I know you couldn't stand to wait, neither could I. This is a picture of Honore Cecilia Paget in the 9 May (Sunday) 1926 edition of the Atlanta Constitutional about young British girls who had mysteriously disappeared and reappeared. It was a phenomenon in 1926, apparently.
'Mystery of London's Vanishing Beauties' Sunday Constitution Magazine 9 May 1926 p. 10
The article details a few troubling stories of young women disappearing, apparently under their own volition, some of whom were never heard from again (at least as of May 1926). It then gets to HCP. Note this article has undergone a process that I remember from my time in publishing in the 80s, i.e. some hotshot consultant has been engaged to tell everyone how to give news stories extra excitening by the addition of an exclamation mark to the end of almost every paragraph:
Perhaps more amazing than the disappearance of these young girls was the vanishing of Admiral Paget’s nineteen-year-old daughter and her return!
Honor was an orphan. Very pretty and belonging to one of the most distinguished families in Great Britain, she was already quite a personage in society. It was tacitly understood that she was to lead the younger set. She was invited everywhere, and went about a great deal, but although a host of well-connected and wealthy young men were constantly at her side, she favoured no one man more than another.
Two of her friends, the Misses Fenwick, invited her to come and stay with them at their home in Hay Hill, Berkeley Square, and Honor acccepted the invitiation. She and the two Fenwick sisters spent a good deal of time together.
All the greater was the shock when upon their return home from a party at the fashionable Hyde Park hotel at midnight – Honor vanished! The Fenwicks had left the drawing room for a moment, in search of a book they wanted to show their young guest and when they returned – the girl had gone!
For a few minutes they thought she was in her room. But as the minutes lengthened and first the clock struck the quarter and then the half-hour, still all was silent. They made a room-to-room search, fearing that unwittingly they had offended her and that she might have gone to other friends. They phoned to their acquaintances and to those of Honor. But none had seen her or received from her any word. Greatly as people of the Fenwicks’ caste abhor publicity, no course was open to them but to notify the police!
Rumours of every kind were circulated – Honor had eloped and married secretly, Honor had gone into a convent, Honor had hidden her identity and gone on the stage, and so on and so forth. Then her solicitor, Mr. Martin, went to Paris, where he believed he would find her. But after what was said to be a frantic search, aided by the French police, involving visits to well-known and unknown Places in Paris’ “tenderloin” he returned – alone!
Three days after Mr. Martin arrived back in London, a startling announcement was made. Honor Paget had come home! But she refused to reveal a single thing concerning her absence and could not be induced to tell where or with whom she had been!
Is it possible that this girl, highly cultured, sensitive, proud, descendant of a noble line, was afraid to speak out? Did she fear dire consequences to herself, or did she feel that the whole world would regard her with different eyes if it realised all that she herself now knows and that the other two girls, not so fortunate as to escape, perhaps, are learning by bitter experience? (p. 11, p. 19)
That last paragraph is a bit obtuse for the present-day but it I’m just going to assume it’s rude.
Another article, this time in the Manchester Guardian (4 February 1926 p. 10) is arguably useful:
No authentic information was available yesterday concerning the disappearance of Miss Honor Cecilia Paget, the nineteen-year-old ward in Chancery, who has been missing since the middle of last week. Miss Paget, who is related to the Marquis of Anglesey, left her flat late at night with little if any luggage, and did not leave any message as to where she had gone. The family solicitors were informed of her disappearance, and the matter was placed in the hands of private detectives, but up to the moment she has not been found. The relatives did not consider it advisable to seek the aid of publicity in endeavouring to trace the missing girl, and in fact have refused any official help.
A press representative learned from other sources that the view is held that Miss Paget has gone for a short holiday and will write to them later in the ordinary way. Apparently the family have no misigivings that Miss Paget has come to or will come to any harm.
Honor’s whereabouts were ultimately explained by her in another article, through United News and published in the Miami Herald 1 March 1926 (p. 3). When I say ‘explained by her’, there are probably as many questions raised as answered, but anyway:
Find Missing Heiress: Re-appearance in San Sebastian Clears Up Speculation in Inner Circles of British Society
San Sebastian, Feb 28 – The recent disappearance of Miss Honor Cecilia Paget, 19-year-old ward in chancery and only child of the late Admiral Sir Alfred Wyndham Paget, and of her subsequent reappearance here, cleared up the wild speculation in the inner circles of British high society. Miss Paget is a high-spirited girl, fond of attempting the unusual, and very wealthy. It was thought she might contracted some foolish marriage or been the victim of foul play. When interviewed exclusively by The United News, Miss Paget laughingly turned down these rumours.
‘My sole reason for acting as I did was to escape the unjust discipline of my tutor,’ she said. ‘I left London at night, after amusing myself at some night clubs, with a little trunk containing four hats, three pairs of stockings, face powder and two pairs of shoes. I was penniless.
‘I raised some money for transportation and took a train for [Paris?] in France. From there I took another train going to San Sebastian. I intended to go to Madrid, as I had heard that that city was the gayest city in the world.
‘My money had become exhausted, however, and I was forced to remain here. In order to obtain food I sold my overcoat for less than $2, and subsequently the remainder of my meager wardrobe. I am now going back to London.
‘I have been hungry in Spain,’ continued Miss Paget, ‘but my suffering was less than the ordeal of my ordinary, routine life in London.’ Asked whether she desired to get married, Miss Paget replied negatively, adding that marriage nowadays was mostly followed by separation from the husband.
Cecilia is a coquette. As she was recounting her adventures she was continually powdering her face and rouging her lips.
During the 10 days of her escapade, Miss Paget stayed at four hotels, each more economical than the other. Miss Paget, as a ward in chancery, is under the direct control of the lord chancellor of England, so far as matters affecting her well-being are concerned. This situation comes when a wealthy orphan is under age and difficulties arise regarding a suitable guardian. The British judicial authorities step in and make the lord chancellor responsible.
Strikes me that it's going to be a hell of a lot easier to find out what happened to her after the end of her third marriage than it is to find out what she was doing in Spain in February 1926 but surely someone, somewhere knows more.
Also I don't know when she went from 'Honor' to 'Honore' and whether that's a change she made somewhere between leaving Britain for the US, or whether that's an ongoing mistake made by the US press. The first seems more likely.
No comments:
Post a Comment