from the hour of their first meeting, princess alix never doubted the love of her young russian scion, whose still boyish heart she knew she had reached. child as she was, princess alix already felt germinating within her beginnings of woman love, and from that time through all the following girlhood days, through her period of lovely maidenhood, she held in close memory the picture of her first wooer. that her young lover was less faithful was not so much a matter of surprise, because first of all being a man, and especially a russian man, not to include a prince besides, nicholas naturally went the way of all the rest, the way of so many men, of most russians, and of all princes, and under the tutelage of his relatives, the grand dukes, and other unavoidable corrupt associates of the court, he sowed his wild oats as part of the day’s work, and as a matter of course, sowed them furiously and very, very wildly. nicholas’ mother, spouse of the emperor alexander iii, herself early suggested that a mistress for the young nicholas might be well as a choice of evils, the lesser one. thereupon, nicholas was taken to the imperial ballet, there to make his choice of a{115} temporary love. the woman whom he chose at that time lives to-day in st. petersburg, in a grand palace, given her by the little man who now rules the mighty empire of russia, built by money exacted from thousands of starving peasants throughout the length and breadth of the vast empire.
perhaps—for a time—nicholas forgot the little german girl, but she never forgot her prince! perhaps nicholas was lacking in that blessed quality we call “loyalty.” or it may be that he was only weak of character as most of his friends of the time would have us believe. at all events, he was not even true to his polish dancer, and when he became infatuated with a jewess, his imperial father cried “enough!” and sent his son on a tour around the world. nicholas was accompanied on this trip by another bon vivant, his cousin prince george of greece. prince george, however, was also an athlete and a man of ready wit, and when in japan a fanatic rushed upon the tsarevitch to kill him, prince george raised his arm and succeeded in so diverting the stroke that nicholas received only a glancing blow on the forehead. thus was he spared to return to darmstadt and renew his suit with his love of earlier days.
royal marriages are so rarely love matches, that the world watches the few that are with admiration and hope. too often diplomatic objections prevent the coming together of royal lovers. and so in the case with nicholas, his father desired the union of his son with a montenegrin princess.{116}
queen victoria never really opposed the match, but she feared for the safety of her grand-daughter. the russian throne is supposed to offer unparalleled peril to its occupants, and the health of the princess alix had never been rugged. queen victoria feared that under the great stress and strain of st. petersburg princess alix would not have the strength to bear up. the empress frederick of germany, an aunt of princess alix, was also doubtful of the wisdom of the match. her reasons, however, were somewhat different. empress frederick had had many opportunities to watch the development of her sister’s daughter and she had noticed, perchance with pain, certain qualities of temperament which may have been the result of her trying circumstances in early years, together with the fact that she had been left so much alone through the early death of her mother. she was reserved and shy, therefore seeming cold of nature, and haughty of manner. having seen far less of the great world than most royal princesses she shrank from the social whirl. the loneliness of her childhood had taught her to find resource within herself, thus habits of reading, study, and contemplation had become part of her nature. these characteristics all make for the development of a splendid, substantial woman, but they fail to bring out the qualities essential to a woman who is to preside over a brilliant court, where the sway of personality, of grace, charm and wit—all of the surface virtues—count for as much, if not more,{117} than the deeper qualities of sound character and a disciplined mind.
appreciating all this empress frederick did not encourage, even if she refrained from actively opposing the marriage.
the polish princess, catherine radziwill, chanced to be passing through germany about this time and lingered for a few days, the guest of the empress frederick. one afternoon, princess radziwill referred to the betrothal and remarked on the happy fate which had led nicholas to select a bride who had been imbued with the ideas of germany and england. to her surprise the empress gravely shook her head and remarked that it was not always safe to trust what was said by people ignorant of the true character of those they praised or blamed, according to the exigencies of the moment. when princess radziwill pressed the empress further she added that “princess alix had a haughty disposition, and would be inclined to take more seriously than might be supposed, her position of absolute sovereign.”
she went so far as to refer to the despotic temperament of her niece, and her self-opinioned tendencies. “she is far too much convinced of her own perfection,” said the empress, “and she will never listen to other people’s advice, besides, she has no tact, and perhaps, without knowing it, will manage to wound the feelings of the persons she ought to try and conciliate.”
princess radziwill remarked that it was pass{118}ing strange a daughter of princess alice, and a grand-daughter of queen victoria could have such a disposition. whereupon the empress returned sadly: “oh! but when do you see daughters taking after their mothers?” then, after a short pause she continued: “it would not be possible for anyone to be like my sister.”
but alix loved nicholas and she would be daunted by neither the perils of a restless empire, nor the fear of physical weakness or suffering, nor the discouragements of her royal relatives. and nicholas, with that stubbornness that has ever characterised him, set about to win over all opponents to their marriage. first he appealed to his uncle, grand duke serge, who had married alix’s sister, elizabeth. then he went to london and pleaded with queen victoria. finally, he gained the consent of his own father, who was the last to yield. then nicholas went himself to darmstadt to carry the news in person to his princess who had now waited for this message for nine long years.
there still remained one important obstacle. and that this was a difficulty to the german princess, is to her everlasting credit. according to the laws of russia, the throne may never be occupied or shared by anyone not of the greek catholic faith. now princess alix, being born in germany and brought up in germany, was a protestant. from earliest childhood, she had been devoted to the church and to her religion, and the tenets of the greek church were totally unfamiliar to her.
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the tsaritsa is honorary colonel of the uhlans of the guard.
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when they were presented to her there were many things that seemed so strange that for a long time she could not acknowledge her acceptance of them.
in most royal marriages, the brides change their faith as lightly as they change their gowns, and learn the priest-taught formulas that their tutors prescribe, and subscribe to the doctrines of their adopted church without fear or question. alix demanded intimate knowledge of all the doctrines she must accept, so learned theologians and doctrinaires were dispatched to darmstadt to give her instruction. many are the stories told of her long arguments with these learned men over points that were not clear to her, and of her deep prying questions into the reasons for certain regulations and laws. at one time it seemed as if she could not accept certain things that these holy men were endeavouring to press upon her and more than one rumour went abroad that the royal marriage would never take place simply because of these religious difficulties. there seemed some ground for these reports, for the priest who had been her especial instructor, one yanisheff, at one time became so despairing of his “heretical” charge, that he left darmstadt altogether and returned to russia.
a long letter from the princess was received by nicholas, and he, instead of being hurt by the way she held out on these matters, expressed himself as highly pleased. a vigorous correspondence then passed quickly between them. and in the end, it was her love that conquered. i do not think that{120} princess alix has ever been what the world calls an “ambitious woman.” no one believes that the greek priests “converted” her. but she loved nicholas with a love that transcended all creeds and dogmas and finally, after long hesitation, her love rose to the highest point and for his sake she “accepted” the state church of the land that was to be her future home.
at the time the betrothal was definitely announced, it was anticipated that alexander would probably continue to reign for some years, and that in the meantime the bride of the heir apparent would have ample time to accustom herself to russia, and to school herself for the difficult r?le of empress, which she would one day have to assume.
the russian press was flooded with stories and anecdotes of the beauty, the cleverness, and the varied accomplishments of the german princess whom nicholas was bringing to russia. this was to popularise her among the people. it was said that she was a rare musician, a great scholar, and even that she had taken the degree of doctor of philosophy at some university! flaming lithographs of her were circulated by the thousand among the peasants, and in the space of a few months her name had become a household word across the empire and the russian people were prepared to accept her as a worthy consort to the heir apparent.
the betrothal was announced in april. in sep{121}tember of the same year, tsar alexander’s health began to fail rapidly and he was removed from the cold of the northern capital to the royal estate of livadia in the crimea.
i have seen royal palaces and parks in every part of the world, but i have never seen a more beautiful place than livadia. it is on the slope of the crimean alps, some of whose peaks tower more than three thousand feet above the glorious blue waters of the black sea that here lap the shores of livadia. yalta, lovely yalta, a winter jewel daintily set in a wondrous setting of sea and hills, is removed from livadia by only a spur of mountains easily and quickly crossed. and here, when all the rest of russia lies frozen beneath semi-arctic snows, roses and oleanders bloom, and ripe fruit hangs luscious for the pickers. here winter suns are warm and winter evenings balmy.
i think the fairest nights i have ever seen have been in yalta and on the road to livadia when a december moon shone brightly over the restless water and aslant the lovely hills as in dream nights of june.
to this most beauteous spot in all russia, alexander iii was taken. it was the monarch’s last journey. when it became evident that the end was near nicholas sent for his bride-to-be. probably no woman or man in modern times has had so warm a welcome prepared. the press of europe was echoing and re-echoing the praise of the young princess, in happy attune with the inspired press{122} of russia. the emperor william himself went to meet the princess at the berlin railroad station and bid her godspeed—she who was to wear an imperial crown.
warsaw was the first russian city where princess alix paused on her journey to livadia whither she was hastening in the expectancy of marrying prior to the death of alexander iii. at warsaw she was met by her sister, the grand duchess elizabeth, and farther along in the journey by the heir apparent. her progress across the empire was like a triumphal march despite the sadness that hovered over a nation whose ruler lay dying. great arches of welcome were raised to her, and the populace turned out all along the way to do her honour.
we can well imagine the mingled feelings of surprise and awe which must have overwhelmed the retiring and somewhat austere german princess, as she came in contact now for the first time with the great world, and with the homage of a vast people which from that day was to be her’s for all the rest of the days of her life. princes and potentates, like peasants from the isolated villages of the steppes, bent their knees in humble obeisance, while soldiers stood at salute as she passed. she knew full well that she was leaving behind her forever the simple life she had always known up until now. she knew that she was going to a death-bed scene, between ranks of gold and silver. though her path was scattered with flowers and{123} the plaudits of the people continuously rang in her ears, she knew what the end of the journey must be, and she must have known too, in a dim, tragic way, all that lay beyond the endraped gold, toward which she was speeding in the crimea.
