THE GRAND DUKE'S DIAMOND GIRL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 322, 30 September 1874, Page 2

THE GRAND DUKE'S DIAMOND GIRL.

(From the New York Hera'd ) Paris, July 6, 1874. One night in the winter of 1871 there was a masked ball at the Opera House of St. Petersburg, aod seldom before even in the brilliant capital of the Northern Ca33a- r s, had festival lights shone over so much beauty and renown. It was carnival time, when pleasure is balf-priviieged to take wider license than usual, in order to prepare for the terrible rigors of the orthodox Russian Lert, during which folks must dine and sup upon lentils and salted cucumber. All the golden youth of Russia was there, and all those elder men who can wear their years without becoming morose and crabbed . Under the pretty dominoes and graceful masks which were fluttering about like the fireflies of a Southern summer night were many of the great Court ladies, with, pet haps, here and there a princess of the Imperial House of Romanoff, for, between tbe present state of manners and .ociety in Russia and tbat which existed in England during the reign of Charles 11., there are several points of resemblance. The conversation of the rich and high born is astonishingly free. AN AMERICAN WIDOW — YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL . Among the company present on this occasion was an American girl of extraordinary beauty. She had not acquired so much experience in matrimony or chosen auch a variety 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 wbite as ivory. Her dark eyes flashed under her long lashes like black diamonds, and were all aglow with wit and kindliness. The nose was of tbat firm yet delicate aquiline which denotes courage and (resolution; tbe mouth was wondrously full and soft; the upper lip smalt and formed like a bow ; her teeth were as living pearls, and ber complexion dazzingly fair. Little feet, small hands, and taper fingers; 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 fun of these assemblies is tbat ladies are allowed by cus.om to make all sorts of advances to gentlemen, for they are 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 tease or mystify and to tell him some incident of his life which be fancies a profound secret, then to leave him puzzled and bewildered. The American widow was looking out for someboly whom she knew, in oider to torment him in this way, when Bhe siw a group of her friends talking with a stranger, and, after listening to some fragments of iheir conversation, as women will, she suddenly pounced upon the stranger and led him away. What she said to him is only known to themselves, but when he quitted her that night be was spell-bound and fascinated. ROMANTIC ACQUAINTANCE WITH A PRINCE. Weil he might be. There is no wit in this lower world equal to American

wit ; no. humor eo racy - and original When thia Russian heard it for the first time from lips so sweet, no wonder that he was enchanted. She spoke freely to him aud without reserve, thinking thbt he was merely some young count or petty prince; and as she spoke she seemed drawn towards him hy a subtle sympathy in their characters. She was quite abashed when she found oat she had been gossiping unceremoniously with the Grand Duke Nicholas Constantino wich, nephew of ./the Emperor of all the Russiaa. They never parted afterWards for tjtro years and a half. , THB CZAR'S NEPHEW IN TRAINING. . The yonng Grand Duke had good abilities and good nature, but his education has been wofnlly neglected. The Amerioan woman taught him, formed him into a gentleman, and reisoid tjim np to her own intellectual standard,' which was high. She was the daughter of Dr Ely, a Protestant clergyman of Connecticut, a man of some distinction in science and letters. He WjES, unfortunately for his belongings, also a great traveller; and if she, who was now the companion of a Russian Grand Duke, had gone wrong in early.life, it was because she had been left too much to a hot-tempered, bigoted,: and narrow-minded mother, who Bad taught the doctrine of passive obedience with a thick stick. Her daughter, however, had been well spooled, and had learnt Latin, French, and music, so that she was an excellent instructress to a young man who knew nothing. . LOVE AND A LOVE CONTRACT. The Grand Duke loved her so intensely that he made her sign a formal contract in which she bound herself by a solemn oath never to leave him or speak one word, save in friendship, to any other mortal man. When he went " AWAY TO THE KHIVAN WAR. j the road behind him was strewn with Cossack apc-Tcamen bearing in hot haste his messages to bis beloved, and the telegraph wires between them were never still. He was a brave soldier, and he told her bow he had fought and conquered; how he had ridden through -wild and morass, over moor and mountain; how his sword had gleamed •in many a dangerous fight, till the clash of his victorious cymbals had been heard in the very fastnesses of tbe Khivan robbers; and then, with the first glad shout of triumph in his ears, he had taken off his harness and was hastening back to her. WOMAN WORSHIP. Upon her part, her vanity had first been flattered ; her woman's heart had been woo by a handsome yonng man of congenial tastes and temper, but gradually he had taken possession of her whole soul. The love which Bhe bore him, kindled by his knightly deeds in distant lands, his valor, bis danger, 'and his fame had passed into worship and become idolatry. He had been first her hero, then her lover, then her god. She watched over his honor as only devoted women can do, and she kept his new glories bright. i MISFORTUNE, SORROW, AND AN ABBEST. He was the only one of the Russian princes who never seemed to get into scrapes or to incur unpopularity. Bat it may have been tbat he received Bome ugly blow in tbat Khivan expedition, or that he contracted some illness ; for •when he came to ber house, which be called hie "home," she now and observed tbat he was under the influence of uncontrollable excitement. At eleven o'clock one night he was arrested on her doorstep, and she has never seen him since. THE CHARGE. The ostensible charge against him was alleged to be that he had stolen the jewels of a star belonging to an image of the Virgin Mary, which was in his mother's bedroom, and which bad been given to her by his father, in accordance with a Russian custom, oo the day he was baptised. The truth appears, however, to be that these jewels were taken by his aide-de-camp, and that he generously bore tbe blame to save that young officer from disgrace. It was not likely that tbe Grand Duke would have committed the robbery himself ; for he had no need to do so. He 1 has a large fortune, and, as the eldest sou and heir to bis fatber, will one day be entitles to a property of such immense value tbat any usurer in the wdrld. would have taken his bond lor whatever sum ! he might have required. Moreover, the Grand Duke ia not a spendthrift; he lived very moderately and allowed only BOodol. a month for his domestic expenses. Besides, he had received 50,000d01. from his bankers on the day tbat the robbery jwas said to have been committed, aod thestolen jewels were valued at about p)Qd§l. The Grand Duke, nevertheless, took the robbery on himself, aud, after /having been kept some time under arrest, he has been banished to the Caucasus. THE AMERICAN BEAUTY SENT AWAY. Meantime the American lady's bouse 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 goodn f a^ r^4 : -.P*°Ucemen, who seemed to he somewhat ashamed of the dirty work they were doing . None of her property was taken froni her or injured. Her e S?fe)§ , ° m '^«'») however, is an exercise of arbitrary power whiob rae&eao___,st«a. enough that it does not floariih'tverywhore.

SEASONS WHY. The probable reason why the Grand Duke Nicholas has been banished to the Caucasus, and why the American lady bas been expelled from Russia, is that there was good ground for believing they were about to be married. What then ? Rank and wealth oan win no fairer prize than beauty. She was very charming, and had a good deal of that downright American common sense which a Russian Prince, in sight of possible revolutions, might bave found of considerable value. It is tbat harmless sort of smartness which consists of saying nothing pleasantly. She would have made him one of the most popular princes in Europe had he married her, and bushed up a few bygones, as euch things are easily hushed up in despotic countries. She was a conciliatory, agreeable woman, who would have guided him to high destinies, and herself have been capable of any sacrifices ; she would have done wonders of heroism in time of pnblio trouble.