Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-10-31
MONA CARD AT HOME,
Visit to the Author of the Famous
Article on Marriage.

John Alison, Mrs. Cards father, was
a Scotchman of sturdy originality OF
mind, who even as a lad, revolted
against his strict religious training,
and later threw off all dogma, becom-
ing an uncompromising free-thinker.
Mr.. Alison was an inventor of some
note and superintendent many public
enterprises, such as the retaining of
Epping Forest.
Mrs. Cards parents met and were
married in Australia, but ii was in the
town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight,
that she was born. She remembers
how she loved the big garden at her
country home at Reigate, and all the
animal and plant life it contained.
The death of a little sister at this time
left Mona an only child, which is a
sadder fate for girl of the richer
classes of England than can be realized
by Americans. The more doting the
parents, the mere pathetic the results.
Twenty years ago the idea that class
instruction had anything inspiring or
commendable about it would have
been holly denied by staid British
mothers. Mona's earnest entreaty to
be sent to school was refused, her par
ents desiring to keep her under their
own eve. Except for a short time
when small boy had lessons" with
her. the little girl trod the path of
knowledge along with the ordinary
English governess for guide.
.'Oh! those text booksr' exclaimed
Mrs. Card the other morning: 'sshall
ever forget themP Dull, dull, a dead
level of dizziness. Then l some days
grew obstinate, and fatty refused to
learn anything!"
"And was there nothing you ikedP"
| asked.
Yes, there was one meagre little
book written in the form of question
and answer that became my friend. 1t
touched few points in elementary
science,-contained few facts of life.
And / almost literally 'chewed and
digested' it.
The house is red brick and in the
style of Queen Anne's time. 1t stands
on the high ground in the northwest
of London skirting breezy Hampstead
Heath.
The husband of the famous lady,
like his father, Sir James Card, is in
terested in agricultural matters. He
is a member of the counsel of the
Royal Agricultural Society, and is well
fitted for the post by the practical ex-
perience he has gained farming his
two thousand acres of land. Mr..
Card is genial, level headed Scotch
man, given to the conduct of everyday
affairs.
Mrs. Cards study is upstairs, and
has large French window opening to
the south. The prevailing tone of the
decorations is robins egg blue. On
two sides the walls are lined with low
bookcases. By the broad south win
dow stands big. plain writing table
and at the opposite end of the room is
an antique cabinet used as a manu-
script cupboard. A typewriter, letter
press and other concOmitants of auth
orship stand about on convenient
tables and shelves. There are no bits
of bric-a-brac to catch dust, indeed no
extraneous objects. The room gives
an effect of light and freedom, in sort.
of an ideal workroom.
1t was here that Mrs. Card and / sat
and chatted, and at the end of my visit
we started on a pilgrimage over the
house. AS we approached the parlor,
my hostess laughingly warned me-
My new drawing room is frightening
every one; | am told there's not a
vestige of the quiet and ladylike about
it. 1t is bold, riotous, uncOmpromis-
ing yellow! like daffodil. The alarm
it excites is very amusing. So few
people know the splendors of the
~, Of +I,n Af nd
daylight. though it's the color that is
SO sadly lacking in our lives as well as
in our houses And she threw open
the door of the condemned room.
For moment / felt convinced that
the sun had broken through the clouds
and was shining into every window;
but glance proved that there was
still a lowering, leaden sky outdoors,
and that the joyous light within was
wholly due to wise use of paint and
upholstery. The walls and woodwork
were painted the color of the ''peri-
anth" of the daffodil, and the cur
tains and cushions of the window seats
were made of material in the deeper
shade of the ''crown."
The exquisite effect of the whole was
w VIC JOO pie1Sh
iron gas brackets. This room has
given the title to a short story that
Mrs. Card has recently published.
The agent of the publishing firm of
Lowell was calling upon her one day,
and in the course of his visit express
sed wish for short story from her
pen. Then the title was discussed,
and as there had been much talking
and laughing over the color of the
walls, some one suggested as the name
''The Yellow Drawing-room."
"Very WE'LL" cried Mrs. Card. The
Yellow Drawing-room it shall be-"
Such is the history then of the odd
name of the book which came recently
from the lady's pen. l can only hope
that the Yellow Drawing-room makes
as charming a background for her
story as it does for the writer herself,
with her little figure and dark hair and
eyes, GaLigaaa1ai.