St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-01-25
REAL LIFE ROMANCE.
Pathetic Chapter in the His
tory Of the Royal Court
Of Austria.
An Arehduke Falls in Love
With a Beautiful Concert
Singer.
All Of Which Is Against the
Expressed Wishes Of the
Emperor.
One Of the Strangest Love
Affairs in Continental
History.


romanceS in the world is effectually dis
PEELED by glance at the lives of two
personageS whose death this capital is
now mourning. They lived veritable
romance fully equal to any ever invent
ed by novelist; and their death was as
| carefully arranged a climax TO it as
though it had been devised and execut-
ed by an accomplished playwright. says
the Vienna correspondent of the New
| York Tribune. The two chief actors in
| this remarkable drama were the Arch
| duk Henry of Austria and his wife, the
Baroness Leopoldine of Waldeck. Their
history is household tale in the Tyrol
and in Syria. and, indeed. largely
throughout the empire, and a more ro-
mantle and beautiful one is not to be
found in the annals of the courts of
Europe.
Archduke Henry, years ago, was by all
| odds, the handsOmest and cleverest
young man in the imperial family.
None had more promising future than
he. He would probably, they said, be
one day field marshal in the Austrian
army. He was already hgih in command
wheu, In 1868, he went one evening to
the opera house at Graz, where he was
stationed. The opera was Der Frei-
| SchuetZ." and the prima donna was
very young girl. with a singularly sweet
voice and great beauty of face. The
| young archduke was fascinated with
her. and the next day sought her
acquaintance. Her name was Leopold
Inc Hoffman, and she was the daughter
OF worthy local magistrate at Krems.
Her parents being in poor circum-
stances and she having fine voice, she
| had gone on tn e stage to support her.
self and to aid them. In this she was
! succeeding handsomely.
The acquaintance between the arcn-
duke and the daSl2-eyed singer soon
| rlpened into lOVDand a marriage en-
gagement. This, of course, came to the
| ears OF the emperor, vino was furious
He forbade the marriage. He ordered
the engagement to be broken off, But
the archduke refused to obey him. Then
the emperor sent the archduke away
from Graz, promoted him, and assigned
him to active service in
The War With Italy.
While the lover was thus absent the
emperor brought every possible infiu-
ence to bear upon the girl. He person
ally visited her and begged her to break
the engagement. She refused. He
OhNACo llOI All vi UIlUSS. dS
much, 1t is said, as quarter of million
dollars III gold. She scorned the Of
fer. He made appeal to her pride, tell
ing her the archduke would not come
back to her, and would not keep his en-
gagement. Il shall not send for him.
she replied, and shall not ask him to
marry me. But when he comes to claim
me. he will find me ready andsfaithful."
Then the emperor grew angry. and
tried threats against her and her lover,
but she defed him. He told her the
marriage; If it took place, would not be
legal. at will be just as legal as
yours" she replied. ''in the sight of
three persons concerned-God, my hus-
| band and myself"
Meantime the archduke was greatly
| distinguishing himself in the army. On
the field Uf CuStoZZa he was the hero of
| the day. He returned with the rank of
general. And the emperor said: "Give
up this ill-assorted match and you shall
be a field marshal" The archduke
smiled and begged leave to go at once to
Graz. The emperor refused. and Oh
dered him to Bruenn instead, saying:
Il forbid you, positively forbid you, to
marry that girl" The archduke went
to Bruenn, and wrote to Nine. Hoffman
to quit the stage. go back to her parents
and wait for him. She obeyed without
| question, and waited for months. Then
| he wrote to her:
| SNAKE XOhr Bridal Gown,
and she obeyed. Then, on Feb. 4, 1868,
he took her to the archducal palace at
| HOZen, and there. in the palace chapel,
they were married. There were pres
ent only themselves. priest and two
witnesses. The usual service was not
employed, but the arcbduke simply led
his bride to the altar and said: SIN the
presence of God and this holy priest,
and these two witnesses, declare you,
| LeopoIdine, to be my wife," and she
said: "In the presence of God and this
holy priest, and these two witnesses, |
declare you. Henry, to lie my husband"
That was all. But under canon law it
was as complete and legal marriage as
any in the world. When the emperor
heard of this open defiance of his orders
his anger was unbounded. The heaviest
censure possible was given to the priest
The archduke was degraded from his
command as general, his name stricken
from the list of honorary colonies, his
share Of the civil service was cut off.
and he was ordered to leave Austria for
ever. The eXiled couple accordingly
went to Switzerland. There they lived
until their only child, a daughter, was
born, when the emperor gave them per-
mission to return to BoZen and live in
the palace where they had been mar
ried, on an estate which had been left
to the archduke by his father. the ia
nous Archduke Rainer. who was vice
roy of Lombardy and Venetia. There
they lived for many years. Being both
| persons of high intellectual culture.
their home was the favorite rendezvous
of authors. journalists, artists, must
clans, and the old army associates of
the archduke. who stood by him Loyalty
and braved the emperor's displeasure,
| often TO their cost.
The Humble Relatives
of the BRIDE were also frequent guests,
especially her two sisters, one of whom
was married to bank clerk and the
other to country lawyer. Thus the
archduke spent his time, like any prl-
vate country gentleman, with his
friends, his books, his fruits and flow
ers, Boosting, and not vainly, of the
finest gardens and orchards in the Tyrol.
His wife was sort of tutelary goddess,
or Lady Bountiful, to all the people
thereabout. After time the emperor
made her Baroness of WaIdeck, but
took care to impress upon her the
fact that the honor was only be-
cause of her good works and not be-
FAUST SHt was lli6 WlIS OI tUe dTcnQuKe.
The couple was simply idollZed by
every one in the Tyrol, and their do
mestic life was one of perfect happi-
ness. They never came to Vienna, and
the emperor and empress never visited
them at BOzen, not even mentioned
their names. But when the Meyerling
tragedy thrilled all the empire with
horror the door to reconciliation was
opened. The baroness remained at
Bozen with her daughter, but the arch
duke attended the funeral. He would
not set foot in the Hofburg nor meet
any members of
The Imperial Family.
But he went to the services in the
mOrtuary chapel of the Capuchins. and
the emperor saw him, though no word
nor sign of recognition passed between
them. When, not long afterward, how
ever, the emperor made ali unexpected
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