The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1878-06-30

IL riolent throbbing of her heart, she said
pc " to him:
p-tIighness leave us so soon. Mouldit
n % been possible for you to defer your
& REP"
a will all be very sorry?" muttered
and Duke, not entirely satisfied by
-ueness Of sorrow which these words
10 Princess implied. But you in par
- mndam," he added, after some hes
IL .for it will depend on you alone
W .er I shall stay here or depart" I
AMI" replied Charlotte, with her sw set
es; mile and what nave / to do to Keep
Yoa. Imperial Highness here
You must permit me to address my ad-
miration and homage TO you"
= Is that all 2"
YOU
That is much more difficult" said the
Princess, with . deep blush; but Mt the
same time her eyes bcamcd forth so much
affection and delight that the Prime could
see ut n glance that his fond st hopes had
been realized beforehand.
During my short stay at Berlin" the
| Grand Duke continued, in the same tone OF
voice, ~ have taken pains to study your
| character and your affections, and this study
has satisfied me that you would render me
| happy while. on the other hand, / have
some qualities which would secure your W
happiness"
The Princess was overcome by emotion.
and in her confusion did not know what to
answer. At last she said
But here, In the presence of the whole
court, at the public table, you put such a
question to me
oh ! y replied the Prince, you need not
make any verbal reply. IL will be sufi-
Nt.Rt To- Na,t ~ nsaA 80 oA.x.. wl.I.2 ~
your affection. l see there, on your hand,
a mall ring, whose possession would make
me very happy. Give it TO mel"
What do you think of? Here in the
presence OF a hundred spectators ?"
"Ah, II can be easily lone without being
seen by anybody. Now we are chatting SO
quietly with each other that there Ia not
one among the guests who suspects in the
least what we are speaking about; press
the ring into a morsel of bread and leave
II on the table. i will take the talisman
and nobody will notice it,"
1.-THE ring Is really n talisman."
81 expected 80. May 1 hope to hear its
historyf"
Why not? My first governess was q
Swiss lady by the name OF wildermntt.
nee she went to switzerland in order to
enter upon m Inheritance which had beer
bequcathed to her by q distant relative.
When she came back to Berlin n few week.
afterwards she showed me quite a collec
ton of pretty and costly j~ewelry, which
formed n part Of tho Inheritance. This Il
a curious ring said l TO her az I put THU
little, old fashioned ring on my finger
Does 1t not look queer and cunning
Perhaps 1t Is m old relic or talisman, ant
may have been worn centuries ago by {
pious lady who had received IL from he
knight, starting for the Holy Land
tried to take the ring from my finger again
but could not get 1t of for i was a little
fieshier then than now" said Charlotte
smilingly. my governess insisted on my
keeping the ring as n souvenir. ! accepted
her present, and the ring has been on my
finger ever since. Some time afte, wards
when l WINS contemplating its strnnge work
manship, I succeeded in pulling it from my
finger, and was much surprised at seeing
engraved on the inside some words, which
though nearly rubbed out BY wear Of time,
were stil lcgible. Now, your Imperial
Highness, what do you think were the
words engraved upon It.? i think whcr
you hear them you will takc some interest
In the ring"
"Ahi and pray, what wore thsyY"
Tho words engraved upon the inside
were, : Empress Of Russia This ring had
undoubtedly been presented by nm EN-
press OF Russia to the relatives Of Mrs.
W~ildermatt, for I was told that both this
lady and her mother had formerly belonged
20 tho household OF the Cznrina, your
august grandmother"
This is really remarkable" said the
Grand Duke, t~houghtfully. ~ am quite
superstitious, and l am really inclined to
regard this ring. If / should be happy
enough to receive it from you as n pledge
OF your love, IA an omen of very auspi.
cious significance"
In answer TO this second md even more
iiroct appeal TO her heart, the Princess took
n small piece of bread, played carclessly
with 1t, and managed to press the ring into
the soft crumbs, Then she dropped It
playfully on the table quite close to the
plate OF her neighb r. And, after this
adroit exhibition of her skill as an actress
she continued to eat rs unconcernedly a,
u she had performed the most triyial actor
Of her life.
With the same apparent ~coolness and in
diiferenceythe Grand DUKE picked up the
bread enclosing the ring, took the latter out
of its ingenious envelope and concealed Il
IN his breast, for IL was too small! to lit any
Of his fingers. IL was this ring-both The
pledge OF Charlotte's love and the auspi.
cious omen os his own elevation 10 the i'm
pcrial dignity--which Nicholas wore on a
golden chain around his neck to the very
last day OF his life, and which, il we are
not mistaken, has even descended with him
INTO the vault of his ancestors.
Three years afterwards. in 1877, Princess
Charlotte. then only 10 years OF age, and
in the full splendor of beauty and happi
ncss, made her entry into st. Petersburg
by the side of her husband, whose eye had
never looked proudcr and whose Olympian
brow had never been more serene than at
this happiest OF his life. As he
looked down upon the vast multitude who
had Hooked together from all parts Of the
vast empire to greet the young Princess
with shouts and rejoicings, aud then again
upon his fair young bride, perhaps the in
acription upon the ring REQUIRED to his
mind for, bending his hcad close TO The
car OF Charlotte, he whispered Z" Now
Empress OF tho heart, and some day, per.
haps, Empress of the realm"
At this moment the proce sion reached
the main entrance OF the Winter Palace
where Alexander the First, the Emperor.
came to meet his beautiful sistcr.inInw
and conducted her into the s~unptuous
-drawing-rooms of the magnificent palace of
the Cars.
Who would believe that eight short years
Afterwards the brilliant young EMPEROR
had breathcd his last, and that Nicholas
and Charlotte would succeed To the throne
Of Russia Truly the inscription of the
engagement ring had nroved nropbat;c