay it imploringly upon his shoulder, but somehow it fell into his
hand, which was raised simultaneously, and which did not let it go--.
"For my sake, will you speak in favor of it?" she asked, casting her eyes
down.
"For your sake, Delilah," he said, in a musical whisper, and under the
rouge her cheeks tingled--"for your sake I will make a speech--my maiden
speech."
There was more conversation between them. The Honorable Mr. Ele stood
guard, so to speak, and by incessant chatter warded off the company from
pressing upon them unawares. The guests, smiled as they looked on; and
after the levee the newspapers circulated rumors (it was before the
days of "Personal") that were read with profound interest throughout the
country, that the young and talented representative from the commercial
emporium had not forfeited his reputation as a squire of dames, and
gossip already declared that the charming and superb Mrs. D-li-h J-nes
would ere long exchange that honored name for one not less esteemed.
When Abel returned from the levee he threw himself into his chair, and
said, aloud,
"Isn't a man lucky who is well paid for doing just what he meant to do?"
For Abel Newt intended to get all he could from the Grant, and to enjoy
himself as fully as possible while getting it; but he had his own work to
do, and to that his power was devoted. To make a telling speech upon the
winning side was one of his plans, and accordingly he made it.
When the bill was reported as it had been drafted by his friends in New
York, it had been arranged that Mr. Newt should catch the speaker's eye.
His figure and face attracted attention, and his career in Washington had
already made him somewhat known. During the time he had been there his
constant employment had been a study of the House and of its individual
members, as well as of the general character and influence of the
speeches. His shrewdness showed him the shallows, the currents, and
the reefs. Day after day he saw a great many promising plans, like
full-sailed ships, ground upon the flats of dullness, strike rocks of
prejudice, or whirl in the currents of crudity, until they broke up and
went down out of sight.
He rose, and his first words arrested attention. He treated the House
with consummate art, as he might have treated a woman whom he wished to
persuade. The House was favorably inclined before. It was resolved when
he sat down. For he had shown so clearly that it was one of the cases in
which patriotism and generosity--the finer feelings and only a moderate
expense--were all one, that the majority, who were determined to pass the
Grant in any case, were charmed to have the action so imposingly stated;
and the minority, who knew that it was useless to oppose it, enjoyed the
rhetoric of the speech, and, as it was brief, and did not encroach upon
dinner-time, smiled approval, and joined in the congratulation to Mr.
Newt upon his very eloquent and admirable oration.
In the midst of the congratulations Abel raised his eyes to Mrs. Delilah
Jones, who sat conspicuous in the gallery.