by L. Mühlbach
CHAPTER LV.
THE ARCHDUCHESS MARIA LOUISA.
The imperial princes and princesses had just dined together, as had beentheir custom since the reign of the Emperor Joseph, and were still inthe large dining-hall, which was also the play-room of the imperialchildren. The Emperor Francis, who had recently married his fourth wife,had children by his second marriage only, but numerous enough to securethe continued existence of the dynasty, and, at the same time, furnishbeautiful princesses to other sovereign houses. Of these five daughtersand two sons, Maria Louisa, who was seventeen years old, was the eldest.But though a grown young lady, she liked to be together with her youngerbrothers and sisters, and remained sometimes with them after dinner, inorder to participate in their merry play and conversation. On thisoccasion, instead of returning with the mistress of ceremonies to herroom, she remained with her brothers and sisters in the dining-hall.While the younger princes and princesses were engaged in playing round alarge table, the two oldest, the archduchesses Maria Louisa andLeopoldine, retired into one of the bay-windows to converse withoutbeing disturbed.
It was a charming sight--those two young ladies standing in the niche,surrounded by curtains as in a frame, and whose beauty seemed to havecaught a celestial radiance from the light beaming through the windows.Both were in the morning of their age, but Maria Louisa, the oldersister, was even more attractive than Leopoldine. Thick ringlets oflight-brown hair floated around her forehead. She had large azure eyes,telling of her happiness and the kindly emotions of her soul. Herfinely-cut nose gave an aristocratic expression to her countenance,while her crimson lips, in their voluptuous fulness, contrasted notunfavorably with the remarkable refinement of the rest of her features.An enchanting smile played about her mouth, and spoke of her noblesimplicity and innocence.
She encircled the neck of her younger sister with her arms, and wasgazing at her with a tender expression. "Ah, Leopoldine," she said toher in a sweet voice, "how happy I am that we are at length togetheragain! When I remained here ill and alone, and the enemy was besiegingour capital, I was always thinking of none but you, and yearned to beagain with you. But when the shells struck our palace, I thanked Heaventhat you were not here, and had not to undergo the fear and anguishwhich I was enduring. When this Bonaparte arrived, I was suffering ofthe scarlet fever, but the terror brought on an attack of intermittentfever. I shall never forgive him. But, thank God, these evil times areover! Now we need not be afraid of being expelled again from the palaceof our ancestors by this bad man, and of seeing our dear Schoenbrunndegraded by the presence of his marshals. Now we can live happily anddelightfully in undisturbed tranquillity."
"Yes, we can," said the Archduchess Leopoldine, smiling. "But do you notthink, sister, that our life is indescribably monotonous and tedious atthe present time? Our third mother, the Empress Ludovica, is certainly avery amiable, virtuous, and pious lady, but she really believes us stillto be small children, who ought to remain in the nursery, and it doesnot occur to her that amusements are sometimes necessary for youngprincesses of our age. We have passed the whole winter in an intolerablyquiet and wearisome manner; we are already in the latter part ofFebruary, and have not had a single ball at court. Ah, Louisa, it is,after all, not so very pleasant to be a princess. Other girls of our ageare at liberty to indulge in a little pleasure, to attend balls,concerts, and parties, where they see new faces and interesting persons.We are forbidden all this. We must wait until diversion comes to us, andunfortunately we are not thought of at all! We are never allowed to payvisits or accept invitations. A formal court ball, where we may appearfor a few hours, and dance with the most aristocratic cavaliers, is ouronly amusement, and at present we are deprived of that. We are guardedin our apartments like prisoners."
"Yes, it is true," sighed Maria Louisa, "and we have a very rigorousjailer in the Countess of Colloredo. Do you know, Leopoldine, that Ihave had a violent scene with the mistress of ceremonies to-day?"
"Ah, I am glad of it," exclaimed Leopoldine, laughing. "What was thematter?"
"I wanted to read, and requested the mistress of ceremonies to give menew books. She deferred it until to-day and brought me then one of theworks I had asked for, 'the Maid of Orleans,' by Schiller, but it wasmutilated and disfigured like all books that are given to us. Wholepages had been cut out, and on those remaining were to be found blackspots rendering whole lines and words illegible--a liberty which themistress of ceremonies is in the habit of indulging in, in reference toall the books we read."
"Yes, it is true," sighed the younger archduchess, "we cannot read asingle good book from beginning to end; and we are thus deprived of muchpleasure. What did you do, dear sister?"
"I cast the book aside with horror, and requested her to let me have thelatest newspapers. She brought them to me, but everywhere the same foulmarks; not only all the news from France, but even the local Viennaitems were almost illegible to-day; lines had been cut out, wordserased, and half a column had entirely disappeared. I was almost besidemyself at this treatment. I returned the papers and said, 'Madame, thisis doubtless a mistake. I am sure these papers were intended for thenursery, that the little archduchesses might learn to spell; as formyself, I can both spell and read, and I request you, therefore, to giveme legible books and newspapers.'"
"Oh," exclaimed Leopoldine, merrily clapping her hands, "that wasglorious! You acted like a heroine, my dear sister!"
Maria Louisa smiled and added, "'Madame,' I went on to say, 'I cannotbear any longer this system of surveillance. It is insulting andrepugnant to me to be treated like a child, and considered so weakmindedas to be forbidden books which thousands of girls of my age are allowedto read. Or do you want to make me believe that all books and newspaperscome to Austria in this mutilated condition? Oh, I know full well thatthe people would not submit to such a system of tyranny, and that, incase such efforts should be made to deprive them of their mental food,assuredly a revolution would break out, as in France at the time when myunfortunate aunt, Marie Antoinette, was on the throne.'"
"Did you say so?" asked Leopoldine, in surprise. "But where did you findthe courage and the words?"
"I must avow to you that I had reflected about the matter for threedays, and drawn up, and learned by heart, this little speech in order toaddress it to the mistress of ceremonies at the first opportunity. I amreally tired of being treated so childishly, when I am a woman, and mayexpect soon to be married."
"Ah, married!" sighed Leopoldine. "Who knows to what dreadful princes wemay be married? For, as a matter of course, we shall not be askedwhether we like the match or not, and we shall not be as well off as thedaughters of common citizens, who, as my maid told me, marry only thosewhom they love. We princesses must marry men whom we have never seen,with whom we exchange the first word only after our marriage, and whomperhaps we may not like at all."
"No matter, our marriage makes us free," exclaimed Maria Louisa,impatiently. "We are then at least our own mistresses, and need submitno longer to the restraints imposed on us. The example of our thirdmother, the Empress Ludovica, shows it. She has taken the liberty to payno attention to etiquette, and holds a reception at her rooms everynight from eight to ten o'clock, when she does not admit the ladies andgentlemen of the court, but invited persons, among whom there arefrequently those who do not even belong to the aristocracy."
"She does not invite us to the evening parties," exclaimed Leopoldine,sneeringly. "Maybe we are too aristocratic for her. But you are right,Louisa--as soon as we are married, we shall also have the right tochange rules of etiquette and live as we please."
"Do you know the first thing I am going to do after my marriage?" askedMaria Louisa, quickly. "I shall buy all the books that I have now, andperuse the cut-out and illegible passages. I am sure they are the mostinteresting and beautiful in the books, and I believe they all treat oflove. Ah, Leopoldine, I should like to read for once a work containing avery romantic love-story, and over which one might dream. But, goodHeaven! what makes t
he children shout so merrily? Come, let us see whatthey are doing."
"Come, let us play with them," exclaimed Leopoldine.
The princesses stepped arm in arm from the bay-window and hastened tothe table. The little archduchesses and their brothers, it seemed, wereengaged in a highly-interesting game, which their governesses werewitnessing with smiling attention. They were standing about the largeround table, on which a small army of wax figures in green and blueuniforms had been placed in neatly-arranged rows. At the head of thisarmy stood a somewhat larger figure of the most revolting appearance. Itwas a little fellow with hunched shoulders, a rotund stomach and anunnaturally large head. The face was of a black-and-green color, and hadeyes of a ferocious expression, and a tremendous mouth without lips,showing rows of ugly yellow teeth. This figure was dressed in a greenuniform, with broad white facings, and on his head was a little cockedhat. Opposite this army of wax figures a row of small brass cannon wasplaced, and at their side lay diminutive bows, and arrows furnishedwith pins. The ammunition-wagons were filled with black peas.
The game had just commenced. The imperial children had opened thecampaign against the hostile army of wax-figures. The little ArchdukesFerdinand and Francis Charles stood as gunners at the field-pieces,while the Archduchesses Caroline, Clementine, and Amelia, were armedwith small bows. The gunners fired at the ranks of the soldiers; thearchduchesses aimed at the terrible captain of the little army. Wheneveran arrow hit him, or a cannon-ball struck down one of the soldiers, thechildren burst into loud cheers.
"What game is this?" asked Maria Louisa, contemplating with evidentdelight the blushing cheeks and bright eyes of her young brothers andsisters.
"That is the Bonaparte game," exclaimed little Archduke Francis Charles."Papa emperor presented the game to me when we were at Ofen, and taughtme how to play it. It is a long while since we played it, but to-day wewill try it again. Look, sister Louisa, that horrible fellow in front ofthe soldiers is the villain Bonaparte, who is stealing the states of allthe princes, he is made entirely of brass, and no arrow can injure him,but he has a vulnerable spot on the breast, where the heart is, that ismade of wax. On shooting at him, you always have to aim there; if youhit it, the arrow remains, and you win the game and obtain the reward.Oh, I am well versed in the Bonaparte game; papa emperor was so graciousas to play it often with me at Ofen, when we were fleeing from that man;and his majesty taught me also how to insult Bonaparte. See, sisters!"and he took the little bow from the hands of the Archduchess Marianne,and laid an arrow on the string. "Now, you miserable fellow," he shoutedin an angry voice and with flashing eyes, "now I will kill you withoutmercy! You thief, you stole Venice and Milan from us--you must die!" Hedischarged the arrow, but it glanced off from the figure.
"You missed him! you missed him!" shouted the little group.
"It is my turn now," exclaimed the little archduchess, taking the bowfrom her brother. She put an arrow on it, and, contracting her eyebrowsand making her laughing little face assume an angry and menacing air,shouted, "Now tremble, you bad man! for I will put you to death becauseyou drove us twice from Vienna, and frightened us so badly that youcompelled us to escape, while you were enjoying yourself in our finepalaces. Yes, I will kill you, because you shot our soldiers and tookour cannon. You are a wretch, a miserable thief, and I will now shootyou that you may no longer murder our men and expel our princes, yourobber and assassin!" She discharged her arrow, but with no bettersuccess than the little archduke, and the laughter of her brothers andsisters punished her for her lack of skill.
"Why, this is a very pretty game," exclaimed the Archduchess MariaLouisa, laughing. "Come, Leopoldine, let us try it, and see whether weare able to hit the monster." The princesses sat down laughingly betweenthe little archdukes, and each took one of the bows.
"Pray let me shoot first, dear sister," exclaimed Leopoldine, eagerly."Look, my arrow lies already on the string. Now I will aim at you,miserable Bonaparte, and take revenge for all the sufferings you havebrought upon us. Your last hour has come; fold your hands and pray, ifyou can. But you cannot pray, for you have a conscience burdened withcrimes; you have sinned grievously against God by insulting andimprisoning His representative on earth. The Holy Father hasexcommunicated you for this, and you are accursed, delivered over to thetortures of hell, and every honest Christian turns away from the wretchagainst whom the bolt of excommunication has been hurled. You must diewithout confession and absolution--in the midst of your sins." Shedischarged the arrow, but, like those of her little brother and sister,it glanced from the figure and dropped at its feet.
The little archduchesses and princes, who, on hearing the imprecationsuttered by their sister, had assumed a very grave air, felt as thoughthey had been relieved of an oppressive burden, and burst into loudlaughter.
"It is my turn now!" exclaimed Maria Louisa. She took the bow and fixedher blue eyes with an expression of profound contempt on the repulsivefigure. "You must die--ay, die!" she said, gravely. "Bonaparte, I willdeliver the world from you, for you are as insatiable as the Minotaur,that required every day a human victim for breakfast. You devour men andcountries, and the wails of whole nations are music to your ears. Youmust die, also, because you look so horrible! God has marked you, andgiven you a monstrous body, because your soul is that of a monster. Iwill kill you, therefore, that you may no longer frighten mankind!" Sheput the arrow on the string and shot.
A loud shout resounded. The arrow remained in the figure. Maria Louisahad hit Bonaparte.
"Hurrah, the Archduchess Maria Louisa has killed Bonaparte!" cried thelittle ones. "The monster is dead! The robber lives no more! The wretchand villain!"
"Why, what is going on here? Whom are you abusing so shockingly?" askeda voice behind them, and the children, turning around, saw their father,the Emperor Francis, who had entered unnoticed by them.
"We are abusing the malicious robber, papa emperor," exclaimed theArchduchess Marianne, pointing at the figure.
"Your majesty, dear papa emperor," exclaimed little Francis Charles,eagerly--"only think of it, Maria Louisa has hit the heart of Bonaparte.The monster is dead; he is unable now to steal any thing more from us!"
"Sancta Maria!" cried the emperor, "how can you use such language, myson? How can you utter such disrespectful epithets about the illustriousEmperor Napoleon?"
The boy looked at his father in dismay. "Your majesty," he said,timidly, "you yourself told me Napoleon could not be abused enough, anda genuine Hapsburg ought to execrate the infamous robber. Those wereyour majesty's own words, papa!"
"Oh, I was only joking," exclaimed the emperor, angrily, "and a cleverprince, like you, ought to have noticed it at once. But I am talking inearnest now, and forbid you playing this stupid game any more, oruttering another word against the Emperor Napoleon. He is a veryillustrious, and moreover an excellent man--a very great emperor--whomevery one loves and praises."
"Papa emperor," cried the Archduke Francis Charles, wonderingly, "butyour majesty told me at Ofen that every one was abhorring Bonaparte,and--"
"You are a pert little fool!" replied the emperor, vehemently. "What Isaid then has no sense now. For at that time we were at war, andNapoleon was our enemy. But now we have made peace, and he is ourfriend, and so dear a friend, that I would willingly intrust to him mymost precious treasure; I am sure he would honor and cherish it! Listento my orders, therefore, all of you: do not utter another word againstthe Emperor Napoleon. We all love and admire him, and that stupid gamemust never be played again. It must be laid aside forever."
The children were frightened and downcast; the emperor turned from them,and beckoned to the Archduchess Maria Louisa to follow him. "I came tosee you at your rooms," he said; "the mistress of ceremonies told methat I would find you here. I want to speak to you."
"Your majesty was very gracious to come to me instead of sending forme," said the archduchess, bowing to her father. "Does your majestycommand me to follow you to your cabinet?"
"No, jus
t step with me into this window-niche," said the emperor; "Iwill not detain you long. I wish to show you something." He stepped withthe princess into the last window-niche, and closed the curtain. "Nowlook," he said, "I want to show you a miniature, and you must tell mehow you like it." He opened the locket and presented it to thearchduchess. She gazed at it long and musingly, and a blush suffused hercheeks. "Well! what do you think of this man?"
"Your majesty, he must be a very great and distinguished man," exclaimedthe archduchess. "It is a countenance that makes my heart throb; it ismore than merely fine-looking, it is sublime! How much majesty isenthroned on that brow, and yet the smile seems petulant and childlike;but the eyes are magnificent."
"Look at him carefully," said the emperor, "and do not restrain yourfeelings, but fall in love with him. For let me tell you a secret,Louisa; it is the likeness of your future husband."
A deeper blush crimsoned the face of the archduchess, and half ashamed,half anxious, she fixed her eyes again on the miniature.
"Yes," added the emperor, in a graver tone, "it is the portrait of yourhusband, and you will receive this very day his ambassador, who willapply to you for your hand. He has already received my consent, and I amsure my daughter knows her duty, and will accept obediently the husbandI have destined for her."
"Yes," whispered the archduchess, "I know that to be my duty, and shallhumbly submit to the will and commands of my emperor and father."
"And it is a grand destiny that Providence offers you," said theemperor, gravely. "You are to preserve peace to the world, my daughter;you are to be the bond of reconciliation between those who have hithertohated and waged war with each other."
"Sire," exclaimed the archduchess, anxiously, "your majesty did not tellme whose likeness this is?"
"And whom I have determined to become your husband," added the emperor."I will tell you now, but be courageous and brave, my daughter, andremember that you must obey me unconditionally."
"I shall not forget to do so, your majesty."
"Well, then, did I not, on entering this room, hear the children rejoiceat your having hit the heart of the Emperor Napoleon?"
"I was playing with the children, your majesty, and--"
"And your play is to become earnest now, and you are to take pains toconquer Bonaparte's heart, that he may love and trust you. For, mydaughter, this miniature, which you pronounced so fine-looking, is acorrect likeness of the Emperor Napoleon, who will become your husband."
The Archduchess Maria Louisa uttered a cry, and tottered to the wall.
Her father clasped her in his arms, and placed her gently on theeasy-chair standing in the niche. The cheeks of Maria Louisa had turnedlivid, her eyes were closed, and her arms hung down by her side.
"It is strange how easily women faint!" muttered the emperor. "I foundthat to be the case with all my wives. When they do not know how to doany thing better, they faint. All four of mine did, but they alwaysrevived, and so will Louisa. I like it much better that she should faintthan that she should weep. She knows now what she had to know, and willact accordingly." He opened the curtain, and stepped back into the room."Leopoldine!" he shouted to the archduchess, "step in here to yoursister, Maria Louisa. She has swooned, but it is of no consequence! Tellher to wake up, and conduct her to her room. She will tell you what hashappened to her."
