The Daughter of an Empress

But at this moment Anna's eyes fell upon the lace mantelet of the

princess, and quite involuntarily came to her mind the warning words of

Ostermann, who had said to her: "The French ambassador, by command of

his government, provides the princess not only with money, but also

with the newest modes and most costly stuffs." This lace mantelet could

surely only come from Paris; nothing similar to it had been seen in St.

Petersburg; it certainly required especial sources and especial means

for the procurement of such a rare and magnificent exemplar.

A cloud drew over the regent's brow, and in a rather sharp and cutting

tone she said; "One question, princess! How came you by this admirable

lace veil, the like of which I have not seen here in St. Petersburg?"

While putting this question, the regent's eyes were fixed with a

piercing, interrogating expression upon the face of the princess: she

wished to observe the slightest shrinking, the least movement of her

features.

But Elizabeth was prepared for the question; she had already considered

her answer with the marquis and Lestocq. Her features therefore betrayed

not the least disturbance or disquiet; raising her bright and childlike

eyes, she said, with an unconstrained smile: "You wonder, do you not,

how I came by this costly ornament? Ah, I have for the last eight days

rejoiced in the expectation of surprising you to-day with the sight of

it!"

"But you have not yet told me whence you have these costly laces?" asked

the regent in a sharper tone.

"It is a wager I have won of the good Marquis de la Chetardie," said

Elizabeth, without embarrassment, "and your highness must confess that

this French ambassador has paid his wager with much taste."

The regent had constantly become more serious and gloomy. A dark,

fatal suspicion for a moment overclouded her soul, and in her usually

unsuspicious mind arose the questions: "What if Ostermann was right,

if Elizabeth is really conspiring, and the French ambassador is her

confederate?"

"And what, if one may ask, was the subject of the wager?" she asked,

with the tone of an inquisitor.

"Ah, this good marquis," said the princess, laughing, "had never yet

experienced the rigor of a Russian winter, and he would not believe that

our Neva with its rushing streams and rapid current would in winter be

changed into a very commodious highway. I wagered that I would convince

him of the fact, and be the first to cross it on the ice; he would not

believe me, and declared that I should lack the courage. Well, of course

I did it, and won my wager!"

The regent had not turned her eyes from the princess while she was

thus speaking. This serene calmness, this unembarrassed childishness,

completely disarmed her. The dark suspicion vanished from her mind;

Anna breathed freer, and laid her hand upon her heart as if she would

restrain its violent beating. The letter of Lynar slightly rustled under

her hand.