“‘A good-looking man,’ she thinks.
“The good-looking man takes the seat previously occupied by the soldier, orders the best that the inn affords, and invites the servant to keep him company. She accepts without hesitation. The conversation begins, and they are soon quite friendly. A stranger appears at the doorway. He is enveloped in a long cloak. At his entrance, men and women fall on their knees; some of them even bend their foreheads to the ground. As was the case with the soldier, the officer does not notice what is going on behind him. His seductive companion has captivated him completely. In a moment of enthusiasm, the officer exclaims, ‘You are divine! I will take you with me. You shall have a beautiful apartment, where it will be always warm.’
“From afar the stranger scrutinizes the couple, and, in spite of himself, the girl’s sympathetic appearance attracts his attention. He approaches the table, and, throwing open his cloak, stands with his arms crossed on his breast.
“The officer looks around, and, immediately rising, bends on one knee, and stammers these words:—
“‘Your pardon, sire!’
“‘Rise.’
“Like the soldier, the officer then stands erect, awaiting the good pleasure of his master. The master, meanwhile, is engaged in looking at the servant, and she, in turn, is fearlessly admiring the all-powerful Czar.
“‘You may go,’ he says to the officer. ‘I will keep this woman. She shall have a palace.’
“It was in this way that Peter the Great met for the first time the woman who afterwards became Catharine of Russia....
“And now tell me, what do you think of my prologue?”