Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-11-30
IA ROMANCE OF ROYALTY.
An Emperor Who Preferred the 3Ia}cap
Sister to His Stately Fianee

All emperor mo Preferred tsic Ha6eap
Sister to His Stately Fiance.
Caroline, the eldest and perhaps the most
beautiful of the daughters of the Duke MAXI
milan in Bavaria, was, while still q child Sc
lected as fitting bride for the heir to the
Austrian crown, and although there was no
formal betrothal her father was informed
that she must be educated in such way as
would fit her for her fu ure grandeur This
was more easily said than done, for money
was scarce in the ducal palace; but the
whole family, from the duke himself to his
youngest child, seem to have thrown them
selves con amore into the work and to have
cheerfully economical for the sake of the for
tunate Caroline. She had professors and
teachers of the best, and she well repaid all
the care that was lavished upon her, for at
10, clever, accomplished and regally beau
tiful, she was the very ideal Of what 4 queen
should be.
When the time for the marriage drew near
the young Emperor Joseph came Oh a visit to
the duke in Bavaria the family title is ''in,'
not ''of'), that he might make the acquaint-
ance of his future wife. He ea4ed at the
stately young creature who had been so care
fully trained for him with respectful admira-
ton, but he fell violently in love with her
madcap younger sister, Elizabeth, who, re-
garded in the family as a mere child, and
one, too, for whom no high destiny was i'll
store, had been allowed to pass her days on
horseback securing the country side. Min
listers and courtiers stood aghast but argU-
ment and persuasion were alike wasted on
the emperor, who refused to see that o lack
of accomplishments was blemish in the one
whom he loved, and a few months later
Elizabeth, thorough child as she was, know
ing no more of the etiquette of courts than
the veriest little canine. entered Vienna in
state as empress of Austria and queen of
Hungary.
Although this happened more than thirty
years ago, she has not yet learned to submit
with patience to the restraints that hedge in
the lives of sovereigns and the Viennese, i'll
spite of their love for their beautiful en-
press, openly mourn that the emperor should
have chosen one who regards a court ball as
penance and state ceremony as a thing
scarcely to be lived through. From the day
of her marriage it seems to have been her
constant endeavor to shake off the letters of
her station, and perhaps the happiest hours
of her life are those in which, while following
the hounds in England or hunting the cha
mois in her native land, she is able to forget
that she is empress-queen. For her age, the
Empress EllzaDeun Is the youngest looking
woman in Europe. When one sees her slight,
graceful form, eyes brilliant with life and
vigor, and complexion that dushes and pales
with every passing emotion, it seems absurd
that she should be the grandmother of big
boys and girls
Caroline, the forsaken one, seems to have
met her fate with true royal equanimity.
Perhaps she thought that as her sister gained
what she lost, it did not really matter. If
one may judge by her face, her life has not
been happy one. When she was about "a
she was married to the Prince of Thurm and
Taxis, who died some nine years later. Corn
hill Magazine.