Evening star., 1921-04-22
FLUTTERS AND FEARS PRINCE
f. CAUSED SOCIETY ON VISIT HERE
Italian Nobleman on War Mission Set All
Washington Agog-Fiirst With De-
light and Then With Anxiety.

| own. Beyond this, he was handsome
! charming and danced divinely-what
| more could you ask?
| Society was thrilled,
! Society pursued the prince. There
| were many receptions and dances. The
! prince was tactful in comforting his
| smiles. and many of the most beauti-
| full bellies of the capital danced with
| him.
| The series of events reached a
| climax at a big ball at which the
! prince was the guest of honor
| That night he was more gracious
! and charming than ever. He danced
almost continuously and with i'm
and loveliness which thronged the
, ballroom.
With proud thoughts of the i'm
preston they had made upon the ro-
| mantle scion of Italian royalty. the
captivating daughters of Washington
| returned to their homes in the early
morning following a perfect night.
Society Gets n Shock.
Memory would dwell happily upon
that night for years to come.
Then. suddenly, rumor.
No! Who said so? Preposterouss:
Why. I danced with him-you don't
suppose?-Oh. this is terrible"
Washington gossip told many an
extraordinary tale of the panic that
spread through Washington society
circles.
Doctors We're consulted.
Faces were examined for any pos
sible hint of an eruption.
Friends who were companions in
peril, through having danced with
the prince. were called into confer
ence as to the safety measures which
should be taken.
Gossip says that frightened maidens
did some grotesque things by way or
prevention. 1t is not related that
any of them went through the cere-
sacred waters of the Potomac. but
that must be because it did not occur
to any of them to try this plan.
Beyond all doubt for twenty-four
hours Washington society was agog
and alarmed. It was shocked.
whispered that Prince Udine had the
smallpox.
Rumor said he was quarantined.
But rumor, as is so frequently
the case, was eXaggerative and men
dacious.
Was Only the Measles.
Worried fathers and husbands max
ing discreet but anxious inquiry
learned the truth.
His royal highness had a mild at
tack of measles.
The relief was tremendous. Ladies.
who had felt all the symptoms of
smallpox. and whose minds were agi-
tated with the thought of isolation
hospitals and-far worse-beauty for
ever marred by the possible perma-
nent traces of the disease upon fair
brow or velvet cheek, recovered their
eQuanimity.
After all, measles was only measles.
1t was inconvenient, uncomfortable.
temporarily dishguring. but with care,
merely a passing indisposition.
The prince was really paying this
great democracy a tribute of devotion
by submitting his princely person to
SO democratic a complaint.
Moreover, if one had to have meas
les, 1t was certainly better, under the
circumstances, to have an Italian va
riety than to be humiliated by suf-
fering from German measles.
Take 1t NJ "Royal Gift.o
Indeed. one vivacious beauty, after
fully considering all the possibilities,
declared:
Il am a good sport. They say that
every person must have measles soon
or late, and the sooner the less trouble
some. I am a young thing. and II /
must contract, how much more fun II
is to have it as' a royal gift. rather
than to pick it up unromantically on
a pullman or in a store"
None Of this got into the newspa-
pers. for since the prince was royal
parsonage, he was granted certain
privileges and immunities. So when
! the prince, after a few days of re-
I tirement, appeared again, as debonair
as charming as ever, he was without
any suspicion of the sensations which