A ROYAL PARALLEL TO THE DRUCK CASE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 54, 22 February 1908, Page 3

A ROYAL PARALLEL TO THE DRUCK CASE.

A.N AS'ltil NDIXC Vi't(i;\ AI'.IIIT A Kl SSIA.N Pi.I.M'F.SS. MIF. AKKAM.KIt A M"CK IHIIIAI. To KSCAPII l-'KfiM A lIUI'IAI. 11l SI'.AND. Ai-..itt tli,- i.ii.1,11 tli-- eightc-ii.-i. -uitur-. ,i tamiliar liguic in I In- ?-i ri-'-t - I •JI lini-el- «:i- lli.ii of an ..1.1 lady. | white haired .n.,1 l.cii.-.0|.-iii-1.-okiug.

alio -till l-iv tra.-cs .it n rare ...aithfui l-cautv. ami win. «w» .in air of distinction ..tit "f all keeping with the I-lainiK--- an.l aliao-t -h.ibhinc— oi h,-r attire. At -In- p.u-e.! .piictly along the -treet- in' lli<- IHgian cipii.il. iiiauv a ! Ik-.i.1 was turned fur a -c.u.l look n't a i...-.- which, with it- iiihighd -woi-iin--and dignity. «... -omellow different from other face-, j Slit- was a woman of nivst.-rv bevond all doubt-one who eonld.'if -li,- w.mld. till a etory of a v.-ry different life an I | -airr,.uniting-. Hut m.t <-n" who -pc.-u-. latel alH.ul Ikt past could Intvo 1i.i.l tli.faintest conception nf ail t!i:it pt-t h.-hl

of romance, of mystery and tra»etly. for .Mine. U'Auliant,' the -li ilil.y old ' lady who le<| her own obscure life apart, had been lioni to one of the iu..-t s|ileudi.l

deslinie- in Knrope. and miejit have won the crown ol an empi'»•. More singular Mill, -he had. nearly mil' a century earlier Ipeen mourned a- dead in many of the great Courts of the Continent. There has probably never been a mure

r.-nuirkal.l.- story in (he annals of ltoy.il houses than that of Mine. D'Aiib.inl. who was thus ending her .lays in deeds of .juiet charity, an unknown exile in a strange city. .More than seventy years earlier she had been cradled with pomp and rejoicing in a palace, the daughter

>f Louis Kudolphur, Duke of Brunswick IVolfenlmttel. and Chri-tina Louise, I'ritieess of tk-ttingen. From her cradle this high-horn infant,

in whose veins flowed the blood of a hundred kings, and wli-i-e -i-ter Elizabeth, was to reign a- con-ort of charle- ' VI.. Emperor of Germany, was de-tincd to iic the bride of one of tin- great mi", of the earth and to wear a crown as Queen. When the Princess Charlotte l.oui-a I for this was her name! blossomed in'o

young womanhood her charms were eu-thu-iastically -ijoken of in every Coir, t of Europe, and many a Royal Prince aspired to her hand. !!nt the dainty lady refused them all. The prospect of a crown. lulf-a-dozen of them, had »i power to dazzle her. Her heart was untouched, ami her heart should not lie given where it could not also go. ISut to her. as to all such coy and wM-

fill maidens, the Fairy Prime came :it la-t. and he came in the guise of the handsome Prime Alexis Petrowitz. eldest son of Peter the Great and heir to the throne of Rus-ia. Alexis was one of the haiid-omert m-'n of his day. and one of the most fascinating, as many a woman had already known to her cost: and when tirst the Printer Charlotte set eyes on him she knew that her conqueror had come. It was a ease of love at a glance: and the girl who had refused her hand to the most eligible lovers in Europe gave her heart, in gild and full liurrender. to one of the greatest scoundrels who ever disgraced a glorious name. It was in I'll that the • Fairy Princess," as lovely and supremely happy a girl a* ever wore a hridil veil, was led to the altar by the Czaivviteli of Ru-sia.

For a few- brief weeks Charlotte lived in a paradise of happino-s more beau'iful than any she had ever dreamed >\ She worshipped her handsome young hu-lund. and he in turn surrounded her with love and passionate devotion. l'>nt bis ardour soon cooled itself: he grew weary of his lovely toy, and the honeymoon had scarcely waned before he revealed himself in his true characterthat of a callou-. cruel, brutal man. Wa* Alexis sane: We doubt it. He had inherited the low tastes and violent temper of his father, who. as we know. was subject to mad attacks of rage, in which he would seek to kill any who gave him offence, whatever hi- 1 rank might lie, and who was never happier than when drinking orandy by the pint with the lowest 01 associate-: and to these the «on added a sensualism and cruelty from which his lather was free.

From neglecting his young wife and driving her to despair by his insults and his ilagrant amours, Alexis began to treat her with physical violence. He declared publicly that he hated her. and made no secret of hw wish to get rid of her. On no fewer than three occasions hj" tried to poi-on her. and each failure -ecmed to fan the Haines of his haired. Even the fact that she was about to become a mother, instead of softening him. added to his cruelty: until one day the crowning scene in the tragedy . f wedded life came. In one of his mad paroxysms of rage he knocked her dow:i, kicked her repeatedly a* -he lay senseless on the ground, and left her bathed with blood.

- Let her die! The -oftier the better!" was the brutal an-wcr to the messenger who informed him that hi- wife's Hie was despaired of: and when, a little later, news was brought to him that she had passed away, after giving birth prematurely to a child, all he i-a'd was, "Bury her. <.et her out of tlw way at wmu as vou can'."

But the wife ot the Czarevitch was not dead, although for .-oitit day.- her life trembled in the balance. The story of her death and burial was a fiction, devised by a few faithful retainers, with tier consent, in order to free her once for all from the tyranny of her brutal husband. Orders were given for the funeral, a sumptuous coffin was prepared, a log of wood was placed inside it, and quietly, sadly, mournfully, the procession left the palace. The Burial Service was read over the coffin, ana mourning was worn in the Courts of Kurope for the lamented Princess whose life had been cut so tragically short. And the Princess? What had become of her? I'ndcr the direction of the Countess Konigt-mark, mother of the future celebrated Marechal Saxc. her .jewels and most prized private belongings were collected; the Princess was taken from her lied, -muggled out of the palace, and in the company of one of her own ladies of the chaiuljer and of an old and trusted man-servant was tak<-n to Paris, to begin her life anew, aw-iy from the splendours and the horror* of the ('nun she kid left for ever.

Ji..m the moment of her mock burial ib.- Prim- Charlotte 1/iuUa was is

,kvi t.» tin- world as If her body, and not a |..g of wfifd. w.-re lying under Jin—ian -nil. Sbe had. by this clever

ru-. emancipated ber-elf from the pa-i. ,-h.ik\-u off her lioyal trapping-, and determined to seek in ob-uirity the liau-pine-s that w.i- denied her in a palace. Bill even in Paris -he was mil -ale. Tli-re were many there who had known her in happier days, and at any moment -he might be recognised and her secret revealed to tlie wot Id. She inu-t :;o auav to some remote corner of the w..r!d where ii"ne would know her: anl.

~ ~-w wc-k- later. -];■ found herself ■Mil, h.T tw. l-.val -itteiidant-. aerolb.- Atlantic, in the nee. cob.m of l.oii-i-i.-u.i. wlihh il.-n he!.l bin a -prinkling or rough and wil.lv-.•altered -ettler-

li.le. .It 1.1-t. -Ill' lholl",hi -I"' eOllhl I breathe tin- .iir of freedom and live ,111 |ie..-o u-itlHHit fear of .lete-ii-m. Hut | chiM -lie? She had ih.l --l toot m.uiy .|.i-.- iu baii-iana when -»'• »' :l - -•■<•" in I rw'nl-eil l>v a man who had known hi', a- a oeautiiiil child in her I'niii«i,k home--tin' Chevalier D'Atiliaiu. aim. like her-flt. ha.l n-tire.l from the noiM t" that reni.it.' colony. Hut alI lii.'iiL'li li>- kin-w well who tli" beautiful an.l .|i"»niti..l new mimi-rant "•■ ""' ■' -i-u ~( reco«iiilioii ,-rape.l til" einvalr.«> kni-ht. uln. wa. f.ir too niu.li i>f a

.ilennwi to prv into a lily's s.'.reN. ' h he .0111.1 „"t make hiiu-.'lf known 1.. ;he Piin.e— hj- (Oiild at h-ast eerve ]„. i„ -iie,,..-. That -In' wa- a woman »,:<i..,.t a prober p.'..le.tor and 111 di--tr.- wa- enoiv.li tor him. He "<a 1th* a.spiailll.in- f the Pl'illel—"s 111.111Vlllt. di-...wre.l that -he willed ;» lllrVe a -ettleuient "II the liallk- of the M -i--i:ipi. an i »alliintlr M.lnnti'er...r 1.. 1.1.1;..- the peep-an ai.i 10 -i.. l ;'l'.'iiieiu h.'i -mad re-oiirc'-

.1,1. .|n the ( li..iali.-r I'll iiupell'.'.! t.. I-U the Prime- that lie had loii ; : .li wrel the -..-ret "t her identity. .11: annoiiii'-eiiieiit wliieh all lined and .li -n—d her very iiuii-h. Wa> -he to K .leiii.-d -al'ftv iu 1111- rein.de pn-l ~f the world; ' Mu-i -he take M-h\ and it ->. where; were the tl- iiaht- tint aro-r in her mind. P. 11! I|„ ; feu- weie u allay.-1 l.y \l. ll'I Ai'-lll'-- .-.nil that jier -.'-ret «'■!< 1...-'., in hi- l..epin». and that !.:■ Would , •■,,! .iir than reveal ft. And thus .-.- link wa- f..v-(.i in I haiil i- '.;.(. i,...in.| ili.-- t•...,) live, ~.-eth-r. I \t !:.-t new- ~ tint the IVare- ,-■ ', ~.i- .1.....1. an 1 tin- I'riiic.'- 1,- ~.,,.,. ,t,.. >-ii....i the* hevali-r IVAllha'.l in .-ii mi. ;-i"-l km''

I Then followed a period m" happinc-s -l!l-ll ;,, slic had lint klll.Wll -iIICC ll ■•!■ I girlhood, (ll' ipiiet. peaceful .lavs hi wlii -li I hll-lund and uilV worked .; 11.1 -Irnggli'd ! ti!iit:tli;-r: mill their liippiii'-- was i crowned hv thr liirlli of a knight--. I who brought -im-liine into tin-ir horn-. < Hit- have though! th:ii iiftcr -i'l the-.- i«r, tli.- ■l'lincc.-- would li.m-lii-'i-ii -a IV from re.-..giiiti..n r.n In ; i-i-lnin !.. tin- capital of i'r.int'. lint -In- li.it lint la-en ni.inv d.iv, in Paris v.ln-n. as -li- w;t- walking willi I-.,-,- loth- j.j,-| !-,, i tii- Tnih-rics louden-. -In- nut tlu-Cnn-ill- Sa.xo l':i'-i- to face. The recognition >va- instant and mutual. There wa- no i-.i-.ipi-. iin-l in ln-r li,-may Mm.-. U'Anbnnl begged tin- Count not to betray

"As regard- t!i,. world at large, ni-i-I dame." tin- ('.unit answered. " I -hall i-o I happy to do „s you will. Iml I shall I i.'ii.s-ili-i- it my duty lo infonii Mis M.i- ---[ it 1 -! v tin- Kin-.,' of vonr presence in Paris." In vain tli.-- la.lv ;1-M.1.-.l tint lu- would not do so. Th» C.iiiit. with nrnfiwc t.'l that In- had no option in tin- matter, hill, as a final i-oil'-i-s-ion. In? promi-i-d tii.it lit- would not do so until Ihn-i----months hid ,i|aps:.,l. and with this pro-m:-i- tin- I'rini-ess had to ha t-.inti-n!. LiitisT. hfiwt'vi'r. I.Pl'oii- tin- litre" uioiitlis had -.-oil,- tin- Chi-viili,-!- had oh-t-iinV-,1 from t'.it- l-n-n.-h l-'.a-t India Companv tin- |.o-i of Mayor of the Island of lioiii-bon. and with his wife and .hiH hid M't sail for |,is new home. When at last her set-ret was reveah-l lo the Kill ' j h- promptly wrote to tie- Covernor f IhiiirlNin, inst him to treat .Mine. D'Aiil.ant with the utmost re-t't-.-t mil alti'iition: and to the Queen of llunii.iry inforiiiimr tier of the fate of the mint whom she had so Ion;; mourned as .lea I. KfTnrtu were niii.le to induce Mine. D'Aulisint to leave hot- lmshaiul ami resume her rank ami place in the world, hut to all such retpicsts she returned an iu'lijrnant and resolute refusal. In Kourhou -lie renuiinetl nulil her liushintl's tleath in 17.14. when, li-ivin" i\Un lost her helovcd .lnu«liler. she returu.-il lo Knr.ipe to s])end in retirement lite few reniainine year- of li-r tnnihlel