31. Verdon-Smith (nee Jackson-Bartsow), Lady
Somerset.
Lady Baden-Powell came and stayed with my parents when I was a girL, at Weston-super-Mare and during lunch, I passed the gravy-boat to her, but instead of putting a gravy-ladle in it, I put a sugar-sifter. Of course the mess was appalling, and my father was furious with me, thinking I had done it on purpose because I was always playing practical jokes on people, but this time I had NOT intended to do it, so the punishment I received was all the more terrible, because I admired Lady B-P greatly!
My sisters and 1 were all mad-keen Guides, and of course became Guiders; we dressed up in all sorts of strange garb, and had cock’s feathers in our hats. I went to a Conference at Swanwick, and I think I was the only Guider there who kept fowls, so I got feathers for Lady B-P’s hat - but I don't think that she used them!
During that Conference someone commented about Lady B-P: "She’s so NERVOUS, she’ll never be a good speaker" !! I’ve heard her many times since then, and thought, "How wrong that person was!" I think she’s a marvelous speaker, and I’ve never met a woman with such a memory.
I was visiting Hampton Court with some friends, and we got soaking wet in the rain. The CG met us, and welcomed us into her Apartment and "dried us out” and entertained us, as we had 2 hours to wait for our return-boat-trip down the Thames to London.
I had just been to Bermuda and had seen her friend Marjorie Hallett,
and it was marvelous having this chance to chat with her in her own home,
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