CHAPTER XXX.A SOLEMN BETROTHAL.
WhenI came to myself again, I was lying on a couch, and the first eyes that I met were the tearful ones of Zénaïde, for she was standing beside me. For the moment, my mind was too confused to recall anything that had happened, and I looked wonderingly from her face to Pierrot, who stood at the foot of my couch, his head tied up so that one eye was obscured. Then, as through a mist, I saw Mademoiselle Eudoxie holding a bandage, while a strange man finished binding my arm.
“Where am I?” I murmured faintly, and at the moment, mademoiselle standing back, I saw the short, ill-proportioned figure and large head of the great czarevna. Then my mind cleared, and I glanced about me, and beheld the deathlike face of Ramodanofsky. He was stretched upon another couch, and even in my first bewilderment,I knew that he was dying. Zénaïde was standing between us, her sweet face full of pain. Prince Galitsyn sat on the other side of the boyar, holding his hand and listening to him. The full recollection of the horrible scene swept over me, and I looked up into Zénaïde’s blue eyes.
“How were you saved?” I asked.
The czarevna answered me. “Tidings came to us, M. le Vicomte,” she said, “and Prince Galitsyn arrived here in time to beat back the rabble and save Zénaïde Feodorovna and the other women. It was a band of Streltsi infuriated because Ramodanofsky had deceived them into believing him to be one of themselves; they fancied that he had been playing the part of a spy.”
“And your Highness came also?” I said, wondering.
“I came to protect you, M. le Vicomte, as the envoy of the King of France,” she replied.
At the sound of my voice, Ramodanofsky turned his eyes in our direction, and I heard him ask the physician if I would recover, receiving an affirmative answer.
Sophia turned to him now, with an unusual kindness in her manner.
“You must recover also, Feodor Sergheievitch,”she said cheerfully; “we cannot afford to lose a newly-found subject.”
The boyar looked at her sadly, and evidently made a strong effort to speak.
“It is too late, your highness,” he said; “my life was not worth much at best, for it has been spent in prison and in exile until my strength was broken and my hopes were dashed forever. I had but the fragment to offer you, and that has been sacrificed.”
Sophia’s face changed. She showed, in that moment, more feeling than I had believed that she possessed.
“It is my regret, Feodor Sergheievitch,” she said kindly, “that you should have suffered this injustice; it was my intention to make some reparation.”
He looked at her intently, and those stern eyes of his glowed in his white face.
“Sophia Alexeievna,” he said solemnly, “you are called to a high trust, and I charge you, never send a man to exile or to prison without being absolutely convinced of his guilt. It is a cruel thing—a cruel thing. I look back upon my blasted life and see no light.”
He spoke with passionate feeling, and Galitsyn, bending over, touched his hand with mute sympathy. Zénaïde was kneeling beside thecouch, her face hidden in his robe. The dying man looked down upon her golden head, and an expression of pain crossed his features; then looking up, his eyes met mine.
“M. le Vicomte,” he said, his voice very weak now, “I remember your suit, and with the czarevna’s permission I will intrust my daughter to your keeping.”
I saw Sophia start, and Galitsyn looked up quickly. I was stretched there helpless, unable to rise, but I looked back at the boyar.
“I will prove worthy of your trust, so help me Heaven!” I said firmly.
Ramodanofsky read Sophia’s thoughts.
“Gracious lady,” he said, making a strong effort to speak, “I know that Zénaïde, as the heiress of my estates, should be your ward, her hand at your disposal; but it is my desire that she shall wed Philippe de Brousson, one of her mother’s countrymen. He has signified his willingness to accept her hand without any dower but my wife’s estate in France. In her name, I surrender to the czar the lands and estates in Russia, asking only your permission that she shall marry as I desire.”
It had cost him dear to speak, and he fell back with a gasp. Sophia was not without sympathy, and she was also keen enough to seethe advantage of the sudden accession of wealth in the impoverished treasury. She laid her hand kindly on Zénaïde’s bowed head.
“Rest in peace, Feodor Sergheievitch,” she said; “I will grant your request. The Vicomte is my friend, and Zénaïde shall be his wife.”
“I thank you,” the dying man said faintly, and his head fell back.
The physician bent over him and administered a restorative, and he opened his eyes again; but this time they sought only his daughter, who was clinging to his arm and weeping.
“Farewell, Zénaïde,” he said, in a voice of strange tenderness, “found so late and lost so soon! Weep not for me, my child; life has had little sweetness, and perhaps it is best so.”
Mademoiselle Eudoxie was kneeling at the foot of his couch and praying, and he looked at her and smiled.
“The end is near,” he murmured faintly, looking calmly at us in farewell; “the end—of a—broken life— My soul—”
He spoke no more, and a moment later, Prince Galitsyn leaned over him and made the sign of the cross on his white forehead.The stern spirit had passed quietly into eternity.
My injuries kept me a prisoner in my room during the weeks that followed. I was faithfully nursed by Mademoiselle Eudoxie and Pierrot. Zénaïde was under Sophia’s protection in the Kremlin. I saw nothing of the scenes of those exciting days,—the pacification of the Streltsi, the coronation of Peter and Ivan, and the declaration of the regency of Sophia Alexeievna. The new government was installed, and the city was comparatively quiet again, when I was well enough to return to France. I was anxious to claim the fulfillment of the regent’s promise before she had time to regret it, and pressed my affairs to an early settlement. One summer morning, a small party assembled in the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel to witness my marriage to Zénaïde Feodorovna, the czarevna and Prince Galitsyn representing the bride’s guardians. And I took my fair young wife back to her mother’s country, followed by faithful Mademoiselle Eudoxie, and by Pierrot, whose face was no longer stolid, but radiant with joy at the thought of returning to his own beloved land, where we all found happiness and repose.The flowers in the old garden of the Tour de Brousson bloomed with a new beauty to welcome the young mistress, who rejoiced in the tranquillity of the château with its terraces and its roses glorified by the sunshine of France.
Footnotes
[1]The czar’s son and heir. So also, Alexeivitch is the son of Alexis.
[2]An aristocratic order, next to the ruling princes. They held the highest military and civil offices. The title “boyar” was bestowed by the czar, and was not hereditary.
[3]Sophia, daughter of the Czar Alexis. All the daughters of the emperor except Sophia received only a rudimentary education, according to the old Russian custom; but for some reason she was allowed to share the studies of her brother Feodor. It is possible that the czar feared the failure of heirs male, and selected Sophia, as the most able of his daughters, to be trained for a not improbable elevation. The Empress Natalia had been educated in the house of the Chancellor Matveief, who was married to a Scotch lady; she was thus unaccustomed to the old Russian rules of seclusion and ignorance; and the introduction of her western ideas and customs into the imperial palace gave great offense to Sophia. Very soon this kindled a feud between the Naryshkins and the Miloslavskys, which grew more bitter when Alexis showered favors on his young wife and her brothers. Sophia began intriguing with the Streltsi, or National Guards, and ultimately gained them over, all but one regiment. These troops virtually composed the army of Russia, for the empire was then without military organization.
[4]A manual of household economy of the time of Ivan the Terrible.
[5]Public flogging or torture.
Transcriber’s NotesMinor changes have been made to punctuation, and to regularize spelling and hyphenation.
Transcriber’s Notes
Transcriber’s Notes
Minor changes have been made to punctuation, and to regularize spelling and hyphenation.