Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1885-11-12
THE EMPEROR'S PARDON.


"You will not give up these people.
then, Ivan dearest-yOu will not give
them up; them and their wild, reckless
sschemes-nOt even for your Mari
anne's sake not even for mep''
With beating heart / waited for
slow To give. He stood frowning and
looking AT the ground. and seemed
irresolute. But when he did speak,
1t was with sufficient firmness that he
made answer:
mo, Marianne. no! Never, even
for your dear sake, can L separate my
hopes and my efforts from those of
the comrades. who, at all costs to
themselves. are striving to liberate
Russia from thraldom such as your
happier, luckier land never knew. l
am pledged. for veal or woe. to cast
in my lot with my brethren"
81 have had my answer-it is
enoughP' l SAID, .sobbing, and without
another word l left hun.
A very brief space will suffice to
explain our mutual position. /, Ma
rhine Esmonde-an orphan. whose
parent had died in India, and who
had no near relatives surviving except
my young brother, Paul, who lived
with me in the big house, standing in
its own grounds, as in my grand
mothers time, amid tall trees and
lawns and flowers-was rich, and, /
believe. admired. Old Lady Leslie,
our grandmother, had left me all her
wealth, and there were those who
wondered that Marianne Esmonde
was yet unmarried. was hethrothed,
however. Several months since had
plighted my promise to young Rus
sian noble, whom had first met in
Rome, and later in London. and Ii was
with sorrow and dismay that learned
partly through the talk of others, but
chiefly from his own lips, that Count
Ivan Carlovitch, whose father had
been favorite courtier of the late
Car, Was leagued with the dangerous
faction of nihilists, and had embraced
their frantic doctrines with the fervor
of convert. In vain had reasoned,
pleaded, and implored. My influence
was not strong enough, sincere as was
Ivan's love for me, to counterfeit the
effect of evil counsels, and every day
it seemed as if the conspirators with
whom he was now leagued were draw
ing him more hopelessly into the net
of their gigantic plot. L must give
him up; felt that the voice OF MY
conscience must be obeyed, but he was
so dear to me, with his winning ways
and his bright sweet nature, that his
loss meant misery TO myself.
1 can remember we'll how l stood
alone in my own room. when my last
appeal had failed, holding between
my fingers the heavy medallion set
with brilliants, which enclosed Ivan's
portrait, and which was fastened to
my neck by n golden chain of Venetian
workmanship. / could scarcely bear
to divest myself of this--his gift, and
yet, how could /, loyal English girl,
whose ancestors had fought and bled
at MarstOn and Worcester, marry one
who consorted with men whose hourly
study was best how TO compass the
cold blooded murder of their sover-
eignr Bad rs the system of Russian
rule might be, had sense enough to
see that it would never be rcmedied
by such means as dynamite and dag
gers. And yet l hesitated as to
whether inclination should not prevail
oyor duty, and ]. as the wife of des-
pcratc man, link my fortunes with those
of Iyan-be they what they might.
Duty triumphed. tore the gold chain
from my neck, and flung the medal
lion, with Ivan's likeness, among the
blazing Goals of the fire that was burn
ing in the CRATE, and then throwing
myself on my bed. sobbed passionate
ly for hours, as it seemed to me, until
my weeping ended in worn out silence
and sadness.
l refused to see Ivan again, and
wrote but few cold lines in reply to
his. letters. Even when Paul. my
brother, came on his behalf to urge
me to grant to him an interview, l
would not yield, and seemed, / have
no doubt, hard and stern. The fact
was that dared not trust myself and
nv good resolutions again in the pres
ence of my discarded lover, lest the
tables should be turned again. Then
Ivan. after some wretChed weeks OF
waiting, left England for his native
country, and a month or two later
learned il at q reception at the Aus
trian Embassy, where, of course, for
eign Diplomatic guests were numerous
Count Ivan Carlovitch had been
arrested in Moscow, tried by court
marital. and sentenced as a Nihilist
eonspirator 10 Siberia for life. And
then IL was for tho first time L seemed
to realize how loved him my poor,
misguided boy-and to determine 70
make such efforts as woman never
made before, to save him yet. MY
plans we're soon shaped. / WIS my
own mistress, had wealth at my com
mand, and Paul, the best OF brothers,
would have gone to the ends OF tue
earth 10 serve me.
Within a fortnight from the time
when the fatal tidings reached me-
Paul and I found ourselves In 81
Petersburg.
That fortnight had not been wasted
had obtained excellent letters OF In
PRODUCTION to Russians whose high pc
sition might enable them to aid me