Sholto Johnstone-Douglas and the Villa Marie in Saint Raphael

Eliza, Countess of Craven was the daughter of the painter Sholto Johnstone-Douglas (1871- 1958). Some years after his death she put on an exhibition of his paintings in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Nancie received an invitation but was unable to go.
It was a sort of 'tradition' that she was invited to such events, including the weddings of her 'grandchildren' but she was never able to attend in person. It meant she remained close to all the children she looked after and felt involved in their lives for many years later.
Sholto's wife, Bettina, Eliza's Mother, was the greatgranddaughter of the Count of Messina in Sicily. The Johnstone-Douglases spent the years  1926- 1938 in France, staying in the Villa Marie at Saint-Raphael, where incidentally, a couple of years earlier, F.Scott Fitzgerald finished his famous novel, 'The Great Gatsby'. He clearly observed the local English aristocracy in Saint Raphael quite closely.