“You can help us if you will. Get her to trust herself to us instead of to the Court, and we will be responsible for her safety.”
“How? Another case of Maglai?”
“You need not sneer. I did not mean that. She would be safe under the protection of the Russian flag.”
“With you as her chief adviser and friend. I should not deem that safety; nor would she.”
“You abandon her then to her fate?”
“I will not counsel her to play the part of cat’s paw for Russia.”
“Even to save her life?”
“Will you undo the mischief you have caused and let her know the truth? Then I will act with you to this extent. If I can, I will prevail with her to leave the country for a time and from a position of freedom, decide whether to make this marriage or not.”
“She must not leave the country. She must be here when the moment of crisis arrives, and the future occupant of the Throne has to be chosen. Her absence then might be fatal to everything.”
“Go to her and tell her that all you said was untrue and why you said it, and leave the decision to her.”