New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-12-13
ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE
A TOUCHING CHAPTER OF AUSTRIAN Corn.
HISTORY.

n
4 at the lives Of the two pesopaxes -
death this capital is now mourning They ,,-.,
a veritabe romance, fully equal to sny ev.. ="
vented by novelist; and their death v,. "
carefully arranged climax TO 1t as though ., -
been devised ard executed by an sccom,l,s.s
playwright. The two chief actors IN this rs....
able drama were the Archduke Henry Of in.,a@
and his wife, the Baroness Lopoldine Of W,lt.'1r
Their history is household tale in the Tv,ol -,
I'm Syria and, indeed, largely throughout tho =.
pire and a more romantic and beautiful an. =
not to be found In the annals Of the CONF. :.
Europe.
Archduke Henry, years ago, was by al M
the handsomest and cleyerest yoa,.
man in the whole Imperial fs,n1
None had more promising future a..
he He would probably, they said, he one A,
Field Marshal In the Austrian army II. w..
already high in command when, in 1869. h. -.
one evening to the opera house at Graz WHEN !.
was stationed. The opera was Der Freiscbss,,.
and the prfma donna was very young girl VIII
a singulary sweet voice and great beau,y :.
face. The young Archduke was fascinated we.
her, and the next day sought her acQualnsa,..
Her name was Leopoldine Hoffman, and al. ~.
the daughter of worthy local magistr.,. :,
Krems. Her parents being in poor crcumss,.,.
and she having fine voice, she had gone an y,
stage TO support herself and 70 aid them. In "a.
she was succeeding handsomely.
Tie acquaintance between the Arohduk. 49,,
| the dark-eyed singer soon ripened into love And
| marriage engagement This, Of course, CANE 3,
the ears of the Emperor. who was furious y.
forbade the marriage. He ordered the ens,,.
ment to be broken of. But the Archduke ret.s,
L.
duke away from Graz, promoted him, and h.sig,.,
him to active service in the war with Italy VIII.
the lover was thus absent the Emperor hcua,
every possible influence 10 bear upon The cd
He personally visited her and begged her to Ina,
the engagement She refused. He offered hsr A.
manner Of brides, as much, it is said, as quar-,
of million dollars in gold. She sorpsd Il.
offer. He made appeal to her pride, telling her u,
Archdulse would not come back TO her and woQN
not keep his engagement. :" / shall not send "a,
him." she replied and shall not ask him "A
marry me. But when he comes TO claim n. !.
will find me ready and faithful" Then the In
peror grew angry and tried threats against her md
against her lover; but she defed him. He told her
the marriage, if it took place, would not be krl
at will be just as legal as yours" she replsd
"in the sight of three persons concerned-GOd. M
husband and myself"
Meantime, the Archduke vas greatly disiinus.
ing himself in the army. On the field Of Custom
he was the hero of the day. He returned VIII
the rank of General and the Emperor said: Gre
up this ill-assorted match and you shall be a
Field Marshall The Archduke smiled AID
begged leave to go at once TO Graz. The Empenr
refused, and ordered him TO Bruenn instead ay.
ing: II forbid you, positively forbid yOu to
marry that girl" The Archduke went to Bruenl
and wrote to Mile Hoffman to quit the stage 70
back to her parents, and wait for Elm Sic
obeyeG without question. and waited FOR months
Then he wrote to her, Make your bridal gown
and she obeyed. Then, on February 4, 1855.
he took her to the Archduca palace at BOzen, and
there, in the palace chapel, they were married.
There were present only themselves, priest, and
two witnesses. The usual service was not EN-
ployed, but the Archduke simply led his bride 70
the altar and said: In the presence o. God, ad
this holy priest, and these two witnesses, e
clare you, Leopoldine, to be my wife," aRdysr
said: In the presence of God, and this by
| priest, and these two witnesses, ! declan IoL
Henry, to be my husband" That was all. si
under canon law it was as complete and lseA
marriage as any in the world
When the Emperor heard Of this open dehan@
Of his orders his anger was unbounded. he
heaviest censure possible was given TO the pnef
| The Archduke was degraded from his COMMAND
| as General, his name was stricken from the Isl
| Of Honorary Colones his share of the Cru
| List was cut off, and he was ordered TO leave
| Austria forever. The eXiled couple accordingly
went to Switzerland. There they lived until thef
only child, daughter, was born, when the In
peror gave them permission 10 return to Bosea
and live in the palace where they had been mar
| red, on an estate which had been left 10 the
Archduke by his father, the famous ATchdan
Rainier, who was Viceroy of Lombardy and VenetA
There they lived for many years. Being nN
persons of high intellectual culture, Their hons
was the favorite rendezvous of authors, Journalists
artists, musicians, and the old army associates Of
the Archduke, who stood by him Loyalty aa
braved the Emperor's displeasure, often 70 ua'
cost. The humble relatives of the bride wee
also frequent guests, especially her two sisters, obs
of whom was married to bank clerk ana 'as
other to country lawyer. Thus the Archdun
spent his time, like any private country gen'S'
man, with his friends, his books, his fruits AMI
flowers, Boosting, and not vainly, Of the hns'
gardens and orchards in Tyrol. His wife was
sort of tutelary goddess, or Lady BOuntiful %
all the people thereabout After time 10
Emperor made her Baroness of Waideck, but to's
care to impress upon her the fact that the honor
was only because of her good works, and hO'
because she was the wife of the Archduke.
The couple were simply idoized by every o..
in the Tyrol, and their domestic life was one "
perfect happiness They never came to 'isneh
and the Emperor and Empress never visited uea
at Bozen, nor even mentioned their names D''
when the Meyerling tragedy thrilled all the hr
pire with horror, the door 10 reconciliation va
opened. The Baroness remained at Boren VIE
her daughter, but the Archdule ATTENDED w
funeral. He would not set foot in the hoi","
nor meet any members of the Imperial isI~.
But he went 10 the services in the hOl''-.
Chapel of the Capuchins, and the Emperor "a !,
him, though y word nor sign of recognition -
between Them When, not long afterward Nv.
ever, the Emperor went to the Tyrol TO ns, !,
German Kaiser, he made an unexpected c",'
Bozen, and frankly and humbly begged 'ne ~" "A.