Lestocq beckoned the soldiers, and commanded them to remove the traitress, Anna Leopoldowna.
Thirty warriors took possession of the regent, who calmly and proudly submitted herself to them and suffered herself to be led away.
In the corridor they encountered another troop of soldiers, who were escorting the regent’s husband, Prince Ulrich of Brunswick, and Anna’s favorite, Julia von Mengden.
“Anna!” sorrowfully exclaimed the prince, “oh, had you but listened to my warning! Why did I not, in spite of your commands, what I ought to have done? I alone am to blame for this sad misfortune.”
“It is no one’s fault but mine,” calmly responded Anna. “Pardon me, my husband, pardon me, Julia.”
And so they descended to the sledges in waiting below. They placed the prince in one, and the regent, with Julia, in the other.
“Ah,” said Julia, throwing her arms around Anna’s neck, “we shall at least suffer together.”
Anna reclined her head upon her friend’s shoulder.
“God is just and good,” said she. “He punishes me for my criminal love, and mercifully spares the object of my affections. I thank God for my sufferings. Julia, should you one day be liberated and allowed to see him again, then bear to him my warmest greetings; then tell him that I shall love him eternally, and that my last sigh shall be a prayer for his happiness. I shall never see him again. Bear to him my blessing, Julia!”
Julia dissolved in tears, and, clinging to her friend, she sobbed: “No, no, they will not dare to kill you.”