“I must implore your pardon, Madam,” the Princess stammered, in real confusion. “I am aware I ought to have solicited your leave in the first place, but knowing that this gentleman came from——”
She broke off, fairly unable to meet the questioning gaze of her imperial mistress.
I pretended to come to her relief.
“I have a private message,” I said to the Empress.
“You may leave us, Princess,” the Empress said coldly.
As soon as the door had closed on her, I gave a warning look at the Czaritza.
“That woman, Madam, is the most dangerous agent in the secret service of your Empire.”
I trusted to the little scene I had just contrived to prepare the mind of the Czaritza for this intimation. But she received it as a matter of course.
“Sophia Y—— has been all that you say, Monsieur V——. I am well acquainted with her history. The poor thing has been a victim of the most fiendish cruelty on the part of the Minister of Police, for years. At last, unable to bear her position any longer, she appealed to me. She told me her harrowing story, and implored me to receive her, and secure her admission to a convent. I investigated the case thoroughly.”
“Your majesty will pardon me, I am sure, if I say that as a man with some experience of intrigue, I thoroughly distrust that woman’s sincerity. She is intimate with M. Petrovitch, to my knowledge.”