Ah, she was indeed a lofty empress; she had the power to banish
thousands to Siberia, and was yet so powerless that she could not banish
those words from her mind which Eleonore Lapuschkin had planted there.
Eleonore was therefore avenged! And while the countess bore the torments
of her banishment with smiling fortitude, Elizabeth trembled on her
throne at the words of her banished rival--words that seemed to hang,
like the sword of Damocles, over the head of her daughter!
Perhaps it was precisely for the reason that she so much feared for her
daughter, that she loved her so very warmly. It was a passionate, an
adoring tenderness that she felt for the child, and nevertheless she
had the courage to keep her at a distance from herself, to see her but
seldom, that no one might suspect the secret of her birth.
Eleonore's words had brought reflection to Elizabeth. She comprehended
that her legitimate daughter would certainly be threatened with great
dangers after her death; she had shudderingly thought of poor Ivan in
Schlusselburg, and she said to herself: "As I have held him imprisoned
as a pretender, so may it happen to my daughter, one day, when I am
no more! Ivan had but a doubtful right to my throne, but Natalie is
indisputably the grand-daughter of Peter the Great--the blood of the
great Russian czar flows in her veins, and therefore Peter will fear
Natalie as I feared Ivan; therefore will he imprison and torment her as
I have imprisoned and tormented Ivan!"
By this affectionate anxiety was Elizabeth induced to make a secret
of the existence of her daughter, which was imparted to but a few
confidential friends.
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