Evening star., 1923-11-14
By THE MARaUIsE DE FoNTENoY.

bI The hAfh USE DE fONlENOIs
Grand Duchess Marie Pavlona' S
suit for divorce IN the French courts
against her second husband. Prince
Sergius Poutiatine. surprises no one.
Indeed. II has been a subject of
amazement that the union. which was
contracted Immediately after the dis
solution Of her former marriage in
1914. on the eve OF the great war.
should have lasted so long.
In this instance few are inclined 10
blame the grand duchess, who has
been one Of the most fascinating and
beautiful members OF the former SOW
ereign house of Russia. She inherited
her remarkably good looks from her
mother, Princess Alexandra OF tireece,
sister of the late King Constantine,
and who died when Marie was one
year old. and a few days after giving
birth TO a son, young Grand Duke e
Dmitri Paulovitch. who formed one
of the party in the palace of Prince
Youssopof at Pstrograd, when the in
famous monk. Rasputin, in many re-
spects the evil genius OF Russia, was
put TO death there.
For his share in this execution Of
Rasputin Grand Duke Dmitri was
banished from the capital, to the eau
cusus and eventually made his way
to Egypt, where. with the permission
Of the British government, he Volun-
teered for service under Field Mar
stai Lord Alienby, taking part, with
him. in the conquest of Palestine, and
in the redemption of Jerusalem from
Turkish oppression and miSruie. he
made many warm friends among his
fellow officers OF the British army
and is a general favorite i'll Paris,
and especially in England, where he
sDends most of his time.
Both Grand Duke Dmitri and his
elder sister Marie, were brought up
entirely by their aunt, the late Grand
Duchess Elizabeth of Moscow. where
her husband, Grand Duke Sergius.
afterward blown to pieces by nihi-
list bomb, was governor general
Grand Duchess Elizabeth was the ed
er sister of the late Czarina, and,
after the assassination of her hus-
band and the marriage of her niece,
Marie. to Prince william of Sweden
she became the head of 4 religious
sisterhood, devoted to charity and TO
the care of the sick and suffering
taking the vows of a nun and oecom-
ing invested with the dignity or the
lady abbess Of the great convent
which she had founded and main,
tanned at Moscow. II may be recalisa
that, despite her boundless charity
and devotion to every sort OF pnlian,
tEropic endeavor, she was captured
by the bolsheviki in 1913, and thrown
alive, down deep ana aps'iiuoheo
mine. not very far from Ekaterlnen-
berg, where her sister, the iate EN-, en-
press. was put TO death, with her chll-
dren. .s ,.s
The grand Guchesss oouS
eventually recovered from the DOT
tom of the mine. by the troops OF Al
miral Koltchak.
She was. to all intents, the notner
of Marie and of Grand Duke Dmitri
and lavished upon them eness ~ ,s sort Iit,Ia
of them. Grand Duchess Ellzapeth
saw to that. Fer she knew that their
real mothers life, at any rate IN itS
closing wear, had been terribly un-
happy and that If Grand Duchess au!
lad died, n few days after giving
birth to Dmitri, 1t was because onIy
few weeks previously, she nau nuI ieS
herself out of the victoria in when
she was driving in order TO put an
end to her misery. Indeed, II was no.
expecIed that Gand Duke Dnlltri
would be born aliVe'
X X 4 X
uben Marie became old enough to
make her debut at court and in So
ciety. at Petrograd, she promptly had
her head completely turned by the
aduIation which she received, not
alone on account of her loveliness and
fascination, but also because of the
great wealth to which she seemed
destined. For her father. Grand Duke
Paul, was one of the very wealthiest
of the princes of the house of Ro-
nianoff and then, too, Marie was
generally regarded as destined to be-
come the heiress of her aunt and fos-
ter mother, Grand Duchess Elizabeth,