,
remember this hour, in which I warned you, and confess that I am free
from all blame!"

Without awaiting an answer, with a drooping head and deep sigh, the
prince left the room.

Anna looked after him with a compassionate smile.

"Poor prince!" she murmured low, "he is always so timid and trembling;
that indicates unhappiness! He loves me, and I cannot force my heart
to return the feeling. Poor prince, it must be very sad to love and be
unloved!"

With a sigh she closed the door through which her husband had passed.

"I will now sleep," said she. "Yes, sleep! Possibly Heaven may send me a
pleasant dream, and I may see my Lynar! But no, I must first go to Ivan,
to ascertain whether his slumber is tranquil."

With hasty steps she repaired to the adjacent chamber, which was that of
the young emperor.

There all was still. Before the door opening upon the corridor she heard
the regular step of the soldier on guard. The waiters upon the emperor
were slumbering upon mattresses around him. It was a picture of profound
tranquillity.

With light steps Anna approached the cradle of her son, and, bending
down over him, regarded him with tender maternal glances, while his
still and peaceful slumber seemed to touch her heart with a sweet
emotion.

"Sleep, my dear child, my charming little emperor," she
murmured--"sleep, and in your dreams may you play with angels as
beautiful as yourself!"

Bending again over the cradle, she breathed a light kiss upon the rosy
lips of her child, and then noiselessly returned to her own chamber.

"And now," said she, drawing a long breath, "now will I, also, sleep and
dream! Good-night, my beloved; good-night, Lynar!"

With a happy smile she reclined upon her couch, and soon slumbered.

At this moment the clock in the next chamber struck the twelfth hour.
Slowly and solemnly resounded the tones of the striking clocks that
announced the midnight.

At this same hour a lively movement commenced in the palace of the
Princess Elizabeth. Lights were seen glancing from window to window,
hurrying shadows were seen coming and going in the rooms, every thing
there announced an activity unusual for the hour, and certainly it was a
signal good fortune for Elizabeth that Anna had forbidden her husband's
sending a patrol through the streets. One single patrol passing the
palace might have frustrated the whole conspiracy!

But the streets were perfectly quiet; nowhere was a sentinel or watchma