Part 5 (2/2)
”I think,” said he, ”your majesty was not older than Amelia when you married my father; and if the crown prince of Sweden wishes to marry Amelia, I see no reason why we should refuse him. Happily, we are not Jews, and our laws do not forbid the younger sister to marry first. To refuse the prince the hand of Amelia, or to offer him the hand of Ulrica, would indicate that we feared the latter might remain unsought. I think my lovely and talented sister does not deserve to be placed in such a mortifying position, and that her hand will be eagerly sought by other royal wooers.”
”And, for myself, I am not at all anxious to marry,” said Ulrica, throwing her head back proudly, and casting a half-contemptuous, half-pitiful look at Amelia. ”I have no wish to marry. Truly, I have not seen many happy examples of wedded life in our family. All my sisters are unhappy, and I see no reason why I should tread the same th.o.r.n.y path.”
The king smiled. ”I see the little Ulrica shares my aversion to wedded life, but we cannot expect, dearest, that all the world should be equally wise. We will, therefore, allow our foolish sister Amelia to wed, and run away from us. This marriage will cost her anxiety and sorrow; she must not only place her little feet in the land of reindeers, bears, and eternal snows, but she must also be baptized and adopt a new religion. Let us thank G.o.d, then, that the prince has had the caprice to pa.s.s you by and choose Amelia, who, I can see, is resolved to be married. We will, therefore, leave the foolish child to her fate.”
It was Frederick's intention, by these light jests, to comfort his sister Ulrica, and give her time to collect herself. He did not remark that his words had a most painful effect upon his younger sister, and that she became deadly pale as he said she must change her faith in order to become princess royal of Sweden.
The proud queen-mother had also received this announcement angrily.
”I think, sire,” said she, ”that the daughter of William the Second, and the sister of the King of Prussia, might be allowed to remain true to the faith of her fathers.”
”Madame,” said the king, bowing reverentially, ”the question is not, I am sorry to say, as to Amelia's father or brother; she will be the mother of sons, who, according to the law of the land, must be brought up in the religion of their father. You see, then, that if this marriage takes place, one of the two contracting parties must yield; and, it appears to me, that is the calling and the duty of the woman.”
”Oh, yes,” said the queen bitterly, ”you have been educated in too good a school, and are too thoroughly a Hohenzollern, not to believe in the complete self-renunciation of women. At this court, women have only to obey.”
”Nevertheless, the women do rule over us; and even when we appear to command, we are submissive and obedient,” said the king, as he kissed his mother's hand and withdrew.
The three ladies also retired to their own rooms immediately. Each one was too much occupied with her own thoughts to bear the presence of another.
And now, being alone, the Princess Ulrica found it no longer necessary to retain the smiles which she had so long and with such mighty effort forced to play upon her lips; every pulse was beating with glowing rage, and she gave free course to her scorn.
Her younger sister, this little maiden of eighteen years, was to be married, to wed a future king; while she, the eldest, now two-and- twenty, remained unchosen! And it was not her own disinclination nor the will of the king which led to this shameful result; no! the Swedish amba.s.sador came not to seek her hand, but that of her sister! She, the elder, was scorned--set aside. The king might truthfully say there was no law of the land which forbade the marriage of the younger sister before the elder; but there was a law of custom and of propriety, and this law was trampled upon.
As Ulrica thought over these things, she rose from her seat with one wild spring. On entering the room she had completely overcome, and, with trembling knees, she had fallen upon the divan. She stood now, however, like a tigress prepared for attack, and looking for the enemy she was resolved to slay. The raging, stormy blood of the Hohenzollerns was aroused. The energy and pride of her mother glowed with feverish pulses in her bosom. She would have been happy to find an enemy opposed to her, the waves of pa.s.sion rus.h.i.+ng through her veins might have been a.s.suaged; but she was alone, entirely alone, and had no other enemy to overcome than herself. She must, then, declare war against her own evil heart. With wild steps she rushed to the gla.s.s, and scrutinizingly and fiercely examined her own image. Her eye was cold, searching, and stern. Yes, she would prove herself; she would know if it were any thing in her own outward appearance which led the Swedish amba.s.sador to choose her sister rather than herself.
”It is true, Amelia is more beautiful, in the common acceptation of the word; her eyes are larger, her cheek rosier, her smile more fresh and youthful, and her small but graceful figure is at the same time childlike and voluptuous. She would make an enchanting shepherdess, but is not fitted to be a queen. She has no majesty, no presence. She has not by nature that imposing gravity, which is the gift of Providence, and cannot be acquired, and without which the queen is sometimes forgotten in the woman. Amelia can never attain that eternal calm, that exalted composure, which checks all approach to familiarity, and which, by an almost imperceptible pressure of the hand and a light smile, bestows more happiness and a more liberal reward than the most impa.s.sioned tenderness and the warmest caresses of a commonplace woman. No, Amelia could never make a complete queen, she can only be a beautiful woman; while I--I know that I am less lovely, but I feel that I am born to rule. I have the grace and figure of a queen--yes, I have the soul of a queen! I would understand how to be imposing, and, at the same time, to obtain the love of my people, not from any weak thirst for love, but from a queenly ambition. But I am set aside, and Amelia will be a queen; my fate will be that of my elder sisters, I shall wed a poor margrave, or paltry duke, and may indeed thank G.o.d if I am not an old maiden princess, with a small pension.”
She stamped wildly upon the floor, and paced the room with hasty steps. Suddenly she grew calmer, her brow, which had been overshadowed by dark clouds, cleared, and a faint smile played upon those lips which a moment before had been compressed by pa.s.sion.
”After all,” she said, ”the formal demand for the hand of Amelia has not yet been made; perhaps the amba.s.sador has mistaken my name for that of Amelia, and as he has made no direct proposition, I am convinced he wishes to make some observations before deciding. Now, if the result of this examination should prove to him that Amelia is not fitted to be the wife of his prince, and if Amelia herself--I thought I saw that she turned pale as the king spoke of abandoning her faith; and when she left the room, despair and misery were written upon that face which should have glowed with pride and triumph. Ah, I see land!” said Ulrica, breathing freely and sinking comfortably upon the divan, ”I am no longer hopelessly s.h.i.+pwrecked; I have found a plank, which may perhaps save me. Let me consider calmly,”--and, as if Fate itself were playing into her hand, the door opened and Amelia entered.
One glance was sufficient to show Ulrica that she was not deceived, and that this important event had brought no joy to poor Amelia. The lovely eyes of the princess were red with weeping; and the soft lips, so generally and gladly given to gay chat and merry laughter, were now expressive of silent anguish. Ulrica saw all this, and laid her plans accordingly. In place of receiving Amelia coldly and repulsively, which but a few moments before she would have done, she sprang to meet her with every sign of heart-felt love; the little maiden threw herself weeping convulsively into her sister's arms, and was pressed closely and tenderly to her bosom.
”Tears!” said Ulrica lovingly, as she drew her sister to the sofa and pressed her down upon the soft pillows; ”you weep, and yet a splendid future is this day secured to you!”
Amelia sobbed yet more loudly and pressed her tear-stained face more closely to the bosom of her sister. Ulrica looked down with a mixture of curiosity and triumph; she could not understand these tears; but she had a secret satisfaction in seeing the person she most envied weeping so bitterly.
”How is this? are you not happy to be a queen?”
Amelia raised her face hastily and sobbed out: ”No! I am not pleased to be an apostate, to perjure myself! I am not content to deny my faith in order to buy a miserable earthly crown! I have sworn to be true to my G.o.d and my faith, and now I am commanded to lay it aside like a perishable robe, and take another in exchange.”
”Ah, is it that?” said Ulrica, with a tone of contempt she could scarcely control; ”you fear this bold step by which your poor innocent soul may be compromised.”
”I will remain true to the belief in which I have been educated, and to which I have dedicated myself at the altar!” cried Amelia, bursting again into tears.
”It is easy to see that but a short time only has elapsed since you took these vows upon you. You have all the fanaticism of a new convert. How would our blessed father rejoice if he could see you now!”
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