Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1913-04-18
Geneyiieye Wards Story Of Her.
Wedding Tragedy.
PARTED At THE CHURCH DOOR

After Dramatic Ceremony Following
Complication That Became an In
tsrnationaI Affair and Was Ended BY
Our Govsrnmsnt and the Gear:
In Mrs. Tweedie's Thirteen Years
of u Busy Woman's Life are some
stories Of Genevieve Ward. the famous
actress.
One morning In March, 1908, came
knock on Mrs. Tweedie's door, and In:
walked Miss Ward.
...sOut for my constitutional, my dear"
lhe exclaimed. $50 thought would
Just look you up I have walked six
miles this morning, and after 4 little
rest. and chat with you shall walk an
other mile home and enjoy my lunch
con all the better for It.
.'.You are marvelr' exclaimed our
author. 'Seven miles and over seventy.
/ saw your 'Volumnia' was great sue
cess the other day when you played Il
with Benson
YES" she said. land the next day l
started for Rome. got q telegram say
ing one of three old cousins, with whom
I was staying in Rome a few weeks
previously. had died suddenly, so four
hours after receiving the message set
out
''Were you very tiredY"
.'No, not at all. Il knitted nearly all
the way and talked to my fellow pas
sengers and when 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. l stayed a
fortnight with them, settled them up
and arrived back a few days ago.
Here is the pathetic story OF Miss
Wards marriage tragedy as she told It
to Mrs. Tweedie:
II was travelling with my mother and
brother on the Riviera in 1855 when
we met Russian. Count de Guerbel.
He was very tall. very handsome, very
fascinating, very rich and twenty eight.
/ was seventeen. He fell in love with
me. and it was settled should be mar
ried at the consulate at Nice, which I
was. But the Russian law required
that the marriage should be repeated:
LII the Russian church TO make the
ceremony binding; otherwise I was his
legal wife. but he was not my legal
husband.
1T was arranged, therefore, that I
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 10 persuade me to run away
with him, always reminding me that l
was his lea! VIE The whole thing
was Hierr:v :: ,r K of this handsome.
fascinating rascal! He promised me-
:i,at II would go to him he would
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, told my mother. At the same
time rumors of De Guerbeps amours
and debts reached her ears, and she
wrote to cousin Of ours, then Ameri-
can minister in st. Petersburg, for con-
irmation Of these reports.
my cousin replied. Come at once
We went, I, 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 villain
and had better leave him alone. That
was impossible, however. was mar
ried to him, but he was not married to
me, and such state of affairs could,
not remain.
1T became an international matter,
and 1t was arranged by the American
government and the czar that we
should be officially married at War
saw. The count refused to come. The
tzar therefore sent sealed orders for
his appearance. Wearing black dress
and feeling apprehensive and misera-
bly, sad. 1 went to the church, and at
the. altar rails. supported by my father
and mother and tile counts brother, l.
net my husband.
. < . - : = -
lit was Il horrible crisis, for knew
my father was armed with a loaded
revolver. and If 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 q mere