Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1882-09-21
A Russian Romance.

Among the ladies Of honor of the
late empress Marie, Of Russia, was
one Of her country-women, young
Hessian, Of whom she was particularly
fond. One evening, says Paris cor
respondent, when alone with her
sovereign, Mile. x. threw herself at the
imperial feet, and, with many tears,
ayowed that she was loved by the
grand duke Alexis and returned his
passion, wherefore she besought her
majesty to consent to their union
The imperial reply was an immediate
order to the petitioner to retire to
her family at Darmstadt and to the
prince to join his squadron in the
Baltic. But the august masters of
Russia had not calculated upon the
strength of true love. Mademoiselle
got away from her parents, or
more probably helped by them to make
the journey, took passage on Cunard
steamer, and joined the man Of her
choice in America, where they were
privately married You remember
the visit Of the grand duke to the Uni
ted States, of course, but neither you
nor any one else had an idea that he
was there on sort Of wedding tour.
| am assured, though, that the facts
are asstated, but fancy that there is a
chronological error, and that the epi-
sode is Of much more recent date.
However that may be, the pair were
joined in holy wedlock, and the re-
ception Of their marriage certificate
raised a terrible commotion on the
banks of the Neva. Disgraces and
vicissitudes Of all kinds followed the
exploit; Alexis was threatened and
cajoled to break off the "disgraceful
connection = but he held out brayely,
and as the czar's own affair with
the princess Dolgorouki came in
the nick of time to incline the paternal
heart to indulgence, Alexander II. f.
nally agreed to shut his eyes to his
sons situation, although sternly refus-
ing to recognize the legitimacy Of the
marriage. Like the people in the fairy
tale, Alexis and his bride were very
happy, and now, at the solicitation of
the czarina, who appreciates the beau
ties of a united household, Alexander
III. proposes to give the marriage his
official sanction. Alexis is one Of the
most distinguished members Of the inn
perial family. He resembles, in many
ways, his uncle, the grand duke con-
stantine, and, believing himself much
superior, intellectually and physically,
to his brothers, for years pinned his
faith on the prediction Of a gypsy, by
whom it was foretold that he would
some day be seated on the throne of
the Romanoffs. AT one time, indeed,
circumstances seemed to point to the
realization Of this prophecy. The first
born Of the czar died at Nice, the Grand
duke Alexander, the present emperor,
seemed incapable of holding the seep-
ter, and gave no promise of becoming,
what he has become, thanks to his
wife, a deep thinker and earnest
worker, while the grand duke Vladi-
mir, an effeminate pleasure-seeker,
would have sold his birthright for a
casket Of jewels, SO that Alexis ap-
peared to be the only one in con-
dition to succeed his father. Since
this events have upset all those calcu-
lations, but have not destroyed his as
pirations. after sovereign grandeur.
His dream was Byzantine, the long
cherished secret ambition of his uncle
Constantine, but there again he was
doomed to disappointment, and so
turned toward Asia, where he hopes
to found an empire. AS anything and
everything is possible in this world,
who knows whether this dauntless
energy may not yet present an i'm
perial crown to her whom, in the teeth
Of all opposition, he has succeeded in
making a princess2