New-York tribune., 1909-12-19
AnglO-AmeriCan Memories
NV.
A HosLe ENGLISH woMAN-IoR AT
oUlsACHAN
Copyright. 1909. by George W. sm.ney,

Then am sure you don't know he is
my husband"
mere IS but one rule and one ark OF
refuge for the foreigner: never TO mem
ZION name unless he knows everybody
within hearing. and knows he is not
criticisms friend or relative And how
Is ne TO know? one English girl said to
me during the early dark Boer days: L
nave twenty-seven cousins in South
Africa" Probably few of them were
known by the same surname as hers.
They we're Of a great clan: OF families.
allied and enlarged by intermarriage.
Lady Fanny Marjoribanks by birth.
and far more by character. held a place
apart in English society. I will go to
La BrUyer for a concise account of
her:
Cne belle femme qui a les qualities
dun honnete homnle est &c quill au
monde d'un commerce plus dehcieux;
Ton trouve en- ellie tout le nnsrite des
deux sexes"
1t Is La Bruyere who says belle: not
L Yet he is j writer who seldom makes
a mistake, even though writing two CEN
turies or more in advance of his subject.
Strictly speaking. Lady Fanny was not
beautiful woman. nor even wished TO
be thought SO Her face was what La
Bruyere might have called chffoRne
What did that matter? II was full of
intelligence, Of force. of sympathy and of
hndliness- You forgot the irregularity
Of feature as you looked into il; you saw
IN IL a beauty of nature which made
other beauty unimportant. But there
vas other beauty; a symmetrical body.
statuesquely formed. and a beauty of
movement even more ren1arka BILE 1t
served her well: in walking, riding, shoot
ing. deer stalking; and IN gil these she
had the kind of expert skill which a ma
mas. And she had that steadfast loyalty
which men are apt to think they possess
! more often than womeu-no doubt an
[ erroneous male opinion. Lady Fanny
said 70 me once:
You and I have known each other for
five and twenty years. and I don't think
either Of us has ever changed
! suppose ! ought 10 suppress that,
since IL implies a compliment to me. hut
I VIII not suppress IL If I am TO say
anything about such a woman as Lady
Fanny will say all. She was q friend
whose friendship. whether to me or
. others. was absolutely sincere. four
HGijfre sEe never was. whether in
friendship or anything else Truth Il
nature and truth Of speech went to-
gether. When Sonia says 10 the Am
bassador, Il am a woman who always
speaks the truth, he answers: The un-
expected is always refreshing" Yes,
and still more refreshing is it when you
have learned 10 expect the truth and
are never disappointed
The tragedy came five years ago in the
shape Of a malady that would not be
denied. The London doctors gave her
six weeks OF life. When they had de-
livered their sentence Lady Fanny re-
ceived il with the courage which was
part of her; told no one. asked for no
sympathy. sought no consolation. What
consolation could there be? With for
Titude which had something grim about
il she put her affairs in order. and de
parted for GUisachan. the place she had
loved best there 20 die alone. she was,
So far as we knew, in the fun strength
of her middle age, for she So bore her
self that none suspected the truth. But
the truth was that she had borne, and
had still TO ear 10 the end. unremitting
fierce pain 1t YOU think Of that woman,
after a life crowded with useful and
brilliant work, surrounded by loving ami
admiring friends. retreating thus 10 the
solitude of the Far North to meet her
Fate. is IL not tragic Not even her
husband was told till she had left Lon
don behind her forever Lord Tweed
mouth has since died. and there is q new
Lord and Lady Tweedmouth- Nobody IN
London is long remembered, they say,
but BOW and then there is an exceptoug
and Lady Fanny is not and viii not be
forgotten. -. W. ,.