THE LONOON SMART SET.

NZ Truth, Issue 118, 21 September 1907, Page 6

THE LONOON SMART SET.

By a Bricklayer's Daughter, Who Got Into it Via the Stage, And is Now Lady Ashburton.

Cnsp gems of criticism ofi English faoc.it.tv from the lips of an American girl who once scrubbed thej floors of a humble New York hornet but is now the wife of a peer jof the rn a fc Wlth estates extending to 60,000 acres, have been enlivening the pages of some of the American journals. It was, of course, thel stage that enabled this handsome\ lady • whose maiden name was Frances Donnelly, to bridge the otherwise impassible social gulf intervening \ between a bricklayer's daughter* 0 \nd_ I one so exalted as Lord AshburtPKj.. who:;e wife she became last year. It\ is nice to find that, according to s the interviewers, the present' lady Ashburton is as great a success iii "society— with a big "S"— as she was m the theatrical world. In those days bhe was known as 'FRANCES BELMONT, OF "FLORODORA" and other companies, numbering amongst her inmates friends Evelyn i^ Ht ' oi ' Thaw c *rama notoriety, _No descendant of a hundred .belted '*■ Earls could have entered an ances- * tral hall with more poise than the bricklayer's daughter walked into the ntti" cottage parlor of her ao-ed mother." writes one admiring report ter who interviewed her ladyship the other day. And apparently Lady t Ashburtor. talks just as impressively! as she walks. A MASTER OF MEN. ■"I suppose," she hazarded, "some - of my acauaintances say that I married Lord Ashburton because he had both title and riches. That's far, from the truth. In Ashburton I met the man of iron will, the soldier, the famous huntsman, and a master of men. I very much fearthat ho is master of my will, too,*'' she added, with a touch of naivete, "But no," she continued, "before : he married me his family used to say that lie was like a lion, and would always have his own way. But that's not so now. I rule him well.^ Whenever the other members, of the family want anything from him they come to me and ask that ■I be their emissary to Lionheart." Most international marriages are far from being failures, m the opin-* ion of Lady Ashburton. "Com-ider " she observed, "such happy alliances as those of Lord and Lady Curzon, of Lady Randolph Churchill, of the Duke and Duchess of Manchester, and scores of others— and my own ' ' Ai ■'• case like that of Boni De Cas-tellane':-and Anna Gould is simply an exception to the rule, where fortune hun- . ting, and not love, weighs the scale. I ? '., of Cupid. In the case of the Duke, and Duchess of Marlborough, my per--. I . sonal sympathies ,-lean largely to-.'. / ward..; the Duke. He is a charming '.'. fellow, and greatly misunderstood In '." America. It is regrettable that' they should have become separated. /. You know they are both close / friend.--: of my husband's family. THE DRINKING SET. The capacity of the English aristocracy to imbibe freely without' showing its effects has attracted Lady Ashburton's notice. "Person-,, ally." she said, "I don't drink at .. all— at least, nothing stronger than ice-wat er— but I have found no drink evil ii mv husband's set. Women of , title drink m England, but never to excess. While the men drink heavily, I have never seen men under the influence of liquor either at dinners or house parties. I believe there must he something m the air from the seas m England and enables men to drink more and show it less. The country gentry drink heavily, but never seem to show the ill-effects so often seen m America,

"And it is the country air of England and the country living that mafces it the garden spot of the world m which to live. I never knew what real living was until

I BECAME MISTRESS oi The Grange. Oh, the rides at dawn over miles of rolling turf, and the homing through the twilight !; And hrw English women can ride », It seems inbred. These English sisters of ours can mount a hunter and dash away for a fifty mile ride, and come home for dinner with cheeks glowing and never a sign of fatigue.

."Mv husband is a great shot, yoa know." she ran on, "but I must confess that I don't care for shooting. When the shooting parties* are at the Grange, I am better satisfied playing with my Pekin spaniels 01 couising over the downs on a thoroughbred. I can't bear to see the poor little fluttering feathered things come tumbling down with fadinc: eyes and spattered with blood drops. I can't shoot, and I don't believe I ever wish to learn. I gladly leave that to my husband and his friends. ASHBURTON'S FAMILY ALLRIGHT. "My husband's family never objected to me. I knew when I married him that the fact I had been an actress would create discussion, but after I had met his . family they, were delighted and received me as their own I think that is where Camille Clifford, the future Lady, Aberdare made an unfortunate mistake. After she married the future Lord Aberdare she should have left the stage. There is an unquestioned dislike among the English nobilityi for women of the stage who marry into their ranks. The present Lord Aberdare has a country estate near ours at Hampshire, and he and his wife, the Lady Aberdare, have often been entertained at The ' Gran ••■e." Lady Ashburton is returning to England soon, taking her mother.Mrs James Donnellv. with her to Tha Grange, her husband's country estate. Her two sisters have already] paid her a protracted vi«*it