Yesterday I talked to a very well-known lawyer about the case in which you
are interested, and I will tell you his opinion. Let Mr. N. immediately put
together _all_ the necessary documents, let his fiancee do the same, and go
off to another province, such as Kherson, and there get married. When they
are married let them come home and live quietly, saying nothing about it.
It is not a crime (there is no consanguinity), but only a breach of a long
established tradition. If in another two or three years someone informs
against them, or finds out and interferes, and the case is brought into
court, anyway the children would be legitimate. And when there is a lawsuit
(a trivial one anyway), then they can send in a petition to the Sovereign.
The Sovereign does not sanction what is forbidden by law (so it is no use
to petition for permission for the marriage), but the Sovereign enjoys the
fullest privilege of pardon and does as a rule pardon what is inevitable.
I don’t know whether I am putting it properly. You must forgive me, I am in
bed, ill, and have been since the second of May, I have not been able to
get up once all this time. I cannot execute your other commissions....