Sources:
Letters of the Tsaritsa to the Tsar, 1914-1916, published by Duckworth & Co., 1923
The letter:
No. 103.
Tsarskoje Selo, Aug. 27-th 1915
My very own beloved One,
I wonder wheter you get my letters every day — pitty so far away & all the trains passing now stop the movement — Again only 8 degrees, but the sun seems to wish to appear. Do you get a walk daily, or are you too much occupied? Baby slept very well, woke up only twice for a moment, & the arm aches much less I am happy to say; no bruise is visible, only swollen, so I think he might be dressed to-day. When he is not well I see much more of him, wh. is a treat (if he does not suffer, as that is worse than anything). Olga & Tatiana returned after 7 from town, so I went with Marie to the lower church 6½-8. This morning I go with the two little ones upstairs at 10½, as the others have Church before 9 below. — My fasting consists now of not smoking, as I fast since the beginning of the war, & I love being in Church. I do want to go to Holy Communion & the Priest agrees, never finds it too early to go again & it gives strength — shall see. Those soldiers that care, will also go. — Saturday is the anniversary of our stone! — Css. Grabbe told Ania yesterday, that Orlov & wife were raging in town, at being sent away, turned out — wh. shocked others — he told her too that N. P. was going to replace him (I was sure he had had it put into the papers) an ugly trick, after his wife having begged N. P. to come & talked with him — such are people. Many are glad, who knew his dirty money affairs and the way he allowed himself to speak about me. — Will you find time to scrawl a line once? We get no news, as I told N. P. better not to wire nor write for the present, after that ugly story at the H.-Q.
Wonder what news. You will let them send me telegr. again, wont you, Deary. — Baby dear is up & half dressed, lunched at table with us & had the little boys to play with. He would not go out, said he did not feel strong enough, but would to-morrow — he did not write yet, because he could not hold the paper with his left hand. We dine up there again — its cosy & not so lonely as down here without you. Well, this morning I went with the two youngest at 10½ to mass & Te Deum with lovely prayers for you to the Virgin & St. Serafim — from there we went to our hospital, all were off to the Te Deum in the little grotto church there so we went again — & now at 6½ to evening service. I hope very much to go to holy Communion on Saturday, I think many soldiers go too, so Sweetheart please forgive yr. little wify if in any way I grieved or hurt you, & for having bored you so much these trying weeks. I shall wire if sure I go, & you pray for me then, as I for you — its for you somehow this fasting, church, daily Te Deum, & so Holy Communion will be a special blessing & I shall feel you one with me, my dearly beloved Angel, very, very own Huzy. — Here I enclose a pretty telegr. fr. Volodia I want you to read. — Paul came to tea, very quiet & nice. About himself he spoke, & I said what we had spoken about, that you hoped taking him or sending him about. He wants in no way to be pushy or forward, but longs to serve you, wont bother you with a letter, asks me to give all this over to you. Or if you wld. send him to some armycorps under a good general — ready for anything & full of good intentions. Wont you think it over & speak with Alexeiev & then let me know please. — We spoke about Dmitri, dont repeat it to him — it worries him awfully & he is so displeased, that he stuck for ever in the H.-Q., finds he ought absolutely not to stay there, as its very bad for him, spoils him & he thinks himself then a very necessary personage. Paul was greatly discontented that he came now & sorry you did not shut him up quicker, instead of allowing him to try & mix up in things about wh. he understands nothing. —
Best if he returned into the regiment wh. uniform he was the honour to wear & in wh. he serves. In speaking about the G. a Cheval, Paul said that he found a new commander ought to be named, this ones wound does not heal, he has received everything, done all he could & the regiment cannot get along with only youngsters & no real Commander — as he says any good one fr. the war, no matter who he is, only that he should be good, so you will perhaps also talk this over (not with Dmitri) with Alexeiev. Buchanan brought me over 100.000 p. again, he wishes you also every success! Cannot bear town any more. Says what difficulty to get wood, & he wants to get his provisions now already & is waiting since 2 months & now hears it wont come. One ought to get a good stock beforehand, as with these masses of refugees who will be hungry & freezing. Oh, what misery they go through, masses die on the way & get lost & one picks up stray children everywhere.
Now must be off. I bless & kiss you a 1000 times very, very tenderly, with yearning love. Ever yr. own old
Alix.
Wont the Duma be shut at last — why need you be here for that? How the fools speak against the military censors, shows how necessary.
All our love to N. P.
Nicholas's telegram:
Telegram. Stavka. 27 August, 1915.
Hearty thanks for letter and greetings. In view of the dampness of the wood, where the train was standing, I have taken up residence in the Governor's house. The Staff is also here, next to me, which is still more convenient. Everyone is pleased with this move. Cool, rainy weather. I hope that all are well. Fond kisses.
Nicky.
Nicholas's letter:
Mogiliev. 27 August, 1915.
MY OWN DARLING, PRECIOUS SUNNY,
My heartfelt thanks for your 2 sweet letters. How long it takes for them to reach me! The trains move very irregularly, owing to the tremendous work on the lines. From a military point of view, this is one of our greatest difficulties.
The troops, the war materials, the supplies go in one direction, and the evacuation — and especially these unhappy begentzi — in the opposite!
It is quite impossible to restrain these poor people from their homes in face of the attacking enemy, as nobody wishes to be left in the hands of the Germans or Austrians. Those who cannot find room in the trains walk or travel by road, and, as the cold weather is coming, this pilgrimage is beginning to be terribly distressing; the children suffer very acutely, and many of them, unfortunately, die on the way.
All local authorities and the members of various committees work hard and do all in their power — I know that; but they confess frankly that they cannot do everything. It is frightful to think how many unforeseen sufferings the war has brought with it, not counting the usual calamities which always follow in its wake!
And yet it must finish some time!!!
I cannot tell you how pleased I am with Gen. Alexeiev. What a conscientious, clever and modest man he is — and what a worker!
His reports are of quite a different sort from the ones I received before. He works alone, but has two little Generals — Poustovoitenko and Borissov — who have been with him for many years, and who help him in details and in questions of secondary importance.
But I am afraid that I am boring you with this dry subject. Thanks for sending me N.'s letter — I believe that he is sincere and wrote what he thinks. In any case it is very interesting, as it shows that sometimes he has an opinion of his own, independent of what those around him think.
I am very glad of Vol. Troub's exploits; this man has undoubtedly earned the Cross of St. George, which I hope he will soon receive.
I see Mitia Dehn every day now. He looks quite well, walks fairly decently, but has nothing to do, and is desperately bored after ten years of active life on the Black Sea. He wants to get some work near us. And the old man suggested: could he not be put in charge of our garage instead of that fat Orlov? What do you think of it? I think it is a very good idea.
The little wood in which our train stood was very snug, but owing to the rains it became damp there, even in the carriages; therefore I decided that it would be better and simpler to move into the town, in order to be nearer my Staff and to live in a house. The building is old, but quite convenient, with a little garden and a delightful view over the Dnieper and the distant country — positively Kiev in miniature.
N. was in the habit of inviting foreigners to lunch, and I mean to continue this custom. There are only 20 of us at the table in a spacious dining-room.
The last two mornings, since my coming to the town, I received, before the reports, the dvorianstvo and the higher ranks of the administration. Now the official part of my residence here is finished (the official ceremonies in connection with my coming into residence here are over). I drove twice in the car to the other side of the river — a charming, attractive piece of wooded country with excellent roads. Dmitry's bad temper has entirely vanished — I am thinking of the mood he was in that day at Tsarskoe. He is now doing orderly officer, taking turns with N. P. and Dm. Sherem. He asked me to send you his greetings — he has become his old self again.
I have been fasting for the last three days and shall try to go to church before Sunday. Good-bye, my precious Wify, my Ray of Sunshine. I kiss you and the dear children fondly. God bless you!
Always your old hubby
Nicky.
I have just received your sweet letter No. 334. Thousands of thanks! I am glad that you are calm.
Above: Nicholas and Alexandra. Photo courtesy of Ilya Grigoryev at lastromanovs on VK.
Above: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei. Photo courtesy of Ilya Grigoryev at lastromanovs on VK.
Notes: begentzi (беженцы) = refugees.
dvorianstvo (дворянство) = nobility.
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