This particular one was then in the hands of the Admiralty for refit and overhaul, and was under orders to be at Kronstadt on the 20th of the following month; to receive the royal party, including the Czar, for a trip up the Gulf of Bothnia, and along the coast of Sweden, returning by the coast of Finland.
Anna looked at the plan attentively, critically. Indeed, she studied it; and having an excellent memory, the result of training as an ‘indexer,’ she was enabled to carry the whole of the plan in her mind’s eye.
She would have liked to have made some notes, but did not dare do so, and so she fixed the details in her mind.
‘The Little Father’s apartments seem very spacious,’ Anna remarked carelessly, as though she meant nothing.
‘Oh yes,’ said Catherine; ‘but they are all to be reconstructed, and removed from the after-part of the vessel, where they are now.’
Anna’s dark eyes opened wide, and her ears were all alertness.
‘Indeed! Why?’
‘Well, they are in the extreme stern of the ship now; and as the vessel pitches very much, they are not comfortable.’
‘Then, where are the Czar’s rooms to be placed?’ asked Anna eagerly.
‘A large deckhouse is to be constructed amidships. It will be fitted up like a little palace.’