The Daughter of an Empress

by L. Mühlbach

  ELEONORE LAPUSCHKIN

  Two years had elapsed since Elizabeth's accession to the throne; forher, two years of pleasure and enjoyment, only troubled here and therewith occasional small clouds of ill-humor--but those clouds overshadowedonly her domestic peace. It was not the affairs of state, not theinterests of her people, that troubled and saddened Elizabeth; she askednot how many of her subjects the war with Sweden had swept away; howmany had fallen a sacrifice to hunger in the southern provinces ofher realm. She had quite other cares and anxieties than those whichconcerned only her ministers, not herself. What have princes to do withthe happiness of their people.

  Elizabeth was a consummate princess; she thought only of her ownhappiness, only of herself and her own sorrows. And it was a verysevere, very incurable sorrow that visited her--a sorrow that oftenbrought tears of anger into her eyes and curses upon her lips. Elizabethwas jealous--jealous not of this or that woman, but of the whole sex.She glowingly desired to be the fairest of all women, and constantlytrembled lest some one should come to rob her of the prize of beauty.And were there not, in her own court, women who might venture to enterthe lists with her? Was there not, before all, one woman whose aspectfilled the heart of the empress with a thirst for vengeance, of whomshe was compelled to say that she was younger, handsomer, and moreattractive than herself--and this one, was it not Eleonore Lapuschkin?

  For two long years had Elizabeth borne about with her this hatred andjealousy; for two long years had she in vain sought to discover somepunishable fault in her rival; for two long years had she in vainreminded Lestocq of his promise to find Eleonore Lapuschkin guilty ofsome crime. She had come out pure from all these persecuting pursuits,and even the eyes of the most zealous spy could find no blot uponher escutcheon. Like a royal lily she proudly bloomed with undisputedsplendor in the midst of this court, whose petty cabals and intriguescould not soil her fair fame. Her presence spread around her a sortof magic. The most audacious courtier, the most presumptuous cavalier,approached her with only reverence; they ventured not in her presence touse such words and jests as but too well pleased the empress; there wassomething in Eleonore's glance that commanded involuntary respect andawe; an elevation, a mildness, a soft feminine majesty was shed overher whole being that enchanted even those who were inimical to her.Elizabeth had perceived that, with her eyes sharpened by jealousy; herenvy was yet more mighty than her vanity, and her envy told her EleonoreLapuschkin is handsomer than the Empress Elizabeth; wherever Eleonoreappears, there all hearts fly to meet her, all glances incline to her;every one feels a sort of ecstasy of adoration whom she greets with aword or a smile, for that word or that smile sanctifies him as it were,and enrolls him among the noblest and best.

  And even Alexis had been unable to withstand this magic! Oh, Elizabethnarrowly watched him; she had analyzed his every word and every glance;she had seen how he always pressed near her, how he blushed with joywhen she remarked his presence and returned his salutation! Yea, she,and perhaps only she, had seen Alexis covertly possess himself of theglove which Eleonore had lost the previous evening at the grand courtball, had seen him press that glove to his lips and afterward conceal itin his bosom.

  As Elizabeth thought of these things her eyes filled with tears, andher whole form shook with rage. She felt unable to be angry with or topunish him, but she was resolved that Eleonore Lapuschkin should feelthe whole weight of her vengeance.

  "Oh," said she, while pacing her boudoir in a state of violentexcitement, "I shall know how to punish this presumptuous woman!Ha, does she not give herself the appearance of not remarking that Iconstantly have for her a clouded brow and an unfriendly greeting? How!will she not take the pains to see that her empress looks upon her withdisfavor? But she shall see and feel that I hate, that I abhor her. Oh,what a powerless creature is yet an empress! I hate this woman, and shehas the impudence to think I cannot punish her unless she is guilty."

  And weeping aloud, Elizabeth threw herself upon the divan. A low knockat the door recalled her attention from her angry grief. Rising, shebade the person at the door to enter.

  It was Lestocq, the privy councillor and president--Lestocq, theconfidant of the empress, who came with a joyful face and cheerfulsmile.

  Elizabeth felt annoyed by this cheerfulness of her physician. With anangry frown she turned her back upon him.

  "Why were you not at the court ball last evening?" she then roughlysaid.

  "I was there," answered Lestocq.

  "Ah, that is not true," cried the empress with vehemence, glad at leastto have some one on whom she could discharge her anger. "It is false,I say; no one saw you there! Ah, you dare, then, to impose a falsehoodupon your empress? You would--"

  "I was at the court ball," interposed Lestocq; "I saw and noted allthat occurred there. I saw that my empress beamed in all the splendor ofbeauty, and yet with her amiable modesty she thought Eleonore Lapuschkinhandsomer than herself. I read in Elizabeth's noble brow that she waspained by this, and that she promised to punish the presumption of theinsolent countess."

  "And to what end have you read all that," responded Elizabeth, withvehemence, "to what end, since you are so sluggish a servant that youmake no effort to fulfil any wish of your mistress? To what end, sinceyou are so disregardful of your word as not to hold even your oathsacred?"

  "I was at the ball precisely because I remembered my oath," saidLestocq, "because I was intent upon redeeming my word and deliveringover to you this Countess Lapuschkin as a criminal! But you could notrecognize me, as I was in the disguise of a lackey of the CountessEleonore Lapuschkin."

  Elizabeth springing up from her seat, stared with breathless curiosityinto Lestocq's face.

  "Well?" she anxiously asked, as Lestocq remained silent. "Speak on; thenwhat further?"

  "Illustrious empress," said Lestocq, "I am now here to redeem my word.This Countess Eleonore Lapuschkin is a criminal!"

  "Ah, thank God!" cried Elizabeth, breathing more freely.

  "By various intrigues and stratagems, by bribery of her servants, I havefinally succeeded in spying out her secrets, and last evening, when asher lackey I conducted her from the ball and afterward waited at tableat an entertainment given by her husband to some confidential friends,last evening her whole plan was made clear to me. It is a great andvery important conspiracy that I have detected! This Countess EleonoreLapuschkin is guilty of high-treason; she conspires against herlegitimate empress!"

  "Ah, she conspires!" exclaimed Elizabeth, with a fierce laugh. "Forwhom, then, does she conspire?"

  "For one whose name I dare not utter without the express permission ofmy empress!"

  "Speak, speak quickly!"

  Lestocq bent down close to the ear of the empress. "She conspires forthe Schlusselburg prisoner Ivan!" said he.

  "I shall therefore be able to punish her," said Elizabeth, smilingly. "Ishall no longer be obliged to suffer this hated woman within the wallsof my capital!"

  "Siberia has room for her and her fellow-conspirators!" replied Lestocq."For this fair countess is not alone guilty, although she is the soulof the conjuration, as it is love that animates her. Eleonore Lapuschkinconspires for her lover!"

  "Oh, this adored saint has, then, a lover!" exclaimed the empress. "AndI believed her spotless as a lily, so pure that I felt abashed in herpresence!"

  "You have banished her lover to Siberia, the lover of Eleonore, CountLowenwald. You may believe that that has caused her a mortal grief."

  "Ah," joyfully exclaimed Elizabeth, "I have, therefore, unknowinglycaused her tears to flow! But I will yet do it with a perfectconsciousness! Relate to me in detail exactly what you know of thisconspiracy!"

  And Lestocq related that Eleonore Lapuschkin, in connection with herhusband, the chamberlain Lilienfeld, and Madame Bestuscheff, who was thesister of the condemned Golopkin, had entered into a conspiracy for theoverthrow of Elizabeth and the placing of Ivan upon the throne, and thusreleasing the prisoners banished to Siberia.

  "Oh, the
y were very gay at the yesterday's dinner of the conspirators,"said Lestocq. "The husband of Countess Lapuschkin even ventured to drinkthe health of the Emperor Ivan, and to his speedy liberation!"

  "But that is high-treason!" exclaimed Elizabeth. "Ah, I had cause totremble and eternally to stand in fear of my murderers! I already seethem lurking around me, encircling me on all sides, to destroy me!Lestocq, save me from my murderers!"

  And with a cry of anguish the empress clung convulsively to the arm ofher physician.

  "The incautiousness of these conspirators has already saved you,empress," said Lestocq. "They have delivered themselves into our hand,they have made us masters of the situation. What would you more? Youwill punish the traitors; that is all!"

  "And I cannot kill them!" shrieked Elizabeth, with closed fists. "I havetied my own hands in my unwise generosity! Ah, they call me an empress,and yet I cannot destroy those I hate!"

  "And who denies you that right?" asked Lestocq. "Destroy their bodies,but kill them not! Wherefore have we the knout, if it cannot flay theback of a beauty?"

  "Yes, wherefore have we the knout?" exclaimed Elizabeth, with a joyouslaugh. "Ah, Lestocq, you are an exquisite man, you always give goodadvice. Ah, this beautiful Countess Eleonore shall be made acquaintedwith the knout!"

  "You have a double right for it," said Lestocq, "for she has dared tospeak of your majesty in unseemly language!"

  "Has she done that?" cried Elizabeth. "Ah, I almost love her for it,as that gives me the right to chastise her. Lestocq, what punishment isprescribed for a subject who dares revile his empress? You must knowit, you are familiar with the laws! Therefore tell me quickly, whatpunishment?"

  "It is written," said Lestocq, after a moment's reflection, "that anyone who dares so misuse his tongue as to revile the sublime majesty ofhis emperor or empress with irreverent language, such criminal shallhave the instrument of his crime, his tongue, torn out by the roots!"

  "And this time I will exercise no mercy!" triumphantly exclaimedElizabeth.

  She kept her word--she exercised no mercy! Count Lapuschkin, with hisfair wife, the wife of Bestuscheff, the Chamberlain Lilienfeld, and someothers, were accused of high-treason and brought before the tribunal.

  It was not difficult to convict the countess of the crime charged;incautiously enough had she often expressed her attachment to thecause of the imprisoned Emperor Ivan, and her contempt for theEmpress Elizabeth. And in what country is it not a crime to speakdisrespectfully of the prince, though he be a criminal and one of thelowest of men?

  She was therefore declared guilty; she was sentenced to be scourgedwith the knout, to have her tongue torn out, and to be transported toSiberia!

  Elizabeth did not pardon her. She was a princess--how, then, could shepardon one who had dared to revile her? Every crime is easier to pardonthan that of high-treason; for every other there may be extenuatingcircumstances--for that, never; it is a capital crime which a princenever pardons; how then, could Elizabeth have done so?--Elizabeth,Empress by the grace of God, as all are princes and kings by the graceof God!

  The people were running to and fro in the wildest confusion in thestreets of St. Petersburg; they cried and shouted _vivas_ to theirempress who to-day accorded to them the splendid spectacle of theknouting of some respectable ladies and gentlemen! Ah, that was a verygracious and condescending empress to provide once more a delightfulspectacle for her serfs at the expense of the nobility! That was anempress after their own hearts--real Russian blood!

  Shrieking and shouting they rushed to the place of execution, pressingagainst the barriers that separated the central point from thespectators. There stood the bearded assistants of the executioner, therelay the knouts and other instruments, and with eager glances the peopledevoured all: they found all these preparations admirable, they rejoicedwith unrestrained delight in the prospect of seeing the handsomest womanin the realm flayed with the knout. And not the common people alone, the_noblesse_ must also be present; the great magnates of the courtmust also come, if they would avoid exciting a suspicion that theycommiserated the condemned and revolted at their punishment. They allcame, these slavish magnates, perhaps with tears in their hearts, butwith smiles upon their lips; perhaps murmuring secret curses, but aloudapplauding the just sentence of the empress.

  Now the closed carriages of the condemned were seen approaching in along, lingering train; the train halted, the doors were opened, andin the centre of the place of execution appeared Eleonore Lapuschkin,radiant with the brilliancy of the purest beauty, her noble formenveloped in a full, draping robe, which lent to her loveliness anadditional charm. She looked around with an astonished and interrogatingglance, as if awaking from a confused dream. Young, amiable, thefirst and most celebrated lady of the court, of which she was the mostbrilliant ornament, she now sees herself, instead of the admirers whohumbly paid their court to her, surrounded by these rough executioners,who regard her with bold and insolent glances, eagerly stretching forththeir hands for their prey. One of them, approaching her, ventures torend from her bosom the kerchief that covers it. Eleonore, shuddering,shrinks back, her cheeks are pale as marble, a stream of tears gushesfrom her eyes. In vain she implores, in vain her lamentations, in vainher trembling innocence, in vain her efforts to cover herself anew. Herclothes are torn off, and in a few moments she stands there naked to thegirdle, with all the upper portion of her person exposed to the eagerglances of the masses, who in silence stare at this specimen of thepurest feminine beauty.

  The proud lily is broken, shattered; she bows her head, the stormhas crushed her. Incapable of resistance, she is seized by one of theexecutioners, who, by a sudden movement, throws her upon her back.Another then approaches and places her in the most convenient positionfor receiving the punishment. Soon, with rough brutality, he lays hisbroad hand upon her head, and places it so that it may not be hit bythe knout, and then, like a butcher who is about to throttle a lamb,he caresses that snow-white back, as if taking pleasure in thecontemplation of the wonderful fairness of his victim.

  Now is she in the right position; he steps back, and raising the knout,brings it down upon Eleonore's back with such accuracy that it takes offa strip of skin from her neck to her girdle. Then he swings the knoutanew, with the same accuracy and the same result. In a few moments herskin hangs in shreds over her girdle, her whole form is dripping withblood, and the shuddering spectators venture not a single bravo for thisdexterous executioner.

  The work is finished! With a flayed back Eleonore is raised upon theshoulders of the executioner. She has not screamed, she has not moaned,she has remained dumb and without complaint, but she has prayed to Godfor vengeance and expiation for the shame inflicted upon her.

  And again advances the executioner, with a pair of pincers in his hand.Eleonore looks at him through eyes flaming with anger.

  "What would you?" she coldly asks.

  "Tear out your tongue!" answers he, with a rude laugh. Two of theexecutioner's assistants then seizing her, grasp her head.

  This time Eleonore defends herself--despair lends her strength. Freeingherself from the grasp of these barbarous executioners, she falls uponher knees, and, raising her bloody arms toward heaven, implores themercy of God: glancing at the spectators, she implores their pity andtheir aid; turning her eyes toward the proud imperial palace, whereElizabeth sits enthroned, she begs there for grace and mercy.

  But as all remained silent, and as neither God nor man, nor yet theempress, had mercy upon her, a wild rage took possession of Eleonore'ssoul.

  Raising her eyes toward heaven with flaming glances, she exclaimed:

  "Woe to this merciless Elizabeth! Woe to this woman who has nocompassion for another woman! What she now does to me, do Thou also toher, my God and Lord! Grant that she be flayed as she has now flayedme! Grant her a daughter, and let that daughter before her mother's eyessuffer what I now suffer, O my God! Woe to Elizabeth, and woe to you,ye cowardly slaves, who can look on and see a woman flayed and tortured!Sh
ame and perdition to Russia and its Empress Elizabeth!"

  These were Eleonore's last words. With a wild rage her executionersseized her for the purpose of tearing out her tongue. And when that wasaccomplished, and her husband and son had suffered a similar martyrdom,all three were placed upon a _kibitka_, to be conveyed to Siberia.

  Eleonore could no longer speak with her tongue, but her eyes spoke,and those eyes continued to repeat the prayer for vengeance she hadaddressed to Heaven: "Grant to this Empress Elizabeth a daughter, andlet that daughter's sufferings be like mine."