For this there was only one thing which might tell in my favour. I knew my way about the Palace, and on the night of my arrival I had been seen by, and my name was known to, one or two of the gentlemen-in-waiting. If I could get inside the building, therefore, I might by the use of a little impudence and ingenuity gain my end.
In this connection I had a stroke of luck. I learned from the papers that the Czar had returned late on the previous evening with his guest, the Crown Prince of Denmark; and I saw how to make use of this visit for my purpose.
The Crown Prince and his staff were staying in the Palace, and the fact of there being so many new faces to puzzle the officials would help me. I resolved to go to the Palace quite openly, ask for one of the Prince’s staff, and while he was being sought, I proposed to lose myself somewhere in the building, and trust to my wits for the rest.
To ask openly for an audience of the Emperor would, of course, be useless, because, as Marvyn himself had admitted, all such requests were referred straight to Prince Kalkov.
I found a list of the members of the staff in a morning paper and picked out a name at random: that of a Colonel von Kramen: and over my lunch arranged the details of my venture. If I came actually face to face with him, I could easily use Siegel’s connection with the Screecher to carry me through.
I fixed the time for my visit for about five in the afternoon. I knew the Czar’s habit was to devote himself to matters of business for an hour or two from five o’clock; and if I could get my name before him then with a pressing request for an audience, I reckoned all the rest would be plain sailing.
I ordered a carriage to be ready by half-past four, and sat down to wait for the time to pass with such patience as I could command; and I was just finishing my cigar when the waiter interrupted me with an announcement that brought me to my feet in a moment.
“Your brother to see you, monsieur.”
“My brother!” I exclaimed, and got no farther before the man who had followed me to the hotel rushed in with both hands extended and face beaming with smiles.
“Ah, Frank, my brother, my brother,” he cried in broken English, and with a very effusive foreign manner.