Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 178 035 Louisa’s parents are coming to Petersburg

Soloviev received a new mission, that is, Alexander’s father-in-law and mother-in-law, that is, Louisa’s parents, Baden Margrave Karl Ludwig and his wife Amalia of Hesse are coming to Petersburg for a visit.

This trip was arranged not long ago. Paul’s death was very sudden. At present, many things need to be dealt with and have not been completed. Among the guests invited to the coronation ceremony, most of them are relatives of the Queen Mother and the Queen. Juliana went back to her mother’s home in Saxony. She claimed to be sick to avoid the rude Constantine, leaving only one daughter Sophia. This child cannot be left alone, so Louisa took this eldest niece to the Tavrid Palace and raised her with her two daughters.

She is still very good as a mother, aunt, daughter and wife, and she is also a little sweetheart as a lover. The only thing that makes her very uncomfortable is being a daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law. Queen Mother Maria always disliked her, and in fact, she was separated from the court etiquette. Louisa could bear it, and she could not leave as the queen, while Juliana could find an excuse to escape from this oppressive court life.

After knowing the news that her parents were coming, she was very happy. Since she got married, no one had come for a long time.

And this time, not only her father and mother came, but also her eldest sister, younger brother and two unmarried sisters. Although grandpa was in good health, as a vassal, he had to rule the country, and the old man was 73 years old. It was very tiring to walk such a long distance, so it was not convenient for him to attend.

She was very happy to have relatives come to St. Petersburg, not to mention that it was a rare family reunion. Louisa also made special arrangements. Even if she was very low-cost and did not care about ostentation, she had to arrange rooms for her family.

And although her younger brother was young, he was not engaged yet. If possible, Karl could also be arranged to come to St. Petersburg to see the world, maybe there would be some unexpected gains.

However, given the temper of Queen Mother Maria, Louisa's little brother, the weak power of Baden, and the old neighbor of Württemberg, she would not give a good face.

Of course, Prince Peter Dolgorukov and Soloviev who went to receive the guests did not know that they had received Alexander's order to go to Lithuania to welcome them and arrange for them to stay temporarily in the Jelgava Palace.

Karl Ludwig's figure easily reminds people of Mayer, and his face is also relatively fat, which is indeed the case.

He has a nickname, which is "Europe's good father-in-law". After all, his three married daughters have one queen and two queens, and the two younger daughters are also discussing marriages with Brunswick and Hesse respectively. The quality of the girls in this family is extremely high. Only the eldest daughter has difficulty getting married, probably because she is not good-looking. When Frederick William III of Prussia chose a wife, she was completely defeated by Queen Louise, but the nobles and royal families who proposed the marriage were also of high quality, and she also received a good education.

Karl Ludwig was troubled that he could raise six daughters but only one son. Fortunately, his son was about to get engaged, and he didn't want the inheritance to be transferred to his father and his third wife's son.

"Look over there, it should be the carriage of the Duchy of Baden. Their logo is quite obvious."

"Misha, you really have eagle eyes. You can see it from such a distance."

"Who asked us to observe on a small hill?"

Prince Peter asked the Guards Cavalry and the officers who came with him to line up and play music to welcome the Queen's family. This etiquette was frugal at the request of the Queen herself. Louisa really didn't like pomp and circumstance.

"Your Majesty, Karl Ludwig, I am Peter Petrovich Dolgorukov. I am here to welcome your family by order of His Majesty and His Majesty the Queen."

"Thank you, Prince Peter, how is my son-in-law, Emperor Alexander?"

"Your Majesty is fine, of course, so is His Majesty the Queen. She is recuperating in the Tavrid Palace."

"That's good, of course. I also want to see my granddaughters. Thank you for escorting me all the way to St. Petersburg this time. We are a small country in Baden. We are still in some financial difficulties, and we don't have much to give to our brothers."

"Your Highness, it doesn't matter. The Emperor knows the difficulties of His Highness the Margrave of Baden and His Highness the Crown Prince, and our Guards have always been disciplined."

"Ah, well, we have been to many places along the way. Even with our status, we have to go through many checkpoints. It's better to be in Russia. It's like returning home."

"Petersburg has always welcomed the Emperor's relatives, Your Highness."

When Karl Ludwig and Prince Peter were chatting there, two hooded girls popped their heads out of a carriage. They looked at these Russian officers curiously.

"Die Uniformen der russischen Garde sind so schn!" (The clothes of the Russian Guards are so beautiful!)

The two girls are Louisa's sisters Mary and Wilhelmina. They are still half-grown children. When their sisters Louisa and Frederica reached this age, they had already come to Petersburg as candidates for Alexander's bride.

The whole family, except Caroline in Munich and Frederica in the opposite direction, will be reunited again, making the whole family very happy.

However, their eldest sister Amalia still has no husband. Soloviev also noticed this when he rode to the princesses' carriage to escort them.

Soloviev had seen portraits of Louisa's sisters in Petersburg. It was hard to imagine that she and her five younger sisters were born from the same mother.

Louisa, with blonde hair and blue eyes, pure eyes like a deer, like a fairy, has such a sister with thick eyebrows and black hair. She looks very strong, which is in sharp contrast to the slender figures of her five younger sisters. She looks more like her father.

But there is one thing that is different from her sisters. Since she was born so strong, her body is indeed much fuller than Louisa, which is in sharp contrast to her face.

This time Louisa specifically asked her eldest sister to come over, hoping to find a husband for Amalia. After all, there are still many single young nobles in Russia. Moreover, Alexander was also happy to arrange blind dates for his unmarried sisters-in-law.

Amalia had a good eye. She kept looking at the cavalry officer Peter Davydov, who was the cousin of the hussars. This young cavalry lieutenant looked very energetic and was also a palace eunuch.

In addition, she also looked at Prince Peter and Soloviev, which made the two serious people embarrassed.

Soloviev's evaluation was: a young version of Aunt Mo.

So he adjusted his position and came to the door on Mary's side. Of course, he didn't expect the girl to talk to him in Russian.

"Major, you look really young!" Speaking of which, the language skills of these sisters are comparable, and they all like to learn foreign languages ​​literally.

"I'm only 20 years old."

"You don't look much older than Karl, but you already have two medals."

"Yes, I once participated in the Italian expedition. I remember there was a regiment led by His Royal Highness Karl Ludwig. Dear Princess, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Can you help me pick the fruit over there?"

"Of course."

Soloviev discovered that the aesthetic concepts of this family were generally consistent. It was no wonder that Louisa favored him. Although the 19-year-old princess's eyebrows were not as good as her sister's, she was very gentle.

Soloviev went to pick the fruit without even getting off the horse.

"This fruit is not ripe yet, it may be a little sour. Your Highness, I don't know your name yet."

"Marie Elizabeth, your Queen, is my sister Louisa."

"But your Highness, here we call her Elizabeth Alexeevna, you sisters actually share the same name!"

"We are all Lutherans in Baden. If we were in Vienna, I don't know how many Marias there would be."

"That's true." Think about Austria, their faith is quite pious, and the girls' names always start with Maria, and then use other names to distinguish them.

Marie took the three fruits picked by Soloviev and went to tease the eldest and youngest sisters. Her prank was very successful. The fruit was really sour, even when it was ripe.

A girl raised at home cannot be copied from the same mold. Soloviev had suffered a lot from Maria, who seemed the most docile.

When they arrived at Jelgava, they also had to arrange for the Tsar's father-in-law and his family to stay. Now it was close to the coronation ceremony. Louisa was pregnant, so her position at the coronation ceremony actually needed to be considered. Her movements should be reduced as much as possible. However, there was also a clause in the ceremony, which was the specific details of the coronation when the Patriarch blessed Alexander and Louisa.

And Karl Ludwig, because Solovyov had participated in the battle in Italy, he also called him over.

"You look like a good guy, Baron, who has been trained on the battlefield, but it's different."

"Thank you for your compliments, Your Highness. If Petersburg is not far from your corps, I think I can go and see it."

"That's good, of course. Although I am the head of the corps, I am in Baden, which is too far away and I can't see it on weekdays."

This is true. Some of Paul's original arrangements were indeed very strange. This issue is now undergoing technical adjustments.

The prince of Baden has a very easy-going temper. It can be imagined that the atmosphere in Karlsruhe is also very relaxed. No wonder Louisa has all kinds of discomfort when she comes to Petersburg. It's like two different worlds.

However, chatting with him is inevitable, because Solovyov is the Tsar's aide-de-camp. Just for this position, Karl Ludwig also wants to know about his daughter's recent situation.

"How is Louisa recently?"

"Your Highness, do you mean Her Highness the Queen?"

"Yes, your Queen Elizabeth, her name is Louise Marie August, my dear daughter, she always writes to her family in Petersburg. I know she will be very hard here alone, but there is nothing she can do."

"Don't feel sad, Her Highness is gentle and strong. She is doing well recently, and the emperor always goes to her."

"Ah, that's good. Thank you, Baron, that's you, the aide-de-camp, for knowing more."

"Yes, sometimes I have to explain the animals in the aquarium to Her Majesty's children. The children are growing up healthily and their lives are very happy."

"Oh, it seems that you like reading very much? Louisa likes people who are well-educated and well-mannered. When she was in Karlsruhe, she always sat quietly in front of the desk with a book in her hands."

The old father was particularly proud when he mentioned his third daughter. A baby girl who looked so weak when she was born was his favorite before she got married. She knew etiquette and read a lot of books. She was very talented and very different from those ladies and socialites in the social scene.

".That's why I'm worried about her. The more lively the place, the harder it is for her to adapt to this kind of life, especially in St. Petersburg."

"No wonder when Her Highness was in Peterhof Palace and Tafred Palace, she always liked to go to the garden with her maids, where she could find real peace."

"It seems that you are often in the palace?"

"I used to be the commander of the guard battalion of Emperor Paul, and now I am the adjutant of the emperor, so I can see him often."

And there is something that cannot be said, that is, Louisa is so gentle and lovely. She is definitely not the most beautiful beauty, but she is easy to get along with in character. Having such a girl as a wife and lover anywhere makes people feel very happy.

In the Jelgava Palace, it is just a temporary rest. Then the convoy will set off to St. Petersburg. The Baden family also misses Louisa very much. On weekdays, they only know that she is in such a faraway place through correspondence, but they can't meet.

At this time, there are no trains or planes, and people can't get from one place to the next quickly.

Karl Ludwig also had to visit his fourth daughter in Stockholm during this trip, so his schedule was very full.

Continuing along the Baltic coast, passing through the Estonian area, it was not too far from Petersburg.

They were to stay in a villa near Peterhof Palace, and after a period of rest, they would go to Petersburg to see Louisa who was recuperating there.

The young queen was also arranging the furnishings of the Tavrid Palace during this period, and asked several sisters who got along well with each other to come and live together with their children, and also to simply decorate the furnishings in the palace.