THE STORY OF MRS ATHERTON.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3160, 12 April 1909, Page 3

THE STORY OF MRS ATHERTON.

I A MODERN SI KEN. Once more that inveterate and experienced wrecker of happy homes, Mrs "Nancy" Atherton, the divorced wife of Co). Thomas James Atherton, is the central figure in a disgraceful action in court. It is in a new guise that this modern siren appears, but in her old role to trade in men's affections and souls. A wonderfully beautiful and fascinating woman, she first came into the public talk because of her threatened breach of promise suit against the young Duke of Westminster, the richest peer in Great Britain, who returned from South Africa, and from the seductive influences of Mrs Atherton, in answer to a direct command of the King, and "ho married his financee, the daughter of Mrs Cornwallis, West, after pressure had been brought to bear upon him by his royal friend,. Next Mrs Atherton made her bow as the claimant in a breach o± promise suit against Captain the Hon. John Reginald Yarde-Buller, heir to Lord Churaton, who married the actress, Denise Orme, after plighting his affections to the ensnarer of the Duke of Westminster. Yarde-Buller really had no defence, although the case was allowed to go to trial, for he had been named as co-respondent in the divorce case of the woman's husband, which was undefended a couple of years before. At the last moment Mrs Atherton accepted a verdict in her favour without monetary damages, although her claim had been to the tune of £20,000. Now this attractive woman appears in the Scottish Courts as the co-respondent in a divorce action brought by Mrs Clara Elizabeth Stirling, nee Taylor, an American actress, who when she met John Alexander Stirling, her husband, was appearing in London in "The Earl and the Girl.' CAUGHT A GERMAN BARON. These three men—the Duke of Westminster, the Hon. Yarde-Buller and Mr Stirling—do not constitute a complete list of Mrs Atherton's victims, it appears. During the progress of ttie Stirling trial it was testified she had succeeded in ensnaring the Baron Eckhardstein. The baron, who is a German, has also had a full measure of domestic woe, for he is separated from his wife, who is the daughter of the late Sir John Maple, an extremely rich department store proprietor of London. The baroness spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in liquidating her titled husband's debts, and then became sick of the experience and separated from him. According to Mrs Atherton this "prize packet" prsposed marriage to her and she contemplated journeying to Germany to interview his mother. How many more young a».d foolish or old i and senile fish have been caught in this woman's nets only the Recording Angel knows. Her affair with the Duke of Westminster was undoubtedly the most. interesting of her exploits. Long before thnt youthful peer arrived in South Africa on his way to the front in the Boer war, Mrs Atnerton was the subject ox discussion in every smart boudoir and club in London. Her capers were notorious, and ths names of half a dozen youths with | high-sounding handles to their credit lin Burke's were coupled with hers Jat different times. All of these j smaller fry were dropped, however, :by Mrs Atherton w h en the duke scarcely out of his teens, appeared i upon the scene. Here, raady at hand for the plucking, was the best "parti" in the English peerage. In a few weeks the duke was madly in love with his fascinating temptress. The husband, however, proved a-stumbling nlock, and ar rangements were made ny the couple fcr an elopement. The projected affair came to the ears of an officer commanding the duke's regiment, and he cabled the state of affairs to England. THE KING INTERVENES. When the durce left England for the front he was engaged to Miss Shelagh Cornwallis West, the daughter of one of the brainiest and most influential women in England, and a charimng and beautiful girl. The two had know each other all their lives, and it had been a more or leas undertsood thing through their childhood that they would eventually marry each other. When the news of the duke's infatuation for Mrs Atherton and his intention to elope reached Mrs Cornwallis West, she wasted no time over futile schemes. She immediately repaired to headquarters, and in a few hours a mesasge from the King was on its way to South «frica summoning the Duke of Westminster home. Upon the youth's arrival in London he was immediately closeted with his Majesty, who told him a few plain naked truths about Mrs Atherton and women of her class. The duke left a wiser man, and soon after his marriage with Miss Shelagh took place. Mrs Atherton, however, did not surrender till the last gun was fired. An audacious, unscrupulous woman, all the exalted names in the English peerage could not scare her from her prey. She followed the duke to England on the next steamer, and it took all the wonderful : ingenuity of Mrs Cornwallis West to shield her future son-in-Jaw from his South African sweetheart. In the end the duke, to avoid a lawsuit, was compelled to pay a sum that approached £20,000 as heart salve to the disappointed beauty. Mrs Atherton's next victim, so far as the pubile records go, was the Hon. Yarde-TCuller. Her liaison with the heir of Lord Churston was so open } and shameful that her husband was compelled to take action for divorce. Neither the Hon. John nor the wife took the trouble to deny the allegations of the complaint, and, the hus--1 band secured his much deserved divorce. NOT THE MARRYING KIND. After a period of ardent and a passionate wooing on the part of Yarde-Buller, Mrs Atherton thought she would like to try the marriage state again, and broached the subject to her lover. But the heir to Lord | Churston baulked immediately. Mrs j Atherton was the ideal woman for a ■ Oiaison, but she hardly fitted in with his ideas of the future baroness. His protestations of affection grew ; less ardent and his visits less tre- i

quent. Finally they ceased altogether, and the detectives whom Mrs Atherton put on his track reported that he was paying court to Denise Orme, a clever and beautiful actress, who was then appearing at Daly's Theatre. Mrs Atherton threatened all kinds of revenge if her unfaithful swain did not return, but the Hon. John was this time seriously wounded by Cupid, the marksman, and finally married the actress. Then came the now famous x suit for breach of promise. The Hon. 1 arde-Bullei*, it was quite openly announced, would depend, when the case came to trial, upon the evidence of the Duke of Westminster. As the duke had already paid a small fortune to escape the terrors of the witness-box and the necessity of laying bare his relations with Mrs Atherton, it can be imagined that he did not look with pleasure on the promised ordeal. At the last moment, it is said, representatives of the wealthy peer appeared on the scene with their pockets well filled with gold, and after a secret interview with Mrs Atherton that enterprising "business woman" agreed to accept a verdict in her favour without money damages from the defendant. —Christchurch News correspondent.