I think you should think again, where Max of Baden is concerned. He is extremely eligible and is the number-one hope of lots of European princesses, so if it is Max that Granny Queen has in mind for you, don’t reject him without seeing him, as you could well be making a very big mistake.

As for me, it is all horribly tragic, for Nicky’s parents are absolutely opposed to his marrying me. They say I do not have the right qualities to be Russia’s future Tsarina and want him to propose to Hélène of Orleans, who is still, as we know, desperately in love with Eddy. Nicky, of course, is going to do no such thing, but that isn’t the worst of it. The worst of it is that even if his parents changed their mind and gave their permission for him to marry me, I WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO DO SO, for although Ella was able to marry Sergei without changing her religion from Lutheran to Russian Orthodox, it was only because Sergei isn’t top of the list in the Romanov line of succession. Nicky, of course, is. To marry him, I would have to renege on all the solemn vows I made when I was confirmed in the Lutheran Church and convert to Russian Orthodoxy – AND BECAUSE OF MY PROMISE TO MY LATE MAMA, THAT IS SOMETHING MY CONSCIENCE WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT ALLOW ME TO DO! Poor Nicky is heartbroken and I am heartbroken, for truly, May, Nicky is the other half of my soul.

Your unutterably wretched Kindred Spirit, Alicky

PS: Kindred Spirit Willy has just announced that he has made occult contact with the spirit of Frederick the Great. I believe him, for the spirit world is all around us, although it is only a privileged few who can make contact with it. Ernie says Willy is certifiable, but I don’t think he is, for, as you know, I too often feel guided by unseen powers.

It was a letter that troubled May, as she had become aware that Alicky’s religious zeal had begun verging on the extreme, and she found the way Alicky talked of being guided by unseen powers unhealthy and deeply unsettling.

At the end of November, May and her parents were invited to a house party at Luton Hoo, in Bedfordshire. Their host was Christian de Falbe, the Danish Minister at the Court of St James’s, and as Aunt Alix was Danish, a close family friendship had sprung up between the de Falbes and the Prince and Princess of Wales. It meant that some members of the Wales family were bound to be at Luton Hoo, although not Georgie, who was at Sandringham recovering from typhoid; and not Eddy, who was now stationed at the Hussar barracks in York.