THE PRINCESS ALINE
BY
RICHARD HARDING DAVIS
| PART I | PART II | PART III |
THE PRINCESS ALINE
I
H. R. H. the Princess Aline of Hohenwald came into the life of MortonCarlton--or "Morney" Carlton, as men called him--of New York city, whenthat young gentleman's affairs and affections were best suited toreceive her. Had she made her appearance three years sooner or threeyears later, it is quite probable that she would have passed on out ofhis life with no more recognition from him than would have beenexpressed in a look of admiring curiosity.
But coming when she did, when his time and heart were both unoccupied,she had an influence upon young Mr. Carlton which led him into doingseveral wise and many foolish things, and which remained with himalways. Carlton had reached a point in his life, and very early in hislife, when he could afford to sit at ease and look back with modestsatisfaction to what he had forced himself to do, and forward withpleasurable anticipations to whatsoever he might choose to do in thefuture. The world had appreciated what he had done, and had put muchto his credit, and he was prepared to draw upon this grandly.
At the age of twenty he had found himself his own master, withexcellent family connections, but with no family, his only relativebeing a bachelor uncle, who looked at life from the point of view ofthe Union Club's windows, and who objected to his nephew's leavingHarvard to take up the study of art in Paris. In that city (where atJulian's he was nicknamed the junior Carlton, for the obvious reasonthat he was the older of the two Carltons in the class, and because hewas well dressed) he had shown himself a harder worker than others whowere less careful of their appearance and of their manners. His work,of which he did not talk, and his ambitions, of which he also did nottalk, bore fruit early, and at twenty-six he had become aportrait-painter of international reputation. Then the Frenchgovernment purchased one of his paintings at an absurdly small figure,and placed it in the Luxembourg, from whence it would in time depart tobe buried in the hall of some provincial city; and Americanmillionaires, and English Lord Mayors, members of Parliament, andmembers of the Institute, masters of hounds in pink coats, andambassadors in gold lace, and beautiful women of all nationalities andconditions sat before his easel. And so when he returned to New Yorkhe was welcomed with an enthusiasm which showed that his countrymen hadfeared that the artistic atmosphere of the Old World had stolen himfrom them forever. He was particularly silent, even at this date,about his work, and listened to what others had to say of it with muchawe, not unmixed with some amusement, that it should be he who wascapable of producing anything worthy of such praise. We ha