For Sceptre and Crown Volume II Part 43

"You are right, countess," he cried, drawing himself up proudly; "such proofs are for lawyers!"

Then he approached Clara, knelt on one knee before her, drew the case with the faded rose from his uniform, and placed his hand upon it.

"Clara," he said in an earnest loving voice that came from the depth of his soul, "by the holy remembrance of the first hours of our love, by this talisman, which has been with me through all the dangers of battle, I swear;--this letter was written a year ago, before I ever saw you." He raised his hand and lightly touched her breast with his finger point. "By your own pure n.o.ble heart I swear that no thought of this erring meteor, whose rays once led me astray, has ever dwelt within me, since your love arose to be the pure star of my life--your love to which I will be true to death!"

He stood up.

"Countess," he said in a calm grave voice, "I give you my word of honour as a n.o.bleman; by the name which my ancestors have borne with honour from generation to generation for centuries, by my sword which I used in those dreadful days without reproach, against the enemies of Austria--the date of this letter is false. Since Clara gave me her love I have never exchanged a syllable with this woman, I have never thought of her, except in repentant remembrance of a past error! I do not ask if you believe my word," he proceeded, "a Countess Frankenstein cannot doubt the word of an Austrian n.o.bleman, nor think he would purchase a life's happiness by a lie. But I ask you," he said in a warmer tone, turning to Countess Clara, whose eyes were beaming with happiness, "I ask you if you believe my heart is yours without reserve or doubt? if now that the past is unveiled between us, and we have spoken of it, you will continue to be the star of my life, or whether in darkness I must pursue a solitary path, which my hopes once promised should be full of suns.h.i.+ne and flowers?"

With downcast eyes he waited in silence.

The young countess looked at him with the deepest love. A smile of happiness hovered on her lips. With a light step she glided towards him; stood still before him, and with a charming movement held out her hand.

He raised his eyes, and saw her gentle sparkling looks, her lovely smile, her slight blush. He opened his arms quickly and she leaned against him, and hid her face on his breast.

The countess looked at the beautiful pair with a mild and happy smile, and a long silence prevailed in the lofty room.

But the old clock measured these moments with its calm pendulum, the moments follow each other with eternal regularity, and never change for the short joys and long sorrows which form the life of man on earth.

When Clara returned to her room late in the evening, she laid the golden case with the faded rose at the foot of the crucifix, and now her prayers went up as lightly winged to heaven as the perfume of spring flowers, and in her heart as pure and wondrous melodies arose, as the song of praise of the angels who surround the throne of eternal love.

CHAPTER XXII.

RUSSIA.

In a large well-lighted cabinet of his palace in St. Petersburg, before an enormous table covered with heaps of papers, which, notwithstanding their number, were evidently in exemplary order, sat the vice-chancellor of the Russian empire, Prince Alexander Gortschakoff.

Although it was still early morning, the prince was carefully dressed.

He wore a black frock coat, unb.u.t.toned and thrown back on account of the heat, over under-clothes of some white summer material. The fine intelligent face, with its expression of suppressed irony about the mouth, and with short, grey hair, was buried behind a high black cravat and tall linen collar, and the eyes that usually looked out so keenly, so prudently, with such good-tempered, almost roguish humour, through their gold-rimmed spectacles, gazed into the young day displeased and discontented.

Before the prince stood his confidential secretary, Monsieur von Hamburger; a slender man, of the middle height, with an open, intelligent expression, and lively, clever eyes.

He was in the act of bringing before the prince various personal affairs, without any connexion to diplomacy. Before him, on the prince's table, lay a large packet of acts and papers.

He had just ended a report, and with a pencil he held in his hand he noted down the minister's resolution on its contents. Then he laid the paper on the large pile of acts, took it up from the table and bowed, to show that his business was concluded.

The prince looked at him with some surprise.

"Have you finished?" he asked shortly.

"At your command, Excellency."

"You have a heap of things you are taking away again?" said the prince, glancing at the thick packet von Hamburger held beneath his arm.

"I shall have the honour of bringing these matters before you on some future day," said the secretary.

"Why not to-day? You have been here but a quarter of an hour, and we have still time!" said the minister, with a slight accent of impatience in his voice.

Monsieur von Hamburger allowed his quick eyes to rest for a moment on the prince's face in silence, then he said calmly, with a slight smile,--

"Your Excellency must, I fear, have pa.s.sed a bad night, and you feel in no gracious mood. I have, besides these reports, various matters which, on the ground of justice and courtesy, it is very desirable to consider in a friendly spirit before presenting them to his majesty the emperor.

I think your Excellency will be angry with me by-and-bye if I expose these affairs to the reception that at the present moment seems probable."

The prince looked at him for a moment firmly through his gold spectacles without his secretary's casting down his eyes, or at all changing the smiling, cheerful expression of his countenance.

"Hamburger," he then said, still in a peevish voice, though the first appearance of returning good humour was seen in the corners of his eyes, "I shall make you my doctor! Alas! you don't know how to find the remedy, but as far as the diagnosis is concerned, you are a born physician. I shall no longer have the right of being in a bad temper before you."

"Your Excellency will certainly never state," said von Hamburger, smiling and bowing, "that I took the liberty of remarking upon your temper; I only begged permission to defer my business until this temper--your Excellency yourself used the expression--had pa.s.sed away."

"Ought I not to be in a bad temper?" cried the prince, half laughing, half impatient, "when the whole world is departing from its old orderly course, when the balance of European power, already severely shaken, kicks the beam,--and when all this takes place without Russia having any part in it, without gaining anything for itself in the new arrangement of affairs! I am glad," he added thoughtfully, "that Austria is beaten, Austria, who with unheard-of ingrat.i.tude forsook us in the hour of need, and with false friends.h.i.+p injured us more than our open foes; but that victory should go so far as to enable Prussia to dethrone the legitimate princes in Germany, and that the German nation should be close to us, able to threaten our frontier, causes me heavy anxiety. Prussia," he said, after a short pause, "was our friend--it was, it must be so; but what now arises is not Prussia, it is Germany; and I remember with what hatred against Russia the German nation was saturated in 1848. In Paris they will do nothing, except ask for compensation, which I think they will not get. Yes, if Napoleon could have determined to act, then the moment would have come in which we could have interfered; but to act alone is to us impossible."

"Your Excellency will hear what General Manteuffel brings; he will soon be here," said von Hamburger, drawing out his watch.

"What will he bring?" cried the prince, impatiently; "forms of speech, declarations--nothing more; and what shall we reply? we shall put a good face on a bad game--_voila tout_."

Hamburger gave a meaning smile.

"Your Excellency must permit me to say," said he, "that personally I am convinced it is not right to regard the new formation of Germany with enmity; to prevent it is impossible; the old European balance of power has long been out of joint, and Russia is weighty enough," he added proudly, "not to fear any fresh distribution of power. Russia, that great and mighty nation, must not hang on to old traditions; she must go forth to meet the future free and unprejudiced; if the possessions of other states are increased, so be it--the power of Russia is not curtailed by an unalterable frontier."

He took from a portfolio he had brought with him a folded parchment, and laid it on the table beside the prince. He had listened attentively, and his quick eyes looked thoughtfully before him.

"What are you placing on the table?" he asked.

"The Treaty of Paris, your Excellency," replied Hamburger.

A fine smile appeared on the lips of the prince, a flas.h.i.+ng glance flew from his eyes towards his secretary.

"Hamburger," he said, "you are a very remarkable man; I think we must be careful in your company."

"Why, Excellency?" asked the secretary, in a calm, nave tone.

"I think you can read people's thoughts," replied the prince, whose ill humour had gradually vanished.

"In your Excellency's school one must learn a little of everything,"

said von Hamburger, laughing and bowing.

The prince took the Treaty of Paris and turned it over.

For a short time he pursued his thoughts in silence.

Then he looked up and asked,--

"Is General von Knesebeck, whom the King of Hanover has sent here, already at Zarskoe Selo?"