Love affairs of the courts of Europe by Thornton Hall - HTML preview

CHAPTER XXIX

AN ILL-FATED MARRIAGE--_continued_

If anything could have restored happiness to Milan of Servia and his Princess, Natalie, it should surely have been the birth of the baby-Prince, Alexander, whom both equally adored and equal y spoiled.

But, instead of linking his parents in a new bond of affection "Sacha"

was from his cradle the innocent cause of widening the breach that severed them.

For a time, fortunately, Milan had little opportunity of continuing the feud of recrimination with his high-spirited and hot-tempered spouse.

More serious matters claimed him. Servia was plunged into war with Turkey, and his days were spent in camp and on the battlefield, until the intervention of Russia put an end to the long and hopeless struggle, and Milan found himself one February day in 1882, thanks to the Berlin Conference, hailed the first King of his country, under the title of Milan I.

Then followed a disastrous war with Bulgaria into which the headstrong King rushed in spite of Natalie's warning--"Draw back, Milan, and have no share in what will prove a bloody drama. You have no chance of conquering, for Alexander is made of the stuff of the Hohenzol erns."

And indeed the struggle was doomed to failure from the first; for Milan was no man to lead an army to victory. Read his method of conducting a campaign, as described by one of his aides-de-camp--

"Our troops continue to retreat--I never imagined a campaign could be so jol y. We do nothing but dance and sing and fiddle. Yesterday the King had some guests and the champagne literally flowed. We had the Belgrade singers, who used to delight us in the theatre-cafe. They sang and danced delightful y. The last two days we have had plenty of fun, and yesterday a lot of jolly girls came to enliven us." Such was Milan's method of conducting a great war, on which the very existence of his kingdom hung. Wine and women and song were more to his taste than forced marches, strategy, and hard-fought battles. But once again foreign intervention came to his rescue; and his armies were saved from annihilation.

When his sword was finally sheathed, if not with honour, he returned to Belgrade to resume his gambling, his dal yings with fair women--and his daily quarrels with his Queen, whose bitterness absence had done nothing to assuage. So far from Natalie's spirit being crushed, it was higher and prouder than ever. She would die before she would yield; but she was in no mood to die, this autocratic, fiery-tempered, strong-willed daughter of Russia. She gave literal y a "striking" proof of the spirit that was in her at the Easter reception of 1886, when the wife of a Greek diplomat--a beautiful woman, to whom her husband had been more than kind--presented herself smilingly to receive the "salute courteous"

from Her Majesty. With a look of scorn Natalie cool y surveyed her rival from head to foot; and then, in the presence of the Court, gave her a resounding slap on the cheek.

But the Grecian lady was only one of many fair women who basked successively (or together) in Milan's favour. A much more formidable rival was Artemesia Christich, a woman as designing as she was lovely, who was quick to envelop the weak King in the toils of her witchery. Not content with his smiles and favours she aspired to take Natalie's place as Queen of Servia; and, it is said, had extorted from him a promise that he would make her his Queen as soon as his existing marriage tie could be dissolved. And to this infamous compact Artemesia's husband, a man as crafty and unscrupulous as herself, consented, in return for his promotion to certain high and profitable offices in the State.

In vain did the Emperor and the Crown Prince of Austria, with many another high-placed friend, plead with Milan not to commit such a fol y.

He was driven to distraction between such powerful appeals and the allurement of the siren who had him so effectual y under her spell, until in his despair he entertained serious thoughts of suicide as escape from his dilemma. Meanwhile, we are told, "a perfect hell" raged in the castle; each day brought its scandalous scene between his outraged Queen and himself. His unpopularity with his subjects became so acute that he was hissed whenever he made his appearance in the streets of his capital; and Artemesia was obliged to have police protection to shield her from the vengeance of the mob.

As for Natalie, this crowning injury decided her to bear her purgatory no longer. She would force her husband to abdicate and secure her own appointment as Regent for her son; or, failing that, she would leave her husband and seek an asylum out of Servia. And with the object of still further embittering his subjects against the King she made the ful story of her injuries public, and enlisted the sympathy, not only of Milan's most powerful ministers, but of the entire country.

"The castle is in utter confusion," wrote an officer of the Belgrade garrison, in October, 1886. "The King looks ill, and as if he never slept. Poor fellow! he flies for refuge to us in the guard-house, and plays cards with the officers. Card-playing is his worst enemy. He loves it passionately, and plays excitedly and for high points--and he always loses."

Matters were now hastening to a crisis. Hopelessly in debt, scorned by his subjects, and hated by his wife, Milan's plight was pitiful. The scenes between the King and the Queen were becoming more violent and disgraceful every day. "There was no peace anywhere, nor did anyone belonging to the Court enjoy a moment of tranquillity." So intolerable had life become that, early in 1887, Milan decided to dissolve his marriage; and it was only at the pleading of the Austrian Emperor that he consented to abandon this design, on condition that his wife left Servia; and thus it was that one day in April Queen Natalie left Belgrade, accompanied by her son "Sacha," ostensibly that he might continue his education in Germany.

But, although husband and wife were thus at last separated, Milan's resolve to divorce her remained firm. "I have to inform you," he wrote shortly after her departure, "that I have this day sent in my application to our Holy National Church for permission to dissolve our marriage." And that nothing might be lacking to Natalie's suffering and humiliation, he sent General Protitsch to Wiesbaden with a peremptory demand that his son, "Sacha," should return to Servia.

In vain did Natalie protest against both indignities. Milan might divorce her; but at least he should not rob her of her son, the only solace left to her in life. And when General Protitsch, seeing that milder measures were futile, gave orders for the Prince to be removed by force, the distracted mother flung one protecting arm round her boy; and, pointing a loaded pistol with the other, threatened to shoot dead the man who dared approach her.

Opposition, however, was futile; the following evening the boy-Prince was in his father's arms, and the weeping mother was left disconsolate.

Thus robbed of her darling "Sacha," it was not long before the second blow fel . The divorce proceedings were rushed through the Synod. A deaf ear was turned to Natalie's petition to be al owed, at least, to defend herself in person; and on the 12th October, 1888, the "marriage between King Milan I. and Natalie, born Ketschko," was formal y dissolved. Wel might this most unhappy of Queens write, "The position is embittered by my conscience assuring me that I have neglected no duty, and that there is not a single action of my life which could be cited against me as a grave offence, or could put me to shame were it brought before the whole world. My fate should draw tears from the very stones; but I do not ask for pity; I demand justice."

If anything could have increased Milan's unpopularity it was this brutal treatment of his Queen. The very men who, at his coronation, had taken off their cloaks that he might walk on them, and the women who had kissed his garments, now hissed him in the streets of his capital. In his own Court he had no friend except the infamous Christitch; the general hatred even took the form of repeated attempts on his life. If he would save it, he realised he must abandon his crown; and one March morning in 1889, after informing his ministers of his intention to abdicate, he awoke his twelve-year-old son with the greeting, "Good morning, Your Majesty!" Milan was no longer King of Servia; his son, Alexander, reigned in his stead.

Probably no King ever laid down his crown more willingly. He had put aside for ever his Royal trappings, with al their unhappy memories, and their present discomforts and danger; but in distant Paris he knew a life of new pleasure awaited him, remote from the wranglings of Courts and the assassin's knife. And within a week of greeting his successor as King, he was gaily riding in the Bois, attending the theatres, supping hilariously with ladies of the bal et, or dining with his friends at Verrey's "where his somewhat rough manner and coarse jokes (the legacy of his swineherd ancestry) caused him sometimes to be mistaken for a parvenu," until a waiter would correct the impression by a whispered,

"That gentleman with the dark moustache is Milan, ex-King of Servia."

While her husband was thus drinking the cup of Paris pleasure, his wife was still doomed to exile from her kingdom and her son, with permission only to pay two brief visits each year. But Natalie, who had so long defied a King, was not the woman to be daunted by mere Regents. She would return to Belgrade, and at least make her home where she could catch an occasional glimpse of her boy. And to Belgrade she went, to make her entry over flower-strewn streets, and through a tornado of cheers and shouts of "Zivela Rufe!" It was a truly Royal welcome to the great warm heart of the Servian people; but no official of the Court was there to greet her coming, and as she drove past the castle which held all she counted dear in life, not even the flutter of a handkerchief marked the passing of Servia's former Queen.

Had she but played her cards now with the least discretion, she might have been al owed to remain in Belgrade in peace. But Natalie seems fated to have been the harbinger of storm. For a time, it is true, she was content to lie _perdue_, entertaining her friends at her house in Prince Michael Street, driving through the streets of her capital behind her pair of white ponies, or walking with her pet goat for companion, greeted everywhere with respect and affection. But her restless, vengeful spirit, still burning from the indignities she had suffered, would not al ow her to remain long in the background. She threw herself into political agitation, and thus brought herself into open conflict with the Regents; she inaugurated a campaign of abuse against her husband, whom she still pursued with a relentless hatred; and generally made herself so objectionable to the authorities that the Skupshtina was at last compelled to order her banishment.

When the deputies presented themselves before her with the decree of expulsion, she laughed in their very faces, declaring that she would only submit to force. "I refuse to go," she said defiantly, "unless I am expel ed by the hands of the police." A few hours later she was forcibly removed from her weeping and protesting ladies, hurried into a carriage, and driven off, with a strong escort of soldiers, on her journey to exile.

But the good people of Belgrade, who had got wind of the proposed abduction, were by no means disposed to look on while their beloved Queen was thus brutal y taken from them. When the cortege reached the Cathedral Square, it was stopped by a formidable and menacing mob; the escort, furiously assailed with sticks and showers of stones, was beaten off; the horses were taken from the carriage, and the Queen was drawn back in triumph by scores of willing hands, to her residence.

Natalie's victory, however, was short-lived. At midnight, when her stalwart champions were sleeping in their beds, the police, crawling over the roofs of the houses in Prince Michael Street, and descending into the Queen's courtyard, found it a very simple matter to complete their dastardly work. The Queen was again bundled unceremoniously into a carriage, and before Belgrade was well awake, she was far on her way to her new exile in Hungary. A few days later a formal decree of banishment was pronounced against her, forbidding her, under any pretext whatever, to enter Servia again without the Regent's permission.

Only once more did Natalie and Milan set eyes on each other--when the ex-King presented himself at Biarritz, to bring her news of their son's projected _coup d'etat_, by which he designed to depose the Regents and to take the reins of government into his own hands. Taken by surprise, the Queen received Milan, but when she saw him standing before her, an aged, broken man, her composure gave way. She could not speak; she trembled like a leaf.

With Alexander's dramatic accession to his full Kingship a new, if brief, era of happiness opened to Natalie. The Regents were no longer able to exclude her from Servia, and by her son's invitation she returned to Belgrade to resume her old position of Queen.

Still beautiful, in spite of al her suffering, she played for a time the role of Queen-mother to perfection, holding her Courts, presiding at bal s and soirees, taking a prominent part in affairs of State, and gradual y acquiring more power than her easy-going son himself enjoyed.

At last, after long years of unrest and unhappiness, she seemed assured of peaceful years, secure in the affection of her son and her people, and far removed from the husband who had brought so much misery into her life.

But Natalie was fated never to be happy long, and once more her evil Destiny was to snatch the cup from her lips, assuming this time the form of Draga Maschin, one of her own ladies-in-waiting, under the spel of whose black eyes and voluptuous charms her son quickly fell, after that first dramatic incident at Biarritz, when she plunged into the sea to his rescue and saved him from drowning.

Many months earlier a clairvoyante at Paris had told Natalie, "Your Majesty is cherishing in your bosom a poisonous snake, which one day will give you a mortal wound." She had smiled incredulously at the warning, but she was soon to learn what truth it held. Certainly Draga Maschin was the last person she would have suspected of being a source of danger--a woman many years older than her son, the penniless widow of a drunken engineer--a woman, moreover, of whose life, before Natalie had taken pity on her poverty, many strange stories were told--how, for instance, she had often been seen in low resorts, "with the arm of a forester or a tradesman round her, singing the old Servian songs."

But she had not taken into account Draga's sensuous beauty, before which her son was powerless. Each meeting left him more and more involved in her toils, until, to the consternation of Servia and the horror of his mother, he announced his intention of making her his Queen. Even Milan, degraded as he was, was horror-struck when the news came to him in Paris. "And this," he exclaimed, "is the act of 'Sacha'--my own son. He is a monster, a thing of evil in the eyes of al men! The Maschin will be Queen of Servia. What a reproach! What an evil! A creature like her!

A sordid creature! Could he not have put aside his love for this low-born woman? But I could never make the fool understand that a King has duties; he has something else to think of but love-making."

When taking leave of the friend who had brought him this evil news Milan said, "I shal never see Servia again. My experience has been a bitter one--everywhere treachery and deceit. And now my own son--_that_ has broken my heart." A few months later, worn out by his excesses, prematurely old and broken-hearted, the man who had prostituted life's best gifts drew his last breath at Vienna at the age of forty-six.

As for Natalie, this crowning calamity of her son's disgrace did more than all her past sufferings to crush her proud spirit. But fate had not yet dealt the last and most cruel blow of all. That fel on that fatal June day of 1902 when her beloved "Sacha's" mutilated body was flung by his assassins out of his palace window, to be greeted with shouts of derisive laughter and cries of "Long live King Peter," from the dense crowds who had come to gloat over this last scene in the tragedy of the House of the Obrenvoie.

INDEX

Agenois, Duc, d', 284, 285

Aisse, Ml e, 221-224

Albany, Count of, 13-20

" Countess of, 15-22

Alberoni, Cardinal, 184

Alexander, King of Servia, 319-329

Alexander III., of Russia, 93

Alexis, Tsarevitch, 10, 255

Alfieri, Vittorio, 19-22

Anjou, Duc d', 59

Anna, Empress, 26

Anne of Austria, 159, 163, 164

Arcimbaldo, 92

Aubigne, Constant d', 240, 241

" Francoise d', 240-247

Audouins, Diane d', 37

Augustus, of Saxony, 93-102

Austin, William, 205, 213

Auvergne, Comte d', 235

Babou, Francoise, 35

Baireuth, Margravine of, 7

Baratinski, Prince, 155

Barry, Guillaume du, 47

" Jean du, 47

" Madame du, 47-54

Bavaria, Elizabeth of, 215

Beaufort, Duchesse de, 41-44

Beauharnais, Eugene, 135

" Hortense, 135

" Josephine, 127-137

Beauvallon, 143

Becu, Jeanne, 45-54

Bel egarde, Count di, 205-206

" Duc de, 37-39

Berry, Duc de, 57-61

" Duchesse de, 55-65, 182, 217

Bestyouzhev, 30, 31

Beuchling, 98

Blanguini, 111

Blois, Ml e de, 56

Bonaparte, Elisa, 104

" Letizia, 104, 105

" Napoleon, 104-112, 127-137

Bonaparte, Pauline, 104-113

Bonaventuri, Pietro, 170-175

"Bonnie Prince," 13-22

Borghese, Prince Camillo, 110

Borghese, Princess Pauline, 110-113

Bossi, Giuseppe, 205

Bourgogne, Duc de, 59

" Duchesse de, 181

Brissac, Duc de, 50-53

Bristol, Lord, 121, 122

Brougham, 212

Brunswick, Augusta, Duchess of, 194

Brunswick, Charles Wm., Duke of, 194

Byron, Lord, 138

Campbel , Lady Charlotte, 193, 194

Campredon, 249

Capello, Bartolomeo, 172

" Bianca, 169-179

Carlos, King of Spain, 304, 305.

Caroline, Princess of Wales, 191-202

Caroline, Queen of Naples, 120

Catargo, Marie, 307

Catherine I., of Russia, 1-12, 23

Catherine II., of Russia, 23, 29, 32, 72, 73, 76, 80, 149-158

Charles V., Emperor, 88

Charles VII., Emperor, 29

Charles IX., King of France, 227

Charles, Monsieur, 133, 134

Charlotte, Princess, 199, 202, 211

Charlotte, Queen, 197

Chartres, Duc de, 56

Chateauroux, Duchesse de, 288-293

Christian II, of Denmark, 81-92

Christich, Artemesia, 321, 322

Clary, Desiree, 104, 127

Colonna, Prince, 167, 295

" Princess, 167, 168, 295

Cosse, Louis, Duc de, 48-50

Domanski, 70-72, 74, 77, 79

Douglas, Lady, 200

" Sir John, 200

Dubois, Cardinal, 215, 216

Dujarrier, M., 143

Dyveke, 83-89

Elizabeth I., of Russia, 23-32, 72, 150, 153

"Elizabeth II." of Russia, 74, 76, 77

Embs, Baron von, 67

Emilie, 220, 221

Encke, Charlotte, 115, 116

" Wilhelmine, 114-126

Entragues, Henriette d', 44, 227-237

Entragues, Seigneur d', 227, 229

Esterle, Countess, 102

Estrees, Antoine d', 36

" Gabrielle d', 35-44, 226

Estrees, Jean d', 36

Eudoxia, Empress, 252-257

Faaborg, Hans, 90-91

Fabre, Francois X., 21

Falari, Duchesse de, 224

Feriol, Comte de, 222

" Madame de, 223

Fersen, Count, 261

Fimarcon, Marquis de, 221

Fitzherbert, Mrs, 199

Flavacourt, Madame de, 283

Fleury, Cardinal, 271, 272, 282, 283, 284

Fontanges, Ml e de, 245

Forbin, 111

Francois I, 36

Frederick the Great, 114-118

Frederick William II, of Prussia, 115-124

Frederick William III., of Prussia, 124

Freron, 106

Gace, Comte De, 183

Galitzin, Prince, 79

George III., 197, 201, 211

George IV., 191-202

Giovanna, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, 174-177

Glebof, Major, 253-256

Goncourt, de, 46, 270, 286

Guiche, Comte de, 265, 302

Guise, Duc de, 237

Gustav, Adolf, 15

Hamilton, Mary, 257-259

" Sir William, 75, 77

Haye, La, 60

Henri IV., of France (and Navarre), 35-44, 226-237

Holbein, Francis, 126

Hornstein, 69

Hutchinson, Lord, 212

Isabella, Princess, 88

Ivan, 26

Jersey, Lady, 198, 199

Joachim Murat, King, 207

Joinville, Prince de, 234, 237

Josephine, Empress, 110-112, 127-137

Junot, 107

Karageorgevitch, Alex., 306

Ketschko, Natalie, 311-329

" Nathaniel, 310

Koenigsmarck, Aurora von, 94-103

Koenigsmarck, Conrad von, 94

" Philip von, 94-96

Konstantinovitch, Alex., 313

Kristenef, 77

Kusa, Prince, 308

Lambal e, Princesse de, 263

Landsfeld, Countess of, 146-148

Languet, Abbe, 63

Lauzun, Duc de, 62

Laval iere, Duchesse de, 239

Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 201

Leclerc, General, 108, 109

Lichtenau, Countess, 120-126

Limburg, Duke of, 67, 68

Lorraine, Prince Charles of, 167, 301

Louis XIV., 159, 162-167, 238-247, 248, 295

Louis XV., 45, 47-49, 270-292

Louise, Countess of Albany, 15-22

Loewenhaupt, Count Axel, 94

" Countess, 94, 97-99

Ludwig I., of Bavaria, 144-147

Luynes, Duc de, 273

Mailly, Madame de, 273-293

Maine, Duc de, 243, 247

Maintenon, Madame de, 57, 244-247

Malmesbury, Lord, 195-198

Manby, Captain, 201

Mancini, Hortense, 162, 167, 168

Mancini, Laure, 294

" Madame, 159-163

" Marie, 160-168, 239, 298-301

Mancini, Olympe, 294-305

Maria Theresa, Queen of Spain, 302, 304

Marie Antoinette, 260-269

Marie Leczinska, 270

Marie Louise, Empress, 112, 136, 204

Marine, Monsieur de, 67

Marke, Count de la, 117

Marmont, General, 107

Maschin, Draga, 328, 329

Masson, 32, 135

Maurepas, 282-284, 292

Mazarin, Cardinal, 159-163, 239, 295, 297

Mazarin, Madame de, 282, 283

Medici, Cardinal de, 176-176

" Francesco de, 172-179

" Marie de, 231-235

Menshikoff, 3, 6, 12

Mercoeur, Duc de, 295

Mexent, Marquis de Saint, 123

Michael, Prince, of Servia, 306, 308

Michelin, Madame, 181

Milan I., of Servia, 306-329

Modena, Duke of, 185-189

" Duchess of, 182, 186-189

Monceaux, Marquise de, 41

Mons, William, 11

Montespan, Madame de, 55, 56, 239, 240, 243-245

Montez, Lola, 138-148

Montmorency, Charlotte de, 236, 237

Mortemart, Duchesse de, 54

Motte-Houdancourt, Ml e de la, 302

Motteville, Madame de, 294, 296

Mouchy, Madame de, 62-65, 217

Murussi, Princess, 313, 314

Napoleon I., 104-112, 127-137

Natalie, Queen of Servia, 311-329

Nathalie, Empress, 252

Nesle, Felicite de, 275-279

" Marquise de, 182

Nevers, Duc de, 232

Noailles, Cardinal, 64

Obrenovitch Jefrenn, 307

Ompteda, Baron, 206

Orleans, Philippe, Duc de, 55-57, 60-64, 184, 214-225

Orloff, Alexis, 74, 76-79, 155

" Count, 258

" Gregory, 29, 32, 76, 153-158

Palatine, Princess, Elizabeth, 56, 59, 62, 64

Panine, 157

Paskevitch, General, 141, 142

Patiomkin, 23

Perdita, 199

Pergami, 206-213

Permon, Albert, 107

" Madame, 109

Peter the Great, 3-12, 23, 248-259

Peter II., of Russia, 28, 257

Peter III., of Russia, 149-155

Pinneberg, Countess of, 73

Platen, Countess, 94

Polignac, Cardinal de, 261

" Diane de, 262, 265

" Jules, Comte de, 261-264

Polignac, Madame de, 182

" Yolande, de, 261-269

Poel nitz, Von, 7

Poniatowski, 151, 152

Porte, Armande de la, 162

Protitsch, General, 323

Pugatchef, 73

Radziwill, Prince Charles, 73, 74

Ravaillac, 35

Razoum, Alexis, 23-34, 72

" Cyril, 26-28

" Gregory, 24

Richelieu, Duc de, 180-190, 275, 280, 285, 290, 291

Richelieu, Duchesse de, 185

Rietz, Herr, 117

" Wilhelmine, 117-120

Ringlet, Father, 62

Riom, Comte de, 62-64

Saint-Simon, Duc de, 57, 60, 62, 305

Saint-Simon, Madame de, 58

Savoie, Chevalier de, 65

Savoy, Charles Emmanuel, Duke of, 168

Savoy, Margaret, Princess of, 164, 165, 299, 300

Scarron, Paul, 241, 242

Schenk, Baron von, 67

Sevigne, Madame de, 245, 303

Seymour, Henry, 48

Shouvalov, 29

Sigbrit, Frau, 83-92

Skovronski, I, 23

Smith, Sydney, Captain, 200

Soissons, Comte de, 297

" Comtesse de, 295, 297-305

Soltykoff, Sergius, 151

Sophia Dorothea, of Celle, 94

Spencer, Lord Henry, 119

Stanley, Sir John, 193

Stendhal, 21

Stuart, Charles, 13-20

Sul y, Duc de, 41, 42, 229-231

Tencin, Madame de, 223, 280

Teplof, 155

Thackeray, 192, 198, 200

Toebingen, Major, 199

Torbern, Oxe, 90-92

Touchet, Marie, 227

Tourel-Alegre, Marquess, 36

Tournel e, Mme de la, 280-293

Tuscany, Bianca, Grand Duchess of, 169-179

Tuscany, Francesco, Grand Duke of, 172-179

Valkendorf, Chancellor, 81-85, 89

Val iere, La, 301-303

Valois, Marguerite de, Queen of France, 42, 229, 231

Valois, Ml e de, 182, 184, 185

Vardes, Marquis de, 302

Vaudreuil, Comte de, 267, 268

Verneuil, Marquise de, 231-237

Villars, Duchesse de, 233, 234

Vintimille, Comtesse de, 276-279