The Democrat - Volunteer
Shelbyville, Ind., Feb. 26, 1880.
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF SHELBY COUNTY.
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ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE.
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The Fair Authoress of "Kismet" Becomes a Broken-Hearted Heroine.
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During the fall the newspapers contained the announcement of the approaching marriage of Miss Julia Fletcher to Lord
Wentworth, of England, grandson of the famous poet Byron. Miss Fletcher is the daughter of the Rev. J. C. Fletcher of Indianapolis, whose father once lived in this county, and who is well known to many of our citizens. She is the author of a noted novel called "Kismet," and ranks high as a literary lady. She has spent most of her life abroad, where she moves in the best society, and is regarded as a writer of great promise. It will be of sad interest to many of our readers to learn that this Hoosier girl has been treated very shabbily by Lord Wentworth, her affianced husband, and is dangerously ill in consequence of her troubles. The following, taken from a foreign exchange, gives the outlines of the story in which Miss Fletcher figures as the disappointed heroine:
The Roman correspondent of a London weekly journal gives this account of the breaking off of the engagement of Byron's grandson to a young American lady:
"Miss 'Dada' Fletcher, author of that clever book, 'Kismet,' who was to have been
Lady Wentworth, is dangerously ill of brain fever, and her friends feel the greatest anxiety about her. There have been so many conflicting rumors about the rupture of the engagement with Lord Wentworth, that a word or two of truth will not come amiss. The wedding had been fixed to take place at Rome on the last day of the past year. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, when suddenly (and on Christmas day, too, of all other days) Miss Fletcher received a letter from his lordship, absent in England, which must have contained unwelcome intelligence indeed, for the result was that after reading it she became unconscious, and that evening three doctors were in consultation at her bedside. Since that time, with brief intervals when she appeared somewhat better, Miss Fletcher has been most seriously ill, and the gravest fears are now entertained as to her recovery. Among the Americans here the greatest sympathy is naturally felt for their gifted young country woman, and Lord Wentworth, whether with reason or not of course I am unable to say, is very severely criticised.
Copied by Phyllis Miller Fleming
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