PRINCESS AND PIANIST
j ROYAL ROMANCE AND SUAXDAL. A JIUSBAXD'S REVELATIONS,- . ■ ; f London, April 11. Once- more the divorced' Princess Louise of Saxony is in the limelight. This time it is her second husband who ; liiis raked up the scandal in his book entitled "The Memoirs of the Husband •of ail ox-Crown Princess," published yesterday. Signor Enrico Toselli. the Italian musician to the Court of Saxony, it wdl be recalled, was in turn divorced by the Princess and held up to obloquy in the book that she wrote. Tu his apologia lie says: "I have finally resolved to publish the true account of my marriage and life with Louise of Saxony, but I wish it to be understood that I do so only in defence of my own good name and that of my little son—not as an attack upon her.' T cannot forget that I am writing of a wife once dearly loved, the mother of my child." THE FIRST MEETING. Signor Toselli met Princess Louise in | Florence in 1006: i "I can still see Louise of Saxony as j she appeared to me that evening strolling languidly along the road. She was | full of seductive charm and grace. A faint smile touched her tender lips and | lighted up her glorious eyes. She wore a beautifully embroidered white dTess, a ! thin scarf floated about her head, and a voluminous cloak of some nondescript colour draped her figure. The romance , of the surroundings, the starry peace of this beautiful woman combined to make an ineffaceable impression upon my sensitive nature." She took him to her villa. He played the piano to her <Uid their love-making began at once. Even now Signor Toselli grows ecstatic when he thinks of how she first appeared to him: "Her eyes were blue and tender—those eyes which, alas, have so often since (lashed fierce anger at me! The flexible intonations of her voice sang in my brain and vibrated on my heartstrings. It seemed to me a marvellous instrument expressive of all the music in the world." But, alas, he continues:— "When Louise of Saxony chooses she can speak in the most seductive manner; i but if anything occurs to annoy or excite her'she quickly loses her self-control and says unforgivable things. At ordinary moments her versatility is extraordinary; she passes from «ne subject to another with cultured eloquence; but if anger gains the mastery she rants and rages like a virago. However, these things were hidden from me then, and I still gazed at life and love through rosecolored spectacles." Signor Toselli reproduces his own love scenes:— " 'Princess,' I murmured, 'I am an artist. One can only become such through love or through pain. Whither are you leading me. I am here, a slave at your feet. Give.me only a sign and I will obey.' "She laid one hand upon my arm, while with the other she caressed my hair and said softly: 'I am your friend in life and in death. I will never leave you. I will watch over you as your guardian angel.' " 'Your Royal Highness,' I stammered. 'I already owe you a deep debt of gratitude, hut may I ask, without risk of offending you, whether it will be possible for you to T)e always free to receive my worship?' She put her arms round me and drew me nearer still. "'I will be ever devoted and constant, the companion of your life, My love is absolutely unchangeable, and my faith in you profound and illimitable. My affection will encompass you with peace and tenderness.' "I closed my eyes as our lips met in a long embrace." A DETERMINED PRINCESS. Signor Toselli does not scruple to publish a series of love-letters his wife sent him before their marriage. They are certainly sufficiently impassioned. "They are doing their utmost to find some method of separating me from you! Henri mine, but they shall not succeed! No, never shall they succeed! My life belongs to you. I shall be faithful to you until death. . . . But you only know my good qualities, beloved I am half mad, obstinate capricious, accustomed to my own way, and to do everything according to the mood of the moment. I like to be made love to. My passion is easily roused, but quickly satiated. 1 feel, very little remorse. I am a dangerous woman, skilled in the art of inflaming the hearts of men. I am accustomed to luxury, elegance, and' extravagance. These are my faults. . . . I have a thousand others which I cannot enumerate. Woe to the man who links his fate with mine! "I swear to you that I will be your wife. What I have sworn I will carry out. You shall be the proudest man on earth! For, openly, before the world, you will say, 'I am marrying this woman whom a king has turned out of his house, and whom I, Enrico Toselli, recognise as the being most worthy of love in all the universe! ... I am, oh, so happy! lam not well, and I have neither eaten nor slept since yesterday, but my soul is at peaee, reposing on an affection stronger than life. Last night's talk has shown me what you are, my admired Henri! I love you twice as much as before, if that were possible! The admiration and respect I have for you bind me to you for ever. You were right. I feel 1 am entering a new existence. By your side I shall forget my past sufferings. When you know me better, you will recognise that your choice was a wise one, and that she'who will soon be vour wife is not unworthy of your love." THE SEQUEL. They were married in a Strand Registry Office, and went to Stresa for the honeymoon. "Louise declared she had closed the book of her past life, and would ar- ; range the new in such a manner that the days would be without cloud. 1 little knew that, at that very moment, my wife was paying her hotel bill with a cheque for £43 on the Banque Commerciale, where her balance had long been exhausted, f was obliged to pay it myself later. The education of princesses is greatly neglected on the financial and practical side of life." They began to quarrel at once. Toselli disliked the frequent moves, lie resented the bad housekeeping, and finally there came the parting.
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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 317, 31 May 1913, Page 10
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1,071PRINCESS AND PIANIST Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 317, 31 May 1913, Page 10
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