The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-08-09
LOVE OF A RUSSIAN COUNT.
Romantic Attachment of q Nobleman
for a Young Canadian Beauty.

for a Young Canadian Beauty.
From the Cleveland Leader.
On bright afternoon about three weeks
ago tall gentleman of commanding pres
ence registered at the Stillman as Col.
spoke English huently, with but the
slightest trace of a foreign accent. To a
reporter who visited him the count said he
was quiet traveller, and had visited
America twice before. He intimated that
his tour was one of pleasure, and that he
was so delighted with the fresh air of this
city, the rolling waves of the lake and the
shady drives along the magnificent avenues
that he might remain here for some time.
The count did remain here until a week
| ago, but his visit had other and greater
causes than the prospect of breathing pure
air, listening to the sound of the beating
waves and driving through shady streets.
A young Canadian lady was the guest of a
| relative scarcely more than block away
from his hotel. She had captivated the
nobleman with her graces and he was only
| too willing to surrender his coronet and
heart.
Two years ago two orphan sisters decided
| to polish off their liberal education in
American schools with trip upon the
continent. They had inherited fine
| OopoOCJ HOIneSuOdu db
Chatham, Ont. Both young ladies were
young and popular at home. They visited
the points of interest in Europe, and were
on board a railway train in Northern
Germany, bound for a coast city where
they were to embark for home, when,
through pure accident, they met Col.
Count Hoffenberg. 1t was in the winter,
and the locomotive had great difficulty in
plow1ng through the snow drifts. Finally,
at or near Dresden, the attempt to pursue
the journey further was abandoned by the
tralnmen, and the engine and cars were
blockaded in snowbank for few days.
The Canadian girls were virtually alone,
being unable tc converse in the language of
their fellow passengers. 1t was then that
Col. Count Hoffenberg, who was also pas
senger on the delayed express, became &C
quainted with the young ladies' He spoke
pure English and was therefore able to
assist them in many ways The count
proved to be an agreeable companion and
helped to while away the dreary monotony
of the long hours. He was attracted by
the ready wit and bright conversation of
the younger sister, who was then about 10
or 20 years old. tall and slender, with
pleasing face, pretty eyes and light hair
The noble Russian was, hopelessly smitten
and he lowered near the sisters until they
reached their destination. Their steamer
had sailed and they were forced to wait for
the next one. In the meantime the count
was assiduous in his attentions to the
younger lady, and before the steamer sailed
he proposed marriage. Although charmed
with the pleasing manners and courtesy of
this distinguished scion of nobility, the
offer of his heart aud hand was rejected
The count thought he had been too precipi-
tate in avowing his affection and secured
permission from the young lady to write to
her.
home in Canada and resumed their former
happy life. Letters from Col Count Hof-
fenberg arrived at regular intervals, and
after a time the nobleman began to suggest
that he would like to visit America again
The object of his affection suggested to him
that he ought not to come, but one day she
received word that he had sailed He had
government business at Washington he
wrote, that brought him to America, and
he desired greatly to see her again The
young lady replied to him that she could
not receive him at her home, but would
meet HIM, if he wished it, in this CITY.
where her aunt resided.
The count transacted his business in
Washington and came here as stated above
He called on the young lady, who was with
her relatives at the Livingston, on Euclid
avenue He was introduced to the guests
at the Livingston and created a favorable
impression. His dignified, courteous bear
ing, pleasing manners and charming con-
versational powers made him popular ev-
erywhere He entertained the young lady
and her relatives at dinner at the Stillman
and was entertained in return at the Liv-
ingston, and by friends of the young lady
on Euclid avenue. The count was as deeply
in love with her as ever, but tire feeling
was not reciprocated on the other side, and
the young lady kindly but firmly tod him
so. He wanted her to look up his family
connections and history and inquire into
his record.
At his earnest entreaty she consented.
Everything was as he had stated. Col
Faeunt Hoffenberg, she learned, belonged to
one of the noblest families in Russia. He
was the commander OF brigade regiment
and an adjutant on the personal staff of
the car. He was a member of q family
whose stern law was that if one of the
members married a woman whose ancestry
could not be traced back to ten generations
of the nobility he should be reduced to the
rank of baron, The count was found to be
immensely wealthy, and his land in the
Russian empire numbered thousands of
acres. All this and much more the young
lady learned, but she still remained OBJ
durate.
There was too much difference between
their ages, and she said that she never
would consent TO anything which would
lower him in rank or influence in his own
country, although he insisted that he was
ready TO yield up his honors and become a
baron for kr sake. She knew him to be
an honorable, kird-hearted gentleman, but
she could not live in cold, bleak Russia, a
stranger among strangers. 1t was not the
free, sltrammeled existence which an
American woman desired. A week ago
they parted, the young lady for her
Canadian home and the nobleman for New
York, from which point he was to have
sailed for Russia last Saturday.