River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1886-07-15
A Romance of a Boquet.

Iuc>t boultNtIu HoWtI-ucdicls
writes the Paris correspondent of the
San Francisco Chronicle, are some of
them rather good looking, and they
certainly have wonderful taste for
arranging flowers. There is one of
them. Mime. Lion. whose reputation is
/ European ever since an incident with
which she happened to be connected
goI into the papers,
One of the secretaries of the French
Embassy at St. Petersburg fell in love
with one of the ladies of honor to the
Empress. Unluckily Tor the young
diplomat, she was already engaged to
be married to very wealthy and titled
Muscovite, but she could not help
showing her preference for the noble
Frenchman. Thereupon the Russian
made such a scene that the lady went
to the Empress for protection. Try
and induce her Majesty to accord
your hand to whichever of us two shall
/ produce the most beautiful boquet,
said the secretary to her, and she
promised she would So The Empress
loved her very much indeed, and readily
yielded to an arrangement which
promised to be pleasant IN any event.
She sent for the young lady's father,
who laughingly consented to all that
was going on. Then the Russian gentle
man was communicated with, and when
he was Informed that Mademoiselle's
hand was for him who gave her the
most magnificent bouquet that day fort
night. the Empress herself to be the
Judge. he believed he would become
her husband, and none other. But,
confident in his great fortune and in
his own good taste, the Russian let the
days pass, supposing all the time that
his money could buy what he wanted
at the last moment.
The day arrived when the love gage
was to De decided. That part of the
palace in which the Czariua lives was
the scene OF great excitement Even
the autoeratic Gar himself deigned to
be interested, while the Grand Duke
Alexis was rs eager as a child about it.
The Russian nobleman advanced and
presented an enormous bouquet. 1t
was, Indeed. beautiful: il was made up
of the rareSt flowers that could be
found in all Russia and had cost some
thing like 5000 rubles. At the sight
of it the young lady nearly tainted.
Surely it was impossible for her dear
little diplomat to ever excel such mag
nificence The other ladies of honor
and all those present showed their APP
probation oil their cOuntryman' $ love
token. With a mOcking smile on his
lips the diplomat stepped forward,
holding in his hand two gilded boxes.
In pOiitest language he said that one of
the boxes contained bouquet for the
lady he loved; the other held few
flowers which he humbly begged that
the Empress would deign TO accept.
Then he handed the two ladies each
her bouquet. and Immediately all those
present saw that he had won, for never
before was there such a lovely comb-
nation of color and perfume as in these
which he himself had brought from
Paris
For the instant that the gage had
been thrown down he applied for leave
of absence. II took nearly two days
TO get it. and then he started for Paris.
Arrived here, he rode straight to Il
famous hower-shop and told the pro-
prietress what he wanted Than nigh
at 8 o'clock he was on his way back to
Russia, and in the large basket which
he looked carefully after day and night
were niftos, souvenirs de Malmaison
and gardenia. and these three most
lovely sorts of flowers were set about
with white liacs. Such another bOu-
quet was never before seen in the Rus
sian Capital, and the Empress, with
out delay. awarded the diplomat the
young lady's hand. They were married,
and are now living in Vienna, TO
which Embassy he was promoted only
few months ago. You see what a
man in love can and will do.