The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1913-04-30
ARUINED ROMANCE
GenevieVe Wards Story of Her
Wedding Tragedy.
PARTED AT THE CHURCH DOOR

T'teF III 7''a@'S ceremony FotIowIn9
a Complication That Became an In
ternational Affair and Was Ended by
Our Government and the Gar.
In Mrs. Tweedie's Thirteen Years
Of a Busy Woman's Life" are some
stories of Genevieve Ward. the famous
actress.
One morning in March, 1908. came h
knock on Mrs. Tweedie's door, and in
walked Miss Ward,
"Out for my constitutional, my dear
she exclaimed. so l thought | would
/ Just lock you up. 1 have walked six
miles this morning. and after a little
! rest and chat with you shall walk an
other mile home and enjoy my lunch
con all the better for it."
You are a maryel!' exclaimed our
author. Seven miles and over seventy
l saw your 'Volumnia' was a great sue
cess the other day when you played 1t
with Benson"
Yes" she said. land the next day |
started for Rome. l got a telegram say
Ing one Of three old cousins, with whom
! was staying in Rome a few weeks
previously. had died suddenly, so four
hours after receiving the message set
out
Were you very tired?"'
No. not at all. l knitted nearly all
the way and talked to my fellow pas
sengers and when l arrived, Instead OF
resting. went at once to see to some
business, for these two old sisters, one
of whom is blind, were absolutely pros
trated with grief and had done nothing
while awaiting my arrival. | stayed :
fortnight with them, settled them vi
and arrived back a few days ago"
Here Is the pathetic story Of Miss
Wards marriage tragedy as she told 1t
to Mrs. Tweedie:
~ was travelling with my mother and
brother on the Riviera IN 1855 when
we met a Russian, Count de Guerbel.
He was very tall, very handsome, very
fascinating, very rich and twenty-eight
l was seventeen. He fell in love with
me, and 1t was settled l should be mar
ried at the consulate at Nice, which
was. But the Russian law required
that the marriage should be repeated
In the Russian church to make the
ceremony binding; otherwise l was his
legal wife. but he was not my legal
husband.
1T was arranged, therefore, that /
should go to Paris with my mother,
the count going on in advance to ar
range everything, and we would be re-
married there in the Greek church
When we arrived in Paris it was Lent,
when no marriage can take place in
the Greek church. and so time passed
on.
He must have been a thoroughly
bad man. because he did his best at
that time to persuade me to run away
with him, always reminding me that |
was his legal wife. The whole thing
was merely trick of this handsome,
fascinating rascal. He promised me
take me to Russia at once, and there
we should be remarked according to
the rules of the Greek church. Being
positively frightened by his persist
ence, l told my mother. At the same
time rumors of De Guerbers amours
and debts reached her ears, and she
wrote to a cousin OF ours, then Ameri-
can minister In st. Petersburg, for con-
frmation Of these reports.
My cousin replied. Come at once
We went, l, Of course, under my name
of Countess de Guerbel, which | had
naturally assumed from the day Of our
wedding at Nice, and we stayed at the
embassy in st. Petersburg. The
counts brother was charming to me,
He told us my husband was a villain
and l had better leave him alone. That
was impossible, however. / was mar
ried to him, but he was not married to
me, and such a state Of affairs could
not remain.
1T became an international matter,
and it was arranged by the American
government and the car that we
should be officially married at War
saw. The count refused to come. The
car therefore sent sealed orders for
his appearance. Wearing black dress
and feeling apprehensive and misera.
bly, sad. / went to the church, and at
the altar rails. supported by my father
and mother and the counts brother,
met my husband.
t 1T was a horrible crisis, for / knew
my father was armed with a loaded
revolver, and IL De Guerbel refused to
give me the last legal right, which was
morally already mine, its contents
would put an end to the adventurer's
life There we stood, husband and
wife, knowing the service was a mere
form, but the marriage was lawfully
effected. He had completed his part
Of the bargain. and we had learned his
villainy. At the door of the church we
parted. and / never saw him again"