The Saint Paul globe., 1904-04-17
daughter is the Countess of Donough-

hlnB EDWARD, and are taken up enthu-
siastically by all the kings followers
and circle of intimates.~ At no time
could Lady Leconfeld be induced to
receive Tom, Dick and Harry, and
much less likely would she be to ac-
knowledge the wives of Tom, Dick or
Harry.
Lady Leconfield practices exclusive
ness In every phase of her life. AT
their church at Petworth, the Lecon-
fields have a gallery pew" sort of
royal box, so that they do not mingle
with the other wOrshipers, and there
are but few among the most unbIem-
ished of the blue -blooded aristocracy
who ever are honored by an invitation
to enter their charmed circle at home
1t is not impossible, by the way, that
this may have had something to do
with the very bad matches which have
dren.
However, no family however .censo-
rious it may be, seems to lack it's own
private skeleton in the cupboard-the
contemplation of which might be ex-
pected to lessen said family's hauteur,
and Lady Leconfield's father-in- law
was known to be the ilIegitimate son
of the Earl Of Egremont.
A Sporty Old Earl.
This earl was great man in the
days of the regency when the prince
regent of England made Brighton a
fashionable watering place and built
the pavilion there. Lord Egremont,
who was one of his boon companions,
was a hard fighter, a hard drinker and
a great gambler, and although he had
several children, he was never mar
r1ed. To his son, whona he adopted,
the earl gave the name of Wyndham,
and Percy Wyndham, NJ P, who is
brother-in-law to Lady Leconfield, is
one of his grandsons. To Lady Le-
conf1eld's father-in-law, Lord Eyre
mont, who was unable to leave him his
name and title, left all his estates, all
his money and the beautiful London
house. No. 9, Chesterfield Gardens,
where Lady Leconfield now lives, and
which Is built on the gardens Of Chess
terheld house, where lived the famous
Lord Chesterfield of the Letters"
The stately Duchess Of Buccleuch.
who may be described as second only
to Lady LecOnf1eld In exclusiveness. is
best known outside of society as mis-
tress Of the robes to Queen Alexandra.
a post which she also held under the
late Queen Victoria. By no power
could this gentlewomen be induced to
mlngle with what she would describe
as the 'rfff-raff" of smart society. She
dlsdalns even to live either in Mayfair
or Belgravia, but makes her home in
exclusive grandeur at Montague house.
Whitehall, where the windows look on
70 the embankment and the river
Thames. Yet the duchess is quite up-
to-oate and progressive in other ways.
Tor she has organized a dairy to sell
1reSh cream to London customers.
1t is sometimes hinted that, in her
exclus1veness, her grace makes a vir-
tue OF necessity, her family being SO
large that when all it's aristocratic
members have assembled at a ball or
mouse party there is no room for only
few outsiders. The Duchess of Buc-
cleuch is, OF course, a daughter Of the
DoWager Duchess OF Abercorn who
was born in 1912, and who. in all prob-
ability has more descendants living
than any other woman in the world.
During the war in South Africa this
remarkable old lady, who lives at
Coates castle, Sussex, had no less than
thlrty-tWo male descendants at the
front. -
Lady Landsdowne Is Handicapped.
Though, on account of her husbands
ofhc1al position Che Is now secretary
Tor foreign affairs), Lady LansdoWne
Is hardly able to cut down her visiting
llst as she might otherwise wish. she
is quite an exclusive hostess and de-
parS all but those whose blood is
olueSt of whose diplomatic and off,
cial positions demand her acLnoyv1-
edgment. Her town house is a state
ly mansion standing in it's own grounds
surrounded by high wall and bound
ed on one side by Berkeley square. and
on another by the gardens of Devon
SHIRE house, from which it is divided
by one of the quainteSt of the surviv-
ing passages of old London, a passage
~ c-fsl So
running from CurZon street to Hav
NIL, and known as Lansdowne passage
In these days when folks are push
ing and anxious to get there" the
dlhculty of maintaining an exclusive
ness such as is practiced by these ex-
ceptlonal hostesses of London is al
most beyond comprehension. There is
great difficulty in defeating the tactics
OF "undesirableS" as the following in
cident shows: A duchess. who was
giving a large reception, was assailed
Oy man on Behalf of a woman friend
who was most anxious to obtain a
card of invitation. But the duchess
answered that she was sorry, but that
she really could not. On hearing this
the ambitious one sent for her friend
and explained that if she did not re-
ceive an invitation it would mean So
clal ruin to her. 1T is not that I want
to go" she explained, "I am too i'll to
move. could not go if I wanted to, but
II only you can get an invitation for
me shall be satisfied" The man went
the second time to the duchess and ex-
planned the circumstances, so that the
duchess, on the promise that it was to
be mere invitation and not to be ac-
cepted, sent the card. On the eventful
evening, however, at the moment when
the man was thanking his hostess for
having been so kind as to grant his
request, they both turned around To
meet the receiver of the invitation face
to face.
King Won't Take Chances.
AS. King Edward occasionally re-
quests that his hostesses receive GER
tain of his friends, matters would be
very difficult of adjustment did he ask
any one OF these exclusive DANES for
an invitation she did not wish to grant.
But the king is very tactful and does
not seek to disturb what he may prob
ably secretly admire. One such re-
buff may have been sufficient, for when
as Prince of Wales he was once going
to Austria to visit Count Festetics, in
the list of the friends who would be
with him figured the name of Baron
HirSc, whereupon the count (not be-
ing subject) wrote back Immediate
ly that he was greatly grieved, but he
would be away from home and unable