In 1913 Olga was in love in Pavel Voronov, officer of the standart. A marriage with an other Olga was quiclky organized, ans Olga Nicolaevna sufferred of that.
There was a bit about ON and PV from the N&A exhibit catalog. It notes that Olga referred to him as 'My S.' or 'Dear S.' which made use of the first letter of a gender-neutral word. It's also possible it refers to fact he was an officer on the Standart. Many of her diary entries from 1913-1914 refer to him:
14 Oct 1913: (referring to a charity ball at Livadia) 'I also saw my S. once during the quadrille, our encounter was strange somehow, a bit sad, I don't know.' It appears that , as much as seeing him brought her happiness, it was tempered with the knowledge that a match was impossible.
She made note of every day she didn't spend with him:
'So wretched without S., terrible' that she felt 'empty without him' and that she felt 'sad' when she didn't see him.
When she did see him her mood was transformed: 'I was terribly happy to see him, I sat on deck until dinner, and at last my beloved S. came'. She was 'too happy, terribly happy' to see him once more.
When he was sick she wrote 'My S. does not feel well, my poor little Sunshine. Save him, O Lord!'
Much has been deciphered about his identity by making careful comparisons between NII's diaries (in which he noted everyone he came across that day) and Olga's. It would become apparent in later diary entries as well.
The authors of the essay in the catalog seem to feel her feelings were reciprocated noting the 'joy which appeared on his face whenever he met Olga, or his constant invitations to her to dance.' Also that he was aware of her feelings (ON: 'My tender darling smiled' and 'my dear sweet friend rejoiced'). Both of them seem aware of the hopelessness of a future together though.
It was the notation in her diaries that seem to indicate that Nov-early Dec 1913 were the happiest days of her life. She was distressed though that during her stay in the Crimea, he was always with the Kleinmichaels. It isn't sure wheter PV engagement to Olga Kleinmichael (maid of honor to AF) was undertaken by PV to put a decisive end to the hopeless relationship or arranged by N&A to separate them and avoid further heartache as well as gossip. Olga K and Paul liked each other well-enough and her mother was given the sign that N&A wouldn't object to a match.
If the beginning of the month was a happy one for ON, the latter half was bitter and her diaries take a sad turn: 'I learned that S. is to marry Olga Klenmichael. May the Lord grant happiness to him, my beloved. It is painful and sad. May he be happy.' I think this shows a remarkable character--a young girl, just 18, in the midst of a strong first love wishing her beloved happiness and showing kindness to OK. As the eldest daughter of the Czar, she probably could've used her position to cause difficulty if she'd been of a different personality and moral character.
By Jan she was extremely depressed. Unknowingly Anna Vyrubova and Olga's sisters compounded her misery by speaking of the engaged pair and the upcoming wedding. '...With her [Ella] were Count (ess?) Kleinmichael, Olga and S. but not mine!' (The authors take this to mean that she meant Happiness, but not mine? ) 'My heart aches, it's painful, I don't feel well and slept only for an hour and a half...'
At the wedding, the Tsar and his entire family (including Olga) were present. This is the last time Olga would refer directly to the identity of 'S'. 'At 2 o'clock, S. arrived...At about 2:30, the three of us [also there was Sandro] set out with Papa and Mama. We drove to the regimental church for the wedding of P.A. Woronoff and O.K. Kleinmichael. May the Lord grant them happiness.' The 2 would rarely see each other again as directly after the wedding, Paul was granted a 2-mo leave and then assigned to the Imperial yacht Alexandria. Then came WW1 and Revolution.
Olga still wrote of him though, her diary her only confidant. 'Saw S! Thanks be to God!'
Paul would serve in WW1 and escape Russia, along with his wife, in 1920, leaving on a British steamer from Novorossiisk. He died in 1964 and is buried in Jordanville, New York. His wife would teach Russian at Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY where one the authors was her student.
