The Washington times., 1905-02-19
CHAPTER XIII.
The Car Dehed.

OF my aSSOClllIUll WITH uliii. iC lldu
maintained the condition that he had
himself made st the beginning, which
was that we should meet on the basis
of friends and equals Whenever We
were alone together he commanded me
to forget that we were other than two
friends who were enjoying an oppor-
tunity to chat with each other, and as
at such times we invariably conversed
in French. he always insisted that I
should address him by the simple term
monsieur
When the prince was with us, as was
| nearly always the case, the degree of
familiarity was slightly, though hardly
| perceptioly, modified. and l must say
! that l had learned to enjoy such chats
exceedingly.
For Alexander I had begun to feel a
sincere affection. doubt if there was
any other man in Russia who under
stood him as thoroughly as l did. Dur
| ing the many long hours that we had
| passed together he had told me many
| things concerning himself. his ideas, and
| his hopes, which had revealed the real
/ man-that is, the man behind the Gar
to me, and knew that of the thousands
of crimes attributed to him only a few
| had ever come to his knowledge until it
was too late for him 20 interfere. or
| impolitic for him 20 DO SO.
Intellectually. he was not preponder-
ant; indeed, rather deficient. but he was
naturally kindly disposed man, and at
the beginning of his reign, and indeed,
through more than half of it. he proved
that fact to the people. 1t was Just be-
fore the time of my arrival in st. Peters
burg that he allowed himself to fall
/ raore and more into the power of the
mobiles. who in reality ruled the empire,
and who do so still.
Easily Influenced by those in whom he
| trusted, thousands of crimes were COM
mitted in his name of which he had no
idea, and of which he never heard. AT
all events / loved him, and moreover, /
had thorough faith in my own Influence
I over him.
In like proportion to my familiarity at
court, and TO his fondness for my socie-
| ty, | was cordially hated by the nobility;
| but as they feared me quite as much
as they hated me, and as my real stand
! ing there remained mystery. l was
constantly fawned upon to a degree that
| was nauseating.
Even the story that I had SO lately
heard from the lips OF the princess had
not materially lessened the liking | felt
for Alexander, for | could understand
! much better than she could all the in
! fiuence that had been brought to bear
| upon the Emperor not to pardon the
| woman in whose possession had been
found cyanide Of potassium. intended for
his wine [ did not believe that he had
intended that she should go to the
island OF SaghaIien; / did not believe
that he could be held accountable for the
ievils that befell poor Yvonne in the iso-
lated garrisons Of Siberia. He believed
that she intended to poison him, and
he banished her; there his part of the
evil ceased.
The awful things that happened in
those garrisons he did not know about,
could not hear about, for | believe,
| among all his friends, I was the only
one who dared TO tell him the truth
Even the prince He'd to him. for I had
often heard do So
AS to the killing OF StanisIaus. who
could bIamc the Car for that? The
man had endeavored to kill him; had
twice snapped a pistol in his face; had
still held it in his hand when the En-
peror tore it from his grasp and struck
him on the head with it. Who would
not do the same?
I repeat all this as my excuse for
still feeling that affection for him
which our intercourse had taught me-
! The real criminal in the case Of the
| story of Yvonne was Durnief. Hin
| | hated and his name was on one OF
the lists that had been read off to me
before going to the palace that night
There were special orders concerning
him. too-but that will be dealt with
later.
Now. as | entered the cabinet witt
| the prince. [ confess that l had some
doubts concerning my reception. for
had no idea what the prince had saiC
to his majesty, and / knew only too
| well his disposition TO listen to any
thing that had a suspicious side to it
particularly If that suspicion concerned
one of his closest and most intimate
| associates.
i | could at any time, within five min
utes, have poisoned the mind of ths
Gar against the prince: L did not doub
that t1f, could accomplish the same deli
cate attention for me
The prince preceded me, and the Czal
rose S we entered.
He was alone. and I advanced at once
| with extended hand, as he had Otter
} | requested me to do 1t when I discovered
him thus; but he bowed coIdIy, feigninf
not to see it.
/ halted, drew myself up, and return
: ed his bow In the same manner that h.
had given ii. Then 1 waited for hin
to speak.
you are late. sir" he said "Yo,
have kept me waiting"
.'I was not aware that your majesty
expected me- I replied. Otherwise
| should have been here sooner
THE prince expected you. and les
me to do the same
Had the prince done me the honor
| to tell me that he intended to recefv.
, | me in your cabinet, / should have un
. | derstood The princc-perhaps unin
/ tentfonany-deeeived me-"
Prince Michael flushed hotIy but saiC
nothing. The Gar smiled grimly.
what detained you?' he demanded
The business which detains me II
: Russia. your majesty"
"Ah; you are concerned in the worl
| of the Brotherhood
| ''I was"
'1 understood that you We're mucl
more pleasurably employed"
| .-Wbosoeyer gave you TO understan,
, either did not know or lied"