imperial-russia: Imperial couple Alexander I and Elizaveta Alexeievna There had, of course, never be

imperial-russia:

Imperial couple Alexander I and Elizaveta Alexeievna

There had, of course, never been a complete breach between Alexander and the child-bride his grandmother had chosen for him back in 1793. Elizabeth accepted his infidelity over the years just as he had resigned himself to the attachment she felt, on more than one occasion, for Adam Czartoryski. Yet their marriage remained essentially a convenience of State: he looked on her as a companion to whom he turned for support when his domestic sensitivity was strained, just as he would look to Golytsin for guidance in the troubles of a spiritual life. Each was in the habit of taking the other for granted: they exchanged confidences as friends; they ever regretted the increasing number of occasions upon which State affairs separated Alexander from his home; but the intimacy of a husband and wife relationship continued to be strange for them. Then suddently, at the start of the year 1824, Alexander´s emotions were stirred by the patient care which Elizabeth was lavishing on him, and they recovered some of the lost raptures of love.

Alam Palmer: Alexander I, Tsar of War and Peace