The Saint Paul Globe, Missouri, January 10, 1904

One winter night, when Demidoff was certain that the princess would not follow, he went to a court ball in the czar’s winter palace.

The dancing was about to begin when the princess, unaccompanied and unattended, entered and walked up to the czar, at whose feet she knelt. Then, withdrawing the lace scarf that covered her bare shoulder, and bowing her head low, she displayed her white back, streaked all over with bloody marks left by her husband’s whip, and with uplifted hands begged the czar to rid her of the price.