CHAPTER IX.SOPHIA ALEXEIEVNA.
Whilewe were still conversing, there was a noise in the hall, and I heard a familiar voice. In a moment, the doctor’s man told me that my attendant wished to speak with me. I found Pierrot by the outer door, looking much disturbed and not a little important,—his way when employed on confidential business. I was annoyed at him for following me to Von Gaden’s house.
“What brings you here?” I asked, a trifle sharply.
“A message from the Kremlin, M. le Vicomte,” he said at once, in a low tone. “The messenger is waiting at your apartments now.”
Going through my private papers, I thought immediately, knowing Russian methods.
“Why did you not wait for me to return, you knave?” I said, half angrily; “you know betterthan to leave a stranger at large in my rooms.”
Pierrot held up some keys. “He is locked in the hall, M. le Vicomte,” he said calmly. “I took that precaution.”
“Locked out the imperial messenger!” I exclaimed, aghast. “What trouble will you make next, you blockhead?”
But I could not forbear laughing. The thought of the messenger locked in the narrow hall, while Pierrot gravely departed with the keys, was exquisitely ridiculous.
I made a hasty apology to Von Gaden, and hurried away with my attendant. My curiosity was roused, for I could not imagine what had prompted a summons to the Kremlin at that hour, and from one of the imperial family. A hundred possibilities flashed through my head; but the only one that seemed likely was that some news had arrived from my government which required my immediate attention; and yet the diplomatic relations were not so intimate as to make even that probable. The distance from my house to Von Gaden’s was not great, and I hastened my steps the more because of Pierrot’s peculiar reception of the envoy. I found him sitting stiffly in the hall, evidently angry at the treatment he had received, butwilling to accept my apology on the ground of my man’s stupidity. It was one of the Czarevna Sophia’s gentlemen-in-waiting, and he was the bearer of a verbal message from the princess, requesting my immediate attendance at the palace. I was much surprised, but prepared at once to accompany him; my dress had been a little disordered by the skirmish with the assassin, and I had to make some slight changes before I could present myself at the Kremlin. However, in a quarter of an hour we were on the way, having left Pierrot with an expression of gloomy apprehension on his face; for he had no confidence in the good faith of the Russians, and seemed to live in anticipation of a dreadful fate. The czarevna’s messenger treated me with a deference that argued that he, at least, fancied my errand to be one of importance; but he seemed especially anxious to avoid conversation, and I could not blame him, for I knew that the state of affairs was such as to make any wise man hold his tongue, for it was dangerous to declare adherence to either the Miloslavskys or the Naryshkins at that time. As we approached the Gate of Saint Nicholas of Mojaïsk, my companion left me for a few moments to speak to three men who were leaving it; they conversedin low tones, and with great earnestness. A little observation convinced me that they were Streltsi, and here was another straw to show which way the wind was blowing. In a few moments my guide rejoined me, and there were traces of agitation in his manner. The anterooms of the palace were almost deserted when we entered, and he hurried me towards the apartments of the czarevnas. I was ushered into a vacant guardroom of theTerem, and left to await the pleasure of the princess. In the quarter of an hour that ensued, my meditations were peculiar; I had given up trying to conjecture the cause of the summons, and waited with what patience I could command. I examined the apartment with some curiosity, for it was unusual for a stranger to gain admittance within these precincts, and impossible before the time of the Czarina Natalia; Alexis’ affection for his young bride, who had been brought up by Matveief’s Scotch wife, had allowed her a freedom before unknown in the imperial household, where it had been a criminal offence to meet the czarina unveiled. Two windows of the room looked down upon the Red Place, so that the inmates had ample opportunity to observe the occurrences without; the interior was furnished in the rich Oriental fashion, andwas evidently no longer occupied by the guards, but had probably been added to Sophia’s suite of apartments. I had always felt a good deal of curiosity about this princess, who had so overshadowed her sisters and her blind brother, Ivan. She had shared her brother Feodor’s education, and had taken advantage of all the liberty so lately given to the women of the czar’s family, during Feodor’s illness taking a prominent part in affairs of State, putting aside the last formalities which hedged in the imperial household; therefore, I was not surprised when the door opened at last to see her enter alone.
Sophia Alexeievna at that time was still a young woman, but exceedingly stout, her short figure being crowned by an enormous head, out of all proportion even to the bulky body, and the Russian dress of the day increased her appearance of flesh, falling, as it did, a long full robe from the throat to the feet; that night, it was black, edged with sable, and embroidered with silver. She was an extremely plain woman, but there was an imperial dignity in her bearing which counterbalanced the effect of her proportions, and her small eyes were keen and penetrating, with a glance at once haughty and unflinching. Yet there was a charm about the czarevna’s manner when shewished to please, and her voice could be exceedingly pleasant and winning.
She came forward now to a table in the center of the room, and signed to me to approach, which I did with a profound obeisance. My curiosity was thoroughly roused, and, moreover, I felt a strong desire to secure the friendship of this remarkable woman. She had learned enough French to address me by name without hesitation, but beyond that she spoke in Russian, which was fortunately as familiar to me as my mother tongue.
“M. le Vicomte,” she said pleasantly, “you are doubtless surprised at this arbitrary summons; but we have learned to look upon you as a friend of our late brother, the martyred czar, and we felt that we could rely upon your kindness and your discretion to execute a—” Sophia hesitated, and I fancied she was deciding what shade of importance to give to her request, “a delicate mission for us at this time, when we cannot easily spare one of our own trusted relatives.”
It was my turn to hesitate a little, for I was not willing to commit myself blindly to the performance of some secret mission.
“Your highness can rely on my friendship and discretion,” I murmured, “and it wouldgive me pleasure to do any reasonable service for any of the imperial family.”
The czarevna cast a keen glance at me as if she thought my reply a little ambiguous, but was far too astute to show any doubt of my fidelity.
“The service I ask is trifling,” she said calmly, lying as coolly as I ever heard any woman lie in my life, for I knew that no man was summoned at that hour to the Kremlin for a trifle; but I forgave her the lie, for the sake of the grace with which she told it.
“If your highness will instruct me as to the nature of the errand,” I began, stammering a little, for I was in a dilemma, not desiring to offend either faction, and knowing that I was treading on a mine which was liable to explode under the pressure of my heel. I thought that she was rather enjoying my discomfiture, for I saw a gleam of amusement in her alert eyes, and she had the most painfully alert glance that it has ever been my destiny to endeavor to evade.
“M. le Vicomte,” she said with a smile, and an air of bland candor, “I know well that I am calling upon a stranger for a personal service, and that you do not owe me the allegiance of a subject; but,” she added with perfect graceof manner, “you are a French gentleman, and I know your reputation for gallantry; therefore consider me, monsieur, as only a woman asking a friendly service at your hands, and forget that I am a czarevna of Russia, and a sister of the unhappy czarevitch.”
She could hardly have placed me in a more awkward predicament; I saw at once that a refusal would be a deadly offense, and I had heard that Sophia’s memory was long. There was no alternative but to meet the exigency with what grace I could summon to my aid.
“It is too much honor,” I said, bowing low, and feeling that it was indeed a greater honor than I desired, “and I am sure that there can be no doubt of my readiness to serve your highness at all times.”
“Alas, M. le Vicomte,” Sophia replied with a heavy sigh, “we scarcely know where to look for true friends now. The election of the younger czarevitch dashed our hopes to the ground, and we can but look with despair upon our elder brother, set aside in favor of a child of ten! In the hour of prosperity, friends are plentiful indeed; but when an ill wind blows, the ship is soon deserted. We poor orphans are indeed desolate. Therefore,” she added, with a sudden change from melancholy to graciousness,“we value more a token of your disinterested kindness. I will ask but a small service, monsieur; there is a little packet here that I would have delivered to-night, and I am at loss to find a trusty messenger. One of our own people might be apprehended, but you, M. de Brousson, could deliver it without hurt and without suspicion.”
I was not afraid of any risk except that which seemed imminent of being involved in some of the Miloslavskys’ schemes. If I had been at that time acting as an envoy of the French king, I could have evaded the czarevna’s importunity; but my diplomatic mission was long ago concluded, and I was in Russia on my own responsibility, and was aware that she knew it; nevertheless, I was in a fever of embarrassment. I stammered something about being too blunt a man to execute political errands; but the princess swept aside my objection with an ease that I could not but admire, while I chafed under it. She had me in her toils, and I saw that escape was impossible. She had already lifted the packet, which was a small one, from the table, and was examining the seals before handing it to me.
“You will do me a personal service, M. le Vicomte,” she said sweetly, “and one thatSophia will never forget. You need only to conceal this about your person and deliver it, with what speed you can, to Prince Basil Galitsyn, who is outside the city now, at the house of the Boyar Urusof. It is important that he receive these papers to-night.”
I started when I heard the mention of Galitsyn’s name, for it was rumored that the great czarevna loved this handsome prince. Galitsyn was a descendant of the Lithuanian monarchs, and belonged to one of the most illustrious families in Russia, besides being a man of attainments and of a dignified presence. I knew at once that my errand was of importance, and suspected that the messenger would be watched, and therefore the shrewd czarevna had selected a foreigner who was certain to escape suspicion. I received the packet from her hands with a reluctance that it was difficult to conceal. However, there are none so blind as those who do not desire to see, and Sophia feigned ignorance of my embarrassment. She took the pains to give me minute directions about the route to Urusof’s villa, and offered to supply me with a horse. But I declined the offer, for two obvious reasons: first, I preferred my own animal on a journey on a bad road at night; second, I knew that to have ahorse brought from the imperial stables at that hour for me would attract attention, even if it did not arouse suspicion.
“You will find Prince Galitsyn,” Sophia said in conclusion, when she was dismissing me, “and deliver this packet into his own hands, and so earn my grateful thanks.”
And she extended her hand with a smile that on a more beautiful face would have been captivating. I made my obeisance, and departed with as good a grace as I could assume, while my heart was like lead, for I had no relish for my errand and a deep-rooted distrust of the smiling czarevna, who I fancied would walk to power over her fallen friends with the same cheerful aspect. As I left the apartment, I stumbled on the recumbent form of one of the court dwarfs, who had been lying outside the door. I was not a little disconcerted to find that it was Homyak, for whom I had conceived a dislike as strong as that felt by Von Gaden. However, a glance at his face satisfied me that he had been napping, and was in a very ill humor at being disturbed. He snarled out something about walking over a man as if he were a toad, and curled himself down again, like a huge house dog, on the door-sill, while I hurried through the anterooms, only anxious to avoidnotice, and with the czarevna’s packet concealed in my bosom. When I reached the Red Staircase, I loosened my sword in the scabbard, and hastened my step as I walked across the Red Place and towards the Gate of the Redeemer.