When the First World War broke out he fought in the infantry in France and resolved to change his life if he was fortunate enough to survive. Whether due to fortune or fate—he couldn’t decide which—he did. Newly discharged, he dropped gallantly to one knee and promised a girl from Topeka that he’d be an ambassador one day. Get up off the ground, Louise Bell declared. They married. Within a month, they were living in Romania, where Heath had talked his way into a job with the U.S. State Department as vice-consul.
