THE LUCK OF LILY LANGTRY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XX, Issue III, 15 January 1898, Page 73

THE LUCK OF LILY LANGTRY.

Who says a fool for luck? Not Lily Langtry, you may be very sure, as she sits in her magnificent London home and reflects upon the events of the last.2o years, and which have brought to her through her own extraordinary management, the tremendous wealth which is all she loves—the notoriety which is, next, to money, so precious to her.

A fool for luck, indeed. Never. A shrewd, heartless, soulless, beautiful creature, dominating time and fate by these very characteristic* —these are the attributes, says the ‘NewYork World,’ that have made the luck of Lily Langtry. From a childhood passed in the rustic, simplicity of a Channel Island. the daughter of the Dean of Jersey. Lily de Breton, grown to womanhood, was considered to have made a very excellent match when Ed.

Langtry, a gentleman far above her station, of excellent family and moderately large income, made her his wife in the little village church, over which her father presided.

It seems incredible to those who have seen Mrs Langtry of late, so splendid is her marvellously preserved lieauty, that her marriage to Edward Ijsingtry took place nearly 30 years ago. yet this is so. for the records show that Lily le Breton, whose baptismal name was Elizabeth, was married to Edward Langtry about 1867. She was then, according to her own statements, 17 years of age. Edward Langtry’s bride was neither beautiful, wise, nor clever. She was a simple Isle of Jersey girl, with the beauty of an English complexion, a mouth of sensuous outlines, oxlike eyes, large and placid, and with possibilities in the way of a lovely figure when she should fully develop. A picture of Mrs Langtry taken at this time shows a commonplace woman rather than otherwise.

Lily Langtry was an accidental find. The men who discovered her utterly changed the course of her life. Had these three Englishmen not taken that tour on the yacht lielonging to one of them 27 years ago. we should never have heard of this particular Jersey lily. But she was discovered, and the star of Edward Langtry's destiny set- the day that his wife met the London aristocrats.

Edward Langtry took his young wife to London. Shortly after, the men who had visited the Isle of Jersey and discovered the possibilities in Dean Le Breton’s daughter, gathered about her. She was a simple and rather stupid woman at. this time. She has never lieen an intellectual woman at any time. No one has ever relocated a witticism of hers, she has refrained from epigrams, which perhaps entitles her to some credit.

A woman need be neither wise nor witty, nor epigrammatic to attract men. If she has the physical beauty the suggestive charm, and most of all if she appears to be ready and ripe for conquest, she is bound as a novelty at least to achieve a notoriety frequently mistaken for fame. All of this the Jersey Lily effected after her advent in London. The men who discovered her were on their mettle. They were bound the new country beauty should succeed. Success in London is real only when it bears the hall mark of approval. the favour of His Royal Highness rhe Prince of Wales. Whistler, the great artist, was giving receptions in his unique and extraordinary manner at his gallery on Bond-street the Jersey Lily’s first season in London. It was arranged that the Prince of Wales, who had been told of the Channel Island prize, should have an opportunity of contemplating the new beauty at one of the Whistler pink and grey receptions, to which the most distinguished men and women of of London only were asked. When His Royal Highness saw the country girl she was very simply dressed. and she was a revelation to his eyes. He looked, admired, asked to have the lady presented and forthwith the aspirant for fame went out stamped with the Royal approbation. The men about London began to talk about the extraordinary loveliness of the new beauty. Edward luingtry gazed with honest pride upon his choice.

An eminent painter asked Mr Langtry’s permission to do a portrait of his wife for one of Jhe spring exhibitions. This is the famous portrait which was christened by the Prince of Wales as the likeness of a Jersey Lily, a name which has clung to the original through her various escapades. The public knows too well many of the startling episodes in the Jersey Lily’s career to take an interest in their recapitulation. About 10 years ago. while Mrs Langtry was supposed to »e much attached anti while she certainly was being protected and lavishly cared for by a young gentleman of New York whose name can never be entirely disassociatd from hers, she herself related the manner in which she had dominated her destin v.

At this time Mrs Langtry had some women friends who were so faithful to her that they declined to believe the gossip which was bruited concerning her. The woman to whom I refer was one of these. At least until the afternoon in question she was a

friend of Lily Langtry’s and her defender. Sitting by the fireside with her cup of tea in her hand that afternoon, ten years ago, the Jersey Lily fell to talking of her former life, of her separation from her husband. Her friend asked her if she intended to get a divorce from her husband, from whom she had been long separated, in order to marry him whose devotion to her was upon every tongue. Rising from her ehair, Mrs Langtry placed her cup and saucer on the chimney piece, and turning to her hostess, with a harsh laugh, she said: •What in the world should I marry for? Why in the world should any woman want to tie herself down to any man? ‘Men are made for slaves, my dear,’ said Mrs Langtry, ‘the most foolish thing a woman can possibly do is to permit herself to care one little bit for them.’ Who talks of Lily Langtry’s luck? Who says ‘A fool for luck?’ The adage is at once disproved in the history of this woman, as all the world knows it. since she first became notorious in London 20 years ago. Lily Langtry is.first of all a business woman. From grinding poverty she suddenly emerged into comparative affluence. The ‘Jersey Lily’ basked in the favour of England's Prince for almost two years. A long, long time for a woman to retain the Royal favour. The incident, which came very near destroying Mrs Langtry with the Prince of Wales is historical, it is well known in English society that, however unbending His Royal Highness may be in the privacy of a tete-a-tete, in company the dignity which surrounds his princely person is held sacred. The Jersey Lily was not to the manner born. At a supper party where the Prince of Wales was a guest she attempted a familiarity which caused the Prince such annoyance that it was several years before he even condescended to give evidence that he had ever known or heard of so humble a personage as the Dean Le Breton's daughter. At the supper party referred to Mrs Langtry, so the story goes, in a moment of abandon, playfully inserted a bit of iee between the Prince of Wales' neck and his collar. The cooling of His Royal Highness’ affection was simultaneous with the icy current down his spine. The Prince retired in great anger from the function and left his inamorata confused and dismayed. This episode marked an epoch in Mrs Langtry's career. Provoked and annoyed as she certainly was. Lily Langtry. the business woman, made capital of the ice occurrence, and in the language of the theatrical profession. she ‘featured it.’ The ice incident for a time lost her the favour of the Prince of Wales. Judiciously exploited, it. brought her into greater notoriety than ever, and where one person had exhibited curiosity to see the ‘Jersey Lily’ before, 10.000 men and women were eager to pay for an opportunity to look at the dauntless creature who had dared to take sueh a liberty.

When Mrs Langtry made her American debut, about 1882, she was accompanied by Mrs Labouchere, the wife of Edward Labouchere. the editor of London ‘Truth.’ Mrs Labouchere was a woman of high standing and was prepared to remain Mrs Langtry’s champion, despite the evil gossip which had assailed the ‘Jersey Lily’ in London.

At this time also. Mrs Langtry, through her acquaintance with Mrs Paget, who was formerly Miss Minnie Stevens, daughter of Mr Paran Stevens. had the entree of a number of fashionable New York homes. About a week after her arrival Mrs Langtry met Frederick Gebhardt, a young gentleman with a susceptible heart and an income of £20,000 a year. Mr Gebhardt quickly succumbed to the ’Jersey Lily’s’ charms. His devotion apparently absorbed his entire life, and he was never far from the object of his idolatry, either at the theatre or at her hotel.

Mrs Labouchere. remembering the fact of Mr Langtry’s existence, objected. As between Mrs labouchere and propriety on the one hand, and a young man with an income of £20,000 a year on the other, the ‘Jer-

sey Lily’ hesitated not for one instant. Mrs i-*abouchere returned to London. The ‘Jersey Lily' was left to her own devices. The' proprieties were thrown to the wind and the young man with an income was considered as more than a fair exchange. The first direct snub Mrs Langtry ever received in New York was given her by Mrs Paran Stevens shortly after the Labouchere rupture. The scene was at. Delmonieo's. Mrs Langtry was seated at a table supping with two gentlemen and a woman who has since also become notorious—a woman of Mrs Langtry s own kind. Mrs Paran Stevens was seated at a table a few yards distant. Mrs Langtry arose and with the charming grace which is now so natural to her, and which she acquired after her advent, in London society, glided over to Mrs Stevens’ table, and stretching out her hand said in her exquisitely modulated English tones: ‘Dear Mrs Stevens, I am so charmed to meet you.' Mrs Stevens regarded the lady with a fixed stare. Mrs Langtry was never a woman of quick intuitions. Had she known Mrs Stevens as well as some other people knew that austere lady, she would have understood that glare. But she did not. She went on: ‘You met- me at your daughter’s house in London,’ still with the outstretched hand. Mrs Stevens appeared not. to see the hand, and continued to glare at Mrs Langtry during a thrilling moment of complete silence. Then still looking at Mrs Langtry, without the slightest sign of recognition in her eyes, she said: ‘You are mistaken. I am quite certain that, my daughter does not know sueh a woman as Mrs Langtry.’ Mrs Langtry was next heard of in London, where her name was connected with that of Abingdon Baird, the well known English sporting man. He was a bully—the exception that, proved her rule that all men are slaves On one occasion the ‘Jersey Lily’ ventured to defy Baird —the only master she ever had. He blacked her eyes and she did not defy him again. When he died he left- her a quarter million dollars. Since Mrs Langtry founded her fortune in New York, for certainly she had none when she came here first, since its nucleus began in pieces from the prodigal purse of a rich and generous young fellow, she has steadily gone on increasing her bank account. If she has not paid her bills, she has made paying investments for her own account every time. The climax of heartless daring is reached in that last theatric performance of hers, when she sent a wreath of flowers tied with her racing colours, to her husband’s grave. Langtry died almost the hour the ‘Jersey Lily’ won the great Cesarewitch race.