He started in the diplomatic service in 1894 and from then until 1896 was based in St. Petersburg, but was placed on leave following a sexual scandal. In 1897 he bought a villa (Villa Maya) in Posillipo, a maritime suburb of Naples. The next year he married a cousin Elizabeth Louisa Theobaldina FitzGibbon (their mothers were sisters, daughters of Baron Ernst von Poellnitz). They had two children, Louis Archibald (Archie) and Robert Sholto (Robin), and Norman's first published book, "Unprofessional Tales" (1901), was written in collaboration with Elizabeth and first appeared under the pseudonym "Normyx". However, the couple were divorced in 1903 on grounds of Elizabeth's infidelity.