THE GEBHARDT-LANGTRY AFFAIR.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1260, 18 April 1883, Page 2

THE GEBHARDT-LANGTRY AFFAIR.

•*#— A St. Louis paper contains thefollowing account of an " interview,'" which, certainly throws a strange light upon the sort of privacy which an actress in the Far West is likely to find:— At 7 o'clock a reporter of the GlobeDemocrat. rapped- ov Freddie's door, and having heard of Freddie's abnormal fear of reporters, was much surprised to hear a voice respond, " Come in." Entering, he found himself in a neatly -furnished parlor. On a side-table there were two new pliv»* hats, on a sofa two overcoats, and on the centre tabic two fresh bouquets. Passing through this parlor, the reporter reached the room f.*om whence the voice proceeded. It was the voice of a locksmith, who was putting on a nu',v lo:k or adjusting tho old lock of

the door between th.3 badroom aud parlor. This was Freddie's sleeping apartment, and with instinctive quickness the reporter observed that tln*i*e were four pairs of shoes and two pairs of slippers on the floor. There was a white coverlet on the bed, aud a beautiful picture of the Lily suspended over the head of the bed. It \tas a lovely boudoir for the devotee of beauty, and a fit shrine for the worship of a youth whose plaintive sighs have swept two hemispheres. Being questioned as to whether Freddie was in, the locksmith replied : " Well, he was here, but he's just left. She sent her s srvant af :er him " " Who do you mean by she ?" asked the reporter. " Why, the lady at the other end of the hall," replier* the workman. A few minutes bier the reporter sent his ca.'d to Froddie, aud was promptly in *ited to call at. MRS iASGTRY's ROOM He was recivedby Freddie's servant, *who made a low and reverential salaam, such as plebians are accustomed to make to reporters and other good men. The scribe was astonished to find himself ushered into the presence of the Lily herself, who, with her sister-in-law, Miss Langtry, and Freddie, were seated at a table vigorously discussing a dish of roast quail. With that ( characteristic politeness for which he is indebted to an early and genteel calture, Freddie deigned to look at the reporter, but did not speak. He merely swallowed the left wing of a quail, and wiped off his chin. The reporter pulled down his vest. The awful silence was finally broken by Freddie, who with the air of one who has been rudely interrupted at a banquet, asked — " WeU, sir, what do you want ?' The reporter replied that he was on the trail of an interview, but intimated that it might he agreeable to Freddie if he would submit to be interrogated alone. The gallant lover responded th at he'd as lief express himself in the presence of a whole circus company as noi " Then,' queried the reporter, " will you state what your object is in following Mrs Langtry around the •country 1" This was a bombshell thrown into : - : the war-like camp. Mrs Langtry was • [.''titft first to respond to this leading .•question, and woman-like, she did not -stop until she gave the reporter •"a piece of her mind/ "I think you, reporters are very saucy," said she, •* to ask about things that don't •concern you. Mr Gebhardt is my friend,- and that does not concern the public. He's not a Congressman nor theatrical man, he's simply a young man travelling for pleasure. It's an impundent piece of business, .this in- ■ terviewing is ; it wouldn't be allowed in England — no, it wouldn't; and the fair Lily's blue eyes glistened with an ill-supi^ssed anger as she shot a dire~U& glance at the reporter. Freddie, who had picked up his - coattairaTrd-^a^fegßringft-nervoasly, replied with some agitation, "Yes, that's it I'm travelling for pleasure. I've got the money to pay for it, and I'm enjoying mysel£" «* Do you intend to make the entire grand circuit with Mrs Langtry?" inquired the reporter. This was the signal for another painful outburst, and the Lily dropped a whole quail on her lap and her knife and fork went rattling on the floor. Poor Freddie, who was between the fire of the reporter and the firo of the Lily, was in a pitiful state of consternation. He fumbled his coat-tail more nervously than ever, and his eyes rolled like that of a man confronted by the crisis of his life- But it was a question he could not well dodge right in such presence, and, after an effort at composure, he managed to say — " Yes — that is, I suppose so. I believe we will," and then he glanced tenderly at the Lily, as if to obtain an approving look from her. A glass of wine hastily drvnk had the apparent effect to revive the youth's courage, and he said, desperately : •' Go, go on, and ask me anything you like." " Well," said the reporter,' " do you really love Mrs Langtry ! " But . this was more than Freddie could stand. He said he didn't come to St Louis to be insulted. The Lilly said, " No," she didn't either ; and then they all got up, aud the servants got up and began to move about in a suspicious, not to say hostile way, and the reporter concluded that it was safer in the rotunda than in the Lily's room.