THE STORY OF MRS ATHERTON.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9414, 7 April 1909, Page 8

THE STORY OF MRS ATHERTON.

Once more that inveterate and experienced wrecker of happy homes, Mrs “Nancy” Atherton, the divorced wife of 001. Thomas James Atherton, is the central figure in a disgraceful action in Court. It is in new guise that this modern siren appears, hut in her old role to trade in men’s affections and souls. A wonderfully beautiful and fasoinat- ' ing woman, she first came into the public talk because of her threatened breach of promise suit against the young Duke of Westminster, the richest peer in Great Britain, who returned from South Africa and from the seductive influences of Mrs Atherton, in answer to a direct do mm and ,of the King, and who married his fiancee, the daughter of Mrs Cornwallis West, after pressure had been brought to bear upon him by his royal friend. Next' Mrs Atbertcu made her bow as the claimant in a broach of promise suit against Captain the Hon. John Reginald Yarde-Buller, heir of Lord Ohuratoo, who married the actress, Denise Orme, a*ter plighting his affections to the ensnarer of the Duke of Westminster. YardeBuller really had no defence, although the case was allowed to go to trial, for he had been named as co-respondent in the divorce case of the woman’s husband, which was undefended a couple of years before. At the last moment Mrs Atherton accepted a verdict in her favour without monetary damages, although her claim had been to the 1 tune of £30,000. Now this attractive woman appears in the Scottish Courts as the co-respondent in a divorce action brought by Mrs Clara Elizabeth Stirling, nee Taylor, an American actress, who when she met John Alexander Stirling, her husband, was appearing iu London iu “The Bari and the Girl. ” CAUGHT A GERMAN BARON.

These - three men—the Duke of Westminster, the Hon. Yarde-Buller and Mr Stirling—do not constitute a complete list of Mrs Atherton’s victims, it appears. Daring the progress of the Stirling trial it was testified she had succeeded in ensnaring the Baron Eckhardstein. The baron, who is a German, has also had a fall measure of dontescic woe, for'he is separated from his wife, who is a daughter of the late Sir John Maple, an extremely rich department store proprietor of London. The baroness spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in liquidating her titled husband’s debts, and then bceame sick of the experience and separated from him, According to Mrs Atherton this “prize packet” proposed marriage to her and she contemplated journeying to Germany to interview his mother. How many more yunug and foolish or old and senile fish have been caught in this woman’s nets only the Recording Angel knows. Her affair with the Duke of i-West-minster was undoubtedly the most interesting of her exploits. Long before that yonthfnl peer arrived in South Africa on bis way to the front in the. Boer war, Mrs Atherton was the subject of discussion in every smart boudoir and club in London. Her capers were notorious, and the names of half a dozen youths with high-sounding handles to their credit in Burke’s were coupled with’ hers at different times. All of these smaller fry were dropped, however, by Mrs Atherton when the duke scarcely out of hia teens, appeared on the scene. Here, ready at hand for the plucking, was the best “parti” in the English peerage. In a few weeks the duke was madiy in love with hia fascinating temptress. The husband, however, proved a stumbling block, and arrangements were .made by the couple gfor an

elopement. The projected affair came to the ears of the officer commanding the duke’s regiment, and ha cabled the state of affairs to England. THE KING INTERVENES. Whan the duke left England for the front he was engaged to Miss Shelagh Cornwallis West, the daughter of one of the brainiest and most influential women in England, and a charming and beantifnl girl.- The two hau known each other all their lives, and it had been a more or less understood thing thiough their childhood that they would eventually marry each other. When the news of the dnke’s infatuation for Mrs Atherton and bis intention to elope reached Mrs Cornwallis West, she wasted no time over fntile schemes. She immediately repaired to headquarters, and in a few hours a message from the King was on its S way to Sonth Arlioa, summoning the Duke of Westminster home. ■ ' Upon the youth’s arrival in London he was immediately closeted with his Majesty, who told him a few plain naked truths about Mrs Atherton and women of her class. The duke left a wiser man, and soon after his marriage with M iss Shelagh took place. Mrs Atherton, however, did not surrender till the last gun An audacious, unscrupulous woman, all the exalted names in the English peerage could not scare her from her prey. She followed the duke to England on the next steamer, and'ifc took all the wonderful ingenuity of Mrs Cornwallis West to shield her future son-in-law from his South 'African sweetheart. In the end'the duke, to avoid a lawsuit, was compelled to pay a sum that approached £20,000 as heart salve to the disappointed beauty. Mrs Atherton’s next victim, so far as the public records go, was the Hon. Yarde-Buller. Her liaison with the heir of Lord Ohnrston was so open and shameful that her husband was compelled to take action for divorce. Neither the Hon. John nor the wife took the trouble to deny the allegations of the complaint, and the husband Secured his much deserved divorce.

NOT THE MARRYING KIND. After a period of ardent and a passionate wooing on the part of YardeBuller, Mrs Atherton thought she would like to try the marriage state again, and broached *the subject to her lover. But the heir to Lord Ohurston baulked immediately. Mrs Atherton was the ideal woman for a liaison, bntijshe hardly fitted iu with his ideas} of the future baroness. His protestations of affection grew less ardent and bis visits .less fre quent. Finally they ceased altogether, and the detectives whom Mrs Atherton put on his track reported that he was paying court to Denise Orme,‘ a clever and who was then appearing at Daly’s Theatre. Mrs Atherton threatened all kinds of revenge if her unfaithful swain did not return, hut the Hon. John was this time - seriously wounded by Cupid, the marksman, and finally married the actress. Then came the now famous suit for breach of promise. The Hon. Yarde-Buller, it was quite openly announced, would depend, when the ease came to trial, upon the evidence of the Duke of Westminster. As the dnke had already paid a small fortune to escape the terrors of the witness-box and the necessity of laying bare his relations with Mrs Atherton, it can be imagined that he did not. look with pleasure on the promised ordeal. At the last moment, it is said, representatives of the wealthy peer appeared on the scene with their pockets well filled with gold, and after a secret interview with Mrs Atherton that enterprising “business woman” agreed to accept a verdict in' her favour without money damages from the defendant. —■Christchurch News correspondent.