New Britain Herald Newspaper, July 10, 1928, Page 19

i L] The eek! Contessine Atalanta Mercatl, Twenty-Twe-Year-Old hghm of the Count and ountess Mercati, of Florence. Who Is Betrothed to Michael Arlen, Armeni Mr. Michael Arlen, Author of “Smart” Books and Plays, as He Was Seen by One Famous L 4 Cartoonist. and bdon vivant of New York, London and Paris. is in love. That, in itself, is news. But when it is coupled with the information that the dnrper expert in gmour is betrothed to the MICHAEL AR!EN. author, cosmopolite, beautiful Contessine Atalanta Mercati it is en to stimulate blood pressure in many drawing-rooms and elicit satisfied chuckles from the leaders of the smart set. It is singularly satisfying te Mr. Arlen’s ds to find, in his romance, a reflection of ene of the most romantic of Greek legends. For besides bearing the significant name ‘“Atalants,” the Contessine ranks high in the Jnlny of sportswome She excels at golf and tennis is an expert horsewoman, is a leader in Winter sports, and is reyou exceptionally swift in running e “What's in & name?” asked Mr. Arlen the other day. finally answered that to my satisfaction,” he continued. “I first fell in love with tlancee because of her name. Even bd.n'{mct Atalanta I wanted to use her name as the title of a book.” name which so intrigued and impressed the irrepressible Mr, Arlen, and' sent his magin- ation soaring to romantic heights, recalls the smusing and satisfying story of Atalanta and Hippomenes. g.Auln the daughter of Schoeneus, was a utiful Greek maiden. She naa xnocked off the first prize in every beauty contest for miles > - 5y @ around, and had the young bloods of Athens following her around begging her 0 marry them. But Atalanta was a pretty level-headed sort of girl. She had her own ideas about marriage, and one of them was that a wife must respect her husband. There- fore she sought a man who would be her superior in every way. But finding such an individual was no easy task. Atalanta was an “optdoor girl.” She alve the boys cards and spades in the reek equivalent of golf and tennis, and every time she was matched against them she came out of the game with victory tucked comfortably under her shapely arm. She particularly excelled at run- ning, and was the “Nurmi” of her day. So, having a sense of humor, she gave the boys something te run after. She would marry the lad who beat her in the race, she said, but she added that -rx candidate who tried and failed must pay wi his life. One or two of the lads took a chance and the Athenian morgue was kept pretty luli for awhile, because Atalanta passed them like the{ were standing still. hen along came Hippomenes. He saw the beautiful Atalanta and his heart did a ground loop. He was a pretty fair sprinter, but he knew he couldn’t beat the lovely lady of his de- sire, so he kicked around Athens for a few weeks trying to devise some scheme to offset hor great handicap of superior speed. Finally he had & brilliant idea, and paid a formal call on one of his ather girl friends, Aphrodite, who had become a goddess. Aphrodite listened patiently and finally agreed to help Hippomenes “just for old times' sake.” She gave him three golden apples and whispered something in his ear. Hippomenes left, all simles, and returned to Athens, where he announced him- self rud! to race against Atalanta for her heart .mli-l 1lun A £ f ippomenes got away from the mark just a little ahead of Atalanta, and after running a few steps he dropped one of the golden app! The fair lady saw it and was delighted. S| paused a moment in her flight to retrieve the apple, and Hippomenes drew ahead. She gained on him, but he drnp&ed another apple, and once more she hesitated. Finally after having dropped all three apples, Hippomenes galloped in the victor, and everyone was tickled to death. Of course, Atalanta did not know that it was Aphro- dite and not Hippomenes who beat her, and she 2 ple Countess. was just as happy as if her boy friend had won the race without outside help. This was the story which flashed through Mr. A-len’s mind when he met the Contessine at Venice last year, and while the racing planes of the three nations flashed overhead in the Schneider Tropay competition, Michael speculated on the possibility of bor- rowing a few golden apples. Evidently he didn't need them, for his scintillat- ing personality and ultra sophisticated repartee seem completely to have won the heart of the majestically beautiful Italian. Perhaps, also, a seductive Venetian moon and the lilting croon of the gondoliérs had something to do with it. hat_does it feel like to be in love?” That was the first question which Mr. Arlen's friends fired at him when they discovered him, vacantly happy, in a Paris cafe. And Mr. Arlen was just deeply enough in love to tell them: “A chap in love is the nearest thing to God,” he said, ordering another vermouth-cassis and drawing the plate of gateaus conveniently near. “On the other hand, he is the emsiest mark in creation. His philosophy, no matter how deep- rooted and soundly reasoned, vanishes like smoke."” Seeing that & real load of Arlenesque en- lightenment was about to be launche: upon them, the company crowded together and the author of the “Green Hat,” et el., continued: “A queer leelinq in his solar-plexus actually eauses the man in love to blush inwardly, if not outwardly, whenever the object of his love is late or her name is spoken in his hearing. “He feels like a demi-god and like 8 worm at one and the same time. “To write of love one must not be in love. On the contrary, all that has been said of love ob- scures the imagination, because it circumscribes it within the limits of the splendid halo surround- Below: Guido Reni's Famous Painting of the Race Between Atalants and Hippomenes. She Is Seen Retrieving One of the Golden Apples While He Presses on te Victery. ing the fm; ge of his beloved. Clear reasoning is impossible.” ealizing that they were not in love, and therefore were mere men, while Mr. Arlen was enjoying the emancipation of deep affection. the listeners accepted Mr. Arlen’s paradoxes and he continued: “So I have chucked the gaeties of the Paris season and am going to the woeds down seuth on the slopes of the Pyrenees to dream away as much as I like. “I must handle this new and wonderful feel- ing of mine the same way one would handle [ restless horse. Let it have its run, Unbridled, unsaddled, unfettered, my imagination will gal- lop and soar and loop the loop all jt wants hfl “Alone I must be, because real love is se great that t shrinks even frem contact with one’s fellow men. It is eurious, but leneliness toraehpinlauhm:flunmm.éun Beovwewpn Fostwe Suvies, W0 And Why “Mayfair Mike” Will " | Honeymoon on a South Sea Island With His 3 with his be- loved. There are heights one ean reach only by one's self. The joy is intellectual and divine and cannot be shared. That is why I am n)nx away. ) “A chap must know himself, must be al. lowed to enjoy to the full the indescribable intexieation of this subtle poison—love—which enters a man like a thief in the night, possesses him body and soul, and raises him te astronomical heights, only to plunge him back again into the depths, and raise him again and again until his senses and his whole being are subjected to this fantastic whirl that is the matter with him and he real izes that he is only an atom in the vast scheme of the universe.” Burrowing their ways through Mr. Arlen’s tangle of metaphor, gome of the company reflected that too many side cars have the same general effect of raising a man up and flopping him down until he be- comes diz: But if Mr.. Arlen wanted to get that way on love they wers satisfied. Left: Prince George, of Greece, Is Been Standing Between the Count and Countess Mercati. The Countess Was Mrs. Newbold Leroy Edgar, of New York. She Is a Stepdaughter of Mrs. Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte. Mr. Arlen and the Contessine are to be mar- ried 'soon, according to report, and they will take & ’round-the-world ecruise shortly afterward. They also plan to spend six months on one of the South Sea islands, where they may dream away happily and without molestation. For, after a more or legs hectic chase after the will-o’-th’-wisp of love, Mr. Arlen feels that he is entitled to a little peace and quiet. His real Atalanta is not the first fair ‘mer to get 8 hammerlock on Mr. Arlen’s ri es. At one time he was often seen with the beau- tious stage star, Ethel Barrymore, and some whispered that he was smitten with her loveli- ness. But the affair did not progress properly and Mr. Arlen was forced to admit defeat in that vace. Then came Audrey Emery, and “Mike’s” heart was set pounding against his ribs with swelling love. But it was no uee. She married Prince Dimitri of Russia, and now . Succeeds in Capturing the Arresting Characteristics of Mr. Arlen in This Carteon. When It Made Arlen Being Toasted as the “Mayfair Novelist." they have & little son. The s0n, some say, may become Czar of Russia if the monarchy ever restored in that country. F) Later Mr. Arlen found himself in an “eme- tional scramble in Paris. He was surrounded by a galaxy of charmers, among them Gabrielle Chanel, of rerfume fame. For a while the flame of Mr. Arlen’s love burned at thig shrine, but it grew dim when Lucien Lelong, famous Paris couturier, hove in sight over the matrimonial horizon. - M. Lelong married Mlle. Chanel and ended Mr. Arlen’s hopes in that direction. But that was all before “Mike” learned the secret of the golden apples. He was not mew to charms or lucky pieces however, and mere than one interesting morsel of gossip eenters around a token which he carries at all times. It is a bit of jade, fastened at the end of a long silver chain, and was given to him by the chief of a gypsy band in his native Armenis. According to Mr. Arlen the charm makes it impossible for him to lose a fight, no matter how strong his opponents, so long as the wearer of the charm is on the “right” side of the argument. But there’s another element in the story of Atalanta which Mr. Arlen may or may net have taken into consideration. In the legend, Atalants and Hippomenes forgot all about thanking Aphre- dite for their golden np{ple& And no former irl friend likes to be left out when the rice is eing thrown. Se just to teach them a lesson Aphrodite led them iinto a erime, and chnnsnd inte lions by the goddess Cyb would be really distressing to Mr. Arlen’s f he m“metr an Airedale} ends from Pu honeymoon acting like