Page 99 - Revelation

Svetlana de Rohan-Levashova. Revelation

To tell the truth I still saw no "unhappiness" whatsoever and looked at her sad
face with surprise, but for some reason the little girl persistently refused to explain
anything...

The picture sharply changed.
A luxurious and very large green carriage rushed at full speed along the dark
night road with Axel as a coachman. He managed this enormous vehicle with
admirable mastership and from time to time looked around with obvious anxiety.
There was an impression that he was in a mad hurry to get to some place or was
escaping from somebody...

We recognized the King and Queen inside the carriage and a pretty girl of
probably eight years old and two ladies who we did not know. Everybody looked
sullen and disturbed, and even the little girl was very quiet, as if she felt the general
mood of the adults. To my surprise, the King wore very modest clothes – a simple
grey frock-coat and a round hat of the same colour; the Queen hid her face behind a
veil and it was obvious that she was afraid of something. It all looked very like an
escape.
I glanced at Stella, hoping for explanations, but no explanation followed – the
girl watched what was happening with utter concentration and a deep sorrow,
inappropriate for a child, was hidden in her enormous doll’s eyes.
– Why? Why did not they listen to him, for heaven’s sake?! It was so simple! –
Unexpectedly she exclaimed in indignant despair.

The carriage rushed at a mad speed. The passengers looked tired and somewhat
lost... Finally they drove to a large yard obscured by black shade from the stone
building in the middle and the carriage sharply stopped. The place looked like an inn
or a large farm.
Axel jumped down to the ground, approached the window and was going to say
something, as suddenly an authoritative masculine voice was heard from the carriage:

– It is time to say goodbye, Count. It is unworthy of me to expose you to danger
further on.
Certainly, Axel did not dare to object to the King and could only briefly touch
the Queen’s hand at parting... The carriage darted away into the night... and quickly
disappeared in the darkness. He stood alone in the middle of the dark road, wishing
with all his heart to throw himself after them... Axel felt with his whole being that he
had no right to leave everything to the mercy of fate! He simply knew that something
would certainly go wrong without him and everything that he had been carefully
preparing and organizing for such a long time would fail because of a ridiculous
contingency...
It had been quite a long time since the carriage disappeared from his sight but
poor Axel still stood motionless, peering into the darkness which swallowed them;
his fists squeezed in despair. Scanty angry tears rolled down his deathly pale face…

– It’s all over... I know, this is the end... – He whispered.
– What happened to them? Why do they escape? – I asked, understanding
nothing of what was going on.

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