A ROMANTIC EPISCODE IN BEACONSFIELD'S LIFE.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3170, 26 August 1881, Page 4

A ROMANTIC EPISCODE IN BEACONSFIELD'S LIFE.

Many interesting stories have been told with respect to the late Earl, bufc not the least pretty and romantic is the following, which comes from a very good authority, whose mouth, naturally, was sealed during Lord Beaconsfield's life : —On the night before his burial a large bunch of flowers arrived from a distance, said to have been sent by a fair and persevering enemy, with whom His Lordship had been compelled to maintain a continued warfare ever since he was first known to her as young Disraeli. The lady afc that time is said to have been young and surpassingly beautiful, and her husband was Disraeli's most intimate friend, and she knew that Disraeli's advice to him had always been to forego the marriage on account of her well-known high spirit and uncertain temper. They were married, however, and on returning from the honeymoon were visited by young Disraeli, who was not long in discerning that the marriage bell which should have gone so merrily had commenced to jangle. His friend unfolded his misfortune to him, to which the young bachelor could see no remedy bufc. a speedy separation, and said as much. ' I shall never dare propose such a step,' said the husband, in a despairing tone. ' Oh, leave her to me ; let me talk to her,' said Disraeli confidently. ' I have never yet been defeated by any woman.' Unfortunately for his boast, at that moment the folding doors of the room were burst open, and bis wife, like an enraged tigress, in her nightdress, and with her hair dishevelled, stood before them. The room adjoining was her bedroom. She had heard every word of the conversation, and had rushed like a fury to the defence of her domestic hearth. With one bound, Disraeli left the room, and another took him from the house. Other circumstances happened, which led the lady to vow that sbe would never forgive him this side the grave. The tribute of flowers has thus been taken to indicate that the quiet grave in Hughenden Churchyard has been a ' temple of reconciliation.' There is a touch of poetry in the termination of the story which seems strangely in keeping with the chequered career of the lady and the romantic history of the lord.