An interesting account of Miss Frances Stevenson, the Prime Minister's lady secretary, is given by N.C. Croft in the "Home Mas. azine.
"To begin with Miss Stevenson, who in appearance and manner is quite English, is in reality only half so, her father being Scotch and her mother half French and half Italian, and she doubtless owes to her mixed blood something of her brilliant intellect.
"She was educated completely inj England and it is the value of this college education which she, personally, asserts cannot be over-emphasized in the case of any woman who hopes to adopt a career, bringing, as it does, the student, at an early age, into contact with the greatest possible number of people, and teaching, not only initiative and in-only to haagine a young and pretty English girl of this type, with a shy gentle manner ana soft voice, and the picture of Miss Stevenson is complete!
"The story of how she got where she now is can be quickly told.
"Some years ago, before the war to be exact, she was at college with the elder daughter of Mr. Lloyd George, with whom she became great friends and through whom she quirkly became that of the whole Lloyd George family, an intimacy which resulted when she left school in her going as governess to their youngest little girl.
"But Miss Stevenson by no means wished to remain a governess and continued to cherish, as her great dream, an ambition to become the private secretary of either a member of Parliament or else of some well-known author.
"It was because of this that' Mr. Lloyd George, who knew the tastes of his little friend, decided one dependen but also a sense of day to give her a chance of proving responsibility and the adoption of what she could do, and left in her the public spirit. hands during the next holidays "Her age?
One would imagine some important research work her to be about 22 but "when which he wished undertaken. So one remembers she has held her Pleased was he with the result of position not only during and since, his experiment that from then on, but also before the war, one realizes whenever he required anything of she must of necessity be a few years! the sort in connexion with either older. In appearance she is slight his speeches or articles, it was to and graceful, with pretty blue eyes, Miss Stevenson to whom the work a clear pale skin, and masses of as entrusted, and, beginning while lovely fair hair. One has, in fact, thus engaged to deal with a certain amount of his correspondence it was not long before she found herself in complete charge of it.
"Thus it came about that, when Mr. Lloyd George rose to holding the highest position in the realm, lip had no fear of breaking all traditions by keeping as his private secretary this young girl who had already given such overwhelming proof of her intelligence, her tact, and her commonsense."
Winter suit of wool velours.
Short and logse jacket cut.
with overlapping straight collar, trimmed with three button-hole imitations.
Low-placed Bulgarian sleeves.
Basque drawn in a flaring pleat on the hips and showing button-hole trimmed self grounds. Bands and belt of marten.
Gathered skirt with marten bands.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.