AN EXPLANATION.
The Countess Anna, meanwhile, had retired to her room. Exhausted by her
own emotions, she sank into a chair, and clasping her hands
convulsively, she stared, with distended eyes, upon the blank wall
opposite.
She was perfectly unconscious that, after a time, the door had opened
and Matuschka stood before her. It was not until the old woman had taken
her hand and raised it to her lips, that she started from her mournful
reverie.
"What now, Matuschka?" said she, awakening from her dream.
"My lady, I come to know what we are to do. The pearl necklace and
wreath are sold, and they have maintained the Countess Wielopolska as
beseems her rank; but we live upon our capital, and it lessens every
day. Oh, my lady, why will you conceal your poverty, when the emperor--"
"Peace!" interrupted the countess. "When we speak of our poverty don't
name the emperor. If there is no more money in our purse, take the
diadem of brilliants, sell the diamonds and replace them with false
stones. They will bring a thousand ducats, and that sum will last us for
a whole year."
"And then?" sobbed Matuschka.
"And then," echoed the countess, thoughtfully, "then we will either be
happy or ready for death. Go, Matuschka, let no one know that I am
selling my diamonds; but replace them by to-morrow morning; for I must
wear them at the emperor's reception."
"Your whole set, pearls and diamonds, are now false," said the
persevering servant. "What will the emperor say when he hears of it?"
"He must never know of it. Now go, and return quickly."
Matuschka, looking almost angrily at her lady, left the room. In the
anteroom stood a man wrapped in a cloak. She went quickly up to him with
the open etui.
"The diamond coronet," whispered she. "I am to sell the jewels and have
their places filled with false ones. It is to be done before to-morrow."
"How much does she expect for it?" asked the visitor in a low voice
"A thousand ducats, sire."
"I will send the sum to-night. Hide the coronet until to-morrow and then
return it to her. Where is she?"
"In her cabinet, your majesty."
"Let no one enter until I return."
He then threw down his cloak, and without knocking opened the door. The
countess was still lost in thought. She still gazed at the blank wall,
still heard the flippant voice which had poured out its profanity as
though life had been a jest and immorality a dream.
The emperor stopped to contemplate her for a moment, and his large,
loving eyes rested fondly on her noble form.
"Countess Anna," said he, softly.
"The emperor!" exclaimed she, rising and coming joyfully forward, while
a deep blush overspread her face.
"What! Will you not respect my incognito? Will you not receive me as
Count Falkenstein?"
"Is not the name of the emperor the first that is pronounced by the
priest when he prays before the altar for his fellow-creatures?" replied
she, with an enchanting smile. "Think of my heart as a priest, and let
that name be ever the first I speak in my prayers to Heaven."
"By heaven, if priests resembled you, I should not hate them as I do.
Come, my lovely priestess, then call me emperor if you will, but receive
me as Count Falkenstein."
"Welcome, count," replied she, cheerfully.
"God be praised, then, my royalty has disappeared for a while," said
Joseph.
"And yet, my lord and emperor, it is the privilege of royalty to heal
all wounds, to wipe away all tears, and to comfort all sorrow. What a
magnificent prerogative it is to hold in one's own hand the happiness of
thousands?"
"What is happiness, sweet moralist?" cried Joseph. "Mankind are forever
in search of it, yet no man has ever found it." "What is happiness!"
exclaimed she, with enthusiasm. "It is to have the power of ruling
destiny--it is to stand upon the Himalaya of your might; when,
stretching forth your imperial hand, you can say to the oppressed among
nations, 'Come unto me, ye who strive against tyranny, and I will give
you freedom!'"
"In other words," replied the emperor, with an arch smile, "it is to
march to Poland and give battle to the Empress of Russia."
"It is, it is!" cried she, with the fervor of a Miriam. "It is to be the
Messiah of crucified Freedom, to redeem your fellows from bondage, and
to earn the blessings of a people to whom your name, for all time, will
stand as the type of all that is great in a sovereign and good in a man!
Oh, Emperor of Austria, be the generous redeemer of my country!"
And scarcely knowing what she said, she took his hand and pressed it to
her heart.
Joseph withdrew it gently, saying, "Peace, lovely enthusiast, peace!
Give politics to the winds! She is an abominable old hag, and the very
rustling of her sibylline leaves as she turns them over in the cabinet
of the empress makes me shudder with disgust. Let us drive her hence,
then. I came hither to taste a few drops of happiness at YOUR side,
sweet Anna."
The countess sighed wearily as the emperor drew her to his side; and her
pale, inspired face was turned upon him with a look of unutterable
anguish.
The emperor saw it, and leaned his head back upon the cushion of the
sofa. After a pause he said: "How sweet it is to be here!"
"And yet you came late," whispered she, reproachfully.
"Because I travelled by a circuitous route; got into one hackney-coach
and out of another; drove hither, thither, and everywhere, to baffle my
mother's spies. Do you suppose that any one of her bigoted followers
would believe in a chaste friendship like ours? Do you suppose they
would understand the blameless longings I have to see your lovely face,
and to listen to the melody of your matchless voice? Tell me, Countess
Anna, how have I deserved the rich boon of your friendship?"
"Nay, Count Falkenstein," replied she, with a bewitching smile, "tell me
how I have earned yours? Moreover, who tells you that I am disinterested
in my sentiments? The day may come when you will understand how entirely
I rely upon you for assistance."
"But you have not given your friendship exclusively for the sake of the
day that may come? Have you?" said the emperor, with a piercing glance
at her beautiful pale face.
The countess cast down her eyes and blushed. "Do you mistrust me?" asked
she in a low, trembling voice.
"Give me a proof of your confidence in me," said Joseph, rising and
taking both her hands in his. "You call me friend--give me, then, the
right of a friend. Let me in some degree replace to you the fortune of
which the Russian empress has robbed you."
"You are mistaken, sire," said the countess, proudly; "the Russian did
not rob me of every thing. She took my lands, but I have invested funds
in foreign securities which yield me an ample income. I have also my
family jewels, and as long as you see me wearing them you may feel sure
that I have other means of support."
The emperor shook his head. "You are not wearing your family jewels,
Anna," said he.
"How, sire!" exclaimed she, blushing.
He leaned over, and in a low voice said, "Your jewels are false, your
pearls are imitation, and there is not a single diamond in that coronet
you intend to wear at my mother's reception to-morrow."
The cheeks of the countess grew scarlet with confusion, and her head
dropped with shame. The emperor laid his hand upon her arm. "Now, Anna,"
said he, tenderly, "now that I know all, grant me the happiness of
relieving you from your temporary embarrassments. Gracious Heaven! You
who are not ashamed to confide your distress to pawnbrokers and
jewellers, you refuse to trust ME!"
"I would rather be under obligations to a stranger than to a friend,"
returned the countess in a voice scarcely audible.
"But, Anna," cried the emperor, with a sudden burst of feeling, "you
would rattler be obliged to the man whom you loved than to a stranger.
Oh, if you but loved me, there would be no question of 'mine or thine'
between us! It is said--I have betrayed myself, and I need stifle my
passion no longer; for I love you, beautiful Anna, I love you from my
soul, and, at your feet, I implore you to give me that which is above
all wealth or titles. Give me your love, be mine. Answer me, answer me.
Do you love me?"
"I do," whispered she, without raising her head.
The emperor threw his arm around her waist. "Then," said he, "from this
hour you give me the right to provide for you. Do you not?"
"No, sire, I can provide for myself."
"Then," cried Joseph, angrily, "you do not love me?"
"Yes, sire, I love you. You predicted that my heart would find its
master. It has bowed before you and owns your sway. In the name of that
love I crave help for Poland. She cries to Heaven for vengeance, and
Heaven has not heard the cry. She is threatened by Russia and Prussia,
and if noble Austria abandon her, she is lost! Oh, generous Austria,
rescue my native land from her foes!"
"Ah!" exclaimed the emperor, sarcastically, "you call me Austria, and
your love is bestowed upon my station and my armies! It is not I whom
you love, but that Emperor of Austria in whose hand lies the power that
may rescue Poland. "
"I love YOU; but my love is grafted upon the hope I so long have
cherished that in you I recognize the savior of my country."
"Indeed!" cried the emperor, with a sneer.
The countess did not hear him. She continued: "Until I loved you, every
throb of my heart belonged to Poland. She, alone, was the object of my
love and of my prayers. But since then, sire, the holy fire that burned
upon the altar is quenched. I am faithless to my vestal vow, and I feel
within my soul the tempest of an earthly passion. I have broken the oath
that I made to my dying mother, for there is one more dear to me than
Poland now, and for him are the prayers, the hopes, the longings, and
the dreams that all belonged to Poland! Oh, my lord and my lover,
reconcile me to my conscience! Let me believe that my loves are one; and
on the day when your victorious eagles shall have driven away the
vultures that prey upon my fatherland, I will throw myself at your feet,
and live for your love alone."
"Ah, indeed," said the emperor, with a sardonic laugh: "you will go to
such extremity in your patriotism! You will sell yourself, that Poland
may be redeemed through your dishonor. I congratulate you upon your
dexterous statesmanship. You sought me, I perceive, that by the magic of
your intoxicating beauty, you might lure me to sacrifice the lives of my
people in behalf of yours. Your love is a stratagem of diplomacy,
nothing more."
"Oh, sire," cried she, in tones of anguish, "you despise then?"
"Not at all; I admire your policy, but unhappily it is only partially
successful. You had calculated that I would not be proof against your
beauty, your talents, your fascinations. You are right; I am taken in
the snare, for I love you madly."
"And do I not return your love from my heart?" asked she.
"Stay," cried Joseph, "hear me out. One-half your policy, I say, was
successful; the other has been at fault. As your lover I will do any
thing that man can do to make you happy; but my head belongs to my
fatherland, and you cannot rule it, through my heart."
"Sire, I seek nothing that is inconsistent with Austria's welfare. I ask
help for Poland."
"Which help might involve Austria in a ruinous war with two powerful
nations, and leave her so exhausted that she would have to stand by and
witness the partition of Poland without daring to claim a share for
herself."
"The partition of Poland!" exclaimed the countess, with a cry of horror.
"Avenging God, wilt Thou suffer such culmination of human wickedness!
And you, sire, could you share in such a crime? But, no! no! no!--see
how misfortune has maddened me, when I doubt the honor of the noble
Emperor of Austria! Never would the lofty and generous Joseph stoop to
such infamy as this!"
"If Poland must succumb, I will act as becomes my station and
responsibilities as the sovereign of a great empire, and I will do that
which the wisdom and prudence of my mother shall dictate to her son. But
Anna, dear Anna," continued he, passionately, "why should the sweet
confession of our love be lost in the turbid roar of these political
waters? Tell me that you love me as a woman ought to love, having no
God, no faith, no country, but her lover; losing her identity and living
for his happiness alone!"
"I love you, I love you," murmured she, with indescribable tenderness;
and clasping her hands, she fell upon her knees and raised her eyes to
him with a look that made him long to fold her to his heart, and yield
up his empire, had she requested it, at his hands.
"Help for Poland," prayed she again, "help for Poland, and I am yours
forever!"
Joseph grew angry with himself and with her. "Love does not chaffer,"
said he, rudely. "When a woman loves, she must recognize her master and
bow before his will--otherwise there is no love. For the last time I
ask, do you love me?"
"More than life or honor."
"Then be a woman, and yield yourself to me. Away with nationality--it
is an abstraction. What are Poland and the world to you? Here, upon my
heart, are your country and your altars. Come, without condition and
without reserve. I cannot promise to free Poland, but, by the bright
heaven above us, I swear to make you happy!"
She shook her head mournfully, and rose from her knees.
"Make me happy?" echoed she. "For me there can be no happiness while
Poland sorrows."
"Say that again," thundered the emperor, "and we part forever!"
"I say it again!" said she, with proud tranquillity, but pale as death.
"And yet, if I am not ready to sacrifice my own people for yours, you
will not believe in my love! You are unwilling to give up an idle dream
of Polish freedom; and you ask of me, a man and an emperor, that I shall
bring to you the offering of my own honor and of my people's happiness!"
She said nothing.
"It is enough!" cried Joseph, his eyes flashing with anger. "Pride
against pride! We part. For the first thing I require of a woman who
loves me, is submission. It grieves me bitterly to find you so
unwomanly. I would have prized your love above every earthly blessing,
had you given it freely. Conditionally I will not accept it; above all,
when its conditions relate to the government of my empire. No woman
shall ever have a voice in my affairs of state. If, for that reason, she
reject me, I must submit; although, as at this moment, my heart bleeds
at her rejection."
"And mine? MY HEART?" exclaimed the countess, raising her tearful eyes
to his.
"Pride will cure you," replied he, with a bitter smile. "Go back to your
fatherland that you love so well and I shall imitate you, and turn to
mine for comfort. There is many a mourning heart in Austria less haughty
than yours, to which, perchance, I may be able to bring joy or
consolation. God grant me some compensation in life for the supreme
misery of this hour! Farewell, Countess Wielopolska. To-night I leave
Vienna."
He crossed the room, while she looked after him as though her lips were
parting to utter a cry.
At the door he turned once more to say farewell. Still she spoke not a
word, but looked as though, like Niobe, she were stiffening into marble.
The emperor opened the door, and passed into the anteroom.
As he disappeared, she uttered a low cry, and clasped both her hands
over her heart.
"My God! my God! I love him," sobbed she, and reeling backward, she fell
fainting to the floor.