New-York tribune., 1905-11-19
NATALIE'S LETTERS.
rr.Oaeen of .SerJia to Wed the 4m-
bossador to Whom She Wrote.

pers,sssnt rumors are current at Paris that
carriage is about to take place between Queen
s s.,+sle of Servia and Count EuGoIph Kheven-
I .+.,,a--N Netsoh Austrian Ambassador to France
"a as such the master of that superb palace
sas huge garden in the Faubourg ST. Germain,
:. paris shaded with century old trees, which
.rsre beaueathed by the old Duchess of Galliera
= her death. TO the Emperor of Austria.
Taking these rumors for what they are worth
,,ev serve TO recall the fact that in days gone
tve romantic attachment subsisted between the
servian queen and the count, who renowned
:. the most handsome and fascinating diplomat
IN the service of Emperor Francis Joseph and
sho still retains in his sixtieth year most of
,is good looks and certainly all of his charm of
manner Indeed it was this infatuation Of the
,unt for Queen Of Natalie of Servia and her
enactment to him that may be said to have
he largely if not altogether, responsible for all
.,e troubles which ensued in Servia. eliminating
=, ,be disgracaful marriage of her son. King
AIexa1der and in his shocking death.
II is a strange story, which VIII be new to all
of nv readers and which may possibly give rise
10 a revival of the discussion as to whether a
man te whom married woman has accorded
her heart is entitled TO preserve her letters in
etsad # destroying them at once. When
woman usts the preservation of her fair
,er,a q aer position to an adn1irer the
most Ie airy principles of chivalry and of
discreet q yud lead him to destroy every
billet ID * that she may send him at once on
It's res~sp lest perchance, through carefessness,
accident theft it might fall into the hands of
stra.,e eers who would then have her at their
mercy course if the man is fond Of the
woman he is naturally tempted to preserve her
let ,ers and treasure them, and those who know
Cont "Ruii' Khevenhuler best will be natu-
,so
rather than diplomatic considerations to his
nes4ect to destroy the letters which Queen Nat
aes was won to address TO him when she was
St.. on the tlIrone of Servia and he Austrian
GOV at Belgrade.
II is doubtful whether King Milan was aware
4 the existence OF these letters. that he gave
huch attention % the romance between his wife
kad the count, until at the time of the Servian
S. var with Bulgaria. 1t may be remembered that
f Prince Alexander Of Bulgaria, brother of Prince
Louis Of Battenberg, after ignominiously routing
King Milan at the battle of Slivnitza,
marching his victorious army on to Belgrade,
Ehen Queen Natalie, who realized that her hus-
bands crown and her own, as wfB as the sue
cession of her son the Servian aceptre, at
stake induced Count -'Rudf" TO b3sten from Bel
grade TO the headquarters of Prince Alexander
and 10 inform him that he must not advance
another step in the direction of Belgrade, but
withdraw his army at once, conveying the i'm
sFession that any failure 10 comply with this
hehest would entail war with Austria To what
extent t!,e count acted his initiative or
on the strength of instructions from Vienna is
still a Dfystery But inasmuch as not long
-afterwsrd he was recalled and placed on the
reifed hist for a number of years, there are some
fgreunds for belief in the story that he obeyed
The directions of Queen Natalie rather than Of
bis own sovereign in the matter.
This. of course. opened the eyes of King Milan
as well as of many Others to the extent of the
attachment subsisting between Natalie and the
count
A MYSTERIOUS FIRE AT THE LEGATION
: Some time afterward and before the count
was recalled a most mysterious fire took place
at his legation The f1ames-no one knew how
they originatsd-were confined to room and
the damage was restricted to curtains
which were destroyed, to carpet which
damaged and to a small buhl cabinet standing
between the two windows which was smashed
by the f1renen and Servian police authorities
IN their anxiety to extinguish the flames. With
out beating about the bush, l may say that the
buhl cabinet in question contained a couple of
! dozen letters addressed by Queen Natalie TO
the count and that on the following day they were
in the hands OF King Milan. me count was iiol
at Belgrade at the time and when he returned
was unable to take any steps toward the recov-
cry of the correspondence. since while he may
have had his suspicious he had no proof just
then that the letters had passed into the pos
session of the King. In fact, the latter con-
tinued just as amiable ever until the counts
recall
1t was only some time afterward that the
King when assailed by Queen Natalie with a
torrent of reproaches for his insistence upon the
presence of his favorite, Nine. Artemisia
cristcz at court. suddenly announced to her
that he had in his possession all the letters
which she had written TO Count Khevenhuller.
Within twelve hours after making this discov-
cry she left Belgrade, taking her son with her,
declaring that she would not consent TO remain
beneath roof that harbored her husbands
favorfte. the beautiful Artemisia.
DRAGA GOT THE LETTERS.