Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-10-07
LOVES VICTORY OVER BIsMARCE
Paris Figaro.

Paris Figaro
All is well that ends we'll. Such at least
is the judgment of high society in Berlin
upon the romance which was terminated
a few days ago by the marriage that was
celebrated without pomp and almost IN
secret in an obscure castle away back IN
Silesia.
The exceptional indulgence of which
the society magnates of Berlin have Civ
en- such striking example IN this case
is explained by the peculiar position of
the two principal characters in this TO
nance, the hero being no less than Count
Herbert de Bismarck, the Oldest son of
the Chancellor, and the new collaboration
of the Emperor, who passes an hour with
him every day. The heroine is princess
more famous for her beauty than for her
great name, and whose portrait by Rich
ter, the nephew of Meyerbeer, and the
CarOlus Duran, of Germany, attracted so
much attention at the Berlin salon of
1876. She is a brunette, with dark COM
plexiOn, an opulent bust, and thoughtful
and dreamy eyes; and her portrait, rep
resenting her standing beside magnif-
cent Newfoundland dog, evokes one of
those fascinating visions such as are rare
ly to be met with In the mountains of
Silesia, where the Princess c.. B. belongs.
These initials were the only Indication
given in the catalogue of the salon; but
it was soon we'll known that the portrait
was that of the Princess CarOlath Ben
then, who, before her marriage, was the
Princess Elizabeth de HatzfeIdt-Tranch-
enberg. During the fall term of the
salon Richter's canvas had no more fer
vent admirer than the young attache of
the embassy who to-day is Under Secre-
tary of State for Foreign Affairs, and who
is destined to be the future Secretary of
State of the German Empire.
During the winter of 1878 the young
Count became the devoted cavilier and
preferred dancer of the Princess, who had
left her residence in Silesia to be with
her husband in Berlin, whose presence
there was rendered necessary by his du-
ties as a member of the Reichstag, which
he discharged with a zeal that was enough
to make him forget that fact that his
Princess was a beauty that stood sadly in
need of vigilant protection while he was
devOting himself exclusively to the adj
vocacy of free trade and the study of So
cial questions.
But in the month Of M~-~l>,1 0a1. oil
Berlin that had so often seen the Prin-
cess waltzing with the son of the Chan
celIor, learned that she had suddenly left
i,
then attached to the embassy at the Quiri-
nal. Terrible was the anger of the Chan
cellor and great was the scandal of the
most virtuOus court in Europe. The out
ragged husband was the only one who re-
manned COOL He sent word to the fugi-
tive that he would facilitate her divorce
without taking from her the chance of
rehabilitation by marriage with her Sc
Queer, for the German law fOrbids the
union of a divorced woman with the man
who was the cause of the divorce. Prince
Carolath provided himself free from all
animosity. A marriage of the two lovers
was believed to be approaching, but it
was soon learned that the young attache
had returned to Berlin, leaving his beauti-
full victim behind him in florence, where
she was alone and sick in a hired house.
The conduct of the Court was revolving
to sensitive souls, and the scandal pro-
voked by the flight of the Princess was
changed into sym pathy for her. People
forgot that she had arrived at an age
when such escapades are rarely pardon
able, and that she had left behind her
big girl of thirteen. But was the Chan
cellor who had interpOsed his authority
and threatened to discard his son. To
all the entreaties of the latter to legalize
his HalSon the Chancellor invariably re-
Piled mo, | will never consent to your
marriage to the wife of a friend" and
he sent him successfully to st. Petersburg,
The Hague and London. But the pas
sion of the Count for the Princess, al
though the latter was somewhat older than
himself-she is now forty-did not di-
minish, and at last he succeeded in bend
ing the will of the Chancellor, who does
not want to see his title of prince fall
to the female line. The marriage, there
fore, took place four or five days ago at
the Castle of Trachenberg, the residence
of Prince Herman de HatzfeIdt, the
younger brother of the Princess Eliza
beth.
And here there is strange conci-
dence:
This lady's mother, nee Countess de
Reiche bach Goschutz, was also divorced
after zen years of welded life, pre-
cisely lie same number of years that her
daughG bore the name of Princess de
Carolath before she became the Coun-
tess and the future Princess de Bis
marck.