the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia) that, inside, Nicholas was a good person, and behaved as he did only because he believed he had to: "If the Emperor has no more of mercy in his heart than he reveals in his policies, then I pity Russia; if, on the other hand, his true sentiments are really superior to his acts, then I pity the Emperor." Nicholas figures in an urban legend about the Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway. When the route was planned in 1842, he supposedly demanded the shortest path be used - despite major obstacles in the way. The story says he used a ruler to draw the straight line himself. This false story became popular both at home and abroad as an explanation of how badly Russia was governed. By the 1870s, Russians were telling a different version, claiming the tsar was wise to overcome local interests that wanted the railway diverted this way and that. What actually happened was that the road was laid out by engineers, and Nicholas endorsed their advice to build in a straight line. Honours Issue Nicholas I had seven legitimate children with his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna. Many sources state that Nicholas did not have an extramarital affair until after 25 years of marriage, in 1842, when the Empress's doctors prohibited her from having sexual intercourse, due to her poor health and recurring heart attacks. Many facts dispute this claim. Nicholas fathered three known children with mistresses prior to 1842, including one with his most famous and well documented mistress, Varvara Nelidova. With Anna-Maria Charlota de Rutenskiold (1791–1856) Youzia Koberwein (12 May 1825 – 23 February 1923) With Varvara Yakovleva (1803-1831) Olga Carlovna Albrecht (10 July 1828 – 20 January 1898) With Varvara Nelidova (d.1897) Alexis Pashkine (17 April 1831 – 20 June 1863) Ancestry See also History of Russia Imperial Russia La Russie en 1839 The Third Section Tsars of Russia family tree Notes References The first draft of this article was taken with little editing from the Library of Congress Federal Research Division's Country Studies series. As their home page at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html says, "Information contained in the Country Studies On-Line is not copyrighted and thus is available for free and unrestricted use by researchers. As a courtesy, however, appropriate credit should be given to the series." Please leave this statement intact so that credit can be given. Further reading Bolsover, George