It seems to me that Alexander II lived a rather "fast" life from beginning to end during his adult life - yes/no? I say this from all that has been written about court life before & during his reign - indeed, court life altogether through the ages of the Romanov era seemed to rather "fast & loose".
Examples are given in Hessian Tapestry of the behaviour of just about all members - male & female - in the immediate imperial family -Alexander II was tsarevitch when his brother-in-law (Louis? of Hesse) & Maria Feodorovna's younger brother was reprimanded over & over again for his scandalous behaviour, involving many young women who became pregnant and had to be married off in a hurry. Anyhow, as it is clearly suggested in this particular book, Alexander II had several dalliances himself in his early married life.
So, I raise the question again - & please forgive me for repeatedly asking, but I'm still not clear on the true moral order of court life under any of the tsars. I think according to our middle-class standards it was pretty immoral, where as for the aristocracy it was expected that a husband & even a wife would have at least one if not a handful of lovers. Am I wrong in thinking this??
Also, what is perhaps intriguing, if not touching with Alexander II is that given the numerous women he had during his lifetime, he sought out one person to end his days with as man & wife (who in the end was Ekaterina - I believe he pursued her sister first & then turned on the younger after the elder rebuffed him). Now - was this because he was tired of seeing a string of women one after the other, or was it because he was lonely due to the deterioration of his marital relations with his wife Marie? And if the latter, what was the reason for the breakdown in their marriage?

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Masha