THE PENCIL-SKETCH
It was the day after the court ball. Princess Elizabeth was in herdressing-room, and occupied in enveloping herself in a very charming andseductive _neglige_. She was to-day in very good humor, very happyand free from care, for Alexis Razumovsky had, with the most solemnasserverations, assured her of his truth and devotion, and Elizabeth hadbeen soothed and reconciled by his glowing language. It was for him thatshe wished to appear especially attractive to-day, that Alexis, by thesight of her, might be made utterly to forget the Countess EleonoreLapuschkin. In these coquettish efforts of her vanity she had utterlyforgotten all the plans and projects of her friends and adherents;she thought no more of becoming empress, but she would be the queen ofbeauty, and in that realm she would reign alone with an absolute sway.
A servant announced Lestocq.
A cloud of displeasure lowered on the brow of the princess. Startledfrom her sweet dreams by this name, she now for the first timerecollected the fatal conversation she had had on the previous eveningwith the regent. In her love and jealousy she had totally forgotten theoccurrence, but now that she was reminded of it, she felt her head throbwith anxiety and terror.
Dismissing her attendants with an imperious nod, she hastened to meetthe entering physician.
"Lestocq," said she, "it is well you have come at this moment, else,perhaps, I might have forgotten to say to you that it is all over withthe conjuration spun and woven by you and the French marquis. We mustgive it up, for the affair is more dangerous than you think it, andI may say that you have reason to be thankful to me for having, by myforesight and intrepidity, saved you from the torture, and a possibletransportation to Siberia. Ah, it is very cold in Siberia, my dearLestocq, and you will do well silently and discreetly to build a warmnest here, instead of inventing ambitious projects dangerous to all ofus."
"And whence do you foresee danger, princess?" asked Lestocq.
"The regent knows all! She knows our plans and combinations. In a word,she knows that we conspire, and that you are the principal agent in theconspiracy."
"Then I am lost!" sighed Lestocq, gliding down upon a chair.
"No, not quite," said Elizabeth, with a smile, "for I have saved you.Ah, I should never have believed that the playing of comedy was soeasy, but I tell you I have played one in a masterly manner. Fear was myteacher; it taught me to appear so innocent, to implore so affectingly,that Anna herself was touched. Ah, and I wept whole streams of tears, Itell you. That quite disarmed the regent. But you must bear the blame ifmy eyes to-day are yet red with weeping, and not so brilliant as usual."
And Princess Elizabeth ran to the toilet-table to examine critically herface in the glass.
"Yes, indeed," she cried, with a sort of terror, "it is as I feared. Myeyes are quite dull. Lestocq, you must give me a means, a quick and suremeans, to restore their brightness."
Thus speaking, Elizabeth looked constantly in the glass, full of careand anxiety about her eyes.
"I shall appear less beautiful to him to-day," she murmured; "he will,in thought, compare me with Eleonore Lapuschkin, and find her handsomerthan I. Lestocq, Lestocq!" she then called aloud, impatiently stampingwith her little foot, "I tell you that you must immediately prescribe aremedy that will restore the brilliancy of my eyes."
"Princess," said Lestocq, with solemnity, "I beseech you for a momentto forget your incomparable beauty and the unequalled brilliancy of youreyes. Be not only a woman, but be, as you can, the great czar's greatdaughter. Princess, the question here is not only of the diminishedbrilliancy of your eyes, but of a real danger with which you arethreatened. Be merciful, be gracious, and relate to me the exact wordsof your yesterday's conversation with the regent."
The princess looked up from her mirror, and turned her head towardLestocq.
"Ah, I forgot," she carelessly said, "you are not merely my physician,but also a revolutionist, and that is of much greater importance toyou."
"The question is of your head, princess, and as a true physician I wouldhelp you to preserve it. Therefore, dearest princess, I beseech you,repeat to me that conversation with the regent."
"Will you then immediately give me a recipe for my eyes?"
"Yes, I will."
"Well, listen, then."
And the princess repeated, word for word, to the breathless Lestocq, herconversation with Anna Leopoldowna. Lestocq listened to her withmost intense interest, taking a piece of paper from the table andmechanically writing some unmeaning lines upon it with an appearance ofheedlessness. Perhaps it was this mechanical occupation that enabled himto remain so calm and circumspect. During the narration of theprincess his features again assumed their expression of firmness anddetermination; his eyes again flashed, and around his mouth played asaucy, scornful smile, such as was usually seen there when, conscious ofhis superiority, he had formed a bold resolution.
"This good regent has executed a stroke of policy for which Ostermannwill never forgive her," said he, after the princess had finishedher narration. "She should have kept silence and appearedunconstrained--then _we_ should have been lost; but now it is _she_."
"No," exclaimed the princess, with generous emotion, "the regent haschosen precisely the best means for disarming us! She has manifesteda noble confidence in me, she has discredited the whisperings of herminister and counsellors, and instead of destroying me, as she shouldhave done, she has warned me with the kindness and affection of asister. I shall never forget that, Lestocq; I shall ever be grateful forthat! Henceforth the Regent or Empress Anna Leopoldowna shall have notruer or more obedient subject than I, the Princess Elizabeth!"
"By this you would not say, princess--"
"By this I mean to say," interposed Elizabeth, "that this conspiracy isbrought to a bloodless conclusion, and that, from this hour, there isbut one woman in this great Russian realm who has any claim to the titleof empress, and that woman is the Regent Anna Leopoldowna!"
"You will therefore renounce your sacred and well-grounded claims to theimperial throne?" asked Lestocq, continuing his scribbling.
"Yes, that will I," responded Elizabeth. "I will no longer be plaguedwith your plans and machinations--I will have repose. In the interior ofmy palace I will be empress; there will I establish a realm, a realm ofpeace and enjoyable happiness; there will I erect the temple of love,and consecrate myself as its priestess! No, speak no more of revolutionsand conspiracies. I am not made to sit upon a throne as the feared andthundering goddess of cowardly slaves, causing millions to trembleat every word and glance! I will not be empress, not the bugbear of aquaking, kneeling people, I will be a woman, who has nothing to do withthe business and drudgery of men; I will not be plagued with labor andcare, but will enjoy and rejoice in my existence!"
"For that you will be allowed no time!" said Lestocq, with solemnity."When you give up your plans and renounce your rights, then, princess,it will be all over with the days of enjoyment and happiness. It willthen no longer be permitted you to convert your palace into a templeof pleasure, and thenceforth you will be known only as the priestess ofmisfortune and misery!"
"You have again your fever-dreams," said Elizabeth, smiling. "Come, Iwill awaken you! I have told you my story; it is now for you to give mea recipe for my inflamed eyes."
"Here it is," earnestly answered Lestocq, handing to the princess thepaper upon which he had been scribbling.
Elizabeth took it and at first regarded it with smiling curiosity;but her features gradually assumed a more serious and even terrifiedexpression, and the roses faded from her cheeks.
"You call this a recipe for eyes reddened with weeping," said she, witha shudder, "and yet it presents two pictures which make my hair bristlewith terror, and might cause one to weep himself blind!"
"They represent our future!" said Lestocq, with decision. "You see thatman bound upon the wheel--that is myself! Now look at the second. Thisyoung woman who is wringing her hands, and whose head one of these nunsis shearing, while the other is endeavoring, in
spite of her strugglingresistance, to envelope her in that black veil;--that is you, princess.For you the cloister, for me the wheel! That will be our future,Princess Elizabeth, if you now hesitate in your forward march in thepath upon which you have once entered.
"And to persevere in this conspiracy is to give ourselves up to certaindestruction, for doubt not they will be able to convict us. AmongGrunstein's enlisted friends there are drunkards enough who would betrayyou for a flask of brandy! Princess Elizabeth, would you be a nun oran empress? Choose between these two destinations. There is no middlecourse."
"Then I would be an empress!" said Elizabeth, with flashing eyes,trembling with anxiety and excitement, and still examining the twodrawings. "Ah, you are an accomplished artist, Lestocq, you havedesigned this picture with a horrible truth of resemblance. How I standthere! how I wring my hands, the pale lips opened for a cry of terror,and yet silenced by a view of those dreadful shears before whose deadlyoperations my hair falls to the earth, and that veil entombs me whileyet living!"
And casting away the drawings, the princess trod them under foot,declaring in a loud and imperious tone: "These drawings are false,Lestocq, and that will I prove to you--I, the Empress Elizabeth!"
"All hail, my empress!" cried Lestocq, throwing himself at her feetand kissing the hem of her robe; "blessings upon you, for you have nowrescued me from the hands of the executioner! You have saved my life,in return for which I will this day place an imperial crown upon yourheavenly brows."
"This day?" asked Elizabeth, with a shudder.
"Yes, it must be done this very night! We must improve the moment, foronly the moment is ours. Every hour of delay but brings us nearer toour destruction. Yet one night of hesitation, and they will alreadyhave rendered our success impossible. Ah, the Regent Anna has sworn tobelieve only you, and never to doubt you, and yet she has ordered threebattalions of the guards to march early in the morning to join the armyin Viborg. Our friends and confidants are in these three battalions.Judge, then, how very much Anna Leopoldowna confides in you!"
"Ah, if it be really so," said Elizabeth, "then can I no longer haveany regard for her. Anna will remove my friends from here, and that isa betrayal of the friendship she has sworn for me. I have thereforeno further obligations toward her! I am free to act as I think best.Lestocq, I will be no nun, but an empress! You now have my word, and areat liberty to make all necessary arrangements. If it must be done, letit be done quickly and unhesitatingly. I have yet to-day the courage todare any enormity, therefore let us utilize this day!"
"Expect me to-night at twelve o'clock!" said Lestocq, rising; "I willthen be here to bring you the imperial crown."
This firm confidence made Elizabeth tremble again. Until now all hadseemed like a dream, a play of the imagination; but when she read inLestocq's bold and resolved features that it was a reality, she shookwith terror, and an anxious fear overpowered her soul.
"And if it miscarry?" said she, thoughtfully.
"It will not and cannot miscarry!" responded Lestocq. "The right is onyour side, and God will watch over the daughter of the great czar."
"And then, when I am really empress," said Elizabeth, thoughtfully,to herself, "what then? There is no happiness in it! They will give meanother title, they will place a crown upon my head, and bind me to athrone. I shall no longer be free to act according to my will, to liveas I would. Thousands of spies will lurk around me. Thousands of eyeswill follow my steps, thousands of ears will listen for my every word,in order to interpret and attach a secret meaning to it! They will callme an empress, but I shall be a slave bound with golden fetters, uponwhose head sits a golden crown of thorns. And this toil and weariness!These tiresome sittings of the ministers, this law-making and thesigning of orders and commands! How horrible!--Lestocq," suddenlycried the princess aloud, "if I must always labor, and make laws, andsubscribe my name, and command and govern, then I will be no empress,no, never!"
"You shall be empress only to enjoy life in its highest splendor.We, your servants and slaves, we will work and govern for you!" saidLestocq.
"Swear that to me! Swear to me that I shall not be constrained to labor,swear that you will govern for me, that I may devote my time to theenjoyment of life!"
"I swear it to you by all that is most sacred to me."
"Well, then, I will be your empress!" said Elizabeth, satisfied.
At this moment a secret door opened and gave admission to AlexisRazumovsky.
By his entrance Elizabeth was reminded of her inflamed eyes, and of thefair Countess Eleanore Lapuschkin.
She gave Alexis a searching, scrutinizing glance, and it seemed to herthat he appeared less tender and ardent than usual.
"Oh," she proudly said, motioning her favorite to approach her andlightly kissing him upon the forehead, "oh, I will yet compel you toadore me. When an imperial crown encircles my brow, then will you beobliged to confess that I am the fairest of women! Alexis, on this nightshall I become an empress!"
With a cry of joy Alexis sank to her feet.
"Hail to my adored empress!" he exclaimed, with enthusiasm. "HailElizabeth, the fairest of all women!"
"With the exception of the beautiful Countess Lapuschkin!" saidElizabeth, with a bitter smile--"ah, when I am empress, I shall atleast have the power to render that woman harmless, and to annihilateher!--You turn pale, Alexis," she continued with more vehemence--"yourhand trembles in mine! You must therefore love her very much, thisexalted queen of godlike beauty? Ah, I shall know how to punish her forit!"
"Princess!" reproachfully exclaimed Alexis--"Elizabeth, you, my augustand gentle empress, you will not sacrifice an innocent woman to amomentary jealous vagary!"
"Ah, he ventures to intercede for her!" cried Elizabeth, with a hoarselaugh, and, turning to Lestocq, she continued, with anger-flashing eyes:"Lestocq, I have yet a condition to make before consenting to become anempress."
"Name your condition, princess, and if it be within the compass of humanpower it shall be fulfilled."
Casting an angry glance at Razumovsky, Elizabeth said, with a sinistersmile:
"Swear to me, by all you hold most sacred, to find some fault in thisCountess Lapuschkin which shall give me the right to condemn her todeath!"
"I swear it by all I hold most sacred," solemnly responded Lestocq.
"And you will do well in that!" exclaimed Alexis. "For when a crimerests upon her, and she, only with a word or look, offends against myfair and noble empress, she will deserve such condemnation."
"You will, then, defend her no longer?" asked the somewhat appeasedprincess, bending down to her kneeling lover.
"What is Countess Lapuschkin to me?" tenderly responded Alexis. "Forme there is but one woman, one empress, and one beauty, and that isElizabeth!"
The princess smiled with satisfaction. "Lestocq," said she, "this timeI keep my word. I am ready to dare all, in order to place the imperialcrown upon my head. I must and will be empress, that I may have thepower to reward you all, and to raise you, my Alexis, to me!"
And drawing the handsome Alexis up to herself, she gave him her hand tokiss.
"I now go to make all necessary preparations," said Lestocq. "Atmidnight I will come for you. Be ready at that time, Elizabeth!"
"I will then be ready!" said Princess Elizabeth, nodding a farewell toLestocq.
"At midnight!" she then thoughtfully continued. "Well, we have twelvehours until then, which will suffice for the invention of a suitabletoilet. Alexis, tell me what sort of dress I shall wear. What colorbest becomes me and in what shall I please the soldiers? The toilet,my Alexis, is often decisive in such cases; an unsuitable costume mightcause me to displease the conspirators, and lead them to give up theenterprise. You must aid me, Alexis, in choosing a costume. Come, let usrepair to the wardrobe, and call my women. I will try on all my dresses,one after the other; then you shall decide which is most becoming, andthat will we choose."
The princess and her lover betook themselves to the wardrobe, and c
alledher women to assist in selecting a suitable revolution-toilet.