resent, 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.
PRINCESS ELIZABETH
While a Mecklenburg princess had attained to the regency of Russia, and
while her son was hailed as emperor, the Princess Elizabeth lived alone
and unnoticed in her small and modestly-furnished throne, and yet in St.
Petersburg was living the only rightful heir to the empire, the daughter
of Czar Peter the Great! And as she was young, beautiful, and amiable,
how came she to be set aside to make room for a stranger upon the throne
of her father, which belonged to her alone?
Princess Elizabeth had voluntarily kept aloof from all political
intrigues and all revolutions. In the interior of her palace she passed
happy days; her world, her life, and her pleasures were there. Princess
Elizabeth desired not to reign; her only wish was to love and be loved.
The intoxicating splendor of worldly greatness was not so inviting to
her as the more intoxicating pleasure of blessed and happy love. She
would, above all things, be a woman, and enjoy the full possession of
her youth and happiness.
What cared she that her own rightful throne was occupied by a
stranger--what cared she for the blinding shimmer of a crown? Ah, it
troubled her not that she was poor, and possessed not even the means of
bestowing presents upon her favorites and friends. But she felt happy
in her poverty, for she was free to love whom she would, to raise to
herself whomsoever she might please.
It was a festival day that they were celebrating in the humble palace of
the emperor's daughter Elizabeth--certainly
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