The Montpensiers seized this fresh opportunity of becoming connected with the Spanish Royal Family, and Doña Eulalia augmented their riches by a large sum of money; but it seemed as if fate wished to warn the Infanta that the marriage would not be happy, for it was postponed through the illness and death of her brother, and she was weeping as she came out of the royal chapel on her wedding-day. And, indeed, it was not long before the Infanta found her husband was utterly unworthy of her, and she now lives apart from him.
The Infanta Eulalia was a great loss to the Court of Spain, where her bright intelligence and charming ways had made her presence like sunshine. She was twenty-two years of age when she married, very pretty and high-spirited, an expert in riding and driving, and a lover of all kinds of activity.
Her father, Don Francisco, and the Duke of Montpensier—who, we know, killed Don Enrique, her uncle, in a duel—supported her at the altar; and Queen Isabella, the Comtesse de Paris, the Queen-Regent and her little daughters, were also at the ceremony.
This Infanta is often seen at the Court of Spain, with her son Alfonso. It was she who warned Alfonso XIII., when he presented his new-born son to the assembled Ministers, that the infant might catch cold if exposed too long; and at the royal baptism on June 2, 1907, she looked striking in her long train of scarlet velvet, with the satin front sewn with jewels, and with scarlet plumes surmounting her tiara of diamonds.
Even those who had not been in favour of Alfonso were rapidly gained over to the Bourbons when they saw the difficult position of the Queen-Regent. All the chivalry of the Spaniards was aroused to support the young widowed mother in her trying task.
When a lady of the Court condoled one day with the royal widow, and expressed wonder that she could so valiantly seek to steer the ship of State whilst suffering the pain of loss, and not knowing how fate would settle the question of the future Sovereign of Spain, Maria Cristina looked up at the speaker, and said with a smile in which courage seemed to conquer sorrow:
“But, Duchess, everything is easy when one has hope.”
The character of Alfonso XII. is sympathetically drawn by Don José Fernandez Bremon. He says:
“He was affable and extremely simple in his manner, and opposed to strict etiquette and Court ceremonies; much given to riding, hunting, shooting, and all physical exercises. His favourite study was that of the relation of science with war. He was an adept of poetry, and he much liked public applause. His facility in speaking and his flow of language inspired confidence in his auditors and in those whom he received in audience. His affability gave people more the idea that they were speaking with the emigrant from Vienna than the King of Spain. He was short, but well-proportioned and slender. His eyes were expressive, and he was what the Spaniards call very simpatico. He liked starting discussions on daring theories. He was very prudent in the Council Chamber. He was clever, and he sometimes spoke as if he felt himself taken captive in the gilded cave of government.”