A HAPPY DISCOVERY.
The slave who waited on Gerald, told him that he had orders from the
Czar to take him to any part of the palace and grounds he might wish
to see. He was told also, that if he would like to see the city, and
the public buildings, he should have an escort from the Emperor’s own
guards.
Our hero gladly availed himself of these offers, and thus spent several
days very pleasantly. He previously, however, complied with the Czar’s
request regarding the particulars of his early life.
It was but little that he knew of the matter; but that little he stated
with great clearness, both as respected time and place. Nor did he
fail to avail himself of the license given him by the Czar to send to
his friends. He wrote a brief account of all that had passed since his
removal, and cheered them with hopes of ere long seeing them again
under happier circumstances than when they had parted last.
Gerald had been at the palace about a week, when he received a message
from the Emperor, bidding him prepare himself for an interview with a
lady who, he said, had taken a great interest in his story. The officer
who delivered the message further informed him that the lady, whose
name was Madame Koski, was the widow of a Polish noble who had been
personally attached to the Czar; and that having lost her property in
Poland, she was now living on a pension which was allowed her by the
Emperor.
Our hero listened to these particulars with great eagerness; for
he could not help thinking that this lady was in some way connected
with his family, and that her interest for him was owing to that
circumstance.
‘It is possible,’ he said to himself, ‘that I am of Polish origin:’
his cheek grew flushed and his eye kindled at the thought. He
had occasionally heard portions of the history of that brave and
interesting people; and from some cause which he could not quite
account for himself, he felt deeply concerned in all that related to
them. The Emperor of Russia and the renowned King of Sweden, Charles
XII., had long been contending for power over the Poles; and the
principal question relating to that unhappy country seemed to be, which
of the two should be their master.
At one time the Czar gained the ascendancy for the King of Poland,
Frederick Augustus, who was also Elector of Saxony, was his friend and
ally. Again Charles XII. became the superior in power, and Frederick
Augustus was then obliged to abdicate the throne of Poland and retire
to Saxony, and Stanislaus Leczinski was chosen in his room--a measure
which gave no satisfaction to the declining nation.
Gerald awaited the arrival of Madame Koski with intense anxiety.
At length the door of the apartment was slowly opened, and a lady
dressed in the Polish fashion appeared, leaning on the arm of a female
domestic. She glanced hurriedly at Gerald, who immediately rose and
bowed. She then motioned with her hand for the attendant to withdraw,
and entered the room alone.
Madame Koski was still in the meridian of life; but ill-health and deep
grief had whitened her hair and left such marks upon her countenance
that she had the appearance of being rather advanced in years. She
entered the room with a trembling step, and sunk into the seat which
Gerald politely offered her.
‘Your name,’ she said with great effort, looking very earnestly in his
face.
‘My name, Madame, is Gerald,’ he replied; ‘but I am called Gerald Kopt,
from one Michael Kopt, who has been to me as a father.’
As the youth spoke, the lady became still more agitated. ‘It must be
so--I cannot be deceived,’ she murmured; ‘that brow--those eyes--the
voice--so like my own, own Gerald--you are--you must be my child.’ Here
she threw her arms round the boy’s neck, and burst into a flood of
tears.
‘Did I hear aright? Did you say you are my mother?’ exclaimed Gerald,
disengaging himself a little from her embrace, that he might look up in
her countenance to read her answer even before her tongue could speak
it.
‘I am,’ she answered in a calmer tone; ‘I lost an infant on the coast
of Russia at the very time stated in your document; and my heart tells
me you must be he.’
‘This is happiness beyond anything I could have expected,’ cried
Gerald, warmly returning her embrace. ‘I never hoped to find a mother
living.’
‘And I never hoped to find my long-lost child,’ replied the lady; ‘but
God is good, and his ways are wonderful.’
‘God has indeed been good to me, my mother,’ Gerald responded, now
twining his arm fondly round her neck; ‘he provided me with friends
who have been as parents to me, and he has by a wonderful providence,
brought me here. But tell me dear lady--dear mother,’ he added, his
countenance lighting up with great animation--‘tell me; is it true that
I am by birth a Pole?’
‘You are,’ Madame Koski replied; ‘your father was a Pole of noble
birth.’
‘I have learned to call those great and noble who perform great and
noble actions, dear lady,’ cried Gerald. ‘But I do rejoice in hearing
that I belong to that brave and patriotic land.’
‘Ours is a fallen country,’ said the lady despondingly. ‘As for
myself,’ she added, ‘I am obliged to live on the bounty of the man
who is desirous of holding my country in a state of thraldom; but the
circumstances which led to it are these:--Your father and the Czar met
in early youth; and your father had then an opportunity of rendering
the Emperor an essential service, which was repaid by an act of equal
generosity. Thus they were bound together by ties of gratitude.’
‘Ah! and the ties of gratitude are strong,’ Gerald warmly interposed.
‘They are, my son,’ said the lady. ‘Many years after, when Peter of
Russia and Charles of Sweden first contended for mastery over our
fallen country, your father and the Czar met once more. Your father
was then a prisoner in Peter’s camp, and I and my three children were
without a home. Under these circumstances, the Czar contrived to get
our children on board one of his ships, which was then about to sail up
the Baltic. I purposed joining them; but an accident preventing, the
ship set sail without me; and the children were only under the care of
a female slave who was their nurse. The next tidings I heard was, that
the vessel had been wrecked, and that every one on board had perished.’
Madame Koski wept as she related these particulars; nor could Gerald
listen to them without shedding tears also. ‘Then what became of my
father?’ he asked, with breathless interest.
‘The Czar generously gave him his liberty. Your father,’ she continued,
‘was one of those patriots who did not take part with either the Swedes
or the Russians; but who nobly stood out for Polish independence and
the right of electing a king for ourselves. This being the case, he
fared ill when Charles of Sweden got the mastery; and he would have
done the same when Peter of Russia had the supreme power, but for the
private friendship which I told you existed between him and the Czar.
He fell at last, however,’ and as she ceased, the lady buried her face
in her hands and wept afresh.
‘He fell in the defence of his country,’ asked Gerald.
‘He did, dear boy.’
‘I have told the Czar that I am desirous of pursuing a studious life,
and he has offered to place me in the University he has recently
founded in this city. But your tale, dear mother,’ added Gerald, ‘has
stirred feelings within me, which I scarcely knew that I possessed.
Surely it would be ignoble for me to live at ease in an enemy’s land,
when my own requires my services.’
‘I should have thought as you do, at one time, my son,’ replied the
lady; ‘but now I view the matter otherwise. Though there are many
gallant spirits still in Poland, the power of our conquerors is too
great for us. Nothing can be done for our unhappy country now, her
freedom is entirely lost.’