Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-03-23

with such pomp aid 6@-LZS1
magnitlccnce that the --..
Belgian capital had PRINCESS RADZiNlLL
never anything
like II before. At that time the Arenbergs
settled there In their fine castle or
IIeverle, near Louvain, and hardly ever lived
In their Prussisn domains. They considered
themselves Belgians. in spite of the fact that
they were hereditary members of the Prus-
sian Upper House." and ranked as princess
of the Holy German Empire. Immediately
after those OF blood royal.
But Duke Engebert, of Arenberg the
father of the present holder of the title and
of the Dowager Duchess of Croy, hated
everything that was connected with Prussia.
and would never even consent TO visit Berlin.
He died a relatively young man. leaving small
children. who were entirely brought up by
their mother, who was also by birth Prih-
cess of Arenberg. "a first cousin to her nus
band.
THE WIDOWED DUCHESS
'rhe widowed Duchess is great character
and was famous in Brussels for her pride
and the dignifed way In which she insisted
on her privileges Every one respected and
also feared her and even the late King Leo
pold II stood in awe before her since the
famous day. when. hearing she was about to
give a ball ir, honor of the coming out or
her eldest daughter. the same one who was
to be married few months later to Prince
Croy, asked her for an invitation for a great
friend of his a lady belonging TO the financial
circles of the capital The Duchess refused,
upon which the King insisted. and things
consider II Il personal affront II the lady
In question was not seen at the ball about
to be given in the Arenberg Palace. The
Duchess to this replied that there would be
no ball given In the Arenberg Palace. and
proceeded forthwith to cancel her invitations.
much to the Kings disgust who afterward
could never bring himself to forgive her for
this piece of independence In regard to his
wishes.
The eldest son of the Duchess after
very gay youth, became an officer In one of
the crack guard regiments in Berlin and.
much to his mothers sorrow, became quite
enthusiastic In his German sympathies He
married one of the most lively girls of his
| time, the Princess Hedwige of Ligne but the
couple never "ht it off we'll" together. and
| though they have not separated yet 1t Is
| an open secret that they see as little as pos
sible OF each other and that the young
| Duchess has found many subjects of con-
| ISOLATION among the disappolntments of her
| married life When the war broke out. the
| Duke took service In n Prussan regiment
Thanks to his personal friendship with the
| Kaiser. he obtained the favor that all his
| Belgian properties and fine castles were
| spared In the general destruction practced
| on such IA vast scale by the Prussian TROOPS.
| Some persons have asserted that on the doors
| of all the houses belonging to the Duke of
| Louvain was written in chalk, This Is the
| be touched This was. of course very
| profitable for the object OF such considera-
tion, but 1t made the Duke most unpopular
among his Belgian relatives. who all of them.
| TO begin with his own mother, turned their
backs upon him, as soon as they had heard
| of the incident.
THE THREE SISTERS
All the three sisters of the Duke of Aren-
| berg married well. Ludmille. the oldest, be.
came, as ! have already said, Duchess OF
Croy: the second is the wife, rather, tn,
%ldowi OF S'ls cousin % of hers hers Prince Franci.
gave her hand TO Prince Stephen of Croy, tn,
head Of younger branch of that family anc
in Belgium, that of Roeux. which is consd
cred one of the wonders of the archtectur,
of the Middle Ages.
when she was barely thirty-six years old
and for some time 1t seemed as If she woult
never dream of marrying again. She came
and aristocratc circles when her son. thu
present Duke of Croy. announced. to the in.
dignation of the whole of his family his in
tention to marry the lovely American, Mis-
| Nancy Leishmann, with whom he had falei
ton of the marriage OF The head of the Illus Illus
trious House of Croy became the one sub
ject of conversation in Paris, Brussels ant
to interfere and to forbid It. This he nigh
perhaps have done, If the Crown Prince. win
Croy and Miss Leishmann. had not inter
fered much % ITO, TO- the disgust Of all those VIII
| vented In some way or other
The marriage, however was celebrated Il
Switzerland, and the beauty and grace of tn
charming young bride won for her the heart
|
had consented to be present at the ceremony
| among others the DCwager Duchess who
| much to the surprise of those who knew no,
| proud and arrogant she was. declared hersel
| quite satisfied with her sons choice. Thi
| was more than his sisters did, the eldes
| of whom, married TO Bavarian Prince, sal
that she would never consent to receive tn
american" as she disdainfuly called he
The young couple settled in their castle c
Dulmen In Westphalia and once or twice pu
i'm an appearance in Berlin, but In spite {
all the efforts made by their friends and b
the Crown Prince and Princess, the Duches
was not presented to Court and both she an
| her husband remained more or less ostracize
by all those who secretly envied the beautifl
girl, who had carried away one of the be!
matches in the whole Of Geremany.
AGAIN IN BELGIUM
| After her sons marriage, the Dowag,
| Duchess of Croy left Dulmen and settled on,
| more In Belgium. One did not see much
| her i'm society and she was supposed to lea
a quiet life and to be very much given
pious practices. Though she was still your
and very beautiful no one ever though
| change her name and title, of which she h;
| always been inordinately proud.
But the other day the news get round tn
= | for some years the Duchess had been In 10
| with the manager of her sons estates al
= | fortune, and that she was going to mar
! him in spite of every opposition which h
determination might encounter on the pa
e of her children, mother. brothers and slstel
e The naughty lady had discovered at la
q worth while to 'live and love-" though Il
y might imply the loss of position Ia ii
. | world such but very few women have n
10 | fll