Galitzin became thoughtful.
“Who is the father of your unborn child?” he asked at last.
“Count Alexis Orloff.”
“Again a lie,” said Galitzin. “And why, what for? Are you not ashamed to answer like that? To a man whom the empress trusts so highly, to an old man?”
“It is only the truth. Before God!” answered the captive, sobbing. “The admiral, the officers, the whole fleet can bear witness to it.…”
The bewildered Galitzin put a stop to his interrogation, and sent a report of the new confession to the empress at Moscow.
“Miserable, impudent wretch!” screamed out Ekaterina, after reading this report to Potemkin. “See how this new edition of Pougachoff, sent to us by the Poles—how she knows how to slander and calumniate others!”
“Well; but if there should be some truth in it,” slowly said Potemkin. “It’s so easy to betray a poor, weak, confiding woman.”
“Oh, that’s impossible!” answered Ekaterina. “At any rate, Orloff will soon be here. He’ll soon tell us all about this false Elizabeth.… And you, prince, in your knightly defence of a woman, do not forget the most important thing—the peace of the kingdom. We went through enough in the last insurrection.”
Potemkin was silent.