EARL'S DAUGHTER DISAPPEARS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 158, 13 October 1910, Page 6

EARL'S DAUGHTER DISAPPEARS

LADY MARJORIE ERSKIXE. BODY DISCOVERED ON MOUNTAIN SIDE. TRAGEDY IN HIGH LIFE. London, September 2. Till? mystery of the disappearance a month ago of Lady Marjorie Erskine,. a beautiful and accomplished daughter of the Earl of Buchan, was tragically solved this week by the discovery of her body i lying in the heather on tho'mountain side near Aviemore, Inverness. It was on July 2i)th that Lady Marjorie, accompanied by her maid, left for 'Scotland. They arrived at Kingussie. Inverness, on July 30th, and put up at one of the local .hotel* for the night. On the following day Ladv Marjorie paid .her bill and depart ! for Aviemore. She requested the hot< ■ proprietor to keep any letters which might be addressed to her, as she intended motoring past the place in a few Jays. Her maid stayed at Kingussie for a day longer than her mistress, and then proceeded to Perth. Lady Marjorie was not seen again. For a while it was thought that she was probably motoring or staying with friends. But as the days passed and no news came anxiety began to be left, and a search was commenced by her relatives. The days lengthened into weeks. Then, late on the night of Friday last, a tragic discovery was made among the hills in the neighborhood of Aviemore. A man searching for white heather came upon the body of a woman who had evidently been dead many days. The finder, obtained assistance and the corpse Was removed to Aviemore. A search of the clothing suggested that the body was that of Lady 'Marjorie, and a few davs later it was formally identified by her brother. On the body was found a fairly large sum of money in notes and gold, and a quantity of valuable jewellery. There were no indications of foul play, and when the body w y as submitted it was discovered that one of the ankles was badly sprained, and that death had supervened as a result of exposure and privation. Lady 'Marjorie, who was a beautiful woman of thirty years of age, was, a couple of years ago, the heroine of a mild society sensation. In the Times of December 22nd, 1908, it was announced that:—

A marriage has been arranged, and will shortly take place, between the Hon, Arthur Brodrick, youngest son of ithe late Viscount Middleton, and Lady Marjorie Gladys Stuart Erskine, second daughter of the Earl and Countess of .Buchan, Eleven 'days later the following brief announcement of the cancelling of the engagement appeared:— The marriage arranged between the Hon. Arthur Brodrick and Lady Marjorie Erskine will not take place. All sorts of speculations were indulged in at the time as to the cause of the sudden determination of the engaged couple to schew matrimony, but the real reason of the breach between them never became public property. It was, however, understood at the time that Lady Marjorie toad determined to devote her life to the amelioration, of suffering among the poor and afflicted, rather than live ,the life of a woman of society. Lady Marjorie was of an intensely sympathetic nature, and a woman of action. Believing that one who received | much from the community should contribute in return, she devoted herself to the aiding of women, children and animals. At the Hospital for Children in Great Ormond street she spent a short time as probationer nurse, performing the same duties as others in the probationary period. It is well known among those with experience of such institutions that, the wear anid tear, mental and physical, is greater where the patients are of tender years than in otter hospitals. Apparently the work proved too much for Lady Maavjorie, wiho had to relinquish the effort after a few months. Lady Marjorie's two sisters are both married, one being the wife of the Hon. Walter Guinness, and the other having wedded Major the Hon. Charles Willoughby, son of the Earl of Ancaster.