Chapter 70 Petersburg Court at this Time

Chapter 70 Petersburg Court at this Time

Chapter 70 Petersburg Court at this Time
The news of the Russian army's successive victories had not yet reached St. Petersburg, and all that was received here were some preliminary news.

Some people were talking nonsense in salons and clubs, saying that the French army was not easy to deal with and that the Austrians had fought with them for a long time without being able to resolve the situation. Paul's approach was very simple, which was to close most of the British clubs, except for the British Club in St. Petersburg, because some nobles jointly petitioned to retain this place as a venue for social activities.

Paul himself could not completely go against the nobles, so he allowed the club in St. Petersburg to continue operating.

At the same time, salons were still being held in various places, and inevitably discussions would arise about the war between France and Russia, and the relationship with the Austrian allies.

Although Paul himself did not want his eldest daughter to marry a Habsburg, he did not take the initiative to break up the marriage with Archduke Joseph. Instead, he used a relatively complicated method and employed the four-stage diplomatic tactics.

His response to the Austrian ambassador in St. Petersburg was: "Sir, we also want to do something, but it is too late when we want to do it. My daughter Alexandra did not have a spark of love with His Highness Joseph."

After the Austrian ambassador left, he asked Prince Saltykov, who was standing beside him, "How about this?"

"Your Majesty, the Austrian ambassador did not say anything, but from his expression, it can be seen that Vienna will acquiesce to this fact."

"This is an injustice to Grand Duke Joseph, but there is also a good thing. At least he came to St. Petersburg for a blind date. The commander of the coalition forces on the Italian front will be Alexander Vasilyevich. Now our Marshal has sent back an urgent message that the Austrian army won the victory in Verona alone, but in the subsequent pursuit, we won a huge victory. This is the result of military reform. Under the command of our outstanding commander, we will also achieve great victories in the future."

"But your Majesty, the Marshal mentioned in his letter that he is still worried that the French army will increase its troops on the Italian battlefield. Although I am the secretary in charge of diplomatic and administrative affairs, your Majesty, this is also worthy of attention. You still need to discuss this issue with the secretary in charge of army affairs."

"Well, but that will have to wait. We can't do anything here, and Petersburg can't command so far abroad."

Paul's next concern was where his daughter's husband's family should be chosen.

He didn't need to worry too much about Elena. After the eldest son of the Prince of Mecklenburg met her, they liked each other very much. The next thing to do was to get engaged first, and then get married in Petersburg sometime in the second half of the year - this is also a Russian tradition. Considering the current situation in Europe, Paul even wanted his son-in-law, Frederick Ludwig, to stay in Petersburg for a while, as his younger brother happened to be serving in the Winter Palace Guards.

The Winter Palace had no shortage of guest rooms, but Alexandra's marriage gave Paul a headache.

At this time, if he quickly arranged the next blind date, what attitude the Austrian government would have? He was not sure now. If the war went smoothly, there would be fewer concerns in this regard.

The relative he considered was not someone else. His wife's family had a nephew, William Friedrich Karl, from Württemberg. He was 18 years old and was serving in the Austrian army. Archduke Joseph and Alexandra did not succeed this time, but choosing Württemberg next time would not be so unacceptable to the Austrian royal family.

But this prince of Württemberg had a problem. He had a very bad relationship with his father, and banned books were found in his bedroom last year.

In fact, Tsar Paul could understand his nephew's rebellion against his father, and he had considered his brother-in-law, a German strongman who was 2 meters tall and weighed 11 kilograms. He had served in the Russian army in the past and was eventually driven away by his mother.

If Alexandra fails in another blind date, it will be difficult for this precious girl to get married even though she is only sixteen years old.

He did write a letter to Frederick William, saying that if he really wanted to discipline his child, it would not be enough to just leave him in school, but he should take him to a place where there were relatives.

In 1783, Frederick William accompanied his brother-in-law on a tour around Europe, indirectly helping to build bridges between Russia and Austria, which led to King Frederick the Great dismissing him from his post and kicking him out of active service in the Prussian Army.

In the end, it was the Empress who offered him the position of Lieutenant General Commander of the Kherson garrison, and then found a reason to send him away.

As for some of the events that followed, the brothers Paul and Count Bobulinski were also unclear about why Frederick William's daughter-in-law suddenly died of "hemorrhagic disease" in 1788.

(It was only later, when the Wurttemberg family came to relocate the graves, that they discovered that this was a serious scandal, and even involved murder.)
If he went to him, Paul thought that he and Frederick William, the 200-kilogram strongman, were not only a relative, but also a good personal friend, so this kind of thing would always be possible.

Moreover, when Archduke Joseph came to Petersburg, Queen Maria could not say anything that was eye-catching. Although a noble character is a first-class virtue, the performance of the Austrian Archduke was very boring, and the matter was blown.

But if her daughter wanted to marry in Wurttemberg, William's unreliability was a minor problem. She couldn't neglect her cousin from the Russian royal family. She was more or less worried about another point, that is, Baden and Wurttemberg were both at the doorstep of the French.

Although France’s attitude towards these two countries is currently good and no trouble has been caused.

Paul is not without a solution: "Dorothy"

Before the Queen got married, her name was Sophie Dorothy. The elements of this Tsar's office in the Winter Palace were almost full.

"Your Majesty, I hope you will not make a wrong judgment about Alexandra's marriage because of the past in Sweden and Vienna."

"What I'm thinking is this: let our daughter marry William, your nephew. What do you think? Although this young man has some minor problems, but..."

Although William's reputation is not very good now, the queen also considered that this marriage will still be beneficial to her family in Württemberg in the future, and her husband has a good relationship with his brothers.

Even if Württemberg was really occupied by the French, the worst that could happen was that the daughter and son-in-law would find a way to come back. Besides, during the Directory period, the French were not so excessive in their treatment of other countries' courts.

Apart from the pitiful Princess of Savoy who died tragically and had her head sawed off, the queen from Austria was eventually beheaded.

The former murder caused the French royalists and republicans to keep silent about her death. The latter's death now seems more intuitive, because Austria has always been a heavyweight participant in the anti-French alliance.

The French are clear-headed and will not think about working too hard for their allies, nor will they fight to the death with the Russians, who are more vindictive.

"Your Majesty, I think it's possible."

"You were still hesitating just now. I think you were worried about William's character, or something else? You can ask him to come, but you have to investigate first, and even claim to the public that he is here to visit your aunt."

Although Paul is paranoid, he is still quite careful when thinking about problems and takes many aspects into consideration.

He even had a fantastic plan that William would not go back after coming from Württemberg, but would stay here permanently, and return to Stuttgart when he was ready to inherit the position of Prince of Württemberg. In the palace, Alexandra still didn't know who her next husband would be, but she received news from Vienna.

After Constantine went to the front, the five archduchesses finally met their second sister-in-law. Although the unfortunate archduchess and the Princess of Saxony were not worried about her husband being away, she was thinking about the rough behavior before she went out. There were still some traces of rough treatment on her buttocks and thighs.

When the Crown Princess and several sisters-in-law invited her to go down to the pool to play, she was also wearing a skirt, not a swimsuit that covered part of her body.

In the Middle Ages, it usually took between 25 and 50 days for a letter to reach London from Venice, far away from the front. Even by the end of the 18th century, the speed had only increased slightly.

Even if an express mail was sent from Milan to Vienna and then transferred to St. Petersburg, the speed of transmission was slow, and considering the delay of the courier on the road, the speed would not be very fast.

At first, the five sisters were still worried about their brother's safety, but when they saw their second sister-in-law, they all gathered around. Now the focus was on playing with the children. Their niece was also brought to the pool and placed in a large wooden basin. Although the child was not yet one year old, she did not show any fear at all.

Of course, Louisa was still very concerned about the child's safety, and quickly asked the maid to take her daughter out.

The focus was brought back. Louisa had a well-proportioned figure and long, slender legs. She did not look like a Greek sculpture, but rather a typical frail European noblewoman. However, her figure had changed a bit after she gave birth.

In this era, even if there were swimsuits, they were dressed the way they are now. For example, Juliana (the real name of the Princess of Saxony) wore a skirt, and even stockings and dancing shoes when going into the water. It was the most conservative way of dressing.

According to the customs in some parts of Europe, people may bathe with their clothes on.
The five sisters who came here today used heated water in the pool. There were not many luxurious things in Paul's palace. This heated water pool was an additional building that appeared in the imperial village after he asked his brother to build a garden.

Their clothes were all covered above the knees, and they had to wear shoes even though they didn't have stockings. People at that time would never have imagined that in the next 150 years, the amount of fabric for swimsuits would be reduced to a level even more serious than the decline in forest coverage.

Even at home, women would wear it for themselves when they wanted to go into the water. For a long time after 1670, people even wore it when they went to hot springs for hydrotherapy. It was different from the Roman era.

As they sat by the water, they began to discuss Elena's fiancé.

"Elena, we thought your fiancé would be a loud-mouthed 'little colonel' like his brother, but we didn't expect him to be a well-groomed man with a gentle personality."

"Brothers can't all be the same, like father and uncle Alexei, you see, they are different from each other in character and physique..."

"Maria, why are you chewing on your father's tongue?"

Anyway, she was very favored by Paul, and she was never blamed for publicly saying that her father's pajamas were funny.

However, this question is indeed worth thinking about. After all, apart from the gentle look in Paul and the Count's eyes when they are quiet and the identical gait when the two brothers walk, it is really hard to find any similarities between them.

Moreover, Count Bobulinski had gained some weight today, and considering his clothes, he walked like a great auk.

Fortunately, Solovyov was not in Petersburg, otherwise he would have added a slogan to the Count: "Do you charge Q coins?"

Then they began to make wild guesses and associate with the people around them. Alexander and Constantine had always had the same hairstyle, even when they became bald. They were not like their father, who was a thin man but had thick hair and could cut his own hair without a wig.

There was nothing to be gained from such blind guessing, so the topic returned to the Mecklenburg brothers.

"Sister, your marriage always encounters some minor troubles, although this time it is because Joseph is not attractive enough."

"Maria, what do you know about attraction?"

"That's right. What do you think of the 'little captain' when he wears a skirt?"

"He looks pretty after dressing up, but he and Constantine are both in Italy, Elena, why do you want to mention him?"

"He actually wrote to me. He probably knew about my engagement. There was also a small gift from Vienna."

"He must have heard it when he accompanied the old marshal to Vienna. He heard that the court in Vienna pays special attention to marriage."

Alexandra began to sigh when she thought of her several unlucky blind dates. Her little sister Anna, who was in her arms, had no idea about any of this. When the three sisters talked, they always talked about whatever they picked up. Although they all sympathized with the series of bad luck she had encountered, there was no way to comfort her.

If I need help, I can only seek comfort from my sister-in-law.

"Alexandra, I did hear about it, and William of Württemberg. Don't tell anyone else about it, it was the Queen Mother's lady-in-waiting who told me."

Louisa spoke these words close to Alexandra's ear, in a low voice, but she could hear them clearly.

If it was cousin William, Alexandra would be able to accept it. Although her grandfather's letters always said that he had behaved ridiculously since he was a child, they had played together when they were in St. Petersburg.

When William was five or six years old, he was already much taller than other children of the same age, like a seven or eight-year-old. At that time, he would punish with his fists any "little bastard" who dared to bully his cousin.

This was probably one of the few memories Alexandra had of her cousins ​​during her childhood.

Although it was a bit absurd, this cousin would always say hello every time he wrote to her, and he would always send some small things from Württemberg with the court messenger, as well as the molds and drawings for his aunt. This alone made the sisters have a good impression of him. His absurd reputation and his attitude towards his relatives were not contradictory.

(End of this chapter)