The Springfield News-Leader from Springfield, Missouri • Page 26

Mm vs. The Duchess of Wtminiter, Second Wifa af the Sporting Duko, Who Started Divorce Proceeding Against Her Wealthy Husband After He Put Her Out of Their London Mansion. PARIS. PARIS society is all a flutter over the latest romantic rumors involving three nations, two dukes and a' pretty modiste. Fashionably dressed women at the night clubs of this gay city pause in their discussion of the latest mode to ask each other through rings of perfumed cigarette smoke: "Have you heard the latest about the Westminsters?" Interest in the Dennistoun mix up pales beside the stir being caused by the most recent development in the love tangles of that sportiest and probably wealthiest of British peers, the Duke of Westminster.

For if the story tHe gossips are whispering is true, the fascinating and famous Gabrielle Chanel may be the third duchess to grace the Duke's magnificent home, Bourbon House, in London. IF the present Duchess of Westminster Carries her suit for divorce, begun in 1924. to its conclusion; and IF the beautiful Mile. Chanel, head of one of the most celebrated dressmaking establishments in Paris is the lady of his choice, many masculine hearts will be steeped in sorrow, including, so it is reported, that of a Russian Grand Duke. For the versatile Chanel is a lieartbrcaker in any language It was but few months ago "that Society was shocked by the news of a domestic upheaval in the lives of the Duke and Duchess of Westminster.

Concurrent with the Duchess visit to America, osten aibly. to view the international polo matches, came the report that the fair lady had literally been turned out of house and home, bag and baggage. The dashing Duke seems to be haunted by a matrimonial jinx. The first lady to tread the church aisle with him, Constance, beautiful daughter of Colonel Cornwallis West, obtained a divorce in 1019. The present Duchess, who was Mrs.

Violet Rowley, daughter of the late Sir William Nelson and divorced wife of Richard Rowley, of the Coldstream Guards, seems equally determined to leave him flat. And now the patrons of the Paris pleas ore haunts are wondering who the third duchess will be, if any, and whether the captivating Gabrielle Jius really captured the Duke's fancy. There was a time when Mile. Chanel rather favored ruined Russian royalty. Her friendship with the Grand Duke and urand Duchess Dimitri was the subject of much discussion in smart French circles.

It was rumored that she was so distressed their sad plight that she magnanimously 00k them under her wing and assisted hem through the financial slough of iespond. Although Gabrielle is credited with be ing as kind hearted as she is beautiful, there may be no truth in the report of this particular act of generosity. The fact remains that the fashionable watering places along the sunny coast of the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay, aa well as the gay French capital, were made considerably brighter by the presence of the Grand Duke Dimitri, who, having unfortunately lost a fortune in the late revolution, was still able to flit about not uncomfortably among this galaxy of wealth and beauty which frequents these same resorts, developing a tan which is said to be due as much to the bright lights over the gaming tables in the casinos as to the sun's rays. His sorrows were softened by the sweet Btniles of Gabrielle Chanel, in whose company he was frequently seen. Whether the Grand Duke was able to save some of his fortune from the hands of the revolutionists or whether he derived from some other source is not disclosed, but the report that his affluence has come to a sudden end seems to be substantiated by the fact that he has become a salesman of champagne and that the Grand Duchess has opened an embroidery factory in Paris.

The gossips also whisper that, added to this bad luck, he is no longer the recipient of the fair Ga brielle's gracious smiles. Others claim that this is not so at all, but that Dimitri may divorce his duchess and marry the modiste. The first faction has it that the talented designer of gorgeous gowns has turned tier eyes toward another duke none less than the twice married mm jQf mm Jcmon What Will Capitvating Gabrielle Do with Her Romanoff and Westminster Wooers, Asks Paris and What Will Two Duchesses Do with Her If (s w'u "Iff Vrf 1 r. i Grand Duko Dimitri of Russia, Who Basked in Chanel's Smile. A i It (AM fl 1 It seems but a short time ago, although it ia two Summers, that the writer saw the handsome Duke of Westminster and his teautiful and apparently fond wife playing the fascinating game of cbjemin de feratthe casino at Biarritz night after night in the glittering company of celebrities who included Winston Churchill, Jean Nash, knowu as the best dressed woman in Europe, and Margaret Hawksworth, once famous as a dancer.

The lovely Gabrielle Chanel was not infrequently a member of this gay crowd that anxiously thrust i chips across. the green baze and waited for the croupier's stern admonition "Rlen ne vas it was in this most ro of spots that Gabrielle Chanel met the dashing Duke. Who can cay for truth? But that she met him i 4 somewhere and that her flashin brown eyes and enchanting accent have won his heart, is the common gossip of those "in the know." Furthermore, it is reported that so captivated is he by the charming modiste that the judge has but to pronounce him divorced and the wedding bells will ring for the third time. If this romantic prediction becomes a fact, it will add one more item to the long list of heart tangles that have so shocked and rocked English society in the past year. Gasping for breath, the tea drinkers cackle beside their cozy firesides about the many recent entanelements in the world of fashion, and everyone is Mile, fcabrielle Chanel, 1 Famons Parisian Modiste an4 Heroin of the Double Barreled Romance That Hal All Pari Bussing.

She Marry the Duke of Westminster If the 4 Duchese Divorces Or Ha She Given HwrJ Heart to Peanllesr RiMtiaa Noble! i a i .1 I. s. If, Below? Tk Twiee Marrie, Duko of West 1 minster. Who May Look Acroef the Channel for a Third Duckes II He I DWr Piiiiiiil auxiousiy casung an eye in me direction of the Duko and Duchess of Westminster Th indomitable Interest of the FrencJ and wondering what the next step will be. 'ovs and romance is stimulated by th Although the battle begun last Fall ap fancy that the beautiful Gabrielle ChaneL pears to be at a temporary standstill, the exponent of the dressmaker's genius, la case is expected to come up in London which art the French excel, may one day soon.

That Paris is waiting with bated become the bride of so rich, and fasclnab breath to see if its prediction is correct, 'naT duke aa Westminster, that a member of its fair feminine popu Perhaps a third venture would dispel lation will play one of the leading roles, the jinx is no gross exaggeration. "Yes? No? Well, maybe 1 say they..