“A happy day: the Lord sent us a third daughter—Maria, who was safely born at 12.10!” —Nicholas II’s diary (from A Lifelong Passion by Andrei Maylunas and Sergei Mironenko) “Tall, plump with sable brows, a bright blush on her open Russian face, she is especially appealing to a Russian heart. One looks and involuntarily imagines her dressed in a Russian Boyar sarafan; around her arms one imagines muslin sleeves, on the high breast—precious stones, and above the high white brow—a kokoshnik with exquisite pearls ... her eyes illuminate her entire face with a unique, radiant luster; they sometimes seem black, as long eyelashes throw shadows over the bright blush of her soft cheeks. She is merry and alive, but she has not yet awakened completely to life; probably concealed in her are the immense forces of a real Russian woman.” —Sofia Ofrosimova (from Maria Romanov: Third Daughter of the Last Tsar, Diaries and Letters, 1908-1918)
