In the following months the couple attended all the main social and cultural events in New York, including theatrical productions and concerts. In January 1912, Kingsley wrote to Lucy after one such social engagement, worried in case his lack of social tact had upset her. He was obviously aware that, in the highly conservative society in which they lived, every move was open to scrutiny and discussion:
I wonder, darling, whether you minded my sitting on the arm of Katherine’s chair this afternoon as I should have minded it had the case been reversed. Under the circumstances I think it was very poor taste and soon realized it, when she asked me to, I accepted it without thinking. I am afraid you have in hand a wild and wayward nature that has so afterwards occurred to me that it might give you pain. Forgive me dearie, won’t you?21
Amid all their joyous plans for a June wedding, a tragedy struck the western world on 15 April when the RMS Titanic sank on its maiden voyage from Cobh, Ireland, to New York, with a loss of life of over 1,500.22 Many of the wealthiest Americans were on board, including multimillionaires John Jacob Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim, both of whom perished.23 It is likely that both Kingsley and Lucy knew some of the first-class passengers who had to endure this ordeal. It must also have been a great shock to Kingsley, who was a frequent traveller to Europe and could easily have been crossing back on the Titanic if he had been researching abroad that April.
In May 1912, Kingsley sent Lucy an exquisite bouquet of roses, and Lucy wrote to him in a great outpouring of love:
Darling I adore them. Their very fragrance takes me back to the first roses you sent me. How they excited me by breathing to me in their mysterious way that you were interested in me! How I hung over their deep enfolded beauty dreaming as much as I dared of you.
How these, their sister, come with such a different message. They tell me the finest, noblest, most thoughtful man of all the peoples of the earth loves me. I am dippy at the thought darling, how did it come about? 24
The pair married on 1 June 1912 at the residence of Lucy’s parents. The ceremony was performed at 4 p.m. by Rev. George H. Buck, rector of St James Church, Derby, Connecticut.25 Only relatives and intimate friends were present. The bride’s only attendant was her sister, Ruth. The best man was Kingsley’s brother, Louis. Lucy’s sister Elizabeth, her husband James B. Waller and their daughter Ellen, wife of John Borden, travelled from Chicago to spend the week before the wedding in New York.26 The ushers were William L. Peltz of Albany, Franklin J. Walls of New York, and Kingsley’s friend from his student days at Yale, Dr Arthur Neergard. Lucy’s youngest brother, Harold, also travelled from Chicago to attend the wedding.27 On their wedding day, Kingsley was 29 years old while Lucy was 36.
Kingsley and ‘Queensley’, as Kingsley affectionately called his new wife, became inseparable. They travelled to Lake George, set in Kingsley’s beloved Adirondack region of New York State. The photos taken on their honeymoon reveal a smiling Kingsley, leaning against the ship’s railing, wearing suit and tie and carrying a hat. Lucy looks radiant in white, wearing a cloche hat and leaning on her parasol. She is smiling and looking off to the side, a spectacular lake and low hills visible behind her. On their return to New York, Kingsley was in no hurry to buy a house so the couple moved into an apartment at 450 West End Avenue.28
12. Arthur Kingsley Porter, leaning on railing, Lake George, New York, 1912. Harvard University Archives, HUG 1706.125 (8).
13. Lucy Porter on honeymoon at Lake George, New York, 1912. Harvard University Archives.
In a letter written to Kingsley just four months after her marriage, Lucy’s deep happiness is still boundless: ‘Dearest, such a lovely day to write you. It seemed to me quite the most delightful one since we were married. But then so many are the very nicest one – just as it is with our good times.’29
In the latter months of 1912, the Porters extended their honeymoon with a lengthy trip to Italy. For those who were lucky enough to afford first-class tickets, these enormous ships possessed every luxury. Amenities on board included a gymnasium, a saltwater swimming pool, electric and Turkish baths, a barber’s shop, cafés, a sumptuous dining room, opulent cabins with private bathrooms, elevators, and both open and enclosed promenades.30 The time taken to cross the Atlantic in 1912 varied, depending on many factors including weather conditions, but would have taken an average of seven days.31 The Porters enjoyed the best of cuisine, nightly entertainment provided by resident musicians and the privacy of their staterooms where they could write, read or rest. In fine weather they spent time on deck, walking along the promenade and enjoying the sea air or sitting in deckchairs, reading, chatting or sleeping.
The Porters would have shared these journeys in first class with some of the wealthiest American families, such as Vanderbilt, Rockefeller and Carnegie. They would also have encountered the nouveau riche who travelled to Europe annually, indulging in every frivolity imaginable. A member of Caroline Astor’s millionaire set described her life in the era before 1914 as ‘Breathless rushes across continents – One country blending into another – journeys by car, by train – Paris – Newport – New York. Paris again – London – Vienna – Berlin – the Riviera – Italy. Champagne years, colourful, sparkling, ephemeral... Always entertaining, being entertained, the same scene in a new setting.’32
‘Ritzonia’ was the word coined by Bernard Berenson, American art historian and collector, to describe the false, dull, tedious world inhabited by listless millionaires.33 The American novelist Edith Wharton admitted to Berenson: ‘Yes, it’s nice to be petted & feasted – but I don’t see how you can stand more than two or three weeks of that queer rootless life.’34 The majority of the ladies who frequently sailed first class from New York to Europe were overdressed in furs, wore large hats with huge plumes, and dresses of thin, pale silks.35 They travelled with several maids and an array of trunks, suitcases, crates, a medicine chest and a special pouch for their jewels. The men smoked, drank to excess and played poker for high stakes. The majority were spoiled and conceited, always expecting to be served and pampered.36
There is little doubt that the Porters would have given these revellers a wide berth. Kingsley’s New England work ethic would have abhorred idleness, believing that a worthy occupation and a meaningful purpose were necessary to maintain one’s dignity and contentment. Neither Kingsley nor Lucy had any time for ostentation. Both were happy to spend time reading, taking pleasant walks on deck, and staring out to sea, observing its changing colour and mood.
In Italy, the Porters did so much sightseeing that Kingsley developed an illness and Lucy became exhausted. On 3 February 1913, Lucy was so tired that she went to bed early while Kingsley completed her correspondence. He wrote to Lucy’s mother, telling her of their plans to travel from Florence to Sicily, via Rome and Naples. He also praised Lucy’s ability to take such good care of him: ‘Lucy has developed into a most wonderful travel nurse, and has taken care of me intensely during the first part of the sickness and at nights always I think myself that it was she rather than the doctor that pulled me through so nicely.’37
Their time in Italy was full of happiness for Lucy. She loved walking arm in arm with her beloved Kingsley, strolling through glorious piazzas in Florence or along sunny country roads, breathing in the sweet scents of vineyards. She cherished their visits to medieval churches, with their fine stone statues and magnificent murals. Many years later she recalled their visit to St Monty Chiavenna in northern Italy, where she first fell in love with the church of St Fidelis of Como.38 There was nothing Lucy enjoyed more than standing beside Kingsley and being part of his world, discussing his latest