A quarter of an hour later the generals were permitted to retire, and
the emperor was reconveyed to his apartments.
Anna Leopoldowna remained alone with her husband and the newly-married
pair, who had retreated to the recess of a window and were whispering
together.
Anna now turned to her husband, and, with cutting coldness in her tone,
said:
“You must understand, my husband, that I am very generous. It was in my
power to arrest you as a traitor, but I preferred to shame you, because
you, unhappily, are the father of my child.”
“You think, then,” asked the prince, with a scornful smile, “that I
shall take the buffoonery you have just had played before us for truth?”
“That, my prince, must wholly depend upon your own good pleasure. But
for the present I must request you to retire to your own apartments!
I feel myself much moved and exhausted, and have also to prepare some
secret dispatches for Count Lynar to take with him in his journey.”
“Count Lynar is, then, to leave us?” quickly asked the prince, in an
evidently more friendly tone.
“Yes,” said Anna, “he leaves us for some weeks to visit the estate in
Liefland which I have given to Julia as a bridal present, and to make
there the necessary preparations for the proper reception of his wife.”
Julia clasped the hands of her mistress, and bathed them with tears of
joy and gratitude.
“Anna,” whispered Prince Ulrich, “I did you wrong. Pardon me.”
Anna coldly responded: “I will pardon you if you will be generous enough
to allow me a little repose.”
The prince silently and respectfully withdrew.
Anna finally, left alone with her lover and her favorite, sank exhausted
upon a divan.
“Close the doors, Julia, that no one may surprise us,” she faintly
murmured. “I will take leave. Oh, I would be left for at least a quarter
of an hour undisturbed in my unhappiness.”
“Then it is quite true that you intend to drive me away?” asked Count
Lynar, kneeling and clasping her hands. “You are determined to send me
into banishment?”
Anna gave him a glance of tenderness.
“No,” said she, “I will send myself into banishment, for I shall not
see you dearest. But I felt that this sacrifice was necessary. Julia
has sacrificed herself for us. With another love in her heart, she has
magnanimously thrown away her freedom and given up her maiden love for
the promotion of our happiness. We owe it to her to preserve her honor
untarnished, that the calumnious crowd may not pry into the motives of
her generous act. For Julia’s sake, the world must and shall believe
that she is in fact your wife, and that it was love that united you. We
must, therefore, preserve appearances, and you must conduct your wife to
your estate in triumph. Decency requires it, and we cannot disregard its
requirements.”
“Princess Anna is in the right,” said Julia; “you must absent yourself
for a few weeks--not for my sake, who little desire any such triumph,
but that the world may believe the tale, and no longer suspect my
princess.”
It was a sweetly painful hour--a farewell so tearful, and yet so full of
deeply-felt happiness. On that very night was the count to commence his
journey to Liefland and Warsaw. As they wished to make no secret of the
marriage, the count needed the consent of his court and his family.
Anna provided him with letters and passports. The best and fairest of
the estates of the crown in Liefland was assigned to Julia as a bridal
present, and the count was furnished with the proper documents to enable
him to take possession of it.
And finally came the parting moment! For the last time they lay in
each other’s arms; they mutually swore eternal love, unconquerable
fidelity--all that a loving couple could swear!
Tearing himself from her embrace, he rushed to the door.
Anna stretches out her arms toward him, her brow is pallid, her eyes
fixed. The door opens, he turns for one last look, and nods a farewell.
Ah, with her last glance she would forever enchain that noble and
beautiful face--with her extended arms she would forever retain that
majestic form.
“Farewell, Anna, farewell!”
The door closes behind him--he is gone!
A cold shudder convulsed Anna’s form, a bodeful fear took possession of
her mind. It lay upon her heart like a dark mourning-veil.
“I shall never, never see him again!” she shrieked, sinking unconscious
into Julia’s arms.