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L. Mühlbach
The Daughter of an Empress
Published by Good Press, 2019
EAN 4057664599087
Table of Contents
THE FESTIVAL OF CARDINAL BERNIS
COUNTESS NATALIE DOLGORUCKI
“No, Natalie, weep no more! Quick, dry your tears. Let not my executioner see that we can feel pain or weep for sorrow!”
Drying her tears, she attempted a smile, but it was an unnatural, painful smile.
“Ivan,” said she, “we will forget, forget all, excepting that we love each other, and thus only can I become cheerful. And tell me, Ivan, have I not always been in good spirits? Have not these long eight years in Siberia passed away like a pleasant summer day? Have not our hearts remained warm, and has not our love continued undisturbed by the inclement Siberian cold? You may, therefore, well see that I have the courage to bear all that can be borne. But you, my beloved, you my husband, to see you die, without being able to save you, without being permitted to die with you, is a cruel and unnatural sacrifice! Ivan,