An Unfortunate Marriage, a Tragic Ending

The Grand Duke Serge was one of those troubled personalties that preceeded World War I. With a distiint affection for young guardsmen, he married Ella, the sister of Alexandra of Hess, the last Tsarina of Russia Desptite his prediliction, Elle loved him. After the revolt of 1905, Serge was assasinatied upon intering their home by a bomb and she was ever immortalised by running out of the palace and picking up his body parts. After that she became a nun and devoted her life to helping the poor; a sister to Empress Alexandra, she could not even use her influence in deflecting the the influence and abuse of Rasputin.

In the end, she was one day led by the Bolsheviks in her nun's robes with several cousins and and nephews on July 18, 1918 and thrown down a mine shaft. When resucers reached there a week later they found that, before she died, she had torn her gowns and made bandages for the boys.

When you deal with nonsense all day long, it's nice to remember the real things. I saw that in the Bajnotti Memorial at Brown University the Count Bajnotti had erected for Carrie Brown: "Love is Strong as Death"