contention among his colleagues whether Sturdza was ever legally married to Countess Dash. Sturdza's second marriage, reportedly arranged by his father, was to the Wallachian Olga Ghica. By most accounts, she was the daughter of the Wallachian intellectual Mihalache Ghica, making Grigore a brother-in-law of writer Dora d'Istria. However, as reported by Girs, Wallachians were generally aware that Olga was the natural daughter of former Governor Pavel Kiselyov, and a Ghica only by adoption. The couple were wed in Bucharest, the Wallachian capital city, on March 1, 1848. Sturdza's first wife was reportedly devastated by these developments—in a letter to her, the Viscount d'Arlincourt presented his sympathies for her loss, and encouraged her to keep writing as a remedy. She reflected on her relationship with Sturdza in her 1848 novel, Michaël le Moldave. Here, he appears as "Michaël Cantémir", while Dash herself is the ethnic Romani maid Chiva; historical facts are modified to suggest that Sturdza had been forced to choose between his passion and the needs of his countrymen, since marrying Chiva would have made him ineligible for the throne. The novel was translated into Romanian by Theodor Codrescu and already published in that version in 1851. All Sturdzas were involved in quelling the attempted revolution of April 1848. Dimitrie was nominally in charge, as Hatman, but, as recounted by Radu Rosetti, Grigore, being "more energetic and competent", personally supervised the revolutionaries' arrest and mistreatment. Dressed as a Russian Polkovnik, he was the subject of a derisive remark by one of his victims, Alecu Rosetti: "Vous êtes magnifique et pas cher!" ("You are quite magnificent and not at all expensive!"). The same is noted by diplomat N. B. Cantacuzène (son of the revolutionary figure Vasile Canta). He writes that "Grégoire Sturdza, son of the Prince" masterminded the ambush of Colonel Alexandru Ioan Cuza and other regime critics inside Iași's Casimir House. Other reports suggest that Grigore ordered his troops to shoot all prisoners, but that his order was vetoed by his brother the Hatman. Grigore is believed to have similarly handled the arrest of another young revolutionary, Manolache Costache Epureanu; Kogălniceanu had also joined the revolutionary movement, but escaped into exile. He reportedly maintained an "overt and implacable dislike" for the Beizadea and, before his departure, accused him of having defrauded Neamț Monastery of "no less than forty thousand ducats". In May, Alecsandri also referred to Grigore in a