THE GRAND DUKE’S DIAMOND GIRL.

Western Star, Issue 49, 17 October 1874, Page 7

THE GRAND DUKE’S DIAMOND GIRL.

(From the New York. Herald.) - Parts, Bth.. One night in the winter of 1871 there was a masked ha 1 l at the Opera House of St. Petersburg, and seldom befote, even in the brilliant capital of the Noi’thern Ctesars, had festival light shone over so mu *h beauty an I renown. It was carnival time, when pleasure is half-privilewed to take wider license than usual, in order to prepare for the terrible rigours of the orthodox Russian Lent, during . which folks must dine and sup upon lentils and sa I fed.cucumber. All the go 1 den youth of Russia was there, and all those elder men who can wear their years without becoming morose and crabbed. IJirßrthe pretty dominoes and graceful masks which wore fluttering about like the fireflics of a Southern summer- night were many of the great Court ladies, with, per. haps, here and there a process-of the Imperial House of Romanoff, for between the present state of manners and society in Russia and that- which existed in England during’ the reign of Charles IT. there are several points of resemblance. The conversation of the rich and highborn is astonishingly free. AN AMERICAS' WfPOW-—TOFS'O AMD Bsump-vti. Among- the- company present on this o‘canon wis an American girl of extraordinary beauty. She had not acquired so much experience in matrimony or chosen such a number of partners in life as numberless respectable people at St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Odessa; but, although she was scarcely out of her teens, she was a widow. She looked as fresh as a new-blown flower, and was full to overflowing of youth and high spirits. So exquisitely perfect a piece of womanhood is seldom seen. She had dark hair in great profusion, and an imperial sort of forehead—broad, open, and white as ivory. Her dark eyes flashed under her long- lashes like black diamonds, and wore all aglow wit?) wit and kindliness. The nos-* of that firm yet dclica-o aquiline which denotes courage and resolution ; the month was wondrous! y full and soft ; the upnor lip small and formed like a :K>w; her teeth were as living p urls, and her complexion dazzling!" fair. Little feet, small hauls, and taper fiigms ; a figure which a fairy might envy. Sprightly words and laughter, which fell on the ear like music, complete an honest .-description of this American beauty on the night she went to the masked ball at St. Petersburg.

FEMALE -PRIVILEGES' WHEN UNDER A MASK.

Now, the great fin of those assemblies: is that ladies are allowed by custom to make* all sorts of advances to gentlemen,, for they arc masked and concealed by their dominoes, while men go in simple evening dress. The orthodox; thing for a lady to do. therefore, is to fix upon some gentleman whom she wishes to tea°e or to mistifv, and to toll him some incident of his life which ho fancies a profound secret, then to leave him puzzled and bewildered. The American widow was looking out for somohodv whom she knew, in order to torment him in this way, when she saw a group of her friends talking with a stranger, and, after listening to some fragments of their conversation, as women will, she suddenly pounced noon the stranger, and led him away. "What she said to him is only known to themselves, but when ho quitted her that night he wai spoil-bound and fascinated.

ROMANTIC ACQUAINTANCE WITH A PRINCE.

Well lie might ho. There is no wit in this world equal to -American wit; no humour so racy and original. When this Bussian heard it for the first time from lips so swoeF n 0 wonder that he was enchanted. She spoke freely to him, m l without reserve, thinking that he was merely some vouhg count or petty prince'; and as she spoke she seemed Irawn towarls him by a subtle sympaHiV; iii their characters. She was quite, abashed whep-she found out that she had been gossiping unceremoniously with.-the the Grand Duke: Nicholas Omistaptmo.wieh, nephew of-the .-Emperor of all the Bussias; —They -never parted- afterward'j for. two yea.rsstjd a half.. I j „ «• | THE CZAR’S NEPHEW IN TRAINING. ! The young Grand : I>uko had good abilities and good nature, but bis odnea-‘ tion has boon wofally neglected. The American' woman taught him, formed him into a gentleman, and raised him up to her own intellectual standard, which was high. She was dhp daughter'.of T)f Elv, a Protestant clergyman of Coni (lecticat, a man. of. spine distinction in science and letters. He was, nnfortniti ately for In’s, belongings, . also ya .great traveller; and if she, who was now the companion‘of a Bassiah jGfra'hd’D'iik'e> liad

gone wrong in early life, it was because she had been left too much to. a hottempered, bigoted, and narrow-minded mother, who had taught the doctrines of passive obedience with a thick stick. Her daughter, however, had been well schooled, and had learned Latin, French, and music, so that she was an excellent instructress to a young man who knew nothing.

I/OVE AND A LOVE CONTRACT. : The Grand. Duke loved her so intensely that ho made her sign a formal contract in which she bound herself by a solemn oa f h never to leave him or to speak one word, save in friendship, to any other man. When he went AWAY TO TFIE KII[VAN WAR, the road behind him was strewn with Cossack spearmen, bearing in hot haste his messages to his beloved, and the telegraph wires' between them were never still. He was a brave soldier, and he told how he fought and con quo re 1 ; how he had ridden through wild and morass, over moor and mountain ; how his sword had gleamed to mviva dangerous .fight, till tlic clash of his victorious cymbal .i had boon heard in the very fastnesses of the Khivan robber; -and then, with the first glad shout of triumph in his cars, lie had taken off his harness, -and was hastening back to her. WOMAN-WORSHIP. Upon her part, her -vanity had first been flittered; her woman’s heart had boon won by a handsome young man of congenial tastes and temper, but gradually be ha d taken possession of her whole soul. The love which she boro him, kindled by his knightly deeds in distant lands, his valourjiis danger, and his fame had passe d’ intoworship • and became idolatry, fie hid been first her lover, then her hero, thou her go 1. She watched over his honour as only devoted women can do, and she kept his new glories bright. MISFORTUNE, SORROW, AND AN ARREST. He was the only one of the- Russian princes who never seemed to get into scrapes, or to iivur unpopularity. But it may have been that be received some ugly blow in that Khivan expo lition, or that ho contra;!cl snuc illness; for when he came to her house, which he c idled his “ home,” she now and then observe! that ho was under the* influence of uncontrollable excitement.. At il o’clock one night he was arrested »n her doorstep, and she has never seen him since.. T’iliS.' CHARGE;. ' ■

The ostpudble-charge against him .was alleged to: be- that ho ha 1 stolen the jewels O'L a star belonging to the image of the Virgin Mary, which wn in his mother’s bedroom, ari l which . had been given to her Ivy his father, in accordance with a Kassi'an custom,. on the- day. he' was hap'ised. The troth appears, howov’orVto be that those jewels were taken by his aide-de-camp,. and .that. he . generously bore the blame to save that young officer from disgrace.. It is not likely that the Grand I>.iko would have com mitted the robbery himself; for he had no need to do so-." He had a large fortune, and,, as the oldest son and heir to his father, will bo some day entitled to a property of such immense value that any usurer in the world would have taken his bond for whatever sum-ho might have required. Moreover, the Grand Duke is not a spendthrift ho lived .very moderately, and allowed only 800Jol a mouth for his domestic expenses. Besides, he had recei ved 50,0(X)dol. from his bankers on the same day that the robbery was said to have been committed, and the stolen jewels were valuechat about I,2o'ddol. The Grand Duke, nevertheless, took the robbery- on himself, and, after having been kept some time-under arrest, ho has been banished to the Caucasus. THE AMERICAN 1 BEAUTY SENT AWAY. Meantime the American lady’s house was searched, and when nothing was found which could in any. way connect her with the... theft, she was sent out of the country',-accompanied by two goodnatured policemen, who seemed to be somewhat ashamed of the dirty work they were doing. None of her property’ wvi taken from her or injured. ' Her expulsion from Russia, however, is an exorcise of arbitntrv ptfwor winch makes one gla I enough..that jt n docs not flourish everywhere. •--*.» «• g. .; ; i^jtEisQ>’qayiiY.. v v- _ .. . ;j The nmhabl-s ..reasons whv the Grand Duke Nicholas has been banished to the Caucasus, and why the American lady has been expelled from Russia, is that jthorct for-believing they were about to he married. What then ?■ Rank and wealth -can, win no fairer prizd than beauty. She wag yyiw charmiugl and" had a guod 4 deoil M thblMhwhrigh| American which a Russian Prince; ?m sight 'of. ionH| might have found -of considerable valud. It is .that,, harmless, sort of smartness which consists, of saying nothings plea: sxntly. She would have’ made him oub

of the most popular princes in Europe had he married her, and hushed -up a few bye-gones, as such things are easily hushed up in despotic countries, She was a conciliatory, agreeable wo than, who would have guided him to high destinies, and herself have been capable of any sacrifices ; she would have done wonders of heroism in times of public trouble.

THE MORAL. It is not a just sentence to pronounce that a young woman’s antececcnta shall stand for over in her way.. PRINCES MUST RE GENTLEMEN, A Grand Duke must not play false with a woman because she is of doubtful character, anv more than lie might "cheat a blac s leg. He may refuse to have anything to do with such persons but if he chooses to hold rntercouso with them, his dealings should bo conducted on the same principles which regulate the conduct of a high-minded gentleman in all the relations of life, and ho must treat them in the same upright manner in which ho behaves to other people. It is an amazing argument in the month of a prince and a soldier to sav that he kevps worthless company in or let* to behave without integrity towards his companions; and if he wishes to act honourably —as, no doubt, the Grand Dike Nicholas did—it is a disgrace to a great nation that lie should have been prevented from doing so. THE T>Ulvlj - of camdriuge, in England, has done so under precisely similar circumstances,, ami so did the Archduke John of Austria. It did not deprive thorn of their place in the esteem of their fellow-countrymen, but rather raised them to greater heights.. The T> iko of Cambridge in Commandcr-in-Chief of the British army ; and when all the House of Ilapsburg-Lorraine wore hurled down from power, the Archduke John was elected bv universal suffrage as Administrator of the Austrian Ennire, not because he was an Imperial Prince, but because he had married an innkeeper’s daughter-, and dealt honourably with her. AMERICAN CHIVALRY.. It is said tint some Americans arc inixeo no with this Russian story ; if so, wo need not blush for them. It is no shame to sdmiro a beautiful woman in distress, and to sho.w something of chivalry—something of goodness in her defence., ■ I should not he so proud as I am of mv connection with the Am ricans if I saw them alt torn their backs on a lady because- a political policeman had been in structed to tease her. All is well that ends well, and let no one bosurm'ised that if the'fu turn G’nnd Duchess Nicholas- of Russia hails from Connecticut.,