Evening star., 1920-03-14

HHenH Serdct. the princes factotum IN
ing m the Russian marriage laws and seekini
q friendly priest. He at last hnds one an
makes arrantements as told in the following
ehapter.i
The priest. was a jovial-lookins
man. with distinguished but simple
manners, and good heartiness writ
ten on his face. / had come to the
right place.
He spoke less French than l did
Russian. Nevertheless it was posi-
BILE to convey to him that this wai
an important matter involving great
secrecy The good man was some
what taken aback, but i assured him
there was nothing to cause him per.
senal anxiety. and, Furthermore. that
if he should decide to refuse his as
sistance all 1 asked was that what
was about to tell should be kept a
secret. He agreed then to respect the
confidence.
Father" I said, Il am a friend OF
the Crown Prince of Rumania. who
is now In Odessa. We had planned
to go to the French front to fight
but unfortunately were discovered at
the frontier. And now. because of a
solemn promise he had given, the
prince wishes to be married here IN
Odessa-at once.
The priest listened with his eyes
srowins wider and wider with
amazement. 1 had to repeat my
story; then to answer the questions
with which he showered me.
Did the king and queen know OF
our plan:
And would they approve when they
heard of it?
| said 1 hardly thought they would
he oyerjoyed but that in face of a
fact accomplished the attitude OF
many people would undergo a change
Was the Rumanian consul in odes-
sa informed?
No" was my answer. I'VE have
omitted thus far to pay him our re-
spects."
The poor priest was overwhelmed.
He went to fetch his son, who spoke
French, in order to have the conVer
sation through this interpreter. 10
make sure he had not misunderstood,
He asked me further questions.
When finally it was clear to nm
there could be no doubt of the call
made upon his conscience he raised
his ewes to the ceiling and excla imed
INV God, 1t is I, then. who am
chosen to marry this young prince.
1t is who am to do that when our
metropolite was appointed to DO.
He was alluding to a project O., oi
marriage between EEiHSc Sdioi oi~
one of the daughters of the late cZar,
Nicholas II. This project, naturally
came to nothing, for when II was
broached the prince was already
deeply in love with Mile. Lambrino.
Well, the interview with the priest
ended after l had given him renewed
guarantees that he should suffer in no
way at all if he should ofhciate i
FASTENED away to inform Prince Carol
of my success.
I found him playing game OF pa
thence. not an inappropriate game at
the moment.
He sprang- up 'exclaimfng. what
1T is arranged The wedding il to
be the day after tomorrow.
I told him the other details. He
called Zizi. who came fastening TO
hear the glad news, We dined early
that evening with the prince. and a
merrier meal / mover had. The prince
told in a sprightly vein how he had
been sent ID Petrograd with a view to
a bethrothal with the czar's daughter.
Grand Duchess Tatiana.
"But. as you know" he said. turning
to Mile. Jeanne. no one but you exist
"a for me, then as now"
He spoke Of the grand duchess in
the highest teFps. however. and had
some good things to say of the late
csar, Of his personal charm and his
generosity. With the czarina The
prince dsa act seam so much in SYM
.AYter all.r he said. smiling, ''the