Ivan De Biron W a S Endeavouring to Make His Way R ’ Into the Duchess Egent S Palace, to Warn Her

IV A N D E B IR O N

' TH IA T OR , E R USS N C0 UR ! N TffE M ID D LE

OF LA ST CE N TUR y

BY TH E

“ AUTH O R F I 1N C UN C L a r c . O F R EN D S O I ,

IN TH R E E VOL UM E S

I V O L. I .

W B TER I I O . . S S C

6 L U D G T E H IL L L O N D O N 5 , A , “ mu mB Y AY L AN D T OR co . , ’ L ITTLE UE E N sw a m LIN CO LN S u m n u ns Q , . T ME CON ENTS OF VOLU II .

B OOK III .

C R A P . P A G E

’ ! O utbr a f h ution—Iva n s a r in . e k o t e R evol P t — ’ it Azra s Ca re for Iva n

B OOK IV .

R evenge of the Prince ss Ma rie on the — H ou se of Biron R e ca ll of Exile s from

r Sib e ia. ’ — Azra s ca re of Iva n He Write sto the Em — press Eli za be th the R esu lt oftha t L e tter — A B all a t the Winter P a la ce The Meeting between Iva n a nd the Prin ce ss Ma ri e

Azra S n s a nd the Em re ss re counts the i g , p

Story ofAzra a nd Iva n The H op e s a nd Proj ects of the Prince ss — — ’ Ma rie Azra a nd Iva n Azra 8 Intervi ew with the Prince ss — Iva n s Ambition Ma intains H is Intima cy — with Azra who Le a rns to Write The Princess M a rie stu dies Mu sic with Azra

‘ The D esign ofthe Princess for the G ood

ofIva n C N S II ONTE T OF VOLUME .

C H A P .

' VII A u s c-Le sson th rb ﬁ . M i a t e Se a to Pa la ce

B OOK V .

A Prima D onna a nd her Lovers

’ The Prima D onna s D ébut in Pa ris

I a n L a v s r s a nd urn ters e e P a R et s to St . Pe v i ,

ur — ta of ffair a r r b g S te A s t St. Pete sbu g Ka lynch a nd his The ory — The Lapou schi n Conspira cy s ome ofits R e

sults

’ ’ Azra s R eturn to t eter bur — I a n S . P s g v s Ar rest and Exile

BOOK VI.

— The Journey to Siberia Iva n d e Biron and

' N a riskoﬂ in the F ore st ofPelem The Arriva l of the Serba toffs a t Pelem

’ N ariskoffs D esign

N a riskoffmeets the Pr n cess r i Ma ie .

’ N a riskoffs subsequ ent Inte rview With Iva n — ’ — d e Biron Iva n s Sta te of Mind The

’ Princess Mari e s F e elings BOO III K .

H APTE ! C R .

— ’ OUTBREAK OF TH E REVOLUTION IVAN S PART IN

’ AZRA S FOR IV CARE AN .

IF the Princess Elizabeth had devoted dl f . riends, the Duchess Regent was not frien ess

’ Le st oc Before q had quitted the Princess s Palace,

Ivan de Biron w a s endeavouring to make his way R ’ into the Duchess egent s Palace, to warn Her

- Highness of the coming danger . And he suc cee d e d in doing so .

It would have been no easy matter for a young man in Ivan’ s position to obtain an audi ence w ith this great lady ; but revolutions, however

V 11 OL . . B I 2 VAN DE BIRON .

severely carried out, generally leave some servi

who tors , from the length of their service, their

for f fitness it, and their merely o ficial character, f stil l retain their Ofices .

Ivan lingered about the gates of the palace,

hi hi s sa w a n w atc ng Opportunity, until at last he aged groom of the chambers whom he had known

hi s . in palmy days . The man was, at ﬁrst, by no means inclined to renew the acquaintance ; b u t when Ivan told hi m that he had been recalled f rom exile by the orders of the Duchess Regent, and that he wished to have an opportunity of

hi s hi expressing gratitude, t s groom of the chambers thought it a s well to be on good terms

who ha d so with a person been favoured, and he consented to ta ke the message with whi ch

Ivan sought to entrust him .

h w a s s T is request for an audience , after ome

. So fe w delay, brought to the Grand Duchess l had been the instances of recall from exi e, that her Highness instantly remembered the fact that

e so W Ivan had b en recalled, and at hose inter hi cession t s great favour had been granted . K r 3 OUTBREA o THE REVOLUTION .

H er Men d e n favourite, Juliana de g , was with h er at this moment : indeed they were seldom a part . “ We will not see him ourselves, said the “ D uchess Regent : it pains us to hear about t fe w hese poor exiles, of whom our Ministers w ill yet allow us to recall . Biron himself is not s o bad as he has been painted ; and, perhaps, if

we had been wiser, Juliana, we might have kept

G od him as a friend . knows that there are d ifﬁculties enough in governing this people for

the wisest and the strongest to master ; and the

Duke was both a wise and a strong man . You

s se e a hall the youth, Juliana, and hear wh t he

has to say .

The favourite obeyed her mistress ; and Ivan

w a s ushered into her presence in an adjoining a partment .

e Ivan, after brieﬂy expressing his fe lings of

gratitude to the Duchess Regent, and his con

sequent devotion to her service, related to Juliana every circumstance which he had learnt

r f e egarding the projected conspiracy . The avourit B 2 4 IVAN DE BI RON .

a s m r w uch impressed by what she had hea d , and quickly ret urned to her mistress to relate

a of . the story, dding sundry comments her own, as to the danger of remaining perfectly quiescent .

Her Highness, however, took little heed of all

sh w t that e heard . She was not a woman ithou some sense, but seemed to be lapped in a fatal

a nd w a s a ll state of security, resolutely blind to that was happening around her .

This, it must be remembered, was the very day after that in which that scene had occurred between the Duchess Regent and the Princess

z Eli abeth, when the tears and protestations of

s o f the Princess had produced great an e fect . “ ” ou My dearest love, said the Duchess, y are like the rest of them ; this is the same story O that stermann and the Austrian ambassador, . and my poor Duke, too, are perpetually dinning

into my ears . Spies must be telling something . What else are they paid for ? They must invent

. e conspiracies, whether there are any, or not Non

: n . of you understand the Princess no e of you, but

! myself. As long, my dear, as she has her lovers 5 OUTBREAK or THE REVOLUTION .

t o she s hi pay court to her, little care for anyt ng

she . see e lse . And is a good creature Did you

how she fondled our dear little Ivan ? She

would not hurt a hair of his head for the world .

‘ : Go back to the youth thank him, and tell him that we will try to ﬁnd a place for him in our

household . We have heard much good of him,

of his kindness formerly to those whom the

Duke, his master, banished . And come back I soon . do not think the pearls should be

sewed on to the robe , but should hang in tassels .

’ ” n e w - It will be something for to morrow s ball . Thus the demented w oman gave her thoughts

of to the frivolities dress, at the most critical

moment of her life .

Ivan was dismissed by Juliana, but at the s ame time, was warmly thanked by her for the hi information he had given . She did not tell m

how lightly it had been received ; but she added

to his feelings of satisfaction, by letting him know

' the favour which the Duchess intended for him

‘ i n taking him into her household .

Ivan hastened to ﬁnd Azra . Each of them 6 I VAN DE BIRON . w a s now acquainted with the ways and habits

of the of the other . He knew in what quarter city her tribe of gypsies would be likely to b e h f a n th e . S n s e ound at y of the day eei g him, came out of the circle, apparently to go through

f - b u t t o the accustomed ortune telling, in reality

w a s inform him that, if any reliance to be placed

she in what had last heard, the outbreak of the

ﬁ . conspiracy was xed for that night, or the next

Their chief w a s quite certain of that . They were to be in the streets t wo hours earlier next m orning . There would be crowds in all the

‘ public places . She had been at his lodgings to tell him this, but could not ﬁnd him .

Ivan longed to go back to the Winter Palace with this additional information ; but he was too well versed in the ways of princes, to imagine that he could, a second time in the same day,

so d be fortunate as to obtain an au ience, even with the favourite .

w a s He too much troubled, however, (for, by this time he had come to have implicit con

ﬁd ence in all that Azra told him) to take a ny U K OF TH E O TBREA REVOLUTION .

rest that night . He kept watch in dark corners

and for t near the Winter Palace, prepared tha

action which henow felt certain he would have

to take .

That same evening there was a certain kind of ferment at the barracks of the Preob ra sk enski

ind s regiment . This ferment was almost e crib

able . It was as if a hive of bees had been d suddenly isturbed by some intruder . In all

di ll men who rections there were sma knots of , d talked together in most earnest tones, and seeme

to be preparing for some great enterprise .

It was a remarkable error i n the Russian . m ilitary system, and a most deplorable one, that it was the universal custom for almost all the

ofﬁcers of a regiment to sleep in different quarters f rom those assigned to the men .

Pre ob ra sk enski d The regiment, already looke — upon and favoured as household troops in fact

of a — a sort Pr etorian Guard was , this evening,

f a under the command of one subaltern o ﬁcer,

S d id t o cotchman, named Grews . He not fail

' notice the strange kind of excit e ment which D re 8 IVA D N E BIRON .

It vailed among the men un der his command .

wa s w diﬁ cul t ersua ith some y that, partly by p

c m sion, partly by ommand, he at last induced the

of to go to bed and it was, with a presentiment mi i l f . co ng ev , that he himsel lay down to rest

’ At twelve o clock, however, all was supremely

quiet, both in those barracks, and throughout the

a R of all capit l . The ussians that day, as indeed

of di ff the nations Europe, kept very erent hours from those adopted in more modern times . At the hour of mi dnight there was scarcely a solitary human being to be seen moving through the

- . snow covered streets of St . Petersburg . Mid

night revels were rare in that city .

a ccom It was then that the Princess Elizabeth,

pa ni e d only by Le stocq and by her chamberlain

Woronzkow , rode forth to commence her audacious

undertaking . At last that vacillating and irre

solute mind had come to a ﬁxed resolve ; and,

henceforth, there was no alternative but the one

L st o depicted by e cq . The choice was between a

hr convent or a t one ; or, perhaps, it might more l tru y be said, between that fair head being sur 9 OUTBREAK or THE REVOLUTION .

m ounted by a crown, or being laid upon a heads m ’ an s block . Silently these three conspirators moved through t he Pre obra sk e nski streets . They reached the

b . arracks, unchallenged It is probable that they

the - b were observed ; but, if so, few passers y, or

n the sentinels on guard at the public buildi gs, c onsidered that it was but a freak of their beloved Princess and that safety for themselves consisted in their being careful not to observe too much, a nd not to recognize these daring intruders upon

the stillness of night .

The Pre ob ra sk enski regiment was thoroughly p repared to receive the foremost personage of the three midnight conspirators Upon a slight k nock being given at the gate of the barracks, it i h was immediately opened . The th rty men of t e

regiment, who had long been gained over to the

who service of the Princess, and had for some time ardently wished for the coming of this im

portant crisis , rose and welcomed her, with their a cor oral p , Grunstein, at their head . They then ssu mmone d the rest of their comrades , numbering 1 I E I 0 VAN D B RON .

a m bout two hundred and seventy, and told the that the Princess Elizabeth had come to speak to ,

. n them Whe they were all assembled, she made a

r : short speech, stating her g ievances, declaring ﬁ her rights, and nally asking them whether they

ul r wo d, one and all, support her in her esolve,

the to claim then and there her just inheritance,

nd e throne of Russia, a to rule them as it becam the daughter of Peter the Great to rule .

’ There was not a moment s hesitation . Every

man in the regiment was ready and willing t o

Offer his allegiance to her .

In their enthusiasm, however, they uttered

w ords which horriﬁed the humane Princess . “ ” We are ready we will kill them all . Never was the comment whi ch Lady Macbeth

’ m n m e ade, when readi g her husband s letter, or

a pplicable than to the Princess .

’ W a t o wou s hi l h t h u ld t gh y,

’ ” T u i hat woul d st tho hol ly .

’ ’ M a tiouscheka mom otovoui mouz ix vcex o b , g u iem. 1 OUTBREAK or THE REVOLUTION . 1

-And Elizabeth Petrovna had a more consistent character than that ofthe faltering Macbeth . She indignantly replied If you intend to act in that

I her way, will not go with you and those of

n - co temporaries, or of after historians who have

’ studied this remarkable woman s nature closely, would have known, and know, that these were

idle not words, and that, even at this perilous

she moment, would have abandoned the enter

z a ll of prise, recogni ing the danger such abandon

b e ment, if its success were to attained by any sacriﬁce of human life .

The soldiers shouted Let it be as you wish, and as God wishes ; but w e are ready to sacriﬁce ” our lives for you .

The ﬁrst thing they did, to prove the sincerity

w a s lo a l of their words, to seize upon that y but f unfortunate subaltern o ﬁcer, the Scotchman

Grews .

who That done, they followed the Princess, w the ent straight to the Winter Palace, where k Duchess Regent, the grand Duke of Brunswic 12 I D I VAN E B RON .

her husband, and their infant child, the young

E . mperor, were lodged No difﬁculty was experienced from the guards w h o surrounded the palace . Upon hearing what

t he in Princess Elizabeth proposed to do, they

. sta ntl y acquiesced, as ifit had been quite a matter

o f to course, and to be expected according the

din fe en s or ary march o v t in Russia . . It might have been thought that the Duchess Regent would have gained sufﬁcient experience f rom her own successful conspiracy, to place but

little reliance upon piquets stationed in front of

t . her palace, and of sen inels placed at its doors The progress of this conspiracy bore an almost i ludicrous sim larity to her own ; and, like it, went

t o prove the uselessness of dependi ng upon the ﬁ R delity of the ussian soldiery at that period, in

s A li tl s uch emergencie . t e dog inside the palace t walls, would have been more serviceable han all

these sentinels and piquets .

A detachment was sent forward, headed by

Le st oc Woronzk ow q and , to enter the palace .

It h was t en that Ivan, emerging from his place

14 I VAN DE BIRON .

a sword on his shoulder ; and, kicking his body

a of side, for he was in a state insensibility, the

r COD Spira t ors entered the apartment .

Themselves conspirators, the Duchess Regent a n d ha Ve her husband must felt, when suddenly

awakened by this clamour in their room that an

e vil time had come for them and that they were

t o undergo the same fate as that which, only one

y ear ago, they had caused to fall upon the ex

Regent of Russia, the Duke of Courland . They

made no resistance .

The Grand Duke, the Duchess Regent, the

infant Emperor Ivan, and the favourite, Juliana

Me n d en de g , were at once seized by the con

spira t ors and were conveyed that night in

sledges to the palace of the Princess Elizabeth,

’ who herself returned there about three o clock in

the morning . Other arrests were then made of

c ertain persons supposed to be especially devoted

to the late dynasty, among whom was Count O d id stermann, whose craft not, on this occasion, fﬁ s u ce to save himself.

Ivan w a s carried to the Princess Elizabeth’ s ’ AZ RA s CARE FOR. IVAN . 15

su Palace with the Imperial captives, it being p p osed that he wa s a person of some consequence . l During that eventfu night, his movements had

ul s s b een sed ou ly watched, not by any py, but by t he loving Azra .

he w S had not sho n herself to him, being afraid t she hat he would send her back, but had been

Oo more nvinced of the peril in which he stood,

than even he had been hi mself. She could not e nter with the insurgent soldiers but she watched

‘ for their return ; and when Ivan was carried out

she by some of them, followed to the Princess

’ E s Of h lizabeth Palace, and there in the tumult t e n she w a s ight able to gain an entrance . Ivan

w a s taken into the presence of the Princess ; and w w a s hat he had done told her .

she a s The magnanimous Princess, for such w , t a . se e once said Let the poor youth go But ,

he cannot stand . Is there any one who will take

c are of him

They told her that hi s sister was in the hall ;

for she w a s Azra had said that his sister. And

t he him l Princess replied Give to her, and et 16 IVAN DE BIRON .

him be taken wherever she wishes . But let u s

for w e hear no more of him, will not that any one ” ul f i sho d su fer for what has been done this n ght .

dr Then , slightly with awing, but there were

who she those heard what said , she exclaimed,

Will there be any one so true to me, who will be ready to die for my sake, when my time shall come 1?

And then the generals and the statesmen b e

hr gan to t ong about her Imperial Majesty, and

' to tell her that this day was the happiest day Of

: their lives, and the one to which they had long “ she been looking forward . Was not the daughter of the greatest Sovereign that Russia had ever~

? who known the Sovereign, indeed, had created

Russia, and made it the mighty Empire that it had been fated to be . O n the ensuing morning, the senate and nobles of Russia were invited to attend at the Princess

’ ﬁ n Elizabeth s Palace , and to con rm her accessio to the throne .

» Al l the troops then quartered at St . Peters

burg, were desired to parade outside the palace . ’ AZ RA s FOR CARE IVAN . 17

l w a s Neither within, nor without those wa ls,

t he slightest objection taken by any of the persons

there assembled, to the claims of the Princess Elizabeth to ascend the throne which her father

had s o worthily occupied . One touching incident served to heighten the f strangeness ofthis memorable event . The in ant

Emperor, delighted with the noise of the soldiers

shouting for their new Sovereign, clapped his

tiny hands , and did what he could to welcome the

new order of things . “ ! t Ah poor child, exclaimed Elizabe h, now m Empress of Russia, perhaps for the mo ent “ It ou che d with some feeling of remorse, you

’ little know what this day s w ork has done for

ou y .

Thus was completed a revolution which, even

‘ in that epoch of revolutions, was remarkable for

l c the reck essness with whi h it was prepared, and

‘ for t he completeness with which it was carried into execution .

V OL . I! .

B O O K I V

I D I 22 VAN E B RON .

t erit w a s i y, not l kely to allow the Duchess

of Regent to be deprived of power ; and, all

them, without any exception, looked forward to a

t long continuance of the presen dynasty, and did not dare to hope otherwise than that they them l selves should ive and die in exile .

sa u di d Strange to y, the D ke of Courland not

ﬁnd hi s days of exile pass so miserably now as m ight have been expected . The daily visits of him the Princess Marie were a great solace to .

u These visits were never omitted . The D ke

ha d . and his visitor lived in the same circle . The Princess had been accustomed from her

earliest years to listen to political discussions ,

and w a s well versed in all the principal occur renees at Court that had happened up to the time

when her father and his family were banished .

u n The D ke of Courland was , as may have bee

already seen from this narrative, a very remark

able man, and had even some touch of genius

in him . Indeed the favourites ofmonarchs mostly

a re — remarkable men not, necessarily, because

monarchs have any particular skill in the choice E or P I ESS M I REVENG THE R NC AR E .

of men ; but because they (the favourites in ques

tion) are Chosen by one person . The favourites

n of assemblies, on the other hand, generally gai

their power from a large manifestation ofsecond

rate qualities and whatever genius they have, is

as likely to be a hindrance a s a help to them . By ‘ f ’ the word avourites , as used above, favourite

ministers are chieﬂy meant, not favourite com

panions .

w a s It something new to the Duke, hitherto

all-powerful and greatly feared by a ll who came hi m near , even by the late Empress herself. to

‘ ﬁnd some one who talked to him without reticence, a n d who with perfect fearlessness, and did not

’ hesitate to speak openly to hi m of some ofhis

own . ho she a s doings He did not know w w .

w a s b hi s Hated though he , and avoided y all

-e fellow xiles, with the exception of the Princess, he still might easily have succeeded in di scover hi m m ing her name . She, however, had told fro the di s ﬁrst, that if he attempted to make this c over l e y, he wou d s e no more of her ; and this

t u hreat proved s ﬁi cient to restrain hi s curiosity . 24. I A V N DE BIRON .

not She became very dear to him . He did h like to tell himself how dear s e had become .

Perhaps love is never so potent as when it seize s

w ho . upon those have passed their ﬁrst youth, h or even those w o have passed the prime of life . The choice made is then likely to be thoroughly suited to the nature of the man ; and any int elle c tual gifts on the part of the woman are likely t o be more at tractive to a man of this age than to a younger person . Besides , there is a feeling that

e as life is not likely to be very long, this lat love is the last thin g to be clung to ; and that after it, should it be lost, all will be desolation .

e It could not be said, however, that the Duk

nl loved this young woman . Certai y if he did

w a s her so, it unconsciously . But he thought the most attractive person he had ever known . . — He looked forward to her coming count ing hi the hours, even the minutes w ch preceded it m and he dreaded her departure, inventing nu e

the rous excuses to delay it, feeling bitterly

The . utter loneliness that then fell upon him “

w a s m Duke a man of much fascination of anner, . OF H E ! 2 RECALL T E ILES . 5

which he then exerted to the uttermost . Not

n without some effect . The Princess herselfbega

to feel less and less irksome these visits , which

she m had ﬁrst ade from a sense of duty, or rather, w e sa might y , if we looked narrowly into her

motives, from a strange desire for a great and — noble revenge revenge, not only upon the chief

o enemy of her father and his family, but als upon her lover Ivan, whom she still accused of having basely deceived her by the concealment

of his name and lineage .

Such w a s the state of things in that obscure

the little town in Siberia, Pelem, where some of

pri ncipal personages of our story were at that time residing .

w a s for A great change , however, preparing

— a in them change very frequent Russian history .

w a s In fact, during that century, exile to Siberia ” merely a Russian mode of going out of ofﬁce .

It w a s a mode practicable only in a country of — that extent in fact a little world of its own and certainly it was a better system than that

a e dopted in French revolutions, and other lik ~ 2 6 IVAN DE BIRON .

convulsions in other countries, when the going

out of ofﬁce mostly accompanied, or shortly

ll o f . preceded, the loss of life as we as power

who And there are some zealots perhaps, , living

under constitutional governments, and fondly de siring that those who govern should have more

power of government, would not be sorry if there

were a Sib erIa attac hed to their own coun try to which the chiefs of the defeated party might ff occasionally be sent, instead of being su ered to

remain, and thus to form a powerful and vexa

tious opposition, able to thwart the policy of f their successors in o ﬁce . The inhabitants of Pelem were pursuing their — d aily labours those labours, which, in their

former and happier days, they could hardly have supposed themselves capable of executing

- n while couriers were speedi g from St . Peters

burg with orders for their immediate recall .

The These orders were almost indiscriminate .

w a s for Duke of Courland to be recalled ; , as

before stated, he had always kept on good terms d uring his tenure of power with the Princess F ! 2 7 RECALL O THE E ILES .

E l izabeth . Again, as was natural, the daughter o f Peter the Great was anxious to recall the

Me nschik offs , and all the friends, favourites and s who ervants of her father, had been banished d t his uring the reign hat succeeded .

Among these exil es were the Prince Se rb a t off

’ a ll di and the Prince s family, inclu ng of course, t he n Pri cess Maria Andr eevna .

It w a s early in the morning of a dreary day that the Duke of Courland paced up and down his chamber in a most restless manner . Every n ow re and then he went to the window, but t urned to resume his weary p a cings up and down t he of room, with a most dissatisﬁed expression

c . w a s ountenance Though early, it an hour later t han the time when he w a s usually visited by the

o Princess Marie . She had never been s late

’ b efore and the Duke s mind w a s ﬁlled with the n most gloomy apprehe sions . He feared that

s he w a s . i l f ill Anyth ng e se, he said to himsel , hi he could bear but t s . There were unaccustomed W noises, too but, as the indows looked only i of nto the courtyard at the rear the house, no 28 IVAN DE BIRON . thing could be seen from them which could explain the noise in the streets ; and it showed

’ u n the Duke s absence of mind , or rather his m conscious return to the habits of for er days, if that he had gone often to the window, as it had been one in his room at the Summer

Palace of St . Petersburg .

He did not venture to show himself on the flat . roof of the house which might have enabled him to understand the cause of this delay in the

n oIse s In coming of the Princess, and of the the street which became more and more deﬁned .

His anxiety was soon relieved in a very u n

a n expected manner . A courier came to him, n ou ncing the glad tidings of his recall ; and almost immediately afterwards a letter was

u It ‘ bro ght to him from the Princess Marie .

. e was a cold, polite letter It told him that ther was no occasion for her seeing him again . His Highness would have no need now of any h services which she could render . Such as s e

who w a s had rendered, were given to one , yes

terd a . y, only a poor exile like herself

30 I D I VAN E B RON .

soldiers, had arrived on the bridge at the same

Miinnich m . w a s of oment In it Count . Each the two great rivals and bitter enemies, recog niz of d id e d the countenance the other . They f h not speak ; but, li ting their caps, bowed wit

hi s n grave politeness . The Duke pursued jour ey

to to St . Petersburg ; while the Count went on

whi he Pelem, to occupy the very house to ch

as of ha d had sent his rival, the plan which he d esign ed with his own hand .

Such were the vicissitudes of fortune which befell Russian statesmen at that period, and long a ft erwards . I BOOK V .

CH APTER II .

’ — AZRA s CARE OF IVAN R E WRITE s TO THE EMPREss

E — TH E R S OF LIZABETH E ULT THAT LETTER .

T H E now St . story returns to Petersburg, the time being that which immediately succeeded the successful enterprise of Elizabeth to place f herself upon the throne . For the ﬁrst e w h ff t e . days after that event, state of a airs at St

Petersburg w a s such that any bold attempt made

a nd by the partisans of the late Duchess Regent,

t the late infan Emperor, might have greatly embarrassed the n e w government . The child 3 2 IV I AN DE B RON . h ood of the deposed Emperor was much in his

favour ; and there were statesmen who would

have been very glad to avail themselves of his l ong minority to consolidate their own power,

and to promote their own views . The population c f St . Petersburg would have looked on with a f f ’ eeling of comparative indif erence , for Elizabeth s

“ popularity rested with the soldiery, and chieﬂy

w ith those favoured regiments, such as the

Pre ob ra sk e nski , which had all along been

! d evoted to her cause .

No daring attempt, however, was made by the partisans of the Duchess Regent and her family ; and the new Empress was at liberty to employ herself in rewarding those who had gained for her the Empire, and in punishing those whose only fault was their ﬁdelity to the late Duchess

Le st oc Regent . q and Grunstein, and even the c ommon soldiers of the Pre obra sk e n ski regi

m h f . ent, were ighly avoured and rewarded The

’ Empress s opponents were condemned to death ; but Elizabeth, true to her intention to abolish c apital punishment in Russia, commuted all ’ AZ RA s or 33 CARE IVAN .

these sentences of death to the lesser cond emna

tion of exile to Siberia .

b e MunnIch ' As was to expected, Marshal and Count Ostermann were among those statesmen who were considered to be most dangerous

to the new dynasty . They had been immediately

arrested . Each of these great men bore his

reverse with singular fortitude and even daring .

’ The Count s sentence wa s not commuted until he

had absolutely been brought to the block ; and l

the Marshal, knowing what a farce, for the most

part, judicial examinations are , when the judges are taken from a dominant party and the accused

are prominent persons of a defeated party, bade them write anything they liked in the nature of

a nd articles of accusation, he would sign them, as,

indeed, he did .

The fa t e of these statesmen does not concern

this story so much as the fate of certain minor

n perso ages, and especially that of Ivan de Biron .

When taken to his miserable lodgings, it need h ardly be said that he was there carefully tended

so- by his called sister, Azra the gypsy . V II OL . . 34 IVAN DE BIRON .

It has been remarked by some shrewd oh

s ervers O f human nature that a certain kind

of familiarity (the familiarity, for instance , which must exist in a sick room) endears men to

women ; but has not a similar effect or, at any r f ate, not so great an e fect upon men with regard

t o women .

’ A zra s weary watchings of the wounded man

. o nly rendered the poor gypsy girl more fond

o f him . She had much to endure . During

the fever that beset him in the ﬁrst few days

o f n his illness, he was occasio ally delirious ; and in his ravings spoke much of his beloved

Marie .

The liking of Azra had been sudden, as was to

b e expected from her ardent Eastern nature ;

but it had been greatly fostered and increased, m n ’ ost unintentio ally on Ivan s part, by his

c onduct and bearing towards her . A man is

s eldom more respectful to all women than when

i N ow he is very much n love with any one .

r he r Az a, the beauty of tribe, had not been w ithout many lovers both among her own people ’ Z RA s or I A CARE VAN . 35

a nd amongst strangers . But their wooing had

u been of a very ro gh character, and had always d isgusted the reﬁned nature of the girl . On the c who ontrary, Ivan had always been most r espectful to her, treating her as a faithful f riend, and somewhat as a brother, had thus

hi s he g reatly a dded to attractiveness . S felt

that she had never before been respected ; and

this respectful bearing on his part had a wonder

ful charm for her .

’ Ivan s wound had not been of a serious

c haracter . The meagre fare and the constant

! exercise he had taken, for he might be said to

have lived in the streets since his return to

St . Petersburg, aided his recovery . Azra was

not only his chief nurse, but his only doctor .

L she w a s ike the other women of her tribe,

familiar with the treatment of wounds ; a know

ledge gained in the course of the feuds that

o ccasionally arose between the gypsies, the

police, the soldiery, and, generally, the lower

c lasses in the great towns of Russia, which f euds sometimes led to very severe encounters .

D 2 D RIRON 36 IVAN E .

Azra, would not have trusted to her own skill

she : in caring for this life so precious to her, if had possessed the means of paying for a doctor . Al l her little earnings went to provide the pay

for ment the lodgings , which was inexorably

demanded week by week, and also for the food and medicaments which were necessary for the patient .

The new reign of the Empress Elizabeth ha d now lasted three weeks , and had been consoli

ri f dated without any se ous di ﬁculty, when Ivan, now recovered from his wound, became perfectly

conscious of his condition and anxious to d o something for his livelihood . During the last week he had been fully aware of all that Azra

. had done for him, and that he had been supported by her precarious earnings . She had never been able to remain a whole day with : him ; and it was wonderful that she had had the strength and endurance to go through her usual

for l toil, and, at the same time, to minister severa

of . hours in the day, and for a great part the f ni w o . ght, to the many ants her patient

38 IV D AN E BIRON .

utter impecuniosity, which confession they accompanied with an immod era te burst of ! ! laughter . Oh what a happy thing is youth

It can ﬁnd something to laugh at even in the m e direst state of isfortune . As B ranger says,

’ n D a ns un greni er qu on est bien a vingt a s .

S . omething must be done, exclaimed Ivan, feeling that he must take the lead in the conversation . “ e Yes, dear Ivan (she had for some tim h “ ” indulged erself in calling him dear Ivan , t u ho gh he, on rare occasions only, called her dear

Ivan was the least vain of young men ; b u t still a thought, not altogether unwelcome, but l which was to be reso utely repressed, would

a d rkly intrude itself upon him, that he and this poor girl were becoming a little more intimate than would be desirable for her or for him, and certainly for the Princess Marie,

he did , whose presence not feel sure, would have been quite acceptable on these occasions . ’ AZ RA s r I 39 CARE o VAN .

m it Yes , Ivan, so ething must be done ; but need not be done by you, dear . I can now leave

ou so y for much longer times, and shall gain

‘ t more . We gypsies have a saying, Light walle

’ in the morning : heavy wallet at night . I am

Moost a n sure to be very rich this evening, for ,

w e Ca fe our chief, said that should go to the

Pre obra sk e nski this evening, and all the soldiers there have so much money fr om the Empress

’ that they don t know what to do with it . That rouble I had the other day came from one of ” them .

It is a strange thing, but one never under r di d stands human natu e, that Ivan not at all like to hear of this rouble given by a soldier ; nor did it at all delight him that Azra was to sing and dance a t the Pre obra sk e nski Café that — night . Yet he was true as true as men can

b e— o ever to the one bject of his devotion, the

Princess Marie ; and he would have resented it as an insult of the deepest kind if any one had

ventured even to inquire why it was that he

’ should have had any dislike to Azra s going to 40 I VAN DE BIRON .

é i so s that caf , where the sold ers were generou

so so r and kind, and withal profuse in thei

for admiration pretty gypsy girls .

of f- n Ivan, with that grand power sel deceptio

o f which, perhaps, is the greatest source our

lin f happiness, entirely dec ed to ask himsel any question of that nature . “ I wish you w e u ld not go so often to é ” t that caf , Azra, he exclaimed, somewha pettishly .

Azra must have been a very innocent girl, for not the faintest notion that anything like jealousy was beginning to arise in the dim depths of

’ ul . Ivan s so , entered at all into her mind ” “ O ! she h replied, we sometimes get ﬁve times as much from that café as from anywhere — else ; and Moosta n says he is such a wise old — man, and very good to me that we should not get nearly so much if we went there too often .

’ t But I must go, dear, I can stay any longer, I

’ — bu t was beaten the other day I didn t mind it, ” for s she hi s being late . And so aying, seized t pallid hand and kissed it . Tha did not mean ’ AZ R E r 4 A s CAR o IVAN . 1

m uch in that time and amongst that people, for

there was a constant kissing of hands on the

“ she p art of inferiors to superiors . And then

‘J f Il OV Cd quickly out o the room .

’ she Ivan s thoughts, after left, were very

’ e d i ns la t sco o e . Even before the new Empress s

hr - accession to the t one, he had been ill received

! by a ll hi s former friends and acquaintances whom

h e . had solicited Few, indeed, were those to

w ul n hom he co d appeal ; for, as has bee said

before, most of his friends and relatives had been

s t . en to Siberia And now what chance had he,

t he only man who had really made any effort

ul p ersonally, to avert the successf revolution,

o f ﬁnding support or favour with any human

? A s being in St . Petersburg he pondered over t hese thoughts, a most daring project came into

.. u his mind . In the conf sion that had occurred d r u ing that night, when the Princess Elizabeth a se ize d upon the reins of empire, all rank and

oord e r had been disturbed . Many persons of the

l n d ower ranks, servants a others, had crowded

’ i nto the hall of Elizabeth s Palace when the 42 I A E IR V N D B ON .

Duchess Regent, her husband, the infant Em

eror t he t . p , and other prisoners had been brough

in . The new Empress had never been accustomed ‘ “ to speak with bated breath, or whispering

humbleness and she w a s not likely to do so

when she felt that she was supreme in Russia .

r She had, moreove ; the loud clear voice of her

’ father ; and thou gh what she had said on Ivan s

w a s being brought wounded into the Hall,

probably not meant by her to be overheard, “ ” it w a s as loudly uttered as a stage aside ;

of and twelve or thirteen people, some of them

the lower class, heard every word of it . A

’ version of the Empress s saying, not very

a ll u ccurate, but sti not very far from the tr th,

w a s St . . current in Petersburg The gypsies,

for always eager intelligence, learnt what had

w a s been said or supposed to have been said, by

the Empress ; and Azra had not failed to repeat

w e it to Ivan, thinking that it ould be som

comfort to him to hear it .

“ ‘ He said to himself She and Azra are great 43 ~ IVAN WRITES To THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH .

” ha d souls . He could not help smiling after he

said this to himself, at his daring to liken Azra “ to the Empress . But they are alike ; for they can both recognize and understand ﬁdelity . I ” a nd will write to her, meaning the Empress, ” will claim to be admitted into her service .

So he did write and hi s letter w a s such a one as royal or imperial personages seldom receive .

w a s He told the Empress, who he and the story f of his life . He confessed that he had known o the conspiracy ; and from motives of gratitude had told what he knew to Juliana de Me ngd e n that he had then done his best to prevent the success of the plot ; and had received his wound

’ at the door of the D u chess Regent s sleeping apartment .

He concluded his letter by saying that if the n e w Empress would forgive him (not that he

ul regretted what he had done) , wo d receive him

t into her favour, and give him any employmen d however humble, he woul be true to her for the

’ remainder of his life, and ready to die for her if an occasion required it . 44 IVAN DE BIRON .

w a s It a bold, noble letter, very characteristic c f who u the man had, even when serving the D ke of Courland, ventured at the risk of his life, to

" provide some solace for the unfortunate exiles to Siberia whom his inexorable master had sent h t ither with an unsparing hand .

Ivan was not nat urally what may be called a

" c very clever man , ertainly not a man of any g enius . He had learnt, it is true , a great deal

’ as Biron s secretary ; but the Duke, a good judge of character, had chosen him not for his ability, but on account of the singular honesty

t hi m . hat he perceived in And Ivan, with many

f ha d scruples and with much su fering, been substantially a true servant to his master ; though if the Duke had known that his secre tary had ever sought to mitigate the sufferings

’ of the Duke s many Victims, it would have fared ill with that dependant . Whether Ivan were, or were not, a man of any great talent, certain it is that he had a great soul, and could carry his life

a nd in his hand, as the saying is ; that is what few men have nobleness enough to do .

—46 I A I V N DE B RON .

’ w a s delighted with Ivan s letter ; and read

“ of who p ortions it to her attendant ladies, ,

’ seeing the bent of their mistress s mind, did not fail to encourage her in what they called her

“ noble goodness to an enemy . The result was that a most favourable answer

w a s w a s sent to Ivan ; and, in a short time, he

a D vora ini ppointed one of the , or Gentlemen of h ’ t he t e . Chamber, in Empress s household She

r egarded him with particular favour, and would

s ometime condescend to jest with him about the

wound which had not exactly been received in

‘ her service ; but which had spoken so potently

“ of for him . And Ivan, in the fervour his new

ul gratitude, would protest that he wo d die for U her . pon which the mirthful Empress would

r eply We shall se e : w e shall see : and perhaps

s . ooner than you expect, De Biron Men are very

a pt to sa y that they will die for the ladi es ; but

o u r poor experience has not led us to recognize a l arge amount of male mortality resulting from ” t hese masculine protestations .

There were those about Court, but courtiers S OF 4 THE RE ULT THAT LETTER . 7

li who ro nosti are sometimes ma cious, even p g

ca t e d that Ivan would supplant the reignin g

so favourite, much beloved, as scandal said,

of though low origin, by the accomplished a nd handsome Elizabeth . BOOK IV

CH APTER III .

— BALL AT TH E WINTER PALACE TH E MEETING — BETWEEN IVAN AN D TH E PRINCESS MARIE AZRA

S AN D TH E S U S TH E STORY INGS, EMPRE S RECO NT

F AN D O AZRA IVAN . THERE was a grand ball at the Winter

a s Palace . The new Empress w determined that d her Court shoul equal, if not surpass, in splen

of di it dour the Courts the prece ng reigns . As hi m has been said before, t s splendour ight be somewhat of a barbaric kind ; but it w a s splen dour . The entertainments provided were cer

tainl . n in y somewhat incongruous For insta ce, 49 A BALL AT THE WINTER PALACE . a ddition to the regular musicians who constituted

’ the Empress s own band, there were stationed, ff t in di erent parts of the hall, o her musicians,

who u chieﬂy singers , were to ﬁll p the inter ludes of dancing by national songs , these bands b eing dressed in costume . Azra the gypsy girl l w a s . w a s there Her talent we l known, at any rate by all the lower classes of St . Petersburg, a n d she had been chosen to form on e of a party w ho had called themselves the Minstrels of ” the Neva .

The other girls who sang in this band were hi dressed in the old Russian fas on ; but Azra,

according to the immutable rules of her tribe,

w a s not allowed to dress otherwise than in their

p eculiar costume . There had been much d if

ﬁ culty in reconciling the other members of

the band to this difference of dress ; but the

w a s m q uestion settled by a usical necessity .

There was a certain solo part of a song,

w hich w a s to be sung at a late period of the

e vening, and which, with what was called the “ c w a s t he che elebrated Neva Chorus, to be f

VOL . II. E 5 0 I VAN DE BIRON .

’ d vr cew e executed by the Minstrels of the Neva .

Now there w a s no one who could sing this song so well as Azra, and therefore her presence was . considered to be indispensable . Hers was a contralto voice, with all the pathos that belongs to that most touching and effective of human voices .

It might have been expected that the Empress .

Elizabeth would have some unpleasant re mini sce n ce s connected with any ball given at the

W . inter Palace, for it was on a similar occasion that she had exercised all her powers of deceit, and had succeeded in deluding the pliant and placable Grand Duchess into a state of abject

a the security . But, midst the duties and Splendour of a new and great position, any baseness that

‘ ma v have been used in attaining it, is easily for

of gotten . Moreover, the character Elizabeth ha d rapidly developed under the pressure of

H e r Empire . mind dwelt not at all upon the

a a nd f p st, but was full of social political aims or the f uture .

This w a s the ﬁrst great entertainment at 5 1 A BALL AT THE WINTER PALACE . which she had an opportunity of receiving and

welcoming those exiles from Siberia whom she

had recalled .

e Here and there, in the crowd, there must hav

e been some courtiers, whose caution or whos happy mediocrity had preserved them intact

amidst the frequent perilous changes in the f o ﬁcial life of Russia at that period . They would

know how various were the causes which ha d led to the exile of the high personages then

a d iﬂi cult present, and would ppreciate the y

which the Empress would experience in her

n n e deavour to reco cile them, and to Show some

thing like equal favour to all .

To create a general feeling of amity w a s her

s a great object . She w that the security of her

reign depended upon her power of effacing d ancient feu s amongst the nobility, and making

' f it to be understood that, for the uture, there

w a s were to be no parties in Russia, but that it to be one sovereign with supreme power ruling

a s over a united people . The Empress w fully

w of impressed ith the great ideas her father,

E 2 5 2 I V AN DE BIRON .

to which he had often, no doubt, given utterance

in her presence . And one of these main ideas was the int ernal development and civili

z i n a t o of the Empire .

t he n Among principal perso ages present, there

were several who had to play strange parts that

evening, and play them well ; for, under the

t he observant eyes of Empress , great men had

a to welcome one another and to sh ke hands, who had done each other irreparable injuries .

Passing, however, from them, we come to those who might be considered the minor actors,

who but are, nevertheless, not without interest for us .

Se r a t ff The Princess Marie b o was there . She had long imagined what she should do, and how

h ul s e sho d comport herself, if she were ever to meet her old lover Ivan again . After his

she d d eparture from Pelem, and while was ai ing

k of and comforting his near relation, the Du e

u she s Co rland, had often pictured to her elf the d meeting with him . Indeed, during her reary, toilsome journey from Siberia to St . Petersburg,

5 4 I VAN DE BIRON .

fe w a families . These feuds were in the nature

a of private baronial w rs . But the number the

Duke had injured was legion ; and, moreover, the misery he had caused was quite recent and

ul d f ly in the min s of all men . He had, there

fore, been stopped on his way to St . Petersburg and his escort had received orders to convey

a rosla w w him to J , here, for the present, he was to remain .

To return to the Princess Marie . She was a

of woman a very original mind and disposition . With all that indignation strongly acting upon

’ her, at what she most unjustly felt for Ivan s

she treachery, as called it, in not having told

w a s w a s her who he , her love for him still su pre me w tha t kind of love which it is only — given to the greatest souls to feel immense, unswerving, unalterable, and possessing and pervading the Whole exist ence of the loving person . She was convinced that they never could be

united . With her knowledge of her father, — how could she hope that he would now now 5 5 A BALL AT THE WINTER PALACE .

— that he was likely to be powerful again listen

‘ for a moment to the p rOposa l of such a ma r

ria e how g ; and with her love for her father,

c ould she make up her mind even to hint at s she ul uch an alliance, which felt wo d be a death blo w to him

she in How then should meet Ivan, and

what manner should she treat him ? It w a s in

her resolve upon this point, that her originality

t of character manifes ed itself. She determined

to be cold to him ; but it should only be cold

a s . s f a lover It hould be very warm as a riend .

She would thank hi m for all his kindness to herself— for all the labour on behalf of herself

and her family which he had shared . She would

n ot fear to bring up every reminiscence of this

she ul kind, while wo d studiously avoid any reference to the sweet and loving words which

ha d passed between them . If he ventured to

she w ul recall such passages, o d treat these reminiscences as the nonsense often talked

hi h ul between boys and girls, in w c there co d

b e he d no real and abiding meaning . S shu 1 C 6 IVAN DE BIRON .

dered as she thought how real it was ; and hOW ’ abiding, at least on her part, it ever would be .

A nd she then smiled, thinking to herself that just thought of how much wiser and older :

n n you g women are than you g men, even when the latter have the apparent superiority of age, as was the case between her and her

We have somewhat anticipated the events

r which happened at this great festival, or rathe have indicated the ‘ Spirit and the manner in

which it w a s to be conducted by the greater "

personages, and by one of the minor persons .

u u The g ests had all arrived . Punct ality is a

’ virtue known at all Courts , and especially at

w those hich are despotic . The Empress had

- not yet entered the ball room . Soon there came a hurrying backwards and forwards of pages

and chamberlains dressed in gorgeous costume .

Then there w a s a buzz of expectation : then :

- a respectful silence . The folding doors were li ” thrown open, and the Empress E zabeth made

u ll . her entrance, surro nded and fo owed by a MEETING BETWEEN IVAN AN D MARIE .

brilliant suite, amongst whom was her new mem ber of the Household, Ivan de Biron .

The Princess Marie was not lon g in re cogniz

s ing her lover, notwithstanding that his dres and appearance were not a little different from that coarsely - clad youth who had so often sa t . by her side in the forest encircling the town of

Pelem .

We She felt herself growing pale and cold . may think beforehand as much as we like of any

w e : great scene have to encounter ; but, when

w e the reality comes, seldom ﬁnd that we are

t w e t qui e as well prepared for it , as though

We were .

n re The Princess Marie, to a certai extent, covered from her embarrassment by a droll .

— ' thou ght d roll from its comical contrast of

u — h circ mstances which crossed her mind . S e coul d not help remembering how certain she used to be at Pelem to ﬁnd Ivan seated by her sid e in a few minutes after the clan g of the horns had ceased, which were blown by the herdsmen a n n ou n cin g their return with their cattle to the town . “ 5 8 I I VAN DE B RON .

The ﬂourish of trumpets which had announced ff an event of a very di erent kind, namely, the

- entrance of the Empress into the ball room, had n aturally brought back this pleasant reminiscence t o the mind of the Princess . When in the wood at Pelem, she had often, with the playfulness of a girl, shut her eyes, and wrapt in seeming medi

’ t a tion not , pretended to be aware of Ivan s a su r pproach, treating it as a matter of great

w sa prise, when he ould reproachfully y to her “ You must have known, Marie, that I should have been sure to come, for would I leave you to do all this hard work by yourself ? She never felt more supremely fond of him than w she she hen recalled, as did at this moment,

many meetings of theirs at the edge of the wood ;

a n d u his she thought, nconsciously imitating

“ w e Highness of Courland, Would that were all

s o back again, that I might have my Ivan to m yself, and that those happy days, for so they ” w . ere to me, could be renewed

As soon as Ivan could quit his post ofduty and

m hi s ingle with the guests, he made way to the N E 5 9 MEETI G BETW EN IVAN AND MARIE .

P rincess Marie . He had known that She was to be there, and her presence was no surprise to hi m.

for True to her plan of action, the Princess was n ot she one to falter in a great resolve, received hi m as one receives, after long absence, a dear f riend . They shook hands warmly . Even in t hat act of welcome though, he felt that there w a s something very different from that which had been always present in their meetings in the

so Siberian wood, now dear to him, with all its

a s . fond recollections . She w the ﬁrst to speak “ so se e . I am glad to you, Ivan I little t in hought to see you here, and to ﬁnd you high

oﬂi ce favour, and to what great does this grand dress belong ? ” “ I am one of the minor members of the ”

i . Household, Pr ncess

ff n she i Somewhat di ere t, , sm ling, said, m touching the gold lace upon his shoulder, fro the bear and wolf furs of our hard-working days ” i n Siberia . “ f n But you, Princess, are more yoursel tha 6 0 I D VAN E BIRON .

n ow ever, that you appear as becomes your rank, m ’ I and not in the artens fur, which “ Yes, yes ; we must not dwell too much upon those former times, Ivan . We now belong to a Court . We must forget the days of

?“ Cinderella . You know the old fairy story How handsome the Empress looks How proud I ° m va n t o . you must be, , serve such a istress I d iIb t n ot a o you are in high favour . They do s y

she likes to have good -looking youths about her .

d; r Ivan felt his heart sink, for he fully understoo

the the meaning of these playful words, and how

t o» Princess sought by ordinary talk of this kind,

: keep him at a distance, and to mark the change

which had taken place in their respective

positions . What was meant by the word

‘ ’ youths was not lost upon him . Oh yes : it

w a s all to be made out to be mere boy -and -girl' play— entirely juvenile ! He was right in his

conjecture . “ But Marie , dearest Marie, have you quite forgotten

I A 6 2 V N DE BIRON .

' cess Marie An dreevna Se rb a t oﬂ ; but shall n ot presume u pon our old acquaintanceship in

Siberia ; and no doubt there are others in the room more ﬁtting to a Spire to her hand in the

se e dance than a mere servitor in the Palace . I m that the Empress is oving onwards, and I had

’ is better follow, as my duty , in Her Majesty s ” suite .

So saying, and with a profound bow, Ivan

a s parted from the Princess, carrying with him

sorrow - stricken a heart as was perhaps to b e

W e found in that great assemblage , here ther

were many hearts not at all attuned to the

festivity of the proceedings .

w a s Meanwhile, there one person in the ball

room who had not been an indifferent spectator

: who to this meeting between the two lovers ,

d a nd indee , had marked every change of look

s gesture that had passed between them . Thi

w a s . th the gypsy girl, Azra It happened that e

she band of singers to which belonged, had been

placed close to the very spot in which the two»

a nd l lovers had met ; , coming s ightly forward 6 3 AZRA SINGS .

from her circle, Azra had been enabled to watch C the lovers losely . Ivan had not seen her ; and, u n til it had come to her turn to sing, he had been oblivious of her presence .

a ll When, late in the evening, she did sing, eyes were attracted to her . Nature had gifted her with greater powers of song than thos e possessed by any other person then present .

The great singers of the opera at St . Petersburg

n did not deig to enter these groups, as it would have been quite beneath their dignity to sing the National songs which were in vogue on that

occasion . d The Empress herself, a ﬁne ju ge of musical

i talent, returned with all her su te to that part of d the room where Azra was singing, and listene

with pleased attention .

is It is not a fancy of courtiers, but a decided l fact, that the members of Imperial and Roya families have a wonderful power of remembering

. people It is part of their kingly craft, and one whi ch they almost always succeed in fulﬁlling .

The Empress had not heard three bars of the 1 6 4 I VAN DE BIRON .

sson g, before She at once recognized the singer

a nd she , after the song had ended , recounted to

the circle of courtiers that surrounded her, the

t ’ s ory of Ivan s having been wounded, and of this

gypsy girl having come forward and claimed, as

a sister, to take care of the wounded man .

’ The Princess Marie had, on Ivan s quitting

her w a , made her y to her father, sure to be found not far from his imperial mistress ; and M arie had listened attentively to the clear tones

she of the Empress , while narrated this interest f ing story of sisterly a fection .

Elizabeth, with that sense of humour, which

nothing could restrain, called Ivan towards her, “ a n d se e said You , my Lords, that for once we have promoted a gypsy to a place in our House

hold . We should not have discovered, from his

w e di d looks, his birth and parentage ; and

rather think that he w a s more closely allied to t he puissant House of Courland than to the g ypsy tribe, of which that girl is such an orna ” lf ment . But, my good Ivan, addressing herse “ - him is so to , there no occasion for blushing A 65 AZRA AND IV N .

ma . vividly . You v well be proud of your sister

Be good enough to convey to her, with this

she e jewel, (and here carel ssly tore a ruby pendant from her dress) our acknowledgment ” sh ha s of the pleasure e given us . Ivan went to Azra and conveyed the Empress’ s

message . Shyly he then drew back, amidst the

smiles of the surrounding courtiers . There were many persons who did not return in

a joyous frame of mind from that ball that night .

Amongst them might be counted the d iscomﬁt e d

lover Ivan, the gypsy Azra, and the Princess

who ff Marie , , to her other su erings, had now

the added pangs of an apparently well - founded

jealousy . “ ! His sister, indeed It is a sister that I ” never heard of before .

VOL. II. BOOK IV.

H APTE IV C R .

TH E HOPES AND PROJECTS or THE PRINCESS MARIE

— ’ AZRA AND IVAN DESCRIBED AZRA S INTERVIEW

WITH TH E PRINCESS .

IT is not a new thing to say, that a great struggle in any one human heart, could one

ul pourtray it adequately, wo d be far more

interesting than any description of battles, sieges and revolutions, great and important a s their results might be .

There were certainly three persons who left .

the Winter Palace, after that night of festivity,

. e in anything but a happy mood Their fe lings, ff however, were very di erent . 7 THE PRINCESS MARIE . 6

Ivan w a s shocked and depressed . He could not realize to himself that the Princess could

she be in earnest in repelling him, and that

so could completely have forgotten, or resolved

f . to ignore, her ormer promises He knew

w dn her aywar ess, and attributed her conduct

to any cause but that of falseness to her lover .

ul His course w a s clear before him . He wo d seek for some opportunity of ascertaining

what her feelings towards him really were ;

w a s and he found comfort in thinking, that it

in accordance with her proud and u n d e mon

stra tive m nature, not to anifest in public any

sign s of great joy on seeing him for the ﬁrst

time again . Still her words had been very

Signiﬁcant, and when he recalled them, hope

almost ﬂed from his heart .

’ A zra s feelings were undi sturbed by perplex e ity . They were, neverthel ss, very bitter . She had not failed to notice the cold and distant manner in which the Princess had received

her Ivan ; but she had now no doubt whatever

w a s sh how sincere his attachment, and e was

F 2 6 8 I VAN DE BIRON .

“ nOt comforted by perceivin g how worthy of

his love, at any rate in outward appearance . was the object of that love .

With the Princess, the state of feeling

r f was ve y di ferent . Her mind was the prey

C ' of ontending impulses . She was not going r to ma ry Ivan . That was a decided conclusion .

‘ Why then w a s she made miserable by the

’ re collection of the Empress s story ?

: So then, it was that singing girl , who had claimed to have the wounded Ivan given to — — her care a righteous claim a proper claim !

’ ” O e ! h, no doubt, a sist r s This was the in bitter soliloquy of the Princess . It was vain that she repeated to herself. the fatal Objections to her union with Ivan— the di ffer — ence of rank the family feuds not healed, only the outward manifestation of them sub

— t o dued the especial enmity her father bore . all the House of Biron . The Duke of Courland

in was as hateful as ever to those whom, the days of his supremacy, he had wronged d i and persecute . Her father, the Princess sa d

70 I IVAN DE B RON .

which had never been absent from her mind

w it since her return from the Palace, hen

w a s announced to her that a young woman

wished to speak to her . She asked her

if she a attendant knew who it w s . To which

there came the reply that Stepan, the page,

said he was sure it wa s the young gypsy “ s A d girl who sings o well in the streets . l mit her instantly, exc aimed the Princess ;

n d a Azra entered . For a minute or two the young w omen

looked at each other in silence . Each felt with some pain how beautiful the other

w a s , and yet, they could not but admire

hi w a s each other . T s not their ﬁrst time

of looking earnestly at one another ; but it so happened that they were both of that rare

order of beauty whi ch shows its best in sim

’ A zra plc costume . It had been the pride of s

tribe to bedi zen her with tawdry ornaments

of on any o ccasion her singing in public, w hich ornaments, reluctantly worn by the girl, had been in ludicrously bad taste . ’ A ZRA S I I P S NTERV EW WITH THE RINCE S .

t And as for the Princess, her somewha

severe and yet singul ar beauty of feature

and of expression, had perhaps never been so becomingly adorned as when she wore the

of simple dress a Siberian peasant, and had

enchanted the heart of Ivan . The contrast in the demeanour of the two

y oung women was very great . All that Azra

had prepared to say, had gone out of her

mind ; and she looked the very picture of

she embarrassment, as plucked nervously at the

tassels of her Kaftan . The Princess, from

her earliest years, had lived with great people,

and had acqui red the best manners of a Court .

She was, if one might use the expression, a

‘ ;girl of the world . She, therefore, was per

fe ctl - y self possessed . “ What is it that you want with me ? ” she

s aid, I do not even know your name

Azra, Madam . And What is it you want ? ”

n Ma Nothi g for myself, dam ; but Ivan is

. so miserable . I am sure ifyou knew 7 I A DE I 2 V N B RON .

The Princess’ s look of astonishment stopped

Azra in the middle of her sentence . “ — And who is your Ivan and in what way can I be of any service to you or to him ? ”

Ivan de Biron, Madam . The same who w a s with you in Siberia ; but perhaps you r Excellency did not know him by that name ? ”

I do remember him . He was with us in k i Siberia, and very ind and serv ceable he was

to all our household . We are all most grate

ful and I am sure my father would do any

thing to serve him . Is he in distress ? I

so if should not think , I might judge from

his appearance, when I last saw him . These answers of the Princess roused the

t he indignation of faithful Azra, and at once

deprived her of either fear, or shame, in regard

to what she meant to say . “ : No he is not in distress, except what your ingratitude and unkindness have brought him upon him . You know well, Princess,

and you know he loves you ; and I know

e that when he was in the fever, your nam ’ Az P S 73 RA s INTERVIEW WITH THE RINCES .

w a s alway s on his lips ; and it did seem as

if it had a right to be there . I came to speak u p for him, and I am his only friend in St .

Petersburg, except the Empress who has been ” s o good to him . The Princess only smiled at the vehemence of

Azra ; but She resolved to ascertain the relations

so between Azra and Ivan she said, “ And pray, if I may make the inquiry, how l ong have you been acquainted with this young man ? An d how is it that he was entrusted to your care ? I think you informed the Empress t hat he was your brother ?

: Then Azra told her tale how, at ﬁrst, from m - ere good nature, pitying his forlorn condition, she had given him information which might — restore hi m to fortune what use he made of this — — knowledge ho w he had been wounded what

the Empress had said; and, in short, all that had

she hi s happened, as far as knew, to Ivan Since

return to St . Petersburg .

The only reply of the Princess was And what ” h as the pity become Do you love him ? 7 4 I A D V N E BIRON .

for Azra was not prepared this direct question .

She hung down her head, looked abashed, and f elt that, even through her dark colour, the

deepest of blushes was visible in her face . But the nimble wit of the gypsy girl did not for long

r d e sert her . She raised her head ; and, looking full at the Princess, said, with a gentle voice,

And you, Madam ? It was now the Princess ’ s turn to feel embar ra sse d - , but her more worldly self command pre vented her from betraying her feelings as openl y

a s . Azra had done She, also, with some gentle “ . saw Az . ness, replied You us, ra, at the ball

I doubt not that you marked us well . I leave it to your insight, versed as you tell me you and y our tribe are in unravelling State secrets and

n those of the witli gs who believe in you, to say,

w . ith what feelings, I received your Ivan And — t he youth is very dear to me dear as the best

fr - of true iends, and as the kindest help mate in our trouble . I never had a brother, but

It was fortunate for the Princess (for Azra would not have been satisﬁed with this dubious, ’ AZRA S I VI I I SS 5 NTER EW W TH THE PR NCE . 7

ful though skil reply) that the Prince, her father,

he e ntered the room at this juncture . S lost not

a moment in explaining to her father who Azra “ . so was The singer, dear father, whom you

much admired the other evening . You are wont

’ to be satisﬁed with your Marie s SIngIng but I ” c oul d learn much from her . l ” “ Wel , my dear, said the Prince, I must

c onfess I like to listen to you better than to

any other human being, whether you speak or

sing ; but perhaps you might improve to other

ears by practising with thi s young woman . You

would improve her, too .

The Prince was a kind -hearted gentleman ; a nd , now that he had returned to his proper

w a s . element, the Court, he in high good humour Neither was he insensible to the remarkable

of w a s loveliness the gypsy girl, and pleased to

patronize her .

is n And this, dear Marie, the same you g woman who was so kind to that friend of ours in

Siberia, so at least we heard from our gracious

s n . overeig That young man will rise at Court, 6 7 IVAN DE BIRON .

’

ca n . my dear, I plainly see that It s a pity he h a s u ? that hatef l name . Is he a relative I dare

’ s a y it s a common name in Courland . There must be many people there with the same name a s - its low born Duke . The Princess made no reply to her father’ s

question .

Meanwhile the go od gentleman fumbled in his

pockets, and produced some gold coins, which,

’ with an affectation of secrecy he placed in A zra s

hands ; and then, mentioning to his daughter

t hat she was to accompany him in a formal visit

that he w a s to pay to the Empress in the course

‘ Of t tha afternoon, he bowed respectfully to both

the young women, and saying that he should h ope to be allowed sometimes to assist at their

s l e sse n s inging , the veteran courtier retired .

The Princess and Azra, when left alone,

looked at one another, and then burst into an

immoderate ﬁt of laughter . There was no part of the remarkable character of the Princess

which was more predominant than her sense of

di ul it the ri c ous . Her love of w and humour ha d

IV DE I 78 AN B RON . not to have come to you ; but it w a s for hi s ” sake . f The Princess, fearing any urther questioning,

now said But Azra you must go, for I must get f ready to accompany my ather and, so saying, she led her to the door, and kissing her again, di smissed her . “ Her last words we re But we will see one

s another again . They shall have orders alway ” to admit you . BOOK IV.

TE CH AP R V .

IVAN’ S AMBITION— MAINTAINS HIS INTIMACY WITH — AZRA WH O LEARNS TO WRITE .

IE there are superior beings, and perhaps there are, who, unseen, regard us and our

hi lOokin doings, what must they t nk when g over some vast library ? What would they sa y to one another ? It might be something of this kind

Consider the subjects of their books . Look at the hundreds of thousands about religion, — money, or love not about the essential aspects

of religion, but treating of mysteries which their poor understandings are utterly unable to com 80 I VAN DE BIRON .

n prehe d . For the rest, there are a good many of these tomes which tell of their foolish quarrels,

t o and there is a sprinkling, not equal in weight the dust on the other volumes, of works treating of those things which it most concerns them to know for they cannot build a dwelling ﬁt e ven

for such poor creatures to live in . In cities,

a s i they are not as . skilful the insects wh ch are given them as examples ; and they do but waste those materials which are given for their solace .

Without caring to answer what might thus b e

a s id, touching the numberless volumes devoted to religion, money, or war, we might make some defence for the numerous volumes devoted to

love . It is not only from its inﬁnite interest,

but from its inﬁnite variety, that this subject has justly demanded so many volumes to be devoted

to itself. Probably there is no instance in which any two lovers have made love exactly in the same way as

any two other lovers, since the world began .

To the bystander, too, there is this especial I ’ M I 81 VAN S A BIT ON .

interest in the matter, that it is the beginning l of a career of comparative u nse fishn e ss . It is w hen in love that a human being, perhaps for the first time in life, finds that another human being is dearer to him or to her, than his or her ow n self.

w e l Hence eave, without regret, for the mo

ment, the thorny paths of Russian history, to

- pursue the bye ways of private life, as shown in the loves of the Princess Marie, Azra, and

Ivan .

’ After quitting the ball, it had been Ivan s settled resolve to demand some fuller explana tion from the Princess Marie of her conduct towards him and he had said to hi mself that he would do so the next day .

so But he did not do the next day, neither had he done so at the time when this chapter takes

u . t hi m p the story He had, at ﬁrst, comfor ed

self, as has been stated, by the reﬂection that

w a s ul the Princess a proud girl, and wo d be

w anxious not to sho , on their ﬁrst meeting at

the Court of Russia, in the presence of so many

VOL. II. G 82 I A V N DE BIRON .

F ur curious eyes, what her real feelings were . ther thought almost proved to him that such

she a ttri coldness, as had shown , could not be buted to this cause . There was the marked intention of receiving him as one w ho had been

i i nor a kind and Oblig ng friend, while entirely g ing the existence of any other feeling than that of friendship towards him . He would not go near her now . He would distinguish himself in some way . He would ﬁnd, or make, a new career ; but it should not be as a mere servitor of the Palace, that he would approach her .

w a s While he in that condition, he would keep hi f she msel far away from her presence . When

she came to Court, as come would, he would not cease from the closest attendance upon his

Imperial Mistress, and would never deviate into the crowd . By what means should he distinguish himself from the common herd ? His early training and hi s later experience had made him think that the surest mode of rising to power and inﬂuence in

Russia woul d be t o gain political knowledge of ’ IVAN S AMBITION . 83

a ll — kinds to ﬁnd out, and to be able to tell the n e w w Empress, hat were the feelings of the — p opulace towards her to discover, on their ﬁrst e xistence, conspiracies, if any such should be — formed, and, in fact, to make himself a trusted s upporter of the new order of things, rather than a mere appendage to the imperial household .

w a s With this View, what more necessary, what could be more useful, than to maintain his p resent relations with Azra ? It had always

u been known to the D ke of Courland, and there

fore to his private Secretary, how much informa tion that might be useful to the government, w a s possessed by these wandering tribes of

. w a s n gypsies It not without i tention, though hardly confessed to himself, that the Duke, on that eventful evening whi ch preceded the last

day of his regency, had condescended to have

' his the chan ce fortune told, for of hearing some thing which, to his apprehensive mind, might c a onvey politic l intelligence .

a a re Moreover, Ivan had recently le rnt to pp c of mi iate the gypsy knowledge co ng events,

G 2 84 I D E R VAN BI ON .

f (not altogether of a prophetic character, ) rom

f : the in ormation which Azra had, from day to

day, given him during the last few weeks of the h ’ Duc ess Regent s tenure of power .

Thus Ivan reasoned with himself, not telling himself, however conﬁdentially, that dearer, per haps , than the hope of getting any political

In w a s t he the formation, longing to retain

sympathy of Azra in the great trouble that beset , him . Then, too, it naturally followed that it was very desirable, as he said to himself, that Azra w should be taught to rite, in order that informa

. tion might be promptly conveyed to him, when he coul d not receive it in person .

Thus there was scarcely a day in which Azra did not come to see her friend and, as he might

l . now be cal ed, her instructor She had never told him that she had been to se e the Princess

u Marie . This concealment was fo nded upon no m - sh otive of self seeking, or of jealousy ; but e feared, in his present . state of feeling towards the

t ell she she Princess, to him what had done ; and a w d lso feared that, in his anger at what he oul

6 I 8 VAN DE BIRON .

so feeling, as regards all other women, ( , at least, he always told himself) that they were but mere — images, or at best, pale reﬂections of her, still could not help noticing how very graceful Azra w a s a , even when eng ged in this ungainly task of

u learning to write . He tho ght of his young

w d ‘ sisters far away in Courland, hom he love

e very much . He had seen them taught to writ d and to draw, and remembere how he had joked

a n d ‘ with them about their awkward gestures,

their mode of sitting at the table, while they were being taught There was that ﬂexible

a b so grace about whatever Azra did, which lu t ely forbade her being awkward on any

occasion .

sa Ivan, indeed, was wont to y to himself that — Azra was as graceful as a ﬁsh a n odd simile but

one, the general idea of which had often occurred

s to him during those listless, unhappy hour

l the of exile, when he wou d stand upon one of

bridges of the Tavda, and, in its clear waters,

follow the movements of those creatures, which

are perhaps the most graceful in the world, AZRA LEARNS TO WRITE . 87

though their grace has, hitherto, been scarcely

recognized, even by poets .

At a pause in the lesson, Azra had mentioned

she the name of the Princess Marie, saying how

had seen her, with her father, going to a great h s e . party, and how sad looked “ ll she I te you, Azra, behaved cruelly,

u wickedly, worse than wickedly, ungratef lly, to

me . “ a d o ui Perh ps, my little father, you not q te

understand the ways of women . O h yes ; when people behave very wickedly, one always hears that one does not understand

- them . If one were to be half devoured by

wolves, and were to make any objection to the

proceeding, I suppose it would be said by other t wolves, tha one did not understand the kind

N ow intentions of their brethren . , do not make

these foolish excuses; Azra . You women cling ” together, and always justify one another .

’ a I did not know that it w s so. It isn t so in M h our tribe . a c e tt a is always saying unkind i things of me, and follows me about l ke a 88 IV AN DE BIRON .

’ - l watch dog and I don t love her, I can tel ” you . “ Perhaps, said Ivan, not caring to answer

’ Azra s remark, that pompous fool, her p rincely

f t . ather, has some hing to do with it He thinks he is going to be a great man again at Court .

H e was glad enough to have me as a serf, when w e — for were in Siberia and, the matter of that,

’ I was glad enough to be that serf. But that s ” all over now .

It may be remembered that the Prince,

a most courteous gentleman, had been very

gracious to Azra, when he found her in his

’ so daughter s apartment ; Azra, with her honest

ul u . nature, co d not but speak in his favo r

He is a very good and kind man, Ivan, and ” w ould not harm anybody .

H ow ou should y know anything about him, Azra ?

‘ f Azra felt her blood mount to her ace, per

‘ ceiving how near she had been to betraying the fact of her visit to the Princess ; but Ivan did

ot she n notice her confusion, as replied AZRA LEARNS To WRITE . 89

Oh we gypsies know something about most

' c fyour great men and he never gives less than ” n t hree roubles when we si g before his palace .

When he orders, as I have no doubt he has ” o rdered, that I shall not be admitted there, “ r eplied Ivan, I might suppose that it was

u ngrateful on his part ; but it would, of course,

only be that I do not understand his peculiar

x r sin ra titu d princely mode of e p e s g g e . And his — d aughter is a worthy daughter of such a f ” ather .

While the conversation had thus proceeded,

z a n d A ra had risen from her chair, was , almost

! u nconsciously, practising the ﬁrst steps of that

most exquisite of dances, the Spanish bolero, as R frequently and as well danced in ussia, at that

p eriod, as in Spain .

a She ceased to dance . Adv ncing towards

he r ' ﬁn e r i Ivan, she held up g in the mpressive

manner that she had copied from the elder him women of her tribe, and thus addressed . “ Listen, my little father, to a story which I will

: — . a d tell you true story, which our goo chief 90 I I VAN DE B RON .

sit , often tells us, when we round the ﬁre at n ight, out in the woods . We are not always

: w here, you know we like the woods near Mosco

sun . better, where the is warm sometimes

— a There was once a gypsy, not of our tribe

ma n— d r so so ha . bad oh bad, very He neve

he did what the chief told him to do, and when

got anything, he kept it to himself, and would

n ot i t share with others, and was not hungry

u when they were hungry, and la ghed when they

sa d St a rost s of were , and made friends with the i the v llages, and told wicked lies about his tribe hi m to them, and they gave as much vodki as he

c . ould drink And this bad man, one day, found

a large bag of gold in a hole at the root of a

— so great tree oh, so large, large, that he could

hardly carry the bag ; but he stole away with it into Moscow and dressed himself as a great

Lord, and bought serfs, and lived in a house

with windows to it . “ a s d But he w very miserable . You shoul

A nd hear our chief tell how miserable he was .

a n d the disease of the rich man came upon him, S T 91 AZRA LEARN o WRITE .

he he could not sleep in his palace at nights, and was too proud, now that he was a great lord, to come out into the big forest and sleep like a

’ good gypsy . And he died of the rich man s him disease, and the gypsies would not bury

w a s with the sacred songs, for he a very bad ” gypsy .

Ivan could not help smiling, as he did not

w a s m fail to perceive what the oral of this story,

as told by the lips of a gypsy Chief— signifying" what evil must come to a gypsy w ho did not . h k s are his good luc with his fellows . “ He merely said It is a very pretty story,

z se e A ra, and doubtless quite true but I do not

why you tell it me now, or what particular ” comfort it should give me . “ “ Ah , you would not wait, she said . You ” she are too impatient . Listen, listen, said ﬁ m im again, holding up her nger, in the sa e

pressive manner which she had used before .

ha s This is what our chief always says, after he

‘ told us this story . My children these great

gifts are from the Bad Spirit and the promises 9 2 I A DE I V N B RON .

w hi d ch his red gold hol s out, are as false as the ﬁ m rst words of a young girl when her lover, who

’ s he she . loves, asks her whether loves him

And then all our young men laugh, and they s ing in chorus

T e sa not w a t e mean a nd e me an not w a h y y h t h y , th y h t

t e sa h y y ,

” F or w en t e sa No it oes not me a n na h h y y , d y , ” mu ta And w en e s a G o it mea ns ou st s . h th y y , y y

I h van laughed heartily, but was not muc

c onsoled by this gypsy refrain , thinking

that there w a s but little resemblance between

the nature and the ways of gypsy girls, and those of the Princess Marie Andreevna Serba

“ 4 9 IVAN DE BIRON . master dwelt with pleasure upon the rich and hi wonderful voice of Azra, w ch, as he said, w l ith the honesty be onging to great artists , only wanted the cultivation whi ch the Princess

r possessed, to become supe ior to hers, and,

u . indeed, to be one of the most notable in E rope The Princess must have made a great conquest

’ of A zra s affections ; for she succeeded in per

, su a d ing her to adopt another kind of costume than that which gypsies held to be something sacred to them . A change of dress was always kept at the Se rb a t otf Palace ; and Azra a p p e a re d at these lessons as a young friend of the

’ Princess s .

The Prince himself was, also, often present, and welcomed Azra as if she had been one of the

ot l di family . N unski led in plomatic craft, he was but a poor observer of all that went on in

own . O his household therwise, if he had cared

to study the characters of those who were not f o ﬁcial or diplomatic persons, he would have been greatly amused and interested by the s in gul ar contrast whi ch these t wo young Women SS U S S 9 THE PRINCE ST DIE MU IC WITH AZRA . 5

’ A zra s p resented . character was one of the

simplest that can be imagined . She was a n

adept in gypsy arts : she knew how to ferret c u t that information which w a s so useful to

her tribe ; but she herself remained a creature

of utter simplicity . The same phenomenon maybe observed through

out mankind . There are even statesmen, and

who what are called men of the world, never lose thi s original and almost indestructible quality of — mind simplicity . The world is not slow to

appreciate the fact ; and, in estimating the

who characters of those come most before it, is wont to bestow much favour upon those notable persons who possess this enviable sim

licit m p y, and its almost invariable accompani ent,

singleness of purpose .

The Princess Marie, on the contrary, was a l person of great comp exity of nature, much

given to introspection, and to diversity of plan

a n d purpose . What wa s at present uppermost

w a s in her thoughts, to do something which

s ul ho d be very grand and noble, to make an IVAN DE BIRON .

n - sa criﬁce imme se self , and thus, at the cost of

a her own h ppiness, to ensure the welfare of the

she man whom tenderly and truly loved .

In Vl e W she z Having this , resolved that A ra

w he should be made a worthy ife for Ivan . S had noticed when Azra sang the solo at the ball

. g iven at the Winter Palace, what great musical ff powers the girl possessed, and what e ect had .

been produced upon that critical audience .

This was a sufﬁcient basis for the Princess to »

construct her plan upon . Azra was to become a

great Singer and, by cultivation of various kinds,

’ w a s to be made in every respect worthy of Ivan s

the love . That love was to be transferred from

Princess to the gypsy girl . This, of course, was an easy part of the project in the mind of the scheming Princess .

w e mInor So subtly are formed, that parts of our character often make, or mar, our greatest

w a s resolves . The Princess exceedingly fond of management . Even during her earliest years,

’ the serfs on her father s estate had found out, with that knowledge of the character of their

98 I VAN DE BIRON .

especially loud in praise of the quality of voic e

’ “ ” which the Princess s little friend possessed . “ if He had said what a happy man he should be,

u e any of his da ghters had such a voice, and wer ” capable of beingtaught how to use it .

It has always been a question whether the d enjoyment of an art is increase , or lessened, by — ofo it the much knowledge whether, for instance,

b e comparatively ignorant bystander , if his soul musical, may not have a keener, if not a more pro

found, enjoyment even of a masterpiece of music

w than any of those who can, ith adequate skill,

- bring it into life like execution . However this nice question may be determined for the gene

ra lit . y of persons, it certainly would have been d ifﬁcult to ﬁnd any human being who was more

hi e transported by music than t s gypsy girl, whos

w a s , knowledge, as yet, of music, of the rudest kind .

r a n ﬁ d he sa fo tr s ure s w . But music, her, g all

a s While listening to such an artist the Princess,

a s o Azra w carried away, as it were, int

r regions of thought and feeling, which, at othe 99 THE PRINCESS STUDIES MUSIC WITH AZRA .

times, were very remote indeed from her . Like most uncultivated people, both her thoughts and her t alk were conﬁned to subjects ofw hich she had practical knowledge—to those things which

she a nd had seen and heard, to simple deductions

from the h umblest experiences . It was rarely

that she deviated into any remark of a general

or abstract nature .

Wh n en speaki g, however, of music, she became

not only eloquent, but imaginative, and, we may

almost say, prophetic .

w ho She would tell the Princess, listened to

ni it s her with asto shment, that music was in “ infancy . A time will come, dear Princess, when it will conquer all the nasty bad things in the

. il off world There w l be no knout, no cutting of

heads . You will all love even us poor gypsies f and the good Heaven, our dear old chie tells us

for . of, will be on earth for us, for you, everybody ” O . . h yes, it will I can foresee it

a sk The Princess, smiling, would whether this ” fortunate everybody woul d be sure to love the

H 2 100 I D I m m VAN E B RON .

every other right body w ho could : respond to it s love ? ” ” fe s e s z . , y , A ra would reply, with a sigh

a 1 . I t . would be all right No I do not know . ’ r No it won t . All people will love you, P incess; ”

! because you sing so beautifully .

“ ' A b e some Then , my dear zra, there will still

the l unhappy people in wor d, for I cannot love d ” w. everybo y in return, you kno

' t w o w oul d la u h a nd z . Then the girls g , A ra

7 w f he r oetic ﬂi ht s ould come down rom p g , and

! of t he m talk _ in her usual childish fashion, ost

’ triﬂing things that she ha d seen or o he ard t hat

what took place after the music

e . lesson which had just been conclud d, Herr

chmald e r a r S h d scarcely left the room, when the P rin cess began . to talk with Azra in a strain of unusual earnestness .

“ ” “ ‘ z a a My dear A r , she s id, you hear what

' ' d s u IlJ SChmiil e r s ay . is too absurd that you

' should not make u se of a gift which G od u ha sI ” given you s o liberally .

102 DE IVAN BIRON .

“ these children (so she was pleased to name

in them in her thoughts, ) Azra and Ivan were

she her hands, and how could mould them,

exactly as she pleased, to suit her own purposes . “ ” she Ivan de Biron, said in a careless

manner, was always very fond of singing . He

used to be greatly pleas ed with my poorattempts ;

for poor I declare they are, my little one, when " compared with yours .

Azra ne w thought that she had an Opportunity

n of sayi g a good word for Ivan . Though she had become attached to the Princess, it was the hope of advocating Ivan’ s cause that had been

’ A zra s ﬁrst motive in coming to the palace of the

Serb a t offs and she resolved to be true to her original intention . ” “ O ! she h Princess, said, if I might but tell — if vou you would but listen to me, when I say

’ how much he loves you . We gypsy girls don t understand you great ladies . Ah me, if I had such a lover, and if I were a Princess, I would go

a n d hi s u away with him be , tho gh he were only a

° oOr p gypsy youth . P C 103 THE RIN ESS MARIE AND AZRA .

d . No doubt you would, my ear Azra But we m have a saying borrowed from the French, fro

w hom we borrow most things , and it says i N oblesse obl e . g Translated into Russian, dear, it means that there can never be anything b etween your Ivan and the Princess Marie

e r ff A ndreevna S b a t o . “ ! Your Ivan He is not mine, dear Princess .

No loving thought of his ever wanders to me . — I am as a serf to him, his and yours sometimes

ru se ful to him, sometimes pleasing to him, but

n . l ove ever loved Ivan has but one , and that is

w holly given away . Oh that you could return ” his love, I should then be so happy . d The Princess smile again, So happy, Azra, is that quite truthful ? ”

u Azra answered truthf lly, or at least believed “ a she so she th t did , when replied . Yes , it ” would be the greatest happiness in my life . “ What should you say, Azra, if we were to ask him some day to come and join us at our lessons ? ” - Do you think he would come ? “ Yes, he would . I know he would, even if 5104 " IVAN DE

we were at that Pelem, and he was

n th tow of France where e king lives . I know he ” w ould . “ Then he shall come ; and you shall invite ” him, Azra .

After this permission had been given, Azra

n took her departure, and haste ed to announce h t e good news to Ivan .

1 06 I R VAN DE BI ON .

the three days that had to elapse before the n ext singing lesson at the Se rb a t otfPalace He

reckoned the number of those minutes, and told

“ O ff a t them as they passed away, as children s chool do when the holidays are almost in s ight . These same minutes passed but slowly too for n a s the Pri cess Marie . Her soul w vexed by irre con cile a ble emotions ; and when there is much a nd h : various t ought, time passes but slowly d ays may appear to extend into months of life .

The resolu te woman w as not always resolved her thoughts wavered to and fro, now spell b ne w ound by love, governed by what she held t o be the dictates of common sense, strengthened l by her determined idea of self sacriﬁce . Fina ly h e r ﬁrst determination prevailed . She could h n ot s e be . , and would not, his

A woman can express much of her mind by her mode of dress, which often speaks a language unknown to the other sex . The Princess d ressed herself for this lesson, with great care, a n d with a richness not very suitable to the ’ - S SERBATOEE S 107 A MUSIC LE SON AT PRINCE .

O ccasion . But She desired as much as possible to d issociate the Princess Marie Andreevna

Se rb a t off so ff , far as change of dress could e ect t he object, from her former peasant self, and so to signify to Ivan the change that he was to Wh believe had taken place in her mind . at had been intimated in the ball - room was n e w to be c f onﬁrmed . There was to be a complete e facement o fthose times when they were wont to sit side

by side together in the forest of Pelem ; when the contention was on her part to be allowed to d o her share of the hard work ; and when, too,

of as she blushed to think, very loving tokens

regard had, once or twice at least, been ex

w c hanged bet een them .

- Azra came early to attend the music lesson .

The Princess had taken care not to be alone

when Ivan should arrive . She need not have

taken this precaution ; for Ivan, proud as her l self, wou d not anticipate the hour of their

: a meeting and when he did arrive, Herr Schm l d er in was the room which, shortly afterwards,

P Serba toff rince entered . ‘ ' ‘ ' ’ ‘ ' Me a nwhile r the Prin ce ss w elcomed Ivan t o her

’ ' " boudoirs A 11 d 11 0W -did s he receive him ? A s

e W of b u t b fore, ith the perfection friendliness,

h n : : n wit reﬁ ed and nice discretion . There is eve

‘ something -different between the welcome a girl

’ ? e ? - e giv s to her brother, or her much regard d

C s e ou in, and that which she b stows upon a much

" lik ed fr:ie nd (not a lover) of her own age h ’ “ perhaps her brot er s friend . The w armest of

' ' ‘ i n l el come s w a s - I such fr e d y w given to Ivan . n

‘ ’ " ‘ a e s ev e n l all g , when people talk most oudly of

“ the li bf r m t r Ood dec ne the D a a, he e are still g

‘ ‘ ' a 011 71311 8 in es the ctors stage but, all ag , best,

the ‘ m n e off most consu mate acti g, has be n the

stage .

‘ ' ~ h The lesson commenced . T eprincipal pe rsOn

’ a e Wa s to n ot g be the Princess, and she did

‘ ‘ w ell z dwarf her part . She sang indeed sh e

sangher best : She di d not condescend to little : : r and she Wa s a ts , moreover, aware that Ivan

knw1! e ll he r ~ muSical A e VV what powers were . t

’ ' the’same she e how the time kn w far, as regards

' ' " n i a u as h She atural g fts for song, Azr S rp sed er .

1 10 IV N A DE BIRON .

been the singing -master of the Empress ; and

certain rude speeches of hi s to his Imperial pupil w ere well known at Court . “ U ” pon my word it was excellent, he ex “ he claimed, I am very proud of you, Princess (

I e had never said that to her before) , and am sur ”

so . the Prince must be , too

e e The Princess b gan to fear, lest, in her desir o to be true to her part, she had gone bey nd it,

and she felt somewhat anxious as to whether

Azra would fulﬁl her expectations .

t o Azra was now invited, and indeed pressed,

hma' l . Sc d e r sing Herr , not understanding any

of the bye - play that was being enacted before

’ w a s a A zra s him, stonished at reluctance . The gypsy girl had hitherto been utterly free from f any bash ulness ; and had always done at once,

her r and with best endeavour, whatever Her

Schmﬁld er . had desired her to do He thought,

of the poor innocent man, that Azra was afraid

r the P ince ; and, as the great musician had

’ utmost contempt for the Prince s scant knowledge

of w a s n music, he somewhat indig ant that any ’ A - S A RINCE SERBATOFF S III MUSIC LE SON T P .

who one had ventured to sing before him, great V in ienna, renowned in Paris, the best teacher,

u as he tho ght himself, in the world (with the exception of Porpora) should care about the

di u approval, or sapproval, of an ordinary R ssian

- the Prince ; a species of well bred savage, as, in

of Schmald er pride art, Herr deemed him to be . A if The maestro scolded zra roundly ; and, as

ff ul to punish her, chose one of the most di ic t works to execute whi ch could have been put before any beginner . She had, however, been

r H e . she tried in it befo e knew, therefore, that

u m s di T . o d he co ld do it ad irably And she . f very conﬁdence which, arising rom her simpli

in her city, the gypsy girl generally manifested hi singing, was broken down on t s occasion and there was a certain exquisite tremulousness brought into play, which had never been known in her singing on any previous occasion .

The success w a s very great . The Prince was

' in ecstasies ; and Herr Schmald er threw from his f forehead, with both hands, his large masses o N AN 1 12 DE BIRON .

him the unkempt hair, which with was a sign of

utmost approval .

The eyes of the P rinces s and of Azra turned

u e . to . the co ntenanc of Ivan In it there was

a a stonishment, there was pprobation ; but both of the girls felt that Ivan was less charmed than — b . either of the other y standers He, alone, ex

a fo pressed wish r the Princess to sing again .

She . a i resolutely declined; s y ng that, after such

’ s A zra s inging as , it was but cruel kindness to

a sk her, to her to display her manifest inferiority .

’ At this moment she had her arm round A zra s

s lender waist, and was regarding her with much n “ fo dness . The Princess had now thrown herself m fully into her p art, and for the mo ent was a

wa s devotee to Azra . In truth she a little angry

’ with Ivan for his n ot sympathizing with her in

: her admiration of the gypsy girl .

‘ The mu sic -lesson degenerated into a conversa

tion about music, occasionally varied by the

’ maestro s making Azra repeat, after instructions

f e of given by himsel , c rtain parts the concerted

she h a d so piece in which distinguished herself.

1 14 IVAN DE BIRON .

p resent Empress and Ivan, even while he could hardly master his disgust at being treated as h e was by the Princess, could not help being s ome what amused by the real skill which the

Prince manifested in delineating a character w t hich , as His Excellency thought, was wor hy of

h th t e utmost and most minute investigation . Of e feelings of those persons who surrounded him

d bf i - a n d uring that hour the mus c lesson, of the d f p lay (tragedy, or comedy, it woul be di ﬁcult to s a y which), that had been enacted before him, the Prince w a s profoundly unobservant and u nconscious ; but he knew well the characters of

his colleagues, and of his Imperial Mistress ;

a n d l not the s ightest of their gestures , or their

e . xpressions, was ever lost upon him

Ivan lingered on ; but if he did so with a hope

o f being, for a moment, alone with the Princess,

he was much mistaken in that hope . The old

c ourtier was in his proper element . He was

showing alike his gratitude and his sagacity

a n d h , if Ivan had stayed for another our, the Prince would hardly have desisted from making ’ A - SERBAroP 1 MUSIC LESSON AT PRINCE E s . 15

so a s the most of an opportunity, welcome to him, t n hat of instructing a you g man, a very excellent young man, in the sure art, sure at least to those w ho u se know how to make good of it, of rising a t Court . There were one or two sayings uttered by the i s Prince which much mpre sed Ivan at the time, a nd which, long afterwards, lingered in his m “ emory . The greatest man of this age, my

n b e you g friend, would the man who should ” know everything, and yet hold his tongue .

‘ ’ Doubtless, the word everything meant every

a t thing Court or connected with Government,

which, according to this accomplished courtier,

w s a the only knowledge upon earth worth having . Another of the Prince ’ s sayings was “ Above

hi : all t ngs, do not be anxious to shine if shine

ou y must, let it be in broad daylight, not when

a ll around you is dark . The glowworm has the

s hortest life of all insects .

The Prince ma y have been inaccurate in his

natural history ; but hi s maxim is not in other

r u espects ntruthful . The German poet Pfeffel

1 2 ‘ 1 16 IVAN DE BIRON :

a n exquisite . fable to the same

- The toad Spat all his . venom at a glow worm . ” What have -I d on e u t o you ? asks the i poor

“ ’ a s ' worm . Why did you shine ? w the toad s

‘

When Ivan moved to go away, the Prince h move d too, and accompanied him even to t e d of the s w oor palace, haking hands armly with him, reiterating scraps of sound and wholesome a dvice, and : saying what pleasure it would give

him e to b e f any service t o his young friend .

. The : previous parting between the Princess a nd i ' Iva n w a s also most friendly, odiously

” ’ a ' m f n ! w s ; rie dly, Ivan s bitter thought How uch

So anniemut mt en a (Sne Rt fite et nub c o b fi fg, i , b ffi fi

' 6 e1ne6 SDemant d eine QIIIi r (Sl i t mad 11m fy b f ) 7 .

' 11nbetv11 t 1mma m (85m § , ia ’ WI was aB icfbit gt an? c ic en ainé ) , b ) g b Gia e G b b . Slie bet 23 11 1 f x111 191 311. ‘ ' ’ ‘ w e cfﬂicf duE duIein E1006 a ri n but Unt iet an f ) f fb b b ,

G ic win n et ﬁm m SfBar b u g b , umglﬁngeft bu?

" " ” ‘ H i f 1 i c o n l d h ﬂs

118 I VAN DE BIRON .

m his she w a s n move ent of , save when si ging,

n had escaped her attention . There was a certai

w a s gesture of his , when he pleased, which was di well known to her . She had often playfully ri ouled him about it . When he was exceedingly

pleased, he had a way of bringing his hands .

together, and then Spreading them out widely . It was a gesture which he told her he had learnt

from his Italian mother in early childhood ; and ,

thou gh it w a s not in harmony with Russian m anners, he had never been able to break him f self o it . It dwelt upon the memory of the

Princess as she had seen it on an occasion very m h emorable to her, w en , in that wood at Pelem (oh ! that she were there again !) he had de

cla re d . his love , and she had not denied hers

w she In this trying hour hich had just passed,

had, almost involuntarily, looked for this gesture

she of approval from Ivan . It had come after

had sung : it had not come after Azra had sung .

The Princess felt how large and deep must b e the prejudice of love when it could claim for her that superiority of approval and of interest which ’ A MUSIC-LE SSON PRINCE SERBAroEE 119 AT s .

ought undoubtedly to have been given to Azra .

With that vast inconsistency which even the most persistent and resolute among us betray,

she she n ow t o had been delighted, as owned

herself, that this mark of approval had been

given to her rather than to the other .

e - l a My own, my d arest, my best be oved Iv n

she a excl imed to herself, you will yet become a great man— the lord of many serfs mayhap and

how I envy the meanest of them, who, upon some act of graciousness— for you will be very gracious— has the joy and the delight of kissing ”

. O your dear hand h would I were that serf.

Meanwhile Ivan’ s hope had turned to the

blackest despair, the despair being only miti

if r gated, so it may be said, by fu y at her attempt

to patronize him . Patronizing instead of loving ! there cannot be anything which would evoke more indignation in the breast of a lover than hi t s substitution of patronage for love .

It would be idle to sa y how many times Ivan

repeated to himself the words of the Scriptures 1 20 ' 1 IVAN DE BIRON a

” our tru st Put not y in Princes, and how bitterly he arraigned the constitution of the world which

or him he - had, so fatally f , as thought, created di ff f n erence o rank amo gst mankind .

’ - .it Ivan s hope , raised as had been by the

Serb a t off invitation to the Palace, had presented to his mind an image as glowing and beautiful as any gorgeou s suns et ; a nd now it had vanished

— - as rapidly as ! that the most ﬂeeting pheno

in l e e r menon nature . The v calls his mistress

w a d to the windo , to part ke his elight ; but when,

she hastening, looks forth, it mostly happens

the ha s that glow become faint, and the threaten ing clouds whi ch made so large a part of the

e past b auty, are beginning to resume the dull

r ness of their native colou . The feelings of the Princess may best be described by the word anguish : those of Ivan by d e Spair : those of Azra by bewilderment .

H e r trained habits of observation had not been laid aside during this important hour . Men d W h understand men, women understoo omen, wit t a . o d o n . understanding that is not v uchsafe

1 26 IVAN DE BIRON .

to be a subject of the gravest consideration for the other European Powers and the home policy of

the new Czarina was impressed, as far as it could be impressed by one mind combating against m many, with the most arked feature of her — ' : so character, clemency that by writers of that

‘ period she is justly spoken of as Elizabeth the

’ Clement . u There was the us al waste of money, which, for

o ne in or two generations, had been notably felt

Russia . Elizabeth loved splendour of all kinds , and was devoted to the most expensive of all — tastes that of building . It may be remarked

that, for the greater part of the eighteenth

c w a s entury, there a fearful propensity to ex

t ra va a nt g expenditure of every kind, at all the

— a n principal courts of Europe expenditure which,

o f itself, was sure to lead to great political

t c . hanges This private expendi ure, however, if

so it may be called, did not induce any parsimony in the worst of all forms of public expenditure

that of war . f Foreign warfare, except in its baneful ef ect of P ONN OV R 12 7 A RIMA D A AND HER L E S. i f ncreased taxation, does not much a fect the lives o f ordinary citizens ; and so, comparing the ﬁrst

’ y ears of Elizabeth s reign with the two or three preceding years abounding in great domestic e vents and startling revolutions, the time passed t amely on in Russia . Elizabeth was not vexed, l ike her great English namesake , by the expres

sion of an urgent wish on the part of her subjects t hat she should marry, and thus provide a direct heir to the throne . There probably never was a female sovereign who was less favourably dis i p osed to marr age than Elizabeth of Russia . The succession to the throne was carefully pro vid e d for, the Empress choosing her nephew

Peter, the Duke of Holstein , as her successor . She afterwards married him to the beautiful a n d A n accomplished Catharine, Princess of

haltzerb st — , little imagining, that by so doing she

was practically ensurin g a female succession to

— a n the throne successio to be gained by murder . Three or four years of this comparative

quiescence at the Russian Court had now elapsed ;

s t and, for the readers of this narrative, more intere 12 8 m 1 1 IVAN D E . BIRON .

’ is tobe fou nd ‘ in what w a s taking place at Paris

a . St . th n at Petersburg .

“ In . . o f of a room, in one the hotels Paris”

a there s t a lady and gentleman . The room w a s hands omely furnished ; but there w a s noticeable

‘ a ~ ce rta in sa carelessness, not to y untidiness, in

' the way in which articles of dress and adornment we re v strew n ' about the apartment . Sheets of

: music were scattered everywhere . Splendid

“ ornaments, some of them half in and half out of

he . if t ir c ases , were , to be seen lying about, as

' n triﬁe s they were unco sidered . Silks and

, w satins, and head g ear of Various kinds, ere

also : to be seen ; and the whole aspect of the

room created an impression that the ovt’ner of it

w a s a o rich, careless, and either very much

v e r little customed, or y , accustomed, to the

splendour that surrounded her .

own I i Her dress conveyed the same idea . t

wa s magniﬁcent, and yet betrayed an appear

f e . ance o neglig nce She .wore a long purple

" conﬁne d 1 velvet . gown, by a girdle, seemingly of

se t w c . . . emeralds in gold, hi h, if it were real, must

have been of almost inestimable value .

130 IVAN DE BIRON .

t of the fu ure . There was an air patronage

about her mode of dealing with the young m n a a . It could not be that she had the d

’ of sa for he vantage him, as they y , in age, w a s about twenty- eight years of age and she

- twenty four .

m of ra nd e ‘ She had, too, the anner a g d am e a s a e , such as w to be seen in that g m renowned for gra nd es d a es . And yet it could “ hardly be said that she was to the manner if born, but it was as she played the part,

she though playing it admirably . In her hand held a tuning-fork and more than once she struck this upon the table, and listened carefully to the sound . — The Baron was depreciating Paris a theme which was manifestly not very acceptable t o the lady . “ ” “ O ! who ur beautiful Neva he exclaimed, ca n the compare this wretched muddy rivulet,

ou r ? Seine , with Neva Do you remember,

a ﬁr - it s de rest, our st walk by star light on

’ n banks ear to the Church of St . Isaac s A DONNA AN D 1 PRIMA HER LOVERS . 81

d Every word you then said wells in my memory,

and ever will remain there . ” “ w a s Yes , Baron, She listlessly replied, it

or a fearful time f both of us . Had I been m discovered, it would have been y death . “ ” “ O ! You look ill , dearest, he replied h that I could do for you what you once d id

for me ! Why will you continue to Slave in

w a this y , when there is no need for it “ D O . i s not say that There need for it,

- ” a nd never more than to d a y .

He took her left hand (he w a s sitting on

a sofa by her Sid e) and raised it to his lips . She did not make any objection to this pro

ce e d in g, but seemed to take it as a matter of

a s d course ; and, he afterwards laid his han

u she it pon the table near her, played upon

w n ith her ﬁ gers, evidently recalling some air ;

for at the same timM she struck the tuning th . e fork, and softly sang this air It was

well -known melody in the third act of Lee

Ind es Ga la ntes e , a favourite Opera in thos

d ays . 132 IVAN DE BIRON .

At this moment there was a knock at the

street door, and then the sound of ascending

’ - foot steps . The lady s colour went and came ; and a deeper shade of anxiety overspread her

countenance . Whoever this was that was com

the s ing up tairs, he was either very dear to

e r ul h , or he brought news that wo d have

n the deepest i terest for her .

‘ ’ Glu ck 1 a n d A servant announced Count ; ,

dl - thereupon, a mid e aged man entered the room .

w a s He unmistakably a diplomatist, and there w a s of of that look ﬁne observation, and even s in ubtlety, which might be seen most of the

of w a s diplomatists that age, when diplomacy

- f rather apt to degenerate into mere state cra t .

’ o u As the Count entered, the Bar n s co ntenance fell ; a nd a look of almost undi sguised hatred sa t h upon his face . Totally regardless of t e young

u man, Co nt Gluck advanced hastily to the lady, and whispered to her these words His Majesty ll is a . will come . It settled He comes in S ” tate . l ’ f The ady s ace became radiant with joy .

134 IVAN DE BIRON .

: Limb a r b e the Baron , the man I told you of f se e ore, our old enemy . I shudder when I that ” man ; and he is always there . Both the Baron and the Count endeavoured to reassure the lady, declaring that they would m keep watch upon this man . Fro her de scription they would certainly be able to detect his presence . The conversation then languished .

The rivals, for such they were, endeavoured to

Outstay one another, as is the wont of rivals in such cases .

The wily diplomatist, however, was the ﬁrst to go, for he soon perceived that it was the lady’ s wish to be alone ; and he easily conjectured the

. one d reason It was his never to be te ious, or to

hi s w make visits other ise than most welcome .

When he had gone, the lady did not hesitate,

f of using the amiliarity an old friend, to bid the other go . ” she d You see, my dear, exclaime (this was

’ the ﬁrst time she ha d called him dear ) I have

. not a moment to lose Signor Scala is coming, 135 A PRIMA DONNA AND HER LOVERS .

” n a d I do not feel at all sure of myself. The

young man reluctantly departed .

Al as for constancy ! Alas for truthfulness in love ! The great lady was no other than the

v g ypsy girl Azra, the Baron no other than I an d e Biron .

Azra, in the course of the last few years, had,

in accordance with the plan so well - devised and

.s o e well carried out by the Princ ss Marie, gone

” u pon the stage had become a prima donna ; had

e s njoyed several triumphs at St . Peter burg, V Moscow, and ienna ; and was now to make her

d ebu t before the critical audience of Paris . No

“wonder that She was anxious ! No wonder that

s he was delighted to hear that his Most Christian

‘ ’ Majesty, by means of the good Count Gluck s

f ul p ersevering e forts at Court, wo d attend her

ﬁ rst performance ! and no wonder that she w as

m ost desirous on this day to get rid of her

. a to frs dmirers, that she might devote herself

q uent rehearsals ofher part m t To an unobservant person it might see , tha

’ A zra s nature was entirely altered ; but it w a s 1 86 IVAN DE BIRON .

' not SO . Her character had always been a very simple one ; and the change w a s merely this h t at instead of greatly loving any human being,

a b sorb e d b she greatly loved her art, and was y it . Those only who have swayed hundreds or thousand s of their fellow -beings by the magic n power of eloquent speech, or captivati g song, can realize what it is to meet the answering eyes

e ~ of all those faces dir cted towards them, and to feel that each ind ividual soul of the great audience in front of them is moved by their emotions, subdued by their thoughts , and led into perfect harmony with them by the supreme

development of whatever thought or passion it is . their pleasure, for the moment, to evoke . Those who have this rare power, whether they be great s peakers , or great singers, or great actors, seldom

n . care much for minor i ﬂuences Their love, if l “ ove it may be called, is apt to be of a universal

. character, and appeals not to any one person, but to humanity in general .

one And so it fared with Azra . She had at

‘ t a d d the e . ime loved, n love hopelessly, ﬁrst tru

13 IV N 8 A DE BIRON .

ou t how beautiful, how charming, how adorable

She was .

s Court favour in Ru sia, at that period, was a A plant of rapid though not of hardy growth . f avoured courtier sprang forward, rather than

w . alked, towards the Object of his ambition

‘ fe w Thus, in the course of the last years , Ivan de

B w ho iron, at ﬁrst , had held but an inferior post

i n ha d the Imperial Palace, attracted the notice,

a n d even the loving regard (so scandal u n

j ustly said) ofthe Empress Elizabeth ; and had

certainly become one of her most favo ured

d ependants . His rise had been aided in no inconsiderable d m egree by his own erits . The early training him he had received, had ﬁtted for the conduct

o fgreat affairs ; and there were fe w men at the

Russian Court more capable of directing those ff a airs , notwithstanding his comparative youth

f . ulness, than Ivan de Biron BOO K V.

CH APTER II .

’ THE PRIMA DoNNA s DEBUT IN PARIS .

TH E f second e fort, when the ﬁrst been successful, is the perilous one . The most t rying of all rivals has then entered on the

’ s of f cene, the image one s ormer crowned self.

T ff in his is true, whether the e ort be made speech, in poetry, in song, or even, perhaps, i n n some athletic achieveme t .

Her ﬁrst appearance on the Parisian stage

’ w a s A zra s ff second e ort . The audiences before w hom she had hitherto appeared, were some — What similar a t any rate as regards the value 140 IVAN DE BIRON .

attached to them by great artists, for even

Vienna w a s not held to be eq u ivalent in that

‘ respect to Paris, which then, and long after

t in wards, was the supreme arbi er all matters of

‘ taste . Moreover, Azra partook the feelings of her race . Those cosmopolitan gypsies had a

° F . great respect for, and fear of, rance Perhaps it was that the laws respecting them were

stricter and more severely enforced in Franc e

i w a s than elsewhere . Russ a , and is, a country

r n o where all t ibes may bivouac, as it were ; ‘

tribe presuming to interfere with the despotic

‘

m s. govern ent, or indeed, venturing to profes

any set of political opinions . ! Azra, too, was well aware that her musical

e ducat ion had not be en of that ﬁnished kind

possessed by those who had hitherto acquired

Parisian celebrity .

r Th . e Again, the occasion was a g eat one

‘ ' King had not for some time favoured the Opera ,

with his royal presence and Iionis the Fift e entlr

i B en - a iwt e w a s still Lou s le i .

’ F r tvvo Or h c m e » o three ours before the o menc .

142 IVAN D I E B RON .

is u There a proverb of some E ropean nation,

whi ch says something of this kind : The mess is n ever eaten quite so hot as it was when it ” — a left the kitchen homely proverb, but a

c An d onsoling one . it is especially true, when

the mess has been cooked by imagination, creat ing a heat whi ch happily the reality never qui te

: e Azra came upon the stage and, after thos

so ﬁrst few moments, when the heart beats violently that the voice cannot express itself,

during w hich the eyes refuse to se e anything distinctly, and all is wrapt in a mist of terror a n d confusion, Azra began to resume somewhat of her wonted presence of mind .

w a s her There , however, a forced silence on

w part hich lasted nearly two minutes, a period

n that seemed to her almost an inﬁ ity of time .

The good-natured audience recognized her em

a rra ssment v b , and ﬁlled up this ugly inter al by loud and continued plaudits .

It w a s the fashion in those days for people to be punctual in their attendance at public enter ’ N R S 14 THE PRIMA DONNA S D EBUT I PA I . 3

t a inment s and the King himself had arrived

t o before the curtain was drawn up . Lastly, O add to the excitement, the pera was somewhat

r of a novelty . It had only been perfo med twice in the course of the preced ing year ; and there were many experienced connoisseurs w ho ha d never heard it .

In the course of the ﬁrst Act, it could only be said that Azra w a s tolerably successful ; and her success threatened to be of that somewhat , h humiliating kind, so ateful to those who aim

’ a t s ucc the ﬁrst place, which is called a es ’ m ” cl es ti e . e cu The invention of this phrase , p lia rl u r y French, indicates how skilf l the Pa isians are in criticism .

During the interval between the ﬁrst a n d

i w a s t second acts, many a critic sm ﬁrs started

t on by some connoisseur, and hen passed to the

t receptive crowd, about a G in al o being defee

u tive, abo t a want of volume in the voice , and

oritw about a ﬁ ra. being happier in the design

u than in the exec tion . There were thos e

who wa s said that this all very well for St . 144 IV N A DE BIRON .

for Petersburg, but was not quite the thing

Paris .

Another remark was , moreover, made : but

— biz r e chieﬂy by the ladies that the dress was a r .

w a s biza rre And indeed it for Azra, with that independence of nature which was peculiar to

o wn her, had adopted a dress of her for the

n o o part . She had t had the prudence to as er tain, and to imitate, the costume for her part which had been adopted in the two previous

representations by her predecessor, and which had, of course, followed French fashions . l It may be wel , parenthetically, to mention

that whether, from their untravelled simplicity,

their better taste, or their freedom from con v e ntion alit R d y, the ussian au iences were, in fact,

better judges of costume than the Parisians .

’ A zra s skill in dress w a s really exquisite and

she had hitherto followed that good rule of

taste which made her adopt, in all cases, some costume which was especially suitable to her

s elf. The Russians not only recognized this ;

but they had been pleased and amused at the

4 1 6 IVAN DE BIRON .

Prima Donna and the ﬁrst tenor was to b e s ung .

We must pass, however, from their feelings a nd expectations , to those of three persons who

O - were present in the pera House, and who took a far deeper interest in the proceedings than any

c . ommon spectator These were Count Gluck,

Lim a r b . Ivan de Biron, and the gypsy . Count Gluck was exceedingly anxious as t o

u u the result . That res lt for him wo ld be failure,

The t if Azra failed . as ute diplomatist knew

z that his chance of winning the love of A ra,

d epended upon his furtherance Of her success

’ ff as a great singer . No diplomatic e ort of his

had been made with more art and skill than t hat by which he had succeeded in inducing Louis the Fifteenth to h onour the opera by his

hi . u p resence, on t s occasion The Co nt, himself

a good musician, had ventured in the least marked manner (being most anxious that the

King should think the criticisms were his own) , to point out passages w herein Azra had shown the peculiar excellence of her voice or of her ’ RI D NA s E I RIS 147 THE P MA oN D BUT N PA .

ni g e us as an actress . The Count felt what was

“ w the nature, though he could not hear hat was S i the ubstance, of the remarks wh ch were made

by the connoisseurs in the pit ; and, for the

mo n ment, he almost regretted that he had give

“so much time and thought to bringing the King

. s and the courtier to the Opera, and that he had

not previously had some dealings with the con

n oisseurs and with the formidable band of

c la u ew s ho s g w were pre ent .

’ Ivan s feelings were of a very different kind .

.H e was not at all di sturbed by the adverse

c hi v riticism w ch, during the inter al between the

his ﬁrst and second Acts, he had heard in place i n . h the pit Thoug . he would not have owned

this to any one else, he did not particularly l desire that Azra should be successfu . He had — — h itherto with strange inconsistency a t the s ame time loved and loathed that success . Now, l as he to d himself, he did anything but long for

her success ; for he felt that if it were gained

it would only remove Azra further and further f . rom him Loving her, too, as he did, he viewed L 2 148 IV I AN DE B RON .

e n with a ﬁerce envy, quite needless ifh had know

the what great actresses and great Singers feel,

ff - a ectionate demonstrations which Azra, com 7

" letel p y fulﬁlling her part in this respect, lavished

w she upon the ﬁrst tenor, to hom was not merely

f a s supremely indi ferent, but for whom She had

w a s d “ positive dislike, seeing that he a pe antic

kind :of youn g ma nwho had vainly sought t o instruct her as to the dress and manner in which"

She should perform her part ; his notions of that dress and manner having been impressed upon

him by the Prima Donna who had played the

same part in the preceding year .

i e Ivan, however, had little t me or thought to giv

’ A zra s to success or failure, or to the endearments she might bestow upon her transitory stage

lover . The words which Azra had said to him

i Limb a r respect ng the gypsy, , dwelt in his mind .

dr wh w a s t He felt, with a kin ed feeling, y it tha h this dangerous man had aunted her steps .

’ From the ﬁrst moment of Ivan s entrance into

the theatre, his attention had been given t o

a w Limbar wa s : ascert ining hether present . He

1 5 0 I VAN DE BIRON . might have in his wild mind to the detriment of old b e Azra, her love for himself might

u renewed in all its former f lness and sincerity .

’ And what were Limb a r s thoughts ? This: savage lover had not followed Azra from place l to p ace without an object . He was desperate ; and had resolved that he would at least be the f death of any avoured lover . Strangely enough , ll his suspicions had not fa en upon Ivan, upon

’ of Azra s Count Gluck, or upon any other numerous admirers in the upper ranks of society .

e the Limb r, deceived by the mimic passions of

w a s stage, ready to believe that Azra really loved those whom the necessities of life u pon the stage compelled her to appear to love .

Narrowly had the j eunes p remi ers at St . Peters

’ burg a n d Moscow escaped death at Limb a r s

hands ; and it was only that knowledge which the gypsies of that day, and perhaps of this,

possess of the real loves an d likings which those

o whom they watch, entertain, that had hithert

ei mes remiers preserved the Russian j p .

of The thi rd Act commenced . In the course RI NN ’ I RI 15 1 THE P MA DO A S DEBUT N PA S. thi s act the business of the stage made it ne ce s sary that Azra should be very ardent in her demonstrations of love to her then recovered

she . lover . And did not underact her part

Any rude, untutored mind might well believe that she doated with a real affection upon the

’ Limb a r s f hero of the stage . feelings o envy m and jealousy were excited to the utter ost . At the end of that duet when Azra embraced and clung about the beloved tenor, a pistol shot resounded through the theatre . Azra was seen to fall ; and was carried away bleeding from the stage .

w a s in nf The house tumult and co usion . The

King was seen to leave his box, for Louis the

wa s Fifteenth really agitated by the event . We must not Inqui re too curiously whether such an admirer of beauty as that monarch, might not be anxious to see the new singer more closely, as well as to render some assistance to her . The

w for King, ith that quickness of Observation w e hich he was renowned, had perceived at onc

the f n that injury could not be a atal one, or eve 15 2 I A V N DE BIRON .

of n a serious character . Indeed, the wou d,

w wa s i n b ut the hich the left arm, was Slight,

bullet having done little more thangrazed the

surface .

Shortly afterwards, Count Gluck, who had

f the ollowed the King, was seen to return to

R n the oyal box ; and, after whisperi g to one of

’ d a mes d honnewr f o , the Queen, to take awayher l ace Shawl . Al di most imme ately afterwards, the manager f came orward and made a Short speech, stating that the attempted assassination had had but

little effect ; that the Signora was but Slightly

m n wounded ; and, in ten inutes , would agai

a n courageously appear before them . This

nou nce ment was, of course , received with thun

ders ofapplause .

hi Limb a r Meanw le, had disappeared ; and,

notwithstanding all the vigilance of the Parisian

‘ police, was not arrested .

The remainder of the third Act was sup

' 0 pressed ; but Azra came on the stage at the

f the to appointed time in the ourth Act, injury

BOOK V.

CH APTER III .

I A S IS D RE S TO ST S V AN U . VAN LE E PAR , T RN PETER — G S A OF A IRS AT ST . BUR T TE FFA . PETERSBURG

TH E enthusiasm at Paris in favour of the

a new singer was immense . Whenever she p

e a re d w a s the p on the stage, she welcomed with

w a s utmost fervour . The throwing of bouquets a mode of recognizing merit not invented in f that day . Encores were in requent ; and that wonderfully absurd practice of calling on the principal actors and actresses to appear at the

n end of an act, whereby whatever illusion remai s for of n the stage, is in danger bei g utterly I E S S 15 5 . VAN L AVE PARI .

di ! n spelled, had not been adopted, or eve

But d a attempted . whatever emonstrations of p f proval were then in vogue, Azra enjoyed a ull share of them .

A hundr ed romantic stories were invented about her : She w a s loudly greeted when seen in the street ; and even grave personages paid court to her, thinkingit not improbable that

She might supersede the royal favouri te of the day .

Ivan sa w and heard these demonstrations . with gloom and vexation of Spirit . Even Count ,

’ Gluck began to fear lest A zra s success should

e prove too great for his designs, and quite remov h e rfrom anything like patronage on his part . if Azra would have been more than mortal, she had not been touched and gratiﬁed by this .

5“Thi s a b sur cu m nate s w en ou se e th e t ra nt a nd dity l i , h y y — the slave the rej e cte d lover a nd the a cce pte d lover the r soner a nd hi s a e r—come on a n in a n to p i j il , h d h d , re ceive the pla u dits of a n u nthinking crow d that does not se em t o know the ﬁrst a nd humble st principle s of the a rt whi ch they are doing what they can to destroy by

ir ill -cons ere ema nd s the id d d . 1 5 6 IVA N DE BIRON .

a w a s lmost overwhelming success . Still there

a . She certain element of vexation to her also .

felt that much of this acclamation was d u e t o

’ i . the incident of L mb a r s attempt upon her life .

S he had hoped to triumph by her art alone ; a nd f , even, as regards that, she elt all the h m i u ility and depress on of mind which, except

w e ur ith very vain p ople, is s e to attend any

great success .

’ Ivan s stay at Paris was limited . He had

n only leave of absence for a certai time, and did

not dare to exceed that time . Indeed, the very perilous circumstances in which every Russian Courtier at that period was placed— circum stances well known to Ivan—made him .fear

“ that he had lost much ground by venturing to

be absent at all from St . Petersburg . It has been said that it was rather a dull and

uneventful period at the Russian Court ; and

’ that Elizabeth s power was consolidated . Still t w a s here some latent dissatisfaction, which had

’ not escaped Ivan s notice . The ﬁrst enthusiasm

’ which pervaded Russia on Elizabeth s seizure

‘ 15 8 IV N D I A E B RON .

’ f Le stoc s avour at St . Petersburg when q con s pira cy was formed it is very unl ikely that it w ould have succeeded .

It was not a time, as Ivan thought to himself, for him to be absent from Court ; and yet,

perhaps , it would have been well for him, if he h a d prolonged his stay at Paris . But this he did not venture to do .

Ivan was too se Iisible a man to put his hopes

the to ﬁnal test on the occasion of his departure,

and to ask Azra, once for all, whether she would ” : marry him Not now, he said to himself,

il She i not now, wh e is intoxicated w th success, ” will I make the great venture of my life . Deter mined, too, as he was, to withdraw her from the

She stage if should become his wife, he felt that the present moment would be the worst to choose for such a project Here, again, he was wrong ; for it is after failure— failure which is felt by the person failing to be undeserved—that there is least chance of persuading that person to relinquish the course of life which he or She ha s

. : il adopted Success may cause satiety fa ure, n ever . IVAN ES S 1 5 9 LEAV PARI .

- Before leaving Paris, Ivan contrived, though f with much di ﬁculty, to have private inter v In iews with Azra . the course of one of these i w nterviews, he presumed to arn her against the i ntentions of Count Gluck . He is a bad man,

I - van said, a crafty, dissembling, self seeking

“ “ . l n z man He wou d ever have loved you, A ra,

w if he had kno n you ﬁrst, when I did . It i s so the se not the gypsy, Azra, dear to me in

H u rta ldi past days, but the celebrated Signora

that Count Gluck pays court to, hoping doubt

re - less, thereby to establish his own precarious f ” ortunes .

Azra answered coldly . Indeed She could

answer without any effort to control emotion ;

- for, at this moment, she was heart free ; and,

the truth must be told, all the time that Ivan

she more was talking, was thinking of a new a p rt She had to play, than of anything dear ” she l good Ivan as ca led him to herself, was

saying to her .

O i , S Of ne tep c with ignal want judgment, I van ﬁnally ventured to touch upon . It related 1 60 I N D VA E BIRON .

to Louis the Fifteenth . This did recall Azra f r a nd rom any thoughts about her new pa t,

‘ r u s d di h e e her in gnation greatly . Among t e

w a s coa rSene ssl rude people of her tribe, if there

w a s e of speech, there a certain purity of lif which made such an allusion to a wicked pos

’ Sibility an undoubted insult in A zra s eyes

Poor Ivan di d all that he could to efface the

’ his impression which unwary words had made .

so she But he had not succeeded in doing , before w a s summoned for rehearsal . The interview w a s obliged to be abruptly broken off; and Azra and Ivan parted from one another with

t more sorrow and regret on his par , with less

li . king on hers, than they had ever known before .

H OW changed was the aspect of things from» what it had been in those days when Az ra was . the sole comfort to Ivan in his trouble and his . desolation ; when She w a s his onl y conﬁdante or when She shared the se lessons with the

Princess Marie at which She only assisted, in the hope and belief, as She said to herself, that .

BOO K V .

H APTE I C R V .

KALYN CH AND HIS THEORY .

WHAT will K a lynch say now This h a d become a proverbial saying amongst all t hose people who had the good fortune to be

l n acquainted with Ka y ch .

And who was K alyn ch ? He w a s an honest

Cou rla nd er who , had long been a servant in the

Biron family, and had accompanied the Duke of Courland when he came with the Empress Anne to Russia .

Ka lynch had lately been entrusted with pri vate despatches from his H ighness at Ja rosla w to 1 KALYN CH AND HIS THEORY. 6 3

’ I u van ; and Ivan had, with the D ke s permis

s d him ion, retaine in his own service for a time, b eing very desirous at this critical period to have one faithful friend and servant whom he

ul t co d horoughly rely upon .

There are many faithful servants , however,

w ho do not acquire in their own circle the

c Ka l nch elebrity of y or, as regards whom, any

a nxiety is expressed as to what they will sa y

u pon any particular occasion .

Kal n ch — a o But y had a theory one which,

- c ording to his Opinion, rendered plain the doubt

ful was matters of this troublesome world, and of

u niversal application .

It is often said that neither good fortune, nor

e u vil fort ne, lasts long ; and there are pleasant f p roverbs to somewhat of the same e fect, such as The darkest hour of the night is just before the

( dawn . hi But these are vague sayings, w ch only

Shadow forth the precise theory which K alyn ch

hi s ow n had made . He held that good and ill f ortune came alternately to every human being,

M 2 1 64 IVAN DE BIRON . w — ith absolute certainty, and in an ascending

ul scale . For instance, if you co d measure good ill or fortune by absolute numbers, he held that

if . an evil event, estimated at three, came upon you, this was to be followed by a favourable

u n event estimated at fo r and SO on, in a recurri g

s . eries But what he most insisted upon, was the invariableness of the alternation of good and .

w a s evil . This his one idea, and he held to it

; grimly . He would not have lived with any one who ha d presumed to treat lightly this theory of hi s and even the great Duke of Courland did

’ Ka l nch s not dare to jest at it in y presence .

There was a time when Ivan as well as the other ‘ junior members of the Biron family, had believed

in it implicitly . Not even fond mothers love their children

ri : more than men their pet theo es . Facts must

be made somehow or other to conform to them . Perverse and seemingly intractable facts must

be taught to know their proper places .

hi Ka l n The events w ch y ch submitted to his .

i r u . on law of alternation, were to be eq ivalent

16 6 I VAN DE BIRON .

a Sions . The world was much agitated bout

of comets at that period . There was a kind

K l nch a u a w s . misfort ne, y said, which cometary

There w a s the nucleus and there was the tail but ignorant observers did not always se e that the nucleus and the tail constituted one body, a nd one obeyed law .

The ma n was very popular with all who knew Wh t h him . en misfor une efel any one of them, it

was delightful for him to have a friend who, . sympathizing with him warmly (for Ka lyn ch was .

- ma n a n d a most kind hearted ) , was yet cheerful

sa d not even joyous over the event, for was it the herald of some Signal piece of good fortune . which wa s to follow

h the fortu W en good fortune did come, the

’ nate man laughed at his good friend K a lyn ch s

consequent forebodings ; and then ventured , not,

hi s however, in his presence, to deride theory .

Ka lyn ch was a comforter at the time when , d d m . A n ost men most esire to be comforted , in f f prosperity, his riends could a ford to listen with

a smile to his progn ostication of certain coming evil . KALYN CH . S 16 AND HI THEORY . 7

During his service in the Biron family,

Ka lyn ch had enjoyed large Opportunities of Observing the recurrence of good and evil fortune ; and he maintained that his theory, not l that he cal ed it a theory, had always proved true in that family . He, alone, of all the Duke of

’ Courla n d s adherents, had not been dismayed by

’ his master s downfall . He only waited for the corresponding favourable event which was to

raise the Duke still higher in the world .

’ K alynch had now taken I van s fortunes into

his earnest consideration ; and, of course, things

were happening just as they ought to happen,

and must happen . Ivan had lately received a

great place at Court, and was in high favour .

’ K a lynch divined from Ivan s sa d and d owncast

looks that he had now been unsuccessful in love — it was no secret that Ivan was devoted to — ff Azra and so, again, the course of human a airs

Ka l nch w a s obeyed its proper law . y very cheer — — ful even sprightly as the next piece of good

fortune for his dear young master would evi — d ently be of a generous and ample kind what I A DE V N BIRON .

the ninth wave is to any ofthe preceding eight .

Kal nch f y , as, rom time to time, he furtively

sa w his regarded Ivan, and how deep was

t u of dejection, fel ass red the proportionate gran

ri deur of the coming event of prospe ty .

Kal nch y , in person, was a thin Spare man, wi i i set f th a r g d but imposing of eatures . He

s Spoke deliberately, a a man Should, whose words

of were as the words of fate . He had a trick Speech which had always afforded much amuse

ment to his masters, for he could not restrain

f of himself in it, even before them . A ter any one

w a s of his measured sentences, he in the habit saying in a lower tone, but still with distinct “ ” ness, Yes, yes certainly or, to translate the “ R Ye s ussian words more accurately, , yes, he ” has said it .

Kal nch Thus poor y betrayed by open speech,

sa that which most of us think, but do not y aloud .

1 7 0 IVAN DE BIRON . the time that he was private secretary to the

Duke of Courland (an appointment which he s a hared with an Englishman of the name of Shaw, )

’ it seemed as if nothing could shake the Duke s

; power, and so depress the fortunes of his much

w a s envied private secretary . The Duke a Sove reign Prince and it was not to be expected that, even should any mishap occur to him as regarded

his e u . position of prim minister in R ssia, he would

cease to be powerful in his Duchy of Courland . .

It happened otherwise, however, as we have seen ; a n d Ivan had to Share the exile of his master . d Recovering from that disaster, Ivan returne — h to St . Petersburg there, again, to meet wit

‘ m t O con u e r isfortune, but q it ; and apparently d to enter upon the high road of goo fortune . He was now much courted in the society of that

his capital . It was nearly impossible for one in

m At position to re ain unconnected with party . that period the great drawback u pon the d e velo ment p of civilization in Russia, was the d eﬁciency of any large and powerful body of

who or men Should not be immersed in party, " H IN Y 1 71 THE LAPOUSC CONSPIRAC . be free from the inevitable downfall which followed upon the revolution (it can be denoted

by no lesser word) , occasioned by any change m of inisters . It had previously been a great comfort to Ivan that the House of Serb a t off was connected with

t w a s . hat party of the State, under which Ivan

disposed to range himself. Their joint fortunes, m however, were at this oment, though they did im not know it, in great peril by reason of the

u m pr dence of a few embers of that party .

There was also a pri vate cause of danger which they re eke d not of. They were unfortunate enough to have amongst their number the most :

La ou beautiful woman in Russia, the Countess p

t schin . This woman was especially hateful o, and

h . the ated by, the Empress Scandal said that chief cause of this enmity was the pre eminent :

e beauty of the Countess ; but this probably, lik many other scandalous assertions, was only partly

. m u true It is a ore than usually njust accusation, m that which is brought against wo en, of being

’ jealous of other women s beauty, and unwilling 1 72 I A D V N E BIRON .

. O n to recognize it n the contrary, they are ofte

t men more at racted by it even than are . The

stories told against the Sovereigns of Russia,

and other great people at their Court, during

that period, are to be received, as the Romans

ul wo d have said, with many grains of salt ; and

‘ much of what is said against them is as untrue as

robably the tales of Suetonius are about the p .

Roman Emperors . There were other reasons than the one

commonly assigned, which made the Czarina

La u schin very bitter against the Countess po . Her singular beauty gave her great sway in

R she ussian society ; and, in that society, was

’ one of Elizabeth s most potent and most provok

ing enemies . The Empress knew well that her

conduct was open to much censure , and, what

w a s u probably more galling , to m ch ridicule . It may fairly be conjectured that it was more on

’ La ou schin s account of Madame p Sharp tongue , h t an of her beautiful face, that the Empress E lizabeth was infuriated against her .

It happened that a great dinner-party w a s

1 74 IVAN DE BIRON .

p ersonalities of an amusing kind, were always

w elcome .

In exile, even the greatest personages , bereft

~O f their ordinary sources of income, had made u se of whatever Special talent they possessed, to

gain a livelihood for themselves, or to add to the hi common stock . T s Prince had distinguishe d

himself as a tailor; this Baron as a shoemaker :

‘ that Counsellor of State as a carpenter . Others had devoted themselves to the amusement of the

“ miserable community in which they dwelt ; and artistic talent of all kinds had been developed

. amongst them . This afforded an excellent ﬁeld for the wit and

' h umour of N a risk oﬁ ; and his audience did not d weary of hearing him describe , in the rollest

how terms, the Prince stitched, and the Baron

e cobbled, and the Chevali r painted, and the

Colonel sang . These narratives, moreover, had

a Special interest for a Russian audience, as the hearers could hardly help thinking how soon it might be their fate to exercise whatever talent

s t in Of w a la ent them, for the purpose gaining a S H IN C P 1 75 THE LAPOU C ONS IRACY .

t livelihood in Siberia . The result was, tha — N a risk off became more popular than ever that i s a s far as popularity can be indi cated by i invitations to d nner .

N a riskoff At this dinner, greatly amused the c ompany by telling them Ofthe proceedings of a

certain Baron Neudorf, when in exile in Siberia .

a s The Baron w known t o most of them . In the

society of St . Petersburg he had been considered

a very dull man, and more than usually unin

. se t structed It pleased him, however, to up as

a schoolmaster at Pelem ; and the malicious

a risk off N had Often assisted at the school lessons .

’ The wit s description of the w a y in whi ch the B aron prepared for his teaching, and of his f di ﬁculty in answering the questions Of the i ch ldren, was exceedingly humorous .

O N a riskoff ne anecdote told, of rather a

s igniﬁcant character . The Baron had asked “ what was the meaning of the word exile . For a t ime there was no response from the

pupils . At length one little girl stepped boldly w for ard to answer the question . She w a s the 1 76 IVAN DE BIRON .

f daughter of a travelling merchant . The Duke o

’ Courl a nd s suspicions, and the punishment that

f t oe ollowed those suspicions, were not conﬁned the higher classes alone .

’ w a s ‘ The child s answer , Black bread for me

— — " and Tatiana only little bits and not a drop of ” Vodki for father .

Whatever facetiousness there might be in this ~

w a s a t anecdote, of very grim kind, and migh have awakened some reﬂections tending t oe

s cautiousne s of speech, if that joyous company had been at all disposed to entertain any such reﬂections .

N a risk offdid not fail on this occasion to chime in with the general tone of conversation ; and his .

’ hi s description of the Empress s proceedings,

- Le st oc hi s imitation of Director general q, and representation of a Pre ob ra skenski common

i w ca fe sold er, S aggering at a , were not the least

’ amusing features of this evening s dangerous conversation .

Ivan, as may be imagined, did not join in this ~

O the clamour against his Imperial Mistress . n

1 78 IVAN DE BIRON .

Duchess Regent of the danger to b e a ppre

’ Le stoc s the hended from q conspiracy, of which

Marquis had full cognizance .

This Marquis de Botta was now at Vienna ;

b ut he did not desist from his enmity to the

ri she the P ncess Elizabeth, now that had gained

w a s throne ; and he concerned in a conspiracy , . in which it is said the Lap ou schin s were also

Be stu che f engaged, together with Madame de ,

-in - Sister law to the Chancellor, the Chamberlain

Lillia nfeld or , and several other persons of more

less consequence .

It is exceedingly doubtful whether this so ‘ called conspiracy had proceeded much further

than vague talk and vague aspirations . The i world said, at that t me , and nothing has since

i di t he come to l ght to sprove saying, that the Empress was but too glad to avail herself of any pretext for avenging herself upon the beau tiful

u hin of Countess La p o sc . A man of the name

m the Berger, a co et of cuirassiers, was one of persons who had betrayed the traitorous conver sation of these partisans to the Empress and he r 1 7 THE LAPOUSCH IN CONSPIRACY. 9

m a s hi m inisters . Berger w ordered to connect U self more closely with the conspirators . pon

a ll further information that he gave, they were

arrested .

Elizabeth had now the conspirators in her

- power . If the conspiracy were not a full ﬂe d ge d f one , at any rate it was so far ormed, or indi

ca t e d , as to admit of the punishment for treason being awarded to all those who were nearly, or

even remotely, connected with it . But Eliza “ ” beth was still Elizabeth the Clement . Her fair rival now being completely at her mercy,

the Czarina hesitated to condemn . As, how

it ha s ul ever, been tr y observed,

’ T ere s some men oft e b oo counse s bOa st h h ir l dy l , ” AS t ou the ea rt w ere difﬁcu to a r en h gh h lt h d .

And there are seldom wanting those who, in f ff close proximity to the power ul, o er these bloody counsels , thinkingthat they will be sure to be acceptable, or fearing for themselves lest mi their political enemies, condemned to lder

l re - punishments , Shou d ever be installed in

N 2 1 80 IVAN DE BIRON .

’ favour again . Elizabeth s Prime Minister and

B e stu chef Chancellor, , urged upon his reluctant mistress to Sign the warrant of condemnation of

La ou schin the Countess p . The Czarina steadily f re used . A mode of inﬂuence was then brought to bear

upon her which the astute Chancellor knew ff would have great e ect . The Empress, as it has

n S i previously bee hown in th s narrative, was a

very dutiful daughter of her Church . A Court

preacher, whose name, unhappily, cannot be

' it w devoted to infamy, for is unkno n, delivered an eloquent and vehement sermon in the a presence of the Czarin , which was divided into

the two following theses .

w a s The ﬁrst , on the obedience and ﬁdelity

of due to Sovereigns, and further the respect

due to their sacred persons . The second dwelt

upon the duty of sovereigns to punish, without

regard of persons, those who dared to attempt hi anyt ng against their lives, their honour (herein

u rero a was the Countess most g ilty), or their p g

t ive .

1 82 IVAN DE BIRON .

” she a hundred times, said to her Chancellor, “ You have employed God and the Devil to surprise my Signature ; you will never deceive M . t me again y successors, s ronger than I am, will know how to punish you some day as you ” deserve . It may well be imagined that if Elizabeth’ s generous reluctance to condemn the Countess

She ' (whom, now pitying, cared for most) had m f been thus overco e, how little di ﬁculty there must have been in obtaining her signature for in the condemnation of the minor conspirators, whose fate the readers of this narrative are more im mediately interested . BOOK V

E CH APT R VI.

’ ’ A Z RA S U To PETERSBURC—I S A ST RET RN ST . VAN RRE

A D ! I N E LE .

she l AZRA, or as perhaps shou d be called,

S H u rtald i . ignora , had previously returned to St ff Petersburg . The O ers made by the Director of

the Opera to procure that return had been most l . l iberal Their libera ity, however, was not the

c ause which induced the Signora to accede to his

she w a s ff proposal, for very indi erent to the

pecuniary rewards for the exercise of her talent .

' A lingering desire to se e Iva n again ha d more 184 I VAN DE BIRON .

t a s - e weigh with her . There w also a great plea

She sure in store for her, as thought, in having

to produce before her old and best -loved

n audience, the same opera in which She had bee — so successful in Pari s a success which had reached the ears O f all the connoisseurs at

St . Petersburg . Ivan did not fail to renew his companionship

' he . with Azra, though still feared to speak, even in the most guarded manner, of the subject that was nearest his heart . Azra had taken upon herself much of the management and preparation which were n e ce s sary to place with full effect the new Opera upon the Russian stage . She was a dictatress in all

dr matters that related to the ess, scenery, and

general arrangements for this Opera, respecting whi ch She alone had Parisian experience . Pre

i u sl , v o y to the ﬁrst representation, She passed

O - most of her time at the pera house, where her presence was constantly needed to give the

t o e requisite directions . Ivan, when he wished

f r l . o . see her, had to seek her there The origina

1 86 IV AN DE BIRON .

O - to the pera house, and sought an interview A w ith zra . He had just been suddenly dis m issed from the Household of Elizabeth, and h a d been in much perplexity as to the course of

l f h a d i e he S ould now e pt . Finally he had almost d etermined to return to Courland, where he had

n umerous connections, and where the inﬂuence

o f his former master, the Duke of Courland, m i ight be most serv ceable to him . With the

D who n uke, , though he was not allowed to retur

t o Court, had not been formally dispossessed of

t in his sovereign y over Courland, Ivan was still f riendly relation, and had indeed been the means of communication between His Highness and his

partisans at St . Petersburg . Ivan resolved that

n ow A , or never, he must ascertain whether zra

w ould consent to marry him, and would, with

him e , enter upon the new life which he pr posed

t o live in Courland .

He found her very busy, and not in the most

a m for miable of oods, , as mostly happens in such

cases, there were many things which had gone

w rong ; and much that She had expected to com ’ 87 Z RA P S . 1 A S RETURN TO ST . ETER BURG

l e te . p , was not completed Still She received

l conq Ion In him kind y, and apologized for the t he midst of which he found her . “ ” so r I am sorry, Ivan, She said (the familia use of his christian name had recommenced at “ St . Petersburg) , to hear that you are no longer in the Household ; but no doubt it is only a

’ m the she omentary caprice of Empress s, and w oﬂi ce ill give you some higher , something more ” Of w orthy you . “ . on You do not know her, Azra Some e h a s n poisoned her mind against me . I have see All it and felt it for some time . is over for me

i in Russia . I am determ ned to return to Cour l and and gladly Should I return if “ ? IS If what, Ivan there anything that I ” c an do ?

: Yes there is everything that you can do . ” Y ou can come with me .

s Azra grew pale as he said these word . ! ! ” What leave the opera she exclaimed,

leave St . Petersburg now ! There is no Opera i ” n Courland . 1 88 IVAN DE BIRON .

Why Should there be ? What Should my " wife want with operas ? ” “ : ul No, Ivan I co d not, I really could

‘ not : you do not know what you ask of me . “ I do know : I only ask what any woman who ul loved me, wo d at once grant . But you love me not, Azra . This painted mimicry of . ” passion ﬁlls your heart .

‘ int rru t e d b f Here they were e p y the leader o . the orchestra entering hastily, and requesting that Azra would come and listen to the chorus in the second Act, which was being abominably done abominably repeated

a n d me the little man, and you must come help

' m i ” d rill the . , , S gnora Azra promised to come, and the man left the room . It is hardly to be told with what passion passion aided by d espair — Ivan then pressed “ she hi s suit . Had not once loved him ? Had she not then been everything to him ? ”

Azra could have made an u npleasant answer to thi s question ; but the generous girl foreb ore ,

190 I VAN DE BIRON .

s lock e d sa d ome short time in his, and with

questioning into her eyes . But these she cast

d own ; though She strove to return his fond

u f n press re with a ondness equal to his ow . And

thus they parted .

w a s Schlu sse lb er Ivan at ﬁrst conveyed to g, where he had to undergo a private judicial

8V 1 examination . It was clearly brought in dence against him that he had been present at

in h d the d inners of the La pou sch s and t eir frien s . His complicity in the plot against the Empress w a s inferred ; certainly it could not have been

ul proved ; and the res t was , that he was con d emn e d again to exile in Siberia .

The representation of the new Opera was p u t

Off for some days on acco unt of the indisposi

f the tion o the Prima Donna . Some said that a O rrangements for the pera were not ready, and

a s that this w the cause of the delay . This was not true ; but when the ﬁrst representation did

’ ’ Azra s n take place, grief for Ivan s misfortu e,

for t u and their sad and sorry par ing, tho gh t that grief was deep and real, did not preven her from making those exertions which su ﬁi ce d

to ensure as great a triumph for her at St .

Petersburg as that which She had enjoyed a t

Paris .

BOOK VI .

CH APTER I .

— TH E JOURNEY TO SIBERIA IVAN DE BYRON AND

NA RISK FF TH E F O IN FOREST O PELEM .

TH E journey to Siberia, even when it is a traveller and not an exile who journeys, is any i th ng but joyous . The boundless plains, the sombre grey colouring, the few birch trees scat t ere d here and there, in such disproportion to the vastness of the surrounding scenery as to ’ i justify Robert Hall s celebrated say ng, on con t e m la tin di d p g a Similar region , that when a tree “ w a s appear, it only nature holding up a signal — of distress, render the journey, even to the

O 2 1 I 96 VAN DE BIRON .

f most buoyant mind, a gloomy and a mourn ul one .

for The traveller who, the ﬁrst time, comes f rom a champaign to a mountainous region, or from a land of hill s and dales to a country of l dead evel, is , no doubt , somewhat astonished

and bewildered . But, in their way to Siberia, there is that which affects most men more than . any change in the mere form of country from that which they have been accustomed to namely the absence of the signs O f deﬁnite pos session . In countries that are more civilized and m ore peopled, these Signs of possession, which are visible even in very barren and ‘ in very lofty

n regions , give a feeli g of welcome to the tra hi m veller, tell of the conquests made by man, a nd di w in cate some hat of peace, order, and security .

nu The limitless plain, on the contrary, when

a divided by landmarks , creates sense of the feebleness of man when compared with the vastness of the possession which he may have e ntered upon, but cannot be said to have subdued .

I 198 VAN DE BIRON .

to . to middle life , if not old age The forehead was indented with those lines which are made by care and trouble, even mere than by thought,

upon that plastic material, the human face .

Moreover the ends of the hai r had begun to

change colour ; and it might be foreseen that, unless this change should be arrested by a

m fe w change of ind, this young man would, in a

a ye rs, be prematurely grey . His companion was unaltered as regards any

r ma ks signifying age , but a certain expression of sourness sat upon the face that had not been

there before : his smile was far less pleasing

even than it had been formerly ; and it seemed

as if the wit had become a conﬁrmed cynic .

The companion ship of these t wo me n did not

appear likely, from what is known of them, to

be a close and enduring one . Any person who

knew them both, would not have prophesied that they would have become constant allies

for and companions, there was a frankness in

the countenance of the younger man, which,

if physiognomy can be relied upon, could AN D N ARISKOFF 199 IVAN .

“ not well meet with any response from the

! other .

Yet , there was a bond of friendliness and

t c ompanionship of a very enduring charac er .

who The young man was an unhappy man, had

n f begun to take very gloomy views of huma li e .

Nothing is more distasteful to such a man than f the company of the hopeful and the cheer ul. Their bright hopes and their gay speech are

so . almost insults to him, or he deems them But he is somewhat comforted when he ﬁnds that any other person’ s views are still darker

hi s hi s than own . Indeed, views may become

comparatively bright by contrast . The great

. w artists kno and prove this . It is not until all

ca n the colours are in the picture, that you t for ell what any colour may seem to be, this ‘ seeming depends upon the surroundi ng

tints .

This appreciation of a gloomier nature than

his own, was the motive that led the younger

ul i man to c tivate the friendsh p of the elder one .

B e di , on the other hand, stu ed to make himself 200 IVAN DE BIRON . agreeable to hi s young friend from a very d if f r n w a s e e t reason . Banishment to Siberia not so severe under the rule of the Empress E liza beth as it had been under former sovereigns, .

e » and, especially, during the time when the Duk of Courland w a s prime minister of Russia . The

for — young man was , Siberia, rich that is, a small sum was allowed daily for his sustenance whereas, the other was without a kopeck . Now, t — luxuries at S . Petersburg or Moscow some thi ng more than the barest necessities oflife a t ' Pelem—were what the elder man most distinctly

t ul cove ed, and wo d have sought for at any sacri ﬁ ce . a He, therefore, in general, adapted his t lk to the humour of his companion, and sometimes even went extravagantly beyond it, seeing that thi s was the best means of securing the other’ s fri hi hi f d ends p , and all the good t ngs that ollowe f there rom .

' The elder man wa s N a riskoﬁ hi s companion wa s Ivan de Biron .

The forests in Siberia swarm with wild a n d

c of the ﬁer e animals, not of the grander but

2 02 IVAN DE BIRON .

’ Now all this was very false talk on N a risk offs m part . He was a de voted admirer of wo en . It w a s w ho they , in his fallen fortunes, had been most kind to him and he wa s not unmindful of this fact .

There is a just saying, or at least a plausible

o n e . , that it is bad men who speak ill of women

N a risk off a s Now w not a bad man, but merely o n e whose nature was not strong enough to w ithstand the usual effect of misfortune upon the c m haracter ; and, for the moment, he erely said these spiteful things in compliance with the m om on orbid humour of his c ﬁsﬁg .

! a s . But with Ivan, alas it w otherwise A had ﬁne , noble, trustful nature been deeply f a fected by the evil which ha d befallen it . We s peak of ruin chieﬂy as applied to physical

“ matters and to outward fortune ; but there may

be such things as ruined natures ; and each of

these me n afforded an example of the danger of

that sa d possibility . They have uniformly been the cause of m ” isery and misfortune to me, said Ivan, resum A N ARISKOFF 2 IV N AND . 03

“ a ing the conversation . The we k and pliable

u D chess Regent, with her weak and indolent

Men d en— favourite, Juliana de g the voluptuous

- and shallow hearted Elizabeth, under whose

uf — tyranny we s fer that wonderful prima donna, the Signora H u rt a ld i (she might have kept her — re tt p v gypsy name, Azra) that false, hard, and

-An d rée vn a z— proud Princess Marie these women,

” on e . and all of them, have been a curse to me

N a riskoff thought to himself, but did not give voice to the thought “ He could not have been m more unfortunate with wo en, even if he had been a man of genius .

N a risk off? N 0 Do you know where we are, how should you know It is a part of the forest

’ which is still resonant with woman s falsehood . “ You se e that trunk of a tree ? It ha s r emained here while its kindred logs have been — carried away . The thing is wicked is accursed .

Here a false girl, has, ere this, allowed a true

and loving youth to sit beside her : and has listened to his tale of love with all due maidenly r f r eserve, but still with no unwilling ears, o 204 IVAN DE BIRON .

f not then, clad in peasant dress, she held hersel di so much above him . But diamonds amonds

N a risk off s as you said, ; those bright pebble — make the difference they have hearts of di a monds, I believe . Let us proceed with the story d of the youth and maiden . They interchange

n vows of consta cy . “ A scholar such as you, De Biron, having read your Horace and all about him and his ‘ ’ ! Lydia, then talking of vows of constancy a

» phrase at best of travelling pedlars, picked up from their peasant customers . The thing is unknown to decent people brought up in Peters ” burg and Moscow . “ ” “ ! sa Ah well, resumed Ivan, I will not y what happened besides, but a soft cheek may be

. Ye s w a s no indication of a loving heart , it h she s e . here, vowed would be mine But the air is different in St . Petersburg from that in

! u Siberia . Tho gh nipping here (Ivan shuddered as he spoke) it has some sense of truthfulness in if it, while at St . Petersburg, a true man were to

s . peak truly, the shocked atmosphere would not

206 IVAN DE BIRON .

h se e ave a philosophic mind . I numberless trans

actions in the forest which give me a mple food

w a s for contemplation . Did you notice what I

mi a o doing a few nutes g , near the great Spruce

tree, while you were leaning against it, and look ing up into vacancy

f . No replied Ivan, in an indi ferent tone

Well, it was a most unphilosophic employ d ment . I was en eavouring to prevent one of the

myriad murders which are always being perpe

tra t e d li . in this peaceful abode of b ss, this forest

An idiotic reptile, a black thing, with many

joints and convolutions , was taking his evening — if walk single, thinking of his wayward mis

if m hi s m tress ; arried, thinking of any family dl cares or, if he had any germ of worl y wisdom, scheming how he should provide himself with

supper . And he had the folly to walk near an

’ Out ant s nest . they came upon him, as prompt

i i h e to their work as K rg s robbers . But thes insects are certainly the most sensible creatures

ff me n ! in the world . How di erent from The

ants saw directly that four of their number woul d NARISKOFF 2 IVAN AND . 07

be sufﬁ cient to do the business ; and the others turned back in search of other prey . Now men never know how to apportion their numbers t o their w or ” What is it they do know ? said Ivan . ” a ri k off O s . h, two or three things, replied N

The truth is ; man is very well in hi s way : the world is very well in its way : only man is n ot quite equal to the position which he

. a holds in it Whether he ever will be, is question .

e ev Well, well, said Ivan, somewhat p “ ou ishly, but what about the other insects y ” sa w ?

’ People don t understand me, continued “ N a risk off there is a great deal of chivalry in my composition . Ignoring the high probability that the other ants would attack me, as indeed

ri they did, I rushed to the rescue of my w ggling,

n black friend, though, as a ge eral rule, I dislike fools, and do not much care to aid them . But I

o : could do nothing for him, with ut committing

off . murder, myself. When I brushed one of his 2 08 IVAN DE BIRON .

e nemies, the others stuck to him all the same,

s - B ucking out his life blood . y the time I had

b off rushed another , the vigorous little wretch,

whom I had ﬁrst displaced, returned to the

c l harge . Eventual y, poor little blackie and myself became exhausted by our efforts and I

im sa w was obliged to leave h to his fate . You ” n othing of this heroic struggle .

Not much said Ivan .

re ome d If you looked more about you, J “ N a risk off , you would be a wiser and perhaps

’ a happier man . Don t you see that we are all made to prey and to be preyed upon ? Man is

the noblest creature in creation : at least he

always says so in his books ; and, as the other creatures have had the good sense to conceal their talents for reading and writing, they never

care to contradict him . Now, how much too

how happy men would be , and unfairly the world if would be arranged, there were no such crea tures as women to torment those who torment all t he other created beings .

“ ’ It s very stupid of you not to understand

10 I VAN DE BIRON . d roll picture of Ivan as a father of a large family,

N a risk off all of whom would delight in uncle , and climb upon his knees t o hear hi s wondrous stories about the bears and w olves of the Siberian forests .

Ivan looked at his friend . in astonishment .

He w a s not altogether displeased with this

picture, and he was certainly amused at its

N a risk off w ho being depicted by , had never,

hitherto, indulged in such an outburst of gracious fancy . “ And where is this paragon to come from ?

' irit A sp of the wood, I suppose So ﬁerce when

ow n provoked, so revengeful, so cruel to its

so species, purblind except in its own small

so circle, feline, as a certain wise friend of mine — ! not long ago informed me, and yet perfection

And this paragon is to fall in love with a ” wretched exile . “ t sa I did no y, De Biron, that she was to be

perfection . Nobody can accuse me of ever

ma n attributing perfection to or woman . But I will tell you something— something which is AN D AR K F 2 11 IVAN N IS O F .

. w orth a great deal of money, and of which I

c ould make good barter at St . Petersburg . They

t alk of ﬁrst love . Poets and p oetasters rave

ul about it . They wo d have you believe that it is

s be omething divine, something which can never

r enewed, something which gods and goddesses

s f mile upon benignly . It is all stu f. How should it be otherwise ? ”

Here he paused for a minute or two , and Ivan

ha d N a risk off thought he ended . Meanwhile,

had sa t down upon that felled tree of which Ivan

. sa t sa t . had spoken And he , where she had

N a risk ff Ivan gently lifted him up . o understood

di f ul . it all ; and, with ﬁc ty repressed a smile “ Then he said : This w a s my valuable saying . Talk as they may about ﬁrst love being the

. ! is lasting one It the last love that lasts, if any3 ’

The friends walked on in silence to the town ;

a n d Ivan, when he reached his hut, being

N a risk off absorbed in thought , failed to invite ,

as had been his wont, to enter with him, and

v s hare his e ening meal . 2 12 IVAN DE BIRON .

N a risk oif m said to himself, as he turned home “ - ward, This comes of doing a good natured

i . w l e th ng, but I i l not again commit the sam ” e rror .

2 14 I A V N DE BIRON .

ninist er without any directions as to the plac e

ha r of exile . A junior clerk d said to anothe “ junior in the ofﬁce : Where is the poor devil ” to go to ? There is no place named . ” Where w a s he the last time ? replied the

other .

They looked and found that it was Pelem . ’ h m ” Let s send i there, said the ﬁrst speaker .

a I dare s y he would like it best . You remem

’ e ber hi m in the Duke s time . He often cam

f , to the o ﬁce, and he did not swagger about h so much as t e other private Secretaries . He

r ha d always a good word for a fellow . Ente

sa ! him for the next batch to Pelem . I y

’ ha s his barony hasn t done him much good, it This was the amount of care and thought

’ which had been given to determine Ivan s place

of exile, and, to discover which, he might long

have puzzled his brains before arriving at the

real solution .

his Ivan was entirely wrong, when, in last

c N a risk off d onversation with , he had picture SE RBA TOFF S P 215 THE AT ELEM .

Serb a t offs the as re velling in imperial favour .

They were, unhappily for them, connected with one nor two of the principal persons concerned

La ou schin in the p conspiracy . They had even been present at some of the dinners given by

La ou schins the p , or their friends ; and the con versation which then took place had been re

if not ported, accurately, at any rate with no desire to render less offensive the terms in which the conduct and character of the Czarina m had been com ented upon by the guests . It may be imagined how distressing to Prince

Se rb a t off d e fa mm was any talk g the Empress, or indeed a ny persons in high authority . Great were the efforts which he made to divert the conversation into less dangerous channels ; and

he had, latterly, avoided accepting any invita tions to houses where he fou nd that this kind

w a s of talk prevalent . His caution, however, came too late : he was already compromised compromised ! a word of horror to that veteran courtier . Shortly after the time when Ivan di had been smissed from the household, and 2 16 I A I V N DE B RON .

c Se rb a toffs o ondemned to exile, the were als

arrested and similarly condemned .

They had, at ﬁrst, been sent to Tobolsk f but the Princess Marie, or her riends, had “still sufﬁcient interest with some of the minor

f of unctionaries government, to contrive , that

according to her wish, the family should be

removed to Pelem and, at the very time when

Ivan was declaiming against them, they had

arrived at their place of destination .

‘ The Princess did not know that Ivan was

there, nor did she even know that he was exiled .

These condemnations came so suddenly, and

’ were so swiftly executed, that even an exile s

intimate friends might not, for some time, know anything about the calamity which had befall en

hi m . And there was now no longer any inti

Serb a t offs macy between the and Ivan de Biron . The associations which the Princess had wi th

the town and neighbourhood of Pelem , could not

have been very painful, or, if painful, were still

very dear to her ; otherwise she woul d hardly

f she r have made the e fort, which did, to get thei

2 I 18 VAN DE BIRON .

“ have married into the Be stu che f family . We ” should all have been saved, then, he would e xclaim . Against this excellent arrangement there was only the foolish reason on her part that she did not like the particular Be stu chef in question . “ I am sure I never loved your mother before ” we married, and you know how happy we were, . “ he would reply Ah ! the D olgorou ckis (the late Princess was a D olgorou cki) were everything ” then .

of Pelem had, in the course the last few years, increased in size and importance . A new branch

s of trade had been established there, that of fur of the coarser kind ; and there were now some small houses of a better class than the log huts which had been occupied by the exiles in former

e rb a t offs l days . The S had one of these smal houses allotted to them .

of The society the town, too, had improved .

Miinnich Field Marshal was there, occupying the house of his old enemy, the Duke of Courland . This great general was not to be subdued by “ F S 219 THE SERBATO F AT PELEM .

: adversity . He taught a school he built a

: w ho church he was, in fact, one of those men bring with them life and animation wherever they

s go, and who maintain a certain cheerfulnes u nder whatever adverse circumstances they may be placed .

Ivan remained in ignorance that the Serb a t offs

hi s m m were co panions in isfortune, and that

’ their dwelling w a s not more than a stone s

— w a y throw from his own log hut the one, by the ,

Serb a t offs u which the had inhabited previo sly, m and which Ivan had contrived to gain for hi self, giving up in exchange one of the smaller houses which had been assigned to him . The friendly feeling of the junior clerk had not exhausted itself in naming a place of exile for Ivan which he thought would be preferred by him but had subsequently ensured an especially favourable

treatment for him at this place of exile .

An d he here it may remarked, that the quality which had gained for Ivan much favour from this junior clerk, was one which sometimes in jured his repute . The world is slow to believe ‘ I D 2 20 VAN E BIRON .

i n f in the truth ulness of very kind people, and d eed, mostly goes further than that, and is wont to s uspect untruthfulness in them . This can hardly e m ver be otherwise, for ost persons are prone to

assign motives to any action they contemplate ;

and those motives must be such as, in some mea

s . ure, accord with their own feelings or experience

f - When, there ore, a very kind hearted man goes

beyond the average kindness of other persons, in

his conduct or behaviour, the majority of men,

n ot being able to imagine a degree of kindness

w hich is foreign to their own natures and e xpe

rience , must invent a motive for such conduct or

v . beha iour, other than mere kindliness

who Ivan, , from his earliest years, had devoted

t himself to the doing of kindly ac ions, for which he possessed great opportunity when he was the

’ Courl a n d s u n Duke of Secretary, had, amongst

di o f scerning people, the reputation not having

been altogether a true man . It was a very self

s eeking age the Court of Ru ssia afforded a ﬁeld

for very sinister actions and d esigns ; and Ivan

u e x e nderwent the danger, which is always p

‘ 2 22 V I AN DE BIRON .

Duke declared that he wanted nothing for him

a lle vIa tion ff self, no of his own su erings , but

merely that the Duchess Regent shoul d not

punish those friends a n d relations of his who

were totally guiltless of offence to her .

’ u Certain it is the D ke s conduct, on his down

u fall, won so much favour with the D chess

Regent as to cause some solace to be provided

“ him for in his exile . His books were sent to him . It may be doubted whether the moody, miserable man derived much comfort from these b ooks , or whether he even looked into them ;

w a s but Ivan proﬁted by them, and encouraged

by the Duke to prosecute his studies . Now, in

’ Ivan s second time of exile, ardent study was

his only comfort, and the great satirists were his

w a s favourite authors . He never weary of e reading Horace, Rabelais, Moli re and Mon

a i ne t g .

the N a risk off With none of other exiles, but ,

had Ivan made any acquaintance : and con

sequently he w a s not likely to hear from them

o f the addition that had been made to their

: number . ’ 223 N A RISKorr s DESIGN .

Twenty - four hours had not pa ssed after the " a rrival of Prince Se rb a tofi and his motherless d aughter (the Princess Se rb a t off had died at

t S . Petersburg , ) before the busy, prying Naris k f w a s w o f a are of that arrival . A great scheme — e ntered into his head a scheme combining that good nature of his early days when he was

vi lo ng to his serfs, with the cynical super

s tructure which he had allowed to rise upon,

t and, for the mos part, to crush , his earlier

a nd hopes aspirations .

He would ascertain whether the Princess wa s u this cr el, vain, proud woman that Ivan depicted her to be ; and whether there w a s any of that affection for the young man still remaining in her breast, which he had described (in most

N a risk ff exaggerated terms, as o suspected) as

in having existed former days . What especially

' N a risk oﬁ delighted in his plan, and what he anticipated would be endless food for satirical

n e joyment, was that he would be able to play upon t the Vanity of bo h of them, making them believe 224 I VAN DE BIRON .

that each was almost dying with love for the other .

N a risk off rubbed his hands with delight when i he thought of this, and magined how he should bring it about .

The fools, the fools he exclaimed to him “ self. They talk of love, but omit the little i " word that should always go before t self.

se e l ﬁft - Let me , I sha l be y seven my next birth

uht day, and I am exactly the man whom young ladies fall in love with . Yet if there were but another amiable N a riskoff to plead my cause

u n , with any yo ng maiden, telli g her that I was

l w dying for love of her, I shou d succeed, I kno — ’ H I should . No satirists not Ivan s oraces, e — Moli res, or Montaignes have ever sounded

se a m the deep of hu an vanity ; or, if they sounded

n ot off t o it, did read their soundings the world .

They dare not do so . No man would believe them if they did : none at least if we except the two or three wise men of their time ; and there

N a risk offs are few , I trow, besides the one in ” Russia, in this generation .

Thus N a risk off reasoned . For some days he

BOOK VI .

TE CH AP R III .

ARISKOFF M S TH E RIN S M N EET P CES ARIE .

IT was not long before N a risk off found h t e Opportunity he sought for . He had haunted the wood adjoining Pelem at all hours of the day ; and it was towards the evening of the

’ ninth day after the Princess Marie s arrival, that he wa s fortunate enough to meet her walking in that cleared pathway in the forest which led

wa s towards the town . She not alone, being followed by a white dog marked here and there w ll ith black spots about the head, of the bu terrier species—that most affectionate and most NARISKOFF S S 22 7 MEET THE PRINCE S MARIE .

ni f intelligent of the ca ne race , as those a ﬁrm it to be who understand its very expressive ,

u count e though as some think, very ncomely n l ance . Having been brought from Eng and,

In l it had received the name of ge .

a riskoff N at once accosted the Princess .

I almost wonder to ﬁnd you, Princess , walk ” i n g here alone . Are you not afraid ?

In l w e . No, not ith g at my side It would be but faint praise to sa y that he is a truer friend than most men ; but he is a truer friend than most dogs ; and that is , indeed, saying ” s omething worth saying in his favour .

In el Meanwhile g , ﬁnding himself the subject

N a risk off of conversation, looked up at and made those expressive winkings of the eyes, and move

‘ m ents of the nose which, in that race of dogs,

o of indicate somewhat of doubt, and s mewhat d N a riskoff islike . bent down to pat the animal, b u t this indication of friendship was only re

i d w c e ve by a threatening gro l, upon which

N a risk offceased to make any further demonstra tions of friendly regard . 22 I 8 VAN DE BIRON .

’

ou N a risk oﬁ. But why are y here, I should not have thou ght that they would have cared m to rid the selves of you, though I doubt not you were much more guilty than ourselves, with .

hi run that provoking tongue of yours, w ch must on in censure, even when our Empress is the ” subject of the conversation .

b N a risk off It may here e remarked that , not withstanding the little aid or service he had

’ rendered to the Princess s family when they

i w as e were last in ex le, somewhat of a favourit of hers . Like many other persons of a satirical

she w a s turn, not sorry to listen to the satire

i she wh ch would not condescend, herself, to utter . him She resumed the conversation, by asking whether he had had any other punishment to undergo, thus delicately referring to the knout . ” l He answered, No . She then spoke in detai , and with much bitterness, of the cruelty that had been exercised upon the Countess La

ou schi n is . p , whereupon he said, Who imprudent ? ” now, Princess

2 0 3 IVAN DE BIRON . f ather and mother . I wish I could remember, ” Na risk ff f o b o . , that you had een one them

f ff i N a risk off c ul A ter this rebu , to wh ch o d

for make no reply, they walked on in silence

i the some little time, unt l, on the return towards hi town, they came to that spot w ch has so often — been mentioned in this story the seat on whi ch

the lovers in former days had sat . The Princess remained standing here for some

N a risk off t o minutes , though beckoned to her

he take the seat near to the tree, which, as

e remarked, seemed to have been made by som

benevolent person, happily combining art with

nature .

' The Princess sa t down : whereupon Na riskoﬁ

observed that there were some persons, though,

who evidently thought that there was danger in '

Sitting there . “ The other day, said he, I was walking

— so with a young man, not very young though, for there are some of those stupid grey hairs on

a s u nw el his head on mine, which give one most

come hints NARISK FF P IE 231 O MEETS THE RINCESS MAR .

N Well, but about the young old man, aris koff What did he do to you “ He took me by the shoulders in the rudest

me Sit manner, lifted up, and said I must not — there . He is a very wild young man half

— s crazed, I think, always talking of the injurie which women have done him—empresses and actresses and princesses . You know that I have s ome little gift of speech ; but I can make no i th ng of him . He will not listen to me when I endeavour to persuade him that women are the

f s m crown of creation, consolers, com orters, y — p athizers their companionship the one joy for man, overcoming all his sorrows ; and that, at

’ the bottom of Pandora s casket, it was not

’ Hope , as those hard ancients say, but woman s f f love that was lying there, in itsel su ﬁcient to control and conquer all forms of human misery ff ” and su ering .

The Princess looked ﬁxedly and inquiringly at N a risk off while he was uttering this tirade ; but his impassive countenance did not betray a ny particular or private interest in the subject .

H e continued 232 I A D I V N E B RON .

You e must have seem him . He was her w w hen we ere last here, Princess . Some people

V e go to Paris, some to ienna, more than onc

- m e in their life time . We choose Pele ; do w ? not A lovely, luxuriant spot What charming colours the morasses afford for artists ! You were, yourself, no mean amateur, Princess, if I recollect rightly . Well, but about this young

w omah- : S man, this hater he was a ecretary of

’ Courla nd s . If I recollect rightly, you gave him

b e letters home . He was recalled, you know,

f . ore we were A Baron now, Baron Ivan de ” Biron . The Princess concealed her emotion by the expression of great astonishment . What, is he here I thought he was in high favour with the

Empress . ” “ N a risk oif ma n No, replied ; the young must have told the truth on some occasion . It is difﬁcul t to break oneself of that bad habit . I

Should not have been with you in this wood,

for hful . Princess, but my trut nature The Baron occupies that splendi d residence whi ch w as once

234 I VAN DE BIRON .

how treacherous , I know not what . You know

d ff w e i erently I think, Princess . The last time

w a s were here, I am sure I thought he talking

of some wild animal of the woods ; but it

proved to be only a woman that w a s In his ” thoughts . ” A woman ? said the Princess .

who No : all women . But there was one .

was worse t han the rest . Some peasant girl

’ whom he had known here . The Baron s loves

are not of an exalted kind . All other women,

bad as they are , were good when compared with

her . She was the falsest of the false . I sup

pose she loved some other youth when he went

Never exclaimed the Princess . i You knew her then ? said N a r sk off. ” “ N o , replied the Princess . I only speak

s x al for the honour of our e . Men lay their f se

ness upon us ; and what they call our falseness ” i s bu t f i a a nt reﬂection of their own . “ w ha d I ish you been here the other day,

Princess . I should then have had an ally ; a n d NARISKOFF P S 235 MEETS THE RINCE S MARIE .

Shoul d have been happy to ﬁght under your banner .

w a s me d ita t The Princess silent for a minute, ing what response she Should make . It was inﬁnitely vexatious to her to think that this

l ma n w e ta kative, satirical kne , perhaps, mor than he pretended to know about the former

n r l relations between Iva and herself. She e co le cte d d r , as if it had been yester ay, how thei parting at Pelem had been suddenly broken offby the appearance of N a risk off and his attendant

Ma t chk a . t fool, , in the street To plead any hing like ignorance of Ivan, or, indeed, to pretend that her relations with him had been otherwise than most friendly, would only arouse, or deepen ,

’ this man s suspicions . She, therefore, said

N a risk off I cannot tell you, , how sorry I am

We ha d d to hear this news . the greatest regar — for Ivan de Biron both my father and myself.

the w a s of Indeed, Prince most anxious to be servi ce to him at Court ; b u t his rise was t oo

’ rapid to allow of my father s being of any u se

t o hi m. Ivan should not rail against the Em 2 36 I A V N DE BIRON .

hi s press, for she was greatest benefactress and

t ft a n tha , too, a er he had taken active part

a gainst her on that memorable night of her

seizure of the throne . I heard the Empress,

m An d yself, tell all about it . as for Azra, (I k new her well before She became the great

Madame H urta ldi) I am sure she could not hi m have been unkind to . It was not without set purpose that the

Princess had, in the foregoing sentences, used

’ she Ivan s christian name, in order to Show that

readily acknowledged a certain intimacy . Naris

koffresumed the conversation .

Yes, I agree with you, Princess . This Azra,

- b as you call her, was not the worst ehaved young i l ady . It was the peasant g rl of whom he spoke with most bitterness— the one who had deceived

h im here . I am not a very clever man in love i matters, but I would lay my l fe that She had

s a t upon that seat where you are sitting now,

’ Princess . That s the reason why he dragged me

of up from it so angrily . He would be jealous

sa him y our Sitting there, I dare y . Try some

I IVAN DE B RON .

e near her feet . But this gesture might hav been made to conceal from N a riskoff the expres s ion in he r face which she felt she could not master . “ w e I kno but little, as I said before of lov

” ’ m a riskoﬂ atters, N replied ; but I have noticed that this liberality of liking, or loving, is a pt to come upon a man who has met with some great disappointment which he never f orgets .

“ ' N a risk oﬂ I plead equal ignorance with you, , w ithout having your ﬁneness of observation as regards other people . But, methinks, we have l ta ked enough of this somewhat gloomy subject, for I pity Ivan very much . He was such a good

su and kind young fellow in former days . I p

‘ him pose that success has somewhat spoilt . Ah,

' N a risk oﬂ in cru , you have not been tried that cible . It might remove all that superﬂuous good nature which must n ow be so troublesome ” o t you .

' a riskoﬂ N was somewhat nettled by this speech, a nd was preparing a sharp reply, but the Prin RI KO F S I S I 2 39 NA S F MEET THE PR NCES MAR E .

c who ess, was anxious to bring the conversation

t o . an end, interrupted his meditations

In el me See how beseechingly g looks up at ,

she exclaimed . Not being able to induce that

“ rat or squirrel he has been looking after, to keep

him company, he wishes me to take some notice

of him . And besides he almost says, it is g etting very cold . I think we ought to go

. N a riskoﬂ home Have you ever observed, , but

’ perhaps you don t care about animals, how much

d a nd ogs resemble men, in their love of change,

ﬁckle ne ss their of purpose . They are wild to

come out ; and then wild to get home again . They must have picked up this changeful humour

from the men they have lived with so much

In el and g , though the best dog in the world, hi is not in t s respect superior to his race . You

n i su ﬂi ci n eed not come w th me . He is e t pro

‘ t e ction , and I must not Shorten your walk . The light of the moon is most favourable to the meditations of such philosophers as you ”

a re .

So saying, the Princess rose from her seat ; 240 I VAN DE BIRON .

N a risk off s and, bowing to , walked swiftly toward

n the tow .

' N a riskoﬂ When left to himself, exclaimed

se A clever girl, a very clever girl ; but not

She . she clever as thinks How well parried,

’ m m - l ; though, y best ho e thrusts . I wou dn t mind

e being in love with her myself, if it wer any

use to be so . It is a very stupid thing of Nature . that makes us least agreeable to look at when h we are most agreeable to talk to . Besides t e

S e wisest men , from ocrates downwards , hav

never been happy in their management of these

’ . t o women It takes all one s time, you see,

manage any one of them : and w e wise men

S . B , G have seldom this time to pare ut perhaps 4

a ll after , Nature is right . When we question

her closely she has generally a good an swer t o~

give us . We should then be too loveable, if we

were not to diminish in beauty as w e advance

ul in wisdom . No, no, it wo d not do . They would be too miserable when they had to part f ” rom us .

’ It was in such thoughts as these that N a riskoﬂ

BOOK VI .

E I CH APT R V .

’ N ARISKorE S SUBSE QU ENT INTERVIEW WITH

— ’ — BIRCN IVAN S STATE or MIND THE

’ MA I S FEELIN S R E G .

NARISKOFF resolved now to commence his attack in the other quarter . He paid a visit to

- ma n Ivan in his log hut and found the young ,

e . as usual, deeply immersed in his studi s He w a s d D e Senectu te rea ing the of Cicero, which " naturally led to N a risk oﬂ s uttering sundry say ings abo ut youth and old age . It was his cue not to appear to have any particular design in this visit, and so he was pleased to ﬁnd any ’ ARI A 243 N SKoEE s INTERVIEW WITH IV N .

general subject which he could readily discuss . He said that he believed there was once one man

who was contented with his age, and this was a

- middle aged man . The same man was also con W tented with his height, and did not ish to be an

inch taller or Shorter . Boys long to clamber up

: to youthhood youths, what fools aspire to man

hood : men of mature age sigh for the light

hearted joys of youth : and old men revenge themselves upon the world for not growing as

it dull as they do, by bestowing upon all the

t w im ediousness of old age . Ivan listened ith

’ patience to his friend s comments, not very

novel, on this subject, and showed a wish to

resume his studies .

' Then N a ri skoﬂ brought forth the great news which he had come to tell— namely the arrival of

' the exiled Prince Serb a toﬂ and his daughter at

l en Pe em . The somewhat malicious narrator

, joyed the confusion and excitement which this

se e intelligence, he could easily , produced in

’ Ivan s mind . There was no longer any wish on

’ _ Ivan s part to resume the study of the D e Senec 244 DIRC N IVAN DE .

tu te for wi t , he sought th eagerness to extrac

' from N ariskoﬂ every detail that he could tell hi ? m. What was the cause of their exile Was

she looking well ? Was She altered ? Did she know who were her companions in exil e ? Ivan

did not venture to ask the question directly, Did She know that he was there

’ N a risk offs replies grew colder and more re . served as Ivan’ s questioning became more and l more eager . At length the wi y man proposed — a walk in the forest a proposal which was

readily accepted by Ivan , in the hope of hearing

r a ff something more about the Se b t o s .

It wa s when they were al one in that vast wood

' that N a risk oﬂ gave full vent to his imaginative i powers . He was not the k nd of man to keep

within the sober bounds of truth, when he had a

— a purpose in hand purpose too, of which he was d very prou . He narrated the conversation w hich he had had with the Princess , but did not f u s s ail to throw in s ndry starts, and igh , and

ul blushes, which that proud young woman wo d have been the last person in the world to have

2 46 IVAN DE BIRON .

This is by no means a high order of ambition . “ The saying If I love thee, what is that to ” thee, indicates a much higher and nobler form

of the affections ; but it would be depicting the c haracter of this young man falsely, if it were said

of that he was capable of this, the noblest form

. O r loving n the contra y, it is not unfair to him

sa to y that this desire to be loved, descended even b e into a desire to liked ; and had, perhaps, been

t he cause of his anxiety to be kind and gracious

t o all those with whom he had any converse, and

t o win even the minor affections of his fellow

m n e .

of He had once, and for all, given up the hope

winning such love from Azra as woul d satisfy

him . Had she sought him out, even in exile, he would not have accepted her love burdened with

the condition that her art w a s to partake that

re love with him . After much thought he had

u n e d n o c her ; and, with that renunciation, had given up all hopes of being loved as he desired

to be . He was singularly alone in the world .

n He had parted from his family when you g . He ’ 247 IVAN S STAT E or MIND .

w a s had not detected, though perhaps it there,

v the any lo ing regard on the part of his master,

Duke of Courland ; and the friendship which he ff e had o ered to his broth r private secretary, the

Englishman, had been received in a truly British

manner, in which poor Ivan did not perceive any

of the warmth and real kindness which lay under l it . Al these causes had driven him into a

studious life ; and even before this, his second

exile, he had borne the character in St . Peters

burg of a moody, studious man . The Empress ,

l a s whi e he was in favour, used to speak of him

her young scholar and would playfully ask him,

when receiving his reports, what the wisdom of

the ancients w a s pleased to say that could eu

u s lighten about our modern doings . Elizabeth

had really entertained a great liking for the u n

she worldly young man, as thought him to be ;

had thoroughly believed in his ﬁdelity ; a n d had been all the more enraged when the reports of

those vile spies , grossly exaggerated, told of his

presence at entertainments where her character 4 I D I 2 8 VAN E B RON .

and conduct had been so maliciously, if so justly, f de amed .

It would be untruthful to sa y that Ivan did

of not often think the Princess Marie ; and now,

at Pelem, there were many things that recalled those reminiscences which he could not but feel hi were still so dear to m. He marvelled though It at her baseness . . deepened all his severe and bitter views of human nature when he revisited hi l those spots, w ch had been the si ent witnesses ofthose mutual vows of undying affection which had so often been exchanged between them

of who according to the usual practice lovers, w must say the same thing, in the same ords,

over and over again .

And what w ere her feelings ? They were the th same as they had ever been . She was e really

who true lover, whose love had never changed ;

had loved him even the most at the time when,

thinking their love hopeless, and desiring that it

ul of she sho d not be the ruin his life, had sought, alas too skilfully to divert that love into

of another channel . The Searcher all hearts

DE IVAN BIRON .

- re broken spirited man . Even if he should be

of - called, which he had no hope, his courtier like

sagacity foresaw that his time had passed, and

that there w a s b ut little chance for him of being

reinstated in that ofﬁcia l place and power which

H e e were so dear to him . had becom utterly

dependent upon his daughter ; and she knew

h w a s t at it no longer his will, but hers, which

governed “

’ N a risk offs She talk, though greatly doubted

’

. W the man s sincerity, had not been ithout its

. w a s effect upon her Proud as she , her pride

could not contend against her love ; and she

longed, with all the longing that she had known

s se e in her earlier days of court hip, to Ivan

c the again, and to dis over if any relic, even

f ffe for aintest, existed of his former great a ction

w a s m for the her . This a very hu ble thought

haughty Princes s to ent ertain ; b ut it Wa s a s

sincere and genuine a s it was humble .

b e ne ﬁcent of h That law compensation, whic

a m m ff w a s not l pplies to ost hu an a airs, whol y

inert when dealing even wit h such a calamity a s ’ TH E P 25 1 RINC ESS MARIE S F EELINGS .

exile . There are fe w things more desirable for a human being than that there should be sudden

breaks in the ordinary routine of his existence .

s o Great kings were wont, in ancient time , to go int

m hO e retreat in monasteries, fro whence, let us p , t l hey occasiona ly emerged as better men . Exile ,

w a s f d terrible as it , a for ed one of those breaks in

the continuity of life which are often 80 service m ’ able to the soul . The course of ost men s

inner lives is like that of one who is placed upon

n t an i clined plane and, when once started, he

man descends in an unvarying fashion, and with only the change that is produced by accelerated

Speed . There is little opportunity for a profound

review, to be made by himself, of his conduct,

his opinions, or his habits . f The exile , on the contrary, diverted rom all

his former occupations, entering upon what

n ew might well be called a life, with new com

panions , new surrounding scenery, above all new

relations to the fellow - creatures who were near

est to him, must, perforce, have entertained

new thoughts ; and though, humanly speaking, 2 5 2 I A V N DE BIRON . it may appear to have been a great disaster for

men like Marshal Munnich and the Duke of Courland to have been suddenly wrenched from power and sent into exile , it was perhaps one of the greatest beneﬁts which could have been pro d ff vi e d for . t them Though this e ec was , na t ura ll in y, most potent and most vivid cases such

irs it the _ w a s as , also very potent in the case of h those younger and minor personages, suc as

Ivan de Biron and the Princess Marie, who were s ubjected to it .

VOL. IL

PR N TED B Y T AYLO R AN D CO . I ,

' L I L E E EN S R E LIN LN S N FIELDS TT QU T E T , CO I N

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