Peter stared at the singer, as if fascinated by her flat, brown face.
Katherina was not thinking of the song nor of him; it was very hot and she was almost asleep in her comfortable chair.
They wrapped him in a silken swaith and in a golden shawl,
And laid him ’mid the tulips, him the fairest of them all.
I saw him as a chieftain, magnificent and tall,
Riding red from combat or playing of the ball.
They wrapped him in a silken swaith and in a golden shawl.
And I am left so lonely, all in the twilight clear,
A-holding of my bosom where lay my tender dear,
A-watching of the tent door when the first stars appear,
Crying for my baby in the great desert near.
And I am left so lonely, all in the twilight clear.
Katherina glanced rather uneasily at the Czar; she had hoped that now he had achieved this great victory he would be less moody and melancholy.
Even her placid good-humor did not always find Peter easy to manage; sometimes her ease-loving temperament was inclined to regret the days of her comfortable prosperity with Prince Mentchikoff.
“The King of Sweden has not been captured?” she asked gently.
“Nay, he crossed the Bug and is safe in Turkey, flattered by the Sultan.”
“Well, he will trouble you no more,” said Katherina pleasantly.
The little Tartar maid rose and crept away, with a furtive look at the terrible Czar.