“How he succeeded in doing so, I know not, but the firm, determined will of man often conquers supposed impossibilities!  Enough—­in a mysterious, enigmatical manner was this letter put into the hands of our ambassador at St. Petersburg, with the most urgent prayer that he would immediately send it to me by a special courier, with all the necessary particulars.”

“And was that done?” asked Natalie.

“It was done!  I know why your life is threatened!  Princess Tartaroff, you are the daughter of the Empress Elizabeth; and therefore it is that this Empress Catharine, upon her usurped throne, trembles with fear of you—­therefore was it that she said to her favorite:  ’Go, and deliver me from this troublesome pretender.  But do it in a sly, cautious, and noiseless manner.  Avoid attracting attention, murder her not, threaten her not; I wish not to give people new reasons for calling me a bloodthirsty woman.  Entice her with flatteries into our net, induce her to follow you voluntarily, that the people of no country in which she may be may have an occasion to accuse us of using force.’  Thus did Catharine speak to her favorite; he understood her and swore to execute her commands, as he did when Catharine ordered him to throttle her husband, the Emperor Peter; as he also did when she ordered him to shoot poor Ivan, the son of Anna Leopoldowna, for the criminal reason that he had a greater right to the imperial crown of Russia than this little German princess of Zerbst!”

“And he shot that poor innocent Ivan!” shudderingly asked Natalie.  “Ah, this Catharine is bloodthirsty as a hyena, and her friends and favorites are hangmen’s servants—­ah, history will brand this murderer of Ivan!”

“It will,” solemnly responded Cardinal Bernis, “and people will shudder when they hear the name of the man who strangled the Emperor Peter, who shot Ivan, and who, at the command of Catharine, has come to Italy to ensnare the noble and innocent Princess Tartaroff with cunning and flatteries and convey her to St. Petersburg.  Shall I tell you this man’s name?  He is called Alexis Orloff!”

The young maiden sprang up from her seat, her eyes flashed, and her cheeks glowed.

“That is false,” said she—­“a shameful, malicious falsehood!”

“Would to God it were so!” cried the cardinal.  “But it is too true, princess!  Oh, listen to me, and close not your ears to the truth.  Remember that I am an old man, who has long observed men, and long studied life.  I know this Russian diplomacy, and this Russian craft; they have in them something devilish; and these Russian diplomatists, they poison and confound the shrewdest with their deceitful smiles and infernal cunning.  Guard yourself, princess, against this Russian diplomacy, and, above all things, be on your guard against this ambassador of the Russian empress, Alexis Orloff!”