Evening star., 1901-07-20
Is an Expert eook and Indulges
Other Fanoies Also.
LIKES WANDERING ABOUT UNKNOWN
She is Deeply Loved by the People
and the King.
BUT SHE MUST OBEY

youuS queen f1elena OF ltaly. LII thc AiSI
flush Of youth, beautiful. deeply loved by
her husband, happy mother, surrounded
by the adulation of her people, she ought
to be one of the most contented of women
The violent death OF her father-in-law.
I'll re Humberto," was, 1t is true, bitter
grief to her as well as terrible shock
She and the grizzled old king were made
for each other. They spent hours together
every day in conversation and In country
expeditions, and Humbert often declared
that his dear daughter Helena" was the
noblest, Wisest and kindest woman he had
ever met, with the one exception of his
wife, the gentle Queen Marguerite. Even
that exception was probably made out Of
difference to the proprieties, which bind
even kings; for though Humbert did really
love his wife very deeply It was notorious
that her extreme piety, or even narrowness,
In religious matters made her less of
companion to him that she might otherwise
have been. His dear daughter Helena"
was real friend and was able to exercise
an lnnuence over the somewhat erratic old
gentleman to which Queen Marguerite had
no pretent1on. Often when the Prince Of
Naples. now King Of Italy, had come up
against his fathers strong will and drawn
upon himself the old mans terrible anger,
Helena was able to heal the breach be-
tween father and SON.
She is not what would be called a strong
minded woman; on the contrary, like all
oiiN SSill-oIltIlldlS, she ledTHeu at
her father's court in Montenegro that the
woman Is less than the man, that the wife
Is to be governed by the husband. But If
not strong minded, she is high minded. a
woman who, as Crispi said of her, will
govern without seeming to do So lust by
her gentlenoss and grace and quiet dig
nlty, and because she would generally be
rlgnt IN her judgment and always in her
Intentions"
Taught a Trade.
Humbert used playfully to call her 1.-The
little mountain savage" an allusion to Ger
tain delightfully."- unreyal ways and tastes
which Helena had acquired at her fathers
curously homelike, unpretentious court.
Nikita. the old-fashioned mountain prince
OF Montenegro, who always wears the rich
oriental costume Of the mountain chiefs,
ms ancestors, insisted, as, by the way, the
emperor or Germany does by tradition,
that all his sons and daughters should
Know some useful trade or profession
Helena became an zexcellent cook, skilled
both In preparing plain roast and boiled
meats and articles of "patisserie" for
which orientals have SO decided a taste
When Helena's gift became known to
her father-in-law.s he insisted on tasting
her dishes and liked them so we'll that one
day in the palace at Naples, he conferred
upon her with mock ceremony the title Of
'Lady-High-COok to the King of Italy"
He had as everybody Knows, a strong dose
u r
big game In the Alps, he used sometimes
to take his son. then FRINGE of Naples, and
his daughter Helena, 7far away from the
routine and ceremony Of courts to one or
another of his mountain Shooting boxes"
A few servants would accompany the party
and the Princess Helena would herself pre-
pare the lunch to be brought out on the
hunting expedition or the dinner for the
return in the evening. A kind Of "pilaf'
made of chicken and rice, boiled together
with milk and spices, was a favorite dish
of the princess fabrication. When the old
king and the princess had humorous uuar-
rel in their long conversation together the
Lady -High-Cook would clinch her argu-
ment by threatening to make no more
pilaf; whereupon Humbert would declare
himself willing to swallow dutifully any Of
his dear daughters views IL only he
might still swallow also her excellent cook
cry.
MOurned Humberts Death,
Humbert, with all his faults, was deeply
loved by his people, but 1t is safe to say that
no one In Italy, not even perhaps Queen Mar
guerita, more bitterly bewailed his terrible
death than did his daughter-in-law. Hum
pert used to accuse the princess in fun of
being impatient to ascend the throne with
her husband. In the abstract there was a
certain amount of truth in the Jest She
probably liked well enough the prospect of
being one day queen; but when the fatal
blow was struck which gave her the crown
she was the unhappiest woman in Italy
She went about dazed and heartbroken,
and the two royal women, the queen
mother and the queen regnante, became
closer friends than they had ever been be-
fore, in the bitterness of their common
grief. The new king. Victor Emmanul II.
who possessed all that strength of will
which has been the unfailing characteristic
of the house of Savoy, was angry, they
say, with his young wife for her abandon
ment to grief. 1t was only her deep love
for him that enabled her to pluck up her
1t seems to be agreed between them that
while she shall provide the wisdom for the
couple in important matters outside the af-
fairs of state he shall be absolute lord in
the minor details Of everyday life. Some
times his exercise Of the prerogatiye seems
to amount to petty tyranny. A striking in
stance Of this trait in his character was
afforded at Naples in connection with the
cycling mania Of the royal couple In the
days when they were only Prince and
Princess of Naples they used very often to
set or from the PALACE on long bicycle ex-
breeks," just like any young man out of
an American Office or store; the princess
in short skirt and a soft felt hat. Hun
dreds Of foreign tourists must have often
seen them whirring by along the splendid
sea road by the bay without any idea of
their exalted position. They both liked
this occasional anonymity, but the prince
did not wish his wife to indulge it except
when he was there. One day, however,
when he was too busy over state affairs to
go with her, she committed her first act of
marital disobedience She went out cycling
without him, accompanied only by a lady-
awaiting. AS luck would have it, de-
scending the steep olive-lined hill that
leads toward the bluesbay, the princess ran
into an OK cart laden with barrels of wine.
and was thrown Violently. After suffering
a good deal of abuset from the half-tipsy
driver she had toireturn, showing her ma
chine before her. Her companion rode be-
fore her to the palace.' Arrived home, she
was met by the prince, with anger In his
eye.
A Stern Lesson.
you do not look like the Princess of
Naples just now," he said; land only the
Princess Of Naples has the right to enter
in bicycling dress by the grand staircase"
II am very Sorry said the princess, all
covered with confusion, and brought her
machine round to the servants entrance
whence she made her way to the private
apartments.
1t was a stern lesson. She never again
went out on her machine without her hus-
band Another Of the kings little manias
is that he will not allow his wife to re-
ceive any personal compliments. A lady
of the court once expressed approval Of
Queen Helena's long and beautiful hair,
nf uyb;ob tho gunner la cartaip1v -l;t+la