She went through the ordeal of that stately quadrille excellently well, however, entertaining and delighting the Tsar with an account of how Sasha had stolen a march upon her by persuading her to marry him as he lay dying—which she did, she explained, to oblige a friend—afterwards recovering when he certainly had no right to do so.
"You are caught now, Madame," said the Tsar; "will the caged bird beat herself against the bars of her prison?"
"Your Majesty must ask me a year hence," Vera laughed; "at present I am a new toy, and my jailer is content to play with me!" The Tsar laughed again.
"By the Saints, Madame, if he should show signs of falling short in his appreciation of his good fortune, you shall tell me and he shall be sent to Siberia. Such a man would deserve his fate."
"It may be, your Majesty, that he married me out of patriotic motives in order to prevent my falling into French hands."
"Good—good! it was a worthy act and shall be rewarded," said the Tsar, smiling kindly. "Adieu, Madame; we shall meet again I trust."
On the following morning Vera received a beautiful present from his Majesty: an order, the collar of St. Anne, commonly known in Russia as "Annooshka na shay". The gold cross attached to the collar was inscribed "For Patriotism".
Sasha at the same time obtained, what was at the moment the object of every young Russian officer's ambition, a captain's commission in the new regiment of Imperial Guards lately organised by his Majesty. Not long after this Vera received a letter from Paris. It was brought by hand by a Russian prisoner returning to his native country. The packet contained a gilt-edged card, upon which was printed:—
Mons. le Baron Henri d'Estreville.
Madame la Baronne Henri d'Estreville
(née Louise Dupré).
To which was added, written in a woman's hand:—