Suddenly he again remembered Alexis and felt that this terrible burden, the deadly inertia of Russia, was incarnate in Alexis alone, his own son.
At last by a supreme effort of will he once more gained mastery over himself, called his orderly, dressed and returned by boat to the palace, where senators accused of bribery and corruption were summoned to appear before him.
CHAPTER VI
Prince Ménshikoff, Prince James and Basil Dolgorúki, Sheremetieff, Shafiroff, Jagushinski, Golóvkin, Apraksin and others were crowded in the small reception room next to the workshop.
Fear possessed them all. They remembered how two years ago, two noble extortioners, Prince Volkonsky and Opouchtine, had been publicly flogged and had their tongues burnt with red hot irons.
Strange rumours were whispered; officers of the guard and other military men were supposed to have been appointed to judge the senators.
Yet they hoped against hope that the storm would blow over, and all would again revert to the old way. They found consolation in old sayings: “Who has not sinned before God? who is found guiltless before the king? They can’t hang us all. Everybody has his own foibles. Every man thirsts for a dainty. Whether honest men or knaves, all live under sin.”
In strode Peter. His face was hard-set and stern; only his eyes were flashing and the left corner of his mouth twitched slightly.