where else in these pages, was low, with few
inflections, and was compared by her husband to the murmur of a brook
running under ice. The poet Gosse said of her: "She is dark and
rich-hearted, like some wonderful wine-red jewel."

For years she had worn her hair short, not in the fashion of a
strong-minded female, but in a frame of soft grey curls which was
exceedingly becoming to her face.

Everywhere she went her appearance attracted attention. One evening at
Santa Barbara when David Bispham was giving a concert, she sat in a
box at the theatre, wearing a bandeau of pearls and diamonds round her
head and a collar and necklace of the same. Leaning over the edge of
the box, deeply interested in the singing, she didn't realize the
impression she was making or the fact that Bispham was singing "Oh,
the pretty, pretty creature" directly at her box. Suddenly she became
aware of his compliment, gave a startled, embarrassed look at the
audience, and retired behind her big ostrich-feather fan. People often
turned to look at her in the street, and at such times she would say
to her companions: "Is there anything wrong with my hat? The people
all seem to be smiling at me." They were, but it was with surprised
admiration. Saleswomen and shop-girls adored her, and at all the shops
they vied with each other in waiting on her. On the way home she would
say, with naive surprise: "How nice all those young women were! There
were five of them all waiting on me at once."

One of her vanities was her small feet, on which she always wore the
daintiest of shoes, often totally unsuited to the occasion. Whenever I
looked at her feet I was reminded of our maternal grandmother, sweet
Kitty Weaver, and how she caught her death going to a ball in the red
satin slippers.

Her beauty was of the elusive type that is the despair of artists,
and of all the portraits painted of her none seemed to me to represent
her true self. I quote from _The Craftsman_ of May, 1912, a reference
to a reproduction of the portrait painted of her by Mrs. Will Low:

"We are sure that our readers the world over will enjoy the
opportunity of this glimpse of Mrs. Stevenson, however the limitations
imposed by black and white may prevent a full realization of the great
charm of this unusual woman, whose personality is so magnetic, so
serene in its poise, so richly intellectual, that those who have had
the opportunity of knowing her always remember her as one of the most