Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

CHANGE IN FELLOW-TRAVELLEKS.12ü

lage, in which, after the unfortunate wight has escaped from the first troop, he may yet fall into the hands of a second and a third.

The chief turnkey of the empire proceeded slowly to examine the vessel. At length this perfumed Cerberus, for he scented of musk at the distance of a league, released us from the ceremonies attending an entree into Russia, and we were soon under weigh, to the great joy of the princes and princesses, who were going to rejoin their families. Their pleasure belied the observation of my host in Lübeck ; as for me, I could not partake in it: on the contrary, I regretted quitting their delightful society to go and lose myself in a city whose vicinity was so uninviting. But the charm of that society was already broken : as we drew towards the end of our journey the ties which had united us became severed—fragile ties, formed only by the passing requirements of the voyage.

The women of the North know wonderfully well how to make us believe that they would have desired to meet with that which destiny has brought in their way. This is not falsehood, it is refined coquetry, a species of complaisance towards fate, and a supreme grace. Grace is always natural, though that does not prevent its being often used to hide a lie. The rude shocks and uncomfortably constraining influences of life disappear among graceful women and poetical men ; they are the most deceptive beings in creation; distrust and doubt cannot stand before them; they create what they imagine ; if they do not lie to others, they do to their own hearts ; for illusion is their element, fiction their vocation, and G 3