Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-03-21
ABRUzl GOING HOME
Sailing, It Is Believed, to Get
 Kings Consent to Wed.
ROMANCE INTERESTING ROME
Holds That Absence of Official Denial Confirms Rumored Engagement of Duke to Miss Elkns-Publicity Dis pleases Ambassador.

| New York, March 21.-The Duke of
 the Abruzzi was booked to sail for Liverpool today on the steamship Lu- sitania under the name of Luigi Sarto,
 the name under which he has been en- tertained in Washington. The passen- ger list of the Lusitania shows that
 MT. Sarto, with his private secretary,
 H. Santelli, will occupy a suit on the
 upper deck.
 Advices from Rome and Washington
 indicate that the royal Italian is hur- rying to Rome to obtain the consent of King Victor Emmanuel to the en- gagement of himself and Miss Rather inc Elkins. The couple spent some time together yesterday in Baltimore,
 where they met Senator Elkins, the young woman's father, and ex-Senator Davis, her grandfather.
 The dispatches from Rome were to the effect that the duke had won the consent of Miss Elkins and that, with the sanction of King Emmanuel obtain ed, he would return without delay to Washington and make the young wo- man his bride Rome believes that the king will approve of the match, although he has indicated desire for Abruzzi to take his wife from one of the royal families of Europe. The TO- nance of the duke has aroused great interest throughout Italy and the fact that no official denial was given out in Rome to the persistent reports of an engagement was taken as practical proof that it exists and that the we'd ding only waits on royal consent.
 Italian Ambassador Mayor des Plan- ches and his official and unofficial household have uniformly maintained the greatest reticence in regard to the movements and doings of the duke, averring that he was travelling in his private capacity of gentleman whose personal affairs were nobody's business but his own. For this reason only the scantest possible information respect ing his doings have been made public.
 In view, however, of the various publications respecting the dukes wis., 1t to this country and particularly to Washington and the reputed results the Italian ambassador consented to give out through his secretary an in- formal statement bearing on the sub ject. It was substantially as follows:
 ''The question of an engagement is private matter, and nobody has right to know anything about it.
 ''The statement that there was a meeting of the Elkins family at the Italian embassy several nights ago Is absolutely false. No member of the Elkins family has been at the em- bassy either during the dukes visit nor for long period prior to that time.
 Duke Going Back to Naval Command.
 1.-The duke was in this country on a regular leave of absence granted him by the minister of marine while his vessel is undergoing some improve ments. The vessel is at Spezia, one of the principal Italian ports. The dukes leave is now exhausted, and he goes back wo resume command of the vessel. The duke is leaving on the best terms with his acquaintances and friends. To some of them he has giv- en assurances that he will be back in the near future.
 Therefore statements published here and in various parts of the United States concerning the dukes visit and its result are incorrect and show q lack of kindness and courtesy"