An Imperial Lover by Mary Imlay Taylor

I WALKED away from Mentchikof's house with a heavy heart. I knew that Najine's position was dangerous, and that Catherine's folly had turned the scale in Zotof's favor. The favorite would never have uttered his veiled threat against mademoiselle unless he felt that she held the key to the situation, that the czar was prepared to let his inclinations govern him at last, and would take some step towards publicly declaring his choice to be the young girl who had bewitched him. I knew that he had wavered between the two women, the one whom he already loved and the one who loved him; but now that the latter had been betrayed into something that savored so closely of treason, he would naturally turn to the young woman who by birth and education was best fitted to succeed the Czarina Eudoxia. Catherine, the Livonian peasant girl, might be the toy of the hour, but Najine would be the Czarina of Russia. Poor mademoiselle, my heart was touched whenever I remembered the expression of her dark blue eyes when she listened to my eulogium of her lover. How little would her opposition avail her if Peter was determined to wed her! Her family would be solid in the support of her imperial lover, a crown would tempt her, an autocrat compel her; and yet, when I recalled the haughty pose of her head, I wondered if they would find her as pliable as they supposed. Poor M. de Lambert! What evil fate had turned his fancy into the same channel as a king's? My friend was recovered from his wound and was as headstrong as ever; and what would come of it?

I walked slowly to my quarters, revolving many things in my mind, and so absorbed that I scarcely noticed the men whom I passed, although it was an hour before noon, and the streets were full; but I had the habit of preoccupation and could be solitary in a crowd. When I turned into the lane behind my lodgings, however, I became suddenly aware that some one was following me, and looking back saw the Swede, Gustavus Lenk. I halted and signed to him to approach, which he did readily enough, thus refuting a momentary doubt of his integrity.