Delilah
We have another viceroy now,—those days are dead and doneOf Delilah Aberyswith and depraved Ulysses Gunne.
Delilah Aberyswith was a lady—not too young—With a perfect taste in dresses and a badly-bitted tongue,With a thirst for information, and a greater thirst for praise,And a little house in Simla in the Prehistoric Days.
By reason of her marriage to a gentleman in power,Delilah was acquainted with the gossip of the hour;And many little secrets, of the half-official kind,Were whispered to Delilah, and she bore them all in mind.
She patronized extensively a man, Ulysses Gunne,Whose mode of earning money was a low and shameful one.He wrote for certain papers, which, as everybody knows,Is worse than serving in a shop or scaring off the crows.
He praised her “queenly beauty” first; and, later on, he hintedAt the “vastness of her intellect” with compliment unstinted.He went with her a-riding, and his love for her was suchThat he lent her all his horses and—she galled them very much.
One day, THEY brewed a secret of a fine financial sort;It related to Appointments, to a Man and a Report.'Twas almost worth the keeping,—only seven people knew it—And Gunne rose up to seek the truth and patiently pursue it.
It was a Viceroy's Secret, but—perhaps the wine was red—Perhaps an Aged Councillor had lost his aged head—Perhaps Delilah's eyes were bright—Delilah's whispers sweet—The Aged Member told her what 'twere treason to repeat.
Ulysses went a-riding, and they talked of love and flowers;Ulysses went a-calling, and he called for several hours;Ulysses went a-waltzing, and Delilah helped him dance—Ulysses let the waltzes go, and waited for his chance.
The summer sun was setting, and the summer air was still,The couple went a-walking in the shade of Summer Hill.The wasteful sunset faded out in Turkish-green and gold,Ulysses pleaded softly, and— that bad Delilah told!
Next morn, a startled Empire learnt the all-important news;Next week, the Aged Councillor was shaking in his shoes.Next month, I met Delilah and she did not show the leastHesitation in affirming that Ulysses was a “beast.”
We have another Viceroy now, those days are dead and done—Of Delilah Aberyswith and most mean Ulysses Gunne!
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