An Imperial Lover by Mary Imlay Taylor

I RODE toward the Kremlin with a heavy heart; the perplexity and perils of my position were increased a hundredfold. My distance from my own government and my comparative isolation in Moscow made a demand for justice not only difficult but practically futile. The czar had no right to imprison arbitrarily one of my suite, but how absurd was it to talk of privileges to the autocrat of all the Russias! It was well enough to carry matters with a high hand and threaten the wrath of the King of France while M. de Lambert was a free man, but the _coup d'état_ was accomplished; he was actually in a Russian prison, and might easily starve there before aid could come from Versailles. What folly had led him into the trap? What madness on his part had prompted this sudden seizure? Not only did I find these questions difficult to answer, but I found it difficult, too, to hit upon a plan of action. Never was man in more unfortunate position, -- responsible for a delicate mission to the king my master; responsible for a reckless young soldier; responsible for the honor and dignity of my country, and dealing with a man of violent passions, for the czar was a volcano ready to breathe smoke and fire at a moment's provocation. And how could I approach him now? Should I assume ignorance, and appeal to him to aid me in my search for M. de Lambert, or should I boldly proclaim my knowledge of the imprisonment and demand justice in the name of the King of France? I checked my horse and rode slowly to give myself time for thought.

On the whole, I reflected that feigned ignorance would suit my purpose best, since defiance could scarcely help me and might deeply incense the czar. There was one chance in a hundred for the young man's release, and that was a slender one. I fancied that he would be offered an alternative; renunciation of mademoiselle or imprisonment, perhaps worse, if Peter dared to offer a deeper injury to a soldier of France. Knowing the czar as I did, I doubted his hesitation at anything, especially where his personal feelings were involved, and I no longer doubted his love for Najine. How tangled is the skein of our existence! Here was a young girl, simple, beautiful, innocent, holding in her hand the knot of an emperor's destiny, and by that accident of fate, involving so many other lives in the meshes. Here were love and hate, malice and revenge, secret treason and attempted assassination interwoven by the accident of one man's fancy, simply because that he was royal.