Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 178 035 Louisa's parents are coming to Petersburg

Solovyov received a new task, that is, Alexander's father-in-law and mother-in-law, that is, Louisa's parents, Prince Karl Ludwig of Baden and his wife Amalia of Hesse were coming to visit St. Petersburg.

This trip was arranged not long ago. Paul's death was very sudden, and many things have not been completed yet. 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 parents' home in Saxony. She said she was sick to avoid the rude Constantine, leaving behind only one daughter, Sophia. This child could not be left unattended, so Louisa brought her eldest niece to the Tauride Palace and raised her with her two daughters.

She was a good mother, aunt, daughter, and wife, and a sweetheart as a lover, but she was always very uncomfortable as a daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law. Queen Maria always disliked her, and in fact, she was separated from the court etiquette. Luisa could bear it, and she could not leave as the queen, while Juliana could find an excuse to escape from this oppressive court life.

When she learned that her parents were coming, she was very happy. It had been a long time since she got married and no one had come to visit.

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

She was already very happy to have relatives coming to St. Petersburg, not to mention it was a rare family reunion. Louisa also made special arrangements. Even though she was a person with extremely low expenses and did not care about ostentation, she still had to arrange rooms for her family.

Moreover, although my brother is young, he is not engaged yet. If possible, we can arrange for Karl to come to St. Petersburg to see the world, maybe there will be some unexpected gains.

However, given Queen Mother Maria's temper, she would not be nice to Louisa's little brother, Baden's weak power, and the fact that they are old neighbors of Württemberg.

Of course, Prince Peter Dolgorukov and Solovyov, who went to receive the guests, did not know that they had received orders from Alexander to go to Lithuania to greet them and arrange for them to stay temporarily in the Jelgava Palace.

Karl Ludwig's figure easily reminds people of Mayer, and his facial features are also quite fat, so the association is indeed true.

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

Karl Ludwig was troubled that he was able to raise six daughters but only one son grew up. Fortunately, his son was almost old enough 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 the eyes of an eagle. You can see it from such a distance."

"Who told us to observe from a small hill?"

Prince Peter requested that the Horse Guards and the officers who came with them line up to welcome the Queen's family, and play music. This etiquette standard was frugal at the request of the Queen herself, as Louisa really did not like pomp and circumstance.

"Your Excellency Karl Ludwig, I am Peter Petrovich Dolgorukov. I am here to welcome your family on the orders of Your Majesty and Her Majesty the Queen."

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

"Your Majesty is fine. Of course, Her Majesty the Queen is also fine. She is currently recuperating in the Tafred Palace."

"Of course that's good. I also want to see my granddaughters. Thank you for your help in escorting me to St. Petersburg this time. We are a small country in Baden. We are still in some financial difficulties, so we don't have much to give to the brothers."

"Your Highness, it doesn't matter. The Emperor knows the difficulties faced by His Royal Highness the Marquis of Baden and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Besides, our Imperial Guards have always been disciplined."

"Ah, well, we've been to a lot of places along the way. Even for people like us, we have to go through a lot of checkpoints. It's better to be in Russia. It feels like home here."

"The Emperor's relatives are always welcome in Petersburg, Your Highness."

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

"The Russian Guards' uniforms are so beautiful!"
The two girls were Louisa's sisters, Mary and Wilhelmina, who were still children, and whose elder sisters, Louisa and Frederica, had come to Petersburg as candidates for Alexander's brides when they were of that age.

The whole family, except Caroline in Munich and Frederica opposite, are reunited again, making everyone very happy.

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

Solovyov had seen portraits of Louisa's sisters in St. Petersburg. It was hard to imagine that this eldest sister and her five younger sisters were born to the same mother.

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

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

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

Amalia had a good eye. She had been looking at the cavalry officer Peter Davydov, who was the cousin of the hussar. This young cavalry lieutenant was very energetic and was also a court eunuch.

In addition, she also looked at Prince Peter and Solovyov, which made the two of them, who were always serious, feel embarrassed.

Solovyov's evaluation is: a younger version of Aunt Mo.

So he adjusted his position and came to Mary's door. Of course, he didn't expect that the girl would start talking to him in Russian.

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

"I'm only 20 years old."

"You don't look much older than Carl, and yet you already have two medals."

"Yes, I once participated in the Italian expedition. I remember there was a regiment at that time, and the commander was His Royal Highness Karl Ludwig. Respected Princess, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Can you help me pick the fruit over there?" "Of course."

Solovyov discovered that the family's aesthetic concepts were generally consistent. It was no wonder that Louisa favored him. Although the 19-year-old princess's eyebrows and eyes were not as beautiful as her sister's, they were very gentle.

Solovyov went to pick the fruit without even getting off his horse.

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

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

"But Your Highness, here we call you Elizabeth Alexeevna. You sisters actually share the same name!"

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

"That's true." Think about Austria. They are quite devout in their faith. Girls' names always start with Maria, and are distinguished by other names at the end.

Mary took the three fruits picked by Solovyov and went to tease her elder and younger sisters. Her prank was very successful. The fruits were really sour, even when they were ripe.

A girl raised in a family cannot be copied from the same mold. Solovyov had suffered a lot from Maria, who seemed the most docile.

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

And Karl Ludwig called Solovyov over because he had participated in the battles in Italy.

"You seem to be a good young man, Baron, experienced in the battlefield, but it's different."

"Thank you for your compliment, Your Highness. If Petersburg were not far from your corps, I could go and take a look."

"That's fine too. Although I'm the group leader, I'm in Baden. It's too far away and I can't see you 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 had a very easy-going temper, and it can be imagined that the atmosphere in Karlsruhe was also very relaxed. No wonder Louisa had all kinds of discomfort when she came to St. Petersburg. It was like two completely different worlds.

However, chatting with him was inevitable, because Solovyov was the Tsar's aide-de-camp, and just based on this position, Karl Ludwig also wanted to know about his daughter's recent situation.

"How is Louisa doing?"

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

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

"Don't be sad. Her Highness is gentle and strong. She is doing well recently. The Emperor always visits her."

"Ah, that's good. Thank you, Baron, for letting me, your aide-de-camp, know more."

"Yes, sometimes I also 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 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 hand."

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

"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 Her Highness always liked to go to the garden with her maids when she was in Peterhof and Tauride Palace. That was where she could find true peace."

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

"I used to be the commander of the guards of Emperor Paul, and now I am the adjutant of the emperor, so naturally I 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 woman, but her personality is very easy to get along with. Having a girl like this as a wife and lover in any place makes people feel very happy.

The Jelgava Palace was just a temporary rest before the convoy set off for St. Petersburg. The Baden family missed Louisa very much. They only knew through correspondence that she was in such a faraway place but could not meet her.

At that time, there were no trains or planes to get people from one place to the next quickly.

During this trip, Karl Ludwig will also go to Stockholm to visit his fourth daughter, so his schedule is very full.

Continue along the road along the Baltic Sea coast, continue forward through the Estonian area, and you will not be far from St. Petersburg.

They would be arranged to stay in a villa near Peterhof Palace, and after resting for a while, they would go to the city of St. Petersburg to meet Louisa who was recuperating there.

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

(End of this chapter)