_The treachery of a Russian lady to her friend: her passion for Horatio:
the method he took to avoid making any return, and some other
entertaining occurrences._
It is easy to believe that Horatio, tho' relieved from that extremity of
misery he suffered while in the dungeon, was far from being able to
content himself with his present condition:--a thousand times he
reproached himself for pursuing the dictates of a glory which now seemed
so tyrannic:--Have I, cried he, hazarded the eternal displeasure of the
best of men,--refused the invitation of the adorable
Charlotta,--slighted the condescentions of her father,--been deaf both
to interest and love, to become a prisoner to the worst of
barbarians!--Who now will pity me!--Or if they yet would be so good, how
shall I acquaint them with my wretched fate!--Nay, were there even a
possibility of that, what would the compassion of the whole world avail,
since a slave to those, who, contrary to the law of nations, and even
common humanity, refuse, on any terms, to release the wretches fallen
into their savage power!
In this manner did he bewail himself night and day, and indeed had but
too just reasons for doing so:--he had heard that the last time the czar
had been at Petersburg, he had sent all the prisoners he had then taken
to Siberia, and other province of the greater Tartary, where they were
compelled, without any distinction, to do the work of horses rather than
men, and doubted not but at his next return all those now in his power
would meet the same fate, tho' the generous king of Sweden had sent back
the Muscovites he had taken, by 1500 and 2000 at a time.--This, however,
may be said in favour of the czar, that by the many attempts he made to
civilize his barbarous subjects, it must be supposed he would have been
glad to have imitated this generosity, had it been confident with his
safety; but the case had this difference, Charles XII. feared not the
number of the Muscovites, but the czar feared the courage of the Swedes.
What also increased the affliction of these gentlemen, was, that being
debarred from all intelligence, they could hear nothing of their king,
whom each of them loved with a kind of filial affection and
duty.--Horatio and two others had been witnesses of the extreme danger
in which they left him; and tho' at the time they were seized he had
killed thirteen or fourteen Muscovites with his own hand, and they
perceived general Dardoff had come up to his relief, yet they could not
be certain of his safety; till at length the sweet-conditioned Edella
perceiving the despair they were in on this account, informed them that
his majesty was not only well, but as successful as ever; that he had
passed far into Ukrania, had defeated the Muscovites in five battles,
and so far reduced the czar, that he had condescended to make some
overtures of peace; which having been rejected, it was the common
opinion, that in a very short time the Swedes would enter Moscow, and
become arbiters of Russia as they had been of Poland.
Adequate to their late grief was their satisfaction at this joyful
news:--Horatio was transported above his companions, and threw himself
at the feet of the fair intelligencer; but she desired they would all of
them moderate their contentment so far as to hinder the guards, who had
the care of them, from perceiving it, because, said she, it might not
only draw on yourselves worse treatment, but also render me suspected of
being against the interest of a court, on which my fate has reduced me
to become a dependant.
Horatio, as well as the others, assured her he would take care to manage
the felicity she had bestowed upon them, so as not to be any way
prejudicial to her; and she took her leave, promising to be with them
again in a few days, and bring them farther information, a courier from
the camp, she said, being expected every hour.
But while this compassionate lady was pleasing herself, by giving all
the ease in her power to the distressed, the cruel Mattakesa was
plotting her destruction.--She had several of her kindred, and a great
many acquaintance in the army, who were in considerable posts, to all of
whom she exclaimed against the loose behaviour, as she termed it, of
Edelia, and represented her charities to the prisoners as the effects of
a wanton inclination:--this she doubted not but would come to prince
Menzikoff's ears, and perhaps incense him enough to cause her to be
privately made away with; for as she imagined nothing less than the most
amorous intercourse between her and Horatio, she thought it unadvisable
to declare the passion she had for him, till a rival so formidable, by
the advantages she had over her in youth and beauty, should be removed.
This base woman therefore impatiently waited the arrival of the next
courier, to find how far her stratagem had succeeded; and the moment she
heard he had delivered his dispatches, flew to the apartment of Edella,
in hopes of being informed of what she so much desired to know.
She was not altogether deceived in her expectations: she found that lady
drowned in tears, with a letter lying open before her; and on her
enquiring, with a shew of the utmost concern, the motives of her grief,
the other, who looked on her as her real friend, replied, alas!
Mattakesa, I have cruel enemies; I cannot guess for what cause, for
willingly I never gave offence to any one;--but see, continued she, how
barbarously they have abused my innocence, and represented actions
which, heaven knows, were influenced only by charity and compassion as
the worst of crimes! with these words she gave her the letter which she
had just received from the prince,
Mattakesa took it with a greedy pleasure, and found it contained these
lines:
_To_ EDELLA.
Madam,
"I left you in a place, furnished, as I thought,
with every thing necessary for your satisfaction;
but I find I was mistaken in your constitution,
and that there was something wanting,
which, rather than not possess, you must have
recourse to a prison to procure:--ungrateful
as you are to the affection I have treated you
with, I am sorry for your ill conduct, and could
with you had been, at least, more private in
your amours: few men but would have sent an
order for removing you and the persons, for
whose sake you have made these false steps,
into a place where you would have cause to
curse the fatal inclination that seduced you:
think therefore how much you owe a prince,
who, instead of punishing your faults, contents
himself with letting you know he is not ignorant
of them.--If you make a right use of
the lenity I shew on this occasion, you may
perhaps retrieve some part of the influence you
once had over me; but see the Swedish prisoners
no more, if you hope or desire ever to see