St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-01-03
BY Presenting Her Noble Lord
With a Pair of Robust
Baby Boys.
The Gunner's Lovely Daugh-
ter Increases England's
Aristoeraey.
Story of a Life Replets With
the Seamy Side Of Roman
tic EScapadeS.

l" WIZ oOCih lCdlltA VI pldCtiCol, OfclN
day life. She is the mother OF twins,
bouncing, healthy boys. To the wrist
OF the tirSt-bOrn was tied white ribbon,
and he will, should he survive until of
age. inherit the estates and title of the
earl of Clancarty.
Since the late earl of Clancarty cut
Lord DunlO off without a shilling for
marrying her, she has been obliged to
support his title with the remnants of
her earnings in Sir Augustus Harris
pantomime this time last year. Hopes
of reconciling the proud Clancarty fam
lily were progressing favorably, when,
on the night OF Dec. 27, the countess Of
Clancarty vas delivered of twins, both
boys, both healthy and likely to live,
and both heirs to the earldom, which
their blue-blooded father transmits to
them through the coarSest kind of a
muslc-hall singer, who had two children
by another man before he married her.
Miss Belle Billion, now the Countess
Clancarty, was born in Woolwich a lit
tie more than thirty years ago. Her
mother was the wife of Gunner Billion
The baby was christened Isabella at the
barracks, and became the pet OF the
ened to Belle" AS a child she was
light-headed. foolish little thing, and
this giddineSS increased with her years
ABOUT dozen years ago among the at
fractions billed OH the boards of the
music halls of London appeared the
Billion SisterS' Belle was popular
singer, and nightly warbled in the Lon
don Supper club, where she first met
Lord Dunlo. who spent great part Of
his time about the music halls of the
English metropolis.
At that time she Is said to have been
married. She was the mother of two
children and was seven years older than
Lord DunlO. Belle was otherwise known
as the Baroness Leonda, through her
association with man named Alden
Weston, who posed as Baron Leonda.
One of her intimates was Isadore Vert
heimer, son of a wealthy London art
dealer When only fourteen years old
she associated her fortune with Charles
Barnard, an actor, and afterwards with
the baron, the reputed father of one Of
her children. Weston, or the baron.
was afterwards convicted of fraud and
sentenced to the penitentiary. Weston
afterwards testified in divorce court
against Wertheimer, who took Belle
Billion to TrouyIlle and introduced her
to Leopold RothSchild'S family. causing
a lively scene.
At the time Lord Dunlo met Belle i'm
the London dance halls he is described
as calloW youth who possessed more
money than brains. He was also the
heir to the earldom of Clancarty. The
noble youth had pronounced music hall
tastes and fancieS, and became a con-
splcuous figure at many notorious re-
sorts.
After an intimate ASSOCIATION with
Belle, my lord, in 1899, married her and
shocked society. He had written COM
promising letters to her during their as
ISOLATION, and concluded that matri-
mony was preferable to posing in court
as defendant in suit for breach of
promise.
They had been married only nine
days when his lOrdship deserted Lady
Dunlo and fled to the continent. In
Mrach, 1890, he began an action for di-
vorce. 1t proved to be the most sensa-
tlonal divorce case London had known
for years. Lady Dunlo acknowledged
having sustained intimate relations
with other men before she made the ac-
quaintance of her husband. But she
declared that Lord DunlO was aware of
this, that she had concealed nothing in
her career from him, and that the stain
on her life had been wiped away by her
marriage.
AS to the objections against her fam
lily. she asserted that her mother had
been Miss Penrice, of Kilverough Cas-
tie. Wales, and that her aunt married
Sir Charles Van Notten Pole, a colonel
In the guards "a good enough family,
she claimed, to entitle her to be the
daughter-in-law of the ''cantankerouso
old man, Lord Clancarty. who was
drinking himself TO DEATH,
Lady Clancarty. she declared. was the
cause of all her troubles. "She knows
her husband cannot live much longer at
the rate he is going" she said, land at
his death l would become Countess
Clancarty. while she would be put upon
the shelf as dOwager countess"
After her marriage Lady DunIo con-
tlnued to earn her living by the stage.
One complication of the divorce suit was
tn taat .S before 1t was begun, from the day
OF the marriage until Lord DunlO
reached his seventy-first year. the couple
lived apart. Lady Dunlo proved that
this had Deen by request of her hus-
band, who had declared that his father
had promised to consent to the union if
she would be patient until December.
Detectives who had been hired to watch
her were unable to prove that she had
been unfaithful to her marriage vows.
She was offered life annuity of sew
eral hundred pounds if she would make
no defense to the suit, but this she re-
jected.
The jury gave verdict in her favor
July 30, 1890, and the court granted the
costs against Lord Dunlo. Her victory
brought her lucrative offers, one of
them being to visit the United States
and sing and dance at salary of $500 a
week. This she declined. After the
decision Lord Dunlo apologiZed to her,
and she finally become rcconciled.
Since then the pair are said to have
lived happily together. Lord Ciancarty
refused to have anything more to do
with his son and heir, and Lady Duulo
had to support herself and husband by
playing the part of Venus in much
undreSSed piece In the English prov
lnces. Even when Lord Dunlo was in
Jured by fail from horse the Earl
and Countess of Clancarty refused to go
to his bedside unless he promised to
leave his wife. This he refused to do.
The death of the earl occurred last
May. Lady Dunlo at this time was
playing Venus at Plymouth when the
news reached her that she was Countess
of Clancarty. The new earl fell heir to
an estate of $4,000 year.
A curious circumstance connected
with this case is that Isadore Wertheim-
er, son of the London art dealer, who
was supposed TO be the father of one or
more of Belle Billions children, re-
manned on intimate terms with the
Dunlo couple after the divorce suit.
Her ladyship declaring that her affec-
ton for him was purely platOnic.
Badly Tangled.
"Chi-chi-children," began the timid
superintendent of the Sabbath school.
''of course you are all familiar with the