The Snyder signal. (Snyder, Tex.) 1887-????, 1920-05-14

The beautiful statuesque Duchess of West
minister, recently wife of the richest duke IN
England and chatelaine of BrltanS lordnest
castles, has given up all that to be the orlde OF
a modest soldier, Captain J. Fitzpatrick Lewis
who was hero during the war, but Just
plain business man before that.
No social occurrence Of recent years mas
caused such amazement in England as this. IL
reads more like fairy story than an event OF
prosaic modern life-like the story OF the poor
boy who expected to have his head chopped OIL
but found himself beloved by beautiful prln-
cess.
In order to make this love match the Duchess
was compelled to renqush upon her divorce
all her interests in the estates and family helr-
Ions and Jewels of the Westmnlsters, although
of course she received a liberal settlement,
Among the famous houses ana estates she hau
to give up were:
Eaton Hall, Chester, one OF the largest couh-
try houses in England.
Grosvenor house, London.
Halkin house. Flintshre.
Kirremur castle, Scotland.
Rosemary lodge, on the Thames.
Villa des Papillons, Nice.
The Westmnsters possessed perhaps the
most famous jewels, including rubles, diamonds
and pearls owned by any family in the British
nobility. The Duchess used to find great pleas
ure in decking herself with all these family
treasures
Those Jewels which belonged to the dukes
ancestors are, by law, kept in the family as
heirlooms, in much the same fashion as the en-
tailed estates and can only be worn by the &C
tual wife of the duke. The Duchess, therefore,
was obliged to relinquish these historic treas
ures
The Neska Diamond.
Most conspicuous of the Westminster jewels
is the Neska diamond, which, cut in triangle
the size Of fifty-cent piece was worn by the
Duchess in the shape of brooch. Among her
other great treasures was marvellous pllable
diamond ribbon forming true lovers knot, the
under side of the ribbon being of rubes. 1t
terminates with diamond tasses picked out
with rubes. This exquisite ornament can be
worn as tiara The Westminster rubles were
remarkable, and not long after her marriage
she had great number OF old historic ruoles
belonging to the family set in tiara.
Considerable piquancy is given to this ro-
nance by the fact that the Duchess decided to
obtain her divorce after her close association
with Captain Lewis during the war.
Another odd feature of the romance is that
the Duchess is good many years older than
her modest bridegroom, for she has grown-up
daughter in society Is years DID, while he can
not be much over 80, as he was an aviator in
the war.
The Duchess was Miss Constance Edwina
CORVALLIS West known to her friends by the
Irish name "Shelagh, younger daughter OF
Mrs. CORVALLIS West who was the favorite
hostess of King Edward VII when he was at
the height of his social glory.
This old friendship of King Edward for the
Duchess mother and other circumstances make
the present royal family feel a deep interest in
her affairs The king has looked upon her in
the past almost as a member of his own family
while the queen happens to be related by mar
riage to the duke In any case, the sovereigns
would feel concerned in the matrimonial trou-
bles of ducal couple as prominent as the West
ministers but in this case there are exceptional
reasons
The Duchess older sister, Daisy, married
Prince Henry Of Pless, the richest nobleman in
Germany and particular friend of the fallen
kaiser. The princess went through the ordeal
of living through the war, an Englishwoman in
Germany, with remarkable bravery and tact
Both sisters were among the most strikingly
beautiful women in European high society, each
in a different way The princess was an ex-
uuisite picture Of blond beauty, The Duchess
was darker more stately, more statuesque, but
equally beautiful
Duke of Westminster, Englands richest peer
it was considered the most brilliant event of the
day, and the king and queen welcomed it with
the greatest pleasure.
The young Duchess, in the early days of her
married life, was one of four Duchesses who
held a canopy over Queen Mary at the great
coronation ceremony.
But all those triumphs and dreams of social
splendor have proved to be sad and empty vani-
ties. After long series OF miserable quarrels