Mary Imlay Taylor

“ Najine parted from my wife with tears, for, after all, she had been sorely tried, and was young and estranged from her kindred, and about to go to a strange land to begin a new life far from family and friends; yet so great and so trusting is the love of woman that it will endure all things and believe all things for him who has won it. It touched both Zénaïde and me to observe M. de Lambert’s tender appreciation of her fears and her regrets, for he had that fine gentleness that belongs to the greatest courage,—the tenderness that is a part of a noble spirit. ”

“ You must put an end to it, Philippe.”
“An end to it!” I exclaimed; “you are a woman, and yet fancy that I can control another woman—and one like Catherine Shavronsky. You rave, madame; I am no magician.”
“Appeal to Mentchikof,” Zénaïde suggested.
“Appeal to the moon!” I replied with impatience. “Catherine cares not for him. Her head is full of fancies, and she must needs put them on paper like a woman!”
“Now you are out of humor, M. le Maréchal,” Zénaïde said calmly; “you are never discourteous except when you lose your temper. Then women must bear the blame for all the errors of the world.” ”

“ Mentchikof smiled that slow, brilliant smile that made his dark eyes light up and showed his white teeth.
“Women are strange creatures, M. l’Ambassadeur,” he said slowly; “they are governed largely by impulse, and ruin their own best-laid schemes by some outburst of feeling. Najine Zotof saw before her, not Peter as you and I see him,—a great man, a soldier, a statesman, a reformer; she saw only the cold-hearted husband of Eudoxia Lopukhin, the lover of Anna Mons.” ”

“ Madame de Brousson had discreetly left the lovers alone, and they were standing together before the fire, M. de Lambert’s arm around Najine, and the firelight shining on their faces. They started at my unexpected entrance, and her cheeks were rosy with blushes as she saw the smile in my eyes; but she came up to me, and clasped my hand in both hers.
“I have to thank you, monsieur,” she said, “for all you have done for me and for M. de Lambert.”
I laughed softly. “Nay, mademoiselle,” I replied gently, “M. de Lambert owes more to you than to any one, and I trust that he has properly thanked you.” ”

“ Peter uttered an exclamation under his breath, regarding her with an expression in which anger and admiration were mingled. Never before had any woman faced him with the declaration of her loyalty to another man, and it must have made a strong impression upon him. It was a strange picture. The nobles about him had drawn back until the two stood in the center of a large space, the massive figure of the czar overshadowing the slight form of mademoiselle, but there was a simple dignity in the pose of her young figure that was striking. ”

“ M. de Lambert and Najine are man and wife in the eyes of the church, and it is not for you or me to bind or loose those whom the church has united. They are on their way to Versailles—see! the day has dawned—the sun has risen on their married life; of what avail is violence? If you drag them back to Moscow and excite the czar against M. de Lambert, it will indeed bring wretchedness, but what else? I know mademoiselle—I beg her pardon—Madame de Lambert, and neither prison nor death will prevail against her loyal and devoted spirit—and she is his wife! ”

“ M. de Brousson, poverty is cruel; a man who is penniless is blasted in the world’s regard; he is without the weapons to fight the battle of life; he must needs fawn upon the hand of power; he must eat the bread of humiliation; he must bear insults, curiosity, misrepresentation, and all the world’s contumely. His shabby dress brings him scorn; his empty purse denies him bread; his broken spirit falls far below the effort that commands success. Such was I—and I sold my honorable employment—I laid down a soldier’s sword and took up a spy’s mask—to feed my mother! ”

“ The Swede, looking at her fine and animated face, took the ring and made her a profound obeisance.
“Madame,” he said in a low voice, “I esteem it an honor to accept your gift. In a manner I have regained my reputation. His Excellency your husband and his friend thought me a cowardly spy because I dreaded to die a shameful death; but I do not fear to die—as a brave man should.”
Zénaïde gave me a glance in which were mingled triumph and reproach.
“You have not only won our respect,” she replied, “but you have earned our gratitude, for we both love M. de Lambert. We do not forget such a service.” ”

“ She amused me by inquiring, in a direct fashion, about M. de Lambert; betraying that she was acquainted with a little of the intrigue that was in progress, but I doubted if she knew much of Mademoiselle Zotof. Mentchikof was probably too shrewd a man to trust an impulsive girl with all the particulars of the czar’s wavering and uncertain fancies. So eager was she to propitiate me that she neglected her circle of attendants, and more than one gallant cast an angry glance at me, until at last I reminded her, in an aside, of their presence. ”

“ A man richly endowed in person and in mental qualities; handsome, brave, magnetic; possessed of a winning address and a pungent wit, and withal, a gallant soldier and a shrewd statesman,—he was a man to captivate and hold the fancy of almost any one who approached him, and I did not condemn Daria Arsenief for her infatuation; all the court knew that she was devoted to Alexander Mentchikof, and I had heard it said that Peter desired that he should marry her, while he was yet either unwilling or not ready to comply with his master’s wishes. ”

“ I laughed. “Come, come, M. de Lambert,” I said lightly, “if you were out of the way, would the czar be unacceptable? A gallant soldier, a generous foe, a warm-hearted despot, and, above all, a man of imperial presence. Kings are usually fortunate wooers; we know of one, at least, who has been ever so. Are you not standing in mademoiselle’s light? Ought you not rather to retire generously and behold her Czarina and Grand Duchess of all the Russias? M. Guillaume, you are selfish.” ”

“ I fancied that he would be offered an alternative; renunciation of mademoiselle or imprisonment, perhaps worse, if Peter dared to offer a deeper injury to a soldier of France. Knowing the czar as I did, I doubted his hesitation at anything, especially where his personal feelings were involved, and I no longer doubted his love for Najine. How tangled is the skein of our existence! Here was a young girl, simple, beautiful, innocent, holding in her hand the knot of an emperor’s destiny, and by that accident of fate, involving so many other lives in the meshes. ”

“ Catherine said quietly. “I kneel here to second mademoiselle’s appeal. M. de Lambert is a stranger, he can claim our forbearance. It is your kindness that has abolished forced marriages, and made happier unions a possibility. Your Majesty has always been good to the young. Here, then, are two lovers, separated by misfortune—is it not a royal prerogative to give them happiness? I also ask a boon: the life—liberty—happiness of a French soldier of the czar of all the Russias—of Peter the magnanimous!” ”

“ The czar was closeted with Prince Dolgoruky and Sheremetief, and the palace was almost deserted. The few courtiers lingering in the ante-rooms stared at me curiously, as if they knew of some matter with which my name was connected, and I attributed their interest to Catherine Shavronsky’s unfortunate letter. There are no secrets at a court; malice and curiosity pry out every corner about a throne, and I had no doubt that every particular of her foolish correspondence was known. I made an effort to see Prince Dolgoruky, but to no purpose, and finally quitted the palace much disturbed. ”

“ The patriarch and all the clergy of Moscow were present with the czar and the court officials, foreign ministers and residents; rich and great, poor and humble, assembled on the banks of the river to witness the benediction.
The day was fair; the sun shone on the white walls and buildings of the Kremlin and on domes of gold and green and azure, and on a myriad cupolas, all studded with stars and surmounted by crosses, and everywhere touched by the white hand of the snow ”

“ She was the personification of youth and vigor, determined, energetic, vivacious. I saw clearly the attraction that had won the heart of the czar. Here was a complete contrast to the ignorant and bigoted Eudoxia; to the unfaithful German, Anna Mons; a contrast even greater, too, to the beauty and passion of the Livonian peasant girl. Here was a young woman, beautiful and charming, with a ready wit and a pure mind; spirited, gay, quick-tempered; the very woman to attract and hold the fancy of a man like the czar. ”

“ No cost would be too great, no sacrifice too supreme, for her consuming ambition. Such were my thoughts while I stood listening to the solemn words that made Najine Zotof the wife of Guillaume de Lambert,—strange reflections, no doubt, yet I believe that my wife’s were nearly identical, only that she had a woman’s quick sympathy for the young girl’s emotion; a woman’s appreciation of her purity and truth, which not even the most splendid temptations of a court could sully or corrupt. ”

“ She had dark brows, and large bright dark eyes, and a charming mouth, which made her smile most winning. Youth and a certain vivacity of manner completed an attractive picture. I found myself immediately comparing her with Mademoiselle Zotof. Najine’s face was fair, intellectual, spiritual, with a charm of its own difficult to define, while Mademoiselle Shavronsky had the beauty of the flesh, the brilliant eye, the rosy cheek, the red-lipped mouth. It was impossible to imagine which would command the heart of the imperial lover. ”

“ M. de Lambert said. “Look at Touchet! He is listening with that expression he wears when he hears two people speaking Russ. Now and then a gleam of absolute complaisance crosses his face, when he really understands a sentence; at other times he is the picture of contemptuous bewilderment.”
“Pierrot is worth a hundred such,” I said; “men like Touchet come for the asking, but there are few like Pierrot. Astute, cautious, devoted—my cause is his.”
“You have the quality that attaches men to you, monsieur,” M. de Lambert rejoined pleasantly; “it is a good fortune to serve the Maréchal de Brousson.” ”

“ A man who stands above his fellows, not only by virtue of his rank but by a certain greatness of soul, is alienated from their sympathy,—isolated in his elevation. Peter was a reformer, and since the world began reformers have been more or less hated by their contemporaries. I think the czar felt peculiarly alone, and there was, too, some shadow on his soul that no human sympathy could reach. He sat there on his splendid horse, a solitary figure amidst those tens of thousands, a soldier, a statesman, an emperor, and alone in the presence of his people. ”

“ I replied with more good-humor, “you should respect my years, M. Shein. Go upon your errand, and remember that young men must endure something before they learn the lessons of life.”
But my forbearance did not restore his good-humor, and he withdrew with a flushed and angry face, which, however, only amused me, for he was, after all, a harmless enough young man, and merely elated with the importance of his errand and the imperial confidence; for those close about the person of the czar felt for him an almost exaggerated reverence and affection. ”

“ I looked at the picture that they made with strange reflections: here was a young and beautiful woman willing to forego the splendors of a throne to become the wife of a French soldier, preferring his love to a power that might have been almost absolute with the czar; for I had seen enough to be convinced that Peter loved Najine with all the strength of his fierce nature, and that she could have swayed him as no other woman ever would. How strange is the course of destiny! ”

“ The czar was liberal with his tokens, it seemed.
“I marvel what he has done with his portrait, framed in diamonds, which he took away from Anna Mons,” I said to myself, and then laughed aloud, although M. de Lambert did not understand the drift of my thoughts, and was piqued at my boisterous merriment. But I could not forbear; it was too absurd. Would mademoiselle fall heir to the picture that had belonged to Anna Mons—and also to Eudoxia’s crown? How happy is the woman whose destiny depends upon the caprice of a tyrant! ”

“ We went out together, and began a tedious and of course fruitless search for M. de Lambert. It was an easy matter for the imperial officer to take me to every spot but the right one, and I felt that I would have given much to read the lines that the czar had scribbled upon that slip of paper. A weary search it was, from place to place; the Russian always courteous, inscrutable, unruffled, and ignorant—as only a man can be whose business it is to be sublimely stupid. ”

“ I have heard evil things of you, Yury Apraxin. A man who would stab another unawares is a coward and an assassin.”
He started at her words, and his face flushed darkly.
“On my word!” he exclaimed passionately, “you have a shrew’s tongue in your head, fair relative; if you were a man, I would resent it.”
Najine laughed bitterly. “Doubtless,” she said dryly, “since I am the weaker of the two. A fair fight I could forgive, but I am sorry that a friend of mine can plan assassination and betray an innocent man into the hands of his enemies!”
Apraxin looked at her with a sneer on his face. ”

“ We had passed out of the Gate of the Redeemer, and, his foot slipping on a piece of ice, he stumbled and recovered himself with a muttered exclamation of impatience.
“You are out of temper again, M. de Lambert,” I said tauntingly. “You should have more fortitude; there are worse slips than those upon Russian ice.”
He darted an inquiring glance at me.
“I do not take your meaning, monsieur,” he said dryly, “I am not much of a diplomat.”
I smiled. “No, I think not,” I replied, “and you may have need to be one. The path on which an emperor treads is too slippery for other men.” ”

“ Am I to understand that I have a traitor in Mentchikof’s household, that my affairs are betrayed to the King of France?”
I drew myself up haughtily, and looked the czar straight in the eye.
“Your Majesty forgets that you address a marshal of France,” I replied coldly; “a soldier cannot descend to the level of a spy. Any man but the czar would answer for those words at the point of the sword.” ”

“ She looked at me keenly, and I returned her regard with a placid smile.
“Your friend M. de Lambert,” she said, “is, I hear, also an observer of the stars.”
“I commend him to your friendship, mademoiselle,” I said quietly; “it may be that he will have need of it. A brave soldier, but a hot-head.”
“We must find him a Russian bride, monsieur,” she said at once, a gleam of amusement in her eyes. “Mentchikof and all the members of this household will aid you. I feel myself a lively interest in M. de Lambert’s happiness.” ”