When she was young, Maria once ran away from her bath and ran naked (without clothes) all around the palace. Her Irish nurse, Margaretta Eager, who was talking about politics with a friend, did not even notice. "Fortunately, I arrived just at that moment, picked her up and carried her back to Miss Eagar," remembered her aunt Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia. Her older sisters did not like to let Maria join in their games. They once even called Maria their "stepsister". This was because she was so good and never got into trouble, according to Margaretta Eagar. However, even the sweet Maria could be mischievous sometimes. Once, when she was young, she stole some biscuits from her mother's tea table. The governess and Alexandra wanted her to go to bed as a punishment, but Nicholas said no. He said, "I was always afraid (fearful) of the wings growing. I am glad to see she is only a human child." Eagar remarked that Maria loved her father deeply. She often tried to run away from the nursery to "go to Papa". When her father was ill with typhoid, Maria covered a small picture of him with kisses every night.