Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-20

aperitifs on the terrace OF then
villa. The. hour was soft ana wafsn
The low, archjng palm branches
Salsaned in q gentle breeze. The husl'
OF a motor came TO them over theiI
garden wall. and they heard the regu-
lar, sleepy breathing OF a painted blue
sea against the strip OF beach.
So much for a charming Incidence
that might so easily have blinded one
to certain CLEAN OF EeenneSS in the
princess black eyes. that notorious Wit
Of hers. and to the quite evident pain
in UmbeTto's normally fair and pleas
ant countenance. 1t became gradually
clear that. IL the Beltramini bodies
we're incolent their minds were both
active and uncomfortable and to de-
gree that only desperate money
worry could possibly explain or excuse,
His princess mother wanted y know
Just what Umbeltc, as head OF the
family was going to do about 1t.
Umberto wanted to know much the
same thing What does che do?" he
asked
His mother shook her head One
cen borrow, to be sure, Umberto," she
said. but not always. There is. APP
parently. limit even to mortgages.
and I'm afraid our hopes are elsewhere.
Can't YOU Think"
Umberto could think. bat he Gidn't
want to. He resented its necessity and
would have been far happier racing his
six-meter sloop In fools wind or ski
jumping some yawning and bottomless
Swiss Alpine chasn. Thinking was an
occupation for sleepless nights. or those
regular periods in the hospital while
ones legs and ribs were intending after
b successful reEimentai Steeplechase
At any other time, he felt, It was sheer
niorbidity.
Whatever his feelings. however. be
prince, poet, peasant, or pawnbroker
when man Is broke, SO 10 speak. he
thinks. and thinks hard. The centu-
ries-oid fame Of Umberto's family and
title was scarcely negotiable The
beauty OF his island estate In the nfcun-
tain-cup OF Lake Como, the stark gray
isolation Of CAStellagno. SO high on q
craggy peak that former lord Of the
fair-haired. hawk-eyed Beltramini had
for decades wtthstood there the Aus
trian invader-altnougA UHberto him
self always considered the bleak dis
comfort OF the place an exOrbitAnt
price for independence all these
memories and al the perquiSites or his
rank we're OF little use when 1t came to
making the automobile wheels 90 round
Iney couldn't change that ugly hollow
ring OF the Beltramini Golfers to A
nice. dull. friendly chink.
Even Umeerto himself realized that
something more was required. and for
the emergency he relied upon a formula
that had saved him mental agony since
he was IL. The problem has been
long on my mind, my dear mother" he
sid. Naturally, because Of your in
terest and your admirable Judgment. ]
want you to share in my decision.
1ou may have some settled conviction
as'to what should DO
That gleem shone through the prin-
cess eyelAsheS. When a noble Is In
trouble, Umberto," she said. "he tskhts
= var to get out OF it. he marries out
OF It, or he remains In 1t. The fsrst
ana last Of these being In your cir
clmstances inappropriate, I'd marry
my dear boy. I'd marry beautiful
and rich"
She paid not the slightest heed
10 the commotion caused by the mad.
vertant passage of some OF her sons
aperitf down his windpipe.
And, as q matter OF fact, I foresaw
the present debacie and selected a nice
young rich girl, one OF the very richest
and prettieSt, Umberto.
In spite Of the large number ia
choose from, I had hard time winning
this particular girl away from the Mar
ouise de Ia Haye, who, in q sense, saw
her first. But, when / bid you, Um-
berto, against her son, q mere marquis
the thing was settled, although the
girls father, whom learned to LIKE
very much later on, had the iYnpudknce
to ask II. besides being q prince, q con.
dition you couldn't avoid. you wert
anything else. He had some idea oil
making what he called an executive OF
you and was visibly disappointed wher
all could say was that you knew
good horse when you saw one
I TMBERTO, still making inarticulat,
sounds Of protest. paced back ans
forth on the terrace. trying to interrupt
and object to all this. He knew how
quickly these casual ideas OF hi
mothers, once under way, hardeneg
into a masked, but iron bound, deter
nination, impossible to break or ever
seriously to bend. Also he'd had con
siderable observation OF marriage IN
general. and he felt that 1t might yer.
easily be too severe a remedy Tor al
finally, you forget, my dear mother
that am already in love. I'm I'm low
with Eileen DAWSON, Col Davisson'
daughter. Everybody says I am, any
way. Eileen herself says so. And She
Q sportswoman II must have d wife
I. at least, deserve one who isn't Afrail
her horse will bite her"
But the Princess Beltrannini di Gas
tellakno was entirely unmoved. ".'n'
yet" she unused, as though she hadn'
even heard his objections, 1T is q littl
sad for me to think that the beautiful
BeltrAmini,' phrase known In Nv
capitals. will soon refer TO anothe
woman. There Is q recompense only Il
my confidence that our new littl
princess, in the sudden rush OF fArAil
pride, will not permit her nobl
mother-in-lAw to suffer for want OF
few essential maids and her paltr
gambling expenses"
Umberto studied his mother wit
> fixed determination. You force me
take you seriously" he said fnall!
''Well, then, perhaps you will give n,
the details of this little deal ~
heard Of such things. What were tn
ArrAngements-and what, to be exac
have you already received?"
Except that notorious wits are In
sensitive, the princess might have bee
more alert to the change in her SON
temper. Instead she was secretly d.
lighted by his apparent acquiescence
. scheme that, until 1t required hii
personally, she had not dared to mer
ton.
you may trust me for the arrange
ments.' she said. They are, to 50
the least. adroit. Your future father
in-law and his exquisite daughter al
invited to stay at our villa. and the
naturally insist that. as soon as tn,
arrive, accept few thousands
cover any extra expense on our par
you know, my dear boy. have alwa,
had the practical brains OF the fan
fly"