now that we know more about victor emmanuel, we can follow the course of the love match between him and princess elena with more familiarity and interest. it is strange that these young lovers from two of the southermost, warmest countries of europe must go for the second chapter of their romance to the northermost, coldest country on the continent. yet so was it to be. their next meeting was in far away moscow, the occasion was the coronation of the present tsar. here another coincidence appears. four years before when princess elena was finishing her course at the royal academy in st. petersburg she was presented at the court of alexander iii through the influence of her sister, the grand duchess melitza. soon after this a rumour was circulated throughout europe that the eyes of the young nicholas, heir to the russian throne, had looked with favour upon the montenegran princess. certain it is that elena’s father, wily prince nicholas, did not discourage this match, but the young tsarevitch had long before set his heart upon a german princess—alix of hesse and the rhine—and if he looked upon elena at all it was only an idle flirta{241}tion, for his mind was made up in regard to his consort long before elena went to petersburg.
the prince of naples represented the italian sovereigns at the russian coronation festivities, while elena was a guest of her sister. naturally, the two met. this was only their second meeting, but from the noticeable intimacy that immediately sprang up between them it was evident that the venice meeting had been followed by a lively correspondence. the coronation procession was the most splendid pageant of the closing decade of the nineteenth century, and the balls and dinners which were given in honour of the accession of nicholas ii to the throne of his fathers, the most magnificent that human ingenuity and unlimited wealth could devise. against this golden background prince victor emmanuel and princess elena pursued their courtship, indefatigably, if not always discreetly. even the tsar was not so engrossed that he did not observe the daring suit of the italian prince. having a kind of paternal interest in montenegro, tsar nicholas felt it not improper to express his good will toward these two sweethearts and it was largely through his personal interest and encouragement that the betrothal was finally arranged. when the coronation festivities were over and the myriad royal and noble guests from all parts of the world returned to their homelands, it was pretty generally understood that the prince of naples would presently wed the montenegran princess.{242}
toward the middle of august of the russian coronation year, to the surprise of no one, the italian royal yacht cajola, having aboard the crown prince, rounded cape s. marie de leucca, prow pointed toward cattaro, the port of cettenje, the capital of montenegro. a large part of the montenegran population gathered along the shore to welcome the italian prince. all knew what his coming meant. all appreciated, too, his coming in person, for royal etiquette allows that on such an occasion a prince may send an ambassador and royal entourage to formally arrange the details of official betrothal and marriage. cettenje was arrayed in gala dress as never before in its history. as a local newspaper quaintly but enthusiastically put it, “the twenty-five hundred people comprising the entire population of the capital met on the one street of the town shouting their greetings.” surely in this alone is romance enough for one lifetime, the princess of a country whose capital has one street, whose entire population is twenty-five hundred, about to become the crown princess, and presently the queen, of one of the first powers of europe!
the official announcement of the betrothal was made august 18, 1896. two days later a great hunt was organised by prince nicholas and his oldest son mirko, in honour of the event. all of the prince’s household and all of the suite of the prince of naples were invited to participate. the two lovers alone declined. at such a time, they{243} said, when they were both so happy they preferred not to spill one drop of blood, for that would be to mar their own happiness! for two young people unusually keen for the hunt and both splendid shots, this was indeed a delightful sentiment.
shortly after this hunt the prince of naples returned to rome to begin preparations for the reception of his bride. on the second day of october—just six weeks later—elena held her last conference with her father, who brought her to the quay where lay the ship that was to convey her to italian soil. when prince nicholas had said his last farewell and kissed his beloved daughter on both cheeks, he turned and slowly climbed the hill behind the town, on which stands a chapel. entering the tiny church the prince fell to his knees and there remained for a long time absorbed in silent prayer.
when he emerged once more, the ship to which he had consigned elena was but a speck in the distance, across the deep blue waters of the adriatic. they did not meet again before the marriage, which took place in rome.
elena landed at the italian port of bari. her first act was to go up to the old town church, and there be received into the roman catholic church. montenegro, like all slav countries is still under the domination of the greek catholic church, and it was in this church that elena had been reared. the difficulties of her release from the greek church were made simple by the personal appeal{244} of the tsar of russia, whose influence is all powerful with the greek hierarchy, who bespoke a friendly word on behalf of the young princess.
the marriage was to take place in the great hall of the quirinal palace. an incident occurred at this time, which, though trifling, is not wanting of a certain savour.
the private apartment of queen margherita had been designated for the formation of the cortège. prince nicholas and princess elena, by inattention, or because it had been omitted to inform them, entered the quirinal from the stairs of honour and found only the mayor of rome who had come to assist at the marriage. happily the prince of naples had witnessed this scene from the window of the palace. he ran immediately to relieve their perplexity and escorted prince nicholas and his own princess to the queen’s apartment.
when the time of the ceremony arrived, count gianotti took the head of the cortège. behind the king and the queen walked prince nicholas and princess elena, the duke of oporto and princess laetitia, prince victor napoleon and princess helena of aosta, the duke of aosta and the dowager duchess of genoa, prince mirko and the duchess isabel of genoa, the count of turin and princess anna, sister of princess helena, and then the civil and military houses of the sovereigns.
monseigneur auzine brought a silver veil that the duke of aosta, the count of turin, prince
[image unavailable.]
four generations: the prince of piedmont, his father the king, the dowager queen margherita, and her mother, the duchess of genoa.
{245}
mirko and prince harageorgevitch, to-day king of servia, unfolded and kept over the bride and bridegroom during the whole ceremony.
after the ceremony elena was more than ever nervous and deeply moved; her olive skin grew exquisitely white, almost like alabaster. the sun, which up to that moment had loitered behind clouds, suddenly broke through the misty screen, suffusing the whole city in a glorious fulsome light the bells of the american church in rome nearby, began to chime the wedding march from lohengrin, and from the great roman populace gathered in the streets near the palace went up a tumultuous cheer. thus propitiously began the married life of the most romantic royal couple of that time in europe.
to compensate for their all-too-brief courtship, prince victor emmanuel decided that their honeymoon should be protracted, and far from the eyes of the curious. to accomplish this they went at once to the distant isles of greece, to the romantic coast of sicily, to wherever waters are emerald, skies azure blue and the days golden. in their own yacht they managed to escape from all public vision, and so weeks and months were spent like a prolonged summer idyl. never were lovers more secluded, more care-free, more at ease, less trammelled to live with and for each other, as fiercely and as intensely as the flame within them burned. the world heard little of them on this long honeymoon trip of theirs. sometimes a mes{246}sage came from an algerian or tunisian port, or from a remote mediterranean spot like the island of monte christo, where they spent untold happy weeks.
this island of monte christo, belonging to victor emmanuel, is very secluded. only the members of the household are allowed thereon. the prince liked being there free of all responsibility and unrestrained to enjoy absolute liberty.
as a bride elena gave herself to a unique régime for a royal princess—she shared in the household work, performing with her own hands the duties of the home. this policy was adopted because the young couple dreaded to have others, even servants, about them, and this lonely island was, perhaps, the only place where they could find absolute seclusion and isolation.
this royal property, which for a certain time was called gombo, was the favourite residence of the grand dukes of tuscany. it formed a part of the private estate of victor emmanuel ii, who, as an indefatigable hunter, used to make there a hecatomb of deers and fallow-deers. about 1865 he ordered the building surrounded at a distance of twenty yards from the shore by a wood fence posed on pillars; he often spent there the night, lying on a couch in order to hear, on his awaking, the rocking song of the waves.
once during their protracted honeymoon elena and her prince went on a great hunting trip far up in semi-arctic regions around the white sea.{247} i have heard tales of this trip from the lips of a montenegran artist who was one of the party, and i have seen photographs of elena and her prince-bridegroom skurrying across frozen ice packs, bringing down arctic game with their rifles, fishing through the ice for great deep sea fish—filling the days and weeks with pure pleasure, storing up joy against the years when the cares and responsibilities of state should hold them ever close to home. for four years this dream life went on. then, in the summer of 1900, they were on one of their long cruises among the greek islands when they were rudely awakened. news reached them of the assassination of king humbert! both elena and victor emmanuel knew what this meant. their yacht was quickly turned toward italy. this was their last care-free cruise.
at this time victor emmanuel shut up within his heart the tortures he was enduring, to meet as a courageous man the duties imposed on him by that misfortune. but elena, who had become devoted to her new family, was completely overcome and abandoned herself wholly to her sorrow, weeping and crying aloud: “my father!” “my good father!”
on their journey to monza, the scene of the tragedy, and on their arrival at the station at naples, elena, weeping bitterly, pressed on the bosom of her lady-in-waiting. victor emmanuel, by the side of the duke of genoa, looked almost overpowered by sorrow, but he bore up bravely. he{248} invited the prefecto and general brusate to come near him. he shook hands with them and talked to them with a heavy voice veiled by tears. “it seems to me,” said he to them, “that i am under the effect of a dream; such a horrible murder seems to me impossible!”
with the tragic death of king humbert, prince victor emmanuel became king, and his montenegran princess elena, queen of italy. in nearly every country where kings and queens sit upon thrones, the coronation ceremony is a spectacle of great splendour and magnificence, but in italy it is scarcely a ceremony at all. so far as the queen is concerned, it amounted to nothing, while the king merely appears before the parliament and takes his vows of allegiance and devotion to italy and the italian people. the simplicity of this sacred occasion is in peculiarly fitting keeping with the mind and character of victor emmanuel.
for four years he and his bride had basked in the sunshine of love and romance. they had led the most ideal and romantic of lives. with their accession the more serious business of life began. elena presently became a mother, first of a girl, then of another girl, then of a son, and then of a third daughter.
