The little Natalie was raised in a solitary country-house not far from
the city, and her few servants and people were forbidden under pain
of death to admit any stranger into this constantly-closed and
always-watched house. No one was to enter it without a written order of
the empress, and but few such written orders were given.
Elizabeth, then, as it were to recompense herself for the trouble of
signing the letter to the King of France, resolved to visit her daughter
to-day with her husband.
"Rasczinsky may precede and announce us," said she. "We will take our
dinner there, and he may say to our major-domo that we are going to
Peterhoff. Then no one will be surprised that we make a short halt at my
little villa in passing, or, rather, they will know nothing of it. Call
Rasczinsky!"
Count Rasczinsky was one of the few who were acquainted with the secret,
and might accompany the empress in these visits. Elizabeth had unlimited
confidence in him; she knew him to be a silent nobleman, and she
estimated him the more highly from the fact that he seemed much attached
to the charming, beautiful, and delicate child, her daughter. She
remarked that he appeared to love her as a brother, that he constantly
and fondly watched over her, and that he was never better pleased than
when, as a child, he could jest and play with her.
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